Raithe

To be fair, the occasional onrails shooter segment in a game can work for the storyline..and a certain element of cinematic drama. I wouldn't want the whole game to run like it.. but odd moments within the game can be enjoyable.

Shiny.

Uh huh. I'm sure the Chinese and Koreans who suffered under the Japanese of the time would say they weren't exploited. Or the Japanese having their ports forced open under American guns... Although the USA generally liked to push the "economic empire" more then an outright political one. The Germans like so many in Africa and the many insurrections they faced from natives.. including what was termed "the first genocide of the 20th century" It's pretty much impossible for any nation to take an "Empire" without someone getting screwed over. Sure, the British Empire had the bad habit of getting the natives brought back to blighty, giving them an education here, then installing them back in their own countries as the local bureaucrats and administrators... I have to say, that was frankly appaling behaviour on our part.. But I'm beginning to sense a little thread dereailment here.. Edit: And I'd say we're superior because we did it better then anyone else, for a lot longer ... and happened to naturally let it go into the Commonwealth, and keep on damn good terms with the majority of our former conquests.

Hm, so the fact that I know people from France, Germany, Italy, and Poland who all think that the UK isn't a part of Europe 'proper' is a lingering attitude of superiority about the British Empire?

So, you Brits don't consider yourself European? What then? Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not special. Ah , but we're not European either. It's a bit political thing. The majority of the population in the UK doesn't want to be dragged into the EU idea. There's a bunch of other issues involved, but one of the key is that the majority of Europe runs based on Napoleonic legal systems. We don't. Plus there's a shedload of cultural aspects to it. Most of the people I know from the continent tend to think of the UK as "seperate, but kind of hanging onto the outskirts" of Europe 'proper' rather then as a concrete part of it.

What "last few BioWare games"? Because Dragon Age II sure as hell didn't do that. You either pre-ordered it before you could get a good idea of how it played or were screwed and didn't get the Signature Edition with the additional character and quest. I thought the whole Lost Prince missions and added character were available to anyone who picked up a copy of DA2? They did it with DA, they did it with ME2...

If its like last few bioware games, people will have access to that mission and character with every copy of ME3 regardless of collectors edition or not. Just that "encouragement" to not buy second-hand games.

And the announcement of what the Collectors Edition will contain is now out.. Content Revealed Edit: And yes, that is a "Robotic Dog" as an extra...

Tis being a fairly chilly day here. Stirred from some rather strange dreams to face the morning light... Enjoying a rather nice "real lancashire Eccles cake" and put the kettle on for a fresh cup of tea. Hm, pondering on the fact that I can pre-order a computer game from Amazon in the states..and even after paying transatlantic shipping fees and import duties, it'll still cost a couple of pounds less then if I picked it up here.. Although if I wait a couple of months it'll probably turn up with a chunk of price knocked off it here with the preorders.. I think I shall take a short while to enjoy my saturday before I get back to the grindstone of my report.

Glancing back.. spot the deliberate mistake : It's always fun scanning back and suddenly noticing how your thought process bypassed your grammar..

I think I can cheerfully say that I need to figure out a better organisation for my collected research. Also, I think I kind of loathe sorting out a bibliography in a meaninful manner. I believe I have the subject matter in hand (so to speak) but while I could probably sit down at the pub and hold forth on the question, what my answer would be to it, and the whys and wherefores for the reasoning of it.. turning that into a proper paper that is professionally worthy is being bloody annoying. Still, a fresh cup of tea and tally-ho once more.

Selekted Riting Wrules - Especially useful for all those students and such writing papers...

And the puppy has made a solid attempt at digging up one of the fresh flowerbeds in the garden.. I seem to have the workings of a stabby headache kicking off over my left eyesocket, and the day is moving forward slowly. I shall hit the paracetamol, a good cup of tea and try to get my mind into some sort of focused and productive mood.

