@craiggrannell@mastodon.social
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

craiggrannell

@craiggrannell@mastodon.social

#Writer for hire. Mostly #tech, #Apple, #games, #retrogaming, design. Smashes out words for #Wired, #Stuff, TapSmart and others. Writes #DailyRetroGame here on Mastodon. He/him. GF/DF. Likes #Lego and Mini #Schnauzers. Email: hello at craiggrannell dot com // https://linktr.ee/craiggrannell

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craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

NeoSprint by Atari looks like someone dug Racing Destruction Set out of their dusty toy box. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6jXTy0_99I

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@Jayenkai Also like RDS

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

And, yes, I’m updating a massive apps round-up with a dozen new apps. And, no, I’m not having much fun with everything, because almost no-one has suitable imagery for use online, let alone in print.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

As long as I’m in the tech writing game, I’ll never understand why so many app and game developers – large and small – make it so difficult for media to more easily cover their products.

Make a press kit. Outline in simple bullet-point terms what your app does. Cover pricing if there are free/paid/sub versions. Shoot some screen grabs and keep them regularly updated. Put everything online (using presskit or something like Dropbox – whatever).

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Another from my past. I could leave home at 8 and get to the office at 8:50 or leave at 8:50 and get there before 9:10. One manager was baffled I was leaving early: just… show up later. She noticed I always left late anyway (again to avoid queues). Then I moved depts. Manager often rocked up hungover. Berated me one day when I arrived at 9:03. The previous evening I’d been there until an hour after end of day. Fun times.

From: @designthinkingcomic
https://mastodon.cloud/@designthinkingcomic/112483801902021191

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@designthinkingcomic I did push back. The area was open plan. Hungover manager was not happy. Got hauled into their office but my line manager did me a solid and defended me to the hilt. (He was often there early and late, and noted I was on average working several hours of unpaid overtime every week.) Hungover guy decided against anything formal but suggested I “show up on time to make a good impression on people”. Bonkers. And there’s still too much of this presenteeism about.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Apple has iCloud. No reason its devices shouldn’t optionally provide this info in centralised fashion. “Plug in your iPad!” would be useful. And, yes, I know there are third-party apps that do this, but they aren’t always reliable.

From: @harshil
https://mastodon.social/@harshil/112483666329883894

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Depends on the thing. If I could eg remove health conditions from my life that would also be adding something good, in a very real sense. eg whatever is going on with me and grains – if that went away, I’d be able to eat gluten (yay) and not have to worry about/recover from oats, corn and wholemeal rice.

From: @Njord
https://peoplemaking.games/@Njord/112477263141500404

craiggrannell, (edited ) to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Now there’s a GE on the way, recommendations for UK politics accounts and politics commentators who actually regularly post here (not just sporadic broadcasting or accounts that have been inactive since 2022) would be fab, if anyone has some. (Don’t worry – I won’t flood feeds with any of this stuff, although I may be a bit giddy on the night of 4 July, unless polling radically shifts before then.)

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@pasquires Yep. Most of the commentators I liked came here for about a week, complained they didn’t immediately get massive followings, and went back to X. There are exceptions. Stephen Bush posts and replies on Bluesky. But most folks appear to be article broadcast only.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@JonnyT good advice. Thank you.

sdw, to random
@sdw@mastodon.social avatar

I honestly cannot believe that we’ve been around for seven years! Incredibly grateful that I get to do this for a living.

We’re going to make it a very special 7th birthday.
https://mastodon.social/@halide/112486032382706523

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@sdw Would love to do that classic app interview with you this summer, if you’re game.

chartier, to apple
@chartier@toot.cafe avatar

“Who was asking for the iPad Pro to get thinner?”

Setting aside the fact our tech has been getting smaller and thinner for decades so I don’t really understand this question, I think the larger benefit is weight.

