Dave's Place in Space

Xbox 360

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:35:30 GMT

I finally took the plunge- I've been pondering between buying a Playstation 3 or an Xbox 360. I had pros and cons for both.. my PSP would hook up with the future proofed PS3, but then I have 35 Xbox games that I could play if I got a 360. Decisions decisions!

I decided that as I hadn't played my PSP for almost a year (all my handheld gaming time is spent with my beloved DS Lite), that therewas no point buying a PS3 for PSP-PS3 connectivity, so I traded it in and put it towards an Xbox 360. I got a pretty good deal; an Xbox 360 premium bundle with Battlefield: Bad Company, Alone in the Dark and the Bourne Conspiracy cost me £100. And my PSP and 16 games.. :)

Alone in the Dark was good, but flawed. I played (well, skipped) through it in a day, just to see what it was all about, then traded it in, coming home with Testdrive Unlimited, Rainbow Six: Vegas and 2100 Microsoft points.

So within 2 days, I had four Xbox 360 games, and a few Xbox Live Arcade downloads.

Happy days!

If anybody fancies a game, my gamertag is xboxsatch.

TTFN!

I wonder....

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:07:24 GMT

I woke up this morning and thought to myself: "I wonder who invented Table Tennis?". This may sound like a strange thing to wake up thinking about, and the last time it happened I asked myself "Who invented the stapler?". I wonder about a lot of things. Life is full of questions, and I ask myself a lot of questions (not out loud, of course, because people would think I was mad).

As I walked to work this morning, I wondered about a lot of things. I wonder what the snatched conversations on mobile phones as I walk past people are about. I wondered about a joke shared by some guys on a building site. Was it really funny? I wondered if a young boy who was being taken to school by his mum noticed me and wondered about the man with the long hair? I wondered about the routine of the Scotrail woman I see every morning parking in the same place and buying her parking ticket. I wondered how people that wander up the street absorbed in their newspaper or texting friends don't end up walking into other people or even traffic.

The mundane routine walk to work becomes quite interesting if you take notice of your surroundings and the things that are going on that we never notice.

I bet you the next time someone asks "anything exciting happen today?" that your reply won't be "hmm.. same as usual".

Oh.. James Gibb and E.C. Goode popularised Table Tennis as we know it in 1901.. in case you were wondering :)

Until next time...

Derren Brown is gay!

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:11:07 GMT

It's been reported in some tabloids that Derren Brown has been having a relationship with another man and is gay. Wow! Am I supposed to think "well, I really liked Derren's act before, but now he's gay, I hate his stuff"? No, would be the resounding answer to that.

A few people might feel that way, but I think that's very narrow minded, not to mention just a bit niaive. Stephen Fry is gay. Noel Fielding may be gay. Derren Brown is gay. Does that make these guys and less witty? Any less intelligent? Of course not! Why do I need a tabloid newspaper to flaunt this trash and "expose" celebrities as gay? What the hell does it matter?!

For the record, I'm not gay, and I love Stephen Fry, Derren Brown and Noel Fieldings work. I'd love to meet them someday and have a chat! I admire these, amongst other men (not because they're gay), and some people have even hinted that I'm gay (probably in jest!) because I admire them! I admitted to a friend that I wished I had a body like Chrisitan Bale in Batman, and that I admire him. I admire Patrick Stewart, Sting, Joe Satriani, Dara O'Briain, Bill Bailey, Michael J. Fox as well as the guys mentioned above. That doesn't make me gay! And if it did, well then I must be gay.

The whole point is.. who cares?!

Good luck to Derren ;)

UK Office of Government and Commerce Logo

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:03:08 GMT

Another spectacular waste of taxpayer's money this.. although the comedy value is priceless.

The image below shows the new logo for the OGC.. this was preprinted on mousemats and pens in preparation for the re-branding, until someone pointed out that if you tilt your head 90 degrees to the left, it takes on an entirely new meaning ;)

Read the full story here: OGC Logo

Xbox Update

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:29:23 GMT

Well, after my last post, I've spent a few quid on ebay and secure some of the games I spoke about before. Here's my recent purchases:

- Black. Awesome game that is gorgeous to look at and highly satisfying t oplay. Cost me a tenner and worth every penny.

