Rihards Unplugged

As I already informed the world yesterday, my 3D card crapped out on my main PC. So I was basically more or less forced to buy a new 3D card, and while I was at it, I also picked up two 1024MB ram sticks, and a present for my brother. Totaling for almost 400 EUR, which is basically the X-Box 360 price. So a forced PC upgrade instead of buying an X-Box 360.

I don’t know yet if it’s for the better or for worse actually. On one hand side I really wanted to get an X-Box 360, if only for Mass Effect (no, I’m not one of those people who have to have an X-Box 360 for Halo, because quite frankly I don’t even like Halo). But on the other hand side, these new PC upgrades should mean I that I should be able to play Crysis, and other hardware hungry game titles that are coming out soon.

Oh yeah, before I forget, anyone interested in two 512MB matched sticks of DDR RAM? If not, I can just always keep them in my PC for nice 3GB of RAM.

After breaking my Avixe i-Rock Cube (no idea how, or why, but it just stopped working) I was on the lookout for a new MP3 player. What I wanted was basically, a small player, with built in memory, and a built in rechargeable battery. Screen was really an optional thing.

My first thought of course was the Apple Shuffle, but just for the hell of it, I decided to have a look at Creative’s site if they had anything like the Shuffle. Surely enough they did, and not just something like the Shuffle, but something better than the Shuffle.

The biggest selling point of the Zen Stone is its price, I bought mine from Amazon for 33 EUR, which is about half the price of an Apple Shuffle. Other than that, the two players are pretty much identical. Both of them look really nice, though personally I really like the black (very shiny and sexy) Zen Stone more.

The player has just 1GB capacity, which is about enough to hold 12 to 14 albums. I find that more than enough if you have access to a PC/Mac on a regular basis, and can just swap out the music. Speaking of putting music on the player, it is really simple, just connect it to your PC/Mac with the USB cable and you can add/delete songs from it just like from a normal USB stick, no additional software needed.

The only thing where the Shuffle is nicer is the little clip that it has that lets you attach the Shuffle to your clothing. Sadly the Zen Stone doesn’t have that, but I haven’t had the need for it yet anyway, as it fits in perfectly in a beltloop.

For its price, the Zen Stone is really a brilliant piece of gadget, one couldn’t really want for more if one wants a small MP3 player which you can take with you wherever you go. Not to mention the fact that if something happens to it, you won’t be as sad as if it were a 300+ EUR MP3 player.

Got to love what scientists come up with these days. While some of it is quite cool and still pointless, I don’t really know what to say about a waterproof LCD, I don’t even know where you’d use one to begin with. Bathroom? Who goes to bathroom to watch TV?

The only comment that really comes to mind about this is, “Will it blend?”.

I love waffles, and so should everyone else as well, waffles are just that good. But now they got even better, at least for the ones of us who are geeks. I present you the Keyboard Waffle Iron, brought to you by Chris Domino.

I have to just wonder if that plastic from the old typewriter could actually withstand all the heat. But whatever the case might be, it’s still a great gadget in my opinion. Now if only these were mass produced, or easily available for buying, then I’d certainly get one.