forenoon filings

The Atari Lynx, when it first made it's debut was a handheld first (compared to its competitors at the time): a large colour screen, vertical play, up to six linked players, and it even had a colour screen as well.

Some (the more facetiously inclined) may have even noticed certain negative parallels with Sony's PSP: its appetite for battery power, the current slowness of software, over loaded feature list. However, I think it is fair to observe that the Lynx embodies the phrase 'If only...' So many opportunities and so many of them missed. Well these are discussions that can be left for other forums and further debate.

However, Hatena's diary shows details of a short video that has been demoed on the Lynx. But before getting carried away with plans of two hour DivX epics, this clip is only 12 seconds.

As consoles continue their exponential increase in processing power, so the need for keeping the internal memory and processing cool will increase. The current generation of consoles are without a doubt the noisiest – comparable only to fully fledged desktop PCs.

For those with full 5.1 setups, this may not be such an issue as the rumble from the sub-woofer would drown any fan whirring out, but if you have smaller speakers then this may become quite the irritant.

How much of an issue will this be in the next generation of machines? Even if it is a problem at PS3 launch, we know that Sony have developed the habit of making internal and incremental improvements to their gaming hardware during the lifespan of their machines.

In the meantime, noise reduction headphones may be a helpful item to make use of in the interim.

History can and does repeat itself – picture the scene when Sony released its vision of music industry future in 1991 when it unveiled the MiniDisc.

Fast forward to 2004/5 and the introducton of UMD movies. The output from its own studios and subsidiaries is coming at a steady trickle, but what of other distributors and studios?

To gain a real critical mass of material, it is crucial that this format is opened or licensed out. Its true a few studios such as Lion’s Gate have signed on, but the way things stand, the UMD’s success as a format is directly pinned to the success of the PSP’s take up.

We seem to be entering a circling argument here, but unfortunately, they are still too high priced to be a viable option (if you’ve got the DVD why pay more for a diminutive version?).

Failing that, a selection of exclusive (even Final Fantasy related) content would go some way to persuade waverers.

The amount of necessary equipment that it takes to start broadcasting your own radio station has been greatly reduced greatly in recent years, with the advent of internet streaming. In turn, this has meant the increase of home based broadcasters has followed in similar numbers. Now it is not unusual to find traditional broadcasters taking up this delivery mechanism equally.

After a brief experiment, I have proved that it is perfectly possible to start broadcasting your very own audio stream very easily - and the whole setup can take less than an hour!

Now, I have used a Mac for this example - and as you will find if you try this – the amount of software and features that are already built in facilitate this even more. In fact the only extra piece of software that would be recommended is Nicecast.

Calculate You Hosting Potential
As you prepare to begin broadcasting, it will be helpful to consider the amount of bandwidth you have at your disposal – as this is the element that will most strongly govern how many (or few) listeners you can comfortably host. If you really want to host large audiences, then you will need to consider having your stream hosted on an external server.

Extra Stuff
As previously stated, there really is very little additional equipment that is needed; but if vocal or talk elements will be mixed into your audio stream then it is recommended to invest in an external microphone.

Organise Your Content
Before progressing any further, it goes without saying that you need to spend some time organising some content for broadcasting. I have used iTunes in this example, but any software that acts as an audio library manager will do just as well (Nicecast is flexible enough to plug in to any application on your system).

I’m assuming that at this point you have decided on the type of audio content you will be broadcasting and how to tailor this for your audience; so this article will just focus on the technical aspects of making this a reality.

Setup Your Streaming Server
Spend some time (and a little money) downloading and installing Nicecast from Rogue Amoeba. This is a very powerful application that enables you to broadcast audio from any application on your system both across your local network and the internet.


If your system connects to the internet behind a router then you may need to set up port forwarding (or port mapping) for port 8000. Similarly, for systems that are behind firewalls, then this port may need to be opened on your firewall if you’re connection attempts are being refused.

Enhancing Your Stream
Once you have configured your streaming server, test it locally on your host and across your network to make sure you are happy with the way your stream information is displayed and the quality of the audio. If this is OK, then you are ready to begin publicising and broadcasting! That really all there is to it!

