Dapple

1 - Evilwallpaper 2 - PeteJ (not here yet but hopefully rectified, cos it's a nice pic) 3 - Deepblue

Just sent a request, cheers

Not really relevant but you just reminded me of this: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30102

That looks familiar...

Since that ad first aired, gorilla sales have increased tenfold whilst sales of Dairy Milk have stagnated. Go figure.

Not so much the actual fight with the strider, I just liked the feel of the whole sequence - the atmosphere.

Interesting looking at some of the recent posts here. I played Half Life 2 on the Xbox and was very disappointed (and nauseous from the jerky frame rate). I bought the Orange Box at Christmas, started playing Episode One and still felt like I was missing something. It started well but then the encounters with the Combine/Zombies became more frequent and I felt like I was playing the game out of obligation, rather than out of enjoyment. I persevered, beyond the point at which I've given up on many other games, but kept on going, and I'm glad I did. The strider battle (which I was dreading after having read about it) was amazing and Episode II is just superb. I started it this morning and about three hours passed, during which I was absolutely engrossed. I'm still not a big fan of the combat which (to me) is more Bioshock (frantic and a little random) than Halo (controlled and considered) but, at the moment at least, it's much more about exploration (which is genuinely immersing) and problem solving. Great stuff, and well worth the effort...finally.

Man, that's making me thirsty. Rantin' James - excellent pictures, I especially like the 2nd and 4th.

I was in Paris with work yesterday so took a day's holiday today to get some more use out of my camera. I bought a 50mm f1.7 lens off eBay and haven't looked back... St. Pancras: The Louvre; old and new: Louvre Pyramid: Finally, some colour: Detail:

1st - lets book 2nd - Barnard 3rd - Jeebus Was close between Jeebus and Fishyfish for 3rd but the Mini Eggs just shaded it. Am looking forward to April's comp already.

At the moment (with £140 cashback from Canon) the 40D with 17-85mm IS is only £40 more than the the 450D (with 18-55mm IS) from Jessops. Made me do a quick double-take when I was walking by earlier. Anyways, my first lens (other than the kit lens) should arrive tomorrow - a Minolta 50mm f1.7. Really looking forward to trying it out.

I'm still not sure about this but doubt I'll get round to taking any more so what the hell... This is a pic of some wasabi peas (which I can't get enough of). The pictures been cropped and, like this, kind of reminds me of the eggs in the Alien films. Not so appetising then. I can vouch that every pea in the picture did, indeed, end up in my belly.

I had my second foray with the new camera today (if nothing else it's getting me out of the house at a reasonable hour at the weekend). I'm going to need some sunshine one of these days so I can take some in colour... Both of these were taken in Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington (north London):

It was pretty much a combination of the reviews and the fact that it had built-in stabilisation that made me choose the A200. In fairness, the reviews and forums I've seen have been very even-handed, regardless of brand.

Sony enjoying a neutral status? That has to be a first!

Cheers! I went for the Sony Alpha A200. Not sure if I'm allowed to say the 'S' word around here but what the hell! It was between that and the 400D, I'd read good reviews of both - all of which pretty much said take a look and go with the one that feels best to you, so I did.

So, I took the plunge and got myself a dSLR last week. Went to the countryside at the weekend and took myself out snapping. There are things about this that I'd change given the chance but there's something I really like - I think it's the detail on the horse compared to the fore and background. I think this could do with a crop to remove the house that's visible on the left but here's another one that I liked: SO much to get to grips with but really enjoying things so far...

That's how it's being sold though, so people have an expectation that it's more of an out and out comedy, I know I did. I hadn't heard much about it, then read the synopsis (man's magnetised head wipes videos so him and a friend have to remake them all...) which I thought was brilliant and decided to see it. But you're right, it's not just about that, and I think people can be thrown when something isn't what they were expecting.

I was in a similar position to you about a year ago. I wanted a camera with some manual controls so I could have a bit of a play and see if it was something I wanted to take further. I bought a Panasonic DMC-FZ7, not the smallest camera around but it allows manual control and has a 12x optical zoom, which is also something I was looking for. It's a really great camera and I got it for around £150 which was a steal. It's been replaced (by the FZ8 and more recently the FZ18, which has 18x optical zoom). The FZ8's £154 here (which is where I got my FZ7 from): http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product1.asp?Pr...;ProductID=2582 That said, I've recently upgraded to a dSLR, meaning the Panasonic's not going to get much use as of now. I'd recommend having a play with an SLR if you can, it might save you buying a compact in the meantime. I've only had mine for two days but I'm really enjoying experimenting and getting to know my way around it.

I had a couple of goes on the demo and thought I'd take a chance on this. Given that it was £20.47 in Game (that's £19.99 plus 48p for a natty pink GB Micro case, the cheapest thing I could find) it was too tempting. I've spent a couple of hours on it tonight and it's bloody great. So far I've just been working though Tournament Mode on the easiest setting to open up the levels, then picking one of the challenges and hammering it. Don't think my scores would worry anyone in this thread but I managed 17th on one of the leaderboards (not saying which, I'm sure you could all pile in and put me in my place). Anyway, if anyone's not sure about it, I reckon it's definitely worth a go.

That bit's just great. I was thinking that it's a real shame everyone knew Arnie was a good guy before the film came out. Effectively, the whole scene near the start in the mall is a bit of a waste because you know he's coming to save John Connor. I'd love to go back and watch it without knowing anything about it.

You mean the sort of features they've already got in their PC...?

Hard Drivin' had a ghost feature and was released before Mario Kart. Some Googling has turned up the following quite interestingness: http://kotaku.com/gaming/fun-times/patents...mode-270035.php I used to like driving into the cow to make it moooooooo!

I'm not sure why anyone would get their knickers in a twist - Ebert's old hat, he was superseded by Qbert years ago.