The Visitors have arrived

Wow, it feels like I'm reliving the 80's all over again, only this time as an adult, rather than a kid. Let's see, we've had Battlestar Galactica redone in a "modern" version (which I thoroughly loved), we've had the Star Wars series "redone in a modern version" (not as great as the first trilogy), we've had Knight Rider (funky intro, just as campy as before), a retcon Star Trek (great), plus so many more, and now... The Visitors are back! I really am excited about this one, if it can live up to the standards of the BSG transformation, it'll be AWESOME!

What's next? Macgyver? The A-Team? No, uh, sorry, that one's already being redone...

Check out the YOUTUBE trailers below... and remember, they are of peace - always!

Battle of the Bandwidth

ADSL in South Africa ain't cheap... not by any stretch of the international imagination, but it is sure as heck getting cheaper!

Paint.NET - a great FREE graphics editor

Most Microsoft Windows users will be familiar with the built-in MS Paint application. It's a handy tool for quick editing, but it doesn't let you achieve much more than a very bland and basic "two-dimensional" image. I've been looking for a great tool to replace my old Paint Shop Pro escapades, and something that is ideally absolutely FREE.

Handy Dishwashing Tips!

Who would have thought that the dishwasher could soon become known simply as "the washer", what with all of these nifty dishwashing uses? Check it out!

Only thing I need to know is - has anyone been able to verify some of these suggestions??

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22156/86378-eighteen-surprising-uses-dishwasher#1

Dead Flies Skill

What's a dead fly good for? Check it out!

The world doesn't need any more dragons

My friend Chris has just made my day... this news just in! Check it out - it definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in, and it's hopefully going to achieve what WoW never did for me!

XBOX360 in South Africa: buying MICROSOFT POINTS

Most people are cheap-skates. Let's be honest, it is most probably every man's innate gift to humankind to want to save a buck. Likewise, it is also probably every man's desire to want to play computer games. Merge the two together, and every man wants to save a buck while playing computer games.

Unhappy with your current baby?

Waffle House offers added value for their patrons!
(if you don't get it, READ MORE)

Warren Lansdell knows his place!

Warren Lansdell knows his place!
Originally uploaded by Brattex

BrYan Johnston

Gotta love free food!

God bless Micro$oft conferences!
Still nowhere near as good as XBOX360 giveaways, Parlotones live music, all-you-can-eat candy floss, popcorn, and all-you-can-drink slush puppies.

Why are you here? WHY ARE YOU HERE?

Another COLLEGEHUMOR movie... about the game...

I like big buildings and I cannot lie

For anyone interested (thanks, mom), I am a huge fan of huge buildings.

I can't even begin to express the joy I'm containing inside me at the thought of going to New York City at the end of this year. If I had any possible way, I'd be going to Chicago too - even if just for a day to admire the buildings. This whole trip is my biggest dream; to witness the biggest dreams in reality! I can't wait!

In preparation for our journey, and to try and convince the missus that we should at least pop in at Chicago, I've been doing some digging for photographs and illustrations of skyscrapers in the USA, and came across some really interesting websites on the whole thing. Read on if you're the engineering type, or like big things...

Star Wars remembers... the Death Star

Let's be honest; when we watched Luke Skywalker pretty much single-handedly destroy the Death Star in Episode IV, none of us spared a thought for the thousands of people aboard the Death Star at the time; possibly some were vehement opponents to the empire, but were just going to work on the battle station as contractors to fix a leaking water pipe so they could feed their families, or maybe they were there to inspect the station's Inter-Galactic Peace-Initiative compliance - no matter, I don't think any warm-blooded kid that's seen this moment in the series wept for the lost lives of thousands on board the station - if anything, we didn't weep, we whooped!


This little YOUTUBE video is a comical look at "the other side" of the story, done in the same vein as "USA remembers 9/11", so check it out, bearing in mind the context is along the 9/11 memorial type of vibe...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7Ha3VDbzE



... "You're drones! You're drones!"

Body Language - be the boss!!

In recent times, based on experiences I've had (or rather, suffered), I decided to do some digging to see if maybe some of my body language is the reason why I am not always taken seriously with people that don't know me.

Here are two links that may help you and the way you conduct yourself. For me, thankfully, I don't do most of these things wrong, but I will now at least be much more intentional about my body language as a tool for communication and conveying authority so I can be even more effective and also less doubtful of the reasons for why I am sometimes treated the way I am.

Save money the "smart" way

For those loyal readers that don't follow anyone else's blog but mine for up-to-the-minute smart, insightful and handy tips for life, I'd like to take this opportunity to advise you all that YOU HEARD THIS TIP HERE FIRST:

HandyTechTips blog has a suggestion on how you can save between 5% to 15% off Woolworths merchandise if you have an eBucks account! Check it out!

Remember: You heard this money-saving tip here first!

Portable screen capture software: Lightscreen Portable

You probably all know about the ALT+PRTSCN and CTRL+PRTSCN functions on your PC, but have you ever needed to do customised screenshots of your computer? Well, you can with Lightscreen!

BrYan's essentials

Good morning world.

Since I am growing older by the day (and minute, in fact), I have decided the only remedy to my onset of dementia is to keep track of information through this blog (which is one of the primary reasons I started this site).

I am starting a new label. It's called "essentials" and it will represent to me, a quick listing of all the essentials in my life. Links to essential lists, and so on. Essentially, it's what I need to have access to in order to recover my life if, for example, my computer were to crash (hopefully not a portent of things to come).

To start with, here's a link to my list of handy portable applications.

Travelling to the USA

As most of you know, Katherine and I are traveling to the USA for December / January.... in order to get this trip going, we are going to need to have our paperwork in order. One of the requirements for any South African visiting the USA is the acquirement of a VISA for the US. Kat already has one (expires in ten years from date of issue), and I need to get one (as of writing this post, I found my British Passport, so I don't need one, but for the rest of the South Africans, you can follow my advice below)

My name's BrYan, and I'm a British Citizen

Happiness is!

I decided to make one last effort to hunt down my British Passport before embarking on the arduous (and otherwise expensive) application for a US Visa for our trip in December. I decided to go back to my mom's place one last time, and get passport hunting...

Adding weblinks (URLs) to Google Spreadsheet Cells

This is a documented function within Google Spreadsheet, but I never thought of it before, and had no need for it until recently. Now that I want to be able to have a URL / link for data in a cell, without changing the content of the cell, I use HYPERLINK. Here's how!

Mmm.

Yummy!!

Hot Cans (keep it clean, kids)

If you're already struggling to survive a Zombie Apocalypse, the last thing on your mind beyond running as fast as possible away from the hordes, is eating. This problem only occurs to you once you've found some safe space to hide away for a while, but mark my words - in a full-blown stage 4 zombie outbreak, you're going to need some decent food to keep you going, and the sooner you plan for it, the better.

My official introduction to the world of game reviewer

Hey! Check it out!

Oltman and I are now officially part of the el33t group (and some have asked what that means, so let me explain: el33t isn't pronounced "e-l-double 3-t" but "elite" as in "elite", but in l33t speech) - go check out our introductions at http://www.el33tonline.com/main/meet_the_team!

Pinnacle Micro becomes Pinnacle Africa

If anyone out there cares about such things, Pinnacle Micro has just announced that they are now to be known as Pinnacle AFRICA. They say they've got a new name, but the same core... well, not exactly "same" core... well, just look at the picture and you'll see what I mean. They're not stonger (sic) than ever...

L4D: New achievement!

XBOX360 PRO coming back to the realm of good value

R2,999.99 = 60gb console + controller + 2*games. Looking promising again, IMHO.

L4D: Disappointment