In Japan, there have been cases of modesty outrage taking place in trains and things have been taking for the worst with one of the indecent words in Japanese language being added to foreign language dictionaries as one of the controversial additions. The netizens were not pleased with that word being added but I won't mention the exact word here so, the source link will be available at the end of this blog post to see that word there. Another problem is the usage of Airdrop for whatever malicious intents such as sending whatever obscene picture to any user which will appear in that user's phone as a thumbnail for instance.
Speaking of malicious intents through Airdrop, there may be multiple malicious ways and different kinds of malicious contents anyone can send to the victims. And the worse thing is, the photos may contain metadata such as your location and other private information which should be kept private. The bigger probem is, even if you disagree with whatever indecent photo that is sent to the victims, that photo may be in their phones that such damage cannot be undone.
To send and receive stuffs through Airdrop will require that you're in range of another user but what stinks about it is that even unknown users you don't know of may end up something bad to your phone. I don't know if they may send you something on your phones like it's part of a scam, threat or even trolling which is nearly impossible in person.
How can Apple prevent such cyber-criminal acts through the use of Airdrop on Iphones from happening? What if Android has the similar feature? Plus, there have been arrests made in various parts of Japan that are related to this crime that is an on-going problem. Lastly, when it comes to business use, I bet that Airdrop isn't quite recommended for the sake of privacy.
Source Article: https://soranews24.com/2019/08/24/japanese-man-changed-name-of-his-iphone-to-please-send-cat-pictures-and-it-worked/
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Microsoft-hired contractors listening in through Xbox One Kinect, Cortana and Skype Translator
It appears that Microsoft isn't the only one involved in the recent privacy violation incident through the personal assistant service, like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, etc. Who knows the motive and reason behind this? Plus, you're going to disable Siri/Google Assistant on your mobile device over this situation, though?
To train the AI through data collection through various products like Cortana, Kinect and even Skype Translator engine seems to be a dangerous excuse or a lousy one. So, it looks like Microsoft might have lied or something that the Xbox One Kinect wouldn't collect data when the console was revealed at the time that the data collection thingy through Kinect resumed sometime later. I don't know if this may seem accurate or not but then again, who the hell uses Cortana on their computers and Xbox One anyway?
To disable Cortana completely from Windows 10 will be no easy feat even when there were feature changes in Windows 10 1903 update which separates Cortana and Search feature as well as the fact that Cortana will be on the Microsoft Store in the future. It may seem like an acceptable change but don't go asking us that don't we even use Cortana at all or something. The worse thing is, there's still lack of support for other unlisted countries but it shouldn't be difficult asking Cortana something in the same vein you ask Siri or Google Assistant which is obviously more popular.
To train the AI through data collection through various products like Cortana, Kinect and even Skype Translator engine seems to be a dangerous excuse or a lousy one. So, it looks like Microsoft might have lied or something that the Xbox One Kinect wouldn't collect data when the console was revealed at the time that the data collection thingy through Kinect resumed sometime later. I don't know if this may seem accurate or not but then again, who the hell uses Cortana on their computers and Xbox One anyway?
To disable Cortana completely from Windows 10 will be no easy feat even when there were feature changes in Windows 10 1903 update which separates Cortana and Search feature as well as the fact that Cortana will be on the Microsoft Store in the future. It may seem like an acceptable change but don't go asking us that don't we even use Cortana at all or something. The worse thing is, there's still lack of support for other unlisted countries but it shouldn't be difficult asking Cortana something in the same vein you ask Siri or Google Assistant which is obviously more popular.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Facial Recognition Technology at new Funan mall
Not counting Sim Lim Square, where else can I buy the replacement computer accessories by then? Plus, I shouldn't have delayed any further until the time the new Funan mall opened as I discovered the fact that of the implementation of facial recognition technology at the mall. It is said to be performing query searches on a customer in which various categories will be stored in the query results depending on their preference. So, if you want to buy computer stuffs for instance, mostly computer shops will be part of that query.
It's a shame that they had implemented that and supposedly, there are some stores that will provide replacement laptop power adapters at Sim Lim Square but I don't know which one has that and there's no guarantee that my previous computer will work correctly in the future with the replacement. There was a past time where I went to Funan Digitalife Mall to buy the laptop power adapter but it seemed that things have changed with the new Funan mall.
