Dragon Age
I’ve been playing Dragon Age ever since it came out, neglecting my studies and even NaNoWriMo.
The game is really high quality, and I have yet to experience glitches or any game breakers. I picked up the Collector’s Edition, which came with a cloth map, in-game items, and a bonus DVD containing a set of wallpapers and the sound ltrack for the game.
The biggest problem for me was that the toolset install caused my Windows install to go haywire, which resulted in my upgrading to Windows 7. That, however, is a different slice of cake.
The game is rather well-built, and the graphics are pretty. With a little more work, it could even be a pretty good MMORPG. As is, it already feels like one with the expansive and attractive environments and gameplay.
Amazon MP3 and Languages
I just bought one of my textbooks on Amazon, and they surprised me with this nice little “$5 Off Any Amazon MP3 Song or Album”. I’ve heard about the Amazon MP3 store for a while now, but I hadn’t had the opportunity, or the will to use it, since I was quite happy with iTunes Plus, which is still $0.99 for most of the songs I listen to. For this test, I picked up Shinskoku Dolce by Kanon Wakeshima. The quality is excellent, and I’ve been listening to the five tracks that I’ve selected for a while now. The service makes use of a downloader application available on Mac OS X (10.4.11+), Windows, and Linux. That’s a nice change from iTunes, which is only Mac OS X and Linux.
Despite how much I enjoyed it, there were quite a few major issues that really jabbed at me. First off is that the Amazon MP3 Downloader imports the downloaded MP3 into iTunes using the normal import process, so it doesn’t appear in my nifty “Purchased” playlist. The second would be that there is quite a small selection of music in Japanese. “Wait, Japanese?” One might ask.
I purchase most of my music in Japanese, since it’s a language that I can comprehend in music, more so than English. If it isn’t out there yet, my first language is Vietnamese, my second is English, my third is Japanese. Despite taking French classes in High School, it never really stuck. This may come as news as well, but my spoken ability to manipulate English has begun to deteriorate, despite using it 85% of the time. The other 20% being me speaking Vietnamese with my parents, and 5% Japanese that dominates my mental thoughts, and also covering my entertainment in anime.
Back on topic. I really would like to see Amazon offer the foreign language selection that iTunes has -I can even find Vietnamese music on iTunes more easily than Amazon. Amazon is a great way to save money when buying textbooks and looking to grab a few more songs for the school year, but would I recommend it as a dedicated store? Yes and no. It’s a great deal for someone who purchases English music a lot, but not so much for those of us who partake in “foreign” music and music in other languages.
The only confusing part of this is that Amazon has stated on it’s site (this page) that users will get a download free of charge to test the downloader. For me, it deducted from my 5USD credit.
Hatena
School starting soon, and as a study guide, I’ll be blogging in Japanese at http://d.hatena.ne.jp/CocoaMac/.
Why is that? I ended up creating a Hatena ID through DSi Flipnote, so I thought, why not?
Google CEO Booted From Apple Board
On August 3, 2009 (today), Apple announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of the internet search monopoly Google, would be resigning from his position on Apple’s Board of Directors.
Steve Jobs, on the other had, had this to say:
“Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”
[via Apple]
What does this mean? Apple spares no one, not even investors. Let’s say that Al Gore decided to develop and create his own line of computers, or music players -Apple would probably have him resign as well.
And Steve, what’s with this “we” mutually deciding that Schmidt would resign. Oh, right, you and the rest of the Board of Directors, probably not including Schmidt.
Any fanboys reading this, shut up. I may be one of the biggest Apple fans in West Michigan, but it doesn’t mean that I’m one of Apple’s thralls. I have my right to an opinion, and my right to speculation as well.
A Week in West Michigan 1
The first of a series of photo posts, centered around West Michigan in the United States. This week, I went swing dancing in Grand Rapids, MI, and I went to John Ball Zoo there as well. Photos further in the post.
iPhone Mass Storage
I’ve seen this question, or request many of times among iPhone users- Especially those that have used the older iPods. “Where is the mass storage function?” or “Why doesn’t the iPhone offer access to the hard drive?”
I get sick and tired of these questions, especially since the answer is pretty simple. The reason why we lack this feature is because we don’t have Mac users AND Windows users using the device. “How does that have anything to do with this”, one might ask. The answer is simple, as it has been noted time and time again, the iPhone runs a variant of OS X, though much slimmed down and limited, it still makes use of the HFS/HFS+ file system.
Due to this, any mass storage functions would be limited only to computers running OS X, or another OS that has a method to access the HFS/HFS+ filesystem. By default, this is not Windows. Since the iPhone runs a slimmed down version of OS X, it must use the HFS/HFS+ filesystem, so reformatting it for Windows like older iPods won’t have a positive effect.
Why don’t they make it accessible to only Macs then? It’s only fair, and to avoid possible anti-competitive trade issues.
Midsummer
It’s now around that time, midsummer. That means a little over one month till Orientation and the start of school.
Recently, I picked up Neverwinter Nights 2 Gold, and had a blast. I’m considering buying Stirms fo Zehir, and Mysteries of Westgate.
3.5E forever.
iPhone 3GS
Apple has introduced the iPhone 3GS, the latest in the Cupertino-based company’s iPod/Phone hybrid lineup. The S in the name stands for Speed- As evident in the 600MHz processor and the 256MB of ram. Unlike many other products in this time period, this new iPhone delivers: Applications run faster, and the overall UI is smoother and more responsive.
The quality of the camera, and the video recording features are some of the biggest reasons to pick up this device- I had considered picking up a HTC G1, as either a developer device from Google, or a locked phone from T-Mobile. However there was a turn of events when the SAAD (Suddenly Acquired Apple Device, based off of Danny Choo’s SAFs) appeared in my room after coming back home on a Sunday. This is the device that rekindled my love of the iPhone.
Forlorn Watchers
I’m announcing the initial opening of Forlorn Watchers, a gaming blog and community. Please check out the site, register, and even participate- I’m sure that the members of the community would appreciate a little more Mac in their lives.
Status Updating
It’s been a while since my last post; I haven’t really been active in any online communities either. However, my stay at High School is finishing up on Thursday, the 28th- More time for work. Incidently, that is about the time that my next figure, a figma of Suzumiya Haruhi is coming. Look forward to a review!
On other news, On The Rail is still in progress, and a chapter 1 release preview may be coming in the summer. I’m also going to be working on several Mac applications as well, although release possibilities are quite questionable.
