“Dolores McNamara from Garryowen, County Limerick, scooped £77m (112m euros) in the National Lottery Euromillions draw.”

BBC NEWS | UK | Irish lottery winner scoops £77m

With all four of the failed bombers seemingly captured, I'm hoping we can get their reasoning behind their actions. Sadly, I fear it could be similar to that of Mohammed Bouyeri who killed Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh for, in his interpretation, insulting Islam. After explaining how he'd do the same again if released, Bouyeri spoke to van Gogh's mother:

“I don't feel your pain. I have to admit that I don't have any sympathy for you. I can't feel for you because you're a non-believer.”

He added: “Maybe you could find some consolation if the maximum sentence is given.”

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GU Comics has some exclusive Vanguard screenshots up. Bearing in mind that they “are to show gameplay moreso than pretty images and are lacking polish, finished anims, etc.” and that I'm a bitter and jaded MMOG player, the gameplay looks depressingly unoriginal.

Can we stop making fantasy-themed MMOGs now?

Regarding this, apparently some people were not so appreciative:

“The 646 complaints said posters for The L Word, which showed semi-naked women in body oil, were offensive, degrading and unsuitable to be seen by children.

It is the most complaints for a single advert the ASA has received this year.

But the watchdog said the images were not sexually explicit and accurately reflected the show's content.”

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Outcry over lesbian TV show ads

“Miami attorney Jack Thompson claims cheat codes make EA's life sim a pedophile's paradise by showing genitalia; calls for ban on T-rated game.”

Sims 2 content "worse than Hot Coffee" - PC News at GameSpot

A new version of McAfee came down the pipe today. One good thing is they've added a “stop asking me to scan all my files every time I catch a virus in your incoming mail” feature, which I consider a godsend. They've also added PUPs - Potentially Unwanted Programs. Though their rules may be a tad overzealous...

“Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) announced today that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has changed the rating of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on all platforms from "Mature 17 " (M) to "Adults Only 18 " (AO) because of the so-called "hot coffee mod," an unauthorized third party modification that alters the retail version of the game. Take-Two cooperated fully with the ESRB's investigation.”

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Announces Conclusion of ESRB Investigation

One of the cool things my new camera can do is “stitch” pictures together into a panorama. First up, when you're taking the pictures it shows the previous picture you took so you can line-up the next one. Then, when you've transferred the pictures across to the PC there's a program that'll adjust the pictures so their edges line up, like thus:

My old digital camera broke (whatever gunk by brother got on it when I lent it to him a while back finally killed the slidey screen that covered the lens/acted as the on switch) so I splashed out on a new one. Here's one of the first pics I've taken with it.

“Telltale is releasing a series of point-and-click adventure games based on each of the "Bone" chapters over the Internet on their Web site, http://www.telltalegames.com. Despite being only 50 megabyte downloads, the games will feature a full voice cast with dialogue taken directly from the original word balloons.”

Comic Book Resources - CBR News - The Comic Wire

Bone was one of the best comic books around... I'm not sure what kind of game they're going to get out of it, but I'm downloading this trailer at the moment.

“Take a sneak peek at the video game adaptation of Bone in this trailer.”

Bone Media Index for PC at GameSpot

Since I'm no longer playing WoW, thought I'd change the header image. The original is here.

Video for the early-Cure-esque “Night on Fire” from VHS or Beta (I forgot who told me about these guys... apologies; single is due in August).

(also, Bloc Party's “The Pioneers” is out today - the video can be seen here - and they are on XFM tomorrow.)

Odd animated video (Quicktime, 10MB) set to Mogwai's Hunted by a Freak (from 2003's “Happy Songs for Happy People” . Not safe for pet lovers.

When I was at the Film & Comic Con the other week I got to ask Adam Baldwin (he's not one of the Baldwins - which I wasn't aware of) a quick question - so I asked whether he thought there'd be another series of Firefly. He didn't rule it out, but felt it would be more likely there would be a sequel film if Serenity did well.

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Well... colour me surprised: after re-writing the first book four times, she's done it again.

“Too much of the book was either a repeat of what we have seen before, or bogged down by Rowling's attempts to manoeuvre plot lines and characters into position.”

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts | Harry Potter review blog

Warren Ellis has been posting pics from ComiCon, or the Nerd Prom as he calls it.

Video (flash: small or large) for Goldfrapp's “Ooh La La” - out nex' munf.

Seems based on Spirit in The Sky if I'm not mistaken.

(or, for more in the way of sexy parties, the video for Train from the previous album [on iFilm, who I guess have screwed Apple's plans for that name huh...])

Testing their morality to the limit, GameSpot (or G-Spot perhaps) tests out the “Hot Coffee” mod for GTA:SA on the PS2.

“The next screen proved that the PlayStation 2 edition of the game does indeed include a sexually graphic minigame, which plays almost exactly the same as the Hot Coffee mod. It begins inside a bedroom with Denise, wearing only a pink thong and a cutoff T-shirt bearing the Rockstar logo, performing simulated fellatio on CJ, who is fully clothed in jeans and a "wife beater"-style tank top.”

Confirmed: Sex minigame in PS2 San Andreas - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot

The problem with Formula 1 isn't really the qualifying format, but maybe they'll open up other aspects of the sport for supporters to vote on.

