A couple of things today -
I'm looking forward to enjoying all the South Park I can cope with soon, after the upload of the new South Park website, (eventually for the UK) offering every episode uncensored. I can't wait until it gets out of beta!
Today I have been to London, to a couple of Museums with Rachel - who had an extra day on her train ticket - if ever there was a good reason! At the Science Museum, there was an exhibit about the 'History of Computing' - which was a very enriching experience. Not as 'current' as I expected - it concentrates on the earlier ('history' history) meaning a lot of calculating engines, and the poster-boy Difference Engine, created by old-boy Babbage. Google/Wiki him and his engine - its thoroughly interesting.
In a sad note - torrentspy.com bit the dust a few days ago. The link takes you to their site, which is now nothing but a .png saying a very poignant (and almost emotional) goodbye. Such a shame...
JB
Monday, 31 March 2008
Saturday, 29 March 2008
Follow up
In my last post, I mentioned about the UK game ratings system:
In order to convey this article to the various citizens of the UK, the Daily Mail, covered the article with an entire page, summarizing - in their own 'special' way - the issues raised in the 220-page report. I get a distinct impression that the editors at the Daily Mail don't play video games, and are especially good at picking scapegoats.
This is all acceptable to me, what with the 'freedom of speech' thing, so ce la vie - however, the thing that made me laugh and glow red with rage was Anne Diamond's section on that page (yeah, who??) Clearly qualified to write crap about videogames, on account of the fact that she is a 'mother of four', so, move over PCGamer and Gamespy/IGN, it looks like your game-reviewing days are over.
Of course, we gamers know to take the words of anyone not in the industry with a bowl of salt, but the thing that disheartens me about this, is that the people who relate most to Anne are probably going to be mothers, who, having read this article, are now going to be more vigilant over the games their children consume.
"Oh, its not that horrible game Anne Diamond warned everyone about??"
I remember the feeling I felt when, having been playing the original Grand Theft Auto for a couple of years, my mum refused to buy me GTA2, 'cos it had 'a man pointing a gun' on the back. I don't resent her decision now, but I did then - I appreciate that its up to the parents to make decisions about the games their children consume, but getting their knowledge off Anne-bloody-Diamond, in the rag of a paper that the Daily Mail is, is going to prevent younger people playing good, quality video-games - who gives a crap about the age ratings on media.
If I was young(er), and my mum refused to buy me Halo 3, simply because she had been mis-informed, I would be livid. But I would also be young, and destined to live a better life. Touché.
(/epicrant)
JB
In order to convey this article to the various citizens of the UK, the Daily Mail, covered the article with an entire page, summarizing - in their own 'special' way - the issues raised in the 220-page report. I get a distinct impression that the editors at the Daily Mail don't play video games, and are especially good at picking scapegoats.
This is all acceptable to me, what with the 'freedom of speech' thing, so ce la vie - however, the thing that made me laugh and glow red with rage was Anne Diamond's section on that page (yeah, who??) Clearly qualified to write crap about videogames, on account of the fact that she is a 'mother of four', so, move over PCGamer and Gamespy/IGN, it looks like your game-reviewing days are over.
Of course, we gamers know to take the words of anyone not in the industry with a bowl of salt, but the thing that disheartens me about this, is that the people who relate most to Anne are probably going to be mothers, who, having read this article, are now going to be more vigilant over the games their children consume.
"Oh, its not that horrible game Anne Diamond warned everyone about??"
I remember the feeling I felt when, having been playing the original Grand Theft Auto for a couple of years, my mum refused to buy me GTA2, 'cos it had 'a man pointing a gun' on the back. I don't resent her decision now, but I did then - I appreciate that its up to the parents to make decisions about the games their children consume, but getting their knowledge off Anne-bloody-Diamond, in the rag of a paper that the Daily Mail is, is going to prevent younger people playing good, quality video-games - who gives a crap about the age ratings on media.
If I was young(er), and my mum refused to buy me Halo 3, simply because she had been mis-informed, I would be livid. But I would also be young, and destined to live a better life. Touché.
(/epicrant)
JB
Thursday, 27 March 2008
New comic? Rly? Ya. Rly.
Your eyes do not deceive you.
Below, is the second (real) comic we have done. Spurred on by the promise of cake and a party, I made this:
Story: We added the word 'maximum' to 'joy' one day in a fittingly sarcastic manner due to some sort of University-based workload issue, and then it reminded me of the nanosuit in Crysis, you know, big deep voice (if its set to male...) saying "MAXIMUM SPEED" etc. Therefore, you now have this, based on that, in turn based on that game. There, now you know the back story. Enjoy.
