Mega Mania #01: Mega Man Tribute Artbook (Udon Entertainment)

Those who familiar with me know that I am a complete fanatic as far as Mega Man (or Rockman as he's known in Japan) is concerned.  I've owned and played all ten of the original series' games, as well as the five that were ported over to the Game Boy.  I have every issue of the short-lived Mega Man comic book series by the now-defunct Dreamwave Comics, and admit to following Archie Comics' present series.  I've added virtually every Rockman manga published in Japan to my bookshelf - and have Hitoshi Ariga's Megamix series and most of his Gigamix series in English as well.  UDON Entertainment is the U.S. publisher of the Megamix/Gigamix manga, and they've also ported over the Complete Works series of artbooks.  But they've recently released their first (as far as I know) original Mega Man artbook: Mega Man Tribute, featuring fan art solicited from all across the globe.

As you can see from the example submissions above, the artwork spans a wide range of artistic styles and media, just as the assembly of artists span the entire globe.  Besides being a great collection of Mega Man-themed artwork, Mega Man Tribute also stands as a testament to the profound cultural impact that the Mega Man franchise has made on our global society in its 24-year history.  (And as 2012 marks the Blue Bomber's 25th Anniversary, I'm sure this tribute only marks the tip of the iceberg of what UDON and Capcom whas in store for fans, despite the disappointing cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe earlier this year.)

Upcoming Buys: Ray Solar USB Charger

Living in Hawai`i, I'm reminded every day of the awesome power of the sun.  (It's no coincidence that my solar-powered watches never drop below their "high" charge setting.  I once spent three weeks out and about in central Japan in the winter with a G-Shock that remained perpetually in the "mid" setting.  It took all of 15 minutes back in the hot Hawaiian sun to get it back to "high" upon my return.)  With that kind of energy at my fingertips, I've been on the lookout for a good solar charger that would be able to recharge my USB devices easily and efficiently.  I've seen - and been tempted by - previous attempts, but they all inevitably struck out in terms of price or functionality.  

Which is why I'm particularly interested in the Ray from Quirky.  It's a solar charger for devices that use a USB connection - which has been done before - but what separates Ray from other solar chargers is an integrated suction cup that allows it to be affixed to a window or windshield

so that it can collect solar energy without actually being outdoors, or having to constantly fiddle with its stand (which is also included, in case a convenient window isn't handy.  On top of that nifty innovation, the price is certainly right: $49.99 at MSRP, but only $39.99 if you commit to buy it through the current presale.

[Ray: Recharge Naturally, from Quirky, $39.99 on presale.]

My Water Bottle: KOR One Hydration Vessel

This week's review looks at a product that I've used for roughly a year and a half: the KOR One water bottle.  These days proper hydration is a must and disposable plastic water bottles are both expensive over time and an environmental concern when they're thrown away rather than recycled.  Reusable water bottles are better for both the environment and the pocketbook, but I've found that the screw threading Nalgene bottles so popular in the 2000s is a nightmare to keep sanitary (and a bit unwieldy in a pinch), and as much as I liked a spout-topped aluminum bottle that my former workplace provided (complete with its logo on the side), I find it psychologically more comforting if I'm able to see the water I'm drinking.  I also found that the spout nozzle made it difficult to taste the water, which meant that I'd have difficulty in determining when the water filter in my refrigerator needed changing.  Drinking from an open top eliminates that problem, and the quick opening lid of the KOR One makes for easy one-handed opening, swigging, and closing.

The KOR One is made with BPA-free plastic and can hold 750ml of water.  It's sleek, impact resistant, and the curved handles at the top of the bottle easily accommodate a carbiner for attaching it to other things.  (A small advisory: although my lid has never opened accidentally, I'd attach the carabiner to the side with the hinge, as that minimizes the amount of stress put on the side with the button mechanism.)  The only thing that has given me trouble in its year and a half of use is some warping of the rubber ring used to form the lid's seal.  It's readily replaceable, though, and after a quick email to KOR about the problem they sent me a replacement ring free of charge.  A+ marks for customer service and follow-up in my book, on top of an already solid product.

The Kor One is a little pricey at retail: $29.95, but is also available at reduced prices on Amazon.  If you do decide to pick one up from KOR directly, you can use the following coupon code to get 15% off: KWS-12802.  The KOR One is $25.46 with the discount.  The code also works for any of their products, including the newer models in 500ml size - 

KOR Delta ($16.96 with discount):

the stainless steel KOR Vita ($18.66 with discount):

or value-priced KOR Aura ($9.31 with discount):

The Delta, Vita, and Aura also come in 750ml size.  