- Batman Begins. Sweet!

- Ninja Gaiden. Beautiful game, fast and frantic, with weapons aplenty.

- MotoGP 3. Hard as nails to get to grips with, but very rewarding if you stick with it.

- Ultimate Spider Man. I've got this on my DS, and its just as cool as the Xbox version. The above four games were in the "4 for £20" in Gamestation.

- Fight Night Round 2. After reding reviews, this seems the best out of the Fight Night series, and is certainly a great game. £2 for this one..

- Forza Motorsport. Lordy, this game is gorgeous. Moves like sh!t off a shovel too- the Xbox Gran Turismo! £2 for this too..

- Half Life 2. Just as nice as the PC version, and great fun. £2 for this too!

- Project Gotham Racing 2. Take a Ferrari for a spin around Edinburgh.. and I even recognised the shops! Beautiful, and guess how mich? £2!!

I think thats it.. 9 games for £38 (an average of £4 per game) can't be bad!

So there we are- there's still life in the Xbox if you give it a chance.. I played Halo 2 against a buch of nice American chaps the other day, so Xbox live is still going (although I think it's expensive at £40 a year).

Go grab a bargain!

Xbox Live(s)?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:16:31 GMT

I've been going through a bit of a retro phase recently, and I've been spending a lot of time with my old Xbox (the original black fellow, not the new 360 variety). I'm surprised at the quality of some of the games- some, of course are looking a tad dated, but there are a few stand out games. Doom 3, Black and Burnout Revenge spring to mind. Even Sega GT 2002, which came free with the Xbox, manages to look great.

See, I'm one of these strange fellows (my best pal Aidan is of the same mindset) that thinks games don't have to look gorgeous as long as they play well. That's the reason I still play Atari 2600 games to this day!

So, having scoured ebay, I was thinking: what games would I really like for my Xbox? Games that I didn't want (or more likely couldn't afford) to pay £45 for? Well.. here's a few:

Black - top of my list for purchase. Looks like a 360 title- amazing. 'Nuff said :)
Batman Begins - I love Batman. And a Jolly good fighter to boot. Had it on my PS2 before I sold it.
Fight Night Round 3 - still looks the part, even if it doesn't have the sweat trickles of the 360- great fun to play.
Steel Battalion - came with its own 40 button control deck with dual joysticks- woohoo!
Forza Motorsport - looks beautiful, and customisable to death.

On the plus side, I found out how easy it was to connect to Xbox Live, on both the 360 and the original Xbox. Basically, if you have a laptop with wireless, you can connect in seconds using one cable. The 360 uses a standard Ethernet cable, whilst the original Xbox needs a crossover cable. Plug it into your laptop, hook up your Xbox of choice and it should pick up your network. Easy peasy.

So, the moral of the story? Don't get rid of your old consoles just because there's a new shiny one on the market. Go back and play the games- you might just find you enjoy yourself!

Oh- and if you live near Edinburgh or Glasgow and have old Xbox games or peripherals to sell, drop me a line!

Pocket PC Themes

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:42:49 GMT

Having acquired a shiny "new" Dell Axim X50v PDA, I've been playing around with it. Most of the "Today" themes that you get with PDAs are *okay*, but nothing spectacular.

I looked for some new themes, specifically an Amiga one, 'cos I'm going through another retro phase at the moment, but couldn't find any I liked. "Wouldn't it be good if I could create my own themes", I thought.

And you can.

With an excellent guide from Pocket PC Themes, you can learn where to get the software you need (it's free if you run Windows Mobile 2002/2003), and how to create your images etc.

I've created two themes, and each took me about 30 mins to create.

Here's a preview of them:

Not bad, eh?

If you'd like to download them, here's two links to the files:

Amiga 1200 Theme (15k .tsk file)
Joe Satriani Theme (31k .tsk file)

Once you've downloaded these, browse your PDA to the root/Windows directory and copy the .tsk file there.

