Friday, April 30, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-eight: Evening of April 30th 2010
Speaking of other games, I played Dead to Rights: Retribution for about three hours and the there were times when I was having fun, but then I would have trouble figuring out what I should be doing. I could check the objectives but they were broadly painted and weren't much help. So muddling through would occur, and I would be happy that I was playing on the easiest level of difficulty. I think that I'm about halfway through, but I can't be sure.
I want to get back to Army of Two: The 40th Day and finish Chapters of Deceit on the PS3 and I've forgotten about Bioshock 2. It not as engrossing as the first installment but still a good game and I'm going to have to have the manual open to refresh my memory regarding button assignments. Hopefully, it will come back to me quickly.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-seven: Evening of April 29th 2010
I did manage to check out the copy of Dead to Rights: Retribution that I received yesterday before I left the house. I spent a little over an hour and a half of running, punching, shooting. I began playing as the hero's canine sidekick. That was a first for me, and was fun most of the time. I hadn't learned the controls, but I enjoyed running through some of the bad guys.
Playing as the lead character, my initial objective was to save the employees at a large media corporation. This scenario introduced the key combat components of the game. One component that is explained is called 'focus' which is Slo-Mo view of the action. It can only last as long as an indicator show it can, and not only acts as an offensive bonus, but your defense is improved. I don't recall any other game that I have that offers this feature, but I'll check somewhere down the line. It does add a bit of control in a hostage situation. I'll probably play a bit more tomorrow, but I'd like to get back to Splinter Cell: Conviction and finish that one.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-six: Evening of April 28th 2010
Earlier in the day, I received the camera adapters for the iPad (USB port and SD Card reader). So, before typing the intended entry, I tried importing photos from my iPhone to the iPad via the USB adapter. I selected a small set of photos on my iPhone, hit the sync, and it worked. It worked too well, I accidentally sent duplicate images to the iPad. When I opened the Photos app, I discovered the duplicate images. I highlighted one of the duplicates and the word 'Copy' showed but that was all. What happened to 'Delete'? I plugged in the iPad to my Mac Book Pro, opened iTunes and tried to find the photos on the device - No Luck. I went online and searched to find how I might be able to delete the doubles. The forum that I hit said to do what I just did. Right now, I'm not sure what to do, other than go back online and do a deeper search. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a solution to this problem.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-five: Evening of April 27th 2010
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Monday, April 26, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-four: Evening of April 26th 2010
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-three: Evening of April 25th 2010
On the plus side, I figured out how to move to the next part of the mission that I was stumped on last night. Of course it was right in front of me, and how I missed it, I don't know. But I found it and moved on.
I think that I'm very close the the final mission. There is a character that is leading me on, using lies and misdirection to move me forward. So I know that there will be a serious settling of scores with this character in the near future. The question will be what that character's motives are. I hope that I can discern what those motives are.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-two: Evening of April 24th 2010
The 'stump point' occurred when I finished a hold a place mission and now have to move on to complete the primary mission. I spent about twenty running up and down stairs, climbing through windows, moving along ledges, shinnying up and down pipes, and not finding any avenue of escape. I'll try once more before I call up a walk through.
The 'dizzy spell' happened because of all the spinning around. This usually happens when I play first person shooters, and I move around in a dark closed in spaces. That pretty much describes the area that I'm in right now. What this means to future game play? Simply put, I've got to get out of the situation as soon as possible. If not, I'll be repeating the 'dizzy spell' again with an increase in the frustration level. That is something I'm not looking forward.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Friday, April 23, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty-one: Evening of April 23rd 2010
The other thing is how wonderful the graphics look on the 40 inch flat screen sent through the HDMI connection - Wow. I don't know why I haven't finished this game, but I think I'm going to devote more time finishing it in the near future.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty: Evening of April 22nd 2010
About ten o'clock I received a call from my wife that she was having trouble with taking the iMac apart. She started to read the tools needed and she mentioned a Torx-10 and a Torx-8. I stopped her and said we don't have that small of a Torx bit. Then, I told her that I'd check and get back to her. Checking my tools, confirmed the initial assessment. I wondered if I could overnight an inexpensive set of bits, and work on the project. I went online and found an inexpensive Torx set at Amazon.com. When I called my wife and told her what I had found, she asked me if it might be at a local hardware store. I knew it wasn't at the local hardware store, but there was a Home Depot on the way home. Returning to Safari, I find that there is a similar set at that hardware store. I text the part numbers and description to my wife so that she can pick it up on the way home.
