Another One For The Archive (PSP Vs Bat)

See the Amazing PSP Get Battered.

I really wish I had been archiving all these console destruction videos because I have had all the videos of consoles being destoryed since the N64. So by now I would have had a good collection of these videos if I had of saved them.

The worst console destruction video I have seen was with an XBox, because they really did have a hard time trying to destroy it. And it's no wonder when you get stories like This (sorry was going to link to that story about an XBox stopping a bullet, but I can't find it), but the PSP in this video breaks apart quite well.

Media Coverage

Today the news has focused on Prince Harry's Choice Of Costume for a party. I have seen people wear Nazi costumes before, so I don't see why people should be bothering. I mean as a royal he isn't ever going to be king and this was a private party. If he had of dressed up as Hitler for some speech at a Jewish community seminar or something, now THAT would be newsworthy.

Now what should have been in the news was This Story about a couple (Mr & Mrs Gay) that killed their adopted son by force feeding him salt!

The Joys Of Teaching

Day three and this-morning I was still wondering what drove the people working there to become teachers. I mean they are responsible for someone else's kid and if anything went wrong you would be sued for everything you are worth. Plus they don't all behave, so it seems like unnecessary agro to me, but after helping-out in a class doing IT and supervising a few kids on the net, I can now kind of see why somebody would want to be a teacher.

See a lot of the kids don't don't a lot about, well most things and so it doesn't take much effort to make their faces light-up. Kind of like when you see someone open a very personal thoughtful present at Christmas. Teaching kids is something I would never consider, but it is interesting to see how it all works.

New Apple Products Announced

The new hardware is the iPod Shuttle which is the cheapest and smallest iPod design yet. Which uses flash memory to store audio instead of a hard drive, so it will probably last longer (as a functional product before it wares-out). I am not sure it's worth the cash because iPods have become a status symbol, so you can probably get something from Creative (for example) that is far better, and cheaper.

The other piece of hardware is the Mac mini and it is just that. A small, cheap Mac, that is sold without a monitor (to make it even cheaper).

The new software they have announced, consists of iLife, a media editing package for creating movies, editing photos, mixing music and then software so you can burn it all to DVD with custom menu.
I can see this working well for people who want to go on holiday and produce a DVD to remember it by, or maybe someone wanting to promote an idea or product (possibly for an internal demonstration to be sent to managers).

And the second bit of software is iWorks. Which is a presentation and interactive document maker. So basically Apple made versions of Word and PowerPoint.

Microsoft Virus Removal Tool

It's Here and it isn't the real time scanner I was expecting. I know they have one in development, but this is just a removal tool.

If anybody is looking at this new Microsoft tool and thinking 'cool free AV' don't. Instead get a real free AV like AVG. AVG incidentally has a better detection rate than Norton and McAfee. I am not sure about removal, but removal is a post infection thing anyway.

Started Placement

I stated my work placement for uni today at the primary school, and I knew I would be given a list of crappy stuff to do, but the first thing I did was update the school's anti-virus.

No auto-update! I have to do this manually from CD!
No fun at the moment, but I am sure it will get better. Maybe I can persuade them to ask me to build some software, model the school (communication and data systems structure), do a new website or even ask me to write a report on something for them.

Amazing Chinese Tshirt Folding Technique

Has revolutionised the way I fold tshirts.
Video Link (.mov)

Microsoft Anti-Virus Beta

Coming Tuesday Apparently.

I have been testing Microsoft's Anti-Spyware which is their other new security program. It is better than SpyBot and Ad-Aware, but the update window pisses me off because I was playing Bloodlines at the time and it minimised that, just to tell me it had updated!

The Dark Mod For Doom3

Just a ripoff of the Thief series and they kind of admit to that, but it Looks Sweet.

Tsunami Devastation

DigitalGlobe who does satellite imagery, has some Pictures of the Devastation and frankly I was quite shocked at the scale. I mean I have seen the videos of the water coming in, but I didn't realise whole towns has been washed out to sea.

The Code Room

MSDN has an interesting pilot for a show called The Code Room (you can download the pilot at that link). The concept is quite simple, three programmers attend a seminar on some-kind of programming language (in this case ASP.Net 2005) and then after the seminar they are locked in a room with a laptop, five hours of battery time and requirements for a program they must write.

It's an interesting concept and the first show I have ever seen that actually has programmers, programming as the shows premise. It's kind of like Scrap Heap Challenge for programmers and I like the concept, but this show has to be one of the most boring things i have seen in a long while. There isn't even any educational value in the show for programmers. Nice try though.

Exeem Screenshot

CNet (I know) has a Screenshot of Exeem.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter 6 is 7 months away, but you can preorder it for £9.99 from Amazon today!

Has she even finished writing it yet!?

Macworld 2005 (Starts On The 11th)

Another year, another Macworld, and normally I don't take any notice because all the rumours always circulate around an AppleOffice suite to rival Ms Office and a more powerful hyper expensive Mac, but not this year! No this year there are rumours of an iPod that can receive satellite Radio (yawn). And a cheap Mac that will be sold without a screen. So all you closet Mac users who have always wanted a mac, but could never afford one, can finally own one.

What interests me about this new mac, is that might be capable of being liked to a television. Then it would be perfect as a HDD video recorder for my study. I have considered buying a TV card before, but that would require uninterrupted PC resources that really I don't want to share.

