There’s a DSLR camera recently released by Canon that’s sparking my interest, and that camera is the EOS 5D Mark II.

I myself own a Canon EOS 20D and with its ability to capture photos at 8.2 megapixels at speeds which are quick enough for me, I’ve been ignoring newer iterations of DSLRs. The EOS 5D Mark II however has an ability which is really appealing; its ability to capture video at quality which looks absolutely stunning.

The Best of Both Worlds

The above screenshot is a still from the short film REVERIE by Vincent Laforet. It was created using a pre-production model of the EOS 5D Mark II with only minimal post-production and when I first watched it, the quality floored me. The camera’s capability to record high-definition video and being the form of a DSLR is just an amazing combination, now you can record video with all the cool DSLR lenses out there.

You can view the short film REVERIE on Vincent Laforet’s website.
I’m also providing a mirror to help offload some of the bandwidth.

With the camera’s ability to record HD video at amazing quality, it offers the best of both worlds. Canon, this camera is at the top of my wishlist.

Some Extra Notes/Specs

• 21.1 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor
• ISO Range of 100-6400 (expandable to ISO L: 50, H1: 12800 and H2: 25600)
• MSRP (body only): $2699 USD

If you’re also interested in viewing the photo quality put out by this camera, you can view some sample photos on Canon’s website.

Also with the upcoming release of 2.1, I am not sure if QuickPwn will work with 2.1 yet. Please use this guide only with 2.0.2.

This guide also only covers OSX specific software for the first essential step. An alternative Windows guide can be found at macgeekblog.

Skip to guide

One day I received a newsletter from eBay trying to persuade me into buying some summer gifts. On that newsletter was a link to some iPhone listings and by chance, I came across a listing for an unlocked 1st gen iPhone running 1.1.4 firmware. The bidding stayed at $200 for days so I figured I’d watch it. Near the end, it still stayed the same and I figured it didn’t get many hits because it was listed as an “I Phone” whereas people would probably be searching for an “iphone”. Regardless, I won the auction and now had an iPhone. Wanting to upgrade it to the newest firmware, I searched for hours on methods to use while still keeping it unlocked. Through blog postings and forum threads, I found a way to achieve it so I had an iPhone running 2.0.2 with the new app store functionality while still being able to install unofficial apps through Cydia, and also was able to make phone calls on the Rogers network.

“Pwning”

At first, I had absolutely no clue how I was going to run 2.0.2 while keeping the phone in an unlocked state. I first looked into ZiPhone as that got some exposure on digg but later found out that it did not support 2.0.2 yet. Through some hints I found another program called QuickPwn which would do half of what I needed.

What QuickPwn will do is what is apparently termed, “pwning” your phone. When your phone is “pwned”, it is for the most part, in an unlocked state with the exception that you cannot make phone calls on an unofficial carrier…but don’t worry, BootNeuter will fix that.

The first thing you need to do first before pwning your phone, is to get your phone to the official 2.0.2 firmware first. You can do this by plugging your iPhone into your Mac and then doing an update through iTunes. (Note: as of this post, 2.0.2 is the newest firmware. I am not sure if QuickPwn will still work on future firmware releases).

After the update is done, you’ll get this

After iTunes updates/restores your phone to 2.0.2, you can now run QuickPwn.

If your iPhone is not connected to your mac (it should already be since you just updated/restored it through iTunes), QuickPwn will present you with the following prompt:

Connect your iPhone if it’s not plugged into your mac already

Once QuickPwn recognizes your iPhone, it will start doing its thing…

QuickPwn does its thing

Later QuickPwn will ask you to push some buttons on your iPhone that will need to be carefully timed. Just follow the onscreen instructions.

After, your iPhone will reboot and iTunes will popup the following error. Do not worry about it.

QuickPwn will then reengage a connection with the iPhone and then iTunes will present another popup.

