Top 10 Sci-Fi films never made

This is interesting, not because it's a geeky article, but because it has details on the original Alien 3 and a StarCraft movie (that will never happen).

Well, I liked it anyway!

New 911 Turbo!

Is here. Oh my. Seriously.

Update quickie

I've added the specs of the turbo I have on the Calibra. I've also added links to where it, and the manifold I have, can be bought (both US). :)

It's February!

Ok so I'm a bit late on the news.. so sue me.

Any "hooo". What's new with you? Oh, right, I don't care :P - kidding! But seriously, you can't tell me can you - not unless you comment. :D

Well I'd love to say how busy I've been with my new job. Except I don't have one so I can't. Hmm. There might be news on that front come the weekend (well.. we shall see!). I'll report back.

There's the car(s). The Rover sucks bumhole and should be shot at dawn; but it still runs (just) so I need to keep it going for now.
The Calibra is running great, but I'm trying to avoid using it as it's not the most economical car in the world, especially as I have no income!

February 16th marks the 5th year I've lived here in my humble abode. Shockingly long time and I never expected to still be here after this time - but it's mine and, why not eh. I expect my time here won't last another 5 years; maybe 2, but I'm in no hurry to leave just yet.

2 days prior to the big day is, of course, Valentines day. To me, that means nothing. Sad really! But it's true. In the time Gemma and I have been together, we've never spent that day together. I hope next year is different - but for now, it's just another day. I hope you guys enjoy it with your partners though! Sexy!

And finally, a date for the old diary, March 1st. 3 years since Gemma and I first started dating. I still remember it too (well I bloody well should). Ah... memories. Of course, I won't be spending it with her (bloody Uni) but we'll celebrate it when we do meet up.

Ooh, while on the subject of Gemma (it's a good subject). She passed her driving test a few weeks back (did I mention that?). Great little driver she is too!

Okay.. MMOs. :D
I'm still in WoW. Now on the UK server "The Maelstrom". I hit level 30 yesterday too (which was nice) on my Tauren Warrior. I'm still enjoying the process - but miss being 60.. and a druid. Oh well, I'll do that all again soon!

Dean (my brother) is about to start on RF Online. I'll let the site do the talking, but basically it's a Manga/Anime style MMO that's been out about a year in Japan. It's coming here courtesy of Codemasters (the Toca guys) and looks.. pretty good. It's certainly pretty in the videos but I'm not too sure whether it'll appeal the way WoW does.
There's also a crapload more coming out this year.. check out MMORPG.COM and just look at them all. Tons. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Everquest 2 and LOTRs.. and maybe even Star Trek: Online (I'll leave you to find the links!).

See ya'll soon!

www.pipelinecard.org

Would you like to save between 5p and 10p per litre on petrol (in the UK)? If so, you could do worse than visiting Pipeline. At the moment it's just a sign up - a list of names. But the more that sign up, the more likely it could happen.

Visit and have a read. It won't cost you anything but time. :)

No PS3 for us until 2007

Kinda pointless if you ask me.. but here is the story. I wasn't much fussed anyway!

Lucky sod..

This chap:

has asked the lovely:




to marry him.. and she only bloody said yes!

Who'da thunk it? :p

Less Friends?

TV bosses are denying the stories. So Friends won't be back after all.

Or will it?

Who knows. If they know what's good for them, they'll do it. But not one of the cast members needs to, not really. :(

Star Trek "Supermovie"

In, what I can only think is a super-attempt at bringing back Star Trek to our screens, is this news story. Picard, Spock.. and the Kirk-meister together? Could it work?
Personally, if I see Picard back I'm happy. Shatner is a god and is best when being funny (or taking the piss out of himself) in Boston Legal.. not sure bringing him back from the dead (Kirk) is a good idea myself. But.. needs must :p

Spidey 3!

May 2007 is the date. Anything else? Sure, get over to either E! Online or Aint it cool news to read about Parker's new love interest :)
Though it may not interest you, she's the original love interest from the comics that died in the scene that Mary-Jane did not from Spidey 1 (the bridge at the end). So I'm not entirely sure how that works.. lol.

