UFC buys Pride

And then there was one. UFC is rumored (or maybe has officially already) to be buying Pride, it's biggest competitor, and for less than $70 million, which seems like a bit of a bargain to me. I think Pride has in the past had the better fighters, and a more worldwide audience, but I guess UFC is the big name in the States, and that's where a lot of the money is. The best bit about this deal should be the mega-fights they'll be able to put on now, pitting the champions of each organization against each other - I just hope this doesn't mean my pay-per-view prices are going up - my Comcast bill is big enough as it is...

ESPN.com - MORESPORTS - UFC to buy rival Pride, plans to stage megafights

New 2008 WRX

I'm not copying the photo on here, as I'm in denial that this is the real deal. I'm hoping it's all fake, and the actual car looks a lot better - this thing is way too normal for a Scoobie - it looks more like a Prius who's been on a fat arse diet...

New 2008 WRX from Motor Trend - News & Rumors - NASIOC

He leaves, nope, he stays

You'll not get very many links to the Mackem website on this blog, but every now and again, it'll happen. Mr Walker is in the news today after recinding on his resignation annoucement he made earlier in the year, and is staying at his current job. The full press release is in the link below, and I actually got an advance warning on Friday that this was coming, but promised to stay quiet for the weekend.

SAFC.COM: / News / News Archive / SAFC announcement /

M3 V8 - It sounds like this

PistonHeads M3 Sounds

In honor of the perfect day

So, today was a damn fine day - skived off work for the day to hit the slopes with my kid brother (sometimes pretty hard, as it had been a couple of years since my last snow adventure), watched a couple of neices get on the "big peoples" ski lift and make it down the hill alive, and then call into the Ferrari garage on the way home, just coz. I obviously didn't buy anything, but that place always gets me too excited.

So in honor of the day (and coz I can't be bothered to search for any snowboarding footage, and I left my camera at home), here's a little Ferrari vid.

VW Passat R32 Wagon (or estate if you can actually buy this)

Although the last Passat was a fave of the wife, the new one is a little on the jelly mold side of curvy for her (and me too if I'm honest, although it does look better in person than in the pics). Anyway, this one is definitely out for her, as "wagons" fall in the same catagory as minivans - not now, not ever, even if it's an RS6 or anything, just no.

But, I'm always a sucker for fast versions of normal cars, so for your enjoyment here's an ad from over there (I know Lauren, not yours, you never read the car bits, but welcome back - glad the bomb missed you, we were panicking this morning....)




Oh, an djust for the record, I saw my first R8 today on the roads - those LED's on the front look pretty schweet. He must have been still running it in though, as he let me slide past on the way up to the mountains without even a brief tussle.

The Ring, a couple of Mancs, and a distinct lack of skill

And for some unknown reason (unless they are really desperate for views in YouTube) they won't let anyone embed the video. Laugh away.....

The reason for my success?

Well, not that I'm actually saying I'm successful (yet), but I haven't done badly so far. Not sure how the Geordie accent relates to "English" though...

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Best of British

Apple TV Shipping

I'm probably getting way over-excited about this, but my AppleTV has left the building, and is heading it's way over to me as we speak. It looks like it should make it here by 10.30am on Friday morning (the exact time when I was going to be breaking my snowboarding duck for the season), so barring any major weather catastrophes (think Christmas present ordeal and start to shiver...) we should be good to go for the weekend.

Update - it's in the country (if you really do count Alaska as in the country - never really sure about that one!

Mar 21, 2007 1:06 PM, Arrived at FedEx location, ANCHORAGE, AK

Music, Music, Music

So somehow I got the new music bug at some point after playing Coldplay so much it turned into my "guaranteed to fall asleep within 5 minutes on the plane" playlist. I think it's probably got a bit to do with the Arctic Monkeys, coz it seemed like I had gone a while without hearing anything really good from a new band in years (I just put it down to old age at the time).

Anyway, I've probably been hitting iTunes pretty hard in the months since Christmas, and (one of) last weeks purchases was Amy Winehouse. I can't even remember where I heard her first, but she's got a pretty distinctive voice. Anyway, Fred seems to like her too, and kindly posted a link to her hitting Jools Holland's program with none other than Mr Paul Weller (who I just happened to have been playing all afternoon). Thought I may as well pass on the pleasure, so here you go.

