Prototype - That's one absorbing game

I have been playing Prototype this weeked on the 360, (other formats available)it was a fathers day gift from the predlets.

My mini review starts with the fact that so far its seems very slick, very polished and a proper next gen title.
If you want to know what it is like it is best to apply some comparisons to other games.
Take Crackdown (Xbox 360), add some Assassin's Creed - Classics Edition (Xbox 360), a hint of Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) and mix in some Spider -Man 3: The Movie (PS3). Throw in a few Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360) components and a little Dead Rising (Xbox 360) Zombie bashing with some arcade Capcom style combo treatment and you are pretty much there.
The basic movement in Prototype takes place around another huge rebuild of New York. There is a virus spreading and causing all sorts of battles of zombies, army and mutants. You play Alex who is himself some sort of Prototype hybrid of the virus giving him super powers to sprint and bounce of walls, climb tall buildings, leap and glide around the city.
It does not have the same challenge of Crackdown in the climbing, i.e. in Crackdown some places were hard to reach until you had leveled up. In Protoype it just changes the way you may reach them as you spend experience points to upgrade to things such as a high flying glide.
There are lots of collecting and freeroaming style mini missions, races and tokens to collect if you choose not to follow the story arc.
Following the arc though has some very stylish flashbacks, as you are able to attack a target and absorb them you gain their memories, which pieces together the story for you. These are very well done, as is the whole voice active piece. Games have really come of age on that front and Prototype is no exception.
Another Crackdownesque piece is when you land from a high fall, the pavement cracks as you land with a bass laden boom and nearby cars are thrown aside.
When in the one on many combat sequences you end up with a range of styles and powerups to use, lots of flying combos and the ability to be very free form in your destruction of the target.
The violence is quite pronounced as there are lots of blade and explosions that have an adverse affect on the constituent parts of your adversaries, so there are a few body parts left lying around. Still it does have an 18 rating!
As usual though the 18 rating is more related to the language. There is much effing and jeffing and referring peoples mothers as in any gritty film or programme. This is always in context, but it does mean that its not one to play when the kids are around even if they are off outside. They may pop in at any moment into a cut scene and get the full treatment.
The Assasins creed influence extends not just to the parkour elements but also to when on street level, in a disguise walking amongst people they have put in the shoving out of the way side swipe that was in many a demo of Assasins Creed.
Unlike AC though the city and the people do not annoy quite as much with repetition of phrases.
The city is truly huge, bounding around it is great fun it its own right.
I think Prototype is going to get a fair amount of gameplay from me, and its certainly one to get hold of if you can
There are PS3 and PC Versions too
Prototype (PS3)
Prototype (PC DVD)

any idea what this toy part is from?

any idea what this toy part is from?, originally uploaded by epredator.

This toy part turned up in a clear out of the predlets toy collection. We have no idea which set or product it is from, any ideas anyone?

Look Out - Predlet 1.0 does Kill Bill

Look Out, originally uploaded by epredator.

With her bug eye shades and a platic pickaxe its hard not to be intimidated by predlet 1.0 :) I loved the attitude.

guitars, computers and patience == awesome

This is a brilliant video, it clearly has been doing the rounds, but I had to blog it. The time and effort taken is fantastic. Its another example that you still need talent, patience and craft, computers do not solve everything, but bring new art forms to light instead.

Wimbledon on the Wii

I was blogging on my company blog over on Feeding Edge about my involvement and history at the Wimbledon tennis championships and happened to notice the article about the new EA sports Wii game Grand Slam Tennis that has actually got the real Wimbledon in it.

All the tennis games up to now have have South London or some aberration of the name. In games it always feels right to have the real place, the real names. Any slight deviation ruins the experience. I remember in F1 when the Geoff Crammond game had all the drivers but one called "A Canadian" on the roster, complete with instructions of how to use the editor to type Villenueve's name in yourself. It is a bit more tricky to deal with 3d models and graphics. I understand the branding and licensing issues but somethings that are so public and want to be represented should just be there. So, if you want to play on Wimbledon's hallowed centre court try one of these two wii packs.



Or without the new motion controller pack
EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis (Wii)

Rolling waves

Rolling waves, originally uploaded by epredator.

