I'm hoping that this free indie game is actual available by now. The YouTube trailer certainly looks cool:
Based on his website it looks like Tom Francis has put a lot of time into this project and that he has pulled content for the game from some great designers.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Sketching Apps
Clog Work was recently featured on Blogger's Blogs of Note section, which is great for the guy who runs. I hope to be that awesome some day.
I'll have to try and install these three apps.
Not crazy about the pose of the girl in yellow
I'll have to try and install these three apps.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
I've Never Seen This Before
I think I broke Google just now:
I got this message after performing a search with conditional statements, not a no results found page. Weird.
I got this message after performing a search with conditional statements, not a no results found page. Weird.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
One Week Until my iPad 2 Arrives!
I really getting geeked out about getting my new iPad 2 one week from today!
Unfortunately, I'm starting to have second thoughts about the custom engraving I order for the back. Since the engraving was included in the cost of the iPad, I decided to put something on there. Unfortunately, instead of going with something sensible like "If found, please call xxx.xxx.xxxx, reward offered", I went with a line from a poem by virtually unknown Romantic era poet Thomas Lovell Beddoes:
My thinking at the time was that it will be after I use it for a few months.
Perhaps someone out there can start a random iPad engraving blog and use mine as an example. I'll post a photo of it one it arrives.
Here is the whole text of the poem from which the quote above originates:
Unfortunately, I'm starting to have second thoughts about the custom engraving I order for the back. Since the engraving was included in the cost of the iPad, I decided to put something on there. Unfortunately, instead of going with something sensible like "If found, please call xxx.xxx.xxxx, reward offered", I went with a line from a poem by virtually unknown Romantic era poet Thomas Lovell Beddoes:
"Tis cloven and cracked
and battered and hacked"
My thinking at the time was that it will be after I use it for a few months.
Perhaps someone out there can start a random iPad engraving blog and use mine as an example. I'll post a photo of it one it arrives.
Here is the whole text of the poem from which the quote above originates:
Old Adam, the carrion crow,The old crow of Cairo;
He sat in the shower, and let it flow
Under his tail and over his crest;
And through every feather
Leak'd the wet weather;
And the bough swung under his nest;
For his beak it was heavy with marrow.
Is that the wind dying? O no;
It's only two devils, that blow,
Through a murderer's bones, to and fro,
In the ghosts' moonshine.
Ho! Eve, my grey carrion wife,
When we have supped on king's marrow,
Where shall we drink and make merry our life?
Our nest it is queen Cleopatra's skull,
'Tis cloven and crack'd,
And batter'd and hack'd,
But with tears of blue eyes it is full:
Let us drink then, my raven of Cairo!
Is that the wind dying? O no;
It's only two devils, that blow
Through a murderer's bones, to and fro,
In the ghosts' moonshine.
His suicide note read "I should have been a poet".
Lesson: Live your dreams, don't put them off.
If you know of a smart little girl who is going through an Edgar Allen Poe phase, introduce her to Beddoes.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Moleskine App for the iPad
Moleskine launched an iPad App!
The majority of the reviews I've read on this app have been extremely positive. Apparently, with this app you can:
DL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moleskine/id429657255?mt=8
After you've tried it you can share your thoughts here:
http://www.moleskine.com/moleskine_world/moleskine_app/moleskine_iphone_app_sign-up.php
Sexy!
Looks clean
• Pick a Moleskine notebook paper style: plain, ruled, squared• Type in text notes• Sketch with your fingers • Insert and play with your personal images• Break down your notes into categories• Play with images provided by Moleskine (which should be fun for about two whole seconds)• Geo-tag each note created and create a virtual map of your memories• Share your notes with friends through email or social networks
DL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moleskine/id429657255?mt=8
After you've tried it you can share your thoughts here:
http://www.moleskine.com/moleskine_world/moleskine_app/moleskine_iphone_app_sign-up.php
Saturday, April 16, 2011
iPad 2 Apps to Try
Here are the apps that I will be downloading, using and reviewing on this blog.
