I soooo want to buy one of these. But after hours of research, I’m not going to. They’re currently priced at around AUD $120 (delivered), which makes them nearly half the the price of a ‘real’ Dobsonian scope. They are incredibly cute though…

I’m posting this on my new EeePC 901.

I had a bit of trouble deciding between the 1000H and the 901, mostly because I prefer the larger keyboard on the 1000H – but I really wanted something tiny that I could carry around easily, and the 1000H isn’t actually that much smaller (or lighter) than my ancient old Portege. So I went for the 901, which was nearly $200 cheaper, and I’m glad I did. I expected that the tiny keyboard on the 901 would be a bit fiddly to use, and it is – but I’m slowly getting used to it, and as long I remember to avoid using the misplaced right shift key (which could easily be ‘fixed’ by remapping it), my typing is around 80% the speed and accuracy as it is on a full size keyboard. I’m also very happy with the 901’s trackpad – two finger scrolling, three finger right click, etc… I’ve almost stopped reaching for the mouse that isn’t there. For the first time in my life, I think I’ll be able to get used to working without a mouse.

One of my favourite childhood treasures resurfaced a few days ago – the Texas Instruments Little Professor. I tested it today and it still works, I even managed to get the first question wrong. Nope, 7 + 4 doesn’t equal 13.

After watching the lock picking video presentations by Barry “The Key” Wels’ from What The Hack and Hope Number Six, I tool the plunge and ordered a simple 5 piece pick set. I can’t imagine myself getting into “lock sports”, but being able to pick locks whenever somebody has forgotten their keys (or really needs to get into a door they don’t have a key for) seems like a good skill to have.

Consumerists/materialists… here we go!

In order of the little pictures…

iPod Nano
I only got this a few weeks ago, and already I’m feeling guilty for leaving my (now vintage) 40GB iPod in a constant state of ‘being charged’ tethered to my PC. Although I haven’t used the Nano in transit much, I really like the fact that it has no drive whirring away inside it – which means I can happily fall asleep with it, and not panic when I find that I’ve flung it across the room during the night.

Swallow charger
Not much to say here. I bought this to charge the LiPos for my RC planes. And have ended up using it to charge pretty much every battery I own. Solid, cheap, reliable little charger. 10/10.

Atari 2600 Junior
I picked this baby up in the early 90s when I was out buying vodka. I ended up in the toy shop trying to buy Scrabble, and came across a discount bin full of boxed 2600 Juniors and assorted unboxed 2600 games. I bought everything I could afford.

Cateye Micro Wireless
I can’t see the point in riding a bike unless I know how far I’ve been.

Tecsun R-919
Pre-branded Grundig shortwave radio that nearly fits in my pocket. It looks like something that International Rescue would use.

iPAQ RX1950
The cheap wifi replacement for my semi-retired Palm T|E. Although the iPAQ has all the quirks and irritations of a Windows device, it’s turning out to be pretty good.

Chipped PS2
The only console that I actually play. Until I get a PS3 anyway.

Kyosho Mini-Z
I’ve got lots of RC bits and pieces, but the Kyosho MA-010 and MR-02 Mini-Zs are the ones that I like tinkering with the most. Tiny, precision, and even if they’re made in China, it’s all Japanese to me.

GP2X
SNES, Genesis, Neo-Geo, MAME, and pretty much any other emulator you could possibly want. All in a dodgy South Korean handheld. It runs Linux, and feels kinda like a homemade car. What isn’t there to like?

Technics RP-DJ1200 headphones
Not really a gadget, but who cares. I got these to replace the indredibly good, and incredibly fragile Sony MDR-V700DJs I had. I treat these Technics headphones like garbage, I get up and try and leave the room while wearing them, I drop them, I stack stuff on top of them. They sound nearly as good as the Sonys, and they’re not broken.

I updated the GP2X firmware today, and installed the latest version of SquidSNES. And after actually reading the SquidSNES readme, I’ve finally been able to get Mario Kart to play nice. Mario Kart is one of the SNES games I never really got into when it was released, so I’m kinda discovering it for the first time.

