Something About Bananas

Tech Conclave is a technology web show I have talked about before and if you read my post on it you would know I am a huge fan of it.

Just a few days ago me and my friend Kel where drinking in my house and I got talking to the shows creator on Twitter, then Skype and then GTalk and ended up recording a segment for the show. I am the interviewer in the Geek of the Week segment of Episode 11 interviewing Richard Dows. The episode is great but my interviewing skills after a few alcopops and Coronas, not so much :P.

Check out the episode below.

I used to be a huge Harry Potter fan but stopped reading after the fifth book so on seeing "The Half Blood Prince", the sixth in the series I was pretty excited as it was the first Potter film that I wouldn't know what was going to happen in the story beforehand. So bare in mind that this review is from the point of view of who someone had not read the book prior to seeing the film.

First of all I have to say I went in to this film with very high hopes as other reviewers had said it was the best Potter film yet. Being a fan of the books I had always felt the films a let down as they just left out so much due to time constraints. Even though I hadn't read the book of this one I still got that feeling. It felt so quick and choppy even though it was 153 minutes long. I could sense the missing chapters that I had never read.

I did enjoy "The Order of the Phoenix" in 2007 however. That would have been the best out of the films, and the books too out of the first five.
Personally I felt this film was not as good as that film and probably not as good as some of the older ones too that to be honest I can't quiet remember.

This one had a lot more romance as the gang get older and start getting emotional...and a bit physical too. We see Hermione falling for Ron as she gets jealous over his new girlfriend Lavender and Harry getting a sneaky kiss from Ginny, Ron's sister. To be honest there is quite a lot of emphasis on these romantic relationships in the film which really takes the darkness away. There is also a lot of humour in this one. The audience where in stitches during some scenes such as Ron eating Romilda Vanes love potion chocolates which made him loopy in love with a girl he never met.



However, the main plot is probably the dullest of all the Potter's so far. The Dark Forces are strengthening and showing more presence in both the magical and Muggle world.

Harry finds a potions book with hidden secrets previously owned by the Half Blood Prince which make him excel in potions class.

Dumbledore also recruits him for a task. Professor Slughorn was a Professor in Hogwarts many years ago and has been asked to return as Potions Master. Dumbledore wants to find out a very important secret or more specifically a memory of Slughorn and recruits Harry to get close to him and find out more about it.

Draco Malfoy also has a more prominent role this time as he has an important task to carry out himself just like Harry. But not by Dumbledore. Can you guess who by?



That's pretty much all I can say without giving any spoilers
I have to say I was a bit disappointed but especially as this film isn't as dark as the previous one even though the Dark Forces are getting stronger but it does get more exciting and indeed darker in the last hour and is well worth a watch if you've been following the series.

I give Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince a 7 out of 10. Harshest review I've seen yet though so maybe it's just me. Here is the trailer.
Click "HD" for higher quality.

Finally Nickelback steer away from their soppy single releases like "I'd Come For You" and "If Today Was Your Last Day" (which where clearly just to attract more female fans)and have released the music video of their new single "Burn it to to the Ground" which is a much heavier rock song from their latest album "Dark Horse".

The track was also featured in the recent hit film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Here is the full music video below.

Tech Conclave is a news style technology show founded and created by John Raul Joven II from the Philippines, but features news correspondents from around the globe. It's known as the Global Geek News Patrol.

John Raul is the News Anchor and also does all of the editing and production for the show but individual tech news stories are presented by geeks from all over the world, mainly the US and the UK.

The show is very well produced and has the production value as any of the mainstream news shows (Sky News, Fox News) but is aimed at tech related news particularly. Each episode is hosted on YouTube in 720p HD format and is about 10 minutes long (due to YouTube's time restraints) and covers between 5 and 10 of the latest technology news stories. A new episode is released weekly but due to the large amount of work in production it can sometimes be a larger gap between episodes.

