Which means eventually I’ll be making one of my customary huge posts again soon. I plan to do a report of sorts on the Dublin Paranormal Convention this Friday. Additionally, I should mention that I lost the bid on the Wonderborg, which is unfortunate, but it does happen. I am currently looking for other ones as I really want a second one to play with to further my robotics stuff, which may end up gettings its own blog at the rate I’m going, or rather an A.I. and Robotics blog, in addition to coverage on a future projects blog.

Anyway, the main reason why I’m making this short post is because I stumbled upon this interesting post on someone’s blog (which was linked from a chat site I frequent,  named UKCB): National Novel Writing Month 2010, but given I’m still trying to get things sorted out, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to participate in this year, though I will however be committing myself to it next year, especially as I hope before the end of the year to take up writing again in some form… most likely with a new Forum Sim (Roleplay) I’m working on with a friend. as part of Xeno Storm, so watch out for that, and the addition of a wiki.

And also, I managed to find a full copy of my detective/comedy novel from 2004, although admittedly I’d end up rewriting it from scratch (though would keep a few elements) if I were to look at redoing it these days.  I’ll upload it in its current state soon (and update this post when I do) as a scrap to my DeviantArt, as well as to the XS Wiki, when it’s up and running.  Given it took me years to find the document, I want to have it in a safe place that’s not on my desktop, which is deciding to act up.  Just keep in mind that if you do read it, I know it sucks… it was written by me when I was younger and had certain things on my mind at the time.  I think the premise could still have merit, although I’d rather get myself into the Forum RP before I take that on as a project for NaNoWriMo. Admnittedly, I may just decide to develop it away from it instead and run with another idea; I can’t predict that far ahead though. In the meantime however, I have a lot of stuff to work on with websites, most notably a client’s site, followed by the XS RP forums and the wiki, then I’m going to look at other sites that may need attention, though I think I might spend this month focusing on XS entirely, with the exception of the client website.

I nearly forgot… I’ve now officially cancelled my ST Online subscription for the time being, so I’ll now have more money to invest, though with Lord of The Rings Online now becoming free to play, I’ll be focusing on tht a bit more. I’ve also been busy with Bush Whacker and Backyard Monsters on Facebook and I’m hoping before the end of the year, I’ll have a proper gaming blog to work with! I’m also off to Ireland on Friday for 2 weeks, so I’ll be writing a bit about that, no doubt, in addition to the Dublin Paranormal Convention, and also a security conferance I’m going to be attending towards the end of my trip.

It’s going to be a busy couple of months either way by the looks of it!

So, yeah first post this month and it’s been more than 2 weeks since my last post!  I could has sworn it was at least a mont, but there you go.  Anyway, I guess I should be mentioning that’s been going on in my world since I last updated (though I really need to start writing in my LiveJournal again instead!).  First of all, I’ve been looking for a job, and out of the 3 places I’ve applied to, I’ve gotten 2 rejections so far.  The third company (which coincidentally is the first one I applied to) has yet to respond to me, but I’m told by my employment advisor that’s a good thing, so I’m going with that now, even if I am a little on edge over the whole affair.  Oddly enough, the last company I applied for is actually the first to give me a response, which is quite amusing.  The second one has had the most progress, but alas I didn’t get an interview.  I’m gonna start looking for more work opportunities when I’m next out, so it should be interesting to see what comes up.  Just as well I’ve a handful of CVs to give out now as well.  Anyway, with all that out of the way, I’d like to mention some recent things I’ve noticed.  First of all, as you may have noted by the random word placement, this weekend is the one which International Speak Like A Pirate Day will occur on, tomorrow in fact.

