California recently passed a new law stating that people operating thier vehicles MUST use a hands-free device if they talk on the phone.  This law went into effect July 1st 2008.   The two laws were the result of SB 1613 and SB 33, authored by Senator Joe Simitian and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2006.

Jawbone

In any result, the law has been in effect now for over a month and a half now and if you don’t abide by the law, the 1st offense is a $20 fine, 2nd offense is $50 and it goes up consecutively.  In any case, I’m not here to discuss the law, I’m here to talk about the Jawbone.

Top picture of my Jawbone earpiece, the Aliph Jawbone (black)

I’ve had a bluetooth headset piece for quite some time however, the prior one I had was a pile of crap.  When I was driving nobody could hear me, all they would hear is the sound of wind blowing inside my car (my air conditioning doesn’t work) and as a result, the call quality was terrible.

However, I was recently given (for free) a spare Jawbone earpiece.  The particular model I have retails on Amazon for approximately $80.  The main feature which has made the Jawbone so popular is its noise canceling technology.  Jawbone call this feature the “NoiseAssassin”.  NoiseAssassin is an advanced algorithm which was under development for a number of years for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Graph representing how the NoiseAssassin filters out the background audio making your voice easier to understand in noisy environments.

The original design for NoiseAssassin required powerful noise suppression algorithms for use in the most extreme acoustic noise environments including battlefields and helicopters. The algorithms use Jawbone’s two microphones and the VAS to accurately model the noise environment. (1)  Essentially it detects when and how a person is speaking, models the noise, and aggressively eliminates it.

A minority of people have complained that the audio quality when using the Jawbone was hard to understand, I did a test myself, listen to the audio samples below.

Audio test using the Jawbone earpiece:

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Audio test not using the Jawbone earpiece:

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Judging by my tests, the quality using the Jawbone isn’t really all that bad.  I sound a bit louder using the Jawbone but I think that’s due to NoiseAssassin actively filtering out the background noise and trying to compensate by boosting my voice.  To further my testing, I called Corion on the phone to get a second opinion on the quality of the call, this is what he had to say:

There was no major loss in quality between using the earpiece or the phone itself.

Aside from the noise-cancelling technology, the Jawbone also has additional features including:

• Ability be worn on either ear
• 4 earloops made of medal and 5 earbuds for a custom fit
• Ability to be charged via USB (using proprietary cable); also includes a wall charger
• Audio volume control indicators to let you know the audio level as you adjust the volume
• LED to let you know when the earpiece has been fully charged or turned on/off
• Up to 6 hours talk time and 120 hours standby time

Sources:

1. Jawbone – NoiseAssassin information

Yeah yeah, I know it’s not like a guy to write anything about footwear.  It’s one of those things women are more likely to write about.  In any case, the particular reason why I’m writing about it is I recently bought  anew pair of sandals and they are THE most comfortable pair I’ve ever worn.

For some time I had considered getting a new pair of sandals because the ones I had were pretty old.  I’m not much of a shoe person, I prefer sandals over shoes because I like something that I can easily slip on and off.  I only limit myself to wearing one pair of shoe/sandals, and the new pair I planned on buying would be something I would wear regardless of the occasion, including work.

I’ve had my old pair of sandals for over a year now they made this distinct squeaky sound each time I took a step and started becoming trademark trait of mine.  The squeaky noise was from the type of rubbery material used.  The old pair of sandals I had were some blue polo Adidas, and they are actually pretty good sandals, but the noise reached a point to where it annoyed the hell out of me, and no footwear should make noise as far as I’m concerned.

These are the Taupe Suede Arizona sandals I bought from Birkenstock.