The implementation of facial recognition technology elsewhere was unspeakably controversial and people were demanding that idea to be scrapped as they were concerned of privacy violation, false accusation based on false database search and other technical errors that may occur due to inaccurate implementation. The technology implemented at the new Funan mall, I don't know. It's a shopping mall, I get it, but I don't know this may seem effective or not.
It's a shame that they had implemented that and supposedly, there are some stores that will provide replacement laptop power adapters at Sim Lim Square but I don't know which one has that and there's no guarantee that my previous computer will work correctly in the future with the replacement. There was a past time where I went to Funan Digitalife Mall to buy the laptop power adapter but it seemed that things have changed with the new Funan mall.
The implementation of facial recognition technology elsewhere was unspeakably controversial and people were demanding that idea to be scrapped as they were concerned of privacy violation, false accusation based on false database search and other technical errors that may occur due to inaccurate implementation. The technology implemented at the new Funan mall, I don't know. It's a shopping mall, I get it, but I don't know this may seem effective or not.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Ooblets Epic Game Store Controversy
Look, I cannot be mad or something over the fact that an indie game so good is released on the gaming platform that has been so controversial. Cuphead which is one of the indie games has extremely good presentation although it is an extremely hard game. The reason for mentioning it here is that it was first released on Xbox One as the console exclusive and the developers could plan to release it on other platforms if they wanted to. Fast forward to 2 years after Cuphead's release, there's the Switch version but that was obviously requested by Microsoft as a move to bring Xbox Live service to that console. Speaking of console exclusive, Ooblets was released to be released on Xbox One as the only console version. However, the big trouble began when it was announced to be Epic Games Store exclusive for PC.
To insult the consumers and gamers like the developers of Ooblets did was extremely offensive and they were already on Sidalpha's Dirty Developers list as a result. Not to mention that someone faked some evidence to frame the developers that caused various misunderstanding and even attracted their defenders and the defenders of the Epic Games Store platform. Calling gamers 'Entitled Babies/Children" or some other shit is what you'll attract more hate and it can ruin your reputation as a game developer whether you're professional or indie type. What makes the controversy worse? That is making political comparison and of course, thinking that consumers don't understand one particular thing or two or maybe thinking that consumers have bad attitude that they need to be "re-educated" or something. If there's an EVIL EDUCATION about Epic Games Store for consumers, I can imagine that the scummiest game developers may organize some lessons like that and if someone signs you up for some Attitude Reform style educational speech like the speaker there teaches you on how to LOVE such scummy gaming platforms, it's best to avoid attending that brainwashing bullshit or try to run away from the venue if backing out is available. Plus, what if some of THOSE CONSUMERS ARE PARENTS THEMSELVES, like they have their own children and the house owned by them, for instance?
I remember the time that PatTheNESPunk thought that the gamers were entitled to him over the Diablo Immortal announcement and he was thrown the amount of hate comments on that video about that. I also can remember the comments that say that "he is a shut-in dinosaur surrounded by toys" or something because of that video. WE HAVE CONCERNS about Free-To-Play mobile games that have Microtransactions and Loot Boxes as well as how controversial the Epic Games Store is! Plus, the harassment towards the developers of Ooblets has gone too far.
So, who are in the wrong in the end? Well, the game developers of Ooblets themselves for insulting consumers as a way to defend the announcement as well as those who have been harassing them. If you want to rant about something, do it with professional reasons. Don't just say that that particular product sucks or the other product is better than this one and that's it! That 's not criticism at all! And don't even try to make a useless troll comment to any game developers whose reputation is quite good either. I had seen those in the past and the backlash was caused as a result of them.
To insult the consumers and gamers like the developers of Ooblets did was extremely offensive and they were already on Sidalpha's Dirty Developers list as a result. Not to mention that someone faked some evidence to frame the developers that caused various misunderstanding and even attracted their defenders and the defenders of the Epic Games Store platform. Calling gamers 'Entitled Babies/Children" or some other shit is what you'll attract more hate and it can ruin your reputation as a game developer whether you're professional or indie type. What makes the controversy worse? That is making political comparison and of course, thinking that consumers don't understand one particular thing or two or maybe thinking that consumers have bad attitude that they need to be "re-educated" or something. If there's an EVIL EDUCATION about Epic Games Store for consumers, I can imagine that the scummiest game developers may organize some lessons like that and if someone signs you up for some Attitude Reform style educational speech like the speaker there teaches you on how to LOVE such scummy gaming platforms, it's best to avoid attending that brainwashing bullshit or try to run away from the venue if backing out is available. Plus, what if some of THOSE CONSUMERS ARE PARENTS THEMSELVES, like they have their own children and the house owned by them, for instance?
