NViRT

Falcons Flocking To Big-Box Stores

Rob Washburn — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:45:12 +0000

For some time I’ve been needing another 360 for another entertainment center and I’ve had a voucher for a new unit just sitting in my lap. The thing is, I couldn’t take advantage of the damn thing until Monday because since Christmas it’s been impossible to find 360 Pro units in stock anywhere. Anyway, the local “Sell Shit Now” chain had 360 Pro falcons in stock yesterday so of course I mobilized my ass and got one. My verdict? Frickin’ sweet. Not only does this thing run cooler, it’s a bit quieter too. While still not as quiet as the PS3, the 360 falcon is still noticeably quieter then previous 360 units, especially in idle mode. The previous models made this loud “RRRRRRR” noise that was especially annoying when trying to play a movie on the 360. The Falcon still makes noise in idle mode but now its a much more tolerable “FWWOOOOOOO”. The DVD drive seems to be of noticeably higher quality as well. So if you’ve been undecided, now is the time to buy your first or second Xbox 360. (more…)

A Word on AdWords

Ryan Howard — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:13:04 +0000

I‘ve been toying with whether to reinstate AdSense and I’ve come to a conclusion. “Not right now” is the short answer. This mainly has to do with the current state of NViRT and the fact that a reemerging/struggling publication such as ours would be worse off with ads mucking up the works. It’s not that we aren’t greedy bastards or anything, far from it. Know that if(read: when) we decide to place ads on this site, it will be done in the most tasteful/profitable way possible. So yea, NViRT is ad free for the time being.

We will reassess profitability vs reader loyalty in the future and who knows, we may even get those bullshit contextual links in the middle an article. You know, those links no one wants to click on in the first place but does anyway. All because they are thinking the author is referencing something relevant. Seriously though, that will never happen. Worst case scenario, theres going to be specific adverts for things that we endorse or an AdSense box in the sidebar with some defined control over what AdSense will display.

The Time Will Come. Are You Prepared?

Ryan Howard — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:46:10 +0000

It all started with the new header image I whipped up two days ago. It must have got my mind stuck on giant robots or something. I say this because when I went to Borders the next day, this fantastic piece of required reading caught my eye and just had to buy it immediately. From the author of “Where’s My Jetpack?” (a delightful guide on all the missing items we were promised in the 21st century), comes “How To Survive A Robot Uprising”. This informative guide will teach you how to deal with your cold steel adversaries when the time comes; everything from your standard Dr. Killall’s Death Machine to your own smart home gone to HAL. Whether you believe the end of the world will be dominated by giant robots or not, the end of the world will happen… it’s up to you to ensure its not the end of the world for mankind. The book has its own website as well so go on and check it out while your waiting for your books to ship.

Emily Haines - “Our Hell”

Ryan Howard — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:34:40 +0000

Inner turmoil at its best! A very thought provoking music video with a really cool effect that, in itself, takes the emotion of this song to a whole new level. I forgot how I even came across this song in the first place. It might have been one of those mindless YouTube click-a-thons; clicking on the thumbnails that look cool as they come up. I tell you this video hit me on a whole different side of me than I was expecting. As I watched, I knew it was all done using an infrared camera, but the eyes still intrigued me. Also, the directors use of hot and cold liquids out of proportion from reality really emphasizes each scene in way I cant quite explain. You’ll just have to watch, and don’t let the pig keep you up at night. Watch it via high quality Quicktime, or if your in a hurry then just click below to see the embedded low quality embeded youtube. (more…)

Xbox 360 Keyboard and Mouse: Round Two

Ryan Howard — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:44:18 +0000

A while ago I wrote about the XFPS 360 units that allow you to connect a keyboard and mouse to your Xbox 360. These boxes man-in-the-middle attack a wired 360 controller’s protocol to bypass the 360’s peripheral security. Once connected to the 360, the XFPS unit allows you to plug in ps/2 (protocol) keyboards and mice, usb keyboards and mice, or PS2 (gaming system) DualShock controllers. Sounds great huh? Well, it’s not. It’s horrible. Accomplishing anything greater than minor aiming tricks sits near “why bother” even with the sniper model of the XFPS.

If you remember my original review of the XFPS, I talk about how the unit translates input from a keyboard and mouse and literally pukes the translated input at the Xbox 360. So, in exorcist green projectile vomit fashion, you’ll be frolicking around Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 worse off than you were with those barbaric analog sticks that made you purchase the XFPS in the first place. (more…)

Wanna protect your PSP’s screen? Sorry, too bad…

Rob Washburn — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:05:25 +0000

…Unless you’re somehow blessed with divine righteousness and the very fingers of Jesus himself. I like to think of myself as a reasonable man…a somewhat OCD reasonable man, but a reasonable man nonetheless. However, there a few things in this world that make we want to don a green fedora, sling an iron musket over my shoulder and slink off into the woods to loudly murder Bambi-esque forest dwellers until my bloody thirst for retribution is quenched.

My failed attempt to properly install a screen protector on my brand-new ceramic white PSP falls neatly into this category. Here’s the skinny: I purchase the Darth Vader-edition PSP and return it to Best Buy three times before I manage to come into possession of a model without any dead or stuck pixels. Overjoyed that I had finally managed to cheat the Fates, I promptly did a bunch of research on PSP screen protectors so I could protect my Precious. (more…)

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, unsurprisingly good

Frank Washburn — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:43:51 +0000

Despite my fierce love for most things Metroid, I was extremely disappointed with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Gathering all those keys made the whole game feel like a giant fetch-quest, and I hate fetch-quests. I also hated being in Dark Aether. I mean, I didn’t expect the Ing to dwell amongst cupcakes and rainbows, but spending half the game in a truly ugly dimension became a spiritually draining chore. And, most importantly, the game did little to actually improve on the basic Metroid formula. It was a fine game, but considering my expectations of Retro Studios, it was ultimately underwhelming. Hence my nervousness at the prospect of playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. (more…)

A Realistic iPhone Wish List

Ryan Howard — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:49:58 +0000

You don’t have to tell me. Yes, I know there are a million people out there that want their iPhone to be a teleporter too; or magically grow 3G tech with software updates. Fortunately, this is a different type of wish list. A list of wishes, if you will, that is not too far from reality. The following additions to the iPhone will not only be desired by the community, the underlying methods and technology exist now. Only software updates, add-ons and/or infrastructure changes are needed to make them a reality. Today I give you my insight into the future of iPhone application possibilities and add-on device support.

Okay, the wish list introduction horse is dead. Lets get started shall we? (more…)

Making Practical Wii Component Cables

Ryan Howard — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:53:26 +0000

These are the original instructions from the cable I built back in November. This “howto” was originally posted on my personal blog so if you think you’ve seen this before then your probably right.

Using a bud’s component cable I duplicated the pins with a regular AV cable from Nintendo. My cable is switchable so that it is both component and composite at the flip of a little switch.

(more…)

Move Zig!!1

Ryan Howard — Sat, 01 Jan 2000 05:49:02 +0000

What you say?
What happen!?

As it turns out our old hoster set itself up the bomb. We are in the process of transferring as many of the useless articles as we can but the old hoster *coughrackforcecough* is so unusable at this point that it is impossible to hold a connection for more than two minutes before the server is inaccessible again. Very aggravating indeed. For those of you wondering, it is a DNS recursion/poisoning/DOS attack that brought the POS to it’s knees.

Keep checking back on us, we will be fully operational soon. (P.S. This post has been artificially back-dated… if you care)