• Red Dead Redemption – By far my vote for the best game of 2010. Not only did it have great graphics and sound, but it had an excellent and engaging storyline as well. You could spend forever in this game if you wanted to with a full on sandbox, lengthy expansions, and an online multiplayer mode. Every time I thought I had beaten the game, a whole new chapter opened up. I can’t think of another game (except for maybe Uncharted 2), that drew me into the story so well. There was one moment where I really was blown away – you beat a “chapter” of the game and this eerie, heartfelt music comes on as you start to travel home – it was truly amazing. (Call of Duty: Black Ops is my runner-up.)

• PlayStation Move – Yeah, I know, I’m a PS fangirl, but some on, even Popular Science named it in their Best of What’s New in 2010. The precision is amazing. I found it hard to believe that it was much different than Wii, but after trying both, I can honestly say that PS Move is much easier to use and way more precise. Not only does the PS Move pick up side-to-side and up-and-down action, but it picks up forward-and-back movement and every angle at which you are holding the controllers. For example, I tried Frisbee Golf and you can see every single twitch that you make with your controller. It really picks up exactly how you are holding the controller and follows your movement all the way through your release. It’s pretty fun, but I really can’t wait until Killzone 3 is released in February. I think that is going to be the first game that really makes people think twice about PS Move. Right now, I haven’t talked to anyone who’s even heard of PS Move – they’re all Kinect crazy. I think Kinect is amazing – but not because of what Kinect lets the casual user do. Kinect is amazing because it really has some extreme tech that hackers and programmers are taking advantage of such as haptic holographics and such. I think that tech with help further other inventions, but I kind of doubt that Microsoft will start opening the same power up to the casual users. Tere is only so much you can do with your body movements to control a game. I can’t really see how anyone could play Call of Duty with Kinect. But with PS Move it could be amazing. Not only do you have all of the buttons for different functions, but you can use motion control as well. 2011 is going to be a great year for video games.

• Sennheiser RS120 Wireless Headphones – Why didn’t I buy these years ago? Seriously. These things are amazing. Not only are they amazing to play games with, but it’s great to be able to play video games without disturbing John and vice-versa. Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops is a little crazy because they pick up every single sound from the game. You thought surround sound was wild – try surround sound headphones.

• Kindle 3 – Excellent buy, but I’m glad I held out until 2010. This little guy has been beyond helpful. I carry it with me everywhere – literally. The clarity of e-ink and smaller size makes a big difference over previous generations. I also love the graphite color much better than the usual white. I find it so easy to read off the Kindle screen – it actually reminds me of a traditional book. I can read it in the light, load hundreds of books, play games, surf the net, etc. It was great to be able to keep all of my personal reading choices and all of my school textbooks with me on one little device. Ahhhh, Amazon, how I heart thee.

• Roku XD|S – I won one of these from a Mashable contest. I was going to buy one for myself for Christmas, so it was perfect timing. This little device is awesome. I loaded it with MOG, Pandora, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Newscaster, YouTube, and a bunch of other “channels,” including, a hunting and fishing channel that John loves. They’re pretty wallet friendly since they range from $59-$99. They use hardly any power (they don’t even have a power switch). We are putting it on a junk TV we got as a spare and are moving it upstairs so we can move the good Samsung monitor downstairs with the PS3 running Hulu Plus, Netflix, and everything else as well.

• Dropbox – Okay, I’ve had Dropbox for awhile, but this year I went ahead and started paying for the service. I have the 50GB plan, which even though I think I’ve put everything I’ve done all year in it, I’m only taking up a third of the space. I use it as my default spot to save all of my files so they all get backed up as soon as I save them. I have a feeling it’s really going to save me one of these days. It also lets you keep versions of files, so if you delete or modify one you can go through to any version you’ve ever saved. Amazing. Plus, I can use it quickly and efficiently on my Droid.

• Pogoplug – Last year’s Christmas gift, but this year was obviously the time I used it the most. Great little gadget. They recently lowered the price on the main model and added a wireless adapter for what they lowered the price to so they actually sent all customers who had previously bought the Pogoplug a free wireless adapter. That’s treating your customers right. I keep everything on hard drives connected to this thing and can access them from anywhere (including my Android device).

