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System Attic - March 2009

Anyone who has read this blog before knows that I'm an avid PS3 gamer. In fact, I have owned every Sony produced console since the original Playstation. This, in my opinion, is by far the most advanced system on the console market. The 360 is close, but since HD DVD is a dead format, it has lost a lot of clout. HOWEVER, I use GameFly.com as my main source for game rental since I live in Podunk, USA and don't have ANY place within 50 miles to rent games, and I must say that the selection of titles on the system is not that great.
I have never been very good at first-person-shooter games either (I was the laughing stock of every Halo LAN party in college) so that really limits my ability to rent or purchase games I'm going to get a lot of enjoyment out of. In fact, since buying my PS3 in November of 2007, the only two games I have gotten significant enjoyment out of that were worth the sixty dollar price tag are Bethesda's two giants, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Fallout 3. Little Big Planet is a hoot. An amazing game, IF you have more than one person.I also loved Assassin's Creed, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Grand Theft Auto IV, but they didn't quite immerse me in the same way as Oblivion and Fallout.


It just seems to me that Sony is lagging behind in acquiring quality titles for their system. I can't really think of any titles on 360 that jump out right away as something that would sway me to purchase the console, but that doesn't stop me from being dissatisfied with the selection on PS3. I'm sure there are a lot of 360 fanboys and girls out there who would think that my distaste for their system is unfair, and they would be right. It is unfair. I have an ingrained hatred for anything Microsoft puts their name on. I mean, I could throw a low blow out there and mention that Windows Vista and 360 Red Rings have been a huge blemish for the company, but when I turn off my bias, I do have to admit that overall, they do produce quality products and have been a driving force in this technology industry that I love so very much.

The spark that inspired this piece though, is an article I read on Arstechina.com about online gaming. In that article they reported that not only is the 360 still the king of console online play, but that the Wii has surpassed the PS3 and taken second. Good lord. It looks like the honeymoon Sony enjoyed through the holidays has finally had the final nail driven into its coffin.
For the benefit of my journalistic pursuits, I've often thought of buying a 360 and possibly even a Wii so I could give an accurate opinion of all three systems and their games. I might just do so now, but, it has seemed so far that every time my faith in my beloved console gets humbled, Sony shocks the world with some big development that launches them back into the forefront. Maybe this time they'll finally develop a way to play my PS3 games on my PSP at work over Remote Play. Hey, I can dream.
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Two Twitter Apps Side by Side

March 13th 2009 08:14
It's official, I've been Twitterfied. Er...Twitterpated? Call it what you will, but for the past few days I've been glued to the micro-blogging sensation like a 12 year old boy who stumbles across some porn while searching the web for information on the White House for a school project. (circa 1999, its .gov... NOT .com)
I digress.
I signed up for my account with Twitter clear back in May of last year after hearing about it on Tekzilla, but I wasn't too impressed to begin with. It seemed like a site full of Facebook status updates with none of the other perks. But the rise in media attention sparked my interest as to what all the fuss was about and here I am, a certified addict. Even though I've never considered myself much of a voyeur, (and let's face it, that's what Twiiter fans are) I can't get enough of this site.
Anyone who knows me knows that when I get into something, I dive in all the way. It usually only lasts a short while, (even though the Concerta works fairly well, I think my ADHD still peeks out now and again) but while I'm in, I'm IN. So naturally I went about finding a way to satisfy my addiction without having to use my browser. Any shortcut, however ridiculous, is always a plus. So far, I've found two Adobe AIR-based desktop apps, TweetDeck and Twhirl.




