Kinect Games - EA Sports Active 2

Other than a heart rate monitor this game is junk as far as being Kinect enabled. You need a controller at several points which defeats the benfits of Kinect.

I did not find the program itself to have as many features as Your Shape and if possible I would have returned this game because of it's cost($100) and my disappointment in the quality.

Of the 9 games I have tried this was the one I felt I really over paid. I do not feel it has been worth the money.

However, if you need to integrate a heart rate monitor into your exercises this is still better than the WII and Move versions. The reporting on heart rates was interesting ;)

Kinect Games - Your Shape

If you don't care about the hearrt rate monitor this exercise game is much better than EA Sports Active 2 game. You can see it was built for the Kinect and really helps you perform exercises properly.

It will show you exactly which parts of your body are positioned right for an exercise(they show in green) and which are not(shown in red). From the start a controller is not needed. It also provides several exercise games, TiBo and Zen exercises. There is a lot to this exercise game.

If you want to get into shape this is a good game to get. It is much better than EA Sports game except it doesn't come with a heart rate monitor.

This was the frst game I purchased and it still is very good. Expect to sweat and feel good that you are performing exercises properly.

Kinect Games - Kinect Adventures

This game came with my Kinect controller. It is simple yet a lot of fun, especially for multiple people. None of the included games require any special skills.

When I show people the Kinect quite often I use this game first because it is easy and fun. Anyone can understand the games yet they are challenging for experienced players.

I like all the games but I prefer the white water rafting as it provides a high level of interaction. Although it can be frustrating when playing with 2 people for serious gamers(One person goes left, the other goes right ;) It is just so much fun.

However, if this game did not come with the Kinect I am not sure I would buy it. I prefer the games that specialize in one thing because they are much more detailed and the quality is usually better.

Kinect Games - Kinect Joy Ride

Of the 9 games I tried this was the simplest to play yet among the most fun. Since I like racing games anyway me liking this is no surprise.

If you are looking for an advanced racing game this is NOT it. You do not control brakes, gas or shifting. However you do get Turbo boost, and you can do tricks when in the air.

I am not sure if it is me but I notice no difference in upgraded cars in regards to performance or handling. Maybe I should read the manual(that thingy no one reads) more about cars ;)

This game is just fun. Especially with 2 or more people. You can compete against each other in certain races and need to work together in others. There are lot's of race types including tricks, run over stuff, race each other, race online, race computers and more.

Getting into tricks can really rack up the points and I found this takes up a lot more energy and makes you glad you don't have to shift, brake or accelerate.

Of all the games I have played I have spent the most time on this game. I have virtually every car now and most tracks I have gold. Sometimes I wonder why... then I play it again ;)

This game could certainly benefit from being able to control braking and acceleration but I found I got used to it. Also I found standing all the time does get tiring. I never tried sitting down while playing it might have worked.

Kinect Games - Deca Sports Freedom

Of the games I tried this was the cheapest and quirkiest of them all. Although several sports are similar to the other 2 all in one sports games there just seemed to be a lot of delays and problems in movement recognition. Further I found the quality to be lower than the other 2 all in one sports games. However it does have a lot of sports to try and probably had the best selection of interesting sports.

Overall I found the all in one sports games to be good for group playing because of their simplicity but not very good for the serious gamer. Regardless, they are all still more fun than stupid controller games.

Kinect really makes you feel you are part of the game.

Kinect Games - Fighters Uncaged

Of all the sports games this is the most realistic and challenging. There are around 70 moves you can do. They include using your legs, knees, elbows, fists, and head.

You better expect to get in shape if you want to play this game. Of all the games I have played this is the most intense and you will break out in a sweat... but it is a lot of fun.

This game really shows the Kinect off. You really get more of an idea of the games that will be coming in the future. This game will really benefit when they come out with a "force feedback" suit that will have you feeling the punches.

As it is this is by far the best sports game if you really want to get into the game. However if you don't like the fighting you won't like this game.

I can tell you I get very tired playing this game for even 15-30 minutes. It really requires a lot of energy as you get further into the game.

