Here’s a video overview of the T-Mobile G2’s WiFi calling and tethering features. WiFi calling is fantastic for areas with poor signal (basements, remote towns), as well as international traveling. Tethering is tethering…but unlike its competitors, T-Mobile isn’t charging (yet) for USB or WiFi hotspot functionality!
Anyway, please, please, please watch the video when you have a chance. At the very least, you can stare at my pal Nutchy some more. She’s a beautiful girl.
(And yes, I didn’t sleep last night because WiFi calling made me so excited that I wanted to make a video about it.)
I was a sore loser before I hit my late 20s. I remember chucking a Fairchild Channel F controller at my friend Russel’s face, simply because I lost a close game. I gave him a bloody nose. In high school…
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, the Sowden Oskar SoftBrew, whether the United States congress will accomplish anything over the next two years, or Lita possibly returning to WWE for a limited run, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I was a sore loser before I hit my late 20s. I remember chucking a Fairchild Channel F controller at my friend Russel’s face, simply because I lost a close game. I gave him a bloody nose. In high school, I was playing doubles tennis with my friend Jay. He was having a crappy day and made several unforced errors in a row. I got frustrated and hit a tennis ball at his…uh…balls.
I’ve mostly grown out of this behavior, but there are things that make me revert to being a sore loser…and even a sore winner. My biggest pet peeve in gaming is when people quit early in online multiplayer games. It truly pisses me off. This has been happening to me in Wordfeud for Android lately. Over the last three days, four people quit early on me because they were losing. It prompted me send messages like, “Pussy!” and…well, other not so nice things. It’s a little embarrassing, but I detest online quitters.
Is there anything in gaming that makes you a sore loser or a sore winner? Let’s do the group therapy thing and discuss our issues!
According to some tests by GameSpot, Kinect for Xbox 360’s facial recognition works much better for white players than those with darker skin. This supports my theory that Microsoft hardware is racist. I’m joking! Seriously though, here’s the word from GameSpot:
While testing out the Kinect, two dark-skinned GameSpot employees experienced problems with the system’s facial recognition abilities. The system recognized one employee inconsistently, while it was never able to properly identify the other despite repeated calibration attempts. However, Kinect had no problems identifying a third dark-skinned GameSpot employee, recognizing his face after a single calibration. Lighter-skinned employees were also consistently picked up on the first try.
Please keep in mind that the sample size is super small.
Oddly enough, I’m more interested in Kinect than I was seconds before I read this story. I know that Kinect’s sensors get all sorts of whacked out in sunlight, but I want to see if the hardware will hate me because I’m brown. I’m sure it will work for most people, but it will be interesting to see if a significant number of gamers with darker skin have issues with the system. If it does then expect countless jokes on Kinect being racist and a class action lawsuit.
Any thoughts on the matter?
(Thanks to Joey for this excellent photo of him dressed as Ron Washington for Halloween!)
After reading the transcript of the Schwarzengger vs. the EMA Supreme Court case, I believe that gamers across the nation should be immensely thankful for the ineptitude of California deputy attorney general Zackery P. Morazzini
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, your Derek Jeter contract estimate (years and dollars, please), Stumptown’s Guatemala Finca El Injerto Pacamara Varietal, or Demi Lovato hitting the triumvirate of hotness (cute, rich, and vulnerable), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
After reading the transcript of the Schwarzengger vs. the Entertainment Merchants Association Supreme Court case, I believe that gamers across the nation should be immensely thankful for the ineptitude of California deputy attorney general Zackery P. Morazzini. For the most part, he came across as an ineffectual litigator that got his JD from Legal Hut. For the most part, the Justices made him look silly. Here are some of my favorite quotes.
Justice Ginsburg: What’s the difference? I mean, if you are supposing a category of violent materials dangerous to children, then how do you cut it off at video games? What about films? What about comic books? Grimm’s fairy tales?
Why are video games special? Or does your principle extend to all deviant, violent material in whatever form?
Justice Sotomayor: One of the studies, the Anderson study, says that the effect of violence is the same for a Bugs Bunny episode as it is for a violent video. So can the legislature now, because it has that study, say we can outlaw Bugs Bunny?
There are people who would say that a cartoon has very little social value; it’s entertainment, but not much else. This is entertainment.
Justice Sotomayor: Could you get rid of rap music? Have you heard some of the lyrics of some of the rap music, some of the original violent songs that have been sung about killing people and about other violence directed to them?
Justice Scalia: I’m not concerned about the jury judging. I’m concerned about the producer of the games who has to know what he has to do in order to comply with the law. And you are telling me, well a jury can — of course a jury can make up its mind, I’m sure. But a law that has criminal penalties has to be clear. And how is the manufacturer to know whether a particular violent game is covered or not?
Does he convene his own jury and try it before — you know, I really wouldn’t know what to do as a manufacturer.
pwned.
Check out the transcript (posted below) if you have a chance. It’s hard to say for sure without hearing how the lines were delivered, but from reading it, Morazzini is surely the Glass Joe of the California Attorney General’s office. I encourage all of you to drop Zackery P. Morazzini a line to thank him for sucking.
Microsoft is feeling pretty good about Kinect for Xbox 360 — so good that it has upped its estimated units sold this quarter from three-million to five-million. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business president Don Mattrick has revised the company’s estimates.