Name: Dragon Dictation
Price: Free
Interest Level: Through the Roof
Description: If you're connected to the web you can use this app for voice transcription and the ability to share messages via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.
Name: Zinio
Price: Free (but I bet the mags inside cost money)
Interest Level: Meh
Description: Lets you view magazines. Only useful to me if any of the magazines offered are free.
Name: ABC Player
Price: Free
Interest Level: I'm not holding my breath
Description: Plays TV content from ABC. I only watched Lost up through the end of Season 2 so I might get the rest of my fill here. Being totally caught up on all the nerdy obscure pop culture references to every minute of this show sorta counts as being productive, right? Does ABC have anything else to offer that is worth watching?
Name: AP Mobile
Price: Free
Interest Level: I'll give it a shot
Description: Text, pictures and video accounts of current news. The ability to get really local news intrigues me. I wonder what the New York Times has to offer for the iPad.
Name: Barnes and Nobel Nook for the iPad
Price: Free (but I bet the content inside cost money)
Interest Level: Worth trying at least
Description: If there are free offerings that are easy to find I'm sure to do some reading with this app. Unfortunately, I'm betting that they will try to sell me works in the public domain.
Name: NPR for the iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Worth trying at least
Description: I don't really get my news from NPR right now so I'm not overly excited about getting it from them on my new iPad. Still, I'll try it.
Name: Reuters News Pro
Price: Free
Interest Level: Meh
Description: I really rely on the New York Times to keep me informed so I'm not sure how much I will use this app.
Name: Photoshop Express
Price: Free
Interest Level: High as an elephant's eye
Description: As a heavy Photoshop user I'm guessing that I will be disappointed in the lack of features offered in this software. Still this might become my bread and butter app for making minor tweaks to photos I take on my iPad that I don't want to bother sending to my workstation computer.
Name: Pandora Radio
Price: Free
Interest Level: Would have been higher in 2008
Description: I'm not thrilled with the lack of depth in the Pandora pond. I've gone swimming in their waters several times before and I keep coming face to face with the same fish. OK, enough figurative language- what I mean is that Pandora doesn't have a lot of songs in their library. I've found a handful of new songs that I like from them but never have I heard a new artist that is similar to the music styles I enjoy enough to start following that artist. Pandora has so much promise as a means of helping me to discover musicians that are new to me because of the great job they do of categorizing music but so far it hasn't worked.
I know that when I put on a playlist in iTunes that I've created that I won't have to skip any songs. This would allow me to put my iPad on the dock, press play once and wander around my room doing things while listening to my music. With Pandora I find myself hitting the "I don't like this song" button a lot, which works when you're sitting at your computer using Pandora but not as well when using it in the setting I just described.
Having said all of that I do enjoy creating random playlists on Pandora so I will download their iPad app. Some of my favorites random playlists have come from seeding the list with 80s bands/ artists and letting it do its thing.
Moving on...
Name: Evernote
Price: Free
Interest Level: Riding a rocket straight to the moon
Description: I love Evernote and the ability to combine the camera on the iPad with this service thrills me almost sexually. My "smart" phone can't display the notes I've previously taken in Evernote and the ability to sort and do something about the notes I've taken in the past while I'm running around town is something I'm looking forward to trying. I guess I'll have to fill my Evernote account with even more goodies now so that I'll have something to access when my iPad arrives.
Name: Marvel Comics
Price: Free (but the content inside costs money, I'm sure)
Interest Level: Ehh
Description: I'm not really a comic book reader right now so I don't think this will be an app I spend a lot of time with. I will give it a shot. If there is content inside that is free, I'll probably read it.
Name: Dropbox for iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Right up there with Evernote
Description: I have a number of documents that I keep inside of Dropbox which would be cool to access on the fly. I'm looking forward to having all of these things at my fingertips.
Name: Twitter for iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Meh
Description: Based on PC Magazine's review I will be using this instead of TweetDeck. Kinda makes me wonder why they included TweetDeck before this app on their list since their description for this app lists it this way: "Editors' Choice award-winning Twitter for iPad is the best mobile Twitter client around, hands-down". Weird, thinks I.
