Meaning to quibble with. Quibble, meaning to argue or raise objections to a trivial matter.
I know, I'm slowly falling out of sync with my posting pattern, but I blame my body for oscillating between feeling intensely drowsy and then incredibly alert and awake at the worst of times, thus preventing me from posting a coherent response at the normal time. But hey, it's still Monday, so I'm not late.
Now, the other day, I got particularly annoyed (I'm becoming a rather irritable person. But again, I blame stress which will hopefully soon pass). What did I get annoyed at? Well, I'm currently needing to program in Visual Basic which, as the name might suggest, is an incredibly basic programming language. So basic, in fact, that its only purpose appears to be that it is taught to students to help them get to grips with the first concepts of programming. Now, if that statement were true, I'd accept this. But it's not. Almost any other programming language is very very different. Too different. I won't go into hardcore detail, but just an example to illustrate my point a little.
Visual Basic does not require a terminus at the end of a line of code (that is, a signifier that terminates the code (usually a semi-colon)), whereas almost any other high-level programming language (i.e. C, C++, etc.) requires on at the end of every line. Surely, it makes sense to teach a language like C, which is similar and basic enough to Visual Basic for students to grasp easily (with the right teaching, that is) but similar enough to other programming languages that, when coding in C becomes second nature, most of it can be applied to another language. This would, in turn, have the effect that students would be more "malleable" and would be able to adapt to other languages far quicker. As the situation currently stands, most Universities will have to completely teach a new language from scratch because most students will not have enough experience with "true" programming.
Now, I'm sure a few of you might be complaining that, if examining boards changed from teaching Visual Basic to a marginally higher language, lots of students wouldn't understand and would find the subject too challenging. While this may be so, in our society, do we want students that can fluke their way through an exam on a basic language, or do we want students who are willing to apply themselves to a higher language and emerge from it more competent at programming? There would certainly be fewer students studying the subject, but those who did would have less problem finding a job or even a university due to the position in which they were. I think I've run out of steam on this rant though, so I hope I've illustrated my point clearly enough here.
I'm still a little annoyed about people letting me down, as I was on Friday, though. It is, in fact, my birthday on Wednesday (Woo, me). I think the most effort that somone has made is my best friend making the effort to come and see me on my birthday. I mean, that is what best friends are for, but still. It's a bit disappointing on everyone elses' part. I think the annoying thing is when people say that they'll do something and then bail. I'm not shy about having OCD, and I think it's the condition that makes it really screw with me when people make plans and then don't keep to them, because it's somewhat disordered. I like order and conformity. Nonetheless, I do accept that everyone is human and make mistakes. But it's when these "mistakes" happen again and again, and you can't help but feel that they're not so much mistakes anymore, and that "Sorry" loses meaning. Rawr. I didn't have much steam on that one either, it seems.
I hope I'll be able to post on Wednesday. I can't see why not, since I doubt I'll be doing much (passive-aggressive snipe at the world there), but I leave you with less of a philosophical quote this time, but rather a musical review that made me chuckle earlier:
". . A collection of sounds that fall somewhere between P.O.D and a fart that's been trapped in a turbo-fx pedal for ten years."
Monday 31 January 2011
Friday 28 January 2011
Deosculate
What an inappropriate word for its meaning and one to certainly kill the mood if used in context, meaning to kiss affectionately.
I'm going through a bit of a stressful time recently and I've barely been sleeping, so these posts are likely to make almost no sense (assuming that the other posts did. . .) and they're likely to be with a slightly darker undertone (Wow, that sounded pretty dramatic and sinister, haha). Nonetheless, I will still try and keep this one interesting, since I appreciate the last was dull as Hell.
But since we're vaguely on the topic of it, what are emotions? Merely a body's reaction to an outside stimulus, causing an increase in the release of hormones? Physiologically, that's a brief overview of what emotions are and what they do to us. But they're more than just that. They're not just the physical effect, they're the way that we interpret the physical effect. Take, for example, stress upon reading that you've forgotten to complete a particularly important assignment that's due in tomorrow. You get that sinking feeling in your heart, don't you?
It's not a sinking of the heart at all, it's the release of adrenaline speeding up your heartbeat. But due to the upsetting sensation of the news, we interpret it as a sinking sensation.
Compare it to the feeling of butterflies when you see that girl (or guy) you like. It's a similar sensation, is it not? Know why? Because it's the same hormone, doing exactly the same thing. Adrenaline, speeding up your heartbeat. But we interpret in a completely different manner, because of the nature of it. It's a happier feeling, feeling lighter than air itself. Of course, in both situations there are differences in other hormones produced, but the main one involved in both sensations is adrenaline, doing the same thing.
Thing is, is it possible to manually control our response? It's somewhat impossible to control the way our body releases hormones and suchlike, but what about our actual interpretation? Supposedly, we can through cognitive behavioural therapy. You just train yourself to, every time a stressful event occurs and you get the sinking feeling, think of something happy that you know will always cheer you up. Over time, you begin to associate this thought with any stressful situation, and cheer yourself up without having to make the conscious thought.
Now, the smarter ones amongst you will have noticed somewhat of a flaw in this idea. You're associating a particularly happy thought with a stressful event, in order to cheer yourself up when you get stressed. But what happens when you think of this happy thought on a normal occasion? It's associated to a stressful occurrence, so what's to stop it stressing you? One can only assume that it's a two-way street in this respect.
If only everything else were a two-way street. That is to say, people were willing to do the same things that I'm prepared to do. Do excuse the little rant I'm about to go on. I'm not sure how long it's going to last. A frustratingly large number of people don't seem to understand the difference between "can't" and "won't". I know you can't ever assume that someone will treat you with the same respect when you do them a favour, but it's generally common courtesy. If, for example, you tell someone that you will, or will not do X (As a mathematician, I've come to assign a letter to any variable, be it a number or, in this case, an event), and said person responds with "I can't do the same".
Now, can't, in my eyes, means that there is some physical restriction preventing you from doing it. If, for example, it goes against the law or it can cause harm to them or someone else, or, of course, it is physically impossible.
Won't just means that they don't really want to do it. They care little for your feelings or what you're actually doing for them.
And such a frustratingly large number of people are doing this to me recently. And I'm just sick and tired of being let down time and time again by everyone, and it honestly makes me wonder why the Hell I'm even giving them the decency of it. I mean, there are, of course, people in my life who have never and will never let me down. And to those, I am seriously seriously grateful. You'll never quite know what it means to me to be able to rely on you guys. Ok, soppy moment and rant over.
