I think it's best to separate this part since this particular part was supposed to lead onto what I wanted to talk about. It was only until I realised going into it that I went a bit too much and really it was mainly about my childhood yearning for Hordak.
So the point of it was about the spending phase that I have every once in a while. Basically from what I added in the first part this was the next and only thing I wanted to mention now.
Since a few weeks back I've been discussing with my friend at work about the new Pokémon remakes of Heart Gold & Soul Silver. He ended up pre-ordering his whereas I took it into my stride. This is one I want however, and for some reason it's been something I wanted to eventually get rather than straight away. I'm not sure why considering the price for the game won't really drop all that much. Apparently I've heard that's a common thing for Pokémon games to be like that. It's probably also why I learned my lesson with attempting that for Fire red & Leaf green on the GBA as the prices still aren't massively cheap for those.
The funny thing is with these sequels is that they are literally about a decade old since the original versions that came out. I think this is also what the big selling point is with these ones is that a lot of people are buying it for nostalgic purposes. Even more unique is the Pokéwalker which takes me back to when my Mum had her first back operation, Back then it was from the Pokémon Pikachu which was a separate thing alltogether that you had to purchase. The idea was that you raised a Pikachu in a typical Tamagotchi style environment with the added benefit that it was a pedometer that generated 'watts' which you could transfer back to the original Gold & Silver gamers for special gifts. I think it was the only full benefit I saw to come out of the Gameboy Color's infrared port. Nowadays it's simple enough with wireless connections although I'm a bit stumped with how it works with the new version as I've seen people use it on the reverse of the DS side by side.
Oddly enough even the commercials here are showing someone talk about how the original game was and showing shots from a GB Color, so it clearly has been targeted at those type of people as well.
Again after much looking around online while at work I decided to cave in and nearly purchased it online. I figured that it would be nice to have something to keep me occupied during the Easter break from Friday onwards and not to mention the Pokéwalker would really come in handy for my walks to and from work most days. I then figured though it might be too late by the time I purchase online and went to the local game store after work. Turns out they sold out, that's when it struck me - why did I not pre order this? I think I took for granted that I always find stuff slightly cheaper online anyway, or would find something that give me a bit of money off. I think really it was that the pre-order didn't feel all that rewarding - it was simply figurines of either Lugia or Ho-Oh depending on what version of the game you got.
So even after all of that I still ended up buying from my usual of Play.com, the thing I didn't get was that it let me still purchase the item yet the status was sold out. What gives? How does that even work? I still went ahead and I'm just simply going to wait to see what happens really since I'm technically not in a rush for it. I just think it would be nice to have in time for the small break and to use the walker often which I will be as the months go by anyway, particularly when my Mum goes to Greece towards the end of April and for my activities in May. Also I'm currently at that stage where I don't know what else to play. I feel I don't quite have the setup (or expenses) with anything with the PS3 yet I know I have a backlogue of copied Wii games to still trawl through. Maybe I can start that from tomorrow, I did it so far with Far Cry Vengeance but that was appalling to play, and sadly the Wii is very much like that, as sad as it is for me to say that. That's why I'm thankful for Homebrew.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Toy-ing with history
I sometimes wonder whether I comfort buy, especially in particular when I notice every once in a while I'll have a mini Ebay spree by consecutively buying several things in a row. Within the past month I can recall at least 3 or 4 items I have now purchased of which the most recent was last night. So far I have the following:
Sadly I never had this for long. I think the reason being was due to how big the item was and the struggle it would be taking it back to England (I think this was something my Mum backed me with at the time with a good reason for having her money back!). At least I'm certain that was one of the issues. It was a great playset but I think it was also that it lacked something else at the time, especially when your in Greece with no other figures or friends to play it with. It was simply a playset that could trap a figure in a cell, the hand puppet and the trees that could capture a figure between it's branches. In no way did it stand up against something like Snake Mountain. It could had been also that since my heart was on Hordak, owning something that was a part of Hordak & the Evil Horde felt lacking somewhat without it's leader.
So by this time I was always lead to believe that we would find this mysterious building when looking for it during those summer evenings. Alas it was not meant to be, in fact I think the actual building was further away rather than it being easily accessible. I often noticed a Mattel building whenever we were in the taxi heading off to the airport whenever our holidays were over with. Whether this was the building itself is still a mystery, it might still be there for all I know. The only reason I could justify it being that one is because you often see it nearer to where we are rather than it being quite far away. It's not walking distance sadly but probably at least 15-20 minutes into the journey possibly.
Ever since then I've always wanted that damn Hordak figure, I remember a friend of mine who had it and I recall holding it and offering to buy it off him. I think he either refused or I got put off that he had to cape or accessories.
"But Michael you stupid dick", I hear you cry, "why don't you just easily get one on Ebay?!"
Yes fellow reader, that does make perfect sense, and truth be told there is enough of them around priced quite reasonably. Most likely it's due to age and not knowing where my other figures are, yet I would still love the figure. I think also eventually I got over the idea of simply just wanting to own it and by this time the new version of He-Man came out during the early 2000's while I was still with Patientline. Sadly this series never seemed to take off apparently but they did release a special statuette-style figure that came out. It was only until reading it today that it was a statue that was designed to fit alongside these other figures. So it wasn't moveable or all that poseable, but it was supposedly designed so you could get away with adding it alongside your regular figures of the new line at the time. I almost ended up buying this, again for reasons unknown I eventually forgot or never found many on Ebay to continue the search. I think it could had been due to wanting to research this as I was confused what it came under (that being figure or statue?) and never finding out much until now.
So I guess that was technically attempt no.2 right there...until now that is...
As of recent Mattel seem to have re-released the original figures as a 'classics' line, to which there is a little twist. Their basically figures as you would expect a custom figure person would do. They take their images shape etc from the original toys but are spruced up slightly to be much more articulated and detailed. So really their the most ideal modern collectible toy you could have but still play with I guess albeit specifically designed for the collector in mind (they even state on the packaging it's for adults only). I reckon it was a good thing I held out for so long to get a decent variation of it now. Because looking at the statue version now which was based on the more modern visage of the recent reboot, I completely dislike the look of him as that version whereas before just having one that was deemed good enough was enough for me.
At the moment therefore I'm still wondering the following:
This:
or this: 
I guess from seeing the fully poseable latter shot easily justifies getting that version. It still has removable parts like it's original counterpart but with that much more effort that it seems like more, and maybe that is the case. So why am I so reluctant with the new one and the old version? Maybe the nostalgia is still telling me otherwise? I know that he looks slightly different facially as the new one, it doesn't really put me off. I think it's rather that it's with me getting used to this new décor. Why do I want a flimsy old version when I can have one that literally speaks to you as something powerful and new!? That was what I liked about that statue variation in that it had that powerful look to it showing that this was a leader with business! The old version simply doesn't carry that image, not even with the image chosen. The cape doesn't stand out and the original never even had a staff.
Okay enough of that now, I've clearly justified myself with the clear winner and I will get it eventually, I think it's time I did anyway and this new variation clearly shows a good reason to get it from now on. My only issue after that one I get it is to whether get it out of it's packaging...
- 16GB Transflash (I still like to class it as this to almost give it's proper term) Micro SD memory card - a card that thankfully works and was cheap. My attempt at storing the whole series of Seinfeld for my Creative ZEN player begins soon! The big relief was that the player is able to read it.
- Bottle cap tripod for digital camera - Considering I have a Gorillapod which is a bit more versatile I guess you could say this is my "what's the point?" item. I love the idea of having it as an emergency resort. The only thing you really need is a bottle which someone would most likely already be carrying around if say you were with a group of friends so it's an interesting oddity.
