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Monday 31 March 2008

A day in the life of Ryan

10am: Awake from stupor after very little sleep.
11am-12pm: Church.
12pm-3pm: Play Guild Wars.
3pm-4pm: Procrastinate on MSN.
4pm-4:30pm: Eat.
4:30pm-10pm:Play Pokémon Ruby after realising the internet is boring on a Sunday.
10pm-12am: More MSN. A little Facebook/Myspace as well.The internet is my oyster.
12am-1am: Stumble.
1am: Find a new Webcomic.
1am-2:30am: Read Webcomic.
2:30am-4am: Try to do some assignment work.
4am: Write a blog just to procrastinate.
????
Profit.

Friday 28 March 2008

I really shouldn't be told when I get paid

Found out Subway paid me directly to my bank account for once, rather than by cheque. At that moment, by coincidence I realised I needed a Gamecube memory stick and new shoes.
Anyone else hating the boredom the Easter holidays bring or is it just me?

So, a game review. Not done one of those in a while. Let's see, what have I been playing?
I got Lost Via Domus for my birthday. I'm a huge fan of the series, no idea why, so it was a good surprise. The game is a point and click adventure game, to an extent. There is also a puzzle aspect to each level, where you have to sort out the circuitry of some sort of machine to progress. For example, the in first level you have to stop the plane from exploding. The game very loosely follows the TV plot, but follows an unseen character's story. I like the way how I'm 4 episodes into the game, and I'm up to the beginning of the storyline of series 2. I also like the way how the game is set out like an episode. Your character, who has amnesia, has flashbacks where you have to take pictures to remember parts of his past. At the beginning of each level, or episode, you get the "Previously, on Lost:" announcement which is in every episode on TV. Might post more when I'm further, but I'll leave it at that for now. if you're a fan of Lost, buy it. If not, I wouldn't recommend it.

http://wondermark.com/d/119.html
Don't say I never get you anything.

Tuesday 25 March 2008

A little late

Probably should have said last week when I actually did it, but I finished the YouTube part of this assignment.

Enjoy.

Oh, and I just found this video.
And I found this one pretty funny as well. He says the German guy 'trained' on Counter Strike: Half Life.
Funny, I've not played that version of Counter Strike before.

It's a great blog as well. Read the recommended reading.


Sunday 23 March 2008

Why am I even listening?

So I have Kerrang radio on right now, and in-between the adverts begging you to use a condom,they actually find the time to play some music.

Sadly, the 'music' consists of a load of cockney, indie bands with annoying singing voices, all of which think they are being innovative and unique singing about that girl who didn't think they were actually all that great last week and using the same generic guitar riff.

If you're Mo, I've told you about how much I hate one of the DJ's of a night, as he doesn't know what he's talking about, and uses the same comments for each track. If you're not Mo, you've just read it and I don't need to repeat myself.

And the DJ that just finished now, all she does is promote her blog or her Myspace, or both.

Back to the condom adverts, and I've never heard worse excuses for adverts in my life. One of them has the inner monologues of two kids who don't sound to be over 15, and what's worse is that the girl turns Scouse at the end. This, in itself, had me screaming at the TV, as I'd gotten away from all that when i moved to uni. I'd make a joke about scousers not using condoms, but I kind of like living.

My favourite has to be the one where the guy in the advert is talking about not thinking about using condoms when you're drunk. i can't help but think if this was true (which it is) you wouldn't listen to this advert when drunk wither, so it's usefulness is kind of lost. Many people have the dilemma of "I could stop and use a condom, or I could be having sex in 5 seconds." After drinking the bar dry, which do you think will look more plausible?

I realise because of all the bad press I'm giving it, half of you will all go and listen to it now to see what I'm talking about, just like when people protest against video games. By all means, do so. you'll see I'm right. Like always.

Tuesday 18 March 2008

Test

I'm posting this from a handy little Firefox extension called ScribeFire. If you use Firefox, I'd reccommend it. Takes a minute to set up, and saves a lot of time logging in to your blog. Can also be used on multiple blogs.
Hope everyone's having a good Easter holiday so far. I've spent most of mine doing D.I.Y on the PC, but it seems to be working awesomely so far.

Watch this space for (imminent) virus whines etc.

Saturday 15 March 2008

Back to normal

Blogging at half 3am?!
That must mean Ryan has internet access. It also means I'm back home.

So I come back from uni for 3 weeks after living away from home since January, and what do I do? (Try to) Install all the programs I need on my newly upgraded desktop so I can carry on with some assignments. But as it's me, something had to go wrong. First off, I've tried installing Visual Studio 3 times. All three times I've had to restart the computer for various reasons. Same with getting my Entertainment Computing pictures from NetStorage. It must be a big file as it's an unknown filesize, and it had been downloading for an hour before I had to restart last time. I have no idea how to set up Visual Studio for the TL Engine when it's finally installed as the Games Concepts website is down. Again.

And to top it all off, as I was catching up with LOST, my computer went crazy and started making noises. I think it was the fan, as I did a bit of DIY and it seems to have stopped.

Hopefully it's all sorted out soon, and I can get down to some work.

On a lighter note, I hadn't been home for 5 minutes and I had mates inviting me out tomorrow night. Popular bugger I am. So I'm off to Roadkill, for a catch up with some mates, Amy, and to see some (hopefully) good bands.

