Grand Theft Auto IV - San Andreas

I have been thinking for a while about getting hold of Grand Theft Auto IV - San Andreas. I really wanted it for the PC but the reviews have lead me to believe that I need a monster PC in order to enjoy the GTA4 experience.

I was stumbling around YouTube and came across a wealth of awesome GTA4 videos that have finally convinced me to splash out, and at £19 from Amazon.co.uk my dithering has paid off.

Here is the video that made my purchase inevitable..........



"You had me at AAAAARRRRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!"...........

"Machinima.com director BenBuja presents the fifth installment of the GTA 4 Bloopers series. Enjoy! :) "

URL Link

Other awesome GTA4 footage from the man himself......... BenBuja......



GTA 4 Stunt Montage IV - A New Dawn




GTA 4 - Bloopers, Glitches & Silly Stuff 2




GTA4 : New Stunt montage




GTA 4 Stunt Montage III




GTA 4 - Bloopers, Glitches & Silly Stuff 3



I just can't get over the awesome productions from the Machinima.com director BenBuja............ absolute quality.........

sat in the pub

sat in the pub, chilling with my dad and a pint of IPA. Wednesday's never been so good. Take it easy........... FF

- Posted using Pocket Watch Software Mobile GBlogger.

Blogging from my PDA

I just downloaded PWS_MobileGBlogger.CAB and now I can publish from my PDA. Not sure if this is a good idea...... note to self... check mobile bill for data charges......... but worth a go.

KG.............FF


- Posted using Pocket Watch Software Mobile GBlogger.

MythBusters sort out the greatest myth of all

MythBusters rock...................



Enjoy................ FF

Repair CDs with a Banana

Strange though it may sound, you can use a Banana to clean CDs, and remove minor scratches.


How To Remove CD Scratches With A Banana - These bloopers are hilarious

Not sure how or why this works, when I get a little time I'll look up the chemistry.

Take it easy............ FF :)

Ban dihydrogen monoxide NOW

Ban dihydrogen monoxide

This stuff is really dangerous, we must petition the government to ban it NOW!!!!!!!!

Do your bit to save the world............... FF :)

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

The awesome whistling tune from P,B & J



Nice baseline........ simple, repetitive...... but seriously toe-tappingly groovy......

FF :)

Kinetic Sculptures - Theo Jansen

Ever seen an elephant fly????? Ever seen a sculpture walk???? Now's your chance......... well the sculpture walking thing anyway........... Theo Jansen is a Kinetic Sculptor from Holland and this YouTube video shows you a few awesome examples of his work..... Watch and be amazed.....



OK this is a BMW advert.......... but thanks must go out to BMW for showcasing such an awesome art form........... I for one had never heard of Kinetic Sculpture before I found this on YouTube

Take It easy........ FF

Awesome Japanese "Fit Through Shapes" Game Show

This is one of the funniest Japanese game shows I have seen, and it doesn't involve any violence............. which is a bit of an oddity for Japanese TV......

You'll have to watch the YouTube video to truly appreciate the genius of this game show concept......... simple yet surprisingly challenging for the contestants......... but most importantly, awesome fun for the viewer.....



Here's the link if you can't see the embedded content above.

Have fun....... FF

BeatBox Recipe

I Stumbled Upon this BeatBox recipe this afternoon. Most entertaining........

Beatbox Fame Game
Uploaded by loranger

Talented dude...................... FF

Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut

One of the most insightful observational assessments of the state of the nation of the USofA.

A must read for all that believe in freedom and democracy.

Take it easy........................ FabreFaction

THe Proud Owner of a Mazda RX-8.........

Well, I finally took the plunge and bought a Mazda RX-8........ WHAT AN AWESOME CAR!!!!!!!

Probably the best car I have ever driven.........

• smooth power delivery
• fantastic chassis
• unbelievable cornering
• it beeps when you redline to let you know you need to change gear.... cooooool
  
• very groovy wheels
• extremely comfy leather seats
• awesome BOSE sound system

I haven't really discovered any downsides yet, other than the high fuel consumption and less than funky satnav. The satnav is fine, it works, and gets you to where you want to be, it just isn't as graphically funky as the Tom Tom I used to have, which was also quite groovy as I had the voice of Jean Luc Picard installed..... "initiate docking sequence" when arriving at destination..... "turn left at next junction, make it so"....... etc.......

