Guest Post by Britney Baker of PrepaidCellPhones.net. If you’re interested in submitting a guest post, contact me.

If you are considering purchasing a Microsoft Kinect device to use with your Xbox 360, before you go out and spend the $150+ dollars for the system, there are a few things you should take into consideration.

photo credit: Jon Åslund

1. The Kinect does not need a controller.

When watching demos or viewing commercials for the Kinect, many people ask where the controller is located. The answer is your body. With its sophisticated motion sensing technology and voice recognition, there is no need for a separate manual controller. You can control your Xbox 360 by addressing it with the prefix ‘Xbox’, or you can use your hands to navigate the menus. The hands free approach is what makes the Kinect one of the most appealing devices on today’s market.

For example, say you are watching a movie on your 360 and the phone rings. Instead of hunting around for the controller to pause the movie before you answer the phone, you can simply say “Xbox pause”, and Kinect will recognize your command and pause itself accordingly, allowing you to answer the phone. Once you are finished, you can say, “Xbox resume” and pick up your movie as you were.

2. The Kinect needs at least 8 feet of space.

Because it is a motion sensing device, you will need plenty of space in order for the camera to detect you. The cameras within the device need to see your entire body, so standing back around six feet is necessary. This means you need at least eight feet of space in front of the device in order to operate properly.

3. The Kinect is compatible with the older Xbox 360.

If you have an original Xbox 360, you will still be able to use the Kinect. However, you will need to purchase an adapter to plug the device into the back of the machine, as it uses a proprietary connection instead of a USB connection.

4. The Kinect can detect multiple people using the device.

Many people ask whether the sensor can handle more than one person on the screen. In fact, the Kinect features jump in/jump out technology, which means a person who wants to join in can merely jump into the view of the sensor in order to start playing. Once they are finished, they can jump out without the need for the original player to stop or restart the game.

5. The Kinect can detect people who are sitting down.

When the device was first debuted as Project Natal, many reporters and media types reported having trouble with the device detecting sitting people. This is because of the way the wire frame algorithm for the Kinect was rigged, placing the hip point below the leg point when people are sitting. This has now been changed with the release of the Kinect, so it does not have problems detecting individuals.

Britney Baker reviews prepaid cellphones for PrepaidCellphones.net. Her latest review looked at Tracfone.

I’ve recently developed a philosophy of using things to their fullest potential: originally, I was forced to replace my older gadgets with new versions repeatedly. It wasn’t until a short while ago that I decided against my consumption for a variety of reasons:

• It wasn’t a healthy way of gaining happiness (an interesting topic on its own).
• It wasn’t a wise way to spend my money — I already had an iPod Video, why did I need an iPod Touch? I could be saving up for that Macbook I always wanted.
• It wasn’t satisfying me anymore. I think I’d exhausted all satisfaction that I might’ve gotten originally from buying gadgets. That’s the problem with consumerism.

Don’t get me wrong — I still buy new gadgets: but now, my new gadgets typically are used to replace something thats been lost/broken/malfunctioned, or for the sake of convenience (combining two gadgets into one). Or to introduce a whole new concept into my life (I’m looking into getting a PSP…we’ll see how that works out, haha).

But I’ve discovered an alternative to the constant consumption and re-consumption of gadgets — using basic computer knowledge, a keen eye, and a spirit of adventure to find out how to leverage your gadgets and use them to their fullest potential. I’ve done what I’d thought was previously unimaginable — my deeds (so far) include:

• Putting Leopard 10.5.2 on my Dell Inspiron 6400 (I don’t advise you do it if you are of the faint of heart — I should also mention that it’s against Apple’s agreement you have to click in order to use Leopard, because you’re installing Leopard on non-Apple hardware). Don’t get me wrong — it wasn’t easy, and I only recently figured out how to do it to near-perfection, with sound and dual-monitor support.
• Installing Android on my HTC Touch. That one turned out to be a fail (fail used as a noun — yep: an event where one fails miserably and hilariously at an attempt; http://failblog.org), as everytime I tried starting Android up (I installed it as a .cab file so it can be easily installed and removed) I was left with a white screen or my phone would turn off. Fail.
• Tweaking my iPod Video 5.5G so I could play Pokemon Red on it. I also installed other themes on my iPod 5.5G so I could make it look ‘fresher’ — like an iPod Touch, if I may. Both using custom firmware (which might void iPod warranty, so be careful with that — I figured since my iPod was so old anyway, I might as well give it a shot, haha).
• I’ve also managed to make my Wii play .mp3 files, .mp4 files, homebrew games (that should give the secret away), and even — DVD’s. That’s right — and I didn’t even have to touch the hardware.

photo credit: You Are The Conductor..

