It has been a busy summer

I'm basically finished tomorrow...!

Awkward Rap

I heart Ward Maps

While in Boston, Lauren introduced me to this great little map store called Ward Maps. Ward Maps sells historical maps from thousands of cities across the globe. This particular store caters to the Boston area with maps from as early as 1835. We quickly found a late 1800's map of Lauren's neighborhood in Cambridge and lamented that we don't have jobs and thus could not afford the $170 price tag. But, Ward Maps will reprint any map they have (starting in the $20 range), including sections of maps if you want to feature a particular block of interest. The store also sells specialty gifts such as messenger bags, coasters and t-shirts with your favorite map printed on them.



Check out their full lineup of maps and gifts at www.wardmaps.com

Playstation Portable Slim

As a few of you know, I have been hot and cold on whether to buy a Playstation Portable (PSP) for some time now. I am not much of a gamer, and when I do play games, it is usually of the original Nintendo variety (TecmoBowl anyone?). Since my birthday was on the 10th, I decided to go for it, picking up the $200 PSP Daxter Pack which included the PSP Slim, 1GB memory card, Daxter game and Family Guy UMD video. Considering Best Buy sold the PSP for $170 without a mem card (1gb is $25), I figured I could pay an extra $5 for a game and movie.

Needless to say, I have been impressed with the PSP so far. The Daxter game is meh, I've only played it once. I watched a couple episodes of the Family Guy, funny as usual. But the best part about this device is homebrew software scene. Thanks to pspslimhacks.com, I hacked my PSP to run a bevy of open source homebrewed software, including game emulators and internet video players and audio players. Now I can play Mario Kart on a flight or listen to KCRW at a wireless hotspot!

Check out more at pspslimhacks.com, or just google PSP hacks....there are tons of these sites out there with tutorials to help you set everything up.

PostSecret

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I just finished my first year of school and have been basking in my free time.

During that time I have been checking out some new blogs. One of them is PostSecret, which is a continuation of a book by the same name. After flipping through Lauren's copy of the book, I found myself intrigued by people willing to share their deepest secrets for this project. I have posted a sample "secret" below. Be sure to check out the blog every Sunday.

Death by Nalgene?

There is a very interesting article on Sepia Mutiny (via the NYT) about the possible health risks of using Nalgene bottles. Apparently Canada is about to declare bisphenol-a, or B.P.A, a toxic chemical. B.P.A is used in polycarbonate plastics, the same plastics that make up that bottle you love.

Unfortunately, I just purchased a Nalgene bottle from the U. of Michigan store a couple weeks ago. If you are convinced that your Nalgene bottle is going to kill you, be sure to recycle it (recycle symbol 7).

BTW, Nalgene seems to be addressing the issue by phasing out bottles which contain BPA. Let's see if the brand can recover from this kind of hit.

Ethan Kaplan on Mahalo Daily

Interesting episode of Mahalo Daily featuring Ethan Kaplan, VP of Technology at Warner Bros Records. The topic is the blending of music and technology. You can watch it here, and check out Ethan's blog at blackrimglasses.com

The Virgins [band] are awesome!

Check out their sounds on their homepage or MySpace page. (thanks to M.McQuinn and his annual best of mix)

I still want a MacBook Air...

but I'll settle for one of these:

Revision3 - Stop watching network TV!

I hate paying for cable (and all the shows and content I will never watch). Revision3, and other IPTV networks, work to break the old cable model by letting you choose the content that you actually want. A few of my favorite Rev3 shows include Diggnation, The Totally Rad Show, and Tekzilla. You can subscribe to Rev3 video podcasts through Apple's iTunes (my pref), the Miro IPTV player, or watch them directly on their website.

Pandora.com

is awesome. Most of you already know about Pandora Online Radio and it's sweet sweet tunes, but for the few that don't...check it out.

Viigo - RSS Reader for Mobile Devices

Hands down, the best RSS reader I've used on a mobile device. I've been using Viigo on my Blackberry 8700c for about two months and it is super slick. It's much sleeker than reading news and blogs on the clunky Blackberry web browser and is faster than Opera Mini (on my device). Viigo comes preloaded with some popular RSS feeds, but I was able to customize it with my favorite feeds in a few minutes.

Check it out at viigo.com.

April 1st ;)

Panasonic DVD-CP67 5 Disc DVD Changer

The Panasonic DVD-CP67 basically filled a need. I wanted a DVD changer because I 1) wanted progressive scan and 2) was tired of getting up to switch discs on multi-DVD sets (sorry, I get lazy sometimes). For that purpose, it has served well. It can play MP3 CDs, but I have never used it for that. The player uses component video to connect to my TV and optical audio to my Denon receiver, the optimal connections for my current hardware.

A side note....many people have said that this DVD player is crap. If you see the H07 code on the display, it essentially means your player is now a brick and Panasonic is going to charge you a boatload to fix it. Luckily, I have not received said code....knock on wood.

Infinity Primus Series Speakers

I purchased the Infinity Primus speakers at the same time as my Denon receiver. These speakers and this receiver truly compliment each other. Not a ton of power here, especially from the sub. But if you have a smaller room, this set is perfect. As a side note, I don't buy Monster cable, as I feel it is overpriced. I typically find cable of similar specs from a no-name-brand manufacturer. This has worked well for me.

Center Channel: Primus C25
Front: 2 x Primus 160 bookshelf
Rear: 2 x Primus 150 bookshelf
Subwoofer: PS-8

here is a review of the 150s
here is a review of the PS-8 sub

Denon AVR-1403

The center of my AV system. I have had this trusty entry-level amp/receiver for about four years and it is still running strong. While it doesn't have the power to shake the earth (70W per channel) and could user a few more features (video switching), it does have DTS 5.1 and Dolby Pro Logic II and fills my 12'x 17' living room with sound quite nicely. Plenty of audio inputs for my needs, though it could use a second optical audio port. Overall, this receiver this delivers crisper sound than many of the mid-range products I looked at and I'm extremely happy with it.

Review