More Friends?

Hollywood.com is reporting that Friends may (well, will) be returning in 2007 for four hour-long specials with all six of our favourites back for more!
This comes off the back of the news that Joey isn't doing well and may be cancelled (damn!). Not only that, but there may be a show called "It's a guy thing" featuring Ross, Chandler and Joey (no idea where the girls got to) too.. odd? Sure, but why not :)

Added some more pics...

...to the Calibra page. Just a recent MIG meets I attended. Thanks to Dan1 and JamieF for taking them. :)

Calibra page updated...

"Slack bastard" is phrase that springs to mind quite nicely here. Almost a YEAR since my last update. How sad is that? Christ, what a prat. God even knows where my other pics are (I'm sure I have more to add!).

Anyway - check out the two pics I've uploaded. :)

Switching to Windows? Not as easy as you'd think!

Here's a great article on moving from Linux to Windows. . Who'd do that?!

So...

..what will this new year bring?
Hopefully, for me, a new job and maybe a holiday/car/etc :p

But what has captured my attention this last week?

How about the 2009 Camaro? Yup - that'll do for a start. :)
Or the Dodge Challenger concept? Well, sure why not? This is everything the Charger should have been, but wasn't (in my eyes).

Also, the CES show is on over in the US. Get over to CES Uncovered to see the best in upcoming electronic fun for the next year or so (including MS announcing a HD DVD drive for the 360!).

I'll be sure to find something else cool soon :)

PS. Anyone want a dead Rover 214Si? Hateful things.

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2006. And. Stuff.

I hope you all have a great year. I hope mine is even better :D

The intrawebnet is all interesting and stuff

Righto.

First off, in 10 days (according to SciFi.com) we get SG-1, Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica back on US TV screens. I cannot wait for BG, it's just been announced as best show of 2005. Hardly surprising really eh! Oh the joy!

Second, get over to Apple.com and check out next years new movies. The likes of X3, MI:3 and Miami Vice. 2006 looks to be a lot of fun at the movies!

Finally, for now, don't forget the likes of CTRLALTDEL-ONLINE, Streaptease comics and Red Vs Blue. :)

Ah it's been weeks

I have an excuse. I really do. Um.
Well, you see, I've been made redundant. Not a surprise really but it's happened. Adding to that that I've also had to take holiday (yeah end stuff) and the little factoid of Gemma being home means I haven't really been at the computer all that much. Since I don't need to go in to work any more either I don't have that need to type bollocks instead of working. Yet. I still have to find a job though of course but I'm kinda hoping I'll be busy in the next one. Who knows though, eh?

There has been loads going on though of course! My Birthday came and passed (and I blogged that little event) and now Christmas just slid by without anyone noticing at all.
How did I do? Well I got a nice Maya DVD which I intend to use to learn about the software (because I know squat at the moment). A nice shirt (both from Gemma.. ) and one of those Tassimo coffee/tea/choco machines too. Nice. :)

I also picked up a UK copy of World of Warcraft. Why? Well the reason is two-fold. One; I'm online when the rest of the "World" is and Two; everyone I know as moved over too. Hmm.
My character name is "Garrak", a Tauren Warrior and I'm "The Maelstrom". So if you see me about, say "Hi".

It's been nice to relax over the holiday period and I will go in to January with new gusto to find a job and sort myself out. :)

So... I'll post before year end, but to all those who read this: Happy New Year to you all and good luck in whatever comes your way. :)

2nd part of John Smedley interview (SWG)

You can read it here Interesting fellow.
Will SWG "beat the crap out of World of Warcraft"? I doubt it.

Introducing Spartan 458

Get a 360 and then DOA 4... and meet her.
"How can we say that with a straight face? Shut up is how!" :D

The internet is for porn...

