Darren Watt http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog (not Darren Watts) Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:46:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Dell Outlet Vs The Bad Guys http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/17/dell-outlet-vs-the-bad-guys/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/17/dell-outlet-vs-the-bad-guys/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:46:21 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=63 As we know, there’s a war on against terror. It’s global and everyone’s included, oddly including PC manufacturer Dell, who I was just attempting to buy a laptop from when they launch this quiz…

Dell catches the baddies

Dell catches the baddies

Now, I’m no expert on international security matters, but I can’t help thinking that not too many terrorists are going to fall for number 4 there. And that’s assuming the bumbling crazy makes it past numbers 2 and 3 without giving too much of the game away. Luckily for me, I’m not planning on using the spangly laptop for bio-weapons. Not even sure where to start with the mass destruction, unless they mean gaming, in which case I guess I might be blowing some stuff up in BF2142. In an uncertain future it’s good to see we’re covered by all angles.

Moving away from terrorism, another odd thing on the Dell Outlet meant an optional extra free discount voucher to remove £75 from the total. Optional? Wtf. It’s Thursday night I guess*.

Two posts in one day, weird.

*see other references to Thursday nights for further details on what that usually means

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/17/dell-outlet-vs-the-bad-guys/feed/ New Terminator Film http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/17/new-terminator-film/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/17/new-terminator-film/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:51:37 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=58 Where have I been? Terminator Salvation. I didn’t know this was coming out, or that it’s got Christian Bale in as John Connor!? Brilliant!

UK Release date apparently 5 June 2009.

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/17/new-terminator-film/feed/ Film Reviews http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/05/film-reviews/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/05/film-reviews/#comments Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:54:46 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=57 Launched an exciting new film review page with deep analysis of movie releases as and when I get round to seeing them. In addition, I should probably add new Indiana Jones: Don’t see.

Indy

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/07/05/film-reviews/feed/ Twitter (again) http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/06/25/twitter-again/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/06/25/twitter-again/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:40:20 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=55 Twitter
Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter still. It gets updated far more often than this site, but with slightly less interesting stuff. Imagine that! (shut up Nath).

http://www.twitter.com/darrenwatt

On a techy note, rather than having to log into Twitter all the time for updates, the Firefox plugin: Twitterfox is great for doing the same thing - also avoiding installing other apps and is cross-platform.

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/06/25/twitter-again/feed/ Isle of Wight Festival 2008 http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/06/21/isle-of-wight-festival-2008/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/06/21/isle-of-wight-festival-2008/#comments Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:17:33 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=54 Last weekend I was mainly drinking. Unusual in that it involved watching great bands like The Bees, Sting and The Police, The Zutons, One Night Only (new but good), and the mighty Wombats. I’ll run through a summary of IOW Festival 2008 rather than an in-depth review, keeps it simple.

Good Things

  • Most of the bands; Newton Faulkner and One Night Only, much better than expected
  • Most of the food places, got a curry from one place that was on a par with most of the stuff from Albert Rd and cheaper too!? Eh?
  • Feeder. Not on the mainstage. Makes no sense at all, but still brilliant in the Big Top.
  • Bumper Cars. Brilliant.
  • Sitting around BBQ’ing lots of bacon in the morning and talking rubbish with mates.
  • Mates

Rubbish Things

  • Sex Pistols, Kaiser Chiefs and The Kooks - Disappointing
  • Toilets, won’t go into it too much; although the ones left of the stage on Saturday morning were something to write home about, lovely.
  • People throwing bottles and cups. I know it’s exciting with all the people and the music, but get a grip.
  • 50,000 people in a small space, a lot more crowded than last year
  • Chavs - Should be some sort of barrier to keep these people out

So, that’s what I think. Maybe a different festival next year….

