Electric Sista Hood :: Video Game Reviews, Tech Gadget Reviews, and Anime Reviews

Girls Talking About a Pad

posted @ 2/01/2010 08:00:00 AM by Ninjasistah

New podcast Monday is here once again and this hour long show is jam packed full of puns and bad jokes.

This week, NinJaSistah and Pandalicious talk about Apple's newly announced (and poorly named) iPad device and their first reactions to the device. The ladies also work in a plug for the new ESH YouTube channel, Flickr account, and FaceBook group... but mostly wrap their minds around the iPad.

To get a better idea of what the show is like, here are some of the titles that came up but were not chosen:

A Braile iPad Would Make Quite an Impression
Pada Says All Her Appliances Are Masculine
Video IS the Radio Star
Comedy – Comment – And Another "C" Word I Can't Think Of
and finally
Oops! I Just Spoiled the Bible

Grab your morning cup of joe or afternoon delight and enjoy Electric Sista Hood Podcast Episode 182: Pandalicious Takes On All Comers (I Wasn't Going to Say That)

Labels: Apple, ESH-Crew, ESH-Land, Ninja, Ninja-Rant, Ninjasistah, Panda-Rant, Pandalicious, Podcast, Tech, Tech-Gadgets, Technology

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Apple Brings Another "i" into the World With the iPad

posted @ 1/27/2010 10:17:00 PM by Douceswild

I'm pretty sure that at this point, if you can type "www" in an address bar, then you've read about Apple's new baby, the iPad.

The iPad is definitely an interesting and intriguing device, but is it really necessary? Many are saying it's a step backwards and a little too late for Apple. Would this be more exciting if it came before the iPhone or iPod Touch? I mean, both of devices let us do pretty much all of what the iPad can do. The difference is the iPhone and iPod Touch are less cumbersome to carry around. Don't get me wrong. I think the functionality of the device is great, but haven't I sort of been carrying an iPad for almost three years already. My phone is by Apple. I can watch movies, play games, view pictures, read eBooks, check email, surf the web, and put it in my pocket when I'm done (unlike the iPad).

Throw an OS on this thing and I might bite, but until then, all I can really say is that the iPad is pretty cool and for what it is and does, the price-point is spot on.

Labels: Apple, Technology

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Eggs Without the Estrogen

posted @ 1/25/2010 08:00:00 AM by Ninjasistah

Well, not really as this fresh Monday episode of the Electric Sista Hood podcast is just chock fulla ladies!

Pandalicious and NinJaSistah welcome guest host PyroGirl to the show to chat about the anime and manga series Shugo Chara which former host MagicMysticGrl talk about back in the day. NinJa pretty much just adds the color commentary [sometimes with a really bad "valley" impression] as both Pandalicious and PyroGirl try to impart the seriousness that is Shugo Chara. By seriousness I mean heart of people birthing eggs housing their inner selves... cute, little, chibi selves.

Shugo Chara is a hard series for me to explain so we'll just impart a quick run down: Cat-Boy not-so-bad-baddie, hints of pedophilia, magical girl syndrome, and girls that turn out to be boys. Oh yeah, probably has some incest in there as well, but the anime series is 102 episodes deep keeping Chara from being some fly-by-night series. Need more convincing to listen to the episode? Here are some of the titles we didn't use

All these 80's Movies are Turning Her Into ValleySistah
Ferrets Steal Shiny Things Like Magpies (But Magpies Aren't Shiny)
For Most Eggs, Their Dreams Ends At KFC
I Thought Keybearers Liked Small Locks
and finally
It's a Good They Didn't Mention the Incest Until Last

So grab a glass/mug/pint of your favorite beverage and enjoy Electric Sista Hood Podcast Episode 181: I Don't Know Nothin' Bout Birthin' No Eggs

Labels: Anime, ESH-Crew, ESH-Land, Gadgets, Guest-Hosts, Manga, Podcast, Technology

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Preview: Blue Microphone Yeti

posted @ 1/22/2010 09:50:00 PM by Ninjasistah

If you happened to catch our podcast last week and listened to the entire hour than you know I spent some time with Blue Microphones at CES a couple of weeks ago.

