For the last four years, I've been using a chipped XBOX as my media centre. Running XBMC, it has managed to play everything I've thrown at it. Recently, though, it has had a real problem playing standard DVDs. Aside from percussive maintenance, the only way that I know to fix something is to crack it open and have a fiddle! I've opened my Xboxes several times before - if you're new to it,…
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Ewan of Mobile Industry Review has published his weekly newsletter in which he is somewhat critical of Vodafone 360. The newsletter is not available on his website, so I'll quote excerpts of it here. This is a tricky blog post for me to write. I am involved in some aspects of Vodafone 360 (mostly My Web) but I certainly do not speak for my employers. I'm currently on holiday - and have been …
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Seesmic, a service I've not tried before, have released a Twitter client for the BlackBerry. Is it any good? How does it compare with the features of Dabr or the usability of UberTwitter? Find out! Getting the client was fairly simple, but could be better. Simply visiting http://seesmic.com was enough to bring up a mobile friendly page with download instructions. However, scrolling down…
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I get irrationally annoyed by things. Take a look at this festive stocking filler: Puzzle Cube While this would be a diverting little puzzle, it isn't properly a Sudoku. Getting each face to have 1-9 may be more challenging than a traditional Rubik's Cube, it doesn't have that beautiful arrangement that Sudoku has. Indeed, it's rather ugly as each row is 12 squares whereas there are only 9…
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There are many reasons to love the BBC. In my opinion, one of the truly great things they do is offer free tickets to show recordings. Through the BBC tickets site and TVRecordings.com I've seen - for free - The Now Show, HIGNFY, The News Quiz, Mitchell and Webb as well as assorted TV and Radio pilots. Brilliant. An evening of watching some of the biggest names in comedy without paying a…
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There now follows a quick run through of how you go about wirelessly updating your BlackBerry. The total process took just under an hour. This was a BlackBerry 9000 updating from 4.6.0.266 to 4.6.0.301. What's really annoying is that there's no automatic propt to tell you there's new firmware. I wonder how many people out there are cursing their BlackBerry without realising that a simple f…
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There is much wailing and gnashing of the teeth about Murdoch's plan to charge for his content. The swine! The blaggard! Regardless of the sanity or effectiveness of this idea - I thought it would be an interesting idea to turn the tables. What would it be like if News International were unable to scour the web for stories to rip off, comments to plunder and images to steal? Turns out, it's…
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Update! Those wonderful, delightful, considerate, and fragrant smelling people at The Times have corrected their mistake. All is well with the world. This blog post is staying merely for #NaBloPoMo. .social-embed {all: unset;display: block;}.social-embed * {all: unset;display: revert;}.social-embed::after {all: unset;}.social-embed::before {all: unset;}blockquote:not(*) {all:…
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I've been to many Real Ale festivals in the last few years. Small ones - such as Newbury - take place in the summer and allow one to sit on a deck chair, supping a beer while watching cricket. Behemoths - like the Great British Beer Festival - take place in vast, anonymous venues like Earl's Court; although the range of beers on offer makes up for the bland surroundings. Woking falls…
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A stunning majority - 88% - voted in favour of Connect merging with Prospect. It's not known how many ballots the CWU delayed due to strikes. Adrian Askew, Connect's General Secretary, said: I am delighted that our members have strongly backed plans to merge with Prospect. This promises an exciting future and we look forward to working closely with colleagues in Prospect, sharing our e…
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UPDATE! Sizzle now available.🔗 I first met Mike Atherton (aka Sizemore) at a Tuttle event a few years back. I'd been following him online for a while and was interested to hear what he had to say about the future of voice. He let slip that he was trying to develop a Sci Fi series - I'm ashamed to say I ignored him; everyone is working on a sci fi show. Turns out, he has been working on a sci …
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A few months ago I was contacted by dodgy timeshare merchants Club Lacosta. Being slightly disturbed by their weasely words and reputation for dishonesty, I recorded the call. Listen to the call on iPadio. The iPadio service died several years ago. There are no backups. I'll admit, it's not the most cutting edge piece of investigative journalism. To create the recording, I placed the rep on …
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