Techpedition

Pushing information back and forth to different services is all the craze these days. While in the past, this may have been non-trivial, API’s and service hooks have made this a relatively easy task for developers and is pretty transparent to the end user.

Why Aggregate Your Information? Ultimately, this is an easy means of sharing your online activity with friends and followers from other services. For instance, people are posting videos all the time on Facebook from YouTube. You can easily make this a minimal task by installing the YouTube application on Facebook. What does this mean? Well, now every time you ‘heart’ or upload a YouTube video, it will automatically be posted to your Facebook account. This in just one example of how this would work. And there are plenty of Facebook applications that cover almost every service imaginable.

Post Once, Post Everywhere. Twitter is probably one of be best examples of a service that other services consume. What’s so great about this. Post once, post everywhere. For instance, when I make one Twitter post, that same post goes to Facebook, Friendfeed, and my website. By having one place to post, it allows me to update various sites, while only having to worry about just one. This is good because it allows you to give updates to friends/followers who may use only one network.

Ways To Aggregate. Many of the social networks allow you to aggregate data from external services such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, or your blog. Here’s a few.

• Facebook Applications
• Friendfeed Services
• MySpace Applications

Privacy Implications. Some would prefer not to do things like this over privacy concerns. Point taken. But I live under the assumption that almost anything I do on the internet is not private anyway, so this doesn’t bother me in the least. Bottom line is, if you post anything on the internet, automatically assume anyone can see it and act accordingly. This also applies to mobile applications that provide location based tagging. This rule should judge all you internet activity anyway.

A few years back a friend of mine discovered their parents were on Facebook. If you could have seen the look on his face and the panic as he feverishly scrambled to remove any inappropriate things from his page. On another note, I really didn’t have to worry about that when I discovered my parent were on Facebook. I accepted the friend request without a hitch. I repeat, when posting on the internet, assume everyone can see everything!

Stalkers? Okay, we just talked about privacy concerns when posting information, and we know that you should only post things you feel comfortable with other people knowing. But what about the aggregation of this information in one place and stalker (or noisy people)? A dreamland for a stalker right? Here are a few rules for keeping would be stalkers at bay.

1. Only aggregate more general data publicly.
2. Reserve more public information for certain networks.
3. Check public versus private setting for each network.
4. Keep more sensitive information within a particular network and don’t aggregate.
5. Since friends and followers can instantly see your information, only friend or follow people you trust.

Final Thoughts. Don’t be afraid to embrace social networks and get connected. Ultimately, this is a great way to stay in touch with friend that you may have never had the chance to before. Once again, embrace technology, but also follow my number one rule for posting things on the internet. Stay connected!

Once in a blue moon a game is immediately taken as a single story entity that simply does not need an expansion.  Think of the original Bioshock as the Fight Club or 300 of video games.  A sequel to Fight Club or 300 would be a cheap cash in that did more to hurt the original than grow the franchise.  See “The Matrix” sequels as a reference.   There aren’t many sequels in the video game industry that garner as much immediate criticism as Bioshock 2.  Just the thought of a sequel, not to mention a sequel from a different developer, had so many people up in arms, that it was even hard for level headed professional journalists to take on Bioshock 2 without a preconceived and often openly negative opinion of the simple existence of the game.  Needless to say, the development teams had a lot of work ahead of them.

Bioshock 2 puts you back in the decaying arms of Rapture, the underwater distopia created to be the perfect city free of  God and Country.  As in the original, Rapture is as much a character in the game as anything else and its Steam-Punk inspired art and settings are still completely intact.  All of the standard enemies from the original are present and the weapons and plasmids are still in place.  So, if we had a check list for things that MUST be include in a Bioshock game, Settting and Atmosphere, would be checked immediately. Since 2K Marin was responsible for the PS3 port of Bioshock, they understood how to make the game look and feel like Rapture. Continue Reading…

Everyone was pretty angry when they heard Capcom was making a Super Street Fighter IV and selling it as a new game instead of DLC.  Well after hearing the latest news I am very happy they opted for the latter.  SSFIV will feature 10 new character: ( Guy, Cody, Ibuki, Makoto, Dudley, THawk, DeeJay, Juri, an Arab and Adon), bonus stages, all the outfits without having to buy them plus something else I know I am forgetting.  Check out the video below.

Left 4 Dead is not dead yet.  I mean Left 4 Dead part one.  Valve at the X10 event announced new DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 and hard to believe Left 4 Dead 1.  Check out the Gametrailers video below.

Yes, the age old browser war continues to rage on, and to no surprise, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer continue to dominate the charts. Back on December 11th, 2008, a new player entered the game, Google Chrome. Okay, I’m sure your first reaction to the news on Google doing a browser was much like mine, “Really”? But it seems the move by Google was far from half hazard. Over the past year they have slowly moved up in market share and offered a product that is considered superior by many of the industry’s prominent tech heads.

That being said, this article is less about market share, and more about the coolness of Google Chrome. What are a few of the features of Google Chrome?

Speed. Google Chrome is arguably one of the fastest browsers around. And while fast is a relative term, most tech journalist agree that Google Chrome is hands down the fastest browser. What makes Google Chrome so fast? Well, according to the Chromium Blog, the three things that make Chrome faster are DNS pre-resolution, JavaScript rendering, and Dom binding.

Built-In Bookmark Syncing. For the multiple computer user, this is a must. And although there are various plug-ins out there for different browsers that can accomplish the same task, it just feels nice to have it built in and linked to your google account.

