Beatmania IIDX Gameplay Report - December 24

Well, it looked like Konami implemented another mobile gaming element to one of Bemani games this year, this time with Beatmania IIDX Sinobuz's castle intrusion event. What this does is to increase the amount of riceballs by 1 per 10 minutes of not playing the game. The maximum you can get is 2000 riceballs but bear in mind that you don't migrate the riceballs over to the next castle so the remaining ones will be lost by the time you've completed the previous one. I believe that it will take estimated two weeks to get 2000 riceballs which you can gain with the Replenish command. There's also the Skills command where you can reduce the enemy's strength, increase your strength, reduce the consumption of riceballs, etc. Choosing Search will search the castle for treasures, gates and enemies to deal with and then choose Event to begin battle. You get to choose Event Cards to deal with which may look like a virtual card battle you will have in mobile games, not the arcade games.
Once the whole castle is like 100% searched and raided, all is left is the boss character to deal with to conquer the castle. Like always, events like this can be grindy and Konami has already gone to the deeper bullshit level with the Ninja theme for Beatmania IIDX after the Train one.

Sound Voltex IV First Play - December 24 Gameplay Report

Last week, Sound Voltex IV was released for the arcades and some of the features were not part of it at first until the later updates like the Skill Analyzer feature due to changed difficulty scale. The difficulty scale is equivalent to the present time of DDR starting in which the latest extension for DDR started with DDR X. This extended to Level 20 for Sound Voltex IV. It opened a bigger opportunity for the experts but for me, the change doesn't affect me that much as I'm still attempting the remaining Level 13 songs from Sound Voltex Booth and III. Level 14 onwards is already more difficult enough for me like I managed to clear some.
Another change was that the song unlock feature was made less difficult and you can unlock the songs at anytime in the music select screen. One condition is that certain songs can be like accessible in the final stage or something. Elsewhere, you still need the sufficient amount of blocks to unlock the songs.
The Music Select and Entry BGMs are what I can think of mashing up with and especially for the Matching screen BGM. Strangely enough, there's no Title Screen BGM whatsoever.
There's also the new type of FX note that causes the clap sound when you press it correspondingly. Unfortunately, I don't like the way some parts of the notechart are set up for certain songs like the patterns are akin to doing the disgusting calls and responses as gross nerds do in concerts. It has been like this ever since the first Sound Voltex game with some of the Exit Tunes songs and the notecharters/effectors of those songs can go fuck themselves. Even the theme song of Sound Voltex IV, Heavenly Smile, is guilty of that bullshit for sure.

Huge corrections

At least I had sense of remorse in the past due to realization on how disastrous the stuffs I worked on and made available in my blog like it was nobody's business were. Prior to the recent updates, there were still traces of the past stuffs I put in as scene subjects where the bashing stuff was already useless upon the initial availability of Maximum Bullet Force back then. It was a disaster sometime after I realized that like nobody would care. However, that did not mean that I would let myself off the hook that way after knowing that there were a few hundreds of views on certain blog pages until the recent time I made one last major update to it using GMS after using GM8.x for a long time. I guess that it was done as an apologetic compensation but even then, it would look like nobody would care after I crossed an abandoned line. Also, I took down Double Judgment but obviously, people would care more for the good stuffs I did.
Another thing I worked on for years was Infinite Overburst and from that time onwards, I was already more careful but as this is in pre-final phase, I can promise that the final version in the future will not have anything that drags me beyond the line. Even my Facebook photo album was recently updated out of my remorse although it couldn't be the same for my former Myspace account not because the momentum was completely empty, I didn't have time for that that I eventually removed my Myspace account like it was an useless past opportunity. It seemed that the updated Myspace service opened more doors for photo, music and video posting but it looked like I already had better time with Legitmix, DemoDrop and Soundcloud.
Graphic-wise, everything looks done from scratch, redesigned or perhaps retraced since the beginning of the development so none is imported although most of the stuffs redone belong to the respective authors originally. Plus, advertisement or sales of my stuffs I worked on have not been allowed in the first place anyway. For this paragraph, I'm not even talking about the recent assets used for remastering Maximum Bullet Force. What is not done from scratch is the sound effects like I took those from various sites and credited the sources when possible like I already did. Without credits and references, you could be accused of taking stuffs you don't own for your own stuff you work on anyway.
Prior to some change of circumstances of two years ago, I already put in some references in the description/introduction page all along which might apply to most stuffs I put in. I was also sure that I put in/gave credits all along.
Then, about the past rumors I put in about some phone number or any other catastrophic bullshit in my blog, thankfully, those make-ups about them were pointless and senseless all along like nobody would care in the present time. And after this post, I already took down the the posts with that tag to ensure that I have a new remorse. Also, what will be taken down after this will be the posts related to Double Judgment and past stuffs I worked with G*** M**** as I forgot to clean them up last month or few months ago from my blog related to Double Judgment in addition to having done the major clean up on my computer and my external hard drive. I might have mentioned someone from my secondary school days in the past but then, nobody knew who that person was and I couldn't even reveal the name like people thought it was a mysterious topic I came up with.

Bugis Junction Virtualand closing down in January 3 due to mall redevelopment

It's a shocking official announcement from TKA that Virtualand in Bugis Junction will be closing down in January 3 due to the mall's redevelopment. It should remind us of other famous places that closed down for redevelopment as well like Funan Digitalife Mall for instance. It's not that we can be sad over this like why would we want to over such announcements like that but I might have seen certain radicialized nerds going emotional or depressed over the fact that some of the games have to come to a good end according to the official announcements. Same thing can go to the idols in Japan where they switch careers after years of performance which is obviously one dark part if you don't have the passion on something else.
In terms of mobile gaming, most of the modern mobile games on IOS and Android may be on-going for few to several years before being shut down for good. Who knows if there will be a sequel or not for those games? However, it doesn't mean that it's all over for you because of that. You may have other games to go through or maybe other important things in your life.
In case of Virtualand arcade in Bugis Junction being shut down, who knows if that main game center will be located at one day? Also, we already have alternatives which are way too easy to find like the Century Square branch of the arcade which is called Star Factory. Various machines from the main game center in Bugis Junction will be relocated to many branches.
Dark parts within you due to closure of your favorite place or perhaps your favorite mobile game being shutdown/ending services for good may involve things like cussing the corporation that manages the place or the game, getting depressed like you have nothing in your life or perhaps, some other bad things you may end up doing out of your rage. They are what you SHOULD NOT do.
What about a cartoon franchise that ends development for good like the story's all finished and that's that? I'm sure many fans will be sad like that but you should know how to move on after that, right?
Out of the comments coming from the repeat players of Bugis Junction branch of Virtualand, one of them thinks that the complete end is coming closer or something. Seriously? I can imagine that he's getting depressed over that closure like he thinks that either some global disaster is coming or maybe he's trying to take his own life which is a bad thing. But since this is more or less an imagination, I have already figured out that everyone has already moved on with alternate strategies. Obviously, there isn't any proper evidence about some global disaster going to happen this month but such kinds of rumors would take me back five years ago where such kinds of rumors circulated like that and they turned out to be false. Stop this kind of bullshit! It's traumatizing and terrifying to me ever since such discoveries way back in 2008 unless you're stupid enough to spread those kinds of scary bullshits that put horror stuffs to shame.
Grow up now. We're already mature adults and good nerds but if you're too radicalized until now like thinking that some cartoon franchise or character is your only life, perhaps, there will be more of those similar franchises in stores for you to no end and especially that some loser ambition like Love Liver popped up in the list of what do you want to be in the future. Unfortunately, that ambition doesn't even count and especially for becoming a gamer in which you ALREADY ARE! GET A REAL AMBITION or something like Doctor, Firefighter, Sports-person, Engineer, Musician, Programmer, System Administrator, IT Professional, etc. That's a professional ambition you're going to get unless you don't care for one at all that you end up cussing me like that.
What about the amount of money you spent for getting additional in-game premium currency in mobile games, then? For me, I don't do this kind of bullshit because it's a DANGEROUS feature. Certain losers already did just to get specific virtual cards via Premium Gacha feature. Sure, I admitted that I bought one PSN card for adding premium currency for Toro's Friendly Network on PS Vita or something but the thing is, there's no gacha feature whatsoever for that game. Like other modern mobile games, it was pretty much shutdown for good. What if the mobile game you play regularly starts to become unplayable? Or better yet, what were your goals in certain games in the first place? Have you gone beyond them? Sure, the in-game events in Bemani games take up too much credits which can be bought with tons of money but I'm SURE there are other ways to unlock whatever songs we want. In fact, rather than spending a few thousands of dollars for a specific stuff in mobile games, you could have bought something expensive with that.
Back then, it may seem that arcade gaming scene was still sensitive financially over how difficult those games were in which you end up spending tons of dollars to complete one game provided that the game has the immediate respawn feature but checkpoint based revival prevented average players from making further progress that only experts are able to get through in a credit, saving them tons of money but nowadays, with increased replay value thanks to on-going in-game events, this is where things are starting to become as dangerous as free-to-play mobile games with microtransactions. Completing an in-game event for one arcade game is already a dangerous idea for me as it takes so much credits and time and it can be worse than games on other platforms since other players also want to play it as well.
In fact, it may seem that the console/computer/smartphone gaming has pretty much taken over but the arcade gaming scene is still active and popular thanks to such increased replay value I mentioned above. However, the article writer at Mothership.sg about this news had the inferior guts to mention Fl***y B**d in the list of mobile games as viral example WITHOUT even mentioning computer/console games. What else is dangerous is that some of the console/arcade games already have the elements borrowed from mobile games like Gacha feature, microtransactions, etc.
Anyway, the future arcade trip will be at Century Square and at least, that should save me all the transport costs although there will be still be public transport costs on somewhere else.

