Archive for December, 2005
Best spam ever
New Eels CD/DVD coming out
Eels are releasing a new CD and DVD in February: Eels With Strings. It was recorded during this year’s tour, which means it’ll be fabby. That’s a technical term.
Xbox 360 shortages: conspiracy or cock-up?
ABC News reports the rumour that employees of games shops are nabbing pre-ordered Xboxes to flog on eBay. There’s precious little detail and even less evidence, but it’s already being reported as fact.
According to The Inquirer:
This would explain that while there are so many shortages, there seems to be no shortages of high priced machines on ebay.
That’s possible, but there’s another explanation that doesn’t rely on a rumour: as the denizens of Digg.com (who’ve been discussing this rumour) point out, many eBay Xboxes could be fraudulent sellers, and others could be buying boxes from legit eBay sellers and then trying to sell them on. It happens a lot with concert tickets, so I’d be surprised if it isn’t also happening with 360s.
eBay bastards, again
On the one hand, if you pay £470 for what turns out to be a photo of an Xbox 360, you’re a numpty. On the other hand, anyone who deliberately tries to mislead people into paying £470 for said photo, and the auction site that enables them to do so without any comeback, deserves a major beating with the Baseball Bat of Justice.
The stub of the matter
According to the Evening Times:
What it will mean? IT MEANS THERE WILL BE A BAN ON SMOKING.
If you can’t work that out for yourself, perhaps university isn’t for you.
I never knew you wrote such bloody awful poetry
One of the members of a journo discussion forum I visit wrote an Ode To Late Payers, so I thought I’d have a go too. Here’s my effort, with apologies to Spike Milligan…
I’d like to pay this month’s mortgage
then go out tonight and get plastered
but the money I’m due
still hasn’t come through
bastardy bastardy bastard.
No win, no fee
I’ve just received spam from some ambulance-chasers, promising me that if I’ve been injured through no fault of my own I’m probably entitled to money. So I’m going to tell them that I was so surprised by their email I fell off my chair and slipped a disc.
Bad news for (some) freelancers
Many freelancers (no, not me) set up one-man limited companies to avoid tax, which is perfectly legal and apparently very lucrative. Or it was: in yesterday’s pre-budget statement, Gordon Brown announced the end of the 0% company tax band, which means a pretty significant hike in limited company owners’ tax bills. Which just goes to prove that if you spot a loophole that can cut your tax bill, you can be sure that old cheery-chops will spot it and shut it.
This would be a good time to buy an Xbox
Not a 360, but the old, “obsolete” model. Game’s flogging a brand new Xbox with a copy of Far Cry Instincts for ninety quid, which is a pretty significant saving (and a pretty decent game), and there are various other bundles on offer including an identically priced King Kong game bundle. Unlike the 360 there’s loads of games for the Xbox, and thanks to the combination of eBay and game exchange programmes in gaming shops and even video shops, you can pick up pre-owned games for pennies. I’d particularly recommend Half-Life 2, which has frequently made me think “I’m amazed that this game’s a console game”, and Halo/Halo 2.
It might not be sexy - strike that. It isn’t sexy at all, it’s horrible, hideous and loud - but the Xbox is incredibly cheap for what you get, and its multiplayer support means even the oldest game gets a new lease of life on the interwebs. And as the current crop of games shows, there’s life in the old dog yet.
Pros and cons of a Mac Mini media centre
I decided to turn my Mac Mini into a music server for my living room. Yay me.
The good:
You can use it as an iTunes music server to transmit music to other macs in the house.
You can watch iTunes visualisations on the TV.
You can muck around with digital photos on your TV.
It’s very neat, very quiet and looks great.
It stores more music than an iPod.
The bad:
It can’t handle video. It’s too jerky, even at small sizes.
My TV has a weird resolution so displays VGA input in 4:3 aspect ratio. [Edit: I've found a way to make it work in widescreen. Hurrah.]
It really, really, really needs a remote control.
iTunes visualisations get really annoying really quickly.
You feel like a pathetic Mac geek for having a Mac under the telly.