- Beast Wars Takara (or Beast Machines?) Heinlad/Heinrad alarm clock. So I was browsing around at work yesterday like I usually do and I happened to struck upon a Transformer figure that has a clock. My initial thoughts were "why has this not been done before?" Chances are it probably has and I'm simply not aware of it. I think after those mini figures they did from the movie of the ones that look like a camera, cellphone etc you would think that it makes perfect sense to had done one that was a working mini clock. It's not really that hard to set one up like it considering the original G1 toys were all about that!
Anyway upon looking further about this figure it turns out that the figure transforms into a Tanuki! It's really bizarre, it's items comes with a bottle of sake and a mischief book which when combined form a gun for robot mode! I'll be putting up images once I get this. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how many there were on Ebay and reasonably priced.
Sadly I never had this for long. I think the reason being was due to how big the item was and the struggle it would be taking it back to England (I think this was something my Mum backed me with at the time with a good reason for having her money back!). At least I'm certain that was one of the issues. It was a great playset but I think it was also that it lacked something else at the time, especially when your in Greece with no other figures or friends to play it with. It was simply a playset that could trap a figure in a cell, the hand puppet and the trees that could capture a figure between it's branches. In no way did it stand up against something like Snake Mountain. It could had been also that since my heart was on Hordak, owning something that was a part of Hordak & the Evil Horde felt lacking somewhat without it's leader.
So by this time I was always lead to believe that we would find this mysterious building when looking for it during those summer evenings. Alas it was not meant to be, in fact I think the actual building was further away rather than it being easily accessible. I often noticed a Mattel building whenever we were in the taxi heading off to the airport whenever our holidays were over with. Whether this was the building itself is still a mystery, it might still be there for all I know. The only reason I could justify it being that one is because you often see it nearer to where we are rather than it being quite far away. It's not walking distance sadly but probably at least 15-20 minutes into the journey possibly.
Ever since then I've always wanted that damn Hordak figure, I remember a friend of mine who had it and I recall holding it and offering to buy it off him. I think he either refused or I got put off that he had to cape or accessories.
"But Michael you stupid dick", I hear you cry, "why don't you just easily get one on Ebay?!"
Yes fellow reader, that does make perfect sense, and truth be told there is enough of them around priced quite reasonably. Most likely it's due to age and not knowing where my other figures are, yet I would still love the figure. I think also eventually I got over the idea of simply just wanting to own it and by this time the new version of He-Man came out during the early 2000's while I was still with Patientline. Sadly this series never seemed to take off apparently but they did release a special statuette-style figure that came out. It was only until reading it today that it was a statue that was designed to fit alongside these other figures. So it wasn't moveable or all that poseable, but it was supposedly designed so you could get away with adding it alongside your regular figures of the new line at the time. I almost ended up buying this, again for reasons unknown I eventually forgot or never found many on Ebay to continue the search. I think it could had been due to wanting to research this as I was confused what it came under (that being figure or statue?) and never finding out much until now.
So I guess that was technically attempt no.2 right there...until now that is...
As of recent Mattel seem to have re-released the original figures as a 'classics' line, to which there is a little twist. Their basically figures as you would expect a custom figure person would do. They take their images shape etc from the original toys but are spruced up slightly to be much more articulated and detailed. So really their the most ideal modern collectible toy you could have but still play with I guess albeit specifically designed for the collector in mind (they even state on the packaging it's for adults only). I reckon it was a good thing I held out for so long to get a decent variation of it now. Because looking at the statue version now which was based on the more modern visage of the recent reboot, I completely dislike the look of him as that version whereas before just having one that was deemed good enough was enough for me.
At the moment therefore I'm still wondering the following:
This:
or this: I guess from seeing the fully poseable latter shot easily justifies getting that version. It still has removable parts like it's original counterpart but with that much more effort that it seems like more, and maybe that is the case. So why am I so reluctant with the new one and the old version? Maybe the nostalgia is still telling me otherwise? I know that he looks slightly different facially as the new one, it doesn't really put me off. I think it's rather that it's with me getting used to this new décor. Why do I want a flimsy old version when I can have one that literally speaks to you as something powerful and new!? That was what I liked about that statue variation in that it had that powerful look to it showing that this was a leader with business! The old version simply doesn't carry that image, not even with the image chosen. The cape doesn't stand out and the original never even had a staff.
Okay enough of that now, I've clearly justified myself with the clear winner and I will get it eventually, I think it's time I did anyway and this new variation clearly shows a good reason to get it from now on. My only issue after that one I get it is to whether get it out of it's packaging...
Friday, March 26, 2010
National Cleavage Day
Avid followers and those that know me know that I LOVE breasts! (without coming across as too chauvinistic of course 
). So it came somewhat as a surprise to me that someone at work mentioned about National Cleavage Day. Did someone just say "ZOIKS?!"
Turns out it's an event celebrated in South Africa, I guess that explains why the female colleague whom I sit next to at work mentioned it since she's from there (sadly she didn't seem to celebrate it in her own way).
When you think about it though surely isn't it celebrated more unless daily? You can't really seem to escape cleavage in a sense if you're fully aware of it and then it simply just dominates you...I guess that's just me in that case, it sounded good at the time.
Apparently Wonderbra are involved with it, in all seriousness though I think personally it should be celebrated for the breast cancer awareness charities since those are a lot more relevant and it's one of the more popular charities over here. It just makes perfect sense, not only are you doing it for the fun aspect but you can make people aware. I believe there is a yearly thing done for breast cancer in the form of a sponsored walk in which people just wear bra's for a top.
I know that these 'national' days can get so gimmicky to the extent that you often don't realise that such events exist or their not made public enough. If they did this in association with the charity mentioned then I'm certain it would be made aware a lot more. Hopefully that's something they could consider. I can almost imagine what type of article The Sun would do...
http://tenletter.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/national-cleavage-day-2010-angles-on-angels/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cleavage_Day
). So it came somewhat as a surprise to me that someone at work mentioned about National Cleavage Day. Did someone just say "ZOIKS?!"Turns out it's an event celebrated in South Africa, I guess that explains why the female colleague whom I sit next to at work mentioned it since she's from there (sadly she didn't seem to celebrate it in her own way).
When you think about it though surely isn't it celebrated more unless daily? You can't really seem to escape cleavage in a sense if you're fully aware of it and then it simply just dominates you...I guess that's just me in that case, it sounded good at the time.
Apparently Wonderbra are involved with it, in all seriousness though I think personally it should be celebrated for the breast cancer awareness charities since those are a lot more relevant and it's one of the more popular charities over here. It just makes perfect sense, not only are you doing it for the fun aspect but you can make people aware. I believe there is a yearly thing done for breast cancer in the form of a sponsored walk in which people just wear bra's for a top.
I know that these 'national' days can get so gimmicky to the extent that you often don't realise that such events exist or their not made public enough. If they did this in association with the charity mentioned then I'm certain it would be made aware a lot more. Hopefully that's something they could consider. I can almost imagine what type of article The Sun would do...
http://tenletter.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/national-cleavage-day-2010-angles-on-angels/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cleavage_Day
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I'm beginning to feel that I need to evolve my room, I think this is one of the many things that I feel needs to change this year. It's not so much due to the amount of crap I have but rather I really want to cater my environment as a more comfortable and entertainment area.
I just feel with the lack of TV I'm watching now that really the next step is to have everything as an all-in-one entertainment visual. I need to start this off with upgrading the PC however. I'm finding this difficult to part with the PC in order to find a good way of parting with it. The PC is good and is nearly around 6 years old or so I'd say. It still runs fine but I can tell something new needs to come along and becomes the replacement.
I believe I mentioned about an Alienware PC which I'm all for but I'm not sure when to get it as I want to be sure beforehand that I'm getting rid of the current PC. Secondly as of recent a friend of mine at work said he was getting a Mac Mini and this is something I'm wondering about as well. It means I'm finally trying out a Mac environment (other than the iPhone) and saving a lot of space on my desk. Because of this it means I can have it prepared for when the room completely changes in due course. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a different area to work around.
