Info and forum posts by 'Steven Wemyss'

RE: 9/11 Conspiracies on C4 tonight *SPOILERS*

Bit more information about the Pentagon thing here...

Pentagon Brief

Now tell me thats a plane and not a missile?

RE: AvP - to be a 12 certificate!!!

Basically you`ll tend to find people hate it because it`s not Aliens II...it`s by no means a classic film but it is also at the stroke not a terrible one either! I would definately say to go and watch it as the majority of the detractors will find that it`s not actually that bad, it`s certainly a lot better than Resident Evil if you compare it to other Paul Anderson flicks.

This item was edited on Monday, 16th August 2004, 16:59

RE: AvP - to be a 12 certificate!!!

Well having actually reserved judgement for the film till I`d actually seen it (unlike most of the AICNers who it`s unlikely even bothered to go see the film) I`d like to shed a little light on it...

It`s not actually that bad...in fact it`s actually quite enjoyable! Eeeek, shock horror etc etc...

If you go in expecting a horror ala Alien, you will be dissapointed! If you go in expecting a full on Predator style movie you will be dissapointed! I however have been a fan of the AvP series of books etc so I had a rough idea of what to expect before walking in and indeed I wasn`t dissapointed. He`s used a lot of the source material there to good effect and remained faithfull to the Predator culture etc. The 3 Predators that are in the film are young trainee warriors who are undergoing a rite of passage in order for them to become fully fledged warriors, as such they are not the great hunters you see ala Pred 1 & 2 (indeed if you read the books etc hunting modern day humans is reserved for only the higher ranking Predators). Not only that but...

SPOILER:
The humans kinda bollox things up for them by nicking their guns before they get there thus they`re left to face a large squad of Aliens with minimal weapons

It doesn`t have the horror atmosphere of the Alien series and it doesn`t really try to match them, indeed the Aliens . There are some good Pred action sequences when they`re trying to resolve the situation indicated in the spoiler area above. The film is very good visually with the CGI aliens looking pretty damned smart! The 12 rating (tho I can perhaps see it more likely getting a 15 in it`s current form tbh) isn`t that big a deal, much of the human violence is implied or happens just off screen. The majority of the more violent acts happen to the Aliens or Predators and as such they are deemed "fantasy violence" and hence don`t merit a higher certificate it seems! Oh and there are a few Chest-Burster moments too!

All in all it`s a rather solid action flick with some very smart set pieces and a decent story and cast. It`s entertaining more than horrifying and is certainly Paul Andersons best work to date (but then many of you would tend to agree that doesn`t mean too much!). I love the Alien films, I love the Predator films, this doesn`t really try to "be" either of those tho it is closer in concept to a Predator movie and is a decent film in it`s own right.

P.S. Those going on about the whole "a predator should be able to waste hundred of aliens, why`s he having probs with one!" blah etc, think of it this way - A human hunter doesn`t go racing after a pride of lions on his own with a pen knife! Indeed have you even watched any of the Alien films and paid attention to how deadly they are???

P.P.S Oh and major spoiler below for only those who`ve seen the film:
SPOILER:
How cool is the pred alien!!! :D

This item was edited on Monday, 16th August 2004, 10:27

RE: Sky £65 callout charge

When you call out a Sky engineer (i.e. phone Sky directly and book one through them) the £65 is a flat fee so even if you need a new box etc that is all covered by the cost of that £65 so there should be no hidden extras. As for the whole resetting the box solved the problem thing when you call up there`s various procedures that they should take you through over the phone which can solve the majority of issues. Sending out an engineer should always be one of the last things they do but as always you get good staff and you get bad staff. (Hint: The staff at the weekend are usually a lot better for some reason, less stressed I suppose!)

2 main ways of fixing your sky which cover most of the usual issues: (if you call the Technical Line these are normally relayed to you when you`re on hold btw)

Connection check (Covers the vast majority of issues) -
1) Switch box to standby via remote then switch off at the mains.
2) Unscrew Dish Input Cable (if you have Sky+ there may be up to 4 of these), leave cable(s) out for about 15 secs or so and then screw back in.
3) Check all other connections on the box are secure.
4) Switch box back on at the mains and leave for 40-60 seconds.
5) Sky demonstrator channel will appear when you switch the box on via remote, check channels to see if they`re ok.

