You know that feeling when you want something to work really bad? You try it. It lets you down. So you try again and again, but it still lets you down. Nevertheless you keep trying. Well, that’s how I feel right now.

When I saw the Dell Wireless Touchpad on Dell.com last week, a product I didn’t even know existed let alone shipping, I knew I had to try it. I spend enough of the workday scrolling webpages, emails and Twitter to appreciate any good alternative to the scroll wheel of a traditional mouse.

For better or worst, I had high expectations, not that anyone shouldn’t. My experiences with the Apple multi-touch trackpad on the MacBook Air has been extremely satisfactory. Although by no means a flawless product, its tracking and gesture recognition (two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate & three-finger swipe) are extremely consistent. It even works spectacularly in Windows too.

I’ve been quite content with the multi-touch trackpads on Dell laptops, so I thought how different can it be? Lots, apparently.

Hardware

Out of the box, the Dell Wireless Touchpad TP713 is quite an elegant device. The flush metallic chrome encompasses the matte black surface which has no visual impurities except the vertical line dividing the “left click” and “right click” areas at the lower bottom.

Underneath is a fairly typical rubber surface shell which has a removable tray for 2xAAA batteries. Four rubber seats which provides a firm grip for the device when the finger ballet happens. The underside is also what provides the tactile click feedback when pressing down on the device.

The clicking is subtle – the depression isn’t even deep enough to see a visible change, but it’s comfortably firm and provides a decent amount of audible and physical “thump” to let you know it clicked. Of course tapping is also supported.

The touch surface itself is smooth and fingers glide quite easily. The surface area is reasonably sized and should provide sufficient room for most gestures. Although subject to sensitivity settings, gliding across an entire 27″ screen is possible from one corner to another.

The device uses a mini dongle to communicate on what I can safely presume to be the 2.4Ghz band. Possibly due to the miniature size of the dongle (it was so small I accidentally threw it in the bin), I noticed some interference issues at a meter distance with other wireless keyboard/mice and possibly WiFi devices which all operate on 2.4Ghz.

Driver/Software

Of course all great hardware needs equally great drivers and software. Unfortunately in this case this is where the quirks develop into frustrations.

First of all, as of the most recent version of the driver (v1.04 released 26/10/2012), there are no customization options. None what so ever. You can’t tweak the sensitivity and you can’t disable gestures. This is surprising since Dell has a history of shipping quite customizable trackpad drivers for their laptops.

But probably the most important, the gesture detection is too finicky. When it does work, it works pretty well. But when it doesn’t work, it can work against you. You simply can’t build enough trust to use any of the gestures with confidence.

I would consider two finger vertical scroll the bread and butter of any good trackpad and it’s frustratingly hard to pull off accurately on this trackpad. One moment you’re scrolling, the next moment you’re accidentally zooming. Worse, sometimes I move my two fingers everywhere like ice-skaters, nothing actually happens.

The algorithms that separate gestures from each other and panning must be such a science I can only imagine robots performing the gestures with any confidence in outcome.

The only gestures I could reproduce with some reliability are the three-finger swipes. Swipe up gives you instant access to the “All programs” list in the Windows 8 Start screen, swipe down gives you the Start screen itself. Both are Windows 8-specific and provide some novel use, but not enough to redeem itself.

In contrast to the above, the drivers do actually support the swipe-from-edge gestures for Windows 8 to activate the charms bar, app bars and app switching.

But it’s not all Dell’s fault. It’s long-overdue that Microsoft hasn’t standardized the trackpad driver in Windows itself so it can perform scrolling and gestures detection more reliably and consistently across all multi-touch trackpads which is quite standard on Windows laptops today.

Conclusions

Even though the Dell Wireless Trackpad hardware is the closest thing I’ve seen to an Apple Magic Trackpad peripheral for Windows, it’s primitive if not buggy drivers is its Achilles’ heel.

At an affordable AUD/USD $59.99, I can’t stop wishing it was better. Until Dell can prove it can ship better drivers to fix the gesture detection, I’m left disappointed to find an alternative.

