I’m a house husband for the week! Only a week mind, just while I’m waiting to start my new job and Lyn is away in Plymouth training. As a side note to get Lyn to Plymouth, Morrison's are selling SatNavs for £60! It’s quite good as well as far as I’m aware a Navman S30 3D. I’m also, ‘technically’ unemployed for pretty much the first time ever. Although as it’s only for 6 days I probably can’t sign on.

I had my leaving drink last Friday. This was also a first as I have always managed to avoid these, either giving various excuses or just not bothering at all. If given the choice I would probably have done the same this time, but I really did want to buy everyone a drink and just say thanks. As it happens it was a surprisingly emotional thing and the team seem genuinely sad to see me go although as I said to one of them, give it 2 weeks and it will be ‘Mark who’ but that’s just the nature of the job. It really was and still is, hard to express how much I’m going to miss them all. It’s a rare thing (well for me) that you end up genuinely liking all the people you work with.

On the up side I’m now permanently home, it probably wont sink in for a while as it just feels like I'm on holiday. Also for the next couple of weeks I will be away (conversion training) but that first day when I finish work, get to go home, and then go back to work the next day will be good. I’ve also decided to learn to cook one meal from scratch with raw ingredients, kind of like a signature dish. I've not decided what this will be, you can’t rush these sort of things, but whatever it will be I'm sure it will be awful. Any suggestions on a postcard!

I’ve met my new boss who seems a very nice girl, and a couple of other people on my new team as well. I am slightly worried that their expectation may be a little high and I get the feeling that they are slightly worried that I’ll go mad with boredom but I’m sure I’ll adjust. There is always something going on and just in case there isn’t I’ve always got a plethora of gadgets to keep me amused.

Well I’d better start doing my house husband duties and get the boy up and ready for school, and then start on the basement.

I've been getting confused of late and am firmly putting it down to the ageing process. One of the things that have defiantly got me confused is Microsoft's changes to Live. I now have no idea where anything is, well not easily at any rate. The torturous process by which I had to navigate to find this space could be turned into one of those, ‘celebrity finding themselves by rolling around in their own filth on a funny continent’, type TV show.

That's the other thing I’ve noticed lately. Quite often I will say something, witty and insightful (well in my head at least) and just be met with a look of confusion and/or sympathy, often accompanied by the phrase ‘You're just like my dad’.

But enough of this self pity! It being the weekend and I having a rare weekend off I’ve decided to do those things that I used to do and write a blog entry. I have also resolved to document the ‘home improvements’ that Lyn and I are going to undertake.

Having been in the new/old house for almost a year we have, I feel, done a fair bit. We’ve installed secondary glazing after the listing officer said we couldn’t replace the existing windows. We have also replaced nearly all the ground floor lighting, wall lights, central lights, under cupboard lighting, etc. Although having installed one LED spot light I think we’ll have to get the electrician back and get him to put in another 2. Lyn also got me a Philips LivingColor Lamp which is great! We have also replaced one toilet (fixed the other 2) and moved the washing machine into the basement.

Well that's what we've done, the purpose of this post is to list the things we want to do in the next year then I can come back periodically and see how we’ve got on. Next on the list is a new boiler and removal of the old back boiler and fireplace which is horrendous. This should bring 2 improvements, lowering the fuel bills and also making much more room in the living room as well as getting rid of an eyesore.

When we do this I’d also like to get rid of the air conditioning unit (there really is no need) again making more space. When we do this we’ll also have to get new carpet, new sofas and wall mount the TV, in fact I might as well just call it remodel the living room.

We also want to ‘remodel’ the main bathroom, as Lyn pointed out if we get a combi boiler we can get rid of the airing cupboard, which will mean a lot more room.

Lastly paint the house from top to bottom, inside and out. It’s quite a list, especially in cost, if we can get just one done this year I’ll be pleased.

