So Saturday I went to Garforth TableTop Gamers for the 2nd time and had a blast. Didn't really write much about it on Saturday as got home very beer'd up thanks to going out for a curry afterwards with a couple of friends.
First game played was the strangely titled O Zoo le Mio. Fun little game based around blind-bidding for titles to help you create a better zoo theme park than the opponent. My "Gorilla Villa" lagged behind as I paid out way too much early on leaving me in quite a weak position for the rest of the rounds, but I still enjoyed it. Be warned this game does punish you blowing your cash early!
Following that a quick round of No Thanks, a fiendish card game you definitely need to play more than once to really enjoy (you get trounced the first time), unfortunately we only had time for one game before other tables finished their games, giving us the opportunity to get into something a bit heavier, my first game of Imperial.
Imperial is a war game that isn't really a war game. You take the role of a financial investor out to make as much money as you can by influencing countries actions and movements to make yourself as much money as possible. The player with the most shares in a country gets to control it's actions (building factories, raising armies, maneuvering armies), but as other investor's invest money in the country they may get enough shares to take control themselves. In the space of one game at one point or another I had controlled the actions of Italy, Britain, and France (but rarely at the same time). It's pretty mind-bending to play a game where you have to get out of the mindset of "being" a country, and I constantly found myself thinking what I will do next with Italy well after I lost control of it! Definitely a game I'd recommend if you have a few hours to play as it's far simpler than it looks and very interesting to play!
Nearly time for curry by this point, but time for one more game. The bluffer's game Vabanque. The game is set at a casino, where you need to get as much money from the tables by the end of the 4th round. Each round the players determine how much the tables are worth by placing chips on them, place their action tokens on the tables, and move to a table to play at. The trick is the players action cards. One is a bluff and does nothing, one raises the value the of the table, one steals any players winners at that table. The catch is that you don't know which a player has played, making this a fantastic game of bluff and psychology. Great fun!
Looking forward to the next one :).
30 June 2009
29 June 2009
Water Brain
Water Brain is a fantastic 3D animation by a Chinese animator, really unique style with plenty of influence from both steampunk and classic Chinese literature & culture.
The quality of the animation and the ideas contained in the film are outstanding, shows amazing talent and god knows how many hours of hard work. Well worth spending only 15 minutes of your time to sit and watch!
The quality of the animation and the ideas contained in the film are outstanding, shows amazing talent and god knows how many hours of hard work. Well worth spending only 15 minutes of your time to sit and watch!
28 June 2009
Micheal Jackson Tribute Mix
Now this is more like it. No hyperbole, no drama, just a clever mix of some of Michael Jackson's best music.
Nice one Jaguar Skills.
Nice one Jaguar Skills.
27 June 2009
Booze, Games & Curry
Great games, great company, great booze, great curry.
All in all an ideal day. :)
More tomorrow ;)
All in all an ideal day. :)
More tomorrow ;)
26 June 2009
Micheal Jackson has died, sad but that's all
I hate it when famous people die. It leads to over-exposure on every media, with fans & celebrities gushing like the deceased was a genetic combination of the best bits of Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Jesus.
I'm not going to go on about allegations, mistakes, the way he lead his life etc. It's really not really relevant. A guy who created some amazing music in the 70s and 80s and transformed the music industry has died today, but today is not a life changing event. Today the world has not changed (except for the unlucky few that paid well over the odds for tickets on eBay). We're not even really that worse off for it, I think the time that Micheal Jackson could manage to have any real effect on the world was well over a long time ago.
It's sad, I get it. Especially for the family. But COME ON, get over it quietly and in private, and perhaps give some screen time to something more important like stolen elections or something.
I'm not going to go on about allegations, mistakes, the way he lead his life etc. It's really not really relevant. A guy who created some amazing music in the 70s and 80s and transformed the music industry has died today, but today is not a life changing event. Today the world has not changed (except for the unlucky few that paid well over the odds for tickets on eBay). We're not even really that worse off for it, I think the time that Micheal Jackson could manage to have any real effect on the world was well over a long time ago.
It's sad, I get it. Especially for the family. But COME ON, get over it quietly and in private, and perhaps give some screen time to something more important like stolen elections or something.
24 June 2009
Lars and the real girl
Watched an absolutely beautiful film last night called Lars and the real girl.
Initially I was very apprehensive, the films premise really does not fit in with the fact that I find it very difficult to watch embarrassing situations. In fact, I nearly had to turn it off in the scene where the "real girl" was about to make it's first appearance, the director having brilliantly drawn out the moment for as long as possible.
So yeah... it's a film about a strange introverted bloke with a full-blown mental delusion that his real doll is a real person who's in love with him. [WARNING :- link contains pictures of fake boobies]. How a film with this premise manages to be one of the most touching and wonderful films about community and friendship I've ever seen, rather than a crass smut-filled comedy disaster, is testament to the incredible job done by everyone involved, especially the actor playing Lars.
Honestly, don't let the premise stop you. You need to see this film!
Initially I was very apprehensive, the films premise really does not fit in with the fact that I find it very difficult to watch embarrassing situations. In fact, I nearly had to turn it off in the scene where the "real girl" was about to make it's first appearance, the director having brilliantly drawn out the moment for as long as possible.
