Terabyte home storage

Iomega announced the release of their Desktop Hard Drive XL Series, a small form factor drive enclosure for four hard drives, with a storage capacity of 1 Terabyte. The new device touts 4 250GB SATA drives internally, with a default configuration of RAID-0 for 1TB of fast storage. It connects via Firewire 800/400 or USB 2.0/1.1, although to really make any good use of the available transfer speed, Firewire 800 is your only option. USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 are both limited to a transfer rate that is well under what a single modern HDD can achieve. The device is pretty small, at 6.42x7.99x12.52 inches, making it easy to put anywhere as an addon storage device or a backup unit. It joins a growing crowd of other high-capacity multi-drive portable storage devices, and of course is geared primarily towards home theater and video enthusiasts, as well as home file storage.

"Projects like video editing push the limits of today's storage drives, particularly as the market shifts towards high-definition video, so Iomega created the XL Series to erase the bottleneck that a single drive represents in terms of power and performance," said Lee Williams, Vice President, Product Generation, Iomega Corporation. "Whether it's editing and managing digital video, photographs, music or work files, the Iomega XL Series hard drive takes advantage of today's fastest interfaces and most advanced storage technologies to deliver a uniquely powerful device for the next generation of applications."

It is already available, retailing at around $900. It lists compatibility with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Mac OS 10.1, and features disk imaging and archiving software as well as compression.

Tending the farm

Dad has gone hunting for the weekend so I am feeding the ducks and geese while he is away. Dad has his own dog but he has taken over my dog Aspen. Mom and Dad live next door and dad is retired so he takes my dog with him all over the farm and has actually started to train him to help with the cattle. He even has Aspen treeing squirrels.



It's very scenic around here and sometimes I forget how great it is to live out in the country.

This is my dad's dog Prissy, she's the "farm dog". Small but fiesty, she loves to smile, very loyal and very independent.

Aspen runs all over the place, chasing the geese and being chased by the geese.

Well, that's all for now. I'm helping my sister move into their new house so off I go.

Checking up on the 360

Angus and I was checking out what the world had to say about the Xbox 360's release and here is something interesting.

Xbox 360 'Overheating' Problems EmergeThe forums today include some irate Xbox 360 owners who are experiencing overheating problems, likely to do with the hard drive. One owner claimed Microsoft had stated it had "received numerous calls".Here's what they had to say. We're awaiting a response from Microsoft."I play Kameo (interesting game) for about 30 minutes and the 360 crashes!!! Ugh.... Power adaptor goes from solid green to a flashing orange.... What next? Well, shoot off an email to MS, get one back not too long ago, find out that the flashing orange means that Xbox has overheated! ""I just received my Xbox 360 today. It was freezing cold so I let it sit for about an hour. Plugged everything in got it up and started playing COD 2. I completed training and while it was loading it just went to a black screen. I waited for awhile and nothing happened so I turned it off, let it sit and turned it back on. I turned it back on to 3 red flashing lights. The top left and the two bottom. "I found out that it's the hard drive. They said they have received numerous calls already. I unplugged my hard drive and it worked fine. Put it back on my box and red lights again.""All five of the games I bought freeze up after a few minutes, I am assuming because of the 360 heating up. It gets unusually hot, the game discs as well are red hot.

I think I'll wait a while, let MS get some of these problems worked out. I knew they would be some problems, and shelling out a few hundred bones for a system that runs like this is not on my list of things to do.

This is me.... PISSED!!

Yeah it's 9:00PM on Thanksgiving and I had to respond to an alarm at work. False alarm at that! I love my job, I love my job, I love my job. Now it's time to go and get some beer!

20,000 Hits!!!

Wow! Over 20,000 hits, I guess people actually take the time to read my mindless rambling about technology and the occasional insight to my life. Thanks to all my readers!

So I'm finally home after dicking with that whole false alarm issue at work. I went ahead and filled the fax machines with paper and distributed the orders that came in since yesterday. I took a moment to check my email and it looks like Monday is going to be a bitch of a day.

I think a pay raise is in order. I live the closest to the office, so I am the one who gets called when the alarm goes off. Sometimes at 2 in the morning! Granted it is always a false alarm (ADS sucks ass). Look people, I started my career in the security industry and I know alarms. My last job was doing this kind of shit for jails and prisons, so I know the security business pretty well. The upside to my professional background is that if I ever go to jail, they HAVE to put me in a maximum security cell (which means I have no bunk mate). Give me 1 minute in a regular cell and I be out of that bitch in no time!

