Gizmodo posted this today and I know I am not the only person to have thought this right out of the gate. The PADD from Star Trek is the iPad from today. It’s really that simple. It would probably be better if you could do some more interacting with your household systems too but, you never know, there may be an app for that. In any case, it’s stuff like this that may tempt me to think about maybe possibly getting one.
maybe.
I know I know, I am on near about everything in the ether but I never managed to get around to using Skype. I don’t know what it was but I just never found a use for it. I had Google Talk for voice and video, I have Google Voice for calling outside of wherever I would need to call, and about 5 different IM clients that I can chat on. So why would I need Skype? Well, to be honest I am still occasionally asking myself that question. So here are some pros and cons
Pro: It does Audio and Video chat
Con: So does near about everything else, Google Chat mainly.
Pro: It does Screen Sharing
Con: So does MSN messenger through Remote Desktop which also allows for screen helping
Pro: It does Conference calls with multiple people
Con: I have been using Ventrillo and Team Speak, Of course those require a dedicated server.
Pro: Sound and Video Quality are amazing
Con: So are Google Chat’s
Pro: International Calling to a Landline number!
Con: 1: I don’t know anyone overseas and 2: Google Voice does that
Pro: Mobile App that allows voice to PC connections
Con: Ok No con here, that’s just fraking cool
Pro: All of that is in one package. You don’t need to run Google Voice, Talk, MSN, and Ventrillo, to do what Skype is doing all on it’s lonesome.
Con: Personally, I believe that these other programs sometimes do their tasks better than Skype.
This morning the Skype mobile app got release to the Verizon based phones and I was really looking forward to it! Until, that is, I ran it and discovered that to even run it had to turn off my WiFi. Seriously? I have not even seen a app on the droid that requires you to either be on or off WiFi. When I am at home I leave WiFi on so I can make use of it. Now if I want to use Skype on the phone, at all, I have to have WiFi off. That just seems lame. Haven’t had the chance to test out the quality of the calls yet so Stand by for that one.
The Desktop app, however, is pretty damn stellar. I know that version 4.X has been out for like a year now but again, it’s new to me. I did quite a bit of testing as was impressed with the audio quality (especially if someone has a really good Mic). The video quality was about as expected. I kind of expected the audio quality to drop when I added people to the call but was happy that it didn’t. Even running Skype in the background and STO (Star Trek Online) in the foreground was great. Add in the screen sharing, which helped my father install some somftware with my guidance. I even ran the screen share with my friend while I was running STO and he claimed it showed it running smooth, which amazes me.
So yeah, I will be adding Skype to the arsenal of contact methods for me, if you would like, my Skype username is Wizzer2801. Feel free to pop on by for a chat.
So I have been a little out of it this week due to some crazy injury to my back. Don’t ask, I am not sure how it happened either, I just know it hurts like all hell and I apparently did the worst thing I could do for it. You see, the Doc tells me that I strained the cartilage on my ribs. So when you strain a muscle you want to apply Ice to reduce swelling and heat to encourage blood flow. Yeah, when you strain cartilage, you apply ice, and that’s it. When you apply heat it only makes it worse. So the other night when my back was hurting to all high hell, (and I hadn’t been to the doc yet) I came down and slept with a electric blanket balled up on my back……alll night. Needless to say the next day was insanely painful. They gave me lots of good drugs and I am spending most of my time laying down on an Ice pack. So I have had lots of time to sit and play on the Xbox.
Enter Toy Soldiers. Toy Soldiers is a new Arcade title that was released about 2 weeks ago. The premise of the game is more tower defense style set with your old fashioned Toy Soldiers (Duh). Now, back in the 90’s there was a game called Army Men, which took your old green army men and animated them to a strategy game. This game is nothing like that. The soldiers in this one are the old old style, think the old metal soldiers your grand dad would have had. (for some of you, your great grand dad, damn I am getting old) In Toy Soldiers you have your toy box and an unlimited stream of soldiers at your disposal. You however only control the defensive aspect of the game. You can queue up your offensive force and hope they make it to the other side. You can take control of the various turrets and defenses to add more of a human element to the defense. But that is all just the basic game play. Some of the best parts of the game come from the overall design.
So lets charge into it, shall we?
The Hoo Rah’s!!
The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tells”
Now all that being said, I really do like the game. It’s a great way to spend some time while I am laid out on the couch. And I am sure I will find more good in it the more I play. (I could do without the creepy gas mask Avatar award though). If you enjoy the old timy aspect of classic Toy Soldiers, I Highly suggest you at least download the demo and check it out! If you buy it then feel free to send me a game invite!
Some new Star Trek news real quick for today. I am, of course, still playing Star Trek Online which has been going good with one small exception that I will go into in a moment, but I want to discuss a few other Trek related things first. DragonCon is coming and quite a few new guests have been announced and many of them are Trek related. I don’t know if Shatner and Nimoy got back and passed the word about how much fun they had but there is a HUGE guest list of Trek people:
I am eagerly awaiting the chance to find and get signed a picture of Q and Sisko in their boxing gear from DS9. This list, no doubt, will be growing as we get closer to the time of the Con, which is Sept.
3-6 of this year. I will in attendance and, if I can manage it (without ending up with a restraining order), I will get as many interviews as I can with some of these folks. I would love to hear what they think about some of the more modern versions of Trek either in Game or other new media.