So yeah... it's a film about a strange introverted bloke with a full-blown mental delusion that his real doll is a real person who's in love with him. [WARNING :- link contains pictures of fake boobies]. How a film with this premise manages to be one of the most touching and wonderful films about community and friendship I've ever seen, rather than a crass smut-filled comedy disaster, is testament to the incredible job done by everyone involved, especially the actor playing Lars.
Honestly, don't let the premise stop you. You need to see this film!
23 June 2009
All stores selling second hand media are stealing
Firstly I want to avoid any (undue) criticism by stating firmly: I do not personally believe sharing files online is stealing. I'm just taking the record & movie industries' logic a little further to a quite strange conclusion.
A major contention point with the MPAA & RIAA's arguments is that they've again and again associated file sharing with stealing. Many people argue against this because it's not literally stealing (For it to be literally stealing someone who had purchased the item would have to be denied it due to the file sharer's action). However in a slightly twisted bit of logic, the stealing is explained as stealing a sale from the artist. This takes more than a slight jump in logic when applied to file sharing as it assumes that if you hadn't have been offering the file online on your P2P network of choice at that time, the downloader would have popped straight off to the shops to buy the song legally. Dubious at best, but let's stick with this and take it further.
So: If you prevent the artist/creator from making a sale you're stealing.
I can think of a much more concrete example of this than file sharing: selling second-hand media. Most media retail stores are either in or are starting to grow into the 2nd-hand market. Companies like Game in the UK and Gamestop in the US are enjoying very large profits and a large percentage isn't down to selling new games/films. It's down to selling 2nd hand ones. You see, a company can make a much much higher margin selling a 2nd hand copy than selling a new one, as the publisher and developer get nothing from the 2nd hand sale.
They're doing this very aggressively as well. They'll often check to see if they can offer a 2nd hand copy to a customer standing there cash in hand, already commited to the purchase of a brand new copy, for only a few quid less: This is absolutely 100% stealing a sale from the artist. Not only are these guys blatently "stealing" as per the definition above, the file sharer does it for free and the retailer is making millions from it.
But they're suing the single moms first eh?
A major contention point with the MPAA & RIAA's arguments is that they've again and again associated file sharing with stealing. Many people argue against this because it's not literally stealing (For it to be literally stealing someone who had purchased the item would have to be denied it due to the file sharer's action). However in a slightly twisted bit of logic, the stealing is explained as stealing a sale from the artist. This takes more than a slight jump in logic when applied to file sharing as it assumes that if you hadn't have been offering the file online on your P2P network of choice at that time, the downloader would have popped straight off to the shops to buy the song legally. Dubious at best, but let's stick with this and take it further.
So: If you prevent the artist/creator from making a sale you're stealing.
I can think of a much more concrete example of this than file sharing: selling second-hand media. Most media retail stores are either in or are starting to grow into the 2nd-hand market. Companies like Game in the UK and Gamestop in the US are enjoying very large profits and a large percentage isn't down to selling new games/films. It's down to selling 2nd hand ones. You see, a company can make a much much higher margin selling a 2nd hand copy than selling a new one, as the publisher and developer get nothing from the 2nd hand sale.
They're doing this very aggressively as well. They'll often check to see if they can offer a 2nd hand copy to a customer standing there cash in hand, already commited to the purchase of a brand new copy, for only a few quid less: This is absolutely 100% stealing a sale from the artist. Not only are these guys blatently "stealing" as per the definition above, the file sharer does it for free and the retailer is making millions from it.
But they're suing the single moms first eh?
22 June 2009
The Sims 3 - another dose of digital crack
So I caved and got myself a copy of Sims 3 after reading that wonderful blog the other day.
I have to say I'm very impressed with the improvements and as you can see by the timestamp on this post I'm completely addicted. The world is a lot more convincing now with no loading screens between locations as the game engine now encompasses a complete town you can zoom in and out of. The Sims have real personality and the Sims I created based on me and a friend started off very convincingly. The interface is good, although a little strangely structured at times. The Sims are quite a bit better at generally looking after themselves and will general keep themselves alive quite happily.
Here's the problem though: The developers didn't want to take the risk of upsetting any of the players of the game. Even with the Sims set at the highest level of free will they will never do anything situation changing. They'll repeatedly freak out at a broken appliance but won't try to repair it or call a repairman in without your say so lest the spend some of your precious money. They'll never take on or leave a job unless you give the go ahead. Hell they wont even let someone into their house as far as I can tell!
Half the appeal in this sort of game for me is watching the unexpected, and it first I was pleasantly surprised with the minor day-to-day actions the Sims were performing matching their chosen traits. However it's only the minor stuff that's automated. Everything else seems to be up to you to do.
Fair enough, this sort of micromanagement is what the existing user base is used to, and what they probably want. Me, I really want to just wind them up and watch them go. It disappoints me that the developers didn't add an option for true free will for people like me that primarily want to see things unfold. Also why the hell isn't the purchasing of extra content integrated directly into the build menu instead of a ruddy website? That's so 90s ;).
