Let’s talk Keyboards

There is an age-old debate among gamers, as to which peripherals are the best. Should I buy the Razer or the Roccat? Is Logitech better than E-Blue? Should I buy the ThermalTake, Tritton or Steel Series headphones? Well… You get the picture. There’s a simple answer to this conundrum… And it all depends on how much money you’re willing to spend, and how often you’re willing to replace your peripherals.

As a regular MOBA, RTS and RPG gamer, I need to make sure that my peripherals won’t give up on me in the middle of an online match, so I can appreciate when a piece of hardware is good value for money… And when it’s just garbage wrapped up in a silk package.

Today, we’ll be looking at keyboards.

Which keyboard takes the title as the Top Dog in the peripheral world? If you know much about the world of gaming, you won’t be surprised that it’s in the Steel Series range. It’s the tournament grade Steel Series Apex-M800.

This bad boy has a very ergonomic design, along with newly designed keystroke system that lessens resistance and increases response time. Add that to the fact that it’s also a very sleek and sexy backlit mechanical keyboard that looks as though it swallowed the skittles factory, and you’ve got yourself a winning combination right there. To top it all off, the anti ghosting software can register up to 500 simultaneous keystrokes – That’s more keystrokes than there are keys on the board, so you’ll never have to worry about multiple inputs causing a delay in your hotkey commands while in an online match again.

The biggest drawback to this wonderful piece of machinery, however, is the price. If you have to ask how much it costs… Well, there are always people on the black market looking to purchase any nonvital organs you wish to sell. It falls under the “Fast/Good/Cheap” choice theory in IT, where you can only choose 2 of the 3 options put before you.

As I said earlier, however, most people purchase peripheral devices based purely on personal preference… So if you’d like to show some love for your keyboard, leave a comment below!

Yours in Tech,

-Rook.

Samsung Gadgetry!

Samsung… The only other word that will make an Apple user sneer as much as that one is Windows. And yet, the smartphone manufacturers maintained a 7% market share lead over the iPhone, despite the fact that the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge failed to live up to their hype.

It seems, however, that Samsung are trying to right the ship with their latest release.

The Samsung Note 5 is a brilliant piece of technological engineering. Not because it can fly, or make you teleport… Unfortunately, that second piece of tech hasn’t been invented yet. No, simply put, it’s a smartphone that finally looks good! If there’s one thing I hate about smartphones is that, in general, the really good ones also look really ugly. It’s almost as if the entire budget for the device went into engineering, and design only got $50 and told to do their best.

The base model comes with 4GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and a quad core 1.5GHz processor, and is 4G/LTE compatible on standard mobile networks. Yet despite being better specced than some entry level netbooks, the Note 5 also looks very sleek and attractive, with the smooth gorilla glass backplate and sexy curves. Add the increased functionality that comes with using the S-Pen and new fast charge technology for the battery, you’ve got a piece of tech that will take the market by storm. Unfortunately, as I said before, this is where progress can be a bit loathsome. Those who upgraded to the S6 Edge and Edge Plus might not necessarily be willing or able to upgrade to the Note 5, and will be missing out bigtime if that’s the case.

If you’re an iPhone fan, I’m afraid I don’t have much to say… I never liked the decreased customisability of the iPhones, and so I never took to using them very much. If any iPhone fan would like to write a review and send it through to me, or comment below, feel welcome!

Yours in tech,

-Rook

What’s the deal with Augmented Reality?

Google Glass took the United States by storm not too long ago, but then it was shelved for not being durable enough for daily use. This doesn’t mean the principal behind Google Glass wasn’t sound, there was simply a slight speed bump in the roadway to optimal execution.

Now that we’re in the “polishing phase” of Google Glass, many smartphone and tablet apps have stepped up to fill the gap in the Augmented Reality market, before Google Glass Mk II is released. But before we delve into those apps, some of you may be wondering what Augmented Reality (AR) actually is. AR is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. As an example, say you’re looking for directions to a certain location that’s close by. Turn on your device’s GPS, switch on the app which will use the device’s camera to create a display on the screen… and then a flashing arrow starts to lead the way to your destination. A more refined way of using a GPS to point you in the right direction, don’t you think?

ClikAR is one such app. The user turns on the app and directs their phone to a “trigger” in their physical environment. This could be anything from a print advert, street pole ads, a product catalogue or even a rugby pitch! This trigger can be built in from a number of things in the immediate physical environment, and uses the device’s camera to determine exactly what constitutes as a trigger by referencing the provided image with certain things in a remote database. This trigger will provide access to a digital feature of the brand which is advertising in the online space, and this feature could be a number of things to promote brand loyalty or to build up their consumer base.

