Archive for the 'Random Rant' Category

GTA4 : Well its finally here !

Already, iv started seeing the floods of complaing girls on Facebook, MySpace and MSN about loosing their Boyfriends to this anticipated overdue game.

So with no further ado, congratulations… Games consoles have officially just replaced the love and admiration of women, how sad ! but on the plus side, that sad guy on YouTube with 3 playstation 3’s must be loving this !

But a small review is in order;

“GTA IV has its flaws as a game.” (1) “The flow of the game basically goes like this: you watch a cutscene, someone in the cutscene says that someone has done them wrong, you’re told they need to be taught a lesson, and then you get in a car and go teach them the lesson. At that point another cinema is triggered and the process repeats. … it can definitely become a little repetitive.” (2)
“It’s not like previous GTAs, or most other sequels, where there are new stand-out features that you can easily discuss and rate.” (4) “GTA IV [actually] reduces the amount of activities when compared to the previous game, San Andreas. You cannot go the gym to beef up Niko’s muscles. And eating a ton of cheeseburgers won’t turn you into a massive, wobbly mound of lard.” (3)
“You’ll probably be surprised to hear GTA IV has noticeably fewer weapons and vehicles on offer than GTA: San Andreas did. … Yes, this means San Andreas’ more unusual vehicles like fighter jets, hovercraft, go-karts and jetpacks are all absent. Don’t expect to be wielding chainguns, flamethrowers or chainsaws either.” (4) “The world itself is smaller than the state-sized San Andreas” (7) and in general the game has “a feature list that’s a step back from its predecessors.” (4)
“Even though the plot line is simpler than previous GTA games, it still gets cluttered at times, with a glut of characters entering the scene; it can be tough to keep track of exactly why things are happening and to whom.” (9) “There’s still a clear difference between this and [even] a B-level Hollywood production. … Every story note [is] delivered by flat, to-the-point dialog [and] we get characters over-explaining their feelings and opinions, leading to some awkward exchanges. (8) On top of that, “Niko’s Serbian … is God-awful.” (3)

Accreditation for review : Joystiq

Remote Desktop for MAC ! WTF

RDC_Goof.png

Okay, being a immigrant into the world of apple equipment (officially have my green card though now) i cant completely say iv given up sucking at the tit of Microsoft, im afraid to say it, but theirs still some stuff which can be done on Windows that would either take longer on a mac, or just aint possible… so with this in mind u understand my frequent use of Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Client for MAC. Currently in use to access several Windows 2003 based servers i oversee, as well as my parents machine back home, which as most IT guys will sympathise with, breaks down more often than Britney Spears in court ! But… that said, onto the real scoop !

Can anyone please tell me why Microsoft in their infinite wisdom thought it would be a good idea to hard code the deadline of their final release of RDC into the beta… so that millions of users around the world start getting the above dialogue box as soon as they open the client…

Oh but wait, there’s more… here’s the real fun part, the final release isnt even ready yet, according to Microsoft spokespeople, its not even close and has been delayed months (for what reason i have no idea, as far as im concerned, the BETA works fine…). So, in the meantime, it looks like we have 2 options, 1. downgrade to the old version of RDC which sucked big fat hairy monkey nuts, cus of its slow loading time and crappy interface… or 2. stick around with the current BETA and have the annoying message shoved in our face every-time we open it…

Well, looks like im gonna be seeing that message a lot, great fun ! but hey, its Microsoft, im used to stupid design decisions and disappointment !

iPhone Unlocking… An Easy Reality !

steved iPhoned.jpg

IPhone unlocking now as easy as 1..2..3, the IPhone dev team (after a small april fools intermission) have finally released their new Pwnage tool for unlocking the IPhone (and possibly iPod Touch) to use any software.

Pwnage lets you load in any firmware you want, including patched firmwares not signed by Apple — which could lead to everything from custom software distributions to totally new OSs ported over (like, say, Android or Linux).

Video available at engadget proving the validity of the dev teams claims, as well as hundreds of people now crammed into their IRC channel boasting about their newly activated 2.0 firmware running a whole host of random providers now !

On a personal note, this is awesome news, still not sure if ill be rushing out to purchase one of these bad boys, at £269 their still a little over the price id be willing to pay… But rumours are ripe at current about the 2nd generation of iPhone where 3G will be the order of the day with a possible GPS unit as standard… that could possibly be the tipping point for my decision ! Oh yea, and would someone please make this thing compatible with BluePhone Elite, I cant seem to text anymore without that application lol !

Follow Up : UK ISP’s Saying ‘No’

Stolen from TorrentFreak (lets face it, the guy does good summaries lol);

r getting an “unbelievably rude letter” from the British Phonographic Industry which demanded that ISPs disconnect file-sharers from the internet, the UK’s third largest ISP, Talk Talk, is in fighting mood. “Talk Talk rejects music industry threats and refuses to become internet police” says their statement.

The BPI has been writing to all the major ISPs just lately, on the subject of unauthorized file-sharing. The BPI wants ISPs to work with them to disconnect persistent file-sharers from the internet. Trouble is, like most music industry bodies, the BPI think that muscle flexing and posturing will get them the results they demand. Not so.

When Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC went to see Charles Dunstone, CEO of Talk Talk owners Carphone Warehouse, he didn’t find a happy man. Speaking of the BPI, Dunstone said: “They’ve sent us the most unbelievably rude letter” . True to form, the demands from the BPI carried a threat - comply in 14 days or face legal action, something which has not been well received by one of the UK’s richest men. “Talk Talk rejects music industry threats and refuses to become internet police” said a statement.

Dunstone says he won’t tell his customers what they can and can’t do and believes that the BPI is attempting to force him to pay for their failure to adapt to the digital revolution. “The music industry has consistently failed to adapt to changes in technology and now seeks to foist their problems on someone else,” said Dunstone. “Rather than threatening us, the BPI’s time would be better spent facing up to the reality of our times and adapting its business model accordingly.”

Of course, the BPI aren’t just going to leave it at that. Hitting back with a statement of its own it said: “Talk Talk either seek to misrepresent our position or just doesn’t get it.”

The BPI says that it doesn’t want Talk Talk to become the internet police, rather it wants the ISP to act on evidence it supplies about file-sharers. “It’s not true that we are threatening them or asking them to become the internet police” said the BPI. “In fact, what we are looking for is a progressive partnership that will ultimately create new services for their customers. But clearly they must begin to address problems of illegal downloading on their networks.”

Dunstone says he will fight any attempts to force him to cut his customers off from the internet. “I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer’s account on the basis of a third party alleging a wrongdoing.” he said.

Labeling them as “unreasonable and unworkable”, Talk Talk has responded in writing to the BPI, rejecting their proposals in full.

So, well done to Charles Dunstone - this should further increase your profile and boost Talk Talk’s popularity somewhat. Now, if you could please stop throttling P2P traffic, that would be wonderful. Get in touch - you can break the news here on TorrentFreak…