leet life

1UP Show Returns! Area 5 style!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:07:00 +0000

The crew from the 1UP show have returned with their new show “Co-Op” under the Area 5 brand. The cast includes John Davison, Dan Hsu, Shane Bettenhausen, Greg Ford, Michael Donahoe, Giancarlo Varanini, Nick Suttner, Anthony Gallegos, Philip Kollar, Demian Linn, Andrew Fitch, Ryan Scott.

Behind the camera we have Cesar, Jason, and Rob with the assistance of Jay Fresh, manning the boom mic,

BOOM IN THE SHOT!

The quality may not be as we came to expect from the 1up show, though it just feels amazing to have something in its place!

The first show starts out with a TON of ex 1up coming over and just reverting back to the old days! Amazing!

Right now Co-op is free, though they are trying to get on itunes on the TV side of things and charge a small subscription fee, I would usually oppose this, although they all did just loose their jobs, so I’m in.

Check them out!

Follow LeVar Burton, It’s the Right Thing to do

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:41:00 +0000

Ever since his random sightings at CES, LeVar Burton has came back into our minds, and hearts! He is still very active with the importance of education, though he is behind the camera as of late! So like I said I followed him on twitter!

All that I can say now is that I have a sudden urge to ~~force~~ inform everyone to pick up a book!

LeVar’s current project, “The Science of Peace” is underway and looks amazing!

Obama Fights War On Terror, In A Big Way

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:35:00 +0000

When it comes to kick-ass Presidents it looks like Obama has it covered. Armed with an arsenal of equipment, he will stop at nothing to ~~defend~~ represent, the American Dream! For close range encounters he is equipped with dual Katana's, and a light saber. When he needs that long range advantage he can use a 9mm, shotgun, or even an American Flag!

Seriously though, this is one badass action figure!

GET ONE now via Gamu Toys!

Hp Mini 1000 XP

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:35:00 +0000

I just got my hands on the infamous HP Mini netbook. I have proceeded to put this little road warrior to the test! In fact I’m using it right now! as for typing it takes some getting used to, though it is leaps and bounds better than some due to the wider foot print.

Well lets get to the reason I’m telling you all of this, I am using this machine as a full on production machine for the next day or so to really test what it can do despite it’s netbook specs. The model that I picked up is the 1gb ram version, though my 2 gig crucial upgrade is well on its way.

After I have logged many hours of use on the machine I will do a hands on review so stay tuned!

Deathknight Fans Rejoice!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:55:00 +0000

I have been busy with the internets and what they call the blogs, Thus the reason I haven’t posted here as much as I would like. My last project for the foreseeable future is under way and looking fantastic!

Deathknight Digest!

As posted on the teaser site!

I am happy to announce that my newest blog is well on its way to coming to World of Warcraft fans everywhere! The whole goal with this blog is to super serve the DK fanbase with as many updates, builds, news, and well rounded information that I can!

Unfortunately the site is not ready and may not be for some time, although I refuse to release the blog without having content for readers from the start, not just content, QUALITY content!

I do however intend to release the site in its full glory by the end of Q1

So please stay tuned, you can expect Twitter updates on the sites progression on this "teaser" page, and on our official twitter!

You can also subscribe to the RSS and once the time has come the first update will come to you!

Thanks for your time and interest!

So check back on here as I will announce it's release and will get to posting rather than setting up more blogs!

Microsoft’s Robbie Bach on Zune, Xbox, Blu-ray

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:26:00 +0000

Robbie Bach, Head of Xbox, talked to Tech Flash at CES and had some interesting things to say.
He talked about the Xbox 360, Zune, Blu-ray, and Microsoft Auto, some of which was mentioned in the Microsoft Keynote.

The interview is a pretty aggressive Q&A that puts Bach on the spot in some key issues that could possibly be telling of Microsoft's future plans.

When asked about mixing music with the windows mobile experience he responded "Those are things I can't talk about," protecting the possibility of the "Zune Phone?"

