Technology – Page 15

Loot Crate: June Edition

July 12, 2013July 30, 2013Fashion, Shopping, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

The July Lootcrate is almost on its way but I didn’t have time to talk about the June one until now. June’s theme was “mashup”; the joining of two separate ideas.

My favourite item in June’s crate are these 8-Bit sunglasses. Mine came in Loot Crate’s orange and black colours but apparently some people got plain black ones in their crates. They are also selling pink and white ones in their gift shop. I’m super tempted to grab a pair of those too.

This sticker Harebrained shows two classic characters helping each other out.

It’s a pen. No, it’s a stylus. Wait, it’s both. The 2 in 1 pen from Bic is a smooth ball point pen and stylus in one. I hope I don’t actually use the wrong side on my iPad.

I haven’t decided what I want to use these sticker anagrams for. What would you make? My imagination can only think of boats.

Loot Crate got mashed into this a robot on this sticker from Danger Brain, a really cool company that makes logos.

I was so excited that this crate had a T-shirt which was totally worth the price of the box. The design (from Graphic Lab) mashes up antihero Deadpool with Kool-aid to make DEADPOOL-AID.

Lastly, there was a golden ticket for Stan Lee’s Comikaze. It’s a coupon where you have a chance to win admission or a percentage off. Personally, I don’t have much use for the item but I think they just added it as a bonus in the crate.

Though there were a lot of stickers in this month’s edition, the T-shirt and the sunglasses more than made up for the price! Next month’s theme is VARSITY. If you’re interested in subscribing use the referral link below:

http://mbsy.co/lootcrate/176357

Happy looting!

Camera Lens Mug

June 20, 2013June 20, 2013Photography, Shopping, TechnologyLeave a Comment

For Father’s Day I bought dad a mug that looks exactly like Canon’s 24-105mm lens. I placed my order on eBay but noticed that it was shipped from xcsource.com, so you should check them out if you want your own.
The details of the replica are pretty astounding. The AF and IS buttons actually move. For an extra buck or two you can actually have it say “Canon” where it is supposed to, I just didn’t realize it when I ordered.
We don’t actually have the 24-105 lens, so above is a photo next to the 24-70mm. Close enough eh? Hope dad doesn’t accidentally pour coffee in his real lenses!

My First Loot Crate!

May 28, 2013May 28, 2013Shopping, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

I was so excited when I found out that Loot Crate started shipping to Canada that I signed up right away. It’s a monthly subscription of nerdy gifts to your doorstep. It’s $19.99 for US residence and $29.99 for Canadians. Each month the boxes have a theme. May’s theme was EQUIP.
Inside the box was a card that explained all the product’s relationship to the theme. I also received a membership card since this was my first crate. There was also this $10 digital subscription to Pure Nintendo for iOS and Android so I could be equipped with nerdy news on the go.

This ninja by The Dojo is for wrapping your tangled earphones. I assume I received pink because I registered as a female.

These stickers (via Fred & Friends) are for making your inanimate objects come to life. Hmmm.. maybe now I won’t look so crazy talking to my computer.

I think my boyfriend is going to love this 8-bit tie from Black Tie Geek.

The box contained a DC figurine at random (The Flash, Green Lantern and The Joker) and I was lucky enough to get Batman. Woohoo.

In reference to Douglas Adams’ May 25th towel day we were equipped with this silly towel from Graphic Lab.

Like Mario, we were equipped with a question mark box of coins. These ones were edible and surprisingly strawberry flavoured.

I really enjoyed building this Iron Man figurine from Mini Paper Craft.

I’m loving my Loot Crate so far. It is full of great childhood memories, nerdy references and most of all encourages playfulness.

If you’d like to check out Loot Crate please use this link to help me save on my next box!

The Future of Virtual Worlds

May 24, 2013Books, Entertainment, Technology1 Comment

What would it be like if we were more obsessed with a virtual reality than our own? This is what Ernest Cline explores in his novel Ready Player One.

Presently we have small virtual worlds in the form of MMORPGS such as Warcraft, Everquest and Minecraft but Cline takes it further with OASIS (Ontologicaly Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation), an online world that encompasses new worlds and the fictitious ones we know from movies, games and memories. The year is 2044 and the world has run out of oil supply and faced with poverty. The world inside OASIS, where one could be who or what they wanted, became more appealing than the everyday world.

I wonder what the future of virtual worlds will be like for us. There are already people where Warcraft or Second Life takes up most of their lives. In the OASIS, making money online was synonymous with making money in real life. There was even the option to go to school online and students forced through software to pay attention. In 2010, Woodbury University in California tried to do something similar in Second Life but was banned by Linden Labs.

The OASIS Cline created was more than a game. It was a place to chat, browse the web, read books, explore and interact with many worlds without ever leaving your house. All you needed was a pair of gloves, the visor and the console. It may seem like it will be quite some time before we reach that type of technology but Google Glasses will soon be a reality.

As our world becomes increasingly more plugged in, I can only wonder what life will be like 30 years from now.

Youtube Helped Me Fix It

May 8, 2013Technology1 Comment

The dusty insides of the front of my laptop

I have a 4 year old Dell Studio 1555 laptop. It is still running perfectly smoothly. However, whoever designed this thing didn’t think about longevity and stupidly put the power button on the screen’s hinge. The most moved part on the entire computer.

Anyways, a few weeks ago I dropped my laptop and everything seemed fine except for the lost connection in the power button. It would take me 3-4 attempts to turn the computer back on and I avoided turning it off since then. The past few days I was bringing the laptop outside to work and today on my way out bumped the battery and it turned off. It wouldn’t turn back on after about 100 attempts at fidgeting with the hinge. My warranty has been up for almost a year and I knew a repair was going to be costly for something that probably took 10 minutes.

