Please wait....

Re-publishing your blog for the 200th time... please wait. Ever get the feeling you spend too much time farting with little CSS niceties in your template when you should be sleeping? 2 hours to make the comment background to alternate between grey and dark grey! Wahoo. I get the feeling it was not worth it now. Then again - I did it myself!

Hats, Twats and Throatyaches

Christmas greetings to all. But not to the retarded customers at the local supermarket who were all wheeled and bussed in and had special "day out visits from the institution" just to piss me off and get in my way as I tried to gather some basic supplies yesterday. I am normally quite deft at avoiding other "obstacles" when I am crusing the aisles but they just wanted to die! 10 points for a crusty, 15 for demented, dirty slob parented children and 30 bonus points for bashing the shins of the employee who decided to drag out a cage of stock right in front of me! He deserved it. I'm sure it was'nt all that bad. It may have had something to do with the fact that I have been off work all week with another throat infection. In my last post about... the last infection... I used a photo of someones tonsils I found off the net - but those ones above...are really mine! Come to papa! I have also spent the time I was not hallucanating from the effects of a 4-a-day dose of 250mg of Penacillin, making cardboard christmas hats for when we go and spend a few nights at the in-laws over the xmas weekend. Apparently it is a family tradition they have (strangely left out of the ten christmas's I have spent with them) to wear ellaborate hats at the christmas dinner table. We (i) appear to have ended up making 11 hats for the people in attendance this year and I present the current state of play, modelled by some annoyed children (click em' to Big Em' Up in Flickr): In order from left to right: 1. Sister In Laws Hat. She has recently got herself a Moto RAZR V2 phone and is generally one of those people whose phone and mouth never stops, so i modelled one for her! My wife and I did the eyes and mouth together. 2. Ethan's Hat (my youngest). He is mad on trains and Thomas The Tank Engine so I modelled him Thomas running on the tracks across his head. Thats him too BTW. 3. Father In Laws Hat. He owns his own video production company and is also the editor/cameraman. I tried to make this look like a camera. There is a fish jumping on the other side as his area of expertise is in filming and making the best and most popular fishing videos in the UK (and world!!). That hot model is me BTW. 4. Corin's Hat (my eldest). This is finished apart from the spray paint, but is supposed to be Darth Vader. Possibly the most difficult hat to make so far. And when he came down in the morning and saw it, he complained that he wanted a Father Christmas hat instead. Thanks mate... love you too... 5. My Wife's Hat. She is renown for stealing all the gravy at the dinner table. This started off as a hat for Corin but began to look too much like a weird blow-up-doll - so we changed it to my wifes instead. 6. Lily's Hat (my niece). Supposed to be a sort of Cleopatra type hat. What you can't see is the glittery hair at the back but the snake was all modelled by me out of cardboard! 7. Joe's Hat (my nephew) This is supposed to be a "chiselled jawed pretty boy" hat as he is an image conscious teenager. It reminds me of a gladiators mask or something though. 8. Mother In Laws Hat. Obsessed with cleaning and cleanliness, this hat features her rubber gloves and cleaning materials. She made it actually - but we finished it off for her. 9. Luke's Hat (my nephew). He is currently at Bath University studying "commerical music" so we thought a hat with Symbals, a bass drum (he is a Grade 8 level drummer) a mic, and a guitar amp would be appropriate. 10. My Hat. What else? An iPod hat! It sits on my head in it's own "dock" and features real (cast off) headphones glued in. Its yet to be sprayed but will end up gold. I will also stick on an iPod screen too so it looks authentic (and even more geeky). I did toy with the idea of being able to remove it from the dock too and carry it around... but that was just silly! Just one more to go... and I think I might have to make a harmonica! Fecking hell! Don't think I will be doing this again next year! Merry Xmas to all. I'm off to bed to watch the drugs do their work on the 70s light show cinema scape that is the inside of my eyelids! Wahoo!

I'm missing out on something

Advance Wife Warning: When I see a 360... I will buy it! If there are other regular readers of this Blog who have an XBox Live gamertag, let me know and I will add you to my list. Technorati Tags: xbox, xbox360, microsoft, xbox live, live, gamertag, gamer tag

Boom Shake Shake The Room

Engadget reports on the latest iPod rumour doing the rounds on the usual "I Know What Apple Did Next Summer" type sites. Apparently, a new verison of Apple's flagship iPod product is now headed for that dusty shelf in your living room, bedroom or study in the shape of a wireless enabled hard disk'ed up "Boombox". There is already a raft of other (expensive) speaker systems for the iPod so it seems common sense that Apple would provide their own system too. If it wireless connects and syncs to my iTunes too then that would be cool. A basic iPod docking speaker system would be too "low tech" for Apple to make, so expect it to have lots more bells and whistles. No doubt it will be some kind of iPod docking device that allows you to connect to iTunes, and the iTunes Radio stations too over your wifi connection. Add the ability to sync the tunes on your pod' to the internal hard disk too for when your battery is dead and that will probably be something near to the final product. The device may be announced at the Mac Expo early next year. Technorati Tags: apple, ipod, boombox, wireless, itunes, radio

In the *real* world

I just found these links via Slashdot and thought I would share:

• 8 End-User Troubleshooting Tips
• Top 10 System Administrator Truths

I would also like to thank Bill Gates for making this all possible and keeping my salary rolling in. Technorati Tags: windows 95, windows 98, windows 2000, windows xp, microsoft, support, admin, sysadmin, slashdot

Ring a ding ding

After sorting my Bluetooth VS Windows XP VS Crap Software issues the other day I went searching for some Gorillaz MP3 ringtones and came across this site which allows free downloads and also the ability to upload your own MP3 tones too, so others can share in your trimmed remix of "Crazy Frog Versus The Magic Roundabout" - or even worse... Charlotte Church.

