Author Archives: Chris Scott Barr

Since online piracy started becoming a thing in the late 90's, companies have warned that it cuts into sales. One could argue that piracy can act as a means for generating interest in something, which a person might later purchase. Or that pirates wouldn't be buying the movies/music that they illegally download anyway. A new study does show a link between movie piracy and lost sales, but it might actually be the studios' fault.

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We've all been there. You're sitting on a flight, crammed between someone that's spilling into your seat, and a kid that's kicking the seat in front of them. Thankfully, you've got a screen in front of you that will give you some sort of relief. Of course, you'll have to pony up the cash for the privilege. Well one airline is planning on doing away with those charges.

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It's been roughly two years since Facebook decided to strip the chat functionality from their smartphone app. Instead of letting users just download a single app for all of their Facebooking tasks, the company forced users to install a new app to chat, called Messenger. Of course, you could get around that by choosing to go to the mobile Facebook page and chatting there. But even that is coming to an end.

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Have you ever wished that someone else could do all of your grocery shopping for you? You just make the list, and then someone shows up at your door with exactly what you ordered. Amazon can deliver a lot of goods to your door, including fresh food options in some locations. However, another major retailer wants to start delivering your groceries.

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While Minecraft has undergone many changes over the years, the core focus of the game has remained the same. It's still a building game first, and everything else is secondary. Well soon you'll have some new tools to create even more interesting things in the Windows 10 and Pocket Editions of the game.

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Nothing takes the fun out of an online game like cheaters. It's one thing to take on opponents that are simply much better than you at the game. That gives you incentive to work hard, practice, and get better. But if you run into players that don't take damage, seem to headshot from across the map, and can see through walls, you aren't going to have any fun. Blizzard knows this, and that's why they're making sure that cheaters don't ruin Overwatch.

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I dabble in photography, and occasionally shoot performances and events for friends. In addition to my camera, lenses, and tripod, there are some very important things that I pack in my bag. These are extra memory cards, and spare batteries. If I don't have the right lens, or a tripod, I can still shoot pictures. However, if my camera dies, or I run out of space on my memory card, there's nothing I can do. Well it turns out that Nikon D500 owners may run into issues with their batteries dying before they should.

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In the past, commitment meant that you fell in love with someone, exchanged rings and vows, and lived happily ever after. These days, people apparently can't even commit to watching a TV show together without one party cheating on the other. Sure, it seems harmless. You'll just jump ahead and watch the next couple episodes of House of Cards, even though you promised never to do that. It's okay though, you can just act surprised when you re-watch it with them. Well, one company wants to prevent this from happening, by once again using rings as a means of commitment.

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When updates come out for a device, it tends to be good practice to install them. This is especially true for firmware updates, as they can sometimes drastically change the operation of the device. Unfortunately, sometimes those updates can backfire, and that's exactly what appears to have happened with certain Chromebooks.

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I'm terrible about backing up my phone. I generally only need to charge it overnight, so I simply dock it when I go to sleep. And since I'm only at my computer for the first half of the day, I rarely think about plugging it in to sync. Well one company wants to help you backup your phone every time that you charge it.

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There are a number of differences that set consoles and PCs apart, as far as gaming goes. Better graphics, key/controller mapping, and mods are some of the major ones. However, now one of those is no longer exclusive to the PC, thanks to Bethesda's most recent initiative.

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If you head to the store to pick up something that's got the Atari logo on it, you'll probably end up with one of those joysticks that you hook up to your TV, that plays a bunch of retro games. Or maybe a t-shirt, because retro is in. However, someday in the future, Atari will have their name stamped on IoT devices.

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