Thanks to a recent 24 hour deal on Steam, I have a suddenly renewed interest in PC gaming. Nothing new or cutting edge, but just sitting down with a mouse and keyboard and playing something from my past. True, a few recent games on GoG, for example, Wing Commander IV, have made me want to sit at they keyboard and get lost in some Sci-Fi, but nothing beats the classics like the first person shooters from id Software.

id is the company who really birthed and gave rise to the first person shooter genre. And when Steam had a short lived sale to get every game they ever made for fifty dollars, I jumped out of bed in the middle of the night to buy it! I randomly crave a classic like Wolfenstein 3D, or DooM II, or even a newer title like Quake IV is sometimes called on to quench an unexplained thirst. And Steam is the platform that is giving me more hope for PC gaming. I moved back to consoles because I was tired of keeping up with the hardware demands of modern PC gaming. But with Steam I can play my classics with convenient access to newer titles. I didn’t intend for this to become a commercial for Steam, but I have a feeling that my id Software collection, along with my Half-Life Game of the Year Edition & Half-Life 2 bundles, and all of the instant and constant access to those titles may, may just start to swing me gently back towards a forgotten friend: gaming on my PC.

I am a life long Windows junkie, but I love getting my hands on new technology and tinkering with something fresh and new. Linux (CentOS, Mint, Ubuntu, Arch, and others), Mac OS, Windows Mobile, Android, Windows Phone 7, Palm OS, and the HP Touchpad are all devices and operating environments that I have tinkered with within the last year. I really love getting to play with new tech, but sometimes people ask what I think of a device and I really have to think hard about it before I just spout off glorious praise, or damning criticism. The 3rd generation iPad is one of those devices.

Truth be told, I am writing this on the new iPad, but I am still adjusting to it. So why don’t I just give some of my initial impressions, since I am only about 72 hours in to my ownership and still on my first battery charge.

First, the iOS itself is an impressive feat. It is slick, beautiful, responsive, intuitive, fast, and iOS5 makes even more difficult tasks a cinch. The new four-finger gestures like pinching the screen to get back to the home screen, or swiping up from the bottom to open the recent applications menu, are impressive little usability nods that make the environment a real treat. The fact that it never gets bogged down is also mind bending.

The screen is stunning on this third gen unit, as well. It is exceedingly clear. Reading on this display is a treat. When you find an app that is actually designed for the iPad, such as the Engadget app, you really get the full sense of how much work was put in to this small screen.

My biggest dislike, and this is going to upset the apple cart (seriously, are you ready for this?) (also, no pun intended), comes from the app store. I know. Apple invented the concept. Evidently, they also invented the get rich quick scheme. Perhaps I have been spoiled by my time in the Android Market (Google Play Store). But I have become accustomed to many quality free apps. My phones (both Windows Phone AND Android) came per-loaded with Office Productivity suites. Windows Phone, of course, with its Mobile version of Office, and my HTC phone was kind enough to graciously provide me with QuickOffice, another staple in portable productivity software which I believe a recall from way back on my Palm m500!

Even though the battery life is astounding, I am not really doing anything on the iPad I wasn’t already doing with my Android or Windows Phone 7 phone, which I have been using on wifi only for months now. I’m just doing it bigger. Maybe I need time for it to grow on me, maybe I need to buy some of those apps (although I still think that the ad-supported model is the way to go), and see what I am missing out on. But, outside of the apps, what does the iPad have on something like Windows Phone, even? I haven’t seen anything truly stand out, yet. Here is hoping it will.

Yeah, sorry there was no “app of the week” post today – you would think that if someone just got a new iPad they’d have lots to talk about. But really? Not just yet. But we’ll see. Now that I have all of the major platforms in some form or another (Android 2.3 phone, Windows Phone 7 Mango phone, iPad (3rd gen / 2012 edition), I’ll have apps galore to talk about! So stay tuned!

To do a mass unisntall of several programs on your computer, there’s only one good tool out there: PC Decrapifier. After a quick installation, you can let it find the most common bloatware, or you can go through a list of all of the installed programs and run through them yourself. Although the process isn’t 100% automated, it will save you from scrolling through your “add/remove programs” list or “Programs and Features” to find the applications you want to uninstall one at a time. The occasional uninstall screen may prompt you for a few additional mouse clicks, but the rest of the process will just roll on. You make the decisions once, and away you go. I encourage you to head on over to PCDecrapifier.com and check it out!

In the interest of disclosure for anyone interested, this is a completely unsolicited endorsement of an application I find quite useful. Revo Uninstaller is a similar application, I just like the ease of PC Decrapifier better, personally.

I’ve talked to more than a few people who had no idea this album was ever even released. Yes, in 2011, Blink 182 got back together and released an album entitled Neighborhoods. Those that know it, have mixed feelings about it, from what I’ve heard. And I feel some of the same ways. I encourage people to at least check the album out, but the rest of this post goes in depth a little more for the people who have known Blink 182 for years and years.

Basically, the album is very much Tom’s album. If you listened to and enjoyed Angels and Airwaves, you’ll most likely enjoy this. Although the songs aren’t as ethereal as “AVA” songs (so nicknamed after Tom’s daughter), lyrically AND musically, this sounds more like Tom’s project Angels and Airwaves, than the Mark and Travis project Plus 44. It’s a lot less Blink 182 punk rock or pop punk, and it’s trying to be much deeper.

Trying to be is the key word here, though. I find the album to be repetitive. I think if I hear Tom DeLonge sing one more song with the word “ghost” in it, I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Only one track on the album seemed like it was one of Mark’s, and it had the trade mark “I’m going to drive these lyrics in to the ground by repeating them until you hear them in your nightmares.” Although Neighborhoods is worth listening to, just don’t expect to hear Blink 182. Although the band changed slightly with every album they released, this just isn’t the same as any of them that came before. Still, since I know more than a few people didn’t even know the album was released, so you owe it to yourself to check it out!

A couple of years ago, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released. This game was the beginning of Marvel Comics’ rebirth in the video games industry. There had been some decent games (Marvel Ultimate Alliance), and there had been some crap (every other Spider-Man game in recent years, with some exceptions) before then. But when I played X-Men Origins Wolverine, I found myself replaying it over and over. The story was alright, engaging enough, but the game play mechanics and the violence levels really let everyone know the game was not your run of the mill “fun for the whole family, lets make a buck off the movie franchise” tie-in game. The game made you feel like a bad ass. The mechanics were simple, it was an old school beatem up brawler, but with long leaps, visceral thrashing, and adamantium claws. More recently, the Captain America: Super Soldier game was released. Now, I’ll admit I’m behind the times finally getting to it (several months late at this point), but I’m already hurting when I see it in bargain bins. It’s a fantastic title, with relatively good graphics, far voice acting, and (once again) EXCELLENT gameplay.

What the games lack in some triple-A game franchise appeal, they more than make up for in being down right good games. For anyone shying away from comic book or movie tie in video games, I have to say don’t stray too far away. You might want to give them another look (especially at their discounted prices). You may find something that surprises you.

Where will you be?