Hey guys,

Well, I decided to make my own diffuser for my S5700, so that I can make softer, but bright baby photos.

I have made a template and tutorial for you guys, in case you also want to use it.

To make the diffuser, all you need is to download and print this template pdf file: DOWNLOAD HERE

Have Fun!

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"I can’t help but feel that Nintendo killed my inner child, they just put it down like an injured horse...cold and callous."

Nintendo has a very predictable habit of wringing every last drop from its franchises and MarioKart for the Nintendo Wii is no exception. Unfortunately, while playing this game, I had the feeling their cloth of ideas went dry and they were just clutching at straws.

I have to be honest, at this point of the review, I have lost count of how many times I have written and rewritten this part. Seriously, I expected a new game. New tracks, new improved characters and abiliities, fun new vehicles and environments to mess with - maybe even a track editor. However, what Nintendo gave us was this freakish FrankensteinKart.

So I will break down the game into parts, to better explain what happened.

New Tracks

They have designed new layouts for tracks, but they are more or less the same old stuff. Same graphics, same style and same tracks...but I just said they changed the layouts...well, most of them are "classic" remixes from older MarioKart games. Yes, I can turn on MarioKart 64 and blast the same level as I do in the Wii version. Bad Nintendo, Bad.

New Vehicles and Abilities

You know, when my dad got his "new" Vauxhall Astra, it was new to him...but it did not travel at warp speed and had an engine room. No! It was just a new bog standard car and that's what I found with the additions of the cars in MarioKart. New looking, but essentially no different. Each car is also fitted with an extra possibility to flip in mid air, which gives you a boost - unfortunately, this small addition makes you feel that you're missing something really cool.

The bikes on the other hand should be totally new, as no other MarioKart game has them. But they aren't any better. Other than a little more drift, it's not really a selling point to the game (wheelies are cool, though).

New Characters

I was greatly disappointed with this. Considering the wide range of characters that Nintendo has at their disposal , they still stick to the Mario universe, which by now has become tiresome. Mario and Lugi are still the best characters to choose - as according to the manual, they both feature the best combination of speed, handling, etc. - and picking anyone else will make it harder for you to win. 

Online Play (when you have friends)

Maybe the only thing that makes this game interesting is the online play. Connect with your friends or strangers and kick each other's butts on the track of your choice. But I found that as the average player, you will probably never win against the strangers, as their skill levels are much higher than yours and you are left to resisting the urge to throw the Wiimote out the window. Playing with people you know is the only way to guarantee at least a fighting chance to a trophy - that's provided your buddy is not a fanboy.

The Wheel

I like the wheel. It's small, solid and color-coordinated. Yeah, there is nothing else to add to that, other than the fact that it's another bloody accessory lying around, which you can only use properly in one or two games that are available for the Wii right now. If you own an IKEA TV unit with storage boxes, beware. You'll be sick of tripping over the wheels within a week, because they don't really fit so well in anything IKEA (Feel free to tell me if you have a cure).

Gameplay

Ok, Ok, I ripped on this game quite a bit now. So here is the good bit: MarioKart is fun! But MarioKart was also fun when you played it on the Nintendo 64. Split screen play is a blast with a bunch of friends over for sure, but for the lonely gamer it can get boring quickly.

Conclusion

Repetitive spanning consoles, this game is something like version 1.5 before the new version 2, which we were totally expecting. Generally, I can’t help but feel that Nintendo killed my inner child, they just put it down like an injured horse...cold and callous.

A rental to be bought later (if you like it). But for a guy who played the N64 version, you might find that the old game is a damn sight cheaper on Virtual Console. Just tape your classic controller to a biscuit tin lid.

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I am always looking for a good tutorial to make me better at using Photoshop and this has to be one of the best tutorials I have seen in a long while. 

Well explained and also more importantly an original idea. Not just using 3d rendered images from the computer but actually using their camera to create the paint 3d effect.

I take my hat off to you gentlemen. Pure Artist!

Source:  PSDTuts.com

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"although they look fun and child friendly they are the biggest pile of poo around and your kid will hate you for it."

A friend of mine who might want to remain anonymous told me today that they are getting a Wii for their Childs birthday.

This will be a buyer’s guide to the Wii and some helpful tips to keep your little one pleased. 

Wii vs. Xbox 360

Wii Hardware and what to buy.

Wii Games

This is a list of games I think you should get for the 1st time buy or at least you might want to choose from the list as they are the best games available for the Wii. This should hopefully keep the Kid happy.

The legend of Zelda - Twilight Princes
Super Mario Galaxy
MarioKart
Metroid Prime - Corruption
Need for Speed - Pro Street
Splinter Cell - Double agent

Some notes on the games:

Zelda is a MUST buy as it is a classic game updated in a epic adventure.

