Wassup Jose

As you know, I lost my iPod Nano a few days ago. Sigh! I do not want a 3rd generation Nano with the cheesy LCD. I want to replace my black 8GB model. I stopped by Costco, no stock available. I called a couple of stores, no stock available. Dammit.

I was going to call the Apple Store, but look what I found conveniently stocked with various iPod models. An iPod vending machine, sweetness. I like the self-serve stores and machines, because I can select what I want with no hassles, swipe the ATM card, and I am AUDI.

I am in the market for a new digital camera, but do not want a point-and-shoot. I own two Canon’s and one Kodak, which work great but it is time to take the photography training wheels off and upgrade to a SLR camera.

Why shopping for a new digital SLR camera? I stopped by Costco this weekend and saw the Canon SLR bundle on sale for a kewl $1000+. I thought about purchasing it, but I need to do some research before I buy a new camera.

I am reading the various camera reviews on Cnet and other portals, but would like to solicit both the blog authors and readers too. If you own a 2007-year or newer digital SLR camera, I would be interested in your feedback.

The camera will be used for everything and anything, so no specialty features are required at this time. I am looking for a camera that is easy to use, forgiving of amateur mistakes, and produces great pictures. Any thoughts on the Nikon D40?

In the never ending quest for Guitar Hero products, tips, tricks, etc. comes to you a post about Slashbot! A robot that rocks Guitar Hero via a conversion box and several electronic solenoids. The robot achieves a 90% accuracy rate. Cheaters! 

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas unveiled the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. Here is another gem for that person in your life that has it all … a Taser MP3 player.  Now you can listen to your favorite playlist and shock the ~!#$%^ out of others!

Anyone want to listen to Peter Gabriel’s Shock The Monkey? * z-a-a-a-a-a-a-p!*

The rumors are true … Jada Toys, Inc. unveiled Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. Air Guitar Rocker is waiting in the aisle and will ROCK you in March! Perfect for the closet rock stars, NICE!

So just like everyone has said, my bass pedal on my drum started cracking towards the bottom of the pedal. I remember when i first heard about Rock Band and that there would be a drum set. I was wondering how in the world they were going to sell a drum kit with the game that wouldn’t break after beating on it for a couple songs. Well, seems that they can’t and my original impression was correct. The pads themselves work fine, but I hear other people have problems with the pads. Don’t get me wrong though, the drum set is tons of fun, which may be its downfall. It’s always in use, so alot of people bang away on it in different ways. The bass pedal is one of those things that, when you’re playing a song that is difficult for you, you stomp on it vigorously and at the last moment. You’re just trying to hit that bass note that’s giving you such problems. I think that’s part of the reason why the pedal is breaking so quickly.

Anyway, EA will replace the pedal, but with the same exact model. So Pedal Breakage is only a matter of time. In order to stymie the inevitable, I postulated a basic solution that I thought would help. First, I need to thanks/apologize to Ravi. The basket which he gifted to the team on his return from India was the perfect raw material for my pedal fix. But at least he can take solace in the fact that I’ve put the gift to good use! Now whenever I take about the drum kit, I’ll talk about Ravi’s excellent gift. The pedal has character now.

Essentially, I took these little sticks apart from the wire frame since they were the perfect thickness and a fairly good length for my task. I placed them next to each other and lined the bass pedal with these small sticks. I also made sure that the sticks were alternating in their placement so as to support each other a little better. That way I don’t have the same problem in a different place on the pedal. I used electrical tape to hold it all down. So far so good. The fix seems to have worked well for now. Time will tell.