These days, there seems to be three main food groups of technology — Apple, Google and Microsoft. With all of the various computer screens that I stare at these days, it’s usually powered by one of those three companies. That’s a far cry from earlier in the millennium, back when I was mostly a Windows guy. I remember the days when Internet Explorer drove +90% of website traffic. Today, Microsoft is struggling to stay relevant in an Android and iOS world. The October release of Windows 8 is an attempt to remedy that.
Mountain Lion – There’s a reason it’s $20
My experience with OS X 10.8 is off to a bad start. Apple officially launched Mountain Lion on July 25, 2012. But unfortunately, I didn’t get to use it until today. The installation was hindered by slow download speeds and an unusual hard drive glitch. After those frustrating issues, problems persisted. At first, I was looking forward to this upgrade. But soon after the installation, I was contemplating a switch back to Windows. What’s wrong with Mountain Lion?
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Upgrading to OS X Mountain Lion – The Cheap Way!
Apple’s 2012 World Wide Development Conference kicked off today. And overall, the news was impressive. If you have $2199 to spend on a laptop, the 2880 x 1800 retina display of the new MacBook Pro might interest you. Meanwhile, iOS is getting upgraded with anti-Google technology — like maps and improved Siri responses. Yet, I was most excited by a fairly minor announcement. OS X Mountain Lion is releasing next month… for $19.99.
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ROUND 2: GameSalad vs Stencyl
A little over three months ago, I posted an assessment of two powerful game creation applications. Which one would win in a fight? I didn’t really declare a winner, as choosing between Stencyl or GameSalad is essentially a matter of preference. Yet, things did not stand still. During the last three months, one of the competitors dramatically improved. That competitor is GameSalad. Is there a clear winner in the game development battle now?
GameSalad Template – Dual Controllers
While frequenting the GameSalad forums, I spotted an interesting thread. Apparently, the default template for creating dual controllers is a bit buggy. I know the frustration that this can cause, as my first GameSalad project didn’t go so smoothly. The virtual joysticks would jam, creating a rather broken gaming experience. Fortunately, I designed my own system to resolve this problem. A free template is available for download.