2011-3
26

Duke Nukem Forever delayed…again

Category: Gaming | No Comments

You may have read in my blog about 3 May 2011 being a special day…that was the scheduled release date for Duke Nukem Forever – which it seemed like it was taking forever to complete.

Read my previous post here.

Well the new owners of the franchise – Gearbox – posted this video to let all know that it has once again been delayed (sadly many were expecting this).

Anyway at least they have a sense of humor…check it out.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6fFKkmIrWM]

 

New release date – for the time being – 10th or 14th June 20xx…

2011-3
25

A Tablet PC for under R700,00 (shipping included)

Category: Android | No Comments

For sometime now I have been watching the Tablet market here locally.

The Apple iPad (yes it is beautiful) is ridiculously expensive, and even with the iPad 2 (not touched one yet) being recently released overseas the prices locally on iPad 1 only dropped like R800,00 off the R8000,00 price tag for the top of the range one.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab (7″) is a comfortable size but also the cash price of R7000,00 does not position it for the everyday person – besides with the cellular providers pushing it as a “phone” tablet, I personally think they missed the mark…

So I started looking at the Chinese “clone” tablets. There are so many on Ebay you can get really lost between all the different models. A downside with taking this route however is that the Google Market does not “recognize” these devices so loading apps can happen either by downloading the APK file on your PC then installing it via USB or MicroSD card, or by trying an alternative App Market.

Now the reason for my wanting a tablet is mainly for EBook reading, watching the occasional YouTube video in bed or checking Gmail or updating Facebook status. A 10″ screen would be great (you know for reading magazines etc) but a 7″ should be usable I recon.

So this last night I was browsing one of my favorite online stores – Lightake.com – and  I see that they have an Android 7″ tablet Eken M009S for – $89.99.  (Do exchange conversion here)

Check out the special here –

http://www.lightake.com/detail.do/sku.36837~C.PZ1227272010BTGYLZEY

Here are some pictures I got off another site:

Here are the specs from the manufacturers page:

Specifications:

– MID (Mobile Internet Device) 7″ with 0.3MP camera
– Operating System : Android 2.2
– CPU:VIA8650 800MHz
– RAM: 256MB DDR2
– NAND Flash : 2GB
– 7″ Touch Screen 16:9 / Resolution : 800*480
– WIFI: 802.11 b/g
– Support External 3G (via USB)
– Orientation sensor: G-sensor ,automatic steering display screen
– With E-Book function , office word processing and “Document To Go” ( Microsoft Word,Excel, PPT and PDF)
– Support E-mail: G-mail; Yahoo mail ; Hotmail . POP3 and SMTP account are supported
– Communication software : Fring; SkypeOut; MSN;Skype and GTalk.
– Others: Weather; Clock; Calendar; Calculator; Contacts; Picture Capture
– Support Audio play :
Audio Formats: MP2; MP3; WAV; AAC; WMA
– Support Video play :
720p playing ,Video Formats: MPEG1/2/4; MJPG; H263; H264
– Slot List :
TF x 1 ( maximum : 32GB)
30pin data interface x 1
Stereo Audio Out x 1
Microphone in x 1
– Rechargeable Li-Polyer
– Battery: 1600MAh ,7.4V

Not to bad specs if you consider the price being paid for it… Remember this is NOT an iPad – definitely not at that price!

Here is a YouTube video of the device being used:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXYkKtnyKJo]

 

Now what is great about Lightake is that the price you see is the price you pay as it includes FREE shipping worldwide. In case you are wondering – yes I have ordered from them before, many times, and I have yet to have a shipping problem with them; and if you order over $15 then they give a tracking number also – so you can harass the Post Office on delivery (normally 3-4 weeks)…there is an option for EMS shipping (5-8 working days) but that would be an extra R250 on the price 🙁

I placed my order last night – 24 March – so I will keep you updated on the progress…and take photos of unboxing…

HURRY as this offer expires soon! – (Sunday 27 March 2011)

http://www.lightake.com/detail.do/sku.36837~C.PZ1227272010BTGYLZEY

2011-3
24

Radiation Levels – What is acceptable?

