New! Sure, sequels are never quite as good as the original, but by popular request, here's part two of my Nintendo DS Lite video review!

I did my best to cover some frequently asked questions this time around. This includes the GBA cart slot stick-out, the comfort, the thickness, and, yet again, the brightness. And while my voice is somehow even more bizarrely whispered this time and the disembodied hands thing may doom me to a fence-guy-from-Home-Improvement future, I think you'll enjoy it. Thanks for all of your questions!


(And here's a lower-quality YouTube mirror for those of you having Quicktime trouble.)

Again, feel free to leave comments if you have any additional questions! Enjoy!

[New here? Don't miss part three!]

Thanks to the incredibly awesome awesome-ness of Noby, friend/Panic's man in Japan, today I was extremely lucky to receive in the mail a brand new Nintendo DS Lite, fresh from Japan. Wow. (Thanks, Noby. Thoby.)

Released on March 2nd in Japan to surprising 'round-the-block lines, the Nintendo DS Lite is Nintendo's fresh revision of its quirky but extremely loveable little-handheld-that-couldn't-but-somehow-did — the touch-screen "third pillar" of innovation that's really quickly becoming more of a foundation than a support for Nintendo.

I'll quit with the words. Here are some first look technoporn/macrotastic pictures of this new system:


Also, as a bit of a test, here's a special Quicktime video first-look at the system! It mostly features my hands, and me trying to sound professional while going on about "clean lines", but it's at least a good comparison of the current Nintendo DS to the new system. Wait until you see this screen!



If you have any questions about the new system, have any feedback about this video review idea, or if you'd like to see any additional videos or photos showing whatever else, drop your thoughts in the comments! Your wish is my command!

And enjoy!

[New here? Don't miss part two and part three!]

About a week ago, Mike came to me with a musical request: a brief theme song, in classic/cheesy/great 80's TV style, to be used in an Ultimate Blogger 2 challenge video. Awesome.

That night, I struggled to find the right melody — everything was either too Power Ballad or Perfect Strangers. Then, the mystic power of the brain kicked in and I woke up the next morning with a solid theme waiting to escape. I fired up GarageBand, played like a maniac, and recorded it in about an hour, just like your glasses.

ChallengeBros (w/vocals).mp3 (730 KB)

ChallengeBros Long (Karaoke).mp3 (941 KB)

On the left, the final song with (questionable) vocals as featured in the video. Then, just for you, the original longer version, Karaoke style. I'm not traditionally great at sharing this kind of stuff — but I do hope you enjoy it.

Don't forget to watch the challenge video itself!

(Also, if you have iLife '06 GarageBand, here's an extra special treat, remix-ready. ChallengeBros.band.zip)

Dun dunnnn dun-dun! Dunnnn dun dun-dun dun-dun!

You've heard this theme already. I know you know it — assuming you live in the USA. Bob Israel (who also worked on music for The Price Is Right) wrote this famous "umbrella theme", used for everything from 20/20 to Nightline, also a convenient audio signal that extremely boring television was about to come on when I was a kid.

But have you ever heard the full version of the theme? Did you know it got awesomely funky?

ABC World News Tonight.mp3 (970 KB)

Yeah! I know! I was as suprised as you were. Tip of the ear to Jake Rodkin!