XBOX Live - Down - Now whateports went out last week that some peoples Xbox live accounts were hacked, of course Microsoft denied this, why wouldn't they - how on earth could live accounts get hacked?

Monday came an email arrived from Xbox Live announcing scheduled maintenance planned for today, I thought this could be in response to the PS3 release, my guesses included

• Halo 3 beta released
• Web browser addition
• 360 Dashboard update
• Functionality for DivX movie playback

We all wait with baited breath, unable to beat/play/speak to each other online, I had to resort to an evening in the real world with SWMBO.

When she realised she's better off when I'm in the virtual world she went to bed, I wanted to find out more about the Live downtime so.....

"MICROSOFT ANNOUNCE XBOX LIVE ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN HACKED"

OOps !!!!

Who would be clever enough to do this I hear you say, how could people hack accounts of people who only use this account to play online or check stats on xbox.com

Simple :-
By calling Xbox Live customer service and "Pretexting" - It was that simple

Come on "Gatesy" get it sorted, dont let me PS3 fanboys bitch any more about Microsoft.

news.com - TG Daily - Techshout -

Updates

ASDA - to vent our frustration my fellow Xboxers wrote to ASDA and UbiSoft (Authors of GRAW 2).

• Asda came back stating they weren't aware of this policy, followed by this is their policy....
• Ubisoft came back stating they will investigate.

If/when I hear anything back from either companies, I will update.

Pipex

Result... I managed to speak to the account manager at my company regarding these problems, unfortunately I can't name them but my unlimited connection is now back to unlimited.

I have no idea how one would go about sorting this out based on a purely residential only connection, but where a considerable amount of money is involved, it clearly shows that money talks.

BOYCOTT ASDA - NOW !!!!!!
ASDA Have ruined my life...

Well day, on a week of Shit Pipex, I now add ASDA to my list of Shit Companies.

Ghost Recon 2 was released today, happily gathering 8 lots of £40's I trundled off to ASDA to purchase 8 copies, to be told

"You can't have 8 copies as this is classed as wholesale"

What Bollocks...

After walking off in disgust, I decided to walk back and speak to the manager, who... wouldn't come out of his big leather chaired office, and resorted to telling me over the phone that I couldn't buy 8 copies.....

Fair enough, walked straight to gamestation, they quite happily sold them to me and even gave me £2 off each copy.

Result...

So ASDA, be warned, I will be soon visiting your ****** branch to purchase 20 cases of Alcohol, wait for you to scan them in then change my mind, due to my own policy of not having the piss taken out of me.

Heres the letter from Pipex that's got me into a rage

Dear Damian Byrne
Important notice regarding your broadband usage

Pipex introduced network traffic management in 2005 to help manage the network and provide a fair service for all our customers particularly during busy periods of the day. The usage behaviour of a small minority of our customer abase has led us to introduce, with immediate effect, a Fair Use policy online at www.pipex.co.uk/legal.

We have established that your usage levels are in excess of the levels we would expect for normal home use, and your behaviour along with a small number of other customers may be having a detrimental effect on the service available for the majority of the Pipex customer base.

How do you define "Normal"

We would like you to change your usage behaviour immediately or let us know if you think we have got this wrong, If we don't see a reduction in your usage in the next 14 days we will contact you and may take further action.

In addition to changing your usage behaviour there are a number of alternatives for you to consider:

* You can move to our Midi broadband product which has a usage allowance of 15GB a month with the option to purchase more allowance on a monthly basis. We would allow you to continue with your current level of usage on this product as long as you confirm in writing to us that you are complying with our Acceptable Use Policy and using your connection for normal home use.

* You can switch to our sister company Bulldog Broadband where the service may be more suited to your needs. You will need to purchase a telephone service and line rental with a new 12 month contract.We advise that you visit bulldogbroadband.com first to check that you can receive their service. If you then decide to take this option please call us on 0800 107 5902 to request a MAC code.

* You can switch to an alternative provider that offers you unrestricted use of your broadband connection. If you wish to take this option then please call us on 0800 107 5902 to request a MAC code.

Finally, please can you confirm to us in writing within the next 14 days using the attached form that you are complying and will continue to comply with our Fair Use and Acceptable Use Policies

...and My Response

Dear Mr Carberry

With reference to your letter dated 22 February 2007,

I understand the need for Pipex to introduce a fair use policy at Pipex however would like to comment on your letter.

“We have established that your usage levels are in excess of the levels we would expect for normal home use.”

I would like to know what you define as “Normal” for home use, at no point in your letter do you define;

a - Normal levels are for home usage

b - My usage that has prompted such a threatening letter

“We would like you to change your usage behaviour immediately.”

I am disgusted by this statement when, you have already implemented traffic management on my connection, thus restricting my 8Mb connection to no more than 50kbps at best, and 10kbps on average. Clearly this is something that has been done on purpose as my telephone call with your Technical Support department (a lady by the name of Abi) confirmed, I also find extremely upsetting that despite my emails and phone calls querying my connection problems (Call reference **** ***) you failed to tell me that this was happening, wasting my time and money testing and replacing my own equipment as well as emails and phone calls to your technical support department. I was told that these restrictions are reviewed every Saturday, was I told this to get me off the telephone, or do you really do this kind of work at the weekend?

You have then given me 3 options.

1. Move to Midi
2. Switch to Bulldog
3. Switch to another ISP

1. I chose Pipex Max for the specific reason you sell the product for, as quoted on your site (www.pipex.com) “Comes with Unlimited monthly usage allowance. Tailor made if you're always on the internet” If I wanted to be restricted, I would have chosen Pipex Midi and paid for extra.