Another app is ZappAR, which works similar to a QR code being scanned by the device’s camera, and, in a similar manner to ClikAR, the brand which advertised using the Zap Code will determine what kind of content you will receive.

Finally, on the AR front, there’s also an app for children. Disney Color and Play (yes, I know I spelled it in the American way, but that’s the name of the app. I can’t go changing it!) allows the user to colour in a picture on specific colouring in pages which can be printed from home, and when seen through the device’s camera with the app enabled, the picture becomes 3 dimensional, and the colour is filled in during real time. No stylus, fancy track pen or anything like that needed. Just crayons and paper. And a smart device, of course.

All these AR advancements have also paved the way for Virtual Reality to make its way on to the technology scene, too… But that, tech junkies, is a story for another day.

Until then, feel free to comment below about your feelings on how AR will change our lives for the better (or worse!)

Yours in Tech,

-Rook.

How safe is the internet?

Just a few words on internet safety…

Last night I had a conversation with someone who runs a company which provides digital security. We all roll our eyes when we hear the warnings about phishing, rootkits, hacking and cracking… But the reality of the situation is a lot more dire than we’d all like to believe.

As part of his job, this person first needs to see just how clued up the employees of the company which he’s securing are, so he sends some anonymous phishing emails. Any guesses as to what the average response to those emails is? Maybe 10 or 15%?

Try 83%.

That’s right. A staggering average of 83% of all people are not clued up enough on internet security to avoid clicking on a tinyURL redirect, or a bit.ly redirect (Just a note, in case you do get forwarded a compact URL, you can see where it redirects by using the TrueURL service).

What about USB jump drives? Have you ever picked one up and plugged it into your computer, thinking that your antivirus programs will be able to fend off any threat? The reality behind that is also very sobering.

Using notepad or any similar text editor, a person can write a short piece of command line code that will embed itself into the registry of your computer. This code won’t necessarily be picked up by your AV program, but it can create certain vulnerabilities in your technology. These vulnerabilities can then be exploited by other external programs, in a similar fashion to common keyloggers, data logging programs and even with Trojan Horse functionality. Scary, when you think about it.

The internet is a dangerous place… and technology has many darker uses. So be careful where you go in your wanderings, as you never quite know who is watching.

Yours in (safe!) tech,
-Rook

Streaming – The way of the future.

Progress – Simultaneously the most admired and loathed word of the 21st century. How is it loathed, you ask? Think about your upgrade from an old CRT monitor to a Plasma screen display. How did it feel? You were awed at the amazing difference it made. But then technology progressed to LCD, LED, ULED and 3D smart televisions. How do you feel now? A bit left behind, because you couldn’t possibly afford to upgrade each time the technology progressed? What about leaving your VHS behind for a DVD player? Those were the days, a shiny new disc instead of the bulky old tapes… and then, there was blu-ray and now 3D encoded DVDs. Imagine being an avid movie collector, and having to start your collection anew each time the technology progressed. Now, you can easily see why progress can be seen as something bad.

Progress is also a very good thing. Stop and think how much you pay per month on your DStv premium or Top TV accounts, versus how much time you actually spend watching TV. Overseas, many countries have swapped out fixed satellite or cable television for streaming programs such as NetFlix. We in South Africa, however, haven’t had that luxury. Until now.

With the advent of Fiber Optic internet in South Africa by VumaTel, Neotel, Telkom and other companies (I’m not trying to punt any one particular service provider, don’t hate on me if I didn’t mention your particular favourite!), we just needed to find an alternative to NetFlix and the other streaming programs. That’s where On-Tapp TV and Showmax come in. Now that we have (much) speedier internet available to us, with no more need to pay Telkom’s excessive line rental fees, and the ability to drop expensive satellite TV subscriptions for a service that’s 1/5 of the cost…. Fiber Optic internet will be worth its weight in gold.

There is, however, one minor drawback to fiber optics. If you would like a fiber backbone to be installed in the area where you live, at least 60% of the neighbourhood has to sign a contract with the service provider… Otherwise, it simply becomes too pricey for them to trench an entire neighbourhood to service one or two houses. In the eventuality, keep a weather eye out for LTE and LTE-A deals with mobile service providers, and make sure your area receives LTE signal. It’ll be like drinking a Pepsi after ordering a Coke… You know it’s not the same thing, but it’s close enough that you’ll keep at it without complaint.

“What about us?” Cry the gamers. “Are you neglecting to say anything for us in this article?”

