Edit: While I remember, I’m happy to report I’ve found my headset… unfortunately my DSi, original GBA and Game Boy Pocket have yet to surface.  Other stuff has though, thankfully… I’m not going mad and thinking I never had them >.>

This isn’t giving up by any means, just accepting that the road I went down is not right for the time and that one day it might be.  The group will remain, for past and future reference, but I will not be adding anything to it until the time is right.

All that’s missing on this new PC is an internal speaker and a couple of hard drives; my system has always been to have a smaller drive for the OS, then at least one larger drive to install games, put downloads on, etc.  I have some spare drives for the job, but one which was connected to the board I’m using in the “new” system has a corrupted partition, which is a bugger.  I’m working on fixing it and downloaded a utility to help me recover the bad sectors, if possible.  The worst thing is that I might have to just give up on the drive and get a new one, which isn’t cheap, especially as it’s an IDE drive.  And when I went looking on the Maxtor site (it’s a Maxtor drive), I found out that Maxtor and Seagate have merged!  That one completely passed me by!  Anyway, another problem with my laptop, coincidentally is that the speaker wire’s become loosened while it was bieng fixed, so I no longer get sound from it, apart from the sub.  However, this issue is easily repaired by the tech, but I figured I should add it as it’s leading to something and related to PC issues.  My laptop also now has a fly lead in place of the DC jack (though the DC jack is a part of it), which makes it a lot more resiliant and robust (do they mean the same?).  I was told that not everyone likes it as it doesn’t look as good (costs the same price as a replacement, which are rare for Acers I might add!), but as I value function over looks, it was perfect for me.

Oddly enough, it seems that the DJ jack gets the most strain of laptops and I can see why!  I was told my DC jack was cracked and that luckily I nipped it in the bud… even though I had to be creative till I could afford to get the repair and even then the contacts were a bugger, I smelt burning and the unit heated up round the DC jack.  It sucks when you can just about afford to do it… fact is, it needed to be done, so I did it.  Anyway, I hope to get all my PCs up and running properly again soon, so I can finally start on my websites.  I have a new idea for the radio site I want to implement and my Gamed Up project now has a look, but I can’t afford it, and need sections to come up with.  I’ll mention some stuff I’ve done in a later blog entry and where possible, even without the layout, I’ll be adding in a games blog to write to, so as always watch this space.

And lastly, before I forget, I’m gonna be using Google AdSense on this site.  I’m hoping to make sure it doesn’t get in the way, but I’ll have to see.  I also plan on opening up 2 more Zazzle stores as well; one is for the Radio site(s) and another is most likely for the paranormal group I’m setting up.  I may actually set one up for Gamed Up as well, but we’ll see what happens.  I have somany ideas, I find it hard to focus on just one, lest I forget about the others.  I’ll get something sorted eventually, but I’ll take things slowly.  I hope to have things mostly run themselves eventually, which is why the DiggerCast is being moved back to the Radio site, as it cuts down on multiple logins.  One day soon though, I plan to sit myself down and dedicate a whole page to each site and domain so I know what is going where, as frankly I need it!

Anyway, I’m just rambling now, so I’ll stop.  I’ll try to have an update on my sites for the next post, though it depends on what else comes up between now and then.

With the advent of WP3, I’ll be seeing what I will be able to accomplish with it, seeing as my radio/podcast site and the Xeno Storm website will be using their own WP multi-site setups in addition to here.  However, this site will have the least amount of development on it, as the level of development that the other sites have planned are more in relation to having multiple people aboard with that blog, whereas this blog is a one-man ship for the most part.  The ultimate aim I have for AdSense (which is admittedly some time off) is for through all the ads I have placed on my sites, I can get them to pay for themselves.  It is perhaps a little over-ambitious on my part, but even if it partially pays for itself over the year, then that’s good enough.  While I may be wrong in this assumption, I do think that AdSense is the least intrusive ad system out there and placed correctly, people barely notice the ads.  I mean “barely” in the sense that they’re not overly intrusive, but they do grab one’s attention if the topic of the ad interests them.  Granted, not all of the ads are perfect, but at least there’s some relevence.  I am also hoping to pimp out the Xeno Storm store on Zazzle as well, using it for stuff such as pictures I’ve taken or made (albeit not completely in some cases), among other things.  The proceeds would go towards funding the sites (and associated domains) as well, but I need to actually get some decent stuff out there as well.