• Motomail Free MP3 ringtones
• Motomail Uploaded Ringtones List

Technorati Tags: mp3, ringtones, ringtone, bluetooth, crazy frog

Fucktard Can't Read

The Register reports how an innocent eBay'er was duped into buying a picture of an Xbox 360 for £470. As BigFootCookie knows, stating the correct details of the item in the auction is very important - as is reading the auction before you part with your cash! Here is a link to the eBay auction, complete with a full description of the XBox probably copied from the Official Microsoft Site - but with the added quip:

This auction is not for a Xbox 360 game system, but instead a picture of one. I hope you enjoy this high-quality item. The 360 is the hottest thing on the market.

I bet PayPal are working through their lunch break to sort this one out. If they can stop laughing that is.

And what does the purchaser have to say on this matter when leaving feedback?

Lying theif, stay away from this ebay member !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesus. He can't even spell either!

Hells Blue Teeth

Since I got hold of my Motorola V600 phone I have been trying to use Bluetooth to upload stuff to it. I bought a Blue-USB Bluetooth adapter from eBay and have paired the phone, using the crappy Bluesoleil software to my PC, but can only download pics from the phone - not upload ringtones or anything else. After reading the tutorial over at Jonsguides for getting any USB Bluetooth Adapter to work with XP using the Widcomm software, I went in search of the required files that had been deleted (as requested by Widcomm) and found them! All done via this search string on the mighty Tyoogle. I have'nt tried this yet, but will tonight. Enjoy! Update: Installed the drivers and patches to my laptop. Followed the complete instructions here as Jon's is missing a bit. Tested, works brilliantly! Now, off to find a copy of Crazy Frog.mp3!

Auto Patcher

I came across this little program last night after searching for ways to get my USB Bluetooth Dongle working in XP properly. Head - bashing - desk - not - working! Anyway, I digress. For those people who have a "non-pukka" version of XP that fails the usual Windows Update verification thingies... heres a program that contains all of the latest updates and fixes all together. It also contains extras like the new XP Royale Theme that I blogged about earlier and the latest Google Toolbar. There is also a "lite" version that only contains the main fixes though. The full download weighs in at over 100mb - so definitely not for those luddite modem people. Get it over at the Autopatcher site. There is also a hacked DLL doing the rounds that you have to patch your PC with in safe mode that will allow the verification tests to pass - but I have not tested it. Update: Tested the DLL crack - works a treat! Happy Xmas!

Time for a change?

A new broom sweeps clean: Blue Triangle Blues

Snikitt!

Lock up my wife, Logan's back. Get the trailer over at Quicktime.com

Lunchtime Kudos

As promised, my pal Dodgy Trev, took me back to his gaff for an early lunch of cheese on toast and to play PGR3 on his nice new spanky Xbox 360. He plays it on some dodgy "no-name, no-brand" 28 inch widescreen TV, so the game was not running at it's HDTV best (or anywhere near it) but I have to say, I was impressed. Driving games are not really my forte but this game just looks so good! The detail in the cars, buildings and surroundings is so realistic and flows perfectly with no pop-up at all. I get the impression that this is a game where you could easily get lost in the "realism" of it all. As I was racing "downtown" in New York, a portion of the track takes you onto a bridge which just looked real as it whizzed past me! I was really really impressed. Mum.... I know what I want for christmas.... I also tried to break it by pressing the Xbox button on the wireless controller when the game was loading a new track but it quite happily showed me part of the dashboard where I could see what my (Trev's) mates were up to on XBox Live and I could change my music prefs. We tried to get the 360 hooked up to some MP3s on his PC using the Media Connect software but this did not seem to work. The PC could see the 360, but not the other way round. Odd. But I have seen some posts over at XBox-Scene where other people have had this issue too. We then fired up Halo2 which looked crisper and more detailed than ever. The backwards compatibility worked a treat! Come on Halo3, bring it on!

Seen one!

I saw an Xbox360 "in the flesh" this weekend! Yay! Whilst trying to navigate the immense dimensions of our new local ADSA Walmart store I came across the small Xbox360 demo booth where a spotty faced employee was trying to get rid of an error on screen that said "no signal". I went and looked at the toys with the kids and returned a little later to find the console working and a man playing FIFA2006 who had ditched his wheelchair bound mother to get at the new hardware. She sat with her back to him, cuddling her lap-blanket looking folornly at the nearby counter of cheap DVD Players, whilst her son pitted his skills of England against Germany. As predicted, the game looked freakin amazing! The players facial textures and the detail on the clothing rippling in the wind was really cool. As the camera zoomed out to the usual view of the field during play it did not look quite as impressive. But as the bloke guided Paul Scholes to make a poorly judged tackle from behind (not that he would do that in real life.....) the cut scene was really well rendered! My matey Dodgy Trev has managed to get an Xbox and I am off to play Project Gotham 3 at lunchtime tomorrow - so expect me to give an update after I return - unless I am too busy ringing round trying to find out where I can buy one!

