So I'm really digging google+ so far which seems like it could be a nice replacement for facebook, twitter, and maybe even some blogging. I'm going to try to post smaller reviews and thoughts now in google+ and probably only write a blog post for bigger reviews/articles.
http://www.rubikstouchcube.com
- I picked one up from cowboom for $15.
- It looks neat. If you could keep it going in demo mode it could be like a more modern lava lamp (the wife disagreed).
- The stand is also the charger. I have no idea how you would get to the battery though if you ever needed to replace it.
- It's not very usable. The cube constantly needs to know which surface is facing up for certain gestures to work properly. Sometimes it doesn't quite pick that up and shaking the cube a few times gets it working again. Gestures are a bit iffy and slow. It's a pretty frustrating experience if you actually wanted to sit down and solve it.
- Having it solve itself is pretty neat looking.
Even at $15 it's hard to recommend. The kids got a kick out of it for an afternoon though. If it could stay on in demo mode then it might be ok as "art." I'd probably pass and go with the rubik's cube iphone app instead which is actually more usable than this thing.
http://magiquest.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagiQuest
- So we spent the weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge Resort. It has this pretty massive indoor water park with slides that go outside and back in plus an outside part with more pools and slides. That alone makes it a pretty unique resort but what I want to write about today more specifically is MagiQuest.
- Think of it as a real life RPG. You buy these IR wands that are triggered with motion that sends a unique ID. Throughout the 8 floors of the hotel are items, big projection rooms, props, chests, video screens, etc scattered around that interact with these wands.
- The basic structure is you are trying to gather these runes of power. You have to complete a quest to acquire each rune. Most are basic fetch quests but some have some interesting twists, dependencies, and some minor puzzle solving. As you complete the quests you gain experience and gold. You'll level up too eventually reaching master magi. There are also random chests scattered about that you can farm for gold. A few of the quests require a gold amount (like 2000g) to pass but gold is rarely an issue if you just wand at all the chests you walk by. These rune quests are detailed in a quest book you get so they are pretty easy. Once you obtain all the runes you go on adventure quests which require the powers and spells granted to you by the runes you previously obtained. These are a bit tougher which you'll have to figure out on your own.
- Over 3 days of questing we only made it through all the rune quests and 2.5 adventure quests. There were several more adventure quests and then a set of compass quests we didn't even have time to get to. There is a ton of content to do (10's of hours). I think it would probably take 5 days to do it all especially since you are required to take the hidden stairway instead of the elevators. Man, I must have climbed over 1000 steps (there is a LOT of backtracking). The kids could really only quest about 3-4 hrs before requiring a break.
- The highlight had to be fighting Charlock the red dragon. There are several prerequisites you have to do, wanding runes in a specific order in an archway (portal) before you can entire, and finally the boss encounter where you fight Charlock requiring timing and multiple spells you gained from the runes. It's a bit like real life dragon's lair. The hardware is pretty impressive too which includes some treasure props, two big segmented lighted towers (that represents your health bar and the dragon's health bar), lights overhead, a big projection screen for the dragon, the IR sensors for the wand, and a touch screen for picking runes/spells.
- There is quite a bit of narrative since every quest start and end has some fmv with a mix of CG and real life actors. Think syfy quality but in this case the cheesiness of it all matches.
- So basically this like a real life MMO. There is quests, npc's (video ones anyways), loot, gold, xp, grinding, boss encounters, queues (sometimes lines develop for the boss battles) and pugging. Yeah that's right. I found that after a while you start talking to other families that are working on the same quests (you tend to cross paths a lot) or boss fights that you are both working on so you tend to share information and help each other out.
- The wands work best by just shaking them back and forth so you hear the little switch click. That activates the IR beam. This works better than just waving the wand wildly but that works ok too. There are also different toppers you can get that screw in on the end of the wand.
- Protip: If you want to be really efficient about it I would probably make a inventory list of all the objects each time you travel to a new floor eventually mapping out what is on each of the 8 floors. It should help a lot in the later quests and speed things up considerably instead of trying to remember where you saw a specific painting, the ruby gem, or that bird cage.
Highly Recommended! My kids loved it and really got into it. If you just let yourself get into it, there is truly a unique experience that I think any MMO/RPG lover would enjoy.
- Got my plush toys in yesterday. The kids immediately took them. They liked them so much they took them to bed with them.
- The in game pets are pretty neat and fly along side with you.
- Picket it up at buy.com when it was $55.
- My old Targus backpack has been through quite a lot and even has a small hole in it now. With the new macbook pro 13" I figure it was time for a new laptop backpack too.