Still, that's complaining about the game for what it isn't. What it is,is by far the best version of the Sims so far, which I will no doubt lose weeks of my life playing with. I just can't help the niggling feeling that the developers took the safe route and it isn't quite the game it could have been.
21 June 2009
Don't listen to salespeople about pre-orders!
Heard a massive load of garbage coming from the mouths of the staff at Gamestation about how necessary it is to pre-order.
A dad was in there buying a game for his kid, and was asked if they were planning on getting the next "Modern Warfare" game in November. The dad made the mistake of saying they were, which prompted the doom & gloom warnings from the member of staff about how hard copies of the previous modern warfare game were to get at launch, and how every big game sells out and needs to be pre-ordered, and how they should put a deposit down there and then and then they would "hopefully" get a copy.
What utter crap. Other than the Wii & Nintendo DS consoles, I can't remember the last time anything to do with gaming sold-out. ESPECIALLY the big released like Modern Warfare and GTA! If anything it's the games that sell less that are harder to get (try finding a copy of fire emblem on the DS, or valkyria chronicles on PS3). Shops like Game & Gamestation buy in shed-loads of these blockbuster games knowing that they will sell, and will make sure they don't run out of copies as they don't want to miss out on sales. Pre-ordering is all a big con to stop you shopping around for the best price when the game is out. Disc-based media is NEVER in short supply as the manufacturing process is so fast & cheap, and scarcity in supply is not a good thing for the publisher like it is in the case of hardware like the Wii & DS.
So in short: Don't listen to these people, don't put down a deposit on a game that they won't even tell you how much it'll cost. If you do really want to have something on the release day use a good online retailer like www.shopto.net who guarantee delivery on release date or they'll give you money back!
A dad was in there buying a game for his kid, and was asked if they were planning on getting the next "Modern Warfare" game in November. The dad made the mistake of saying they were, which prompted the doom & gloom warnings from the member of staff about how hard copies of the previous modern warfare game were to get at launch, and how every big game sells out and needs to be pre-ordered, and how they should put a deposit down there and then and then they would "hopefully" get a copy.
What utter crap. Other than the Wii & Nintendo DS consoles, I can't remember the last time anything to do with gaming sold-out. ESPECIALLY the big released like Modern Warfare and GTA! If anything it's the games that sell less that are harder to get (try finding a copy of fire emblem on the DS, or valkyria chronicles on PS3). Shops like Game & Gamestation buy in shed-loads of these blockbuster games knowing that they will sell, and will make sure they don't run out of copies as they don't want to miss out on sales. Pre-ordering is all a big con to stop you shopping around for the best price when the game is out. Disc-based media is NEVER in short supply as the manufacturing process is so fast & cheap, and scarcity in supply is not a good thing for the publisher like it is in the case of hardware like the Wii & DS.
So in short: Don't listen to these people, don't put down a deposit on a game that they won't even tell you how much it'll cost. If you do really want to have something on the release day use a good online retailer like www.shopto.net who guarantee delivery on release date or they'll give you money back!
20 June 2009
Brain.... So close to exploding
Today was another Beyond Monopoly meeting, and I arrived just in time to make up the numbers in a game of Struggle of Empires. Didn't really realise what I was getting myself in for, this was by far the most strategic and long running game I've played in a long while clocking in at nearly 4 hours and had a very large number of rules and different concepts to take in. Regardless, it was definitely very enjoyable and made a nice change from the relatively quick games I usually play. It was definitely good to play a game where I had to really think about things and could achieve some kind of world domination. ;)
Straight after that I got involved in a game of Tigris & Euphrates, which despite having a very small rule set is still a difficult game to learn due to the concepts & strategy being very unusual and not really intuitive. Lost pitifully but still enjoyed it and am looking forward to playing it again now I've seen the tactics involved.
By this time my brain was semi-fried, so took on some more casual fare in the shape of Tutankhamen, and Bananagram, followed by the traditional club game of PitchCar.
I feel like I need to watch a dumb action film to clear my mind now, lest I strain something! :)
Straight after that I got involved in a game of Tigris & Euphrates, which despite having a very small rule set is still a difficult game to learn due to the concepts & strategy being very unusual and not really intuitive. Lost pitifully but still enjoyed it and am looking forward to playing it again now I've seen the tactics involved.
By this time my brain was semi-fried, so took on some more casual fare in the shape of Tutankhamen, and Bananagram, followed by the traditional club game of PitchCar.
I feel like I need to watch a dumb action film to clear my mind now, lest I strain something! :)
19 June 2009
The best laid plans of mice and me
Today was one of those days. You know what I mean, you have a well meaning plan: Exercise, general chores around the house, get the car cleaned, do a bit of shopping, get the car fixed.
Of course I just ended up playing Plants versus Zombies on the laptop in bed all day.... Still, at least I beat Dr. Zomboss....
Oh and check out the music video. It's aces :D
18 June 2009
Paprika
Today I watched a film called Paprika, directed by my favourite anime director: Satoshi Kon. It did not disappoint!I'm starting to wonder if he's a bit of a one trick pony though, Paprika being another film exploring dreams & reality and what happens when the lines between them are blurred. However whilst the blurring in Perfect Blue is caused by extreme paranoia & mental health issues, and Millennium Actress uses it as a brilliant device to explore the main characters memories, Paprika does it in a much more literal sense with the film centering around a device that lets you join in with other peoples dreams. I wont say anything else about the plot, as with Satoshi Kon films, half the joy is finding out / working out what's going on.
