Geek World

GRFS - Inside Recon #1: Animation & Cover

2012-02-18T15:03:00.000+01:00

I just want you all to see this interesting video about Ghost Recon Future Soldier, a game I'm really looking forward to being released

Character preferences

2011-12-12T14:53:00.001+01:00

Since I have decided I want to write about games, and I mostly play Role-playing games (RPG) and First Person Shooters (FPS), I thought I would let you all know, what preferences I have for characters in those kind of games, just so you have an idea what my playing style is.

In First Person Shooters I have 3 preferences role-wise; 2 Sniper roles and an Objective taker.

The 2 types of sniper-roles I enjoy playing I have named

Recon; far away from the fight and one’s team / squad, equipped with a long-range rifle and a high powered scope. Call out enemies and take care of easy targets.
Marksman; Close to the squad / team, equipped with a mid-long-range rifle, a medium powered scope, able to take care of enemies further out than normal range weapons.

The Objective taker role, for me, is equipped with a weapon other than Long-range rifles, but could be Submachine guns, Light machine guns or Assault rifles. He focuses on the objective of the game, instead of only focussing on his Kill/Death Ratio (which I see happening a lot, whenever I am online on Call of Duty or Battlefield 3).

Normally, in all the various RPGs I have played, I have chosen to have a 2-handed damage-dealer, primarily because I thought I looked cool and tough.

I used to have a problem with loosing a lot of health, really quickly, even though I spent a lot of points in stamina/constitution (or whatever raises max health depending on the game). Maybe that’s because of my playing style; I like running into the fight and don’t mind being the one getting the punches, instead of my party members.

Recently, I have started looking into the whole 1-handed+shield kind of builds, even though I don’t find them as cool-looking, but because they might fit my playing style much better, as I mentioned above. Both taking all the damage, instead of my party members, so they can concentrate on damage-dealing or healing, and I can aid my party members with different abilities, talents, etc.

The various RPGs I have played are:

- Dragon Age: Origins + Awakening

- Dragon Age 2
- Various Lord of the Rings for Ps2 and Ps3 (link to War in the North)

- Skyrim

- World of Warcraft (not so much though)

Here is my short 2handed vs. 1handed+shield Pros/Cons and description.

2-handed:

A 2-handed warrior sacrifices the extra armour a shield provides for extra damage with a larger weapon, which needs 2 hands to swing. The swing is often slower than the 1-handed, as it is bigger and heavier.

Because the weapon is bigger and heavier, it also has a larger armour penetration than 1-handed weapons.

Good build for damage dealers

Pros:

- Armour penetration

- Big Damage per hit

Cons:

- Less armour than 1-handed+shield

- Slow swing

1-handed+shield:

Great build for tanking, as the warrior can take a lot of damage, due to the shield and overall bigger armour rating than 2-handed warrior.

The 1-handed weapon is often faster to swing than a 2-handed.

Pros:

- Big armour

- Fast swing

Cons:

- less armour penetration than 2-handed builds

- Low damage per hit

LotR: War in the North - Review

2011-12-10T14:32:00.001+01:00

Here is a more in-depth review of Lord of the Rings: War in the North (WitN), an RPG by Snowblind / WB Games, and the topics I will try and cover are character graphics, Skill system, Difficulty, Bugs/Flaws, and Combat system.

On the main screen, after launching the game, you have to choose who you want to play the game as, you do have the ability to change character later. In most games you have the ability to make some form of customization to your character, like face, build, hair colour, and name, but you can’t really do that here.

The characters you can choose from are

Farin, the Champion of Erebor - Farin is a mighty dwarf capable of being either the two-handed damage-dealer or the shield / one-handed tank.
Andriel, the Lore-Master of Rivendell - Andriel is the elven mage, being the healer and sorcerer of the fellowship
Eradan, the Dúnedain Ranger - Eradan is two-handed swordsman and bow-master of the fellowship, he is also able to disappear and sneak up on people.

Main screen

I think the graphics in this game are quite good, at least the best of all the Lord of the Rings games that have been made for Playstation 3.

Just look at the character graphics on the photo below.. The face is well detailed with wrinkles and somewhat detailed beard (it could probably be more detailed, but it is still not just a big brown thing).

As I mentioned in my first impressions review of the game, the details with the rain are pretty amazing. On the photo above it is really easy to see how the rain makes Farin’s beard wet, and on his left shoulder, close to the beard, you can see his leather armour being wet as well.

On the photo below, you can see how the rain affects the environment beside the character, such as the water-splashes when running.

All the characters have a skill system, which can be upgraded with every level the character gains.

There are three branches in the skill system, 2 of them are somewhat available for all the characters; combat and ranged (Farin and Eradan) / Magic (Andriel) - different sub-skills for the characters, and 1 unique, called racial ability; Stealth for Eradan, Support for Andriel, and War-Cry for Farin.