I loved taking this photo it was a surprise as to how like sand the water looked. I was snorkelling and out at sea

Cesar Manrique a Yaujta?

We took a trip to Cesar Manrique's place here on Lanzarote. He had created a fascinating home in the lava rocks and his house was full of his art too.
Of course it was a little odd to see this :)

The island is full of his influence, with some amazing wind sculptures adorning many a roundabout.
There is a full set of pictures here
It also struck me it was like a posh version of Luke Skywalker's uncles place on tattoine as you move down into the cave elements of the place. Still all very stunning.

Ray from a submarine

Ray from a submarine, originally uploaded by epredator.

we went from the extremes of the volcano to the depths of the ocean the next day here in Lanzarote.
We went on the submarine to about 29 metres down. A diver got sent out to feed the Ray whilst we were resting on the sea bed. It was very impressive.

Underwater photos

Had a great day snorkelling properly with the underwater camera in Lanzarote. Used predlet 1.0's camera for her as it was her 6th birthday today. She had a great time too and enjoyed some snorkelling.
There is a full set here, I was surprised how many were in focus :)

Ironman Macdonalds

Ironman Macdonalds, originally uploaded by epredator.

It was slightly ironic that here in Lanzarote lots of people are getting geared up fo the ironman race (happening now), but they have to cycles and run past maccy d's in the process :)

Wimbledon Roof

We got to go to the opening/closing event for the new roof on Centre Court at Wimbledon. I did find the ticket amusing though given the wording.

It was also very interesting being there as a punter and not actually working as I have for the past 10 years at the championships, with an added weirdness hanging with IBM team :)
I shot a video of the roof and it was interesting seeing the lights flare as they have on this shot, because you dont actually really notice them, the whole place gives an interesting feel of daylight.

There are a set of photo's here but I am looking forward to seeing Andy's given the huge lens he had against my humbe compact and mobile phone.

PSN gets a gamercard just like 360

Playstation network has finally got itself a show off gamer card. One that lets you show what you have been up to on your gaming console to a web audience and here is mine :)

Dangerous Sports R Us

Predlet 2.0 decided to take a swing seat and find a new use for it. No prompting from me.

Big Ben under surveillance

Big Ben under surveillance, originally uploaded by epredator.

I was in London this week and happened to notice that from this angle it seemed like the CCTV camera was pointing at big ben.
Has the commons got some webcam gig set up to see what time it is?
I was going to make some comment about keeping the MP's expenses ring fenced, but I wont :)

Top Gear

Car World, originally uploaded by epredator.

And welcome to a brand new series of Top Gear. As you can see this series we have a huge range of vehicle that we have road tested.
(Just a small selection the predlets decided to gather together for a photo) :)

Losing our freedom on the internet with the EU?

We have only a few days left to make sure we dont have our internet, that is the comms channel for the people, restricted in its use by EU regulation. 

Act now, write, speak up, make sure we dont lose our freedom to operate.

Its a subtle balance to protect copyright, stop crime, but as with all these measures it seems it will be applied incorrectly. We see this time and time again.

Take Pride

I stopped in the mall in DC for a snack. The cup says take pride in america. A slight sense of irony struck me eating junk food at 10am

Evangelising the ACE unConference

Evangelising the ACE unConference, originally uploaded by ace_conference.

Me in full flow, have mac will travel

Dreadlocks and a mask whatever next?

Dreadlocks and a mask whatever next?, originally uploaded by epredator.

The irony of predlet 1.0 having her hair in a nearly dreadlock fashion and coming back from school with a Kangeroo mask as a combination was not lost on me :)
That's my girl!

G20 come on guys get it sorted, we have!

In the spirit of trying to get some conversation going around the coming G20 summit and the We20.org movement that goes with it I thought I would share a perspective I gained from visiting Derry for the ACE conference the past week.

It is hard not to be moved by the story of Derry, in particular once you are there and on one of the excellent walking tours of the walls. 

Growing up seeing and hearing about the subtly named "troubles" does not prepare you for the extremely deep history Derry has. However, what is clear is that the hundreds of years of conflict in such a relatively small space have only come to anywhere near a conclusion through dialogue. 

People deciding enough is enough and standing together does not mean they all agree, but it does mean they can get things done. It was not just the job of the politicians to do the talking, everyone had to decide.

