Model Citizen

My first iPod

2008-04-30T09:48:20+02:00

Just bought mu first iPod. The girls in the house all have the new style shuffle, but I have'nt had one :(

Even Nathan my boy has my wife's old stick type shuffle. He's mad keen on Primeval, so he has it as an Anomaly detector!

Anyway, it arrived yesterday. It's a beautiful piece of kit. Even the packaging is a work of art. So well thought out. I plugged it into my PC and had an issue straight away, I'm running XP 64 pro and iTunes has an issue with that OS, so I was'nt too surprised when the connection kept dropping. I did a search on GOOGLE and found that when I did a quick rebuild all the problems went away.

So it sinced up very quickly, I downloaded some YouTube videos (with the help of an FLV converter) and added my iTunes library, of about 6000 songs and it's not even scratched the 80GB!

The sound is phenomenal, the videos look stunning, the whole interface is more like a mini PC than an MP3.

The plan now is to hook it up to a Marantz IS201 docking station. This can take the audio and video signal to your amp for navigation on your screen via remote. i've got it on order, so just waiting.

Finally got my Blu Ray

2008-04-09T10:00:28+02:00

I've been pulling so much overtime at work, and still am, that I thought I'd splash out and take the plunge and buy a Blu Ray player.

Everyone who's been looking at the HD war will know by now that HD-DVD has lost it's battle against Blu-Ray, which is why you can pick the players and discs up so cheaply now.

Blu Ray on the other hand remains a tad expensive.

The player I bought, due to overwhelming feedback and advice was the Sony Playstation 3:

By farawaypictures at 2008-04-09

Because I'd bought my Marantz amp last month I was able to have this and my DVD connected via HDMI to my screen, because of course you can't watch an HD signal without an HD lead.

The PS3 is a superb piece of kit. It's reasurringly heavy. I added some higher rubber feet on mine to give better airflow, as it does warm up pretty quickly. I bought it with the Turismo prologue game. It's a stunning game, really showing off HD gaming. The controller connects via USB, that is until the pad has been charged, then you can put the lead away and play wirelessley. Talking of wireless, it also connects to your broadband to update it's firmware, log onto the net or go shopping at the PS3 store where you can download demo's etc.

Because I bought this primarily as a Blu Ray player I had to buy the seperate remote too:

By farawaypictures, shot with H 25 at 2008-04-09

It's a bluetooth device, so no IR and thus my Phillips Pronto can't learn the codes, so i'm stuck with an extra remote. Not a particularly big deal for such great HD entertainment.

As mentioned the discs are a bit pricey, for now, but allready some places are doing 3 for 2 deals. So I bought a few, amongst those Ratatouille and Surfs Up. Watched these and was thrilled at the detail of the image. I believe the Marantz has a lot to say in this quality, as it's really improved the image of my Denon DVD player too.

What I would say though is that you have to pick your discs for this player. Unless it's a new film with big effects and CGI I expect my DVD will give just as good an image, but for digital animation like those mentioned it's unbeatable on Blu Ray.

Next stop, a new iPod I think.

Vince Gill: These Days

2008-03-11T11:15:31+01:00

I bought this recently after seeing the amazing line up of talent Vince was dueting with. It's a 4 disc album and features the likes of: Rodney Crowell, Diana Krall, Guy Clark, Gretchen Wilson, LeAnn Rimes, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Trisha Yearwood, Alison Krauss, Phil Everly, Lee Ann Womack, and Emmylou Harris.

An incredible line up singing alongside the man known as the `Ambassador Of Country'.

I've listened to it once, and gone back to a few songs to check I had'nt missed something.

Some of the guest artists are amongst my favourites, so why does Vince relegate them to the role of backing singers?
Unless it had actually stated who he was 'dueting' with I would'nt have even realised it was a duet.
You want to know how to have a duet with Alison krauss? listen to Brad Paisley: Whiskey Luulaby. You want to know how to duet with Leann Rimes,listen to Brian McFadden & Rimes's Everybody's Someone. etc etc.
Such a shame. Even though Vince has a great voice it does feel as though he's not willing to share the lead with anyone else.

Rated 3 out of 5

The Last Amp You'll Ever Need

2008-03-03T12:28:56+01:00

I worked so much overtime last month I thought I'd treat myself to a new Amp.

Richer Sounds had a superb THX rated Receiver on sale, was £900, now only £600. When i rang the only silver one left was down to £550, so I bought it.