QuickPwn will do its thing again and send files to your iPhone:

When the progress bar nears the end, QuickPwn will give the following popup:

Do not press “OK” because when your iPhone reboots at the end, QuickPwn will start running the entire process again. After your iPhone reboots you will notice that it boots up with a pineapple logo (QuickPwn) rather than the original Apple logo:

However, iTunes will now recognize your iPhone

At this point, you can start doing all the synching you want, but if you find that you cannot make/receive phone calls, read on…

Fully Unlock the Phone With BootNeuter

To be able to receive/make phone calls, you will need to download an application called BootNeuter which can be downloaded through Cydia (already installed via QuickPwn). Below are the series of steps you would need to go through in order to obtain BootNeuter:

1. Open the Cydia app:
   
2. Select the Search option at the bottom:
   
3. Search for BootNeuter and once found, select it:
   
4. Press Install:
   
5. Confirm the Install:
   

Once BootNeuter is done installing, open it and apply the following settings:

• Neuter: ON
• FakeBlank: OFF
• Unlock: On

Your iPhone might need to reboot, but afterwards, try making a call — it should work!

Applications From the App Store Crash Upon Launch

This is actually a bug of the 2.0.2 firmware (which might have been fixed with the recent 2.0.3 release but I’m not sure if QuickPwn will work with 2.0.3 yet). ilikemyiphone.com released a solution to this problem.

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The Consequences of Bargain Gadgets

This wasn’t the first bargain tech purchase my dad made. From previous experience, the reason these things are discounted are due to: open box with at least one missing accessory (instruction manual, power cable, remote control, etc.). Fortunately in this case, the only thing missing was the instruction manual, but who reads the instruction manual anyways?

Although there was probably an instruction manual floating out there on the web (I found a very helpful FAQ site), I decided to try messing around with the mv2010 sans instructions.

I found out that it could be interfaced through the web by entering its IP address into my browser. From that point on, I figured out the basics pretty easy. I was able to create new folders, enable streaming for selective folders, and set quotas. The web interface was pretty self-explanatory and being able to interface with it from any of the computers on my network was something I liked.

A screenshot of the mv2010 web interface

Time to Dig Around for Instructions

Although getting the core functionality of the network share was fine and dandy, I got the notion that there was more to this device when I spotted the 3 USB ports on it (one on front, two in the back).

A close-up photo of the front of the mv2010

Upon reading up on that dedicated FAQ site put together by the HP Media Vault’s own Systems Architect, Lee Devlin, I found out that this device could do a lot more as I suspected:

• I was able to hook up my HP laser printer and share it across the network pretty easily. The mv2010 also supports most printers although there are some it doesn’t support.
• I found out that by enabling streaming on folders that contained media, I could begin watching movies instantly off the mv2010 on my computers as well as my PS3! Unfortunately the PS3 doesn’t support the mp4 format made popular by iTunes but streamed DivX media just fine after a system update. Unfortunately, the Xbox360 cannot stream files from the mv2010 as it only supports a proprietary Microsoft streaming technology. Since most of HP’s products are Microsoft based, I kind of expected the mv2010 to support this, but it didn’t.
• You can install Firefly and turn it into an iTunes Music server.
• You can turn it into an FTP server. As far as I know, installing server software such as apache to serve up websites is not supported.

Upon further physical inspection, I also noticed an expansion bay. On Lee Devlin’s FAQ site, it seems that any SATA drive can fit in there, so once we’ve used up 300GB, we can add more capacity.

Would I Still Get Apple’s Time Capsule?

Frankly, I can’t see a need for Apple’s Time Capsule anymore. Since upgrading to Leopard, I’ve been backing up via Time Machine to a USB WD Passport and it’s been working so far. And although Apple’s Time Capsule can do a lot of the things the mv2010 can do, the mv2010 just seems like a much more open platform.

Also, having the NAS separated from the router is a plus. I am currently routing my connections with a Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT firmware, and I don’t think I would get all the flexibility I have if I were to replace my router and the mv2010 with Apple’s Time Capsule.

