You know your friends are gamers when....

So you've seen the PSP advertisement (not that I'm trying to push the PSP campaign, but stay with me!) where the 4 people are at the beach and they all pull out there PSPs lean up against the car and playing wireless games... I remember seeing the ad and thinking, that sort of thing doesn't happen... well as I've discovered, when you have a DS and Ness has a DS AND you're friends have a DS it does happen...
The only thing wrong with this picture is I'm not playing a DS!!!
Currently everyone is getting stuck into Meteos, Yoshi Touch and Go! and Zoo Keeper. There was a bit of a Meteos challange just make sure that everyone's wifi was working. As a result of spending an hour and a half playing the DSes in the Indroopilly shopping centre car park, Ness wants her own copy of Zoo Keeper and Amelia wants her own DS!

Another Roar Match

We went to another Roar match on Saturday night... It was great we had front row seats just near the half way line, it was awesome being so close to the action. We've got tickets for the rest of the season and all of them are really close, in the front two rows. The game was a little frustrating, The Roar squandered a lot of their shots on goal but the flow of the game was great to watch. They played a much more attacking style of play, just would have been nice if they could have slotted a goal. I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the games for the season.

Stuck outside!

As Ness was heading out to boot camp again today I had planned to ride out to new farm, as I did last week, and meet her when she finished. Today, however, it was just not meant to be. The thing that started this predicament was leaving my keys at work before I headed out to a customer. It didn't seem to much of an issue as Ness was picking of up yesterday and we were planning on heading into the city today anyway. However things didn't turn out quite as planned. Not long after I'd left home I had a blowout on my rear tyre, and from here it was all down hill. I walked my bike back home only with the problem of being locked out of the house AND in my riding gear. Not even the clothes no the line are any use to me. So I'm now just chilling on the front balcony until Ness gets back. The worst part is I can see the DS from here but the only thing I can access are the uni books we keep in the garage! (lucky my phone has internet)

Addicted to Meteos

At first when Ness forgot to pick me up one night because she was playing Meteos and didn't remember any of our phone conversation I was a bit scathing of her addiction. Now, however I can completely understand! I have taken her copy of Meteos hostage over the last couple of days and I'm completely addicted. So much so that I've missed my bus stop on 3 separate occasions while playing 'just one more level'

The game is so involving that you loose all touch with the outside world while your trying to save all the planets from the evil planet Meteo! I think I've come to the point where I really need to get my own copy, simply so that challenges between Ness actually count to my stats! I need to unlock more planets!

Mario Kart DS!!!!

I got my to play a demo of Mario Kart DS and all I can say is bring on the 14th of November! It is very much a throw back to the Mario Kart 64 days, except I'm sure the graphics are better than they were on the 64. Although Double Dash was a good game in it's own right it didn't have the addictive nature and playability of the 64 version. They have captured the simple gaming elements that made this game a classic and it plays very well on the console.

I admit I was hooked.. I played it in the store for about 30mins and didn't want to put it down. Combine that with the fact that the game will online enabled makes it one of the most exciting titles to hit the console!

iTunes has landed

After struggling through trying to by music from HMV.com.au, iTunes has landed and come to the rescue. Although Sony/BMG has not jumped on the band wagon yet it will only be a matter of time. They are slightly more expensive than the HMV, which is surprising if you'd ever bought a CD from there, but they have a much better release range. Also the direct integration into iTunes on my iMac is great... the only problem is that it's not the easiest integration (if you could call it that) with my sony MD player. Looks like I'll just have to get myself an iPod.

Storm Season

I love the storm season, ever since I was a kid I would always love watching the
storm fronts form, move in across the sky and be captivated by the lightning
dancing through the sky. Even now the feeling in the air that a storm is on the
way is enough to make me feel that little bit excited. Last night as the storm
got into full swing we sat back in a darkened room and watched the flashes as
they lit up the night. Of course that alone didn't last long so it was
accompanied with a few hours on the DS. I've taken Ness's copy of Meteos
hostage, and have begun to discover why she is so addicted to it. I fear I will
be getting my own copy in the not to distant future.

In the end it was a great night; Hamburgers, Storm, Lightning and DS Challenges!
Honestly could you ask for anything else!

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Time for some new singles.

