Charley Uchea Attacked

OK, now while I'd usually be totally against blogging or even discussing this kind of thing in general I couldn't help but make an exception in this instance. Basically - when I go to Boots to grab my Meal Deal lunch, the way the ques are laid out you must walk past the usual girly gossip mags (Heat, Closer etc.) to get to the tills and I'll admit, I have a quick look at the covers to pass the time waiting in the que. Anyways - saw an article that looked a little weird which was Charlie Uchea being attacked (the bird from Big Brother with the dope bod). Anyways - decided to have a quick look to see what it was all about and ended up finding this video. Now keeping in mind that I'm currently at work so I can't hear the sound...but I gotta say...1st thing I did was laugh my ass off!! The neck brace is comedy at it's best...and having been subjected by an ex-g/friend to big brother (I stopped watching a few series back after it got STUPID) and listening to this woman speak (for some reason the way she talks is like nails on a chalk board to me). Either way...I ain't trying to get on at the lady and the fact she got a beat down ain't right (although the fact the other chic still had a lit ciggy hanging from her lip is class!)...but the video still looks funny as shit!

More Big Brother posts on Technorati

UFC 78 : Validation

So, the new UFC 78 site is now up and running and another good job by Red Interactive I must say...they're turfing out those sites pretty sharpish without any detriment to quality.

Meanwhile - Matt Serra's team is cleaning up on The Ultimate Fighter and I gotta say I'm well chuffed about it. I wasn't a fan of Matt Hughes ever since I saw him on another season of the Ultimate Fighter taking a dig at Rashad Evans for "show boating". All due respect - but what business is that of yours bro?? You may not like it but what's the point in tellin' him?? What did he expect...the dude to say "Oooh...I'm sorry Matt...I'll stop doing that then" - DIV! The guy carries himself in totally the wrong way and I agree with Matt Serra when he was throwing his dummy out of the pram because his fighter didn't follow the game plan. DUDE!! The guys cousin just died...have a bit of decorum man. I'll totally be routing for Serra (even if he did beat my favourite UFC fighter for the belt) to bring the pain!!

You can view Matt Serra's comments of the episode in question here.

More MMA posts on Technorati

I wanna go to America!!!

Daaamnnn...the Economy in the US seems to be going ever so slightly in a downward spiral. I remember when a British Pound would get you 1.4 dollars, 1.6 on a good day!! Just done a currency check on XE.com and as it stands - 1 British Pound will get you 2.07 American Dollars. Soon as I get back from Amsterdam...thats the next place on my list...no doubt! I don't think I've ever seen the GBP double the dollar before.

So check this out for size...

Apple Store US: iPOD Touch (8GB model) Cost: $299
Apple Store UK: iPOD Touch (8GB model) Cost: £199

Total Saving £54.76

Dell US: Inspiron Starting from $499
Dell UK: Inspiron Starting from £399

Total saving £158.22

BUY BUY BUY!! MUHAHAHA

More News posts on Technorati

Bruce Lee - what a guy...

Was doing a little trawling around the internet as you do (oh the joys of wireless) and came across this poem written by Bruce Lee. Very inspirational...

Who am I?
That is the age-old question
Asked by every man
At one time or another.

Though he looks into a mirror
And recognizes the face,
Though he knows his own name
And age and history,
Still he wonders, deep down,
Who am I?

Am I a giant among men,
Master of all I survey,
Or an ineffectual pygmy
Who clumsily blocks his own
way?

Am I the self-assured gentleman
With a winning style,
The natural born leader
Who makes friends instantly,
Or the frightened heart
Tiptoeing among strangers,

Who, behind a frozen smile
trembles
Like a little boy lost in a dark
forest?

Most of us yearn to be one
But fear we are the other.
Yet we CAN be
What we aspire to be.

Those who cultivate
Their natural instincts,
Who set their sights
On the good, the admirable,
the excellent,
And believe they can achieve it
Will find their confidence
rewarded.

And, in the process,
They will discover the true
identity
Of him who looks back from
the mirror.