Marantz SR7001

It's a beast of a machine! Here's the full spec:

Remote Control	Is an Infra-red remote control included?	Yes
Pro-Logic/pro-Logic 2/pro-Logic 2x	Analogue surround sound system - for TV and video. Pro-Logic 2 features stereo effect rears, whilst Pro-Logic 2x can output in 6.1 or 7.1	Yes/Yes/Yes
5.1/6.1/7.1	The number of channels. 5.1 is the basic standard. 6.1 adds a rear centre. 7.1 adds side effect speakers.	7.1
Dts/dts-Es	Digital Theatre System - a rival to Dolby Digital. DTS-ES is a 6.1 format that offers a rear centre speaker.	Yes/Yes
Thx Select 2/thx Ultra 2	Is it THX Certified? A specification requirement from Lucus Studios of Star Wars fame. THX Select 2 is the required standard for small/medium sized rooms, THX Ultra 2 is for larger rooms.	Yes/No
Video Inputs	Inputs for visual sources - DVD, video etc - on rear of unit.	4
Audio Inputs	Inputs for hi-fi sources - CD, aux etc - on rear of unit	6
Built-In Tuner	Built-in analogue or digital radio?	FM/AM
Coaxial Outputs	Number of coaxial digital outputs to loop digital information through.	1
Coaxial Inputs	Number of coaxial digital inputs to input digital sources such as DVD player	3
Optical Outputs	Number of optical digital outputs to loop digital sources through.	1
Optical Inputs	Number of optical digital inputs to input digital sources such as DVD players	3
Sub Out	Does it have a seperate connection for subwoofer	Yes
6-Channel Input	Does it have a 5.1 analogue input? - uses 6 RCA phono sockets	Yes
Power Rating (Wpc)	Maximum power output per channel - RMS into 8 ohms	110 x 7
Hdmi Interface	Is HDMI included? HDMI offers the highest quality, digital connection. The number given relates to the number of HDMI inputs fitted - a single output is standard unless otherwise stated.	Yes - 4

I set it up on Saturday night, and was pulling my hair out. I got the sound down first time. It actually comes with a microphone that will set it all up for you, just put the mic where you like to listen and click Auto. I went for the manual set-up though, which i'm more familiar with. Just tell it the size of the speaker, how far away from you it is and then adjust the test tone.

It was the picture that through me. I had connected it up with some Scorpion HDMI cables, a superb power buy from AV Talk, and was getting sound but no picture. After countless attempts at trying different things i gave up and went to bed. i tried again in the morning and finally got it. The DVD had to be set up for HDMI component.

Anyway, watched Stardust last night with the THX setting on and it's fantastic. I've never owned a bit of THX kit before, but it really does make a difference.

Next stop now is Blu-Ray, and despite the cheapish stand alone players now the only way to go it seems is with the Playstation 3. So, roll on next month.

Stephen Chow

2008-02-14T12:08:36+01:00

Probably most people with any interest in the martial art genre wil know of Chow. BUT. This is one guy who's worth watching if you have any interest in film, especially action/comedy.

I bought Kung Fu Hustle a while ago last year. A superb film that has so much comedy in it that genuinely appeals to a wider audiance than just the original Asian.

From Amazon:

Stephen Chow's follow-up to SHAOLIN SOCCER ups the over-the-top action quotient by about three zillion percent. The story is set in 1930s Hong Kong, with Chow as a shaggy-haired, would-be bad guy named Sing, who gets caught up in the middle of a war between the top-hat-wearing Axe gang and the hard scrabble inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley. Chow who wrote, produced, and directed doesn't step in as the star here for quite a while, letting the comic duties fly in a myriad of directions: a landlady in curlers (Yuen Qiu) has a yell that can flatten buildings; people get kicked across courtyards and through walls; musician assassins whip ghost sabres from lyre strings, and a mental patient in pink flip-flops named 'the Beast' (Leung Siu Lung) catches bullets in his fingers. Buoyed by SOCCER's box office success, HUSTLE uses bigger production values and a dizzying amount of CGI-enhanced martial arts (imagine Bruce Lee vs. Bugs Bunny in THE MATRIX). It's full of references to other films and filmmakers, revering spaghetti westerns and '70s Shaw brothers movies a la Tarantino's KILL BILL (fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping worked on both films). It also pays sly homage to the works of Wong Kar Wai, D.W. Griffith, Sam Raimi, Jean-Luc Godard, Stanley Kubrick, and Akira Kurosawa. Raymond Wong's inspired score matches each cinematic reference with the appropriate cue as the camera circles and swoops around the sprawling sets. This is a real treat, more than a great action film or comedy, it's a great film period, and one that set box office records in the East.

I recently bought Shaloin Soccer, I'd heard it was a poorer film than Hustle but, instead found it even funnier as Chow takes his particular type of OTT action effects into the world of football.

