Better late than never!

Ok, ive kind of come to grips with the fact that i cannot update this as often as i would like to, not due to lack of stuff to write about but down to my incredible power of forgetting to do it :( For that i appologise. This week however, you may be pleased to know, i did not forget :) its late because Apple released their new iPod opperating system OS4.0 so i wanted to try it out and include it in this blog for y'all.

As ive set the scene nicely ill kick things off with the new OS, if you couldnt care less i'd advise you to skip the paragraph as i have more to comment upon than a tech update :) Basically OS 4.0 is for the new iPhone 4 (which looks and feels and runs frikkin amazingly!) but as i dont have £500ish quid lying around i wont be getting one :( So if it was for the iPhone why do iPods get it? This is a plain and simple streamlining issue, they add it to all iPods (touches) and phones so as to reduce their workload by only running one systemfor what is, essentially, the same piece of hardware. Enough with the boring stuff though! The main new features are the abilities to create playlists on your iPod, organise your apps into folders and a general visual spruce to make your "desktop" as it were to look more iPady. If you own an iPhone you also get the huge boon of multi-tasking, this wont arrive on iPod touches as they physically dont have the tech in the to handle it. Overall im very impressed with the update, the looks are very swish and make a nice change from the ageing desktop and the new animations that go with it are a nice touch. Folders are incredibly useful as i no longer have to flick through 10 or so pages of apps to find the one i want i can now store them in folders of 9 apps that relate (eg i have a folder for online, one for my fave games etc) Now i only have 2 pages which is a lot tidier and easier to manage. Creating and editing playlists on your iPod has been something i have wanted for ages as i have a playlist of my favourite songs so if ever i think of an addition when im out i can add it straight away, smoothly avoiding the epic failure that is my memory! There are a few other new features such as a spell checker which works just like the one on Word, underlining all your errors in red for you to treat as you will. All other features are only minor changes so ill move on to the multi-tasking. Ive had a play with this on my Dad's work iPhone (3Gs) and am very impressed, it allows you to do just what it says, ie you could be writing a text and quickly check something on Safari or be playing a game and change the music track. Its all very fluid and doesnt drastically hamper the iPhone's overall performance, within reason (it starts to struggle if you try and pile too much onto it at once). The only negative point about the new OS is that it gives the already weedy battery a full on thrashing, which is rather annoying to say the least! But hey overall the pros outweight the cons quite considerably :)

Next up is E3 that finished not too long ago. To those who are unaware E3 is the biggest gaming expo in the world held in LA where a lot of the years big reveals are unleashed at one of the big three's (Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo) personal conferences. Microsoft opend the show with a rather audacios presentation of Project Natal, as invisiged by Cirque de Solai. Here they had a big circus and announced some release titles and its name, Kinect. Yes i thought the name was lame too! The next day Microsoft had their conference where they spent the first half talking about Kinect and showing off some release titles (kinectimals, Kinect Sports, a fitness game from Ubisoft, a dance version of Rockband by Harmonix and a few others) although these appeared very casual they did show a lot of promise as well as hinting at the opportunities as possibilities provided by the new tech. With this then it is an encouraging step before the big guns start to announce some titles for the more hardcore gamer. After that there was not much to write home about, they showed off a bit of the new Call of Duty: Black Opps which looked good but nothing really that new. This was followed by a short talk about Fable 3 and another about Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Both look pretty awesome but again, nothing outstanding. To finish off their bit, Microsoft announced the 360 S a slimmer, sleeker, sexier version of the console with a 250GB HDD and the fastest wireless N adapter of any console built in. All this for the same price as a new Elite, so not too shabby. Its also worth pointing out that it is also a great deal quieter, has a smaller power converter and no red ring of death, so thats nice!

Next up was Sony who, in my eyes, was very dissapointing. They spent the first half hour talking all about 3D gaming which, if im honest, is a bit of a fad. However during this pitch they did announce Killzone 3 which, from the demo, looks amazing. Next on their list was their version of the wiimote, Playstation move. This showed some promise, with 1:1 motion tracking but it was let down by long calibration times and lacking in game promises. For me personally, the biggest dissapointment came next with a big inspiring talk about the PSP. Like everyone else watching i had my fingers crossed for what appeared to be the announcement for the PSP2. But instead it was all in aid of a brand new advertising campaign....Lame. The rest of their conference improved slightly announcing Steam is coming to the PS3 along with Portal 2, an exclusive Assassins Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer Beta and the return of Twisted Metal.

