Today's Specials Archives - Page 22 of 89

Coffee Talk #374: Totally Loving Google+

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Spotify’s American launch, waiting for HSPA+ 42 phones, or naughty dreams about Ann Coulter, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve been using Google+ for about two weeks and I’m totally enamored with the service. I love that it combines facets of Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry Messenger. I love the control offered by its Circles feature. I love the excellent Android app for Google+. Certainly there’s a whole “shiny and new” aspect to my fascination with Google+, but there’s no denying that Google launched a strong product and has several excellent features in the works.

The reason I’m most excited about Google+ is that it allows me to easily write personal blog posts again. After seven years of consistent blogging, I haven’t really touched my personal blog in three years. I love that I can easily share some intimate thoughts through Google+ Circles, whether it’s with five super-close friends or 50 people I really like. I’m definitely going to start using Circles for personal writing. Of course the big fear is a security issue exposing all my thoughts to the world…and also writing drunk blog posts.

I know that several of you are using Google+ too. Please let me know what you like and don’t like about the service. If you’re not using the service yet and would like to, just leave a comment here. Several RPadholics and I can send you an invite.

Coffee Talk #373: Hello Again!

Hey you guys! I’ve missed you a bunch while I was in Hawaii. It was a fantastic vacation — one of the best and most relaxing that I’ve had in years. I just had an incredible time attending…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Derek Jeter’s incredible day, CM Punk’s awesomeness, or KiMO Bean extra fancy Kona, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Hey you guys! I’ve missed you a bunch while I was in Hawaii. It was a fantastic vacation — one of the best and most relaxing that I’ve had in years. I just had an incredible time attending my brother’s wedding, catching up with family, and seeing all sorts of stuff on Oahu.

Obviously seeing my brother get married and spending time with my parents were the best parts of my trip, but my favorite “quiet” moment was hanging out at Lanikai Beach in Kailua. It was amazing — clear water, less than 20 people at the beach, smooth sand, and a brilliant view.

Before I get to today’s question, I wanted to give major thanks to RPadholic smartguy for sending me Twitter messages when the site was down and when it went back up. It was annoying to deal with during my vacation, but I super appreciated the heads up. I was able to clear things up relatively quickly thanks to smartguy’s alerts (though I still want to punch my web host in the face).

As I settle back into mainland USA, I want to hear about some of your favorite vacations. My head is going to be floating to Lanikai several times today, but perhaps hearing about some of your awesome vacations will bring me back to Los Angeles.

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Today’s Poll: Battlefield vs. Call of Duty

Here’s a simple poll for you today. I’d love to know which war-gaming franchise you prefer, Electronic Arts’ Battlefield or Activision’s Call of Duty. They’re both hugely popular franchises with lots of fans and plenty of detractors. Kindly vote in today’s poll and share your feelings about these games in the comments section.

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Coffee Talk #372: My “Weird” Al Accordion Confession

I recently downloaded every polka by “Weird” Al Yankovic to serve as my soundtrack for my trip to Hawaii. And really, nothing says tropical island fun or celebrating your brother’s wedding like…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon victory, your favorite BBQ food, or looking forward to airplane movies, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I recently downloaded every polka medley by “Weird” Al Yankovic to serve as my soundtrack for my trip to Hawaii. And really, nothing says tropical island fun or celebrating your brother’s wedding like a “Weird” Al polka. I’ve always loved “Weird” Al. When I was a kid, I thought he was hilarious. As I grew older, I learned to appreciate his witty parodies and his clever polka arrangements. He’s just awesome.

“Weird” Al is so awesome that he inspired me to learn how to play the accordion in grade school. I defy you to think of three instruments lamer than the accordion. (You can’t.) That didn’t matter to me. The accordion was one of Al’s most potent weapons and I wanted to be more like him. Who doesn’t?!?

Today I have two questions for you. 1) Have you ever been inspired to do something silly or lame because of music, movies, or games? 2) Which “Weird” Al polka medley is best? Click on the links below for samples!

These polkas are fantastic. The arrangements are funny and expertly done. The song choices do a great job of reminding you of popular songs of a certain era. “Weird” Al 4 life!!!

World of Warcraft Extends Dominance With Crack Cocaine Model

“The first one’s free!” said the friendly drug dealer. That’s how they get you hooked, you see. MMO publishers use a similar model, but Blizzard is taking it to a new level with World of Warcraft Starter Edition. Traditionally, MMOs have come with a trial measured in days — usually 14 to 30. Blizzard is now letting prospective customers play World of Warcraft for free up to level 20. Here’s a clip from the press email I received:

We’ve removed the previous 10- and 14-day trial time restrictions, and players who are interested in trying out World of Warcraft can now play the base game for free up to a maximum character level of 20, including draenei and blood elf characters — all they need is a Battle.net account and an Internet connection. To mark the occasion, we’ve also given the trial a new name: World of Warcraft Starter Edition. Players who had previously signed up for 10- or 14-day trials will be able to hop back into the Starter Edition right where they left off.

