Silvergunner

Yes, its true. After years on Livejournal, i've decided to move onwards. From now, i'll be running a Wordpress blog - read it at http://silvergunner.wordpress.com. This blog will no longer be updated regulary, but rather i'll be cross-posting the odd announcement. Its still here though, for historical reasons. Kaboogle.

Anyway, see you over at the new blog soon!

I figured I haven't posted for quite a while, and decided to talk about something. I'm not going into my current life - you can read stuff like that on MySpace. Instead, I wanted to talk today about the Mystery Mac and E3 2008.

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Starting on E3, I can sum it up in two words - "Utter Bullshit*". It was about as interesting as Politics Textbook, and had less games than the Gizmondo's Back Catalogue**. Seriously, it was perhaps the worst E3 to date. Basically the ESA decided to save money and have a few conferences instead of the traditional trade show. Unlike the good attempts to work within the box last year, this year no-one could be bothered. In short...

• Microsoft went on about Price Cuts, a few games, and not much else viable outside Steve Ballmer's Imagination.
• Nintendo was the best, but apart from Miyamoto's entry, it was boring with Reggie boasting about sales figures.
• I feel that Sony thought they were at CES instead of E3, trying to sell Multimedia PCs, due to their repositioning of the PS3 away from Gaming. That and also, I felt Jack Tretton was avoiding real issues by predicting great things**
• The ESA exec's droneathon (worse than Gil Amelio's) had just 50 reporters out of 1000 places. Go figure.

Will there be an E3 next year? Probably not. Activision, ID and several other companies have already pulled out of the ESA. I can't see the show going on another year with so little funding. That, and the question is if anyone would want to go to a show like that every again.

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Moving on, Apple have mentioned a transistional product, but with no information. People are speculating what it will be. Here are my thoughts on the possibilities...

Mac Minitower	Doubtful. Apple announced years ago they were leaving the low-end market. A Mac Minitower machine would either flop or dig into sales of their other models. If people want a Minitower, they buy a cheap PC from Tesco. Sad but true.
Macbook Tablet	The answer is NO. People have said this ever since Steve Jobs killed the Newton off. The truth is, its never going to happen. Steve Jobs has reasons behind not creating another Newton, and additionally a Mac OS Tablet would destroy the Macbook Air. Also, touchscreen computers are an expensive niche, and may end up too expensive (above Macbook Pro) to sell.
Macbook Refresh	This is most likely in my book. Apple have ordered many Centrino 2 parts, stepped up orders for notebook mainboards, and have mentioned an Eco-Friendly casing. The new Macbook will probably be built from some sort of metal, ending the era of Plastic cases as far as Apple is concerned. Also, the lower pricing of parts could mean it would cost less than currently.
iPod Line Refreshes	A definite yes. At least one line of iPods will end up been refreshed to add more storage.

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Right... unbelievably I wrote a lot more than I wanted. Ah well...

( Footnotes )

Okay, its been a while since I placed anything on any of my pages. Reason mostly been that i've been suffering a hell of a lot more stress than a teenager* like me should do in life. Mostly due to two family members I refer to as the "Middle Managers", but i'm leaving that discussion alone for now. As I would end up ranting for 3 or 4 pages.

So anyway, reason i've decided to talk about it today is that i'm doing something different - remaking my WWOEC page. I feel Coppermine is a pain in the fucking arse, and thus decided to create my own page. Due to the fact however that my plans may not work (due to limitations of Javascript), I have a backup site readied I made in iWeb. The fully working website will, however, use a new navigation method.

I decided that the best way to look through something is to have a user interface that is simple and effective to use. For this reason, I decided to create a system called "KittyStep". Its basically using some of the GUI elements seen in NextSTEP and its successor, Mac OS X. Notably the file navigation system, which i feel will be perfect for browsing through tons of items. A sidestrip toolbar will also give common tasks available, which will help out the user a lot. Overall, its Web 2.0 how it should be, and without a hint of spyware in sight. If all goes to plan, of course. If things mess up, the backup site is readied.

Anyway, thats about it from me. Kaboogle.

Whew, been a while. Thankfully i'm alive, and ready to talk about a big issue... OLPC.

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From the start, I was rather skeptical about the “One Laptop Per Child” Project. To explain briefly, it was to supply a low-cost laptop ($100) to developing countries so children there could learn. It sounded great as far as PR was concerned, but I noticed a few iffy bits* even then.

