Newbrew

Red Ring of Death

This is what a teen calls a failure of an Xbox 360.  It refers to the 4 red lights that surround the power button on the front of the Xbox.  These only come on when the box, or Xbox, fails.

Well, we caught the red ring of death this past weekend.  Seems I caused it.  Of course, my thought is, "I don't think so"!  It appears that these machines have had real problems with cooling.  And when they overheat, they fail.  Thus, you can't leave them on for too long.  STUPID I say.  I have a Mac Mini that's been on since January of 2005 and a Sony Vaio that's been turned on since mid-2003.  No failures.  My other Mac Mini has been on for over 1.5 years.  Nothing.  And Mac Minis don't even have fans!

We were ready to throw it away.  Not only would the kids lose a game box.  All of us would lose our Netflix streaming machine.  So, I did a bit of research at the Xbox site.  Found out the warranty for extends to 3 years when you have 3 red lights.  Well, alright!  They are shipping us the label to send the Xbox to the repair facility.  They fix it and send it back.  No charge.  And an extended warranty.  OK Microsoft, I'm singing your praises on this one.  Don't let me down.  I'm using Macs, iPhones, iPods.  Once Microsoft loses us with this box, we will be Microsoft free.  The coming Zune HD shows promise.  But, my iPod (160GB Classic) can be controlled by my car stereo and fits in my Logitech doc (as does my iPhone.)

Well, Microsoft has us for a bit longer.  We shall see how the repaired Xbox 360 lasts.

Who Reads This Stuff Anyway?

One of the great things about a blog is having a select readership.  My family never comes here.  Perfect.  I can say things I don't want them to hear, publish those things to the Web and never worry!  So, here goes.  For Christmas, I bought my wife and kids a karaoke machine.  A very popular one.  Last month I was in the Philippines.  And there, karaoke is big time.  So, I searched down the top system by the top maker and bought it.  It's the Magic Sing ET-18000 (WOW Concerto). 

Here are some of the key features:

• Easily follow songs using the new Multiplex Function.
• My Mic (100 customized songs)
• Customizable Picture Background using an SD Card
• Picture Background Themes
• Name That Tune Game
• Musical Notes
• Jump Feature (Prelude/Interlude)
• Score Board Function
• Real Time Song Search
• 35 feet wireless distance (open site).
• Dual microphone base.
• Remote control.
• 2 wireless microphones.
• All-In-One digital karaoke with improved picture quality and clearer vocal sounds.
• 2,064 built-in English songs.
• Upgradeable with 4 song chip expansion slots.
• 17 melody instruments for background music.
• Built-in USB Interface
• Ability to change voice/pitch to male or female.
• Battery charge status indicator.
• Team game and competition functions.
• Singing tutor function. Green color if you are too fast or too slow. Blue color if your pitch is too low. Red if your pitch is too high. Black if you are in perfect sync. * Full karaoke functions including adjustable key/tempo/echo.
• 20 song reservation while in play.
• Built-in memory for 8 minutes recordings & playback.Built-in external video background input (VCD, DVD, Video Camera).
• Audio output mode (Amplifier or TV).

I look forward to having fun with my family and friends with this.  Just have to get them all OK with not worrying about how good or bad they think they sound.  It's all about PARTICIPATION.  Fun just naturally follows.