Archive for October, 2006

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I see Dead People, but no Zunes

October 31, 2006

I was coming home this evening and as I drove under a bridge in the car, there was a police car and quite a bit of traffic. Scene set?
Well I saw this guy going up toward the bridge with a yellow jacket on and a flash light. This made me wonder what was happening and as I looked up I saw a ‘body’ hanging from the side of the bridge. I quite literally froze, I could feel my eyes become dilated and was unsure what I had just seen; it all went so fast but yet so slowly enough to take it all in but only in a few short glances.
As I continued I was almost certain of what I’d seen but since it is Halloween, I’m going to just keep thinking to myself that it was just an elaborate hoax. It looked so real but as I say it was only a momentary glance and it was dark. And the dark can cover up a lot of things but this, whatever it was, did look like a human body hanging from the bridge by it’s neck. But despite this, it’s given me an insight that I never thought that I’d have, seeing a dead body (OK it wasn’t dead, well I don’t think so anyway). I can definitely say that it’s an experience that I wouldn’t want to repeat, real or unreal.

On a lighter note, the Microsoft Zune isn’t going to land in the UK until the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008. Oh well. But it will wangle its way into many American stockings. Oh yes. Once again, America will have the PS3 and a Zune for Christmas whilst us i the UK are stuck with last years tech. But lets consider a few things, do we want it? I think not, especially after reading the comments at the engadget site. Let America have it was the general consensus but if Microsoft ever do get around to launching their not so brilliant media player on these shores, will anyone want one anyway. With Apple bringing out a new generation of iPod every week, it’ll be old before its even born. There weren’t that many interested if it was to be launched tomorrow let alone an entire year away.
And the reason for this (well the official line) is that Microsoft haven’t been able to secure a music store provider to build Marketplace in the UK, which means we’re way off launch. Is this really true? If so then obviously the music stores are trying to steer well clear of a device like the Zune or is it really because none of Microsofts many employees wants to stake their career on a media player that isn’t fit to sit on the same shelf as an iPod. As I’ve said before I’m not a big fan of the iPod myself but Microsoft are completely nuts if they think that they can topple this throne. Especially the way that they’re going about it. For a start they want to create a new music marketplace especially for it (like iTunes) and now they’re holding the release date back. Maybe all of the charity spending that Gatesy did earlier this year has gone to his head. We don’t need more of the same we need new innovative tech that will make us happy. For a few months anyway.
I mean HD is already dead in my opinion and the war hasn’t begun yet as more televisual happiness is coming in the form of 3DTV. Yeah that’s right 3D but without the need to wear cardboard glasses like in an iMax theater. I’m sure that you’ll hear much more about that if you haven’t already, but my advice isn’t to wait for that, oh no, get HD now and not just one format, get them both HD-DVD and blu-ray oh and don’t forget to get some VoD content from Telewest and some Lost stuff from Sky HD. What you don’t have that kind of money; well get a better job, learn how to crack a safe or maybe just maybe you’ll win the lottery. But just don’t ask me to choose which format you should get cause at the moment there at a pretty level playing field (although I favour blu-ray as it is more capacious); content on both has its advantages and disadvantages.
For now. Ciao.
To read the article about Zune in full at Engadget and to view the comments visit Engadget

Posted in Home Entertainment, Portable Media | Leave a Comment »

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Micro(copy)soft

October 30, 2006

Microsoft is often seen as the top of the software tree mainly due to it’s popularity but in recent months it’s focussed on taking ideas from other companies and altering them slightly to make a ‘new’ product.

Take Vista, codenamed Longhorn, as an example. The looks of the interface is quite clearly a rip off of the Mac OSX range. And they have only just addressed the security issues that resided in their previous operating systems. Although they did fix the bugs in the Win XP OS before starting with Vista. But if an operating system is designed properly shouldn’t it run fairly smoothly without the need for upgrades and service packs. This in my opinion is just a way to make Microsoft even richer; therefore aiding the richest man in the world to become even wealthier. And surely with a name like XP (which stands for “eXPerience” if you didn’t know) it should have used the experience that they’ve got and put it into the OS. And the most obvious point which os often brought up in arguments like this, Apple’s operating system, the Mac range is seen as more secure as fewer attacks are launched onto it. This IS true but this is only because there are fewer Mac’s than Windows systems so which is going to be the most likely one to target? Microsoft of course as theres more of an impact. But at least Microsoft have now begun to address this problem and have had a go at creating security software (such as anti-virus) to support the OS. This however has to be bought separately from Vista as it isn’t built in. The reason for this? Well it’s to allow their customers to have a choice but then again who would actually now go surfing the web with only Windows Firewall switched on?