Beatmania IIDX Sinobuz First Play at Bugis Virtualand

Perhaps, the title says it all but the last time I played IIDX Sinobuz was at Century Square arcade the other time. The goal of attempting the remaining IIDX Pendual songs still continues to this day. Not to mention the various updates of this month like the new Maimai sequel that already came out along with the new Sound Voltex sequel that will come out soon. Hell, I believe that the new Pop'n Music and GITADORA sequels already came out before I recently knew that. The day I played IIDX again at Bugis Virtualand was in Dec 15.
After the gameplay, you get presented with a mini-game again, this time, you're supposed to raid the castles from bottom to top floors. During gameplay, you get presented with items needed for that event. When you're inside the castle, you're supposed to search it for an item or a target. You can consume the amount of riceballs for extra strength by choosing the third option. Once you've located a target, you get to choose the second option to encounter it. There may be other options I don't know of that I have to look up online.

Gatebox Communication Robot

I guess the future may have come with a bunch of Sci-Fi like stories where you get to talk to an AI floating around the place. I guess that those stories had been around ever since the past time but the thing is, those virtual assistants happened to be fictional. In case of Siri, Cortana, etc., all you can do is to request her something and she will issue you the information but this sort of assistant isn't as technological as the Gatebox Communication Robot. It is akin to talking to a fictional AI assistant character you see in games, movies, edutainment, cartoons, etc. but this one seems to be limited as there's no way the character from this device can wander around the house other than being trapped inside the device. Also, it device may or may not be quite finalized yet like there's insufficient amount of lines the virtual assistant character can say. There may be holographic stuffs but the projection can be inaccurate at times.
Telling you reminders may be a thing but I don't think that's quite enough as the virtual assistant can't mention the exact title of whatever stuffs you're reminded to unless the words are common like mentioning that you're reminded to attend a meeting or perhaps an event at the specific time in which the virtual assistant can mention. The workaround is that there's a chatbot that sends you text messages but I don't know how that works as an IOT device. The device also has the ability to wake you up, tell you the weather, chide you for arriving back home late and to control various IOT devices before you reach home.
Last problem, what if some stranger comes to your home? What if someone doesn't appreciate this sort of technology like it's an annoying nonsense or something? There's no way the device can deal with home intrusions, burglary, etc. like that. Worse thing is that even an emergency contact to the police for instance over home intrusion may be useless as well as there may be chance that the bad guys may or may not smash that device away. Also, the device is assumed to use bluetooth, Wi-Fi or both for communication. Obviously, this kind of technology doesn't have this security ability as it is up to security cameras to do the security work. There may be places that are heavily protected as indicated by the "Protected Place" signs like in addition to security cameras, there are also other security stuffs like the intrusion siren, some emergency communication in case of things happening like that but obviously, you don't need this kind of large security for your home as those materials are extremely expensive.
As this device is made in Japan, I may be turned off upon seeing it but I can assume that the same concept can be available in the western Sci-Fi style. I already have the policy against 'establishing the relationship with a fictional character'. So, if you think that that cartoon-style character is your girlfriend/sister/wife or whatever, I can block you on my accounts for delusional relationship as this kind of behavior is part of what Radical Nerds do. You don't deserve to be a nerd anymore if you do that kind of bullshit as it is unacceptable and disgusting in my opinion. So, get a REAL girlfriend/boyfriend, get married and form a family with children!

Evernote privacy policy controversy

Upon seeing the news from Neowin or any other tech site regarding the controversial change to the privacy policy from Evernote, people were like pissed or maybe thinking on things like, "What is Evernote thinking?", "Will Evernote betray us like Microsoft does with Windows 10?", etc. It is absolutely wrong for any tech company or ISP to track the users for no reasons other than advertisement on their accord. In fact, a company that does this can be sued when that happens and it may seem that some US ISPs might have gone way too far by enabling cyber-surveillance way too early before some big situation happened in 2001 which caused the huge change in circumstances in which things couldn't be undone. It may be a right time for lawsuits against illegal cyber-surveillances to happen but at least Evernote is off the hook as they have realized the mistake.
At first, the change in privacy policy was proven controversial if you're into protecting privacy. Such a simple controversy like this and yet Evenote became the next betrayal that the users would migrate their notes to alternate services like OneNote for instance. Even worse was that the change falls under the Windows 10 level in which even if you turned off the option like "Allow Evernote to use my data to improve my experience" from your account settings, there's a chance that your data could still be collected other ways.
But then, Evernote had realized the mistake and the data collection part requires the permission from you. The change is supposed to take effect in January 23 but instead, in the coming months, the privacy policy will still be revised. The data collection won't happen unless you opt-in which gives the employees of Evernote the permission to take a look at your data.
The official mistake correction from Evernote can be seen in this link and The Three Laws of Data Protection can be seen here.

Google's inaccurate Best Android games of 2016 list

We were lucky about the Best mobile games of 2014 list like we took it for an accurate one but for this year's, it's not the same. It's not that Google and Apple have screwed it up or something if you ask.
For Pokemon Go, I already ranted about it over the lack of proper security even with the policies intact. It was declared mediocre for me like it should fall under the Disappointing Games of 2016 list. Fast forward to the present time, I can assume that the game's having some improvements and in the future, there will be additional 100 Pokemons for Pokemon Go. So, I guess that the game has gone from mediocre to a fine game and even then, it still falls under that list I just mentioned but it is inexcusable to put the game that is terrible, average or okay in the top 5/10 games of the year list. Not to mention that even The Game Awards had gone a little incompetent into making Pokemon Go as the Top Mobile and Family Game. Do people care about personal security or something?
Speaking of The Game Awards of this year, I already have another game to rant about, Street Fighter V, that doesn't deserve to be involved in it as it has gone from great to okay but that will be in another blog post when possible. It's still a fine game to be frank but people are not happy with it being the Best Fighting Game of this year for this year's The Game Awards as if other fighting games deserve that due to sufficient features.

Uber can track passengers after drop-off

Tracking users on the COMPANY'S accord is a wrong thing as it is more or less a privacy violation. Privacy as part of cyber-security is STILL important even after what happened last month unless you don't care for all kinds of privacy like you get your stuffs peeked by bad guys or something. I may be sure that when a company is working on a product or something, there should be signs of privacy lest someone leaks the confidential information that opens doors to investigation.
In case of the recent situation caused by Uber, tracking of users happens on the company's accord for five minutes after drop-off. It tracks your destination but there doesn't seem to be a point in it unless there should be an instant report feature for where you alight. Okay, the instant report for arrival is still an imperfect idea for me as you can still get reported on other places you arrive at in addition to arriving at school, workplace or maybe back home. Perhaps, tracking users like that upon arrival at the destination is either a pointless or disastrous idea. What makes it a bigger disaster is that this tracking feature is open to ALL KINDS OF USERS, not the business people of course whose disaster level is not as big as that as the business people can enter other places and still get tracked like buying things home for their family or something.
This recent change from Uber is unacceptable no matter what although it was announced last year and no actions were taken against it based on the complaints. The workaround is that you can turn off the location services on your mobile device. Also, you can choose to turn on or off the new tracking feature for privacy control.

Internet Archive backs up data to Canada

Archive.org website is looking like a great site that preserves tons of MS-DOS games where you can play them on the browser using DOSBox for browser. Each game has its own DOSBox virtual machine stored on the servers that are running the site. There's also the Windows 3.1 virtual machine that you can explore on the browser although there's less guarantee that the performance is not that great. It may look like you're using virtual machines online like they're on the cloud but the thing is, those virtual machines don't belong to you. Even non-gaming apps are stored on Archive.org.
Citing natural disasters and political concerns for instance, Internet Archive had decided to open the backup plan to Canada to preserve privacy or what not. There may be huge amount of data from Internet Archive servers and it will take weeks or months to complete the backup.
To keep the organization active however, it is running on donations from users around the globe. There should be other ways for the organization to make money but it may look like the donation is the only way.

Neeuro Memorie Impression (Video added)

Firstly, it is an educational and brain testing app from Neeuro with the use of Neuroscience technology that records your brain activity with the Senzeband device which is needed to determine your brain as well as certain mini-games that require it. For first-timers, there should be a screen or an option that assesses your brain for strengths and weaknesses in various parts. Categories include Attention, Spatial, Decision, Memory and Flexibility for mini-games. Other statuses include your mental state, EEG Frequency Band and EEG Signal.

Bonus video - Made a MAD video of Sushi Recall from Neeuro Memorie in which it is truly presented as a Bishi Bashi mini-game.

