A science fiction TV series where Aliens have taken over the world with Steven Spielberg as Executive Producer surely sounds like a decent TV series.In reality it’s a bore-fest lacking any decent script, acting or special effects, with the series solely concentrating the relationships between the human characters rather than the Alien invaders.

What Falling Skies needed was to start off with a bang, a really big bang. What it started off with was Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) trying to retrieve some food on a trolley weaving in and out through some (adequately placed) burnt up cars, whilst being shot at by the Aliens and their robots. From this exact scene I was expecting it to build up and excite me, but I had a deep feeling down inside it was going to be probably the most exciting scene I may come across in this series – sadly I was right.

The real issue with this series is the fact it lacks any interest to the Sci-Fi genre, except for the Aliens having taken over, we rarely get a glimpse into how it all happened, or what the current real issues are for human survival are. All in all it’s a low-budget series with very little talent, chemistry, script or talent on-screen. The cast is poor, the scenes excruciatingly meaningless and void of any significance progress. Out of the 4 episodes I watched there seems to be a pattern;

Mission to find food / resources – run into Aliens – return to base

With the exception of one episode this is pretty much the case. I just find it irritating with shows like these, where the same shit happens, but everyone seems to be oblivious to what happened previously. The show lacks pretty much everything. The most interesting things about this are the low-budget Aliens and the cheap CGI robots which they use to enforce the humans.

How this show got renewed for a second season leaves me baffled. It’s total trash.

Lets get this right straight from the off; Transformers 3 is not a bad film. But it’s not a good film either. Ignore the fact it does use some footage from The Island, it’s unnoticeable. Don’t fall into the hyperbole of troll-ism. If you are a devout fan of The Island, you’ll probably notice it, but otherwise, you’d find it hard trying to figure out which part exactly was recycled.

I watched it in 2D. Shock horror!! I don’t buy into this 3D hype created by the movie industry to inflate prices and add experience to films. They don’t. I’ve seen it. It’s more of a case of headache and hindrance than the brilliance they want you to experience. There is a time and place for 3D. Not all films can get away with it. But, that’s just my opinion.

I’ll try to to avoid spoilers for those that haven’t yet seen it.

The film starts off well. Using the 1969 Moon Landing to create a cover up story to how they all got here is not too far-fetched, it actually sounded authentic. Despite the actual scenes of landing on the Moon being overly clean and CGI’d out. The plot was plausible. Everything after that just became more and more loose and predictable, but hey that’s Hollywood for you.

The crazy over the top special effects which are trademarks of Michael Bay’s work were evident pretty much throughout the film. It’s worth paying the admission ticket just for those. As the film was created for 3D I may have missed out on some of the scenes, but honestly I don’t really care. The real issue was the fact the film just felt like an eternity. A lot of the time, nothing really happened. Usually scenes are filled with meaningful happenings and plot linking scenes, here this wasn’t really the case, but everything somehow just fell into place.

The actions scenes tend to be long in Transformers, here it was even longer, they just didn’t end. From one scene to another it was just stuff blowing up, being ripped apart or crashing into anything else near by. With every scene I was hoping that was the big finale, and when it came. It wasn’t anything special. Unlike the previous two films, there wasn’t a climax here at all. Void of excitement at any level.

The film wasn’t helped by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley doing her utmost to be as transparent and plain as possible. She may look like (in my opinion) a young Cameron Diaz and speak like Lara Croft, but she has the acting ability equivalent of celery. Although celery can’t scowl as bad as she does, maybe because celery doesn’t have a face.

MetroTwit is inspired by the Metro tiles UI found on the Windows Phone 7 mobile platform. It’s aimed to be a minimal and lightweight Twitter desktop client for Windows. It’s in beta phase and can be found to download and use for those on Windows. Keep in mind you will need .NET installed on your machine. I gave it a try for a few days. This is what I found.

It is very smooth and slick, it has a clean and minimal look and feels very much like WP7. There is a choice of a light and dark theme, with the ability to choose any colour for the accents. As I’m an avid Tweetdeck user I went with the dark theme with some red accents.

Drawing inspiration from Microsoft’s Metro design language, MetroTwit celebrates an elegant and clean user interface that’s beautiful to look at and a pleasure to read.