Recently Internet Explorer 7.0 and Mozilla Firefox 2.0 were both set free from Release Candidates into fully functional products. Strangely in the same week. Once again Microsoft has copied the features that have been used in other browsers for some time such as tabbed browsing, which was seen in Firefox. This is really useful as it only requires one window to be open therefore taking up less task bar space. I personallly favour Firefox but currently only have version 1.5. The only flaw that I have with it is that it sometimes temporarily freezes but this is compensated for by being a generally faster browser than IE. Obviously more people favour IE as it has around 80% of the web users on board but is this really because its the better option? I don’t think so. It’s more likely that its because it’s pre-installed on the Windows OS so its easier for most to get without downloading. This is something that often puzzles me as you have to download a new browser from the web therefore you need a browser to get the new one. Although you could use an explorer program and type in the URL into the address bar although this proved to me a very slow process.

Again, the Zune, which I’ve talked about in a previous entry, seems to have nicked its looks from the iPod. Another Apple product that has been seen to be a ubiquitously popular product (which is referred to as a common adjective that is synonymous to MP3 player (another term that I deteste) but is apparently a completely different product, this gets free advertising on TV as it is slipt into general conversation such as I’ve got it on my iPod; this is advertising and shouldn’t be used in this context) and then added a bulky wi-fi adapter that’ll only be useful if you happen to bump into another Zune owner, what’s the chance of that? This proves that Microsoft has nicked another great concept (well the battery life is a bit limp in iPods but yet a fair product) and added an innovative idea that will probably never be used. This is more like a look what we can do attempt rather than an actual useful design. Wouldn’t this be better implemented in a third party adapter that could accommodate more players?

Do Microsoft know what they’re doing at all? Well I think that most of their products are extremely useful as I’m composing this entry on a Win XP OS, Microsoft IE 6.0 (though only because this is what opened from messenger) and using my Microsoft Windows Live Space so I think that Microsoft is a brilliant company but should probably refrain from simply copying features from other products and concentrate on improving their own products. Also if they specialised in operating systems (and maybe the X-Box as this has been one of the major success stories as they’ve managed to improve this from the original, frankly RSI inducing, fat, brash controllers into a more managable device) they could vastly do better than trying to become a jack of all trades and are there really any more features that would improve the web browsers available. I do favour FireFox but although I like the tabbed browsing i don’t use it primarily for this reason. I choose to use FireFox because it’s different to IE that I’ve used for many years now and is becoming boring and standard and I think that everything should be changed every now and again. How many times do you change your desktop wallpaper or screensaver? Well why not your browser, maybe Firefox or one of the many others such as Netscape, Safari or Opera rather than plan old IE and try and change the statistics that puts IE way out in front. They’re free so why not give them a try. Plus Firefox comes with Google Toolbar which if you don’t have, is extremely useful, i didn’t think that I’d like it as it takes up more room but it saves you from having to visit the Google page.

By: Chapman

Links to some web browsers

FireFox

Netscape

Safari (mac only, see I do cater for the dark side)

I’m off now to go and nab a version 2.0 FireFox

Let me know in the comments which you choose, go on, you know you want to.

18.40
I’ve now installed the new FireFox 2.0 browser (without the need to restart, which would be the case with a Microsoft product) and it’s way better than 1.5, well some new features anyway.
  • If you close the browser and re-open it, your opened tabs can be opened from launch, now that can’t be bad and you have the option to not do this so its a cool feature.

There’s more cool features that you can add using plug-ins (useful for saving space for only the things that you want, not Microsoft)
and more security methods that improve upon previous versions.
For more info on FireFox and it’s advantages, click the links below to the Mozilla FireFox download site. (N.B- These links aren’t a ploy to get you to download it but just info links for more in depth than I have time to give.

Firefox 2 delivers helpful new features to make your online experience more productive.