Mini-games

• Sushi Recall - This one seems to be quite fun. All you have to do is to choose the corresponding sushi that is all the way on the left. When the level begins, either one or more disappear and you have to choose the corresponding sushi as indicated on the plate with the question mark. Choose the wrong one and you get deducted. You can have up to 10 levels and at higher levels, about four sushis will disappear and the patterns can be complicated and randomized no matter how many types of sushis are there. I even had the guts to speed-run from levels 2-8 like I was playing Bishi Bashi games and it can be handy if there's such a mini-game like that in a Bishi Bashi game in terms of concept. It doesn't have to be sushi anyway. It's just that you need someone to cover the target part for additional challenge. At level 9, it was where the mini-game pushed my limits and how the hell can the children and elders clear further levels like that? It is fun like someone can remake this in the form of an arcade game or some kind.
• Sitting Ducks - All you have to do is remember where the ducks are facing and then follow the instructions. It may tell you things like which ducks change direction and which ones don't.
• Multitask Master - This may be interesting but it can be hard if your multitasking isn't good. I may be a sucker at multitasking though. Various obstacles include number sorting, sorting of number of polygons in the shapes, bubble tapping, maze and to know where the hidden ball is moved to. The one where the ball is covered in one of the cups and then the cups shuffling and you have to know where the ball is pretty much ruins the experience of multitasking and consumed more time for me. There are also questions telling you the color, meaning or other stuffs of the word as well as the objects that don't belong or something. In addition, there's even the simple mathematical calculation via the question as well. I was told that some lady managed to move up to level 10 in this mini-game but I had no idea on how did she do that.
• Dot Connect - The board on the right may be rotated or flipped and you have to replicate the same connections.
• Star Gazer - Like Sitting Ducks, you're supposed to remember the number of stars in the sky, the planet and even the number of shooting stars.
• Space 360 - Hold left and right buttons to move the ship and the trick is that the rotation is done automatically and you have to get around it without running into obstacles while collecting the items.
• Supreme Shopper - This is where you have to make calculations as indicated on the instructions. There will be additional tricks like discounts, taxes and so on.
• Flower Garden - This is where you have to plant the respective seeds onto the respective soils and then water the soils that need watering.
• Junction Control - The traffic light surely says it all but it controls one of the sides. There will be a waiting bar indicating the driver's patience so some strategy is needed.
• Farmhouse Friends - What a weird mini-game I had ever played. You have to know what causes the event change. It's pretty much the least favorite to be frank from the way the mini-game was designed but since this is an educational game for everyone, the in-game music is obviously unnecessary.
• Who's Who - It may be similar to Name Recall from Elevate except that it uses the visual + text comprehension instead of visual + vocal comprehension. Well, why vocal comprehension when we can actually mention listening comprehension which is the proper name? 

There may be some mini-games that involve solitaire or maybe mahjong but I'm heavily against gambling stuffs so forget about them. Perhaps, I already regretted playing those S***c games that have the casino mini-games or zones alike so the best bet will be to take out or skip those zones when necessary and optionally, replace them with an education-themed zone like a Mathematics-themed, Science-themed or even History-themed zone.
I might have played Elevate on my Android device and it looks really educational like I can improve my vocabulary, grammar, comprehension and stuffs like that but chances are, you'll make a slow progress that way. It is a little bit useful for refreshing your memory since you will run into many new words you won't know of in the first place and the worst thing is that those words were already mentioned in the past time. It's a shame that Neeuro Memorie is less educational with a lack of proper educational content like mini-games related to vocabulary, grammar, other kinds of comprehension in which Elevate has but what is sufficient enough is the Mathematics side via Supreme Shopper and Multitask Master.
So if you're going to think of making a Bishi Bashi-like game with those mini-games taken from Neeuro Memorie, unfortunately, that will be insufficient. We can have Sushi Recall, Multitask Master and Space 360 and but that is all we can imagine of in Bishi Bashi-form.

Bishi Bashi form of Neeuro Memorie mini-games

• Sushi Recall - Regardless on the number of types of sushis, the thing you will need to concentrate is the corresponding plate colors. To add additional challenge, the plate color and the sushi will disappear and there will be a question mark on top of that plate and you have to remember that plate color. There will be time limit and your time will be graded depending on how fast you clear the stage.
• Multitask Master - Questionaire about the meaning or color of the word can be available as well as the sorting of the numbers, letters and even the number of polygons for the shapes. Unfortunately, that will require double play mode or something. Otherwise, it's not multitasking test at all. You will be graded on the number of correct answers and how fast you can answer everything.
• Space 360 - Using the left and right buttons to move the ship as using the middle button doesn't do anything. Optionally, the left and right on the D-Pad or Analog Stick can be used to move the ship as well. You will be graded on the number of objects you collect. Collision with obstacles three times may result in abrupt end of the stage. There will be time limit as well like other mini-games.

There will be future updates that include multiplayer support and additional mini-games.

SITEX 2016 Part 2

It was a shame that Neeuro Memorie isn't compatible with my Android devices it requires Android 5.0 and above like I already described in the previous blog post. Android 5.0 and above support the higher version of Bluetooth like version 4.0 for instance. However, I managed to see the rest of the mini-games that don't require the Senzeband and it looks like I can review that educational app at anytime here. Other discoveries include Singtel Dash, Windows Continuum and the wireless earpieces that have the short length of the wires. The odd thing about the wireless earpieces with short wires is that the micro-USB is hidden somewhere and you can use any portable charger you want provided that you have the micro-USB cable available. Of course, not all machines may support the use of wireless earphones/headphones so you may have to use the wired ones besides the wireless ones.
For that HP Windows phone hooked up to the monitor that I saw in Day 3, it was all turned on in Day 4 and I could see the Windows Continuum stuff in action. There might be minimize and close buttons on the top-right of the apps but it's inexcusable to make them hidden or invisible on the monitor. However, certain apps already have those buttons always visible and they look like the same as using the desktop versions. Unfortunately, the Windows Phone isn't popular among the standard consumers and when I tried out PowerPoint for instance, I was told that it required Office 365 account. Perhaps, I thought that a business Office 365 account was needed for that phone as Windows Phone is nowadays aimed at enterprise consumers but for Office 365 Personal and Home with Windows 10 Mobile, I don't know. Needless to say, a Windows Phone is as expensive as buying an IOS or Android device. About the screenshot for Continuum, it turns out that the way to take screenshots of the external screen is different. You have to use WIN+PrtSc to take screenshot and it is automatically saved to Pictures folder. Obviously, the data is all stored on the phone.
For Singtel Dash, it is a mobile payment platform for IOS and Android. For Android devices, those with NFC can support Tap and Pay but for those without NFC, you should use the app and enter the counter code to pay provided that you've gone to the store that supports that app. For EZ-Link card alternative, you may need an NFC phone and NFC Transit SIM card for public transports via Tap and Pay method. Also, you should be able to top up at Singtel Shop, 7-Eleven and AXS.

SITEX 2016 (Updated)

Again, there are new technologies being shown off at the roadshows like SITEX. It features things like Internet of Things, online marketplaces, digital membership, E-commerce, as well as educational games. Another discovery included the HP Sprout Pro PC and it looked like nobody gave a crap about although there was one negative thing I discovered, Virtual DJ in HP Sprout Pro? What were they thinking when that computer was supposed to be for enterprise and educational uses? Also, the touchscreen interface was complex to be frank and it put the mobile DJ software apps to SHAME. That is more or less a real disadvantage of using the software for educational purposes. Not to mention that who the hell uses that as a child? In fact, no DJ schools can teach people on how to use that computer to DJ because the idea of using touchscreen to DJ is an inferior and half-assed one. Sure, a professional DJ set may be complex looking with tons of features but the virtual DJ set via the touchscreen interface was already confusing enough for me when I saw Virtual DJ in that computer. There's also Crayola DJ but I don't know if that is suited for children or not. So, that's 3 disadvantages Virtual DJ has for HP Sprout Pro. It's not for enterprise use, its interface is complex enough to turn you off like you may need to get used to, and who as a child wants to use a professional DJ software like this? In fact, Virtual DJ SHOULDN'T be in HP Sprout Pro or any other enterprise computer AT ALL!
On the positive side of HP Sprout Pro, it has the touch-mat along with the Realsense 3D camera where it can scan real-life objects and turn them into 3D models. The Creators Update of Windows 10 should be able to help out with that computer that easily and it can also be useful for other enterprise and educational stuffs as well.
There's the eber.co digital membership. It's kind of like getting a membership for buying stuffs from whichever shop but digital. It minimizes the needs for physical cards as your membership cards are all digital.
There's also the online marketplace you can create with Arcadier where you can sell whatever stuffs you want.
Lastly, the educational game called Neeuro Memorie. I do have the educational game on my Android called Elevate where you can train your brain although it's a side part of your life and your learning progress is really slow that way. Memorie is designed for elders as far as I was told but it can be suited for everyone besides elders and children. There are tons of mini-games to play through although certain of which will require the Neeuro Senzeband. The only way to get that device out of the event will be online. None of the shopping complexes will probably sell that. It costs around $2XX when being shown at SITEX and it can be more expensive after the event. It is required to determine your brain. You can also unlock premium features which unlocks the rest of the levels. Some of the mini-games were fascinating enough for me like Sushi Recall which is kind of like Bishi-Bashi with memory or some kind and Stargazer which made me imagine that Cloba.U would make a game called Star Memorizer or something. Another mini-game I had fun was Multi-task Master and I could recommend doing two things at the same time although some parts were already becoming obstacles against multi-tasking. Perhaps, musicians, DJs and producers can improve their coordination that way with that mini-game but it may be an unnecessary improvement as they can improve their brain the other ways. Needless to say, this educational game requires Android 5.0 and above and none of my Android devices are suited for it. The way you wear the device is unlike wearing a headphone and it tracks and records your brain activity. For IOS users, you will need IOS 8.0 and above. I was told that there will be updates to the app in the future with additional mini-games and multiplayer support.

Facebook halts collection of Whatsapp user data in Europe

Three months ago, Whatsapp updated its group policy to allow data collection to Facebook as its parent company after acquisition. It was a controversial acquisition to be honest as Facebook has been doing illegal data collection of their users for advertisement and the users were not happy with this move.
Such changes, implementations or moves were unacceptable according to our criticism unless you're an idiot who thinks that we were whining over illegal shit like children when we were actually criticizing something over illegal actions. I mean if you come up with something unofficial and people know about it, you should be clever enough to be aware of your actions although finding a source that legalizes unofficial stuffs may not be an easy stuff. We have been willing to ensure proper freedom but it's a shame that evil corporations may take it for something suspicious or illegal.
After the amount of complaints and criticisms thrown to Facebook over such actions, the data collection was halted in Germany as it infringed the data protection law. You may be willing to make a change but such a change like this can make a positive or negative impact depending on how you implement it. What about the criticisms then? Well, it appears that Facebook was aware of them and stopped the data collection entirely within Europe after authorities signed an open letter to Whatsapp CEO demanding to stop data collection.
One past news was that many of the tech companies had opposed some terrible trade agreement that was recently rejected this month in the US although large-scale tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Google, etc. are selfish enough over the public as if they care more for business users but not anyone else. If you don't care for your standard consumers besides business consumers and people working in your company, you will be cussed by them through many ways but ignoring their cussing isn't going to make things better either.