Blackberry Pearl - the search is over

The search is finally OVER! Went and scored me a Blackberry pearl yesterday and I gotta say, it's the freakin' shiz. My best mates girlfriend got one about a month back and I was put off by the fact that the typing was a little weird. However I was informed that the difficulty only lasted a few days and after speaking to the dude in the Orange shop - he said the same thing too. Anyways - I left it on charge for the day yesterday while I went to go pick up 'the little one' and I've only been using it today. What can I say...this phone is the SHIT! Works great although I've not hooked it up to my regular email account being as I get ridiculous amounts of spam and I don't want to lash all my allocated blackberry megs before I get a chance to use them. However, the update prior to this one was done via the blackberry and it took maybe 5-6 goes before I got used to the typing. It's roughly the same dimensions as the Prada phone and around the same weight which is great. It has all the features I need (Phone calls, text messages and email) and a bunch of stuff that other people may be interested in like a camera (I just don't see the point), an MP3 player (again...I don't see the point being as I have an iPOD that does a way better job) but I can say with confidence...get this phone!! I wasn't looking to set the world on fire (and this phone by no means does that) but in terms of what I wanted it for...it is absolutely perfect. Well done Blackberry.

Entertaining a ten year old (part 4)

So we've had our first 'incident'. Took 'little miss' shopping earlier on and being as she has been so good I bought her a bratz doll (if your ten and female, these are the shit apparently). Took her to pizza hut for lunch where she ended up ordering more than she could eat, so I ordered her dessert to go. So we get back and the few glasses of wine I had with lunch have made me well sleepy. Luckily, short stuff is content to watch TV and play with her new bratz dolls. Before I go she asks if she can have her cake..."yeah...err no! Not until you've had dinner". So I wake up and go check on her and she's fine, no fires, no male strippers, no drugs all over the table. However I could not help but notice...no cake either. Just the box that the cake came in. As punishment, we're not baking anymore. She didn't seem too bothered but it was the only punishment I could think of on the spot that would equal the crime.

So my friends earlier comment of falling at the first hurdle (based on the fact that I refused to play 'dolls' with her) was apparently unfouded. This entire parenting business is pretty easy. Feed them, give them tools to amuse themselves and bribe them when things get difficult. I should write a book!
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Entertaining a 10 year old (Part 3)

So far this entire thing is working out alright. No moans, groans or complaints from short stuff. Although when asking her if we couldn't go bowling what it is she'd like to do..."we can talk about it tomorrow, I'm reading..." which had swiftly brought me to the realisation that she's absolutely right. Why have a master plan? Everything does not require meticulous planning for us to have a good time. And as I watch her stare out of the window at the world whizzing by I'm reminded of something that a friend once said to me long ago...

"Everything in life is simple, people make things complicated"

I'm now looking at this entire "mission" with a new found positive outlook and weirdly enough...it's all down to the simplistic rationale of a 10 year old. So no more worrying or attacks of anxiety...just play it by ear and have fun while doing it.

On a related note, one of the great things about chilling with the little one is this. With the strikes on the trains etc seemingly catching not only me but most of the travelling public by surprise, the amount of people getting on a dual carriage train at Leicester was a joke at best. However, having the kid with me has it's perks. Soon as I told her to go before me it was as if a path magically appeared in front of us. Let's face it...who's such an arse they'd push in front of a 10 year old girl? We even managed to get a seat while the majority of passengers were standing...mainly thanks to her diving on the 1st pair of seats she could find and lying across them...bless!

Entertaining a 10 year old (Part 2)

...currently sat at Leicester train station. Today of all days they're having a strike so the journey home that should have taken no more than 3 hours is now set to take 5 hours! There was no mention of this on the website of course...money grabbing bastards they are and the train is not for another 30 minutes! I just don't get it. I've been in jobs that I didn't like and do you know what I did about it? Yes...that's right...I got another job! Anyway, thinking about it...they did mention "disruptions to the service" as I was travelling down but the mention of a strike...no where to be seen!

Meanwhile, the little one is sat reading a magazine. When helping her choose she asked "Where are all the girly mags" to which I replied "Cosmo's right there! You got Bliss, the enquirer...take your pick babes". I was met by a comment that made me giggle and cringe at the same time..."I'm 10!". I dunno! Thankfully, the nice lady at the counter (after laughing at my blatant naivety) pointed us in the direction of suitable magazines and a selection was made. Praise lord
for the kindness of strangers!

Regardless of this entire debacle...she seems content to read her mag and I think 'short stuff' (inaccurate for a nick name as she's tall for her age) is looking at this as an adventure more than anything else. Let's see if this lasts!

