The new BMW 3 Series was last night named Car of the Year at this year's motoring 'Oscars', the What Car? Awards.

• BMW 3 Series wins Car of the Year
• Beats 14 other cars to top prize
• 320d ES is best 3 Series

http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=218174

Jeremy Clarkson knows nothing! In your face.

 

Calculate your ego here - http://www.egosurf.org

My friend & colleague koan bremner has achieved an incredible 8th place on the ego list!

Are you thinking of upgrading your PC? But dont have the space?

I'm sure you'll find room for this!

 

Shimafuji’s SEMC5701 is a palm-sized Linux-based PC. The size is 2-inches by 2-inches by 1.7 inches, and it has all the necessary functions of a PC. It has the VR5701CPU processor from NEC, 64MB SDRAM, and 16MB flash ROM. The kernel has to be downloaded and installed from a Linux site. It carries a CF card slot, 5V power source, speaker output, microphone input, LAN, USB, RGB (CRT), DIP SW etc. It is sold for about $1330, ouch.

If you cant be bothered to convert your Divx to WMV, let this hack do it for you on the fly.

 What does High Definition ready mean?

It's an industry initiative to improve consumer understanding and help prospective buyers know what they are getting for their money.
Put simply, if the TV has an HD Ready label it SHOULD support:

480i/p
576i/p
720p
1080i

What this usually means is that the screen will 'accept' and display images of the above format. Usually it means that the screen will upscale and downscale images where necessary. e.g. 1080i will be downsized to fit the native resolution of the screen in question.

The unit SHOULD also support HDCP over HDMI - which will be crucial once High Definition broadcasting and copy protected material becomes available over the air and via cable / satellite providers.

Screens

 CRT - Cathode Ray Tube: "A CRT works by moving an electron beam back and forth across the back of the screen. Each time the beam makes a pass across the screen, it lights up phosphor dots on the inside of the glass tube, thereby illuminating the active portions of the screen. By drawing many such lines from the top to the bottom of the screen, it creates an entire screenful of images."
-Standard Televisions: Everyone's probably got one somewhere. Disadvantages include low definition (image blurring), crosstalk and line twitter / unstable images. CRT is considered 'older' technology these days and are generally undesirable due to their bulky nature. However, there are many excellent CRT screens being produced, and in fact High Definition CRT's are still very popular in the US.
-Front Projectors: Uses a series of Red, Green and Blue guns to fire a convergent image onto a projection screen. Generally regarded as one of the best home projection methods. However they are very expensive, massively bulky and require professional levels of maintenance and calibration.

 Plasma - Gas Plasma: "Plasma technology is different from that used in other display systems in that red, green and blue lights are created in every pixel, reducing the need for space. Charged electrodes between glass panels cause tiny pockets of inert gas to change a state of plasma. This process causes UV light to be produced, which in turn reacts with the red, green, and blue phosphors in each pixel to produce visible light.

Unlike traditional displays, where the image is scanned across the screen, in plasma displays all pixels are "lit" at once. Having no electron beam, back lighting or light polarisation, the image is inherently sharper and brighter. Perfect from edge to edge. "
- Plasma televisions: Offer sharp and vivid images with good colour registration. Disadvantages include poor screen life (screen burn susceptible with images static for long periods of time), images can lack contrast and many early screens had problems registering blacks well causing a lack of depth in most images.

 LCD - Liquid Crystal Display:
- standard Televisions: The current darling of the high-street, boasting excellent colour fidelity, but poor contrast.
- Front Projectors: Use LCD panels mounted in series, light is projected through panels onto a projection screen. Advantages include, great image size, colour fidelity and clarity. Disadvantages include: low brightness in ambient lighting conditions, poor contrast on lower end models.

 DLP - Digital Light Processor: Technology uses an array of tiny spinning mirrors to reflect light at specific times in order to make an image. Far better explanation of the technology can be found here.
- Rear Projection TV: DLP source image is bounced off a mirror onto the reverse of a forward facing screen. Advantages, outstanding brightness, excellent viewing angles. Disadvantages, colour wheel used in DLP tech can cause headaches.
- Front Projectors: As LCD but using DLP tech. Advantages, outstanding brightness and contrast - even in ambient lighting conditions. Disadvantages - see colour wheel headaches above.

Newer Screens

SED (Surface-Conduction Electron-emitter Display) from Toshiba. Benefits include sharper, brighter, faster displays with the low profile sizes of LCD and Plasma panels.

SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) - Projection specific technology used in Sony's high-end 'Qualia' projection systems. More info here.