2. I cannot switch to Bulldog. When going to their site and inputting my details, I am redirected back to Pipex. Not very helpful

3. Switch to another ISP – This really is my other option. I have been a loyal and long time customer of Pipex since you started back in 2001, (Previous username ******), although I have had a few problems, these have been dealt with promptly, I have recommended you to at least 5 of my friends and co-workers and even recommended you to my company, who still use your company’s services. (Company Name). I agree my download usage may have been higher than before, this is due to moving home, (hence the change in username), and as such, purchased an Xbox games console and High Definition TV, my gaming habits have now changed In that I play online, as well as this, I have also downloaded High Definition content for the purpose of trying out on the TV. The HD downloading has now stopped however, thus my download habits will revert back.

It is quite clear to me that now Pipex is established and “making money” you’d rather these very same users that help build your company, are being “punished” I am sure the majority of these users have been with Pipex from the outset, as you were one of the first to offer 512kbps broadband to home users, we have stayed while you as you grew.

I am sure you do not issue letters in this way in a business to business environment. Do you not think residential users being sent letters such as the one you have sent me would encourage people to have their business from Pipex. My company spend at least £26000 per year for 2 leased lines. Not only could this be obtained elsewhere, could also be obtained for less than half this cost.

Finally, you ask that I send back the form agreeing to comply with your FUP and AUP. Unfortunately, I do not agree with these, especially when you have already implemented what you threatened to do, without the 14 day warning, and even more so, without advising me my actual level of usage. If you lift the restriction on my connection however I will agree to the following

• Ensure "Company" continues to use Pipex for its business use for the foreseeable future
• Limit my download speed (bandwidth)
• Limit my download time to off peak only

In the meantime please would you advise what you define as Acceptable or Fair Usage.

I would appreciate a prompt response to this letter, however feel I will either get a standard template response, no response at all or further threatening letters.

I have also emailed a copy to

mark.carberry@pipex.net
Postmaster for the Attention of Mark Carberry
Pipex Customer Services
Network Infrastructure Manager – Company
Friends and co-workers whom I have recommended Pipex to;

Pipex - again

Unlimited -
adj.

1. Having no restrictions or controls:
2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite:
   
3. Without qualification or exception; absolute:

The continuing saga that is Pipex. - To Skip the boring intro bit, go to "However"

My on-off connection problem (pardon the pun) with Pipex started a couple of years ago, back in the slow days of 512k broadband, back in those days downloading from Kazaa, Audiogalaxy, Limewire etc were extremely slow, I moved to downloading from newsgroups, I even *PAID* for access to NewZbin and Easynews,

A few calls here and there got my connection problems sorted, it felt like you were on first name terms with Tech Support/Customer Services.

As broadband evolved, Pipex grew, I upgraded to 1Mb, then 2Mb, and finally last Aprill, a whopping 8Mb connection, downloading from Newsgroups at 800Kbps, ( I only lived 800m from the exchange).

As regular readers know, I moved house in November getting the usual moving house problems with my ISP, (cancelling and rejoining with another username).

A couple of connectivity problems and I was up and running in Decemeber, problems that I put down to BT and it's infrastructure.
I am now further from (a different) exchange but still get connected at 4.5Mb, with downloads at approx 400kbps.

However

My relationship with Pipex has seem to break down, I logged yet another problem a couple of weeks ago, was asked to run the usual speedtests and report back to Tech support, this I did with the standard "check your hardware" and "it's a problem at the BT end".
after chasing this again last week, I received a letter from Pipex, the full letter can be found here, however phrases such as ....

"We have established that your usage levels are in excess of the levels we would expect for normal home use"

and

"We would like you to change your usage behaviour immediately".

Grrrrr

In my eyes, unlimited means exactly that.

This is not over.... Oh No

Griffin, UKFSN - Looks like you'll be having an influx

Bloody Hell

What is the world coming to again, Sitting there happily waiting for SWMBO to go to bed, Hotel Babylon had just finished and I was waiting to play Xbox, on came East Midlands Today and I noticed someone I know has been jailed for attempted murder.

The phrases "Hired as a hitman" and "jailed indefintalely" Sure shock you, the last time I saw Richard Robinson (Right) he was dressed in a suit working.

Its a terrible world where you can hire or be hired as a hitman to cause death to someone.

Damn...

BBC News - This is Derby

Gadgets

I have not one, but 4 new gadgets, I have upgraded my Personal phone from the SPV C600 to a Nokia N93, not really being a Nokia. I only upgraded to get a better talk plan package, the phone was free, got a good camera though,

Managed to get a Sony Ericsson 6301 and Motorola Krzr K1 from a certain Mobile Phone supplier, not had chance to play but will certainly "fully evaluate them".

Finally and most important of all, is the HTC P3300 (Codename Artemis), this is the dogs danglies, slim, 3G and most importantly, built in GPS. Now you can get lost without losing the damn thing that got you lost in the first place (A separate receiver that is).

Iphone, Schmi-phone

Top Man Gun

Been away too long again, this baby growing thing is hard work, shopping for puschairs, nappies, cots and stuff is taking up all of my free time, well it's either that, or endless hours of Xbox playing although I do have a half-decent gamer tag score now....


..and a pushchair

In the meantime.
Saw this on Youutube and it made me smile, how the hell i found it I don't know, and it definately wasn't looking for gay pron.



More soon...

Not Got me Yet...

Let it be said.... I LOVE GADGETS, if it's techy, new and does something technical I will have it.

HOWEVER...

Stick an "i" before a word, It'll sell by the millions

The iPhone from Apple is something the world seems to have gone mad over, sure its another Apple product which means all the iPod lovers will want (and buy) one. I have an iPod but I don't. I'm either getting responsible in my old age or there is nothing that appeals to me.

I currently have 2 phones (like to keep my work and personal life separate) and both of these do
Qtek 8500
HTC Tytn

The Qtek is a great slimline phone (a real weekend phone) dual screen, camera and Micro SD storage, A2DP support (Geek Alert)

The HTC is simply amazing, touchscreen, slide out keyboard, 3G, wi-fi, bluetooth, Outlook synchronisation for emails, tasks and contacts, TomTom sat nav, and Micro SD.