I had mentioned getting new sandals, and my friend (lets just refer to him as ‘Socrates’) highly recommended a type of footwear called Birkenstock.  He has owned his pair for nearly 4 years, and claimed they are the most comfortable pair of shoes/sandals he’s ever worn.  He got his pair prior to going to college, and his sandals have lasted him pretty well considering where he’s been with them.  ‘Socrates’ kicked the shit out of his sandals, claiming to have worn them in the rain, mud on numerous occasions and considering his pair of shoes are 4 years old, they looked to be in pretty good condition.

Ok so I was convinced and I figured I’d give Birkenstock a shot.  Birkenstock isn’t a name that I’ve ever heard of, then again I’m not that shoe savvy either.  No local shoe store seemed to carry them in stock.  After searching on Google, I found that there was a Birkenstock specialty store was about 32 miles from where I live… Like hell I’m going to drive that far for a pair of shoes.  I decided to look them up online and sure enough, they had an online store where you could purchase them.

I found the pair of sandals I liked, which Birkenstock called the Taupe Suede Arizona.  I was pretty shocked at the price tag attached: $110.  In my entire 25 years of living, I have never spent more then $30 on a pair of shoes.  I had expected the sandals to be at most like $60-$70 judging by the pair I saw from ‘Socrates.’  I saw that they had a 30 day money back guarantee so I figured I’d have nothing to lose.   My other concern was that different types of footwear tend to have different shoe size standards.  For example: I’m a size 11 for Sandals and a size 12 for shoes.  The Birkenstock store had a chart with a comparison of the shoe sizes and recommend I get size 11.  I add the pair of sandals to my cart, and go to check out and considering the price I was paying, they threw in free shipping.

Top view of my Birkenstock sandals.

A week later my sandals arrive, I open the box and put them on and my god, I thought my feet had an orgasm.  These things are incredibly comfortable.  The majority of material used for the sandal is Suede, a type of leather that come from the under side of the skin used either lamb, deer, pig or goat.  (Sorry PETA, I really don’t care!)  The material for the sole is EVA, which I have no idea what it is exactly, but according to Google, it’s a common sole shoemakers use.  I know it’s a bit early to give an opinion on these shoes, but I’ve been wearing these all weekend and I’m quite happy with them so far.  It’s probably going to take a week or two before I can fully break these things in.  All and all these are definately the best pair of sandals I’ve ever bought.

I have been an avid gamer in the MMO community since perhaps the beginning. I remember my first one. Meridian 59. A fun little world that one was. I loved that game and was playing until they jacked up the price from $10 to about $30 a month. The game went live after beta on September 27, 1996. It can be argued that Meridian 59 can very well be the first graphical 3D MMO to be released. I had a lot of fun in that game. Mana was done by a series of nodes you could attune yourself too. One of the nodes required massive co-operation of people to activate. It had an expansion or two, but I lost interest with the price tripling.

“In a cunning grasp of the economics of the internet (and over the dev team’s strong objections), the pricing model of Meridian 59 is changed from $10 a month to $2.49 a day, but never more than $10 a week, and never more than $30 a month. This effectively tripled the price of the service, with the added benefit that it confused the people it didn’t insult. Hundreds of accounts are cancelled. Tragically, the move proved to be profitable in the short term because 2/3rds of the population did not cancel their accounts. However, the damage to the community was very, very deep, and Meridian never fully recovered.” (1)

Skeletons!

It was truely a sad day for many. I personally feel that led to the games eventual demise. Although, it has been picked up by other people and is playable at this time. Anyone who has played this game and is a bit nostalgic, there is good news to be found in it. You can still play.

“The game is currently running in both the United States and Germany. There are two normal servers in the United States run by Near Death Studios, Inc. There used to be a Sacred Haven (non-PvP) server run at Skotos, but that has since been closed down. Unlike most modern MMORPGs a subscription to a single account on one of the normal servers cost $10.95 per month.

With players only allowed to create two characters per account, and only one character per account being allowed online at a time. Meridian 59 players routinely operate multiple accounts simultaneously garnering the benefits of twice the inventory capacity, and twice the learning ability (as characters have been limited on the number of spells and skills they could learn since the Revelations expansion.)