If you are a real gamer that likes great detail this is the game for you. Don't waste your time on the all in one games that have boxing... They just don't have the advanced details and options.

Kinect Games - Kinect Sports

This all in one sports game is the best for smaller kids but is still good for adults. Although not quite as good as MotionSports for adults this game is very similar. Whatever you do don't waste your money on more than one of these all in one sports games.

If you have 5-10 year old kids around get this game. If not get MotionSports. The 3rd all in one game is not worth the money as far as I am concerned.

This is a great game to get up and running quickly. No real time learning anything as movements are rudamentary and as long as you know the basics of the sport you will have no problems mastering the game.

Of the 3 all in one sports games this is a close second to MotionSports.

Kinect Games - Dance Central

If you are looking for a dance game this one is pretty good but if you are a good dancer this can be frustrating... Everything has to be done the way the game wants it done.When talking freestyle dancing I find this defeats the whole concept of "freestyle".

If you are a newbie or are willing to do things the way the game demands this is actually quite fun. However you can't just jump into the middle and expect to do well. You have to learn the moves that the game knows in the way the game wants them done.

If you want to learn to dance this can actually show you a lot of moves as you get further into it. Another good game for small groups of 2-4 people.

I did not review the other dance game so I have no reference if this is the best one. I have found it to be fun once I realized I had to start from the beginning... I had thought I could start in the middle with all my dancing experience... I was wrong ;)

If you like line dancing or following someone elses lead or you just wat to learn this is a great game. If you like to dance "freestyle" this will not let you... You must dance the way it says to do the move. 

Kinect Games - Motion Sports

Of the 3 sports games I reviewed this is probably the most adult version. In all these sports games I fnd they are at best limited but are very good for group play. These games are great for getting 4-8 people together and having friendly competitions.

You need a lot of room for these games because they involve a lot of movement. The first time I played this game I hit my foot on my metal framed bed when playing soccer... It recorded the video of me hopping around after kicking the bed ;) Quite humerous.

I was not impressed with any of these all in one sports games as each game is limited. If you want sports games go for ones of the specific sport you are interested in. For example Fighters Unleashed is a fighting game that has over 70 different moves and is very complex and full featured.

These all in one versions really stand out in groups. They are easy to get started and do not take a lot of training. Virtually anyone can do well right away. Games like Fighters Unleashed take some time just to learn all the moves that are available.

If you are thinking of the all in one sports games for adults this is probably the best choice. If you are looking for kids this is good but Kinect Sports is better.

Which Browser to Use?

Updated 2010-01-21
Well things have really changed but then again it has been 7+ years since my last update  . The desktop has a smaller market share. With 3G/4G finally getting rolled out smart phones are quickly becoming the surfing method of choice. Everyone uses the custom browser that their smart phone comes with. On the desktop there are now 5 main competitors(what a change from the 1-Microsoft-in 2002). In my opinion... 

1. Chrome is best for personal use.
2.  Safari is best for developers/designers and people that want the absolute best graphics(more failures than Chrome in my experience).
3. Firefox is a close 3rd.
4. Opera has some interesting otions(like voice)
5. Have to wait for IE9 to see if it is going to catch up with the rest. 

What’s next? Who knows on this one. I would expect that voice will finally start to gain ground but people won't adopt technology that doesn't work near 100%. For sure CSS3 will be widely supported since virtually all browsers(even IE9) support at least 95% of the standard. Standards are really starting to win because of the number of vendors. Now that is a surprise... Usually standards are the first thing to get sacrificed in competition but in this case all the vendors have committed to them so it is difficult to back out and the group force everyone else to support the standards.

Updated 2002-12-17
Most Netscape(NN) supporters have not backed version 6 thus NN is stuck at version 4 and has fallen out of favor. Meanwhile IE has now gobbled up 80%++ browser share. Wireless devices are rapidly taking market share from both browsers but these devices aren’t ready to be smart clients yet. They are advancing quickly however and are great where screen space is not important.  There is no doubt the “browser” issue has now become even more complex with many new devices supporting only XHTML, WML or proprietary languages.  NN is now relegated to the “Other browser” category for most sites that attempt to support multiple browsers… You know, basic web site with no advanced features… Like this site. Future updates will probably deal more with wireless devices like phones and PDA’s than NN. At less than 10%(for all versions) NN is no longer worth supporting a customized site.