Also on the radar is a new project that some friends and I are working on….the creation of the “Maroon Monster” costume, which I understand is the nickname for the Wrath of Khan style uniform from Star Trek. The patterns have been ordered and work will start soon. I will be more than happy to post progress pics and eventually a full production blog on the process.
Ok, lastly, my progress in STO has slowed only slightly because of a problem I am having. I made it to Deep Space 9 in the game and noticed that you can purchase a Danube class Runabout from one of the vendors. This is a small Shuttle that you can fly and outfit with weapons. It’s purely a luxury item and fun to fly. The problem lies in that when you buy it, all of your stats on your equipment get cut in half, or at least they display that way. No one has determined exactly what happens. I put in a ticket about the issue and was brushed off with a “Yeah we know about it, we’ll fix it soon”. Normally I would be ok with that except that, from what I have read about this bug from others, No one is sure if it’s a display issue or a real game effecting issue and no GM has stated one way or the other. Players also claim if you decommishion the shuttle, your stats get resolved, and that’s great but I paid 149k credits for the shuttle and I would hate to waste that.
So I mentioned all this to the GM’s in the ticket I submitted hoping to get an answer on if it was a display issue or real issue, and if they would take the item from me and refund the amount. Neither of which happened. I was told again “Yeah we know about it and the devs will get to it” with a side glancing “we don’t give refunds”. So as of now, you can still purchase the Danube class ship from DS9, it WILL break your stats, and there is NO WAY to get a refund even if you put in multiple tickets. How hard is it to get a ticket, remove the item, refund the credits? it has no effect on the economy because the goods are removed. It would remove the headaches of dealing with players afflicted with this bug, and if you remove the item from sale and implement it when it’s fixed, all the better! My ticket is still open and there is a thread open on the STO forums.
Sigh.
Ok so I have been splitting a lot of my game time up for the last few weeks. Star Trek Online really has me stuck in the holodeck and has taken control of the ship. When I can get some escape from it I have been working my way through Bioshock 2. Since the time is split on both and finishing up neither it has left me with some wonder on what to post to keep things current out here on the site. So I will give you the thoughts so far on both of these. First up, a State of Rapture.
So I am quite a ways into B2 and it’s just, finally, starting to get to a near playable state. I say that because the first few levels were spent figuring out how to play and building up weapons so they can actually hurt someone wearing just a dress and a plastic mask. Where as the junkie with a pipe can kill me in my deep sea armor plated dive suit. Yeah, it’s a lot like that. It would also appear that the Xbox version has a few bugs. None of the vending machines give off the familiar “Welcome, to the Circus of Values!”. And I still miss the little sisters reacting to your rescue of them (“No No, No No!”). Now that I am past the build up phase and getting more into the game, it’s getting a little better. I may have to agree with the guys in the Joystiq Xbox fancast when they say that maybe using Bioshock 2 to follow Mass Effect 2 is a bad idea. When you go from a game that is very heavily story based and rich in it’s plot, and you go to something that is basically a re-hash of the first game, it’s bound to leave you a tad bitter. Fret not though, despite all this, I am still enjoying the game and it’s probably better that I take it slow so that I can enjoy the good parts and be away long enough to forget the bad.
In the meantime I have been enjoying the Trek experience in Star Trek Online. I have a grand total of 3 characters (BTW, the max is 3), My Main, Boothby, is a Trill Science Commander (Commander 9, soooooo close to Captain) flying the U.S.S. Amazonia which looks like it’s ready to be hatched. I hate the look of the Commander Science ships. They have that horrible sphere instead of a saucer section. I also have my Klingon Character which you are able to start playing after you reach LT 6 with your Federation character. The nice thing is that you start at LT 6 with the Klingon as well so Lt Lock, Tactical Officer of the I.K.S VeS Qab (WarCrimes), is bringing hell to the Federation. Finally I have my Alt, Lt Commander Wi’Zzer, Vulcan Engineering officer of the U.S.S. Fairfax. This character I am running with my friend Doc so we are keeping the characters in line with each other. When he isn’t on, I play Booth.
So the State of the Galaxy is that Boothby just managed to reach Deep Space 9 out towards Cardassian space. I like that there are a specific set of missions for each area and a specific enemy that you are working against. Something I would love to see, though, is a different set of missions based on what you are. I’m a Doctor not a Tactical officer! Where are my Science specific missions? Why does my Engineer character get missions where he needs to scan Nebula’s and gathering Data? My Science officer is running off on missions to take out 5 squadrons of ships that should be better suited for a Tactical officer. Now it’s usually better if you are running in a team of course so you have 1 of each type, but that is rare. Another big complaint would be in the stats and skills. So I have my ship that I can outfit with a billion different bits and parts. I loot a science console that gives me +10 to Astrometrics. I have found no where to tell me what exactly that does for me! Some of the skills are good in that they give you examples of the skills they benefit, but it’s really hard to keep the granularity straight.
On the plus side, the missions I have run lately have been great for the story. Learning about the Hobus Star and what happened to Romulus was very intriguing. Playing as my Engineer and being the tank while Doc tears through with his Escort ship, and even playing through as my Klingon even though it’s just PVP for him. (Need more Klingon Quests!!!) I can see that I will be very entertained for quite a while still. Is it bad that I have had the urge to watch more of the TV show and movies as of late? Not much else on the radar right now so I will be cooking up some non-review articles in the coming weeks. Stay Tuned!