Name: Truphone
Price: Free
Interest Level: Meh
Description: I might try this app but will most likely stick to using my cellphone for phone calls.
Name: Kindle
Price: Free (but I bet the content inside cost money)
Interest Level: Eh
Description: Will the Nook or this software win their courtship for my readership? Stay tuned.
This probably has the Nook beaten imo. I'm guessing that Amazon knows a little more about delivering content over the internet than their brick and mortar bookselling rival.
Name: Epicurious
Price: Free
Interest Level: I'm getting hungry
Description: Based on the review this sounds like it might make me bring my iPad into the kitchen (with protective covering on it, of course).
Name: Wikipanion
Price: Free
Interest Level: Looking forward to adding this to my digital toolbox
Description: Sure I could just point the iPad's browser to the wikipedia website but apparently this app takes does all the work of resizing and zooming and just makes the content on Wikipedia look right on the iPad. Now I can start forgetting everything I ever learned in school and just let this app do all my remembering for me. That is of course if I'm in a WiFi hotspot.
Name: Flipboard
Price: Free (but I bet the content inside cost money)
Interest Level: Eh
Description: I don't really get the description of what the hell this is but it sounds vaguely like it takes links from Facebook and Twitter and transforms them into some kind of cutting edge RSS feed / magazine hybrid. I like things that look pretty. Will try.
Name: Friendly
Price: Free
Interest Level: Not high but I'll probably use it
Description: Why does Facebook have an official iPad app yet? Zuck spending too much time having sex on top of his money pile while his employees are busy dropping the ball?
Name: iMovie
Price: $5
Interest Level: Looking forward to this
Description: I would like to be able to edit video on the fly. I bet I buy this fairly quickly after receiving my iPad.
Name: Remote
Price: Free
Interest Level: Up there
Description: Turning my iPad into a fancy remote control for iTunes? Let the laziness begin!
Name: TED for iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Inside the house with the old guy and fat kid from UP.
Description: I'm excited about this app.
Name: StreamToMe
Price: $3
Interest Level: Knee high
Description: I'm already psyching myself up for the fact that the iPad will only display video that plays nicely with iTunes (mp4 files). This software installs on both your iPad on your main computer. When you let it work its magic on your main computer it reformats any video you want for display on the iPad. Interesting but can't I just watch on my main computer? There are still plenty of other sources of video for the iPad, right?
Name: Google Earth
Price: Free
Interest Level: Ankle high
Description: I'm always hearing about how cool Google Earth is. Every once and awhile I use it just long enough to remember that I can get driving directions on at maps.Google.com. Still Gizmodo says that "You haven't experienced Google Earth until you've experienced it on the iPad. Seamless swishing, flicking, pinching, and zooming." I'll have to see if they're right.
Name: Time Warner TV
Price: Free
Interest Level: Elephant's eye
Description:I have Time Warner Cable at home. The ability to put my iPad next to my main computer and use it as an additional TV appeals to me. Typically, I spend the rest of my time at home sitting in front of the TV already.
Name: Reeder
Price: $5
Interest Level: Up there
Description: Gizmodo recommends this RSS software. Are there free alternatives that rival the quality of this product?
Name: Zite
Price: Free
Interest Level: Ankle high
Description:There are a LOT of services that have popped up recently that offer to provide you with new content based on your interests in current content. I haven't heard of any that are so well done that they are worth using. Still the price is right and I might try this.
Name: SimpleNote
Price: Free
Interest Level: Toe high
Description: I would even list this except that Gizmodo recommended it. I already have Evernote, Dropbox, email and other apps that let me store and retrieve text, right?
Name: Pulse
Price: Free
Interest Level: I can't jump that high, but I almost can
Description: An RSS reader that pulls content for me? Interesting.
Name: Nightstand HD
Price: $2
Interest Level: Under foot
Description: I'm starting to wonder why Apple didn't write some of this software themselves and bundle it in with the purchase of the iPad. The entire screen of the Blackberry Storm I got in December of 2008 turns into a full screen clock with built in alarm functionality whenever I plug it its power cord. This makes so much sense because I typically plug it in when I'm getting ready to go to sleep at the end of the day. In fact my phone has replaced my previous alarm clock entirely. I guess I'll keep using my cellphone as my alarm clock.