This was my first anime on blu-ray and it's a fantastic film for the format. The animation was crisp and fluid, and all the colours in the dream sequences especially were fantastic. The soundtrack is really excellent, and though I wasn't able to test the full uncompressed audio (guess my amp doesn't support it) the standard 5.1 was really good.
I'd definitely recommend Paprika to everyone. It's so much easier to follow than Perfect Blue making it much more accessible, and is more fantastical & action-packed than Millennium Actress (which is still my favourite film of all time though). I've just got Paranoia Agent to see now. Will be interesting to see what he does when directing a series instead of a film. Hopefully it wont be too incomprehensible. :)
17 June 2009
Alice & Kev
I was resisting getting the Sims 3, having got enough timesinks in my life already. :)
Then I came across this blog : http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com.
This guy's experiment with taking a couple of sims and trying to apply real-life poverty & health problems has resulted in a very captivating story. By just using a relatively simple game framework and applying an expanded & implied narrative to the events, a couple of characters far more interesting than you'll find on many TV dramas have evolved.
Makes me want to get a copy and see what other surprises this game holds.
Then I came across this blog : http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com.
This guy's experiment with taking a couple of sims and trying to apply real-life poverty & health problems has resulted in a very captivating story. By just using a relatively simple game framework and applying an expanded & implied narrative to the events, a couple of characters far more interesting than you'll find on many TV dramas have evolved.
Makes me want to get a copy and see what other surprises this game holds.
16 June 2009
Little Wheel
Played a wonderful little browser-game this lunchtime called Little Wheel.
Like a film-noir version of Wall-E, you're the one working robot left in a world full of robots without power. It's up to you to return power to the world.
The game is purposefully short and has minimal challenge. It's all about the gorgeous animation and the wonderfully stylistic almost monochrome design. My particular favourite thing was the clumsy way your robot just falls around the place having not being designed to navigate platforms. :)
It's a point and click adventure but has a lot more in common with the recent Samarost than it has with the classics like Monkey Island. Much of the frustration involved in Samarost is avoided by clearing showing what can be interacted with in each screen.
This does mean that the game can be cleared in less than 10 minutes but I think more things should be short and sweet like this, rather than forcefully stretching out a concept. The short time frame & easy accessibility also makes this an ideal thing to play in your lunch / coffee break whilst at work. So give it a go!
Found Via [The Escapist]
Like a film-noir version of Wall-E, you're the one working robot left in a world full of robots without power. It's up to you to return power to the world.
The game is purposefully short and has minimal challenge. It's all about the gorgeous animation and the wonderfully stylistic almost monochrome design. My particular favourite thing was the clumsy way your robot just falls around the place having not being designed to navigate platforms. :)
It's a point and click adventure but has a lot more in common with the recent Samarost than it has with the classics like Monkey Island. Much of the frustration involved in Samarost is avoided by clearing showing what can be interacted with in each screen.
This does mean that the game can be cleared in less than 10 minutes but I think more things should be short and sweet like this, rather than forcefully stretching out a concept. The short time frame & easy accessibility also makes this an ideal thing to play in your lunch / coffee break whilst at work. So give it a go!
Found Via [The Escapist]
15 June 2009
So wrong,.... but can't look away....
Was going to post about something else, but just now my good friend Mr Coates just sent me this link to a guilty pleasure of his: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/
It's full of terrible terrible disasters that you just can't look away from, ranging from permullets that have to be seen to be believed, to the creepiest baby photos you've ever seen.
I'm going to have nightmares about this stuff, but I just can't look away.....
It's full of terrible terrible disasters that you just can't look away from, ranging from permullets that have to be seen to be believed, to the creepiest baby photos you've ever seen.
I'm going to have nightmares about this stuff, but I just can't look away.....
14 June 2009
Woot! new oldies but goodies!
As part of my step-brother-in-common-laws clearout (see yesterday's post), I got hold of copies of the 2 Metroid games on the gamecube, and an original N64 cart of Zelda: Majora's mask.
I'm a massive fan of the old 2D Metroid games but only briefly had a go on the 3D gamecube ones, so looking forward to playing those. As for Majora's mask, despite it being one of the most unusual (and opinion splitting) Zelda games I've never even really known much about it, so getting to play it in it's original N64 format is going to be great!
Don't think I'm going to get much done this week. ;)
I'm a massive fan of the old 2D Metroid games but only briefly had a go on the 3D gamecube ones, so looking forward to playing those. As for Majora's mask, despite it being one of the most unusual (and opinion splitting) Zelda games I've never even really known much about it, so getting to play it in it's original N64 format is going to be great!
Don't think I'm going to get much done this week. ;)
13 June 2009
Foregoing possessions
This weekend I found out my step-brother-in-common-law (boy do I have a confusing family) is selling the vast majority of his possessions in order to be more free to travel and move around and so on, as well as raising some always helpful funds.
