The illage2 Technology Blog.

YouTube haters - The three don't's

2010-04-12T12:20:00.001+01:00

Don't like the video?
Don't like the user who made the video?

DON'T WATCH THE VIDEO THEN!

As simple as that, if your in the middle of watching a video then turn the video off and go elsewhere.

Final Thought – iPad

2010-04-03T08:44:00.001+01:00

I know that no one can shut up about the iPad and I get that. However I feel that I should give my opinion on the new device, and why I won’t be getting one.

First of all I have a Desktop PC and a Netbook, which are great assets to have on you. As Steve Jobs said, the iPad will not be able to match a netbook in terms of performance. I also have an iPod Touch, which is great for looking at my E-mails in a glance. So long story short I don’t need an iPad and I will not be wasting £500+ on one when I can save that money for better things …. such as a holiday for example.

So, why might you want to get one. The iPad is designed for those who prefer to sit at home and just quickly check their E-mail or read a book, to be honest though, the iPod touch can already read E-books so I don’t know why it’s being sold as an E-nook reader. It can also be used for students to read text books on their subject of study.

So overall, if your not a heavy reader, and/or have a netbook then you should save your money for a better time. The thing is don’t rush out to buy an iPad as knowing Apple they will release too many different generations of the iPad, and then you will realise that you wasted £500+ of your hard earned money on it.

I don’t hate the iPad, but I won’t be getting one.

Thoughts on new YouTube video player, the layout.

2010-03-29T16:38:00.001+01:00

I recently read in the YouTube UK blog about the new video page layout on YouTube. I managed to get it at college, but I couldn’t get it at home. However I only recently found out that it’s an “Opt-in” kind of deal. So I gave it a shot, and I was impressed.

The first think you will notice how minimalistic it looks. This is great, as those with slower internet connections will not have to wait for ages for a YouTube video to load.

Moving on now, the video description is under the video it’s self, I think that it is a lot better there. Because most people don’t even read the description, having it under the video will draw more attention to it. It also saves space on the right hand side. Which can be used to add more features. The view count has also been placed there.

Next thing, is that all of the YouTube user data is at the top (In simple terms the channel of the user who uploaded the video), next to that link there is a menu where you can see all of that users recent videos. Another feature that I like, saves space on the side bar and I don’t have to keep scrolling down all the time. The Subscribe button has been placed above the video as well. I think having the button there makes more sense, you can just watch the video and then click subscribe without having to scroll around to the right to subscribe.

If you are the uploader of that video, you’ll also get all the video editing options (for the descriptions), and you can also add anotations from there. It is placed above the video title.

Now onto the ratings. It seems YouTube have opted for a facebook “like and dislike” system. Instead of the old rating system. I quite like that because it is simple and it means that people can tell you whether they like the video or not without having to be confused about all the 5 stars stuff.

YouTube have also added a share and favourite button under the video as well.

Finally, onto the comments section. They have added an “Attach video” feature to the comments, instead of having a separate section to post a video comment. Really good feature, as it has more integration with the comments section.

That is not all that this new layout has to offer. I didn’t cover everything since most people don’t want to be reading on forever. I did cover the major changes.

Overall;

The layout is nothing short of amazing. It has been laid out really well and it isn’t hard to find where everything is. This is the one update that YouTube have gotten right in the past year.

YouTube - Haters

2010-03-23T09:11:00.000Z

YouTube
- illage2's YouTube

Now I know that it is unfair that I should keep naming and shaming people.... so I will not.

In this post I will talk about the Haters (again) because, I've not had a hate comment in a very long time, which is a good thing.

However today I got a comment mentioning the following;

"Ha ha wat up with ur face u look like some one in my year he pics his hair out"

Personally I think that this guy cannot spell for shit. He goes on and on about how he is smart because he goes to school, which is a load of bullshit in the first place. To me he is an undereducated 13 year old scally crackhead who thinks that wearing a hood and beating up women is cool.

Seriously though, if your going to try and "hate" on me over YouTube at least come prepared with something else to say, instead of the same bullshit I keep hearing from every hater. Also try getting your spelling and punctuation right as well, I'll still block and remove the comment, but I'll also respect the fact you took your time to check your spelling.

I don't mind people not liking what I do on YouTube, to be honest I don't expect people to like what I do on YouTube.
I don't mind people disagreeing with me either since I like discussing things.
I also don't mind constructive comments.

What I will not tolerate are some 13 year old brats hating on my videos for their own personal ego.
Your not clever enough, your not smart enough, nor are you funny enough to even try to hate on me.

App Review – Flast.FM (Online social music networking)

2010-03-21T20:52:00.001Z

By now you have already heard of last.fm. It's a free music social networking site, it allows you to listen to and discover new music. I find that this service can’t be beaten.

Anyway, this is about the iPod touch/iPhone app for it.

Price
Since the Application is free there is no need to give it a negative rating, at the end of the day having the application for free is a lot better than paying for it.

Usability
The Application was not designed for socialising on the site, it is more music orientated than it’s PC/Mac counterpart. All you’ll be able to access is the music radios, and search engine. the application does the same as it’s PC/Mac counter part, you can search for artists and start a new station with music by similar artists.

The search engine (as displayed above) works how you would expect it to work. It’s also quite fast, so that’s a plus.

When you have found an artist(s) you can then activate the radio screen, however this is where it starts to slip believe it or not. Crash issues and slow downs are quite common while listening to the radio stations even on a full wireless signal which leads me to believe it is the application itself that is at fault here. This is what might put you off the application in the first place. However, if you can manage to work around the issues with the radio player it’s self then it works great, but take into account that the slow down’s and crash issues will also affect the entire application it’s self.

After selecting an artist the station will be saved to the main home screen, so when you open the application up you can chose the artist station you want to listen to without having to search for the artist(s) again.

Overall

Bad points

Suffers from crashes and slowdowns too often
No offline mode
No way of buying/downloading tracks
No social networking of any kind
Eventually runs out of music to play on a station
Lack of ability to comment on an artist

Good Points

Works exactly the same as the artist radio stations on the PC/Mac Counterparts
Search engine is easy to use
Recent stations are automatically saved to main menu
Whole application is easy to use
Can save separate songs to a play list.

App score – 6/10
The crash issues and slow downs need to be solved.

Blog This! (by Google) - Google Chrome extension gallery

2010-03-18T14:47:00.000Z

Blog This! (by Google) - Google Chrome extension gallery

Hello there one again everyone.

Do not worry about this blog post as I am currently testing out the "Blog this" extension on Google Chrome. So far so good.

If only they brought out an iPod Application for Blogger that would be quite interesting.

Do you agree with me on this?

Let me know by leaving a comment below.

News: I’ve become a writer on Duncsweb

2010-03-17T14:29:00.002Z

I’ve been posting comments on Duncsweb for a while now. I really like getting involved with what people post on there.
Today I was contacted by the owner of the site DuncanM and he asked me if I wanted to start writing on there, I accepted his offer and I am now part of the duncsweb team. I am very happy and honoured to be given this position, and I will continue to produce content for the site.
You can view my profile here.

My advice, is to be involved, you can't expect to be noticed, if you do nothing to get noticed. You have to be in it to win it.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to posting more content both on this blog, and on Duncsweb.

