Back to the Future Actor Answers questions. "IN SONG"

Tom Wilson the actor known for his role as Biff in all the Back to the Future films, got fed up answering so many Dumb questions he put the answers to song.
After listening to the song, not only is it very funny but shows how many Dumb repeated questions he gets.
So with out further a do here it is. ENJOY.

Powered by Qumana

I'd Like to have been in that Meeting. Harry Potter.

Powered by Qumana

A Muppet Bohemian Rapsody

Yes This Is really the Muppets doing Bohemian Rapsody! Nuff Said Watch.

Powered by Qumana

Apple TV Update 3.0

Apple's Hobby the Apple TV got it's 3.0 software update.  And there are some new features.
The first thing that one notices is that the home screen is much more Apple.  Beautifully designed, but it may cause a little clipping at the edges of your screen especially if you like me are using an RGB converter, for an older Tube TVand not an LCD/Plasma/FST.
A picture of the Apple TV looms over the different categories, and when you move over each category the content of you Apple TV gets coverflow style displayed.
The new function is under the new category "Internet" and it's one of my favorite functions of iTunes,
Internet Radio.
This means that all your favorite Radio stations such as my personal favorite Indie 103, can be utilised direct from the Apple TV so there is no need anymore to have to switch your computer on.  And if you use the HDMI plug and not the RGB Audio plug.  Then you can plug it directly into your stereo, or surround sound set up.
All in all it's a excellent update and worth doing, and hopefully the next update will sort my Screen clipping problem.  The other reason that the update has taken place is that the new Album extra and in the US available Film extra's can be viewed.  To this point iTunes has also been updated to 9.0.2

Powered by Qumana

Danny MacAskill Urban Mountainbiker

I've see this video many Times before but it never fails to fascinate. Filmed in what appears to be Edinburgh.
ENJOY

Nothing British About the BNP

Andy McNabb Ex- SAS Soldier says exactly what I think and Feel.  As a Ex-British Army Soldier myself, and having Served in Kosovo in 1999 & 2002, and also as part of the Stabilization Troops in Bosnia in 1997.  I am myself 100% behind what he says and the "Nothing British" Campaign. http://www.youtube.com/user/NothingBritish

Powered by Qumana

Marvel Online Comic creator App

As I was doing my usual Trawl of my RSS feeds I happned on to the Marvel Comic Creator app online.
(Thanks to Gizmodo) http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic
It's an online app allowing you to creat either entire mini Comics or just one off strips.  All the tools you need are there, including Pre-Drawn characters, Backgrounds,  a couple of objects, Noises (BAM, Crack)
and of course Speach bubbles which you can edit. 
It's actually meant for kids, but it appeals to that kid inside, and of course I couldn't resist.
 

"ICE" Hockey Wonder Kid

I Love Hockey, "ICE" that is.  So Imagine my wonder as I saw this video of a Pee-wee (Kids League) 9 year old who quite literally has the moves.  I hope he keeps this up, I would like to see him Play NHL when he grows up.

http://bruins.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=977&id=48542

Powered by Qumana

Sarah Jane Smith is back!!!

Starting Thursday 15th on BBC 1 The Sarah Jane Adventures comes back to British Screens.  And Judging by the Trailer it's every bit as good as it Should be.  In episodes 3 and 4 everybody's favorite time-lord makes an appearance.  Each two-parter will follow on consecutive days, Thursday and Friday for the next Six weeks.

Powered by Qumana

New Doctor Who Logo for 2010

As the BBC has promised here's the new Logo for Doctor Who for the Start of the New series in 2010 and all I can say is I love it!!!.

Powered by Qumana

New Hitchhickers Book Due Oct 12th.

So as an avid Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy Fan, and I mean avid.  Books (including the Huge Illustraited Hitchhickers with it's Holographic Cover.) The Film, which unlike many I enjoy, and will stop and watch on TV depite it being in my DVD colection. The BBC TV Series, witch got me hooked in the first place.  And of Course what started it all off the Original BBC Radio Production.  Also to this point I have the GERMAN yes GERMAN Radio version, which is just as funny on Cassette, you know those funny little oblong things with two holes on the middle and Tape, those objects first pointed at as the Ruin of the Music industry (in modern times, first it was sheet music.) with the slogan "Home Taping is Killing Music" but that's a winge For another time.

Well Despite Douglas Adams being Unfortunately Dead, the Sixth in the line of Hitchhickers books is ready to buy on the 12th October.  This brings two problems with it, 1. It is the same day that, that other satirical Genious Terry Pratchett publishes his 37th novel Unseen Academicals. (So a posibilty that overshodowing may occur.)

2. This one is not written by Douglas.  Well not directly, Eion Colfer a man selected by the Adams Estate to write the sixth book is writing it, and as far as I understand he was given Douglas's orginal writings for this book.