They also discussed the Xbox 360 and one of its potential shortcomings. When asked if the Xbox 360 will ever see Blu-ray integration, Bach responds, "We have no plan to do that."

When asked why, Bach says, "from a technical perspective, it doesn't help us in the core of what Xbox does, which is in gaming. We can't have publishers produce games on Blu-ray disc. Because then they won't play on the 28 million Xboxes we've already shipped. So it doesn't help us in the core gaming space."

He also had a few other points on the subject, "it costs a lot of money. And so the scenario is, OK, let me get this straight: I'm going to add something to the product that's going to raise the cost, which means the price goes up, consumers aren't asking for it, and by the way, my game developers can't use it."
The subject is then shifted to the 30GB Zune and its recent mishap. When asked if he owns a 30GB Zune, Bach responds, "I do, actually. It turns out my daughter has it, and she didn't have it with her on the 31st. So it was fine."

He explains the cause of failure on December 31, "it's not our software, but that doesn't change anything. We're responsible for everything that's in the product. It doesn't show up in any other version of the product. All of the other devices are fine. It's just that first Zune 30, which was done through a different process."

The interview closes out talking about Microsoft Automotive, Bach explains, "automakers are going to look for ways to differentiate, and to make sure volume keeps moving. And certainly Sync and what we do there with Ford, and Windows Automotive with what we do with other people is absolutely the way to drive that differentiation."

Source: TechFlash

Twitter Phishing Scam, Beware!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:36:00 +0000

Twitter reports that users have been receiving Direct Messages that contain a link to blog spot but bait and switch you to a fraudulent Twitter that proceeds to ask for your credentials. The message is said to contain something like, “Check out this funny blog about you!” this is a common attempt most seen in the MySpace world.

Stay tuned for updates!

Update: I got one!

hey! check out this funny blog about you... about 2 hours ago

Egotistical IT Noob Wipes Journal Space

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:02:00 +0000

Journal Space, a six year old blogging platform had some recent drama. In an act of immaturity an IT employee decided to overwrite the companies database. That was the first layer of issues facing Journal Space, the second was the database wasn’t backed up, oops!

“It was the guy handling the IT (and, yes, the same guy who I caught stealing from the company, and who did a slash-and-burn on some servers on his way out) who made the choice to rely on RAID as the only backup mechanism for the SQL server. He had set up automated backups for the HTTP server which contains the PHP code, but, inscrutibly, had no backup system in place for the SQL data. The ironic thing here is that one of his hobbies was telling everybody how smart he was.”

On a more positive note there is a blog post that can help you attempt to restore blog posts and comments using Google cache. On another positive note, if Journal Space decides to try it all again, there should be much more qualified IT professionals looking for work.

Source: Slashdot

Get your CES and Macworld via gdgt

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Ryan Block of gdgt will be live blogging the CES and Macworld press conferences via live.gdgt.com. You might know Ryan’s live work from his live blogging days at Engadget. For tons more quality gadget and consumer electronic coverage please check out the gdgt podcast with Ryan Block and Peter Rojas! I want to thank them for providing the service of live blogging these events for anyone who can’t be there!

My Top 5 Geek Reads of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:14:00 +0000

2008 was a bad year for many things, although it was a good year for others. Technology and gaming grew in popularity leaps and bounds, and due to consumption and the economy became substantially more inexpensive.

Another form of media that did pretty well was plain old books! From comic books and graphic novels to all out sci-fi novels there was always something new to read. I decided with the end of 2008 I should highlight the five bits of reading that I found to be my favorite for the year.

Deadpool 2008

Type: Comic Book

After guest staring in the Wolverine Origins series, Marvel decided to refresh Deadpool with his own on going series. This has been a fantastic read every issue and has been hard to put down from day one. The writing has really been revamped and taken to a new level compared to some of the old books. This is a fun book for anyone, the writing and story lines are more of a slap stick comedy style than most comics but Deadpool is still as badass as he has ever been.