Firefox Focus for IOS

Perhaps, there should be another way to make a mini version of Firefox like Opera Mini is as Firefox Focus lacks various features like tabs, auto-complete and other common browser features. Of course, it may seem that Google search engine is like too popular among people like people use it to look up online for information they want but in the future release, there will be an option to choose whichever search engine you probably want.
Browsing-wise, you're in private/incognito browsing mode in Firefox Focus by default but you can export your browsing session to Firefox if you have that app. Another good thing is that you have the options to block ad-trackers, social-trackers and analytics-trackers. Downside is how over-protective the technology can be when it comes to privacy as if the service you're browsing to may suspect that your account is compromised and especially that certain features on the site may become inaccessible as a result of enabling a block that blocks other content trackers. There's also a feature to block web fonts but I don't know the reason behind it.

First practice attempt at Homerun Baseball

Well, this trip is more or less a punishment for attending a workshop that does the baseball spectating chant-like laughing rhyme as a way to teach me to smile and laugh, underestimating my personality and true concerns and attending an event NOT RELATED TO MY INTERESTS! I thought the workshops/conferences at Microsoft were standard looking enough where new technologies were being talked about including Windows 10 stuffs although I could be speechless at times because those features/technologies were done by the enterprises, not standard consumers. However, that workshop organized by CDAC was trying to be a class-wannabe kind of a workshop and I may be sure such workshops like that happen nearly every time. It was an unforgivable and offending day three months ago and the practice attempt at Homerun Baseball was a compensation for the embarrassments and insults given to me.
And by the way, a fake/rhythmic laugh is something gross or noisy to me so a comedy show or a joke that makes us laugh should be decent enough. Also, how about looking at videos or pictures of whatever animal you like? Won't that make you satisfied enough?
At Homerun Baseball located somewhere in Jurong East where the overall trip costs like a few bucks, it was a good opportunity to practice baseball there via either the battling cage or the pitching cage. For the first time, you can also have a 1-year membership which you can get additional tokens. At the battling cage, tons of balls will be pitched one by one every seconds and you have to swing the bat and hit the balls. Horizontally, the pitching angle should go at the metallic blockage but in the real baseball match, this is not the case as I have worries that I may get hit with the ball via deadball. Getting a foul ball or deadball counts as a strike although you won't get an Out if you get a foul ball one more time when you have two strikes. I don't know if that is the same as deadball though. About getting 3 balls to get a base, I guess it can be due to the pitcher playing dumb or playing a fool with you because that gives your team an advantage. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like if there will be scores or not for the battling cage although you should be able to get scores for the pitching cage.
The first time I went to Homerun Baseball, I needed some guidance of the basic skills but I still couldn't get things done properly as I don't have enough strength. Everything felt heavy on me that on the following day, my back, arms, parts next to my shoulders and my hands were really painful. Not to mention that I couldn't swing the bat quite right as the ball was pitched. It was recommended that you do some warm-ups before you start practicing but I went straight away with tiny amounts. Needless to say, I'm terrible at sports although I can do fine in swimming provided that I can swim and see things at the same time without hitting anyone accidentally. There might be baseball/softball teams out there in Singapore and especially for the adult teams but I was suggested to look up online. There is a sports association of baseball/softball located at Singapore Sports Hub at Stadium in which that place is special for sports.
The difference between baseball and softball is that the distance is shorter and the ball is a little bit larger for softball. Baseball on the other hand, has longer distance but it's a shame that we have to go through a different and lighter route with softball if we want to be part of the team. Sure, every sports competition looks fierce but in case of the baseball competition in Singapore, it's not as fierce as the one taking place in Taiwan, Korea or perhaps Japan. So if you want to be a professional baseball player, go ahead although it won't look quite easy for whichever sports career you want. A word of caution, a serious injury can put an end to your sports career like it already happened to some soccer players for instance.
Note that I had seen certain videos of baseball competitions taking place in Japan and they surely look interesting in every way. However, the origin of baseball is from America via MLB or something and the spectation there is nothing like the one you see in Japanese baseball competitions. It was a shame that certain spectation chants were mixed with those stuffs taken from certain games or cartoons and especially for the indoor opening/half-time show or whatever that involves the famous celebrities in whether they are virtual or real. Examples might include like UN Owen Was Her, the final stage BGM of Ducktales NES game, etc. for those chants from the spectators. Those who did those chants/calls BUT are not nerds whatsoever may or may not get turned off when finding out the origins one day. Maybe, those things don't fit in sports-land at all or something.

About that CDAC workshop I attended 3 months ago, it appeared that I was forced by those fools at home to do so and I was insulted by that workshop from the way it wrapped up. Also, my trip to Homerun Baseball took place in November 7th.

Beatmania IIDX Sinobuz First Play

Military, Medieval Fantasy, Train and of course, Ninja themes for a DJ simulation rhythm game like Beatmania IIDX are ABSOLUTELY OUT OF PLACE! How could Konami come up with such themes like that? It's not amusing as the real DJs discover such bullshit themes like that and play Beatmania IIDX for the first time during the time the game is having those styles. Sure, it can make them look ignorant at times but I can assure you that such DJ gigs will NEVER have those places decorated with with such themes stated above. You can dress up like a medieval warrior or ninja for a DJ party for instance but who's going to appreciate the fact that Konami has gone too far? Also, I don't think I may have seen a DDR game with an irrelevant theme like that.
Having knowing the fact that zombies don't fit in Metal Gear according to Hideo Kojima, how about saying and realizing that military, medieval fantasy, train and ninja themes DO NOT fit in DJ simulation rhythm games like Beatmania IIDX? I can assure that none of the DJ Max games may have such irrelevant themes like that. That may include probably DJ Max Technika series and Beatcraft Cyclon. What about Deemo? Does its theme fit so much correctly?
So here's what the newest style of Beatmania IIDX offers for you. Each day may have different system BGM when you start the game along with differences to the Mode Select screen. One of the days every week gives you some kind of boost in the in-game currency although there should be better features to represent yourself like the player message that is displayed in-game like in Jubeat and Groove Coaster. Also, all the unlockable songs from Beatmania IIDX Pendual are available in case you don't have so much time for arcade gaming in the arcades. Obviously, you may have to pay money for stuffs representing credits and having to unlock something you want costs even more. What's worse is the trip to specific arcade center located elsewhere.
The Century Square Virtualand arcade has the brand new Beatmania IIDX machine with the newest LCD monitor that is larger than the HD LCD monitor that is available since IIDX DJ Troopers. The newest LCD monitor was already available like a year ago but not all arcade cabinets make use of it. Using the newest HD LCD monitor, the game can identify the Definition Type as HD*. Not to mention that the feel of the cabinet of that machine is quite brand new when tapping the keys. The machines at Bugis Virtualand are using the SD monitor for proper timing so it may pose me challenge when playing Beatmania IIDX on the machine with the HD* monitor.

Cloba.U's Nico Nico Live Streams

Well, the live streams may look official to be frank due to the fact that Cloba.U had made the comic franchise, Magic of Stella. It started four years ago and the comic books of it started first before the games existed starting from two years ago. Most of the live streams may include working on the Dot-by-Dot sprites or maybe the comics. I was blown away from the way he worked on the comics as making a digital comic like that isn't anything easy.
During his live streams, most of the music is probably the BMS or some other kinds of music. One surprise is the music taken from Magic of Stella games including the ones taken from the albums he has bought. Live streaming yourself drawing sprites or comics is like live streaming yourself painting a picture and it will take time to finalize one part.
Unfortunately, it's not quite easy to buy those albums he has bought but from his live streams, you should be able to hear the full version of Star Chaser, full version of Star Hill UK Hardcore remix done by the same person who composed the same song as well as the medley that mashes up two songs. They may be part of the Star Chaser EP album or something which is all done by Ginkiha himself. Unfortunately, it's an epic shame that not all people know the Magic of Stella games those songs are actually in and they're already missing out. However, there's the update news some in What's New of Magic of Stella Star Chaser indicating that there will be a full version of the game's BGM in Christmas. If that is true, perhaps, I may as well make a gameplay video of that during that time when possible.

Bonus thing, I might have made a mashup retro remix of Star Chaser with Dreams of an Absolution. Initially, the reference of Star Chaser was the game size version but upon hearing the full version of the song from Cloba.U's live stream, I decided to amend the mashup remix based on what I could recall. The result was that it was a little bit longer. Needless to say, I already deconstructed Dreams of an Absolution to its death by mashing it up with other songs as well.
Link here: https://soundcloud.com/silveryfj/dreams-of-an-absolution-x-star-chaser-sfj-16-bit-mashup-remix.

