Games make one of the best sort of Christmas presents, in my humble opinion anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I have no objections to socks and aftershave, after all, even useful things have their place; but there’s nothing quite like watching a kid’s face light up when they get a good game, especially one that they have been waiting for. There are loads of games around, from board games all the way to online games, but the best gift always depends on who is going to receive it.

So, what games look like being a success this Christmas? Well, according to what some of my friends are saying, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a must-have and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition is going to be just massive. I’m not really into that sort of game, but something like The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks would go done just great in our house at the moment. Arthur’s really getting into his DS games at the moment, and it would make a change from Super Mario and Sonic.

Of course, it’s always worth keeping online games in mind. Ok, they don’t look a good under the tree, but you can download new games any time you want and play to your heart’s content. Games like Emily’s Holiday Season or Zuma’s Revenge (I’ve spent many hours playing that one). It’s it grand to have so much to choose from?

Well, seeing I’m on Windows 7 and already a Seesmic user, I’ve been tempted by all the noise about Seesmic desktop announced at Microsoft PDC and decided to give it a whirl. It’s YATC (Yet Another Twitter Client), but specifically has been written in WPF and is visually very compelling. Unfortunately it didn’t hit my sweet spot.

I normally use Thwirl, another Seesmic product to manage Twitter and it fits my needs perfectly. It sits at the side of my screen, just below my IM client (Digsby) and lets me keep an eye on my Twitter stream. Sessmit Desktop on the other hand is designed to take up lots of screen space, in order to give you access to multiple accounts, show your reply and private streams separately, etc. It’s an immersive experience, and that’s not really how I use Twitter. It may work for you though, so if you want to give it a spin, you can download it here

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Powermat. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’ve been reading about Powermat for some time now and it always great when I get a Sponsored Post about something I’m interested in. It gives me an opportunity to look a bit closer at the technology and to dig deeper into something which, to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind getting as a Christmas gift.

So, what is the Powermat? It’s an innovative new system to charge your gadgets. The user experience is just awesome; instead of plugging cables and chargers, all you need to do is drop it on a mat and watch it charge. As simple as that. You’ll need to get the correct receiving device on your gadget (so, for example, you need a sleeve for an iPhone), but then it’s just drop and forget. Check out this video about it:

So, how does it work, you might ask. Well, it uses a principle called electromagnetic induction which allows power to transferred over close distances. The Powermat also includes other bits of technology to make the whole thing work together. For example, bother the Powermat and the Power Receiver are RFID enabled so that the mat knows exactly how much power it needs to pour into the device. This also enables the Powermat to shut itself down when the device is fully charged.

The Powermat family includes a number of Receivers for a range of devices, but even has a Receiver which plugs into a mini-USB port, which opens it up to hundreds of devices. And if you have something that isn’t supported, the mat also has a USB socket to provide another alternative.

Anyone out there have one of these? Care to share your experiences?

There’s a new gadget at home, which is actually an upgrade on my birthday present, well ok, it’s also my Christmas present. Anyway, it’s called  Dreambox and is essentially a Linux based satellite receiver. This box in particular is high definition PVR, featuring a single pluggable DVB tuner (satellite in my case), a 300 MHz MIPS processor, 64 Mbytes of Flash memory, 256 Mbytes of RAM, a couple of USB ports and a 500Gb hard disk I fitted just because they’re so cheap.

The box came all the way from China, from an online retailer called DVBSeller who have a selection of different models on sale at great prices. I was sceptical about buying from China, but the support these guys provide was just awesome. I’ve dealt with the twice, the first time using their Online Sales Support facility. The second time I sent an email because Customer Support was offline and I had a problem with a power supply. I received a response in exactly 8 minutes and the new PSU is winging its way to me. Highly recommended if you want to venture into this world.

Anyway, there are a selection of different images you can use for the box, I’ve decided to go down the Nabilosat route, particularly because it optimised for use with the Sky EPG which is one thing my wife missed. There’s still loads to learn, I’m a Linux noob, but I’m enjoying the journey.

We’re off to Malta for Christmas, but one can’t help but think about what we’re going to do this summer. The truth is that with a 4 year old and 2 babies, our options are a little limited. Flights are a bit of a drag, I’m sure we’ll learn all about that on our forthcoming trip to Malta.