After dinner the disassembly begins. Unbelievable, the engineers a Apple must not have wanted anyone to increase the storage capacity of the computer. Luckily, my wife isn' planning on using the machine anymore, so I didn't need to be really careful about the pull apart. I had the hard drive out in about a half hour, and my wife was transferring the students' files to her external hard drive - mission accomplished.
Now it's time to clean up. I'll ask my wife if she wants me to salvage anything else before the unit is trashed.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-nine: Evening of April 21st 2010
When researching the procedure for opening the Mac, the images associated with disassembling the unit showed Philips head screws, so my wife knew that she had that type of tool, so she left the bit set at home. Low and behold, the screw head showed the asterisk shape of a Torq bit. The phone call was made and the search began. It really wasn't much of a search, I knew where all the bits were. My only question was, "Did I have a T-10 bit?" Both sets of tools contained the needed Torq bit. That means tomorrow we will find out if the adapter works, and the students' will be rescued. I certainly hope so.
On the gaming side, I can, with certainty, say the insanity difficulty setting requires a serious re-evaluation of my tactics and use of cover. I managed to finish the Omega quests, but only after restarting the scenario from the beginning once and eight restarts from various locations. So I managed to play Mass Effect 2 for about two hours before I had to get dinner.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-eight: Evening of April 20th 2010
So what was the adventure with technology today?
It started with a phone call from my wife. A sense of urgency was evident. A computer was down, and student's project was trapped on the hard drive. That project was important and of course there wasn't current backup (aah, teenagers). Troubleshooting for the computer had resulted in no improvement. The unit started, flashed a gray screen and ultimately shut down. My wife visited the Apple forum and FAQ support site to double check her troubleshooting procedures, tried a few additional suggestions, and then called me about the availability of a hard drive enclosure to salvage the data on the student's hard drive.
So the search began. I knew that there were plenty of enclosures, but I decided to to check out the price range. Offhand, I didn't think that she would have to spend more that fifty dollars. The search confirmed that. So, I texted her that she needed the basic specs for the HD - size (2.5" or 3.5") and type (SATA, PATA, IDE) to make sure we picked up the right case. From previous experience, I knew it would be a 3.5" SATA, but a double check is worthwhile. About twenty minutes after the initial post, I remembered that there were adapters the bypassed the enclosure and hold up to the 'naked' hard drive. I informed her of this and she was excited about the possibility of getting it. With it you can pull a drive out, collect the data, return it to the machine, and ship it off for repair if needed.
That evening after dinner, we went to a local MicroCenter and checked out the enclosures and file transfer adapters. As we walked in, there were two enclosures on shelves to the left of us. I think they were about thirty dollars. We studied them and then moved to hard drive section, knowing that if all else fails we could return to that shelf and pick up one of those enclosures. There was a large selection of enclosures. Prices ranged from about twenty five dollar to almost ninety dollars. Continuing the search, we found the adapters, and started looking through the selection. That became a problem, because we couldn't figure out which one to get. To further compound the problem, the price range was reasonable and very close from model to model. We picked one that had the Mac OS symbol on the box.
Of course we didn't leave, she needed a new keyboard, which we found in the Apple section of the store. Browsing is fun,and we had fun. She finally picked out the latest Apple keyboard, and we returned home. It was a successful excursion.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Monday, April 19, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-seven: Evening of April 19th 2010
There was a 'Plan B' ready, just in case. That entailed the purchase of an Airport Express, and wirelessly extending the network. The drawback was the extra hundred dollars that needed to be expended to purchase the unit. So I am doubly happy about the success of the relocation.
