Rock On...

Ok, so it's nearly a new year - 2008 to be exact. So, in keeping with new year resolutions, partying, career and financial planning (not to mention retail sales), I haved finally started to update the aesthetics of this blog. Well, ok, all I've done so far is remove the picture from the title (after realising it was probably copyright... oops!). Also, I've just noticed I've had aver 1100 visitors! I had no idea I was so loved. *cries*

Anyway, that's not the main point. The main point was this - are there any suggested improvements that you guys could make as to what could be... uh, improved? Ie: annoying colours, not working in certain browsers (safari excluded), layouts improved, etc. Or suggestions of things to add - visitor polling, petting zoo, scam emails, etc.

And, on a side note, are there any new years resolutions y'all making this year? Mine's to actually decided on a career. Probably won't happen, though. Although, it will hopefully be more successfull than the resolution I had to exercise and get fit - that was several years ago, now. Or, better yet, resolutions you've made that you knew you were never going to acheive? Meh, it's late, and I'm looking for some cheap humour!

This really is the last post before new year, so I'll catch you all in 2008!

Christmas Update

Christmas is in a few days, so this will be the last post for now, at least until after Christmas, possibly new year.

According to Einstein's laws of relativity, time is only relative to the observer. Ergo, I propose that I am not late in making this blog post, rather it is you the reader who is in a different moment of time. (Or did it have something to do with speed? I don't know, I didn't do that well in yr 12 physics...).

Anyway, this is all irrelevant. My tardiness is mostly due to work commitments, and a depression regarding the end of Firefly. Yes, I know it really finished up like 5 years ago, but I just watched it on DVD. In fact, I even went as far as to read it's wiki entry. I had no idea that Fox and Whedon loathed each other so much. Although, I did find it pretty funny that Whedon deliberately shot all his frames with characters deliberately to the far sides of the screen, just to force Fox to air it in widescreen.

Also, can someone explain to me the obsession with Facebook? What is it? Why are all the kids into it? Why do people keep asking me if I'm on it? Why do I keep making sentences into questions? I don't get it, really. It seems to me that you put a stack of personally identifying information onto the internet, to share with millions of strangers. What the point of that?

This whole exercise is pointless anyway, as I'm just filling in random stuff so I can say I made a post. Have a great christmas, and I'll catch you all with something a little more substantial next year.

High Definition may produce Low Demand

Ok, so Ten have finally released a schedule for 10HD (The new Ch 1 for digital). Burried deep into their forums, and posted by other users, of course. In fact, I only came across it because I stumbled into the press statement looking for something completely unrelated.

Anyway, at 30 hours, it falls well short of the claimed 50 it aspires to. In addition, the Sci-Fi Saturday doesn't exists (no surprise there). They have a similar thing called "Break Away Thursday" - doesn't exactly roll off the tongue as well, does it? While some moderately exciting viewing includes Battlestar Galactica, the 4400, and Smallville, I have to say I'm completely underwhelmed. What is the point of timeshifting "The Bold & The Beautiful" and "Ten News at Five" half and hour later? Wouldn't it make more sense for it to move forward an hour to 2 hours? And except for Thursday nights, all other primetime slots are simulcasts of SD channels?

I know that realistically, there is a bandwidth limitation to this stuff, but seriously, this is summer!!! At this stage, the only thing I would even consider watching listed in this week's guide is repeats of "Friends", "NCIS", and now Sci-Fi Thursday. Wouldn't it make more sense to put the best possible programming on during summer to get the viewers in? Especially with the busy shopping season, with people looking for those big screen TVs?

The only other thing to look forward too is the extra sport content to be added in February. Their current plan is: NASCAR (Awsome!), NFL (Ok, I guess), and the WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS. Yay, I can't wait. Golf - right up there in exciting sports viewing as snail racing and turtle boxing. Problem is, the sport will be on in the mornings, great work, considering only the people who actually go to work can afford the TV to make the most of the content.

Ten do at least promise to increase HD content "in the months ahead", to here's hoping that this is only just a start to what has the potential to be briliant alternative programming (Jericho, anyone?).

Here's the press release if anyone was after it.

Apologies....

Ok, so it's been a while. A long while. but I'm still alive (just).

To be perfectly honest I don't really have much to post. I could rave about Crysis, undoubtedly the most beautiful computer game in the world. By beautiful, I don't mean I have a satanic love for murdering North Korean soldiers. I'm refering to the scenery.

Or, I could mention how I was forced to undergo the torture that is Singstar at the work christmas party. Let it be known that I do not know any Madonna songs, nor do I have any interest in singing anything to do with getting my baby back. Baby, in this case, being male. Did I mention that my singing is analogous to a large gorilla after a large boulder has being drop on it's foot? And being attacked by a seagul?

Fortunately, the first time my name got drawn out of the hat, I was on a bathroom break. Given the laws of probability, I figured that I had gotten off, considering there was roughly 1 in 70 chance of me still having to undergo this painful "party game". Math failed me yet again.

And, for anyone interested, Metroid Prime 3 is awsome, but tiring on the arm. If you point the controller away from the screen, the camera will turn. This means that when your arm gets tired, you spend the entire time looking down. Still, it's a very cool game.

Oh, and I just found this tripod youtube vid in unpublished posts from months ago. Worth checking out...



That's all from me for now, and I'll catch you all later.

Ninja Parade Sneaks By Unoticed... Kinda Like My Exams Study At The Moment...

Alright, I got sidetracked again. So here's the product - another youtube vid!

Leopard Upgraders Feeling The Blues....

I've gotta say, I'm incredibly proud of that witty title (you'll know why in a sec). Didn't even take much thinking at all, either...

Now, I know I said I wasn't going to post for a while, but I've changed my mind. Procrastination does that to people. So, I guess it's a good time to link you to this. What is it, you say? Well, it's an official apple support page with close to 400 posts about Leopard's upgrade blue screen of death! That's right, Apple didn't want to be out of the whole monopoly gig, so they invented one of their own! Trouble is, they're like comparing, say "Coventry Street" with "Mayfair" (awesome Monopoly tm board game tie-in!!). At least Microsoft give you an actual description of the fault - eg hardware addresses, kernel modules, etc. Sure, it's overly complicated for most users, but it helps the nerds fix it.

But, Apple I guess decided that none of it's user base could cope with a Unix kernel panic (which is actually descriptive and helpful even to less nerdier people). Instead, they just put up a plain blue screen. The funny thing is that for one person, it has been sitting there with a blue screen for 4 1/2 hours, then went back to their "nasty windoze box".

Anyway one fix was for the user to delve right the way in to the terminal and edit a few files - something that I'm sure no mac user would ever be able to do. Come to think of it, how many would even know that the terminal existed?

But, in other news, I've finally gotten around to putting the latest Ubuntu Linux on my desktop PC. And, unlike OSX, it works almost flawlessly.

Some may remember some time ago that I raved about foobar2000. Well, I've found a program to beat even that - Amarok (see right). It give the playlist to the right, all the currently playing info (that automagically downloads from the net) to the left, lyrics (also net content) AND, most of all, a wikipedia page of the artist. Now I can play wikisplore while listening to music!

Oh, that big blue box in the middle only pops up when a new track loads. You can set it to the side of the screen if wanted.

So, that's that. If I feel the need to procrastinate further, I'll give a full review of the new Ubuntu Linux 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon distro. With cover flow win-tab!!!

Update

Ok, it's been a week and a half since I last posted, so here's the low-down...

By Thursday next week I'll have finished classes for the semester. Then I'm working all that weekend. I'll spend the week after that studying, and the week after that sitting exams.

Ergo, there won't be many posts around here for the next couple of weeks.


But, to satisfy the blogging urge you possible came here to crave, I'll leave you with the following youtube video of Portal - the most dangerous, addictive game threatening student's studies everywhere. Just as well you can finish it in two hours...


Oh, and the awsomest ending to the game ever!!!


And, for the foolish apple fanboys who own macbooks without windows, here's a flash version of the game. Equally addictive, methinks.

