Lips (plus some Zune love)?

Almost as if someone from Microsoft was reading my previous post, they released a brand new game at E3 that may breathe some life into the Zune: Lips.

Lips is basically a karaoke machine that uses your Xbox 360 as that huge cabinet thing that karaoke machines usually are. There will be songs that come along with the game, but the biggest feature will be the fact that you can plug in your Zune (or iPod) and sing along with your favorite songs that are on that device.

From what I understand, if you want the authentic karaoke feel that comes with the words on the screen, you will have to add the lyrics yourself.

Here is an interesting point that I happened to see in reading about this: What about streaming media? Think of the way sharing media  between your PC and the Xbox 360. Being able to watch movies and play music across the house using that service (if you set it up) is very convenient. Now think of being able to play every song in your collection in Lips, not just the limited space on your mp3 player of choice. 

This whole thing is very interesting and I cannot wait to see how it unravels.

Zune: My love/hate relationship

Alright, alright. Time to come clean. I have a Zune. To keep with the labeling that the iPod users, I would say that I have the 1st gen, 30gb Zune. What might be more surprising is this; I absolutely love it. If your asking, yes, I have had an iPod before. I like the Zune better.

Now, it is a love/hate relationship. For starters, I hate the Zune software. It’s such a memory hog, especially on my older Windows computer. Along with this comes the fact that it only works with that software. Now, being a semi-heavy Ubuntu user, this comes as a hassle. Whenever I want to sync a new album to my Zune, I either have to plug in my laptop with Windows on it or restart and choose Xp instead of Ubuntu at the GRUB dual-boot menu.

Ok, Wine 1.0. Some reason, it gives a weird error during the installation. So close, yet so far. Also, I don’t think there are too many fans of a Windows MP3 player that use Linux. I might be wrong, but for how long the Zune has been out, I would have guessed to see at least one open-source alternative.

But! The Zune has wifi! What can we use that for? Um…sending pictures? That is the most I’ve used the Zune’s wireless for. Oh, but I can sync wirelessly. Well that’s good. Until I drain the battery doing this, in which case I plug it in via USB to charge. I suppose I could use a wall charger, but it just seems unneccessary.

Pros now though:

• I love the album art. Yes, I know, iPod (Touch) has this, and they have coverflow! I really don’t like the idea of changing from portrait to landscape just to see album art. I realize the other iPods do as well, but I like the Zune’s big display, regardless of which generation it is.
• Radio – I don’t use it much, but I do.
• Wallpapers – As an enthusiast (I have more than 2k wallpapers for my computers), I think I may like this the most. I change the background on my Zune at least once a week.

So, do I have suggestions? Well, I think it would seem pretty easy to create a browser for the Zune. Using the center button to be able to “click” links, change the address, use the up and down to scroll through a site or through your bookmarks, left and right to go back and forward. This would also give us a reason to use the wireless chip that is in the Zune for something more than sampling music.

Also, Zune Marketplace integration. If you can buy songs via Itunes on the iPod, then why not do the same with Zune? I probably wouldn’t use it, but there is another reason to use the wifi.

These two simple things may drive sales a bit. I mean, I’m considering buying a 1st gen iPhone (assuming prices will go down because of former users wanting to upgrade to the iPhone 3g, which is only $200) just to have the wireless browsing capability. Mind you, I’m at a University where if you are on campus, you are in a hotspot. Also, I already have AT&T.

So Microsoft, instead of letting me see what my friends who happen to have a Zune and an Xbox 360 what they are playing via “Zune Tag,” do something meaningful with your product; the only thing even remotely close to an “iPod killer.”

More Eee Desktop Details

Ho!! A follow-up to my last post comes more details to the upcoming “Ebox,” the Eee Desktop. The biggest detail: choices. Three choices. Count them, 3.