Maybe I'll be able to play a bit tomorrow. We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-six: Evening of April 18th 2010
I didn't t get a chance to find a new location for the WiFi device, which is sort of disappointing because I could call down to the first floor to check on the signal strength before mounting it to the wall. I guess I'll get some exercise running up and down the stairs during the day.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-five: Evening of April 17th 2010
The key to synchronizing with this application in network stability. The directions are adequate, and the heavy emphasis on network settings should have clued me in. My first mistake was synchronizing all files, including movies and TV shows. The program seemed to freeze when it started to download the first movie, when in reality, the wireless network uploading/downloading speed was slow. I reset, which means restart, both my PC and my Mac, and made sure only the music was set to transfer. I started the process, watched for a while as the songs started to transfer, then left to work on the laundry. When I returned about thirty minutes later, about eighty songs had been transferred with more appearing as I watched. I checked the connection strength. The next thing I notice, song transfers were failing. I was confused, and wondered what was happening. As I flushed the failed tunes, I asked my daughter how the network was. Her negative reply pointed me in the right direction. The network let me down. I'll have to rethink my idea about what to do the next time I try it out.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Friday, April 16, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-four: Evening of April 16th 2010
I almost missed working on this post because I thought that I was doing really well in Fieldrunners, but I was wrong (I only reached the 63rd level). I guess that that means they are addicting. I know that my daughter has finished Plants versus Zombies, definitely lapping me (I'm at Stage 3-4, shy of halfway). The Creeps! HD is similar to the iPhone version, but not the same so far. It doesn't offer the expansion packs that are available for the iPhone, and the iPad version doesn't offer the "Door Buster" mode. Maybe that will appear as an update later. This game is still fun and frustrating to play. Maybe that balance is part of being a good game.
Right now, I'm considering getting the iPad version of Civilization. I've enjoyed the gameplay and the frustration of trying to successfully complete the PC game. Like I said, I'm considering it.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-three: Evening of April 15th 2010
Situational tactics and equipment selection require careful assessment of the potential choices. Then the "rubber meets the road" and you find out just how good your choices were. There is another saying that fits here, "Some times you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you." If you've eaten the bear, then things worked out as close as possible to your projected outcomes. If it doesn't work out then it's start over time from the last save. There were a number of times when I was required to react to unexpected challenges, and that's what raised the level of playing the game.
While watching Attack of the Show, the host mention a bug in the video game that caused the system to freeze. But a patch had been released prior to my start up of the game. So all thing seem to be functioning normally, and I'm glad. I wouldn't feel comfortable playing on the console knowing that anytime everything would go away, and then what? This is a mute question. I would descend to the deepest depths of frustration and put the game away until I forgot about the game - I would do a mental reset. That would take a while.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-two: Evening of April 14th 2010
I played a little Splinter Cell: Conviction, restarting the game on the Xbox 360 Elite. I was complacent, and was killed sooner the yesterday's attempt. I took a risk and, because I'm learning the cover system, I left myself open to a shotgun blast. Oh well tomorrow is another day.
Yesterday, I was waxing poetic about Apple's productivity software. When I was finished I wondered about a database and today I found the app that actually works between the iPad and a Mac or a PC. Its file compatibility isn't with Microsoft's Access, but FileMaker's personal database Bento 3. I glanced at Bento for iPad's specs today, and it seemed to offer a basic set of DB functions. There was one caveat that caught my eye. The iPad version of Bento might have trouble handling a large database created in Bento 3 on a Mac. It sounds like a memory issue, so would having the larger iPad memory eliminate that problem?
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-two: Evening of April 13th 2010
Pages is the word processing app, Keynote is the presentation application, and Numbers is the spreadsheet program. The tour spends a couple of minutes for each of the apps, demonstrating the major features. I like the import/export capabilities, especially the compatibility with Microsoft suite of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
If you are considering the iPad, you might want to check out the tour of the apps or read through the tech specs for the productivity set of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.
