Gravitational Pull - Latest Comments

Re: Apple’s iPad may be the perfect computer for kids

Ultrabook — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:02 -0000

I got my toddler a $2 app today & it has gone a longer way than a $20 toy.

Re: Review: Top 10 reasons why Civ V is awful (updated)

Naaaaa — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:09:01 -0000

i have some more.

1.no videos- not for wonder, and not for victory. the videos was one of the coolest things in CIV 4

2.Greedy leaders - apparently, there only 2 way do deal with other leaders - or you could do every thing they want, give them all your resources, go to all their wars, and basically be their bitch. or - after one time you refuse to help, they will hate for ever and ever, until you vanish them. also, AI leaders are allowed to make friendly request for help (and if you refuse you came out as a jerk) but if you want some help- it suddenly a "demand"

the only good thing different from civ 4 is the hexes.

Re: Verizon FIOS – wowie, wow, wow

reseller web hosting reviews — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:54:12 -0000

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Re: Review: Top 10 reasons why Civ V is awful (updated)

Skooleded — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:21:52 -0000

As a game design student, you are a perfect example of a bad game critique. You show no acknowledgement of why features were replaced or why they are boring. and you use emotion rather than hard fact to get your point across. How do words like boring, dumb and lame tell me anything about why the game is bad? Also the only site you referenced to prove your point is to amazon, leaving out websites like gamma sutra, IGN, Game informer, hell even meta critic. Civ has had the same basic layout since the first game, luck and chance played a huge part in war as strength was decided on a chance roll. Exploration was always frowned upon early game since cities could never defend themselves. in civ 4, sickness had no real effect on game play other than to divide up why your people were unhappy. Espionage was always luck basked and never had any true barring on a war, and wasnt a true core mechanic of the game. Graphics, have otherwise stayed the same except more people on screen and hexes instead of squares (so i guess civ 4 had crappy graphics too according to you?).

I loved civ 4 even though the luck aspect turned me off (in game design, if you are punished and dont understand why, such as loseing a fight due to luck, your game is not fair). I liked how i felt like a dictator and could use religion to sway leaders and control my government on a micro level, but i felt the game was overly complicated for no reason. why add sickness to the game when you already have unhappyness? why make war based on the roll of a dice? why do i collect culture when I cant spend it on anything? why do i need to take an extra step of loading my units onto a ship to cross a body of water? Realism does not mean a game is fun, though it can enhance a game for people who think it is fun. Civ 5 in my opinion fixes so many of these issues, by trying to take a step back and realize what made Civilization a game in the first place, its not realism, but interesting decisions.

A war is going badly for me, do I use my money to build troops or do i use it to have a city state attack from another direction? do I want to expand my land to gain more growth per turn or do I need to make my people happier so i can build more cities? Do I want to use my culture to help me in a cultural victory or a technological victory? All of these decisions are now greater in number and easier to understand and easier to execute now that i can buy friends, choose how to grow my borders, spend my culture points. I believe civ 5 fixed a lot of the loose ends that civ 4 presented, and although simpler in design, the game is just as fun as civ 4 without the redundancies. Do i miss staking units, spreading religion, using espionage, and choosing civics? Hell ya i do, that's why I still play civ 4, but you can bet ill be playing civ 5 more often than not.

Re: Review: Top 10 reasons why Civ V is awful (updated)

Zaxwerks — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:28:54 -0000

Can't get hooked by all these new features because the game loses its power to immerse the player... Rushed to market, the game is truely un-playable on most systems...Unrealistic and tedious. A massive step backwards...What a sad, sad day. I sat awake at night until the game arived here
last FRI. J.J. said it, a mess is right. The addictive quality of the
game is gone, not endearing or fun...the AI is not at all interesting, surprising, or even rational......and no I'm not talking about Civ 5... all the above are what people were saying about CIV FOUR when it came out... sound familiar?

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Emy Coolgirl — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:10:08 -0000

Guys . I don't have the " + " button to enter a task ... Why is this ?!! What shall I do ?! .. Please help

Re: Kindle for Mac review: Just the basics (updated)

Sea_nest — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:45:01 -0000

I can't find out why my Kindle for Mac does not show page numbers, or if page numbers are just not used on tablets. Without page numbers, you can't cite anything.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Steve — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:04:53 -0000

Clicks???