Again, from Amazon:

Computer generated special effects have seldom been so giddy as in Shaolin Soccer, a gleeful fusion of kung fu and a classic Bad News Bears sports story. A former soccer star--whose "golden leg" was broken by a hired mob--assembles a team of former students of Shaolin martial arts, whose assorted skills (indicated by their nicknames, like Mighty Steel Leg and Iron Head) lend themselves to the swift interplay of the world's most popular game. Along the way, the team's leader (Hong Kong comic superstar Stephen Chow) meets a sticky bun baker (Vicki Zhao) whose kung fu is the equal of any of his teammates. Shaolin Soccer is supremely silly--in the final match, their opponents are called Team Evil--but that's part of the fun. American movies rarely achieve this perfect balance of the absurd and the sincere. A delight. --Bret Fetzer

Both films are well worth a look, more so, they need to be watched, these are great comedies full of action and wonderful characters. they easily stand up to repeat watching, SS has been watched in our house 3 times in the 2 days since I bought it!

And if you get the bug for Chow's work, then your in luck, as he has a brand new film coming soon: CJ7

BOB Books

2008-02-04T12:16:20+01:00

I've put this in the 3D section mainly because that's what I used it for.

Anyway, BOB Books: BOB Books

A superb site. What they do is make one off books. What's great about that? Well, take a look at their site and see what you can do. Want to have a glossy hardback book of your years best photo's? What about a custom wedding album?

What I did was have my CGI work compiled into a coffee table size book. It's superb!

What you do is download a free bit of software from the site, and choose your layout and get going. Just add pictures and text where you want it and hey presto order the book.

Mine cost about £50 delivered, and it's worth every penny.

Here's a terrible shot I took but hopefully you'll get an idea of the quality.

Original:

You dont have to worry about converting images to CMYK or anything other than Jpegs. The software will tell you if it's not good enough size wise. It takes 2 weeks to print and arrive, but it's very, very impressive.

TMNT

2008-02-04T09:50:55+01:00

Somehow this film just passed through. I remember seeing the trailer last year but did'nt really see any reviews or comments on it. This usually means this is a turkey to be well avoided, but I saw it on sale (another bad omen) and decided to buy it for my boy. On the cover it says it's won an award for best CGI movie of 07?

The start is unusual, it makes no mention of origins, of how they came to be where they are or who they are. It starts in fact with the four Turtle brothers split, Leo is in South America, where he has been for just over a year acting as an unseen protector for a small village until he is tracked down by April. She tells Leo what the other brothers are doing, and none of them are doing that great, one doing IT support, one a kids party entertainer and Raphael a masked vigilante (unknown to all).

The main story refreshingly has nothing to do with Shredder, though the Foot Clan are involved. The story is pretty involved and a bit of a 3 way fight. You have an Eternal Champion figure who's family of 4 generals were turned to stone by his seeking immortality, he has lived through the ages ammasing wealth and power hoping to rectify his mistake. At the moment of his mistake he also unleashed 13 monsters into the world. April, along with Casey has been collecting the 4 stone statues, who the Champion reanimates, but still as stone warriors. They are tasked along with the Foot Clan to locate the 13 monsters and capture them, along the way they of course meet the Turtles.

There's enough in the story to keep you interested and guessing just what is happening. It's also voiced by some excellent actors including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart and Lawrence Fishburne.

As for the mentioned CGI?
It is well worthy of the award. I've not been impressed with a CGI film for a while now, but the level of detail and quality in this film really took me back. Maybe it's because I'm learning CGI myself, but the quality of textures and modelling really stood out. There's no corners cut either, when the rain comes and you see the tiny splatters on the bodies fighting it really is very well done.
As a kids movie this is maybe the best all CGI boys film I've seen, as a film in general, it's still a lot of fun and as said, a visual treat.

Doctor Who Weetabix Game

2008-01-23T09:14:21+01:00

Cards

Available HERE

Game

Available HERE

A long time in the making. This is a reworked and polished version of the 1970's Weetabix Doctor Who board game. Feel free to download, share, host, whatever, but please take note of the read me file in each zip.

Great Starship Resource Site

2008-01-17T09:48:04+01:00

Recently found this site. it shows about every spaceship you can think of and there relative scale.

STARSHIP MODELLER

The War Is Over.......maybe?

2008-01-14T12:51:29+01:00

There have been a lot of reports since the New Year that the HD war may be over.

Well, let's see. Here are some quotes from respected people and sites:

This from last week by Stuart Miles,

5 January 2008 17:28 GMT - The format war is over, we can all get on with our lives, buy a Blu-ray player and all be happy about it.

Well that's what looks likely to happen following the announcement from Warner Bros. that it would be ditching HD DVD support in favour of an exclusive agreement with Blu-ray.

HD DVD might have the better interactivity, might have had the cheaper player offering, but it seems that wasn't enough when it came to wooing the movie studios.

