Powerbag is offering some pretty cool products for our high battery consumption needs. Their bags range from backpacks to messenger bags to traveling briefcases that have wheels.

The bag that they sent me is the Business Class Pack backpack. After unboxing the pack I looked over the entire bag and opened all of the different zipper compartments there are 6 outer compartments in all. There is a small compartment in the front that has mini and micro usb plugs and also a iPhone, iPod, iPad plug. All of the cables run into a different area that holds the battery dock and battery. The battery dock is accessible inside one of the larger compartments then inside a zipper pouch. The battery is very easy to connect to the dock with a simple click.  They really covered a lot of area with this bag. You have many compartments for multiple uses including specific compartments for a notebook computer and a padded compartment for your glasses.

This bag is airport security Checkpoint Friendly with it’s FlyFlat design. The bag zips in half to go through scanners so you don’t have to remove anything for a hassle free trip.

A wall power adapter is provided to charge the battery in the pack. There is a small waterproof connector on the bottom corner where the plug is inserted. The Powerbag logo on the front of the bag is actually a button, when pressed there are 4 led lights to show power level and charging status. The LEDs are somewhat difficult to see in daylight but very easy to see indoors or at low light. The battery is 6000mAh Lithium Polymer rated to charge the average cellphone 4 times before the battery is depleted. Additional batteries in multiple capacities can be purchased from Powerbag.

Device Compatibility

Powerbag is able to charge almost any USB-powered device including most smartphones and many tablets. AC powered devices such as laptops and some tablets are not supported. The following tablets are compatible:

• Amazon Kindle™ (All generations)
• Barnes & Noble NOOK™
• Samsung Galaxy Tab™ – The Galaxy Tab requires a unique USB power source to charge at full speed. Powerbag will supply only 500mA (similar to computer charging) to your tablet. During this time, the Galaxy Tab may state that it is not charging, when in fact it really is.
• *Tablets must be charged with their own USB cable through Powerbag’s on-board USB port.

The following Apple^® products are compatible:

• iPad^® and iPad 2
• iPod touch^® (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation)
• iPhone^® 4, iPhone^® 3GS, iPhone^® 3G, iPhone^®
• *iPod nano^® and iPad^® may be charged with their own USB cable through Powerbag’s on-board USB port.

Specifications

Interior dimensions of compartments in bag:

• Laptop – 15″ x 11.5″ x 1.5″
• Tablet – 10″ x 9.75″ x .5″

Exterior Dimensions:

• 12″ x 8″ x 18″
• Weight: 3.11 lbs

• Dedicated tablet compartment
• Holds up to a 15″ laptop
• Battery: 6000mAh Lithium Polymer, weight: 0.4 lbs
• Input: 12VDC, 1.2A
• Micro-USB, Mini-USB Output: 5VDC, 800mA combined
• Apple Connector Output: 5VDC, 1A
• USB Output: 5VDC, 1-2.1A

Wrapping up, this pack is definitely a great addition to any travel or for use on campus. Great build quality and very comfortable to carry arround. This one is going on my recommendation list. You can pick one up at Powerbag for $179.99

Imagine someone created a fully illustrated history of armed conflict, then formatted it like a roleplaying book and you’d have some idea what the Star Wars: Essential Guide to Warfare is about.

Written by Jason Fry and Paul Urquhart, this 245 page tome covers everything in the Star Wars universe ranging from Before the Republic all the way to the New Jedi Order and beyond. It has historian accounts of most of the major conflicts in the history of the galaxy, bios of major leaders on all sides of the conflicts, and it waxes philosophical about who should have done what differently here and there that makes you feel like it was written by an actual historian.

What’s that? It was? Urquhart is a pseudonym for an actual, anonymous medieval historian? That makes a lot sense.

There are two things that, I think, stand out about this book. The first is the illustrations. A crack team of artists clearly having fun in the Star Wars sandbox provided beautiful artwork for pretty much every page. It’s gorgeous and glossy and I could easily accidentally spend an hour just flipping through it, staring at pictures, and reading the accompanying material. In fact, that’s actually what I did do as soon as the book was handed to me.