I leave you with a quote from the wonderful Nietzsche:
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything"
I'm going through a bit of a stressful time recently and I've barely been sleeping, so these posts are likely to make almost no sense (assuming that the other posts did. . .) and they're likely to be with a slightly darker undertone (Wow, that sounded pretty dramatic and sinister, haha). Nonetheless, I will still try and keep this one interesting, since I appreciate the last was dull as Hell.
But since we're vaguely on the topic of it, what are emotions? Merely a body's reaction to an outside stimulus, causing an increase in the release of hormones? Physiologically, that's a brief overview of what emotions are and what they do to us. But they're more than just that. They're not just the physical effect, they're the way that we interpret the physical effect. Take, for example, stress upon reading that you've forgotten to complete a particularly important assignment that's due in tomorrow. You get that sinking feeling in your heart, don't you?
It's not a sinking of the heart at all, it's the release of adrenaline speeding up your heartbeat. But due to the upsetting sensation of the news, we interpret it as a sinking sensation.
Compare it to the feeling of butterflies when you see that girl (or guy) you like. It's a similar sensation, is it not? Know why? Because it's the same hormone, doing exactly the same thing. Adrenaline, speeding up your heartbeat. But we interpret in a completely different manner, because of the nature of it. It's a happier feeling, feeling lighter than air itself. Of course, in both situations there are differences in other hormones produced, but the main one involved in both sensations is adrenaline, doing the same thing.
Thing is, is it possible to manually control our response? It's somewhat impossible to control the way our body releases hormones and suchlike, but what about our actual interpretation? Supposedly, we can through cognitive behavioural therapy. You just train yourself to, every time a stressful event occurs and you get the sinking feeling, think of something happy that you know will always cheer you up. Over time, you begin to associate this thought with any stressful situation, and cheer yourself up without having to make the conscious thought.
Now, the smarter ones amongst you will have noticed somewhat of a flaw in this idea. You're associating a particularly happy thought with a stressful event, in order to cheer yourself up when you get stressed. But what happens when you think of this happy thought on a normal occasion? It's associated to a stressful occurrence, so what's to stop it stressing you? One can only assume that it's a two-way street in this respect.
If only everything else were a two-way street. That is to say, people were willing to do the same things that I'm prepared to do. Do excuse the little rant I'm about to go on. I'm not sure how long it's going to last. A frustratingly large number of people don't seem to understand the difference between "can't" and "won't". I know you can't ever assume that someone will treat you with the same respect when you do them a favour, but it's generally common courtesy. If, for example, you tell someone that you will, or will not do X (As a mathematician, I've come to assign a letter to any variable, be it a number or, in this case, an event), and said person responds with "I can't do the same".
Now, can't, in my eyes, means that there is some physical restriction preventing you from doing it. If, for example, it goes against the law or it can cause harm to them or someone else, or, of course, it is physically impossible.
Won't just means that they don't really want to do it. They care little for your feelings or what you're actually doing for them.
And such a frustratingly large number of people are doing this to me recently. And I'm just sick and tired of being let down time and time again by everyone, and it honestly makes me wonder why the Hell I'm even giving them the decency of it. I mean, there are, of course, people in my life who have never and will never let me down. And to those, I am seriously seriously grateful. You'll never quite know what it means to me to be able to rely on you guys. Ok, soppy moment and rant over.
I leave you with a quote from the wonderful Nietzsche:
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything"
Sunday 23 January 2011
Callypigian
Something that rather amused me when I found out, today's word means to have perfectly proportioned buttocks.
This weekend, I've not been at home, unfortunately. I've spent the weekend with my good friend Dominic (who will be utterly delighted to be mentioned in this blog) and my young lady friend, Holly. By "lady friend", I mean that she's my girlfriend.
Now, this week, I'm a little short on inspiration for blogworthy content. So, I'm just going to start on a topic, and keep going until something comes of it. Aren't you all just positively giddy with anticipation.
A lot of people make assumptions in today's society. Monogamy is one of them. When one enters into a relationship, monogamy is just assumed, but is it right to just assume monogamy? All of our assumptions are based on a social norm. Those who are rebellious know the social norm, but try to break away from it; whereas those who are more comfortable in the nature of their society keep to the trend.
Now, there are a few people out there who will be arguing with me thus far, saying "You can't just assume monogamy in a relationship!" Well, yes you can, and no you can't. (If you'll excuse me, I'm rather paraphrasing what one of my friends mentioned, but I'd like to publicise this futher)
I believe that, where monogamy is the social norm, you are perfectly within your rights to assume it. However, polyamorous individuals will be assuming not. Because it's not their norm. So, yes you can assume monogamy, but only in a society in which it is the norm. My writing style is going awfully downhill in this post...
Another assumption made in society today; table manners. No, I'm not saying that table manners are an assumption, but the level to which they are "necessary" is subjective and assumed. If, for example, you were at a meal in a greasy spoon café, with your rather burly and common-as-muck uncle, table manners are hardly going to be enforced or necessary, as it were. The social norm (Yeah, I know I keep referring to it as this) is not as upper-class, and table manners are not expected. You could probably get away with sitting with your elbows on the table, talking about anything, even possibly eating with your fingers.
On the other extreme of the figurative spectrum, if you were attending a meal with your middle-class, financially-benefitted grandmother, in an uptown restaurant, the last thing you'd ever want to do would be to put your elbows on the table. (Well, I'm sure there are other things that you'd probably want to do less, but you get the idea). The social etiquette in such company would be to sit straight, speak about "clean" or socially-acceptable topics (another assumption made) and never, ever let your elbows touch that table!
However, there are no set rules or regulations about manners when at a meal. It is just an assumption made because it is socially more acceptable.
Within my group of friends, with regards to table conversations, (since many conversations used to take a turn for the more sexually-explicit or morally questionable (usually due to me...), we've decided on a rule of "Not near the lightbulb". A joking, lighthearted rule, usually exclaimed by most at the table when a conversation began to take that route into the Oblivion of moral objection, but one of those subjective rules nonetheless. When does a conversation become morally questionable? There is no set point, since everyone's morals are different. I know this has been a massively long-winded method of describing it, but today's society is based strongly around social assumptions, and subjective matters. Maybe we need more rules, or maybe we need to put less emphasis. I don't know. I'm not entirely sure what it is that I'm trying to write about here. Note to self: Stick to reviews and personal experiences, and don't give up your day job.
Alas, I know I'm posting this early, but it's unlikely that I'll be able to post at midnight, since I'm not at home. I hope you'll all forgive me for this abomination of my self-enforced rules and regulations regarding posting frequency.
However, do I dare leave with another cynical quote, or would that be socially unacceptable? Subjective.
"Etiquette is the invention of wise men to keep fools at a distance."
