PEG

We are all about green technology for our gadgets, and the PEG kinetic charger may be the future.

Solar power panel charges for gadgets are often rather expensive or the cheap ones don’t function as well as a person would like.

The PEG will use a persons wasted kinetic energy, store it inside its structure and charge any device using the specialized adapters. Unfortunately there are not a lot of specifications involved with the product right now, so it’s hard to say whether or not this would be a useful item yet.

According to their site, the average person delivers 200 watts of power just walking up a set of stairs and the most power a gadget like an iPhone will accept is 2.5 watts.  If this is any inclination on its effectiveness however, the PEG will be every outdoorsmen (or women) best friend. If it wasn’t incredibly heavy, I would take this in a second to help charge m iPod while running in extensive races.

There is no listing on the PEG’s weight, how long it takes to fully charge and how long it takes to charge a product. Currently it is in the preordering phase for $149.99 until its June release. A gadget like the PEG will always let people on the go continue to play with their ever draining iPhones/Droids.

[PEG]

The nPower® PEG is Now Available!
The World’s First Kinetic Energy Charger for Hand-Held Electronics

The nPower® PEG is Now Available!The World’s First Kinetic Energy Charger for Hand-Held ElectronicsThe nPower® PEG is a lightweight, portable Personal Energy Generator that is used to recharge your hand-heldelectronic devices when away from the grid.

Imagine being able to capture and store the kinetic energy yougenerate by walking, jogging, or biking and then using that renewable energy to charge your phone, Mp3 player,or GPS devices. Just place the nPower® PEG vertically in your backpack and carry it with you.nPower® PEG provides individuals with the security and enjoyment of knowing their mobile electronic devicescan be charged anytime and anyplace; features include:

• Sleek, iconic design makes a bold statement about your commitment to sustainable living.
• High strength polycarbonate frame and titanium casing give the nPower® PEG durability.
• Unique, adaptive control system automatically adjusts to your activity to capture maximum power.
• Compact, fully recyclable lithium polymer battery stores energy for when you need it most.
• Industry standard USB 2.0 interface and universal iGo® tip system let you use nPower® PEG with allyour hand-held devices.
• First 1,000 units will be specially engraved as “First Mover” editions.nPower® PEG is available for purchase for $149.99 online at www.nPowerPEG.com starting Monday, May 3.

Hippy crap-tastic music

They have yet to fall off the face of the planet yet and released a new album this March, it’s terrible.

Honestly this really doesn’t deserve over 100 words explaining how terrible and hippy filled their lyrics have become. Just listen to the garbage for yourself, actually don’t.

Oh, there is also a song called Pickle on the track lists. Pickle… PICKLE.

Nobody can beat the yodeling pickle, not even Adam West.

The new quad core I5 and I7 processors are out and the new Dell XPS 9000 and 8000 can provide the best bang for your buck. Expect long delays though.Dell seems to have quite an issue with customer service as they are shutting down one of their larger desktop building plants, but that doesn’t mean they are going out of style just yet. The Dell XPS 9000 and 8000 are quite comparable to any mac and will save you at least a grand. Want a gaming PC who’s ability to process multimedia software like final cut pro or Photoshop at lightning speeds? This is the one for you. Although it doesn’t quite peek as high as the designated multimedia machines, the XPS 9000 can cost under $1,200 with a widescreen HD monitor with the best equipment you can currently buy (see common system specs at the bottom of this post).

Utilizing the 64 bit processor and Windows 7 capabilities, this bad boy works like a dream. It will kick on under 2 minutes from a cold start up and closer to 15 seconds for a sleep mode wake up. Although there are several options to increase the clocking speeds for the processor, unless you are editing a vast amount of video or creating flash files you won’t need it.

Pros:

• Sexy casing that often is missed in desktop computers.
• Tray on top of the tower for your iPods, hard-drives and a place to connect your earbuds.
• Hides all the regular ugly disc trays.
• Built in card readers, easily accessible.
• Fast as hell.

Cons:

• Major power hog, not exactly energy star compliant.
• Very large tower, but it’s sexy for a big gal.
• A strange high frequency sound emanates from it when in sleep/off modes.
• Only room for one full sized graphics card.
• Cramped insides.

Looks: 5/5

Speed: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Noise: 4/5

Overall score on the burrito meter:

5/5

Zombie Ninja will own you.

Xbox Live has officially launched it’s early release update to allow it’s users onto Facebook and Twitter when connected to Xbox Live Gold. While the features are pretty dull and outdated, this can open up new doors to having “apps” on the Xbox 360. The quick  update will take less than 5 minutes to download, with an additional download needed for Facebook. Although currently it just lets you post your status and see basic updates there is obviously room for advancement. Twitter keeps all of it’s functionality with the exception of the explanation of why trending topics are trending topics (honestly our favorite thing on there, whoever writes those snarky brief explanations rocks).

