Archive for category Technology
Portal 2 Confirmed for Christmas 2010 Release
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Awesome, Games, General, Technology on March 8, 2010
This is a good news, bad news post. Sorry I know its Monday and we all need to be cheered up but I had to tell you the catch about Portal 2. For those who don’t know Portal is a great game with a very simple concept. Its simplicity is not its down fall. The game is executed so well that if you play games and you haven’t played Portal then you should go out and get a copy. You won’t be disappointed.
Anyway back to the bad news. Portal has been purchased by Valve. Portal 2 will not be bundled with other games (as Portal one was). It will be released as a standalone game, meaning it will cost the standard price for a full standalone game. I am assuming around 30-40 Euro. Also there probably still won’t be cake.
Now for the good news. Portal 2 will be released December this year (take note people who buy me gifts for Christmas). Portal 2 will take the series in a slightly different direction. Valve is promising “new game play mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists”. One of the new features is co-op gameplay. Co-op will work online and locally, with new weapons such as a tractor beam being worked into the feature list.
Story details have been leaked by retailers (SPOILER ALERT!) which reveal that players will explore new areas of Aperure Science and be introduced to two new characters in a separate co-op campaign. The new characters will be bi-pedal robots (one an enhanced Turret, the other a mobile GlaDos unit).
The singleplayer campaign will take place hundreds of years after the first game, but will still star Chell. Aperture Labs has been ravaged and overgrown in the time between the two titles.
Also for people who played the game awhile back ago, Valve has released an update which adds an extended ending to the original game. The ending can be seen in the video below (or you can use this as an excuse to play the game again, I know I am).
iPad to hit the streets soon
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in General, Technology on March 7, 2010
The eagerly wanted and probably the best selling gadget of the year will start selling on the 3rd of April. Techie people prepare for all tech websites not to stop talking about it. I still haven’t figured out what I would use it for and I since I hate all products Apple I obviously won’t be buying one.
The 3rd of April debuting day is the date the iPad will start shipping in America. All models will hit shelves in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. by late April, with later rollout dates for other nations. U.S. customers can begin pre-ordering both models beginning on March 12.
In Malta the product will be available I would assume some time after. Since Malta is not considered to be part of the world.
I wonder if we will start seeing lots of people with the iPad all around Malta…
Maybe at university, MCAST and bus trips. Queues to get to Gozo will never be the same again 
Definition of Irony
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Documentaries, General, Technology on March 2, 2010
Today’s clip is the definition of irony and its brought to you thanks to Steve Jobs and a 1996 PBS documentary called “Triumph of the Nerds“. Apple at the moment are sueing HTC for 20 patent infringements. In the clip below Steve Jobs says “Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal”. Today’s lesson is irony…
Update: Apple are sueing HTC to attack the Nexus One. HTC are the developers of the phone.
Putting off formatting your computer?
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Guide, Technology on February 28, 2010
Let’s be honest a lot of computers need to be formatted but the people responsible for them wouldn’t feel like backing up all the critical data and also installing the software on the fresh computer would be a huge chore.
In a previous blog post I mentioned that an user should keep data backed up all the time and I mentioned tools to help the user to accomplish this regular back up. So the last part that needs to be addressed is the installing of software.
When formatting a computer the process is practically all automated. The user just has to start the process and then they can enjoy a nice cup of tea while the operating system formats and installs the new OS. Once complete the user needs to install the software they usually do. To accomplish this faster and easier there is a new service called Ninite.
This service allows you to select some software you wish to install. Once selected you download a small executable which will then download all the selected software and also install them for the user. During this process the computer is completely usable but feel free to get more tea.
The service contains software which I gurantee you would install on any system, such as Chrome, Firefox, Skype, Messenger, VLC, iTunes, Winamp, Adobe Reader, and many more.
For all you who have been putting off formatting your computer you now have one less excuse on why not to do it.
Geocaching in Malta
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in General, Technology on February 26, 2010
Recently I discovered Geocaching from watching the gadget show. Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the geocache.
Geocaching for some reason not apparent to me stuck in my head. In the episode a presenter used his iPhone to locate some geocaches which the show’s produce hide for him in a forest. The caches were personal transportation devices (bike and skateboard). In the show this presenter was trying to evade some trained military forces who were hunting him.
Today I found a couple of geocaches in Malta (there are some in Gozo and even Comino). Unfortunately some people are complaining that some of the caches were stolen but some remain active. Some have even been found recently (7 days ago). Some geocaches involve hikes with incredible views and others even have climbing and some even have walking into dark caves.
I shall try convincing some of my friends to do this walk. I am not sure if it will be difficult to convince them to do this or really simple. Hopefully it would be the later because it sounds like a fun way to spend the afternoon. If you are who I would ask leave your response here. We shall see how many read my site 
Once done I shall post photos and results from the city dwellers gone treasure hunters.
Don’t Believe Everything You See on TV
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Technology, Television on February 23, 2010
The clip below, released by Stargate Industries, shows some demo shots that they have done for some TV shots.
Mother was right when she told you not to believe everything you see on TV.
The demo reel is very impressive. When I saw some of these scenes on TV it never came into my head that the scenes were created using a green screen.
This allows the shows to save lots of money on creating on shows (the idea would be to spend it elsewhere but I guess it is more about saving money for staff and producers).
X’Buzz?
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Guide, Technology on February 22, 2010
Google recently announced Google Buzz. So far all the people I am following seem to be confused what Buzz is really about. I shall now attempt to clear the confusion (or increase it).
Google Buzz brings social networking into Gmail and the rest of the Google applications. Whether or not you are into the whole social networking scene (twitter or facebook), Buzz offers a different approach to this scene.
Buzz’s key features are:
- Automatic friend lists (friends are added automatically who you have emailed on Gmail). This caused a lot of controversy since people were finding friends in their friend list which they did not want.
- “Rich fast sharing” combines sources like Picasa and Twitter into a single feed. It also includes a full sized photo browsing utility.
- Public and private Buzzs.
- Inbox integration (instead of emailing you with updates, like facebook does, Buzz features emails that update dynamically with all the Buzz threads).
- “Recommended Buzz” puts friend of friend content into your stream, even if you’re not acquainted. The system learns what you would be interested in overtime through user feedback.
Buzz lets you share photos, video, links to web sites, and other content from all over the web with your friends and your friends of friends.
The video below has been created by Google to better explain the purpose and the features of Buzz.
The Benefits of Pirated Movies
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in General, Rants, Technology on February 20, 2010
Just a quick post for the day since I am at a friend’s house (HI GUYS!) playing a LAN. We finished playing Call of duty 2 and now we all installing UT2004. The image to the left of this post shows the difference between a pirated movie and an original movie. A pirated movie you simply place in the disk drive and get your movie on.
When you purchase the disk you have to go through the ends of hell just to watch your movie. I thought viewers should be rewarded for actually purchasing an original disk.
Recent Comments