Well, I'm going to be reviewing that USB mic [called the Yeti] very soon and wanted to give you a sneak peek at what I'm playing with.

When at CES we talked about Blue Microphone's new iPhone external microphone device "The Mikey" and a soon-to-be release USB microphone designed with podcasters and home musicians in mind. This microphone, "the Yeti," reminded me of why I love working in audio... it's just flat out sexy!

Lightly coated brushed metal-esque finish, gorgeous steel mesh protecting it's cardioid innards and THX certification emblem is enough to make a gal buy one just to put it on display. Don't get it twisted, I plan on road-testing the hell out of this mic including recording my side of our next few podcasts with it in addition to some special little projects I have created to really push all of Yetis' buttons and see just how well it can handle what people can through in its general direction. If you are in the market for a new USB microphone for professional level recording and don't want to wait for my review, you can pick up a Yeti of your own for the Apple Store Online for $149.95.

While I have done little more than take it out of the box at this point, I do have some of those nerdc0re photos for you on our newly created Flickr stream! Peep the show below and be on the look out for more images to hit that feed soon!

Labels: Audio, CES, Gadgets, Ninjasistah, Preview, Product-Review, Tech-Gadgets, Technology

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Mobility At CES

posted @ 1/07/2010 11:50:00 PM by Ninjasistah

Wednesday night I spent a glob of time at Digital Experience a mini CES one-night event that runs in parallel with with its larger bastard cousin here in Las Vegas, which I enjoy because it allows me to get some intimate time with some PR folks before the exhaustion that is 4 days in the desert sets in.

One such encounter happened at the Lenovo table.

The avid Mac fanatic in me was screaming the entire way over to the table, but the fact of the matter is as much as I love my 15 inch MacBook Pro he's not easy to lug around trade show events like CES. It's a bit cumbersome to whip out Alem (the name of my MBP) at a presser that has less space open then a sardine can. I do have a 12 inch Power Book G4 that I used to bring around and I may start doing that again but part of the reason I brought Alem into my life was to have a machine powerful enough to do video and audio work on the spot as well as any fast graphics I may need to turn around for an article. It's this last statement that for the most part has kept me out of the netbook range outside of the fact that they are all Windows OS based machines. (Though some can be hackintosh'd. Don't know what that means, Google It.) However, until the fine folks at 1 Infinite Loop decide to hook a sista up with a 10 inch MBP (the sucker has to at least let me run Aperture on it, my library is on an external drive so I only need 160GB internal... in case Apple is listening) I am heavily looking into finding a small machine that can handle my fingers of furious internet searching, coding, and twittering.

And with that, I was introduced to the Lenovo X100e. Starting around $499 with many customizations available (up to a 320 GB internal drive, 4GB of RAM and Bluetooth) and sporting Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (upgradable to Windows 7 Pro) she's not a bad lil machine. I say she because the model I got to play with was hooker red and whenever I think of hookers, I think of ladies of the night not dudes of the night. Sexist I know, but what can you do? The X100e sports an 11 inch screen and offers up around 5 hours of battery life which should get any social media addict through a days' work with a minute or two to spare. Where I was nearly sold on an impulse by was the weight of the machine. If you haven't gotten it by now, size does matter to me as well as weight. I do not want to carry around the equivalent of a bowling ball on my back or hip all day to have the ability to do my job.

I even went as far earlier today to visit the Lenovo Web site and price out a machine for my needs and built a 160GB Windows 7 Pro 2 GB machine with Norton Antivirus pre-installed and Lenovo's standard warranty for $554 which isn't too bad considering what I would be walking away with, but I'm not jumping ship just yet so Alem has nothing to fear...today. As we start ramping up the events we cover here at ESH mobility is going to be king, and I'm not sure that Alem will always be a travel companion for me because he's just too big.