One feature that is only available to registered versions of Nicecast is for your stream to be listed on MacStreams when broadcasting.

Now here is where Nicecast and Apple really dovetail greatly; full compatibility with Apple’s built-in Audio Units is provided as well as those from 3rd party providers. If you are aiming to record jingles, mix voice and music then careful utilisation of these Audio Units will greatly enhance the quality of your audio stream.


Success!
That's it - your radio stream is broadcasting on the world wide web, and is listed on MacStreams! Now all you need to do is to work out how to publicise it to your wider audience.

A fine article from the newest addition to my recommended blogs section, lists some light hearted ideas for getting the most out the ubiquitous white mp3 player.

This website is likely to resonate more with residents of the UK, but TV Ark is amassing a growing library of vintage TV adverts, news briefs and – best of all – classic children’s show credits. Lots of 'Oh I remember those' moments have been digitised and are available for viewing and download.

In a slightly related note note, a similar website has been found that does the same for video game adverts!

The more eagle eyed reader may notice a few minor changes on this site. The main changes that have taken place have been to the sidebar which was starting to get rather disorganised and haphazardly arranged. This has now been ordered in a slightly better way: the top half refers to links and subjects directly relating to this site, while the bottom half of the sidebar refers to external sites and links. A number of less used features been either removed or consolidated into broader sections.

In addition to this a few discreet Google AdSense adverts have been placed - but as you can see these have been done in such a way so as not to be obtrusive.

In all, though these are minor changes, hopefully the browsing experience of this site will be made more fluid and pleasing to the eye!

I’ve been hearing and reading lots about this freely available application called Quicksilver, but I was always slightly confused about what it actually does. The best way to learn about it is just download and install it – it doesn’t cost anything, and it is a fairly slim disk image.

The beauty of this application, is its ability to intuitively “learn” the user’s habits in opening and using applications, data and documents. I have managed to condense my most regular and repeated tasks to just a smattering of keystrokes: opening webpages, sending files by email to a known contact, moving files - the list goes on.

What makes this application so useful is its open ended design – new features are always being implemented through additional plug-ins, and its ability to handle almost any kind of data or application.

The success of Quicksilver's influence is made all the more apparent if you venture away from your Mac and are using another operating system – you may find that you are searching for your familiar hotkeys and shortcuts to no avail!

If you are new to Quicksilver then very useful tutorials can be found here or here.

I was referred to Geek on Stun where they have a scan of the box art to Everybody Loves Katamari Damacy!

Dull computer rendered cover art is all too common in western territories, but I’m sure that you will agree that this image is a refreshing and original concept – much like the game.

Ever wondered why gamers go to the difficulty and extra effort of importing games from Japan – when they often get released some months later?

Box art: For such a technologically advanced country, the use of hand drawn artwork is still widely used alongside computer assisted creations. Vibrant colours, original and often very stylised characterisation is widely used as well. Examples in mind from recent months include: Switch (SEGA, PS2), Katamari Damacy (Namco, PS2), Kirby (HAL Labs, GBA) and Wario Ware (Nintendo, GC/GBA). I’m not a big sports fan, but even Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution manages to transcend it’s scope with this cover (Konami, PS2).

Packaging: Japanese homes are smaller, so it follows that boxes and packing will not waste any unnecessary space. GameCube and GBA boxes are fine examples of this. I’m still trying to work out why PSP cases take up so much unsay space though.

Instructions: Picture the scene – a new game, you have unpacked its shrink wrap marvelled at the cover, but to your disappointment its badly written instruction manual is in black and white print and looks like it was thrown together three days before publishing date. For a little extra effort, the booklet could be made to fit into the mood and style of the game that it accompanies; colour could be used (no excuse!) – and think how to present the information in an original way. Atsumare! Made in Wario (Nintendo, GC), Chaos Legion (Capcom, PS2), Initial D (SEGA, PS2) are a few examples that spring to mind.

A very good article on this subject can be found in EDGE #000 (Month 0000).

