Whether you’re writing a comment, or you’re writing a blog post, etiquette is hugely important. You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger and tell them “that’s a terrible pair of shoes.” You wouldn’t tell a random person “Your hair looks funny.” I’d hope you wouldn’t turn down an invitation to a birthday by standing on a podium in front of a large group of people and say “I will not be attending this!” It’s rude, it’s unnecessary – But I think the technology we have is in part to blame.
Author: Timlah
Looking to make the South-West of England a more "geekified" place.
Skills Development: On Retraining
Recently, a colleague of mine asked me to well “retrain her” on web development skills, as she knows about my web ventures with GeekOut South-West. Naturally then, I figured this was a perfect opportunity for me to retrain her not just for her benefit, but for my own. As such, I figured I’d write an article about what I’m doing to retrain her – and most importantly, how this can benefit anyone with any skill. Continue reading Skills Development: On Retraining
The History of Tekken
With Tekken 7 coming to a console near you soon, you can be sure the fighting-game giant is about to get an even bigger roster than ever before. From the swaths of fighting styles of which we’ve become accustomed, to the characters we haven’t seen for a long time, Tekken is promising something truly amazing in fighting games.
But how did it all begin? Continue reading The History of Tekken
Why People Make Mods
If you’re like me, you enjoy a good video game on the PC, you’ll be used to seeing a plethora of mods available for your favourite titles. With the invention of things such as Steam Workshop, getting mods on your games are even easier. But why do people make mods in the first place? Read on to find out more! Continue reading Why People Make Mods
The Challenges I face as a Cosplayer
Those who follow me over on GeekOut South-West will be very aware of the fact that I’m a cosplayer, a rather vocal one at that. This is a short post about the types of challenges that I face as a cosplayer and what I do to get around them. Continue reading The Challenges I face as a Cosplayer
The Blogging Perspective
Without having a reason to blog, many of us will simply sit around, always thinking that we can do better than those who write for a living. Well, if this isn’t motivation enough to begin blogging, then it’s time for you to consider all the other reasons why you should start up your own blog. The only way to drive this message home is by explaining my own reasons for beginning my ventures into the realm of writing. Continue reading The Blogging Perspective
The Geek Glossary – Pro-Wrestling
Professional Wrestling has been a staple of our television sets for a long time, love it or hate it. Old fans of professional wrestling will fondly remember when Hulk Hogan back in Wrestlemania 3, lifted André the Giant! It was a feat of strength that no one thought they would see. He lifted him clean off of his feet and then slammed him into the mat. Hulk then followed this up with the Big Legdrop for the one, two, three. Hulk Hogan defended his title successfully that day…
In the modern era of professional wrestling, a lot of the ins and outs of the industry have been heavily exposed. At the time of writing this, we’re moving quickly towards WWE Battleground on July 19th, the PPV (See below) before Summerslam 2015. I’m excited for it, but in preparation for Summerslam, there are terms you need to know as someone interested in wrestling. Even if you’ve never watched a show before, knowing the terms of the industry is a smart move. A lot of them have even moved to other sports. I won’t go any further on that one, but here’s The Geek Glossary: Professional Wrestling .
Timlah’s Guide to Convention Crews
We’re getting into the convention season here in the United Kingdom. This is probably true for where you are too, if you know where to look for your local scene. It’s an exciting time for fandom, as it’s a chance to meet up with people you would only get to see maybe once a year, or to meet people who are actually important to you from a media perspective. It’s fandom, for crying out loud, or as I call it: Geekdom! For those of you who are uninitiated in convention activities, let me break some of the usual goings on down for you:
- Cosplayers
- Panels
- Very strange and random moments
- Romance
- Bromance
- Necromancy… In Cosplay!
- Much junk food/sweets to consume
- Merriment abound
Does this sound like a bit of a blast to you? Well it sure is a lot of fun to the thousands of people across the world who flock to these massive events. But alas, that doesn’t mean it’s all fun and games. Behind every great convention there are a dedicated team of staff, often known as crew, who work tirelessly through the convention to bring the content the fans deserve. It’s not an easy job, it’s not even a paid position, for the record. It’s something people do for love of the community and I’ve had the pleasure of being a member of crew. This is just a few pointers and even some opinions of what it’s like to be one of these tireless workers.