More minor tech news can be read throughout the episodes scrolling along the bottom.
The great thing about Tech Conclave is that any body can be a correspondent. They just have to contact Tech Conclave to get a story.

I think the show is produced very well and is very informative and entertaining and deserves more of an audience than it has now. I very much reccommend you subscribe to Tech Conclave on YouTube and register on their website. You could even help out and be a correspondent, donate or even just favourite the videos on YouTube and remember the show's catchphrase, "It's good to be a geek"

Here is the latest episode of Tech Conclave in HD so let it buffer (or un-click the HD button) covering Firefox 3.5, Steve Jobs liver transplant, The new HTC Hero and much more.





[Extension]

Tech Coclave do not currently have the equiptment to create the show in an efficient way. The computer used to edit and render the show is not made for HD video rendering and editing and they desperately require a more powerful system. Here is there fundraising widget so if can, chip in.

Julia Nunes the amazing Ukulele artist from YouTube has just posted her cover of Don't Trust Me by 3OH!3 and puts a Uke twist on it along with some beats from a water bottle.

I am an Irish citizen and like most Irish people, I watch a lot of British TV (either that or rubbish RTE). The basic cable package over here consists of all the major UK stations such as BBC 1 and 2, Channel 4 and ITV (UTV over here). Being an Internet geek I rarely turn on the TV any more and prefer to watch television shows on the Internet. Some of my favourite shows are on the Channel 4 network such as Shameless, The Inbetweeners and Skins. I regularly use the application 4OD to watch full episodes of my favourite TV shows completely free and legally.

However, some of the networks that have online players for TV streaming have a strict UK only policy such as The BBC with their BBC iPlayer. Channel 4 where the kind ones who allowed us Irish citizens from the Republic to watch their content as well, just as we do on TV.



Recently Channel 4 have decided to shut down the application for 4OD and opt for a web based version of the service which is accessed through an Internet browser with Adobe Flash Player, just like YouTube for example. Their is one problem with this. The web version is only available to residents of the UK so 4OD is not available in the Republic of Ireland any more. Their reason for this is that some of the content on 4OD only has rights to be shown in the UK and they do not have the systems that can filter out that content from Irish viewers. Their remedy is to block all of the content from any IP Address that is from outside of the UK. This means no more 4OD for Ireland. I find this unfair as I have supported Channel 4 and E4 just like any British citizen and pay to watch it on my TV so why can't I catch up on missed episodes on 4OD just like I used to?



So I wrote this post to let Irish people know that when Channel 4 do shut down the 4OD application, They will not be able to watch 4OD on the new web version. I understand that it is a British television network but it's the fact that they allowed us to watch before when it was application based and now they are taking it away.

A lot of their profit would be from their Irish market so I feel we have as much right to the 4OD service as the British. I think this is just going to encourage Irish people to use services such as TV Shack to stream TV shows for free and bit torrents to download them. This way Channel 4 and other networks won't be earning any ad revenue at all from the potential 4 million Irish residents. It will be Party Poker and Adult Friend Finder that make the cash now. What do you think? Are you annoyed that 4OD is being taken away from you? Are you annoyed that you can't use other players such as the BBC iPlayer or do you think that Irish people shouldn't be expecting free TV off British networks at all. Leave a comment and let me know. Hopefully they'll sort it out before Skins Series 4.

[Update]

The Head of Online Products, Channel 4, Richard Davidson-Houston has commented on this post with the following information;

"Hello.

I'm sorry service has been suspended. I'd be annoyed if I lived in Eire.

We really are planning to do the work necessary to block only the specific programmes for which there's a rights problem.

I don't know when yet but I hope to soon."

So there is still hope.


[Latest Update]

I have received word from Mr. Richard Davidson-Houston, Head of online product management at Channel 4 that 4OD is back in Ireland. I am in college at the moment so haven't checked but I'll take his word for it. After all he was very polite and used the greatest medium ever to report the news to me....Twitter.

So leave a comment confirming that 4OD is working for you now if you live in Ireland.