Now I have in my collection "The Salmon of Doubt" which is a mish mash put together from material on Douglas's Mac (that's the Computer and not the Raincoat).  And as I understood from that there was a ton of material Unpublished.  So it came as a little surprise but no great big one, that eventually the Sixth of the Hitchickers trilogy books would come to be published, one way or another, I have my pre-order with Amazon, along with the new Pratchett novel, and I have to say I am really looking forward to it, despite the slating it's got from so many, "So Called" true fans.  These are the first to write thier protest against, anything that's not from Douglas himself.  Ok I hope it stays at Six books then the real joke would be that each part of the trilogy would be two books long.  That's something to think about if your a marketing Idiot.  But unlike the "others" I am open minded to this new offering.  I am a big fan, of every thing Douglas did, so much so that I have an American copy of the Doctor Who Story Pirate Planet, the one wher he wrote the script, Shada being only available on line in the UK.

I also own the Dirk Gently novels, I give Douglas books and DVD's as presents, in the hope those who recieve enjoy just as much as I do.

So I will give the new book all the chance it deserves, and look forward to reading it, because for all you out there, it's the only way Douglas's genius will come to shine one more time as a BRAND NEW piece, and OK it's not Directly from Douglas but at least it's something, for someone who is sorley missed.

To this point for all you lucky People in the UK one of Douglas's may Side projects was "The Last Chance to See" About the Dissapearing animals from all over the world.  This has now been turned into a BBC TV Show with Mark Carwadine Douglas's Co-writer and fellow adventurer on this prodject back in 1989 where as Douglas Typical, it first found It's feet on Radio and then subsiquently as a book.  And one of Douglas's best friends (and I was following him on twitter as his count was only 10,000 people) Stephen Fry, so it's in very good hand, and all respect to Stephen, who suffered broken Limbs in the making of this show.  It's on BBC 2 on sunday.

Oh and my Father found where Arthur Dent has ended up, see the Picture underneath.

Apple Special Event 09.09.09 John C Dvorak Interviews Lance Ulanoff

So the eagerly awaited iPod Special Event happened yesterday, so far, all I can take away from it is,
1. iTunes 9 and redesigned store
2. The Nano gets a slight redesign adds a Bigger Screen and a Video ONLY camera?
3. The Touch gets 3.1 Software and bigger capacity 64GB top end, Recording capability, but no Camera?
4. The Shuffle gets colour. Yes that's it just colour.
Now I put a question mark by point Two and Three because while it makes sense that the Nano gets a camera for all the Teenies and Pre-pubescent out there and their nihilistic tendencies, but what doesn't make sense is the lack of camera on the Touch, a class machine screaming for a camera and it doesn't get it.
Because Steve Jobs says it's a Great Gaming machine and they wanted to keep the price down, HUH! go figure. Me personally It wouldn't have hurt to put the Video only camera from the Nano into the device, as the Nano sees a price drop.  OK the Touch gets a recording facility, and the 32GB and 64GB version come with the iPhone Headphones as standard, but come on no camera, if there was one way to blow the market away it's put a camera on the Touch.  I mean I already use my touch instead of a Netbook because of the functionality the 3.0 software brought with it, so all I can say is hey Apple hurry up and add the camera even if it's Video only, the 3.1 software can already cope with it, and the iPod touch is always faster than the iPhone.
Anyway to end a Video of John C Dvorak http://www.dvorak.org/blog/ interviewing Lance Ulanoff about the Newish arrivals.

Powered by Qumana

"Tardis" Tara Wheeler @ Dragoncon A parade through the Tardis

ENJOY I know I did.

Powered by Qumana

Softdrinks, pop,Soda What ever you want to call it, this guy's got it.

Most of the time I love living in Europe because of things like Healthcare, the Air and the Water, all are pretty much great, and no one can argue with that.  But it's when I see video's like this one I wished this guy's store is around the corner.  He has so many different types of Softdrinks/pop/Soda call it what you will, that the mind boggles and all in glass bottles, yes ALL, he only gets the Kosher Coke-Cola in Plastic because that's how it comes.  Very few have that staple of American food production, Corn Syrup, so the vast majority of his stock is sugar based, but he also Carries mineral water, so I got a surprise as he mentioned Gerolsteiner water, as it's produced here in Germany, and I live in a town where in my opinion the best Mineral water is bottled, Bad Pyrmont, which is by a strange coincidence a part of the Gerolsteiner Company, as it was bought up a few years back.  The video is a little over 12 minutes long but worth watching, I think the world need more of Guy's like John Nese, it just makes the world a better place.

Powered by Qumana

Michael Moore Is At It Again, Oh Yes!!!

As Bush Left the Whitehouse earlier this year, I wondered with Obama in Power what was Michael Moore Going to film about.  I very stupidly forgot about Corporate America, you know the people who actually Ruin Run America.
So I am happy to see Michael Back with his new film 'Capitalism: A Love Story' where he attempts to find out who is responsible for the Financial crash this time around.  As a fan of his documentaries I can't wait to see this one, as looking at the Trailer it looks up to his usual form. Take a look your self just under these words.
Enjoy!!!