Xbox 360 Round Up

So, its only 2 more days until us chaps in "little ol' england" get the XBOX360. Well, we would if we had pre-ordered. It appears that Europe as a whole will only get a total of around 300,000 units for sale on launch day this friday. Pants! In preparation for the event, I am summarising the stories since the US launch a few weeks ago so you can all be "well informed" and "make the right choice" before buying. Fact#1: There have been issues with the 360 crashing which appear to be maily due to the external AC power adapter overheating. The fix for this is to put it on top of a cardboard box! "No recalls!" shouted Micro$oft, "Par for the course!" said a M$ support person, "Pants!" we say! Fact#2: You can install the Windows Media Connect application from Micro$oft to stream "multimedia" from your XP machine to the 360. However, this only covers Music and Photos. If you have Windows XP Media Centre Edition installed, you will be able to use the video and PVR functions from the 360 - but at the moment there is (absolutely) no way to stream or play Divx/Xvid files on the 360. This looks interesting though - a little hacking to run XP MCE apps via the 360. Or maybe using VLC to stream any content through a web interface is the way forward. Fact#3: The Free60 project is already up and running to attempt to get Linux running on the Xbox360. They have found out lots of information about the internal hardware and its hacking restrictions that have been imposed. A clever chap called "The Hypervisor" is guarding the (bill) gates and seems to have butt-fucked any chance of a modded 360 (so far). So don't wait for a modded version people! See this article at Engadget for a run down on the internal structure of the 360. Still, nothing is impossible - but I have yet to see a 360 ISO file turn up on "the torrents". Fact#4: The DVD player functionality has already been panned. It plays "backup DVDs" ok but also has quite bad "artifacts" and "smearing" on screen, even from retail DVDs. Stick with the £40 "Happy Shopper Matsui DVD Player" from Tesco methinks. Fact#5: Xbox 360 does allow you to plug in USB devices to access files such as music and photos. It will not allow you to play videos from that device though. You can connect your iPod and play music from it whilst playing a game, but you cannot rip music from the iPod (or any other USB device) to the 360's hard disk. This still has to be done by putting in your CD and ripping the tracks to the XBox hard disk in WMA format. Also, some MP3 devices are having issues being recognised by the 360, but this is mainly due to the fact that they are not *proper* USB Mass Storage Devices and may use their own internal disk format. Taoski's Parting Comment: "Whilst the 360 may appear to be the best thing since sliced bread, for me, the fact that there are *issues* connecting it to a PC to stream movies to it is a big no-no. I currently use my (modded) Xbox primarily as a media player using the excellent XBox Media Center application. Without that functionality in the new device - I will be scuppered." "It does appear that it will be a long time before a modded version of the console comes out but I have been away from online gaming for many years and feel the need to get a *real console* that plays *real games* so I can play against *real people*. Plus I should be teaching my kids the real value of things now they are getting older. Nothing comes for free - and if its worth having, then its worth working for." "I have yet to see a 360 in action pre-release day despite a trawl of my local gaming stores at the weekend. No doubt I will see Project Gotham playing and then obsess about getting one like I do with most other things. But for now I will stick with my current Xbox which does all I want it to and whilst the graphics on games like Burnout Revenge still amaze me - thats enough for me." Taoski says "RELAX" (and wait until next year to get a cheaper bundle). Technorati Tags: xbox, xbox360, microsoft, uk

Read and Destroy

When I was little, I can remember my parents reading me this book, "The Elephant and the Bad Baby" written by Elfrida Vipont and illustrated by the excellent Raymond Briggs. I bought this book for my kids a few years ago and when I read it to them, certain of the pictures give me a real feeling of euphoria from when I was young. There is one part where the elephant takes a bun from the bakers shop and the image of his trunk reaching through the door is very emotive for me. It's not the story, just the pictures. I have recently obtained a copy of a DVD called "Rollin Through The Decades" which charts the history of skateboarding in the UK. The added bonus is that it is edited by my friend Ben, who I have talked about in the Music Club Blog several times. The main focus of the documentary is around the South Bank in London where skateboarding has been welcomed, revilled, accepted and then outlawed many times over the years. Around the time I used to skate (circa 1987-1993), there was a skateboarding magazine called R.A.D. (Read And Destroy) which I used to buy every month. On Rollin Through The Decades, the magazine's creator, Tim Leighton Boyce talked about the creation of the mag and quite a few skaters pontificated over the content and style. Just seeing the covers of the magazine brought back similar feelings to those I described earlier. I can still remember the pictures and articles too, each one as emotive as the last. Then, over at the Too Old To Skate blog, I found a link to a new online archive of the R.A.D. magazine, setup by none other than the creator himself! I hope he features the issue where they came to Milton Keynes. I was there when the photographer was taking shots - but i never got into any of them (as I was too crap probably) but there were lots of my friends in them. Oh happy days!

iPod Volume Hack

Someone asked my where to get the ipod with full volume hack. So I thought I would find it and give it a go myself too. Not expecting too much, I installed the app - and it makes a hell of a difference! Not only does it increase the volume, it also expands the aural fidelity audio frequency curve graphology rating too! Ouch, ears... bleeding! Well worth an install! Technorati Tags: ipod, volume hack, apple, ears, bleeding

Retraction

I would like to retract my earlier statement regarding the casting and special effects used to make Mad Eye Moody in the new Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire film. I watched most of it last night in the Taoski's Torrent Sofa Cinema and I was impressed! It certainly is the best HP film to date - and I have'nt even got to the good bit yet at the end of "The Maze"... Mad Eye is done very well actually and does the character justice. So... sorry... I appologise. Technorati Tags: harry potter, goblet of fire, mad eye moody, HP