I just prefer the idea now of having an actual TV that will let me use it visually for a computer as well or even purely just for that. I can't be bothered for TV since I know the main big terrestrial channels offer their services online. Not to mention I can do the usual of downloading films without much hassle and even watch DVD's under better conditions. Since I'm also sat in front of a PC for most of the day at work I don't really want to be sitting on my desk in the same way when I come back home. I think that at this current state also technology and entertainment are going into another phase. Things are becoming High Definition by standard and this PC is having a hard time doing that, not to mention the monitor I'm using isn't ideal for watching stuff with due to it's size.
The good news is a friend of mine at work is interested in wanting a desktop PC so I really hope he buys this off of me. I can honestly say I've had some great years with this Dell Dimension 5000 PC. It's hardly given me grief, and even with the problems I've came across they've easily been resolved within a short space of time. If as soon as I know he wants this then I'm happy to start changing over.
I just feel with the lack of TV I'm watching now that really the next step is to have everything as an all-in-one entertainment visual. I need to start this off with upgrading the PC however. I'm finding this difficult to part with the PC in order to find a good way of parting with it. The PC is good and is nearly around 6 years old or so I'd say. It still runs fine but I can tell something new needs to come along and becomes the replacement.
I believe I mentioned about an Alienware PC which I'm all for but I'm not sure when to get it as I want to be sure beforehand that I'm getting rid of the current PC. Secondly as of recent a friend of mine at work said he was getting a Mac Mini and this is something I'm wondering about as well. It means I'm finally trying out a Mac environment (other than the iPhone) and saving a lot of space on my desk. Because of this it means I can have it prepared for when the room completely changes in due course. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a different area to work around.
I just prefer the idea now of having an actual TV that will let me use it visually for a computer as well or even purely just for that. I can't be bothered for TV since I know the main big terrestrial channels offer their services online. Not to mention I can do the usual of downloading films without much hassle and even watch DVD's under better conditions. Since I'm also sat in front of a PC for most of the day at work I don't really want to be sitting on my desk in the same way when I come back home. I think that at this current state also technology and entertainment are going into another phase. Things are becoming High Definition by standard and this PC is having a hard time doing that, not to mention the monitor I'm using isn't ideal for watching stuff with due to it's size.
The good news is a friend of mine at work is interested in wanting a desktop PC so I really hope he buys this off of me. I can honestly say I've had some great years with this Dell Dimension 5000 PC. It's hardly given me grief, and even with the problems I've came across they've easily been resolved within a short space of time. If as soon as I know he wants this then I'm happy to start changing over.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sugababes — a band or a brand? - Times Online
Sugababes — a band or a brand? - Times Online
Just found this article while browsing around at work (as usual - the critters seem to know I don't do much around here :p ).
I like the idea of the article in that it makes a point about band vs. brand. In my case the Sugabaes were always Keisha, Mutya & Siobhan, and to an extent Heidi if they had to add an extra member. Although really it was the first two albums for the group I was taken to rather than the later releases.
Later edit:
I've had a bit of further thought about this once I heard about Jay Z dropping them from his label in the US. Usually during a news report they start to show the recent videos and so on, it made me think about what was said in the article about how certain bands get remembered even if the replacements keep the band alive - and hence this is where I believe the secret to success resides.
I don't recall the article saying much in the regards to their music. The reason bands such as The Temptations were mentioned and remembered were purely for the fact that the music never changed and was kept alive. In today's time image and personality become a lot more for the hype. Once the members of the Sugababes changed it was only bit-by-bit that the music did also. When I heard some of their current songs it dawned on me that it's not only the group that have lost the trueness of the Sugababes, it was the style of music that left as well. This was the main reason why I loved the group "One Touch" was simply their defining album, and not to mention their debut song "Overload" went down really well also. The music suited the group so well.
Also as I stated above I guess I already mentioned the music without even realising in regards to the article with my favouritism towards the first two albums. It's odd to think Siobhan only ever made just one album as that group.
Just found this article while browsing around at work (as usual - the critters seem to know I don't do much around here :p ).
I like the idea of the article in that it makes a point about band vs. brand. In my case the Sugabaes were always Keisha, Mutya & Siobhan, and to an extent Heidi if they had to add an extra member. Although really it was the first two albums for the group I was taken to rather than the later releases.
Later edit:
I've had a bit of further thought about this once I heard about Jay Z dropping them from his label in the US. Usually during a news report they start to show the recent videos and so on, it made me think about what was said in the article about how certain bands get remembered even if the replacements keep the band alive - and hence this is where I believe the secret to success resides.
I don't recall the article saying much in the regards to their music. The reason bands such as The Temptations were mentioned and remembered were purely for the fact that the music never changed and was kept alive. In today's time image and personality become a lot more for the hype. Once the members of the Sugababes changed it was only bit-by-bit that the music did also. When I heard some of their current songs it dawned on me that it's not only the group that have lost the trueness of the Sugababes, it was the style of music that left as well. This was the main reason why I loved the group "One Touch" was simply their defining album, and not to mention their debut song "Overload" went down really well also. The music suited the group so well.
Also as I stated above I guess I already mentioned the music without even realising in regards to the article with my favouritism towards the first two albums. It's odd to think Siobhan only ever made just one album as that group.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Further revelations of mini DV cam
I was wondering to edit the post about the mini camera to correct a few things but rather this might be easier to make a new post of later discoveries from today and later last night.
So it turns out from that link that I supplied in the other post that there's an interesting reason why these mini camera's are so cheap and doing the rounds. It seems that apparently these were originally intended to be for mobile phone models as cameras. There was something on the link that mentioned when they looked into the firmware that some elements still linked to how it would work with a mobile phone with connections to phone wallpaper and the such alike.
I was also a little reluctant in assuming that the webcam was an all in one with sound, sadly this is not the case. I think it's simply just a generic webcam driver which I remember from those crappy keychain cameras which worked in the same way. I think the only limitation with those were that you still needed a battery to insert it into for it to work as a webcam and their supplied USB cables were nothing like mini USB, it was something along the lines of their own type fitting. I think this was also prior to mini USB doing the rounds. Plus also I'm very certain the quality is better than as to what those were and with that ancient webcam I had for almost 10 years. So basically I still need a mic to connect which is annoying as it would had been ideal.
So after all of this I'm quite curious what makes those other brand ones so different. I see that Firebox has them on their site for nearly 60 pounds. I think I may had been wrong about the size as it may in fact be the same. I've tried looking on YouTube for some good reviews/tests but to no avail as yet. I mainly want to know how different the Veho brand version is compared to ones like this. I think the video quality is no different and other than the way the buttons/features work the only other differences I can tell are that this doesn't have any kind of timestamp by default. I saw a video which said they did a webcam test with it which had faint sound but it was just a kid trying it and I'm not entirely sure whether he was using the actual product as the webcam or not. So currently I haven't seen proper proof and it seems that most videos for the Veho version are nothing but bike riders using it. Sure it's useful for that, however I frankly don't care for that one purpose. I would like to see something where all of it's functionality is put to the test.
So it turns out from that link that I supplied in the other post that there's an interesting reason why these mini camera's are so cheap and doing the rounds. It seems that apparently these were originally intended to be for mobile phone models as cameras. There was something on the link that mentioned when they looked into the firmware that some elements still linked to how it would work with a mobile phone with connections to phone wallpaper and the such alike.
I was also a little reluctant in assuming that the webcam was an all in one with sound, sadly this is not the case. I think it's simply just a generic webcam driver which I remember from those crappy keychain cameras which worked in the same way. I think the only limitation with those were that you still needed a battery to insert it into for it to work as a webcam and their supplied USB cables were nothing like mini USB, it was something along the lines of their own type fitting. I think this was also prior to mini USB doing the rounds. Plus also I'm very certain the quality is better than as to what those were and with that ancient webcam I had for almost 10 years. So basically I still need a mic to connect which is annoying as it would had been ideal.
