Articles, Tutorials and Reviews

In which we get the hottest video game system from Christmas 2006 and turn it into a Linux box? You bet!
If you’re still thinking about video game systems as being just a wee bit more technologically advanced than an old Coleco or Atari 800, you’ve got quite a surprise coming the first time you crack open the proverbial hood. While the new Nintendo Wii (pronounced “wee”, oddly enough) has some slick hardware, as does the Microsoft Xbox 360 device, the real winner in the technology race is the rather amazing Sony Playstation 3 system.
Built around an IBM Cell Broadband Engine processor, the PS3 includes a high def Blu-ray drive, four USB 2.0 ports, an Nvidia graphics processor with 256MB of separate video RAM, support for Compact Flash, SD and Memory Stick devices, Ethernet, built-in 802.11b and g, Bluetooth, an HDMI port and support for all the video resolutions you can imagine, including 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and the holy grail, 1080p. Sounds like a computer, not a video game system, doesn’t it?

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[This is a reader-contributed article]
For the longest time my wife has wanted a hands free system in her car so that she did not have to use a headset or handle the phone while driving. Her description always included a cradle setup, but she did not know where to put the cradle in the car (a 2002 Audi A6).
For her birthday this year I finally took the initiative and did some research. I found that there are some very good bluetooth solutions out there. My wife’s Treo 700p is — mostly — bluetooth capable, but more on that later.
For various reasons, including good reviews, reputation (Motorola seems to know a thing or two about voice communications), features and price I went with the Motorola IHF1000 Car Kit.
There really didn’t seem to be much to the kit when it came in the mail, though: an interface (they call it a UIM for “User Interface Module”), a control module (a rectangular black box), a 5W speaker, a microphone and a wiring harness. I thought the speaker was redundant since I had planned to use the car’s audio system for receiving calls, but that plan changed as installation progressed…

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Technology has changed dramatically in the last decade, but perhaps nowhere more than with cellular phone technology. From being a device for dialing numbers cellphones have evolved to where they’re a portable entertainment and media device, with music players, Web access, and even the ability to play videos and television content.
Some companies are pushing this set of capabilities further, and I was intriguied when Cellfire sent me a Sony-Ericsson phone with its coupon system pre-installed. I tested it out and was surprised by what I found…

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Just before Christmas, Polk Audio sent me one of their new I-Sonic all-in-one entertainment system to review, and it has been in my office ever since, giving me a chance to experience XM Radio and HD Radio, among other things. Does it sound nice? Most definitely. Is it worth $599? Well… let’s talk about the pro’s and con’s of the unit before I answer that question.

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After having spent the last year learning everything about the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), is there really a better device for watching movies away from your television? To find out, we bought a Creative Labs Zen Vision:W video player and were surprised and pleased to find out that it’s a far, far superior portable media player than the PSP in just about every way.

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I was recently interviewed by a magazine about search engine marketing and search engine optimization, specifically whether big companies are missing the boat and whether smaller companies are paying too much attention to SEO or not. Their questions and my answers follow.

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It’s something that companies have been trying to perfect for years now, a digital book. A device that has all the physical characteristics and benefits of a book while also having the benefits of a digital device, including vast storage, annotation capabilities, networking, animations, and much more. So far, every launch has failed, but in the last few months Sony has come out with its Sony Reader, the PRS-500, and this might just have what it takes…

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If you hop from PC to PC, do you really trust that they don’t have spyware, malware or viruses installed, hiding in the operating system? What if you could carry a cheap little keychain pendant that not only offered you storage, but also included effective, easy-to-use anti-virus and anti-spyware applications with which you can quickly scan that suspicious PC and make sure it really is safe for you to use? These devices are just coming out and I had a chance to put one through its paces…

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