Also, check out the new avatar -->>
Cute little guy, huh? It's "Tux" the linux penguin dressed up as Gandalf. Just for something different, I guess.

I'll start updating other little things around the site once I get a chance.

So, I guess I'll catch you n00bs on the other side.

The Battle Continues...

The war continues. In one corner, we have the underdog, struggling against corporate deals and unpopularity. In the other corner, we have the rich kid. With everything in life paid for, and popular amongst the right people, this guy's got it made... or has he?

If you are by now deeply confused by the relevance of this strange paragraph, don't fret. All will be revealed. I speak, of course, of the immense battle between BluRay and HD-DVD. Duh, as if you couldn't get it by that. n00b.

Bluray looks cooler, sounds cooler, and definitely has more support. It holds more space, and what's more, comes in a pretty blue box. HD-DVD, on the other hand, has backwards compatibility going for it. Going to a friends house who doesn't havd HDDVD? That's fine, flip the disk and it'll work, no questions asked. Oh, and HD-DVD is cheaper, although not really sold in Australia.

There is a slight issues that I see with this whole debate. The fact that people have only just caught on to the DVD thing and still use their old TVs would actually mean that HD disks are pointless - they'll be downscalled and look the same. Speaking of TV's, how many 1080p panels are out in the wild? <10%, I understand.

What's more is that DVDs still look very good on a 42" 720p plasma. When we first got "Happy Feet" just after I set up the dvd player with the right connections, I was amazed at the briliant picture quality. Just think of how much better it'll be with Ratatuille!

So, in short, to get a HD format, I'd be paying 3-4 times the price for the disk, ~$1000 for a player, at least $3500 for a 1080p display to improve something that already looks fantastic? Hmm....

But, one day one of these formats will break through. I'd personally prefer blueray, due to it's larger theoretical limit of 100gb compared to HDDVD's 80GB. But I also hate Sony (despite owning the first 2 playstation generations) due to it's DRM (Digital "Rights" Management) policy. But that's a whole other topic.

Personally, I can't see the point of anyone upgrading to full HD at this stage. Having looked at 720p and 1080p side by side, I can't really tell much difference unless I'm really close. And who's going to watch a TV from less that a metre away? The only advantage is 70"+ (ie projectors). Even then, 720p looks fantastic.

This is not to say that I don't want a HD format. For from it, I want 50gb backup disks for my PC. But at $600AU for a BD drive, plus the expensive disks, I think it'll be more cost effective to buy an external backup drive.

Anyway, only time will tell if people agree with me, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the briliant exchange rate and continue to use DVD.

Important Public Service Announcement...

Every once in a while comes a cause so great, one must stand for it. We spend billions of tax dollars alerting parents that there is content unsuitable for children on the internet and that drugs can hurt you. We have all sat through the horrendous classroom sex ed courses, whereby the only interest is watching the teachers squirm in discomfort.

But today, I announce a greater cause. One that is worth fighting for. Indeed, it may well be a fight for survival.

Three days ago the (frankly, brilliant) TV show Jericho was released to DVD. Without our support, this show will die. The more people who willingly spend money to purchase this series will be giving support far greater than simply whining on a web forum. Money is power, and the more DVDs that sell, the more powerful the fanbase is. What is even better about such support, is that the American dollar is at an all time high for us, meaning that we can finally afford to give such support.

Your support will ensure the survival of a small village for small price of only $2 an episode. Buy now and get a free slip cover. What more could you possibly want?

Just about every show I watch these days I pretty much just get the DVD. Free to air television has simply become a "try before you buy" exercise, whereby the adverts drive me away from the products advertised and the networks they support.

Having said that, though, there are shows that I would happily watch on TV. Shows I do not find interesting enough to spend money on, but shows that I could enjoy should they be on at a decent hour. Or their advertised timeslot.

Although, there is a slight problem with DVDs. Once you start buying up a series, there's always something to make you regret it...

Like Stargate SG-1. Fantastic show, buy why do they have to announce the ENTIRE BOX SET of 60 dvds 3 week after I buy the first 3 seasons? No biggie, except that all up you save around $100 if you buy all of them, which I plan on doing. Although, it isn't released until the end of November, so maybe they'll reduce the price of the others before then???

Anyway, Jericho isn't coming back any time soon, so if anyone wants to ease their conscience from the illicit downloads that many obtained, now would be the time to do so.

OK, now I've ranted enough about this, I'm hoping that I've kept your attention long enough to explain the dashing fellow to the right -->>
This is in fact Hans Zimmer, who has had some role or other to play in the production of some of my favourite soundtracks including Batman Begins and The Pirates trilogy. Hell, he even had a hand in The Simpsons and the Lion King, the later of which he won a Golden Globe award for.

Anyway, I mention this to draw your attention to the fact that there is a new Pirates OST box set coming out at the end of the year - 4cds and 1dvd. According to our good friends at amazon, it will contain the following:
Disc 1: Pirates Of The Caribbean soundtrack
Disc 2: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest soundtrack
Disc 3: Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End soundtrack
Disc 4: Brand new remixes
Disc 5: DVD of behind the scenes, making of the music and interviews with composer Hans Zimmer

Since I've wanted this soundtrack for some time, chances are I'll pick one up. We'll see it around the same time as the latest DVD release, so around early december.

Also comming december is the Halo 3 soundtrack. If you liked the release trailer, you'll love the soundtrack. Usually the games I play have annoying rock or "doof doof" tracks that I don't really enjoy enduring, but do so because it's a good game. Halo 3, on the other hand, was addictive because it had great gameplay, with fantastic audio that suited each scene perfectly. Hopefully, it will be just as good in CD form - after all, I was busy at the time.

Between HL2 Orange Box, Crysis, and other dvd/cd releases, methinks that I'll be very poor by year's end. It's going to be a fantastic 3 month christmas break (if I can afford it)!


So, anyway, I've got too many box sets to watch to spend time blogging. Oh, and uni work - only 4 weeks behind now (was 6 two days ago...)!

The Atari 2600 celebrates 30 years of low-rez fun

Now, on to the real post...

First, let me point out that yes, I did steal the blog title from this blog. What can I say? I'm uninventive and lazy - I've got better things to do...

Anyway, I'm sure every true nerd remembers the time in his (or less likely, her) life that they were first introduced to the wonderful world of interactive media. Not that we had such a name for it then - it was still computer or video games right up until the early 2000's. It was a simpler time, when one didn't have to worry about BSODs, virii or malware (not for me, at least).

For me it was the Apple Mac LCIII and the Atari 2600. The Apple came first, the second hand family computer complete with Prince Of Persia and various shareware/freeware games such as Lawnmower (all you did was mow grass, but it was SO addictive). To this day, I am yet to see a computer boot an OS as fast as that thing did on OS7, and also beat the 2 recallable software crashes it experienced over it's 10 year life. The damn thing still worked until it got compacted by the council hard waste collectors.

A year or two later came one of the original woodpaneled Atari 2600. A family friend bought a Playstation, so naturally, they palmed it off to us (the atari, that is not the Playstation, unfortunately). Who could forget classics such as Donkey Kong, Tank and Asteroids, the many countless hours spent in front of the TV, and, inevitably, the Atari becoming the dreaded awards style behavioural system, whereby it could only be used once everything had been done.

And now we celebrate it's 30 year aniversary. I was not born when it came into being, it survived 2 young families, and it is still working today. Which is more than I can say for the Playstation 1 that superceeded it at Christmas 2000, about a year or so after the Atari came into our possesion.

What's more, I feel old. The last time I had it out, 14 year olds were ripping into it's terrible gameplay and graphics. Yet without this console, arguably the most successful console ever made, we would never see the PS3, 360's and Wii's that reside in our TV cabinets today.

It lasted something like 5 to 10 years, and it was originally expected to last 3. Now it resides in museums and $30 ebay sales, it's pitiful 1mhz processor unable to keep up with a wrist watch. But what those 14yo kids don't seem to realise is that the racing games are still the same - just prettier with motion sensitive controlers.

