11 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
10 Temmuz 2012 Salı
Vita 3G Launch Bundle Free Game and Data Pack Require Initial Data Pack Purchase
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9 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
PlayStation 3 Firmwares for Download
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Whether you jailbreaking*, or just collecting for some other reason. A new blog, http://firmwaresource.blogspot.com/, has just been put up and is providing links to all older PS3 firmwares. The blog states they are working on iDevice firmwares as well, but were yet to see that happen.
*We do not encourage jailbreaking or modifying firmware of any kind, nor do we condone jailbreaking or modifying firmware.
*We do not encourage jailbreaking or modifying firmware of any kind, nor do we condone jailbreaking or modifying firmware.
PSN Still Down
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That's correct folks, going into it's third day, PSN is still down. Although this time around, Sony has finally given us some insight into what's happening. Their help page now states;
This could mean hacktivist group "Anonymous" is striking again, and Sony is trying to get it self back on it's feet, but "Anonymous" has already stated they're not the ones responsible.
So that leave us with other reasons, one's that weren't (completely) implied by Sony. Some of which are; "Portal 2" multiplayer left SNEA crippled. Obviously that's not it, Sony's not that dumb. Chances are, it has nothing to do with what they say it has to do with. As "satcimy" said, "someone at Sony just tripped over the power cord for the network and they didnt realize it yet."
"An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.So now all we have to do is interpret this, unfortunately that means most of us are going to misinterpret it. So let us give you some help with this "interpreting".
Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter.
During this time you may:
- Not be able to access the PlayStation®Store
- Have difficulty signing in to the PlayStation®Network
- Not be able to play online games
- See a maintenance page when attempting to access the PlayStation®Network
Note: When you log into the PlayStation Network, a message may appear which states, "the PlayStation Network has been suspended". This does not mean that your account has been suspended; it simply means the PlayStation Network has been taken offline. Please wait until the maintenance window has passed before attempting to connect to the PlayStation Network again. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
This could mean hacktivist group "Anonymous" is striking again, and Sony is trying to get it self back on it's feet, but "Anonymous" has already stated they're not the ones responsible.
So that leave us with other reasons, one's that weren't (completely) implied by Sony. Some of which are; "Portal 2" multiplayer left SNEA crippled. Obviously that's not it, Sony's not that dumb. Chances are, it has nothing to do with what they say it has to do with. As "satcimy" said, "someone at Sony just tripped over the power cord for the network and they didnt realize it yet."
PSN Hackers are Identity Theft Hackers!
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In case you didn't hear the news yet. PSN has been down for a few weeks (since Wed 20, when it got hacked). Sony only recently has confirmed the hacker(s) stole everyones personal information! While Sony is unsure whether or not credit card info was stolen, it is definitely may be a possibility. Sony is currently sending out mass emails regarding the issue to all PSN users.
The email will read as follow (may vary);
The email will read as follow (may vary);
Valued PlayStation Network/Qriocity Customer:
We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:
Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;
Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by re-building our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.
We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.
For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.
To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it:
U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.
We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a “fraud alert” on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below.
Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
You may wish to visit the web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.
We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment
The same information can be found at the following websites:
http://us.playstation.com/news/consumeralerts/#non-us
For those that live the United States, but not Massachusetts or Puerto Rico:
http://us.playstation.com/news/consumeralerts/#us
If you live in Massachusetts:
http://us.playstation.com/news/consumeralerts/#mass
If you live in Puerto Rico
http://us.playstation.com/news/consumeralerts/#pr
Usage Based Billing (Canada)
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Unfortunately, the CRTC has decided that large telecommunication companies in Canada should (and now are) charging for usage based billing, something that may hurt many Canadians and deem services like Netflix useless in Canada. Prior to this, unlimited data plans were available in Canada. So what can you do to change this? OpenMedia.ca has started a petition which is backed by the Liberal Party of Canada, all they (and we) ask is for you to sign this petition. As of writing, just over 493,000 people have signed the petition, we ask you make it 493,001 people. Below we have placed a counter and a form to sign the petition. We urge you, sign the petition!
Google+ is Public
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That's right everyone! Google+ went public yesterday! And if you're that kid on the block who pretends to know everything but just doesn't (kinda like me), Google+ is the new competitor to Facebook. It was in beta for quite a long time, but was finally released to the public yesterday. And guess what, it actually compares quite well to Facebook. In fact, it might completely replace Facebook for me!
If you want to sign up, just go to http://www.google.com/ and click on ‘+You’ on the top left.
Please feel free to leave feedback on this post and if you will switch to Google+!
If you want to sign up, just go to http://www.google.com/ and click on ‘+You’ on the top left.
Please feel free to leave feedback on this post and if you will switch to Google+!
8 Temmuz 2012 Pazar
Gove to replace exams with exams
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In a bold new measure the Education Secretary Michael Gove has decided to change the name of the examinations that secondary pupils sit from GCSE back to O-level in an attempt to make them seem tougher.
An anonymous spokesperson for the Conservative Party didn't say "This is an important move in reconnecting to our core demographic of tabloid readers and the elderly while reinforcing our policies of elitism"
Sarcasm aside parts of this do make sense - having only one board set the examinations for the entire country for instance. In a competitive market schools are likely to pick the exam that will give them the highest marks and boards will adjust their offerings accordingly. However what Gove giveth he also taketh away - schools will be able to determine their own curriculum; so again to get the higher marks some might be tempted to avoid the 'harder' subjects.
