Occasional ramblings from The Bouncy One

The golden flicker of torchlight

2009-10-29T08:23:05Z

One of the games that will be listed in any 'top ten' I make will be the isometric 3d dungeon-delver Diablo. The mix of gameplay lack-of-story story and a certain ability to laugh at itself made it immersive and a very easy way to lose track of time whilst exploring its depths. There have been many imitators since then, but last night I found one that could be considered its heir, Torchlight. Part of the group that created it worked on the original Diablo, and it shows, from the easy to master controls and immersive gameplay to the lack-of-story story willing to laugh at itself it really does manage to capture the good qualities of Diablo while also having a good cartoon-style artwork design all of its own.

Having lost one evening to the game already I fully expect to lose a few more nights while I try to complete the game, something I'm looking forward to in a way I've not had from a single-player game in a while now. (actually, saying that, as it's from the people behind the Perfect World free MMO, there is also going to be a Torchlight MMO, which could be interesting to see how they make work)

good news, bad news

2009-10-13T09:35:35Z

Well, the day started off nicely when I read that Game Central is now going to continue on teletext when most of the rest of the service is stopped in 2010. It's good news, as I was not looking forward to losing one of my long-term daily reads. More details are promised, but for now knowing the campaign to save GC worked is good enough.

The bad news for today is the gag order that hit the Guardian newspaper, stopping it from reporting on a parlimentary question.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/12/guardian-gagged-from-reporting-parliament

The solicitors of Carter-Ruck that this originated from have a fairly bad reputation due to just this sort of thing (disreputable? oh my yes), but this can be considered to be an all-time new low as it effectively is trying to break a freedom that is more than a hundred years old (and was fought for all the way up to the king before it was won)

So, what are they trying to suppress?
The possible question is here:
http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2009/10/a_stunning_gag_order.html
and is suggested to be:
"Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation to protect (a) whistleblowers and (b) press freedom following the injunctions obtained in the High Court by (i) Barclays and Freshfields solicitors on 19 March 2009 on the publication of internal Barclays reports documenting alleged tax avoidance schemes and (ii) Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura."

The report mentioned can be found here:
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Minton_report:_Trafigura_Toxic_dumping_along_the_Ivory_Coast_broke_EU_regulations%2C_14_Sep_2006

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow . . .

2009-10-05T18:13:00Z

In readiness for the next snowboarding holiday, I planned to start getting a basic board, boots and bindings. Due to the new video camera I couldn't just go out and get the whole lot in one go, but instead go and get one item each month. This month sees the start of the plan, and also saw me able to pick up a new board for under 200 euro including vat and delivery (I actually got it the same day my order went in over the intarwebs).

Next up will be either bindings or boots, depending on what bargains are available still...

Taking a walk...

2009-10-02T13:48:09Z

One thing with getting into shooting video is suddenly noticing how things are shot. TV programs, films, even adverts, all have good and bad in them while the occasional one will stand out, or in this case walk out, taller than the others and showing just how good 'good' can be. Oddly enough, this like the last short film I highlighted is an advert. Like the other one I linked to this is a single shot, but where Carousel was a single movement through a frozen moment of time, this is very much a moving journey as the star tells the story whilst walking through the Scottish Highlands.

The film is six and a half minutes long, which means it is one of the longest single-shot films done, and can be seen on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnSIp76CvUI

More background to how it was done can be read here:

http://www.shots.net/article_detail.asp?atype=1&id=9071

...now to go back to being nervous about tonight's big derby game against bohs

I'm not dead yet!

2009-09-10T07:46:47Z

On the tenth anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast being released, and many years after it was supposed to have died, someone has decided to release a new game for the console. It's a top-down "old school 2d racing game" which looks like fun, and a bit like Micro Machines, which if it comes close to that game's playability will mean it's well worth getting. (and at 15 euro it'll hardly break the bank to do so)

It's only available for pre-order right now, but it's region free, so no worries about it not working.... Time to dust off the old Dreamcast again ready to get the first new game for it in Sega Ages :-)

News item: http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/new-dreamcast-game-announced.html

Game link: http://www.redspotgames.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=10

Game on...