Category: Interesting Finds | No Comments

They are known as the “Fukushima 50”; the workers at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station who are working tirelessly to prevent a nuclear meltdown at the plant.  This all after the impact the earthquakes as well as tsunami’s have had on the nuclear plant and more specifically Japan earlier this month.

These “Fukushima 50” are exposing themselves to extremely high levels of radiation to ensure the safety of millions in Japan. Only time will tell if their sacrifice has been in vain or not. As my wife pointed out to me, these people are actually “dead men walking” as there is no way that they will survive the exposure…sad but true…and yet heroic.

This got me thinking…we are all exposed to some level of radiation everyday. What is acceptable and what is not? Seems that Randall Munroe wondered that also, but then put together a chart showing how radiation is measured.

Seems that ionizing radiation absorption dose is measured in a unit called a “sievert” (Sv).

Now have a peak of the values in the pic below, first at the blue section, then enough of this blue makes up the green section, and so on to the red and then yellow values…click on the pic for the full picture.

Hectic to  think that that amount of radiation the people were exposed to at Chernobyl in only 10 minutes…and we all know how that disaster turned out.

So spare a thought today for the heroes known as the “Fukushima 50” as well as the loved ones that they will be leaving behind.

(Source: xkcd)

2011-3
23

Sierra – Johnny Castaway Screensaver

Category: Sierra | 3 Comments

Like I have stated before, I have a very special place in my heart for “old school” games made by a company called Sierra.

Now sadly the founders of Sierra, Ken and Roberta Williams, sold the company many years ago to enjoy life on a very large boat; and the brand has been sold a few times since and now currently belongs to Activision.

Today’s post is about a screen saver that Sierra published, and eventually  gave away for free, called Screen Antics – Johnny Castaway.

The screensaver depicts a man – Johnny – stranded on a very small island with a single palm tree. It follows a story which is slowly revealed through time. It takes many days to catch on to the story. While Johnny eats, fishes, builds sand castles, and sleeps on a regular basis, there are a number of unusual events such as the island getting crushed by a ship that Johnny attracted, Johnny getting tied up, and a mermaid coming to the island.

On holidays like Christmas there will be a Christmas tree on the island. St Patricks day four leaf clovers will sprout out the sand. Over Halloween a pumpkin cut into a Halloween-type lantern, appears at the front of the island.

I stumbled upon the following website while looking for a Johnny Castaway Live Wallpaper for my Android phone – http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gnudawn/johnny/index.html . Sadly he does not have a live wallpaper for Android, but he has links to the next best thing…a working screensaver for Windows XP/Vista and even a tip how to get it to run on Linux!  Believe me I immediately downloaded and tested it on my Ubuntu PC at home and it works like a charm!

Here is a YouTube clip if you want to check what all Johnny gets up to on the island

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVgGfKY91Lg]

 

Go on! What you still waiting for? Download it and protect your screen today! The good old days – what was your favorite screensaver?

(BTW: Anyone know where I can get a live wallpaper Johnny Castaway for my phone?)

2011-3
22

Lighterside: Different Mustaches for Mario

Category: LighterSide | No Comments

Continuing with Monday’s Mario theme…How would Mario look like if he tried out different styles of mustaches… Well no more wondering… Artist Mike Stefanini from Atomike Studios helps us with that one…

Introducing the different “mo” mustache options for Mario…   (Source: Atomike Studio)

2011-3
21

Monday Movie Mix: Mario Mix

Category: Movies and TV | No Comments

Todays Monday Movie Mix is focused on Mario – from the famous Nintendo games…come on you must know who I am talking about…

 

(1) What if Mario was a First Person Shooter game?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBb9wFP7uZM]

(2) Real life Mario Kart by french artist Rémi Gaillard

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT1pWo0WZJE]

(3) Super Mario played on the Violin – amazing!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSBefGi7F-Y]

(4) How to beat Super Mario in 5 minutes – this could have saved me hours!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yl_XPkcTl4]

(5) Hacking a Kinect to play Mario on a PC – serious workout!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CTJL5lUjHg]

 

(Source: YouTube)