Scooters and Computers

Last year when I turned 40 my wife bought me a new toy, an Xbox360 Elite.  For nearly 8 months we enjoyed playing games, watching DVD’s, etc. with it.  Then, on one fateful night, it happened… the dreaded RRoD.

Well crap.

After doing some quick research on the internets I found that since my Xbox was still in warranty M$ would fix or replace my unit no charge.  So off I went to the Xbox website to request a repair.  I filled out a repair form and got a confirmation email saying that further instructions would follow.  

The very next day I got an email saying that I would need to ship my Xbox to a repair site and that there were 3 ways this could happen:  1) I would receive an e-shipping label which I could print out and stick on my own shipping box, 2) I would receive a ship back kit, with a box, packing, and shipping label, or 3) I would receive a shipping label via snail mail which I could stick on my own shipping box.  1 of these things would happen in 3-5 days according to the email.  Great!

Well not so great… after a week I still hadn’t received anything.  So I called and spoke with a very helpful young lady from India.  After re-hashing the whole situation with her she tells me she’s canceling my previous service request and issuing me a new one.  Oh great, this makes me feel really good.  Nothing could go wrong now.  She goes on to say that I’ll be getting an e-shipping label via email and that I’ll have to find my own box and pack my Xbox in it to ship.  Ugh.  

Sure enough, within 2 hours I receive my label so I pack up my Xbox and take it to UPS.  I track it’s progress to Mesquite, Texas, which takes a week.  Finally it shows as being delivered.

Not long after that I get an email from UPS saying that there’s an incoming delivery.  That’s strange.  The next day I receive a box from M$.  It’s awfully light… no Xbox in here.  What is inside is a shipping kit with plastic bag, foam packing to fit the Xbox, tape and a shipping label.  Well isn’t that nice.  This would have been useful about a week ago.

So now I begin a daily (sometimes hourly) routine of checking my Xbox account to see what my repair status says.  Finally, 2 days after being delivered it finally shows as being received by the repair center.  Now the wait will be 2-3 weeks.

That was last Friday.  On Monday I just happened to check the status again only to find out that my Xbox has been repaired and shipped back to me.  I even have a tracking number.  Oh Joy!  5 days later my UPS guy Scott comes to the door with a package I have to sign for.

Scott: “Got your Xbox repaired.”

Me: “Huh?  How do you know it’s an Xbox?”

Scott: “We see hundreds of these things.  First we see the empty shipping boxes go out, then the Xbox’s getting shipped back and finally them coming home from repair.”

Me: “Lot’s of them huh?”

Scott: “Yeah, you’re definitely not alone.”

Not alone indeed.  RRoD has really been a thorn in Microsoft’s side.  I always had a feeling it was going to happen to me… I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Well I’m a little late with this info, but in case you haven’t heard, Netflix streaming movies are coming to your Xbox360 this fall… but wait, before you getting all excited there’s one small thing you should know. After dropping $400 on your Xbox you would think this new Netflix capability would come for free. Well it doesn’t. Of course you have to subscribe to Netflix, but guess what, you’ve got to subscribe to Xbox Live (Gold) too. That’ll be another $50 please. Ok, that’s only 4 bucks and change per month, but still. A lot of people think Live should be free anyway, myself included. For just $50 more you could buy the Roku box which will get you movies with no additional fee.

OR

for just a little more get LG’s just announced BD300 Network Blu-ray player

That’s right, for an estimated $350 not only will you get Netflix streaming movies but you’ll also be the proud owner of a Blu-ray player.  Beat that Xbox360!  Scheduled for release this September it’ll probably beat the Xbox solution by months.

I just saw this and had to share… Really incredible riding. Enjoy!

It’s been a while since I last posted but I was doing some research on the Disney Magic.  Haven’t heard of the Disney Magic?  Well it’s one of the coolest cruise ships around and it’s run by Disney.  No rides on this ship but there’s plenty for the kids (little ones and big ones) to do.  You’ve got the ports of call, lots of food, shows, more food, drinks, movies, and even more food.  Lot’s of fun things to do.  It’s another world.

