XBox Fall Update (Part 2)


Further to my blog about the Xbox Fall Update it appears the details have been confirmed by the MS people

Downloadable Games
A perfect way for Microsoft to make sure everyone buys a bigger hard by allowing downloads of classic Xbox games and having loads of games everyone wants, the first games to appear are Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Halo, Fable, Fuzion Frenzy, and Psychonauts. prices start at $5 (£2.50) up to $15 (£7.50) per game.

View Your Friends' Friends
Similar to Facebook, look at who your friends are friends with, not sure this is really needed on the Xbox though.

Inside Xbox Feed
News on whats happening on the Xbox scene (Yawn)

Parental Timer
Stop your kids ruining your life by keeping you off your (their) Xbox.

....and finally and most importantly

DivX/Xvid playback
Stream your DVD rips and legally downloaded content direct from your PC (or USB Hard drvie/memory stick) to your XBox without need for additional software (or crappy Vista with MCE). Now I can watch my US TV programs on a proper telly.

Coming next Tuesday 4 December (or 5th for us lot who are on a works Christmas party - photocopies of arses will be scanned and posted here*)

To Mr BigfootCookie

Back in the good old days when we worked together in Birmingham, you were kind enough to teach me a little German,

I tried to use this German with Mr Trez's new bird (who is actually a little German), she was appalled at what I told her......

Apparently my pronunciation was all wrong, the correct pronunciation is as follows....

"Owa, Dass ist Miein arschloch"
(Pronounced - au-uh, Das ist mine arr-sh-lo-ch)

Mr Cook, would you make sure you use it this way in future, so as not to upset or offend people.

to anyone wlse reading this, please don't use, ever, EVER. as you can probably imagine, this phrase will often not be heard in everyday conversation (hopefully) although Mr Cook would say this 10 - 20 times a day.

Many thanks.
DB
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bigfootcookie said...

Thank you for the correction. It appears the videos I learnt it from had badly written scripts.......

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It's Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmas (in the style of Slade)

a Noddy Holder

It's that time of year where the world goes mad, spends a fortune, gets drunk, gets pregnant, gets fat, has a lot of time off work. In other words, the festive Christmas period, it's also a time that SWMBO hates as she has to think of things to buy me that I actually want, normally I am forced into doing a list, but this year we are having a year off from buying each other as we are

a - skint
and
b - are concentrating of buying baby SWMBO presents instead.


This means I can now put a guide to my perfect Christmas present list without fear that it's too expensive or impossible to get.

For Him (ahem Me!!!)

Digital Photo Frame - (£30 - £200) The basic ones aren't too bad , they do exactly what they should do, show photos stored on a memory card, the advanced ones, also play movies, play music and stream photos wirelessly, I have a Samsung SPF-72V and love it

Digital SLR Camera - (£300 - silly money)
The next step up from the "point and shoot" digital camera, add lenses, flashes, tripods and you'll look like a Pro, you wont be able to take photos like a pro but you'll look like one, I want a Canon EOS 400D but can wait until I know what I'm doing.

Nintendo Wii (£280) Perfect gaming for all the family, just avoid the injuries, even SWMBO is interested in one of these and she hated it when I got my Xbox

Xbox 360 (£200+)
Get the Elite if you can afford it, you'll soon be playing movies on your XBox 360, if you can't afford an Elite at least get the Premium, and be online with your mates till the early hours, making your days drag as you'll get no sleep and anno your work colleagues who haven't got an Xbox as you'll spend all day talking about them.
Games to buy - Assassins Creed, PGR4, COD4, Halo 3

Playstation 3 (£300+)
Im yet to be convinced as they have yet to bring out Grand Turismo, I'd be tempted by Singstar but can play it on my PS2 at a lot cheaper.

T-Shirt (£10 ish)
You just have to have a T-Shirt from T-Shirt Hell, virtually every shirt is offensive in one way or another, my favourites are this one and this one, oh and this one for the kids.