Speaking of alternatives, I’ve now got my eyes set on the Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 at almost twice the price. Also not available in Australia.

Not really persuasive enough to make me switch from Chrome, but this new Microsoft Internet Explorer ad definitely connected with me from an emotional approach. It is pure nostalgia in a can.

Speaking of Tamagotchi, just found the Hatchi game for iPhone which brings back memories. Windows Phone users have Photogotchi, which looks a bit weird.

Update: I think Google’s “The Chrome Story” is a nice juxtaposition against the Internet Explorer ad. Both about history, but a very different pace.

Many people in the technology startup community have very high regards for Paul Graham and Y Combinator, the exclusive seed accelerator program in Silicon Valley which has under its belt acclaimed successes like reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. There’s equal standing for Andreessen Horowitz, a private equity investment company with notable alumni such as Groupon, Instagram and Skype.

Now those people and companies have put their most valuable support – money, experience and brand – behind “InstallMonetizer“, a company that describes itself as a “windows based software monetization platform”. Very carefully selected words.

Let’s not beat around the bush. This is a company that makes drive-by installers that bundles all sorts of life-saving toolbars and adware when installing apps on Windows.

Perhaps even worse, the company’s “solution” also includes “Post Install Conversion Tracking“. Alarmingly, it’s tracking software (some would call it spyware) that monitors and uploads user’s ongoing usage activity of the bundled crapware.

Although the company claims it is all “non-personally identifiable data”, according to its website this surprisingly includes not only IP but the globally unique MAC addresses.

According to a TechCrunch article today, InstallMonetizer has been supported by a $500,000 investment from an array of top-tier Silicon Valley investment firms. If nothing else, this guarantees that not only does this company and its practices continue to exist, but it will continue to grow.

As an experience-critical Windows user and app developer, I can sympathize with software developers all too well. It can be damn hard to make a good app and it can be even harder getting compensated for the hard work. So it’s understandably enticing when a company teases an independent developer with promises of great wealth.

I know this because I’ve been in that exact situation. Multiple times.

Over the course of two years since I’ve been designing the MetroTwit for Windows app, we’ve been approached by three different crapware installer offers. Of course they don’t call themselves that.

For the purpose of full disclosure, here’s what one email exchange looked like:

Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 12:14 AM

Dear Mr. Long Zheng,
I hope this email finds you well.

My name is [Name removed] and I`m the Strategic Partnerships manager at [Company removed].

I am contacting you since I came across metrotwit.com activity, and was highly impressed both by the professionalism & quality of your product.

I would like to discuss a potential partnership between our companies that will significantly increase Pixel Tucker Pty Ltd revenues.

Would you be available for quick call to discuss our offer in more details.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

[Name removed].

---

Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 12:18 AM

Hi [Name removed],

Thanks for your email. Would this be some sort of distribution partnership? If so, unfortunately we have a strict policy not to install any other third-party apps with MetroTwit.

Regards,

— Long Zheng

---

Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 9:27 PM

Hello Mr. Zheng,
Thanks for your quick reply.

We launched similar cooperation with WinZip, Nero, TuneUp, Yahoo, and dozens of other reputable brands so this it’s a shame we can’t work together.

Personally I believe you can still present high quality product to your users and make good monetization out from it.

Based on our estimation this type of cooperation, will add a new revenue channel, estimated at $90,000 – $120,000 each year for your company.

I can assure you that your users will be presented with a compliant offer screen, which they can choose if they want to install the [Product removed] toolbar or not. We can even have it on opt in (users need actively give their consent to the offer).

In case you change your mind on this in the future, kindly let me know so we can make progress.

Best regards,
[Name removed]

For the purpose of brevity, other offers included per-install payouts between $0.30 to $1.50. Not an insignificant amount of money if you factor in many of these companies encourage multiple bundles at once. If one doesn’t make it wrong, four can’t be that bad either.

I’m not going to delve into the technical aspects of crapware – its effects on system performance, reliability and satisfaction are pretty well documented. The fact that there is a thriving ecosystem of “crapware, adware, spyware” removers is enough evidence it’s a significant issue.

