Pokemon GO is awesome and long may it continue :)
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
A Pokemon GO Milestone :)
1000 km walked! And in getting there I got lost in a swamp, avoided getting run over multiple times, got rained on, snowed on, worn my walking shoes soles down to almost nothing and caught God-know's how many Pokemon but heck it was all worth it!
Pokemon GO is awesome and long may it continue :)
Pokemon GO is awesome and long may it continue :)
Sunday, 19 March 2017
Observing Stalkers in Subnautica
Anyone who has played Subnautica will have had a chunk bitten out of them by a Stalker, it's pretty difficult not to when you need to get Kelp Seeds... so I decided to build an observation platform for getting up close to them safely:
Thursday, 16 March 2017
Wasps Rugby 150th Anniversary Year
In celebration of Wasps 150th anniversary I have produced this version of their new logo - gold stitching on denim :)
Saturday, 11 March 2017
A great day for English sport...
We've equalled New Zealand's unbeaten run, won the Cacutta Cup AND won the Six Nations!
Not a bad day's work :)
Not a bad day's work :)
Friday, 3 March 2017
Nintendo Switch
Yipee, I've got mine :)
I open the Zelda box, aaaannd... really Nintendo?! All that real estate for a tiny SD card?!!
Now for some Nintendo fun!!
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| Full of Nintendo goodness! |
I open the Zelda box, aaaannd... really Nintendo?! All that real estate for a tiny SD card?!!
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| Blink and I'll miss it... |
Now for some Nintendo fun!!
Monday, 27 February 2017
Game over man!!
RIP Bill Paxton, one of my favourite 'journeymen' actors.
Your sleazy cheesy film roles were pure entertainment, and I mean that in a happy positive way.
As Hudson in my favourite film of all time - Aliens, I always wanted him to survive or, at least go out with a bang rather than become an alien incubator. Plus how can we forget your sleazy car salesman from True Lies? "I'm naval liiinnnt...!", brilliant! And as the obnoxious big brother in Weird Science: "How about a greazzy pork sandwich... served in an ashtray!" Each of those roles defined your on-screen characters and because of them I was never able to see you as the strong, reserved, silent type.
My thoughts are with the family, the world has lost a great guy.
Your sleazy cheesy film roles were pure entertainment, and I mean that in a happy positive way.
As Hudson in my favourite film of all time - Aliens, I always wanted him to survive or, at least go out with a bang rather than become an alien incubator. Plus how can we forget your sleazy car salesman from True Lies? "I'm naval liiinnnt...!", brilliant! And as the obnoxious big brother in Weird Science: "How about a greazzy pork sandwich... served in an ashtray!" Each of those roles defined your on-screen characters and because of them I was never able to see you as the strong, reserved, silent type.
My thoughts are with the family, the world has lost a great guy.
To Ruck, or not to Ruck?
Everyone has been weighing in on what Italy did during yesterday's 6-nations game against England and every observation from every angle and pretty much every opinion possible has been aired.
But I make this observation, based on everyone's response:
Italy were lauded as 'brave', 'clever' and 'a bit cheeky' for doing it, if Wales had done it they'd have been applauded with 'clever, dynamic Welsh Rugby'. If Scotland had done it it would be 'Brave tactics in the face of English oppression', Ireland? 'Ahh those cheeky Irish are at it again with their close gain-line tactics' and France? 'The mighty Les Blues add a twist to their passion and creativity...' and England? If we'd have done it we'd just be branded as a bunch of tossers for ruining the game.
The fact that England got a win bonus despite some creative Italian use of the rulebook was glossed over because, yet again, we're in the realm of England-bashing small-island-mentalities.
Note to the Scotland team: Please don't use that tactic, you're good enough to NOT need it, especially based on the way you've been in this year's Six Nations. I can see you sneaking a win at Twickenham if you play YOUR way.
But I make this observation, based on everyone's response:
Italy were lauded as 'brave', 'clever' and 'a bit cheeky' for doing it, if Wales had done it they'd have been applauded with 'clever, dynamic Welsh Rugby'. If Scotland had done it it would be 'Brave tactics in the face of English oppression', Ireland? 'Ahh those cheeky Irish are at it again with their close gain-line tactics' and France? 'The mighty Les Blues add a twist to their passion and creativity...' and England? If we'd have done it we'd just be branded as a bunch of tossers for ruining the game.
The fact that England got a win bonus despite some creative Italian use of the rulebook was glossed over because, yet again, we're in the realm of England-bashing small-island-mentalities.
Note to the Scotland team: Please don't use that tactic, you're good enough to NOT need it, especially based on the way you've been in this year's Six Nations. I can see you sneaking a win at Twickenham if you play YOUR way.