The moment a partisan interest or niche need pops into the equation then problems are going to occur. All the politicians need to realize though that everywhere is now local, we are all connected to one another in ways that country based geographic boundaries really go no where near addressing.

Take Derry again, a fantastic totally walled city. The walls have stood since the 1600's and have never been breached. Yet now anyone from any part of the city could work with someone on a project using the web and not even know it. The walls are gone in effect. 

The worlds financial collapse has show the interconnectedness of things too. The hidden underworld of money systems, debt, deals, gambling etc has shown that what a few people decide to do on one side of the planet has a potential massive impact everywhere. (The finance systems being closed loop systems fit nicely into the chaotic mathematics area so the old idea of a butterfly flapping its wings having a planet wide impact holds true).

That said it means that we as individuals do not have to wait on the politicians though we do have to bother to act, that means voting, but that is not fast moving enough to wait several years to make a tick in a box about a general direction. Hopefully the g20 will start to realize the massive change and the way we may choose to self organize globally for common good.

It may seem idealistic to suggest if we all talk to one another we can solve the worlds problems, but its got to be worth a try hasn't it? 

As for an idea, why done we have a global micro payment financial system such as we see in individual virtual worlds, having it open to all and not gated by large financial institutions that are driven by larger and larger profit requirements to cover their huge structure. Surely its better to spread the risk and the rewards. 

Make Emo History

Make Emo History, originally uploaded by epredator.

On a family bike ride today we found some interesting stencil graffiti. Make Emo history :) I happen to like Emo music, but I assume the sensitive artist that produced this interesting rendition is not that sensitive after all.

Mist erasing Fawley

Mist erasing fawley, originally uploaded by epredator.

Today had an unusual mist layer, or marine layer as they say in the US. It meant that fawley power station over the water looked rubbed out like a bad photoshop, but in real life.

It made quite an eerie site though it soon cleared. I had intended to take my morning task planning walk and head the other direction along the water, but I saw this and was drawn to it.

Fitness beckons

Fitness beckons, originally uploaded by epredator.

Way back as I was turning 30 I went somewhat mad on the exercise front. As a kid I was not a "jock" to use the US parlance but I did enjoy sports. I never wanted to be 1st team, but somehow that would occasionally happen.
I ended up playing a lot of squash when I was a mid teen too. Again a moderate obsession.
When I went to poly/uni in Leicester I used to walk most places to save money for partying so was quite thin it has to be said.
Once I started work in 1990 though it was a downhill slide. There was no room for working out.
However when I was talked into going skiing and realized I was totally unfit round 1995 I decided to workout. I knew gym membership was a no hoper. Too many people buy and leave that. So I set about a very Rocky like routine, hand weights mixed with cycling off road.
From 95 to mid 98 I did this every day 5 days a week and got pretty strong and bulked up, not quite arnie, but it felt pretty good.
Once the web hit me and the insane hours of corporate life in a growing area I just stopped. Only the odd bike ride.
Then came the kids and then the insanity that has been late night round the clock metaverse evangelizing.
The upshot is that I got pretty unfit. I was also quite stressed to chicken and egg means it hard to motivate for working out when all your energy and very being is dedicated to a cause,
Anyway, with my new found energy, whilst heavily focused on the multiple strands of getting < a href="http://www.feedingedge.co.uk">feeding edge going we ended up going out on a family bike ride. I had predlet 2.0 on the back and whilst it was only a 40 minute one we had some mud and hills to contend with.
This combined with some brisk walks I have taken to get planning on things away from the computer is getting me re acquainted with physical fitness.
I am sure my heart monitor will be back out again soon to make sure I am in the optimum rates for fat burn and fitness. I feel the obsession coming back again.
As a recent study said it was never too late, there may be hope for my lethargic corporeal form after all.

Do Bears?

Do Bears?, originally uploaded by epredator.

