Got Device Drivers?
I have been wanting to upgrade to Windows Vista 64 from (Vista 32) bit for quite some time now, but just haven’t found the time to do it, until now. The Christmas Holidays are upon us and come Friday evening, I decided to take the jump.
I backed up any crucial data to my raft of external hard drives and threw the Vista 64 DVD in to the PC. I planned to format C:\ and install the OS there. Since I have my programs stored there, I would be required to reinstall those too. Vista x64 doesn’t run 16bit code at all, so my existing 16bit programs would have to run on XP via Virtual PC 2007. Virtualization ftw!
The OS installed fine and actually felt a lot smoother than x32. Browsing was much noticeably faster and scrolling through CoverFlow on iTunes was extremely fast and smooth, rather than sluggish. Things were going along perfectly - until I switched on my five external hard drives. They all powered up and worked perfectly but then two of them, both
Western Digital MyBook’s (connected via Firewire) would randomly switch off and the only way to get them to power back up was to reboot Vista. It was like there was a power saving feature in effect, but I’d already disabled that. Then my three other external hard disks began behaving erratically. Sometimes I could access them, and on other occasions I couldn’t, which made Explorer lock up horribly bringing the entire OS down - something that I couldn’t even manage to do in Vista x32.
My last issue was not with Vista, but with Canon. I have two Canon printers, and didn’t even check their website for 64bit drivers before deciding to move to x64. They are so good with driver releases that I naturally expected them to have them already out. They weren’t…. Given that Vista x64 has been out for the same length of time as x32 I had been hoping that driver manufacturers had got their act together with regards to releasing 32 and 64bit drivers however it is just too slow.
I did some reading up on various forums and quite a lot of users have got no problem with x64, which is good news. However it still remains that Vista x64 needs more pace on the device driver front. If Canon don’t release 64bit drivers then I’ve got no choice but to avoid their printers in future - something that I won’t enjoy as I’ve always used Canon printers.
Other than the two issues I have, Vista x64 was really good. I noticed some speed improvements and smoother Aero interface use. However when I can’t use my printers in the OS, the whole point of upgrading from x32 becomes irrelevant. I will wait for Service Pack 1, due in early 2008 before trying out the OS again but I seriously hope Canon get some x64 drivers out because that is what the OS really needs - better 64bit device drivers and fast.
Beer ftw liek
I write to you having consumed about nien pients of beer. I can’t see nor focus conerectly at the screen at this stage as ai rwrite this. Let me state that aprporx 30mins ago I was on a bus heading from Rayners Lane, Middlesex towards Wealdstone, Harrow to be precise. I have just returned from my Work Christmas party bash - and I am auterrly ratarsed beyond belief. I had a pretty hard morning to be honest, so the only thing I required comme 14:00 was BEER - A LOT OF BEER. I was thursty as hell, and I had no minteral water bottle on my desk either. Come 14:00 myself and a mate rushed towards Club 2000 and swigged down as many pints as possible to quentch our thirtst. Suffice to say we were ewrecked afterwards. It’s funy walking home in the dark, its hard to actually walk out wehere you are until a car beps its horns at you. I wonder if my mate reached home? Guess I’ll find out tomorows!
I caught the H10 bus after the xmas do endewd at around 5pm. Not sure how I got on the right bus but I did and I saw the must gorgeous baby (and mmommy) too! Anmyway, had a great time, I am aseeing stars and feel dizzy! Can’t wirght anymore or gf might kill me, nn!
Got KARR?
The huge Cult US show returns on February 17th 2008 with a two hour pilot, prior to the new series. Knight Rider was legendary back in the 80’s telling story of one man and his high-tech indestructible car. However the legend that is David Hasselhoff, 55 won’t be returning to the show at all. Instead we will be introduced to his son played by Justin Bruening, 28. So far ITV are the favourites to obtain the rights to the show here in the UK.
Now I’m hyped up about this for one reason. I LOVE SHELBY GT500’s - they’re my dream cars, and KITT just happens to be a GT500KR! However looking at the early shots, I’m not convinced it can work. The original KITT was a simple looking thing, with a jet black exterior and black wheels. The GT500KR confirms to this but those 20" chrome wheels look well out of place right now. I have seen shots of the GT500 with black wheels too so who knows what will be used.
For more information, check out Jalopnik.com’s article.
So on Friday 7th December I celebrated the birthday of my launch day Xbox 360. While his fellow brothers have fallen all around him, this launch day machine soldiers on bravely. November 2005 was his true birth date truth be told, however he arrived on the 7th December 2005 via a rather annoyed looking delivery man. For those who can recall that crazy month, Xbox 360’s were impossible to find anywhere. Stores were sold out, and Ebay was where most were being sold for ludicrous prices.
I myself pre-ordered a 360 from approx 13 different online stores with the hopes that I may get one. A day after launch day on the 360 I got that elusive email from Comet stating that was one on the way. I kept it a secret from my mates for a good week before I revealed that I had one. I wanted to play with her on my own! Anyway, the celebrations didn’t go too well with me accidentally setting fire to a remote control, which then set off the fire alarms, which then stank up my room somewhat rotten. However it worked out quite well! As you can see, the 360 was rather pleased!
The UK is rooting for ya mate. Give him hell!
Edit: Hold your head high mate, we’re all proud of you. You were against the best out there and you’re still a champion in our eyes.
