Intrinsic Reality

Burnout Paradise first impressions (Xbox 360 version)

eko — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:42:00 +0000

I download the demo of this from XBLA over the weekend, and tested it out on Alex. Yeah, might be out of his age bracket really, but he likes Cars (also on Xbox 360) a lot, so the premise of him driving around a big city and watching how he reacts was too good to pass up. ;)

Have to say, but this game is very impressive. The city and surrounding environs are graphically superb. The frame rate stays at a constant level.. it may not be quite 60fps, but it's pretty darn smooth. The whole sensation of speed is immense, and certainly continues where the previous Burnout (Revenge) left off. Sound is as good as it ever was, with some really decent tunes in there. I noticed it had some classic tracks from the first couple of Burnout games too, a nice touch.

The whole pick-up-and-play mechanic is why I love this game. There's no need to wade through tons of menus just to get into a car and drive around. If I have 30 minutes to spare for gaming, then this game is perfect for such short stints. It plays much like previous Burnouts, in that you can compete in events, with races, road rages, stunt runs and so on all included. Or, you can simply just drive around the beautifully-realised city and cause havoc. :D

Multiplayer is nicely done too, in that it's almost seemless when moving from single player online. Once you get online, the HUD tells you who is in the game, and you just drive around as normal. You can challenge the other players to certain events, or simply just drive around and cause mayhem together.

All in all, a must have Xbox 360 title. Even Alex loves it! :D

Halo 2 is gone.. all hail Halo 3

eko — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:47:00 +0000

Finished Halo 2 finally on Sunday last. The ending was very anti-climatic and left everything very much on a cliff-hanger. Luckily, I've also got Halo 3, so straight into that now. Man, the visuals are so much better (Xbox to Xbox 360, of course), and the start is straight into the action too. So far, so excellent. :D

Macworld 2008: The World's thinnest laptop

eko — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Finally watched the final section of the Macworld 2008 keynote. Item 4 was, of course, the rather spectacular looking Macbook Air. The World's thinnest laptop computer, Mr Jobs emphatically chimed. And who are we to argue? This new Apple product does look totally awesome.

I've mentioned more than once before that I've not been a lifelong Mac fan, but I'm beginning to use my Mac PowerPC G5 (thanks to Olie) more and more, and beginning to love it and the totally cool iLife applications. Have I told you before that GarageBand rocks? Oh, I have? They're just a joy to use.

Would I now consider a portable Mac? Totally! I liked the Macbook, very nice design, but never quite thought about it seriously enough though, especially after getting our latest Sony Vaio C notebook in Hong Kong last March. The Macbook Air has got me thinking about it again. Must check out a few online reviews first, but it looks promising. :D

Macworld 2008: (Partial) Overview

eko — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:10:00 +0000

Apple and Steve Job's keynote speech for Macworld this year has come up with some tasty new technologies! You guys will know that I'm no Mac fan, but I love my iPods, and little by little I'm beginning to take to my Mac G5 too. I just love Garage Band!

Anyways, Jobs mentioned 4 new things to unveil this year, and I've only watched the keynote vid up to the third unveiling, which happened to be the iTunes movie rental thing and Apple TV Take 2. All the media frenzy is on item 4 of course, the new Macbook Air.

I'll comment on the Macbook Air on a different post. On the other three items, I've pretty impressed with both the new iPod Touch extras (maps, mail etc.) but wished they'd given it away for free, and also with the Apple TV changes. I might just get an Apple TV now, just so I can watch podcasts and rent movies from iTunes! The Time Capsule thing is a very neat idea too.. why doesn't anyone in the PC world think of such cool things! I'm still manually backing up my files and stuff to external USB drives.. and it's a pain to catalog everything and do things using Windows Explorer. Mental note: either find some decent backup software for Vista, or get OS X Leopard onto my Mac and use Time Machine with Time Capsule.

Now I understand why all the Apple fanboys are so enthusiastic about their company. They DO make cool stuff! Now.. how about a 3G iPhone with GPS?..

Coming up soon.. Macworld 2008 keynote

eko — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:03:00 +0000

Look forward to the Apple Macworld 2008 keynote now.. only a few hours away! I've never been an Apple fan in the past, but since getting numerous iPods and my first ever Mac, I'm slowly becoming a big fan! :D

Chinese roast duck chain feels heat over electricity

eko — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:09:00 +0000

Hehe.. I love technology, and I love roast duck.. this seems to be a nice combination methinks. :D

Uck! Has it been that long since..

eko — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:56:00 +0000

Hmm.. lazy is me indeed. I haven't realised it's been sooo long since my last blog entry. Christmas has come and gone, the new car has arrived (still putting it through it's paces, more on that some other day) and we're well into 2008. Happy New Year to you all anyways. :D

I've been messing around with Facebook for a little bit, since Lucy seems to use it well to keep in touch with her friends in the Far East. I have to say, it's surprisingly handy, and quite addictive too in some weird way.

