Second earthquake hits Indonesia

I wouldn't normally post news you'll see everywhere, but this is just unreal.
Who said lightening doesn't strike twice? You gotta feel for that country and it's people.

PSP Web browser hacked ;)

Firstly the site in question (down due to excessive hits!) and then a few pics! That's very cool if you ask me... very.
Further links found on the first page link ;)

DX9 under WINE

Well this is a step in the right direction. It's not perfect (what is?) but it does help that bridge get closer to the shore.

HL2 under Linux? Maybe.

Smallest Linux box ever?

I don't doubt it for a second.
Tiny tiny tiny!

Doesn't time fly?

I've just been going through some settings and realised my archives were still "by week" which was starting to look a bit messy. It's now "by month" and the list is nice and short again.

Nearly a year and a half of mindless blogging and linking.

Whatever next? :)

I think a site redesign is on the cards. Well the mac has arrived so I might as well put it to use. Watch this space ;)

Shadow the hedgehog

This and this made me laugh.

Why oh why do we need Sonic with guns? LOL.. I always liked Sonic but this is going a bit far. Geez... as if the games industry doesn't get enough flak for violent gaming!

Hedgehogs with weaponry. This VGCats strip is quite apt.

SCUMM

LOL.. that's a cool title.

Do you remember the Lucasarts games? Sam and max? Monkey Island?

Well now you can play them using SCUMM. Basically, most modern PCs using XP etc can't get the hang of these old games (either refusing to run or looking mighty odd).

Using this site you can relive your past. I know I will!

Here's the site's main quote:
"What is ScummVM?

ScummVM is a 'virtual machine' for several classic graphical point-and-click adventure games. It is designed to run: Adventure Soft's Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2; Revolution's Beneath A Steel Sky, Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2; Flight of the Amazon Queen; and games based on LucasArts' SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) system. SCUMM is used for many games, including Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max and more. Compatibility with supported games is continually improving, so check back often."

Strangely addictive game

Zilcho skill involved but still kinda cool - check it out here.

My score so far - 2797!

John DeLorean dies

The community is in moarning today as John DeLorean dies.

I would love to have met the man but that will, sadly, never happen.

My regards to his family. Long live his legacy, the DMC-12.

Danerd.com

Random funny vids/pic right here at danerd.com.

An update and some linkage!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Minor update to the turbo page

Check it out here.

A bad week

Well it started (sort of) with a great weekend with Gem. Then I came home and it all started to go to poo. Big poo.

Wednesday started with a stomach ache. By 8pm I couldn't stand up and by 10pm I was being really very sick. Not nice at all.
A sleepless night ended with me calling in to work sick as I was feeling like hell.
By Thursday evening I was fine and had to pop out. So I took the 911. And ended up in a ditch.

Coming off of a roundabout I hit something (oil...diesel?) and the rears lit up. I was doing maybe 30mph in 4th at 2k rpm and suddenly redlining the engine. Off she went (out of my hands by that point) and put me sideways in to a ditch.

I've been to see her at a garage and it's not great but I hope to get her back in one piece - only time will tell.

I shall get pics up on the Porsche page soon, but if you can't wait then check out my post on ClubCalibra (with pics). :(

Audi Quattro's 25th...

..and they celebrate by getting an A6 up a ski ramp..

Story here. In all fairness, it's a repeat of something they did 19 years ago with the 100. Steep too.

I did, gone, done, bought one of these...

It's not here yet but I've pur-chased an iMac :)



The 20inch (as the pic says), 1.8Ghz G5 with all the bits :P - can't wait!
I hope to be blogging from that very soon. I've already moved the PC upstairs and installed wireless cards and routers all over the show!
Ah... no more MS... ;)

Oh...

I posted page 5 of that thread below... so don't forget to visit the others! :D

A great "chop" thread

Right here.

Cars... only, really short! :)

The last Audi TT...

Has been unveiled. Why am I mentioning it? Because it's got 240bhp and is really expensive. Mad. :

On the motoring note, some links:

Firstly the Brabus SLR. I'm not sure why this exists... but anyway, it's cool in a "It wasn't fast enough to begin with" way.

Secondly the Koenigsegg becomes the fastest production road car. It'll go faster but they'll need a bigger track (Gonna need a bigger boat...).