Damn funny

A few bits for you

Have a look at this. It's an article about effects being used with the Source graphic engine (Half Life 2). It shows how the eye works (not literally) and how games will, and are, beginning to show 'real life' effects within the graphics engine.
To that effect, you will see varying focus, motion blur and even special "film" effects like ageing and colour correction very soon. Quite cool. There are some videos there (that I haven't gotten round to downloading) that demo the effects too.

An interview with John Smedly on SWG and what is happening to this particular MMO. Sounds like 2006 may be interesting after all :)

Anyone see Top Gear last night? That's what it's all about - fantasy. I love it.

Firstly...

...I've not been online much in the last week as I've been at home (taking holiday) and really didn't surf the net all that much. So there wasn't much to post!
Secondly, it was Gemma's 21st yesterday (Happy Birthday honey!). We had a really nice day too :)

Hopefully I'll be back to normal this week. But then again, it's busy here at work - so you never know.

I'm 27 today

It's really quite depressing.

Can't sleep either so that's why I'm posting at 1:25am!

But I did just come across this amazing find. A bloke collects cars and parts.. gets paranoid that they'll get stolen so he sticks it all in 21 trailors and welds them shut. He dies.. and they are opened up.

Worth isn't even funny... millions easily. SUCH a cool find!

XBox 360 commeth

It's XBox360 day at midnight tonight (Friday 2nd December 2005).
300,000 units for Europe, so around 50,000 in the UK. Pre-orders won't be met, let alone shelved machines...

Good luck to anyone going to try and find one!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Last night I took my mum (ahhh) to see the above film.
At nearly 3 hours, it continues the HP trend of keeping your bum in a seat and yet seeming only 90 minutes long. A clever trick indeed.
I can honestly say that this is the strongest Potter film yet - even if it feels like they've missed a good 70% of the book out (and I dare say, it was necessary too).
The film is pretty unrelentless throughout - hardly stopping for any real dialogue or character development. Simply plowing through one action scene to the next - and it's quite the ride!
If you've read the book, you may feel cheated. I did not; it's fabulous.
I'd give it a 9/10. Easy. My only concern would be for the littleuns. It's pretty scary for a childrens film and at 180 minutes it's also very long - but if they are like me (a big kid) then there should be no problem!

Ironically - looking at the films on at the moment, Harry Potter is not the longest. Nearly every movie on at the cinema is 2 hours long. Narnia is 160 minutes and King Kong is 210! Madness.

Play Quake 2 in a Java app

Right here. Clever eh?

Okay, I'm still downloading it (and it'll run like poo on this box) but I like the idea. I expect one day, all apps will be web-driven (installed/run from the host). Other than 3.6gb games of course... but then again... :p

Alias cancelled

I came to Alias late.. so I'm a bit peeved to see it ending after only 5 seasons. I understand why though.. mostly because it'd lose most of it's main characters. Still annoying though eh. :(

Shooting padlocks

Ever see in a film how the lead will use a handgun to blow a lock off a door?

Well... it can't be done. Kinda surprising what it actually takes to do it too! :)

Sci-Fi news

Gateworld is reporting that the very gorgeous Claudia Black has joined the full-time cast of Stargate SG-1 for it's tenth season.
She popped up as Vala Mal Doran in season eight in one episode (trying to steal the Prometheus) and the first six episodes of season nine. It says there that she'll be in the last two as well :).

More good news! Battlestar Galactica has been given a third season! See the news here. Along with season ten of SG-1 and season three of Atlantis - 2006 should be good for Sci-Fi! :D

Atari 2600

Are you old enough to remember the Atari 2600? (I know a few of you are... :) ) - well Atari as sort of re-released it.

The Flashback 2 is that very thing. It looks like the old '2600 but has the games built in. And for $30 (I assume that'll be £30) it's almost a bargain!

Okay.. it's not a 360, but you can't get those at the moment (especially here).

First 360 reviews up

Yup, 1up.com has the first reviews of games such as PGR3, Amped 3 and Call of Duty 2. Hmm... PGR3 is almost worth buying the machine for! Eek!