Here concludes the "Back In My Day..." tirade. I have officialy become an old man :p. Now, back to Halo 3!!!

Interactivity: Post your first gaming machine and favourite childhood game.

Stargate Game

So, this sounds kind of promising. Basically your standard MMO, but in the stargate universe. Don't have many details, but it's not due 'til end 2008.
http://www.stargateworldswiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

Not something I'm hugely interested in, but worth keeping an eye on...

Hi, I'm a blog post!

So, here's a lighhearted look at the apple iphone vs the nokia n95. It rips of those "Hi, I'm a Mac" & "I'm a PC" ads that are fast becoming ill informed. But I'll save that rant for another day...

Anyway, so before I get accused of being anti-apple, the iPhone is a reasonably good device. But it does have it's downfalls. It has no replaceable battery, no 3g networking, and no 3rd party apps. Keep in mind that I was seriously considering purchasing it's little brother, the iPod Touch, until they ripped out most of it's software, not to mention it's screen issues. To Apple's defense in the later, it appears that this problem may have been recified, and such issues can arise with 1st gen products.

The n95, if you haven't guessed already, has these things. From what I can see, the only downside is that it has significantly smaller space (160mb internal). To compensate for this, though, it has a microSD slot, which means you can have 2gb at a time. Not to mention that you could have a couple of them, if one so wanted, to swap over if needed. Also, it is likely that microSD cards will become larger, and as such allow for more space on the cards.

The n95 also has video out cables packaged in the box, so you can connect it to a tv. The iPhone/iPod Touch on the other hand, has no such feature build in, and requires the purchase of a seperate cable.

To be honest, until I actually saw one today, I thought the iPhone was pretty good. But when you consider that the UK data plans start at 35pounds (roughly $80 to $90 AU) PLUS the purchase of the iPhone, one has to wonder if it is indeed worth it.

The downside to both phones is the poor batery life - only 3hrs talk time each.

To be perfectly honest, I doubt any of this will make a difference, because the iPhone, if it is ever released in Australia, will be with either Telstra or Optus, neither of which have plans that I would exactly call cheap.

So, anyway, enjoy. I might post more links/pics later if I can be bothered - the vid should do for now.

Something a little more positive...

Currently Listening To: Batman Begins OST

Ok, so there's been a running theme of negativity going on around here lately. Admittedly, I may have been a little harsh in my analysis of a certain company's products. Even (dare I say it) "unfairly" in the case of the iMac. I'll check this out when I'm next in store.

I still refuse to admit that the iPod Touch is a legitimate iPod in it's own right - a $200 premium for a touch screen and wifi web browser is no excuse for a country that doesn't have an iPhone. But, there are rumours afoot that this will be corrected next month when leopard is launched. I doubt this, because I don't think they'd change their software a month after release, but one can hope.

Anyway, this has no correlation with the topic about which I am posting.

It seems that many people are not aware of the TV shows our Australian networks are airing "fast tracked" from the states. So, here's a list:

Prison Break: Starts Wednesday, 26th September 9:30pm Ch 7
House: Wednesday 3rd October, 8:30pm Ch 10

These seem to be confirmed. Possible additions include Heroes, which starts in the states next Monday. According to Ch 7 advertising when it ended, we would see it around the same time. Possibly NCIS, but I haven't heard anything - all I know is the US one is starting up.

Also confirmed is something called "Bionic Woman". Sounds like a bad cross between Terminator and Mr Gadget, but I'll give it a shot.

I thought there was more confirmed, but obviously not. Still, it's a decent start. Hopefully they get more ratings to encourage the rest.

And in other news, Shawn Micallef will have a new show on SBS, apparently. Although, the only decent link I can find is to a blog, so don't take it too seriously.

Also, the major networks are going to start multichanneling HD!!! I'm kind of excited, but I just know that it's just going to be more crap. Hopefully they'll at least air "less popular" shows such as Jericho. Although, it is notable that they particularly pick out "Sci-Fi" as being a candidate for content. Does this mean that the sci-fi shows that have previously been trashed will be aired regularly on HD? To be honest, I can't think of anything in this genre that has actually survived free to air.

And the last announcement is that Gladiators will be returning to Ch 7 early next year. I loved that show as a kid. You can't beat grown adults beating the living crap out of each other in the name of entertainment.

So, kids, I think that brings you up to date with all the latest from TV land. All I need now is an ipod touch to view it all on...

The World Is Right Once More

Now Listening To:
Album: Happy Feet OST
Song: The Story Of Mumble HappyFeet
Composer: John Powell

You know, Apple Inc. had me worried there for a bit. What with releasing some portable hardware that actually beats my current mp3 player and PDA combined (if you can edit the calendar) and the approaching release of their new OS.

But, all is right again. After seeing the new imac in jbhfi, I have to agree (with a tremendous amount of begrudging admittance), that it is very aesthetically pleasing. But, it does contain one tinsy flaw - it only has an 18-bit screen.

Now, one may not realise the significance of this revelation, so allow me indulge my predudices for one small moment of your time. Current MS windows, with all current compatible hardware, display at 32-bit. This results in a "sparkly" or "grainy" effect - in other words, pixellation.

Now, if you're spending upwards of $1700 or whatever they are on a shiny new 20" iMac, would you not expect it to have better picture quality than the most basic desktop PC?

Ok, that probably means nothing to the mac fanboys out there, but now the world is starting to make sense again. Just have to explain away watching the latest series of Dr Who, and it's all good.

"Every value I've ever held is being questioned, and I'm loving it!" - Moss, IT Crowd

Witty title use the word "touch"

So, apple have released their new ipod range. I have to admit, this was probably the first time that I've actually being looking forward to the Australian release of an apple product. But, like the iphone, I'm disappointed.

"Why?" I hear all you apple fan boys yell. Well, take a look at the hard drive size of the new ipod touch - 8gb and 16gb models. What they have effectively done is increase the functionality of the device, but halved the storage space. Those things wouldn't even fit my music, let alone videos.

And, in reference to the iphone, I don't want one until it has 3g compatibility (something they have to add when they release it in Australia), and the ability for custom apps.

Admittedly, both these features for the iphone will probably be implemented by the time we see it, but I'm guessing that apple, being apple, will have it locked in to one mobile distributor, and it probably won't be 3. This means that the cost will be exorbitant (telstra), and probably no capped 3g internet plans.

This is on top of having to use itunes to sync the device. I don't care what anyone says, I still don't like itunes.

This is not to say that they aren't good devices. It's just that if they can fit a 160gb hdd into the new ipod classic, so I can't see why they can't fit a 40gb one into an iphone. And I know, this is probably the limitation of flash memory, but I'd rather have a large hdd than the smaller flash models.

So, now I guess I'm waiting until the iphone comes here, in the hope that they'll boost the hdd for the australian release. Eventually, there might be an apple product I'll be able to make full use of... maybe.

The IT Crowd Returneth!!!

Ok, with the void left by the series final of Hyperdrive, I have felt a 'yearning' of sorts for more of that unique style of British comedy. A Bit Of Fry And Laurie fits quite nicely, but what I've been waiting for since the end of last year is the return of the brilliant IT Crowd.

After telling Film Guru and Musicpie that season 2 wasn't out yet, I figure that it had been a few weeks since I checked, so I double checked.

The official website doesn't list it, but wiki tells all! Season 2 began airing on August 24th, not 2 days ago!

With luck it will be done before I leave for uni, so as to have something to do during the programming lecture. (I spent the last one at www.willitblend.com). Ok, maybe not during the lecture, but definitely during the lunch break. Maybe.

Anyway, the only downside is that instead of the originally planned 8 eps, we only get 6. Nothing unusual for British TV.

It took the ABC about 8 to 10 months to air the last series, so I've looked to other means to get it. Shame there's no direct to DVD stuff, really.

Also, The Sarah Connor Chronicles looks interesting. Set after Terminator 2, it will either turn out to be a huge disappointment like Torchwood after the 1st ep, or be another Prison Break/24. Probably not the best comparison, but it will have to do.