This pretty much means that I’m going to spend a lot of time in Guild Wars (GW), hunting for treasure and also collecting copious amounts of grog, go me!  On a related notw, I’ve also gotten myself a second account, which works out cheaper than buying 4 more character slots, especially given that I got Guild Wars Prophecies (Prophecies) for 99p, after my Reward Card discount, which was quite nice indeed.  I coincidentally, by sheer luck managed to get a copy of Eye of The North cheap (second hand with an intact code) off Amazon so I can bring my characters up North and get them reserved for Guild Wars 2 (GW2).  Unfortunately, this means I’m only limited to the entire Tyria continent, which is by no means a bad thing, but I tend to like exploring the whole world.  All that said though, I’ll most likely get the other campaigns over the next while, when they are cheap enough.  I’m working on a few different title tracks for all the characters over two accounts at present, most notably Survivor (as the name suggests, it means you are not to die), of which I have 4 characters over all 3 campaigns marked for.  I also have a couple of characters going for Defender of Ascalon (reaching L20 in the starting area).  Before I continue, I’d like to reassure readers that this isn’t just going to be about GW, I just want to mention it now, as I’ve never really mentioned it before and it ties in nicely with the grog and loot collecting!  Anyway, with that aside, I’ve been working on all of this for quite a while now, though the second account only has been around the past month.  Still, there’s plenty to keep me going till GW2 comes out.  Coincidentally, if anyone ever wants to ever hang out on GW, let me know and we can do so.
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I really need to give my LiveJournal some love at some point, seeing as it’s supposed to be a more personal blog, as opposed to this one which is more for sharing my views, insights and generally having a rant. Anyway, I spent Saturday and much of Sunday at my friend’s house, where we played Rock Band 2. And I have to admit, I’m pretty hooked on the game now! I also got to play quite a few songs on there including Color Theory’s song If Not Now When and some other songs such as Attack and The Kill from 30STM. I was really impressed with the game to be honest, as you could really get into it… I certainly found it easier to play the bass or guitar standing anyway! I was so into the game, that I started dancing while I was playing! And thinking about it, playing the guitar in any of these games, be it Rock Band, Guitar Hero or even Band Hero, no matter what the format, is a great way of learning to play the proper thing. Why do I say this you ask? Well, I have some books on learning how to play the guitar and from what I recall of them, you’re to hold an actual guitar a certain way and with the guitar controller, it works best if you hold it the same way. Playing with the controller (GH controllers are more durable) gives you a great start with playing an actual guitar because you have to hold the controller like you would a normal guitar, so it gets you used to the awkwardness of your hand being put into and awkward position when fretting.

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!

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I figured now was a good time for me to update my blog, although really I should look at giving my LiveJournal some attention at some point.  As many of you already know, I’m a subscriber of Star Trek Online, only right now I can’t play it because the server’s full, which is rather amusing.  At the time I was player number 719/719 wanting to play but I exited the game.  Upon further reflection, this perhaps wasn’t such a hot idea.  I did get in eventually, so it’s all good.  Anyway, I’ve been playing it for about a week now and I’m rather surprised about the game to be honest… I do like it although admittedly, the ground sections are a bit dodgy… but the starship bits are pretty nice!  So far, I’ve been to Earth, Risa, DS9 and K7 which as many of you who watch Star Trek know are some of the more major areas in the universe itself.  I’ve also played the Command & Conquer 4 multiplayer beta, although quite frankly I don’t get it at all.  It doesn’t feel much like C&C and even the music, which at present I barely remember what the music sounds like, although it’s rather Star Trek sounding, ironically.

Unfortunately, I can’t take screenshots of C&C4, though I can of STO, and expect some in my Flickr gallery soon.  And just to talk a little bit more about C&C4, I’m honestly not sure if I like it, but it’ll be released next month, so we’ll have to see what happens then.  There’s noconventional bases in it and it sems rather remensicent of Dawn of War without the building options… actually, those of you who remember the game Z, it’s more like that.  Other than that, I’m having to wait for stuff regarding my new house and I’m hoping to record a DiggerCast pilot episode either tomorrow or next week.  I also plan on going to see Assemblage 23, which are pretty damn good.  I recently managed to properly listen to all their music and I do quite like them, so I’ll be seeing them next week.  I’ll post some more here later, although I think my LJ needs to be updated some more, seeing as it’s swamped with Tweets.  Realistically though, unless something significant happens between now and my next post on here, it’s likely that the aforementioned next post will be a better opinion on STO, which should really be put onto a games blog, but at present I have none so here will have to do.  I really need to give Guild Wars some attention too; although in a way I’m glad there’s no monthly fees as like I said in the past, it doesn’t feel like a chore in that I have to play it.  It also means I can save money.  Either way though, I’m going to start balancing it out.  Heh, I might even consider playing WoW again, just to use the trial time I have.

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