I had a very pleasant team day out the other day. We (the team) went to Thorpe Park, somewhere I’ve not been in quite a few years. The best bit was that there were very few people, it being a Monday and more importantly, very few kids who tend to ruin Theme Parks. In fact that would be quite a nice idea an ‘Adult’ theme park (not in that way) where grown ups can wander around, maybe with a beer in hand, without the worry of stepping on some kid or being assailed by the screeching of  child who has been sick/lost/tired/hungry or just generally ill behaved. Ban them I say and let the fun begin.

It’s Lyn’s birthday very soon so I’ve been shopping. It was very hard as she only told me one thing she wanted which was an Alive cub. It’s a very creepy robotic soft toy whose face moves when you touch it. I got her the polar bear as it seemed the least threatening. On going to their web site it appears you can also get a robotic Elvis head which is even more worrying. I keep getting an image of some middle aged woman snogging it at night whilst professing her love for ‘The King’.

Another present I got Lyn was a Wii. I’m not sure if she likes it. I know she loves her DS and she has said in the past that she wanted one but quite frankly that’s no guarantee. Having set it up for her there are some clever features like the ability to email people which I didn’t know you could do but on the whole it’s exactly what I expected, a novelty item. But it’s not mine and as long as she gets some enjoyment out of it that’s the main thing.

On a more practical note I also got PlayTV for the PS3. Practical because the PS3 has now completely taken over from the media centre. PlayTV is very good, I just hope they continue to develop it adding more features as time goes by. Given Sony’s track record on this I’m quite hopeful. Things I’d like to see is the ability to record 2 shows at the same time rather then record one whilst watching another and searching the guide by genre. and a better implementation for recording series.

Finally, I mentioned in the last post about some life changing opportunities coming up to do with work. Well to my utter surprise the least likely of the two has come to fruition and from March 2009 I will be transferring to Devon and will no longer be travelling to London every week. I’ll get to go home every day instead of every 3/4/7 days and will be staying there instead of having to pack and leave after just a couple of days. So happy times ahead and Lyn is very pleased, although I have warned her that she will probably be sick of me being home after about a month.

My God! Two entries in just a few days! That's what comes of being home for an extended period of time, which will soon end as I've got to go back to work on Saturday, Boo. The other thing about being home is that I've had time to mess around on the Internet looking at stuff that just happens to pop into my mind and over the last few days that's been Photos.

The iPhone can take pictures, it also has Google maps, Internet access and GPS so how hard can it be to take a picture, geo-code the data, bung it on a map and upload it to a social networking site. The answer appears to be, 'quite hard' especially for the sites I use and the price I want to pay, which is free.

The closest I found so far is AirMe, when you take a picture you have the option to upload onto flickr or Facebook, it will also automatically tag the picture with location and weather as well as date taken but it doesn't put it on a map.

I had a look at Google maps which does have photos set in it but that uses an application called Panoramio. You can locate the pictures and even put them in Google Earth but they wont show up automatically as they have to be reviewed first (for obvious reasons) so when they finally get around to doing that it will be interesting to see if the couple I've put up will get selected.

I also discovered Photosynth, which is a very clever bit of software from Microsoft. Take a load of pictures of a location (the more the better) and download the software. You then give the software the pictures and it stitches them together creating a 2D/3D mash-up of the location. It's very smart but in all honesty I can't really see a great deal of use for it from a Home point of view.

Not visited or posted anything here in quite some time. I've been mainly on Facebook as previously noted but quite frankly it's the Pot Noodle of blogging. That's probably and over statement if truth be told, a pot noodle is a banquette compared to the actual satisfaction and cathartic experience you get from writing a real blog. But then Facebook doesn't try to be a blog, in fact I'm not sure I've got the point of 'social networking' which is why I'm back here. So here I am in the basement of the new house tapping away at the keyboard knowing that no one will ever read this but fairly content anyway.

We sold the old house and moved which all went very smoothly, surprisingly. We made some money on the move, got a slightly bigger house with nicer views (I just typed moves instead of views what's that all about?) and Lyn and the children seem much happier here. I've got a few niggles about it, like the size of the living room, (which may change if we put a new staircase in) the noisy pub which thinks it's a nightclub (getting environmental health onto them and putting in secondary glazing) and the well under the basement which decides to push water up (not huge amounts, just enough to annoy) when we get a lot of rain, which we've had pretty much constantly this summer. Overall though it's been a good move.

