Quick glance at the Kindle Fire HD

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

My Kindle Fire HD (7″, 16gb) arrived today and unfortunately I have to head into work in a few minutes so I haven’t had enough time to play with it to write something more thorough. Instead I’ll share a few pictures below. I’ll post a more detailed look at the device in the near future. For now I can say it’s incredibly sexy, the screen is amazing and the device feels great in the hands. I also love the updated OS, and the new powerful speakers are much louder and sound great.

Atlas Shrugged Part 2 tomorrow!

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

One day I saw Atlas Shrugged Part 1 (trailer below) on Netflix and had never heard of it, but decided to watch it. I watched the movie on my Kindle Fire while sitting in the library at Sheppard AFB, Texas (while in tech school) and I could not tear myself away from the screen. I could’ve gone back to my room to finish it, but I couldn’t find the power to hit the pause button, I was that entranced by the movie.

 

Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand published in 1957 which is being made into three movies. Part one was released last year, and was considered a box office flop (it also has a 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Fortunately this didn’t prevent the continuation of the story as Atlas Shrugged Part Two is in theaters tomorrow. I’m more excited for this movie than any other movie coming out this year, and from the trailer (below) I can tell it won’t disappoint.

Kindle Fire HD on the way

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So I had sold my old laptop and Kindle Fire and was planning to use the money to purchase an iPad, however after playing with the Kindle Fire HD I found myself hooked. I loved the first generation Kindle Fire, even though at times it felt limited (especially in the app department). The Fire HD looks incredibly sexy, and I like the ease of accessing my various content in the Kindle environment. Unfortunately only the 7″ 16gb model is currently available. The 7″ 32gb model ships in a little more than a week, and 32gb would be a welcome upgrade, but I’ll settle for 16 which is still twice the size of the first generation Kindle Fire (and the second generation Kindle Fire which also has only 8gb of storage).

I’ll post ‘unboxing’ photos (maybe video) and my first impressions throughout the weekend.

Starbucks Pick of the Week (free song): The Lumineers

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

If you haven’t found a good reason to install the Starbucks app on your phone, I’m about to give you a good reason to do so. Not only can you use it as a quick and easy way to pay for your daily dose of caffeine (and earn rewards doing so), you can also download a free song every week via iTunes. It’s simple, you get a message titled ‘Pick of the Week’ every week and you simply click a button which will take you to iTunes and start your free download. Recent weeks have featured songs by Dave Matthews Band, Black Prairie and Van Morrison.

This week’s pick is by far my favorite, and I have fallen in love with this band which I discovered via Starbucks. The band is The Lumineers out of Colorado, whose album (The Lumineers) debuted this past April (check it out on iTunes). The song is “Stubborn Love” which you can see in the video below. It’s an amazing song, and a great video!

 

Sirius XM, worth another shot?

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

Nowadays nobody listens to the radio. Instead most people have turned to streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify, and that’s not such a bad thing, but I think you lose something when you turn to these automated services. I’m a Pandora One subscriber and I enjoy the service, however I find myself skipping unfamiliar songs all too often, trying to listen to only my favorite songs. Also Pandora is just too robotic. By that I mean there’s no human interaction. Just song after song. For some this is a good thing, however I’m starting to think it’s not for me.

Furthermore, Pandora doesn’t often play brand new music. That’s why I’ve decided to give SiriusXM another try. I had been a subscriber to XM before the merger and enjoyed it, however in the long run I had to cut the service from my budget. Now I think I may end up getting a Sirius radio for my car.

I’m currently on a 30 day trial of SiriusXM Internet Radio, which lets you stream the service via your computer or phone and it’s been quite enjoyable. I’ve already discovered quite a few new songs I hadn’t heard through Pandora, and I like the human component. I love the news breaks and commentary by the DJ’s. Furthermore it’s nice to be able to listen to the news via CNN or MSNBC if I feel like it, or check out ESPN Radio and SportsCenter throughout the day. There’s also streaming play by play, and of course Howard Stern!

I’m enjoying it so far, and look forward to having the service in my car again. I’d use the app on my phone in the car, except I don’t have 3G coverage until I drive an hour off base.

Goodbye Microsoft Points? Not so fast.

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

It’s being reported (CNET) that Microsoft Points are being replaced by real currency…But don’t get too excited, as the change will apparently only take place for the Windows 8 store and not on the Xbox. I suppose it’s a step in the right direction, however it’d be happier news if MS points were disappearing across the board. The point system is odd (ex. 400 points = $5, if you don’t know, and they sell points in sets of 400 ($5), 800 ($10), 1600 ($20) and on from there) and I’ve always found myself with an odd 50-150 points left over with nothing to spend them on. Of course this works out in Microsoft’s favor, when say something costs 1000 points, and you have to purchase 1200 points for $15 in order to receive your content. Now you have 200 points leftover which you can pretty much only spend on avatar clothing or maybe a song in the Zune store.

Let’s hope there’s more to the story as the third generation Xbox gets closer to release.

Introducing: Loot-it!

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

I’ve started a new blog which you can find at lootit.net or in the RSS widget to the right. It’s going to focus almost entirely on World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2, so if you’re interested in those games maybe you’ll want to check it out. It’s still in its infancy, so any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. Thanks for your time 🙂  

Modest Mouse vinyls

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

Check out what I picked up today:

Modest Mouse is one of my favorite bands, so you can imagine I was thrilled to find these albums while browsing Hot Topic. Sure they’re not originals, but they’re cool just the same. The Moon & Antarctica even came with a code to download the digital album which is always a nice edition. The albums sound great on vinyl and I’m glad they’re now a part of my collection.

 

Sidetracked by Mists of Pandaria and Guild Wars 2

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

 

 

For the first time in a long while I spent the good majority of a weekend in front of a computer. In part it had to do with the fact that I would possibly have to head into work at any given time, but the main reason is my friend and I dove headfirst into World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, and for the first time since I first played WoW I got sucked into the game entirely. The quest progression was actually fun, and we kept going on to find out what we’d see next. The new area is fun to explore, the dungeons are fun to run, and the pet battles are surprisingly addicting. I didn’t experience anything that made me want to stay in the world for hours on end during any other expansion (probably in part because when I first started playing, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King were already out). After spending the majority of the weekend in Pandaria we’re both level 87 and just slightly burnt out. In the end it was a good time.

Guild Wars 2

I also decided to give Guild Wars 2 a try. I was actually convinced to purchase it mostly because ArenaNet released it for the Mac so quickly. As a new Mac user I feel it’s my duty to support companies that reach out to Mac gamers instead of making Mac gamers use BootCamp or emulators to play their games.

I’ve only spend about an hour in Guild Wars 2 so far, but it’s been an enjoyable experience. Guild Wars plays very differently from World of Warcraft so far. It’s more about experiencing the world and working together with other players, rather than working against them (or being annoyed by them). If you’re on a quest you’ll see other players working on the same quest and you naturally, and fluidly work together to complete the objectives. What I mean is, you don’t have to ‘group’ or anything, you just work together and it feels natural, and you each get your own experience and loot. Beyond standard quests there are world events that are happening all around and you can jump in and help complete the objectives, such as fight a boss, without having to accept a quest or anything. Stuff is just happening in Guild Wars 2 and you decide your role.