Sadly there are no options at this time to update your status automatically by what game you are playing, even though over a year ago a Facebook app was made just for that. There will probably be an update in the not so distant future to automatically update your status with what you are doing on the Xbox and also boast about achievements and other nerdy gamer things. Perhaps this could lead to another form of parental control, where mommy and daddy can ensure little 12 year old billy is in fact doing homework and not playing Grand Theft Auto while acting like a bad ass (it’s happened to you and we all hate them kiddies). Obviously any half minded person can turn these features off but still, there is quite a bit of potential available.

Obviously Microsoft is a bit behind as the Wii and PS3 both have Web browsers in them, which means you don’t need to download apps just to get on Facebook or Twitter. PS3 also is a bit nicer as you can watch streaming videos on your TV rather than a smaller computer monitor (sorry tiny HD monitor, I love your big sister more).

More likely than not these custom apps will start to be more prevalent on the Xbox 360 and by time Project Natal is completed some form of a Web browser will be installed onto the console. Speaking of, around the time Natal is complete an accessory add on for Blu-Ray will in fact be available.

Finally a game has arrived that can be essentially called Mariokart on the iPhone, but you know… for legal purposes it’s very generic. Cocoto Kart Online had numerous maps and allows you to play over a 3G network with minimal lag. Although the game is a new release their servers may possibly be heavier, causing lag, later on. Currently the game is only 99 cents in the App store or on iTunes and it’s well worth the price. Our general impression of iPhone apps are that they tend to be garbage, worthless or unneeded – but this is less than a dollar!

There are various levels, world cups and a grand prix for solo mode and online allows you to play each of these in addition to a very familiar type of battle. While racing you have the ability to gain weapons of sorts, which all generally resemble items on MarioKart, but are just different enough they won’t get sued. It would also seem this game is based on that of a Nintendo DS game as well, which means the game had some real developers actually putting time into it.

Cocoto Kart Online receives 5/5 burritos

Buy this one now before the sale ends, regular price probably will be near the 5$ range.

Dan Brown's the Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol is Dan Brown’s latest novel involving Robert Langdon and probably won’t be any cause of controversy.

Much like Harry Potter fans awaited for extensive periods of times before their last piece into this fictional world, it had finally arrived with a plethora of prints. In fact it was one of t he most printed first editions of any book and generally any grocery store/book store/gas station? will have a copy of Brown’s latest book. Sadly, it’s generally a piece of shit.

While Brown’s writing style used to be superb, in fact it’s what drew me back to books after being forced to read ridiculous redneck based stories shoved down my throat in college. It would seem all the fame and fortune has gone to Brown’s head, as the writing style has completely changed to an embarrassing rambling mess. The chapters are terribly short and he skips from scene to scene like he was attempting to write a script for a film (this wouldn’t be all to surprising after just releasing two films).

On the other hand you have the idea and plot line in the story, which as always with Brown is bad ass. It has little bits and pieces of history, mixed in with fictional embellishments and blending it with fact to make it seem realistic. For some reason though Brown decided to make his main character, Langdon, a total dumb ass. Last I checked Langdon was something of a mix between James Bond and Indiana Jones, yet he can’t figure out a stupid symbol that looks eerily like the Internet nerd language “l33t”. As much as I would love to dabble into how it makes sense that would give away a pretty big piece of the story and I’m all for not ruining a book, even if it was extremely hyped up and not that great. The hints in this book are also not very subtle, often they are just smack down in front of you and when it’s ever so obvious, Langdon still doesn’t get it. Honestly this book feels like someone else was paid to write for Brown, as this is clearly not up to par.

The imagery in the story is still great, even if some of his details are a bit bullshit. For a prime example I can tell you riding on the Washington DC metro could never “lull” you to sleep. It’s like riding a roller coaster and generally has creepy/ridiculously drunk people on it late at night (I ride the thing every day).

Was it worth the read? Sure, but it wasn’t anything like Angels & Demons, which had to be Brown’s best book. Also please don’t relate the book and the movie together has they are pretty much nothing alike. Compared to some of the other garbage coming out now this would hit 4/5 burritos.

Oh, but you thought I was done ey?

Well supposedly there very well maybe hidden chapters from with in the book. If you noticed the plethora of hidden symbols and codes on the dust jacket, that’s because of a little contest they had for the release of the book. Various symbols would eventually be decoded and turned into a phone number (212 782 9515) and allow you to win 1 of 33 signed copies of the book. The recording no longer allows you to win but is that of the main villains words repeating “Verbum significatium, verbum omnificum, verbum perdo” in reverse.