You can change it in the settings/today section.

Have fun, and let me know if you make anything funky!

Until next time..

Garageband for Windows?

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:40:03 GMT

OK- I like writing music. I like mucking about with samples, remixing tracks and doing all sorts of daft stuff. I've used some big applications to do this before: Cakewalk, Cubase, Soundforge, Acid Pro, Reason.. but here's the thing. They are all great bits of software, but they're complicated. They offer SOOOO much (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and this makes them hard to use for basic stuff. If you want to simply throw a few samples together and make a quick, fun tune, your only option really would be Acid music.

Now, I've played on my mate's iMac, and he gave me a go on Garageband, which I thought looked like a toy. At first. When I got into it, he couldn't get me off it again! Having all you Apple loops at your fingertips, simple controls, and the ability to plug a guitar or anything else in and throw together a quick song idea was great. You could always take it and polish it in a more powerful app later if that's what you wanted to do.

Anyway, this has set me on a path of jealousy- I've always liked the iMac (see my post PCs vs Macs below), and I've been on the verge of buying one- until now.

What's changed, I hear you ask?

Well, I use my laptop for making music, amongst other things. Like I mentioned earlier, I use Reason and other tools, which are amazing. I am a great advocate of Open Source software, and I am eternally grateful to the guys n' gals clever enough to write great applications that are free. So I thought to myself- there MUST be an open source alternative to Garageband. But there isn't. Unless it's hiding in some dark undiscovered corner of the web, I can't find it.

So why all the initial excitement? Well, I found this absolutely amazing bit of software called TrakAx. It looks great, is very easy to use, supports ASIO direct recording, so you can plug a guitar in and go, and even supports VST plug ins! It will do video stuff too, if you fancy it.. but that's not for me, yet. Here's a nice pic of the mixing environment:

The best thing about this? It's totally free. No catches, no hidden spyware.. just free. AND you can download extra trakPacks (think Apple Loops) for a very small fee ($1.99).

I f***ing love this program. I hope it doesn't blow up or decide to cut out after 5 days or something (it's not a demo or anything). There's lots of tutorials and stuff on their website, so go and have a look.. you can find them here:

TrakAx for Windows

Much love and Karma to the developers of this GREAT program!

I don't need an iMac now.. :)

Dr Angry and Mr Smile

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:25:51 GMT

So, the picture filling everyone's inbox at the moment is "Dr Angry and Mr Smile" (or one of a million other different names). If you haven't seen it, have a look at this:

What you should see is an angry man on one side, and a "calm" woman on the other. The starting side differs for people depending on your perception of things.

Now.. keep looking at the image, but step away from it. Keep going.. the angry/calm images will swap sides. Ace, isn't it?!

I was very impressed with this, and had to know how it worked.

The image was developed in 1998 by Prof. Phillipe Schyns and Aude Oliva from Glasgow University as part of a study into facial recognition and perception. I emailed Prof. Schyns and requested some of his papers on Cognitive Psychology, as I'm quite interested in Psychology in general, and he was kind enough to supply me with not only the explanation/ tudy paper for the above image, but several others too. I'm sure if you contacted him and asked nicely he might oblige. You can read more about Prof. Schyns and his studies at the Glasgow University Dept. of Psychology webpage. The title of the paper explaining the above image is "Dr. Angry and Mr. Smile: when categorization flexibly modifies the perception of faces in rapid visual presentations".

Enjoy!

Windows Live Writer

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:37:41 GMT

So.. what is Windows Live Writer, I hear you ask?

Well, it's a great little program (free, I might add), that allows you to easily write, update, and generally administer your blog.

I presume it was written specifically with Windows Live Spaces in mind, because one button publishes all your stuff perfectly.

It might be the excuse I've needed to actually write stuff on my Space.

All I need to know now is.. does anyone actually read my blog?

If you don't have Windows Live Writer, check it out here

Until next time...