There's also the grammar school conundrum. Pupils will be funnelled into two streams - those taking the harder O-levels and those the easier CSEs. A pupil who initially tests poorly (or well) may well find themselves locked into a stream that they can't cope with. Worse yet border-line cases are likely to be removed from the challenge of the tougher exams in order to keep the school's grades higher and thus potentially never be challenged to their full potential.
Is there a problem with the current system though or is it merely the perception of one? Grades have been pushing higher and their are only a few conclusions that can be drawn from that:
Pupils are getting smarter;
Exams are getting easier; or
Teachers are aiding pupils.
The simplest method of testing for this is to have pupils sit the current exam and then sit one written 10 years ago. I wonder why that hasn't been done (or if it has why it hasn't been given more publicity)?
An anonymous spokesperson for the Conservative Party didn't say "This is an important move in reconnecting to our core demographic of tabloid readers and the elderly while reinforcing our policies of elitism"
Sarcasm aside parts of this do make sense - having only one board set the examinations for the entire country for instance. In a competitive market schools are likely to pick the exam that will give them the highest marks and boards will adjust their offerings accordingly. However what Gove giveth he also taketh away - schools will be able to determine their own curriculum; so again to get the higher marks some might be tempted to avoid the 'harder' subjects.
There's also the grammar school conundrum. Pupils will be funnelled into two streams - those taking the harder O-levels and those the easier CSEs. A pupil who initially tests poorly (or well) may well find themselves locked into a stream that they can't cope with. Worse yet border-line cases are likely to be removed from the challenge of the tougher exams in order to keep the school's grades higher and thus potentially never be challenged to their full potential.
Is there a problem with the current system though or is it merely the perception of one? Grades have been pushing higher and their are only a few conclusions that can be drawn from that:
Pupils are getting smarter;
Exams are getting easier; or
Teachers are aiding pupils.
The simplest method of testing for this is to have pupils sit the current exam and then sit one written 10 years ago. I wonder why that hasn't been done (or if it has why it hasn't been given more publicity)?
Playstation 3's Parental Control Levels
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If I seem to be smacking Sony about at the moment it's because this is the first time I've had to deal with their complete screw-up of their parental control system on the PS3.
I've dealt with how a child will forever remain a child in the eyes of Sony's Playstation Network; and how it's completely easy to bypass said controls. But what if you try to use them?
Sony allows you to set two different scales for watching videos or playing games. This should be fairly easy - set game and film content to 16 and they'll be able to play or watch anything with a 15 certificate or under. Of course Sony don't do that, they use their own scale.
So dumb is this that Sony themselves have had to produce a guide to parental controls to equate the ratings that games and films themselves have to their own arbitrary scale. From this I can see that a 16 year old requires a setting of "7" which I'm having to guess applies to films too.
So why am I making a fuss? Well beyond having to look this stuff up it seems the games don't quite match up.
Take "Dead Island", for example, a game in which you slice or bludgeon infected people or 'zombies' until they fall down and you can kerb-stomp their heads while calling them nasty names. That unsurprisingly has an 18 certificate rating.
Now take Skyrim which has what the box calls "Strong violence" no nudity, no really graphic violence, no swearing,;that's rated a more moderate 15 certificate.
So your 16-year old sneaks a copy of Dead Island into the house, but a-ha good old parental protection comes into play and it asks for a PIN as it's set to level 9 which is above the level 7 restriction. Well done you've protected your child.
Now buy them Skyrim and watch as exactly the same thing happens because for some reason Skyrim is also set to level 9.
That means having to enter the PIN every time they want to play a game which is designated as being suitable for their age, or changing the restriction level upwards which will include all the games they're not supposed to play.
It gets better.
There's no ability to tell what restriction a game has set unless you have a copy of the game and look in the PS3's information about it. So just because a game says it's a 15 doesn't mean it will play at the level that Sony themselves say is appropriate.
The only way to guess at the restriction level is to check what the the rating is in the USA because both Skyrim and Dead Island are set to the same "M 17+" in the States and the manufacturer obviously just copied over the restriction from that.
Now this isn't Sony's fault per se; it's up to the manufacturer to set the level and if they can't be bothered to change it for various countries that's their fault; but it would be much more highly obvious if the level and the rating used the same scaling system.
I've dealt with how a child will forever remain a child in the eyes of Sony's Playstation Network; and how it's completely easy to bypass said controls. But what if you try to use them?
Sony allows you to set two different scales for watching videos or playing games. This should be fairly easy - set game and film content to 16 and they'll be able to play or watch anything with a 15 certificate or under. Of course Sony don't do that, they use their own scale.
So dumb is this that Sony themselves have had to produce a guide to parental controls to equate the ratings that games and films themselves have to their own arbitrary scale. From this I can see that a 16 year old requires a setting of "7" which I'm having to guess applies to films too.
So why am I making a fuss? Well beyond having to look this stuff up it seems the games don't quite match up.
Take "Dead Island", for example, a game in which you slice or bludgeon infected people or 'zombies' until they fall down and you can kerb-stomp their heads while calling them nasty names. That unsurprisingly has an 18 certificate rating.
Now take Skyrim which has what the box calls "Strong violence" no nudity, no really graphic violence, no swearing,;that's rated a more moderate 15 certificate.