Labels: CES, Computers, Ninjasistah, Technology, Tradeshow

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It's Been a Monster of a Day

posted @ 1/07/2010 08:35:00 PM by Ninjasistah

As my first day at CES starts winding down (at least the big business end of it that is) I wanted to chime in with the company that made the largest impression on me today: Monster Cables.

In the past I have made no secret of the fact that I love music. I have a separate 2 Terabyte (2TB) storage system (that I intend to grow to a 4TB system shortly) just for my itunes library. All new music imported to that library comes in as Apple Lossless and video comes in at as high a bit rate as I can stand to let process overnight. The speaker system I use at home to listen to that music does pretty well for being a jerry-rigged/patched set of 11 year old Labtec computer speakers wired to an Olevia television set, but I have not been satisfied with my headphone options for when I am on the go.

Being a designer in my day job, quality and customization are big-ticket issues for me when it comes to the technology I purchase. In a former life I worked at an Apple Retail store and spent a lot of time with customers talking through what they wanted out of their own mobile listening experience. We would run through all kinds of questions ranging from "what kind of music do you predominately listen to on the go?" to the inevitable "how much do you want to spend?" or "do you want something that will last you a few years or just get you through a month of working out?" Over time I noticed one common thread seemed to always be the bottom line of the conversation: it had to last, sound great, and not look like ass.

Love them or hate them one thing is for sure, the things I saw today while visiting with Monster Audio do all three of those things.

I started out my hour with Daniel Torres who does European Training for Monster talking about the different models of Beats by Dre on the market today, and then was treated to a demo at a listening station 3 different types of music samples to listen to. (Hip-Hop/Rap, Pop, and Rock) The first thing I noticed about the listening station that I thought was ballsy of Monster was that they allowed you to plug in your own set of headphones and compare your set to the Classic Beats and Solo Beats on the spot. The second thing I noticed was the sound. My ever-loving-deep-bass heart did skip a beat but I'll get back to that later on. We then spent some time in a media room where I was treated to sampling of Monster's entire line of high-end audio headsets and in-ear headphones. From the Lady GaGa designed heartBeats to the Monster Turbine Pro Professional Edition every set had its own unique style, audio profile, and audience. This is where that "customization" item I mentioned earlier comes in.

I have in the past year alone purchased and either returned or "gifted to friends and family" no less than 10 sets of headphones/earbud because they have disappointed me in either their style or audio quality. I am not an audio snob, but I am starting to become quite the little audiophile much to the disappointment of my husband. Whenever I get a new set of headphones/earbuds I immediately run them through the Kick-Ass test. In my iTunes library I have a playlist I call "Kick Ass" that has a sampling of songs that I feel tells me if I have found the perfect set of speakers/headphones/earbuds for me. A couple of songs on "Kick Ass" include:

My Week Beats Your Year - by Telefon Tel Aviv
Why You Wanna - by T.I.
Wait - by the Ying Yang Twins
Sexy Lady - by Yung Berg
Spin Spin Sugar - by Sneaker Pimps
Knights of Cydonia - by Muse
Organ Donor - by DJ Shaddow
Bounce - by MSTRKRFT
Higher Ground - by Stevie Wonder
Sledgehammer - by Peter Gabriel
Life's What You Make It - by Talk Talk
Beginners Falafel - by Flying Lotus
Once in a Lifetime - by Talking Heads

That list is eclectic, I know. So am I.

I have owned 3 sets of V-Moda in ear headphones, 2 sets of Sennheiser over the ear headsets, a pair of SkullCandy over the ear headphones (which got returned), and a pair of SkullCandy in-ears that I kept, a pair of Shure in-ear headphones, and a set of over the ear cans from Audio-Technica and while the list does go on I'm going to stop here. All those headsets either left me wanting in the quality department, (bass too heavy or not enough, in some cases non-existant) or in the looks department. (too butch looking, too loudly colored or just plain, well plain looking) Like those people at the Apple Store, I want something that sounds great, (if I have to turn the iPhone Equalizer on you lose) fits great in my weird little ear canals, and on the aesthetic side kinda reflects my personality.

