Wednesday 26 November 2008

iPhones - complaint upheld

Recent adds here have been pulled for being untruthful about iPhone performance - one would therefore expect all Ads to be pulled leaving one free to put the kettle on and get a snack during the break in a TV programme without fear of missing the latest amazing gadget from KTel….. Or indeed to run a 30 minute or 1 hour programme through without a break….. But since episodes are generally 45 mins or 20 mins that would leave the schedule slightly light.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/26/advertising-iphone

As usual the vitriol expressed by commentators is out of all proportion - what is it about commentators that they have to have a side rather than just express their view - I am a Mac addict/I hate Steve Jobs.

I have an ipod (quite an old one now) and use iTunes for simplicities sake - no major complaints; but I am aware that moving to a Mac pc would necessitate all sorts of conversion problems and is therefore unfeasible. Therefore the Mac vs PC wars will continue.

Monday 24 November 2008

Byzantium Exhibition - RA

well apart from the difference between object 'dart and artifact.... which made putting the exhibition in a historical perspective difficult (the timeline could have been more expressive - like comparing Kings or political groupings in Europe! Liutprand, Bishop of Cremona visited the Byzantium court - but why, who sent him!) the wide range of paintings, mosaic (none of the mosaics from Constantinople/Byzantium/Haga Sofia were represented in any way - all were looted pieces from non-Turkish museums) were excellent.

But still the presentation needed to be better arranged - labels on items should have been high on the display case so people at the back of the crowd could see it. And it is a busy exhibition, lots of people hanging around.

Which brings me to two other points: annoying people who go 'because they should' not because they want to - do they understand what they are seeing (and sometimes I wonder if the curators understand what they are showing) and what young children get from such exhibitions.

And finally another gripe - if you pay £8 or £12 for a ticket - would it be too much to include the audio tour in the cost (I have moaned about this before) because that may contain all the information I am seeking about historical perspective, development of artistic style etc.

Friday 21 November 2008

WotLK

Though I would post a few thoughts. Firstly the graphics seem richer, trees are more treelike, the leaves and bark better represented. The fire animation (look out for forests on fire) has improved too. All those little vignettes are there - the endless viking invasion.... lava flows and geysers.

Whilst the new continent is overly full at the moment (feels like a golf course, everyone at the first 3 tees!) and sometimes the respawn rates are lethal - it should settle down....

Dalaran is lovely - light and bright; the shops are a delight; the sewers fun....

Got the flightpaths mapped for Northend - tried out the new pets - worm, rhino etc. Overall I like it, Love the Walrus people (check out their fishing buff - get the elixir, change to Walrus and fish!) already had murloc costume, orc costume quests... and btw for a pet baby murloc i would sell my granny - anyone in the market for a dead granny??

Wednesday 19 November 2008

This explains me!

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/10/22/marshmallow_temptations_brain_scans_could_yield_vital_lessons_in_self_control/?page=full

So I realised that waiting for a grown-up meant two treats….. hence the diet I need now. But now I am the grown-up so I get the instant gratification QED!!

PS latest brainscan a sucess - half my brain is fine and half occluded! well not half - maybe 15%! I highly recommend James May's 20th Century for a quick slot on MRI's - he missed out the details about early Kraftwerk soundtrack but the rest is quite correct.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Exactly what is says on the box.....

unless they are fibbing under the trades descriptions act, then men; no matter how they may look like a fixer-upper, are just that.

There are no expansion packs, no peripherals to add on (i could discuss this but anyway peripherals are not 'plug and play' with men) no options to upgrade later. Well you can trade-in but that means getting used to new operating systems and probably a different keyboard.