So your 16-year old sneaks a copy of Dead Island into the house, but a-ha good old parental protection comes into play and it asks for a PIN as it's set to level 9 which is above the level 7 restriction. Well done you've protected your child.
Now buy them Skyrim and watch as exactly the same thing happens because for some reason Skyrim is also set to level 9.
That means having to enter the PIN every time they want to play a game which is designated as being suitable for their age, or changing the restriction level upwards which will include all the games they're not supposed to play.
It gets better.
There's no ability to tell what restriction a game has set unless you have a copy of the game and look in the PS3's information about it. So just because a game says it's a 15 doesn't mean it will play at the level that Sony themselves say is appropriate.
The only way to guess at the restriction level is to check what the the rating is in the USA because both Skyrim and Dead Island are set to the same "M 17+" in the States and the manufacturer obviously just copied over the restriction from that.
Now this isn't Sony's fault per se; it's up to the manufacturer to set the level and if they can't be bothered to change it for various countries that's their fault; but it would be much more highly obvious if the level and the rating used the same scaling system.
A week's holiday
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Just relaxing for the week hence the lack of activity; still been checking my emails though on my wonderful new phone. So wonderful that despite having two email programmes on it, one hooked up to my gmail account that pulls from my main account and one hooked to my main account, it still doesn't collect all my emails.
In particular it's been failing to pick up any of the comments. So my apologies to all who've posted here. I haven't been ignoring you I didn't know you'd been in touch.
In particular it's been failing to pick up any of the comments. So my apologies to all who've posted here. I haven't been ignoring you I didn't know you'd been in touch.
A productive week
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It wasn't all relaxation last week I've been cleaning carpets with a new carpet cleaner, the cheapish Vax VRS5W for £50 from Asda. Not the best on the market, but it does a reasonable job. I've also been using my new phone to attempt to catalogue my books and DVD/Blu-rays - phew that was hard work.
I've managed all the DVDs - 668 of them. For books I'm about two-thirds of the way through with 885; only another 10 shelves to go.
Oh and much amusement with Skyrim; so many jokes to be made about 'normal' life in this fictional land.
I've managed all the DVDs - 668 of them. For books I'm about two-thirds of the way through with 885; only another 10 shelves to go.
Oh and much amusement with Skyrim; so many jokes to be made about 'normal' life in this fictional land.
Rain and drain
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I've said it in 2008, twice, and again in 2009, but with all this rain coming down I think it needs to be asked again - Does anyone else think that our drains not being able to cope with all the water corresponded with the privatisation of the water companies?
Now sure it may be that we're just having more rain; it may be rose-tinted glasses, it may be all the additional tarmac being spread around; but I just don't recall there being these swathes of water washing back and forth around our streets until the methods of removing it were all placed into private hands.
Now sure it may be that we're just having more rain; it may be rose-tinted glasses, it may be all the additional tarmac being spread around; but I just don't recall there being these swathes of water washing back and forth around our streets until the methods of removing it were all placed into private hands.
7 Temmuz 2012 Cumartesi
Krasdale
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Krasdale is a horrible cheap brand of supermarket food products that tastes disgusting. I wouldn't wish this stuff on my worst enemy! Who ever made this stuff needs to die by being feed his/her own crap. I have never tasted something this bad before. I think that people in third world countries would rather starve than to eat Krasdale, and who could blame them. Their mac n cheese tastes funny, their sliced cheese looks and tastes like it's about to melt into oil, and their bacon is more fat than actual bacon. I have lived my entire life poor, but never had to endure this garbage. If you've ever had the bad luck of tasting something made by Krasdale then you know my pain.
Gunslinger Girl
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Gunslinger Girl is about a social welfare agency in Italy that is actually a covert ops facility. They take little girls who have had horrible lives and turn them into cybernetic assassins to combat terrorists. These girls have had life experiences that were so terrible that they are actually better of as killing tools for the government.
Henrietta's family was tortured and killed and she was kept alive so that they could continue to torture her for days until she was finally rescued. Rico had some sort of sickness that wouldn't let her even move her body, once she was "conditioned" she's been more than grateful to be able to move. Angelica was run over by a car; her own parents tried to kill her in order to claim the life insurance they had on her. Triela was a victim of human trafficking that was involved in making snuff films using children. The list goes on, but it's best that you see the show yourselves. These girls are brainwashed and enhanced with cybernetics, but are well aware that they are just tools. Considering their previous lives, they are more than grateful to be there.
The manga is still ongoing. The series however is two seasons long and has two OVAs after. The series is available on Netflix if you wish to watch it. Or you could simply Google to find a website that'll stream it. Either way I recommend you check this anime out. It has plenty of action and enough drama as well.
Gunslinger Girl is about a social welfare agency in Italy that is actually a covert ops facility. They take little girls who have had horrible lives and turn them into cybernetic assassins to combat terrorists. These girls have had life experiences that were so terrible that they are actually better of as killing tools for the government.
Henrietta's family was tortured and killed and she was kept alive so that they could continue to torture her for days until she was finally rescued. Rico had some sort of sickness that wouldn't let her even move her body, once she was "conditioned" she's been more than grateful to be able to move. Angelica was run over by a car; her own parents tried to kill her in order to claim the life insurance they had on her. Triela was a victim of human trafficking that was involved in making snuff films using children. The list goes on, but it's best that you see the show yourselves. These girls are brainwashed and enhanced with cybernetics, but are well aware that they are just tools. Considering their previous lives, they are more than grateful to be there.