Windows 10 Creators Update Live Stream

The Creators Update also known as Redstone 2 of Windows 10 may look like a future fascination where you can use Paint 3D Studio, do easier messaging with files to be sent to the messaging box as the attachment along with Beam, the interactive live stream feature for both Windows 10 computers and Xbox One.
Paint 3D Studio may give you the ability to turn 2D stuffs into 3D objects along with other stuffs imported from cameras, 3D scanning and so on. It may look like the entire interface may be suited for tablet users although the professional tools like Photoshop can still be done with stylus and other cool things like Surface Dail for any Windows 10 computer. Paint 3D Studio allows you to import and export objects between Sketchup, Minecraft and other tools suited for Paint 3D Studio. There's also a website where 3D objects to be used for Paint 3D Studio can be downloaded from. There's also the 3D scanner stuff that can be done with a Windows tablet or phone device. It may be less difficult than Autodesk 123D Catch where you can capture real-life objects and turn them into 3D ojects in such a complicated way due to the technology being too new at the time.
Beam, the interactive live stream program, well, there's nothing special about it other than the interactive buttons at the bottom where viewers can use those buttons to ask the streamer stuffs like advices, what to do and even to keep up during the match. There's also a button that asks the streamer to pay attention to the chat or the gameplay screen. So if you want spectation in live stream, you can enter something like that in the chat but the special thing is that you can also organize the tournaments for an existing game that's suited for them. Unfortunately, the flaw is that the tournaments can be organized at the consumer-level so the idea may make things kind of ass. They should be organized at the corporate-level like EVO, E-Sports and other kinds of competitions.
Another cool thing is the Surface Studio, the all-in-one Windows PC that is kind of like iMac but superseding due to the inclusion of touchscreen feature, Surface Dial and the stylus feature. Be warned, however, such advanced computers like Surface Pro i7 and Surface Studio are extremely expensive. Other updates include the mixed reality for Hololens where you can mix both virtual reality and augmented reality although I still find the Hololens kind of delusional as if you're talking to your dead friend whose soul has entered reality where communications between you and him can work but not anyone else. You can also tour on public places with Hololens although it looks kind of weird to see not all things animating. Perhaps, it uses Bing Maps technology but chances are, things are not happening in real time when you do the tour. You actually have to go out and get to that place yourself. It things are happening in real time as if the satellite monitors whichever place you want to have a simulated tour at using Hololens, something may go wrong when it comes to privacy.

Lastly, there are VR headsets for Windows 10 starting at $299 although I don't know if they make use of Hololens software or something.
The live stream obviously took place on the last day of the NextGen Climate texting assignment and needless to say, my progress for that wasn't that great. The others' assignments had made great progresses though. The assignment expired by the time the live stream ended.

Tech Support Hotline by Fight for the Future

On the first night I did the assignment from NextGen Climate due to the fact that I signed up for it from Avaaz website in which activists around the globe can volunteer for people's rights and freedom, there was news indicating that the East Coast region of the US was under heavy cyber-attack through DDoS. We don't know who were behind those attacks but those outside of that region were not affected. It affected many popular websites for users there.
Unfortunately, someone from had the guts to say such inferior crap on CNN regarding the DDoS attack that happened. Like WOULD THE S**A BILL THAT FAILED THE LAST TIME STOP THAT CYBER-ATTACK? There should be an investigation like those behind those cyber-attacks should be arrested if found for instance. Saying such stupid things on interviews that would be broadcasted on the internet or TV can attract the attention of and anger people who have REAL BRAINS AND KNOWLEDGE.
If there's a field of subjects and topics that you know throughout your lifetime but you're forced to acknowledge a completely different one, that can be a challenge as if they don't know your true field of knowledge out there. So if you're into sports and you know alot about it but they underestimate your knowledge into making you do something related to something completely different, you may be out of luck and it can be a difficult situation.
And because of that interview being done on CNN, Fight for the Future might have to organize the petition and the Tech Support Hotline campaign to lead directly to the phone of Chief Technical Officer, Jeff Lyon. It is a petition made for Congress although the way Fight for the Future takes actions like that is kind of sarcastic. The kind of stupidity already angered advocate organizations like Fight for the Future as if the ones like us and tech companies who opposed S**A bill were cyberbots. We obviously know how AWFUL that bill was and it could be a disaster if it passed in the first place. Also, it was disrespectful to call us cyberbots like that as we already know that we were not the only ones who opposed that bill and besides, it could land her in trouble out of that stupidity.
Knowledge-wise, I have the standard knowledge of networking and cyber-security but they can be tough topics in theory and practical forms. One thing to keep in mind lest you disrespect me or something is that I have tons of knowledge related to Information Technology and that level of knowledge will keep rising. Also, knowing true concerns as stated by advocating organizations like Fight for the Future, Avaaz, EFF, etc. are the better options out there because knowing the things from the news on the net, TV or newspapers will bring you nowhere as you may be missing out one side of the articles. Last but irrelevant, to come up with a character, story, purpose and so on may involve more than knowledge. It may require some research before you can come up with stuffs like that.
Eventually, during this campaign by Fight for the Future, Jeff Lyon is glad to explain the basics of how Internet works. It may sound like a technical topic but on a basic level.

Dutch TV program on privacy

In case of education that teaches you stuffs about cyber-security, there are theories like how things can be compromised due to weaker security, how you can prevent the service from being compromised, how you can take actions when your service/product/system is compromised in which your stuffs are stolen, etc. There are various types of different actions that compromise your security like Social Engineering, Phishing, Malware, Spyware, and so on if you aren't careful. We had seen tons of phishing sites and emails that try to pose as the legitimate sites but normally, legitimate sites don't do such bad things like forcing you to give out your personal information or you'll get your account suspended for example. You should be already aware of such things in existence like that and you can find simple warnings anywhere on NOT to give out any sensitive information.
On the practical side, there are some assignments like you have to test-penetrate the system in the test environment for educational purposes to see how things can happen and how you can prevent that. However, a word of warning from those assignment says that you will never use those same techniques for any other purposes as I think that this is more or less a criminal act.
Unfortunately, if an educational material is to be taking place online or in TV program, more precautions are needed. And a case of privacy violation takes place from the Dutch TV program in which various images are used for the purpose of examples. However, there were no permissions to use those images and the program was already pulled. It can however be reinstated with the privacy lesson portion completely cut out.

Local bill that is set to ban VPN?

The situation had changed this month locally but I can't tell which local bill that caused the change here although I already updated my online accounts. What we can talk is the other local bill that is set to ban the usage of VPN. For me, I don't give a crap about VPN other than knowing our reason for using it for accessing the corporate/school network which may be handy to say the least although the connectivity is not that great that way no matter which purpose you have for VPN. What makes VPN stink however is the fact that people use it to bypass geo-restrictions so that they are able to watch foreign contents which are not accessible normally. It basically falsifies the information about which country you're from with the change of the country and IP address origin. It fools the foreign service into thinking that you're from the other country that way. When it comes to app stores/gaming marketplaces, why the hell would I want to falsify shit like that so that I could buy something from foreign stores? It's not like you'll be in trouble like the shopkeepers told me that I wouldn't for buying something from foreign marketplaces but the thing is, it's still wrong to falsify stuffs like that. I don't buy apps, games, music, movies or even cartoons from online foreign digital marketplaces/stores like that with the false account and in fact, I even recently started to use the new E-Amusement account with 100% true personal information with the country I actually live in chosen in the Country List although my nickname there is already outdated to say the list. And I already linked my current E-Amusement pass to that new account as well, leaving the old E-Amusement account to be abandoned. This might be due to the fact that the service was updated to include and support the full complete Country List but it could mean that I'm missing some features like the Paseli for instance.
And better yet, why would MyRepublic or whatever the fourth local ISP was offer you the free-trial VPN service in the first place? If the app, game, music, movie, drama, cartoon or anything else you want is available in the local digital store, you could have bought it there, NOT bypass geo-restriction or falsify country information just to buy the same stuffs from foreign digital store. And if you obtained an app from the Japanese app store although you're not from Japan, I can say that it is not quite genuine if you ask and you already took a risk that way.
In case some popular services which are accessible normally worldwide are blocked in some countries over some situations, this is where bypassing some blockage should be a last resort option. However, such solutions/workarounds are not likely to last long. We had seen previous news of things happening like that.
What about sideloading apps then? Unfortunately, this is more or less a different story and already opens both positive and negative doors. One negative door is piracy in which people obtain those apps the other way. One positive door is that certain official websites of those games have the page where you can download the app file to use on your mobile device so that VPN isn't needed completely. It may be genuine that way although the disadvantage is that you may have to use credit/debit cards for in-app purchases.
So if you want to use VPN for the sake of privacy, think again as the performance isn't that great and no makers of secure web browsers can guarantee the competent performance. On top of that, the ones who come up with the bill that bans the VPN locally may have until sometime in October to make a final decision but I hope that people can still be allowed to use VPN just to access corporate/school network as the only allowance if that's the case. It's a mixed opinion about VPN just like I had the mixed opinion about Tor network technology.