Saturday, 25 February 2017
Lego Technic #2
Latest update on my construction of the big ass excavator I got...
This evening it's the two tracks:
As usual I was so into the building that I forgot to take picture so the next one is with them mostly complete!
After building the track support structures for both sides, the tracks themselves needed putting together... that's x44 individual pieces... each.
Fitting the tracks...
...and here's the base completed :)
So much fun!
This evening it's the two tracks:
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| Pretty basic to start with... |
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| Really, really must remember to take the damned photos! |
After building the track support structures for both sides, the tracks themselves needed putting together... that's x44 individual pieces... each.
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| A bit tedious... but necessary |
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| I found it easier to drape them over first then turn over the entire base and click the two joining pieces together |
...and here's the base completed :)
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| I'm such a Lego geek! |
So much fun!
Pidgey's in their natural habitat :)
I went out Pokemon hunting today, plenty of Pidgey's about...
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| Sod the seed, feed me CANDIES! |
Friday, 24 February 2017
The Pokemon GO FADs have left...
A week ago the all new Pokemon GO update was release which included the Gen 2 Pokemon.
So it was no surprise to see the game busy again, practically every Pokestop I saw had been baited and the app continuously crashed because of server outtages. This is because all the FAD dickheads with short attention spans who gave up in the game a few weeks after it came out last summer, thought 'wow, new Pokemon to catch' then collectively flooded onto the servers to go get them.
Now, one week later... and the Pokestop landscape tells another story - hardly any with bait modules running, back to normal then.
That's because the FADs all got bored and went back to scoping/wall hacking in COD, because those don't require any exercise... tossers.
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Photography #101
Here's a slow motion video I took of the sea wake behind my dad's boat... it's incredibly relaxing to watch!
Lego Technic
I've gotten into Lego Technic... after recently ditching Sky TV I've been after other avenues of entertainment. Something more 'hands-on' rather than staring at the TV all the time...
I've had it for a few weeks now and haven't made much progress... this is because, like a fine wine, I've been 'relishing' it, taking my time, building it bit by bit... and thoroughly enjoying it I have too!
The set is a Bucket Wheel Excavator, and it's huge! The manual alone is 500-pages long but it's a challenge enough to enable me to engage my brain on a 'non-digital' craft after spending a day staring at a computer screen!
Once the loader truck is finished the manual moves on to the excavator - the base section from the looks of it:
That's as far as I've got... next up - the excavator's tracks!
I've had it for a few weeks now and haven't made much progress... this is because, like a fine wine, I've been 'relishing' it, taking my time, building it bit by bit... and thoroughly enjoying it I have too!
The set is a Bucket Wheel Excavator, and it's huge! The manual alone is 500-pages long but it's a challenge enough to enable me to engage my brain on a 'non-digital' craft after spending a day staring at a computer screen!
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| The box... |
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| A manual that you can chock a 747 with! |
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| Making a start - the excavator loader truck |
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| Loader truck step 2 |
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| Loader truck - more pieces |
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| Loader truck, chassis almost complete :) |
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| Loader truck - steering added |
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| Loader truck... just need wheels :) |
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| Loader truck complete! |
Once the loader truck is finished the manual moves on to the excavator - the base section from the looks of it:
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| From small steps... |
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| Okay that's a heck of a big jump between this pic and the previous one, but I was concentrating so much I forgot to take pictures! |
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| Here's the base completed, alongside the truck... |
That's as far as I've got... next up - the excavator's tracks!
Photography #101
Spent some time on my dad's boat last weekend, we went out into Poole harbour... took the opportunity to take some pics using my phone (really wished I'd taken my camera though...)
I love photographs of the sun reflecting off the sea, it always gives the image a sense of depth.
I love photographs of the sun reflecting off the sea, it always gives the image a sense of depth.
Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #11
I'm just going to weight in on this #piegate malarky...
How the fuck can a man lose his job over eating a fucking pie for fucks sake?! When Joey Barton, who put thousands of bets on football matches get's a slap on the wrist?
Wayne Shaw, has worked his ass off for Sutton United and he get's treated like that, it's not criminal what he did, it's criminal that he got fired for it. The FA and gambling commission, yet gain, have their priorities completely out of whack... but hey, provided it get's them column inches portraying them as white knights who cares right?! Bunch of middle-management suit-wearing fucktards.
I hope Wayne get's a new job involving pies, makes loads of money and, as others have said, buys Sutton FC, THEN, whilst they're playing, eats several pies whilst sitting on the bench.
I just thought I'd add my indignation with many others over this.
