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2010-01-28 17:26:25 Useless Town Centres

I had to get my car's exhaust fixed today so I decided to take a peek at the new library and town centre in my local town of Urmston. Dear god! What a shocking state of affairs!

Firstly there are only about a 5th of the amount of books that it used to have, although from looking at the online catalogue it appears endemic across the borough.

Secondly, no free wifi. What sort of library in the 21st century doesn't have wifi? The lack of wifi leads me on to the third problem.

Thirdly, due to the lack of free wifi forced me to have to use the machines provided by the library. Nothing actually wrong with the machines from a technical standpoint. New dells running XP, however the problem lies with the software. They only have office 2000 (the one with the paperclip). I guess I could live with that, M$ licenses for large organisations are expensive, why upgrade if the software hasn't fundamentally changed? My biggest and most serious quibble is their choice of browser. They force you to use IE6!!! Horrendously buggy and no tabs! Have you tried browsing without tabs recently? It is impossible. It is incredibly difficult to keep track of multiple windows, especially when the Trafford library catalogue insists on opening in new windows all the time.

I was so disappointed. I don't trust IE at the best of times but IE6 is obsolete! If they don't want to provide a choice in browsers why can't they at least upgrade to IE8? I had to decamp to Costa Coffee. Which reminds me, why isn't there free wifi all over this new plaza? Maybe I am too entrenched in the "campus" idea. Seems like a wasted opportunity.

Had an interview today. Didn't get the job. Anyway I'll stop my whinge.

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2010-01-10 02:30:40 New Year, New Decade, New Job?

I made a resolution that I would update this blog at least once a week, so far I am a week down... One of the problems is I only think of good things to blog about when I am away from the computer, when I get back to it I have usually totally forgotten what I wanted to say.

I trust you all had a lovely holiday season? It has been unbelievably cold here in the UK, on the news there have been reports of diesel freezing in the tanks of cars. That makes the outside temperature roughly -15°C. More snow is forecast but I think we have seen the last of it in Manchester. This NASA image shows the coverage we are experiencing.

We are living in the future now, officially! The year is Twenty Ten, if anyone says two thousand and ten you are allowed to nail them to the wall.

Techwise 2010 looks like it will be the year of the tablet PC. Apple have one due out soon and Microsoft have been demoing Win7 on some tablets recently.

While I am on the subject of Windows 7, I feel I should mention the seriously crippling bug I have found. Simply: the task manager doesn't work. If a process crashes you cannot kill it at all, apparently the system is waiting for the process to say "I have finished what I was doing. You may now close me." which of course can't happen because the process has crashed. According to various blogs and forums it is a hangover from Vista. The only solution is to reboot. PLEASE FIX IT MICROSOFT!!!

After a disappointing latter half of 2009, I have sadly decided to widen my net with regards to job hunting. I am now applying for call centre and general office jobs instead of just IT jobs. As a result I have an interview for a customer service job next Friday.

Before I forget, how fantastic was the last episodes of Doctor Who? David Tennant gave a fantastic performance along side Timothy Dalton as a TimeLord! I won't say anymore in case you haven't seen it in your territory yet.

In closing I just want to say, are these the best daleks ever?

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2009-12-23 23:43:39 Epic Snowman!

Spent the last few hours productively building a snowman.

Merry Christmas and have great New Year, everyone!

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2009-11-05 16:07:33 Job Hunting

It is approaching 13 weeks of job hunting with not even a single bite. I am not entirely sure where I am going wrong. I suspect it has something to do with the global economic slowdown.

I am starting to get rejection emails. There isn't even any temp work available. It is difficult to remain upbeat when you get so much rejection, it makes you feel totally useless.

I have a meeting with the Job Centre tomorrow, they want to know why I don't yet have a job. Should be an interesting argument.

0 Comments | Add Comment

2009-10-27 01:54:49 Open Computing for Governments

With the release of the latest incarnation of Ubuntu just around the corner it got me thinking. How much could be saved of tax payers money by porting entire government or public agencies over to Ubuntu or another free Linux distro?

One of the primary costs of any modern organisation is IT and a huge proportion of the IT budget goes towards licensing fees of software. This would be reduced if a corporation moved over to Ubuntu machines for their desktops. Another consideration is that Ubuntu has been proven to run better on older machines than say XP, this would reduce the need for hardware to be upgraded as often as it currently is.

Of course one of the major downsides to moving to Linux would be the likelihood that any bespoke software written for the organisation would have to be ported from a Windows environment. There may also be additional training provided to the less capable members of staff.

It would be interesting to see how great the saving would be, should there be any.

0 Comments | Add Comment

2009-10-04 02:05:57 Nuclear Power Music Sled of Fun!!!

I was extremely bored this afternoon so I started browsing the indie section of Steam and found a few truly amazing games.

