Author: iandick

Site Tweaktastic

Made a few more little changes. First up is the name. Got fed up with ‘pessimism and hope’ so re-named to the original ‘iand.net’. Was so tempted to move domains to ‘turned on by technology’ but resisted due to costs, hassle and a nagging doubt that I would get bored with that domain and want to switch to something else. So the tagline for the site is ‘turned on by technology’ but who knows what I could be turned on by in the future.

Inspired by the name change I sorted out a wee-mee image for gravatar and the favicon. Next was the updating blog roll which I’ve missed – ended up back with blogrolling for that one. While on links I’ve removed the redundant ones and also pushed the links section down to the bottom right. Tidy.

Finally…a contacts form has been added and a stats page re-introduced. Sorted. GeoURL is also back up so you can stalk local bloggers. Soon I’ll have a look at Plogger which looks to be a nice simple gallery…although Flickr may be the way to go.

Cheat Free Halo?

From Monday Halo2 will be patched. Hopefully online play will now be glitch free. Like most online games at the moment cheaters spoiled the game for the average player. From Monday most glitches will be patched or there advantage removed. Next rankings will be reset with some new maps to follow at the end of the month. Can’t wait to get back playing this.

PSP Games

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Having great hardware is all well and good but you need great games as well. You only need to look at the Gamecube (stunning hardware spoiled by having a few great games) to see what I mean. At launch of a new platform there is always a wide mixture of good and bad games, usually down to time pressures and lack of familiarity with the new platform. That being said the PSP has a couple of cracking games out from day one with some more to follow soon.

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PSP Hardware

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I finally have my hands on a working Playstation Portable and thought it only right and proper that I post my views after a few days use. I have a fair bit to say so I’ve split this post into three. The first will deal with the hardware and the value pack that Sony supply’s. Next will be the multimedia elements of the PSP and the final post will talk about games. Don’t know why I’m doing it – just feel the need.

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Cheaper Broadband

After a short wait and lot’s of hoping PlusNet have finally launched their new pricing structure. So today I was able to switch to 1Meg broadband, around 200Gb download cap and a hopeful upgrade to 2Meg in the next month or so for a monthly fee of £21.99. Lovely. Had to pay £14.99 to change from paying £29.99 a month but I’ll make that back by summer.

Just need to wait for BT to start rolling out their 8Meg products later in the year to get 8Meg for £21.99 – that will be a bargain.

PSP Update

I’d planned to do a massive review of the PSP, the good bits, the bad bits, what Sony should be selling etc etc but it will have to wait. I’m getting it replaced as it developed some ‘dead pixels’. Graham got a new one shipped this morning which looked great which convinced me that I should swap mine while I can. Hopefully have it back by next Tuesday.

I’ll start putting the review together as it’s a great gadget which should appeal to multi-meeja lovers as well as gamers.

Shameful

Well done to Jamie Oliver as the government finally bows to public pressure over the amount spent on school meals. But did we really need:

  • A programme to highlight how bad school meals currently are and how it affects kids diets?
  • Labour lies. They had been working on the issue for quite a while said Tony Blair. Election on the way?
  • The ever more desperate Tories saying they would match anything the government spends. In fact…they’ll do more. Hang on a minute lads. I got a great idea. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm (think Italian Job).

    • If this is what the next 6 weeks are all about I’ll see you in June.

    Arrived

    Well….the PSP arrived this morning. Well – 2 arrived as I’d ordered one for Graham as well. Unfortunately one (thankfully not mine – no conspiracy theories allowed) had 11 dead pixels. So it has been returned, but mine is fine. The screen is gorgeous, it really is the most difficult thing to keep clean and when I sort out my 1 gig memory card videos on the go will be a joy. I’ll do a fuller post over the weekend as it’s not without flaws, but it’s still highly recommended.