This weekend, I've not been at home, unfortunately. I've spent the weekend with my good friend Dominic (who will be utterly delighted to be mentioned in this blog) and my young lady friend, Holly. By "lady friend", I mean that she's my girlfriend.
Now, this week, I'm a little short on inspiration for blogworthy content. So, I'm just going to start on a topic, and keep going until something comes of it. Aren't you all just positively giddy with anticipation.
A lot of people make assumptions in today's society. Monogamy is one of them. When one enters into a relationship, monogamy is just assumed, but is it right to just assume monogamy? All of our assumptions are based on a social norm. Those who are rebellious know the social norm, but try to break away from it; whereas those who are more comfortable in the nature of their society keep to the trend.
Now, there are a few people out there who will be arguing with me thus far, saying "You can't just assume monogamy in a relationship!" Well, yes you can, and no you can't. (If you'll excuse me, I'm rather paraphrasing what one of my friends mentioned, but I'd like to publicise this futher)
I believe that, where monogamy is the social norm, you are perfectly within your rights to assume it. However, polyamorous individuals will be assuming not. Because it's not their norm. So, yes you can assume monogamy, but only in a society in which it is the norm. My writing style is going awfully downhill in this post...
Another assumption made in society today; table manners. No, I'm not saying that table manners are an assumption, but the level to which they are "necessary" is subjective and assumed. If, for example, you were at a meal in a greasy spoon café, with your rather burly and common-as-muck uncle, table manners are hardly going to be enforced or necessary, as it were. The social norm (Yeah, I know I keep referring to it as this) is not as upper-class, and table manners are not expected. You could probably get away with sitting with your elbows on the table, talking about anything, even possibly eating with your fingers.
On the other extreme of the figurative spectrum, if you were attending a meal with your middle-class, financially-benefitted grandmother, in an uptown restaurant, the last thing you'd ever want to do would be to put your elbows on the table. (Well, I'm sure there are other things that you'd probably want to do less, but you get the idea). The social etiquette in such company would be to sit straight, speak about "clean" or socially-acceptable topics (another assumption made) and never, ever let your elbows touch that table!
However, there are no set rules or regulations about manners when at a meal. It is just an assumption made because it is socially more acceptable.
Within my group of friends, with regards to table conversations, (since many conversations used to take a turn for the more sexually-explicit or morally questionable (usually due to me...), we've decided on a rule of "Not near the lightbulb". A joking, lighthearted rule, usually exclaimed by most at the table when a conversation began to take that route into the Oblivion of moral objection, but one of those subjective rules nonetheless. When does a conversation become morally questionable? There is no set point, since everyone's morals are different. I know this has been a massively long-winded method of describing it, but today's society is based strongly around social assumptions, and subjective matters. Maybe we need more rules, or maybe we need to put less emphasis. I don't know. I'm not entirely sure what it is that I'm trying to write about here. Note to self: Stick to reviews and personal experiences, and don't give up your day job.
Alas, I know I'm posting this early, but it's unlikely that I'll be able to post at midnight, since I'm not at home. I hope you'll all forgive me for this abomination of my self-enforced rules and regulations regarding posting frequency.
However, do I dare leave with another cynical quote, or would that be socially unacceptable? Subjective.
"Etiquette is the invention of wise men to keep fools at a distance."
Friday 21 January 2011
Strikhedonia
This one is a particular favourite, meaning the pleasure of being able to say "To Hell with it".
I'm going to start with a little bit more shameless plugging (expect to see a bit more of it in this blog), but this week, I bought a long-overdue set of earphones thus reviving the usage of my iPod (I'm not advertising the earphones or the iPod, but I bet you're on the edge of your seats, waiting to see what amazing little treat I'm about to uncover). While sorting through my music library, I found an album released only last year, that is a strong favourite of mine. A surprising underdog, since I'm not a fan of American pop-rock, but the 2010 album Crash Love by A.F.I (short for A Fire Inside) is a fantastic album.
Music can be interpreted in many different ways, and this is just my interpretation of the lyrics, but this album tells the story of a failing relationship between, presumably, frontman Davey Havok and his partner. The album begins by starting with Beautiful Thieves and End Transmission, through which the relationship is progressing through happier times. The beginning of the end continues through Too Shy To Scream with pessimistic lyrics such as "I die, if you only met my eyes before you passed by. Will you pause to break my heart?", but expressed through a rather upbeat, cheeky punk-rock style. Next in the line-up of the nose-diving relationship comes Veronica Sawyer Smokes, a song in which Davey sees his partner, presumably the titular Veronica Sawyer, sharing a cigarette with a young man. He does, during this particular song doubt his own visions and interpretations but is still, understandably, hurt. In the successing Okay, I Feel Better now, Davey has finally realised that his partner has been, from what has been inferred thus far, cheating on him. He has realised and appears to be in a state of emotional numbness. He acknowledges that he has been wronged and no longer offers sympathy to Veronica. In Medicate, the album's leading single, Davey is now in a state of resentment and accepts that "you were never mine". The album continues through a path of spiralling through the inevitable resentment and anguish associated with the end of an infidelity-ridden relationship, through Sacrilege, and Darling, I Want To Destroy You, before coming to a somewhat unfinished end through Cold Hands (my favourite, above Beautiful Thieves and End Transmission) and It Was Mine, where Havok has reached the state of indifference, but hurt, accepting that he wants nothing more to do with his former partner.
I know that was in pretty great detail, but it really is a fantastic album, beautifully focused and impressively written. Cold Hands, my favourite track on the album, begins with a strong punk-rock guitar/bass line, progressing into a lighter, alternative-metal bridge and chorus, utilising even what sounds like tubular bells in the background. On the album as a whole, Havok gives an award-winning performance as A.F.I's frontman and vocalist, while guitarist Jade Puget delivers some mind blowing solos, Hunter Burgan performs some of his best bass work since Miss Murder and last, but certainly not least, Adam Carson smashes out his trademark skilled percussive work.
This is already a long blog post, but since I have to wait until Sunday night before I can start writing the next one, I'm allowed to make this one a little bit longer than the other two. I'll keep it related though. Because I'm just that good.
Relationships are funny things. People always complain about the hurt associated with them, and I can empathise. I've been in emotionally abusive relationships, adulterous relationships, and even polyamorous relationships. While the latter was my own fault, the other two were painful. In the former of the two, you're left feeling weak and unable to break free of the relationship, essentially binding yourself into a vicious cycle. I was helped through them with friends who helped me gain back the confidence to break free. In the latter, it was the worst pain I've ever felt. There is no other pain like it. And I mean that with the entirety of my being. Needless to say, in most cases, infidelity will be the end of a relationship, since it breaks the trust and, by extension, the foundation of the relationship. And without a foundation, the rest crumbles around you. (I told you these blog posts would become darker and darker).