Right. As a lot of readers already know, I have been slack on producing Xbox 360 game reviews. It mainly attributes to the fact that I just haven’t the time any more as I have mentioned a few times before. Researching and then writing about games is a lot more time consuming than most think.
I have a partially finished Assassin’s Creed review, and was hugely looking forward to writing about Mass Effect, which in my opinion is now the best game on the 360. For weeks now, I’ve been trying to find the time to write but have always been side tracked, so bugger it.. I will however, continue writing various hardware reviews after the new year when I go crazy on spending! 
Get the flock outta here!
Just for relaxation, this weekend myself and Deena watched a film I’ve been longing to watch the moment I saw the first trailer.
Black Sheep is from Jonathan King and features mad, angry carnivorous sheep, which run amok on a remote New Zealand farm. Henry Oldfield has a rather silly phobia - he has a fear of sheep after being the victim of a rather horrible childhood prank by his older brother, Angus.
After spending a good number of years working and living in the city, Henry returns to the farm to see old friends and to sell off his remaining share of the place to his brother. At the same time we’re introduced to two environmentalists who are trespassing onto the property to expose Angus, because according to them he is performing genetic experiments on his livestock.
Naturally chaos ensues and we rapidly end up with mad mutated baby sheep escaping the farm, biting a few sheep and hey presto! We have mutated zombie sheep by the hundreds hunting for man-flesh! Hilarity naturally ensues as we see Henry and the environmentalists battle it out against the evil mutant sheep.
It’s basically Shaun of the Dead, but with fluffy sheep, and set in New Zealand. Black Sheep made me cackle hilariously at the rather dry gags. The humour obviously isn’t as good as the British black humour seen in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz but it is still very humorous. My most terrifying moment had to be the evil sheep standing in the corridor - there was something about the scene that made me feel rather uncomfortable.
All in all, despite Deena finding it ba-a-a-ad, I found it slightly above average and rather funny. I mean, how can you not laugh at a mad sheep driving a jeep?!
Wordpress 2.3.1 and K2 RC3 up and runnin!
On a weekend where I was meant to be writing an Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect review for the 360, I’ve ended up doing other things instead. My horrible addiction to Mass Effect continues to make me lose focus of other things in life, and as a result I ended up playing it for 8 hours straight on Saturday night until 2am!
Today I was meant to finish at least one review but noooo, I ended up deciding to upgrade the blog. Now I initially avoided Wordpress 2.3 because it had some major changes that I knew would break the blog, and it did. Infact, it almost completely destroyed it when I did a ‘test upgrade’ when 2.3 first arrived a month ago, as it buggered up all my tags and deleted all my categories. Obviously I had to take the plunge so I installed it today.
Naturally my tags went haywire, so that now involves me re-tagging every sodding post I’ve made. I have now just realised that my categories have also gone a bit nuts so I have to re-categorise every post. Aside from that, the latest K2 theme has knocked me sideways in terms of flexibility. I normally hand code my sidebars, but the one you see on the right has been done completely via K2’s drag and drop sidebar manager and is an exact replica (well almost) of my old one.
Bits of the blog will still be flaky and inactive as I start trawling through code I haven’t looked at in months. Now, back to work!
Assassins Creed and Mass Effect
Whilst I’ve been fighting off the Flu I’ve been barely physically well enough to play two of the console’s most recent and hugely hyped titles. Assassins Creed from Ubisoft, and Mass Effect from RPG giants Bioware. Assassin’s Creed is the result of years of hard work from the development team lead by the gorgeous Jade Raymond, and Mass Effect is a colossal Sci-Fi RPG set in the future. Both titles have been hugely hyped, and yours truly couldn’t wait for them.
Assassin’s Creed arrived with quite a mixed reception. A lot of early reviews gave it average ratings, much to everyones surprise citing it was too repetitive. When it arrived I was blown away. Gorgeous visuals and gameplay, with some slightly repetitive moments I do agree. Well they would be repetitive if gamers went about performing every mission in the same manner, I had no problem with this and took on every mission in a random manner. As a result I completely love the game. Killing people with such randomness has never been more fun!
Gears of War remains my No.1 360 title despite the fact that I’ve only played it’s single player campaign a handful of times. The superb storyline and history make the game a winner, and then come the terrific musical score and visuals. Well move over Gears, Mass Effect just blew you aside! Mass Effect has to be the most enjoyable RPG I have ever come across. In every department the title just excels and there is only small drawback to it, and that isn’t even the game’s fault.
I’ve spent most of this weekend playing Mass Effect and I’ve had an utter blast. I’m not even in to Sci-Fi RPG’s, I prefer Fantasy ones but those are just overdone. Sadly I feel that I am close to the it’s end now having put in 27 hours, although a lot of side missions remain. The storyline, whilst not original is extremely well realised and to back the game up the in-game Codex fills you in on the history of almost everything down to your weapons. As for the characters, well I’ve become really fond of one of them - as sad as it may seem.
Lastly, a lot of readers are probably wondering why I don’t do game reviews anymore. To tell the truth I just no longer have that spare time to do them. I have 3 partially unfinished reviews dating back to approx 9 months ago! Test Drive Unlimited, Ghost Recon 1 and Oblivion all lie unfinished. Life has just become too busy with my career and other things. However with the Xmas holidays coming up I’ll try and finish off a rather huge backlog of reviews.
I shall be reviewing Mass Effect and Assassins Creed asap this week though, well as soon as I discover what Tali has hidden under that suit…!