Even better, House Season 4 is due to begin in September. Why are we only about to see the end of season 3?!?! Again, I would rather buy the DVD now than wait for the barstads at 10 to get going (Uh, the 'r' should be after the second a, but otherwise, very good). Yay for inserting random british comedy jokes!

Anyway, channel 7 is supposed to be airing some of their big name shows in parallel with the states, so we might have some decent tv to finish off the year after all!

And Film Guru, you bastard, you've gotten me hooked on Boston Legal! Damn you for telling me about that show!

So, it seems I've become the TV show guy, particularly for the British market. Film Guru had better step up with some awesome movies now!

It occurs to me that I have to leave for uni in 20min, so I better finish this off. In short, great TV being produced, but Australia will get screwed once again.

Viva la revolution! (Never really though about what this actually means, but it sounds cool so I'll finish with it)

Or...

For Pony!

EDIT: Ok, I've been stunned into silence. Words can't express my dumbfounded disbelief that Channel 10 are actually airing House Season 4 in line with the states!!! All the shows I want to watch are actually being aired in Australia in line with the states!!! TV networks, it seems, have finally realised that people will just pirate it anyway, I guess. Could it be that 10 learnt from Jericho??? Might just be optimistic thinking on my part, but one could hope.

ASCII Star Wars

So, in researching of telnet, I have come across what could be the most unique ripoff of all time!

I present to you... ASCII Star Wars!!!

Anyway, I couldn't take much more than a minute or so of it, so I don't know how long it goes. All I know is that it is also available through telnet (an aging form of network communications - I use it to configure routers at uni).

I can't think of a way to stretch this out for much longer, so I'll leave it at that.

I'll post something a little more substantive next week.

Fare ye well!

A picture speaks a thousand words

I would like to start this week's entry by apologising for the erratic (not erotic) nature of previous posts. They are making less sense all the time.

So, in the name of improved cultural information exchange, this week I give you pictures, from the blag (their spelling, not mine) of the dude at xkcd. The cartoon to the right inspired the guys below to give it a shot.

Also of interest was the xkcd home noticeboard.
Clearly these people have too much time on their hands.

Oh well, I think that will do it for this week. I figure that if a picture speaks a thousand words, than I've just written a brilliant 3000 word essay. Take that year 12 English teacher! (Whose name I've completely forgotten - I think it's Mrs Moyle/Moran/something)

What to do...

For some strange reason I have recently been thinking about the whole future thing. Where do I see myself in x years, etc. And I gotta say, it looks pretty boring from a personal free time point of view. Not that I'll have much time once uni kicks off properly, but that's only a couple of months. And those months can drag if there aren't many work shifts around.

Given that my free time is largely spent in assorted media, whether TV, movies or gaming, and that my future career will be spent designing some computer networks of sorts, I figure that it would be a good idea to get into something a little more diverse and less electrically mo.

Which brings me back to music, which thinking back I think I've mentioned on here before. It's something I've always had some sort of invested interest in, and considering a large portion of my life has been spent in lessons/practice/finding ways of avoiding practice, I figure that returning to it would be a wise investment.

Trouble is, music can take up a lot of time. Sure, I play the piano occasionally, but as it requires a great deal of practice to get something going, nothing ever improves enough for a decent regular performance ie worship group.

So, having established it would be almost pointless if it were not put to good use, I could go back to the trombone. I still like the idea, and quite frankly it was probably the only reason I stayed with the Salvos for so long. When I got sick of the music being played there, and once I had finished with the school music program, there was no point in staying for the free rental trombone. (Wow, that sounds kind of blunt when I put it that way. That wasn't the real reason I left that church, but it helped. Although I did leave only a few months after the school musical...) Also, I thought the Salvo uniforms were bad, but this image has helped remove that opinion completely.

Anyway, given that my recent attendances at church has been, shall we say, poor, and a new trombone costs upward of $700 at absolute base price, it seems kind of a waste. Although, it would give me greater motivation to actually attend church once in a while. And I was better at it than I was at piano, so it'd be less strenuous.

So, where have these rantings got me? Nowhere. I can either spend a lot of time on the piano for free, or I can buy a trombone with my tax return and actually use it for something useful.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know where this is headed. I just started typing and stuff came out. So... yeah. What was the topic???

Oh, yeah. Spare time stuff. Music was just an option, but I figure that since I actually have that talent I could kill 2 stones with one bird as it were (and yes, I know the phrase is the other way around). Or, I could train to be a ninja. But I'm too clumsy, and I'm not sure people could handle the increased awesomeness that ninja would bring. Or I could think up useful titles for blog posts. Also, I've gotta stop bagging out the Salvos. It's become a bad habit, and they're not as bad as I make out at times.

Another option would be to actually read the bible instead of occasionally picking it up for small group. I haven't properly looked at the thing for months. Not good for a professing Christian, hey?

Ok, some I'm going to finish this off before I break some vilification law, or tell one of King Kohl's awful racist jokes, thus offending all 3 or so readers I actually have.

I'm... Disappointed. And Slightly Irritated

Wow, after being called in to replace sick staff at work all week, I nearly forgot to post anything for the blog!

Well, here's a poor rectification (probably not a real word, I know, but close enough. Although firefox spell-check says it is. But then again, firefox spell-check doesn't like the word "Firefox").

So, after recording all the heroes episodes during semester, I finally finished watching them. What a disappointment. Seriously, after all the promising lead-up, the advertising hype, and the general popularity of the show, it went from awesome manga-style storyline to Naruto ending. Ok, so comparing it with Naruto was a bit harsh (Heroes is no where near as slow), but I stand by my opinion that it was disappointing.

I'm going to assume that everyone reading this has either seen the show, or has no plans to do so, since it finished airing like 2 months ago. So I'm just going to go on without the usual "SP0iLleR ALlErT1!!11111!!1oneone" crap that usually precedes it. Although that sentence alone predicted spoilers...

As I was saying, after such a build up, the big build up between sylar and peter, and we get, what? A couple of punches and a few bullets. No super cool ninja moves. Hiro comes along with his sword after all his training, and sylar just stands there for hiro to stab him. Nathan comes along and flies peter into space to explode, but didn't peter already have this talent? Right from the first episode?

What's more, a nuclear explosion is actually more effective above a city, because of the nuclear fallout. So they would have had to fly quite a ways up to avoid that happening in that very short instance, but that's probably just nit picking.

And, at the very end, there's a blood trail from where sylar was stabbed to a conveniently placed man hole. Do the writers of this show expect everyone to believe that everyone stood around and just let him sneak away? I guess it could be argued that he crept away when everybody was distracted, but it wasn't very well portrayed.

So, in short: crap action sequence, crap storyline, crap ending. There was so much more that could have been done, but instead they didn't leave much at all, not even a cliff hanger ending like most other shows. Disappointing. And Irritating.

Oh, and possibly the worst fan site ever. Apparently this is what the general use computer is used for at work during lunch breaks.

Your PC is Doomed

I can't be stuffed posting anything this week, but I remembered this app for Linux that is worth mentioning...

Linux is forever improving computer usage, and this totally awesome application for Linux proves it. Well, besides beryl, but that's a whole new post. This surpasses beryl's eye candy, and takes hold of what every nerd wanted way back in early high school...

I present to you.. psDooM!!!

Ok, so the text based site is a little... well... bland, and not awe inspiring. Until you realise what this does.

This uses the original source code of the game doom and turns it into a process list! That's right, you can run around, and shoot monsters instead of closing down windows. Much more interesting than Crl-Alt-Delete in windows, don't you think? You could easily claim in class that you were trying to kill an unresponsive internet explorer and it just so happened that your process manager looked like a game. Very convenient, if you run Linux/Unix (ports to OSX, a derivative of Unix, have been known to work).

Although, there is a slight issue that would be remiss of me to mention. For those who played the original game, you would recall that the monsters could turn on each other. The issue in psDooM is that those monsters are in facts programs and essential processes, and having your computer literally bloodily hack itself to death probably isn't the greatest thing. The original idea was that in a normal computer, some processes kill others. Problem is, processes aren't usually bloodthirsty monsters killing everything in it's path (unless it's a windows virus). So when your computer crashes and your homework disappears, how do you think the teacher's going to react when you say "but some carnivorous monsters hacked it to death!!! Honest!!!"

