Sick in Townsville :(

Today is going to be a long day! I started getting sick at the airport this morning and thinking it was just feeling a bit blah because I didn't sleep so well. Turns out I'm actually sick. So yay! I get to spend the next two days in Townsville, trying to run a workshop while my head tries to explode!

smart fortwo sees red

I've always had a soft spot for the fortwo, not really sure why, maybe the fact that I could park it behind MinX in our garage might have something to do with it. This now one is very cool though in it's all red duco.

From Autoblog

smart fortwo edition red at the Paris Motor Show: smart fortwo as good as sold out
Böblingen, Aug 30, 2006
Before the fortwo successor model becomes available in the spring of 2007, the smart fortwo edition red will be offered for sale as a final special model to mark the phase-out of the current model. The sporty two-seater will be exhibited at the Paris Motor Show (28 September - 08 October 2006).

The current smart fortwo model is already as good as sold out and it has achieved cult status within a very short space of time. Due to the high demand, production in Hambach, France, was increased once more at the beginning of this year. More than 750,000 vehicles have been delivered to customers since the market launch in October 1998.

The smart fortwo edition red is just as sporty as it looks: the BRABUS engine has a power output of 55 kW (75 bhp). 16 inch alloy wheels, a front spoiler and sports rear muffler further underline the sporty appearance. And as the name says, the tridion safety cell and bodypanels are painted in "intensive red".

Leather and Alcantara with elaborately stitched seams dominate in the interior of the smart fortwo edition red. Special contrast components in "intensive red" and aluminium pedals add to the exclusive look. Air conditioning and an audio system with an MP3 interface are also part of the package. The smart fortwo edition red is available as a coupé or a cabrio and costs € 20,995 and € 23,695 respectively.

Nintendo Wifi reaches 2 Million Users

Quote:

AT 2 MILLION STRONG, NINTENDO'S WIRELESS GAMING COMMUNITY GROWS LARGER THAN 15 U.S. STATES Numbers Expected to Soar with Release of New Star Fox Command Dogfight Game REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 28, 2006 - Late on Thursday, a Nintendo DS™ owner logged onto Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection for the first time. That person unknowingly became the 2 millionth unique player to use Nintendo's wireless gaming service. To put that number in perspective, the population of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection users now surpasses the population of 15 different U.S. states, including Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico. In addition to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection surpassing 2 million unique players, the service has also logged more than 70 million individual game sessions in just more than nine months of operation, a number expected to soar as more and more Wi-Fi-enabled titles are released. "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection continues to set the standard for easy, fun and safe wireless gaming," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Our hand-held leadership will continue unabated with today's launch of Star Fox Command and the anticipation of our upcoming Wi-Fi titles." Today the hugely popular Star Fox series goes wireless with Star Fox® Command for Nintendo DS. The sci-fi space combat game marks the first-ever portable, Wi-Fi-enabled Star Fox game. Up to four players, be they friends or strangers, can meet up on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to blow each other out of the sky in white-knuckle dogfights. In addition to multiplayer Wi-Fi dogfights, the 3-D space shooter Star Fox Command also lets players use the DS touch screen to draw out their flight plans, steer their Arwing fighters and drop bombs on enemies. Rubbing the touch screen sends the fighter into a barrel roll. The game uses elements of both real-time combat and turn-based strategy games, and includes a familiar array of popular animal characters from the Star Fox universe, including Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Krystal and Slippy Toad.

It's a pretty impressive statistic considering there are really only 5 games that are compatible with the Wifi system. I done my fair share of contribution to the 70 million individual game sessions, with Metroid Prime: Hunters being the main culprit. The success of this model for Nintendo will probably result in a similar model for the Wii online service and the continue of the friend code in an attempt to keep the Nintendo system a bit cleaner and kid friendly than the Xbox Live world.

The sky is falling

Now here's a bit of a change, I'm standing huddled under a bus shelter soaked to the bones shivering. It's been months since we've had this sort of rain and the dust on Ness's soccer field was an indication me how much we need the rain. Right now though I'd give anything for an umbrella (or a towel) as i watch another full bus go past. I'm also really glad I decided to wear a white shirt today! Not sure the rain going to be around long enough to make any sort of difference.

A change is it the air!

Over the weekend I picked up a (tiny) second TV to start of a dedicated Gaming/Media room. In an effort to try and streamline the setup in the lounge room the first step was try and move some of the gaming gear into the study that used to house the iMac. So far the skeleton of a gaming rig is there and the only thing i'm really going to miss is the surround sound but i'm sure that can be easily fixed. Eventually if we ever upgrade the Loewe in the main room it would make its way to the gaming rig. Until then the mini Sony Wega will hold the fort (also means there is a chance for some dual consoling).