I'm anxious to try out the in-ear sets and the Solo Beats because they seem like the best "road warrior" safe sets created by Monster. You can bet I'll test them against my "Kick Ass" playlist and let you know how well they score.

Labels: Audio, CES, Gadgets, headphones, Mobile-Audio, Ninjasistah, Personal-Audio, Tech-Gadgets, Technology

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CES 2010: Gotta Start Packing

posted @ 1/03/2010 12:51:00 AM by Ninjasistah

So the trade show behemoth known as CES [Consumer Electronics Show] is nearly upon us all and I haven't even begun to pack. As if 4 days chock full of playing with the latest, greatest, and possibly lamest tech gadgets isn't enough to get my heart pumping, but it's 4 days full of playing with tech in Las Vegas.

I really need to pack.

Both myself and Evermore will be on hand trolling the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center [LVCC] talking with PR reps, VP's, folks taking their own inventions out for a spin and in all honesty I can't wait. Ever since I visited the city of sin to attend my first CES event I have been infatuated with it. If you have listened to any of my previous CES coverage then you already know that I have never been to COMDEX, and reget not going to the show when I had the opportunity back in 1999. Technology has always interested me, and the idea of an entire gigantic event focused on highlighting tech just seemed like a place I should be found at.

CES is huge. I can not stress that enough. I am sure if you took all the square footage that has been rented by all the various companies exhibiting at the show and laid it end to end from McCarran Airport that it would reach across the country to Boston's Logan Airport easily. I have visited CES for the last 3 years now and have yet to even visit all of the halls at the LVCC let alone the various suites among the hotels lining the infamous Las Vegas Strip, so I have no delusions of covering all of the show this year or any year that I visit the show. I do plan on seeing everything I can in three areas: video games, computers and personal tech gadgets.

From January 6th through the 10th I promise to fill this site with as much show coverage as my stubby little fingers can create. My twitter stream as well as the official site twitter stream will overflow with random geek-outs, iPhone pics and probably an intoxicated tweet or two. [Or four]

If you have anything you want me to check out for you while I'm at the show drop me a line either via our email address Questions@esh.mobi or kick me a message via twitter. 2010 will be whatever we make of it. I intend to make it geektastic.

Enough of this, I still gotta pack.

Labels: CES, Ninjasistah, Tech, Tech-Gadgets, Technology, Technophiles, Tradeshow

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What do robots do when they're not planning world domination? Dance!

posted @ 12/01/2009 04:15:00 PM by Vichus Smith

If you haven't seen this video already, then sit down and witness your future. Pretty soon robots will be sitting next to you, anxious to watch the latest episode of Glee or Dancing with the Stars. In the present time, not only do robots like to dance, but they get together to have competitions!

You can continue and watch, but beware: this will shock and horrify you!

Labels: dance, Japan, robots, Technology, VichusSmith

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Girls Talking About a Pad

posted @ 2/01/2010 08:00:00 AM by Ninjasistah

Apple Brings Another "i" into the World With the iPad

posted @ 1/27/2010 10:17:00 PM by Douceswild

Eggs Without the Estrogen

posted @ 1/25/2010 08:00:00 AM by Ninjasistah

Preview: Blue Microphone Yeti

posted @ 1/22/2010 09:50:00 PM by Ninjasistah

Mobility At CES

posted @ 1/07/2010 11:50:00 PM by Ninjasistah

It's Been a Monster of a Day

posted @ 1/07/2010 08:35:00 PM by Ninjasistah

CES 2010: Gotta Start Packing

posted @ 1/03/2010 12:51:00 AM by Ninjasistah

What do robots do when they're not planning world domination? Dance!

posted @ 12/01/2009 04:15:00 PM by Vichus Smith