News from Great Castle Wilson

Author: adminmcq

  • Good Service Alert

    When Deb and I were in Halifax last Summer, I purchased a Kodak Playsport Zx3 video camera. It proved to be a perfectly capable little outdoor camera, with 1080p recording capability, image stabilization and a waterproof shell, all for $130. Not bad. Since then, I have also pressed it into service to record numerous family events, and except for a bit too much color noise in low light situations, it has worked well.

    Unfortunately, about a week ago, it developed a dark spot in the image sensor as you can see from this still frame from a test movie I shot:

    The weird thing about this is, if I pointed the camera at a bright light source and then back where it was originally, the spot would disappear and would stay gone even if I waited until the light level stabilized again. However, a minute or so after that point, the dark area would reappear.

    Given that I only paid $130 for the camera, I figured it probably wouldn’t make sense to try to get it repaired — most camera places won’t even assess a camera repair for less than $75, let alone do the work — but just as I was about to toss it on my “junk tech toy” pile I remembered that I had actually spent the extra $20 for an extended warrantee for it. So, instead of junking it, I hunted around for the original receipt and then headed off to the local Staples.

    Now, remember the Staples where I originally bought the camera was in Halifax, so I wasn’t confident that they were going to be able to do anything for me in any case, but as soon as I walked into the one in Barrhaven I was met by someone who listened to my explanation of the problem, took a quick look at my bill, and then simply handed me a new camera. They didn’t even make me hang around while they did the associated paperwork, but simply initialed my bill to indicate that an exchange had been made and then sent me on my way.

    I must say first that the $20 was apparently money well spent, but more than that, I can honestly say that I have never had a better customer service experience. If only all stores dealt with customers this well! GJ, Staples. Thanks.

  • iPad 2 Wish List

    Here’s what I’d like to see for the next iPad, along with any related, current rumours…

    1. Higher resolution display — the rumours say everything from “no change” (== 1024×768) to “retina display” (== 2048×1536). Retina display seems unlikely, but I would like something higher than we have now, at least when I’m reading books. Can we do 1280×1024 maybe?
    2. Cameras front and back — this is widely believed to be part of the story, but the current rumours are that the cameras will be low resolution (0.3Mp front; 1.0Mp rear). Honestly, if they put in something less than what’s in the iPhone, they’re idiots.
    3. Lighter — using the current iPad to read is equivalent to strength training. There are rumours of the next iPad having a carbon fibre back to reduce the weight. I’ll believe it when I see it.
    4. Faster — this would be both as a result of a faster processor, and because it would have more RAM. A big part of the experience for this device is browsing the web, but the iPad is not the best tablet for doing this any more; let’s fix that.

  • WP Upgrade Blues

    *Whew*. That’s what I get for blithely doing what I usually do when upgrading between wordpress versions. This time I was left with a very messed up page, and more than half of my plugins and themes reporting errors. Ugh. There were even error messages when updating the mysql db. Double ugh.

    I’ve bashed it back into an approximation of working for now, using the included “twentyten” theme. Now I have to see if I can figure out whether anything else got wrecked.

  • SlingPlayer for iPad — don’t buy it.

    I have to say, when I finally got a chance to get the SlingPlayer Mobile app for my iPhone, I was quite upset to find that they were charging $30 for it — more than 5x the price of any other app I have purchased for that platform.

    On top of that, after using it for a while, I can honestly say that it was not worth the price. The control scheme is unwieldy (to say the last); the actual interactions with the PVR are unresponsive to the point of being nearly useless; and the picture quality is poor (even with the latest 2.0 version).

    Essentially, it’s a tech demo: I have never used it for anything other than explaining to people what is possible on the iPhone.

    I’m an optimist though, so when the iPad version of SlingPlayer came out, I thought maybe they will have made use of the improved screen real estate and horsepower to provide a better experience, so I’ll just go to the App Store and… WHAT?!?!?! Another 30 dollars!!!!

    Um… In a word, no.

    Even for an iPad app, that price is off by (at least) a factor of two, and they simply haven’t demonstrated that they can deliver an experience that justifies that cost. Hey, SlingMedia, take a look at StreamToMe it’s one tenth the price and offers a streaming media experience (albeit a simpler one) that is significantly better than SlingPlayer.

  • New car

    Some of you probably already know I’ve been looking at replacing our 2002 Protege 5. The car has been (and continues to be) fun to drive, but like most of the Proteges from that model year it is rusting away to nothing. (Ask me about the time the floorboards rusted to the point where I put my foot through onto the road.) Really, when you start worrying about whether or not it’s hazardous to continue driving a car, it’s time to get rid of it.

