It comes with earbuds nearly identical to stock iPod buds, with the small but significant inclusion of the inline microphone/switch bulge. The buds have the usual drawbacks: painful to wear, sound terrible, and are white. Like most people, I immediately switched to anything else and have been happy – for the most part.

It turns out that the switch and microphone are fabulously useful. A few immediate features are the ability to pause (single click), skip to next track (double click), skip back a track (triple click), and fast forward a track (hold). When using the provided buds, the phone rings through the headphones, you can answer the phone (single click), hang up the call (single click when on call), and speak into the bulge microphone while listening through the headphones. No need to touch the phone or, with custom ringtones for callers, no need to even look at it.

Not so with regular headphones… You can still listen to music, but can’t control it. You can still listen to the call, but can’t hear it ring through the headphone, control the call, or speak into the microphone. Instead, you only notice a call because the music fades out, you have to pull the phone out of your pocket/bag to answer it, and then you must hold the phone somewhere near your mouth – looks very silly.

The obvious solution (to me) is to have an adaptor that plugs in-line with your regular headphones to provide the microphone/switch function. The logical construction is easy, but by no means stylish – custom plastics molding is gaffer-tape-ish or expensive. It has already been commercially developed of course, but by only one readily found supplier: Phillips

Naturally, I was straight onto the web to buy one. Again, it seems only one Australian-based store had then for sale: MrGadget.com.au. The order was placed and the waiting began… After over 2 months I gave up trying to deal with the sales staff and went to the source: @MrGadget

This was first real effort to get any direct result from the Twitter network, so my expectations were low. I was very pleasantly surprised and satisfied by my dealings with @MrGadget – his communications were direct, honest and timely. Sadly he was not able to supply the headphone adaptor cable, but as compensation for my troubles I was given some ex-review headphones, some iPhone screen protectors to trial/review, and an iPhone silicon skin. Part of that deal was for me to review the headphones and screen protectors, thus the following is not a paid review, but I have gained from the transaction.

• Up first, the screen protector:

The market for iPhone screen protectors appears to be somewhat saturated; everywhere you look there is a new brand or style. My original protector was some unknown brand hastily grabbed off a shelf when the phone was new. It did the job well enough until I foolishly stored my keys and phone in the same pocket. Welcome to scratch-ville, but at least the protector was sacrificed that the phone may live.

The new protector is MrGadget’s own branded product. My first impression was how bright and glossy the screen was compared to with the matte protector I used to have; the MrGadget protector interferes much less with the display. An initial concern was that the new protector was too ‘sticky’ – when touching/sliding/pinching/etc there is more resistance to movement. I think this is getting better with practice and a lighter touch. The unexpected benefit is that I find it much easier to type accurately – again with the reduced interference.

• Next, the iPhone silicone case:

The case was not my favourite item. It fit the iPhone well and had a nice texture that made it easy to grip, but it had a headphone management dealy on the back designed to fit stock earbuds (and similar). This made the case almost double the thickness of the phone, and somewhat awkward to hold. Since I don’t use the earbuds, and like my phone to fit in my pocket, the case was quickly passed to a friend who could make appropriate use of it and is reportedly still very happy with it.

• Last, but by no means least … the headphones:

These are the black Sumajin ones with a built-in SD card MP3 player. These are the best headphones I’ve ever owned – they sound fantastic, with  a very consistent response across the range. As a closed design, they also have excellent sound exclusion … with one small flaw: the buttons for the built-in MP3 player have some spacing around them that allows a relatively large amount of sound in on one side. This is something I probably wouldn’t normally notice if it were symmetrical, but it’s quite obvious in noisy environments. I’ve never actually used the MP3 player function, but I may have to give it a whirl sometime as it would allow some cable-free music or podcast listening.

So, while I didn’t get the switch/microphone cable I was looking for, I am very happy with the screen protector and headphones I received instead.

Final note: a few other cable/adaptor options appear to have surfaced since this all started (4 months or so…) – I’ll update if I ever obtain one.

Mrs Froosh and the Kiddo have been playing the Diamond and Pearl versions for some time, but Mrs Froosh recently abandoned her Pearl copy and released it to me (yes, I’m the last in the family pecking order ).

And I’m in deep now.

I’ve always avoided the Pokemon games on the presumption that they are too childish.  While that may be true for some of the older versions (Can’t know, never played them), and the marketing is heavily geared towards the pre-teens, the Diamond/Pearl versions are incredibly complex with many engaging mini-games.  I’m a big fan of the FInal Fantasy games series, but I think I have a new favourite game…  Pokemon is likely to keep me going for hundreds and hundreds of hours.

One of the features I’m looking forward to using more effectively and widely are the ‘collaborative play’ experiences.  At present, 8 y.o. Kiddo is the only challenger I have, and he’s mopping the floor with me.  His Pokemon are bigger, faster, stronger, and vastly more experienced than mine, and yet we can still have an exciting and engaging play experience.  The mini-games offer local wireless interaction options at every turn and I’d love to see how well it works in a much larger group.  Internet-based ‘Wi-Fi Connect’ options are a much more limited offering: only trades, voice-chat, or battles with integrated voice-chat.  The latter works surprisingly well, far exceeding my expectations.  I’m really looking forward to finding more Pokemon geeks to interact with this way!

With that in mind, I offer up my Pokemon Pearl Friend Code.  Add me to your Pal Pad and e-mail me your Friend Code and we’ll see what comes of it.  I’d love to see how I fare against new opponents – the gloating my my son is getting a bit much!

