Links
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Blogs, in vague order of updatedness/niceness
- Funny Lonely Life
- Something about a future God...
- Dave's Blog
- Penny Arcade
- Bash
- Questionable Content
- XKCD
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It's only semi autobiographical
Friday, September 23, 2005
Things
I have taken it upon myself to spread certain cards around Bath… hopefully they will show up here.
I do believe it is my duty to spread common decency around the world. Check out the Jared stories on the above site, I think I would have possibly killed someone in that situation.
Also, having read the things that annoy Pero, I decided to write a similar list, but then changed my mind, when I realised that everything potentially pisses me off. My list would be far too long to contain on, well, the Internet.
What I have decided, however, is to join 99 things. I will attempt to record 99 or more things that you probably do not know about me. Since a lot of you readers know me in person however, I would guess the actual number of unknown things will reside around the fifty mark.
Out of interest, are there any regular readers who do not know me? Or have only met me in passing? I only ask out of curiosity, a quick e-mail or comment, even Anonymous would be appreciated!
I will get the list up soon, if I can think of 99+ things…
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Busted
I whacked Winamp on random, as I was in dire need of some musical entertainment, and the strains of a familiar song began to play. I then carried on with what I was doing, after all, it was a familiar song, and it was on my play lists, so all was good.
37 seconds later, I realised the song was in fact Year 3000 by Busted.
What. The. Hell is that song doing on my computer?
Sometimes I think life deliberately conspires to freak me out. For example, seeing James’ profile was marked “adult” was a minor worry.
Last few days at work coming up now, and then I am back in Bath on Sunday, so you know, if anyone wants a drink, meet me in the pub.
Just realised it is time I was in work, so I will wrap up here.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Hey, twochairs!
Now I am the first to admit that I have a bias here… I fit into one seat, and pay a reasonable rate for it. If larger persons are allowed to occupy more than their allotted space for the same price, one of two things will happen.
- I am forced to sit next to one of these people, and they overflow on top of me. Now I have experienced this situation before, it is not pleasant. On an aeroplane I would be forced to resort to flame and violence after the first half-hour.
- They get their two seats, thus losing the airline money, which would be regained by raising ticket prices. And thus making me pay more, again not good.
Alternatively, as the aforementioned larger group of people are suggesting, the planes could be refitted for persons of size. (Which is a stupid name actually, I am also a person of size, it is just a reasonable size…) This again would cost me more, for a seat that is too big for me, and if we follow that logic, then we should make more headroom for tall people too, and move the seats forward for people with long legs, or forearms. The list goes on.
For me, it is a black and white issue, you pay for what you use. Demanding that everyone use more, and everyone pay more, is not the answer. Take this example, I want 4G Internet access for next year, plenty of other student houses will not need, or even be able to afford this outlay. Do I complain that I have to pay more because I need more speed for what I do? Do I demand that all people should be required to pay the same, for a connection they do not use? Bad analogy I know, but I hope my point comes through.
A better comparison is that of single travellers on holiday. Most rooms are doubles, so if you travel on your own, you pay a premium. You are taking up an entire room, which could sleep 2 people, so you pay for it. Of course, you could demand that all people can only have one room each, and that no two people should be allowed to sleep in the same double bed, but then you would be stupid.
To be fair, my opinion is mainly based on the fact that I really, really do not want to be crushed by someone overflowing their seat, and I also do not want to have to pay more for this right to personal space.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Sleep
Cope with it.
It solves so many of life’s little dilemmas.
I am not going into what inspired me to write that, but meh.
Funnily enough, for myself I prefer “Deal with it” as it leaves the option open to actually solve the problem, but as many people seem incapable of doing that, “cope” it will have to be.
In other news I am tired. I have not been sleeping properly, and even when I do get some sleep, something always creeps up on me to knacker me even more.
As a result, there has been a lack of blogging, and as such the number of visitors has dropped. I will try to improve on this situation.
I want to go out at least one more time before I go back to university, not so much from a desire to have a massive party to end them all as much as to see my friends from around here one last time before we scatter again.
Having said that I do look forward to being back in Bath. It is a home for me now, and I do want to spend a good few evenings chilling in the Huntsman, having a beer in the Charmbury Arms, getting drunk at Po’s, Chilling with my girlfriend and getting to know my housemates. It is all good.
I am at a loss now as to what more I can say, despite so many ideas churning round my head. Tomorrow I will write a veritable essay for you, but for now… Sleep.
Monday, September 12, 2005
England=Good
Now Caitlin… I have national pride in being English, and in fact also being British. These are, incidentally different things.