Powered by Qumana

Doctor Who Confidential Summer Break Spectacular

Despite there being no new Doctor Who episodes to speak of until Novemberish (My Tip Children in need Night.)
BBC 3 has commissioned three new Doctor Who Confidential, doing a Best of so far show, the usual candidates will be interviewed ( As most people know John Barrowman loves any chance to get on screen.) Doctor and former companions, plus Ryan Sampson, Georgia Moffett, Tracy Ann Oberman, David Morrissey, Tom Goodman-Hill and Mark Gatiss.  So there will be plenty of "oh and Ahhh it was sooo good because" enough probably to be confused with a "Making of" from most Hollywood blockbusters.  That won't stop anybody from watching though, and it's a nice stop gap until we get the end assault this Winter.  I just hope there is pleanty of new material, and that it's not just a best of Doctor Who confidential, with clips from previous Confidential's. 

The series starts on BBC3 on Thursday, 20th August at 8:00pm UK BST.

Powered by Qumana

Dalek living on Earth

As I was doing my Security rounds, I happened apon a watch/clock and Jewelery shop, and got a shock.
The Ever so familiar name of Doctor Who's Number 1 enemy Adorned the shop, and he sells Time(Pieces) Check the Photo out.

Mac Updates Os X and Garageband.

Today Apple released updates to Mac OS X and Garageband. 
OS X goes up to version 10.5.8 and fixes the following problems according to the Support website

What's included in this update:

• Upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2.


• Improves the accuracy of full history search in Safari 4.


• Resolves an issue in which certain resolutions might not appear in the Display pane in System Preferences.


• Dragging an Aperture image into Automator now invokes an Aperture action instead of incorrectly invoking an iPhoto action.


• Resolves an issue that could prevent importing of large photo and movie files from digital cameras.


• Improves overall Bluetooth reliability with external devices, USB webcams and printers.


• Addresses an issue that could cause extended startup times.


• Improves iCal reliability with MobileMe Sync and CalDav.


• Addresses data reliability issues with iDisk and MobileMe.


• Improves overall reliability with AFP.


• Improves overall reliability with Managed Client.


• Improves compatibility and reliability for joining AirPort networks.


• Improves Sync Service reliability.


• Includes additional RAW image support for several third-party cameras.


• Improves compatibility with some external USB hard drives.


• Includes latest security fixes.
  
  As always I highly recommend the updates, but this time since it's the first update after the Blackhat Hackers conference, I can only emphasize that point even more.
  here's the link to the full article.
  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3606

Powered by Qumana

Banksy

Genius!!!

Powered by Qumana

Professor How The somwhat timetravelling Parody

I Got an idea in my head and well went with it.
The Result is Professor How a Parody of a certain Time-traveler, I recorded on my Mac using Garageband, and have now loaded up to http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/59601 So please check it out and let me know what you think.
The first Episode is called "Professor How and the Analogue Women, Ep1 Landing on Solbum"

Powered by Qumana

The Future is here!!!

All I can say is the Movie industry need to forget about 3D and start with this.  It's 360° Video, and you as the user can decide where to look!!! click on the video and point your mouse in any direction.  In real-time you can look anywhere in the picture including doing head over heals!!!  Click once to start and wait until video comes up, then click and hold and look anywhere in the picture.  Imagine what this would be like in a film!!!  you hear the bad guy in a action film coming from behind so you spin around to see him, or aircraft/wizzards/birds attacking from above, the potential is endless, so forget 3D this is the way ahead, until Holographic tech is properly invented.

Powered by Qumana

What If Windows Powered the Matrix!

Powered by Qumana

The Prisoner Re-make/boot

As I was young and the British TV Channel 4 was in it's infancy,  I was lucky enough to see the re-runs of The Prisoner with Patrick Mcgoohan.  This styled semi-sci-fi TV program played on a Big Brother type fear, and one man's fight because he had been taken out of Society.  Admittedly  he was an Agent of the Government but it still made for good TV.  In November on US Channel AMC the Series gets a re-boot/make so I'll have to wait until it hits the EU.
But for the meantime please enjoy the 9m15s embedded Trailer.

Powered by Qumana

The Half Blood Prince

I've been looking forward to this film for so long.
Of all the Potter Books it's the one I know probibly best and have listened to or read the most. Mainly because of Harry's romantic involvements, and to the fact that I had read the Deathly Hallows and needed to piece together what had happned.
As a Film it works but I made a mistake. I read the Book first!!! If you are new to the World of Harry Potter then I can say only this, watch the Films first then read the Books it gives you more pleasure to read about what didn't appear in the Film than seeing the Film after Reading the Books.
Reading the Books first and knowing them too well means that you cannot sit back and enjoy the Film as presented, which is something you should allways try. OK there are extra scene's to cut down on time, but you will inevitivly only ever be constantly compairing One to the other.
Don't get me wrong the Film was good, but the delay was not worth it, some CGI events like the destruction of the London millenium Bridge were very CGI and with the extra Time I had expected that at least the effects would be smoothed out. Well I expected wrongly. The effects at the begining of the Film were on par with the effects from the First Potter Film and at this Stage in the game it shouldn't be so. All in all a brilliant Film made to shine a little less than it should have. But no doubt Potter fans of all ages will enjoy this Film.