Entertaining a 10 year old (Part 1)

So I'm currently sat on a train on my way to pick up my little cousin Tiahnna, who may I add has the misfortune of spending 3 days with me. She's a great kid (10 years old), switched on, very intelligent and has yet to loose that honesty that most children are forced to abandon by that age. It's strange how you can both dread and look forward to something at the exact same time - but they're in equal proportions which I guess, helps them cancel each other out. My main worry derives from what it is 10 year old's are into these days. I could use my own
experiences of being 10 years old but this presents the following problems.

1. Back then movies like 'The Goonies' and 'Superman 3' were the shit!

2. Based on past experiences with my nephew of the same age I fear she'd not be impressed by late 80's entertainment and as such it would be wasted on me alone, spending the hours reminiscing about my own childhood and making comments such as "back in my day there was non of this Shrek stuff...", which will only prove to her (and me) that I'm old and uncool! (would most probably cause some eye rolling too)

3. She's female...girls didn't do/act the same as boys did back then and I feel it safe to assume this is still the case.

3. Little Timmy (me) at age 10 was all of 18 years ago and I can barely remember a damn thing about it!

However, I think (or hope...I'm unsure of which yet) that I have a plan. Not only that...I have a backup plan!! My plan is, the cinema to watch that movie with the rat that can cook (even at 28 that looks kinda cool). And then off to a bowling Alley (if I can find one). That should eat up enough of one day and the following day I figured off to Liverpool to visit the slave museum. Teach her a little black history. Now, my worries with this initial plan are as follows.

1. I ain't sure I'll be able to find a bowling alley. I think the one that was there before was closed.

2. If the above turns out to be the case then I'm gonna have to come up with a plan of attack for the 2nd part of day 1.

3. While my recollections of my childhood at 10 years old are vague, one thing I do remember is that when I was off school, learning anything with the exception of how to play the latest video game was the furthest thing from my mind.

Which brings me swiftly onto plan B. I'm going to ask her what she wants to do. Now my worry with this is that she'll come up with something outrageous and ridiculous, this being the case...there is no plan B!

Now I realise that it would appear I am looking at this opportunity to bond with my little cousin in a negative way, which I will admit is true to an extent. But this negativity derives only from my worry that she'll be bored and will want to go home as swiftly as she arrived! Regardless of which, I realise that in life there are no problems merely challenges and situations and I have every intention of rising to this challenge!

More on this later...

Find a distant cousin with your DNA

So Ancestry have started a service by where you can send in a swab of your DNA in order to help find relatives. In principle this is an outstanding idea, however, this all seems a bit suspect considering the fact that one of the many ongoing debates in the UK right now is the privacy of biometric data. With the possibility of identity cards being mandatory for all UK citizens by 2010, recent moves toward combining European DNA databases and all current UK Issued passports containing biometric data, not to mention the fact that the UK is one of, if not THE most surveilled place on the planet, it would seem that things are slowly moving toward a big brother state without the masses realising.

They'll have a disclaimer and privacy policy saying that they won't share such information and blah blah blah, but I'm not about to believe that such agencies as MI5/MI6 and Special Branch can't get hold of that information if they "REALLY needed" to. And all this talk about it helping with terrorist threats, what a pile of shite. Unless you have some system by where anyone without an identity card is automatically recognised (and a system of that magnitude would cost billions to roll out), not to mention the fact that for those who had left their cards at home would feel harassed and threatened due to the constant requests for the card. Throw in the obvious discrimination issue (it would be safe to assume the establishment is more likely to ask non-whites to produce these cards on an ad-hoc basis) and if we mix in the fact that damn near all UK Communications are monitored, it makes me worry where things will be in 20 years. I'm not a criminal, the extent of my law breaking is taping something off the radio and a bit of littering every now and then but with that said, I still have every right to my privacy. It seems like a conspiracy theory right now - but a great many things sound unbelievable until they actually happen.

Anyways, just a thought....

More News posts on Technorati
More Consipracy posts on Technorati

UFC 77 Review and Brock Lesnar in the UFC?!?

So UFC 77 was alright last night...seen better fights but the Franklin/Silva fight was edge of the seat stuff.

Tim Silvia vs Brandon Vera
This fight was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Pretty much 95% of the fight consisted of Brandon Vera being pushed up against the cage with not a great deal of action at all. Tim's getting booed quite a bit in general these days and I can see why. People want exciting fights - and if you play it safe all the time, people will get frustrated and show that frustration. Not to mention that the dude's 6' 8". He's awkward as hell! So with that working against him, he can't really afford to have boring fights if he wants to get the fans respect. If you knock opponents out - the people will come! However, I'm not hating on the guy (although it certainly sounds that way I know) and I totally respect all the fighters and the work they put in. That said - the end result was exactly how I predicted.

