January 2010
30 posts
5 tags
29. SeeSaw
Video catchup services are a life-saver at University. BBC iPlayer and 4OD make up pretty much all of my TV viewing (well, excluding the TVs in The Shed) due to both allowing you to watch things at your own times and also that as long as you’re not watching content as it is being broadcast you don’t have to pay for a TV license.
That doesn’t stop TV Licensing being completely a pain, sending...
6 tags
28. Podcast
Occasionally, I write words about video games. Some of these are for more serious publications than others and by that I mean that I can’t just make jokes about masturbation (the content of half of this blog and about a third of British Gaming Blog) in some of them. One of these is the fantastic student paper and website The Linc, one I recommend not just because I write for them, but also because...
27. Marriage
I don’t remember the ceremony, how it happened, or even why, but it appears I’m married.
This might come as a shocking revelation to you (the thought of me being married), but don’t worry, it was as unexpected for me as well.
It only dawned on me the other day when after a lecture Ashleigh asked me if I wanted to go in to town as she had to go to the bank and pick a few things up. Fair enough,...
26. iPad
After spending the last few weeks collectively getting worked up over the prospects of Apple’s new handheld touch-screen ‘tablet’ computer, the technology media appears to have peaked prematurely as the iPad has been announced to a great ball of “uh…”
Ignoring obvious jokes about tampons (he he, so mature), the iPad just seems a bit ridiculous. For all the hype about how it’s Apple, if any...
25. Shed
Today, I truly felt like I actually am a student. It’s a moment of realisation that dawned at 9:45am, while standing with some of my friends from the course.
…we were waiting for the pub to open.
Colloquially known as Newsroom 8, The Shed is one of the main student pubs and over the last few days I think I’ve been in there so many times I might as well start claiming second home expenses...
24. Copout
Well, it’s later than many people did it, and so this is my first copout blog. I’m tired, I want to lie back and watch Top Gear in bed, but due to some infernal task I’ve set myself to, I’m blogging.
To get around this just being a whole waste of time, I’ve decided to share something I wrote today. In my multiplatform news workshops, we were introduced to the...
3 tags
23. Cooking
Because of my ability to take few things seriously, including my own health, sometimes I’ll forget to eat. Not drastically, it’s not like I’ll go a full 24 hours without eating but accidentally lunch will pass and I’ve not had anything bar a chocolate bar. Thankfully, I’m always remembering to eat in the evenings, but that doesn’t mean I’m that good at it either.
Much of the time, the process for...
6 tags
22. Conan
Jonathan Ross leaving the BBC might have caused a bit of stir in the world of talk shows, but leave it to the Americans to do everything bigger and better as over the last few weeks there’s been a huge fuss surrounding NBC’s The Tonight Show.
Over in the states, the late night talk shows are big business. The major networks show multiple shows a night every weekday with guests, comedy and music...
1 tag
21. Rickets →
This post was originally written for British Gaming Blog.
In the latest ‘games are bad’ accusation from the UK press, the free London newspaper The Metro has claimed that video games are the cause of an increase of the bone disease rickets as people are staying inside instead of going out in the sun, leading to a deficiency of vitamin D.
The paper cites research from the British Medical Journal,...
20. Drinking Games
It was inevitable that at one point in this “one a day” mission I’d be writing an entry after going out for the night. After all, planning ahead and writing during the day would require a lot more effort than I ever put in to anything.
So with a strong desire to go bed, but an even stronger desire not to fail on this ridiculous mission, I feel like the one thing I should talk about… is...
1 tag
19. Trains
There are some things you just have to accept in life. People will watch the X Factor, the Daily Mail sells and the transport network in the UK is pretty shite. You learn to live with these things, but it doesn’t stop them being annoying. Most notably when, say, you miss the last train of the day and you’re stuck in London overnight. This may have just happened to me.
It’s obviously my fault, and...
4 tags
18. Cookies
“It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”
A famous line within geek culture. Dating back 22 years to the original Legend of Zelda game on the NES, it’s the advice given by an Old Man as Link is given his first wooden sword.
It’s also a piece of advice I should follow more closely, especially when going shopping… but instead of a sword, the life saviour presented to me should be a companion....
4 tags
17. Band
It’s no secret that my musical ability is next to nonexistent. Although I’m pretty decent at Guitar Hero, if I went within 20 metres of an actual guitar I wouldn’t really have the foggiest what to do with it. Maybe smash it on the floor, I’ve seen that done on telly. Oooh! You smack zombies with them in Left 4 Dead 2, I’m good at that. As much as Brooke is excited for her new online guitar...
1 tag
16. Questions
Instead of spending another day wrangling to come up with any ideas, I’ve decided to switch things round a bit for the first ‘mailbag’ type post thanks to the website Formspring. Allowing people to submit anything, including questions, anonymously is generally a bad idea. So let’s see how this goes. 10 questions. Can the internet be mature for 10 questions…?
birmingham? Mornington...
3 tags
15. Planning
I am not good at many things. Opera singing, skydiving and menstruating are some of those things. But more than all of those, I’m not the best at making preparations for things.