• Hulu Plus – Yeah, I definitely signed up for this in Beta. Loving Hulu Plus. It is so convenient to watch whole seasons of shows and catch up on shows I’ve missed without having to worry about expiration dates. I was having an issue with watching it on my PS3 or iPod Touch because the ads would blare (which was horrible with surround sound), but it seems like they adjusted that because it hasn’t seemed to boost on ads for awhile.

• MOG – MOG has been my favorite music service of all time – aside from my trial experience with Spotify (but it’s currently only offered in select countries). I no longer find a need to go “find” music and I haven’t touched my iTunes library in months. With maybe one or two exceptions, every single song I have ever tried to listen to has been in the MOG library. I also has a great Pandora-like radio slider where you can pick an artist and then have it find similar songs by other artists (and you can adjust it to mix in more or less variation). You can also create and share playlists, like/dislike songs and search a huge library. Two other bonuses: they have apps for all smartphone operating systems (with downloading/offline listening) and a Chrome web app.

• Square Reader – It’s a tiny credit/debit card reader that plugs into the audio input of Android or iOS phones and allows you to accept payments. It took a really long time to get the card reader because there were manufacturing limitations and such, but once I got it I tried it out and it’s amazing. Not only is it instant, but it allows you to swipe or type in payment numbers, accept a signature, and send a receipt via email. Very cool. And the money was directly deposited into my bank account the next day.

• Evernote – Yes, these are other services I ended up paying for to receive premium access. Evernote just recently hiked up user limits to 1GB, also, so that was an awesome holiday bonus. It’s very convenient for sending myself recipes, taking photo notes, or most recently, for importing all of my Delicious bookmarks in case that service ceases to exist.

• Remember the Milk – Remember the Milk has been a life saver to remind me of tasks and quickly schedule reminders. Plus, these both have mobile apps, Chrome extensions, etc.

• Google & Skype – Yeah, I know, I’ve been using Google for years, but I am especially grateful for Google this year. Not only do I use a ton of Google services for all of my online needs (Voice, Chrome, Reader, Android, Gmail, Picasa, etc.), but Google Navigation and Places saved our butts as we traveled cross country and it continues to be our guide around Seattle. I use Google Navigation for all of my traveling around in car or on foot when I’m not sure where I am going. We were able to see where we were going while traveling cross country, how long it would take, the distance between turns, were easily rerouted, and we can even decide to ignore highways when there are traffic jams due to Husky football games. We lost signal a lot while coming cross country, but our Droid kept chugging because it had already pre-loaded our route. They recently added a lot of offline functionality, so it should be even easier going across. They only time I lost total signal was in the middle of Wyoming and it was all one giant stretch of highway so I didn’t need the Droid anyways. Skype has just been awesome for making calls. I use Google Voice for texts, voicemail, and a main number, but I use Skype to make calls from my computer or from my phone to someone logged into Skype. For unlimited access, $3/month for Skype is pretty great – $0 for Google Voice is even better.

• Xpenser – My personal finance log. I don’t write down transactions – I enter them in Xpenser. This has been awesome for keeping track of every expense. I don’t even bother to look at my bank account with the exception of maybe once or twice a month. The bank was always delayed and I could never rely on the numbers. With Xpenser, I enter everything and can have multiple reports. For example, I have a Primary report, a Pending report, and a personal spending report for each of us. I can add things in the Pending report and move them over to the Primary whenever I need to. I can tag things for business, or as a credit card charge, can add labels, types, notes, dates, and even receipts if I want to. I usually just access Xpenser at the end of the day to record expenses, but when I’m on the road I can whip out my cellphone and send it an SMS to add expenses as well. Oh, and it’s free.

• Adobe Creative Suite 5: Master Collection – The Adobe Creative Suites are always useful. I use at least one program every single day, whether it’s Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Acrobat, Flash, or any number of other program. I need the programs to make it through any work day. The improvements are welcome. I especially like how they finally made the previously-Macromedia programs look like full Adobe products, and I love the content-aware feature in Photoshop. It’s a major time saver.

• TweetDeck –  I used TweetDeck a ton during my graduate program to keep up with hashtag conversations. I use the desktop app, but haven’t found the Chrome app or Android app very useful. For Twitter on Android I use Twidroyd Pro.

• TextMate – I’ve used TextMate a ton at work. For some reason I can’t use DreamWeaver to access the server, but TextMate seems to be working just fine – it color codes, allows tabbed browsing, and I just recently read an article about extensions that I’m going to try out.