Tablets – Chosing the right one for you
I am a big fan of Android devices, although for most casual users of mobile devices, I actually recommend an iPad.
This seems oddly strange for someone like me, who’s really into Linux and Android in general. I only recommend the iPad because it is Apples best product by a long way. I am sorry if you disagree with that statement, that is an opinion of mine which I am quite strongly set on.
I didn’t want an Apple device though, for my own geeky reasons. I wanted my own Android tablet. I wanted one because I like to do my articles on the go, I like to learn to program and as such, my 45 minute bus-rides to and from work leaves me with a unique opportunity to work on developing my skills, studying and even catching up with e-mails. So naturally you might be assuming that I have something along the lines of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Unfortunately, that’d make you very wrong.
Do your research
Research is the key in choosing a tablet that’s right for you.
First of all what do you want your tablet for? Do you even want a tablet? How do you know if you want a tablet or not? Before tablets became a mainstream thing, people would walk around with netbooks. They are small, lightweight laptops that can do anything a laptop can do: Only smaller and less powerful. They were built primarily with the intention of being super portable, able to do some work in an office environment. Basically, you had a computer wherever you went. Historically, this was the smart choice.
Then of course for people who want to do gaming on the go, they had proper laptops. Full sized laptops are bulky, a pain to carry around but were pretty powerful in general. Some didn’t have the greatest battery life (which is another point of contention for users of tablets).
But now-a-days, people want something that can play games and do these office tasks. Clearly then you might as well go for a full sized laptop, unless you wanted portability.
Pros to a tablet
It should be fairly obvious to state that the main reasons to get a tablet are:
- Small
- Lightweight
- Powerful (depending on tablet)
- Large variety of apps (depending on tablet)
- Data plans are plentiful
- High support of Android and iOS these days
You’ve decided you do want a tablet, how do you choose the one that’s right for you?
First of all you need to decide the size of the tablet you want. Is it going to be a larger tablet giving you more space to work with or are you looking for something really compact?
With size out of the way, just decide the applications you’re going to use and go on a Google binge for tablets the size you’re looking for. Set yourself a budget (in my case, I set £90/$150) and find as many reviews as you can, preferably through trusted reviewers.
That’s all well and good, but why wouldn’t I choose something such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab? Purely it was price and I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to like having a tablet. I mostly wanted to trial one. But I’ve not looked back at my purchase unfavourably.
Why did I choose the PiPo S1?
Check out the PiPo S1 on Amazon.
The PiPo S1 is a relatively unheard of tablet. Nay scratch that, it is absolutely unheard of but it’s specifications for its size and price were impressive to say the least.
Of course, I was sceptical. This unknown brand selling a tablet that’s not exactly established any kind of market territory, was boasting good specs and for a low price. You know the phrase “it sounds too good to be true”? Well, normally it is, but in this ones case I was quite happy.
Benchmark tests on the PiPo S1 shows this performs as powerfully as something of this size ever could hope to. At least for now. There’s a more full review of the tablet itself on Android Tablets. The low cost was the main driving point as I didn’t want to do much with a tablet except check a few e-mails around the house over Wi-Fi, be able to do a few other things over WiFi and even some low-spec games. It does them all flawlessly and as such, for the low as heck price (I paid below £60), this might as well be the tablet of choice for anyone who’s looking to just try a tablet out.
Do you own a tablet? Which is it? Let us know what you think of this or even if you think I was foolish for buying a PiPo S1!
I can tell you, the tablet has kept me amused and it does power through any little problem it faces. I’m happy with the purchase, but the question is: Will you be happy with your tablet purchase? Just remember, if you don’t like it – use your returns policy. The PiPo S1 was shipped in from China, so this is another point to be weary of. You might find the tablet you get isn’t quite the same everyone else has.
In my case, I was looking for a cheap netbook and this tablet was cheaper than that and it does what I wanted it to do. The money I saved I used towards a case for my tablet, with a built in keyboard. This has seriously upped my productivity when I’m on my long dreary bus rides in the mornings.
Use of non-derogatory words in derogatory ways
Language is the most powerful tool at our disposal and I can prove that in just a few sentences. If I were to tell you that you were a “beautiful, wonderful person”, you’d feel good about yourself for it. For the record you are indeed a beautiful, wonderful person and don’t let others tell you otherwise. Continue reading Use of non-derogatory words in derogatory ways