Geek-Weekly

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Games

Walmart Canceled my Nintendo Switch Order!

An open letter to Walmart!

I cannot express enough the continued frustration I am experiencing with your company. We Had Pre-Purchased some of the new Nintendo Switches as gifts for this coming holiday season. Like many others we ordered in early summer to be sure we could get a jump on the new system and have them for our family this Christmas. Here we are October 12, 2021, four days after the product launch only to find that you have cancelled our orders. While one unit was honored the others were NOT. If in the event you had a rule that only ONE was allowed per household then YOUR system should NOT have allowed the transactions to take place. We received NO advanced warning, NO communications and NO alternate options at the time the order was placed. YOU waited till today (OCT 12th) to inform us these were cancelled.

This information should have been provided at the time of order so we could have made alternate arrangements at a different retailor. This is an unacceptable business practice and the end of a customer at any and all Walmart locations.

As someone who works in supply chain, I fully understand your challenges in both stock and labor. However, THIS situation goes much higher and there is really no excuse as to how this was handled.

News

Actor Leonard Nimoy has passed away at age 83

As many of you, I too am just hearing the news. Actor Leonard Nimoy has passed away at age 83. It’s never easy to see one of your childhood heroes pass on. As you know Mr. Nimoy was best known on Star Trek as Spock. While other will write about the actor and the show he was best known for I would like to remember what he gave us. A character of logic and Science that offered balance to the otherwise hot head Captain Kirk. They taught us that being different was OK and working together we accomplish anything. It’s not just the character, it’s the memories we grew up with. Both what the show offered as well as the time spent with family. As I child I spent many weekends on the couch with my father watching the original series. No different than playing catch these are the bonds we take with us.

On to your next adventure sir! Stop and say HI to my father along the way. Rest in peace.

GEEK / News

Virtual Facebook? What are we turning into?



What is the Oculus Rift? Thanks to Facebook millions of people are at least somewhat familiar with the Virtual Reality gizmo. What many want to know is what is their plan with this technology? With third-party concept, users browse an e-tailer using the Rift. After a few moments of browsing Facebook an individual clicks on a product advertised in the sidebar. He’s prompted to put on Oculus, at which point the user is immersed into a virtual Facebook marketplace, where he picks a designer bag off the shelf and turns it about as if he’s actually holding it. Combined with technology like the Connect the PC can recognize hand movements and the software responding accordingly. It’s of course just one company’s idea.
My opinion… Another social networking society fail. Continued barrios to real human interaction only breaks down the fundamental requirements for a healthy society.

Toys / Transformers / TV & Movies

Transformers 4….. O… M… G… !

I really did not know what to think when they said they were making #4 but this looks impressive.


Computer / GEEK

We Want Windows 9

Ok let’s be honest. Windows 8 was not what we expected it to be. Sure it has its good points but let’s face it. This is nothing short of Microsoft holding true to the belief that it’s only every other version of Windows that’s really any good at all. For myself I would say Windows 7 is my favorite. I have it on several systems now and I am completely happy with it.  Shhhh… Don’t tell anyone but I put a Windows 7 Start menu on my Windows 8 Laptop.

Windows 9, codenamed Threshold, is still a good year away or more. With that much time it will be interesting to see what they select from the successes of other past (odd number windows) to include in the new Windows 9. How about we make it a PC OS again? What do you think?

I know that Windows 8 was all about the touch screen and breaking into the tablet market. But forcing that Metro style interface on all the new PC uses was the wrong thing to do. I could also criticize the flat “clean” style but now even Apple is doing it with their latest IOS. The flat look is OK but a drop shadow under my active window would be nice. The fact is you have changed the basic fundamental functionality that so many have come to know and trust. If I have to learn a new OS then why not use UBUNTU get a MAC.

How about better gaming support? With the new Steam Box around the corner and their own OS do we need Windows? With a new OS much like UBUNTU and MINT but now having game support and compatible Office programs a basic user does not need to drink the Microsoft coolaid.

Again, it will be interesting to see what we get in 9.

GEEK / Random Thought Generator

The Internet Ghetto

Make sure that you are careful of what you click on. You could end up taking a wrong turn on the internet. Suddenly you are surrounded by seedy temptations of sex and free money then before you know it you have caught something that is not easy to get rid of.

GEEK

I miss AOL

From our site: Pretend I’m God

Do you remember America Online (AOL) in the early days when it was just AOL with a limited connection to the rest of the web? It offered games, chatting and a forum to congregate with your online friends. It was really a single point to communicate with others. But that was not enough was it? We wanted more of the internet and more websites. We did not want to be STUCK in a single system. AOL grew and gave us what we wanted and the World Wide Web was ours for the browsing. We were no longer confined to the chat rooms of AOL and we were free to explore. Today the AOL of the past is gone, a thing of the past in it oh so obsolete way.

So many great websites come and go; each day was a new web adventure. Wow the internet is big and only getting bigger. If only there was a place where we could go online and keep in touch with other, chat or start a group. a single place we could go to do it all…

Well played Facebook! The lemming are ready to receive you now.

GEEK

Is the internet slowing down?

Is it just me or does the internet seems to be slowing down? I know that I am on-line all the time but it just seems like there is an increasing slowness on the web. Home and work I feel like I am stuck in slow moving traffic on a single lane road with no way to pass. Someone tell me what is going on.

Games / GEEK

Why the SIM games fail.

Listen, I am the first one that will tell you how much I love the SIM games. Starting with SIM CITY I have lost hours of my life with this addictively creative and mind challenging game. Regardless if you play it by the book or evoke the uses of cheats so you can build the ultimate city you cannot deny the entertainment that any of these games provide.

So why do I consider them to be failures? Long term support and crapwear! I still have my old copies of SIM CITY and however compatibility on the latest PCs is sketchy at best. Not being able to even Launch the game. Perhaps it’s a challenge with a 64bit OS? It’s still frustrating. I have several other older games that do work just fine on a new PC.

Where the enjoyment is lost on PC games is this. Too long to install and all the added crap that’s installed. Some games I do not want on line or I do not want a different program running looking for updates. Let’s be honest after a short period there are NO MORE UPDATES so why do I need this application from EA on my PC? This is where the Play Stations and XBOXs excel. The games just work! Most of the time.

I find that Steam is bringing this console level of support to the PC that allows for background updates and a convenient interface. Something to think about.

What better way to breathe new life into these SIM games other than a refresh that allows for some new found compatibility.