( Technical_Bits )

This week, its been revealed what i’ve said all along. Nicholas Negroponte, the head of the project, has said to several officials within the project that he really just wanted to ship Windows Desktops to third world countries. I bring you back to the essay, which is an interesting read, written by no other than security director Ivan Krstić. He left immediately when Nicholas spat out the truth, along with others who had been decieved all along.

Nicholas’ comments pretty much have sounded the death knell for the project. While the project was based on children in foreign countries learning, the director actually said he wasn’t concerned with the Educational aspect. All he wanted was for a cheap machine to be delivered to those who could not afford one. The problem is that without the educational aspect, the XO-1 is virtually useless as a machine and is worth pretty much nothing in countries where electricity is a far-off luxury. Apart from Solitaire of course, as limited telephone lines makes the internet scarce (no Porn**) and i can’t see many USB DVD drives been delivered (no games of Unreal Tournament, if it will even run of course). In short, they built hundreds of thousands of useless machines, which is a bigger waste than when your local Fast Food outlet had to throw out all their burgers and chips and milkshakes after a rat was spotted in their kitchen***.

The funny thing is that the OLPC people actually had a disagreement and ended up losing Intel as a partner. This was strike one for the organization even then. The reason? Nicholas actually had a go at Intel and asked them to stop selling their own Classmate PC. Intel refused and quit. In the style of many CEOs, Nicholas thought it wasn’t a big deal. But sadly, it was. Intel were due to make the XO-2 - the next-gen OLPC - and quit in the end. This would have been lower cost and actually be cheaper ($100 instead of the final $183 of the XO-1, due to AMD’s pricing). This seems like a no-brainer to us, but Management types it was standard procedure****.

So what is next? More than likely the OLPC project will go on, but eventually fall on its face and crash. To all us analysts, the project is dead already, and further attempts to save it will simply hammer more nails into its coffin.

( Footnotes )

While doing a bit of scribbling earlier (I do that when i'm bored to gain ideas) I came up with a thought. It seems like 98% of my writing ends up in the wastepaper bin, as I have an acquired taste and refuse to continue it if it goes nowhere. Truth is, Forbidden Memories was supposed to be a Simpsons lemon (themed for WWOEC), but I found the characters were crap and the premise bad. I re-tried using my own characters, and whoof – it worked great.

Normally, I get ideas from what I experience in the world. Whenever I get an interesting thought, I scribble it down in a notepad, and when I reach a desk I fire up my EEE and start writing about it. Well, I tend to make notes about it. Usually it takes some stimulation to get my writing mood activated. And that stimulation is usually some form of alcohol. Maybe it relaxes me, or maybe its because alcoholism runs in my dad's side of the family. Who knows.

Currently, i've decided to not make any more release lists, as they usually end up as vapourware. However, I will be posting Idea lists. Basically these are what is floating in my head at the time, and may or may not be written. I only announce a story as ready when i've completed the draft, and post after formatting and spelling/grammar checks. Also, i've found that certain images help me think better and flow with ideas (hint hint, artists out there). Same with music. I never write unless either Crush 40, Drowning Pool, or Coal Chamber is blasting out of my iPod.

So what is the point in this blog entry? Just thought i'd comment on how my writing schedule works. Might be useful as part of a case study for you Psychology Students out there. Or maybe just budding writers looking to pick up tips and tricks. Whatever the reason, I thought it would be an interesting read, and a lot better than the ranting I usually churn out. You can simply go to DeviantArt for that, I guess.

Ideas: "Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi", Forbidden Memories 2, Amy without Love 5, VG Cats 6, Furry Yaoi

Okay, I had another play of Sonic CD, only this time I changed the soundtrack. Instead of the horrible Jazz, I added Death Metal and Nu Metal to it. Believe me, the second level with the sorry attempt at music replaced with "Holy Roller" is a hell of a lot more fun. And it was easy - I just changed the MP3 files. So, my overview of the game has changed. Its actually one of the best Sonic games out there. It just goes to show how important music is in games.

Second point I want to talk about is Playstation 2 in its later years. Be warned: Long read.

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It seems that in the current few years of it existance, Playstation 2 has outsold its replacement, the Playstation 3. Its probably because there is a heck of a lot more software available, and the games are relatively better. In theory. Recently however, it seems that the Playstation 2 is on its last legs, as cheap made-in-an-afternoon software (like the infamous Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing") tends to clog up what is available.

A brief look on Play.com reveals what wonders are on the release list...