Hum Drum

There must be an official industry term for this: Trapped in a high salary, crap boring job that is the same every hour, day, week, year. Too scared to leave, too frightened to speak up in case of the dreaded "sideways career move" to another part of the company. At one point we, "the team", were the best of the best. We were looked upon in great esteem and revered in the highest eschelons of the corporate infrastructure. We were like gods, paving the golden road ahead in the world of remote PC fixes, "the best of the best". Our names were engraved upon the wooden toilet seats of our directors and fanfares were sounded when our names were spoken in meetings. I was their DemiGod. The bringer of light, chief fighter against evil and the writer of the holy and sacred batchfiles. Life was good. Work was a laugh, EVERY DAY! and it was real good fun. "The light at the end of the tunnel just turned out to be the screen of another broken PC......." How did it all turn into this rat-shit?

That's some damn tasty burger!

If you want some new XP Eye Candy whilst you are waiting to migrate to an iMac, download the Microsoft Royale Theme which has recently been released. It's nice n yummy. Technorati Tags: xp, theme, royale. eye candy

Man Flu

My body lay wet, cold and broken on the bed. Each twitching movement sending another prickly wave of pain from my back over my shoulders to my kneck. A bright ring of light was held tight around my skull, slowly twisting tighter as my brain inside throbbed harder and harder to escape from any orrifice it could find safe exit. And then I swallowed. Yep. I got the Man Flu again - but this time I also get to have 100% extra free Throat Infection too! Yipee!.. ow! I started to feel all tingly and achy on Friday last week and went downhill fast. Slept for 21 hours on Saturday and then had to endure the dreamlike comical toytown nightmare reality that was taking my wife to work on Sunday and then looking after the kids for six hours. Its amazing how much notice kids take of you when you are shouting soundlessly at them from the dizzy void of another dimension. The highlight of Sunday was taking my kids for a spin on the merry-go-round at the new Christmas display at my local shopping centre. It was just like the ending of 2001 - but with more hurting. It might have all been a dream... I'm just not sure! I got prescribed Penicillin (Phenoxymeythylpenicillin potassium) by my local surgery on Monday and have been on a steady dose since. Much crashing on the sofa was also prescribed and some DVDs had to be watched. I braved a return to work yesterday, against others wishes and better sound judgement, thinking I would be able to function but just found that my computer screen had turned into a milky puddle of rippling colour and that my hands kept on disappearing. When I was trying to talk to Mr Noxious about a remote install of Access 2000 he was attempting to an NT4 workstation with a .147 IP address I had to struggle to keep my sanity as he veered off the subject at random to talk about "tubes" and "hair folicles". Not what I needed at all. Again today I feel like my head is being squashed into the corner of the sofa by a big bean bag full of tiny ringing alarm clocks. My spacial awareness has gone completely off the radar and things look and feel a lot smaller or larger than they could be. Even as I sit and type this on my spongy keyboard, I feel the room spinning around me under my chair (which thankfully is on wheels) and my feet feel like the floor is pitching up and down under them, like they are on the pedal of an old sewing machine. Must be time for some food I think. Nothing too crunchy though. Technorati Tags: cold, flu, infection, penicillin, dream, void, headache

iPoddy

Here's my iTunes Playlist in dedication to all those disgruntled iPod Nano users who have troubles with their screen! Bring on the multi million dollar lawsuit! Tsk... twats! On a similar and related theme, heres some links for an iTunes hack to Download music videos from the iTunes. This has recently been blocked by Apple (after the announcement of the iPod that does video) so check the links on the Latest URLs page. Right click the link on the Latest URLs page and paste it into the box on the front page. This will give you a .MOV URL which you can copy out to do with, what you desire. Also keep an eye on the UNEASYSilence version (which is currently offline) as it worked better Also from the UNEASYSilence site are the instructions for How to download high res album art from iTunes and How to download movie trailers from iTunes. Technorati Tags: iPod, iPod Nano, Nano, iTunes, Apple, Hack, video, album art, ITMS

Mad eye

No, no, no, no... NO! This is not what I expected Mad Eye Moody to look like! In my minds eye he was a lot more "grotesque" than this. He was more kind of like Robert Deniro's version of Frankenstein's monster. And what the hell is that? A strap on eye? Get a grip! I might have to go back and check The Goblet Of Fire for the first description of Moody - but this just destroys him for me. Nearly as bad as casting Keanu Reeves as John Constantine for the poor film version of the Hellblazer comics.... Casting directors..... "Stupefy!" Technorati Tags: harry potter, the goblet of fire, mad eye moody, tgof, constantine, keanu reeves, Brendan Gleeson

Holy cow!

Just stumbled upon an ZDnet blog page detailling the new Swedish train which runs on fuel made up of organic waste from cows.

Not just being environmentally friendly and quiet, the train also runs at a respectable 130kph and according to travellers on the maiden voyage, ran on time.

I'm not sure what Rev Awdry would have to say about this - but i don't expect a DVD version of "Thomas and the shitty smelling train" will be landing on my sons lap at christmas time.