But what do you do when you need to connect with the “real world?”  Well don’t worry, Disney’s got you pretty much covered.  Disney offers wireless internet onboard!  But it’s not cheap and it’s not super fast.  Nevertheless, if you pony up the cash, it’ll keep you from going into withdrawals.  In addition to the internet cafe and several hot spots scattered throughout the ship, almost every stateroom has wireless coverage.  Of course being that the ship is metal, you usually won’t get a full signal in your stateroom… certainly good enough for casual browsing, email, etc.  Don’t expect to watch a lot of streaming videos or video chat with your buddies back on land.  VOIP?  Forget it, Disney’s got that blocked.  Still, just the fact that internet’s available onboard is pretty cool.

So how much?  Well if the cruise didn’t drain your bank account, this will:

Pay as you go - $0.75 per minute
100 min for $55 ($0.55/min)
250 min for $100 ($0.40/min)
500 min for $150 ($0.30/min) 

Onboard Email Account Additional charge of $3.95 to send an e-mail from your onboard ship e-mail account.  No charge to receive an e-mail from your onboard ship e-mail account.  Printing $0.25 per page.

So if you ever go on a Disney cruise you know what to expect.  Happy surfing.

It’s just about a week away… the announcement of the new iPhone. June 9th, we’ll find out what Steve has in store for us. I can’t wait because if the new iPhone lives up to expectations I’m buying.

So what might we expect? 3G of course and perhaps GPS built in. Personally I don’t care about either one. I don’t need access to 3G because I almost always have access to WiFi and don’t want to pay more money for data. I also don’t really want GPS because I think it’s going to be a big battery drain and the existing location technology the phone uses (triangulation via cell towers and WiFi) is good enough for me. I have a Garmin for when I really need GPS.

For me, I’d rather see voice dialing, thinner profile, better battery life, better price, and most importantly to me, more capacity (32GB or better.) I really need a direct replacement for my iPod. I only want to carry around one device, not two, and I’m not willing to pair down my music library to get it to fit on a 16 Gigger.

So we shall see.  With the success of the iPhone 1.0, 2.0 should be incredible.  I’ve got my credit card ready…

-Apple

Gas prices are going up and your SUV is a heavy drinker, time to find another means of transportation.  How about a scooter?  While I’m all for scooters, I definitely think that scooters aren’t for everybody.  So does Peter De Lorenzo at AUTOEXTREMIST. Take a look at his article. If you’re really considering buying any 2 wheeled vehicle, take some time and really think about it. The choice is NOT as simple as buying a car.

Well, well, well… it was only last month that I talked about the upcoming release of Netflix movie streaming appliances. Turns out that Roku will be the first to release such an animal. Who would have guessed?

With RCA jacks, S-video, component, HDMI and optical audio you’ll have no trouble hooking this up to your entertainment system/TV. Comes with a remote and works just like a DVD player. Just plug into your LAN and browse the library. Best of all this Netflix service comes free with your existing subscription. Just $99, available now.  Sweet!
-Roku

Who says that motorcycles all have to look alike?  The nUCLEUS certainly doesn’t look like any motorcycle I’ve ever seen and it doesn’t act like one either.  The sides of this beast are made of a thin, lightweight composite material which slices through the air and also acts as stand when the bike is at rest.  Check out the video after the link
From Non-Object

What do you get when you cross a Vino Classic with a computer, GPS, web cam, PVR, TV & FM tuners, WiFi, touchscreen and an electric guitar interface? Nothing short of the best 2 wheeled, war driving, entertainment platform around. Imagine cruising down the road (at a blistering 40mph) watching Lost, chatting with a buddy, playing guitar, and searching for the next geocache you’re going to attempt. Wow, you might just be able to keep your scoot on the road.

More details at ThoughtLab

Sorry for not posting for so long, I’ve been busy with the ScooterRosa Scooter Rally. Scooter Rosa