B-Movie Invasion The Classic Sci-fi Podcast

I've just finished recording and uploading B-Movie Invasion a Podcast dedicated to classic Sci-Fi and their reboot or remakes.  A little nerve racking experience, due to my In-experience with Talkshoe recording.
But Never the less I am a Mac owner and do have Garageband so I recorded it Manually offline which gave nobody a chance to join in, but anyhoo it's finished and uploaded, so if you follow the link underneath you should be able to hear it including all my UMMMs and AAHHHS.

Powered by Qumana

Torchwood, Children of Earth the Aftermath.

Torchwood Homophobic???, How about this, in an effort to show that ALL people can be affected by such things, Ianto died, don't forget ALL PEOPLE. It doesn't matter about, Sexual direction, Skin colour or Religion. If some big disaster hits the earth and if you are in the way you are more than likely dead. If this upsets people, then I suggest they try living in Cloud Cuckoo Land, until the big nasty thing sends them on their way.
The point is life is unfair and treats ALL PEOPLE the same in the end, and Torchwood Children of earth was just this. A story about how all are affected by such dramatic events, and dramatic events are always such levelers.
10 years ago I took part in the military Operation to stop the Serbs performing Genocide in Kosovo. The Bombs that our Aircraft dropped did not care as to which religion or sexual direction the enemy had, in the face of the explosion that enveloped them there after they were all the same DEAD. This might seem a little off point to some but my point is that when it comes to Death and Dying we are all the same, Torchwood, Children of Earth, showed this. And despite that I was shocked by the event and Liked the Ianto Jones character, just as he was beginning to bloom in the show. I must congratulate the writing team on portraying in a Sci-Fi show real life, as close to the bone as it gets.
After all, Despite, Money, religion, Skin colour, Sexual direction, position in life I find we are all the same.  And in the face of Death WE ARE ALL THE SAME. 

Powered by Qumana

Torchwood

At the moment there seems to be a bit of a Torchwood firestorm going on.  First of all on BBC Radio 4 3 plays were broadcast http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/torchwood/download/ , starting on the 1st. of July going up until the 3rd, These are still available to listen to for seven days after broadcast through the iPlayer function from the BBC which as radio is available out side the UK.  Unfortunately what is not available is the Direct Download if you live outside of the UK or have I.P. Problems inside of the UK.  Each of the plays were very distinctive, even allowing for a trip to India which thanks to the power of radio is no problem what so ever, no need to even leave the Studio.
And Starting Next Monday everyday on BBC 1, is the five part story Children of the Earth.  Which will get broadcast Two week later in the US and in Australia, any guess as to when it will be available to the rest of the world, but seeing as Series two is by episode Five in Germany as a comparison it may be a while in coming. 
On the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/ there is the latest OFFICIAL news and a few making of video's which appear to unlock day by day after broadcast.  The first one is though is available to watch now but only for UK Residents.

Powered by Qumana

Apple TV update to software 2.4

Talk about releasing this one relatively unannounced.  Released on Tuesday/Wednesday the update is to help the new functions programmed into the iPhone/iPod Touch app Remote for Apple TV and Front Row.
See beneath
Apple TV Software Update 2.4 features:
Feature Summary

1. Remote app directional control Control your Apple TV with simple finger gestures via the Remote app. This feature requires Remote 1.3 running on an iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0.

2. Flickr Search Search Flickr photo tags to find recently updated photos of interest. Save searches to quickly find new photos or use as a screen saver for Apple TV.

3. New view options View movies By Genre, By Movie, or Unwatched. View TV Shows and Podcasts By Date, By Show, or Unwatched.

4. Updated transport and chapter modes During video playback, click right or left to fast forward or rewind. Additional clicks increase the speed. Click down to show chapter markers.


The Update adds new functionality and also speeds up the operation noticeably, like most Apple OS updates.
Though one is still given the feeling this is still Apple's Hobby project, as there is still no sign of the rumored Apps or the possibility of an ported version of Safari to allow basic armchair surfing, as seen in the Boxee Apple TV Hack.

I Know this is the iPod for the Living-room, but it would be nice since you can use the iPhone/iPod Touch as a remote control, to have the comfort of using Safari from the Sofa.  Keyboard functionality being provided by the Remote App, so that one could call up the Info on a film you are or about to watch on IMDB.COM

Powered by Qumana

The XXbox

The Colbert Report shows the X X-box, have fun.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bears & Balls - Tobacco, Project Natal & Graveyard Bids
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

Powered by Qumana

The XXbox

The Colbert Report shows the X X-box, have fun.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bears & Balls - Tobacco, Project Natal & Graveyard Bids
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

Powered by Qumana

Cats not all are self centered.

