When the first iPod Nano was released, it was exactly what i was looking for; a quality MP3 player,small size, and decent storage capacity. But after using it for a day or two I had already noticed scratches on the front and on the back. So I looked into some cases that would be nice to keep my new iPod in. Not wanting anything large and bulky, I actually decided I didn’t want to hide how good the iPod looked. So this is when I decided I would grab up one of those plastic shields.

I believe i picked it up from ShieldZone for about $20. It is fairly easy to apply once you get the hang of it. You need to let it sit for about 24 hours so that the adhesive cures and has a solid bond with the iPod. Once that happens, you have an excellent protector for your iPod. I put this thing in my pockets that had keys, spare change, and cell phones and the iPod came out with no scratches at all. The only thing I can complain about is that the corners started to come undone, but simply wet them and press them back down and all is okay again.

Now on to the 2nd Generation iPod Nano.

I purchased the 8GB Black Nano the day it was released. I did not want to take it out of its package until I explored possible cases for it. But I kept in mind that Apple had said it made its outer case more durable and resistant to scratches so I took it out for a test run. All I have to say is wow. The new design does resist scratching very well. I’ve probably used it every day since I’ve had it and to this day there is very little scratching, if none at all. The weakest spot of the iPod would have to be the clickwheel. Most would thing the screen would be the weakest and most prone to scratching, but that’s completely wrong. There is no scratch on my screen at all.

So overall Apple has fulfilled its promise of providing a more durable iPod Nano. Unfortunately the 8GB only comes in black, but i suppose that is better than just Pink. I am quite happy with this iPod and hopefully this level of quality will continue on future devices.

Summer time is fast approaching and if you are looking for a great place to go, why not choose Hawaii. There is this great site, Hawaiian Beach Rentals, that provides great prices on Hawaiian Beach Front Cottages. They have this great thing on the main page where you can search for a place that is just right for you. You can search for specific price ranges, certain areas on the state, different amenities, as well as the time frame for your stay.

Feeling strapped for cash? Why not choose to stay at one the many hotels in Hawaii. Hawaiian Beach Rentals have over 1000 hotel listings to search through to find that perfect place.

Hawaiian Beach Rentals has it all. On the site you can even book airfares as well as car rentals, making it an easy place to plan your entire vacation! To prove that the site is great, they allow customer reviews, and quickly taking a peek it shows that almost everyone ends up happy after using Hawaiian Beach Rentals to plan their next vacation.

Any one out there looking for a new mailbox? I’ve found a great site (Mailbox Exchange) that offers tons of great and unique mailboxes. There is a vast amount of mailboxes, ranging from the basic types to more elaborate ones, if you feel the need to stand out a bit more. They have these great products that are quite strong. They are called Strongboxes and are great for as residential mailboxes. The Strongboxes have various patterns, there is something there for everyone.

Another thing that is great about Mailbox Exchange is their Address plaques. Again having a very good selection of address plaques there is something there for everyone. They have all kinds of shapes, colors and sizes. There are some very plain plaques that can have just the house number or street name, and then there are some more elaborate plaques that feature leaves, eagles, lighthouses, and more designs.

But that is not all, Mailbox Exchange also has several nice Commercial Mailboxes. If you are the owner of a complex and need to have a set of mailboxes at the entrance road, Mailbox Exchange has got it!

With the initial word being the Crackdown would come with the Halo 3 Beta invite, most people were thinking it was the Halo 3 Beta with Crackdown for free. Now at first I was one of these people. I looked at the screen shots for Crackdown and thought it was too cartoonish for my liking. But once the demo became available for download on the XBox Live Marketplace, I downloaded it and experienced a really fun game.

Now having played through the entire game, it still is really fun. I feel that it will have a great replay value. Although there is very little plot to the game, gameplay is fairly straight forward. First kill all the gang leaders to eliminate the gang. You could go straight for the kingpin, but taking out leaders lower on the chain will make it that much easier to take out the kingpin. Once you eliminate all the leaders to one gang, they will pretty much just disappear, except for a few stray members popping up on the other islands.

There are three different gangs in the game, Los Muertos, the Volks, and the Shai-gen. Los Muertos are supposed to be the tough gang running around with their shotguns, the Volk the heavy firearms wielding rocket launchers, and the Shai-gen the sneaky gang hiding on rooftops with sniper rifles.

