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Friday, January 22
View Article  Home Theatre Makeover Project 1
by Billy Goat on Fri 22 Jan 2010 10:10 GMT
Apart from bikes I've always been a big fan of Microsoft Media Center and have been using it for years and years, in fact I'm still running MCE 2005, having avoided Vista Media Center at all costs. Technology improves however, particularly hardware and this year its time to totally rebuild my Media Center box with some serious horsepower

Currently I have an old Pentium IV with 2gb RAM, 160gb system disk for the OS and 4 x 1TB drives for media content (1Tb for Recorded TV (700 hours capacity), 1TB for DiVX/AVI movies, 1TB for TV Caps and 1TB for Music and Pictures), 1 DVD ROM, 1 X Plextor DVDRW, Card Reader, Gigabit Ethernet, Hauppauge TV-Nova PCI TV card and a 512MB HDMI out graphics card. This is hooked directly into a Samsung Series 9 46" LCD TV and the sound runs into a fairly low rent 5.1 Surround Sound.

The stuff that's gonna get changed is as follows:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME which is an Intel Core-i7 X58-Express board with DDR3 RAM.
CPU - Intel® Core i7-920 Processor (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz)
RAM - Kingston KHX16000D3T1K3/6GX DDR3
TV Tuner - Hauppauge PCI Express Dual Tuner WinTV-HVR-2200 MC
AMP - Onkyo TX-SR 607 AV Receiver (Full 7.1 HD Audio/HDMI Outputs)
Speakers - Kef 3005SE K2's in gloss black

Acquisition wise I already have the mobo and RAM and hopefully next week will have the KEF's and Onkyo. Most likely I'll use the Onky and KEF's immediately on my current system until I splash for the i7 CPU, at which point I can rebuild my Media Center and reload it with Windows 7 Ultimate. I'll post up some more pix when there's a bit more progress but below is some of the kit that's either coming or already in use at Billy Goat Towers.



KEF 'Eggs'




Samsung Series 9 46" LCD (LE46A956D1MXXU)




Onkyo TX-SR 607 - Front




Onkyo TX-SR 607 - Rear





The 'Onk' has plenty of future proofing built in, I can add two more satellite speakers and turn it into a 7.1 system or I could add these, plus a second sub and have a full 7.2 system (my neighbours would hate me though ). There's several extra HDMI inputs here that could be used for Games Consoles, Blu-Ray players etc, it also handles Sirius Satellite Radio too and has fill support for all of the current HD Audio standards!
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Thursday, January 7
View Article  Being upfront pays off...
by Billy Goat on Thu 07 Jan 2010 14:21 GMT
So you guys and girls all know the score....Xmas/Thanksgiving comes along, family and friends all do that "Hey, what do you want for a present?" thing, you Ummm and ahhh, suck air through your teeth...say "Hmmmm, I dunno" and weeks later unwrap something mundane like aftershave, nasty socks, wine you wouldn't pour on a skunk, a hideous sweatshirt....you get the idea

So this year I decided to be more assertive, I needed a bunch more bike and DIY tools so I assembled a wishlist of tools, added the exact Part Numbers, prices and web site addresses and stepped away, telling people to "Please be precise, or fallback on the skunk wine/socks route..."

Et Voila....it worked

Santa Claus brought me:









I'm one happy goat....everybody wins
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Friday, December 18
View Article  This is for when the Föhn Wind rattles the telegraph wires like a handful of bones...
by Billy Goat on Fri 18 Dec 2009 13:09 GMT
Apologies for 'Going Dark' for the last few weeks.....it has been a tiring and stressful time full of Terminal Illness, Hospices, Hospitals, thousands of miles driving and sadly a family funeral, I haven't seen or touched a bike since the Thetford Forest Ride

Lots of other 'hard stuff' is also seeming to be rearing its head too so its been all energy focussed on these things recently and it really doesn't feel like time to celebrate Xmas . Anyway, enough depressing bullshit, hopefully I might get out on the EWR next week (it's my Birthday on Monday...Yaaaaay )

I'm negotiating on a set of Accu Trax forks in the correct size for the EWR so I can finally ditch the King Devolution Headset and nail the bar/stem height demon forever, I also now have some NOS Campagnolo Mirox to get laced to some NOS Shimano DX hubs so this bike is getting quite close to completion
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Tuesday, December 1
View Article  No Sleep Til Hammersmith.....or Leicester even....
by Billy Goat on Tue 01 Dec 2009 18:24 GMT
Non bike related blog post here.....me and Mrs Billy Goat had a Rock 'n' Roll Road Trip at the weekend and guess what?  We ain't as young as we used to be and now we're both tired

Drove down to London and parked up in Park Lane, took Mrs Billy Goat round Covent Garden and bought some of her Xmas presents (warning....don't go in the UGG shop ), we then went round Seven Dials in Holborn (great shopping area!!) before heading back to our hotel room in the Barbican. That night we went across town to the Hammersmith Apollo to see Girlschool, The Damned and Motörhead. Girlschool were pretty lame but they did do Please Don't Touch and Lemmy came on for this...
The Damned played a 'greatest hits' type set, opening with New Rose and ending with Smash It Up, an unexpected nicety along the way being a cover of the MC5's Looking At You. I'm not a massive Damned fan but they can still 'do the business' as they say.

Motörhead were not the best I've ever seen them and the sound at Hammersmith was pretty lame for some reason but they did a fairly good set (apart from the guitar and drum solo's...)

