Simon Royal.co.uk - Blog

MacBook Wheel

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:13:00 +0000

A hilarious spin on Apples 'crazy' inventions.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

17" MacBook Pro Announced

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:04:00 +0000

MacWorld 2009 is underway and so far we have heard of new versions of iLife and iWork. The biggest news is the new 17" MacBook Pro.

With a 2.66 Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD and a fixed battery lasting 5 - 8 hours supposedly, it should ship late January.

SkyFire Beta... Video

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Here is SkyFire in action, it really is amazing.

SkyFire Beta... Mobile Browser

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:02:00 +0000

The web on mobile devices is far behind the desktop world. Symbian S60 WebKit browser, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile still lack a lot of features, Flash being one of them. Even the iPhone with it's 'proper internet' isn't quite there.

I was then surprised to find SkyFire which is still in beta, but already has lots of good features. It doesn't have a problem rendering any pages so far and even YouTube videos etc... work as if they were on a desktop browser.

Apple IIe Emulator For Wii

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Yes, as with anything I own I like to try out most things and homebrew being one of them. So this caught my eye, an Apple IIe emulator for the Nintendo Wii.

It requires The Homebrew Channel to work.

The Homebrew Channel... Wii

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Check out The Homebrew Channel for running homebrew software on your Nintendo Wii.

Hearing Assistants On TV

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Why is it you only see those Hearing Assistants on TV late at night or at the weekend, you know those people doing sign language for those with impaired hearing?

Do deaf people not watch TV during the day?

Thank Goodness I'm A Mac User

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:40:00 +0000

I have been delving into the depths of Windows Vista over the last couple weeks. My wife bought a laptop recently and I have had my mums over the Christmas break to sort out and clean up.

It makes me so thankful I am a Mac user and just how beautiful, clean and easy to use Mac OSX is.

This is not a 'who stole what' slanging match as at the end of the day any OS has the same in common. An interface for the hardware it sits on and allows the user to navigate files and applications. Whether it be Mac, Windows or Linux, this is a common factor.

The difference is how it does it and Vista is just so clumsy. While trying to make it more user friendly and easier for computer novices it over complicates pretty much everything, with such an ugly interface to go with it.

Control Panel is just a minefield of options with multiple ways of getting to the same page, and not always in the most obvious place. System Preferences in Mac OSX is just so much simpler.

Maybe I am slightly biased, but I have been on both sides. A long time Windows user who switched to the Mac platform as I was sick of Windows. I enjoy using a Mac.

Would I ever switch back? Never. Would I swap my aging G4 PowerBook for my wifes shiny new Core Duo laptop? Never.

Norton Sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Any decent Mac user knows never to install Norton Antivirus on their machine, but it amazes me still how so many Windows users swear by it.

I am having a clean up of a machine running Vista, and am removing Norton Internet Security from it. It has been uninstalling for over 30 minutes. It seems even getting rid of it is a headache.

Finger Breakdance

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:27:00 +0000

I thought this was pretty cool.

Macs Up To 9.6% Market Share

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:24:00 +0000

The number of Mac users has rise from 7.3% market share in December 2007 to 9.6% in December 2008. In contrast Microsoft's 90% market share has dropped for a second month in a row and is at 88.7%.

However this could be because of the holiday season and companies who are mainly Windows based have closed for the festivities.

Happy 2009 Fans

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 10:50:00 +0000

A little later than planned - due to uploading problems - but Happy 2009 to all my blog fans.

java.net.connectexception

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 10:46:00 +0000

I have been having blogging problems last night and today, every time I post I get a java.net.connectexception error and it keeps looping.

It seems to be affecting FTP users. Check your Blogger settings. I changed my address from www.users... to ftp.users... and it seems to have fixed it. Funny though as I have had www.users... for over a year working fine.

Hot Babes

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:04:00 +0000

I have just added another page to my site. It is my collection of hot babes. Back by popular demand, check it out.

Wall E... It's A Mac Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:56:00 +0000

It's no surprise there was going to be something to do with Apple in the Disney Pixar film Wall E, what with Apple being the biggest shareholder.