When I first saw this sign at Itchen Valley park near Southampton I was not immediately sure what it was saying.
It could be referring to not allowing any furries, which is not a very nice thing to do.
It could suggest that picnics are not to involve any toys.
We thought it referred to what bears do in the woods, and saying dont do that please.
Still a nice try at a universal sign :)

What does freedom feel like

I am now a few weeks into my freedom from my corporate shackles. Its obviously an difficult time financially, as starting to get that pipeline of paying work requires a certain amount of goodwill and engagement. It was also made a little more tricky by the slow payment processing of my former employer of my shares that I sold back on Feb 3rd before I even resigned.
For some reason the money has sat around waiting on payroll, all the tax etc makes it difficult for them. Also having left with some of the month left to run and having a salary paid in advance means I now owe them money. The net should be some money coming my way, but the actual manifestation of this was a payment into my bank today (traditional payday) followed by a pulling it straight back out again. Something of a pain, but it will get sorted very soon, or at least it better!
Another thing to put on the list!
We had a bit of drink up last night and the guys I have been working with the last few years gave me a good send off. Having left straight away I had not had a chance to physically say goodbye, and explain all.
The great thing now is that the freedom to engage with people, to make my own deals and trade offs and to general be influential in the industry looks extremely rosy.
I seem to be even busier than ever, especially with the influx of contacts and linking of ideas and people together.
I have some speaking engagements to do. Monday is metanomics in SL later in the month is a conference in Derry with the creative industries. More on that on feeding edge
The balance now of taking short interesting pieces of work versus long term full time roles is going to be an interesting one.
I know I will still get the questions why did you choose leave whats the real story, but I think that will all become clear in the fulness of time in an appropriate forum, which for now(for once) is not the blogs :)

Quite a week

Not only is the main Feeding Edge website up but now there is a blog attached to it. Life at the Feeding edge
So in a week I have gone from IBMer to Director and already seeing the pipeline of work look promising.
If nothing else the massive support from everyone has seen me through a traumatic but exciting week.

feeding edge logo

feeding edge logo, originally uploaded by epredator.

I launched my metaverse and emerging technology consultancy this week. Feeding Edge
An exciting change and it will be interesting as to what this enables me to explore with various other companies, partners and suppliers.
Watch this space, or that space :)

A new era begins

Today is a day of mixed emotions. Today I resigned from IBM having been there for 18 years, 19 if you count my year out from university.
In all that time I have worked with some great people, and felt a tremendous sense of belonging.
Its been quite a journey, both in technical education and in personal growth. It is the extent of that growth and the speed that has not always been kept up to pace with by the system that I worked within.
I started back on green screens in 1990, very quickly moved to the PC's and client server applications that followed shortly. Over the years the groups I worked with morphed from back office systems to customer facing ones, but in 1997 I made a break from what was traditional IT development. I threw myself into the web and the fantastic Interactive Media Centre. That itself morphed into the centre for e-business innovation but the group of people were known as Blueroom. An ecletic mix of can do people, graphic designers, producers and techies all bundled into one. That taught me that diversity of skills, coming up with ideas on the spot and good old fashioned teamwork for a common cause were what I thrived in.
For me that was the start of who I have become, the birth of epredator if you like.
When I decided that we should look in to the metaverse with Second Life back in 2006 I knew the industry was going to be big, but I was not expecting the evolutionary changes to happen to me. Getting this going turned me into a intrapreneur. The speed with which my fellow eightbars rallied and the spirit of innovation, just getting things done was simply amazing. It is something we should all be immensely proud of.
In leaving IBM I am not leaving eightbar, it is not something that can never really be left. The focus may change but I think we have made a decent enough mark in the history of virtual worlds.
Of course the question is what next? I left in order to be able to carry on and push this industry further. So in a few weeks you will see the birth of my own company, and I will seek to work and advise, speak and write just as I have done up to now. There are some significant projects that I already need to give some attention too.
There is, as I have told a few people, quite a story to tell on all this. The personal ups and and downs, the formation of our tribe and I suspect I will have to write that book after all. It will probably be called "Who says Elephants can't Rez" or something similar.
So a huge thankyou and goodbye to all my friends, and thankyou for the support on twitter and see you all on Linkedin
I will also post this on http://www.eightbar.com
See you all out there very soon.

Prototyping gamer style

Just trying a few things out in the clothing department

Shiny New Macbook Pro

Shiny New Macbook Pro, originally uploaded by epredator.

