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Archive for the 'Computers' Category

GTA:IV FTW


I couldnt face buying GTA:IV at midnight on the 29th, but i did buy it on the way to work at 8 in the morning. The guy in blockbusters said that they had 450 people turn up at midnight, and were open until 3:30am!

I am enjoying it, but my progress is very very slow (through lack of opportunity to play)

I did a little mission in front of my mother yesterday (She has been up for a couple of days to help look after Zym 2.0)

It involved me and my cousin ‘Roman’ chasing a bloke in a car. Every other word out of Roman’s mouth was either Fuck or shit - mainly cos I was banging into other cars, lamp posts & people, and on the radio was talk show caller lamenting the pharmaceutical companies for the lack of normal strength weed currently available in Liberty City.

Then, when I finally caught the guy, I punched him until he dropped his knife, then picked it up and used it to stab him to death.

I was laughing hysterically throughout all of this, while my mother was wishing she hadn’t agreed to hold the baby while I played it!!

Good Times :)


Saw this on the telly the other day…


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbpi5YeBkCk

Though, that song is familar! After Hummming it for a full day, i finally placed it


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA_0cvd1EUM

YAY!! - i must have watched that film a million times as a kid :D

Give a Little Love - Paul Williams

And interestingly, The song was written by Paul Williams, who played ‘Little Ennos’ in ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ - 100% FACT
It ALWAYS comes back to Bert!!


Zym 2.0 was born on Monday 8th April 2008 at 2:29am
He was delivered by c-section, and weighed in at a whopping 10lb 9

Name to follow….

Suddenly, monkeys, computers, ukuleles, robots, and games dont seem that interesting anymore :)


Kotaku have a story about Alchemic teaming up with Larry Niven to create game set in a Niven world/universe

Larry Niven is one of my favourite Sci-fi writers - and the prospect of a ‘Larry Niven game’ makes me VERY EXCITED. 
Theres no mention of what type of game it will be - FPS, RPG, 3rdPS etc, but there are a few tantalising details..

The gameplay takes place entirely in zero gravity - the only time you’ll have your feet firmly planted on the ground is during the game’s cutscenes. The player starts off as a miner just learning the ropes of zero-g movement, using tools, etc. The early stages of the game will introduce the mechanics that will turn you from a fledging miner into a zero-g warrior, and you’ll have real technology to back you up.

Mmmmmmmm… Crystallized floaty blood :D

Ideally, i would like a Larry Niven version of Mass Effect, ie something thats both FPS & RPG, but either way i’ll be watching this one carefully.

http://kotaku.com/362450/larry-niven-teams-with-alchemic-for-free-fall

Attention!


Here is your chance to appear at the top of my page.

Will someone please post a photo on Flickr with the tag ‘ukuleles’ - The guy in black (2nd from the right) on the flickr photo feed at the top of the page has been there for ages and its starting to get on my nerves. Especially since there isnt even a uke on the photo!

Of all the public ‘tags’ that the flickrRSS feed displays, ‘ukuleles’ is the only one that has never changed since i set it up.

From left to right the sequence is;
“orangutan”
“casemod”
“ukulele”
“xbox”
“chimp”
“monkeys”
“computers”
“ukuleles”
“robots”

So heres you chance to display your robot ukulele-chimpy donky porn on my blog!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58861639@N00/2249386600/


Because i am such a good husband, the lovely Mrs Zym has offered to by me Guitar Hero 3 + Les Paul Stylee Guitar Controller for Valentines day.

Unfortunately i cant get my bloody hands one, not even for ready money :(

I have phoned all the Games shops and PC worlds, and been to all of the supermarkets in the area, and they are all out. They all have plenty of PS3 & Wii versions, but not Xbox360, and when i ask, they all say that they havent had any stock in since before Christmas.

Yesterday i phoned a Gamestation tucked away inside a local Blockbusters, and found out that they had a second-hand copy of said game + controller for £60. Rather than getting it on my way home from work, i thought i would nip out after tea… (i think you see where this is going… :(  ) Consequent, i dont have a copy.

Personally, i think there must be some reason why there arent any around. Im sure that i read somewhere that the Guitar Hero ‘controller’ doesnt work with new ‘Rock Band’ game,  so the only thing i can think of is that they are ‘tweaking’ the design to iron out the compatibility issues. I really cant believe its THAT popular -although maybe im wrong?

Of course, it could just be a big conspiracy!! - The MAN trying to stop me from ROCKING OUT :(

edit/

It looks like im wrong about the compatibility issues. It must be a conspiracy after all :(


As well as sounding like Fozzie Bear, this clever chap has worked out how to do something rather cool with a PC & a Wii. By using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar, he can accurately track the location of his head and render 3d/view dependent images on the screen.