I've had a lot of new gadgets to play with, far more then I deserve when I sit here and think about it. A new PS3 for the house all prepped and ready for PlayTV next month. A PSP GoCam which is an excellent bit of kit. A new laptop, Lyn's, I'm not allowed to touch it unless asked because of my new pride and joy, a 3G iPhone. Lyn wanted one last year and wont forgive me for getting it until her contract runs out and she can get one, but probably not even then. Add to that the new Sony Bravia TV we got for the living room because the old TV was too big and the Phillips razor I got the other day and quite frankly it's been and very enjoyable but disgusting splurge.

The real revelation has been the iPhone, For the past few years I've been a sucker for Microsoft Smartphones, and the odd occasion when I have got something else I've always gone back, even sticking with Orange despite the fact they are appalling and I can't get reception at the flat. I can honestly say that the iPhone is the best phone I've ever owned. It does everything I want a phone to do and does all the things I expected a Smartphone to do (and probably does do in the USA, thanks again MS for stiffing Europe) with a lot more besides. The only slight problems I have is the size and the battery life. To be fair the battery life might have something to do with the fact I can't leave it alone for 5 minutes without playing with it, probably a man thing.

Work has been going well, I enjoy what I'm doing although it's getting a bit repetitive and the people I work with are great but it's time for a change. There are a couple of things in the pipeline, one of which could be completely life changing (but less likely) the other a smaller change but challenging none the less. It should sort itself out in the next couple of months but either way I should be less tiered and have a bit more spare time, fingers crossed. I'll try and not leave it another 5 months before I update again.

I've started writing this post but in all honesty I have nothing to write about. It's primarily a matter of guilt  that's making me type. I have a lot less free time these days coupled with the fact that I can't access this blog properly from the PS3 (I can from the Linux portion of it, but dear god Linux is a pain). I have however been messing around with Facebook.

My initial skepticism when I first created an account back last summer has been replaced with a grudging acceptance. It's a bit like Big Brother' (not that I watch it) in that you don't really have to think, in fact it's a bonus if you don't. You just click on things and 'bang' it's done, unlike my PS3 blog, that's another source of guilt. I have lots of ideas for articles but it's just finding the time, but I've got 6 days off in a week and then another 2 weeks off next month so hopefully I can get the stuff written.

I have noticed that SkyDrive has increased in size again! You now have 5 gig of space to mess around  with so I'm busy uploading everything I can. I'm getting more and more paranoid about losing pictures and videos so it's nice to have somewhere to keep them.

I've had a couple of days off so I've been tidying the house, strange but true! It's serving a dual purpose because it's a nice surprise for Linda and it's preparation for selling. We've been painting everything magnolia and removing any signs that real people live here, de-cluttering I believe it's called. Quite frankly its a pain but it needs to be done not that we've found a house yet but it's best to be prepared.

Well there you go that's my guilt assuaged for a bit anyway.

We're downsizing, it's just trying to find the right the place. Well not only that, we have to get our house ready for sale as well, which is a pain. We looked at a very nice house yesterday, a Georgian town house in Bideford which has been completely gutted (see pics). I like this, I like it a lot but it has some problems firstly it's a listed building and the current owner has ripped out a lot of features without consulting the listings officer so these would have to be put back and other features retained, which wouldn't be so bad but then you have to renovate the inside, employee an architect, a builder, find somewhere to stay while the work is being carried out, etc. It's a lot to take on and I'm not sure if we can do it in our budget. If we could then it would be a wonderful house but it might just be taking on too much, especially for Linda and the kids. We're looking at a small cottage in Littleham today so maybe that'll be the one, I certainly like the location. 

This is one of my all time favourite Radio 4 comedy programs.

Just a quickie post as they've been a bit sparse both here and on AWPS3. The laptop is broken, well not broken as such, but after months of a the charger being very flaky it's finally gone and we've been having trouble finding a replacement, it shouldn't be that hard to find one but it is.

