I did also manage to pick up a few PC games as well, for quite cheap.  I got myself Evolva, Mass Effect, Star Trek: Borg and Space Empires V and with the exception of the ST game, they were all new!  I ended up spending a lot on games the past week or so nut they were so cheap I couldn’t help myself!  Staying on the subject of PCs, my desktop has developed a slight issue where one of my SATA power connectors has broken so I can only have one hard drive going at a time, which quite frankly sucks.  Thje laptop isn’t fareing well either, given that the screen has gone all funny on it.  I do hope it’s just a loose connection because otherwise I’m going to have to shell out for a new laptop, given the gfx card replacement is a good 200-odd Pounds!  Thankfully, my desktop problem is only a couple of quid to fix, though I might get a spare one, in case it falls down again.  In case you’re wondering how it fell, it was simply a case of me getting tangled up with my mouse lead and pulling on the desktop and knocking it down.  Thankfully, it was just that which was damaged… the hard drives seem to be fine which I consider a small miracle.  Not that I could afford to replace them at all.  Not the best week for my computers, is it?

And it isn’t really the best week for me phone-wise either in a sense… I’m trying to pick up a HTC Desire reasonably cheaply, but I’m not having much luck at present here either!  Oddly enough, C64Glen was talking about them quite recently, and I added my little part; I think it’s awesome there’s a C64 emulator on Android, but that said I think I had it on my G1… certainly is better with a keyboard anyway!   As it stands though, I now have less money than I thought I did, which isn’t a good thing, although I’m finally taking the plunge and selling off my extra phones though I seem to be missing one at the moment!  I’ll find it eventually, but I’ve decided to get rid of these phones partly to help fund my purchase of the Desire and also because they’re sitting round doing nothing!  I’ve actually also started to throw out the boxes the phones have come in to save a bit of space, though it seems that you can get money for them on eBay, but I can’t be bothered with that at present.   It is actually a bit of a concern the phone went missing, although it may be upstairs.  Anyway, I hope by the end of October, things will have picked up in many areas.   I also want to make a quick mention that I’ve finally recorded a 3rd episode of the DiggerCast with my friend Ollie, and that the second one will be going up soon, followed by the third.

Moving on now, I stumbled upon an interesting “Mocumentary” through the Money Saving Expert email, which I watched with interest.  It’s essentially an environmental thing, but well worth looking at.  It also brought me to this video about a person called Captain Charles Mooretalking about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” on TED, which is related to the previous video. I then started looking at TED’s other videos and came up with this video, titled “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” by Sir Ken Robinson.  This video is well worth a watch, especially towards the end where he starts talking about someone who was behind the coreography of some of the most popular theatre productions of all time.  I won’t say any more right now, but suffice to say, it both moved me to tears and also got me thinking about how certain people are treated and how different would things be if they were treated differently, like this person was.  The reason for the secrecy is that I don’t want to spoil the surprise, because it really is that amazing (at least to me), I feel that no matter what I say, I’ll never do it justice.  I do recommend watching the whole video through because it really makes perfect sense.  TED is really a great resource and I think that I need to start using it more than I have in the past.

I also watched another video from Clifford Stoll, titled “18 Minutes With An Agile Mind“, and I’m not sure if he’s actually like that, playing it up a bit or a bit of both, but all I know is that I could so see myself doing what he does, although admittedly, I was a little frustrated in the opening minutes because I couldn’t find an anchor point initially to help me follow the conversation, but as someone pointed out, it does keep you on your toes!  Lastly, I had my first experiences with FreeCycle and also GumTree Freebies a few days ago, which I support the concept of, that is giving something I’m disposing of another chance at being used.  Unfortunately though, the item I put up was set to be taken by someone, but we couldn’t get it down my stairs!  Such a pity, because asides from some minor (repairable?) damage, it was perfectly usable and now I have to destroy it simply because I can’t get it down my stairs!  The item in question was a divan bed base, one of those boxy sorts that was in one piece, so couldn’t be disassembled.  I have no idea how the moving guy actually got it up the stairs in the first place to be honest, seeing as after removing the banisters, the person collecting it and I were still unable to get it out!  Such a pity I’ll have to cut it in half, but I guess that’s what happens sometimes.

