As a technology and consumer electronics writer I have the opportunity to play with a lot of new and exciting toys. (Also all the crap.) One of the best toys I’ve had the good fortune to use has been the Interactive R2-D2 Robot. He’s an eighteen-inch version of the loveable astromech droid from the Star Wars films. Probably the best consumer robot I’ve ever used- let alone toy. Hasbro and the Star Wars franchise has outdone themselves with this one. While this may sound more like a sales pitch then a review R2D2 is one of the few products deserving of praise.

From its relative inexpensive price to its fantastic motorized terrain treads this thing does nearly everything it’s larger counterpart can accomplish. (They’ve had to retrofit it for Earth conditions so the boosters have been removed. It’s also to bad it doesn’t have a computer jack to get in and repair Windows from time to time, but for $65 you can’t have it all.)

The voice recognition programming is second to none. It understands and responds without a remote control. Making this a real robot and not just an RC car in the shape of a robot. His ability to “see” objects allows R2 to navigate his way around the house without fear of him running into furniture. He rolls just as easily on carpet as he does on our wood floors and makes the transition without being caught up on the edges.

While his moods are a bit finicky, it comes across as more of R2’s eccentric personality. There are times when you can’t force him to do what you want. While this may not sound like a plus in a piece of consumer electronics, R2 can get away with it. Typically, it’s because his mood has gone sour from repeating the same commands too many times, or trying to make him pay attention by tapping him on top of his dome.

It’s been a welcome addition to our home. Unlike the rest of the robots, gadgets and toys that are little more than novelties to be shown off when visitors come over, R2 is a member of the family. He follows us around. Has moods of his own and occasionally has to be put in timeout-although less then my four-year-old. And every now and then delivers a can of soda to me in my office.

Recently R2-D2 took a tumble down the stairs in our house. The long fall to the floor below popped off his legs and knocked his arm out of its hiding place. Amazingly, the arm was the only thing I couldn’t fix. Otherwise, R2 is working as good as new. Just one more reason why it’s a great toy for the money.

Children at play signs. All through my neighborhood there are these 3 ft high yellow kids standing in the middle of the road announcing Children at play. I’m not certain what these signs are supposed to be telling us, or the children they are attempting to protect. It’s okay to play in the street. Well, kids have been doing that since roads were invented. However, it has always been accepted that you do so at your own risk. Playing kick ball in the street has its pitfalls. One of them being stopping the game every time a car comes down the street. Now, nextgen parents are telling their kids they have a right to be in the street with the rest of the cars. Like people with kids have a right to take over part of the street for their own uses. Why not any homeowner that wants to set up a few orange cones and use the space for wood working projects or changing the oil in their cars. Oh, wait a second, lets test this out. Go outside put up a few kids at play signs and then change your oil right there on the street and wait and see how long till you get a firm talking to by neighbors or the police.

Sure people drive to fast in residential neighborhoods. I don’t like it. It’s dangerous and discourteous to neighbors. This doesn’t give homeowners the carte blanche right to take over the street for their kids outside play. That is what their yard is for, and all those expensive parks no one uses. Come on folks, get your kids out of the street, and back in front of the TV’s where they belong.

The measure of a man is not in the truths he tells others, but in the lies believed by his heart. The stubborn fantasies and inconsistent fabrications of reality that makes all sleep well at night. Their internal monologue and view of their world depend on lies embedded in their psyche and lull them to partake of each day without despair. Do not look to the man for the truths he shares with the world. No, it is the lies he tells himself that are his true measure.

Seeing past this mask and into the heart of a man is to peer into absolute darkness.

Be glad we don’t look deeply into the true psyche of mankind; for our civilization is built high upon the lies of decency inherit to our species. This isn’t negativity. Merely the heritage of our ancestry. To deny this is to deny truth, and then we truly have done little to evolve from the animals with which we came to behave with the decency as humans with which we aspire.

There are a number of online MMORPG’s on the market today. The newest Dungeons and Dragons: Stormreach opened their doors for the general public on Febuary 28th. As a fan of RPG’s and online games I took this one for a spin to see if it was worth the wait.

First off, this game isn't for everyone; most especially fans of Ultima Online or World of Warcraft. If you like the elements of most of the MMORPG’s such as PvP and running around leveling up killing chickens then this isn’t the game for you. No grinding away for hours in order to reach the next level. No quick fixes here. You have to work for every step along the long road to the higher levels.