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Ldcco — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:18:29 -0000

Every time I use the app without Siri it freezes on me and I can't scroll down to see my complete list of reminders. Very frustrating!!!

Re: Using iTunes Match to get rid of DRM-protected music

Glenn Fleishman — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:34:28 -0000

For those 25 burn them to CD and then rip; you won't get the higher quality, but you will strip the DRM.

Re: Review: Top 10 reasons why Civ V is awful (updated)

Chris — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:12:07 -0000

I just don't like the removal of stacking. They tried to turn the game into chess but the ai isn't smart enough to use it effectively an d it does ruin immersion when every space on the map is occupied by a unit. Also, every game I've played ends with the old 4 powerful civs left, the rest eliminated. Civ 4 somehow had a balance where most nations made it to the end. I just don't think the penalty for over expansion is enough, as opposed to 4.

What's most telling is I can't play out a game on epic. Still l haven't finished a single one. The 2.5/5 stars is pretty accurate and glaring when compared to one of the best games of all time, Civ 4.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Jwdsail — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:22:16 -0000

Reminders stinks even w/ Siri IMHO..

For it to be useful to me, I'd prefer user-adjustable geo-fences (circle range, range up and down a road, etc), the ability to set a reminder location from a map, or gps coordinates, etc...

Reminders also needs to be adjusted to not constantly monitor location if I'm a great distance from any reminder locations.. If I'm more than a 1 hour drive away from the nearest reminder location, check GPS for location every 30min. This would greatly improve battery life.

I'd also like to set GPS coordinates per contact, as well as geo-fences per contact.. I may want a 5mi geo-fence around a supplier/vendor, or a 50ft geo-fence around a customer's place of business...

I really hope we don't have to wait until iOS 6 for these much-needed improvements....

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Cameron — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:23:39 -0000

Interesting blog, check out our article about Siri! http://venpop.com/2011/5-easy-...

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Curmudgeon — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:17:55 -0000

Uncheck the reminder list you don't want to see leaving just one reminder list, Boom, separated by list name. So, saying you "can't" separate them is for from correct.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Jordandrosenberg — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:20:49 -0000

What I would love to see in the reminders app. is a countdown clock, like a pomodoro. I looked for an app that would plug in to reminders, but no such luck at first gander.

Anyone know?

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Guest — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:58:27 -0000

Couldn't agree with you more.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

downysoft — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:43:27 -0000

Which is to say, I never realized I was missing a piece. It makes much more sense as a dichotomy. Remind me at a certain day or in a certain place. But perhaps that's another piece of evidence that the main use cases thought out were those using an iPhone and mostly with Siri.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

downysoft — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:22:29 -0000

No, as it is on my iPod Touch rather than iPhone.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

comex — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:08:16 -0000

Do you not have the "At a Location" slider?

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

shinratdr — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:02:38 -0000

This is the guy from those infomercials who can't open a package or put plastic lunch containers into his cupboard without screwing it up and cutting himself or having them fall onto the floor.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

ampressman — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:59:27 -0000

This is under 5.0.1

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

downysoft — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:46:33 -0000

The really odd thing about the interface is the "On a day" slider when it really means something more like "set a notification". When I slide it, I think about what it means for "remind me on a day" to be off. I suppose "remind me never" is the answer, but I prefer to think it's some unimaginable unit of time that exists outside of our calendar of days, weeks and months, like "remind me in the nanosecond that occurs between Tuesday and Wednesday on odd years that we don't account for". I also wonder, "Who thought that was a good idea?"

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Rescodoug — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:34:32 -0000

You are right, the app is pretty bad. It's even worse when you sync with OSX. Then you can't even separate your reminders by list name. However, here are a couple of tips:

You don't have to click on thr plus sign, just start typing in an empty line.

You can set the date first by using the calendar at the bottom of the screen

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Random — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:32:35 -0000

This is not true for 5.0.1, the process there is different, since you first have to create the reminder "in place", click on "done", you then continue on with step 7 from the list.

Re: Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks

Guest — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:08:59 -0000

No. The OP is correct. The Reminders app is vile and Apple should be ashamed.