• ProGaming Glasses by Gunnar Optiks – They add slight magnification to the image on the screen, slightly tint the picture, and reduce eye strain (something I suffer not only gaming, but sitting in front of a computer monitor all day at work). They’re supposed to be around $100 but Amazon, like usual, has them on sale for less than half of that.

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Kindle Pic Courtesy of Amazon.com via WIRED

A few weeks ago I gave in and bought one of the 3rd generation 6″ WiFi Kindles (the latest generation that keeps selling out because the price is so low). It was definitely a worthwhile purchase. I have all of my school books on it and the ease of reading on the Kindle versus on a lighted screen (my Droid/iPod Touch/Mac) is very significant. The text is incredibly crisp and you can adjust text size quickly. You can also convert and upload text/PDFs to your Kindle in a matter of seconds with tools such as Calibre. I haven’t tried out the MP3 player or text-to-speech feature, but I can say that the device itself is probably the lightest gadget I have. It’s super convenient to carry in my bag and read while on the bus.

Plus, I can’t wait to see what they do with the games and the internet browser. The browser works pretty well from the times that I’ve used it. I can’t wait to see what applications they add next, like Zork. They’ve already added several word games including Scrabble. Amazon recently hired Microsoft’s Director of Game Platform Strategy, Andre Vrignaud. WIRED imagines that Amazon will start offering all sorts of apps including RSS readers (an app I would love to buy). For now, here’s WIRED’s How To Do (Almost) Everything With A Kindle 3.

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The gadget geek in me is jumping up and down, but so is the designer side of me. It’s very cool to read about and look at photos of past technology, crazy inventions, and (what were) futuristic ideas. At the same time, it is amazing to compare the designs from various dates such as 1874, 1940, 1972, and 2010. Design and the technology printing those designs was constantly changing as well. People were creating new ways to share ideas and information. Layouts changed from plain, standard column text to full page ads and articles with lots of photos and flexible regions of text.

Something that everyone should check out: Popular Science Archives

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Personally, I think it’s missing quite a few important systems/games, but it’s still an interesting timeline.

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Well, I’m in the group of tech geek Apple fans who can’t wait any longer for iPhone to end its AT&T exclusivity. As soon as the DROID reviews started coming out, I knew I had to have it. Luckily for me, my “new-every-2″ came up the day before the DROID release. That, paired with an online discount of $100 made it a sealed deal.

I was expecting much less than I got. First, advice to other buyers…never go by the in store models when it comes to the over all feel. I don’t know what it is, but the in store models never feel the same as the actual model that you buy. It was the same case with my Alias. When I felt the Alias, it felt flimsy and light. It also seemed like the hinge would snap easily. When I got the actual phone, it felt substantial with a strong hinge. It lasted me two years and still looks brand new. The same exact thing happened when I went in to see the DROID (after I had already clicked “checkout” online). It felt like a Zune, or some other plastic junk. When I received it in the mail, it was much heavier than I thought it would be. It was solid and sturdy. If you want to test a phone before buying…try to find someone who has one.

Yes, as I admitted in the first sentence…I’m am an Apple fan. I have been waiting and waiting for the iPhone to be added to Verizon’s offerings. There are rumors it might happen next year, but I am sick of waiting. I have been holding out for “the” smartphone. Given the reviews, DROID sounded like a solid phone.

As many reviewers said, yes, the camera is junk. But as they also said, it is most likely not the hardware, but the software that is the issue. I have a feeling this will be fixed soon because there are already rumors of a firmware update on the way. Other than that, my only other qualm with the phone is that the camera button is right in the same location where I would normally have my hand when holding a conversation. Every time I call someone, I feel my hand press down on the camera button. Luckily, it’s not a big deal because you have to press and hold the button and it takes a little time for the camera to start.

As far as interface and software goes, the DROID is different then the iPhone, but not in a bad way. It’s just different. I found myself trying gestures that the DROID just doesn’t recognize. It’s going to take a little while to get my iPod Touch motions out of my mind. As far as syncing goes, I have a Mac so the iPhone software syncs nicely with iCal, Mail, iTunes, etc. But I also use Gmail for my personal mail. I also sync my iCal and contacts to my Gmail accounts so making the move to Google Accounts on the DROID was a piece of cake. I can still use all of my Mac software and then have it sync as usual to my Google Accounts. When I go to use my DROID, the syncing with the Google Accounts is automatic and all of my changes are there as well.

