D-Link Wireless N Router (DIR-615) – Reviewed

D-Link Wireless N Router (DIR-615) – Reviewed

First I have to mention that I recently purchased my first notebook. It’s an Acer and so far I’m happy with it; it’s not the most powerful machine ever created, but that’s not exactly why I bought it. The fact that I bought this new computer required me to setup a wireless network, so that I can continue to bring you these quality posts that have you hooked like a socialite is addicted to Starbucks from anywhere I take my notebook. And that brings me to the post (no, I’m not a Starbucks junkie), which is to discuss first impressions on the D-Link Wireless N Router (DIR-615).

This is my first foray into the wireless world and while it wasn’t hard, it was almost as bumpy as a Montreal road. FYI: Montreal is notorious for horrendous roads that often leave cars paralyzed on the side of the road and angry Frenchmen foaming at the mouth. I might be leading you up to a major disappointment here, kind of like how Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure left you feeling awesome while Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey left you feeling like warmed-over vomit, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about my first impressions of the D-Link Wireless N Router (DIR-615).

I’m not anything like David Lightman (aka Matthew Broderick) in Wargames, but I’m not a complete idiot when it comes placing a disc in a drive and following installation instructions. So, the D-Link website promises that you’ll have your “router up and running in minutes” and that you “don’t have to be a networking expert to get it set up.” Problem is that D-Link assumes that the average guy coming in off the streets understands wireless 101. This means that there is a slight encryption to the user manual and, also, everything in the text points to the “Wizard” that’s supposed to set up your new system, but seems to be AWOL at first glance. On a positive note, the installation on the PC and the hardware was very easy to set up – almost idiot proof. Still, the fact that I had to call customer service to get my notebook set up on the wireless network leaves something to be desired.

In the end, don’t look for the word “wizard” anywhere and working the system is a lot simpler than the language in the manual indicates.

As far as how I like the DIR-615? Well, I just got it set up yesterday and I’m too new to it to make a comment.

Music Review: Slipknot – “All Hope Is Gone” & “Psychosocial”

Release date: August 26, 2008

Rating: 8/10

Slipknot will release their fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone later this month, but the band has teased fans by making two songs available at Slipknot1.com. It these two songs, “All Hope Is Gone” and “Psychosocial,” are any indication, Slipknot fans are in for some metal that’s as raw as a freshly butchered bovine. Fans will also be happy to see that Slipknot has made good on their promise of putting out an album that ranks among their heaviest, and one that expands on their thrash metal guitar work and vocal melodies. Corey Taylor has stepped away from lyrics that reflect his own life, choosing to turn his focus to what’s wrong in life. Of All Hope Is Gone, Taylor has said that it is “very dark” and that “It’s going to rip your face off… I don’t think the world will be ready for this album.” Slipknot fans will be the judge of that.

“All Hope Is Gone” opens with enough drum and percussion to send any WW II vet into shellshock and back to Normandy before it breaks into frantic guitar riffing and an outright vocal assault. There is a speed metal solo on this track that seems to belong like a white kid in South Central, but after several listens it grows on you and serves as a nice breather before getting slaughtered by some more skull-crushing metal. We first hear the bridge of “All Hope Is Gone” at 2:27; it’s a more rhythmic grind that’ll send a calming wave through the crowd, causing fans to retract their fists and throw up their horns. Being that “All Hope Is Gone” lyrically deals with America’s paradoxical situation on a global scale, perhaps fans should throw up a peace sign.

“Psychosocial,” my preferred track between the two, relies heavily on tradition metal elements. Hitting you hard with a sonic intro before leaping into a head-swinging/fist-thrusting verse that’s sure to leave a pit weak in its knees, “Psychosocial” aims to please with its metal muscle supported by pop sensibilities. “Psychosocial” is sure to be the track that will garner Slipknot a fresh lineage of fans, just as it’s sure to be the guilty-pleasure track for the die-hard fans. Joey Jordison has a sweet slow roll during the chorus and Taylor breaks into a more mainstream vocal styling, all of which contribute to the soft touch of this track. Still, I can see our soldiers blasting this anthem as they drop bombs in the desert.