Technorati Tags: thomas the tank engine, biogas, train, cow, environment

Ho Ho Ho, says Bill

In a shock "billionaire tries to make more money" scandal, it appears that the US launch day stock of the XBOX360 will be limited to meagre amounts per store. As detailled over at the XBOX Forums already, stock for some major retail stores in the US like WalMart will only be able to sell between 10-50 units on a first come first serve basis with only one purchase per person. The dedicated gamer outlets like Electonics Boutique may only receive 16 units per store which will piss off the 60 odd people who have already pre-ordered - over 30 of which were promised a console. Some other stores worldwide have also been told that they must sell out on the launch date and that they must sell at least two games per console. The spin on this is possibly two fold.

• Has Microsoft had issues making the consoles in time for the launch date? If so then the low stock estimates could be valid.
• However, predicting a sell out on launch date, creating a high demand for the "must have" next gen console could also work in their favour, creating a shopping frenzy. Hell, they are already on eBay for over £300!

What ever the reason, if I don't get one on December the 25th... i will stamp my feet and cry. Technorati Tags: xbox, xbox 360, microsoft, walmart, electronics boutique, christmas, presents

Pretend Poo

Cripes! Mr Postman delivered my GBA Flash Cart this morning before 9am! Hows that for eBay service! Ordered yesterday afternoon - delivered today! I unboxed my new toy and slapped it into the USB port on my XP box and installed the drivers, briefly read the instructions (ignored most of it) and launched the program from the included CD to upload some **ahem** backups of my games I already own. ERROR: NOT ENOUGH ROOM The Cart stated that it had 256mb free... but only 256MB RAM - not ROM.... Hmm... I tried to format the card using the same program - but it just crashed every time. Thoughts of negative eBay feedback entered my mind as I re-read the instructions. I went off to the manufacturers website and began to download the latest version of the upload client and was a small part way through downloading it over my 2Meg ADSL line at 3.2kb a second when I found a slightly older version on another site. Downloaded that - unRARed it and tested... it worked!!! I was able to pick my ROM images and load them into the application ready for uploading. So why did'nt Mr eBay supply the latest version of the client too? He did supply his own CD with the drivers on, but they were obviously the old version! So I now have ...er... some ROMs on the cart. And for the record.. it works - perfectly! It boots to a loader screen (with wallpaper you can change) and you arrow up and down the list of games and press the A Button to load them. I don't know why I did'nt get one years ago! Now, i'm off for another "pretend poo" to play. And tonight, I will be mostly searching the internet for ROMs and Emulators. Technorati Tags: nintendo, gameboy advance, gameboy, gba, flash, EFA, emulator, ROM, eBay, USB

Spam

I just logged onto the webmail portion of my "other" main email account with BTInternet that I have had for over 8 years to check the latest on my eBay/PayPal purchase. Only to remember that I had changed the email addresses ages ago. They have an automatic spam killing feature on there that moves the offending messages direct to the Trash folder and then deletes them after a month on a rolling process. At the moment, the count of the last 31 days worth of spam is 1373 emails! Not to mention the ones that slip past the filters to be captured by my Thunderbird spam filters. That's about 44 pieces of crap per day! Or 16,500 per year! Then again, the email address has been used on newsgroups and a various array of other "dodgy" sites over the years - so 44 per day is probably not that bad! The actual amount of proper emails I get to that address is minimal - i might as well delete it really. On a side note... here is my first ever newsgroup posting from over 10 years ago. Thanks Google! Oh - and sorry Terry. I know your boss wasn't pleased... Technorati Tags: spam, email, bt, btinternet, trash, ebay, paypal, newsgroups, usenet, google

Advice taken

I have taken the advice from the comments on my previous posting and have purchased a 256MB flash ROM cart for my Gameboy Advance SP from eBay. Review coming up soon! Technorati Tags: GBA, nintendo, flash, emulators, roms, ebay

You're Tekken the piss

A little help please... Years after finding an original Gameboy Advance on the train a few days after they have been released in the shops, my love affair with portable gaming has not ceased. I upgraded the old unit for a nice new spanky Gameboy Advance SP when that came out and we have spent many a happy hour together. The problem is, I only have 3 games!

• Tekken Advance
• Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
• Advance Wars

I have recently won 29 fights on "Survival Mode" on the "Hard" setting of Tekken Advance, so I think I might have done it to death. I have also completed Tony Hawk with nearly all the characters (much to the delight of my fellow train commuters). Advance Wars is a different matter. I have not even completed the basic training games! Why? Because it takes too long! I only like to play games that are not too deep and do not take too long. Ones that I can pick up and play for 5 mins at a time. Something I can play whilst on the toilet without running the risk of getting arse-sores. Has anyone got a suggestion for a new Gameboy Advance game that fits this criteria? Or has anyone got any good experiences to share regarding the GBA Flash Memory Carts? Or does anyone want to do swapsies with my copy of Advance Wars? Technorati Tags: gba, gameboy, gameboy advance, nintendo, tekken, advance wars, tony hawk, console, xbox

iTao

On friday I had my portable heart monitor fitted for 24 hours. Seven different coloured electrodes were attached to various parts of my chest after a student doctor shaved me and dealt me a few lines of his jokey patter. The main device was in a small black zipped bag slung over my shoulder. Not that different from a camera case. I went straight back to work and hid the device under my shirt. Looking like I was "packing heat" I spent the rest of the day feeling a little odd for having sticky pads all over me - but only had one slight odd heartbeat type symptom at around 12:39 which I noted in the little diary they gave me. I went and stayed at SwimPig's house, had a few beers and a real coffee at 9pm (which will be noted in the diary too). He took some excellent long exposure shots of me, in my monitor gear, in the garden with a torch. You have to keep your eye on his site. One of the shots may appear soon. Also, my sleep was affected as I normally sleep on my side - so the wife was kept awake by me snoring like a cattle grid. I will be taking the monitor back tomorrow and will expect to hear the results (if any) sometime soon i suppose. Technorati Tags: ECG, heart, monitor, ipod, murmur

Smoke and Mirrors

As a reformed smoker of over 5 years standing I now feel qualified to speak on this matter with some authority.  The UK government has started legislation for a partial smoking ban in UK pubs.