Best Sign From the War Protestors

Here

Worst (or best) Porsche Dealer of All Time

It's tough to believe this, but definitely worth a read. I just wish there was someone so dumb over here in Colorado. Quote of the article "I saw how well it worked with the coffee shop down the road, so I thought I'd give it a try".

Stuffed - The News Behind the News Behind that News - Porsche dealer - "I got it wrong with the buy one get one free card".

Evo X in the flesh!!

The date of launch must be getting closer - it seems like we've been talking about this car (or maybe it's just me and Wallace). Anyway, spotted on the streets by someone desperately trying to video and drive at the same time, below is the resulting video. We've also got some stills here which show you a bit more of the front end. Please, please be as good or better than the IX.....

New UK Apple Ads Released

Well, maybe not quite new now, but they're here anyway.

Best In Car Dashboard Ever

Renault finally have the answer to all those sliding mishaps. I'm not 100% sure I'd want to be the one to clean it after a couple of months though (unless you can pull it out and shove it in the sink I guess).

Sad T-Shirt (part 23)

But it doesn't mean I don't want one ;-) Product page is here

Blue Peter fake contest winner

My faith in human nature has been rattled today with the news that Blue Peter faked a contest winner to hide some issues they were having with the phone lines. If Blue Peter can't be trusted to stay honest, who can? I mean, did Shep steal dog biscuits on his days off? Peter Purvis was a secret drunk?

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Blue Peter sorry over fake winner

A beautiful revolution: blog: A sorrowful tale

Sometimes, you just find weird stuff on the web that makes you smile big. I think it was the spelling of the "f" word, that made me think the wifes dodgy geordie accent (it's great baby, I was only joking). Oh yeah, and Neil's (future) wifes similarly dodgy accent - and she comes back next week after her African trip 8-) . Maybe if all the "fake" accents sound like that, our "real" ones are actually similar - no wonder the people of Atlanta look at me funny some days......

Anyway, more real accents are on their way across on Friday - the kid brother and Bex are on their way. Not quite sure who's more excited about this - them or me, but it's going to be a blast (as long as I can avoid this whole travel thing for a couple of weeks). Rumour has it I might even make it onto the slopes for the first time in a couple of years(but rumours are no guarantees and all rights are reserved).

A beautiful revolution: blog: A sorrowful tale

My Blackberry's Atwitter

Despite all the urging in the world from Mr Goodrich, I can feel comfort in the fact that I'm not the only one who isn't quite sure what all the twitter about twitter is about. I was urged to sign up the cellphone, but luckily resisted, otherwise I would have been alerted to every Chiplote visit he ever made (and probably the subsequent results....).

A VC: My Blackberry's Atwitter

Seventh Annual Weblog Awards

No surprise that I didn't win anything (especially as I'm the only one who reads this thing on a regular basis, apart from the occasional family member) - I think to win one of these things you have to have millions and millions of viewers.

Anyway, the big surprise to me (given that I'm typically on the net for large portions of my life) was that there were lots of sites I had never even heard of (and I haven't even looked at the nominees - just the winners).

So, apart from the usual Postsecret and Gizmodo type winners, here's a few that I hadn't heard of

My Boyfriend is a Twat (gets my vote for best name of a winner as well!)

Girl with a one track mind

Arseblog (and I'm sure there's a reason I don't read this one)

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Say No To Crack

Seventh Annual Weblog Awards

997 911 GT3 at the Ring

How could I resist, even if the commentary is all in German?

Lijit - the new way to search

So I'm always interested in cool techie stuff, especially the stuff that actually happens on your own doorstep, and through a wild journey through the interweb place (via Brad, MyBlogLog, WanderingStan and Tara) I finally ended up taking the plunge and signed up for my latest widget over there on the right.

So, here goes, I'll try and explain how it works. It's basically recommended or personal searching. I sign up and say which blogs and websources I typically read (including my own, although looking at some of the typos that get in here I obviously don't read it very well). Then, when you search, it searches those sources for the links and answers to what you're looking for. So, if you think I am probably an expert in for example cars, or gadgets, or button nosed puppies or whatever, you're much more likely to get something that you actually think is relevant. Now I'm obviously not suggesting that I am an expert in anything really (although the cars and over-priced techie toys I do spend an inordinate amount of my limited free time researching and playing with) - that's for you to decide, and then either use the search or not.

So anyway, I still need to add in a couple of (hundred) more links on stuff I read regularly for the answers to start coming back in a somewhat representative fashion (and if you Lijit guys are reading this, being able to suck in my Google Reader feeds would have made me smile even more when I signed up....) but given all 4 people who read this site are probably already down the pub wondering where I am (see previous post), it should be up to date by the time you try.