Firefox continues to lead the way in online security, and now includes active protection from online scams to keep you safer.

Choose from over a thousand useful add-ons that enhance Firefox. It’s easy to personalize Firefox to make it your own.

Posted in Computing, Web | Leave a Comment »

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Gotta be wik to get on Wikipedia

October 29, 2006

This evening, whilst watching the first aniversary edition of Deal or No Deal, I was also logged onto Wikipedia. This was to contribute the most up to date information about this special show. Heres the entry, I added the bit about the final part of the Special Changes whilst another user made a separate section for this. Both technically deserve a space there as the show featured alternate content but was also worth a separate paragraph.
It is so frantic to contribute to the page though as I anticipated that many would be doing the exact same thing. This is true with other entries as other people could be adding to the same page at the same time leading to a coflict to prevent someone from saving their own contributions. However this is more intense with developing events as its a race to the save button before someone else logs in to the page. Anyway if you want to check out my entry heres a link: Deal or No Deal at Wikipedia

Posted in Web | Leave a Comment »

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Companies will kill the video store

October 28, 2006

Services such as Google Video and YouTube have been most popular in the past few years for allowing users to easily and freely distribute their video productions. This is nothing new but some have uploaded material from TV and movies which is copy protected. Despite the widely considered useful aspect of this (as it costs nothing to view content that would otherwise have to be paid for) surely it can’t last. Especially with the recent ‘merger’ of Google Video and YouTube, if, no when a big company such as the BBC, itv or most probably Sky (as this has so much money but sill wants more but moreover the fear of losing money or interest) gets involved and complains, the video sharing sites will have little to no objections about removing copyrighted content as they can’t afford to be on the wrong side of such large companies esecially when these companies begin legal proceedings. And it would be the company, e.g. Google who would come under attack as they have to approve each video before it can be “live” to be viewed by anyone in the world.
So, whilst I too like to take advantage of kindly uploaded ‘free’ content, it won’t last forever or may possibly be still there but with a linked charge. I do however have a some remorse for big companies as although they’re doing well now, if the content that’s already been produced is being flogged on the web for free, money mightn’t be available to be reinvested into the making of a new series. And then we, the consumer would begin to lose out.
The contents of this entry refer to only the material on such sites that is copy protected (and technically shouldn’t be there anyway) and not the indie productions or ones that have been authorised by production companies.

Just one more thing, my videos will still be available over at Google Video for the forseeable future, these are my own productions so have no chance of being removed for the reasons that I referred to in this entry. If you’d like to view them heres some stats and links (the first number is the views, the second is the number of downloads). I hope they continue to do just as well in the coming weeks/months as they have in the past few weeks since they were uploaded.
I’m so pleased that they broke the 500 views mark yesterday!
Views Downloads

A Mini Presentation, Russ Swift at Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield
176
4

Coaster Dynamix – Model Rollercoaster
241
0

Faller Theme Park Model Fairground
85
0

Ken Fox Wall of Death
23
1

Totals
525
5

(N.B – The videos weren’t uploaded on the same day, therefore affecting the totals. The videos are ordered by their date of being uploaded, where the top one was the first)

Posted in Online video | Leave a Comment »

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Wikipedia

October 28, 2006

I’m a regular contributor to Wikipedia, the most used wiki site available, especially the Stuff (magazine) page. I really like the idea of being able to add, modify and remove info from the site but some people just take advantage of the great service making the information inaccurate to reputable visitors. Luckily, many people sift the site to combat such fiends. These are the true heroes as they along with the wikipedia official ‘librarians’ if you will help to rid information or comments that are unrelated or incorrect.
Some of the ones that I’ve seen, because every revision of every page is stored in the history of each article have removed entire chunks of information content. I’m not sure whether they were doing this for ‘fun’ or whether they wanted to contribute and shall we say ballsed it up? Other immature peeps put in really ‘clever’ (yeah right) comments that have bugger all to do with the article. This recks such a great service and is explicitly forbidden by Wikipedia but these idiots hide behind their IP address without signing in. This proves that they’re just little cowardly children. I’m not angry with such people as it has very little to do with me but I am slightly disappointed.
Is this what the chavs of tomorrow are going to be doing. If so then send them back to the street corners, at least there fine citizens can walk a different route and avoid such narrowminded fools.
By, Chapman