I am not PRO a total ban on smoking in public places - as I will not be able to get my "by proxy" fix of the sweet smell of Old Virginia rolling tobacco wafting over my pint of Guinness whilst I chat.

Smoking is nice.  I loved it and I probably would still love it now.

Call me selfish... but I don't care!

Technorati Tags : smoking, ban, smoking, uk, patricia, hewitt, guinness, pub

Photoshop Kubrick Header Template

Hot on the heels of my previous posting about the Kubrickr header image generator - and bang on the money after Mr Noxious slated my new header design in favor of the old logo (in a LOST stylie) comes a copy of my photoshop template for the Kubrick "Blue Blob" header. Made from two layers, you can either customize on top of the "blue blob" or remove it totally for your own "free form" enjoyment. I was starting to think of a new design and made this template to help me. Hope others can benefit from using this too! Grab the template here Get the Kubrick for Blogger template here Technorati Tags: kubrick, template, blogger, kubrickr, photoshop, lost, header

Obituary

I hereby announce the passing of my sons first Tamagotchi creature, DJ.

They spent 8 wonderful days together, playing games, shopping and pooing.

He spent time in the bath, played with his Ninja Throwing Stars I bought him after we gambled 9p a time on the slot game and he also had a nice day out wearing his hat we purchased from the fat shop keeper.

His favorite treat was Cupcakes (just like Uber!).

We will miss him... but he has already been replaced by TIFF, a new female creature! I'm glad we've got two bathrooms!

Technorati Tags : tamagotchi, egg, creature, cupcakes, ninja

Clockwork Headers

Just found this neat little web based tool to automatically make "Kubrick style" headers for your blog (the template championed by myself and Nick). Images are pulled from Flickr by entering an appropriate tag and then manually cropped to make the JPG which is then downloaded to your PC.

It will never replace spending hours on a tedious multi layered Photoshop/illustrator image (only to find it looks crap at the proper size) but it could be a good way of finding a starting image though.

Not sure why the site will not pull out my Photao tagged images though. Odd.

I still would (eat my own arm for) like a version of the Tao of Mac kubrick slideshow header which is done in Macromedia Flash and pulls random images from Flickr. It just gushes class! Just need some (reliable) webspace i guess.

Found via the Great Flickr Tools collection.

Technorati Tags: flickr, kubrick, template, header, blogger, photao

Get iTunes Workin'

Just spotted these two links via my lunchtime Bloglines readings and thought that I would blog them before my phone rang and I forgot my name... How to find and add media to your iTunes library with del.icio.us - using RSS feeds. Works with MP3, PDF etc.. Subscribe to free del.icio.us videos in iTunes - using keywords like "funny" or "boobies". Both via the excellent Lifehacker site. Not tried it yet - but it does look "interesting"! Technorati Tags: itunes, ipod, apple, ITMS, RSS, del.icio.us, lifehacker, video, mp3, media

On Average

A report yesterday found that on average, the average person spends and average of £21,000 on music in their lifetime. The Uber-Music-Geek however spends, on average £44,000 (mostly due to ordering that rare INXS german remix with the japanese cover notes from eBay). In this modern age, £21,000 equates to aproximately 30,434 purchases from the iTunes Music Store (based on 69p per track). The Audiophile with their £44,000 gets a whopping 63,768 purchases from the same store. With the average size of an MP3 being about 6mb, the iPods for the next generation of tune-heads would need a storage capacity of 200GB (to fit aprox 30,000 songs) and 400GB (to fit aprox 64,000 songs) to enable you to carry your entire lifes music purchases in your pocket. In realistic terms, we are not too far off these possible capacities. Come on Apple, sort it out! There's a market hole waiting to be filled! Just don't make it too heavy! By the time I have purchased (torrented) all my music - i might be a little frail. Technorati Tags: apple, ipod, storage, music, itunes, ITMS

Bye bye Gmail.. hello Google Mail

For quite some time I have been a champion of the excellent Google GMail service and now use that more regularly than the other (13) email accounts I have. In the UK, Google's use of the GMail name has been the subject of dispute as another company has already claimed its right to use the GMail name. So it appears that (for once) Google have given in and will be changing the addresses for the UK users of its service from @Gmail.com to @googlemail.com sometime soon. Shame really. Its not got the same ring to it. I still have 100 invites left to give out for GMail... sorry... Googlemail. So if you want one, let me know. Technorati Tags: gmail, googlemail, google, email, webmail

Whats my Vector Victor?

After spending all day slaving over my PC at work I then spent several hours bashing away last night at a new logo for my blog. It was all for research purposes though.

I have decided to get to grips with Adobe Illustrator CS2 as I do like the look of vector art. I think it will take some getting used to though. Compared to Photoshop I struggled to get it to do what i wanted and had to export back as a JPG to finish it off. The final image’s detail was totally lost when i converted it across… it looked excellent in Illustrator but crappy and pixelated in Photoshop. More practice needed i think – if anyone has any tips on this then let me know.

