Culture Change with the Internet

In an age where 66% of adult Americans have a cellphone, smartphones are becoming a big thing. It has changed how we navigate, communicate, and relax. Being constantly connected to the internet, people are able to communicate with the internet and other people from almost everywhere. Smartphones have really only been a thing for about 8 years, yet they've instantly changed our lives more than we realize. 

When I have to go somewhere new, the first thing I'll do is pull out my phone, type in the address, and have it navigate me to my unfamiliar location. I have no need to carry a paper map in my car, or go out and buy a separate product like a GPS, because I have the capabilities of both already in my pocket. Not only have we replaced conventional maps and GPS's, we have made a lot of improvements. Now we have the ability to see if there is any obstetrical on our route, and go around them. If you're navigating within Google Maps for example, you'll be alerted if there is construction or heavy traffic on your path to you location, and asked if you'd like to take a faster route.

Like I've talked previously on in The Internet is More Important Than You May Think, smartphones are extremely powerful tools that allow us with seemingly instant connection with anyone else almost everywhere. We're use to having this power of no matter where we are, you can start texting your friend and carry out a conversation. Teens are often told to "put down your phone, and talk to the people around you". Though they might be disconnected from the conversation around them, they're connected with other people and activity communication. It's not just being anti-social, but possibly just being a little too social because they're able to talk to someone at any time without being right next to them. 

Smartphones have become a replacement to other forms of entertainment. Instead of calling someone, you're able to join a group chat, and text to a group of people all at the same time. You can have a video chat and look at the friend you're chatting with, or show your friend something. You can play co-op games together, or compete against each other. You're able to watch a video, netflix, or TV anywhere you want. Connection to the internet offers you endless amounts of entertainment with all the apps and content you have access to.

Android Apps Coming to Chrome OS

Recently Alphabet (Google) has announced that they're taking Chrome os, the operating system used in Chromebooks, and are merging it with Android. All of the information out on this merge is still very early on, and many things can change or even be cancelled, but still the idea of Android on or incorporated into a new chromebook would be fantastic.

Like I've explained in Why I’m Still Interested in Chromebooks, Chrome OS though lacking in compatibility in general programs, it's able to make up for in the applications developed by users to replace those programs. Though no where near having the complete functionality of another operating system, the merge with Android would make a big jump to closing that gap.  With the ability to access the Play Store and download apps from would ever increase what you could do on a chromebook.

Though we don't know exactly what this merge entails for the new version of chrome OS, what it seems like to me is that they're trying  to make the chromebook more appealing, and able to compete with other laptops.  Before many people haven't heard of a chromebook, and if they had, they probably were not interested in using one. Stating a different operating system would of drawn away most of the potential customers before they might look further into it. If they could advertise an Android laptop, right away many more people would be interested and further look into the capabilities of the laptop.  This would be a way to combat against the massive outreach of Windows and Mac over the market. So many people have an Android phone, and it would give a connection to the Android laptop.

Overall though we don't have many details over what the merge would mean exactly, hopefully it will come with access to the Play Store, furthering the usability of the laptop. Also this merge could be for a marketing scheme to grow the popularity and knowledge of the chromebook.

329

Why Consoles Offer a Lesser Experience

It's something that I've heard debated about throughout my life as a child. People argue about this, and often never persuade one or another whether xbox or playstation consoles offer a better gaming experience. Often overlooked over by many hardcore console gamers is the fact of another genre of gaming, PC gaming.

Often overlooked, but it's an amazing experience for gamers. Steam offers an online multiplayer experience without having to pay more after purchasing the game. You get access to a plethora of games, and actual free games that you don't have to pay a monthly fee to access.

Many game developers develop games for PC because they can easily get their game published through steam. The greenlight program offers a way for developers to send in their games to steam, and then have them rated by players to see if it's worth bringing into the steam marketplace. This brings in a lot of PC exclusive games that offers a wonderful gaming experience for PC gamers.

Civilization V Review

Sid Meier's Civilization V, also commonly called just Civ V, is another genius turn based strategy game with Sid Meier's name on it. So good infact, that steam shows I've spent over 350 hours playing Civ V. It's a game that I would recommend to almost anyone.

It takes leaders and civilizations from a large span of time, and starts everyone one off in an ancient era. From there, you research technologies, progressing from age to age. You expand your borders, and settle new cities in foreign lands. You improve your land around you, increasing the yield from it. You create trade routes between other civilizations and city states, filling your coffers up with gold. You can create a big army and navy and take over the world.

Civ V is just a game that has endless playtime for me. With forty three civilizations to choose from, each with some unique units and building. You have 5 different victory types that you can shoot for to win the game. You could capture and control all of the civilization's capitals, you could achieve a scientific victory by researching all the late game technologies, producing the rocket components, assembling the rocket, and launching the rocket ship off to the nearest solar system. You can also achieve a culture victory by exposing your civilization's culture to every other civilization, and having your culture dominate over theirs. You could also achieve a diplomatic victory by achieving enough votes through the united nations meetings. Or you could just score enough points by your set time limit. Civ V just offers you plenty of reasons to replay again and again.

