Tag Archives: review

Amazon.com: Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable

I knew my day was going to improve when the truck pulled up at my home with this cable deep within. No ordinary truck, this one was Holy White, and the gold Delivery logo sparkled like a thousand suns reflected through shards of the purest ice formed with unadulterated water collected at the beginning of the universe. The driver, clad in a robe colored the softest of white, floated towards me on the cool fog of a hundred fire extinguishers. He smiled benevolently, like a father looking down upon his only child, and handed me a package wrapped in gold beaten thin to the point where you could see through it. I didn’t have to sign, because the driver could see within my heart, and knew that I was pure. Upon opening the package, an angelic choir started to sing, and reached a crescendo as I laid this cable on my stereo system. Instantly, my antiquated equipment transformed into components made from the clearest diamond-semiconductor. The cable knew where to go, and hooked itself into the correct ports without help from me – all the while, the choir sang praises to the almighty digital god. With trepidation, I pushed “play,” and was instantly enveloped in a sound that echoed the creation of all matter, a sound that vibrated every cell in my body to perfection. I was instantly taken to the next plane, where I saw the all-father. I knew with my entire soul, that all was good in the world.

But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.

via Amazon.com: Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable: Electronics.

A totally subjective review of the Audioengine 2’s.

Wow.

Just, wow.

There’s not a whole lot I can say about these – they’re nothing short of amazing, if not spectacular.

About a month ago my parents decided to re-take their ancient hi-fi system. As old as it was, the sound that came out of those Sony bookshelf speakers was something else – I’m no audiophile, but it sounded pretty darn good – well balanced, with plenty of mids. There really wasn’t anything wrong with them that I could fault.

And so stepped in my faithful Apple Pro speakers. In a former life these would have been sitting next to a Mac Cube, because as far as I know they’re the only Mac that came with the USB version of the Pro speakers. Sound quality, as you can expect, wasn’t particularly great with this set – apart from lacking volume, they also seemed a bit muddy, due in part to the lack of a dedicated tweeter, I’m sure.

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Jumping URL iPhone App Review

What I will say about this app, however, is that it is absolutely awesome. Often, while surfing the ‘net, I run out of time to take a look at everything before heading out to school, or going out for dinner, etc. Using Jumping URL, I can simply beam over a few websites and check them out on-the-go. It also works in the opposite direction, which I find very handy. With this app, I can simply copy the address of a website I’d like to look at, paste it into the application (by tapping (P)) and use it as a sort of cross-platform bookmarking system. When I get home, I can whip open the application, tap “Beam” on one of the websites and go to http://www.jumpingurl.com/ (or use the fetch feature included in the Firefox extension) on my computer, instantly getting redirected to the site I’m beaming from my iPhone.

[…]

Overall, this application could easily surpass a perfect 10 rating. It is extremely handy and came out of nowhere. Despite the developer’s original intention for it to be used with YouTube videos, this can come in handy when you come across an interesting article that you don’t have time to read, or would like to view later on your iPhone, for example. On the other side, it can also be useful for those times that you get linked to a flash-based website while you are on your iPhone, in which case you just copy the URL into the application and beam it over when you have access to a flash-enabled computer.

via Jumping URL iPhone App Review – POST1604.

I was one of the lucky few to receive a promocode from Matt (because I’m a cheapskate, lulz), and what can I say, Jumping URL just blows me away.

It’s that awesome – pushing or beaming URLs to and from your iPhone to your Mac or PC. The way it does it is so completely simple, so completely awesome, and like Matt said in his full review (hit up the link), seemingly came out of nowhere.

It’s one of those apps that make you stop and think – “hey, why didn’t I think of that?”, and yet it’s almost flawless in execution and damn, IT JUST WORKS, and brilliantly at that!

This is definitely an app I’ll be showing all my friends. I really can’t get over how easy and simple it is. I know I sound like a raving fanboy here, but it’s just so incredible.

As always, I do have one suggestion – with push notifications, this app would be *perfect*. Imagine it now – push a URL from Firefox on your Mac, you get a notification on your iPhone, and you slide to open the URL in Mobile Safari – that would be très awesome, no?

For $1.19, it’s a steal. You’d be nuts not to grab this on the App Store.

Seriously – it’s that good.

Jason Chen, the Master of Metaphors

One last effort. A slow, but firm, shove of the chips. All in. Palm’s only hope to save a company once synonymous with smart handheld devices: the Pre. Their eyebrow raised, daring you to call. They flip. Full house. Respectable. Decent. Impressive even. But not the highest hand.

[…]

Think of it like this. The software is agile, smart and capable. The hardware, on the other hand, is a liability. If Palm can get someone else to design and build their hardware—someone who has hands and can feel what a phone is like when physically used, that phone might just be one of the best phones on the market.

[…]

I can’t wait to see what Palm gets dealt in their next hand.

via Gizmodo – Palm Pre Review – Palm pre.

The Perfect Week

Just had a pretty excellent week, if I do say so myself.

Monday was all about postage. My Just Mobile Gum Pro (extended iPhone battery, RichardSolo competitor with 3.8X the capacity of the iPhone 3G’s internal battery) arrived via registered post from Hong Kong, and it is good. Thanks, Expansys! I also get some excellent news on a couple of items that I’ve been expecting for a while.

Tuesday wasn’t as busy – after starting to write up the review for MacTalk on the Gum Pro, I got a message from none other than Mrs Schuth saying that the School Magazine was back from the printers and was available for collection. Naturally, I don’t have my Ps yet, so I got a friend to pick me up and collect the magazine from school. Thanks, Christo.

Wednesday, and yet another thing arrives in the post. This time, it’s my LogMeIn.com t-shirt that I’ve totally forgotten about – I did some beta-testing for them a while back, and they send me a free t-shirt from the US as a gift. Works for me. Thanks, LogMeIn.com! Apart from that, Chris and I take a trip to Sandy Bay to see what the parking situation is for Thursday’s Orientation day for us who are studying in the Faculty of Science Engineering and Technology. It’s not too bad – we finish with a Hungry’s Lunch, and that’s about it.

Thursday, and it’s the day for us Science, Engineering and Technology guys to head to UTas to Orientation Day. There, I pick up my Student ID, take a tour, and setup my School of Computing and Information Systems account. Easy day, but it’s great cos I get to catch up with some old friends from Calvin whom I haven’t seen in a while. Later on, I get into town, buy a Nerf Maverick, and trade with a fellow MacTalk member – Nicolas Cage is awesome in Next, and Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin are impossible to resist, especially when bundled together.

Friday, another easy day – I pretty much do nothing. Later on, I get news that the thing that I ordered on Monday has arrived – but along with this comes the devastating news that I can’t take it home.

Saturday, work. Training is excellent – I don’t finish the class too early, and I recieve a ton of compliments on my training from the guys who attended. I also grab a copy of iLife ’09 – review to come shortly.

Now, it’s Sunday. The first day of Uni is tomorrow, and I’m not quite sure I’m ready yet. I’ll be able to pickup my thing tomorrow, though – so there’s a good start to the week already!

Comments below.