To oversimplify that approach in a totally unrealistic manner.. "If everyone left their front door unlocked, the thieves wouldn't know which houses would have the best stuff to steal from, because they have access to everyones..." On a more serious level, it's more the general attitude that they have towards your personal data. It's not about what use your data is, it's that they take it, collate it, hand it over to other people to look at, build psych profiles to aid in targetted advertising aimed at you.. You don't have firm control over what they do with that data, or who they feel has access to it. And it's these little steps at the beginning that could see very bad things happening in the future. That might be a touch paranoid or wildly speculative to some... But that's the key principle that worries a lot of people. The little steps that turn out to be huge changes over a few years. And the needle in the heystack metaphor, yes if you're talking purely random approach to it it's a problem. But to the more organised level of cybercrime (and the potentially unscrupulous government / corporate organisations) there are quite a few people skilled in the arts of data mining. Once you get a few pieces of quite low-key information about someone, it can be surprisingly easy to get hold of so much more if you know what you're doing. Still, everyone has their own level of personal comfort over these issues.

Ah, I think you might be mistaking the amount of sheer Englishness I have. Calmness, Fortitude, and general Courtesy in the face of all that life brings you no matter how uncouth and irritating it may be. The firm belief that in the face of total disaster, a certain mixture of laid back attitude and stiff upper lip behaviour, accompanied by a good cup of tea will always see you through it..

... and then about a minute after I posted that, I get a Vista Blue Screen event and my pc rebooted. Now I'm trying to remember when I last saved my work. And worrying I might have to do a rush trip to Novatech to replace a graphics card or something if it's serious.

Hm, I keep getting random nvlddmkm driver display errors lately which is getting a little bit annoying. The weather keeps bouncing tween sunshine and shower. I went to make an omelette and as I tried to make up that mental checklist of what I needed to do for it I totally blanked. I thought that was a touch ridiculous, so I tried making one without thinking about it.. and it all came out perfectly. The weirdness of the mind... Heh, and one thing I've learnt over the last week, I really need to make my research skills a touch more.. formal then they are. Dabbling and inspired randomness can carry things only so far... And damn Embassy phone lines that leave you on queued wait.

Heh, caught the new Hitman trailer.. apparently they're going to actually be showing what Diana looks like. Although at present its more of a glimpses in a shower. What amuses me is from those glimpses she looks to be a twentysomething character... When the voice actress is around 60. Heh, I guess it's that "sexy voiced english secretary" style of thing they're going for.

You can tag people in photos on fb even if they don't have accounts. The way this is set up, it doesn't matter if its a picture you put online, a friend put online or what.. if someone tags it with your name, it all goes in the dbase and builds up the picture of who that person is. The trouble is, FB is very weird on saying just how they deal with privacy and data protection. On the one hand they'll say they protect users privacy.. on the other, they have admitted they use the data gathered to sell it to advertisers and target people for what they like.. So they do have a history of taking data and spinning it off in ways you wouldn't be cheerful about if you knew. The main trouble with FB is that they keep putting in these new features without any real fanfare, and automatically set accounts to allow them to be used. So if you are conscious/paranoid of your privacy you don't always know to go in and change those settings.

Managed to fall off to sleep at some point when the skyline was starting to lighten and the birds were beginning to tweet. Had somehow managed to get into a rather pleasant dream when I woke up a couple of hours later. Now I can't remember what it was about, just that it was really pleasant. Really fine rain falling... so I think that breaks the chance of hanging some fresh laundry on the line to dry. Now to see if I can wheedle some useful and/or relevant info out of the US Embassy....

Watch the original. It doesn't have the hollywood "happy" ending. But it still makes you smile with the "if you're reading this / listening to this you're dead".

Well hovering around the 6' mark and incredibly pale-skinned (what can I say, grandad was an albino..it carries through). Being mistaken for a hobbit would be a first for me. However, I did go through my gsce's with the addition of a fine waistcoat and pocket watch to my school uniform...

No, I tend to favour moccasin style slippers.. and a good traditional english sleeping gown (of which my current one is rather darth sideous styling)

And the temperature seems to be having a sudden drop here.. Realised it's heading towards 9pm and I haven't eaten so just grabbed a nice batch of sushi to satisfy some hunger. Pondering on chilling back and catching up with some tv as I enjoy the wasabi..