Sep/090
Left 4 Dead 2 Exclusive
So while at PAX I went to the L4D2 station and it was frozen. I restarted the console, an exhibitor sorted out the Developer Screen and then left me to my own devices. I searched for a game but the others were all playing together so I started playing on Campaign on the Parish. I found an item, the defibrillator, which said something akin to “Revive Dead Teammates.” About 2 minutes after I found this item an exhibitor came over and said he had to reset the 360. He turned it off and never turned it back on.
I gave LonoSG and 8BitBass the exclusive for SarcasticGamer and Respawn Radio.
sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/2009/09/new-weapon-in-left-4-dead-2-leaked-at-pax.html
Aug/090
PAX Panel
I’m on a Panel at PAX!
Saturday, 8:30pm – 9:30pm, Serpent Theatre
American Grifball League of America
American Grifball League of America Heard of the contagion that’s sweeping the nation? No, not Swine Flu, it’s Grifball! Created in late 2007 by Burnie Burns–writer and director of the hit internet series RedvsBlue (RoosterTeeth)–the concept for the game came from a line in a four-minute episode.
This panel will discuss the history of Grifball, from concept to inception, show you how Grifball has developed, and how it’s played today. We’ll tell you about the official Grifball league, and how you can join the Grifball community. There is a reason why Grifball’s popularity has skyrocketed, and why it’s featured as a Bungie Double-Experience Weekend Playlist–to quote our slogan, “IT’S CONTAGIOUS!” Come listen to creator Burnie Burns as current AGLA administration and friends share their experiences and field questions on Halo 3’s greatest spin-off game!
Panelists Include: Burnie Burns (Creator of RedvsBlue and Grifball, Rooster Teeth), Leonardo ‘Leo Comerlato’ (Founder of Grifball.org), Drew Tannahill (GrifballHUB, Content Developer), Caleb Denecour (Grifball Commissioner, Grifball.com), Jordan Menze (Grifball Amateur League Administrator, Grifball.com), Adam Pisani (Grifball Pro League Administrator, Grifball.com)
Source: www.paxsite.com/schedule.php
Jul/090
iPhone Application Review – Are You a Moron?
Application Name: Are You A Moron?
Category: Entertainment
Released July 04, 2009
Seller: Trippert Inc.
©2009 Trippert, Inc
Version 2.0 (iPhone OS 3.0 tested)
1.5 MB
Price: $0.00
It’s described in the iTunes store as:
Just how smart – or dumb – are you? Find out with this no-holds barred quiz. Smart – we’ll let you know. Complete moron – the unfortunate truth will come out.
After you’ve taken the quiz, post your results to Facebook and see if your friends agree!
Remember, for entertainment purposes only
The name of this application should have given me an insight to how the application would have turned out. I don’t even want to call this an application. All it is is a quiz that tests how much of a moron you are. When I initially took it I missed 0 of the questions and it said something along the lines of “you’re not a moron you’re no fun.” I then replayed it and missed some questions to see what the eventual result would be.
The questions have some simple “trickery” in most of them that if you aren’t careful, you’ll miss. It has 0% replay value as it has the exact same questions.
Trippert Labs didn’t really work too hard on this “application” (I use the term loosely). This is definitely something that you don’t want to waste your time downloading unless you want to maybe grab some questions to use on your friends.
This was supposed to be entertaining, but I didn’t find it entertaining at all, unless you count killing thirty seconds as entertaining. I also found it to be glitch crashing two out of four times that I launched it. One time it just stayed at a black screen until I hit the home button.
If there is an iPhone application free or paid that you would like me to review send me an email at admin@leocomerlato.com.
Jul/090
iPhone Application Review – Math Clock
Application Name: Math Clock
Category: Utilities
Released July 17, 2009
Seller: Carlo Chung
©2009 Wadogo
Version 1.01 (iPhone OS 3.0 tested)
0.1 MB
Price: $0.99
I received a very nice email from a man named Carlo Chung asking me to evaluate the application he’s created called Math Clock. Now in iTunes it’s description reads as follows:
Show off your mental math power to your friends and family!!!
FEATURES:
- Dynamic equations generated on-the-fly for the current hour and minute
- Advanced equation A.I. engine
- Three levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Advanced
- Easy level has two terms only with the basic arithmetic
- Medium level has three terms with square root, polynomials and larger numbers
- Advanced level with more complex expressions
- Retro flip-clock style
- 12/24 hour mode
- Adjustable equation flipping intervals
- Realistic plate movements
- Not available in any real clock!
- More styles are coming in future releases
GETTING STUCK?
* Touch an equation to get a fading answer!
