Tech. through the eyes of a 13 year old

I'm Back?

2007-11-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

I might be switching back here afterall.

Stay tuned!! :)

-Daniel

Hasta la Vista!

2007-08-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

Remember, this blog is no more! I am moving to Wordpress becase I like the features that Wordpress has over Blogger! You can find all these articles and more at techfromthekid.wordpress.com for your reading pleasure!
Check out LiveWire's Teen Forums, College Forums, Teen Advice, Teen Quizzes, Peer Support, Teen Help, Message Boards, and Professor Reviews sites.

Bye Bye

2007-08-13T06:03:00.001-07:00

I am moving to Wordpress!

http://www.techfromthekid.wordpress.com

Apple Bootcamp

2007-08-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

Although I have never used Apple's Bootcamp I was looking for more information about it and figured out that the Apple Bootcamp page hasn't been redesigned like the rest of the semi-new Apple site.

Check it out!

iWork

2007-08-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

The new iWork 08 suite of software from Apple got released at the Apple Special Event earlier this week. This suite of applications comes with Keynote, a presentation making program. (Like PowerPoint, but from Apple) Pages, a word processing program, and Numbers, a spreadsheet program.

Numbers is what Apple needed to top of iWork in general. I haven't tried any of the applications out yet but I will hopefully get my hands on it.

Pages

New to Pages is the new "Word Processing" application in the suite. Before, Pages was just for creating newsletters, brochures, invitations, etc. Now Apple has included a Word Processing mode for just typing basic documents.

Pages comes with a rich set of professionally designed templates for your use when making an invitation or newsletter.

Some new features in Pages 08 include the (IMO) Instant Alpha feature. This means that Pages will automatically remove the background of the object and keep main part. Like just the flower and not the background.

There are more features, but I really was hoping for more updates to the program. I still want Pages to have:

Auto save
Ability to compare documents
grammar Check
Drop Caps

Keynote

On the other hand, Keynote is a great presentation program. It is easy to use, packed with features for beginners and advanced users, and a nice clean interface. One problem with Keynote is that Keynote's best features are lost when saving to a PowerPoint file. I think that Keynote is officially competing with Powerpoint since it has alot of great features, and it is $40 less that the MS products.

I haven't had a lot of time to play with Keynote, so more information will come in as soon as I get more information.

Numbers
I hate Microsoft Excel. It is too complex for an average user wanting to make a simple spreadsheet and having to write formulas is also complex and annoying. Numbers seems to be professional and easy to use. We will see how that goes in the future. Again, never played with Numbers yet but we will find out how it goes sooner or later.

Flash Game of the Week

2007-08-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

Here it is all, the Flash game for the week:

http://notdoppler.com/theimpossiblequiz.php

This is the Impossible Quiz. It's a funny quiz that will take random knowledge and a lot of good guessing! :)

Coming up next week:

A review of the JVC Everio Camcorder Series
Download of the Week (Every Sunday Night)
New Flash game for the week (Sunday)
My Thoughts
And a whole lot more!

Pod/Vid Cast

2007-08-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

I am thinking about creating a Pod/Vid cast. I am hoping for it to be updated every week. We will see how this goes.

Magellan Maestro 4040 In-Depth Review

2007-08-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Magellan series is the latest in the Magellan product line. I took a look at the 4040. Lets see how well it worked but first I will give you the "gist" of it.

Positive: Partnership with AAA was great, beautiful screen, “Exit Authority" feature is great for long trips / highway travel, loud speaker, sleek design, easy to use. 4.5 million POI
Negative: No external volume controls, just average battery life, hard to get GPS off windshield mount, a little slow when calculating routes
Bottom Line: With a large POI database that has AAA information, a great price, great design and real fast text input-the Magellan Maestro 4040 is the best in its class. This model is great for someone that also doesn’t like to read manuals because setting up and getting going with the Maestro…was a cinch.