But we do have another option. When we knew we had twins on the way, we did invest in a 7 seater, which means we can go on a driving holiday, and thanks to sea transport, well, all of Europe is really still an option for us. I’ve never actually crossed the English Channel on a ferry, but there are a number of ferries to france available to choose from, and with websites like www.ferry-to-france.co.uk its easy to have a look around and find the best deal. And crossing the channel is only the first part of the equation. Once you get to France, you can drive to Germany, Austria, Italy and a selection of other countries. I’ve been to a couple of European countries, but it would be quite fun to visit some others.

So, doesn’t look like I’ll be collecting many Airmiles in the near future, but my driving is going to get lots of practice.

Here’s an interesting screenshot I just took on a website:

If you’re into development in any shape or form, you’ll see a number of security issues Three has with their website, including but not limited to:

1. Password stored in plain text in a connection string


2. Trivial password that could be cracked without thinking too hard


3. And of course: not trapping errors so the whole world gets to see them.

I’ve omitted the name of the website, to protect the guilty, but there wasn’t much point, based on what the error was returning. There’s a lot that a potential hacker could learn from that lapse, and it essentially highlights the need of having a security professional involved in your development and release processes. These are basic errors that can be prevented, so why risk you site .. and your reputation!

Here’s an interesting concept I came across today. It’s a computer protection product called Alertsec that lets you secure your computer. There are many scenarios where this is useful; if you have a laptop you take with you on your travels, if you have employees who take machines home and many others. Losing the hardware can be a blow, but if the data on it is secret or confidential, the loss can be much worse.

So how does it work? Well, you register an account with the website, install the software on your computer, and you’re good to go. Once it’s installed, the software provides a full disk encryption and will only let you access it if you provide the right credentials. The great thing about the way it works is that it sits below the operating system, so if you don’t provide the right password, then your computer won’t even boot up. If you computer ends up in the wrong hands, well, they won’t be able to use your computer or get to your data. The interesting idea here is that your registration and security details are kept online, so for example, if you wanted to change your password, you have to contact their call centre to do this. Don’t think I’ve ever come across something like this before.

If you’re interested in computer protection, check Alertsec out.

Fancy coming out and meeting a bunch of people you know online? Well, that’s what Third Thursday is here in the Isle of Man, where a group of people interested in Social Media meet up for a pizza, a beer, or whatever your poison may be. It’s called the Social Media Club and the idea behind it is to share ideas, experiences and learn more about Social Media. Some people come because of a personal interest, some people come because they’re interested in Social Media to help their companies or their work, some just come out of curiosity.

So why don’t you come and join us and see if you can make some new friends, meet some old friends and say hello to people you only know online. I’m going to be there and look forward to seeing you all there.

See you at Paprazzi in Douglas on the 19th November at 12:30

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And if that’s the case, you can just imagine how great a video can be. And the great thing about the online world is that anyone has a choice of media they can use. You could be using it to market your product, you could be using it to sell a service; you could be using it to make a point. But there’s one thing that is better than a video. Have a look at this 360 view below:

It’s a special applet that shows you a 360 view of any object you want, a perfect way to learn more about an item. In this case the subject is a car; and it’s a perfect example of what can be implemented, for example, on a website dedicated to selling cars. But you can see the potential for any product you may want to sell online.

The website include instructions on how to produce the 360 views, which involves creating two points which are used to align all the images, and then taking photos at 15% angles around the item on display. This should give you 20 photos, but you can take more if you want to make the animation a bit smoother. Once the photos are taken, you can log into the 3D Bin website and use the website to upload your photos and make your video. Once the animation is created, the website will give you some code you can insert anywhere you want the 360 view to be displayed. You can use it on your website, on eBay or anywhere that lets you embed your code.

The beauty of this animation is that the person viewing the website has full control of the visual experience. They can spin around the object to their heart’s content, see it from any angle and even zoom in and out to examine individual details. It’s impossible to know exactly what someone is after, but this way, they can just pick antyhing they like.

Want to give it a try? Here’s a coupon for a 6 month trial: S1PWA-SNLYD-HIJQS-3K23T-NECVZ