It took a few tries, but I’ve finally worked out a simple way to get YouTube clips onto my GP2X. It only takes 2 steps to do it…
1. Download the flv by pasting the YouTube url into keepvid.com.
2. Convert the flv to DivX (or whatever) using Total Video Converter.

Done diddly done!

I got a Cateye Micro Wireless bike computer yesterday – bought it on eBay for half the price they are in the shops, so I’m pretty happy. Setup was easy, and everything works as it should – and apart from being wireless, it’s basically the same as the old Cateye Mity 2 I’ve got on my GT. I went for a ride thru the dust and sun today to test it out, 18km distance, top speed 36km, average speed 16kph. I’m going nowhere fast.

Well I went and got myself a 4GB “New” Nano. And so far, I’m impressed. I like going to Apple stores, everyone is enthusiastic about computers, it’s kinda like stepping back into the early 80s.

Having decided just a few days ago to get a Nano, the screen on my cheapo ‘recreational use’ mp3 player has stopped working. Everything else works fine, but I have no idea what I’m doing when moving around in the menus. As much as I wanted a real reason to get a Nano, I’ll be sad to say goodbye to this piece of cheap rubbish. I like unbranded/pre-branded stuff from China/HK – and I’ve been really lucky with some of the things I’ve bought (especially short wave radios). But this is the first one that has acted it’s price. Boo hoo.

When a burglar takes old stuff out of your parents’ house, it’s often claimed on insurance and is eventually replaced. Which means I’ve just scored a pretty much brand new Teac cassette deck that I discovered abandoned in my mum’s ’storage cupboard’. This also means I can start transfering those precious cassettes that I’ve been keeping for this very moment in time (containing such valuable recordings as old radio shows I was on, exgirlfriends on answering machines, old bands I was in etc…). I’m pretty sure it will be fun for the first half hour, then it will just turn into another task. If only we could have a rainy day.

I’ve decided to get an iPod Nano. I’m absolutely happy with my 40gb 4G iPod, but unsurprisingly it’s never been small enough to comfortably carry when walking – which isn’t the reason I got it anyway. Whenever I’m doing something where the 4G would end up pulling my pants down, I use my throwaway “MP3 Player” brand 1gb USB stick instead – which is fine for listening to podcasts and voice recordings, but pretty crap for listening to music. Plus it takes a single AAA battery, which I’m sick of maintaining. So, after a few hours with a Nano over the weekend, I’ve decided to get one. And the real reason is that I really miss cover art. I haven’t seen my CDs for a few years (they’re all in boxes), and I can still remember what it’s like to put on a real album. I miss it. Seeing album art on that tiny little screen kinda brings it all back. So I’m getting myself a 2gb Nano, and I’m getting one for my mum too. I’m a good kid. And I’m also tempted to get out my LPs and turntable, which I already know isn’t actually worth the hassle.

After waiting for months to make a decision to buy one or not – it’s finally here. I’m now the proud owner of a GP2X, and it’s every bit as good as I’d hoped. The SEGA and SNES emulators are pretty much perfect, and there’s even a VIC-20 emulator that runs my old favourites Gorf and Amok.

I’ve finally bought a GP2X. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow, but I know it won’t be. I’ve put myself on ‘immediate and indefinite’ sick leave, so I figure I’ll need something to keep me from doing anything productive for a while. First up is to get a SNES emu and load up Pop’n Twinbee. Tick tock…

My new phone arrived last week, and I absolutely love it. No camera, no colour screen, no fancy ringtones. It’s just a phone, and it’s fkn TINY. Panasonic A100 AUD$37!

If there’s a good reason not to get one of these, I don’t know what it is. These new Mindstorms have sensors that can hear, feel, and see. That’s enough to make a pretty funny robot.

I’ve been wanting a Panasonic A100 for ages. For years. And now I’ve got one, nearly (it’s in the mail). I’ve been using an Ericsson R600 for at least five years … I treat it like crap, I hate the menu system, the second battery I bought for it has nearly had it, and right now I don’t know where it is. And today I pretty much said my final goodbye to it, although we both know it’s been ‘over’ for a long time.

The A100 is not a fancy phone. And it’s not a cool phone. It doesn’t have a camera, or pretty ringtones, infact it doesn’t even have a colour screen. But it’s tiny. And it was CHEAP. $37 Australian dollars.