Cell-Phone Citations

Just so that we’re clear on this, I fully support the issuance of traffic citations to drivers who use their cell phone while operating their vehicle; there’s not much in this world -- aside from nu-metal kids who preach their creed and don’t know who Slayer is or what a Spider Riff is, toy dogs and their self-centered owners, Canada’s little-brother complex, Heineken, pretentious and elitist socialites or hipsters, the "precious few," etc., -- that I despise more than cell-phone users who chat away oblivious to the road conditions that surround their boxed world. Seriously, wake up you establishment slaves. All of which to say that I’m happy Quebec now fines such cell-phone users $115 and three demerit points.

I did, however, see something when I left my office building in Montreal’s plateau area on August 7, 2008, that really confused me, which then angered me and finally left me stupefied; I saw a squad car “pull over” a bicyclist because he was talking on his cell phone. Really, does the Montreal police department have nothing better to do than bother a 19-year-old kid on his way home from spending a summer day at Parc Jeanne-Mance? Maybe little boy blue ought to worry more about the needles and syringes that litter many on Montreal’s streets than his frosted tips. Actually, I’d feel much more satisfied if I knew my municipal taxes were going towards Montreal’s “finest” stopping the abundant and obnoxiously arrogant Quebec drivers who think that they can speed around town like their on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (that’s the F1 track in Montreal).

Anyway, after I’d stopped to watch the police take this young kid’s identification, I decided to head toward my car. Between five to ten minutes later, the time it took me to reach my car and circle the block so that I could head north on St. Laurent Blvd, the cops were still wasting this kid’s time and my tax dollar. Seriously, copper, get a job.

Ironkey USB Flash Drive

USB flash drives are great for making all your data portable and pocketable. Unfortunately their small size, while convenient for quick body-cavity disappearances, makes them prone to becoming lost or easily stolen and, therefore, subject to breaches of privacy. So, whether you want to safeguard confidential DOD documents, your Doogie Howser-style journals, your wedding plans or (and celebs such as Pamela Anderson, Kim Kardashian, Dustin Diamond, and Verne Troyer should pay particular attention here) your bedroom escapades on your USB flash drive, you can’t go wrong with the Ironkey.

Not only will the Ironkey encrypt your drive contents with AES CBC-mode encryption, but it’ll also self destruct once 10 incorrect passwords are entered consecutively. Other features include onboard password management, web-surfing encryption, metal encasement, military waterproofing standards, a self-destructing encryption chip should physical removal be attempted, and 30MBPS read and 20MBPS write capabilities.

The Ironkey is available for shipping throughout the U.S. and Canada and worldwide through Iron Key Resellers. The Ironkey is sleek, tough, and keeps its mouth shut for you; that’s a lot more than your girlfriend or ex-girlfriend was ever able to do for you.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

Release date: July 18, 2008
Rating: 8/10

From beginning to end, The Dark Knight is nonstop edge-of-your-seat suspense and action. And as the film’s title indicates, it’s about the darker side of human nature. I wouldn’t want to ruin the film for any potential readers who have yet to see the film (however, with a 10-day take of more than $300 million, it’s highly unlikely that anyone reading this hasn’t already seen the second installment of Christian Bale’s Batman), so I won’t give anything away, but I’ll be honest.

First, is The Dark Knight worth seeing? The simple answer is, “yes.” But why you should see it is a different matter. If you didn’t, you’d be a social outcast since everyone in the free world will eventually see it – in this respect The Dark Knight is akin to Woodstock because if you didn’t see it, you wanted to. The Dark Knight is also worth seeing for the lurking story that drives the action, both of which keep the viewer in suspended anticipation. Whether you like Batman or not, you’ll find that the movie is badass. This is due to the fact that there are no real “good guys”; Batman is dark and vengeful and The Joker, well, he’s just everything you want a villain to be, which is to say sadistic, complex, humorous, ballsy, disturbed, and never, ever, sympathetic. The Dark Knights’ film rating is PG-13, but that’s only for a lack of bloodshed and coarse language, not for a lack of violence or disconnected humanity. And if there should be any Oscar buzz, it should be for two things: the musical score and the directing, not to honor someone posthumously for what is, in all truthfulness, an acting job that any hungry actor with more than above-average talent could pull off. Still, Heath Ledger did bring a comic book character off the page and into a believable existence.

