The only review that counts...

This is what Walt Mossberg has to say about Tiger:

Tiger is the best and most advanced personal computer operating system on the market...Its key feature, called Spotlight, is the first universal, integrated search system ever offered as part of a mainstream consumer PC operating system...Spotlight is only one of the impressive new features in Tiger, which will be free on all new Macs and will cost $129 for existing users.

Dashboard fan site

Looks like plenty of 3rd party dashboard apps are springing up all over the place. This site is called "Dashboard Lineup" and has plenty to look at from Friday 6pm onwards!

Drive Ins still exist!

Found this indispensible guide to Drive Ins. Has a very useful "Open a Drive-In" section if anyone fancies a go...

$100 Laptop

I mentioned the concept for a £100 PC a while ago, based on MIT's Nicholas Negroponte and his quest for a $100 PC. Well he's got a website up and running which explains his quest in more detail. He envisions a Linux-based, full-colour, full-screen laptop with WiFi, 1Gb memory and 'USB ports galore'. The cost? $90. The other $10 is for contingency or profit. Want one? Well, you'll have to order at least a million of them and you'll have to wait a bit. But at least it's a start.

Sneak peek at some widgets

Just a few days to go until Tiger launches. Apple accidentally published their initial list of third-party dashboard widgets (then removed it again). Some interesting ones in there (a 16k RSS reader that could be modified quite easily I'm sure...)

Create a favicon.ico for your website

I've just used this wonderful free tool to create a 'FavIcon' for the marvbloke website. Firefox and Safari users should notice a little 'M' in the address bar. IE users will need to add this site to their 'Favorites' in order to see what I'm talking about.

Marvbloke.com has moved...

...to www.marvbloke.com! Instead of being redirected to some anonymous ISP webspace, marvbloke now has its own dedicated webspace. Hopefully this means the Google search box on the right will start allowing you to search the marvbloke archives. And you'll hopefully be able to find marvbloke articles through Google.com. The feed links have been updated, so existing subscribers will need to resubscribe. Please leave feedback if you encounter any technical problems with the site move.

Star Wars: Revelations

Can't wait for Episode III? "Star Wars: Revelations" is a free 47 minute fan-created film based in the Star Wars universe. Looks pretty professional. Save bandwidth by using the BitTorrent links here. Should keep you ticking over until Thursday 19th May.

The Libretto is back!

The Toshiba Libretto portable PC made quite a splash when it launched back in 1997. No bigger than a hardback book, it ran proper Windows and had a good battery life. It even made an appearance in the Spice Girls film. No, really.
I've always liked really small notebook PCs and without the Libretto, the only choices have been JVC MiniNote range and Sony's recent T250. Well 7 years later, and they've done it again! Toshiba are about to launch the libretto U100. Great spec, great screen, great battery life. Available in the US for $1999. Hope that it comes to the UK soon.

Apple Store Birmingham opens April 29

Opens at 6pm - the same time as Mac OS X Tiger is available. Would be cool to buy it from there on the opening day...

Apathetic voters - click here!

Not really into politics, but I tried the "Who Should You Vote For?" website anyway. It asks you around 20 multiple choice questions on various election issues, then works out which party best matches your views. Worth a try. This is what it came up with for me:

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Labour

Your actual outcome:

	Labour 4
Conservative -16
	Liberal Democrat 20
	UK Independence Party 4
	Green 20

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Google Maps is here in the UK!

They've not added satellite mapping yet, but the famous live dragging and plain english directions are available. Try typing your postcode followed by "to nantwich". When the result appears, click on the highlighted numbers at each step to see step-by-step directions. Brilliant. "Take the ramp" might take a little getting used to...
Goodbye multimap, RAC and AA!

TV Wristwatch - yes, really!

There's no hidden box of tricks up your sleeve - it really is a TV on your wrist. And you can order one now for a measly £129.95.
The ultimate portable gadget.

1984

Hilarious.

