unsolicitedDave

Our first child is due in just a few weeks, and one of the things on my todo list was selecting a baby monitor. Looking at the state-of-the-art, I cringed at the idea of buying a device that was going to have only a single viewing device, have substandard range, and interfere with my wifi network. Why not just use a wifi camera instead? With a wifi camera I could get perfect reception anywhere on my wifi (or the world), and view it on any device in my home. One failed attempt and some advice from my gadgeteer advisors, and I now have the perfect at-home wifi baby monitor solution!

I'm a huge fan of the original Apple Shuffle. The one with the USB plug built right into it, so I didn't have to carry (and lose) a custom charging and sync cable. I still own three of them, and often have one in close proximity. The arrival of the 2nd generation shuffle disappointed me, since the killer feature for me was the built-in USB plug. The 2nd gen shuffle used a new custom cable which was not mini-usb, and not the same as the larger ipods. Apple's Shuffle team has dug deeper into the hole and made a 3rd generation device which not only requires a custom charge cable, but also requires the Apple supplied headphones to navigate. Yuck.

I own a PRS-500, PRS-505, and Kindle1. While the PRS-505 is my favorite hardware so far, all of these digital book devices are stillborn by the seriously tiny book selection. My unscientific estimate says that less than 1 in 10 books I try to buy is available electronically for either device. You could put nuclear fusion inside the bookreader so it never needed charging and I would still be reading paperbacks because that is where the content is. I'd like to see fewer press releases about minor adjustments to the technology, and more press releases about massive increases in digital book availability.

Are you aware that every piece of software you install on your computer could be a security risk? Today's operating systems, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, and MacOS X allow client software nearly unfettered access to your data. This means that any software you install can read your web browser cookies, your instant messenger conversations, your Quicken datafiles, and anything else on your computer. The data can be sifted through, or even uploaded to the Internet. Read on to learn about how unnecessary this unrestricted access is, and how operating systems could better protect your data.

Warhammer Online is a reasonable attempt, and over time it may even improve to the point of being a great MMO. However, currently, it falls short in a number of areas. Players who have enjoyed other fringe market MMOs such as Dark age of Camelot, City of Heroes, or Age of Conan may also enjoy the variety of Warhammer Online. However, I doubt their three month subscribed player-base will exceed a few hundred thousand, and I don't believe they will make a dent into World of Warcraft's dedicated player-base. Continue on to see my reasons why.

You might not know it from the stream of techie blog posts, but I'm a giant fan of the hit talent shows American Idol, and So you think you can dance. Take a peek underneath why Katee and Joshua's performance to Jordin Sparks' No Air, designed by the amazing choreographer duo Tabitha and Napoleon D'Umo reaches your emotional core and is so moving.

Loading seems to be my theme for the week. I played some Age of Conan last night as well and it's plagued with lots of loading.. Starting with the 4+ hour install process. I'm not kidding. Two DVDs, 25.2GB on my HD, 4+ hour install. I killed the loading time by playing GTA4, which sadly also has lots of cutscene loading. Once the game was installed the fun started, but the loading didn't stop...