Enough with the stupid iPod accessories already!

I recently came accross an article in the New York Times that talked about the direction iPod accessories are going. This article does not discuss all the high tech headphones, cases and speakers that you might expect, but it talks about the most rediculous, almost useless new accessories that have recently been developed. Take for example, the FUNKit robotic D.J. This device, as you may gather from the name of it, is a robot that plays music through an iPod. Not only does it play music, but it dances to the music, scratches on it faux record player, has L.E.D flashing lights and has yells out really sweet catch phrases like, "drop the beat!" Personally, I think this could be the most usefull iPod accessory of all time. And this is not the only sweet new accessory either. For example, there is the iPal, which is a stuffed animal with built in speakers (sadly it does not dance or scratch), and there is the equally cool Movin' and Groovin' line of potted plants with hidden speakers. I could go on listing these new accessories but the list is too long, seriously. I know...its sad.

After laughing at these rediculous devices for nearly a half hour, i'm embarassed to admit that i actually started to kind of like them. Sure, they are a complete waste of money and are mostly useless, but in my opinion, that is why they are kinda cool. What really sealed the deal for me is when i saw a short video clip of the FUNKit robotic D.J. in action. Hopefully you will all find it as entertaining as i found it. In the article attached at the bottom there is a link to see the product dancing and scratching in action and it really is quite funny. check it out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/technology/22ipod.html?pagewanted=2&ref=technology

Does class online really work?

Thinking back on last week's online class, one over-arching question remained in my mind: Does it actually work? It is somewhat ironic that we decided to hold class online that day, because i had just turned in my Crossfire essay which conveniently was on online education. Through most of my research, most sources claimed that online class discussions worked well and fostered good conversations. Yet when i look back on my experience in an online class discussion, all i can think is 'what the hell is wrong with all these people, what do they see in these discussions???' For me, the whole experienced either seemed too frantic and unorganized (the unregulated discussion), or extremely slow and an ineffiecient use of time (regulated discussion). The only thing that i liked about the online discussion is that i could do other things online or watch TV.

Comming back to my original question, "does it really work?", I still have a hard time deciding. All of the research I did told me that it does indeed work, yet when i enter an online class discussion myself i find it extremely annoying and ineffeicient. I guess, just like in the Crossfire essay, I am going to have to call this issue a draw... i really can't decide.

Apple Vs. Cisco: The iPhone battle continues

If you have not previously heard, there is a large controversey revolving around the name of Apple's new phone, the iPhone. Since 2000, Cisco, the world's largest networking equipment company has owned the rights to the name, "iPhone." Under the Linksys name (a Cisco trademark name) the company has been shipping out their own iPhone which is used as a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Both companies are trying to reach an agreement outside the court room, but as of yet, no agreement has been made. Thus far, Cisco has agreed to let Apple use the name iPhone only if the device can be used to communicate with Cisco's iPhone; and agreement which apple calls rediculous. We will all find out on Wednesday (ferderal court deadline) whether or not Apple's revolutionary phone will really be called iPhone.

Game Addicts

Back in class on monday when we were discussing addiction to computer games, i was a little hesitant to believe that one could truly be addicted. I knew that people could be , "hooked" or "obsessed" but not truely addicted. Well now i can confidently conclude that it is entirely possible to be addicted to video games. I found a short new story on youtube about addicted games and i thought that it was very interesting. I won't go into a lot of detail describing it but there were a few things that really caught my attention. One statistic given was that 40% of all World Of Warcraft players are addicted...wow (no pun intended). Anyway, i think that you should all check this out and i'd like to hear anybody's opinions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8hfK3RQs2g

eLearning n00bs

One source i am using for my Crossfire essay is titled, "The Instructor's Challenge: Helping 'Newbies." I found this article particularly interesting because in many instances i could relate to some of the ideas being discussed. I consider myself somewhat of a technology noob and i personally think that i might have a hard time adapting to online education. The article breaks the issue down into major parts:
*Clear and well-designed course materials
*Accessible technical support
*Personalized contact
Throughout the article the author discusses the need to make these three areas easy and straightforward for students. This was a great source for learning about the possible pitfalls as well as resolutions of online education.

Vista: Great new product or complete ripoff?

We've all heard it, Microsoft Vista is a complete and utter ripoff of Mac OSX. While browsing Youtube, i came across a funny video done by the New York Times that points out these similarities. My intent of this post is not to start a war between Mac and PC users, but it is to see your reactions to these claims made by people against Vista. Even if you are a Windows fan, i think that you will get a kick out of seeing this video; i think that it is a very well done short report.

Check it out!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QT6YO30GhmQ

South Park related to class????

I never thought it would happen, but I can finally relate one of my favorite TV shows, South Park, to a class discussion/assignment. As I was going through my library of TV shows on iTunes, I stumbled upon one of my favorite episodes entitled, Make Love, Not Warcraft. This episode is basically a parody on the popular game The World of Warcraft. It depicts the lives of many addicted MUDers and it shows just how seriously some people can take the game. To describe the plot of the episode in short, a 40ish year old man with, "absolutely no life," has taken over the game by reaching a previously thought unreachable level of strength and is going around the game killing everybody in it. To stop him from taking over the game, the main characters need to train and stop the evil gamer.
I think the episode does a great job exposing one point of view of MUD's and the World of Warcraft. It nearly addresses every issue we talked about for the first two weeks of class. I personally think this episode is one of the best South Park episodes of all time and i think that everybody would get a kick out of watching it. If you have seen this episode, i would be interested in hearing your reactions to it.