Tag: PC

Twelpforce Space Experiment No. 2

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One of the best parts about living in the technological age we do is how the average home computer can be used to create your own media.

I’ve been playing around with a few different “entry level” consumer video editing programs like Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio HD 9. I created the test video above using only a few photos and music, and as you can see, the results can pretty pretty stunning as you become more comfortable with the program.

With the wide availability of inexpensive HD camcorders, it’s quickly becoming a world where a little time and some creativity can really unleash your inner director.

Organizing Your Tech (and Life) in 2010

I spoke with Bill Wills and Dave Ramos of Cleveland’s WTAM 1100 this morning about how to organize your technology in 2010 by making sure your important data is backed up.

We also talked about how you can use your technology to organize your life, such as syncing your calendar between Google Calendar, iCal on the Mac, and with your smartphone.

Listen here: WTAM 1100 – Organize Your Tech (and Life) in 2010

Back to School: Netbooks and Notebooks

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With the summer winding down and school on everyone’s minds, we’re getting more and more questions on whether those tiny (and cheap) netbooks make for a good back-to-school purchase.

I had an opportunity to speak with Fox 8 News about the pros and cons of both netbooks and notebooks for students.

Gaming Like it’s 1999

There’s a thread going on the QuatertoThree games forum about “PC games that are a decade old this year.”

1999 was a strong year for PC games, as evidenced by this short list compiled in the thread:

  • Counterstrike
  • Everquest
  • Freespace 2
  • Jane’s F/A-18
  • Jane’s USAF
  • Planescape: Torment
  • Quake III
  • SWAT 3
  • Starfleet Command (I & II)
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress Classic
  • Tony Hawk
  • Unreal Tournament
  • X-Wing Alliance

There are plenty of memories for PC gamers in that list. Unreal Tournament was a personal favorite of mine, as it was something of an underdog before release. Most of the gaming community thought id Software’s Quake III Arena was going to completely dominate the online multiplayer FPS market that year, but Epic Games really surprised a lot of people by having so many unique (read: non-deathmatch) game types available for online play.

It was also a time where 3D graphics cards blossomed as Nvidia and ATI finally took the market from 3dfx. The Voodoo line of cards were eyeopeners when they first appeared, but the company just didn’t keep up with the changing demands of the industry. At the least, I was happy to see their proprietary Glide API lose ground to Direct3D and OpenGL.

Yes, it was a very good year for PC gamers.