So I Youtubed my problem, took my laptop apart and 10 minutes later I am writing this blog post to you about it. It’s amazing how much of our life problems can be Googled, and how much you can learn from Youtube. No need to “call the guy” when you can “be the guy”.

The Curse Of The Spermagotchi

April 22, 2013April 22, 2013iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

As a kid growing up in the 90s, I was really excited when the Tamagotchi L.i.f.e app came out. I had a million virtual pets when I was little including the nano sumo fighters, babies, pikachu pet and of course the original Tamagotchi.

When I first got the app, I had all the notifications turned on and took care of the virtual pet’s every need. I even played games instead of feeding it candy to increase its happiness. I ended up with this guy:

The infamous Spermagotchi. My least favourite one of the pets. So I killed him.

This time I opted for a more neglectful approach. I fed him candy instead of played games and did not heed to it right away.

I GOT THIS GUY IN ANOTHER COLOUR. I killed it again.

The third time I had no strategy, but I switched it over to classic mode.

I deleted the app.

How To Create A Mind

April 15, 2013Books, Entertainment, TechnologyLeave a Comment

Fascination in the mind led me to read Kurzweil’s How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Though Revealed. The first part of the book goes into compelling detail about how the human brain stores and analyzes information.

The later half philosophises artificial intelligence. It questions and eloquently investigates the ethics behind the artificial mind. If a computer had the same power as human brain, should it be considered conscious? Kurzweil thinks it should be and makes many references to the Jeopardy winning robot, Watson.

He also questions free will, making allusions to the fact that not all human decisions are done of free will. Often we confabulate to make it seem like something was done on our free will. For example, our decisions are often made based on our past experiences. Therefore our past is influencing our decision and free will is one devoid of influences. It thought this was a quite perplexing thought.

Kurzweil explained that Watson (and even iPhone’s) Siri is able to learn from the environment and as technology grows they will be able to learn things the same ways as humans do. If that happens, would we treat computers like humans? Only in time can we truly answer that question.

For anybody who’s interested, here is a lecture Kurzweil did at Google on the topic:

I Haven’t Been To The Science Centre in 10 Years

March 29, 2013March 29, 2013Entertainment, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

Yesterday Nash, my cousin William and I went to the Ontario Science Centre to check out the Game On 2.0 video game exhibition. The exhibit, located on the level 6 of the Science Centre featured vintage game art, pinball machines and of course playable games.

One of my favourites was Space War. The premise of the game was there were two space ships controlled by two players. I really liked the sounds and the shiny lights that the ships used as bullets. The three of us also spent a great deal of time playing Gauntlet (which I forgot to photograph), a hilarious 1985 hack and slash where we could play as a warrior, wizard, valkyrie or elf. The most entertaining part of the game was the game voice that announced things such as “Your wizard is about to die” or “Don’t Shoot the Food”. All the games in the exhibit were free to play so we continued the game until we got stuck in a maze.

Tron had the coolest music, but we had no idea how to play the game. Most of our lives were lost in less than five seconds. Thank god we weren’t wasting quarters!

I forgot that in Donkey Kong if you fall down the holes, you die.

They had this Virtusphere thing that sadly wasn’t opened to public yet. We talked to the staff and they said it was a virtual gaming simulation that was to open in April. The sphere was to simulate walking in a game.
Here are some other games and things we saw in the exhibit:

Egg Head Pinball Machine

Donkey Kong Concept Art

Pong!

Virtual Fighter

Centipede

Handheld Tron

NBA Jam. Will creamed me and Nash

A Slow Year- The Explanation

A Slow Year- The Box

A Slow Year. A game where you watch landscapes. Seriously.

After we were all gamed out we ventured through the rest of the Science Centre in no particular order. Here are some photos:

Evolution of Rocks

I’m driving a Space thing

All the needles point north

The Impossible Ladder

This room makes me look taller than Nash

Some hot, some cold

The Rainforest

I thought this would electrocute me

William has 45L of water in him

We’re all in our 20s and probably a bit too old to be there, but we still had a ton of fun walking around.

Make Your To-List Into A Game With HabitRPG

February 12, 2013February 12, 2013iOS, Social Media, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

In the past, I have tried so many different to-list programs and apps, but none of those ever worked or I’d forget about them and just resort to the traditional pen and paper. That was until I discovered HabitRPG. I’ve been using them since the beginning of their Kickstarter campaign (which is now more than fully funded) and my productivity has certainly increased.

What’s cool about this to-do list and habit list is that it is like a game. There are a few game-like applications out there, but they are too much game. This one is simple, you gain experience points and gold and silver. These can be used to buy weapons and armour as well as any guilty pleasures you can custom define. For example, you can make that Game of Thrones episode cost 5 gold so you can feel like you earned it.

It runs on an honor system. You check off all the things you do right and take off points for what you do wrong. If you cheat, you’re just cheating yourself anyway. There’s also a Chrome Extension you can use to gain and lose points for vice and productive sites.

The site is still in it’s infancy with more upcoming features and a promised iPhone/Android app. They’ve just introduced a “party” feature so you can compete with your friends and perhaps do group challenges and boss battles in the future.

Trying Out Fiverr

January 29, 2013Social Media, Technology1 Comment

Yesterday I was bored and ended up on Fiverr.com, a site where you can sell services for $5. I decided to make a few of my own gigs for pure entertainment. I will retouch 3 of your photos for $5 or draw you as a cute stick person for $5. I doubt either will get any traction but I thought it was an interesting experiment.

Retouching photos includes any of the following things:
-removing an object from background
-adding filters to image
-removing imperfections
-changing colours