- I did a bit of online research and eventually bought this backpack sight unseen.
- It's definitely not the lightest backpack but it isn't that bad for it's size.
- It has a ton of pockets. The laptop slot is in the middle and well padded for better protection. The case logic macbook 13" sleeve slides in nicely.
- I like how the side pockets are very deep and travel most of the length of the backpack.
- There is a nice little pouch in the center near the top to hold your music player. Inside there is a hole to route the headphones into the adjoining pocket and them up from there through the rubber headphone wire slit.
- I found it quite a bit more comfortable than my Targus. It has lots of padding around the shoulder straps.
- The handle seem very tough and re-enforced.
- From the reviews it sounds like it should last too.
- No waist belt but I never really liked those and thought those just kind of get in the way.
- Inside there is a base piece you can flip down to make the backpack stand upright.
So far I really like this backpack, and it's quite the looker too. I'll update this post once I get to try it out more in the field on a vacation.
- ILM does the sfx and boy does it show. They really are at the top of their game. The sfx are probably some of the best I have ever seen. The interaction between CG and live action is just amazing. Every shot is chock full on transformers combined with live actors and it is very well done, very seamless. There are some seriously complex scenes (especially toward the end) that must have been very difficult to pull off. Transformations look amazing especially while they are in motion.
- The plot is fine for what it is.
- You get your typical way over the top, dramatic slow mow, patriotic music. If you've seen a Michael Bay movie then you know what I'm talking about. I expected it and enjoyed it. His directing style fits well with an animation to live action adaption.
- Megan Fox
- For a budget of $147 million dollars this movie looks as good if not better than the $258 million spent on spider-man 3.
- Hackers are pretty much a joke. What was the purpose of Maggie Madsen (the blond hacker) again?
- They really try a bit too hard establishing the human - autobot relationship. It's a bit forced. Some of it is just a bit silly (the whole yard and parents scene). I felt it needed more development with the relationships between the autobots.
- Quite a few funny lines and a few moaners.
- It's PG13 but pretty mild IMO. It's not quite a kids movie but there is no blood, no graphic violence when the few humans die, and no cursing.
Overall I was very impressed with this great action popcorn movie despite having a couple of flaws.
9/10
I've moved all the older Polls to this post so the main page doesn't get too cluttered. You can still vote in these polls if you haven't already.
Poll Archive
Gaming PC
I'll keep this post updated with the specs of my current gaming rig so you have a point of reference on performance when I review PC games.
os: Windows 7 x64 ultimate
Cpu: core i7 860
cpu cooling: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
cpu temps: 25-35c idle, 58 under occt
mb: GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P
ps: Thermaltake 750w toughpower
memory: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
video: XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850
sound: on board
hd: 1.5 TB Seagate .11
case: Antec 900
preferred gaming resolution: 1920X1200
monitor: Westinghouse 24" LCD Monitor (L2410NM)
speakers: Logitech z5300e 5.1 THX
Home Theater (family room)
- Sharp Aquos LC-52D64U 52" LCD HDTV
- Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver
- speakers: Definitive Technology ProCinema 1000 Plus: 4X ProMonitor 1000, ProCenter 2000, ProSub 1000
- furniture: BDI Avion 8529 (espresso)
- Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HDC (DVR, Live TV, Time shifting)
- Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250HD (hooked up by firewire to htpc for channel changing and capturing premium content to the pc through component using the HD-PVR at 720p)
- HTPC
- XBOX 360 (my second one with hdmi) with hd-dvd drive
- Playstation 3 60gb (HDMI)
- Nintendo Wii (component)
Game/Computer Room
- Samsung LN46A630
- Onkyo GXW 5.1
- Playstation 3 40gb (HDMI)
- Xbox 360 (VGA)
- XBOX (component)
- Playstation 2 (component)
- Samsung DVD Recorder
- Joytech 240c Switch
- Psyclone PSC01 Switch
- Popcorn Hour
- Dell Precision WorkStation 450 (got it for free, using as an htpc)
- Sony Wireless Headphone MDR-IF240RK
- motorola dct2224 (hooked up to a pc through serial for channel changing and svideo to a pvr 250 for recording SD premium content)
Master Bedroom
- Samsung LNR409D 40" LCD HDTV
- Onkyo GXW 5.1
- Philips dvp 642 Progressive Scan DVD Player
- SFF PC (this is also the PC I take to LAN parties)
- Sony Wireless Headphone MDR-IF240RK
English to Chinese BETA
English to French
English to German
English to Italian
English to Japanese BETA
English to Korean BETA
English to Russian BETA 
English to Spanish
