Recently in Reviews Category

Ooh, and as we move towards the "Gimmie" season, I always love seeing the new products companies come out with to vie for my attention.  Well Leatherman has a very interesting new tool that looks quite cool.  The Leatherman Skeletool.  I currently love the Leatherman Wave that I carry, but this one has some spiffiness that cannot be denied.  I really like the look, the increased blade width, and the dual purpose carabiner/bottle opener.  It doesn't offer quite as many  "tools" as my wave, but covers the important parts, in a sexy new look, and especially in the CF body, a very nice weight.

So my old GPS is finally beyond hope.  It has fallen into a state that can only be deemed useless, and I need a new one.  I'm hoping to get some recommendations from folks about what GPS models features you like the most.  Some of my requirements include:

• Screen - not just tracking
• Topographical Maps
• Mac Connectivity - Preferably bluetooth

Basic Usage for me:

• Plot waypoints before a hike
• Use During a hike to verify location/path
• Little geocaching
• Exporting hike details to Google Earth, etc..

So, what models do you prefer, and why?

This year has been a bit of a banner year for my paintball habits.  While a devoted player (it's my main exercise and stress relief), I'm a bit of a cheapskate.  Through hours of play I've often proven that you dont' have to have the best equipment or dump the most paint in order to do well.

As part of Team DesertEdge though, I've been forced into times that I have to "put out" a little more than your average player.  When people are depending on you, in a tournament situation, you need to really do your part.  That dedication from all of our team has led to a good progression in equipment, and play quality.  This year, we reaped some of our first material rewards, a sponsorship from Planet Eclipse.  PE is a quite respected manufacturer of higher end paintball equipment, based in the UK.  For the last several years, their flagship marker has been the 'Ego' line, which was originally based on an autococker style pneumatic system.  A couple of years ago PE decided to branch out with a newer style of marker, and quickly grew a fanbase with the '05 and '06 models.

Starting with the 2007 model, PE re-engineered this system once again, creating a lighter, faster, more compact marker than ever before.  So when we were approached with the opportunity to use this new marker, we were quick to sign on.  Heck, high end electronics, that shoot, who wouldn't?

Yes, the classic Transformers statement.  I just got back from the preview showing, and man was that worth it.  I will say that I went into the movie giddy about finally seeing the darned thing, but with a heavy fear that it was going to be royally screwed up.

Man that was a good movie!  A great balance for the non-transformer geek, as well as us geeks.  I was also very afraid that the violence would be way overdone, and my son wouldn't be able to watch it. While it is big on action, the gore and others is not there to where I would feel bad for my son to attend (but better watch it without them first to make sure about yours).

Definately a winner.  And man which is sexier, Jazz (Pontiac solstice) or Bublebee (with the new camaro look)?

Ahh it's a new year, and it's time to get some paintball on. After a couple of crazy weeks at work, consisting of large roll outs, excructiating QA sessions of course any QA with a certain geek we all know is excrutiating I was ready for some serious action. And thus we came to Desert Edge's first woodsball practice of the season.

Now, One of the most important pieces of equipment a person has in paintball is their mask. The mask keeps your eyes safe, and you must keep it on at all times on the field. Paintball masks are a special kind of goggle, made to handle high-velocity impacts, and many of them.
The importance of always wearing your mask, over the eyes, is always stressed (often with duct-tape for first-time offenders). A large mallet will be involved with the second "warning".

One of the sponsors of my paintball team is the local store Special Ops . This is a great company up in North Salt Lake that creates some amazing equipment, as well as sponsors the excellent SPPL League .

Well, they've gotten into the TV world with a new show they are filming, mostly here in Utah, Armchair Commandos . Check it out. It's a reality-tv style show that pits two diametrically opposed groups of people (in the preview, Rednecks vs. Punk Rockers) in various scenario style paintball games, for a cash prize towards charity.

The players are new to paintball, showing that anybody can play, and have a lot of fun. I you have an idea for a group, go ahead and suggest away to them. Check the video link for some teaser footage. And who knows, maybe someday you or I will be in the show (right now, our team just gets to 'assist')
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What is it about tires that makes them seem to reach out and grab on to any available road hazard? In my case this week it was some nice screws in the road. This is something that seems to be a somewhat regular occurrence for me, if somebody drops a screw/bolt/nail/sharp pointy anything in the road, one of my tires will find it. So yesterday morning I had to stop by the tire store to see if they could repair my tire.

Problem is, my tires are really bald. End of Life. But I need them to last another month or two so I can afford to fix my stupid brakes that are also toast first.

So I drop off the tire, well expecting that they aren't going to be able to fix it, and I'm going to have to shell out money I don't really have right now to get new tires. The serviceman tells me it'll be 25 minutes, and goes to work on my vehicle.

Once they tell me it's done (20 minutes, w00t!) they inform me that my tire couldn't be repaired, holes were too close, and had split between them. So I was moderately confused, since he said they had fixed my tire.

"Oh, we had a used tire of the exact same style we took off a car recently, so I put that on." Ok, so a new tire, just used. So I asked how much the new tire was, grateful that it would cost less, and only needed the one. "Oh, no charge, just come back when you do replace your tires."

Yes, this is why I shop at Discount Tires Co.

Last week I noticed an actual real comment in my blog, that alone got my attention, and then I read it. It mentioned an upcoming Utah bloggers convention . Previously I hadn't heard about it at all, and then a few other geeks began to mention it on openclue . I decided I might as well try and check it out.

I'll have to admit, I wasn't expecting too much. Having not heard about it until the last minute, I wasn't expecting much more than an informal meetup. What turned out was actually a nice event. Food, t-shirts, and a panel discussion greeted a surprisingly large number of attendees representing very distinct blog realms. The signage and logo's really gave a professional edge to the event that I wasn't expecting.

This first blogger event (as they plan on using this to do more) was a short event, hosting just a single panel discussion. While the discussion was useful, I think having it be the entirety of the event was a slight disservice to the attendees. I think if they instead had focused on the social networks present, and promoted themselves as a service for linking these groups, it would have had a much more practical application for the night. Many of the bloggers present would benefit most from the associations possible at a meeting of this nature. Instead the panel's focus seemed to be blogs in business. This in itself is a great topic, that many present wanted, but many were more interested in either just meeting the bloggers they read, or connecting in their networks. I for example found several new geeks that hadn't heard of the openclue planet Utah, but are now looking at it.

All in all, a fun event, and a good way to get attention to start a series of conferences, but next time it would be beneficial to focus a bit on the promotion, as well as having keynotes and breakouts across a slightly larger time.

Well, just got back from X3. Very fun movie. Lots of good action. The only problem is the main things to talk about in the movie give away a lot, so I can't discuss them yet.

One thing to remember when you go see it, stay through the credits...

In retrospect, one thing that I really liked about the movie is that they did a very good job with the teasers of misguided fans into what was coming. Sure certain major things were known, but a lot of detail would specifically make you think different things were to occur.

In the way of nitpicking (that which I can do without giving stuff away). Angel, yes he's in, but he plays such a minor bit that it's kind of disappointing. I would really have liked to see him with a much larger part. Also, where was Nightcrawler??

Definitely worth watching, they do set up for sequels, but there are major character elements that will need to be resolved for one, several are hinted at or shown, but a couple will need help.

Overall, I loved it.

The recent upgrade to what was a very useful book. When it came out, I reviewed the originally named "Learning Perl Objects and References", with very high marks. It was a book targeted for an unfulfilled niche in the Perl book market. That extremely important step from the Learning Perl book and into the world of full development.

Read on for my overall review...
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