NAS (£180)
If you don't know what a NAS is, (and I don't mean the rapper who married Kelis), skip this bit. Freecom FSG-3 is great, 500Gb of storage, email server, web server, media server, torrent client all built into a little box the size of a book. A bit noisy for the bedroom though.


For Her

Erm - I'm not so good at that, so I'll be very very brief

Underwear from M&S Not the cheesy stuff that us men really like from Ann Summers, but the "nice" stuff that they'll actually wear. (See what I did there with the "bried leading to underwear - Genius)
Gift Vouchers River Island, Oasis etc,

Ipod Fill it with music and they'll ignore you all day, the bigger the drive the more they'll ignore you.

Beauty makeover Better still a Colour Me Beautiful session. This may backfire however with you being accused of thinking they need it...

Book
Buy them one of the Sophie Kinsella books, they'll love it (SWMBO did)

To be honest I don't actually think females (apart from my mum and mother-in-law) read my blog anyway (correct me if I'm wrong).

For t'baby

Babys Laptop

Thats enough of that, I know for a fact babies don't read this blog (correct me if I'm wrong)

Black Friday

It's Black Friday tomorrow in the states, a day where all hell breaks loose in shopping land, traditionally it's the day after thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas shopping season, (unlike the UK that starts in September), the good thing about it for shoppers is the mega crazy deals retailers have, the even better thing for us UK'ers is we can share in the joys.

Amazon.com have some good offers on items including DVDs, check this link on the day only, I'm not sure if they'll deliver ll items to the UK as they sometimes redirect you to the UK store.

The best we seem to get in the UK this Friday is a 20% off day at Debenhams, tempted SWMBO and her mother though, left me all alone at home feelin terrible, almost to ill too blog (is there such a thing).

I wonder if there's a "Bring Black Friday to the UK" petition/group on Facebook yet.

So... We're out of Euro 2008,

Time to reflect and think what if....

Out with the old...

Is it B*ll*cks, it's time to sack McClaren and bring in someone who will actually get us somewhere, he kicked Beckham out of the squad then realised he was being a tit so brought him back, apart from that, nothing much to write home about. I thought we could have done it but I guess it was not to be (again).

...In with the new?

My highlights of the second half (I'm a real life vide printer dont ya know)

56 Mins: The penalty that never was that brought us back to 2-1 but I'm not complaining

59 Mins: Still Croatia attack and still England makes mistakes, it's Carson who is saving our asses (glad James didn't come on, it could have been 4-1 now)

60 Mins: Cracking my2nd can of Stella cos we can do this

65 Mins: A Beckham cross to CROUCH THE HERO bringing us back to 2-2 (Give that man an OBE)

65 Mins: Texts from Ade and Tommo "Telling me so"

75 Mins: Seems as though we have relaxed a bit but we still need to win this game, or failing that not to lose it.

76 Mins: Could I have not just kept my stupid mouth shut, 3-2 Croatia

77 Mins: Text from Ade "Come on!"

78 Mins: Text from Tommo "We're not going to do it"

79 Mins: Darren Bent on for Joe Cole

83 Mins: Text to Tommo "At least we'll save a fortune by not going to the pub for the games next year"

83.5 Mins: Text from Tommo, apparently we'll still be going to the pub for the games.

85 Mins: Darren Bents' first touch of the ball and just skims over the net

85 Mins: Text from Ade "Hmmmm"

93 Mins: Game over and we are out...

94 Mins: Life goes on, Back to I'm a celebrity watching the freakshow that is Janice Dickinson.

Eur-over and Out...

... By the looks of things.
We're half-way through a football match that can only be described as "shit". I have just watched 46 minutes of what is abysmal, watching Croatia attack at every opportunity which has led to 2 goals for them and England seemingly letting them is beyond belief as the 2-0 scorelinw shows. Yes the goalie (Carson) was unfortunate in the first goal by not being behind the shot this was then followed by an "easy" 2nd goal.

