Tuesday 25 June 2013

Leak-proof Tampax ad.

With ads like these - who needs boring TV programs?



I like a laugh ~ Alexi Sayle

Did you see the limb come off?  Cool!

Of course Zombies are attracted to blood.  Don't go there....

Monday 24 June 2013

Best pie in Waimakariri...

Last weekend I had lunch at the Leithfield hotel (Leithfield,  North Canterbury).

The reason we ate there was that the new owners of the pub are Mike and Denise McCutcheon.  Who?  You might ask.  They are the people who ran Robbie's in Rangiora before quake damage closed the building they were operating out of.

Robbie's was famous due in part to the excellent quality of the food and the nice atmosphere the owners created.  Their menu was wide and varied.  Everything on it was excellent.  This was why it became our lunch venue of choice.

Sadly, the quakes changed all that.

Now Mike and Denise have taken over the Leithfield pub and a serving up a (smaller) selection of the fare they formerly offered at Robbies.  In particular is the world famous steak and mushroom pie.

Having rediscovered this exquisite pie I can easily vote it the

Best Pie in Waimakariri


Go out to the Leithfield pub and try one.  You won't be disappointed!  

At $12 the pie meal is excellent incredible value. The taste is awesome. 

Thanks Mike & Denise!


Sunday 23 June 2013

Microsoft backs down after Sony kicks console ass

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/blogs/game-junkie/8825103/Microsoft-backtracks-on-next-gen-vision

Microsoft has made major concessions with it's Xbox One.  No longer will the console require an online connection and games can be bought and sold just like the 360.

This reversal marks a huge backdown by the software giant.  So much so that wags online are now calling the new console the Xbox 180.  You've gotta laugh.

 One wonders how Microsoft got it so wrong.  Did they really believe that punters would accept their draconian vision of game ownership and access?  Really?

More than the telling public storm, is the fact that PS4 sales were leaving the Xbox One dead in the water.  Some markets reported PS4 sales were outstripping Xbox One by 7 to 1.  Horrifying figures for Microsoft.  Of course a viral video from Sony mocking Microsoft's ineptitude probably didn't help in the humiliation stakes either.

I'm still not buying an Xbox One.  Not until I can play my current back catalog of games on it (see my previous blog post).

Come on Microsoft, do another 180 on this issue and you'll have a full 360.  And you'll have a console I'll be willing to purchase.

More > http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/8831970/Microsoft-Cries-Uncle-on-Xbox-One-Battle


Thursday 20 June 2013

Xbox One - not "The One" for me


Microsoft has had another brain fade in announcing that it's much touted Xbox One will not play older games.

http://au.businessinsider.com/xbox-one-will-not-work-with-old-xbox-games-2013-5

http://au.businessinsider.com/why-the-new-xbox-one-wont-play-old-xbox-360-games-2013-5

When I heard this I was astonished.  Backwards compatibility should have been a must to get users to carry over from their previous consoles.

When I bought my Xbox 360 I gave away my original Xbox with some of the games I didn't like.  I kept the games I did like because they played on my new console.  I was happy with this.

According to Microsoft, their new console "It uses an “x86″ architecture for its processor and the others relied on a “PowerPC” architecture."  Therefore it won't work.  Rubbish!  They simply haven't bothered, gambling that punters will flock to the new Xbox One and abandon their old machines and games. Nope.

Expect a reversal on the stance from Microsoft.  Just like their Windows 8 reversal on the need for a start button.  They'll bring out an update which opens access to old games when their sales targets are missed by miles.

You heard it here first.

I'm keeping my Xbox 360 until it dies.  If I can't play my current selection of games  on the One, I'll replace it with another 360.  Chew on that Microsoft.


Wednesday 19 June 2013

Sky TV miffed over football loss

Sky TV has had the rug pulled from under it by an upstart company Coliseum Sport Media Management (CSM).  CSM has successfully out-bid SKY for three years' worth of the Premier League Football coverage. 

Hu-Rah!

I'm a Sky subscriber - and I'm not a happy one.  You see I have to subscribe to the basic digital package ($46.92) then add the basic Sports package ($26.45 - total $73.37) in order to watch _some_ live tennis (TVNZ has the rights to Wimbledon this year).   

Now I'm irked that I have to spend so much in order to watch so little.  In our home we watch very little TV at all.  If we could, we would be happy to subscribe to just the stuff we wish to watch.  To be honest we seriously considered dumping Sky completely and going TV free.  In the end we felt we would miss the tennis too much.

The news that CSM has upped the ante and proven that digital distribution can work is a god-send to aggrieved Sky subscribers like me.  I can't wait until the major tennis competitions offer an online subscription to the live TV feed.  I'd be much happier paying Wimbledon.com (or whatever) $120 for the two weeks coverage than paying Sky anything for the rubbish they offer on most of their channels.


"Sky: your happy place" - yeah right!


Story on Stuff: here.


Monday 17 June 2013

Dating Website logo - next competition

The subject for the next competition I'm entering on the Paint.NET forum is

Dating Website Logo

I threw this together last night.


The ideas:

The gold snake/ring is ouroboros - a symbol of things cyclic or something constantly re-creating itself (like people - hence appropriate for a dating site).  Sometimes seen in rings of betrothal or marriage - this should explain the golden color.

Male and female symbols are my take on the generic male = circle with arrow and female = circle with + signs.  I got the colors backwards - but it's too late now.  Blue should be the male symbol and pink the female. Doh!

The text is Edwardian Script with a linear reflected gradient to provide some texture.  A highlight (or sparkle) on the leading letter gives a gloss effect to make the text appear slightly shiny.

The rest of the logo is shadowing and shine on the major elements.

The whole logo took me less than two hours to complete.


Competition win = me!

I won a little competition on the Paint.NET forum.

It was my first win in these competitions.  I don't consider myself much of an artist - my art tends to be rigid and mechanical.  I have trouble with colors, proportion, abstracts and textures (maybe I'm just being too hard on myself).  I'm fond of telling people that my brother got Art and History, while I got Maths and Science!

The win is quite special to me as a number of very fine digital artists were also entered.

Here is my entry.  The topic was Mathematical/Numerical.


EER is short for my forum username Ego Eram Reputo (latin for "I've been thinking").

The formulae are Paint.NET's layer blend modes which I researched and wrote up for my book Mastering Paint.NET 3.5.10.


Friday 7 June 2013

Peter Dunne - gobble gobble

I watched MP Peter Dunne's demise on TV3 tonight.  With the finger of blame for the GCSB report leak pointed directly at him there was no where to hide and the result was inevitable.  Dunne's resignation is perhaps the best thing he could have done now that things have gone this far.

Pundits are calling the resignation the "end" of Dunne.  Maybe so.  It's not looking great for Peter - which is a ignominious end to a long career.

I for one won't be sad to see the back of Peter Dunne.  I hold him personally responsible for not knocking back the sale of fireworks a few years back ( http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0611/S00138.htm ).  We can all do without explosives in the hands of minors.  Pity Dunne couldn't see that.

I was also aghast when Peter admitted that he thought testing of party pills on animals was a good idea ( http://blog.eternalvigilance.me/2012/12/peter-dunne-is-a-sick-puppy/ ).  Fortunately Dunne was forced to back down following a significant public outcry.  What was he thinking?

I wanted to do a photo-chop of Dunne as a clown - like my treatment of Aaron Gilmore, but my partner came up a better idea...


Wednesday 5 June 2013

Pic of the week from CoNZervative blog

Found this great pic posted on my Bro's blog


I'm wondering if this Zombie fascination is somehow....IN OUR BLOOD?