Thirdly, the Veyron goes in to production. Quite rightly, someone comments that it may come with a copy of Duke Nukem Forever

And lastly, the Aston Martin V8. I think this is cool beyond words. I was chatting to a friend and I asked him which story was coolest - he said the Koenigsegg... me, the Aston - for a start the doors open normally (which in super car terms, is odd!).

Bebo

Bebo is an online addressbook that, quite nicely, intergrates with Hotmail. It'll even send your friends a link to enter their own data rather than you doing it (and probably getting it wrong). I like it. Maybe you will too!

Aerogel

Straight from NASA comes Aerogel. A solid, lightweight (obviously) gas. Mad.

Oops

Sorry for the recent mess up on my site... a < div > had entered in somewhere dodgy and was causing all sorts of mayhem! :)

Firebox VoIP Cyberphone

Reported over on The Register, it's a groovy phone that allows you to talk via Skype with using a mike and speakers... check it out.

'A parent's primer to computer slang'

Someone at Microsoft has a sense of humour :)

I've driven my Calibra Turbo.. and it's gooooooood

Firstly I'd like to say that this has been one of the most nerve racking things I've ever done... never before have I had so much money, time, blood and sweat invested in something that i've built and had to go run it in myself. Scary as hell.

Jamie.. I can't thank him enough. It's not over (will it ever be?) but I have a usable car!

Okay...


Around 3pm I jumped in the car with the intention of getting fuel. Off up the road I went varying the load and revs and gears as much as possible. Too scared to breathe I really didn't notice much.... except for steam pouring from the bonnet.
The thermostat hose was leaking (hose clip wouldn't tighten enough). I was already at the ESSO station so I chucked £30 of Super in (with the bonnet up!) and headed home hoping for the best; only for the air filter to come off and me run it over!

Back home I swapped out the hose clamp and fastened my "weathered" air filter back on... and tried again.

3 miles in and the ECU light was on. You're seeing a pattern aren't you?

Straight to Jamie's and we sorted that straight away. It was just the lambda sensor wiring coming loose. Phew.. but I have codes 91 (never heard of it) and 73 (AFM) still showing. The AFM is okay now - getting used to the new setup methinks... but 91? Who knows.

So.. finally driving and, I hear you ask, what is it like?

Ever watch Rallying? Well my car sounds like that. In 1st, 2nd and 3rd (hell, all gears) I can change up at 2k rpm and get wastegate chatter (ch ch ch ch chhhhh) and the turbo wails away like some boxed up banshee (never once did it pull more than 1PSI and yet it still whistles more than the KKK ever did!). It pulls VERY strongly despite not actually using the turbo... which is bizarre!

I'm still pooing myself but slowly getting used to it. Tomorrow I'm off to a MIG meet in Fareham to hopefully get the first load of miles done and start using it properly.

Watch this space as things progress

I want a mac...

... any kind. mini, e, i, power, book. I don't really care. I just want one.
The mini is tempting. Really tempting. The OS is BSD based (loosly) and can run Linux apps on top too (it sort of emulates it.. sort of). I could use it for all sorts of things. Want.

I have an iPod. Perhaps that's not helping my needs! :)

Joe Cartoon

I have always loved Joe Cartoon but for some reason have never linked it. Weird.
Anyway, here is his latest violent, gerbil featuring, madness. :D

A whole world for sale...

You may have read about it but middle earth is for sale. :)

Quite high so far!

The world (or London and IKEA) gone mad

What is wrong with people?

Girls are evil

A lovely weekend had

Indeed. Last weekend was, so far, my best of the year. I spent it (for the first time) with my Gemma. All the cliches are true, and I won't go on about them but I really really had fun and can't wait until I see her again!

We watched Blade: Trinity. It's great - better than the second but not quite as good as the first. Funny where it should be and the rest of the time, action. Just the way I like it. Go watch, if you haven't already :)
Watch out for TV series' John Doe star Dominic Purcell as the evil Drake.

Also watched The Chronicles of Riddick again.. this time on DVD. Another great film. If you don't know the story check out it's offical site - I'm sure it'll help ;)
Make sure you see Pitch Black first though.

