Now you really can give someone the FLYING F*CK that they deserve.
Category: Gadgets
So Web Watch is in the process of packing up some of our video game systems and putting them away. The PS2 and Xbox Classic are no longer needed, and don’t even get us started on the TurboGrafx or Sega Genesis that were also taking up precious shelf space.
We’ll leave the Wii and PS3 where they are as we still use those regularly, as we anxiously await the long-rumored Xbox 720 to come out to replace the Xbox 360.
So what does all this mean? We’re not the only ones with older gaming systems still hanging around and being used.
But what are they being used for? It’s not always what you think.
By now, you probably have heard about CARRIER IQ, that software that many cell phone manufacturers and service providers had installed on all sorts of cellphones in order to track how well their networks were performing.
The issue, if you didn’t know, is that CARRIER IQ wasn’t a very well-designed application and was recording a lot of each user’s phone actions without that person’s knowledge. Now, Congress has gotten involved and it’s turned into a big ugly mess.
Remember how much fun Napster was, back in the day?
Yeah, well Napster is officially gone now.
What about LimeWire? KaZaa? Yeah, you shouldn’t be using those either.
Nope, whether you agree with the legalities (or lack thereof) of those sites, none of the old fun “file sharing” apps and websites are valid anymore, thanks to the movie and music industry.
And the proliferation of $0.99 songs and apps on the iTunes store. That kinda helped a little bit.
Of course, you always have that peer-to-peer sharing via BitTorrent, which is a legitimate way to legally share giant files amongst people who need them. Unfortunately, a few bad apples had to go and ruin BitTorrent for everyone else too, by using BT as a way to throw around pirated movies and music.
TextAppeal – For Guys! – The Ultimate Texting Guide
A quick survey: how many of you regularly send texts while driving or otherwise sitting behind the wheel of your car?
Yeah, we thought so.
Texting while driving has increased 50% over 2011. 20% of all drivers say that they’ve done this, despite laws and other regulations in place that make it an offense to do so.
So the other day, Web Watch was flipping through one of our myriad of magazine subscriptions when one of those annoying response card things fell into our lap.
But before we could toss it away as we do all the others, we noticed there was something different about it. This one had gift card attached to it.
A $500 gift card.
“Whoa,” we said. What did we do to deserve this, other than subscribe to a magazine or two?
How To Take Better Pictures Like A Pro
Whenever Web Watch goes on a trip – say to Las Vegas, Walt Disney World, San Francisco… wherever – we are completely dumbfounded by all the tourists and families who are trying to get “that perfect shot”.
They group their people together on one side of the walkway, then expect the entire crowd to stay out of the way while you compose the shot.
Have you ever been trying to get from Point A to Point B at any of these touristy spots without having to constantly stop to be courteous to these photo hounds? We’ve gotten to the point where we say, “Screw it – they’re using a digital camera or their phone, they can take another shot” and we walk right through the photo opp. We’ve got place to be, folks – so let us move on and get out of your way.
Web Watch knows that we’re a bit of a computer nerd. Some would say that “geek” would be the more appropriate term. To paraphrase a recent episode of CSI, a “freak” is someone who is naturally talented in unusual ways; a “geek” is one who learns how to do the same things.
So we’ll go with “geek”, as all computer knowledge is learned – whether it be via formal school education or by tinkering around with gadgets and on the Internet for hours/days/weeks/years on end to see how things works and to make thinks work better.
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were nerds, and they’re proud of it.
Which brings us to our initial question: How big of a geek are you?