Anathem

Type: Science Fiction Novel

Most geeks will know Neil Stephenson from books such as Big U or Snow Crash. This year he released is newest sci-fi great Anathem. Anathem is a long and technical read as with most of Neil’s work although once the premise and setting is in place the book really comes alive and is more of an adventure than a book! Many people can relate to this feeling as Snow Crash is similar in this sense.

More Information Than You Require

Type: Comedic Novel

Television personality John Hodgman, released his second installment of world knowledge, More Information Than You Require. This book is filled with amazing facts from all over the world that are 100% true! I promise! With a new ferret and the same old con, this is an amazing book for anyone to read that wants to know the useful bits of world knowledge!

Fables

Type: Comic Book

This is a comic book with an interesting twist. Fables takes all of the well known fairy tale characters and puts them into its own twisted story lines. Fables is fun, exiting, and accessible to anyone who can recognize these huge names in fairy tale culture. Fables had a big year and everyone that I talked to that had read it was addicted!

The Race for a New Game Machine

Type: Non Fiction

Being a video game journalist I find this kind of geek reading interesting. The Race For A New Game Machine is about how Sony may have unknowingly tipped Microsoft off on a few things that made the Xbox 360 what it is today. This book is hot off the press and I haven’t even finished it yet, although I felt that it is still worth making number five. If you are into documentaries on gaming like “King of Kong” or books the history of gaming, you might find solace in this title.

Those are my picks for 2008, granted my opinion is not based on the “Best” or most “Popular” books but those that I got the most out of while reading. So what are your picks for 2008? leave us a comment and include your opinions!

New Years Comeback!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:53:00 +0000

In the last few months I have made some much needed journalism progress and took a break from Leet Life. I have been preparing to make my comeback for some time and decided with the holidays well on their way that I would wait it out. The first of the year seems to be a good time for a fresh start on anything. The direction of the blog somehow got caught up on gadgets and consumer electronics. I will be refreshing the blog with a new look feel and mission, the original mission of covering all things geeky. Video games will be added because this is the subject that I work on in my daily life so it just feels natural!

So here is to a new year! And a new blog!

Electronic Attacks On Election Night!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:49:00 +0000

There are report's out that President Elect Obama's computer was attacked on election night. The secret service has concluded that there was a significant amount of sensitive information extracted from the system. Attacks were said to come from china.

Any hacker that is serious will route there traffic through an innocent computer system to cover there tracks. Not saying the attack is not coming from China I just hope they know enough not to jump to conclusions on this kind of thing. Starting a war with China right now is not in our best interest. I have been moaning about this for a long time.

American politician's for the most part are far behind in technology. Darpa and a few other organizations excluded. The majority of our government are behind the times in comparison to other countries.

Obama on the other hand seems very aware of this fact and is planning for this as we speak. We can just hope he can get something in the work's during this "lame duck" period of time. This all goes back to a past blog post about electronic attacks, I guess you can say that I seen this coming. Let's just hope America isn't full of script kiddies!

08' Smart-Phone Rundown!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:59:00 +0000

Device

Display

Keyboard

Camera

WiFi

GPS

Storage

Network

Android g1

3.2 inch 480x320

Physical Qwerty

3.0 Mp

Yes

1 GB, SD slot

Blkberry Storm

3.2 inch 480x360

Touch Qwerty

3.2 MP

Yes

1 GB, SD slot

Touch HD

3.8 inch 480x800

Touch Qwerty

5.0 MP

Yes

512 MB, SD slot

EDGE

So, despite the economy your shopping for smart phones.

Well, you've came to the right place. I decided to do a fall 08 run down on some hot devices. At this time the Google Android is the only device that has been released so far. The blackberry was just delayed, but coming soon, the touch HD is to be announced. So let's get to it!

