I have never owned an iPhone, being from a retailer at the time, I was not a fan, especially considering they way they violate your rights as a consumer from the get go, and get you to agree with it just to get one.

I tried Android in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S II, and though I liked the phone, the opportunity for malicious content to get onto the phone through apps was increased.

I found that the Windows Phone was a solid offering for what I wanted, though the extended catalogue of apps was missing, the core features were still there. The phone itself did its main apps really well; Email and camera were solidly incorporated into the features, as well as the way it handled contacts, allowing you to bring in contacts across multiple platforms (gmail, outlook, Facbook and exchange) and merge them into one contact with all aspects catered for, the fact that the calendar also took advantage of this feature was a nice added benefit for organising schedules, and the incorporation of Xbox was a nice bonus for me personally.

Now it is not a secret that I have liked the hardware offerings from Microsoft in recent years, I have always been a fan of Nokia phones, I am typing this out on a Surface Pro, and I am a big promoter of the Xbox, and you will even find the Band 2 on my wrist. But as of late, I have been losing my faith in the future of the Windows Phone.

We had been promised the ability to move forward with the update to Windows 10 Mobile starting with backwards steps like going back on the announcement that all Windows 8.1 Mobiles can upgrade, and reneging on promises of items like continuum, which was supposed to work with all phones, and now is only offered from the Lumia 950, there is the currently pending promise of being able to run android apps, which was mentioned once or twice and never to be mentioned again.

Now the wife and I usually get the same phone, in the interest of in case of emergency, it is not a stretch for anyone in the family to use it (including our daughter), and typically we get new phones when our contracts renew every 2 years. We are reaching the point where it is about 6 months until we renew, and I begin to look at what our next phone will be.

We both love the Windows Phone format, the way it works is very compatible with how we use our phones and as a mobile internet device, but we have reached the point where we have the impression that the Windows Mobile format may not be one that is supported going forward, and need to consider alternatives.

At this stage, we seem to both be opposed to the iPhone, we both have iPods and the nature of the way the software works on our PCs has been quite frustrating, not forgetting to mention that the only way to alter anything on them requires the itunes software, something we would both rather be without (to be honest, I have not updated the music on my ipod since I got it, and that was literally copying the music from the iPod that was replaced). Having said that, it gets apps, and all the apps. It currently has the highest number of apps of any platform, but how many of those are fart apps needs to be determined.

I am skeptical for a move to Android based upon the number of malware messages and I seem to receive from people with Android phones. It seems that Android is the new way to hit people with infections. But a positive is that it does seem to see all the hardware innovations first, and most apps are made for it too.

The last consideration is to stick with it, with the potential of the Windows App store opening up to Android apps, and the addition of Continuum making the mobile more of a portable computer, perhaps the next generation of Windows Phone may be the right move, but the lack of news and information surrounding it has me concerned.

I guess i just play the waiting game for now and hope the Surface phone delivers a true competitor..

Conveniently I took some me time recently and that happened to coincide with the release of Ubisoft’s online shooter RPG.

From the announcement of the game prior to the release of the Xbox One, I wanted this game. The way it looked, and the way they presented squad mentality was something that impressed me. The 2 year wait and the withdrawal of the Drone/Tablet support is a bit disappointing, but something that I can live without given how much I am enjoying the game.

Starting first with the leveling system, it is a combination of experience and completing new missions. When I say that, you can level up all you like, and that will give you slots for new abilities, but without completing missions or encounters in game, you will not be able to gain the necessary resources to upgrade your base, which gives you new abilities, talents and perks, and essentially prevents things like enemy spawn locations being farmed. It encourages you to go out and experience the city, even after completing the main questline.

The story for itself exists in the missions, and tells the stories how how the different factions in the city came to be whilst also investigating the source and cure for the epidemic ravaging the New York. You can also go further into the stories of the citizens of the city in the form of phone recordings, and other methods. Echos are a interesting way of viewing past events in still form and allows you to visualise some of the various recordings that you are hearing.

The gameplay itself plays quite well and the AI in game is quite intelligent, the number of times I have been  focused and shooting one opponent while being flanked by another is more than I would like to admit, and the variety of their behaviours means that each encounter (even when replaying missions) will vary from what you would previously experienced in the same area. There are a wide variety of event type missions ranging from defending areas or people to collecting objects, or just wiping out all enemies in an area.

