Ah... some internet time, that's better

Currently we're in Cradel mountain. The plan to blog was great until we discovered that most of the towns that we've been passing through only have about 700people and as a result there aren't many internet cafes.

So far we've been through Hobart, Port Arthur, Swansea, Coals Bay and the King Solomons Caves.

Have taken so many photos I've had to buy a new 1 GB card.

Will blog again soon!!

No one blogs here anymore (well for the moment)

We've gone for consolidated blogging while we're on our honeymoon. We've continued the Wedding Blog with holiday updates.

I've been taking heaps of photos with new new Fuji and we'll be posting all the photos up when we get back.... until then the only updates will be here....

One hour out!

It's only one hour to go to the ceremony and I can't remember being to excited and nervous! Thanks to everyone who helped make today happen.

Marketing Stupidity

This made me laugh today so I though it was worthy of posting.... Here is extract of the email

It has come to our attention that many of you are not receiving the communications that go out on a regular basis.  We believe that in the majority of cases your SPAM filter has been blocking them.
Please check that your SPAM filter is not blocking them.  If it is blocking them please create an exception for the above email address.
If you believe that your SPAM filter is not blocking them (or you don't have one!) but you are still not getitng the emails please email me so I can confirm if you are on our mailing list.

If I'm not getting the emails... how am I supposed to know about this one?
 

New Camera Toy!

 

I took the plunge and picked myself up a new camera to take on our honeymoon to Tasmania. Usually I just borrow someones higher end point and shoot (like my dad's Panasonic DMC-FZ20S). I really enjoy taking photos (not that I'm very good at it by any means) and thought I should take the step up and get one of my own. I didn't really want to go to a full D-SLR but having the flexability of manual focus and zoom was something I really wanted because a lot of the auto functions never do exactly what you want.  I was very tempted by the big brother of the Panasonic the DCM-FZ30, but in the end I decided to go with the Fuji Finepix 9500s. It got a few more favourable reviews from the Panasonic and runs on standard AA batteries which was a huge plus!

I haven't played with it much, basically taken it out of the box and tested that it worked. I came with a 16mb XD card but with a 9M Super CCD that is only 6 photos which means I might be looking for some more media in the not to distant future (and probably a Flickr Pro account)

Advance Wars is stealing my life!

I know I often write about addictions to games (usually the burnout serier is the culprit) but I seem to have got hooked on Advance Wars : Dual Strike in a completely new level. I can't seem to put it down. I spent most of the morning glued to the DS completely unaware of anything going on around me! The trouble with the addiction is a mission takes a serious block of time to complete and although you can save pretty much anywhere, you never want to put it down until your blasted your way through the mission. 
The other problem is the size of the game. I've already put in over 11 hours into the game and I've only managed 11 of the 300 medals! 
All I can say is thank goodness the DS runs on batteries... it's the only thing that's making me stop!

Gadget Overload...

Ok it is bad enough that part of the business I work for sells Apple Gear, but now we've just started selling high end audio gear like Bryston, Focal, Harmon Kardon, Wharfedale and the list goes on.... So as bad as it was with all the cool new Mac toys and gadgets floating into the store every week now I have to resist new stereo gear as well! I don't even have to go to shops to be tempted now!

Bound for home.

So it's 34 and a half hours on and i'm finished. Litteral i couldn't do any more just typing the word yawn triggers one. My bed is looking pretty good right about now.

Well I've broken through the 30hr mark

Me think's I will sleep well tonight... This is usually the start of the downward spiral. The last time I had to work this much it was around the 32hr mark that I really strated to struggle... I'm currently trying to hold it off!

Approaching the 26hr mark

So I've broken the magic 24hrs without sleep (lucky I accidentally slept in yesterday really), I'm at work (looking pretty presentable considering), the meeting that I had to be here for 7:30am hasn't happened yet, demo system is built and off to testing and I've only had one can of V!

This meeting is going to get mighty interesting the later it gets!

Stay tuned... I'm sure there are more sleep debrived ramblings to come...

The point of no return....

