Digital Punch vLog – Episode 21

Digital Punch – Episode_21 – Show Summary
Hello boys and girls, welcome to Digital Punch, I’m your host Benjamin Nelson coming to you from dowtown Chicago. In this episode we’re talk about a new game from the folks at Guitar Hero, a new way to charge your electronic devices and talk a little Transformers.For those who have ever sang with a hairbrush in front of a mirror, turned your steering wheel into a drum kit, or ripped massive guitar solos with a broom -its time to join the millions already crushing riffs in the open with Guitar Hero 2.This sequel offers a brand-new and expanded track list of more than 55 songs, a larger selection of venues and new play modes. Play from “hair metal”, heavy metal, modern rock and alternative rock.But wait, it gets better. Scheduled for a holiday release is Rock Band – which will mix the guitar from Guitar Hero 2 with a base guitar, a drum kit, and a mic. Rock Band will allow players to jam together in person or online to songs performed by the original artists – courtesy of help from MTV.Bands already signed up include Allman Brothers, Joan Jett, Kansas, Nirvana and Wolfmother.For those about to rock – we salute you. If you are looking for Guitar Hero in a store near you, check out ShopLocal.com and type Guitar Here 2 into orange search box. Rock on.Ever have this happen? You get home at the end of a long day, pull out your phone, your mp3 player, your Nintendo DS, your laptop, your portable GPS unit, and your PDA, and throw them down on your desk.Then you hunt through your power adapters to find the right ones, untangle the wires, and spend ten minutes trying to find enough available outlets to plug them into. Well fear not! Those days are over! . . . Almost.Last month scientists in the US announced that they are able to send electromagnetic waves from a copper antenna that could power or recharge almost any small device within range, provided they have an antenna tuned into the correct frequency. Now, people have done work on wireless electricity before — most noticeably with Splashpower, a pad that can recharge compatible devices just by placing them on it — but this new system could be integrated into a home to allow uninterrupted power wherever you leave your portable devices laying around. Very cool and very convenient.Unfortunately however, they have decided to name it “Witricity.” [cringe]Transformers the Movie has been a huge success largely due to its star Optimus Prime and not since John Travolta has a celebrity enjoyed such a revival. But where has Optimus Prime been since his last movie success in 1986? Here at Digital Punch we took an in depth look at the stars long journey back to the top.Every week here on Digital Punch we try to devote time to you the viewer. Send us a question, comment or suggestion, and we’ll do our best to put them in the next show. Check out the video for comments and questions from guitaristablaze, HisRoyalDudeliness, Flanny and Marsha Loftis.If you’d like to be a guest host on our show, just send an email to digitalpunch@gmail.com with “Digital Punch Co-Host” in the subject line.Well, that’ll do it for this episode of Digital Punch. Thanks to Chris Quinn, Doug Werder, Vince Portacci, Cene Ketchem and anyone else that helped with this episode. As always you can find us at digitalpunch.tv where we have a summary of each show and links of the products and stories we reviewed that week.Alright, that’ll do it. See ya next week, I’m punchin’ out.Thanks!-Digital Punch TVdel.icio.us | Digg | Furl | ma.gnolia