Led to a lot of interesting WTFs and discussions around the kitchen table. Myself, I'm very impressed and really support the idea. It really does make sense to me as at the moment he's being very adventurous doing things like teaching English in South Korea, a visit to Iran next on the list, who knows what will follow! Freeing yourself from possessions really does open up your options for doing things like long-term travelling and working with organisations abroad.
Obviously some people have concerns about later regretting giving up all this stuff, but we're not talking family heirlooms here, it's stuff like DVDs & games and consoles and stuff that have been well used and mostly outgrown.
Personally I think it's very important to have a certain level of detachment from the things you own. Collecting something for collections sake doesn't seem healthy to me, you ascribe too much more value to something that's effectively valueless in the bigger picture. I used to spend a fortune on "special edition" anime box sets, trying to build a "collection", until I came to the conclusion that all that was special about them is they were helping earn some publishing executive their next boat.
I do still have a sizable collection of DVDs & comics & games, but the reason I keep this collection is to share it with other people. I lend my stuff out as much as possible to share the experiences these things have given me, and would rather something was seen / read / played once again and have it ruined than for it sit on a shelf forever unused. I've seen the extreme opposite of this, with my girlfriend reading a book lent to her by a collector friend, whilst constantly fearful she bend the spine. It made me worry about the lenders state of mind!
So stuff is good! Own stuff! But don't let it own you...
Led to a lot of interesting WTFs and discussions around the kitchen table. Myself, I'm very impressed and really support the idea. It really does make sense to me as at the moment he's being very adventurous doing things like teaching English in South Korea, a visit to Iran next on the list, who knows what will follow! Freeing yourself from possessions really does open up your options for doing things like long-term travelling and working with organisations abroad.
Obviously some people have concerns about later regretting giving up all this stuff, but we're not talking family heirlooms here, it's stuff like DVDs & games and consoles and stuff that have been well used and mostly outgrown.
Personally I think it's very important to have a certain level of detachment from the things you own. Collecting something for collections sake doesn't seem healthy to me, you ascribe too much more value to something that's effectively valueless in the bigger picture. I used to spend a fortune on "special edition" anime box sets, trying to build a "collection", until I came to the conclusion that all that was special about them is they were helping earn some publishing executive their next boat.
I do still have a sizable collection of DVDs & comics & games, but the reason I keep this collection is to share it with other people. I lend my stuff out as much as possible to share the experiences these things have given me, and would rather something was seen / read / played once again and have it ruined than for it sit on a shelf forever unused. I've seen the extreme opposite of this, with my girlfriend reading a book lent to her by a collector friend, whilst constantly fearful she bend the spine. It made me worry about the lenders state of mind!
So stuff is good! Own stuff! But don't let it own you...
12 June 2009
Countryside eh?
- Suspension wrecking roads.
- Sheep mocking you whilst you're sitting on the loo.
- Odd looking spiders.
- Serial killer cat foreshadowing future events by bringing a baby bunny inside to play.
- Hayfever.
- Miles to nearest pub.
- No mobile phone reception.
- Moth flying into my eye whilst in bedroom.
- Bunny entrails found on the doorstep in the morning.
In all seriousness, I had a really nice relaxing weekend in the countryside at the father-in-law's, but I thought the above list made amusing reading. :D
11 June 2009
Simple Backups
Okay, so I forgot that I said I'd give some pointers to simple back-ups yesterday. Hope no computers failed in the meantime!
1. Large local backup
This method keeps your data in more than one place and is suitable for backing up large music & video collections, or if you're 2nd drive is big enough most drive contents. It isn't suitable for really important data as it'll be stored at the same location and so is just as susceptable to fire & theft as your main machine. This is also not suitable for a full restore of your system as it will not save important operating system information.
For this method you just need access to a folder on an external drive or another machine via a network. Personally I use an old SATA harddrive in a cheap USB caddy. Something like this.
The first time you run the "sync" will take quite a while. The next time you want to backup your files instead of creating a new folder pair, select the existing one from the list on the left. This backup will run much faster as it will only copy changed files.
2. Small remote backup
For those files you really can't bear to lose you need to store a copy of the files remotely. I find doing this with things like FTP a real faff not to mention difficult to maintain and a problem when you're on an internet connection with capped bandwidth as you end up repeatedly uploading the same files.
Dropbox to the rescue! Dropbox is a free program that allows you to have folders on your local machine that are automatically uploaded and kept up-to-date remotely. I'm not going to write steps for how to use Dropbox as it is literally as simple as creating folders and copying files into them.
I don't just store stuff directly in my Dropbox though as I find using the built in windows photos & documents folders too convenient for that. Instead I use a SyncToy folder pairing (see above) with only a few important sub folders selected to make sure the essential data is copied into the Dropbox. This helps me stay under the 2 gig limit and means all my photos & documents etc. are still stored in one main folder instead of having to split them by importance.
Hope this helps, and let me know if any of the above doesn't work out for you or have any better ideas!
1. Large local backup
This method keeps your data in more than one place and is suitable for backing up large music & video collections, or if you're 2nd drive is big enough most drive contents. It isn't suitable for really important data as it'll be stored at the same location and so is just as susceptable to fire & theft as your main machine. This is also not suitable for a full restore of your system as it will not save important operating system information.