2009-08-24T20:46:02Z

I`m writing this from my new toy... Thanks to Sony releasing a new slim version of the PS3 they finally dropped the price of their console to `hmm . . . ok` from `not happening`. This, plus Game putting together a bundle of the console plus two games for the same price as the console on its own saw my resistance dissapere into gadget-freak`s `it shall be mine!` land.

The game I got I`m playing most is Little Big Planet, which is great fun, full of win and `Awwww!` and has a certain Mr Stephan Fry doing the voice work for it in his own inimitable style. A game to highly recommend.

One thing that the current generation of consoles are doing well is demos. With the price of games fairly steep it`s good to be able to try out as many as you have hard drive space for before buying the full game. (in my case that would be also a case of `until there`s money for new games` too)

Gleth678 is the tag I chose, so look out for me, I`ll be the one with the pun... :-)

Save GameCentral

2009-07-25T08:01:05Z

For far too many years to count I have had one daily read; Game Central, the gaming news and reviews magazine hosted on Channel 4's teletext service. It started out as Digitiser, and moved pages quite a few times before being changed to Game Central in 2003. Currently residing on pages 690-695 it still gives honest opinions of games, preferring skill and well-crafted gaming experiences over the latest throw-away movie tie-in or over-hyped clunker.

It was a sad day, therefore, when I read GC was to be removed from teletext in 2010, and I found myself not really knowing what to do. Step up another reader who not only sent in the weekend 4Players article, but set up an online petition to have GC hosted by another service. I hope this can actually do what it sets out to, as I don't know what, if anything, I'll replace my daily morning GC reading with.

The article itself can be read at: http://www.ghoststorm.co.uk/?p=2497

If you feel like signing the petition, you can find it at: http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveGC/petition.html

gleth @ 2009-07-24T12:51:00

2009-07-24T12:07:13Z

There has been an on-going issue over the last few years with police arresting photographers and confiscating their equipment just for taking photos or video, something that is a legal activity normally. One of the acts that has been mis-used as part of this is the terrorism act, where the provisions for stopping people and confiscating equipment have been applied to harshly due to guidance not having been forthcoming. Thankfully guidance has been issued, of a sort, hopefully bringing the police into line with correct procedure.

http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm

Each "thou shalt" in the document has come from over-application of the appropriate section, and the beginning "it is not against the law" shows how bad it has become for photogs in the UK and elsewhere.

cinema cinema

2009-06-25T19:40:27Z

It's not often a short film can blow you away through shear genius, but the short that was created to help show off the new 21:9 cinema-screen tv from Phillips just managed to do that for me. Carousel tells the story of an explosive bank robbery, where the camera does a seamless single take shot through the whole scene returning to the start point ready to run through again, very much the titular carousel, but the whole thing is one frozen moment in time. Even if it means waiting, I really recommend watching the "ultra high definition version" in full screen. Don't turn the amblight effect off either first time around, do that the second time through (when you're watching the behind the scenes extras built in) as it makes more of a difference than I thought it should to me :-)

...anyway, go watch Carousel, it's Now Showing at:

http://www.cinema.philips.com/?ls=gb_en

Weddings R Us

2009-06-24T19:08:10Z

Yesterday AL and Min got married. It was a lovely ceremony, though it seemed a bit odd not having any singing going on, however the place was decorated nicely and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, while the three-piece group were much better than any recording could be. The reception was in the Finnstown Country House Hotel, a lovely big old building with massive grounds. Under the blue sky there were plenty of pictures taken with the two families as well as the friends of both Min and Al. The three-piece group were there for the afternoon, accompanying the festivities until it was time for speeches and food. Once the speeches were done, in two languages, the cake was cut and the evening's dancing could begin. Al and Min's first dance was a gentle affair, but went well with no furniture hurt in the proceedings, and the band managed to get everyone on the floor at one point or another.