Digital Punch vLog – Episode 20

Digital Punch – Episode_20 – Show Summary
Hello boys and girls, welcome to Digital Punch, I’m your host Benjamin Nelson coming to you from Chicago. In this episode we’re gunna rap about the iPhone, a upcoming video game called Spore, have a talk about Wii elbow, and more … episode 20 hath beguneth.Only one week till the iPhone Drops… but children don’t fret. The iPhone has come in peace. While we are sure that you are all aware of the hype surrounding this much anticipated release, we thought we would go over a couple of our favorite features.1.) The accelormeter automatically adjusts the display horizontally or vertically depending on how you are holding the phone.2.) The proximity sensor that -get this- detects when you lift the iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away.3.) Wifi capability mixed with the Safari web browser and a dash of YouTube equals a rich web experience in the palm of your hand. Convenient for checking out Digital Punch on the go. Delicious. Well if you’d like to pick up an iPhone or iPhone accessories, you can got ShopLocal.com and type iPhone into the orange search box. We’re sure many of you hard-core gamers out there already know about Spore, a new game that’s been in development for several years. But it’s so cool, we could not pass up talking about it. What is Spore? The creator of the hugely popular Sims games is working on this ambitious video game in which you can truly be God. The game allows players to determine the evolution of a species, from an amoeba to an inter-stellar race. So check it out, you start as a single cell organism, you can create your own custom species and evolve from a being in the ocean, to land creature, then you start to create communities and villages. Eventually you learn technology, rule your home planet and then finally you can move into space and start creating life of your own.. walla… you’re a God. The PC game is due to be in stores by sometime in 2008. Stay tuned. There is no questioning the success of the Nintendo Wii; however with its growth in popularity there as also been an explosion of a medical condition commonly referred to as Wii Elbow or Wii-itis. Gamers all over the globe have complained of elbow pain or numbness as a result of excessive use of the Wii-mote. Wii elbow is no laughing matter and here at Digital Punch we want to help gamers deal with this tragic disorder. Be sure to check out the film.Well, that’ll do it for this episode of Digital Punch. Thanks to Peter Medlock, Doug Werder, Vince Portacci, Cene Ketchem and anyone else that helped with this episode. As always you can find us at digitalpunch.tv where we have a summary of each show and links of the products and stories we reviewed that week.Alright, that’ll do it. See ya next week, I’m punchin’ out.Thanks!-Digital Punch TVdel.icio.us | Digg | Furl | ma.gnolia 

Digital Punch vLog – Episode 17

Digital Punch – Episode_17 – Show Summary

Hello boys and girls, welcome to this edition of Digital Punch, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and a bunch of random fun along the way.

Digital Punch TV is back… kinda. As I’m sure you all noticed, we took a break for a month or so. Some think we were traveling the world for the greatest tech stories on the planet. Not true. Other suggested that Benjamin was serving a 30 day prison sentence for ripping the tag off his mattress. Also not true. Some had the audacity to suggest Benjamin and Patrick were taking time off due to their rigorous 3-legged race training schedule. Those people were correct.

But we’re back and excited to get this project rolling again. Stay tuned in the coming weeks because we’ll be bringing the Digital Punch guess host back! That’s right, you have a opportunity to join us on our show. We’ll also be giving away cool stuff and giving you a chance to send in your crazy videos that we would air on our show.

As always, we love to hear from you so take a few seconds out of your busy day and send us an email. Got an idea for a future show? Perhaps a comment or question? Well don’t delay.

Thanks!-Digital Punch TV

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Digital Punch vLog – Episode 16

Digital Punch – Episode_16 – Show Summary

Hello kids. Ready for the next installment of Digital Punch, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and a bunch of random fun along the way? Well if you are, big #16 is ready for your immediate consumption!

Our first story is about the world’s most outrageous item that is available for purchase online. I used to think this honor belonged to cars, refrigerators and sofas. I was wrong. How about a hydraulic lift that can hoist a school bus into the air, or anything else for that matter that is 40,000 pounds or less. A company called Bend Pak makes these lifts which come in all shapes, sizes and prices. If on the off chance you find yourself in need of one of these mega lifters, check the wide selection of them on ShopLocal.com

Next up, we show you the tribute video that Harrison Ford and Sandra Bullock created to pay honor to all the little people that work in Hollywood that make movie magic actually happen. This short montage was suppose to be shown during the Oscars, but the producers of the Academy Awards pulled it last minute. Don’t fret First Grip or Best Boy, we salute you!

Finally we show you what can be done with a simple dry erase board and a cheap camcorder. This short stop motion film clip really does open up many creative possibilities and a whole new digital canvas. Incredible.

Once again, we would love to hear from so take a few seconds out of your busy day and send us an email. Thanks!-Digital Punch TV

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Digital Punch vLog – Episode 12

Note: If you are having issues trying to watch this QuickTime video, try our flash-based playerDigital Punch – Episode_12 – Show Summary

Hello Boys and Girls, welcome to episode #12 of Digital Punch, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and a bunch of random fun along the way.

