What a donut

Sometimes i could kick myself... After bleating on about getting an iPod or an MP3 player, my SPV rose from the ashes and lasted - all of a day. I felt i was happy getting used to the SPV again. I put on a new homescreen - so that it looked like a Mac. I even loaded on a new ringtone in WAV format too, not that it actually rang the day i had it switched on! I triumphed on my first game of toilet Solitaire too - surely a good sign! However - the keys are a little dodgy, sticking and not working, the screen is scratched and it weighs a ton. I gave the keys a "good mash" but it made no difference. Plus the display backlight seemed to be on more than it was off even though i had setup the power management properly. By the time i left it on overnight the battery was practically dead and i was digging back in the drawer for my Nokia again. I never bought a new SD memory card for it. Which was a good thing really as it was obviously not meant to be and it saved me some money. Yet again procrastination pays! I sometimes preach to others of my "Path of least resistance" as i slide through my life. Maybe i should now also be preaching a "path of less material goods" too. I would love an iPod - and could also think of quite a few reasons why i might need one and want one - but they are not real reasons. Just excuses for wanting something cool and sexy. My "new path" does sound a little religious too. Maybe that needs tweaking slightly. I can't beat the feeling of leaving work at the end of the day knowing i have done my job and have nothing to carry home. Its a similar feeling to walking home from school on a summers day knowing you have nothing to do but doss around until teatime. I used to lug laptops and stuff around in previous jobs, but now i need nothing at all - just me noggin. Maybe that is what i need to concentrate on. Having nothing. Wanting for nothing. More to come.....

MPAA NOTICE

There are websites that provide legal downloads. This is not one of them. This website has been permanently shut down by court order because it facilitates the illegal downloading of copyrighted motion pictures. The illegal downloading of motion pictures robs thousands of honest, hard-working people of their livelihood, and stifles creativity. Illegally downloading movies from sites such as these without proper authorization violates the law, is theft, and is not anonymous. Stealing movies leaves a trail. The only way not to get caught is to stop.

Home Computer Magazine

I have just found a free PC mag you can download from here. Its called Home Computer Magazine and is available for download in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 6 to read it.

Abs, Clusty and SPV

Firstly, *greets* and *hugs* to Abi who will probably not read this blog any time soon anyway. Whilst i fixed her up with a new PC last night she showed me one of her favorites.. Clusty. Its (another) search engine but groups the results down the left hand side of the page. Worth a look! Alas i have decided that my dream of getting an iPod is dead. a) i cannot afford it and b) i would'nt really use it anyway i think. The times when i was commuting by train to Birmingham each day are long gone and that would have been the perfect time to use it. These days the longest trip i make is to Birmingham by car - but then i would have to invest in an iPod holder and mechanism to get the sound out of my car stereo - also not ideal. And those who has seen my "Green Machine" will know what i mean! So, i have decided to resurrect my SPV! For those not in the know, an SPV is a phone running a Microsoft operating system which is capable of playing MP3s, playing videos and acting as a calendar and general organisational device. When i used to get the train, my SPV was used every day. I listened to the whole Harry Potter series on AudioBook format, listened to oodles of Oasis and watched several episodes of the Simpsons whilst not trying to laugh out loud and look like a weirdo! At the moment i have not got an SD memory card for the SPV (i used to have a 256mb card back then) - but they are pretty cheap these days - and if i can also get a USB2 card reader too... i will be laughing! It will be a good test for me to see if i will actually use an MP3 player - and therefore be a good test to see if an iPod will be a worthwhile puchase.

mininova

Just checked out mininova on recomendation from Ned Kelly. Looks pretty good. Quick clean interface with all the usual Suprnova style. I will keep my eye on this one!

boombasticradio.com

My recent post about Boombastic Radio used to have a graphic which i nicked from the site. However - it never really worked properly as it was in 3 parts and was too large for the Blogger Template to cope with so i emailled the nice techy people at Boombastic Radio and asked for a link button. They emailled me back promising to create them and this morning, here they are:

If you don't ask - you don't get!

