Ever since I started watching DIVX / XVID versions of my favourite TV shows from the States I’ve always wanted to run them through my TV, instead of watching them on my PC.
Media Centre PC’s have been available for some time, plus streaming set-top boxes that read the files from over the Wifi. However these require extra money.

I had noticed that my DVD player would play DIVX files from disc, however only from a CD and not a DVD which meant only 2 episodes per disc, and I had no choice over which one it picked first.

However today I’ve installed some stuff on my Wii which allows me to watch files from either a USB stick in the back, or on the SD card.
The software also makes it possible to stream files over Wifi, however at the moment it’s just running a bit too slow, and it doesn’t have a browser for this option, all files names need to be hard written into a config file.

So what do you need to start watching the files:

• A Nintendo Wii
• A copy of Zelda, Twilight Princess (you can borrow from a mate or rental store for a day)
• An SD card (2gb max for some reason)
• A PC to download files
• A memory card reader to put files onto the memory card via your PC

Now once you have the above, visit this site to download all the Wii Homebrew Software.
The boxes you need to tick are:

• Homebrew Channel
• Twilight Hack (correct for your region)
• MPlayerWii (a newer version although can be found here)

You may have noticed some emulators, I’m not talking about those here, but feel free to tick the boxes to download them as well.
Once you’ve ticked all the boxes you want, hit the Create my custom pack button.

You will now have a ZIP file on your PC. You will need to extract this to the ROOT of your SD card.

Now pop Zelda and the SD card into your Wii. If you have never played Zelda on this Wii, start it up, and exit as soon as possible.
Have a watch of this video to see how you install the HomeBrew channel on to your Wii.

Once installed you no longer need Zelda, so put it back on the shelf or return it to whoever was kind enough to lend it to you.

Now open up the HomeBrew channel, run the MPlayerWii app and you should be able to select the SD Card or the USB Stick.

The press seem to think that Nintendo Wii’s are going for over £1000 at the moment with the Christmas rush, yet a quick look at eBays recently sold items show that most Wii’s are going for less than £300. So where are the journlists going wrong? It’s the usuall eBay scam, the Nigerians. People are selling their consoles and not restricting sales abroad, and then amazingly a small bidding war ensures and the goods are won by a hijacked account and if the seller is rather greedy and unlucky the Wii will be shipped off without any payment. Just take a look at the feedback of the winners.
It’s the same for mobile phones, and I’m still not sure why eBay try to suggest that I would be better off allowing people abroad to buy my goods.

My plans to have my laptop online in our flat whilst in Brighton has failed. Not only has everyone here got secure WiFi, but the datacable to make my phone a modem has now gone missing.
Whilst I can do most stuff on my phone, writing and reading high graphic blog posts becomes rather tricky.
So if anyone is in Brighton and has found a Sony Ericsson datacable or has one to lend, please let me know.

Have you recently had an email which looked like this?

If so delete it straight away. As per usual the give aways are the fact that you’ve joined something that you never visted.
I got something similar this morning, and was sure I had read about this on the F-Secure blog. Checking their site I was right, so I emailed them the one I got as the details were different to those listed. Now the site is kindly name checking me.

Thanks to ‘ew’ and Ryan
for updates on the subjects used.

Today the BBC report about a credit card skimming scam that has been found in Hull.
Now whilst I haven’t blogged about this before I’ve been saying it’s possible since the new machines arrived.

The scam is quite easy.
Step One, get a card reader like the ones at Tescos which is attached to the till screen. These readers are two-in-one it reads both the magnetic strip and the chip.
Step Two, add the classic skimming device to the top of your slider.
Step Three, place a camera or get someone to look at the PIN being entered.
Step Four, clone the card onto a Tesco Clubcard
Step Five, wander into the High Street to an old cash-point (one that won’t read any chips) and enter the PIN you’ve stolen.
Step Six, take the cash and run.

To be truthful this may not work, it’s not exactly like I’ve tried to test it. However there are steps you can take to ensure it never happens to you.

Never let your card out of your hand. With the new chip-and-pin machines only you should need to handle the card. Don’t give it to the till staff at the supermarket, nor give it to the waitress at the restaurant. Make sure you place it in the machine and that you take it out. Chip-and-pin machines are shallow and can’t read the magnetic strip data.
Never let anyone see your PIN. Place your hand over the top and move your body to ensure no-one behind you can see.
Finally if you do spot anything odd on your bank statement phone your bank straight away.

On the Guardian website Charlie Brooker has some really good commentary and shares most of my views about Macs and their users.
This quote is brilliant

Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults

and those Mitchell and Webb ads are already pissing me off. Mostly because my PC hasn’t rebooted since, well I can’t remember it’s been years, whilst the Mac at my mums house should be doing it’s half-hour crash any second now.
But best of all about the article, the ads on the page 🙂