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This is the third time the MPH Live Motor Show has been to Johannesburg. I attended the very first performance and wasn’t all that impressed. That was a reason to skip the second show in 2008. Even Clarkson deserves another chance though, so we got some tickets to view their latest spectacle.

All things considered, this was an entertaining event. The primary reason, in my opinion, was the inclusion of the audience. In fact, this seemed to be a carbon copy of the TV show, including the Cool Wall and a video game lap of the Top Gear circuit.

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Sorting and organizing a digital music collection is a never ending saga. Since collecting digital media by fair means or foul is rather easy, collections tend to grow, even if more than 98% of the content of the library is never actually accessed…

iTunes is a great solution for maintaining a music library. The Drobo will provide a central storage area and all devices will gain access to a shared media repository. But it’s really nice to have a music library that’s organized and neat – track names, album art. You know what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, only a very tiny part of our music collection is properly tagged. I started looking around for a solution to assist me with the dreary task of getting album art down and even better, to assist in naming individual tracks to reflect their actual content. I found TuneUp, and am very impressed.

First off, TuneUp works in conjunction with iTunes on either Windows or the Mac. Other solutions are available if you are not using iTunes. I installed the trial on the MacBook – the plan is to handle small quantities on that platform, then merge them into the consolidated library over time. The TuneUp trial provides roughly 50 album art downloads and around about 500 track name corrections. When iTunes starts, TuneUp docks onto the main program window – on a small screen, some resizing of the windows is necessary, else TuneUp dissappears off the right-hand side of the screen.

Using TuneUp is very simple. Starting with album art, the application runs through the track information it finds in iTunes and attempts to match the corresponding album cover art to the tracks. In my trial run I found the matches accurate on almost every occasion. Obviously, the application requires sufficient information from the tracks. If these are named Track01, for example, there is little chance of matching any artwork.

The identification of track names is the feature that sold the product to me. I immediately bought the life-long license for USD 28. It’s well worth it, though it’s a pity that the license is tied to the machine on which the application has been installed. I had a compilation CD I had ripped during the holiday. Not knowing all the track names, I had iTunes utilize the Trackxx naming convention. To analyze and name tracks, the relevant tracks need to be marked in iTunes and dragged onto the TuneUp window. Since this is an intensive operation, the application recommends that fewer than 500 tracks be selected at a time. I selected and dragged the 18 tracks, then watched in anticipation.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that only three tracks could not be identified – all others were augmented with decent metadata and album art. The process involves the detection of each tracks’ signature. Each signature is uploaded and matched against those in an online database. If a match is found, the application retrieves the necessary data and adds it into the media file. The remaining tracks require manual intervention, but the amount of work is substantially reduced.

The end-result is a much better looking iTunes library!

If you require a solution to assist you with the maintenance of metadata for a music collection in iTunes, TuneUp may well be the right solution for you. Best of all, the metadata is written directly into the media files, making the migration to a different player or library management possible at any time.

The Earth is indeed a puzzleball. Not so much the static natural landscape, animals and plants but that most puzzling element of all: mankind. Thankfully, this post has nothing to do with the complicated issues facing man on planet Earth, neither the puzzling situations man is able to create for himself to complicate daily life…

The puzzleball is a 3D puzzle in the shape of a globe. On our previous trip to Australia, the box beckoned from the shelf at Socrates in Pacific Fair. Not wanting to burden my luggage any further, I set it back down after looking at it. I had some regrets at not buying the World Globe puzzleball, but forgot about it soon after. In December, we once again happened upon Socrates. To my delight, the same shelf still contained a few boxes of the World Globe, discounted no less. Obviously, this item is a real seller

Grabbed one and started putting it together over the weekend. The puzzle consists of 540 pieces, each molded precisely from plastic. The box contains a pre-assembled North Pole and South Pole section to assist in starting and finishing the model. The curved based is used during assembly to create a surface to push pieces more easily together and doubles as a display stand once the globe has been completed.

I’m no keen puzzle builder, so I was rather pleased to discover that each puzzle piece is numbered – 1 through 540.