So after all of this I'm quite curious what makes those other brand ones so different. I see that Firebox has them on their site for nearly 60 pounds. I think I may had been wrong about the size as it may in fact be the same. I've tried looking on YouTube for some good reviews/tests but to no avail as yet. I mainly want to know how different the Veho brand version is compared to ones like this. I think the video quality is no different and other than the way the buttons/features work the only other differences I can tell are that this doesn't have any kind of timestamp by default. I saw a video which said they did a webcam test with it which had faint sound but it was just a kid trying it and I'm not entirely sure whether he was using the actual product as the webcam or not. So currently I haven't seen proper proof and it seems that most videos for the Veho version are nothing but bike riders using it. Sure it's useful for that, however I frankly don't care for that one purpose. I would like to see something where all of it's functionality is put to the test.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
I knew there had to be a reason behind this, and specifically the design of the camera I bought. Have you ever seen those really awesome mini DV cameras that have made the rounds since last year?
I don't recall the first site where I saw them but I ended up looking at one at an electronics store in Greece last year and being pretty impressed with the way it looked. It was something around €50 Euros and looking exactly as I expected the size to be.
It was only until recently were I started noticing cheap ones over other makes yet they looked exactly the same. It never really twigged with me that they were variations, I simply assumed the idea was that different companies made them and therefore lesser known than others or slight variations on how they were done. In this instance this is partly true but not in the same way I thought it would be.
I saw during the week from one of my newsletter emails from BuyN5.com (which was where I purchased my Nintendo DS R4 flash cart device) that they were selling them for £16.99 - the cheapest I've ever seen them. I lapped up the chance and ordered it straight away.
It came in good time as it arrived today which somehow I did wonder whether it would arrive as of this day because usually when you think it is going to that most of the time it doesn't. So anyway I opened the packaging and was amazingly surprised at how smaller this version was. The look was exactly the same except for the variations of the buttons but I was already aware of this from hearing about the other models. It even had a generous array of mounting items to hold it in place be it on a vehicle, bike, clip etc.
Now this is the revelation part, little did I realise that this was in actual fact a whole different thing than what I expected. It was only until I read upon further inspection on the packaging and eventually the small driver CD ROM that it was in classic Engrish. It then summed it all up as to why these were cheap incarnations. Annoyingly the actual webcam driver installer was corrupt from the disc as well as an image file that was on there as well. I started to have my doubts as to how this was going to perform.
Since the Engrish eventually became harder to understand I simply gave it a try from the idea of what the instructions were trying to say. Thankfully the thing isn't too bad, it gives reasonable video quality for such a camera and sound retains fine as well. Only slight downside is that by default it leaves a timestamp on your recordings which is annoying as you cant remove this either unless you want to do it via a Virtualdub filter upon editing the video itself. Plus also since it's such a small camera a lot of the time you'll get a lot of guesswork as to where the actual lens is facing. So far I'm nowhere near perfecting this sadly, even by trying it in front of the monitor I end up having the camera lens too high up from the whole monitor.
So of those two minor factors I was reluctant about keeping it even though the camera pretty much does as it should do. With my 8GB micro SD card inside it I found it writes the files pretty quick to the card. I also like that this can be used as a webcam, even though I already have one from back in August (that's still good quality mind you albeit lack of in-built mic) but this one has the advantage of being an all in one since the mic is already built in. Also as I currently think about this, it wasn't too long ago where devices this tiny weren't even able to support good quality video nor sound.
Upon later inspection of the early doubts of the device I tried looking online for the driver setup elsewhere. Interestingly I came across a site that specialises on devices in relation to mine, the only difference is that there is in fact more than one device, or rather 'spy cam' that work in the same way: http://www.chucklohr.com/808. Turns out that several other ones you may have seen online basically work in the same way, although with slight variations on how they work and the obvious design. In this case the page mainly concentrates on car key fob camera variation.
So yes what I bought was a classic Hong Kong style cheaply-made device. Which actually still turned out quite fine and doesn't feel cheaply-made for that matter. It's something I can't see using a massive amount of times but thought it would be nice for the holidays and to take along as a device to use while walking without worrying on concentrating too much with it. The main thing is that it does work and does exactly what it was set out to be designed to do.
I don't recall the first site where I saw them but I ended up looking at one at an electronics store in Greece last year and being pretty impressed with the way it looked. It was something around €50 Euros and looking exactly as I expected the size to be.
It was only until recently were I started noticing cheap ones over other makes yet they looked exactly the same. It never really twigged with me that they were variations, I simply assumed the idea was that different companies made them and therefore lesser known than others or slight variations on how they were done. In this instance this is partly true but not in the same way I thought it would be.
I saw during the week from one of my newsletter emails from BuyN5.com (which was where I purchased my Nintendo DS R4 flash cart device) that they were selling them for £16.99 - the cheapest I've ever seen them. I lapped up the chance and ordered it straight away.
It came in good time as it arrived today which somehow I did wonder whether it would arrive as of this day because usually when you think it is going to that most of the time it doesn't. So anyway I opened the packaging and was amazingly surprised at how smaller this version was. The look was exactly the same except for the variations of the buttons but I was already aware of this from hearing about the other models. It even had a generous array of mounting items to hold it in place be it on a vehicle, bike, clip etc.
Now this is the revelation part, little did I realise that this was in actual fact a whole different thing than what I expected. It was only until I read upon further inspection on the packaging and eventually the small driver CD ROM that it was in classic Engrish. It then summed it all up as to why these were cheap incarnations. Annoyingly the actual webcam driver installer was corrupt from the disc as well as an image file that was on there as well. I started to have my doubts as to how this was going to perform.
Since the Engrish eventually became harder to understand I simply gave it a try from the idea of what the instructions were trying to say. Thankfully the thing isn't too bad, it gives reasonable video quality for such a camera and sound retains fine as well. Only slight downside is that by default it leaves a timestamp on your recordings which is annoying as you cant remove this either unless you want to do it via a Virtualdub filter upon editing the video itself. Plus also since it's such a small camera a lot of the time you'll get a lot of guesswork as to where the actual lens is facing. So far I'm nowhere near perfecting this sadly, even by trying it in front of the monitor I end up having the camera lens too high up from the whole monitor.
So of those two minor factors I was reluctant about keeping it even though the camera pretty much does as it should do. With my 8GB micro SD card inside it I found it writes the files pretty quick to the card. I also like that this can be used as a webcam, even though I already have one from back in August (that's still good quality mind you albeit lack of in-built mic) but this one has the advantage of being an all in one since the mic is already built in. Also as I currently think about this, it wasn't too long ago where devices this tiny weren't even able to support good quality video nor sound.
Upon later inspection of the early doubts of the device I tried looking online for the driver setup elsewhere. Interestingly I came across a site that specialises on devices in relation to mine, the only difference is that there is in fact more than one device, or rather 'spy cam' that work in the same way: http://www.chucklohr.com/808. Turns out that several other ones you may have seen online basically work in the same way, although with slight variations on how they work and the obvious design. In this case the page mainly concentrates on car key fob camera variation.
So yes what I bought was a classic Hong Kong style cheaply-made device. Which actually still turned out quite fine and doesn't feel cheaply-made for that matter. It's something I can't see using a massive amount of times but thought it would be nice for the holidays and to take along as a device to use while walking without worrying on concentrating too much with it. The main thing is that it does work and does exactly what it was set out to be designed to do.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Normality kicks in
I knew I was right about this month, as I was walking along to work this morning I had this in mind to talk about on here and only just remembered again now to do it - I never ended up trying to figure out what that random thought was from a few weeks back, unless I did mention something in the end without realising?
I'm glad to say that everything feels just NORMAL. I know that may seem weird but it's such a change from not being settled from the previous two months from that other training that was taking place.
At least when it's normal your settled at work and you even get in the mood at home for activities i.e. I haven't played any games for a few weeks simply because I haven't felt like it yet now I feel like going back to playing something again. Your mind simply becomes at ease.
