The Spirit of Christmas

While I finalise the second (and last) part of my Review of the Year. Here's Google Zeitgeist 2006, which Darren Rowse, at ProBlogger, has highlighted for his readers.

Google.com - Top Searches in 2006

1. bebo
2. myspace
3. world cup
4. metacafe
5. radioblog
6. wikipedia
7. video
8. rebelde
9. mininova
10. wiki

Google News - Top Searches in 2006

1. paris hilton
2. orlando bloom
3. cancer
4. podcasting
5. hurricane katrina
6. bankruptcy
7. martina hingis
8. autism
9. 2006 nfl draft
10. celebrity big brother 2006

I hope to break the top ten by the end of next year!

Stop The Cavalry

Where has the year gone? Wasn't it only yesterday that I posted this?

Read on for the first part of my Review of the Year. And the prizes go to:

*E-Commerce - aStore by Amazon. Amazon's new aStore format has impressed me (as has your willingness to purchase from the links) and I hope that this store concept is developed further. An urgent request to Amazon's Associates team - please add RSS as soon as practicable. Runners up: ReviewMe and PayPerPost.

*Web - MySpace. Now that the dust is settling around RSS, I'm hard-pressed to recommend any significant web-based product this year! That's my tenuous excuse out of the way. Social networking websites (and bookmarking) are all the rage, and it would be churlish to ignore their profound dominance. Runners up: RSS and Facebook.

*Buzz Word - Wi-Fi. Wires are so passé. No logo, no go. Runners up: RSS and VoiP.

*Application - Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta. Why? Well, the all-new UI has to be seen to be believed and the significant speed gains can't be ignored (even on my ageing LCD iMac G4). Runners up: Firefox 2 and iTunes 7.

*Gadget (formerly Console) - Wii. It's garnered acreages of coverage both here and elsewhere. Nintendo has delivered a revolution with Wii and the only flies in the ointment are product availability and the replacement remote strap fiasco. Both will be addressed in the New Year. Runners up: Nintendo DS Lite and iPod Shuffle.

*Video Game - The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii). Hyrule rendered in lush panoramic 16:9. Runners up: Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii) and Killzone Liberation (PSP).

Stay tuned for Best Album, DVD, Movie, Television series and much more.

Requiem of December

Last week The Power of Love (performed by Frankie Goes To Hollywood) was on heavy radio rotation. The song was officially licensed for use during the end titles of December Duet, my 1996 video major project at Bournemouth University, and it's only appropriate to repost the following audio clips for those who may have missed them the first time around:



Opening narration (performed by Bob Sessions) (MP3)
Soundtrack suite Part 1 (MP3)
Soundtrack suite Part 2 (MP3)

Those of you with a keen ear will hear fragments of The Power of Love, arguably one of the greatest ballads ever written, interpolated in Part 1! It's worth noting that this was more an act of serendipity than calculated design! The composers were unaware that I had elected to use a commercial pop song; an oversight that I never intend to repeat.

The source material is taken from TDK SA (Type II) cassette tape (Dolby HX PRO B NR) and is subject to the inherent limitations of the medium i.e. reduced fidelity.

Passion for Fashion!

As I've noted previously. A lot of you are buying products from both my Amazon and Amazon.co.uk associate links. Thank you once again for supporting my passion for blogging in this way. Please don't underestimate its significance.

Because Bratz are an ever-popular holiday gift with readers, I've decided to add another aStore.

Bratz Shop

David Rowan, editor of the Jewish Chronicle and a Times columnist, wrote this compelling article; The Times Magazine: How Bratz beat Barbie.

There are lots of bargains available online, but please note that the last day to place orders for delivery before Christmas is December 22nd (by Express Delivery).

Wii Play

Wii arrived this afternoon. Looking forward to some retro-goodness (via Virtual Console) from this coming Friday.

UK Virtual Console releases, December 15:

Urban Champion (NES)
Solomon's Keys (NES)
Pinball (NES)
Columns (Mega Drive)
Gunstar Heroes (Mega Drive)
Ristar (Mega Drive)
Dr. Robotonik's Mean Bean Machine(Mega Drive)
Alien Crush (Turbografx)

UK Virtual Console releases, December 22:

Donkey Kong Jr. (NES)
Soccer (NES)
Tennis (NES)
Space Harrier II (Mega Drive)
Toe Jam & Earl (Mega Drive)
Military Madness (Turbografx)

UK Virtual Console releases, December 29:

Baseball (NES)
Ice Hockey (NES)
SimCity (SNES)
Super Probotector (SNES)
Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
R-TYPE (Turbografx)

Wii-Envy You

Following the launch of the Wii across Europe at midnight last night, Nintendo UK has reported that 50,000 units of the console were sold in just 12 hours!