A perfect start to the day

Well we had a first coffee in the new machine this morning and it was great! Just like popping into the coffee cart on your way to work, the only problem was it made me late and I didn't leave the house until 8:40. Still, I managed to make it to work by 9:05 and still beat my customer in! :)

 

So far we've only tried the latte, haven't made it to a cappuccino yet, but there's still time :)
 

Let them have froth!

It's been about a year since our last coffee machine, a nice Delonghi one that automatically frothed the milk for you that we got really cheap from a David Jones sale, stopped working. I've been bugging Ness off and on ever since then for a new one. The problem is that most of the ones that do the milk for you are above $1000, and there are a lot of trips to Naked in that. A couple of weeks ago in the city I got hit up by a Nespresso Salesman in the Myer centre. Since I saw them make a coffee in one of these I was hooked. Mainly because took almost no cleaning! You could also get a jug that would froth and heat your milk for you.

Aeroccino
The Aeroccino is an automatic and amazingly simple way of creating light, creamy milk froth. Just pour in some cold, fresh milk and press the button. Compact and quiet, the Aeroccino quickly produces an exceptional quality milk froth, which you can enjoy in many different coffee recipes. It can also be used to heat milk for a cafe latte.

After a couple of weeks of bugging we stumbled across one on sale with the jug throw in for free. We trawled across a few stores who all said they couldn't get the stock but had another similar one for $100 more (although they looked exactly the same). Not having a model number in the catalog and not being born yesterday we decided to give it a miss. However, today we stumbled across an even better deal including the Heating Jug, so after Ness sampled the coffee it was a done deal!

Cappacino's here we come...

The Stereotypes the DS breaks (and why MP:H isn't good for plane flights)

On my flight back from Townsville, in what is no surprise, I was happily plugging away at a few missions of AW:DS. I'd tried running through the gamut of games I had with me and it was by far the most practical for a 2 hour plane flight. MP:H (my current favourite) is not a flight friendly game by an stretch of the imagination: 1. You can't play rounds against bots because it turns on the wireless (makes cabin crew cranky) 2. You inevitable get to the end of the flight half way through a stage of the Story mode miles from any save point and have to shut it off! But I digress...

The really amazing part of the journey was spending 20 mins discussing the pros and cons of various games for plane flights with one of the Virgin Blue Hostesses. As the food cart was coming up the centre isle "What are you playing?" floated from one of the hostesses, I replied "A Nintendo DS." Which was greated with "Um, I can see that, what game are you playing?". I must admit it was the last person I expected to be quizzing me on what I was playing. After swapping game catalogs and recommendations until she was kindly reminded that she was supposed to be surving some of the other passengers.

Just another example that the Nintendo isn't just reaching out to the classic basement dwelling gamer...

Blogging from my phone again

On my way out of Townsville, thank goodness! I'm in a suit and it's about 1000 degrees so it's not the most pleasant situation. The only down side is i'm due back next week (might not wear my winter suit) Necessity dictated I get the email working on my phone again, so here we are.

Quotes for the day

"You'll be able to see a complete 180 degree view of the data." "Effecitively automatically basically it will be automatically assigned..."

Great Escape

Almost makes you want to get a Hummer..... almost

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/22/video-the-great-escape-from-work/

Time really flies

Ah sunny touched down in Townsville, well at least i'm sure it would be if it wasn't night time. It's bee a long time since I've had to fly for work and it's amazing how quickly the time goes when you're fighting though an Advance War: Dual Strike campaign. The stylus was a much better way to play on the plane as I was crammed in a middle seat and was surprisingly easy to adapt to.

Harmonised.... (Brief review of the Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote)

Well we're now in Harmony (beware I'm sure there are more bad puns to follow)

The Logitech Harmony 550 is now setup and settling in as our replacement for all of the remotes. The initial setup of the system couldn't be easier. I have setup one once before but it's a very intuitive process from the outset. The first step (fairly obviously) is to identify all of the devices which is achieved by selecting the type of device, selecting the brand and typing in the model number (or selecting it from a list). This bit was fairly impressive to the point of being able to now control my air con remotely, something I previously didn't have a remote for.
Once you've got all your bits and bobs entered, it starts by asking you about the activities you like to do i.e. Watch a DVD, Watch TV etc. This is a great way of getting your system working the way you want without having to press endless numbers of buttons on several remotes.

The whole thing took about 10 mins to get going. Although the initial setup wasn't perfect. The commands for the TV to change to the right input weren't quite right and it did take me about 30 mins of mucking around to get it to select the right input and change the aspect ratio to the desired one for all of the "Video" activities.

The extra time however was well worth it. The system now works very well and makes it a breeze to turn on the whole stereo to watch TV. It is literally one button to turn on the TV, the Amp and the Settop box, set the Amp to the right input, set the TV to the right input and change the aspect ratio.