In closing, I’m pretty happy with the mv2010, although there is a bit of a letdown; the write speeds seem a little sluggish, and from googling up this topic, others seem to agree. However, the streaming seems solid so far as watching DivX media streamed from the mv2010 is smooth.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Ever since being spoiled by the high quality of audio put out by in-ear earphones such as the Etymotic Research ER-6is, I couldn’t go back to cheap earbuds. When my pair of ER-6is eventually died (even after I tried to salvage them), I had my eye on the Audio-Technica ATH-CK7s I came across on AudioCubes.

The ATH-CK7s are almost the same type of earphones as the ER-6is except they don’t go that deep into your ear canal. Due to this, you will be able to still hear outside sounds unlike the ER-6is who provided the best isolation I’ve ever experienced of an audio product besides noise-canceling headphones. I miss the absolute isolation from the ER-6is but I find the ATH-CK7s to be a lot more comfortable. This is a personal thing though as everybody has different ears, but I found I could listen to my music longer without getting that uncomfortable “itchy” feeling of having the earphones in too long.

So how do they sound?

I will have to say that the ATH-CK7s sound on par with the ER-6is, if not better. Initially I thought they sounded like crap because the sound seemed really muffled. However, after reading that it takes some time for these to warm up, I plugged them into my laptop while playing some music at a pretty high volume for an hour. When I came back and put them into my ears, the difference was like night and day, they sounded really good.

As with the ER-6is, these earphones sound great with the mid and high frequencies. In regards to the bass, the bass output by the ATH-CK7s definitely has the edge over the ER-6is. It makes the music sound much fuller and it’s something I really welcomed. I have a feeling that the bass sounds much better on the ATH-CK7s because the drivers do appear to be bigger.

Other physical features to note

The mini-jack on the ATH-CK7s bends 90º. This is something I welcomed – I think the straight jack design on the ER-6is is what lead to the fraying of the cord since I like to wrap my earphones around the iPod.

The earbuds themselves have an outer titanium casing which makes them feel heavy. I didn’t think too much of this, however this might be a purchasing factor for those who find in-ear earphones to easily fall out of their ears. Like the ER-6is, you can detach the rubber tips that go in your ears for cleaning and Audio-Technica has packaged the standard three sizes of rubber tips: small, medium and large.

One really nice feature of these earphones is the high elastic elastomer material used for the cord. They claim that it prevents tangling and it seems to work, I’ve found that I haven’t really had to untangle the cord unless the mini-jack or earbuds manage to do a couple of loops and make a loose knot.

According to the packaging, these earphones were apparently designed to also wrap around your ears if you feed the cord from your back rather than the traditional way of having the cord in front of you.

For regular use, I prefer to just wear these earphones the traditional way. However, when running, I found wearing it the way depicted in the diagram was great. Truthfully, wearing it that way could probably apply to most earphones, but I would have never thought of it.

Gallery

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Currently, I have a green LG 125 as my cellphone. It’s also my first phone and has done its job well. I signed on with a contract which I regret doing, but once it is up, I plan to get a new phone.

The LG 125 can’t do much. It can make and receive calls, text message and also features a nice EZ Tip Calculator, but that’s about it. Not even a game on it to keep me busy when I find myself in a boring-waiting situation.

Since my contract won’t expire for a while, I also looked at phones that will be released later on. Below are the phones I would consider purchasing, in no particular order:

• Sony Ericsson Z610
  (Color Preference: Black)
  Although the Z610 is already out, it’s a stylish phone that has what I need. It can do the basics as well as take pictures at an affordable price. The Z610 is also a nice flip phone which is a form factor I prefer most as it prevents you from having to put your phone on hold to prevent accidental key presses.

   

• Sony Ericsson T650i
  (Color Preference: Green)
  Although its form factor is that of a candybar, the T650i is one sexy phone. Although I’m purely speculating, it looks like it will be able to do the basics well, take pictures, and even has some 3G features. There are even some said neat illumination effects. If the cool illumination effects of the Z610 are any indication of what is to come on this phone, the lights could possibly keep me amused all by itself. The only negative feeling I have towards this phone are the micro keys.