I finally cracked and joined the ranks of the technorati that own Macs.
I still have an appalling vista desktop, which was part of the decision, but now have an awesome macbook pro. It was a very pleasant experience, even opening the box was good.
I have not had this much fun with a new machine since my C64 back in the day.
Watch this space

Second Life meets Primary School

Second Life meets Primary School, originally uploaded by epredator.

Predlet 1.0 has some homework around 2d and 3d shapes, so I was most amazed when she completed this almost before her holiday started. The bottom 2 questions where find a sphere in your house and draw it, and fins a cube and draw that.
She went and got a football, but also a Second Life cube :)
So here school homework now has a cube at the bottom that says "It all starts with a cube.. Second Life"
Brilliant :)

Skate 2 xbox 360 EA server connect problem solved

As bizzare at is may seem after a few rounds on the helpdesk email circuit to EA to solve the lack of online capability logging on with skate 2 on the 360.
This solved it

In order for our servers to read your GamerTag I have deleted it from your EA account. Please go into the XBOX Marketplace and download the demo for the game "Facebreaker". After downloading the demo, please open the game and begin to play the opening stages. We are doing this because the game will transfer your GamerTag information to the EA Servers.

After running the demo for a few minutes please attempt to play Skate 2. This should remedy the issue as your GamerTag will be re-applied to your EA account.

Odd solution, download and play a demo, but it worked, so not complaning, just posting here in case anyone else needs to persuade the helpdesk to do this for them.

Harmonies, human beat box and more - Naturally 7

I caught a re-run of the 2008 royal variety performance on TV last night and was blown away by these guys. Naturally 7. I had to dive over to itunes and get the album.

I have loved human beat box styles since hearing doug e fresh and of course the brilliant sounds on police academy too. However here its a brilliant all human voiced blend of barbershop harmonies, rap, and beat box.
Stunning stuff. The tune is of course an old Phil Collins track, once for us oldies usually, but delivered like this it shows a good song is a good song.
*Update turns out they closed out at the TED conference too ! brilliant news that.

Stay away from that trapdoor

I really like stop motion animation. As a kid it fascinated me as we only really had cine camera to work with and trying to do frame by frame creations had something special about the effort and the magical results.
When the stop motion is combined with brilliant characters, and a fantastic voice such as Willy Rushton you get the awesome Trapdoor, now on Joost.
Oh Globbits!

Democracy 2.0 full of WIN!

As you will have seen the government climbed down (though should never have climbed up in the first place)on the whole transparency of their expenses.
Well done all for rallying!

Great Obama quote

In his speech today as he moved from president elect to president Obama he used the line "If you unclench your fist we will offer the hand of friendship". It was aimed at the dictators of the world, and those who rule with fear. It can of course be applied to a number of situations where people bluster and posture with apparent power.
I like the line, I like the visual. Good luck to him.
The full text is here on his blog

What MP's want to hide their expenses from us?

Nows the time for a bit of government 2.0 action. It seems that for some strange reason our public servants in the commons, our voted in ministers of parliament seem to be heading for hiding their expenses from us all?
You can read more about this here on http://www.mysociety.org/2009/01/17/6-days-to-stop-mps-concealing-their-expenses/

"Ministers are about to conceal MPs’ expenses, even though the public has just paid £1m to get them all ready for publication, and even though the tax man expects citizens to do what MPs don’t have to. They buried the news on the day of the Heathrow runway announcement. This is heading in the diametric wrong direction from government openness."

Whats great too is the ease with which you can write to your MP on the matter (or any other) http://foiorder2009.writetothem.com/ has been set up, postcode locates your MP then fill in the form. Its suits us digital natives, and blends with the house of commons procedures.

So get on with it! If you are bothered that is.

"Dear Mark Hoban,

I am writing to ask that you vote against the draft Freedom of
Information (Parliament) Order 2009 this Thursday and sign Jo Swinson's
Early Day motion with regard to ensuring that MP's expenses are
released and open to public scrutiny.
I regard an open parliament and process as key to our democracy.

I find it strange that other public officials have to account for their
expenses but that MP's are pushing not to.

I do hope you will support transparency, the world is changing and
closed systems are no longer valid in government nor in business.

TheyWorkForYou has taken a keen interest in this issue and will be
displaying the voting records.

Yours sincerely,
Ian Hughes
"

Midnight Club LA - Over customized error on my part

Midnight Club LA, originally uploaded by epredator.

