I imagine that these ones will be shorter than usual as I’m adopting a drip-feed stance at the moment, for some reason. This will essentially mean more posts, but smaller ones. Anyway, I have a few things I want to mention. First of all, there will be an important development from next Monday. I’m going to be moving servers, so the site may be down for a few days, though this also means I have the opportunity to implement new things, although admittedly, the things that get priority are existing concerns, as while I do have websites to start up, I think the existing ones need more attention first. I do have a few projects planned though. First of all, I have found a way to keep track of my top 250 movies list with an app on Facebook called Twofifty, which I saw a friend of mine add, so it shold be a bit easier for me to keep track of what I watched now, although I may have to keep in mind that the top 250 on that list are going to be in flux at the bottom, though at the same time, there shouldn’t be too many changes given a lot of the films are classics; I’ll just have a buffer of 10 and then essentially make up the 250 from the combination of the moving movies. Additionally, I signed up to a website that does book stuff, but the name escapes me at present although it looks like I’ll be switching to allconsuming.net, as I just signed up to its sister site, “43things”… after much hassle in getting my username and linking it to Facebook properly! Thank god I won’t have to do that again!

Actually, it seems my hassles won’t give up, as even though I deleted my accounts, it still thinks it’s linked into Facebook on those accounts. I’m not happy, but not much I can do at present… at least I have the nickname I want. I’ll sort out FB integration later. Anyway, after that exercise in frustration, I figured I’d also mention that I’m going to be making a couple YouTube vids and a blog entry related to the Matterbox, which I just received in the post today. There was a chocolate bar in there (emphasis on was) and also 2 games there which people are asked to review, so what I’m going to do is make an entry, and using pics that someone else has taken (properly attributed of course) write a bit about it, then the first video will talk about the stuff in it, and the second one (possibly a pair) will be with a person playing both games. It’ll make a change from the DiggerCast, which coincidentally is moving home, but the domain will still point to the DC’s current location, and in the future, it’ll be like it is now, although for the foreseeable future, the blog will get moved into its own space, till I work out how to move stuff into a multi-blog and put a domain on top of it. Of course, that’ll happen after everything has been moved over. Oh, additionally, I will be using the Rating WP plugin on the current DC site and future Podcasts website, so people can rate the episodes (be gentle!). It goes without saying that the Gamed Up website’ll use it too for its reviews system, though people will be able to give the game their own score..

I’m also hoping to gather a team of people for the DiggerCast, so we can make sure it sticks to the new pattern I’ve planned out for it (once every 2 weeks is an episode). I plan on uploading the 2 episodes I have recorded soon, but the new eps recording this coming weekend won’t be up till Xmas Eve; I will upload the 2 outstanding eps that weekend though just to have them sorted. There will be one ep in January which will be a farewell episode with regards to the Phase designation, meaning it’s going right into production! Regular series episodes will start in February, and will be uploaded once every 2 weeks, recording the weekend before, giving time to edit the episode and eventually transcribe it. Either way, with the server move happening, it gives me an opportunity to integrate stuff better and get a decent system going. Hopefully by the start of next year, everything will be sorted, and I won’t want to tear my hair out >.>

I’ll add more updates in due course. Oh, and before I forget… I’m not playing Guild Wars for a while now, given I’m getting into Lord of The Rings Online, and hopefully will be setting up a kinship (when I have enough people to). I’ve gotten myself and 2 other friends addicted to it, so we’re gonna be travelling Middle Earth for some time. If anyone is actually interested in joining us, let me know here and we’ll see about questing together. Additionally please note that we’re on the EU version of LoTRO, so US people can’t join us, but I will at least make inroads to have an equivalent US version of what we’re doing.

Watch this space for updates.

Edit: I’ve just made progress with my 250 movies goal, although admittedly I’ve seen them in the past but I’ve seen them so much, i want to take them off the list so I can focus on other movies instead, especially ones I have but haven’t seen in a while. or even haven’t seen at all!  Still, progress is progress.  I can also update the entry regarding podcasting, seeing as the DiggerCast is going into a proper production phase which I”m going to dub G2, given that There was a G1 ep posted (under Phase 1), and phases 2 and 3 were planned with a few test recordings (but never released), so the 3.5 phase is the true G2.