The other thing I absolutely love is that characters, situations, and conflicts from The Clone Wars have made their way into this book with the same importance, reverence, and treatment as any other conflict in the galaxy. The movies, books, and comics are always all well-represented in books like this, but it felt like this was the first time The Clone Wars has really gotten its due. And it was great to see new and different artists take on characters from the show. It’s been oddly compartmentalized, only seeing these new characters in the animation and art style of the show, so it was refreshing to see paintings of guys like Admiral Trench.

The writing in the book was very good, too.

My biggest complaint about this book is that it feels like it should have been published by West End Games, just so it could have had all of the RPG material in the back of the book. I’m not an avid roleplayer (in fact, I haven’t in many, many years), but I still love flipping through RPG sourcebooks, both for inspiration and information. Giving characters stat sheets allows you to compare them on a much more objective scale than the words of a history wonk.

All in all, I’d say that’s a pretty minor complaint.

The book came out in the last couple of weeks and you can pick it up on Amazon for less than $20. It’s worth it.

Just in time for the Easter holiday, Universal Studios’ Hop is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.  The movie tells the story of how young E.B. (presumably short for ‘Easter Bunny’) is the reluctant heir to the Easter Bunny legacy and all the responsibilities that come with it.  His home is the aptly named Easter Island, home to mysterious statues and a magical place where holiday candy is lovingly made and quality controlled.  There are jelly beans, peeps, and my personal favorite—chocolate bunnies.  (For the record, I like the hollow milk chocolate ones by Palmer with those colored candy eyes).  This candy facility would put Willy Wonka’s to shame, and the animation in these sequences is incredible.  Plus, the cuteness of a young E.B. makes me want him as a huggable plushie.  In fact, one of the best scenes of the movie is when he pretends to be a wind-up toy.  His appearance just screams cuddly.

However, our fluffy hero is rebellious and has no desire to follow in his father’s rabbity footsteps.  His dream is to become a drummer instead, and he flees to Hollywood in hopes of making it a reality.  Once there, he meets Fred (James Marsden).  Fred is unemployed, a burden to his parents, and searching for his own dream.  They immediately form a love-hate relationship.

It’s unsurprising that this movie blends CGI and live action, since it’s directed by Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks), but I much preferred the wondrous computerized world of Easter Island over the live action Hollywood.  The chicks Carlos and Phil dwell alongside the bunnies on Easter Island, making it even more appealing.  These guys really should have had more screen time.  I foresee seeing more of them in the future.  Phil (pictured below) is the not-too-bright subordinate of Carlos, who is monitoring the disappearance of E.B. very closely.  He uses the situation to his advantage and tries to get closer to E.B.’s distraught father.

The appearance by David Hasselhoff didn’t really thrill me, but this movie is really very cute in spite of that.  Warning, though.  It is also very cheesy at times, and Marsden’s acting is a little over the top.  Still, it’s a film about not giving up on your dreams and the importance of loved ones, and I’m sure it will become a holiday tradition in many families.

If you haven’t checked out the new Geek and Sundry Youtube channel (created by the producers of The Guild), then let me be the first to tell you that you are definitely missing out! Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton and crew have yet again struck geek gold with their new lineup of programming, and I’m here today to bring you my review of their new show, Table Top.

The show takes a fairly simple premise – the playing and reviewing of a table top game – and turns it into something way more entertaining than I had originally envisioned. I’ve seen reviews and play-throughs of board games and the like on Youtube before, and they never seem to hit the right balance of both entertaining and informative. So, when I watched the first episode of Table Top, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they’ve actually put together a really great show!