Steam Beta – My thoughts.

2010-03-17T11:00:00.001Z

I was bored one day, and I thought that I should give the beta version a try, it was free so I wasn’t going to miss out on anything,
and if I didn’t like it. I could just go back to the original steam client.

Thankfully this was not the case.

It seems that the steam beta is a hit or miss kind of deal with some people. Personally I love it, but at the end of the day you either love it
or hate it.

I like the beta as it allows me to organise all of my games into specific lists, and categories of my choosing with ease, in the previous version of steam,
all of my games were unorganised and hard to find, with this new feature included in the beta. It makes my life so much easier.
Also it allows me to see any relevant game updates or releases at a glance, in contrast to the older steam client I had to right click on each game
just to see if there were any updates. It’s a nice user interface. The in game overlay and web browser have also been improved. Simple and easy to use.

Now onto what might push you away from the steam beta.
First of all, your not going to be able to chat to other players using the in game overlay, which I find annoying but not too much of a problem.
Secondly, some games might have a hard time working with the steam beta. This hasn’t been the case for me, but reading around on the internet,
I’ve found that some people have this issue. It is something you might want to take into account when trying the beta out.

My final verdict;

This steam beta is good for those who want to save time, and are looking for a much easier and better looking interface with better organisation.
If your worried about not having the chat and some games work then I would avoid it until the final release.

If you don’t like the beta, you can always revert back to the original steam client. You have to keep in mind that the new steam is in beta and will have the
odd issue from time to time.

Thanks for reading.

Blogger in Draft – My thoughts.

2010-03-17T10:46:00.001Z

As many of you already know, I’ve done a major overhaul of the look and feel of the blog, I was sick of using the old templates.
So I decided to give blogger in draft a try, and use the new template designer, that is supposed to allow you to adjust each aspect
of the blog. It has also given me the option to add “Pages” to the blog, these are not blog posts per se but they allow me to dedicate an
entire page to one subject, instead of getting it mixed up with other unrelated blog posts.

Blow is a screen shot of the new template designer interface

Personally I think it is fantastic that it allows me and many other users to make a professional looking blog, I have yet to find a single fault with it.
I have to say that Blogger has done a fantastic job here. It’s worth checking out if you have the time.

What would you like to see?

2010-03-16T15:46:00.000Z

I have a question, what would you all like to see posted on my Blog, technology wise?
I ask this because you are the reader, so you should have a say in what gets put on the here.

Send your suggestions to
illage2@googlemail.com

Thanks for reading this short blog post.

New Web site - Tech-comp a technology site.

2010-03-16T15:42:00.000Z

Yes it is offiical I am making a new website, which I'm still currently working on.
I've not had a lot of success with my old outdated website, so I decided to make a new one.

http://www.tech-comp.webs.com

The above link will take you to the new site, keep in mind that it is not finished yet.

Thanks for reading.

Firefox 3.6 issues & How to Fix.

2010-03-15T19:34:00.001Z

When I first upgraded to Firefox 3.6, I was largely disappointed at the fact I couldn’t install new add-on’s nor could I remove any. Also every time I opened Firefox the Add-on’s Window would load up as if there is an add-on that needs updating, but when it did there was nothing there. Aside from that I also had slowdown issues with the software it’s self, and it really annoyed me to the point of where I switched back to Google Chrome.

(Google Chrome running under Windows Vista)

So how do I fix this issue with Firefox?
Well that is actually quite easy, for those that don’t know how to uninstall it. First you need to go to Control panel, and then add/remove programs.
If your running Vista click on the start menu button, and then click on “Control panel”.

You should then get the below window.

Click on uninstall a program (it is in the “programs section)
Now when the next Window opens scroll down to find “Mozilla FireFox” and then click on the uninstall button at the top. (See the image below)

After you have clicked on uninstall, follow the in screen prompts and then you should have uninstalled it.
All you have to do now is re-download and install FireFox again, when installing Firefox make sure you follow the on screen prompts.
That is about it for this blog tutorial, keep in mind that this guide was intended for less technically minded people. So I don’t need to see comments such as “everyone already knows this”.

iPod touch - Have to pay for Applications?

2010-03-15T16:16:00.000Z

When having a look around the Application store on iTunes, I am shocked to find people asking money to use social networks that you can use for free on your PC/Mac.

Why should you have to pay to make an on-the-go version of a social network, if the official website offers the service for free then why pay for it.

So here are my "work around" and free applications suggestions.

TweetDeck - Twitter, Myspace,Facebook,LInkedIn
Facebook application - Facebook
Last.fm - Last FM application
Yahoo IM - Yahoo instant messenger

Other recommended free applications

Google Application
SpeedTest.net - Test your internet speed
Wikipedia
Wakoopa
eBay UK - Can bid&buy from eBay UK
Photoshop.com application (Yes it's an official Adobe Application and it's free.

If anyone knows of any more free Applications don't hesitate to send me an E-mail.

College Computers - The "source" of all stress.

2010-03-08T10:39:00.000Z

What I find funny is that the computers I use at college are quite bad, they keep crashing all the time, they keep slowing down and so on.

However when I play source games such as Left 4 dead 2, I see the same computers rendered as props in the source engine, indeed these computers are the "source" of all stress, the ones at college anger me a lot and when I play games to unwind I find them in the game.

This could make a good G-Mod Machinima ....... hmmmmmmmmm

Free software - Nimi Viuals

2010-03-08T10:34:00.000Z

Nimi Visuals is free software that will allow you to have Compiz like effects on Windows. However it seems that these Visuals might take a tole on your system so make sure you have a decent mid range system before you run the software.

Personally I don't see the need in using this software, but none the less it's worth checking out, and if you don't like it you can always uninstall it.

You can download it here.

Thanks for reading.

New Technology/Gaming forum

2010-03-08T10:29:00.000Z

A friend of mine on YouTube has recently made a Gaming/Technology forum.
He is known as Sakotius and he makes amazing let's play videos as well as some video tutorials.

Check out his forum, (users of the Mob3 forum will have no trouble)You can register for free and it's quite easy to post, and reply to posts on there.

Here is the Forum

Make sure you check out his YouTube channel. (The link is at the top)

Thanks for reading.

Classic C&C Game for free - Legally

2010-03-08T10:16:00.000Z

I'm actually very surprised to find that not many people know about the C&C classic games being free. People are aware that C&C Tiberian sun is free, however there are more C&C games going for free.

Download C&C games.

The link above will take you to the official download page.

Games included are;

C&C 95 - With XP patch and new levels from console versions of the game. Works on Windows 7 starter on a netbook perfectly.
C&C Red alert 95 - Comes with a Patch and has all the expansions ready to download too, the patch will allow it to run on Windows XP and above.
C&C TIberian sun - Not tried it yet but I believe it should work on all systems from XP and above.

All of the Download links are virus free, and it's also a safe download as it is from the official C&C website.

Along with this I would like to announce that C&C 4 will be out March 16th(according to the website) if you pre-order the game now you'll get an extra mission plus the sound track.

Thanks for reading.

Portal 2 coming to Mac? What about the Windows version?

2010-03-08T10:01:00.000Z

Portal 1 was amazing and I had high hopes for portal 2. It seems Valve are releasing steam for Mac OSX very soon.