Astrascan (mostly helps when loss of some channels or try this if the connection check doesn`t resolve the issue) -
1) Press services on the Remote, go into option 4 (System Setup).
2) Ignore on screen options and press 0, 1 then select in succession. Installer setup menu should appear.
3) Go to option 1 (LNB Setup) set 22Khz and LNB Power to off (Again Sky+ may have multiple LNB`s), Save the new settings and you`ll be returned to the Installer Menu. Go back into option 1 and press Red on Remote (LNB etc will be back to ON) and save settings again.
4) Go to option 6 - New Installation. Press select on message and again on next screen (shows signal strength and quality Strength is signal from dish so if this is low then Dish needs sorted, if Quality is below half then its a prob with the box).
5) Now Scanning please wait will appear, eventually it will come up with Channel Line Up complete (if it doesn`t then you`ll prob need and engineer out), if you press select now it activates a call back to sky so instead you can just Backup out of the menu`s to your channels and check them to see if this has solved prob.

Bladerunner Ultimate Edition

Spotted this on EBay -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4184162274&category=41573

Unfortunately I dont particularly fancy paying £50+ for a pirated copy ala that auction (See item description), anyone ever heard of this and in particular the curious 3rd verion as I`d never heard of it before???

RE: Kill Bil Uncut R3 less than £10.

Hmmm, £9.99 now, bah!

RE: Far Cry - PC version....still not here!

Damned good game, the first PC game I`v bought for ages and after an hour sitting around installing and fiddling with the settings I realise why I stopped buying PC Games! Grrrrr! That said though now I have got it running nice and smoothly it is rather good. Definately a big step up from the previous FPS shooters in terms of immersement etc.

Now if only all PC games would just load up and play when you put in the disc like me XBox! :D

RE: Any Anime fans out there?

Yep the one ur thinking of is Cyber City Oedo 808, was only a 3 part series though.

If you like Ghost In The Shell then you`ll love the TV Series...hell even if you didn`t think it was that great u`ll prob love the TV Series anyway! :) Definately about the best anime out there though be carefull of the cheaper DVD versions as the subtitles are notably poorer. (Proper ones come with the shiny/hologram packaging usually). Cowboy Bebops already been mentioned, Outlaw Star is another good one. If you like CGI anime then the FFVII inspired CGI film is meant to be rather good but not seen it yself yet.

RE: Can you recommend me some GOOD horror movies to see?

A lot of the Japanese stuff is quite good in terms of atmosphere, someones already mentioned Dark Water and Audition but others to look at are The Ring Trilogy and The Eye as well. Western Horror is a bit more hit and miss as there`s so much crap out there, TCM (preffer the remake myself tbh!), early Fri 13th`s, Hellraiser 1-3 as well as some of the other Clive barker stuff are quite good as are 28 Days Later, Dog Soldiers and the US remake of The Ring.

RE: Car stereo...... Anyone seen any deals around ?

I found www.bassjunkies.com to be one of the better places, the cheap little Panasonic CQRDP383 at £90 is a fantastically cheap buy, well worth the dosh.

RE: Connecting Cars - anyone heard of this so called car seller to buyer matching service?

There are a few floating around like this, another is Auto-User which I think is the one mentioned on Watchdog. Basically avoid them all like the plague and deal with only legitimate companies such as Autotrader etc. Oh and if you get any agencies or that offering free magazines etc be wary of them as well as you end up getting bombarded with junk mail or phone calls as a result.

For Sale: Sharp XV C20E LCD Projector

I`m selling the following item:

Sharp XV-C20E Home Cinema LCD projector, 800x600 resolution, 1200 luminems, adjustable vertical position and various other options. Has inputs for both S-VHS and Composite Video In as well as VGA and standard audio phono sockets. Gives a nice crisp picture and works quite well even in daylight though shine it on a good screen in a dark room and et voila. Ideal for home cinema or indeed for hooking up the games console to and the unit is small and fits nicely on a shelf out of the way

Selling for £400 ono inc p&p as the bulb is currently on it`s last 100hrs (just started) and as such will need replaced soon enough (£200 for a new bulb approx). Will include in the sale a retractable 5ft screen if buyer collects, unsure what postage costs would be for the screen if you wanted to buy that as well.