Well it's 4am and I'm sitting at my PC watching ITSM Definition Set Validation process bars tick past. The ITSM development is for yet another demo where the customer wants to see their actual processes completely mapped out and customised in the system. Obviously this causes some amounts of pain, the development cycle for ITSM is not generally a short one and this is usually overlooked when sales reps commit to the demo. I can see where the customer is coming from and if the tables were turned I'd be looking for exactly the same sort of assurances that the product would perform to expectations. I just wish that it didn't need to be built with 3 days notice when it's about 3 weeks work and when I'm already booked on someone elses project!

I've been working on this demo for the best part of the last 18 hours and it's coming to that time where the decision to just stay up and work or get a couple of hours shut eye. I've got another meeting at 7:30 in the morning and I think the chances of me getting up again for that are limited so I think I'll just push through.... Think I might go home early today....

Naked Coffee

I've discovered a new coffee store (well actually credit really has to go to Ness for the discovery) but it's well and truly my favorite place to get coffee while i'm at work. It's in the Elizabeth Arcade (that runs from Charlotte St. to Elizabeth St. between Albert and George st) it's tucked away in the corner with stools and tables lining the arcade if' you looking for a time out. The coffee is great and to appeal to my inner geek they have a camera hooked up to a flat panel so you can see you coffee being made... So if your looking for a nice coffee or a bit of a time out head to Naked Coffee.

Last Cricket match before the big day

I had my last night of Indoor cricket before the big day last night and although I put in a fairly ordinary performance with both bat and ball we still came away with a good win. With the ball I though I was placing them fairly well and getting a fair bit of turn but just couldn't come up with a wicket. With the bat was just as bad... I just couldn't pick the bounce and as a result didn't get on to many at all, still came away with the skin (beating the score of the apposing pair) and a decent score but it certainly wasn't in spectacular fashion... Nice to start the break on a good win though

Conscious and almost human again....

Today was well and truly a recovery day.... After a night of way too many mixed drinks I struggled to get out of bed before 1:30 to only go back to sleep by 2... Unfortunately I had to actually leave the house to go and what Ness play soccer, not really sure how she had the energy because it took all my effort just to get out of bed.

Now I've had dinner and about 10L of water I actually almost feel normal again.

Yesterday (before the large level of alcohol consuption) was spent at the Go Kart track. We had timed races and a few practice laps which was great fun...We had 11 guys running around the track and ended up trashing about 5 karts in the process with our carnage. Let's face it we managed give the crashed a fairly good run for their money...There weren't many laps that we got through without a scene or two like this.

Andrew caught all the action for us and I've put all the photos from the day up on Flickr.

All in all (despite the huge hang over) it was a great day... Thanks to everyone for coming along and thanks to Tom and Craig for organising it!

All the time in the world an on console

Today was just not meant to be a good day for gaming. To start off I forgot my Gameboy micro at home (along with a hostof other things) then I got an unexpected package from Lik Sang but it didn't have any games for me in it! After i'd eventually picked up my micro I accidently left it on so i'm blogging to fill in time between takes for the recording i'm doing tonight.

Back to Indoor

This season I've gone back into full swing at indoor. I've gone back to Soccer and Cricket this season. Soccer last night turned out to be a pretty late game but we had another good win... 14-5 in the end but it was a pretty hard slog at times. I scored a few goals but I was the happiest with my keeping effort, managed not to let a single one though against some guys who played superleague last year. We haven't had many players so far this season so we've been running low on subs, at least it will help keep me fit having to play 3 quarters on the court and one in goals.

At the risk of jinxing myself Cricket has also been going really well this season. I got some tips on batting from one of the guys at the end of last season and it has really help. Have managed to get some confindence back in my batting and have concentrated on working it around rather than trying to belt every ball to the back net. Hopefully I can keep it going because I've managed to average 2.5 runs for every ball I face and the first two games were against the top team in the grade.

The only thing I haven't missed about playing every week is the continual state of healing my knees and elbows are in...

An iGame? Surely Not

This scan of an April Edition of an Apple magazine was posted up on Engadget today. Surely it can't be true... Would apple actually consider taking on Sony and Nintendo in the Handheld Market? Every competitor that has come up against Nintendo has well and truly lost and although the fight is still raging with the PSP, the DS is certainly holding it's ground. Would Apple actually be able or want to crack into the gaming market? I think is would be a significant shift of direction for their iPod market.

There is also the games to consider? The current Mac platform isn't know for it's games, would Apple be looking to draw on exisitng titles in the market or are the looking at developing their own and opening up another third party development stream...