Updated 2000-09-02
A new Netscape is in town. It is going to shake things up a bit. It might even take some market share away from IE(not much). Anyone that hates Microsoft will for sure use the new version. But much more important is that developers embrace Netscape’s guts to really attempt to support W3C/ECMA standards. I have updated this site and know both IE and NN6 enjoy the same experience. Let’s not kid ourselves. IE is still a better browser but Netscape V6 is a real step forward. I want to ensure that IE isn’t the only browser in town. I just don’t want to write 2 sites to support each browser.

Updated 2000-03-26
Well IE 5.0 has been released(with patches) but where is Netscape(NN)? Since AOL took over the browser it has gone to never-never land. Comparisons between the two browsers shows NN is starting to fall behind Opera(browser) in standards support. When looking at DHTML or CSS Netscape falls way short of meeting the standards. The object model is much more difficult and limited. The browser crashes repeatedly and I even found a JavaScript bug that corrupts Netscape. That’s right, you would have to re-install to get it to work again. It looks like AOL purchased the browser to ensure it gets buried…..But I could be wrong. Around 75% of traffic seems to be using IE4.0 or better at this time…..My how things change…..Just not as fast as I would like.

Updated 1999-02-25
Both Netscape and Microsoft say they will support the W3C DHTML spec. Ya, right… Anyway, IE 5.0 Beta has been exceptionally stable. Matter of fact it has been more stable than IE 4.01. I really like the auto-fill capabilities but from a user perspective that is about all you notice. It does load certain pages faster if they are built for IE 5.0. For some quirky reason I have to start it twice before the browser will display on one of my systems. Once it goes to a full release I would get a copy, but wait till then.
As for Netscape….I have not tried the 5.0 version so I can’t comment.

Updated 1998-08-23
Microsoft has all but closed the doors on Netscape. It is no longer a question of which is better. IE4.0 comes with Windows 98 and is integrated into the system. Businesses will use IE because it will require less administration and integrates into IIS servers easily. Critical mass has built up on the client base for IE. Soon Microsoft may have to support Netscape like Apple just to ensure they don’t get those nasty law suites. It would be strategically sound for Microsoft to throw away a few mil. As for the active desktop you can install it but make sure you do not select the option to show window contents while dragging. This option only creates a lot of overhead for your system and no real gain.

Updated 1997-11-01 originally published 1997-09-25
With IE4.0 released and NN4.03 you can upgrade both but do not install the Active Desktop(IE4). Both are as stable as previous versions(yes, they still crash). The advances made with DHTML take browsing to a new level and are definitely worth the upgrade. Even if you surf strictly for content you get advantages. The ability to hide and display content dynamically in itself gives great advantages.
Both browsers support Cascading Style Sheets(finally) and DHTML expands CSS capabilities. The differences between browsers referencing CSS will probably be resolved with a little from both sides(not exclusively one side). JavaScript has become the standard scripting language and with DHTML extensions is going to create havoc on Java’s future. Many things you just can’t do with JAVA can be done easily with DHTML. Securing scripts from the client is still a major stumbling block for scripting languages(You can’t stop clients from stealing code). Layer technology will not likely survive standards committees. VBscript will not survive as a client scripting language unless Netscape^® adopts it or Microsoft^® create a free plug-in(to bad). Netscape^®has new life(for now). NN4.03 is not as good as IE4.0 but is very close. It has a prettier interface than IE4.0. This has become more a personal choice than ever.

