From last week (LJ still not posting)
I finally got around to playing some Portal 2 co-op. Thinking with a second set of portals is a bit more involved than I expected. There were a few times where I deliberately sent my partner in science to his demise, but we made it through the first two chapters rather quickly. It was also a cross-platform experiment with him on the PS3 while I used the PC version. You really couldn't notice. I have to say, I'm not a fan of the alert notices, since you can't cancel once you hit the button and if you aren't pointed at the point you wanted, you might not be able to access the intended suggestion. It would be nice if you could retarget without selecting a command. Meh. It didn't go too badly, though. In the waning hours of the night, I beat the last two levels in Plants vs Zombies (iPad version). Now I can finally play individual levels and with my entire arsenal, to boot.
I've also been playing with a couple of new toys. Their acquisition have overshadowed an actual need, though. My Nexus One is ailing. The battery is suffering, overheating problems have started cropping up, and the plastic/glass on the camera has a large crack that makes pictures with point sources of light impossible. I love my phone, but regarding it like Monty Python's Black Knight and the "only a flesh wound" mentality can't continue indefinitely. The plan is to shift to the Streak for the time being (with the N1 in reserve for when it's special properties are needed), hopefully making due until the next generation Nexus device becomes compatible with my carrier. And it needs to be a Nexus device. The lack of carrier restrictions or manufacturer skins is nice, but the level of software support is key. Updates before anyone else and access to more experimental apps and features are hard to do without once you have them for a while. In the event a compatible Nexus 3 (or 2 since the second was dubbed 'Nexus S') failing to reach market in time, there is a Nexus S variant that should be able to fill in. For the price, there isn't much more that comes with, and I lose a microSD slot in the process, but at least it should work. For the record, that Nexus S is cheaper than a second-hand Nexus One with the same 3G bands.
I've also been playing with a couple of new toys. Their acquisition have overshadowed an actual need, though. My Nexus One is ailing. The battery is suffering, overheating problems have started cropping up, and the plastic/glass on the camera has a large crack that makes pictures with point sources of light impossible. I love my phone, but regarding it like Monty Python's Black Knight and the "only a flesh wound" mentality can't continue indefinitely. The plan is to shift to the Streak for the time being (with the N1 in reserve for when it's special properties are needed), hopefully making due until the next generation Nexus device becomes compatible with my carrier. And it needs to be a Nexus device. The lack of carrier restrictions or manufacturer skins is nice, but the level of software support is key. Updates before anyone else and access to more experimental apps and features are hard to do without once you have them for a while. In the event a compatible Nexus 3 (or 2 since the second was dubbed 'Nexus S') failing to reach market in time, there is a Nexus S variant that should be able to fill in. For the price, there isn't much more that comes with, and I lose a microSD slot in the process, but at least it should work. For the record, that Nexus S is cheaper than a second-hand Nexus One with the same 3G bands.