3-Chip DLP - Actually present / past technology this but prices are dropping, currently used mainly for HighEnd cinema projection systems. This system uses 3 DLP chips for Red, Green and Blue (RGB) elements of the image. Standard DLP projectors only use one chip which essentially produces a monochrome image, colour is added by use of a colour wheel in front of the assembled image. This can cause headaches as the colour 'spin' speed can be detected by the human eye and brain. This is not a problem with a 3 Chip solution, as no colour wheel is involved. More info at the bottom of this page.

 

What about the games?

The new generation of consoles are set to push HD gaming into the public's perception at last. Whilst both the PS2 and the X-Box supported both 720p and 1080i, they lacked the muscle to make use of them across the board. With Xbox 360 and PS3 boasting heaving masses of powerful graphics power, most games are expected to be presented in 720p.

HDTV BASICS

Since the first HDTVs appeared in 1998, high-definition television has been on the mind of every TV buyer. The big question is whether now is the time to pay a few hundred to a few thousand more and take the plunge on an HDTV set.

Analogue, digital and HDTV

Analogue: An analogue TV cannot display progressive-scan DVD or HDTV. It can show only standard-definition programmes such as those found on ordinary TV, cable, satellite or Freeview.

Digital: A digital television, or 'DTV', can display Freeview broadcasts from an internal digital tuner.

HDTV: True high-definition televisions, or HDTVs, can display standard TV, progressive-scan DVD, and HDTV signals. To be considered true High Definition TVs, compatible with Sky's forthcoming High Definition service, they must have an HDCP compliant digital input, as well as at least 720 lines of physical resolution.

Receiving High Definition content

This year is when high definition really kicks off, with Sky's HD service, Sony's Blu-ray system and Toshiba's HD-DVD all set to launch.

While there may not be a lot of material out there, luckily it's easy to get hold of. Anyone with a reasonably fast computer (2GHz processor and above) can download film trailers and assorted clips from Microsoft, DivX, or if you're a Mac user, from Apple. You can then watch these clips via your computer monitor, or connect to your digital display if you have one.

There is also a European broadcaster called Euro1080 which has been transmitting high definition content for over a year. However, you need to point a minidish at a very specific orbital position and then invest around £200 in a decoder box. It's something of an effort to set up and the channels don't offer a 24-hour service. If this sounds too much of a hassle, you'll be better off waiting for Sky's HD service.

It has been fairly well publicised that the government will be switching off the analogue television signal to make way for nationwide digital coverage. While it's true that this is the government's plan, it is a long process that won't be completed until 2010. The biggest problem is that 20-25% of the population will not be able to receive Freeview unless the analogue switch-off gets underway.

The planned switch-off will be a phased process that will take place region by region. It has already been tested in some parts of Wales and will continue to happen on an increasing scale until a country-wide switch-off occurs in 2010. While this will obviously make a lot of portable televisions redundant, it will allow more of the signal bandwidth to be occupied by digital services, so you should be able to look forward to more diverse content on Freeview in the future. Over the next few years, it is also hoped that the number of integrated digital TVs (IDTVs) will increase, while set-top boxes (STBs) will continue to fall in price.

HDTV resolutions

Resolution, or picture detail, is the main reason why HDTV programs look so good. The standard-definition programming most of us watch today has, at most, 576 visible lines of detail, whereas HDTV has as many as 1080. HDTV looks sharper and clearer than regular TV by a wide margin, especially on big-screen televisions.

It actually comes in two different resolutions, called 1080i and 720p. One is not necessarily better than the other; 1080i has more lines and pixels, but 720p is a progressive-scan format that should deliver a smoother image that stays sharper during motion. Check out our comparison chart to see how HDTV stands up against standard TV and progressive-scan DVD.

Name	Resolution	HDTV?	Wide-screen?	Progressive-scan?
1080i	1920 x 1080	Y	Y	N
720p	1280 x 720	Y	Y	Y
Widescreen TV	852 x 576	N	Y	Y
Regular TV	Up to 576 lines	N	N	N

 Videophiles are quick to point out that not every HDTV can actually display all the resolution of an HDTV programme. That's true; all but the most expensive sets with 9-inch CRTs, LCoS engines, or the very highest-resolution DLP and LCD panels are incapable of resolving every detail of 1080i material. Plasma, LCD, LCoS and DLP TVs have a fixed number of pixels, known as native resolution, and the higher that number, the more detail you'll see. Naturally, higher-resolution fixed-pixel displays cost more money. At the end of the day, though, even the staunchest video critics will admit that a high-definition picture on any HDTV looks far superior to normal TV.