The manga is still ongoing. The series however is two seasons long and has two OVAs after. The series is available on Netflix if you wish to watch it. Or you could simply Google to find a website that'll stream it. Either way I recommend you check this anime out. It has plenty of action and enough drama as well.
Alcatraz
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Alcatraz is a brand new show that premiered last night. It was a two hour premier starting off with the case of Jack Sylvane and then the next episode Ernest Cobb. The series is about Alcatraz, one of the most notorious prisons in the world. In 1963, all the inmates were transferred off the island due to lack of funds and unlivable conditions. Only, that's not what really happened.
All the inmates suddenly vanished without any warning. Now FBI Agent Emerson Hauser (who was formerly a prison guard on Alcatraz), Detective Rebecca Madsen, and Doctor Soto are on the hunt for the "63s', the inmates that disappeared and are now all coming back. Not only are they returning, but they seemed to not have aged at all since 1963. All that is known is that someone was behind their disappearance and is also pulling their strings.
So far the show is pretty interesting and full of plot twists that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. I personally liked the premier. However, it's one of those shows that if you miss one episode or two you wont really care. It's intriguing, but not enough to keep you glued to it as you would with Supernatural and/or Doctor Who. Still, I recommend giving this series a shot if you get the chance to.
Alcatraz is a brand new show that premiered last night. It was a two hour premier starting off with the case of Jack Sylvane and then the next episode Ernest Cobb. The series is about Alcatraz, one of the most notorious prisons in the world. In 1963, all the inmates were transferred off the island due to lack of funds and unlivable conditions. Only, that's not what really happened.
All the inmates suddenly vanished without any warning. Now FBI Agent Emerson Hauser (who was formerly a prison guard on Alcatraz), Detective Rebecca Madsen, and Doctor Soto are on the hunt for the "63s', the inmates that disappeared and are now all coming back. Not only are they returning, but they seemed to not have aged at all since 1963. All that is known is that someone was behind their disappearance and is also pulling their strings.
So far the show is pretty interesting and full of plot twists that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. I personally liked the premier. However, it's one of those shows that if you miss one episode or two you wont really care. It's intriguing, but not enough to keep you glued to it as you would with Supernatural and/or Doctor Who. Still, I recommend giving this series a shot if you get the chance to.
VGR: News Update
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I know it's been a while since I uploaded a VGR page. The truth is that I'm still workin on the chapter. I've been having to many issues in my personal life preventing me from getting everything done on time like I originally planned. I don't know when I'll start releasing chapter 3 yet, but hopefully I can do it some time soon. Until then be sure to catch up while you can.
I know it's been a while since I uploaded a VGR page. The truth is that I'm still workin on the chapter. I've been having to many issues in my personal life preventing me from getting everything done on time like I originally planned. I don't know when I'll start releasing chapter 3 yet, but hopefully I can do it some time soon. Until then be sure to catch up while you can.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Cult
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I recently made a Facebook Group known as "Yu-Gi-Oh! Cult". And to further promote the group I also made a blog specificly for it! :D It's still a work in progress, but it's the official blog of my facebook group.
I've always been a huge "Yu-Gi-Oh!" fan and noticed that the game is dying down. My friends and I refuse to let this happen! So help keep duel monsters alive and join my facebook group! :D
"Yu-Gi-Oh! Cult"(Facebook Group) and blog.
I've always been a huge "Yu-Gi-Oh!" fan and noticed that the game is dying down. My friends and I refuse to let this happen! So help keep duel monsters alive and join my facebook group! :D
"Yu-Gi-Oh! Cult"(Facebook Group) and blog.
5 Temmuz 2012 Perşembe
Movie and Book Cataloguing for the Android
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For a long time I've wanted to try and inventory both my book and movie collections; writing them out or typing them all in by hand would prove far to taxing. With the arrival of my new Android (why do I keep wanting to type Andriod?) San Diego from Orange This should now prove a piece of cake as I can use the camera to scan bar codes.
It should be simple.
Hmm not as many cataloguers to chose from as I'd expect with only one offering a combined Books/Movies/Games database - Shelves. This has a free ad-supported version to try out with an ad-removed upgrade available.
It's a little sparse in terms of design and lacking in detail for the titles. Adding books and movies was simple either singularly or in batch mode, but editing odd details was more difficult particularly for books. Books often have different covers and the only way to change it is by replacing the picture with one from your gallery. That means switching to the camera, taking the photo, cropping it, saving it and then finding it. Not user-friendly.
Listing is limited a view in which only six books/films can be seen at once a white backgrounded list view with covers, or the same without. Sorting is basic particularly with the lack of details available; for example there's no way to state that Book A is in the same series as Book B without adjusting the title to Series:Book A and Series:Book B.
As a basic cataloguer for a fair sized collection it will do the trick, but not for me.
It seems that I'm left with separate cataloguers. I tried a few before committing to My Movies Pro for movies.
Again a free 50 title limited version is available for free; a quantity I burned through with my first shelf. Single scan and multi-scan work well though the camera insists on being in landscape mode to scan across the bar and the phone then has to twist back to display information. Sorting is pretty standard with 30 titles per screen in default mode, but the choice of view is limited for those who want larger covers. As with Shelves though it's difficult to change information that it's pulled from the IMDB, though on the few occasions there's been a problem the "Report incorrect information" has been handled quickly and records amended or added.