PCs vs Macs

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:32:45 GMT

No, this isn't the usual "PCs are better than Macs" kind of slanging match. It's about my eternal quandary about PCs and Macs.

You see, I love my PCs. I think Vista is a great OS. However, I don't "love" my PCs in the same way I did my Amiga. My laptop is brilliant, and is my main PC for photos and music. It has Vista, and it's great. I haven't had any severe headaches with Vista, and think Microsoft are trying hard to get this one right.

But here's the thing. I also love the iMac. Now, I don't actually own one, but I think they look great. Mac displays are possibly the best in the world, IMO. I love the iPod. Again, I don't have one. I love the Time Capsule wireless backup unit. And no, I don't have one. The trouble is that Apple are like a technological drug dealer.. the Mac Expo and their site full of sexily produced soft lit videos seduce you into the Apple way of thinking. You need another fix of Mac, even if you're not entirely sure why. If you're a PC user, it's like visiting a naughty mistress.. it's all a bit taboo. The likenesses don't stop there either.. Apple products will empty your wallet faster than an all day ticket at the Blackpool Pleasure beach.

I miss my Amiga. I miss the loyalty and the community of it. The Mac entices me with a similar kind of loyalty and community. If I'm willing to thrust thousands of hard earned pounds their way, Apple will whisper sweet, brushed aluminium nothings into my ears via an iPod Nano (for up to 30 hours). The problem is that the grass isn't always greener.. if I ever bought a Mac, the mystery would be gone, and I wouldn't have anything to long for.

So what is the answer to all this? I'll continue using my laptop (a rather excellent Fujitsu Siemens Amilio, if you're interested), Windows Vista, and maybe even my Amiga 1200 which I still have nestled snuggly in my loft. But I'll still go on looking at Macs with longing stares (I might even buy one someday).. until Amiga finally release their new machine.

AtariAge - Have You Played Atari Today?

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:16:37 GMT

I love this site. It's THE first stop if you're interested in Atari gaming in any way. I have a major love for the 2600.. I've recently started collecting boxed games that I had or always wanted as a kid. Atariage.com is a massive resource for everything you could ever want to know about all the Atari systems and games, with manual and box scans, screenshots, ROMs and more.. have a look!

Even if you don't own an Atari, its a brilliantly designed site as well!

AtariAge - Have You Played Atari Today?

Windows Mobile Device Centre and Outlook

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:25:46 GMT

If you have Windows Vista and a PDA, chances are at some point you're going to want to synchronise the two, perhaps backing up your contacts. If you do, you're stuffed, 'cos version 6.1 of Windows Mobile Device Centre doesn't support Vista's Outlook replacement, Windows Mail. Go figure!

According to the MSDN forums, this is "on their roadmap" for development, but that doesn't help just now!

The solution? Use Outlook Express (presuming, of course, that you aren't rich enough to use Microsoft Office, or you don't choose to use the rather excellent OpenOffice). Where do you get Outlook Express from? Therein lies the problem.. Microsoft don't support it anymoe, so you can't download it from them.

After a bit of searching, I managed to find a legitimate link, so here you go : Download Outlook Express

Good luck, and enjoy :)

Talking about Magic Food in the Grocery Store

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:06:49 GMT

Another amazing magic video.. how do these guys do it?!

Quote

Magic Food in the Grocery Store

Video: Magic Food in the Grocery Store

Talking about Magic - Pulling objects through glass

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:53:36 GMT

This is brilliant- watch it to the end to be truly impressed :)

Quote

Magic - Pulling objects through glass

Video: Magic - Pulling objects through glass

An Update!

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:33:44 GMT

Good lord, it's been a while. I've finally got broadband (well, 512k "broadband"), and I can do things like update my spaces page that I always forget about. I'll get some photos of the new (completed) house up soon. One thing to check out though is THE reason to own a Wii (as if you needed one!).. check out Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

ttfn

Dave

The New House

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:55:34 GMT

Well, I move out of my existing house on the 6th of July after 3 happy years. As you can see from the photos on the top right, my new house isn't finished yet, but hopefully we'll get in soon- I can't wait to move in!