This is also poignant, as its the first comic, done entirely on the tablet. I now vouch to never want to do a comic set outside again. Damnable grass nearly had me in tears. However, I feel its been given a more natural look, instead of some gnarly time-consuming pen-tool job like the comics preceding it. However, for now, imagine the setting in the game, and with a quick flick of the mouse, you find yourself covered in cats - surely that would be the fucking aces.
In other news, there has been some more hoo-haa about video-games and children today. Some doctor decided to waste her own time by suggesting that a new rating system be adorned to the front of video-games in order to protect the digital natives (read the article for that joke). So, now, by having another age rating on the box, kids will be more inclined to avoid games seen fit to be rated 12+. What does this mean for you: Well, now, 'cos they wont be locked up at home, they'll be out on the streets mugging you, most probably for the very game they were turned down to buy. Happy days!
The debate over video-games rolls on, and I'm certain it will keep going for a good long while yet. In the mean time, I plan to enrage the situation by repeating lines from San Andreas whilst stealing cars, brutally murdering people with hammers, and 'training' on my various (and may I add; copious) murder simulators! (/Jack Thompson)
JB
Legal note: I DO NOT plan to enrage the situation by repeating lines from San Andreas whilst stealing cars, WILL NOT BE brutally murdering people with hammers, and DEFINITELY NOT training on any form of murder simulator.
Below, is the second (real) comic we have done. Spurred on by the promise of cake and a party, I made this:
Story: We added the word 'maximum' to 'joy' one day in a fittingly sarcastic manner due to some sort of University-based workload issue, and then it reminded me of the nanosuit in Crysis, you know, big deep voice (if its set to male...) saying "MAXIMUM SPEED" etc. Therefore, you now have this, based on that, in turn based on that game. There, now you know the back story. Enjoy.
This is also poignant, as its the first comic, done entirely on the tablet. I now vouch to never want to do a comic set outside again. Damnable grass nearly had me in tears. However, I feel its been given a more natural look, instead of some gnarly time-consuming pen-tool job like the comics preceding it. However, for now, imagine the setting in the game, and with a quick flick of the mouse, you find yourself covered in cats - surely that would be the fucking aces.
In other news, there has been some more hoo-haa about video-games and children today. Some doctor decided to waste her own time by suggesting that a new rating system be adorned to the front of video-games in order to protect the digital natives (read the article for that joke). So, now, by having another age rating on the box, kids will be more inclined to avoid games seen fit to be rated 12+. What does this mean for you: Well, now, 'cos they wont be locked up at home, they'll be out on the streets mugging you, most probably for the very game they were turned down to buy. Happy days!
The debate over video-games rolls on, and I'm certain it will keep going for a good long while yet. In the mean time, I plan to enrage the situation by repeating lines from San Andreas whilst stealing cars, brutally murdering people with hammers, and 'training' on my various (and may I add; copious) murder simulators! (/Jack Thompson)
JB
Legal note: I DO NOT plan to enrage the situation by repeating lines from San Andreas whilst stealing cars, WILL NOT BE brutally murdering people with hammers, and DEFINITELY NOT training on any form of murder simulator.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Almost here
Mornin all, a very quick update for you today, and I promise that soon I shall post more.
John has been busy stuffing religious icons with chocolate if I understood his last post so this one goes out to him, and im sure he'll know what it means.
Dead Fantasy II.
You have all seen the facebook picture john has done for me, I have decided to coin a new word in tribute to its awesomeness, so lady's and gentlemen I give you, Snaztastic, take it, love it, add it to your dictionary's.
For those of you interested in my life (and if my paranoia is to be believed thats alot of you, out of interest did any of you see where I left my tinfoil hat?) today I visit one of the great cathedrals of despair, a monument to the dichotomy that is the human existence where we will gladly pay massive amounts of money to make pilgrimages to these places of congregation for those seeking escapism and then proceed to make ourselves feel unwell via consumption of massive amounts of what amounts to mostly sugar and wood shavings and then seek the nearest way to propel our selfs towards the ground in the fastest manner possible only to thrust away at the last moment.
It is of course Alton Towers, and if I last the day then I promise to regal you all with tales of my epic survival, and if I do not survive, then god help us, god help us all.
Look to my coming, at first light, on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East.
T/K
John has been busy stuffing religious icons with chocolate if I understood his last post so this one goes out to him, and im sure he'll know what it means.
Dead Fantasy II.
You have all seen the facebook picture john has done for me, I have decided to coin a new word in tribute to its awesomeness, so lady's and gentlemen I give you, Snaztastic, take it, love it, add it to your dictionary's.