Now along with having to eliminate the gangs, you can also level up five basic skills: Agility, Driving, Strength, Firearms, and Explosives. To level up in agility, there are 500 orbs around the city at different heights that will aid in your progression. Higher up orbs will help more than the lower ones. The way to level up driving it basically to drive around and hit gang members, jump high or far, or perform tricks. Beating up gang members with your fist or foot will progress your strength. Killing gang members with guns will help firearms, and using grenades or rocket lauchers will level up your explosives. Another way to level up is to find hidden orbs around the city. There are 300 of these and are “hidden”; some are really easy to find while others are difficult.

The game offers achievement points for various tasks. From removing all the gang leaders to finding all the agility orbs and everything in between. The hardest ones to perform would have to be to find all the hidden orbs and agility orbs. Now some may feel its not worth it because you may only get 40 points for each of those two achievements. But it is always nice to gain all the achievements for a game. Now having to find all the orbs will be a tedious task. And if you are like me and get impatient running around the city aimlessly, I found the solution. There are maps for all the agility orbs and hidden orbs. The hidden orb map is very well done, showing a big map where they are all located and then an actual picture of the orb and its location. The map can be found at This Link Thanks to Herman Gatevold (whoever you may be). I personally have gone through the map and can say it is very accurate and I have no gotten all the hidden orbs. The Agility orbs on the other hand are really tough to get all 500. Up to maybe last week there was no real map laying out all the locations, but recently the people over at CandiedSkull have completed a very good map. Now I haven’t gone through this one just yet, but am in the process.

All in all, Crackdown is a very addictive game so far. And once you kill all the gang members, there is tons of fun to be had. Whether it be shooting out tires on the highway and having cars flip over off the a bridge, or just blowing up tons of cars, there’s always something to do.

So today a scammer on eBay tried to scam me.  But what they do not know, is that I am not stupid.  I listed my iPod on eBay for a Buy it Now price of $390.  To my surprise I woke up today and found that someone had bought it!  So I was excited, naturally.  But then I see it is not paid for yet, because stupid me forgot to choose requires immediate payment from buy it now auctions.  So I check my email, and sure enough there is one from the buyer.  For reference I’ll post what they had to say.

Hello  Loo,
Greetings to you,how is business and all other things hope all are in good condition. well I’m johnson jason from ohio, but Presently i’m leading a trade fair program in Austrialia.I saw your item(110024809782)and ill like to buy it for my grandson that study in a Computer science school in University of Nigeria Next week as a gift.Do not worry about the shipping of the item,i have an account with FedEx and ill be sending you my FedEx account number for the shipping and and my grandson’s address in Nigeria,  if you decided of sending the item to add the shipping cost on the product you can still do it. i want you to ship the item first thing this morning  , i will be sending you the payment vai PAYPAL,and so make sure you get the package ready for this morning shipment ok And kindly send me your paypal email address,so i can make the payment right away.and i will be paying you at the buy it now price also okay and would like you to end the bid at ebay now.
johnson jason

Well, well, well, the old “I live in the United States, but I am on vacation, can you ship to my grandson in Nigeria” scam.   Call me weird, but the first thing I noticed was the capitalization of random words like “Computer” or the non-capitilization of words like “ohio” and the beginning of sentences, which any normal person would do that knows the english language.  And apparently he doesn’t know how eBay works.  Wanting me to end my auction after he uses buy it now, which will end it automatically.  But his name is weird too, “Johnson Jason”.  I think he meant Jason Johnson, but maybe not, who knows.

Apparently he needs my paypal email address, so he can send me one of those fake emails, that looks like a paypal email, but is from some stupid address, saying that I have received such and such amount from so and so.   So if I was stupid, I could go YIPPPEEE!!! and send my iPod out to this Fucker in Nigeria, check my PayPal account a few days later, and think “Hey!, wheres my money from my iPod?!”  But I will never hear from this person again, his account will be cancelled, and I’m out $400 buckarroos.

But I am not stupid.  This type of scam may have worked a few years ago, when “not” everyone in Nigeria was doing it.

So I looked at was his feedback on eBay.  Come to find out he has none, keeps it private and just registered today.   So, I am not going to send my iPod to him.  I have contacted eBay about false identity, hoping I can get my listing fees back so I can relist this.  It would have been nice of him to send me his account information for FedEx, then I could provide free shipping for all my other auctions.  But I won’t get that information.