Whether or not portal 2 will be a mac only game or whether it will be cross platform remains to be seen. Knowing Valve they will probably make it cross platform, as Valve have nether let the comunity down, and not once have they made a "bad" game.

In the past Mac OSX users had to make a bootcamp parition and then install Windows to play Valve/Steam games. Not any more.

Also will this mean that all currently exisitng games will be cross platform?

In my opinion I doubt it, it's the same case with the PS3 Vs Xbox deal, MAC OSX is harder to code games for, and having to re-code all the games on steam already will be a challenge. I think there will be a new line of games for the Mac OSX, like I said before I hope Valve manage to make the newer games (including Portal 2) cross platform so that everyone can enjoy it.

Also does this mean we might be seeing more cross platform Multiplayer games as well?
I think it's possible, it's already been done with games such as Universe at war and GTA IV on PC, you can play against people who have the Xbox version of the games.

iPod touch/iPhone 4.0 update hopes and fears.

2010-03-01T11:25:00.000Z

I am anticipating the new iPod touch OS update that is "apprently" coming soon. Here I'm going to lay down my fears and hopes for this new update.

Hopes
- Better application management
This seems to be a much needed improvement especially for those who have a lot of applications to manage.
- Error reporting
I think it would be a good idea for apple to have an error reporting system, and when needed have that download a fix or patch to deal with possible errors.
- Better battery life
A big issue for the iPod touch and iPhone, having the battery life last a bit longer would be a good idea
- More accurate tilt control
I find that even when holding the device flat or straight, the tilt feature on some applications activates, it would be nice to see a fix for this come soon.

Fears
- Stability issues/slow down's
Having a new OS might take up considerable resources that may cause some crashing/stability issues.
- Price
Personally I think the updates should be given free of charge to all users, as I feel that making people pay for an update is stupid. A typical example of apple's business practice of taking more money from you.
- Apps
I think that the app developers shouldn't constantly make people pay more money for OS 4 applications, when I got my first iPod touch I had to update as every app would only work on OS 3.

formspring.me

2010-03-01T11:09:00.001Z

2010-02-11T11:20:00.001Z

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/illage2

formspring.me

2010-02-11T11:15:00.001Z

What's your main goal in life?

To make screen casts professionally, and also be able to earn a good living.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

2010-02-11T11:10:00.001Z

XP or VISTA?

I would say Vista, but it all depends on the specs of the machine I am using. In simple terms on lower end computers I would use XP.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

2010-02-10T08:00:00.001Z

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/illage2

Dock applications - Which one is right for me?

2010-02-08T12:24:00.000Z

Dock's which one is right for you?

Last night, I made a video giving my opinion on what dock application you might want to use and why.
However I didn't cover all of the Dock applications on Windows. I feel I should cover them here on the blog. (In no specific order)

RKLauncher (http://home.cogeco.ca/~rklauncher/) - Personally I do not like this dock application, it's buggy, it's full of glitches and just overall it is a pain in the arse to work with. It will keep constantly adding icons automatically for no reason which will eat away your CPU and RAM. However if you can get it working correctly it can be a great application.
Circle Dock (http://circledock.wikidot.com/) - I covered this in a video on YouTube, and I must say it is a very good little application if you don't like the other dock applications out there. It seems to be built off the same engine as rocket dock so it is worth checking out. However, on lower end computers it struggles performance wise, also the dock it's self tends to get in the way of doing normal everyday things on a computer.
XWindows Dock (http://xwdock.aqua-soft.org/) - I gave this dock a try and it is quite a good dock, it works just as the website says it does. However, performance wise it kept lagging even on my high spec system which can run most games. It leads me to believe that the application it's self is the cause, but it works quite well when it can run smoothly.
ViGlance (http://lee-soft.com/viglance/) - A very good dock application that emulates the Windows 7 superbar. Works amazingly well on Vista and doesn't do any CPU/RAM damage to the computer. One thing I don't like is on XP the transparency doesn't work which ruins the overall effect it brings to Vista users.

Ultimatly it is up to you to decide which dock application you want to use. If you know of any more Dock applications for Windows don't hesitate to send a link to illage2@googlemail.com.

Thanks for reading.

YouTube haters .. why?

2010-01-28T20:53:00.001Z

You know if there is one thing I always wanted to know, it would be why the haters do what they do. In this blog post I go over what I believe to be the main reasons as to why they do it.

Boredom, being one of the most common reasons why haters do what they do. A kid who is sat at home alone, and they are bored and have nothing to do.

In this case my advice is to do some constructive instead.

Jealousy, too often is this the case. It seems that most people get jealous of my success and they will do anything to remove to competition.

Instead why not try and make better videos, that might be why your not getting that many views.

To make up for their own short comings, yes a very typical reason, they feel bad so they want to make others feel just as bad.

In this case I would be a man and get on with life as I see no point in making someone else feel as bad as I do.

There is nothing wrong with someone only wanting to see positive comments on YouTube videos, and on the internet in general for that matter.

Why do you think these people do what they do?

Do I hate Apple?

2010-01-28T14:32:00.000Z

A lot of questions about me apparently hating Apple have surfaced. So I though why not give a response and tell you what I think of Apple personally.

I don't hate Apple, I just question the prices on their products and their business practises. Why would I hate Apple when I have a fantastic iPod touch.
Apple also have fairly decent customer support with the genius bar which is a great idea so if my iPod goes faulty I just take it to the Apple store and book a free appointment.

However I don't like the fact that they expect people to pay over £1000 for a computer when you can get a W7 PC with high specs for about £500 which is the same price as the lowest end Mac.

Also the people that "overhype" new Apple products such as the iPad. It's not new technology, there have been a few W7 laptops out there than can double up as a tablet computer if you wanted it to, I also belive there is a netbook that does that as well.

I don't hate Apple, nor do I like Apple. I just think that they are making technology that's useless, and as always with Apple a product will be "phased" out due to the iPad.

That was my answer. What do you think about Apple or Microsoft?

Tech Survey ... blog based.

2010-01-25T14:51:00.000Z

I've decided to do something a little different for this tech survey, and that means I won't be answering it in video form.

Are you willing to pay for the next iPod touch software update?

Not unless I have a choice.

Do you feel that Apple products such as the iPod touch are too restrictive?

Yes I do, apple won't even allow flash player on the iPod which I think is stupid.

Do you think the Zune will be out in the UK?

I don't know really, the UK is the biggest market for music so I don't see why it shouldn't be out here in the UK soon.

What do you think about the proposed "iSlate".

To me it's going to be a very large iPod touch. Apart from that I think it's going to be overly hyped, and these apple fans will waste money buying it when they won't be using it. Microsoft had that technology way before apple did, and there are several W7 Laptops that double up as a tablet.

If apple made a games console would you buy it?

HELL NO! At apple pricing I can't see it taking off, and besides MS has already dominated that corner of the market.

In your opinion what are Apple's worse products?

The headphones, they break easily and are very expensive. In my opinion not worth it.
The mighty mouse, like with the headphones it breaks when dust get's caught in the scroll ball.
Design wise it's a bad idea it get's dirty easily.

In your opinion what are Microsoft's worse products.

