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...