Software, technology, startups and video games

Well United had one hand on the Premiership title. If only we had beaten Blackburn! In fairness, they were really up for it and I was happy to come away with a point in the end. So what does this mean for the title? It means United have a three point lead with 9 points to play for, including Chelsea (our nearest challengers) next away from home. In reality though, the fact that United have a superior goal difference means United can lose to Chelsea, win our last two games and still pick up the title, but lets not go there!  Hopefully we can get away with at least a draw on Sunday to make it really tough for Chelsea. As Middlesborough and Blackburn have shown, the matches against the so called lesser teams aren’t always a forgon conclusion. So we are going to be on the edge of our seats right until the last day. Continue reading →

I got my first taste of Mario Kart for the Wii today. I was never the greatest of Nintendo/Mario fans growing up but I am embracing them with my beloved Wii. I didn’t get a great deal of time with it but enough to test out the Wiimote steering wheel. I wasn’t sure if I’d like having to use gestures to control the steering, mainly as I would have to hold the wheel rather than use the traditional fixed steering wheel. But I have to say it worked perfectly. Really good and accurate steering and it was a lot of fun in two player. I would have to recommend the official “Wii Wheel” over Game’s 3rd party wheel as it has a bit more weight and a button cover over the B button making it easier to access. Other than that though it does look like every other Mario Kart in existence. Let’s hope Nintendo have added a bit more than a snazzy new control mechanism…

Well I always thought it was going to be a tough game at home to Arsenal, especially after them being kicked out of Europe by Liverpool in midweek. When we went 1-0 down thanks to an obvious handball I thought it wasn’t going to be our day.
Continue reading →

As we settle into the high-definition era of console gaming, we can bask in the warn glow of our 40″+  LCD TVs (even warmer glow of plasma TVs) and the crisp 710p/1080i/1080p graphics appearing before our eyes, safe in the knowledge that it just doesn’t get any better. Or does it… Continue reading →

Many web applications are hosted on Linux servers, making it difficult for those who are developing their applications on MS Windows (I know, shame on us!).  It can be a bit tricky and cumbersome to maintain two different environments for development and production.

There is a simple alternative, Virtualisation (or Virtualization :-)). Developers can set up a virtual machine running the same OS and software that their production server is using.  This reduces the likelihood of a configuration conflict and simplifies development and testing.

The following steps explain how I setup a Ubuntu JeOS VM to run a Django web application on Apache/mod-python. I am not saying its the best way (I’m not an expert) but it works fine for me. Feel free to offer any suggestions as to how I could improve this setup. (BTW thanks to Gareth for helping me set this up). Continue reading →

Super Sunday has come and gone (almost) and it looks like Man Utd were the outright winners on the day. We gave our fiercest rivals a good drubbing (3-0) but it really should have been 5-0 with Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez all wasting great chances. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting such an easy afternoon agains’t Gerrard and Torres. No doubt most Pool supporters will blame the ref and the sending off but I don’t think it really mattered - they just didn’t compete and never really look like they would threaten us.

We now have a 5 point gap at the top with 7 games to play. There are some tough games ahead with Arsenal at home and Chelsea away so its too early to break open the bubbly. Arsenal have really blown it lately and Chelsea have stolen 2nd spot from under their noses. They have been quietly plugging away since Mourinio was axed and are a real threat in the run in. The game at the Bridge is going to be crucial.

Tonight I had the pleasure of watching Cristiano Ronaldo overtaking the great George Best’s 32 goal haul in a single season with 8 league games still to go! Having missed the Best era, watching Ronny is probably the closest I will ever get to seeing that sort of genius in the flesh. His speed, skill, strength and determination combine to make the ultimate footballer. With the 50th anniversary of the Munich Disaster and the 40th anniversary of our first European victory, what better way of celebrating the history and tradition of the greatest club in world football (ok I may be slightly biased). As he marches towards the end of the season, personal accolades will surely come and I wouldn’t bet agains’t Portugal in the Euros this summer. Hopefully, he can emulate Best and give us the European trophy we have been waiting for and then being crowned World Footballer of the Year will surely be a formality. Come on the Reds!

Soon after graduating and starting work for my first IT company, I realised that we, as software developers, are typecast. Our future careers are defined by what language we use, development tools we are given, the software we develop and even the type of company we happen to work for. The next job will probably use the same sort of skills, and so on. Before you know it, years have passed and you are stuck in a rut using the same skills as when you started out. Continue reading →

I have to admit I am struggling to fit in some quality game time on my Xbox 360, Wii and PC. Unplayed games are piling up beside my TV and my gamer score is starting to look pretty embarrassing. I have barely started PGR4; Halo 3 is languishing and I’ve still got 100 stars to collect on Super Mario Galaxy. Maybe its time to re-evaluate my priorities…

Well I guess there aren’t enough blogs on the Internet…

Firstly I am going to assume (quite rightly) that no-one other than myself will have any interest in what I have to say (apart from my wife that is). I will therefore cater for my audience and cover things that are of interest soley to me. That is Manchester United, Software Development, Startups, Technology and Video Games and whatever else happens to take my fancy.

Disclaimer: Any thoughts or opinions on this site are purely my own. I cannot promise they will be interesting or accurate. My views have probably already been covered by much more witty and intelligent people than I. I therefore suggest you ignore my pitiful attempt at a blog and go read theirs instead.