I'm glad to say that everything feels just NORMAL. I know that may seem weird but it's such a change from not being settled from the previous two months from that other training that was taking place.
At least when it's normal your settled at work and you even get in the mood at home for activities i.e. I haven't played any games for a few weeks simply because I haven't felt like it yet now I feel like going back to playing something again. Your mind simply becomes at ease.
Monday, March 15, 2010
This is mainly for the international followers who have a certain golden perception about the NHS as a whole. And while I don't deny for the fact that the NHS is a blessing for a free healthcare service it still has it's faults like anything in any country quite frankly. As a whole I don't think the NHS will ever be perfect.
Someone from work the other day sent me this joke email which kind of sums up the NHS in some ways:
I'm not really one for posting office jokes but I felt it was interesting to put up.
Someone from work the other day sent me this joke email which kind of sums up the NHS in some ways:
A 75 Year Old Lady rings her local NHS hospital and this conversation
follows:
'Hello I'd like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree. She was
admitted last week with chest pains and I just want to know if her
condition has deteriorated, stabilised or improved?'
'Do you know which ward she is in?'
'Yes, ward P, room 2B'
'I'll just put you through to the nurse station.'
'Hello, ward P, how can I help?'
'I would just like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree, I was
wondering if her condition had deteriorated, stabilised or improved?'
'I'll just check her notes. I'm pleased to say that Mrs Tiptree's
conditioned has improved. She has regained her appetite, her temperature
has steadied and after some routine checks tonight, she should be well
enough to go home tomorrow.'
'Oh that's wonderful news, I'm so happy, thank you ever so much!'
'You seem very relieved, are you a close friend or relative?'
'No, I'm Mrs Tiptree in room 2b. Nobody tells you f**k all in here
I'm not really one for posting office jokes but I felt it was interesting to put up.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
TV & cable nostalgia
Aaah the glory days of TV. I'm not even sure how I suddenly got this ball rolling on YouTube, I think typically you watch something and then you realise the related links can really sidetrack you.
I think what happened was something caught my eye from some old UK Sega commercials that used to appear in the early 90's. For all I know I could had mentioned this from a previous post a few years back. Most likely though I've found better information since then. I used to recall Sega's ad campaign of "Sega Pirate TV". I won't go into it as this great link sums it up nicely, including a few things I was unaware of (namely the appearance in the comic).
As stated in the link though it was quite a big campaign. Annoyingly I still haven't been able to find the really long debut commercial that they had as I couldn't get over how long it took. The ads used to shit me up slightly, namely that the skullface logo used to shit me up when it suddenly appeared. The deceiving thing with the ads were that they were disguised as normal commercials until things got fuzzy in the style of the station being taken over (hence 'Pirate TV').
Amazingly they even have the old Right Said Fred music video that I remember seeing on Saturday TV once. The whole thing was partly based on the Sega Pirate TV theme with added clips of Sonic 3 to boot. I suppose it was one huge commercial for the game.
So once I looked through some of those ads through nostalgic eyes another thing appeared - the golden days of cable TV. I suppose I have a lot to thank cable TV for, it opened me a lot more into popular culture thanks to the available channels it had to offer. Erotic TV also became a significant part of the cable essentials thanks to channels such as L!ve TV entertaining late night viewers with Topless Darts at an hourly time starting from 10pm. Then around 11pm it was the daily episode of The Sex Show which introduced wonders to glamour models such as Lindsay Dawn Mcenzie et al stripping away giving instant boners. I even remember how it was the first time I ever saw girls strip on TV. I just barely recall the first time I watched the show and when they had a girl on there stripping. It was like some magnificent tease until finally all was revealed. The only difference back then was the girls only went topless with their panties still remaining. As the station drew towards it's cancellation I think for it's final week they actually did one-off naked strips which I guess was something they could do since it was all ending anyway.
*ahem* anyhow there was obviously more to cable TV than just the soft porn aspects of L!ve TV. Before the digital revolution (or at least prior to the transistional stage) that is now digital TV we still had stations that had to be shared on one channel. Upon looking further I found this fond memory and general pissed off feeling of when Cartoon Network would finish for the night:
I used to hate how they advertised a 24 hour version that we could never afford even though WE were the lucky ones on cable! I don't remember whether my provider NTL at the time were able to do this. I remember with things Sky had we always had to call our cable provider to see whether this would be something we were entitled to. Back then cable and satellite were their own unique entity. Sure they had the same stations, albeit slight differences for exclusivity but we had to fight to get certain channels that were even advertised as looking like something really exciting.
So the irony now is that thanks to digital I can see Cartoon Network pretty much whenever I want - now it's too little too late for obvious reasons of age and lack of interest. The transistion nowadays for me seems to be the need for certain US shows. However the way things now go it just as simple to see these shows as well. It's amazing what the mind takes an interest to in order to progress through the years.
I can see why nostalgia is a funny thing - at the time these shows become continuous until eventually you simply don't care for them. As the years go by when they've already gone you move onto the next thing until you forget and something comes along to trigger it. With the advancement of technology we as humans don't know anything other than what looks good to us at the time. We simply can't foretell the future or technology's improvements. Once it does happen we can easily look back and see the faults revealed. I guess that's simply how we advance throughout life and civilisation.
One other thing that got me slightly giddy was recalling the early years of Chris Moyles before he changed over to doing his breakfast show:
I could keep going on about how UK Play was another channel I desperately wanted on cable but I'll only be repeating the same idea about our cable provider. Basically by the time this station arrived it was around when digital TV arrived and things gradually catered to that.
And to think all I was looking at was a playthough of the Power Rangers game on the SNES :s.
I think what happened was something caught my eye from some old UK Sega commercials that used to appear in the early 90's. For all I know I could had mentioned this from a previous post a few years back. Most likely though I've found better information since then. I used to recall Sega's ad campaign of "Sega Pirate TV". I won't go into it as this great link sums it up nicely, including a few things I was unaware of (namely the appearance in the comic).
As stated in the link though it was quite a big campaign. Annoyingly I still haven't been able to find the really long debut commercial that they had as I couldn't get over how long it took. The ads used to shit me up slightly, namely that the skullface logo used to shit me up when it suddenly appeared. The deceiving thing with the ads were that they were disguised as normal commercials until things got fuzzy in the style of the station being taken over (hence 'Pirate TV').
Amazingly they even have the old Right Said Fred music video that I remember seeing on Saturday TV once. The whole thing was partly based on the Sega Pirate TV theme with added clips of Sonic 3 to boot. I suppose it was one huge commercial for the game.
So once I looked through some of those ads through nostalgic eyes another thing appeared - the golden days of cable TV. I suppose I have a lot to thank cable TV for, it opened me a lot more into popular culture thanks to the available channels it had to offer. Erotic TV also became a significant part of the cable essentials thanks to channels such as L!ve TV entertaining late night viewers with Topless Darts at an hourly time starting from 10pm. Then around 11pm it was the daily episode of The Sex Show which introduced wonders to glamour models such as Lindsay Dawn Mcenzie et al stripping away giving instant boners. I even remember how it was the first time I ever saw girls strip on TV. I just barely recall the first time I watched the show and when they had a girl on there stripping. It was like some magnificent tease until finally all was revealed. The only difference back then was the girls only went topless with their panties still remaining. As the station drew towards it's cancellation I think for it's final week they actually did one-off naked strips which I guess was something they could do since it was all ending anyway.
*ahem* anyhow there was obviously more to cable TV than just the soft porn aspects of L!ve TV. Before the digital revolution (or at least prior to the transistional stage) that is now digital TV we still had stations that had to be shared on one channel. Upon looking further I found this fond memory and general pissed off feeling of when Cartoon Network would finish for the night:
I used to hate how they advertised a 24 hour version that we could never afford even though WE were the lucky ones on cable! I don't remember whether my provider NTL at the time were able to do this. I remember with things Sky had we always had to call our cable provider to see whether this would be something we were entitled to. Back then cable and satellite were their own unique entity. Sure they had the same stations, albeit slight differences for exclusivity but we had to fight to get certain channels that were even advertised as looking like something really exciting.