On the subject of domains, I’ve traditionally taken the view that I should just let any domain I’m not using just lapse out and fail to renew it.  Now granted, I’d love to sell domains I aquire, but I have no idea how of how to do it.  And in a way, all this chopping, changing and thinking over the past while has been a precursor for me to get myself into gear for the future.  Out of a total of 30-odd domains (yeah, I have a lot of ideas), I can honestly say that 5 (3 of them being mine) domains are developed into active websites, though 2 of them are aliases for the same site; 1 of those domains is owned by a friend and another is owned by a client, so has very little to do with me, except where I’m required to change stuff.  Suffice to say though, the remainder of the domains are deadwood (as in waiting to be dropped), are waiting to be deployed or just hanging around while I think of a purpose for them, which I will eventually.

I’m gonna stop it here for now, so I can get on with other things, but I hope to sort out a few ideas for my websites soon, as well as getting the two other blogs for here up and running.  As always, watch this space.

I’ve been busy implementing Google Analytics into all my websites, as unfortunately, my site statistics are broken, meaning I have no indication of search statistics at present, but I intend to rectify this soon.  Additionally, as of the start of August, I hope to have Google Analytics running on many of my websites so I can better analyse the website statistics.  Anyway,  all that aside, there are other features in WP3 that I like the look of, and I’ll be putting them to good use in the Stormhaven Radio and Gamed Up (games website I have been planning for years) blogs at least.  Additionally, after much rummaging around, I also managed to find my uni (PSD) files for the original Gamed Up website I planned, which was strongly based upon vBulletin and Invision Power Board.  Well, one of my friends did say there’s no original ideas any more!  I do beg to differ somewhat though as although ideas may not be completely original, there are at least a few concepts that may be original, eithe rin their use or the way they were designed, but I digress.  I plan to have most of my websites up over the next few months in at least a basic framework, if nothing else.  The more developed sites will of course see a much more mature progression, although admittedly, you could argue that this site is pretty much complete, apart from needing software upgrades.  The reviews and project blogs are essentially the icing on the cake to make things look better.

I should also mention as well that the reviews blog will not be covering games except for a very special occasion, as that what the Gamed Up site is designed for.  I also plan on using YouTube to post up reviews, videocasts and other stuff later, but that’s some time off yet.  I have Flickr groups for projects as well, but again, that’s some time off yet.  Eventually, everything will have a proper place, meaning there will be a lot of organisation sorted.  I may even consider making my personal website a sub-site of the new multi-site system here instead, which I suppose is an inversion, but that remains to be seen, as it may be that I might just use the site as a practice run for HTML.  There’s loads of directions I could take, but I’m more concerned with stabilising foundations first… especially if I can make things simpler for me later on.  Don’t expect to see too many visible changes to my sites, although you may find things work a bit better than they used to!

I’ll post again soon.

Oh, before I forget… I’ll also be using AdSense in many of my blogs as well, so you will notice that.  Also, I’ll be giving this site a lick of Analytics paint before the end of the month, while trying to see if I can analyse my site logs.  I really ought to sort out my desktop though…

First of all, I’ll be trying to see if I can get subdomains working with WordPress MU and if that’s successful, I’d be deploying it out to a few other sites as well.  Secondly, I’ll also be experimenting with a simple(ish) multi-wiki setup.  I plan on using at least 3 wikis as well, but all this is just a bunch of incomplete ideas in my head at present.  As I said before, I’ll explain better in a future entry but for now this is just an update to say I’m stillabout, just that I’m busy and haven’t been focused enough to blog about anything.

I will soon though!

http://www.shoutmeloud.com/facebook-spam-name-this-is-without-doubt-the-sexiest-video-ever-p-p-p.html

http://www.tricksdaddy.com/2010/05/facebook-spam-this-is-without-doubt-the-sexiest-video-ever-p-p-p.html

And lastly, a link on how to remove it: http://www.lifedork.net/post/how+to+delete+winamp+facebook.html

Alternatively, if you happen to have me as your friend on Facebook or MSN I’ll help you through it.  But yeah, this just makes me glad I’ve become more aware of securing my online accounts as of late.