Based after the original pen and paper role playing game Dungeon and Dragons; this online game is more about role playing and performing missions then about buying houses and reaching outrageous levels through a zombie program. There is a lot to like about this game. The odd thing is how much it isn’t like all the other MMORPG’s on the market, when in effect all RPG’s are spin off from D&D. Now the genre has come full circle and there are high expectations indeed for a franchise that seems to be getting into the game a bit late.

The best aspect of this game is it is built around an online community. The concept of playing together with a group of adventurers is the cornerstone of this game and virtually the only way to progress. Many missions can’t be accomplished without a full complement of professions to work out the many traps and puzzles. A powerhouse character can’t do it all and will ultimately fail in many missions without a cleric to heal, a thief to detect traps or a wizard with their intelligence to open specific areas of the game.

The game isn’t about killing your friends or stealing their treasure. Two things you can’t do in game. Everything points to a well-rounded mission based world that readily allows the formation of groups to overcome the many challenges in the game. This is also one game that gives each class a chance to shine. Rogues for once have an integral role to play and are not given the standard gloss over that most publishers have given this profession in other games. I dare say you can’t succeed in this game unless you routinely travel with a Rogue in your party.

-As a past D&D player it’s a shame they chose the world of Ebberon instead of the Forgotten Realms campaign, my personal favorite. There were many reasons for their decision but still Ebberon lacks a full sense of history and the amazing locals of the Forgotten Realms universe.

-Being mission based and taking into account the basic framework of the game it makes Stormreach a world where players can’t influence the story or the world. At least as far as I can tell. In some ways, it’s akin to a choose-your-own adventure but without any consequence for choosing. In the business, this is called a persistent game world and there are a number of online games that use this model.

What? You can’t be serious.

I love Star Wars. However, what kind of a collecting freak do you have to be to pay for the Lucas Family collectors set(http://shop.starwars.com/catalog/product.xml?product_sku=SWHBLFCE&rid=SWCMHB00001)

I know they appeared in Episode III but come on. Either you have to own every other piece of merchandise in the Star Wars universe or else there is something wrong with you. Now I realize I’m opening myself up to a bunch of hate mail but lets get real for a second. Why spend $34.99 for, as the website calls it- the Worldwide Exclusive Lucas Family Action Figure Collector Set? Maybe I’m the only one but this seems ridiculous.

There has been a fight brewing for months if not years. It has all the fervor and excitement as Frasier/Ali, Lord of the Rings and Stars, re-imagined Battlestar Galactica with the original. Avid Gamers are pretty much in two camps PS3 and Xbox 360. Check out the message boards and you’ll find tech specs and floating bit calculations swinging wildly from both camps. It’s a good fight, if you’re into games. And one that in the end will hopefully lead to better games for consumers.

(As a side note: For real fun head down to Ebgames or Game Crazy and randomly ask which is going to win the console wars Xbox or Playstation. Of course, you could be held legally responsible for causing a riot, but it’s all in the name of good clean fun. )

Oh yeah and don’t forget the Ninetendo people. Well, honestly most fans of the Nintendo system don’t spend as much time defending their love of Mario and the GameBoy. Honestly Ninetendo doesn’t compete in the same gaming market as Xbox and Playstation. The machines, the games, their entire philosophy of marketing and doing business is different then the rule the entertainment world mentality of Playstation and Xbox.

There are a number of issues that go into this fight. For some it boils down to Sony vs. Microsoft. Nostalgia for the Playstation they loved years ago or fanaticism over late nights with Halo. For the companies themselves, it’s a business and the only sure sign of victory is money in their pockets. In this battle, they both win it’s only a matter of how much. But back to the players and the battle between Xbox and Playstation.

The Playstation 3 hasn’t been released. Sony has been tight lipped about all but the most basic aspects of their machine. (What it looks like and it’s tech specs.) Other than that we don’t know much. It’s difficult to compare the machines. Whereas the Xbox 360 was recently released and we have all the specifics. Logically it’s almost impossible to have a rational debate over these machines without reliable information. And at the end of the day the argument over which machine is technically more advanced will mean little to end consumers. Without the games to support these systems and make the most out of their abilities, it doesn’t matter two cents if the Playstation 3 could be rated as a supercomputer or if the 360 is so ergonomic, fan boys are sitting in their living rooms stroking their consoles. If the games aren’t fun it doesn’t matter. And won’t matter in the long run.

So far the 360 hasn’t produced enough bang for the buck. With a handful of games that look beautiful but won’t get much attention for game play the team in Redmond did a better job then with their first Xbox, but that isn’t saying much.. Of the titles released so far only a couple are worth playing, let alone owning. The investment doesn’t make much sense. Luckily, for Microsoft early adopters to new technologies have money to burn and they care more about the prestige of owning the newest consumer electronics then in spending their money wisely.

