owenSoft.net - Technology

New Car Radio (Technology)

2012-04-16 09:57:13

Bought it from a co-worker, for a little over a 120 USD. Now I can play from my USB flash drive, CD-RW discs, external audio and I can make it flash pretty colors. Only problem I have so far is that you have to pop the whole face down to put in a CD.

by owen () comment

My Old Car Radio (Technology)

2012-04-16 09:39:34

A Poineer XX-Something. I was good for a while but it go increasingly annoying because it did not like my CD-RW discs. Of course it would play original music cds but I don't buy them that often and my favourite discount CD store closed down and became a vegetarian food restaurant :(

by owen () comment

Wiring the New Radio (Technology)

2012-03-08 16:01:24

I recently became annoyed with burning CD-RW disks before I left work so that I could play newly discovered music in my car. Sure it was not bad at first but eventually after about a week or 2 of constant burning and the heat from within the car the re-writeable disks would simple give up and I was left with nothing to listen to but the radio or original CDs.

After months of trying to pop out the radio to check for inputs on the back I finally was able to get it out - only to realise that there were no AUX in ports on the back of my old radio. I had not choice but to buy a new radio.

After another couple months of searching and bitching I was finally able to get a new radio that did not break the bank and would not get my car stolen (though the jury is still out on that one)

Luckily for me there was a radio already in my car. So all I had to do with match the colors.

by owen () comment

Jamaica Elections 2011 - Manifesto Word Search (Technology)

2011-12-21 10:55:02

Do a quick search for words or phrases across all the 2011 Manifestos (JAM,JLP,MGPPP,NDM,PNP) and compare the results; maybe pointless but who knows; http://owensoft.net/project/agow2011/

by owen () comment

Goldeneye 007 Wii Game Review (Technology)

2011-09-14 19:46:46

Firstly let's just say that the game looks bueatiful the single player is definately pushing the wii. Pushing it so far that it results in frame drops when the on screen activity gets heavy. But the jungle stage is a site to be seen.

However the online multiplayer is a slow 30 frames per second and is littered with double kill bugs - maybe its just me but it is very annoying to shoot somebody is the head get the kill, only to have them kill you at the same time with a shotgun. This happens multple times in a single match.

On the plus side the game features accolades which are an indication of how well or how badly you did in a match, things such as Professional, COD Master, . Too bad there is no way to see those gained by your teammates or enemies.A smart watch with lasers is much cooler than a smart phone with WIFI!

The single player is above average, nothing spectacular but as good as call of duty. It basically IS call of duty. I give it a 8 out of 10. There is fun to be had. Multiplayer is poor but the single player is worth a play through. Doesn't live up to the memory of the N64 game. It looks better that COD:WAW but does not play better because of its low framerate. Rent or borrow first. Not a memorable game, certainly not worth keeping in your collection.

The Online Multiplayer

Besides the fact that the gameplay is a laggy 30 frames per second the multi player maps have some of the most illogical designs that I have seen so far in a FPS video game. The major culprit in this stage called archives in which the map is design as a maze, the stage is a 2 storey building which has no sense of symmetry or logical architectural design. I know this may be over the head for most layman but some of the stages in this game are practically impossible to memories because of the random placement of staircases and walls in little rooms that serve no logical purpose in a building.

The Single Player Campaign

Once you complete the game on notice the first time, you will probably no want to play it again unless you bought the game and have nothing else to play. You can always go for the time trials or the 007 Classic difficulty but these modes are pointless because enemies that appear out of hidden walls and bottleneck sections make doing a quick run through more of a chore than a exercise in skill. The single play is roughly 5 hours and has no gadgets besides a smart phone and some quick time events which are often pointless distraction. There is this one point where I actually had to go online to figure out to escape a helicopter sequence because of a poorly placed button. In general its a mixed bag

by owen () comment

Console Games on a Handheld - Definition (Technology)

2011-02-07 19:20:41

Dispite the fact that the PSP was as poorly designed as the ps3 IMHO I think the best explanation for the topic of the post is;

"Straight ports of console games which weren't designed specifically for handheld "

A REALLY good game on the console will probably be a good game on a handheld. But such is not the case with all games. And there are some games that will are definitely better off not ported. There are some design changes that must be made to the game to make it play well on a small screen.

You really have to cut down on the Text, the loading, the annoying repeative fetch quests and infinite spawning enemies that many console games use to extend play time.