Hmm, Sci Fi madness

I was just reading on Scifi wire about a few crazy news items. First is the "Sarah Connor Chronicles". Um, why? It'll be pants. Surely it'll be pants? The Terminator without The Terminator. I assume it'd be her work between T2 and her death... or maybe not. Oh and it's a TV Show (see..)
Then there is Blade.. the TV show. This one is already in production. Um.. why? Again? WHY? WS was Blade, I'll find it hard to accept a tame, evening-style (no gore) TV show like this. Oh well.
Then there is the Robocop remake. This could go either "Batman Begins" and be great, or Batman Forever... and not so great. I still think the original is good (in a cheesy way) so I think it's a bit early to be remaking it.

Then there is Jenifer Garner not returning (rumour) to Series 6 of Alias. Since it's her show, about her character, that makes little sense to me. I can understand shows moving main characters on (as Alias has done); SG1 manages it nicely, but the main character? Nah...

At least there is some real news. X-Men 3 is nearly shot - Stan Lee is talking about his cameo (the above link). Fantastic Four 2 is on it's way; although Jessica Alba may not return (:()

Histories worst computer bugs

Here's a Wired article about the above. AT&T is in there, along with Intel and the Russians (Cold war baby!) and even the first ever "bug" (yep, it was a real one.. a moth). It's a good read!

Ah what a week

Not that anything usually exciting happens. This week my brother went and did gone done broke his left clavicle and right elbow. Silly bugger. He's now in twin-slings and can't do an awful lot.. at least not for the next month or so.
How'd he do it? Well he came off a downhill bike. While travelling downhill. I guess it's a pretty common sort of thing to happen - as accidents do - and he'll be fine in the long run (that's all that matters).

I found, came across, saw a review on The Register, a new phone. It's the Sony Ericsson W550i. It's dead funky, with a Walkman feature (would never use), 3D games such as Worms (would never use), a 1.3MB camera (would never use) and so on - pretty cool. I like the way it swings outward (instead of a clamshell) and can even have the screen work "widescreen" style. It's cool. I want. :)

I went to the Classic Car show last weekend. Really enjoyed seeing the classic metal (including four very nice DeLoreans, Mustangs and even a couple of General Lees) and meeting up with various club members and peeps. Roll on the next one!

Also, should be at the MPH '05 show next week (18th) too - looking forward to that one; the last show was excellent!

SEMA 2005

The Speciality Equipment Marketing Association Show runs every year in the US (Las Vegas this year) to show off new tuning parts/kits etc from the world of US and World modifying.
I came across this gallery page (or pages) today from this weeks show. Some amazing stuff in there!

Random random links for you...

First off, how about a Porsche Boxster that has some subltle mods to it. Now it looks like a 550 Spyder!. Okay, not quite.. but it's still cleverly done.
Are you parents Car People?. Interesting thread.. :)
I never thought I'd see a thread about good looking Volvo 240s... . But I was wrong. Clearly. :)

MMOs or MMORPGS.. free ones :)

There are a ton of MMPORGs (Massively Multi-Player Online Roleplaying Games) that you can pay for. There is the most excellent World of Warcraft, the old and dire Neocron, the "once-good-but-no-longer" Star Wars Galaxies, not to mention Everquest et al. TONS.
But if you would rather throw caution to the wind, and even save a few quid you could play a free MMO.
For instance, there is Dofus - which you need to actually go see ;) - or something like Guild Wars which is making itself quite the known one across the glove for being not only free, but pretty and giving you a "WoW" like experience... sort of. :)
To that end, go visit OnRPG.com for a list, and forums for, free MMOs (to save you manually searching!).

I'll chuck that link somewhere on the left for.. reference or something. Aren't I good to you peeps?

Between Swanwick and Fareham....

..coming toward Fareham is a kit car in a field. I wish I had a camera.. looked like a Ferrari F40 but squashed. It's yellow and looks incomplete (well, looked worse for wear and was missing doors). If ya see it - let me know!