Perhaps more importantly, I strongly believe crapware installers among other foul practices have eroded the trust of the Windows app ecosystem as a whole.

What used to be a fairly standard flow of app discovery has turned into a minefield of misleading download links on websites, defaulted checkboxes or sneaky install crapware buttons in position of “next” in wizards and browser homepage overrides. And it just takes one wrong click to have irreversible consequences.

Last but not least, disregarding the moral factor of this investment, I’m puzzled why such visionary investors would invest in a process that is slowly being phased out by changing industry practices.

Since app stores and mobile apps are now the de facto standard of software for all the major computing platforms, this is one of few startup investments I can think of in a market that is well-documented to be shrinking in the near future.

In conclusion, I admit every person and company has the right to set their own moral compass, but it’s genuinely disappointing to see such respected and influential people and companies put their weight behind a practice that has undermined and continues to undermine the credibility of the Windows app ecosystem.

At the same time I’d like to draw attention to and acknowledge to all the Windows app developers who has refused and actively refuse crapware by putting the interests of their users and other hard working developers above their own.

Update 16/1: In a bizarre discovery by my friend Terence Huynh, it turns out Microsoft plays a part in its own platform ecosystem’s demise by using InstallMonetizer to promote the Bing toolbar, according to an older version of the company’s website.

Update 16/1: My friend Rafael Rivera has uncovered some unnerving contradictions in their privacy policy:

We gather personally identifiable and may include information regarding your geo-location, ip address, operating system, language setting and information regarding whether recommended advertiser software has been accepted, downloaded, installed and any reason for failure installing. None of his information is personally identifiable.

Update 16/1: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham has responded with

We’re investigating. It will take at least a couple days, because we’ll need to meet with the founders in person.

Playing Left 4 Dead turned out to be excellent training for my “IRL Shooter: Patient 0” experience today. I wrote about IRL Shooter half a year ago and finally got to do it today.

After a 20 minutes drive north of Melbourne, I arrived at a to-be-demolished warehouse with five other people as squad KFZ, Kentucky Fried Zombies – an “elite security force” with a special mission. Infiltrate a run-down science facility, learn about the genetic experiment gone wrong and its mad scientist, and neutralize anyone or anything stopping us.

That is of course an elaborate set-up for the otherwise entertaining purpose of shooting zombies.

IRL Shooter is an ambitious project, the first of its kind. It’s a crowd-source-funded business to run real-life first-person-shooter gaming experiences and “Patient 0” is the first attempt of what it hopes to be many around Australia and beyond. It raised nearly $250,000 in a matter of days from what I can only presume to be gamers like myself who thirst for something better than your run-of-the-mill laser tag.

The immersive experience starts with the commanding Sergeant, in character. Basically, imagine a hard-ass with a pole permanently stuck up you know what. While you receive a mix of verbal abuse and death glares, the assisting Corporal issues a helmet and a mock M40 Carbine weapon before lining up against a giant metal door to enter the facility, flashing alarms and all.

While I appreciate the quick transition to immersion, I think this part could be structured more like a boot camp without the awkwardness of essentially paying to be swore at.

Inside, the environment is eerily authentic. Of course I only speak from gaming experience since I’ve yet to experience a zombie apocalypse (which now I’m extra prepared for).

There’s the typical warehouse, the science labs, the office, the “gore” rooms and more. The lighting and atmospheric sound design were both excellent, giving just enough light to be practical to navigate, but not enough that it feels safe. This is one scenario where strobe lighting is actually very appropriate.

The many science experiment and mutilated body part props were also finely decorated that could easily pass for a Hollywood horror production. The interactive props were few but interesting, including a computer puzzle which baffled our team to solve, and cryptic messages visible only under UV lighting.

And of course, the zombies. No zombie game would be complete without the crippled, the fast runners and the extremely-mutilated that you feel almost sorry for. In close quarters, whether they are chasing or banging behind doors and walls, they give you a scare or two worth every dollar.

Even knowing they are all professional actors (some of who are qualified circus actors) who can’t physically hurt you (for practical reasons), but when they dash towards you with that unsettling vocal grunt, your body still resort to survival instincts and panic.