I can only imagine how the shooting mechanics are going to work in Uncharted. I can forsee many a NGP player getting shot by a off-screen enemy and falling into a pit while using the back touch pad to jump. Its as illogical as the character model being 3/4 the height of the screen (see thumb).

I always wondered why the Gameboy had 2 buttons for so long, its because 2 buttons is all the complexity you really need when you are trying not to get mugged at the bus stop.

Console games are long, complicated and can require the players full attention. Handheld games on the other hand should be unique and only require as much attention from the player as needed to complete a single level or section. Nothing more.

by owen () comment

PSP2, NGP Sucks because its all been done before (Technology)

2011-01-29 22:36:15

Sony, Sony, Sony. You know that shit is going to cost $599 USD. There is no way you are going to get all those features in a 300 dollar handheld. Sony apparently has yet to learn its lesson. These are the same features they were selling when the PSP1 came out (bigger, better, faster). Might as well they called it the PSP4000. I mean how can a system running at 2.5 times the resolution of the 3DS have comparable battery life? its logically impossible. The battery would have to be as big as the damn screen (also adding to its weight).

I don't know, why change the XMB menu? I don't even know who is going to care about a system that is coming out 9-12 months from now. Why they even announce it? If you announce something, you launch it in 3 months. Better yet you launch it the very next week, but Sony is not Apple. Don't wait until all the hate builds up or the thing gets leaked to the public.

Not to mention the launch line up. All those games might as well be running on a PS3 because it doesn't matter. I hope they port Uncharted 1 exactly to it, EXACTLY! Every feature in Uncharted one, on the system and I hope they sell it for $60. I mean why buy a PS3 for $300 when you can play the same game on the PSP2? Did they even try to develop a NEW game that makes use of all its new features? NO, they just ported the game that they already know are big sellers on the PS3. LBP? on a handheld? Its hard enough to tell when the sack boy is on a TV much less a small screen. Where is Heavy Rain? Where is LocoRoco? Where is God Of War 3? Eco? GTA4?

It plays PSone games? so what? the PSP plays PSone games. Where the hell are the PS2 games?

Having a touch pad on the back is as gay as dual screens on the DS. Its nothing but a reach around. "Touch it on the front, touch it on the back!" should be the new tagline. You will have release your grip on the console to fully utilize the back touch pad. Considering the weight and the size of the thing, people and kids are going to be dropping it left, right, center and back!

Its like someone at Sony is like "wait, how are we going to innovate around this touch screen gimmic? we are not smart enough to really think up anything new but we already have the most powerful handheld on the market, so lets make it more powerful than EVERY CONSOLE EVER CREATED and put the touchscreen ON THE BACK!" and someone else in the back shouts out "yes! and lets re-release all our current biggest PS3 IPs and add that right analog stick and cartridges that the fans have been requesting FOREVER!"

This is a system that will only sell to fanbois. Seriously, everybody who will buy this console will already have a PS3 (which is not alotta a people). The PSP GO flopped, go look that thing up, it costs $300 USD and it didn't even have rumble. Why not just make a portable PS2?

What they should have done

Here I list the things that make a portable console cool;

10 hour battery life minimum.

Cheap, small, light weight and solid build.

Lots of portable games, homebrew, and Flash games.

Usb ports and SD card slots.

Simplicity

The PSP2, NGP is none of these. Infact the PSP2 is the same as the PSP1. Everything that caused the PSP1 to fail is amplified 4 times.

The perfect PSP2 (update)

The perfect hand held from Sony right now would be a small ps2. Seriously.

The console will include all the PS2 hardware except the DVD drive, Controller ports and Memory card slot. It would in fact be a miniature PS2 with a built in screen.

It would play PS2 games stored a flash card, downloaded from the ps2 disc inserted into a PS3 or bought from the Sony Store.

Games would be played directly on the hardware. Therefore reducing the need for extra processing power for emulation.

It would have 10 hours battery life. Minimum.

It would play PS2 network broadband games over WIFI.

It would not support connection to a tv (so as not to kill ps2 sales)

New games could be released on it without disrupting the Backward compatibility of PS2 games while making use of extra features and a touch screen. In fact extra hardware features are not even necessary but I know some Sony Fans love to have do dads.