Tim Silvia wins by Judges decision.

Anderson Silva vs Rich Franklin
This was not a bad fight at all. Right away you could tell that Franklin had a few more tricks up his sleeve to ensure what happened in the last fight was not going to happen again. Soon as Anderson tried to get him in that Thai clinch, Franklin immediately started making moves to get out of it and the first 3 minutes of the round didn't look too bad. With that said, Anderson has way more in his repertoire than just holding someones head and kneeing them in the face and right at the end of the 1st round, Franklin got tagged with a sweet shot, talk about saved by the bell. Second round comes and I knew it wouldn't get to a 3rd. Much respect to Franklin as the dude totally gave it his all but Anderson's too hardcore right now. Anyways, once again and exactly as predicted...

Anderson Silva wins by 2nd round stoppage.

Nostradamus who?? Randy Couture...eat your heart out!!

Finally, they announced during the event that Brock Lesnar is now a heavyweight in the UFC - ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!! As someone who used to be (USED TO BE!!) an avid fan of WWE, it's hard to imagine him being anything but awkward...although admittedly - he's a freaking HUGE dude and I wouldn't wanna take him on. Although for some reason I can't help but think of that episode of friends when Monica's boyfriend joins the UFC and gets a total ass whippin'. But hey...we'll see. He's a former All American wrestler which counts for alot but until I see that first fight - I'll be reserving judgement. Size and strength only takes you so far (Couture vs Silvia is a perfect example) - and if you come up with someone who has the skills...nighty night!

Oh - and the UFC 78 site has a holding page now, those guys at Red must be well busy!!

More MMA posts on Technorati

UFC 77 : Hostile Territory TONIGHT!

Yeah - I know it actually "happened" yesterday, but living in the UK - we always get stuff late. Anyways...just a reminder for those of you who have totally forgotten about it. Bravo Channel 121 - 9pm tonight. And lets not forget my predictions for the 2 main fights on the card.

• Franklin will almost certainly get another ass whippin. 2nd Round stoppage. He's a great fighter but Silva's skills are jumping by leaps and bounds each fight.


• Tim Silvia will win it by judges decision.

Enoy people, I reckon it should be GREAT!

More MMA posts on Technorati

Command & Conquer and Quake Wars

Yeah, so I was threatening to give my opinion of Quake Wars a few weeks back and decided to give it a quick review on here. Basically - it looks well sexy but being as I ain't played Quake properly (or games in general for that matter) since Quake II was released (yeah...that long ago!) it was all a bit to take in. They've totally changed the format from the old 'Dive onto a server, kill some people and do one' methodology to this ongoing game where you're either a human or alien and the game pretty much lasts forever (give or take a day or 2). Pretty cool theory I guess and I s'pose there's still room for clan play - but for my liking...waay too complex. The reason I say this is because what I got was not what I was expecting and it just was not my cup of tea. I was looking for something you could pick up every now and then if you get bored and have a play but there's so much too it you'd need to take a few hours figuring out what all the different characters you can play do. All in all - a great game if you're into that kinda thing with a shed load to do but for me...way too complex for the kinda stuff I want it for.

Meanwhile - just has the most incredibly geeky weekend in years! Was wanting a little R 'n' R without having to lash a fat wedge of coin so had a little play of Command & Conquer the 1st Decade for pretty much the ENTIRE WEEKEND! (yeah...little seems a bit of an understatement - but hey...it ain't like I do it all the time now is it). Anyways - Pretty much stuck to Generals and I gotta say...I like it. Totally my kinda game...takes about 20 mins to work out the functions of each side and then bingo bango...you're off. Totally recommend it (even if it is 4 years old!!!).

More Gaming posts on Technorati

Propod, Fantasy Interactive and Google

Well, decided to drop an email to Fantasy Interactive to find out what the deal was with Propod and whadaya know, the gems that they are mailed me back!

"Dear Tim,
Thank you for your recent contact, and interest in Propod. Already, Propod has generated a lot of excitement and interest and we are currently producing all the relevant information that will go live on the Propod website in the 4th quarter of this year.

Given the wide-ranging inquiries from individuals and businesses among a variety of industries, we have prepared the following brief details.

Propod is an interactive solution of the highest quality. The dynamic application has all the markings of Fantasy Interactive; it is not just simple and beautiful, its usability is exemplary. The platform has been developed to allow the simplest of users, the “Moms and Dads,” as we put it, to easily share their digital life through a clean and efficient platform.