In just over a day I’ll be leaving home after a month on holiday to go back to University. This requires effort in choosing a date, packing all my clothes, putting all the Rock Band stuff in its box (clearly the most...
3 tags
14. Documentary
Ow.
I’ve just slapped myself on the face. This wasn’t accidental, rather an action to try and get me to type more than the number “14” in to my Word document. As I try and write my daily column I’m slightly worried how I’ll be motivated 253 days in to the project, let alone only 14! It’s not like it’s all heavily planned anyway.
But in the writing of ‘Tara’, I spent an hour flicking through...
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13. Tara
The Internet does a great job of representing the real world. By that, I mean there are a large number of intelligent, engaging and friendly people but there are also a bunch of shits.
One of the many benefits of the internet is the global nature of it and so more often than not I’m relying on friends I’ve made online for information and conversation; partially as there’s so many people out there...
5 tags
12. Facebook
As much as the internet is great at making people more social, it’s more just a way to avoid actually talking to people. Thanks to Facebook, I’m not spending every 2 hours on the phone to my Mum to explain what’s going on at University and having to actually make an effort to catch up with people – it’s a procrastinator’s dream!
There’s a negative side to the site though, and not just in debates...
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11. Take Me Out
30 women. 1 man. I’d say it was like a dream I had last night, but in reality it was considerably more disturbing and possibly not repeatable for legal reasons. However, a gender outbalance is the basis of ITV’s new dating show where a lineup of girls each get to pass judgement on a succession of single men to see if they can find the one for them.
The programme starts out with high aspirations....
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10. Adverts
Adverts annoy me.
This is a problem because they are quite an important part of the world of media, funding everything outside of the BBC, and are my own source of income. However, it’s a well known truth that ads are the most effective way of being wound up, more than a crank powered torch being operated by a chronic masturbator.
A recent example of this is the advert for ITV’s new dating show...
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9. Elf
As the dramatically titled BIG FREEZE goes on for another day, finding things to do becomes more difficult as layers of snow and ice cover Suffolk rendering it impractical to travel further than you can easily walk. Thankfully, the village pub is only half a mile away, and so is a perfect retreat from the snow.
The White Horse is quite a nice country pub, and so while sitting at the table in...
4 tags
8. Alphabeat
I have a rather strange taste in music. I suppose most people do when considering the breadth of genres they enjoy, but for now that’s irrelevant. My favourite album by far is the soundtrack to the film Once, a beautiful and powerful piece of work, despite most of the songs consisting of just vocals, piano and guitar. It’s got majesty through simplicity, particularly the track ‘Falling Slowly’ –...
5 tags
7. Local News
Breaking news: It’s snowing. It has been for a few days now. The country is currently so white, even the BNP would be happy.
This is something the news has chosen to drum in to us at every opportunity – and however entertaining it might be to laugh at people slip over as they try and get behind the presenters of Sky News, today it was highly amusing to watch Anglia Tonight try and fill time.
As...
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6. Coffee
One of my favourite things about working on BritishGaming.co.uk has been the sheer ridiculousness of it. It’s not just that with two friends, when me and Phil were only 14, we created a games blog that has somehow got considerable traction and gained some recognision and respectability within the industry. However silly to me that still seems, the more fun aspect of randomness is with some...
1 tag
5. 3D
Things never stop moving in the technology world. We’ve had black and white, added a bit of colour, then digital, and now high-definition - but things aren’t stopping there, as with the Consumer Electronics Show this week all eyes in the industry have turned to the third dimension.
Gone are the days of red and blue pieces of flimsy film packed free with a copy of your magazine, as...
1 tag
4. Snow
A month or so ago, snow really did seem like something exciting. The UK comes to a standstill! Getting to make snowmen! Fields of white for miles, glistening in the daylight!
However, after a few weeks of on-and-off snow, I’m pretty bored of it by now.
The main problem is that roads covered in snow and ice, especially those in Suffolk, means you can pretty much be trapped in the house for a...
2 tags
3. Celebrity Big Brother 2010 →
Today’s blog post is over at review site The Radar, with the verdict of the first episode of that staple of reality shows Big Brother’s latest series. 11 people, apparently celebrities, and the chance for Endemol to try and convince people that cancelling the show isn’t a good idea. Can they do it? Uhhh, probably not.
In other TV related news, ITV are apparently going to bring...
3 tags
2. Matt Smith
After managing to appear on everything from Desert Island Discs to Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and turning up on our screens 39,482 times in December (that’s the actual number, and not made up in the slightest), David Tennant finally handed over the keys to the TARDIS in his final episode of Doctor Who.
On the whole, Tennant’s final episode, The End of Time: Part Two, was an exciting...
1. This is going to fail.
I’ve never been one for New Years Resolutions. Everyone sets themselves large goals of losing weight, finding a partner or giving up smoking. Tasks of self improvement, personal gain that should show resolve and determination.
Unfortunately for me, I’m stick thin and would cease to exist if I did lose any weight, I’m emotionally retarded so setting myself up to find someone...