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I've always liked the Battlefield games, as I mentioned when Battlefield 1943 came out. I played the multiplayer demo of Bad Company 2 on the Xbox 360 and really liked it. More than Modern Warfare 2. Yes, really. The difficulty curve/barrier to entry is quite high on the demo - I was killed a lot to begin with before I shot anyone with the rubbish initial selection of weapons, but if you stick with it, it's extremely rewarding.

I'm also looking forward to seeing what this year's new addition to the MoH series is like, but for now, BF:BC2 is my most anticipated shooter.

[Update] I'm now playing through the full game to review it, so expect to see that on this site before too long.

PowerShell is a great way to manage VMware, and who better to write the book on it than PowerShell MVP and VMware vExpert Hal Rottenberg from the PowerScripting podcast and PowerShellCommunity.org!

I've always liked the idea of the Rock Band games, but I've never been a huge fan of a lot of the songs that came with them. This has all changed with The Beatles Rock Band, so as expensive as the full band pack is, with all the instruments, I pre-ordered it straight away. The first Saturday evening after release was spent with friends playing as a full band (although we didn't try to sing harmonies) and it is a blast! 

Harry Patch was the last surviving "Tommy" who fought in the trenches of the First World War. Having listened to this audiobook a few months earlier, I was saddened to hear of his passing in July 2009 at the ripe old age of 111. Harry's story is one of an ordinary man who lived through extraordinary times, including some of the most bloody warfare of the 20th century at Passchendaele. This book is not all about the war, but offers a vivid look back at a bygone era. I'd recommend the audiobook over the printed title since it includes an interview with Harry at the end.

Windows 7 is by far the best operating system that Microsoft have ever put out. I've written a bit about my experiences with the Beta and Release Candidate versions here on the blog. As I'm wrting this, Windows 7 is available to pre-order ahead of the October 22nd release.

I use the iPod Touch not as a music player, but as an internet tablet, for podcasts and apps, especially games. It connects to wifi faster than most devices that I've used and has a really top quality browser (although it is a shame about the lack of Flash support). There are some great mobile applications, like the excellent Tweetie Twitter client and a nice Facebook app, for those into their social networking. What has surprised me is how much I'm getting into gaming on the device; my current top time-killers being: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, Flight Control, Harbor Master and Tiger Woods. Oh, and I use the YouTube application way more than I ever thought I would. Overall, a great device, although I should add that I almost never connect it up to iTunes on a PC, which I usually find to be a frustrating experience!

Newly released book from three quality authors. Personally, I've waved goodbye to VBScript and JScript in favour of PowerShell, although knowing James O'Neill (who wrote the PowerShell part), I'd say the book is worth it for that alone. If you're just getting into Windows systems administration though, and you need to get up to speed with administrative scripting, this is a good one-stop resource.

I was fortunate to be able to see drafts of this book before it was released, and I'm glad that I was because it helped me rapidly put together PowerShell scripts for managing AD user accounts that would've taken significantly longer otherwise. Jeff Hicks cements his position as one of the foremost PowerShell authors with this title, following on from the excellent Windows PowerShell V1.0: TFM which he co-authored with Don Jones.

I just love this book. If you liked the movie Outbreak, you'll like this even better. Particularly as it's a true story!