    Because Deb and I have two vehicles that are both getting on in years, we need to bound our enthusiasm for the Protege replacement (i.e. “my” car) so that we can afford to pay for whatever we get to replace Deb’s Honda Odyssey (sometime in the next 2..3 years). Her requirements are quite different than mine, since she often needs to drive long distances on the highway, carrying huge volumes of wool and related gear, as she goes to trade shows in support of her business.

    Over the course of the last few months, I have test driven basically everything that is available in Canada in the compact, subcompact, and “youth” categories. Weeding out the ones that failed on the obvious constraints (e.g. “needs to hold a cello”, “must be relatively fun to drive”, “Deb would kill me if I bought Kia Soul”, etc.), I was left with four contenders. Here they are (in most-to-least expensive order) with capsule reviews:

    Volkswagon Golf
    For those who haven’t actually driven a Golf lately, this is not your father’s Rabbit. I was looking at the model with the standard gasoline engine, which is a 2.5 litre, in-line 5 cylinder engine that produces 170(!) horsepower. Even during the test drive, I had no trouble getting a 0..100 K/h time under 8 seconds. By comparison, the diesel engine model was not quite as powerful, but made up for it by having a ton of low end torque. Overall, the car was Mercedes-level quiet, had responsive, flat handling and excellent features. My only significant complaint was that it still has the vaguely cheap feeling, plastic interior trim that I remember from VWs past. In any case, if you like driving, this is an excellent choice. Unfortunately, they’ve ended up at a price point (>$28K, as tested) that doesn’t fit in my budget.
     
    Hyndai Elantra Touring
    I was looking at the GLS trim level with the 5 speed manual transmission. There is a GLS “Sport” version with larger alloy wheels that is more expensive, but that one is close enough to the Golf in price that it wasn’t a contender. This car is definitely the largest of the bunch, with lots of interior cargo space even when the back seats are not folded down. I found it to be unexpectedly fun to drive, but not in the same class as the VW, and it was somewhat noisier — not unacceptably so, but noticeable. I’m fairly certain I could be happy with this one. It clocked in around $23K.
     
    Ford Fiesta SES
    The Fiesta is a new design for this model year, with an interesting, aggressive, European look. It is clearly aimed at young people who want a sporty driving experience for a reasonable price. It’s faster than the Elantra, approximately the same in terms of noise levels, and much, much smaller. Size, in particular, is the downfall for this one. The back seats do not seem to be usable by adults, and it only passed the “will hold a cello” test by the narrowest margin. However, it was inexpensive (approx. $20K) and handled well enough that it would probably have been first pick if I didn’t know that I sometimes still need to carry Deb, Dennis and a load of groceries.
     
    Nissan Versa (warning: link contains stupid amounts of flash content)
    The Versa is Nissan’s entry in the sub-compact field. As such, it’s competitors are vehicles like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Chevrolet Aveo, etc. Compared to these, the Versa is the obvious winner. It’s is the largest (easily seating four adults), the quietest, and has every feature you could imagine in a car that cost less than $18K. We’re talking keyless entry, power locks and windows, cruise, 6-way adjustable driver’s seat, a decent audio system (CD changer, iPod connector, speed-sensitive volume control, etc.), anti-lock brakes, traction control… Heck it even holds my cello better than Fiesta.

    As is often the case with these kinds of decisions, it was really only the end points that turned out to be interesting. In a world where we weren’t going to buy another vehicle in a couple of years, the Golf would be the hands down winner. I had more fun test driving it than I’ve had since I was in Kevin’s BMW. Unfortunately, $28K is just too much for a “second” car.

    The Hyundai was still too much for what you got; the Fiesta was too small.

    And that left Versa, which is what we bought. Pick up is Monday eve. Here’s a pic to show the color:

  • “Back to the Mac”

    Apparently, Apple has called a press conference for next week to discuss something Mac OS related.

    Apple: Back to the Mac? October 20

    It’s a mark of where we are that most of the buzz around this is:

    1. Will it be called “Lion”?
    2. Will it include FaceTime integration?

    *sigh*.

    My take: “Back to the Mac” sounds too much like “Back to my Mac” for it not to be cloud focused — particularly since they are just finishing up their massive new data center in NC. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Mini-Maker Faire coming to Ottawa

    12 – 6PM
    November 6th and 7th, 2010
    Arts Court, 2 Daly Ave., Ottawa, ON K1N 6E2
    Free

  • Free to play MMOs

    There seems to be quite a trend happening right now towards “free to play” (f2p) MMOs that are supported by micro-transactions. There is at least some evidence that this strategy works, since in one case the result was a five times increases in revenue over the game’s previous, monthly subscription based fee structure.

    In general, what the games try to do is to hook you on the game first, and then offer a range of things that make your experience easier/more fun. What kinds of things? It’s a mix of…

    • removing limitations (e.g. more character slots per account, other character classes, more bag slots per character, extended character abilities, more bank space, etc.),
    • providing new kinds of gear, mounts, etc. that are not available otherwise,
    • and opening up new areas to adventure.

