UC2 » links http://keithneilson.co.uk I see it, do you see too? Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:33:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Gamer Lays It Down http://keithneilson.co.uk/gamer-lays-it-down/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/gamer-lays-it-down/#comments Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:55:14 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/gamer-lays-it-down/ With industry luminaries bemoaning the state of the PC games market and prophets of doom proclaiming the death of PC gaming around the web, its nice to see someone who cares enough to tell the devs and publishers how it should be. I’m not going to add anymore to this, Mark says it all.

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/gamer-lays-it-down/feed/ New NIN Album Released Online http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album-released-online/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album-released-online/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:02:14 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album-released-online/ I apologise for the lateness of this news (it won’t be news to people who were paying attention) but this one completely passed me by, too much time spent in WoW methinks.

(Note: clicking on the ‘read more’ link will lead you to what looks like a broken page, this is due to the embedded music player, everything still works as it should its just the layout thats screwy. Wordpress can’t handle the <object> and <embed> tags. If anyone has any suggestions for fixing this feel free to let me know in the comments)

Trent Reznor has finally left interzone, after describing them as ‘greedy assholes’ and encouraging fans to steal his music during his last tour. The Nine Inch nails have released part of their new instrumental album Ghosts I-IV for free through their website and for a nominal payment of $5 (US Dollars, which is £2.50 in my money) you can download the whole thing DRM free. The popularity of this move was demonstrated when the NIN website went down due to high traffic over the weekend.

Ghosts I-IV is also the first offering from a fairly big name I’ve seen to carry a creative commons license. Released under an Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license, you can basically do whatever you want with it as long as you credit the creator, don’t sell it and do it under the same license. This brings up some interesting possibilities, especially as you can order a version of the album which includes all the tracks in multi-track format encouraging remixes and sampling (its $75 though, or I would have ordered that one). I look forward to hearing some fan remixes in the future, let me know if you’re planning any and I’ll promote them here (if I deem them worthy of course :P)

This is indicative of a growing trend in the music industry as more artists become disillusioned with the traditional music industry and release their work online. With the recent controversy over the RIAA not passing on money made from suing those who copied music to the artists, whose interests they claim to be representing, I can only see this as being another nail in the coffin of a dying industry. The men in suits have lined their pockets for long enough and the artists are taking control.

Good on you Mr Reznor, I salute you.

Here is a selection of tracks from Ghosts to whet your appetite:

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album-released-online/feed/ Microsoft is antipiracy? Yeah right… http://keithneilson.co.uk/microsoft-is-antipiracy-yeah-right/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/microsoft-is-antipiracy-yeah-right/#comments Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:22:34 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/microsoft-is-antipiracy-yeah-right/ Read this post which I stumbled across. It seems that some of the .WAV files used in Windows XP were created by a pirated copy of SoundForge. Laugh? I nearly died.

If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that I don’t really think much of Microsoft, especially Vista with all the resource eating DRM shit that they’ve put in it. I wonder if anyone has checked the .WAVs that Vista uses…

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/microsoft-is-antipiracy-yeah-right/feed/ Its nice to be appreciated… http://keithneilson.co.uk/its-nice-to-be-appreciated/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/its-nice-to-be-appreciated/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:49:25 +0000 mandrill blogginggameshappyjoblife http://keithneilson.co.uk/its-nice-to-be-appreciated/ I know I usually come across as a bit of curmudgeonly old ranter, and I rarely write about happy things but this deserved a post. The following quote is from a post on Performancing.com:

Recently, I found a fantastic blogger for my video game site Gaming Moments.

Thats me that is! This gave me such a boost. I rarely get feedback on this blog (hint hint) so to get such praise is a treasured moment indeed.

I’m walking on sunshine now, I’d better watch I don’t burn my toes.

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/its-nice-to-be-appreciated/feed/ New Job… http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-job/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-job/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:48:33 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/2007/04/03/new-job/ If you head over to GamingMoments.net you’ll find my first post as a pro blogger. So in future for all your video gaming needs I’d appreciate it if you took youself over to GamingMoments.net and had a gander.

