Jim Washkau Jr. » News

Amazon Kindle 2

Jim — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:17:33 +0000

So the other day I got my Kindle 2 from Amazon. I was a little skeptical of e-Readers but for the price I got it for it was worth a try. I figured if I didn’t like it I could sell it and make $50 regardless. Anyway my Kindle has rekindled (no pun intended!) my passion for reading. The e-Ink screen is not like an average LCD screen on a laptop or cell phone. The Kindle screen is identical to reading from an actual text book. No eye strain or blinding back lights. It is super light weight, thin, gets free wireless internet, and has a battery life of 10 days. The additional features the Kindle 2 provides over reading traditional paper books make reading much more enjoyable and convenient; not to mention you can load downloaded documents onto the Kindle for free…hint hint.

Interested in buying one yourself? Use this link

New Road Bike

Jim — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:23:14 +0000

After living in the city for over 2 years now I finally got myself a good road bike. Thanks to a friendly worker over at Performance Bikes I learned what size frame I needed and what parts make a quality road bike. Road Bikes feature drop handlebars and many more gears than their mountain bike counterparts and make traveling among the city that much easier. I did some research and finally purchased the Motobecane Vent Noir. The Vent Noir features the Shimano 105 derailleur, a carbon fork to help absorb shocks, and a bunch of other good parts for a bike under $1,000. Overall I am very satisfied with my bike and look forward to exploring the city more.

Journey Through Rausch Creek

Jim — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:39:36 +0000

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Google Wave

Jim — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:44:50 +0000

For those of you who don’t know about it, Google Wave is a self-described “personal communication and collaboration tool” announced by Google. The easiest way to describe it would be a mix between Facebook, Twitter, and WebEx. I have had an account for a few weeks now (courtesy of MickSchroeder) and want to give out all my extra invites. Use the links below to enable your Google account with Google Wave. They are one time use only.

Google Wave Invite #1
Google Wave Invite #2
Google Wave Invite #3
Google Wave Invite #4
Google Wave Invite #5

Apple Macbook Pro

Jim — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:43:38 +0000

I finally caved in and bought myself the new generation of Apple’s Macbook pro series. With the brand new integrated battery and aluminum unibody case it just seems to overshadow all other laptops on the market. I believe I got a decent deal on it too with the student discount as well as a free iPod touch and $30 printer (after mail-in rebate) which I plan to sell on eBay anyway. I made a HD unboxing video of the Macbook Pro you can watch below too.

Canon Rebel XSi Unboxing

Jim — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:02:56 +0000

A few days ago I upgraded my Canon Rebel XS to the Rebel XSi. While there is really little difference between the two models getting the Rebel XSi ($600 retail) for $50 less than the XS($500 retail) is one hell of a deal I could not pass up. I may have even bought the last XSi on clearance in all of NJ too! The XSi has 12.1MP compared to the XS 10.2MP in addition to a larger screen, a few extra shooting modes, and a faster FPS.

Free 4pk Amp.

Jim — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:11:28 +0000

It’s true, the Free 4 pack of Amp energy drink coupon works, well some of the time. The coupon is valid until December 2009 or until some kid ruins it for everybody by cleaning out an entire store. I do not know if these are real or fake so use them with due diligence.

Update: Coupons removed, seems like Pepsi is cracking down hard on this one.

Here is my success and failure list.

Target: Worked no problems. Only had 1 box left.
Wal-Mart: Had to get manager: Worked. Dropped off in car and bought 2nd pack.
Walgreens: Worked, still had to pay $1.50 though.
Shop-Rite: Had to get manager. Said coupon was fraudulent. FAIL
AP&P: None in stock.
Rite-Aid: Doesn’t stock them.

Warning: I did not create these coupons and if you get arrested for using fraudulent coupons I am not liable and you’re a dumbass.

Canon Rebel XS DSLR

Jim — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:48:09 +0000

Just got my new Canon Rebel XS DSLR 10.2MP camera today via UPS overnight. I used whats left of my Amazon gift cards so I got a pretty good price on it too. I don’t know much about photography however I have heard that this is a great camera to learn on. Now I just need to buy different lenses and all that shizz. I will probably be making a new page on my site with some of the pictures I have/will be taking.

Sample Pictures:
Update: Gallery http://jimwashkau.com/photography/

Amazon WTF?

Jim — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:46:39 +0000

So I was just going browsing my Amazon associate account stats when something strange caught my eye. Now I, of all people, realize that the internet is a strange and pathetic place where morals, ethics, and simple common sense are completely meaningless but I can honestly say that for the first time in awhile this caught me by surprise. If you take a close look at the screen capture you will see that not only did somebody actually buy a bottle of fresh, warm, and apparently lucrative bottle of Wolf Urine but they bought 3 of them. That’s a grand total of 96 ounces of Wolf Urine. What possible use this so called product can actually serve is anybody’s guess, but I am really not going to complain as I have a feeling he will be buying more in the future.

Fixing Stuff

Jim — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:42:24 +0000

Consider this a fair warning; this isn’t anything particularly spectacular, interesting, or exciting but I know your probably going to read it anyway for some reason. Anyway, Yesterday I managed to fix both my somewhat older Asus S96j laptop and my 1995 Mitsubishi Montero. After sitting in the driveway all winter my Montero needed a few hoses replaced which was causing both a lack of power steering and brake pressure. It’s an easy fix…if you have the parts. After going to global Mitsubishi all the way down ’22 3 or 4 times I finally got all the parts specially ordered.My father and I installed them with little problems. Now I just need to sell it, anybody interested?

In addition to that, I also fixed my Asus 15.4″ S96j Laptop. Even though it’s an almost 3 year old laptop and I have already had to replace the screen, keyboard, power adapter, and battery I’m not giving up on it yet. With a core 2 duo processor, x1600 dedicated graphics card, and a 7200rpm hdd it rivals most modern day performance laptops; it gets a 4.9 rating in Windows 7, that’s damn good! Through normal wear and tear the ac power adapter tip soldering directly onto the motherboard stopped working after becoming loose so I could no longer power or charge it. My first attempt to fix this failed after I bought a new power tip but ended up doing a horrible solder job and screwed up the pins that hold it into place. So I ordered a new power tip again last week and hoped I could figure out a way to make it work. I ended up getting a drill and actually drilled through the motherboard in order to reseat the power tip. It was risky because if I scraped one trace line on the motherboard it would be ruined. I then filled the holes with some solder and to my surprised it powered on flawlessly. Now if I only had a use for 3 laptops…