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And strangest xmas present goes to…the Orca Oven Mitt. I have to admit, I’m afraid of it.
Feed me, Seymour.
Aside from being scary looking, the Orca Silicone Oven Mitt actually works pretty well. The fact that it’s 11″ long and goes up to around my elbow actually really comes in handy when reaching into a hot oven. It’s dishwasher and washing machine safe, supposedly good to 450°F continuous, and 480°F for up to 1 minute, and it’s set up in a “Pinching” configuration, so grabbing stuff is easy. Supposedly it’s even OK for grabbing stuff out of boiling water up to wrist depth, though I have yet to try that feature.
It’s not without downsides though, it’s not as flexible as you would think, so any motion other than simple pinch and grab is kinda difficult, but not impossible. Also, it’s fucking creepy looking, like a cross between a lambchops sock puppet and a Tim Burton movie. The Nightmare Before Dinner.
Overall, I like it, but I wouldn’t provoke it.
Check it out on Amazon
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Everyone knows the best part of the brownie is the edge, so Baker’s Edge came up with a way to make a whole pan of “All Edges” brownies, the All Edges Brownie Pan.
I picked one up recently, and decided to give it a go.
I poured in my brownie batter:
And tossed it in the oven for about half an hour, then pulled out this:
Also included with the pan is this nifty spatula for cutting/serving the brownies.
I used it to cut a brownie and serve it up, works very well and stores in the pan.
End results were nice:
Overall, I’m impressed. The build quality is excellent, I was amazed at how heavy this pan was. It seems like it will last a long time. If you like brownies, pick one up.
Buy it on Amazon
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I checked on EeePC car chargers before, but didn’t think I would use one enough to justify $50. I checked again the other day and saw This One for $15 and free shipping with Prime.
I used it this morning, plugging my EeePC into it and tethering my iPhone for internet.
What can I say? It’s a charger, and it works. It’s $15 shipped. Not a whole lot of reviewing to be done here, it either works or it doesn’t. If it stops working, I will change the rating to zero stars. For now, it gets five.
Buy it on Amazon.com
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I actually upgraded my EeePC SSD from the factory 4GB to a Super Talent 16GB unit a few months ago, but I finally got around to doing a how to. As such, I didn’t actually swap anything, the SSD is the same in all the pics.
First, break out your new SSD.
Power your netbook off, and remove the battery. The right side slider should flick to the right and stay there.
Slide the left one to the left, hold it there, and pull the battery toward the rear.
Toward the bottom, you’ll see two phillips screws. Remove them both.
Pry up a little on the access door, and it will pop right out. The SSD is at the top, the ram is at the bottom.
On the right side of the SSD, you’ll see two more phillips screws.
Remove these, and the SSD will pop up, like so:
Slide it out to the right.
Now slide the new one in, and reverse the steps above. Once you get everything buttoned up, install your OS from a thumbdrive or external DVD, and you’re good to go.
Enjoy your extra storage space 
Super Talent SSD on Amazon
Just picked up a pair this week. Initial impressions are great. They’re comfy and I’ve had more than one person compliment them already. I’m going to wait a week or so to break them in before posting a full review, but I thought I would go ahead and throw up a pic and a link.
Update: After a few days of break-in, these are easily the most comfy shoes I’ve every owned. They’re very light, well cushioned, and even the laces are great (in that they won’t come untied). They do lack arch support, but I have low arches, so that actually makes them more comfy for me. I love these shoes.
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Asic Tigers on Amazon
And naturally I grabbed it roughly 3 minutes after it was announced.
The UI is pretty clean, it’s basically the standard Google Wave interface, but it runs a lot better that trying to use the browser.
I’ve only had it a few hours, but so far I’ve noticed that it crashes in waves with lots of users. Might be an issue if Wave catches on for bigger organizations.
Also, maybe it’s just me, but I can’t get any of the attachment buttons or anything to work. Still, for the basic functionality, it’s worth $0.99, and as it’s the first release, and Wave is still is very early beta, there’s a good change that as both mature, it will get much better. I’ll update this post when and if I see an update for the app roll out.
I just downloaded it, so I don’t have much of a review, other than that initial impressions are fucking fantastic. You can access the cheat menu by putting four fingers on the screen and holding for a second, a keyboard pops up, and you can enter all the old classic Doom cheats. IDDQD for god mode, IDKFA for all weapons/ammo, etc.
OR “How NOT to make an iPhone case”.
