Schweet plasma blades Master Chief! Halo 3 is almost here!

Yes I'll admit it, I'm totally caught up in the hype that is Halo 3. I have my Halo 3 themed Mountain Dews on ice chillin' for later, my Halo 3 "Its Coming" t-shirt ( a gift from a friend) laid out and ready to go and come midnight I'll go pick up my "Super Special" Edition Halo 3 (yeah, the one that comes with the game, two DVDs and the Master Chief Replica Helmet and stand). Yes my friends, I am officially one of the sheep. I doubt I'll even go to sleep tonight. Happy Hunting and look for me on Xbox Live.

Never drop another call. No, I'm being serious!

Okay, even if you're with the "can you hear me know" cell provider, everybody has problems with dropped calls. That couldn't more true for road warriors like us. Too often while on travel I find myself in dead spots either because of the remote areas that I have to work or the buildings I work in. Well now there's a new gadget to help people like us out, the "Freedom Antenna" from Arc Wireless Solutions. Its billed as "the world's first portable personal antenna with broadband capability to provide 8 times better reception for phones and wireless devices".
This little antenna booster plugs into the external antenna outlet on your phone (yes, your phone has such a plug its normally located on the back of your phone and covered by a water resistant plug). The antenna is compatible with over 200 different cell phones and even PC data cards. For the last few weeks I'm been using the antenna everyday to test out its capability. Can I tell you how the antenna works? No I cannot. Why? Because the technology is "patent pending". To be honest who cares? It works! There are a couple of issues that need to be brought up. First off this little antenna booster ain't pretty, its not tiny (its small) and has a 3 foot cable to plug into your phone (refer to image above) so its not some cool thing you're gonna whip out at the club. Its meant to be suctioned-cupped to the windshield or dash of your car while you're out on sales calls or set out on a table while you're trying to telecon from a hotel in "EastBumbleStick" (no, not a real place but I'm sure you've been in a place like that in your life). But bottomline is this....as I said earlier it works. There area a number of places that I do business that I've always lost reception and dropped calls. With the Freedom Antenna hooked to my Motorola Razr I had no such issue. Even when the phone showed no bars of reception. Now add in that you get that piece of mind for a price point around $40 and its a no brainer. I'm hoping that the folks over at Arc Wireless Solutions don't want the "Freedom Antenna" test unit they sent me back!

Iron Man is coming! I might've just soiled myself.

Today is a day that all us geeks collectively feel goosebumps. I present to you the official teaser trailer for the new movie about the suave, eccentric, highly flawed, millionaire, businessman Man of Iron from the Marvel Universe. That's right "IronMan"!!
Oh yes, there are nerd-gasms happening all over. I saw the 300 four times in the theater. If this movie is half as good as the trailer, I might make a movie theater my new office.

Now this was the background information I was trying to give.

I writing my last post about the latest game I'm getting to work on (Tom Clancy's EndWar, DUH), I didn't feel I was doing the game the justice it deserved. This little piece of video goodness does a much better job than I ever could. Not to mention it give you a chance to see of the fantastic people that make up the EndWar team. Kudos to the team over at IGN too. This video and the others they've done with the dev team are great.

Tom Clancy's EndWar moves the RTS from PC to consoles and I get to work on it.

I really get to do some of the coolest stuff. Not the least of which is consulting in the videogame industry. Now let me say this up front. I'm not a Ubisoft fanboy or paid spokesman. I am however a huge fan of their work. My love dates back to "The Fifth Element" videogame based on the movie for PC. Throw in the Clancy portfolio of games (Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Rayman and a host of other titles) and you have one of the few true "power hitters" in the videogame biz. Add that in my opinion they're the company that gets it right when dealing with military content and it would make sense that I would find some way to work with them.

The "Tom Clancy EndWar" title has provided just that opportunity. I have worked on the Ghost Recon titles (see cool screenshots in the photos section) but now I'm getting paid. To put the icing on the cake, this is the first new IP (intellectual property, jeez read a book) from Ubisoft in a while.

Quick synopsis: In the near future the world comes off its era of peace due to enhanced defense technology that all but eliminated the threat of war. However, constant depletion of natural resources, some countries large "stores" and disagreements over who should own/manage said "stores" touch off World War 3.

In the game you get to play as one of three armies representing the US, Russia or Europe. Those armies fight in massive multiplayer battles that encompass huge numbers of personnel and machines and strech over the landscape. You'll get traditional RTS commands mapped to the controller (EndWar will be released on PS3 and Xbox 360) but will also have the option to command your forces via voice command. Thus giving you the feel of a true leader commanding your forces. The vehicle and character models are stunning and the gameplay footage is blow your socks off cool. Here's the game trailer. If this doesn't get you fired up about dropping $50 on a game I don't know what will!

Hopefully I'll get to add more about it soon.

Oh God, I'm hooked on LOL Cats!

Alright, if you haven't heard of the guys over at "www.LOLCATS.com" where in the schweet mother have you been. Remember those posters that our teachers used to put up in class like the one with the kitten dangling from a limb titled "Hang in There"? Well the site is filled with pictures like that but with current actions and titles. Originally I though it was dumb but the more I scanned through the pictures the harder I laughed! My favorites right now?

That makes me laugh so freakin' hard! But maybe that's 'cause I'm a cycling geek.

I know its stupid but I can't quit laughing. And hands down my personal fav.
Just goes to show you what you can do with Photoshop and some free time. Not to mention all the coverage their getting and they're making money too. Consider them a moment of Zen.

Never get lost again.

I am a guy. Which means that on top of grunting, scratching myself, focusing on food and boobs, I never got lost. Right? Wrong! I do pride myself on being able to admit that at times I can be navigationally challenged. Sure, the military taught me cardinal directions, how the sun rises/sets, and orienteering. That however means bubkus when driving in rural podunkville!
Enter the Garmin StreetPilot c330, the newest addition to the Digital Den gadget collection. This little hand held/window mounted portable GPS (that global positioning system, you n00b!) comes out of the box preprogrammed with detailed North American "City Navigator® NT street maps". The c330's on board memory includes: a database with points of interest (yeah I don't know what those are yet), motels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. That information is easily read on the large 3.5in, 320x240 pixel, touch screen. Maps are displayed in 2D or 3D with maps and you get turn-by-turn voice directions (in a lovely woman's voice I might add). The c330 also has an SD card slot that allows for updating map data in case you decide to take it overseas. Throw in a USB cable to connect to your computer with the included software and your maps will always be u to date.

It has a $229-$349 price tag (so shopping for a good deal is key) but peace of mind over never getting lost is totally worth it.