Fortunately, I have a bed base to replace that, one that can actually be easily taken apart and moved, but I would have liked the base to go to someone who needed it, as opposed to in the rubbish, though it may be able to go into the local recycling plant, so it mightn’t be a total loss.  I am trying to do my bit for the environment, but sometimes there’s stuff that grinds my efforts to a halt.  Oh well, such is life I guess.  Here’s hoping that I’ll be able to blog soon that I finally have a HTC Desire and can tell you what it’s like… though I suspect I may need to pay a lot more than I think.  I am also in the market for a video camera now too, as I’m hoping to make some videos, as well as bring the camera on investigations too.  This also may take a bit of time, but I have a better chance at getting a cheapish video camera over a cheapish Desire!

We’ll see what happens in time.

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.

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.

Admittedly though, it won’t help your fingers get used to pressing on the strings… that’s something you’ll have to face later on and they do tend to make your fingers hurt for a while because the strings are pressing into your fingers. I haven’t played with an actual guitar long enough to be able to get protection from the strings as of yet, although the guitar isn’t my instrument of choice at present; that honour belongs to my keyboard (the piano type), which I’ve decided to learn first as it’s a little easier to get into. I’ve actually paid for the learning pack for Synthesia to help me in this goal. It’s much like Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the like, but it uses a keyboard or MIDI synthesiser instead. Admittedly, I’ve not touched it for a while now, but my Rock Band jam session has both rekindled the interest and also made me want to get Rock Band as well! I’m looking at getting the Band Hero Super Bundle, which is 100 quid in HMV at the moment, seeing as it has all the instruments I need to get me started, although the drums are a concern; would they be compatible with Rock Band? I know the guitar is compatible, and the mic should be as well, but I’m not sure about the drums. As for why I’m worried about this, I really don’t want to get another set of drums just so I can play all the games! One thing I noticed though that one of my friends would be happy with is the fact that the Band Hero drumkit has 3 drums, with 2 cymbals, I think they are those anyway. It still has the pedal, but that said, I don’t think it would be used as much in Rock Band, so his foot won’t hurt so much!

I will need to get another guitar though to complete the band though. I have been thinking long and hard about getting Final Fantasy 13, which has been out for a while and yes, C&C4 is out now as well but I’ll wait till my birthday to buy that. That’s another game I’m unsuure of, but I need to get it as it’s like a grand finale. Oddly enough, I stopped playing the multiplayer beta some time ago though that was more due to my move as opposed to not wanting to play it. Another thing I need to take back up is ST Online, which again I’ve not played in a while. The issue being though that it’s on my desktop and I need to fit a wireless card to it, given that the ethernet cable is too short, doh! Another game I recently have started to replay is Morrowind which I’ve been tweaking by installing the plugins. While I haven’t properly gotten into it just yet, I certainly think the plugins make it a better game. This is one thing that PCs excel at, that is having a lot of free mods and the like; consoles can’t compare in this case. Except for Unreal Tournament III, I can’t think of any other game that supports extension of its functionality through mods, at least on a console. I’ll delve into that shortly, seeing as I really need to get back to FF13. Anyway, on the topic of FF13, I’m not sure if I should buy it to be honest, as I’ve been reading reviews which state that it’s pretty dull for the first 15-25 hours, and I’ve had a fellow gamer tell me it’s crap. The issue is that I’m not sure if I should spend money on it, or just get the standard edition after it’s come down in price… it would certainly mean I could get Band Hero oin one go, and I do think it’s a worthwhile purchase, at least for the guitar and mic. DJ Hero llooks really tempting as well, on the basis to complete the set, or do something different though I’d most likely spend another 50 to get another guitar. I know this means more space taken up, but I think it’s worth it, especially for the range of options being available to play instrument-wise.