Normal TV and DVD on an HDTV

Normal TV on an HDTV: Aside from being able to display high-resolution HDTV programmes and movies, a high-definition set can also make normal TV look a little better. Almost every HDTV has a processor that takes the normal TV image and converts it to progressive-scan for a more stable image. This conversion won't work miracles, however, and many HDTV buyers are disappointed by how normal television looks on their new sets. That's because the big screen exaggerates the flaws in standard TV programmes. No matter how nice a TV you buy, there isn't much you can do to make normal TV, including digital cable or satellite, look better.

DVD on an HDTV: Since HDTV isn't widely available yet and converted TV doesn't really exploit the full potential of a new high-def television, you may wonder why people buy HDTVs today at all. Most of them will probably tell you it's because of DVD. HDTVs can make DVD, a very high-quality source, look spectacular. Progressive-scan DVD players have their own internal processors that are generally superior to the ones inside most digital sets. Mating a prog-scan DVD with an HDTV will give you the best picture you can get outside of HDTV itself.

If you use Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Testers you will quickly come across this error message during load tests:

Could not Find Dependent Counter Needed to Apply Threshold Rule bug

To resolve this issue

Change the associated threshold rule to compare against a constant instead of another performance counter. This does not affect the results of the load test beyond failing to run the specified threshold rule and can be safely ignored.

Use the following procedure to change the counter:
1. Edit the load test and select Counter Sets/Load Test/Counter Categories/LoadTest:Request/Counters/Avg. Connection Wait Time/Threshold Rules.
2. Delete the Compare Counters Rule.
3. Right-click to add a Compare Constant rule.
4. In the rule, set Alert if Over to true, warning to .01 (10 ms) and critical threshold to .02 (20 ms).

DJs are being warned they are breaking the law if they play digital copies of tunes without buying a £200 licence, even if the music is played off an Ipod or a laptop. Clubs are being warned they need to check digital DJs have the correct paperwork before employing them. 

Source: BBC News

When the smoke and anticipation cleared on Thursday morning in Las Vegas, gamers worldwide found themselves with the same questions in the air regarding the PlayStation 3. While both Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer and SCEA president Kaz Hirai didn't bombard the media with a plethora of new announcements regarding the PS3, the Sony booth at CES gave attendees an up close and personal look at a little more than what they'd seen in the past.

With Sony's heavy Blu-ray unveiling making its presence felt across all of the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the company demonstrated how Blu-ray movies would look on the PS3 with a trailer for the upcoming summer blockbuster The DaVinci Code. With the format making its bow later in the year, Sony has pulled out all the stops on presenting the BD (Blu-ray Disc) through as many mediums as possible, a move that follows the multimedia nature of the PlayStation.

The prototype for the console itself was also on display on the showroom floor. Bigger than a PlayStation 2, but not necessarily larger than its next-gen competitor, Xbox 360, the PS3 hardware is a fairly impressive size with plenty of ports on the back.
Besides the hardware on display and a great-looking trailer for one of the summer's most anticipated films, there were lots and lots of trailers for upcoming titles, some prototypical, on the new hardware.

While most gamers worth their salt have already downloaded and watched a sizable number of the clips since last May's E3 press unveiling, many were on display in gorgeous HD at CES, such as Team Soho's rendition of what a next-gen Getaway's London could be, or the still-impressive Fight Night Round 3 reel. A few, however, hadn't been as prominently shown in the past.

One of the most visceral crowd responses could be seen toward the trailer for Evolution Studio's rough and rugged off-road title, Motor Storm. Featuring an orgiastic display of automotive mayhem, the trailer was full of muddy, banged-up ATVs and Quads all battling on open terrain. The final closing shot elicited wide gasps among the crowd.

Other impressive trailers for racing titles included Polyphony's Gran Turismo trailer, which depicted, in next-gen visuals, the obsessive level of attention that the Polyphony team pays to detail and Studio Liverpool's Formula 1 Racing, both also shown during Stringer's Thursday morning keynote address.

Another title from the Thursday conference that had remained enigmatic was SCEA and Factor 5's dragon-themed (and still tentatively titled) Lair. Featuring two mythical beasts locked in combat, Lair was one of the most visually impressive trailers on display. Koei also had a showing with a tech demo of how a next-gen Dynasty Warriors could look on PS3 hardware. Epic Games showed off an intense trailer for Unreal Tournament 2007. Featuring a contestant in combat with an android that can't stay down, the UT 2K7 trailer left as deep of an impression on the crowd as the Motor Storm finale.

The trailer onslaught concluded with the Tokyo Game Show trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4. Featuring an aged Snake caught in the middle of war-torn terrain, the trailer made for a fitting end to an impressive showing of footage for Sony's upcoming console.

