Author: Bryant Sombke

  • Initial impressions of the PlayStation Vita handheld gaming console

    PlayStation and I have had our ups and downs in the past year, but somehow I’ve managed to move past the whole account hacking, contested charges, and banning of my beloved PSN account. I recently picked up the new PlayStation Vita, and so far I am impressed. For starters, the variety of new input methods […]

  • Skyrim on PS3: Took an arrow to the knee

    Skyrim on PS3: Took an arrow to the knee

    For the past few of months, there have been widespread reports of horrendous lag and framerate drops with the PS3 version of Skyrim. After about 60 hours and a save file over 6 megabytes in size, the game degenerates into an almost unplayable state. The game runs infinitely better on PC and Xbox 360. Or so the story goes…

  • Holiday Gift Guide 2011: Consultants and Traveling Professionals Edition

    Being a consultant comes with some unique challenges compared to the standard 9-to-5 job. We’re constantly on the road, talking on the phone, guzzling coffee, chowing down, and trying to find street addresses in neighborhoods we’ve never been in before. I’ve put together this gift guide to help make life a little easier for the consultant on your shopping list this Holiday season.

  • Giveaway: Win 1 free month of PlayStation Plus

    After I was banned from the PlayStation Network and forced to create a new account, Sony made it clear that they still appreciate me as a customer. What does that mean for you? It means I have two one-month trials of PlayStation Plus to give away. I’ve covered PlayStation Plus before, and while I’m not […]

  • Windows Phone 7 Alert: HTC Connection Settings app is bad for your phone

    Windows Phone 7 Alert: HTC Connection Settings app is bad for your phone

    If your Windows Phone has “HTC Connection Settings” installed on it, remove it immediately. If you come across this app in the Marketplace, do not download it. It’s a pointless app that serves no real purpose, anyway, so I doubt anyone would miss it. I know I don’t.

  • SharePoint 2007: Troubleshooting ‘Unexpected Error’ while editing web parts

    One of the great things about SharePoint is the ability for non-technical users to update page content without the assistance of a development team. On the other hand, one of the terrible things about SharePoint is the ability for non-technical users to update page content without the assistance of a development team.

  • Windows Phone 7: Where’s my Browser?

    With the release of the Mango update back in September, Microsoft undoubtedly improved Internet Explorer on their Windows Phone platform. WP7 now features a full-fledged version of IE9 designed specifically mobile devices, which is leaps and bounds ahead of the browser that was available before the update. However, many WP7 users like me would love […]

  • The Little-Advertised New Features of Windows Phone 7 “Mango”

    The purpose of this article is to expose a couple of my favorite new features that were not so well-known prior to release. Not only are these features nice-to-have enhancements, they have simplified and improved day-to-day use of my mobile phone.

  • SharePoint: Successfully Debugging Custom Timer Jobs

    I’ve developed and debugged my share of custom SharePoint Timer Jobs in my day, yet there is still a rather tricky ‘gotcha’ that seems to trip me up every time, even though I am well aware of it. Perhaps writing this article about it will help me remember next time?

  • SharePoint 2010: Mysterious Errors Using Query String Parameters

    One of the things I love about my job is that satisfying feeling of accomplishment that I get when I solve one of SharePoint’s quirky difficulties. If it weren’t for this feeling of euphoria that comes along every so often, I’d have gone insane long ago. Thankfully, SharePoint has no shortage of strange behavior and […]