  • Link to my main entry for Stuff (Magazine) (which has been edited since but reverted back at time of publication because someone removed virtually everything from it)
  • The history for Stuff (Magazine) documents every development for the page. (you have to click on two articles to compare the two)
  • My secondary article for Fantasy Island UK, I know very little about this one but that’s the beauty of the wiki, people can develop upon mine and my friends article.
Feel free to edit the articles but please only do so if you know what you’re talking about. inappropriate material will be removed (past attempts have been changed within as little as ten mins). Oh and articles can be reverted to their former states and they will be if material is removed without due cause. If you’d like to play with wikipedia features before ruining other peoples work please visit the sandbox to practice where edits are only there temporarily and then removed. Ensure that you preview your modifications before saving as mistakes will be saved in the history and might make you look slightly stupid. I’m very glad of this as I was tired and nearly published the same article on the same page three times in a row.

Posted in Web | Leave a Comment »

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What if Microsoft Made the iPod?

October 27, 2006

Let’s clear this up straight away, I don’t like Mac products and probably never will. But I can see why their popular for some things like magazine proudction and video editing but I’ve grown up with Windows and found it much easier to use. Yes I have used both though admittedly Windows more. The major advantage to Apple products is their amazing power. This was demonstrated in the iPod as they succeeded where so many others failed. Surprisingly it left Sony dead in the water but that was because of the struggle to part with their mini disc product line and Atrac formats. This was largely because they’d had it so easy before with their walkman range and felt that they could just slap together another of their own products for another success story. The PS3 has had a similar effect but we’ll leave that for now as it could be delayed again, til May from March apparently, any more delays and Sony will be pitting the PS3 against the X-Box 720 as its almost lost the battle before its begun, sadly the same could be true for blu-ray as the HD-DVD drive for the X-Box will not only be cheaper with an X-Box than a PS3 but also it’ll be in UK shops ready for Christmas. So unless you want to pay £1000 for a player with no titles in shops then I’d hold onto your money for now, especially until the format war gets a bit more active in the form of movie companies and the content that will be available on each.
The only reason that I don’t like the iPod is that it’s battery life is too short, although this is slowly being overcome by the many replacements over the past few years. That’s another thing, if you buy an audio player you expect it to be new-ish for a few months not a few week. Apple obviously disagree as they churn out more new players continuously from their virus laden sweat shops*.
Anyway now the big boy Microsoft wants to get in on the audio player (note I don’t use the term ‘mp3 player’ as this is quite blatantly wrong especially when people say I’m gonna take my MP3 with me, oh so you’re gonna take one single file with you then are you? I rest my case) market with the Zune. What a mistake. In an attempt to control all of the market, no change there then, Microsoft is making itself a target as its new player won’t support its own DRM (digital rights mangement) format “Plays for Sure”. Instead opting for its own store similar to that of the successful X-Box market place. Also the Zune has come under attack from the CEO of Apple, Mr Steve Jobs as he thinks that the innovative wireless streaming technology is worthless as it relies on another Zune being so close to you that it would be nearly impossible to find someone (fair point) and if you do find someone to share with then it would take so long to stream that the girl would leave. Apples great solution to this? Take your earphone out and put it in the girls ear so that you’re connected by a piece of wire. I think that Steve was probably revealing a little too much about his personal life in this interview and feeling a little disappointed that Microsoft have come up with a possibly brilliant idea. The concept being that music can be streamed using wi-fi to nearby Zune owners for either three plays or a few days before the “Zunist” chooses to download the track for themselves or simply discard it. I think that I’d prefer the Vigin solution where you can download songs being played on the radio for a cost of around £1. A low file size would be sent to the customer phone whilst the other would be waiting in the inbox of a larger file size with higher quality. Although this only currently works with Heartfm at the moment at least its more available than another Microsoft Zune being around at the launch period. I suppose it’d be a bit like bluejacking but with an actual product to gain. However having said all of this, if the player does take off with a big success, it could be a very good way to try new music but if it flops then you’ve got a wi-fi enabled player which probably costs more for little reason.

