Comments for Duncan's Digital Life

Comment on Disgruntled About Disk Replacement Policies by Lee

Lee — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:23:42 +0000

Hey, Duncan… I know it’s been nearly a year since your post about disc replacement issues, i’ve only had a my xbox since august, bought it 2nd hand… mine’s grafting perfect, no disc damaging or anything… but in regard to buying yr games, try buying exclusively at BT Games / Budget Technologies because what they do is repair discs for a small charge of R20 per disc.

Just thought i’d drop this info incase you didn’t know keep it rocking with xbox, its a lovely machine ciao ciao

Comment on I’m a dad!! by Chris

Chris — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:34:13 +0000

He DOES look like an alien!!!

Comment on I’m a dad!! by jono

jono — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:57:42 +0000

hey duncan!!
wot a funny looking kid, looks like an alien
i bet he is gona be the tallest kid on this earth
hehe, ok then. hav a good one

Comment on I’m a dad!! by DriftZilla

DriftZilla — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:58:05 +0000

Congratulations BRU!!
What a cutie

Comment on HD-DVD Review by Howser

Howser — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:07:43 +0000

Almost every person I know orders movies and music from Amazon, I think we should have amazon.co.za soon. It is sad that we have to resort to importing for cds and dvds, I guess it will not change for HD disks.

Comment on XBox Softmods by Duncan

Duncan — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:16:27 +0000

Nothing yet. There is an exploit out that people are playing with, but it only exists in certain dashboard versions. If you ever connect to Live, or even play a recent game, your dashboard will be updated, so its not really a good option as yet.

Comment on HD-DVD Review by Duncan

Duncan — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:12:14 +0000

You can get them from Take2.co.za, but they are imports. It’s cheaper to get from amazon.com. They are all region free, so you can get them from anywhere.

Comment on HD-DVD Review by Howser

Howser — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:33:45 +0000

How is local availability of titles?

Comment on XBox Softmods by Howser

Howser — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:01:30 +0000

What about your new XBox 360, any softmods?

Comment on GamerScore: The good, the bad, and the Ugly by Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:00:57 +0000

Ok, Cars I admit to. The rest, that’s ridiculous!!! How can you think that of me?!???

Superman is in my car as I type though…..

Comment on GamerScore: The good, the bad, and the Ugly by DriftZilla

DriftZilla — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:28:56 +0000

this just in:

On Duncs list is now: Cars, Superman, Open Season, RTWC, Eragon.

I know what you planning, I know what you thinking.
You GSW!!!

Comment on GamerScore: The good, the bad, and the Ugly by DriftZilla

DriftZilla — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:44:58 +0000

it is not you who decide but fate my mortal friend.

Ok, after being all philosophical and wise:
I’M GOING TO OPEN UP A CAN OF WHIPASS ON YOU SCORE

Comment on I won Cape Town NuMetro PGR3 Competition by DriftZilla

DriftZilla — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:39:56 +0000

Well done dude!

Comment on GamerScore: The good, the bad, and the Ugly by Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:38:10 +0000

Drift, you got me man!! In my defense, a friend of mine loaned me King Kong, and it would have been rude not to play it.

Anyway, as soon as I'm ahead of you, gamersscore won't matter anymore. Hehehe.

Comment on GamerScore: The good, the bad, and the Ugly by DriftZilla

DriftZilla — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:24:07 +0000

remarkable thing just happened …

I looked at your xbox profile, and you’ve played and finished King Kong since writing this article.

I’m starting to think this was a ploy to distract me and overtake my score while i pondered on your wisdom.

BASTARD!!

Comment on Nothing is Perfect in the World! by Duncan

Duncan — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:53:59 +0000

Yeah, there are various options for streaming DivX etc to the 360 for playback. I have tested Transcode360 and TVersity, and both work, but wouldn’t native support be great!? That’s what I meant by the article. Thanks for the comment.

Comment on Nothing is Perfect in the World! by Max

Max — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:40:20 +0000

Hi,

Re: DIVX on Xbox360 – you can do it via Media Center apparently. I don’t own a 360 so i cannot vouch for this.

