Back to the Future Trilogy

I loved Back to the Future! I guess my age shows when I tell you that these movies were on VHS tapes when I was a kid. But not to worry, the complete trilogy is now available on DVD format and for only $10.49! It’s a great gift for the “Back to the Future” fan.

Purchase Back to the Future – The Complete Trilogy (Widescreen Edition) from Amazon.com.

Note: There are some reports of framing issues on Disc 2 and 3. Here is an update on the issue.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Geeky Gifts for Your Holiday Shopping List

Trying to find the perfect gift for a particular geek? Lucky you, I hand-picked a few geeky items to help you with your holiday shopping list. Good luck this holiday season!

Book Geek

Kindle Wireless Reading Device
Perfect for the bookworm friend. They can carry their library with the – up to 1,500 books! This is actually something I’m saving up for. It’d be nice to be able to carry my library right in my purse. The built-in PDF Reader is perfect for my documents as well.

The Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device (9.7″ Display) is also available in the US Only.

Some of my favorite books are also available in Kindle edition:

• The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
• Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
• The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Movie Tie-in Edition (rack) (Narnia)
• Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Gadget Geek

Flip Ultra Camcorder 2nd Generation, 120 Minutes (White)
Perfect for capturing the most memorable holiday moments. Currently on sale for $99, was $149.

iHome iP27BR Portable Travel Alarm Clock For ipod (Black)
I own this iPhone travel alarm clock / charger / speaker gadget and I absolutely love it! It charges my iPhone when I’m asleep and the big display of the clock is perfect when I wake up. Not to mention, my music sounds great on it. There’s a small remote to control what’s playing.

Geek Gamer

The Beatles: Rock Band (for Wii / PS3 / Xbox 360)
Geek gamers and music geeks alike would love this. It’s the perfect entertainment for any party!

Wii Gaming Console
This is my favorite gaming console! I especially love it because of Wii Sports and Wii Fit! And I can’t wait for my Wii Fit Plus to arrive!

PlayStation 3
Looking for a great Blu-Ray player? This one serves both gaming and movie viewing purposes! Adding this to my wishlist. :)

Nintendo DSi
Perfect gaming device when traveling with kids. Comes in a variety of colors. My favorite educational DS games are Brain Age and Big Brain.

Apple iPod touch 8 GB (3rd Generation)
Believe it or not, my iPhone and iPod Touch are my mobile gaming consoles! There are plenty of games in the iTunes store to keep anyone busy. There’s also productive and educational apps as well. :)

Movie & TV Geek

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy & BD-Live)
Know of a Harry Potter fan? Pre-order the latest movie for only $15.99.

Star Trek (Single-Disc Edition)
Who doesn’t love Star Trek?!

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2
This show will have you laughing for hours! Happy geeks watch The Big Bang Theory. :)

Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]
Great movie for the whole family!

The Guild: Seasons 1 & 2
Great and funny show about a group of online gamers.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
A musical about heroes and blogging!

(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar (feat. Felicia Day)
Awesome song about online gaming.

Geek Traveler

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 10.5 Hour Battery Life

Know of a geek who’s always on the go? Why not make their luggage lighter with this netbook? It’s only 2.9 lbs, $335.56, and has a 1.3 MP webcam and 10.5 hours of battery life. It’s actually small enough to fit in a purse. ;) Available in black and blue.

Photo Geek

Canon PowerShot SD1200IS 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD
Canon Powershots are just amazing. I love the size and quality of photos taken from them. This one has a nice big viewing LCD and 3x optical zoom, and comes in a variety of colors. Available for $149! Also, for a limited time, the camera will come with a free 4 GB SD memory card!

XShot Camera Extender – Black (XS2379)
Perfect for taking pictures when no one is around. Also a great gift of the geek traveler.

Joby GP1-EPEN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod (Pink)
I absolutely LOVE my gorillapod. It’s perfect when I want to record videos (especially time lapsed ones) or take a timed photo. Get creative and put your camera on a bike or tree for different angles. It comes in a variety of colors.

Transcend 8 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card
Perfect for the super shutterfly! He/She will never run out of memory again! Just make sure their camera takes SD cards before buying!

Geek Wardrobe

Well, geeks need clothes too. Here are a few items that speaks their language!

OMG Pwnies Tee – my favorite ladies’ geek t-shirt.

There’s No Place Like 127.0.0.1 T-Shirt – because there is no place like home!

Geek Love Poem T-shirt – because you’re the CSS to my HTML!

SQL query – laughs.

Newbie – for the geeklings!

Creative and Artistic Geek

Wacom Intuos3 6 x 8-Inch Pen Tablet
Although there’s a higher model of the tablet, I think this model is great for the money. I personally use this model on a day-to-day basis and I love it. The Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet is also available for a bit more.

Cricut 29-0001 Personal Electronic Cutting Machine
This personal cutting machine is perfect for the paper crafters and scrapbookers. No computer is required for operating this.