Firstly I discover a very weird game called AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity by Dejobaan Games. You play a BASE jumper leaping from impossibly high buildings and performing stunts as you plummet towards the ground. To slow your descent you are issued with a one-time use helicopter parachute thing, after deploying it you can't score any more points so delaying deployment until the very last moment is critical. The game does require rather a lot of skill and I found the demo a bit too short.

Next up is Braid by Number None which is a pretty platformer based around time manipulation to complete the levels. The gorgeous levels and a wonderfully relaxing soundtrack coupled with the mind bending of time manipulation make Braid one of those games where you love exploring. I actually downloaded this a couple of weekends back but only managed to get round to playing it today so I missed out on the 50% special offer for the full game. It is also available on the xbox, of course the PC version is better :¬]

Finally is AudioSurf from BestGameEver. This game is a fusion of the old Wipeout games and the more recent swathe of Guitar Hero type games. You fly along as a spaceship type racer thing collecting coloured blocks from the across the track. The snag? Well the tracks are randomly generated from your own music collection! This means that there is an almost limitless number of tracks to fly along. Not all the music has to ultra-fast paced acid house stuff, classical things like Bach work equally well and provide a nice juxtaposition with the environment. Buy this game NOW! The full version is only £2.99 (50% off on Steam), it is highly addictive and awesome fun!

0 Comments | Add Comment

2009-09-30 13:20:21 Job Hunt: The Continuing Mission

After nearly 2 months of absolutely nothing on the jobs front I have started to get a few replies back now. Which is great news because the Job Centre are sending me on a "Back To Work" course. All I can think of is Pauline's Pens from the very disturbing yet hilarious League of Gentlemen.

Oh well... fingers crossed!

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2009-09-25 18:22:45 End of the World Party

21st December 2012 is rumoured to be the end of the world if you follow the ancient Mayan calendar.

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2009-09-24 17:21:52 Retro Gaming

There was an article on the BBC News about French gamers petitioning to the French government for money to build an interactive gaming museum. They argue that gaming, like cinema and music, is and art form thats has helped to define modern culture. I hope they get their money.

Until recently society has always deemed computer games as childish, I think the Wii and the rise of "causal gamers" has helped mature the industry and the attitude of gaming with society. The cultural impact of games is only really beginning. I predict that within the next 2 years there will be a dedicated western TV channel devoted to games similar to the South Korean channels.

Anyway back to the point about retro gaming, there is a group in the UK that are attempting a similar thing to the French and they are asking for donations of old games and systems, you can read more about it here.

0 Comments | Add Comment

2009-09-08 21:49:23 Feed Me!

I think I need to sort out some sort of RSS feed for comments.

0 Comments | Add Comment

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2010-01-28 17:26:25	Useless Town Centres
I had to get my car's exhaust fixed today so I decided to take a peek at the new library and town centre in my local town of Urmston. Dear god! What a shocking state of affairs! Firstly there are only about a 5th of the amount of books that it used to have, although from looking at the online catalogue it appears endemic across the borough. Secondly, no free wifi. What sort of library in the 21st century doesn't have wifi? The lack of wifi leads me on to the third problem. Thirdly, due to the lack of free wifi forced me to have to use the machines provided by the library. Nothing actually wrong with the machines from a technical standpoint. New dells running XP, however the problem lies with the software. They only have office 2000 (the one with the paperclip). I guess I could live with that, M$ licenses for large organisations are expensive, why upgrade if the software hasn't fundamentally changed? My biggest and most serious quibble is their choice of browser. They force you to use IE6!!! Horrendously buggy and no tabs! Have you tried browsing without tabs recently? It is impossible. It is incredibly difficult to keep track of multiple windows, especially when the Trafford library catalogue insists on opening in new windows all the time. I was so disappointed. I don't trust IE at the best of times but IE6 is obsolete! If they don't want to provide a choice in browsers why can't they at least upgrade to IE8? I had to decamp to Costa Coffee. Which reminds me, why isn't there free wifi all over this new plaza? Maybe I am too entrenched in the "campus" idea. Seems like a wasted opportunity. Had an interview today. Didn't get the job. Anyway I'll stop my whinge.

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2010-01-10 02:30:40	New Year, New Decade, New Job?
I made a resolution that I would update this blog at least once a week, so far I am a week down... One of the problems is I only think of good things to blog about when I am away from the computer, when I get back to it I have usually totally forgotten what I wanted to say. I trust you all had a lovely holiday season? It has been unbelievably cold here in the UK, on the news there have been reports of diesel freezing in the tanks of cars. That makes the outside temperature roughly -15°C. More snow is forecast but I think we have seen the last of it in Manchester. This NASA image shows the coverage we are experiencing. We are living in the future now, officially! The year is Twenty Ten, if anyone says two thousand and ten you are allowed to nail them to the wall. Techwise 2010 looks like it will be the year of the tablet PC. Apple have one due out soon and Microsoft have been demoing Win7 on some tablets recently. While I am on the subject of Windows 7, I feel I should mention the seriously crippling bug I have found. Simply: the task manager doesn't work. If a process crashes you cannot kill it at all, apparently the system is waiting for the process to say "I have finished what I was doing. You may now close me." which of course can't happen because the process has crashed. According to various blogs and forums it is a hangover from Vista. The only solution is to reboot. PLEASE FIX IT MICROSOFT!!! After a disappointing latter half of 2009, I have sadly decided to widen my net with regards to job hunting. I am now applying for call centre and general office jobs instead of just IT jobs. As a result I have an interview for a customer service job next Friday. Before I forget, how fantastic was the last episodes of Doctor Who? David Tennant gave a fantastic performance along side Timothy Dalton as a TimeLord! I won't say anymore in case you haven't seen it in your territory yet. In closing I just want to say, are these the best daleks ever?