Check out the Video of Cats yes Cats performing in a Russian circus. Cats well known for being self centered, don't so much as have owners but more like Personnel, and finally can not be trained.  Well at least you can scrub the last one, each cat can do at least on trick.


Thanks to John C. Dvorak for discovering this clip. http://www.dvorak.org/blog/

Powered by Qumana

For those who were 80's Children.

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Powered by Qumana

iPhone 3.0 Software.

After much unpublicized delay, the 3.0 soft ware finally arrived at 19:39 hours Central European Time.
I had watched iTunes from Midnight CET on the 17th, and Nothing.  Then Surfed the web for info. Nothing was to be found, absolutely nothing.  Then checking the US Apple website I came across this little disclaimer under the 3.0 software page, and it was in small print!!! iPhone 3.0 software not available for 1st Generation iPod Touch.  I was blown away, how come the first gen.  iPhone get the update but not me with my 1st Gen. iPod Touch, infuriated I wrote an e-mail to Apple customer services Europe, to which as of yet I have no reply to.  How could they let one of the most important updates slide for the 1st Gen Touch, no Landscape mode for all programs, no cut copy and paste, no shake to shuffle and no (over wifi) in App purchases.   This spoiled my plans completely, to use the Touch instead of a of buying netbook.  With Cut Copy and Paste it would mean I would not have to resort to using or buying a netbook.
But things got a little more confused, as the guys from Engadget, http://www.engadget.com/ announced that the 3.0 software had been delayed, and worked out from the time given and date, when it should arrive.  Singapore had posted to it's customers that the 3.0 software would be available on the 18th at 01:00 hours and that would mean 19:00 hours CET. 
So I decided to give it a shot, 19:00 Hours, Nothing, ok I thought give it time.  And so finally at 19:39 Hours CET the update went live.  My shock came as iTunes allowed me to purchase 3.0, knowing full well that my Touch was a first Gen. model.  Now something got in my way, WORK, I work permanent nights and due to the dreadfully slow nature of the download (40kb/s yes only 40kb/s) iTunes said it would be another 2 HOURS !!!! before the software was ready to install.  So hoping for the best that all would be well when I got back, I left for work.
And then I came home.  iTunes showed not only had the update taken place but also that, the following sync had too, which is good because I have so many Comics from iVerse Media through the App Store.  And now the panic was over, it all worked !!!!  Why did then the US Apple website say that the 1st Gen. Touch could not be updated ?  I can only presume it meant that you could not update from software 1.1.3 to 3.0, but I'm still waiting for clarification on that.

Anyway the Software surpassed my expectations, and all I can say is iPhone users are so fortunate to get this update free, but I paid for it gladly, €7.99 against €349 for a netbook is a big difference, and to top it all of my Touch is working really quick now, a noticeable difference.  Just got to wait for a couple of my Apps to be updated to I can use the Landscape mode to type.

Powered by Qumana

New Torchwood trailer

This is the Trailer from the Australian Channel UKTV for the new series 5 part special of torch wood. Enjoy.

Powered by Qumana

Newsfire rss Reader.

There are many news readers on the market, but not very many for Apple Mac.  Which is quite astonishing, considering How many news agencies use Mac's in the workplace. well this tip came thanks to Jemima Kiss from the UK Guardian newspaper, over her twitter feed http://twitter.com/jemimakiss.
It is for a program called Newsfire http://www.newsfirerss.com/ and as long as there's a RSS feed you can read the website content. 
For somebody like me this is a godsend, for the simple reason, I've got too many bookmarks on Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/.  So now I have one window and get to see all the relevant news on one window.  Refreshes can be individually set for each feed, for example, because you know a particular only gets one refresh a day.
To add a feed you just go to a website with RSS either copy the Address directly out of the Address window, which when you use the plus at the bottom of the feed window, is automatically fed into the search window.  Or you can right click on the RSS symbol and use "copy this link" option from the pop down menu.
Like I said there are not many RSS readers, and the bonus is this one is easy to use.
And while on the subject of easy to use.  Safari 4, has some quirks which make it anything but easy to use. my to pet peeves are, it is supposed to be crash proof, but just trying to visit the Apple online store, causes a crash.  And secondly why is it with my Bookmark Taskbar must I always click the next column of bookmarks to see it.  It is very jerky and Untypical Apple that it should be like that.  In Firefox I click one column and move my mouse over the rest when I wish to see them.  Instead of Safari's click one column, unclick it then click the next, this flows about as much as a sudden stop, or driving straight into a brick wall, and does after a while of trying to surf bookmarks quickly become EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING !!!!  I hope that Apple will sort this out to get the fluidity back, which is what one expects from them.

