April, 2007
Halo 2 on Xbox and PC Windows Vista – Graphics Comparison
April 30, 2007
I found this interesting article at GameSpot that talks about the impending release of Halo 2 on Windows Vista and includes some examples of the upgraded graphics that you can expect from the PC version.
I mentioned that I was thinking of taking a look at Halo 2 when I was recently commenting on the Halo 3 multiplayer design. I was basically thinking of picking up Halo 2 for Xbox on the cheap and play it on my Xbox 360.
Now when you see the comparison between the Xbox and Windows Vista versions of this game, it does me you wonder whether I should just hold and wait until I’ve upgraded my PC to Vista, which I’m planning to do in the coming months.
Continue reading »Jose Mourinho Song – Don’t Stop Me Now
April 28, 2007
Following Jose Mourinho’s song was popular – Amazing Technicolor Overcoat song, there are now some other ones to follow that up, here’s one of them.
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Cheap Playstation 3 (PS3)?
April 28, 2007
The Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) console was expected to have a price drop at some point, everyone’s looking to buy a cheap PS3, but who would have thought you would be seeing the PS3 console dropping in price from the UK launch price of £425 to a cheap bargain starting price for Sony PS3 console bundles at around £300 just 6 months later!
One of the reasons I suspect for this will be the comparatively high cost of the Sony PS3 console since it’s launch in comparison to it’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii console rivals which are both outselling it. The reported sales of the PS3 console in the UK and how they fell since the launch week was something that was discussed here on the Zath – I think it was because the launch price was anything but cheap!
Continue reading »Free T Mobile SIM Card
April 27, 2007
A free T-Mobile SIM card? Could I interest you in one of these? You can now get a free Pay As You Go (PAYG) SIM card from the T-Mobile website, this PAYG SIM card includes free weekend texts when you top up at least £10 on a Friday.
Sounds like a good deal to me, unfortunately the network coverage around me might not be that great, but I’m getting one to test it out before I put lots of top-up onto this free T-Mobile SIM card. However, if the T-Mobile network coverage is good in your area, then this offer is a great bargain!
Click here for a Free T-Mobile SIM Card
Continue reading »Playstation 3 Doubles Folding@Home Output!
April 26, 2007
I recently wrote about how you could put your spare computer time to good use by taking part in the Folding@Home project and that Playstation 3 owners could now harness the idle computing power of their new “beast” of a console by running Folding@Home software.
PS3s may not be selling as well as expected, but many of those PS3′s sold have now joined in this project, GameDailyBiz have reported that
World of Warcraft – Beer!
April 25, 2007
A little while ago I showed you a video that was made in the online game World of Warcraft that explained why the Internet is great.
Following up on that I’ve now found another one, it’s a song simply called ‘Beer’ and is set to the music of the Italian National Anthem (I think). Hail to the Ale!
Continue reading »How To Transform Your Face + Who Do You Look Like?
April 24, 2007
No I’m not talking plastic surgery here to transform your face, but about there being several webpages that allow you to upload a picture of yourself and then do something clever with it, such as My Heritage – Face Recognition that tells you which celebrity you (supposedly) look like.
Continue reading »Google Maps – Funny Directions from New York to London
April 22, 2007
Google Maps is a website that you can use to get maps and satellite imagery of anywhere in the world, one of the main features includes giving you step-by-step directions from A to B.
I’ve seen this in a few places on the Internet so far, but thought it was worthy of mention here in case you hadn’t seen it yet.
Normally you get some pretty accurate directions from using this Google product, however if you follow the steps below, you’ll see it would appear that someone at Google who has a sense of humour is checking you’re paying attention!
Continue reading »Online Retailers Using Google Checkout
April 21, 2007
Having found that you can save £10 on every order over £30 until June that you pay for using the new Google Checkout in this post I made the other day, I’ve now found Google’s list of retailers that are using the service.
This should hopefully make things a bit easier in finding some bargains for you!
UK Retailers using Google Checkout
Also, if you’re based in the US or buy from US websites, you can find a list of US retailers using Google Checkout below:
US Retailers using Google Checkout
Continue reading »Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Update – An In-Depth Video
April 20, 2007
Following up on my previous post about the Spring update to Xbox 360, there is now a video segment that you can view that covers a lot of the main features (apprantly there are hundreds of new things in this update) in detail and shows some real improvements to many areas of the console and your user experience whether it’s playing games, watching video or simply chatting with friends.
The video stretches to nearly 24 minutes long, but is very informative (thankfully in a relaxed manner) and worth sitting through – when the update goes live on 7th May, you’ll be familiar with and be able to use the major features pretty much straight away!
Continue reading »Google Checkout Bargain
April 19, 2007
Google recently launched another new service called Google Checkout which is essentially being positioned as a rival service to Paypal as a means of conducting transactions over the Internet – I for one am really pleased that Google have made this move and any real rival to Paypal should hopefully encourage competition and perhaps lower rates, especially if it gets used over eBay and the like.