For those of you interested in my life (and if my paranoia is to be believed thats alot of you, out of interest did any of you see where I left my tinfoil hat?) today I visit one of the great cathedrals of despair, a monument to the dichotomy that is the human existence where we will gladly pay massive amounts of money to make pilgrimages to these places of congregation for those seeking escapism and then proceed to make ourselves feel unwell via consumption of massive amounts of what amounts to mostly sugar and wood shavings and then seek the nearest way to propel our selfs towards the ground in the fastest manner possible only to thrust away at the last moment.
It is of course Alton Towers, and if I last the day then I promise to regal you all with tales of my epic survival, and if I do not survive, then god help us, god help us all.
Look to my coming, at first light, on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East.
T/K
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Another Facebook Pic (?)
At the smarmy gits behest, I have created a Facebook picture for him, similar to my own. Lets hope he likes it:
I had to create a software-driven beard rendering engine in order to accurately recreate his facial scrub (- its freely available under the GNU licence by the way). If you have ever wondered what he looks like, then this is a pretty bad example. I know, and can tell you for a fact, that he has pupils.
As you may have guessed by the fact that HE'S FINALLY POSTED ANOTHER IMAGE, that the term is now drawing to a close. Tomorrow, I return home to celebrate the death of a fictional entity by cramming it with chocolate.
As this is going to be quite a big thing for me to do, I'd like some silence and your focus for a few moments:
Vista SP1 isn't that bad, and actually makes using Vista a slightly better experience.
There, I said it. Sorry Steve Jobs. Its not that bad (anymore). However, I still agree with this Ctrl-Alt-Del comic. That was from way back when Ctrl-Alt-Del was funny.
I had to create a software-driven beard rendering engine in order to accurately recreate his facial scrub (- its freely available under the GNU licence by the way). If you have ever wondered what he looks like, then this is a pretty bad example. I know, and can tell you for a fact, that he has pupils.
As you may have guessed by the fact that HE'S FINALLY POSTED ANOTHER IMAGE, that the term is now drawing to a close. Tomorrow, I return home to celebrate the death of a fictional entity by cramming it with chocolate.
As this is going to be quite a big thing for me to do, I'd like some silence and your focus for a few moments:
Vista SP1 isn't that bad, and actually makes using Vista a slightly better experience.
There, I said it. Sorry Steve Jobs. Its not that bad (anymore). However, I still agree with this Ctrl-Alt-Del comic. That was from way back when Ctrl-Alt-Del was funny.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Nearly there...
Well, the term is rolling to a very hectic end. Still with 2 pieces of work due in - and with one nearly completed - I have quite a busy next-few-days. Feeling slightly ill recently and the 3am adventure out and about in Coventry last night (meeting Rachel on her way back from Barcelona) - feeling well, I am not . (/yoda)
We have booked tickets (along with my housemate Luke and his friend Jenny) to go see Lord of the Rings in London (the theater show, not the 'other-trilogy' of films). April 4th. Very much looking forward to it. The last stage show I saw was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Oxford, a long, long time ago. So we are setting the benchmark pretty low here.
As I wind down over Easter (before promptly winding-up for some hyper-revision), I would like to drawn/colour &&/|| post some images to the site and get the new site up, as I have mentioned before. Sadly, though, what I often want to do, and what I often end up doing, are two very different things(eyes up DoW:Soulstorm...)
For the time-being however, I must prepare for my software-design coursework hand in and the subsequent test on the subject. Or in other words, prepare for:
Epic fail.
JB
We have booked tickets (along with my housemate Luke and his friend Jenny) to go see Lord of the Rings in London (the theater show, not the 'other-trilogy' of films). April 4th. Very much looking forward to it. The last stage show I saw was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Oxford, a long, long time ago. So we are setting the benchmark pretty low here.
As I wind down over Easter (before promptly winding-up for some hyper-revision), I would like to drawn/colour &&/|| post some images to the site and get the new site up, as I have mentioned before. Sadly, though, what I often want to do, and what I often end up doing, are two very different things
For the time-being however, I must prepare for my software-design coursework hand in and the subsequent test on the subject. Or in other words, prepare for:
Epic fail.
Thursday, 13 March 2008
That fateful day...
As some may have heard via news or word-of-mouth, there was an unexploded German WWII bomb unearthed in Coventry. This prompted the evacuation of most of the city centre and/or retail sites. I salute the ineptness of the local authorities in their dire handling of the situation. In my mind, I see the disarmament and removal of such a devise to be quite a simple thing, though, apparently this was not the case.
I have estimated - from the ridiculously large police blockade - that the bombs killzone would have been something like the below:
ZOMGZ!