Min looked absolutely radient and Al looked smart, and I hope they both have a very happy time together from now on.

I took far too many pictures during the day, which combined with my not realising the camera battery wasn't fully charged meant it was gone by the time the dancing started. However I managed not to make a mess of a few of them, which I've put up on my photobucket account here:

http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m350/gleth678/Al-and-Min_Wedding/

I have a dozen or so short video clips as well, but I'll have to see if I can put a short reel together once I've looked through them all and imported them to my NLE.

It's the Real deal

2009-06-19T16:04:35Z

Today finally saw all the rumours and expectations finally confirmed. Shamrock Rovers will play Real Madrid in a friendly match at Tallaght Stadium on July 20th.

...As you might imagine I'm bouncing all over the place knowing that it's definitely happening, and that no-one has managed to mess things up for us, like has happened to a few things that had been all-but-arranged. Add into that friendly matches against Hibernians FC and one other British football club, and the Summer of Football talked about for the mid-season break looks like being an amazing time.

It's a shame I most probably won't be part of the press pack filming the Real Madrid match (I'm still looking for ways to do this) but right now I'm just happy this is happening at all.

20 years ago today

2009-06-04T10:45:55Z

In China, the Tiananmen Square protests were about to come to their bloody conclusion as the tanks rolled in. One iconic moment of the time was captured as a lone person stood in front of a line of tanks as they rolled towards the square. The Tank Man, as the anonymous person is known, came to represent the time, and it is fitting that he be remembered today, the 20th anniversary.

A final page was turned...

2009-06-04T07:59:14Z

This morning I head the sad news that one of my all-time favourite authors, David Eddings, had died aged 77.

I first discovered Pawn of Prophecy, first book of The Belgariad, thanks to it being the only book in the sci-fi/fantasy section of the bookshop to be anything other than a primary colour (most likely red, *maybe* yellow if it was being 'different) with a black spine. It was a bright shining lavender, and it stood out like a sore thumb. Nowadays book colours are all over the place so the Eddings books no longer stand out for being different, but back then it was the only one. Pawn of Prophecy started slowly, and even by it's end had not really sped up much, but I was hooked and had to wait for the next one to arrive, searching the shelves each month in the hope that this would be the one. Ten years later the Belgariad was finished, and the pace of the books had grown from the gentle start to a frenetic whirlwind of battle spanning an entire world that even today leaves me breathless as the final page is turned.

I have read thousands of books over the years, but few have left such a mark, or been re-read with such regularity. The joy those books bring are a legacy that anyone would rightly be proud of. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's an old white-bearded tramp who's saying that he needs some help recovering a glowing blue stone...

How can they do this?

2009-05-29T14:40:17Z

The WIPO are debating a treaty that would protect the rights of those with reading disabilities...

The USA, Canada and the EU are all opposing this:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/29/usa-canada-and-the-e.html

Annoyed? too damn right I am.

(if you're seeing this more than once, sorry, it needs spreading)

Throwing bricks through windows

2009-05-11T08:59:11Z

With the recent release of Windows 7 RC1 I decided to go have a look due to the many reports of it being a 'good' operating system. As a long-time cynic (and someone with a severe dislike of Microsoft due to its actions over the years) I was fully expecting to find something that I disliked the experience of, from the installer onwards.

I first downloaded and installed VirtualBox so I didn't have to install the OS on a real computer, and then started the Windows 7 installer. A few sensible questions later and . . . it just worked. Only one reboot, compared to the half a dozen of previous versions of Windows, and no intrusive "we are the greatest" marketing, just a nice-looking informative install screen that did its job with no fuss. After this bombshell (normally by now I'd be in a less-than-charitable state of mind), I got to the OS itself. And once more it all just worked. The new Aero UI does its job and lays things out so you can find them. You don't need to hunt down various menu trees for information that should be easily accessible and if you do something dumb Windows just shrugs and gets on without falling over.