It was Nintendo that stole the show, however, with the brillient looking 3DS (without stupid goggles!) the returns of Kirby, Kid Icarus and Donkey Kong. Not only this but also a renevated version of Goldeneye on a real controller with Daniel Craig's face which looks like it will be one of the best titles the wii has ever seen. Finally they showed some very impressive looking gameplay from the new upcoming Zelda game which, with the motion plus add on rivals Playstation move's 1:1 control.

In DVD news ive been revisiting the Alien series and the Ocean films both of which i find hugely entertaining. Im expecting Alice in Wonderland to come tomorrow so that will be an experince as i have yet to see burton's version of the classic.

Thats all for this time see you soon,

FT

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Donwload 2010

I got back from Download around 2:00am on Monday after having been there since around 5:30pm Wednesday evening. I had a truly brillient time at the festival and my aim of this blog is to talk all about the various experiences from the extended weekend.

As bands didnt start untill Friday and i arrived on the Wednesday i feel it best to start with camping. camps Bret and the village. I was honoured to be a part of Camp Bret, a camp made up of about 15 people, everyone conected in some way or another (ie friend of a friend). The camp had a great atmosphere that was aided by fun conversations and copious amounts of alcohol! This plus the general atmosphere of the campsite (Camp Bret was situated in Blue Camp) which was one of excitement for the weekend and full of like minded people making for great exchanges with countless random festival goers. So the two days before bands began were spent in and around the campsite and the village (a large area full of shops, stalls, food vans, fairground rides and entertainment tents) providing a very enjoyable, albeit expensive, time.

On to Friday then and the discovery of the weekend! Me and my friend Will discovered a small band on third stage called Year Long Disaster, these proved to be a very talented band with a unique sound that is deffinately going onto my Spotify playlist and i fully recommend you all check out. The rest of Friday was spent on main stage, watching a decent set from 36 Crazyfists. This was followed by Killswitch Engage who made up for a slightly distortion-heavy sound with a decent control of the crowd and a blinding tribute to the late legend Ronnie James Dio with Holy Diver. This finished their set with a bang and made way for supergroup Them Crooked Vultures who performed a faltless set, Dave Grohl a bundle of energy on the drums, John Paul Jones' stupendous bass and fronted brilliently by Josh Homme. All of these acts were blown out of the water however with Fridays headliners and my weekends highlight. ACDC. Their performance was quite simply the best i have ever seen live, a mix of classic hits such as Back in Black, Thunderstruck, For those about to Rock and many more; mixed in with tracks from Black Ice alongside pyrotechnics, giant inflatables, rising platforms and stellar solos.

Now Sturday had a lot to live up to. But boy did it deliver. The first bands i saw were Atreyu and Flyleaf, both performed quality sets flyleaf where a little weak due to the lead singer being slightly drunk. Five Finger Death Punch then took to the stage, they are not really my cup of tea but they performed well and really got the corwd going. At the end of the set Ivan Moody exclamed he wanted to shake every member of the audience's hand which evoked this reaction...

Next up was another steller set, this time from Lamb of God; again getting great crowd support. The experience seemed to touch the band quite deeply, leaving them very emotional as they left the stage after their largest ever crowd. Following this was a dissapointing Megadeth performance and a passable effeort from Him. However, for the second night in a row, the headliners took to the stage with force. Rage Against The Machine went off with their simple set but brillient stagecraft. Everything that was expected wad delivered and exceeded including the inevitable political opinions from Zach de la Rocha. They even dedicated a song to Simon Cowell :)

Then along came Sunday. Saxon took the crowd back in time by playing Wheels of Steel in full as well as a couple of classics. The next act i saw was the legend of guitar himself. Slash. I managed to get very close to the stage for this one and was greeted with a blinder of a gig from Slash and his touring frontman Myles Kennedy with a guest arrival in the form of Motorhead's Lemmy. The set included a mix from Slash's new solo album as well as Velvet Revolver classic Slither and Guns 'n' Roses timeles songs Sweet Child of Mine and Paradise City. Unfortunately as Slash left the glorious weather changed to rain. Despite the newly horrendous conditions the rest of the bands played on seemingly oblivious to the heavy rain. Billy Idol belted out classic after classic finishing off with Rebel Yell. I then went off to second stage to catch Porcupine Tree's present in the form of a perfectly played gig. Steel Panther where next on who provided laughs all around and a set that made you forget all about the rain. It was back to main stage for the final two peformances. Stone Temple Pilots played very well, it was just dissapointing that their crowd was so small. Then to finish it all of Aerosmith kicked out a belter of a finale to finish off the weekend in style. If i had to, i would say Aerosmith were the weakest headliner but that would be picking at straws.