On a completely different note, my 8v Calibra is now for sale - see it here. The turbo is nearly ready and I need this to go so I can get on with finishing/insuring the purple one :)

Righto - it's bed time. More tomorrow! Night ;)

ClubCalibra.net

Goes all upgraded and stuff! Check it out here. It's a wonderful place to be - and even better, I've been promoted to a moderator! Hehe.. quite enjoying it I must say. :)
SO.. come on over and let me moderate you. You know you'll love it.

The NEW Highway Code

Posted by Kieran over on ClubCalibra, this site is really good. Way too close to reality, mind!

Max-boost.co.uk

I can't believe I hadn't linked this before.. I must be getting old.

Please go to John's Max-boost site if you have anything Vauxhall related. It's an absolubtly wonderful site! More info than you can shake a stick at (and while I'm there... what the hell would you shake a stick at in the first place?). A top site, with top info. Visit or else.

On the flip side, if you have a Ford or a Nissan (or anything else car wise) - well, it's probably not your thing. However, beyond the LET/XE technical knowledge stored herein there are some great articles that all engine builders alike can find useful (and some resource files that are great just to read).

Go... well? Go on then!

Mmmm Corvette

I have found a place selling new Corvette C6s, on the road, for £39,950. That's good. Okay, so it's way out of my range but it's a doable target. Vauxhall are selling the new Monaro VXR (2005 model) for around £37,000. There is hardly anything in it (at that money anyway).

So I have something to work towards. Sort of.

Actually I need a garage to store something like that in (so the cats don't destroy it). For that I'd need to move. And adding £100k to my mortgage would kind of kill my dreams of a V8. Catch 22? :(

Latest Calibra update!

Yeah it's been updated again! This time the engine is done.. I mean, done. One hose and she's running. It's soooo close now! :) Have a looksee.

Funnily enough, the project is far from over (from a technical standpoint at least). She'll run but I doubt she'll be happy with a few things we've done. The fix is of course, Autronic. But that is out of my monetary reach at the moment. So.. here's hoping.

Cool weblog!

It's already been featured on FHM with the really funny Bunny Suicides. But I thought I'd like directly to Sex and fun. :)

Ooh I've been a lazy so and so!

Yeah I've not been blogging. I'm a bad person (yeah shut it you!).

But I have my reasons. Mainly I've been too busy - even here at work - to blog. Or post links. It's not for the want of trying (although the amount of links I've found hasn't been great either) and I'll try to get back up to speed! :)

Recent weeks I've been working, then doing some more work, then finding time to eat, play WoW (with my bro) or spend some "quality" time under the car. Notice I haven't mentioned Gemma? Well I haven't seen her since the beginning of the month due to exams but I've managed a few 5 minute conversations with her. I've just been trying to keep busy really!

The car is almost finished (I really should update the page!). I'm really only waiting on one hose... but I'll explain that on the Calibra page :)

WoW is going surprisingly well. I've not played much over the last week simple because I haven't had the time (or it's been late and I've gone to bed). But I'm nearly level 29 and am still really enjoying it. Dean (my bro) is around level 32/33.. but he's a nutter. :D

Right.. more to do. Will post again later ;)

CD spun to death!

Here. Yup.. in fact it's probably not worth explaining. Just look.

But don't try it yourself, eh?

Another bizarre site

For a bizarre world. Ban this. :)

The HASSELHOFFIAN Recursion

This isn't right.

Perfecting The Emulation For Digital Eclipse's Atari Anthology

Back to the Classics is a great article written by one Jeff Vavsour. He is responsible (one of many I suspect) for bringing the Atari classics back to life on the PS1 and 2 (and some earlier emulation work on the PC).
It's a fascinating article from both a technical angle (why) and a nostalgia one. He goes on to explain why, in fact, they used emulation and not porting or simply re-writing them.
It's well worth reading if you're in to emulation (as I am!).

EDIT: Here is website! :)

Sin City

Have you played Max Payne? Did you like it? (Sure you did!)

Then you should check this out!
Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen... loads of names and it's in black and white (almost). Cool. :)

Speed cameras over reading?

That's what one David Edgar is saying. With 35 years of driving behind him he got caught speeding (41mph in a 30mph) and became suspicious of the timing system. Here is the story. 25% is a long way out too.

.Calibra Updated!

Hi all... more Calibra news!

Yep - she's back from Stealth and sporting a fancy new exhaust and intercooling setup. Dart on over and have a look. There are more pictures to come as I finish off the work and get ready to start the engine. Next weekend! (Let's hope!). :D