Moving back to PC gaming though, I’ve been thinking about getting Fallout 3 and Oblivion on PC, albeit later on when they’re cheaper. While I have them on PS3, I acknowledge that the PC versions are superior for the fact that they can look better as time goes on when you upgrade your PC, but mainly it’s because of the moddability (is that a word?) of the game, and thus the fact the game has much more longevity compared to its console counterparts. That said however, there’s less farting about with the console versions as while you still have to install them, there’s most likely less to install and there is a minimal amount of setting up that’s needed, such as driver issues or needing more space. I was talking about this in Game a couple of weeks ago, and came to the conclusion that for extended game life, PC is usually the way to go, but for being able to quickly get into the action, a console is better. And for the record, I have a PS3 and Wii though I want a 360 sometime, mostly as a development system however. I held back on getting a 360 because I didn’t want another MS system, although it seems likely that I’ll have to shell out extra money after I get it to get a few things, such as a wireless N adaptor and maybe another hard drive. Either way though, I’m gonna be getting the Elite. I do want to get both the PS3 and 360 versions of a game eventually though, so I can compare. It’s a good excuse for a YouTube video if I saw one!

But yeah, I’ll end this now, though I will say that it takes ages for me to get home… and I’m also wondering if it’s a good thing that I spotted so many police cars on my way home, round the general area I live in…

Anyway, Even though this blog is more about what I’m thinking, I figured I should at least start doing a cursory glance at what I plan to do over the next month…

First of all, I decided in the interests of putting less strain on this PC, I’m using a spare one that I have for music production and programming/development.  Of course, what I’ll be doing webserver wise is using a USB server on a stick, to make sure stuff such as Apache and MySQL don’t take up system resources, unless I need them to.  Of course, that being said, I may end up using the PC for internet radio as well seeing as it requires MySQL to run.  I guess this then means that this PC will be my PC only for entertainment and downloading.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I just realised that most likely anything involved with multimedia production and programming will be on the second PC now, with this essentially being mostly for games.  I shelled out 40 quid on a few bits for both PCs to help facilitate some of the above…

1 x Gold 3.5mm Stereo Jack Socket to 2 Phono RCA Plugs Adapter Cable (K006) = £0.69
1 x USB Joystick Converter 15 pin Game Port to USB (USB-Nest) = £8.37
1 x USB Mouse to PS/2 PS2 6 pin Plug Adapter Convertor GREEN (333962) = £1.27
1 x 2 Port Auto KVM Switch – Built in USB Hub for Sharing USB Devices (MPB068A-1) = £19.57
——————————————————
Sub-Total: £29.90
3 Day Courier Delivery (Usually within 3 days Courier Service – Not Royal Mail): £4.49
VAT 15%: £5.16
Total: £39.55

Gotta love the fact that VAT adds a fairly sizable chunk to my bill.  But yeah, I only initially wanted to get the top one, but then I realised that I could get everything else I wanted too; the KVM for switching between the production and entertainment PCs (although I may have to use the classic VGA connection now); the adapter cable to go with the second one that I have that’ll convert the 4 RCA ports on the back of my Audiophile to 2 3.5mm stereo jacks (I know it’s not ideal, but I can’t have 2 huge sets of speakers up here! – I’m also using some cheapy ones from PoundLand for the time being till I can get some half-decent smallish ones); then the Joystick converter which is mainly for my gaming system, seeing as I discovered my production PC has its own MIDI port, which is gonna be useless gaming-wise (my MIDI controller is USB as well, so it’s gonna find little use) and lastly the USB to PS/2 mouse converter, so I can free up a USB port.  I’m not actually even sure if there’s any real benefits of using a mouse in USB over PS/2 although it’s nice just to have it lying around anyway.  That said though, the KVM switch is going to host the mouse, keyboard and monitor so I could always just hook the mouse back up to USB.  I’m also moving my router and network drive downstairs sometime soon in the interests of regaining space.  More than likely, I’ll have to switch my PC off and reorganise all the cables but it’s a good time to do so.  I’m going to also be using my spare HDMI TV as a secondary monitor, as it’s just lying there right now with nothing to do.  It also means that I don’t have to go downstairs in order to switch over to something “important”, which invariably happens on the IRC networks that I hang out on.  One thing I also planned to do was stick my 2 rear spakers to the wall, thus freeing up more desk space.  The centre and front speakers are fine where they are, but the back speakers make things a little crowded, I feel.