The Android Market is nice, but missing a lot of key apps that I have gotten used to on my iPod Touch. Thing is…it’s relatively new. I’m sure everything that is missing will soon be added if Android phones take off as it looks they will.

The keyboard is nice, but not necessary. The on screen keyboard is more than adequate, especially if you’re used to the iPhone/iPod Touch keyboard. One thing that is nice that can’t be found on the iPhone OS is the suggestions as you type. Very convenient. Yes, they try to auto correct or suggest words as a little bubble, but on the Android OS, you get an actual scrolling list just above the keyboard from which you can quickly select words.

What else? The issue of the drag/drop media is not really an issue for me. I am not usually far from various music devices. If I’m not near anything, there are several apps on the Android Market, including Pandora and Slacker Radio. That’s more than enough to keep me satisfied.

Those were the major items that concerned me. If anyone is looking to buy one and has specific questions, feel free to ask. So far, I am more than happy with my purchase. I’d give it a 9/10 with a little room for the OS to grow. I can’t wait for the OS to reach the top of its game.

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The other day, I watched the trailer for the new game, Red Dead Redemption. It’s a Rockstar game that is set to be released some time this fall. From what I’ve read, it is basically Grand Theft Auto, but set in the West during the late 1800s. Usually I’m not into stuff set in the “old West,” but the graphics caught my eye right away. If the graphics are already that good in the trailer and it’s supposedly a huge, open world game from Rockstar, I couldn’t help but be excited. I posted it on Facebook and hours later I get the comment, “You spend so much time in worlds that don’t exist.” Of course it was a joke, not a jab or anything, but I started thinking about why I instantly felt like I had to defend myself.

I’m surprised that given what a digital world we live in, video games still receive such harsh stigma. I’ve loved video games since the first time I played the text game, Zork on our first computer, a tiny Apple II when I was 5. From there I went through several gaming systems including the Turbo Grafx 16, several Game Boy models, several Nintendo models, a Sega Genesis and every one of the Playstation models (PSX, PSOne, PS2, PSP, PS3).

I think the reason that I love video games so much is the challenge. I think another big part of the appeal is that it is the perfect blend of art and technology. Two things I’m very interested in. As time goes on, the challenges get harder and the graphics only get better. The art is no good if the programming isn’t smooth, but even that is making huge leaps. Last year produced some of the best video games I’ve ever seen (Little Big Planet, Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, SKATE, Burnout Paradise, Uncharted, etc.). This year is supposed to be even better. When you think about how much time and work goes into creating a game, I don’t see how anyone couldn’t appreciate it.

Even my uncle, who is a carpenter by trade, but a programmer in his spare time, appreciates the games. He can’t believe how much the quality of the games improve over just a few months. The worlds are becoming huge and the details are becoming much sharper. The highlights, the shadows, facial expressions, movement of plants in the wind, it’s all advancing at a crazy rate.

I think it’s funny to say that I “spend too much time in worlds that don’t exist” because I only ever have time to spend a few hours ever few months. Before last week, the last time I had saved my game was in the first week in January. That’s 4 months of not even touching a video game. And that’s my average. Every now and then I get into a game for a few days, for a few hours at a time, but that’s usually when I first get it. I’d love to spend hours playing and actually finish a game or two, but I don’t like to steal away from quality time with John, friends, or other family. And in no way do I believe the worlds exist or any of that. I’m not one that dresses up and goes to conventions or meetings or the like. For me, video games are amazing works of art that let my brain take a break while at the same time, making it work extra hard. Instead of bills and appointments and anything else, I’m thinking how to get to a checkpoint while avoiding disaster or in which order to complete quests, etc.

I also am extremely picky when it comes to games. If I play at someone else’s house or at an arcade, I don’t really care how bad the graphics are or how horrible the script is. It’s an entirely different case if I’m the one buying the games. If I’m going to play a game, I need to buy it. Renting just doesn’t do it for me because if I’m going to start it, eventually I want to finish it and I don’t like having a deadline over my head. If I’m going to buy it, it at to at least have an 9/10 if not 10/10 rating. Sometimes I give in if it’s 8.5 or 8.75 if little defects won’t really hurt the gameplay (like the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games).

Now I’ve tried things like Second Life and gaming online, but it gets old quick. I had a friend who played 1/3 of an entire year on World of WarCraft in college. Now that’s “living” in the world. I just like to visit. I am also someone who likes to game on my own. If people want to watch that’s fine, but if there’s some sort of puzzle or such, I want to tackle it. There’s no challenge in Second Life. It was very cool at first to see what people were setting up, but where’s the challenge? I’d rather get some mental stimulation from a game from time to time and spend all the time I can with friends and family, face-to-face.