Now onto my thoughts, at this stage I have played just under 50 hours, completed the main questline and reached the level cap, but that does not mean that the game is over for me. For example there is still plenty of side missions and objects to collect, and replayable options to go. I am working on building up my weaponry and gear to be a bit more higher levelled. And that is to play the one part of the game I have not really taken the time to play before now – Dark Zone.

Though I have only spent a little time in the Dark Zone, it plays very similar tot he way it did in the Beta, it is the one place where you can encounter other players, and they can decide to kill you for the loot you carry. Of course you can make the same decision, but whether or not it is worth it to you is for you to decide. Strength in numbers is recommended, and also being in game chat and using the proximity voice, you would be surprised about what you can negotiate and then accomplish with 2 willing squads of 4.

At this stage, I am waiting for the majority of my friends to catch up to my level before jumping into the end game content properly (like challenge modes), but I am really looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.

How far have you got? What are your thoughts on the game after less than a week? I would be keen to hear others thoughts on the game.

So my brother and his bride are about to welcome a little bundle into the world any day now, and I am patiently waiting with happy anticipation for them. But doing so, it is reminding me of the build up to the birth of Lolly.

Let me start by saying that when Dee and I first learned she was pregnant, we expected a boy. And when I say expected, there wasn’t any thought given to the possibility that we would have a girl, my family only has boys. We literally walked out of the ultrasound appointment stunned to have been told we were expecting a girl.

Not only were we stunned, but so was the rest of the family, we didn’t have girls. But one thing that was made easy that with all the arguing over the name, we instantly had a girls name we agreed upon.

We went private and had an absolutely amazing doctor, but for the timing, she was going on holidays on Lolly’s due date (20/6/2008). I still remember the adamant look on Dee’s face when she answered the doctors question of “What are we going to do if you go past your due date?” Dee answered bluntly “I’m not going over”.

We were booked in for 8am on Thursday 19th June 2008. We arrived early and set about making Dee comfortable, whilst we accepted visits from both of our mothers and Dee’s favourite cousin Tam. From there Lolly made us wait all day, until eventually emerging at 9:37pm.

I was lucky enough to get to introduce our tiny daughter to her mother after they had both been cleaned up. My girls stayed at the hospital for a few days and I made the trip there everyday. We got to show off our daughter to friends and family before finally leaving. We arrived as a couple, but left as a family.

Waz and Jess – I wish you all the very best, and hope you have as much joy as our family does.

So I have decided to embark on a new venture. Trying my hand at fiction writing again after more than a decade of ignoring it. The Threshold is my first foray back into it, and at this stage the storyboard is rough, I have a solid idea of where this story is heading.

As always, I welcome comments.

Chapter 1

Hunter Griffin lay next to a small river. This was supposed to be his relaxation time, but he couldn’t relax. The pleasant green environment surrounding him did as little as the quiet chirping of birds. As the faint perfume of flowers reached his nose his muscles tensed refusing to relax. He opened his eyes and looked to his left. A small bilby scratched at the ground with its front paws.

For a small moment Hunter looked relaxed, but instead his arm swung out and snatched up the bilby with lightning reflexes. He focused all his pent up anger and began squeezing the poor mammal.

“Computer end simulation.” A voice commanded.

The river, the greenery and the bilby disappeared. Hunter continued to squeeze, drawing blood from his hands.

“This is ‘sposed to be relaxation time, not suppressed anger relief time.” Hunter just stared at the guard. “Still not talking huh Griffin? If you keep that up, protest or no protest, you’ll end up in a cleansing institute.”

Hunter lead the way back to his cell. He waited at the barred door on the right. “Wrong way Griffin.”The guard stated. I’ve been told to give you time out of your cell. I’ve decided  that if you can’t relax, we’re gonna work some of that aggression out in the exercise yard. There’s no one out there at the moment, so I’ll spot you with the weights.”

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Continue reading “The Threshold” →

So, I love my family, or, at the very least I have strong feelings for them, but this Christmas, I am being selfish.

The past few christmases have been a show of selfishness and frustration for me. From people not properly arranging transport, to people neglecting my parents needs, to complaints about who spent how much on who.

Last year, we were only partially accommodating, as our main focus was time at home with the immediate family, Deanne, Lorelai and myself. For the first christmas in years, Lorelai actually got time to play with her toys on the day, and to quote her, it was “the best christmas ever!”

This, coupled with how horrible and frustrating the previous years had been, has lead to a decision that has displeased a lot of my family, we are spending our christmas at home. We decided we would to go to my parents for a short breakfast, and to Deanne’s parents for a short dinner. The intention being that we get to spend as much time at home as possible, with each other, doing what we want. We informed our parents early, which wasn’t an issue as it was October.