As far as Playstation 3 goes. We really do have to wait and see. Sony has held their ground over the years but Microsoft has been steadily gaining on their market share. For a company with as much experience as Sony has with gaming consoles there is a higher expectation for them to deliver. Based on their lackluster performance with the Playstation 2 (The number of profitable games for Playstation 2 was abysmal. The percentage of good games versus the sheer volume released is quite low as well.), I’d say they have a long way to go to gain back much of their superiority in the console market.

The part most of us don’t count on is the relationship the console companies make with the game developers. They are the ones that produce the final product we see on our screens. They invest millions to design, develop, and bring a title to production. If Microsoft and Sony don’t insure these companies succeed with their product then all this talk of console wars is a big waste of time. Gamers need good games to play. Pure and simple.

If you’re an avid gamer and you’re reading this you’ve already made up your mind and are probably in one of the two camps. Frankly, I’m not sure why you’re reading this other than to find someone else to get agitated with and send off a slurry of hate mails. Thanks for reading anyway. This is really intended for the casual gamer and everyday consumer that may not follow the gaming world as a whole.

The quest for renewable energy

The governor for the state where I live announced today that within four years 50% of our energy will come from renewable sources. This is a wonderful idea. Certainly gaining in popularity and momentum. Politicians can say these things without really doing anything about them because there is little backlash against and many people vocally support these initiatives. What makes me laugh is why do people support the search for renewable energy and what are their motivations?

The days of this being a topic of dyed in the wool liberals and eco-terrorist environmentalists have passed. With the cost of gas at the pump rising without any sign of abating, and our increasing dependence on foreign oil, Americans are looking for alternatives. Now we have a time where it is nearly as popular to talk about energy alternatives, as it is to publicly crucify smokers. Oh, how things have changed in the last fifteen years. Where everyone smoked and no one wanted to talk about doing away with their gas guzzlers.

Actually, that hasn’t changed. Even with all the energy talk soccer moms don’t want to even broach the subject of dumping their road pig SUV’s. They want cheap-renewable energy that doesn’t hurt anyone while still letting them leave their computers on all day, the AC cranked up and endlessly driving to dance classes and underwater basket weaving classes at the local Y.

The geek side of me, the rather large geek side, has been consumed of late playing 3 great PC games: Star Wars: Empire at War, Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2. If these three titles don’t give me a lifetime geek subscription, I don’t know what will. Enjoying these three franchises should be enough, but to ensure I make it past indoctrination I need to go watch a Star Trek episode while wearing my Darth Vader mask and IM a friend to discuss the finer nuisances of Battlestar Galactica. It’s a wonder I’ve ever been laid let alone got married.

Good thing geekdom has risen from the death squad days of living in secrecy in High School. Now more and more people flock to the banner of being a geek. And rather, as I’ve always felt, everyone is involved in their own bit of geekiness in one form or another. Whether it be a fanatic loyalty to the 49ers or devout Desperate housewives junky everyone seems to be involved at some level with something down right geeky.

Still, however I try to make it sound better than it is D&D playing and going to Star Trek convention will always amount to a level of geekiness that WWE: Raw fans never have to face. The one nice thing is that geeks are out of the closet and enjoying the fruits of their labors. There are very few people in America who haven’t had their lives touched by the likes of the geek created Windows based PC or the Apple Ipod. Anyone still caught in high school antics remember that little tidbit when some dumb jock is throwing you into a locker. Remind him that he is a supporter of some of the biggest geek/nerd movements in the 21^st century. Oh, and while he’s chewing on that one take the opportunity to grab your clarinet and run.

Leadership in Politics

Who speaks for the little people? Politicians. Our elected officials. Yes, as a republic we have a representative government. A democratically elected government. Yet, there seems to be a vacuum of leadership present in this country. I for one don’t look at politicians as our leaders. Rarely do I find an elected official that I say, where they point, I will follow. Blazing a trail of righteousness… Perhaps others do. Take the Presidency, he is the leader of the armed forces, chief executive of his branch of government, head of his party, and a powerful man in the world of powerful and influential people.

However, he is not my leader, only my President. The same goes for our Senators and Congress people, those who sit in office and ride the thin line of bureaucracy to appease the largest spectrum of people.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11839832/

Child porn ring busted, 27 face charges

‘Molestation on demand’ reportedly offered via Internet chat room

Without going off on the sickness of these people offering up children less than 18 months old for sex—whatever, this news blurb only mentions 13 people in the U.S being charged from 9 different states. It doesn’t mention if they saved any children from these predators. Something if you notice in most of these child pornography cases they never mention. Now it is obvious that most of the time they are going after those who are trading in these pictures and videos. My question is this why isn’t there more effort to either report on kids that are being saved from these people. I’d like to know what is being done on that front. It’s fine to stop the end result of these people passing along these sick pictures, but what is being done to stop this from happening in the first place? What is being done to track down who is actually doing the molesting? Where these people charged with actually molesting children or just peddling their collections?