In any iteration, the KOR is a well-designed, aesthetically pleasing water bottle with excellent environmental undertones.  In fact, KOR donates 1% of every sale to its Thirst For Giving Program.

Get them through KOR directly (and don't forget to enter KWS-12802 for 15% off) or via Amazon: 

Do you use a reusable water bottle?  If so what brand/model's your favorite?  How do you think KOR's offerings compare?

It's On Amazon #001: Mimo UM-720S Touchscreen USB-Powered Portable Monitor

This post is the first in a series I'm calling "What's On Amazon," which will feature a product available on Amazon.com which I've purchased (usually from Amazon as well) and highly recommend.  These posts acknowledge that, while virtually anything you can think of or hope to find in a brick-and-mortar store is available on Amazon these days, that same massive selection can make it difficult to know exactly what goodies are for sale there, unless you actively search for them or are lucky enough to have them pop up in your recommendations.  "What's On Amazon" seeks to help fill that gap.

First up on "What's On Amazon":

This is a MIMO USB-powered 7" portable LCD monitor.  It uses DisplayLink technology to connect to your computer via USB alone--no VGA plugs or AC adapters needed.

It folds down so that the stand functions as a screen protector, and at 7.25" x 5" x less than 1", it's superbly packable:

As with nearly all my electronics, it has anime-related decals.

DisplayLink is plug-and-play for Windows 7 and Mac OS X Lion, as the MIMO works perfectly as a fourth (yes, fourth) monitor for my desktop and a secondary monitor for my MacBook Air.  I used to have a first generation Asus Eee PC Surf, so I've dealt with 7-inch displays before, and while the screen real estate is a bit cramped as a primary monitor, it works fine as a secondary one that you can use to refer to another document while working on your main screen, for playing videos, or as a dedicated mini screen for iTunes or uTorrent:

The MIMO is a perfect size for a dedicated iTunes screen.

It's also great for torrent clients like uTorrent.  

As of late, I've been positioning various settings windows on it while working on my doujinshi in Manga Studio 4.

The only critique I can level at the MIMO is that it could use a touchscreen interface, especially when I'm using it to display the settings windows from Manga Studio.  I've caught myself more than once trying to tap the screen with my Cintiq's pen to adjust the settings.  The virtually identical MIMO UM-720S model addresses this problem by adding touchscreen capability:

Blast From the Past #01: The Bruce Campbell Edition - Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. & Jack of All Trades

This post is the first in the "Blast From the Past" series, which highlights series that have long departed the airwaves but are worth a second look.  Particularly, BFP will feature series that have since been released on DVD or made otherwise available for those looking for a bit of nostalgia or catching up on something good that they missed the first time around.  Going back to rediscover a cancelled series on DVD is how I came across Joss Whedon's inimitable Firefly (also on Blu-Ray), currently at the top of my list of best TV series of all time, so it's my hope that Blast From the Past may direct my readers toward finding some new-old favorites of their own.


---


The impetus behind this installment's selection is some Bruce Campbell nostalgia.  Currently one of the stars of the USA hit series Burn Notice, Bruce Campbell is a celebrated B movie actor who's known for his snarky quips and prominent chin.  (Case in point, his memoir: If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor.) My earliest encounter with his work was on the wacky Jack of All Trades action-comedy series, which Wikipedia considers noteworthy for "being the first American non-animated action series to be produced in the half-hour format since the 1970s."  Set in a post-Colonial-War-era on the fictional French colonial island of Pulau-Pulau, it features Campbell as U.S. secret agent Jack Stiles, who uses his alter ego "The Daring Dragoon" to foil Napoleon's interests and help the people of Pulau-Pulau.  The series features an insanely catchy opening theme which was nominated for an Emmy back in 2000.  Hear it once, and you'll find yourself humming it for days.


On the other hand, while I remember seeing ads for The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. when it first aired in the mid-90s, I never caught an episode while it was on the air.  Brisco County was Campbell's break-in television role and features a variety of appearances from other well-known TV actors, like Christian Clemenson (famous for playing Jerry "Hands" Espenson in Boston Legal) as Socrates Poole and John Astin (of The Addams Family fame) as Prof. Wickwire.  Both Brisco and Jack of All Trades are excellent examples of the sharp-tongued hero roles that Bruce Campbell has carved his niche out of, and if you like one you're almost certain to like the other.




