Virgin TV Down

Well @ 12:26 today my Virgin Tv died. Only terestrial channels are working with all the others saying ‘not currently subscribed’ tried reboot of box and no change, date on box says 1st Jan which is bad. After a bit of digging (with no help from virgin as all their status pages are down) I’ve found out that it’s a NATIONAL problem and all the computers at Virgin are down. Emails are down as well, they hope to have it fixed in about a hour. Also apparently it’s a power problem affecting the ex-Telewest areas.

Users in Wolverhampton, Bradford, Birmingham, Essex, West Lothian have all reported loss of TV but it appears broadband is still working ok (mine is as awell)

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Firefox 2.0.0.17 Is Moody

After running this for a couple of days I found after a couple of hours use it would crash then when restarted using restore or fresh it would load and then immediately crash again. Thus i’ve rolled back to 2.0.0.16 using this link and disabled automatic updates until the bugs are ironed out. I should probably upgrade to v3 but I don’t like the look of it.

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Hmmm windoze

Having spent most of the evening playing with an old Logitech Quickcam Express in Centos i’ve finally admited defeat. While I did get it working and displaying images/stream with the software having a CLI only the configuration is an absolute nightmare. Ive been trying to get an ‘all in one’ machine however it’s just not working. Despite having working wireless on Centos I feel like just ditching it for Windows 2000 and setup my NAS/Cam server etc on that.

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Fuel & Motorbike

Just looking back through my blog and I cam across the entry BioFuel where i’d ragged at the fact I had to pay 106.9p for a litre of diesel. Now when the shell drivers were on strike recently my local Texaco were charging 135.9p a litre so in heinsight I wish fuel was 106.9p today ha!.

Due to fuel prices and the longer travelling times to work recently I’ve been thinking more and more about getting a motorbike. Now I did my CBT when I was 16 but expired after 2 years. I have a few options….

1, Just ride a 50cc on my car licence
2, Do a CBT and ride 125cc with L plates no passengers/motorways etc
3, Do a A2 standard licence which would mean now restrictions apart form i’d be restricted to machines of max 33bhp however after 2 years the licence would be upgraded to an unrestricted one without further test.
4, Go the whole hog and go straight for the A Licence

Option 1 is straight out of the window although they economical etc I found 50’s to be dangerously slow (if that makes sence) plus it wouldn’t do a lot for my already deminished ‘image’.

Option 2 is a valid one as it only costs £135, it’s a one day affair and I wouldn’t have to do a theory test (which I would be worried about).

Option 3 I’m thinking this is the best option for me as i’d be happy to ride a smaller bike for a couple of years however the cost plays a big factor with a 5 ½ day course costing £699 and 4 ½ day course costing £599. They both include doing CBT however i’m unsure which one would be best for me, i’d probably say the 5 day one as I haven’t ridden a motorbike in 14 years (oh my god I wish I hadn’t just worked that figure out it’s made me feel old).

Option 4 5 ½ day course costs £799 so I will dismiss that one

So it’s option 2 or 3 both have specific advantages and disadvantages so will have to ponder some more, the idea is to save money on vehicles and although fuel/tax etc is cheaper on a bike could it ever really replace one of our cars? Also I understand the motorbike test will shortly be getting harder so i’d better get moving, i’ll keep you updated.

PS I can hear Mike Fiore reading this shouting at his screen “DO OPTION 3!!!!”

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Jumper

Plot

A genetic anomaly allows a young man to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between “Jumpers” and those who have sworn to kill them.

Evaluation

First off I have a confession to make, i’ve only just realised that that main character Hayden Christensen who plays David Rice is in fact Anakin Skywalker, my god I can’t believe how much he’s changed in just a few years.

The film contained brilliant special effects, swooping camera angles and what seems to be a unique storyline. SLJ was on top form as usual as the character Roland. While the film keeps you glued at one point I did think it was going to vere off into another superhero movie (you’ll know which scene I mean when you watch it).

Overall I think they could have done more with this but then again they probably will when they make a sequel.

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Joss Whedon DollHouse

As a fan of Serentiy and Firefly by Joss Whedon I recently found out that the creator Joss Whedon is currently filming a news series titled DollHouse which i’m really looking forward to. If it’s anything nearly as good as Firefly it bound to be a hit.

Plot

“Dollhouse” follows a top-secret world of people programmed with different personalities, abilities and memories depending on their mission. After each assignment — which can be physical, romantic or even illegal — the characters have their memories wiped clean, and are sent back to a lab (dubbed the “Dollhouse”). Show centers on Dushku’s character, Echo, as she slowly begins to develop some self-awareness, which impacts her missions.

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Family Guy Blue Harvest

Plot

In this hour-long special episode of Family Guy, a power outage at the Griffin house prompts Peter to retell the story of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, with several Family Guy characters recast as those from the film.

Evaluation

This cracked me up, I watched in bed while the other half was trying to sleep and I kept her awake because I was laughing so much. A must for any star Wars fan.

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