After buying this GPS, I couldn’t wait to get it out of the box and try it out. The 4040 came with a quick setup guide incase you would need it…but really, I never did. The Maestro was so easy to set up and get it going that I never cracked open the manual once. Everything on the screen was neatly laid out, easy to read, and easy to use. This model retail’s for around $499.99 but on the internet you should be able to find it cheaper. (Amazon.com) This model includes the Text to Speech functionality which is pretty important. Text to speech allows the GPS to actually speak street names. For example it will say “Turn right on Bright Road” instead of “Turn right.” But what really makes this GPS stand apart is that it has partnered up with AAA. This means that the 4040 will have all the listings from the AAA tour books inside including-hotel amenities, food, prices, events, phone numbers and a whole lot more! Another thing that I really do like about the Maestro is that Magellan has concentrated on the main features of any GPS. This means that it isn’t including a picture viewer, and a media player, etc. Magellan just has a GPS inside and Bluetooth. I personally don’t even thing a music player is that useful on a GPS anyway.

Screen size	4.3 inches
Unit size	3.7 inches high, 5 inches wide, 0.8 inch deep
Weight	8.5 oz
Exterior	3.5mm head phone jack, reset button, USB

This GPS comes with preloaded maps of the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. This unit also has the SiRF Star III GPS chip which is almost standard in today’s GPS.

Misc. Notes

· Once in a route we missed a turn and the new route said to turn NOW when I was just one foot from the turn and couldn’t stop that fast. Eventually it gave us good directions but that only happened once.

· This model has QuickSpell which makes letters dim out when there is not a city that could be used with the certain letter. For example…F…X…in that case X would be dimmed out.

· This model also has “True View 3-D” this means that .5 miles away from your next turn the GPS will make a split screen with half being the map and the other half showing you what type of maneuver you will be making. This is really helpful when trying to make a hard maneuver.

My thoughts on the new Apple iMac

2007-08-09T08:47:00.001-07:00

I have wanted an Apple computer for a while now. Ever since I wanted something easy to use, doesn't crash, but also had advanced features I have wanted an Apple iMac. Now the new ones are even better with more "bang for your buck." I would get the lowest end model, the basic 20 inch model. But I wish they would of left in the 17 inch model as well. Something I think Apple needs to bring into their lineup is a consumer based PC. The iMac is...but Apple needs something lower for $400-800$ that you could buy. I still don't understand why a PC for $500 with Windows on it will give you a 320gb hard drive and 2GB of RAM. Why is Apple more expensive when it comes to this? Why not a 320GB HD and 2 Gigs of RAM for only $5-600. Other companies do it but not Apple. I just don't understand it.

Even though this upgrade was mostly a cosmetic upgrade I really do like the new feature about being able to add RAM.

With its super-elegant new design and a strong configuration, Apple's new iMac competes with the PC desktop market better than perhaps any previous Mac to date. Unless you're a gamer or an upgrade enthusiast, we can think of very few reasons not to make an iMac your next desktop.

Quote from CNet's review-
/aggree

--d

I am back!

2007-08-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a vacation in Mohican with my family!

So here is some good news and websites to check out...in other words, things that happened that I missed while I was on vacation

Tux (The Linux mascot as you have never seen him before) http://www.100mb.nl/

Have you been to a tech conference lately? They’re dominated, absolutely dominated, by MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Their employers are happy to buy them because they’re fast, reliable and productive. I know I love mine. But ask any of those happy MacBook-toting people what they have on their desks at work, and they’ll admit to having a Dell. http://blogs.smugmug.com/don/2007/08/08/wheres-the-mac/

Lastly, NEW iMacs! The new iMacs are skinner, faster, and with bigger displays than the old ones. Now there is no 17 inch model, now it has been replaced with the 20 inch model for the same price...when talking about the $1,199 model...but now the cheep $999 model has faded away into history. To me this just annoys me. Apple has a lineup of great products but no middle of the range product--I aggree with the "Where is the Mac" post. Apple needs a consumer desktop for $500-700. The Mac Mini is entry, the iMac is too expensive and the Pro series is for...well,...pros.

Thats all for now,
--d

P.S. How come if I paid $1,199 on a desktop with Vista on it I would have at LEAST a 320GB hard drive and with apple you will only get 250GB? If you know...please tell me in the comments.