I bought it through Peter Waugh Car Consultants.
Peter helped me find the car I wanted, for the price I wanted to pay and delivered the car to me at work!!!! Peter advised me throughout our search for the car and provided an unbelieveably high level of service that I have never experienced before.

Got to say, I am over the moon with this car and I am looking forward to many miles of grinningly pleasureable driving..........

Take it easy........... FabreFaction

Clarkson's impressions of the Mazda RX-8

Would you like to see Clarkson's impressions of the Mazda RX-8???

Click Here to go to the You Tube and BBC collaboration upload.

Sorry, I am unable to embed the video as the BBC have specifically asked You Tube to block embedding of their video.

The impotence of society..........

I have just watched Little Miss Sunshine, which is a great film and really drives home the insanity of todays society and values. I have seen so many films lately that remind me of what is right with people and wrong with society. When will life start to mirror art????

What needs to change so that we wake up and do something about the obvious imbalances and wrongs of the society in which we live??

Anyway, back to my popcorn.................

Reality Check for Humans

This is not a drill.

I have moved to the new Blogger....

Well, I decided to take the plunge with the new version of Blogger. I set up the required Google account and converted my Blog.

The conversion was far from smooth, as I had modified the template to incorporate a whole bunch of non standard elements. So once I have converted I had to learn how to re-add these elements. In most cases this was relatively simple, e.g., with HTML and Java code, there is a method for adding new Template Elements, one of which is specifically for HTML and Java code.

There is now only one thing I cannot get into my blog, and that is the StumbleUpon shortcut which allows Stumblers to click and post on StumbleUpon. Does anyone out there have any ideas how to do this?

Seems to be working fine though, the new version.

The blog certainly publishes a lot quicker and modifying the template and layout are much simpler, once you learn the new tools. So all in all I would say the new version is better than the old.

If you are not sure whether to upgrade or not, it might be an idea to create a new blog and upgrade that, then you can easily transfer info from one to the other, while maintaining full access to the original Blog. Or just use your new upgraded blog as a sandbox before upgrading your original blog.

Have fun.......................... FF

Japanese Endurance......

A cringe-worthy video from the land that gave us Endurance the TV Show (not to be confused with the Discovery Kids Network show).

Endurance made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as "Most Extreme Game Show". Members of the Japanese public contested trials of endurance for no reward other than the knowledge they have endured for the longest. Well known in the UK as a result of its appearance on the television programmes Clive James on Television with Clive James, and subsequently Tarrant on TV, to my mind, this is where Jackass, and others learnt their trade.

This particular video is not quite as bad as some of the Jackass stuff I have seen, but definitely not schoolroom stuff. The video is several minutes long but worth persevering with, trust me.

Why move to the new Blogger?????

What is the point of moving to the new Blogger?

Why do I need a Google account?
I don't want a Google account.

Will the old Blogger accounts be discontinued at some point?

Why is snow always white?

Are sausages best cooked on the grill or in the oven????

Any answers to the above questions will be greatly appeciated.............

Saddam Hussain hanging..........

Rather an Old Testament approach to dealing with the deposed Iraqi leader. An eye for an eye and all that. Was it really necessary to execute Saddam?



It has been recognised in most western democracies that the death sentance is not a humane way to deal with any convicted criminal, yet it was widely accepted that Saddam would be exceuted by being hanged by the neck until dead.



What has this achieved?? Saddam is dead and will therefore not be able to return to power in Iraq. Would he really have been able to return to power if he had not been hanged?? Would it not have been more humane to exile the ex-leader??



How has the democratised western world demonstrated to the middle east that democracy is the best way forward for their regimes with the invasion of Iraq and execution of its leader??



Is the world a better and safer place??



Do more countries in the world now look towards democracy and the west since the "liberation" or Iraq??



I for one do not feel as though the world is a better place as a result of Alliance activities in Iraq.

powered by performancing firefox

StumbleUpon.... The Blogger's Holy Grail??

Ever since I added a few of my posts to StumbleUpon my hit rate has shot through the roof!!!!

I do not post very often, and I post rather random articles, yet my hit rate has been steadily rising despite not posting anything for weeks.

When I started posting I added my site to Technorati, Popdex and Feedburner in a vain attempt to increase my hits and readership. This did seem to increase my hits nominally but nothing compared to what happened when I posted on StumbleUpon.