The new Illustrator CS2 version has a great “Live Trace” feature where you can pull in line drawings you have scanned and it converts them to editable paths. The great thing is that this also works with photos. The eye on the left (which is mine) and the skateboarder (which is not me – as I am much better!) were both processed using this method – and i think it looks pretty cool!

I kind of had a thought the other night that I would start trying some illustrations. I would set myself a goal of learning the Adobe Illustrator application, doing some illustrations and selling them – or having them used/published somewhere within one year. Possibly a tall order seeing as I work on PCs all day and the thought of having to chain myself to the PC all the time when I am at home makes me cringe. At least Illustrator makes it easy to work with imported graphics – so I could also spend time drawing and making art to scan in to use. Is this a silly idea?

If anyone has some good sites with Illustrator tutorials on then let me know please!

Technorati Tags: adobe, illustrator, adobe illustrator, vector, illustration, logo, live trace, tutorials

iPorn

For those who really know what technology means to a man.... iPod Erotica via Surtin.com Technorati Tags: ipod, erotica, iporn, apple

They did it.....

Contrary to Uber-mole insider type sites, Apple managed to Black Propaganda and outsmart everyone again with the announcement of their new iPod. And yes... it does do video! The new iPod which appears to have replaced the standard large capacity colour screen iPod device sports a 2.5 inch (320*240 pixel) screen capable of 30 fps video playback using Apples Quicktime format. Apple has obviously learnt from the success of the iPod Nano and have made the device thinner - and also available in what I like to call "gravestone black". In a 30GB and 60GB capacity the device can playback 2 or 4 hours of video respectively before the battery goes "all Betamax" on you. Also launched at the same time (apart from the new thinner technophiles physical porno iMac) was the new version of iTunes (version 6) which now adds video purchase, sync and playback capability. At present there are only music videos available to download as well as the classic Pixar short animations. Each of these is set at £1.89 each - which ain't too pricey. I dragged one of my WMV files to the application but it refused to do anything with it. It did take one of "my friends" MPG files though and added it to the Video section - but be careful when you ask for playback with MSN Messenger's set to show the currently playing song information against your name! Steve Jobs also announced that in the future there will be episodes of Lost available to purchase and download and (to appease the Wife who haunts all of our tech purchases) Desparate Housewives. And as the new iPod comes with a video out capability you can then plug the device into your TV so the whole family can enjoy your new iPorn Podcasts. So Apple now have a device that plays music, shows photos, stores data, stores organiser information, plays audiobooks and now plays videos! What's next? I am increasingly impressed with the Apple iTunes Music Store and the range of stuff available. If I was'nt such an "Internet Pirate" then I would definitely buy from there. I, for one, welcome the Apple overlords and their new products. Now... where can I get the money to get one? Technorati Tags: ipod video, ipod, itunes, apple, imac, lost, desparate housewives, pixar, ITMS, Quicktime

The Back Quack

I have found that the best way to relax after being told you may have a heart condition is to watch adrenaline sports on the TV and play intense car racing games on your XBox. It beats that Tai Chi and Yoga bollocks any day! I am feeling better and a lot more rational about my "condition" now and the panicky feelings have totally gone away. I am still left with a feeling of pressure on my chest - like I cannot take a full lung full of air even though I can - and the odd griping pain here and there - but generally alot better. I was beginning to think that the pain I am now feeling is more skeletal or muscular so I made an appointment with the local Chiropractor and went to see him this morning. He immediately spotted that I was "all tense" and set about attacking me with his pressure hammer adjustment tool and also gave me a good back massage (my first that didn't end in a blow job and an emptying of the wallet!). I will be going back to him again next week for more of the same. As a practicing Chiropractor and sports injury clinic, I thought he would have seen it all - but he was quite impressed with the poor knotted state of the muscles down the right hand side of my spine.

They're totally seized up mate!

So more shoulder muscles excersises and relaxing on the cards for the rest of the week for me. More playing train tracks with my son, chilling to "Party Mix" on iTunes, hammering the torrents and watching crap TV. It's tough being ill.

