Aviously

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Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes #Game #Review

@iAmAviG

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May 16, 2017

I’ve finally found my first VR experience that I just don’t want to leave.

It’s a game called Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and they aren’t joking when they say to keep talking.

Keep Talking is a MultiPlayer game with one player in the VR (the bomb defuser) and the other players in the real world (with a manual).

The bomb defuser is locked in a room with a bomb. The bomb has a countdown, a limit to how many mistakes can be made, and an X number of modules.
These modules range from colored wires to word games and from buttons to mazes.

The catch is that the defuser doesn’t know how to solve any of them without the manual…which is in the hands of the real world people, and with constant communication, the two parties try to solve it all before the bomb explodes. The defuser can’t see the manual…and the manual readers can’t see the bomb.

I’ve spent 7+ hours playing this over the last few days, and am immersed in the experience.

Be sure you and the other players have good communication, and won’t get annoyed when you’re screaming at each other for failing at seemingly simple tasks.

Paramore – After Laughter

@iAmAviG

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May 12, 2017

Paramore has taken a turn, and after bursting onto the scene with their first two albums, and their highest charted alt song of Misery Business, they leveled off into comfortable ground on their next two albums, producing great music across the sounds from The Only Exception to Ain’t It Fun.
But now comes their latest album, After Laughter, with sounds of the 80s mixed throughout.

On my first listen-throughs, I enjoyed the early single of Hard Times, but it was the album’s third and fourth songs that pulled me in.
Told You So is a catchy tune (video below) and Forgiveness may be the one that got me hooked and starting to feel the changed tunes of Paramore.

And you, you want forgiveness
(I can barely hang on to myself)
But I, I can’t give you that
And you, you want forgiveness
(I’m afraid that I’ll have nothing left)
But I, I just can’t do it yet

I still go back and listen Brick by Boring Brick and That’s What You Get, but I don’t know just yet that any of these songs will crack my “Paramore” playlist.
(Yeah, I have playlists with top songs from most of my artists…that sounds like an idea for another string of posts…)

I wish they had crushcrushcrush’d it with this album, but it’s still a solid 7.5 out of 10.

Gear VR With Controller #Review

@iAmAviG

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May 11, 2017

Just over a year ago I talked about my first VR headset, the Google Cardboard.
Well now I have a newer, more costly, VR headset: The Gear VR with Controller.

The Gear VR is an Oculus piece of technology, and they’ve always been ahead of the VR game, and this one is no exception.

The Gear VR is very comfortable to wear, even with a pair of glasses on, using straps around the back and over the top of the head, as well as thick cushioning all around. It also has a dial that allows you to adjust the depth (bringing the screen into focus, important when wearing glasses).

With previous editions, you had to use the touchpad on the side of the device to select items or scroll thru, but with the new controller, the world is in your hands, letting apps give you a “trigger” to help with a lot of games (or simply choosing your movie of choice).

From elaborate depth in games (such as “Land’s End”) to comfortable settings to watch movies (Netflix, Hulu, or even Google Movies via YouTube), or just using your hands to help you build things (such as models in Monzo VR).

Meanwhile, the Google Cardboard would make me a little dizzy after a few minutes (maybe because I was using a hand to hold it to my face), but I don’t feel that effect with the Gear VR.
I’ve also taken their advice and will use it sitting in a revolving chair, that allows me free spinning, and no neck turning, also minimizing dizziness.

Oculus, together with their new owners Facebook, provide a space to play games with friends, building virtual rooms to sit in with your created characters.

The Gear VR + Controller came free with a Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ and compatible with the S8, S7, and S6 lines, and the Note5
If you are looking to get it it’ll set you back $130. If you already have the Gear and just want the controller, it’s just a $40 expense.

Weed Wackers Anonymous

@iAmAviG

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May 10, 2017

Every once in a while we just need to do a little yard work, and when you live in NYC that usually means taking care of a plot of land 5’X5′.

With that small sizing in mind, most people turn to gardeners and get them to mow and rake, and plant grass seeds once a year, all for $20 a month.

We aren’t that picky about ours, as it recently became an empty space after a car drove through it taking out all the bushes, and didn’t feel a need to add that expense…so that meant that lots of weeds and growths started to sprout.

So a year ago I turned to Amazon for help and ended up with an electric weed wacker (this one to be specific), and it works great.For only the cost of a month or two of a gardener, this thing demolishes anything in its path, and when done frequently enough (once every few weeks), there isn’t anything left to even rake up.

For only the cost of a month or two of a gardener, this thing demolishes anything in its path, and when done frequently enough (once every few weeks), there isn’t anything left to even rake up. Total garden domination.

It’s also light, easy to hold, and even simpler to use, without whacking and bruising your shins.

Next frontier to approach? I’m thinking electric snow blower…stay tuned.

Crosswords With Friends

@iAmAviG

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May 9, 2017

Crossowords With Friends is the latest Zynga word experience to hit mobile devices, and it’s a fun play…for a few minutes.

I’ve had the game for a couple of days, and am hit with a problem. They give you a daily puzzle for free…but it only takes me about four and a half minutes to finish it…so of course I head to the calendar and play older puzzles.

But like most games, older puzzles aren’t free and cost “10 coins” a piece. Thankfully they start you off with a nice sum of coinage, but it wasn’t long until I plowed through all of that too
It’s only been since the weekend, and I’m already 88 puzzles in (thankfully they let you earn coins as well).