Edit: I know the alignment is a bit screwy, but at present I have no idea how to fix it.  Anyway, the post is still legible so it’s not that big an issue and likely can wait until after I move this blog to its new home.

http://news.spong.com/article/21176/Sony-No-PS3-OtherOS-Refunds
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/04/19/sony_firmware_compensation/
http://www.thinq.co.uk/news/2010/4/14/sony-refuses-to-sanction-ps3-refunds/

It seems that judging by the above, getting refunds is proving to be a problem.  I still haven’t persued the possibility of getting a refund though it doesn’t look I’d have much luck at present.  There is also mention here of a 3.30 patch and as you can see, there’s no mention of the Other OS (OOS) feature being restored.  I imagine if (and at the moment it seems a big if) it does get restored, it’ll be on the next patch after this one.  Still, it’s madness that Sony pull the plug on a feature that was advertised as a selling point, especially as to actually exploit the security issue in the first place, it requires more effort than all but the most dedicated of individuals are willing to commit to.  Let’s face it, who but the most dedicated would want to open up their PS3, void the warranty on the machine and risk bricking it?  I’m not knocking them by any means, but the point is that only a handful would even consider doing this, so why would it even be considered that serious and issue?

As it stands now, those who want the OOS feature and PSN access have only one recourse, now that the proxy has been shut down (from what I gather) and that is to install the CFW, which is likely to get you banned off PSN.  As much as I’d love to have the option to have the OSS feature, I’m not willing to risk getting locked out of the PSN for it, even though many have most likely been.  It’s shocking that Sony are so willing to stand aside and let people get blocked off from PSN (be it a ban or refusal to upgrade) just because they’re allegedly plugging a security hole very few would or could exploit.  And this comes not long after Sony saying they weren’t going to remove the feature!  This is why I cannot really trust Sony at present.  Another reason for me to distrust Sony has just come up here, seeing as it appears Sony can update the PS3′s firmware without asking!  This really gets me raging!  First of all, they disable the OOS feature and now they say we can download it to your system without your consent?  What the hell are Sony smoking?  I mean seriously… first they said we had the choice of installing the FW update or not and now we don’t?  Consumer rights groups will have a field day, especially as I doubt such a thing is legal.

Before anything is said to me about how this isn’t illegal, let’s put it like this:

Say you have a car that you bought and paid for and thus you own it.  The car is computerised, so the system occasionally needs updating to iron out any kinks, etc.  Now say the car’s computer system currently has a feature that was advertised as a selling point… I have no idea what example to use but say it’s a useful feature to those what would use it and less so for those who don’t (much like the OOS).  Anyway, if you refuse to install this update, the system will have severely reduced functionality in another area more important (such as no PSN access) than the one you wish to keep until you update to the latest firmware.  You could also attempt to install a customised update but due to the way the computer system works, if such a thing is detected, the important feature will no longer work (getting banned from PSN).  Before I continue, I apoligise for non-specific examples in explaining it in terms of a car, but I honestly cannot think of any parallels at present… anyone have any ideas?  Anyway, you have chosen not to upgrade your car’s computer so you can keep the feature because you use it quite regularly, though unfortunately you also used the important feature too, but now you cannot use it because of your insistance of keeping the feature that would be removed in an update.  Of course, that EULA states that the update people have permission to break into your car (while you’re in it) and install the update anyway, regardless of whether or not you consented to it!

The main reason why I used a car though is because some people seem to think that if someone buys a PS3, Sony have the right to force their updates upon people.  Everyone understands that once you buy a car, you own it, not the company… so why is Sony thinking they own individual PS3s?  We paid a lot of money for it (some more than others) and thus we own it, which means no one, not even the company that manufactered the device can tamper with our property.

This brings me nicely to my next point.  I recently started a group on Facebook called “I refuse to buy another PS3 game until Sony restores the Other OS option!” (catchy title, eh?), which at the time of writing has only 2 users, though I’d like as many as possible. I intend to use this as a protest group, as you might have guessed and the idea is to get as many people as possible on it, so I can eventually write an email to Sony and say to them “unless you restore the Other OS feature, this many people will refuse to buy any PS3 games or a PS3, thus causing you to lose out on a lot of money!” Of course, ne recent loophole that came up which I intend to take full advantage of, or at least let others take advantage of is the purchase of second hand games/systems. Why you ask? Well, I may as well explain why I’m not buying any more PS3 games as well. Firstly, Sony makes a loss on every PS3 they sell and make it back on games sales… thus, if I don’t buy any more games (though I have in the past; Rock Band 2 is 2-3 weeks old now – before I found out the implications of this) then Sony will not make any more money. As for buying second hand stuff, the retailer gets 100% of that money, which Sony doesn’t like one bit because they don”t see that money.

