Posted by admin on Aug 24, 2010 in
geekery,
news,
technology 
There are many, many filesharing sites out there, from the infamous Pirate Bay to the smaller but equally popular BTJunkie and Isohunt. They provide users with a great many options, but sometimes the sheer amount of files they have can be a little overwhelming. This is where Karaoke-World comes in, a dedicated filesharing site that ONLY features Karaoke torrents!
You may wonder whether there is a need for this service, and that is debatable, but considering the continued popularity of games like SingStar on gaming consoles, and public karaoke bars such as Lucky Voice and K-Box, I do think the demand is growing. Shows like Glee and X-Factor put the idea of Karaoke style singing right onto the front page of the newspapers, and if you enjoy this activity you’ll probably want to know more about the recently launched Karaoke-World. Read more…
Tags: bitorrent, Glee Karaoke, Karaoke, karaoke filesharing site, Karaoke-World
Posted by admin on Aug 19, 2010 in
books,
geekery,
style 
As a voracious consumer of any type of fiction, I have a particular soft spot for science fiction, the fantasy end to be specific. Sure, I love Ben Bova, Philip K. Dick and Greg Bear, but my heart belongs to the wizarding worlds of Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, Piers Anthony (hey, his puns rule), Pratchett and Anne McAfferty. The list goes on, as I feel that Mercedes Lackey must get a mention, Simon R.Green, Ray Bradbury, Craig Shaw Gardner, Robert Aspirin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, Melanie Rawn-Ok, I’m going to stop now, as I’m getting carried away.
Suffice to say, I really LOVE the genre, and with it, the cover art. A lot of fantasy features the usual dragons, castles, and damsels wearing thin strips of clothing, but the trend for the sexualized fantasy females has changed in the last year. I’m happy to note that a recent survey by Orbit Books showed that the way women are portrayed in cover art has drastically changed over the last year. Forget about the heroine teetering in impossibly high heels whilst wearing next to nothing, now we’re getting kick ass women wearing practical, OK more practical items of clothing.
The research shows that the clothes they are pictured in are now more appropriate to their activities, such as sensible footwear, loose clothes, and a sneer rather than a pout. We also have strong female characters taking center stage in many novels, who aren’t just nymphettes. Read more…
Tags: fantasy art, Orbit Books, science fiction women
Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2010 in
geekery,
lists,
technology The first game I ever played was likely one of those £4.99 handhelds that featured Space Invaders and made the most annoying beeping noises ever. My parents were known to randomly throw it out the house/lose it accidentally and looking back I can see why they resorted to that as the constant beeep, b-b- beeep must have done their head in. I really count my first forays into gaming via the PC and console, and have decided to share them with you here.
The first one: Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle
This came pre-installed on the Sega Master system 11, which I bought for the pricey sum of £34.99 from Toys’R'Us. If I remember correctly I think a good portion of the price was paid for in pennies,with my Dad tutting in the background and saying it was waste of time. I couldn’t afford any games, so all I played was the pre-installed Alex Kidd and grew to love and despise the pixelated character. An hour of gameplay could vanish with one lecherous swipe of a monkey/ octopus and as there was no save point it was straight back to the beginning if you ever messed up. Don’t think I ever actually completed the game due to this annoying factor, but many hours were spent acquiring extra lives to allow Alex to make it to the next level. Read more…
Tags: Alex Kidd, Baldur's Gate, Crash Bandicoot, gaming, Prince of Persia, Tekken 3, Worms 2
Posted by admin on Feb 9, 2010 in
books,
geekery,
news 
Forget thumbing through novels filled with indescribable stains, the library of the future will provide you with germ free digital copies that can be easily read on your e-reader. The library of the future does away with fines and books that smell of toilets and trauma, instead you’ll have pristine digital versions that time out after 30 days. Whether you’re reading these novels on your iPad or your Nook, it doesn’t matter, as the future of eBooks is all about the software and less about the hardware. Sure, you need a screen of suitable size to peruse your novel on, but once you’ve made your initial purchase you’re sorted.
Once books are fully digitized and able to be rented online from public libraries we’ll know the era of the eBook has truly landed. We’re pretty close already, as so far there are three libraries in the UK that run a virtual lending scheme- Luton, Essex and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead with more scheduled to follow suit.
These schemes are by no means perfect as they have a limited selection of books on offer and the search functions could be majorly improved, but compared to sites which only offer free eBooks (those that are out of copyright) these sites are hugely progressive, as are the counties that have funded them.
Lending libraries mainly work by using a system called Overdrive, which has already been very popular in the USA. Perhaps it’s no surprise that eBook libraries are well established there as they have had eReaders for a significantly longer timer than us, with the major player in their market being the Kindle. The Overdrive system allows you to virtually check out books which you can then read on various devices till they ‘time out’, and then you can renew them. The limited selection of authors may have something to do with royalties, but a quick browse was reasonably impressive, with the latest releases from James Patterson, Meg Cabot, and um, Fern Britton on offer. Read more…
Tags: ebook, ebook library, eReader, essex library, library, overdrive, virtual library
Posted by admin on Jan 31, 2010 in
geekery,
random 
Say hello to a 2010 wall calendar with a difference- you mark off the days by popping the bubble wrap covered date! The difficulty would be managing just to pop one date per day- I wonder if this would go the way of advent calendars, where you can’t control yourself? Suddenly the actual date would become more abstract than real- but this would be great gift for any geek ( or toddler with self control issues). Considering it’s now the end of Jan you would have the satisfaction of popping off a whole month in one sitting.
$19.99 from Perpetual Kid
Tags: 2010, calendar
Posted by admin on Jan 18, 2010 in
geekery,
lists There is a wide world of fonts on offer, far beyond that which MSOffice comes pre-installed with. The likelihood that the below will be appropriate in everyday life is fairly slim, but they’d be a great way of jazzing up a letter or email. Enjoy- and marvel at the creativity and kookiness that has gone into their creation.
The Jesus Font
The sexy font a.k.a Alpha Silhouettes
Read more…
Tags: cat font, fonts, fun fonts, geekery, geeky fonts, murder font, sexy fonts
Posted by admin on Jan 18, 2010 in
geekery,
news,
random 
What does the above look like to you? The innocent 2012 logo or some salacious Simpsons behaviour by our beloved Lisa Simpson? Some Facebook users are so convinced this image has a pornographic slant they’ve started a group denouncing this, which currently has 702,776 fans, all convinced Lisa is doing unseemly things to Bart. What say you?
Join the Facebook group here!
Tags: 2012, 2012 Simpsons Logo, sexy 2012