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Comment Re:Q10 or Wiko (Score 1) 303

A lot of Android apps, even ones that run just fine on the BlackBerry Z10, fail miserably on the Q10.

I think it's because of the perfectly square screen - the hardware doesn't HAVE a 'portrait' or 'landscape' mode, so the app goes AUGHWTFBBQ and quits.

The other issue I have is that the hardware keyboard simply doesn't work in a lot of Android apps. Letters will type the wrong character, and using the Sym key to access things like the = is a real crapshoot.

All of which is extra-irksome because there are some apps which simply don't have a BB10 equivalent, even when there's a BB7 version. An AOL Instant Messenger client, for instance.

I really like my Q10 overall, but the Android sandbox still needs work.

Comment Re:Erm, the 3DS (Score 1) 559

Touchscreen is a horrible interface for FPS. The only way I've found to make touchscreen FPS controls not suck is to use a Bluetooth controller and some controller-mapping software. Or an nVidia Shield.

I would far rather use the 3DS's controls for an FPS. (Use the analog stick for look and the ABXY buttons to move, shoot with the triggers. It works well.)

What I can't figure out with mobile strategy games is, why are they all RTSes? I haven't found any turn-based games, which I think would be far more suited to touchy-pokey controls.

Am I just not finding them? Is there some Android equivalent of Heroes of Might and Magic out there? Heck, HoMM3's interface actually works perfectly well on a touchscreen - I've played it on a Windows slate. And I'd happily re-buy it for my phone if it existed.

Comment Re:They didn't test the Samsung 840 or 830? (Score 2) 293

Given that the 840 EVO only came out this summer, both those drives are still under warranty.

So why didn't you get them replaced?

Lots of people are using those drives without issue. It sucks that you got two bad ones, but it's hardly representative of the drives as a whole.

Or if you really don't want to deal with them, take them out of the 'garbage bin' and give 'em to someone who'll do the RMA themself for a free drive.

Comment Re:Not enough, (Score 3, Interesting) 415

Usually these 'weird laws' turn out to be not so weird.

When you investigate them, generally the 'weird law' is an overly specific interpretation of a law that's perfectly sensible. For example, one list had a town in Montana where it's illegal to tie a whale to a fire hydrant. When you track down the law, it bans tying any animal to a fire hydrant - so yes, tying a whale to one WOULD be illegal, but the law wasn't written that way.

I'm willing to bet the Oklahoma issue is much the same - a ban on feeding animals alcohol. I bet it was done because of health issues with pigs being fed brewery leftovers, or something like that.

Comment Re:too little too late (Score 1) 288

Take a pie plate. Cut it into an 'omega' shape. Strip the ends of a piece of coax, tape the wires to the plate. Plug the other end into the cable-in port on any vaguely modern TV.

Look! Rabbit ears!

The FCC didn't 'mandate a shift away from rabbit ears'. They just mandated that the rabbit ears be connected to a digital tuner rather than an analog one.

I get 35 channels this way (well okay, I used an aluminum roasting pan, not a pie plate) and about half of them are in HD.

Which is about 15 more than I was getting with an analog antenna here.

Comment Re:Locked down tighter than a CEO's wallet (Score 2) 227

To be fair. even Sony's own PS2 emulator (the one used in 80 gig PS3s) can't handle Ratchet and Clank.

That always amazed me. It's a top-name first-party franchise, and the software-emulation PS3s couldn't handle it.

As for emulating the PS4/Xbox One, pfft.

People said the same thing about the original Xbox, and none of the emulators for that are worth a damn.

Comment Re:Customer Service (Score 1) 470

The point of coin-lock cart systems isn't to stop thieves. If someone's going to steal them, the carts are worth far more than the coin used.

The point of that system is to get people to BRING THE DAMNED CARTS BACK.

Instead of leaving them all over the parking lot so you have to pay someone to go out there several times a day and round them up and bring them back for others to use.

This is exactly why ALDI does it. It's also part of why ALDI's prices are so much lower than other grocery stores in my area. They're ruthless about cutting costs.

It's also why ALDI charges for bags: They're not free to the store. If you don't want to bring your own, or take some empty boxes they have lying around, then buy some.

Their stores are also set up so that the shelves can be stocked with a minimum of labor, with product generally sitting in its shipping carton with a side removed. When the carton is empty, generally a customer takes it to put their shopping in, which both uncovers the next box of product and removes a box from the store, saving the company money on labor to clean it up and also saving on disposal.

I really wish more stores did things this way. It's not as pretty as Food City or Kroger, but I don't really give a damn about how pretty the shelves look.

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