I bought an iPad 1 (years ago now) to use as an eReader and as a tablet. Its been brilliant, as I can just pick it up and use it as a computer and an eReader. Its been great for trips because I can take books, rented movies and games on the go in a fraction of the luggage space that I used to use.
At the time there wasn't much competition. Nowadays I am looking towards something smaller that is a bit more portable, as the iPad is a bit big at times. Great for movies and TV shows and picking up off the couch to check your email or look up movie times, so great for Google Maps with its built in GPS and I don't have a problem holding it for reading. Just sometimes when you would like to take it out its just too big to just take with you when you don't want to be carrying much. Plus, its not a widescreen resolution. Nowadays I much prefer a widescreen resolution on things, it works better for reading too I think.
Thankfully it seems that the 7 inch wars are heating up just at the right time. I am interested in if there will be an iPad Mini of any note before committing to an upgrade.
Well if it means that everyone in the call centre I talk to sounds like the torturer from the Three Kings movie then I'm not sure. I swear, it was uncanny I could barely contain myself from bursting out laughing. While many of the customers on that particular support line would of been American, I was not.
But I have to admit, I did understand everything he said perfectly, I guess I really was his main man at that point.
And even more amazingly is that you can get streaming videos on iPhones/iPad without Flash at all. But yeah, I sure do miss all those Flash ads... I guess our honeymoon is over, sigh.
Well the USPS should come to Australia and see what Australia Post is doing. They saw the writing on the wall, and took steps to adapt to the internet age and keep themselves relevant by doing all they can to get themselves into the delivery chain for the influx of packages being sent to compensate for the decline in letters et all. Plus they offer so many services (government and private) to get people into their stores.
The only real problem is that this can lead to a little more junk mail as businesses pay Australia Post to deliver their junk instead of private contractors.
Which funnily enough, back in the day, was going to debut on Apple Macs until they were bought out by Microsoft. Even back in those days it was looking like a great title, and i was a bit miffed that it was coming out on Macs only at the time. Well, we all know the rest of what happened...
It'is why I've always stated that people should stop piracy, so that the business models of studios can be allowed to fail leaving them with no more excuses to hide behind. That they may actually be able accept that they are behind the times and no longer meet consumer needs.
I stop by Home every once in a while, but I find most things in it to be completely boring. Many of the games are tedious, some are bottle necked so only 1 person can play at a station at a time and rarely do I meet someone thats actually worth talking to. And setting up your apartment seems to be a bit of a waste since I'm the only person that is actually in it.
There is the odd nice surprise, like getting my own Batcave, when I played Arkham Asylum, but otherwise I have found it less than compelling.
It has potential, its just trying to find its way at the moment I think. I think they would have a killer product if they allowed people to create their own environments and such, however there would be large penis monuments in mere seconds if that was allowed. At the moment, its moving around the furniture that they give you.
Which is exactly why I am never giving Sony my CC info ever again. I just used it for convenience, however cancelling my CC wasn't so convenient so no more CC transactions for them.
If what comes out of this is an investigation by the ACCC then I will be very glad, as Apple and many other companies actively conspire to try to force you to buy from your regions store, rather than the store that has the best price.
Like EAs new Origin store, it forces its localisation on you for your market. I had to Google Cache up the US store just to try and find out what was happening with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bypassing the localisation added another 5 seconds to my browsing time, not cool.
Better stop eating bananas and brazil nuts. Its good to know its safe, I mean when people are being scanned without their knowledge an unknown amount of times I'm sure it will mean they can monitor and control their radiation exposure that much more effectively.
Honestly, when you outsource so much manufacturing to other countries that have cheap labour and lax environmental laws, this is what is going to happen. Its pretty easy to manufacture some knockoffs when you have a rather substantial amount of the worlds manufacturing capability.
Some online merchants are actually very very accommodating, if you just ask. One merchant I perused didn't have any overseas shipping options so I just emailed and asked if they could ship overseas. I got a very nice lady who organised everything for me personally and I got what I wanted.
Its easy to become jaded with all the bad customer service we receive, but sometimes if you persevere you are rewarded.
Exactly. Just read a bunch of reviews from different sources and it pretty easy to work out the real from the fake. I did get an A and Dux in media an marketing at school but don't hold that against me.
