Google Chrome Auto Updates

Google Chrome is awesome, but in a seemingly controversial decision Google has chosen to auto update without the user's consent. There isn't even an option to turn updating off.

Rob Mensching has more on this and a very interesting selection of comments to his post.

I think Google has made a good decision in doing this, but as a power user I would like to know when this happens and what has changed when it does. The only reason why I am ok with this is because Google Chrome is a self contained platform and not a symbiotic piece of software like iTunes. Plus I recognise the security benefits and the benefits for Google in only having to support a single current version

Free Powered By Ubuntu Stickers

If you have a system running Ubuntu and don't have a 'Powered By Ubuntu' sticker on it and want one. Send an empty envelope addressed to yourself with a stamp on inside another envelope, with a stamp on addressed to the relevant place on System76's Free Ubuntu Stickers Page and you will be sent four.

Sexy PCs

There is a company called VoodooPC and they make the sexiest PC and Laptop I have ever seen.

360° Views of the LHC

Some 360 views of the LHC where taken while it was under construction and they Really Make You Feel Like You Are There.

Someone should make a game about a physicist in a Large Research Facility. That would be way better than all these street combat FPS games like Half Life 2.

Some Pictures Of The LHC During Construction

Sometime today the LHC comes online and a new toy is available for Physicists to play with. Here are some spectacular picture taken during the machine's construction.

BBC Radio 4's Coverage Of The LHC

This Wednesday the LHC is officially turned on and the full machine will be used for the first time. BBC Radio 4 will be covering the event live throughout the day.

If you are interested, but don't have a radio (I know I don't) then Wednesday just visit the BBC Radio 4 Homepage and click the Listen Live link at the top right. To listen you will need a real player compatible player. If you are a Windows user I can recommend Real Alternative.

Random Fact

On Windows operating systems, shortcuts are .LNK files.

Spore On The Cheap

The good people at Amazon are doing Spore for £26.98. And that includes P&P. Just so you know.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is my new default browser. It is too awesome to try and convey with mere words. It is lightning quick, on EVERYTHING. Even my Yahoo Mail account which is always sluggish due to the heavy scripting. It is, the browser I have always wanted, right now. Goodbye IE, Goodbye Opera and Goodbye Firefox, you won't be missed.

The genius behind it all is that each webpage isn't just managed well or given it's own CPU thread, but instead managed by the browser like a process. And then for each page there are sub processes. So say a YouTube page will have the page as a process and then the flash object as another.

Chrome uses a relatively HUGE amount of memory to what we are used to from a browser. Right now with four windows open it is using 36MB of memory, but it is SO worth it.

Google have put together a Comic explaining their philosophy behind Chrome and some of the technical 'How We Did It' stuff. And please give it a try.

Google Chrome Download Page

Tweaked Out 911 Space Invaders Commentary

Kotaku did a news article on an artist who created some crappy art piece where (simply to be a media whore) he Combined Space Invaders and The World Trade Centre.

The reason why I mension this is because Dripp was a little tweaked out when he vlogged about it, lol.

Random Fact

A system interrupt (either a hard restart or system freeze) during windows Vista boot can corrupt the boot sector, making Vista impossible to boot into or even do a simple repair on to fix.

R.I.P. Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, lecturer of The Last Lecture, Died Friday.

If you haven't see either his The Last Lecture or his lecture on Time Management then I suggest you go to his Academic Page and sit through them. As much as students like to moan about how boring lectures are, Randy is one of those pragmatic lecturers who are a delight to hear from. Both of these lectures are inspiring and it is unfortunate that it took a terminal illness for him to come to our attention.

Below is a brief clip of Randy addressing members of Congress regarding funding for Pancreatic Cancer research. I know he will be missed by many people.

Windows Vista's Speaker Room Correction

Very expensive speakers have this feature called Room Correction. This is a calibration system where each speaker plays a test signal and uses a built in microphone to listen to the signal coming from the other speakers. By listening to this signal, delay and room frequency response from a room can be mapped out. This creates an automatically calibrated listening environment that compensates for a lot of room features like furniture and has many advantages over a manually calibrated equaliser system (mainly the fact that it is automated).

Windows Vista has Room Calibration built in. To do a calibration:

1) Connect up a microphone to your computer.

2) Setup your microphone so that your computer can listen through it.

2) Open up Playback Devices window.

3) Open up the properties window for your speakers.