“The Formula One teams have come up with ideas for possible 2006 qualifying formats. We would like your feedback on two particular suggestions. Check out the key points of each below, then vote for your preferred option at the bottom of the page.”

The Official Formula 1 Website

Tickets for the world premier of Serenity - the movie spun off from the cancelled Fox series Firefly - at the Edinburgh International Film Festival went on sale today. The EIFF's site was immediately overloaded.

“EIFF have confirmed the website/phone issues have been caused by Serenity... By the way.”

WHEDONesque : Comments on 7229 : Edinburgh International Film Festival Serenity premiere

It was wierd enough when it was just that I'd lived in New York when they destroyed the World Trade Center and I'm now living in London when someone has a go at blowing up the Tube; but now I find the latest lunatics come from the city where I grew up...

“Firefox 1.0.5 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

Here's what's new in Firefox 1.0.5:

* Several security fixes.
* Improvements to stability.”

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.5 Release Notes

...oh yeah!

“Pets will now enter passive/follow mode when their masters mount.”

World of Warcraft Community Site -> Patch Notes

EVE, the reasonably successful sci-fi space MMOG, was going in the local Gamestation for £5 a while back, so I picked it up. I'd heard they'd added some new stuff to the game recently and I was a huge Elite player as a kid, and a multiplayer version thereof could be cool.

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As I recall, in the “official” Grand Theft Auto 3, you were able to blow the heads off random passersby, causing a fountain a blood to spurt out. In that one or Vice City, you could blow individual limbs off the public too - leading to a one-legged man hopping around, blood spurting out, until he fell over and died. You could take a baseball bat to an old man and repeatedly beat him as he lay on the ground, the blood pooling under his lifeless body. You could pick up prostitutes from the street, drive to a secluded area and watch the car rock a bit before your health went up - then run over them to get your money back. All this quite rightly resulted in the game being given a Mature rating - 17 in the US, 18 in the UK.

But heaven forfend you put in a hidden mini-game featuring consensual sex between consenting adults... That would really be beyond the pale.

“The industry group that sets ratings for video games is probing whether hidden features within the blockbuster title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" allows players to make their characters engage in simulated explicit sex acts.

[...]

If the investigation were to lead to a rating change from M (Mature 17 ) to AO (Adult Only), it could limit sales from major retail outlets.”

Games ratings board probing Grand Theft Auto:SA - Yahoo! News

Additional: Grauniad Gamesblog, Lum the Broken and Ubiq.

I also took a few photos of the sunset yesterday. I think they came out quite well, though the moon one didn't really work.

Some photos I took of the animals, intentional or otherwise, that were around us at a BBQ at my parents' place yesterday.

So far, no-one I know has lost anyone in today's bomb attacks in London. Sadly though, 40 people I have no connection with have died so far and some 700 have been injured in what appears to be Al-Qaeda's first successful attack on British soil (the laughably and redundantly named “The Secret Organization Group of Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organization in Europe” have claimed responsibility, though there are dissenters to this, not least those who don't think they would kill so few people).

The entire world has apparently condemned the bombings, including Hamas. Which is nice.

MeFi thread here. 3 buses and 3 underground trains hit - 20 people dead so far.

He's normally more my Dad's style of thing, but the upcoming single (flash) from Paul “The Modfather” Weller is quite good.

Things didn't go as well as my last mention of FC4 hinted :/

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An email from MSN Music:

Note to all MSN Music users

From August 1st 2005 we are changing the price of our single music download tracks from 69p each to 79p.

Our album prices are staying the same - still fantastic value at £6.99!

This is, presumably, because that's the price Apple's iTunes gouges people at.

Just competed Psychonauts

Xfire has me down for 16 hours played, but I didn't have it running today because the intarweb was broken, so stick another seven hours on top of that for nearly an entire day-worth of fun. An excellent, inventive and well done little all-in-all.

The format - whereby young psychic Raz has to entire the brains of various people to solve their problems - allows for an interesting range of levels, such as the Milkman Conspiracy where you need to find disguises to get past the “disguised” assassins or the Lungfishopolis level where you take the part of a Godzilla-like monster stamping through a city (and some classic lines from the inhabitants: “he's immune to bullets... and love...” . The stuff common to every level is nicely done too, with figments of imagination floating around, mental cobwebs to clear and, my favourite by a longshot, the emotional baggage to sort out.

Hopefully it sold enough for the sequel they left the ending open for.

But why does he talk in a scottish accent?

MechaJon

(found at Scam City version 8.0 » MechaJon!!!)

I was going to mention my dip back in to AC2 with Legions but, apart from the comments on the graphics (he probably hadn't installed the high-detail stuff), this is close to what I would have said, sadly.

“All these niggling flaws will weigh far too heavily on a new player's mind, and render AC2: Legions rather obsolete in the face of competition from more modern and accomplished titles. So, whilst the additions Legions provides to the core game are commendable enough, and indicative of Turbine's attentiveness to their long-term customers, Legions' appeal will most likely be confined to those customers. The difficulty curve is far too steep to play solo, and with its diminishing popularity, new players are going to find it very difficult to find other people of equivalent level to party up with.”

Pro-G - Prodigious Gaming: Asheron's Call 2: Legions Review

Heard this on XFM last night. A tight little tune with Joy Division-esque vocals. You'll probably need the new Quicktime to view it though.

Editors: Blood