More Used Gaming Goodness

Gamestop is running their "Buy Two Used, Get One Free" promotion again, so I was able to get the following games for XBox 360 today: Grand Theft Auto IV, Prince Of Persia, and Left 4 Dead. Prince of Persia was the one marked for free.

My "From: Me, To: Me" Christmas Gift: The Motorola Droid

First off, I would like to wish everyone a very merry holiday! I got to spend the Christmas day with my two munchkins, and that's the best gift I could ever receive. The next best gift was (as Munchkin No.1 likes to call) my "From: Me, To: Me" gift for myself, a Motorola Droid!

Up to this point, I had been using a basic, no frills prepaid cell phone, and had no real reason in using anything fancier. But with recent changes and going-ons in my life, I've been using the cell phone more and more, where buying the prepaid minutes were becoming just as expensive as going through a subscription plan.

Last week, I started looking for any special deals or what was avaialable through Verizon (I was already going through them with my prepaid phone). Probably designed specifically for the holidays, Verizon had a deal going where if you purchased a Motorola Droid with a 2-year contract for an initial $199, you could receive another phone for free. Among the phones available for free happened to be a HTC Droid Eris, another smartphone! After doing some calculations, I found that I would be spending about $40 more a month for two smartphones than what I was currently spending on prepaid phone minutes for my basic phone. This was a deal I couldn't pass up, and Munchkin No. 1 was more than happy to receive the free smartphone!

So now me and the munckin are playing with our new gadget toys this holiday. I've only downloaded a couple of free apps so far, and I've been playing around customizing the screens and tones. I think I'll try the Twitter app next. This is fun. Happy Holidays!

Lost Is Too Damn Addicting!

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep to my viewing schedule of my Lost Rewatch. It's only been a couple of weeks since I started, and already I've finished rewatching the 3rd season finale! This show is just too good that if I continue watching at this pace, I'll be done with the 5th season before the end of the year, leaving me a month or so before the final season premiere...

To put my viewing schedule back on track, I've decided to stop watching Lost at the end of Season 3. What will I do until I can get my rewatch back on track? Play the video game, Lost: Via Domus, of course! The game is geared around the first three seasons, so starting the game now is perfect.

I found a used copy of Via Domus at Gamestop for only $12, so I'm gonna start playing now. Namaste!

A Replacement Found For My Dead Zune!

After about a week since the death of my Zune 120, I debated on what I would get as a replacement. Another Z120? A replacement hard drive to install myself? The Zune HD? Another brand of player altogether? Well, I can say that I made my decision and went and purchased a Zune HD, and I'm glad that I did!

This Zune HD is great! It sounds better, the form factor is nice, and the touchscreen is fun. I'll miss the storage capability of the Z120, so I only have my music, pics, and some podcasts installed at the moment, filling the player to about half of its 32 gigabyte capacity.

I am so happy to have on-the-go access to my tunes again!

Ack! My Zune Died!

After rewatching Lost's "Walkabout" last night (one of my favorite episodes!), I tried to start my Zune 120 to listen to some tunes before going to bed. Alas! As soon as I began to hear sounds coming from my player, I instantly knew things were not good. I eventually received an Error Code 5 and a message to contact support.

This morning I tried the various two-button and three-button resets for my Zune, but I knew it would be no use. I didn't need to contact customer support to know that the cause of death was the hard drive. I'm familiar with those whirring and clicking noises of the hard drive arm to know that it wouldn't be able to recover. My poor Zune has died.

My Zune had a good run, however. As you can see from my Zune card, I was able to get at least 35,000 plays out of it. In about a year's worth of time, I was able to fill it with about 45 gigs worth of music, podcasts, pics, and video. I always had my player with me. Keeping me company during the doldrums of cubicle life at work, keeping me focused while painting my minis, and soothing me to sleep at night. R.I.P. Zune 120...

What to do now? Go back to my older Zune 30? Nah, I had given my older Zune 30 to Munchkin No. 1 and I'd have to pry it from her cold dead fingers before I would be able to get that back. I'd like to get another Zune 120, but Microsoft has discontinued all of their other players since they released the Zune HD. Zune HD? Another brand altogether?

I can feel the withdrawals already... No access to my music.... Grrzztch... I need to get a player soon. Now. Damn, I miss my Z120.

Rewatching Lost

With the release of the DVD and Blu-Ray Season 5 of Lost, I will be ramping up my anticipation of the final season in February with a rewatch of the entire series. I've spaced out my viewing sessions to coincide with the season 6 premiere, but considering how addicting the series is, I don't think I'll be able to keep my schedule!