Sandeberg Rising

The latest version of the PSP firmware v3.0, is now available to download from the portable’s built-in Network Update. The update includes the following features:

• PLAYSTATION Network titles are now supported under [Game].
• But you can only play PLAYSTATION Network games (i.e. PS One games) if you have a PS3. There is no straight web download available for this feature. Bobbins for European’s right now and extra bobbins for those people who have a PSP and a 360 instead of waiting for their PS3.
• [Remote Play] has been added as a feature under [Network].
• Again, PS3 support only.
• [Online Instruction Manuals] has been added as a feature under [Network].
• Actually quite a nice feature, especially as the manual is actually up-to-date. Don’t understand why this can’t just be stored on the memory stick though, instead of having to be net connected.
• Timed recording has been added as a feature under [RSS Channel].
• A visual player has been added as a feature under [Music].
• Woo! Visualisations at last! Did I mention woo?
• 3-speed fast forward and fast reverse has been added as a feature under [Music].
• Shame they didn’t add this for Movies as well. After all, you’re more likely to have a two hour movie than an MP3…
• [Camera] has been added as a feature under [Photo].
• Nice… if you happen to have the camera in question. Not likely to be a priority.
• [UMD Auto-Start] has been added as a feature in [System Settings] under [Settings].
• Hurrah! I’m actually quite happy about this one, I’d prefer to control whether the UMD game/movie/whatever starts up on power-up.

So there you have it PSP owners…

Update: Couldn’t find the update on the YourPSP page yet.

Well my mum is currently staying with us, until she departs tomorrow. It’s been great to have her over, see the place and actually spend a little time with Penny but it’s been pretty draining. We managed to see the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the V&A too, which was good.

The Government, as part of it’s e-government initiative, has launched an online petition site. The pro-hunt crowd have jumped on this whole-heartedly and have the most signatories so far. In second place we have the ID cards petition.

Now I’m not exactly holding out my hopes here, since I’ve never had much faith in petitions for a start and I would actually venture that online petitions have even less weight as it’s so easy to organise an internet campaign. See, for example, the pro-hunting and their 7000 odd signatories. But what the hell, I’m sure the anti-ID card group can manage more than 2190, surely?

DC Vertigo have just released Transmetropolitan #1: Back on the Street as a free for download PDF! Check out the Transmet blurb here or go straight to the 11Mb download. Here’s the background to this excellent Warren Ellis graphic novel.

After years of self-imposed exile from a civilization rife with degradation and indecency, cynical journalist Spider Jerusalem is forced to return to a job that he hates and a city that he loathes. Working as an investigative reporter for the newspaper The Word, Spider attacks the injustices of his surreal 21st Century surroundings. Combining black humor, life-threatening situations, and moral ambiguity, this book is the first look into the mind of an outlaw journalist and the world he seeks to destroy.

The Weekend

Well, the Ferret beat me to a sum-up of last weekend and did a far more detailed job of it than I would have done. I will, however, add that the vodka was an excellent Russian vodka called Stolichnaya, or Stoli to it’s friends. The weekend neither followed the original plan (beer festival) nor the backup plan (easy Friday night, pub crawl Saturday, hangover Sunday), but still very much enjoyable, perhaps partly due to the unplanned nature of it all. I still want to do a major pub crawl of Woking though, so people can expect to have me muttering about that at some point.

I’ve enjoyed watching the first Season of Doctor Who. It certainly had it’s weak episodes as well as it’s fun ones, so it’s worth continuing to watch, though not fanatically.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

As you can see, I’ve been messing around with Google Docs recently, formerly Writely and Google Spreadsheet, now combined. The docs part works nicely, especially now that it supports Beta Blogger, though I still wish they’d have more link options, like supporting tagged links. Spreadsheet though, despite having a great many functions was always missing thinks like charts and retrieving information from web pages. And so I was tempted to move back to Irows.

Imagine then my surprise when it was announced that iRows Founders Join Google. In other words, Google hired the developers rather than buying the solution. I can only hope that this means that some of IRows features will migrate to Google Spreadsheet as they’re sorely lacking. Current Irows users are basically being told to export their docs as Excel spreadsheets (including charts) and upload them to Google Docs (without charts). That’s going to put some noses out of joint…

Test Post From Google Docs (Formerly Writely)

Now this was a bizarre announcement. Here the Press release.

In brief, CCP, the creators of Eve Online, have merged with White Wolf which will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CCP.

What does this really mean? Well, there’s nothing official out there, but there’s talk of an Eve RPG and either a World of Darkness, Ravenloft or Exalted MMORPG. But the truth is that the only people who know aren’t spilling the beans.

Of course that still hasn’t stopped the hivemind of net forums wibbling about Angst: The MMORPG or that one of the companies is the doom of the other (it doesn’t matter which way around).