Rumble, Dual Analog sticks

by owen () comment

Bit.Trip - Runner - Wii Review (Technology)

2010-12-12 13:32:19

Runner is a game that could only have been designed by Hilter. Beating/completing the game requires dedicating GIGABYTES of you brain towards memorizing devilish jumping and ducking patterns in perfect order. Failing to do so will result in you getting sent directly back to the beginning of the level - no check point - no short cuts - NO NOTHING.

This game is GOOD but I certainly would not give this game a 10 because clearly there were some awful decisions made in the designs/layouts of some of the levels. You can tell that it is a design issue when EVERYBODY who plays level 1-2 has the same problem with those dam stairs. What makes it worst is that those stairs are the hardest in the whole 1st world. Not even to mention the bonus stages that can only be played once after playing the full stage.

Runner is a novel game but don't buy it unless you have alot of patience and up for the challenge of playing a level ONE HUNDRED TIMES OVER until you are able to commit everything into muscle memory. I give bit.trip: runner a 8 out of 10. Its good but unnecessarily hard.

by owen () comment

Best Homebrew Games on the Wii (Technology)

2010-12-06 10:34:58

Firstly you will have to figure out how to install the Homebrew Channel. Note that the older your wii the easier it is to install. Anyway after that you will need a SD card to copy the game onto so that you can play them on your Wii. To download the game click download on the top right of the games web page.

Now here are my top 10 favourite games from (link)

WiiSPACE

A top down Shoot-'em-up in space along the lines of Asteriods. Using the nunchuck to steer and the pointer to shoot. Very polished game with enough challenge to keep you comming back. Multiple types of enemies and boss battles. Simple graphics and 4 players at the same time give it a arcade feel. Classic and Gamecude controller support make it a must have. 9 out of 10.

Link: (link)

MahJongg Wii

MahJongg Wii is a Mahjongg solitaire tiles game written specifically for the Wii. One of the most polished games on the Homebrew Channel, great menus and background music. Single or 2 player. Easy game to learn. 10 out of 10.

Link: (link)

C-Dogs

C-Dogs is an arcade shoot-em-up which lets players work alone and cooperatively during missions or fight against each other in the "dogfight" deathmatch mode. Many missions, various was to customise the charactor and multiple types of guns. Reminds me of true Lies on the SNES. 9 out of 10.

Link: (link)

Flying Saucers

A simple 2D space shooting game. in which you shoot flying things on the screen with 1 to 4 players. Good game 7 out of 10.

Link: (link)

Homebrew Browser

The Homebrew Browser allows you to download the latest homebrew applications and games all through your Wii. You don't need to take your SD card out. You don't even need a computer! You can also delete homebrew you no longer want. 10 out of 10

Link: (link)

I will add more games as I come across them. To see the full list of availiable game view the List of Hombrew games.

by owen () comment

Playstation Move Sucks Now (Technology)

2010-10-17 09:37:09

I am a long time Wii owner and I played Move over at a friends house. I can safely say that its precision is its downfall - yes its precise but if I have to throw my arm out just to get a gold medal on Sports Champions then its not at all worth it! I like may arms, I play video games to avoid REAL sports. I'm a skinny guy, I don't need exercise, how are you going to beat the game if the simplest most redundant moves make you arm tired after half and hour? Why can't I do a horizontal slash?

I've played wii sports resort for eight straight hours, I wouldn't dare try that with the Move. PSMove fanatics need to start telling people their medal status on Sports champions because I don't think they are playing the game for very long.

The on-screen pointer lags abit too and the menu controls for some of the games are inconsistent. I get tempted to point at the screen and click stuff but some game I played had no screen pointer. Oh and another thing, the dam buttons around the move button, I hope people get accustomed to them eventually but they kinda confusing to use during play. Hopefully in the future the software averages out between exercise machine and gaming controler. If you never played the wii before then The move will be new ground for you but for the millions in Wii land; Precision does not equal fun. But right now I give it a 7 for poorly inplemented Wii Clone.

Bottom Line: Playstation Move sucks right now, at least on the software side until some good software comes out. The hardware maybe precise but that is also its downfall.

by owen () comment

iPhone 4 sucks - a Rant (Technology)

2010-06-08 11:29:19

RANT BEGIN ---

So yesterday Steve Jobs bust the place with the new ihone 4.0. And as usual I am pissed but I am not the only one. The Iphone 4 does nothing but disappoint me at every possible turn. As I was discussing with Camille of (link) the iphone 4 is more of the same with a better screen and still no SD card slot. To add insult to injured we now have to which to something called a "micro sim card". Which in itself is total BS. A micro sim cock maybe good in the customer driven garbage dump with is the USA. But in poorer nationals we can't just throw shit away for no reason and god knows how long before our local cellphone provides upgrade their systems.

