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Minter hits the 360

Out of all the Xbox 360 news the bit that amused me most was that Jeff Minter has developed a lightsynth for it. It’s best summed up by a quote from the man himself…

It is truly a thing of beauty… I believe it finally begins to achieve the potential that I saw all those years ago when I first made Psychedelia… and I am happier with it than I have ever been with anything I’ve created in my entire career.

And we got it into the firmware again…

Microsoft firmware.

Of the Xbox360 for goat’s sake }:-D.

At last… after more than 20 years’ work, one of my lightsynths is going to reach a decent sized audience.

Millions and millions….. }:-D

I can’t wait.

WordPress Upgrade

WordPress released version 1.5.1 which I have just applied to the site. Hopefully everything works including that 1 pixel problem in IE just for Ricky. There seems to be more info and also increased effort to guide those upgrading and letting them know what to expect. Upgrade thread is worth following for instructions and also feedback on anything that breaks.

Just need to figure out why the Super Archives plug-in works in IE, doesn’t apply the style in Firefox and also generates javscripts errors. Joy. Although the archives in IE do look spiffy.

Xbox 360

xbox360_mtv_snapshotA sneaky shot from the MTV shoot (which has revealed a November release in the USA) – I guess more will leak out before the program on Thursday. Rumours include:

  • Tivo like functionality
  • DVD writer
  • Media centre aware – will work with media centre pc’s (and others?)
  • Wireless controllers – crap – batteries? Shortcuts via the xbox logo in the centre (numbers around it)
  • Comes with camera – won’t be able to scratch my balls while playing Live
  • Web browsing, instant messaging – always online no matter what you are using it for i.e. playing music, watching dvd’s
  • Skinnable – buy different exterior finishes for your Xbox
  • Also plays games – allegedly. Perfect Dark Zero was one of the demo’s thats been played. Talk of Halo 2.5 and PGR3 also.

    • The new pad looks pretty good – at last there are four shoulder buttons and we’ve lost the black and white buttons which were always awkward to get to. The console is also finished in a mac white but I’m sure this is to emphasise the skinning possibilities which I’m guessing will end up being a pretty big market not just for M$ but all the third party manufacturers. New movies coming out could produce skins for the Xbox and I’m sure there will be loads of folk wanting Star Wars, Matrix and Lord of the Rings skins. I wonder if there will be something for Batman Begins? Anyway – some more leaked shots to finish off.
    xbox_controller

    xbox_media_centre

     

    UMD’s Cracked

    The PSP UMD’s have been cracked and the iso images of three games have been uploaded to the net and newsgroups. While this in itself is of no threat as there’s no way to burn the iso to a UMD disk, how long before someone figures out a way of executing a game from the memory stick in the same way that the firmware upgrade can be executed? Also interesting that the iso’s are so small – around 150Meg. Could fit a few games on my 1 Gig card.

    Shattered

    Made the most of the holiday weekend and I can safely say that I’m glad to be going back to work tomorrow. The clear-out on Saturday was followed by lot’s of flat pack building. Also cleaned out the rest of the garage and organised what’s left – for the first time since we moved in the garage is looking tidy…for a garage.

    The rest of the furniture is all built and in place but it’ll take a few days of tidying to get back to normal. One thing I do regret is I forgot to order a lock and key for a set of office drawers I bought. I foolishly went into Ikea today for it – never again on a bank holiday. The place was mobbed and you could see three types of consumer

  • Browsers – they walk at a snails pace (now called the ‘Ikea Shuffle) and seem to stop and point at all the room displays whether they are buying anything or not.
  • ‘The Lost’ – trying in vain to make their way through the maze is not easy but on a busy day, with people wanting to take short cuts they had no chance
  • Irish – the place was teeming with them. Day trips from Ireland to the Glasgow Ikea are VERY popular

    • Never mind – a lesson has been learnt.

    Knackered

    Hired a van today and with the help of Graham bought far too much at Ikea and then cleared out my garage. Since we moved in the garage has always niggled at me. 5 windows, a kitchen worktop, some kitchen cabinets and an old decrepit workbench from the 1920’s plus wood and car posters from the sixties had meant I could never get the place organised. Finally it has been.

    The council dump was a bit weird though. No vehicles over the height of 1.8 metres is allowed in. The reason I needed a van was the size and weight of the stuff needing dumped. Looks like they want to encourage you to pay the council to take the sizeable rubbish away. Swine’s. Never mind – a good job well done.

    Star Wars Revelations

    With the news that there is to be a Star Wars TV series (been watching Battlestar George?) and the immenent Episode 3 you may have missed the release of Star Wars Revelations by Panicstruck Productions. This is an independently made 45 minute production that captures all that’s good and bad about Star Wars, namely:

  • Great special effects – the CGI used in this film is impressive, most impressive
  • Good use of sound
  • Crap storyline
  • Poor dialogue
  • Questionable acting ability

    • That’s maybe a little harsh as the CGI is amazing for a free film but to ‘star’ in the film it looks like you had to be American, fat, ugly and have facial hair…and that’s just the girls. Seriously though it’s well worth a download at around 250Mb just for the CGI alone – best to grab the torrent though as most of the mirrors aren’t reliable.

    E4 on Freeview

    By the end of May E4 and also E4+1 will be available on Freeview – the full press release is here. Great news although a bit of a waste to have E4+1 as well. By October More 4 will also have launched on Freeview as well. I’m now more glad that I didn’t move to Sky and also convinced a dual-tuner Freeview PVR is required. Question is, will it be the Topfield or the Inverto? Comparisons with these two plus others can be found here.