How the fuck can a man lose his job over eating a fucking pie for fucks sake?! When Joey Barton, who put thousands of bets on football matches get's a slap on the wrist?
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| Wayne Shaw - a pie-eating legend |
I hope Wayne get's a new job involving pies, makes loads of money and, as others have said, buys Sutton FC, THEN, whilst they're playing, eats several pies whilst sitting on the bench.
I just thought I'd add my indignation with many others over this.
Apple's new headquarters - 'Campus 2'
I realised today just what Apple are up to with their new $3 billion headquarters.
A bit of Photoshopping by me reveals that, yes indeed, they're constructing a Stargate!!
Probably going to use it to connect to an empty, uninhabited world so they can bin negative reviews, OSX crash reports, the new Mac Pro blueprints and any hope humanity has left for legacy data ports.
My life update so far...
Haven't posted in my blog much recently... although I do have things to report.
I've been skiing, to Ischgl in Austria, after a ten-year absence on the slopes... and I am happy to say it was, literally, as they say, 'like riding a bike' :) We had glorious weather in plenty of sun and well bashed pistes, Ischgl is a fantastic skiing resort and I recommend it to anyone, I may post some pics if I can get around to it.
My health is a bit better after speaking with various medical consultants... to any Meniere's sufferers out there - drink plenty of water, stay hydrated and it helps a lot! :)
I've been skiing, to Ischgl in Austria, after a ten-year absence on the slopes... and I am happy to say it was, literally, as they say, 'like riding a bike' :) We had glorious weather in plenty of sun and well bashed pistes, Ischgl is a fantastic skiing resort and I recommend it to anyone, I may post some pics if I can get around to it.
My health is a bit better after speaking with various medical consultants... to any Meniere's sufferers out there - drink plenty of water, stay hydrated and it helps a lot! :)
Thursday, 19 January 2017
Epson's support is useless...
They may make the best large format printheads in the industry but their support is bass-ackwards!
I discovered the other day that one of the colours wasn't firing on our GS6000 printer after doing a nozzle-test... so I do all the usual front-end operator-level troubleshooting - restarting, cleaning, flushing etc to see if it was a blocked nozzles problem, which it wasn't.
This prompted me (with a small amount of trepidation) to contact Epson Support despite the fact that I had seen this problem before and knew that, back then, it resulted in a new printhead! I guess part of me wanted this problem to just go away and, as such, believed that by getting an Epson Support Rep to 'wiggle it' some, said problem would indeed, go away.
I was wrong... so, so wrong.
I decided to use the online chat feature so I could multitask...
Got connected with a Rep, explained the problem, sent him/her/it (could've been a bot) all the required info, answered questions - yes I've cleaned it, yes I've flushed, yes I've visually inspected the printhead and confirmed no blockages... yes I've ran several nozzle tests etc etc. Eventually it came down to an attempt to update the firmware because, apparently, the version my printer has is not the latest one and doing a firmware update seems to be the standard Epson 'Fuck it, try it anyway" fixall solution, even if it's already the latest version.
So anyway the Rep gives me a download link to some software - called LFP Remote - for me to install and run so I can do the update, he also gives me a link to the supposed 'latest' firmware. I try to install it and it doesn't run because it's a PowerPC version and my Mac is running OSX10.10. Now, this really fucking annoys me, because it clearly lists OSX10.10 in the supported OS list next to the download link!
As I had disconnected the chat session I had re-connect and start the chat again, fortunately I was re-connected to the same Rep (at least, it appeared that way, I could have been talking fucking Sanjay in New Delhi for all I knew). I explained the problem, saying that I'm getting an error stating it's a PowerPC version and he asks if I could restart the Mac and try again as it IS compatible. 'Fucks sake' I think to myself, 'It's fucking MacOS, restarting to install software went out with OS's at the turn of the fucking Century!' I didn't want to restart for two reasons: 1. No amount of rebooting will fix a PowerPC compatible app attempting to be ran on a system higher than OSX10.5 and, 2. Restarting would've meant that we'd have lost the chat session (which, in hindsight, probably meant that he was fed-up with me and it seemed like a cool way to fuck off the conversation).
So I tell him that I'd already tried that and it still doesn't work... I then ask him to send me download link for a version of LFP monitor that works with Windows 7, which he does with an additional comment of: "Don't worry about it being listed for another model of printer, it works with them all...". So I go to my Windows 7 PC and use the URL he sent me... nothing happens, just a blank page. I try it on another PC AND my Mac, same problem. Fortunately the chat window is still open so I tell him this, after 5 minutes he comes back and says that he is having the same problem so it must be a problem with the server at Epson's end... cue another sigh and "FFS" audible statement from me! Rep then says: "Send me your e-mail address, then bear with me and I'll find a working server you can download LFP monitor from and I forward the link for it to you", "Great" I say in response... we then end the chat.
