Here is my review of the Portal shirts available at the Valve Store.

I ordered the shirts and they arrived about two weeks later. The first thing I noticed was that the shirts feel incredibly soft. I looked back on the site and read “100% combed soft jersey cotton.” This is different than the other shirts on the site, which look and feel no different than your typical tee.

The designs on the Weighted Companion Cube Tribute Tee are taken right out of the game. The back reads,

The GLaDOS shirt has a picture of GLaDOS on the front and one of her eyes on the back. The color and feel of the cotton is the same as the first shirt.

I only have one complaint about these shirts. The images are slightly pixelated, as if made from a computer image that was blown up too much. I cannot decide if this is because Valve was lazy in the production of the shirts or if they were printed at the maximum resolution possible, which is just not that detailed.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I love these shirts. Because they are softer and thinner than normal shirts, I always wear an under shirt and I do not wear them for yard-work or other labor that would wear them out. However, they do look nicer than a regular tee, and because of that I can wear them in situations where dress is not formal, but I do not want to look like a slob. They are sleek and have a designer look and feel. They are high quality, which justifies the $25 price vs. the $20 price of other shirts on the site. If they are your taste, I recommend picking them up for yourself at http://store.valvesoftware.com.

And some more pics . . .

A bigger shot of the back of the cube shirt:

And the back of the GlaDos shirt:

In a previous post I revealed that I am working on some speakers. Well, not it is very obvious that I am building a set of Portal speakers from the game developed by Valve. I’ve been working hard on the Compaion Cube Subwoofer and here it is almost finished. I am going to add a few details this week and by this Saturday it should be done. The speakers that will go with it haven’t even been started, and details on them is still secret. All you can do for now is just enjoy what I give you.

I got all my parts from Parts Express. Here’s the sub amp and 8″ woofer.

I know what you really want. You want to see the sub box with a little more detail. Here’s the box painted up. It’s a little darker than I hoped, but there’s not a lot you can do without getting it custom painted at an autobody shop. Later this week I will add the EL wire and glue on all the corners. Then there is a little wiring, and screwing in the amp and woofer. Then the Subwoofer will be done!

The Boostaroo will give you a 12″ cord and the power to go for many more hours.

I could’ve resisted, but it was just too good to pass up.

The Boostaroo is a headphone amp/splitter that allows you to share music without having to divide the power from your device.

Read the tech specs from the site.

What does all this mean?

Well, normally when you get a headphone splitter, the power from your CD player/MP3 player gets divided up between the number of headphones. In essence, if two people are sharing headphones, they each get half the power they would have had.

Things are different with the Boostaroo. The signal from your device gets amplified. If another person plugs into the Boostaroo, the power stays the same. Your volume is just as high after they plug in as it was before, and their volume is equal to yours.

Why did I buy the Boostaroo? I looked at this product for a few years when I was in high school and always loved the idea, but never loved the $26 price tag, and never got it.

Another reason it was desirable for me was that I owned a pair of Zalman ZM-RS6F 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones, and I wanted to use all six speakers on the headphones while on trips.

So, the other day I was at the local Fred Meyer and I saw a boostaroo for $20. Six dollars less and no shipping talked me into getting it, even though my need for it now is practically zero. I got to the register and got some mystical $6 rebate on it and only paid $14.

To test it I used the Boostaroo with my Zalman surround phones with all jacks plugged in, and with my Ultraphones. The device itself is great. You can turn the volume from your CD or MP3 player down to save battery life on it and still get the same volume. Sound quality is not lost. There is a tiny bit of white noise that you get from the device, but you will only hear it if you are listening for it, if you are in a silent room, and if you have a pair of extremely nice headphones.

Testing the Zalman headphones is kindof unfair at this point. Judging the quality of a pair of headphones that you can buy for $40 against a pair that goes for $220 is a little unfair. The Zalman headphones a crap in comparison. I can’t go back from the amazing quality of the Ultraphones and be able to tell you the benefit of buying the Boostaroo and the Zalman ZM-RS6F 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones. There is just no comparison to a pair of really good headphones. However, The Zalman headphones sound infinitely better when all three plugs are being used with the boostaroo. There is a definite difference in the channels in the Zalman headphones. There’s a woofer, mid, and tweeter, and the headphones sound best when all speakers are being used. I would reccomend the Boostaroo to anyone who already owns the Zalmans and wants to use them on the go.

There are a few issues with the Boostaroo. It’s good that it gives a boost of volume and power, but you need to remember that if you are using these to help overpower the sound of jet engines or road noise, you are using higher and higher volume. This can be very damaging to your ears. You will be much better off buying a pair of noise canceling or noise isolation headphones, which can protect your hearing and let you hear your music too. This really means that there is only one practical use for the boostaroo, which is to share your music with other headphone users without dividing the power. Because of this lack of variation in use, it is hard to recommend it. The last thing is that there is no individual volume control, so if one user has nice headphones and the other user does not, then one person is inevitably going to be too loud or soft.

Pros

• More Power!!!
• Up to three listeners. All get the same power
• Small
• Not that expensive
• Good for Zalman Surround Sound headphone owners
• Much better than a normal Y-splitter

Cons

• Loud music can damage your hearing
• Is that white noise I hear?
• Only one practical use
• Does not replace a pair of good headphones

To conclude I have to say that I reccomend this only to those that go on long bus trips (any band geeks here?) and want to share their music with others while on the trip. If that sounds like you then don’t delay and get the Boostaroo. If you were thinking of getting this product to help the quality of a cheap pair of headphone, then save the money and get better headphones instead. There is no replacement for a pair of really nice headphones.

As a post review laugh, let’s lookat the silly packaging. As you can see, a politically correct group of friends are listening to their “hi-fi” music, all thanks to the boostaroo. Haha.

I’m working on a set of somewhat secret speakers.

I’m surprised that nobody else has done this yet. We have seen several computer cases of this theme, but not a set of speakers. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. More to come later.

A box with a hole cut for the amp.

Some corner pieces. There are 24 in total.

A homemade jig. Can be used for circles or straight lines.

Three pieces make up each corner section. The box is used as a jig while the pieces are glued. The clamps hold them on until the glue is dry and they are one piece.

The corner pieces are then removed from the box. Glue is added to the inner seams, then wood filler is used to perfect small imperfections. They will be sanded too!