Name: New York Times for iPad
Price: Free for now
Interest Level: Thigh high
Description: I get the majority of my news these days from the New York Times so I'm looking forward to trying this app.
Name: Yelp
Price: Free
Interest Level: Toe high
Description: I haven't had trouble finding food in my life yet so I don't know how much this will help. Will try.
Name: IMDB
Price: Free
Interest Level: Toe high
Description: Trailers and all the information on movies ever? I'm in.
Name: Dragon Dictation
Price: Free
Interest Level: Through the Roof
Description: If you're connected to the web you can use this app for voice transcription and the ability to share messages via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.
Name: Zinio
Price: Free (but I bet the mags inside cost money)
Interest Level: Meh
Description: Lets you view magazines. Only useful to me if any of the magazines offered are free.
Name: ABC Player
Price: Free
Interest Level: I'm not holding my breath
Description: Plays TV content from ABC. I only watched Lost up through the end of Season 2 so I might get the rest of my fill here. Being totally caught up on all the nerdy obscure pop culture references to every minute of this show sorta counts as being productive, right? Does ABC have anything else to offer that is worth watching?
Name: AP Mobile
Price: Free
Interest Level: I'll give it a shot
Description: Text, pictures and video accounts of current news. The ability to get really local news intrigues me. I wonder what the New York Times has to offer for the iPad.
Name: Barnes and Nobel Nook for the iPad
Price: Free (but I bet the content inside cost money)
Interest Level: Worth trying at least
Description: If there are free offerings that are easy to find I'm sure to do some reading with this app. Unfortunately, I'm betting that they will try to sell me works in the public domain.
Name: NPR for the iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Worth trying at least
Description: I don't really get my news from NPR right now so I'm not overly excited about getting it from them on my new iPad. Still, I'll try it.
Name: Reuters News Pro
Price: Free
Interest Level: Meh
Description: I really rely on the New York Times to keep me informed so I'm not sure how much I will use this app.
Name: Photoshop Express
Price: Free
Interest Level: High as an elephant's eye
Description: As a heavy Photoshop user I'm guessing that I will be disappointed in the lack of features offered in this software. Still this might become my bread and butter app for making minor tweaks to photos I take on my iPad that I don't want to bother sending to my workstation computer.
Name: Pandora Radio
Price: Free
Interest Level: Would have been higher in 2008
Description: I'm not thrilled with the lack of depth in the Pandora pond. I've gone swimming in their waters several times before and I keep coming face to face with the same fish. OK, enough figurative language- what I mean is that Pandora doesn't have a lot of songs in their library. I've found a handful of new songs that I like from them but never have I heard a new artist that is similar to the music styles I enjoy enough to start following that artist. Pandora has so much promise as a means of helping me to discover musicians that are new to me because of the great job they do of categorizing music but so far it hasn't worked.
I know that when I put on a playlist in iTunes that I've created that I won't have to skip any songs. This would allow me to put my iPad on the dock, press play once and wander around my room doing things while listening to my music. With Pandora I find myself hitting the "I don't like this song" button a lot, which works when you're sitting at your computer using Pandora but not as well when using it in the setting I just described.
Having said all of that I do enjoy creating random playlists on Pandora so I will download their iPad app. Some of my favorites random playlists have come from seeding the list with 80s bands/ artists and letting it do its thing.
Moving on...
Name: Evernote
Price: Free
Interest Level: Riding a rocket straight to the moon
Description: I love Evernote and the ability to combine the camera on the iPad with this service thrills me almost sexually. My "smart" phone can't display the notes I've previously taken in Evernote and the ability to sort and do something about the notes I've taken in the past while I'm running around town is something I'm looking forward to trying. I guess I'll have to fill my Evernote account with even more goodies now so that I'll have something to access when my iPad arrives.