Set List:
Iron Fist
Stay Clean
Be My Baby
Metropolis
Over The Top
One Night Stand
I Got Mine
Guitar Solo
The Thousand Names of God
Cradle to the Grave
In The Name Of Tragedy (Drum Solo...)
Just 'Cos You Got The Power
Shoot 'em Down (Twisted Sister cover)
Orgasmatron
Going To Brazil
Killed By Death
Bomber

Encore:
Whorehouse Blues
Ace Of Spades
Overkill



Photograph: © Clemens Bilan/AFP/Getty Images

Some cellphone YouTube footage of Ace Of Spades (not mine btw)

We stayed down in the Barbican overnight and called in to visit relatives in Hackney the next morning, before driving up to Leicester (Du Montfort Hall) to see Ian Brown on Sunday.
Brown was his usual arrogant/brilliant self and despite the fact that he cannot sing very well, soon had the virtual capacity crowd eating out of his hand as he delivered a great set taking in material from most of the old albums and encoring with The Stone Roses Fools Gold.

The crowd went wild and got so drunk so fast the security staff closed the bar by 10pm

'King Monkey'


250 miles, lots of cash, hotel rooms and five bands later we are VERY tired
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Monday, November 23
View Article  Laugh? I nearly fell off my chair....
by Billy Goat on Mon 23 Nov 2009 17:30 GMT
No intro needed....regardless of where your allegiances lay...this IS funny

Help From The VRC

(sound required.....)
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Wednesday, November 4
View Article  Happy Birthday Wallace and Grommit
by Billy Goat on Wed 04 Nov 2009 13:55 GMT
I dunno if this stuff reaches outside of the UK but I must say I'm shocked to realise that Wallace and Grommit celebrate their 20th Birthday today

This makes me feel really old as I can remember A Grand Day Out as if it was yesterday and remember the tears rolling down my face as I split my sides laughing. To celebrate in the coolest manner Google have given over the Google Doodle to them for the day



Happy Birthday


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Monday, November 2
View Article  Back From the Grave - Saracen Kili Flyer
by Billy Goat on Mon 02 Nov 2009 17:27 GMT
If you were into MTB's in the UK back in the 1980's then no doubt the name Kili Flyer will bring back misty eyed memories of a long forgotten iconic steed.

Well, I had an email from Simon Wild at Saracen today and he tells me they are re-launching the Kili and its going to be Fillet Brazed Tange Prestige and built around a modern 120mm fork. There's not much info around so far but Singletrackworld have some pix available here: http://www.singletrackworld.com/2009/10/saracen-revive-the-kili-flyer/

It certainly has a nice clean look to it, the bike will be available in either SLX or XTR flavours when it hits the streets.

Picture - Copyright 2009 Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine


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Tuesday, July 14
View Article  Health & Safety Nightmares - Lesson 1
by Billy Goat on Tue 14 Jul 2009 12:40 BST
Using your brain to solve a complex practical issue or plain stupidity?

You decide...


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Monday, July 13
View Article  Dances with Wolves
by Billy Goat on Mon 13 Jul 2009 09:16 BST
Based on the fact that I'm typing this I still have all my fingers and toes.....The goats went to walk with the wolves and indeed it was cool...

First up was some history, then some serious Do's and Don'ts about how to behave when we were with the wolves, then we were off across the fields with two wolves. These things are VERY strong and kinda go where they want to go and everybody else follows !!

When we got back we had to go into the enclosure and hide food under heavy logs, bury it, fix it to the fence etc, then they let the wolves back in and amazingly quickly they go forage for it.

I sat and watched Cheza the Alpha Male crunch his way through a whole rabbit in a matter of seconds

Loads of photo ops were available all through the visit, here is just a few....

Thanks to all the handlers and staff at the Anglian Wolf Society for a great visit














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Friday, July 10
View Article  Walking with Wolves
by Billy Goat on Fri 10 Jul 2009 14:58 BST
This weekend I am going walking with Wolves.....yup, real ones with long legs and teeth.

The guys from The Anglian Wolf Society have it organised.

If I don't get my ass eaten i will post up some pix on Monday of the adventure.

About AWS:
The Society was founded in 1999 by Phil Watson in collaboration with Runar Naess, one of Scandinavia's top canine behaviourists. Phil has a Post Graduate Certificate in Canine Behaviour and Dog Training from Middlesex University. We began planning to construct our own site to offer homes to zoo surplus wolves during the spring and summer of 2000. We became a Company Limited by Guarantee (non-profit company) in September 2000 and began building our site over the winter of 2000/2001. We acquired our first wolf cubs in spring 2001 from a surplus litter born in a centre in southern England.

We spent most of the year 2001 raising our cubs and developing our site (with private funding) and only started facing the public in December 2001 when we began the process of building membership and making contact with overseas conservation projects which we now raise funds for.

Within the Society, the core group - which runs our site and looks after our wolves - operates on a consent and majority basis; a bit like a family. There is no rank within the Society; there are no 'job-titles', no 'managers', no committees and no politics. There is a special place in our Society for ideology - it is round, about 18 inches high and emptied twice a week. We have a company resolution that states that we will not compromise the cause of wolf conservation by indulging in competetive, abusive or defamatory behaviour towards other wolf conservation groups (even though some indulge in it regularly against each other and occasionally against us as well). Our site is manned and the wolves watched over 24 hours a day.


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