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I love my iPod, really I don’t think there is a day that goes by where it is not being utilized for music indulgence or a quick email check.  Even to keep my sanity, I will pull out the device to play a game to squelch the boredom.  So I really am attached to the sucker.

My iPod is a Touch, pretty sweet, and it sort of held me back from buying an iPhone and selling my soul to AT&T (which is a bad idea in NEPA…we have lots of valley and rolling hills that we tend to call mountains…and in those areas you are lucky if you get any service at all.)  I have a habit of buying the newest iPod when it comes out, not the case this time however.  I have had a 1st generation 2gb nano, then I got the 3rd generation square 8gb nano, and then the 4th generation 16gb nano.  I had decided that I did not want to buy an iPhone when it came out…ok I did but like I said, AT&T around here…the iPhone is no reason to switch networks.

So imagine my depression when Apple came out with the newest nano, with a camera and FM/AM transmitter which I will confess I would totally use.  And my Touch that has no camera, but there are some awesome radio apps I can use, as long as I am connected to wifi.  Along with the new nano having a camera, of course it will do video.  The prices have been dropping also.  You can get a new 16gb nano for less than $200 which is a pretty sweet deal actually seeing as how hey used to be over $200 for the 8gb.

Now if only they would do a new iPod Touch with a camera also (hey Apple, you could totally put in an FM/AM transmitter, I won’t be upset), they now have 32gb and 64gb which will probably be next on my list unless Verizon happens to get the iPhone and release a 64gb iPhone…no suggestions or anything.  Heck, even the iPod shuffle is insanely cheap, a 4gb for less than $100.  They basically look like a hot flash drive…just no USB stick.

So this last part is to Apple, Steve Jobs, whoever can make it happen.  Please make an iPod Touch with a camera (the radio honestly isn’t the kicker), I kind of feel left out without a camera/iPod/computer, just an iPod/computer…I really get annoyed when I have to walk around holding an actual camera and managing the flash and dealing with having the wrong SD card and only being able to take 1 picture.  I just want to have a phone/radio/computer/ipod/gaming system in my hands…

gmFunkd Review, gadgets, technology Apple, AT&T, iphone, ipod, mp3 player, nano, shuffle, touch, Verizon

There are tons of rumors running the mill lately about the tablet that Apple would be releasing. At first, I honestly thought it would be a bad idea but the more I thought about it, I personally wouldn’t mind having one. The idea that Apple would be making a tablet has been circulating for more than 5 years, which makes me think that if this many rumors are coming out about it releasing, it’s a pretty good chance that we will see this tablet within 2009.
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gmFunkd Blog, Laptops, Review, Uncategorized, gadgets, technology Apple, Laptop, Macbook, Tablet, Touch OS, Touch Screen

I am going to say this first, I am not the most technically advanced person in the world.  Especially when it comes to my Macbook.  I have had this laptop for nearly 3 years now and I am just learning most of the shortcuts and how to use it to its fullest.  I really wanted to learn more and putting the newest Windows OS on my life line was a huge step.  The only reason I really wanted it on the laptop was because I wanted to play PC games and use Office.  This was my biggest and scariest experiment to date, installing Windows 7 on it.  I did face a couple of potholes on the way, Boot Camp Assistant was not my friend, but that was my own fault, too many files to partition. I had to burn two dvds because the first one did not work.  But when it was time for the macbook to preform, I was not let down.  This is why I love my 3 year old macbook.

First off, follow the system requirements it gives you, I only have 1 gb of ram and to date that has been plenty.  I have an 80 gb hard drive but I also have a 320gb external.  As long as you have more than 10 gb of space on your laptop and don’t plan on adding tons more to it, you should be all set.  If you cringed at the idea of having less than 3 gb of space left on your laptop, external is the way to go.

That being said, follow my lead.  Go to the Windows 7 download site, download your copy and make sure to write your serial down.  Then burn the iso to a dvd, its easier with the Mac then a windows machine.  After you have that done, I suggest trying out a free trial of VMWare Fusion.  It was a toss up between Boot Camp and VMWare, but when Boot Camp Assistant decided that it could not partition my hard drive, VMWare was the way to go.  I got the trial of VMWare Fusion and then inserted my Windows 7 cd and about an hour later, I was running Windows and Mac, smooth like butter.  I put the image on my laptop hard drive at first but then I moved it over to my external.  Once I opened the image on my external, it just asked if I had moved or copied it, select moved and it makes the changes.

It was a pretty interesting experience, but with VMWare Fusion, it is MUCH better than dual boot.  You can also use Parallels, which I have used before, but Fusion was much easier to use.

gmFunkd Laptops, Netbooks, Software, Windows, gadgets, technology Leopard OS, Macbook, Virutal Machine, VMWare Fusion, Windows 7

For those of us who missed the first round (or weren’t awesome enough to get a Grand Central account way back when), Google is providing another opportunity.  It would seem that Google is expanding the userbase they are using to test Voice by allowing users to opt in to receive an invitation.  To throw your hat in the ring, head to https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/ and fill in your name and e-mail then go sit by your inbox and feverishly F5 until you see an invite show up.. as we will all be doing.