That's a hell of a lot of retail vaporised when this epic bomb could have gone off. The denizens of the fair city of Coventry all breathed a sigh of relief when that bad boy was taken away.
I'm clearly being facetious here. If this bomb had gone off, the damage to the city would have probably resulted in a financially positive figure - it was also non-nuclear, just to clear up any confusion with the map above - we wouldn't want to confuse any straying Americans now. To continue my satire of this - to be honest - amusing event, I have rendered a reconstruction of the scene, where the builders found said Nazi explosive unit:
Clearly a distressing scene...
In other news; I am still working on the new site - I don't want to publish anything unfinished (-he says, glancing at the image above...) so I am working on getting the site ready for full use, even though I know in my heart of hearts, that no bugger will visit it. All of this is still hampered by my coursework, of which I still have 2 to hand in, and its all going very well. Wait. I mean 'bad'. Yes... bad.
My interesting fact of the day: Post-it notes - though seemingly so - are not perfectly square.
JB
I have estimated - from the ridiculously large police blockade - that the bombs killzone would have been something like the below:
ZOMGZ!I'm clearly being facetious here. If this bomb had gone off, the damage to the city would have probably resulted in a financially positive figure - it was also non-nuclear, just to clear up any confusion with the map above - we wouldn't want to confuse any straying Americans now. To continue my satire of this - to be honest - amusing event, I have rendered a reconstruction of the scene, where the builders found said Nazi explosive unit:
Clearly a distressing scene...In other news; I am still working on the new site - I don't want to publish anything unfinished (-he says, glancing at the image above...) so I am working on getting the site ready for full use, even though I know in my heart of hearts, that no bugger will visit it. All of this is still hampered by my coursework, of which I still have 2 to hand in, and its all going very well. Wait. I mean 'bad'. Yes... bad.
My interesting fact of the day: Post-it notes - though seemingly so - are not perfectly square.
JB
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
À la recherche du temps perdu
Mornin all and welcome once more to the dotGif blog.
I apologise for my lack of updates recently but as John (may his reign last a thousand years) has mentioned it is a busy time of year, not for you dear reader clearly as you have time to read this.
First of all John, im sorry I couldn't say till now, Bioshock 2 will be released around November 09 for Pc and Xbox 360 (possibly ps3), and has been in development since October of last year, if you ask nicely I may supply you with more details. Oh and while im at it remind me about the 2 star-wars tv shows.
For those of you that haven't played Bioshock yet, I suggest you sample it via the newly discounted digital goodness that is Steam, for $30. (atleast if you live in the US)
Next up in a seamless link from games to movies based on games. Some details were released this week on the Max Payne movie staring Mark Wahlberg in the title role I am indifferent on the whole affair, but when you factor in that Uwe Boll will be nowhere near this movie I hold out hope that it might just be worth watching.
Finally onto movies, I was informed recently that 2 goliaths of the entertainment industry (Peter “LoTR's” Jackson, and Steven “pretty much everything else” Spielberg) would be working together on a new trilogy of movies, my interest was peaked. I then discovered that the trilogy would not infact be a live action piece, but motion captured animation, with Jacksons long term collaborator and professional unitard wearer Andy Serkis's involvement confirmed, Maximum joy one would assume? I then found out the subject matter on which this triumvirates latest magnum opus would be based.
Tintin..................
I await the announcement of Michel Gondry and Michael Moore's collaboration on The Adventures of Peter Rabbit.
I think i'll call it a night there, until the next time brave reader, ponder but one question, in a universe of near infinite possibility through infinite diversity, where in the blink of an eye a thousand suns can burst into life and die in a fiery inferno, where man's inventiveness is limited only by the shackles of desire and imagination, why oh why are you bothering to read this? Answers on a post card to someone who cares :)
T/K
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Tired. So... Tired.
About to hit the tail end of a very busy weekend...
Yesterday, I had the second funeral to attend this year - losing both Grandparents in the space of 2 months - not fun. My only solace is that they are both 'together' now, wherever that might be... That was held in my 'true' hometown - Bury in Lancashire - just north of the city of Manchester. Thats 2 1/2 hours in a car away, or about 120 miles or so. Then, today, me and Rachel went down 'sarf' to London - yes, you may have heard of it. Which is about 90 miles from home. So, thats over 400 miles of land-based travel in 48 hours. You'll excuse me while I sleep for a few days now.