IOW2008
Always good to have a plan…

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/06/21/isle-of-wight-festival-2008/feed/ BMW 318i (E46) Central Locking Module http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/05/21/bmw-318i-e46-central-locking-module/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/05/21/bmw-318i-e46-central-locking-module/#comments Wed, 21 May 2008 19:21:23 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=49 After spending a bit of time dismantling the car, I finally found the Holy Grail - at least as far as fixing my central locking is concerned. If anyone knows a good BMW parts dealer that I can get a cheap replacement one of these I’d be extremely happy.
It\'s a e46 control module!
Let me know! I’ll have a phone around too…

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/05/21/bmw-318i-e46-central-locking-module/feed/ Cool New Apps: Simplify Media, Zattoo http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/05/11/cool-new-apps-simplify-media-zattoo/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/05/11/cool-new-apps-simplify-media-zattoo/#comments Sun, 11 May 2008 12:03:49 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=44 Found out about some handy apps over the last week while trying to do something else. Thought I’d share it, which is handily what the first app is about.

Simplify Media
Simplify Media For ages I’ve been trying to sort out a decent way of being able to access stuff on my media-server from other Macs/PCs in a way that keeps it organised, and doesn’t matter too much about which client I use to access it. Didn’t work that out, but instead found this app which lets you access your itunes/winamp library from anywhere else on the internet. Probably a bit grey legally, you can have it running on a media server at home, then access your music while you’re either at a mates house or at work. Setup is minimal, and you can add friends libraries too - Up to 30 other people, which is brilliant. Works on both Mac and PCs, to stop your anti-mac mates grumbling about anything. Get it here.

Zattoo
ZattooZattoo is an IPTV client which runs on Windows, Mac and would you believe it Linux. It streams content from a bunch of channels direct to the client without having to faff about with firewall ports and because it comes straight from their servers it runs alot better than any others I’ve tried that rely on P2P connections from the back end of Afghanistan. Being a Swiss company seems to allow them to do anything they like, since the channels available are the main UK TV channels (even BBC!?) and most importantly of course, The Poker Channel. Again, this is a freeware app so there’s nothing at all to complain about. The streams are live content only which I think stops them getting sued, so next time there’s an international sporting event which inconveniently clashes with work*, this might well come in handy! Get it here.
* Not suggesting anyone should watch TV at work, I mean, seriously?

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/05/11/cool-new-apps-simplify-media-zattoo/feed/ Samsung LE40M87BDX Discrete Remote Codes, HDMI2 http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/04/20/samsung-le40m87bdx-discrete-remote-codes-hdmi2/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/04/20/samsung-le40m87bdx-discrete-remote-codes-hdmi2/#comments Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:21:14 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/?p=42 If you’ve gone out and bought a snazzy new Saumsung telly, and have been fighting over programming your Pronto remote with the discrete code for HDMI2 input (and who hasn’t, er), after too much searching I finally stumbled apon this one, which works. Hooray. Well, I’m happy.

0000 006C 0022 0000 00AD 00AD 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0015 0041 0015 0015 0015 0728

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/04/20/samsung-le40m87bdx-discrete-remote-codes-hdmi2/feed/ Jazzy New Homepage http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/jazzy-new-homepage/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/jazzy-new-homepage/#comments Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:52:35 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/jazzy-new-homepage/ A new homepage has appeared at darrenwatt.com - Since most people drop straight into this page, I have probably more or less wasted a bit of time. However, it kept me off the streets, cost nothing and no one got hurt. Always a good thing.

]]> http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/jazzy-new-homepage/feed/ The Red Car and the Blue Car had a race http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/red-car-and-the-blue-car/ http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/red-car-and-the-blue-car/#comments Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:36:56 +0000 Darren http://www.darrenwatt.com/blog/2008/03/29/red-car-and-the-blue-car/ My days a lot more cheery after re-discovering the “Red car and the blue car had a race” advert. Genius. Wonder what the bloke who wrote the song is up to now…

redcar

This reminds me of my mate Jon, I have no idea why.

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