I recently saw the ad in the superbowl for the new iPad app "The Daily." This is supposed to be a new platform for people to get their news updates from. It comes with a free two week trial and then they will need to pay per week. I'm not totally sure on the price but I think I saw 1$ ($0.99) per week. I think this is a pretty fair price, but there are also free apps that do the same basic thing... CNN, USA Today, New York Post... hell, there's a whole "news" category in the app store.
However, I couldn't resist the urge to try it. After all, it's free, right?
First impressions: Well, it's not bad. Seems predictable enough to navigate with all the stories broken down by type just like any other news platform. To be honest, I actually enjoy reading the news on my iPad. I also hate reading it on paper so that might be part of the reason. It has a nice size screen and is light enough that I can hold it and pop-tart while I read. But back to The Daily...
Finding your area of news is very easy. You get your choice of: News, Gossip, Opinion, Arts & Life, Apps & Games, Sports. In my opinion, this is nowhere near the appropriate "news" sectioning. What about US? World? Finance? Health? I don't know, might just be me but it seems more like a magazine than a legitimate news platform.
Navigating around the different sections is particularly clunky. There is the idea of a table of contents, but it is difficult to use. Finding the story you want relies mostly on you ability to find its picture as it flies past on your swipe. And worst of all, it doesn't have some of the stories that headline MOST other news programs. This problem meas you'll be completely out of the loop if this is your primary news source.
I like the concept behind this app and service. I might even consider subscribing one day. That'll have to wait until I can no longer get the other major news apps for free. It'll also wait until it is a more polished app. In its current state, it is trying to do too much, too soon.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Call of Duty: Black Ops. First Strike Map Pack
As of midnight (more like 2am PST) Feb 1, 2011, TreyArch released the first DLC for Call of Duty:Black Ops with their map pack called "First Strike." The name is a call back to the beta version of the game which was CoD: First Strike before being switched to Black Ops.
It features five new maps: 4 multiplayer maps and 1 zombie map
I'll go through each map and how I like to play it briefly. Since I just prestiged, the style might change but this is how I'm handling it for now...
Multiplayer Maps first.
Discovery. The largest map in the pack by far. Discovery is apparently a research post in Antarctica. It has some very (VERY) long sight lines that would be great for a sniper. I personally suck at sniping so I tend to avoid this option. In its place I like to take an SMG runner class and try to wreak havoc on the snipers and then run on to the next one. The problem is finding enough cover running from one post to the next without getting my head blown off.
Kowloon. The smallest of the maps and the only one featuring useless zip-lines. There really isn't a wrong way to play this map. Pick whatever class you're doing well with for the day and go with it. Watch for claymores and people camping around corners, but otherwise just go for it. I think it is the most even map in the pack when it comes to player vs. player interactions
Stadium. Honestly I haven't gotten to play this one too much as it always gets out-voted for the others. From what I've experienced, it definitely plays the run-and-gun players against the LMG extended clip players. There are plenty of opportunities to weave in and out of buildings and around corners, but there are also plenty of places to dig in and fire away from cover. Depending on your aim that day, I'd play accordingly.
Berlin Wall. I started out with a deep hatred for this level. It was recently become "tolerable" at best. Tons of buildings filled with elevated windows spelled certain doom for a player like me. I am not very patient and tend to get excited when I finally see someone mookin' around that I start to spray away and give away my position, only to be met with return shots from every angle I can see.
Zombie Map
Ascension. I've only played this a couple times now. It is HUGE compared to Kino Der Toten and "Five." I played with two people and it was really difficult to find success. The hell hounds were replaced with these little space monkey bastards that steal your stuff and throw back your grenade. I'm not crazy about playing in Black and White until the power is turned on since my vision in B&W is apparently God-awful. Still working on finding the Pack-a-Punch machine; I've seen a few videos on where it is, but I didn't make it that far.
All in all, it's a nice addition to the old maps, especially on objective based games. In TDM it is pretty much business as usual. Let me know your opinions...
It features five new maps: 4 multiplayer maps and 1 zombie map
I'll go through each map and how I like to play it briefly. Since I just prestiged, the style might change but this is how I'm handling it for now...
Multiplayer Maps first.
Discovery. The largest map in the pack by far. Discovery is apparently a research post in Antarctica. It has some very (VERY) long sight lines that would be great for a sniper. I personally suck at sniping so I tend to avoid this option. In its place I like to take an SMG runner class and try to wreak havoc on the snipers and then run on to the next one. The problem is finding enough cover running from one post to the next without getting my head blown off.
Kowloon. The smallest of the maps and the only one featuring useless zip-lines. There really isn't a wrong way to play this map. Pick whatever class you're doing well with for the day and go with it. Watch for claymores and people camping around corners, but otherwise just go for it. I think it is the most even map in the pack when it comes to player vs. player interactions
Stadium. Honestly I haven't gotten to play this one too much as it always gets out-voted for the others. From what I've experienced, it definitely plays the run-and-gun players against the LMG extended clip players. There are plenty of opportunities to weave in and out of buildings and around corners, but there are also plenty of places to dig in and fire away from cover. Depending on your aim that day, I'd play accordingly.
Berlin Wall. I started out with a deep hatred for this level. It was recently become "tolerable" at best. Tons of buildings filled with elevated windows spelled certain doom for a player like me. I am not very patient and tend to get excited when I finally see someone mookin' around that I start to spray away and give away my position, only to be met with return shots from every angle I can see.
Zombie Map
Ascension. I've only played this a couple times now. It is HUGE compared to Kino Der Toten and "Five." I played with two people and it was really difficult to find success. The hell hounds were replaced with these little space monkey bastards that steal your stuff and throw back your grenade. I'm not crazy about playing in Black and White until the power is turned on since my vision in B&W is apparently God-awful. Still working on finding the Pack-a-Punch machine; I've seen a few videos on where it is, but I didn't make it that far.
All in all, it's a nice addition to the old maps, especially on objective based games. In TDM it is pretty much business as usual. Let me know your opinions...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Hello World
Hi everyone. Some of you may have followed my old videos on YouTube about technology news and reviews and whatever else it is I felt like talking about. The videos got to be too much for me with all the editing and trying to get the stories right. I didn't like the whole script thing so I was just winging it all the time.
I started this blog with the same name to put all the same information out there. That is, the tech news stories, gadgets, reviews, and all that good stuff.
You all already know who I am, now expect some interesting crap from me... I hope.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)