Hopefully we’ll have an invite, if we do – expect an in depth feature run down to follow shortly.

MG_Chris Web, gadgets, technology Google, google voice, internet, phone, voice, voicemail, voip

A rumor that has been floating around for probably more than a year, but has started to gain more hype, is the possibility that Apple may come out with a new iPhone with Verizon.

Stop right there.  If any of you felt your heart race after hearing of the rumor or just reading this now for the first time, welcome friends!  In an age where we want everything at the touch of a finger, the iPhone is a very handy gadget.  Most smartphones are for that matter.  (Of course the iPhone apps are one of the reasons that Apple had no real competitor other than Blackberry.)

The iPhone, even in some of our generation’s dimmest times, was still increasing sales.  With the App Store, the iPhone can be transformed into anything you want it to be really.  Being someone who is fairly attached to her laptop, I will sometimes drag it out just to check on some news or tweet or play a game.  This isn’t a pain at all, but thinking about just doing it on the iPhone, I begrudge other people’s iPhone joy.  It seems to be the perfect mini-laptop when taking a laptop out just isn’t as practical as it used to be.  In a world where netbooks are selling like mad and laptops are selling much more than desktops, the iPhone fits in well.

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gmFunkd entertainment, gadgets, gaming, technology 3G, AT&T, iphone, phones, smartphone, Verizon

Image taken from ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com

He Remembers It, So You Don’t Have to.

By Thomas Mates

If you still pine for the days when Saved by the Bell was still on the air and it was worth it to wake up early for Saturday morning cartoons then you have probably heard of the Nostalgia Critic, on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com. Every Wednesday, the Nostalgia Critic updates his site with reviews of movies and television shows most twenty-somethings grew up with. The Nostalgia Critic in real life is Chicago native Douglas Walker, 27.

Walker was a film major at NIU, Northern Illinois University. “I was actually going to go into film for a living, but the more I grew up the more I realized that I’d probably have to deal with Hollywood and I’m not really a huge fan of Hollywood,” said Walker.

After college Walker made a living doing illustration and design. He then started his career on the internet through YouTube. “I started posting these five second movies; they were like famous movies reduced down to five seconds… those seemed to catch on really big time on the YouTube community.”

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Mates.Thomas entertainment, gadgets, movies blip, bum reviews, chester a. bum, critic, doug walker, entertainment, marz girl, movies, nostalgia, nostalgia chick, nostalgia critic, television, that aussie guy, that guy, thatguywiththeglasses

Co-Founders Chris, Dan and Kevin along with special guest, Kyle,  got together at MuchGeek HQ on Saturday night (Apr. 11, 2009) to record MuchGeek.com’s first podcast.

The name of the show is MuchCast. It seemed like a fitting name for the show. Goes with the whole site theme.

Some of the topics discussed on this podcast are the mission of our site and podcast, hacking HTC’s G1 Android phone, Seth Rogen’s newest comedy “Observe and Report”, Kyle’s review of the Korg R3 keyboard/synthesisor along with much much much more random banter.

Enjoy kids!

Download: MuchCast-1-Set it Off (Apr. 11, 2009)

Also, stop by this post on the forums and let us know what you think!

admin Blog, Forum, MuchCast, MuchGeek, gadgets Gmail, HTC G1, Korg, MuchCast, Observe and Report, Seth Rogen

WiiSpray Controller

Check out what a group of German students has come up with, the WiiSpray.  This custom controller (possibly the cleanest looking I’ve seen) works with a homebrew app that allows couch artists to do their thing without worrying about getting paint on their fingers.

Created by Martin Lihs, and first detailed in his thesis at Bauhaus University, the inital concept was released back in 2007.  Since then, it has been refined to include a wider variety of backdrops to spray on and the new controller which maintains the look and feel of an actual spray can.  It even changes colors so you always know what should be coming out.

Check out the video of it in action (the stenciling is particularly awesome):

WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

[via SlashGear]

MG_Chris entertainment, gadgets, gaming, technology gaming, homebrew, spray paint, wii, wiimote, wiispray

Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project

Meet the P.U.M.A.! What you’re witnessing is the newly announced concept vehicle coming from GM and Segway, and, in theory, has the potential to change the way that we navigate through congested city streets.  Pushing the power from the original Segway, the P.U.M.A. claims to be able to achieve a speed of 35 MPH and travel 35 miles on a single charge while still maintaining the self balancing, two-wheel design that made the original the break through it was.

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MG_Chris automotive, gadgets automotive, car, GM, segway, social networking, vehicle

Acer Aspire One ZG5

For my first post on the MuchGeek blog I chose to do a review. I will talk briefly about the Acer Aspire One ZG5 8.9-inch Netbook.

However, I must preface the story by saying that I only came upon this netbook by chance. I first purchased an Acer EeePc for $250 from Best Buy and after a torturous first night experience with it including a 5 hour install of Windows 7 Beta! I decided to give the Acer a shot.

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MG_Kevin Laptops, Netbooks, Review, gadgets Acer Aspire One, Netbook, Review