As a casual gamer I rarely buy brand new games. The number I’ve ever bought on launch day can be counted on one hand, though GTA V will be added to that short list soon. I usually buy used games weeks, months, or even years after a title is released. As is my right. Or is it? The used games market is under increasing threat, to the point that it may cease to exist over the next few years.
The Web is a huge collection of disparate pages which continue to expand and multiply. The old adage that you can find a page dedicated to any and all subjects on the Web (no matter how niche they may be) is based very much in reality. If you don’t believe me, go to Google (or Bing, or DuckDuckGo) and type in a random word or phrase. There’s a high probability you’ll get a result, and you’ll probably get thousands of results.
I’m an avid reader, getting through at least one book a week. I often have several on the go at once – usually a novel, a reference book, and an autobiography – which are consumed as and when the opportunity arises. I realized long ago that there are far more books out there than I could ever read in my lifetime, with hundreds of thousands more published each and every year. This means choosing what to read is a big decision.
Believe it or not this is my day job. I get paid to produce content for the Web, writing mostly about technology in all its forms. This means my working day consists of two things – reading and writing. The reading part is easy. I just head online and consume information, some destined to be used for specific articles, more to act as background fodder lurking away in my subconscious to be pulled out when needed. But the writing, well, that’s a little tougher.
No one actively wants to go to prison, and those of us who are law-abiding citizens do our utmost to stay away from them. However, it’s an interesting exercise to imagine yourself locked up away from the rest of society, and imagine what you’d miss the most. Friends and family would top the list for most people, but after that it comes down to what you derive pleasure from. For many people technology is a source of entertainment.
There’s been a sudden and unexpected lurch from hardcore games to casual games over the last few years, with the deadly combination of smartphones and social networking sites meaning the smallest, seemingly least impressive games have found massive audiences. Take Angry Birds, for example, which is a simple concept featuring visuals a three-year-old could replicate, and yet it’s more popular than Call Of Duty.
Keeping up with the news of the day, whether it be local, national, or international, is important. It’s never good to bury your head in the sand, unaware of what is happening around you. However, sometimes the news is too damn depressing, to the point that taking too much of it to heart could potentially leave you with little hope for the future of humanity. It’s at this point that an injection of humor is needed, preferably straight into your brain.
When thinking about scientists you wouldn’t necessarily think of Twitter as being their primary means of communicating with the wider world. And that assumption would be somewhat correct. However, there are a healthy number of popular scientists using Twitter to share new findings, theories, and opinions with us mere mortals.
The World Wide Web (now more commonly known simply as the Web) has been with us for over 20 years now, and in that relatively short space of time it has unequivocally changed the world. For better or worse. The architects of the Web could not have foreseen what a huge impact their creation was going to have, but over the course of two decades and counting the Web has evolved into a sprawling mass of websites and pages that number in the billions.
The PS2 is officially dead, with Sony ceasing production of the last-gen console on December 31, 2012. In Japan at least, when the existing stock of hardware runs out, Sony will not be offering any more consoles to retailers. Not that the PS2 has done badly, with a lifespan of 12 years, six as Sony’s flagship console, six as the budget machine playing second fiddle to its successor, the PS3. The PS2 hardware may be dead, but the games are not.
YouTube is truly one of the tent-poles of the Internet, being one of the few websites known and loved by all. And with good reason. It’s the home to millions of video clips covering all genres, no matter how niche. Sure, there’s an overabundance of funny cat videos, but hey, there are also movies and genuinely funny parodies too, so it’s all good. But wait, there are also music videos galore, from professionals and amateurs alike.
Tetris is fast approaching its 30th birthday, having originally been released in the USSR in 1984. What’s absolutely amazing is that Tetris has lost none of its appeal in those three decades, gaining new fans along the way and pleasing each generation in turn. It’s arguably now more popular than ever, with millions of copies of the game finding their way on to mobile phones in recent years. This popularity is mainly due to insane addictiveness.
We’re now a whole week into 2013, and hasn’t the time flown by. Why, it feels like only yesterday that fireworks were lighting up the night sky, and only the day before yesterday that those with time and money to spare had impressive animated lights displays in their front gardens. In 12 months time we’ll be able to do it all over again. Until then we have lots to occupy our minds, including what’s happening on the technology front, whether in the industry or in our own lives.
I’m rather obsessed with the weather. It’s not my fault, it’s just that I was born and brought up in the U.K., and all British people are obsessed with the weather. I think it’s because the weather is rather changeable on this little island butting up to the European mainland. Over the course of a single week we can experience hot sun, icy frosts, torrential rain, deep snow, and gusts aplenty.
Playing video games isn’t the harmful activity some politicians and media outlets would have you believe, otherwise every single gamer out there would have psychological problems brought on by their hobby. However, playing video games is an expensive pastime to enjoy, with the price of games and the systems needed to play them potentially costing a small fortune over the course of just a few years. Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be the case.
Like social networking sites as a whole, Facebook can be a force for good. The problem is Facebook can also be a force for evil, but it’s more about how we, the people, use Facebook, than it is about how Facebook uses us. Essentially, if you stay on top of your account, maintaining your profile and not letting the data it leaks get out of hand, you can control Facebook rather than letting Facebook control you.
The digital age we’re now living in has changed our ideas of ownership and copyright. For better or worse. It’s also changed the way we do various things. In the field of photography moving to digital formats has made a huge difference. Most of it positive. However, there is one aspect of the switch that may not be so positive, and could in fact come back to haunt many of us in years to come.
At this time of year more than any other there will be a host of new console owners getting to grips with their system. And after they get bored of the games bought alongside their console of choice, they’ll need to know which titles to get next. Which is where this article comes in: what follows are the 10 best games money can buy for the Xbox 360.
This generation of games consoles is coming to an end, with the Wii U already having arrived to usher in the next-generation, and successors to both the PS3 and Xbox 360 expected in 2013. However, even after the current crop of games consoles has been replaced by newer models, they’re still worth owning thanks to the plethora of great games available on them.
Anyone reading these words will likely belong to one of two groups of people: those who love music mixtapes, and those who haven’t a clue what one is. This article is aimed at both groups, and, consequently, at everybody. It offers a set of simple steps that need to be followed in order to create the perfect mixtape. Mixtape veterans will likely already know the formula, but will hopefully gain inspiration from this piece to start curating once more.
Apple is a company that you either love or hate; there’s very little middle ground. This is because you either buy into the company and its culture or reject it outright. Seeing as I don’t own a single Apple product I guess I belong to the latter group. However, even I, as a supposed hater, have been exposed to Apple’s marketing machine over the last three decades. And while the ads haven’t persuaded me to buy anything from the company, some have left a lasting impression.
Webcomics are arguably more popular now than they ever have been before. This is mainly due to a marked increase in the quality of content, with some webcomics being both magnificently written and magnificently drawn. So much so that they rival any of the more established and mainstream comic strips that make it into newspapers and magazines. Who needs print when digital provides all the comic nourishment you’ll ever need?
The Wii U, the latest home games console from Nintendo, is sure to be on the Christmas lists of many this year. Children who want the latest and greatest gadgets will want one to replace their aging Wii, while geeky adults who want to jump to the next-gen and cannot wait for Sony and Microsoft to cater to their desires will also seek one out. The Wii U was released just in time for the holiday season.
It has arrived. There is no doubting it now. We are in the holiday season, with Thanksgiving and Black Friday signaling its starting point. It’s less than a month until Christmas, when cards, gifts, and overeating are the order of the day. Along with the occasional family argument. And before the big day arrives there are trees, and perhaps even houses, to decorate.