Before I begin,  I’ve noticed that Twitter now has an apps system, which surprised me at first but I guess it was to be expected.  At least it might make things a bit more secure anyway.  I’m going to have to apply the same modification to the DiggerCast as well, I think and also the radio site, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  Moving onto WordPress 3.x, which is the reason I am even aware of the new Twitter Apps system, I’m impressed at how much easier it is to update everything and also how much clearer the update information is displayed.  I’m not sure if it’s necessarily faster or anything, but it feels, well better.  I’m certainly looking forward to using it in my current and new site deployments anyway.  Although thinking about it, updating the DiggerCast seems a little redundant, given I’m folding it back into the Stormhaven Radio website, in order to have a podcasting platform to work from; I’m finding it a tad annoying at the thought of setting up a separate single blog site and domain for every podcast I have, so I’m just going to put them all within the radio blog as it’s cleaner.  If I want a domain, I can just tack it onto the WordPress blog url somehow, which might take a little tweaking, but it’ll be worth it in the end.  I really should learn more about webservers and HTML/CSS and PHP though.

One thing I’ve also started to do is with the help of my server provider is install AWStats, in order to process server stats locally, although unfortunately it appears I cannot access any of my past site access logs, if any were ever kept.  Shame that.  At least I’m using StatCounter to keep progress on my sites; one of my sites (Therians dot Net – TdN) actually surprised me by indicating I’ve had over 1300 visitors to it in the past month, which isn’t bad going!  This site is a little lower on the scale, but hey at least it has exposure.  This site and TdN are the only active sites on StatCounter, though I do have more planned.  I would be putting the DiggerCast in as it is an active website, but it’s moving soon and I don’t fancy complicating matters with it just yet.   Besides, I’m still testing stuff out and it’s doubtful the stats would be all that impressive anyway.  At least though I have the groundwork sorted for when I do start it all, which I should soon.  I also need to sort out my IRC network’s website and plan out a prototype chat site, which should be fun.
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I need to consider having some consistancy with my blog-posting frequency. So, to this end, I’m gonna try post an entry once every two weeks, even if it’s only a short post. The idea is essentially to get me posting on a consistant basis. I might even try posting once a week down the line, but I think once every two weeks is a good way to start. On the next post, I’ll mention about my new projects in more detail, the first being the games blog and the second being yet another revamp of the DiggerCast, albeit with a new name. It’s also about this time that I’d be back from Ireland, so I should have something to talk about on that front. All the more because my friend Sean will eventually be coming aboard with the “DiggerCast 3″ (DC3) project, once I have it sorted. Despite the fact the proper launch will be in the first or second week of January, I’ll be announcing the details of the site proper sometime next month. I’m not 100% sure if I’ll have things ready for the next entry, but I will try.  I do think my games blog/site may need longer than I think, however.

At the very least, I’ll have some updates regarding both projects, even if there’s no link to either site.  I want to get DC3 up and running ASAP for the reasons listed above.  Without giving too much away, this one is going to be more active than the past two versions.  Additionally, I’m moving all the older content to the new site and closing down the blogs on the Stormhaven Radio blog site.  I’ll also be posting up 2 rough drafts of Version 2 of the DiggerCast, so you can see the sort of stuff we were working on.  Call it a possible taster of what is to come, as well as a gift to the loyal fans… oh, and an apology for having to wait so long!  I would post something else up, but at the moment I’m not 100% with it so it would be a bit pointless, especially as it’s so late!    I may actually consider writing something this coming Saturday, as I do have a few things to write about, especially given how crazy things have been recently.