I will always love video games. They will only continue to improve and they will only get more difficult. It’s a challenge that’s fun and entertaining and can be turned on and off whenever I like. If you’re skeptical, I suggest you give them a shot. And if you’re going to, at least pick a decent game on a decent system before judging it too quickly. I’ll guarantee that you’ll walk away with at least a tiny bit of appreciation.

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They tell us where to eat, how to find friends, when to make a left turn.

Oh, and they can also make a phone call.

What a great starting set of lines. It’s so true. With the dawn of the Apple App Store (and subsequent app stores), you really can get software that perform almost any function that you need at any given time. What, you don’t have Midomi? Even then it’s only a few clicks and problem solved. You can find restaurants, keep track of expenses, make calls, text, update Twitter, check sports scores, etc. all from your cell phone. I think what’s even more impressive is that these services aren’t even limited to Apps on a smartphone. There’s numerous services you can sign up for that let you access information without even having a smartphone, just by using simple SMS (text messages).

I think I could live without my phone, my computer, etc. pretty easily for a set amount of time, but being the gadget freak that I am, I’d start to feel withdrawals within a few days. I have been in the habit lately of trying to avoid plugging in my computer on the weekends (unless I have a job deadline). I also try not to use it too much at night. During those times though, I find that I still have to check my email, Twitter, etc. I just use my iPod Touch. I think it’s a good compromise. I do not own a iPhone or other smartphone (although I may update this Summer). I find that I can achieve a perfect balance between my cellphone (Samsung Alias with flip QWERTY keyboard), my iPod Touch, and my laptop. I use my laptop most days, for the majority of the day. When I’m not “plugged in” I use my cellphone’s SMS capabilities on the go or my iPod Touch if I happen upon a wireless hot spot or in my apartment.

If I don’t need wireless, I prefer my iPod Touch. I keep track of my expenses, track notes, play games, write drafts of blog entries, listen to music, etc. If I need to say, update my Twitter, Facebook, Netflix Queue, etc. and I don’t have wireless, I can easily do all that and more from my cellphone via SMS. I could “live without” my phone, but I certainly wouldn’t want to.

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1. Top 10 Social Networks For Entrepreneurs – Mashable
2. Self-healing polymer advance could mean scratch-free iPhones – Ars Technica
3. The Elements of Social Architecture – A List Apart
4. A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy – Clay Shirky’s Writings About the Internet

Useful Apps/Sites:

1. Project Dragonfly “…experimenting in real time with your ideas in 2D and 3D… ”- Autodesk
2. Path Finder “The Mac OS X file browser with moxie.” – Cocoatech
3. MacJournal “Mac journaling and blog software” – Mariner Software
4. Blip.fm – Be a DJ Online (listen to different music online)
5. XPenser.com Track personal expenses (by SMS, email, etc.)
6. Dial2Do.com Access different services via cellphone (voice commands)

Exciting Tech News:

1. iPhone OS 3.0 – http://bit.ly/OvdwI
2. iPod Touch 2g Jailbreak – http://bit.ly/h00Gn
3. Google Voice – http://bit.ly/DcmXa
4. Sirius XM iPhone App – http://bit.ly/aYGMY

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Part III – Boxee – Right now, Boxee is a good app for those who have a Mac, or perhaps AppleTV, but I’m not sure it’s quite there yet for Windows/Linux users. It’s getting a lot of coverage lately so I’m going to cover it in this series.

Boxee, unlike the options in the previous post, is freeware based off of the opensource XBMC media center. Unless you’re simply going to run Boxee off of your Mac, it take a little bit of installation procedures to get it working on another system. Here’s a few links to those installations here:

1. MacOSX Installation
2. AppleTV Installation
3. Linux Installation
4. Windows Installation (USB Patch – Windows still in development)

Boxee is simply huge. It will pick media from your computer or give you various options of where you want to look for media including the web. Built-in, Boxee streams from services such as Joost, Last.fm, ABC, CNET, CNN, CBS, Hulu, Comedy Central, YouTube, MTV, Flickr…and sooooo many more. From music to photos to television and movies. If it’s accessible to your computer/internet connection, you can watch it through boxee.

Recently there has been talk about Boxee offering a set-top box in the future.

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