The Google Ecosystem. According to Carl, Google is SkyNet, but I must say there is something cool about staying within the google ecosystem. What are some of the advantages of this. Well, first off, you are almost ensured that all Google product will work excellent within Google Chrome. Expect Gmail to load faster and YouTube to load without the slightest hitch. I would equate this advantage to using all Apple products on an Apple computer, or using all Microsoft products on a Windows machine. You know it just works and should work well.

Final Thoughts. As much as I love Google Chrome as a browser, let’s be real. The more you use the internet, the more Google benefits. The notion of a browser from Google is purely a self-serving one, but also a good one for the end user. Why? Google wants you to enjoy your experience on the web. So you can use the web more, view more advertisements, which ultimately will make Google more money. An excellent business proposition. Also, the Google Chrome browser is nothing more than the precursor to the Google Chrome desktop operating system, that should be out later this year. So my suggestion. Get Google Chrome. Be Happy. The moment they start making androids, I’m out…

More about Chrome OS…

Penguin United have redeemed themselves.  They have taken this solidly constructed peripheral and corrected its one fatal flaw making it “THE WII GUN” to buy.

- Round2 -

The packaging has not changed so it may be difficult to find the re-calibrated model. The sole difference is that the new packaging now advertises complete compatibility with the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus accessory.  You can also see from a side view that a dongle is now included with the Crossfire Pistol.  On first inspection of this attachment I immediately thought that this is responsible for correcting the previous sensitivity issues, however I have deduced (after testing it with the old pistol) that its sole purpose is to correct the orientation of the Wii Motion Plus.  Speaker volume (adjustable on the home men) is still significantly higher than the Nintendo Wii Remote and the blue lights are bright enough to help you find your keys in the dark. Two small noticeable hitches but not great enough to knock any points off this device.  The overall design of this accessory has not changed at all.  In my previous review I covered the aesthetics of this gun, so for now I will skip that part.  For this review I am solely speaking  on its performance.

- Performance-

This was where the device failed miserably in its previous incarnation.  With the correction of the sensitivity issue I rescind all previous statements on this matter.  This gun now performs remarkably.  Its actually somewhat more stable than Nintendo’s first-party option.  When holding my hand as steady as possible I would normally notice some motion/shakes translated to the screen.  However, the Penguin United Crossfire Pistol’s motion looks like it is mounted on tripod (Perfect for Sniping).

The first game I played was “Wii Sports Resort” to give the motion plus functionality a test run.  I connected a nunchuk and fired up the bow and arrow mini game.  Aside from holding a pistol grip it actually felt somewhat more natural than holding the Wii remote vertical.  I played a couple of expert levels and beat my previous high score immediately.  Next, to see how well all hand orientations were translated I played sky diving.  I must say the game was more comfortable holding the Crossfire as opposed to holding the Wii remote flat.  My Mii leaned and plummeted with grace.  Definitely a joy.  I tested my backhand with table tennis and was still perfectly able to have my patented back spin translated on the big screen.  Finally, my favorite game on the Resort: Sword Play or what I have now dubbed “Pistol Whip Trainer”.  Since the Crossfire’s natural orientation resembles that of a flat Wii-mote it becomes  more of an extension of your arm as opposed to a two handed baton or whatever it is the Mii’s are swinging.  Your  swings are fully translated to every degree.  Over head slashes, horizontal, diagonal, even stabs are picked up perfectly.  Thanks to this peripheral I learned something I did not know the game recognized.  I struck one Mii with a jumping slashing Shin-Sho-Pistol-Ken (True Rising Pistol Fist) and hit the Mii with enough force that it not only did a back from the impact but also took out the two Mii’s that it landed on.  I was pistol whipping machine.

Next I played Metroid Pime 3: Corruption and immediately checked for the speaker issues.  It appears they have been corrected as such audio cues were successfully played from the speaker.  However their is still a low hissing/hum coming from the speaker.  Its loud enough to be noticeable but not enough to be distracting.  Metroid played well with on screen gestures translated well and pointer accuracy pretty steady.  For a game such as this you will definitely use your nunchuk hand to reach the other buttons on the pistol to activate visors and weapons which can be problem is heated battle but is somewhat more close to what Samus does in her idle animations. You get used to it.

-Conclusion-

The Penguin United: Wii Crossfire Pistol can be purchased at Buy.com Marketplace 0r directly from Penguin United.  Is it worth the money?  That’s a “ten-fo” good buddy.  As of writing this there is no other Wii Gun (Literally) or Wii Gun Shell that compares.  If you are an arcade light gun game fan and first-person shooter fan with a Wii and are looking for just a tad bit more immersion, then the Wii Crossfire Pistol is a logical sound investment.  Now we just need to Sega, Konami, etc to get to work porting the old light gun arcade games to Wii and Virtual Console.

Links’ second adventure on the DS takes a lot of things from the first and classic Zelda puzzles and charm can be found throughout, but Spirit Tracks comes dangerously close to overstaying its welcome.

Ok, where do I start? Its another DS Zelda game. Like Phantom Hourglass, the entire game is controlled via stylus. Link is guided via touch screen and tapping on enemies and/or slashing the screen elicits attacks and actions. All of these mechanics work really well with very few buggy touch controls. The graphics are Cell-shaded much like the graphics in the Gamecube title the Windwaker, and like in almost every Zelda game you take control of “Link” before he gets his trademark green costume. Now, with that out of the way, everyone that has ever played a Zelda game knows the formula. Continue Reading…