Well, now that I've introduced you all to a completely pointless application for an operating system that most people don't use, I'll leave it at that. I'll leave you with a tribute to bill gates...

Change

Now listening to...

Song: You Rescued Me

Artist: Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

Album: A Symphony Of Hope Vol 2

Apparently, this is funny?

Anywho, I've been thinking a lot about change recently for some reason. Maybe it's moving house or something, I don't know, but it's one of those strange topics that pop into your head when normal people are asleep (such as now, for instance).

Unable to sleep for some reason, I got to thinking how much I had changed over the last couple of years. For instance, I am now far more confident in the presence of others. Believe it or not I was shy at a point, and cared greatly about what other's thought of me. I guess working in customer service helps to relieve people of shyness and such, but a few years ago I would never, for instance, yell at a complete stranger to turn off their ringing mobile in the middle of a movie.

Also, a couple of years ago I had come to dislike being a musician. Having played an instrument of sorts since kindergarten, I guess I got a little sick of the whole music scene. People told me "you'll regret giving it up", yet I don't. That break from it has actually created a greater interest to pursue it as a "hobby", of sorts.

To be honest, I don't think it has affected my as much as a lot of the experts would have people believe. I hated high school, and leaving was a relief. Uni life is still hard to get used to, and I'd prefer a propper full time job, but the holidays are good. One of the biggest change would have been moving from my family's church to EBC, but let's face it, I loathed my old one, so that was a big positive.

So, in short, life is good. So all I've got to do now is wait for season 3 of get smart (only ~20h to go according to utorrent) and then I won't have as much of an excuse to be typing blog posts on my laptop at 1am.

OK, I'm out of ideas, and I'm finally tired. I'm off to bed. On the upside, I'd forgotten how good this cd was...

More Weekly Rantings Bought To You By Logan

Ok, you called for it - more logan-style ranting, this week featuring television!

Having just finished watching season one of Jericho, I have come to the belief that viewers are idiots. OK, maybe not everyone, just the <1% of people who actually contribute to the ratings. So CBS cancel Jericho, they get inundated with nuts, and then they turn around with a pretty decent deal to try to get viewers into the show. This leads me to believe that CBS actually like Jericho, and they wanted to give it a chance, but the ratings forced them to try to drop it.

Which brings me to my next point - what's so good about ratings? Statistically and mathematically, nobody likes the show. Yet how is it that all these people protest its cancellation? Websites are formed, action groups are organised, and before you know it, you've got a massive fanbase peeved at loosing their show. I am willing to hazard a guess that next to none of these people have any contribution to the ratings system.

Statistical moderation works in many areas of society. It helps calculate welfare payments, criminal cases, and the likelihood of network 10 sticking to a show that doesn't have sex in it. But what it cannot calculate is people's personalities. From what I understand, the system is based on age groups, social order, and locations. I have a very different sense of humour to my sister, yet statistically we should watch exactly the same sort of programming. Which is ususally not the case. Come to think of it, last week I did not watch a single show listed in the top 20 shows of the week for melbourne. The only show that I'd watch up there was House, and I didn't bother with it SINCE IT WAS A REPEAT! I'd rather watch the DVD.

DVD sales have soared because viewers are sick of repeats shoved in between new seasons every week (10 are absolute bastards at this), tired of overdone advertising (thanks seven), advertising that gives away the ending (again, 10) and, despite the networks protestations that it doesn't happen, programming going overtime. They can't argue this point with DTV, because their program guides tell me that the next program is on, but I'm still stuck watching Big Brother!

Another prime example is Alias. The final season aired in 2005, yet 7 are only airing it now 1/2 way through 2007 at 10:30 on a sunday night! Yet we can't buy the dvd's in Australia because the tv network hasn't yet aired the show yet. So people download it illegally or buy the dvd from amazon.

Which brings me to another point - if the tv networks think their free to air advertising is so great, why do we have to wait for the dvd to be released after the show's been aired? Surely people would rather see it for free than pay the $50 for the box set. Problem is, we don't see it for free. These days tv is nothing more than a shopping channel - you see a preview of a show you like, then you go download it or buy the dvd. Fewer and fewer people are interested in the crap that you have to endure to watch the show. If I have to listen to that guy/girl adverts about 10's shows one more time...

So, back to the original rant, Jericho is a great show that is not really targeted at the moronic people who watch BB. It is a show that requires thought and intelligence, in a similar vein to prison break and lost. It is (or was) one of the best shows on television, but by the time people realised that it was back on TV, it had been axed. Good job, ten.

Anyway, I'm probably already preaching to the converted, but if nothing else, it will all make us feel partially better ridiculing TV for their crap treatment of Jericho, Stargate SG1, Stargate SG2, Family Guy, American Dad, Scrubs, House, 24, Lost, NCIS, Numb3rs (when it started they kept changing timeslots every week, then cancelled it for a while), and most definitely Whose Line Is It Anyway (a 1/3 of an episode at 3am is not worth showing).

But, on a brighter note, I bought season one of "A Bit Of Fry And Laurie" featuring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. This is a briliant sketch show and well worth watching. BBC comedy at it's best. 221 minutes of sketches for $17. Absolute bargain - unlike the IT Crowd, which JB insist on retailing for $28 for six 1/2 hour episodes. I also got season 1 & 2 of house, and season 1 of lost for $80 (buy 2 get one free).

Oh, and I nearly forgot, the most awesomest ringtone ever. I nearly lost this post adding it, so you'd better be apreciative! (I hit draft instead of publish, then when I went to publish it only 1/2 of it was there... it came back, thankfully).

Awsomely Brief Post

For this week, there will only be the following dot points...

• "The nation" is still absolute crap.
• Movies at northland cannot be arranged at 7:30pm the night of the movie.
• TV networks have no comprehension of viewer's existance.

and last of all...

• I get video mms advertising from three mobile about the show I hate most: big brother. I'm so calling three in my lunch break tomorrow.

To do: see full Paris Hilton post gaol tv interview. Sounds like better comedy than The Nation.

And finaly, the most nerdiest quote I could find from the simpsons:
"The Shaddownight? He once beat me to death with my own lifebar!" (in reference to a MMO)

Discuss.

Another (Late) Weekly Post

Currently Listening To...
Album: Fallen
Artist: Evanescence
Song: Taking Over Me


After watching the link on filmguru's blog, there were links to there videos at the end of it. The one on the left is a fox network panel discussion about religion in politics. It's amazing that it takes until the very end and a college student to say something inteligent.

The one on the right is a report/discussion about the war in Iraq and the airing of bombings. Both are worth a watch if you haven't seen them.

So, anyway, it's been a while. I finished uni on 15th June, and don't go back until the 6th August, so I thought I'd have some quality time to finish putting my room together (yes King Kohl, I still have stuff to do too!) to keep in line with the rest of the household who have been complaining about my inablility to match their house moving expertise (It's not good enough! It's been 2 weeks and you've still got that box sitting in the middle of your room!)

Seriously, though, it seems that my uni is one of the few that finish so early, so I'm getting all thesee shifts at work. I'm basically working full time next week, which is good cash, but kind of annoying when I was expecting a break. Can't complain though - it will pay for all the new release games coming out ;).

Now, what to post this week...

You mac weenies probably won't be interested in any of this, but I'll post it for anybody's interest anyway...

I've finally discovered how to theme winxp without 3rd party software!!! I know, not an overly new discovery for most people, but a new one for me none the less. It turns out that if you replace a *.dll file in the windows directory somewhere, you can add your own themes and visual styles! I've tried things like windows blinds in the past, but always found that it slowed down my system too much, and I wasn't interested in paying $30US for the enjoyment. But now I can use the free themes from places such as deviant art to make it look like... well... linux? I've actually got this installed at the moment in the subzero colour. It looks absolutely fantastic on my laptop. I can't be bothered changing my vista desktop as I like aero enough that it doesn't annoy me.