4) Select the enhancements tab.

5) Select Room Correction and then Settings.

6) Follow the on-screen instructions.

I recommend turning your speakers up so that the test signal can be heard by your microphone. And place your microphone in a similar location to where you yourself will be listening to your speakers.

I don't know if this has made my listening experience better because I am not that well trained in these things, but the alterations applied to my system where to add a delay and slightly turn down the volume on my right speaker. This makes sense when you consider that my right speaker is closer to me, than my left. So logically my speakers should now sound better. Although I should add that this is no consolation to not buying a good set of speakers in the first place.

Mirrors Edge Developer Commentary Disappoints Me

There are a lot of games where I see some kind of preview of the game and from that little snippet I build-up a picture in my head on what the game will be like to play and how the mechanics will work etc. So I can run through my head what it will be like to play just from seeing a very small preview. Sometimes the finished game surprises me and I am delighted and other times the reality of playing the finished product falls short on my expectations. I am sure you too do this.

The concept of Mirrors edge is that of a very clean line art style set in a city where all communication is closely monitored by the state. Because of this runners are paid to carry sensitive information across the city by hand so that the authorities don't get their hands on it.

The game takes the concept and some of the style of Freerunning into itself. This combined with the Currier missions made me think that missions would be given very much like they where in Thief and Assassins Creed. Where you got missions by talking directly to hidden contacts or by finding clues and markers left for you. However for some reason Mirrors edge features a radio, which for me breaks the whole anti-surveillance thing as obviously the state could listen into the radio. They will probably have a plot point that says that the radio transmissions are encrypted, but to me this is nowhere anywhere even close to being as cool as getting a mission from a set of cryptic symbols on a hidden bit of paper, or getting a mission by meeting someone secretly hoping the authorities doesn't find out.

Plus as much as I love story being feed to me during a mission as I am playing through a level, the crackly radio doesn't fit the visual styling of the game.

Nintendo & Sony E3 Press Conference Impressions

I have finished watching all three conferences now and I thought Sony's was the best. Best in presentation and best in all round content. No big announcements, but what Sony needs is games.

Nintendo's conference left a lot to be desired. That woman (whoever she was) on-stage to me felt as if she was addressing some parents PTA meeting, not the specialist press and other people from the industry. Her presentation style felt very clicky and wooden.
The Wii music game looks as if it will sell very well, but the Drum section that was played didn't sound good at all. And that surprises me because Nintendo has always had such a high quality bar.

As always The 1Up Show had some nail on the head observations, but to sum it up, all the conferences where lacking in one way or another.

Microsoft E3 Press Conference Impressions

Microsoft's E3 press conference was a little dull and very light on news. Three big announcements.

1) Completely new dashboard interface coming this fall. Yet no news on wither that is going to make finding stuff on marketplace easier.

2) XBox360 Miis coming this fall. A direct rippoff translation iteration of one of the Wii's most successful features.

3) Final Fantasy XIII. Not that I care about this, but I expected a proper (i.e not Crystal Chronicles) FF game to come to the 360 a year or two ago. Why did this take so long!?

Update: I almost forgot.

4) And Netflix support. This really is one of the final nails in Blockbuster's coffin.

BMW Did Something Truly Innovative

Innovation is about taking two technologies that might not necessarily have anything in common and combining them to produce something new or solving a problem by applying a technological technique or idea as a solution. In the early years of aeroplanes, they where constructed from wood and cloth. In later years aluminium was used and now we use composite materials. Cars have always used hard body shells, so BMW tried using a flexible cloth-like material as a concept design and they have produced something fantastic:



No I don't think we will all be driving clothed cars in ten years time, but as a concept this is has all the hallmarks of an iconic design.

Alone In The Dark 5 Looks Better Than I Thought

I take it back, I am interested in Alone In The Dark 5. The main character can't remember who he is, and is possessed with a demonic entity. This gives the plot a high probability that the protagonist turns out to be the antagonist or blood related to the antagonist. Yes it has all be done before, but from the looks of things the bits between the big predictable plot reveals look really fun.

Bernie, About That Car You Wanted

Freerunning Awesomeness

Surprisingly there is a difference between Freerunning and Parkour. Parkore being a philosophy of "be strong to be useful" and Freerunning being a type of gymnastics.

So even through this video is titled "Best Of Parkour/Flips/Tricks", what is really on show is Freerunning.