On another note, I have a few new opportunites at my current job and I am really considering one of my options. I can stay where I am at for as long as I want. Or, I can transfer to a different location. My first pick is Brantford Canada; I can move up there and do international sales for a while and maybe move into the European market.

Meeting of the minds

The real kicker is that the little asian guy is actually the robot. We preserved Einsteins head so we could bring him back as a Honda Humanoid.

BlackBerry 7130e offers CDMA EV-DO

Verizon Wireless has introduced the BlackBerry 7130e. Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess service on the company's CDMA EV-DO is available to a BlackBerry for the first time. The device delivers all the e-mail and other functionality available with the BlackBerry wireless platform, and can also serve as a modem. The company claims that when used as a modem, the device can download large documents to a laptop at speeds averaging 400kbps to 700kbps. The device also includes support for "push-based" wireless e-mail, Web browsing, text messaging, personal organizer and other corporate applications. It also features a SureType keyboard technology from RIM, and can integrate with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise.

Sprint Nextel Buys Largest Sprint Affiliate

Sprint Nextel announced an agreement to acquire former Sprint affiliate Alamosa Holdings for approximately $4.3 billion. Alamosa provides Sprint PCS services in 19 states, serving approximately 1.48 million direct wireless subscribers, making it the largest Sprint affiliate based on number of subscribers. With this acquisition, Sprint has announced agreements to acquire more than 2.3 million Sprint PCS affiliate customers. The deal is expected to resolve pending litigation that also involves AirGate PCS. The acquisition is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006.

Full Story...

XBox 360 Supports XLink

XLink is a framework that allows local multiplayer gaming devices like the PSP, XBox, and Nintendo DS to emulate a local network over the Internet. The result? Instant on-line multiplayer without having to invite 20 of your friends to roll in every weekend. Saves on chips and beer, basicially.

Apparently the folks at XLink tested Halo 2 and Perfect Dark Zero, two XBox games, and both run on the 360 perfectly. This means that you won't have to pony up the $8 a month for XBox Live. Luckily, MS isn't as crazy as Sony about shutting out deviants and perverts who dare attempt the sin of Fair Use, but keep your eye open for a security patch.

TeamLink [XLink]
Play Xbox 360 Online Without Xbox Live [GamingHorizon]
Be notified when Xbox 360 is in stock [Amazon]

Albums on Flash Drives

In what appears to be a first-ever attempt, a music group is opting to replace the CD with a 128MB USB Flash Drive for distributing their next album. Costing at around $30, the re-usable flash drive, for its first album release, will tote 29 songs in mp3 format along with having photos, album art, video clips and apparently more. It seems that 128MB might be incorrect, as squeezing 29 mp3 songs along with other content would be very difficult on a size that small, but the very idea of releasing an album in this way is completely novel. Based on whether or not it is DRM'ed beyond usability might make this become the saving grace brick and mortar music sales. The popularity of online downloading is only increasing, but with a gadget like this, smaller than a CD and more functional, it's definitely piqued interest.

I would buy more albums, if they came that way. You can never have too many thumbdrives and it would be a cool way to add extra items like wallpapers and bios from the band.

BAD ANGUS!!!!!

HEY HEY HEY! I know you like the beer but I think you're taking it to far!

I can't say it enough. Thanks Lex

So I'd like to plug a site of a friend of mine K-Ray you know you're missed, and please keep in touch. We sometimes get so caught up in life, that we forget some of the people who made us who we are today.

"Life is what happens while we are making other plans"
John Lennon

Strange Neighbors

Every day for the last few days no matter what time I come dragging in, my neighbors are in there car with it in reverse and the minute I park and get out they leave. Maybe it's a coincidence but odd nevertheless. I new something was off about them when the husband sleptwalked his way out of a window..... no wait, let me rephrase that to what he actually did. He dove out of the fucking window in his sleep! He cut himself all to pieces leaving a blood trail that looked of a violent murder scene and walked to the front door and knocked for a while.

Anyway Angus found another one of his relatives in Canada, turns out he enjoys beer as well.

Obviously they are distant relatives, Angus would never drink Coors Light. At any rate Angus was happy to see a relative. His name is Rat Bastard and Angus had to get a closer look.

Hello RB, greetings from Alabama!

