Oddball Update – Page 6 – Chief Oddball writes about tech, games, cars and family life

Google Nexus 7 Impressions From an iOS User

September 14, 2012September 14, 2012 Chief Oddball

My company recently acquired a Google Nexus 7 tablet for web application testing, and it occurred to me that this device would be an exceptional way to feel my way around the Android OS which I have never used before. This small, 7″ tablet came running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is the latest version and is highly regarded as the most refined Android experience ever.

Somebody Figured It Out

September 14, 2012September 14, 2012 Chief Oddball

I just came from ordering my wife a new iPhone 5 32GB in white. I have to say, this was the most painless iPhone purchasing experience I’ve ever had. Unlike last year with the delays, the server hitches, the AT&T screwups that cost me my texting plan (I eventually got it back)…this year it was just wait till Apple Store came up, order phone, get confirmation email right away, call it a night.

Meat Damage: My First Game of Android Netrunner

September 13, 2012September 18, 2012 Chief Oddball 4 Comments

Today’s office lunchtime game break consisted of Android: Netrunner, Fantasy Flight Games’ new re-issue of Richard Garfield’s original 1996 design. This is pretty much a deck-building game, where a major component involves collecting useful cards that grant you the ability to take actions, make attacks and shore up your defenses.

Fill Your Cravings at the Circus of iPhones

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012 Chief Oddball

Apple finally introduced us to the iPhone 5 today. Funny thing is, I felt like we’d already met. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that almost every piece of this phone already leaked out of Apple’s sieve-like supply chain in the last couple of months.

They’ll Bury You In A Lunchbox

September 11, 2012September 12, 2012 Chief Oddball

I’ve always been an avid video gamer, but lately I’ve started to get into tabletop games as well. One of my colleagues is a newly-discovered tabletop geek, and every day he brings a new game in to the office for us fellow geeks to play over lunch.

Introducing Oddball XI (Well, That Was Fast)

September 11, 2012September 11, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

Little more than 24 hours after initially expressing my dissatisfaction with the direction this blog’s design had taken it, I completely gut the whole thing and slap a new design on it. As I’ve grown accustomed to saying lately, “I’m probably crazy.”

One Year Later: The Oddball X Relaunch and its Mixed Messages

September 10, 2012September 11, 2012 Chief Oddball 1 Comment

Just shy of a year ago, I relaunched Oddball Update. Revision 10, or “Oddball X”, was a sea change in the presentation of this blog. Whereas before it had been a blog and only a blog, Oddball X attempted to transition the site into a news-and-reviews format, featuring big glossy images and a clear separation between blog and review content.

There Can Be Only One: Choosing a Smartphone in Q3 2012

September 9, 2012September 9, 2012 Chief Oddball

I’m pretty familiar with what my wife is going through right now with her smartphone. She bought her iPhone 3GS in April of 2010, just one month before the launch of the iPhone 4. Worst possible time to buy an iPhone, you might say.

Acclimate or Die: The Importance of Keeping Pace with New Tech

August 24, 2012August 24, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

In my younger days I spent a lot of time experimenting with a great many things in the realm of computers. New games, new software, new OS tweaks, new hardware types, new ways of doing old things. I loved being on the bleeding edge, and if something new that I tried didn’t work out, I usually fussed and fretted and pounded away at it until I made it work out.

The Dishwasher Dilemma

July 24, 2012July 24, 2012 Chief Oddball 4 Comments

My wife and I have decided that we really, really need to replace our dishwasher. It hasn’t cost us hundreds of dollars in repairs. It hasn’t leaked all over the floor. It hasn’t caught fire. But it doesn’t clean the dishes.