       

Anime to Buy, 2011-08-09

The following is a list of anime series and movies available on DVD that I recently recommended to a friend.  Feel free to check them out as well if you're looking for quality examples of Japanese animation:

Summer Wars

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie [Special Edition]

Sound of the Sky Complete DVD Collection Limited Edition (Sora no Woto)

Genshiken: Complete Collection

Figure 17: The Complete Collection

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 3

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 4

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 5

K-On! Vol. 1

K-On! Vol. 2

Lucky Star Anime Legends


Cowboy Bebop Remix: The Complete Collection (Anime Legends)


Professor Layton & The Eternal Diva


Mobile Suit GUNDAM SEED: Anime Legends Collection, Vol. 2


Cardcaptor Sakura - The Movie


Cardcaptor Sakura - The Movie 2 - The Sealed Card

My History with Keyboards & Keyboard Review #001: Filco Majestouch-2 Linear R Limited Edition Tenkeyless FKBN87MR/EB2

My fascination with mechanical keyboards began with the metallic twang of the Model M attached to the first computers I used as a child.  But my initiation into the realm of modern, mechanical-switch keyboards can be traced back to a visit to Akihabara in 2008.  My primary business in Akiba was at the Mandarake doujinshi store, but once I'd finished up there, I explored that particular back street and found the Clevery 2 computer store, which specializes in peripherals, particularly keyboards.

(Sadly, going through my pictures folder, it looks like I didn't snap up one of the store itself.  Guess I was too starry-eyed at the time.  This image comes from the Clevery website.)

I tried my hands on every keyboard they had on display there, and in the end, a sturdily built (and $100+!) 104-key model with the name "Filco" emblazoned on it won me over.  Only the fact that I had come to Tokyo on a midnight bus from Osaka--and that I would be further laden down by the stacks of doujinshi I'd acquired from Comiket 73 on the trip back--kept me from purchasing it then.  Upon my return to the states, armed with the magical keywords "Filco" and "Majestouch," I discovered the geekhack.org forums, and was initiated into the world of cherry mechanical keyswitches.  I soon determined that the keyboard that had won me over had Cherry Black linear keyswitches, but that most typists preferred the softer touch of the tactile Cherry Browns.  Trusting the consensus, I purchased my first full-size Majestouch, with Brown switches, from beNippon. Over time, I would sell off the full-size for a tenkeyless model (one without the number pad), and expand my collection to include tenkeylesses with Black and Blue (tactile with a *click*) Cherry switches, along with a Topre Realforce 87U and a Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2.

I thought my foray into mechanical keyboards would end there, until I discovered through geekhack that Filco had released a tenkeyless model with the elusive Red Cherry switches--and, more than that, that it was available through Amazon.   I immediately searched for it, and--despite a general moratorium on purchases I've imposed around tax time--purchased it.  There were twelve left in stock when I came across the product page, meaning that after my purchase there were 11.  I briefly wondered if I'd been too hasty, adding yet another $100+ keyboard to my stable. 

The remaining 11 keyboards were gone by the next day.

My hope in purchasing this Cherry Red keyboard was to find a middle ground between the smoothness of the linear Blacks (which was my favorite Cherry keyswitch) with the lightness of the tactile Browns.  This was the general description of the Reds on geekhack, so I felt fairly confident that I'd finally found the best of both worlds in this keyboard.

Now, as I type this review on it, I can say that I have.

The "Limited Edition" keyboard came with the red WASD keys, while I had a spare red ESC from my other Filcos.  The keys depress with the same light touch that are the hallmark of the more well-known and widely used Cherry Browns (also used, for example, in the Kinesis Advantage Keyboard), but without the tactile "hump" in the resistance curve that I personally find detracting.  Within an hour of switching to it, typing has become more natural to me as it has on any of the myriad keyboards I've used before.

 (Close-up of the red WASD keys)

(As with the Filco with Black linears, the caps and scroll LEDs are red in this 'board.)

I've yet to use this 'board for gaming purposes, but as I tend to be a button masher, I suspect that the Black linears are still king in that department for me.  Nevertheless, I feel quite confident that I've finally found the keyboard I've been looking for these past three years.  As a writer and editor, the keyboard really is the definitive tool of my trade, and having one that suits my typing style so well makes every task that much more enjoyable.

(The 'board comes in a understated black box with simple lettering.)

Beyond the keyboard itself, the other gem of the experience is learning that Filco keyboards are now available on Amazon.com, as they are sold by the Keyboard Co UK (and fulfilled by Amazon, meaning that super-saver shipping applies!).  The tenkeyless version is sold with both regular printed keys and a "ninja" side-printed version, as well as the full 104-key version.  Also available are tenkeyless versions of the 'board with tactile Browns, linear Blacks, and clicky Blues, as well as full 104-key versions with Browns and Blues.