So the irony now is that thanks to digital I can see Cartoon Network pretty much whenever I want - now it's too little too late for obvious reasons of age and lack of interest. The transistion nowadays for me seems to be the need for certain US shows. However the way things now go it just as simple to see these shows as well. It's amazing what the mind takes an interest to in order to progress through the years.
I can see why nostalgia is a funny thing - at the time these shows become continuous until eventually you simply don't care for them. As the years go by when they've already gone you move onto the next thing until you forget and something comes along to trigger it. With the advancement of technology we as humans don't know anything other than what looks good to us at the time. We simply can't foretell the future or technology's improvements. Once it does happen we can easily look back and see the faults revealed. I guess that's simply how we advance throughout life and civilisation.
One other thing that got me slightly giddy was recalling the early years of Chris Moyles before he changed over to doing his breakfast show:
I could keep going on about how UK Play was another channel I desperately wanted on cable but I'll only be repeating the same idea about our cable provider. Basically by the time this station arrived it was around when digital TV arrived and things gradually catered to that.
And to think all I was looking at was a playthough of the Power Rangers game on the SNES :s.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Views so far on Batman Anthology DVD
It took a while but I finally got the Batman Anthology box set that I wanted a while back, and I found it at a very good price. I found someone selling the region 1 set second hand via Play Trade on Play.com which I was really happy about. I saw the guy have it listed for £8.99 on there and I couldn't help but wonder whether this was the same set I already saw on the site for double the price. To add insult to injury it turns out that our region 2 version doesn't even have them as the special editions! Their simply just four discs of each of the first released films! What's the point? They already had the Batman Legacy box set which was exactly just that as regular discs. The idea of the Anthology set was to contain as much content as possible in the same way as region 1. Why do they still do it this way? This happened in almost the same way as the Elm St. box set. To this day the set we have here is just 7 discs which didn't happen until several years down the line. The very first DVD box set I saw here was simply of the first three films which I found defeated the purpose. Whereas the US set came out way back in 1999 as 8 discs.
I digress...whenever I've told people about my interest in this Anthology set the first thing that often gets mentioned is something along the lines of "But it contains the last two shit films!" and certainly yes, yes it does indeed. However that's not the point, I've always loved Batman and I find this worthy of a box set as a nice historical piece for the 'original run' of Batman films. Not only that, this is the only set I know of that contains special editions of each film all of which have directors commentary and a host of features for each film.
I've only seen the first Batman one so far of both discs and from what I've seen so far I'm quite impressed. I was quite happy with Tim Burton's commentary regardless of how many times my Mum pointed out when he says "you know" throughout it. The special features disc 2 of the first Batman film was really impressive. There was TONNES of content. I haven't seen as much crammed content like that in a long while. I thought it was nice that there was footage of Bob Kane of whom I didn't know about as he was the creator of Batman. It was nice that he was around to see his creation make it to the big screen and he had a genuine proudness of it. I could almost imagine myself in that situation by seeing my long-term creation come to life and finally getting to a point where the original intention of it's tone is understood and embraced. A lot of the things discussed on the features in general really painted a picture of how great the film is and how the staff and stars had an appreciation of how well it did. It simply made you appreciate the film a lot more.
So I'm looking forward to seeing the other films and their content with the other discs. Whether the last two live up to the promise is another thing, I have a feeling they will. I think that's the whole point of the set is to appreciate how far the franchise has come through the years.
I digress...whenever I've told people about my interest in this Anthology set the first thing that often gets mentioned is something along the lines of "But it contains the last two shit films!" and certainly yes, yes it does indeed. However that's not the point, I've always loved Batman and I find this worthy of a box set as a nice historical piece for the 'original run' of Batman films. Not only that, this is the only set I know of that contains special editions of each film all of which have directors commentary and a host of features for each film.
I've only seen the first Batman one so far of both discs and from what I've seen so far I'm quite impressed. I was quite happy with Tim Burton's commentary regardless of how many times my Mum pointed out when he says "you know" throughout it. The special features disc 2 of the first Batman film was really impressive. There was TONNES of content. I haven't seen as much crammed content like that in a long while. I thought it was nice that there was footage of Bob Kane of whom I didn't know about as he was the creator of Batman. It was nice that he was around to see his creation make it to the big screen and he had a genuine proudness of it. I could almost imagine myself in that situation by seeing my long-term creation come to life and finally getting to a point where the original intention of it's tone is understood and embraced. A lot of the things discussed on the features in general really painted a picture of how great the film is and how the staff and stars had an appreciation of how well it did. It simply made you appreciate the film a lot more.
So I'm looking forward to seeing the other films and their content with the other discs. Whether the last two live up to the promise is another thing, I have a feeling they will. I think that's the whole point of the set is to appreciate how far the franchise has come through the years.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Remember Christmas? Neither do I oddly enough. It's Friday and as with most Fridays there doesn't seem to be much activity going on. It made me think about the differences of 'quietness' between this and what you would have during the Christmas period.
With days like this you know there is still activity, but it's the type of activity you don't have to worry about either. It's still a general day with less of the hassle (not that there is much hassle but you get the idea).
I've noticed since being back this week that the week has gone by much quicker than how it was during my annual leave time which I was quite relieved about. I guess as the weeks get busier you don't have time to stop to realise especially when you get tired by the end of it all. Then again it's nice to know that the week goes by quickly like that (not in the "my-life-is-fading-away" kinda sense).
One thing I forgot to mention from this week was something a friend of mine at work was telling me about. I told him about what I was planning for my next annual leave in July and he suggested to me to go to the Screwattack Convention http://www.sgconvention.com/ since it's in Dallas around the time I'm on holiday.
It's not a bad idea, I think it runs from the 2nd - 4th July which is when I get there so it would mean I'd miss the first day. Thinking about it now I'm not sure if it's worth it because you need to pay for a pass and I think you add additional on top of that for the hotel. Ideally it would work quite well as I've seen some flights that go to Dallas and then to Austin which would be a good pit stop for a few days and it takes place near the airport. So at least once the convention was over I'd be in Austin following that. Then also by the time I think about it the price will go up a bit more as it was cheap if you did it back in January and obviously by then I wasn't aware of it.
If I can find a way then even better as I think it would be a good laugh.
With days like this you know there is still activity, but it's the type of activity you don't have to worry about either. It's still a general day with less of the hassle (not that there is much hassle but you get the idea).
I've noticed since being back this week that the week has gone by much quicker than how it was during my annual leave time which I was quite relieved about. I guess as the weeks get busier you don't have time to stop to realise especially when you get tired by the end of it all. Then again it's nice to know that the week goes by quickly like that (not in the "my-life-is-fading-away" kinda sense).
One thing I forgot to mention from this week was something a friend of mine at work was telling me about. I told him about what I was planning for my next annual leave in July and he suggested to me to go to the Screwattack Convention http://www.sgconvention.com/ since it's in Dallas around the time I'm on holiday.
It's not a bad idea, I think it runs from the 2nd - 4th July which is when I get there so it would mean I'd miss the first day. Thinking about it now I'm not sure if it's worth it because you need to pay for a pass and I think you add additional on top of that for the hotel. Ideally it would work quite well as I've seen some flights that go to Dallas and then to Austin which would be a good pit stop for a few days and it takes place near the airport. So at least once the convention was over I'd be in Austin following that. Then also by the time I think about it the price will go up a bit more as it was cheap if you did it back in January and obviously by then I wasn't aware of it.
If I can find a way then even better as I think it would be a good laugh.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
This was a bit of a pain to find out. A few days after my reinstallation shindig I started noticing that Avast! kept picking up something called "Arucer.dll" which I had no idea what it was. Even as I turned on my PC this morning there it was again!