A major benefit is the ability to add a "Sort by" entry. James Bond movies for instance were all defaulting to the title tapping in "James Bond - " selecting all and copying the text then going through each with a paste and a year addition means they all appear in the correct place and order. Time consuming, but only a one-off requirement.
It also synchronises online and can be viewed through a normal web browser if you have a desire to share your titles, but editing online is limited.
There are three main flaws though. The first is with batch scanning. It won't try to fetch data until you've finished the batch; that means if it can't find the information on an item you have to dig through the pile matching them up to find the one bad egg.
The second is in replacing covers. Unlike Shelves it will happily switch to the camera view and try to take a picture there and then, but that landscaping issue for scanning kicks in for that too. Whichever way around I try to take the photo it ends up either severely squished or rotated; or squished and rotated. Fortunately this hasn't been a major problem as only one title hasn't been found; but if you have esoteric items this might be an issue for you.
On the same note adding manually needs work. Enter a title in the box and hit search and it'll try to find it. If it can't, go back and hit "Create Title" and you have to type the title in again; shouldn't be any work in passing the value from the search field to the title field given that I'm likely to be trying to add the very title I've just been searching for.
For all that though £3.99 for this level of service and provision ain't bad.
For my books I ended up with Book Catalogue which got bonus favour for spelling "catalogue" correctly ;-). As a major incentive this is free, which is ironic as I'd happily pay the same amount of money for this product.
This has more limited view options, but I don't care as the default is excellent. A simple list view in Author order (Last, First) I then have it sub-ordered into series which in itself is ordered by series order. to the right of each entry is a small thumbnail of the book cover and to the left a tick to show if read or unread.
It uses the Google Goggles app for scanning and sadly I have to say that there is no multi-scanning batch option. On the plus side though this means I don't have the same problem with digging out the one failed book and as there's more variety in book covers and information it means I have the right book to hand to alter any information.
For the most part there's little to change - it pulls information from LibraryThing, goodreads and Amazon. It can be sluggish at times though and will sometimes return no cover on scanning that a subsequent re-scan will appear.
The major benefit is that all the information can be changed; don't like the default series set "The Horus Heresy" for example changing that series in one book to "Horus Heresy, The" will offer to change every book with that series. Each book can have multiple authors and series and each series can be set with its own order in that series. Ideal if you have say the Shannara series and want to set the order both within a single sub-series as well as chronologically overall.
Flaws, beyond the failure of multi-scan, are mostly user-interface-wise. It would be nice to be able to select a series that has multiple authors and chose to see all books within that series without having to change the overall sort order. It would be nice to be able to jump straight from a failed barcode scan to the manual entry page; it would be nice to have a full screen preview of a book cover to crop rather than the pre-thumbnailed version. Finally it would be nice if it added the authors of anthology titles to the authors section.
On a final minor note you can't add an omnibus number to a new series, but you can to an existing one. In other words I have the Blood Angels Omnibus 1-3. I can add each individual title in the anthology section, but under series I can only create Blood Angels #1; I then have to Add and then edit the series to turn that into "1-3"... at least I can do that though.
So My Movies and Book Catalogue; now only if I can find a stand-alone for video games.
It should be simple.
Hmm not as many cataloguers to chose from as I'd expect with only one offering a combined Books/Movies/Games database - Shelves. This has a free ad-supported version to try out with an ad-removed upgrade available.
It's a little sparse in terms of design and lacking in detail for the titles. Adding books and movies was simple either singularly or in batch mode, but editing odd details was more difficult particularly for books. Books often have different covers and the only way to change it is by replacing the picture with one from your gallery. That means switching to the camera, taking the photo, cropping it, saving it and then finding it. Not user-friendly.
Listing is limited a view in which only six books/films can be seen at once a white backgrounded list view with covers, or the same without. Sorting is basic particularly with the lack of details available; for example there's no way to state that Book A is in the same series as Book B without adjusting the title to Series:Book A and Series:Book B.
As a basic cataloguer for a fair sized collection it will do the trick, but not for me.
It seems that I'm left with separate cataloguers. I tried a few before committing to My Movies Pro for movies.
Again a free 50 title limited version is available for free; a quantity I burned through with my first shelf. Single scan and multi-scan work well though the camera insists on being in landscape mode to scan across the bar and the phone then has to twist back to display information. Sorting is pretty standard with 30 titles per screen in default mode, but the choice of view is limited for those who want larger covers. As with Shelves though it's difficult to change information that it's pulled from the IMDB, though on the few occasions there's been a problem the "Report incorrect information" has been handled quickly and records amended or added.
A major benefit is the ability to add a "Sort by" entry. James Bond movies for instance were all defaulting to the title tapping in "James Bond - " selecting all and copying the text then going through each with a paste and a year addition means they all appear in the correct place and order. Time consuming, but only a one-off requirement.
It also synchronises online and can be viewed through a normal web browser if you have a desire to share your titles, but editing online is limited.
There are three main flaws though. The first is with batch scanning. It won't try to fetch data until you've finished the batch; that means if it can't find the information on an item you have to dig through the pile matching them up to find the one bad egg.
The second is in replacing covers. Unlike Shelves it will happily switch to the camera view and try to take a picture there and then, but that landscaping issue for scanning kicks in for that too. Whichever way around I try to take the photo it ends up either severely squished or rotated; or squished and rotated. Fortunately this hasn't been a major problem as only one title hasn't been found; but if you have esoteric items this might be an issue for you.