Farin's Skill system

The game is build up with the co-op multiplayer experience in mind, either 3-man online or 2-man splitscreen couch co-op, and I have to say it is a really good idea, but there are some flaws with it, such as today, when I tried the online multiplayer function, and at some point, Andriel disappeared from the game entirely, after the player left the game. Which meant that Eradan and Farin had to fight the enemy without their elvish healer. Normally that should not happen.

The difficulty you start out with is set to normal, and the game is quite easy on this level, but can get some what repetitive, as it is much hack'n slash with different types of enemies.

That being said, there are some flaws in this game, though I have yet to come across as many as there are talk about on the WitN forum.

There are also reports of game-breaking bugs, like quests disappearing and missing the ability to continue on with the game.

According to SnowblindTina, an administrator of the WitN forum, they are trying to patch up the bugs as fast as possible, and are in the final internal testing phase of the patch, and that they will release it ASAP.

Recommendation

I am not going to say if you should buy this game or not, I think you should decide for yourself, but I have tried to give you as much information as possible.

LotR: War in the North - First impressions

2011-12-05T18:15:00.001+01:00

So, another quick delivery from shopto.net, and my copy of Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PS3) arrived today.

I've played the game for a few hours now, and I want to share my first impressions of the game with you guys.

The game starts out with an introduction to your little 3-man fellowship, and you meet Aragorn at the Prancing Pony in Bree, who sends you out on your first quest.

The dialogue is all right, but the mimic of the characters could be better, such as the lips moving more detailed. That aside, the details of the characters' faces are quite detailed, like deep wrinkles.

The graphics looks really good as well. When I started the game, it was raining (not sure if it's like that, every new game you start), and the details were amazing. When you walk around, there are water-splashes from the rain on the ground, and when I was having a talk with a Dwarf-merchant named Grof, the rain ran down leather armour I was wearing, and also down the hair and beard.

I really liked how real that seemed..

Just like the water-splashes, there are small dust-clouds from walking / running around dry areas where there is sand.

When you're in combat you earn experience, and for every hit and kill, you earn multipliers, and the more combos you make, the more experience you get. When you've hurt an enemy enough, so he's about to die, he will get a small triangle above his head, and you can make a heavy attack to get a critical hit, which earn you lots of experience points.

The AI of the remaining characters in your fellowship isn't the best, so I would recommend teaming up with a few friends, though teaming up with 2 random people might not be the best idea, as I found out that I want to loot and explore every area, instead of just quickly killing off the enemies, and go to the next section of the game.

Well, that was the first few impressions I've made from a few hours playing this game, hopefully you guys thinks this is a bit more detailed than my post about Skyrim, since I believe I learn from my mistakes and think about what I could do better the next time :)

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

2011-12-02T12:40:00.001+01:00

This game was released some time last month, depending which region you're from, and I've looked at it a few times, considering to get it, but have had a "meh"-feeling about it, which made me not order it, until yesterday..

I really liked the older Lord of the Rings games, back when it was The Two Towers and Return of the King for Playstation 2.. Lord of the Rings: Conquest for Ps3 kinda lost me, because it froze after a few minutes of couch co-op.
Right, back on track.. Yesterday I remembered the whole couch co-op fun I used to have with one of my really good friends, before I moved, and I miss that feeling.. And my thoughts came back to the Tolkien universe and this game..
Therefore I decided, even though I've read a bad review or two about this game, to order it, which I did from shopto.net £35.86.

So, today I've been watching a few videos of the game, while I'm waiting for my game to arrive, and now I'm even more hooked on the game, even though I haven't tried it.. I'm really looking forward to find a few friends to play co-op with, as long as I can be the dwarf :)
Almost every RPG I've played, I've chosen the dwarf-race, if it's available (damn Skyrim).. I normally make some sort of two-handed battle-crazed character, with lots of heavy armour and high armour rating, as I prefer 2 handed axes or hammers, and therefore lack the extra armour rating a shield provides..
But the extra damage I can do is worth the blood.. (big evil grin on my face)

Here's two of the videos I watched:

I'll try and post a review of the game, after I get it and have a few games..

Battlefield 3 update live

2011-11-30T16:54:00.001+01:00

Today there was a new patch released for Battlefield 3 on Playstation 3. The update includes around 45 general fixes (Squads, sound effects etc.) and around 15 balance changes (such as weapon damage and range etc.)
The patch is a quite large one, being 767mb, so depending on how you're hooked up to the internet, it might take some time, before you're ready to play online again..