As someone who has been using a 13” iPad Pro for ~ 80% of my daily work and play for years, every fraction of an ounce they can shed is welcome, especially since this device is designed to be held; it doesn’t just sit on a surface like a laptop.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@chartier I’ve been baffled by this too. I’ve even seen people say “no-one was asking for a lighter iPad”. Which suggests to me they were using it like a laptop most of the time. That might be why they’re so annoyed it isn’t like a Mac laptop. For me, who mostly uses the iPad Pro 12.9in handheld, a change in weight would be fantastic.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@chartier Good to know. I’m not expecting light as a feather (nor even iPad mini), but any saving is good.

I can’t get on board with the thinner iPhone thing though. That seems like a misstep – thinness for the sake of it.

malarkey, to random
@malarkey@mastodon.social avatar

Tories out!

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@malarkey They will be soon! :D

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Nice that Sunak led with furlough, which fucked over millions of self-employed people.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@sdarlington It’s astonishing. My MP’s response to me was “everyone has to make sacrifices”. Yeah. Self-employed people got nothing. PAYE people were getting a big chunk of their wages. Although I doubt that many people are fully aware of that.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@crutlefish @sdarlington If someone’s set fire to your shed, maybe eject them from the garden, even if the next person you invite in may not have the money to fully rebuild it.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

So who else in the UK is currently watching a live stream of a door?

pete, to random
@pete@toot.bike avatar

Apropos of nothing (just yet), but finally sorted out registering to vote by post. It was dead easy to do online.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@pete A very, very, very slim chance the Lib Dem might squeak it here. I hope so. She seems good. (Zero chance for the Greens or Labour. I’d say 99% likely the Tory will cling on, albeit with a massively reduced majority that the following day will have local Lib and Lab people accusing each other of not getting out the way.)

stroughtonsmith, to random
@stroughtonsmith@mastodon.social avatar

I'm struggling to see an acquisition path for Humane; what unique technology would a potential acquirer be picking up? The hand projector? Software wise any AI features they've demonstrated so far (even if working as advertised) are going to be rapidly outstripped by newer, better models. A talent acquisition? They certainly have some beautiful industrial design, but you don't really need to buy the entire company if you want to poach that. Brand? 😅

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@stroughtonsmith Maybe it’s worth a few hundred million and that’s their real target. Aim high and hope for the best.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

IGN just ate Gamer Network. :/

The RPS editor’s been fired. Hard to see the voice of RPS and Eurogamer surviving, although fingers crossed both won’t just be mashed into IGN with a fork.

Funny how when I was a kid, I always dreamed of working on a games mag. Now, there are almost no paper mags left and the online ones are vanishing at speed.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/21/24161718/ign-gamer-network-acquisition

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@yesterzine Yeah, probably. Wankers.

craiggrannell, to retrogaming
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Wondering how big a Game Boy can get before things start getting a wee bit silly.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@MrNuclearMonster That’s the X2s, which has been engineered to work like this without modding. It’s a solid controller. But obviously it feels a bit weird and fragile to use with an iPad. Every time you extend it like this, it feels like you’re breaking it.

pete, to cycling
@pete@toot.bike avatar

UK’s new dangerous offence will achieve pretty much nothing

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/bike-blog/article/2024/may/21/uk-dangerous-cycling-offence-achieve-nothing

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@pete About right, although locally we do have issues with aggressive cyclists in very specific areas, and when I once mentioned that online I was in “mute responses” territory for weeks. So there is a small contingent of bonkers people out there. (The kind when you suggest cyclists be kinder to pedestrians responds by screaming “oh, you want me to get run over by an articulated lorry then?” who then proceeds to send you threatening tweets for days.)

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@pete Of course, there’s a world of difference between car hits bike and bike hits pedestrian. And way more car drivers (and, frankly, motorcyclists around here) are AHs than cyclists. AND most cycling infrastructure isn’t worth a damn. Still, it would be nice if some folks were a bit kinder and more broadly aware.

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