Steven's Voyage

Coke knows we are leaving soon

As a die hard Tempe Run player (level 35  in OZ) , I do find Running with Friends a lot of fun.

Many would say this is just a knock off game, but it actually has many innovations and very polished details.

Just like while Candy Crush has the same core game play as Bejeweled, it innovates well beyond them so then are having  such a wild success.

here are a few things I find and like in the a few games I just played:

1. Playing against friends is fun,and turn based is good,too

2. Animations are fun and nice, the elements in the game are much more than in Temple Run,and as a result, the game doesn’t run as fluent as Temple Run on iPad mini

3. Running head to head with bulls,cars are super exciting. And you can run pass other AI players in the game, which makes me feel less lonely while running (a big problem in Temple Run)

4. Ads are a bit annoying but acceptable, and I like that Zynga doesn’t force you to pay.You can win gems in the game from time to time. And I don’t see Running with Friends on top of grossing chart yet (though No.2 on top free chart) I like this mild charging process,that they are not milking /monetizing users crazily.

I just found messaging features in the game, no idea where this is going. Maybe Zynga is trying to build a community?

Anyway, a well polished game,will play more to see where it goes

What a blast. Have been binging for a few days. The plot went I much faster in the last third, and so many surprises.

1. Who will take the lead after Tywin is dead? Jaime possible ?
2. How will Jon get involved in the battle for thrones in book four.
3. Both Tyron and Arya are heading for free cities, how will their fate interwine with queen of dragons.
4. Who will conquer the north, Stannis ?
And so many more

Should I rest a few days before starting book four ?

Seriously great stuff, from Paul Graham’s  Hackers & Painters, last section of Chapter 14

Alert! Alert! Sony TV in an Apple store! (at Apple Store)

at Lexington Reservoir

inspiring speech from  Bastion’s Amir Rao

I bought Bastion on iPad, impressed with the game, especially how easy to navigate and control the game.

Their model is very interesting,started on XBOX,and the original developing team keep doing all the portings.

It’s like “band on tour” because they do things “one place at a time”

And instead of finding the minimal denominator across platforms, they try to explore unique value in each platform. 

And instead of one splendid launch on multiple platforms,they launched on one platform and port to other platforms in more than one year, and in the process , builds momentum “90% of purchases are after the first month”

My best shot today (at Fremont Central Park-Lake Elizabeth)

Just bought  two Straight Talk sim cards last month and have been happy with them. $45 per month, unlimited calls,texts. Claims to be unlimited data, but seems to cap around 2GB/month, enough anyway.

But yesterday when I tried to buy one more online, only T-Mobile cards shows up, and T Mo is pretty bad in bay area.After knowing they are refarming their frequency to support 3G for iPhone, I paid $70 for unlimited 4G traffic last month, really bad coverage and speed, not usable at all.

So I emailed ST customer service and get the response confirming that they’re not selling AT&T sim cards right now, and no estimate when they will resume selling. 

Seems best option is to get one on eBay. It’s still the best option for travelers in US

Miss my dog (Taken with Instagram)