Name: Marvel Comics
Price: Free (but the content inside costs money, I'm sure)
Interest Level: Ehh
Description: I'm not really a comic book reader right now so I don't think this will be an app I spend a lot of time with. I will give it a shot. If there is content inside that is free, I'll probably read it.
Name: Dropbox for iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Right up there with Evernote
Description: I have a number of documents that I keep inside of Dropbox which would be cool to access on the fly. I'm looking forward to having all of these things at my fingertips.
Name: Twitter for iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Meh
Description: Based on PC Magazine's review I will be using this instead of TweetDeck. Kinda makes me wonder why they included TweetDeck before this app on their list since their description for this app lists it this way: "Editors' Choice award-winning Twitter for iPad is the best mobile Twitter client around, hands-down". Weird, thinks I.
Name: Truphone
Price: Free
Interest Level: Meh
Description: I might try this app but will most likely stick to using my cellphone for phone calls.
Name: Kindle
Price: Free (but I bet the content inside cost money)
Interest Level: Eh
Description: Will the Nook or this software win their courtship for my readership? Stay tuned.
This probably has the Nook beaten imo. I'm guessing that Amazon knows a little more about delivering content over the internet than their brick and mortar bookselling rival.
Name: Epicurious
Price: Free
Interest Level: I'm getting hungry
Description: Based on the review this sounds like it might make me bring my iPad into the kitchen (with protective covering on it, of course).
Name: Wikipanion
Price: Free
Interest Level: Looking forward to adding this to my digital toolbox
Description: Sure I could just point the iPad's browser to the wikipedia website but apparently this app takes does all the work of resizing and zooming and just makes the content on Wikipedia look right on the iPad. Now I can start forgetting everything I ever learned in school and just let this app do all my remembering for me. That is of course if I'm in a WiFi hotspot.
Name: Flipboard
Price: Free (but I bet the content inside cost money)
Interest Level: Eh
Description: I don't really get the description of what the hell this is but it sounds vaguely like it takes links from Facebook and Twitter and transforms them into some kind of cutting edge RSS feed / magazine hybrid. I like things that look pretty. Will try.
Name: Friendly
Price: Free
Interest Level: Not high but I'll probably use it
Description: Why does Facebook have an official iPad app yet? Zuck spending too much time having sex on top of his money pile while his employees are busy dropping the ball?
Name: iMovie
Price: $5
Interest Level: Looking forward to this
Description: I would like to be able to edit video on the fly. I bet I buy this fairly quickly after receiving my iPad.
Name: Remote
Price: Free
Interest Level: Up there
Description: Turning my iPad into a fancy remote control for iTunes? Let the laziness begin!
Name: TED for iPad
Price: Free
Interest Level: Inside the house with the old guy and fat kid from UP.
Description: I'm excited about this app.
Name: StreamToMe
Price: $3
Interest Level: Knee high
Description: I'm already psyching myself up for the fact that the iPad will only display video that plays nicely with iTunes (mp4 files). This software installs on both your iPad on your main computer. When you let it work its magic on your main computer it reformats any video you want for display on the iPad. Interesting but can't I just watch on my main computer? There are still plenty of other sources of video for the iPad, right?
Name: Google Earth
Price: Free
Interest Level: Ankle high
Description: I'm always hearing about how cool Google Earth is. Every once and awhile I use it just long enough to remember that I can get driving directions on at maps.Google.com. Still Gizmodo says that "You haven't experienced Google Earth until you've experienced it on the iPad. Seamless swishing, flicking, pinching, and zooming." I'll have to see if they're right.
Name: Time Warner TV
Price: Free
Interest Level: Elephant's eye
Description:I have Time Warner Cable at home. The ability to put my iPad next to my main computer and use it as an additional TV appeals to me. Typically, I spend the rest of my time at home sitting in front of the TV already.
Name: Reeder
Price: $5
Interest Level: Up there
Description: Gizmodo recommends this RSS software. Are there free alternatives that rival the quality of this product?
Name: Zite
Price: Free
Interest Level: Ankle high
Description:There are a LOT of services that have popped up recently that offer to provide you with new content based on your interests in current content. I haven't heard of any that are so well done that they are worth using. Still the price is right and I might try this.
