Well, the wait is over. A long, long seventeen year wait if you had (or lusted after) an Apple Newton: Apple’s return to a hand-held, touch-sensitive computing device. The iPad was unveiled today and attempts to fill the niche between full-fledged laptop computer and a smartphone. Yes, you could say the iPod Touch or iPhone are hand-held, touch-sensitive computing devices, but the iPad is designed to be a portable Internet appliance first and a communications device second. And even defining the iPad as a “communications device” is a bit sketchy, as I will get into in a bit.
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I’ve spent the last two months migrating towards home theater personal computers (HTPCs) in my house. It’s an effort to simplify my home audio/visual system, play high definition content, and allow for some quick Internet access. Along the way I’ve learned some interesting things, like how important keyboards and on-screen zoom are when you try to control a computer from across the room.

I have a pair of Xbox 360s in my house, and I was hoping to use the Microsoft Xbox 360 multimedia remote to control my HTPCs. The problem was I didn’t have an infra-red receiver on my computers. After searching around on the Internet, the best advice was to buy a cheap USB remote control and steal the “dongle” that allowed the remote to talk with the computer.

I sprang for two remotes by HDE, sold by Amazon.com. They were about $16 each and were eligible for free Amazon Prime shipping. I learned a few more things after they arrived, including that you shouldn’t be cheap with your remote controllers.
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One of the reasons I like zombie movies is that they are conversation starters for disaster preparedness. “What would you do if there was a zombie apocalypse” is a nice science-fiction way of saying, “what would you do if the world went crazy for awhile?” I credit Romero’s Night of the Living Dead for starting my interest in disaster preparedness and how to comfortably survive a disruption of service.

Out here in Virginia, the only things we have to worry about are ice storms, hurricanes, and maybe an odd flood or two. There are “bug out bags” in the house, but the central strategy here is to wait out a disruption of services of up to two weeks. During the first time I lived in Virginia, one of my co-workers went two weeks without power. Her family wound up staying in a hotel, but it was not uncommon for folks to be out of juice for multiple days. When you live in a house powered by all electric appliances, that is a big deal.

So it was with anticipation that I started reading “Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out,” by Jon and Robin Robertson. I had hoped that it was the cookbook equivalent of Night of the Living Dead, and that the book would help me evaluate my current food stores and how I prepare them.

Unfortunately, the recipes are too complex and are made up of things an average American house probably doesn’t have. The book violates a few rules of thumb in the preparedness community, and as such Apocalypse Chow has limited usefulness in your preparedness library.
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I recently built two “bug-out” bags (BoB), and did some of my shopping at Wal-Mart. I had plenty of supplies here at the house, but I needed a few odds and ends. I happened to see a three-pack of dry sacks by Outdoor Products. They might come in handy, especially for things I really really didn’t want to get wet.

At $9.99 I was skeptical that the bags could keep anything dry in crappy conditions, but I figured at least it would make a good Gibberish entry. I put the trio of bags in my cart and started thinking about how to test the dry sacks.
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I had to say goodbye to an old friend last week — my old G-Shock GW500A-1V Tough Solar Wave Ceptor atomic watch by Casio. I’d worn it every day for over four years. It went with me swimming, survived my personal training with Yoda, endured Tony Horton and his myriad at-home-workouts, shrugged off being struck repeatedly by solid iron kettlebells, and even a trip to the woods of Virginia for some shotgun training.

However, all good things must come to an end. The internal battery, although recharged by the solar array on the face of the watch, eventually failed to hold a charge for more than three days at a time. I opened the watch to try to replace the battery, but did some, er, irreparable damage to the thin metal cage around the battery. Oh yeah, I also managed to dislodge the rubber waterproof gasket and lose it, probably to be ingested by my youngest dog Pearl.

So I was on the market for a replacement, but didn’t want the same watch. I wanted some of the same features, like the solar charging and atomic time keeping. I also wanted a countdown timer again, something I had on my crufty old Ironman watch but the G-Shock lacked. Although I eventually got used to the G-Shock’s humongous size, I wouldn’t mind having something smaller than a wall clock on my wrist. I turned to Casio to see what they had to offer, and what I could get for less than my old WVM120J.
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About five months ago I wrote about the Zipit Opener, which is a battery-powered doodad that helps you open plastic packaging.

I didn’t think too highly of the Zipit, but now that some time has gone by and I’ve used it more, I thought I’d do a follow up.

Unfortunately the Zipit still isn’t very good as I would like, but I have found a few ways to make it perform better. Check it out.

I’ve held a concealed carry permit in Virginia for over thirteen years. I believe that citizens are responsible for their own safety and that if you are legally able to own a firearm you should be able to legally carry it.

To that end, some interesting bills are coming to Virginia this year. The Virginia General Assembly started yesterday, and the NRA published a list of pro-gun bills for 2010.

Below are the ones I find of most interest and intend on contacting my representatives. I hope they support these bills.
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Let’s face it. Motorcycling is a dangerous activity. If you have training, gear, and experience motorcycling might be less dangerous than if you have none of these, but the fact of the matter is you never know when something unexpected is going to happen. A truck could run a red light and smash you to bits. That lady eating with both hands and steering with her knees might drift into your lane too fast. Hell, you might even get hit in the face by a bird and go down on an isolated stretch of highway. And let’s not even get started on forest rats — I mean — deer.

You can do one of two things: continue riding as if nothing can touch you and forgive any preparations, or do the most you can to mitigate your risks and prepare your a potentially serious or fatal accident.

I’m a “preps” kind of guy. I try to find a balance between doing the things I want to do and being as ready as possible for unfortunate circumstances. On one hand, you can’t be crippled by fear and not do the things you want, but on the other hand you have to a plan.

Here are some of things I do to prepare for the worst.
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The holiday always throws a monkey wrench in my workout plans, and last year was no exception. We’re back on the Tony Horton home workout wagon now, and here are my thoughts after session 25 of P90 Basic by Beachbody.com … the second time around.
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I received Zombie Fluxx as part of my 2009 Ars Technica Sekrit Santa gift. I had some limited, prior exposure to the original Fluxx game several years ago when I worked in Maryland and remember not liking it. I wasn’t entirely sure why I didn’t like it, and in fact I don’t remember if I played it or just watched it being played. However, I think it had something to do with all of the rules and that it seemed confusing.

Now, we all like zombies out here, and most of us like games, so I thought Zombie Fluxx would be worth a try, despite my reservations. We gave it a shot on the tail end of Christmas break, and have run it a few times since with different groups of gamers. Here’s what we thought.
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