For this method you just need access to a folder on an external drive or another machine via a network. Personally I use an old SATA harddrive in a cheap USB caddy. Something like this.
- Create a folder on the backup location for your backed up files to be stored in.
- Download and install SyncToy.
- Click "Create folder pair".
- For the Left folder, browse to your local directory / drive / location you want to backup.
- For the Right folder, browse to the remote folder you created in step 1.
- Choose "Echo" from the choice of 3 actions.
The first time you run the "sync" will take quite a while. The next time you want to backup your files instead of creating a new folder pair, select the existing one from the list on the left. This backup will run much faster as it will only copy changed files.
2. Small remote backup
For those files you really can't bear to lose you need to store a copy of the files remotely. I find doing this with things like FTP a real faff not to mention difficult to maintain and a problem when you're on an internet connection with capped bandwidth as you end up repeatedly uploading the same files.
Dropbox to the rescue! Dropbox is a free program that allows you to have folders on your local machine that are automatically uploaded and kept up-to-date remotely. I'm not going to write steps for how to use Dropbox as it is literally as simple as creating folders and copying files into them.
I don't just store stuff directly in my Dropbox though as I find using the built in windows photos & documents folders too convenient for that. Instead I use a SyncToy folder pairing (see above) with only a few important sub folders selected to make sure the essential data is copied into the Dropbox. This helps me stay under the 2 gig limit and means all my photos & documents etc. are still stored in one main folder instead of having to split them by importance.
Hope this helps, and let me know if any of the above doesn't work out for you or have any better ideas!
10 June 2009
Check out my new glasses.
Except they aren't my new glasses. :) Click the image on the right for a bigger version. This shot was taken with Glasses Direct Virtual Mirror software, available here.It's technically very impressive, it tracked my face pretty well considering I just used a built in laptop web-cam, and I wasn't particular accurate when calibrating it.
But with my experience of working on e-commerce software and building e-commerce websites what impresses me is that it's the start for solving a very big problem with selling stuff online: some goods just have to be tried on before you buy them.
Now I just need a website that will let me scan my awkwardly shaped feet so I can buy shoes online that fit me.
9 June 2009
I can't believe that site is still accessible!
This week I've finally got round to restoring a ton of data I had lying around on old hard drives. As well as finding a lot of my university work I've found examples of my early commercial work and it's kinda embarassing looking back at that stuff. I'm sure it's the same for anyone that does anything remotely creative, but it comes off as very simple, scrappy & naive now. :)
Looking at all this old stuff made me realise how easy it's going to be in our digital age to lose all of our records & mementos. Sure there's going to be lots of things left on the general internet we'd rather forget like old personal sites torn down ages ago that end up forever accessible, but the really personal stuff that we keep on our PCs is oh so fragile.
All it takes is a machine failure (or if you're a bit better at running backups a fire or theft) and all those photos and digital keepsakes are gone. So tomorrow I'm gonna point you all in the direction of a couple of little apps that make doing simple back-ups both on-site and off-site that little bit easier!
As for whether we *should* be keeping all this stuff, well that's a topic for another time.
Looking at all this old stuff made me realise how easy it's going to be in our digital age to lose all of our records & mementos. Sure there's going to be lots of things left on the general internet we'd rather forget like old personal sites torn down ages ago that end up forever accessible, but the really personal stuff that we keep on our PCs is oh so fragile.
All it takes is a machine failure (or if you're a bit better at running backups a fire or theft) and all those photos and digital keepsakes are gone. So tomorrow I'm gonna point you all in the direction of a couple of little apps that make doing simple back-ups both on-site and off-site that little bit easier!
As for whether we *should* be keeping all this stuff, well that's a topic for another time.
8 June 2009
CVs are weird and make me think too much.
Finally got round to finishing off my CV and sending it out today. Happy with the result, but reading it back is really weird.
Because a CV is so focused and you can't allow yourself to be modest when writing it, it always feels like the person it's describing is some boring alternative you from a dimension where everyone does nothing but work.
Who is this meticulous, responsible, driven Nick Johns my CV describes? It certainly doesn't sound like me (as most my friends would agree), but when considering my employment & performance over the last 10 years it is accurate.
Which got me thinking, am I effectively two different people? Is everyone like this, or am I just particularly effective at seperating out work and play?
Maybe I should just stop thinking too much and get back to being "play" Nick. ;)
Because a CV is so focused and you can't allow yourself to be modest when writing it, it always feels like the person it's describing is some boring alternative you from a dimension where everyone does nothing but work.
Who is this meticulous, responsible, driven Nick Johns my CV describes? It certainly doesn't sound like me (as most my friends would agree), but when considering my employment & performance over the last 10 years it is accurate.
Which got me thinking, am I effectively two different people? Is everyone like this, or am I just particularly effective at seperating out work and play?
Maybe I should just stop thinking too much and get back to being "play" Nick. ;)
7 June 2009
Service will resume in 3.... 2.... 1...
Okay, so I learnt this weekend that I can't write a blog entry when:
This weekend has probably been my longest boardgaming session ever. Starting at about 8pm Friday night with a game of SmallWorld, we finished about 6.30pm today having only really taken breaks for sleeping and eating, we didn't really do anything else!