Powered by Qumana

The Idiots of the world.

In the day to day of or world there are many people who quite simply Idiots. These are the people who makes us want to rip our hair out or, risk that trip to court by punching them silly, as a good beating in the end might actually teach these people something. I'm not condoning violence, but sometimes one is physically driven to do so by the mental torture that these people put us under. And the worst of it, these people don't even notice, but I suppose that's why we call them Idiots. The UK Daily Telegraph published an piece about such idiots in holiday, please read it to the end, it's funny but you just get the feeling of wanting to bang your head against the wall because of them.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/5005019/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers.html

Powered by Qumana

Apple WWDC futher news

So because I concentrated more on the Software, here's a P.S. to the whole shabang from the Apple WWDC 2009 Keynote.

As most people had feared as soon as Apple stand in CEO started talking about the Mac books we new here it comes.  Like the 17" Mac Book Pro now all Unibody Macbook's have a built in, not changable by user Battery.  The 13" Macbook is now called 13" Macbook Pro, the only Macbook that remains unchanged is the old white plastic Macbook and it is the only one that is called Macbook. 

Secondly to the unchangable Battery comes a SD Card reader, which replaces on the 15" and 17" the slot where the PCI Express card sat.  Most people will like this as it means for most that the SD card in thier camera, can be read with out the need for a seperate card reader.

Thirdly ALL unibody Mac's now have backlit keyboards.

So for now that's it.

Powered by Qumana

WWDC Apple 2009

So in short, OS X 10.6 comes out Sept this year. As a $/£/€ 29 upgrade. By this action it means that Apple really want you to upgrade. I wonder if Microsoft will follow suit with Windows 7 for Vista victims, but I doubt it.
iPhone Software update 3.0 comes out next week on the 17th. Free for iPhone users, and $9.99 for iPod touch users.
iPhone 3GS is released next week om the 19th in 16 And 32 GB variants. The current iPhone 3G will carry on but at a $99 price.
That's all for now.

WWDC it's that time of year again folks!

So with only an hour or so until WWDC starts the rumour mill is grinding at full speed.

I can only hope that two items are released, or at least the release dates are given.

The first is iPhone software 3.0, which will turn my iPod touch into the machine I really want, with cut and paste, plus landscape mode for everything and not just if the developer had thought about it.

With this I will not require to get a netbook because, then the iPod Touch and the iPhone itself will be on par. It would be nice though if Apple themselves could do three apps, or one complete one. iWork for the iPhone would improve things tremendously. If not one app is not a possibility, or if they just want to make money, then the three apps separately would be just as good. With this there will be no need for a "Netbook Mac" It would be all through the iPhone software possible.

The Second item is OS X 10.6 Snow leopard, which for somebody like me who has just a Mac Mini, will come as a blessing, just for Grand Central alone. Grand Central is a built in load balancing program/service which will see a better spread of load across the processors, and also use the GPU. This in theory should improve things dramatically on the lower powered Mac's and turn the top end machines into super top end machines, when one thinks about the amount of cores in the Mac Pro.

So in a couple of hours all will be revealed, though as I watch the podcast Tomorrow of today's Keynote, I know I'll have a big daft grin right across my face.

Vote It's Your Right.

So I've just got back from the polling station, and had a pleasant surprise.

I was going to vote for the Liberal Party (German FDP) before I got to the polling station, then I got a big surprise. An emphasis on the word big has to be used because that is exactly what the ballot paper was. Big, Huge, Enormous, but above all very, very, very, long, about a Meters worth of paper.

That's where it all went wrong for the Liberals. I had a choice I had not reckoned with, so many parties and not just the Four usual candidate parties.

And then I spotted it, I thought it was a joke, but there they were on A GERMAN BALLOT PAPER!!!!. The Pirate party, led by a Doctor of Physics and a Doctor of Mathematics. knowing what they stand for, seeing the Pirate Party on a ballot paper changed my mind very quickly and the poor Liberals as much as I like what they are, and what they stand for, lost my vote.

The Problem is, I can understand that creative folk want to protect their work and get paid for it, but in doing so they are also stomping around on my rights. Not the right to steal, because there isn't one. But my right to purchase their work and pay a FAIR price for it. And I mean FAIR.

Here's my manifesto, to help the beleaguered, tired and not least totally outdated Music, Television, Film and software makers.

1. Make your product available, I know this seems simple enough, but it's the first sticking point, and most do not grasp it.

2. Don't restrict your product, this means use of and where it's available. That as an example, Doctor Who is available in the UK as of Broadcast is obvious, but the DVD release so the rest of the world can see it , takes quite literally years, and I mean years. In the UK season 4 is available, and even the Easter special. But in Germany we've only just received season 2. Now don't give me all that rubbish about licencing, if you want the sales then do it. Whether on DVD through iTunes or whatever. We live in a Digital not Analogue age.