As you can see the Google Android seems to slack in some areas, but it does have the physical qwerty keyboard. This is a huge plus to some users, A lot of stubby fingered people don't like the IPhone touch keyboard. I seem to type faster on it but have long fingers. I still typo allot on it but, it slims the device down a good amount not having the physical keyboard. This phone is Android powered, and that's a new thing for us geeks to conquer, so this is a popular phone. Although you will have to go to the T-mobile network, Meh, I'm waiting this one out.

The Black-Berry Storm, This device seems to sit right in the middle of the three. There is allot of buzz on this thing being the "IPhone killer" but, that's a label that's been getting pasted on anything new with comparable features. This is a solid device if you like windows mobile, A very nice device for Blackberry fans, Those used to the IPhone's interface might want to do their homework on this one. Windows mobile is great for business but if your looking for the fun gadget this one might not be for you.

Ahh, the Touch HD. As you can see this thing has allot to it, Maybe a bigger is better mindset. The big thing I have with this device is that its not on 3G, Taking those amazing 5.0 MP pictures and then sending them over EDGE sounds painful. Although the display is pretty amazing. Seems like this thing is pretty far off, and looks like it's going to break whats left of your bank account. Some have said they have seen it around Germany's Amazon for 8-900$ USD. Ouch, I don't even think my bank has that much left.

So there it is, These 3 devices cater to most people looking for smart phones. So, witch one are you getting? Or are you sticking with that Trac-Phone?

DirecTV confirms HD DVR / receiver glitch

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:28:00 +0000

Direct Tv users should read up for more info head over to Engadget!

DbPowerAmp: Solving All Your Itunes Hassle

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:15:00 +0000

How many times have you re-done your Itunes library? How many times have you had album art problems, Dividing your albums up and making Itunes hard to handle? I had all these and more. I finally broke down and searched the web for a tool that would make my life much better. I have since taken this thing in and made it part of my music lifestyle.

What does it do? It does allot but what I use it for is to convert all my music media to one format. (mp3) so that Itunes will accept it and make It all work as it should.

It is super lightweight. Very basic but very powerful. You can select a whole folder pick what you want it to convert to and walk away. It's very fast and you loose 0% quality they really sound great!

Once its all said and done Itunes accepts your files with ease! It will even keep your old files but make a uniformed version for use elsewhere.

It has a trial version, and as far as I have seen its free forever, and converts music fine. Not sure what features the paid version offers. I can say that this thing is made well so there probably great!

To get a copy of this awesome little tool head on over to dBpoweramp

Amd break-up?

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:58:00 +0000

It's not you, It's me

Amd's CEO Dirk Meyer said that he has a "significant announcement" to make tomorrow. There has been allot of rumors that they are going to break up. With Intel selling to apple this might have hurt them as mac seem to be growing pretty rapidly after everyone in America has that IPhone in there pocket. AMD were behind for the longest time when it came to the advanced core stuff that Intel was doing. They recently have been catching up but at the cost of failure? Who knows I guess we have to wait and see!

Update: The WSJ claims that it is a breakup! aww :(

Like the Mac book style? Toshiba's got you covered

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:39:00 +0000

For around $1200 you can get a mac book-esque laptop from Toshiba. The E105 just posted online at best buy, No word if they are in stores. This thing has the Mac book form factor down pretty well. Elegant, simple design. It also has a pretty aggressive stat list for $1200

2.26GHz Core 2 Duo
1280 x 800 TruBrite LCD display
4GB of RAM
320GB hard drive
Intel 4500MHD integrated GPU.
802.11a/b/g/n
HDMI out
Vista Home Premium
Finger Print Reader

All of that for 1200? There is no good reason a Mac book lookalike isn't on your desk!

Touch HD Update: Say Goodbye To Iphone?

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:21:00 +0000

We reported on the touch HD some time ago. Speculating that it could be the first "Iphone Killer" I wanted to post an up-date to that post. The touch HD was released in Germany. Just minutes after the fact the Media exploded calling the Touch HD the first true Iphone Killer. So could it be? Or are those pesky Germans just out of their minds?