RE: Company Car Choice - Opinions Welcome!

Personally I hate Fiats with a vengance as they are generally very poorly built and dont retain their value well at all. Of that lot the Civic does sound about the best of the bunch but as you said it is no Type-R although the VTEC engine`s are still quite nippy.

Clio Sport 172 not around the same sorta price range? Others to look at C2 VTR, Saxo VTS or VTR, 206 GTI...

RE: Help! - I think my Sky digibox is bust

A service call from Sky costs a £65 flat fee and includes all parts and labour including a new box if you do need it.

RE: New Year`s Honours - Why no mention of David Jason

Lets see Christopher Lee, nope, David Jason, nope, Chris Tarrant...ooooh yep!

Bunch of elitist crap really drawn up by a bunch of morally corrupt politicians! :p

RE: Xbox Live - issues with AOL and modem question

Use windows Internet connection sharing and have the XBox networked up to the PC or router if you`re using one. Assuming you`re using XP then it`s very easy to do and plenty of guides on the www.xbox.co.uk web site.

It`s confirmed finally...

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_847885.html?menu=news.latestheadlines

Yep the completely unexpected has happened (sarcasm!) Sky have finally got he rights to show season 3 of 24. Word is that it also includes a deal to repeat the first 2 series as well. Five are the likely winners for showing it on terrestial TV but it will have a 6 month wait after whenever Sky finally show it before they can screen it.

Hmmmm...wouldv`e preffered the lack of advertising the BBC would give it but at least it`s finally on the way!

RE: broom, broom Cars. what people own?

My list of cars since starting driving in 96 I think:
D Reg Mini Mayfair (great first car though too damned small for me now!)
M Reg Clio 1.2RL
P Reg Megane 1.6RT
N Reg BMW 316i Sport
02 Reg Saxo VTR

Current car:
H Reg Toyota MR2 Turbo (Jap Import)

RE: SKY +

Naw mate, it`s already gone down with a bump recently, dont expect it to go down again till at least summer time or so.

RE: SKY +

Not long till I get mine for free, whoooo! :D

(One of the perks of having a part time job at Sky!) :)

RE: gastley gatso camera question?

Also the police need to maintain a visible presence when attempting to catch speeders. i.e. drivers should be able to clearly see the camera or van so them parking around a sharp bend or behind a bridge negates their ability to make the charges stick. You can contest the speeding ticket if, as you seemed to indicate, they were parked partially obscured by the skip. Certainly this does apply in Scotland, not so sure about England & Wales.

RE: Those neon blue LED`s on crap cars - whats that all about???

It was a GTO Twin Turbo I was originally going for but decided against it for now as they are horrendously expensive to maintain and run, a lot of electronics in there which can go wrong! Ended up going for an MR2 Turbo instead as it was cheaper but still pretty rapid, probably will get a Skyline or GTO though at some point! :) One of the other reviewers on here, Chris, has a rather nice 3ltr Twi Turbo Nissan 300ZX, tis a beast of a car! :D RX7`s are nice but the MPG is horrendously scarey in em, put the foot down and you`re in single digit mpg territory!

And as for the point someone made earlier about all show no go, already answered that question really. The reason behind that is they cant afford or simply cant get insurance for fast or heavily performance modified cars so they have to show it off in other ways. Thankfully I`m now past that stage and can focus on embarrasing the boy racers, yay! :D

This item was edited on Friday, 28th November 2003, 10:05

RE: Those neon blue LED`s on crap cars - whats that all about???

It`s a style thing plus people like to think they have a car which goes quicker! :) A spolier can totally change the appearance of a car turning it from a mild mannered "trip to the shops" kind of car to something that looks like it should be tearing down a dirt track in the forrest (or indeed put back with the rest of the shopping trolley`s!)

Then again there are cars on which they are necessary...as Audi found out to their cost with the "widowmaker" incidents! (Original Audi TT had no rear spoiler and as a result when it got to a certain speed the aerodynamics caused the car to become light a floaty leading to the mostly young male executives to spin out of control).

RE: Those neon blue LED`s on crap cars - whats that all about???