There is no way I’ll attempt to match pieces by their decorated side, so I opted for the McDonald‘s style assembly method: since the pieces are attached to each other numerically, it was a rather easy methodology of piecing the globe together without having to consider the outside too much. I consider it a bit of a hack. Simple, yet effective.

Simply find the next piece in sequence, then see how best it attaches to the preceding one. In some cases, a glance at the outside to match a colour or location cannot be avoided, but I’ve completed almost half of the globe in less than 2 hours.

Now moving onwards through Europe, Russia and the USA towards Africa, South America and Australia.

This is a great gift for the puzzle-loving cartographer…

rAge is on at the Dome in Northgate this weekend. In years past, I’ve been less than impressed with the rather mediocre expo presented after paying my entry fee. This year, the focus is still very much on gaming, but I was pleased to see a packed Dome and some interesting exhibits.

First and foremost, the new Batman Lego game for the PS3 (also available on a host of other platforms) was on display. Graphics look great and the game play seems to cater for all ages.

The Danny Elfman soundtrack provides a suitable mood and the cast of characters is extensive. Some of the rogues’ gallery members depicted below:

As if I don’t have more than enough to keep me busy, I discovered the perfect component to one day build that MAME cabinet I’ve been giving some thought to. The emulator is easily downloaded and I have a ton of game ROMs somewhere on a CD. The one component that has eluded me so far is a decent joystick to make a game cabinet feel just right.

Enter Arcade is a smallish outfit that has started importing a variety of peripherals specifically for this purpose.

Logitech had some of their great audio products for iPod integration on display and Samsung showed off some of their latest LCD screens. The usual presence of too many brick and mortar retailers and of course, tons of online stores trying to get in on the act. Many tech and gaming magazines had spent money on stands, too. For the rest, gaming competitions left, right and centre.

Though still far too much commerce and gaming-oriented, rAge 2008 was far more enjoyable than last year!

Most of us in ZA would know the board game Cluedo. You know, the one with Col. Mustard having killed Mr. Green in the study using the candlestick. Why they called it Cluedo here, I don’t know. The rest of the world knows it as Clue and if you are besotted with murder mystery on a grand scale, the Clue Premier Edition may be for you.

The rooms are sunken and fully detailed. There’s a glass panel to keep the dust out and it costs USD 149. Impress your next victim, why don’t you…

That’s the title of the new X-Files movie that will once again bring us the team of Mulder and Scully hunting aliens and following up on unexplained phenomena. Long-time X-Files aficionados will recognize the phrase from the poster hanging in Mulder‘s office.

The title is seemingly confirmed though IMDB still lists it as untitled. The US release date is set for 25 July 2008, so this is still a long way off.

I want to believe…that the truth is out there.

This one is quite good:

Credits are due here.

You’ve seen Star Wars on the big screen, VHS and also DVD. For a completely different view of the classic story, try the following: open a telnet session to the following address: towel.blinkenlights.nl. You’ll want to get the popcorn ready beforehand, as well as your reading glasses.

The story of Star Wars Episode IV retold

in glorious, high-definition ASCII! What more could the true fanboy want?

Maybe IPv6 for an enhanced, colour version?

If you are attempting to run telnet under Vista and are confused by the fact that it seems to be missing, don’t dispair. Open the Control Panel, choose Programs and Features and click Turn Windows features on or off in the sidebar.

Select Telnet, open a command prompt and run telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl.

You’ve made crappy copies of friends’ VHS tapes, pirated DVD material, taped and recorded from analogue and digital television sources and then resorted to the BitTorrent. No more. If you have sufficient bandwidth, the South Park creative team has made all its content available on the South Park Studios website for your enjoyment.

Seasons 1 to 12 are online, with the latest episodes being added as they’ve been screened on public broadcasting channels.

If the episodes aren’t enough to maintain your interest, there’s plenty of other crap to keep you busy: a brand new avatar creator with 4th graders, adults and Canadians. Thanks, Matt & Trey!