The good news is, while all of them are Entertainment themed, due to a partnership with “People”, there is also a daily overall theme, and don’t let the names fool you…the clues and puzzles are just way too simple, regardless what day of the week it is.

  • People Sunday
  • Movie Monday
  • TV Tuesday
  • Wayback Wednesday
  • Top 40 Thursday
  • Sports Fan Friday
  • Smartypants Saturday

The app is available now on Android and iOS.

Kickstarter and Foreign Transaction Fees

@iAmAviG

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May 8, 2017

Every once in a while I see something on Kickstarter that I think I want.

It’s never anything I need…because if I “needed it” I would buy it, and not put money down for an item I’ll get months/years later.

Last week I came across an item that I thought “hey, that’d be useful”, and when I went to look at the Reward Tiers, I saw that it was all in HKD (Hong Kong Dollar), but being the nice people they are, Kickstarter had a translation right under it in how much it would cost me in USD$.

Once the campaign closed and I got charged, I saw that I got hit with a Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF), for having my card charged in China. There are two thoughts I have on this:

  1. Kickstarter should have a nice big warning when you buy from foreign countries that you are going to likely be charged an FTF. And if they do have that warning, then it needs to be bigger, because I didn’t see it.
  2. Kickstarter should have figured out a way around the FTFs. They should be charging the customers based on their country of origin, and paying out the creators in their native dollar.
    There is no reason that us, the backers, should be hit with those fees, because it will just discourage future backing of foreign projects.

Why DC Metro (Sometimes) Trumps NYC MTA

@iAmAviG

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May 3, 2017

Everyone knows that moment…you swipe your MetroCard and walk down the stairs to the platform, and right away you know something is wrong. There are just way too many people down there.

Finally, after 5-10 minutes the announcement is made:

Due to a train stuck at ___ Street, there are currently no downtown _ trains. Please take an uptown train to __th and transfer there to a _.

Great. So what are you going to do? You either take the train uptown, or you leave the station, losing your fair, and walk to another nearby station (paying again) to take a different train….or else you hop in an Uber and head to your destination.

But your fare is lost. Now sure it’s only $2.75, but do that a few times a month and it starts to add up.

Now let’s take a peek at the DC Metro, where there is no “flat rate”, but rather you tap in and out and it charges you based on distance traveled.
But when they have train troubles, they tell you to just head back out and you will get a refund within 72 hours.

There is no way that New York City would ever give you a dime back, nor will any of the money you pay ever appear to pay for system upgrades…but we can always hope.

May Song of the Day #SOTD

@iAmAviG

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May 2, 2017

Here are some Songs of the Day to put on loop this month, and for the first time, they are all BRAND NEW SONGS. All released within the last 10 weeks,

Happy listening 🙂

Symphony – Clean Bandit ft. Zara Larsson

I just wanna be part of your symphony
Will you hold me tight and not let go?
Symphony
Like a love song on the radio
Will you hold me tight and not let go?

It Ain’t Me – Kygo ft. Selena Gomez

Who’s gonna walk you
Through the dark side of the morning?
Who’s gonna rock you
When the sun won’t let you sleep?
Who’s waking up to drive you home
When you’re drunk and all alone?
It ain’t me

Stay – Zedd ft. Alessia Cara

All you have to do is stay a minute
Just take your time
The clock is ticking, so stay
All you have to do is wait a second
Your hands on mine
The clock is ticking, so stay

Something Just Like This – Coldplay and The Chainsmokers

But she said, where’d you wanna go?
How much you wanna risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairytale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can kiss

BONUS CONTENT

Symphony by Clean Bandit ft. Zara Larsson has quickly become one of my favorite songs, and while the music video above is fantastic, it always makes me happy when you hear them perform it elsewhere, and still be able to nail those high notes, as Zara does here on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Buying/Renting Movies Online

@iAmAviG

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April 27, 2017

When you go to watch a legitimate movie on digital, you are presented with many options, from Apple’s library to Amazon Prime and Vudu to Crackle.

But the biggest issue is: After you “buy” or “rent” the movie, where can you watch it?

If you bought it from Apple, you are stuck to watching it on an iPad, iPhone or Apple TV.
Bought it on Amazon, and you turn to the Prime Video app on iOS, Android, Xbox, Etc.
Similar for Vudu and Crackle.

But recently I started using a different service, one that we all use tens of times a week, but don’t think about.

Google Play Movies. The first thought is that these are only available in a browser or on Android devices.
But if you go to YouTube, log into your account, and visit your “Library”, your purchases all show up there for your viewing pleasure.

This means your iOS and Android devices, gaming systems (such as Xbox One and PS4), as well as your WiFi enabled DVD/Blu-Ray players can all access these videos.
Even devices that don’t allow app downloads, but have a built-in browser, can get to YouTube and access your purchased videos.

Now back to Rogue One and the bonus features…

Summer 2017 Movies

@iAmAviG

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April 26, 2017

Here are a few of the movie trailers from ones I am looking forward to this Summer…needless to say, I am a sucker for sequels…
It also appears that this summer (like most) is top heavy, with not many big names in the second half.

May 5
Guardians of the Galaxy 2

May 26
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

June 2
Captain Underpants: The First Epic  Movie

June 16
Cars 3

June 23
Transformers: The Last Knight

June 30
Despicable Me 3

June 7
Spider-Man: Homecoming

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