Although Micro SD cards currently have maximum storage of 2Gb this will no doubt change, at £30 however why not get a couple of cards. what's more, 8Gb is not enough for a device playing movies... trust me, it's not

I can play movies on my HTC, use as a modem plus lots more that the iPhone won't do, whats more, these devices are application unlocked you can bet your bottom dollar the devices will be application unlocked allowing you to install 3rd party applications - this, I LOVE.

The iPhone will be more secure than the Bank of England and I bet you wont' be able to play ripped DVDs back ups of films you legally own.

Until someone releases a device that has;

• 3G (Video) Phone
• Built in GPS,
• Slimline
• Keyboard
• 80Gb storage
• Multi-Codec Video playback
• TV Tuner

I'll Stcik with Windows Mobile 5 devices

Add to that the $499 or $599 pricetag and the 2 year contract period. Who's iPoddy enough !

Links
Modaco - coolsmartphone - xda-developers - mobilegazette

Xbox Friends
I am going to create a blog with the Xbox gamertags of people I know or play regularly.
EDIT: Even better - http://whosonxbox.blogspot.com/

SWMBOs' sad book love
When I met SWMBO almost 6 years ago, she confessed to never reading books, 3 years ago however she discovered Sophie Kinsella, her best friend lent her a book entitled Shopaholic blah blah blah, she was hooked.

I made the stupid mistake of buying the rest of the Shopaholic books from ebay, not a mistake in that she didn't read then, I mean a mistake as she DID, she even took them on holiday and read all day long while sunbathing.... meaning Damian "I don't need a tan" boyfriend sat around all day bored out of his mind. (Seriously, I really don't need to sunbathe).

Yesterday was a new chapter however (See what I did there). I noticed another Shopaholic book is soon to be released. When mentioning this to SWMBO, she got so excited, and still is. She says her and the subject of this book have so much in common, even more now shopaholic "Becky" is pregnant too.

It must be catching... there are 8 reviews on Amazons website and the book isn't even available yet (Sad people).

The Book is available at Amazon and Play.com 1 February

XBoxed

I've finally bitten the bullet and gone down the XBox route, I vowed never to leave the Sony camp, however looking at what's available for the 360, the amazing High Def graphics and the high price of the shortly to be released PS3, I had to do it.

Now I'm wondering whether I am actually going to get a PS3, the interface on the Xbox is stunning, online gaming, chatting to mates while beating them at PGR3,

I must say I am sold.... I just need to find a way of stopping 11 year old girls beating my around a race track.

White Rabbits

Happy New Year - Here's to a great 2007

Damo

That Was The Year That Was

2006 has been a memorable year for me. In the space of less than 12 months, I have moved house, changed job role (again), got engaged (thanks SWMBO), got pregnant (well SWMBO did).

2007 is clearly going to be a very busy year with our new arrival in May, with this in mind, I have decided on the following New Years resolutions and putting them down on (blog) paper starting 1st January (funnily enough).

• Save for the future
• Learn something new
• Get fit
• Give up smoking*
• Re-gain contact with family members

29 December - I have already managed to give up smoking.

By the way, Happy Birthday SWMBO

*OK OK I never started smoking, but I'm aiming high.

Damos' Wishlist for 2007

Message to SWMBO
To officially forewarn you, (after calling our new TV Chavvy and too big), Here are the things that are a must own in the new year. Therefore please can I buy them.... Thanks

Video Camera - Sony DCRS R90E








Digital SLR Camera








XBOX 360










PS3*











HD DVD/Blu Ray Player **







Upscaling DVD/DivX Player









SWMBO Doesn't actually read this blog, does this, therefore give me the OK to go ahead?, plus... Baby needs some of these items too.

* May have to put this on my 2008 list, "£500 for a games console is a little high !!!!
** This may actually be on 2008 wishlist as I am waiting for the Blu Ray vs HD DVD War to end

Pipex...

So we moved into the house on 7th November, couldn't transfer my old telephone number so had a number, I then arranged for my broadband to get activated.

The previous owners' broadband hadn't been cancelled, therefore ADSL was still active on the line, I had to arrange the cancellation myself, so called BT and was advised this would take 6 working days.....

8 working days later it was done, called Pipex again, the line tests etc were required and I broadband would be active within 10 days,

29 November - Back online and flying

9 December - Problems, I got home from watching Derby thrash Leeds to find my Internet running slower than , did the usual speed checks to find my line was connected at 0.2Mbs (should be 5.5Mbs). Had to wait until Monday to call Pipex to log the fault, not sure what the problem was, but it seems to have now been fixed,

After reading a ton of forum entries on the net, it appears the problem with ADSL Max is that it's constantly being monitored for the best speed, unfortunately it gets a bit confused and fixe the connection at a daft speed (in my case 0.2Mbs),

All these forum members were slagging off Pipex and its customer/technical support, but I haven't had any problems with them, the worst part of it all, everything needs to be passed to BT to work on the lines etc. Now these are the people who dont seem to care.

Luckily I have moved my phone calls to Pipex too.

If only I could ditch Severn Trent Water.

We're Home - A life-changing 5 weeks if ever I've had one.

The hardest part of moving house... (apart from saying goodbye to my old house)

Moving the bloody fish/fishtank - having to catch the damn things (that don't want to be caught) ,and put into polythene bags, then into a polystyrene box and seal it , letting the water get colder and colder for a couple of hours while chasing solicitors etc. emptying 180 litres of fishtank water. Then reversing the whole process at the new house.

The second hardest part of moving house...

