Monday Dec 19, 2011

1
I'm 37.

When the fuck did that happen?
I mean obviously I know when, it was my birthday recently and I went out for a meal with Pinklet and our progeny, along with Kristoph and TheKnives, along with a couple of other friends.


I mentioned my advancing decrepitude to a colleague the other day:
"I'm 37 soon!"
"Oh, well that's ok because you have a kid now!"

Not sure I follow the logic, but there we are.


So the big news is we're going to be moving. To Cambridge. I've got a transfer to the store there, (& just been told today I'll be getting a nice little bump in pay too,) so we can be nearer family. We won't be living in Cambridge itself, but more likely one of the cheaper outlying areas like Ely, where most of Pinklet's family lives. We'll also be closer to my family, making it easier all round for related folks to see The Bear, (our nickname for Evie,) & vice-versa. We've started looking for places & should move in the next couple of months.
I'm sad to be leaving Bristol. I've been here about 7 or 8 years now, (I'm bad with time, but I had my 30th not long after moving here,) & I love it, but it's not just about what I want any more, it's about what's best for the family. It's a sacrifice I'm happy to make & luckily my in-laws are awesome anyway so I'll get to see them more.

The second big news is that The Bear has teeth! Well, the beginnings of the bottom two anyway. It's causing her some grief at present.

Apps:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Path - Beautiful UI & UX. What Facebook should be like. Interestingly limits the number of people you can share with to 150.

Flipboard - Now on iPhone! Nicely done and a fantastic app anyway. Oddly they chose up & down flipping for the phone rather than the iPad's sideways flipping, but it works. Now has accounts to synch your setup between devices.

Simplenote - Does what it says, but also syncs with the amazing Scrivener, (Mac & PC writing app,) making it indispensible for writing on the go.

Cambox - Shoot shot videos of whatever (people usually,) making noises to create your own soundboards. More fun than it sounds.

GTA3 - Seriously. On iOS. Awesome on the phone, incredible on the iPad. I still remember my way around Liberty City.

Infinity Blade 2 - Amazing graphically, but really the same shallow, repetitive gameplay as before. You can dual wield now, but honestly, this still disappoints. When the Citadel tech demo came out, I was hoping for a free-roaming RPG style game with sword fights, not the on-rails version we got. Worth it only for the visuals.

Dark Meadow - same Unreal engine as IB, this is kind of similar, but takes place in an abandoned mental hospital. The slightly less on-rails feel helps (you move from point to point, but have choices & it's not shown as footage,) and the monsters are quite creepy. You dispatch them in a similar way to IB, so comparisons were always going to happen, but you switch between using a crossbow at long range, to a sword up close which changes the dynamic. Worth a punt.

iPlayer - Nice to see it native, but I honestly haven't used it yet. Got it on PS3, so need for the iPad version for us, but it's nice to have.

Super Stickman Golf - Awesome crazy golf game. Pick your angle, pick your power & take your shot. Way more fun than the screenshots look. Odd courses with ice or vertical platform-game courses add to the difficulty. Power-up's include Mulligans for those bad shots, sticky balls, switching water traps to sand traps etc. Plus the multiplayer is a hoot. Get it.

Maple Thief - iOS version of massive RPG Maple Story. Fun, but fiddly controls.

Fruit Ninja Puss - Puss in boots (from Shrek,) tie-in with Fruit Ninja. Makes absolutely no sense as Puss isn't a ninja, but whatever. Lots of quick to play mini-games with that, "try to get a perfect round" addictiveness. Plus, it's Fruit Ninja. Let's just hope the next tie-in is less obviously about the cash.

Whale Trail - Tap the screen to go up. Avoid clouds. Collect bubbles to stay aloft. Another game like Tiny Wings that was a big hit despite having no real longevity in the gameplay. Meh.

Snapseed - Nice UI - You slide up & down to choose effect, then left & right to alter the strength of it. Some nice filters, but really, it's no Filterstorm.

PicFrame - Choose a frame, then add photos. Multiple images per frame allows you to split one photo or add several pics to the same shot. Nice.

SlowShutter - Excellent app. Like being able to keep the shutter open for long exposures on a DSLR. Has Auto mode with 1, 2, 4, 8 & 15 second exposures, a manual mode, to time it as long as you like and a light trail mode, with variable levels of light sensitivity. I think it shoots video, then composites it into one image, as using it in low light situations to get a shot doesn't work, so it's not actually capturing more light. A lot of fun though & you can get some interesting blurs and effects - see below for a couple of examples. Along with the aforementioned Filterstorm and TiltShift for blurs & Bokeh effects, comprises what I think are the essential iPhone photography apps.



Photos

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
spamtwo:
That's excellent news about the new job and pay rise. Having good, helpful family nearby means they can take care of Evie for you and Pinklet so you can enjoy some quality time together. I would give Em's right arm to be able to spend an evening out together biggrin

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