A while ago, I picked up a copy of Xplane while there was a sale going on - as I’d played it a bit at Tims and thought it was worthy of purchase.

I installed it on my Intel PC here, and soon after, version 8.21 came along for a $29USD upgrade. The interesting thing is that version 8.21 comes on NINE DVDs and installs to a whopping 60Gb! Is it worth it? Hell yes.

The flight model is second to none, the graphics have improved heaps in the last version - as can be seen by these screenshots.

Couple that with XSquawkbox and VATSIM and you can play online with proper air traffic control - using voice!. I have to say that it’s the most realistic thing I have ever come across without actually being in a real cockpit.

It looks like a couple of days ago, WordPress 2 was released. Today I set about installing it on here - and I have to say, I’m quite impressed. While most of the changes are below the surface, the admin side of things is MUCH quicker and easier to work with. I hope they keep up the good work :)

It’s that time of year again when things go crazy. Although I’m working through the Christmas period again this year, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and hope you are all safe and well for the start of another great year. Cheers!

If you’re an Australian running asterisk then you’ll probably want a heap of Australian sounding .gsm files for the voicemail and other menus. OpenVoice has done just that - and opened a lot up for free download. They also have AtHome and Premium packages for those wanting a more complete selection.

Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve manually compiled a kernel for Linux. Things have changed a lot! There’s a ton more stuff that I didn’t even realise was there (and I’m making lots of bum kernels! :)) John has made some updates to make the driver module work under kernel version 2.6.14.2.

I’m working on getting this going now, as there’s a great deal of excitement when putting this on the same machine as an RFID reader, 1 wire temp sensors, and electronic door locks etc :)