Planet Sillicon

Frustration with e-mail accounts

By blog on Sep. 10, 2009.

Dear me, dear, dear, me. E-mail accounts can be so damn annoying! I get all sorts of spam and phishing scams, but I can’t get an email I actually want?

I got a comment on my blog from someone who said they saw the site on Technorati, so I went over and decided to join up – looks like an awesome site, actually! – and ‘claim’ my blog. All was going well, save having to find a user name took a few tries, until it got to verification time. There was a little message at this point saying if you didn’t get the message, check this FAQ. Over I went, thinking smugly that I was just filling in time, that my email account wasn’t one of those frustrating ones which wouldn’t let this process occur, nooooo, of course not!

I have a Hotmail account that I use for all non-work stuff. The company I work for have a very strict policy about non-work related emails, it’s insane. Anyway, because I’ve had this Hotmail account for about eight, nearly nine, years, I don’t much fancy using anything else. Seems fair enough, right? Anyone notice how the free Hotmail accounts stopped giving you the option to ‘block’ some time ago? Well, I get a heck of a lot of spam and phishing scam emails as a result, and I can deal with that, at least they still go to the Junk box.

But this verification email is just gone, lost, never to be seen in my Inbox, and I’m really annoyed. I wanted to join this site, but now the chances of that seem rather diminished. All I can hope is that some nice person will read this, and post me the email address the verification link comes from, so I can add it in Hotmail as a contact, and then I’ll get the email! So that’s still really annoying, but nice to know people are reading my blog!

I appreciate technology

By blog on Sep. 5, 2009.

I don’t every day, by any means, but today I appreciate the technology I have at my fingertips.

For instance, I was just offered a free trial of a new phone system, because I work from home and have a very awesome broadband connection. I hear of so many people still using ADSL or some even using dial up!? But today I’m really aware just how much I use my net connection, for regular news, or tech news, which is cool, because it’s often not covered on normal sites in much detail. Try this site here for broadband and tech news. I hate using the phone, so email is essential for me, and of course I have to have a great connection for gaming, not to mention for actual work, too. Though I’m not working today, oh no, today I’m catching up on blogging!

I’ve been having trouble with my blog all week. It took me four days to figure out that one of my WordPress files were corrupted, and then I had to completely reload the software onto my PC! I kept up my blogging, I just wasn’t posting them, so don’t be surprised to see a week’s worth of blog posts go up today!

It was very nice to be able to get my blog back up and running, especially because I’ve been so busy with work that I really didn’t have time to do much in the way of figuring out what was actually wrong. It’s always like that, though, you’ve never got much time to fix things, which is probably why my methods are precise… I’ve had time to think about exactly the best way to troubleshoot, and fix the issue before I waste a lot of time on it.

Anyway, enough of that. I was looking at the PlayStation Network, and for those who want to use the online multiplayer function, you pretty much have to have some form of headset or the like. The nifty thing with the PS3 is that it can be a Bluetooth one, which is pretty cool… then I thought about actually playing with other people, and having to listen to them, and I shook myself out of my silliness.

First Impressions of the PS3 Slim

By blog on Sep. 4, 2009.

Because I’ve just gotten my brand new console, the PS3 Slim, so I’ve decided to review the console, or at least my first hours playing it, here today.

As a side note, look out in my upcoming entries for reviews of the four games I purchased with the console. SoulCalibur IV, InFamous, GTA IV, and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Now, onto the actual impressions of the machine so far. I’ve not had a PS3 in the past, so the console as a whole is a new experience, let alone the updated version. I found it to be surprisingly heavy when I was carting it back to my car from the store, which was a pleasant surprise. I don’t like when consoles are very light, it seems cheap. You’ll find that both the other ‘Generation 7′ consoles also have a weightiness to them that is really very pleasing to hold.

In keeping with the Wii, the PS3 uses no disc tray, rather you slide the disc into a slot where I believe there is a small monster on the inside of the console who takes the disc and places it where it needs to be… I don’t really mean that… or do I?