The Rep sends me nothing.
Bollocks.
"Okay" I think, "Fuck you Epson, I'll do it myself"... so I start doing some browsing, looking for a version of LFP monitor that will work with Windows 7. As we have another model of Epson printer - a SureColor 70600 - I download the one listed under that model, and hey, it downloads AND installs!... But then NOOO! It only lists the 70600 and not the GS6000 printers... bugger! So much for the Rep stating earlier that LFP monitor works with ALL Epson printers!
After more browsing I end up on another Epson site (that's working) and find a page (that's working) for GS6000 downloads... listed on that page is a Windows XP version of LFP monitor.
I install it on a Windows XP PC, configure the comms driver, point it at the printer's IP address, launch LFP monitor and pray. Initially my prayer is answered, LFP monitor connects to the printer and shows it's status, "Finally" I say to myself. So I then go get the firmware file...
LFP Monitor lists the printer's firmware as: T003C2, it lists the file version as: T004B3 and says it is too old to install! Cue my umpteenth "FFS!" audible statement of the day. This is the firmware file the Rep swears is the MOST up-to-date version... I even had him repeat that statement to confirm it!
I go back to Epson's chat support... surprisingly I get the same guy (that he's talking from Telford in Shropshire is still questionable) I explain that LFP monitor is stating the downloaded firmware file is older in comparison to the one currently in the printer. I state that "I really, really don't like updating firmware unless it is absolutely necessary and when I see a red flag like this I get nervous".
Rep responds: "I would advise you go ahead anyway, it'll be okay..." So I reply: "Well it's coming up to the end of the day and I don't want to deal with a potentially bricked printer..." we end the chat session.
Cue the next day, I come in, bright and early and after getting settled I load LFP monitor, check I'm connected to the right printer, load the firmware and, oh! The 'Update' button is greyed out! Which is something I failed to notice the previous afternoon. Although it kinda makes sense as the software is detecting that the version in the printer is more recent so it prevents you from writing over a good firmware with an inferior version. However, in this situation it really doesn't help me!
I wait until 9am-ish then go to Epson Support Chat... I connect with a different Rep so I have to explain it all again... cue another sigh then audible "FFS!" I give him the printer model, operating system etc... Then after what seems like an age, where, probably, the Rep went off and made himself his first coffee of the day he responds with an apology and that he 'is looking into this issue for me'.
I go do other stuff as it seems like he's off round the world looking for answers... roughly 20 minutes later he comes back, again, apologises and states that 'I can confirm your printer already has the latest firmware installed' and that 'he was sorry for the confusion caused by the firmware version numbers' and finally 'it's not necessary but an engineer can manually install it for you if you wish'.
I lose my shit.
So I'm given firmware to replace one that is the same version but with a different filename, using software that doesn't work on my Mac, despite it saying it does... I'm given conflicting information from different reps and sent on a jolly through various sections of Epson's domain parts of which didn't work or looked like a throwback to nineties chic websites.
After a tirade of rants I prematurely ended the chat session, signing it off with a statement of "looks like I'm on my own with this problem" ... I came close to swearing but managed to hold onto my professionalism.
I don't know which is worse - either Epson don't care because, in their eyes the GS6000 is an old, obsolete model so, because of that, any information they give is scratchy and outdated. Or are too stupid despite that fact that the GS6000 has been around long enough for them to accumulate plenty of experience that they should use to help.
...and I'm stuck with a broken GS6000.
Epson, you fail.
I discovered the other day that one of the colours wasn't firing on our GS6000 printer after doing a nozzle-test... so I do all the usual front-end operator-level troubleshooting - restarting, cleaning, flushing etc to see if it was a blocked nozzles problem, which it wasn't.
This prompted me (with a small amount of trepidation) to contact Epson Support despite the fact that I had seen this problem before and knew that, back then, it resulted in a new printhead! I guess part of me wanted this problem to just go away and, as such, believed that by getting an Epson Support Rep to 'wiggle it' some, said problem would indeed, go away.
I was wrong... so, so wrong.
I decided to use the online chat feature so I could multitask...
Got connected with a Rep, explained the problem, sent him/her/it (could've been a bot) all the required info, answered questions - yes I've cleaned it, yes I've flushed, yes I've visually inspected the printhead and confirmed no blockages... yes I've ran several nozzle tests etc etc. Eventually it came down to an attempt to update the firmware because, apparently, the version my printer has is not the latest one and doing a firmware update seems to be the standard Epson 'Fuck it, try it anyway" fixall solution, even if it's already the latest version.