So, a real question is; why do we allow ourselves to become so vulnerable to a person? It's simple. While the feelings described above are the worst I've ever felt, there is no feeling in the world that comes close to how amazing the feeling of love is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I'm a soppy little git. Relationships and love are essentially just a glorified game of chance. And the stakes are higher, but if you win, you've got one of the most incredible things you'll ever find in life. If you lose, it hurts, but you can always try again.
Now, I'm not saying that relationships are all just luck and chance. You have to work incredibly hard at a relationship (Yeah, I'm in a mature relationship (That's not to say that I myself am mature. I still laugh at the word "poop" (Hehe))), and you have to make big sacrifices. But once you've got that part sorted, it will truly make your life. But in true cynical fashion, I will leave with a quote from the one Friedrich Nietzsche:
"Ah women; they make the highs higher, and the lows more frequent."
I'm going to start with a little bit more shameless plugging (expect to see a bit more of it in this blog), but this week, I bought a long-overdue set of earphones thus reviving the usage of my iPod (I'm not advertising the earphones or the iPod, but I bet you're on the edge of your seats, waiting to see what amazing little treat I'm about to uncover). While sorting through my music library, I found an album released only last year, that is a strong favourite of mine. A surprising underdog, since I'm not a fan of American pop-rock, but the 2010 album Crash Love by A.F.I (short for A Fire Inside) is a fantastic album.
Music can be interpreted in many different ways, and this is just my interpretation of the lyrics, but this album tells the story of a failing relationship between, presumably, frontman Davey Havok and his partner. The album begins by starting with Beautiful Thieves and End Transmission, through which the relationship is progressing through happier times. The beginning of the end continues through Too Shy To Scream with pessimistic lyrics such as "I die, if you only met my eyes before you passed by. Will you pause to break my heart?", but expressed through a rather upbeat, cheeky punk-rock style. Next in the line-up of the nose-diving relationship comes Veronica Sawyer Smokes, a song in which Davey sees his partner, presumably the titular Veronica Sawyer, sharing a cigarette with a young man. He does, during this particular song doubt his own visions and interpretations but is still, understandably, hurt. In the successing Okay, I Feel Better now, Davey has finally realised that his partner has been, from what has been inferred thus far, cheating on him. He has realised and appears to be in a state of emotional numbness. He acknowledges that he has been wronged and no longer offers sympathy to Veronica. In Medicate, the album's leading single, Davey is now in a state of resentment and accepts that "you were never mine". The album continues through a path of spiralling through the inevitable resentment and anguish associated with the end of an infidelity-ridden relationship, through Sacrilege, and Darling, I Want To Destroy You, before coming to a somewhat unfinished end through Cold Hands (my favourite, above Beautiful Thieves and End Transmission) and It Was Mine, where Havok has reached the state of indifference, but hurt, accepting that he wants nothing more to do with his former partner.
I know that was in pretty great detail, but it really is a fantastic album, beautifully focused and impressively written. Cold Hands, my favourite track on the album, begins with a strong punk-rock guitar/bass line, progressing into a lighter, alternative-metal bridge and chorus, utilising even what sounds like tubular bells in the background. On the album as a whole, Havok gives an award-winning performance as A.F.I's frontman and vocalist, while guitarist Jade Puget delivers some mind blowing solos, Hunter Burgan performs some of his best bass work since Miss Murder and last, but certainly not least, Adam Carson smashes out his trademark skilled percussive work.
This is already a long blog post, but since I have to wait until Sunday night before I can start writing the next one, I'm allowed to make this one a little bit longer than the other two. I'll keep it related though. Because I'm just that good.
Relationships are funny things. People always complain about the hurt associated with them, and I can empathise. I've been in emotionally abusive relationships, adulterous relationships, and even polyamorous relationships. While the latter was my own fault, the other two were painful. In the former of the two, you're left feeling weak and unable to break free of the relationship, essentially binding yourself into a vicious cycle. I was helped through them with friends who helped me gain back the confidence to break free. In the latter, it was the worst pain I've ever felt. There is no other pain like it. And I mean that with the entirety of my being. Needless to say, in most cases, infidelity will be the end of a relationship, since it breaks the trust and, by extension, the foundation of the relationship. And without a foundation, the rest crumbles around you. (I told you these blog posts would become darker and darker).
So, a real question is; why do we allow ourselves to become so vulnerable to a person? It's simple. While the feelings described above are the worst I've ever felt, there is no feeling in the world that comes close to how amazing the feeling of love is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I'm a soppy little git. Relationships and love are essentially just a glorified game of chance. And the stakes are higher, but if you win, you've got one of the most incredible things you'll ever find in life. If you lose, it hurts, but you can always try again.
Now, I'm not saying that relationships are all just luck and chance. You have to work incredibly hard at a relationship (Yeah, I'm in a mature relationship (That's not to say that I myself am mature. I still laugh at the word "poop" (Hehe))), and you have to make big sacrifices. But once you've got that part sorted, it will truly make your life. But in true cynical fashion, I will leave with a quote from the one Friedrich Nietzsche:
"Ah women; they make the highs higher, and the lows more frequent."
Wednesday 19 January 2011
Adoxography.
Quite appropriate, meaning skilled writing on an unimportant subject.
With a great sense of surrender, I'm going to try not to talk about Spyro or computers (in-depth) this time around. I can only assume that all you readers have just let out a sigh of relief. I'm going to try and talk about something topical or the like. I will be discussing something (or at least attempting to) that made me actually think today, which is no mean feat in itself. Censorship!
So, censorship in the media. Should it be enforced or loosened? The way I see it, the government seems to have no problem controlling what the public or even its employees post on the internet, but as soon as someone tries to publicise anything that makes the government look bad, they're liable for prosecution or even worse. A key example of this is (and forgive me if I report incorrectly, I couldn't find the story online) in England a few months or even a few years ago, maybe, a police officer was arrested for creating a blog regarding all incidences of misconduct performed by officers at his station. As far as I know, he hadn't commited a crime. He wasn't inciting hatred, he wasn't infringing on anyone's Human Rights. He was merely reporting on his day-to-day life.
So should we be censored at all, regarding what we post online? In a nutshell, there isn't any viable way of preventing things being posted online. It takes a great deal of effort and time to take down a website, and in the time it takes to do so, a new one can easily be created. And there's no way to patrol every single website created, because it would take forever (and that's not an exaggeration, since the World Wide Web is expanding at a phenomenal rate). I agree that punishing individuals for inciting hatred or infringing on Human Rights is acceptable. But for creating a blog about your work? I think not. Leave it to the organisation concerned to decide on a suitable consequence.