For those of you that don't know, StumbleUpon is a web community that shares and rates web pages. Recently they added the ability to share and rate blog postings. So many people now use StumbleUpon that adding your posting to StumbleUpon can increase your readership exponentially.

definitely worth investigating if you haven't already done so.

Well that's all for now folks, take it easy...................... FF

Beware of the Brain Munchers.........

Looks like the Zombies are back in town, and wearing an old chamber pot on your head is no defence against their nefarious brain munching..........

Will England's football team ever be the sum of their parts????

England lost again........................
Okay, 2-0 away from home is not the end of the world, but it is definitely not the result of a world beating football team.

The team has so many excellent footballers, why is it so difficult to win games???
Most of the players play for Premiership teams, and those that don't, play for top ranked teams in other countries. They perform to a very high standard and regularly win games at club level. They work well with their team-mates and enjoy their football. So why do these players fail at international level???

Is it a lack of familiarity???
Individually they are all excellent players, the big problem is that they do not play together week in and week out. They come together for a few days before an international match and try to learn new tactics and how to play together.

Is it a case of too many cooks???
Most of the players in the England Squad are vital and influential players for their club, when they join the England squad, they become just another squad player. Are there too many big personalities clashing??? Do some of the players suffer when they lose a little of their club level star status in the England squad context????

Is the manager to blame???
If anyone knows, Stevie M should. Let's hope he can grind a little more out the squad for the next match. The press are already on the verge of calling for his head, one more game without a win may call an end to a very promising career. The guy needs time to understand and develop the squad, time he is unlikely to get.

Tea.......... best drink of the day.............

• Do you find it hard to get out of bed in the morning?

• Do you find yourself falling asleep in the afternoon?

• Do you find it difficult to fall asleep?

• Are you finding it difficult to find a tea that complements your computer gaming?

Well never fear, there is a tea that will help with all of these situations........

• Good old fashioned English Tea - Great for that morning wake-me-up, especially if you have a teasmaid!!!!!

• Apple and Ginger - A really good pick-me-up for those afternoon doldrums

• Chamomile - helps sooth and calm the body and soul in preparation for a night of recuperation

• Peppermint - A great refresher that certainly helps my FPS fragging and racing sessions

Yogi Tea have a great range of healing teas for all occasions.
Adagio Teas have a wide range of herbal teas to suit every taste.
The Herbal Tea Reference Guide at Internet Health Library explains the health benefits of a variety of common herbal teas.

Sneeze Free Cat

Have you ever envied your friends and neighbours and the close personal relationship they have with their furry friend???

Are you one of the millions of allergy suffers that cannot get within 300 feet of those wonderful fluffy bundles of joy because you'd sneeze your head right off????

Well never fear, those clever chaps in America have bred a Sneeze Free Cat!!!!!!

Hoorah for science!!!!!!!!!


More designer pets on the way from a lab near you:

• Dogs that don't dribble and fart - Following close on the heels of the Sneeze Free Cat will be the No Bad Bodily Functions Dog. Genetically Engineered (sorry, bred) not to slobber and produce methane, these dogs will be social dynamite.

• Sludge Breathing Goldfish - No need to tell poor Timmy that Goldy the goldfish is dead because someone didn't clean his tank and left him to drown in sludge. This new Super Goldfish will be able to breath it's own faecal matter and rotting food. No need to worry about the psychological effects this might have on the fish as it can only remember the last 20 seconds.

More wonders of medical science to follow, once I've found my recently escaped invisible house spider.........

Lizard Alliance vehicle of death

The chaps and chapesses over at The Register have outdone themselves once again.

An article in their Rise of the Machines section details a vision of motoring in the very near future. The fully automated computer controlled car. I don't know about you, but my experience of the current level of computer assistance in cars has not been altogether peachy:

• Not being able to turn my lights on - the engine would start but I couldn't get the lights to work or the dashboard to light up, back to the dealer who plugged a laptop into something under the bonnet to resolve the problem
  
• Accelerator pedals that stop working - more like park by wire than fly, another dealer fix, but they had to pick the car up this time
  
• Overly zealous and unpredictable ABS brakes - lottery braking, will the ABS kick in when I'm slowing down gently at the lights? An interesting experience in a rental car
  

I really do not feel comfortable with the idea of handing complete control of the vehicle over to a potentially murderous lump of silicon. We may be looking at the dawn of a new Darwin Award category........... Autocide.