On the same note adding manually needs work. Enter a title in the box and hit search and it'll try to find it. If it can't, go back and hit "Create Title" and you have to type the title in again; shouldn't be any work in passing the value from the search field to the title field given that I'm likely to be trying to add the very title I've just been searching for.
For all that though £3.99 for this level of service and provision ain't bad.
For my books I ended up with Book Catalogue which got bonus favour for spelling "catalogue" correctly ;-). As a major incentive this is free, which is ironic as I'd happily pay the same amount of money for this product.
This has more limited view options, but I don't care as the default is excellent. A simple list view in Author order (Last, First) I then have it sub-ordered into series which in itself is ordered by series order. to the right of each entry is a small thumbnail of the book cover and to the left a tick to show if read or unread.
It uses the Google Goggles app for scanning and sadly I have to say that there is no multi-scanning batch option. On the plus side though this means I don't have the same problem with digging out the one failed book and as there's more variety in book covers and information it means I have the right book to hand to alter any information.
For the most part there's little to change - it pulls information from LibraryThing, goodreads and Amazon. It can be sluggish at times though and will sometimes return no cover on scanning that a subsequent re-scan will appear.
The major benefit is that all the information can be changed; don't like the default series set "The Horus Heresy" for example changing that series in one book to "Horus Heresy, The" will offer to change every book with that series. Each book can have multiple authors and series and each series can be set with its own order in that series. Ideal if you have say the Shannara series and want to set the order both within a single sub-series as well as chronologically overall.
Flaws, beyond the failure of multi-scan, are mostly user-interface-wise. It would be nice to be able to select a series that has multiple authors and chose to see all books within that series without having to change the overall sort order. It would be nice to be able to jump straight from a failed barcode scan to the manual entry page; it would be nice to have a full screen preview of a book cover to crop rather than the pre-thumbnailed version. Finally it would be nice if it added the authors of anthology titles to the authors section.
On a final minor note you can't add an omnibus number to a new series, but you can to an existing one. In other words I have the Blood Angels Omnibus 1-3. I can add each individual title in the anthology section, but under series I can only create Blood Angels #1; I then have to Add and then edit the series to turn that into "1-3"... at least I can do that though.
So My Movies and Book Catalogue; now only if I can find a stand-alone for video games.
Freeview 4G Fiasco
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Oo alliteration, bonus points for newspaper headlines ;-)
So we're all familiar with Freeview then? The digital service the government forced us into switching to in order to drop the analogue service all in the name of providing us the consumer with more and better quality channels and nothing to do with being able to sell off a big chunk of the spectrum to the highest bidder; nope not that at all.
Oh sure the campaign to make it palatable to the masseslied exaggerated the claims; and sure this would mean some people who were perfectly able to receive normal television would no longer be able to get the new service. Yes it meant forking out for new equipment then more new equipment (if you wanted) when they added a new standard, but at least that was subsidised for pensioners and low-income groups. So what if we had to suffer multiple retunings during the switchover we got more channels.
At least it's all over now and we can sit back in comfort knowing that there's going to be no more great upheaval.
Oh you have got to be kidding me! Not only another shuffle, but an addition that may cause interference problems.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - when it comes to technology our elected members are still living in the 1950's
So we're all familiar with Freeview then? The digital service the government forced us into switching to in order to drop the analogue service all in the name of providing us the consumer with more and better quality channels and nothing to do with being able to sell off a big chunk of the spectrum to the highest bidder; nope not that at all.
Oh sure the campaign to make it palatable to the masses
At least it's all over now and we can sit back in comfort knowing that there's going to be no more great upheaval.
Oh you have got to be kidding me! Not only another shuffle, but an addition that may cause interference problems.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - when it comes to technology our elected members are still living in the 1950's
The Tom and Katie divorce
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Is religious upbringing a legitimate reason to press for a divorce? With the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes situation it has been suggested that we have one parent worried about the the other pressing their child into a religion that they themselves may have no faith in. A religion that is almost constantly in the news regarding their methods of indoctrination; the activities of its leaders and its apparent blind worship of one man whose word is apparently law.
Given that neither parent wishes to compromise by keeping things secular; perhaps divorce is the only option. I mean I can certainly see why Tom would be worried about Katie having enrolled their daughter in a Catholic school.
Seriously though check the media and it's all about how Katie doesn't want Tom getting their daughter involved in the 'crazy' religion that is Scientology, but nothing about how Katie is getting their daughter involved in the 'crazy' religion of Catholicism.
As has been said many a time "The difference between cult and religion is just a matter of time."
Given that neither parent wishes to compromise by keeping things secular; perhaps divorce is the only option. I mean I can certainly see why Tom would be worried about Katie having enrolled their daughter in a Catholic school.
Seriously though check the media and it's all about how Katie doesn't want Tom getting their daughter involved in the 'crazy' religion that is Scientology, but nothing about how Katie is getting their daughter involved in the 'crazy' religion of Catholicism.
As has been said many a time "The difference between cult and religion is just a matter of time."
Unintuitive probability: PIN selection
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I was thinking about PIN digits the other day, because I'm weird like that and started working out probabilities for a standard 4-digit length code (nnnn) from a selection of 10 digits (0-9).