YouTube Heroes controversy

No matter which social media, video sharing or streaming service you use, there may be times that you're vulnerable to some cyber-threats you're not aware of like people talking trash to you over your look and other personal stuffs of yours. You can just ignore them or maybe find a way to take actions against them for their inappropriate behavior. Another problem is that you may be falsely accused during online gaming probably due to your skills or something. If you're showing off your skills, that's fine like you may be praised with positive comments and especially that other players may want to learn from you. However, when it comes to online game modes where you have to tackle other player characters online or something, there will be chances that other players may freak out on you with a bunch of troll comments. Even worse is that there  may activate some sort of non-verbal threat coming to you from some players like trying to ban you falsely over mods, hacks, cheats or whatever despite the fact that you've got skills and efforts to keep yourself on top.
Another notorious thing that has been haunting YouTube for years is a bunch of inappropriate videos posted there like to do real or fake mischievous shit to other players and especially that even kids have played games that are not suited for them like posing as someone famous through the entire impersonating channel or the video itself. Making an account that impersonates someone or some organization is a bad idea although chances of getting you reported for that are rare. Man, talk about the lack of online manners for sure.
Unfortunately, YouTube Heroes is not going to address the problems stated above. It's bound to make things worse while trying to get you some rewards for your efforts. You can gain points by adding captions/subtitles to your videos and share your knowledge with other people but here's where the disaster begins, the ability to report negative contents. The disaster is that the program may be abused easily in which some mischievous lifeless people can take this opportunity to flag/report whatever video they don't like regardless of how actually appropriate it is. What if some criticisms of a video are not enough? You think that the Like/Dislike system is not enough? Or maybe, there one kind of stuff that you don't like that you use YouTube Heroes as an excuse to report everything that falls under that kind of stuff you see? Under the end-user level, this falls under the mischievous act, the jealousy act or maybe the program can be criticized for attracting a kind of hate where one kind of contents someone doesn't like can be flagged like he's abusing the system. Perhaps, most of the things have dark/light sides and YouTube Heroes is one of those dark programs out there. Try flagging the videos that belong to the company's official YouTube channel or some famous person and there will be lawsuits and troubles coming after you. It's useless to think that you don't care for the troubles you will land yourself into for doing that. On the corporate level, it opens doors to censorship like if a company's stuffs are seriously criticized, they can use YouTube Heroes to do whatever it takes to take down the criticism videos that belong to various types of users like internet celebrities, YouTubers, and even product critics. Also, depending on the situation, the YouTube Heroes may be unnecessary, necessary or even optional to say the least. There were already cases where lawsuits were filed against the famous critics over some extremely terrible content out of the defenders' stupidity.
Before the existence of YouTube Heroes, there may be inappropriate videos that can be flagged just because they are offensive or something for instance although false reports from you on videos, comments or the users can get your account terminated. Also, moderating on other YouTube channels that don't belong to you may give you like one option compared to the moderating comments on your videos which you're given three options. I don't know the truth about multiple moderation options until now and from my account's perspective, I'm given one option for the comments on others' videos, that is to Report Spam or Abuse. Do I have time to review tons of comments on my videos like that?
At Level 3, this is where an evil disaster I mentioned above may take place where anyone mischievous or jealous can obtain this evil power to mis-flag whatever videos either for fun or because he doesn't like one kind of stuffs he sees to get this sort of reward. It's an epic WASTE OF TIME AND BRILLIANCE like why don't you give up when you reach Level 3 of YouTube Heroes program?
It's an evil and mischievous program we have ever discovered recently. What happened to the "Don't Be Evil" slogan? HOW COULD YOUTUBE BE EVIL TO COME UP WITH A PROGRAM LIKE THAT?  Such an evil part of the program, service, device, policy or whatever like that Level 3 feature I mentioned above SHOULD NOT EXIST! There's also YouTube Trusted Flagger Program that gives you additional action-taking powers or something provided that you follow the rules and guidelines carefully but then, the discovery of this can come from discovering YouTube Heroes program.
OK, I may be wrong about what I mentioned above. Corporations, brands and businesses are not eligible for YouTube Heroes program according to the rules so you don't have to worry about the censorship part on the corporate level and of course, even anyone working for government, government-owned or controlled company, public international corporation or political parties is not eligible for the program as well. There may be other rules of YouTube Heroes program in place where abusing it is a complete violation of the policies. However, even if the rules are in place, people are still ranting about this without even stumbling upon them. So, are the rules not enough by then?
There may be YouTube Heroes summits and workshops but then, local summits and workshops with YouTube are way too rare. Right now, the program is in beta stage but I don't know if I may end up bashing on it even if it reaches the final stage. If you thought that the Google Plus integration with YouTube was controversial, YouTube Heroes is the beginning of the EVIL MAN-MADE DISASTER I MENTIONED ABOVE.
Perhaps, I can show you the famous videos via links here about YouTube Heroes but even then, we could probably go to YouTube directly and watch those videos from there:

• YouTube Heroes Angry Rant
• YouTube Heroes (The Jimquisition)
• Nerd^3 - How to fix YouTube Heroes
• Is YouTube Heroes horrible?

Opera web browser with free VPN

Firstly, VPNs can be useful for accessing your corporate network from your home although the connection can be notorious for such incompetency as times like slow bandwidth, difficult networking connectivity using VPN or some kind and most of the VPN services you want to use for your own may cost monthly money. It appears that the companies running the VPN services may need the money from the users but having monthly cost is already attracting mixed opinion from people.
Unfortunately, the VPNs can be used for such negative purposes as well as if you can bypass the regional restrictions like trying to gain access to certain foreign contents you want. It can probably mean forging or falsification of some parts of your personal information as if you think you're from some foreign country that you try to use VPNs as an excuse to gain access that way. For me, I don't use VPN for this shit because such negative purpose like bypassing that restriction can obviously land you in trouble if you're found out.
As secure as such VPNs can be, there may be fears that bad guys may use them for the sake of whatever dark operation they want without being detected. And for Opera web browser version 40 onwards, there will be less guarantees to enable the shit out of the VPN feature straightaway like that.

Linux OS not blocked on Microsoft Store Signature PCs

It's a pure luck that Microsoft still remembers the Microsoft Loves Linux campaign in which they have implemented some Ubuntu elements in the later builds of Windows 10 with the Bash shell as well as to port some of their tools to Linux OSes recently. I can imagine and guess that you can use Powershell on Linux host machine to remotely deploy Windows machines but I may need additional ideas about using Powershell for Windows deployment.
The fault about Linux OS not supported on Lenovo signature PCs lies with Intel, new BIOS or perhaps the RAID-mode for SSDs. Having RAIDs turned on for SSDs or HDDs may probably mean redundancy so that if one drive goes down, the machine can still operate with the remaining drives although replacements are still necessary. Unfortunately, installing an OS on the RAID enabled drive can be challenging.
There is a fix available for those affected Lenovo PCs in the future as announced from Lenovo but still, the opportunity to use Linux besides Windows on the same computer may be a rare one unless you have some reason or maybe you're the big IT enthusiast like me in which I use Ubuntu and Windows on my same computer. In fact, if you bought one of those affected Lenovo PCs as the first or the replacement and want to use Linux on it, you may be out of luck and such complaints like this may make you look like a shameful whiner until the upcoming fix is on the way which may take place on the hardware level.
Many Mac and Windows PCs are able to run Linux OSes although I don't know if the Windows tablets are able to do the same thing as well. For various embedded devices like the Raspberry Pi 2, you should be able to run Windows 10 or some other OS on them.
Compared to bloatware that poses security problems in which people can write articles or complain about, this one makes such user reviews kind of stupid as seen in the screenshot from that Neowin article. Luckily, on Lenovo Yoga 900, you should still be able to install Linux OS on it although it is not officially supported  to run Linux.
Even if you hate something, giving it a 1/5 like that despite the fact it is not that terrible in your opinion may anger the others using it. Also, telling people to avoid something over some serious flaw you've encountered in the forum is asking for some stupid trouble you're going to land yourself into.

Lumines Puzzle & Music for IOS & Android

Four years ago, it seemed that the famous man, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, had stopped producing games for the time being but fast forward to the recent times, he had opened a new game studio called Enhance Games, where he'll keep producing his games there. Also, Mobcast had purchased the IPs of Lumines and Meteos but the thing is, he's still working at Enhance Games and that is that. It may be a disappointment if the company works on the new Lumines game without his involvement.
The game was soft-launched in some countries in July before getting a global release this month. Also, the upcoming collaboration with Ultra Japan will have the game shown at the event this Saturday. Ultra Japan as we may suggest, is the DJ event taking place in Japan. The recent Ultra events already took place in other countries this year and I guess that only Professional DJs may spin there. What is special about Lumines Puzzle & Music taking place at Ultra Japan is the fact that series uses the music elements where the actions are synchronized to the musical beat. Tetsuya Mizuguchi may be famous for producing games that synchronize things to the musical beat but I've seen other games inspired by his that do the same thing as well like Magical Beat by Arc System Works for instance.
Needless to say, the game is not free but at least you get a standard enjoyment just like the other Lumines games although I don't know what to say about the controls as I still have yet to buy it.

Raiden V for Xbox One controversy

It is unbelievable that MOSS had done it in MESSING UP THE FANBASE! Do you know that MOSS is a third-party game developer company? How could Microsoft strongly encourage MOSS like that? And of course, an Xbox One exclusive release of a Raiden game? It may be a mixed opinion of mine to be frank but it's already too late as if the newest game is released on the less popular platform. Another unfortunate thing is that the Xbox One has been struggling so badly in Japan, worse than the Xbox 360 when released initially. And games previously released to Xbox 360 already have the sequels released to Playstation 4 to keep the fanbase as promising as ever. However, it doesn't seem to be the case like that as there may be multiple platform releases of the sequels, like the Playstation 4 and Xbox One releases for equal fairness when it comes to console releases. Raiden IV for Xbox 360 & Playstation 3 to Raiden V for Xbox One? Like HOW? Do you think that it is the great reason to buy the Xbox One like that? NO! The entire series was made in Japan by Japanese game developers but that doesn't seem to be the case. If the Xbox One has sufficient amount of Japanese games released for that console just like the Xbox 360, then picking up Raiden V at the later time is reasonable. The controversial move with Raiden V for Xbox One isn't that great to be frank as there's not enough momentum for that unfortunately.
So here's the thing, the path branching depends on your performance so it's not like Darius games and that's a disappointing move. Also, the C**** System is another strange implementation for me although it could be suited for a Versus game, rhythm game or even better, the Let's Play if you will. Hell, there are already some fighting games out there that make use of the similar system in Online Versus Mode or perhaps, Spectator Mode. What you do is to root for the specific player or feel disappointed over that player's disappointing performance. It's like you're in a virtual crowd and the same goes for the live Let's Play or Exhibition Play. Also, there's a lack of Vertical Mode but even with Vertical Mode present, there are still blank borders for something as the 8th generation consoles don't support 4:3 anymore. In fact, the boss explosion for some stages is the strangest one I have ever seen.
On a different side, the powerup system is different in behavior. Collecting the same color of the powerup increases the level of that corresponding weapon while collecting a different one switches to a different weapon. However, it doesn't mean that you will get the same powerup level when you collect a different powerup just like in the previous games. So if your Vulcan Power Level is 6 and your Laser Power Level is 3, the weapon level will switch to Level 3 when switching from Vulcan to Laser. Also, to face the True Last Boss, you need to have maximum level for all weapons from START to FINISH.

