carlspanoghe.com blogs

DEAL ALERT: Babylon Central Soundtrack (feat. Thievery Corporation) for $0.99

Carl — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:26:30 +0000

Not sure if it is a mistake or not, but if it is you'd better rush to it. The reggaelicious soundtrack to Babylon Central was released today. I found out because Gizmodo said they had a Thievery Corporation song for free. I clicked on the album out of curiosity and found that the entire album is $.99! The link below should auto-update if they change the price, but it is worth checking out!

FCC DISCLAIMER: I will earn somewhere around $0.04 if you click on the link and purchase the album for $.99. Amazon.com once gave me a free travel mug circa 1999.

Build a Sweet Sound System for your Smart Fortwo for Under $600

Carl — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:04:11 +0000

I love my Smart Fortwo, but the one thing I found lacking was the sound system it came with. I didn't have the stock one, but the one my dealer had put in wasn't too great. It was a single-din CD player and some dual-cone door speakers. The problem was that having just two speakers by your feet doesn't really cut it if you like to hear the full sound of the music you are listening to. Recently my car was broken into and I had to replace the stereo, so I decided to upgrade a bit. I decided to make a list based on what I got (not all the components are exact, but it is close based on what Amazon sells today). Here's how to transform your smart into a great mobile sound system on a tiny budget.

The above, depending on Amazon's ever-fluctuating prices, should run around $540, assuming you do the installation yourself. Now I'll get into some more details and tips about the components and how to install them (note: I will update this post soon with demonstration pictures. say tuned).

The head-unit: The AVIC-U310BT from Pioneer is a nifty double-din unit that includes IPOD integration, navigation, and compatibility with a host of other devices like USB memory sticks, Sirius tuners, XM tuners, HD Radio tuners, etc. Using the adapter above, it will look attractive in your Smart to the point of looking like it is actually supposed to be there. You can even customize the color of the LED's on the unit to match those of the interior of the car. I found that "Amber" works very well for that purpose. The one catch with this unit is that unlike the $700 units with bigger screens, there are basically no POI's to speak of. Though there are parks and public spaces, there are no gas stations, supermarkets, restaurants, etc. For that you have to pay an extra $99 to Pioneer for an SD card loaded with them. However, you can also create your own .CSV files and download them off of places like POIFriend.com for free. You can even make a custom list for a road trip you are going on (I'll write another post about this later). All in all, I recommend this. Please note: mine shipped with an old firmware that caused it to crash all the time when pairing with my blackberry. If this happens, use the link below to update the firmware to 1.0003. That totally fixed the issue for me. Sure, it doesn't have a 7" screen, and you'll have to make your own POI lists or type in the address of your destination sometimes, but hey its not $700-$1000, and it is sort of nice to have those physical knobs and dials in addition to the GPS.
The sub: I actually have the Bass 600 in my car, which is a bit smaller but really fills out the bass tones much more. The only reason I put the Bass 1200 is that today for some reason the Bass 600 is a lot more expensive on Amazon. It was built for pickup trucks to go under the seat, and it may not look like much but in the tiny cabin of the smart, you'll be hearing the full range of your music that you are supposed to be hearing. Some people put it underneath the dash in on the passenger's side, but I'm worried about de-magnetizing my iPod in the glovebox. I used the included screws to attach it to the almost-vertical wall behind my driver's seat. It sits there, not in the way of anything, is well-ventilated, and sounds great. I was able to fish all the wires under the carpet. It took an afternoon to do it, but I'm no electrician and I figured it out.
The head unit adapter: The material on this looks exactly like the material on my wife's smart's stock radio, so it looks as stock as it is going to get :)
The speakers: These were the first ones that came up on my search results. I have whatever the dealer decided to put in there, and they sound good. Any 5.25" speaker will do in the smart, so that is up to your preference.
Connecting an iPod: Pioneer says you need to get a $20 cable to connect your Ipod to the system. In reality there is a USB port on the back of the unit, and you can just use the white cable provided with your iPod. I used the male-to-female USB cable that came with the head unit and fished that into my glovebox (there is some space above it on the side). I then plugged my white iPod cable into that inside my glovebox. That way if someone comes with another USB device or thumbdrive, I can plug that in too.
The GPS antenna. The system comes with a GPS antenna that is about one-inch square. I found that a great place to hide this is underneath the plastic center console, which will be off anyways for your stereo installation. I also put my Fastrack in there.
The Bluetooth mic: Yes, this stereo has Bluetooth too! There is a gap to the right of where the stereo goes in where you'll be able to fish the mic through and clip it onto the right-side-wall of the cubby next to the steering wheel.