So really, when I say I’m not buying PS3 games, perhaps what I should really say I’m not buying PS3 games brand new, or do anything else that puts money in Sony’s coffers; I needed a bit of a dramatic title though so it can stay

But yeah, it seems nowadays that the only way to get big multinational company to listen to you is actually threaten them the only way they’ll understand; through their pockets. If they realise that a significant part of people are angry enough and refuse to financially support them, then they should eventually sit up and take notice…. at least that’s the plan. I’m crap at writing letters so I’ll be essentially needing time to actually forulate a letter, though help is appriciated. Anyway, I’m going to leave this for now and I’ll make some minor updates to this if needs be, and if there’s anything fully newsworthy over the next week, expect another update.

Watch this space.

Update: I should mention as well that I still intend to use my PS3; I own it and I intend to use it fully with the games I have paid for already. the only things I won’t do is buy anything off it or buy any new games for it. I may consider second hand games though. It seems stupid not to use something I have already paid for.

Update 2: Here’s another link about the updating of the PS3 without consent. I love the Penny Arcade strip that goes with it too!

For those of you that already know, or have gotten yourselves up to speed on things just now, not many people actually use the Other OS option.  I mayself don’t use it but I was considering it at some point, though now I haven;t the option to.  Sony’s excuse was apparantly “security concerns”, but essentially that’s like putting a small fire out with a few million gallons of water, when a bucket would have sufficed.  Of course, as a result of the Other OS removal, a lot of people are annoyed though some couldn’t care less.  Of course, this is only scratching the surface of things; first of all, the removal of this option now means that Sony has broken an EU Law; Directive 1999/44/EC to be precise.  As you can see here, someone already attempted to claim a refund from Amazon UK and was successful in doing so.  This sets an interesting precident and certainly one I’m going to both explore and follow through; this blog entry is the second step in that process.  I’ll explain the first step shortly but here’s a bunch of links in relation to the EU law and the PS3 3.21 software:

http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7266&sid=dff956c5372ab577ba5d29f2fd2b7ace&start=180#p37999
http://lists.fixstars.com/pipermail/yellowdog-announce/2010-April/000223.html (Yellow Dog Linux announcement)
http://labby.co.uk/2010/04/playstation-3-ps3-firmware-update-3-21/ (a fellow UK blogger’s post on the update; seems an argument with his wife was caused, oh dear)
http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3-General-Discussion/PS3-Firmware-3-21-coming-April-1st-no-joke/m-p/10495082
http://www.thinq.co.uk/news/2010/4/9/sony-says-sorry-for-other-os-take-down/ (Sony apoligise, but it’s a bit too late for that now)

My first step was to actually join these 3 communities on FB protesting the removal of the feature.  I’m not sure which one is better, so I joined all 3:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114315258581392 (this is coincidentally where I got my YDL info from)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108458319185510 (this one I have contributed to and I think it was considered the “best” one, based on a post I read)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=107165099316102

With all that out of the way, I’ll continue.  I foolishly installed the 3.21 update as I thought it was a joke and also I’ve been waiting for an update since December so I had hoped it stabilised the system as well.  Alas, it wasn’t a joke.  Going back to the issues Sony now face besides potential lawsuits and being looked at by the consumer protection bodies, they also failed to factor in what the removal of the Other OS option could actually do, such as remove its tax classification as it’s no longer a computer.  They just shot themselves in the foot at least twice!  another issue as well is that if you do want to keep Linux on your PS3, you have the choice not to update.  Of course, you’ll be denied access to the PSN and also be unable to watch BDs or play games that need the 3.21 patch, so people are getting shafted with 2 clear options:

Keep 3.15: Keep Linux, but lose PSN access and ability to play latest movies/games and also not get any important system updates.
Update to 3.21: Lose Linux, but be able to play latest movies/games and access PSN and get important updates.

Clearly, the choosing of one or the other is unfair, especially when you consider that it’ll put people  off buying PS3 games, so between lost console sales, lost games sales, refunds (provided enough do it, the retailers will claim the money back off Sony) and having to pay taxes, Sony have caused themselves to enter a world of hurt, both financially and with their fans.  I noticed that a lot of people blame this GeoHot guy for hacking the PS3, but the amount of effort required to even hack the system is more than what most people are willing to do; it’s really only the dedicated ones who would go this far anyway.  There’s a lot of debate on the issue, especially the reasons for it, but I don’t want to debate them right now.  I’d recommend reading up on that bit yourself, especially as I’m in the process of doing it as well.  Either way, I’m off to game so I can look at getting a partial refund for my lack of Other OS option.  It’s my ultimate hope that enough people claim a partial refund in order for Sony to realise the mistake they’ve made and restore the access; sorry in this case doesn’t cut it.

