J Marcus Daily
Off the air
There will be no updates to this blog until January 22, 2007. I apologize for the lack of content but it cannot be avoided. I look forward to my return after a much-needed rest. 2007 promises to be a great year and one where I will make a more concerted effort to provide a more robust publishing schedule in the months to come. Enjoy the holidays and may you and yours be well and happy in this coming New Year.
Holiday 2006
The holiday season has officially begun. With the coming of turkey and pumpkin pie to our tables and love handles Black Friday began the first of the holiday deals. People came out in droves to check out the loss leaders from the major retailers-some buyers, many shoppers. For my electronics habit, I was out sampling the electronics deals and steals bright and early. Best Buy was a madhouse. Everywhere else was manageable. It was fun watching people drool over the latest HDTV’s and $2.99 DVD’s. Some prices were so low it’ll be hard to pay regular prices. Call of Duty 2 for $19.99 one day and then back up to $39.99 the next. Some people try to avoid the malls and stores on the day after Thanksgiving. I make it an event.
Technovations has all the latest information on Black Friday deals, their successes and failures, and what this means for the rest of the holiday buying season in consumer electronics. With quick reviews on the Xbox 360 peripheral add-on HD-DVD drive and the Yamaha YT-800 single speaker surround sound powerhouse I’ve been busy updating the sites.
I finally got a chance to see Casino Royale. (Anyone with kids knows how much of a challenge it can be to see a movie while it’s still in theaters.) Man was it good. I hate being so brazen about it being so good tending as it does to ramp up peoples expectations. There are certainly things that could’ve been better, but it is clearly the best Bond film of my generation. Well, clearly since 1978 and perhaps even since Sean Connery left the franchise. I’ll leave the rest of my opinions for the review.
In coming weeks I plan on having quite a lot of fun with holiday parties, ads, and preparing for the upcoming January vacation to Orlando. I’m sure I’ll have more to say on this and many other things as the days click by.
Bits and Bytes- Quick News with no use
Intel has announced the end of an era, the Pentium 4 era that is. By Q3 of 2007 Intel expects to end production of the Pentium 4 architecture in favor if it’s new top of the line chip the Core 2 Duo. As Intel looks to clear out inventory after Christmas expect to see chips using the outdated Netburst architecture showing up in the bargain bin. Estimates of price drops of nearly $100 are expected bringing the price into the $70 range. The budget Celeron chip has a little more life left in it as production will continue until early 2008.
Holy Grail or Sexual Satisfaction
Having absolutely nothing to do with technology this one begs to be commented upon. According to Reuters a disproportionate number of Britons are prepared to give up sex in exchange for a long life, specifically to life to a hundred years old. (60%) Not surprisingly was the number of women willing to make the sacrifice far outweighed that of men. (48 percent compared to 31 percent of the men in the survey). Just another survey commissioned by health care providers attempting to get a handle on the complex issues of aging. As people are living longer and many are faced with serious decisions regarding healthcare and retirement, it’s good to know there are still these surveys to shine a light on what we already know. Most men would trade just about anything, even an extra day of life to get just a little more nooky.
Price cut for Playstation 3-
Falling under the weight of outside pressure Sony has dropped the price of its forthcoming Playstation 3 making the 20 GB version $430 (US) when it is released for sale this November 11th. Now for the bad news. It only applies to their loyal Sony customers in Japan. These price cuts do not apply to the US or the European launches. While American buyers are sure to scream at this price discrimination, European buyers have even more to balk, as they have to wait until next year for their launch. Due to delays in production, Sony has been forced to push the European launch to early 2007.
Newly added original Xbox titles for the 360
Original Xbox compatible titles for the Xbox 360---Newly added as of August 2006
Aggressive Inline
All-Star Baseball 2003 updated
All-Star Baseball 2005
Aquaman: Battle of Atlantis
Burnout 3: Takedown
Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth Updated
Catwoman
Counter-Strike
Crash Nitro Kart 2 Updated
Dead to Rights
Digimon Rumble Arena 2 Updated
ESPN Major League Baseball
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director’s Cut
Ford vs. Chevy Updated
Freaky Flyers
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
Half-Life 2 Updated
IndyCar Series 2005
Kabuki Warriors Updated
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Links 2004
Magatama Updated
Maximum Chase
Mortal Kombat Deception Updated
MTX: Mototrax
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection
Outlaw Tennis
Over the Hedge
Richard Burns Rally
Rogue Trooper
Serious Sam
Shincho Mahjong
Sid Meier’s Pirates
Smashing Drive
Sneakers 5 Updated
Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run
Taz Wanted
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer Updated
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Suffering
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
Torino 2006 Winter Olympics
Trigger Man
True Crime:Streets of LA
Vietcong: Purple Haze
Wrath Unleashed
X2 Wolverine’s Revenge
For a complete list of titles compatible on the Xbox 360 head to Xbox.com
PC purchase remorse
Regularly I receive phone calls asking, “Did I get a good deal on this computer?”. After hearing the specs they usually ask how much I think it cost them. Only because I follow such things, I usually pick the price within $50 to $100. The disappointment on the other end of the phone is nearly heartbreaking. People don’t like to think they didn’t receive a good deal and there is nothing worse then a person picking the price you paid or thinking it should’ve been lower. Computers, in my estimation require a practical understanding for consumers that used to be needed only for cars, homes, and large appliances.