The console is auto set to be used with AV cables, rather than a HDMI cable. You also have to purchase the HDMI cable separately, along with controllers – only one comes in the box – and the remote and any other devices. When you load up the console originally, if you are using the HDMI cables you have to hold the power button until you’ve heard it beep twice, then it will pick up the HDMI input and you can adjust your resolution to be the same as your television. The fact that you have to pay for HDMI cables separately is my only complaint with this console.

It’s a nice looking machine, in my opinion, and I think the matte looks better than the original glossy finish. If it’s fingerprint resistant, then it seems somewhat more… professional, to me anyway. It’s quiet, and I like the system interface, too. So that’s all from my first day of playing the PS3 Slim, in the following days, maybe weeks depending on how much I play any one game, I’ll be reviewing those four games, too.

Why can’t it be easier?

By blog on Aug. 30, 2009.

It can, is the answer, but it won’t be.

For a start, why is it so annoyingly fiddly to get HDTV at the moment? Is it just my system, my set top box, or are other people finding their signal isn’t consistent? It’s HDTV, it’s supposed to be stable, strong, consistent, dammit! My better judgement is telling me that it is something to do with my set-top box, and I really don’t want it to be, but the local technology forums aren’t reporting anything…

It’s so frustrating when things don’t work the way they are supposed to… It reminds me of when I was a teenager, around 17 I think, I was still living with my parents, and they’d taken me into the city – an hours drive from their home – to pick up a PlayStation game. It was one of those ones that came on multiple discs, it was Final Fantasy VIII. When I got up to disc two, I found that they had sold me a scratched disc. This was frustrating enough, but after a phone call to the store where I had bought it, I was somewhat relieved to know they would swap it for another disc with no trouble, I just had to get my parents to drive me into the city again.

Okay so they did, and we picked up the disc, and came home. This was a two hour journey, mind you. So I put the disc in the PlayStation… same issue… not just the same issue, it was the same disc! They had given me the same disc back by mistake… so then I had to convince my parents to make the two hour drive into the city again, purely for my benefit. Thankfully they complied the next day, with little attitude towards me, which was nice.

Third time turned out to be the charm, and finally I had a working copy of Final Fantasy VIII. Anyway, what’s going on with my set-top box reminds me of that.

Arkham Asylum Demo

By blog on Aug. 28, 2009.

Is what I’ve been playing because I still can’t download the game I actually bought earlier today…

I have to say, I’m pretty darn impressed. The game looks very nice, with a good eye for detail and texture. I liked that you were given a strong impression of the dark Gotham City as Batman drove to the asylum, and I liked the very unique external look to the place, too. There is always the heavy Gothic influence, but then there is also a twist with some almost Industrial aspects and some others that are almost… Jules Verne in look.

I really liked the inside of Arkham, too. The place is so decrepit, just the sort of locale for a showdown with a bunch of psychos. The voice acting is fantastic, I’m so glad they used Bruce Wayne and The Joker from Batman The Animated Series, because they are the quintessential voices for those characters. Both are just perfect, The Joker’s especially. Harley Quinn and Oracle are also voiced well, along with Chief Gordon. I was racking my brain trying to place the voice of the asylum warden, and then it finally hit me. Harriman the giant rabbit from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. I’ve always been very good with voices, so it was such a relief to pinpoint that one, otherwise it would have bugged me all night.

Batman moves very well in game, too. The control system seems largely very intuitive, though having to hit the left Control button is kind of annoying… If I get this game it will be on my new PS3, so that doesn’t bother me really. I love the fight scenes, when Batman slows down to render his foe unconscious it is always enjoyable. I have to say, though, I often wish that Batman would just kill his opponents. Bah! Anyway, the game plays well, looks good, and sounds good. One that is worth picking up at some point.

Issues with Steam

By blog on Aug. 28, 2009.

Isn’t it frustrating when something that usually works rather well, just starts to be a total pain?

