Eventbrite (for Android)

By Jeffrey L. Wilson

If you're a swingin' cat who loves to make the rounds, chances are that you've used Eventbrite to register for an outdoor concert, book-club meetup, film festival, or sake tasting. Now you can do so, sans PC, using the company's revamped mobile app. The well-designed Eventbrite Android app boasts an improved design, robust event listing, and the ability to purchase tickets, but it still doesn't support multiple accounts or the ability to create your own events directly from the mobile app—for that you need a PC.

Welcome to the Party, Pal
Eventbrite for Android has three main sections: For You, Popular, and Friends. For You is where you find Eventbrite-recommended titles that are based on the interests that you select upon setting up your account. Popular lets you see the most registered events in your area. Friends? Well, that's pretty self-explanatory: You use it to view the events that your friends plan to attend. Unfortunately, it's useless to a person like me because it only taps your Facebook contacts, and I don't have an account. I would prefer additional options, such as Gmail or Twitter. I'm surprised the service doesn't have hooks into social networks that are more in favor with the younger crowd, as I'd assume that would be a important part of its potential user base.

The app taps your smartphone's GPS to display events in your area. As a New Yorker, I receive information regarding events happening in each of the five borough, as well as the occasional happening in northern New Jersey. Like Ticketmaster's Android app, Eventbrite displays shows and gatherings as easy-to-read panels that feature eye-catching images, pricing information, venues, and dates and times. In a nice touch, each event has an associated hashtag that lets you explore other related happenings. You can also apply filters if you desire more laser-focused selections. For example, I favor free music events that are held on weekends. Ticketmaster lacks many of these filters, save for the ability to search for shows by venue.

Tapping a panel, say Sneaker Con New York City 2016, opens the event listing. You can view a description, a Google Map embed that lets you see how to travel to the location from your current one, and related events. I like the information that Eventbrite provides, but would also like Yelp-like venue photos to complete the experience. Another minor complaint: Unlike the Eventbrite website, the Eventbrite app doesn't let users create events, so you can't set up a book club reading in your local park (unless you do so using your phone's browser, but that's not an ideal experience).

It's important to understand what kind of bookings you can make with the service—and what kinds you can't. Eventbrite specializes in smaller, cool events, such as tastings, music performances, conventions, and readings. Ticketmaster, on the other hand, offers tickets for high-profile shows, such as The Book of Mormon and The Lion King. This is not the sort of thing you'll find on Eventbrite.

Event Registration and Ticket Purchasing
The registration process begins once you've found an intriguing event. You simply tap the big, green Register/Get Tickets icon (the label changes depending on whether the event is free or paid), select the number of registration/tickets using the drop-down box, and bring a finger to the Register/Order Now button. This initiates the checkout process in which you must input your name, email address, and credit/debit card information (if purchasing tickets) within a 15-minute time frame. If you don't complete the purchase within the allotted time, you lose the held ticket and need to begin the process anew. You can also bookmark events to check out later, and invite Facebook friends to events by tapping the Facebook icon and selecting a homie.

Tapping the profile icon takes you to a screen on which you can view all of your event registrations and ticket purchases, past and present. To view them, simply sign in with your preexisting account credentials or the ones you created on checkout. Some events come with barcodes, so you can use your phone as a ticket instead of physically printing one out—that's very convenient. You can also add the event to your calendar or contact the organizer via email.

Sadly, Eventbrite doesn't support multiple account logins. This makes things a bit frustrating for people like me who use Eventbrite for both professional and personal reasons. The ability to switch between accounts would be a welcome addition.

Paint the Town Red
If you already use Eventbrite on a regular or semi-regular basis, downloading this app is a no-brainer. If you have no experience with the site, download the app anyway—it's a solid tool for discovering and booking cool happenings in your area. Small flaws aside, Eventbrite for Android is an app that belongs in your Android arsenal. But if it's big-name Broadway shows you're after, Ticketmaster is a better choice.

Safe downloads and expert advice Windows 10 Launch Patch 64 bit windows 7 64 bit operating system full version free windows 8 operating system free full version

You've finally been able to download Windows 10 and said goodbye to Windows 7/8. But your still one step away from fully enjoying Microsoft’s new operating system – you still have to install the first patch.

Why you should download this patch?

The first patch for Windows 10 (official name: KB3074683) fixes some of the “day one” issues of the highly anticipated operating system – fixing bugs and optimizing code.

Unfortunately we cannot be clearer about all the bugs and problems that this patch fixes as Microsoft has decided not to give many details about the latest update to Windows 10. Don’t be too suspicious about this though, as it may simply be to protect against people being able to discover security flaws from earlier builds.

The patch is less than 400MB to download, but occupies around 1GB when installed. This version of the patch is for the 64 bit version of Windows 10 and is not compatible with 32-bit version.

Why does Windows 10 already have a patch?

Surprised that there is already a patch out for Windows 10? Don’t be, the more complex the program the more chances there are for unexpected errors - especially when you consider how many varieties of PC there are in the world.

Just imagine the number of problems that Microsoft will have been able to detect and correct through people running the preview version of Win 10! By opening the operation system up to so many people with the preview program, Microsoft has been able to find and correct many problems with this patch before the OS even officially launched.

More than recommended: required

Downloading this patch for Windows 10 is not only a good idea, its essential. We know that you really want to start using your new OS, but the security and performance improvements this update offers means it’s worth waiting a few minutes longer.