The minute you drive it off the lot the value drops 10%. The same applies to computers when you crack open that box and power it up. It not only loses value PC’s are outdated the minute it walks out the door. (Actually, they are outdated before they hit the store shelves.) To find value in this purchase, and not feel like a sucker you have to walk into the purchase with a realistic set of expectations. It isn’t about speed of the processor, the size of the hard drive or how many GB of RAM is loaded into it. Those are fun specs for geeks. For the average user it only matters if it runs the programs you need.
Again, for the average buyer computers need to be about whether it fills the need in your household. Can it do all the things you expect of it? And frankly speaking, most people are buying much more computer then they need. Even the aspects of upgrading are ludicrous for most people who will buy a completely new machine before they can gain any benefits from upgrades.
I’ve come up with a handy buyers guide for computers. If you stick to these few principles, you should have the least amount of buyer’s remorse at the end of the day.
At the end of the day the only way to make sure you got a good deal on your recent computer purchase is to do your research, know what you need, and keep realistic expectations. Then once you’ve bought it, quite looking at the ads and don’t tell anyone your specs. If someone asks, say, ‘it’s paid for and it does everything I could ask of it.’ When buying a PC that’s the best anyone can say.
Gadgets
There are more bad products out there than good. My mission to find those products worthwhile and useful in the right hands is tireless. However, once and a while I come across something that really makes me scratch my head. --Because the idea is so stupid or the execution seems like it was completed by monkeys-- there are some so bad I just can’t keep my mouth shut.
Take the Drive Alert Master II. Designed to wake up sleepy drivers as they nod off at the wheel this simple device doesn’t even sound as if it will do the trick. Sure, a loud noise in the ear will wake you up, for a second. No better than loud static on the radio, or rolling the windows down and pumping up the AC. The problem is drivers fall asleep at the wheel because they are tired. No device is going to fix that. Once a person realizes they are too tired to drive, they need to pull over. And again, this thing won’t solve that.
Save your 24.95 and pick up another couple of espressos.
http://www.gadgetuniverse.com/product_detail.asp?SRC=25EM060801&rsource=EMAIL&keywd=25EM060801&SKU=TE+332+S
Here’s one from the Shaper Image with an idea that I love. Reality on the other hand. -Spion™ Orbitor™ Electronic Listening Device. A spy movie listening dish with earphones and the ability to record up to 120 seconds of sound from as far away as 300’. Point it at the neighbors across the street and listen as they argue their way into divorce court. The problem being this thing doesn’t work. You can hear sounds from across the room. However, it has a terrible time distinguishing between ambient sound and someone speaking. The clarity is nowhere what it should be for $60. The distance is nowhere near the 300’, at least not with any true distinguishing of sounds. I wanted to like this thing. It left me disappointed. Best thing to do-Skip it. If you can’t then test one out in a Sharper Image store.
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__AR006
Circuit City to break the law, for a price. They will convert your DVD’s for use on your IPOD for $10 a pop. For years, low-tech hackers have had access to inexpensive tools for cracking the encryption for DVD burning. What makes this interesting is it is the first time a major company has been willing flagrantly to flout the law. Odds are Circuit City will be discontinuing this service as soon as they receive a cease and desist order from the MPAA or the studios. It would be strange for a big company to risk losing their rights to sell DVD’s because of violating the Digital Millennia Act.
There has been some wiggle room on the legality of this issue with past legislation allowing fair use for owners to make a single copy of a movie. Where it comes to odds is with the DMAA’s forbidding of breaking the copy-protection encryption on any digital media. Of course, all this leads us once again into the gigantic issue at the heart of digital ownership in the 21st century. (A debate we won’t get into for the sake of this writers sanity.)
While this service by Circuit City isn’t groundbreaking it will make an interesting story to watch unfold. And while many applaud Circuit City’s willingness to break the law to make a buck, most are still left wondering why anyone would spend $10 to do what they could do at home for free.