The flow from beginning to end was logical, but not as intensive as I imagined. There were a few moments, crescendos as experienced gamers would call them, where shit hit the fan. And they were good. But roughly a third of the hour-long playthrough was unfortunately lacking in any sense of action or urgency.

When it came to actually shooting zombies, the guns did their job. I believe IRL Shooter spent nearly a hundred thousand dollars developing the custom-moulded weaponary with all-specialized electronics which tracked health, ammo and damage which is a step up from standard-issue laser tag guns. But it is not without problems.

First and foremost, the gun is just uncomfortably heavy. I admit I am weak but even my more athletic team-mates shared this problem. I actually got “tired” of lifting my gun for the proper shooting position, which is counter-intuitive in a zombie game.

Firing was unfortunately toned down. Originally the company wanted to add real recoil to the guns, but ran into legal and logistical issues. Unlimited ammo with instant reload also took away the thrill of limited resources. Of course, there were other “things” to find.

When you weren’t shooting, there was exploring. Although my team didn’t dive into every random opening, there is enough detail and mystery to the game’s story to make you want to know more and there was a side-quest with a collection objective to keep you looking.

You even come across several NPCs (non-player characters) who provide some back-story and help push you along, including one over radio contact.

Unfortunately the NPCs were all very hard to comprehend (without subtitles in games) and one character was actually quite distracting. Fortunately that one was consumed by a horde of zombies. No attempts were made to save them.

Overall, the ~$180 Patient 0 game session is an amalgamation of film-grade set design, devoted actors, master make-up artists, practical game mechanics and impressive behind-the-scenes logistics to turn what is otherwise a complete but undeniable work of theatre into a frightful, adrenaline-pumping and mostly importantly of all, fun experience.

As a first-attempt by the company for first time in the world as far as I can tell, they’ve got a lot of things right and many things to improve upon to turn a great experience into a f****** great experience, as the Sergeant would say.

IRL Shooter is wrapping up Patient 0 in Melbourne on January 27 2013 and tickets are still available. The company is currently running another crowd funding campaign for a behind-the-scenes look at the event and looking into other funding options to sustain its future in 2013 (which I’m attempting to help them with, but have no official affiliation with).

If you’re not in Melbourne or just want to experience the game from the comfort of your own chair, then you can watch a playthrough video below (not mine).

If you haven’t customized your Windows 8 lockscreen wallpaper, then you would be looking at the colorful illustration of the Space Needle set against Seattle’s mountain ranges. It turns out that to be the work of Marius Bauer, a talented designer who worked with Microsoft to create the default Start screen and lockscreen wallpapers now seen by millions of people.

On his personal blog, Marius shows off a selection of images from the initial concept phases that explored the combination of silhouettes and nature, which are a source of inspiration for the all-digital designer. Many of the original artworks appear to be loosely focused on the stems of leafs and petals of flowers.

It’s a very interesting style that’s unfortunately not part of the final design.

Before the Microsoft design team finally settled on the Seattle illustration we now see today, there was also a very alluring hybrid photograph-illustration based on the Space Needle wallpaper included in Windows 7 by Will Austin. The combination of vivid colors reflected from the metallic walls of the EMP Museum and the simplified shading in the Space Needle illustration is quite complementary.

I only wish Maurius has the rights to make some of those early concept wallpapers available for download as they’re a great alternative to the official ones in Windows 8.

The Microsoft Surface RT may be the poster child for Windows 8 tablets but hardware choice is one of the mantras of the Windows platform. In matrix of tradeoffs between performance, battery and form factor, the Acer Iconia W510 comes pretty close to the Surface RT. With specs to match, I would argue it’s even better than a Surface if you’re willing to forgo the Touch Cover.

Even though the best name Acer’s marketing department could come up with was W510-27602G06iss, the engineering department has done its job. The W510 comes packed with a Intel Atom Z2760 1.8 GHz Clover Trail CPU, 2GB RAM, 64 GB SSD drive, 10.1″ 1366×768 IPS display, WiFi & BT 4.0, HDMI, USB, NFC and more.

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