MetroTwit shares some great features along with Tweetdeck:

• The ability to add custom searches as columns. This includes hash tags and / or users.
• Just like Tweetdeck’ deck.ly it supports tweets which are longer than 140 characters using TwitLonger.
• Ability to preview media inline just like Tweetdeck, services like Youtube, Twitpic and Yfrog are supported. Whilst also supporting url shortening.
• Notifications can be set to appear in specific places around the screen, although I’ve yet to make it function properly.

There are features which MetroTwit has over Tweetdeck:

You Win Or You Die

You won’t see many posts in this category. I’m not a big TV watcher. My TV is mainly used for watching films or playing games on. I’ll watch the odd football match if it’s on terrestrial TV, or have it on in the background, usually tuned to Dave. I tend to pick and choose what I watch and prefer to watch series in full. Game of Thrones is an exception.

The first in a series of epic fantasy books A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R. R Martin – Game Of Thrones has been adapted by HBO into ten episodes of amazing Television. Whatever sort of TV you’re into, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t at least try and watch it. I’d sit here and write up a full on review of the first season, but I think it wouldn’t be a decent portrayal of what it offers, whilst I’d probably be spoiling it too.

Go and find it, wherever you can and watch it. Because it’s pretty damn awesome.

Dance music is on the rise, it’s currently the “in” genre, whether that’s Funky House, Drum N Bass, Electro Pop or Dubstep. Whilst there are many that will say it’s never been away, it wasn’t the biggest thing during the 90s. But with trends in times, the music shifts. With the 80s being the in decade currently in terms of fashion, the music tends to follow.

The UK plays host to many an emerging artist, whom have elevated Dance music to the mainstream in recent times. Most notably Tinie Tempah’s success with his debut album Disc-Overy, he’s moved onto the US to capitalise on a market UK artists have struggled to capture for years. But with the emergence of the internet as a platform to market and promote, the exposure is now better and bigger than the previously limited and controlled system the big music giants had.

It’s a great situation for artists on both sides of the Atlantic. Both sides can thrive in creating great music and getting inspiration from each other. Usher, T-Pain, Chris Brown, Kerry Hilson, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Kelly Rowland are just some examples. Dev is no different. She’s a new flock of artists, whom are prevalent on the internet. Posting cover versions of popular songs on sites like Youtube and MySpace to try and get a foot into the music industry. Lucky for her, she was found by The Cataracs – a hip hop indo duo whom seem to have a knack of producing great dance hits. Songs which include Backseat (New Boyz feat Dev), Like a G6 (Far East Movement feat Dev), Wet (Snoop Dogg) and Bass Down Low (Dev) – the latter being the debut single by Dev.

It does seem wherever Dev is on a track, The Cataracs have something to do with it. Which asks a question; How Hot Is Dev?

Checking out her Youtube Channel, all the songs seem to have a trend of great beats, quick vocals which have been both auto-tuned and lack the vocal talents of say Adele or Mariah Carey and more in line with voices like Cassie (another example of an internet hit). In my opinion Dev is a pretty close act to the UK’s very own Katie B. The similarities in music is there, whilst I do think Katie B has a better voice (as displayed on her track Go Away), she can hold a ballad-esque note.

But taking a look at a few of her other singles, it’s clear she does have the talent to be a star.

At the moment the trend is there, and her work with The Cataracs and the many other artists she’s doing hooks, choruses and features with is working for her. Looking at her released singles like Fireball, Me, Killer and Sunrise an Album can’t be too far away. I just hope she sticks with what she’s doing and doesn’t fall into a repertoire like Lady Gaga or fades away like Keri Hilson. The Blonde hair do doesn’t exactly instil me with confidence.

As it happens with the start of most seasons, there is a new home, away or 3rd kit revealed by most clubs in the Premier league. Liverpool FC included.

So, Liverpool FC have announced the new 3rd kit for this season and shock horror it’s got a tiny bit of blue on it. I personally didn’t like the old black one. My personal preference is that no team should be in black, that’s the colour the referee is draped in. Call me old-fashioned but that’s just me. Let’s not get onto the subject of them wearing pink, turquoise or any other ridiculous colour. Yellow I’m slightly tolerant towards.

This apparently has caused outrage amongst Liverpool fans and shattered the dreams of young boys, who are now confused and cannot differentiate between the two Merseyside clubs. Yes, Everton don the blue shirt. But history also shows us that Liverpool FC also wore blue, albeit a lighter shade. For those early years Liverpool FC were a blue and white team. In 1894 the club decided to don the colours of Liverpool (the city) and we became a red team.