Moving my internet account - This, I thought would be fairly straightforward, how wrong I was, firstly I had to cancel my internet at the old house, couldnt just transfer from one to another, has to cancel and re-register (getting a different username etc). I couldn't take my phone number as it was a different exchange,


All in all, a bit of a nightmare, Pipex were really good, BT didn't seem to care at all, finally got connected (at a measly 5.5Mb) on 29 November, and it's broken already. (Ill blog about this separately).

The easiest part of moving home, living with SWMBO, and my wonderful new TV the all singing, all dancing Toshiba WLT68 - 37 inches of pure HD viewing please.

just need the XBOX 360/PS3/HD DVD Player to complete the setup, oh and the camcorder and SLR camera (for baby of course).

£6.10 for a taxi ride from town too, rather than a 5 minute walk. But I love my our new house

Thanks to Clare, Mum & Hugh, Stuart (Poppa Blurters), and C&F Removals (Yes I'm doing your website)

More Soon...

R.I.P Uncle Dean

Dean Lawe (21 August 1956 - 5 November 2006

So Bad..... Its Brilliant

If (When) this gets released, this WILL be number 1, Who knows, it could beat the X-Factors to the Christmas Number 1 (Here's hoping).




I haven't blogged lately due to lack of internet at home. Pipex can't seem to decide whether or not I have had my ADSL line terminated due to moving home, Let me tell you this Pipex.... I HAVE BEEN DISCONNECTED... Sort it Out.

Byrne Baby Byrne...

I knew there was some good news.... Damo is officially the happiest Man in the universe.



Oh By the Way.... We are having a baby, all that midwifery training paid off you see, I know all about trimesters and stuff this time.

Yeeeee Haaaaa

Still Not Moving House

... However, Buyer came to look round at the house today, he had been told by his (rubbish) solicitors to ensure the heating and taps worked.... Wow, what a solicitor. My buyer had no interest in the receipt for the windows.

So there is some good news.

Moving House - It Had to happen didn't it

...Yet
I was sitting in the office yesterday and happened to mention that our move was going very well, it was at that point PM/Naked Jim said something along the lines of "it hasn't gone wrong... yet"

Bloody Project Managers, I'm sure they're all cursed,

Went to sign the paperwork this morning, solicitor mentioned she has received a letter from buyers solicitors who are concerned about there not being a receipt for the windows which I had installed 3 years ago, my buyer isn't concerned, his solicitors are. Tw**s !!! (sending the letter 3 days before we all move)

So we signed our lives away for the next million years and off we went on our merry way, not more than 2 hours later, I received a call from my solicitors....

The top of the chain has gone into hospital and theres no way we will be completing on Friday

AAAArrrrggggghhhhhh

So I came off the phone mentioned a few harsh words as "Damn", "Blast" and something about 'kin Jim, I calmed down, picked the monitor, desk, chair and Project Manager up off the floor, now I'm ok (I think).

Called BT - Cancelled the cancellation
Called Pipex - delayed the cessation of my line
Called Sky - delayed the installation at the new house.
Called Removal Firm - Cancelled the removal van

So the next time, you think of doing something and think of saying, "What could go wrong", look around for a project manager, if they are within hearing distance, keep it to yourself.

Although on a good note ...
Erm...

Moving House - T Minus 4 Days

So far so Good except

• Bank didn't listen when we set our joint account up, therefore charging us for a Select account causing us to go overdrawn in the account we haven't started using yet - Moaned - all charges refunded.
• BT say I can't keep my number as I am moving to a new exchange, new number set up and ready at the new house from move date
• Pipex can't transfer my account so I have to close my current one down and set another one up will set me up as soon as I get my new number activated, I will also need to advise everyone of my new email address (Bast...)
• Sky are more than happy to move/keep me, have an engineer coming to turn me on (!!!!) next Tuesday, 40 bleedin quid, for what, to plug some cables in, Well I told them I don't have a dish at the new house, If I do, Ill take it down and put in on t 'bay (Damos' attempt at recouping the cost).

Talking of Sky, I called them to confirm receiving my online move request form which they didn't, rather than pay over inflated prices when calling these big companies, have a click at www.saynoto0870.com Normal Price for a sky call (0870 2403000) - 9p per minute, alternative number ( 01506 484000) free....ish

So as you can see all going well, at least the solicitors and estate agents are doing an half decent job.

On a good note -
Erm...

Joe Public 1 - Police 0

How to avoid SPECS speedHere's a great way of avoid those £60 fine and 3 points on your license, without having to resort to spending £400 on a road angel of "getting Damo" to install the speed camera software for your TomTom.

And how is this done you may ask...

Change Lanes

As this site states, simply by changing lanes, you fool the second camera which needs to take the second picture to work out the average speed over the distance.
For some reason, the Police aren't happy with this. They've asked the public not to exploit this loophole (Hmm, let me think, wonder why, could it be they'd miss the mi££ions made from fining us poor tax paying drivers, Police cheifs wont get their annual Piss up/Bonus/Christmas stats accident reduction figures. and accident will increase, because there's something else they've still not proved (Lie 1: cameras reduce accidents - Not True)

BIG NOTE AT THE BOTTOM : - This doesn't work for Gatsos and all the other cameras out there, but its a start, and better than setting fire to them.

I'd love to know if this worked, but Im not foolish/brave enough to test it,

The Good The Bad & The Ugly

The Good
Orange - Had a call from the upgrades department at Orange, offering me a great deal on my tariff and a free upgrade to my phone, 500 minutes and 500 texts for the same price I am paying now, apparently this is a Select 500 tariff, after literally seconds of googling found this to be a brilliant deal which, it seems is not available to everyboday (sorry SWMBO). The lady I spoke to also stated that the phone was not yet available, but will call me and let me knoe when it is. This lady was genuinely nice, helpful professional and polite. So much so, I even decided to email Orange to thank her on my behalf. If you know me, then you'll know this is something I NEVER DO....

RESULT: Well done Orange, one customer that shall remain so.

