Ryan Grier

Nintendo 3DS Last October, I bought a Nintendo 3DS. When the...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:30:05 -0500

Nintendo 3DS

Last October, I bought a Nintendo 3DS. When the device came out last year, I thought it was a bit expensive (they’ve dropped the price since then) and wasn’t sure they would have many games I wanted to play. I bought it anyway because I have a thing for gadgets and video games (if you haven’t noticed). I thought that I may buy it, play it a few times and then let it sit on the shelve and ignore it. So far, that hasn’t happened.

I am really happy with the Nintendo 3DS. I own The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, and Pokemon Black (a DS game, not 3DS game). So far, I’ve finished the Zelda game and about half of the Mario game. The games so far are excellent. There are a number of games coming out this year that I can’t wait to try out.

The kids have also been happy playing the Nintendo 3DS. I have the parental controls setup so that they cannot play in 3D (because it’s bad for their eyes). I spend most of my time not playing in 3D either (it gives me a headache).

I wonder how the Nintendo 3DS will compare to the Sony Playstation Vita that comes out next month.

This is 55Laney69’s photo (from flickr).

Apple iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011 I went to the Apple iOS 5...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:00:05 -0500

Apple iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011

I went to the Apple iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour 2011 in New York City on Friday January 13, 2012. I was lucky enough to get into the free event held by Apple. I had submitted my registration last year, I didn’t think I would get in. To my surprise, I did. A friend a coworker also made it in. we decided to head up to the event together.

Apple did a really nice job at the event. The event was free. They gave us breakfast, lunch, T-shirts, and a wine and cheese reception. They also had a lab setup where you could discuss any issues with Apple engineers. If I would have known they had that setup, I would have come with some questions. They even volunteered to look at screen designs and source code to help resolve issues.

I came away with a number of subjects that I want to learn more about and implement in my own apps. Some of these topics include: using blocks, adding iCloud Support, Grand Central Dispatch, Automatic Reference Counting, and more.

I had a great time and learned a lot. I hope that I can make it in the next time they hold one of these events. I imagine this is what WWDC is like and would love to go to that.

Barclaycard US It’s been a while since I’ve posted...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:57:32 -0500

Barclaycard US

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. When Nokia announced that they were closing my local NAVTEQ office (over the next year), I decided not to post anything until I got a new job. I also locked down my twitter account.

I went on a few interviews and got a few job offers. In the end, I decided to work at Barclaycard US. I am working with a few fellow NAVTEQ coworkers there.

I had a good time at NAVTEQ and learned a lot. It was my first full time job as a mobile developer. I am going to continue in mobile at Barclaycard US.

I have not unlocked my twitter account yet, I am not sure if I will or not. I hope to post more here soon.

Penn State Football I haven’t been able to see a single...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:30:05 -0400

Penn State Football

I haven’t been able to see a single Penn State football game this year. I don’t really see that changing much anytime soon. Each Saturday that they’ve played, I’ve had something come up and haven’t been able to see the game.

This was also going to be the year that I finally saw a Penn State game in person. I had tickets to the Penn State v. Temple game (at Lincoln Financial Field) a few years ago, but the game happened to fall on Kenny and Jessica’s wedding date (poor planning on their part), I had to sell my tickets. I swore to myself that the next time they came to Philly, I would be there. Well, they played against Temple (in Philly) this past weekend and I wasn’t there. I tried to get a few people to go to the game, but no one was interested. I didn’t want to be there by myself, so I skipped it. Maybe next time right? Probably not.

I guess that I am not missing much from the games. From what I understand, they haven’t been playing very well. Aside from the Alabama game, these are supposed to be the easier games in their schedule (which isn’t a tough schedule). They need to figure out how to play better soon.

I hope that I get to see a few of the games later in the season. We’ll see though.

This is enviziondotnet’s photo (from flickr).

Gears of War Gears of War 3 is coming out later this month. So...

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:32:05 -0400

Gears of War

Gears of War 3 is coming out later this month. So lately, I’ve been playing both Gears of War (Campaign - with a friend) and Gears of War 2 (Multiplayer - with crazy people online).

I started playing Gears of War again last night with a friend. I haven’t played this game in a long time. The game feels a little dated. It’s a bit tougher than I thought. I realize some of the changes that they made for Gears of War 2 were definite improvements. It’s still fun though.

I have also been playing the Gears of War 2 multiplayer. They are having some nice bonus EXP weekends before Gears of War 3 launches and I am trying to take advantage of that. This weekend includes a 15x EXP bonus. I am still bad at multiplayer, but I hope to get a little better in the next few weeks.

I wasn’t originally excited for Gears of War 3. I wasn’t even going to order it, but I am pretty excited for it now.

This is Undertow851’s photo (from flickr).