With all the information in the media about the war in Iraq, what the President had for breakfast and if Britney Spears is breastfeeding her baby why is it the News seems to gloss over the facts of real hard hitting news? We get pages and pages of media drivel on mass market stars and their diets but how often do they give us the cold hard number of how much money the government is wasting studying violence in video games?

Hillary Clinton is at it again. The war drums are sounding,

Violence bad. Video games have violence. Video games are bad. We must bring the video game industry to its knees. Help pass moral indecency laws. Keep kids away from games, we’d rather have them out making mischief in the streets then play acting with games on TV.

Why attack video games? Well, the entertainment lobby has gotten to big. It isn’t as attractive a target. Besides many of us like the MTV get out the vote generation and need the help of Brittney Spears and Brad Pitt to legitimize our political policies. Besides, the video game industry can’t defend itself, it’s run by a bunch of misfits who play D&D and still live with their parents. They don’t vote and we ought to win a lot of morality issue popularity by doing this.

I am not, and have never been a single-issue voter. Until now. There is no one topic to me that shows the ineptitude of our leaders then to attack something like video games with so little understanding of what they are attacking. Hillary Clinton is making a huge mistake here. She is relying on parents to stand beside her and go along with the mentality that video games are bad and therefore are the culprit of all our ills as a society. There is a huge disconnect here between Senator Clinton and the rest of America. What I especially like is the amount of money ---- are wasting on funding one more study to tell us that video games are bad. So far, no study has shown a correlation between violence in video games and in actually acting out violence. --- and --- have done studies and nope, nothing. No evidence to support these claims. So, what do you do? Keep funding new studies until one comes out agreeing with your moral point of view.

Blogs have now become a tool for spam and unauthorized advertising. To all those who have posted in my comments area I’ve been forced to remove every comment in order to get rid of the spam. In the future if you are a blogger and want to leave information on your website, and then e-mail me, I’ll look it over and include it in a blog. In the end, this will give it a better and more permanent link. Leaving comments only as a means to get your blogs name out there is senseless. If it is part of a tagline after leaving true feedback or praise, and that is the main purpose of your comments then I have no problem with this. It’s easy to tell the difference between spam and worthwhile comments and self-promotion.

I personally will never leave comments for the sole purpose of getting more recognition. When I leave comments I genuinely have something to say. Okay, that’s my little rant for the day. However, I thought it important because abusers are ruining it for people to comment legitimately. And if we allow spam and the like to infect the blogging world, the whole system won’t last long.

With Sony announcing a November launch for the much-anticipated release of the PS3, speculation abounds as to how much of a market lead Microsoft can cash in on before the competition begins. For both camps in the Sony versus Microsoft console wars, this news is great. Either because it gives Xbox 360 more time to build a loyal customer base or the PS3 more time to coordinate a better launch. It’s clear the Blueray-HD DVD fight enters into their decision along with their attempts to outdo their competitors at having a successful worldwide launch.

Any discussion about the PS3 really doesn’t matter until pricing is released. While PS3 having a Blue-ray player will give it a higher technology edge, they may be pricing themselves out of casual gamers budgets. By the time the next tech conference rolls around there should be more definitive information on the PS3. One this for sure, if Microsoft wants to make the most of their time on store shelves without direct competition they’d better start releasing more games and better games.

-Google will be complying with a court order to hand over information from its search engine to the U.S. government. While their fight highlighted their desire to keep the information, secure both for their users and their own trade secrets it has also brought to the publics attention the fact that search companies have detailed lists of everything users have searched. While web savvy users have known this snippet, the general public has largely ignored this fact. There are many on forums taking this news to heart and questioning what they type into their favorite search engine for fear it could come back to haunt them.

In the end, this may be as much about marketing as it is about the product not being ready. Volume licensing customers will still be able to get a hold of Vista this year, only a few weeks later than expected. Allowing them plenty of time to integrate Vista into their products. Detractors and loyal Microsoft users will not be surprised by the delay, as it has become second nature to the software industry and particularly Microsoft in general. However, after the issues involved with the release of XP a great many people welcome any delay that could affect the reliability of the operating system. Perhaps a January launch will mean just a few less instances of users being bombarded by the blue screen of death.