3. Monitizeation. Don't restrict yourself to one form of payment, maybe you are getting money from credit card firms for their use but, you are they by limiting your sales. Not everybody has a credit card, but most people have a bank account, and can do world wide transactions. Or Pay Pal or one of the myriad of other pay services that have let us the people, buy products, without a credit card.

Three simple points.

So what does this all mean and what does it have to do with the Pirate party? well they are there to stand up for my rights, that my rights are not stomped into the ground because some huge corporation, has the Pound/Dollar/Euro sign in their eyes. I am the consumer, I buy the products, I keep them in the money. We all do. The Corporate body's forget that. and if they want to live through this Depression they need to think about what customers, Consumers want and not their big money filled pockets. Because those pockets start to empty as soon as the money stops flowing in.

Go vote when you have the chance, have your say and don't let your rights be turned into nothing more than lip service.

Leo laporte the Nice Guy Explodes on Air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsV-lgnAjps&feature=player_embedded

The above link is the moment as the TWIT (This Week In Tech) head honcho, and normally all around nice guy explodes on air. The catalyst for the whole thing was the Palm Pre, as Leo had received an seven day review model. A guest on his show Mike Arrington, who by all accounts had landed on a B list, was some how extremely jealous at this treatment, and decided let his frustrations out on Leo. Now Leo is known for being an easy going, easy to get along with nice guy. So the old saying is true, like myself don't push the nice guy too far, he will explode and you will not like the results. Respect to Leo for his reaction, and OK it will either mean no TWIT Gilmour Gang podcast or a very short one but, as far as I'm concerned respect must come first, and Mike Arrington needs to learn some fast, if he intends to continue in his chosen field. Being unfriendly, and down right impossible to work with, will mean that no one will want to work with him let alone know him.
Like I said full respect to Leo, for the handling of the situation, somethings just have to be done on the spur of the moment, and this was one of them.

What's up with Apple

As I got back from a well earned rest, and started iTunes to download my favourite podcasts. The software update asked me if I would like to update to iTunes 8.2.
Luckly I run a Mac and so the ensuming frustration did not take as long as if I was using Windows. Major updates, including quicktime and Garageband were also in the to do list.
Now I have a bad habit of multitasking my Mac. Software update, iTunes downloads and Mail all at the same time. It should not really pose a problem, but it did. Alias's forgotton, and then refuseal to shut progammes down; Led to a hard restart. So once I had overcome this little hirdle, and I had installed the update's, and then agreed to the new start.
I came across the problem I had, had with the 446 mb 10.5.7 update. The Mac just sat there after install and did nothing. And so I had to do another hardreset.
If the operating system had been Windows, I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but this is Apple, a Mac I'm not sure what problems are, that are happening in Apple at the moment. But I hope they are over soon.
Because it's a good way to lose buisness,with such software faults, as Microsoft has found out since the launch of Vista.

A new way to look at Data, Wolfram Alpha

After hearing about it, and a full interview with the man who created it, Stephen Wolfram on This Week in Tech podcast (see iTunes search TWIT).
I decided to, with the knowledge I had creamed from the interview, to take a look at Wolfram Alpha, (Sounds like a Blake's 7 episode title straight out of the bag). It is NOT a Google killer, Google has a little of Wolfram Alpha's functionality, but there it ends. Wolfram Alpha is a fact machine and not a search engine, using computer mathematics's to help it's answering mechanism.
So basic stuff like working out percentages, are achieved with ease. But also just one word questions like, putting your first or family name in the search field. Then after a minor waiting period, because it's finding facts not websites, and with the presumption there is something to find. Wolfram Alpha comes back with an answer like, how many people could have your name in a 1 in xxxx format, percentages of ethnic mix and so on. But this is not all it can do. Birth dates produces results, that I found very interesting.
But this is very banal compared with what inpotentia Wolfram Alpha is capable of. For student's in University, or even school this could really help in the understanding of the Sciences, and the research for learning there within. So if your parents don't understand what you have to do for your school physics homework, it might be possible to get help from Wolfram Alpha. Like I say the Potential for Wolfram Alpha is astronomical, it only gets better with amount of questions it is asked. Give it a try at http://www65.wolframalpha.com/about.html
And have fun with facts.

