Goffee71 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Some decent blog reading material over Christmas (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Goffee71 on Tuesday December 22, 2009 @05:01AM

Goffee71 writes: As the news sites wind down over Christmas, there can be little in the way 'stuff' to read online. If you didn't get a good book from Santa, may I recommend these blogs that took great voyages around the world, for many different reasons; nature, comms and flight. If anyone can recommend some other cool travel/voyage stories that aren't really newsy but make a good read during the slow time, please add them.

Submission + - Windows 7 Launch Drinking Game (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Goffee71 on Wednesday October 21, 2009 @05:53AM

Goffee71 writes: So, if you haven't been invited to one of those Windows 7 parties, then get a stack of beer cans/tins/bottles/kegs and a couple of your favourite spirits, sit at home, browse the tech pages, news sites and forums, and get rapidly slaughtered playing this simple game that is unapproved by medical experts everywhere.

Submission + - Hey gringo, Mad Dog McCree makes his return (goffee-freelance.co.uk)

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Wednesday June 17, 2009 @02:23AM

Goffee71 writes: "The bane of "quality games" is back as FMV makes a return to the spotlight. Majesco is releasing all three Mad Dog McCree games in one budget bundle on Wii so gamers who don't remember quite how ropey these titles were can experience them in all their non-Hi-def glory. Gaming snobs can run crying to their shrinks as the rest of us look forward to some good-old-fashioned bad acting, dodgy accents and six-shooter action. story and clips of some of the more interesting FMV titles Hoepfully some of those grown-up adventures and other FMV action titles will get a new shot at fame now (but, please, no Night Trap!)"

Submission + - FMV gaming, time for a comeback? (goffee-freelance.co.uk)

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Tuesday March 24, 2009 @06:08AM

Goffee71 writes: "A random sighting of Tia Carrere on TV triggered a really old memory about a PC Game, The Daedalus Encounter that spawned a nostalgic blog post

Star Wars, Dennis Hopper, sex and violence, low review scores — all check!

But, that left me wondering, is it time for an FMV game comeback? In the new age of family-friendly gaming, I can see it happening and at the opposite end, how else could you bring the SAW movies to games? What characters, franchises or actors would you like to see ham it up in a game, I just hope Miley Cyrus isn't involved!"

Submission + - Tech Company Names Getting Worse! (goffee-freelance.co.uk)

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Wednesday February 25, 2009 @11:21AM

Goffee71 writes: "I edit a lot of documents with endless technology companies name-checked, and come across many more organisations browsing the net. Unfortunately, the names that keep appearing start at meaningless and get worse with regards to language, sense and what they 'say' about the company.
Now, I understand that names have to be trademark-able, copyrightable, rights-protected, easy to remember and snappy, but what is happening today (allright, since the dawn of Silicon Valley) is a morass of drivel, sloppy and badly thought out nomenclature that tries and fails to be catchy. So, its time to start a campaign for better company names.

For example, from the field of migration apps (sorry to name and shame, but you're just the tip of an iceberg):
Tzunami,
Metalogix,
Nintex,
AvePoint,
Vamosa

My first thought was a list of diseases ("Hey man, how's your Nintex? Is the cream working?"), then World of Warcraft player names ("Kneel before Metalogix and my +9 wibblesword") and, finally, monkeys typing.

What's the obsession with ending in an "x" — are the founders of these outfits aged nine?

Migration is a wonderful, natural battle of struggle against elements and predators with many metaphors and adjectives. The Tzunami site even has a lovely animation to that effect but the company name sounds like a disaster, literally.

And Vamosa, what is that? Vamos (let's go)+ Samosa? = Fast food? Nope, just gibberish.

None of the company sites make any effort to explain their names in the About Us page, which makes me believe that the management (and therefore the staff) don't really believe in their own names.

Maybe its just a by-product of modern business or maybe its just I'm getting a little old fashioned, but at least you know that IBM stands for International Business Machines, Apple is the first word children learn in the ABC... books (well, that was my guess) and Microsoft makes software for micros (bland, but it works).