Here's the full list of the changes:

General fixes

Significant improvements to the Squad Join interface, full details in this earlier blog postRemoved FIND ME A SQUAD option

Allow players to join empty Squads alone, thus having 1/4 Squad members

Change order of options to LEAVE SQUAD, INV A FRIEND, SWITCH TEAM

Disable Privacy flag when 1 man Squad

Reset Privacy flag from Private to Public when Squad drops to 1 player

All occupied Squads will now show up colored blue on the Squad selection screen

Players who choose not to join Squads will also show up as Blue in the “Not in a Squad” line
Squads that are currently empty will display as white — if you wish to join an empty Squad, you can choose the first one marked with white text

Added round duration and ticket summary at end of round screen

Fixed sound for when climbing ladders

Fixed and issue with some weapons’ sounds in first person view

Fixed a swim sound loop error

You should no longer be able to damage a friendly vehicle when sitting in an open position
Grenades now drop to ground if you get killed while attempting to throw it
Spawn protection now should work in Conquest so you no longer should spawn too close to enemies
You should no longer spawn too close to enemies in TDM and SQDM

Fix for missing input restriction during intro movie, causing players to potentially fall and die while watching movie if moving controller (or having a controller with a bad stick zone)
Combat areas on Kharg Island in Rush mode tweaked in order to disallow defenders to access the carrier ship after first base is taken and being able to enter the AA gun

Fixed a problem with revived players not being able to get suppressed

Fixed a problem with the camera when being revived in co-op

Spotting VO now plays when spotting from MAV/EOD bot

Fixed several issues regarding the kill card, including showing wrong weapons used for the kill

Fixed that sometimes you would be stuck on a black screen when kicked from server

Fixed so when a team captures two flags at the same time, the UI does not show wrong owner of the flag

Fixed a problem where the capture progress bar was shown as friendly when the enemy was capturing

Fixed a problem with the bipod deploy sound

Fixed a problem that you could be spawned in with no weapons after being killed while using the EOD bot

Fixed problems with health bars not displaying health properly when using EOD bots

Fixed a problem with flickering name tags

Fixed a problem where you could damage friendly helicopters

Fixed a problem where you could get stuck in the co-op menu when attempting to join the session twice

You should now be able to spot explosives

You should no longer spawn in home base if your selected spawn point is disabled while waiting to spawn (e.g. if your teammate dies right before you are about to spawn)

Damage from bullets will now continue to cause damage even after the firing user is dead

Fixed several client crashes

Fixed a problem where players could get stuck in the join queue

Fixed the repair icon on the minimap

Fixed a problem with changing camera on certain vehicles

Fixed a problem with the grenade indicator when in guided missile mode

Fixed a problem where the machine could hard lock when joining a public coop game

Fixed a problem where the headset attached icon would not show up in the UI

Fixed a problem with the falling antenna on Caspian Border. It should now more instantly kill anyone in its falling path

Fixed a problem where tank turrets would turn too slow

Fixed a bug on co-op mission “Exfiltration” where you could end up outside the vehicle and not being able to enter it again, thus blocking the mission

Fixed a problem where a user can become invulnerable after being resurrected

Fixed a problem with the M60 reload sound

Fixed a hang in terrain streaming, causing the user to get stuck on black screen under special circumstances in single player

Fixed a problem where the enemy would not be able to get a road kill on a user that was using the SOFLAM

Fixed soldiers disappearing in the mortar kill cam

Fix for Type88 and MG36 zoom in animation offset when in supported shooting mode (using bipods)

Balance changes

Increased the damage of helicopter miniguns, AA guns, and jet cannons against infantry

Increased the damage of helicopter miniguns against jeeps

Reduced the physics impact of AA guns and jet cannons so players under attack from these weapons no longer should lose control

Increased the damage of the 44 Magnum slightly

Increased the range and minimum damage of the .357 Round from the MP412 Rex

Increased the range of all .45cal and 9mm weapons

Slightly increased the range of the P90 and MP7 and PDW-R

Slightly increased the range of the 5.56mm PDW-R and decreased the minimum damage at long range

Slightly increased the minimum range of the Mk11, SVD, and M39 EMR 7.62mm rifles

Decreased the maximum damage and maximum range of the G3 and SCAR-H 7.62mm weapons

Reduced the damage from FIM-92 and SA-18 IGLA missiles against aircraft

Increased the damage and range of the 40mm BUCK rounds

Reduced the damage .50cal weapons do against helicopters

Updated T90 canister shell tweaks to match Abrams canister shells

Looking for Co-op games ?

