Well the launch of Sky Player on XBL was a complete disaster! I logged in straight away on the day of launch and downloaded the app only to be greeted with various network errors whenever I tried to use it. I had a look on-line and there were hundreds of stories from people in the same situation. It turned out to be a problem at the Sky end, they massively underestimated how many people would be checking this out the minute it launched and as a result it took down all their servers!

The deal is this: If you’re already a Sky subscriber then whatever package you pay for you can stream for free as long as you have Multiroom or Broadband Unlimited. Current Sky subscribers can pay an additional £9.75 per month to stream for free if they don’t have either Multiroom or Broadband Unlimited. If you’re not a current Sky subscriber you can pay £15 per month to have access to the basic package. On top of this there are options to rent some programmes for £0.98 per programme. That seemed fairly reasonable to me, though I certainly wouldn’t want to pay for a series like that. It’s more suited to one off documentaries. Films would’ve been good, but maybe Microsoft thought it would be in direct competition with their revamped Zune HD Marketplace.

You don’t use MS points to buy any of the programmes either, you need to sign up for a SKY iD and create an on-line payment account. This links in to your 360 so you don’t have to sign in every time (although there is a security feature to enable that).

You can only use Sky Player on one console per account. It’s linked to the actual machine not your xbox account. I believe you can change this on the web-page for your Sky account if you need to (new console/replaced console, etc.) but I think that’s limited to one change per month.

Watching the sample channel now (Sky News) and even on High Quality I have to say it looks horrible Certainly nowhere near as crisp as Freeview. I’m also disappointed with the programmes I could purchase as PAYG. Hardly anything on Sky One at all. There were a couple of History documentaries that looked interesting, but they also looked quite old so would probably end up on freeview very soon if they hadn’t already. Not as impressed with this as I’d hoped, but in fairness it is the first time they’ve tried it and if they have the technical side working now maybe this will open the door for more. I would love to see a browser on the 360 (even Internet Explorer) just so more opportunities become available for us. iPlayer on the 360 would be great.

There are some voucher codes to make it a little cheaper to check out the features, these are the ones I know of:

One month free Sky Player Multiroom for Sky TV customers: XBOX1MONTHFREE

Three months Sky Player TV for the price of 2 for non-Sky TV customers: XBOX3FOR2

As above but from the Sky site: SKY3FOR2

I saw this advert yesterday and immediately started shouting “BRING ON THE TRUMPETS!” at every opportunity. No-one else had seen it though, so I looked more like a nutter than usual. Now I can share!

With things still not back to normal on TV with the writer’s strike (Bones is only 15 episodes this season) and everything (Bones & NCIS anyway) ending next week, I was looking to new things to watch. IRC people kept on at me so a couple of weeks ago I gave in and started watching BSG.

Haven’t done too badly as tonight I’ll be up to date with the current episodes of series 4. I watched the Razor mini episodes last night and the Razor special. I can blast my way through stuff so quickly when I put my mind to it. I pretty much just replace sleep with watching the screen.

I can’t say I’m addicted to it. There are a few too many errors (continuity and otherwise) that make me cringe. If you’re going to use the word “frak” as a replacement to “fuck” in order to show someone swearing without them doing so… you cannot then have people on the same show using frak instead of swearing. It’s one or the other (and every time they say “fraction” there’d be giggles… admit it)! Also Dualit toasters don’t pop up when done…

The camera work leaves you dizzy. Makes me wonder if a lot of it is done to hide the disappointing special effects. Some of the Viper footage looks like it’s lifted straight from V. You expect to see strings or a hand appear in shot or something. Oh and don’t get me started on Apollo’s fat-suit… christy. I’ve taken a dislike to a lot of the characters too. I’d have chucked Cally out of the airlock back in the mini-series to be honest… irritating bitch. I also can’t stand Starbuck, but that’s more because she looks and acts very much like someone I know and don’t get on with.

There’s not much point listing what I do like as most people who know me know of my hatred for the human race and my empathy for inanimate objects. Of course I cheer on Cylons! I want a pet Raider.

via videosift.com

Saw the first episode of the BBCs follow up to Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, last night.

This one is set in 1981, so I do actually remember a lot of stuff from that time. The Audi Quattro certainly brings back memories as does the creepy Pierrot clown. A cousin of mine decked out her entire bedroom with them back in the 80s. She had the dolls on her shelves, they were on her pillows, her duvet, the rug…. eugh. Creepy things!

I can’t say I like DI Alex Drake anywhere near as much as I liked Sam, but we’ll see if she gets less annoying as it goes on. None of that really matters though, because it could all just be a blank screen without Gene Hunt. He makes me grin like an idiot. “You. In leather… holding that. Gives me the ‘orn.”

I know it’s only Neighbours, it’s not exactly high drama, but I am really impressed with the way Five have handled it. When the BBC decided not to renew the contract it was a bit sad as Neighbours feels like it’s been around forever (even though I clearly remember when it first started and the way everyone watched it). Not only did Five snap it up, but they’re airing it at the times the BBC used to air it (back to 13:45 and 17:30, rather than sometime after 14:00 when we feel like it) and they’re continuing from the correct episode on Monday.

This shouldn’t be impressive. This should be how it always happens. TV execs take note of this.

Too many programmes are being bought up and not showed, showed in the wrong order, put on obscure satellite channels, etc.

It’s almost here!! 15th November 2007

For the first night in a few weeks I have a had a good night out. Muchos thanks to Kev, Nik, Matt & Mikey. I managed to get rather wasted and not think about all the shitty stuff for an entire evening.

I can also now remember the benefits of being out from 18:00

AND I managed to not be a freak magnet. Woo!

Now I am not tired in the slightest, so will be watching lots of Mitchell & Webb and talking on IRC. <3 geekiness.

Best Trailer evvvvvaaaaaarrrr.

It’s official. I am actually addicted to the TV show Heroes. I’d been a little slack in my TV watching for a while (still haven’t watched the latest 2 Lost episodes, but I have until February meh), so last night I watched episodes 8-11 of Heroes. I love Hiro even more now, I liked Charlie too, but… hmm… :o(

And now I have series 6 of Scrubs to start watching… Yay for good TV! \o/

Snuff Box is on tonight at 23:00 on BBC3.

Rich Fulcher (The Mighty Boosh) & Matt Berry (The Mighty Boosh & Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place) gooooooooodness! \o/

Oh yeah, and at 21:00, BBC1 is showing the last Life on Mars of the first series. Can’t wait to see how they end it!