New car order for 2008

eko — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:19:00 +0000

After much humming and hawing, finally decided to plump for the Audi TT Coupé as my replacement car for 2008. Going for the slower but still quite rapid 2.0TFSI engine, dolphin grey metallic exterior, black leather seats, bits and bobs.

Thanks to Grahamo, Olie and Stevo for their nice opinions and help! I figured out that I'm much more picky than I pretend to be.. even mulling over the colour took 2 weeks! :o

It'll be a mega bit different to my A4. After driving that demo TT 3.2 Quattro, my appetite was truly whetted!! :D Looking forward to this now.

First day at school for Alex

eko — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:16:00 +0000

Well, it's playschool, but to us it counts as school for him. :P

We were pretty nervous about it; not quite sure if he'd settle in there at the start, but we need not have worried! He loved it, and didn't seem to want to leave when the day was over! :D

Laaaazy.. boy..

eko — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:15:00 +0000

Yep, that's me! I've not done much posting of late.. must.. try.. harder... ZZZzzz

Switching to 3 as my mobile phone provider

eko — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:24:00 +0000

After getting the Nokia N95, I took another plunge and moved away from Vodafone, my mobile operator for many years, over to 3.

It's been a good few months now, but so far so good. Having proper web access on the go with my N95, plus GMail in tow as well is a mega boon for me! Granted, the service can be a little troublesome at times, but a lot of the time I've been able to get a 3.5G signal in most places. Lucy's been so impressed, we switched her over to 3 also, so she can check all manners of stuff on the go.

Excellent, and no fear of 3's legendarily bad customer service just yet.. until a major fault happens.. fingers crossed! :o

Shopping in 1999..

eko — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:24:00 +0000

Paperman found this.. a vision of shopping in 1999, way back in 1969.. :D

It's pretty remarkable how accurate they were with much of these things!

My Nokia N95

eko — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:38:00 +0000

Finally caved in and went out to buy a Nokia N95. Boy, am I impressed! :D

The unit is much smaller than I thought it would be. Seeing pictures on the net and in magazines didn't somehow prepare me from being surprised about this, it's really small for all the gadgetry that's in there!

There are plenty of reviews and coverage of this phone out there, so I'll cut to just giving my own comments. As a phone, it's as good as it should be. Calls are clear, and since moving to 3 as my mobile provider, I've even been able to take calls at work, something that was a bit of a hit and miss affair with my previous Sony Ericsson W900i / Vodafone combination.

The contacts list was a tad more complicated than I was used to, but one very useful aspect was the ease in which I was able to sync (via Bluetooth) my contacts from Outlook 2007 to the phone. Bliss! Not just that, it worked with calendar entries, tasks and notes too. Finally, I've got no need to carry around my (although trusty) Dell Axim X50v PDA just for contacts, calendar and task events. Wahoo!

One of the things I was really looking forward to messing with was the GPS. Initially, I was bitterly disappointed. It too ages to pick up a decent GPS signal, to the point I was wondering if it was faulty. After a little sleuthing on the net, I finally found out that it was just sloooow.. a little perserverance, and a signal was obtained! The unit (once it gets a signal, that is) is very nice, though I noticed that some details were missing from the Nokia Maps, erm, maps that were downloaded by the N95. I'm pretty sure it's a similar case to any other mapping software, where not all roads and landmarks are going to be in there.

The camera is amazing. 5 megapixels is cool, but I'm more of a video-taking fan, so I was very impressed with getting such a high framerate (looks like 30 fps) from this while filming at 640x480! The previous king, the W900i, did it all in 30 fps too, but in half the resolution. This is so cool. Mind you, the 2GB MicroSD I had in there was filled pretty quickly, despite the mp4 codec being used.

That screen is amazing too! I forget what the resolution is, but things look very clear and colour is great. Sound comes from two speakers, which gives a nice stereo effect on music, though it's a tad tinny of course for music playback. There's a standard headphone jack, but sound quality is not up to something like the iPod or similar device.

This is my first S60 OS device, and I'm very impressed with the functionality offered. The built in apps are good and useful, the OS isn't all that fast but is very usuable in this guise, and the layout of the main standby app is nice - allows you to set simple shortcuts to frequently used apps and shows calendar events, tasks etc., all at a glance.

So, so far so good. I have to say that the build quality is not as nice as Sony Ericsson's. The unit feels flimsy, the slider looks like it'll fall apart if you don't look after it, and the screen isn't even protected by any tough plastic, so it seems to give a little even with the slightest prod! :o I have to keep mine in a faux-leather holder until I get a decent holder for it.