I’m no expert. I’m just an ordinary guy — probably a bit nerdier, but still pretty ordinary. And if I can do it, you most definitely can — so here are a few lessons that I learned along the way.

• Google will be your best friend. That’s right. You’ll get by just typing in ‘(insert gadget name here) modifications’ or ‘(insert gadget name here) hacks’.
• If you fail once, brush yourself off and try it again. And if you fail again, then change something. Or Google it again.
• Forums will be your second-best friend. Register if you have to (I registered anonymously on InsanelyMac). Use their search functions regularly, because you probably won’t have been the first person to experience a certain kind of problem.
• Don’t try modding new gadgets. Unless you can afford to replace it — because typically warranties don’t cover that kind of stuff.
• Don’t be afraid to push it! I remember when I was installing OS X, I installed a bunch of incorrect drivers that eventually required a format. It was discouraging, and I had to start over again, but I remembered that I used to live without it just fine, and so I can continue to live without just fine. If you can’t live without it, then you might want to pay for it (legitimately — not that leveraging is usually illegitimate).
• Not all gadgets can be leveraged — here’s the Herbert rule: if it has a screen/screen output, it can be leveraged.

I’m not sure if anyone’s ever associated the term ‘leveraging’ with ‘gadgets’, but I recently learned of the term in a business course and I wanted to use it. That and the word ‘synergy’ really jumped out at me. If the public demands it, I will begin posting general guides on how to leverage gadgets, so it can be a learned process (these won’t be step-by-step though, I don’t like writing comprehensive stuff — sorry). And even if the public doesn’t demand it, I think I just might.

If you’re a PC user and have ever had the misfortune of running into trouble on your PC (no doubt you have), you’ll probably have seen articles involving or surrounding Windows registry.  If you’ve never investigated,  Leo Notenboom’s got a great article on what Windows registry is, and why it’s there.  And to sum things up, according to Notenboom, the Windows Registry is a central database of organized program and system settings and information.

photo credit: Signarama – Crystal, MN

For each setting you tweak, change, or delete, Windows registry creates an entry to log it.  Over time, these entries become obsolete — unnecessary.  Is it safe to remove them?  You bet — in fact, by purging these entries, you make clear space in the registry, and make it easier to call up programs and settings.  But, if you’ve got a new computer that’s slow, I’d recommend formatting (since registry probably doesn’t have that many entries anyway).

How can you clear it?  Don’t do it manually — instead, rely on the many programs provided out there.  I personally prefer CCleaner — it does the job well, and it’s free.  If you want to find out more information about Windows registry, or if you want to keep up with the times, I suggest visiting Registry Cleanerz — for information, and a set of forums to help with those questions of yours.  Have fun cleaning!

If you’re looking for a digital audio player (aka MP3 player, PMP) and you’re on a bit of a tight budget, I’ve got just the right deal for you: a sweet, hundred-dollar 8GB Zune at Future Shop (for Canadians only — sorry, everyone else).

photo credit: renaissancechambara

If I didn’t have an iPod, I’d go pick one up right now.  But since I do, I don’t think it’s anything to go nuts about.

In case you’re thinking of hocking it in a week to a friend or just an acquaintance for $140CDN, I’ve got one piece of advice: it’ll be hard to find someone to sell it to, due to the overwhelming amount of people that have iPods and MP3 players nowadays.

But, Christmas IS coming soon, and the Zune would make for a great first MP3 player.  Please, parents, buy with discretion — if your kid is not in high school yet, there is no need to get them an MP3 player.  Or a laptop.  Or a Blackberry.

photo credit: dyanna

No, that’s not the 8GB Zune.  But I’ve always been a supporter of the 30GB too.  A much, much more interesting Zune experience — in my opinion.  Plus the videos are much easier on the eys I would think.

So the conclusion — if you skipped everything and wanted to read everything in a summary, this is it: ignore it if you’ve got something, pick it up if you’re looking, and buy one for your kid only if he (or she) is in high school (for their social developments’ sakes).