Second, what’s wrong with The Dark Knight? It’s too long with too many endings brought about by the same plot technique. Now, it’s this very technique that brings me to the next element that is wrong with The Dark Knight; it’s moralistically preachy. That’s one of many indications that The Dark Knight is a comic book adaptation, which is sad because while Tim Burton reveled in it, Christopher Nolan tries to hide it. Batman’s forced growl is yet another nerve-shredding annoyance and an uncommitted romance serves no purpose other than to explain Batman’s future plunge into greater darkness.

Third, would I go see it again? I plan to.

CD Review: Alice Cooper – Along Came a Spider

Release date: July 29, 2008

Rating: 6.5/10

Well, the 60-year-old grandfather of shock rock did it; Alice Cooper (aka Vincent Furnier) has put together a solid collection of jams with which to furnish one of this summer’s more enjoyable albums. There are some funky beats and there’s plenty of sweaty, swampy Southern charm (see “Wake the Dead” for a prime example), but it’s all Alice on Along Came a Spider. The album, however, isn’t just a compilation of five-minute, take-‘em-or-leave-‘em songs, it’s a story that follows it’s principle character, Spider, from stalking his prey to chloroform abductions to fitting perfectly in his trunk to falling in love to institutionalization. What I find most amazing is Alice’s adeptness for creating original and catchy hooks for each track while maintaining the plot found on Along Came a Spider.

OK, so there are no songs about girls kissing girls and how it felt so wrong or how it felt so right, but Along Came a Spider might be your biggest surprise of the summer if you give it a chance. Though following the story of a serial killer as he constructs a spider from human body parts is a bit morbid, the songs themselves are rich with happy classic rock riffs and enough modern crunch to give Disturbed something to contemplate their relevance over. Along Came a Spider is a fun listen this summer and Alice Cooper deserves massive credit for not losing his cool by trying to sound more current than he is; Alice knows his place and stuck to his ‘70s roots, which paid off in tracks like “Vengeance is Mine,” “Wrapped in Silk,” “I’m Hungry,” and “I am the Spider.”

Harley-Davidson Museum

Opens Summer 2008

It’s an American icon. It’s an American legend. It’s American steel. It’s American badass. It’s Harley-Davidson and it’s Live to Ride & Ride to Live. It’s a realm of steel and leather that no Japanese or European company can compete in, try as they might.

After 105 years of producing some of the world’s most beautiful bikes, Harley-Davidson has finally decided to open a museum that will offer visitors countless exhibits that span the manufacturer’s great history. The 130,000-square-foot facility, which will rest on 20 acres of riverfront property, is also expected to offer guests a restaurant, a café, and a retail store. The majority of visitors, however, will most likely want to see the much-anticipated 450-bike archive and take in Harley’s heritage. If this is the case, they should begin their tour on the second floor of the museum; here’s where they’ll find a chronological gallery that boasts about the bike’s uncompromising lineage. The museum’s second floor will primarily deal with the second half of the 20th century, but it’ll also serve up a good dose of the design and engineering that goes into creating the world’s most lust-worthy bikes. After, and only after, you’ve completed your two-story visit will you be permitted to go grab a bite to eat and a café latte.

Where can this structure built for greatness be found? There’s no better place than in the state of Harley-Davidson’s birth, which is Wisconsin. And if you were a real Harley man, you’d prefer to refuel on one of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s other notable commodities, such as a Miller or a Milwaukee’s Best, instead of a cappuccino from the café.