PLYR2 Unleashed - or - How a 3.5mm Gave Me Super Powers

Okay, well maybe not super powers, but a lot more to play with. While reviewing the Skullcandy PLYR 2, I noticed that the manual (actually, tri-fold quick setup guide) indicates that, in order to connect the PLYR 2 to a PC, you needed a 3.5mm audio cord, which was not included. This annoyed me quite a bit, at first; why would it list that it works with a PC on the front of the box, but then require an audio cable that you have to supply, yourself?

As it turns out, there is a quite decent built-in audio card in the PLYR 2, so all you truly have to do is plug it up to an available USB port and change your default audio playback and recording settings. For PS3 and 360, there's an included RCA piggyback pass-thru adapter.

However, with the addition of a 3.5mm cord, you can use the PLYR 2 to listen to music from your iPad, smart phone or Android device or even hold phone conversations on them. True, they're wireless, so you need to have a USB port to supply power for the transmitter wherever you put the device and you'd have to start and end calls at the device, but the wireless aspect will let you hold that call while walking around your house.

Or, if you're on-the-go, you could combine the PLYR 2 with the PowerBag to power the transmitter and you can use the PLYR 2 for your phone conversations while carrying your iPhone in the bag. I realize it's not intended for that and is a bit awkward to start and end calls, but I tested the PLYR 2 at a range of up to 100 feet; I could start a playlist or a podcast through the headphones and mow the front yard with that distance.

Check out my Review of the PLYR 2 Headset from Skullcandy

Inspired by Philip K. Dick

I just got done reviewing the 2012 remake of Total Recall on Blu-ray. It's much more action-y than the 1990 version, but is a good popcorn flick. In fact, I find that I tend to like movies that are based on short stories by Philip K. Dick. Mind you, I've never actually read any of his stories and I've been told that most of the movies don't do them justice, but typically, the movies only claim to have been inspired by the short story, anyway - sometimes building an entire movie off of a single aspect of the short story.

Anyway, here are some of the products we've reviewed that were inspired by Philip K. Dick stories and the story from which they got their inspiration...

Movies:

• Blade Runner (inspired by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
• Total Recall (1990) (inspired by "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale")
• Paycheck (inspired by "Paycheck")
• Next (inspired by The Golden Man)
• Total Recall (2012) (inspired by "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale")

Games:

• Minority Report (inspired by "The Minority Report")
  
  • Minority Report (PS2)
  • Minority Report: Everybody Runs (Xbox)
  • Minority Report: Everybody Runs (Gamecube)

On The Fall (Total Recall 2012)

Total Recall follows Douglas Quaid, a factory worker at a robot factory, married to a beautiful E.M.S. technician, living in an overcrowded, mega-slum post-apocalyptic Australia, which is now referred to as simply "the Colony" and is one of only two places on the globe that is still inhabitable. The other is comprised of England and some nearby land, which together comprise the United Federation of Britain. Those who have even a passing grasp on geography may immediately assume that these populations don't interact, but, as it turns out, much of the populace of the Colony perform high-risk, low-paying jobs in the UFB, commuting daily via a large elevator / subway train, of sorts, that goes straight through the Earth, in a tube that is curved a bit to avoid the hot, gooey molten core.

This "elevator" is known as "The Fall," since it essentially falls down from one station, then comes to a stop when it reaches the station on the other side. While the plausibility of creating such a mode of transportation has several technical hurdles to overcome, the physical principal is sound; in much the same way that something thrown upward slows to a stop and then returns to its initial height at the same speed it was initially thrown at (not considering wind resistance), if you could drop something into a hole that went all the way through the Earth, it would accelerate until it got to the center of the planet, then would start slowing down, reaching the initial speed (zero) when it arrived at the same height it had started at, but on the other side of the planet.

Even considering losses due to wind resistance, this would be a very energy-efficient mode of transportation.

Gratuitous Tanks from the Western Front

Gratuitous Tank Battles has a DLC pack out - The Western Front. This expansion focuses on WWII and includes seventeen authentic WWII units, from tanks to armored cars to tank destroyers. The game also allows you to make these units a bit less authentic by enhancing them with laser weapons and other futuristic goodies.

For those curious about the actual historical units, here are some links to the Wikipedia articles for the units that are included in the expansion.

Included Authentic WWII Units:

• American Units:
• M18 Hellcat
• M8 Greyhound Armored Car
• M3 Stuart Light Tank
• M36 Jackson Tank Destroyer
• T18 Boarhound MG Heavy Armored Car
• M4A1 Sherman Tank
• T34 Calliope Sherman Tank
• Pershing Heavy Tank
• Wolverine Heavy Tank Destroyer
• German Units:
• Tiger Tank
• Tiger Tank II ("King Tiger" or "Bengal Tiger")
• Panther Tank
• Panzer II
• Panzer III
• Panzer IV
• Puma Heavy Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle
• Ostwind

Testing Einstein's Brain... Sorta...

So, one of the things I've got in-house for review is the 8GB Einstein Mimobot USB Memory Stick. In the process of testing it, I thought I'd try using it as a ReadyBoost device for Windows 7. A little research showed me that the minimum speed for a device to be used as a ReadyBoost device is 2.5 MB/s read for 4 KB random reads and 1.75 MB/s write speeds for 512 KB random writes. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)

Also, Wikipedia listed the commands to run to test a flash drive to see what its speed was to determine fitness to being pressed into service as a ReadyBoost drive.

I tested ol' Einstein, and I'm pleased as punch to say he passed with flying colors...

8GB Einstein Mimobot Read / Write Speeds, as tested:

Read: 4.64 MB/s
Write: 2.57 MB/s

Learning disability, indeed...

Black Ops II Review Event

Ashley and I attended the Black Ops II Review Event last month. We couldn't speak about any of it until the embargo lifted, so all we could do is anxiously await the Black Ops II launch date. Now it has been released, so I am free to discuss it a bit.

Thanks to the review event, we were prepared to publish our review of the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II on launch day. As the required disclaimer states,"this review reflects the opinions of two Game Vortex reviewers (Psibabe and Geck0) who attended the Call of Duty: Black Ops II Review Event in Carlsbad, California. Travel, accomodations and food for this event were arranged and funded by Activision. Additionally, Call of Duty: Black Ops II licensed products were provided at the event. We have reviewed (or are in process of reviewing) these items and their reviews may be read on this website."

Review events such as these allow Activision to maintain better security over the product (to prevent piracy) and allow reviewers to interact with each other, which helped to reveal the multiple paths in the Campaign mode. Our review is based on our game-testing experience at the event, but we strive to remain as objective as possible.

I assure you that, along with the many COD fans out there, we anxiously awaited the launch date to get our own copy in-house and, when it arrived, shot zombies, yelling and cursing, into the wee hours of the night - in Split-Screen mode, no less.