Happily, the answer is no. Gamers have had services like Twitch TV and Hitbox TV for a few years already, and so that doesn’t quite count as being “cutting edge”. The only benefit that fiber optic internet will provide for those services is that it can now be watched at 1080p instead of 480p, and you can properly see what’s going on.

However, just under 2 months ago, something new did happen in the livestreaming world of gamers. Google launched YouTube Gaming, which is a dedicated gaming and livestreaming branch of the popular video on demand site YouTube. You can find out more about this development, and what it means for us gamers, here.

As always, your comments and suggestions are appreciated!

Yours in Tech,
-Rook.

Location Services… Friend, or foe?

Whenever we see mobile apps that request location services, we tend to be a bit wary of them. After all, if they can see where you check in with a GPS enabled device, who else can?

The reality with this, as with all technology, is that location enabled services are a double edged sword. Sure, people with ill intentions can track you if they really wanted to… But let’s be realistic. You’ll have to have appeared as a blip on that person’s radar in the first place, and they’ll need to have the proper technology in order to intercept the signal.

The benefits to this kind of software, however, are numerous. If we think of the FourSquare app, which is designed as a “tour guide” application, a user can use location services to “check in” to a store, restaurant or coffee shop. The person who checks in the most over a 30 day period becomes “Mayor” of the location, and qualifies for certain specials at the location. Very handy!

Another location based service which is starting to take the world by storm is that of Uber, the cab service. It uses your mobile device’s GPS in order to transmit your location to a nearby cab driver, and it can also calculate your approximate fare based on your final destination and the most commonly driven routes. If you haven’t yet ridden on an Uber, sign yourself up on their website, and use the promo code uberTechCrazyBlog to score yourself a free ride!

A gaming application of location services in software will be released next year, in the form of Pokémon GO, which promises a great deal of distraction for board meetings and classrooms! It will work by using a location enabled bracelet which the user can purchase, which will notify the user when a “wild Pokémon” is near to their location. The user’s mobile device will then use augmented reality (AR) software to display the location of the creature, in order for it to be captured by the user. It will also notify the user of when there are other “trainers” in the vicinity, in order for them to duel with their captured Pokémon, or to trade with other users.

All in all, I think it’s safe to say that, even though location services are a double edged sword, the one side is much, much duller than the other.

Let me know what you think of location services by commenting below!

Yours in Tech,

-Rook.

Techno Fest in Joburg

When you hear the words “rAge Expo”, you generally think of the NAG LAN, hardware, peripherals, games and cosplay. This year was no different. From the 9th through to the 11th of October, at the TicketPro Dome in Northgate, thousands of gamers, anime enthusiasts and techno junkies thronged together to “get their nerd on”.

For those of you who missed out, let’s do a bit of a recap on what was featured:

• The Legion Ink Cosplay Competition saw many entrants, with amazing outfits coming from the gaming, anime and comic universes
• The DotA 2 and Heroes of the Storm MOBA events had the teams battling it out for the number one spot at rAge, with Hearthstone events being played as time killers between some of the up-and-coming names in South African gaming
• The Dark Carnival and TechFixPlay stalls struggled to keep up with the sheer volume of customers looking to purchase their cosplay items and videogame memorabilia (Yours Truly included!)
• Blak Bunni brought out some great new hoodies, including a Toothless Night Fury hoodie complete with a tail and paw-gloves, and a Baymax hoodie from Big Hero 6. You should totally check out her store on Etsy when you get the chance!
• Skycastle Games and other tabletop RPG hosts attracted a large crowd of people who were eager to learn about the realm of pre-computer gaming.
• Many artists showed up to sell their prints and make videogame caricatures of their clients, on request. (I tried getting one, but these guys were just too popular, and then my goldfish attention span took over.)
• Of course, we can’t forget the massive amount of giveaways that took place while there were games being previewed by the Big Screen…. Freebies are always a reason to get anywhere, even if there are no other motivators.

All in all, it was a very successful rAge expo this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what next year’s will bring. If you weren’t able to make it this year…. Well, do your best to come and see the hype, even if it’s only for a day. You won’t be disappointed!

Yours in Tech,

-Rook.

Tech Junkies, Unite!

Since the days of MS-DOS, Windows 95, the Sega Master System and the Atari 2600 up to Windows 7 ultimate, next-gen consoles and mobile technology, I have watched technology improve itself and our quality of life. As we move further into the Space Age, the hardware and software we use keeps progressing faster than we can keep track of. Taking it upon myself to wield the keyboard of truth in conjunction with the blog of power, I hereby declare to the Internet and all its denizens that I will regularly review new consoles, hardware, peripherals, games and other software in order to keep users better informed.

And the truth shall set you free…

– Rook McCloud