And so Toshiba, who've been singing the praises of HD DVD for over four years are left holding on to just handful of studio's still supporting the format. But for how long?

The HD DVD format might have big players like Universal, in from the beginning, Paramount and DreamWorks who recently switched, and New Line, but even these alliances now look shakey as well.

In an exclusive interview with Pocket-lint last month, Rachel Banin, product manager of the home video business group at Sony said "We understand that it was only for a set period of time. I think that if the progress of the Blu-ray format continues, Paramount will have to come back."

New Line is owned by Time Warner, who incidentally owns Warner Bros, and therefore likely to switch as well, leaving just Universal and DreamWorks out in the cold supporting the format.

Compare this against movie studios 20th Century Fox, MGM, Lionsgate, Disney, now Warner Bros and of course Sony Pictures plus hardware makers such as Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG, Samsung, and Apple and you can see why HD DVD looks set to fail.

We would love to say it's a shame, that poor Toshiba has been beaten by Sony in what has to be its first format war victory; UMD, MiniDisc, Beatmax, ATRAC anyone? But in reality consumers should be pleased that finally one format has been victorious and that Home Cinema fans can now concentrate on buying a Blu-ray player and getting on with investing in movies.

Of course if Blu-ray has won the victory and the battle, there are further consequences to consider.

What of Microsoft's Xbox 360 HD DVD drive? What of Toshiba's line of HD DVD players. Without movies to play what will become of the players and what will Toshiba do to bring High-def content to those who want it? Opt for Blu-ray? It would be an amazing move and show that the company has plenty of heart, but lets face it, its unlikely to happen.

As for Microsoft, the idea of including a HD DVD player in their console will most likely have been shelved overnight, if they even existed of course.

We will have to wait and see, but one thing for certain, we won't get a response at CES this week. The HD DVD group has cancelled its keynote speech at CES.

Rumors just won't stop about the future of HD DVD, and while we try not to post all of them, some seem too believable to pass up. Our friend Bill Hunt, at the Digital Bits, -- still waiting on those permalinks, Bill -- is reporting that his "second to none" sources informed him that both Universal and Paramount are in the process of going blu. But don't bother asking 'em, because the same contracts that prevent them from switching now, prevent them from confirming the rumor. In addition, Bills sources tell him that while Paramount could make an announcement any day now, Universal's won't come until February -- at the earliest -- because "their contract period with the HD-DVD camp expires at the end of January."

The sprawling consortium of technology and media companies assembled to promote the HD DVD format of next-generation, high-definition discs could be close to collapse after a spate of defections to the rival Blu-ray Disc consortium.

As many as 20 companies that are members of the HD DVD Promotion Group could be preparing to remove their names from the alliance’s 130-strong membership list, The Times has learnt.

The defections could, one Tokyo-based analyst said, represent the final nails in the coffin of Toshiba’s HD DVD standard after a bitterly fought “format war”.

Eiichi Katayama, of Nomura Securities, said that the battle between the formats, which display films and video games more sharply in an era of ever-larger television screens, was now “entering its final phase”.

The threatened exodus from the HD DVD format comes after the decision by Warner Bros last week to back the rival Blu-ray Disc format, whose main technology backers include Sony, Apple and Dell. Apparently encouraged by the strong momentum behind Blu-ray, Paramount emerged yesterday as the latest Hollywood studio poised to switch allegiances.

Pony Canyon, a Japanese music, animation and film studio and part of the Fuji Television media empire, said that although it was a member of the HD DVD Promotion Group, the decisions taken by American studios meant that it would “choose Blu-ray in the end”. Several other Japanese companies, including content producers and electronics component makers, said that their support of HD DVD was “under review”.

Backers of HD DVD point to the relative ease of producing the discs and the lower cost of building machines capable of reading them. Unlike previous format wars, particularly the Betamax v VHS skirmish in the 1980s, the Blu-ray v HD DVD war effectively has been decided in board-rooms, rather than in electronics showrooms. The decisions of the big studios have come well before those of customers, who generally have held back from picking one format for fear of backing a loser. Paramount has turned out to be a pivotal figure. Its decision in August to give exclusive backing to HD DVD was seen as a potentially devastating blow to the prospects of Blu-ray and to the strategy of Sir Howard Stringer, Sony’s president. Sir Howard argued, however, that the PlayStation3 games console, which includes a Blu-ray disc player, would put the format in people’s living rooms more quickly than HD DVD players would be adopted by consumers.

Paramount, like other members of the HD DVD group such as Fujitsu, Lenovo and Kenwood, has hedged its bets. It offered exclusivity on the basis that it could reverse the decision should Warner Bros switch to Blu-ray.

Facing a future with only Universal Pictures as its big Hollywood supporter, analysts at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas said that Toshiba and HD DVD could quickly be isolated.