Already one of the most popular and successful MMOs in the business, World of Warcraft should attract legions of new players with this new model. It’s bold. It’s aggressive. It probably has other MMO publishers crying and/or banging their heads on brick walls.

What do you think of the new WoW model? Are you willing to give it a shot now that the free-to-play time is more generous?

Coffee Talk #371: You Digging Google’s New Design Efforts?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Canada Day, RIM’s employees writing letters to rise above, or whether Roger Federer will win another grand slam tournament, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

After more than a decade of releasing excellent products that were almost always on the ugly side, Google is on a mission to improve its design and UI. The tenets of Google’s design philosophy are focus, elasticity, and effortlessness. You can see the new design elements in Google.com, Google+, and Google Calendar. The new design is coming to Gmail in the near future. What do you ladies and gents think of Google’s new design philosophy?

As for me, I absolutely love it. Using Google+ is almost shocking. I don’t think a Google product has ever been more elegant and intuitive. I was 50/50 on Google Calendar at first, but after changing the background image I was able to appreciate its leaner design. The new Gmail design looks fantastic and I can’t wait to use it. Overall I’m super impressed with Google’s new design efforts and totally not surprised that one of the original Apple Macintosh designers (Andy Hertzfeld) is behind it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Google’s new design. Love it? Hate it? Gotta have it (think Aziz Ansari)?!?

Will the HTC Status Facebook Phone Become the New Sidekick?

From roughly 2002 to 2007, Danger’s Sidekick phones were the choice for teens and tweens. They were cool, relatively cheap, and focused on messaging. The smartphone market has changed drastically with the introduction of the iPhone, but there hasn’t been a phone that was aggressively targeted towards teens and tweens…until now.

The HTC Status has been officially announced for AT&T and Telus. It’s a Google Android phone with HTC Sense 3.0 and, most importantly, heavy Facebook integration. Here’s some marketing copy and specs from the official Facebook page:

The HTC Status lets you share pretty much everything with just about everyone, instantly. It’s the first-ever device with a Facebook Share Button. Now, you can share videos, chats, check-ins, sites and songs with your friends on Facebook at the push of a button. And with new music, new videos, group deals and live events to share with you all summer long, it’s the most outgoing phone in the social universe.

Platform: Android™ 2.3 + HTC Sense™
Display: 2.6-inch touch screen with 480 x 320 resolution
Network: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900
Memory: 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
Processor: MSM7227, 800 MHz
Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 1250 mAh
Camera: 5 MP main camera with autofocus, 1.3 MP front-facing camera

On paper, it seems like a brilliant idea. The Status should be a relatively inexpensive phone that combines a capable mobile operating system, fashionable hardware, and the most popular social network in the world. That said, I wonder if the target market even wants such a phone. The Android and iOS apps for Facebook are already quite capable. Is more Facebook integration really required or needed? Would a teen on a budget rather have the HTC Status or last year’s iPhone model?

Of course I’d love to get your thoughts on the HTC Status. Do you think it will take off? Will it be this decade’s Sidekick? Or will teens and tweens be content with slightly older Android and iOS products that already have strong Facebook options?

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Fresh Batch of Final Fantasy XIII-2 Screenshots

Square Enix has sent over some new Final Fantasy XIII-2 screens. Most of them are shots of battle sequences, but there are a few images of event scenes too. Some of you will recall that FFXIII-2 was one of my top five games of E3 2011. If you need more background info on the game then check out this preview. So far, my only major issue with the game is that it doesn’t have a Reona Rewis song.

Enjoy the screens and let me know what you think (please)!

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Xbox Live Summer of Arcade Schedule

It’s time for the summer of Bastion!!! Oops, I meant the annual Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. In case you missed it, here’s the schedule for Microsoft’s downloadable summer blockbuster extravaganza. All of the games cost…

It’s time for the summer of Bastion!!! Oops, I meant the annual Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. In case you missed it, here’s the schedule for Microsoft’s downloadable summer blockbuster extravaganza. All of the games cost 1,200 Microsoft Points, save for Fruit Ninja Kinect, which is 800.

Date	Title	Price (MS Points)
July 20	Bastion	1200
July 27	From Dust	1200
August 3	Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet	1200
August 10	Fruit Ninja Kinect	800
August 17	Toy Soldiers: Cold War	1200

As many of you know, I’m super high on Bastion and can’t wait to play it. I’m not too familiar with the other games (that aren’t Fruit Ninja). Do you have any recommendations? Which Summer of Arcade 2011 games are you planning to pick up?

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Coffee Talk #370: What’s the Oldest Game You Still Play?

What’s the oldest game you still play? I’m not talking about remakes or downloads of old games. I’m talking about a game that you still have the original cartridge or disc for. Do you even play old games like that?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Scarlett Johansson breaking up with Sean Penn, fights with CSS stylesheets, or hoping the Google Nexus Prime will be endorsed by Optimus Prime, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As for me, I still play Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance (2003) every few weeks or so. As many of you know, I love the FFT series and portable gaming. FFTA was pretty much made for me and I’ll be keeping my DS Lite around for years so that I can keep playing it (…or until a downloadable version is released for the 3DS).

So how about you? What’s the oldest game you still play?