Jason Bradbury

This is my third free desktop wallpaper pack for you to download and use (the file below contains the image in four resolutions). I love this image in green - it also comes in other cool colours, which I’ll upload over the next few weeks. Hope you dig the little green alien as much as I do. Happy New Year!

ComputerGamesRMyFriends.zip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZHxwtH7GXA

I received an email from a young guy called Joseph Nickson ( aka Blesshiscottonsocks). He read my review of Line Rider on my Gadget Show gaming page and wanted to share his latest Line Rider creation. When I saw Joseph’s work, I was blown away. Enjoy.

Hurrah for Christmas. Hurrah for prezzies. Hurrah for another free desktop wallpaper set from jasonbradbury.com. Again, this zip file is made up of four resolutions, so all screen sizes can have a spruce up. I love the artwork taken from one of the backdrops to my site. I hope you do too. Just click on the file below to download.

MyHeadHurts.zip

As I get ready for the launch of Dot Robot (5^th Feb 2009), I’m busy writing its sequel! Here’s a sneaky peek at one of the gadgets I’m planning for book two. I saw this Police Specialized Hardrock mountain bike at a cycle show in Earl’s Court, London this year. Now, a couple of these aluminum framed, blues and twos equipped, cruisers have made it into an action-packed chase sequence I’m working on. I wonder if Specialized would lend me one for a test ride?

Do you know any secrets?

My daughter doesn’t know it yet, but for Christmas she’s getting an XO laptop. Gorgeously rugged by design, flash memory and the Linux based, Sugar, operating system and interface – for me, the XO is the freshest look at laptop design for a decade.

The hardware, with it’s chunky long range Wi-Fi antennae, built in camera and mic and all weather keyboard, is only part of the story. The real innovation is is the One Laptop Per Child program that accompanies each XO puchase. Simply put, if you buy an XO when they become available in the UK on 3 Jan 2009 a child in a developing country like Peru or Rwanda gets their own laptop for free. 

Anyone who has a keen interest in tech should check out the Sugar GUI (Graphical User Interface). It’s like nothing I’ve used before – and for that reason it felt a little alien for the first half an hour or so. Not the case with my three-and-a-half year old. My daughter had a play with a review model XO and within minutes she was away, creating the image you can see above in the Paint program and playing sounds with music application TamTamJam. Other apps that caught my eye are Speak, an animated face that talks as you type and Turtle Art, best described as a visual programming language. 

I do not have space to talk about what is original and new in the XO. Highlights for me include: automatic mesh networking (just place a few XO’s near each other and they start talking to each other), e-book mode and swivel screen, four integrated game buttons. Inevitably, users familiar with XP and OSX have found Sugar hard to get used to. Suffice it to say that my little girl moved from wide-eyed to down-with-it in just minutes. For a piece of technology expressly designed for the non-computer literate child, I’d call that mission accomplished. 

Check back here after Christmas as I plan to get my daughter to do her own video review of the XO once Santa has squeezed it down our chimney.

For info or to buy. 

There I was, on Amazon.co.uk, looking for last minute Christmas presents and I thought I’d see if Dot Robot is listed. And OMG, there’s my book! After such a long time writing it, it’s an incredible feeling to see my first book on the world’s biggest online book domain. Check it out here.

I can’t believe how soon my book will be out! In around seven weeks! It hit me when I was Christmas book shopping in my local bookstore and the manager asked me about the launch date for Dot.Robot - 5th of February 2009. I’ll let y’all know when the planned web stuff is live (hint: there’s going to be a really cool Flash game) It’s going to be a very exciting year.

This is the first of a bunch of unique and completely gratis desktop images that I’m offering to my readers. It’s taken from one of the dynamically loading backgrounds on my blog, designed by the brilliant Matt over at Internet Dreams. There are four resolutions in the zip file below, one should suit your screen’s needs. And there are more to come in the next few weeks and months B-). Merry Xmas from www.jasonbradbury.com.

EatMyDesktop.zip