Playing Midnight Club LA on the 360 I got a muscle car unlocked. Though there is little reason other than fun (it is a game after all) to customize the cars appearence I did.
The problem was I think I went a little over the top with the bonnet air intake. I.e. the stake of chrome sticking out of the bonnet.
I tend to do driving games from the drivers point of view. That led to this

I could not see a thing turning into corners as the large bit of fancy chrome and low ride height meant the usual spot to see the apex was cover up but a vibrating shuddering bit of insanity customization :)
Still it was good for a laugh, but I had to remove it to get any chance of not totally the car in the street races.

Wii Family Ski

Wii Family Ski, originally uploaded by epredator.

The predlets took to helping one another with the Wii balance board and Wii family ski. It was great to see them pick it up and just get on with it.

Cloning me in OpenSim

Cloning me in OpenSim, originally uploaded by epredator.

There are times when there are just not enough of one person. I seem to have ended up with the start of an organic 3d print/rapid fabrication demo of cloning on an OpenSim in a galaxy far far away.
Watch this space.

Moo.com Stickers

Moo.com Stickers, originally uploaded by epredator.

My new batch of Moo.com stickers arrived this morning. Whilst I may not be going to quite as many conferences this year, I tend to augment any id badge I am given with an epredator sticker. My previous set had QR codes too, but this time I decided to use a couple of other shots. One is my epredator Mii and the other is a Bio shot in Second Life at Wimbledon. The main sticker on the right is the same with an SL, RL and 3d Printed me. I like to show a good range :)

Marmite and Metaverse: a theory

I am willing to be proven wrong on this but.

This is after Josh of DancingInk Productions put this photo of marmite on Flickr, both Reuben of Millions of us and Virtual Greats and myself of eigthbar both commented on liking Marmite.
A small sample I agree, but could it be true?
*Of course a type in the Claim /whole/who but too ahrd to change it, you know what I mean.

Times are tough - Duck

IMG_3117, originally uploaded by epredator.

I had a rather interesting google alert ping up on epredator this morning. Usually its all virtual world stuff, press articles, comments, twitters etc, but this time it was a very nice photo credit for this image.
It was an article about starting a mini farm business in your back garden. Thats not so bizarre as I have been talking about all sorts of startups recently, and people kicking the trend with passionate small projects that also have a positive impact on the community. So props to the blog for doing this.

Ok I dont like this! Civil Liberty does not mean hacking my machines

I saw a tweet about this time article linked from the open rights group reference. I tend to avoid too much political comment, but seriously do we really think that its a good idea to just have police hacking out our computers without a warrant.
I am no legal eadle but I am a libertarian. Yes a complex issue but.... its a slippery slope, along with id cards, genetic databases of kids etc. We have seen enought sci-fi that has come true technology wise, so it is the same with over control with machines checking up on us.
I dont think I will be putting foil on my head just yet, but will the control freaks please calm down, its actually more risky to apply this technology, to gather this information. At the drop of a memory stick its all in the "real wrong" hands.

new epredator xbox avatar

new epredator xbox avatar, originally uploaded by epredator.

i cant have green spikey hair but i can get close to a predator av, sort of :)

New Years Eve Cookfest, Rockfest, Eurofest

New Years Eve Starter, originally uploaded by epredator.

I tired a few more recipes for our new years eve party. Both ones that I had not done before.
The starter was from a Gordon Ramsay book and featured a flattened puf pastry base, a pureed onion relish (slow cooked onions and some single cream blitzed down) then topped with artichoke hearts, blanched asparagus, tomato, red oinion a vinegrette and the special extra quails eggs (cooked for 2 min 10 to provide a slighlty runny centre to a hard boiled egg). I had never cooked quails eggs before and they proved to be trickier to peel, even when rolled to crack them, I got the hang of it finding the layer under the shell was the secret, catch that and the shell fell away, I only broke one being a little rough :)
The main course was this