We have 45 minutes to work our asses off and score at least 2 goals to keep us from going out of Euro 2008, I would like to see 3 maybe 4.

Let's not sit back and hope yet again that another teams results let us go through (Andorra v Russia).

So Come on McClaren, make your money in the next 45 minutes or you'll be looking for another job come tomorrow morning in the papers, and we'll all be hoping that Jose Mourinho is still available,

Oh and Mr McClare, bring would you Beckham, James and Defoe on and change the formation.

End of half-time result, back to the game and over to you Motty.

Playstation 3 - Singstar
The reason I was holding out for the Playstation 3 was because of Gran Turismo HD, which is still yet to surface and the reason I got my Xbox 360,
It seems that Singstar has a release date of 7 December released with nan iTunes style download function for songs costing 99p.

If you've never played singstar you are missing out, think of a game that you can only really play when as pissed as a fart and there's a group of you, like the Nintendo wii games but without the injuries. Initially there are 44 songs available with more planned from 17 December.

It's still not justification for me spending £300 on a PS3 to then buy the games when I have my trustee sidekick PS2 (which is not chipped and the games aren't free*)

iPod Update

Well I am pleased to annouce that the battery replacement seems to have resolved my iPod problem and it now plays for hours. I charged it overnight and left it playing to test, it played music all day.

This also means I don't need a iPod 160Gb or Microsoft Zune (I Still WANT one though).

My (pink) iPod - I think she's alive

Following on from my dead iPod post, I received my replacement battery from t'bay today. I paid £4.99 for the battery, there were some cheaper, but this one appears to have more power therefore is supposed to last longer. Great seller though, the battery even comes with the tools needed (2 screwdrivers) and full instructions on how to do it.
I was a little nervous about taking my ipod apart at first, but managed it, I'll need to charge it before I say if it has solved my issue, I'll let you know as soon as it's charged,

Here's How I did it.

1. Using the Flat screwdriver, prise the white plastic top and bottom from the iPod (tricky due to the glue)
2. Remove the metal "retaining" clip from the bottom of the iPod, there are also some screws at the top (I forgot to photo those though). unscrew these screws.
3. Unclip the connector at the bottom of the iPod
4. Push the "motherboard" from the bottom of the outer casing.
5. Unclip the battery power cable from the motherboard, remove and replace with the new battery
6. slide the motherboard back into the outer casing.

7. Replace the connector, retaining clip, screws and white plastic top and bottom.

8. As Gordon Ramsay would say.... DONE
The instructions recommend a minimum charge of 3 hours before first use, I'll be charging mine overnight.

Now then... I wonder if I could get a larger Microdrive in the same place (Answer is maybe, but they only go to 6Gb so not really worth the effort of trying).

The Microsoft Zune

Unlike Taoski, I am not dedicated to Apple and becoming an even less loyal fan of the iPod, especially now my iPod is having problems, I love what the iPod does, not what it is, the ability to play a shed load of music is the reason I have one (and the fact I got it Mega cheap).

I have been reading up on Microsofts' music player the Zune which, although has been out quietly for a while, has had some improvement.

All the Ipod fanboys seem to do (obviously) is constantly slag off the Zune as they do with everything non-apple, I, like a lot of others am not too fused, the comment from a reader at Engadget which sums it up perfectly.

I am constantly baffled by people who care what a device that is going to be in your pocket 90% of the time looks like. Function over form for me any day of the week.

I totally agree, who cares what device you listen to your music on, I prefer to have as many functions built into a device as possible (although it means more things to go wrong), but a music player with as large a capacity as possible, ability to play all music formats, video, show photos, FM radio would be perfect.

