NickDymond.com

I just discovered the most amazing gadget ever. It’s called the Jawbone Bluetooth headset. Basically it’s the best bluetooth headset on the market. Not only does it look super sweet but it uses military-grade noise-reduction technology. Basically it removes all background noise leaving a clean sounding call no matter what is going on around you.

It uses 3 sensors. A primary microphone to pick up your voice, a second mic facing outward to pick up all the ambient noise in the room, and a little sensor that measures the vibration of your speach through your face. The Jawbone does some crazy algorithm and what you get is amazing results. In addidtion ot screening out all of the background noise, it will raise and lower the volume of the caller based on surrounding noise.

I loved my old Motorola Bluetooth headset, but it sort of crapped out on me. The only problem with it was that I couldn’t use it in the truck or while driving my car. It just wasn’t loud enough. I was forced to use my wired headset in the semi and now, with this new one, I’ll be able to use this headset wherever I am.

www.Jawbone.com

Leave a comment by clicking COMMENTS below
Everyone loves comments
I know I do

For about a year now I have been playing what we have started to call "Nerd Games". The group of people has pretty much consisted regularly of myself, Ryan, Katie, George and sometimes Trista. Recently Andy has joined in since he moved here. Munchkin is the game that started it all. Basically Munchkin is a card game in which the object is to kill monsters and "level up" to level 10. Sound nerdy? Well… it is. What we love about it is that the game is designed in a way that forces you to sabotage and backstab your opponents as well as making alliances with them. It’s pretty despicable. And wonderful.

[Click for more info]

[Click for pics]

We still play Munchkin to this day but have mixed in a few other Nerd Games as well. Risk 2210A.D. for one. It’s just like the old fashioned Risk but set in the future and there are cards that you can play to enhance your armies.

[Click for pics]

A couple of other Nerd Games we play are Ninja Burger & Zombies!!!

But the nerdiest game of them all has got to be the newest one to enter the scene.

[Heroscape]

Heroscape is my latest obsession. If you have ever played the old Playstation game Final Fantasy Tactics then you’ll know how this game is played. Each player starts off with armies that consist of little action figures played on a 3D board that you build sort of like Legos.

[Yeah, we play with little action figures. So what.]

Each character has his own statistics that tell you how many spaces he can move or attack. Battles are decided by rolling dice in a "Risk-esque" manner. They also have tons of expansion sets available so you can add more terrain and figures. I have lots now. Put simply, I LOVE this game.

This game is more than merely a game, it’s more like a hobby in itself. There are whole communities built around the game. Nerdfests, conventions and gatherings all center around this silly Nerd Game.

Heroscape.com - Official web site

HScodex.com - This is an online magazine delivered quarterly in PDF format.

Heroscapers.com - An ultra detailed Heroscape community with news articles and extensive forums.

BoardGameGeek.com has a rather humongous collection of photos to browse through.

I’ll stop there, the list goes on and on. There’s even a huge article on Wikipedia. Read everything you absolutely don’t want to know about this silly game.

[This is a game with many MANY extra expansion packs]

[Yep there are castles too]
[But more importantly, look at how awesome the guys that play this are]

[It can get down right ridiculous]

I really love this game, I know I already said it but it’s true. My only problem is that it takes a while to set up and choose your armies and such before you can actually start playing. We have added rules and crap to speed things up but when I really think about it, this is one of those "unproductive hobbies" that I preach against so often.

Oh well.

Leave a comment by clicking COMMENTS below
Everyone loves comments
I know I do

I have always liked to play backyard football. We used to have this really awesome Nerf football that was weighted so it would fly extra far yet be soft to catch. I recently started a search for another ball just like that and wasn’t able to find something just like it. But I did stumble across the new Nerf Weather Blitz.

[Click it to see more details (if you care)]

I don’t like to play football with a "real" one because it freaking hurts. There I said it. It hurts my delicate hands. I’m okay with that fact. But you know what? Ten minutes after busting the stupid thing out I caught it and it freaking bent my pinky finger back and I sprained it! How do you like that? Well I don’t. So far to date my worst football injury to date was caused by a soft Nerf football that I bought so I wouldn’t hurt myself.

I like to tell people I hurt my hand playing football, I just leave out the Nerf part.

Leave a comment by clicking COMMENTS below
Everyone loves comments
I know I do

I have wanted one of these ever since my cousin, Nate, showed me his last summer. (In case you don’t know, Bluetooth technology is how mobile phones, computers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) can be easily interconnected using a short-range wireless connection. Using this technology, users can have all mobile and fixed computer devices be totally coordinated.: [taken from the official Bluetooth web site]) Well, today I finally got one.

[Motorola HS-850]

We have terrible phone service at our house and the phones only really work in the office or bedroom. But this wireless headset allows me to leave my phone upstairs and walk around the whole house while still talking. Another cool feature is that if I want to make a call JUST using the headset, all I have to do is push a button and I can use my phone’s “voice dial” throught the headset and I never have to look at or touch my actual phone. It’s amazing. What’s also really neat about this headset is that it flips shut to save on battery life. When you flip it open, it answers the phone call.

I am so freaking excited about this. Especially because of how I got it. Recently a very old friend from high school contacted me through MySpace. She was my 2nd ever girlfriend, Chrissy Pringle. We hadn’t spoken since I was a senior. We started chatting online and she told me about how she was a manager at a local wireless telephone store and she offered to hook me up with this headset. I couldn’t believe it. So here it is and I love it. Thanks Chrissy.

Leave a comment by clicking COMMENTS below
Everyone loves comments
I know I do
But you won’t
No one ever does