inqk.net

There is no word mystering

Tag: rants

It’s a Convention, Not a Charity

Update: Subsequent to writing this, I posted on AVCon’s Facebook page that their donation drive was inappropriate and that they should reconsider their decision. Without any correspondence, they deleted the comment. I guess they’re not interested in people that don’t agree with them and they don’t think it’s in bad taste to start asking for [...]

Ask Amazon

I love the design of the new Foreign Affairs website. They have this little thing where they use Flash to render the headlines of their articles. I realise we’re all supposed to hate Flash but it looks so nice. They’ve got just the right amount of line-spacing and even though articles are spread out across [...]

I Hate You, Research in Motion!

Work recently provided me with a Blackberry Bold, and while some things about it are really cool, some things remind you how shitty phones are. People complain about the fascist-like App Store Apple runs for the iPhone but sometimes the level of frustration you experience with other phones makes you beg to be put into [...]

A Story About DRM

I have a (slightly pretentious1) story for why legitimate customers dislike DRM. It is a story in four parts. I. Whereupon Our Hero Does the Right Thing One of the most successful PC games of all time is Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft. It has sold approximately nine million copies since it’s release in 1998. It is, [...]

My Letter to Relic Entertainment

Since I frequently get reactions to things I write about on this blog (much to my surprise) I thought in light of my failure to get a response from Relic Entertainment I’d write them a letter and publish it here. Letters don’t usually have titles but if mine did it would be called, ‘Hi, I [...]

Why Doesn’t Word Do This?

This is a question. I use Microsoft Word almost everyday. I have a copy on my computer at home and another on my computer at work. Nearly every single person I know has a copy of it. It is the single most prevalent application I can think of that doesn’t come bundled with an operating [...]

(Slightly More) Constructive Criticism about GamerDNA

So I like Twitter. It’s a source of links, small nuggets of wisdom and also a place where you can vent to the world about whatever’s got your goat without needing to write it up all good and proper so it won’t look out of place on your otherwise tidy blog. (I expend literally hours [...]

Heads Up, Hardcore: You Don’t Matter

Wired’s gaming blog, Game|Life, canvassed their predictions for the upcoming year in terms of gaming and the issue of the hardcore gamer, particularly vis-à-vis Nintendo, came up. Whenever this issue is raised I pray someone will say what should be plain for anyone to see. Namely that the hardcore demographic vastly overrates their importance and [...]

Understanding Video Game Review Scores

I realise I’m a little late on this one but Christmas isn’t quite here yet and there’s a chance I might still save some of you out there from making a poor purchasing decision based on a review score. I don’t believe this is the most startling insight of all time but as someone who [...]

They’re Sorry

OK, I don’t get it. The issue of an apology being offered by the Federal Government of the Commonwealth of Australia to Indigenous Australians is in the news again and all I seem to see are people arguing either that we do have a personal responsibility to the past or that we don’t. You have [...]