Once I move my router downstairs though, I can wire up the PS3, although the desktops will have to go wireless, as I don’t need cables to be trailed round the place as it makes things look messier, plus it’s a bit dangerous and I don’t think the cables reach that far anyway.  Either way, it’s going to be much nicer here when I get everything sorted out; the PS3 is already connected to a CAT6 for when the router goes downstairs and it’s mostly hidden as well, although I need to make sure it stays on the ground when it goes under the door.  I may also have to slightly shigt the PS3 in a bit to make sure that there’s enough slack for the cable.  Either way, there’s going to be a hell of a lot to do.  I did try to upgrade my PS3 40GB’s HDD yesterday, but it turns out I needed a 2.5GB SATA drive, go figure.  The RAM I got didn’t work either as I needed DDR and I bought DDR2, doh!

Anyway, I went back that evening to get replacements and ended up having to buy another 1GB for my music PC, though depending on certain factors, I might have to get another 1GB.  If that’s the case, the 512MB I have spare may not be of any use to me any more, unless it works in the spare base unit that I’ve got, then I can use that as practice for the CompTIA I eventually plan to take.  I’m not going to lie… this entry has been written over 2-3 days, so if anything seems a bit inconsistant, you now know why!  With this in mine, I may as well mention the hassle of upgrading my PS3 hard drive… it wasn’t getting the old drive out or the new drive in that was the problem… it was getting the frame holding the drive in!  The screws are really tight and all the screwdrives I had wouldn’t let me take it off!  In the end, I had to use my powered one although it’s just as well I had one to be honest or I’d not have been able to replace the hard drive easily!  I am hoping the old one is still okay as I touched the connectors a couple of times, whoops.  The next thing I need to sort out is my RAM for my desktops although I really don’t want to do that today… I need to go and reinstall/re-download everything on my PS3, and patch up my games.  For some bizarre reason though, I have problems staying connected to PSN since the 3.10 update although I have downloaded some thing s so far.  Wireless was being a pain, so I had to use the guest access on my router (really handy to have) to get the PS3 online.  It worked, but the problem now is that I can’t have access to my media drive!

That said though, this is a temporary solution while I work out how to reorganise my flat… I think it’s likely that a trip to Ikea’s in order, so I hope I have the money!  For starters, I am gonna have one of those really thin bookcases, so I can store a few extra things behind my large one.  Then I also want another bookcase for my living room, so I can keep some more stuff there, as it looks likely that I’ll need to expand my space for DVDs, though it may be more likely that I put my games on it instead, as I have quite a few of them.  I’ll think of something, albeit next year.  I’ll also need some shelving to sort a few things out with as well; I certainly see a few places where a shelf could fit.  Sometimes I wish I owned my own place instead of renting, then some of these concerns wouldn’t be as big, seeing as when I move out of here one day, I’ll have to fill up all the holes I’ve drilled and give the whole place a new lick of paint!

The RAM, for those who are curious, has not been sorted out as of yet, though it will be eventually.  Moving on swiftly to the DiggerCast (DC) and other podcasts and Stormhaven Radio (SHR), I’ve decided that for now that I’ll just work on the DC, and have those due to appear on either SHR or other podscasts I plan to do to appear on the DC instead till things are sorted.  The draw for this is that there will be different people each time it’s recording, although it’s the same group of people doing it.  Essentially, it all depends on who is around at the time, although I’m gonna cap the amount of people at no more than 4, and consider doing it once a week, for 30-40 minutes an episode, although there will be some pre-planning before then.  The format harks back to the initial podcast (and the only released one!) which was “popular” (we only had a few fans as only a few people heard it) because of the banter between myself and Sean.  I’m hoping that what made the original funny will make this one as funny, if not funnier.  The concept essentially revolves around the team digging up a website and talking about it for the podcast, although that said, the stuff talked about may not necessarily be about the site!

