This upcoming Black Friday will have many of the large retailers opening at Midnight instead of the early morning. If you would like to get a head start or possibly avoid leaving the family earlier then you need visithttp://www.blackfriday.fm/
Blackfriday.fm is a great resource to plan ahead and save yourself time as well as money.
The site has a plethora of information on Black Friday Deals in particular has BlackFriday ads before they have been revealed to the public.
This Black Friday utilize technology to save yourself money and time.
Are you one of those types that love to build your own system? You are usually are a gamer, a techy person or just a person willing to take a risk. PCPartPicker.com is a site that lets answer these three questions:
Which parts give me the best performance for the price?
Which parts are compatible?
How do the prices compare across multiple merchants?
These questions relate to building your own computer because when you do, there always issues that you need to consider like price, compatibility, and performance. It's easy to get started, just head over to the main site, PCPartPicker.com, and click the 'Get Started" button. You will be redirected to a page were you can start picking your components like CPU, motherboard, RAM, Power supply, etc...
Happy building and thanks to my co-worker David R. for the Tip.
In previous post, I briefly discussed Scratch as a great way to learn about programming concept and principles without learning the nitty gritty. If you are an educator or just a common user it's a great way to be introduce to some basic programming knowledge. If you delve into the Scratch website, you would notice that one of the companies contributing to the development of Scratch is Google!!
Now if or when you are ready to make a jump from Scratch to something bigger, consider APP Inventor by Google. Inventor utilized the same interface as Scratch and would feel right at home. Inventor's purpose is to enable those with out the background knowledge to develop applications for the Android OS. Sure, I will admit that initially I figured that there would be influx of not so great Android Applications, but I could see how it could be used to introduce users to mobile application development.
Fortunately you do no need an Android Powered phone to test any applications you make since Inventor enables you to download an emulator to use and test out your application. Subsequently, the Inventor has an online tutorial with a a step by step on how to make HelloPurr, which is equivalent to hello world program that many programmers are familiar with. HelloPur is a simple introductory app that enables you to create an Android application in which when you touch the picture of a cat on the phone and it purrrs. Application Inventor has a bit of a learning curve but you could make some complex applications with the right intiative.
You will need a Gmail account to access Application inventor.
One of the goals of OneTech Tip is to provide useful information and cool tech tips for non tech savy users. For those readers whom are not tech savy have you ever thought about writing your own program or even just something cool? Or if you are a tech savy user have you ever wish you could teach someone a peer, or a younger sibling how to program or introduce them to various programming concepts?
MIT has created a programming language that is user friendly, Scratch.
Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.T
The language was mainly developed to encourage young kids and students to feel comfortable with programming through a drag and drop interface. Do not take this lightly, if you have never done any programming before you should try it out. Since the interface is mainly drag and drop you see the basic structure of how to write a program.
On the official site there are highlights of some user generated projects. Here's a OneTechTip Challenge Create a game using the scratch programming language and we will highlight it here. Just send us an e-mail with your file.
Have you heard of the Nintendo 3DS? You probably have if you are an avid gamer, but have you heard of the Next Generation Portable by Sony? Today's tip will be more of a brief discussion on my view on both but more on the NGP.
Each portable have some feature that stands out. The 3DS promises eye glasses free 3D Gaming, which is the future of 3D TVs (which there are already but priced beyond the consumer level). The NGP actually has two unique additions, it is the successor to the Playstation Portable, two analog sticks and the trackpad on the back. There are other, what I consider upgrades for both portables but I feel the hardware additions bring something new to the table.
While the 3DS is really more of the same I feel except now in 3D!!!!!! The NGP will be changing things up and I actually interested in the track pad on the back therefore putting as much available hardware surface to use.
What does this mean for you as a consumer? Well the 3DS presents a cheap effective way, and maybe right way to do eye glass free 3D viewing. Nintendo has yet to release any details about how they are achieving this effect but be sure television makers are taking note. Here's a tip if you already have an HD TV there really is now hurry to acquire a 3D one, there is not enough media taking advantage of anyway.
The NGP actually is an example of the directions phones are taking specs wise. The NGP runs on multicore processor and is stated to be almost as powerful as the PS3. By the end of the year, there will be phones that will have enough processing power to compete with some low end netbook/notebooks, so you may want to wait if you can till the summer to upgrade to a new phone - no I am not talking about the Iphone 5- you will not regret it.
Sony has recently released system update 3.5 for the Playstation 3. The most notable feature is now the capability for the PS3 to play Blu-ray movies in 3D! Of course, for there to be 3D enjoyment, the TV needs to be 3D capable. Just goes to show, early adopters of the PS3 can now benefit without having to purchase a new Blu-ray player. I went ahead and installed the update. The system worked fine with no hiccups, but I have yet to try out the 3D capabilities as I lack the 3D TV.If you need help with updating, or finding out more details, check it out at the Playstation site.
With the rapid advancement of technology in recent years, many things have found their true homes to reside on the internet, and the same can be said for video games. Since the first games like pong and Super Mario Bros, there have been many different directions that games have gone. One of which can be simply described as massive online game-play.
Online gaming was first introduced on the PC, and has since found its way onto the console game market. While everyone has heard of the MMO ( massively multiplayer online game) World of Warcraft, I think it is safe to say that even games like Call of Duty and Halo can be considered massive, multiplayer and online. ( Although I will note that MMO is a stereotype of a very specific style of gaming, like WoW, Aion, etc). So basically, many games in the modern market are designed for massive online multiplayer action! And today, I am here to introduce you to one of my favorites:
For all of you DotA fans out there, you might recognize this one. This is a standalone version of the Warcraft III custom game, called DotA, or Defense of the Ancients. Created by a few of the original makers, what is now known as Riot Games has created a much improved version of the game, complete with a bounty of beautifully designed characters. Check out this Art Spotlight of a new champion, Lee Sin:
The term MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, and has basically spawned from games like these.
In League of Legends, you select a champion that you level up from level 1 in each game. But, as you progress, your achievements are kept track of on your profile, and you can unlock Masteries and Runes to help you no matter which character you play. The teams are either 5v5 or 3v3, and the goal is for you and your friends to defeat the other players and destroy their "Nexus" ( their base ). Each champion has a special set of skills, and teams are best when they are balanced with a carry, the person who is the most powerful and gets the majority of kills, a tank, someone who has lots of health and armor, a support character, usually an off-tank and some kind of healer, and 2 other damage dealers. This kind of gameplay can best be described through video, so check out this video of the champion Ashe, doing something creative with her ultimate move, which allows her to shoot a huge arrow across the map.
So I recommend giving it a try, after all, it IS free.
Please leave your feedback in the comments, and add your Summoner name if you need a friend to play with!
