Maybe I'm in luck? Blog parade on m4gic.net!

Over at M4GIC.net they're giving away one new, 6th generation iPod nano and all you gotta do is answer some questions about your use of MP3 players in general and so will I:

• Which devices did you use - before your very first MP3 player - to listen to music on the road?

Well there were three different Walkmans (tapes) and one MP3-CD-capable Discman. Those Walkmans were from AIWA and really good, esp. the last one.

• When did you buy your first MP3 player (if you already own one)?

I dug out my Amazon invoices and found, what you're asking me here. I bought my very first MP3 player (flash based) on August 31st, 2001. Nine years and one month ago!

• Which MP3-Player was your first (brand/model)?

It was, of course, a Sony (not knowing any better) "New Walkman NW-E 3/s" (see Amazon link for picture). It had 64MB of storage for 60minutes of music (or less, if files had higher than 128 kbit/s bitrates).

• How many MP3 players have you already owned?

Only two actually, four years ago I bought my first (and still in use) iPod and in between my mobile phones doubled as MP3 players (as they do today, when my iPods' battery is drained).

• Which features of a MP3 player are important to you?

It should hold most of my music collection, for I'm not big on 'intelligently' syncing playlists all the time and I don't know, what I might want to listen to. Furthermore, navigating this library should be hassle-free (which it can be, if the control scheme is all wrong).

• What feature of the new iPod nano does appeal to you most?
  

Its wearability ;o)

in answer to: http://www.m4gic.net/blogparade-mp3-player-ipod-nano-g6-mit-touchscreen-gewinnen/

Over at M4GIC.net they're giving away one new, 6th generation iPod nano and all you gotta do is answer some questions about your use of MP3 players in general and so will I:

• Which devices did you use - before your very first MP3 player - to listen to music on the road?

Well there were three different Walkmans (tapes) and one MP3-CD-capable Discman. Those Walkmans were from AIWA and really good, esp. the last one.

• When did you buy your first MP3 player (if you already own one)?

I dug out my Amazon invoices and found, what you're asking me here. I bought my very first MP3 player (flash based) on August 31st, 2001. Nine years and one month ago!

• Which MP3-Player was your first (brand/model)?

It was, of course, a Sony (not knowing any better) "New Walkman NW-E 3/s" (see Amazon link for picture). It had 64MB of storage for 60minutes of music (or less, if files had higher than 128 kbit/s bitrates).

• How many MP3 players have you already owned?

Only two actually, four years ago I bought my first (and still in use) iPod and in between my mobile phones doubled as MP3 players (as they do today, when my iPods' battery is drained).

• Which features of a MP3 player are important to you?

It should hold most of my music collection, for I'm not big on 'intelligently' syncing playlists all the time and I don't know, what I might want to listen to. Furthermore, navigating this library should be hassle-free (which it can be, if the control scheme is all wrong).

• What feature of the new iPod nano does appeal to you most?
  

Its wearability ;o)

in answer to: http://www.m4gic.net/blogparade-mp3-player-ipod-nano-g6-mit-touchscreen-gewinnen/

Maybe I'm in luck? Blog parade on m4gic.net!

Finding a suitable headset.

Sometime last week, a good friend of mine, wanted me to come up with a reasonable solution, for using Skype between two parties and sent me shopping for a webcam and two headsets. She didn’t know whether her old headset was in working condition or if she’d be needing it at all and so I offered to take one of the fresh ones. I had already thought about buying one, but never came around, to actually do it. More and more friends started using Skype in the last couple of years, but I just didn’t want to talk into a built-in or external mic and hear them through speakers. I’m not a big fan of letting someone (inadvertently) in on a conversation, that’s between two people. Another reason, of course, is TeamSpeak - it would be nice to hear and talk to mates on Battle.net, while slashing through swarms of Zerg.

So there I was, getting one of the new headsets, HS-400 by Creative, out of its box. I should have known from this first step, I wouldn’t grow old using this headset, but I needed to try and stall the inevitable – an exchange at my local tech dealer. The one thing that put me off was its bail. It doesn’t go all over and around your head. It’s one of those, running around your ears and neck. Obviously I failed at examining the packaging thoroughly, but I’d give it a try anyway. After getting my ears through the loops, which is not as funny as it sounds, I was greeted with nice enough sound and mic quality for the intended use – voice chat, but after a while, the thing began to hurt my neck and ears. Being in need of wearing glasses, doesn’t particularly help with this sort of headset.