Safe downloads and expert advice EA SPORTS Cricket 2007 ea sports cricket 2007 full game free ea sports cricket games 2015

Even though EA SPORTS Cricket has legions of fans, EA haven’t always been the fastest – or most reliable – when it comes to new releases. If you’re looking for more cricket action, take a look at Cricket 07, the 2007 – and latest - installment of the hugely popular cricket series.

This version of the game brings several improvements to EA SPORTS Cricket 2005, while still being compatible with Windows XP and Vista, not to mention Windows 7. Among those improvements are full control over foot choice, shot, direction, power and timing, meaning that your cricket is even more realistic than before. If you're confused as the keyboard controls for EA Sports Cricket, check out our guide about how to play EA Sports Cricket.

In addition to the extra control, players get to enjoy new camera angles, and realistic, brand-name equipment. When you add this to the improved game-play and professional-sounding commentary from Mark Nicholas and Richie Benaud, it’s clear that EA SPORTS Cricket 07 is a solid addition to the family.

Looking at the game in 2011, EA SPORTS Cricket 07 looks dated. Even so, it’s the latest offering in the EA SPORTS Cricket series, and a solid game nonetheless.

The ArtPC by Samsung isn't your average looking desktop

Google Sprayscape (for Android)

By Max Eddy

Ever since Google unveiled Cardboard several years ago, the company has had a clear goal of putting the power of virtual reality into the hands of anyone with a phone. One small example of this push is Sprayscape, an Android app that puts an artsy twist on the 360-degree camera. With Sprayscape, you can create bizarre VR spaces with your phone, giving you a taste of what mobile VR can offer.

Art Experiments
Part of Google's ongoing effort to promote Android as a platform for unique research and creation is Android Experiments. These are apps or projects that use Android devices in unique ways, far outside the realm of calls, email, or Flappy Bird. At Google I/O, one such experiment used an Android phone to control a robotic pencil to produce contour drawings of anyone who stood in front of it. Another used a phone to __play music by tapping sticky notes with chords written on them. These could be stuck to anything—me, that other guy, a large fake guitar, or pretty much anything.

Sprayscape is very much in this vein. It's not intended to be the next Instagram and isn't designed to compete for your attention. Instead, it's a cool idea brought to the masses along with encouragements for developers to examine the source code and build their own projects.

The app bills itself as "a perfectly imperfect VR-ish camera app for Android." This is equal parts explanation and disclaimer. There are aspects of Sprayscape that are difficult to use, and others that are downright confounding. Sometimes it's intentional, other times not so much. But in the end it's the experience that matters, and that's what Sprayscape delivers.

Smeared Face Sphere
You can install Sprayscape on just about any device. I used both a Nexus 5X and a Pixel C, although it was much easier to use on a smaller device with more camera functionality. With the Pixel C, controlling my camera view was much more difficult.

When you first fire up the app, you're dropped into a warped grid-space, like a torus or stretched-out sphere. Instructions appear, encouraging you to tap the screen. Doing so captures an ovoid image through your device's camera. Dotted lines urge you, map style, to move your device around and take more images. Pretty soon, you've created your first Scape, the app's name for a 360-degree photosphere.

If that were it, I probably wouldn't be reviewing the app. Photo-stitching software that takes still images from a standard camera and converts them into interactive spheres are hardly new. The venerable Photosynth is a case in point. Google itself has a very serviceable VR camera app already in the Google __play store called the Cardboard Camera, and other developers have already produced even more capable offerings.

The difference is that unlike those apps, Sprayscape does a bad job, and that's good. Bear with me now.

The app makes no effort to stitch individual images together. Instead of a neat, seamless view, it's a collage of colors, faces, and whatever else you point the camera at. You adjust the size of each image by tapping a button in the lower right corner; there are only three size settings and they are all oval-shaped. You can also toggle between selfie and rear-facing cameras.

I found the images produced on my Pixel C and Nexus 5X to be a bit blurry, as if the exposure were left on too long. Instead of capturing individual images, tap and hold the screen to create a colorful smear instead of a distinct picture. This effect reminded me of the fun and interesting ways that Windows 3.1 would crash.

This quirkiness is the crux of Sprayscape and it's completely intentional. The smeary, overlapping images are otherworldly. My first Scape, with warm oranges, my own face, and a half-glimpsed door, reminded me of surrealist art, like something out of a David Lynch film. All of the quirks of the app come together in the final product, a surprising and frequently bewildering creation. Like glitch art or vaporwave, my Sprayscape creations felt like they only partly came from me, with the rest contributed by an unseen digital influence.

Enter My Beautiful Nightmare
Once your Scape is complete, you can save by tapping the check mark. Saved Scapes live in your Google Drive, and if you think they look weird in the app just wait until you see them flattened out as JPGs. You can view all your Scapes by tapping the nested-squares button in the bottom left. However, I occasionally had some trouble finding my way back to this screen.

The app lets you share Scapes through Facebook and just about any other app that can access the Android share option. These are really just links to your Scapes, which are viewable as 3D spheres on the Web. But it's best experienced in actual VR. To that end, you can view your horrifying madness spheres on either a Cardboard headset or the forthcoming Daydream View VR headset.

Welcome to My David Lynch Orb
Sprayscape is a fun experiment and a neat toy to tinker with. Your friends will probably wonder what the heck you're posting, and you will probably be equally surprised with the results. I don't think people will create stunning works of art with Sprayscape, but it may encourage new ideas. Sprayscape doesn't promise much and offers few tools, but it's an avenue for spontaneous creation. Best of all, it requires no special permissions to run, so you can download and try it out without any risk.