WoW expansion revealed

As a follow of the "WoW" I was pretty interested in the new expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Unveiled at the recent Blizzcon event. Here's the blurb:

" Blizzard is proud to officially announce our upcoming World of Warcraft expansion set, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade! Join the Horde as one of the power-driven Blood Elves, or aid the Alliance as a yet-unrevealed new race! Explore the scarred Orcish homeland of Draenor! Delve into mysterious new dungeons, engage your enemies on new battlegrounds, and acquire wondrous new items! Take up dangerous and rewarding new quests for your faction! Train in an all-new profession! Increase your might as an adventurer up to the new level cap of 70, with new spells, abilities, and talents, and meet head on the plethora of new challenges awaiting you!

We will be revealing new information about the expansion set, including the identity of the new Alliance race, as the release draws closer. Be sure to visit our new expansion site for the latest updates! Read the press release"

More in the coming months I suspect! :)

Another game!

This one is called Milkogame. It's like the old "point and click" games that Sierra and Lucasarts used to bring us... only nowhere as good. :)
Still worth a play... and bloody hard too. Um.. linked below.. O_o

A couple of games for you..

First is the Mofuya games. Try "The Swan Room". It's a tough one!
Secondly is the Milkogame. Halfway between okay and crap. However, it's kinda pretty...

Some linkies...

First off, The Star Trek Movies Box Set: SE. Oh how I want this! :( - One day! I'll just add that to the list of series box sets I want :p
A Rich Chap(TM) takes his Enzo, GT and SLR to a 1/4 meet. Mad. But great :)
And a Renault V10 plays "We are the Champions". Um.. cool.

Purepwnage

Purepwnage is.. I think.. WoW based. Umm, it's episodic and kinda funny. Check out Wow is a feeling. It's both hilarious and painful. :lol:

Transparent Aluminum now a reality...

Would that be worth something to you, laddie?".

RIP James Doohan

I miss my Porsche

After seeing this thread on the Vortex (and subsequently posting), I'm missing my old 911(s). Although my accident early in the year has left me with some serious confidence issues in bad weather (yeah, I had my accident in FINE weather.. odd that) I still miss the noise, the power and all the quirks that go with owning German's finest.

Although my next aim is something V8 powered, I'm probably going to end up in another 911 at some point. I can't put my finger on why though - I've been there, and done that - but yet... there is something haunting about the 993. Meh. There is also the small point of cost. My V8 fantasy is 1990 mortgage money. Stupid cars.

Anyhoo, I'm now in a 1997 Rover 214Si. I'd post a picture but my camera is k-nackered and, well, it's not that interesting. In fact, it's quite the ugly duckling. Beyond that though, it drives well and is comfortable. Not much more I can ask at the moment really.

An ipod a day...

Yes, Apple has released another ipod. This time with video. I love my gadgets (not that I own many) and I'd luuurve to have one of these. Despite probably never using it (especially for video). But what the hell, it's cool, right?
Even with it being October, Apple promise us more in the ipod range before the year is out. So what next? Widescreen ipods? Internet 'pods? Who knows... but I'll want them too :)
Now.. if I could only get some cash together....

Yesterday...

I ran the BUPA Great South Run here in Portsmouth. It's a 10 mile road race around Southsea and surrounding areas. I pulled a pretty poor time of 1 hour 26 minutes (or thereabouts). Unfortunately during the week I picked up a minor foot injury (either a bruised muscle or bone.. I don't know which, but it hurts!) and despite that, I still ran. My pace was good at the 5 mile mark - aiming for around a 1 hour 10 minute time but then I slowed due to pain and decided that finishing was probably more important! So I did.. and I'm pretty happy about that.
A few friends of mine ran - Jeff and Sandie (1hr 17 & 1hr 20?), Steve (1hr 15! clever sod), and a few others with equally excellent times. Next year I shall beat them (oi, don't laugh) - or at least aim to run with them. :) Heh.

Now I look forward to next year. :D