watch tHe skies

Come on guys, you saw this one coming, didn’t you? It was bound to happen at some point and now I can finally confirm that yes I have ordered an Apple TV unit. I had been umming and aaahing about it for some time, but when Jenny started hassling me about clearing out the DVDs “can’t we have them on the computer?” I thought “aha, a wife-endorsed technology”, and so it became true.

So the idea is that I will rip our DVD collection to the PC and synchronise them with the Apple TV. It’s only got 40gb so I will have to be choosy about what goes on the unit, but it will also allow her to flick through all of our photos stored on the PC, something that she has wanted for some time.

Unfortunately the units aren’t shipping until the end of the month, so I have a few more weeks to wait. Which is probably a good thing as it will take a few weeks to rip DVDs to the PC. It is a pity that itunes won’t rip DVDs the same way that it does for CDs, because ripping a DVD and converting it to a format that Apple TV can play is a lengthy process, taking around the same time as the running time of the movie. Hopefully the launch of Apple TV in the UK will coincide with TV shows and movies being available on itunes store, so we can forget the trip to the shops to buy \ hire the DVD.

Just a quickie on a monday morning to tell you that Digital Lard, the successor to DVDLard is now up and running, and you can find it at www.digitallard.com. Head over there to talk about movies, downloads, games and music, and most likely read me spouting the same or similar indecipherable rubbish that you read here on a daily basis.

Plug over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I’ve just been reading an interesting article by Apple Chief Wizard, Steve Jobs, discussing DRM (digital rights management) on music. He makes some very interesting points about the pressure put on the likes of Apple to open up music from the iTunes store so it can be played on any mp3 player.

He makes some interesting points regarding the requirement from the big four record companies for digital distributors to use DRM to protect all tracks sold, when CDs are entirely DRM free and account for some 97% of music sold.

The points he makes suggest that there is a long way to go before all digitally distributed music is available DRM free. Perhaps the record companies have to accept that there will always be people that will obtain music illegally. Perhaps the way forward is instead of charging per track, you pay a monthly subscription which varies by usage, much like a mobile phone with a set number of minutes. Once you reach your allowance you pay a per hour fee to your monthly subscription, and the royalties are then allocated once the device has been docked with the pc and usage data uploaded.

Although it does sound a little big brother, it would encourage the sharing of new music, because what you have on your ipod or whatever doesn’t matter - it’s how much you listen to it that matters, charts would be based on “earplay” rather than purchases and the whole world would be a happier place. World peace would follow shortly after, and finally, the Vulcans would decide that we are an advanced enough species for them to make First Contact. Hurrah. The End.

Thanks to my bro who sent these to me:

• Why is it that people say they “slept like a baby” when babies wake up every two hours?
• Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?
• Why do banks charge a fee on “insufficient funds” when they know there is not enough?
• Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
• Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
• Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?
• Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets? (more…)

So I’m stuck in Bracknell for the week. For those of you who have visited Bracknell and survived, for those of you wondering - it’s a bit like Slough to look at, but with less nice concrete and more, er, desolate landscape.

The upside of working away is that at least I get to watch a few movies, and last night I sat down to watch Jackass Number Two.

I’m a big fan of the first movie - it’s daft, brutal and at times painful to watch, but overall it is really really funny - I can’t watch it all the way through without pausing to get my breath back.

Number Two laughs at Jackass. The bungie wedgie is just too tame when compared to anaconda ball pits and snakes biting penises. By the time that Steve-O has a leech attached to his eyeball, I’d kind of gone past laughing really hard, and moved to really appalled. So whilst Jackass Number Two is funny in bits, for the most part, it’s just damn wrong.

Saying that, some of it is so funny I can’t even think about it without laughing - the fart mask and the big green ball made cry laughing, but for the most part it is uber puerile and not as funny as the first one. I do hope that they don’t make another one, because I’m pretty sure that they’ve all used up their 9 lives, and surely people will die if they make Jackass 3…

Still, if you are stuck in a hotel in Bracknell, then it’s still an entertaining 90 minutes, and much safer than venturing on to the streets.