I remember the time that PatTheNESPunk thought that the gamers were entitled to him over the Diablo Immortal announcement and he was thrown the amount of hate comments on that video about that. I also can remember the comments that say that "he is a shut-in dinosaur surrounded by toys" or something because of that video. WE HAVE CONCERNS about Free-To-Play mobile games that have Microtransactions and Loot Boxes as well as how controversial the Epic Games Store is! Plus, the harassment towards the developers of Ooblets has gone too far.
So, who are in the wrong in the end? Well, the game developers of Ooblets themselves for insulting consumers as a way to defend the announcement as well as those who have been harassing them. If you want to rant about something, do it with professional reasons. Don't just say that that particular product sucks or the other product is better than this one and that's it! That 's not criticism at all! And don't even try to make a useless troll comment to any game developers whose reputation is quite good either. I had seen those in the past and the backlash was caused as a result of them.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Tetris Effect on Epic Games Store - Controversial? (Updated)
We do have the on-going concerns regarding the on-going controversy of Epic Games Store and yet certain game developers have the guts to defend it like we have no proper manners, understanding or attitude or something. What if the shadiest of all want to come up with the Attitude Reform video about Epic Games Store or something? To me, that will be like brainwashing the hell out of people with that! Even if the name of the term is changed while the term does something evil to the gamers, we still won't be fooled for sure like Loot Box being renamed to Surprise Mechanics according to EA for instance. This is like denying the fact that there are gambling elements in video games or privacy violation in services or products like Epic Games Store and Windows 10 do with illegal data collection although the data collection thingy through Epic Games Store is due to some of the components from the Chromium-based browser or some sort which uses the Chromium Embedded Framework.
In case of Tetris Effect which came out first on Playstation 4 with VR support as one of the best VR games, the PC release via Epic Games Store had gotten the gamers angry or interested. However, Tetris Effect is not the only game made in Japan that will be released on Epic Games Store. Shenmue III has caused a bigger controversy than this when it comes to PC release. This is like an epic betrayal from YS.NET and Enhance Games or something that people may well go for the console version if that's the case. The console releases are not part of the controversy, however.
In case of Tetris Effect which came out first on Playstation 4 with VR support as one of the best VR games, the PC release via Epic Games Store had gotten the gamers angry or interested. However, Tetris Effect is not the only game made in Japan that will be released on Epic Games Store. Shenmue III has caused a bigger controversy than this when it comes to PC release. This is like an epic betrayal from YS.NET and Enhance Games or something that people may well go for the console version if that's the case. The console releases are not part of the controversy, however.
Cytus II obtained
At the time I obtained Cytus II, it was free for a limited time and I guess that I obtained the original Cytus for free from the official app store at the time. Cytus II was already at version 2.x at the time I obtained it, hence the animated opening and the new character available with no charge. There will be story for each character including the character conversation and instant messenging elements where you can unlock songs as you level up the characters. Needless to say, this is tedious and grindy like trying to unlock all the story portions but grind-iness obviously doesn't count as a flaw.
The gameplay in Cytus II has additional notes and you're introduced to them on the first play via the Tutorial screen which doesn't explain anything like it doesn't make any sense unless you had played Cytus before, seen the gameplay videos or both. For me, I knew what to do as I had experience in playing the original Cytus but there should be explanation on how the gameplay works in the first place. The amount of experience points depends on how well you do at the end of the song and getting the Million Master will give you the highest amount you can get.