2011-11-23T13:34:00.001+01:00

I just want to tell you guys about a great website, if you're into co-operative games.. It is not a website with actual games, but it's a directory of games for PC, PS3, XBOX.
The website is called Co-Optimus

It's a giant database with almost all the games out, and games soon to come out. There are 9 different ways of organizing them; Game name, Features, Offline, Online, LAN, Co-op Modes, Co-Op Campaign, Release date, and Rating.
Game name is, hopefully, pretty self-explainable.
Features range from numbers of players to couch co-op to splitscreen to drop-in/drop-out to LAN and online co-op, described with small icons (explanation of the icons, if you hover the mouse of it)
Offline: how many players can play offline.
Online: how many players can play online.
LAN: how many players can play via LAN.
Co-Op Modes: Co-operative modes online or offline, but special missions and not campaign.
Co-Op Campaign: Co-operative campaign mode online or offline.
Release Date: When the game was released, or when it is released.
Rating: Ratings made by the people using the website, ranging from 0-5.

You're also able to make a filtered search with genres, different game modes, players, etc.

It's definitely a site to look at once in a while, if you're into co-op games as I am :)

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - First impression

2011-11-22T22:19:00.001+01:00

First of all, yes, I am aware of the fact that I'm not the first person to get The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim (Skyrim), and I'm not the first one to write about my first impressions of the game.. But I still want to share my experience and first impressions of the game with you guys :)
I bought the game for a few different reasons, some of the main ones being I don't have internet connection, except for my iPhone, and I really like Role-Playing Games..

So far I have only logged a few hours of this game, but I find it quite captivating :)
The world is enormous, and you can travel almost anywhere within the world, well except steep mountains sides and the likes. I can't decide if I like it or not; it's sometimes a long way to have to walk / run (or steal a horse) to get to a new undiscovered location, but at the same time, that's the cool part - Exploring the world..
The graphics are amazing.. They are vast and detailed, both in the world and the people. I don't think, I can put other words to it as of right now..

As my first character I have chosen a class I prefer to play in roleplaying games:
2 handed warrior.
I've chosen Nord as the race, since they get a starting bonus in the 2-handed skill. Of course I'm specializing in the 2-handed and heavy armor skills, as they are essential for a 2 handed warrior. For secondary skills I'm specializing in Smithing, so I can make and improve my own armour and weapons, and Restoration so I can heal myself without having to use potions.

I bought the game from shopto.net at £39.85

More will come, when I get deeper into the game hopefully :)

Masa Suzuki Showreel 2011

2011-11-20T18:15:00.001+01:00

Most people in the Parkour / Free-running community probably now of Damien Walters and his amazing, if not legendary, videos on YouTube..
But I want to tell you about another amazing free-runner, and a friend of mine; Masa Suzuki.

I first met Masa when we both attended Ollerup Academy of Physical Education in the autumn of 2009, and he started introducing a lot of the guys at the school to Parkour and free-running..
Masa is 20 years old and from Japan, but is currently studying in Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
He's not only doing Parkour and free-running, but also has a small background in tumbling, and started doing some breakdance in 2009 and is quite good at it now, at least in my opinion :)
The last couple of years Masa has been posting videos on YouTube with a few samplers of what he's capable of, and what he's learned the last couple of months.. I find it amazing to see how he's developing every time he posts a new video.. And today his 2011 showreel came out, which made me want to write this small post about him :)

He has a lot of videos on his YouTube channel, both showreels and tutorials for certain skills :)

He's definitely a guy to follow, and I think everybody interested in Parkour / free-running should subscribe to his channel..

Different links:
Blog (Japanese)
YouTube Channel

Masa, I just want to say I'm glad I got to know you at Ollerup, and hope to see you soon again :)
Oh, and try and stay safe ;)

Feel free to comment and share with your friends :)

Online RPG - Knight Fight

2011-11-11T11:03:00.001+01:00

Been gone for a while, because of school, but here I am again :)

So, there are several different online role-playing-games, such as a World of Warcraft and Everquest, and then there are slightly more text-based games lik e Knight Fight..
Knight Fight (KF) can be slightly addictive, and I'll try and explain what it's all about, so you might join me :)

In KF you build up your character by buying stats upgrades for Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Fighting Ability, and Parry.. You choose to use either one- or two-handed weapons and whether or not you want to use armour.
You can earn money for upgrades and equipment by working at the tavern, doing missions, which you get 60 minutes of per day (120min if premium player) - 10-60min intervals, or fight other knights.. Sometimes you are lucky to get a big loot from missions or fighting knights, and sometimes you end up with nothing, or even lose against other knights.

Of course there are guilds as well, who can have wars against other guilds, but I'm not much into that yet, but I'll let you know, when I know more :)

Google+ Start-up Guide

2011-09-22T11:59:00.001+02:00

Saidur Hossain has made a great Start-up Guide for new users on Google+..

It lets you know how to organise your friends and share with those specific friends, so check it out :)

Battlefield 3 Beta on the way

2011-09-22T10:17:00.000+02:00

Just the other day, it was announced by DICE that the Battlefield 3 Beta will be available for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 3 from the 29th of September 2011.. That's Friday next week..