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-12-23 23:43:39	Epic Snowman!
Spent the last few hours productively building a snowman. Merry Christmas and have great New Year, everyone!

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-11-05 16:07:33	Job Hunting
It is approaching 13 weeks of job hunting with not even a single bite. I am not entirely sure where I am going wrong. I suspect it has something to do with the global economic slowdown. I am starting to get rejection emails. There isn't even any temp work available. It is difficult to remain upbeat when you get so much rejection, it makes you feel totally useless. I have a meeting with the Job Centre tomorrow, they want to know why I don't yet have a job. Should be an interesting argument.

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-10-27 01:54:49	Open Computing for Governments
With the release of the latest incarnation of Ubuntu just around the corner it got me thinking. How much could be saved of tax payers money by porting entire government or public agencies over to Ubuntu or another free Linux distro? One of the primary costs of any modern organisation is IT and a huge proportion of the IT budget goes towards licensing fees of software. This would be reduced if a corporation moved over to Ubuntu machines for their desktops. Another consideration is that Ubuntu has been proven to run better on older machines than say XP, this would reduce the need for hardware to be upgraded as often as it currently is. Of course one of the major downsides to moving to Linux would be the likelihood that any bespoke software written for the organisation would have to be ported from a Windows environment. There may also be additional training provided to the less capable members of staff. It would be interesting to see how great the saving would be, should there be any.

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-10-04 02:05:57	Nuclear Power Music Sled of Fun!!!
I was extremely bored this afternoon so I started browsing the indie section of Steam and found a few truly amazing games. Firstly I discover a very weird game called AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity by Dejobaan Games. You play a BASE jumper leaping from impossibly high buildings and performing stunts as you plummet towards the ground. To slow your descent you are issued with a one-time use helicopter parachute thing, after deploying it you can't score any more points so delaying deployment until the very last moment is critical. The game does require rather a lot of skill and I found the demo a bit too short. Next up is Braid by Number None which is a pretty platformer based around time manipulation to complete the levels. The gorgeous levels and a wonderfully relaxing soundtrack coupled with the mind bending of time manipulation make Braid one of those games where you love exploring. I actually downloaded this a couple of weekends back but only managed to get round to playing it today so I missed out on the 50% special offer for the full game. It is also available on the xbox, of course the PC version is better :¬] Finally is AudioSurf from BestGameEver. This game is a fusion of the old Wipeout games and the more recent swathe of Guitar Hero type games. You fly along as a spaceship type racer thing collecting coloured blocks from the across the track. The snag? Well the tracks are randomly generated from your own music collection! This means that there is an almost limitless number of tracks to fly along. Not all the music has to ultra-fast paced acid house stuff, classical things like Bach work equally well and provide a nice juxtaposition with the environment. Buy this game NOW! The full version is only £2.99 (50% off on Steam), it is highly addictive and awesome fun!

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-09-30 13:20:21	Job Hunt: The Continuing Mission
After nearly 2 months of absolutely nothing on the jobs front I have started to get a few replies back now. Which is great news because the Job Centre are sending me on a "Back To Work" course. All I can think of is Pauline's Pens from the very disturbing yet hilarious League of Gentlemen. Oh well... fingers crossed!

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-09-25 18:22:45	End of the World Party
21st December 2012 is rumoured to be the end of the world if you follow the ancient Mayan calendar.

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-09-24 17:21:52	Retro Gaming
There was an article on the BBC News about French gamers petitioning to the French government for money to build an interactive gaming museum. They argue that gaming, like cinema and music, is and art form thats has helped to define modern culture. I hope they get their money. Until recently society has always deemed computer games as childish, I think the Wii and the rise of "causal gamers" has helped mature the industry and the attitude of gaming with society. The cultural impact of games is only really beginning. I predict that within the next 2 years there will be a dedicated western TV channel devoted to games similar to the South Korean channels. Anyway back to the point about retro gaming, there is a group in the UK that are attempting a similar thing to the French and they are asking for donations of old games and systems, you can read more about it here.

0 Comments \| Add Comment

2009-09-08 21:49:23	Feed Me!
I think I need to sort out some sort of RSS feed for comments.

0 Comments \| Add Comment