Although the HS-400 is a nice enough headset - for a very reasonable price and Creative knows, what they’re doing, since they’re in the audio-business for as long as I live – it just wasn’t for me. So I had to return it and look for a replacement.

I still didn’t want to spend a fortune, but it had to fit my head and needs as a wearer of glasses. So I ended up with the ARES² by SpeedLink, which only cost 5€ more. The comfortable earcups are not an understatement, they really are. The bail enacts just enough pressure to hold the ear-enclosing cups in place and they do not hurt me, wearing glasses, at all. Overall sound quality is really nice, nothing gets to high or too low for my taste, but I’m hardly a trained listener, so I can’t tell you if it rivals headphones for ten times the price. According to my chat partners the (not detachable) mic seems to be just as good, they’re getting my voice clear and crisp.

There is only one thing left, I wish I could get rid of. The cable. But Bluetooth Stereo-headsets are pricey and mostly come with the same neck bail, I still don’t want to wear.

Which headsets do you use?

Sometime last week, a good friend of mine, wanted me to come up with a reasonable solution, for using Skype between two parties and sent me shopping for a webcam and two headsets. She didn’t know whether her old headset was in working condition or if she’d be needing it at all and so I offered to take one of the fresh ones. I had already thought about buying one, but never came around, to actually do it. More and more friends started using Skype in the last couple of years, but I just didn’t want to talk into a built-in or external mic and hear them through speakers. I’m not a big fan of letting someone (inadvertently) in on a conversation, that’s between two people. Another reason, of course, is TeamSpeak - it would be nice to hear and talk to mates on Battle.net, while slashing through swarms of Zerg.

So there I was, getting one of the new headsets, HS-400 by Creative, out of its box. I should have known from this first step, I wouldn’t grow old using this headset, but I needed to try and stall the inevitable – an exchange at my local tech dealer. The one thing that put me off was its bail. It doesn’t go all over and around your head. It’s one of those, running around your ears and neck. Obviously I failed at examining the packaging thoroughly, but I’d give it a try anyway. After getting my ears through the loops, which is not as funny as it sounds, I was greeted with nice enough sound and mic quality for the intended use – voice chat, but after a while, the thing began to hurt my neck and ears. Being in need of wearing glasses, doesn’t particularly help with this sort of headset.

Although the HS-400 is a nice enough headset - for a very reasonable price and Creative knows, what they’re doing, since they’re in the audio-business for as long as I live – it just wasn’t for me. So I had to return it and look for a replacement.

I still didn’t want to spend a fortune, but it had to fit my head and needs as a wearer of glasses. So I ended up with the ARES² by SpeedLink, which only cost 5€ more. The comfortable earcups are not an understatement, they really are. The bail enacts just enough pressure to hold the ear-enclosing cups in place and they do not hurt me, wearing glasses, at all. Overall sound quality is really nice, nothing gets to high or too low for my taste, but I’m hardly a trained listener, so I can’t tell you if it rivals headphones for ten times the price. According to my chat partners the (not detachable) mic seems to be just as good, they’re getting my voice clear and crisp.

There is only one thing left, I wish I could get rid of. The cable. But Bluetooth Stereo-headsets are pricey and mostly come with the same neck bail, I still don’t want to wear.

Which headsets do you use?

Finding a suitable headset.

Hell, it’s about time (in three days).

Well, today I got my share of sweet Blizzard merchandise. The StarCraft II Collector’s Edition - full of wonder and mystery. Not really, but close.

The really nice packaging is comprised of three layers of cardboard, that kinda grip into each other, like those doors from the first cinematic trailer.

Inside you’ll find the game itself and in its box four codes for trial versions. Two for WoW and two for SCII, so you can give them to friends, to get them hooked. There’s an actual printed manual inside, which is more of a printed version of a recap of the story.

The next, thinner case, contains the specials DVD. They put all the cinematics on it, as well as interviews with the entire team behind StarCraft II and a retrospective.

Then there’s the soundtrack, issue #0 of the StarCraft comic and two items available on BattleNet, once you enter your key into your account. A mini Thor companion for WoW and some cosmetic DLC for SCII.

The two really cool items though are the big and heavy book “The Art of SCII: Wings of Liberty” and a Jim Raynor dog tag, crafted after the model used ingame. The dog tag really is a 2gig USB stick, containing the original StarCraft and its expansion BroodWar (the Windows clients, that is). Hit the thumbnail below, for images.