So anyway the Rep gives me a download link to some software - called LFP Remote - for me to install and run so I can do the update, he also gives me a link to the supposed 'latest' firmware. I try to install it and it doesn't run because it's a PowerPC version and my Mac is running OSX10.10. Now, this really fucking annoys me, because it clearly lists OSX10.10 in the supported OS list next to the download link!
As I had disconnected the chat session I had re-connect and start the chat again, fortunately I was re-connected to the same Rep (at least, it appeared that way, I could have been talking fucking Sanjay in New Delhi for all I knew). I explained the problem, saying that I'm getting an error stating it's a PowerPC version and he asks if I could restart the Mac and try again as it IS compatible. 'Fucks sake' I think to myself, 'It's fucking MacOS, restarting to install software went out with OS's at the turn of the fucking Century!' I didn't want to restart for two reasons: 1. No amount of rebooting will fix a PowerPC compatible app attempting to be ran on a system higher than OSX10.5 and, 2. Restarting would've meant that we'd have lost the chat session (which, in hindsight, probably meant that he was fed-up with me and it seemed like a cool way to fuck off the conversation).
So I tell him that I'd already tried that and it still doesn't work... I then ask him to send me download link for a version of LFP monitor that works with Windows 7, which he does with an additional comment of: "Don't worry about it being listed for another model of printer, it works with them all...". So I go to my Windows 7 PC and use the URL he sent me... nothing happens, just a blank page. I try it on another PC AND my Mac, same problem. Fortunately the chat window is still open so I tell him this, after 5 minutes he comes back and says that he is having the same problem so it must be a problem with the server at Epson's end... cue another sigh and "FFS" audible statement from me! Rep then says: "Send me your e-mail address, then bear with me and I'll find a working server you can download LFP monitor from and I forward the link for it to you", "Great" I say in response... we then end the chat.
The Rep sends me nothing.
Bollocks.
"Okay" I think, "Fuck you Epson, I'll do it myself"... so I start doing some browsing, looking for a version of LFP monitor that will work with Windows 7. As we have another model of Epson printer - a SureColor 70600 - I download the one listed under that model, and hey, it downloads AND installs!... But then NOOO! It only lists the 70600 and not the GS6000 printers... bugger! So much for the Rep stating earlier that LFP monitor works with ALL Epson printers!
After more browsing I end up on another Epson site (that's working) and find a page (that's working) for GS6000 downloads... listed on that page is a Windows XP version of LFP monitor.
I install it on a Windows XP PC, configure the comms driver, point it at the printer's IP address, launch LFP monitor and pray. Initially my prayer is answered, LFP monitor connects to the printer and shows it's status, "Finally" I say to myself. So I then go get the firmware file...
LFP Monitor lists the printer's firmware as: T003C2, it lists the file version as: T004B3 and says it is too old to install! Cue my umpteenth "FFS!" audible statement of the day. This is the firmware file the Rep swears is the MOST up-to-date version... I even had him repeat that statement to confirm it!
I go back to Epson's chat support... surprisingly I get the same guy (that he's talking from Telford in Shropshire is still questionable) I explain that LFP monitor is stating the downloaded firmware file is older in comparison to the one currently in the printer. I state that "I really, really don't like updating firmware unless it is absolutely necessary and when I see a red flag like this I get nervous".
Rep responds: "I would advise you go ahead anyway, it'll be okay..." So I reply: "Well it's coming up to the end of the day and I don't want to deal with a potentially bricked printer..." we end the chat session.
Cue the next day, I come in, bright and early and after getting settled I load LFP monitor, check I'm connected to the right printer, load the firmware and, oh! The 'Update' button is greyed out! Which is something I failed to notice the previous afternoon. Although it kinda makes sense as the software is detecting that the version in the printer is more recent so it prevents you from writing over a good firmware with an inferior version. However, in this situation it really doesn't help me!
I wait until 9am-ish then go to Epson Support Chat... I connect with a different Rep so I have to explain it all again... cue another sigh then audible "FFS!" I give him the printer model, operating system etc... Then after what seems like an age, where, probably, the Rep went off and made himself his first coffee of the day he responds with an apology and that he 'is looking into this issue for me'.
I go do other stuff as it seems like he's off round the world looking for answers... roughly 20 minutes later he comes back, again, apologises and states that 'I can confirm your printer already has the latest firmware installed' and that 'he was sorry for the confusion caused by the firmware version numbers' and finally 'it's not necessary but an engineer can manually install it for you if you wish'.
