What big blog posts you have..

Right! I think it's time for this seasons post:


With werewolf month swiftly approaching us, i've been finding it progressively harder to maintain my excitement for fear of annoying the fuck out of everyone. So as a means of expressing my excitement tastefully, i've been curating a lycanthrope themed spotify playlist for you all to enjoy!

The tracks have been picked for their own take on the werewolf myth, cover a variety of werewolf behaviour, and then back in normal life again. I've resisted the temptation of just using almost entirely metal tracks, because even though most werewolf tracks are metal, the lyrics are frankly incomprehensible, rendering it pointless. A couple did get through though.

If you don't have spotify, you can download it here. No invites or anything necessary and the 'Open' package is completely free (although you will have to occasionally hear comically horrendous adverts).


Anyway! motherfucking music right here! click the cute little wolf:



P.S. i am not a furry

Oh Woops..

Been playing civillisation 5. It's alright. There's things i'd do differently in it, like more differences between the armies, and things like a nuke would actually destroy a city instead of just setting it on fire, but these are minor complaints.

The thing is the games take a long time to play out, and are really engaging. There's enough stuff going on that towards the end, my computer slows down and starts taking about 10 seconds to process each turn (my computer does that! don't try on a laptop!) and you can't help but be curious about whats going to happen. it's got a bigtime 'just one more turn.. ' effect. Which can last for upto 12 hours..

Tropico 3

Hey guys!




About a week ago, (a week ago? i think it was a week.. i've lost track of time) i agreed to a friend to review my new-found favourite game, Tropico 3. I had a b.. Shit! Was i supposed to do it for this weekend? No! I mean yes..! I was! bloody fuck, ok..
Er, well, i guess actions save a thousand words, or pictures speak louder than words or whatever, so i may have to phone in sick saying, "i enjoyed it so much, i've been unable to write anything.. so um, here's some pictures..?"

PS. to whom it may concern: Ha, i'm joking.. i am still gonna try and write a proper review, i promise! Possibly within the week, i dunno.. I've only got a couple of islands left.. so hopefully..

Btw since few people know anything about this game: it's a sim-city strategy style game, set in cold war era carribean. You play a dictat.. I mean Presidente, aided by your (generally) trustworthy advisor Penultimo, building a nation from scratch on deserted islands to fulfil various objectives. Throughout each level the superpowers compete for your "loyalty to their respective ideologies" (read "usefulness") sometimes by making helpful offers, sometimes demands, and sometimes, if things get really bad, by turning up to say hello with some gunships. There is never a dull moment, with the various domestic factions and their silly requests, the people occasionally being the unappreciative shits they can be, random events and obviously elections.. if you choose to go in for all that democratic rubbish, of course. Nothing in the game is obligatory, but every choice you make- from choosing a capitalist or communist approach, to your response to posed offers, to the 'fate' you might arrange for a particular troublesome citizen- everything impacts something somewhere in the game. As the dischordia saying goes: Do what thou wilt, but remember, no one likes an asshole.

Most of my islands have been tobacco paradises.


A little on going sandbox project, where i'm trying to see if i can get the population's happiness up to 100%. I don't think i've ever got higher than 65%, and that only after the KGB put drugs in the water supply.

I love it when the female students protest, they look so spazzy! (It says pendejos muerte)

Hi-5 if you know it

The custom avatar page lets you choose your characters strengths and flaws. I haven't had the courage to try out this flaw yet..

Tropico 3 can be slow paced (fitting for carribean culture really), but very satisfying, especially if strategical thinking pleases you in games, and you're happy to do it in a world whose citizens take dilemnas with a pinch of salt, a fat cigar and some disprortionately joyful music.
Incidentally if you decide to try it out, a few things:
1. right now its on sale for less than £7 on steam. (normally £20)
2. this game has a lot of detail, it can be very subtle and complex, yet it has a frankly pitiful attempt at a tutorial- and the steam version doesn't even come with a manual. I've seen many comments on the internet like: "don't like this game. I can't feed the people and they keep starving", "this game is too slow, each level takes days." and "rebels keep attacking me and i can't stop them" because people simply don't know how it works. The manual can be useful for reference and can be downloaded here. There is also a fan guide that people have said have helped them here, although imo the author doesn't seem to know where his opinions stop and rational strategy starts. Experiment a bit in the game (you don't have to know everything right away) and hopefully you'll be away.
3. Thirdly.. the DJ.. he is fucking annoying. You can turn him off in the options. Or even have him shot, if you have the expansion pack and you're feeling like that.


Right well, i suppose sooner or later i need to get on with a proper fucking review. Oh.. and sorry i haven't posted here much for a while, i... i don't know, i don't think i even have an excuse this time. I am well though, more or less, hope you've been fine too :)

The geeks are taking over!