Windows XP since it crashes a lot and is unreliable.
Xbox live headset breaks easily
Microsoft works.

Do you think that there will be a hand held Xbox 360?

I can't see it because of the hardware inside of the Xbox 360.
I can however see a hand held xbox with toned down versions of the console games.

And that's it for this survey if you have any more send them to illage2@googlemail.com

Blog updates. 25/01/10

2010-01-25T14:24:00.000Z

As you have probably all noticed, the blog has undergone a few changes.

The biggest change would have to be the template. I got fed up of the dark template and opted for something different for a change.

Other changes include.

Added a "Twitter" widget to the side so you can see my latest posts on Twitter.
Google search to make it easier to search Google.
Wakoopa tracker so you can see what software I use on a daily basis.
"Latest videos" added to side to show some of my latest videos on YouTube.
Added a "Follow" button so you can follow the blog.
Added RSS and Atom feed buttons so you can subscribe to the Blog in a reader.
Added a "Share" section which allows you to post the blog to Twitter or FaceBook.
Added "News and Blogs I read" so you can follow other technology blogs that I read.
Added "Where you can find me" so you can find me on the internet.

Other fixes pending.

Punctuation needs correcting
Minor spelling errors
YouTube videos posted on Blog posts need to be resized to fit within the column. You'll notice why if your using a High resolution monitor using 1440x900 or greater.
Removing the "Google search" title from above the Google search box as it looks unprofessional and doesn't tie in well with the rest of the blog.
Looking to add more widgets and Gadgets to the blog.

I think that the Twitter widget will need some updating to help it blend in with the new template.

I am also using "Windows Live writer" to make Blog posts.

The latest Micorosft Advert ... my opinions.

2010-01-18T13:00:00.000Z

Microsoft has recently been uploading adverts to YouTube .. in all sense they are ... Mac V PC videos. These adverts have stired up a lot of reaction from the OSX and Apple comunity about this. I thought it was time a PC user responded to this latest advert.

Here are my opinions.

The kid wants a gaming computer, but heads straight for the Mac Books? While Macs can play games, the majority of the games are on the Windows platform. The kid seems to know enough about computers to know this.
Another thing about gaming is that laptops aren't designed for gaming but they do ok for light gaming, the kid never stated this and had me confused. Or he could have gotten a gaming laptop.
They have $1500 budget, they could have gotten a high spec gaming desktop for that price and still have $500 left for his mum to get a computer.
He wanted blu-ray what is the point when you can buy HD content from netflix (in the US), blu-ray movies are twice as much as a normal DVD.
I can see the advantage with the big screen, but how is he going to take advantage of the screen reolution for games?
They also got a sony Viao when they could have gotten a cheaper brand and still have all what they need.

In my opinion laptops arn't designed for heavy gaming, they are designed for the on-the-go professional who may occasionly play the light game but not crysis. However there are gaming laptops but they are too few and far between and quite expensive, and they are a lot harder to upgrade when you want a new graphics card, so your stuck with an industry standard graphics card.

So what do you think about gaming on a laptop?

Tutorial videos fading away?

2010-01-17T14:06:00.001Z

I recently got a very good comment from “989Sasukee”. Saying
”Hell illage I love you video. Only thing is after you became a partner you videos have kind of slumped down a bit. I still love them ,but make them more interesting. Like for the windows tutorials try showing us cool type of apps. Or some nifty tricks. I know you might think you are ,but to tell you the truth when you weren't a partner you actually made better videos. I hope you read this and kind of listen to what I am saying.”

I’d like to thank you for that comment. Yes he is right, since I’ve become a partner finding something to make a screen cast on is becoming difficult, I’m thinking of remaking some of my older videos to bring them back up to 2010 standard. Apart from that I have nothing. None to worry though as there is still some hope, I would like you yes you my subscribers to send any ideas for a YouTube tutorial video, I figured since your the audience, your the people who know what you want to see on my YouTube channel. So send any suggestions or questions to illage2@googlemail.com and I will try and answer your E-mails. Please don’t be offended if I don’t reply to your E-mail right away, I get tons of E-mails a day, which I o read.

I hope that you all manage to send those ideas into me. Thanks for reading.

The weekly catch up.

2010-01-06T09:45:00.001Z

Some of you may be wondering what you might have missed over the past week, well here is where I share that with you.

First of all, is the updates to the blog your reading right now, I’ve added features and taken some features away, see the previous blog post for more details. I did these updates to make the Blog standout, I’ve also added a feature where users can post without having to be a registered user on Blogger (The service I use to make this blog)

Second of all I talked about how Spotify on the iPod Touch/iPhone is a rip off. See full blog post for more details.

Thirdly I talked about the snow in the back garden I have to say that the snow here in the UK is quite deep (For the UK anyway).

And lastly here is my latest YouTube Tutorial.

Installing icons and themes to ObjectDock is easy.

The Snow …. no college?

2010-01-05T12:05:00.001Z

Yes it appears that the UK has been hit by the worst winter ever. Some are even saying it won’t start getting better until February, but by then most of the damage has already been done.

The following video shows just how bad it is.

The snow is a lot deeper than it looks.

This meant that I had no way of getting to college, the whole bus service has been cancelled, There’s not enough fuel in the car, Taxi’s are too expensive and it’s too cold for me to walk there. However on the little fuel we had left in the car I did go to the college but no one turned up and to be honest I’m not wasting my time doing nothing to find out that I am not in anyway. One thing I do find odd is that the college hasn’t rang my house to ask why I am not in so I have to assume that I wasn’t going to be in anyway.

If I lose my EMA because no one knew what was going on and plus the fact I couldn’t attend college due to factors that were beyond my control, then I have every right to appeal against it. Also we did try to ring the office to tell the college that I wouldn’t be attending today but all we kept getting was an answer machine, this was after the office had opened at 9am.

Spotify on iPod? Worth it?

2010-01-04T17:56:00.001Z

I recently downloaded the spotify app on my iPod touch because the app was free. I like using spotify on my computer and I thought it would be a nice thing to have on my iPod.

However when I singed into spotify on my iPod touch I get the following message:

Why? When the app store says the app is free. The screen shot below is proof.

What I don’t understand is why they say that the app was free in the first place. Surely they could have said on the app store that it was £10 a month. But lets be honest here, spotify for iPod touch is expensive, you need an internet connection (offline mode isn’t available on the iPod touch) and honestly there is no point when you can listen to music for free on your iPod it’s self.

I’m not saying that spotify “free” on the computer is bad, I actually think it’s a good application to have. However it still needs an internet connection, unless your willing to pay £10 a month just to get offline access.

Like I said I prefer spotify on the computer. Please note that I said iPod touch, this was done intentionally to see if people even care about the iPod touch. To be honest, I’m not paying £10 a month to listen to music when I can buy an Album from Asda for a one of payment of £10. Also I’m not surprised it got low ratings, information like that shouldn’t be in the small print.

Some ... small updates to the Blog.

2010-01-04T16:01:00.000Z

As you probably all know I have updated the blog with new features and so on.

Here is a run down of all the new features.