My only real complaint is with the backlight on the screen. To see the screen properly you really have to hold it on a bit of an angle. I'm not sure if it is a problem with my particular unit or the model in general. But it's a pretty small quibble considering the quality of the rest of the product.

I would definately recommend anyone with more than 2 remotes go out and get one of these. I picked mine up for $170 AUD and the model below that will control slightly less devices is on sale for $150.

(For reference it is setup to control, Loewe Xelos 5381 ZW, Yamaha RX-V2200, Topfield PVR5000t, Toshiba SD-350E, Sony CDX355 mulitchanger, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox and Mitsubishi Air Con)

Living in Harmony

Well the resistance didn't last long... I've now got the Harmony remote. Ah.. Retail therapy is there nothing it can't solve! Stay tuned for opinions once I get it set up.

Slowly on the mend.

My customer gave me an early mark (not because I was sick but because they were going home), I've had some painkillers, another 2 bottles of water, a coffee and some time with the 'net (go web! in case you didn't notice the flood of posts before this). As a result I'm starting to feel a little bit better, not great but definately more human...

I must still be sick though because I did manage to not buy a Logitech Harmony 550 despite it being on sale AND it being pay day today.

I would have also blogged about NASA and first direct proof of dark matter but I don't have enough understanding of the subject to provide any sort of useful comment so you can just read if for yourself.

If the PSP wasn't girly enough already....

It now comes in Pink

end Nintendo Fanboy outburst....

What if you woke up one day and were a Pokémon?

The official website for the upcoming DS/GBA Pokémon series, Mystery Dungeon has launched complete with a test to determine what Pokémon you are. Mildy curious I thought I'd give it a shot...
What Pokémon are you?

An Underwater Lightbulb

This is one of the coolest and wrong electrial projects doing the rounds. A light bulb completely submerged in water, complete with dimmer switch!

Didn't anyone tell this guy that water and electricity don't mix? It's so wrong I just have to have one!

Definately something to put on the "don't try this at home" list.

Wet Lamp

Nintendo start their Viral Marketing

Nintendo have started a My Space site for the yet to be release Wii. How Wii Play doesn't have much on it at the moment apart from a kazillion comments along the lines of "bring it out already" but I'm sure it will get some real content at some point.

Feeling decidedly unwell

Will the person trying to drill through my skull please stop! I feel terrible today I have a worse headache than any of my recent hangovers and i'm starting to feel quite sick. The worst bit is i'm flying to Townsville tomorrow!

Why didn't I email my shopping list?

I've been very spacey today. No real reason but writing Sql data migration plans all day certainly didn't help. I'm doing the hunting and gathering duties while ness is at the gym. Thought it would be a nice change to ferry it across to bulimba. Why was it only as I was getting on the ferry i realise the shopping list is still at home.

Cruising through a Sunday Afternoon

After a big, but not huge, night yesterday with Daniel and Georgina's Wedding. I was a little on the fragile side this morning. Not hideously hung over but just enough to know I hadn't had the earliest night. We had a lot of fun at the reception, not impeded at all by the alcohol consumption. The wedding was nice, even if I did find the Priest just a little on the strange side. I must admit it was the first time I've ever heard a Priest say "I just don't know what to say at weddings any more". The both looked very happy though and you can't ask for more than that.

The happy couple headed off from the reception about 10:30, and not willing to call it a night just yet we headed to the The Bowery in the valley to kick on. It was packed, it's been a long time since I've lined up to get into a bar, it was almost enough to call it a night there and then. I'm not sure what time we got home but it wasn't much after 1:30 and that mainly due to the decision to walk home after one look at the cab ranks.

I had to sing this morning which meant an early start and a walk into the city at about 8 so I wasn't feeling the best.

It got better by about midday and I was back on track for the rest of the day. Which was lucky because I was determined not to waste the beautiful weather outside we headed out for a bit of lunch and some cruisy drinks (clearly I hadn't had enough the night before).

It was such a great afternoon with Sun just pouring in over the streets that there wasn't a better way to spend it than sitting out at Girder having a few glasses of wine and spot of lunch with Bee. The only problem was trying to get motivated to do anything else but sit back and soak up some Sunlight.

It was a great afternoon, the food was excellent and pretty cheap (we all ate for about $10 ea), pleanty more wine and a great atmosphere. Couldn't think of a better way to cap off the weekend.

MiniDisk is dead!

After supporting it for years part the time it became an obsolete format, I have finally let go of yet another misunderstood propriety format from Sony. The final nail in the coffin was Vanessa's new iPod nano. There is really no contest when you compare iTunes to Sony's SonicStage. So it's goodbye to the MiniDisk format for me! At least it hung around longer than UMD.