I *heart* me

When I was younger I used to watch a Sitcom called "Only When I Laugh" which was set in a hospital ward where three mismatched patients would cause havoc each week and make fun of the Asian doctor called "Gupta". This program and the Carry On Doctor films has always lead me to think that a stay in hospital would be quite nice. Well. I got my chance this weekend! Lets rewind a little. Thursday was just another crappy slow day at work, but I began to have feelings of pressure on my chest also accompanied by the odd irregular heartbeat - which I have had before in the past (usually due to too much Coffee). This abated though and in the evening I felt fine. Friday morning was again no issue. At around 10 am at work I started to feel unwell again with increased pressure across my chest and I was a little short of breath. I did not feel very unwell and it did not stop me from doing my work as usual. I didn't feel faint or anything - just felt like I had a child lying on my chest preventing me from breathing correctly. By the end of the day it still had not gone and I was getting a little concerned and decided to see the local emergency doctor after work who checked me over. He thought that it could be stress related but he also thought he could hear a heart murmur through his stethoscope and tried to hook me up to their ECG machine (the machine that goes "ping") for a scan - which didn't work - at all. So he ordered me to go directly to the Clinical Decisions Unit (CDU) at the local hospital to be checked over. I had to call my wife from home as I was not even allowed to walk back to get her to drive me. I still felt ok too at this point - my heart rate was elevated but I felt ok - probably just scared. My poor wifey went into panic mode and had to call my parents over to feed the kids as she was in mid evening meal cook. We went to the CDU and booked in at about 1830. I was checked over by a nurse an hour later with the ECG machine and blood tests but all appeared normal. I was still feeling ok too. Hours later the other doctors checked me over and agreed that they could hear a Apex Heart Murmur which could be a blood flow murmur but they were not sure. I was then checked again by another more senior doctor who checked me for other stuff (Marfanoid Features??) but agreed that my heart was exhibiting these murmur symptoms. My blood test was fine though and there were no other obvious signs (sweaty, swollen ankles, double vision). So I was admitted overnight and was left by the wife at around midnight who had already been home to get my clothes. Meanwhile, one of the nurses was taking lots of blood for some cultures to check for infections which would take about 3 days to grow. I managed to get to sleep after 1am and was woken at 7am for breakfast and more nursy TLC. I was seen by a senior doctor a little after 9am who listened to my chest again and thought that it was a only a flow murmur and I was told I would most likely have to attend as an outpatient for a Echo scan on my heart. I went for a chest X-Ray at about 1030am which showed nothing obvious either and was left to sit on my bed, watching elderly patients nearby slowly dying and waiting for a decision to be made by the Cardiologist who I was told would be round to see me today. I had my delicious hospital lunch (cardboard sandwiches) and dinner (soggy pasta and salty mash potatoes followed by over sweetened apple pie and magma crust custard). Nothing happened until about 10pm when the senior doctors and the Cardiologist did their rounds and they took 5 mins to discharge me. I have been told to avoid caffeine and spicy food until they know what it is exactly. I phoned my Dad and after I pretended I had to stay in for a month he came to get me at about 11pm. However, when I got home and went to bed I started to have real bad pressure on my chest again and began to hyperventilate and feel very faint. My heart rate felt normal (to me) though so I rode it out with some yoga breathing moves provided by my wife and some "head between the legs and deep breathing" action. After a bit of water and chocolate (just in case it was due to low blood sugar) I managed to get back in bed and after 30 mins or so I slept until morning.

Was this a possible panic/anxiety attack?

I feel ok now but I do still have a feeling of pressure/discomfort on my chest and feel slightly out of breath at times. Maybe when the blood cultures are grown they will discover some sort of infection - who knows. I will have to go back to the docs some time next week to hand in my letter of discharge but also to inform him of the "Panic Attack" situation last night. I will also be making an appointment with a local osteopath for a skeletal check up as the pain I am feeling in my chest does feel as if its actually on my breastbone and surrounding area. The osteopath in question has done wonders for my whole family in the past - so I am expecting great things. Maybe being hunched over a keyboard for 8 hours a day has finally done something to me! Needless to say I shall be "self certing" myself off work for as long as possible. Enough time to chill as much as I can and time to see the doctors and the osteopath. It could be related to stress I suppose although I don't feel I have anything to be stressed about. Work is easy and my home life is very good. I will be going back to see the Cardiologist in around 10 weeks for the Echo Scan so until then - and when the results come in a few weeks after - I will not know for sure if there is something wrong with my heart. But at the moment it all points to nothing serious.

The Boy Who Heard Music

Hot on the heels of us creative wordy types over at Handshandy, Pete Townshend of The Who fame has began to tread our path by posting two chapters of his novella over at his Blogspot blog.  I have’nt read the whole thing (yet) so if you can be bothered, let me know what its all about.

Sure makes better reading than Pamela Anderson's blog though!

Oh. And Pete uses a Mac by the way.  Why does’nt that surprise me?

Technorati Tags: the who, pete townshend, blogger, novella, novel, pamela anderson, handshandy, celebrity

viPod?

 So next week Apple are doing another of their Invite only announcements and the rumors circulating the Internet is that they are going to announce a Video iPod.  I reckon it’s going to be called a ViPod.

Although Uber iGod Steve Jobs recently said that they were not planning a video version of the popular iPod range as "no-one had got it quite right yet" - this does not mean that they will not do so. As with any Apple product, the security has been kept tight as ever but with other product enhancements, like a new range of the popular iMac Mini and possibly a new range of "Professional Mac Workstations" in the offing, the announcement could be not what we are expecting (or predicting).

I for one did not expect them to announce the iPod Nano. That was a total surprise. Read from that event that Apple still have the upper hand on this and could announce something totally new that we have not expected.

People have already found links within the newest versions of the iTunes software that appear to link to some sort of downloadable movie content - the same as they did when they found that iTunes also contained code for exporting to the new ROKR iTunes mobile phone before Apple and Mr Moto (officially) announced the device.

Engadget have already posted a possible sneaky shot of the Video iPod. It kind of looks how I would expect it to look if there was such a device. But Steve Jobs has got to have something clever up his sleeve to make this work.

Seeing how the majority of portable video players out there support various formats, including the BitTorrent's friend, "DivX", would I pay £xxx for a device that only allowed me to download content to the player via iTunes and in a format decided by Apple? Hell no. I don't do that with the music on iTunes at the moment. It takes what i feed it (and loves it)!

Or will they be releasing a new version of iTunes at the same time that will convert my DivX, Avi and Mpeg files to their copyrighted locked down Quicktime format? Only time will tell. The dudes over at Engadget have already reported that someone has found information in iTunes regarding the Microsoft WMV format - which can also be copy protected.

When, not if, the device is launched, stand by to subscribe to iPorn and iVidcasting too by the way...

Technorati Tags: ipod, apple, video ipod, steve jobs, itunes, music, video