Propod will launch publicly in the earlier part of the upcoming 4th quarter and will be released in three unique versions.

A brief overview of the 3 models:

Propod.com: Individual members of the public can sign-up for free and businesses can sign-up for a small monthly fee. You will then receive your own “pod” with a URL such as, “yourname.propod.com” or “yourbusiness.propod.com”.

Propod Enterprise Edition: Businesses or organizations can have the Propod platform customized to fit their specific needs, and then implemented into their own environment. This version is for internal use only.

Propod Complete: Corporations with a large distribution network can buy Propod. Fi customizes and implements over an agreed-upon period of time. The client can then distribute it under their brand to their customers."

So - as you can see, by the end of the year it would appear that I'll be blogging on propod! If you'd like to see an example of a propod (there's only one out there at the moment) visit Think Swedish. Oh yeah, that'll all flash baby!! I'd code my own but just don't have the time with the amount of freelance stuff I'm doing. Also, while programming skills are up to par, my design ain't nearly as pristine as there's. And as an old friend would say "you don't have a gimp to put a pool ball in your own gob!". Shame I can't say the same thing to my underlings at work but gotta keep P.C. n all o that. Anyways, I'll be turning this back into my online folio at some point but until then I'll carry on blogging here and will add a final post when my Propod is up n running. One thing I will say...this blogging lark is a bit addictive once you get going, but hey, better this than .

Also - been checking some news articles and quite frankly, I want a job at Google. If you're in the development community it's a well known fact that certain companies really take care of their staff (Google being one of them) and looking at this article it would appear that these guys being big on technology have even extended this to their toilet facilities! Sweet lord! Toilet seats that vibrate...I read that article and I was like "DUDE!!! Niiice!!!". Apparently IBM are pretty cool for that kinda thing too. Rumour has it that they'll literally leave a bunch of developers in a room and just let them come up with stuff on their own! This idea being that intelligent/creative minds will come up with pretty fly stuff without the requirement for direction. GET IN!! No change of that happening at most companies though! The mere suggestion of such a think would either cause a barrage of laughter or weird looks swiftly following by the recommendation of psychiatric help. However, what these people fail to realise is that some of the greatest products were based on some guys coming up with something as a school project or hobby (Facebook and Google being perfect examples of this). 'Outside of the box' is the key phrase here, I don't think following the usual mould is the way to go if you're planning on setting the world on fire.




More Technology posts on Technorati

UFC 77 : Hostile Territory

3 wild guesses what I'll be watching this Sunday. UFC 77 : Hostile Territory will be showing on Bravo (Sky Channel 121) on Sunday at 9pm. 3 hours of woop ass cage fighting action and I reckon it's gonna be a hum dinger!! Rich 'Ace' Franklin will be fighting Anderson 'The Spider' Silva for the UFC Middleweight championship which is a rematch I've been looking forward to for a long time. I was shocked like you would not believe when Silva pretty much handed Franklin's arse to him back in UFC 64. Then we have Brandon 'The Truth' Vera facing off against Tim 'The Mainiac' Silvia (who for some reason does not have a profile on Sherdog?!?). For such a big dude (he's 6' 8") Tim's got some decent skills so here are my predictions.

• Franklin will almost certainly get another ass whippin. 2nd Round stoppage. He's a great fighter but Silva's skills are jumping by leaps and bounds each fight.
• Silvia will win it by judges decision.
  

Let's see if my predictions are as accurate as those of Randy Couture...

Meanwhile - it would appear that England's very own Michael 'The Count' Bisping is set to fight Rashad Evans in UFC 78 : Validation (at the time of this post the site was not up). It's a tough one to call but as usual...I'll definatley be routing for Mike. Both have 15 wins with 0 losses (the only difference being that Rashad has 1 draw to his name but that was against Tito Ortiz which is a great achievement by any standard!). So way too close to call in my opinion but I'll make a prediction on that closer to the event. And the great thing is - the winner will face Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson for the UFC light heavyweight championship. How cool would it be to see an Englishman win it??

Either way - it's nice to see that the UFC is getting the coverage it deserves as opposed to being called a "blood sport". You gotta remember, these guys are skilled professionals who train hard constantly. Not just random dudes off the street that love to have "the off".

You can find out about this and many more UFC events at the official UFC web sites: -

• UFC (US)
• UFC (UK)

More MMA posts on Technorati