Also located in the keyhole on the binding of the dust jacket is a very significant building that applies to the story. All of the items found on the dust jacket relate to the book or decode various things. Generally this seems to be what most of Dan Brown’s time was spent on, or he just has a pretty clever marketing team.

Supposedly when you extract a code hidden within the spine of the book you can also find there are hidden chapters in the book. Check out this Website to what they have to say, perhaps it was just in the English/European version of the book.

It goes without saying that Heroes has not been doing to well to recapture the audience it once had in it’s first season. After numerous X-men and other “mutant” show related idea thefts (and poorly at that) the show was slowly hitting rock bottom. After tonight’s episode we won’t be doing any Heroes recaps for the season stalker simply because how terrible it has become. This particular episode started with an Asian guy on top of Hiro’s sky scrapper threatening to kill himself because he was fired. He was fired because he got hammered and photocopied his butt. Thus causing family shame and leading to taking his own life. This is when Hiro decides to attempt to go back in time to fix this. There very well could have been some ridiculous tie in after this but honestly why bother. Heroes has gone down the drain. My guess is it leads to the you can’t change the past it will happen anyways, blah blah blah… more overly used ideas.

Madhatter gets a 5/5 on the Play This Magazine burrito meter

If happy hour is your thing and you live or are visiting Washington DC, this small bar slightly hidden can be your new haven. Their prices are not only modest in comparison to other restaurants in the city, they are just down right cheap! Half price apps the regular cheap American beer and rail drinks – honestly you can’t go wrong here. While they do generally have bar style foods, their apps were really good for the price.

1831 M St NW # 1

Washington, DC 20036

202-833-1495

Oblivion creators Bethesda have outdone themselves once again and created a new world with endless gameplay.

Fallout 3

Quick Review: Fallout 3 is a supreme game.

Left 4 Dead is like being in a Zombie film

editor@playthismag.com                                                         www.playthismag.com

Zombie games usually get great reviews (Resident Evil) or flop (Evil Dead: Fist full of boomstick [Regeneration was bad ass though]) all due to how the story line is dropped on it’s user.

Left 4 Dead is just shy of perfection and with some simple updates it could easily have hita perfect score. Left 4 Dead is unlike any other Zombie game as it practically throws you into the middle of four different Zombie film types. Any where from Zombies chasing you through corn fields to a hospital filled with evil reincarnates seeking to eat your flesh.

The replayability of this game is just plain sick unless you can’t deal with the harder difficulties, where some gamers may get fed up and turned off from the game.

Boomer is like the drunk girl you picked up at the bar, he loves to puke on you.

The breakdown: Left 4 Dead

Graphics & Cinamatics:4/5

Sound FX & Music:5/5

Replayability:5/5

Multiplayer:5/5

Achievements: 5/5

Overall: 96% Left 4 Dead receives 5/5 Burritos

Graphics & Cinamatics:

Unfortunately this is the department where Left 4 Dead loses some points. There are some relatively annoying bugs in the game that cause you to become stuck in a position, only to await the next on coming horde of Zombies. When closing a door you can become pinned again an area and some reason you can not shot the door up enough to destroy it and move yourself. There are several other instances like this, but aside from these the graphics are supreme and you can tell the creators put a lot of love into this game.

They go as far as creating a commentator section, where you can go through the game and see what the creators were thinking and how they created it. They went as far as making movie quality lighting and matching music to the situation you are in. The over all graphics of the game are next generation material and look great on HD.

Sound FX & Music:

The true zombie film material is plastered all over this game, which can best been seen in the music and sound effects. The game is impossible to predict on the difficult settings, but sound and music cues help you navigate safely to your destination. All in all the music does a great job of not only helping you stay alive but build suspense and add a creepy feel.

Replayability:

Left 4 Dead is 100 percent replayable as the AI in the game has no set spawn points, spawn times and you can play in various locations. The only major downside is the minimal selection of weapons and there is no chainsaw! The VS mode shakes things up and lets you become the Zombies, which has got to be one of the coolest features to hit a Zombie game.

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer in this game is a must as you can play with up to seven other people in VS mode or three other friends in the regular campaign. The best thing about the online multiplayer… the long since forgotten two players on one console is back! You can play in any mode with you and another person on your console without having to have a second Xbox live account.

The versus mode can be one of the best things to hit zombie games, because it lets you become one of four special zombies to thwart away the survivors. Sadly if you do not use team work and are stuck with relatively inexperienced people, chances are you will not do very well. The basic idea is to wait till the survivors are separated and strike with everything you’ve got.

