So I got myself a Kindle late last year, just before they announced the new ones (no keyboard? Piss off. Limited tablet functionality? No thanks. Colour screen and plays video? The best thing about the old one was the screen. Go away) and I absolutely love it. Being a bit of a fiddler with things like this, I finally got around to investigating the jailbreak possibilities this week, and while they are very limited, there is one rather nice thing you can do, which is install the “screensaver hack” and then have it display your own images, rather than just those default ones.

The images themselves – variously called “screensavers” and “wallpapers”, though they’re not really either – are 600px * 800px (unless you have a DX, in which case they’re… um… bigger) greyscale PNGs or JPGs, and a quick Google will reveal loads of them to you. You could do worse than check out this site, for instance.

Anyway, having done this, I decided to make a load of new ones featuring authors whose work I read, and now I’m sharing them with you in case you also have a jailbroked Kindle.

Featured are:

• Luke Rhinehart
• Iain M. Banks
• Hugh Laurie
• Ian Fleming
• Stephen King
• Stephen Fry
• Steig Larsson
• Aldous Huxley
• Douglas Adams
• Terry Pratchett
• Dave Gorman
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Neil Gaiman
• Warren Ellis
• Philip K. Dick
• J.K. Rowling
• George Orwell
• Danny Wallace
• Len Deighton
• Clive Barker

Download the 5.8Mb zipfile here, then apply any or all of them to your device as you see fit.

DISCLAIMER: I have grabbed these images from various websites using Google, and have no copyright claim to any of them. If that sort of thing bothers you, then move along. This isn’t the royalty-free option you’re looking for.

–c.

NB: Applying the screensaver hack and supplying your own images precludes using the default supplied images that came on your device. If you would like to include those, you can obtain them here and then add them back into the rotation alongside your custom images.

Inhuman Rampage – DragonForce (2006)

DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage

Like quite a few people, my first exposure to the music of DragonForce occurred when I completed Guitar Hero III, and the credit rolled, allowing me to play “Through The Fire And Flames”, which is the opening track to Inhuman Rampage. For the first minute or two, in between the frantic button mashing, I was inwardly wincing at what I was hearing, but that soon changed to intrigue then interest, and by the time I’d got to the end I was looking them up on Last.fm to hear more. One thing I will say about DF – they’re an acquired taste. We’re talking about speed metal, with cliched metal vocals, the most wildly over-the-top guitar solos possible, and general musical wanking off in every quarter. But it all somehow manages at the same time as being completely po-faced, to somehow convery a sense of fun. Perhaps it’s the ever-present Nintendo-style guitar themes that Herman Li injects into most of the tracks that save this from just being yet another soldiers-of-metal band, marching off into the distance, drowning in a torrent of notes. I’m not sure. But I know I do like me some DragonForce, and for me this is the best album they’ve made yet.

Standout tracks: Through The Fire And Flames, Operation Ground And Pound, Body Breakdown.
You’ll like this if you like: Um…. not sure really. Speed/power metal with awesome guitar work!

This car has been great for me, runs really well, and I have a perfectly genuine reason for selling – my Dad’s 83, and has decided to give up driving, so I have inherited his Mondeo.

That said, it has had a couple of minor issues, and the guy who sold it to me obviously knew about one of them but kept quiet. In the spirit of transparency, I’m telling you everything.

• When I bought it, before I’d even got it home from West London, it overheated. It did this a few times over the next few months, and this was eventually tracked down to a bad radiator. The neck at the top was eroded, and the cap wasn’t making a seal. The radiator and cap have now been replaced, and the car hasn’t overheated since. Both the mechanic who did the work, and the RAC man who towed me home after the last time this happened have said it’s definitely not the head gasket.
• Also, the airbag light on the dashboard is on. This is because one time when it had overheated, the hazard lights were on so long that the battery ran down and the car needed a jump start. This has caused the airbag (SRS) light to come on. I don’t know how easy or otherwise that is to fix.
• Aside from that, the car’s fine. It has a couple of cosmetic scuffs on the bumpers, but nothing more than you’d expect on a 13 year old car.
• The parcel shelf is missing.
• Both wing mirrors have obviously been bumped at some stage and have tape around them, but they’re secure – they’re not loose or dangling off or smashed or anything.

However,

• The exhaust has recently had brand new back and middle boxes.
• Everything else works fine.
  

So there you go, that’s everything, I’ve not hidden anything away about it, I’ll be sad to see it go – I was getting used to driving an automatic!

And that’s that. It’s going on Auto Trader for £500ono, but if you’re interested feel free to get in touch any way you like.

Cheers,

–c.

–c.

Posted via email from axemonkey’s posterous

First music recommendation of 2009: Whatever Gets You Off, by The Last Vegas.

Fucking great hard rock. Punchy, catchy, singable, great fun stuff.

–c.

Posted via email from axemonkey’s posterous

I made a purchase to the value of £151.56 on Sunday night (2nd Feb), delivery estimate given to be 4-6 working days. The money left my account via Google Checkout that day, and I received a mail saying that the item had been shipped same day, which seemed excellent, as it was a Sunday.

However it has yet to turn up, and 2 messages sent to the seller via Google Checkout have yielded no reply, and both the phone numbers I have found for these people give “unobtainable”, which makes me somewhat nervous.

Anyone?
–c.

I own a Hell t-shirt (“Britney is a whore” – I bought it when that was mildly subversive and not just her job description) and have bought them for friends, and this is a shame. Still, some of the best shirts are back for a limited run before closing time.

I think my particular favourite on there right now is “Gay Jesus offends Christians”.

Oh, btw in case of hate, no I’m not a Christian but I know a few and happen to believe that none of them would actually be offended by this t-shirt. Because, you know, IT’S A FUCKING T-SHIRT and my friends aren’t complete morons.

–c.

Favourites:

• The Bugle
• Phill & Phil’s Perfect Ten
• Stephen Fry’s Podgrams
• Adam & Joe
• 8 out of 10 Cats

You’ll mostly find me chuckling on the tube.

–c.

You do now!
–c.

–c.