If you've bought the Medal of Honor Tier 1 Limited Edition, you'll have first access to the Beta already from Wednesday 27th.

The beta will be focussed on the Multiplayer gameplay:

What to expect of the beta
The Battlefield 3 beta will test out multiplayer gameplay and rely on feedback from players on such things as weapons (if some weapons are overpowered/underpowered for example), vehicle feedback, map specific feedback etc. The beta is expected to be multiplayer-only.

Click here to access the official Battlefield 3 Beta website

Small video of the Multiplayer Gameplay on the map Paris:

You can pre-order it from EA's Origin shop, or as I would recommend, from Shopto, where it's crazy cheap, and you still get it the day it's released (in most cases, sometimes the day before or after)..

Stream Media content to PS3 from Mac

2011-09-17T15:54:00.000+02:00

First of all, sorry for being AWOL for a some days now, but I've started Physical Therapy school, which takes up a lot of my time, as I use 2.5-3 hours of travelling to and from school, and homework as well.

Well, I've had a bit of spare time the last couple of days, and that led me to my PlayStation 3 and movies.. Last year, I was using MediaLink by Nullriver, but then I started to get some Errors, where I couldn't access the content on my Mac like Music, Movies, Photos..
So for the last couple of weeks I've been using a USB Flash Drive to be able to watch movies on the PS3..
Well, for some reason, I decided to see if there was any updates for MediaLink, because I really liked it when it was working.. And to my surprise, there was an update :)

MediaLink is a small Preference Pane for Mac OS, and costs US$20, and enables you to watch all your movies from your Mac or External Harddrive connected to your Mac..
It allows you to Stream not only your Movies seamlessly, but also your photos, music, and entire iTunes Library (TV Shows, Movies, and Music)

MediaLink is available via the Mac App Store and their Website

Nullriver also have a Mac to Xbox 360 version called Connect360, which can do pretty much the same, but I've never tried it, so..

Useful extensions for Google Chrome and Apple Safari - Improving Efficiency

2011-08-26T15:58:00.003+02:00

Speed Dial

An idea came to me, as I was about to write a little note on a great extension a friend of mine, Katie, told me about.. Why not, instead of just telling you guys about this one extension, let you know of some of the extensions I find useful and use for both Google Chrome and Apple Safari.

Speed Dial (for Google Chrome) by Josorek
Earlier, when I posted my likes and dislikes of the two browsers, one of the things I was missing in Chrome is Safari's Top Sites, well with the Speed Dial extension, you get Top Sites for Chrome, and not just 8, but you can configure it from 3 to 81 top sites.. Pretty useful I would say, since I use Top Sites quite often..

Better Facebook by Matt Kruse (Both Safari and Chrome, + others)
Better Facebook has a whole bunch of features, but the ones I find most useful are
- Disable Ads
- The ability to show a picture, when you hover over it with your mouse
- Friend Tracker, see who has deleted you as a friend
- App-tabs.. Apps have their own tabs, so they don't clutter what's really important.. Your News feed about your friends..
- Lock the header bar to the top, so when you scroll down, you're just one click away from Home, Messages, Notifications, your Profile or Settings
There are also other features like Disable the lightbox/theater mode for viewing photos, Themes, Layout, and more.

Goo.gl URL Shortener (Chrome)
Bit.ly (Safari and Chrome)
Very useful tool if you share a lot of websites, and don't want to clutter up a post or something, as it takes the url and shortens it down to a small link..
Chrome version of both extensions allows for "right-click" menu button.
And the great thing about them is that you're able to track statistics for both of them :)

Google Mail Checker (Chrome) by Google
Great little extension if you're using Gmail. It let's you know when you got an email, or how many unread you have in your inbox.
I also have Gmail Checker (Safari) by Victor Andrée, installed, but I've been unable to find a link that works for it, sorry..

In my opinion extensions should help your browsing and improve your efficiency, which I believe these extensions do..
If you have any suggestions, please let me know..

Looking for Note-taking app (iPad and Mac)

2011-08-24T11:57:00.001+02:00

CourseNotes

I know that it's been pretty quiet from me here the last couple of days, and the reason is that I'm spending time on finding an apartment closer to school, and also I've slowly started doing some of the homework I've already gotten, even though I haven't started school yet..

