Nerd Beach – Page 9

Dual HD Tuner Card FusionHDTV7 Launched

As luck would have it both of the shows I want to record, "Lives of Starfish" and "Navigation in the Ether Sea", comes on at the same time. Even worse, I had plans on doing a nighttime surf reconnaissance mission, so I would have to record them. "I am certainly lucky the dual tuner HD card washed up recently", I think to myself as I deftly adjust the computer to record both titles. Life on Nerd Beach is good.

Dvico has launched their FusionHDTV7, which they say is "the world's first dual HD (digital or QAM) tuner PCIe card". The card, which is retailing for $140, brings a great deal of capability to a PC at a very reasonable price. One of the best things about using a computer as you DVR is that the recordings are easily available for network distribution through the home, so any other capable laptops or computers can watch the shows as well. This works great in a wireless setup, and here it allows me to watch recorded shows by the surf.

Aloha from the Beach,
greg

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Be Prepared with Chopstick Storing Glasses

Greg Chaffins

After many days of walking the surf and hoping for genuine Chinese food to wash up from the ether sea (luckily on Nerd Beach things wash up intact), I notice just such a delight has appeared. I quickly pick it up and take it back to the Beach House, anxiously preparing the feast. As I sit down to eat the highly anticipated meal I come to the unfortunate conclusion that – gasp! – I have no chopsticks. But then all is saved as I remember that I am wearing my Stix Glasses. I quickly pull out the chopsticks from the eyeglasses and settle in to a very satisfying authentic Chinese meal.

If you follow the Boy Scout mantra of always being prepared, and you really prefer to eat with chopsticks, perhaps to the point that you are willing to sacrifice some fashion sense, then the Stix Glasses are perfect for you. Even better, in some places you can get a discount for having your own chopsticks. Now, some people use chopsticks not as an eating implement but rather as a hair accesory. That makes another way to use the Stix Glasses, but I hope you do not get mixed up between uses.

Aloha from the Beach,
greg

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Availabots Makes IM Stand to Attention

Greg Chaffins

It is a quiet night as I sit at my computer in the Beachhouse, listening to the surf outside as I read comments from Nerd Beach. Suddenly several small figures spring to life beside me , while others are sprawled out with no sign of movement. Is it an invasion of Puppets from Outer Space? No, it just means that a few acquiantances are now online, perhaps wanting to exchange thoughts of the day.

Instant messaging is bigger now than ever before, and a lot of people keep in touch this way. Schulze & Webb is bringing you a new way to know when your friends are online. They are presenting Availabots, small figures that plug into an available USB port, and when your IM buddy is available, they stand up.

As expected, when the friend is not online they fall over, devoid of any life. If you ever had one of those string puppets where you push on the bottom then you are probably familiar with the action involved. You can have as many Availabots as you have USB ports, each storing the IM details of their virtual doppelganger. I guess this could open up another avenue of entertainment – Virtual Voodoo, anyone?

Aloha from the Beach,
greg

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Aloha and Welcome to NerdBeach

Greg Chaffins

Aloha, and Welcome to NerdBeach.

This is the place that the interesting stuff washes ashore from the ether seas. All we have to do is go for a walk on Nerd Beach and we can find things floating in, there for our perusal and experiences. As these things wash up on the shore I hope to pass on the interesting bits to you, my readers. While we will try to remain as current as possible, some things may be new to the Beach that may not be new to you. For that I apologize, but we will get it right with the next find. So keep checking back.

If you find something you like and want to share we highly encourage you to go ahead and share. There are buttons provided at the end of each item for all the major social sharing networks, we want to make it easy for you. Feel free to link to us, we love the visitors. Most importantly, thank you for visiting.

And finally, let me say for hopefully the first of many times, Aloha from the Beach,
Greg Chaffins
NerdBeach