When looking at eBay buyers I don't spend much time on the positive reviews, I spend most of my time looking at the negative ones to get a better idea about the seller, mostly about how they handle dissatisfied customers. Oh and by not buying from the Asia region. Yeah yeah, its just that there are high levels of fraud there so I don't bother myself to mess around with it.
If requirements et all aren't locked down, then frankly don't start a massive scale project. Instead, start small get something delivered and work to build it up over time when they have a better understanding of what they actually need. A bit of discipline in the programming side can work wonders in making small things big. I've done it, it isn't impossible in the least.
Besides, its been a while since consoles have been about just playing games. They are working to stay relevant by offering more. When I bought my PS3 i bought it to continue playing the God of War series that I so love and as a Blu-ray player. Now I use it as a HD TV recorder, download and watch movies, music videos, stream content from my computer and still play games.
As handheld devices do more so will consoles to keep themselves in the game. It would just be nice if they didn't keep hurting themselves with all this regionalisation crap they still want to heap onto us.
I saw a news report just the other day about an Australian battery solution for wind power generation output storage and normalisation back to the grid that they have started selling to Germany, China and Japan. It can be easily retrofitted to existing installations and no doubt easily integrated into new ones. Can't remember the name of it to save my live.
I was in the "other" software industry too and at one point was working ridiculous hours when I was on 3 simultaneous projects. Eventually I just became a contractor and haven't worked unreasonable hours since. If a few extra hours are needed, then I damn well get paid for them.
Well we can add EA / Bioware to the list according to my latest email from them. Setting up an anonymous email account to register my games with seems to be working out for the better.
I'm sure there will be a Slashdot story about this soon enough.
And lets not forget that CC numbers follow a specific formula that allows the CC number to be identified as a potentially valid number, which will greatly reduce the burden on the hacker to generate potentially valid CC numbers to hack with.
Slashdot Mirror
I bought an iPad 1 (years ago now) to use as an eReader and as a tablet. Its been brilliant, as I can just pick it up and use it as a computer and an eReader. Its been great for trips because I can take books, rented movies and games on the go in a fraction of the luggage space that I used to use.
At the time there wasn't much competition. Nowadays I am looking towards something smaller that is a bit more portable, as the iPad is a bit big at times. Great for movies and TV shows and picking up off the couch to check your email or look up movie times, so great for Google Maps with its built in GPS and I don't have a problem holding it for reading. Just sometimes when you would like to take it out its just too big to just take with you when you don't want to be carrying much. Plus, its not a widescreen resolution. Nowadays I much prefer a widescreen resolution on things, it works better for reading too I think.
Thankfully it seems that the 7 inch wars are heating up just at the right time. I am interested in if there will be an iPad Mini of any note before committing to an upgrade.
Well Kindle is getting around. I was in my local Woolworths today and there were posters up telling me I could buy a Kindle like it was the most natural thing to buy while checking out. http://woolworths.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Website/Woolworths/About%20Us/Woolworths-News/Kindle%20e-reader
Well if it means that everyone in the call centre I talk to sounds like the torturer from the Three Kings movie then I'm not sure. I swear, it was uncanny I could barely contain myself from bursting out laughing. While many of the customers on that particular support line would of been American, I was not.
But I have to admit, I did understand everything he said perfectly, I guess I really was his main man at that point.
And even more amazingly is that you can get streaming videos on iPhones/iPad without Flash at all. But yeah, I sure do miss all those Flash ads... I guess our honeymoon is over, sigh.
Well the USPS should come to Australia and see what Australia Post is doing. They saw the writing on the wall, and took steps to adapt to the internet age and keep themselves relevant by doing all they can to get themselves into the delivery chain for the influx of packages being sent to compensate for the decline in letters et all. Plus they offer so many services (government and private) to get people into their stores.
The only real problem is that this can lead to a little more junk mail as businesses pay Australia Post to deliver their junk instead of private contractors.
Which funnily enough, back in the day, was going to debut on Apple Macs until they were bought out by Microsoft. Even back in those days it was looking like a great title, and i was a bit miffed that it was coming out on Macs only at the time. Well, we all know the rest of what happened...
It'is why I've always stated that people should stop piracy, so that the business models of studios can be allowed to fail leaving them with no more excuses to hide behind. That they may actually be able accept that they are behind the times and no longer meet consumer needs.