Also I'm looking for a good note-taking app for my iPad, and preferably also the MacBook, so I can share the notes between both devices..
So far I'm considering CourseNotes, as it has both an iPad and a Mac client.. It also has:
- Notesharing between devices.
- Sketch and Picture import
- Organise into subjects and classes
- In-built lexicon
- Track assignments in the Calendar (iPad only)
- Text formatting
- Email Export (HTML)
- DropBox-export (iPad only as far as I know, and it exports in html, would prefer .txt or something like that)
The apps costs $4.99 (iPad) and $9.99 (Mac)
YouTube profile (Only iPad demo)

I've also been looking at Audiotorium Notes, which enables you to do much the same as Coursenotes, though it does also have
- Audio recording and playback.
They are also working on Photo import and handwriting (not sure I need it, but I would like to try it out)
They don't have a Mac application, and I don't know which type of file you can export (.txt, .rtf, .html, etc)
It's available in the iTunes store at $4.99 (iTunes link)
YouTube profile

I've also looked at Note Taker HD which has a whole lot of features, though I don't think I would need all of them.. Again, some of them are to be found in the other two mentioned apps
- Organise in folders and documents
- Handwriting
- Shapes and diagrams
- Photos
- Export as PDF
- Read + Annotate PDF files (no need for an extra app)
- Open in-feature lets you open e.g. a PDF from iBooks in Note Taker HD so you can make notes in it, or fill out a form.
It's available in the iTunes store at $4.99 (iTunes link)
YouTube profile

Notes Plus is the last app I'm considering, because it also has the features I'm looking for..
- Shape Auto-detect, when making a square or other shapes, the app actually makes it a proper shape, and not something with sketchy edges etc.
- Audio-recording
- Multiple folders with multiple notebooks
- Handwriting and
- Typed text
- DropBox support
Available in the iTunes Store at $4.99 (iTunes link)
YouTube profile

So, I'm kinda torn between these 4 apps.. Though I'm leaning towards CourseNotes, as it also has the Mac client, unless I'm able to edit the notes from the other apps in Pages, TextEdit or some other Mac application..

If you have suggestions, experience with any of the apps, please let me know..

Tips and Tricks: Sharing on Google+

2011-08-16T15:45:00.001+02:00

I thought I would share a few tips with you, about sharing on Google+
Some of them, you might know and some of them might be new to you :)

Customize text in your Stream posts.
You are able to format your stream text, so you can post text in Bold, Italic, and ~~strikethrough,~~ or ~~combine them~~.. There is no underline, as far as I know..
It's quite simple, if you want to write something in bold you just have to add an asterisk (the star symbol) before the first word you want to be bold, and an asterisk at the last word, like this *Bold* and it'll end up like this Bold

As I wrote before, it also works with Italic and Strikethrough:

Formatted text, editing

And it will end up looking like this:

Formatted text, posted

You can also use those formats when commenting on posts

Editing comment

Edit Posts
You're able to edit your posts and comments, in case you have something new you want to update your post with, or if you misspelt something in a comment..
To edit your post, go to the little drop down pin located on the top right of your post.

As you can see, you can also to choose to delete the post or disable comments. The last option is to lock your post, which means that the friends you've shared the post with, can't share it with others.

As I mentioned, you can also edit your comments.. At the bottom of your comment, just next to the time of your comment, there's an edit button.. Click it, and you'll be able to make changes to your comment, delete it, or just cancel out of the option..

That's it for now :) Stay tuned

HowTo: Post PMs on Google+

2011-08-15T00:23:00.001+02:00

So, I've been using Google+ for a few weeks now, and in the beginning I was kinda wondering how to write personal messages to my friends, like saying happy birthday to a friend, without an entire circle of friends knowing about it..
And that 's the beauty of Google+.. You can't actually write on a person's wall, or stream, as it's called on Google+..

So how do you actually send a PM to a friend ? Well, just as you would normally share something new, and choose which circles are allowed to see your post, just type in the friend (or friends) you want to be able to see the post :)

It's just that simple..

Unfortunately you can't choose a single person when using the native Google+ app for iPhone, nor could I make it work with the mobile web version.. I don't know if it works on Android..

I have to say, except for the mobile apps not being able to post PMs, it's just a simple, great system Google is making.. Really looking forward to Google+ being available for everyone :)

Likes and Dislikes of Browsers; Safari and Chrome

2011-08-12T17:42:00.000+02:00

I use 2 browsers on my computer.. Apple's Safari (ver. 5.1) and Google' Chrome, but I can't decide which I like the most.. So I thought I would write down the Pros and Cons of both browser :)

Safari first, as it is my computers native browser :)
Pros:
- Top Sites; You got the ability to choose between 24, 12, and 6 of your most visited websites to be shown on Top Sites, so you don't have to type in the addresses for them. You can also have Top Sites as your home page, so when you launch Safari, it starts up on Top Sites, instead of 1 website..
- FullScreen; With Mac OS X Lion, you're able to use applications in fullscreen without any clutter.
Cons:
- Search field; There's a shortcut for going directly to the Search bar (in my case, Google), and that's CMD+OPT+F, and that shortcut is just really annoying at times, instead of just being able to press CMD+L for the URL bar, just as you can on Google Chrome..
Tabs; When closing multiple tabs, using the mouse, the tabs resize, which can be a real pain in the but at times, because you sometimes end up on the website you're trying to close or the one just to the left of it.. That's really annoying, if you're trying to hide what you're doing from your teacher, boss or someone similar xD

