Archive for November, 2005
Woo-hoo! Again!
This comes out on Monday:
And if you’re fast, you’ll get the limited edition second CD of Xmas songs which, according to Popjustice, has one of the greatest record sleeves ever:
I haven’t heard the Xmas stuff but the album proper is great, shiny pop, albeit great shiny pop with one really awful track (”Racey Lacey”) as per EU regulations.
Five reasons why I won’t be buying an Xbox 360 on Friday, even though I really want one
The price will fall in a few months.
There aren’t any second-hand games yet, which means even a modest games library will cost a fortune.
Half-Life 2 on plain ol’ Xbox is incredibly good.
I’m broke.
I forgot to pre-order one.
Oh god, not again
My back’s been getting more and more sore over the last few days, and today I can’t straighten it properly or bend to the right. I’m crossing every available finger and hoping it’s a temporary glitch rather than the return of my back problems.
Ironically, I’m writing about health today.
Apple’s broadband tuner for high-speed connections
If you’ve got broadband that’s faster than 5Mbps, Apple has a wee utility that should speed things up.
[Via Digg]
Music and film firms want anti-terror powers
Remember, when you download music you’re downloading communism.
The music and film industries are demanding that the European parliament extends the scope of proposed anti-terror laws to help them prosecute illegal downloaders. In an open letter to MEPs, companies including Sony BMG, Disney and EMI have asked to be given access to communications data - records of phone calls, emails and internet surfing - in order to take legal action against pirates and filesharers. Current proposals restrict use of such information to cases of terrorism and organised crime.
If you buy products from these firms, you’re funding fuckwittery.
Woo-hoo!
I love snow.
Today’s spam senders include…
Showpiece F. Poultice
Looters E. Paragraphing
and my favourite:
Tyrannize U. Ferret.
Sony rootkit - the satellite image
Wow. This is amazing: a photo of the world showing where rootkit-related DNS lookups are coming from.
There’s also an excellent summary of the legal issues at Groklaw (both links via Metafilter).
Meanwhile The Register argues that the whole sorry saga probably won’t amount to much:
Far from being a historic turning point in the public’s perception of nefarious DRM tactics, that many hoped, it’s proof that the CD buying public is impervious to technology warnings, or at least extremely slow to cotton on.
Amazon: computer says no
My brother ordered an Xbox 360 from Amazon quite some time ago, and was given a delivery date of early December. Then his Xbox blew up, so he decided to edit the order slightly and pay for first class delivery rather than super saver delivery, which takes slightly longer. No problem, said Amazon. Your delivery date is now 19 February.
I don’t know the exact words my brother used at this point, but they’re not hard to imagine.
According to Amazon, whenever you edit an order - to change your card details, to upgrade from free delivery to first class delivery, to add gift wrap, whatever - their system treats it as a brand new order. It doesn’t tell you that before, during or after the edit, and if you try and complain you get some really patronising emails. Hurrah for online customer service.
Will the JCB Song be the Xmas number one?
Everybody I know who’s heard the JCB Song has gone “awwwwwww”, because it’s lovely. Apparently it’s now the bookies’ favourite for this year’s Christmas number one. Awwwww.