Last Friday night, shortly after putting Caden to bed, Jennifer and I were taking care of our nightly “Post Caden” chores, working to the goal of completion so we could sit down and watch The Office on-line, when the power went out.  It was not storming, but the wind was blowing pretty hard.

After stumbling around looking for matches and a candle, Jennifer comes walking through the house with probably the best gift Angie and John have ever given us… a battery-less flashlight.  I was thankful that she remembered where I put it and she said she was thankful that I remember to put it back after I use it last, ha!  Funny that we got married, huh?  If you don’t have one (or more) of these flashlights, they are well worth the money or they make a great gift!

So once we got settled by candle light on the couch, we started watching an episode of Psych that was on my iPod. I couldn’t find that cheap pair of speakers that I thought I still had, you know the kind, they require no A/C and sound awful, so we resorted to two sets of head phones in a dual jack.  It works, but there is the problem of making sure the sound isn’t too loud/soft for both people listening.

I ran across a solution today and thought I would share it (and bookmark it for myself in the blog).  It is a Y-splitter that allows each user to control their own volume, made by Griffin Technology (who else, they make the best iPod “stuff”).

Have you heard of the Flip Video recorder? The last player, the Mino (pronounced ‘minnow’) is pretty amazing for the price.

It has a viewing screen that is 1.5″ (diagonal), the record quality (resolution) is 640 x 480, which is VGA quality and while not HD by any means, it is great internet quality. Most YouTube videos have a smaller resolution size than 640 x 480. The frame rate is 30 frames per second and storage is 2 gigabytes, which is estimated to give about 60 minutes of record time.

On-line sharing includes unlimited private video emails or video greeting cards, direct upload to MySpace, YouTube, or AOL. It will also take still photos. It works with PCs and Macs and connects using a built in USB port.

See the full set of the specifications.

Why would I want one if I already have a video camera? (and you know I do because of all of the Caden videos!) I don’t always have the video camera with me, but this is so small I could keep it with me when and always be able to capture the funny stuff that we sometimes miss.

One added bonus is the cover of the Mino can be customized. It has has to be ordered through their web site for this option.

Amazon’s current price is around $153, purchase it from Amazon.

** Updated **

It appears the embedded YouTube video is only working some of the time. If the link does not work below, go to YouTube and search for “” and you should be able to find it.  There is also an “alternate ending” video that is even funnier.

After YEARS of Apple making fun of Microsoft in the “Get a Mac” ads (the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads), Microsoft says they are finally going to fight back.  The code name of this campaign is “Windows, not Walls?”  I did feel better today when I heard that this phrase is just the code name for the campaign and “might” not actually be the “slogan” for the campaign.  I can only hope they come up with a better slogan.

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I recently bought a Mac. I am still very pleased with it, but I also feel like Microsoft has not received a fair shake in the press.  It is “fun” to beat up on Microsoft and I do my share of bashing, but Windows Vista has had less problems than XP did when it was first released.  I will refrain from going on with this thought, so stay on topic (as oppose to chasing that rabbit!)

So who does Microsoft hire to help them with this “Windows not Walls” campaign? None other than Jerry Seinfeld (for only 10 million dollars, I might add)!?  He isn’t someone I probably would have first picked, but I love watching his reruns on TBS, so there is potential there for some funny ads.

I do remember a Mac sitting in the background on Seinfeld, but Jerry never used it (at least I don’t remember him ever using it).  I thought maybe they would use that someway in talking about “switching” to a PC?  Probably wouldn’t work though?

I stopped my guessing last week when I saw the first commercial and I’m completely dumbfounded? So dumbfounded that I felt compelled to write about it and see if I can get a response from anyone else.  I don’t get it.  I thought it might be me, but apparently not, after I showed it to a few other friends.

What do you think?