Anyway, my plea to the start-ups of the future is pick a good name, preferably a real word. If you have to make one up, use combinations of real words, don't follow silly Web trends and make it, in some way, relevant to your business. Ultimately, be inspired, and remember to explain why you chose it on your website, www.moose-variable.com

Finally, please respond http://goffee-freelance.blogspot.com/ with your favourite worst (or best) company names and I'll post a prize (most likely a dictionary) to the most mentioned company!"

Submission + - Scoopt dead - blow to citizen photo-journos (goffee-freelance.co.uk)

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Tuesday February 03, 2009 @02:28PM

Goffee71 writes: "Citizen photo-journalism took a blow today when the Scoopt web service (run by Getty) decided to abandon the project. If you look at the site, it looked like things were going pretty well, particularly with the current British weather. Email —

Dear Scoopt members, I am sorry to inform you, as a member of Scoopt, that we have decided to close the business. We will not be taking in any more imagery after February 6, 2009 and will close the upload application. We will also cease licensing any imagery through Scoopt on that date. Our experience with Scoopt has taught us some very valuable lessons. We remain convinced that there is a demand for this kind of material as part of an editorial product, but for the moment are choosing to focus our energies within Getty Images on our core products in news, sport and entertainment. Full mail on blog — here"

Submission + - Stan Winston (sci-fi movie God) passes on

Submitted by Goffee71 on Tuesday June 17, 2008 @08:27AM

Goffee71 writes: Stan Winston has died. The special effects genius imagined and created so much that many modern movie fans hold dear(including Aliens, Predator and Terminator), without him the future will seem a duller place. About 90% of what I imagine the future to be like is down to him and Syd Mead.

Submission + - Diary of a 16 year old: make plastic bags history (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Goffee71 on Wednesday June 11, 2008 @08:25AM

Goffee71 writes: A plastic bag takes thousands of years to degrade, but it can be done in six weeks, thanks to the work of a young scientist and some tame bugs found in landfill, a shame that his story is being largely ignored.

Submission + - Mobile phone to be Africa's personal computer? (blogspot.com)

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Thursday January 17, 2008 @07:18AM

Goffee71 writes: "This article at the BBC, suggests that developing software for the commonly available mobile phone will save a lot of effort. Rather than waste time flogging laptops to governments in the poorer regions of the world.
They already have a fledgling internet in local mobile networks and don't need to burn money on hardware when the software can be made to work on cheap phones. It makes a lot of sense, but will big business see value in what people actually need, rather than whatever it is the corporations are trying to flog?"

Submission + - Top Christmas techno-toy of 2008? (blogspot.com)

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Thursday January 03, 2008 @06:39AM

Goffee71 writes: "A British inventor and artist has dragged the Rubik's cube into the 21st Century with a stylish digital design. His gizmo is a battery-powered LED light Cube that can play other games and includes accelerometers that work rather like the Wii controllers. The invention has had buyers and companies queuing up after a video appeared on YouTube, Andre Femtem has an interesting background that is worth exploring and his work may be of interest to Microsoft and Apple in the evolution of their interfaces."

Submission + - Getting the most from Live Earth

Submitted by Goffee71 on Saturday July 07, 2007 @04:47AM

Goffee71 writes: Got up early to enjoy the various Live Earth events from around the world. But when you discover a band from Japan, why — despite the big Live Earth tags on iTunes and MSN (who are doing a good job streaming the gigs) can't you buy their music? Follow the day on me blog Surely the collective internet is missing several tricks here. Remember to change those light bulbs

Submission + - Joost gets big backing

Submitted by

Goffee71

on Friday May 11, 2007 @07:57AM

Goffee71 writes: "I was musing on the future of Joost and the BBC's iPlayer the other day and expected the backing to come flooding in once there was a sniff of success. Just one day later, CBS and Viacom wade in with funding as the BBC reports here Where do Slashdotters think the webTV battle goes from here? The future definitely looks bright"

Submission + - Computer game musician legend passes away

Submitted by Goffee71 on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @11:48AM

Goffee71 writes: Richard Joseph the man behind the music to 16-bit classics including Speedball, Chaos Engine, Sensible Soccer, and more recently, Bafta Award Winner for Theme Park World has died after a battle against lung cancer. British gamers in particular will mourn his genius.

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