Another great discovery that I've found is foobar2000. It's a freeware, fully customisable media player that has a very low footprint on system resources. Mine currently has this style, until I can work out the complex coding required to properly customise it. I would normally say that nothing beats winamp, but since AOL took it over it's become more bloated than a vista oem laptop.

See, this is what happens when you up your broadband plan to 7gb. You find all this awsome stuff that you never had the bandwidth to search for before. I also found xp login screens and firefox themes.

Ok, and here's one for you mac people (I'm assuming that this will work for pc and mac versions... I didn't check). Itunes themes. Most of them just change colour but worth checking out. It at least proves that itunes is somewhat customisable, despite it being more anoying that wmp (I'm waiting for film guru's indignant "GO STEVE" comment on that one). At least you can actually personalise it. NOTE: I hate wmp, but I still prefer it's media library over itunes. In itunes you actually have to add a file to the library for it to work. It may be good for people with ipods, but I personally have no use for it or the pathetic excuse for a program called quicktime.

And maybe someone can actually explain to me why on earth you'd make programs to look like XP bluesabre? It is the most awful part of xp, what with it's stupid green hill pixelated background. At least MS got it (mostly) right with vista aero. If only it didn't need a graphics card to run it.

See, this is why I like linux. You can actually set it up to do what you want, as oposed to whatever Steve or Bill say you should be doing.

Anyway, now that rant's over, what else is there...

Oh, yeah, I decided to try out opera. It's a lot quicker than firefox at loading, and as such lightyears beyond IE7, but I don't know if I'll keep it. Kind of anoying to use, 'cause I'm used to the "firefox" way of doing things. Once I get used to the shortcuts, I might use it more, but at the moment I'll stick with firefox because I'm lazy and already have it customised to my liking. Opera is a fantastic program though, and well worth checking out.

So, I think that will do for this week. I'll try and get another post in by the end of the weekend, else it won't happen until the end of next week.

Also, for a bit of interactivity, throw in a couple of your favourite apps. Maybe I'll start up a list or something, as I find "I've gotta try that", and then completely forget about it for weeks, then can't find it...

I'll even accept OSX apps - maybe I'll find MS equivalents.

So Many Choices... Linux It Is

Currently Listening To...
Album: Jazz In The Spirit: His Eye In On The Sparrow
Artist: Unlisted
Song: Awsome God

I just had to link this. Rove's been airing clips of it on Rove Live. Absolutely hilarious the things people will do to be a "real live superhero".

Random Pic Of The Week

Sorry if I stole this off someone, but it's pretty funny...

So, with a new work-in-progress template design for this week, I found myself in the rather unusal dilema of having a few options to choose from. Some topics include...
- Torchwood
- Forza 2 Motorsport
- Linux
- TV Advertisement Rants
- TV Network Rants

I figure since tv has been way overdone by everyone else already, and the people who I know read this blog don't own an xbox 360, it would be pointless covering TV and Forza (at this stage). And since I've only watched the first 4 eps of Torchwood, I might as well cover the lot when I've seen them all.

Since this blog is, after all, called "Confessions Of A Computer Nerd", I might as well cover the most nerdiest topic of all - Linux.

Lots of people seem to ask me questions about what linux actually is, I guess I should start there. Trouble is, explaining it is difficult. So here's the wiki. In short, it's an operating system based of an old operating system called unix (see wiki link). OSX, incidently, is also based on unix.

The key behind linux is that is is open source. This means that it is fully customisable down to the last detail. To make things a little more confusing though, Linux (or any operating system) isn't actually what you see on screen. It is the code behind it.

A poor analogy is a photo shop. You take in your oldskool film to be printed and hand it to the customer service person. They then hand it to the guy who actually prints it. Once printed, the photos are given to the customer service person, who gives the photos to you.

Ok, stay with me. Linux is the printer guy, the one who does all the work on the photos. The customer service person is just there to make things easier. In an operating system's case, this is the fancy graphics. You see it? Huh? Bad I know, but you (hopefully) get the picture (get it? Picture?).

So now I've clarified what linux is, I'll explain the GUI or Graphical User Interface. This is the stuff you point and click at with the mouse. The two main types for this are Gnome and KDE (pics in wiki link). Gnome is comparable to OSX, while KDE is comparable to the windows interface. These too are open source, meaning that you can make them look exactly how you want them to look without having an extra application change it for you (in window's case).

When you combine these two things together you have a distribution, a whole free operating system that I find easier to use than windows and OSX (which I admit, I haven't used much of).
You can still access windows files and folders, osx files and folders, and most hardware works straight after installation without drivers and such. It even has windows emulation, which while not perfect, is acceptible for small tasks, and even apparently runs microsoft office adequately. Not that you need it, with perfectly reliable free legal software that doesn't cost you a cent to use.

So, how's this compare to OSX and Windows? Well, linux is finally at the stage where it can probably be installed by someone whose computer literate, and without a degree in software engineering. With the one that I use, all you need to do is put in the disk, and there's a simple step by step program that does eveything for you. You can even try it out from the cd without breaking everything. The user interface is a decent quality, and you can change it as you see fit. It's prime advantage is application managers that can automatically download free software from the net. Just click it and it downloads, installs and is ready for use without EULA's, and usually without reboots (for most apps).

So, what's left to mention? Windows 90 odd % market share. It can't be that bad with that kind of record, can it? WRONG!!! again, wiki link.

As you can read in the link, it really all began gaining momentum at widnows version 3. It was the first pc operating system that could run on more than one type of hardware (3 at the time). At the time it was revolutionary, and there was finally someone to rival apple. Problem was, they got too successful. Jobs had been kicked from apple, and linux was concentrating on server orientation. This left a gaping big hole for windows '95. After this, we start to see windows downfall. Windows '98 was thought to be a minor upgrade to '95. This is when MS started getting nasty in the web browser wars. When they bundled IE into windows, no one had any reason (at the time) to use nutscrape - sorry, netscape navigator. So instead, netscape decided to add more uneeded features, resulting in it's downfall.

Now MS are far too comfortable in their success and have dropped the ball, and people are filling in the gaps. According the apple's (laughable) release of safari to windows, IE marketshare is down to 75%, because they haven't released a decent update to it in years. Hence firefox. Safari is bug filled crappy software by apple's standards, but is still better than IE. Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, there are no real security/virus threats to linux machines. Virus protection is completely unneccesary, although freely available if wanted.

Anyway, I still have windows on my desktop because I like to game. But my laptop boots just as quick and WITHOUT CRASHING AND DRIVER UPDATES with ubuntu linux installed. It's easier to use and took me 1/2 the time to install.

What's more is that when I bought the laptop, I had no choice but to have windows installed. This is how microsoft makes their money - from manufacturer support. Manufacturers are always going to prefer a nice long legal agreement with lock in contracts than a free, flexible operating environment. This is the reason why windows succeeds, and no other. But with Vista, things may change, but I doubt it. While large businesses won't spend the millions needed to change to linux, and home users don't know the difference, thing won't change.

So, I hope that clears up peoples knowledge of linux a little bit. In reality, I've probably confused you more than anything else, but what the hell.

Also, feel free to comment/critique/suggest improvements for the template colours and such. It ain't no where near finished yet, so I might need some creative input.

In news this week...

Now Listening To:
Song: Molossus
Artist: Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Album: Batman Begins OST
IT'S ON NOW, MATT!!!

Random Pic Of The Week

I figure since the quality and quantity of my posts are... dubious, I might try out a regular once per week summary of thoughts/events, etc. After all, I can't get much worse from here, can I?

I found an app that gives a detailed report on hdd performance, temperatures and run time. At this stage, my computer has been running for a total of 9 months, 24 days, 13 hours. This works out at roughly being 12hrs per day. At around 400w on average power, and 550w at full load, that's a lot of juice, that I don't pay for. I'm begining to think that maybe I should use my laptop more...