I Heart my new monitor

I received my 19" ultrasharp yesterday and put in place. WOW! I may have overdone it a bit. Going from a 17" CRT to this monster is unreal. I really didn't have a space issue with my CRT, because I have a corner desk where the monitor sits in the corner, but it made a difference in the look thats for sure.

After hooking everything up, I played some Doom 3 to check out the quality and I am impressed indeed. So I think it was worth every penny.

To 360 or not to 360 (right now, anyway)

There isn't any doubt as to if I am going to get a 360. The real question is, do I wait until the first release comes out and wait for the masses to test to the next-gen console and maybe give MS some time to work out the bugs.

I already have a buyer for my Xbox and I could wait in line for 3 hours and may get lucky enough to get a voucher to obtain one at the stroke of midnight. The word is, every retailer has a very limited number in stock, and I know this to be true because of some inside sources at different retailers.

I'm anxious like a kid, wanting to dive right in and get one, but I would hate to get one, only to find a lot of bugs and end up wishing I would have waited.

Perfect Dark Zero Tops Most Anticipated Xbox 360 Game List

According to GamerMetrics, which is used by IGN Entertainment to track the tastes of about 25 million gamers, according to their press release, Perfect Dark Zero tops the list of most anticipated Xbox 360 title. It tops ours too - we haven't seen a review build of it yet. We should be getting it today, though, so stay tuned for a review.



Here are some of the most wanted games:

Perfect Dark Zero
Dead or Alive 4
Call of Duty 2
Kameo: Elements of Power
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Peter Jackson's King Kong
QUAKE 4
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Ridge Racer 6
Condemned: Criminal Origins
GUN
Amped 3

Nintendo Revolution to feature parental locking system

The Nintendo Revolution will feature the ability to give adults more control over which games their children are playing, thanks to a new parental locking system that the company has introduced. Parents will be able to adjust the console's settings and choose whether to block games with higher PEGI ratings. These settings are, of course, password protected.

There are five different ratings - 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+ - and each piece of Revolution software will include a code which indicates the game's rating. The feature will be included in every Revolution worldwide.

In making this move, Nintendo has confirmed its commitment to producing family-friendly hardware and software. The company believes that even although most Nintendo games are appropriate for all ages and the game ratings are clearly displayed on the front of every game package, the option for parential control is still required to ensure a family-friendly gaming experience.

Video Game awards

Reuters- Capcom's "Resident Evil 4," "Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie" from Ubisoft and Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron were among the winners at the 3rd Spike TV Video Game Awards held in Los Angeles on Friday.

A partial list of winners from the awards follows:

Game of the Year: "Resident Evil 4"
Best Game Based on a Movie: "Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie"
Best Action Game: "God of War"
Best Individual Sports Game: "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland"
Best Team Sports Game: "Madden NFL 06"
Best Fighting Game: "EA Sports Fight Night Round 2"
Best Military Game: "Call of Duty 2"
Best Driving Game: (Viewer's Choice): "Burnout Revenge"
Most Addictive Game: (Viewer's Choice): "World of Warcraft"
Best PC Game: "World of Warcraft"

Continued ...

So we lost

No surprise there, but hey I had a good time. Angus McRatty met some distant relatives of his. Check it out.

I guess Alabama blew it for this year, and looking at their line up, I think it'll be a while before we have a good team again. I did watch Stealth after the game. That was a pretty good movie. If it can hold my attention for the duration, then it's worth recommending.

Iron Bowl 05

Today is the day.

One of the most watched games of the season is today (especially in the South). It's Alabama VS Auburn. I am an Alabama fan, and besides their loss to LSU last weekend and their questionable offense, the Iron Bowl is always a game that is undecided until the end. No matter how good the teams are going into this game, any team could win. I would never bet money on the Iron Bowl, but I have to give it to Auburn this year. Alabama's defense will be worked hard today and if they want to win I think the defense will have to win it for them.

So I'm getting the housework done and getting ready to head over to a friend's house to watch the game. Eat some good food, drink a few beers and have a good time, no matter the outcome.

Angus McRatty is ready for the game as well, I'm surprised he's a fan. He'll be hanging out with us this afternoon.

ROLL TIDE!

Angus McRatty

So after realizing that my new found friend was in fact Irish I decided to name him Angus McRatty.



Besides fighting over my beer, we get along pretty well. He just hangs around the house and begs for time to time for some Guinness, but I think he has embraced his Irish Heritage.