Raithe

Oh, it's always fun to get a phone call from someone with an incredibly thick indian accent and they start off with a "Hello, this is Windows and we're contacting you about a problem you're having with your computer. We understand it's running slow and having other issues while connecting to the internet and I'm going to talk you through how to deal with this..." So you kind of do the "uh huh" noise and listen to them talk you through various tasks you're meant to be doing to your pc under their 'guidance', and then you say to them : "So, basically, you're getting me to remove all security aspects from my computer while allowing remote access to someone who doesn't even know the correct company name behind this operating system?" And then they hang up suddenly in shock. C'est la vie. I don't know what it is, but we can go for a month without getting them, and then suddenly have a dozen in a week. I think what's amusing most is that whoever is organising these phone scams in India doesn't bother to get people who actually know computers, but just gives them the script to work with. Sometimes I like to play with the whole "That's interesting, my computer is running on linux so.." or the "ah, right. which computer do you mean then, because my parents both have computers and there's mine, and the laptop and the.." Or just seeing how much they bluster before they hang up if you say something like "oh, that's interesting, i happen to work in computer security and.."

.. Just got back in after spending the afternoon helping a friend set up a shed for his motorbike in his new place. Trying to put a coat of waterproofing, then erecting said shed in cold weather (although not the low extremes mentioned in Sweden earlier in this thread), but annoyingly cold and with occasional short bouts of snow fall.. is not the most fun. Especially when your feet feel like blocks of ice and you start losing sensation in your hands as you try to deal with screws and wotnot.... Now clutching a hot mug of tea and trying to soak in some warmth...

As a sidenote, I've been running a pc with Windows Vista Ultimate for.. 5/6 years now? And I have to say, I haven't had any grief out of it. Compared to '95 , '98, or ME... It's been smooth sailing. My father went to WIndows 7 and has has lots of issues (although it's mostly settled now), and my sister's new laptop has Windows 8 and that is just..ick to deal with.

Ah, but if you want the different combinations of ME1 & ME2 as well... ME3 has lots of good moments, but it's got some annoying moments to it, It's like 90% of funable stuff and then it hits that point... The overheard conversations make a nice touch, but "overheard fetch quests" as pretty much the sole sidequest elements was a bit sucky. War Readiness as an idea was interesting, but making it completely dependant on multiplayer was pretty much an automatic turnoff. It's just a shame that for the finale you could go from the heights of goodness that was Tuchanka.. to the lows that were, well, multicoloured endings. Either way, Citadel is certainly a good addition and worth running through.

Had some really weird dreams about getting into some really deep conversations with people I didn't know, woke incredibly early to a stinking headache, so kind of lolled around in bed for a few hours, which actually has had it mostly pass. Of course, now my help has been requested, so I'm going to be spending a few hours this afternoon helping build and coat a shed at the place my friend and his bride will be moving into when they get back from the wedding. At least there's no snow, and the wind has died down mostly today.

As the night winds down and prepare to pack things up for the evening.. A little Two Steps From Hell to amble the mood along.. http://youtu.be/TCDrNR3Cr_M

Gengis Khan, not just a Conquerer: Throughout his reign, and moreover his conquests of Asia, he was sleeping with, raping or romancing just about every woman he could find. He found a lot. When you've been scientifically credited as the ancestor to .5 per cent of the human population today, that is the symbol of a true sex god. In other words, his "conquests" were so numerous, he was really was the father to a plurality of Asia.

If you just want to test out different combinations of companions, attitudes, renegage/paragon etc for the party, I'd say get hold of Gibbed's Mass Effect editor rather then play through eeeeverything all over again. Then just load up saves from before you start Citadel.

The thought of dealing with Windows 8 should never put you in a good mood. It says so many, many things about the state of your mental health....

Just been going over some of the wedding plans with the groom to be, planning on getting a board made up with pictures of the bride's immediate family and names so I can get some grasp before hand. Now with three weeks to go before the flight, and four weeks before the wedding, he drops the news that I need to pick up some basic salsa since dancing is mucho important and the immediate wedding group will be expected to be dancing. Also, apparently the husband of his soon to be sister-in-law is apparently planning on taking us all on a second stag party the day after our flight lands in Mexico City. I'm thinking the job of Best Man starts to get a lot piled on it.....