Here are some helpful links to help you with the install and operation of your new sound system:

http://www.evilution.co.uk/212 - How to remove your stock stereo (helpful on how to remove the bits of the dash to get access. The rest of the evilution site, by the way, is extremely valuable for DIY stuff on your smart.
avic411.com/forum/viewforum.php - Forum on the Pioneer AVIC U310BT
poifriend.com/ - Great place to download POI's for the navigation system
www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/In-Dash/GPS-Navigation-Systems/Download+AVIC+FEEDS - download the AVIC software for your PC
www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/In-Dash/GPS-Navigation-Systems/AVIC-U310BT - download the firmware update for your receiver (IMPORTANT)

FCC Disclaimer: I have never recieved anything from any of the manufacturers above gratis. However, if you purchase by clicking the links above, I will get referral fees. If you found this helpful, go ahead and use those links and I hope you enjoy your Smart Fortwo as much as I do :)

8 Bit and Pixels - a Smashing Mashup

Carl — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:37:46 +0000

Since I listen to industrial and I'm somewhat of a geek, I've recently been enjoying a new album by Mind.In.A.Box called R.E.T.R.O. In it the band recreates a bunch of classic old games into modern synthpop/industrial. It's a good album and you should check it out. After a week of constantly switching between that and Destroid's Loundspeaker, I saw the now viral short film, PIXELS on Youtube. It's a great short film by Patrick Jean in which New York gets invaded by pixels. It is a rather geeky apocalyptic setting, so I really enjoyed it. However that night, I was thinking about the film and this really catchy song from R.E.T.R.O, "8-Bit" kept running through my head. It was then I realized I had no choice but to create a mashup! See the final result after the jump.

I definitely don't want to infringe on either artist and claim any credit for the video--the film is by Patrick Jean and is a work of genius in itsself--see the original here. The song is by one of my favourite bands, Mind.In.A.Box. I highly recommend listening to their first three albums in succession on a long road trip (they double both as musical albums and a sort of saga involving an agent named Black looking for some sort of mysterious cyber-punk character). I hope this mashup brings the some more publicity to this band, as they are relatively unknown outside of industrial circles and maybe Austria. You can find the 8-Bit track here, or purchase the mp3 of the track straight from Amazon.

Awesome Beetle Camper Available in 1974 - Why Not Now?

Carl — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:44:03 +0000

The 1970's brought an awesome top-mounting camping trailer for small cars like the Beetle. It had excellent maneuverability, was light-weight, and the central mounting gave it great stability. Today we the smart is much more powerful than the old Beetle, but we're hard pressed to find anything similar here. Why's that? Video below . . .

LiveLeak - Beetle Trailer Video

Sea-Foam on Mile Rock Beach Affects My Friend's Judgement

Carl — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:47:15 +0000

My friend Pat came to visit this weekend, and we decided to take a walk on the Land's End Trail. We ended up down on Mile Rock beach, where there was an insane amount of sea foam being pushed around by the waves. It was quite spectacular and we decided to fire up Evan's old camera, as Pat was borrowing it. That's when something in the sea foam seemed to switch off Pat's sanity, and the silliness began. I managed to make a somewhat twisted vid out of it :)

LifeGear Wings of Life Emergency Backpack Unboxing/Review

Carl — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:20:59 +0000

With the recent tremors in San Francisco and the Eartquake in Haiti, I decided it was time to go ahead and get an energency kit for my wife and I. Instead of building one, I decided to go for a highly-rated one on Amazon called the Wings of Life backpack with the Life Essentials module by a company called LifeGear. Ultimately, I have found this to be a durable, well-built, and thoughtfully put together product, and am glad that I'm prepared in the case of a disaster where help might not come for a few days. Video unboxing and review after the jump . . .

The bag comes packed with just about everything you need to survive for three days without help from the government in the case of an emergency. It is packed with things like a waterproof poncho, thermal blanket, first aid kit, sanitation kit, gloves, a dust mask, and a versatile compass/thermometer/magnifier/EAR-PEARCING whistle tool, name a few. Also included is a multi-tool that I was surprised to see is very rugged and well-built. My backpack comes with the optional Life Essentials module that is also sold separately. The module contains water and food to sustain one person for 3 days, and it has a 5-year shelf life.

Since the kit is for me and my wife, I also got a second Life Essentials module, which fits in the bag just fine. I will also be packing a few other items to make the kit more complete. I got an Eton hand-crank/solar powered radio/flashlight/cellphone charger, and a survival-kit-in-a-sardine can. I will also pack some clothes and money, as well as a few other types of non-perishable food for some variety and flavor (the emergency biscuits look like they'll save my life but not my pallet). I will be sure to include a small bottle of Tabasco, as that is the universal solution for blandness.