On a related note i was able to be one of only 25 people who were allowed to see the world public premiere of the New Medal of Honour game at the EA hub that had been set up in the main arena. A section from one level of the single player campaign was shown and was very impressive on the 70inch HD TV. The visuals were incredible from the rocky, Afghanistan terrain, to a random goat to your teammates faces. The sound was top notch with very realistic sounding weapons and even ruffles of fabric and boots on rock. There were a few issues with players walking through others and the odd judders but this is still very early code so is to be forgiven. This is truly looking to be a quality title and a realy rival for Modern Warfare 2.

All in all then the weekend has been one of the best of my life. I inted to write another blog either this week or next with my opinions on the latest announcements from the E3 gaming Expo that is currently underway in LA as well as a quick review of Dead Man Running. I will leave all of this for next time as i feel this blog has gone on for too long!!

FT

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Roundup...

I owe a major apology first, i promised more regular blogs but did not follow this through. I have no excuse as all ive been doing is living up my new found freedom as all exams are done! So what's been going on that is worth reporting?

Firstly i would like to put across my full on excitement as tomorrow i shall be heading off to Download! This i cannot wait for to the point that the webcam from downloadfestival.co.uk has been taking up half of my desktop for the past few days. On a related note it has been a sad time for the rock world recently with the deaths of Ronnie James Dio one of the finest vocalists ever, the truly talented yet underrated bassist/songwriter of Slipknot Paul Gray and the steriophonics drummer Stuart Cable. My thoughts go out to their loved ones, family and fans who will miss them all immensly.

On a gaming note ive just completed Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar games' wild west epic. This is a thoroughly awesome game with so much to do throughout the vast open world and the main story is as gripping as they come with plenty of twists and turns. It is the first game i have played where i have watched every cutscene all the way through which, in my mind, really says something. I do urge everyone to get this game as it is a great adventure thats easy to drop in and out of. Sticking to gaming for a bit longer i have just got back into the music genre and am slowly but surly making my way through DJ Hero and Rockband. I havnt quite decided yet but i think Guitar Hero is still my favourite but the setlist for Rockband knocks it out the water. Linking to this is the new Guitar Hero that was announced yesterday (warriors of rock) with an amazing looking new guitar peripheral and a return to GH3's rock and metal soundtrack this is looking to be a scorcher of a title.

Onto films now and i have just watched DeJaVu and Taken on Blu-Ray, both of which and exciting and clever thrillers with many twists and turns in the plots to match the high octane action. Personally i preffered Taken as it was a lot tighter in both story and editing. However credit is due to DeJaVu as its story was far from the norm and really makes you think.

The last little section i want to write before i leave is a quick talk about gadjets. Whilst in town the other day i got to play with an iPad in PCWorld and was blown away. First impressions were of how good it looks and how it is heavier than i thought it would be. Once i turned it on, however, this was all forgotten. The screen is beautiful and provides a brilliently sensitive touch which outstrips that on the ipod touch or iphone. The apps work a dream as does the accelerometer making games such as labyrinth a lot more user friendly. With regards to safari, browsing the web is a lot faster and you hardly notice the lack of flash support, besides all the major flash users have their own apps that can be used for accessing this content. The next bit of tech news is again from Apple, this time it is the announcment of the iPhone 4, this once again, pushes the boundries with a much sleeker, sexier design, a better screen, faster processor, bigger battery and the new opperating system allowing for multi-tasking. All of this adds up to a beautiful looking phone that will definately be a market leader and bring in another shedload of revinue for Apple.

All that i have left to say is that ill write another blog next week. It shall probably arrive around Wednesday and ill have a lowdown on the events of Download as well as the latest news from the E3 gaming conference that is taking place in LA from 14-17th of June.

FT

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