On the game front, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction was released today and I picked up my copy. After playing for an hour or so, I'm going to have to re-think my approach to game play, stealth and cover are important, so I'll have to stay away from the run and gun approach that I've grown accustom to in Army of Two: The 40th Day.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-one: Evening of April 12th 2010
I've had less success gaining access to the DLC, and my web search has only added to the confusion. One site describes Chapters Eight and Nine, while another states that it appears after the hospital scenario. I don't know. I'll keep playing the current game through to the end and see if I can find the DLC. If not then I'm shifting back to Final Fantasy XIII.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-nine: Evening of April 10th 2010
The search was frustrating. I started by searching for Just the DLC, and that gave me a number of release announcements, a few reviews, and not much else. I moved through about six or seven pages and nothing specific was found. I modified the search and added a request for location. Thinking back, I should have requested a walkthrough. As they say, "Hindsight is twenty/twenty." Anyway, the DLC occurs after the hospital chapter. Well, I'm glad I started a new game yesterday. As of this entry, I've almost finished the hospital chapter and will be looking for the DLC.
While I was playing, I noticed that there was a trophy for 150 kills with a pistol, so I decided that I would try to attain that level of proficiency with my pistol. You have to get up close to eliminate an enemy with the minimum number of shots. So let this challenge continue.
I noticed that this app, BlogPress, doesn't have font modification menu, other than size (Large, Medium, or Small). I'll have to edit these entries on my laptop later.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad
Friday, April 9, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty: Evening of April 11th 2010
An interesting thing occurred, when I was checking out my stats, I have found all but one of the radios without the use of a walkthrough or cheat sheet. The only missing radio with related transmission is the thirteenth one. It is appears later in the game, but I don't when or where.
Most of the day was spent on getting everything ready for the week. So, I was only able to play AoT for about an hour. I'll work on it tomorrow, but I want to get back to Final Fantasy XIII as soon as possible. I want to see if I can actually finish a Final Fantasy game.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-seven: Evening of April 8th 2010
I made the mistake of playing the scenario on the 'insanity' difficulty setting. It really fostered teamwork and the use of cover. In the heat of battle, you could here Kasumi yell out the direction that the next wave of baddies were coming from in the final boss battle. It took me over two hours of actual combat to finish that final battle. It was very satisfying. I guess that playing at the most difficult level engenders that feeling. I'm glad and it wasn't a mistake to play it at the 'insanity' setting.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-six: Evening of April 7th 2010
I tried to check out reviews and found that Bioware's servers had trouble handling the downloading requests yesterday. I'm glad that I didn't remember that the due date was April 6th. I would have figured it was my network that was at fault. I had to finish up the mission I was on before I could actually start Stolen Memory scenario.
Some how I have destroyed yesterday's entry. I thought that I had copied and pasted the closing statement, but it appears that I saved today's entry over my previous entry. I'll try importing from Pages tomorrow.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad
Monday, April 5, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-four: Evening of April 5th 2010
The ladies in the house continue to have fun utilizing their iPads. My wife commented on the iBook store, noting how the preview feature helped her decide not to purchase a book after read the first twenty-seven. My daughter is still miffed over some of the negative press regarding iPad, and enjoying skimming through her apps.
Well, I' going to cut this short and prepare dinner for the dog and give the cat her medication.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-three: Evening of April 4th 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-two: Evening of April 3rd 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Day Two Hundred Forty-one: Evening of April 2nd 2010
Ran errands, recycled boxes plus packing materials, and played The Creeps! for a while. The sinus problem is hanging on but in a much-diminished state.
We, my family and I, spent some time reading the early reviews of the iPad. Overall, they are positive but I’m sure that there are some negative reviews because of the new nature of the machine. If the reviewers are looking for a laptop, they’re probably not going to be satisfied. After reading and listening to the commentaries about the iPad, I began to wonder about something I hadn’t heard anybody mention – How long will it take to charge (or recharge). I guess I’ll find out within the next twenty-four hours.
For as long as it‘s needed, I’ll keep closing this way, please check out a good organization that’s providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you is can afford.