Then, there's a problem with the game's age rating due to the story. Things get brutal on further parts of the story and one of the fictional states called Node 03 is a dangerous place as there are various criminal organizations there. The one performing as PAFF is not the original person you know of but rather, a replacement that took over as PAFF and that original person. What this means is that the car accident occurred on the car the original person named Aroma White, was in and then someone was dragged in to the hospital and then experimented on with memory transfer from Aroma's brain to the victim's which is painful and brutal, hence having memories of two persons. The worse thing is that, anyone can be taken away for such evil experiment and then look identical to the other person, no wonder the case of missing person is still on-going and the person who got caught for looking for PAFF was actually a childhood friend of that victim who took over as PAFF entirely.
Robo-Head and Nora have terrible pasts and according to the final conversation or OS Log from Nora's story, she had made a supreme policy on him against returning to Node 03 and that he can have better time at Node 08. Why does he come back to look for her like it's beyond me?
One surprise encounter is that Neko has found Aroma White wandering around in the street but then, the clues still have yet to be found to the on-going situations. The true culprit behind the Aesir hacking incidents still has yet to be found and the replacement Aroma is looking for answers on who she is and I don't know what the other characters like Joe, Connor, Xenon and Cherry are up to.
The story has tons of momentum and an animated or a live action drama/movie based on this game may or may not be good idea for me it looks like it has lesser things to do with the game other than its story. Plus, the story may remind me of the foreign dramas I had watched but you may need to keep in mind that it is incomplete at this moment and there will be future updates to the game.
The gameplay in Cytus II has additional notes and you're introduced to them on the first play via the Tutorial screen which doesn't explain anything like it doesn't make any sense unless you had played Cytus before, seen the gameplay videos or both. For me, I knew what to do as I had experience in playing the original Cytus but there should be explanation on how the gameplay works in the first place. The amount of experience points depends on how well you do at the end of the song and getting the Million Master will give you the highest amount you can get.
Then, there's a problem with the game's age rating due to the story. Things get brutal on further parts of the story and one of the fictional states called Node 03 is a dangerous place as there are various criminal organizations there. The one performing as PAFF is not the original person you know of but rather, a replacement that took over as PAFF and that original person. What this means is that the car accident occurred on the car the original person named Aroma White, was in and then someone was dragged in to the hospital and then experimented on with memory transfer from Aroma's brain to the victim's which is painful and brutal, hence having memories of two persons. The worse thing is that, anyone can be taken away for such evil experiment and then look identical to the other person, no wonder the case of missing person is still on-going and the person who got caught for looking for PAFF was actually a childhood friend of that victim who took over as PAFF entirely.
Robo-Head and Nora have terrible pasts and according to the final conversation or OS Log from Nora's story, she had made a supreme policy on him against returning to Node 03 and that he can have better time at Node 08. Why does he come back to look for her like it's beyond me?
One surprise encounter is that Neko has found Aroma White wandering around in the street but then, the clues still have yet to be found to the on-going situations. The true culprit behind the Aesir hacking incidents still has yet to be found and the replacement Aroma is looking for answers on who she is and I don't know what the other characters like Joe, Connor, Xenon and Cherry are up to.
The story has tons of momentum and an animated or a live action drama/movie based on this game may or may not be good idea for me it looks like it has lesser things to do with the game other than its story. Plus, the story may remind me of the foreign dramas I had watched but you may need to keep in mind that it is incomplete at this moment and there will be future updates to the game.
Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever obtained
I must admit that I have never played the source game before which is Crash Fever but then, I made a discovery of the spinoff game from Mihaya Gaming YouTube channel showcasing all the songs in the highest difficulty. Needless to say, both the spinoff game and the source game have unoriginal gameplay but the music from Crash Fever which is the source game was what sparked the developers' interests and ideas in making a rhythm game based on Crash Fever.
The spinoff rhythm game, Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever recently came out at a price of a few dollars which sort of has 10 songs, 8 characters with 3 different variations each and those songs and character variations may have come from the later updates of Crash Fever. It's too bad that the spinoff rhythm game has insufficient amount of songs to begin with when comparing the songlist to the multiple soundtracks of Crash Fever. Who knows if there will be additional songs added to Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever in the future? I sort of expected more songs after making some realization.