Google Chrome (ver. 13.0.782.112)
Pros:
- URL/Search field; I really like that there's only one field to type in, whether it be a website or just googling you're doing.. It's just simple :)
- Recently closed; Accidentally closed a tab ? Well, you're in luck, because on the New Tab-page you can see what pages you've just closed, and your accidentally closed page should be among them..
- Performance; At times, Chrome seems faster than Safari when loading the same websites.. Speed kills :D
Cons:
- Most Visited; You can only have 8 most visited pages on the New Tab-page, which is just not enough, at least in my opinion.. I have all 12 used on Safari, and sometimes I wish I could have 16..
- FullScreen; You're not able to use Chrome in FullScreen, which is just too bad..

Now, if I could just get a browser with the same performance as these, with all the Pros and none of the Cons, I would be a happy man :D
Let me know what you think, and which browser you prefer..

Blogging from an Electronics store

2011-08-12T14:26:00.000+02:00

Fona.dk

Something I've always wanted to try, well at least since I saw Californication a few years ago, is to blog from an Apple computer in a public electronics store, but I've never really had the guts to do it, until today..

I'm at FONA, a Danish Electronics store, and Apple retailer, writing this, and telling the salesman that I'm just browsing, and I know what I'm looking for, because I don't want him to notice this xD lol..

To be honest, I don't have much to say with this post, just that I'm actually doing one of my bucket list things right now :D

(labels, links, and photo was added afterwards, at home)

Google+ vs Facebook

2011-08-11T11:46:00.000+02:00

http://indidot.blogspot.com

Since I'm on both Social Networks, I thought I would say what I like about them, and which version I prefer :)

Google+ is a very new social network launched by Google, inc. a little over a month ago.. And already it has more than 10 million users.
Actually it only took Google+ 16 days to reach the 10 million mark, where as it took Facebook 852 days..

Here's a video of what the Google+ Project is about, and I think it says it all pretty well..

What I really like about Google+ is the Friends Circles.. Because Google is really on to something there.. I do have boxes (or Circles) where I put my friends.. Guys I went to the military with, People I game with, Friends from gymnastics, family, etc..

Yes, I can do the same on Facebook, but it is so much easier on Google+, where you can just drag a bunch of people into a circle, instead of having to choose every single person and add to a specific list..

Sometimes I want to share something with my fellow gamers, which I don't need my gym-friends to see, well, it's much easier to choose who you want to share what with on Google+ than it is on Facebook.. On Google+ you just start to pick the circles you want to share it with, where as on Facebook, you have to choose certain options to get to where you can choose who you want to share it with.. Too much effort..

Technobombs.com have made a very good InfoGraphic between some of the similarities Google+ and Facebook shares..

I find there are more likes about Google+ than Facebook, except for the fact that Google+ isn't completely open yet, and that my friends uses Facebook.. Some of them might even consider not getting Google+ because they already have Facebook and think that 1 social network is enough (which there is nothing wrong with)..

Foursquare vs. Fb Places

2011-08-06T14:34:00.000+02:00

From Allwelike.com

I'm slightly addicted to the lovely Check-in game Foursquare, and thought I would compare it to Facebook Places, which a lot of my friends use more..

Foursquare is a check-in game, where you check in to venues, when you're out-and-about, like the movie theater, at a restaurant, or out shopping.. You can of course do the same with Facebook places, but you don't really get any points for it, plus what about the tips and special deals you get from foursquare ?

Foursquare isn't very popular in Denmark, compared to USA and UK, but I believe there is one major reason for that..
There aren't a lot of Specials offered when checking in, in Denmark.. Only few companies have special offers like, "when being a costumer with us, you can get this special deal".
The Specials problem is an evil circle.. Companies won't offer specials to a service, that isn't used much (compared to e.g. Facebook Places), and people won't start using foursquare, unless there are more offers to them..
Foursquare is a social check-in game, which you can use to meet up with friends, explore new places to go, and at the same time, have a bit of fun, competing with your friends, who's best or goes out the most, instead of just sitting at home, behind the flatscreen or computer :)
One way to explore new things via Foursquare is to check the tips at the places you check in to, or check out your friends top 10 tips or top places they've checked into.. You might discover something new and exciting :)

Facebook Places is more widespread in Denmark, as it has a lot more users, and is a social network as a whole, and not just a check-in game.. Though you can't really leave any tips for the next people to see what you recommend, you are able to tag the friends you're with, when you check in..

