Home Improvement Tool and Toy Reviews

I have had an iPhone since about 3 months after the original 2G model came out. in fact both my wife and I had the 2G model and currently have the 3G’s. We sold one of the 2G’s and gave the other one away to a family member. Although it was not intentional I happened to keep the docs that came with the 2G models.

I had some people take a Dremel and hollow out the 2G doc to accommodate the 3G and decided to try this myself even though I have an Incase rubber case on it.

That did not work.

I ended up cutting away the majority of the doc and my iPhone with its case would still not fit. From there I decided to take the innards out of the doc and raid my 5 year old’s Legos. The result is the doc that can be viewed below. Also included are the photos of the steps that I took in building if someone is as daring as I to build one.

I have been using SugarSync for almost a year now and have synced up to 6 different computers (or instances of computers) at a time. These computers varied between Macs and PCs. Currently I am only syncing between an iMac and a MacBook.

The Problem

About a month ago I setup SugarSync to sync a new folder which was the wp-content folder from a WordPress install on a Xampp web server installation. Installed Xampp and WordPress separately on each computer and then set SugarSync to sync the folder with the iMac being the first computer that was added to the sync.

Unfortunately from day one I could not get the two to sync. The MacBook would always get stuck with 242 files needing to be uploaded. These files were files that I had added on the MacBook but did not exist on the iMac. I entered an issue with SugarSync support but after a week and a half of going back and forth with them the issue was still not resolved.

Defeated I considered trying to figure out how to get Dropbox to do the same thing for my but it does not have native folder sharing built into it. There is a hack to get it to do that but it is a hack. The other reason that I was holding out for a solution to my SugarSync issue is cost. Right now I pay $2.50/month (which is pennies) for 10GB of sync space. I currently only use 5GB of it. If I went with Dropbox I would have to pay $10/month for 50GB and I did not need that much space.

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Recently my Microsoft Blue mouse 5 years died. I really like the feel of the mouse so I wanted to get a similar one. My mouse of 5 years has now been replaced by a newer model with more functions – a Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000.

This mouse is similar in shape to the previous Microsoft Blue mouse but has the following additional functions:

• 1000dpi  laser
• Tilt Wheel for scrolling up/down/front/back
• Instant Viewer software

I bought this mouse specifically for the price and the fact that the scroll wheel gives you side-to-side scrolling which is pretty cool. It also has a side button that you can program to do various tasks. I reluctantly installed the software that was included with the mouse but I am really glad that I did.

The included software gives you an additional tab in the mouse applet (under control panel in Windows XP) that allows you to select what type of functions that you want the buttons on the mouse to have. By default the middle button when clicked activates “Instant Viewer” which is an program that tiles all of your open windows similar to Expose in OS X. I set my thumb button to activate it and am loving it. I use Expose in OS X all the time and always wished to have similar functionality in Windows.

In my opinion there are a couple of things that Microsoft does really well. The first is the creation of Windows Live writer which is the best Desktop Blogging Application I have ever used. The second is Microsoft Exchange which I consider to be the best email server that I have ever used. The last are Microsoft mice. I have always like their mice and will be a user of them for years to come (literally!).

The following coupons are good at Harbor Freight from 10/2/08 thru 10/8/08:

My Super Cub had gotten to the point that there was so much tape and cardboard holding it together that the weight was affecting its flight. I went to the Hobby store and got all new parts – down to the landing gear – to put my baby back together. I figure it cost me 2-3 trip to the hobby store and about $60-$70 dollars to make it look new again.

Initially I was concerned about getting the speed control and servos out but these were actually pretty easy. The servos had double stick tape on the bottom of them and there was a little cubbyhole that they fit snugly in to. The motor was also very simple to remove via 4 screws and fit nicely on the new fuselage. I would have to say that the stickers were probably the hardest to put on but they were actually pretty easy as well.  All-in-all it took me about an hour to get the electronics in the new assembled airplane.

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The Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle Set has now officially been released. You can purchase them directly from Amazon by clicking the link to the right.

What the laser battle set is are 2 of the Air Hogs Havoc Heli’s with infared lasers attached to the front that you can dog fight with. When one Havoc Heli shoots and “hits” the one the engine cuts and the heli spins out of control.

These babies are really fun. How do I know? I have a set! I just got them today and they are really fun. They fly as well if not better then the original Havoc Heli from Air Hogs but have a slightly different body.

Here are some pictures of the heli’s:

Here is the packaging the that Laser Tag Set comes in:

This Laser Tag set from Air Hogs are going to be all the rage this Christmas so you should get yours while they are still in stock.

You can buy them from Amazon.com and ships FREE with Super Saver Shipping.

Get your Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle set today!