Added a small "Video Box" to the right side. To give a small preview of the latest videos.
Added "Share, Subscribe, Latest videos" to the bottom of the page. I added them so you could subscribe and share, and watch my latest YouTube videos.
Added "News & Blogs I read" to the right side. So other people can follow the same blogs and news sites that I follow.
Added "Where you can find me" to the side. I also added some sites that I post on regularly.
Added "Google Search" So readers can search google without having to leave the page. It is also there to help people search for something specific from the Blog as well.

I am also using Windows Live Writer (When I have access to it) to publish entries to the blog. I like using WLW (Windows live Writer) as it's easy, it's effective and it also makes my blog posts seem a lot more professional.

System Analysis Quiz

2010-01-04T15:14:00.000Z

Do you want to become a Systems analyist? Take this quiz and find out.
http://careerplanning.about.com/library/quiz/career_quizzes/blcompsysanal_quiz.htm

It's actually quite good if your looking to become a systems analyist in the future as it can tell you what qualities you have and wheather they are good enough for being a systems analyist, and if needed the site will give you some very good research material for you to read if you don't get the desired result.

Even if it's not a career choice you want to take up it is an interesting quiz none the less. I personally want to be a video game tester, as I like gaming.

New tech Survey – Feel free to leave a response.

2010-01-04T12:48:00.001Z

Due to me being bored, and having nothing else to do I decided to make a tech survey for me and other YouTube users to answer. So far I’ve already gotten video responses from NunoKaka85 and AmazingJustinTech.

Here is the original video if you want to find out my answers.

Me answering my own tech survey.

If you would like to take the Tech Survey your self here are the questions.

1.What version of Windows is your favourite & why?
2.Favourite version of Linux & Why?
3.Do you think Microsoft make good products?
4.Do you think Apple make good products?
5.Which is better, Magic mouse or Arc Mouse?
6.Have you ever used a Mac?
7.What video editing software do you use?
8.What screen casting software do you use?
9.What podcasting software do you use?
10.How many icons are on the desktop?
11.Do you think 1080p on YouTube is any good?
12.Do you use Google reader?
13.Do you use Google mail?
14.Do you use Twitter?
15.Which is better Mac or PC?
16.Which game console is your favourite?
17.What game or series of games is your favourite?
18.What keyboard are you using?
19.What web browser are you using?
20.Do you use Steam?
21.What Twitter Application do you use? (On everything)
22.What software do you use to listen to music?
23. What version of Mac OS was your favourite and why?

I added the last question in at the last minute so to answer that question I would have to say Mac OSX Snow leopard.

Feel free to leave a video response. And I will link your YouTube channel here.

What do you think?

2010-01-04T10:57:00.000Z

Hi there everyone.

I just want to ask what you think of my YouTube videos and my Blog here on Blogspot.

What needs improving
What am I doing right
What do you want me to make a video on

I ask this of you as I need you to help me so I can help you. I always want to create content based on audience feedback.

If you have any video ideas send them to illage2@googlemail.com and I will get back to you. Keep in mind that while I do not respond to all the E-mail's I get I do read them all. So don't be offended if I don't respond to you straight away.

I am also holding a competition as well. If you think you make a better channel banner and a better video page banner than I have done, submit them to illage2@googlemail.com and I will use the Winner's designs.

Thanks for taking your time to read this blog.

A challenge to 4Chan?

2010-01-02T20:46:00.001Z

You have probably no doubt heard about 4Chan. The supposed “Internet hate group”. I don’t hate 4Chan per se, but I do however disagree with their approach to problems such as racism. I’m not saying what they are doing is right, nor am I saying what they do is wrong.
Anyway enough of that, thanks to our friend Sakotius on YouTube I’ve found out that a 10 year old kid wants to challenge 4Chan.

The kid trying to start a war with 4Chan.

I give this kid some respect he is finally standing up against 4Chan. However I believe he will lose since most of 4Chan’s attacks have actually produced some good results. One thing I don’t like 4Chan for was their attack against the Duncsweb technology chat. (An attack which banned me for a week by accident since the moderators clicked on “ban” by accident.) This attack wasn’t done with any logical reason, only reason I can think of is that someone got banned and didn’t like it.
Also the attack against YouTube. Where 4Chan hid pornographic images inside of SpongeBob videos, because YouTube removed the music videos. This made me sick, 4Chan there is such a thing called the “Law” and YouTube have to abide by it whether they like it or not. Here is the link to the news article that I am referencing.
[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8061979.stm ]

A video of the news footage about the YouTube attack.

In my opinion 4Chan could have found a better way to get music back to YouTube. To be honest I don’t think the attack did 4Chan any good.
So what are your opinions on this subject then? Do you agree with 4Chan, or do you agree with the challenge that kid is posting?
Reference Link.
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4Chan ]

College forcing me into university.

2010-01-01T19:30:00.001Z

I always wanted to go to university. People keep saying that I would enjoy my time there. I still believe them, but now reality has set in. but now I realise that the universities in Manchester do not offer a course in what I want to do, which is video editing. I know there is a course on video editing but it’s too much theory based and not enough practical work.

Why is that a bad thing, well it seems that the college is somewhat forcing me to take on a “Web development” course which is not what I want to do. If that wasn’t enough they are asking “us” to pay money for them to send off our university CV which is only one piece of paper which could be delivered first class for £1. They are asking £17 for that one piece of paper. In my opinion if they want to force me into university then they should pay for it then, other wise it’s up to me. I need to save every penny I get.

Also I should point out that I am not travelling to town as it’s too far away from me. Sure I could live near the university but it’s having the money, which I don’t have.

I just want to work for a living, I’ve had enough of education. I want to earn money straight away. I might consider an apprenticeship so I can learn while I earn. Since I like to learn by doing. I don’t like sitting there writing up reports.

Another YouTube update?

2009-12-28T00:54:00.001Z

In recent times whenever the word “Update” is associated with YouTube it seems people start getting worked up wondering whether the “update” is going to make the site worse.

The only decent YouTube update in recent times was when they have YouTube partners the flash up loader. Which in my opinion was the right move.

However now they seem to be at updating the site again, and I’ve noticed that the YouTube players seem to give lots of people an error when they try to watch them. But it seems that I am having another issue. The YouTube video in the player loads up fine for me but when I click play … nothing happens.

So why are YouTube doing this? If anything they should remove those 2 huge black bars at the sides of the player when viewing videos in HQ or HD. They serve no purpose (even on 1080p videos).

YouTube should announce any updates to their users before they update.

Where can you find me in the online world.

2009-12-22T13:16:00.001Z

A lot of people keep asking me where I can be found in the online world, and I keep saying twitter etc.

First of all is my twitter. http://www.twitter.com/illage2

Make sure you follow me on twitter for exclusive updates. I have found twitter to be one of the best online networks as it helps me keep up to date within the technology world.

Next up is my Xbox live – BeatJohn

I play mostly on Left 4 dead 2. However as of Christmas day (2009) my subscription runs out so I will no longer be able to play online since I use my PS3 for that now.

Playstation Network – illage2

I go online on MW2 on this a lot, however at times my little brother will also be using my account. I will be using this console for my online gaming.

Steam – illage2

I use steam to get good deals on PC games. I use this for online play every once in a while. Most of the deals I get on steam are quite good.