There’s been huge buzz about Canonical and Ubuntu as of late, and I must say that I’m pretty impressed.  Mark Shuttleworth is emerging as a charismatic leader worthy to lead Ubuntu to battle, the blogosphere is going crazy, and Ubuntu is well on its way to hitting retail shelves.  I think that even though Ubuntu is a great product and operating system, it’s still not going to be enough as of yet – namely because of the lack of mainstream awareness.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia…_NASA.jpg

I realize that Canonical might not have the financial resources that Apple or Microsoft does, so I guess we can count the example of iPod ads out of the picture (I still feel that those iPod ads with dancing silhouettes are a huge factor in how they sold so well).  Still, if Ubuntu somehow manages to find their way to the front page of a huge mainstream newspaper or the main story on CNN, I’m sure that they would have reached many consumers that otherwise would never have heard of it.  Now, I’m not saying that Canonical has to work out a publicity stunt, but perhaps Shuttleworth could do a presentation or press conference that finds its way to G4 or something (start small, think big, right?).

Ubuntu is ready for mainstream, but we have to ask ourselves, is mainstream ready for Ubuntu?  Have a look at the success of Apple, the lack of general dissatisfaction and consumer reaction with Vista (not to say I personally don’t like Vista – I think it’s fine), and I think you’ll know the answer.

Apparently, since the life span of HD-DVD seems to have nearly run out, Microsoft has decided to make its way to the winning side and incorporate Blu-Ray with the Xbox 360 – in forms of both a player add-on similar to the HD-DVD add-on (so even the users of the current Xbox 360 can purchase this and watch Blu-Ray movies I believe), and a revised Xbox 360 with a Blu-Ray reader integrated into it. Gutsy, right?

You bet. Not only does Microsoft risk its ego in appealing to Sony for a Blu-Ray license, it also spatters its reputation by admitting that the opposing side had better technology. I think it’s repulsive to jump off the sinking ship when you’ve supported it for so long, but also admirable to continue evolving its console. Besides, it doesn’t seem like they’ve got much of a choice anymore – Toshiba’s already jumped off the ship itself (so much for the captain going down with the ship), just unofficially. Either way, this past week has been a huge one for the whole industry and the outcome of the format wars.

I can’t say this doesn’t affect me, as a friend of mine had wagered that HD-DVD would come out as the winner and has been a diehard supporter (although he did purchase a PS3 for the sake of being able to play Blu-ray movies, for the sake of insurance). In fact, this whole month has been pretty Microsoft-y, with the whole Yahoo! situation, Danger Inc. and now the fall of HD-DVD. Interesting.

Breaking news just now, the Format War is (almost) over. Toshiba has allegedly backed out on its own creation, HD-DVD, leaving Sony and the Blu-Ray format the last man standing, triumphant even through the thick and the thin. What’s the matter? Why did Toshiba exit the battlefield? And how did Sony plan such a strategy, to ensure its victory? Just a few points to consider:

• Even though Toshiba might have won the war, Sony’s Blu-Ray discs would still have been used for Playstation 3 games – giving it some insurance.
• Speaking of the Playstation 3, it sure is one hell of a gaming console, but doubled as a Blu-ray player – meaning not only was it a great bang for a buck, it also enabled hardcore gamers to experience the Blu-ray definition on the side.
• Toshiba’s gaming counterpart, Microsoft, really did not take much of a role into pushing HD-DVD out there, whereas Sony did relatively well in promoting their own format.
• The initial disappointment with the Playstation 3 resulted in a stalemate in the format wars. However, as the popularity of the Playstation 3 grew, the popularity of Blu-ray grew right along with it.
• The Blu-ray disc looked much stronger on paper – and even though that doesn’t exactly ensure a victory, it sure gives it the edge when comparing storage capacities and bandwidth.

Source: http://digital-lifestyles.info/copy_images/blu-ray-japan-sales-lg.jpg

It’s safe to say that you can go out and purchase a Blu-ray player or a PS3 now. If you ask me, what really pushed Toshiba over the edge would either be Warner Bros. abandoning it, Wal-Mart abandoning it, or NetFlix abandoning it (er, it’s not very likely, but NetFlix does have some influence right?). Or Best Buy abandoning it. Either way, we all saw the walls crumble in recent news.