The story of Brice Mellen of Lincoln Nebraska is one of the most amazing ones you will ever hear.  Brice has been blind since birth and has used his 17 years to learn to play video games.  Well, he doesn’t just play them, he is regularly beating opponents every day due to the skills he has learned over time.  Brice is a wizard at such games like Mortal Kombat and Soul Caliber 2 and cuts through his opponents like nobody’s business.  He regularly unnerves his opponents in the game center where he plays by turning around and playing with his back to the screen.  And then he cuts his sighted opponent down.  It shows you can do anything well if you work at it hard enough.

Blind since birth when his optic nerve didn’t connect because of Leber’s disease, Mellen honed his video game skills over the years through patient and not-so-patient playing, memorizing key joystick operations and moves in certain games, asking lots of questions and paying particular attention to audio cues.

Pretec has introduced a new 4 GB SD card that is a high speed addition to the company’s growing line of memory cards.  The 4 GB card has access speeds up to 20 MB per second making it one of the fastest cards on the market.  The new card will set you back $699, a price that will surely come down as the unit is mass produced.

(Slashphone via Gear Live)

The Technorati experience just got a little richer for those accessing the web from mobile devices with the introduction of Technorati Mobile.  The new mobile edition is formatted specifically for the small screens of handhelds and mobile phones and provides the same rich search capabilities of the main site.  Technorati is soliciting feedback from users of the new mobile site so it is your chance to make your opinions known.

As discussion has intensified over potential problems with the shuttle re-entry due to the foam problems I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed over NASA’s public grounding of the shuttles while Discovery is in space.  This is something that could surely have waited until the Discovery is safely back home.  I know that NASA is trying to be more open with the public but let’s give some consideration to the men and women up in space right now.  May they return safely and triumphantly.

So what’s the big news about a new review of the several years old Sharp Zaurus SL-5500?  The SL-5500 is antiquated by today’s PDA standards and even Sharp has released a couple of later models of the Linux-based PDA.  Readers may be interested in the Sharp SL-5500 because it is a very capable PDA that is available at geeks.com for $140 (refurbished, use promo code LINUXPDA).  Tux:Tops has published a new review of the Zaurus from the viewpoint of what consumers expect out of their PDAs today to determine if the cheap price of the SL-5500 makes it worth considering.  The review has a lot of pictures and gives an in-depth look at the areas in which the SL-5500 both shines and falls short so an informed decision can be made by prospective customers wanting a cheap but capable PDA.  The author’s findings may surprise some people:

So, for the kind of money Zaurus SL-5500 is offered these days, I would still get the Zaurus over the Zire 31 any time. Coupling the Zaurus with some of TheKompany’s software makes it a worthwhile purchase, even in 2005.

Alera Technologies announced the availability of the USB Copy Cruiser Plus (UCCP) that provides a direct USB to USB connection between two devices eliminating the need to connect either device to a computer to copy files back and forth.  The UCCP has two standard USB 2.0 ports and an 8 in 1 memory card reader integrated into the device.  There is a large LCD screen that provides information about the free space on both connected devices and progress information for data transfers.  The UCCP fits in your hand and is powered by 3 AAA batteries that last about 6 hours.  This is a really cool way to transfer files easily between a digital camera and a computer or other USB devices since it uses the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) for image transfers without needing additional drivers.

The USB Copy Cruiser Plus has an estimated street price of $80 and can read CF (Type I and II), SD, SM, MMC, MS, MSPRO and MD cards using the readers.

Tapwave has posted a notice on their website informing customers the Zodiac has been discontinued and that service and support are no longer available.  This is really sad as the Zodiac was one of the most innovative handheld devices to hit customer’s hands in a long time.  The Zodiac’s extensibility and combination of gaming and PIM functions were surely a forerunner to the hacks users are devising for the Sony PSP today.  The thriving Zodiac user community will no doubt continue to flourish but it’s too bad the device is now part of computing history. 

We are sorry to inform you that the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th 2005.

Resources that may still be helpful to you can be found at http://www.tapwave.com/resources and http://www.tapwave.com/support. This includes links to websites where you can find a variety of useful tips and information as well as purchase e-books, Audible books and magazines, Palm OS applications, Zodiac skins, and third party Tapwave Certified games.

Additional products, acessories, and game cards may still be available from COMPUSA, Fry’s, and J&R while supplies last.

We thank you for your past interest and support and apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. If you have an outstanding claim with the company, Ueker and Associates will be contacting you shortly.

Sincerely,
The Tapwave Team

MSNBC columnist Brad Stone pokes fun of his digital life and all the work, scheduling and planning that goes into maintenance of his high-tech gear.  It’s a very funny read so if you find yourself trying to find time to schedule that defrag or backup give it a read.  Here’s a snippet:

I am going to start a blog. Soon. Tomorrow. It will have photographs of my dog and incisive commentary about Cleveland sports teams. The blog will build a devoted audience and earn so much money from the banner ads of poker sites that I can initiate a new hobby: gambling on poker sites.

Rob Bushway has updated is first impressions of the Motion LE1600 Tablet PC and the result is a good review of the new slate from a user’s perspective.  Rob covers the slate, convertible keyboard, battery and even the bump case.  For a complete overview of the LE1600 don’t miss this review.

How does Rob think Motion did with this new Tablet PC?

They improved the speed and kept the fan noise level almost to nothing. Its’ thinner and lighter. Couple those improvements with the ability to add in the extended battery and not affect the dimensions of the tablet in any noticeable way, and you’ve got yourself a top-of-the-line tablet and the new standard in slate tablet pcs. Other OEMs should now be on notice.

I just got Skyped by Dave Ciccone who points me to a video demonstration he’s done showing how to capture podcasts directly onto the PSP.  This requires a new 2.0 ROM and of course a WiFi connection.  Cool stuff, Dave!