I was impressed enough to re-install my laptop, which is saying something as I normally try not to go anywhere near a new version of Windows. Even that just worked. The only issues I had was LotRO not wanting to play, but for some reason the laptop has problems with LotRO, so it's Dell's fault, not Microsoft's. And finding how to disable the wireless card is not easy if you're used to previous versions of Windows like me, but again as this is so different to previous versions it's more like learning a new OS . . . not a bad thing really, it's only techies like me that will be digging this deep, most people should find everything is laid out in an intuitive fashion.

I also installed the Cisco VPN client for work, and unlike Vista which needs a patch to work, Windows 7 again 'just worked'. (version 5.0.03.0560 for those who wish to know)

It really goes against the grain to say it, but I think Microsoft have done a very good job at fixing most of what was wrong with the Windows experience (there are a few things that still need addressing, such as the default of not displaying file extensions still allowing the use of file.ext.exe as an attack vector, but the list of issues is shorter by far than usual for a 'new' Windows)

Thankfully Kubuntu 9.04 is out and looking and working brilliantly as a balance to MS having produced a decent version of Windows, so I won't be losing my geek card just yet :-)

Recent pics

2009-03-12T20:03:58Z

Last weekend was taldragon's birthday, at which my execrable photo taking skills were enhanced by alcohol, leading to a set of pics only worth viewing if you were there...

Speaking of there, they're their:
http://pix.ie/gleth/album/336474

On the way home I tried to capture the ringbow I could see outside the airplane window, leading to much failure. The last one I tried kinda worked, especially after messing with the colour values to bring out the double ring visible around the plane's shadow.
http://pix.ie/gleth/album/336473

It's a shame all my pics are so bad this time, hopefully the video I shoot at the football game tomorrow will more than make up for it.

And now the end is near...

2009-02-13T17:19:16Z

Tomorrow is clean, pack and leave day, a shame after such a fun week of snowboarding.

Today saw us doing the typical last-day-of-skiing type of things, ie trying runs far too
hard really, and going off-piste to play in the powder, oh and timing how fast we could get
down certain runs. This also meant various silly bits of music suggested themselves during
the day, the best of which was King Julian from Madagascar doing "I like to move it".
Though in our case the words were changed to "I like to nose it" . . . (especially after
the phrase of the last snowboarding holiday ended up as "just nose it" thanks to an
enthusiastic person we met in Andorra)

Once we've found the rep and sorted tomorrow out it'll be time for junk...erm...souvenier
shopping before food and beer. Snowboarding is odd, it takes a lot of falling down before
things click, but once it does the fun more than makes up for the learning process.

I really do have to thank Al for making this year's holiday possible, it's been a lot of
fun. It's a shame it has to end, but hopefully the journey home will be stress free.

Only the lonely

2009-02-12T17:13:15Z

Today saw me heading up the mountain on my own, which is never as much fun as when you're
with a group. I kept on from yesterday's breakthrough by only falling three times all day
(twice on the first run of the day and once during the last), so managed plenty of good
runs, slowly pushing myself faster each time. Lunch was once more in Le Rhododendron, the
restaurant near the top of the piste, as was the afternoon cup of hot chocolate (no
alcohol in it, unlike the ones in Andorra, which is a shame). Being on my own I found
that while I enjoyed the day's boarding, it wasn't as much fun as when I could stop and
chat when bumping into others, or when having lunch etc.

Tomorrow is the last day of skiing, so I hope to try a blue run or two rather than the
greens I've been keeping to.

By George, I think he's got it!

2009-02-11T19:44:22Z

After an early night we managed to get up onto the slopes fairly early, for us. Once more
the day started with 'how do I do this...oops...crunch', but that didn't last too long as
bodies suddenly remembered how to steer a plank of wood with no brakes that was hurtling
down the side of a mountain.

