Robot Claw

A few weeks back Nintendo released the DS Web Browser and I naturally had to pick it up.

The image on the right shows it in action, viewing this very blog. In the mode shown, the webpage appears on the bottom and a zoomed version appears on the top. You can move the page around via the stylus on the bottom screen. A touch of a bottom swaps the two screens (allowing you to click on a link, for instance). A second mode displays webpages in a very different manner which is optimized for the DS. This displays the page over both screens, and omits most graphics and background material. For sites you are familiar with this is the best mode as they load faster and are quicker to navigate.

The broswer comes with a memory expansion cartridge (fits in the GBA slot of the DS) but even so suffers from memory limitations. It’s not as fast as it could be, and struggles with large or graphically-intensive webpages. It also offers no Java/Flash support.

That said, I actually prefer the DS browser to (for instance) the PSP browser because it’s much easier to navigate. Furthermore, if you restrict yourself to using mobile sites such as Google Mobile, then this is a perfectly acceptable product.

But, who would ever use this? Who brings their DS with them and intends to use it as a web device at a wi-fi hotspot? Not me, that’s for sure. In that respect this is little more than a toy, or even a tech demo.

Time for the summer plan update!

Summer, a time that I have for the past few years had off, is busier for me this year because I’ll be going to the lab most days a week to work on my experiment. However, I still have a good deal on my ‘to-do’ list during these next three months.

On the lego front, I’ve made good work of the backlog of kits I picked up over the spring. This past week I finished the Slave 1 kit and this weekend I will work on a kit I truly love, a crane from the Lego City line. Once that is complete work will begin on the mother of all lego kits, the Death Star II. 3449 pieces! Fifty centimeters in diameter! Approximately 15 hours construction time! I plan on taking many photographs to blog the entire process.

On the game front I made a good few purchases recently. I’m nearing the end of Super Paper Mario for Wii (fantastic) and well into the hardcore postgame of Etrian Odyssey for DS (one of the more difficult, strategic and challenging RPGs I have played in years). Next on the list is Baten Kaitos Origins for Gamecube, followed by Rogue Galaxy and Odin Sphere for PS2. It is always possible I may renew World Of Warcraft as well, just to see how things are going in Azeroth (it’s been four months since I cancelled).

Summer also sees Heroscape dragged out of the storage again. Anti-Yossie measures will have to be implemented. For instance, I won’t be able to build the map and leave the figures out while we are away since she may nibble on them. But I have a plan. Last year I bought the castle expansion for the game and have not even opened it, so I’m looking forward to making a map with a castle on it. Again, this will be blogged.

And also – if I have time – I still have a good few FF gamebooks to delve into. I want to (re)play each of them at least once, and there are nearly two dozen of the higher numbered volumes I haven’t gotten to. I also bought a couple of high-number Lone Wolf books in Hawaii (of all places…) that I wanted to play through at least once.

I’d like to go camping as well. Over to Ohio, somewhere near Cedar Point and Kennywood…