The websites aren’t generally the usual ones either, as they’re generally places like failblog.org, thisiswhyyourefat.com and overheardinlondon.co.uk, just to name a few, which gives rise to the catchphrase “We dig up the craziest parts of the web!”.  I actually have a list of sites that I’ve dug up specifically for it and in the interests of amusement, I’m going to use something that randomly picks out a website for us “on the air”.  While there’s a possibility that sme of the people have been on the sites before, some others might not have and the content is usually updated anyway, so there should be something for everyone.  Even better is that none of this is scripted, so what you here will be genuine reactions to what people see.  There are other considersations in this I’m sure, but I’ve not thought that far ahead; it can wait till I’ve recorded a few sample episodes.  This format is about the only way I thought that could capture the original feeling of the DiggerCast, given I had tried to find a place for it to go, and although the technology reporting approach might work, at the same time, I think it’s not what the DC is about.  I intend to upload the “drafts” of the DC that was recorded under the “techcast” format, seeing as I think it’s important to both indicate that some headway was being made (even if it flopped) and also to get feedback on what could have been.  Keep in mind though that they’re rough, so they’re not going to be perfect.

Because of a brand new format, I’m actually going to be shunting all the DC content to its own WPMU blog and having an archive for each “phase” of the DC, just to show the differences between them.  Officially, while this format is meant to be phase 4, phase 3 ever amounted to much so instead it’ll be phase 3.5.  I don’t think I even mentioned phase 3.0 other than here anyway, so it’s likely that it will have no other mention other than here, meaning that there’s only 3 complete phases.  Given that 3.0 never made it off the drawing board, asides from a few chats with people, it makes sense to call this one phase 3.5 as it’s a refinement of phase 3.  It also includes a few elements from the first one, although mostly it has its roots in phase 3.

The main points of this one are indicated below (with the phases that they were taken from):

• The banter between hosts (1)
• The randomness of choosing websites (1) – though this time it’s a single one chosen by a computer
• Bringing in guests (3)
• Users being able to interact more with the podcast, such as suggesting a website to go to (3)
• Having more than 2 hosts (2)

There may be more there, but those are the main ones I can think of at the moment.  As for why this isn’t going on the DC website… well, it’s not up yet properly, then there’s the fact that I’m gonna continue the old “everything on this blog” format until the new year.  I figure that by that point, I’ll have my project blogs up anyway, so can start talking about my projects more.  This, as I’ve said before is going to be more for my opinions, musings and rants on various things.  There is also the fact, which I sort of touched upon previously is that I’ve nowhere to put this sort of stuff yet, so I may as well mention what I have planned out.  Hell, maybe someone finds my randomness interesting.  On that thought though, going back to this blog… and more than likely closing off this entry, I figure that if I consistantly say that I’ll type up an entry at least 2 or 3 times a month, whenever I feel I want to blog should be enough warning.  Besides, I’m pretty random in terms of stuff anyway, so predictibility isn’t my strong suit.  I should also mention, while I’m talking about my blog is that I’ve made a few changes to my blogroll and have added and removed people.  One person I’ve added is Glen McNamee, who goes under the nickname C64Glen.  He’s mentioned me a few times in his blog now and I’ve not had a chance to mention him as of yet (although some of you may have found this blog through him), so I figured that now’s a good time as any!  I’m going to have to think a bit more about what I plan to do with my blog in the future, as I think that I should be able to expand the scope of it, although I do at least want to move my projects and experiments elsewhere so I can expand on them more without me feeling that the project is the whole point of the post, as usually it isn’t; as if I havent’ said it enough already, I want to use this blog more for my thoughts, musings, opinions and rants on things as opposed to what I do.  I’m still only starting out properly with blogging, so you’ll have to forgive my roughness at the start.