Still can’t pick a gift? Why not get them an Amazon Gift Certificate and let them pick themselves! They’re perfect for purchasing mp3s, Kindle books, or anything on Amazon. iTunes Gift Certificates are awesome as well!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Black Friday App

Name: Black Friday App (iTunes Link)
Written By: DealNews.com
Category: News
Price: Free

Size: 0.3 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 2.1
Rate: 4 out of 5 Stars

Black Friday is just a few days away, and what better way to plan your shopping list than with the Black Friday App for the iPhone / iPod Touch? Browse ads from various stores, including Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Gamestop, Office Depot, Staples, Toys R Us, RadioShack, Target, Walmart, and more!

Simply select a store and browse its ads. If you find an item you like, click on the item and then click on the icon in the lower right. This will add the item to your shopping list.

Other features include:

• Links to stores’ websites, locations, and ads.
• Displays stores’ hours.
• Deals separated into categories
• Browse deals by stores
• Browse deals as they are posted on DealsNews.com
• Ads are marked as a rumor or confirmed deal as appropriate.
• Ads that are no longer valid will be removed from your shopping list.

You can add as many items as you like onto your list, however, there is no option to remove the items from your shopping list yet.

Overall, if you’re looking for Black Friday deals, this is the best app for that. It’s simple, intuitive, and best of all, it’s free!

Related Links

• Get $3 in MP3s From Amazon!
• Get Amazon Gift Certificates
• Amazon BlackFriday Deals Week

Popularity: 2% [?]

Get $3 in MP3s From Amazon!

Love music? Get $3 in MP3s from Amazon! This offer is only valid until Nov. 30th, 2009 11:59pm PST, so hurry! Happy Thanksgiving! :)

More deals: BlackFriday Specials: $5 Music Albums!

Popularity: 2% [?]

La Crosse Technology Power Battery Charger on Sale!

Amazon has the La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger on sale for $24.99 today only. Its usually around $33-$35. We use it for charging the AAs on our Canon SLR and Nintendo Wii remotes. The nice feature with this charger is that it has a display on how much of the battery is actually getting charged. For instance, we had a batch of batteries that are rated at “2600 mAh” but only charge up to 1500 mAh. This information is useful since it would have led to a much shorter life on our camera flash. The charger also features a refresh feature to help extend the battery life.

This is a guest post written by Albert from Albertech.net.

Popularity: 1% [?]

iPhone App Review: Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise

Name: Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise (iTunes)
Written By: ZIO Interactive, Inc
Category: Games
Price: $4.99 $2.99

Size: 47.0 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

“Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise” is such a treat for Hello Kitty and Sanrio fans! All of the favorite Sanrio characters such as My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Keroppi, Pochacco, Cinnamoroll and Corocorokuririn make special appearances along with Hello Kitty in the game.

“Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise” has two modes of gaming — Parachute Game and My Room Showcase. Both modes interact with each other, so you’ll find yourself switching back and forth after each stage.

The main objective is to help guide Hello Kitty downward with her parachute. In each level of the parachute game mode, you catapult Hello Kitty as high as you can. The higher Hello Kitty jumps, the more points are earned. When she starts gliding down, tilt the iPhone/iPod touch to help her parachute to safety. Collect apples and bonus items along the way, but be careful of the dangerous obstacles!

Be sure to collect plenty of apples to maintain Hello Kitty’s parachute power. The apples are similar to health points in other games. As long as her parachute power is not as zero, you can still parachute safely down and collect items. Bonus items include Hello Kitty’s friends, toys, cute items, decorations, and various backgrounds and flooring. These can all be use to decorate Hello Kitty’s room in the My Room Showcase mode.

There are 9 exciting stages total. Four must be unlocked from scoring high on previous stages. Clicking once on each stage will display the “Item Tracker.” The bright items are the ones you have already collected and the darken items are ones you have not.

All items collected in the Parachute game are stored in the My Room Showcase inventory. In the My Room Showcase mode, you can select the items you want to decorate Hello Kitty’s room. The 3D graphics used here are quite beautiful. There are so many items to collect in the game that you may find your room cluttered with cuteness!

There are two modes in My Room Showcase — showcase and design. You can toggle between the two by clicking on the hand icon in the top right. In design mode, you can touch and drag items to where you want them displayed. Let go of them item to drop it in place. To add more items, click on Menu -> Inventory. There are 60 items that can be collected throughout the game. Items that you collected will be bright. Items you have in your showcase will be highlighted in pink. Select items to be added in your showcase by tapping on them. A maximum of 20 items can be in the showcase at any one time, and only one background and one floor can be displayed.

Be sure to create stylish scenes, take a screenshot, and share them! The camera icon in the lower right corner will help you with this. Click on it, and tap the middle of the screen when you’re ready. This will take a photo of Hello Kitty’s room and save it to your camera roll. Six different songs are also available when viewing the Showcase mode. To access them, click on Menu -> Settings, and select the song. You may also adjust the volume of the music and effects here as well.