All-in-all, I think this is a great starter kit to prepare you for an emergency. You never know when one might happen, and having this one gives me great piece of mind that I'll be prepared if we're hit with "the big one". I'll also know that I have good-quality, durable products to depend on in that scenario. I definitely recommend this.

I hope this convinces you to get yourself an emergency kit. If you do, and you like what you saw in this review/video, please support the site by using the amazon-affiliate link below. Also listed are a few other helpful items that I have already added to my bag.

FCC Disclaimer: I have never recieved anything for free from and am not affiliated with LifeGear, Eton, or Whistle Creek, and am totally endorsing these products because I feel they are a good way to be prepared for a disaster. I am an Amazon affiliate and will get a small commission if you buy the products by clicking on the links. In 1999, I got a free travel mug from Amazon as a gift for being a customer on one of their anniversaries.

Haiti Suffers Massive Earthquake. Your Help is Needed

Carl — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:18:40 +0000

Haiti has suffered a massive earthquake. In a country with little centralized government to speak of and poor building codes/infrastructure, they are going to need a lot of help. You can donate to the Haiti Emergency Releif Fund here:

http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/1_12_10.html

For a list of more places to donate to regarding Haiti, here is an article from SFGATE: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail??blogid=95&entry_id=55157

Happy Holidays!

Carl — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:57:06 +0000

However you celebrate it, this is a time of year to be thankful to what you have, share your love with your close friends and family, and to set some great hopes for the new year. Happy holidays and a fantastic 2010!

Image on Flickr's Creative Commons by kevindooley

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/ / CC BY 2.0

Don't Use your Best Buy Rewards for Gifts!

Carl — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:02:00 +0000

My wife and I were doing some holiday shopping, and we decided to buy a few gifts at Best Buy with our Best Buy RewardZone gift certificates. We got to the checkout and asked for a gift receipt. The cashier told us that the recipient would't be able to exchange their gift. The only option would be to return it and the Rewards would be credited back to our account. We were told to go to Customer Service, return the items for the credit of our points and then re-purchase them with our credit card to enable the giftee to be able to exchange. We confirmed this with two other employees. Am I the only one who sees problems with this policy?

I've worked in 4 retail stores in my time, and I've never seen such a policy. If someone buys a gift using any currency (cash, credit, gift card, rewards, etc), the recipient should be able to make an even exchange for the value of the product. I can understand if it was a sale coupon for lets say 20% off, and the recipient would get a credit for the price paid for the item, but I can's see why this should be the case for rewards, which are basically like cash. Best Buy does not lose anything if the person even-exchanges the item for another product.

Whether or not that makes sense to Best Buy, all I can do is warn against using your points for a gift, as this is both bad for you and bad for the recipient. The recipient, if they want to exchange for a better product (what if you got them a piece of hardware that was in-compatible with their camera, for example), they will be most upset when they learn that in fact all they can do is return it for a refund to the original purchaser. It's no good for the purchaser either. Imagine if you got a gift for someone and then found out that they didn't like it because you suddenly got a reward refund. Imagine the awkward conversation that must take place:

"I see you returned my gift--did you not like it?"

"Um . . . it was incompatible -- can you give me your Best Buy Rewards that were refunded to you from my gift?"

"Erm, why don't we go to Best Buy together and you can show me the right equipment to get you"

I certainly wouldn't want to get in that conversation. In fact, I'm less inclined to build a rewards balance there in the future.

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Image on flickr's Creative Commons by bdjsb7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdjsb7/ / CC BY 2.0

Burning Man Posts Flickr Stream to ID Lost Cameras

Carl — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:51:31 +0000

Lost your camera at Burning Man? Chances are you have, because Burning Man has posted a Flickr stream of photos from lost cameras, and it is huge. It was posted in the hopes that burners would go in and see something that says "hey I know that dude" and then contact Burning Man to get the camera returned to the rightful owner (along with the bag it came in if applicable). What a great idea!

I looked through this morning, but I did not see anyone I know. I'll give you this warning though: looking through might result in feelings of yearning to be back on the Playa. Burning Man will continue this effort through January, so if you know a Burner who has lost their camera, you had better act fast.

Image: Some French dude in Burning Man with a lost camera. I liked his sign--it says "Les Chemins Invisibles - Nous Sommes VIVANT!", translated to "The Invisible Paths - We are LIVING!". Glad you had a good time. Hope you find your camera :)