Sometimes things just don’t fit a common theme, in which case it is much easier just to clobber them into a paragraph of random updates, as is the case here. Anyhow, I finally picked up a PlayStation 3 (PS3), more or less as a Blu-ray player than a gaming console, but in case I do feel like playing a game I can always choose to do so. With that said, I did try my hand at FIFA 09 the other day, and to make a long story short, I truly sucked at it. Maybe I’ll get better with time, although I’ve always had issues playing games with gaming controllers for some reason - nothing like a mouse and keyboard in the end. Overall through I’m pretty happy with the PS3, mostly due to the fact that I no longer have my big ugly PC box sitting next to the TV in the living room which I used as an home theater PC (HTPC). And with Netflix streaming coming to the PS3 later this month, the PC box will not be missed at all. Having an Intel Extreme Quad Core processor it was an overkill for movie playback and internet browsing anyhow. Now it can serve its rightful purpose as a recording and composition system in the upstairs music studio.
Continuing along the computer and software side, the other day I upgraded my Vista laptop to Windows 7. Looking back this might have been a little bit premature, for although my laptop seems to mostly work, it is also showcasing problems with some very basic functionality. For example, for some reason the Windows Media Player (WMP) no longer wants to play some of my .wav music files. No other media player seems to have issues with the very same files, but WMP simply freezes for no apparent reason. Now if that was not annoying enough, I’ve already managed to crash Windows Explorer several times, simply by trying to delete some files. You would think, a basic thing like file deletion would be thoroughly tested, but alas this does not seem to be the case. Oh well, maybe I should have waited a little longer, but I simply could not take the sluggishness of Vista any longer. Nevertheless, in a final product, bugs like these are really unacceptable from a customer experience standpoint of view. I’m tech savvy, so I can usually find a workaround without much trouble, but I can totally see that a regular user might get really frustrated with issues like these and possible give up on Windows altogether - way to go Microsoft!
On a totally unrelated note, I’ve gotten fed up with my Dunlop Aeroget 100 tennis racquet that I picked up about a year ago. While a decent racquet in its own right, I simply could never quite put it to as good of a use as my old but trusty Head Pro Tour 280 – too bad that head racquet is impossible to find these days even on auction sites such as eBay. Anyhow, I decided to go back to the Head camp, and ordered the Head MicroGel Prestige Midplus today. It should be here within a week or so. We’ll see then if it was really the racquet that was inadequate, or maybe it is my tennis game that is no longer what it used to be. Although, I’m pretty darn sure it must be the former :)
Continuing along the computer and software side, the other day I upgraded my Vista laptop to Windows 7. Looking back this might have been a little bit premature, for although my laptop seems to mostly work, it is also showcasing problems with some very basic functionality. For example, for some reason the Windows Media Player (WMP) no longer wants to play some of my .wav music files. No other media player seems to have issues with the very same files, but WMP simply freezes for no apparent reason. Now if that was not annoying enough, I’ve already managed to crash Windows Explorer several times, simply by trying to delete some files. You would think, a basic thing like file deletion would be thoroughly tested, but alas this does not seem to be the case. Oh well, maybe I should have waited a little longer, but I simply could not take the sluggishness of Vista any longer. Nevertheless, in a final product, bugs like these are really unacceptable from a customer experience standpoint of view. I’m tech savvy, so I can usually find a workaround without much trouble, but I can totally see that a regular user might get really frustrated with issues like these and possible give up on Windows altogether - way to go Microsoft!
On a totally unrelated note, I’ve gotten fed up with my Dunlop Aeroget 100 tennis racquet that I picked up about a year ago. While a decent racquet in its own right, I simply could never quite put it to as good of a use as my old but trusty Head Pro Tour 280 – too bad that head racquet is impossible to find these days even on auction sites such as eBay. Anyhow, I decided to go back to the Head camp, and ordered the Head MicroGel Prestige Midplus today. It should be here within a week or so. We’ll see then if it was really the racquet that was inadequate, or maybe it is my tennis game that is no longer what it used to be. Although, I’m pretty darn sure it must be the former :)