If you like gadgets and phones, this one is hard to beat! :D

Impressions of Windows Vista

eko — Sun, 13 May 2007 20:42:00 +0000

Despite hearing of some horror stories out there reqarding Vista, I finally took the plunge and installed Vista Ultimate on my main home PC. Lucy's been using a Sony Vaio laptop with Vista Home Premium for a while now, and it's been a pretty pleasnt experience for her for the most part. The little UI bells and whistles has grown on her, and she really likes the next gadgets that dock to the right of the screen.

She's hardly a power user though, so I wondered how I would fare running Vista on my main home PC. So off I went..

..and surprisingly, pretty much everything has gone fine, with hardly any big issue to report. I decided against an upgrading of my existing Windows XP setup, mostly because it was pretty clunky anyway. So, after backing up all my essential stuff, decided to go for a clean install.

It took about 40 minutes all told, but after that I had an almost fully working new OS to play with! Apart from the usual downloads of newer NVidia Forcewares and Audigy 2 drivers for Vista, I had to fish about for new drivers for my bluetooth dongle too. The in-built solutions adviser in Vista was pretty neat, and did help me find what was missing from my driver roster, rather than offering just a list of unknown device monikers in Device Manager (which happens a lot in XP).

My fave apps all installed okay, though I also had to get updated versions of Power Archiver. My Cisco VPN Client didn't work either, but this was expected, and I just run that on my second XP machine if I need to VPN into the work net.

Gaming seemed to be okay. So far, I've only tried Battlefield 2, and that seemed to be fine. Occassionally, sound would go fuzzy, not just in this game but on the desktop too. Will need to Google this to see if it's a known driver issue with Audigy 2.

I'm liking this OS more and more! :D

Nokia N95 mini video review on Five's The Gadget Show

eko — Sun, 13 May 2007 20:35:00 +0000

There have been lots of coverage of the Nokia N95 out on the interweb. Here's a nice and concise video review of this uber-phone. Good, and to the point.

Tempted by the Nokia N95

eko — Sun, 06 May 2007 21:58:00 +0000

I've not changed mobile phones for about 18 months now, a record by my own standards! ;) My trusty Sony Ericsson W900i is still going strong. One thing I did realise after getting a SIM free phone (I got the W900i SIM free when in Hong Kong) is that my network's portal may not work with it. In my case, Vodafone Live was no longer usuable, with only text showing when I connect to it. Booo!

I've been looking at the new Nokia N95 for a good while now. It has some really cool features, not least of which is the GPS function. From some of the reviews I've seen, this piece is a tad unrealiable as a proper locator, and is somewhat weak too, so the emphasis is probably not on using it for car navigation but just as a handy-to-have extra when you're out and about.

I've made my mind up to move from Vodafone to 3 pretty soon, and was hoping that they'd get the N95 soon. I very nearly picked up a SIM free N95 at the 3G store in Dundrum on Friday last, but the price was a big problem.. €759! That, and the fact I was going to change networks soon anyway, meant that playing the waiting game was probably the sensible way to go. :D

Hong Kong 2007 trip

eko — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 00:15:00 +0000

Well, we're back from Hong Kong for another year now. It's been a nice Chinese New Year celebration, as always, though this time both Lucy and I were pretty unwell with a bad bout of the flu, which kind of ruined almost an entire week of our stay.. doh! We were glad Alex didn't get it, or else it would have been pretty bad.

I actually didn't get all that many gadgets and goodies this year. I couldn't find a new mobile phone that I liked enough to replace my Sony Ericsson W900i with, perhaps the upcoming Nokia N95 will change all this. This one ain't out yet though, just the N93i. We did get a new Sony Vaio C25 notebook for Lucy, as the Sony Vaio TX1x she had before seems to have keeled over. We left it in a repair shop over in HK so that Lynia can use it after it gets fixed up (hopefully).

Got other bits and bobs, like some PSP and DS games, plus a little R4 device for the DS that let's you "backup" your games. I was tempted by the PS3, as the price was pretty good there. At HKD 3200 for the 60GB model, it was a steal compare to the upcoming Euro release slated at EUR 629. Still, the lure of proper Euro release Blu-Ray movies was too much.

One interesting thing was a guy working in a store that was explaining to peeps that Gears of War (running in all it's glory on what looked like a Sony 46" LCD) was in fact a PS3 game. Yeah right! Either he was on the loopy stuff, or he was desperate to offload his stock of the Sony wonder-console.