The commercial game, which is patched free-of-charge for all subscribers, has a small loyal following of fans many of whom have enjoyed the game since its inception over ten years ago.” (1)

For thier official site visit: Meridian 59 Near Death Studios

M59 had two factions you could join. The Duke and the Princess, in which you found tokens and turned them in. These gave your faction extra powers for a period of time. After reviewing the updates after I left, there appears to be a third rebel faction as well which can be joined. All this nostalgic reviewing has me considering starting it up for a month to check it out again.

Sources:

1. Meridan 59 on Wikipedia

ooVoo, a free online communication tool specializing in video

I’ve actually had this program for a few months now, but I hadn’t been using it much until today when they released version 1.7.  OoVoo is a voice communication tool specializing in video.  You might be asking yourself: “Ok, well what makes this particular program stand out from the rest?”  Well I have that answer for you…

Support for HD capable webcams.

Logitech Quickcam® Pro

If you own a Logitech Quickam® Pro 9000 or any webcam that’s capable of displaying up to 640×480 (or higher), then this program will shine brightly where others don’t.

Skype, ooVoo’s competition does support HD video as well, however they slapped on a bunch of restrictions for no good reason which is complete horse poo-poo.  I’ve listed below all the Skype requirements that MUST be met in order for you to take advantage of the High Resolution option:

• Intel Dual Core (or CoreDuo) processor (for both recipients for HD capability)
• Logitech QuickCams with Carl-Zeiss optics (9000 Pro, Pro for Notebooks) – [only Logitech cams are allowed to output HD video on Skype at the moment]
• QuickCam software drivers version 11.5 (If you use Logitech’s webcams)
• Skype 3.6 (or higher)

Ok now here are the requirements for ooVoo to broadcast HD video:

• ooVoo version 1.7 (or higher)
• Any capable webcam displaying 640×480 (or higher)

That’s it.  So it looks like ooVoo wins the battle there.  Now don’t get me wrong, Skype isn’t a terrible tool, it’s just that it doesn’t integrate the webcam as well as ooVoo does.  Skype only limits webcam usage between two people where as you can have up to 3 (assuming you have a free ooVoo account). I’m an avid Skype user, and I will say that Skype uses significantly more resources then ooVoo does, and especially holds true when you use your webcam with it.  Skype at times can use as much as 50MB of RAM idle.  OoVoo while active and a webcam conference going uses approximately 34MB.

I’m not going to write a biased review here and say there’s nothing wrong with ooVoo, in fact it does have some negatives.  I’ve noticed when comparing both programs, ooVoo’s audio filtration is bad.  OoVoo has a noise cancellation feature that’s just terrible; the level balance doesn’t auto adjust well enough which causes the background sound on your parties end to cut in and out.   Skype doesn’t have this issue at all.  The audio quality is significantly better with Skype, however if you enable the webcam, depending on how much available bandwidth you and your party have, it can severely degrade.  Second, as of version 1.7 there is no a 468×60 banner that always displays when you’re in a call, it’s ANNOYING AS FUCK!  I guess their justification for adding in the banner is becuase your call runs directly through their servers rather then using your computer as a node like Skype does.

Aside from ooVoo’s awesome job integrating webcams, it also has quite a slick interface: (displayed below)

Interface of ooVoo (click to enlarge)

If you’ve used Skype before, then you should recognize ooVoo’s interface layout.  It’s very easy to use once you’ve added friends.  It’s just like using instant messenger.  Just double click on their name (assuming they’re online) and you’ll make your call.

When you’re in a call, the first thing you’ll see are two windows side by side.  If you both have your webcams plugged in, you should see each other in the preview window.

One last thing I’d like to note is that if you don’t have ooVoo installed, you can invite non-ooVoo users to the conversations by sending them a generated link, which allows them to be a part of your conference through their browser.

Me strangling the jew remotely