While the PS3's presence wasn't particularly strong at CES, much to the chagrin of gamers everywhere, what was on display was still impressive, especially in light of footage of newer games, such as Motor Storm, and the strong showing for Blu-ray, as future PS3 owners will also become BD player owners by default. As 2006 rolls on, however, we will all learn even more regarding the PlayStation 3. If the trailers indicate the caliber of visual quality that gamers are expecting from the PS3, there's a lot to look forward to in the coming months.

[from GameSpy]

Although Microsoft has already chosen a side in the battle to set a high definition standard (deciding on Toshiba's HD-DVD format over Sony's Blu-Ray technology) for the next generation of movie and game discs, they realized that including an HD-DVD drive in their Xbox 360 console would prove far too costly for consumers. This led to a lot of speculation in recent months, and many people believed that it wouldn't be long before gamers saw a new version of the system that featured a built-in HD-DVD drive, leading to a lot of angry early adopters.

While that scenario hasn't been ruled out, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Publishing, Peter Moore, announced tonight that Xbox 360 owners will be able to get on the HD-DVD train by the end of the year. The company will be releasing an external HD-DVD drive, although the design, release date, and price are still a mystery. Analysts predict that the standalone unit will cost somewhere around $300, although that could change at any time.

After the presentation, there were some questions about whether the HD-DVD drive could be used for games as well as movies. Although that's certainly a possibility, it's likely that we'll only be seeing films produced for the standalone unit, as the cost of producing both DVD and HD-DVD versions of games might be too much for publishers to swallow. Plus, there's always the risk of alienating gamers, something Microsoft already risked by releasing two SKUs for the Xbox 360.

In addition to the HD-DVD news, Moore also revealed that Microsoft was enlisting the help of manufacturer Celestica to increase the number of available Xbox 360s. Moore predicated that Celestica, along with original partners Wistron and Flextronics, would help to greatly increase the output. That's undoubtedly good news to all of the people who weren't able to get their hands on the console this holiday season.

Just completed Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360 but due to a recently discovered bug in the game I've not been awarded by Live achivements. Now I'm faced with trying it all again (~15 hours gaming). But wait... whats this I see on Google? others having the same problem! Any fix? Not yet! But  Activision's Website have released a cheat code to allow to return to the levels that should have been unlocked. Quick tip: ALWAYS, ALWAYS sign into Xbox Live before any game is loaded if you want your points!!!!

Also just had a excellent few races against WebMonkey26 on PGR3. Starting (very slowly) to get the hang of the "in-car" viewpoint. Just not with the F50.

A colleague of mine recently suggested that the Internet might soon diverge into premium content sites that you have to pay for and that the free stuff eventually dries up and disappears. This lead me to think – just who does provide a best content? Commercial organisations or other communities like bloggers?

Here’s my thoughts, everything I searched for today on google resulted in at least one bloggers page making the top 10 hits from google. Not very scientific I know but try it. Search for something, and I bet someone's blogged about it and has their site ranked high enough to mix it with the commercial guys.

Makes you think? Could we shutdown all of these guys and be forced to pay for all our information? I don't think so.

BTW: i don't count myself as a blogger that provides much premium content!

Ever since NTL:home upgraded my broadband connection to 10Mbps it's reliability has dropped significantly. At least once a month I lose a few hours connectivity to the Net. This might not seem too bad to some but I use the Internet a lot and many others rely on services running from my servers. I'm hoping that the faults are caused by the on-going upgrades NTL are doing as they move more customers to higher speeds. If not, I'll be force to relocate my servers somewhere else, maybe in a managed data center somewhere? Anybody know of some cheap rack space in the UK? I've used server matrix in the US but its very expensive and only makes sense for game clan servers where you can split the costs.

 102" plasma tv running 1080p! gotta get one! might need a new house first though (and a second mortage).

 

Just an update on my life in WoW. I'm now a lvl 25 rogue (solidstore) still in the Deathwing realm. I've been recruited in to a better guild - The Lightning League. Couple of interesting sites for other players can be found here and here

The only thing preventing me being on WoW during all my non-work or sleeping hours is Call of Duty 2 on Xbox 360 - which is the most immersive video game I have ever had the pleasure of playing.

 

As a couple of my readers now have manage to grab (or steal) an Xbox 360 here's some info (via Scott) on watching your movie collection. Although this would have been much better if Micro$oft had just included the Divx codec - i dont really want to convert everything again! Guess i wont be getting rid of my DLink Media Lounge just yet. P.s good luck everyone else getting a 360 in the UK.