A cruel irony

After finally getting myself into gear to sell the blue car, I've hit a small snag. Some time between getting the windscreen replaced and taking it to daniel and georgina's wedding a line soul has reversed into it'so it looks like it's going to have one more trip to the panel beaters before it's sold.

Blast from the past on the DS

It the DS wasn't occupying enough of my life with Metroid: Prime Hunters, which has overtaken Burnout 3 and Advance Wars as my most played console game with more than 61 hours (so far), now they are going to release Lode Runner for the DS.

When green screens were all the rage this was one of my favourite time killers on my trusty old Apple IIc.

The details are only from the Official Japanese Hudson site at the moment. But by the looks of some of the screens it's going to be a great pick up and play title.






 

The end of a Very long weekend.

Ness and I took Monday and Tuesday off this week to run the Ekka holiday into a long weekend.

The time off has been great, we've pottered around the house, gone for some nice walks, checked out shops we were always meaning to go to and generally had a holiday.

The last day was probably not as relaxing as it could have been, with a hangover that could only attributed to the return of Bee from her 4 years of globe trotting. I can only live in fear of the hangovers to come....

The Blue Car is on it's way out.

It's a sad day for the Blue Car, after putting it off for so long, I finally started the process of getting sold. It had it's long cracked front window replaced this morning and is booked in for it's road worthy on Tuesday.

We're just looking at getting rid of it now so we'll try and price it for a quick sale and get it to a new home... (just to continue the fire sale thing we've got going on at the moment)
 
Insert plug here...

Abuse for Minx!

It was the strangest thing i've ever had yelled at me! "Convertibles went out 20 years ago!"
Really what sort of insult is that? And to top it off it was from the back of an old beaten up laser.

A soothing wake up call

Well it wasn't exactly the best start to the day today. After yet another social night out this week (with more Smirnoff Black Ice involved) I'd settled in for a nice nights sleep. Unfortunately the sleep gods had other ideas.
At the stirring hour of 3;30 I was woken by the gentle scream of "Please proceed to the nearest exit".

Nothing like a fire evacuation to interupt your sleep pattern.

I'm really starting to struggle now!

Credit Card-Sized Spanner

For some of us wearing a tool belt to work just isn't on the cards. In the first place it's so hard to get them in colours to match my shoes! If you still need to loosen bolts in your suit this could be the perfect solution: a Credit Card sized spanner. the card works on metric sizes ranging from M6 to M14 .

Busy week = Quiet Blogging

It's been a while (a week as Ben pointed out) since I've had a post up here (and yes I'm ok).

The last few weeks have been flat out with work, socialising and gaming.

MinX has recovered well from her recent rear window surgery and new shoes . I would highly recommend anyone in need of a rear window replacement in a convertable to check out Lee Brothers at Albion, there service was great and I can't fault the work at all! In fact I have more rear visability that ever, no difference top up or down in the rear view mirror.

Metroid Prime: Hunters has been my poisin of choice of late where gaming is concerned and is probably holds a lot of the responsibility for the lack of blogging taking up about every spare minute. Honestly, it's not my fault! If Nintendo hadn't put up online stats, point system and rankings I wouldn't feel the need to try and edge my self up a few spots every waking moment.

I did glut myself on the Saturday with Andrew and Valavien coming over for a massive 6 hour session of glorious DS action. In the end I had to stop only because my eyes were getting sore... We even had music provided by electroplankton ( http://us.touchgenerations.com/game_electroplankton.jsp)
"Man I'm still geeking out about it"

I haven't managed to pick it up again since really. Not even for quick lunchtime gaming session but mainly because my battery's been flat.

The biggest problem with regular blogging at the moment is my phone's refusal to send emails. No real reason, it has just decided that it doesn't want to email. So that puts a pretty dampner on "blogging on the go".

So I'm still alive... just slowly blogging.

Interesting Ideas on Saving elec

Now this is an interesting take on energy conservation. Using the daily commute to generate rather than just consume. Opens up a whole world of possibilites for energy generation in the future. Imagine if you could harness the energy from all the people going shopping ever day.

Japan Railway harvests passenger energy for fun and profit

The East Japan Railway Company is getting experimental with ways to make their train stations more environmentally friendly, and have turned to the warm bodies that fill their train seats for part of the solution. They've started installing ticket gates that generate electricity as people pass through them, harvesting the vibrations and pressure that results when people walk through the gates. It's not quite as nefarious as we were hoping for -- we think a bit of time chained to a stationary bicycle inside the train could do a commuter good -- but it still seems a pretty good idea, and we look forward to the results. Testing should last through August 11th, and most indications point to this being a fairly effective manner of getting electricity to where it's needed.