Tuesday 31 October 2006

Something Kinda Ooooh

May I wish all my readers a happy and safe Halloween. As with Halloween '04, here's a photo of the demure Jennifer Love Hewitt. A bewitching treat, wouldn't cha say?



Love Hewitt is enjoying deserved success with Ghost Whisperer, a television series that soon started to deliver chills after a cold start (no pun intended)!

Thursday 26 October 2006

Star Fox

I'm back from Essex! A Halloween-themed visit mixed-in with some PlayStation quality time!

Killzone and FIFA '06 deliver the goods including sharp artificial intelligence (AI). Now if only I'd tried scoring serviceable goals as opposed to performing 'fancy footwork' from way outside the goal mouth!

My Estuary English still needs work - an early New Year's resolution! However, Received Pronunciation (RP) is an entirely different matter!

Mozilla's Firefox 2.0 is now available in your favourite OS flavour! Were you one of the lucky FF users who got to play with the official release a few hours before its debut last Tuesday?

Friday 20 October 2006

Mayo meets Woz

Things have been a little quiet around here! Aside from very flakey iDisk and BlogSpot servers precluding updates. I've been busy creating new banners for a client, Forbidden Planet International (see Marvel Legends) whilst, simultaneously, cutting my teeth on Adobe Photoshop CS2!

Thursday's edition of The Daily Mayo, broadcast on BBC Radio Five Live will be of interest not only to Apple Computer fans, but anyone with a modicum of interest in video game and PC history.

Simon Mayo was at London's Science Museum today sneaking a peek at the Game On exhibition opening on Saturday, and spoke to the inimitable Steve Wozniak or "Woz", the designer of the first Apple PC.

Steve Wozniak is currently promoting his new book, iWoz, which is available now from all good online and bricks and mortar stores.

Wednesday 18 October 2006

Reuters Second Life

Reuters, the global news agency, has launched a virtual bureau in Second Life, to cover events and business from within the online simulation game. I first learnt of this strategic partnership whilst listening to Today on BBC Radio Four.

The office will be staffed by Reuters media correspondent Adam Pasick, known as Adam Reuters within Second Life, who will report to players within the game as well as being Reuters' Second Life expert.

"In Second Life, we're making Reuters part of a new generation," said Tom Glocer, Reuters CEO. "We're playing an active role in this community by bringing the outside world into Second Life and vice versa."

Second Life has over 600,000 users worldwide and is looking to open a UK office.

Will Bloomberg follow in Reuters steps?

Friday 13 October 2006

Pop-Tarts



Were you one of the many millions who grew up on SMASH HITS as I did? Did you collect the stickers, pull out the posters, read the lyrics to La Bamba and suddenly realise it was a song about 'doing the goat'? (hmmm). If you remember catchphrases such as 'Uncle Disgusting' and 'sniiiip!', if you kissed your poster of Morten Harket before you went to bed or thrilled when a SMASH HITS journalist fearlessly asked David Bowie 'you're not very good at acting, are you?' - then this book is for you.

In its heyday in the mid to late 1980s SMASH HITS enjoyed a circulation of over one million passionate readers. THE BEST OF SMASH HITS is for all those readers: a glorious, full-colour celebration of all the best (and some of the worst) bits. Including all the best features (Morrissey and Pete Burns' legendary joint interview!); the weirdest cover stars (Strawberry Switchblade!), the strangest song lyrics, the best 'black type' letters and more, it will also include memories from those who worked on the magazine.

Genuinely engrossing, THE BEST OF SMASH HITS is a hugely entertaining jaunt back to a time when journalists asked irreverent questions and pop stars had to answer them.

Thursday 5 October 2006

Sony VTX-D800U EPG update

Traversing Digital Spy's Terrestrial forum, I noticed that there is an (EPG) update available for the Sony VTX-D800U Freeview set-top box. The following is taken from Sony's official site and is for informational purposes only.

News
The planned improvements to the capabilities of the VTX-D800U has now passed the stringent Sony tests for quality and reliability. The software upgrade is for all users. It will not affect the way you use your VTX-D800U and it will not change the way you enjoy the digital TV channels. It merely improves the performance of your VTX-D800U.

You do not need to do anything to receive this improved software, it will be performed in the background while you watch a BBC channel on Multiplex 1 (e.g BBC1/2/3/News 24).

The software upgrade will be broadcast from 10:00 on the 5th October 2006 until 09:00 on the 8th October 2006.

The Upgrade
To receive the upgrade, ensure that software upgrade on the Technical Information Menu page is turned ‘on’. The unit should be powered on and tuned to any BBC channel on Multiplex 1. It will take approximately 30 minutes and can be done anytime during the update period.

The new software will be available once the unit has been placed into standby, and then back to normal operating mode.

If you wish to check that you have received the software, go to Manufacturer Information from the Technical Information Menu page. If your box has updated, the Software Version will read v1.14.02 U

If you do not wish to receive this upgrade simply disable software upgrade from the Technical Information Menu page.

Details
MHEG engine update.
Corrected MHEG issues with SkyText and BBCi News Multiscreen.
Improved handling of time shared services.
Corrected EPG issues due to hidden services.

Sony would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our VTX-D800U customers. We hope that you are enjoying using the product and that this upgrade will further enhance your enjoyment.

If you have any concerns or questions about this enhancement, please feel free to call the VTX-D800U help line on 0870 241 3624 for further information.

It's worth mentioning that the VTX-D800U digital set-top box was voted as the best buy in "What Video & TV" magazine November 2003, and is now retired. However, if you do find one I can't recommend it highly enough. Its successor should include a HDD.