My other blog has recently been updated with a new look and a new name. the blog is now called Voltage-Controlled.
The blog covers music production and technology.
Click through and have a look.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Halloween
If you're like me then you're probably only just recovering from the halloween weekend. What better excuse is there to get together with your friends, dress up in ridiculous costumes and get completely wrecked. With Halloween falling on a Monday I ended up attending three different nights this year. By the end of it I was feeling more like a zombie than most of the people walking around in costume.
Traditionally, Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve) is the day that is set aside for honouring the dead. But like most things it has been americanised and blown up to be one big commercial excuse to go out and spend your money on costumes and booze.
When I was younger it was all about going trick or treating around home, collecting sweets and chocolate from the neighbours. Obviously I'm a lot older now and if I did even attempt to go trick or treating if would probably end up badly. I can't go trick or treating myself but I have noticed that its a tradition (fair enough, not a real one) that seems to be dying out here in the UK.
I've noticed from just walking around my home estate this year that in near enough every window of every house there is a sign saying 'NO TRICK OR TREATERS'. What's happened to people today? Why has everyone suddenly become so miserable? Young kids these days won't have the same experience as we did when we were their age. They're going to miss out on dressing up and going out with their friends and most importantly they're going to miss out on free chocolate.
In my eyes Halloween has become more of an adult celebration filled with party's and alcohol. The grown ups can go out and have an amazing time while the kids sit indoors doing nothing with no free sweets or chocolate.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Sonic the hedgehog 20th aneversery app
If you follow me on twitter then you might have noticed that I'm a little bit obsessed with the Sonic the Hedgehog games, especially the ones from the older Sega consoles.
This morning I read an article about Sega releasing a 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog app for iOS so I logged into the AppStore and went to check it out.
The app offers wallpapers, information on iOS Sega games, web links and two playable games (SketchHog and a 30 second preview of Sonic 4 for iOS) along with leader boards.
SketchHog is probably the best thing in this app, it's a little side scrolling Sonic game with just two simple controls (tap to jump, tap again to double jump). It has the look and feel of those doodle iOS games, nothing special but maybe fun for a quick play now and again.
I know this is a free app and I shouldn't really complain but one thing that annoys me with this app is that there is a big, ugly Ad bar stuck in the top centre of the menu bar.
I know Ads bring money in for developers of free apps but in this case I don't see why it's necessary, I mean Sega are a huge corporation and the revenue from iAds are close to nothing to them.
I hate iAd supported apps and for this reason alone this app is going to be shoved in my 'other' folder. It's a cool app and I'll probably go back and have a quick game on SketchHog now and then but I'm pretty sure Sega could have done a lot better to honour it's most loved game.
It is Sonic's 20th birthday after all.
This morning I read an article about Sega releasing a 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog app for iOS so I logged into the AppStore and went to check it out.
The app offers wallpapers, information on iOS Sega games, web links and two playable games (SketchHog and a 30 second preview of Sonic 4 for iOS) along with leader boards.
SketchHog is probably the best thing in this app, it's a little side scrolling Sonic game with just two simple controls (tap to jump, tap again to double jump). It has the look and feel of those doodle iOS games, nothing special but maybe fun for a quick play now and again.
I know this is a free app and I shouldn't really complain but one thing that annoys me with this app is that there is a big, ugly Ad bar stuck in the top centre of the menu bar.
I know Ads bring money in for developers of free apps but in this case I don't see why it's necessary, I mean Sega are a huge corporation and the revenue from iAds are close to nothing to them.
I hate iAd supported apps and for this reason alone this app is going to be shoved in my 'other' folder. It's a cool app and I'll probably go back and have a quick game on SketchHog now and then but I'm pretty sure Sega could have done a lot better to honour it's most loved game.
It is Sonic's 20th birthday after all.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
I've got to admit that it's taken Facebook quite a while to release an official iPad app.
I've got to admit that it's taken Facebook quite a while to release an official iPad app. Considering that social networking is one of the main attractions to using portable devices it seems almost lazy that Facebook have ignored the iPad for so long.
The first iPad was released in April 2010 and now the apple iPad had moved onto the second generation model. There are even rumours circulating the Internet about a third generation iPad to be released this fall.
Because Facebook has failed to release an official iPad app until it has given the third party developers a chance to step in and fill this gap.
Since I brought my iPad I have perchased two different third party Facebook clients to use on my device buy sadly both of them were very disappointing and suffered from a few annoying software bugs.
If Facebook have indeed been working on this app in secret then hopefully we can expect a top quality platform that puts all of those third party developers to shame.
I hope to see that Facebook have worked hard to give their iPad users a good Facebook experience and not just a high quality port of their iPhone app with a few added features.
Various fourms and blogs are stating that we can expect to see a Facebook iPad app hit the app store next week but as of yet I have not seen an actual confirmation from Facebook itself.
The first iPad was released in April 2010 and now the apple iPad had moved onto the second generation model. There are even rumours circulating the Internet about a third generation iPad to be released this fall.
Because Facebook has failed to release an official iPad app until it has given the third party developers a chance to step in and fill this gap.