Now, Julian Assange, leadman of Wikileaks, the controversial website that has blown the cover on many government "conspiracies" (or if you don't like that word, "secrets" is certainly appropriate). Several government organisations have been trying to bring him down, but since he's not actually committed any crimes, they can't. Which pretty much says it all. He has not committed any crimes. He's just angered the government by blowing the lid on what they were trying to hide from us. He's not broken the Official Secrets Act, since he hasn't signed it. But I've not read properly into this so I can't be entirely sure (This is my disclaimer to get me out of those situations when you get trolls that just post comments like "MER MER MER YOU'RE WRONG." without kindly correcting me first).
The worrying thing is the way several governments have reacted in the past to events like this. A bit of background info first. MK Ultra was a CIA operation into mind-control drugs and, essentially, brainwashing. Now, when MK Ultra was eventually discovered, the individuals who attempted to publicise it met unfortunate ends, to say the least:
Victim: Frank Olson
CIA Version of events
Frank was apparently given a dose of LSD without his consent in November 1953. A week later, he had a severe psychotic episode and leapt to his untimely death from the 13th floor of a hotel, while a CIA doctor lie conveniently asleep in the next room.
Version of events provided by family
Frank had lasting effects from the illegal initial dose of LSD and became a security risk, since he knew so much about the inner workings of the CIA and had personal experience, and was thus murdered to prevent him divulging state secrets.
Now, the late Mr. Olson's body was exhumed in 1994 and forensic scientists conducted their work upon him to an interesting discovery. Poor old Frank had been knocked unconscious before he'd "leapt to his death" (Forensics showed evidence of cranial injuries). I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think it's possible to walk to a window, and jump out of a window if you've been knocked unconscious.
I've gone on quite a rant here, but this is quite worrying stuff. Maybe I should be worried about posting this? Nah. Let them try and throw me out of my bedroom window. I sleep on the ground floor.
"Censorship end in logical completeness when no-one is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads."
With a great sense of surrender, I'm going to try not to talk about Spyro or computers (in-depth) this time around. I can only assume that all you readers have just let out a sigh of relief. I'm going to try and talk about something topical or the like. I will be discussing something (or at least attempting to) that made me actually think today, which is no mean feat in itself. Censorship!
So, censorship in the media. Should it be enforced or loosened? The way I see it, the government seems to have no problem controlling what the public or even its employees post on the internet, but as soon as someone tries to publicise anything that makes the government look bad, they're liable for prosecution or even worse. A key example of this is (and forgive me if I report incorrectly, I couldn't find the story online) in England a few months or even a few years ago, maybe, a police officer was arrested for creating a blog regarding all incidences of misconduct performed by officers at his station. As far as I know, he hadn't commited a crime. He wasn't inciting hatred, he wasn't infringing on anyone's Human Rights. He was merely reporting on his day-to-day life.
So should we be censored at all, regarding what we post online? In a nutshell, there isn't any viable way of preventing things being posted online. It takes a great deal of effort and time to take down a website, and in the time it takes to do so, a new one can easily be created. And there's no way to patrol every single website created, because it would take forever (and that's not an exaggeration, since the World Wide Web is expanding at a phenomenal rate). I agree that punishing individuals for inciting hatred or infringing on Human Rights is acceptable. But for creating a blog about your work? I think not. Leave it to the organisation concerned to decide on a suitable consequence.
Now, Julian Assange, leadman of Wikileaks, the controversial website that has blown the cover on many government "conspiracies" (or if you don't like that word, "secrets" is certainly appropriate). Several government organisations have been trying to bring him down, but since he's not actually committed any crimes, they can't. Which pretty much says it all. He has not committed any crimes. He's just angered the government by blowing the lid on what they were trying to hide from us. He's not broken the Official Secrets Act, since he hasn't signed it. But I've not read properly into this so I can't be entirely sure (This is my disclaimer to get me out of those situations when you get trolls that just post comments like "MER MER MER YOU'RE WRONG." without kindly correcting me first).
The worrying thing is the way several governments have reacted in the past to events like this. A bit of background info first. MK Ultra was a CIA operation into mind-control drugs and, essentially, brainwashing. Now, when MK Ultra was eventually discovered, the individuals who attempted to publicise it met unfortunate ends, to say the least:
Victim: Frank Olson
CIA Version of events
Frank was apparently given a dose of LSD without his consent in November 1953. A week later, he had a severe psychotic episode and leapt to his untimely death from the 13th floor of a hotel, while a CIA doctor lie conveniently asleep in the next room.
Version of events provided by family
Frank had lasting effects from the illegal initial dose of LSD and became a security risk, since he knew so much about the inner workings of the CIA and had personal experience, and was thus murdered to prevent him divulging state secrets.
Now, the late Mr. Olson's body was exhumed in 1994 and forensic scientists conducted their work upon him to an interesting discovery. Poor old Frank had been knocked unconscious before he'd "leapt to his death" (Forensics showed evidence of cranial injuries). I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think it's possible to walk to a window, and jump out of a window if you've been knocked unconscious.
I've gone on quite a rant here, but this is quite worrying stuff. Maybe I should be worried about posting this? Nah. Let them try and throw me out of my bedroom window. I sleep on the ground floor.
"Censorship end in logical completeness when no-one is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads."
Monday 17 January 2011
Bumfuzzlings.
Another interesting colloquial term, this time meaning to confuse or fluster.
And so begins the morning of another week, eh? It's been a rough old weekend, and it's unlikely to get much better any time soon. The next twenty-odd posts (assuming I manage to stick to my posting routine) are likely to be slightly darker and less cheery, but still (you might be pleased to hear) as batshit mad.
I'm not one to post my problems online, so don't expect to hear me moaning and groaning about them on here (I hear your whoops of joy). Regardless, how's about some more interesting (Pshh...) stuff about my computer! Yippee, I hear you cry!
Over the weekend, I was -- as I usually do -- fiddling with my computer. But only with the software, I must add. I'm dangerous when tinkering with hardware. While I generally know what I'm doing, I don't think to make safety precautions such as unplugging the computer, or even switching it off before opening the case. And for this reason, and probably numerous other overlooked safety issues, I've electrocuted myself more times than I can count on one hand (That's more than five times).
But anyway, back to the original story, I was tinkering and, again, broke the computer. How? With the addition of just one single extra unneeded space. While deleting a file using the terminal application, I accidentally pressed the spacebar halfway through the line of code. What did this do? It deleted the file that I wanted it to delete. And every other file on the hard drive. Important note, by the way. When deleting files, it's probably safer to never ever use the terminal when logged in as root. It doesn't stop you when deleting protected files from a read-only environment. It just powers through the restrictions.