Actually, the browser war is over, Netscape^® just doesn’t know it yet;)
There are really only two browsers, Netscape^® Navigator(NN) and Microsoft^®Internet Explorer(IE). I know about Lycos, Mosaic, etc. but they are so limited in usage that it is hard to count them. At this moment use BOTH(Netscape^® and Microsoft^®)! But use V3.*, neither has a stable V4 yet. I suspect that IE4 will be stable but let’s wait till October 1st and see.
If you have to choose I would recommend Microsoft^®’s Internet Explorer(particularly on Windows95/NT). Microsoft^® has the standards, the money, and a free browser. Not to mention I personally think the capabilities are far superior to Netscape^®. By no means is Microsoft^® perfect. I have several issues with things they do(you might see a few on different pages), but they have the best browser.
Netscape^® makes a very good browser. They used to be first by a long shot. Now they are a close second. IE Version 4 will shut the door but it will take years to take effect. Remember….this is today, tomorrow an even better browser could pop-up(but would it be good enough to buy it?). IBM^® will probably buy Netscape^®’s browser before Netscape^® gives up(they need A browser for junk OS/2).
As a technician I cheer for Netscape^®’s cause but as a business owner I buy Microsoft^®.

Domain Registrars

Updated 2009-11-25
I am still with Domainsatcost.ca but Registryfly.com had to stop registering domains. They were doing something that was not allowed but never affected me. Moved the COM sites to Domainsatcost.ca.

Published 2002-11-12
Picking a good Domain Registrar(DR) is more important than you might think. I mean what do they do? They register your domain name right? That used to be the case but things have changed in the past few years.

What you are about to read is my personal experiences with 3 different DR’s. Specifically www.DomainsatCost.ca, www.registryfly.com, andwww.networksolutions.com (now owned by Verisign).

DomainsAtCost.ca
After 2 years of using DomainsAtCost.ca(not .com) I would definitely rate this the best DR out there for .CA domains. Their price can’t be beat but there is much more. Their service is excellent. The website is fast and easy to navigate(It could bet even faster and more efficient with a few minor performance tweaks). The site is great for managing multiple domain names at once. They make the process as painless as possible. In addition they provide what I consider an invaluable FREE redirect service that can redirect to a folder in a website (critical for multiple domains and only one website). They also provide the best search engine for common Domain Names I have found. It includes a “similar” name list on each search. Just the search engine is worth checking out their site. I highly recommend them. The only negative comments I can say is that their price on US domain names is a higher than their US competition($14.95) and for some reason more than DomainsAtCost.com (but still a good price) and email response on weekends could be improved(maybe it has, rarely need email). Compared to other Canadian DR’s DomainsAtCost.ca has no competition.

Registerfly.com
This company just keeps getting better and offering more services. I first used their service 2 years ago. They are great for general use except for .CA domains. Register with them and you may not need any other service providers. They provide many FREE services at a very cheap price but again it is service that is important. Everything works through the website and is fast and fairly easy to navigate. The problem with navigation is they have so many options(not a bad thing). For $8.99us per year you can have your domain registered, have email, and a very simple website. Now that is tough to beat. They have lot’s of other FREE options with registration. They do not offer .CA domain registration unfortunately. I prefer DomainsAtCost.ca but this company is a close second. If I needed more of their free services I think they would be #1… tough call.