The three different setups are:

• $269 1GB memory + 80GB HDD Linux edition
• $299 1GB memory + 80GB HDD XP edition
• $299 2GB memory + 160GB HDD Linux edition

I’d have to say that I’d prefer the top model, the 2gb +160 Linux model. Each also comes with built in wifi & some essentials, such as 2 front & back USB ports, card reader, etc. Also, with a 1.6ghz processor, this isnt a bad computer for this price. Mind you, this is without a monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

So, if you are looking for a cheap desktop, I’d have to say that this would be one of the cheapest ones out there, as well as a pretty powerful one.

Asus Eee…Desktop??

I have been excited since the Asus Eee laptop came out. The idea of a laptop the size of a hardcover book and a small price tags pretty much my dream. But, the downfalls: small display, small memory size, relatively small RAM, and a small processor. [7in screen, 900mhz, 4gb hdd, 512 ram].

Recently, Asus has released that they will be releasing a desktop version of their popular laptop, which they refer to as the Ebox. The desktop version will possess much more respectable stats. The most noted would have to be the 160gb HDD & the 2gb of RAM, both of which are standard on the base model. Also, the price is expected to be between $200-$300.

This would make desktops even cheaper than they already are. The only problem is the current trend of laptops. It seems that almost everyone prefers a laptop except for serious PC gamers. It’s going to be interesting to how well it sells.

Enter: Google Reader

Well, I’ve done it. I dove into the world of RSS. Surprisingly, it’s not that bad.

After looking over a few, I decided to use Google Reader. Heres why:

1. I don’t have to download anything new. (Which is sometimes a problem because I use both Ubuntu & XP)
2. I didn’t have to sign up for anything new.
3. Since I use a bunch of Google’s different services; I basically already knew what to expect and how to use it.
4. Check it from anywhere.
5. Easy to add new feeds in Firefox.

Those are the main reasons why I chose Google Reader. So far, I’m really enjoying it, which kind of surprises me. The only downsides are how many new things to read a day ( usually 100+ when I wake up and check it ) and the fact that I feel bad for not actually visiting the site. The fact that these sites pay so much for designers and all I’m doing is taking text and pictures from it kind of bugs me, for some reason.

If you check various sites a day [I have 4 folders + 6 sites extra in my Reader right now], then I highly suggest giving RSS feeds a try, Google’s in particular. I don’t think it’s an overload of information, because I still pick what I want to read in the feeds. Just being able to check one site vs. checking 10 sites is so convienient that I’d suggest it to everyone.

RSS Readers?

In this “information” age we are in, a lot of computer users are using programs called RSS readers, which basically grab headlines from whatever websites you tell it to grab. I believe almost every major news site has an RSS set up (CNN, ESPN, etc), but even blogs have them set up to give you their headlines in this form.

Now, I’ve never even used an RSS reader. I’m a traditional bookmarker, and I just check my favorite sites daily for updates. As of late, I have been seeing a lot of opinions on which ones are better than others. Mozilla’s Thunderbird has one in it, and I do use that to get my email, so I have considered that. I’ve also heard of Google Reader, which seems to be a pretty popular one.

I’ve always thought that I might get an overload of information this way. Also, this would be an easier way to check websites, so I feel that I might read more this way. (For example, I usually don’t keep up with popular news, just blogs.)

I have a feeling I might set one up this week. I’ll let you know how the whole experience goes.

Hello World

Well I’ve always wanted to start a blog, so here it is! Rejoice!

As I’m sure that your all aware of, I attend WVU. A great school, really. Pretty well known around the country, primarily for our football and partying. Even though I think that has been decreasing since I’ve been there, we are still the #1 party school in the nation. So for a first post, I figured I should share this.

Four electrical engineering students (two of which I’ve had class with) decided to create a beer pong table of epic proportions. Now, I’ve seen the automated ball washers. I’ve even seen lights. Both together, plus music sensors and moving lights to show the triangle and washers? And a flying WV logo? Apparently awesome enough to make it to Gizmodo.

$1000 + 400 hours of labor = drinking Natural Light on your awesome table. But it’s worth it.