Bloglines

I have just subscribed (free) to Bloglines to manage my daily Blog reading activities (when i should be working). You can also add any other RSS feed which most "news style" websites now provide. There is also a large database where you can browse available content by most popular links - so adding new ones to your list is very easy. Here is my current list of sites i have "Bloglined" (dynamic): Check it out...

New color mini iPods?

Just seen this pic over at Gizmodo showing a possible color screen mini iPod. Apparently due to be announced in the next few weeks by Apple. Maybe... just maybe...??? Another for my Amazon Wishlist probably... Also - i just saw this little beauty mentioned on Gizmodo too. Someone over at iPodlounge has made themselves a tasty brushed aluminium case for their iPod Shuffle: I also just noticed that by Blog has turned into an Apple/iPod fanboy site! Eeeek. Must find some more Bittorrent news to put up and some links to something else less boring! Sorry.

iPod and Apple Mac - shelved

As much as i would love an iPod and a (new) Apple Mac i think these things will have to be shelved for now. I'll just add them to my Amazon wishlist and hope that someome will buy me them for my Birthday (which is in 131 days!). My cashflow is at an all time low. What with new exhausts, new tires and poorly cats i cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel at the moment. Lets just hope that my employer offers me Early Voluntary Retirement and i can leave with some cash and walk into another job - which i am lining up... possibly.

Shall i?

Lunchtime Lovelies

Went to PC Wurld at lunchtime to buy some more ink for my Epson C80 printer so son number 1 could do some printing for a school project. £30..... grrr. Nearly as cheap to buy a new printer! I wandered about a bit and checked the iPods out (of course) and then i saw one of these new iMacs up close for the first time....

I love the effortless way that the windows appear, fold out, shimmy onto the taskbar, hide and appear when pressing F9, F10 and F11... If that was my PC, most of the animation would be marred by a severe grinding of the hard disk followed by an embarrassing bleep as the system locked and then rebooted. Trust me! I have tried all the OSX transformation themes for Windows - and they all sucked... big style. Not sure if the little silver stand could handle being knocked by a 3 and 5 year old running across the room though. May need a little more "investigation". And they are only a grand! (eek!) I'm sure that the wife said that after the kitchens finished i could get a new PC. Watch this space!!!!!

Scores on the doors

Here are the scores for last nights pub activity. Firstly let me say that i had an excellent time and it was good to see (nearly) all of you in one place again. Just like the old days (ahhhhh!). It now appears that Fat Matt Twat was semi concious deciding whether to eat another mayonaise, pepper, streaky strips and olive oil sandwich or to watch another episode of "Queer Eye". Very poor show. But every cloud has a silver lining - he now owes us all 2 pints and a salty snack each! Or would that be 2 pints of his salty snacks? Only time, some whiskey and a bottle of poppers will tell us the outcome of that question! The scores are as follows in no real order and i will not score myself of course (just in case i come last). Chris: "Like an earthquake in a butchers window" quip = +30 Being the only one to "get out his little gadget" = -10 Overall Score: 20 (just too cool to try harder - nuff said) Tim: Extra bonus sympathy points for being sacked in Brighton today = +50 Wearing his red anorak (where was your spotters notepad?) = -10 For not knowing how a PAYG mobile phone works = -10 Overall Score: 30 (ayy what? me ears not working well these days) Jon: Leather jacket...... you're like so 1990s = -20 Bringing yet more free coasters CDs = +30 "Thought you'd been swimming" quip = +10 Overall Score: 20 ("much better when he's on his own") Rick: Ad-hoc Mandarin swearing lesson = +40 Going to watch "The Dons" = +10 Failing his blood test today (sorry sir... only Stella in there) = -10 Breathing Steak Pizza on everyone = -10 Overall Score: 30 (everyones jolly pissed mate) Ray: Getting married tomorrow (congrats?) = +30 Drinking alc-free lager = -10 Loosing an N64 on eBay(?) = -10 Overall Score: 10 (not to be trusted with worldly possessions) Carl: Yellow bollock wristband = +20 Overall score: 20 (its worth £22 on eBay!) Adam: For believing that computers have "ruined modern life" = +30 Looking blankly at us as we chat about C++, Modula2 and the Internet = -10 For getting a job that involves fighting = +10 Overall score: 30 (he's not reading this anyway!) Matt: Sitting at home and watching Changing Rooms whilst we supped beer = -50 Offering a party = +10 Overall Score: -40 (taking the scumble effect to Canada)