I am glad to be English, I enjoy our reputation. I think we have an excellent accent, when it is spoken properly. We are a tiny country, and yet we do not speak American, they speak English. We have nurtured some great scientists, and great people who have changed the world. We invented Cricket. I am definitely proud. I have pride. Some people say it is wrong to have pride in your nationality, since you couldn’t help where you were born, or who you were born to. I say, however, I am glad to be a part of this nation, and thus I have pride in it. When I see my fellow countrymen succeed, I am proud of them, I do not think there is anything wrong with that.
“…feels the british press hype up the england team too much and dont give any coverage to other uk nations...which is true and unfair.” (also sic.)
Well, perhaps true, but not unfair… In general the England teams are better, and we do live in… uhm… <I>England</I>. I am sure local Welsh, Scottish and Irish news is very much more critical of England, than English press is of them.
It is the old inferiority complex working again. When one of the smaller countries succeeds, I am more than happy to praise them, as are the English press, but when England succeeds, there are always faults found, arguments made, criticisms… also made.
When they have similar levels of success… well yes England tends to get more airtime… but I say again… we do in fact live in England here…
Well, I do not have much of a point really, I just want it to be known that I am against people railing against that which is not there.
Oh, and a good example that comes to mind is Pop Idol. Michelle was not a Pop Idol. The guy she was up against could have been. The reason she won? All of Scotland voted for her… <I>Because she was Scottish</I>. England was divided between the two, because they <I>did not have a point to prove</I>.
I want to go to bed.
I also want whiskey.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Death of the Stormpike
No writing on phones printers and drinking yet… First this must be discussed.
It is an instance within the game, but easily bigger than some whole regions, there are quests, rewards, rare items… and it is all in the interests of destroying the Alliance scum that are attempting to encroach on Frostwolf territory.
You can bring down bombing runs on enemy towers, you can release powerful elementals against their troops, you can ever bring a horde of troops together for one mighty push toward your opponent’s fortress.
I spent only a short time there today, and happily racked up over a hundred kills. Now this might not seem much, especially to those FPS fans, and even people on PvP servers. However, in general play, over 52 levels, I have only killed about 500 people total. I am more into the role-play element, after all, why would I bother killing someone who was no threat to me. However, in this situation, you are a soldier, and they are your enemy. You can band together with dozens of others, and stand united as waves of the enemy crash against you and fall. Alternatively, you can roll across the battlefield with other players, crashing into seemingly impenetrable barriers of automatons and live players, all trying to prevent you from passing. Yet, with the right combination of sheer muscle, powerful magics, and field medics, you can penetrate the shell, and gut their outposts from the inside. The beauty of this is that if you can hold the core for a little while, backup arrives in the form of well trained, battle hardened troops, who drive out the opposition, and form their own fortified encampment for you to drive forward from.
My place in all this is a type of backup. I have neither the sheer power to lead an attack, nor the survivability to form its backbone, what I do have, however, is what are known as “Debuffs.”
The enemy, attacking as a coordinated unit of trained warriors, suddenly finds itself low on health, slowed down, and weakened. It is divided, men running in fear, and thrown into chaos. Demons run amok amongst their men, gibbering in foul languages beyond the ken of most mortals. Mighty mages loose the ability to speak, and warriors stand transfixed by beautiful images. All signs that a warlock is about. Each enemy I see ends up sharing their life force, making it difficult for me to die, and much easier for them. Woe betide any that decide to close in and deal with me in hand to hand… Invariably, shielded, Detestai howls in a terrifying manner, scattering the warriors so nearly able to deliver a fatal blow, who are then picked off by the mighty blows and powerful spells of the Horde. Of course, caught alone I am screwed. Alterac is no place at all for a lone wolf, which dramatically changes my play experience.
So, one resounding message to those paladins who think they can rule the day at PvP…
/spit
God, hen night, but… the size of them… THE SIZE!
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Microsoft... /sigh\
I have done pull-ups. I have done twice as many press-ups. And I just did three times as many sit-ups. Perhaps I should go running.
You see, at the moment I am sitting in a house, rather too big for one person, with three separate gaming systems, (actually 8, but three good ones) and on each system, there is one game which I enjoy above all others. I cannot decide which to do.
I have grown a little jaded with Warcraft; it takes so much effort to get somewhere that you can have fun. Fable, whilst still fun, seems somewhat empty when played alone, especially in comparison to Warcraft.
As for Fifa 2005, well, it is just not very challenging at the moment.
I could continue with writing my story, but I am low on inspiration at the moment. I have read every book in the house, which is no short task.
So essentially, yes, I am blogging to say that I am bored.
