OK the door hasn’t flown off the NY store or anything, the store I’m referring to is iTunes, the music store run by Apple has surpassed Walmart and become the largest music store worldwide.

The largest digital download store wouldn’t have any doors.  It’s operated via desktop software that connects via the Internet therefore isn’t really considered a brick and mortar business.  At this point, US consumers actually still purchase more CDs than downloads, but Apple has become number one over top CD selling stores like Walmart and Best Buy.

What does this mean for you?

Well, the advantages or the digital download store are quite obvious. You can buy a track, rather than a full album, you can even buy 4 tracks off an album without buying the full thing. You don’t have to leave the house and you can play it as soon as the track has finished downloading. The variety of choice you have is also 2nd to none (with the odd exception, cough Beetles cough) and probably better than any single store. The introduction of mp3’s have revolutionised the way in which people listened to their music.

The advances in technology are gaining so fast that it is hard to keep up with, the transition from digital music on ipods to digital movies on ipod was almost instant.  CD’s and especially records still have a market but that market is becoming more common with collectors and the everyday shopper will sooner or later make the jump to digital downloads.  

What is your preference? Do you purchase via digital download?

This thing can actually record up to 13 hours of footage to a SD card, it also comes with 32MB of onboard storage - more than enough to record a full day’s action. The camera is heavy duty and even water proof up to 3 meters.

2 AA batteries are needed to operate, an SD card of up to 2GB, then just strap on your helmet cam and start recording. The camera will attach not only to your helmet but also your handlebars or anything else you might want to add it to.

Here is the full list of features:
• Full-function, hands-free, digital recording
• Waterproof up to 3 meters and shock-resistant for extreme conditions
• Mounts easily on helmets, handlebars, and other sports equipment
• 640 x 480 VGA resolution at 30 frames per second
• USB and RCA cables included for easy playback on PC or TV (NTSC)
• SD card expansion up to 2GB – onboard memory is 32MB
• Operates with 2 AA batteries.
• Dimensions: 4.25L x 1.75D x 2.25H (in.)

All this for around $100, get some great biking footage or just follow people around playing spy! OK maybe not.

Now you can keep an eye on who is making faces behind your back while at work with the C.H.I.M.P spotter. This little piece of kit is actually a rearview mirror for your monitor. Now you can see when someone is sneaking up on you or you will know exactly when to alt-tab back to your spreadsheet before the boss catches you.

What you get:
Convex mirror (3 inches diameter) fits easily on either corner of your monitor with accompanying Velcro. Choose between black and the new iCHIMP in stylish white.

The next time you are cruising online or playing your favorite MMORPG at work, make sure you can see clearly with this bad ass mirror setup from Thinkgeek.com, you won’t be disappointed.

So what is the Gorilla Pod & why does it rock?

The Gorilla Pod is a modern, flexible and ultra sexy tripod for your digital camera. Made from over 30 movable ball joints the pod is extremely flexible making it not only portable but ideal for positioning your camera on the most uneven of surfaces. What makes the pod irresistible is the possibility of bending those legs around railings, tree branches or even your car mirror to make the most impossible of shots at ease.

The Gorillapod also comes with a detachable plate that screws to the bottom of your camera so fitting camera to tripod can be done in seconds and will be secure from the off.

Right lets get snapping!

The Gorillapod is available at:

So far the new browser looks very good. I love the look of it and have not had any problems with moving across. All add ons have been added or updated, all passwords and data including bookmarks have been saved.

So far the number of downloads have reached over 13 million, 8 of which were completed within the 24 hours of download day.

Here’s my certificate from Mozilla for participation.

The reason behind download day was to try and set a new world record for downloads in a single day. The record attempt could not have been helped when the mass influx of pledgers on 17 June crashed the FireFox servers for a couple of hours. Still 8 million downloads in a day has to be a new record right?

Did you take part in download day 2008? What do you think of FireFox 3?

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on the blog.

The R4 chip has raised concerns over the piracy of Nintendo DS games and has been blamed for the decline in DS Software sales worldwide. The minimal expense of getting one of these cards, from £20 ($40) and the simplicity of actually using the card only adds to debate as to whether they should be available. Many stores have reported high levels of sales but will not say what the R4 is used for over fears of legal action. The issue of backing up Roms is slightly different from one of sites having illegal downloads of games but both raise different concerns. A great use for me would be to have all my games backed up one one R4 chip to save the hassle of carrying multiple games around with me. This raises the issue of whether you are legally allowed to create a back up ROM of games you have purchased legally. Many users of the chip state that if the DS games were sold at the same price worldwide then many would not go to illegal measure of obtaining illegally downloaded ROMs. The prices of games can range from as low as $10(£5) in India to $50-60(£25-30) in the UK.

Legal Uses
With all the bad press the R4 chip has been getting the totally legal uses of the chip have been overlooked, these range from begin able to play:

• Music (inc. mp3’s)
• Video
• View pictures
• and play homebrew games and software.

What are your views on the R4 chip or other chipping methods that extend the functionality of gaming devices?

Tonight I went for a game of poker for the first time in a while. The same game I mentioned here and although the hard drive is still to be fitted tonight’s game I enjoyed. And here’s why:

A friend fetched his automatic card shuffler and every time he used it I ended up with a winning hand.

The shuffler is great, it can take upto 4 pack of cards and if you either can’t shuffle or maybe you want to try and change your luck at the table then why not give the cards a whirl though this.

Although I had a fair few great hands tonight I ended up with a second place which I’d have taken at the beginning of the night but was definitely in a position to win and be over $200 better off than I ended up. With a bit of luck I’ll be playing and fitting a hard drive in 2 weeks time.

I’ll definitely be investing in a poker table, some chips and one of these bad boys in the near future.

I’m all in, who’s with me!

Once the set time is reached the top part of the helicopter takes off from the clock and the alarm starts. To get the alarm to stop you need to get the flying part of the clock and place it back on the clock.

For me this would be a great method to get me up. I can only to an alarm for so long and having something in arms reach is just too easy to turn off. To physically have to get out of bed and catch the flying alarm would deter me from snoozing back down.

Would this work for you? Have you seen any other worthwhile adversaries?

The console looks very slick in design and comes in a range of colours including black, white, pink etc. Some of the main features include:

Dual/Touch Screen - The dual screens are used differently depending on the game you are playing. Zelda uses one as a map while the main touch screen is used for navigation and gameplay. The Yoshi game splits the whole game between both screens and you can jump from one to the other. To use the touch screen you use the stylus which is supplied with the console. This adds a whole new feature to the handheld games espeically ones like Brain Training where you have to write the answer on the screen.

WiFi Connection - Use the wireless connection to play against family and friends. Connections allow up to 16 users to connect and some games allow you to use the download feature so that everybody does not need a copy of the game. Connections can be from as far apart as 100 feet.

Built in Mic - Use the microphone in games like Brain Training to shout out the correct colour in sequence or blow into the mic in Zelda to blow out a candle. Some games even included a multiplay chat function while uising the WiFi connection.

Backward compatibility - As well as having the DS cartridge slot the DS Lite also has an extra slot that allows you to play Gameboy Advance games. This is a great feature and saves having 2 handheld machines laying aroudn the house. It also allows people who didn’t have the Gameboy Advance to experience those games on the DS Lite, great move Nintendo.

This is a great console with a lot of very addictive games, I found myself playing Zelda for hour after hour and its always nice to jump on Mario and try and save the princess. The next step for me is to try out some of the many add ons that are available.