Now honestly to me, a person that isn’t a developer, I probably don’t care about “Advanced equation A.I. engine” as I don’t exactly know what that means. But this application delivers on everything it promises. Now as the iPhone has a built-in clock at the top of the home screen you don’t necessarily need this application to tell the time, but I believe this application was made because it provides you with a way to challenge your only mathematic abilities while accomplishing something. Now you would assume that you just need to ensure that when you are booting the application up that you don’t glance at the time displayed at the top of the iPhone otherwise you’ll know the answer, but you would be mistaken because you see the equation and you don’t think of the fact that you already know the answer. You begin to progressively solve the equation.
The three difficulties are well designed, and you can tell when you change up the setting that the complexity does increase and it’s quite difficult on the advanced level but it’s a good way to practice your mental math skills.
While using this application I didn’t really come across any bugs or glitches and the equation always matched up with the current time.
Now if I was grading the application on solely coolness and achieving everything it promises it would get five stars, but because there isn’t really that much of a need for the application, at least in my eyes, it doesn’t recieve five stars.
If there is an iPhone application free or paid that you would like me to review send me an email at admin@leocomerlato.com.
Jul/090
Review: SimCity (iPhone)
SimCity
Developer/Publisher- Electronic Arts
Platform- iPhone/iPod Touch
Review written by Leo Comerlato
Orignally Posted at http://unnamedgaming.com/?p=7011
When I first started playing SimCity I thought that it seemed familiar, and there is a good reason why. If you didn’t know better it would seem as if it was a direct port of the PC edition to the iPhone. When I first started the game up I was skeptical as I wasn’t sure how they would solve the problem of placing zones, buildings, etc in to their meticulous places. They found a way around this, you drag your fingers and there is a directional pad for you to make it even more accurate, unfortunately I found it to be quite annoying at times, especially if you were trying to play more than one direction of road or zone. The developers did include a confirmation prompt to ensure that mistakes are minimal but when you are trying to build in-depth this also becomes a time hindrance and annoyance.
Now those who have never played a SimCity and may be scared of making the investment into this game shouldn’t worry! It has a thorough tutorial for you to play and has an expansive help section that teaches you how to play if you have any questions. Those people who like to skip the tutorial of a game and figure things out on their own will get very frustrated by this game, trust me I did, but once I did the in-depth tutorial things began to flow. You also have advisors to help you determine what needs to be done in your city. Once you get started and have built your zones it’s quite interesting to sit there and watch the city begin to develop on its own. The graphics are astounding! To be notified of major events pay attention to the news ticker at the bottom of the screen as it will tell you what your citizens’ desire.
You have limited control over the terrain, you are allowed to choose how 
much water and vegetation you’d like. Even after doing the tutorial I was a little lost so I used one of the starter cities that was included with the game. In addition the lack of goals to strive for something can cause the casual gamer to be lost. Even with the frustration that arose from me continually borrowing from the bank and being in debt I was still able to keep playing the game for hours on end. Now on a 3G 8GB iPhone at times the game would lag when moving in around the city and changing the zoom levels, but I did not experience a crash or frozen game.
Review
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Almost identical to the PC SimCity 3000 • Replay Value is high • Amazing Graphics • Addictive |
• Casual Gamers may get confused and give up in frustration • Menus are confusing • Placement Controls are difficult/annoying |
| Rating |
60%
|
Jun/090
iPhone Application Review – Camera Zoom v1.0
Application Name: Camera Zoom
Category: Photography
Released April 16, 2009
Seller: Kenneth Kao
©2009 KendiTech Inc.
Version 1.0
0.3 MB
Price: $0.99
Camera Zoom
So the first application I’ve decided to review is the Camera Zoom application by KendiTech. Now the native iPhone Camera application lacks many features, including zoom which is why I’m assuming Kenneth Kao developed this application.
His website describes it as the following:
Zoom in/out with your iPhone Camera! One of iPhone’s most requested feature.
With Camera Zoom, you can now zoom in and out in real-time while taking pictures, by just simply moving the slider.
Features:
- Up to 4x digital zoom
- Adjusts photo to best quality automatically
- Built-in camera roll photos preview
- Customize zoom slider’s position
- Fullscreen shutter (optional, tap anywhere to take pictures)
- Ask before saving a photo (optional)
The iTunes description goes on to add:
Camera Zoom is now the World’s Top Paid iPhone App!
“App of the Week” – New York Times
Version 1.1 is submitted to Apple, and is awaiting approval. This is a major update that fixes issues which many users are reporting including image quality and compatibility.