I've been going in and out of CD stores for the last few weeks trying to justify some new music but could never get around to chosing just one. Today I finally bit the bullet and downloaded a few of the new tracks that I'd been keen to listen to from HMV. After a few failed attempts to add credit to my account I finally got around to downloading a few tracks (most of which turned out to be dance tracks... looks like I'm going through a bit of a electronic phase again)

Goldfrapp - Ooh La La
Mint Royale - Singing in the Rain
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
Timo Mass - First Day

I also downloaded some older tracks which I never got around to getting a copy of like Weapon of Choice from Fatboy Slim and my favourite dance track ever (well so far anyway) Clubbed to Death by Rob Dougan. Ness also got a track which is really out of her normal punk genre, Gold Digger - Kanye West.

All in all it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, sitting with the sun streaming in and listening some new tunes.

What's with Firefly?

Before people start barrating me for not being a fan of the Firefly series, I'm really enjoying watching it!
As a series I think it's really well written, pleantly of action balanced with the right amount of humour and drama. The thing I don't get is the combination of half western, half space sci-fi mix. The part that sets off the continuity bells is the lact of flow on technology, it's like a series of the Magnificent Seven with the occasion spaceship throw in?? Did Joss Wheldon just want to make a western series but couldn't get the funding and to get around it made a 'sci-fi' series? Don't get me wrong I really like it... I just am a little confused about the justification...

Sunny Lismore

Made it to Lismore, there is a huge thunder storm here though. The worst bit is there is a risk that i'll get flooded in.

Next stop Lismore!

After getting back from Sydney at about 10pm I'm off to Lismore, this morning. I'm sitting in the back of a hire car with two sales guys arguing about the way to get there and how long it will take. Apparently Lismore is less than 2 hours from Brisbane. Time will tell just how long it will take. Lucky I bought my DS. But it's a pity i can't read in the car otherwise i'd finish the first book of the Belgariad.

Someone pinch me, I think I'm having a nightmare!

The day started out innocently enough, It was the last day in a small development project to implement some changes to a long standing system. The changes were fairly well documented by the client so it was simply a matter of implementing them. Yesterday we'd rolled all the changes from Development to Testing without and error, which was a little surprising as it involved implementing 9000 lines of SQL script. Testing went off fairly well everything functioned as it was intended and we were given the green light to roll into Production.

The downtime for the server was scheduled and we went about upgrading the Production environment. It was after this it all went pear-shaped, and none of it was to do with system. I was first approached about one of the changes the had been made. It functioned just as intended, but it turns out that no one asked the person using that aspect of the system if was what they wanted. They actually required completely different functionality. (The conversation is paraphrased as it really needs context in word for word form)
Client: "I've spoken to User A, they can't really use the system now. Is it possible for you to change that part of the system so it now triggers of several other aspects of the system?"
Me: "But I just changed that aspect of the system from being triggered off something else to not being triggered at all. Changing it again would impact all the aspects you want to trigger off, it would take some time to make all these new changes."
Client: "Oh, so you could have that in before you go?"
Me: "I'm sorry but no, it took a day to design, build and test the last change, it would take a similar amount of time"
Client: "Really, oh well how complex would it be just to put that change back to the way it was and leave the rest of them?"
Me: "Well only a couple of hours, but..."
Client: "Ok so can you change it then, let me know when you're done"

So I went on my merry way taking out the some of the code that I'd just put it back the way it was. Really this should have warned for what was to come.

The rest of the afternoon was confirming the design with the Head of the Department, and inspecting the other enhancements that have been included as part of the update. Once this was done the application was republished back to the organisation. It came to 4:45 and I started to pack up and head home. Just as I was about to put my laptop in my bag when I had another visit from the client.