Achievements:

If you are looking to rack up another 800 achievement points, Left 4 Dead is the game for you. A majority of the points can be achieved relatively quick with the exception of some specialty ones that require a ridiculous amount of game play, if you can put this game down after your points that is.

Overall:

If you are any type of zombie fan this game is almost required. Don’t rent this bad boy it’s surely worth the purchase.

**Editors note

This is one of the most bad ass experiences you will get from a game, forget COD World at War, this game just drop kicked it in the face! -EvO

For Left 4 Dead cheats check out CheatCC.com

Achievements for Left 4 Dead

	Helping Hand	20
	Revive 50 incapacitated Survivors.
	Field Medic	20
	Heal 25 Survivors with a first aid kit.
	Pharm-assist	20
	Give pain pills to 10 Survivors.
	My Bodyguard	15
	Protect any Survivor from an attacking Infected 50 times.
	Dead Stop	10
	Punch a Hunter as he is pouncing.
	Cr0wnd	30
	Kill a Witch with a single headshot.
	Untouchables	30
	No Survivors take damage after contacting the rescue vehicle.
	Drag and Drop	20
	Rescue a Survivor from a Smoker’s tongue before he takes damage.
	Blind Luck	20
	You or another Survivor take no damage after being vomited on by a Boomer.
	Akimbo Assassin	30
	Survive an entire campaign using only pistols.
	Hero Closet	10
	Rescue a Survivor trapped in a closet.
	Hunter Punter	10
	Shove a Hunter off of a pinned and helpless Survivor.
	Tongue Twister	20
	Free yourself from a Smoker who has grabbed you with his tongue.
	No Smoking Section	15
	Kill 10 Smokers as they are pulling helpless Survivors.
	101 Cremations	20
	Set 101 Infected on fire.
	Do Not Disturb	20
	Sneak past all Witches in a campaign without disturbing one.
	Man vs Tank	30
	Single-handedly kill a Tank.
	Tankbusters	20
	Kill a Tank without it dealing any damage to a Survivor.
	Safety First	30
	Play an entire campaign with no Survivors taking friendly fire damage.
	No-one Left Behind	20
	Beat a campaign with all 4 Survivors.
	Unbreakable	30
	Finish a campaign without ever being healed.
	Witch Hunter	20
	Kill a Witch without any Survivor taking damage from her.
	Red Mist	20
	Kill 1000 Infected with a mounted machine gun.
	Pyrotechnician	20
	Blow up 20 Infected in a single explosion.
	Zombie Genocidest	20
	Kill 53,595 Infected.
	Dead Giveaway	10
	Heal a fellow Survivor when your own health is below 10.
	Stand Tall	20
	Survive a campaign without being incapacitated.
	Zombicidal Maniac	30
	Survive any campaign on Expert.
	What Are You Trying to Prove?	35
	Survive all campaigns on Expert.
	Nothing Special	30
	Survive a campaign with no Survivors taking damage from Special Infected.
	Burn the Witch	10
	Light a Witch with a Molotov.
	Towering Inferno	10
	Light a Tank with a Molotov.
	Spinal Tap	10
	Kill an Infected with a single blow from behind.
	Stomach Upset	20
	All Survivors complete a campaign without being vomited on.
	Brain Salad	15
	Make 100 headshot kills.
	Jump Shot	20
	Headshot a Hunter while he’s leaping.
	Mercy Killer	15
	Survive the No Mercy campaign.
	Back 2 Help	20
	Leave a safe room to save an incapped teammate and bring them back safely.
	Toll Collector	15
	Survive the Death Toll campaign.
	Dead Baron	15
	Survive the Dead Air campaign.
	Grim Reaper	15
	Survive the Blood Harvest campaign.
	Ground Cover	30
	Save another Survivor from a Special Infected while on the ground.
	Clean Kill	10
	Shove a Boomer and then kill him without him splashing on anyone.
	Big Drag	20
	Drag a Survivor 100 feet with your tongue.
	Chain Smoker	20
	Constrict two Survivors in one life as a Smoker.
	Barf Bagged	20
	Cover four Survivors with Boomer bile at once.
	Double Jump	20
	Pounce two different Survivors in one life as a Hunter.
	All 4 Dead	30
	Kill all four Survivors in one life while playing as a Tank.
	Dead Wreckening	20
	Dole out 5000 total Survivor damage as a Special Infected.
	Lamb 2 Slaughter	20
	As an Infected, incap a Survivor who has entered and left a safe room.

-Source http://www.xbox360achievements.org