Microsoft Corp. boosted its forecast for the Kinect motion-control device for the Xbox gaming system to 5 million units this quarter, predicting the most successful Xbox product debut by sales.
Based on pre-sales, retail orders and consumer interest, the company expects to exceed a previous forecast of 3 million units, Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, said in an interview today. The device, which lets players control games with motion and voice, goes on sale tomorrow.
It looks like this will be one of the rare times that Michael Pachter is correct (I kid, I kid). What do you think of Microsoft’s numbers? Is the company being overly optimistic? Or is Kinect going to take over the world?!? Will Sony’s PlayStation Move come close to matching Kinect’s numbers?
Warning: this Coffee Talk will be longer and a bit more personal than usual. As some of you know, DirecTV has dropped G4 from its lineup. Some of you are thinking that the news has me happy, but that’s not the case at all. Even though the company treated me poorly…
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, Tim Lincecum making Filipino-Americans proud, the chances of Cliff Lee returning to the Rangers, or hiring Randy Moss for your kid’s birthday party, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Warning: this Coffee Talk will be longer and a bit more personal than usual. As some of you know, DirecTV has dropped G4 from its lineup. Some of you are thinking that the news has me happy, but that’s not the case at all. Even though the company treated me poorly, cost me some friends, and cost me lots of money, I still believe in what G4tv could be…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a step back and look at DirecTV’s official word as reported by Entertainment Weekly:
At this time we are no longer negotiating and we have no plans to put G4 back up. We are constantly evaluating our lineup in a new world where programming costs continue to rise at significant rates. Since G4 is among the lowest rated networks based on the latest Nielsen data, we decided that it made sense to focus on preserving programming that is more relevant to our larger customer base.
Although G4 gives all of us a new way to enjoy our favorite hobby, my favorite thing about it is that it will bring new people into the fold. Television reaches a more general audience and I’m sure there will be some people watching G4 that are only vaguely familiar with the wacky world of gaming. They’ll start out on G4. Perhaps they’ll get so into gaming that they’ll go to GameSpy to get even more. And just maybe, in a year or two they’ll be trading jabs with all y’all in the Forums. So don’t be hatin’ on G4, it’s one of the reasons gaming is getting bigger than ever… and with any luck it just might spawn your favorite Forum poster a few years down the line.
I still believe in many of the things I wrote in that column. I suppose I wanted to use today’s Coffee Talk to make sure you knew two things. First, I still believe in G4, despite the crappy way I was treated. Secondly, if you’re a DirecTV subscriber I suggest you go full-on (phone, email, snail mail) and tell the company that you want G4 as part of your lineup.
And yes, this was all kind of difficult to write because there are so many other things that I want to say. Thanks for listening!
You should watch this video because it features several images of an outstandingly beautiful woman and it compares the two best Google Android phones with a physical keyboard — the T-Mobile G2 by HTC and the Samsung Epic 4G for Sprint. Whether it’s the lovely girl or the excellent phones, please, please, please give it look and let me know what you think!
Leading this week’s video releases is Kinect for Xbox 360. Some of you are still in denial about Microsoft’s motion-control device, but it will surely sell millions. Just accept it and move on. Naturally, a bunch of launch titles are accompanying the hardware launch, but Dance Central is pretty much the only interesting one.
Brett Favre received a ton of attention going into yesterday’s game, simply because people were curious to see if his streak of consecutive games played would continue. The whole thing got me thinking about another streak: Cal Ripken, Jr.’s.
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, Zach Galifianakis lighting up a joint on Real Time with Bill Maher, the San Francisco Giants flushing away the Bonds era, or the worst Halloween candy ever (it’s Necco Wafers), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Brett Favre — the NFL’s master of drama — received a ton of attention going into yesterday’s game, simply because people were curious to see if his streak of consecutive games played would continue. Dating back to September 1992, Favre hasn’t missed a game. Although he received a facebuster yesterday, he extended the streak to 292.
The whole thing got me thinking about another streak: Cal Ripken, Jr.’s streak of 2,632 games of baseball. From May 1982 to September 1998, Ripken didn’t miss a game.
Which streak is more impressive to you? Football is a contact sport and it’s easier for players to get injured. That said, baseball players play way more games and have a longer season. Certainly both streaks are a bit manufactured and went on longer than they ought to, but they’re both impressive. Anyway, kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss!
Today’s Coffee Talk is super simple. I just want to know what you, your family, and your loved ones are wearing for Halloween. Part of it is because I think it’ll be cool to compare and contrast everyone’s costumes. Part of it is…
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, the coffee grinder I want, the coffee grinder of my dreams, or this one time…at band camp, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Today’s Coffee Talk is super simple. I just want to know what you, your family, and your loved ones are wearing for Halloween. Part of it is because I think it’ll be cool to compare and contrast everyone’s costumes. Part of it is that I’m still undecided on what to wear and maybe I’ll steal one of your ideas. Ha!
I suppose it’s time for a Halloween confession too. I remember seeing someone in Greenwich Village dressed as golfer Payne Stewart for Halloween ’99. He was wearing knickers and a sweater vest, just like Stewart wore on the golf course. He was also zombified and had a propeller sticking out of his chest. The costume totally cracked me up — and still does to this very day — but I felt so guilty for laughing considering that he died on October 25, 1999.
Anyway, tell me all about your Halloween costume (please)!