Client: "So how much work is it to roll back the system to what it was before started?"
Me: Chuckle (Honestly I thought they were joking at this point it was quarter to 5!)
Client: "No, Seriously how much work is it to roll back the system to what it was before started?"
Me: "Why? What's wrong with the changes?"
Client: "Nothing, the changes are just what we wanted."
Me: "So why do we need to roll back?"
Client: "Well, we haven't discussed the changes with all of the users of the system and one of the sections is worried how it will change the way they work. Also with changes to the screen design the Head of the department is worried that the users will get confused when they see it."
Me: "But I thought you needed the changes to the system because of they changes to the way your business works?"
Client: "Well most of the sections do but we didn't really look into how Section E was using the system. So how long will it take?"
Me: "Well it will take at least a few hours..."
Client: "And then we'll just be able to turn on the changes when we want them back?"
Me: "Well not exactly... When I restore the system all the changes will be lost. I can put them in your test system, but there will be time involved in migrating back to production..."
Client: "Ok can you start right away?"
Me: "I'll have to change my flight back and obviously there will be extra charges for the time involved, and I'll need on of the IT guys to stay back, because I can't access the systems on my own."

So I started on putting the system back to it's original form. Only to be interupted again about 20mins later, it's not 5:40pm.

Client: "Have you finished rolling back yet?"
Me: "No, I've only just started the backups, they take about 40mins..."
Client: "Great, can you just leave it the way it is?"
Me: "What?"
Client: "Well we don't have the budget approval for any IT staff to stay back, so can you just leave it the way it is and disable it so no one can access it?"
Me: "Well I can but that would me you'd be with out a system?"
Client: "That's fine, we'll just leave it offline until we've discussed it further."
Me: "How will you function without the system?"
Client: "Well, can you leave it open for the administrator and then who ever needs to use the system will just come and ask them."
Me: (at this point I'm over it) "Sure,...... done, no one but the admin can access it. I'm going to go. Let me know when need to make any more changes."
Client: "Thanks."

So after 4 days of development the Client went from a system that wasn't quite fitting their new processes, to a new system, back to the old system and now no system at all.

Did I just fall into a Dilbert comic?

Looking for something to read?

How about Google Reader? Google recently (actually I’m not sure how long it’s been out but I recently found it in the what’s new section) released an RSS feed reader. I’d never really got onto the RSS band wagon because I’d never really bothered downloading a Feed Reader. The best thing about the Google Reader is that it bundles up all your feeds into one page that you can check from anywhere, anytime. It’s linked to your Gmail account and basically means to end to forgetting to browse a particular site for news updates. Once you’ve added all your favourite site feeds, blogs etc. it becomes a constant steam of updates, the only problem is finding enough time to digest it all. It comes with all the things I’ve come to know and love about the Gmail interface, although it’s not quite as polished and some aspects are a little counter intuitive, but it is in beta. It does work much better in Firefox than it does in IE.

Sydney Motorshow 2005

As Tom pointed out, I think I've made it to the motor show in Sydney for the last 3 years in a row! In contrast I don't think I've made it to the Brisbane version is as many years. The show was pretty standard as motor shows go... lots of gorgeous cars on display. I gave the RAZR's camera a good workout, taking about 70 photos. I'm pretty impressed with some of the shots that I managed to get with such a small lens.

Mind you it's pretty hard to make a Ferrari or Lamborghini look anything but gorgeous. The most unexpected thing I stumbled across was the Holden HSV-VXR, a concept car (at this stage) build on the new Astra Coupe. The big thing to notice is the 6.2sec 0-100 time, pretty impressive stats in anybody's language.
The most impressive concept car there was by far the Toyota MTRC. On looks alone the thing was streaks ahead. It basically looks like a two seater F1 Car.

All the photos I took (that actually looked like they were intentional) I put up on flickr, including shots of the Range Rover Sport for Tom and the Alfa Romeo Brera for Valavien.

Off to the motorshow

In a lucky turn of fate the motor show is on at Darling Harbour at the moment. From the press releases there are going to be some impressive pieces of machinery on show. I think i'll head down, RAZR in hand and catch some of the action.

Lunch in the Park

Had a pretty stressful meeting this afternoon. I don't know how many times I have to tell people but computers are not psychic, they don't even listen very well, you're not going to be able to yell at an interface and get it work out what you want. You really need to provide
it with some information, and although it's somewhat limiting the keyboard and mouse are our best input devices.

As a result (of not feeling very well to start off with) and being barked at "why can it just show me blah, why do I have to put in blah before it will search for it?" for an hour, I took a lunch break out at Hyde Park. It's a pretty sunny day in Sydney so it was a pretty relaxing time out. I think I might have to start using the park that's just around the corner from my office back in Brisbane.