I think if it is true... the PSP should be shaking in it's boots as a US$1.99 episode of Lost on your iGame would be a much better idea than a $30+ UMD movie and the infrastructure is already there....

Productivity Zero...

I've had the least productive day I've had in a long time... I've spent most of today chasing my tail. Today just seems to be a continual stream of stuff that could be easily avoided if anyone stopped and though about what they were asking/looking for, for more than 0.0001 of a second. How some people know so little about their job is simply astounding! And just to add icing to the cake having project managers second guess customers requirements because it's not the way would have it work and that's the way the customer should be trained is just joyous and should make for some fun project meetings during training... And if anyone opens there mouth muttering gibberish resulting to mislead customers I'm going to end up rocking on the floor in the fetal position!

As a result I've got nothing done that I was supposed to get done today and my overall achievement for the day has been minimal... So to make myself feel a little more accomplished I've been blogging, as you can see just a post or two :)

At least I've done something constructive today.

Should TV Networks be worried?

There have been lots of articles floating around this week about the rise in (illegal) downloading of TV shows and whether it will impact the way TV networks do business. Even with a PVR I struggle to get to watch everything that I want a combination of moving time slots, running late (or early) or just showing things in some random order makes it all too hard.

How networks can expect to have a loyal fan base for a series when it's a challenge every week just to find when your show is on...

Another announcement by Apple on it's iTunes service for more Video download pricing plans - iTunes unveils "Multi-Pass" purchase option. Basically looking at changing the current pricing model from US$1.99 per episode to a more subscription based system.

Unfortunately I don't know if there are any plans for us downunder to score the video download service, but this is definately the way to go with your Mac Mini pluged into your TV Streaming down the latest episodes of your favourite shows.

"This Multi-Pass includes the most recent episode (if one is available) and the next 15 episodes of The Daily Show. The most recent episode (if available), will download immediately and future episodes will download as they become available," according to Apple's website.

It certainly can't be long before the current TV networks have to rethink their strategies on programming...

OMG I Want Metriod Prime : Hunters

I haven't ever been a huge fan of FPS, I don't have anything against them... they just aren't my first port of call when I'm looking for a new game. I loved Half Life on the PC and Counter-Strike on the xbox and the Original Metroid on the Cube was great but I'd still rather a few laps of Mario Kart or Burnout any day. The videos that have been released for Metroid Prime: Hunters on Liksang today though are just amazing!!!

This video of the gameplay is awesome!!! I just want to go out and buy the game now!

Story Timeline and Basic Gameplay

Basically, Metroid: Prime Hunters is an original First Person Shooter. Mission file 791019 takes place in the time period between Metroid Prime and its sequel, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which both appeared on GameCube before. Therefore, Samus sports the Varia Suit from Echoes, but she's piloting the ship from Prime 1 (a little trivia never hurt nobody!). Anyone who was lucky to get an early Nintendo DS may have played the title in its demo form, called Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. Be aware of the fact, that the full game now bears only little resemblance to that brief sample. The touch screen is used to look around, as well as offering a radar display of enemies. Plus, there are several controls to be found on the touch panel as well: swap the active blaster to missiles here, or trigger morph ball form and scan visor usage. Much appreciated comes the option to choose from left and right handed touch screen play and being able to switch between stylus and D-pad maneuvering. You can even adjust the sensitivity of the touch controls, similar to tuning your mouse when playing a FPS on a computer.

IpodMame

So you bought an Ipod Nano and now regret that you didn't get a Gameboy Micro? Well the answer is here in IpodMAME. They are part of the iPodLinux project, and their basic aim is to bring the MAME game emulator to iPods, allowing owners to play arcade games on their iPods. Currently, you can only play Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man on the nano and iPod with video.

So no need to rush out and pick up a Gameboy for those long bus rides home....

Going INSANE!

I swear there is a cow chewing cud in my office today that not even my headphones can drown out... Anger Rising... it may be the last straw.... Next stop... Mr. Furious!

Cool DS (and general other) Stuff

So I finally got around to blogging again after my weekend update. I've looked at the blogger page about 20 times but something else has always come ip and I haven't got around to posting. There have been some really good things for the DS turn up this week. Not to mention all the reviews for the DS Lite, this review especially cemented my need for the new version. The screen looks like the jump that we had from the GBA SP to the DS. This post I stumpled across on gizmodo is completely useless but cool none the less.

