Happy Christmas everyone!!!

Since I am not a Christian I won't be celebrating it. But I am sure many will.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Film Review: Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events

The movie is different from the books in several ways. The film was targeted at kids hence some of the darker stuff from the books were left out. Scenes were chopped off and rearranged and some new ones added. (This version crams book 1-3 into a 2 hour cut)

As usual the performance by Jim Carrey carried the weight of the film although in my opinion the character of Count Olaf could have been played a little bit darker as was in the books.

Read the books first like I did, and you might be dissapointed in the adaptation. Watch the movie first and you might find yourself enjoying the books a little more.

Still it was a mildly enjoyable film that after a series unfortunate events received the usual dreaded Hollywood treatment.

5.5/10

Gamer buys virtual island

A 22-year-old Aussie gamer by the moniker of Deathifier has spent £13,700 on a virtual island that does not exist in the physical World. It only exist in the online World of Project Entropia game. The owner intends to develop the island and then sell plots of lands to other gamers.

Well, this is not really shocking as people has always paid real money for virtual items only found in MMORPGs games. Still this is big news because of the money involved.

Source: Slashdot

Blunkett resigns

The UK's Home Secretary Rt. Hon. David Blunkett has resigned.

Well, I am glad he is gone. I read the news on BBC News website but will miss the action on TV tonight as I will be out. Damn it, I really want to see all the ruckus in the Commons chamber!

The only good thing I can remember he did was bringing down the classification of cannabis to Grade C status drug. I don't do drugs, but who cares! This resignation is long overdue. I am not sure why he has been slow in this tardy action but its good that it has happened. Quite why he wasn't sacked for having a relationship with a right wing conservative Tory, The Spectator's American publisher Kimberly Quinn. Probably proves how well the New Labour overlords are with the Tories.

Now lets hope the ill-conceived right wing totalitarian policies created by him would also be banished forever. Oh and Tony too. And Geoff. And Jack. Lets drop the whole New Labour experiment crap. People vote Labour because it is supposed to have a socialist agenda.

Still, we probably won't hear the last of him. Remember how Tony brought back Alan and Peter? I am sure he is thinking of a way to make David the Chancellor (and stab Gordon in the back).

Source: BBC News

World's tallest bridge opens

The World's highest road bridge has been inaugurated in France by President Jacques Chirac. The Millau bridge which towers over 340m is even taller than the Eiffel Tower, and its spans over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains. The bridge, designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster, will provide a new motorway link between Paris and the Mediterranean. Vehicles will travel on it at the height of 270m and will cost motorists about 4.6 euros a trip.



Source: BBC News

Five die in heavy metal shooting

I grew up listening to Thrash Metal music. Early Pantera albums were among my favourites. So it saddened me when I heard of the news that Damageplan's 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott was killed but a gun nut during a club gig. The former Pantera guitarist was shot several times. Four other people were also killed in the rampage.

Nintendo's DS beats sales target

According to BBC News, Nintendo has so far sold more than a million Nintendo DS since going on sale on 21 November 2004. I don't know about you, but that is a lot of DSes. Such figures would probably shut the doomsayers who were predicting Nintendo's death since 1994.

I am not surprise that the DS is a hit. I saw a commuter on a London bus last week and he had a DS (he got a US import) and design wise I think its a hit. He was playing a Mario game - can't remember what its called - and it looks fun.

Source: BBC News

Hot laptops can damage men's fertility

Teenagers and young men should keep their laptops off their laps because they could damage fertility, an expert says.

Laptops, which reach high internal operating temperatures, can heat up the scrotum which could affect the quality and quantity of men's sperm.

Man, I am glad I don't use laptops now.

Source: Yahoo! News UK

Why Tintin remains young

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has published an article on why Tintin never aged during his career. The study revealed that this was because he has repeatedly received blows on his head which triggered a growth hormone deficiency.

What a waste of time, but its still interesting. Apparently this is not the first of CMAJ's stories into ailments of fictional characters.

In 2000 they revealed that Winnie the Pooh's obsession with honey was because he suffers from psychological issues among them Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and obsessive-copmpulsive behaviour.

Winnie's friends did not escape the doctor's assessments either. Piglet was deemed to suffer from anxiety disorder and needs anti-panic medication while Eeyore was chronically depressed. Tigger was deemed to be hyperactive while Christopher Robin has gender issues and needs parental guidance.

They also concluded that Squirrel Nutkin, a creation of Beatrix Potter, was autistic!

Source: Yahoo! News

Film Review: Blade: Trinity

Caught this tonight at the special preview at my local cinema. Not too bad. Liked it better than the second one. Violence wise its quite brutal with raw energy but it sadly lacks the gore level seen in other Blade films.

Wesley Snipes looks tired in the title role hence the reason why I believe this will be the last Blade movie. Well at least the last one with Wesley Snipes. Jessica Biel looks fine in her role as vampire slayer sidekick and the guy from Van Wilder looks just like Jason Lee. Even his role in humour is very Jason Lee like. I prefer if they got the real Jason Lee rather than Ryan Reynolds. They also got an English guy to play the typical villain this time as Dracula.

If you are looking for a movie with high kinetic energy this is it.

6.5/10

PalmOS for Linux

PalmSource has purchased a China based mobile phone company called China MobileSoft which specialises in embedded LinuxOS mobiles. The point is to create the popular PalmOS GUI and API on top of the LinuxOS. PalmSource has stated that the new version will sit along side PalmOS 5 Garnet and PalmOS 6 Cobalt and not to replace them.

My take on this is PalmSource might be intending to create a cheaper OS that it can sell. Also, China MobileSoft has a vast network of inside knowledge in China's mobile market. I think PalmSource is doing the right thing here. What they are buying from CMS is not only the Linux optimization knowledge but also an entry into China's expanding mobile phone market (5 million a month sold). Another great thing I can think of is applications that work on mobile Linux and the thousands of existing PalmOS applications can work on this PalmOS version if they are properly coded.

You can read PalmSource's press release on the acquisition here. If you care, there is an open letter to the PalmOS community as well as an open letter to the Linux community. A FAQ is available here.

A note here, Palm, Inc. originally wanted to take PalmOS forward into Linux a few years back before the company split. However they finally settled on BeOS.

World's first anti-mosquito mobile phone

I was browsing through German mobile phone reseller website Nowicom and came across this neat little mobile phone called the Mobile Shot TDG-9920. The mobile is the first of its kind to feature a built-in mosquito repellent function using ultrasonic waves. Bizarrely it also features built-in acupressure reader function as well as a bio-rhythm reader. The phone function is not as extensive though. Yes, it does have a CMOS 0.3Mp camera and GPRS but it lacks Bluetooth.



Source: Nowicom

eReader free e-books everyday

eReader is gving a free e-book everyday for the month of December. Make sure you check it out. You can read them on the PalmOS platform, Pocket PC platform, MacOS or your Windows PC.