Everything you want to know about cloud computing!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:01:00 +0000

Allot of people agree that cloud computing is the future. We have seen a huge increase in cloud talk lately. Microsoft announced there "Cloud OS", "Microsoft Cloud" the final name is to be released in a few weeks at there dev conference. Google has had us cloud computing for a while, whether you knew it or not. Gmail, Google Docs, Google Reader, Just about anything Google offers except sketch-up and chrome. Although chrome supports there cloud pretty well, maybe like an OS?

So we have all these clouds floating over our heads. There are tons more down the road were just getting into this next step in tech. Amazon has there cloud floating around, Microsoft is on the way, Goggles money cloud has been up there a while. What do I use? Will all cloud document's work together? Are the company's reading my documents when I save them on there server? What if the server is down?! What if all the clouds explode? AHHH!!!

A little overwhelming I know, Have no fear! I have been reading up, taking note and trying to myth bust and support the cloud! Allot of people in the business are still opposed to cloud computing. Putting there data on a company's server is most of the argument. I agree with this argument to a certain extent. If its something you wouldn't want anyone to know ever. Cloud computing isn't the place for that information. Some people act like everything they touch should never be seen by anyone but them ever! Not that anyone at Google would look at it, chances are they wont. There is always that off chance of a corrupt worker that grabs a million or so documents and then leaves. Or the idea that Google was only created to watch everything we do!

So my first tip for cloud computing, Tax information, anything personal, I would back up on hardware. Cloud computing is not meant to replace everything we know about computing. Allot of people say it will replace installing application's on our machines and go fully to the web. Even more so now that Google apps have offline support. If this is the future it won't happen very soon and even if it does, no one is coming over to take your applications away so deal with that information the same way you do now.

Downtime, This is a big issue on the subject. Goggles Gmail had some outages. That's always brought up. Outages happen i didn't even experience the Gmail outage my Gmail has never not been available to me. Think about it there was an outage, but what's the state of your Gmail? Its the same. It comes back up you collect the mail you missed and all the old stuff is there. I would not fear downtime In a few hours, business goes back to normal.

What if the service's loose my work? This is unlikely but never say never. BACK UP! you back up your regular work so why not backup work done in the cloud. Never assume it will be there forever, It may only be there as long as the company or service is in business. With Google not sure if i would worry about money problems anytime soon. Cloud by cloud backing up could be a new concept. Back up on Google, and Microsoft! there is an idea, combine that with hardware and you've got a cheap raid 5 setup!

So to get on with my closing statement's here, Embrace the clouds but always make sure that data your putting up there is,

A. Not too personal

B. Also stored on more than the cloud, Hardware Pref.

C. Have a good time and don't sweat the scary cloud myths that float around.

I have prepared you for the worst. It's not even that hard!

To those who are still like what good is cloud computing then? The idea in my opinion is that it is made so that you can log in and access everything in your daily work flow from any browser. Say your at a conference and you just got there, Your supposed to be speaking in three hours but you forgot your speech! No fear you saved it on a cloud computing service, Just grab your laptop or net book and give it a quick download and or print. Wasn't that easy?

Leet Life Is Published!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:41:00 +0000

Well on Scribd Anyways! Heres what it will look like!

Google Suggests $4.4t Energy Plan for the United States Economy - Upload a Document to Scribd

To fully Check us out head on over to Our Profile

No apple net book? Fine I Guess We Will Have to Make One!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Yep the MSI wind and the DELL mini 9 have both recently been hacked to run osx. Steve won't like this but maybe he will see the demand for us gadget geeks and playing with theses new little toys.

This is an awesome weekend project that i might not be too far away from trying myself. I would love to get an apple netbook. Even if it was ran on the ipod touch interface. It may not be in apples best interest to release a netbook. Until then I guess its time to grab the dell and get reading!

