I bought the i-Rocks IR-8100 USB hub and card reader about two and a half years ago. It has worked flawlessly all this time, and I appreciate having more USB ports within easy reach as opposed to the back of my computer.

It works great, but it has an external power supply and is a pain to take with me when I travel. I hated having to pack yet another power supply, and it sucked to unplug a bunch of peripherals every time I left the house.

I decided to try i-Rocks again, and bought their IR-5400 USB flash memory card reader.
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A little over three years ago, PayPal and eBay announced a way to further protect your accounts with their Security Key initiative.

The premise of the Security Key is simple. A single, hardware key is assigned to your account. Every sixty seconds or so, a new numeric key is generated using RSA’s Securid technology. Essentially, your key uses an algorithm to create a big-ass unique random number, which is truncated down to six digit number. PayPal and eBay have software that calculates the same number, which again is unique to your card. You then log in with your normal username and password, followed by your random six digit number.

I was among the first public folks to get a key, and have used it ever since.

That is, until I lost it in February.
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My Asus Eee 701 netbook computer has always been a mixed bag. Yeah, I loved the ultraportability of it, but the default Linux operating system wasn’t compatible with some of the software I used on a regular basis. I created a custom version of Windows XP via nLite and everything was great — until Windows patch after Windows patch overwhelmed the Eee 701′s tiny 4GB solid state hard drive.

I turned back to Linux for a lighter-weight, easier to maintain operating system. I decided to give Ubuntu a try. They had a special version of their operating system called “Netbook Remix,” which offered a scaled down version of their typical OS as well as common drivers and whatnot necessary for the special hardware often found on ultra-portable netbooks.

I fooled around with Ubuntu for a week, and had a mixed experience. The installation was super easy, but it was all downhill from there — especially as I attempted to craft the Netbook Remix to my needs instead of the standard options available with Ubuntu. It was a weird perversion of the self-sufficient, do-it-yourself Linux user stereotype: the more I wanted to do it “my way,” the more trouble Ubuntu gave me.
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It is safe to say I grew up with video game consoles. My father bought us a Sears-branded Atari 2600 in 1980, and I have been hurling cartridges and optical discs in anger ever since. I’ve also watched the technology progress. I remember when it was a big deal that the Playstation 2 had an optional network adapter; now every modern console has some way to connect to a home network. Due to my economic situation, I now have four consoles instead of just one or two. How is one supposed to connect all those devices to the network, especially when most homes don’t have a CAT-5 jack in the family room?

I normally diss on Best Buy and other big-box stores and order directly from NewEgg. However, Best Buy’s Dynex-brand 5-port switch is an excellent value, especially for hooking multiple consoles up to one network uplink. Yes, the Dynex isn’t going to perform as well as a better brand, but with only one console running at a time, who cares if the switch’s routing capabilities are top-notch?
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I used to run my main computer 24/7 when I worked from home. I was either on it all the time, or would use it for a quick fact-finding mission on Wikipedia or IMDB. I expect computer components to fail; there are some wear items like the hard drive that will eventually conk out on you. My current computer, Crunk, was a Frankenstein of new parts and parts from a machine I built almost three years ago.

Once I started working at a “real job” I started turning my computer off every morning to save power. As they say, “no good deed goes unpunished.”
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I was very excited when the original Rock Band came out for the Xbox 360. Unfortunately, I was unlucky enough to get TWO sets of faulty drums. I wound up returning Rock Band for a refund.

Fast forward a year. Rock Band 2 is due for release, and features some improvements to the game and the hardware. I love rhythm games like Donkey Konga and Taiko Drum Master, and couldn’t resist giving Rock Band 2 a try.
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After considerately committing suicide a week before the warranty expired, Microsoft sent me a new (at least to me), Xbox 360 Elite as a replacement. The total turnaround time was a week, partially because UPS took a few extra days trying to deliver my busted console to Microsoft’s repair center in Texas.

My replacement unit was built in June of 2008, which I am pretty sure is still a Falcon motherboard. The Falcon is the second-generation motherboard for the 360 Elite. It features smaller chipsets that may increase reliability by reducing heat within the console. Looks like I missed the Jasper revision by a few months, but my 360 Core replacement will probably shit itself in time to pick up either a Jasper or even Opus revision.

Here’s to another year of gaming!

I just got into recycling pretty heavily this year, but I’ve been a “reduce and reuse” type of environmentalist for a long time. It’s funny seeing people at work talk about how green they are and then put four or five plastic 1L water bottles in the recycling bin every day.

Anyway, I have been feeling guilty about my AA battery use for my Xbox 360 wireless game controllers. Depending on play frequency, I go through a pair of AAs in as little as two weeks. Batteries aren’t the most eco-friendly thing to get rid of, and since the 360 represents the majority of my disposable battery usage I starting thinking about rechargeable alternatives.
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Not every purchase is super sexy, like a new motorcycle, a handgun, a mobile phone, or sweet audio/video equipment. Sometimes you have to buy a piece of kit that does the job for the least amount of money and the least amount of fuss.

I have a work-provided laptop, which came with a work-provided Targus laptop bag. The laptop bag was problematic for a few reasons:

1. I don’t like looking like I am carrying around a laptop in public.
2. I don’t want people mixing my bag up with the other fifteen standard Targus laptop cases in the scrum room.
3. I don’t like being like everyone else unless there is a good reason to follow along.

So, I bought myself a second Timbuk2 messenger bag big enough to hold my laptop and a bunch of other junk. The NEW problem was that the messenger bag wasn’t as padded as the Targus bag and I didn’t want my work machine to get banged up.

I needed to buy a laptop sleeve that provided a sensible amount of abrasion resistance for the least amount of money. I didn’t want a zipper, snaps, a handle, pockets, or anything other than a sleeve to slip my notebook into.
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I thought I was hot shit when I signed up for Verizon’s fiber optic Internet service over two years ago. I have the 5Mbps up, 20Mbps down speed for $55 a month. It has served me very well, and was only down once for any appreciable time, I believe for about eight hours. I ran Broadvoice’s voice over IP telephone service for almost three years, the first of which was on Comcast’s cable Internet service. The quality of service alone was worth Verizon’s slight price increase. I could send faxes over FiOS without difficulty and phone conversations were as clear as if I were talking on a landline.

Anyway, it is now possible for me to get 20Mbps up, 50Mbps down for $89 a month. That’s a pretty big jump in speed, especially on the upload side.

But do I need it?

I am not working from home any more, and I canceled my Broadvoice account a month ago. I download a fair amount of stuff, and play my Xbox 360 almost nightly and take advantage of the Live! online gaming service. However, are any of those experiences going to be sufficiently upgraded by going to 20/50? Or is it just geek bragging rights?

In the end, does it matter? 20/50! I remember when I used to think the T1 at my first computer job was blazing fast, and the line cost $1200 a month including the loop charge. My how things have changed in the last thirteen years.