It’s more than a video game to me…

Video games draw eye rolls and exasperated sighs from many people. Many of those people play more video games than they like to admit. But because Candy Crush, or Clash of Clans, or Pokemon Go doesn’t require them to hold a controller in front of a TV, “it’s different” or “it doesn’t count.” But for someone like me, video games are an integral part of my life.

People have looked at the tattoo on my arm and said to me “why would you get something stupid like that? Tattoos are supposed to mean something to you.” First, tell that to the guy with the barbed wire on his arm, or ask the other dude what “tribe” exactly he is representing with his ink? Second, to respond directly to the people telling me my tattoo doesn’t have meaning: you don’t know me very well. Let me explain. Continue reading “It’s more than a video game to me…”

My long rumored “video project” launches soon!



I must be crazy. I feel like I have no free time, and my stress levels keep creeping up. But I’ve decided to learn a thing or two about editing video, and have finally gotten moving on a “YouTube project” I’ve talked about for a long time! I will provide YouTube links when I get closer to the full launch, but TODAY you can check out the teaser video for Our Story So Far!


Episodes 1-4 to launch on January 1st, then a new episode every other Friday. Current plan is to do at least 13 episodes before taking a break of any kind. But I’m new at the whole process. Please be gentle for any delays. I promise, I’m trying my best! Follow @NuAngel on Twitter, or OurStorySoFar.tv for the latest updates.

Microsoft Windows is 30 years old today



In 2012 I did a fun 27 year retrospective of official Microsoft version history information. Changelogs were shorter, back then. I grew up using BASIC on a Commodore 64 and a 128. My first computer had Windows for Work groups 3.11, and DOS 5. I still remember preferring DOS to Windows through Windows 98. But Windows kept growing on me, and has left an impression ever since. I was one of the few who resisted Windows XP, sticking with Windows ME, even upgrading to the business platform of Windows 2000 before finally getting onboard with Windows XP. But since those days, I’ve always enjoyed tinkering and experimenting with whatever Microsoft has to offer. I toyed with several builds of Longhorn, ages before Windows Vista launched. I used Vista with few if any issues. I quickly upgraded to Windows 7, pre-ordered the original Surface RT hours after pre-orders opened, and was an early adopter of Windows 8 / 8.1. Now that Windows 10 Threshold 2 officially launched earlier this month, Windows 10 is pretty much ready for prime time. I’ve been using it since some of the earliest previews and am a huge proponent of Windows 10. I’m proud to say I’ve been onboard with Windows for a long, long time.


I’m the kind of oddball fan who had a Windows Mobile device. Windows Mobile 6 upgraded to 6.1, learned some tricks on XDA Developers and hacked my own builds of Windows Mobile 6.5 on to HTC “Vogue” phones. I went on to use Windows Phone 7, 7.5, and 7.8, then another couple of phones with Windows Phone 8 and 8.1. Windows 10 Mobile should be available for my Lumia 640 in the near future and here I go, yet again, sticking with Windows and my strong desire to toy with the latest and greatest.


It’s an operating system. With a 30 year history, I’m actually older than Windows, even though I wasn’t exposed to it until I was almost 10. It seems strange that I would care what’s on my computer so much. But as someone who has owned Android devices, and iOS devices, and who has had lots of exposure to OS X, and loves tinkering with various Linux builds (Ubuntu, CentOS, Linux Mint, Debian, Fedora are all builds I’ve had installed to at least a VM if not more in the last year or two)… I love tinkering. But I genuinely love sticking with Windows. I feel right at home, even when they change everything you think you know about it, like they did with Windows 8, I was happy to learn all about it.


Microsoft has been keeping up with updating the History of Windows page and does have some fun geek trivia, so give it a look!

Apple’s insane profits from the iPhone are not an anomaly, it’s a business model

A friend asked me, this morning, if it was true what he had heard about Apple having less than 20% of sector shipments, but over 90% of smartphone profits. I replied with a simple: “can confirm.”

Wall Street Journal reported those numbers yesterday, and other sites have been discussing ever since. It’s been pretty widely discussed believed, but this is the first time such numbers were confirmed – and they were even higher than many people suspected. Continue reading “Apple’s insane profits from the iPhone are not an anomaly, it’s a business model”