I was 40 a couple of days ago, lots of things to post about and people to thank but it will have to wait.

Linda got me a new gadget, the Tefal Quick Cup. This is brilliant I have no idea how it works all I know is that I push a button and out comes hot water. It like something out of Tomorrows World, which should be brought back.

The 360 came back from repair, they've not only replaced the DVD drive but the entire motherboard (and chucked a months free Xbox live gold membership) the difference is astonishing. I'm assuming MS have dropped in the new 'Falcon' board and for the first time the 360 is actually a usable media extender because you can now hear the TV over the drone of the fans. It's put me in a bit of a quandary as I was going to give up on that particular set-up and go over to the PS3 but now I'm not too sure. The pros are that keeping it the way it is means it doesn't cost anything. The cons are using Vista, multiple devices having to be on and keeping the Media Centre in low power mode in the kitchen. I'll give it more thought when PlayTV comes out.

CES is over and having been on nights it's been difficult keeping up with what's gone on. Bill Gates last ever Keynote was a bit disappointing, no really big announcements as such and the tie in with Toshiba didn't happen but in light of Warner Brothers (and others) going over to Blu-Ray that's hardly surprising. That is, in all likelihood, the end of HD-DVD for movies but not necessarily the end of the format as I'm sure they can reposition it as a storage medium. Pity it was defiantly the better of the 2 options but the movie sales of Blu-Ray, primary made up of PS3 owners wanting to do something with their PS3 of 2-1 in the US (and that was the best ratio around the world) just made it unviable for the studios. Beta Max all over again.

I've added an RSS feed to the other blog (on the right) much simpler then adding a new post each time I post on it.

Speaking of RSS I've just seen on my BBC News RSS that George MacDonald Fraser has died aged 82. I came to the Flashman books only in the last few years and found then well written, well researched and funny. Harry Flashman is a fairly unique character  in that on the face of it or at any depth actually, he has no redeeming features at all. When he does do the 'right thing' it is only because he has no choice and the consequences of not doing it are far worse for Harry. Despite this or maybe because of it I like him, knowing full well that if the character was real he would stab you in the back (the front might be a bit risky) at the first opportunity. It's a morality all of it's own... sort of.

It's CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this weekend and traditionally the showcase for big electronics companies to announce what's happening in the future. Something that has got the posters to gaming sites worked up is an article in the Seattle Times which says that Bill Gates, in his keynote address, may announce a new 360 SKU which will include an internal HD-DVD drive and made by Toshiba.

What the posters to these sites can't or don't want to grasp is that IF Microsoft do this it doesn't mean that the games will now come in the HD-DVD format. It just means that you will be able to play HD-DVD movies without an extra box stuck to the side of your 360. It may also mean that if Toshiba (a hardware company) make the thing it may be more reliable and quite.

These posters are also going on about the HD format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Another thing that the posters don't seem to get is that it's in MS's best interest to keep that 'war' going as long as possible. On the face of it MS seem to be a supporter of HD-DVD but they fail to see that MS preferred delivery of HD content is via download specifically delivered to the home via the 360. Microsoft's recent deal with Viacom is proof of that if any were needed.

So what does this all mean. Well not a lot to be honest, firstly it's all speculation but if it did happen then the outcome would be nothing more then another (hopefully better built) SKU. It might confuse some people but I suspect, on the evidence of what some posters have written, that they would get confused and need a sit down if you said 'good morning' to them in the afternoon.

Following strict (self imposed) publishing guidelines, rather than put the same thing on my blogs all Sony/PS3/PSP items are going on 'Adventures With A PS3'. I'll Simply do a cross reference like this. It's a new post about Stop Motion in EyeCreate. 

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Adventures With A PS3

I've started a new blog using WordPress it's called Adventures with a PS3. As the name suggests it's pretty much going to be PS3/PSP orientated, but why have I done this? Well I'm getting a bit fed up with MS so thought I'd try something new, in particular I wanted something that could actually be viewed with the PS3 web browser. It's early days so I'm not all that familiar with the tools yet but so far I like it.