Right now, I’m battling Steam to be able to download Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and usually that isn’t an issue. Except the last two games I’ve tried to download, Ceville, and this one, have both given me quite an annoying run around. In the case of Ceville, I kept getting errors and couldn’t install the game until I stumbled across a related error to the one I was getting, and found that I had to rename my old client registry file.

So I did that then, and it worked. It was quite a relief, too. So when I got one of the same errors today, and a whole new one, I tried to do the same fix. Nope, not happening. I tried rebooting the machine, restarting Steam, nope, nothing doing. Steam allowed me to buy the game, but if I want to download it, I get an error telling me there is no dedicated server for this game right now, please try again later… So that sucks.

I find Steam to be a usually good platform; usually reliable, rarely have any issue with any of the games I’ve downloaded, and it’s secure and straight forward. All things to seriously be valued in PC gaming. But when this happens, you feel left out in the cold. I can’t find mention of this on the support forums, but have just stumbled across a thread on the Steam forums which has a whole bunch of other poor saps in the same boat I’m in.

Thanks Steam, nice work there. If you’re saying you’re going to be releasing a game on a certain day, it would be best if it was actually available! My goodness, that’s ridiculous! Well, hopefully in the short term future this issue will be rectified. In the mean time, I’m going to go watch more 24!

Gadgets I want

By blog on Aug. 27, 2009.

Because I was over on GizmoBlog again, I thought I’d share a few of the things I either want, or think are really interesting…

I like USB gadgets, because they are entertaining, don’t require a lot of mess, and are often very quirky and fun. Here are a few stand outs from the above mentioned site. First up is the USB Chameleon, which I don’t like, exactly, but is sort of… well it’s interesting! Next up is something called a USB Moo Moo. This is a very cute little gadget which you hook up and install onto your computer with a small amount of software, and you can pat this little plastic cow to make it moo, which sends a message to the corresponding cow – this is why it is cute – which is supposed to be hooked up on the computer of a SO or spouse. Oh that’s… odd but cute.

Now I move onto the totally miscellaneous. I, like many British, enjoy a hot cup of tea. I don’t enjoy, however, is misjudging how long that tea cup has been sitting on your desk, only to take a big gulp and find that it is either scaldingly hot still, or disgustingly cold. This cup here, the On/Off cup, would completely eradicate such incidents! I like groovy things to put on my desk, like the Newton’s Cradle and such, so this little Levitron AG Anti-Gravity Globe would be just perfect! It’s always handy to have a globe close by, for some reason, so this would be just nifty. Now, as a gamer soon to have a PS3, and for some reason console playing often leads to feeling the need to move off the comfortable sofa and sit on the uncomfortable floor, I would love to have one of these Lazy Geek’s Cushions.

Now this is just a mock up of an idea, but what an interesting idea! A Tattoo that responds to the DNA of the wearer. Hmm. I’m not into tattoos, personally, but this is still interesting. On a completely different note, my SO loves to read in bed, but I don’t, and I need darkness to be able to sleep. So I’d love to get her one of these so she can still read, a LightWedge Mini, just the perfect thing for reading in bed!

Touring Tech Blogs

By blog on Aug. 27, 2009.

I thought I’d take the time today to do a tour of a few of my favourite tech blogs. It’s always interesting to view other people’s blogs, especially when the coincide in theme with my own.

First up I wanted to point to TechBlog, which is a nicely put together technology blog. I have to say, it’s nice to see a tech blog that doesn’t look like crap. Because it happens a lot. I blame Linux users. Anyway, this is a good place to see a well rounded overview of whatever is making tech news today. I like it, and I like that it often leads to broadening one’s horizons. I’ve often read stories over there and then researched the content further, and that is what good news does, in my opinion.