I lose my shit.
So I'm given firmware to replace one that is the same version but with a different filename, using software that doesn't work on my Mac, despite it saying it does... I'm given conflicting information from different reps and sent on a jolly through various sections of Epson's domain parts of which didn't work or looked like a throwback to nineties chic websites.
After a tirade of rants I prematurely ended the chat session, signing it off with a statement of "looks like I'm on my own with this problem" ... I came close to swearing but managed to hold onto my professionalism.
I don't know which is worse - either Epson don't care because, in their eyes the GS6000 is an old, obsolete model so, because of that, any information they give is scratchy and outdated. Or are too stupid despite that fact that the GS6000 has been around long enough for them to accumulate plenty of experience that they should use to help.
...and I'm stuck with a broken GS6000.
Epson, you fail.
Thursday, 12 January 2017
Anamorphic Images
I've been playing with anamorphic images recently, for the uninitiated it's a technique that 'distorts' a 2D image to make it look more realistic in 3D when viewed from a certain angle of perspective. Street artists have been doing it for years and the overall principle has been experimented with amongst artists for centuries.
Probably the most obvious examples are the sponsor logos that are seen on sports grass pitches on TV, they're distorted in such a way that when the camera points at them they look like they're 'standing-up'.
So now it's arrived at my little corner of the web... for this test I decided to use the Wasps Rugby logo and, basing it on the popular Rubic's Cube image example, I distorted it using grid templates I drew in Adobe Illustrator, printed it from a laser printer, and then cut part of it out on our Zund plotter, the result is this video:
It's not great, the problem is the Wasp graphic's antenna created a shadow that almost ruins the effect and the paper I used is too thin and light to stay down against the Zund's bed vacuum suction but, despite that, the effect does work! Placing a shadow effect below the logo helps enhance it...
The OCD graphic designer in me wants to improve this video because the angle at which I filmed it makes the Wasps logo look too fat on the height, the original logo is much thinner.
Probably the most obvious examples are the sponsor logos that are seen on sports grass pitches on TV, they're distorted in such a way that when the camera points at them they look like they're 'standing-up'.
So now it's arrived at my little corner of the web... for this test I decided to use the Wasps Rugby logo and, basing it on the popular Rubic's Cube image example, I distorted it using grid templates I drew in Adobe Illustrator, printed it from a laser printer, and then cut part of it out on our Zund plotter, the result is this video:
It's not great, the problem is the Wasp graphic's antenna created a shadow that almost ruins the effect and the paper I used is too thin and light to stay down against the Zund's bed vacuum suction but, despite that, the effect does work! Placing a shadow effect below the logo helps enhance it...
The OCD graphic designer in me wants to improve this video because the angle at which I filmed it makes the Wasps logo look too fat on the height, the original logo is much thinner.
Photography #101
Haven't posted any pics from my photography collection for a while, these two are from my trip to the Scilly Isles last autumn...
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| I love doing heavily silhouetted landscapes |
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| This was taken using macro-mode and zoomed in. Great detail of the grains of sand around the shell :) |
Hot damn I'm awesome at photography :p
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
Note to self... and others
Note to self - never, whilst sitting at home alone and on the evening of your birthday, watch two episodes of Black Mirror.
A superb series but it's depressing enough celebrating a birthday on your own at this time of the year without adding to it!
A superb series but it's depressing enough celebrating a birthday on your own at this time of the year without adding to it!
Saturday, 31 December 2016
Well, 2016 pretty-much sucked...
Yep, a boatload of talented film, TV, radio and music stars died, my health took a nosedive, work is shit and... two days before it ends my dad get's admitted to hospital for the first time in his life with a mystery illness that they haven't figured out yet... and here I sit as I write this with less than an hour before midnight, worried sick about him.
Fuck you 2016. Crappy New Year everyone.
Fuck you 2016. Crappy New Year everyone.
Friday, 23 December 2016
Hunting artillery in World of Tanks
More World of Tanks goodness...
To be honest I got very lucky... if that player had been able to fire on target I'd be the one in flames!
To be honest I got very lucky... if that player had been able to fire on target I'd be the one in flames!
Having fun in World of Tanks...
Here's a video of my latest session in World of Tanks... playing artillery:
Thursday, 15 December 2016
This is why I voted for Brexit...
This video is why I voted for Brexit...
EU bureaucrats - what a bunch of immature children... blanking our Prime Minister in a collective display of sour grapes because our country voted out.
Tossers.
I feel for her to be honest, her job's difficult enough as it is without that lot pulling faces and making it even more difficult.
EU bureaucrats - what a bunch of immature children... blanking our Prime Minister in a collective display of sour grapes because our country voted out.