• PSP Ports (such as Ratchet and Clank: Whatever we can Churn Out this Year


• Bad Movie Tie-Ins (Second Narnia Movie, for example)


• More Sports Updates (UEFA Euro 2008, which won't sell in this country For obvious reasons)


• Another Update to a Tired Series (Singstar most notable, but also that horrible Buzz Travesty)


• Unreleased Japanese Games which were not popular to begin with (Soul Nomad and Legend of Sayuki)


• Whatever Franchise we can get our hands on (JAMSTER, the characters you all hate. The (censored) who invented the (censored) Crazy Frog...)

The future looks bleak for gaming, what with such horror stories as these for sale...

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Third point is Windows Vista SP1. Installed it, and the system sped up about 45%. So yes, I recommend at least trying it (unless you are one the stick-in-the-muds who use outdated security software and have trouble reading pdfs) to see if it helps out. It did for me.

Recently I found a site with tons of Mega CD ISOs on, thus I downloaded and played some. I had a Mega CD during my “Retro Gaming” phase, but sold them all off for a stupidly high amount (about four or five times what I paid out). I never managed to source any games however, as the retro fad meant all the Mega CD games were either in the hands of collectors, or stupidly overpriced. £19.99 each, when you could buy a new Gamecube game for that (at the time – it was either 2003 or 2004). So my only experience of Mega CD (or SEGA CD to you Americans) was the demo discs that the previous owner bundled in.

So, played these old games, it dawned on me that I had been right – my fiddles with MultiMedia were “7th Guest”, “Zelda: Wand of Gamelon”, and other CD-I games (which all cost me £10 including the machine). However, “Crime Patrol”, “Night Trap” and other games featured on Broken Pixels were even worse. However one notable game on the Mega CD didn’t use video scenes. It was Sonic CD. And I am here today to give my opinion on the game.

( ”Rant )

Moving on, i've been fiddling more with my Vistabook lately. It crashed the other day, and kept crashing until I managed to kill half the processes (which were causing the problem) then running System Restore. It happened as I tried to fix sound problems by uninstalling and then reinstalling the driver. However, it didn't work. Instead, my fix is...

1. Start Up as Normal


2. Once all is loaded, launch Windows Live Messenger


3. Quit it immediately


4. Put machine to sleep


5. Wait 10 seconds


6. Wake machine from sleep

...and the sound comes back on. Even now, i'm trying to figure why it keeps doing this. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

( WARNING: Silly Story )

On the topic of Games, I got an Xbox 360 for my birthday. Just over a week before price drops. Still, came with two great games for a good price (Assassin's Creed & Devil May Cry 4), and my family bought me others. They are all good games thankfully. I'll post some info on them soon enough.

Also, I recieved Pokemon Diamond, which really is a cool little game. In fact, its re-kinked my interest in DS online play. If you are interested in playing, check my FurAffinity page to get the friend codes.

So, i'd like to thank GAME for giving me such a nice little story to tell you all. And if I have any more spooky predictions on Games been released early, i'll let you all know.

A line from The Matrix is "The body cannot live without the mind",
spoken by Trinity. I have to say that this quote does have some
relevance to what I am going to talk about today. Typically the fact
that despite what exhaustive medical research on subjects will show, the
Body and the Mind are fused as life. The Body cannot live without the
mind, and the mind cannot live without the body. Excepting what doctors
call "Braindead", this philosophy applies to everything.

People are known to undergo work without eating, or taking actions
without thinking. Its common knowledge that Students who do not eat a
balanced diet and at regular intervals end up not working. Indeed, I
have found this in myself recently.

What I did today was skip two meals, then have something compleyely
different. Thanks to Peer Pressure (Dad), i've been overloaded with meat
and bread. And of course, this caused me health problems. Indeed, in two
weeks of non-vegetarianism, my concentration, energy and innovation has
waned. Well, until just now, when I ate something odd - a bowl of
pasta, with no sauce or topping.

You can call it as unhealthy as you wish, it seems to have worked. I
mean, i'm no inspired to write in my blog for the first time in weeks,
for crying out loud...

It has been a funny week for me really. A hell of a lot of stress, a bit of depression, and quite a few memorable bits which will last a lifetime as far as good memories are concerned.

Point One is basically the stress i've had. Its been over Mum been in hospital for a major operation. She was very worried about "Coming out in a box", but (as I predicted) she was fine. Well, fine as in okayish. She's home now, only feeling very under the weather. I'm helping her out the best I can. To me, its a relief she came out okay. And a surprise she picked up so quickly. Quicker than even I did when I had surgery (on a different body part, of course).