Anyway, give it a shot and let me know what you think. I can hear the guinness calling.....

Life Catchup

The last couple of weeks has been pretty hectic (hence the random posting days), so it's about time to catch up. First off, the wife got a new job - this meant a couple of things - we had a whirlwind trip to Boston to visit some friends, and then she's spent the last week in Vegas at a big internal company conference (and I mean big as in they hired Bill Clinton to be the speaker one night!).

I managed to fit in a usual trip to Atlanta, and then this week was my first ever visit to San Antonio. Apart from getting used to the warmth again, there was plenty of entertaining clients and sampling of the local culture (as in margs and burritos apparently - I was expecting cowboys and steak, but shows how much I know).

Anyway, we're both back now, and preparing for a night out with the man of many names, JB/Hartley/Tartley/John and the ever entertaining Susan. Fado's of course is the designated spot, so a little gentle persuasion of the wife was needed. No doubt the hangover will be big tomorrow, but it should be a great night, and definitely what you need to prepare yourself for a weekend of painting and laying floor.

As usual, photo's aren't uploaded yet, but as soon as they are, you can check out flickr and I'll try and remember to link them back up here.

You can buy anything on EBay

Well, pretty much, anyway.

Blatant Self Promotion

So I've been sitting on this thing for a couple of months now, as I wanted to make sure I didn't pre-release anything that Marketing might get upset by, but it looks like this went live this week in an industry magazine, so I'm free to distribute as I see fit (but I'm limiting it to just one post here, and that's it). Anyway, it's not often (or ever in my case) you get a real live ad, so I'm basking in my moment of glory/embarassment for a day or two. Here you go.

Apple TV Delivery Moved Up?

I'm pretty certain the last time I checked, my expected delivery date was the last week in March. But, being the optimistic sole that I am, I just went and checked again, and look what I found....

APPLE TV-USA

Ships by: Mar 20
Delivers by: Mar 23

I'm so excited, you just wouldn't believe.

John Inman Dead - You are no longer being served

John Inman, one of the main characters on "Are you being served?" has died after a long illness. I was never sure if I liked this program or not - I was pretty young when it was on, but my Nana and Grandad used to watch it on a regular basis, so it was on whenever I was over there. It's also one of a few comedy shows from the UK that is broadcast on some random channels over here, but I've never really watched it since I was about 10 or so.

New M3 Pics

Almost official now, BMW released the M3 "Concept" at the Geneva Motor Show - I have to say it's looking better now than the previous snaps of the test vehicle. And that carbon fibre roof.... Still prefer my shape though ;-)

Voicemail Transcription

So Fred Wilson over at A VC is raving about a service where you forward your voicemail to a service, which then transcribes your message, and emails it out to you (along with a wave file if you still want to hear the original). Although it's pretty expensive, if you've ever spent a day (or month, or lifetime) in meetings, getting this sort of thing can definitely be a life saver (well, maybe a deal saver anyway).

Anyway, if you're interested, go over and check it out.

A VC: Lifechanger - Voicemail Transcription

BBC strikes Google-YouTube deal

I need something to cheer me up, as I'm stuck in Atlanta airport (again), and this news raised a little smile. At least now all the clips of Top Gear will survive, or at least just get replaced in the official section. Now if someone will start a deal with the Premier League so I can see all the goals, that would make me happier.

BBC NEWS | Business | BBC strikes Google-YouTube deal

Apple's next big move: Multitouch displays?

It's been a while since I posted wild speculation about Apple stuff, so why not kick it off big style with Engadget's claim of touch screen interaction when Leopard is released. Sounds great, but dirty screens are sure to ensure (only, of course, if it ever happens)

Apple's next big move: Multitouch displays? - Engadget

Starbucks Stats

Here are some slightly disturbing stats about the ever-ubiquitous Starbucks:

Number of web searches for nearest Starbucks in 1/07 = 3 million
Number of locations in the US = 9,400
Number of new Starbucks stores opened every day = 4

Now, where's my vente caramel macchiato?

Google Does Live Traffic

Well, red, yellow and green to indicate how busy it is. Guess it saves having to find the local news sites that do it now when you're travelling. I haven't tried it on the mobile version yet, but if you have, let me know if it exists in that format - that might be cool.

Worst Car Ever?