Let me start by apologizing for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks. The holiday season left me out of practice, and generally feeling more leisurely than my usual blogging mood. It also left me with a Nintendo Wii, which I guess has also contributed to the absence of posts. It truly is tremendous fun for all ages, even just the included “Sports” game.

With Wii popularity soaring again over Christmas 2007, just as it did in 2006, game creators are really starting to take Nintendo’s console serious, unlike in previous years with the DS and the Gamecube. This means we can look forward to a whole host of new games, both from Nintendo and third party creators, who now both have incentive to profit on the console’s popularity. And with Nintendo’s wireless online multiplayer for Wii becoming available and more popular, alongside the Wii’s incomparable control system, we know they’ll be exceptionally good.

A highly anticipated release for 2008 is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which will actually be released in Japan toward the end of this month, in America in March, and some time later in the year for us Europeans. Featuring third party characters, online multiplayer battles and more frantic fighting action in front of the television, just like we saw with Wii Sports boxing. I won’t be placing any pre-orders on this one, as I’m not familiar with previous games in the series, but I’ll certainly have a look, following its release.

Read the entire article, complete with screenshots and information on more games…

Happy New Year, readers!

2008 has been designated as International Year of Planet Earth, European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, Australian Year of the Scout, International Year of the Potato, International Year of Sanitation and (from Feburary 7th) the Chinese Year of The Rat. It’s also host to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

But what is it to you? What do you have planned? Did you set any resolutions? How did you celebrate?

Leave a comment and discuss your 2008!

Firefox 3.0 Beta 2 was released today across all platforms, Windows, Macintosh and Linux, in 25 different languages. Although not quite complete, it does have some impressive new features, such as a new Google Desktop style URL search bar, reduced resource hogging, better handling of passwords and download file types, but more importantly for Linux users, better GTK support.

GTK (or GTK+) is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It’s now famed for it’s use in the GNOME desktop environment, and is basically what makes your GNOME desktop look like it does. When you’re changing themes, fonts and coloring, you’re changing GTK. Most GNOME applications (such as Pidgin, GIMP, etc.) follow the suit of the user’s GTK options, in order to better fit in with the interface, for a more consistent, controllable, better looking system. Firefox, however, has always been a bit off with GTK, and you’ll have noticed when changing coloring or icons on your desktop, they may not have been present when you clicked into Firefox. This has since been resolved in Firefox 3, and Firefox will look just like you’re other applications, and change as you change your options.

Problem is, Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon comes with an unstable version of Firefox 3, in the form of a “firefox-granparadiso” package, and it’s only Alpha 8, which doesn’t have the features and stability of the past few releases. There’s a simple way to upgrade this package, keeping all links, etc. intact. Ensure you have the package installed (check synaptic, or your Applications > Internet menu) and follow these simple steps:

1. Head to the Firefox Beta Page and download the option that best suits you.
2. Extract the archive to /tmp
3. Open a terminal
4. Run this, to remove the old files:
   sudo rm /usr/lib/firefox-3.0 -fr
   
5. Run this, to move the new files to where they should be:
   sudo mv /tmp/firefox /usr/lib/firefox-3.0
6. Point the old link to the new files:
   sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/firefox-3.0/firefox /usr/bin/firefox-3.0

Everything should now be working. If you had the granparadiso package installed when you started, you’ll still have the old firefox working without any change, and you’ll also have the same link in Applications > Internet to the development version. Keeping the versions completely separate.

Now, whilst Ubuntu Developers and Repository maintainers may not update beta software between releases, you can do so yourself, and this method should work for any Firefox release. Also, should the developers choose to update the repository, you’ll be presented with the option to upgrade to their latest work.

Well excluding today, there is no more than three days until Christmas. That gives most people a last manic weekend of shopping, oh joy! This is one of the oddest stages of Christmas for me, like a kind of limbo or calm before the storm. Probably the one time it feels most christmassy, excluding Christmas. Over the years Christmas has become less exciting, however I still sometimes wake up too early, and make poor attempts to get back to sleep. Having a laptop already this year is going to come in useful.