It's amazing how quickly assorted tasks eat up chunks of your day. Visit to the tailors, dealing with the bank, handling the dogs, various checks on plethora of things, poking at work, it all seems to disapear... As to the cold and such, I have to admit it can be kind of funny how people are acclimatised to specific extremes and are out of sorts in others. I always remember being in California, visiting family of a friend there, the clouds move in and obscure the sun, there's a slight temperature drop, and all the locals are suddenly complaining about the cold and rushing off to get long sleeved tops and light jumpers on. The couple of other Englishmen there and myself were all in short sleeves and fairly hot going "Huh?"

Wha lol .."weak cold" What do you Swedes do in the evening when its that cold? What would you do in a land of cold and blonde beauties? Find many interesting ways to keep warm and entertained I imagine. Urg, having a nice wind chill kick in here. Actually the flash snow across the country is providing it's random amusement. And watching a long haired german shephard running around the garden in excitement with its fur getting blown all around it has its moment of cheap laughter. Sitting down with a hot cup of tea and sorting out my mothers drug supplies. The joys of fresh pharmacuticals added to the pile by the doctors and trying to remember just what goes where...

"For I possess the Gift of Communication!" "Huh, explain the conflict in the Middle East then." "Oh, well that's just Pac Man, with Jerusalem as the Power Pellets"

I think chronology wise.. it would fit in best played just after Thessia. Then you've really got everybody having the run down feel, having slogged through most of it, and needing to blow off steam... As well as providing the best moment for the Normandy to get a quick overhaul.... I mean, it has to be after the Cerberus Coup, and you have to run through a couple of other missions if you want all the crew to turn up...

Heh, Wrex at the bar.. post genophage cure.

Just quickly plugged my ipod in to synch it up with the ME3 Citadel soundtrack I've downloaded.. and boom, just after hitting synch I suddenly realised I haven't actually synched it since I had my massive OCD attack and sorted all the songs on my itunes library around. So now it's got somewhat in excess of 8000 songs to redo rather then just the 20 I thought it would take.... This might take a little bit longer then I planned....

Oh for those with an interest, Bioware have decided to give away the ME3 Citadel sountrack for free. Just have to log into the social network for it.

Gambit. A remake of the old 1966 film - with a fair few changes to the story. Colin Firth as an Art Curator who gets fed up with his abusive boss (Alan Rickman) and decides to pull a fake Monet heist. Which requires the assistance of a rodeo queen (played by Cameron Diaz). Throw in Tom Courtenay as the forger friend, and Stanley Tucci as a rival art specialist... Amusing in that low key way, nothing overly special but some solid performances.

Saw Syndicate going for a couple of quid, so I picked it up. Spent a few hours this evening playing it. I'll say it has some interesting ideas.. but I'm damn glad I didn't spend any more money on getting it.

The party is pretty much the whole point to this dlc. The "story" and combat areas are pretty much a short element, and then the majority is that catch up with the team and deal with the party. It's pretty much pure fanwankery. But it's awesomely cheesy good.

Heh, yup, it is a lot of campy space opera. But it's all that poking fun at themselves and banter that just made it all worthwhile. The little things like overhearing the conversation of the Infiltrator and Vorcha on the citadel... "And that bloody Vanguard kept charging around all over the place. Then he picks up the backpack..and what does he do? He Charges! Eeeverybody knows if you charge you drop the backpack. And he kept doing it!!" Shepard's realisation of how he sounds and his attempts to emphasise different words.. Then some of those conversations during the party. Tali's description and act of the differences between SR1 and SR2.. Garrus And Zaeed trying to turn the apartment into a death trap, Grunt telling neighbours they can't come in, and finally ending up drunk in the shower... They're all silly things. But they just somehow work in an amusing way and feel right for all the characters.

For those Princess Bride lovers out there..

Been one of those days that's seemed to have been full of little bits and pieces , general feel of time warp, and left with the feeling of little of actual worth having been sorted and dealt with... Having a fuzzy, tired, pointlessness hit. So going to sit down to a good cup of tea and push past that.

Okay, I just ran through Citadel tonight. The gameplay isn't anything special, the story has a nice..quirky element to it. But god dammit, it's worth it for the dialogue and atmosphere between all the companions and general call outs. "You guys are Team Mako" "What's a Mako?" "You, you're Team Hammerhead" "Hah, Mako is better then Hammerhead" The play on Shepard picking companions "I've only got room for Shepard and two others.." <squad pick - then panning shot of every other companion stood there looking pouty> background mutters of Garus "Damn it, I wanted to go." Cortez "Why do I never get picked??"

I have to say, the quest that has you finding the lost messages of that tribe from the undercity that Revan helped on Taris has got to turn into one of the most depressing and soulful moments. The music chimes in in the perfect way to underscore as each message you find details the slow end that happened to them after the destruction....