Happy Birthday to lots of people, Merry Christmas and Happy Easter.

'The following takes place between 2 August 2010 and 22 April 2011....'

So what's new I don't hear anyone ask or care.
I've been on holiday - and managed to avoid injury.No bumps no scratches, no hospital visit and more inportant no stiches. Even manages to do some 3 mile runs.

I have a new Bike Thanks you to Evans Cycles for making the price affordable meaning I was allowed to buy it. I've been out lota of times to Cannock Chase (fell off 3 times), the Chevin at Duffield (fell off once) and general riding anywhere off-road (no really fell off).

One fall at Cannock bent the front wheel which also changed to an oval shape, therefore new wheel was required.

I have a new Camera
I seem to have a run of bad look with cameras, my first Sony was a cheapy that I decided to sell and upgrade, my second Second was left in a pub, my third Sony went pop, I gave up on Sony. My first Panasonic Lumix went pop-whizz-bang, I gave up on Panasonic. I know have a Canon...... Surely not a bad choice.
I have a new phone It's an iPhone 4 - no Pictures necessary I guess

I have a new Bike
Not content with falling off my mountain bike, I thought I would try and fall off onto tarmac, so bought a road bike, at first I thought of a Hybrid but decided they were a 'neither-here-nor-there' bike and went all out. It's a 2010 model but £300 quid off so can't know it, especially when the 2011 model probably has a different coloured stripe (and nothing else).


I rode to work for charity
There I was, watching Chris Moyles do his bit for Comic Relief and made me feel guilty about how lucky I am to have my life, then I thought, 'I need to do something.... fun for charity' I then decided I would ride to work, and back again to try and raise some money. The problem is, this was decided on Wednesday, Comic Relief was Friday.....

I did it 18.5 miles each way and £280 raised from family and friends, you are all great people. Thank you x

I rode to Matlock to see if I could
.... The long way round, 44.5 miles on a Saturday morning with no stop for Fish & Chips... Not good.

I had a Christmas Card from my eldest children
This has got to be the highlight of last year, a Christmas card from Lauren and Ryan. This might not seem important to some, but is very important to me.

Lauren, Ryan - if you read this. Love ya lots and see you soon xxx

There, 8 and a half months summed up in 1 post written in around an hour, I really should update more.

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*)

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).