click to remove » Product Review

HIS iClear: Make Money Selling Nothing

mr pibbs — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:22:16 +0000

The biggest margin a business can make is on a product that doesn’t cost anything. Some might say this is information or even electronic media, but the reality is that these things have development costs, and long term costs that are often hidden. The next best thing is something that has no development cost and very little production cost. No, I’m not thinking of the crap they sell at Wal-Mart. A new product has been introduced that is the pinnacle of selling nothing for something.

The HIS iClear Card is the self proclaimed “best solution to video card noise reduction”. Truthfully, it’s a little un-clear what the card does. Looking at the card itself, there is not much to it. Reading more in the description, the card, placed in between two video cards, will reduce the noise in the picture and signal loss. Really? Lets look at the specs:

Model Name	HIS iClear Card
Chipset
ASIC
Pixel Pipelines
Vertex Engines
Manu. Process (Micron)
Transistor
Fill Rate
Memory Size (MB)
Memory Type
RAMDAC (MHz)
Engine CLK (MHz)
Memory CLK (MHz)
Memory Interface (bit)
Memory Bandwidth
Max. Resolution
Bus Interface
VGA
2nd VGA
DVI
2nd DVI
TV-out
HDTV (YPrPb component output)
Video-in
TV Tuner
FM Tuner

No, there is no problem with your computer, those are the specs as provided by the manufacturer. These stats apparently represent the “State-of-the-art design” referred to on the website. For $79.99 (via newegg.com) this reminds me of the crazy markup that was occurring (and still does) on HDMI cables before an internet revolt toward cheap substitutes.

For those naysayers which will tell me about the actual benefits from this card, there is some technical data out there about the actual performance of the card, and an Engadget post about how it’s all a load of crap. Never the less, they are doing what every American dreams of: selling nothing for something.

my GPS made me do it – New Bumper Sticker

mr pibbs — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:46:05 +0000

The introduction of consumer grade GPS unit has changed the way people drive. It allows users to avoid getting lost, find the most efficient route, show points of interest, and traffic information. The application of GPS in consumer products is endless. There is one general side-effect of personal GPS units: they make people stupider.

That was fiction (and so was the Gizmodo story about the car through the roof of the house), but there are a number of accidents and mishaps caused by people foolishly listening to their GPS’s.

A 78-year-old man going 80 mph made a u-turn on the highway
A girl followed GPS instructions onto a train track, much to her car’s demise
Bus Driver ripped off top of a charter bus going under a bridge

The list of these stories will continue to grow as units grow cheaper and the everyday man can afford it all the more. IT is because of this we at ClickToRemove.net have decided to introduce a new bumper sticker that will give an easy explanation for all of the countries driving hiccups.

Put it on your car – slap it on your computer. This is the best way to slough off your problems onto faulty GPS directions. Printed on a four-color sheet-fed printing press with fade-resistant inks, these stickers are 4.5″(w) x 3.5″(h) white vinyl with a gloss finish and crack ‘n’ peel backing.

The MGMMDI sticker will be available FREE (plus S+H) for a limited time so act fast to get yours before the holiday rush.

Why every 11-year-old wants a DS

mr pibbs — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:47:52 +0000

I am able to spend a lot of time working with middle school students all summer and there is one thing I have noticed: They all own a Nintendo DS. Granted, these aren’t low-income families, but they aren’t necessarily the cream of the crop either. Looking at the graph on the right, sales continue to escalate and there doesn’t seem to be signs of slowing. With some 65 million units sold, one must wonder why this such a huge hit. The entire Gameboy line was around for 17 years and sold around 200 million units.

So, what is it that makes the DS so enticing to the 11-year-old.

1. they can afford it
Price point is quite important – the Wii is a prime example of this. At $130, as compared to the $200 a PSP costs, the price is within the reach of a middle schooler or within what parents are willing to pay for the middle schooler’s toy. Starting the price point low gets a snowball rolling that Sony can’t catch up to.

2. everybodys doing it, and they can share
One of my favorite stories happened while riding a bus with a bunch of middle schoolers. They could sit wherever they wanted, but rather than sit and talk to each other, they connected their DS’ and chated over WiFi. These units really create a social atmosphere unlike any other gaming system. Nintendo had a great idea connecting the original gameboy’s together for multi-playing, but the addition of WiFi makes this genius. The ability to share game cartridges over the waves is the cherry on top.

3. it’s straight forward
This is the reason that the media buff doesn’t buy a DS. It’s not made to watch movies or to play music. It is designed to be a fun engaging gaming machine. This is point where people start talking about how the DS is primed for hacking and it can do all the blah blah blah…. Hackers don’t buy 65 million units. What is amazing is that the dumb blond and the super smart geek can both be engaged by the DS

It’s a fun machine, and it’s only a matter of time before the sale surpass the gameboy line altogether. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Movie Review: Lars and The Real Girl

mr pibbs — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:34:40 +0000

I went into the blockbuster already mad that i would be spending five dollars on a movie I would have to return. My wife and I qucikly settled on a seeming independant film (this is due to the fact that they keep the store at about 55 degrees to keep the flow of people constant). The cover said something about a man who gets a sex doll as a girlfriend – I thought it would be funny. It turned out at the end of the night, I felt like my five dollars had been well spent.

What i thought would be just another dark comedy turned into an emotional journey. Throughout the community it was amazing how the community pulled togethers and took a long look at themselves rather than judging someones actions. The story was more moving that I had anticipated and it felt like a breath of fresh air. Made me want to move back to the midwest. The trailer can do better justice to the plot. Watch it below.

Product Review: Hulu

mr pibbs — Sat, 24 May 2008 14:00:20 +0000

First of all, let me say, it’s a pretty darn good service. Second, it’s free. Those of you who know me well will understand that this is a big factor in my personal benefit analysis. But before I get into why we should all be buying stock in this privately traded company, let me tell you a little about Hulu.
Hulu is a video on demand service that began beta testing in the fall of 2007. They went public in the spring of 2008 and have increased inpopularity ever since. Accoring to their website:

Hulu is an online video service that offers hit TV shows, movies and clips at Hulu.com and other online destination sites — all for free, anytime in the U.S. For more details on Hulu’s service, check out the Hulu product tour.

The Hulu service delivers select past and present Movies, TV shows, and clips with advertisements gingerly dispersed in the middle. Currently Hulu sports movies from Universal, Fox, and MGM and TV Shows from NBC, FOX, USA, WB, FX, SciFi,G4, amoung others.

There are a number of thoughts running through everyone’s head right now.

This is just what we need, another video sharing site
Can’t I find these videos on a bittorrent network?
I can get these shows from the Networks respective websites
repeat number 1

With the exclusion of number one (and number four) your first thoughts are correct. This content is available elsewhere on the web, and perhaps might have more flexibility in use elsewhere. That being said, there are a number of things that keep me coming back to watch on Hulu.