Both are pretty straightforward, easy to use. They both have the same tools for using Twitpic, shortening URLs, TweetDeck only uses bit.ly shortener while Twirl has a couple of options. It's not clear to me yet if this makes a difference. TweetDeck has a dropdown menu for frequently used hashtags, Twirl doesn't that I can see, but again, not really a huge thing.
I haven't found a way to adjust the refresh rate on Twirl, so while running both simultaneously, TweetDeck gets the updates a bit quicker. Unless your obsession has reached critical, possibly fatal levels however, this too should not be a big deal breaker.
Near as I can tell, the biggest difference comes down to aesthetics. TweetDeck allows you to customize the colors of it's UI, while Twhirl sticks you with pastels. TweetDeck only lets you choose between two fonts, where Twirl has all your basic font choices. I haven't found a way to shut off notification sounds on TweetDeck, but you can turn them off on Twhirl.
And that's really it. Personally, I prefer TweetDeck so far, despite the inability to turn off sounds, mostly because I'm more of an Earth-tone person and I don't really care for pastels. And I'm a big Poe fan, so the TD icon reminds me of "The Raven". However, Twhirl lets me use the Georgia font, which is prominently featured in just about anything I can put it in, so that's good. I just like the way it makes numbers look. You're like "That's just like Times!" But then I retort with a little of this...1234567890. Yeah, how 'bout that?
There I go digressin' (and speakin' all apostrophied.)
But, back on track here, really, you just have to decide which one you prefer to stare at. There's no big WOW feature that stuck out to me on either one. Let me know what YOU think though. Try 'em out, give me some feedback. I'll even disagree with you for the sport of it if you'd like.
In the meantime as well, you can follow me on Twitter @ddsmith3. Follow some of my favorites too,
@rustyrockets (Comedian Russell Brand)
@garyvee (The amazing Gary Vaynerchuk)
Speaking of him by the way, there's an amazing video he did that analyzes a clip of Howard Stern hating on the web. Vaynerchuk is who inspired me to get into blogging, he's so right on and so inspirational. Check it out.
@JohnCleese (Monty Python's John Cleese... duh.)
@DAVID_LYNCH (his movies kick ass, and if you wanna know conditions in LA each morning, he's your man)
@lilyroseallen (Lily Allen, her tweets are great)
@quoolquest (Roots drummer QuestLove. Tweets during tapings of Late Night. So cool.)

There's just a few, check my page for more. Also check back for a video I plan on making to accompany this post. Vaynerchuk's got my wheels agrindin'.
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If there's one thing I hate in this world, (actually, there are quite a few) it's when a decision is made with no apparent motivation other than to show that the "deciders" have the power to do so. Hulu's decision to block access to it's site through Boxee certainly qualifies. Boxee, an open source media browsing application designed to provide quick and easy access to streamable video and music content, had been the savior of my home entertainment system. Where I live, cable TV is very limited. I also work nights, so I miss a lot of the shows I could watch. I really would rather not utilize Bit-torrents, or shell out the bucks for better cable, satellite or DVR, especially if an alternative is staring me right in the face.

Sure, I can still get Hulu on my PS3, but it's not just a simple click away like it was with the Boxee hack on my Apple TV. And even if I could get past the frustration of navigating the PS3's web browser, it doesn't provide true full-screen like I was getting on my Apple TV.
The folks at Boxee are still fighting with workarounds to remain Hulu accessible. In fact, as I'm writing this post, the Twitter feed ishuluonboxee reports that Hulu is working. But no one has yet to offer a reasonable explanation as to why this is even an issue. I found stories on PC World, Engadget and CNET, all reporting on the absolute absurdness of the whole thing with no leads to answer "why?"
Ads are still shown, everything is exactly the same as it would be on a computer, just easier and more appealing to access, so it makes no sense. When record companies started suing P2P users last decade, at least that was understandable on principle. But Boxee is safe, legal and convenient.... I could ramble on and on, but it just makes my media-deprived brain throb relentlessly.
Fortunately, I have hope via Dan Moren over at Macworld.

"Some of you may remember my cardinal rule of technology (never bet against the hackers)--like many corporations, the content providers here (or, well, 'content witholders' in this scenario) don't seem to have realized that they're on the losing end of this battle."

Thanks Dan, let's hope the good folks at Boxee and those poor, confused NBC-Universal execs can settle their differences soon.
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Ah, blogging. What a wonderful art. The only problem is, in order to become a successful blogger, just like anything else, you have to be dedicated, diligent and, well, creative. Sadly, shortly after the premier of the Dark Knight last year, all my dedication, diligence and creativity went down the drain. I burned out.
But, as the blogless months wore on, it occurred to me, "Hey, I have a f**king website. Let's do something with it." So now I'm back, and I have a plan. Tech is my life, I love toys, computers, video games, the web, but I also love music, movies, TV and books, as well as tons of other things I couldn't even begin to list here. And I figure, since I'm one guy, what's the harm in making this a bit more personal? Boosting things that I like in hopes that others will enjoy them too.
So, in the coming days, weeks and months, System-Attic.com is going to be reformatted, redesigned and restructured. We're still going to be a tech blog. Oh yes. But so much more than that. We'll be reviewing music, movies, books, stores, restaurants, food, drinks... public restrooms... Pretty much anything that strikes my fancy at the moment


[ Click here to read more ]
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