Pokemon Pearl Friend Code: “Froosh” 0559-8316-8401

Update [18-08-2008]: I bought a new DS Lite, and so my friend code has changed. It is now: 0817-5963-3131

This year, I’m really liking the new LEGO Mindstorms NXT – you should watch the (slightly) hidden “Easter Egg” on the Mindstorms site (hint: Steven from BimP shows the way).

However. I can’t do it. I just can’t do it. The LEGO Shop at Home for US lists the NXT Kit for US$249.99. Google tells me USD$249.99 in AUD$ is AU$327.68. The LS@H for Australia lists it for $429.99. Yes. Thats right. AU$102.31 more than the equivalent US price. And if I want to do them a favour and pre-order it, I can pay either $45 or $100 extra for delivery.

Nope. Can’t do it. Sorry LEGO, you had me then you lost me. There is no way I’ll pay $150-$200 more than US Retail.

Now I just need to find something I want that I can justify.

This is just a quickie to turn off the piratey theme and post a link to my X-Box Live Gamertag. Feel free to add me to your friends list – preferably with an audio note mentioning who you are and how you know me.

I’m really only playing Halo 2 and Doom 3 at the moment, but I’m willing to entertain other games – once I buy them…

Co-incidentally, my birthday is on the 18th and you can pre-order it starting on the 18th. It’s fate. So, who wants to buy me a shiny noo birthday present? At nearly AU$570, there is no way I can even pretend to justify the purchase.

Maybe in another lifetime.

Gotta MAKE me one of these!

I don’t think people really give Lego enough credit for stimulating and encouraging children. Sure, everyone recognises the link with engineering but often don’t consider the versatility and potential of the humble brick.

Solo play includes the obvious tower/bridge/fortress options to build the tallest/longest/stongest construction and learning the associated science and engineering concepts, but why stop there? I think Lego could be used in just about any area of childhood (and adult) development.

In particular I think Lego is invaluable in learning co-operative play (collaboration to us big kids). Certainly collaboration can be learned with other toys or even without any props (story telling springs to mind) – Lego just makes such a potent combination, enabling multiple learning streams at once. Construction, sharing of parts, consistency of design, inter-operability of created objects, relevance to themes or story-lines, and timeliness of completion are all necessary skills in a successful co-operative play session. And don’t limit your thinking here to purely mechanical aspects (does my person fit the scale of the cash register my neighbour built?), but asthetics as well (do our colour schemes work together? am I using too many soft shapes vs. my neighbour’s angular objects?).

Problem solving skills and lateral thinking are big by-products of extended Lego play – you never have exactly the right bricks you need to create a non-catalogue object. I often wish some of my work associates had spent more time learning the habits of lateral thinking and problem solving as a child, because they appear to be incapable of learning them as an adult.

Lego can also save you money! Why bother buying all the latest “fad” toys when all you need is some Lego and a creative mind to have any toy you want (erm, or your children want – I guess ). And your grown children can make a living from their Lego habit. It can even help us average joes too: interviewing methods incorporating Lego and all the collaborative features I’ve just mentioned are catching on, so your Lego skills may be the deciding point in your favour for your next job.

So, what prompted this explosion of Lego favour? As a sometime follower of the LEGOFan site, in excited by their new BrickJournal. The first issue is fabulous … and frustrating – I don’t want to wait for the next issue! I want it now, now, now, NOW!

(BrickJournal link via BoingBoing)

It’s not perfect (I made it to 25 questions first time), but it did get there. Particularly enjoyable were the other ‘knowledge’ items it was generating:

bq. Uncommon Knowledge about a corkscrew
Does it fly? I say Probably.
Does it come from space? I say Probably.
Does it live in cities? I say Probably.
Is it carbon-based? I say Probably.
Is it usually sliced or carved? I say Yes.
Does it have a memory? I say Probably.
Is it a specific type? I say Yes.
Can it have hands? I say Yes.
Is it smooth? I say No.
Does it taste good with butter? I say Probably.
Does it have scales? I say Yes.
Is it a member of the cat family? I say Yes.
Does it belong to a family? I say Probably.
Can you blow it up? I say Probably.
Does it cry? I say Yes.
Is it very large? I say Probably.

One line impression: Good, Bad, Fair, Excellent, Excellent!

Good: Easy to install, no tools required, my 4 year old son could do it (If I wasn’t so grabby, “No, its mine!”)

Bad: The dodgy software included to configure the card. It didn’t actually crash, but it made it very hard in some places to verify that all settings were correct and working.

Fair: The web-ish Playstation Central ‘application’. Very slow (Not sure if it was a slow server or just dodgy software rending slowly), and many rendering errors that made it impossible to read or select some menus. A refresh of the page sorted it out most times. It took over 30 mins to register on the site though. :plain:

Excellent: The free game Hardware: Online Arena. It’s free. To my untrained, inexperienced online gaming sensibilites it is pure magic. I’m not very good at it, but I enjoy it very much.

Excellent: I also purchased the latest in the Time Crisis series – Crisis Zone. No, it’s not a network game. I have always enjoyed the Time Crisis series in the arcades and always wanted it at home. Now I do. And I love it. Guns in reality = bad stuff. Guns in PS2 game = good destruction fun. Particularly theraputic are the areas where you get to blast many computers and equipment into small crunchy parts.

Coming Soon: More network games for me, a headset, and a wireless USB keyboard.

I want one!

What would I do with it? Who really cares…