Friday 14 March 2008

I'm getting geekier by the day

So Dave bought me Guild Wars Prophecies the other day, and then we've been playing the Dungeons and Dragons board game. I love both games, and I doubt I'll get much work done over Easter because of it. Which is a shame because some of the assignments are (God forbid) fun.

Not been blogging as much due to recent Laptop problems. I thought I would have been bored as hell without a laptop, but the past two weeks have been a blast. The above games, going out, and working have filled up my time.
For instance, last night, I went to lectures, made sure I got a pass in Programming at least, went for an all you can eat, then played Dungeons and Dragons before work. Straight after work I ended up in Revs, then we went to Mo's flat. When I woke up, I went to the games lab, played some Guild Wars, went to mine for DnD, then back to the games lab for GW. Rinse and repeat for the past week.

I'm going to have to end it here since I'm going home today. Which means leaving the lesson early.

Oh, and by the way, I'm 19 on Monday 17th. I expect the large, expensive presents by Sunday.

Wednesday 12 March 2008

Ten reasons why phones suck.

So today's task is another exciting list. One where I must list the reasons not to use mobile phones during class, lectures etc. I have a feeling this might be due to one dude who's been caught doing this on more than one occasion during lectures the past few days, but that's a different story.

Numbero uno (One).
It distracts others. You may think you're talking quietly, but in a lecture theater, your voice carries. And this is really annoying for those actually trying to pay attention.

Two.
Your ringtones are crap. Not much to say about this. The opening sentence says it all really.


Three.
It makes me feel unpopular. When I see someone on their phone, I can't help but look at mine, and realise no-one has rang me in days. It's quite the ego killer.

Four.
It distracts the lecturer. So some lecturers can ignore it, or at least tell the student to get off the phone, and carry on. But what about lecturers who haven't been doing this for very long, or a guest speaker. It'll be harder for them to pick up where they left off?

Five.
I'm scouse. You have a phone out. Need I say what happens next? Those crime adverts on TV tell you not to advertise your phone to thieves.

Six.
I have the strange urge to throw things at people who are distracting me during lectures. But the only things I have in my pockets worth throwing are my PSP, and my phone, which both weigh a lot. Sit in front of me next time and see what happens. If all goes to plan, you might feel the weight of my phone on the back of your head, in sweet, sweet irony.

Seven.
It's rude. How would you feel if I was on my phone and talking when you're talking to me about something that's actually important.

Eight.
You paid to be here. You're going to waste that money on talking on the phone? Well done.

Nine.
Everyone might see what model you have the displeasure of owning, whether it's the newest model with the thousands upon thousands pointless features, or the brick with the battery the size of my hand.

Ten.
The ringtone may wake me up. If I've been out the night before, or had my usual 2 hours sleep, I won't be too pleased.

Sunday 9 March 2008

My opinion is better than yours

So I've come to the conclusion that Ticketmaster sucks turkeys, and Seetickets can assult me anally anytime it wishes. So what brings this on?
One simple reason. I have Pendulum tickets.
Save your applause until after these words while I regail a tale of misery and woe.

So I go onto Ticketmaster looking for Pendulum tickets, find some, and reserve them while I fill in my details. It was only until the end when I realise that they do not take my debit card. Should have remembered from when I bought Motley Crue tickets last year really, when I had to use my auntie's card and give her the money. This would have taken ages, as I'd have to go home and persuade her to give me the money again. (Though I am the favorite so it wouldn't have been a problem.)

Seetickets was my next port of call since I've used them to buy tickets for countless other gigs. 5 minutes later, I was £40 poorer, but two pendulum tickets richer. And that's why Seetickets owns. And why I now can't wait for May 2nd.

Pendulum, then Mighty Boosh, then Lee Evans. It's going to be a good Summer/Autumn.

Thursday 6 March 2008

Computers suck

So I fixed my laptop temporarily, only to have the same problem again a few hours later.
I've now figured out that the fan wasn't working, and the whirring I thought was the fan was actually the hard-drive, which means that the laptop has been overheating without me knowing.
You know, except for the extreme heat every now and then which I took no notice of.
Thankfully I still have the warranty of the thing so I should be able to get a new fan soon. I just have to wait until next Friday to send it to Novatech, when I go home for Easter.

On a lighter note, I should get paid tomorrow (tomorrow being 10 minutes away) so I can buy Pendulum tickets for me and Amy. Who should be coming down on Sunday.

To add to the greatness I'm feeling right now, I'm listening to Rise Against.
All is right with the world.

Well, except for laptops, which can burn in hell.
(Probably what mine was doing while overheating actually)

Monday 3 March 2008

This is hard

Living with limited internet access is hard.
Hopefully my computer will be up and running on Wednesday, so I can carry on blogging like a mad man.

Now, it's been a while, so here's a brief games review.
Brief because I haven't completed it yet.

Being the Final Fantasy whore I am, I managed to get Final Fantasy I for the PSP a few months ago. I've been playing it a lot since I fixed my PSP, and all I can say is that back in the 1980's, they didn't know about exposition. I spent hours walking around the world map figuring out where to go. This has it's ups, as for the majority of the game I've been 20 levels higher than I needed to be. The rest of the game is good though. There isn't much character development, though I didn't expect it from a SNES port. The version of the game I got is to celebrate the 20 year anniversary, where FFI and FFII were remastered to look more flashy. However, only the graphics and the names of some key items have changed. The rest of the game is the same as it was back in 1987.

I told you it would be brief.
I'll probably come back to it at some point to talk about the story after I've completed it.