After that, the next post will be on the 14th of November, then there will be one every two weeks, on a Saturday, eventually expanding to once a week when I can keep that pace.  Additionally, I haven’t set the clock back, so this is actually being posted at 5-ish as opposed to what the time says now.  I’ll be fixing that after the post as I only just realised it now, whoops!  At least I did notice it though, that said.  Last time I noticed the clocks went back was at my graduation ceremony, when the bar stopped serving alcohol!  That’s a story for another time though.  What I will do in the following entry though is start to talk about stuff I’ve heard about and read over the past couple of weeks.  When I get into the swing of things, it’ll be a bit more consistant as I’m still experimenting with things.  When you consider I’m also gonna have a separate gaming blog and a couple of podcasts, I’m gonna have to be more consistant with posting.  It’s likely that there will be crossover between the two blogs and podcasts, which wouldn’t be surprising, especially if the topics being covered interest me and are within the scope of this blog and the games one.  As for the DSi review, that will be taking a little longer to publish, as I have been unable to aquire a DS Lite, in the interests of proper reviewing and comparing of all the features of 3 consoles.  I wish I were doing this professionally, then I’d get free games and consoles!  Well, one can dream…

While I’ll try to stick most of the games content on my games blog, I may actually post a few choice articles here too.  It makes sense to, as I get the impression that not everyne who reads this blog will be a gamer; that’s the main reason why I’m having a separate games blog, as I don’t want this to focus on gaming and the games industry.  Yes, there’s stuff related to it now, but that’s because my games blog isn’t up yet.  Like I said as well, I do intend to have some games stuff on here too, but I want this mainly to focus on stuff apart from gaming.. stuff like science and technology, stuff relating to Autistic Spectrum Disorders and similar conditions (I’ve got Asperger Syndrome), politics (the odd time), posts about things that interest me, as well as the odd rant (well, it is my personal blog – trust me, eventually you’ll have a rant about something that really annoys you on your blog, it’s inevitable).  I also eventually want to use this blog to show off my projects and experiments… something tells me that I should really consider WPMU, on the basis that eventually WP will become something like WPMU anyway.  Certainly having a projects and experiments blog would mean that I can take a completely different direction with that blog… admittedly though, what I may do is just do that for my portfolio website instead… it makes more sense.  It’ll save me having to reshuffle the setup of this site, as to be honest I really can’t be bothered with the changes required to make a single blog into a multi one.

Am I lazy?  Perhaps I am, but I don’t see the point in complicating something that is essentially just meant for my writings.  I do think my portfolio site is the perfect place for my projects and experiments anyway, seeing as I’m trying to market myself with it.  This is essentially the site where I discuss my thoughts; the other site was really only going to be a sort of CV, or rather it wasn’t gonna change a lot.  Seeing as my projects and experiments are likely to be ongoing, with no idea as to when the next post is, it makes sense to put them on that site, with me mentioning here when I’ve updated.  It’s the perfect setup really.  The site isn’t set up yet, so it’ll cause me no grief whatsoever to actually implement the idea, plus it also shows the site is active.  The main blog (the root one) is essentially just a place for me to mention news updates regarding my professional life.  I will also be linking my Twitter to the main blog on there, so there will be some overlap; the idea is to get the two sites to compliment each other.  I’ll need to work on a category system and tags for my projects though.  I might actually put my Warhammer 40k army up as a project, seeing as it is a big one!  Another one I want to look into is AIML, some more photography, and playing with the robotics kits I have.  I would also like to convert a camera to infrared at some point as well.

All my videos would be linked into the same YouTube account, as there’s not a lot of point in having a separate account, seeing as it’s all me.  I will, of course tag everything relevent to each site.  My Flickr account will be the same, including the plugin that displays some of my pictures, although I’d increase the amount of pictures shown to 6 or 8.  I would also be making use of embedding in the project blog, as well as the post cut feature, as make no mistake, the blogs are going to be larger on average than what I post here, seeing as I’ll have to make some notes… well, I don’t necessarily mean larger as in written content, it’s more related to the fact there’d be a lot of pictures and videos within the post.  I do hope to eventually post a few vids here, be they of me or something that interests me.  Once in a blue moon podcasts may also be on the cards, but don’t expect anything on that front for a while.  What I may actually do is do a podcast accompaniment with each entry.  It wouldn’t be exactly the same content as each post, but I would at least cover the subjects I covered in the entries I wrote.  More than likely, I’d do them once a month, solo, though that’s not to say I wouldn’t have guests, but it’s not really a podcast per say, it’s more a verbal transcription and summary of my blog entries for the month The only problem though is that I’m not sure when I’d actually do it… I’m thinking the week after the last blog post, again on a Saturday.