Dominion really was the big game of the weekend. Played many games of it and even I was surprised just how much fun it was and I'd been going on about it for a while! It really is an amazing game as the different available set-ups make for completely different feeling rounds with greatly varying strategies.
Also got to play a few new games with Mark bringing Snow Tails & Timber Tom, the former a really clever game based around dog sled racing, the latter a great looking mountaineering / hiking themed game that has definite potential but I think I need to have a 4-player game of it before really getting a proper feel for it.
Beyond Monopoly was ace again, the highlight of which for me was finally getting to play Puerto Rico. Despite initially looking overwhelming, it went very smoothly thanks to Robert taking the time to teach us how to play. I'm really looking forward to playing it again now that I have an idea about the tactics and phases.
Brain now feels so very full of game rules I might have forgotton how to do actual useful things like driving and stuff! But was worth it. :)
- drunk
- with friends
- there are games to be played
This weekend has probably been my longest boardgaming session ever. Starting at about 8pm Friday night with a game of SmallWorld, we finished about 6.30pm today having only really taken breaks for sleeping and eating, we didn't really do anything else!
Dominion really was the big game of the weekend. Played many games of it and even I was surprised just how much fun it was and I'd been going on about it for a while! It really is an amazing game as the different available set-ups make for completely different feeling rounds with greatly varying strategies.
Also got to play a few new games with Mark bringing Snow Tails & Timber Tom, the former a really clever game based around dog sled racing, the latter a great looking mountaineering / hiking themed game that has definite potential but I think I need to have a 4-player game of it before really getting a proper feel for it.
Beyond Monopoly was ace again, the highlight of which for me was finally getting to play Puerto Rico. Despite initially looking overwhelming, it went very smoothly thanks to Robert taking the time to teach us how to play. I'm really looking forward to playing it again now that I have an idea about the tactics and phases.
Brain now feels so very full of game rules I might have forgotton how to do actual useful things like driving and stuff! But was worth it. :)
5 June 2009
Often overlooked games : Zack & Wiki, Quest for Barbaros Treasure.
For all those people that complain that the Wii's software library is full of utter crap: random family friendly mini-game collections, watered down versions of successful games of the past, and cynical film tie-ins.... well actually yeah, I see where you're coming from.
But hidden away in this quagmire are a few genuine gems, but of course no-one buys them. That'll teach them to try something different!
One of these gems is "Zack & Wiki : Quest for Babaros' Treasure". It's a bit like the classic point & click adventures of old (you know: Monkey Island, Broken Sword, Sam & Max etc), but diluted into it's core best bits: solving puzzles & silly jokes. :)
Forget ever having to search for the one item you need to solve a nearby puzzle at the other side of a massive game world. Instead, the game is split up into individual stages which means you have everything you need to solve the puzzles nearby, which greatly reduces frustration.
Is that one puzzle stretching logic a bit too far? Use the built in game hint system. It doesn't feel like cheating as you get less rewards for having use it. No-one likes staring at the same damn thing for hours anyways.
The puzzles range from the obvious to the ingenious. Some of them had me using the remote in really clever ways I would never have expected!
It's an extremely charming game, I loved the characters in it and their "Simlish" style language does the job nicely without grating on you. There's some very funny slapstick moments in it as well which I wont be spoiling for you. :)
Get it if you:
But hidden away in this quagmire are a few genuine gems, but of course no-one buys them. That'll teach them to try something different!
One of these gems is "Zack & Wiki : Quest for Babaros' Treasure". It's a bit like the classic point & click adventures of old (you know: Monkey Island, Broken Sword, Sam & Max etc), but diluted into it's core best bits: solving puzzles & silly jokes. :)
Forget ever having to search for the one item you need to solve a nearby puzzle at the other side of a massive game world. Instead, the game is split up into individual stages which means you have everything you need to solve the puzzles nearby, which greatly reduces frustration.
Is that one puzzle stretching logic a bit too far? Use the built in game hint system. It doesn't feel like cheating as you get less rewards for having use it. No-one likes staring at the same damn thing for hours anyways.
The puzzles range from the obvious to the ingenious. Some of them had me using the remote in really clever ways I would never have expected!
It's an extremely charming game, I loved the characters in it and their "Simlish" style language does the job nicely without grating on you. There's some very funny slapstick moments in it as well which I wont be spoiling for you. :)
Get it if you:
- Want a proper game for the Wii.
- Liked the puzzle solving parts of the classic point & click games.
- Want to see the Wii remote get used in new ways.
- Like thinking outside the box.
- Hate Japanese manga-type styling.
- Prefer action-packed games.
- Wont play anything that looks cartoony.
4 June 2009
The Bodyguard. No not that one!
Today I spent far too long cleaning. To make up for that amount of sensible I decided I needed the exact opposite of sensible. Which it turns out is the Thai action film: The Bodyguard.
Directed by and starring Petchtai Wongkamlao (Humlae from Ong-bak. You know, the cousin who's "streetwise") it's utterly utterly bonkers.