Here are some screenshots I took of the application:
I don’t know where they got they “Camera Zoom is now the World’s Top Paid iPhone App!” because it doesn’t even rank on the top ten of paid applications on the iTunes store. Maybe it was ranked in the top ten at one point but I find it hard to believe that an app of this quality was the number one application. I also have no clue WHY the NY Times would rank this as an application of the week. I guess they had a poor selection?
Now while I like the idea of the iPhone being able to zoom it has yet to prove that the application is worth the meager $0.99 I paid for it. The image quality goes from okay to HORRIBLE. Another con of this program is the fact that it only captures images at 600×800 rather than the normal 1200×1600 iPhone size.
The pros of this application is its potential. If the developer can fix the image quality and size issue this will be an AMAZING application. The built in camera roll option lets you look at photos you’ve taken without having to leave the application. The option to be able to tap anywhere on the screen to take a photo is another plus as it’s easier to maintain a steady hand if you don’t need to navigate to a small photo capture button. If you don’t have a need to take photos quickly you can turn on the ask before saving option that will ask you for your approval before it will save the photo to your device. In addition there is the option to where you can slide your finger anywhere on the screen, and set it up to where you can determine how to slide it to zoom.
If you are considering buying this application I would give it a passover until the image quality is fixed, and the option of sizing is given.
If you don’t believe me about the image quality here is an image I took using the native iPhone Camera application:
And here are the photos I took using Camera Zoom (at different Zoom levels):
If there is an iPhone application free or paid that you would like me to review send me an email at admin@leocomerlato.com.
Update: By number one application they mean in the Photography Category.
Jun/090
#IranElection – Cyberwar guide for Iran elections
Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 16, 2009 3:25 AM at BoingBoing
Yishay sez, “The road to hell is paved with the best intentions (including mine). Learn how to actually help the protesters and not the gov’t in Iran.”
The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through Twitter.
1. Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. Security forces are monitoring this hashtag, and the moment they identify a proxy IP they will block it in Iran. If you are creating new proxies for the Iranian bloggers, DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they will distributed them discretely to bloggers in Iran.
2. Hashtags, the only two legitimate hashtags being used by bloggers in Iran are #iranelection and #gr88, other hashtag ideas run the risk of diluting the conversation.
3. Keep you bull$hit filter up! Security forces are now setting up twitter accounts to spread disinformation by posing as Iranian protesters. Please don’t retweet impetuosly, try to confirm information with reliable sources before retweeting. The legitimate sources are not hard to find and follow.
4. Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘Iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them.
5. Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind…
Jun/090
TweetPsych
@DanZarrella has released another Twitter application, this one called TweetPsych.
This is how the website describes it:
TweetPsych uses two linguistic analysis algorithms (RID and LIWC) to build a psychological profile of a person based on the content of their tweets. The service analyzes your last 1000 tweets and works best on users who have posted more than 1000 updates. It also works best on accounts that are operated by a single user and use Twitter in a conversational manner, rather than simply a content distribution platform. For more information read the blog post or follow the creator Dan Zarrella
This is what my analysis resulted in:
Cognitive Content
Self reference
Present tense
Social processes
Past tense
Cognitive processes
Upward motion
Physcal
Swear
Space
Agreement
Future tense
Negative emotions
Insight
NumberPrimordial, Conceptual and Emotional Content
Abstract thought
Social behavior
Constructive behaviors
Concreteness
Aggression
Sexual fixation
Oral fixation
Affection
Moral imperative
Cold sensations
Mar/090
Free Verse For You?!
Last Night while waiting to be dragged down into unconsciousness I was thinking of Kara and for some reason I kept thinking about the sun and the moon and the following lines appeared out of nowhere into my head, I don’t know if it follows any rules of poetry but I like it and if poetry doesn’t it it can suck it.
I hope that our relationship will reflect the sun and the moon; neverending and unyielding; Your brightness always amazing; Your beauty always astonishing.
Dec/080
The Top Ten Twitter Applications
Applications
- Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts
- Schedule Tweets for the Future
- Send Direct Messages
- Update your Twitter
- View Updates, Replies, and Direct Messages
- Add an editor to a specific account
- Statistics (Coming Soon)
- Turns long links into short ones
- Provides traffic statistics
- Tells you who you are following
- Tells you who is a fan of you
- Tells you who is a friend
- Informs you when you are approaching significant update numbers (1234, 5000, 10000, etc)
- Allows you to share secrets anonymously
- It allows you to share content on webpages easily
- It provides you with updates via twitter of your package(s) status
- Provides you with tweet per hour statistics
- Provides you with tweets per month statistics
- Provides you with a tweet timeline statistics
- Provides you with reply statistics
- Provides you with a platform to share files via Twitter
- Allows you to keep track of your followers
- Allows you to create groups
- Creates a nifty map with pins on locations of your followers
- Notifies you when you lose a follower