Testing out the new posterous app

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posterous has for some time had an app on the iPhone called "PicPosterous", focused on posting multiple images from the device direct to a posterous album (and of course optionally adding a blog post). Checking on the app store today, I saw the sneaky buggers had at some point released a new app called (imaginatively enough) "Posterous".
This is my first post from that app, so let's see how it goes. I'm most interested in seeing if autoposting of multiple images works (in the past, in Facebook for example, a new album would be created by PicPosterous with just the first image, the rest would all make it to posterous but not facebook). To test this I've added two hopefully prescient screenshots from the incredibly awesome and devilishly addictive iPhone game, "game Dev Story". If you haven't checked it out yet, do so now (but first warn your loved ones they may not see you for a couple of days. Or weeks)!
From an editing point of view, the new posterous app uses the standard iPhone editor (so no text styling), and allows enabling or disabling geotagging, autoposting and private settings for the post. Tags can be added (with a nifty chooser that shows past tags), and of course media can be attached. At this stage only photos and videos can be attached (new or from the library) but no audio recordings. There's also unfortunately no multiple-select for images and videos, so each has to be added individually.
In addition to posting to any of your posterous blogs, the app also allows you to view past posts. I've yet to check if they can be edited, and since there's no way to save a draft, I'll try it after posting this.
Like posterous itself, the app is dead simple and intuitive, just what you need (well, most of it) and no more.

Posted via email from Matt's thoughts

Molting rain spider

We lucked out catching this rain spider while it was molting at a
friend's house. The wives wanted to kill it :P

Posted via email from Matt's thoughts

Reefsteamers train to magaliesburg

Today we took the Reefsteamers steam train from Maraisburg station to Magaliesburg. The train departs a little after 9am, winding out of Joburg at a nice lazy pace. We had initially tried to book a 3 seater coupe, but they were sold out for this trip so we settled for regular single seats. This turned out not to be a great idea, the regular seating area is way too noisy for those of us without kids and the screaming tolerance they build ;) We were lucky enough to find a coupe who's occupants hadn't pitched and 'upgraded'. I'd definitely suggest anyone planning on taking the trip to hold out for one of these compartments, they make for a great experience. Make no mistake, these are vintage commuter trains in their original state, no Rovos level niceties, but they are a nice way to relive those old trips to holiday spots by rail.

After about two and a half hours of relaxed travel through the countryside (including some shunting stops on the single gauge track), the train dropped those travelers who had booked for lunch at the Magaliesburg Country Hotel, and then carried on to drop the rest off at the self catering picnic grounds. Sadly the lunch at the hotel wasn't much to write home about, but the dessert at Wimpy around the corner was great. Whether going with kids or without, I'd suggest skipping on the hotel dinner and rather going for a Wimpy burger or the picnic option.

The trip back was somewhat shorter at about ninety minutes, due to fewer shunting stops, but was no less relaxing-especially with bellies full of food.

Overall, this was a fun experience at a reasonable price. It would also definitely be a great way to entertain kids and introduce them to an older, slower paced way of doing things.

Posted via email from Matt's thoughts

The Harvest

The Harvest is a Luma Arcade developed and Microsoft Game Studios published title under development for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform. The game is developed in C# using Microsoft's XNA set of API's on top of the .Net Compact Framework. The high production quality bar for a game on a (not yet final) mobile platform meant serious work on squeezing every ounce of performance out of the engine. In addition to the usual engineering challenges of developing a truly AAA 3D title, and working closely with the MGS publishing team in a senior role, this project gave me the incredible opportunity to visit Microsoft in Seattle to work with them directly on performance challenges, gameplay and usability fine tuning, audio balancing and more. 

From Xbox.com:

On a future Earth, the invading alien Harvesters use humans and animals to create cyborgs: crude amalgamations of flesh and machinery. Mankind, in the form of the Global Defence Force, now fights a war against The Harvesters using human controlled mechanized infantry units. As a member of the GDF army, you have been sent to investigate reported Harvester activity in the ruins of an ancient city once used as a military base. As you explore, fight off wave after wave of The Harvester horde, find hidden upgrades, and defeat imposing enemy boss units in order to return Earth to its rightful inhabitants.

Designed from the ground up to be the best looking 3-D mobile phone game to date, The Harvest™ features innovative touch screen gameplay, along with visceral combat, and opportunities for exploration, character customization, and more. This action RPG experience is an Xbox LIVE-enabled game for Windows Phone 7, and will immerse you into a deep and intriguing story where it is vital that the GDF is victorious.

For videos of The Harvest in action, see the recently posted playthroughs on GameTrailers.com.

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Posted via email from Matt's thoughts