As you might have guessed from my Cheap Ass Gamer app, I like to listen to podcasts a lot. Usually when I'm doing something mundane like washing clothes, making food or before bed. I use my iPod touch for podcasts because iTunes is (or was) actually quite good at being a reliable hub for podcasts and the Music app is (or was) quick and simple to use. MORE
Now that Windows 8.1 is in its final form and available on MSDN, I thought I would finally test the water and install it on my laptop. Even though I never installed the preview build, the installation never gave me the option to keep files, apps and settings. This is why I am hesitant putting it on my main desktop computer; it's got a lot of important data that I don't want to lose, and some programs and mods that would take a long time getting back to normal. MORE
It passed certification last night and is now available for everyone to download. This is what's new in the 1.3 update: MORE
As you may have read before, my Cheap Ass Gamer app for Windows 8 broke a little while back, due to Twitter dropping support for their v1 API. Version v1.1 carries tighter restrictions that make downloading Twitter like an RSS feed basically impossible. Here are the main changes that make my implementation in the CAG app useless: MORE
Microsoft's Build conference happened on Wednesday. I watched it, and it was great to see all the new features of Windows 8.1. I have yet to install the preview update as I am unsure of how stable it is or what it will delete. I've had a play around with it on a friend's computer and I like what I see so far. MORE
Microsoft just announced they are completely revising their take on Xbox One DRM and used games. Basically, the system will be very similar to the current gen and PS4's model. An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games and trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today. This is great news, it goes to show how much weight the consumers and competition from Sony have in these decisions. It's kind of a relief to see Microsoft change their policies before they released the console and witnessed low sales. MORE
So here's the thing; Xbox One can play games without the disc. Pop it in first time, install it and forget about it. What comes with this then, is basically the Law of Conservation of Energy. You can't use the same disc on multiple consoles and make copies of the game; it's used once. This makes sense, and it's fair. It's the system the PC has used for a long time. It seems to me that PlayStation 4 cannot play games without the disc unless it adds this. MORE
First of the day was Xbox. As promised they brought out all the games. A really great showing too. I'm really looking forward to Dead Rising 3, the next Halo, and Titanfall. I really hope they change the save system in Dead Rising 3; it looks really fun but I hate having to retread progress I have already made if you start at an old save point. MORE
A quick update. You may have noticed I've changed the link on my website's menu from 'Apps' to 'Portfolio'. This is because I've moved over to Behance. The previous set-up I had was just a WordPress page. You would have to scroll a long way to see everything. It's not a very maintainable way of displaying my works, and I had limited it to just apps so I couldn't put other things on there. I found Behance because there are some amazing works from other people on there, I suggest you check it out if you like art and design. MORE
Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm much more interested in the Xbox One. At first, I could not get over how the name would bring to mind the original Xbox - every time it was said. I'm getting used to it and starting to like it. I understand why they went with the name. The console and the experience is 'All in One'. It's the 'one' place to go. This is it, the One. It kind of works now. The one thing I'm a bit annoyed at is the logo. A lazy use of Segoe UI font and ta-da, the Xbox One logo. It's the letter N that bothers me. I suggest the corners should be angled like this: MORE