When Wall E is charged via his solar panels you hear the Mac chime sound, and the guy behind the iPod, iMac G3 and the PowerMac G4 Cube - Johnathon Ives - designed Eve, the white robot.

Besides that it was an awesome film, one of the best I have seen in a long time.

My Sony PSP Page

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:22:00 +0000

I have just added a new page to my site. Check out my Sony PSP Page.

Nintendo DSi... 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:30:00 +0000

Nintendo has announced the successor to the DS. The new DSi should be launched late 2009. It is a little bit thinner and light than the DS Lite.

It will feature a 0.3 megapixel camera, SD card slot, internal memory and better wifi. It will however lose the Gameboy Advance slot.

OpenPandora

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:10:00 +0000

As a PSP owner and a reknowned tinkerer, I was looking at firmware hacks and homebrew software. However having a PSP with firmware 4.01 it is extremely hard.

I stumbled across the interesting handheld called Pandora developed by OpenPandora. It is open source and features a 600Mhz ARM processor running Linux, qwerty keyboard, wifi, bluetooth, USB 2, dual analogue sticks, twin SHDC card slots, touchscreen display, PowerVR OpenGL 3D hardware and 10 hours battery life.

Being open source it can run pretty much anything and has the power too. It would mean emulators a plenty and homebrew software would be the norm, it also has the potential to be a mini computer with web browser, email, word processor etc...

And at only £199 it is not too badly priced.

Contract Free iPhone In France

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:49:00 +0000

French retailer FNAC are to sell 3G iPhones without being tied to a contract or carrier. It may be as a result of the French competition counsel. It will be at a much higher price than a contract tied handset, €799 ($1,123) for an 8GB model or €899 ($1,263) for an 16GB model.

HDTV... Why Bother?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:35:00 +0000

What is the point of all this high tech, high definition, HDTV, when awesome TV from the 70's and 80's like comedy classics such as the timeless Porridge or the fantastic Only Fools & Horses still haven't even made it into the widescreen era.

Goodbye Woolworths

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:20:00 +0000

Well after 99 years of trading and being one of the UK's most recognisable retailers, Woolworths has gone, with only a few stores still open, soon to close.

Merry Christmas Fans

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:23:00 +0000

Just wanted to wish all you visitors to my website and blog a Merry Christmas. I know it is a little bit late, but better late than never.

I shall continue blogging in 2009 and who knows what stories will pop up.

Nintendo Wii & DS... Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:26:00 +0000

I don't get all the hype of the new motion sensor and touch screen business of gaming with the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. They are good fun, but not for serious gaming.

Give me a wired controller with a conventional D-Pad or analogue stick. I love my PSP, my original XBox, hell I even still have a MegaDrive 2 for the ultimate retro gaming. I love first-person gaming played with a mouse.

For me my best consoles are my Sega Saturn and to a lesser extent the Sega Dreamcast.

UMD... Hmmmm

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:56:00 +0000

I love different format discs, but Sony's PSP disc, the UMD - Universal Media Disc - is a mystery. I supposed it was developed to combat piracy. This little 1.8GB mini DVD in a plastic case is pretty funky.

While load times are slower than cartridges the storage is bigger. The DS cartridge can only hold 128MB, which is measily compared to the PSP 1.8GB capacity.

Wireless Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Royal) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:45:00 +0000

My home wireless network has never been so busy. With three eMacs - with Airport Extreme, a PowerBook G4 - with Airport Extreme, a Toshiba Satellite Pro with built in wireless, my Nokia E71 with wi-fi and my Sony PSP with wi-fi, it is already rather busy.

I also have a Nintendo Wii which I haven't set up for online access yet, but will do. My son also has a Nintendo DS Lite, but although that is wireless ready it only works with WEP and not WPA/WPA2 so it has been excluded from our network.

That will mean 8 devices all sucking my bandwidth, glad I have a fairly good 6 to 8MB connection and unlimited downloads.