The Bad Another company who I shall not name - I purchased a PDA Phone last year from, this device developed a fault and was returned on 27 April....

... I AM STILL WAITING, not only for them to acknowledge that I they have recieved the device, let alone repair the device. Despite my constant emails and phone calls chasing this, still nothing has been done.

What Damo Did (or what Pissed off Damo did) I decided to do something - I emailed the returns department to escalate this, I did some Googling and found the name of the Chief Executive, Finance Director and Operations Director and Copied them too:

RESULT: within 33 minutes I received an email from the Customer Services Manager apologising for the lack of communication, stating they will get back to me in the next day or 2.

.... Watch this space (Day 1 is now over!!!)

The Ugly



WTF

Lunchtime Playing
Heres one to look at when you're on your lunch....

Virtual NES (Nintendo Entertainment System for the kids), relive the olden days in the days of only 8 colours and fast tapping keys on a keyboard, 1943,Track 'n' Field, Mario.... They're all in here,

Happy timewasting.

Every Man and his Dog is Blogging Nowadays

All of my colleagues in my former job now have their own blog

Gaz - "The Daddy" (not literally), and his oh so happy ways
Daz - The Ladies Man, The Love Monkey
Tao - The Non-Vegetarian Vegetarian -
Cookie - The Longman of the Midlands and his trusted sidekick - His bike
Wendy - The Ruler, she knew how to keep us all in check

So fellow colleagues, get a move on. no excuses Jim (PM/Naked Jim no less) with your "I was blogging before blogs were around"

You've all got something to say, so do so

- Dave - Stu - Steve - Andy - Ade - Lee - Laura - Ash - Alex - Dave M - Luke - Martin - Gary - James - Jim

Nick Stuff Easier

If, like me, you like to "evaluate" your music/console games/films/applications etc, before "purchasing" them, you'll no doubt know all about Bit Torrents. The 2 problems I have with torrents, is a:- knowing where to find the torrents listed and b:- the upload speed.
BTCompare compares the top 10 used BitTorrent sites along showing the how many torrents are listed and amount added each day, for example, the top ranking site is btjunkie, currently listing 964,773 torrents (3913 added just today). It's just a shame my 8mb download isn't maxed when downloading from BitTorrents.

Some of the sites require registration (Doesn't everything on the net), I haven't registered for any listed, so am now sure if you'll get spammed.

Just remember, downloading this stuff is illegal and shouldn't be done,

Enjoy nicking stuff downloading.

BBC Top Gear - (SOS) Save Our Show
There's been a lot of publicity about Top Gear since it was brought back to our TV screens back in 2002, especially the environmentalists and saddos stating it glorified speed, dangerous driving and promotes irresponsible driving,

This all seems ridiculous, the driving shown on the program mainly takes place on the track when required for speed, yes the presenters also do ridiculous timed races against sky divers, cyclists and even fellow presenters, I've no doubt the driving tha takes place on the public roads is completely legal.

Yes, Richard Hammond had an accident while driving a jet powered car at 300 mph on a private road, but accidents do happen, whether at 25 mph or 700 mph, does this mean we should ban the program he was filming it for. How stupid, secondly all safety checks were in place and nothing was left to chance Jeremy Clarkson has written an article about it here.

While we're at it, lets ban motor racing for the speed the drivers drive at, movies for promoting violence, horror, death etc, house music for drugs, rap music for guns, and don't forget to ban Fifth Gear on Channel 5 and Pulling Power on ITV as they are car shows that sometimes show interesting fast cars, we actually need to ban all cars that can do more than 70 mph, anything that can go above this speed is obviously promoting excess speed.

(Then again, why not just ban Fifth Gear and Pulling Power for being crap Top Gear wannabees anyway, Sorry Quentin and Tiff).

There are 350 million Top Gear viewers worldwide, they don't all want to drive their Mondeos Vectras, and MPVs as fast and stupid as possible, they just enjoy the show, and watching what The tall one, the hamster and the posh one do.

Sign the petition and tell the Anti Top Gear people what you think. Top Gear should be back on 8 October, we'll see.

1 Year of Blogging...... (and Here's an Iron)Happy Birthday to Me... (Blog)
Happy Birthday to Me... (Blog)
Happy Birthday Dear DamianLByrnedotBlogspotdotCom
Happy Birthday to Me (Blog)

A year ago today I started blogging about bugger all, what do I have to show for it, the same - Bugger all , no new gadgets, no flash car, no big TV, nothing new..... (I think I can hear them violins).

I guess I should think myself lucky however as I do have lots of lovely things despite not being new, my lovely car (not new), my our new house (soon/new) , my fiancee (new), my our TV 2 (soon/new), my pisshead friends (new every so often), my forever growing family, my new drink.

Oh and I bought an iron yesterday.

Fit The Best....

I've just been watching Inside Out on BBC, (The East Midlands regional version) and a blast from the past appeared on the screen...
Ted Moult - while racking my brains trying to remember where I knew the name and more recognisably, the voice, it suddenly came to me, Everest Windows. He's the man that said

"Fit the Best, Everest"

What shocked me however, is that he is a Derbian (i.e. from Derby), not only a voice everyone remembers, but a local legend too, he even has an entry at IMDb. I wondered if there is any other famous people born in my wonderful town.

Simon Groom (Blue Peter)
Kevin Lloyd (The Bill)
Terry Lloyd (ITN News Reporter)
Keli Young (Liberty X Singer)
Judith Hann (Tomorrows World Presenter & The sister of my home economics Teacher at School).

Derby - What a place, what history, with all these Derby links, its a wonder we're not overcrowded with tourists. Home of the first Public park in England, home of the one time largest housing estates in Europe, Home of Rolls Royce since 1908, birthplace of the Hot Dog, home of Richard Arkwright, Sir Frank Whittle and The Rams, (Well we can't be 100%)

So Come on Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Nottingham. What have you got.... Apart from more than one football team?