Low Flying 747

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:41:02 GMT

Wowser! Saw this on MSN video.. I love 'planes, but I don't know if I'd want to be lying on the beach when this appeared!

Low Flying 747

A Boeing 747-400 makes an amazing landing on the island of St. Maarten, just meters above the heads of curious onlookers.

World Gone Mad

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:55:49 GMT

Good God (or should that say monotheistic deity)?

The planet has gone of its' head- people wanting to kill Salman Rushdie and burning British flags, egg adverts being banned, computer games being banned because a murderer "may have been influenced by a computer game".. Orwellian future, anyone? V for Vendetta?

I'm sick of all this over-enforced political correctness rubbish. People are scared to say anything in case pressure groups jump on them and accuse them of a multitude of sins (no doubt angering several religions in the process). Why can't everyone get along without forcing extreme views on each other and arguing? Or is that a very primary school outlook on life? The police have absolutely no power to do anything to anyone, Burberry is the main focus of a social revolution (man), the government lives in Americas pocket, and it won't stop raining!

Arrgh!

http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=5298922

Photo Album: Universal Studios, Florida

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:05:23 GMT

Universal Studios, Florida

Entrance to Universal Studios

The Back to the Future Delorean!

I Meet Doc Brown!

Leaving at Night

Photo Album: New House Build

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:00:13 GMT

New House Build

March 2007

May 2007

Early June 2007

June 2007

End of June 2007

June 2007

Photo Album: Joe Satriani

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:58:18 GMT

Joe Satriani

Signed Flyer

Joe and Me!

Me and Joe's Guitars

Signed Backstage Pass

Book List: Book List

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:17:58 GMT

Thomas Harris: Hannibal Lecter Trilogy
Although I read the Hannibal books seperately, this is an ideal compilation. Enter the mind of twisted serial killer Hannibal Lecter, and the cat and mouse chase from the FBI as they try to outwit him.. even though he's already in prison...
Ian Rankin: Knots And Crosses
Simply brilliant. My first dip into the world of D.I. Rebus, and what a great book this is. Well written, great dialogue, and set in my hometown of Edinburgh! Good plot twist; I thoroughly enjoyed this. Do yourself a favour and pick up a copy :)
Bill Bryson: Notes from a Small Island
An American journalist lands on the shores of Britain in the 70's, penniless, jobless, and bewildered by the strange British customs. Follow Bryson as he recreates his initial tour of Britain using only public transport, and the hilarity that follows!
James Twining: The Double Eagle
Best book I've read for ages! A retired art thief is forced to do one more job by the FBI, and nothing is quite as it seems.. great twists, great dialogue, great book!
Derren Brown: Tricks of the Mind
Just brilliant! Derren writes as he speaks- with intellectual wit and sarcasm. A brilliant and lighthearted introduction to psychology, neuro-linguistic programming, hypnosis and a lot more. Also debunks some popular myths.. buy it now!

Custom List: Games

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:14:34 GMT

Games

Excite Truck (Wii)
A fantastic arcade racer. Take a big truck, some great tracks, throw in some Nitro and insane jumps, and off you go! Allows the use of MP3s on an SD card too, which is great!
Tekken: Dark Resurection (PSP)
Brilliant.. the best of Tekken in the palm of your hand! Bash those buttons until your fingers bleed- this plays beautifully and flows just like the PS1/PS2 original. A must have!
Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits (DS)
15 of the best Konami arcade hits faithfully reproduced on the Nintendo DS. You can't beat playing Track n' Field or Gryzor on the train!
Super Mario Galaxy
Good Lord, I'm addicted to this game! It's won accolades left right and centre, including best game of 2007. Go and buy it and see JUST how innovative the guys at Nintendo really are! You'll find yourself having "just one more go".. :)
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Brilliant. The original game gets a graphics overhaul, and some Wii exclusive features to boot. I never like the Tomb Raider games before this, but this is ace. Nice Wii controls make aiming easy, and the use of the torch via the Wiimote is brilliant!

Music List: Music list

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:47:38 GMT