Raithe

Couldn't seem to focus on some revision and attempted learning. So I thought I'd stretch my mind in a totally different way..and went on a research binge over designs, engineering and science of skyhooks, space fountains, space elevators and related construction and orbital mechanics.. Kind of random..but it'll be interesting to see how much actually sticks in my mind in a few days.

The thing is, he wasn't just slitting their throats in a humane manner. He also used a shotgun, and managed to wound not kill some of them. And he was doing it in front of all the other dogs who were tethered there. So they "knew" what was coming.

One point for the Kindle is that it's set up to allow you to make notations of your own to text you're reading.. And it keeps all notes saved to your account. So even if you delete a book from your kindle, the account will keep the record of any notations so if you re-download the book back onto your kindle you can access the notes again. Although that's not something I've played around with, so I couldn't say how effective it actually is...

There are a few publishers that have established free online libraries , most notably Baen. They put up a selection of books by various authors that they publish, add new ones, rotate old ones.. Let you download the books in various electronic formats or read online via html setup for chapters... http://www.baen.com/library But then Baen are a big believer in giving a taste to get people interested in authors and series. They also have a tendency to include a cd library with a whole bunch of other books in some of their hardbacks. On the other way, I know a couple of people who "share" a kindle account. They've both bought a kindle, but link them to the same account. They can buy books seperately, get them put in the that account so they each have access to it... Amazon seems okay with families doing that, I'm not sure how it would shift or whether they could really track it for non-family members.

Yeesh, the fiancee of a friend of mine finally got a job after spending the last few months out of work. He turned up for his first day of work, then several hours in got told that he was being rif'ed and the contract pulled.

The kindle's screen isn't backlit and is actually very easy to read from without the potential eyestrain situation... So I wouldn't make that much complaint on it. As I've mentioned, my mom has joint problems and can't hold books easily, but she can get those chunky sized books downloaded to her kindle and she can hold it with no problems and a simple press of the thumb turns the page. I've seen her struggle to hold hardbacks and and large paperbacks to read them without fumbling, so the ease of use the kindle provides certainly proves its worth there. For people who want the portability, but don't want to surf the internet, or check on facebook, but who just want to keep a whole bunch of books for access on the go.. That's what the kindle is for. Comparing it to the Ipad and such seems quite silly. It's not aimed at that market. Sure, you can use an ipad to read some electornic books but that's more a sidefeature of the ipad. The printing press begat the hardback, the hardback begat the paperback, and the paperback begat the kindle. The kindle isn't for the tech geeks and the people who have to have the flashy techtoys. It's for the booklovers who want to be able to move around with around 1,500 books in their pocket. I've got around 7,000 books in my room (not counting non-fiction) and I wouldn't get rid of them just because of the kindle, but I think the kindle makes a great thing for taking around a bunch of books when you travel. When you can just stuff it in a bag or a pocket and you know you've got your comfort reading whenever you want.

Sometimes you just want something that does one job very well. Not an overexpensive piece of equipment that does a whole bunch of things passably.

Heh, if anyones been paying attention to the "Ask JJB" youtube clips, have you noticed how much he compares elements from Human Revolution to the original Deus Ex.. He tends to skip DX:IW when people ask questions about level design and such.. City hubs are going to be in the style of the original. You travel between cities as part of the storyline, but once in a city you can move back and forth between locations pretty much as you want.. And at later points in the story you'll return to previously visited cities that will have effects from choices you made earlier... Hm, and apparently his favourite level from Deus Ex was Versalife, for its level design and multi-path style which is what he pushed for in the design of Human Revolution.

I picked up a Kindle for my mother about a year back, joint problems in her hands means she has trouble holding books of any significant size..but the kindle is something she can hold and finds really easy to read. I've swiped it a couple of times and found it not too bad. If you've already got electronic books on your computer it isn't usually too hard to put them in a format the kindle can read as well. The thing is, the ipad and a lot of those multifunction items will let you read e-books passably but aren't that great for it. The kindle is geared around the one thing..reading books. and it's pretty good at that. Personally I feel that being able to feel/smell the pages of a book as you read is an important aspect of a good book. If I have a choice, I'll take a "real" dead-tree book over an electronic one to read. But in a lot of situations these days its a pain to have access to a book in certain places. I know if I sit down to read I can get through a normal 400 page paperback in couple of hours, which means if I'm travelling anywhere and I know I'll have time to read.. I've got to take a bunch of books and find space.. or just end up re-reading the same book. (Also, if you're partially addicted to an authors series, publishers like Baen do things where they release pre-edited versions of the latest work on e-format half a year or so in advance of the actual book being published..) I don't think we'll loose real books. There's that balance of effect, creating enough "ebook readers" and keeping them powered constantly isn't going to be totally economical and ecological to replace books worldwide...

Pushing through the morning after one of those nights with only a few hours sleep.. Plentiful bleary-eyed drinking of fresh tea has ensured.