Camile: Why you need an SD card slot? ...

if it had a SD card slot they wouldn't need to keep selling you the same 32gigs of memory over and over for a $100. But I guess its all part of apple's evil plot. No, of course you don't need it. :!

The current prices for apple products usally look something like this;

Ipad - 16GB - $499.00

Ipad - 32GB - $599.00

Ipad - 64GB - $699.00

I am sure many apple uses have several iphones that are either old or broken but still have 16gb of good memory in them that you have to keep buying over and over again. I'm sure the Ipad uses the same storage medium as the iphone. The storage thing is simply a retarded, money grabbing scheme by apple.

So called "Innovation"

I could go on and on about their so called "innovation" but I don't want to be a killjoy. Major feature is that it looks good (better than 90%). Everything else is bait.

Apple products just work

There are millions of things that "just work", toasters, refrigerators, but the iphone is special. The iphone just works for a time. How long it "just works" is totally dependant on apple. A SD card slot basically doubles the lifespan of any device that has one. After a year of use stability and reliability go out the window. It is designed to be constantly replaced.

Iphone 4 changes Everything Again! Hells yeah.

Retina Display

Last years iphone screen was the shit, now the new iphone 4 screen is the shit and last years phone is REALLY the shit. You can't improve something that is already standard and call it a feature. Talk to somebody about having a problem with the original iphone and they will simply laugh in your face. Of course this may seem to the reader as alittle thing compared to the awesome "Retina" screen and the "porn Facetime". But a hi-res screen is only going to make you use up more memory storing/looking-at big-ass images.

HD recording

OMFG. If I hear the HD Acronym again I'm going to flip out and spill oil in the gulf of mexico. Seriously, who has time to be recording and upload those big-ass HD movie files? Can you simply just give me 480 widescreen resolution? Or is that impossible?

IMproved Battery Life

OMFG. Putting in a bigger batter is not improving batter life.

Multi-Tasking Done the right way

I have no complains about this. They can do whatever they want. Why the old iphones can't do it is very puzzling.

IAds

So now I have to be always connected to the net so I can use my free applications? Now every free application will come hooked up with this iAD bull? so I have to be connected to the net to use the free apps? Sadness. I don't like this very much either.

---- RANT END

Well now my choices are either to get the iphone 4 or the windows 7 series phone series. But the WP7SS has had basically no information in the press recently. If I get the iphone 4 I will certain be selling my soul and wasting my money to "try-out" for a year (hopefully without breaking the screen) and be forced to sell it when the battery dies or i run of space.

Don't even mention and android phone. I like a phone that I can update without waiting on my carrier. What the crack head? Eclipse development? No thank you. The Android phone suffers from the opposite problem of the iphone; the android software stack sucks.

by owen () comment

So Fly with my MicroTac (Technology)

2010-05-20 14:12:14

I was looking for cellphone forever then I got this as a gift from my grand mother when I went to Mandeville. It is in pristine condition and has a removable battery. I tried charging it at first but that didn't work. Only after bringing it back to kingston did I get it to charge and the monochrome display came on like a video game arcade box. It keeps saying "NOSRVC". I guess I need someone to unlock it so I can use it on LIME. So fly it doesn't even have a sim card slot, probably using Bluetooth. So when you see me rolling, don't be hating.

Also;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzWv_kAcbM4

by owen () comment

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review/Rant (Technology)

2010-03-26 15:02:25

NMH2 is what I refer to as "a gamer's game". It ridiculously hard in some places, unforgiving in others. Highly repetitive while at the same time being new and refreshing in its simplicity. You get better as you play it - which is surely lacking from the games being released nowadays People will look at the television and wonder what kind of madness you are playing. All they will see is blood, flashing lights and exploding bodies. I totally love it.

It is probably the best "new IP" in years. Call of Duty 2 is the same game in different locations with more cutscenes. Mario is Mario you've played it a thousand times but its the same-o-same-o. NMH2 is not mario and it will never be. You chop heads off and you turn into a tiger and bite people while calling them losers and eating pizza for health. NHM2 is a NEW game in every sense of the word. The music is new, the characters are new, the graphics are new, the clothes are new, the story is new. Million dollars worth of games are released everyday and nobody buys them because most of them simple other ways to waste time.