Xbox Live has been having issues, apparently it's been going on since Christmas Eve but it only hit me yesterday when I was told that my Gamertag didn't exist anymore and it still doesn't. There have now been a few announcements saying it's back up but from what I can see, whilst it's not dead it's still very sick.

The forums have been quite interesting to read with the MS faithful telling people to 'stop complaining, it's only cost you 70p a week, you must expect a few problems, MS are working on it', etc. I'm sure MS are working on it but the fact is you pay for a service, it doesn't matter how little it costs, it should mean that the service works 99.9% of the time especially when your competitors don't charge for what is slowly becoming an identical service. What is particularly galling is the time of year it's happened (and also why it's happened I suspect) with people off work and new customers coming online. If I was new to the 360 and Live all I would know is that I'd just spent £300 on a console and £40 on a Live subscription, I've got at the most a couple of weeks off and it doesn't work!

Rant over, I feel better just for typing the above.

It's a small Eye of Judgment post today, I was going to do a full card list for the boy with a table and everything but got about a quarter of the way through when it dawned on me to search the interweb. And behold someone had already done it at Eye of Judgment Card Manager. This is actually a very good site (if you like the game) not only does it list all the cards but you can put in the cards you own (after registering) and up date your list, trade them, talk about them on the forum... and things. Anyway we now have 3 (nearly 4) decks after the girl went went shopping and I asked her to get 2 booster packs and she came back with 2 full decks... she said sorry and offered to pay for them to which I said 'yes', but by the look on her face I don't think I was meant to say that

That's another Christmas over, I could tell you what it's like but lets face it they are pretty much the same thing every year except we just discovered a wet patch in the ceiling of our en-suite bathroom near the light. It seems that water was dripping from a pipe in the roof. The problem is I have no idea what this pipe is for or where it goes (except out of the roof and no it's not a water pipe looks more like an extractor, but to what?) I've tighten everything up so hopefully that should sort it, quite frankly if I ever meet the people who built my house I'm going to punch them in the mouth. Big post this most of which is rubbish but it's 5 in the morning (as I'm typing) so I've got the fill the hours out somehow and this wont disturb the rest of the family.

Hidden in the last PS3 firmware update was a new bit of music visualization software (press the square to change it) and whilst as far as I can tell it doesn't change with the song you are playing, it is pretty. I recommend the right music to go with it though maybe Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ

Eye of Judgment seems to be hit with the boy. I was a bit worried by a number of things, firstly there were reports when the game first game out that it had problems recognising the cards if the lighting wasn't just right but we've had no problems (maybe the 10+ updates cured this. Secondly when we first loaded it. it was all a bit confusing, no first game walk through and the manuals didn't really help. However I did find some walk-through videos in the game itself which has made things a lot easier. Not that the boy is too concerned with the rules at the moment as he just searches through the whole deck to find the cards he wants, does make you wonder how this game works online because there must be a huge trust element involved. We also need to sort out the gaming board, it's a bit of cloth so I think it's going to be best if I still to some MDF or cardboard.

The only problem of course with getting the boy EOJ is that technically the PS3 is mine for the flat. I should be taking it with me when I go back to work, but that would be a bit harsh I'm sure I can make do without one for a week. This may all be solved if/when Sony bring out PlayTV and the 360's and Media centre get consigned to the garage/spare room. I've got it all planned, not that it will happen but I have a nice vision of the TV on the wall and a PS3 under the stairs out of sight. and it would only cost about £700!

The above would also work out nicely as I have to decorate the living room, I've been putting it off but an incident with a cup of tea on Christmas day has forced the issue. Linda also said we should get a lamp (for the dog!) so this got me going on one of my flights of fancy, LED mood lighting! It's hard to explain but there's a demo here (click the buttons by the side of the picture) I have no idea how much something like that would cost but hell, it's cool.

We got the boy one of the limited addition 360 controllers with the Halo 3 art work, it's very nice! I don't know if its just the smoothness of it or if they did a slight re-design but I'm sure it's slightly smaller and defiantly a bit more comfortable.