“this article shows how to stream DivX (and XviD) movies to an XBox 360 using a Media Center. for the picky people, it doesn’t actually stream DivX … it converts to WMV on the fly to stream. the core process for accomplishing this is taken from a thread found on the XBox forums”

Article: http://www.brains-n-brawn.com/default.aspx?vDir=mcedivx360

Check it out.

Comment on I won Cape Town NuMetro PGR3 Competition by briantw

briantw — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 00:14:09 +0000

Well done!

I was at the Nu Metro Montecasino challenge.

Comment on Disgruntled About Disk Replacement Policies by Craig Nicholson

Craig Nicholson — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:45:14 +0000

I totally agree Duncan. I also don’t mind paying a disc replacement fee as long as its in line with the actual cost of manufacturing the disc. Don’t charge me R100 for a disc that costs R5 to produce.

Firstly I understand that its my right to make a backup copy of the disc in terms of our current law but I am prohibited from doing so due to the copy protection mechanisms in place.

I believe it is only fair for distributors to be required to replace faulty discs even if it is through general wear and tear.

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by Jerome F

Jerome F — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:32:47 +0000

Hi, i like what you have done. I am currently in the process of building a media center for my car. Although, i have taken the route of using a Mini-ITX system, which i think would be a much more ideal choice.
These systems can run off a 12v power supply, they are very small, can be built with laptop hard drives and are fairly inexpensive in my opinon.
I would recommend checking out Mini-ITX solutions if you ever decide to upgrade or change you current system.

Regards,
Jerome F

Comment on Xbox Live TrueSkill System by phirephight

phirephight — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 17:42:58 +0000

I noticed you mentioned PGR3, but I was wondering if you could elaborate on how the GRAW ranking system works? Thanks

Comment on Welcome to the new-look Duncan’s Digital Life by WaltDe

WaltDe — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 14:21:38 +0000

Keep up the great work on your blog. Best wishes WaltDe

Comment on My Opinions on HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray by doobiwan

doobiwan — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:11:26 +0000

toe to toe comparisons are out btw:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/feature_blurayvshddvd_firstcomparison.html

HD-DVD wins 3 for 3.

Comment on Car Media Center v0.99 by Faried

Faried — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 18:55:14 +0000

Hey man, really nicely done…
As I do lots of car audio installations in my spare time, I really like your idea and setup.
I was thinking of a similar setup, but by using a notebook instead. Taking the whole thing appart, extending the DVD-Rom and monitor. Thus having the CPU hidden somewhere in a well ventilated spot in the car. And the monitor and DVD drive neatly installed somewhere in the dashboard. This will be swheet with a DSP unit providing the perfect seperation for different sound modes accross your listening area, including a center chanel and the like. A few clean high end amplifiers for a crystal clear system no matter what volume.
Only snag is that you can’t just do this on a new car or one you plan not to keep forever… However, something I will do someday. oh and in the boot, we have a creative microsoft cut-out amongst the audio equipment of course.

Ciao man…
moegoe a.k.a Deceptive

Comment on Xbox Live TrueSkill System by Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:17:36 +0000

Great, Thanks for the correction Ralf.

Comment on Xbox Live TrueSkill System by Ralf Herbrich (one of the inventors of TrueSkill)

Ralf Herbrich (one of the inventors of TrueSkill) — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 23:43:22 +0000

A nice explanation. Only one comment: It’s actually 50 levels; Level 50 is the highest and Level 1 is the lowest.

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by dave

dave — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 15:08:18 +0000

Thats a nice job. What I would like to know is, what name brand monitor is that and what was the cost?

Thanks

Comment on Xbox Live TrueSkill System by Duncan

Duncan — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 15:27:34 +0000

Hi, thanks for the comment. The Trueskill ranking system is used for background matchmaking. Each game presents it differently. PGR3 shows you your level, but some other games don’t. I know COD2 doesn’t. Maybe they will for COD 3. Also, remember that the term ranking is a bit weird. It uses it to match you will similarly skilled players. If the game doesn’t actually use a leaderboard like PGR3 and GRAW do, then seeing your ranking is pointless since it’s just a number without real context. Hope that makes sense.