I realise this sounds a bit dry, but watch the video, its bloody cool stuff


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

It *almost* makes me want to buy a wii.

GTA:IV Site Live!


April is going to be a VERY exciting month.
Not only is there (a) the arrival of our first born (Zym 2.0), theres also (b) the final series of Battlestar Galactica, and (c) the release of GTA:IV.

Granted, i realise that (a) will pretty much exclude all chances of me participating in (b) & (c) for say, the next 18 years. But for the next 7 weeks I can still dream.

Over at Kotaku they have posted a link to the new GTA:IV site - and like the previous games, it looks SWEEEET.
This time round the game is set in Liberty City (a rather thinly disguised New York), and the site lets you explore some of the characters & locations that will appear in the game.

These include the tough takinng Community Leader ‘Manny Escuela’….
Manny Escuela

And the ‘not so’ Majestic Hotel.
Majectic Hotel

Time will tell how these will feature in the final game, but tucked way at the bottom of the page is one word that made my face light up - “Multiplayer” :D
Theres no info as yet, but im hoping it will more than just the odd mini driving game. I adore ’sand-box games’, and adding a multiplayer element is just my idea of pure bliss.
Im spending most of my evenings playing Co-op Crackdown with ICHACAWAB at the moment. I would like to say that we’re progressing through the game nicely, but we tend to spend most of out time crashing cars, blowing stuff up, and throwing skips at each other. But that, as they say, is another story….

Visit Liberty City Here
http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/

Hey, Hay Hay


When building websites or designing pages containing large amounts of print, its often useful to use random text to give you an impression of how the final layout will look. The classic piece of text you often see used for this job is called Lorem Ipsum, and it looks like this…

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nunc lorem. Fusce eu justo. Nam id leo. Pellentesque ac metus quis tortor eleifend imperdiet. Vestibulum eu nibh. Cras cursus vestibulum purus. Vestibulum hendrerit, eros id faucibus suscipit, augue pede condimentum sem, eget tempus sapien diam ac nulla. Aenean viverra mauris eget nulla. Vestibulum pharetra pretium nunc. Nulla euismod rutrum nunc. Curabitur pretium, justo lobortis commodo tempus, diam sapien iaculis mi, non ultrices tortor ante at eros.

When i build websites and need some words, I prefer to use this Automatic Text Generator. While using it the other day, it generated a paragraph of text that rocketed me straight back to my childhood….

I never spend much time in school but I taught ladies plenty. It’s true I hire my body out for pay, hey hey. I’ve gotten burned over Cheryl Tiegs, blown up for Raquel Welch. But when I end up in the hay it’s only hay, hey hey. I might jump an open drawbridge, or Tarzan from a vine. ‘Cause I’m the unknown stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine.

Yay - The Fall Guy!!

I used to LOVE that programme, and also used to LOVE the theme tune. (If you dont know what im talking about to can see the opening credits here.)

The song was written by Glen A Larson, (who also wrote and produced the show) and was performed by Lee Majors. According to Wiki, the song is now considered a minor classic in countries such as Germany!!

In fact, i love the theme tune so much that i decided that i had to get hold of the chords so i could play it on my Uke.

So with what i hope to be the first of many ukulele versions of songs to appear on this site, i present…

The Unknown Stuntman (Theme from The Fall Guy) - Lee Majors

You’ll have to play round with the “C-B-A-G-F-G-C-A” bit at the end of each chorus in order to get it to fit to the words. I *think* that its right :\

PRO TIP: Make sure you have someone else in the room who can do the ‘Hay-Hay’ bit in the last verse :)


So Im still having problems with my xbox live connection at the moment.

It seems very weird that when i use the wireless adaptor it disconnects after nearly exactly 30 minutes each time - To me, this suggests that perhaps theres nothing wrong with the adaptor. It wouldnt be as systematic if it was?

Ive posted a long topic on what seems to be a useful xbox forum ( http://www.xboxlivetheguide.co.uk/ ) , and ive also emailed the zyxel helpdesk.

Equally, im wondering if i ought to send the adaptor back - even though ive chucked the box away?

UPDATE:

OK, so after several conversations with Zyxel, and 1 conversation with the xbox helpdesk (dont you just hate that ‘Passive Agressive’ thing the americans do?) - i *think* i might have a solution.

The very helpful chap at Zyxel thinks my problem is due to the way the router was set up to keep ‘re-authenticating’ the WPA key on a regular basis!! (this would explain the regular disconnects)

I knew it would be something simple!!

This has now been disabled, and only time will tell if Zym is to be a happy boy once more

UPDATE 2:
Still connected :)