The new camera has worked well although there are a couple of niggles like why isn't there a charging station with it (you have to pay for it separately, nice one Sony) why is there a proprietary USB connection (I know I can take out the memory stick but it's still a pain having yet another lead) and why isn't the auto shot all that automatic (it has loads of features but accessing them can be a bit  cumbersome and half the time you're in the wrong mode). On the upside I have created a new Gameface in Tiger Woods which is a bit more realistic.

T' was the night before, the night before Christmas* and all through the house could be heard the sound of Frontline's: Fuel of War as the boy was having great fun playing the demo. I've not had a chance to have a go myself but I must say it looks very good.

Whilst browsing the official PlayStation site I found a very pleasant Xmas theme  for the  PS3, strangely it's not on the store and you have to download it and then transfer it to the PS3 via memory card which is a bit of a pain. I also noticed a PS3 theme creator software for those with a creative urge. Being lazy and not very creative I just chucked 'PS3 themes' into Google and found loads of sites, most of the themes seem to contain lots of female flesh.

You can get Sony Media Manager for PSP for free! It's on the Japanese site but once you download and work your way through the install instructions the program itself is all in English, here's the link.

I've had, and accepted a friends request from Jeff (hello!) I have no idea who the chap is but looking at his blog it seems to be all about alternative/new age/UFO style of thing. I think I'm more with Richard Dawkins when it comes to this subject matter so I'm baffled as to why or from where the request came from but if its your bag pop along.

I'm now off for 2 whole weeks and looking forward to sleeping and putting on some weight before going back into nights, again. They seem to be coming around faster and faster I don't know if this is a good or bad thing but it would be nice to see some daylight. Anyway a happy Christmas to anyone who bothered to get this far and I'll leave you with  picture of a house that I actually had to stop the car and take a picture of. I should of done a little movie as well because a still doesn't do it justice. The things that went through my mind when I saw this was what is their electric bill like? and what are they compensating for? Also are they sitting in the house miserable as sin due to lack of sleep because of the constant light streaming in the windows and worry over a bulb blowing.

*It is as I'm writing this but I don't think I'll bother finishing this post today... but it still counts.

Well it's a funny old world... or not as the case may be. There's a slight possibility that I might be changing roles at work again but more of that in the new year... maybe.

This has been a week of broken things, first my car, although not broken the car 'thinks' the engine is over heating and and the temperature gage moves back and forth like a tennis match. Even with my minimal knowledge it's obvious that the engine isn't over heating and that there's a electrical fault. probably a sensor so I took it down the garage. They phoned me back this afternoon and told me to come and pick it up, when I asked what was wrong with it I was informed that they had put it on the 'machine' and couldn't find anything wrong... @*&$%£ !!!!!! (I know multiple exclamation marks are a sign of madness but I was bloody furious). I suggested that one the mechanics actually come out in the car with me, which we did, and low and behold the gage started moving about within a couple of miles of leaving the garage so we took it back. The lesson to all this is that garages should takes cars out on the road... where they're meant to be... instead of hooking the things up to a computer and then saying 'computer says no'. Oh yes and don't ever, ever buy a Peugeot... ever.

To top it off one of the 360's has gone, not the ubiquitous 'red ring of death' oh no that would be to easy and of course be covered by the extended warranty, no on mine the DVD drive refuses to recognise any disk be it a game, movie or music CD. This of course means that I have to pay £60 to get the thing fixed but the box came fairly quickly and they're picking it up tomorrow but I doubt I'll get it back before Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas I got Linda her camera it's a Sony DSC-T20 not the one I was looking at  originally but I thought I'd save £50 and do without a touch screen and 'smile shutter'. Linda has it now which makes sense as we are going to want it before Christmas so I've now got to find something else to get her.

The PSP and PS3 have had firmware updates 3.80 and 2.10 respectively. The PSP now has Internet radio which is quite good! and the PS3 has WMV and Dvix support as well as support for Blu-Ray 1.1 (picture in picture I think) so a nice little Xmas present. I have to say I much prefer Sony's way of updating their firmware compared to MS with it's 2 a year policy. It means Sony can just add things as they are needed or when it becomes available, much more flexible.