So that is where you can find me, I am only adding friends and family on Facebook so please don’t contact me about it.

Why Windows Vista, not Windows 7.

2009-12-20T17:36:00.001Z

A common question I get on YouTube is about why I am not using Windows 7 or where I got Windows 7 from.

Firstly I’m going to respond to the “Why are you not using Windows 7” Question.

To me Windows 7 doesn’t offer that much different from Windows Vista, all I can see in Windows 7 is the taskbar, and that alone isn’t enough to make me want to pay £149.99 for an upgrade I don’t need.
(Reference link - http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/offers/windows-7-family-pack.aspx)

Ok on to the second question which on where I got Windows 7.
I am not using Windows 7, I am on Windows Vista which in my opinion is the best of the Windows Operating systems that are out there. If your wondering how I got my Task bar to look like that. Please watch the video below. This seems to be a very common question and people keep asking me the same question over and over. I keep telling them to watch the video below.

Video of me showing you ViGlace for Windows XP and Vista.

As I said above I like the new Taskbar in Windows 7. However since I won’t be using any of the new features other than the superbar, an upgrade will be pointless and time consuming, and expensive. I personally think that Windows 7 should be made a lot cheaper for those who have Windows Vista already.

It’s not that I won’t give 7 a try. I would rather buy a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed than upgrade my own system to it, since I don’t want to break the only PC I’ve got.

Apple solider – Mac VS PC my views and opinions.

2009-12-20T17:15:00.001Z

If you have seen my latest video response to Apple solider, you’ll probably realise that he hates Microsoft and the Windows OS.

Here is my video response.

Video response opening a "Dock Clutter" debate

He really never said why having a cluttered desktop was a bad thing if it allowed people to access all their applications quickly and easily. I think it’s bad because at times Cluttered Desktops can be a bit of an eye sore. Which to be honest is typical of a Mac poser such as Apple solider.

So I started digging around YouTube to see if there were other Mac Vs PC video, and I found something interesting. It seems that AppleSolider will bash Microsoft Products without even using them.

Have a look at the video below for proof.

Emmek77 (AKA Applesolider) admits he will bash Microsoft products without using them on a live uStream broadcast.

So what is he trying to prove. Has he ever used Windows? Or any other Microsoft products?

One person I do like however is Zenn3K on YouTube who has made a few perfect video responses.

Zenn3K responds to Applesolider on piracy. And shows him the error of his ways.

Also I personally believe that AppleSoldier takes people who call him names a bit too far. He’s a grown man and he should know better.

No I do appreciate his points of view on Microsoft and technology in general and his tutorials are very good. However he does tend to take things a little too seriously.

Using “Windows live writer”.

2009-12-20T16:22:00.001Z

Yeah I heard from Duncs Web about Windows live writer. Which is a free program from Microsoft that is supposedly good for blogging according to the sites owner (MobilePhone2003 on YouTube).

I must say it’s a very impressive tool, really good stuff from Microsoft here. It adds all the functionality from Office 2007, such as formatting and spell checking etc.

Personally I would recommend it to anyone who is into blogging as it’s a great tool and works with all of the popular blogging services (Like BlogSpot), and it’s near seamless when publish the blog post. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to start blogging.

This software is part of the Windows live suite which is a free download from Microsoft. (Reference link - http://home.live.com/)

So from now on I shall be using Windows live writer to publish blog posts. Thanks for reading, if you would like to ask any questions please send them to illage2@googlemail.com and I will answer all your questions.

Half Life 2 Theories – Remade

2009-12-20T16:10:00.001Z

The “G-Man” is one of half life’s most infamous characters. He is a mystery to me and many of the Half life fans (such as myself). He seems to be one of those characters which seem to be working behind the scenes to manipulate the world to his own will (or to suit a plan).

1. G-man is Gordon Freeman from a different dimension/timeline people believe this because G-man’s facial features are identical to Gordon freeman’s features, and also the name “G-man” is missing the “Ordon free” from it. This is a stupid theory since the name G-man was made by half life fans and isn’t his real name. Since we don’t know his real name we' (meaning the Half life fans) will call him G-man.

2. G-Man works for the government. Which government the US government or an alien race’s government. The alien government theory makes more sense in this case, since the G-man could be luring the combine to earth in order for the alien race he works for the take over the combine home world a lot easier. In the end of Half life 1 he takes all of Gordon’s weapons away saying that “They are government property”. Maybe he is collecting them for weapons research to develop new weapons to combat the combine. He uses Gordon freeman to test out new weapons for the G-man to use against the combine.

3. Adrian Sheppard. I don’t know if any of you remember him from Half life opposing force, but I believe the G-man is also using him to carry out secret missions for the G-man’s alien race. I suspect that Adrian and Gordon will meet sometime in the half life series.

Some people have speculated that he is somehow connected to aperture science due to the aperture science hand held portal device (ASHHPD) move those letters around and you get something that’s close to Sheppard. But Valve has dismissed this claim, by saying it’s just one of those things people notice. (Reference link – http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/valve-clears-up-adrian-shephard-portal-speculation)

In my opinion it would be nice to see Adrian Sheppard return one day. I won’t hold my breath on this though. If you think about it, can every single military soldier be dead? One would expect that a few of them would have survived (this might explain how the rebels in HL2 can use guns so well). What about NORAD (No SG1 reference there)

4. Half life 2 Episode 3 – I think that GlaDOS will make an appearance in it as well as the portal gun. I think Gordon freeman will be sent to rescue Mossman and destroy the technology on the Aperture ship “Borlieas”. Because if Gordon tries to preserve any of that technology it could bring the risk of it falling into the Combine hands and thus make the combine destroy the earth.

If you managed to complete Portal you’ll see tons more copies of GlaDOS in the background so it’s a possibility. Also what about “Chell” the woman from Portal (Who you play as) I think she might factor in the story or make a possible appearance.

My half life 2 theroies.

2009-12-10T13:35:00.000Z

City 17 - One thing I don't understand is why are all the resistance fighters American? When City 17 is based in Europe somewhere. Is America defeated or is it just empty.

Combine - The combine conquer every planet with life on, why do they listen to Dr Breen when he asked the rest of the human race to be spared, why wasn't he killed. Are the combine Soliders human or are they alien. Also they put a suppression field over earth so that no one can have babies.

G-man - I believe the G-Man is an alien sent to aid Gordon Freeman in keeping the combine busy while the G-man's race get ready to conquer the combine planet. If you think about it Gordon was the reason the resistance was created, he caused the citadel to explode and was generally a pain in the arse for the combine. Invading a planet when all of it's defenses and military are concentrated else where can make it a lot easier to conquer.

Gordon - Where was he kept during the time between hl 1 and hl 2. Was he teleported to another planet?

Online secuity tips - Keep safe

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000Z

A lot of people have trouble staying secure online. I think that people depend too much on AV software that they end up forgetting about other ways of protecting their data or online accounts.

1.AV software - AV software can be good but if you depend on them too much you'll regret it since AV software doesn't offer protection against every type of security threat.

2. Passwords - Use passwords which contain letters, capital letters and numbers. While doing that make sure you write it down so you don't forget. Try and keep the password completly random so it makes it harder for people to guess.