I'm so close to completing Spyro 2 now. I've gotten all of the talismans, orbs, gems, abilities, and I'm on 7/16 skill points obtained. Some of them are actually really tough. But still, I'm impressed that I've gotten this far in less than a week, considering that it took me almost three months to get to the second home world (there are three home worlds; Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra). This is one of the biggest things that's been missing from my life for a while.
I'm also, again, tired. Particularly since it's 1am on Monday morning now. I'll try and make the next post about something other than computers and Spyro too. A quote to last you till next time:
"In a crazy world, it's only your insanity that will keep you sane."
And so begins the morning of another week, eh? It's been a rough old weekend, and it's unlikely to get much better any time soon. The next twenty-odd posts (assuming I manage to stick to my posting routine) are likely to be slightly darker and less cheery, but still (you might be pleased to hear) as batshit mad.
I'm not one to post my problems online, so don't expect to hear me moaning and groaning about them on here (I hear your whoops of joy). Regardless, how's about some more interesting (Pshh...) stuff about my computer! Yippee, I hear you cry!
Over the weekend, I was -- as I usually do -- fiddling with my computer. But only with the software, I must add. I'm dangerous when tinkering with hardware. While I generally know what I'm doing, I don't think to make safety precautions such as unplugging the computer, or even switching it off before opening the case. And for this reason, and probably numerous other overlooked safety issues, I've electrocuted myself more times than I can count on one hand (That's more than five times).
But anyway, back to the original story, I was tinkering and, again, broke the computer. How? With the addition of just one single extra unneeded space. While deleting a file using the terminal application, I accidentally pressed the spacebar halfway through the line of code. What did this do? It deleted the file that I wanted it to delete. And every other file on the hard drive. Important note, by the way. When deleting files, it's probably safer to never ever use the terminal when logged in as root. It doesn't stop you when deleting protected files from a read-only environment. It just powers through the restrictions.
The root user is essentially a super user with extra powers. It has complete control of the system, regardless of any restrictions applied. You can do anything with the root account. It's like having a magic wand for your system. It takes a lot of getting used to, learning how to control it, and if you don't take time and care with it, you will cause unspeakable damage. And I'm going to stop discussing computers now. I've done it way too much already.
I'm so close to completing Spyro 2 now. I've gotten all of the talismans, orbs, gems, abilities, and I'm on 7/16 skill points obtained. Some of them are actually really tough. But still, I'm impressed that I've gotten this far in less than a week, considering that it took me almost three months to get to the second home world (there are three home worlds; Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra). This is one of the biggest things that's been missing from my life for a while.
I'm also, again, tired. Particularly since it's 1am on Monday morning now. I'll try and make the next post about something other than computers and Spyro too. A quote to last you till next time:
"In a crazy world, it's only your insanity that will keep you sane."
Saturday 15 January 2011
Jargon
So, this is me trying to keep to a regular updating scheme. I'm thinking that I'll try and keep to updating this thing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but I'm sure that there'll be times when I forget to post or whatnot, and this thing will fall into the pits of Oblivion, never to be seen again. Except the Internet doesn't quite work like that. Things don't leave the Internet; it's like a tomb of the digital age, slowly drawing us in with it's warming glow of unlimited information, social networking and naked women, and once we're entombed, there's no way out. I have a love-hate relationship with technology. I love it, I find it fascinating and whatnot (I have to though, I want to pursue a career in it), but I hate the way our entire society relies on it. It's like an addiction, it really is. Once we run out of non-renewable energy sources and electricity becomes more and more precious, our entire world will collapse under the digital empire that we've spent ages building, and it's quite worrying since so much is digitalised and electronic now.
However, for now, there are bigger problems at hand. I've nearly completed Spyro 2. I mean, it's been possibly the best use of my time ever, and I don't regret it for even a second. It's my absolute favourite game in the world, and one of the best presents I've ever received. Anyone can go out and buy presents, but this one meant like everything to me. But enough of the gushy stuff. It's a beautiful game from back in the day when games were limited by the number of polygons they could load, and were thus “blocky” and with those graphics that were part of my childhood. What do I do once I've completed it? I mean, my general process is to complete a game three times fully without cheats or anything (Yeah. I'm hardcore.) but this is different. I don't want to complete this game. Once it's over, it's like severing a link to the past. It's finishing that unfinished business, and I'm going to rather miss it. Still, while they'll never ever reach anywhere near where Spyro is on my list, I still have games like Crash Bandicoot that need completing. That'll take up a fair amount of my time.
I'm also currently writing this blog up on the computer that I spent a while fixing up and installing Linux on for the purpose of burning Spyro 2 to a disc. I've begun a little hobby of software testing, so you may see little mini-reviews on here, amongst the usual anecdotes and rants.
The Linux flavour I'm currently running is Kubuntu 6.10 or, as it is affectionately known, Edgy Eft. The general process through which Linux is used is through booting from a live-CD (I think I clarified this in an earlier post, but in case I didn't, it's a CD from which a computer can be booted) which often has the options to install the Linux operating system to the hard disk drive, but using the operating system directly from the live-CD is used almost as frequently. But I'm going off on a tangent (“off on”? Note to self: That's an interesting literary device. I may discuss this in a future post).
Kubuntu 6.10 is a fantastic operating system. I know this is some shameless plugging, but it really is. The install process from the live-CD took just under an hour on a computer over six years old (256MB RAM, 1.8GHz processor). Kubuntu is a Linux flavour (“flavour” = version, distribution, edition, etc. (Further note: I should probably start a glossary of words I use. I make some of them up.)) that uses the KDE desktop environment opposed to the standard GNOME (incidentally pronounced GUH-nome) environment. The operating system as a whole is beautifully laid out, very powerful and makes use of every last kilobyte of your system resources without appearing resource-hungry and slowing down. It comes with a free Office package bundled (Word-processor, Spreadsheet, Database management and Presentation), amongst the Konqueror internet browser and other useful media tools and the like. A particular software utility that comes bundled is K3b; an incredibly powerful CD/DVD burner that allows customisation of most options than I've yet seen in a piece of software. That said, Linux doesn't, generally speaking, hide the user away from core customisation like Windows and Mac operating systems do. Users are presented with all the options and are encouraged to use the Linux terminal program (Aptly named Konsole, in this version).
Linux also has a fantastic user base. Since it is open-source (the source-code is openly available to be downloaded, modified or redistributed, for free), there is a large online society available and happy to help with any problems that arise, provided that at least a little effort has been made to solve it using documentation and manuals that are also freely available.