Since I brought my iPad I have perchased two different third party Facebook clients to use on my device buy sadly both of them were very disappointing and suffered from a few annoying software bugs.
If Facebook have indeed been working on this app in secret then hopefully we can expect a top quality platform that puts all of those third party developers to shame.
I hope to see that Facebook have worked hard to give their iPad users a good Facebook experience and not just a high quality port of their iPhone app with a few added features.
Various fourms and blogs are stating that we can expect to see a Facebook iPad app hit the app store next week but as of yet I have not seen an actual confirmation from Facebook itself.
Google+
There seems to have been a lot of intrest surrounding google+ over the past few days and I can see why.
Googles latest take on the social networking site seems to be quite promising, which is surprising considering their track record with social networking sites.
Google Wave didn't seem to have gone anywhere and Google Buzz felt like it just sat there in the background not really getting much attention from the majority of the world.
I'm pretty eager to actualy get my hands on Google+ and have a good look around and test out some of it's cool features for my self.
Could this really be a Facebook killer as some people are saying? I'm not too sure but it definitely looks to rival some of Facebooks' features.
From what I've herd so far the security and privacy that Google+ offers has already put Facebook to shame but with very few users in the beta stage it's going to be hard to tell for sure.
One of the features at caught my attention the most was the friend Circles. With Facebook it's hard to really share what you want with who you want. Google+ gets around this by giving you groups of people that you can share information with separately.
For example, I wouldn't want to share the same links and status updates with my drinking buddy's and my family. The same goes with close friends and online collaborators.
With Facebook you're pretty much forced to share all of your links pictures and status updates with anyone that's in your friends list which to be honest seems a bit clumsy.
Most people on the Internet wont be persuaded to head over to Google+ straight away, it could take years for the majority of the online community to move on to another social networking site.
For most people Facebook's all that they really need to connect with their friends online. I hope that Google+ catches on and just doesn't just fade away like the rest of Googles' social efforts.
Google, if you're listining in, send me a beta invite.
Googles latest take on the social networking site seems to be quite promising, which is surprising considering their track record with social networking sites.
Google Wave didn't seem to have gone anywhere and Google Buzz felt like it just sat there in the background not really getting much attention from the majority of the world.
I'm pretty eager to actualy get my hands on Google+ and have a good look around and test out some of it's cool features for my self.
Could this really be a Facebook killer as some people are saying? I'm not too sure but it definitely looks to rival some of Facebooks' features.
From what I've herd so far the security and privacy that Google+ offers has already put Facebook to shame but with very few users in the beta stage it's going to be hard to tell for sure.
One of the features at caught my attention the most was the friend Circles. With Facebook it's hard to really share what you want with who you want. Google+ gets around this by giving you groups of people that you can share information with separately.
For example, I wouldn't want to share the same links and status updates with my drinking buddy's and my family. The same goes with close friends and online collaborators.
With Facebook you're pretty much forced to share all of your links pictures and status updates with anyone that's in your friends list which to be honest seems a bit clumsy.
Most people on the Internet wont be persuaded to head over to Google+ straight away, it could take years for the majority of the online community to move on to another social networking site.
For most people Facebook's all that they really need to connect with their friends online. I hope that Google+ catches on and just doesn't just fade away like the rest of Googles' social efforts.
Google, if you're listining in, send me a beta invite.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Pocket God app has a new Charlie Sheen feature!
The new update for the iOS Pocket God app includes the first ever guest Pygmy to visit Oog island.
This new addition to Oog island keeps babbling about 'winning', turning into a tiger and occasionally slicing his fellow Pygmys in half.
Who is he? Well, he's 'a total freaking rockstar from mars' and he goes by the name of Charlie.
The Two and a Half Men mega star has taken the world by storm with his wacky antics and all out craziness.
Now Charlie Sheen has been immortalised on the iPhone and iPad as a bad-ass Pygmy/man-tiger who's out for (tiger) blood.
This new update to the ever popular Pocket God app is definitely winning!
Oh, did I mention... Winning!
Monday, 14 March 2011
CKY go acoustic! + B-sides and Rarities
On March 22nd we will see American Hard-Rock band CKY release their ‘B-Sides and Rarities’ album on Mighty Loud Records.As the name of the album suggests the album will be a compilation of material (new and old) from the Philadelphia based rockers.
The album will feature acoustic versions of their tracks ’To All of You’ and ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’.
You can listen to the acoustic version of ‘Too All of You’ on the Noise Creep website HERE.
The acoustic version of ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ can be heard on the Alt Press site HERE.
The band is also hosting a Facebook listening party on Friday, March 18th at 9PM – EST (Saturday, 19th at 2AM – GMT) where fans will be able to listen to the full album on the bands official Facebook Page.
The full track list for ‘B-sides and Rarities’ will be:
1.Afterworld
2.Rio Bravo (Radio Session)
3.Shippensburg
4.Halfway House
5.Chad's In Hi-Fi
6.Santa's Coming
7.Fat Fu*k
8.The Deepest Depths
9.Rio Bravo (Remix)
10.Don't Hold Your Breath (Acoustic)
11.Halfway House (Original version)
12.To All of You (Acoustic)
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