The whole reason I have gotten on board with the net book's is just having fun tweaking them with different software and operating systems. It's kinda like a more flexible mobile phone or something. The best part is they keep getting more powerful, Cheaper, and smaller! Yay technology!

So what do you think, OSX on a netbook seem cool to you?

Bank Robber Hires Decoys From Craigslist

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:59:00 +0000

Ever showed up to a craigslist ad stating the pay is 30 dollars an hour to wear your construction gear and hangout at a bank?

Well about a dozen people in Monroe Washington did just that. They showed up to hang out in front of the bank to meet the man for the job. Little did they know he was dressed just like them and was already on the job. Robbing the bank! HAHAHA.

This is a pretty clever scheme and just goes to show you have to be on the lookout online. He fled the scene down a river in an inter-tube.This guy gets 5 stars on the bizarre robbery's scale. Even more bizarre they haven't found him yet. Although they did track the inter-tube down. They suspect they know where he is but he is not in custody yet.

As far as I know the Craigslist decoy crew haven't been charged of anything. There just wondering where there money is. This guy better be running hard he has the Fed's and an angry mob of free-lancers to answer to.

So, do you have any bizarre craigslist stories?

Google Suggests $4.4t Energy Plan for the United States Economy

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Google has yet another plan, A very positive plan in my eyes. A 4.4 trillion dollar proposal to the united states government. The plan is to be based mainly on clean and green energy sources by 2030.

This is a huge thing to survival to our economy. We use way much more oil than we produce and we need to replace it as soon as we can if you ask me. Although allot of the oil tycoon's won't admit this. This is another reason I'm all for google. There strive for an open, free, and public focused business moves really excites me.

I hope that the government listens up to this proposal. I am all for green energy sources and have been for a long time. Finally this topic has been getting allot of exposure at the capital. I just hope what ever they decide to do that they don't try to rely on U.S drilling. I support us drilling but it has been said it will take 10 years to get anything from this. I tend to agree with the democrats in this election. There plan is to support U.S drilling with green energy so we see effects allot sooner than 10 years.

So what do you think? Will they listen up?

Nintendo DSi Japan Release Date!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:21:00 +0000

Ds fans brace yourselves. The DSi was unveiled in japan today. They expect this little gadget to hit shelves in japan around Nov. 1st. Although us U.S fans have to wait it out. There still un-sure on a date for the U.S. Although they anticipate on a 130$ price point.

So what's the buzz on this new system. For starters the DSi store was talked about. Expansion room for up to a 2 GB SD card slot. It's thinner and lighter than it's older brother DS. The DSi store is accessed via Wifi and has a point system for picking up Software and Games.

The hardware consists of a 3.25 inch screen beating the current DS screen at 3.0in. There are two 0.3 Mega Pixel camera's. One for inside the device and one on the outside.

Could this be Nintendo's line of defense against the Ipod? Apple recently announced there whole hand held gaming model on the touch. Nintendo have the advantage on price. The DSi aiming to hit the $130.00 price point. With the touch at right around $230.00.

In my opinion the Ds and DSi's needs some beefed up hardware specs. Although Nintendo's cheap and fun business model has worked very well for them. I would have to see how the DSi plays out and if it really does any tricks my Ipod cant handle. Although I doubt it would be the device for me. My Ipod handles digital comic books well and that's mainly what I cant find in many other devices.

What do you think? DSi going to be the next gaming device in your hands? Or not enough change from the DS?

Snow on Mars!

noreply@blogger.com (JA) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:54:00 +0000

Popsci.com reported This awesome story.

Not to steal there mojo but snow on mars... Hrmm Interesting. They have found allot of things on mars that suggest life. This could be yet another big factor in that concept. As of right now it's not making it to the ground but they promise to keep us posted if it picks up. So the next question is, Santa? Is his reindeer fleet equipped for space travel?