Wikipedia - Natives of Derby, Derby Photos

If It Ain't Broke, Dont Try to Fix it - If It Is Send it Back

Read a great idea over at Lifehacker.
Rather than throw all your old damaged crap out of warranty broken items, why not send it back for a new one. Although I'm sure this is highly unlikely, trying it should only cost a couple of quid,

"Rather than just sending your broken stuff to a landfill, pack it up and ship it back to the manufacturer with a letter asking for a new one. You will be amazed by the results. There are no guarantees with this method, but you definitely won't get a replacement if you throw the product away. This method gets rid of the product just as much as throwing it away does, but it gives a human being at a real company a chance to demonstrate just how much they stand behind their products. You'd be surprised how many will. A squeaky wheel gets oiled. It works, and the trick is all in the letter."

You could try this with your broken ipod nano screens, PDAs, Mobile phones. Slim chance of getting a new ipod from Apple I'm sure.I'm going to have to try this, just to see.

Full Story @ Lifehacker

* Doesnt work with broken hearts,

New Home

Just over 4 weeks to go before we move in together, I have resisted in buying anything for both my house and our house, Im leaving SWMBO to buy the plates, bed linen, towels, cutlery, bathroom stuff. As long as I dont have a pink bedroom I'm not that fussed.


When it comes to the Electrical equipment, that's a different matter, while trying to explain the requirements of the LCD HD TV (37", 3 HDMI inputs (SKY HD, HD DVD Player and PS3), as well as a DVI just in case and 1080p ready). SWMBO gave me the blah blah blah look, Wimmen !!!

As I have already picked the TV that does all of the above, when SWMBO agrees to make the purchase, Ill go and get it and show her how to work it (The TV that is), after all, she is fully SKY+ savvy, HD should be a doddle once we do upgrade, at the moment there aren't that many HD channels to justify the extra £10.00 (10 channels of which 2 are Sky Box Office) and I'm sure SWMBO isn't too bothered about neighbours being in standard def.

Richard Hammond - Wishing you a speedy recovery

Richard 'Hamster' Hammond, The presenter of 2 of my favourite TV shows (Top Gear & Brainiac) was involved in a car crash while filming for Top Gear today.

From BBC News

The presenter is being treated at Leeds General Infirmary
Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is in a critical condition in hospital after a crash in a jet-powered car while filming for the programme.

The presenter, 36, was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary which has a special neurological unit.

A North Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said he was unconscious when they got to the scene and a hospital spokesman described him as "critical".

The BBC confirmed the presenter had been injured during a Top Gear shoot.

Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said officers were dealing with the incident at Elvington airfield, a former RAF base, in North Yorkshire.

He said: "At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.

"The male occupant has received serious injuries and has been airlifted to hospital at Leeds."

The presenter was born in Birmingham, educated in Yorkshire and lives near Cheltenham.

In addition to presenting Top Gear for the BBC, he also fronted Brainiac on Sky One until recently.

Here's to a speedy recovery

Remembering 9/11

- Sold -

And who said this house selling was hard work.

3 days on the market and my wonderful Bloke palace has been sold, thats the good news

The better news is the house we were desperate to buy is ours (Well "Subject to Contract" anyway).

Its all running scarily smoothly, even the solicitors seem to be working efficiently, I keep thinking there's something I'm obviously doing wrong, so far without a hitch, I did my usual Interweb search to see how to make my life easier when moving house, having a new mortgage, getting house insurance, there are some seriously helpful sites out there to help with the hardest of tasks when moving house

Help I Am Moving gives a guide to moving, printable checklist, moving quotes for removal firms.
I am Moving lets you add your current address, new address and helps with the address changing stuff for utility companies, credit card companies, councils etc, I have only added my details as I haven't got the moving date yet, but so far so good.

The following sites are the ones which have the potential to save a great deal of money, not just when moving house.

Money Supermaket and Money Saving Expert have the ultimate guides in to mortgages, home insurance etc. Personally saving approx. £200 a month on a mortgage and halving my home insurance all in less than an hour.

Officially Olde

Not content with selling up bachelor pad and buying a house with SWMBO, I have have had further reminders that I am getting old. During my Friday night in alone, flicking through my 200 channels of crap Sky. Channel Five were doing a typical "50 worst things nobody really gives a shit about". aka ""

This one was "Now That's Embarrassing: The 80s: Eighties". I confess to watching 2 minutes and then had to watch the rest of it to see just how sad I really was (I remember the eighties you know).

Some Highlights...

Dallas/Dynasty (Watched it)
Shootings, shoulder pads, oil barons balls and the longest dream ever

The Krankies (Didn't watch it)
So right but Oh so wrong, A Man and a boy that was actually a man and his (short) wife...... (Nuff said)

Sam Fox with her song "Touch me" (Bought it)
I bought that on a 7" (For younger people, a 7" is a vinyl record, before the days of Cee Dees), seems to have been remixed

The Wide Awake Club, (Wacaday) (Watched it - all the time)
Malletts Mallett (Its a word association game, musn't pause, mustn't hesitate or you get a bash on the head) (Alcohol version of Malletts Mallet)

Number 2 - The Shellsuit (Had one)
Cheap, bright coloured crap looking crepe paper styled tracksuits. That when accidently set alight !!!! burnt "quite well"Damn - I had one of these, mine was a Nike Michael Jordan Black and White - 80's Chavwear

and Number 1... (remember watching it)
That Weather report from Michael Fish"Phone call woman rang the bbc and said there was a hurricane on the waym if youre watching dont wrry there isnt"followed by the worst hurricanes in 300 years ,winds of over 110mph, flooding. Poor Michael....

Not sure if I missed it, but surely the rubik's cube must be somewhere, (DOWNLOAD)

Therefore...I am bloody old....