After having seen the YouTube video, I had to try out the Tech21 iBand for iPhone and iPod Touch. I paid a hefty $34 after shipping for one, and waited eagerly for it to arrive. It showed up, and I had high hopes. It fits smartly, and I was instantly impressed with just how little bulk it added. My main gripe with cases and covers is added bulk.
It has a strange texture, and just a quick thump on a hard surface makes you believe the impact protection claims.
So far so good. Until this.
Uh, how the fuck am I supposed to use the ring/vibrate switch? I can force the volume rockers up and down, but it’s sure as hell not easy.
And, uh, what if I’d like to use the screen lock? Are you fucking kidding me? This is the result of trying to wake the device up from sleep:
You can pretty clearly see the iPhone lock button shaped red mark. That’s from trying to wake the device up. Seriously.
This shit is unusable. Utterly worthless. If you want something to throw at the wall, buy a can of tennis balls and save $30. I can’t believe they would even try to sell this shit to people. If the idea of returning something from an internet vendor didn’t give me douche chills, I would send this fucker back. Please, for the love of god, redesign this so that it actually works for people who, you know, want to also use their phone, and not just throw it at the wall, and give the people who wasted $35 on this fucking beta version a free upgrade. This is just insulting.
I give it one star because the impact protection does seem to work very well. If you have a broken iphone you want to throw at the wall without…breaking? Buy it. Otherwise, stay far away.
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I got my MiLi Power Pack in today. It’s basically an extended battery that slips on the back of the phone. Let’s start with the unboxing.
The packing is very much like the iPhone packaging, which is to say it’s pretty nice looking.
Slide the top part off the bottom, and you’re greeted with your new battery pack.
Under the tray that holds the battery, you get a cable. It’s a standard USB to mini USB, so if you’re a gadget nerd like me, you likely already have a few, but it’s still good to have extras.
I got it home and took some pics with a real camera.
The button on the front checks the power level. Each LED represents 25% battery capacity.
The bottom has a USB IN port, which you use to charge the device or sync with your computer, and a USB OUT port, which you can use to charge anything that has a USB cable. This feature really impressed me. If you have, say, a bluetooth headset with a miniusb cable, you can charge your MiLi, your phone, and your bluetooth headset with just one cable, even powering up your bluetooth when you aren’t near a computer.
The back has a “cutout” for the camera lens.
And the side stops low enough for unfettered access to the volume controls.
A couple of shots with a pack of cigarettes to demonstrate the size.
I’m currently giving it a full charge, so I can’t comment on battery life yet, but I have no reason to doubt their claim to double the battery life. As soon as it charges fully, I’ll see how long it lasts with normal usage.
In general, it works like this. You slip the phone in the case, then plug it into your computer. The phone will be charged first, then the battery pack. Discharging works the opposite way, it uses external power if it’s connected, then the battery pack will be used down to 5%, then the phone battery will begin to discharge. This is important for one reason that I haven’t seen mentioned; as we all know, the iPhone’s battery isn’t user replaceable, and any battery will only survive a finite number of charge cycles. Using this battery pack should greatly extend your battery’s service life, as well as preserve it’s efficiency for longer. Certainly something to consider. It’s also worth noting that you can still connect your phone to itunes while in the case, you don’t lose the ability to sync. In fact, you gain the ability to sync with a standard USB cable.
As you can see from the battery icon, the phone essentially thinks it’s on external power while attached to the battery pack.
The fit and finish is very good, but it certainly adds a lot of bulk. Your phone will not slide into the front pocket of your jeans with this battery attached, unless you have some very big jeans. I think my method will be to charge my phone, in the battery pack, at night, then carry it in the battery pack at work so I won’t have to worry about it all day. After work, I’ll slip my phone out of it so I can go out without carrying a brick around, as I doubt I’ll discharge a whole battery over the course of a night out.
Overall, I’m very pleased with it. If the battery life lives up to their claims, it’s a winner. Stay tuned for an update tomorrow.
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The apple earbuds are terrible, but they have the controller. There are plenty of aftermarket headphones, but they lack a mic and controller. I finally found a good combination of both, the V-Moda Vibes.
They look nice and came with a nice carrying pouch.
They also feature a mic and controller, just like the factory headset.
Most importantly, they actually fit my ear. They are seriously the most comfortable headphones I have ever put in my ear. Maybe I have small ears, or maybe people just like to be tortured, but every other headphone hurts like fuck, if not immediately, then very shortly after I put them in. I’ve tested these for hours and they feel great. I highly suggest them.
Sounds quality is pretty good, a little bass heavy for my taste, but still MUCH better than the factory headset.
Buy them on Amazon.com
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