Possible location for a Manchester Apple Store?

This is on the corner of Portland Street and Princess Street in the centre of Manchester. A user on the ifoAppleStore forums proposes that the 'iPod shuffle' advertising hoarding is a subtle clue to the location of an upcoming Apple Store. I'd be happy, as it's less than 5 minutes walk from where I work. What do you think?
The website also predicts a late-April opening date for the Birmingham store.

Standalone Media Player on a LiveCD

Another one of those LiveCD thingies - this time to create a barebones media player that can play DVDs, Video CDs, MPEG4, DivX, Audio CDs, Windows Media, etc. GeeXboX is a bootable CD containing Linux, mplayer and a neat TV-based interface. In fact, everything you need for a media centre.

TomTom Go 300 Review

In-car Sat-Nav just became affordable... £369.99

Tiger 'unleashed' on Friday 29th April

Apple have just announced the release date of Mac OS X 10.4 a.k.a. Tiger. It will be released at 6pm on Friday 29th April. It will cost £89 (that's £10 less than last time). If you buy a Mac between now and then, you can get Tiger for a small handling fee. This is a must-have purchase for any modern Mac.

Random Text Generator

Tired of using Lorem Ipsum for dummy test in your latest masterpiece?
This is what is came up with for me

There's a voice that keeps on calling me. Down the road, that's where I'll always be. Every stop I make, I make a new friend. Can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again. Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down, Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

80 days around the world, we'll find a pot of gold just sitting where the rainbow's ending. Time - we'll fight against the time, and we'll fly on the white wings of the wind. 80 days around the world, no we won't say a word before the ship is really back. Round, round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Round, all around the world.

Ten years ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem and no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-team.

Pretty cool!

Watch more channels on Freeview for £1!

Clever idea - no commitment, no subscription - just pay £1 for a day of 8 extra channels (sort of). You don't need any extra equipment or a viewing card. Just go to channel 36 and follow the on-screen instructions.
Watch Boomerang (6-9am), Discovery Home & Leisure (9am-12pm), Cartoon Network (12pm-6pm), UKTV Food (2-4pm weekdays), UKTV Style (6-7pm), UKTV Gold (7-9pm weekdays), TCM (7-9pm weekends) and Discovery (9-11pm).
I'd like to see more channels done like this instead of the Top Up TV subscription model. It's rare that there's anything worth watching on those additional channels, so a pay-as-you-go model fits better. I'd like to see a one-stop schedule for it though instead of having to look at 8 separate schedules. I've not had a chance to try it yet - leave a comment if you have.

Bandwidth Speed Test

Always handy to know how fast your internet connection really is. Particularly as broadband providers in the UK slowly roll out faster and faster services...

Build your own portable video game system

The Mignon Game Kit is a simple electronics kit to build a basic Gaemboy-like game system. You solder it, wire it and even program it with your own games. Great way of getting kids interested in electronics.

Linux on a LiveCD

You poor PC people have an easy way out - try out Linux without making any changes to your hard drive. Knoppix is a Debian-based Linux distribution that runs directly from a CD. It uses the KDE desktop and comes with OpenOffice and Konqueror ready to go.

Set up a free wireless hotspot - ZERO config

Looks impressive. It's a bootable CD that turns any old PC into a 'captive portal'. So users need to enter a username/password or setup an account before they can use your wireless broadband connection. May need to give it a try sometime.

Business idea No. 342: Reversible fridge doors

With modern kitchens getting smaller and smaller and space in the home becoming more of a rarity, it occured to me that fridges are quite annoying. You can only open the door from one (usually left) side. Instructions can be found with most fridges to change the door to open from the other side, but it is a permanent change. What is needed is a fridge door that opens from either side at any time. My idea is based on those little card wallet magic trick things.
Please add comments if you think this idea is:
a) brilliant - probably a contender for next year's Nobel prize
b) very poor - complete waste of time you weirdo.
Watch this space for the poll results...