As summer draws in, and we start to pack our bags to go to various places – the problem of keeping clothes and other belongings clean and tidy weighs on my mind. This is not so much a problem on the outset, when everything is laundered and pressed to crisp spring fresh perfection; but on the return journey when some items are used, dirty and others are clean – you may be forgiven for asking in exasperation how to keep the clean stuff just that way in the mad jumble of your bag.

The Clothes Spacepak will go quite some way to assist in such a situation. You simply designate one compartment for cleans and the other on the reverse for dirty – and there you have it. Problem solved. Why none of the many hundreds of holdall or travel case manufacturers hadn't come up with a similar solution before, is a thought that proves baffling.

In fact the Flight001 site specialises in lots of different quirky and useful travelling cases and accessories. The original shops are located in San Francisco and Los Angeles in USA, but the website is just as thoughtfully designed. Shipping is to USA residents only at the moment, but with a few well targeted electronic missives, let's hope they begin UK and international shipping very soon.

I’m kicking myself at the moment after discovering that the recent PSP emulators and home brew games only work on v1.00 of the handheld’s firmware – I have learned this after updating to version v1.51 (Although recent news suggests that a few of these have been made to run on v1.50 at the very least for now)

PSP Hacker has a full list of emulators that are currently running on PSP - considering the short life span of this system, its quite an extensive selection!

As a shmup fan, this will prove to be a temporary way to fill this gap – at least until the first original shmups are released.

Also the home-brew project Beats of Rage has been ported – a game which gives many a nod to the Mega Drive days.

Having watched the WWDC Keynote (which looked absolutely stunning streamed in H.264), we have to hand it to Apple and their ability to keep a secret. In case you didn’t know, all versions of OS X from the first version, have been compiled for both the Power PC (G4, G5) and Intel architectures.

Once the transitions to the Intel architecture begins, the most crucial software will have already been proven to have full compatibility already. Third party transitions seem to similarly well catered for (Rosetta for transition and migration; ability to produce universal binaries that are compatible for both PowerPC and Intel) – so this could be one of the more smoother architecture transitions coming up.

In closing, how many more big cats can Apple come up with? Now we know that OS X 10.5 will be called Leopard – will the box art come in leopard skin print? (A big boo to the boring Tiger-black!)

So you like riding your bike and you need to take Rover for an early morning walk – how to reconcile these two opposing tasks? Take a look at the Dog Powered Scooter – and marvel at the happy energetic expression the pooch in this picture is wearing!

Next: The dog powered coffee maker...

A new discovery has hit Forenoon Filings - well made good quality clothing that is guaranteed not to have been sweatshop sourced in the process - from American Apparel. This is a clothing company that has been established especially to ensure that all of its clothing is manufactured and sold by well paid motivated staff - all the way from the needle and thread to the till.

What I like about their range of T-Shirts, is that for me they are shaped and cut to just the right proportions for my awkwardly shaped frame and that they are available in almost every colour in the rainbow. At £12/$16, their prices are really not very far off their high street sweat-sourced equivalents either.

Lets hope we see more of these types of companies - they have proved that it is possible to manufacture distribute and sell well made clothes at reasonable prices (and pay their staff considerably more than US$0.35 per hour in the process...)

Have you been bewildered by this new fangled acronym VOIP? What is the big fuss and why are so many people getting so excited over it?

In short, VOIP is a protocol which allows voice calls to be transmitted over the Internet: Hence Voice Over Internet Protocol.

If you are sceptical, I can assure you that it is possible to setup your very own VOIP connection for free – all you need is a microphone, set of speakers and functioning internet connection.

The best known software for VOIP on a computer is Skype. This is really worth getting just for experimentation purposes. The concept is the same as using an instant messenger application. Recent feature additions include allowing externally directed calls to be made to standard land lines (however use of this service is charged). In response, some of the major telco providers have started their own VOIP services such as BT in the UK, while in the USA, a typical service is provided by the dedicated broadband phone company Vonage.

The UK has lagged in broadband roll-out so far, but it has been officially announced by BT that the number of broadband users have overtaken dial-up users.

As this progress continues, I wonder if it possible to prevail on BT (this current largest direct provider) to increase their standard upload rates from 256KBps...