Red rubber ball is up to 13,000% cheaper today (big savings)

Posted on by Orion Williams
Deals, Left Field

red rubber ball amazon

If you are in the market for a red rubber ball, today is the day to buy.  Amazon.com is selling the classic children’s toy for as low as $6.25.  What you may not realize is that this is a savings of over 99% of list price.

red rubber ball amazon list price

Did I miss something?  Were Target and Walmart charging seven or eight hundred dollars for these things, and Amazon swooped in to save the day from tyrannical price hikers?  Is there a rubber shortage?

I am not taking any chances.  I’m striking while the iron is hot, and the price is fathomable.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B001DYQOU2″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5165qoWak9L._SL160_.jpg” width=”159″]

Kinect PlayFit launched this week–Earn virtual rewards for actual work

Posted on by Orion Williams
Games, Tech

Kinect PlayFit

Kinect for Xbox 360 has always asked more from you than traditional video games have.  If you want your character to jump, you have to jump.  If you want them to kick in a door, you have to kick.

Some games have provided calorie counters for all of this hard work we do.  But these calorie trackers are typically reserved for fitness oriented games like YourShape, and Dance Central.

Now available as a free app for all Xbox Live members, PlayFit will track your calories and playtime independently from your fitness games.

From the press release:

Kinect PlayFit is a new fitness dashboard that aggregates and tracks the calories you burn as you play a variety of Kinect games, from “Dance Central 2” to “Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012” to “Kinect Star Wars.”

Kinect PlayFit lets you view your personal stats over time and see leaderboards that show how you rank against Xbox LIVE members across the globe. Get credit for the calories you burn while having fun with Kinect, and earn Kinect PlayFit Achievements, Gamerscore and Avatar Awards.

Kinect PlayFit inspires an active and healthy lifestyle through fun and play:

  • First of Its Kind – This is the first ever fitness tracking application on a video game console.
  • Social Motivation – Kinect PlayFit keeps it social with activity challenges, rankings on leaderboards and integration with the Xbox LIVE community to break a sweat together.
  • Survey Says – According to a recent survey*nearly 75 percent of respondents believe that video games should include a component that encourages physical activity. Also, 70 percent said that physically active video games can complement or supplement traditional exercise.

So go ahead and weild that light saber in Kinect Star Wars.  And kick balls in Kinect Adventure.  And when your spouse/children/parents/partner tells you to quit playing those silly games,  you can tell them you are exercising, and have the calorie count to back it up.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B005YR0T2I” locale=”us” height=”49″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511syg8klyL._SL75_.jpg” width=”75″][easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B0050SWALO” locale=”us” height=”75″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ZVZpMK3yL._SL75_.jpg” width=”53″][easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B002I0HCNI” locale=”us” height=”75″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oNpZEXJ6L._SL75_.jpg” width=”75″]

 

Funny engrish to you laugh!

Posted on by Orion Williams
Blog, Left Field

Take a moment and read the following message carefully.  For maximum effect, read it aloud to a friend or loved one.

Radio Shack adapter engrish

That is what I was greeted with after installing a Radio Shack USB to Serial adapter driver, in America.

I understand that English is one of the more challenging languages to learn.  I also understand that a good proofreader translator is hard to find.

The psychology of work and play: Why we need both work and play

Posted on by Orion Williams
Blog
Shasta Lake at the harbor, in the rain.
Raining, and still at the dock, but at least it’s not working.

The human mind is a wonderful, awful, complex, painfully simple thing. It simultaneously runs all of our body’s important faculties, and yet I can’t remember where I just set my screwdriver. The brain manages our every muscle contraction and relaxation at a subconscious level that we could never achieve with any focus of our own. Even just walking and carrying on any real conversation is a testament to this. And despite all of this beauty and order, our thoughts boil down to the simplest ingredients. We seek, naturally, comfort for ourselves and a path of least resistance that would ultimately yield a boring and unfulfilling life. It is in these times we are blessed with discomfort and resistance.

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Free for all – ringtone giveaway

Posted on by Orion Williams
Blog, Left Field, Music

"Free For All" imageA couple of weeks ago I entered into a contest.  The competition was to create the best “ringtone” for cell phones.  Each entrant was allowed two entries.  I chose one silly (Dubstep Ringtone), and one serious (Sailing on the Sunset).  They were both defeated, and I lost the contest.

Not wanting these to go to waste, I offer them now and forever as ringtones for your cell phones.

Give a listen.  If you like them, then use them.

Dubstep Ringtone

Sailing on the Sunset

Microsoft announces new tablet(s). Tasty specs inside.

Posted on by Orion Williams
Tech

Surface, revisited.

When we first heard of the Microsoft Surface, it was a multi-thousand dollar device that we would use to play parlor games and pay our restaurant bill with.

But Microsoft today revealed, in a mystery shrouded press conference, the near-future of personal computing.  Creation, and consumption, all done on one multi-touch device running Windows 8, the next version of Microsoft’s operating system. Continue reading →

Facebook “Dislike” button is fake, potentially dangerous.

Posted on by Orion Williams
Blog, Tech

After receiving a facebook request today to “enable the facebook ‘dislike’ button”, my first thought was, “I want to dislike this.”  You know, to be a punk.  But then I started to think that maybe there was more to this than what the surface reflected.  So I dove into the internet searching for “facebook dislike button” and it didn’t take long to reveal news of a recent scam to propogate malicious code.

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World’s most awesome knife is made of water.

Posted on by Orion Williams
Left Field, Tech

I am not sure if it actually qualifies as a knife but it sure cuts better than the steel in my kitchen.  Company Paprima sells a product called an Ultra High-Pressure (UHP) Water Jet.  Marketed for food cutting applications, this puppy blasts through whatever delicious and unfortunate substance that dares face down the diamond nozzle as it shoots regular drinking water at 3 times the speed of sound.

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