Episode One begins with a basic description of gameplay and some general rules. They’ve started with Small World – a game that combines the military action of Risk with a really awesome fantasy world complete with a diverse selection of races and classes that you can change between throughout the game. The episode itself is broken up with fun description slides, light music and the actual gameplay – complete with fun and geeky comments from both Wheaton (the host) and the players – Grant Imahara (Mythbusters), Sean Plott (Day9TV) and Jenna Busch (geek blogger, writer and host). The flow and tone of the actual gameplay reminds me a bit of the Penny Arcade/Dungeons and Dragons Podcast (which Wheaton was also a part of, and is fantastic, btw).

As for the conversation and interaction between the players – it’s very honest and a lot like your average group of geeks getting together to play a table-top game. I feel this aspect of the show is especially refreshing and important because as a geek-girl gamer I can both relate to and enjoy what’s going on during the episode. Also, I happen to find it pretty important that a show doesn’t just market the hell out of something to me, and this show does a great job of not just trying to “sell us” on the game. The episode ends with the “Loser’s Couch” which is a fun take on the post-game conversation many of us have after getting completely owned.

Most importantly – it’s fun to watch! I’m really looking forward to the next episode (April 20th: Settlers of Katan – which such an awesome game!)

Watch Episode One now and let us know what you think below!

Oh, and a quick note to the producers of Geek and Sundry – if you’re looking for some Big Shiny Robots to participate, Swankmotron would be an excellent addition to an episode of your show (have you seen how much geeky stuff he’s involved in on the interwebs?), and I live in Los Angeles and work for a nearby video game developer…sooo…. give us a call!

You may not get quite the same impression from the HBO Series but the Song of Ice and Fire books are filled with descriptions of foods and feasts. Lamprey Pie and Roast Aurrochs and Onion Soup. Tons of food, Mr. Martin definitely has a spot in his heart for medieval food. Alan Kistler of the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast realized this and wrote a great cookbook based on the show. I was excited to dig into one of the meals but I ran into a wall, my kitchen is too damn small for any serious cooking. The description of Sansa’s Buttermilk Biscuits sounded amazing but I didn’t have room to roll out the dough, and my oven has some bad hotspots. I resigned to making simple things. A Westerosian Fried Breakfast and Lannister Beef With Horseradish.

The breakfast is easy although I cut out the sausage, I don’t need 2 pork products in my already unhealthy breakfast. I fried up the bacon, then the eggs and nice thick Sourdough bread in the bacon grease. Really not so different than my usually weekend breakfast, just much greasier. I’ve never fried bread in bacon grease but damn it was tasty, I might have to do this while camping when I need a hearty meal. There were a few other solid breakfasts, cream of wheat and boiled eggs, but fried eggs are my thing. A bit of black coffee and I was feeling great.

Dinner was much more involved. The recipe in the book was much larger than we needed and had the ability to cook so it was cut in half. Lannister Beef with Horseradish is basically just Rump Roast and veggies in a slow cooker but it turned out pretty great. Because we had to adjust the recipe the meat got a bit overcooked but the gravy made from the drippings helped out with that. I was a little worried about the horseradish but I couldn’t really taste it at all and we didn’t cut the amount of that at all. I’d double it for next time. All the vegetables turned out great and I tried a Rutabaga for the first time. 

The book is filled with mouthwatering recipes and I wish I had a kitchen that could handle some of them. There are a few recipes for ribs that I would jump on if I had room for a grill or would modify for a smoker. If you are feeling adventurous and have the resources there are also recipes for venison, aurrochs, pickled pigs feet, snails, locusts, and elk.

Kistler also included a desserts and drinks section with lots of beer recipes I would love to brew. I may have to talk Arse-bot into trying Direwolf Ale. There are a few cocktails but none of them sounded appetizing to me, interesting looking but not my kind of drink. If I had any creme de menthe around I would go for the Pyromancers’ Wildfire, Grand Marnier, gold tequila and creme de menthe layered and ignited.