Being a beginner of sorts still, little goals were in place to help show progress. Things
like making it down the whole run without stopping for argh! (the silent sound made by feet
that *really* didn't like being crammed into tight boots before being tightly strapped to
a plank of wood). Another goal was making it down the green run without falling over,
something I was hoping would happen sometime by Friday. After completing the first goal
with only two minor offs, I was jubilant in making goal two on the very next run. In fact I
didn't fall over again all day after that, something I am highly pleased about though I
have no doubt tomorrow will start with 'how do I do this...oops...crunch' as normal :-)

One problem, of course, is now that I find myself in the position of being able to use the
equipment, purchasing my own is the next step, and these things ain't cheap... oh well :-D

A game of two halves

2009-02-10T20:14:57Z

Today started out with the both of us in full cry, the full cry of 'argh' that is. The world
proved that every time you think it can't get any worse, it does, with neither of us able
to move very quickly. At one point it seemed play would be postponed, but we finally got
things together enough to crawl up hill to the gondola.

After the 25 minute ride to Méribel we found the gondola we normally use not even opened.
this was due to the high winds uphill, so we had to take the local (free) bus up to the
bottom of the altiport chairlift. Managing to take the wrong direction fro the busstop
only compounded the frustration of the morning, but eventually we found ourselves atop the
piste, me looking at the green run I've been playing with all week, and Al looking for
something fun. As that meant we both started off in the same direction, this was a good
start, but part-way along the second stretch of the upper green run the wind came up and
white-out conditions applied. Not being able to see the run is not a good thing, especially
when the run has a fairly steep edge to one side... Al managed to loose the green run and
find the nice soft powder along the steep edge, I still have no idea why I managed to stay
on and upright. After that the day relented and went from "argh, grollox" to "woot". For me
this meant mainly staying upright, and in control, which was miles better than previous
days. Lunch at the mountain-top cafe was nice, but then freshly made omlettes tend to
be.

Coming back down at the end of the day found all sorts of different muscles vying for
attention in addition to the normal ones, so dinner was back at the same place as Sunday
rather than wandering around looking for something different. Still, the food is good, so
it's not a hardship at all :-)

So far the best night out was the one Sunday where we ended up watching the Marseilles
Vs Bordeaux football game in La Parisienne, not something we expected, but a good match
is always appreciated, even more so when the commentary doesn't need translation due to
your being able to 'hear' the pundits usual waffle. (Marseilles won 1-0, to the pub's
delight, even if it was one of the Bordeaux players who headed in the goal... bit of a
whoops-own-goal there)

Tomorrow is once more unto the piste, dear friends. Good considering I had doubts about
being able to make it first thing this morning :-D

Aches and pains

2009-02-09T20:52:09Z

A late start today, mostly due to muscles complaining loudly about yesterday's exercise.

Got up to the top of the geren run and found that the lack of fresh snow-fall made the
place almost completely different in how it worked (or didn't,as I found out far too
many times). Still, once that run was done, the rest of the day was fairly successfull,
especially the bit where I managed not falling on my face or my backside when getting
off the chairlift. Al played on the blue runs after we both got our legs back in, while I
stayed on the green run all day. Lunch was in the cafe at the top of the run, which was
nice as it meant not having to go down to the vilage for food, saving time for more skiing.

By the time it was nearly closing on the verious lifts, both of us were listening to
various screaming extremities, so the journey back to the hotel was definitely helped by
the hot wine being sold at the bottom of the gondola in Brides. The evening's meal was had
in La Parisienne, where we'd watched the Marseille vs Bordeux match the night before. I
was introduced to the grumpy member of staff (could seriously be from Paris, he's that
...erm... helpfull) Thankfully the other staff members make up for that, and the meal
was ok as far as pub food goes, so that worked.

Brides puts on a nightly free apres-ski thing in the early evening, which can be
unfortunately summed up as the type of do a church group would put on for kids, where they
would be trying to be 'hip' and 'trendy', but fail massively... Fun to watch, in a way,
but not something to take part in (saying that, there's a cheese tasting at one of them,
which could be nice)

Now to try and sleep the aches away :-)

And so it begins

2009-02-08T17:51:06Z

Today started with a search for bits of paper. Firstly to get the keys from reception, and
secondly to get the snowboard kit from the hire shop. Once those were found and done we
took the gondola up to Méribel, a nice 25 minute ride with only on hiccup when we got out
at the first station, forgetting we were waiting for the last one. Thankfully we got right
back on and continued to the slopes. Once in Méribel proper we walked over the the gondola
we needed to get to the top of the green run we were planning on going down.