When you compare an iPod to the Zune, there are advantages and disadvantages with both of them and.... get me... I've done a comparison

	Ipod Classic	Microsoft Zune
Capacity	160Gb	80Gb
Size	61.8 mm x 103.5 mm x 13.5 mm	61.1 mm x 108.2 mm x 12.9 mm
Weight	162g	128g
Screen Size	2.5"	3.2" scratch resistant glass
Controller	Jog wheel	Zune pad
Music Format	aac, mp3, vbr, aiff, wav,	wma, mp4, m4a, m4b, mov, mp3, aac, vbr
Video Format	H.264, mov AAC-LC mpeg-4 (m4v, .mp4)	wmv, HD wmv, mpeg-4 (mp4/m4v) H.264
Video Output	None	Yes - Through headphone jack
FM Radio	No	Advanced FM Tuning (see the name of the current track ).
Connection	Ipod connector	Wireless or cable
Music Downloads	iTunes	Zune Marketplace
Photos	jpeg, bmp, gif, tiff, psd (Mac only), png	jpeg
Wireless	NO	Yes - 802.11b/g wireless (30ft range)
Sych	iTunes	Zune software, sync wirelessly
Other Info		Import recorded TV from Windows Vista Media Centre and playback

To Sum up
If there was a 160Gb Zune with the aftermarket accessories of the iPod, I'd have one in a flash, as I have a iHome (clock radio), an iStation (speakers) and a iPod connector fitted to my car stereo.

A Question
In this world of identity theft and companies doing their best to protect their customer base, Here's one for you.....

You have an email account which gets hacked, the "hacker" then changes your password meaning you are unable to access your own account.

By the way, this is not a small-fry email provider, this is Hotmail, owned by Microsoft, with 380 million users.

What would you do?

I would contact Microsoft and advise them my account has been hacked, they would then ask security questions known only to you which you would obviously pass and ensure you got your account back.....

In an ideal world anway....
More tomorrow

My Ipod Battery is ...


"Fuct" in IT support terms means Failed Under Contnous Testing, and my iPod Mini is completely Fuct.

and yes mine is pink , that was
all that was available at the time ...

I though maybe it was my Ipod connector in my car that may have been draining the battery, however after a full charge last night, it managed to play for a total of 13 seconds while I was being punished at the physio today, and I really need my iPod in physio to help me forget that the physiotherapist is hurting me, (and he does hurt me).

I have now decided that if I am not going to get a free iPod, I don't want to fork out on an iPhone, an iTouch doesn't have enough capacity so I'll go down the next cheapest route and purchase a replacement battery for my iPod.
They are around £8 on eBay including shipping for the 850mah battery which will actually give approximately 60% more battery life than the original "working" battery did, although the battery life wasn't actually that bad before, it's always better to have more for yer money.

I'll report back when I have broken replaced the battery and have to buy an iPod anyway have it working again

-----

Finally, Sir Danny of the "aitch arr", if you're reading this and still want your iPhone, read the reviews and buyers guide over at ilounge. I know you're going to buy one anyway
I haven't read the reviews and won't as I refuse to be persuaded into wanting one, let me know if they say they are not worth it and I don't want you to show me your ... ever.... yet.

Xbox Fall Update

Luke the Giant

Luke "Not of this Planet" Johnson mentioned this morning on my return to work that the delayed Xbox fall (Thats Autumn to us lot) update is likely to support DivX coding, this means we will all be able to hopefully watch our downloaded p*rn "Stuff" on our big TVs in the living room.

Apparenly it was revealed by mistake in a Q&A session with JP Morgan analyst Paul Coster and Kevin Hell (CEO at divx.com) that the DivX functionality is coming.

Coster - “Just a minor point here, but there was a recent Microsoft (MSFT) conference where I believe their media extender now incorporates the DivX codec on it, is that correct? Can you confirm that and does that mean we’re soon going to see Xboxes with DivX on them?
Hell - “Yes! that, uh, we’re in discussions with Microsoft on that at this point in time, so I can’t go into any great detail on that. Um that is not a certified, that is not a certified or licensed product at this time.”


So what else is rumoured in the update?

Family Timer
Monitor your kids (boyfriends) usage and allow "admins" to set a limit for playing.

Video Marketplace
iTunes like for the Xbox allowing content uch as TV shows etc to be downloaded to the Xbox.