Technorati: Air Hogs Havoc Heli, Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle, Dog Fight, Battle, Games, RC, RC Airplanes, RC Helicopters

Having been an avid Air Hogs Havoc Heli pilot I did crave a little more excitement in my life so I set my sites on the Air Hogs Reflex. Air Hogs advertised that it had the ability to go forward, backwards, left and right. This was accomplished with the two sets of vertical propellers that were near the main rotor.

I had noticed that the price had recently dropped for the Reflex about a month ago from $79 to $59 so it was now in a more realistic price range for me. While at Toys-R-Us this past weekend I picked one up.

Visual Differences

There are three major differences between the Air Hogs Havoc Heli and the Reflex. The first is that the Reflex is a little larger then the Havoc. The second is that the Reflex comes with a wall charger instead of being charged from the controller. The final major difference is on the controller. On the Reflex you have right/left and forward/back controls on the right joystick as opposed to just the right/left on the Havoc’s controller.

After discovering all of these differences I plugged in the charger and waited to fly my new toy.

Flight Differences

The first thing that I noticed about the Reflex was that it hovers in place instead of wanting to go forward and to the right (after trimming it of course). Right and left rudder movements on the Reflex are much more precise then the Havoc Heli and can be done while hovering also. The biggest difference is that the Reflex only goes forward when you want it to – the Havoc Heli is always going forward.

Pushing the stick forward gives you forward movement while releasing the stick will cause the Reflex to go back to hovering. Pushing back on the stick gives you reverse movement while again releasing it goes back to hover. The default is to hover straight as long as it has enough throttle applied.

With these types of controls it is much easier to get the Reflex to go where you want it to in comparison to the Havoc. With the Havoc it is always moving so any little mistake can send you into a wall or a light fixture. The Reflex stays put until you tell it to go somewhere.

Cost Differences

At time of writing the the going price for the Reflex is about $49 while the Havoc Heli has recently been dropped to around $24. While the Reflex costs more you the batteries in the controller are only used to control the Heli, with the Havoc they are used to charge the Heli as well as control it.

Conclusion

The Havoc Heli is a great beginning helicopter that is durable and inexpensive. The Reflex is a more advanced heli and gives you more control and longer battery life.

Which is better? They are both good and will provide hours of fun. Pick up one of each and make your own determination .

Technorati tags: Air Hogs, Havoc Heli, PiccoZ, PicooZ, PicoZ, Helicopter, RC Helicopter, Micro X Copter, Air Hogs Reflex

UPDATE: Amazon sells these direct for $29.99 but there are other vendors that cell the Air Hogs Havoc Heli for $24.95 on the Amazon site. Just click on the link to the right that says ‘Best Price $22.95″ and you will see the other vendors. Happy flying!

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I have been in the “toy” mood ever since Christmas and the Air Hogs Havoc Heli is the latest cool toy to be added to my collection.I stumbled upon it while walking through the toy department at Walmart (I was looking for the kids ). Anyway, there it was, sitting all buy itself on the shelf asking me take it home – and I did for a cool $29.95. Amazon has the same one under a different name for the same price. It is also know as the PiccoZ, PicooZ, or PicoZ (don’t ask).Out of the book the Havoc Heli felt solid. It seems to be made up of the same type of Styrofoam that my Super cub is and that thing is literally indestructible. The package came with the Helicopter, Controller, and some weights to add to the nose for forward propulsion, and an extra tail rotor.

I popped in the required 6 AA batteries and let my new toy charge up. As soon as the charge light went out I had the copter in the air for the next 10 minutes of pure fun.

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The Air Hogs Havoc Heli is so easy to fly that my 3 year old can do it!

I made the video below of both him and I flying it (he is at about the 3 minute mark).

The Havoc Heli can be pretty difficult to find but I found a few different people on Amazon.com that sell them. You can click their link to the right.

Enjoy the video!

Note: The music in the video is Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus and Never Let me Down Again mixes from their “Remixes 81-04″ album.

Technorati tags: Air Hogs, Havoc Heli, PiccoZ, PicooZ, PicoZ, Helicopter, RC Helicopter, Micro X Copter, Video

I just saw in the Austin American Statesman this morning that Round Rock Texas has been named the 13th safest cities in the U.S. for the second year in a row. The list of safest cities was compiled by the FBI that measured 6 different types of crimes for cities with 75,000 people or more. The city of Round Rock accredits this ranking to it’s efforts in having a good relationship between the police and the community.

While I have never had person interaction with any of the police here in Round Rock (That’s a good thing ), as a resident I do see them around and there is a sense of safety. The police officers all have their own police cars with their names on them so you start to recognize names and that in return gives a sense of security.

While looking for a place to relocate to, Round Rock stood out because they appeared to strive to work for the community. They had a lot of information on their website and any information I found on the internet about Round Rock was positive. Their effort to reach out is very apparent.

It is news like this that makes me feel glad that my family and I moved to Round Rock.

Technorati: Central Texas, Round Rock TX, Safest Cities, Texas