Xbox 360 Elite and TVersity

In preparation for the arrival of Grand Theft Auto 4 tomorrow night (GPStore is open for pickups at midnight) I bought myself another Xbox 360 - this time an Xbox 360 Elite. I dont really need the 120GB HDD, or particularly prefer black over white - I just want the HDMI connection. I'm installing the Elite in my bedroom, and so the HDMI connection means a single cable going across the wall rather than a much bulkier (and shorter) Xbox HDTV cable. I wish I had an Elite in the lounge instead of my original - the HDMI would mean I could get 1080p on the big TV, as opposed to the 1080i I have to put up with through Component connection.

So I got the new console all up and running, using the USB WiFi connection I already had (went wired on the other Xbox a while back). Got connected to my main PC (via TVersity) and was browsing around the music & videos and then tried the 'Internet Videos' link. Low and behold I found YouTube - sweet!, I thought. Stupidly I never realised that TVersity streams and recodes YouTube content too :-) And it works a charm.
So I had a play around with adding more Internet URLs -Video RSS feeds, and got Tekzilla, Mahalo Daily working, and also added the TWiT audio podcast.

Totally stoked. Even though I knew I'd be able to use the new 360 for DVDs and Streamed Videos I never clocked that I'd be able to use it for Podcasts and YouTube too, so thats definitely a big bonus. Now I only need one more thing to make me truly happy - Region 2 (+4) DVD playback!

I've also got to try and find a Black Xbox 360 controller battery pack somehow - it doesn't look like anyone sells the Black ones in NZ!

New NZ Video

This is some nice Marketing for NZ I just stumbled upon. There's more here: http://www.youtube.com/user/PureNewZealand

Racing Cars

I've been doing some work for my cousin recently, Dale Williams, who races cars in NZ and would like to drive professionally. I went with him and his family to some of his races, took photos and shot some video, and have put together a website for him:


http://www.dalewilliamsracing.com



He's using the website, plus a promotional DVD I put together for him, to gather sponsors for racing next year. Last year he raced in the NZ Production Racing Series, and won the championship, so he's a pretty good driver.

Its been quite interesting putting all the stuff together for him, as I'm not that big on cars or racing as such, so its been cool doing something new.

I'm thinking about putting the video up on You Tube, but I'm not sure about the rights issues with music etc. Will have to do some digging.