Archive for February, 2008

My 2008 Playstation3 Feature Wishlist

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 25th, 2008

Well, a new year means a new list!  its been a while since i’ve written about my PS3-wishlist of features (ingame XMB FTW!!! still of course at the top of everyone’s wishlist, along w/Home). 

i’ve always been told that once a person/thing stops receiving criticism is when you really have to start worrying about if people care anymore.  so in other words, i really care about my PS3 thus the creation of ‘wishlists’. 

again, most of the features i am wanting are related to using the PS3 more as the multimedia hub that sony originally was pushing for or dreamed of than the gaming aspects (since really games are the solution to that one, duh!).  lets get onto my PS3 wishlist, keep reading for the list!

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this week i realized that its about time for me to do a desktop system rebuild.  prior to the last year and a half, i had been on an upgrade rampage in regards to my desktop pc.  i initially built my very first desktop system back in 1998; it was an AMD Athlon (Slot A) 999mhz cpu w/ 512mb pc133 memory, a whooping 20gb harddrive and dvd/cd-rw combo drive and cost about $400 to build. 

through my upgrade bender i went through about 12 different computer cases, 10 motherboards, 6 video cards, and 3 monitors.   so with all of the components i went through, what was the best upgrade? 

my Dell 24″ LCD Monitor hands-down!

i don’t know if you have ever used a 24″ widescreen monitor before but lets just say once you do you’ll never go back.  i have friends who own/use crappy little 15″ crt monitors or a 17″ lcd and it baffles me on why one would not upgrade the one thing he/she uses each day?  if you have to use it or do use it on a daily basis, why not make it more enjoyable and better on the eyes?

i’ve had my dell for about 2 years now and would consider it to be the best pc upgrade ever.  prior to my dell 24″ widescreen, i had a very decent standard 19″ Lcd but it still wasn’t enough desktop space for the stuff i was doing (photoshop, video editing/mixing, gaming, geeking).  my work 20″ widescreen just doesn’t seem the same, however having two of them does help though… :)

so, whats your best/favorite pc upgrade you’ve done? feel free to share in the comments. ;)

PSP CFW 3.90: themes and using the network update feature (video)

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 21st, 2008

if there is one name in the PSP hacking world that almost everyone knows, its Dark_Alex..Dark_Alex imo is a pure PSP coding genius.

up until CFW 3.90 M33 was released, i did my CFW updates manually by putting the installers on my duo… however, with 3.90 M33, i’ve decided that to update to M33-2 via the Network Update feature.

keep reading for the embedded quick vid on doing the update and me rambling on about PSP and PS3 connectivity.
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shaking a bad habit; turning off of my HDTV DVR and HDTV service

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 19th, 2008

For those of you that have been living under a rock the last few months TV has been pretty bad since the Writers Guild went on strike.  So there hasn’t been any new episodes on network TV since late 2007.   Many people and sources have discussed the seemingly decline in people watching TV as a form of entertainment; it seems more and more people are playing video games or watching movies w/the lack of new network tv.

 so after getting my Comcast bill last week and then realizing that i’m paying over $100 a month on cable and HDTV that i haven’t watched for over 3 months; i called Comcast and did it.  i dropped my HDTV DVR and cable tv service (minus basic cable, since i needed that for my internet).  So HA! in your face network TV and Comcast! 

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Walmart picks Blu-ray, possibly ends the HD format war???

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 16th, 2008

Just this week, Walmart (one of the nations/worlds largest retailers, infoweek news link) has joined other big namers such as Best Buy, Target, Netflix and Blockbuster in supporting Blu-ray exclusively.

For those in the HD-DVD camp, this move almost seems to be the final blow to HD-DVD in the format wars giving Blu-ray the possible HD format TKO.

In my opinion; Sony forcing Blu-ray into the PS3 was probably one of the smarter moves vs Microsoft making the HD-DVD drive an optional, add-on accessory.  Nonetheless, Microsoft was not pushing HD-DVD as much as Sony and also did not have as much at stake since Toshiba was the main supporter/creator of HD-DVD and Sony the big pusher for Bluray.

So hopefully, we will see an upcoming  ‘THE FORMAT WAR IS OVER’ types of announcments/messages soon! :)   or the war could limp on but again, HD-DVD seems to be on life-support and we will see if Toshiba will be merciful and just pull the plug.

now lets get some more HD content out there and get those prices down so those people who ‘were waiting for a winner’ can get involved and force TV to go full HD!!  i predict HD market penetration to be very deep this year and we should start seeing more and more HDTVs in households and people finally giving into the HD upgrade.

Plus, almost a year from now the analog tv broadcasts go digital; do you have your converter yet?

my new desk internet radio.. err.. my sony psp

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 12th, 2008

If you don’t mind me asking, how do you use your PSP?  do you game on it mainly or use it for movies or music? or is it your portable emulator?

 I use my PSP for almost everything besides gaming (PSP games that is).  Honestly, I have yet to really be blown away by any game yet.  I really liked Hot Shots and was addicted to it and thought GTA was pretty cool but wouldn’t cause me to buy a PSP for it.   So, what do i use my PSP for? how do i use mine?

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the death of my sony dsc-t9… and pics of its guts!

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 7th, 2008

well, sadly after nearly 2 years, my Sony Cybeshot DSC-T9 finally died.  of course, it had to be the first day on my vacation in Mexico and caused by me jumping into the ocean and landing on my camera and the sport/waterproof housing… (note to self, not seamonkey-ass proof though..)  

salt-water and electronics do not go very well, but even though my camera’s lcd did not light up and only turned on by opening the front cover and then powering on; it still took some decent shots and video. 

however i decided that after i got back from my trip, i would put it out its misery and ‘try’ to fix it by a nice disassemble of my Cybershot DSC-T9.. btw, i didn’t fix it… but am now waiting for the Sony Cybershot DSC-T300 (has the BIONZ sensor which is in the SLR versions) to be released in Mar and hopefully go down a bit i apr.  in the meantime, i’m trying to get me a used DSC-L1 to tie me over till apr (just a 4mp but its so nice and tiny and took great pics, i had one a while back).

anywho back to the disassemble, pics and notes below.  enjoy!

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My PS3 and PSP w/CFW 3.90 and remoteplay (video)

Posted by seamonkey420 on February 5th, 2008

todays video post will be a look at my PS3 running v2.10 firmware and my PSP running CFW 3.90 M33 (Dark Alex styled) and Remote Play. 

i’ll be honest and admit that i’ve contemplated selling my PSP on quite a few occasions but right when i’m about to break down and do it, i stop myself.  the main reason i always stop myself is the potential for its bonding w/the PS3 and Remote play.  Only a very few games even support remoteplay and gaming (Lair supports remoteplay, you can play Lair on your PSP w/remoteplay) and if your running CFW its a hit or miss game depending on if a sony ps3 update will change code related to remoteplay apps (like last update and cfw 3.70, however there were ways around that).

anywho, the video below just shows a few of the newer features of the remoteplay including using the Gaia screensaver for music. 

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