I then noticed something odd coming up at work also with my work laptop - the same problem? Luckily it wasn't something puzzling and probably one of the quickest problems I've discovered thanks to finding it on two locations.
So upon looking up this .dll problem it turns out this was the problem. Ugh! I loved using the Energizer USB charger program. That was the whole idea of using it so that I could have a clear indication of when my batteries would be ready! Of course it doesn't stop me from using it, but that's now besides the point for one of it's advantages.
I can't believe it's taken this long to discover though. I can't help but wonder whether it was worth even uninstalling if I've been using it for probably over a year now. But now it's been made public I guess there is that possibility that the risk is even greater now with people being in the know. I'm not sure what it entails for getting into the vulnerability and I can't imagine it being as bad as they make it out to be. No wonder it explained why I couldn't find the link via Energizers site. I used to be able to type Energizer USB into Google and straight away I was able to find the mini site to the application itself. Now upon doing it you simply just get Energizer's main site and that's it.
I've also removed it from my work laptop, I never used on there mind you but I always thought whether there would be that instance (whatever weird circumstance that would be).
I have however found something else which I purchased online today, and it wasn't because of this incident. I did see it back in December and almost went ahead with it so I thought sod it, I'll get it. You may have seen about those charging mats which lets you add devices and they simply charge it wirelessly without plugging anything in. I mean yes the idea is nice but I find it funny that you still have to have it stationary somewhere for it to do that. Plus the mat itself has to be plugged in anyway. So surely that defeats the purpose slightly that your chargable devices are still near plugs. On the plus side it is useful if you only have one plug in the wall which therefore makes it simpler.
So for my criticisms of it I decided to get one which works specifically for Xbox 360 and Wii batteries. The actual mat itself is powered for USB but it's one of those where you can add a USB plug converter on the end of it so it can work. From what I've read the battery life isn't anything to shout about but I'm not too surprised. The main thing is at least it charges, and in a unique way. Hopefully once it arrives it lives up to it's promise.
I then noticed something odd coming up at work also with my work laptop - the same problem? Luckily it wasn't something puzzling and probably one of the quickest problems I've discovered thanks to finding it on two locations.
So upon looking up this .dll problem it turns out this was the problem. Ugh! I loved using the Energizer USB charger program. That was the whole idea of using it so that I could have a clear indication of when my batteries would be ready! Of course it doesn't stop me from using it, but that's now besides the point for one of it's advantages.
I can't believe it's taken this long to discover though. I can't help but wonder whether it was worth even uninstalling if I've been using it for probably over a year now. But now it's been made public I guess there is that possibility that the risk is even greater now with people being in the know. I'm not sure what it entails for getting into the vulnerability and I can't imagine it being as bad as they make it out to be. No wonder it explained why I couldn't find the link via Energizers site. I used to be able to type Energizer USB into Google and straight away I was able to find the mini site to the application itself. Now upon doing it you simply just get Energizer's main site and that's it.
I've also removed it from my work laptop, I never used on there mind you but I always thought whether there would be that instance (whatever weird circumstance that would be).
I have however found something else which I purchased online today, and it wasn't because of this incident. I did see it back in December and almost went ahead with it so I thought sod it, I'll get it. You may have seen about those charging mats which lets you add devices and they simply charge it wirelessly without plugging anything in. I mean yes the idea is nice but I find it funny that you still have to have it stationary somewhere for it to do that. Plus the mat itself has to be plugged in anyway. So surely that defeats the purpose slightly that your chargable devices are still near plugs. On the plus side it is useful if you only have one plug in the wall which therefore makes it simpler.
So for my criticisms of it I decided to get one which works specifically for Xbox 360 and Wii batteries. The actual mat itself is powered for USB but it's one of those where you can add a USB plug converter on the end of it so it can work. From what I've read the battery life isn't anything to shout about but I'm not too surprised. The main thing is at least it charges, and in a unique way. Hopefully once it arrives it lives up to it's promise.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Videogame chicks to films
I found this link pretty interesting, primarily because it shows characters that I've never been able to see comparisons with of games I've never actually played. The Dead or Alive (DOA) characters aren't too bad, I still need to get round to watching that. I know it'll be crap but any excuse to see the girlies in it :D.
Hopefully the link works as the link is translated via Google so I'm assuming it should keep it intact.
Hopefully the link works as the link is translated via Google so I'm assuming it should keep it intact.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Thank god for Shout! Factory
I swear this company is like the saviours of the DVD world for hidden releases. As if they weren't amazing enough with releasing all the Mario cartoons on DVD they've gone one step further again....with Max Headroom!
Gosh! I know this was desperately wanted by many a few but I never realised it was going to be possible. Sadly it's not the Max Headroom stuff that I was brought up with - i.e. the original shows we had here with music videos and the Max Headroom Show stuff. Mind you I can see why that probably won't see the light of day because of music rights since the show was primarily that. At least something is being released and in this case the US show that came out in which many still seem to state it as pretty good. In my case I was never crazy on it, I remember the Sci-Fi channel showing it quite a few years back. I don't know for the life of me how long ago it was now, possibly early 2000's?
I dont know how the company pull it off, but they get there. Granted the DVD contents of what I've seen isn't anything spectacular, but when you finally get something that finally gets released on DVD after such a long time you don't tend to care. You just consider the fact that it's finally out in all of it's glory.
The one thing that does interest me however is what will happen for BluRay releases? I can't imagine long awaited TV shows getting the same treatment. It's things such as that become the reasons why I'm thankful for DVD. I mean I guess they get their hands on video transfers which is probably why it wouldn't work out as well. I'm certain I remember reading that somewhere, either it was from a review or some type of FAQ that was on Shout! Factory's website.
I wonder how many months are left before it actually comes out? I'm hoping that it comes out in time when I'm in the US to get it. Hopefully Daria as well since that's been confirmed!
Gosh! I know this was desperately wanted by many a few but I never realised it was going to be possible. Sadly it's not the Max Headroom stuff that I was brought up with - i.e. the original shows we had here with music videos and the Max Headroom Show stuff. Mind you I can see why that probably won't see the light of day because of music rights since the show was primarily that. At least something is being released and in this case the US show that came out in which many still seem to state it as pretty good. In my case I was never crazy on it, I remember the Sci-Fi channel showing it quite a few years back. I don't know for the life of me how long ago it was now, possibly early 2000's?
I dont know how the company pull it off, but they get there. Granted the DVD contents of what I've seen isn't anything spectacular, but when you finally get something that finally gets released on DVD after such a long time you don't tend to care. You just consider the fact that it's finally out in all of it's glory.
The one thing that does interest me however is what will happen for BluRay releases? I can't imagine long awaited TV shows getting the same treatment. It's things such as that become the reasons why I'm thankful for DVD. I mean I guess they get their hands on video transfers which is probably why it wouldn't work out as well. I'm certain I remember reading that somewhere, either it was from a review or some type of FAQ that was on Shout! Factory's website.
I wonder how many months are left before it actually comes out? I'm hoping that it comes out in time when I'm in the US to get it. Hopefully Daria as well since that's been confirmed!
Friday, March 05, 2010
The hasslesome task of reinstalling
After a full week it was only today right near the end of the week where I finally got round to reformatting my PC. I figure this will be the last time where I'll do a full format on it as I think it's only a matter of time this year before I defect to a new unit. I'm still thinking about the Alienware PC I've seen advertised, and I love the idea it's powered as a cooling unit.
I was going to use NLite for an ultimate setup disc for XP but now I'm thinking is it worth it if from now on they'll be nothing but Windows 7 orientated? I guess I'll still make one as it's always useful in any cirumstance to have that. Especially as now I've found more out on how you can add program setups through various ways which is what I wanted to begin with, not to mention the constant array of Windows Updates which I think I've fully updated with now. I suppose I shouldn't had been as hasty but I was mainly thinking about whether it would even install at all. Well nevermind, I'm still going through the process of installing my 'essential' apps. It shouldn't take too long if I get my actual ass into gear with it :p.