Standard Innovation sued for secretly collecting user data

The Amazon Echo series of products are kind of like the Windows 10's Cortana system over the on-going data collection as if Amazon is lazy enough to provide opt-out solutions to the users to determine which ones will be data-collected and which ones are not. Windows 10 already has the options and even the upcoming update for We-Vibe by Standard Innovation will enable the same level as well after some user had complained that the data was illegally collected through the usage of We-Vibe adult toy device. It's an epic shame on the IOT device makers if there's a lack of options to turn on/off data collection for certain features that you may need to be aware of.
One evidence as found from Neowin is that the hackers from DEF CON conference in August had found security flaws that the We-Vibe device indeed collected data without the users' consent. The real bashing will take effect if the device/service/software continues to compromise users' privacy on the makers' accord without any single respect to their privacy from the makers.

Super Mario Run for IOS and Android

The Wii U and 3DS have enough momentum as of the present time but for whatever reason, it seems that Nintendo is having some financial troubles that going mobile may be one of the last resorts. However, that will make Nintendo look like a third-party company for that. There may be Playstation-certified games on various Sony-branded smartphones but forget about that feature as Sony was already struggling in the mobile business. Perhaps, Samsung and Apple are like super-strong competitors out there when it comes to smartphone and tablet market but it doesn't probably mean that it may have affected the portable consoles that badly.
Game-wise, it's basically an endless runner with the famous platformer franchise. It won't be free to be frank but it doesn't have the freemium model features. The concept is entirely based on the modern-era where you have the ability to wall-jump, slide down the wall as well as other abilities that originated from the classic sequels. Let's hope that it's tons of times better than Sega's equivalent 2D endless runner game which I found it to be mediocre to be frank. Also, the Sega's one was already discontinued at the end of July this year.
A word of warning, if you think that Fl**** B*** is better than this or any other 2D Mario games, you may be the biggest gaming idiot of all time.

Psyvariar Reassemble for IOS

As of this time, the game may look incomplete or something with the final stage of the first world featuring the last boss from Psyvariar series. There's also the Gluon Mode where the boss spawns tons of bullets with little to no spacing available and trying to level up through is not an easy thing.
The stage design is kind of disappointing for the background but the enemy appearance sequence is as decent as the actual Psyvariar games. The graphics are redone with high resolution textures and lighting although it looks like most of the stages from the first world/stage set end without the boss battle which may seem to be another disappointment. Also, the Tutorial mode is not casual friendly as the boss battle at the end makes the mode being used tons of times by the hardcore players. One downside of the gameplay is that everytime you use the bomb to get all the enemy bullets to come at you, you end up using a life as a bomb. Also, like the buzz-type ship, the bomb activation doesn't clear everything on the screen although I don't know if the other ships in Psyvariar Reassemble will have different firing pattern and bombs or not.
On the positive side, you should be able to buzz in the crazy way due to the usage of dragging the ship around but the tricky side is that you should double tap to do the rolling buzz although your ship stops firing when doing the rolling stuff. The only button is the Pause button during gameplay and you have to run into things on purpose while the ship in spinning to activate the bomb-like effect which causes all enemy bullets to come at you. Knowledge from the tutorial is needed before you even start the game.
The game features soundtracks from the original Psyvariar games for you to buy but I don't know if they are used during gameplay or not. Also, ship upgrades and enhancements are needed if you want to stand a chance at further stages.
Disappointing stage design for the backgrounds, Tutorial Mode being used by hardcore players as if it is a Practice Mode and the Bomb activation taking away a life without losing a ship are a few flaws of the game but you should be able to enjoy it if you have a IOS device that supports IOS 9.0 and above.

Whatsapp-Facebook data sharing - Partial Opt-Out available

People have known and seen the latest news regarding Whatsapp-Facebook data sharing saga and there's already a way to opt-out of that shit by disabling the check box that mentions sharing the account information. However, that opt-out is a partial solution just like Windows 10's partial opt-out solutions. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO USE THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL BETRAY YOU ONE DAY?
Whatsapp had indicated recently that your messages will still stay encrypted while your data will be shared with Facebook for advertising. The purpose is that they will use the information collected from you to improve infrastructure and delivery system as well as to fight spam, abuse and infringement.
It may be an extreme shame on Facebook for the fact that they are one of the bigger betrayals into leaving us for the sake of supporting something corrupted. It's like they mention that some corrupted bill they're supporting improves something even more which is completely false when we already know the fact that it will do more damage than before. Even Google is the other one of the betrayals as well as if people think and know that Google is doing the same data collection bullshit through various services while keeping later Android devices optionally encrypted. It's an UNACCEPTABLE change and the investigation by the UK's Information Commissioner will take place to ensure that the change doesn't violate the UK's Data Protection Act. If Information Commissioner or ICO finds out that the unacceptable change violates the Data Protection Act, the only consequence for Facebook is that Facebook will face a hefty fine for privacy violation.
You need to know what's an acceptable change and what's an unacceptable change in which we follow the positive and acceptable one unless you're trying to be stupid enough into forcing me to follow unacceptable changes besides following the acceptable change. It's like someone's trying to take my concerns for whines that he/she applies enough STUPID FORCE on me to ensure that I FOLLOW EVERYTHING REGARDLESS ON POSITIVENESS AND NEGATIVENESS! I can keep on using old stuffs despite the fact that things inside them may be obsolete as a way to open doors and opportunities of getting people inspired by Lazy Game Reviews. It's a kind of change that tech giants may have concerns about due to the fact that the security-level for old technology may be too old but an isolation between old and new eras should be a thing. It may take time and resources for that opportunity to happen.

EFF regarding Windows 10 issues

I don't have to write blog posts about Windows 10 privacy issues and lawsuits regarding upgrades like many times. Sure, there were lawsuits regarding unattended upgrades to Windows 10 but they sounded like those filing lawsuits must be whining about it. Another problem is the on-going privacy issue in which even if you turn off many of the data collection settings, chances are, some of the remaining stuffs you can't turn off are still affected with data collection and it has been made a little bit worse with Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Rather than whining about this for days, why don't you find workarounds first?
Everything written down at EFF website about this major issue for Windows 10 is what everyone knows of many times and they at EFF could have organized the petition quite earlier. But even with the petition in existence, we still have anxiety of what Microsoft will do with future updates of Windows 10.
Now, there may be multiple groups of computer users so far, Data Collection defenders who like the shit out of it and especially Windows 10, Windows 7 and 8.1 users like me who continue to stick on those OSes because of the FUDs regarding Windows 10, Windows 10 users who tell privacy advocates to stop whining or something, or maybe the people who use non-Windows OSes. Bear in mind that even the recent Mac OSX OSes prior to Mac OS Sierra also had similar issues as well and especially for Ubuntu 12 onwards up to 15.10 which I guess that Ubuntu 16.04 onwards may have solved the similar issues. Also, it doesn't mean that you may be safe using Windows 7 and 8.1 that way as you still can be tracked the other ways.
(Man, it's like there are idiots out there defending the shit out of corrupted people working on something like that.) Perhaps, based on one's complaints, we could have come up with workarounds and solutions to see if that will solve the problem or not in the meantime.

Unauthorized Windows Self-Healing Tool app

Following the situation regarding Windows 10 Anniversary Update in which people had some problems after installing it like computer freezes for instance, there is an unauthorized tool called Windows Self-Healing Tool app for Windows 10 which has been mentioned in various technology news sites including Neowin. The truth is, the tool is not authorized after all although it was made by someone within Microsoft under Microsoft Mobile Oy subsidary which was almost disbanded. The program was made without authorization from Windows Support group by a single tech and distributed to Microsoft servers which might have caused a news like this to pop up.
Speaking of Microsoft-made tool, it may contain some Powershell scripts that automate a set of tasks in resetting Windows 10. Nobody knows what the commands are like but they may be suspicious according to those technology news sites. The origin of the findings came from Bott of ZDNet and especially that another report came in from Pureinfotech where some Windows Insider was suggested to use such a tool like this. It may be a Microsoft tool but it's not authorized and investigations from the company are still on-going until there is an official announcement and confirmation.
The tool might have done more harm than good to some Windows Insider after getting it and you may be suggested to avoid it like a plague.

Groove Coaster 3

So, how is Groove Coaster so far for me? It is kind of fun and good ever since I played the Groove Coaster games on IOS. Now, a summary of impressions will be as follows:

• The navigator is quite polite when speaking in English and quite cheerful when speaking in Japanese. She may be speaking those stuffs on Title Screen, Demonstration, Ranking, Game Entry, Main Menu, Results and Game Over screens. Depending on the country, the game is either called Groove Coaster or Rhythmvaders when it comes to English language so Japan doesn't count in this sentence as the game in Japan uses Japanese voice acting and language anyway.
• Using music panels to unlock songs is made obselete in Groove Coaster 3 as you may have to use GCs to unlock the songs in the game's official Mypage provided that you have your Nesica account like I already have.
• Event Mode is a major challenge to say the least and especially for Multiplayer Mode probably because I'm not at the expert level in rhythm games in terms of skills that I may get outscored by other players.
• And of course, the flaws. Why are there the shirt, long knee socks, gloves and shoes and that's pretty much that for the nagivator? What were they thinking when designing a character like that? For the sake for fan-service bullshit or what? It's unbelievable that even Taito and Sega had become a little bit spoilt over stuffs like that. Even if the arcade rhythm games are made in Japan originally, there should be songs that fit some Asian countries exclusively like the Chinese version of Beatmania IIDX where some song happened to have the Chinese cover. Hell, even Dance Evolution Arcade had some songs originally sung in Chinese language.
• Unlike other rhythm games in the arcades, your failure of whatever song in any stage doesn't mean Game Over. Instead, you move on to the next stage whether you fail or pass the song. There were cases where I failed some songs in Groove Coaster 3 and I was told that I should make less mistakes.
• Like other Nesica X Live arcade games, there is a message on the Game Over screen telling you not to forget your Nesica/IC Card and your belongings.