Put on the 3d anime version of Appleseed they redid a couple of years back over the weekend. Not bad, it cleaned up nicely for the new generation of anime. I think they even put more effort into building up the characters and backstory besides just having large mecha-type battles... Followed it with Appleseed Ex Machina which was a nice addition...

Or maybe, just maybe, they are still Legion and Garrus, just like they have been since the game came out. (So yeah, hint: those spots aren't "new"). There are bugs in ME2 that need fixing? And those that are, should and could only be fixed by character artists? Dang it..I could have sworn I'd double checked that.. my minds going.. oh woe is me..

Although one thing I noticed just glancing at the Mass Effect site, if you look at the Universe section they've put two new "Classified" spots on the squad list. So does this possibly give rise to new dlc for even more squad before ME3 comes out?

Tried to pace out the evening and got assaulted by a manic cat. Luckily it didn't spill my drink too badly. Was catching one of the Andre Rieu Live in Maastricht performances which was quite entertaining in its way.

And Star Wars The Old Republic to be delayed until September at the earliest apparently. Now who out there is surprised by that?

Although I do think. for the maximum scare effect.. Aliens Vs Predators 2, played with all lights in the room switched off..and the surround sound system on.. When you play as a Marine and you get that "skitter-skitter" sound from behind you...

Pottering through the day getting small things done, but not getting any real feelings of achievment out of them. Made time to read the last few chapters of a book I was reading to try to help clear my mind. Then having the whole realisation that next week is the first week of February , which is a bad anniversary. Makes me wonder on how much emotion would kick in if I didn't realise the date and have that "oh crap, its that time agian, I always feel crappy because of it". It's that random chicken and egg question, how much do I feel bad over that date because I have felt bad on that date.. reinforcement or actual.. Ah well. Bugger it. That's wandering into philosophy and psychology. Time for a fresh cup of tea and another attempt at kicking my mind back into order.

I really need to re-think the way I'm approaching this. It kind of feels I'm in a continual spiral of exam cramming. The way I'm learning stuff, knowing how to do it for a night or two..then its not getting reinforced and it's all floating away to understanding the general gist but all specifics have disapeared within a few days... Hm which also seems weird in that I can go from feeling confident and successful because I know and can use those programming skills...and then when my mind goes fizzle it rebounds to feeling quite depressing and frustrated. ... Oh the humanity. A fresh cup of tea in a moment I think before the evening grinds down too hard.

Simple. Learn sanskrit. Dammit, I thought I had. At least passably. What's bugging me most is that I seemed to have a fair grasp of understanding one night and then the next it all just ...went shazaam. And I have no freaking clue what happened to throw that switch.

Been trying to work on some programming with a guy who's been helping me brush up on it. Unfortunately it's just making me feel really, really crappy. It's that whole we work through stuff, I understand it. I'm all "yes, I can see how that works, I can apply it in this other way." Then a couple of hours later I have absolutely no freaking clue. I look back at the code and its like I'm trying to read sanskrit. I think I'm having a problem seeing it in parts. I'm getting lost in the whole thing and my mind's just not wanting to figure out any specific bits. So my mind blanks and chokes instead. That kind of makes it hard to ask for any specific help when your mind decides to go "blurugh" Which is both frustrating the hell out of me and depressing me. Maybe I'll have a cup of tea and try hitting the books again, see if something gives a mental jolt and knocks things free again.

Technically I've got my first run throughs of Fear 2, Dead Space and Borderlands on the go... Although for some reason I just haven't felt in the mood to play any for about 4 or 5 days now.

Well my main point was meant to be more that everyone has their own view for how much enjoyment they get out of time spent playing. While I can understand the challenge of trying to finish a game under x time.. Personally, I really couldn't count that as a fun way to play it. But that's just me.

Everyone has their own view of that balance sheet.. Expenditure of money on game balanced against the mixture of "enjoyment of gameplay/story/whatever" and length of time played. I might have really enjoyed that hour long game, but if I finished it in that really short time frame I probably wouldn't be as overjoyed at having spent 30 quid on it.. One of the good things about computer games is that for the expense you spend, you normally get a fairly decent amount of gameplay and length of enjoyment out of them.. Heh, it's like balancing out "I can go grab a meal with friends, then a few drinks, and that costs x amount and gives me about 4 hours enjoyment" or "I can spend x amount, and get 20-30 hours of enjoyment from a game." Note: That's not to say time with friends doesn't count higher, but was purely given in that example sort of way.

Something a few months old.. but still kind of interestingly funky. Marine Architecture wise... The guy has some fun ideas. Be interesting to see if any of them ever got built... The Physalia

music from Clint Mansell's score for The Fountain... damn good, but seriously tugs on the soul. Really not a good idea when you're in the wrong mood. Death is the Road to Awe First Snow Finish It