Your soda is free......just watch this ad.

We all know that marketing ads are a necessary evil in order to pay for our favorite stuff or be made aware of the latest and greatest stuff but as always the Japanese have taken it to a new level.

Japan's Apex Corporation has come up with new vending machines that'll give those seeking to wet their lips the option to watch an ad in order to receive a free (or at the very least discounted) soda or other drink. Now we've been promised stuff for free in the past (from the internet via pop up ads or that free Xbox 360 if you just fill out a few offers.......) but they figure you'll be up for a 30 second ad in order to get that thirst quencher.


You know what? Kudos to them. Granted it's starting to seem that you have to put up with a "pitch" before getting damn near anything these days but to get something for free? I'm in.

A SixAxis PS3 controller......for your Xbox 360!

There a number of cool things about the PS3 (I did get mine back but that's a story for another post). Not the least of which is its motion sensitive SixAxis controller. Rather than using the joystick or buttons on the controller you can just tilt it up down and left or right to make the item in the game act accordingly. Such a controller is jsut one more step to making the action feel less like a game and more like an experience. Just because Microsoft didn't think about it doesn't mean you're left out, now you can have that coolnees for your Xbox 360.

The Xbox mod guys over at Team X-tender have come up with a kit that will allow yuo to add the "tilt control". The XCM BestTilt includes a complete replacement shell for the back of the 360’s controller. There is some soldering involved ( a total of five points will need some solder love) but I figure if I can do it (as "Tim the Tool-man" challenged as I am) anyone can. Once that's done just screw the case back on and voila. Hopefully I can get a video of this thing working shortly.


As mods go this is a relatively cheap one at $40. That's of course if you already own a solder gun. Kits will come in both white and black (so those new 360 Eltie owners don't feel left out) and should be available to the public any day.

Your Xbox 360 keeps getting better and better!

****WARNING: After writing this post I got an e-mail that some Xbox 360s are crashing and acting wierd after installing this update. My 360 hasn't had any trouble but there are tons of people who say theirs are so beware.*******

In keeping with Microsoft's desire to please the Xbox 360's customer base and keep the 360 at the top of the console wars, we got a new update that includes a number of new additions (a complete list can be found here) but I'm gonna focus on my favorites.

- (my personal favorites, #1) at the opening blade of the 360 it tells you what game is in the tray. That might seem like a small thing but too often I forget what's in there and have to waste time opening up the tray to see.

- (#2) now when you unlock an achievement you see what the achievement was and how many points its worth on screen as it happens. Too often we've had to pause the game and go chase down the points screen.

- the addition of Windows Live Messenger which allows PC, mobile phone and 360 gamers to add to each other's friends list and chat and IM in real time.

- the Xbox Live Market place gets its own blade. Now you have just one place to go in order to
get entertainment, game demos, game videos, themes, gamer pictures, and featured downloads.

- better looking VGA output for you lost souls that aren't playing in HD (what are you waiting for?).

- content on your hard drive is now sorted by size, making it wasier for you to decide what needs to go in order to free up HD space.

- items in your download que continue to download even after you turn off your console. After shutting down your 360 it will enter "low power" mode and keep on downloading until the files are complete. So now your new content is waiting for you the next time you turn on your 360.

- support for: WMV, MP4, H.264 video, MPEG-4 Part 2 ,but not AVI or MKV. In non nerd-speak? Better video support! And you thought Apple TV was where its at!

- Windows Media protected content (WM-DRM) can now be streamed from PC to Xbox 360. What? Am I the only guy using his Medai PC through the 360?

- you can now fast forward, rewind, chapter skip on your videos while still downloading from the Marketplace.

Is the 360 perfect? Not yet but its getting there pretty darn fast. I'd post more but as you can see in my Gamer Card to the right I'm rapidly approaching a 10,000 gamerscore so I need to get back to playing.

The weather is finally getting nice so its time to hit the links with this new bag.

As we stir from our winter slumber now that the warm sun is showing its face and spring has arrived, some of us will be heading to the golf course.

One of the concerns while playing a round at your local course is keeping your clubs safe. Whether from a bad shot, bad caddie or by accident your clubs have taken a spill out of an overturned bag at least once or twice. Considering most club sets deemed "worthy" will set you back a $1k, that's no way to protect your investment.

This new Evolution Bag from Kaala will ensure your clubs are never in danger againby keeping therm locked in and covered by a plastic shell. You just have to rotate a top-mounted dial to the appropriate number or letter and an carousel delivers your club of choice. So not only do you keep your clubs protected from you but because of the design it also protects your clubs from the elements too.

The Evolution comes in two versions; the basic which retails for $430 and a motorized self-propelled version, that would make Rodney Dangerfield's character from "Caddyshack" jealous, for $865. You can never have enough gadgets, even on a golf course.

Yes, the PS3 is slowly winning me over.

I find hard to believe hearing that coming out of my mouth but it is.

My PS3 is getting replaced (long story) but what I've done so far with it is pretty cool. On eof the things I really like is that I can download to my PSP and now available for my PS3. Best of all, once I've paid for the download for my PSP I don't have to pay again to play the game on my PS3. I know, hard to believe how much sense that makes!

The list of PSP/PS3 games is short right now (10 in all; 2Xtreme, Crash Bandicoot, Destruction Derby, Jet Moto, Jumping Flash, MediEvil, Rally Cross, Syphon Filter, Tekken 2, and WipeOut) but the list is expected to grow in the coming months. S0 you can get the PSOne games you know and love on your portable and home console....schweet! Now throw in that these retro games are $5.99 a piece AND you can play them on the two and that plain rocks!

The keyboard that won't keep you up all night.

Keeping with our working at night or in low light conditions I have to tell you about the newest addition to the Digital Den arsenal of gadgets. I give you the Illuminated Multimedia Keyboard from ION.

ION uses a patented illumination technology (electro-luminescent to be exact) to light the keys internally. Thus, making them visible in the pitch black darkness or any poorly lit workspaces. You get the same functionality of "normal" keyboards; 105 key QWERTY laid out keyboard, your standard 12 function keys, and there's seventeen multimedia hotkeys that are ideal for programming your favorite macros and computing functions (Home, Email, Refresh, Favorites Search, Media, Stop, Previous Track, Next Track, Mute, Volume, Play/Pause, My Computer, Calculator, Wake up, Sleep & Power Key Caps). The lights can be turned off at the touch of a button located on the keyboard itself.

The keyboard is 95/98/2000/NT/ME/XP compatible. It also come with a lighted mouse and mouse pad. I like the layout and feel of the keyboard and mouse. The buttons and keys are responsive. The only issue I have is that it only comes in a USB version. This thing is great but needs to be wireless. For $75 you've got to check it out for yourself.