IPTV
TV via the internet on the Xbox

The update is due around 23-26 November
Thanks Luke (Even though you have a wii too).

iPhone

So the iPhone has been released and all the daft punters are happily enjoying their expensive gadget. I still didn't want one.

It appears however, my iPod mini was set to self destruct at the mere mention of not wanting a newer iPod, and has now decided to run out of battery 5 minutes after each charge. Even google can't seem to give me a straight answer. So far I have restored the iPod to it's factory state, left it on charge for a couple of days, I'm now at the point where I may replace the battery if I dare.

So a week of freebies has led to a weekend of sh*t.

• My iPod playing up
• Watching 60 minutes of abysmal Derby County getting thrashed by the Hammers

The only real thing to look forward to is going back to work tomorrow after 5 months working at home with a dodgy knee, which I'm happy to say is at 90% better. (Thanks to a Forest supporting physiotherapist - boo!!!)

A Week of Freebies

I have had a great week of free stuff, however a week of problems

I went to the Aston Villa v Derby Football match on Saturday, and watched Derby get stuffed 2-0, blagged a lift home from one of the guests then managed to lose my wallet.

On Wednesday I went to the Man Utd v Dynamo Kiev game, drank and ate for free and got a "lovely" red and white scarf.

altogether now "The Championsssssss"

Yesterday I managed to blag a free SkyPe/Home Phone , although I don't know that many people with Skype accounts and the people I know that do have them, i normall talk to on Xbox Live anyway, I'm going to try getting my family with internet connections to get Skype accounts.


I'm just holding out for an iPhone now, (that I don't really want - and definately won't get).

US TV

I dont know why they dont just have US TV Channels such as Fox (Owned by Mr Rupert "SKY" Murdoch) and NBC, that way I don't have to resort to watching some fantastic TV that I've had to download from t'internet.

I am watching the second season of Heroes, without giving too much away it is just as good, if not better that season one. I am only on episode 4 but it follows on nicely Potential Spoiler follows in white text "and introduces a few characters, as well as getting rid of a few".


Also from across the pond is the remake of Bionic Woman, starring none other than "that bird from Eastenders" - Michelle Ryan, another British actor, shippped over to the states, made to speak with an American accent and play a leading role (Hugh Laurie in House for example).


Ryan plays the Bionic woman herself and I must say plays the part quite well, her accent is passable and there are lot of "shots for the boys" where she is either wet, in tight lycra, running or all 3 (check the one handed pull-ups as shown below).


I am currently up to episode 6 so if it all goes crap, I'll let you know, at the moment it appears no-one has picked it up in the UK so unfortunately no date for airing over here, but ou can pick it up at all good bookshops, newsgroups and torrent sites.

Does anyone else know of any good US shows ?

Some people just don't listen

Dear Time Magazine - do you not read my blog... tut tut

What next indeed

Time magazine have only gone and named the iPhone the "Invention Of the Year"
Obviously this paper is either an Apple fanboy, have no idea what they are talking about or don't actually own things such as this. I guess as an invention it's but not as revolutionary as the iPod itself. Although it does appear that they actually don't really like it either - worth a read.

Just look at the size of it, "life in your pocket", yeah right

The iPhone is just an iPod touch with a built in mobile phone. The things I like over a traditional ipod are the Touchscreen and Widescreen functions, but it's still missing (for me at least), 100Gb in storage, Built in GPS for Sat Nav, 3G and the ability to synchronise with MS Exchange - oh - and the pricing, available tariffs and limited choice of network providers.

I know there are ways around these issues (apart from the storage), but I, like many others want things to work straight out of the box.

I have the HTC TYTN II which has built in GPS, 3.5G connectivity and syncs with Exchange, ok the memory is stored on a Micro SD Card, which at the moment are only up to 6Gb in size (for £30 though), so a slight drawback, but I still prefer it to an iPhone.

I do however still want the iPod "classic"... Please..... someone... anyone.