   

• Sony Ericsson S500i
  (Color Preference: Black)
  Don’t knock me for listing another Sony Ericsson phone, but I’m a fan of their new designs. Although the S500i has the slider form factor, this one also looks pretty stylish and packs nearly the same features as the T650i. It seems to be more multimedia oriented though which I don’t mind. If I can take a quick video clip at a whim, I’m all for it.

   

• Motorola RAZR 2
  The first iteration of the Motorola RAZR was extremely successful. Like it’s older brother, this younger sibling also has a great form factor and looks pretty stylish (although not as stylish as the ones above, sorry Motorola). It’s been reported that the RAZR 2 is packed with functionality though, it can do what it’s older sibling can do, and then some. It also runs linux, and I dig devices that run on linux (I also dig mobile phones that run on symbian too).

   

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After poking around Photoshop’s list of keyboard shortcuts I found the shortcuts I needed:

• Decrease brush size: [
• Increase brush size: ]

I actually feel slightly embarrassed that I didn’t know about these keyboard shortcuts after all these years of using Photoshop. It would have helped to know these earlier, but I guess you learn something new every day.

I then mapped these shortcuts to the PowerMate in System Preferences. As you can see in the screenshot, I also mapped the following for rotation while pushed down:

• Step backward (go back one step in history): Shift+Cmd+Z
• Step forward (go forward one step in history): Option+Cmd+Z

Of course, these shortcuts are for the Mac, I believe the equivalent keyboard shortcuts for Windows would be Ctrl+Alt+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z respectively.

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A while back, I was browsing through the ‘Photos from your contacts’ on Flickr and stumbled upon a photo of Derek’s wallet which was later used towards contents of an interview for My Mint:

I saw a note for the earphones and when I read that they were the ER-6i’s, I recalled a post also from Derek which was aimed towards college students and his recommendations on necessary college gear. He mentioned the Etymotic ER-6i’s were great at isolating outside noise so I thought, hey I could use these during final exam study sessions.

First off, I scoured the net for reviews on these earphones after seeing the expensive price tag on the Etymotic Research website. If I’m going to invest a suggested $149 USD in a pair of earphones, the sound quality better be damn worth it. Reading review after review, it seemed there was going to be nothing another customer wrote that would change my decision on these earphones. I had to get them.

This morning they arrived in the mail and like a child during Christmas time, I ripped open the parcel and was excited to see what I ordered.

Inside the package were the earphones, 2 pairs of different size replacement flange eartips, 1 pair of foam eartips, 2 replacement filters, a filter changing tool, and a classy pouch to store everything in.

I immediately wanted to try them out. But once I saw how they were, I got the first impression that they were delicate. Not wanting to risk breaking these expensive earphones on arrival I wanted to be cautious. Then came the rare moment of me actually consulting the user’s manual before trying out the gadget.

The manual actually has some useful notes for using these earphones properly, but its nothing I didn’t already know. For those who’ve used in-ear earphones before, it’s likely you’re all too familiar that these need a deep seal in your ear in order for these to sound any good.

Achieving isolation is a strong point of these earphones. Other users weren’t kidding when they said that these earphones could be dangerous when used outside. When I had these on with no music playing, just to test how well they blocked outside noise, I couldn’t hear anything at all; this included water which was running from the kitchen faucet, and the microwave. Etymotic Research put a nice caution note in their user manual too:

ETYMOTIC Isolator earphones exclude most external sounds even at low listening levels. It is unsafe to use insert earphones while driving a motorized vehicle, operating machinery, bicycling, or jogging, because you may not be alerted to potential danger.

For a student however, these earphones are ideal. I take transit to school and the commute can range from 1-1.5 hours. It’s usually the only time I listen to my iPod and the buses are loud. I regularly have to turn up the volume much more than I need to so that my music can drown the mechanical noises of the bus, now I shouldn’t need to and it will be much better for my hearing.

With all the precautions out of the way, I hooked these buds to my iPod and decided to test these out with a little bit of Tiesto’s new album first.