Maybe this is just an irrational fear brought on by too many Hollywood depictions of soulless psychotic silicon nutters that seem to have forgotten The Three Laws of Robotics:

• A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
• A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

The thought of my new car doing a "HAL" on me does not really bear thinking about. I think I'll stick with my 10 year old Toyota, no computers and an engine that can be worked on by a human without the need to plug it into a laptop.

Link to THE REGISTER article

Lesser Known Holidays

An Excellent site with an RSS link so you can keep up to date with those lesser known holidays from your BlackBerry.

I'm looking forward to Elephant Appreciation Day, but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the International Banana Festival.....

Lesser Known Holidays

Enjoy............... FF

Dance Monkey Dance

Take a look at this reality check for monkeys.

Obviously this is not about monkeys as we know them, only monkeys in terms of their reference to our evolution. So please don't go mad about the Evolution vs. Creationism thing, this really is not the post for that. If you really feel the need to let loose, check out my earlier posts and have a good old rant........

One of the more interesting videos I have come across on the internet recently.



Enjoy........................................................... FF

Quotes to set your watch by....... Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an Airport' appear.

Where has the football gone?

Football appears to be controlled by businessmen with profit in their hearts and football on their lips. Where has the football gone? Are we happy that our clubs are becoming successful as a result of takeovers from non-footballers with more of an eye on the profits than the football. Is it more important to win at any cost?

Are you happy that the cost of tickets and merchandise is going up and up for your club now it has a billionaire investor? Do you really care as the fortunes of the club on the pitch have been radically improved and that is what counts? Do you care that this may be bad for football so long as it good for your club?

Football used to be about the football.

Advertising commercialised football and also allowed clubs to bring in foreign talent to dazzle spectators.

With the heavy commercialisation of televised football, clubs in the Premiership were, and are, paid vast sums of money when their games are shown live on Sky and other broadcast networks.

Football clubs began realising that to maximise their profit they have to be run as businesses. As a consequence, many clubs became businesses, with those at the head of the clubs being businessmen, rather than passionate football addicts.

While I agree that business and football are not mutually exclusive, I also feel that the bias towards profitability has for some time driven footballing decisions, rather than the other way round.

Recently, Premiership clubs have been bought by multi-millionaires and billionaires. Is this truly because they are passionate about the game or is it because they can see vast profit in owning and running a successful football club.

The ultimate question of "is this bad for football?" has yet to be answered, but when you consider taking an average club like Chelsea what do we see? A club now investing millions on players and winning the Premiership consistently and comprehensively. Will this now be the trend?

The recent move of Mascherano and Tevez to West Ham and the additional rumour that West Ham are on the verge of multimillion pound takeover seems to prove that this is the direction football is going in England. With the potential investors intentions to make the club the biggest in England within seven years, the driving force in English football is becoming "he who has the deepest pockets will win".

Now this may be all well and good for the Premiership, but what happens to the lower leagues? Unless the teams in these leagues are also backed by investors with deep pockets they surely cannot hope to survive in the Premiership if and when they are promoted.

Are these changes good for international football? If the players in the Premiership are increasingly foreign rather than British, will this do anything for our national teams, and for the aspiring football youth in Great Britain?

Manchester United were recently acquired by an American billionaire. The story is somewhat different to that of Chelsea's though as the purchase of Manchester United saddled the club with massive debts, where previously there were non. There is a rumour that Manchester United's new signings must now be British, upon the instructions of the new owners. Is this good for Manchester United? Does this mean that Manchester United will only be buying British players, even if they are not the best fit for the club? This appears to be a business decision, especially as it is as a result of an instruction from on high. Do the owners feel that a club with a primarily British squad is more marketable?

I feel that football has become too commercialised and needs a change. Where that change may come from I do not know. Unless the Football Association dictate a number of radical changes to the domestic game, such as restrictions on player wages, restrictions on numbers of foreign players in a squad, restrictions on purchases of clubs, restrictions restrictions restrictions, will anything change?

Should I be living for the now or the future?

Why do people worry about making sure they are OK for their old age and not worry about being OK right now?

Is it important to sacrifice one's now in order to provide for a better old age?

Should I be working all the hours I can in order to buy a big house and invest in pensions and the stock market so I will be comfortable in my old age?