Every 6 months the london ExCel centre hosts the bi-annual geek fest that is the london expo. Gamers, sci fi and anime fans with more money than sense turn up to buy useless junk and photograph much geekier geeks dressed up as their heroes.
By tradition, me, anna and pete meet at the expo every 6 months. This year i was joined by james and claudio. Here's just a small sample of our pictures from yesterday:



Last year, a small group of people dressed up as team fortress characters. I tried to find them all but only managed to get 3. This year, Team fortress was represented with force, all classes turned up- bar the sniper this time. I still didn't get to photograph most of them. Interestingly there were at least as many girls cosplaying the characters as boys.

Never enough medics!

Lolita was represented. Red eyes even improved the picture!

Rikku: Thief Gear

Rikku: Final Fantasy X gear

Rikku: Lady luck gear. Rikku was represented!

PICK UP THAT CAN

PICK UP THOSE CANS

By far my favourite: Vieras were represented!!

Origami ninja: exactly what the label suggests, a ninja quietly performing origami for people. I didn't notice him at first, so he's good

The nutters carrying these signs with hypnotic flashing red eyes claimed to be recruiting for "Doctor Steel's Army of Toy Soldiers" an army of thousands "who leave a trail of creation in their wake". Sounds like a good idea, actually, i think i will.. OBEEEYYY.....

Longcat has representation.

Jayne (from Firefly)

Alien: one of the most popular cosplayers there. Don't worry, it's on a leash.

Alien vs Predator

Steampunk was well represented, there were several stalls selling clockwork jewellery, faux victorian machines and guns, and even a gorgeous working mechanical sign. Unfortunately none of us managed to get many great pictures, but here is a guy wearing the helmet we saw at the exhibition in oxford back at christmas.

WHODUNNIT? Was probably just the rum, actually

The day was utterly knackering. In addition to the photos, i also got a new model for my collection. She will no doubt recieve her own post in the near future.

As this is a personal blog, and i am (unfortunately for me) a compulsively opinionated person, i have decided to disregard any attempts to appear unbiased. So if you are someone who favours the reinstatement of the british ruling class then you will just have to like it or lump it at this point.

Labour were never very big in the South East, but today they have lost 13 seats to the Conservatives, with only 4 still held. Lib Dem also lost 2, keeping 4.

So I would just like to salute my fellow Sotonites for keeping our fair city red.

My new electric brain!

Well the PC is done. i'll try not to go on and on again because i think it might be boring when i natter loads. SO:


Thanks to all you guys who never mentioned the cpu fan was on the wrong way round. In the end, I did notice, but only after I put up the pictures :s I did briefly think, 'is this right?' at the time, but somehow did it wrong anyway. Embarrassing newbie mistake- i blame it on the lack of fitting diagrams, of course.
Anyway, after attaining some isopropyl alcohol- an experience that led to meeting the world's most terrifyingly efficient shop assistant- and some thermal paste, the problem was fixed most easily. If anything, it added some extra fun to project.


....

It Fucking Works!

(The DVD drive is disconnected here because i was hearing a kind of squeeling, shuffling sound and was trying to work out what it was. In the end i found it was a power saving feature on the motherboard which could be turned off)


This was my favourite moment. When windows and all the drivers had been installed, i was able to see what it thought of the system hardware. It got everything right! So wonderful.. It's self aware.. I nearly cried!

Just because it works, of course, does not mean that in any way it's finished.


Fuckin light sabres! UV ones! Yaaaaay!! Oh man.. What the hell is wrong with me..
The cables are bound in uv reactive pvc. It was actually some feser tube meant for water cooling, but i cut it in a spiral (my finger did get split as well.. it's healing quite well though) and used it for this instead. I've no interest in water cooling before anyone asks.


The side panel has been given a window. I went to my parents this weekend, so me and my dad spent a day cutting into it with a jigsaw, and drilling holes into the plastic. Drilling every one of those holes was most tedious, we had to do it in shifts to make it bearable. It doesn't look like a lot looking at it, but it felt like forever. It probably won't let a lot of air through tbh, but i've found i don't really need to use that side fan anyway. Also, handy hint of the day: Don't bother trying to cut plastic sheets with a jigsaw.. the plastic melted behind the saw and welded itself back together! Amusing, but pretty fucking unhelpful. Anyway the window:



And now with the UV cathodes:




It's still looking quite dull, uninspired (and messy) though. One idea i had was to paint some design onto the window in UV reactive ink. The stuff is surprisingly hard to find though. Also i'd like to arrange the cables better somehow (that IDE cable pisses me the fuck off) and put some more colour/ UV ness inside. This something i like:


off of this guy here.

And then, there's this:

Fuckin bastard! i'm so having this idea!

Wot Saarffampten finks: Round 3

Same place, different poster. Think this one lasted about a week at most.


It says "Youtube common people" which i think refers to the multitude of youtube videos mocking the tories to the soundtrack of the common people:



On the other side it says "We can't afford the toffs" which i think refers to things like the time he claimed over £80,000 for various stuff on his second home in oxfordshire, including things like clearing the wisteria, repairing a leaky washing machine and replacing the outside lights.

Not that all other politicians are any better of course, i've little faith in the system so this is by no means an endorsement for anyone, i would never do that. You're all clever enough for me to not have to do that.