As an added bonus, if you score high enough in the Parachute games, you can unlock an extra “Sky High” mini-game. The object of this mini-game is to make Hello Kitty jump as high as you can. I don’t find this mini-game very addicting at all. You are scored only on the height of the jump, so it feels like a stripped down version of the Parachute game. A better mini-game might be an endless mode where Hello Kitty collects apples and bonus items. Once her parachute runs out of power, the mini game is over, and the score is calculated by how many items she picked up. Maybe this can be in the next version.

Overall, I’m quite impressed with “Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise.” The gameplay is really fun, challenging, and provides endless hours of playing. I’m also quite impressed with the game’s responsiveness to the tilt and touch of the user. The 3D graphics used in the showcase room are lovely, and girls will find themselves creating many variations of Hello Kitty’s room.

One small drawback to the game is that it does not respond to the Ring/Silent Switch on the iPhone. You must manually silent the game using the volume buttons.

For future developments, I’d like to see this game be more social. It could have an option to upload the screenshots and/or be part of the OpenFeint or Plus+ social game networks.

Every Hello Kitty fan should have this game. It’s available in the iTunes App store for $4.99 $2.99 (on sale now!) and is well-worth every penny. For more information about Hello Kitty Parachute, see http://hellokittyparachuteparadise.sanriotown.com

This article was originally published and featured in iProng Magazine Issue #54.

Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise Trailer

Related Links

• More Hello Kitty Electronics

Hello Kitty & Sanrio Goodies

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iPhone App Review: Dolphin Experience

Name: Dolphin Experience (iTunes Link)
Written By: Marc Weinstock
Category: Games
Price: $1.99

Size: 8.6 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.1
Rate: 3 out of 5 Stars

Ever wanted to watch dolphins play in the ocean all day? “Dolphin Experience” takes you into that world, right in the palms of your hands. The best part is, you don’t even have to get wet!

Explore the virtual world of dolphins in the morning, midday, at sunset, and at midnight in three beautiful locations — a shallow lagoon, aquarium, and deep in the ocean. The scenes for each location changes accordingly for each time of the day.

There are a few ways you can interact with the dolphins. You can go snorkeling and be in the ocean with them. You can also play with them using beach balls or hoops, as well as make them jump on the boat and feed them. You can also request that they dance on the waters or do flips. You can also dangle a fish in the air and feed them that way.

What I really like about this app is the calm sounds of the dolphins playing while you interact with them. The detailed graphics are astounding and makes me feel like I’m right in the ocean with them.

Although the app is beautifully made, I still think there is some room for improvement.

• When trying to feed the dolphin, the fish dangles in the air, which looks very odd. Also, the dolphins never go for this type of feeding anyways.
• There are 3 locations * 4 times of the day = 12 different scenes. I think having additional environments would keep the game interesting.
• After playing a few rounds, it gets old too quickly. It would help if there was a better gameplay experience. Some ideas would be having some kind of point system to unlock items or features in the app.

The great news is, new features such as Voice & Name Recognition commands, unlockable environments, new interactive animals, and tricks will be added in future builds, so watch out for these!

Overall, it’s a lovely app for dolphin lovers. The sounds and graphics are quite enjoyable, especially when you just want to relax. I’m looking forward to the additional upgrades in the next versions.

“Dolphin Experience” is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is also available in the iTunes app store for $1.99.

This article was originally published and featured in iProng Magazine Issue #54.

Video Review by quickhitzlab

Popularity: 1% [?]

Firefox for Mobile Devices

I’m really looking forward to trying out Firefox mobile when it’s released. Below is a video that highlights what Firefox mobile can do.

Swiping left and right to see the controls is a great idea since space is very limited. And the AwesomeBar sounds, well, awesome! I really like the idea of Weave Sync as well. This technology syncs your mobile, work desktop, home desktop, etc. for a seamless transition in web browsing. Location-Aware browsing sounds pretty amazing. It’s like having Yelp for topics you’re browsing on! Check out the video for more features.

Meet some of the members of the Mozilla Mobile Team as they give you a quick tour of the user interface and features of Firefox for mobile devices, including the Awesome Bar, Weave Sync, add-ons and tabbed browsing, to name a few.

Related Links

• More about Firefox hacking and coding

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Google Wave Invites

Update: 11/13/2009, 10am PST – I’m so sorry, but I am out of Google invites at this time. When I get a new batch of invites, I will announce it on Twitter. Please follow @daynah for updates. Thank you for understanding.

Would you like a Google Wave invite? I have some to give out! All you have to do is leave a comment answering these three quick questions:

1. What are your favorite mobile games (games for iPhone, DS Lite, other smartphones, etc.)?
2. What’s something you know about me?
3. What would you use Google Wave for?

Be sure to leave your Gmail address somewhere also – either in the email field or comment — so I can send you the invite! This is on a first comment, first serve basis, so hurry before I run out of invites. ;)

For more tech news, giveaways, and updates, please follow my Twitter account @daynah. Google Wave ya later!

Note: Google Wave accounts are not activated right away. Activation may take up to a few days.

Related Links

• Books on Google Wave
• Tekzilla Explains Google Wave
• My First Look at Google Wave
• What is Google Wave?

Popularity: 3% [?]