Recent Entries
Britain from Above
Aug 12, 2008 Entertainment, Uncategorized Leave a comment
A satellite photo of Britain showing every aircraft to pass over Britain in a 24 hour period, part of Britain from Above showing on BBC One Sundays at 2100. Looks amazing! I’m downloading the first episode ‘cos I missed it and will definitely catch the rest on tv… wish I had BBC HD now.
Mac go crash bang dead
Jul 29, 2008 Apple, Technology 1 Comment
My macbook pro crashed for the first time ever last night! I’ve had it for well over 2 years now so I consider it a good thing that it’s taken so long to break down. A quick reboot sorted it out, but I’m a little worried now that it might be starting to show its age.
I’ve been mulling over the idea of getting a new laptop for a few months now, but I’ve been waiting to see if Apple will doing anything to refresh the macbook pro. Considering that it has had the same basic form factor since the powerbook g4, or since 2001 for you lesser geeks, it really is starting to show it’s age!
I haven’t really given a lot of thought about what laptop to buy, considering I’m an Apple fanboy I really only have a choice of three and can’t downgrade from the pro. Having had this mac for a while I really can’t picture myself going back to Windows… especially not with the poor reviews Vista has been getting.
But now that mac os x runs on intel chips there are other options to consider, for example the Dell XPS M1530 seems like a pretty decent laptop, great spec and good price for less than the macbook pro. If mac os x could run on it stabily I could be convinced to buy a “hackintosh“.
Of course most of the appeal of the mac is the integration of hardware and software, that the software is built specifically for their hardware almost guaranteeing smooth operation… but… a stable and equally or better speced hackintosh could cost at least €500 less than the macbook pro!! It’s very tempting considering the recession! (Completely illegal of course as it violates Apples EULA)
Some of you are going to think that I’ve lost my mind for even thinking of buying something not made by Apple, but you know loyalties can only extend so far and the biggest determining factor there is cost!
I think I will wait for as long as it will take to save up for a new laptop. Hopefully by then Apple will have sufficiently refreshed both the spec and the appearance of the macbook pro as well as the cost!
Review - The Dark Knight
Jul 28, 2008 Entertainment 1 Comment
The second installment of this refreshed franchise brings Batman movies to a whole new level, so long to the camp films of the nineties that only took the piss of the genre and hello to a film that may well set the standard for comic book and superhero movies to follow.
This is a much darker film than the last one so I definitely don’t recommend bringing the kids.
The film benefits hugely due to the brilliant cast, Christian Bale is amazing as Batman and Bruce Wayne and really conveys the stark contrasts between these two personas. Batman has no limits, but Bruce Wayne does and he does not want to be Batman forever! Aaron Eckhart is equally good as Harvey Dent, Gotham’s new DA and ‘White Knight’, but don’t be fooled by Mr. Goody Two Shoes it has to be too good to be true!
Special mention has to be made of Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker, especially as he had such a hard act to follow. Jack Nicholson played the Joker in the last incarnation of Batman and he did a fine good job of it then. Heath Ledger however, was mind blowing! In fact I’d say he was completely unrecognizable as Heath Ledger.
The film, overall, fantastic if you haven’t seen it do.
Review - WALL-E
Jul 28, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a comment
WALL-E is the extremely endearing story of a robot left behind on Earth long after humanity has left, and left Earth in an almost uninhabitable state. He has a great sense of adventure and curiosity that won me over from the very beginning of the film. Living alone he craves interaction and to fall in love; when the opportunity presents itself in the form of EVA Wall-E takes it.
The film is very entertaining, funny and cute; but it also has a very serious message, well a few messages actually. The entire film is a commentary on our mass consumer life styles and how we are treating the planet itself, a message which I think it delivers much better than Happy Feet did!
The film also appealed to me on the geeky level for example EVA was actually designed by Jonathon Ives, the main designer in Apple and when Wall-E makes is fully recharges he boots up with the Mac prompt! 
All in all a fantastic film appealing on many levels.
New Camera, New Hobby
Jul 27, 2008 Technology 1 Comment
I’ve always had a general interest in photography but it’s not something I’ve ever gotten practical with. But a few weeks ago I was at the AIB Street Performance World Championship and took a few photos of the festivities which seems to have woken my dormant interest in photography.
My camera isn’t really the best in the world for taking great shots, it’s only good for quick snaps, parties, that sort of thing, so I needed a new camera if I wanted to take it all a bit more seriously. I was interested in a Canon EOS and did a little reading around on some photography websites and decided that what I need is a “bridge” camera, something in between the professional DSLR (ala Canon EOS) and the compact. A DSLR would be great but they are expensive and you also need to buy lenes for them.
In the end I decided on the Sony Cybershot DSC H50, it’s a beautiful, compact and feature full camera. It has all of the automatic features of a compact camera and most of the manual features of a DSLR. So far I’m very impressed with the camera, but I’ve yet to give it a real trial. I’m planning a couple of trips up Killiney Hill and to Killiney Beach to test it out a bit more. A trip to the Scotish Highlands might be on the cards too!
You can see some of the photos taken with it on my Flickr
I’m Back!
Jul 27, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a comment
It’s been a fews weeks since I’ve posted anything here, I haven’t had broadband because I moved into a new apartment. But I got a new 6MB connection put in during the week and the Internet withdrawl can now end!!
Moving is an absolute nightmare, and I should know I’ve moved three times in the last 12 months, needless to say I have absolutely no intentions of doing it again anytime soon. NTL were especially disasterous this time around! It took 5 attempts to speak to someone about moving and in the end it turns out they don’t have service in the new apartment, that’s propably worked out of the best because now I can have Sky again! I might get HD….