Talking about Depression, after a disaster Saturday evening, I hit rock bottom for a few days. I managed to pick up slightly mid-week, but was thrown down once again by the horrors that is Valentine's Day. With two friends now not been in contact, i'm getting paranoid that i've lost them by sending e-cards. Damn.

Memorable moments? Well, loads been at University really. All I can say is that I am really enjoying myself there. Sure, people make fun of where I am at, but still, its better than bloody Lincoln, the Baysgarth of Universities. The moment of the week though is the birthday present debackle. Due to mess-ups, I ended up buying my own birthday present this year. Its in my wardrobe at the moment, underneath my old Trenchcoat.

So, I think thats about it. Take care everyone!

Thought i'd write some reviews on stuff i've experienced recently.

Seether: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (Audio CD)
Personally, I think its great. Its hard to say if its Seether's best though, as every song they've ever done is brilliant. This CD however is perhaps the opposite of Karma and Effect - its a variety of different styles rather than been samish. The songs Like Suicide and Fallen are brilliant, but Fake It feels a little too un-Seether-y. Still, another great CD from the greatest band in existance.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
This game really feels different from previous 3D Marios. It still plays in the same form, but the levels are more linear, and the scenario is entirely different. Instead of exploring weird locations on Earth (Super Mario 64) or a Tropical Island (Super Mario Sunshine), Mario explores nano-planets in different Galaxies. This means that Gravity plays a big part, as well as flying through space. Overall however, I think its the best 3D Mario. The difficulty level is balanced more than the others - it progresses steadily rather than suddenly jumping from Easy to Hard. The control is perhaps the best - despite there been lots of places to fall, the chance of dying from one is minimal. Its so precise, even hard levels (such as Sweet Sweet Galaxy) can be played without the controls been unfair. So all-in-all, great. A must-play for Wii.

Wario: Master of Disguise (DS)
This game has been unfairly forgotten. Due to a high initial price and no advertising, it was left forgotten on shelves. Until I picked a copy up for £9.99 and slid it into my DS. What I found was a real spiritual sequel to the brilliant Warioland 4 (best platformer on Game Boy Advance), with touchscreen functions which make the game all the more fun. The ability to have suspend data anywhere and saving in levels makes it a great "Session" game, yet has the hardcore fun of a down-to-earth platformer. The only niggles I have its a few issues with the costume change (circles get interpreted as boxes) and some of the graphics (the Pharoh looks like he was lifted from Ai Cho Aniki) but otherwise, great if you can get it for a low price.

And also, perhaps I should do a Legacy Review, as there is a game I feel I should mention...

Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time (PSX)
Yeah, make fun of me if you wish. But this game is perhaps one of the best on Playstation. I wasn't joking. Of all the Playstation games I own, this was the one I had the most fun with. Instead of been knocked up in an afternoon, the developers made a solid and fun Platformer, with the edge only Bugs Bunny can provide. All the gimmicks you find in newish platformers are not there, instead there is a free-roaming platforming world to explore. The controls are great, the graphics, although cartoony, are awesome, and overall its brilliant. I'd go to say it beats Super Mario 64, as all the niggles with that game are not here. Its such a pity its been forgotten.

So thats about it really. Have a good day everyone!

Yesterday Morning had a weird dream. I don't usually talk about them, but with fiztheancientleaving dream journals, thought I may as well.

Basically, I started work at my own company, Kittyware. We were designing a piece of software which made Podcasting a doddle, with no knowledge of XML needed (hey, it would be a bestseller). But anyway, for some reason my mum came in to check how I was doing. Then she came over to my computer (which for some reason was a 20" Aluminium iMac).

Problem? I had a background which was hentai (which I always use as my background on my Macbook, as I find it keeps me calm when writing). And when she saw it (while i was on the other side of the room getting a coffee) the look on her face was shocking.

Weird part happened when I thought about it not been that. I swear it was the "Reverse Time" sound effect from Sands of Time, and i saw her go in reverse before she saw the machine. Suddenly the Wallpaper Changed to the Mac OS X Standard, and all was well.

Odd thing was, I was in a state of sleep where I was 10% awake, so it was probably Lucid dreaming. Still, made sense in a way.

Well, a lot has happened since last update. Mostly a Maths exam, mad buying spree in the January Sales, and thinking about what to write.

On the Mad Buying Spree, I thought I might get a few things which were cheap in the sales. Alongside my EEE (which wasn't in a sale, but was worth every penny), I picked up...