Another interesting tech blog is called Andrew Burke’s Hardcore IPTV Blog… quite the title he’s got there, but I like this blog because it gives an inside look about IPTV in the UK from a business perspective. This guy is the CEO of amino, the IPTV company, and I like his perspective on things on his blog. It’s nice to see a blog from a high-up company member that is actually quite candid. I actually use IPTV, and it’s great. It just seems to work for me, and I like that I don’t have to fork out a heap to get a great cable net connection, because the cable works for both, it’s just spliced by a router, one for the TV, one for my modem, and voilà, I don’t have to pay for separate SDSL, which is very pricey!

The last blog I’ve been saving up, I really like this blog. I love gizmos and gadgets, I know I’ve mentioned that before, so GizmoBlog is a really fun one to have a look at every other day and see what awesome stuff has been cooked up by the geekery of the world. I’m personally a big fan of this gaming simulator, which looks like so much fun, but begs the question, how would I fit it in my living room?

Awaiting a PS3 Slim

By blog on Aug. 27, 2009.

Next Tuesday the PS3 is available to the public, and I’m pretty damn excited, because that’s also the day I’ll be picking mine up!

I’ve not had a PS3 before, so this is a new experience for me. I’m looking forward to the relative stability a console offers compared to a PC. For instance, thanks to a disc borrowed from a friend, that pretty much spazzed out whilst it was in my disc drive, my D: drive now keeps un-mapping itself. And not whilst I’m loading, or after a reboot, no, just every now and then, in some cases, whilst I’m playing a game! I’ve no idea why this is happening, precisely, except that it first occurred when I was watching a DVD and that DVD went mental whilst it was playing. Great, juuuuust great.

A reboot fixes it fine, but come on, who wants to reboot or remap a damn disc drive all the time when you shouldn’t have to map it in the first place!? Bah! So yes, console stability, I’m sure as hell looking forward to that. I know that generation seven consoles aren’t free from the issues that plague computers, but they are at least much less likely to go through those sorts of issues. And it’s refreshing, too.

I’m also excited to get the PS3 Slim because of the difference in games. I mean sure, I’m going to get GTA IV on the PS3 just because it was so buggy on my PC I couldn’t play it, but there are so many action games, and RPGs that don’t make it to PC and do make it to PS3. The games available on the PS3 are a big draw, there’s no doubt about that. I’m really looking forward to the next Final Fantasy game, too.

When I have the console I’m going to do a review on it. I’m also going to be reviewing those games that I buy for it. Heck, I might just start reviewing all my new games!

A Game of Thrones – The Cast Part 2

By blog on Aug. 22, 2009.

Here are my reactions to the next seven cast members announced for the TV series of A Game of Thrones…

Tamzin Merchant will be playing Daenerys Targaryen and I have to say, I don’t think she’s the right choice. She doesn’t seem at all like Daenerys, though it’s not just the looks, because that is sort of approximately close, but not really there, and I don’t think she has the strength of presence for this character.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will be playing Jaime Lannister and this choice seems alright to me. This actor looks like he could carry the arrogance of Jaime pretty well, actually.

Sophie Turner will be playing Sansa Stark and she actually seems like a good Sansa… not at first, I have to admit, the blonde threw me off, but she actually seems alright for Sansa.

Maisie Williams will be playing Arya Stark and she seems a good choice, she’s got a certain energy that says Arya to me.

Iain Glen will be playing Sir Jorah Mormont and I’m really not sure about this one… he does have the right look, though, but I think I imagined the knight to be bigger, more bearish.

Richard Madden will be playing Robb Stark and it seems an alright choice, a bit iffy that he is older than the character, but I know they are doing that with all the children. But, I don’t know, I picture Robb quite different…

Alfie Allen will be playing Theon Greyjoy and this does seem like a good choice, the actor already seems smug in the shots on George R R Martin’s blog.

Okay so that is now a total of 14 of the cast members so far, we are still missing Bran, Rickon, Tommen, Myrcella, Cersei, the Hound, the Mountain and all the Maesters, too. So a whole bunch, it’s safe to say. I wonder who, though, will actually be needed for just the pilot?