This is my first post, interesting I’m talking about Christmas and not some kind of technology subject. I do enjoy Christmas, and still I find it interesting I’m celebrating for some religious event which I don’t believe in.

I’ll keep this short anyway, going for some toast now, then if I get chance make a video. Peace to you all over this “Holiday season”, I never get why Americans call it that, Holiday for me is going to Spain.

It’s that time of year again, and Christmas is now just one week away. I thought I’d take this opportunity to ask you, the reader, what you think of the season, whether you’ll be celebrating or not, what you’re expecting from Santa, what you’ve bought other people, and generally for any relevant comments you have.

You don’t even need to register. Click here to leave your comment.

How often do you notice the update manager has updates available, just as you’re about to shut down? And maybe you don’t have the time to wait the extra few minutes for downloading and installing the waiting packages, and end up shutting down your system without performing the updates. When you come back on, you have things to do, and disregard the updates, forgetting about them until later on. There’s rarely a good time to perform updates in Ubuntu, and without a “Update and Shutdown” option there’s no real way you can leave your system updating.

There are of course, terminal commands that will grab a list of updates, download and install them, then shut down your system, but typing each in every time is potentially more time consuming than using update manager itself. So, I’ve created a .sh script, which will turn your screen black, gather a list of updates, download and install them if nessecary, then shutdown. The script can be edited and read, and will not harm your system. Download the script here:

Then, save it somewhere where it won’t be in your way, and create a launcher, so you can run it from your desktop or panel. Make note of where you’ve saved the downloaded script, and find yourself an icon you’ll be using to represent it. I recommend using the image at the top right of this article. Click here to see it again. Save your icon somewhere relevant (such as /usr/share/icons) and head to the desktop. Right click it, and choose “Add Launcher” and fill in the boxes. Click the box on the left and locate your icon, insert a name of your choice, and describe the updating and shutting down in the “Comment” section. Then hit the “Browse…” button by the Command box and locate the script you saved earlier. Once you’ve chosen the script, it’s location will be in the command box. Click at the very beginning of the command box and enter gksudo and a space.For example:

/home/matt/script.sh

Would become:

gksudo /home/matt/script.sh

Leaving you with something like this:

Close the launcher box and admire your work. It is now fully functional, and can be placed wherever you like. I personally recommend the corner of your desktop, or on the top panel, but of course, the choice is completely yours. Should you have any problems getting this to work, have a suggestion for me, or simply want to share your thoughts on the article, just leave a comment below and I’ll reply if you need it.

Really Simple Syndication, or RSS as it is more commonly referred to, makes it possible for you to “subscribe” to your favorite websites, and get updates to them in your preferred feed reader, in a format that suits you. It’s commonly used across many media platforms, from the average joe blog to huge news corporations, you’d be surprised how many sites use it, and how much time you’d save using it yourself.

There are many different types of RSS reader available. Some are built into email clients, such as Mozilla Thunderbird, and you may have one on your system already, being put to a different use. Others are RSS specific applications, and are great for people who come online specifically to read, rather than those who just want to keep track of a blog or two. There’s also online based RSS readers, such as Google Reader, which allow you to view feeds in your browser window, and access them from different computers, and then “Live Bookmarks” which are bookmarks in browsers such as Firefox which update themselves when new posts are made on bookmarked sites.

Live Bookmark in Firefox:

I personally use Google Reader for my syndication. As with many other Google products, it’s brilliantly designed, great looking and very usable. I use this reader in particular because I can access it from multiple computers, without having to mark things “read” more than once, etc. It’s also great if you’re logging onto a public computer, and quickly want to check for updates to your favorite sites, without spending time visiting them all. In the past, however I’ve used Mozilla Thunderbird, which was brilliant as it slotted in right above my email, and I could get all my real reading done in one application.

A huge attraction for me is RSS feeds on cellphones. Many modern phones have an option to syndicate RSS feeds, usually in their Messaging menu. This provides great new options for content on the move, just receive posts from your favorite sites on the move and read them straight out of your pocket when you get some free time. Or, if you’re a blogger, subscribe to your comments feed and be shown comments on your posts just after they were made.