Comment on Xbox Live TrueSkill System by Caleb

Caleb — Wed, 31 May 2006 12:54:07 +0000

Sorry didn’t want to double post but I forgot to say thanks for any help.

Comment on Xbox Live TrueSkill System by Caleb

Caleb — Wed, 31 May 2006 12:53:21 +0000

You seem to know alot about the ranking system, so I thought that you might know where I could view it at. I ask all around in CoD2 but noone knows and we all play ranked games all the time and have no idea of our rank.

Comment on Car Media Center v0.99 by Darren

Darren — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 22:19:16 +0000

Great job Duncan!! Your a gun techie! Look forward to seeing your GPS set up as well. in there any integration of the car alarm in your car pc? What about a fingerprint biometric scanner for ignition start? Or how about caller ID (with paging) on your pc screen from your bluetooth mobile phone? I’m sure it would be no problem for you! Once again well done!! A cool car!!!

Comment on WMVHD DRM Work-around for South Africa by chris

chris — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:44:42 +0000

hi have t2 tried german link page sounds similar, to get round phone home
would like to try yours or download t2 extream
also have step into liquid wmvhd disc 2 r1
have you a way to fool media 10 licence

live in hope

cheers chris

Comment on Car Media Center v0.99 by Kurt

Kurt — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:43:42 +0000

Hey Bro. I was always wondering about how you achieved this. Pretty much how i thought you did. Except for a few things. Well, without sounding like too much of a copy cat, I would really like to do this one day. It will happen when my new job comes, the ADSL, new car etc. Cool setup by the way! Cheerz. Kurt

Comment on Car Media Center Podcast out tomorrow by Duncan

Duncan — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 22:14:11 +0000

Hi Bob,

I’m afraid I haven’t done anymore work on it yet. I have a mic now that I need to install into the car, but I haven’t looked into ther software side of it any farther. I need to. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll get on it right away.

Cheers
Duncan

Comment on Car Media Center Podcast out tomorrow by bob

bob — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 07:00:30 +0000

Dunc:

Wondering whether you ever wound up getting the Media Center Communicator, which now has a v.2, and used it to test how well it might assist with voice activation/control of your in-car Media Center?

I noted in a prior post on the subject, you noted that cost of the software. I would note that it still is over $100 based on my search for it on froogle, but seems like a good deal.

Anway, would appreciate hearing whether you have integrated the MCC into your in-car Media Center, and, if so, what results. If not, do you intend to?

Thanks.

Bob

Comment on WMVHD DRM Work-around for South Africa by Steve

Steve — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 08:24:16 +0000

Hi there. I’m in the UK and I can’t play the bleedin’ T2 WMVHD either. Could you please let me know what proxy you found that worked, or where the de-DRMed version is? I’ve done the usual searches. Much appreciated.

Comment on XBox Softmods by poppasmurf1015

poppasmurf1015 — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 20:31:10 +0000

do you need to update ms dash by going on xbox live

Comment on Car Media Center v0.99 by Keith

Keith — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 22:55:20 +0000

Fantastic job illustrating your successes and failures. It will help me as I sort through the issues I expect to encounter. I hope you can post some high-res pics as well. It is hard to see what is going on in the pics. Thanks!!

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by LeviathanSA

LeviathanSA — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 08:35:14 +0000

Bruno,

Thanks for the advice. I am definitely going to look into doing that. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again.

Duncan

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by Bruno

Bruno — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 01:49:27 +0000

What you want to do with the bluetooth is fairly simple. You will not however be able to do it with Windows’ built in bluetooth support as they do not have an audio stack. A simple google search for the newest widcomm drivers should give you version 5 and with the necessary crack for it to work with almost any usb bluetooth adapter.

After you have that setup it’s just a matter of opening up the bluetooth control panel, starting the audio gateway service and pairing the phone and computer. The computer will show up as a headset to the phone as well as still being available for all the data stuff.