Or should I be enjoying the time that I have and not worrying about my life 40 years in the future?

Is there a happy medium that works with as little compromise as possible?

Is there really any point to the blogosphere?

While blogs are great tools for venting our frustrations and making our points and feelings known, is there any point to these diatribes if no one acts on any of the good sense written in them?

There are many themes to do with injustice and immorality discussed at great length on many blogs, but I do not see anyone writing that they have done anything about the underlying problems.

Now that could be for many reasons, but the one that strikes me as probably closer to the truth than any is that bloggers are talkers not doers.
How can I be doing something if I'm writing or reading blogs?
Am I changing anything by writing or reading blogs?
Am I becoming a more informed person?
Am I helping others to become more informed?
Or am I avoiding doing anything by expressing my opinion and thinking that is enough and that I have made a contribution?
If I do influence someone aren't they just like me, sitting in front of a computer blogging rather than doing?

Smoking can seriously damage your health

Smoke contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide

This is what is written on the packet of cigarettes I am currently smoking. Surely all these ingredients must be good for my health or the British government would have banned cigarettes long ago.

If it can be proven that cigarettes are bad for your health, in fact much worse than some illegal substances, why can I still buy them and smoke them?

Is this a profit motivated immorality I wonder.

Is faith exclusively the domain of religion?

There are so many debates on Religion vs. Science (Creationism vs. Evolution) in the blogosphere at the moment. The most worrying aspect of most of the debates is the apparent inability of either side to accept that the other side has a point of view worth listening to. I get the feeling that if you put those people arguing in the blogosphere in the same room with a pile of guns, there wouldn't be anyone left inside five minutes.

There are those on both sides of the debate that take their sacred texts as literal truths, they believe in the fundamentals of science or religion. Where science differs from religion is in the level of acceptable deviation from those fundamentals.

In science there is always resistance to change. Scientific beliefs such as a flat earth, the earth being the centre of the solar system not the sun, were proven to be wrong, but the resistance to this new knowledge was extremely strong. It is difficult to change the fundamentals without proof of their inaccuracies. Obviously once the proof becomes irrefutable the new knowledge gains wide acceptability

Even in liberal forms of the classic religions the sacred texts are unquestioned as the only provable element of these religions is that something is written down, in other words, that there is a sacred text. In fact, without the use of a time machine it would be impossible to prove or disprove what is written in any of the sacred texts, so the only basis for belief is faith in the texts. If you subscribe to these religions, you sign up to the principles and rules derived from the sacred texts completely or not at all. There are obviously different interpretations of the texts but the fundamentals remain the same.

Faith is important in all walks of life.

For example, it is important to have faith in the fact that cars will stop at red lights, otherwise every time you crossed an intersection on the roads you would be risking an accident and personal injury. There are different degrees of faith. I do not blindly believe that everyone will stop at every red light, when my light goes green I do not blindly drive across the intersection, I check to make sure the traffic on red has stopped, then cross the intersection. This is because I want proof that the traffic has stopped to support the faith I have in others stopping for a red light. This is a scientific and analytical approach to crossing an intersection to support a faith I have in people stopping at red lights.

Faith is important, blind faith can be dangerous.

I believe in the ability of humanity to resolve any debate amicably, and accept that when people do not believe what you believe, they are not necessarily evil or stupid. Conflict arises from people's inability to accept that having a different opinion is perfectly fine and not something to take up arms over.

Creation Vs. Evolution highlights America's miltant evangelism

I am amazed at the level of conflict and animosity there is on the American Creation vs. Evolution debate. There appears to be an almost absolute polarisation of opinion. This does not suprise me when I see bizarre religious militant evangelism in the states. A recent example is Warren Jeff’s polygamist sect. This to me is equally as disturbing as the fundamentalism exhibited in middle eastern countries, and the “axis of evil”. America displays the best and worst aspects of humanity, society, culture and religion. Yet despite this, America seems to believe it can and should police the world. This is quite disturbing to say the least.

For openers

I am not young enough to know everything.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

While an obviously flippant statement, there is some merit in the underlying theme of Oscar Wilde's remark......

When one is young, and more importantly inexperienced in the world, it is easy to believe that the answers we come up with are the only true answers. As we grow older, it becomes clearer through experience, that there are many opinions. Consequently it becomes apparent that no individual can or will know everything.