Xbox 360 slim in the works?
Kotaku has posted a shot of what might be the motherboard for an Xbox 360, slim-edition. I thought I'd just pass that info on, because I love my Xbox. However:
- It's noisy as hell
- It's ugly / huge
- It has no wireless
- The harddive is tiny (20GB) but they upgrade cost is just plain insulting
So in other words I'd buy one. There have been rumors before, but this makes a lot of sense considering the impending Natal release. Bundle the new version with Natal, a few minigames, low price = instant Wii-competitor. It would move units towards the holidays - perticularly if they make it small, white and with a tennis game on the box. Mums won't know the difference anyway.
Slow internet / DNS problems on OSX Leopard
My girlfriend's Macbook has yet to be updated to Snow Leopard (hey, I'll get round to it), so recently when it started loading web pages incredibly slowly, my first instinct was to update it. However, I then figured that wasn't the best solution and I spent a few hours surfing the web.
I'll spare you the details, in the end I could find no fault. Updates were in order, Airport was working, speed was fine on other routers. It even connected to Skype and MSN fine. It turned out to be a DNS issue - I just have no idea why. By making OSX use OpenDNS instead of my ISP's we seem to have fixed the issue.
So if you having similar problems, try this.
- Go to System Preferences --> Network --> (Airport) Advanced --> DNS tab
- When here, click the "+" symbol at the bottom of the page to add a manual DNS.
- Enter the OpenDNS IP 208.67.222.222
- Click "Ok" and "Apply".
Restart, to be safe. This fixed things for us. The OpenDNS IP should redirect to the closest relay to your location, ie. Europe, the US etc.. Now, if only someone can tell me why this suddenly messes up in the first place?! My Snow Leopard Macbook still works great!
Thunderbirds are go!
Finally! This site’s been down for like a month, because my host upgraded to the new version of php. I have no idea what went wrong. At first I assumed it was related to the database, because the site was still up. Only the content was gone, i.e. posts and pages.
I contacted One.com (the host) who have been somewhat helpful, although in the end I found a solution on my own. I was getting error related to plugins and / or various php-stuff. Even after I deleted all the plugins. It turns out there is a certain situation in which they don’t deactivate in the database. This post helped me, it’s on WordPress.org.
Anyway, it seems everything is back to normal. I have to reinstall all my plugins, which sucks, but better than losing all the content. One will be upgrading the server that my other site pcblog.dk is on next week. I really hope it goes better, I have years worth of content on that site!
The error was the following, for those interested (at least it was some of the time):
wp-includes/plugin.php on line 166
Doctor Who Season 5 Trailer
I have a soft spot for Doctor Who. I don't know why, it's just so ... English. I'm happy to say that the second part of the The End of Time special was a lot better than part one. Lots of nerdy details. Tennant will be missed. Here's the trailer for season 5 with Matt Smith to keep people tied over. Looks good, slightly more serious?
A Few Cool Augmented Reality Apps
I've been talking a lot about augmented (AR) reality lately. Partly because I'm a technology geek, but more importantly because I feel it has the potential to become an integrated part of our lives. Maybe not any minute now, but it’s slowly creeping in on us. There are many more or less useful apps in the iPhone’s App Store now and I’ve collected a few of them here. Some are fun, some impressive and some show promise.
NearestWiki
The first augmented reality app I picked up was NearestWiki and I still find it to be one of the best to show newcomers. It doesn’t mess around with a lot of extra features and it does what it says on the tin.
It brings in content from Wikipedia and overlays in onto the “real world” through your phone’s camera. Very clever and potentially expandable (it’s Wikipedia, duh). I know Wikitude and Layar etc. get more attention, but I feel this one is better. Less clutter.
TAT Augmented ID (Polar Rose facial recognition)
This one is still a concept, but show you what NearestWiki could potentially become. It uses the camera again (as do all these apps) but is designed for recognizing people, not things. Via Polar Rose (facial recognition, cool stuff, check it out) it would identify you and display info you decide near you corporeal form. Great for work, but also for those socially awkward “I seem to have forgotten your name” moments.
WhereMark
Not out yet and there are probably others, but this is the one I stumbled upon. Reminds me of most of the other “browser” type apps, but promises to be readily able to be edited on the go. I.e. I could “tag” my house and leave a nice big floating bubble there for everyone to see. This obviously needs “the people” to create content, but image walking in the woods, finding a ruin and pulling up info via your phone, because someone already tagged that location and ruin.
Twin Towers Wikitude Extension
Yes, I know, potentially touchy subject, but look past the current use. Images walking through Rome and being able to overlay the ancient version of the city. Or how about London, Berlin, Athens... You get the idea.
NearestSubway
This is out in multiple versions. Basically gives you x-ray vision, letting you see the subway beneath you, distance to the nearest station etc..
Car Finder
This I have missed! Tag the location of your car when you park in those giant car parks, and this app will guide you back to you vehicle. Simple, but such a good idea.
What's Your Fave?
I'm sure there are tons of other greats AR apps out there. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them ...
Latest Socialness
Får en iPhone 4 fra første sending ved 3. Yay! Det har jeg ikke prøvet før. http://twitpic.com/29pmb3
Only thing missing now is something to put on the inside of it #incipio http://twitpic.com/29nakq
Way to go, Vestjyllands Højskole. Tag på højskole, bliv omgivet af damer...! http://twitpic.com/29drxm
Bllizzard are becoming masters of the social aspects of gaming. 3 guest passes with Starcraft 2. #firsthitisfree http://twitpic.com/29djyk
And i3 iMacs? Seriously! i3!? The notebooks are more powerful than that! http://bit.ly/cdTD3m #morewtf