If you want to get your hands on a copy it’s available from Amazon
The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook: From Direwolf Ale to Auroch Stew – More Than 150 Recipes from Westeros and Beyond

I was very wary of the new Muppets film, but when it came out, I was completely won over. Jason Segal proved that he really understood the characters and the world and helped created a movie that appealed to Muppet Fans new and old alike.

From my original review of the film:

Segel and crew did an amazing job replicating the feel of the old Muppets at the same time making it feel relevant. The entire movie is adorable and sacharine sweet and puts a smile on your face the whole damn time. In fact, the opening song (Life’s a Happy Song) puts that smile on your face and you never lose it through the whole movie.

It’s just that perfect.

And did I mention the music is fantastic? New songs were written by Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame and you can tell. They’re all fantastic but the solos he gives Chris Cooper and Amy Adams stand out more amongst a crop of stand outs.

And did I mention that it’s funny? I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in a movie in a long, long time. But it wasn’t just me laughing, my kids were dying, too. It mastered the all-ages comedy bit in a way that I thought only Pixar was capable of.

My only complaint about the film? Mickey Rooney had more lines than Rizzo the Rat. That’s it. That’s the only thing I found odd about this film.

After repeated viewings of the film in the theatre, and a purchase of the soundtrack, I counted the days before my copy of the Blu-ray would arrive. It wouldn’t have mattered if there were no special features of any kind, I really just loved this film and couldn’t wait to watch it more.

But, for this Blu-ray edition of the movie, they really pulled out all the stops. From behind the scenes documentaries and deleted scenes to hilarious intermissions and sight gags galore, they made this one of the most must have Blu-ray discs in the history of the format.

The behind the scenes documentary is partly the real thing, but it’s mainly performance comedy. It’s more Muppets doing their thing: being hilarious and entertaining.

The deleted scenes were shocking. I can’t believe how much hilarious material was actually cut from the film. More than that, I had a hard time believing how many celebrity cameos they cut. Billy Crystal, Rob Cordry, extended cameos with other celebrities…  I can see the delicate balance they were walking, though. The film was perfectly paced the way it was, would the extra cameos bog it down or slow down the pacing? Certainly. But that’s why I’m glad we have this Blu-ray edition. Now I can have my cake and eat it, too. The cameos are available to watch and the film doesn’t suck because of them.

Perhaps my favorite feature of this Blu-ray is the pause button.

Go ahead, dig your Blu-ray out and pause the film.

Yes, that’s right. You’re treated to another show. There must be as much new Muppet material on this disc as there is of the movie proper, and it couldn’t be more welcome.

When you add in a free download of the soundtrack (granted, I already bought it, but it’s a nice bonus) and a digital version of the film, this Blu-ray is a must.

The price comes in at around $26 on Amazon and it’s more than worth it.

I am Alive is a rarity in the gaming world, one that tries to scare me, not with monsters, but three generic bad guys and a single arrow for my bow. This simple game has a crazy way of giving me more anxiety than most horror titles. It deals out these moments of vulnerability through the use of one of the most primitive and effective tools in gaming, limits. By giving the player limits you force them to think through problems that most games in this generation simply allow you to shoot through. By giving you incredibly limited amounts of ammo, supplies, health, and even strength you can create games like this, ones that make you cautious to go across a street.

This game starts with your character, Adam, arriving home in search of his family after spending a year crossing a post apocalyptic united states on foot. The world is a collection of mostly climbable disheveled ruins occasionally shrouded in a poisonous dust. The decrepit state of the world is blamed on what is only vaguely called the event. You learn during the opening stage that your character is quite the climber but that his stamina is like most men, limited. You must manage your characters efforts correctly in order to survive, anything but standing and walking depletes your stamina which will only regenerate when you stop running, climbing, jumping, or in a lot of cases holding on for dear life. Simply standing in the toxic fog covering the city streets will also peck away at your stamina. An anxiously paced soundtrack can be heard growing stronger in the game like the cold fingers of death tickling your spine as your stamina depletes. You can keep climbing after your stamina is gone, but this extra effort comes at a high cost; for every second that you over exert yourself, your ability to keep stamina in reserve will be decreased. Doing this will likely force you to use items which could have been used at more life threatening moments in the future or to save dying victims and citizens you come across throughout the game. But with so much thought being put into the climbing and physical exertions of simply traveling through the ruined city of Haventon, the question springs to mind, How do you fight?

