Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Jupiter Ascending

Despite the number of negative reviews from critics and poor box office performance is sure to become a cult classic.  The main reason I chose this film is because it is written, directed and produced by the Wachowski's that directed and wrote The Matrix and it's sequels.

The first 30 minutes or so are confusing, starting with a flashback to the circumstances of the main character's birth, before showing the present, where Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) is working as a cleaner in a hotel.  The plot jarringly jumps to the planet Jupiter without explanation with characters plotting.  The visuals are great, as are the alien characters such as the dragon-like henchmen.

The 'henchmen'

With some impressive CGI and live-actions mash-ups, sometimes the film suffers from information overload as there is so  much going on in some exterior (and some interior) shots.Despite this it is fun, and definitely worth a watch.

See the trailer here:

Watching TV Online with Chromebook

This list is deprecated now as most (if not all) video services can be used on a Chromebook.

One of the things you might want to know when getting a Chromebook is which streaming video sites you can use.

Below I am keeping a list.  Please let me know if you find any more that do / do not.

NETFLIX        YES  
LOVEFILM       NO   UK ONLY
BBC IPLAYER    YES  UK ONLY
ITV PLAYER     YES  UK ONLY
4OD            YES  UK ONLY
DEMAND 5       YES  UK ONLY
SKY GO         NO   UK ONLY
NOW TV         NO   UK ONLY
HULU           

This is not an exhaustive list.  I will update if anything changes.

Google Docs most needed feature?

This is now available on Google Docs

I added a word to my custom dictionary whilst using Google Docs accidentally.  Guess what?  From what I can tell, you can not edit the custom dictionary to remove words that you have added by accident.

This is a really big problem when Google Docs is being used for academic work (such as when I use it for my Open University TMAs).

Imagine running a spell check and it coming up without errors, but you have previously added an incorrect word to the dictionary - it is likely that you would type this word incorrectly again too.

Google, please get your act together and sort out a way of doing this.  I may have to move back to Libre Office on my Ubuntu machine until this is sorted out - although I would rather use my Chromebook!

Make your own 3D passive gaming glasses

If you have a 3D TV with gaming mode, you can set the TV to show 2-player games full-screen.  That is, player one will see only their section full screen, and player 2 the same.  Unfortunately, it means buying extra glasses for ~£30 each.

However, if you have a passive 3D TV, you can make your own glasses.  Simply buy some cheap (around £1 each from the cinema) passive 3D glasses.  You can now remove the LEFT lens from one and the RIGHT lens from the other, and put the lenses back in the other pair, so you have one air with two LEFT and one pair with two RIGHT lenses,

Now when you initiate the 2-player gaming mode, player one wears the glasses with the two LEFT lenses and player two wears the glasses with TWO right lenses.

Tried on a passive Phlips 47PFL6907T/12 television.  Please let me know in the comments if it works for you and what TV you tried it with.

Chromebook Shortcut

By Simon King

I just find a brilliant shortcut on a Chromebook.  If you go to:

chrome://flags/

in the browser.  look for "enable three finger tap as middle mouse button".  Now when you are browsing a website and want to open a page in another tab, just tap three of your fingers on to the track pad.

Searching PDFs

I just found an easier way to search through multiple PDF files on Windows using Adobe Reader.

This is especially useful when I am doing an End of Module assignment on my Science course where I have to use multiple books to answer questions.

Start by making sure that all of the PDF files that you want to search are in a separate folder/directory.

Now open up one of them.

Go to Edit -> Advanced Search

Now select "All PDF Documents in" then click on "Browse for Location..." and search for the folder where the files are.

Now type the word or phrase that you are looking for and then click "Search".

You will then see a list of results.  Click on the different files (books) and then it wil show you a list of all the instances in that book.  If you click on any of the results, the book is then opened up in that location.

Kindle prices!

I  was just looking at reading the Ladies No.1 Detective agency series on my Kindle but couldn't believe the price.  It costs £4.99 on Kindle or £3.99 for a paperback - with free delivery.

Is it just me, or is this taking the piss?  I know it isn't Amazon's fault, but the publisher's, as they set the price.

Didn't they learn anything from the illegal downloading of music?  People will download illegally if you don't give them an easy and reasonably priced download service.  Music is available through iTunes and Amazon as well as many others and is reasonably priced compared to CDs - and now people use these services to purchase from.

The same thing is happening with movies - although perhaps starting to get better with streaming movie services such as LoveFilm.

Digital books are so much easier to pirate - they are tiny files, much less than 1mb - although I won't download these books illegally myself, you can imagine why people will and do.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Ladies-Detective-Agency/dp/034911675X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324321125&sr=8-1