This video on Google Video illustrates my point quite nicely as it comicly looks at the packaging techniques used by Microsoft in comparison to the open plan look of Apple. Though others may say that white is plain old and boring whilst others think that it’s sheer minimalist heaven.
By: Chapman
Disclaimer
*-Virus relates to the viruses that were shipped in iPods from the 12th of September which can affect Windows OSs but not Macs (what a surprise) and sweat shops comes from an article a few months ago that revealed that iPods were made in sweat shops where workers got paid very little to make those ubiquitous players you all love so dearly
(Although this tecnically doesn’t have to be here because I live in the UK and have freedom of speech on the Internet according to Amnesty International)
Links
Irrepressible
Stuff Article - Amnesty International is Irrepressible

Posted in Portable Media | Leave a Comment »

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Freeview High Definition

October 27, 2006

If you’re a regular reader of this blog then you’ll remember that I had heard a rumour about HD freeview, since then I’ve listened to some archived podcasts and visited a few sites and learnt that you can actually get Free HD. Yeah I already knew that you can get the BBC and ITV services for free through Sky and Digital cable providers but this entry (and the one from the begininning of the month) is about getting it from a DTR (Digital Terrestrial Receriver = “Freeview”) box.
Although this sounds extremely cool, there are a couple of conditions.
Firstly you have to live in London therefore ruling me out.
Secondly you have to be one of the 400 lucky people in the test group. Ruling a lot more people out then.
However at least it proves that it can be done but it requries so much bandwidth that whilst it can, rather amazingly, live alongside standard def digital channels it will be way better when old broadcasts are dropped completely. Oh and whilst we’re at it we could get rid of a few of those tacky digital channels like Bid Down Price TV. It’s similar in DAB radio, better quality is available but the choice of channels usually comes first to provide people with lots of rubbish channels at a low bit rate.

Freeview Revolution Forum

Posted in Home Entertainment | Leave a Comment »

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Have you seen Saw?

October 26, 2006

I don’t watch trailers in cinemas, partly because I can’t be bothered but mainly because they give too much of the plot away. I recently played with Opera Mini using WAP on my mobile phone because they were on so long. Another time we accidentally (along with quite a lot of others) sat through about twenty minutes of trailers for a completely different movie because the doors were too close to be able to tell which was for which screen and I assumed that they were both for the same one like with two separate entrances from opposite sides. That caused us to miss about a third of the movies we were meant to be seeing.
Anyway back to my point, I much prefer to watch trailers online, if at all, as sometimes I went to see movies that I hated cause I didn’t have a clue what they were about. I especially like the Apple one but sometimes GoogTube ones are cool like when Snakes on a Plane came out and had loads of funny trailers which actually influenced the making of the movie. That was also funny as film critics gave it bad reviews as they weren’t allowed to see it because the film producers wanted the fans to be the first. This was explained to be that critics dismayed the film because they thought that the film company was too scared to show the film to them. I prefer the former but I did like the movie.
I did it again, in this paragraph I’m gonna say what I wanted to say… I saw this featured on YouTube and is definitely the future of trailers and hopefully entire TV shows and movies in general. We can but hope and some have already begun such as five which premiere and archive new shows of CSI (yeah I know its not the best show on TV but what can you do) and C4 have signed a DEAL with ntl:Telwest to archive the past weeks worth of shows on Teleport Replay, this is better than watching it live as theres no ads, woohoo! I especially like to watch DEAL or NoDeal on there (now you might understand my DEAL reference on the above line)
Right I sort of hinted it in the last one so in here I’m gonna give you a link as the whole paragraph to go and see what I happened to avoid talking about and segwaying into other subjects. BTW if you’re still here, I thank you for reading and hope that you enjoyed the journey through my thought process.
I hope you like the vid, I did! Plus it makes quite a good point, you are a vouyeristic and I hope that you begin to think about the peeps that actually do create these vids (not including the battle of the MPs mind) including me cause if you scroll down through these entries you’ll find how to watch mine in the form of links. And an update if your a regular reader, my video no longer appears at all if you only enter coaster dynamix into google. They must have changed something, they constantly do. Oh and I’d like to thank you for watching them, I noticed that some of you had followed the links as I was editing the page.
See you soon, Chapman

Posted in Home Entertainment, Online video | Leave a Comment »