Another great web application in Google’s syndication arsenal is FeedBurner. FeedBurner is aimed at publishers who want to better manage their feeds. It’s a free service, and by registering with FeedBurner, publishers can get access to tools such as statistical analysis, monetization through Google Advertisements and stylesheets for improved in-browser appearance.

Of course, there is a Topical Matt feed, for those who want to keep up to date with my posting, or maybe get updates to their phone and enjoy Topical Matt on the go. The feed is linked at the bottom of this post. If you don’t yet have an aggregator chosen, there’s also link to Google Reader. Leave a comment below if you want more information, or are having trouble with RSS/subscriptions.

Links:

• Topical Matt RSS Feed
• Google Reader
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• List of RSS Readers

Just four days after sending my frozen Nokia 6111 away for repair, I receieved a rather pleasing email reply.

Now, I’m going to be honest, while the initial breakage wasn’t my fault, I smashed that phone up a fair bit both before and afterwards, and after punishing it for it’s freezing, I thought it was not only out of contract for purposely inflicted damage, but actually beyond repair. When sent away it was missing the rear faceplate due to cracking, the front faceplate had it’s buttons broken and pushed in beyond useage, the LCD was cracked and leaking ink, and the slide mechanism had snapped, had no tension, and wouldn’t uncover the top layer of numbers (1, 2, and 3)

Because of this, I actually included a covernote with the phone I sent off explaining, in all honesty that I’d caused most of the damage myself, so I understood repair was a lot to ask of them, and really all I wanted was the numbers recovered and sent to me. I provided an email address for which to send the contacts to, and told them they could keep/dispose of the phone afterwards.

Despite this, I was pleased to see an email from Nokia in my inbox today. Although it was entitled “6111 contacts” - I was suprised to see upon clicking open, it read:

“Attached is a ‘Windows Address Book’ (.wab) file of contacts exported from your 6111.

They will also be restored to your now repaired 6111 (as repairing the phone is what we are contracted to do by Nokia), for when it is returned to you.

The software has been updated from v03.77 to v03.85, LCD replaced, and both the slide mechanism and connecting flex replaced with improved versions.”

So, despite me telling them that all the damage was done on purpose, they’ve repaired it with new parts, and restored my contacts to it, as well as sending me them seperately. In my opinion, that’s nothing short of outstanding customer serivce, certainly one of the best services I’ve come across, and all free of charge. I didn’t pay extra for warranty, nor have to prove it was less than a year old, although I guess they could possibly judge that from the IMEI.

This has really restored my faith in Nokia. It’s impressive that they’d go to such lengths to repair a phone that was essentially destroyed by it’s user, and I’ll certainly consider another Nokia when picking out my next cellphone, despite the freezing. Keep it up, Nokia!

The Nokia 6111 is a slide phone released by Nokia in June 2005. For it’s time, it was impressive, with a 1.3 Megapixel camera, flash, video recording, bluetooth, MP3 ringtones and playback, stereo sound, 3D gaming and a built in FM radio. I’ll admit, I got into the game a little late, December 24th 2006, to be precise, in need of a new phone over Christmas, and in the knowledge that the stores would be shut for the next couple of days, at least.

Meeting with friends and family over the Christmas/New Year period earnt a lot of looks for my phone. Not that I was showing it off, it wasn’t a major purchase, and the price was very low, but people recognized it when I took it out to make a call or send a text. And they didn’t recognize it in a good way, oh no, this was no old friend, rather the recognition of an enemy, or someone convicted of a terrible crime. I heard many versions of “Oh no, you didn’t buy that phone?”, “I hate that phone” and “I had that phone, froze all the time, so annoying”. I wasn’t put off, and continued to use my new phone at leisure, actually quite impressed.

