Can you guess the top 10 UK games brands from 1996 to 2012?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-30-can-you-guess-the-top-10-uk-games-brands-from-1996-to-2012

A New Dawn for NVIDIA graphics

Hexus: http://hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/42865-a-new-dawn-nvidia-graphics/

Woo hoo, I've got it

I finally got my Raspberry Pi:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Hmmm... It's not liking my Logitech g510 keyboard much. Wouldn't boot at first until I fed it with a main connected micro-USB connector. Now I have issues where it types too many of the character I press or doesn't print at all.. It might be to do with my initial configuration of the keyboard though and I didn't have much time to test. 

Broadcom promises triple-speed 5G WiFi for mobiles in early 2013

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/25/broadcom-5g-wifi-for-mobiles/

Google Fiber launches in Kansas City, promises 1000 Mbps up and down

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3187990/google-fiber-kansas-city

Moto's Xooms still got it...

The Motorola Xoom still see's support! http://www.androidcentral.com/android-411-finally-pushed-motorola-xoom-wifi-testers

Alcatel Lucent to slash 5,000 jobs after reporting loss

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18995788

Roku picks up financing from BSkyB, News Corp and more, keeps eye on the premium streaming crown

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/26/roku-picks-up-financing-from-bskyb-news-corp-and-more-keeps-ey/

INFINITE LOOP / THE APPLE ECOSYSTEM OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review

Sounds like a hell of a lot went into this release!
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/os-x-10-8/

ARM sees profits rise by 23 per cent to £66.5m - The Inquirer

ARM sees profits rise by 23 per cent to £66.5m - The Inquirer

Press release: http://www.arm.com/about/newsroom/arm-holdings-plc-reports-results-for-the-second-quarter-and-half-year-ended-30-june-2012.php

O2 brings free WiFi to London in time for the Olympics - The Inquirer

Les hope it's better than Virgin Media's patchy coverage on the TFL underground.

O2 brings free WiFi to London in time for the Olympics - The Inquirer

3 UK ISPs Snub BSG Launch of New UK Net Neutrality Code of Practice

I think the interesting thing here is Three are happy to be part of the code and the other mobile operators aren't (They have been well known to restrict VoIP traffic)...

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/07/bsg-launch-of-new-uk-net-neutrality-code-of-practice-snubbed-by-isps.html

Ofcom telecoms-complaints-bulletin page.

Ofcom: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/telecoms-complaints-bulletin/

Just posted here for reference really.

AAISP UK Boss Slams BT Engineers over HomeHub3 Router Bias

http://revk.www.me.uk/2012/07/get-home-hub-3-from-bt.html

He has a fair point. The problems are on both sides though. Biased engineers and ISP's who don't help their consumers understand the difference between BT group's BT Retail and BT OpenReach.... Make it easy, just call them OpenReach!

BT bags MASSIVE £425m broadband rollout deal in Wales

The register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/20/bt_wins_wales_bduk_bid/

0-60 in 2.8 seconds.

I'm starting to like electric cars... Still think they are silly if they are powered off of coal power plants etc in the national grid...

http://www.t3.com/news/rimac-concept-one-electric-hypercar-to-debut-this-september

Net Index - via Speedtest.net

Here's an interesting site that shows speedtest.net & pingtest.net statistics.

http://www.netindex.com/download/

BSkyB punches Virgin Media in ads watchdog fist fight

A win for keeping things simple! That's what I like to see.

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/18/virgin_media_bskyb_asa_rulings/

Windows 8 moves to IPv6 Internet

ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-moves-to-ipv6-internet-7000000991/

Crucial launches mSATA m4 SSD family

Crucial launches mSATA m4 SSD family

Firefox 14 encrypts Google search, but admen can still strip-search you

The register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/18/firefox_14_secure_search_google/

Fujitsu Expands its UK Dark Fibre Optic Network Coverage and Capacity

ISPreview: http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/07/fujitsu-expands-its-uk-dark-fibre-optic-network-coverage-and-capacity.html

Valve brings steam to Ubuntu Linux

Well the rumours have been going around for months so now we have an official confirmation and blog:

http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/steamd-penguins/

There were also rumours about them going into hardware development so a linux derivative in a custom made console maybe coming our way in years to come. They sure as hell have the right platform for it in steam.

OpenReach - Local Loop Unbundling Pricing - Full MPF

Charges incurred for SFI visits that OR deem chargeable.

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/pricing/loadProductPriceDetails.do?data=totid5BwFmkf9vLcBITRyZF9loRxWIbIKK6V7YWmlYAlMnGHsqdC0vzO163bJmh34D91D7M0q8u%2F%0AIlSgtIFAKw%3D%3D

Visit to a BT telephone exchange (CO)

These pictures are of the MDF (Main distribution frame) in a telephone exchange. This is basically where all the wiring from the telephony and data equipment eventually ends up before going out on your line to your home / business. 

These are the modern connectors: 

To give a scale of the size (varies in each exchange):

Old style connectors:

 Top of the frame:

I didn't include pictures of the DSLAM and MSAN's as these belonged to various providers. Essentially they will have cabinets with a HDF at the side.

MS Windows has some hidden gems: PSR

Type PSR into your Windows search bar after you click start and you'll be presented with a small record button type icon. I'm not sure why Microsoft didn't just call it by its full name but PSR stands for 'Problem steps recorder' and its bloody useful!

If you've got someone on the other end of the phone or your writing a guide. Get this program open on the computer in question and hit 'start 'record' and it will basically log and print screen everything you do until you hit stop!!!

The future of flash memory: tiny (and extremely tough to build)

Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/07/the-future-of-ssds/

Emulex coughs up $58m in Broadcom fibre optic patents clash

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/09/broadcom_emulex_part_settlement/

Rumours B Sky B might bid on TalkTalk

My personal opinion is:

What a nightmare, but if done right could mean some major pressure for BT Retail / Business.

What a nightmare for B Sky B:
Implementation.Interoperability.
Consolidation
Support
Sky lock down their routers. TalkTalk let you use your own.

Why it could be good for B Sky B:
Increased network capacity
New subscriber up sell potential.
Traffic management experience
Parental controls
IPv4 allocation
Static IP's
IPTV experience (Tiscali TV was a true implementation).

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/market-round-up-bskybs-mooted-bid-for-talktalk-gets-city-tongues-wagging-7917310.html

I've worked at Tiscali (Freedom2Surf, Nildram, Pipex Business), V Networks (TalkTalk Business) and B Sky B.

My broadband page has been updated!

I've made a few additions to the broadband page and changed the format around a bit.

Check it out:
http://www.alpagot.co.uk/p/broadband-support.html

Twitter gets search update.

Check out Twitters blog on the latest update to Twitter and its search capabilities.

http://blog.twitter.com/2012/07/simpler-search.html

Microsoft lines up three critical patches for Patch Tuesday - The Inquirer

Microsoft lines up three critical patches for Patch Tuesday - The Inquirer

Microsoft sets the price for a Windows 8 upgrade at $40

The register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/03/windows8_upgrade_pricing/

Mozilla renames Boot to Gecko as Firefox OS and announces operator backing - The Inquirer

Mozilla renames Boot to Gecko as Firefox OS and announces operator backing - The Inquirer