The performance was sluggish on my smartphone but I set the phone's resolution to 720p for smoother game performance and even then, the gameplay experience is plagued with another problem like there's no way to turn off the Fever Mode effect for instance. That effect made the performance really sluggish like there was a delay in the timing but the effect should remind you that it is a reference to the source material. When the Fever Mode is activated in Crash Fever, you tap on those things that are falling, causing the shatter effects and adding attack points in the same vein as in Puzzle & Dragons. For resolution switch on Android, this is possible but you'll need to look up online on how to do that and ensure that your Android device is connected to the computer. It requires a tool that is supposed to be for developers as well as some mathematical calculation as incorrect settings may ruin the experience. I don't know if the same solution exists for IOS devices though.
The gameplay and Music Select screen are unoriginal like they are total ripoffs or something but I can imagine an unofficial commercial-style animation of a character playing Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever on the phone in a public place and jumping out of the seat with joy upon getting Full Combo although the only differences are the game and portions of the Crash Fever commercial which is difficult to imitate as well. In that commercial, the biggest moment is that the board is 100% full of the panels/pieces of one color and you tap on them to start an elimination although one of the commercials can be annoying in my opinion, I mean the one with the salary man asking some young man something in such a nerdy way.
Then, comes the Character Selection screen which looks promising but this is all grindy to unlock all the variations. The real problem is that some of the character variations may have caused the game rating to be misleading. I guess the same may go for the in Muse Dash in a sense although both Muse Dash and Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever have differences in character variations. It is about how each character variation does to the gameplay for instance but in case of Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever, the character variations are more like Challenge options where choosing a variation that is like originally a more rare item from Crash Fever may give you more challenge for more points as you gain lesser HP during gameplay.
So, what are the flaws then? Here are the following:
The spinoff rhythm game, Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever recently came out at a price of a few dollars which sort of has 10 songs, 8 characters with 3 different variations each and those songs and character variations may have come from the later updates of Crash Fever. It's too bad that the spinoff rhythm game has insufficient amount of songs to begin with when comparing the songlist to the multiple soundtracks of Crash Fever. Who knows if there will be additional songs added to Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever in the future? I sort of expected more songs after making some realization.
The performance was sluggish on my smartphone but I set the phone's resolution to 720p for smoother game performance and even then, the gameplay experience is plagued with another problem like there's no way to turn off the Fever Mode effect for instance. That effect made the performance really sluggish like there was a delay in the timing but the effect should remind you that it is a reference to the source material. When the Fever Mode is activated in Crash Fever, you tap on those things that are falling, causing the shatter effects and adding attack points in the same vein as in Puzzle & Dragons. For resolution switch on Android, this is possible but you'll need to look up online on how to do that and ensure that your Android device is connected to the computer. It requires a tool that is supposed to be for developers as well as some mathematical calculation as incorrect settings may ruin the experience. I don't know if the same solution exists for IOS devices though.
The gameplay and Music Select screen are unoriginal like they are total ripoffs or something but I can imagine an unofficial commercial-style animation of a character playing Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever on the phone in a public place and jumping out of the seat with joy upon getting Full Combo although the only differences are the game and portions of the Crash Fever commercial which is difficult to imitate as well. In that commercial, the biggest moment is that the board is 100% full of the panels/pieces of one color and you tap on them to start an elimination although one of the commercials can be annoying in my opinion, I mean the one with the salary man asking some young man something in such a nerdy way.
Then, comes the Character Selection screen which looks promising but this is all grindy to unlock all the variations. The real problem is that some of the character variations may have caused the game rating to be misleading. I guess the same may go for the in Muse Dash in a sense although both Muse Dash and Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever have differences in character variations. It is about how each character variation does to the gameplay for instance but in case of Sonic Beat feat. Crash Fever, the character variations are more like Challenge options where choosing a variation that is like originally a more rare item from Crash Fever may give you more challenge for more points as you gain lesser HP during gameplay.
So, what are the flaws then? Here are the following:
- Insufficient amount of songs.
- Gameplay taking up more resources than other rhythm games I've played with no way to turn off the Fever Mode effect, causing sluggish performance on my smartphone when the game is played in 1080p resolution.
- Some character variations from both Crash Fever and its spinoff may increase the game rating to Teenage rating or something so the game is like aimed towards teenagers and above in my opinion, hence the misleading game rating as seen in the App Store.
- Unoriginal gameplay and Music Select screen - There will be tons of free-to-play mobile games with unoriginal looking gameplay and I don't know if this is like a waste of developers' time and resources or not due to lack of differences.
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