Within the first 15 minutes we have a massive body count, around 10 wire-work spinning gun shots, the guy the bodyguard is supposed to be protecting being thrown through a wall (by the bodyguard) and a totally improbable midair collision involving 4 exploding cars.
AWESOME.
Be warned. This film is probably really bad. For me it goes all the way round back to good but your mileage may vary. Some of the humour is not at all accessible for a western audience: you've got cultural things that make no sense whatsoever, Thai comedy stars you wont recognise and in-jokes that we're not "in on" at all. Still I found plenty of laugh out loud moments, a highlight for me being a "camp dance-fu" vs "Wushu style" fight.
Definitely recommend it if you don't mind subtitles and are comfortable with not knowing what the hell is going on half the time. It has great OTT action sequences in and some real funny moments. Oh and it has that cute girl from Ong Bak and a Tony Jaa cameo in, so that's a bonus :D.
Directed by and starring Petchtai Wongkamlao (Humlae from Ong-bak. You know, the cousin who's "streetwise") it's utterly utterly bonkers.
Within the first 15 minutes we have a massive body count, around 10 wire-work spinning gun shots, the guy the bodyguard is supposed to be protecting being thrown through a wall (by the bodyguard) and a totally improbable midair collision involving 4 exploding cars.
AWESOME.
Be warned. This film is probably really bad. For me it goes all the way round back to good but your mileage may vary. Some of the humour is not at all accessible for a western audience: you've got cultural things that make no sense whatsoever, Thai comedy stars you wont recognise and in-jokes that we're not "in on" at all. Still I found plenty of laugh out loud moments, a highlight for me being a "camp dance-fu" vs "Wushu style" fight.
Definitely recommend it if you don't mind subtitles and are comfortable with not knowing what the hell is going on half the time. It has great OTT action sequences in and some real funny moments. Oh and it has that cute girl from Ong Bak and a Tony Jaa cameo in, so that's a bonus :D.
3 June 2009
Deafened Chinchillas
In my many years of programming I have, as has just about everyone else I know, cocked things up on occasion.
The biggest mistakes come with that flushed, red-faced sort of feeling. But everything I've done in the past has been rectified with minimum impact: be it knocking up a quick database script to fix mucked up data or a humble apologetic phone call to a client informing them of the best course of action.
But at least I've never caused multiple explosions or deafened a bunch of chinchillas.
Puts everything in perspective really doesn't it?
The biggest mistakes come with that flushed, red-faced sort of feeling. But everything I've done in the past has been rectified with minimum impact: be it knocking up a quick database script to fix mucked up data or a humble apologetic phone call to a client informing them of the best course of action.
But at least I've never caused multiple explosions or deafened a bunch of chinchillas.
Puts everything in perspective really doesn't it?
2 June 2009
Riceboy - an epic fantasy webcomic
Bit of a short post today as I'm poorly organised and a bit tired after a Left For Dead session on the 360.
But here's a link to an absolutely fantastic webcomic called Riceboy. http://www.rice-boy.com/see/index.php?c=001. It's a fantasy epic with very strange characters and creatures, and a wonderfully imaginative world. Definitely recommended for people that like things like Lord Of the Rings and Bone.
Finished reading it a few years ago, and have been meaning to pick up the print version but it's a little out of my price range at the moment ;). Maybe I'll just read the online version again.
But here's a link to an absolutely fantastic webcomic called Riceboy. http://www.rice-boy.com/see/index.php?c=001. It's a fantasy epic with very strange characters and creatures, and a wonderfully imaginative world. Definitely recommended for people that like things like Lord Of the Rings and Bone.
Finished reading it a few years ago, and have been meaning to pick up the print version but it's a little out of my price range at the moment ;). Maybe I'll just read the online version again.
1 June 2009
Mangafox - check it out before it's shut down
Found a nice little site today that's perfect if you fancy browsing some manga for free.
Mangafox has an excellent wide-ranging collection of manga from popular stuff like Dragonball & One Piece to very obscure but interesting one chapter oddities like A Cat That Loved A Fish.
Navigation through a manga is made very easy with keyboard shortcuts to speed things up and avoid strain on that mouse hand, just use the left & right arrow keys to flick through a manga.
Unfortunately there's no way it's legit. Most of the bigger titles have a haphazard mix of chapters from different scanlation groups and I know that many of the more well know titles available on mangafox have been licensed in the US, so I don't expect the site to stay up long. So I recommend you enjoy it now whilst you can!
Oh and if you find something you really like, buy it from your local comic book store and help support the writers & artists!
Mangafox has an excellent wide-ranging collection of manga from popular stuff like Dragonball & One Piece to very obscure but interesting one chapter oddities like A Cat That Loved A Fish.
Navigation through a manga is made very easy with keyboard shortcuts to speed things up and avoid strain on that mouse hand, just use the left & right arrow keys to flick through a manga.
Unfortunately there's no way it's legit. Most of the bigger titles have a haphazard mix of chapters from different scanlation groups and I know that many of the more well know titles available on mangafox have been licensed in the US, so I don't expect the site to stay up long. So I recommend you enjoy it now whilst you can!
Oh and if you find something you really like, buy it from your local comic book store and help support the writers & artists!
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