NetworkSolutions.com
You knew there was going to be an exception…
Originally I started with NetworkSolutions(NS) back in 1995 when I registered my first domain. They were the only DR available. It was simple to register because my web service provider did it for me. The cost… $70 per year, services, absolutely none. You would think paying such a premium would get you top service… HA!!! Here is my 7 year nightmare… There was no problem until I changed email addresses several years after registering. That is when I actually had to get involved… Since I no longer had my old email ID(dropped acount 6+ months before) it was virtually impossible to communicate with NS to renew my domain. At that time they did not accept anything unless it was from email. Go to their website and forms were very complex and almost impossible to find the right form. Navigation was one of the worst I have seen. It took 6 months to finally get my email changed with more back-and-forth than I care to remember. After that I moved… another nightmare trying to get my information changed… another 4 months… Their price has always been among the highest (until recently they were $30 per year…now $15.00/year-if you register for 2 years). A year ago I finally got fed up and went to change DR’s before I had to renew. After 2 months of messing around the domain was expiring and I had to renew with NS. This year I decided to get a jump on transferring. I started on September 27th(renewal is April 2003) … Good thing… I am still screwing around with the new “Verisign” to get this accomplished. I have requested it be transferred 3 times now and it still hasn’t happened. Each time the whole process works except the confirmation email from NS(now Verisign)… I even get email stating the request was rejected because I did not confirm the request. Each time the response I got when I contacted Verisign was “try again”… On the 3rd attempt I wasn’t going to wait around for it to be rejected… Requested transfer yesterday everything proceeding like other times… no response from NS by 9am today… I called them and someone(David) actually looked into it… “for some reason” they can’t see where they are sending the confirmation message. They should be able to… they just can’t… appears to be sending it to a blank email address?? Good someone actually looked at this AFTER my 3rd attempt. When I called Verisign I did note that it was quick to reach someone and David was very polite and responded to my issues as best he could. I was informed the account would be moved within 2 days. If this doesn’t get done you know I am not going to be very happy and this article will be updated for your reference. Just a thought for you…. 100 domains here= $7,000/year… 100 domains registerfly.com = $899/year
Hopefully Verisign can salvage the client base from NS. It will be a difficult challenge given the abuse NS’s customers have had to endure. Verisign will have to adjust very quickly and add a lot of options and I’m not sure they are prepared for the scope. Verisign is a big company and this integrates well with their other services to provide complete end-to-end solutions. Please note that Verisign has inherited a mess, they did not create it!

There are many good DR’s for US domains now, not so many for .CA domains. You no longer have to accept poor service and high costs. Shop around, the difference can be extreme. I have seen registration charges as high as $100 recently.

So like I said… 
Picking a good Domain Registrar is more important than you might think

At time of publishing the only relationship I have with any of these companies is as a customer. The comments here are my personal experiences with 3 companies, you may have a totally different relationship with any or all of them. Due to experiences with NetworkSolutions I spent countless hours reviewing many DR’s before deciding. I think my choices have worked out well. There are DR’s that are a few dollars cheaper but guaranteed good service is worth more than $2 per year.

Like always, these are my opinions…. I could be wrong.

Flash 5.0

2009-11-25
I never did get back to this and spent little time with developing Flash. It is still very popular particularly for ads and media companies. I may review the newest version to see what has changed in 10 years.

2000-10-07
I have recently been playing with Flash 5. I am not sure yet whether I love it or hate it(probably somewhere in between). Either way I am going to start to use it. Please note since I am just starting with Flash 5 some information may be inaccurate.

What is it?

In a nutshell it is an animation software and player. The player is “built in” to virtually all new browsers. It has been extended beyond that to interface with other HTML components(like JavaScript/Java…). It’s three biggest advantages are browser independence, animation, and vector graphics. If used properly it can produce a very efficient and pleasing site.

What I like

1. Browser independence. No special code for Netscape or IE. Both browsers support Flash and newer browser versions come with Flash preinstalled. 
2. Object Oriented. Instancing can really improve your sites performance while giving you cool effects.
3. Animation. Need I say more. There is lot’s of it. Too bad it doesn’t support 3D(yet). Then it would be even more interesting. 
4. Timelines. Match up that music to the animation, create object instances each with their own timeline.
5. Vector graphics. Extremely efficient graphics method. Flash 5 allows some very nice effects.
6. Single file with at least basic protection of developers code.

What I don’t like

1. Coding view. You can only see the code for a specific object at anyone time. Would be nice to have option to see code for entire layer/scene. 
2. Proprietary coding standards. There are so many it isn’t funny. 
3. Abuse. Some people make Flash pages that are 1meg+ in size. Eventually this will be fine but right now this is abusive. 
4. Not fully robust yet. It is getting there but working “outside the box” can get tricky.  

I still have to get used to the interface and how it works. The flash tutorial and samples are invaluable for newbies. There is no question Flash 5 has a place in most web sites. Even to a point of being the entire website. There will soon be an entire section for Flash at this site. Many written by an affiliate that is a much better graphics/Flash person than I.