So you like playing ping pong (or as the true geek likes to point out, Table Tennis). Well, have we got the perfect thing for you. Enter Robo-Pong robot, an automated device that has ball capture and return capabilities. The best parallel of what a ping pong robot is and does can be found in the world of tennis. Perhaps you’ve seen a tennis ball machine that shoots balls at you from the other side of the net. A ping pong robot (or ping pong launcher, ping pong machine, etc) is similar, but actually does a lot more than a tennis ball machine. To learn more about this amazing robot or to watch some other product demo video visit the Robo-Pong website. So one of the fun parts of being part of the new media revolution where everyone is a content producer is that we can collaborate and share ideas, content and audiences with other cool shows out there on the WWW. Podcast Salad is just one of these great partners that we have – Thanks Katie (wink) and CleverMedia TV. This show is a video podcast about other video podcasts. It is definitely a great way to keep up-to-date of what new video podcasts are out there. It is really wonderful to have a show about other shows, as there is so much content out there, you really need a filter or guide to help you find the most interesting stuff out there.In other news, the Digital Punch team will be covering all things SuperBowl related in our next episode – #13 (stay tunned!). Since Benjamin is a die-hard Bears fan and Patrick is a born and breed Colts fan, we promise to do a fair and impartial job of covering the largest sporting event of the year. P.S. – Go Colts! Finally, we answer your comments & questions, as well as introduce you to our latest Digital Punch guest co-host, Mike Strama. Seriously, getting emails and comments from you all is the best part of the show – so keep them coming! Would you like to be our next guest co-host? Then send us an email with “Digital Punch Co-Host” in the subject line. We’ll take it from there.Thanks!-Digital Punch TV

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Digital Punch vLog – Episode 11

Note: If you are having issues trying to watch this QuickTime video, try our flash-based playerDigital Punch – Episode_11 – Show Summary:

Hello Boys and Girls, welcome to episode #11 of Digital Punch, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and a bunch of random fun along the way.

In this episode we dive into Apple’s announcement of the upcoming iPhone. This high powered phone does it all (including doubling as an expresso maker). Here are the specs: It features a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and quad-band GSM radio with EDGE. It also runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes. Sweet huh? To see the iPhone in action be sure to check out these two short videos . The first video is by Christopher DeSantis with design by Gregory DeSantis. The second video has Phil Schiller of Apple showing John Blackstone of CBS what this new breakthrough device is all about.MySpace and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced this week that amateur video makers may submit their work to a MySpace Emmy page, where it can be entered for a “Broadband Emmy”. Find the details in this latest episode.

We bring you a very important breaking news story this week, as well as introduce you to our latest Digital Punch guest co-host, Jason Lord. Would you like to be our next guest co-host? Then send us an email with “Digital Punch Co-Host” in the subject line. We’ll take it from there.

Thanks!-Digital Punch TV

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P.S. As promised during episode #11, here is the list of all the equipment that we use here at Digital Punch TV and a rough estimated cost. In most cases, we bought bottom-of-the-line stuff so as to keep the overall costs down. Since this project is all about video on the web, you really don’t need super HD quality, as your videos get compressed down to very small sizes (we use QuickTime H.264 for all of our compression)

1. Green Screen & Stand – $100
2. Five Cheap High Wattage Tripod Lights (needed to do real-time chroma keying) – $200
3. Wide Angle Clip-On Lens – $20
4. Cheap Aluminum Tripod – $30
5. Seinnheiser Shotgun Microphone W/ Phantom Power Adapter – $400
6. Canon Elura DV Camcorder With FireWire Output – $550
7. Apple G5 Workstation W/ 19” LCD Monitor – $(We already had this stuff laying around)
8. VideoCue Pro Teleprompter & Video Capture Software – $90
9. iMovie Editing Software (part of iLife) – $79
10. QuickTime Pro – $30
11. Pair of red boxing gloves (that’s the most important part) – $Priceless

Digital Punch vLog – Episode 10

Note: If you are having issues trying to watch this QuickTime video, try our flash-based playerDigital Punch – Episode_10 – Show Summary:

Hello Boys and Girls, ready for the wackiest episode of Digital Punch ever? Well, in episode #10 (yes, we are now in double digits!) of Digital Punch TV, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and random fun, we bring you the top 10 crazy USB devices. You won’t believe the things you can plug into your computer.