And then the freezing started. It wasn’t a huge issue, just every now and then, and seemed to be rather theme specific. So I reverted some theme options back, and sacrificed a better user interface for usability. Still though, some functions just ceased to work, the calender specifically simply going to a white screen, before rebooting the phone, when a date was selected. I lived on with it though, occasionally checking stores and the internet for other phones, but never finding the right phone, or the right price.

But last night came the final straw, coincidentally exactly 11 months after the purchase date, which was also the date I started using it. A perfect 11 month lifespan. Basically for the first time in it’s life it complained of having less than 1 Kilobyte of storage space remaining, 0.6 Kilobytes to be precise. (usually I clear out when it gets below 1 Megabyte) I then received a text, which in shared memory, pushed it over the edge, and I got a severe warning that there was no room even to reply. So I headed to the inbox, and hit “Mark All” to prepare all messages for deletion. This took a good 20 minutes, but finally I returned to the inbox with every message ticked. I hit delete and realised instantly it was going to take a while. I could see it deleting each individual message. “Deleting 8 of 3000+” - oh dear. I put it on the arm of my chair and let it continue. When I checked a little later it had reached around 180, and that was the last I saw of my phone as I knew it.

A little later on I saw the phone light up on the chair arm, and I, expecting it had finally finished, picked it up to see a white screen. Dead. I took the battery out, after finding the “off” button wouldn’t work, put it back in and turned on the phone. More white. I don’t know if it mistook a vital file for a message and deleted that, or actually finished with the messages and continued deleting it’s way through the firmware, but there was definitely something wrong, and to remedy that, I started throwing it around, hitting it off the table, you know, the usual DIY gadget repair. I managed to stain the white screen with inky liquid that makes up the TFT screen, in many broken patches. Oh, and I essentially destroyed the slide mechanism somehow, but that’s unrelated. Surprisingly, neither fixed my phone. One major problem, literally all my phonebook entries are on there, without any back up.

I’ve put the sim card in an old Nokia 3510, but have only a few phone numbers I can actually remember. I’ve got to admit, it’s a nice phone. Although a little big in the pocket, it’s very ergonomic, feels great to use, and generally lacks any annoyance, without a demanding colour screen eating up valuable battery life, and such basic features being less prone to freezing. I will be looking for a new phone though, possibly avoiding Nokias, currently looking into the Sony Ericsson K550i, which looks very nice and has a decent reputation. I just dread the laborious task of getting everyone’s number again, and hope that if I take it into a mobile phone store they’ll be able to recover the data.

Please leave a comment! Maybe you’ve had some experience/issues with the 6111, or would like to recommend a new phone?

The launch of the Apple iPhone has sparked the mobile phone market competition to release or plan to release some interesting alternatives. The mobile phone market before the launch of the iPhone was far from innovative, with the big companies trying to get the edge only in music and photography capabilities. Familiar faces such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson would compete for the phone with the higher number of megapixels, or slightly different and arguably better music functions.

I’m going to be honest, I dislike the iPhone. Not for it’s looks, usability or features, which are actually very impressive, but the fact that it’s contract bound, very highly overpriced, and doesn’t support basic things such as MMS, third party applications, bluetooth file transfers and video recording. Arguably not hugely important features, but they seem pretty unusual and basic features to miss out, especially when all the hardware is present to do so, and it’s merely software limitations. I have tried out an iPhone, and despite what I mentioned before, I was hugely impressed. Quickly browsing the internet felt easy and lacked that familiar awkward feeling with other pocket internet devices, and Maps, Weather and Stocks were of course equally impressive. It is practical, useable, and very impressive, but there’s a lot of room for improvement, and I certainly wouldn’t buy one.

However, what I am most impressed by is the way the mobile phone market has reacted to the presence of the iPhone. Nearly all companies, Nokia, LG, Sony Ericsson, all have their iPhone competition on the way to the lineup. And not only this, but if you don’t want an all singing, all dancing touchscreen iPhone or iPhone competitor, you can hope that older phones becoming seen as obsolete will provide attractive low prices. But for now, let’s take a look at what else is out there in the way of iPhone competition.

Click here to read on and see the phones…