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By Greg, August 17, 2010 7:17 pm

Well… It’s been a few weeks since I moved on from iPhone, so I guess I should provide a little update as to how things are… progressing?

You might have seen the multiple updates to my previous post, in which I complained heartily regarding the poor media management capabilities of Android (and to all those “what can be easier than drag-and-drop?” fans out there… drag-and -drop sucks. There, I said it). You might have been disheartened by this, and thought that, well, maybe Android wasn’t as good as ‘they’ were making it out to be. Don’t be that way. I found a solution – a solution that DOESN’T involve playlists. Yep – Windows Media Player.

Continue reading 'Adroid vs iPhone follow-up'»

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By Greg, August 4, 2010 8:42 pm

Quick plug on behalf of my dad. He loves writing, and has written a few books over the years. While he works on getting his sci-fi novel published in some form, he’s worked out how to sell books online via Amazon’s Kindle store. So please, if you have an eBook reader that can access the Kindle store (i.e., a Kindle, or an iPhone/Android/PC with Kindle app), please help him out by buying his book. It’s reasonably priced, available now, and will hopefully make you happy. At least until his next book is released (image is link to purchase).

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By Greg, August 4, 2010 7:27 pm

Apple. for such an innocent word, it can be so divisive. The fanboys are extremely defensive of the company, almost to the extent that it’s like there’s an underlying belief that they can do no wrong, while the haters are the polar opposite – nothing that Apple says or does seems to have any element of truth to it. It’s amazing, really, that each ‘group’ is so extreme in their appraisal of Apple as a whole that there’s almost little variance. You either love them, hate them, or have little to no opinion… It’s so strange. (But hey, let’s be clear – I’m SURE there are people out there that don’t fit into my highly scientific and demonstrable definitions… This is just an generalised observation.)

And me? I guess at various stages I have fit into all of the above. At first, I hated Apple products and the hipsters that bought them. I had no interest in Macs or iPods. Then, in the early to mid-2000s when I decided I needed an MP3 player, I was convinced to get myself a 60GB iPod simply based on the fact that, at the time, there was no real competition. But while I loved my iPod, I wasn’t converted to ‘the club’ (or the cult, as some might prefer). I still hated Macs, and had nothing more than a passing interest in the iPhone when it was released.

And then I got one (a story in itself), and I was hooked. I also ended up getting myself an iPad recently – but I still have no interest in Macs (which is my personal beef – it’s not that I hate Macs, I just don’t want one).

Don’t get me wrong – I still believe that iPhone does certain things SO MUCH better than all other phones on the market. There is a reason the phone became so popular, and that’s because it really is a damn good phone. However, I found myself vehemently defending the phone to haters – even defending the obvious problems and omissions. Arguments such as “I just don’t NEED it” are common amongst iPhone users (fanboys?) – but how true is that statement, or is it just that iPhone is so easy to use, and Apple’s marketing is so pervasive, that you are almost brainwashed to feel this way?

Then came Android. Sure, it’s been around for a while, but Google is really making up on some lost ground now. Many tech nerds swear by Android, and most Apple haters do too (coincidence? probably not). But how can something really compare favourably to my wonderful iPhone?

So I decided to break out of my iMould and get myself an Android – in this case, a Samsung Galaxy S. My intention was to see whether iPhone really WAS so much better than the competition, to gauge whether or not I was simply a product of Apple’s marketing, and to see if the switch to Android was worth my time (and let’s face it – money). I did it so you don’t have to.

Continue reading 'How and why I switched from iPhone to Android… and is it a good idea? [UPDATED]'»

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By Greg, June 5, 2010 4:53 pm

With the dawn of the tablet age upon us (I really hope SOMEONE coins a better name than “tablet”), which will hopefully result in some kind of digital boom, magazine companies are scrambling to keep their feet in a dying industry. And who’s to blame them? The Internet contains all the same information that can be found in their pages, and all for free… While there will always be a market for physical books and magazines, the market is shrinking in favour of digital distribution. As a result, magazine publishers need to do something more drastic than deep and well-written feature articles in order to win back readers… Thus – the future (it seems) is in digital magazines…

Following the release of iPad, a number of publishers have released magazines to the market – some critics consider them a little expensive compared to their physical counterparts, but overall it’s not that bad (for Aussies at least, where Wired mag usually costs $15/month). Subscription methods have been announced, but are yet to be released; however, the magazines themselves are promising. It’s WAY too early to make a call for the greatest digital mag ever, but I thought I’d grab a few, and do a little write-up on what’s good, and what’s bad – even though it’s still early in the game. Hopefully someone will read my post and refine their mag.