But I'm doing a little too much plugging of this operating system. Long story short, it's one of the best I've yet tried and it makes fantastic use of all system resources available. I'll try and keep the next mini-review short and sweet. If I do one. I need something to occupy my time, and procrastination doesn't really work unless you have something to procrastinate with.
Another little side note, I wonder how many operating systems that I could install side-by-side – that is, on the same hard drive, using a boot manager to control the boot procedure. Theoretically, as many as the hard-drive has capacity for, but I'm not sure if the MBR (Master Boot Record) has a limit on it. I'll check this out when I have the time or energy to do so, or something.
Anyways, I'm somewhat tired and have one or two things that rather need doing before I go to bed, so I'd like to apologise if this post doesn't quite have the usual spark, but I've got a weird vibe going tonight, and just going to leave it with this little saying I saw yesterday:
“You cannot stop a bad thought entering your head, but if it does, bid it not sit down.”
Edit: I did type this all up on Friday, and it was ready to post, but my USB was being ridiculous and refused to allow saving to it, since it's all buggy at the moment. Hardware problem, not software-related, so it wasn't Linux's fault. Good Linux.
However, for now, there are bigger problems at hand. I've nearly completed Spyro 2. I mean, it's been possibly the best use of my time ever, and I don't regret it for even a second. It's my absolute favourite game in the world, and one of the best presents I've ever received. Anyone can go out and buy presents, but this one meant like everything to me. But enough of the gushy stuff. It's a beautiful game from back in the day when games were limited by the number of polygons they could load, and were thus “blocky” and with those graphics that were part of my childhood. What do I do once I've completed it? I mean, my general process is to complete a game three times fully without cheats or anything (Yeah. I'm hardcore.) but this is different. I don't want to complete this game. Once it's over, it's like severing a link to the past. It's finishing that unfinished business, and I'm going to rather miss it. Still, while they'll never ever reach anywhere near where Spyro is on my list, I still have games like Crash Bandicoot that need completing. That'll take up a fair amount of my time.
I'm also currently writing this blog up on the computer that I spent a while fixing up and installing Linux on for the purpose of burning Spyro 2 to a disc. I've begun a little hobby of software testing, so you may see little mini-reviews on here, amongst the usual anecdotes and rants.
The Linux flavour I'm currently running is Kubuntu 6.10 or, as it is affectionately known, Edgy Eft. The general process through which Linux is used is through booting from a live-CD (I think I clarified this in an earlier post, but in case I didn't, it's a CD from which a computer can be booted) which often has the options to install the Linux operating system to the hard disk drive, but using the operating system directly from the live-CD is used almost as frequently. But I'm going off on a tangent (“off on”? Note to self: That's an interesting literary device. I may discuss this in a future post).
Kubuntu 6.10 is a fantastic operating system. I know this is some shameless plugging, but it really is. The install process from the live-CD took just under an hour on a computer over six years old (256MB RAM, 1.8GHz processor). Kubuntu is a Linux flavour (“flavour” = version, distribution, edition, etc. (Further note: I should probably start a glossary of words I use. I make some of them up.)) that uses the KDE desktop environment opposed to the standard GNOME (incidentally pronounced GUH-nome) environment. The operating system as a whole is beautifully laid out, very powerful and makes use of every last kilobyte of your system resources without appearing resource-hungry and slowing down. It comes with a free Office package bundled (Word-processor, Spreadsheet, Database management and Presentation), amongst the Konqueror internet browser and other useful media tools and the like. A particular software utility that comes bundled is K3b; an incredibly powerful CD/DVD burner that allows customisation of most options than I've yet seen in a piece of software. That said, Linux doesn't, generally speaking, hide the user away from core customisation like Windows and Mac operating systems do. Users are presented with all the options and are encouraged to use the Linux terminal program (Aptly named Konsole, in this version).
Linux also has a fantastic user base. Since it is open-source (the source-code is openly available to be downloaded, modified or redistributed, for free), there is a large online society available and happy to help with any problems that arise, provided that at least a little effort has been made to solve it using documentation and manuals that are also freely available.
But I'm doing a little too much plugging of this operating system. Long story short, it's one of the best I've yet tried and it makes fantastic use of all system resources available. I'll try and keep the next mini-review short and sweet. If I do one. I need something to occupy my time, and procrastination doesn't really work unless you have something to procrastinate with.
Another little side note, I wonder how many operating systems that I could install side-by-side – that is, on the same hard drive, using a boot manager to control the boot procedure. Theoretically, as many as the hard-drive has capacity for, but I'm not sure if the MBR (Master Boot Record) has a limit on it. I'll check this out when I have the time or energy to do so, or something.
Anyways, I'm somewhat tired and have one or two things that rather need doing before I go to bed, so I'd like to apologise if this post doesn't quite have the usual spark, but I've got a weird vibe going tonight, and just going to leave it with this little saying I saw yesterday:
“You cannot stop a bad thought entering your head, but if it does, bid it not sit down.”
Edit: I did type this all up on Friday, and it was ready to post, but my USB was being ridiculous and refused to allow saving to it, since it's all buggy at the moment. Hardware problem, not software-related, so it wasn't Linux's fault. Good Linux.
Wednesday 12 January 2011
Monkeyshines
For those wondering, the word Monkeyshines means Shenanigans.
I keep meaning for this blog to be one of those updated regularly things, but so far, it's not looking promising. I seem to get sidetracked, but I'm not sure with what I get sidetracked. But since I'm talking to Jennie about it atm, I should probably do it.
Aaaanyways. Good news! I got a stable install of Linux on my desktop PC (Kubuntu 6.10) and a stable install on a virtual machine on my laptop (Kubuntu 6.06). On both, I can force write speeds at 1x, which is essentially all of my previous problems solved. Oh, except the thing about not being able to play Spyro 2, which was the whole reason for doing it. It seems that I can't buy 1x write media (discs that support write speeds of 1x) anymore. Sadface.
However, this isn't a problem. Because I have EVEN BETTER NEWS! I went to visit my friend yesterday (that's not the news, though it made me pretty happy) and upon arriving, he presented me with a disc box. A PlayStation disc box. A Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer disc box. With the disc inside.
I'm still looking for 1x write media, purely so that I can say that I have succeeded in my ridiculously long-winded attempt at playing my favourite game of all time. Why do I need to do this? It's probably for some stupid self-reassurance or something, but in a nutshell, I don't know why I need to. I'm crazy.