When someone holds a gun to your head for real, it’s not like in the movies. Not at all. No sly karate move came to MY mind, I had no lazy plot device to get me out of the latest peril, and pithy one-liners were far from my thoughts.

The fact is I was frozen to the spot, and it was all I could do not to puke right there. My knees buckled as soon as I felt the cold circular metallic shape pressed aggressively to my temple, and I had to reach out and steady myself against a wall. This reaction is all down to adrenalin, apparently, the body’s “red alert” system that has for thousands of years protected us against physical threats – tigers, crocodiles, snakes et cetera, but nowadays for most people is considered a hindrance when we are asked to give a presentation or tell everyone what job we do in the latest customer service seminar.

This ‘fight or flight’ response as it is often called, causes the adrenal gland to pump adrenalin in to our bloodstream, increasing heart rate, and preparing the muscles for explosive action. I guess all of this activity takes blood away from the stomach, causing nausea in some people like me.

Anyway I digress. Yes ‘fight or flight?’ is the question you ask when encountering a lion in the wilderness. However, having a gun pressed to your temple whilst waiting for a bus leaves you with an entirely different question.

‘Am I going to die?’ (more…)

So i’ve been thinking a lot about Apple TV and how it might change the way that people deal with media. At the moment, most people are still listening to CDs and watching DVDs in their lounge, with some people having found “work arounds” for digital files, through media streamers, media centre PCs and plugging their video ipods in to their tellies to view photos and tv shows (albeit with poor resolution). Apple’s latest innovation is about to change that. (more…)

So it would seem that Sony have finally accepted defeat after spending millions of dollars producing MP3 players that no-one bought, because they have released their first iPod accessory. The snazzily titled “iPod^® Audio Docking StationCPF-IP001” is a lovely looking bit of kit, providing a quality speaker system to your beloved iPod, for just $249. I must say it looks very nice and it leaves me wondering Sony’s strategy (if they have one) in this marketplace. Perhaps they are going to concentrate on MP3 phones, because with the iPhone being a top-end product price-wise, the market for low-end MP3 player \ phones is definitely one that they are strong in, and it would appear to be a growing market, particularly with the kids who wander down our road with music blaring in a kind of sad, tinny, chav update of the 80s ghetto-blaster.

I read this great article on the BBC website this week, regarding alleged plans to install X-Ray scanners as CCTV in key places to detect terrorist actions. Firstly I’ve seen this technology in action and it is COOL - it’s not X-Ray in the traditional “broken limb” sense of the word, but the use of high frequency waves that penetrate clothing but not skin and bones.

Personally I think that if this technology is ready (the machine I saw was pretty big, you can read more about it on Qinetiq’s website) then why not utilise it to make the streets safer? I don’t carry weapons about so I have no problem being scanned by the machines, and if everyone else on the tube has also been scanned then I won’t feel so nervous when I see a shifty looking bloke skulking in the corner of a carriage with a holdall. Sure it could be considered a violation of privacy but so is being blown to bits for someone else’s cause, so you have to fight fire with fire.

And of course, on a lighter note, it means that those Beano X-Ray specs are one step closer to reality, imagine the possibilities…..

I was pleased to catch Top Gear last week to see Richard “The Hamster” Hammond return to our screens with Jeremy Clarkson and the other bloke. After gracing Hamster with a spectacular entrance, Clarkson checked to see if Hammond was now “a mental” before moving on to cover the normal stuff they cover - a bit of a moan about something or other, the three of them larking about, and Clarkson getting to test drive a really really fast car.

Eventually though, they finally showed the footage we had been waiting for - Hammond’s crash in a jet-powered dragster. And scary it was - Hammond suffering a blow out at a staggering 280 miles per hour. Frightening stuff, and it was interesting to watch Hammond’s reaction to the footage and the questions - it was clearly uncomfortable for him, although it would be interesting to know how much of it he actually remembers, because the blowout and crash took less than a second.

Anyhow it was great to see him back on the TV safe and sound and lets hope that Top Gear continues without further RIDDOR events!