Virtual PC Desktop on the DS: "This is a piece of software, but it's a fascinating use of the DS' Wi-Fi capabilities. It's essentially a version of VNC that can run on the DS and shows two screens—a larger version of the full PC screen and a zoomed window. The software is completely homebrew and it's called PointyRemote, which could also be the name of a death metal band.

There has also been huge amounts of speculation on the new Origami and UMPC. It would want to have a host of functionality judging by some of the pictures that have been released... Let's just say there are house bricks with more style. Anyway it will be interesting to see what there actually market is for this device.

On the entertainment front I've managed to get myself totally hooked on Season 2 of BSG... the unfortunate thing is the second season is almost finished in the US which means it will be a long wait until Season 3.

I've also rediscovered my love for the Burnout Series on the Xbox. I've realised I've only clocked about 4 hours up on Burnout: Revenge where I'd managed to hit 70 hours on the last title before I traded it in.

The new MX5 has had very little attention over the last couple of weeks. At the moment I'm still in the "Makes me smile every time I drive it stage" and thanks to the Tape adapter with the MD player I've got all the music on the go.

360 First Impressions

The new Xbox 360 Demo consoles have been out in the stores for a few days and I've had a bit of a play of Project Gothem Racing 3. My first reaction hasn't been as impressive as it should have been. Considering the price of the new console vs the Xbox the system should be so much better than the current demos suggest. As I've been playing a bit of Burnout: Revenge recently I was using it for graphical comparison because that's about the only form of comparison that matters for the two systems. At this stage I can't see enough of an improvement over what the current console can offer to justify the AUD$650 price tag. I'm sure as the console takes hold and a few more games showcasing the capabilities of the system come out it will be more apparent how much more the unit is capable... In the end though the graphics will just be better than the old one so there is going to be a limit to how much 'Better' it will be, the games will be the same... they'll just look shinnier. I think my money will still be on the Revolution as my next gen console of choice...

A weekend of ups and downs

Had an ok weekend in the end but is was a bit up and down on the way there...

UPs:
Finished another chapter of Sword of Mana on the Micro.
Fired up the Xbox after a long absence with some Burnout: Revenge action in mind.
Got the house to myself for Saturday for gaming/Dvds.
Had an awesome flourless chocolate cake at Freestyle (as dinner, let's face you can't have dinner and still finish one of their deserts)
Finished Season One of Battlestar Galactica and the first 4 episodes of Season Two.
Got some improptu solos on Sunday Night
Finalised stuff at the Wedding Venue (over a couple of glasses of wine)

Downs:
Burned my hand cooking lunch on Saturday so couldn't play more Xbox.
Ran out of Episodes of Battlestar Galactica
Spilt a whole bottle of juice over myself whilst out shopping
Messed up one of my Solos :'(
Sunday was yet again followed by Monday

Coolest HTPC Ever

I've been doing a bit of surfing on the Mac Mini and considering it's uses as a HTPC or just as a source for displaying TV Shows now it has built in support for Front Row and Digital Audio out. However in all the searching I've been doing I stumbled across this on Joystiq. It's a HTPC built inside a NES console! Now that is a cool mod!

At ExtremeTech, John F. de Perczel has transformed an old NES console into a home theater PC using VIA's mini-ITX form factor EPIA motherboard and a 1GHz C3 processor. He says, "it streams music, surfs the Web, downloads movies, and runs NESticle like a champ. It won't, however, run iTunes visualizer in full-screen mode."

The page is dated 8/25/04, so we're willing to bet there are plenty of more powerful options available now if one were interested in updating the concept. How about shoving one of those new Mac minis into an NES?

I think casing a Mac Mini inside a NES Console as a HTPC has got to be one of the greatest and simplest ideas around... But would doing the same thing to an Xbox be the ultimate injustice?

I want a new Mac Mini!!!

Apple has announced the new Mac Mini with a Core Duo Intel Processor! It's so Cool!!!

The new box comes with Front Row, 4 usb ports and Optical Audio out! If this new Mac wasn't built for being a PVR I don't know what is!

Also released in this run of Apple announcements is iPod Hi-Fi!

Cnet have reviews of both products iPod Hifi and Mac Mini