What will it really mean? In truth I don’t even have any theories on this one, it’s still all too bizarre.

Update:
Just found this quote: “The merger will accelerate CCP’s brand development of EVE Online as White Wolf will bring their expertise to the creation of EVE Online strategy guides, collectible card games, role-playing games, novels, and miniatures.”

An actual hands-on, gamers review of the Sony PS3, courtesy of the BBC:

Japanese gamer Teruma Naito from Oda City was one of the lucky few to bag a PlayStation 3. Here he gives his impressions of launch day and his early experience with the console.

The news footage of more than 1,000 people lined up outside the first shop to sell the PS3 in Tokyo was phenomenal.

I have never seen anything like that before in Japan. Such was the competition that apparently people were going to the length of paying homeless people up to 10,000 yen (£45) to line up on their behalf.

I was lucky enough to purchase a 20GB version (one of only two in our area) and the queue was not as big, but just as competitive with last-minute queue jumpers and those pleading with others to swap.

But those in despair do not have to worry as there is now a flood of PS3 machines being sold on internet auction sites in Japan.

People bemoaning the lack of availability seem to be spoilt for choice – if they have the money available – due to a price war offering consoles from between 10,000 to 30,000 yen above the retail price.

Having only played the PS3 for a day, my initial thoughts are that it is absolutely sensational.

The wireless controller, on-screen format and graphics quality is nothing like any other console I have used. Its functionality (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, music, photos, internet, games) now allows the PS3 to be the only machine stacked underneath the TV.

Only a few people managed to bag a PlayStation 3

It goes without saying that the graphics and playability were phenomenal but the real winner for me was the network gaming aspect which was very easy to use.

An on-screen map of the world indicates where each of the players are based and obviously all of them are packed in Japan at the moment, but in time, once the other countries come online, it will be an amazing sight.

However, with only five games to choose from, I ended up purchasing Ridge Racer 7 and Gundam: Target in Sight – games which do not appeal to me, but were better than the other three.

Lack of game choice is definitely something that needs to be rectified, otherwise there will be lots of gamers getting very bored with the ones they have right now.

The PS3s internet capabilities are impressive. By using the analogue sticks to move the mouse pointer, I was pretty much able to do everything from view videos on YouTube, download photos and videos attached to my e-mails and even do on-line banking and complete a money transfer.

The only thing is I don’t seem to be able to open any Microsoft applications like Word and Excel.

However, the beauty of the PS3 is that any updates, whether they are system updates and or programs, can be provided by Sony online. As such, I would expect that most teething problems with the console (if any) will be promptly rectified by Sony.

There has been a lot of talk over the last year of Sony’s profits and delays with the PS3 but I think Sony has certainly delivered the next generation of consoles and set a new benchmark for their rivals.

So today our American cousins go to the polls for their mid-term elections to decide the balance of power of Congress. Let’s be clear here:
a) It won’t shift very far and b) both sides have already got their scapegoats should they fail to win/retain the majority.

Should the Democrats (or “traitors” according to right-wing mudslinger Ann Coulter) lose they will blame dodgy voting machines (a survey by Gallup last month showed that only one in four Americans is “very confident” his or her vote will be accurately counted) or the fact that that, by sheer coincidence, the announcement about Saddam’s sentence was made so close to the election.

Should the Grand Old Party (or “corrupt corporate lackeys” according to left-wing mudslinger Michael Moore) lose, they will most likely start by turning on one of their own before turning around and blaming the general lack of patriotism.

Whichever way the result goes, expect a huge two year battle for the presidency to kick off by about Monday morning. And it’s going to be an ugly one. There’ll be blood in the water before the primaries.

These bi-monthly updates are getting quite tiresome, especially as they seem to be becoming a habit. It’s difficult to blog at work and I tend to get distracted blogging at home. Must try harder!

So, Bryce already covered Kev’s 30th birthday and the return to Lalibela. It’s a shame the service wasn’t great at the end as I know it’ll put people off the restaurant. There’ll always tend to be a tendency of “Well, the food was good, but the service wasn’t so hot. Let’s try somewhere else…”
Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, Lalibela is “ Lalibela is one of modern Ethiopia’s holiest cities”.

Work is going okay. I’ve decided to stick to the job I was hired for rather than moving to more ‘exciting’ areas. I almost shocked myself how easy the decision was in the end. How things change…

Last week, of course was Halloween and Penny and I carved pumpkins. Much fun indeed and photos in the link.

Last night was the Woking Fireworks, which wasn’t bad. However, and I do hate to say this, the firework display in Aldershot was better…
I took some pictures and some video footage, allowing me to mess about with YouTube.

Next weekend? The Woking Beer Festival.

And in the meantime, this month is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo to it’s friends, and I am taking part this year. The goal? Fifty thousand words in one month. And I’m already behind…