The Public Access Weekly: Fairies wear boots
Last night I stayed up way, way past my bedtime to catch Black Sabbath play Oakland and I have to tell you: Catch that tour if you're a fan. That was by far the most metal experience of my life, and the 15+ minute drum solo was unbelievable. So, while I tend to whatever damage I've done to my ear drums by attending that awesome performance, let's dive on in, shall we?
This week we had another Public Access article hit the front page of Reddit! That's two so far this month! Apparently Reddit really loves it when y'all write about Netflix. Who knew? Regardless, cheers to Mr. Brantner for being our second writer to go viral -- great job! It's always a pleasure to see our Public Access writers getting the recognition and audience they deserve. Y'all are the best.
Looking for something to read? Check out:
Devindra Hardawar wrote about Apple's decision to ditch the headphone jack and how it reinforces the company's philosophy about the ecosystem created around their products (namely, that it's a closed system by design so Apple can retain tight control over its products). The result was over 500 comments worth of criticism, agreement, discussion and debate -- making this article one of the most commented on stories of the year.
Final Fantasy fans won't want to miss this report from Mat Smith, who got a chance to play through a good amount of Final Fantasy XV at the Tokyo Game Show. The rest of us will just have to make do with the trailer video until November 29th.
iOS 10 may be bringing some much needed improvements to the iPhone's messages app and its 3D touch features, but is it also soft-bricking devices, requiring them to be connected to iTunes to fix (or for the user to contact AppleCare)? Read on for the details, and remember: Always backup. And then backup again.
Looking for something to write about? Mull over:
Twitter recently enhanced its features for business users, making it easier for company accounts on the social media site to indicate whether or not users can contact them for support. This makes a lot of sense, since people tend to use Twitter to alert companies about problems with their products -- I myself frequently holler at the MUNI Twitter account to complain about public transportation issues. Have you ever used Twitter to try to get support from a company? What results did that produce? Which companies have proven themselves super responsive on Twitter? What other services do you use to contact companies about problems with their product or service?
Nick Summers recently spent some time on a dinosaur planet, courtesy of Crytek's Robinson: The Journey game for Playstation VR, and became deeply immersed in the experience. Last month, I got a chance to shoot some space spiders in a demo game (also in Playstation VR) which was a ton of fun. (When can I do it again?!) What is the best VR or AR experience you've had so far? What system was it, and what game? Most importantly, why did you like it so much?
By now you've probably heard about the hubbub about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7's battery issue and the subsequent recall. Some commenters on this story (about the availability of replacement handsets) are saying they don't want to give up their phones for the week it will take to replace them, while others don't want to make the trip to a brick-and-mortar location to do so. If you own an affected handset, what are you planning to do about it and why?