In other news, Torchwood is about to hit screens in oz on Network Ten. I just found out it's actually a spin off from Dr Who, so God knows how far it's going to get before it gets axed. Anyone taking bets for 2 eps? The link's to the official ten website with an extended preview for those who want to check it out.

Anyway, it seems like a slight improvement on the latest bbc series, as you might tell from the video link. It has promise, although if they have the same script writers, than it's screwed. I'm downloading the first ep now, so we'll see how it goes. Who can't help but watch it with the whole "flash random scenes out of context from the first ep with dramatic male/female voiceover" adverts that ten are now famous for. "Captian Jack is comminnngggg....". And that's why people bit torrent.

UPDATE: Torchwood ain't half bad. It's aimed at an adult audience, so it's a lot darker than Dr Who, but I think it might actually work. I think the script writers might like the cybermen technology a bit too much though. And the overly obvious references to Dr Who are sometimes overdone. But it's pretty good for a modern BBC production.

Speaking of Ten, Jericho gets booted from screens after only 1 return ep. Seriously. I recorded the last two because of the crap timeslot, and for the second recording I get "Mean Girls". What's the deal with that? Why on earth would you air a show like Jericho, which has a more mature audience, after a bogan farm fight night? It did alright last year on Thursday nights, and is there any surprise no one tunes in when the show starts late, wedged in between what equates to school kid backyard playdates and a bogan porn fest?

The only people with less braincells than the Big Brother housemates are those people that watch it. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that drama without nudity is not going to rate well folling Big Brother.

Yet another show to add to the torrent list (Jericho, not big brother, that is...).

So, how many Indians does it take to up an internet plan and move house?
No, it's not a racist joke, despite how that sounds, but in answer it's 3 - 1 to change address, 1 to up the plan, and 1 to explain what the first 2 did.

It turns out instead of transferring our account, they simply created a new one and negleted to tell us. Which meant that account details couldn't be accessed from the net, and that our optusnet emails will be changed, confusing everyone in the process. And this is the industry I'm going to enter. *shudder*

I could comment on Paris Hilton and Tony Mockbell, but I think we're all decided on that one (and yes, I ripped the idea from Rove)...

Paris in black wig

Damn, I've got my last exam Friday this week. Stupid holiday mode zapping all my study motivation!

Well, this seems to be more substantial than most of the previous posts. This may work after all.

NEXT WEEK:
Review of Forza Motorsport 2, provided EB Games haven't screwed up or delayed the backorder. Can't wait!

People Power Unite!

US fans of the TV show Jericho have united in the most awsome, effective and awsome (did I mention awsome?) fan protest ever. In response to a cliffhanger episode after which CBS wanted to axe the show, fans sent about 5600 pounds of nuts to CBS execs in protest. They had websites, huge discounted nut prices, and what's more, it worked!!!

CBS have ordered 7 more episodes of the series. IT WORKED!!!

Maybe we could set fire to fox studios in a similar manner to get firefly back on air?

I probably should watch that show properly before I commence criminal actions in protest first though...

New Post A Comming...

Steve v Bill

So, in a rare apearance, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a joint gathering at a Wall Street Journal exibition.

Quite an interesting read. I don't know whether this was all planned out before hand, but it was a very dissapointingly civil meeting, almost - dare I say it - friendly!

Anyway, it's an interesting discussion, well worth checking out.

HaHa, Chalk on Dowl! A New Post!!!

Here's something a guy a uni showed me the other day from digg. I'm desperate for material to post, so this is it. It shouldn't offend anyone, as I don't think any females read this blog anyway...

I'M BUSY

So, Matt wants a post. In short, I'm too busy to post anything of significance. So here's what I've got going at the moment...

Cable shaped to 28.8kbps - bad for studying on the interwebz (and good to avoid being distracted by it).
68 Tasks that need to be completed.
Of these, 5 are major assignments.
6 days, 10.5 hours until my first exam.
Several work shifts

So, all you arts students/film guru will have to wait while I try to finish this stuff off.

Come to think of it, I only know of KK and FG reading this stuff anyway, so the pun at FG having his own category of lazyness probably looses its affect. But, what the hell...

BUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

we now return you to your regular programming

Spidey 3 Part 2

Ok, so I promised film guru that I would finish my spidey critique, so since I can't sleep, I'll finish it off.

Point... whatever. I forget and can't be bother checking.
Eddie brock a sweet guy? Where'd he get that from? Eddie's an egotistical self-righteous desperate bastard who has no conception of what he's getting into. Like the scene where he sells the editor his first pic. He gets about half the pay of what peter would have got through peter's usual clever haggling. Basically, brock's desperate and will use whatever charm he has to make it.

Peter comes along and shows him for a hack. Guy looses everything - job, respect, confidence. Why wouldn't he ask God to kill Peter Parker?

Now, on to a topic FG mentioned. Spiderman 2 was the "best comic book hero movie to date". WHAT THE HELL??!? Talk about bad storylines and convenient occurences. Like I commented on FG's blog, spidey 2 was right up there with the crap superman movie. I will conceed that it flowed better than the 3rd movie, but that's where the comparisons end. The storyline was too stretched out, too much emphasis was put on peter's relationship with mj, and the premise for DocOc was one of the most painful villian stories I have ever lived through. Seriously, to borrow one of FG's phrases "there was so much more that could have been done with it". It's the usual "good guy turns bad but is still good on the inside" rubbish that plagues Schwartznegger in that Batman movie.

So, back to spidey 3. If you sit back and watch it like a lot of normal people and simply enjoy the jokes and action scenes it's a decent movie. If you over analyse and try to rewrite it as you go, you need a kick in the head.

Ok... that was probably a bit harsh, but you get the point. So, in summary - spidey 3 better than 2. 3 is far from perfect, but enjoyable.

"America Hates Burnie"

I came across this great online cartoon series a while back and can't remember the web address. I can't be buggered googling it at the moment, but if you like it, you know how to find it...I have more but i can't be bothered finding them. Enjoy!

AAAAARrrrrrrrrrrgggghh!

aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

We've Moved!

So, for the lazy or ignorant people among us, we've moved. Hence the title. Yep, new house.

Now that's clarified, I should think of something to write. Ok, the picture. This is my room at the moment. Or part of it. Somewhere in there. I think that's a wardrobe behind it. There's a couple more boxes next to/in front of the door. And I'm the one taking the pic. Somewhere near where the desk now it. This was taken yesterday, so it's a little better than what it was. For one, I actually have a bed and desk set up, as opposed to an assortment of wood strewn across the room.

All went well, nothing broken (that we know off). I walked into a glass door. It hurt. A lot.

So.... I think that's it. I'll take pics upon request.

Spidey 3 Part One: Enjoyable But Flawed

Ok, due to my limited availability at the moment, but clearly needing to correct film guru's error in judgement, I think I should throw my 2c in on Spidey 3. So I'll go with several parts when I have time.

'Cause I'm feeling kind and generous (what can I say? I'm that type a guy ;) ), I'll start with what I agree with.

Sandman was pointless. Sure, if you wanted another separate spidey movie, it could work, but seriously? Just took up time with "oh, my daughter's dying". No relevance to the spidey plot at all. We thought Uncle Ben's killer had been caught, and it shoulda been left that way.

So, point one: Too many plots. +1 FG

Here's where FG went wrong. The jazz club scene was where we see Peter in a different light, and I thought it was cool, although badly led into and abruptly finished. We no longer saw Peter as the nerd, but as a cool ladies man, albeit an egotistical bastard getting back at his ex who dumped him. Some may think it's cruel, but don't forget that she dumped him for 'another guy'. That woulda screwed with a lot of people's emotions, much less Peter's. Probably would have been less offensive for the more sensitive ladies out there had they properly bookended the scene with a decent lead in/out.

Point Two: Jazz club = awsome -1 FG

Stay tuned for some more FG pwnage.

PS: I warned you not to over analyse this, Luke. I can play at that game, too!

Time's A Wasting

So, have you ever got to the stage in life where you think, hey everything is great? You know, where you're balancing your workload effectively, you're actually enjoying life, AND know cool terms like "orthogonal frequency division multiplexing" that you can drop into a conversation to look like a genius (or in some cases, a complete nerd)?