Climbing Mechanic: Strong

Two of the most important principles you’ll need to understand to survive in this game are your distance to target, and the ability to bluff. The Fallout 3 rejects that are your only enemies throughout the game really seem to hate your guts, they will kill you on sight just to lay claim to a bottle of water or some delicious rat meat. Your tools for survival against the redneck remnants of Haventon will consist of a Machete, a pistol, and a bow and arrow (one arrow). The machete is only good for a surprise attack or a one-on-one fight, anything else spells death. The pistol can easily become a paperweight if your quick on the trigger from playing too much Call of Duty, as you will rarely have even four bullets at your disposal. But the gun has a feature in this game that is rarely if ever used in gaming, intimidation. Just pointing your gun will stop most enemies dead in their tracks, this is so rare in games that is at first utterly baffling; your enemies don’t want to die. There are tough guys though who, even at gunpoint, talk like they’re bulletproof, prove these morons wrong or you will die. You can bluff these enemies with an empty gun if it’s all you’ve got, but you better have a plan that doesn’t include trying to fire an empty weapon (it won’t go well). And your bow is by far the best weapon, quiet, long range, intimidating, and the most important thing is that you can reclaim a used arrow. Using these weapons and their strengths in concert is vital to surviving in this game.

Combat Mechanic: Strong

Story is by far the weakest link in this game, usually I consider this a deal breaker, but in this case it can feel a lot like less may be more. The story feels honest most of the time, since you play a decent guy, it’s reasonable that you get caught up in helping people, which is a grand majority of the story. Unfortunately, finding your family is put on the back burner for most of the game, which makes you wish that nice guy Adam would try prioritizing more. It also makes me ask how did this guy get across the entire country in a year, if all he’s doing is bailing people out with his time and supplies.

Story: Weak

If my review for I Am Alive reads more like a strategy guide, there is a reason for that. Strategy is all this game is, after every ordeal you will find yourself repeating the title in your head, “I Am Alive!”. This game succeeds in building an appreciation for resources, more than any game in recent memory, and is a must have for any survival game fan.

9/10

Obviously I want to hear other opinions so dish’em out. And by the way if you disagree with me, that’s ok, it’s not a contest. I’m just right.

Do you like epicness? Of course you do. (more…)

I had the chance to stop by the iSheildz booth this last January while I was covering CES. Their booth was one not to forget, with their products on display going through grueling tests of strength. One part of their booth had a paitball gun shooting at the military grade film, while another part of the booth had a Dremel trying its best to get at an iPad screen through their protective film.

At CES protective films and cases are no stranger, it seems like every few booths was trying to promote their own version. What really caught my eye with the iShieldz products was when the president and COO of the company, Joshua Woodcook took me aside and pulled the tab on their great new product.  You pull a tab on the box to reveal a plastic tray that snugly holds your iPhone. Also included is a roller for application and a screen cloth to clean off your screen just before you apply the iSheildz. The whole process took me less than 30 seconds. This applicator is simply genious! I have become a master of installing screen shields the old fashioned way after hours of trial and error. With this new iShieldz Dry Seal technology in just seconds time anyone can get the perfect alignment, perfect fit with no bubbles all while using NO WATER.

I definitely recommend this product. I have used many screen shields ranging from the cheap ones that sell at Walmart to stuff from Zagg. I never had much success with the shields from Zagg, they never stayed on long enough. My skin of choice before the iShieldz was Phantom Skinz, with close comparison I give the iShieldz a slight edge for being slightly less grippy on the surface and  having noticeably less orange peel look compared to others I have tested. I give the Dry Seal a huge edge on the install factor with it’s user friendly operation. iShieldz raised the bar on this one!