The verdict? Wow, these earphones sound amazing. The biggest feature going for these earphones is their frequency response. The range of highs and lows these earphones can achieve is very diverse. I swear, if you compare the listening experience of a favorite song you’ve listened to many times on your iPod with the standard issue earphones from Apple — compared to these earphones, there will be something subtle that you’ve never heard before.

To nitpick at the frequency response some more, I’ve read reviews from users who’ve said the bass response from these earphones takes some getting used to as they don’t provide that typical ‘thump’ you would get from a subwoofer. I disagree with these claims. I think the bass response on these earphones are perfect, as the bass response is well balanced and doesn’t drown out everything else. I compared these to the bass response of my dad’s Sennheiser CX300′s. On a song with female vocals and deep bass, the Sennheiser’s bass output was drowning out the vocals. On the ER-6i’s the vocals were still strong, crisp, and clear.

However, the CX300′s beat these earphones when it came to the sensitivity (basically, which one is capable of sounding louder at max volume). At max volume, the ER-6i’s were weak compared to the CX300′s, but I believe there is a benefit to this. I won’t be able to damage my hearing as effectively as if I had the CX300′s. When I compared the size of their drivers, it was evident that because the CX300′s were capable of achieving higher sensitivity because of their much larger size.

To end the review, these earphones really are the best upgrade any student with an iPod should consider. It achieves great isolation and has great sound to boot. If you’re looking for earphones that can really give a good thumping bass though, consider the Sennheiser CX300′s, they’re usually advertised for cheaper and have better sensitivity than the Etymotic ER-6i’s.

Gallery:

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The Logitech Wireless DJ Music System

The system is composed of a remote, charger base, and a music transmitter you hook up to your PC (and it seems like its for PCs only, no OSX support listed anywhere on the product page) via USB. Once the music transmitter is plugged into your PC, you install a few drivers and some software provided. The last step is to plug the audio cables from the charger base to your home stereo, at this point, you’re good to go.

Logitech has designed for everything to be controlled from the remote. This seems like a great idea if it works, but I would actually like to get my hands on the remote and see how it navigates before saying whether I like it or not. The idea to control your music from the remote without having to fiddle around on the computer or have to turn on another display (eg. your TV) is nice and efficient.

I’ve pretty much explained what the system can do. Now do I think it’s worth $249? No.
I’d buy an Apple TV for $349 instead. I know both products don’t have the same level of playing field, but the Apple TV could do everything Logitech’s Wireless DJ Music System can do AND more. In my eyes as a consumer, the Apple TV’s ability to play videos is well worth the extra $100. Now the remote that ships with the Apple TV isn’t as spiffy, but when it comes to features and functionality, it has the Logitech Wireless DJ Music System beat.

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Nintendo Wii image courtesy of Nintendo

As I mentioned before, the Wii was my pick for upcoming game consoles and it sure did not disappoint. The first day I got it, I was playing Wii Sports with the family for a few hours and it was a lot of fun. Even surfing the internet on it is a blast, there’s so many possibilities with it, such as playing a flash version of Duck Hunt. The Virtual Console is great too, it is still a blast playing all those classic games, I’d like to play Mario Kart 64 which was released just yesterday but I need to find some Gamecube controllers to play it.

If anybody else there has one, feel free to register me, my friend code is 1260 7051 1946 5406.

Edit: I just realized I need your friend code too if you want to add me, so send me an email with your friend code or leave a comment with it.

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Gotta love my new setup

It might seem a little nuts that one guy should need so many computers but ever since I got my iBook, I now prefer to work in Mac OS X over Windows. I was starting to realize the limitations with my iBook (the resolution of the display was too small at times for graphic design), and I also needed something a little faster. I saved up some money while working over the holiday break and when my dad gave me the call that he found a 17″ iMac at Future Shop at a discounted price, I had to go for it.

When I got around to using it for the first time, I have to say that it exceeded my expectations. It’s speedy, the 17″ display will bring a huge productivity boost and I love the little novelties such as the built in iSight, Front Row and it even has speakers!

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