Its M Rated

Its a M rated game. You cannot buy it for you 5 year old because they may grow up to be a serial killer or an assassin or maybe not but we never know with these kids nowadays. And there is no feature to turn off the blood. There will be no feature to turn Mario into a "M rated" game which is why I wonder why people keep asking for content filters on games. Vegetarians don't eat meat, asking meat producers to sell vegetables that look like meat is not very productive. The quality of the game is in its pure M-rate-d-ness, and edginess, not in its mass G-rated dumbed down appeal. Its almost like asking scientist to make space rockets easier for people to fly. You are an idiot, embrace your destiny. There are things that you cannot do.

Video Games as a Sub-Art

People compare NMH2 to Kill Bill, its a movie with lots of blood, turned in a video game. The Avatar movie is a Billion times better than all of the Avatar games because games nowadays have no soul - they convey no emotion.

Video games as a industry are always treated as a sub-art. You would never hear a person say that I wish that violent Friday the 13th movie had a E rated version. the very concept is ludacris. OR better yet a version of shakespeare in which the lovers don't drink posion at the end.

A game like NMH2 is like heavy metal music. It only makes sense in its context. Of course you could take out the voilent content and put Barbie as the lead guitarist. But I am sure there is are Barbie sword fighting games already on the selves - so why do we need to make 2?

Its the game that your parents said was going to rotten your brain. Its like eating too much sugar. You go into the in game clothes store and you buy a t-shirt that he wears throughout ALL THE CUT-SCENES. I wonder why more games don't let you buy clothes. Its just a texture swap. Its adds a certain substance to the cut-scenes.

Conclusion

My only complaint is that its not long enough. 10 hours of fun, 3 hours of annoying boss battles. Games like this should go on forever with auto-generated dungeons and death matches.

All gamers should buy it. However Moms and Pops should rent it because it can get really hard in some places and it can take along time to memorize boss patterns enough to kill them. Good reflexes and thumbs are required.

by owen () comment

The Android fragmentation issue (Technology)

2010-03-24 17:04:02

Standing on the outside looking in at all this mess. I have been looking for a new phone for about 4 months now, thinking about getting a android smartphone BUT all I keep hearing is Android users asking for updates. Some even refering to a 3 month old phone as a loaf of day old bread; "The Droid runs Android 2.0.1; the Nexus One packs Android 2.1 and some custom Google tweaks. And the difference is more than a minor technical matter."

The problem seems to be the fact that EVERY android phone released uses the version number as a selling point. Nexus 2.1, Droid 2.0 and you can bet that 2.2 will not come out unless there is a feature phone behind it. This is should not be the case.

What this causes is that it ties the hardware updates to the software updates. Android 1.6 users may NEVER get any updates. Who knows if the changes between the versions are silly "surface changes" or "kernel changes". I think the nexus one added animated wallpapers. Was that a kernel change? I don't see why wallpapers would require you to jump a version number.

Customers now can only relate to Android via the numbers and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Google needs to find a way to somehow separate the updates so that they work easily on all platforms depending on how deep the change is. What I have to jail break the android phone too? :o I thought open source was supposed to avoid this. When I buy hardware, I'm investing my money into something I plan to update until it breaks.

A far bigger problem is that many of these Android skins are proprietary, as are practically all Android applications. This is a serious threat, in my view, because we risk being so dazzled by the shiny toys that Android manufacturers are unveiling that we fail to notice the fact that, although they may be built on a Linux foundation, practically everything that matters to the user is closed source. - The upgrade effect

If my phone is old, don't update my core Android (phone specific) functionally but send me the fluff animated wallpaper code and the new apps (I'm sure that AT&T doesn't mind me downloading new apps). Keeps the fluff separate from the primary stuff that the phone needs to run. Hopefully that the app developers are aware of the screen resolutions of the running device and can change their applications dynamically. If not Android is going to be an annoying pain in the ass for the sensible nerds among us.

by owen () comment

Little pig, little pig, let me in (Technology)

2010-02-17 00:59:36

Does anyone have a Google Notebook account? For most of you the answer is probably 'No'.

I've gotta say that of all the services Google offers, my most prized is Notebook for the simple fact that they're maintaining the service but are no longer taking new sign ups.

Everyone loves an exclusive club.

by Karl (misguidedzen.com) comment