At the moment the best I can get at retail is a DVD and Hard Drive combo that requires programming for every recording event (like ye olde VCR) and that's yesterdays technology. What I want one that I can tell once, (to record every episode of the Simpsons I haven't seen) and then it just record the episodes as they are shown on TV (this is also yesterdays technology, but consumers have failed to realise the benefits in the UK).

If this kind of recording feature comes out-of-the-box, i will pre-order one, but as of yet all this is still rumour.

Random Fact

Last year I went to the cinema seven times.

In viewing order:
The Last Samurai 5/5
Kill Bill: Volume 2 4/5
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban 3/5
Alien Vs. Predator 3/5
The Incredibals 5/5
House Of Flying Daggers 2/5
Blade Trinity 4/5

Films To Look Forward To In 2005

I am not talking about Star Wars Episode 3: Please Don't Be Crap. I am talking about the things that you probably wouldn't have heard of.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Looks good and it should be an instant classic.

Talking about instant classics War Of The Worlds (if you haven't seen the teaser trailer already).

Jet-Li stars alongside Bob Haskins in Unleashed. A film that looks very powerful.

The Chronicles of Narnia, about December time this year too.

2004 Awards List

Here is my list of what I considered to be the best of 2004. I have had this text on my desktop for a few months now, and I think its time to post it.

=== Films ===


• Best Film Of The Year
  The Incredibles
  An excellent example of everything that is right about films.
  
  
• Worst Film Of The Year
  Troy
  Another film with big battles! The story was dull, the pacing was all wrong and every opportunity for something good to happen like some cool dialogue was missed and/or spoiled.
  
  === Gaming ===
  
  
• Developer Of The year
  John Carmack
  For his spectacular rocket tests in his now failed attempt to win the XPrise. Doom3 was a great game, even if the critics where a little bit more than just picky. And congratulations to him on the birth of his Son.
  
  
• Best UT2004 Map
  ONS ToonCountry
  There are a few level errors when you can fall thought the floor, but it plays tight and looks stunning.
  
  
• The Game That Most Deserves An Expansion Pack
  Half Life 2
  To fill in all the plot gaps.
  
  
• Game Of The Year
  The Sims 2
  I had been debating for weeks wither to give this one to either Half Life 2 or Doom 3, but both of those are simply-just-another-FPSs.
  I hated the original Sims and when I started playing The Sims 2 I was fully expecting to hate this one too, but I didn't.
  The games premis is simple, you provide the input to the play experience and the game returns. You work with the desires and motives of your sims and you all seem to play together. It's one of the most rewarding gameplay experiences I have had in the last three years.
  Successful mastery of the game don't make you realise the limitations of the game, unlike others (C&C Generals), instead it rewards you with an expanding community that you get to develop further. I mean it's one thing to play with one family for a few days, but to have instigated the creation of three generations of Sims and to have watched them grow-up is something special.
  
  
• Best Use of License
  The Chronicles of Riddick - Escape From Butcher Bay
  Not just a crappy game made from another franchise, but a whole new something in its own right and actually expands on the originating licence in a positive way by creating a stunning FPS.
  
  
• Best Newcomer Of The Year (best completely new and original franchise)
  Evil Genius
  I really want to see some more from the franchise because it has so much potential.
  
  
• Most Impressive Mod
  New Floor Tiles For The Sims 2
  
  === Other ===
  
  
• Most Historical Event Of 2004
  X1 Winning The XPrize
  
  
• Best Anime OF The Year
  Fill Metal Alchemist

Best Article I have Read All Year (The BitTorrent Effect)

It being the first article I have read all year it is also the worst, most grammatically correct and possibly most secretive article (lol I have no idea what a secretive article would be, but this has to be the most secretive article of the year because its the only one I have read this year).

Anyway Wired has an Article About Bram Cohen and his BitTorrent app that has revolutionised content distribution.
Honestly this is a wicked article that even makes some very interesting observations about how people watch films, and make it easier for an iMovie to be successful than any iTunes could possibly be.

In the article it mentions that Bram has Aspergers and that his condition gives him powers of concentration, but makes it hard for him to socialise.
Well I have a friend with Aspergers and these so called, powers of concentration, extend to him being fixated on tasks. At the moment with my friend, it is owning every soundtrack from Prisoner Cell Block H, and this is costing him a lot of money to get and without a job this is money he probably shouldn't be spending, but he is fixated on the task and can't see that there is anything wrong with what he is doing. So don't go thinking that Aspergers is a good thing after reading this article.
Other than that this is an exceptional read.

OBE For Peter Molyneux

I wonder who decides who gets these things because Peter isn't exactly someone who is stalked by the press and recognised everywhere he goes, but The BBC Has The Story.

This is great because if anybody deserves an OBE for his contribution to gaming culture, its Peter, because he is the father of sandbox god games.

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

The mass text message that I wanted to send didn't get sent in 2004, but everybody should have it now.

I spent the first hour of this new year playing Halo2 co-op. I wish it had been at a party with friends, but most people where unobtainable for the event, I wanted. So it kind of just collapsed.

Halo2 is better than its predecessor, but not by much. More on that, when we have completed it.
lol, probably in the form of a long hateful rant that everybody will disagree with, but the level design is horrible, and they don't even bother null-mapping a lot of the textures later on.