I only got the game yesterday, but since I've been plagued with recurring nightmares recently, I've been largely unable to sleep, so kinda lost track of time last night playing it. I'm almost at the end of the game. It's been a beautiful time. I've missed this game so much, it actually gives me a lump in my throat. Ever had a massive part of your childhood that was always unfinished, and then you find it years later and make it your mission to finish it? This is one of those things.
Anyway, I don't really think anything much else has happened, so I'm gonna leave it with this:
"I'm not into working out. My philosophy on exercise? No pain, no pain."
I keep meaning for this blog to be one of those updated regularly things, but so far, it's not looking promising. I seem to get sidetracked, but I'm not sure with what I get sidetracked. But since I'm talking to Jennie about it atm, I should probably do it.
Aaaanyways. Good news! I got a stable install of Linux on my desktop PC (Kubuntu 6.10) and a stable install on a virtual machine on my laptop (Kubuntu 6.06). On both, I can force write speeds at 1x, which is essentially all of my previous problems solved. Oh, except the thing about not being able to play Spyro 2, which was the whole reason for doing it. It seems that I can't buy 1x write media (discs that support write speeds of 1x) anymore. Sadface.
However, this isn't a problem. Because I have EVEN BETTER NEWS! I went to visit my friend yesterday (that's not the news, though it made me pretty happy) and upon arriving, he presented me with a disc box. A PlayStation disc box. A Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer disc box. With the disc inside.
I'm still looking for 1x write media, purely so that I can say that I have succeeded in my ridiculously long-winded attempt at playing my favourite game of all time. Why do I need to do this? It's probably for some stupid self-reassurance or something, but in a nutshell, I don't know why I need to. I'm crazy.
I only got the game yesterday, but since I've been plagued with recurring nightmares recently, I've been largely unable to sleep, so kinda lost track of time last night playing it. I'm almost at the end of the game. It's been a beautiful time. I've missed this game so much, it actually gives me a lump in my throat. Ever had a massive part of your childhood that was always unfinished, and then you find it years later and make it your mission to finish it? This is one of those things.
Anyway, I don't really think anything much else has happened, so I'm gonna leave it with this:
"I'm not into working out. My philosophy on exercise? No pain, no pain."
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Purple Monkey Dishwasher.
I'm currently in the process of reformatting a USB stick (for the umpteenth time) to boot one of my many many downloaded Linux distributions from, in the vain hope that at some point this millenium, my computer will boot and run Linux successfully, and damn it, I will make it happen.
However, since I've a bit of time until it formats, I guess I should probably reveal more of my backstory to to keep you all entertained. By "you all", I clearly mean no-one, since I doubt that anyone in their right mind would read this and follow it.
Anyways, me. I'm 18, born in Croydon (a skidmark on the underpants of London), my parents are long since divorced -- a time in my life that, I do believe, has contributed to my wry, dark, cynical sense of humour -- and I am in a relationship with possibly the most amazing person I've met.
Though, you'd probably be more entertained if I discussed my intense dislike of computers right now.
It all began sometime around two weeks ago. I'd rediscovered my love of Spyro the Dragon (more specifically, Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon) and after obsessively completing the game to an impressive 117%, I decided it was time to move on. Now, my absolute favourite game in the whole world is Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer, but as it turns out, we don't have a copy of it in the house.
The logical next thought for someone of my personality? Why don't I just download a copy and burn it to a disc myself? It can't be that tricky.
If I could meet my past self, I'd probably have killed him by now.
Anyway, it turns out that PlayStation 1 discs have to be burnt at a specific speed. A speed that is too slow for my computers to handle burning at. Ok, so that's no real problem, there must be some way that I can run some sort of code to force it to run at the lowest speed. Apparently not.
So, in a bid to sort this new problem within a problem, I decided to install Linux on my old desktop computer. On any other computer, in any other person's life, this would be one of the simplest tasks ever. With me, not a chance in Hell. Beginning with booting from a Live-CD (a CD-ROM that has all the required files to boot up the computer from, instead of the hard drive), the boot kept hanging. By this point, I was getting a little annoyed. I was running into squashfs errors and kernel panic errors almost everywhere. I know what I'll do. I'll try and boot it from a USB stick!
WRONG IDEA. I discovered that my computer's BIOS was out of date. Oooh, a new problem! So, long story short, after an evening searching the Internet for a vintage BIOS update, I found one and flashed it, so that it could boot from a USB stick.
I am currently trying to run a version of Ubuntu 10.10 from the USB stick. Whether or not it will work is an entirely different matter. But all of this effort for the sake of saving a little bit of money on a PlayStation disc? Worth the effort? Definitely.
Insomniac Jon, signing out.
However, since I've a bit of time until it formats, I guess I should probably reveal more of my backstory to to keep you all entertained. By "you all", I clearly mean no-one, since I doubt that anyone in their right mind would read this and follow it.
Anyways, me. I'm 18, born in Croydon (a skidmark on the underpants of London), my parents are long since divorced -- a time in my life that, I do believe, has contributed to my wry, dark, cynical sense of humour -- and I am in a relationship with possibly the most amazing person I've met.
Though, you'd probably be more entertained if I discussed my intense dislike of computers right now.
It all began sometime around two weeks ago. I'd rediscovered my love of Spyro the Dragon (more specifically, Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon) and after obsessively completing the game to an impressive 117%, I decided it was time to move on. Now, my absolute favourite game in the whole world is Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer, but as it turns out, we don't have a copy of it in the house.
The logical next thought for someone of my personality? Why don't I just download a copy and burn it to a disc myself? It can't be that tricky.
If I could meet my past self, I'd probably have killed him by now.
Anyway, it turns out that PlayStation 1 discs have to be burnt at a specific speed. A speed that is too slow for my computers to handle burning at. Ok, so that's no real problem, there must be some way that I can run some sort of code to force it to run at the lowest speed. Apparently not.
So, in a bid to sort this new problem within a problem, I decided to install Linux on my old desktop computer. On any other computer, in any other person's life, this would be one of the simplest tasks ever. With me, not a chance in Hell. Beginning with booting from a Live-CD (a CD-ROM that has all the required files to boot up the computer from, instead of the hard drive), the boot kept hanging. By this point, I was getting a little annoyed. I was running into squashfs errors and kernel panic errors almost everywhere. I know what I'll do. I'll try and boot it from a USB stick!
WRONG IDEA. I discovered that my computer's BIOS was out of date. Oooh, a new problem! So, long story short, after an evening searching the Internet for a vintage BIOS update, I found one and flashed it, so that it could boot from a USB stick.
I am currently trying to run a version of Ubuntu 10.10 from the USB stick. Whether or not it will work is an entirely different matter. But all of this effort for the sake of saving a little bit of money on a PlayStation disc? Worth the effort? Definitely.
Insomniac Jon, signing out.
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