This way, I can collect any comments I recieve for the month and talk about them.  I’d most likely allocate 30 minutes to talk about the month’s posts; anything longer and I’ll most likely bore people.  It doesn’t help that I write out stuff, then I get inspired to continue the blog more.  Inherently, this is by no means a bad thing, but it does mean that I’ll have to stick to the main points in my blog as I can’t cover everything at the end of the day.  One thing I am thinking of for a future blog post is regarding games that can elicit emotions from the player; I thought about this due to a reaction I had in Bioshock regarding the Little Sisters.  Yes, I know Bioshock’s been out a while, but the game made me think about things… I could never harvest (kill) them; in fact, it upset me the way they reacted when you rescued them, and even before you decide what to do.  It’s a harrowing thing watching them cower as you step towards them in order to rescue (or harvest) them.  I don’t think I could harvest them, as it would upset me.  I consider this an amazing thing for a game, to be honest.  Granted, it’s controversial, but at the same time, it’s well-done.

I’m not going to discuss this further here, but I felt it needed to be mentioned as it affected me so deeply, and was the inspiration for a future article on my games blog/site, as well as here.  Anyway, I’m gonna stop it here for now, as I want to keep this as short as possible.

I’ll post some more on Saturday.

Warning, this post is huge! If you don’t like reading large blog posts, you’re advised to avoid this!

The past half hour or so, I’ve been looking at many things… things mostly to do with how the human mind works and percieves things. I have to say, there’s quite an interesting amount of stuff there, and I haven’t even scratched the surface. First of all, we come across this article, which talks about the fact that schitzophrenics are not fooled by the “hollow face illusion”, with an included video. Essentially, the “hollow face illusion” involves — as you may have guessed — a hollow face. The article describes it as:

In the hollow mask illusion, viewers perceive a concave face (like the back side of a hollow mask) as a normal convex face. The illusion exploits our brain’s strategy for making sense of the visual world: uniting what it actually sees — known as bottom-up processing — with what it expects to see based on prior experience — known as top-down processing.

Anyway, it has been shown that those with schitzophrenia are not fooled by this illusion and see the concave face as what it actually is. The rest of us (including myself, which is interesting) see the conclave as a convex face, to the extent the nose sticks out! And even if you know this already, it doesn’t matter; your brain will still percieve the back side as a normal face. I found it interesting that I saw it like most “normal” people do, because I have a type of Autism known as Asperger Syndrome (AS). Now granted, I have been taught to act somewhat normal, but I do wonder if anyone else on the Autistic Spectrum will see things like normal people, or schitzophrenics.

Why I say this is because AS was once considered to be a form of schitzophrenia… see where I’m going with this yet? Good.  Anyway, if those on the Autistic Spectrum see things like a normal person, it would mean that Autism Spectrum Disorders affect different parts of the brain to schitzophrenics. That said of course, those who are drunk and under the influence of drugs see through it too, which makes you wonder what parts of the brain intoxicating substances hit, doesn’t it?

Post continues after the break… get a cuppa, you’ll need it!

Okay, I’ve decided to start to make a proper entry to dive right into stuff I plan to work on.  Anyway, yesterday I managed to find some rather interesting stuff in my local pharmacy while picking up my pills… firstly a 3-in-1 camera which can be used as a camcorder, camera or webcam, and also a robotic bubble nblower and robotic shark.  I’ve always had an interest in AI & Robotics, so I figured as they were going cheap, I’d pick them up.  I have another robot thingy I picked up in the charity shop, along with a 10-in-1 Electronics thingy.  And yes, I know they’re for kids, but when you think about it, they’re all a great way to get started with electronics as they have all the bits you need, and also instructions as well!  Anyway, my plans are to essentially build all these robots, then show pictures of them when complete, although I may actually use the video camera to record them.  Granted it’s a somewhat cheapish camera, but it’s a good thing to get started with till I can afford a larger camera.  What does worry me though is that the “High Res” (480×368)  and Low Res” (320×240) have little between them, yet the picture taking maximum is 640×480!

Anyway, expect videos from my assembling the stuff when I get an SD Card.