A very fancy fish cake, fancy in that it had ginder and lime steamed salmon, mixed with chillies, coriander, anchoivy essence and breadcrumbs. Dipped in flour, beaten egg, more bread crumb coating and lightly fried. It was on a bed of new potato creme fraiche, lemon and mint mash. I was supposed to make it perfectly round, but was more keen to eat it. I also cooked the same salmon cakes for the predlets and their guests but without the chillis.
I think it all worked well. I enjoyed making it, and everyone seemed to like it :)
We had a lovely home made raspberry pavlova that our guests brought.
The rest of the evening involved the odd tipple, 4 player guitar hero world tour (Yay for the killers Human, linkin park , for what i've done and metallica cyanide).
We then moved on to singstar on the ps3. In particular the Abba expansion disc.
We finished the last song and saw Jools Holland seeing in the new year, the extra leap second helped in that turning all the AV kit to the right thing right after the some ended left us with 5 seconds :)
Then it was back for more Singstar. Its fair to say Emma shows us all up as she is the only one who can actually sing.
/me elemming and predlets waves at Emma and Gary and the kids. A great night and hope for a great 2009 for all.

Padded cell?

Padded cell?, originally uploaded by epredator.

In preparing for our guests on new years eve I decided to test out the stack of single and double airbeds we have once and for all. So the spare room is now a natural selection experiment in deflation, or a padded cell. The predlets could not resist bouncing around in there. I managed to escape but cant help feeling a full padded room mught be a good diversionin the near future :)

***Update the results of the overnight test. 3 single beds 2 very flat, 1 nearly (would be with someone sleeping on it, 2 large doubles all fine and a-ok. I thought you needed to know :)

wii family ski

wii family ski, originally uploaded by epredator.

I finally got a wii fit, having missed the release due to some other cool xbox games at the time. Then they wer in short supply, but elemming and the predlets got me on for xmas this year. Wii fit itself is very good, though it said I was old and fat. However the other games I got family ski and shaun white snowboardingmake calf aching good use of the board. It rell is a great piece of kit.
So here I am on my xmas skiing holiday. Who knew us alien hunters could carve turns too?

Guitar Hero, rockband and quest for fame - Rock and Roll!

Why blog about things? Well a while back I blogged about both guitar hero and rockband and how much I enjoyed and remembered the original that I played way back called quest for fame with Aerosmith in it on the PC.
Not that post just sort of sat around, but when Hiawatha Bray was doing a piece for the Boston Globe he googled quest for fame and found me as a fan.
So we had a chat about it, its a tiny quote, on page 2 but I can now say I am in an ariticle with the father of all guitar hero games (in my eyes) Mike Fritz and also the father of blues Mr B.B King.
I first mentioned it on eightbar back in early 2007 then relinked to the flow of things here
It was a little confusing when I was contacted as it was not clear initially if it was my Companies involvment or my personal oppinion that was needed. Once we cleared that up, it was just me enthusing (as per usual) then we were good to talk :)
I am glad this has got picked up QFF needs its recognition in the timeline.
Lets Rock!

Christmas Xbox style

Christmas Xbox style, originally uploaded by epredator.

The new 360 dashboard has a cute snowglobe that randomly adds friend in with you. It also, if you wait a while, sees all the friends do a stadium wave. Nice touch.

PS3 home - I want green hair!

PS3 home, originally uploaded by epredator.

Why the heck can I not have green hair in PS3 home or 360. Very odd, feel discriminated against!

Commiserations to Mike Golding sailing Ecover

Its not often I do yachting news on this blog!
I heard today from predlet 1.0 that Mike Golding's Ecover yacht mast had broken when he was leading in the Vendee Globe round the world yacht race. Mrs epred a.k.a elemming knows Mike's wife.
As there was a school connection they all got given this cardboard make-a-yacht so we made it tonight to commiserate.
Before

after

Traffic Lights, obey?