I've just started reading The Belgariad series, Pawn of Prophecy. I stole it off Ness after she powered through them when we were in Sydney a few weeks ago. I'm finding it a bit hard to put down, but I'm trying to pace myself because I only brought the first one with me. So book in hand, I cruised through the lunch break unfortunately it all finished up too quickly. :(

Sick of Sydney

Or is that, Sick from Sydney.... well it is at least Sick in Sydney. After not feeling particularly good last night, I woke up this morning feeling even worse. The problem with working interstate is there is no real concept of staying home sick. So I’m back at work today… also not helping my feelings for the week is the possibility of going to Lismore on Friday. Being about 4 hours (according to whereis.com.au anyway) south of Brisbane it would make for a very long day :(

One good thing about being in Sydney however is the array of shops, I saw a really cool add on for the iPod yesterday. The iDock from Monitor Audio, works basically on the Bose SoundDock principle but with Monitor Audio Gear. I’ll post up some links when on not restricted only to phone internet.

No internet.

Somehow, I have to survive the week without internet... Nooooo! The hotel where i'm staying is undergoing renovations and as a result no broadband. Just to top it off there are no phone ports in the wall and the phone is wired in so no dial-up either. All i have now is phone internet. Not exactly the ideal situation. At least i can still blog no my phone!

Back to Sydney

Yes, it's 6am and I'm sitting in an airport lounge... again :( After a whirlwind trip to Sydney and back on Friday I had a fairly busy weekend. Most of yesterday was spent setting up Valavien's new projector. I'll post up some photos when I can get my phone to connect to my laptop again.

Phone Update: The new toy is awesome... some much easier than keeping my XDA in my pocket every day, I still haven't got all the web functions fully configured, as gmail doesn't seem to be supported.

Dodgy Installs R US

Well today was the day designated to Valvien's projector install. Tom and I headed down to Valvien's new place on Sunday afternoon to hook up (and mount) his new Acer-PD113P. Our biggest problem was finding somewhere to mount the unit. The throw ratio of the projector was made perfectly for the distance between the two beams holding up the roof. Which was a double bonus because we didn't have to fabricate anything to hold the screen on the wall. In the end the only fabrication that was required was a platform to sit the projector itself on.

After a quick trip to Bunnings for a few brackets, some MDF, screws and bolts we were on our way. Tom was a genious with the handsaw cutting a perfectly square shelf for the mount and with the idea to use the laminations in the beam to mount the screen perfectly level. The projector isn't quite so pretty... due to the projection angle from the roof it's currently sitting upside down resting on some pegs so it doesn't rest on the powerbutton. The cabling is also less than perfect.

Acer projector from Big-W - $1000
Hanging the cables over the light fittings on the roof (because they're too
short) - priceless

The highly technical halogen cable guide

The projector and platform

The photos aren't the best quality but the poor RAZR doesn't take the best pictures in low light conditions.

But it's a work in progress... and it's up there, working and almost perfectly square. All in all it took about 5 hours to measure, design, fabricate and install. Would definately be worth investigating a projector mount though if you didn't want to have the trouble of making your own platform and having to align the projector on that.

Oh another thing to note on the Acer-PD113P, the digital keystone correction doesn't work if it's displaying the ACER logo white screen, as we discover after 10 mins of trying to fix the image and getting no results, only to turn on the source and voila keystone!

And the finished product

The phone has landed

I picked up my new Motorola RAZR V3 this afternoon... and it's first task... this post.

What would you vote for?

The voting lines are now open for ABC TV's My Favourite Film. Everyone's got one - what's yours?

But how can you pick just one!?

Gadget averted

Without the chance to purchase a Harmony 880 remote to replace the dead one from my Yamaha and horrified by the proposition of getting off the couch to turn down the volume. I pulled out a screwdriver, took the broken one to bits, cleaned the terminals and voila! new gadget averted. Now I just need to find a new excuse to spend $330 on a new remote.