MarioKart comes with a steering wheel attachment. If you want 2 player action I recommend buying another wheel. They are available separately but make sure that you buy the official one and not some cheep brand. To be honest I got one for 9 Euros which is nothing really.

Metroid, Need for Speed and splinter cell all have adult themes so please think about it first if you feel its ok for your child before you go buying them.

Another word of warning. Do some research on your games first! There is a selection of games that are not that great at all and although they look fun and child friendly they are the biggest pile of poo around and your kid will hate you for it. (an example is the "Nijabread Man" horrible just horrible). 

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In the Nintendo Wii fanboy circles it is hard not to at least hear this guys name in passing. To the more technical guys he is a genius and should be more loaded than Nintendo. To gamers he is a legend!

Of course I am talking about Johnny Chung Lee.

He experimented with using Nintendo’s "Wiimote" controller to see what other interactive options there are to that could expand the functionality of the Wiimote (and also to the Wii itself, I'll explain later.)

The Wiimote is a Bluetooth device with a LED camera. This means that flashing infrared LED's in front of the Wiimote it can track where the LED's are to the relative position of the Wiimote. Normally when you point the Wiimote to your screen that is connected to a Wii you need the sensor bar at the top or bottom to tell the Wii where you are pointing to. 

Johnny Chung Lee reversed this role and connected the Wiimote to his computer and thus into a whiteboard. Check out the video.

I will stress something I think Johnny missed from his tutorial. The Wiimote was not hacked. No software was downloaded to the Wiimote. You can pick it up again and use it on the Wii at any time. What he has done is just connect it to a PC and got the PC to interoperate the signals that the Wiimote normally returned to the Wii.

This means that really its a software issue to create new interfaces, thus gaming for the Wii might get a little more interesting!

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I went searching for a book on the subject on building model boats. This is tricky because on the likes of Amazon it gives me a lot of useless hits and also books that deal with exact scale display model boats. Also I found that what books I did find where printed way back in the sixties.

I was about to give up when I found this Gem: Build Your Own Radio Controlled Yacht by Bryn Heveldt

On Amazon the synopsis was weak telling me about the general idea of the book. But when I did some googling on the author I found out what information I wanted to know.

The book is centered on the Racing Sparrow 750 model and comes with full plans and instructions on how to build the boat from scratch. The fact that it comes with plans is awesome but it gets better than that. You are given full 3D images that can help you know what goes where and most importantly in which order to put things in.

This is making me rethink the whole Star45 idea. But I think in the end I have to start a little more on the simple site and the Star45 is not going anywhere.

So yeah this book is on my wish list for sure!

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This is my journey to learn how to build a model boat.

Because I am totally new to building boats, this project is not a remote controlled boat, but rather a display model. I really want to know if the plans work, if the materials work and also the methods of construction.

So this is the Star45:

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"This sort of equipment was normally only available to people that have SLR or DSLR's but now that’s all changing."

This pricey piece of awesome is the most useful accessory for the compact camera user.

If you have ever watched CSI you will see them using the even more expensive bigger brother to this ring light. There are 2 main uses for a ring light.

This sort of equipment was normally only available to people that have SLR or DSLR's but now that’s all changing.

I would like to say this is worth the buy at 80 Euros excl. shipping but I can't. I know how cheep LED's are and in the end how easy something like this or a light box is to make.

I do suggest you get something like this but maybe shop around 1st!

Source: www.enjoyyourcamera.com

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If your a developer of java applications for cell phones you might already know that Samsung is a B***h to get home brew applications installed.It was the case that only using WAP push (OTA) would work and that was not always available to everyone. Trying Bluetooth or saving the files to your memory card also did not work.

Well folks I have the solution for you.

Turn your phone on and dail *#9998*52824678255# The phone will say "Activated". (repeating this will deactivate this feature)

Then send your files via bluetooth to your phone and they are saved to your "Other Files" folder. Run the jad and it will install.

If you have the jad and jar files on your memory card you must frist transfer the files to the phones memory as the install does not over on the removable media.

(and easy way to rememeber the number would be to swap the numbers for letters *#9998*javainstall#)

This has only been tested on the D830 so let me know if it works for other handsets.

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The multi shoot log book is especially made for pro photographers on the move.

With EXIF data that is stored with your images you can access a wide range of technical data about your settings you where using on your camera. But what about the items that the camera can't record. Items like light conditions, cloud cover and location. Filling out your multi shoot log book means you can keep this information stored to referance later! 

The multi shoot log book is available in multiple formats.

Filofax Personal - Coming Soon

A5 - Coming Soon

A4 - Coming Soon

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I am not a big fan of either Sony or Microsoft. Either my Sony devices break down or Microsoft is bug ridden!

Well today’s news post is special. Sony have been developing a PDA phone in the hopes to kill off the Iphone and to be honest if they don't manage it they will certainly do some damage.

Well it has immerged that the XPERIA X1 will be using the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system.