1. USB Mini Desktop Aquarium
2. USB Mug Warmer
3. USB Butt (chair) Cooler
4. USB Hamster Wheel
5. USB Flower Pot Speaker
6. USB Heated Slippers
7. USB Heated Gloves
8. USB Thumb Drive (literally)
9. USB Fundue
10. USB Duck-Shaped Vacuum Cleaner

We also visit Meebo.com, the online instant message service (Thanks Nikko @ ChefTalk.com for suggesting the story). With Meebo you can instant message using your buddy list from anywhere. No installs, no software needed, and it’s free!

Are you ready for 3 stupid jokes? I hope so. They are stupid, but I bet they’ll make you laugh. If not, leave us your stupid joke in the comments section below.

Last week we asked our viewers (you!) to send us their New Years resolutions, so in this episode we read the best of the best. Do you have a New Years resolution? Have your already broken one? Leave a comment and let us know.

And finally, we introduced our first Digital Punch guest co-host. Her name is Annalise Nelson-Balock and she is from Lyons, IL. Also to make good on a promise made during the episode, make sure you check out the band Beard (Annalise did a shout-out during the show). Would you like to be our next guest co-host? Then send us an email with “Digital Punch Co-Host” in the subject line. We’ll take it from there.

Thanks!-Digital Punch TV

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Digital Punch vLog – Episode 09

Digital Punch – Episode_09 – Show Summary:

In this 9th episode of Digital Punch TV, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and random fun, we introduce the Solio Hybrid Solar Charger. It’s the charger that needs no wall to plug into and can charge almost every type of electronics you own, including fish finders (I know you really were worried about that).

We also asked for you to send us your New Year’s resolutions. We will read the best of them on-air during the next show. Promise.

To celebrate “You” being named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, we had our first in-studio interview with… you. This is a must watch interview, trust us. (Also you might want to watch this interesting video with the founders of YouTube in the garage where it all started. Talk about humble beginnings to multi-billionaires!)Would you like to appear in an episode of Digital Punch? Well, you can! If you can make it downtown Chicago on a Friday afternoon, then you are eligible. Just send an email to digitalpunch@gmail.com with “Digital Punch Co-Host” in the subject line. As we usually do, we devoted time to your questions, comments and feedback. We value your feedback so please e-mail us, leave a comment/question or subscribe to our show!Thanks!-Digital Punch

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Digital Punch vLog – Episode 08

Note: If you are having issues trying to watch this QuickTime video, try our flash-based playerDigital Punch – Episode_08 – Show Summary:In the eighth installment of Digital Punch, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and random weirdness, we present a special holiday present to you, the viewer (as we will not be releasing a regular full-length show due to the holiday break). So without further ado boys and girls, get ready for your gripping treat…

A blooper reel full of all the flubs, outtakes and screw ups that the crew here at DP have recorded over the last seven episodes. You can witness Benjamin saying some of the most ridiculous things ever such as frik, barf, biscuits, girgle, flubber, crud pot, a-burp, craps, flibbage, goof and many many more.

As always, email us with your show ideas, questions or comments. We really do read and respond to each email. Honest, I swear.Thanks For Watching!-Digital Punch

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Digital Punch vLog – Episode 07

Note: If you are having issues trying to watch this QuickTime video, try our flash-based playerDigital Punch – Episode_07 – Show Summary:In this episode of Digital Punch, the vlog that features breaking tech news, cool product reviews and random fun, we bring you 10 cool gift ideas for $30 and under. So without further ado, we are proud to introduce you to the:• WiFi Finder• Lazer Trip Wire• Marshmallow Blaster• Nano Flip Case• Walkie-Talkie Wristwatches• Parking Timer Keychain• Massaging Slippers• Quik Pod• Handheld Sudoku• www.networkforgood.org to give a gift to a charity in someone else’s name.We also follow-up on three stories we’ve previously brought you on Digital Punch. First, the NBA announced they will be returning to the original leather ball later this season, PlayStation has announced that the PS3 will not play many PS2 games, and talk about the perils of the new Wii controller.As we usually do, we also devoted time to your questions, comments and feedback. If you’d like to be included in our next show, please e-mail us, leave a comment/question or subscribe to our show!Thanks!-Digital Punch

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