Sounds pretty cool hearing a caller come through your computer speakers in 5.1 surround, the only problem I can imagine you’d encounter is audio feedback. But what you could is pick up a cheap USB soundcard and use that strictly for phone calls, Putting a small speaker in the B pillar right by your ear and mic in the headliner or in the headrest on the opposite side of the speaker.

Hope that helps

Comment on WMVHD DRM Work-around for South Africa by neil

neil — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 22:08:42 +0000

could u email the proxy please …

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by LeviathanSA

LeviathanSA — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:49:32 +0000

Mark F,

I have thought a lot about a Bluetooth car-kit type of solution for it. I will soon have a mic set up for voice control, and would like to use this for my cell phone too. The issue is getting the PC to appear as a bluetooth headset, and not a PC in order for the phone to use it as such. I’m afraid I don’t know nearly enough about this sort of thing to do it yet. I’m keeping my eyes open for any type of solution for this.

I have just finished downloading the December CTP, and will play with it during next week.

Thanks

Duncan

Comment on My Car Media Center Page by .chris - a technology blog » Duncan’s podcast on the Media Center Show

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:43:08 +0000

[...] and Media Center
Chris

My good mate Duncan was interviewed about his car Media Center by Ian Dixon for the Windows Media Center Show. Head on over to this link and check it ou [...]

Comment on Car Media Center Podcast out tomorrow by .chris - a technology blog

.chris - a technology blog — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:35:04 +0000

Duncan’s podcast on the Media Center Show

My good mate Duncan was interviewed about his car Media Center by Ian Dixon for the Windows Media Center Show.
Head on over to this link and check it out the podcast.
…

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by Mark F.

Mark F. — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:17:01 +0000

Very cool!!!
One thing I’m curious about is cell phone integration via bluetooth. Sadly I have no experience with it but do you know if it would be possible to use XP SP2’s bluetooth features to basically use the car audio as a wireless speakerphone.
Basically what I would be interested in achieving would be that without taking the cellphone out of my pocket, the computer automatically pairs with it and allows me to answer incoming calls via the MCE or XP directly. Obviously this would require a microphone mounted in the dash as-well but do you know anything about bluetooth/cellphone integration within MCE and/or XP?

ps. I’ve read that you’re looking for speech recognition solutions and as far as I can tell you won’t have to once Vista gets released.
I played around with Windows Vista CTPs and am almost positive that the final build will allow MCE based speech control, including “play yellow submarine” kind of direct song access.
I say this because in Beta 1, you could already do “play the beatles” from the desktop without MCE or media player open, direct trackname did not work. In the December CTP this no longer works and when trying it within MCE or media player, the speech console say’s “command not available now” (or something like that), it does however indicate that it’s recognized as a command, otherwise it would just say “What was that?”. I believe they intentionally disabled media related voice features, so they can show them off at CES next month.

Comment on XBox Softmods by LeviathanSA

LeviathanSA — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 18:04:06 +0000

I’ll give Waffle Tools a try. I downloaded it a while ago, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Thanks for the advice. I’m also going to give yours a try.

Duncan

Comment on XBox Softmods by Mr. Xbox Modder

Mr. Xbox Modder — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 03:39:53 +0000

Oh and Go to my site for the Installer that i created. Peice out.

Comment on XBox Softmods by Mr. Xbox Modder

Mr. Xbox Modder — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 03:38:26 +0000

Its a nice tut but SID 2 is the biggest POS you can use to mod an xbox with. Hell even ask the creators of it and even they will say its ****. Use Either Krayzies Ndure or My Own installer. BUT If you like the SID 2 type set up then go get an installer Called Waffle Tools. It is a UXE based installer and uses NKP or PBL. And you can change it on the fly. Give Waffle Tools a Try I think youll find that its way better than SID 2. Well come to think of it…..most everything is better than SID 2.

Comment on Car Media Centre Built and working like a dream! by Dan Turner

Dan Turner — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 01:09:06 +0000

Awesome mate! Reckon I’ll help my mate do it to his GTO!

Comment on Welcome to the new-look Duncan’s Digital Life by cheap phentermine

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