3. Security questions - Sometimes you end up forgetting your password, these secuity questions can stop people other than you from gaining access to change the password. Make these secuirty questions personal so that you alone know the answer.

4. Never store passwords on publc computers - At school or college or other public place make sure you don't store any passwords or other login information as anyone could gain access to it. If need be carry a portable browser with you but make sure you don't save any passwords.

5. Never puchase online at public places - Like I said above people can easily use this to obtain your bank account information and then commit fraud with that.

So there was some tips for staying secure online I hope these tips helped you.

Office 2010 - review

2009-11-29T19:07:00.001Z

Microsoft office 2010 (beta) – Office 2007 with a few small changes.

Recently I downloaded the office 2010 beta, and I am impressed with it so far. However I feel that the changes aren't really a good enough reason for anyone to want to upgrade, all I have seen so far is a new "file" function, and some minor UI changes. It doesn't really stand out as being different from office 2007 that much.

When I said I was "impressed" I mean by the small new features which make office 2010 stand out from other word processors. The file function is a good feature to have but it may come across as annoying for those die hard Office 2003 fans out there.

The "file" interface has been changed since office 2007.

The text effects are second to none, before I found myself making images in fireworks to make reflective text on a word document, but now I don't have to. All I need to do is simply click on the relevant effect and away I go.

I was also impressed with the ribbon interface which they had in Office 2007. I find it really easy to use.

The Ribbon interface in office 2010. Hasn't been changed since Office 2007.

I'm am however also glad that they brought back the "Formatting" options which allow you to instantly format the text for a variety of needs. The user can also preview the formatting before applying it, which is something office 2003 (and earlier) didn't have, this will save tons of time.

The formatting options, are easy to access and use

Now moving on there are some new picture formatting options. These can add artistic effects, and other formatting options to make the images you use on Office 2010 stand out.

Some of the new picture formatting options.

Back to my main compliant about Office 2010. The interface isn't that much different from Office 2007, also it doesn't perform any better or worse. I feel that most of the new changes should be included as a free update for Office 2007. It seems to be the same mistake made here that they made with Windows 7. (If you didn't know that's adding small features and then making you pay full price for them when they should be free. Vista V Windows 7 is a good example).

The whole Word 2010 interface. Again not much has been changed since office 2007.

I do actually like it, and I am aware that the ribbon interface wasn't everyone's favourite. It works for me though, the new features do make a huge impact on the documents you create, and overall it's a good office suite. However I feel the upgrades aren't worth paying full price for.

YouTube Updates

2009-11-25T17:22:00.000Z

Yes it's time once again for an Update. I'm just going to talk about what export settings I will be using for my videos from now on.

I've been using the Xvid MPEG 4 codec for a while now, and while it did give me ok quality, when I zoomed in on the screen the text became pixelated and I didn't want that on my screen recordings, so I am now using .MOV and hopefully it should yeild better results. Only problem with .MOV is that it take quite a while to redner but I have set it to render with the best quality settings.

I'm also going to start doing some more software reviews on YouTube as well as making some more tutorials and video blogs. With that being said I am also going to be recording my webcam while recording my screen capture.

So you might start seeing a difference in the quality of my videos from now on.

Freeware Review - RocketDock

2009-11-22T07:39:00.001Z

As you probably all know by now I've been using objectdock for a while, but before object dock came "RocketDock" which is the one I used to use on a regular basis.

So what is RocketDock? In simple terms it's an emulation of the Mac OSX Dock, but it's for windows. There are many dock applications out there for Windows.

Ok so on with the review.

Usability: RocketDock is very easy to use and set up in a matter of seconds. And it just works.

RAM usage: The RAM it uses is very little compared to other dock programs.

Stability: The software is in fact very stable, I've never had any crash issues with the software.

Support: The support for 32bit Operating systems is ok, however the software can be run on 654bit, and there is also support for Windows 7. So no matter what Windows Version your using you should be able to download and use this software.

Version: I am somewhat disapointed since the site hasn't made a new version since last year, and it would be a shame to see such a project abanonded.

Graphics: The minmise animation is somwhat ... disapointing compared to the minimise animation on ObjectDock. The RocketDock animation isn't as smooth.

Customisation: The large amount of Customisation on this dock will keep you busy for hours on end trying to find themes, icons, and docklets that all work together. It would have been nice to have the ability to package icons, themes and docklets in one installer (much like Objectdock) so it would save time.

Overall: A good dock program to start out with, it has a large comunity making icons and so on for it. However if your looking for something a little better I would go with ObjectDock.

Yahoo account Hacked.

2009-11-17T09:42:00.000Z

It seems that Blazeuptheweed from YouTube has managed to hack my Yahoo mail account. So far he didn't do too much damage other than posting a TOS violation on Yahoo answers. I have changed my Yahoo password now, so only I know it.

It's funny how Blazeuptheweed is apparently innocent when he is hacking my Yahoo accounts.

Portable applications - Browser review(s)

2009-11-16T14:08:00.001Z

We all know about FireFox portable, but after some looking around the site (http://www.portableapps.com)I've found a new portable browser .... it's a portable version of Google Chrome 4.0.

So why do people use portable apps? Well they use them so they can take programs/applications they have on their own computer, to a computer which either doesn't have those programs, or a computer that is not their own. A plus side is that these application don't need to be installed on any computer as they are all installed via USB flash drive.

Personally I like the concept since these applications are usually small in file size, and they work quite well.

Anyway it's on with the review.

First I'm going to review Google Chrome portable.
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by (you guessed it) Google. It's fast, and it's also a very stable browser.

The portable version is just as good, for testing it i decided to run the browser at college to see how it performs on lower end specs and a slow connection. Surprisingly it worked fast and efficiently. However it didn't let me on facebook as it's blocked in college. It's a fast browser that does the job. In Version 4.0 you can add themes, but the portable version doesn't allow this for some reason. Overall it works well, doesn't crash and remains fast in terms of internet browsing speed.

Next I'm going to review Portable FireFox.
I've got Firefox(3.5) installed at home, and it's amazing to use. However it wasn't installed on the computers at college and I think I needed it as the college still uses IE6 and I needed something a little more faster.

I really like using this at college, the browsing speed is good but it's nothing special. I've also added a theme which had to be done manually and I think it would have been nice to allow this portable version to add theme's automatically. There are also stability issues when running this at college, and even at home. However despite all the issues, the YouTube playback capability (after installing flash) was ok. Like with Google Chrome it did have problems playing HD content. One thing that does stand out with this browser is that none of the websites are blocked(as you can see from the screen shot above) also it's an outdated version of FireFox (3.0 to be exact) and you have to update it by hand. On the whole it works for what I use it for (Facebook obviously, however if you don't like installing add-on's and plug in's by hand then I would avoid using this. It is however a common application used in homes, since it's capable so it's not surprising it's a popular application. They just need to nail the few problems with it(presumably by upgrading to 3,5). If you have lower end hardware then I would stick with Gooogle Chrome.

Windows 7 - Professional review.

2009-11-11T22:46:00.000Z

Since Windows Vusta had (apprently) failed to bring users what they wanted Microsoft Decided to create Windows 7 which was set to solve all of the problems Vista has broufght upon it's users.