What would be the perfect match, would be able to check in via Foursquare, and have it check you in to Facebook Places as well, so not only your Foursquare friends would see where you're at, but also your Facebook friends..
- Yes, I am aware of the fact that Foursquare can post one's check in to one's wall, but it's still not the same as if it was checked in to Facebook Places..

I'm still going to use Foursquare as my main check-in app, and hope that more friends will start using it :)
I use Facebook Places from time to time, like when I go to the movies or somewhere I know a few of my friends are at as well :)

Looking for cheap games ?

2011-08-05T18:41:00.000+02:00

It shouldn't come as a shock to you, if you've read my previous entries, that I'm into gaming, and that I own a PlayStation 3.. And to get the best out of it, I need games for it as well, right ?
Well, new games here in Denmark costs around 500DKK (US$95, €65, £60), which, compared to the US or UK, is quite pricy, so I went online, looking for a place where I could get new games cheaper, and I found such a place :)
Shopto.net is an online, game retailer from the United Kingdom.. They sell games and accessories for the following;
Ps3, PSP, xBox 360, PC, Wii, DSi/DS, and 3DS..
They do also sell some movies and gadgets, but I haven't really looked into that department..

The great thing about shopto, is the fact that they ship to countries outside of the UK as well (though not day-to-day delivery).. Of course it does cost a small amount to get the games shipped to Denmark, but I actually save around 160DKK (US$30, €20, £20), and that's shipping included..

And that for a brand new game!! :O

To be fair, I can only compare the amount of money saved with the Danish prices, as those are the ones I'm used to dealing with, or comparing to would probably be more correct, as I rarely buy games in Denmark anymore..

So, if you think you pay too much for your games, have a look at Shopto, and check if you can save some money.. It's worth it in the long haul :)

Shopto also got a membership system, which I'll post about, within the next few days, so stay tuned ;)

Gunslinger Gaming

2011-08-02T20:24:00.000+02:00

Since I'm quite into gaming, and used to be part of a competitive Modern Warfare 1+2 clan, I started looking for a mature clan, after we shut down the competitive clan..
But what I found was so much more than that..

I ended up finding a Social network for mature, casual gamers, which was apparently was what I was looking for.. I thought I was looking for a competitive clan, since I've always loved competitive stuff, due to the fact that I'm a gymnast, but no.. I really like the GS community, especially since it's casual..
I love the casual aspect of it, since I don't have time for training sessions and weekly scheduled matches.. It's so nice that you can just join a game with other GS'ers, and just have fun, no matter the outcome.. If you've been away for a few days or even weeks, it still feels like you were there the entire time..
Yes, I admit I haven't had lots of matches with the other GS'ers, but I still need to find out who's from Europe and not just USA or Australia, as there is a bit of time difference, which makes it slightly difficult..

I love the website and forum they have made, and that there are so many members, and different games supported, as well as platforms :)

If you're looking for a mature (18+) gaming community, Gunslinger Gaming is the place to be..

Letter of Acceptance

2011-08-01T14:12:00.000+02:00

Just a quick note :)
I got my letter of acceptance for studying physical therapy this year, so I'll be starting in the end of August :) Really looking forward to start studying again, after a 2 years break.. It's probably gonna be really tough, but I'll manage :D

Big games out this autumn

2011-07-27T10:26:00.001+02:00

I thought my first real post should be about something I'm really looking forward to; some of the games that are going to be released for Ps3 this autumn :)

Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Diablo 3
FIFA Football 12
Resistance 3
Uncharted 3

I'm not getting all the games, but I have pre-ordered about half of them, and I'm really looking forward to playing them..

Battlefield 3 and Diablo 3 might be the most anticipated games on my list..

I used to be a call of duty-kinda guy, but after I got Medal of Honor, also created by DICE, I've begun liking the more slow-paced action, with slightly more tactics needed, and the fact that obstacles can be blown away :D Oh yeah..

Diablo 3 I've been looking forward to getting for ages, and especially now that Mac OS X Lion doesn't support PowerPC apps anymore :(

Of course I'm getting FIFA Football 12 as well.. I think I've had most FIFA games since I got it my first Ps2 back in 2002. It's a really good social game, especially if you got multiple controllers, lol..

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is pre-ordered as well, but that's mostly because I got the other Modern Warfare games and Black Ops.. I'm not sure if I will be getting it to be honest.. As it is right now, I'm rarely on Black Ops..

Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3 I don't know much about, never played the prequels, so I don't know what to expect from those games, which is why, I'm probably not going to get them..

Well, that was some of the games coming out this autumn, and at some point, I'm planning on making some in-depths post of some of the games I'm getting, what I'm expecting, and what I think of the footage we've seen so far..