I am also trying to work out how these Trackback things work as well, although in the future I do hope to start referencing people’s blogs and read more of them.  I’ve referenced C64Glen’s latest post as I’m not sure if you can reference a blog itself, but then there is also the fact it’s a post mentioning a wolf (of the Courage sort), so it’s not a bad post to reference to be honest.  Also, now that I remembered it, I’m gonna be working on a “40 things” list, as I had talked about it.  I need to go and see a few more to be honest, and I want to start from February, as that’s always been my “New Year”.  Additionally, given that I do like to read but haven’t done it properly in a while… as penance for my lack of reading on the whole (though I have read 3 books within the past couple of weeks) I’ll tackle the top 200 list.  I’m still trying to work out if I can count the first “book” of “His Dark Materials” as read (same for The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe), given I haven’t read it in a while.  I may just start with a clean slate to be honest; at least then I can properly say I’ve done it.  I do have a handful of those books already, so at least I can get started somewhat straight away.  Given that I’m a pretty fast reader, though I intend to take breaks, or read them a little bit slower, I imagine I can finish the 200 in less than 3 years, even if I do end up straying.  I suppose though it all depends on what I’m trying to accomplish.

I may also sign up to 43 things for ideas on what I could do, as although I’m not completely aimless, I’d have a little difficulty coming up with 40-43 things to actually accomplish.  Some things though, I’m going to combine as one thing, either because they make sense to, or it’s a case of redoing something something I lost, such as a language.  Still, it’s food for thought as to what I want to accomplish.  In the meantime though, I’m gonna have a quick look at my blog to see what I can do to tidy it up some more… I will give the list some thought though as I already have an idea of a few things I want to do. I should also remember to change my email address too, now I’ve set up Google Mail for this domain!

Watch this space for developments…

As a handful of you may already know (be it through my Twitter or me ranting and raving about it on IRC), I got Ghostbusters for the PS3. Oddly, the PS2 version was nowhere in sight, despite it being said that it would appear on the same day as the PS2 version. Oh well, at least I’ve saved myself 25 pounds from not buying the game. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for this game to come out for a while, and like many fans of the franchise, I’ve been waiting for a sequel for quite a while. Coincidentally, this month, the Ghostbusters Franchise also celebrates its 25th birthday. 1984 is obviously a great year for many things although right now, Tetris and Ghostbusters are what come to mind. But I promised myself I’d stick to Ghostbusters this time, so no deviation! I especially need the practice for the upcoming DiggerCast Teaser-Pilot.  Anyway, it’s been 20 years since the last Ghostbusters film and Dan Ackyroyd has essentially said that the games is the 3rd film, although I noticed there’s a 3rd film apparantly being released in 2010… but I digress, I should be talking about the game.

I’m just mentioning again that if you click through to read about the game, there will be spoilers. Keep in mind that the Wii, PC, PS2, 360 and DS games have not been released yet. The first 4 follow roughly the same plot, although the PS2 version (which I’ll get later) along with the Wii have a different graphical style. The DS version is different to the others. Anyway, I do recommend getting the game… although it’s perhaps not what people expected, it’s still a great game to play and worth the 45 quid (you can get it cheaper elsewhere) for the game. I got mine from Game, so I got some money back, and used my discount to lower the price by £2.50.

Once I put the BD into the PS3, and waited for the somewhat lengthy install process (the game needs 4GB to install!) and read up on Folklore which I got not long before, the game finally loaded. There was a somewhat lengthy intro with all the companies involved, when it finally goes into the game intro proper. The setup was pretty good, I thought… especially when it went straight into the theme (at which point people would be cheering loudly – if this were a cinema – I admit I said a mental “oh yeah!”) and Ecto 1 reverses into GB-HQ. Anyway, you get introduced not too long after, although you aren’t introduced by name, due to the fact that they don’t want to get too attached to you, given what happened to the last person (gulp). Anyway, you’re a silent protagonist in this game, and apart from a few facial expressions, there’s very little in the way of identity for your character. I suppose however that’s good, as you can imprint yourself more easily on the character you play, as it’s more “you”. I should mention as well, that the game takes place 2 years after the second GB film, in case anyone wasn’t sure.