Good Copy - Bad Copy, or wake up MPAA and The Music Industry

I just got done watching a very interesting film, called Good Copy Bad Copy. It's a free download from the makers of the film, just do Good Copy Bad Copy as a Google search, and you will find the DivX file.
The subject of the film is Copyright, what's right and wrong, and perceptions of right and wrong. Also how the future of the Motion Picture Association of America and the Record Industry as a whole is limited, to the model their using, which I mentioned in my previous blog is severely dated.
It has interview's in Russia,Sweden (Yes that Pirate Bay country, and with the Pirate Bay guy's), Nigeria, Brazil and the US, with key people in each. I love documentaries which point out to the US what's wrong with their country, because, they are the only one's capable of changing something that is already highly corrupt. Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Supersize Me just to name but a few which preceded Good copy Bad Copy doing exactly this.
A first for Good Copy Bad Copy, is that it's not made or produced by any US company, with a problem with their own country. This film comes direct out of, wait for it, Denmark, a land known only by it's slightly salted butter, and Hans Christian Anderson, has produced what I regard as one of thee best Documentaries I've seen ever, it's definitely on par with the one's I've already mentioned. Denmark a land who Say's what do you want to learn our language for? Because they regard it not so much as a language, but more of a throat infection. All I can say is I can't wait for the next project from Rosforth (sounds Scottish, but it would have something to do with the Vikings, if you know your history.) Who don't ask so much as a cent for a film. That despite being only an hour long, it should have been in the Cinema world wide in my humble opinion.
If you want to see a documentary film which interviews all sides this is the one, so check it out, and be so kind to leave a donation. http://www.goodcopybadcopy.net/about is the Address if you decide to check it out.

Battle of the Phone's or not?

So now as Palm have finally released the date for their Pre' phone, largely designed by Ex-Apple iPhone developers. The Media as a whole is wrapped up in themselves as to whether or not this phone from Palm is going to be an iPhone killer.
There is one short answer to that, and that is no. What should really be the question you may ask, well that question is, is the Pre' going to be a reasonable competitor or not. Because in a market flooded by so called "iPhone Killers" you really have to stand out with a product, that is not only as simple to use as an iPhone, but as intuitively straight forward. The word is intuitive, can friends of mine with little or no tech knowledge, use the Pre' without having to grab for the manual.
Once the iPhone is first switched on everything else is straight forward, the Palm Pre' has to do this as well if not better than the iPhone. Because in the end it doesn't matter if or how many back ground services, any Smartphone can run. What matters does it work, can I use this without trying to remember too hard "Now where do I, do that, and this." This is called intuitive design and with out being too much of a fanboy about it, Apple does this very, very well.
Many software and hardware businesses really need to look at what, and how Apple does things, instead of trying to bring them down or say why their lame product is better. Microsoft is the biggest of them all, saying that PC's are cheaper, in their US ad campaigns of the moment. Which means they have completely missed the point, and just like the Newspaper industry, Motion Picture Association, and Record Industry. They have business models that date back to the turn of the last century, Microsoft included. Throw out crap products and dominate the market, is the business model, and when something new comes and takes over, instead of embracing it try to crush it. What sort of model is that? Great for making obscene amounts of money, that then quickly disappears when the model no longer works, but the business concerned just like a Woolly Mammoth keeps on plodding along, and then expects to get bailed out by the Government.
Businesses should look towards, what I call the iPhone model for business. Is it intuitive, does it have room for expansion. Does it have the people who buy my products, waiting in anticipation for the next product to come out. Not as we have come to expect, which product which looks very much like the next one, and fails less, can I afford? That's the only point or problem with the iPhone model by Apple. Apple has always produced quality products, well since the return of Steve Jobs anyway, and that has always come at a price. So what Palm needs to do, if it's product the Pre' fulfills the iPhone model basic requisites, is put a price on it that makes it affordable to Joe Public on the street. I have no doubt there will be it's fans as well as it's detractors, it's success lays whether or not it can be seen by all as a REAL alternative, a REAL competitor and not just some wanna be.

A Picure of the main Night Event.

First Meeting. (James Naughton from Podshock Front, Me in the Kilt minus Sporren)

Hello and welcome

Welcome to this, which will hopefully be the first in many blogs. I am by admittance a Tech Head and Media Junkie.
I really love way too many Tech and Media things, and hope to use this to my advantage to fill this Blog.
At the Weekend (16 May 2009) it was time for Doctor Who, the longest running Sci-fi (and not sy-fy, though in the US this is where you can find it, and also BBC America) Series ever. Despite a lull in things due to a BBC Director (Who hated Sci-fi), from 1989 until a short TV film in 1996 and then subsequent revival in 2004/2005. This was bridged by BBC Radio dramatizations, in between.
Aranged by the Podcast "Doctor Who Podshock" (see iTunes or http://gallifreyanembassy.org/portal/) There was an Second Life meeting in the Gallifrey, New Gallifrey and Katrina enviroments. The first two enviroments were naturally the Doctor's home planet, but Katrina is a Replica of Cardiff dock area, complete with Doctor Who Museeum, and a few other interesting buildings. A main stage had also been constructed for the SL DJ of the Night to do his thing. All in all a good night, and most people attending, either dressed up as thier favourite charactor (Mine Being Jamie complete with Kilt, and with kind donation Sporren.) Other users, used the free character clothing that was kindly made available to all attending (Amoung which were, Daleks, Cybermen and U.N.I.T soldier, plus accessories.)
It seemed a good time was had by all, and it was a chance to meet the hosts of the Podshock Podcast, if not completely in person, but at least you could chat to them.
So until the next Tech or Media related blog
Aye.