Tossers.
I feel for her to be honest, her job's difficult enough as it is without that lot pulling faces and making it even more difficult.
HP Printhead Nozzles Conspiracy
I am convinced that it's bullshit when HP reports show nozzles out on their printheads (for those types of printers that support it).
Take our HP 360 Latex for example, I spent some time this morning running 'clean printhead' operations then running the Printer Information report immediately after:
This is the first report, prior to me running a clean, it shows some nozzles on the printheads 'out':
So I run my first clean, and after, refresh the report:
To be fair, it 'shows' that they ARE unblocking, so I run another clean, then refresh the report again:
Oh wow! Looks like I'm making some progress based on the results from that previous report, so I do a fourth clean (the OCD in me thinking I can get those numbers even lower...)
Nope. What WAS I thinking! So now the optimiser printhead loses the plot and the previously misbehaving magenta printhead is getting clogged up again.
In-between reports 2 and 3 I do some plot tests and sure enough there ARE nozzles out on the magenta and they DO come back after a targeted clean (i.e. I do the clean ONLY on the magenta/yellow printheads). However the plot test shows the black printheads as perfectly okay despite there being nozzles consistently out.
So I do another clean, thinking maybe the optimiser printheads will unblock because, strangely, they were fine based on the first report:
...aaaand... No! They just start getting worse again!!
I gave up at that point and just ran a image quality test, which looked acceptable... to most people, but not to me because I KNOW there are nozzles not working!
In conclusion, I think HP just runs a routine in the printer firmware that randomises the output of the printhead nozzle numbers, that way, us peon print-operators use-up ink from doing continuous cleans, forcing us to buy more than we need.
Take our HP 360 Latex for example, I spent some time this morning running 'clean printhead' operations then running the Printer Information report immediately after:
This is the first report, prior to me running a clean, it shows some nozzles on the printheads 'out':
 |
| Report 1 |
So I run my first clean, and after, refresh the report:
 |
| Report 2 |
To be fair, it 'shows' that they ARE unblocking, so I run another clean, then refresh the report again:
 |
| Report 3 |
Oh wow! Looks like I'm making some progress based on the results from that previous report, so I do a fourth clean (the OCD in me thinking I can get those numbers even lower...)
 |
| Report 4 |
Nope. What WAS I thinking! So now the optimiser printhead loses the plot and the previously misbehaving magenta printhead is getting clogged up again.
In-between reports 2 and 3 I do some plot tests and sure enough there ARE nozzles out on the magenta and they DO come back after a targeted clean (i.e. I do the clean ONLY on the magenta/yellow printheads). However the plot test shows the black printheads as perfectly okay despite there being nozzles consistently out.
So I do another clean, thinking maybe the optimiser printheads will unblock because, strangely, they were fine based on the first report:
 |
| Report 5 |
...aaaand... No! They just start getting worse again!!
I gave up at that point and just ran a image quality test, which looked acceptable... to most people, but not to me because I KNOW there are nozzles not working!
In conclusion, I think HP just runs a routine in the printer firmware that randomises the output of the printhead nozzle numbers, that way, us peon print-operators use-up ink from doing continuous cleans, forcing us to buy more than we need.
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
'Tis the season for office parties...
Working in a large city has it's benefits sometimes... and one of them is watching large crowds of office-goers heading out to their yearly Christmas party as I make my way across the city to catch my train.
Take last night for example... as I passed a well known, quite posh, real ale pub (it's based in one of the more prosperous parts of the city and is usually full of high profile well-to-do finance office workers, lawyers etc.) I saw a group of people there, stood outside, dressed in what looked like Pantomime characters. Their laughter could be heard a couple of streets away and they seemed to be having a good time but, to me, their laughter sounded a bit too loud and a bit too forced... almost as if they were collectively silently crying out: 'This isn't what we wanted to do for an office party!' I'd imagine that the alcohol had started to flow early and fast in order to take the edge off their apparent discomfort!
So from now on until a day or two before Christmas Eve, I'll be dodging gangs of well-dressed people drunkenly roving the streets, either heading off or coming out of their respective parties, that will be/have been full of stereotypical behaviour that we all expect for this time of year.
...and no, I'm not jealous at all... well, definitely not jealous of that bunch wearing the Panto gear, I'd rather take a cheese-grater to my nutsack than have to put up with that kind of party.