The end of an Era

So now, the time is here
the time to sell, with carpets & curtains.
to all, I'll say it clear
I am nervous, that much I'm certain

I've lived here 7 years, I'm selling up
Ill do it my way
Move in, with SWMBO now
Joining "couple" highway
=--------------------------------------=

That's it, Damo is selling his "bachelor pad" to buy up with SWMBO, I say bachelor pad, of the 7 years I've been here, 5 have been with SWMBO, however it was exactly what I wanted;

lads night Saturdays, DVDs, Playstation 2, Fishtank, Surround Sound, Big TV, Lots of kitchen utensils, TV with Sky in every room.... BLISS

So now its all gonna change, it'll more like, Lads night Saturdays, DVDs, Playstation 3, Fishtank, Surround Sound, Big(ger) LCD HDTV, New kitchen utensils, TVs with Sky HD In every room

Women eh, they don't half change you......

Its all down to the Estate Agent and Rightmove to get my house sold, although I thought I would give them a helping hand. For some reason I don't entirely trust estate agents, although I have picked the best of the bunch (hopefully)

Life Wife Laundry

A few Months (Years) ago, I made a promise to SWMBO. I promised I would clear out all the crap and clutter from my house and make the 1 bedroom studio flat into the 3 bedroom semi it actually is, well despite all the visits to various websites (Lifehacker, OrganizedHome, Yell etc) giving advice on life laundry, house clearances and the best way to sort through years and years of clutter, nothing ever got done....

That is, until SWMBO decided to make even more of an honest man of me and decided she wanted to move in together (Cue the Duh Duh Duhs). We She has found a house (unfortunately near to the Monster-in-Law) and wants to buy it, we have put the offer in and done all the calculations to ensure we cant afford it and hopefully should be moving soon.


SWMBO has done in less than 2 weeks, more than I could managed in 6 years, Its a shame I cant show before and after pics, but previously, no-one could get in 2 of my 3 bedrooms, now they are empty. Its all gone,

Advantages - My house is a home and not a storage area full of crap
Disadvantages - I can't actually find anything, nor do I know if I still have the stuff I am looking for.

Moral - Guys, Dont waste time and money looking for those Kim & Aggy style life laundry people or looking at websites advising on how to clear years and years of shite. Simply invest in a Clare. In my opinion "everybody needs a Clare", Ive had 2 (One didnt work but thats a story not for the blogs).

The other advantage - Damo gets "HD Ready" (TV, SKY, PS3, DVD), I just wont tell SWMBO just yet !!!!

By the way - Thanks Clare !!!!!

Testing BlogJet

Irony \I"ron*y\, n.[L. ironia, Gr. ? dissimulation, fr. ? a

   2. A sort of humor, ridicule, or light sarcasm, which adopts a mode of speech the meaning of which is contrary to the literal sense of the words.

———————————————————————

Found on BBC news site

Alan Carr, the anti smoking man who helped millions of people to give up smoking (these people helped him make millions too) is fighting lung cancer. The site goes on to say he quit his 100 a day habigt 23 years

WARNING LINKS NSFW (Not Safe For Work)

BitTorrents - Its all getting nasty

I have been a regular downloader of bittorrents for a couple of years now, Bittorrents are a great way of people to share files using small client (I use Burst), music, movies, games and Pron can all be traded using this method.

I have been reading about "Saz" who used to moderate a number on a few bittorrent sites, mainly Filesoup.

Saz then left filesoup, and decided to set his own adult bittorrent website empornium, with at one point over 1 million members, he needed cash via donations in order to pay for hosting etc.

Then came the problems, Saz had some interest from a company Targetpoint who stumped up a wad of cash, they then decided to take over the whole thing and used all legal loopholes to be able to do this, now empornium is effectively run by Targetpoint who have (alledgedly) adverts over the whole site, not only this, but they have resorted to making new users to pay for sign-ups.

To say this has pissed off the members, admins and moderators is an understatement, the majority of which have left empornium and set up shop at Cheggit

Now a war has broke out between the illegal file sharing websites, never mind the record and film companies.

More Info over at Wikipedia

Congratulations SWMBO

.....................................................................

Just wanted to say Bloody well done to my fiance who graduated (again) today, She is now a fully qualified Midwife with a Degree in Midwifery. Thats twice in 12 months she has graduated (the last one was for her Diploma).

So I Guess it's now SWMBO BSc

TWTMTW

Or for the Acronym un-friendly - That Was The Month That Was

Not blogged for almost 6 weeks, Ive either been so busy Working/Drinking been on Holiday getting Brown(er) or generally not been arsed to blog. So what have I missed then.

• Longman Ian "Ronnie" Barker leaving us - saving us money on crisps/drinks etc
• Taoski Dumping RoyalMail (CSC) for a big redundancy payoff*
• The Cookie Monster dumping Royal Mail (CSC) for a big redundancy payoff*
• Yet another potential PMP Player
• My Wonderful holiday with SWMBO and the Outlaws

* Not Necesseraily true

So it appears the company I used to work for is not a great employer at all, Pay Freezes, Compulsory Redundancies, Takeovers etc. The good old days of working for Royal Mail IT have well and truly gone, as soon as the IT business was sold off, everything changed. Not one to slag off former employers...
I'm, well, not going to say anything. Nothing at all, Nada, zip, zilch. Nuff said, even the old timers like Tao and Cookie are off.
You see - Outsourcing is definately not a bad idea, moving your call centres and helpdesk is even worse, just ask HSBC and Powergen (Hey I used to work for Powergen on the call centre, what a loopback)

More on my holiday and The thong wearing Mother-in-Law next time... keep reading

The PMP Search Continues

Q. Take 1 Archos AV500, add Bluetooth, and ....
A. The iUbi Blue 2500B
Yes I'm still on the hunt for my PMP (Portable Media Player), Even my colleagues are buying them (albeit the Archos AV700)