• 3 CDs (The Used, Seether, Slayer)


• a DVD (300)


• Several Games (Zendoku, Guilty Gear Judgement, Drawn to Life, Wario: Master of Disguise, Final Fantasy Chocobo Tales, and a few more)


• Loads of other bits and pieces

As the shops had a terrible year, its the best time to grab bargains that no-one else wanted at full price. It just goes to show the first rule of economics - people want a good product at a reasonable price. The same reason the PS3 is failing.

Seether's new CD is playing at the moment. I think its pretty awesome all-in-all. Its even inspiring me to write. Lets hope that works...

One last point - I decided to stop worrying about maths, I had to stop looking at the topic. So I shredded all my notes. Problem solved.

Its weird. Its 1am and suddenly I feel some techie has opened my brain up and overclocked the PowerPC 970FX inside it to 5ghz or so, as well as cleared up the Boot Path. I got up, sat down at my desk, and scribbled in my notebook. I suddenly had conquered Quadratic Equations.

It seemed that what was holding my mind's full potential back for the last month or so had gone, and I was running at full speed. Whatever force of nature applied this to my mind I have to thank a lot (so kudos there, Bastet). Just wish they'd add another 512mb of DDR2 RAM to improve my short-term memory. Or something.

Maybe I should go to bed now, as i'm babbling unexplainable rubbish.

I rang up Play.com today to see why my order was delayed. Seems I ordered when it wasn't actually in stock. However, I was able to source one locally, and thus I headed over to Toys R Us and bought one. Pity I could only get the white model though.

Sit down, plug in, turn on.

The main complaint about the EEE is the keyboard. I'm writing this in OpenOffice Writer on it now, and it isn't actually that bad. I am getting a few typing errors, but I guess my chubby fingers will get used to it (I touch-type). The touchpad is okay, but for large web pages my USB Mouse is a world of good. The screen and speakers are excellent however, and I can see the screen clearly and easily.

The interface is more of a Media Centre than a Desktop, but it works fine. I might install Ubuntu to free up memory and have a more powerful edition, but everything I need is right here.

The only issue i'm having is with MSN not working correctly. Although that is probably due to the stupid standards they are currently implementing. Still, i'm impressed so far.

Posted for AppleCare to have a peekity at.

Resolution	Status	Completeness
Irish Holiday	-	0%
Sushi and Veggie Dining	-	0%
Vegetarian Transistion	Experiencing Peer Pressure	0%
Materialistic Items	Asus EEE Ordered	33%
Kitty goes Dating	Crush moved away, not interested	Abandoned
Philosophy Book	-	0%
Playstation 3 Criticism	-	0%

Now excuse me while I go and burst into tears.

Its the hardest part of the year - figuring out what new rules to adhere to over the next year. Its a completely useless idea to be honest, as i'll probably break all the resolutions which are suggested within the first week or so, just like the last 19 years. So i've thought about it and decided on what to do this year instead.

- Take a holiday in Ireland
- Eat at Yo! Sushi, and a few Vegetarian Restaurants
- Transition from 60% Vegetarian to 90% Vegetarian
- Get the few things I want (Bass Guitar, Asus EEE, Xbox 360)
- Run into a wall and FINALLY ask out my crush
- Finish off my philosophy book
- Criticize Playstation 3 more often

On the vegetatianism point, I wish I could go 100% veggie, but seems I have to stick to eating some meat due to been... well... a cat, I guess. Annoying.

Still, time for me to get some sleep now. Been up all night...

I'm lying in bed at the moment, typing away with Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on standby. I'm not a well kitten at all, having suffered an underdose of medication earlier in the day. Wish that was the most of my worries however.

In short, this year's christmas was terrible. Crap Installer Man came and was a moody berk all day. The infamous Dilute-Man (my dad - infamous for watering down toiletries after stealing some of them) made an arse of himself all day. Everyone just followed the mood and it all went downhill. Not the best, I have to say.

Thankfully, it was saved by my little sister. She got me... MR FOX! He's so huggy-wuvvly adorable! I'll have to get some pictures of him soonish. That cheered me up to no end. Absolutely awesome.

Tomorrow i'm heading out as i'm sick of this damned Asylum we call Home. A family of total alcoholics who don'y like each other very much is not very fun to hang around with. Especially when they steal your booze, it seems. I have no Vodka left thanks to Dilute Man...

Oh, and Mum is doing fine. She's feeling a lot better now.

Why is it that Christmas is the worst time of year when it comes to relations with family and friends?

( Emo Journal Alert )

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Thats it really. Merry Christmas Everyone!