Windows 98 Blue Screen of Death tattoo

2007-08-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, it was skulls, snakes and Iron Maiden's undead mascot, Eddie. In the post-heavy-metal Internet era, to express your anguish, malaise, or traumatic childhood, you have to get a tattoo of the Blue Screen of Death on your arm. What better to display your frustration with software and your sense of irony than the text that lets you know you've lost an afternoon's work?

How simple it is to hack GMail

2007-08-04T06:54:00.001-07:00

Point and click Gmail hacking at Black Hat....it isn't a how to. But it is a great article.

read more | digg story

Magellean Maestro 4040

2007-08-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hey my Grandma bought a new GPS. It is the Magellan Maestro 4040. I have used other Magellan GPS' and have loved them. The 4040 is still great. It has a new interface which IMO is much easier, cleaner, and cooler than the old interface.

Keying in information is real easy with the Maestro.

The 4040 also boasts over 4 million Points of Interest inside the unit. Now you might be thinking...well so...but the amazing part is that Magellan has teamed up with the American Automobile Association (AAA) which means that every POI has the AAA tourbook guide information inside of it including, phone number, diamonds, amenities, prices, hours of operation, current events in the city, and more!

If you are looking for a great middle of the road GPS...this is the one to buy!

Can Google hear me?

2007-02-17T05:14:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had an idea but never really followed through with it or just gave up? I have done that before. But not this guy named Aaron...he has a great idea which he is giving to Google so he is travling to the GooglePlex to pitch his idea to Google. Check his website out and track him through his website http://www.cangooglehearme.com

iPhone

2007-02-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

The iPhone is out and everyone knows it. It looks like a great phone to have but I just have a few complaints...pracitcally the whole thing is a touch screen--That sounds awesome but touch screens can really get messed up...really quickly...so scratches or what ever-a touch screen really isn't the best option.

And then there is the price...Is it just me or would you not pay $499 just for a cell phone? It is awesome and all but I think I could wait until I get home at my computer to check stocks and read email etc.

What the heck did Jobs also mean when he said it would run OS X? He talked about special applications made for the iPhone...not real apps. What did Jobs mean when he said the iPhone runs OS X?

Hmmmm the iPhone is made by Apple and in the next OS X OS Lepord we will be seeing something called Pages. Will that be the app for word processing or will we see Microsoft have Microsoft Office for the iPhone?

And Lastly as of now it only works with Cingular...enough said.

Geek Squad

2006-12-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

The Geek Squad at Best Buy is full of shit....most of the guys know nothing. I evestroped on on a conversation and someone says "My computer is slow" and the Geek Squad dude says "Bring in your computer, we will make sure some .dll files aren't missing. If they are we will have to re install Windows for you"

Okay...the dude is so ignorant!!

Ha Ha

Oh...I hope James Kim gets found.

The Zune...how brilliant

2006-11-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

This mp3 player sucks. Ill just say it up front. The only reason that makes it cool is the larger screen. In my opionion...the navigation sucks. Plus you have to buy from the Zune music store instead of the now shut down MSN music store...great! Errr...its just not as good as an iPod...the interfase just isn't as easy to get around in and its just all messed up. Microsoft trying to get into the mp3 player market just isn't a good idea.

Later,
Danny

P.S. The Zune? Where did they come up with that name?

The Play Station 3

2006-11-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I went to my local Best Buy yesterday and started playing on the PS3 and wasn't that inpresseed. It was cool to see the controller react to moving my hands like tilting it. Yeah it was awesome but it sucked with no little "rumble" when I hit a wall or something. And...why is it so expensive, will you really need to use 60GB? (Unless your hacking it to run Windows or something)

Oh, and why aren't there any good games out now for the console...I guess the developers of the games "pushed" to get the game out it time for launch, but still something cool would be nice.

Lastly, why couldn't they give stores more consoles to sell...people are seriously like fighting over these trying to get one and most of them are trying to sell them on ebay or what ever...its like a crime. People are cutting in line, hurting people, and they still may not get a PS3...jeez Sony.

Welcome to TTE12

2006-11-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to Tech. through the eyes of a 12 year old. As you might of already guessed...Im 12 years old. This site will just give you my personal insight on new tech. related stuff. Im hoping to update every other day or so.