But in other news, I was in the shop yesterday, and noticed Mars and Snickers bards going for 34p. This struck me as odd. I would charge 33p. My logic is this, if I walk into a shop with £1 to spend on sweets, (which happens reasonably regularly, and has done throughout my life) I would happily buy a Mars, a Snickers, and a Twix. However, I am forced to buy only two of the above, and go for something cheaper to fill the remaining 32p. This could be Harribo or something I suppose, but the fact is, I personally am more likely to hold onto my change.
So, in my example, by charging 33p, Mars would loose out on 3p on three bars, but be up by the profit margin on the last bar. The profit margin I expect is something like 30p anyway.
Anyway, it just seems silly, like charging £6.01 instead of £5.99.
I have also come up with a solution to the gap at the bottom of my posts. It is not an elegant solution, but it is one that should ultimately benefit readers of the strip. Or cause widespread famine and destruction.
In any case, I would welcome comments, both giving me ideas of what the hell to do with my free time, and, borrowing from Kieran's book (blog?), ideas for what to write about.
That will be all.
A bottle of brandy is within arms reach... Do not push me.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Well... I will start off with the prerequisite "Oh its so bad, my condolences etc..."
Now that is over with... The state the city is in, riots, rape, pillage and murder, has shocked many people. I do not see why this should be so. What you ahve is a group of people broughtup in a country where, from birth, you are taught to take what you want and manipulate a given situation to your advantage.
Always the hero of capitalism, America is the most extreem example of this. If it is fine to amass great wealth, bankrupting hundreds, and causing pain and misery in the thrid world, what is so bad about shooting that one person in the head? There are no consequences, no one will ever find out, and it might mean you get some more food to keep you alive through the night. Or at least prevent you from loosing weight.
I have tended to believe that in general, people are not nice. There are always people who will lie and cheat to get their way, hence why capitalism so often results in the very rich, and very poor. Psychological studies have also shown that when responsibility is removed from someones actions, they will do the most obcene things. Milgram's expreriment of 1963 was the prime exaple of this. Nazi Germany for example, hundreds of normal people were somehow convinced that it was alright to burn and gass members of the Jewish faith.
So, essentialy, we should not be surprised. A city in chaos, unless lead by a strong hand, or equipped with an effective system to deal with the emergency, will only become more chaotic.
Finally, I noticed a donation drive on the internet, and a box on a shop counter for this crisis.
Yes, the best way we can help the richest nation in the world is by giving them money. The USA does not need more money, most of which gets taken up by the burocracy anyway. If you really want to help... well either go over there and fish people out of the water, or take a course in structural engineering, help find better ways of building flood defences, and stop it happening again.
A note on the Daily Mail. They ran an article (front page) about how little the British Consulate is doing out there. The main beef seemed to be that the 4 diplomats sent to co-ordinate relief were not in the city itself. The flooded city.
The woman ranted about how little they could do from outside in their hotel, asked why they hadnot gone in, and then related how hard it was for her to get into the city, having to hold onto busses and cross roadblocks.
The best way for these men to help, is to do what they do best. Talk to the right people, organise the right flights out, locate the citizens who are their responsibility, and get what aid they can.
This is not best done from a rat infested hellhole, with bullets flying round their heads. It is best done where they have communications, and the ability to make a difference. Saying otherwise is like expecting 999 operators to run out to fires, medical emergancies or crimes on their own, rather than sending in proffessionals to help.
Yeah, I have a lot of rage at the moment...
Level 51, come on 52...
Monday, September 05, 2005
I have been playing Fable, a very interesting game, working on the precept that eery action has a consequence. I have worked up my character, imaginatively named "Rich," to a competent fighter and mage, around 17 years of age. He can not handle a bow to save his life (literaly), but more than makes up for this with use of fireballs and lightening attacks. I am erring on the side of good at the moment, based on the fact that I am likely to have the shit beaten out of me by guards otherwise, and also that I can get discounts in shops...
Of course, once I get my hands on some real power, said guards and merchants are in for a surprise! Also, I intend to destroy the heroes guild that brought me to where I am today... Who knows what powerfull warriors they might create in the future, I do not want rivals to my power.
Still working at the pub, and have managed to keep my anger in check enough that I think it may have all blown over. The new managers are friendly, and seem very competent, so no worries there.
In actual news, I went to Bristol to see "Fresher" Dave (or Sabre Dave) for his birthday. Much fun was had by all, and I got to see my lovely lady friend, so I have been in a particularly happy mood recently.
The club was enourmous I mean... wow. It had Xboxes, bars everywhere, multiple types of music. Bloody hell. I gotta go clubbing in London!
Right, now I'm tired, and I'm going to reach level 51 with my Warlock...