Ebuyer have a page showing that you will save £10 on every order over £30 you place with them until 10th June 2007. This offer also extends to other online stores that use Google Checkout, so this could be a great way to save money at some of your favourite online retailers!
Continue reading »Designing Multiplayer Halo 3 – The Video
April 18, 2007
I found this Halo 3 multiplayer level design video rather interesting – I’ve not really considered the thought processes and all the small changes that are made along the way which go on with a game like this to ensure the gameplay is as good and as fair as possible before it ever sees the light of day sat on a shelf in your local shop waiting for you to buy it.
Just from that multiplayer video, it certainly looks like it will be a good game which should hopefully live up to the hype and will be one of the 360′s defining games.
Continue reading »How To Improve Firefox Performance
April 17, 2007
I recently wrote about poor, sluggish performance from Firefox (which is a great program by the way, especially given it’s free) that was causing me problems with my computer as a whole. If you haven’t already got it, then I suggest you download and try it today!
That may sound odd, but like I said, it is one of the best examples of freeware programs available today, however it can become rather cumbersome (in a sense mainly as a result of how good it is, due to it’s flexibility) and slow in operation if you don’t keep things in check.
Continue reading »Lost – John Locke Speed Painting Video
April 15, 2007
I found this today, it caught my eye because it was Lost related, but would have been just as impressive had it been artwork done of any other person really.
Just take a look at this – I really wish I was able to do this kind of creative stuff by hand, let alone be able to do it all on a computer in Photoshop, I just sat and watched this in awe!
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USB Humping Dog
April 13, 2007
I saw these USB Humping Dogs a while back when they were first released, these were for entertainment value only and would “go at it” as soon as you plugged them into your USB port. However then I saw this post over at OhGizmo – now somebody has obviously had plenty of time on their hands (that’s not a criticism, sometimes these things just have to be done!) and they’ve modified this little doggy.
Sir Alan Sugar’s Searching for Another UK ‘Apprentice’ Again
April 12, 2007
The UK version of ‘The Apprentice‘ is where Sir Alan Sugar essentially conducts an interview that lasts a few months comprising of weekly business-related tasks such as selling as much coffee as possible, designing a product to sell to retailers or just coming up with their own money-making schemes. It’s now a few episodes into it’s third series (he’s now worth over £800m now instead of over £700m as in the previous series!) and we’re now starting to see the usual kind of entertaining antics on television going on that we’ve come to expect from both this show and the American original that spawned it.
First of all, I do find it interesting that these people keep being described as the best business prospects in the UK – obviously you only get people on the show who have applied in the first place which means they have some desire to be on TV? My argument is that if you’re an true entrepreneur, would you really even apply? Wouldn’t you be more interested and busy making money for yourself, rather than competing in weekly tasks to win the chance to work for Sir Alan Sugar?
Continue reading »Lost Easter Eggs
April 11, 2007
Following up on what I wrote in my post about Lost maps – Lost Easter Eggs are many different small, subtle things contained within most episodes that refer or link to other things in the show. These Lost Easter Eggs aren’t always answers as such, but I feel they do add to the viewing experience when you learn about them, even if you don’t spot them yourself whilst watching the show.
So to venture a bit deeper into this mysterious show, go along to the Lost Easter Eggs site. On this website you’ll find freeze-frame screen captures, videos and discussion about all things Lost Easter Eggs.
Continue reading »Giant Donkey Kong Post-Its
April 10, 2007
When you work in an office (such as I do) where there’s an ample supply of Post-It notes, it encourages you to make use of them – hence why my desk always seems so littered by them…did I say littered?…I meant organised with them! However, there are people, there are ‘observers’ who can be critical of their usage as a means of recording my to-do tasks and such, they will criticise, they make fun, they will pour scorn on you, however they are mistaken!
Continue reading »Xbox 360 Controller Keyboard
April 9, 2007
While I was outlining some of the details of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update yesterday, I did make mention with regard to one of them of a concern I had – namely the fact that it takes me forever to type out short messages to Xbox friends already, let alone whole conversations to MSN Live Messenger contacts – what you need is an Xbox controller keyboard.
Continue reading »Features of the Spring 2007 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update
April 8, 2007
The Xbox 360 ‘dashboard’ interface normally gets updated with new features and fixes every 6 months, the next one is scheduled for 7th May 2007 and is rumoured to include the following:
- Instead of just showing ‘Play Game’ at the bottom of the screeen, it will show which disc you currently have in the drive – the number of times I’ve opened the drive or loaded up a disc just to see what’s in the drive – now that’s progress!
- Windows Live (MSN) Messenger functionality can be added to your Xbox Live account allowing you to communicate with your friends while on your Xbox – although it takes me forever to type out messages with my Xbox controller as it is, so you’d hope voice chat was an option!
- Improved Achievements functionality.
- Xbox Live Marketplace to get it’s own ‘blade’, presumably to make it easier for us to spend our cash on stuff!
- Option to put your Xbox in low power mode for downloading which then shuts down when complete – again another good idea given I often leave it on over night.
