What's your gaming style?

On Fridays, we discuss video games. Thinking about my favorite childhood topic, and reminiscing with friends and co-workers this week, got me wondering how other people game. It all got me thinking about my style of gaming. I like to play one game at a time, until completion. It’s my own minor compulsive need. I’ve strayed from it a few times, but as someone who lives and dies by single player campaign games (I love a game with a good story line).

So, if you’ve read this far, leave a comment! We use Disqus, no need to register, it’s easy! So, tell me: are you the kind of person that needs to complete a game before you can move on to another? Are you multiplayer or singleplayer, primarily? If multiplayer, do you stick with one game for a long, long time – or do you hop on the next hot title, the minute the next Call of Duty or Halo or Gears of War title is released? Do tell, please! I’m looking forwar to seeing some responses.

What Microsoft wants to Accomplish with Windows 8

After the better part of a decade in the IT industry, I’ve learned one major thing: nobody wants to spend money. It blows my mind that computers, the things that all of your employees sit at for eight hours a day, are considered this horrible expense and a tedious chore to maintain or replace. It’s how our society runs. Wall Street runs on a series of computer programs and digital exchanges. When your computer fails and you’re stuck without one for three days, only then do you realize what a vital part of your business it is.

Why, then, do most companies not have a structure for replacing their PC’s? They keep them for a decade or more, until they don’t turn on one day, then “employee #326” gets a new computer. In my field of work, I’ve run in to slews of 10+ year old computers – and people want RAM upgrades, or hard drives replaced, rather than swapping out the entire unit for $150 more than they’re paying for this patch-work to keep them on life support.

So what does this poorly-planned businesss strategy have to do with Windows 8? It falls right in line with Microsoft’s master plan. Continue reading “What Microsoft wants to Accomplish with Windows 8”

What the Xbox Companion App for Windows 8 is and isn't!

Windows Phone 7 first introduced the Xbox Companion App. It’s also seen in the recent Consumer Preview of Windows 8. Even though it has been out since December on Windows Phone 7, people are still wondering what it is. Unfortunately for many, the grand rumors you may have heard are false: it does not allow you to play Xbox 360 games on your PC. It is what it’s name describes: a Companion App to be used along side the Xbox 360. It’s a series of shortcuts. Your phone has already been connected to Xbox Live via your Windows Live ID. As long as your Xbox 360 is turned on, your Gamertag is signed in, and you have the option for the Xbox Companion App enabled in your dashboard settings, when you launch the app, it will seek out your gamertag on the Xbox Live network and connect your phone to your Xbox 360. This allows you to see a description of what’s on your Xbox 360, and navigate the dashboard, from your phone. Not visually, however. You still need your TV for that.

Here is a look at the main screens in the Windows Phone 7 app (captured blurrycam style from an Android phone I had laying around):


Up first we have the Home Screen. Continue reading “What the Xbox Companion App for Windows 8 is and isn't!”

Solution to The Trust Relationship Between This Workstation and Primary Domain Failed

Happy Tech Tip Tuesday to you! In this week’s edition, I bring you a technical and ugly problem. When you try to log on to your computer, you receive the error message: “The Trust Relationship Between This Workstation and Primary Domain Failed.” Get your IT guy, because this one is going to require a little bit of tech savvy and a few passwords that not everybody in an organization is going to have. We won’t get in to the nitty gritty of why this happens, we’ll just get right down to how to fix it!

The first thing we need to when we get the error “The Trust Relationship Between This Workstation and Primary Domain Failed” is to get logged back in to the machine. Preferably with the domain administrator’s credentials. Typically, in a simple network setup, the user’s name is Administrator and it’s the password used to log on to the domain controller, or your primary server.

Don’t miss this step: What if that user still can’t get logged in? Simple! UNPLUG THE NETWORK CABLE from the computer. When it cannot detect a network connection, the computer will allow you to login with cached credentials, meaning it will accept the name and password that it remembers from the last time you logged on.

Once you’re logged on as Administrator, you need to place the computer in to a workgroup, then RE-Join it to the domain. Here’s the blow by blow:

  1. On the keyboard Hold down the Windows Key and Press the Pause Key
  2. (or RIGHT CLICK the “Computer” or “My Computer” in your Start Menu and click “Properties”).

  3. In Windows XP, click the Computer Name tab – in Windows Vista/7, click Advanced System Settings on the left, then click the Computer Name tab.
  4. Click the Change button
  5. At the BOTTOM of the Window, first NOTE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE DOMAIN FIELD. WRITE THIS DOWN.
  6. Select the WORKGROUP radio button & enter a name (example: call it WORKGROUP temporarily)
  7. Click OK. You MAY be prompted to restart the computer. Decline at this time.
  8. If necessary, plug your network cable back in at this time.
  9. Click the CHANGE button again.
  10. Click the Domain radio button and enter the information you wrote from step 4
  11. Click OK and restart the computer as asked.

Upon rebooting, you should be able to log back in to the computer as yourself! If you restarted during step 6, you will need to login using a username with Local Administrator Credentials. If you don’t know a password or username to use, you’ll have to reset them using a tool called NTPassword (looks fake, works great) (UPDATE: New Blog Post: how to use NTPassword), but I won’t get in to the specifics of that here. On some Windows XP machines, you may get lucky just trying the name Administrator with no password. Best of luck in the process, though. It generally isn’t too painful to get back online after “the trust relationship has been broken!”