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BTTF Ride

October 26, 2006
BTTF (Ride)

The Back to the Future Ride in Orlando, Florida has now sadly now closed. I say sadly because I only got to ride it a few times and that was before I saw the movies. I’m a huge fan of the trilogy and am disappointed that the ride has closed. I’d have loved to ride it again now that I know the story. Who knows maybe I will. Hopefully it will take pride of place in a museum somewhere. It certainly deserves it. I should really feel lucky that I had the privilege to ride it (I thought that it was the best thing there even before I saw the movie). The ride closed at the beginning of this month.
In case you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, it’s a simulator ride that allows you to live out the movie. To find out more visit the page at Universal but I’m not sure how long this will be there so I’m gonna try and save a copy. Also on there is a video of the ride. If you also want to know more about the “justification” for removing such a fine ride then visit BTTF.com. Heres a fan’s video of the experience on YouTube. or you can enjoy the ENTIRE EXPERIENCE

Quote: “It’s a mystery as to why one of the park’s most popular attractions has long been targeted by upper management for closure over other aging Universal properties, such as Earthquake, JAWS and E.T. Adventure, if the theme park truly realizes Back to the Future has an ‘enormous following.’ It’s a question to which fans may never receive a satisfying answer.”
I’ve ridden each of the aforementioned rides but BTTF wins time after time. Earthquake is really fun though and both times I loved the reaction of my family members as they were hit with the elements (I wont say any more but the Universal link that I gave before has links to this as well as other rides at the park) The least spectacular of the above mentioned in my opinion would be the ET one, it was probably revolutionary when launched but now I can get my PC to speak to me in a very similar voice to the ride saying my name at the end. Oh sorry I didn’t mean to spoil the surprise but at least now you know why they took your name when you got on and ET doesn’t actually know your name. Another great reason to visit Universal in Orlando Florida is that Fear Factor is filmed there although you’d be advised to check that its being recorded before booking. Fear Factor is like Im A Celebrity but without the celebrities and just the challenges. They have (controlled) dangerous stunts to eating wedding cakes (filled with bugs and aligator eyes)
Whatever does stand where BTTF the Ride used to stand should better be good to make sure that BTTF fans (myself included) haven’t been duped for something that shouldn’t even be in Lego Land.
For an extremely funny hybrid visit a well made video over at YouTube entitled BrokeBack to the Future honsetly a well made feature and although I haven’t seen BrokeBack Mountain (or would ever want to) it really makes the most of the narrative of both without losing the meaning of either. Well maybe slightly. Whilst I’m referring to parodies heres a few from Family Guy, Back to the Future Parody and Your daughter marries a black man in the future The producers of Family Guy have serious issues!
Review of the Best Simulator in Orlando or probably the world
Also I did check out another source about the BTTF ride closing over at Orlando Sentinel
I still haven’t found out what will replace it but I’m gonna try to find out and keep you posted on developments.

Posted in Misc | Leave a Comment »

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New and Exclusive

October 23, 2006

I’ve uploaded a brand new feature to GoogTube. It was shot in June of this year and was edited at the time but haven’t uploaded it as I’ve had to re-edit it to shorten it considerably. It’s a wall of death video and shooting it was pretty nerve-racking as it was just a bit of wood between me and the bikes wheels. I was constantly imagining the bikes coming above the top which wasn’t a good feeling as I was trying to concentrate on shooting the footage. I literally froze. It was a really good event though and glad I witnessed it and it was a bargain to get in at only £1. The actual arena is supported in a tent-like structure that’s raised above from the ground on stilt like pieces of wood.
Click any of the below to view (the stats for each video are listed adjacent to each)

Title
Page Views
Downloads

A Mini Presentation, Russ Swift at Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield
160
4

Coaster Dynamix – Model Rollercoaster
194
0

Faller Theme Park Model Fairground
79
0

Ken Fox Wall of Death
0
0

Totals
433
4

And my reference to being exclusive is that they’re only available on GVideo (for now) I have an account ready with YouTube but am currently in the process of compressing some of the larger ones.
[Oh and if you search for the Wall of Death, you may find two copies for a few days as an error message displayed after uploading so I did it again and both ended up being successful.]

Posted in Online video | Leave a Comment »

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