Back to Coventry tomorrow, to do some heavy revision for my Cisco practical on Monday. Once thats out the way, I swear to god I'm going to purchase and play to death the new Dawn of War game (Soulstorm) which will hopefully be released on Steam by then (it might be now - I haven't checked). In-between all this, I will be hopefully putting a little bit of readable/viewable content onto the new website - I will post up a screenshot of the homepage once I'm settled on the layout. With easter coming up soon, I will try to have it all completed over the break. For the next 2 weeks however, there will be a lot of that 'work' thing going on. Hopefully in the mean-time, 'Kreedle' (as I have to call him now, 'cos his true identity is known only to his IRL friends...) will post up something amusing and nonsensical in order to pass the time.
'Til we meet again weary traveller, good evenday...
JB
Yesterday, I had the second funeral to attend this year - losing both Grandparents in the space of 2 months - not fun. My only solace is that they are both 'together' now, wherever that might be... That was held in my 'true' hometown - Bury in Lancashire - just north of the city of Manchester. Thats 2 1/2 hours in a car away, or about 120 miles or so. Then, today, me and Rachel went down 'sarf' to London - yes, you may have heard of it. Which is about 90 miles from home. So, thats over 400 miles of land-based travel in 48 hours. You'll excuse me while I sleep for a few days now.
Back to Coventry tomorrow, to do some heavy revision for my Cisco practical on Monday. Once thats out the way, I swear to god I'm going to purchase and play to death the new Dawn of War game (Soulstorm) which will hopefully be released on Steam by then (it might be now - I haven't checked). In-between all this, I will be hopefully putting a little bit of readable/viewable content onto the new website - I will post up a screenshot of the homepage once I'm settled on the layout. With easter coming up soon, I will try to have it all completed over the break. For the next 2 weeks however, there will be a lot of that 'work' thing going on. Hopefully in the mean-time, 'Kreedle' (as I have to call him now, 'cos his true identity is known only to his IRL friends...) will post up something amusing and nonsensical in order to pass the time.
'Til we meet again weary traveller, good evenday...
JB
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Yeah, you heard me.
Or not as the case may be. Everyone's favourite writer managed to stay quiet for a whole hour. He even timed it. Using an intricate method of hand signalling, grinning and nearly-but-not-quite interpretive dance, he managed to hold conversations, and even tell me things. Dark, terrible things. Regardless, a round of applause goes to him, and maybe he might manage 2 hours!?
Maybe even a week!? Now that would take the general dB level of the world down a notch, or seven.
By the way, just between you and me, I'm working on a new website to replace the ageing dotgif.co.uk... Mainly on account of quite enjoying - the latter part at least - my recent Internet Technology coursework, which involved Javascript et al. So, hopefully, put some nice looking design on there, and aim it to actually serve a purpose (an image collection for stuff that appears on this blog), as the more and more we blog here, the harder it is to find the posted images, even if I do tag them. 'Cos I always forget what I tagged them under. Keep 'em peeled.
JB
Maybe even a week!? Now that would take the general dB level of the world down a notch, or seven.
By the way, just between you and me, I'm working on a new website to replace the ageing dotgif.co.uk... Mainly on account of quite enjoying - the latter part at least - my recent Internet Technology coursework, which involved Javascript et al. So, hopefully, put some nice looking design on there, and aim it to actually serve a purpose (an image collection for stuff that appears on this blog), as the more and more we blog here, the harder it is to find the posted images, even if I do tag them. 'Cos I always forget what I tagged them under. Keep 'em peeled.
JB
Saturday, 1 March 2008
TF2 Vs Battlefield Heroes & some love for Spore...
Huh?
Get the fuck out. TF2 ftw... Mind you, the game does look fun. I mean, sitting on a planes wing shooting...
Also, on the subject of EA, they're licence-to-print money game 'Spore' is finally coming into the light. Looking very entertaining. And that's my solid opinion until the red laser-dot disappears from my neck. I just wanted to clarify my position before I get black-bagged.
My lack of updating the site is university-work-load related. I will try to get something pretty and colourful on here soon. Rachel got her new (new) Mac yesterday, and has really taken to Garageband. Might have some chart topping Bangra on the way. Hell, it beats, you know, working for a living.
Anyways, I need to stop blogging and get back to work.
Get the fuck out. TF2 ftw... Mind you, the game does look fun. I mean, sitting on a planes wing shooting...
Also, on the subject of EA, they're licence-to-print money game 'Spore' is finally coming into the light. Looking very entertaining. And that's my solid opinion until the red laser-dot disappears from my neck. I just wanted to clarify my position before I get black-bagged.
My lack of updating the site is university-work-load related. I will try to get something pretty and colourful on here soon. Rachel got her new (new) Mac yesterday, and has really taken to Garageband. Might have some chart topping Bangra on the way. Hell, it beats, you know, working for a living.
Anyways, I need to stop blogging and get back to work.
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