iPod Shuffle.. is... really.... errr small!

Saw an iPod Shuffle in Selfridges today. Only just! It was sooooooo small it was nearly lost in the blokes hand who was looking at it! Very nice... Gonna get me one!

Life arrives at Milton Keynes (at last)

Well...well... well..... look what i spotted next to the train station whilst on my way to London last week: SUBWAY!!! Yahhhhay! I just had to go and sample its wares this lunchtime. 6" Vege Patty. Mmmm! The service was speedy and efficient (and they did'nt put too much salt and pepper on either!). It is also only just a quick walk up the hill from work or if you are brave you can even play "dodge the parking fine" and leave your car outside for a few minutes. I can see myself getting rather fat sometime soon.

Mac Mini: The Emperor's New Computer

Mac Mini: The Emperor's New Computer I just had to blog this review of the Mac Mini by a so called MCSE. Now i'm not a Mac officionardo by any small stretch of the imagination - hell - i've only touched one for more than 2 minutes a few times! But this bloke has got it all wrong-wrong-wrongo! I'm glad i never made MCSE - it obvioulsy means nothing these days! Quotes: While the hardware is about roughly equivalent to a Windows PC circa 1995, what got me interested were Apple’s claims about its size, weight and footprint. Hmmm.. 1995... thats when i first started fixing PCs. The birth of Windows 95. The PCs were 486s with 16 or 32mb of ram! Now lets compare that to the MacMini's 1.25 or 1.42Ghz G4 processor with 256Mb DDR-RAM. If you believe Apple’s marketing department, the new Mini is “smaller than most packs of gum” and weighs “less than four quarters”. Well, we received our test unit from Apple yesterday, and let me say right off the bat that those claims are a wee bit of an exaggeration. Well.. if you had been reading the spec of the new iPod Shuffle then you may have read that information..... but not the iMac Mini. While there is a Mac-style “donnnnggggg” when the Mini is first turned on, during normal operation the unit makes no sound whatsoever. This could make it very difficult for a novice user to know whether or not the computer is on. In fact, it took our techs about fifteen minutes before we realized the unit itself was operating normally and it was the monitor that was not plugged in properly Ahhh... the old classic! I drove from Milton Keynes to Norwich once to fix that fault! Actually - that was back in 1995 too! The Mini boots up into a stripped-down operating system which Apple calls OS X, similar to the stripped-down WindowsCE OS found on many handhelds. Yeahhhss... sure it does... Just cos its got no Start button its stripped down. There is no Outlook Express for email, but Apple includes a program called Mail, which is like a stripped-down email client. Duh! Secondly and possibly even more glaringly, there is no antivirus program shipped with the Mac! In today’s climate of non-stop worms, trojans and viruses, releasing a computer with no virus removal software is irresponsible on the part of Apple Duh duh! Possibly why someone would buy it in the first place? My Office 2003 CD would not install, despite claims I had heard from Mac fanboys that OS X is compatible with Office. Duh duh duh!! You even tried it! Extra points for effort!

Apple Mac Mini Review by The Register

Come on! Its cute, its a computer... i want it!!! This will shortly become a new purchase i feel. The wife is getting more than a little pissed off with my oversize PC with extra bits and bobs cluttering up the lounge. What i really want is one of the "Desk lamp" iMacs. At least with this little beauty i could get away with a real "minimal" setup on my computer desk. Wireless keyboard and mouse too... oohhh matron!