The run actually is a circuit, with the main gondola up dropping you off about two thirds
of the way up, you then ski down and get a chairlift to the actual top and ski from there.
You can continue going round the figure-eight until you've no energy left then stop off
at the main gondola for the trip back down to the village, which we did at lunchtime,
finding a nice aussie pub with Murphys beer on tap (well, it does normally, but they'd run
out so I had to drink Amstel instead). They did a nice pub burger with all trimmings
at a reasonable price. The afternoon was then spent going around the circuit one last time
(for me, I'm a bit slow still, Al went round a few times). I definitly noticed improvement
in my ability as the day went on, which is good, and I also noticed a few muscles
complaining about all the work they did, which was expected. All-in-all a good first day,
now to go get dinner.

A tale of two cities... or Bienvenue a Brides Les Baine

2009-02-07T23:08:03Z

Dublin was it's usual semi-disorganised self, I arrived early enough to eat before check-in,
Al made it just as I was about to get to the desk, so ate after getting through customs.
One long fast walk to the terminal and we got on the plane directly, and after a short wait
the flight commenced. Landing in Geneva things started well, with customs being a friendly
walk-through, and our luggage not taking long to arrive. We found our rep and were directed
to the coach, only to have it delayed while the reps played musical coaches with the
passengers. To be fair it was a clerical error with how people were getting divided up, but
it still meant leaving late enough to make it look like breakfast was to be the next meal.
(the one problem with self-catering, not getting to the shops before closing on the first
night) Thankfully once we got to Brides les Baine we found that, not only is the place we
are staying miles better than the reviews on the intarwebs, but one of the bars serves
pizza to take-away, so stomachs were placated in readiness for sleep. :-)

Tomorrow we get to check-in to the place (reception was understandably closed) as well as
getting ski-passes and, for me to get the rental board and boots I'm going to have fun
falling off all week...

Torn

2009-02-04T14:13:48Z

Amnesty International's regular Secret Policemans Ball always manages to come up with something brilliant each year, one stand-out moment being the version of the Parrot Sketch where John Cleese was left a liitle gobsmacked when his opening line stating the demised nature of said parrot was met with "oh yes, you're right, d'you want a refund?".

Another fine moment has been captured on film and is on youtube for one and all to enjoy, something that can be said to be the ultimate version of Deaf Karaoke, live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=F0hAUN4bYVk

It's not often I'm sitting in front of my pc's monitor almost unable to see through the tears of laughter smearing the inside of my glasses...

Planes and Presidents

2009-01-21T08:35:46Z

It almost seems oddly appropriate that the plane which crashed in the Hudson River had all the passengers and crew get out alive.

Watching the inauguration of Barack Obama yesterday I was struck how the incoming and outgoing presidents could almost be summed up by two single days.

George 'Dubya' Bush's disastrous 8 years, with him dragging the world down the path to war, taking fiscal prudence and turning it into the biggest national debt ever, spurning civil liberties long fought for, and turning a world that was starting to respect the US into a place where the US was this biggest bully in the playground, could be very much summed up by the planes crashing into the World Trade Center.

Barack Obama, however, seems very much summed up by the Hudson River accident, all around the passengers and crew things were going wrong, but with a clam attitude, intelligent training and some hard work turned a potential disaster into something for all to be proud of.

I can't remember a US presidential inauguration that seemed to have so much sense of history surrounding it, even for those of us outside the USA. I wish the new president well, and hope he can live up to the potential he currently represents.

Edit:
It seems that the Irish ancestry of Barack Obama got celebrated by a duo in Ireland, the Corrigan Brothers :-)

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=HplZ_taHXLM