Install time: Dpending on wether your doing a clean install or a standard upgrade the installation time can take up to 2 hours. Which for Windows 7 is a pretty standard install time. How ever I feel that the install time could be quicker.

Usability: I found Windows 7 fairly easy to use out of the box, anyone used to Windows XP and Vista may however find the new "superbar" a little hard to get used to at first. Once you manage to see past it Windows 7 is really easy to use.

Features: The biggest reason for people to upgrade. Windows 7 brings new features to the table. Aero snap allows the user to snap windows to either side of the screen so you can run 2 windows at the same time without having to minimise, again a good feature but can be useless for those on a dual monitor setup. Aero shake lets you shake all the Windows so they all minimise, but it keeps the current window open. Personally I feel that in the home some of these new features might not even be used. I think the only feature people might make use of is the Superbar and aero shake. I don't see how having 2 smaller Windows at either side can aid in productivity, as you have to keep using sliders to navigate your way around the page. In the workplace this can be a problem. Another feature I like is the desktop background switcher, which autmatically switches desktop backgrounds every so often. While this is a cool feature to have, when your running more heavier tasks (such as video encoding) the desktop backgound changing might cause some crashes.

Speed: The speed difference between Vista and 7 is barely noticeable. If you have Windows XP and want a change Windows 7 is much faster than XP

Design: It was nice to see Microsoft use a different design this time around. The new Superbar is a clean and fresh design. It's defintily a leap foward for microsoft. Having said that, some people might argue the case that the Superbar is trying to rip off the Mac OSX dock. Also the start menu got a little redesign with a new shutdown button, and it also takes up less of the screen. Apart from those few changes not much has actually changed since the Vista start menu. Also keeping the transparency when windows are maximised makes the interface look messy and unclean, having a big gap at the top of the Window(s) can be a major distraction.

Stability: In my personal experience I found the Windows 7 to be quite stable, but since it's bulit off Vista there might be some stability issues for lower end machines. Also I have been hearing a lot of reports (about the same amount that Vista had) about BSOD's in Windows 7.

Secuity: It's nice to see a revised User account control, but it would be a lot better off without having this feature in the first place, other wise the log in and lock functions would be a waste of time. I had another secuirty issue. After installing Windows 7 the power at my home cut off for a while. Once I got back into Windows 7 I find my self locked out of everything. I couldn't even access the start menu.

Overall: It's nice to see Microsoft make a new OS. But however I feel that the lack of use of the new features and the poor secuity and stability issues make me want to stick with Vista and also some of the better features don't really make me want to upgrade. Windows XP users could make use of the better interface. My advice though, if your machine and OS serve you well and they work. I would save your money./

Left 4 Dead Crash Coure - Review

2009-11-11T15:39:00.000Z

I've purcahsed the GOTY edition of Left 4 dead on PC from Gamestation.
I thought it would be good to try out the crash course DLC but was kinda disapointed.

On with the review:

Graphics: Not much has changed with from the Left 4 dead 1 graphics. However I feel that the graphics while not the best are acceptable for this game. The scenerey is still the same city like area and narrow corridors. Overall Visually it brings nothing new to the table.

Sound: The sounds haven't changed from the original left 4 dead 1.

Gameplay: The gameplay remains the same. It would have been nice to see valve make an effort by adding meele weapons, or Left 4 dead 2 mechanics to the game. Only thing it does add is a little more of a challenge, but those who are pretty much experts at the original camaigns this will probably come across as a waste of time. I feel that newer Left 4 dead players will find this DLC intimidating due to the Tank appearing too early on in the game, and having only tier 1 weapons makes it harder to defeat the tank.

Lifespan: A shockingly short campign mode with only 2 chapters. Means that the fun from this campign will disapear quickly. Overall having 4 pleayers will make the fun disapear even faster. It would been nice if Valve would have included more chapters to keep the campaign going for longer.

Price: PC games can get this pack for free but I feel that Valve is being unfair to Xbox users as they have to pay for it.

Overall: I wouldn't pay for this DLC, so I advise Xbox users to stay away as it's not worth the price tag. For the money they want you could spend it elsewhere or save it. For PC gamers though it's definitly worth the shot. But don't expect it to be fun for long. I believe Valve could have done better.

I give this DLC 6/10

Blazeuptheweed apprently innocent?

2009-11-09T14:50:00.000Z

I got a hate message from blazeuptheweed(A known YouTube hater) stating that he was innocent and that i was ruining his apparent "Good" YouTube name. He doesn't have a name on YouTube.

The message he sent me was full of the same bullshit insults as usual.
Now if you were really innocent of this why would you be following me around on the internet trying to get the last word?

Yes he has been following me around the internet. He's found me on Blog TV, Twitter, Mob3(where the message came from),Duncsweb,Geeks. I don't believe he is innocent of making new accounts all the time. Can someone explain why the new haters keep using the same insults, and it was only after Blazeuotheweed requested I name and shame him.

Thoughts on the so called "Console war".

2009-11-09T14:35:00.000Z

A fanboy driven hate war is probably the best way of describing the "Console war".
Personally I don't mind people defending thier console, but when it get's to the point of where all points don't make a point at all. It's all about calling each other names when someone says that the other console isn't good for a number of reasons. Yet people seem to fight back with name calling and thinking that is a good enough reason to say that.

An example would be if someone said the Xbox Sucks, someone will defend it by name calling, without giving a reason as to they they like the console in the first place. I don't mind people presenting factual information about the consoles, and at least they can provide a credible source of information. Just because a console (such as the Xbox) makes a bad move you say the whole company is bad.

Microsoft make more than just the Xbox, sony make more than just the PS3.

What I am trying to get at is all consoles are equal.

YouTube Partnership - Thoughts

2009-11-08T11:54:00.000Z

As you probably all know by now, I am a YouTube partner. So it means I get some money from making YouTube videos, also I get to upload longer videos, and I get branding options.

I'm going to give my thoughts on this and why I think it's a good thing.

Payment: I'm not going to lie about this but so far I've only earned 32p, which started from thrusday which isn't too bad, but I'm willing to give it time since I've only been on the partnership programe for a few days, I don't expect to make millions over night.

Video Uploader: This is probably the one downside to being a partner, it's that your stuck with the older YouTube uploader, however I have found that using the Bulk Uploader will do just fine. I think the old uploader is too buggy and it would be nice for YouTube to give us the new Uploader that most Non-partner's can use. It's not that big of an issue though.

Longer videos: In the past my videos have seem somwhat rushed, that was because I had a 10 minute limt to my videos, but now I can take my time to explain things better, and it means that most of you won't have to worry about missing anything.

Branding options: The branding options are little logo's or banners that can be posted above the video description, also a banner can be placed at the top of your YouTube channel page.

More modules: Partners can place a module on thier channel to display any other channels they have got, for me however I use it to display other people who make videos like I do. They helped me so I help them. One of them is now a partner so it's all working out good.

Overall, I think the partnership programe will help me deliver more content to you all, and I hope that I start earning a fair amount of money from it so I can keep going. I'm not in partnership for the money, I'm in it so I can bring better content to people. I consider the money made is to be used to help me make better videos. It might not bring a lot of money but at the end of the day it's a little bit extra in your pocket. I also think that being a partner will help me gain more subscribers.