I bought pots...hooray?

I bought pots and pans today...specifically THOSE pots and pans...I'm not excited about it.

[UPDATED] Poor Judgment

This is an example of weather that would
make it acceptable to drive slowly...

So, since I've moved to Colorado, I've been rather unimpressed with Coloradans' driving skill in inclement weather...or in darkness. It seems whenever it rains, snows, or just gets dark, people here decide 10mph under the speed limit is MUCH safer...

Please open door slowly

So, last week as I was walking through a door in my office that opened outward, someone else yanked on it, hard, from the outside. Earlier, I had discovered that I could avoid the static electricity shocks I always seem to get when I touch the handle if I grip the handle quickly and firmly...so I had a good grasp of the door, and the act of someone tying to yank it out of my hand caused me to jerk it back closed again. Apparently, the person on the other side wasn't prepared for this since the next thing I heard was what I assumed to be someone's head connecting with the door and a loud curse. 

FINALLY, Android has a native Facebook app

Live today, Facebook has finally updated its Android app to use native coding, rather than the slow and frustrating HTML5 web viewer of the past. Facebook claims photos, newsfeeds, and timelines will all load at least twice as fast and garbage collection optimizations means the app won't slow down over time. The downside? Still looks like crap on my Nexus 10. Pics, official changelog, and link to the app below.

[Review] Assassin's Creed 3: Where we finally get meaningful playtime with Desmond...

Because this is a review, and not a a discussion of the game, I'll do my best to make this spoiler-free, as their are several big moments that I wouldn't want to spoil. I'll be posting a separate article later to talk about the ending, as well as a few either important scenes from the game.

GeForce Experience has huge potential

Nvidia recently launched its Experience app in closed beta form, limited to the first 10,000 downloads. The app will allow users to automatically download driver updates and will automatically download the optimal settings for games based on your current configuration from a server.

Journey soundtrack nominated for Grammy

The argument of whether video games are legitimate forms of art, has been ongoing for years, with neither side gaining any real traction. However, with the Smithsonian American Art Museum's "Art of Video Games" exhibition this year, and now the first ever video game soundtrack nominated for a Grammy, it seems the tides are shifting.

Google Now gets some shiny new boxes

The Google Search app saw an update in the Google Play Store today that adds several new boxes to Google Now (for those of you on Android 4.1+) and three new voice commands. You'll find the full changelog below and you can find more information on Google's blog, or on the Google Search page in the Play Store.

[Android Police] Surface RT: About What We Expected

Android Police (one of my recommended sites, at the right) recently published an article that's not so much a review as impressions after living with a Surface RT for a couple weeks. The article brings up a lot of good points on how the Windows 8 RT experience stacks up against an Android tablet experience, that I think we're glossed over in many of the reviews of the Surface RT tablet. The gist of the article is that Windows is known for - namely multi-tasking and productivity - are much better on the Surface RT, while things like gaming and app selection are pretty meager when compared to Android. The author also goes on to talk about how the Surface RT's hybridization of touch and keyboard/mouse input will impact the tablet and ultrabook scene, so check out the full article at the source link below.

Source: Android Police

Google I/O 2013 set for May15-17

In a post on the Google Developer's Google+ page, it was revealed that the 2013 Google I/O Developer's Conference would be held in Moscone Center West in San Francisco, CA from May 15 to May17.

Distro, you're so tiny...

I hate to call specific websites out, but one of my favorite websites to get tech-related news is Engadget, and they have a nifty, magazine-like publication called Distro, which essentially puts all of the week's biggest articles into an easy-to-read format that I could browse on my phone or tablet using the app. At least, that's the theory...

The reality, unfortunately, is that while it works beautifully on an ipad, and even on the Nexus 7, it is completely incompatible with my HTC One X, and on my Nexus 10, it looks like this:

I can just make out the text if I squint real hard...

[SPOILER] ____ was a traitor?

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have any plans to finish Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and/or Revelations (and have not done so already). 

I've been playing through Assassin's Creed 3 (love it, but I'll write about the whole experience at a later date) and during one of the first sequences in the modern timeline you start talking to the other members of your party about Lucy Stillman. Particularly, one conversation with Desmond's father where Desmond talks about how he (again, SPOILER) killed Lucy at the end of Brotherhood. But what specifically surprised me was when he said that although Juno took control of him, he agreed to kill Lucy because Juno showed him what would happen were she allowed to live.

Remember that time Microsoft said we could use the XBox Smartglass app as a keyboard for our Xbox 360?

So, after getting my entertainment system set up in my new apartment and hooking up my various gaming consoles, I decided to try out the new Xbox Smartglass app that I had heard so much about. I figure, I've got an Android smartphone (HTC One X), a Nexus 10 tablet, and both a laptop and desktop both running Windows 8. Plus, I use my Xbox for media streaming all the time, so this should be a GREAT thing.

And, really, it is. Using my phone as a surrogate controller actually works really well, and there was a specific instance when I was watching TV with my family over Thanksgiving and my Dad wanted to show me an episode of Duck Dynasty, which I was able to find on my phone and then bring up on the Xbox with zero menu navigation.