MaDdoG Software | Flurry for Windows

MaDdoG Software Flurry for Windows This is a PC version of the funky OS X mac screensaver called Flurry.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

The 50 most important video games of all time

Found a cool article about the "supposed" 50 most important video games of all time! The Essential 50 Archives from 1UP.COM Check it out.

eXeem Drops Cydoor Adware

The good guys over at Slyck news are reporting that the latest version of eXeem no longer contains the Cydoor Spyware/Adware component. Although Cydoor sounds less intrusive than before, it can only be proof that pressure from the P2P fan base can have an impact in a good way. Check the full story here: Slyck News - eXeem Drops Cydoor

The "preparation side" has a range cooker and two sets of 1m wide draws either side (currently sans draw-fronts). The fridge is just to the right out of shot - as is our pull out larder cupboard - when they order the correct size one! 

A poor picture of the "sink side" of the new kitchen. They have boxed in the boiler in the corner near the new doors (so i expect Mr British Gas will slap a condemed sticker on next visit). The sink is a large "double bowl" affair with a cool mixer tap thing which i still don't fully understand how to get on hot. 

Birthday time again!!! Yipee!

Its my birthday soon! - in... errr... 144 days! Hooray! So it must be time to start with my Birthday gift list. As my family will know (all too well) i always want for "nothing" on my birthday and christmas but this birthday i am going to get in early with a few suggestions. I think i will set up my Amazon Wishlist as they seem to provide most things these days. Also, my mood changes frequently as i find new things on the internet and think "i need one of them!!" so it will be a good place for me to keep up to date with my likes/dislikes and the general "faddi-ness" of my personality. By the time 2nd July 2005 comes - it might be down to a managable list!!! Bet there won't be any books on there!

Back from the land of the dead

So, I'm back at work. My sinus system is still a flowing green triangle of mucus and my left lung still has a dull scraping pain every few coughs - but I am here - and working too! Which is a start. I have left the pleasures of being ill at home with the kitchen fitters behind. This was not really pleasant (for either of us) - but was necessary. I slept for 9 hours on Thursday - so didn't even really see them - which was nice. Anyway, they have gone and left us with 80% of a kitchen. Still a few cupboard doors missing (on order) and a few holes in the walls (being done Wednesday). The fitters are really good blokes - but we are more questionable about the sales people and their methods now. Hindsight is a marvelous thing - but when verbal conversations with one sales/designer person don't translate magically to the fitters written instructions you can only kick yourself for not insisting things were handled better at the time. We will get there in the end. Money will not be paid if we are not happy - simple as that! I will post some pics of the partially finished article too. As reported on the Slyck P2P news pages (and other sites) there seems to be a buzz around a new website: http://www.snarf-it.org. In fact - the buzz is so loud - that I can't even get to the site at all as they are being hammered! I think it is just another torrent site/tracker - but people are already touting the new site as the 2nd coming. Still not sure why though! Apparently it has a cute "mascot". Maybe that has something to do with it? Some interesting news also from the Slyck pages reports on the fact that the owners of Kazaa actually monitor and record what is being downloaded via their network! I guess this also applies to Kazaalite too - so watch your backs boys and girls!

I am having a real Jolly time in my kitchen at the moment.... 

What i come home to this week... 

Template

Oh well.. Managed to screw my template up! Even my saved copy with the extra links down the sidebar does'nt work either! Curses...! back to the drawing board.

My first newgroup post

Courtesy of google. Nearly been on the web for 10 years now! Google Search: "tao schencks"

MSN Search Results

Just did a search for "Taoski" on the new MSN Search and found quite a few interesting things! Blimey! I thought some of this stuff would have been removed by now! ngStats for Unreal Tournament Taoski It shows me in a very bad light! Not at all on par with my usual standards! Also found this: fame at last!!!