Life & Technology

Wow, a tonne of questions today and lot of information covered..

First of all we talked a little about blu-ray, which although the technology has been around for some time, it is really beginning to take off in the consumer space. I recommend you get a blu-ray player is you have an HD television, because that is where you’ll get the most out of it. Steve queried whether the graphics for gaming would be any better. They won’t be.

I also talked about a couple of Nintendo DSi games that are ideal for the holidays. Both AFL Mascot Manor and NRL Mascot Mania are a lot of fun, whereby you can play a mascot from one club against the mascot from another. There are mini-games, players cards to collect, and a game of either AFL or NRL to be played if you make it through the various levels.

Marika asked via email if there was any way of transferring files from her iPod to iTunes. The only program I know of is called iPod Ripper, but have not used it myself, so will be interested to see how it goes.

Glen was using Windows XP to try and burn pictures from his camera to a DVD, but was having problems. Not too sure why it wasn’t working, as it is usually a case of drag and drop into the correct field. I need more information Glen, so if you read this, drop me a line.

Paul from Campbelltown is annoyed at the crappy reception he is getting from his digital set top box. Unfortunately, because digital technology is pretty new, there is nothing you can do about it. Interference is the problem, and this can be from airplanes flying overhead, or thunder storms. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it at present.

Deborah rang and was concerned about the speed of her Internet. She has four people using her broadband BigPond account for $60 a month. I’m suspecting that the household is churning through its usage too soon, and once this happens BigPond will default to dial up speeds. Some might query why not just let the household use normal broadband speed and pay the difference. That would be because the bill at the end of the month might be a nasty surprise!

Michael rang to say his son’s Xbox had the red ring of death. What does this mean? It means his Xbox is kaput. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Microsoft has assured me that it has extended warranties, so if Michael has any problems, he should get back to me and I’ll try and sort it out with the Powers-That-Be at Microsoft.

Interesting story out of the UK this week about an Australian who pillaged a virtual bank that is part of an online game.

“Richard”, a 27-year-old Aussie, was the CEO of Ebank, a banking corporation in the online trading game, Eve Online, which includes people being able to use real money to purchase credits – for example, you might be able to buy $100,000 worth of credit in the online world for $10 of real money. In the real world, “Richard” was a bit cash-strapped, so having the keys to the virtual vault he withdrew about 200 billion worth of credit and sold it to players for about AU$6,500, which he used to pay some personal debts.

Nobody was hurt in the real world – as it appears the people who bought the virtual credit were allowed to keep it and therefore were allowed to use it in the game.

What is interesting though is, what would have been the result if the people who own/run the game had confiscated the online credit. Not only would the gamers have been out of pocket online, they would have been in the real world, too. Could “Richard” have been charged with theft? I reckon so. And it would not have been a laughing matter for those who had lost the money. It also brings up the question of security and who to put in charge of online transactions. It certainly would have breached the trust aspect of the game.

“Richard” was kicked out of the game and is no longer part of its set up.
Ironically, the game is run by an Icelandic company, whose country is almost bankrupt thanks to bad investments and the Global Financial Crisis. If only sacking a CEO in real life would end such a crisis, how much better off everybody would be.

It’s school holiday time once again, so we thought it the right time to showcase some gadgets and website that might of interest for the kids in the upcoming weeks.

First up was webiste planet cazmo, which is aimed at tweens/teens. Very similar to Club Penguin, but is aimed at a higher age group where kids can chat, play games, customise their cybercharacter and create their own virtual world.

Unsurprisingly, Hannah Montana: The Movie Game is bound to be a huge hit with girls. Designed for the Nintendo Wii and DSi, it allows players to step into the secret dual life of Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana. Gamers can join Hannah and live the rock star life while you get to know Miley Stewart as an ordinary farm girl and explore the world she left back in Tennessee. Gamers can also customise Hannah and Miley’s wardrobes with outfits seen in the movie. It also allows girls to journey beyond the movie to complete tasks around Crowley Corners and unlock music, accessories and concert venues.

Two games at the young boy market are NRL Mascot Mania and AFL Mascot Manor for the DSi. A player becomes one of the mascots whereby they battle other mascots for dominance. They can also find and collect footie cards, and there are a range of mini games including an NRL or AFL match. See my review of the games here.

Something to drive parents up the wall, but will be popular nonetheless are these Rock Beat Rhythm Sticks. The latest craze in the UK, these electronic drumsticks work with each tap producing a synthesised sound from the built-in speakers at the base of the sticks. The tip of the sticks even light up with each beat, with uttons on each stick changing the sound from a snare drum to a tom-tom and a crash cymbal.

The Echo Bot Voice Messenger is one of those fun gadgets for everybody. You record a message, and when somebody walks within a metre of the unit is yells out the message. It can use it to play prank and used as a way to remind you to do things. For more information, click here.

Kota the Triceratops can be ridden by children aged 3 and over. Although it does not walk, it has 10 sensors which will detect touch, sound or weight. To play with Kota you can touch any of the sensors to hear dino sounds; scratch his chin to ‘relax’ him; scratch his chin 4 times to put him to “sleep”; roar at him, or talk to him to hear your dino roar back.

The Sleepy Monkey’s tummy and ears are made of a special new safety formulated glow in the dark fabric that when drawn on with a special UV pen starts to glow. There is no ink in the pen, it’s got a special light that works on the fabric to make it glow. Kids spend ages drawing and doodling in the dark until they fall asleep, while they can draw or write whatever they like and after a few minutes the writing slowly fades so they can start over again.