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The Shii: Getting women to game
Posted by admin on Jun 3, 2009 in technology
Outrageous, ridiculous and semi-offensive this video is nonetheless very entertaining!
Toys R’Us have a ‘Pink’ category: But where’s blue for boys?
Posted by admin on Jun 1, 2009 in opinion, technology
I’ve long since stop being surprised at the vast array of paraphernalia on offer for the pink obsessed woman/girl/ confused boy, but when a store such as Toys’R'Us actually starts to categorize their gadgets by colour, well that’s whole new level of incredulity- even for me.
After all, it’s not like they have made a category for ‘pink’ Barbie dolls, or associated toys, but instead they have a whole pinks section for games that don’t need to be pink. Why does Twister or Jenga need a blushing makeover? It’s simply not right. And then you notice they have a pink ouija board in that category as well- so not only are they preying on those that buy into the whole ‘pink’ trend, but they’re also subjecting them to supernatural mumbo jumbo.
Read more…
Dot Com Doom: Is it all over for Internet startups?
Once people couldn’t get enough of Internet start-ups. Companies moved from cynical to seriously obsessed and it seemed every day a hot new site was starting with investors ready to splash the cash to get a piece of the digital pie. But recently we’ve seen a turn for the worst, and it’s not just the falling economy that’s led to the downward spiral of success of the once salutated sites.
Earlier this year Gawker media, a SF startup that spearheaded the dot come boom abandoned many of their flagship titles, fired staff, and reluctantly joined the gradual disintegration of the online market. It seems the dot com business is no longer as profitable as it was, nor is it attracting the investors/advertising revenue so it has fallen into a catch 22 trap.
But why has this happened? When sites flourish in terms of traffic you’d automatically assume these figures would be followed by cold hard cash, but that’s not the case? Is it the fault of the bedroom blogger- the whimsical at home writer whose words devalue those that are paid for? Or could it be that though the model looks positive, making money off free content is harder than previously thought? Read more…
The Pink Princess: For everything a schizophrenic princess needs
Posted by admin on Mar 2, 2009 in technology
Are you kidding me? Sure, I like the colour pink and I unashamedly work for a site which uses baby pink as the main colour, but we don’t try and pretend a woman’s life will be complete if she lives in a life size Barbie dream house. And take a look at this site. It’s not the first of its kind and it won’t be the last but I’m currently outraged as I was directed to it through the reputed techie website Tech Digest! Read more…
Do you need a Peter Pan complex for a career in technology?
Posted by admin on Feb 2, 2009 in geekery, technology
When I was younger my mother scolded me for playing with my Sega MasterSystem as she decried it a ‘waste of time’ that would never lead to anything productive.
Ten years on, and my little brother is impressed that I get to review console games for a living. But does this mean my mother was wrong, or did I just manage to find a career that let me avoid the semi-inevitable ‘grown up adult’ attitude?
Perhaps, but then you could argue that a large number pf people have all opted for ‘creative’ careers that let them act like small children. Yes my job DOES include playing computer games, but I also have features to write and spreadsheets to fill in, so the toy-like part of my job is in fact a small section of what I actually do. Has the idea of playing with toys evolved, or did I just never realize the subtext when I was younger? After all, for every LEGO castle I built, I had to follow the design, carefully assemble it and then eventually destroy and package it up for future use. We’re talking methodical planning, constructing and organization skills, all which are placed on my CV of today and yesteryear.
But other people clearly feel the same draw to their youth as I do, which explains the popularity of Hello Kitty gadgets and the strange game/fashion mashups that are so prevalent in stores nowadays. Pictured you can see Lanvin’s 2008 LEGO fashion extravaganza, and recently we’ve seen childhood icons overspill into other areas as well. Read more…
The Internet: Putting camera repair shops out of business!
Posted by admin on Jan 19, 2009 in technology
My Canon IXUS died yesterday. It’s pretty devastating as I love that camera, and especially as it wasn’t preceded by a sharp shock to the floor, a basin of water or even an over zealous five year old. No, all of a sudden an error message appeared saying ‘Lens error, restart camera’ and I can’t turn it on anymore as the lens moves not at all.
So what would you do? Curse, cry and go to a repair shop? Well once that was the only option but seeing as we’re so web savvy the first place I turned to was the internet, where it seems a multitude of people have had the same error message.
Five things I gained AND lost at CES 2009
Posted by admin on Jan 14, 2009 in lists, technology
CES 2009 was quite an experience. I met some amazing people from, blogs I really respect (Boing Boing Gadgets, Oh Gizmo and Chip Chick being the highlights) and got to see far more TV’s than one human should ever have to deal with. I saw demo’s of Windows 7, and Steve Ballmer attempt to be young by saying cool approx 27 times in his keynote speech. But what else did Vegas mean to me? I’ve summed it up for you in a handy little list.
Gain:
1.USB sticks. More than I’ll ever want or need and most under 1GB.