Additionally, there is a plethora of mods created for Civ V.  One of my favorite set of mods is called the Community Balance Mod. It completely changes many mechanics of the game, offering a whole new challenging experience. As the name suggests, it's a set of game changes that the community thought the game needed, and that the game developers never delivered. It gave new life to the game for me, and added countless more hours of gameplay for me to enjoy.

Overall, Civilization V is a amazing game. It offers what seems to be almost unlimited gameplay, and the community has developed even more through the wonderful workshop of mods.

436

Chrome Extensions: Floating YouTube

A chrome extension has recently caught my attention. The floating YouTube extension on the chrome browser allows you to view YouTube videos over top of other windows. Someone like me, I watch videos all the time. Often I'll sit back and watch a plethora of videos as I casually play a game. Usually this is done at my home computer, where I have a set up with multiple monitors. Watching a video while playing a game is a breeze with multiple monitors. But when I don't have access to a set up with multiple monitors, It sometimes gets annoying. If I want to watch and play a game on a single monitor, the only option I have is to split the window for both the video and the game, offering a not as desirable experience for gaming.

On my tablet, I often watch videos or live streams on Twitch. The twitch app offers an interesting feature. You can hit a button to have the live stream overlay on your home screen. From there, you can open up any app and continue to watch the live stream. I love this feature because it allows me to multitask on my mobile devices. Recently I decided there must be a program similar on computers.

Away to Google I went, and discovered that people shared the same problems as I, and developed programs to solve it. On the Google web store, there was a few extensions that solved my dilemma. The most popular one Floating for YouTube allows you to input the video URL that you want to watch, and then plays in in a resizable, movable, floating window. It works well, and I haven't experienced anything wrong with it. 

A few things that could be improved include a method of switching videos after finishing one. Currently, the only way to change your video is to close out of the window, and then relaunch the extension. A button in the current UI that would bring up the opening interface would be perfect.

The Problem With Smartwatches

A new year means new Smartwatches. We have many interesting watches that are coming out in 2016, but right now, the new watchthat has been making news is the iWatch 2. Most of what we know hasn't been directly confirmed, but we can assume that it will be included in the next Apple phone. We've heard of a new alloy of aluminum, a bendable display, and no headphone jack.  The first two are solid improvement so that as the watch gets thinner, the watch won't bend and break, but what has shocked many is that the iwatch2  won't have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is standard in just about everything.

When I first heard about this, I was reminded of a situation similar to this a few years ago. If any of you have an older Apple product, you use a different cord to charge your device. This 30 pin cable was standard when Apple started making the iPod touch and the iPhone. When the iPhone 5 was announced, there was an outrage by the community about the different port for charging. They would have to buy new cables and docks if they wanted to buy the next iPhone. When the phone was released, people still bought it and bought new accessories for it. Over time this fit was completely forgot about as the lightning port became the new Apple standard.

From the designer's standpoint, and where they wanted to take the phone, a smaller port was needed. The change saved a lot of room, and also made some money for Apple as people bought new accessories from their store. The same thing can be said $with the headphone jack. That's a lot of room that could be used otherwise.

What is expected, is that you'll use the lightning port to listen to your phone. This either means new earbuds, adapters, or Bluetooth. Because of Bluetooth though, I feel like the change isn't as big. Yes you won't be able to carry around one pair of headphones and listen to everything, but if you're like the growing number of people who use Bluetooth headphones, then you will be just fine with the switch.

problem with VR

Virtual reality has recently hit the news through the growing popularity of the Oculus Rift and other similar devices. People are excited by the fact of this product developing into a new wave of virtual reality video games.  Games are already being designed in an attempt to emerge the player into the experience of it all. With the use of virtual reality devices, could games be designed so that the player can directly and physically interact with in it? 

This next level of interaction, or experience, though may seem distant, is a feasible idea. Having a game that has a complete level of immersion would take more than just a piece of hardware covering your eyes. You would need devices that are not only able to track your movements, but also stimulate the player with the proper responses to your action within the game. These devices are currently being designed and tested.

The Teslasuit is one idea to the thought of complete immersion. This wearable suit is designed with conductive cables within the fabric that has the ability to shock certain points of the wearer's body with a jolt of energy. This is an attempt to stimulate nerves to simulate being hit by bullets or basic interactions with objects. The creators also boast that they plan to implement the ability to simulate temperature and weather with the suit.

Though completely far out product, the idea is there. If simulated response is there, what about physically controlling the game? The Virtuix Omni is one answer to that solution. Basically a infinite 360 degree treadmill. This platform allows you to control your game by physically walking or running, and rotating yourself. It's a really cool idea, that has a working model, and the company is looking at starting to sell units to the public.

This is all a interesting concept, creating a completely immersive gaming experience. One problem though is the initial price.  Buying these products when they are released to the public is going to set you back thousands of dollars. Only a select group of people are going to be able to buy these products. This will lead to video game designers to put this new control on the backburner, as only a few people would be able to use this control method. 

It looks better for devices like virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift, as it will only set you back a couple hundred dollars. More people will have access to this, and developers would be more likely to design their game with Oculus Rift compatibility.

428