I stop by Home every once in a while, but I find most things in it to be completely boring. Many of the games are tedious, some are bottle necked so only 1 person can play at a station at a time and rarely do I meet someone thats actually worth talking to. And setting up your apartment seems to be a bit of a waste since I'm the only person that is actually in it.
There is the odd nice surprise, like getting my own Batcave, when I played Arkham Asylum, but otherwise I have found it less than compelling.
It has potential, its just trying to find its way at the moment I think. I think they would have a killer product if they allowed people to create their own environments and such, however there would be large penis monuments in mere seconds if that was allowed. At the moment, its moving around the furniture that they give you.
Oh it really was hilarious. A recommended read for all those not at work.
Which is exactly why I am never giving Sony my CC info ever again. I just used it for convenience, however cancelling my CC wasn't so convenient so no more CC transactions for them.
If what comes out of this is an investigation by the ACCC then I will be very glad, as Apple and many other companies actively conspire to try to force you to buy from your regions store, rather than the store that has the best price.
Like EAs new Origin store, it forces its localisation on you for your market. I had to Google Cache up the US store just to try and find out what was happening with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bypassing the localisation added another 5 seconds to my browsing time, not cool.
This reminds me of watching the Godfather. Its been parodied so much I was in stitches with laughter the whole time.
I had a Comptometer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptometer) when growing up. Hours of endless fun.
Better stop eating bananas and brazil nuts. Its good to know its safe, I mean when people are being scanned without their knowledge an unknown amount of times I'm sure it will mean they can monitor and control their radiation exposure that much more effectively.
Honestly, when you outsource so much manufacturing to other countries that have cheap labour and lax environmental laws, this is what is going to happen. Its pretty easy to manufacture some knockoffs when you have a rather substantial amount of the worlds manufacturing capability.
Some online merchants are actually very very accommodating, if you just ask. One merchant I perused didn't have any overseas shipping options so I just emailed and asked if they could ship overseas. I got a very nice lady who organised everything for me personally and I got what I wanted.
Its easy to become jaded with all the bad customer service we receive, but sometimes if you persevere you are rewarded.
Exactly. Just read a bunch of reviews from different sources and it pretty easy to work out the real from the fake. I did get an A and Dux in media an marketing at school but don't hold that against me.
When looking at eBay buyers I don't spend much time on the positive reviews, I spend most of my time looking at the negative ones to get a better idea about the seller, mostly about how they handle dissatisfied customers. Oh and by not buying from the Asia region. Yeah yeah, its just that there are high levels of fraud there so I don't bother myself to mess around with it.
Actually we appointed them for our searches. I can just as easily change a few options in my browsers to make Google go away.
If requirements et all aren't locked down, then frankly don't start a massive scale project. Instead, start small get something delivered and work to build it up over time when they have a better understanding of what they actually need. A bit of discipline in the programming side can work wonders in making small things big. I've done it, it isn't impossible in the least.
Besides, its been a while since consoles have been about just playing games. They are working to stay relevant by offering more. When I bought my PS3 i bought it to continue playing the God of War series that I so love and as a Blu-ray player. Now I use it as a HD TV recorder, download and watch movies, music videos, stream content from my computer and still play games.
As handheld devices do more so will consoles to keep themselves in the game. It would just be nice if they didn't keep hurting themselves with all this regionalisation crap they still want to heap onto us.
I saw a news report just the other day about an Australian battery solution for wind power generation output storage and normalisation back to the grid that they have started selling to Germany, China and Japan. It can be easily retrofitted to existing installations and no doubt easily integrated into new ones. Can't remember the name of it to save my live.
I was in the "other" software industry too and at one point was working ridiculous hours when I was on 3 simultaneous projects. Eventually I just became a contractor and haven't worked unreasonable hours since. If a few extra hours are needed, then I damn well get paid for them.
And if I look at the stories that got filtered out from me there it is. Oh well lolz.
Well we can add EA / Bioware to the list according to my latest email from them. Setting up an anonymous email account to register my games with seems to be working out for the better.
I'm sure there will be a Slashdot story about this soon enough.
And lets not forget that CC numbers follow a specific formula that allows the CC number to be identified as a potentially valid number, which will greatly reduce the burden on the hacker to generate potentially valid CC numbers to hack with.