Anyway, when you start the game, you’re just after experiencing a level 7 wave of parnormal energy, and you get a few chuckles at the beginning of the game. Anyway, after this, Slimer escapes and you have to capture him again… simple enough task, right? Actually not so simple. When I first blasted at him, I hit the containment unit, and released a ghost… I actually felt guilty about doing so until Ray reassured me that it’ll be fixed by Ego, which actually made me breath a sigh of relief. Anyway, this part is teaching you how to use the proton pack, how to capture ghosts and use traps to capture ghosts, along with mentioning your health bar and remebering to vent the neutrona wand (the thing used to fire). Using the proton pack is easily one of the most fun things in this game… granted at the start it may not seem that way, but as you complete the tutorial, and move on to the next level – the Sedgewick Hotel – to recapture Slimer. As you enter the lobby, Peter is talking to the hotel manager about “re-hauntings”, which I have to admit is a nice touch, referring to the first film.

Anyway, you start getting into some of the more advanced features of the game, such as dodging stuff. You also get a bit of the story as well, such as a few concessions they had to make, such as turning the proton packs off in public areas, since the maid sued. Unfortunately though, they ended up having a repeat of that incident. Something else repeated too, but I’m not saying what, as it’ll either be a surprise to you, or you already guessed. I have to say though, once I started capturing the ghosts in this level, I had to let out a little cheer because this is when the game really starts to pick up, working with the “fab 4″, listening to their witty comments and busting some ghosts – this is easily fanterbation* in its purest form; who doesn’t want to play around with an unlicenced nuclear accelerator strapped to their back? Towards the end of the game, you have to contend with a ghostly fisherman, alone. I initially had a bit of trouble finding my way around, but eventually I found out where to go. After this point though, I died a few times because of the candlestick things that kept on killing me, but that’s a minor detail, as after all I did ask for “Experienced”.

Anyway, after you get to the end and confront the fisherman, you eventually get back together with the others and kick the ass of a ghost that used parts of things in the kitchen (such as a cooker) to create a golem. I haven’t even mentioned the PKE Meter at this point, but it’s faithful to the original and they obviously made sure it worked like it. You also switch to the spectral goggles, and will go into a first-person perspective so you can look around and scan for ghosts and artifacts. You also can scan ghosts to add data, such as what they’re weak to, to your Online Spirit Guide. You also get money for capturingor destroying ghosts, as well as aquiring artifacts. Anyway, after you defeat the golem, you run into another old friend out on the streets of New York. I’ve not gotten that far into the level yet, but so far I’m enjoying the ride. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to properly try out the online, social aspects of the game yet, as I can’t seem to join any games. I did try out the multiplayer though for one level, and it looks pretty good. I’m not officially at the stage where I can review it, but even so, I do get the impression that it’s deserving of the 8-9/10 score that it’s gotten.

After all, who doesn’t want to strap on a proton pack and bust some ghosts?

That concludes my first impressions for now, but when my games blog comes up, I’ll hopefully be able to have a review as well. An early forewarning though… all my games-related blog posts will be moved to the games blog, with a redirect. I’ll mention this later as well in a more public post, for those who chose not to read the small summary.

Anyway, here’s a pic of one of the 5000 Sackboys sent out (courtesy of a bloke named Josh who posted the pic on the comments page):

No wonder Stephen Fry went “Aww, bless!”

They’re selling one on eBay for 50 quid, but honestly, as much as I’d want one, I’d not pay that much!  I do agree with many of the commenters saying that they’re very well made.  I hope they’re gonna bring out one people can buy eventually, as I would most certainy get one!  Anyway, here’s hoping that I get my t-shirt.

And before I forget, there’s a new LBP DLC coming out which features stuff from Shadow of The Colossus, arguably the most gorgeous-looking (certainly the most rare!) game for PS2. I happen to have a copy and shelled out 20 quid (Euros, I think) for it a few years ago now. I’ve not properly played it (though I should soon!), but as a gamer, there’s a certain pride in owning the game.  Also, I signed myself up to ScrewAttack, at long last, so I’ll most likely be commenting on there.  There’s a blog on there, like there is with GameTrailers, but I dunno if I’ll be posting to it… I might just use it as a mirror blog for the main one I’ve planned, to get larger community coverage… I’ll think of something!