Quote:
The thing that get`s me is you get all these kiddies buying a corsa then spending obscene amounts of money on spoilers, skirts, alloys etc and don`t touch the standard engine. Surely because the car has been modified the insurance premium would increase?

Actually most insurance companies dont charge extra for "non-performance" mods, it`s only when you start doing up the engine etc that the extra insurance costs start coming into the equation. For example the majority of Insurance companies dont care about new alloys though what you will find is good insurance companies will cover the cost of the mods you add on if you have a bump where as some will just cover the standard car, e.g. if someone steals your alloys you only get the cost of the standard alloys. Stereos usually are treated slightly differently, the way my insurance company works is you can have any extra ICE (in-car entertainment) and no additional cost up to the value of £750, after that though you need a seperate policy for the stereo.

That said though if you do go for something completely OTT bodywise then you can expect a rise in the insurance costs. It`s not uncommon for some of those fancy flip paint resprays to cost around £3000 (the ones that change colour depending on what angle you look at it), Bodykits range from £500 to £7000 and thats not including the fitting and spraying! Problem of course with modding is when you sell the car you get basically none of the value back but then when you do have the car it is "your car" and no longer just some mass produced motor.

RE: Those neon blue LED`s on crap cars - whats that all about???

Quote:
Totally and utterly over the top, it`s a car to get you from A to B, not something to w*** over.

Showing ur age there mate! :D Having gotten the car modifying bug a wee while ago I can comfortably say I enjoy it. I like making my car stand out from the norm and personalising it somewhat(that said LED washers are still a big nono!). The stereo is usually the first thing to get upgraded as lets face it, if you`re gonna be stuck in the car for hours why not have a decent sound system to help pass the time. Bodywork mods usually follow though there is always a fine line between smart and tacky, LED washers definately fall into the tacky variety!

My previous motor was a Saxo VTR, nippy wee car so I started going for a rally car style look with that one, nothing poncy or flashy. However having just got a Toyota MR2 Turbo Import this time I will be going down the F&F route. If you`re gonna start modding a car the best thing to do is get a decent car to begin with, still a lot of 18 year olds go for the 1.2l cars simply because thats about all they can get insurance on, hell no-way my lass would get anything remotely sensible quote wise for the VTR nevermind the MR2 Turbo!

Lets face it a car is to get you from A to B, it`s just I like it to do that as fast and as flashy as (legally) possible! :D You may be happy with your bog standard Vectra or Focus but frankly I`d rather be able to take the car out and have a little fun with it!

For Sale: Band Of Brothers - R1 - DTS - Limited Edition Tin

Band of Brothers - Region 1 - Metal Tin Limited Edition, DTS and DD5.1 soundtracks, better quality release than the R2 version, item is in excellent condition, discs unmarked etc - £50 inc P&P

No trades or timewasters please, will accept cheque or Paypal, item will be posted first class recorded delivery.

RE: Project Gotham Racing 2

Was reffering to the XBox version of NFS:U though from what I`ve heard the PS2 version suffers from this as well.

Project Gotham Racing 2

Well my local Game store sneaked this out onto the shelves there yesterday so I had the chance to take it for a quick blast last night. Well sweet game! This is basically a case of bigger, better more and literally blows all other racing games out of the water. The car handling is superb (if you`ve played the demo that wasn`t the final version, it`s much more solid than that!), graphics are stunning and there`s no real indication of slowdown etc (ala NFS:U). There`s a very good range of cars from the Mini Cooper S to the new Ferrari Enzo.

Haven`t had the chance to try it online but from what I`ve heard it`s meant to be superb. Buy this game now if you remotely like driving games!!! (er...assuming you have an XBox as well!) As much as I like the GT series on PS2 it doesn`t come close to hurtling around the streets of Edinburgh etc! :)

RE: For Sale: XBox Games

*BUMP*

Also add MotoGP and Burnout to the list at £12 each inc P&P.

For Sale: XBox Games

I have the following games for sale (all UK PAL full price versions unless otherwise indicated, prices include P&P):

£12 Each:
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Phantom Crash
Max Payne (Platinum)
Colin MacRae 03
Deadly Skies

£20 Each
DOA Volleyball
Robotech

£28 Each:
Otogi: Myth Of Demons
Soul Calibur II

More to be added once I remember what others I have!

No trades etc.