I really think it doesn’t matter one little bit. As long as the home kit is red and the away kit is any other colour then a solid blue, I’m not too fussed. The 3rd kit can be whatever it wants to be. It’s not even like the 3rd kit is a full on blue. There are just a few stripes and lettering in blue, overall it’s white. I can understand what some may be infuriated about, but let’s be realistic here and less fanatical. Put things into perspective. It’s a 3RD kit. Lets not go crazy about this all. My advise is, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Wear the RED home kit and be proud. As far as I’m concerned I bleed red, no matter what I’m wearing.

There is a nice revised mock-up done by a fan of the 3rd kit, I do have to say I like that one better. Perhaps the sponsors in future could work with the fans and supporters clubs to create a 3rd or away kit which is in line with the majority of fans.

If you’re an avid anti-narration throughout the film type of person, then you might want to skip this one. From the off, the film starts off with Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) narrating on the current situation he finds himself in – on the edge of a multi-storey apartment, ready to jump. We then visually jump off and into the intro scene. Although nauseating and slightly trip inducing, the intro is actually pretty good. It’s a good visual portrayal of “limitless” – both the definition of the word and the overall point of the film.

Morra comes across an experimental drug which gives him access to exploit the full potential of his brain, thus making him more perceptive, having access to his subconscious memories and utilising the full potential of his brain. The drug helps him get his life back together. He has lost his girlfriend, is late on his rent and it’s been 4 months since he started writing a book for which he has acquired a publishing deal. Although he is yet to write a single word. The drug called NZT helps his productivity, it’s effects include motivational stimulants, which help Morra get some writing done. This gives him time to keep his publishers at bay and happy with the progress of the book.

With all this extra motivation, perception and the ability to utilise the full capacity of his brain Eddie starts to establish himself in the world, becoming more successful and influential. He starts to enjoy his life more. His girlfriend comes back to him and things couldn’t be better. He is the man of the moment and it does seem, nothing can stop him. But he doesn’t take into account what effects (as most drugs tend to do) the drug will have in him long-term. He also fails to grasp that he may not be the only person with access to the drug or has been using it.

This for me is when the film starts to fall down. Where Eddie is now super intelligent, he somehow fails to fathom a long-term plan beyond getting rich and powerful. He might have all the attributes of one of the most capable and intelligent men, but he fails to see the clear dangers and fails to take precautions any average intelligent person would. From here on starts the all too predictable clichéd plot of twists to try to keep the film interesting for the viewer at which, for me personally it fails. By now I’d already figured out the outcome of the film and all the twists and turns, leaving really nothing else for me to do but watch the rest of the film prod along to its inevitable conclusion.

Limitless could have been a huge cult film, had it the proper writers and production team. But this could be said of many films, and then we’d be spoilt with high quality films all the time. At which point we then might not appreciate something ingenious when it comes along. Limitless is not a poor film, it’s watch-able and at best more than average. The 7.3 / 10 on IMDB is perhaps accurate. Bradley Cooper does a decent job keeping the film going mostly on his own – triggering memories of Guy Pearce in Memento. The biggest disappointment is the limited imagination of the writer, which limits the potential of it becoming a cult classic.

without NZT life is unsaturated, dark and depressing...

NZT adds colour, saturation and contrast to images too...

I was lucky enough to be invited to a special Alienware Gaming Night where I would pit my gaming skills against some of the best PC gamers. With the prestige of taking part against literally some of the best (competition winners from around Europe), Alienware were also handing out an Alienware M14x laptop to the winner. This gaming laptop is no joke. In essence it’s a beast, both visually and performance wise.

Alienware M14x

Out of the whole Alienware gaming range the M14x is the middle ground in terms of size, portability and performance. I say middle ground, but there isn’t anything mediocre about it. Quad Core Intel i7 processors, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 3GB of Nvidia SLI graphics all encased in a uniquely designed Alienware body. Not forgetting the impressive range of connectivity solutions to get you connected and gaming anywhere, literally. All of this make the M14x a great choice for gaming, not only in the comforts of your home, but taking around to friends or LAN parties.

For all the features on the M14x, visit the Alienware website.