    What makes or breaks these games is walking the line between making the game compelling to play for everyone, and making it obviously more fun for those who buy their way to happiness. The trick seems to be making it trivial (and cheap) to get things in game and obvious why you would want them, but not require that you buy them. If, in reality, you must buy some set of things in order to reasonably play, players will feel cheated.

    Several of the games I have played (and paid a monthly fee for) in the past are now to f2p, so I figured I’d give them a try and see how the new payment strategy had affected them.

    Dungeons and Dragons Online

    Of the ones I tried, DDO has been f2p for the longest. The game is definitely playable, for free, for as long as you care to invest the time, and there is a wide range of items for purchase. On their wiki they have a page describing the kinds of things that are available and the cost ranges.

    To test the system, I purchased the ability to build characters of class Monk; the process was easy, with the store tied directly into the character creation screen. There are a few places where the game seems a bit too eager to sell you stuff (e.g. every time you open your bank it offers to upgrade you to having shared (between your characters) banks slots), but in general that side of it is easy to ignore. The newbie zone even has a quest where you can earn enough points to buy an item from the store that is required to complete the quest, just to show you the process.

    One of things that works well in DDO is the ability to purchase new in game areas. Dungeons and Dragons (the pen and paper game) has always had the notion of “modules” which you purchased, and the online equivalent seems quite similar to me.

    Lord of the Rings Online

    LotRO continues to be one of the most visually stunning MMOs available today. The visual design does an excellent job of capturing the feel of Tolkien’s world, and some of the in game vistas are sufficiently beautiful that it’s worth travelling to those spots just to see them. To give you some idea what I’m talking about, you can check out a previous post that showcased my main character’s in game house: Camileย’s new home

    Speaking of main characters, that’s another way these new f2p versions of the games differ. In some games, the old characters were wiped during the switch over or are simply unavailable without continuing to pay a subscription fee (an option, I believe in all of them). To me, LotRO has the best strategy for handling existing characters: all your existing characters are preserved, and the first time you log in, if you have more characters than there are (free) slots for, you are asked to pick which ones to make available.

    This game also seems to be genuinely playable, for as long as you would be interested, without costing you anything.

    Everquest 2 Extended

    Now, we get to something else entirely. Rather than switch to a pure f2p strategy, what they have done in EQ2E is to offer an additional f2p mode, as well as their traditional monthly fee version. Their focus is clearly on “upselling” you the monthly fee version, as you can see from this chart: EverQuest II Extended Membership Plans. In fact, there is an in game nag screen that pops up every few hours if you haven’t upgraded to one of the subscription based levels.

    I definitely found it quite challenging to play as a “bronze” member (but I have made it to level 15 already, so I know it’s possible). Almost every aspect of your character is very limited without, at a minimum, purchasing the one time upgrade to a “silver” membership. However, that’s still only a one time charge rather than a monthly fee, as the higher membership levels require. In any case, the differences between the levels are very significant: A fully decked out “platinum” member, at any level, can have twice the capabilities of a free player at equivalent level.

    I don’t know if this is true in general or not, but in my case I was unable to access any of my existing EQ2 characters via the free to play option.

    Realistically, I wouldn’t recommend this game unless your intent is to eventually pay the monthly fee, but at least the f2p option allows you try it out and see if you like it first. [Aside: Computers have finally caught up with the EQ2E game engine; the game runs quite well on my home machine.]

    ~*~


    All of these games are fun to play for free, for a while. They vary quite a bit in how easy it is to play without purchasing anything, but in all cases I found it possible to treat playing for free as a challenge, rather than being simply frustrating (although in EQ2E it was close). In the long run, I’m just happy that I can now “take a vacation” into these worlds, whenever I want, without having to pay a monthly fee for the privilege. If you’re interested in trying any of them out, let me know, and I’ll come join you.

  • Visibility

    Feminists should see through a garment that crudely defines women

  • Happy Anniversary…

    … to us! Yes, today is the 25’th anniversary of the day Deb and I got married. Wow, it hasn’t been that long has it? Let’s see, there was the time we bought a house, and then Dennis was born, and then suddenliy he was old enough to be left at home while we went to Halifax for a week. 25 years. Really?

    Speaking of Halifax, we’ve been having tons of fun so far. Yesterday we managed to see a mix of sights we had seen last time we were here and a couple of new ones: the Public Gardens and the Natural History museum.

    I will try to post more pictures when I get home, but it’s quite difficult to get them from the iPad (I’m using to write this) to my home server. Just to prove that it is possible, here’s a photo I took at the Citadel yesterday:

    Today we’re off to see “Pier 21” the immigration museum and hopefully a Mac store, then maybe some time by the pool and dinner at a fancy restaurant. Ah the life of the idle rich. ๐Ÿ˜‰