Name: SimpleNote
Price: Free
Interest Level: Toe high
Description: I would even list this except that Gizmodo recommended it. I already have Evernote, Dropbox, email and other apps that let me store and retrieve text, right?
Name: Pulse
Price: Free
Interest Level: I can't jump that high, but I almost can
Description: An RSS reader that pulls content for me? Interesting.
Name: Nightstand HD
Price: $2
Interest Level: Under foot
Description: I'm starting to wonder why Apple didn't write some of this software themselves and bundle it in with the purchase of the iPad. The entire screen of the Blackberry Storm I got in December of 2008 turns into a full screen clock with built in alarm functionality whenever I plug it its power cord. This makes so much sense because I typically plug it in when I'm getting ready to go to sleep at the end of the day. In fact my phone has replaced my previous alarm clock entirely. I guess I'll keep using my cellphone as my alarm clock.
Name: New York Times for iPad
Price: Free for now
Interest Level: Thigh high
Description: I get the majority of my news these days from the New York Times so I'm looking forward to trying this app.
Name: Yelp
Price: Free
Interest Level: Toe high
Description: I haven't had trouble finding food in my life yet so I don't know how much this will help. Will try.
Name: IMDB
Price: Free
Interest Level: Toe high
Description: Trailers and all the information on movies ever? I'm in.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Round Up and Review of Free Adventure Games on Free Game Thursday
Today I'm going to discuss the games mentioned in this YouTube video:
8. A Tale of Two Kingdoms - Haven't played this yet but I will add it to my list of games to try
7. Earl Mansin: The Breakout - Looks a little bizarre but someday I'll give it a try
6. Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars - I installed this game on a machine running Windows XP several months ago but it appeared shifted to the right on my screen. The left half of my monitor was solid black and on the left half of the game appeared on the right side of my monitor. Without being able to see half of the screen I couldn't make it through the opening video before giving up on this game. Perhaps I'll give it another try on a different machine but I'm not holding my breath about it working.
5. What Makes You Tick? - I really enjoyed playing this great looking adventure and I highly recommend it to fans of the point-and-click style adventure game. The artwork is fantastic, the settings are dark and mysterious, the game play did leave me a bit confused on a few occasions but only twice did I have to resort to a walkthru to get me past things I never would have done without cheating. Oh and the characters were intriguing and well written.
4. Fate by Numbers - This is a really cool use of live action video in the adventure genre that shows the way forward for future adventure game makers. Unfortunately, I and several other players have noted that the game comes to abrupt halt right in the middle of the action when you simply can't move on to the next part. I'm hoping that a patch or better yet an updated version is released soon.
3. The White Chamber - I played part of this game and found it sort of overwhelming in terms of the size of the area in which you as the player can explore. Right about the time I thought I was getting the hang of playing (although I was still sort of lost in terms of where the hell I was in reference to where I started the adventure) I opened a door and was sucked out into space. This game has a lot going for it but I'm not sure I want to make the time commitment necessary to finish this game.
2. Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! - The style of the graphics in this game just don't do it for me. I don't think I can take this seriously.
1. Dirty Split - I'm still in the middle of playing this game. At the moment, I'm stuck in the police station.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Two Weeks Until My iPad 2 Arrives!
I'm getting really excited about receiving my new iPad. According to Apple it should be shipping on the 22nd and will arrive on the 27th of April, which is two weeks from today!
The commercials aren't helping with the wait at all. See what I mean?
It feels like how I remember early December when I was a little kid.
The commercials aren't helping with the wait at all. See what I mean?
It feels like how I remember early December when I was a little kid.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Dock for My iPad 2 Shipped Today
For whatever reason Apple choose to ship the dock for my new iPad separately from the actual iPad. What a tease.
Anyway, I guess I'm excited that my $30 piece of plastic and metal will be arriving on the 15th via FedEx but it's only going to serve as a visual reminder of desire for it to be the 27th of April already.
Yes, another piece of plastic to add to my collection.
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