Calculating how many combinations is simple: the first digit can be any from 0-9 as can the second, the third and the fourth resulting in 10x10x10x10 or 10,000 combinations; but are there really this many? I decided to delve a little deeper. The obvious point to me was that there would only be this number if duplications were allowed; if in the interests of making your PIN 'harder' you ensured there were no duplications i.e. 1234 rather than 1123 you would in fact have the opposite affect and make it easier.
Again the first digit can be any from 0-9, but the second can't be a duplicate and thus only 9 choices remain; the same for the third leaving only 8 and the fourth leaves 7. 10x9x8x7 = 5040; if someone trying to guess your PIN knows you won't use duplicates you've halved the options they have to try.
Let's try another tack. Consider a door lock with a numbered keypad and a 4-length PIN. You want to gain illicit entry, but don't know the code - how to get it. Simply spray some UV liquid onto the keypad; wait until a legitimate users types in the code and then shine a UV light on to it and see which numbers are smudged. In this case let's say 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Knowing it's a four length code what's the maximum number of attempts you would need to make?
As before the first code can be any of the digits 1-4, but the second can't be a repeat nor the third and fourth because we're using all the digits shown. This means we have 4x3x2x1 or 24 possibilities. An easy way to show this is by drawing a probability tree. For all possibilities of the PIN code starting with a 1 it would look like the following:
Count the end points and there are six of them. substitute the number 2 for 1 and 1 for 2, then repeat for all four starting numbers and there are 4x6 or 24 possibilities.
Okay you've broken in and stolen their top-secret files. They now change the code and you try again; this time the numbers that appear are only 1, 2 and 3 what would be the maximum number of attempts needed now?
This is a little more tricky to work out. Again the first digit can be any of the three, but then so can the second, but the third can also be one of three unless it's already been duplicated. We have to use all three digits, but can only repeat one a single time. A tree is more helpful here:
Counting the end results gives us 12; substituting for the other two starting numbers gives us a total number of 3x12 or 36. That's twelve more than using four digits.
It gets better if all we knew was that only three digits were in use for a four-length PIN the number of combinations possible is 10x10x9x8 or 7200 rather than the 5400 for using four digits.
So by using one less digit than is called for the number of possibilities an attacker has to try actually increases.
One even sneakier trick involves mobile phones particularly the Android. By default if you lock the phone you tap in a number and then hit the OK button. The important bit is that the phone won't unlock automatically as soon as the correct number is entered. This is important as despite common conviction a PIN on a mobile does not have to be four digits long; it can be five (or even more or less).
Use three digits in a 3-length PIN and anyone who knows those numbers and tries to use them in the 36 different ways of a 4-length PIN will never unlock your phone, use four digits on a 5-length PIN and they can try all 24 combinations without success;.
So even if they know this trick and that you're 'limiting' yourself to 3 or 4 digits of a 4 or 5-length PIN it's still safer than using four different digits for a 4-length PIN.
What an odd world probabilities can be.
Oh and on one final note for the truly paranoid out there one of the most potent defences is in using the delete key. Have three digits in a 4-length PIN and type in 4 numbers but delete the false one and even though an attacker may be able to see you used the delete key they won't know when or even how many times it was used.. In other words with a PIN of 1233 type 1234 DEL 3. The 36 possible combination has now jumped to 120.
For the truly, truly paranoid type in a four digits that don't match to your PIN then delete them all and type in the real one. An attacker now has a full eight numbers to try, without any indication if duplications are allowed that's 4096 combinations.
Calculating how many combinations is simple: the first digit can be any from 0-9 as can the second, the third and the fourth resulting in 10x10x10x10 or 10,000 combinations; but are there really this many? I decided to delve a little deeper. The obvious point to me was that there would only be this number if duplications were allowed; if in the interests of making your PIN 'harder' you ensured there were no duplications i.e. 1234 rather than 1123 you would in fact have the opposite affect and make it easier.
Again the first digit can be any from 0-9, but the second can't be a duplicate and thus only 9 choices remain; the same for the third leaving only 8 and the fourth leaves 7. 10x9x8x7 = 5040; if someone trying to guess your PIN knows you won't use duplicates you've halved the options they have to try.
Let's try another tack. Consider a door lock with a numbered keypad and a 4-length PIN. You want to gain illicit entry, but don't know the code - how to get it. Simply spray some UV liquid onto the keypad; wait until a legitimate users types in the code and then shine a UV light on to it and see which numbers are smudged. In this case let's say 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Knowing it's a four length code what's the maximum number of attempts you would need to make?
As before the first code can be any of the digits 1-4, but the second can't be a repeat nor the third and fourth because we're using all the digits shown. This means we have 4x3x2x1 or 24 possibilities. An easy way to show this is by drawing a probability tree. For all possibilities of the PIN code starting with a 1 it would look like the following:
Count the end points and there are six of them. substitute the number 2 for 1 and 1 for 2, then repeat for all four starting numbers and there are 4x6 or 24 possibilities.Okay you've broken in and stolen their top-secret files. They now change the code and you try again; this time the numbers that appear are only 1, 2 and 3 what would be the maximum number of attempts needed now?
This is a little more tricky to work out. Again the first digit can be any of the three, but then so can the second, but the third can also be one of three unless it's already been duplicated. We have to use all three digits, but can only repeat one a single time. A tree is more helpful here:
Counting the end results gives us 12; substituting for the other two starting numbers gives us a total number of 3x12 or 36. That's twelve more than using four digits.It gets better if all we knew was that only three digits were in use for a four-length PIN the number of combinations possible is 10x10x9x8 or 7200 rather than the 5400 for using four digits.