Thank you Richard Davidson-Houston.

Brink is a short film created by fans of the hit E4 television program "Skins". A few months back the creators of Skins (Company Pictures) held a competition for Skins fans. The prize was they got to create a short film for E4.com. They recruited Skins fans to be Production Designers, Directors and everything else needed to create a film.

The result was a 13 minute long film a bout a boy named Dean who sufferers with OCD or obsessive compulsive disorder. He carries out an odd and obscure daily routine. He believes that the world will end he fails to do so. Then a girl Rachel comes along who has an a strange "she knows what's going on" sense about her. She invites him to a party.....but if he goes will the world end?

Watch the entire film below. I thought it was very strange and obscure but also very original and unique. I think the idea could work very well in a feature length film or even a television series like Skins. As this film was created entirely by young talent who had never worked professionally in film before I'll be easy on the rating.
I give Brink a 7 out of 10.

You can find more information at E4.com

I've never been a fan of Transformers the animated TV series or the comic books so this review is from the perspective of someone who has no knowledge of that Universe other that the first movie from 2007.

So what I got from the plot was that Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons is resurrected and The Decepticons continue their war with the Autobots while trying to find some key that can be used to harness the power of the Sun. Yeah it's a bit crazy.

Our hero Sam also touches a sliver from the Cube and now sees symbols which lead him to the key so he can get it before the damn Desepticons.

Sorry for the very rough summary of the plot but to be honest the only reason a plot exists in this film is for an excuse to fill the 2 and a half hours up with intense action scenes. This film is not for those who want to see a well written, moving film. It's for those who just want to be blown away by some of the best special effects, explosions and robot fighting since.....well since Transformers in 2007 really. The fight scenes have improved. You can actually see a bit more of what's going in a battle and which Transformer is getting smashed in the face. As for the other effects, they are amazing and are as realistic as if they where really happening such as a pyramid being smashed to pieces.

The film is pretty long but it's got a lot of action scenes and not much filler. The comedy is decent if not a bit too silly at times but you'll get a few laughs too alongside the blood pumping action.

I recommend this film only to those who loves action films. Yes there is a plot and some humour too. There is also of course the traditional romance side story that you see in every film between Sam(Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela(Megan Fox) but this is all about the action. It's not smart and it's not clever but it's damn exciting and mindless fun.

I give it a 7 out of 10. Here's the HD trailer (let it buffer).

Before seeing The Hangover I thought it looked like another cheesy, bad comedy flick that cashes in on the cliche "Vegas" trip but after I saw it my opinion changed.

The film begins with four friends having a bachelor night in Las Vegas. Five minutes later in the film and it's the next morning, the groom Doug is missing, a tiger is in the bathroom, a baby's in the wardrobe, the hotel room is in pieces and the tree remaining friends don't remember a single thing.

The film's adventures begin as the three friends, Alan, Stu and Phil set out to find their friend Doug before his wedding and end up finding out a lot about the night before. From who owns that baby in the wardrobe, why Stu is missing a tooth (and a very special ring), why a Tiger was in the bathroom, why a hotel valet gives them the keys "their" police cruiser and a lot more.

So much happens in this 100 minute film and every scene is ridiculously hilarious and ties together pretty well with yet another cliche "feel good" ending, but hey, we all secretly love cliches don't we?

Easter Egg: The photos of that forgotten night are found at the end of the film and are shown throughout the beginning of the credits and really put the icing on the cake. That is to say they will have you in stitched.

I have to recommend this to any comedy lover and anyone else who isn't a dried up old prune. One word to some it up. "Hysterical"

I give it a 8 out of 10.
Here's the trailer (let it buffer as it's HD).

You may have connected your PC to your TV before and browsed the web and even watched YouTube, but now YouTube have actually created a version of their site that suits TV viewing better. Just like they have a mobile version for viewing YouTube on mobile phones they now have a TV version for viewing YouTube videos on your big 42" TV set in your living room. So if you have a few friends over there's no need to all gather around your PC monitor to enjoy all of YouTube finest content.

