Jetpac goes HD

Oh. My. God. As a kid I grew up with the humble Speccy (with the optional packet of Rolos), and one of the games that was played constantly was JetPac. I still play this on various platforms with emulators, but not, until now, my Xbox 360.

But, from next Wednesday, "Jetpac Refuelled" hits Xbox Live!!! This is an all-singing, all-dancing 2007 updated version with HD, and points and all of that stuff. BUT it also comes with JetPac Retro - the classic 1980s version! W00t!

For only 400 points this is a no-brainer.

More details (and screenies) here...

New blogger stuff

I've just been moved to the new blogger platform (that's NOT in beta any more). I tried to avoid it, as, well, the previous version worked OK. But this time the interface made me. Bummer.

Anyway, hopefully it will still continue to publish OK, as this post will prove (or not).

Keeping it real fake: Digi Radio Pod

Yeah yeah, pants photo, but it kind of matches the product being sold. The Digi Radio Pod, with headphones and exchangeable covers that look just SOOOO like something else with "pod" in the title.

Wheres it sold? At a local toyshop here in Telford for a grand total of £4. Lovely.

BSB Reunion (British School of Brussels)

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I used to go to school in Belgium, at a wondeful place called BSB - The British School of Brussels. A reunion of the class of 89 is being planned, to take place in September this year.

If you were there, and have not already been contacted, then get to the BSB reunion forum to discuss what and when right now!

Vista Sidebar Gadgets

I've been spending some time these last few days working on Windows Vista Sidebars, and they are not as difficult to get working as you may think. On Vista, the Sidebar is on the edge of the screen and allows you to dock things like weather displays, stock tickers etc., much like the Mac Widgets that have been around for a while. Created using just HTML and JavaScript may sound limiting, but in actual fact you can still achieve a lot.

My first Gadget is an extension to WiiSearcher.com, which provides up to the minute listings of Wii consoles in stock, both in the UK and USA. I wanted a gadget that would quite simply list the number of stores either showing as "In Stock" or "Pre order". And I think that my Gadget succeeds.

First of all, I obviously needed to create a new XML feed from the site which simply lists the number of stores, no other detail needed. I wanted some options to allow the Gadget to choose UK or USA and whether or not to include Ebay auctions and Amazon private sales.

The Gadget code requests this feed and updates the display accordingly, and even highlights the "In stock" line if the number increases in any 3 minute period.

If you want to have a go with the Gadget, it can be found here: WiiSearcher Vista Gadget

When I get the chance, I will document this process in more detail.