The next step we took on our selfish christmas was to target present buying. We decided that we would indicate to everyone that presents will not be required for our family. We do not expect presents, and people are not to expect presents from us. We felt this was unfair on our nephews and nieces, so have decided to get them small things, but nothing extravagant, or pricey – all done without the intent that people buy for us or our daughter.

The frustrating part of all this is that though we have been upfront and clear, my parents now won’t be home christmas morning anymore. They will be spending it at my brothers, but we are welcome to drive the hour there, stay for a bit and drive an hour home. As nice as the gesture is, it will interrupt our family plans for the day, as we would literally be giving up the entire morning to do so. We look like the villains for saying no, but our plans were made months ago.

We have come to the decision that moving forward, this day is a time for us. Every year we were trying to be accommodating for a fairytale that wasn’t coming true,. In our fairy-tale free house, Lorelai understands that there is no santa and magic reindeers, and that for our family, christmas is the time for the giving of gifts to those we love or are thankful for in our lives. Staying home and keeping it close knit will be the best day for all of us.

Growing up, gaming for me was mostly Sonic the Hedgehog, and Micro-Machines on Sega Megadrive. I would play those games for hours on end, and I was never concerned about the fact I had too many games to play.

These days I struggle, I have a full time job, wife, child, house, reading various articles and documents to keep up to speed in my work, and somehow I have to fit in time for friends and gaming, usually trying to combine the two.

At present I am trying to work through through not only the current release of games, some older ones I have been meaning to get back to as well as regular multiplayer with my mates.

Multiplayer at present is being dominated two nights a week by Destiny and Halo 5. Destiny is pretty much raiding on Thursdays with me gradually relearning Halo Skills on Monday nights (but mostly it’s good to be online with mates). With two dedicated nights for Multiplayer, it doesn’t leave room for other multiplayer games like Star Wars Battlefront…

Campaign wise, my game dedication is suffering, I managed to get Assassin’s Creed Syndicate finished, but at the expense of the continuation of Witcher III, which I sacrificed playing Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age III to play.

This is compounded with the fact that recent additions like Forza 6 and Rise of the Tomb Raider have barely got a look in, while games like Rainbow Six Siege and Fallout 4 will require a significant amount of my time in the near future.

What really gets me about all these games coming out at this time of year, is not only the cost, but the distinct lack of these sorts of games in the early to mid-year time frame. Space to play games and enjoy them before moving onto the next one, free of the risk of spoilers.

Admittedly there is the market for Christmas, but when you have a lull in options in the other end of the year, there is definitely the market for a franchise to benefit from the groups with disposable incomes, or those that like to spread their budgets out.

So over the years I have had the advantage of working in various roles. One consistent thing with all of my roles, I dealt with IT. I learned that a lot of people running a businesses approach IT the wrong way, they approach it as a cost of doing business, but it needs to be viewed in much the same way you would look at your staff. You need to invest in them to get the most value returned.

Starting at my first job, a franchise print store where I learned everything from sales, to running small presses, to compositing, photo manipulation and design, there was an age gap of approximately 15 years, between myself and everyone else in the store, I naturally had the job of dealing with most things IT (both Windows and Mac), in fact, it was the first place that put me on the path to IT, and I will be forever thankful.

From there I moved around for a little while in jobs that were either graphics or sales related, I still had a hand in IT, mostly dealing with issues in house, for smaller day to day issues, or organising with external IT companies whenever anything was beyond my understanding/training.

The big change for me in understanding real IT needs was once I started down the path towards Microsoft certification and working for in-house IT. With a better understanding of infrastructure, I had a better understanding how everything worked together, how systems can be better managed, and that systems needed to be monitored.

Having seen first hand how a smaller company would deal with IT, versus recommended practice, leaves a big gap. For one thing, we used to have a minor issue involving printer drivers. I would spend easily 6-10 hours a month fighting with printer drivers on various computers, just to get items printed out, in the right fonts or colours. Working for an IT solutions company, I have learned that you would configure a server with the correct drivers and default print settings, then have computers connect to that printer. This gives you control over drivers and updates reducing compatibility issues and has an added ability of offering a stable environment, and the option to control who has access to what printer and printer functionality. In less than the time wasted in one month, you could have a printer server offering all these solutions.