NB: There is an option to have the 3.21 patch and the Other OS option, but that’s playing with fire as you risk getting banned off PSN for it.  It’s been recommended you don’t do it.  Additionally, you can’t downgrade back to 3.15 once you’ve upgraded as Sony have removed that version!

Update 20/4/10: I’m now aware of the fact that WP doesnt seem to automatically process hyperlinks, doh!  I’m fixing that now though.  I’m going to find a plugin that processing them for me, though ideas are welcome.  I also looked into getting a partial refund from Game, in the store where I purchased my PS3, although the manager there says I’ve to contact Sony about that.  I haven’t pursued this as of yet, due to recovering from surgery but I’ll certainly be seeing what I can do soon.

Update 21/4/10: Embarressingly, I didn’t notice there were a few comments attached to this post.  Of course, in my defense, I was recovering from surgery (the post was made a day before I went in) and was out of it plus didn’t really come back here till yesterday.  The comments are now cleared and should be able to be seen and I’ll be looking back to see if there’s any other comments I missed.

Anyway, just to mention about the DiggerCast, I have an episode awaiting production but because of the move, I can’t record any more episodes until I find my headset. I also plan to get some new Skype call recording software as well, though I forgot the name of it… I think it’s called Pamela. PrettyMay served me well, but Pamela seems to be more suited to my needs. Well, it’ll tide me over at least until I get a mixing deck and other podcasting gear! Other than that, I’ve been getting into Guild Wars and playing about on the PS3 occasionally. Sadly though, my Band Hero drum-kit refuses to work with Rock Band 1, thinking it’s vocals and if it’s one thing I don’t do it’s sing while sober or around people >.> Erm, anyway, the Guitar Hero guitar works well with RB, so it’s not a total loss… need a second guitar though. I also need to get into learning the piano/keyboard as my friend has an idea about setting up a band at some point. On that note, I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned seeing Assemblage 23 who were quite frankly, awesome. One funny thing about one of the supporting acts that I didn’t realise till last week was that one of the blokes in Tenek was also in The Nine, who did one of the songs I remember hearing at least 10 years ago, most likely more; that song being My Fallacy. Was pretty crazy. I uploaded a pic of Tom Shear on my Facebook, with plans to do the same on Flickr; in my opinion the pic is perfect; perfect lighting and no blur… it was a great shot.

My mum was over for a few days last week and we went to the Science Museum and checked stuff out then we went to see Tangerine Dream (the point of her visit), at their Zeitgeist concert which celebrated their 40th anniversery of their first album and 35th of their performance at the Royal Albert Hall. It was impressively massive, but by god the seats in the middle were uncomfortable; my arse was really sore from prolonged sitting on them! Of course, between the lack of sleep (I have trouble sleeping before daybreak at present), the lighting and their music, I ended up closing my eyes and zoning out completely, because I’m cool like that. To be fait though, after about an hour of doing that and towards the end I felt well-rested and stayed wide awake for the last hour and a half! I remember during the intermission there was this bloke saying stuff and he literaly had the house in stitches and recieved a huge applause! I wish I had recorded it now so I could upload it to YouTube, but alas it never occurred to me. Anyway, heading home was really fun; we missed the last train from London Bridge back to mine, meaning we had to go to Lewisham on the final-final train, where I think cattle-class was an understatement… this was sardine class! To make matters worse, there was an incident, meaning the Met had to be called in. It took us quite a while before we moved. We eventually got to Lewisham and hung around for the N89, then when that finally came, we went upstairs where there was this bloke who was spitting on the bus… charming. Of course, it doesn’t end there… he starts getting confrontational with the guy behind us, which caused his phone to side under our seats… by this point, my mum decided it was best to go downstairs! I’m fairly sure I’ve now caused her to worry about me whenever I get on a nightbus, with drunk people. Anyway, it was nearly 3am when we got back to mine in the end… totally crazy!

I actually plan to go see a Tangerie Dream event in East London although I’ll have to see if I can make it, given 2 days before I’ll be having 3 of my wisdom teeth out. In theory I don’t see why I couldn’t do it, but I’ll see what happens on the 13th… for which I have to be up really early for, like 5am >.< I am not a morning person! Although I’l have to do it, so the sooner it’s done, the better. Hopefully next time I write, I’d have found my DSi or my headset… don’t hold your breath though.