3D Or Not To 3D

The gaming was planned to be all in 3D. I’m not the biggest or most convinced person when it comes to 3D anything. It’s more gimmicky than anything in my opinion. Especially when one has to wear ridiculous glasses to be able to experience it. Also as I wasn’t a regular PC gamer (I hadn’t gamed on a PC for almost a decade) the signs were not good. But the gods seemed to be smiling upon me. As the tech people fought against the gods to get the 3D sorted due to technical problems I perused the various different models of Alienware gaming laptops displayed around the venue.

With the help of @Motoko_K we commandeered the biggest and baddest looking laptop and got to work. We soon got ourselves customising the colours of the keyboards, logos and grills on the laptops. Bright lights and customisation always win! The AlienFX lighting controls allowed us to change the lights, of almost anything emitting a light from the laptop. As well as having different effects like dimming from one colour to another, or cycling through a range of them. Our efforts can be seen below!

Peripherals, Ready!

It was decided that the gaming would go ahead in 2D and it was going to be a Call of Duty BlackOps shoot out. 1v1 elimination. Getting used to playing with a keyboard and mouse once again wasn’t that difficult, but the urge to try out moves in Call of Duty from the years of playing on Xbox and PS3 were clearly trying to get out. I found myself consciously fighting to attempt to throw grenades and flash bangs, but the problem was I didn’t really know which keys they were assigned to.

As I progressed through the 1st and 2nd rounds, it was clear the various regional competition winners who were in attendance from around Europe were PC gamers, but not so much Call of Duty gamers. At least I had the advantage of knowing the maps and spawning systems to try to stay one step ahead. As I watched the various different competitors, it was shocking to see, even in a competition in front of people all those who just sat in a room staring out of the window. A great example of the game playing them rather than them playing the games. Sad indeed. I played my usual way of running around and hunting my prey, even with my uncoordinated keyboard and mouse skills.

In the end my luck ran out as I was knocked out in the semi-final by the overall runner-up.

The overall winner on the night was the UK competition winner who seemed to be pretty happy winning the Mx14 laptop, and why not. Not bad for a night of gaming fun!

There’s a brilliant viral by Intel going around called the Museum of Me, which takes everything you have on your Facebook account and displays it visually in your own special Museum dedicated to you. Why this works is pretty simple. Not the great graphics, transitions and smooth 3 minute flash video, but the intimate fact it is about you.

Recall of those great adverts you’ve ever seen, those that nearly brought a tear to your eye, or those that you thought were brilliant. Well now, this is your chance to experience it for yourself, about yourself. Just click-through and check it out. Hat tip to James Whatley of 1000 heads.

I was in a moody to watch a film, but didn’t really know what exactly I fancied. Perusing my list of “to watch” I opted to take on Drive Angry. Now I’m not Nicholas Cage‘s biggest fan, perhaps far from it, but I do like me some Amber Heard. I’m not quite sure what it is about her, but I think it’s a little touch of the Denise Richards about her, except without the overly extended gaping mouth and oversized eyeballs. Or perhaps its the fact she is a bisexual.

But anyway, moving on.

As I wasn’t in any specific mood I expected very little from the film, especially it having Cage in the starring role. But, what Dive Angry did turn out to be from the off is high in action and explosion. It pretty much includes all the cliché scenarios and stereotypes you’d expect from any non serious action flick dealing with the supernatural and poor acting and special effects.

• Hot bad ass chick – check
• Mysterious protagonist – check
• Mysterious supernatural enemy – check
• Lots of explosions – check
• Loose plot with some sort of righteous need to justify actions – check

Whilst Drive Angry doesn’t deserve the 5.7 rating on IMDB, I’m not sure it actually deserves anything more, mainly due to the fact there actually was stuff happening in the film, which kept the attention span going. Whether these be a nude scene taken from Shoot Em Up (sex scene with Clive Owen and Monica Belucci) or a poorer version of an exploding tanker scene from Fast And Furious 4  (tanker rolling) or the various slow motion scenes with bullets taken from any modern action film. They were enough to keep interest in the film, albeit at the very loosest of interest at best.

In the end, the film ends as one would expect, with the ending scene looking something from Constantine. It seems originality is dead and so are talented CGI artists in Hollywood. Probably some of the worst modern-day CGI, make-up and special effects I’ve seen. But still, go watch it, just don’t expect anything from it.