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-job/feed/ A post because I’m bored… http://keithneilson.co.uk/a-post-because-im-bored/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/a-post-because-im-bored/#comments Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:52:09 +0000 mandrill artfictionlifetwitter http://keithneilson.co.uk/2007/03/27/a-post-because-im-bored/ I’ve been sitting staring at a blank text box for ten minutes now wondering what to post about. I’m quite low at the moment, nothing to be too worried about just something that happens occasionally. I’ll get over it. I get kind of restless, and no diversion seems to satisfy. Unreal Tournament is amusing for the five minutes it takes to pwn the computer, I’ve watched all the Heroes episodes I’ve got, and TV sucks generally. Something that may give me some amusement; I’ve been trying to cause trouble over at Twitter. I mean how interesting can people’s every action be, and why would they want to blog about it? I certainly don’t want to read about how someone is stuck in traffic in LA, or the latest hot action from a server farm in Idaho. Banal, boring and meaningless. If you’re going to twitter then you might as well be creative about it. I’m thinking a work of fiction published in chunks of less than 140 characters, or poetry. I may just end up making random stuff up. The only complaint I really have about twitter is the gubbins they give you to integrate it with your site, alot of it is incredibly intrusive and takes up far too much screen space. How about a twitter ticker guys, a twicker if you will.

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/a-post-because-im-bored/feed/ Ryan Vs Dorkman II… http://keithneilson.co.uk/ryan-vs-dorkman-ii/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/ryan-vs-dorkman-ii/#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:27:37 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/2007/03/17/ryan-vs-dorkman-ii/ This is great stuff. Now all they need are costumes and sets and they could make some kickass Star Wars Fan Films. Video after the jump.

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/ryan-vs-dorkman-ii/feed/ New NIN Album… http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album/#comments Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:17:11 +0000 mandrill ARGgamemusicNINnine inch nailspuzzleviral marketingyear zero http://keithneilson.co.uk/blog/2007/02/16/new-nin-album/ I just stumbled across this news today. The New NIN album ‘Year Zero’ is due out in April. In preparation  for this there is a viral marketing campaign/alternative reality game on the go. The first site iamtryingtobelieve.com, was discovered when a fan strung some highlighted letters from the back of a t-shirt toghether and put them in a browser. Looks to be quite interesting.

Sites so far discovered:

Set in a dystopian future (though not a distant one), it seems to be a vision of where the world might be in a few years time.  I’ll be following the clues and will try to keep you posted on developments.

There is a full track listing and further details about the new album available at NIN.com

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/new-nin-album/feed/ Ctrl+Alt+Del http://keithneilson.co.uk/ctrlaltdel/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/ctrlaltdel/#comments Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:08:31 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/2007/02/01/ctrlaltdel/ Ctrl+Alt+Del

Funny, funny and more funny. A comic for gamers by gamers. My current favourite is “l33t 3nuf?”

More news:
Arthur has a tooth and is sleeping through the night at last.

I am currently unable to read any blogspot blogs or Samizdata which is a pain. If anyone knows why this might be and possible solutions let me know.

The hit rate for this site is slowly in decline and I’m not sure what I can do about it. If anyone has any ideas feel free to let me know.

]]> http://keithneilson.co.uk/ctrlaltdel/feed/ Cheeseburger Brown: The Bikes of New York http://keithneilson.co.uk/cheeseburger-brown-the-bikes-of-new-york/ http://keithneilson.co.uk/cheeseburger-brown-the-bikes-of-new-york/#comments Sat, 13 Jan 2007 10:35:12 +0000 mandrill http://keithneilson.co.uk/2007/01/13/cheeseburger-brown-the-bikes-of-new-york/ Cheeseburger Brown: The Bikes of New York

The story is available on Blogger but for some strange reason I can’t read it there, or comment unfortunately. If you read it there tell them Mandrill sent you :)

A dark and dystopian vision of our future from Mr. Brown. Lacking his usual whimsy but no worse for it. The scary thing is that it could come to this.

Update: On Ch7 now and it’s getting better every time. I think I see what Mr. Brown is attempting. Lowers the mood in the first half, but begins to build it back up in the second.

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