StarCraft II Collector's Edition

The fun part starts, when you’re trying to install your copy of the game. It won’t let you. Although I was expecting as much from reports elsewhere, I was still hoping, I could enjoy some single player campaign, but no. The key must be authorized by BattleNet servers, which are not online yet and won’t be before July 27th. The one thing you can do, is go to the official “StarCraft II Home” on Battle.net and enter the game key with your account. That’s kinda it. You can’t access any of the DLC, which will probably be available on the 27th as well and you can’t create a character on the page, you’ll have to do that from within the game client as well.

So. I’m halfway through the interviews on the DVDs and will then commence diving into the gorgeous art book. The cinematics look awesome, as the openly available trailers (especially the “Ghosts of the past”) already suggest, but it really feels like getting only one third of the true story and I don’t know how I feel about that. Let’s hope all goes well on the 27th (which it probably won’t) and we can enjoy another round of Terrans vs. Zerg vs. Protoss on the battlefield.

Well, today I got my share of sweet Blizzard merchandise. The StarCraft II Collector’s Edition - full of wonder and mystery. Not really, but close.

The really nice packaging is comprised of three layers of cardboard, that kinda grip into each other, like those doors from the first cinematic trailer.

Inside you’ll find the game itself and in its box four codes for trial versions. Two for WoW and two for SCII, so you can give them to friends, to get them hooked. There’s an actual printed manual inside, which is more of a printed version of a recap of the story.

The next, thinner case, contains the specials DVD. They put all the cinematics on it, as well as interviews with the entire team behind StarCraft II and a retrospective.

Then there’s the soundtrack, issue #0 of the StarCraft comic and two items available on BattleNet, once you enter your key into your account. A mini Thor companion for WoW and some cosmetic DLC for SCII.

The two really cool items though are the big and heavy book “The Art of SCII: Wings of Liberty” and a Jim Raynor dog tag, crafted after the model used ingame. The dog tag really is a 2gig USB stick, containing the original StarCraft and its expansion BroodWar (the Windows clients, that is). Hit the thumbnail below, for images.

StarCraft II Collector's Edition

The fun part starts, when you’re trying to install your copy of the game. It won’t let you. Although I was expecting as much from reports elsewhere, I was still hoping, I could enjoy some single player campaign, but no. The key must be authorized by BattleNet servers, which are not online yet and won’t be before July 27th. The one thing you can do, is go to the official “StarCraft II Home” on Battle.net and enter the game key with your account. That’s kinda it. You can’t access any of the DLC, which will probably be available on the 27th as well and you can’t create a character on the page, you’ll have to do that from within the game client as well.

So. I’m halfway through the interviews on the DVDs and will then commence diving into the gorgeous art book. The cinematics look awesome, as the openly available trailers (especially the “Ghosts of the past”) already suggest, but it really feels like getting only one third of the true story and I don’t know how I feel about that. Let’s hope all goes well on the 27th (which it probably won’t) and we can enjoy another round of Terrans vs. Zerg vs. Protoss on the battlefield.

Hell, it’s about time (in three days).

What DON’T I do for merchandise? :D

So, Gilly is giving away one most desirable HTC Wildfire over on his Playground. All you gotta do is, answer his poll, regarding your mobile phone in your own blog (as I’m doing right here).

• Name the manufacturer of your cell phone.

Motorola

• What’s the name of the model?

Milestone (A855)

• Are you satisfied with the handset?

Absolutely!

• Which device would you like to have, if you could choose one?

Motorola Droid X or Droid 2.

• Prepaid or contract?

Two-year contract.

• Do you have a data plan?

Yes.

• A picture of your cell phone?

One?

…more pictures HERE.

So, Gilly is giving away one most desirable HTC Wildfire over on his Playground. All you gotta do is, answer his poll, regarding your mobile phone in your own blog (as I’m doing right here).

• Name the manufacturer of your cell phone.

Motorola

• What’s the name of the model?

Milestone (A855)

• Are you satisfied with the handset?

Absolutely!

• Which device would you like to have, if you could choose one?

Motorola Droid X or Droid 2.

• Prepaid or contract?

Two-year contract.

• Do you have a data plan?

Yes.

• A picture of your cell phone?

One?

…more pictures HERE.

What DON’T I do for merchandise? :D