See, up to the last couple of days, I thought I was having this great time and experience, when in fact I wasn't. Far from it.

I had a few assessment tasks dues this past week and thought, yeah, I can take them. I know what I'm doing. That is, until I actually sat down to take the tests and gone "Oh, Crap. I'm not as good as I thought I was". Now, the tasks weren't important as the assessment was minor, but just that ego- and pride-shattering moment when you realise that you aren't as perfect as you thought you were was simply not cool.

I guess this is one of those learning curves that you have to learn from and them move on to greater things. I personally find these irritating, as I often don't like negative realisations such as these. Kind of like the conversation film guru and myself were having the other night - when you wake up one morning and discover you're turning into your parents. While possibly inevitable, it's not the kind of discovery where you jump up and down and praise God for this incredible blessing.

So, now I've got to learn about three large textbook's worth of material in less than a month. Fantastic.

"Beam Me Up, Scotty"

So, this is the latest trend. You too can have your ashes blasted into space by a rocket for only $600 per gram. The ashes of James Doohan, the guy who played 'Scotty' in Star Trek, are now probably in orbit around some moon somewhere thanks to this new NASA initiative to fund the space program.

To be honest, I find it kind of funny when the family say things like "he would have been so proud to do something he could never do in life". I, quite frankly, would not personally like to be shot into space in a capsule the size of a thermos.

And in other news...
Stephen Hawking went up in "G-Force One" - the aircraft used to reproduce the effect of weightlessness found in space. Two people helped him out of his wheelchair so he could float around for a while.

Aparently he hopes to one day do the real thing. So, Matt, I think that disolves your observation: "Missy Higgins singing her own songs is like Stephen Hawking being an astronaught".

MS Actually Helping Students???

So, I just got the wierdest email ever. Apparently Microsoft are offering university student Office 2007 Ultimate for only $75. Besides the apparent confusion over what is involved in the licence, it seems that you can purchase a key online and use it to activate the trial version of office.

So after many people trying to contact them, it would seem that forums are reporting that the licence is unlimited, but only usable on 2 machines at a time eg desktop and laptop. So, for the first time since... ever, I'm actually considering replacing openoffice with MS Office. As much as I hate microsoft over their 'bloatware' and licencing, this seems to be what I would classify as a reasonable price for an essential software package.

So... yeah. This is probably the only time you'll ever see me promoting at corporation's
product over that of a freeware alternative, so make the most of it.

"Get Ready To Feel The Power Of Attorney!"

Ha Ha Ha! Cookies on Dowl! This show is awsome, and now that the DVD is out in oz, I have bought it to replace those dodgy internet equivalents.

So, besides 13 highly entertaining episodes over 154 minutes, with a second set still to be released in Australia, we have a few deleted scenes, commentaries and the like. All great stuff.

I'd type more but I'm too busy watching it.

Oh, and as a side note, I overheard a sales guy at JB HiFi talking about the PS3. He reckons that they still have their initial batch, and are only selling about three, sometimes 4 consoles per week. Big letdown compared to the PS2 launch, xbox 360 launch, and the nintendo wii launch, all of which were sold out in hours, at the most, days.

Come to think of it, you could buy and xbox 360 premium console and a wii for the same price as the high-end ps3 model. Something to think about, hey?

The History Of Technology: The Pic Says It All

For various assignments throughout my course I am required to research various aspect of technological history. One I accidentally came across while researching internet technologies is good ol' microsoft. When you look at this pic ripped from wikipedia dated late 70's, you gotta wonder how it all took off. I mean, seriously, this was MS. You've got Bill down the bottom left, what looks like a hippie version of Ross from Friends in the centre, and what could possibly be Matt Groening at the right (a stretch I know, but it's all I could come up with).

These are the founding fathers (and... mothers?) of computing technology today. So, what's changed? Well, the nerdy little rich kid at the bottom, who was probably bullied at school, has become the world foremost demonstrator of corporate bullying the world has ever seen. Incidentally, he's also the world richest person.

What else have we got? Telstra, Australia's telecoms monopoly, still has hissy fits over government regulations. Hell, if it hadn't been for Kevin Rudd, we probably would never hear about fibre to the node ever again. Telstra continues to refuse to expand on infastructure, simply because it wants to charge exorbitant prices for wholesale access. ACCC says no, so they stamp off like a 2 year old because they have to share their toys.

So, how did the leaders of the technological revolution become the people most determined to supress its growth?

If anyone find the answer, let me know. I'm sure it has something to do with money, or maybe some secret dungeons and dragons game they have going. Maybe it's an evil plan for world domination. All I know is this: Bill Gates is still an out of touch nerd, and Telstra is run by incompetent morons.

Oh, and Steve Jobs is still a hippie.

A new post...

So, it's been a while. Been flat out at uni handing in assignments and such. So, after king kohl's enticing link to a dude playing crotch catch (the one word that comes to mind is "WHY?"), I'll make another post. As soon as I think of somthing to post about...

*tries to make a new folder*
Ah, a random error message in windows vista! Great, I'll just crap on about it for a while.
*works out what error message means*
*checks windows problem reports dialogue*
"This problem was caused by SPLITTER.AX (Follow the steps in the article to unregister this binary, e.g. regsvr32 /u SPLITTER.AX). SPLITTER.AX (Follow the steps in the article to unregister this binary, e.g. regsvr32 /u SPLITTER.AX) was created by Haali Media.
A solution is available that will solve this problem."
*follows link*

What the... Fantastic, microsoft's solution to the problem is either use some fancy registry hack, or to simply turn off thumbnails.
*tries both*
So, the problem still exists. Google is my friend.
*google's problem*
So, it turns out that due to some obscure dos command you can't call a folder "CON". Never mind the fact that the command is used in a completely different context to file and folder navigation. WHY DON'T YOU SAY THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
*reads posted material*
Ha, you're still reading. This is more random than filmguru's cat crusade.

So, in short. Apple ads about windows error messages right, Microsoft full of crap.
*finds ubuntu linux disk*
This should fix everything. *maniacal laugh*

I really think I should get some sleep...

TV Show: Con

So, I left the tv on after family guy and got this. A dude named Skylar is a professional conman and gets and entire ski resort shut down to record his fake boyband's music clip. So, he and his friends get a whole free day of skiing, just for pretending to be a boyband and do a (frankly terrible) fake add for california tourism at the end.

This is classified as reality tv, and I gotta ask the question - isn't this actually theft? Sure, they post a 2 second warning at the end and quote: "The producers have reimbursed persons for the value of some goods & services. Viewers are reminded that CON is only the first syllable of CONSEQUENCES". But, really, these guys got a ski mountain shut down for AN ENTIRE DAY! While that is an amazing effort, to actually go through with it and then just "partially reimburse" someone, or in this case what would be thousands of dollars of business is criminal, is incredibly selfish and conceited.

So, to be honest, I don't know whether to be amazed or appalled.

Finally! An Online Music Service I Might Actually Use!

Exciting news! For all those digital music lovers despairing because they can't load their Apple Itunes Music Store DRM infested files onto portable devices they actually use, THERE IS A LIGHT!

Finally, after much ado involving the Steve Jobs comments about DRM (Digital Rights Management), EMI have finally agreed to release DRM free tracks through itms. Not only that, but they will be encoded at a massive 256KBPS, DOUBLE that of the current 128kbps offerings. For those of you not in the know, this means that they will have twice the quality, at which I find almost indestinguishable from the CD version.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Almost reminiscent of those bad daytime infomercials, they will be offering all current owners of EMI's DRM material a 30c upgrade per track for the useful version.

Anyway, they only downside is that it uses apple's propprietary AAC format, which some older devices still don't conform to.

This announcement acually makes me consider whether the slightly higher quality CD is worth it over itunes music. I guess the price will make that decision for me. This will probably kill microsoft's online services with the Zune, as itms has a greater range of music, and now it's (partially) DRM free!

All we need now is the other distributers to jump on board.