craiggrannell

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to random

It’s starting to really get to me in the UK how many people are furiously angry about the prospect of more solar on fields when many actual farmers are enthusing about how great mixed-use fields can be. (Solar can shade animals and plants. In many cases, it can also be combined with rainfall capture. It’s about making better use of some land, not replacing one thing with another.)

craiggrannell, 6 months ago to random

The press response to Apple results today is everything wrong with capitalism in microcosm. One of the biggest companies in the world, making billions in profit, is beleaguered and in a rough patch because it cannot maintain endless massive growth and has ups and downs.

Parts of the world are on fire. We should be prizing sustainability. But no. And we are never going to learn this lesson.

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to random

I get that Meta blocking access in the EU frustrates some people. But the takes from primarily US-based people are quite something. The EU prioritises guardrails and safety. Yes, that can sometimes lower agility. But it does mean eg food quality and safety tend to be higher. And it also means tech companies have less opportunity to ride roughshod over its population.

craiggrannell, 5 months ago to twitter

Current #Twitter thinking:

• X: dying (and dead-to-me) Twitter
• LinkedIn: business Twitter
• Bluesky: comics Twitter
• Threads: a-bit-too-much-like-Twitter Twitter
• Mastodon: not Twitter – thankfully

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to retrogaming

Everyone today: CAPTCHA is evil and getting worse!

Me in 1985: grumbles at Lenslok

The more things change…

#retrogaming

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to threads

New rule: anyone in the UK arguing non-ironically that access to #Threads is a #Brexit benefit is henceforth to be catapulted into the North Sea.

craiggrannell, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to iPhone

Let’s (try to) crowdsource the names of the original #iPhone #AppStore apps and games!

I’m writing a piece on the App Store turning 15, and I couldn’t find a list of the original ~500 App Store apps and games from 11 July 2008, which I thought was strange. @jamesthomson, whose PCalc was there from the start, suggested we might be able to crowdsource this, for posterity and future research.

Here’s the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EpEm01wn18K1Nh_xDU8jZYwRfL9f6KkYUMjJvUPZpc4/edit#gid=0

If you have info to add to it, please do. Please share!

craiggrannell, 2 months ago to random

I find it curious that this is even possible, given that Wordle itself was a straight rip of Lingo, which itself was in part based on existing mechanics. Games build on other games. The NYT denying that stops others from having the success Wordle itself enjoys.

From: @helvetica
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@helvetica/112057219275560466

craiggrannell, 5 months ago to AdobePhotoshop

I’m writing a big mobile #app and round-up for print early next year. If you’ve created something you think would fit the bill, let me know (or remind me, if you’ve emailed before).

Items need to be:

• New or significantly updated in 2023
• iPhone, iPad and/or Android

Android apps in particular are of great interest.

(All shares of this appreciated.)

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to random

What is Mastodon? All you need to know to switch from Twitter • https://www.stuff.tv/features/what-is-mastodon-all-you-need-to-know-to-switch-from-twitter/

^ By me, for #Stuff, refreshed with some new edits. Hopefully newcomers will find this useful.

#MastodonTips

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to random

I bought a couple of SSDs on Amazon in November. The same model is now listed as a Prime Day deal, at 50% off, for a third more than I paid.

craiggrannell, 1 year ago to random

My #Stuff column this week: Why I want Apple Arcade to include classic arcade games – and why that’ll never happen • https://www.stuff.tv/features/why-i-want-apple-arcade-to-include-classic-arcade-games-and-why-thatll-never-happen/

#retrogaming

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to random

I’m not sure what a viral post looks like here on Mastodon. It’s hard to gauge on terms of raw numbers. But I’ve had a few recently that have been reposted a whole bunch of times. The one commonality: my mentions are full of discussion, not rage. The discourse is thoughtful. This is in stark contrast to certain other online venues.

craiggrannell, 1 month ago to random

If you don’t already own Retrospecs, go and buy Retrospecs, because it’s wonderful. And then read my interview with John about how the app came to be. https://www.tapsmart.com/apps/classics-retrospecs/

From: @Middaparka
https://mastodon.social/@Middaparka/112156345123966376

craiggrannell, 7 months ago to random

In 2012, I fell ill. Abrupt dizziness. It took a while to realise it had been triggered by OS X animations. iOS 7 was worse. I couldn’t use my phone. Ten years ago today, my piece ‘Why iOS 7 is making some users sick’ was published in The Guardian, kicking off years of fighting for better vestibular accessibility in apps.