The other thing I have learned is that monitoring services allows you to pick up a problem before it becomes an issue. Something as simple as monitoring internet usage can pick up high usage before your internet quota is reached, or detecting infections due to anomolous behaviour.

One other thing I have noticed is that it also helps prevent complacency – the “we do it that way because that’s how it’s done” mentality. One aspect of IT is the continuous growth of the sector, encouraging education and knowledge expansion as different companies vie for a competitive edge, one thing I have noticed in working for a company that deals with in Service Agreements, more so than in-house IT, is the effort to give our clients the edge is greater. This is done in several ways, understanding the client, expanding on what a client wants/needs and ongoing education. The main drive behind this is that we want our clients to trust we have their best interest at heart, not just our weekly paycheck. We do this by not only ensuring that their services are consistently running, but in looking for ways to improve the way they run. Simple things like taking one of their existing setups and expanding it n ways they never considered due to advancement in technology (I would love to give an example, but the ones I have are currently for existing clients, and I would not like to breach their privacy).

Having a junior who is familiar with “computing” is great on a budget, but any company that wishes to grow and have a decent infrastructure, will need dedicated IT. My advice from my various careers is to outsource your IT, and put it on an agreement with a trusted company. I’ve seen all methods in action first-hand and can honestly say that I found the last method to be the most beneficial for the end client.

I have to say I am trying to curtail my excitement, because as much as I enjoyed Halo 4, it did not have the same feeling as previous Halo games.

I have always played Halo multiplayer a bucket load, but Halo 4 did have the same longevity that all of the previous Halo games had. I can honestly say I was still playing the Halo predecessor’s multiplayer (and sometimes campaign) in the months leading up to a new release. Halo 4 has not given me that experience.

My experiences with Halo 4 was not anything bad, but it did not have the replayability of previous games. I hammered the multiplayer of previous Halo’s, and I don’t mean I played it a lot, I mean I coordinated teams, I arranged training sessions, held LANs, and even owned multiple copies of the games. Halo 4 was the first Halo game where this was not the case.

Partly because I wasn’t 100% into the multiplayer, partly because my friends interest waned as well, I found I was running out of friends to play with, and also running out of interest to play it myself. Another big part of it was the fact that even with my fairly decent connection, I was getting bad connection to a majority of games. Whether it was because there wasn’t a beta to accurately test the way they connected game or whether the netcode was broken, I don’t know, but losing a majority of games on factors not related to the skill of my team mates or myself is something that can take the joy out of a game.

Ultimately this has left me with a less that confident impression in 343’s ability to produce a game that is going to give me replayability.

I have been following the gameplay videos and trailers closely on this one, with the hope that the game does deliver.

The new Halo 5 does have me excited, specifically in the campaign, and I think in no small part, thanks to Nathan Fillion. There is no hiding that I am a fan of his work. From my first encounter with his villainous activities in Buffy, onto Firefly, and even Castle. I can honestly say that I am going to attempt to play as the character as much as I can.

I have invested in this game, I broke my no pre-order rule and ordered the Digital Guardians edition, I hope that it delivers.

Here it is, 2 years into the current console gen, and I am feeling lackluster about how I got here.
Most of you know I started as a PS fan boy, until a chance encounter with Halo: CE changed everything. Within 24 hours of playing that first Halo game, I bought an Xbox.
The transition from PS to Xbox was a slow one, I had just as many PS2 games as I did Xbox games (more PS2 I believe). I also started my online journey on both these consoles. Xbox won at that.
Xbox 360, for me, dominated the next Gen, with 100+ games, yet only a handful on PS3, again, Online play being the major drawcard, and the superiority of Live (even as a paid service).
No small part of my enjoyment can be attributed to Bungie and the Halo games they made. Accessible, enjoyable, replayable, and something that I never considered I would lose… LAN-able.
With the new Gen, we knew there would be compromises with the (nigh) always online features, but losing LAN was something I never considered. Being online is a large network, but if you want to play locally, well that is just too difficult.
I can’t express my displeasure enough. Remembering that my early experiences were getting together at a house, and having a LAN, these were one of the key enjoyable parts of playing Xbox. Tragically I have now lost this as we move to the future.
I look at this and I consider other things that have changed with this move to more powerful online supported consoles, and most aspects are online now, suddenly my casual downtime comes with conditions; do you have internet; can you connect to your mates (in the same room); do you have the latest updates; can your country’s backwards infrastructure support simple gaming.
I guess I am just saying I miss the simplicity of being able to grab a switch, some cables and some Xboxes and just start playing.