I am torn over what I should feel about this. Even though I would happily switch to Mac if given the chance/money, I can't deny the fact that Windows is the most "software rich" operating system and companies by default build drivers or applications typically for Windows first. In the perfect world this would mean I would want both Windows and Mac OS which is the case.

So back to my decision if I where to make one: Iphone or XPERIA X1, Limited application OS (for now) or application rich OS.  Or do I have to stick with what looks cool?

Source: Crave, A Cnet Blog

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Ok so this is not a Photoshop tutorial per say. No in fact its a Windows tutorial but I will explain how its linked to Photoshop.

Lets imagine your surfing your mates flickr account and you come across a picture of him or her acting the fool. You might want to download said picture to add a mustache or just draw something silly, using Photoshop.

The quick way to do it would be to right click on the image and press "Save Image As...", if you’re using Firefox this will go to your desktop if it is set to default. With the file on your desktop you edit it and save it. Now it’s laying there doing nothing. You don't want to throw it out but can't be bothered making the few clicks to move it to the correct folder.

So this is what you should have set up to get those troublesome files off your desktop.

- Go to your "Control Panel" and open "Folder Options"

- Select the "View" tab and then mark the option "Show hidden files and folders". You need to do this for the next stage.

- Go to your user folder which is usually "C:\Documents and Settings\*USERNAME*" replace *username* with your user

- You will see a bunch of grayed our folders. Open "SendTo".

Here is where the magic starts. When you select a file and right click in the menu you will find a option called "Send To" and some options for various locations like your "My Documents" folder or the Desktop, it will even send to programs. These locations are just a bunch of shortcuts saved in the "SendTo" folder I just directed you too.

- We want to send images to the "My Pictures" folder. Open "My Documents" and right click on the "My Pictures" folder and click on the "Create Shortcut" option.

- Drag your new shortcut into your "Sendto" folder.

- Right click on that image or any other file on your desktop, then hover over "Send To" you can now click on "My Pictures"

You can only send files to shortcuts. If you set up a folder in the "SendTo" folder it will make that folder a submenu item in your right click menu. The advantage of that though is you can group your shortcuts into different requirements

Cons

This will only send a copy of the file to another location, so the image or document on your desktop will still be there and will need to be deleted manually.
If you have a lot of folders to send stuff too you have to spend some time making up the shortcuts.

Pros

Because it sends a copy and not the source file you can set up a backup to a portable hard drive like a manual mirroring system. Keeping files on your computer and on a portable hard drive.
You don't have to scale millions of subfolders to move files.
You also can send multiple files at once.

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Today I turned on my computer only to learn that vista service pack 1 is now available for download from the update center.

Countless bugs have been addressed and also the main issue of the battery consumption on laptops. I heard reports from the tech gurus that although the battery life is better the performance is down. If accurate this means Microsoft took coward way out and instead of actually fixing the issue they just capped the use of the processor.

I also heard many moons ago that 3rd party software is in danger of not working.... again....

At the risk of waving my hands around like an idiot screaming "Danger Will Robinson!", I would say NEVER EVER get vista if it is at all possible. I have had a few friends that have bought new laptops that don't offer any XP support at all and are forced to use vista.

Stay with XP or buy a Mac. Just don't buy vista... until you have to.

Oh the pain... Oh the pain!

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I had an interesting conversation with my new friend scalespeeder about the profitability in website advert. Scalespeeder was for in site ads and said that if there is money to be made, why the hell not (not a quote)?

We talked about why I would never place adverts on these blogs. Mainly I said that it would interfere with the design, but I did miss one other strong point, the moral implications of in site ads.

A while ago, when No Magic Pill was still new, I talked about a set of scales we owned and that they were horrible! I could have mentioned the model number of the scales and then we would have been in trouble, here is why...

Google Adsense is a smart tool. You stick it into your site and it will scan your content and Meta tags for key words that might relate to a product, then it will display the appropriate ads. So if I talk about dog food, then the user will see an ad for dog food. If I mention the brand and depending on whether they have paid for advertising, the brand will show up.

Now, back to my example with the scales. I wrote a negative review on a set of scales and mentioned the scale's model number. Google Adsense sees the number as a key word and places the appropriate ads. My reader then comes along and does not finish my post, maybe I am talking about something else at first. The ad catches their eye and they think, 'oh cheap scales' and clickedy click, crap inc's scales are purchased. I can't in good conscience show ads to stuff I dislike.

Another example would be a diet blog. We might talk about diets, gyms and exercise machines. I could be leading you into a world of pain with ads for bad diet books, to exercise machines that you might never use and to gyms that promote these super sized jars of protein supplements that make you moody and grow facial hair, regardless of whether you're a man or a woman.

There are safeguards in place that you can use to filter your ads down, but sometimes things will fall through.

So this, coupled with design issues, is why I would never place ads on my site...

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