I wrote a piece about all this here: https://reverttosaved.com/2023/09/27/apple-reduce-motion-and-the-battle-for-vestibular-accessibility/

craiggrannell, 1 year ago to random

Just found the new and affordable $499 #Google #Pixel tablet is rocking up in the UK at £599. That’s a bit of a piss-take.

($499 is currently £397. Add VAT at you’re at £476 and change. Add some wiggle room for currency/imports and you go to £499. Maybe £519. But £599? Seriously?)

craiggrannell, 7 months ago to random

An editor at TechRadar realised that I’m getting on a bit and asked me to write about life before Google – services that helped us survive the early days of the internet. I mostly write it while shaking my fist at clouds, obvs.

https://www.techradar.com/computing/internet/life-before-google-7-retro-services-that-helped-us-survive-from-altavista-to-hotmail

craiggrannell, 10 months ago to random

By me for #Stuff: Looking back at Apple’s iPhone App Store at 15 – and 15 notable launch day apps • https://www.stuff.tv/features/apple-app-store-birthday/

craiggrannell, 11 months ago to random

#DailyRetroGame 132: The Colony (1987)

Rocking up years before Wolfenstein 3D, this pioneering title sits halfway between it and the superb Mercenary. David Alan Smith’s game may well be the first ever FPS, but it was also heavy on exploration, charging you with finding/rescuing survivors who’d not yet fallen to deadly alien invaders. Amazing for the time and still a compelling challenge today.

Play it on: #Mac

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MtNUrlcyVc

Source: https://github.com/Croquetx/thecolony

#retrogaming

craiggrannell, 29 days ago to Emulation

People defending owners of old gaming IP all day long. Look, I get it. And #emulation is often iffy. But imagine if other mediums were like gaming. 99% of music and film inaccessible unless you owned original hardware and original media, slowly degrading and liable to die at any moment. It’s insane that gaming is in the place it is. I’d long hoped for an ‘iTunes for MAME’ years ago, but no. The closest we’ve got to something remotely sensible is ‘Netflix for #retrogaming’ Antstream Arcade.

craiggrannell, 9 months ago to random

I love Dan Slott’s response to Musk’s rebrand:

“They're changing the Twitter logo to an "X".

Literally the icon I click on when I want to close something on my computer.”

https://twitter.com/DanSlott/status/1683106623831638016

craiggrannell, 2 months ago to random

That depressing thing when you as a tech writer get excited on seeing a press kit link and then deflate when none of the images are usable.

App and game #devs: if you want to shove screenshots into device frames and depict them at weird angles, have at it. But a lot of writers need just the screen grabs as-is, uncompressed and at full size.

craiggrannell, 17 days ago to retrogaming

I interviewed Numskull about the two new Taito Quarter Arcades and why preserving lesser-known arcade games matters. https://www.stuff.tv/features/beyond-space-invaders-why-preserving-forgotten-arcade-games-matters/

#retrogaming

craiggrannell, 1 month ago to retrogaming

Sir Alan’s 8-bit wonder is 40! I wrote about it here, and outlined six of the best games, which I’m absolutely certain won’t cause arguments that I should have picked something else: https://www.stuff.tv/features/the-amstrad-cpc-at-40-and-six-of-the-best-amstrad-cpc-games/

Anyway, if you like #retrogaming, please have a read, because then it means I might be able to write more retrogaming stuff for Stuff.

craiggrannell, 14 days ago to random

Column! Sorry, Netflix: I don’t want your ‘with adverts’ plan – here’s why • https://www.stuff.tv/features/sorry-netflix-i-dont-want-your-with-adverts-plan-heres-why/