That equates to one sale every second, according to Nintendo - much to the satisfaction of UK boss David Yarnton.

"We are delighted with the amazing response to Wii and that people of all ages and gaming experience are embracing the way that we are turning the industry on its head," he commented.

"With so many units sold it is great to see that people will be enjoying Wii with their families this Christmas."

The official launch took place at HMV's flagship Oxford Street store, where 17 year old Londoner Marwan Elgamal became the first British gamer to pick up a Wii. Other shops opening at midnight included the GAME store down the road, which saw even longer queues and also sold all of its stock.

PC World Ipswich witnessed a queue of onlookers who wanted to participate in Wii Play! The glorious Gears of War point-of-sale wasn't enough to diminish Wii-envy!

Nintendo's Post-Christmas Crackers

Wii will not be with me until next week! That's OK as I'm too penny-pinching to pay for First Class delivery!

GAME (UK retailer) employees are purportedly alleging that there's going to be significant hardware and software shortages pre-Christmas, and are banning software and accessories-only pre-orders! Nintendo Wii Fanboy is seeking confirmation on this story.

Zelda is the only Nintendo franchise represented in the UK launch. However, Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption are not too far behind! In homage to the latter, the rest of this post will be of particular interest to video game merchandise hunters!

With the instantly recognizable bulky round orange shoulder pieces, Samus Aran’s Varia Suit has served the interstellar bounty huntress well. Her Varia suit, with the ability to resist even the most extreme of temperatures, has helped Samus on her quest of aiding the Galactic Federation in defeating the Space Pirates and eradication of the deadly Metroids.

First 4 Figures is extremely proud to present Samus Aran’s Varia Suit, the first collectible statue in First 4 Figures’ highly anticipated suit series based on Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime game trilogy.

First 4 Figures has used the official game files in order to create an extremely accurate recreation of the Varia suit, with pose inspiration taken from official Metroid Prime Varia Suit artwork.

The suit series will include, but not limited to, Samus Aran’s Light Suit, Dark Suit and Phazon suit.

Cast in high quality poly-stone, the statue is hand finished and hand painted with metallic paints to give an authentic representation of the suits.

Comes packed in a foam interior full colored box with a card of authenticity.

Ready. Set. Shop.

Not content with Amazon.co.uk's Wii-Order Tuesday, Black Friday or even Cyber Monday? Then don't miss the Apple Store's special one-day shopping event. Friday, December 1st. Only on the online Apple Store.

Come back to the online Apple Store on Friday, December 1st for a special one-day only shopping event where you will find dozens of great gift ideas.

Mark your Google Calendar now. Until then, start your research by visiting the online Apple Store Christmas Gift Guide to find Mac and iPod gifts for everyone on your Christmas List, after all who wants a Walkman or, worse, Microsoft's Zune?.

The Sound Of Christmas

A Whole New World of Entertainment

Audible.co.uk is the UK's leading provider of downloadable spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming.

Audible has over 11,000 titles to choose from 400 content partners, including leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers.

Because there's no CD or cassette, Audible offer customers great audio content at prices well below the high street equivalent. All Audible titles are at least 30% off the high street RRP.

Customers can listen to Audible's titles and programmes either on a PC or Mac, iPod, hard-drive MP3 players, smartphones, PDAs, car navigation systems; in all over 220 different device types and models. You can even make a CD copy of your audio.

Cyber Monday

Yesterday's Sunday Times Business section featured an article on Cyber Monday! The term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving and the ceremonial kick-off of the holiday online shopping season.

Similar to Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year when retail stores often offer significant discounts, Cyber Monday has in recent years become a busy day for online retailers, and one in which online stores offer similarly low prices and promotions. It has gained cache since the 2005 holiday season.

Unlike bricks-and-mortar, my online stores are open 24/7:

Disney Shop
Doctor Who Shop
PlayStation Shop
Wii Shop
Xbox 360 Shop

Looking for The Legend of Zelda merchandise? Here's Link!