We are giving away 5 of these new Dry Seal systems to our readers. They will work on the iPhone 4 and 4s. All you need to do is post a comment down below with your real email address. The winners will be selected randomly and notified by April 10th. If you want to pick one of their products up you can find them here.

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Syndicate was a great sci-fi strategy game for the PC back in 1993 (or so I’ve been told), but how does this classic stand up to being reinterpreted as a contemporary sci-fi shooter? Pretty well actually. A lot of the fans of this ancient title may be more than a little miffed about the face-lift, and there isn’t much here that will sway them; the bottom line is that this game is way different from the original. As someone looking at it through fresh eyes I can tell you that the game is very smartly designed with fun controls and great combat scenarios that go beyond the standard hip-high cover we’ve all come to expect from this generation of shooters.

Mechanics:

Shooting is pretty straight-forwardbut, the use of your DART 6 Chip implants allow you to overcome obstacles and enemies in a variety of unique and entertaining ways. Enemies with different implants can be hacked and forced to assist you, once these reluctant allies have helped you finish off their friends they will politley kill themselves. Enemy soldiers and flying drones with shield technology that is otherwise inpenetrable must be hacked on the fly so you can get off a shot that will injure or hopefully kill. The chip even allows you to send enemy missiles flying back at the source. Survival requires you to get good at reprogramming turrets and unlocking doors. All these crazy tech tricks cost you time, you must have the target in your sights long enough to perform these hacks. These time sucking hacks help add to tension of being under assault by five or six advancing troops and drones, and greatly increase the satisfaction of defeating them in smart, creative ways which would have otherwise been simply monotonous and generic.

In addition to all the creative and entertaining hacks comes another implant generated power that slows time and damage taken, while increasing the effectiveness of my weapons. With just a tap on the shoulder button I’m suddenly playing a sci-fi version of Max Payne, it’s a welcome addition to the gameplay even if it’s not the most creative feature here. Weapons in Syndicate are pretty entertaining as well. I’m a big fan of the lock on feature with one rifle that lets me send rounds into a target while we’re both behind cover. With hacker skills that put Anonymous and Lulzsec to shame, techno-bullet time and an assortment of pleasing weaponry, Syndicate really becomes the game I always dreamed Deus Ex could be.

Boss Battles are usually against agents of rival corporations with their own crazy implanted powers. Beating these meta-humans spells upgrades for you, since after you promote them to the next plane of existence you extract the implanted chip from their dented skulls. The boss battles themselves can be entertaining since they vary in tactics from fight to fight. That being said, only two really stand out in my mind, they could have benefited from a little more developer attention.

Story:

This is by far the weakest point in the campaign, which is unfortunate when so much attention was clearly paid to making the combat a blast. It’s predictable, boring, and generally well voice-acted thanks to the talents of Rosario Dawson and Brian Cox. When you’re spending the money to bring in actors of that kind of caliber, I usually expect the game to have a story that can at least stand up to most if not all saterday morning cartoons. You play as Kilo, a corporate agent for Eurocorp who with his experimental DART 6 chip implant goes forth to accomplish missions for the betterment of the company, until the shocking realization comes over him that the company that has been sending him out to steal, kill, and kidnap is actually evil. There are a couple of little details but the punch line is you’re gonna quit your job.

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer in Syndicate is limited to a co-op mode but can be pretty entertaining if you remember to have three of your friends join you for it, two-player cooperative play is challenging. The co-op is entirely seperate from the story in the campaign but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You get nine maps to perform retrievals and assassinations and it can get a little tiresome. But with a few more upgrades for your implants and a bunch of new hacking apps it can be a pleasing if not repetitve experience.

With a campaign that lasts roughly nine hours Syndicate is a pretty impressive game for one that started twenty years ago in a different genre. and although the story has a climax about as predictable as a man jumping off the empire state building, the combat with its unique challenges more than makes up for it.