You know, it's so cool that HK's public transport system is so darn good. It's mega easy to get around the place, be it on the really punctual buses or the fantastic trains and underground system. But, I always wonder why traffic is so mad there! I guess that's a part of any big city, oh well. Anyway, the point I wanted to make was about how great the cars looked over there. For such a smoggy environment, the cars are all pristine in appearance! Be it a red Ferrari 360 Spider, or a Ford Focus, they are all mega clean! Why? Actually, there's a simple answer.

Rather than having to drag their vehicles to the local service station and the car wash there, there's a whole business where people wash your car for you once a week in your designated car space. You see, the majority of people in HK live in high-rise apartment blocks, and they have to buy their parking spaces from the developers of the building too - some can cost as much as EUR 30000 to buy! Some enterprising people offer a car cleaning service for these vehicles, and since the car is always parked at the same spot, it's easier to administer. Prices can be about EUR 30 a month, and there seems to be a lot of people who take this up.

Speaking about the cars themselves, there seem to be quite a few Ferraris and Porsches around there. We visited a friend of Lucy's who had a lovely 360 Spider. Even when idle, the engine was loud, and utterly delightful. One day, I want one of these, just to keep it in my driveway. ;)

It being HK, food is always at the top of the menu for any traveller (pun intended). There's always such a nice variety of things to try, and I have to say that I'm a bit of a fan of all types of food there. There's simply so much more choice, and this also means that I tend to eat a tad too much whenever we visit.. doh! :) One distinct favourite was a Japanese restaurant in the Peak Tower, which had some interesting takes on Japanese-fusion cuisine.

The Peak Tower itself has changed quite a bit since our last visit, with much more things to see. I was surprised to see an EA exhibition there. I should have taken some pictures of it (darn!), it was quite impressive in it's white gaming boothes and show floor. I wasn't quite sure if it were a permanent fixture of the tower, but I would gather that it wasn't, unless EA though that having such a "store" in the Peak Tower would generate significant revenue for them. Still, it was interesting to see it.

All in all, quite an enjoyable trip. I'm ready for a return visit already! :D

New additions at the Flood household

eko — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:53:00 +0000

Nice big congratulations to Veronica and Graham on the arrival of twins Evan and Arran, born 15 January 2007. Mother and sons are doing very well. Here's a lovely pic of the little fellas. :D

Happy New Year to all!

eko — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 01:35:00 +0000

It's been a mega long while since I've blogged anything at all, though it's been a hectic few months. Anyways, here's wishing all peeps out there a peaceful and happy 2007!!

Gears of War on Xbox 360 - next generation gaming defined

eko — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 20:19:00 +0000

Was lucky enough to get a copy of Gears of War Collector's Edition from our perennial hero G-Lad! :D This game truly rocks! Some stunning visuals, great use of sound, and great action and pacing to boot, who needs PS3? (for the moment, that is..)

Gamespot says it nicely, with a decently high score of 9.6.

PC style flat rate broadband for mobiles.. sounds good to me!

eko — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:54:00 +0000

3, the mobile phone company, have a nice idea going here.. a flat rate broadband product for mobiles! They call it X-Series. No details or pricing just yet though, but it sounds like a cool product. I've not been all that interested in the Vodafone Live content nor feel the current 3G price plans are good value for money. But if this flat rate product takes off, it could be the start of something cool for mobile lovers like me!

Ciarán's Christening party!

eko — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:48:00 +0000

I had the honour of being invited to Ciarán's Christening ceremony on Saturday last. Unfortunately, I was pretty late in getting to the church and I missed the actual Christening itself.. doh! (sorry Ciarán!)

Afterwards, proud parents Neasa-chan and Stevo held a nice party at their home, accompanied by a mighty spread of food!! :D A super time was had by all.

I forgot to bring a camera, so here's a small pic of the proud Daddy and the little fella himself as taken from my W900i phone.

Microsoft revises Windows Vista licensing rules

eko — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:45:00 +0000

The guys over on DailyTech mentions today that Microsoft seem to have changed their licensing rules, so that you can remove the OS from one PC and install it again on another.

This is handy for me, as in past I've had to move Windows XP installations from older (and defunct) PCs to new ones, so as not to waste them. The ability to do this in Vista also is a relief. :D

Time to learn to write games.. with XNA game development platform

eko — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:12:00 +0000

Tom's Hardware, amongst many other sites, reported on Microsoft's new announcement of the XNA game development platform. The good news is that it's free, so anyone with some programming knowledge will be able to check this out for themselves.

Stevo and I have been talking about writing a game for ages.. perhaps it's time now to give this a shot!

Giant Robot imprisons Parked Cars

eko — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 22:50:00 +0000

What a cool headline! Wired News has the scoop on a car park in the US run by a massive robot, and how a software licencing dispute caused all the owners' vehicles to be stuck in there.

Neat!