But this has to be the best yet (I know I say that every time). Specs include

• Video support for MPEG-1, 2, 4, DivX 3.x, DivX 4.x, DivX 5.x, Svid, WMV9, 8, 7, H.264, AVI, OGM, Mov, Real Media, meaning no need for converting my (legally backed up) Movies.
• Audio Support for MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AC-3, ASF, AAC-LC and G.726
• Wolfsan 3D Sound Enhancement
• 4.3" Widescreen LCD screen (larger than the Archos AV500)
• 8 Hour Video/15 Hour Audio battery life
• Record directly from TV, DVD or Video (and I don't even have a video)
• USB OTG (On The Go) support, ability to download for USB connected devices
• Weight 260g, 1.9cm deep
• Bluetooth

advancedmp3players advise this is availble from 30 June for £249, do I get this or wait for the next-gen players with built-in Freeview TV Tuners

More links

- Amp3 - Stuff - engadget - gizmodo

Is this It (again)
.
Still on the search for the ultimate PMP (Portable Media Player) and I have found this..... with bonus points

It's called the Blufin by a company called Tinnos, Specs as follows

• Windows Mobile 5 Operating System
• 30Gb Hard Drive
• SD Card Slot
• 4.3" Screen
• Multiple Codec Support (WMV, DivX, MP3, WMA) - This is the big one
• USB 2.0
• 2MP Camera

The good thing about this is that it also acts as a PDA, however the bad point is that it states there is no phone built in this may be an error, and if it is an error, Put me down for one

PS3 = £425 - Are Sony taking the piss



UK Prices have just been announce for the Playstation 3.

So thats US$ 500, €425 or £425 - Something does not eqate here.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a Playstation boy through and through and wouldn't even consider defecting, but the massive difference in price will surely get a few people wondering.

With the rumours also surrounding the different versions of PS3, the lesser (cheapest) model lacking Wi-Fi, Memory Card reader and most importantly, a HDMI input, also having a smaller 20Gb Hard drive, which may not be upgradable. Just how much do they plan on ripping us off with charging for the top spec model.

I know the PS3 will have a Blu-Ray player as standard but can this justify the difference in cost to the 360 (top spec model is £280).

I wonder, will we all rush out and buy one....

... Probably

Beat Box .

I've always been fascinated by Human Beatboxx, ever since the good old days of Doug E Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew back in the 80s, to the modern day equivalent Rahzel, I think they are all absolutely amazing.

Then.... I saw this guy (Yuri Lane), who uses a Harmonica while beatboxing check the results for yourself!

Test your IQ
Did my 3 monthly checking of my hotmail emails earlier, among the crap, spam and invitations for free everything, I got a link from my cousin Daniel for an online IQ Test at tickle.com

I got 129 which seems not too bad judging by this site although I missed out te next level by 1 point - Damn

Have a go...

Getting there

I posted a while ago about my bad state of health and that I am going to try to get "fit", it took me a while but I am now going at the gym 4 - 6 times a week, I have managed to lose a bit of weight, although am losing "inches" rather than weight, I am feeling loads better, my blood pressure has gone back to normal and my cholesterol is at 4.8 although this is still classed as moderate risk, (4.7 becomes a low risk - Damn)

I have now even got my ass back on my bike after a year, I rode for 7 miles today which, although made me feeel I was going to either be sick or have a heart attack, also made me feel great - Before you say it Cookie , I know 7 miles isn't that much, but it's a start eh. I aim to go out on my bike 3 times a week and build up to riding to work a couple of days a week (12 miles each way.

I burn roughly 500 - 1000 calories on each session at the gym, and am taking approximately 1500 - 2000 calories a day through food/drink etc, with these calculations I aim to lose 2lb a week - I have 5 more weeks before I go on holiday.... fingers crossed.
signing up to Sparkpages was a great help, it gives guidance on fitness and nutrition as well as ideas for varying meals and exercises to try.

Here are some other links I have find helpful.
- Link 1- Link 2 - Link 3 - Link 4 - Link 5 - Link 6 -

Poor Jim


As Blogged yesterday, Jim has pulled a sicky called in sick, he states he has fractured his arm and cracked a rib or 3.

We are all concerned work colleagues and wish him a speedy recovery (so we can laugh when he falls over again), we have also decided we are going to be caring and call him.....

So... What to call him, his name requires a change (again),
PM Jim, Naked Jim - Time for a change !

Suggestions so far include;

Anti Weeble Jim - (Weebles Wobble but they don't fall down)
Jim "McDonalds" - "He fell over"

suggestions please?

Naked Jim Takes a Tumble ...Again

I remember the first time I went drinking with PM Jim, he decided on an early night, blaming the mixing of alcohol, only to call us (Bossman Dave and I), with what I remeber as

"Fallen... Blood.... Everywhere." - I managed to get my First aid practise that night, and Jim managed to get 13 stitches in his arm,

His version - "Slipt on the bathroom floor and sliced his arm on the toilet roll holder"
The Truth - "had his head down the toilet - shouting Ralf, got up and slipped on said ralf, sliced his arm on a toilet roll holder"

He was right about the blood everywhere though, it looked like a scene from Psycho.

The second time I went out with Jim, he fell off a pub chair in Bristol, after having a shoulder massage. (Nothing dodgy I promise) - Excuse "He was so relaxed"

The third time, I didn't go out with Jim, it was the works christmas party, I won't say much except this is how he got the name "Naked Jim".

Now this is something else, there was no alcohol involved, he has not had a massage, in fact it was a usual day at work and apparently was challenged to a running race with a colleague Ash.

Ill leave the rest to the video, but its definately 2 minutes of your life....

Thanks to Ian "Longman Ronnie" Barker from Rennuff for the video, the commentary and challenging me to convert the .3gp to a video format "Everyone can see" (and making me blog it).

*Spelt correctly as Rennuff.