Have your computer screen professionally cleaned.

This really is just for fun, and it made me laugh.

http://www.linein.org/media/screenclean.swf

OK, it seems that was taken down, but here a link to the same thing as a Windows Screensaver: http://shell.jssjr.com/files/screenclean.exe

...

Or when technology is great.

Technology put to good use against undesirables?

The Internet-based group "Anonymous" has released statements on YouTube and via a press release, outlining what they call a "War on Scientology". Church of Scientology related websites, such as religiousfreedomwatch.org have been removed due to a suspected distributed denial-of-service-attack (DDoS) by a group calling themselves "Anonymous". On Friday, the same group allegedly brought down Scientology's main website, scientology.org, which was available sporadically throughout the weekend.

Read more

Early adopters of Blu-Ray - paying the price?

It seems that people who went out and invested in Blu-Ray early-on are unlikely to be able to take advantage of new features being added to newly released movies. Blu-Ray players are divided in to categories (or profiles) with all players released before Nov 2007 being Profile 1.0. The latest profile, 1.1 allows new features to be accessed, one example of which is Picture-in-Picture. Anybody who owns a Sony PlayStation 3 will be aware that the recent update from Sony upgraded the Blu-Ray firmware to Profile 1.1. And that's the problem; there was no requirement for the hardware of early players to be upgradable and so they're pretty much stuck with an out-of-date Profile.


Whilst I'm sure there will soon be a great eBay market for 'chipping' or modding older players to upgrade the Profile of a player you've got to ask yourself how hard would it have been for the manufacturers to implement an upgrade process from day one. It would seem that in the rush to get their systems out to market, and thus not allow HD-DVD too great a lead, the players released weren't quite as good as they should have been and now the most dedicated base of users is to pay the price.

Now whilst I'm sure many of the early-adopters were aware that this may have become an issue when they purchased their players, it just doesn't seem right. In this day and age firmware updates are common for the gadgets we use (iPods, routers & games consoles etc...), and considering the complexity of the Blu-Ray technology, how hard would it have been to include an Ethernet port and update functionality?

The problem is only going to become more apparent when Profile 2.0 is released later in 2008. At present the only upgradable player on the market is the PlayStation 3 which seems to top may peoples lists as the best quality/value around.

You can read more in this BBC article

And talking of laptops; is this the most expensive ever?

This piece of cheap looking tat (i can only assume you have to be there) is the Tulip E-Go.

The Tulip E-Go Diamond notebook is inlaid with solid palladium white gold plates in which thousands (80 carats) of top-quality, brilliant cut diamonds have been pave set with surgical precision. The magnificent end result also incorporates a unique square cut ruby set in both Tulip logos and costs 283,000 Euros (US$355,000).

Apparently, E-Go stands for 'easy going' - I don't think my bank manager would see it that way.

Man this is one ugly laptop

I can accept that some people have no concept of taste, each to their own, but why the hell he chose pink? He's missed out on the fluff though....

Microsoft tries to get gaming writer fired

Right, so... a games reviewer in the UK has asked Microsoft to allow him to pay for his Live account in US$ rather than UK£ (Probably because we all know that we in the UK/Europe/Canada are getting done-over by Microsoft...And Apple...And the record companies...And the movie studios...). After Microsoft declined the offer Ben Paddon complained. This had lead to a rather pathetic attempt by Microsoft to get him fired from his writing job. Wow!

You can read more from the horses mouth here.

McDonald’s boss: ‘Games to blame for childhood obesity’

A buzz started a couple of hours ago about a statement made by the boss of McDonald's UK. Apparently he was blaming video games for causing childhood obesity. When you actually read the article it becomes clear that he's merely pointing out that he thinks video game playing contributes to the problem because kids aren't out playing and burning energy (Not sure if that's the energy they get from eating his burgers?). But still, I think the funny thing is that whilst many will suspect that this may well be the case, I'm not too sure that we are prepared to listen to him on this particular matter.

We've known for a long time that the crap they sell at McDonald's does nobodies health any good; OK maybe one or two of their salads are healthy but even they have been accused of not being as healthy as they should.

You'd think after Super-Size Me was released they'd keep quiet about health related issues unless they were positive? Pointing blame at other industries just seems to be a little odd. I wonder if he's ever heard of the Nintendo Wii and it's ability to get both young and old pumping blood and burning calories?

A Cure for Video Game Motion Sickness?

If you, like me, are prone to suffer motion sickness whilst playing video games I can sympathise. I've come to see it almost as a disability. There's nothing worse than following the hype of a new release only to realise within 30 minutes of playing that it'll make you dizzy, bring on vomiting and chronic tiredness.

The very first game that made me ill was Motorhead on the PC. Back when it was released I'd just bought a fairly good PC for the time and Motorhead was one hell of a fast racer. After about 15 minutes of play I recognised the feelings I'd had as a kid going on coach trips with school. The same feelings that preceded chucking up. In those days it didn't really bother me. Most video games had low frame-rates and I'd learnt that it was this and/or bobbing camera motion that was causing the problem.

These days however it's a different story. The games which knock me sick are far more frequent: Halo 1, 2 & 3, Wipeout, Call of Duty 3 & 4, Gears of War and Ace Combat 6 to name just a few. However the god-send is the Burnout series, which for some reason has no effect on me and is one of my favourite games of all time. The others I own because my son loves playing these types of games.

However after a couple of days over the holidays of watching COD4 and lasting between 10 and 20 minutes before I had to leave the room I decided to do a little research. The obvious answer was to try Dramamine - but that would leave me feeling drowsy and I didn't want to turn to drugs simply to enjoy a good game. The next suggestion that came along was ginger. After reading a few articles I decided to pop to my local health food store and pick up some capsules. I took one and waited an hour before loading up COD4. Amazingly, even though I broke my first rule by playing in a near dark room, i lasted more than an hour. And to be honest I was feeling a little tired but I'm not sure I wanted to play longer.

So if you suffer from Motion Sickness I'd recommend taking some ginger and seeing if it helps. Just remember to read the label first!

JD Wetherspoon pubs - who the hell do these people think they are?

In an amazing story from the BBC, JD Wetherspoon, the popular pub chain have made an absolutely amazing statement. They will no longer server people who visit their pubs with children more than 2 alcoholic drinks and don't think you'll get away with switching to soft drinks or coffee after that, you still won't be welcome. Apparently this is because their pubs lack play facilities and they don't want parents staying too long although one member of staff said it was to avoid child cruelty.


When I read this I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. I often visit with my son who's 9 and is perfectly able to be entertained by either adult company or that of other children who might be there. I can understand that nobody really wants to see parents getting drunk when they're with their kids, but lets face it, 99% of parents are responsible. They love their kids and are happy to take them out for some food in a pub. One of the reasons I visit Wetherspoons is because of their responsible attitude and pleasant atmosphere in their pubs. They don't tolerate drunks and provide relatively good quality food. I wonder who will be tolerated in their pubs soon?

Well guess what, I live with a perfectly good over-bearing, nanny-state created by our wonderful Government and don't need any more crap from the likes of a pub chain. JD, you've just lost my business and that of many of my friends. You will probably lose a lot more before you reverse this ridiculous rule. I always thought you were a family pub? If anybody wants me I'll be sitting in my local park with my son and a bottle of Jack Frost extra strength cider; anyone care to join me?