So by using one less digit than is called for the number of possibilities an attacker has to try actually increases.
One even sneakier trick involves mobile phones particularly the Android. By default if you lock the phone you tap in a number and then hit the OK button. The important bit is that the phone won't unlock automatically as soon as the correct number is entered. This is important as despite common conviction a PIN on a mobile does not have to be four digits long; it can be five (or even more or less).
Use three digits in a 3-length PIN and anyone who knows those numbers and tries to use them in the 36 different ways of a 4-length PIN will never unlock your phone, use four digits on a 5-length PIN and they can try all 24 combinations without success;.
So even if they know this trick and that you're 'limiting' yourself to 3 or 4 digits of a 4 or 5-length PIN it's still safer than using four different digits for a 4-length PIN.
What an odd world probabilities can be.
Oh and on one final note for the truly paranoid out there one of the most potent defences is in using the delete key. Have three digits in a 4-length PIN and type in 4 numbers but delete the false one and even though an attacker may be able to see you used the delete key they won't know when or even how many times it was used.. In other words with a PIN of 1233 type 1234 DEL 3. The 36 possible combination has now jumped to 120.
For the truly, truly paranoid type in a four digits that don't match to your PIN then delete them all and type in the real one. An attacker now has a full eight numbers to try, without any indication if duplications are allowed that's 4096 combinations.
ACTA rejected by EU
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If you've been watching the morning news on the BBC or ITV you'd have seen that the EU have rejected proposed ACTA legislation. Oh wait no you wouldn't - if you'd been watching RT this morning you would have, but it seems ITV, at least, thinks breast-feeding moms are more important that allowing large companies to effectively censor the entire internet using the government as their tool.
Now I've already mentioned why I think ACTA was a bad idea, but I want to look at if from the other side for a moment after all if this treaty does have "real and significant merits" what are they?
I don't know, in fact it's difficult to find anyone stating what they are beyond the vagaries of promotion of jobs due to better intellectual property enforcement. The latter of course being a joke, if IP isn't being enforced then the only people to blame are the companies themselves as they're the ones who have to do the enforcing.
The real question is - should this be the case. Consider someone stealing a CD from a store; it would be considered odd if it were up to the company itself to take the accused to court; such prosecutions are handled by the state. Why should this not apply to copyright theft?
To me the answer lies in the misuse of language - we say that it's is copyright theft or that a design has been stolen; except it hasn't. Nothing has been taken. If I steal a CD from a store that store no longer has that CD to sell; if I copy that CD without buying it that store still has that CD to sell - nothing has been stolen; no theft has occurred.
Hasn't money been lost though? If take a copy of a CD hasn't the company lost the money I would have spent with them had the copy not been available? No because that's theoretical money; there's an assumption that I would have bought the CD and thus the company would have made money. We already have situations for loss of theoretical money and that progresses through the civil courts which is where copyright cases already reside.
Let me exaggerate should the loss of theoretical money become a criminal offence - I have a job interview the means of which I'll attend by train. The train is late, I miss my interview, I don't get the job. I can now have the government prosecute the rail company for the loss of my theoretical earnings. Essentially any action that prevents me making money could be considered a criminal matter.
Okay straw-man, as they're explicitly making this for copyright and intellectual property, but the same underlying principle applies - the loss of theoretical money being considered a criminal offence.
The impetus behind ACTA is that companies should no longer have to be responsible for protecting their own assets; oddly enough companies are all in favour of that.
Now I've already mentioned why I think ACTA was a bad idea, but I want to look at if from the other side for a moment after all if this treaty does have "real and significant merits" what are they?
I don't know, in fact it's difficult to find anyone stating what they are beyond the vagaries of promotion of jobs due to better intellectual property enforcement. The latter of course being a joke, if IP isn't being enforced then the only people to blame are the companies themselves as they're the ones who have to do the enforcing.
The real question is - should this be the case. Consider someone stealing a CD from a store; it would be considered odd if it were up to the company itself to take the accused to court; such prosecutions are handled by the state. Why should this not apply to copyright theft?
To me the answer lies in the misuse of language - we say that it's is copyright theft or that a design has been stolen; except it hasn't. Nothing has been taken. If I steal a CD from a store that store no longer has that CD to sell; if I copy that CD without buying it that store still has that CD to sell - nothing has been stolen; no theft has occurred.
Hasn't money been lost though? If take a copy of a CD hasn't the company lost the money I would have spent with them had the copy not been available? No because that's theoretical money; there's an assumption that I would have bought the CD and thus the company would have made money. We already have situations for loss of theoretical money and that progresses through the civil courts which is where copyright cases already reside.
Let me exaggerate should the loss of theoretical money become a criminal offence - I have a job interview the means of which I'll attend by train. The train is late, I miss my interview, I don't get the job. I can now have the government prosecute the rail company for the loss of my theoretical earnings. Essentially any action that prevents me making money could be considered a criminal matter.
Okay straw-man, as they're explicitly making this for copyright and intellectual property, but the same underlying principle applies - the loss of theoretical money being considered a criminal offence.
The impetus behind ACTA is that companies should no longer have to be responsible for protecting their own assets; oddly enough companies are all in favour of that.
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