Funniest 30 minutes of TV

Last night endded up being a bit of a TV catchup session. Stuff is slowly building up on the PVR and my xbox has been taken hostage. I should have considered just how addictive Burnout 3 was before I leant it to Ben. Anyway, back to the tv, we watched the episode of the glasshouse from last wednesday and we were in stitches throughout the whole thing. The guests, Jean Kittson and Rhys Muldoon were just fantastic. The show can be pretty hit and miss but this episode was just hilarious.
On a sad note though if did mark the end of the line for Volume button on my Yamaha remote. It has been in slow decline for the last 6 months, but last night was tle end! Now it's time for some serious harmony remote research!

Hand Held Wireless Mayhem

Fresh on the back of the news that the PSP now has a Trojan, I stumbled across a way to download and play demos on your DS. This site lists demos available at E3 2005, and here gives you the details on exactly how to download them on you DS using the built in Download Play function.

I gave it a bit of a whirl last night but I don't have the right wireless card from Linksys. The question is whether it's worth buying another wireless adapter or whether I should just wait for the Official DS adapter.

While no Australian release has been confirmed as yet, Nintendo has announced that the USB Wi-Fi adapter will be available in the US on 14 November, the same day Mario Kart DS is released. For those who don't have a wireless Internet connection, the adapter can plug in to a computer's USB port to create a Wi-Fi connection with the DS. The price is still unknown for Australia, but Nintendo Europe will be selling the adapter for 30 pounds (AU$70).

Liksang have the device listed for under AU$60 and ready for shipping on November 14, which may be worth a pre-order with Mario Kart DS... (but there is so much coming out on the 14th it's going to be a big month)

The Final Straw

I'm blaming Amaya completely for my latest purchase! I'd been thinking about upgrading my PDA to a new phone, that was smaller than my DS. It looked cool in the shop, but when Amaya showed me that I could connect it to my PC and sync all my contacts etc, basically giving me the same functionality as my PDA. The other fact was that Optus would give me the phone on my current plan and give me $50 credit on my bill! As a result I have a Motorola RAZR V3 on order! Infact it's a MORONOIR because the black one looked much cooler. Don't know when it will be here but I'm very excited!

The Project gets a new home

After having problems with the Project being too close to all the other gear to be effective, I finally got around to moving it. It's now taken up a spot as the centrepiece underneath the red wall. Now all I need is another amp to actually get it produce some sound although it does make a great ornament!

Triumphant Return to the Blog

After a considerable absence from entries I've managed to get back to posting a new entry. The combination of being sick and working just about every waking hour made the thought of sitting in front of the PC for any longer than absolutely necessary a stomach churning proposition. Unfortunately over the weekend I managed to eat something I was allergic to and was sick again! (this is starting to become a regular occurrence) On the brighter side I had a weekend free from the thought of ITSM which was a welcomed change from the last month.

As for an update for the last few weeks, I've manage to get to precious little gaming. When I have managed to fit something in it has been mostly around the DS and Advance Wars. I've been tempted by the new Advance Wars: Dual Strike but I've committed to finishing the original GameBoy title.

In a strange turn of events Ness has managed to amass more DS titles than I have... Burn Direct had a one day member's sale on Saturday which I had intended on using to pick up a few of the titles that had been slow to make it to the PAL market. However, the only title I managed to find was Meteos. So that combined with Nintendogs and Yoshi Touch and Go! takes her well and truly into the lead! I must admit the multiplayer gaming on the DS has really matured over previous handhelds. The ability to play with others without the need for everyone to have their own copy of the game is a delight! (except when you're trying to beat Ness at puzzle games).

In other weekend news I managed to get to my first A-league match. It was a great night, despite the fact that the Roar couldn't topple the Mariners. The goal by Hyuk-Su Seo in the 57th minute was just amazing! Suncorp looks to be a great venue for the games, the seats that Amy, Ness and I had were great, really close to the action but still with a great view of the whole park! I think we're now firmly cemented into going to every remaining game.

I disappointing missed most of the Supercheap 1000 on Sunday due to my allergic reaction on Saturday night and spending most of the day in recovery mode. I did manage however to see the huge crash on lap 144 sparked by an incident between Murpy and Ambrose, and lets face it... it's all about the crashes!

Solid Food again

After spending all the weekend horribly ill, curled up in the fetal position on the couch I've finally been able to stomach some solid food. So much for having the weekend to myself while Ness was away. All I've managed to do is sleep (and be sick)...