Continue reading 'Early look at digital magazines'»

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By Greg, May 31, 2010 8:24 pm

I’m weak. I gave in. I was entirely sucked in to the hype, and I ended up in an Apple store on Saturday. I’m not a Mac fan by any stretch of the imagination – Apple’s arrogance and hatred of their competition has angried up the blood in times past – and while I do love my iPhone, I did mention that I would wait for a second or third generation before I forked out the cash for an iPad.

And yet here we are. iPad has been out for all of four days, and I have one easing about in my possession. What the…? How could I change my mind so suddenly? Those that know me well will be laughing to themselves as they prepare to call me a knob (and I’m bracing for backlash). But in defense of my predictability - it really all comes down to my initial experience at the Apple store. Continue reading 'Weak and powerless – I become Apple’s bitch'»

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By Greg, March 28, 2010 7:12 pm

Microsoft has finally released “Game Room” for Xbox 360 and Games for Windows Live, and I must say, it’s pretty much what I was expecting. This is a good thing, though, because I was expecting a pretty funky service.

For those not in the know, Game Room is an executable program that creates a pseudo arcade in your system… so to speak. You can populate this arcade however you please, but of course, you’ll need to fork out some hard cash to buy arcade machines and decorations… Hey – a company has to make money, don’t they?? Impressions follow.

Continue reading 'Game Room… early impressions'»

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By Greg, March 25, 2010 8:49 pm

Music means a lot to a lot of people. In fact, there are very few people in this world that aren’t moved by music, or have little to no interest in it. However, in recent years, many of today’s youth have held music very close to their hearts, so much so that many of them thinking they are the be-all and end-all of musical taste.

But I digress… this isn’t a post rambling about how I’m sick of other people trying to force their preferences upon me or how I’m equally sick of the same people making themselves out to be the biggest music fans in the world – like no-one else likes music. Nope – this post is not about any of these things. It’s about a video game. A video game called Chime.

Continue reading 'Music goodness – but don’t take my word for it'»

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By Greg, March 9, 2010 7:38 pm

Hi all – again with the busy, and the writer’s block, and the hey, but just get your peepers on below video URGENTLY. It is imperative that you watch.

Sorry for ‘el crappio version-o,’ but this embed was all I could find in the 10 mins I had to look… Better version here.

Well, what did you think? Looks pretty awesome to me. To be honest, I was thinking a new Tron just wouldn’t work. Turns out I may have been wrong. Hudson may be right.

Mostly.

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By Greg, February 22, 2010 6:36 pm

Hi all, I’ve been damned busy recently, due to a number of reasons all culminating in laziness. Actually, I wrote two posts in the last week or so, but I haven’t posted either… Because I chose not to. It’s likely neither post will see the light of day – one because it was pre-emptive, and the other because it was more personal than I intended. Anyway…

As a result of me not posting a damned thing, I’ve been feeling a little restless –I need to post something, but I’m in a bit of a slump. Thus, I added Skribit (see widget in sidebar), where readers can suggest something for me to post about. And I decided to write up this quick post inviting you to my dad’s website:

Newbegin Writing

In block quote form, no less. Why not?

Anyway, my old man writes about various things, and he makes me chuckle, but he also wrote a sci-fi novel. If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, it might be worth your while to check it out.

Oh, and yes, I’m aware the site needs to be updated… I designed his site, so it’s all down to my laziness… Again… I think I’ll migrate the blog to replace the static site – it will be much easier.

So yeah… go to his site, buy his book, and pop a suggestion in skribit to the right. If you like.

Peace, and catch you soon with rad ideas.

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By Greg, January 25, 2010 6:41 pm

It’s not so common for me to write about movies these days – with a baby, I get little chance to watch them. However, the wife and I decided to treat ourselves recently, so we went to see what al the fuss was about… We saw Avatar 3D, and we were duly impressed. In fact, it’s been a long time since I last walked out of a movie and was disappointed that it had ended. This is particularly impressive given the fact the movie goes for over 2 and a half hours…

Continue reading 'Bring the people back to the cinema…'»