Have a look at this: Project Natal (might take a while to load but worth watching)

It’s a new concept of controlling video games ~ without a ‘controller’.

The thing that seems to have made the Nintendo Wii accessible to the masses, was the innovative control method of the controller. It enabled people of all ages to jump in and enjoy the gaming without thinking that it was too complicated to operate.
Enter Microsoft.
They seem to have taken things a stage further ~ by introducing a motion capture device, coupled with a few microphones, they have made a device that allows you to use your whole body and your own voice as the controller.
Imagine a simple Kung-Fu game where you actually kick and punch your opponent, or a driving game where you use your foot on the pedal and hands on the wheel (all visible in the demo linked above).

This should mean an even more immersive experience than the Wii!

No doubt it’ll cost the Earth though (and given Micro$ofts track record recently, not work until it’s 3^rd iteration )

As a certified, card carrying gamer, I can’t wait to test it out

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The UK prides itself on it’s criminal justice system, believing it is a ‘fair’ system.
This has been proved sadly false with the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.

Once again a seemingly idiotic ruling takes into consideration the feelings of one convicted murderer over that of the victims of this heinous crime; And in this case it managed to show to the world at large that the UK criminal justice system values the rights of criminals over the rights of victims.

Any system which allows this kind of moronic situation to arise NEEDS to be seriously reworked.

This man willingly and knowingly, planted a bomb on board Pan Am flight 103, subsequently killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members.
Eleven people in Lockerbie, southern Scotland, were killed as large sections of the plane fell in and around the town, bringing total fatalities to 270.

That event took place on 21^st December 1988 – today he was released on ‘compassionate’ grounds ~ in my mind this is an appalling travesty.

This man is guilty of one of the worst terrorist atrocities the UK has ever known, and one person frees this mass murderer because he is dying of prostate cancer ~ the spirits of those murdered by this man must be turning in their graves.

What kind of person would even consider releasing him on compassionate grounds? What compassion did he ever show to those people he killed and the families now bereft of family and friends ~ people who were simply on that flight.

Right now, it sickens me to think this is the proud nation I live in.
The UK government need to take actions NOW to prevent yet another scandal diminishing the public’s, already shaky, faith in the legal system.

This is a sad day for justice indeed…

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In another instance of the stupid rulings we all have to live by, I recently went to the post office to collect a passport renewal form and some of those terrible photographs.
Whilst there one of the guys from the post office asked to look to see if they thought we’d (the GF and myself) get them right.
When checking my GF’s photo he said it might be rejected because a wisp of hair was covering her eyebrow!
Even more stupid is the fact that he went on to mention that if she was wearing a niqāb (the veil worn by some Muslim women) then she’d be ok

This country is going mad… (and I’m not too sure about the ‘going’ bit)

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Wow! Today we had our new starter start It was his first day ‘on the job’ as it were…
Ironically, he was working with my self at the client who introduced us
Chris Stanway was introduced through his wife’s former employer, a client of ours.

Funny how things go… :)

I’ll be spending time popping in to clients premesis to introduce him.

It’s a brave move in the current economic climate, but to be honest, we are so busy we can’t do without him!
Sometimes it’s nice to hear some positive news in all this doom and gloom - WE ARE DOING WELL AND EXPANDING THE COMPANY!

We were re-installing his server after an office move, and introducing a Terminal Server so he can run his database software over the ether.
Along the way were the usual ‘this ot that doesn’t work’ queries, culminating in a trip from the new office in Dewsbury, to the warmer climes of Armley (I do get to visit some of the more salubrious places!).

All working now though…

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This has to be one of the most ridiculous court cases of all time!
Judge bans Microsoft Word sales

“I4i filed a patent in 1998 that outlined a means for “manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other” invoking XML as a means allowing users to format text documents.”
This seems to mean that ANY software which uses XML to format something in infringing on this patent.

In practice, XML is becoming more and more prevalent as a means of ‘marking up’ documents. Which would mean ANY software which uses this technology is in breach of the patent, i.e. web browsers, word processors etc…

Although I am no expert, this is EXACTLY why patents should NOT be used for ‘possible’ technology.
I could apply for a patent on something like “A car which runs on inert gasses as fuel” and sue EVERY car manufacturer trying to develop such technology.

STUPID!!!! (and it will stifle technological progress if people start panicking about breach of patents).

Let someone invent something FIRST, then apply for a patent to protect it ~ that’s the way this should run…

And the U.S.A. is apparently granting patents on genetic stuff too – imagine if you found out you were infringing someone’s patent simply be existing!!

I feel sorry for Micro$oft on this one…

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It seems like yesterday since I posted here ~ but a quick glance at the calendar shames me!

Flouting the ‘Credit Crunch’ we seem to be going from strength to strength – GOOD!!

We are doing so well, we’ve taken on a third person, making this duumvirate into a triumvirate.
He’s starting on Monday, all things being equal…
I’ll get him to post here from time to time ~ hopefully a little more often than Tor does

Business wise we’ve been asked to quote for all sorts of stuff:

• A client moving offices and creating a new textiles mill
• A client building a new office building for himself
• A website for a client to manage their business and automate processes

The list goes on, but these are the more interesting projects at the moment…

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On Friday, I spoke to a new client about backing up her systems and suggested an online backup solution, not the USB pen drive that she had been using (and which had got out of date…)
I also suggested she should make a move toward getting an up to date backup.
Oddly prophetic words, as she had a catastrophic system failure that very evening ~ losing all her data
Now I have her and her son’s laptop on my desk ~ hers for a rebuild ~ his for a networking issue.

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At the weekend we ‘did’ the Kettlewell scarecrow festival (lots of scarecrows dotted around the village) and the Bolton Abbey Duck race.
We had a fab day out in Kettlewell, walking round the village. We even snook in an ice cream :mrgreen:
The duck race was an attempt by Bolton Abbey, to get the world record for racing rubber ducks down a river.
In this case 120,000 of them
There was something extremely surreal, sitting on the banks of the river, eating a lovely picnic, watching all these little white ducks floating past

Decidedly odd!!

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Coming to something on a more recent note~ a client rang up with a strange issue with their website, it started asking for confirmation of her security certificate
Odd
I called the ISP and had it fixed in about 5 minutes :) Apparently I’m a wizard

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