All you have to do is connect your PC to your TV or open up your Playstation 3's web browser and head to http://youtube.com/xl and you will be greeted with a TV friendly version of the website. No ads (surprisingly), no comments, no clutter just videos tabs for top rated, popular etc, and a handy search box. Enjoy and check out my video on the new service below.

Popular Youtuber Philip Defranco (sxephil) got a nasty punch to the face when him, iJustine and Shay Carl where making a collaborative video for a viral marketing campaign for Carls Junior Burger Restaurants. iJustine was supposed to pretend to punch sxephil but literally punched him. Here it is in slow motion.

Today June 1st at the E3 there was a demonstration of Modern Warfare 2 gampleay. Here are all four videos for your viewing pleasure from GameTrailersTV.

My latest video on TechTubeToday showing the brilliant cross-platform media-player/web browser running on my Windows 7 desktop and some of the popular add-ons and plug-ins for it.

At Sony's E3 press conference on June 2nd they will be unveiling their next version of the PSP. It has been leaked that it will be called the PSP GO! Just days before the unveiling leaked images of the new portable console where released and I discovered them on Engadget. Here are a few.






What we know about the system and possible features:

I have been looking forward to this for some time as It has been said that it will come with built in memory in 8GB and 16GB versions and that it will be a sliding device. This made it sound likely that it would be a more all-round media device like the iPod Touch, than being mainly a gaming device. The extra memory to store music and video and the slider so that it can be a touch screen media player when not gaming. It has yet to be announced if the devices screen has any touch capabilities however and from some of the images it doesn't look like it unfortunately. The reason their is so much built in memory is probably just because Sony is removing the UMD slot and making all the game content DLC requiring more memory to store games, rather than to cater for our music and video needs. Also confirmed is bluetooth and tethering to your mobile phone for PSP web on the go.
Against everybody's wishes Sony have decided to stick with the current control scheme and not add and extra analogue nub even thought there is an obvious space right where "select" and "start" are located. Damn you Sony!

What I would like to see:

The current PSP plays music, video, pictures and has web browsing but all of these feel diluted. The browser is incapable of loading many sites and the music player has no organized library, just a folder structure with no option to even shuffle through your entire collection. My hopes for the next PSP would be that it does in fact have a full touch screen, a more powerful web browser (which seems likely with the mobile phone tethering) and better music and video organisation and features like that on the iPod Touch. This would make it a big competitor against more devices out there than just the Nintendo DS in the handheld gaming market. Just as the iPod Touch and iPhone are now established gaming platforms, the new PSP needs to be a bigger competitor in the portable media player market. Sony will need something more than built in memory and a hideous slider re-design. Basically I want PSP 2 not PSP 3000 cross-dressing with the Sony Mylo with an added slider feature.

This post is for my latest YouTube video on TechTubeToday. The video will show you how to convert or encode any video so that YouTube thinks it's HD. This will mean it play in the large HD box if your viewers hit the HD button on the player. You can do this with any video. Even a horrible grainy mobile phone video. You can make that "HD". It will only loo as good as the original video but will play in the Bigger HD box.

I rarely use Internet Explorer as I find it extremely slow and lacking of the security, speed and features found in Open Source browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

This is an extension onto the post from a few days ago on the Modern Warfare 2 trailer.

Today I went to see BBC Films' Tormented. It stars two of the original cast of E4's brilliant Skins. Them being April Pearson (Michelle in Skins) and Larissa Wilson (Jal in Skins). It also stars a whole host of other lesser known young actors including Calvin Dean who plays the lead character of Darren Mullet.

Gametrailers have a World Exclusive teaser trailer for Modern Warfare 2.

Just thought I'd post my poster here to show off my work:)

When I began using this blog again I had to sign in with my old e-mail address as that is the address that I assigned to my Blogger account and the blog at http://icklebanana.blogspot.com.