Project Diva Future Tone for Playstation 4

OK, I already stopped playing Project Diva Arcade like I already lost interest of some sort in favor of playing the other rhythm games in the arcades to fulfill the real goals I have. The Playstation 4 version is basically the port of the arcade game to the console with graphics obviously taken from the arcade version running on the Sega Nu hardware. The transition from Sega Ringedge to Sega Nu for the sequel may seem to be either minor or major as the interface is still the same as the previous game with new songs and redone graphics. On Playstation 4 version as Project Diva Future Tone, the interface is redone to make itself exclusive to that version. Also, the analog stick, touchpad and bumper-like buttons can be used for slider notes in addition to using arrows or buttons on the right side for the four standard notes. Trying to press other buttons while holding one or two of them is not an easy thing on Playstation 4 version as you may need to find some ways. However, there are controllers for Project Diva Future Tone where you can mimic the arcade experience as well as to make things as easy as playing Project Diva Arcade in the arcades.
Presentation-wise, it has the system BGM for all Project Diva Arcade games ranging from the original to Project Diva Arcade Future Tone as well as the one with photo-printing support feature. Not all Project Diva Arcade machines have that feature where you can take screenshots and make a layout with the screenshots you've taken and then print the decoration you've done in 1 credit. That may be a waste of 1 credit if you're going for attempting songs and not making other progresses in arcade rhythm games.
Plus, Project Diva Future Tone on Playstation 4 has two paid DLCs, Future Sound and Colorful Tone which have hundreds of songs to play through in addition to the Prelude ones in which the game may look like a demo game without those DLCs. The UI has three different themes to choose from in addition to different system BGM taken from Project Diva Arcade series.
A Playstation 4 release doesn't probably mean the end of Project Diva Arcade series in the arcades. The game is still on-going with new songs, new modules and other new stuffs coming in.

Project Diva X

It may be time to move on to the next generation with Project Diva X for Playstation Vita and Playstation 4 where we may expect some new graphics that challenge the potential of the Playstation 4. In the present time, the Playstation Vita version was already out but the problem against buying it is that the game has story mode in addition to Free Play mode. Not to mention that the main menu takes place in the Diva Room and you'll be requested for some stuffs for real as if the Diva Room is getting more improved even more in terms of behavior. Other flaws people know of are that the songs in Story Mode are played in lower difficulties and you need to unlock those songs through that mode.
Perhaps, I'm waiting for the English version to be out for full understanding of the Story Mode if I want to get through in the future.

Jubeat Qubell

OK, I admit that I didn't have so much time to go to the arcades again the last time as if I didn't even get to play the newest Jubeat game, Jubeat Qubell. It had been due to the fact that I've been working on Project Egg Rush which is some fan-made stuff. Supposedly, it is planned to be a fan-remake to S***c Runners and let's face it, it is kind of like that as an endless runner except that this is more than that and right now, the endless runner gameplay is like complete ass at the time of writing. It seems that I have no idea to plan out the object appearance pattern in sequences. Also, I had gone out sometimes to find various places based on the ones I looked up online to try to find and buy various DJ accessories.
It may look like I may have future goals to attempt songs from Jubeat Saucer, Jubeat Saucer Fulfill, Jubeat Prop and of course, Jubeat Qubell. It may be seriously costly to attempt everything like that and especially that I'm already making some recent progress with other rhythm games like Beatmania IIDX, Sound Voltex and Groove Coaster.

Dance Dance Revolution A

The new DDR surprisingly was released this year as announced from this year's KAC. People thought that DDR 2013/2014 would be the last DDR game for the arcades and that was that but it seemed that the sequel existed as DDR A. The letter A may stand for Ace but not all players may be complete aces of DDR and other dance music games. The System BGM was a good impression on me and especially for the new UI which is looking kind of futuristic although the music select layout is based on the one from Sound Voltex III. The tutorial BGM originated from some DDR on the Wii although some parts of the song made you think like, you're playing Space Channel 5 from the fact that you have to follow the corresponding arrows they say in sequence via Simon Says.
This year's special aim will be to promote a bunch of EDM songs and we hope that you may get quite energetic upon hearing them. Hell, even some song by Zedd will be in DDR A as if Konami was like doing in the right direction but this is not the same for the other songs that are new to DDR A. It contains even more Touhou arrangements which normal people don't appreciate that much or something when it comes to proper music selection but for songs that came from other rhythm games, it's a good move.

Beatmania IIDX Gameplay report - August 9

I do not believe what I did accidentally at the arcades on that day while self-refreshing at Beatmania IIDX after like two months or something. Prior to my arrivial, the top plastic parts of the turntables for one of the cabinets were starting to become loose/un-pasted and somehow, the pasting wasn't strong enough that the top plastic part moved out of the way while I was playing Beatmania IIDX there. Thankfully, I asked the staff to fix that top plastic part of the turntable but it surely took days to get the turntables 100% fixed for that cabinet.
It was unforgivable when that happened and I suspected that those imbeciles at home were behind the bad influences/influences of stupidity that that minor accident happened. I felt disgraceful to the gaming community because of that and the future way to make it proud again will be to open more doors to DJ networking. I'm already sure that I saw the previous cases where the turntables of the Beatmania IIDX machines were vandalized and people suspected that someone who doesn't play Beatmania IIDX must be behind that.
Lastly, there was a change in layout again at the arcades along with new games that arrived there.

Windows Server 20th Anniversary - Late celebration?

People have spotted something wrong on the articles about Windows Server 20th Anniversary everywhere but let's face it, the real flaw lies with the official announcements from Microsoft regarding Windows Server 20th Anniversary that the falsified news has been spread everywhere. It's a chain reaction of stupidity or something for having celebrated something way too late. They could have done the celebration three years ago but the truth is that Windows NT 3.1, 3.5 and 3.51 Server editions were not so much successful back then while Windows NT 4.0 Server onwards had enough momentum that those failures didn't even count. If they had to celebrate Windows Server 20th Anniversary three years ago, that could pose them a problem like they had to explain on why Windows NT 3.1 had limited success back then compared to Windows 3.1 which was so successful.
While Windows NT was like more stable enough for business use, it didn't have the features the DOS-based Windows OSes had back then. Even if Windows NT had those features, chances are, they might be limited. It was until the existence of Windows 2000 which had more features that were enough to make it on par with DOS-based Windows OSes and to even supercede them although Windows 98SE and ME already opened doors to using some Windows XP-era technologies with IE6, WMP9, Office XP, etc.
Worse thing about the celebration was that it occured on July 28. Question is, do they have BRAINS about Windows NT 3.1, 3.5 and 3.51 Server editions before preparing to celebrate Windows Server 20th anniversary? WHERE HAD THE OFFICIAL KNOWLEDGES ABOUT THOSE GONE TO? WERE THEY EVEN AWARE OF THOSE OSes' LIMITED SUCCESS?

France's CNIL regarding Windows 10 data collection

About few days left before the upgrade to Windows 10 is no longer free and yet the illegal telemetry/data collection still continues through the company's ON-GOING TECHNICAL TYRANNY! If the product is released in an incomplete state with core features implemented and future updates coming in, it is half-fine all along but adding additional negative thing which is the lack of security to the product can WORSEN its reputation.
From the observation result as reported by CNIL from France starting from April to June, Windows 10 doesn't comply with French Data Protection Act. It collects too much stuffs along with irrelevant ones like it's doing too much energy consumption for that bullshit. It's like the change of Privacy Policy in the past wasn't quite enough and the OS continues to do this kind of irrelevant bullshit in addition to collecting data based on the privacy options PRESENT in the Control Panel. It tracks on how long the users use along with system information about the apps installed in the machine.
Furthermore, there's another concern CNIL has regarding the PIN login method. After tons of incorrect attempts, it should switch the users back to the password login method which CNIL thinks is more secure that way. Sure, the password is more secure than PIN if your password is strong enough as the PIN login method may be vulnerable to brute-force attacks. What about banning various kinds of PIN numbers because they're too weak like 4444, for instance? In fact, there should be an alternate link on the login screen that switches users to the password login method in case they can't login using PIN numbers. By the way, the PIN is assigned to the device while the password is assigned to the user account.
Another worse thing is that the major updates of Windows 10 may allow advertisements to be seen in apps and Start Menu based on the advertising ID which is linked to the users.
A major warning from CNIL is that Microsoft has a few months to comply with the French Data Protection Act or there's a chance that Microsoft's reputation will be affected for non-compliance and such business non-compliance like this can result in an investigation of the company. We don't know if the French Data Protection Act will really be complied or not as if someone from Microsoft will be telling lies or something. Publishing business lies to the public can be a serious offense like certain ISPs in the US already do despite the fact that Net Neutrality is still in effect there for instance. This is beyond the final days of free upgrade offer for Windows 10 because after July 29, the upgrade will no longer be free but at this time Microsoft is already warned, it's already too late to accept the offer at the last moment and the earlier time of free upgrade plan to Windows 10 was already in vain due to lack of realization that the illegal data collection from the OS was still on-going until now.
Lastly, we don't know the major impact that will be done to the freedom in the future. Will the tech companies we know of and use their services be no longer trusted in the future for good? Will we be permanently betrayed by them for good? Will we drift away from the tech world completely in favor of doing something else that's completely different? It's basically a race against time until November where the election in the US begins and until then, the tech companies can't be trusted and that the real privacy policies make us think like, we don't know if those policies are for nothing or what.