I was going to use NLite for an ultimate setup disc for XP but now I'm thinking is it worth it if from now on they'll be nothing but Windows 7 orientated? I guess I'll still make one as it's always useful in any cirumstance to have that. Especially as now I've found more out on how you can add program setups through various ways which is what I wanted to begin with, not to mention the constant array of Windows Updates which I think I've fully updated with now. I suppose I shouldn't had been as hasty but I was mainly thinking about whether it would even install at all. Well nevermind, I'm still going through the process of installing my 'essential' apps. It shouldn't take too long if I get my actual ass into gear with it :p.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
I don't really have anything to blog about in the usual sense (even then their pretty atrocious) so I just felt like doing one while I'm still enjoying my time off and knowing I can stay up without thinking about the after effects it can have for work the next day. I figure that the best thing for me is to not bother checking any work emails this week AT ALL. Obviously it's pretty stupid to be doing so during this time anyway but sometimes I've been known to check them either a few days prior to going back to work or even the Sunday before. But not this time however, it just ruins the current week you have ahead by constantly thinking what shit you have piled up ready for the next week ahead. So basically Monday will be my email catchup day, and rightly so. At least that way I have a good reason if anything turns up for being somewhere else, hopefully if they have souls I shouldn't have to worry much next week.
So this evening I decided upon finally watching "Whip It" and "Fanboys" of which I've not long finished watching. I found both enjoyable and something good to watch for such an evening I found.
Hopefully with tomorrow I'll go ahead and finally reformat the PC once I'm fully happy with everything and after that if I've really had enough I might consider the Alienware PC. I'll see how all that works out as the months go by.
So this evening I decided upon finally watching "Whip It" and "Fanboys" of which I've not long finished watching. I found both enjoyable and something good to watch for such an evening I found.
Hopefully with tomorrow I'll go ahead and finally reformat the PC once I'm fully happy with everything and after that if I've really had enough I might consider the Alienware PC. I'll see how all that works out as the months go by.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Will March change?
Aaah, wonderful March, the month of progression. I usually find this month is when things start to change in terms of the weather and when you know you've gotten out of the worst of things...sort of, that's probably an understatement at the moment.
Even as I opened my curtains this morning the sun has been constantly shining, sure for the meantime at least but it's here none the less and I have a feeling it'll be showing itself quite often from now on. You kind of know also that as it's now three months into the year that things do start developing. There's something about January and February that seems like a blockade until you wait for it to become clear. Mind you this is one of the few years where those two months didn't feel like there was nothing going on. I could argue that it was because I've been so occupied/irritated at work that since the beginning of the year that nothing really changed from the end of last year, and to me that's a rarity as the year changes over. Normally things just stop and until they gradually start to progress around now. The other end of the argument however could be that I only ever noticed the quiet periods because of my time at university when we didn't start at all until mid-February(ish).
But even so, I don't believe this is the case. I simply think that it's just how it's happened in general this year. Things have just carried on as normal from a transition from last year to this year. I think also about the things that have happened in the news and how that hasn't helped things settle at the moment. I mean of course a year doesn't go by without some sort of event, there's something just about the year so far where nothing has taken a breather as such.
So I read in the news online last week about a blog someone made called "Sex at Oxbridge". It's simply a blog about an unknown student telling of her current sex escapades while at uni. The thing I found funny when it got coverage was that it's still a relatively new blog with not many posts at present. Reading the girls stories of whom she met (mainly sporting guys at the moment) aren't massively compelling. To me it just reminds me of the typical lifestyles that people have at uni. Sure it would had been nice if I had that opportunity while I was there, but to me I never liked uni life, it was such a false reality. Maybe for me because my circumstance was different, these were students who hadn't necessarily done much of the outside world as yet and for me I had already worked and went in backwards. So to me these students lived in a bubble of a reality I was never into, there's something very disposable about it. I can understand that you can have the time of your life there - there's no doubt about it, in my circumstance that wasn't the case.
I'm not quite sure what I was getting at but basically the blog almost reminds me of that, the only mystery to it is knowing where this student is. It was only until I read her blog that the term 'Oxbridge' refers to a combination of Oxford & Cambridge meaning that their either one of those locations. I guess the term is usually used when you hear of a student that is from those parts since the two locations have always been known for it's colleges and universities, or most likely when they have no idea which proper location it is. You simply know they've had a good education and just assume that their an "Oxbridge" type student. I still find it odd though considering the two are about 3-4 hours apart from one another.
I have a feeling the girl could be in Oxford and possibly does travel to Cambridge as well. I'm not sure if the term refers to being between both towns also which I think makes more sense as that's my only assumption to the people she meets. I think the interesting thing is knowing whether people will end up knowing who she is, if they haven't already. That even depends if the guys are intelligent to even realise. I know it's a bit of a cheek for me to say this considering that I am *ahem* following the blog also, but I am curious as to what escapades she gets up to with guys. Other than that so far it doesn't seem like anything I haven't heard about before.
Even as I opened my curtains this morning the sun has been constantly shining, sure for the meantime at least but it's here none the less and I have a feeling it'll be showing itself quite often from now on. You kind of know also that as it's now three months into the year that things do start developing. There's something about January and February that seems like a blockade until you wait for it to become clear. Mind you this is one of the few years where those two months didn't feel like there was nothing going on. I could argue that it was because I've been so occupied/irritated at work that since the beginning of the year that nothing really changed from the end of last year, and to me that's a rarity as the year changes over. Normally things just stop and until they gradually start to progress around now. The other end of the argument however could be that I only ever noticed the quiet periods because of my time at university when we didn't start at all until mid-February(ish).
But even so, I don't believe this is the case. I simply think that it's just how it's happened in general this year. Things have just carried on as normal from a transition from last year to this year. I think also about the things that have happened in the news and how that hasn't helped things settle at the moment. I mean of course a year doesn't go by without some sort of event, there's something just about the year so far where nothing has taken a breather as such.
So I read in the news online last week about a blog someone made called "Sex at Oxbridge". It's simply a blog about an unknown student telling of her current sex escapades while at uni. The thing I found funny when it got coverage was that it's still a relatively new blog with not many posts at present. Reading the girls stories of whom she met (mainly sporting guys at the moment) aren't massively compelling. To me it just reminds me of the typical lifestyles that people have at uni. Sure it would had been nice if I had that opportunity while I was there, but to me I never liked uni life, it was such a false reality. Maybe for me because my circumstance was different, these were students who hadn't necessarily done much of the outside world as yet and for me I had already worked and went in backwards. So to me these students lived in a bubble of a reality I was never into, there's something very disposable about it. I can understand that you can have the time of your life there - there's no doubt about it, in my circumstance that wasn't the case.
I'm not quite sure what I was getting at but basically the blog almost reminds me of that, the only mystery to it is knowing where this student is. It was only until I read her blog that the term 'Oxbridge' refers to a combination of Oxford & Cambridge meaning that their either one of those locations. I guess the term is usually used when you hear of a student that is from those parts since the two locations have always been known for it's colleges and universities, or most likely when they have no idea which proper location it is. You simply know they've had a good education and just assume that their an "Oxbridge" type student. I still find it odd though considering the two are about 3-4 hours apart from one another.
I have a feeling the girl could be in Oxford and possibly does travel to Cambridge as well. I'm not sure if the term refers to being between both towns also which I think makes more sense as that's my only assumption to the people she meets. I think the interesting thing is knowing whether people will end up knowing who she is, if they haven't already. That even depends if the guys are intelligent to even realise. I know it's a bit of a cheek for me to say this considering that I am *ahem* following the blog also, but I am curious as to what escapades she gets up to with guys. Other than that so far it doesn't seem like anything I haven't heard about before.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)