This story struck me as some sort of variant on a fable, or observation on the wider picture in life. I often refer to things being fractal ideas. The amount of detail in the minutia is the same as the amount of detail in the "big picture" and you have to be able to flow between the two to make sensible judgements, not just focus on one element. Other call it system thinking.
Today I arrived at a set of temporary traffic lights, with some unattended roadworks on a back road. The idea was they created one way traffic and alternated between each direction. A good idea given one side of the road was a giant hole. However, the traffic lights had got stuck, they were on red both directions. This of course leads to two queues of traffic. In reality though it leads to 2 cars facing each other each making a decision about what to do next, the rest of the people are just bystanders as a moral dilema occurs. The rule is, you dont shoot through a red light. Its clear, its obvious, its even measurable. We can even automate the catching of people who shoot red lights with cameras and sensors. There was no such policing in this case. So just how long do we all sit there before someone realizes the instrumentation for the rule is broken?
Clearly shooting the red light is wrong, getting out and turning the lights off, fixing them etc. is tampering, doing a u-turn to avoid the lights is a possibility, or just sit....wait....hope it sorts itself out.
I would love to have a psychological profile of people done in these minor situations. The go for it driver, decides enough it enough, and then a few more follow them through. Or the driver in the queue who realizes they cant wait for the one at the front to come to the right conclusion and incents the one on from to move, lights flashing or just overtaking the laggard and leading the way anyway.
Of course there is a counter argument, if they all shoot the light then no one gets anywhere. That I guess it what happens when leaders clash and wars start.
In the end of course sense prevailed and a flow of self organized sorting out occured, small groups led by one leader go, then someone falters, and the next group is led forth from the other direction.
It feels like this is how innovation happens. People generally follow, there is a way to do things, but each person will have a limit, a point at which they can say nope, we need to do it this way.
That is of course how wars stop too.
As a mental excercise what do you do in the stand off traffic light dilemma?

Seven things you dont know about me?

LPT has tagged me in a meme of seven things you dont know about fillin name here.
This of course is hard to do as I am so public (sometimes too public) about who I am and what I do as part of the great experiment.
However lets have a go.
1. I was a consumer champion at the age of 10. My evel kneival character that rode the gyro wind up motorcycle had all the metal bendy bits in his arms and legs break. Whilst that may be true to life, it made the toy rubbish. So I wrote a letter, and they sent me a new Evel. I also collected enough tokens for a free cowboy "little big man" when I was about 8 I think. It arrived, saddle and all. Yet there was no horse in the range at all to buy to go with it. I complained, and they sent me a horse from another toy range.
2. I invented optic fibre christmas trees. When I was about 10 again, I saw one of those lovely lights all optic fibre and bristling as a sphere. Well, I thought woulfnt it make sense to mould that into an xmas tree. Drew a picture. Left it at that. About 5 years later I saw some in the shop and though drat, I really must follow things up
3. When I was 9 I out a message in a glass bottle, a corona bottle and threw it into the sea. It had some information, address, name, some puzzles and ideas in it. When I was 13 I got written to by someone who had found it. Volker Brendall was the name. Unfortunately I did not write back enough. I should have followed up on that serendipity. (just changed number 3 BTW from a very boring one)
4. I have 3 nipples, though the third one is more like a small spot, rather than a full on james bond scaramanger. Just a doctor explained it once doing an exam.
5. I will eat all food, not that squeamish, but I draw the line at dessiccated coconut, its like crunching gravel on Michael Bentines Potty Time.
6. When I grew up I wanted to be a film stuntman. That was way before seeing Fall Guy. I saw a programme about Yakuma Canute in Stage Coach and thought that was awesome. Probably why I am so willing to take risks and get beaten up :)
7. I used to really like going beach fishing back in Norfolk as a kid. In particular I liked doing long casts. The Yarmout cast in particular is tricky as you swing the line backwards over your head whilst facing away from the see. Its risky as get it wrong and you get the weights and hook in your face. It was great fun.

So thats me, I am sure there are some more lovely insights into who I am and why I am.

For not I have to pass it on to seven people
Roo Reynolds, Rob Smart, Darren Shaw, Michael Ackerbauer. Andy Piper, Jim Purbrick, Patchouli Woollahra

Duck @70

Duck @70, originally uploaded by epredator.

My dad, epred snr is 70 tomorrow. As he is visiting we had a pre-birthday party, tomorrow we go to that there nodnol.
Sainsbury's do a great whole cripy aromatic duck, so that was tonights meals. YUM!

Xmas Hamper

Xmas Hamper, originally uploaded by epredator.

We won a hamper at the school xmas fair. It was a little awkward as I dropped predlet 1.0 off at school to have to carry a huge box of smelly soap back to the car. A fellow dad, you know who you are, suggested all my wifely xmas gift presents were sorted if only I kept quiet. Doh!