Take last night for example... as I passed a well known, quite posh, real ale pub (it's based in one of the more prosperous parts of the city and is usually full of high profile well-to-do finance office workers, lawyers etc.) I saw a group of people there, stood outside, dressed in what looked like Pantomime characters. Their laughter could be heard a couple of streets away and they seemed to be having a good time but, to me, their laughter sounded a bit too loud and a bit too forced... almost as if they were collectively silently crying out: 'This isn't what we wanted to do for an office party!' I'd imagine that the alcohol had started to flow early and fast in order to take the edge off their apparent discomfort!
So from now on until a day or two before Christmas Eve, I'll be dodging gangs of well-dressed people drunkenly roving the streets, either heading off or coming out of their respective parties, that will be/have been full of stereotypical behaviour that we all expect for this time of year.
...and no, I'm not jealous at all... well, definitely not jealous of that bunch wearing the Panto gear, I'd rather take a cheese-grater to my nutsack than have to put up with that kind of party.
Saturday, 10 December 2016
Out and about... drinking
Off out doing a spot of 'single' pub crawling prior to meeting up with some family members in a bavarian beer shed... where they are serving beer in stein mugs. Then after that I am heading in to town to a reunion with a load of my old work colleagues... this evening is going to get messy!
EDIT: It didn't get messy, no-one was drinking steins, just expensive German crap in plastic jugs. After that I headed into town where I almost pissed myself because I spent too much time outside my bladder's comfort zone looking for the joint where I was to meet my ex-work colleagues. Then, when I finally found it (after an impromptu stop at another bar I thought was the venue but used their toilet anyway), only half of them turned-up! Then, at the end of the evening, the trains failed me again and I had to get an expensive taxi due to the last train home getting cancelled... that taxi fare was my groceries for the following week.
Fucking trains. Fucking expensive taxis - another reason why I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
EDIT: It didn't get messy, no-one was drinking steins, just expensive German crap in plastic jugs. After that I headed into town where I almost pissed myself because I spent too much time outside my bladder's comfort zone looking for the joint where I was to meet my ex-work colleagues. Then, when I finally found it (after an impromptu stop at another bar I thought was the venue but used their toilet anyway), only half of them turned-up! Then, at the end of the evening, the trains failed me again and I had to get an expensive taxi due to the last train home getting cancelled... that taxi fare was my groceries for the following week.
Fucking trains. Fucking expensive taxis - another reason why I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Wednesday, 7 December 2016
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #10.5
Fucking trains...
Never getting to get back two hours of my life lost, on a bus, stuck in traffic... and why? Because every single train got cancelled, forcing me to make alternate arrangements.
Two fucking hours to go a measly 12 miles... and this is supposed to be the 21st Century!
I'd have gotten home quicker using a horse and cart, from back in the early 1900s.
EDIT: Whilst I'm thinking about this... and while we're on the subject of the 21st Century - when my Fitbit Surge is charging, the Fitbit app, without fail, sends me a notification telling me "That it is charged and is missing me...", yet the LondonMidland app did fuck all to prevent me slogging all the way to the station to find chaos.
Yep - 21st Century is shaping up nicely, we're all well-informed on stuff that doesn't matter.
EDIT: Whilst I'm thinking about this... and while we're on the subject of the 21st Century - when my Fitbit Surge is charging, the Fitbit app, without fail, sends me a notification telling me "That it is charged and is missing me...", yet the LondonMidland app did fuck all to prevent me slogging all the way to the station to find chaos.
Yep - 21st Century is shaping up nicely, we're all well-informed on stuff that doesn't matter.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #10
The weather...
When I was younger the seasons in this country were so much more... 'honest'. By that I mean summers were bloody hot and winters were bloody cold.
These days we don't have seasons, certainly not ones defined by the weather... leaves on trees appear sometime at the start of the year and then fall off towards the end, that's about it.
In this country the retartdedness of the weather starts around December - we'll get warm, mild, wet conditions, usually reserved for mid-summer. Making walking around in a winter coat fucking uncomfortable and annoying because it supposed to feel like winter so not wearing a coat just feels weird.
This will continue until January when it'll cool down but we won't get any snow because that would mean we could have some fun and remember kids, no-one has fun these fucking days... so it'll be bitterly cold and wet (but no snow) and will stay that way until mid-May (despite the fact that it should change to more milder conditions around mid-March to May.
Then... like pressing a light switch, conditions will warm-up but they won't be dry... oh no, we won't be allowed that... no, from May onwards we're subjected to almost continuous monsoons which makes any outdoor activity an utterly miserable experience. Then August arrives, and we'll get short periods of nice hot, dry weather but only during a working week, it'll cloud over at weekends and rain.
Between mid September and October we finally get some consistent, dry decent weather, but by then the days have become too fucking short and the sun too weak for anyone properly enjoy it.
Then we get to November and the leaf fall starts... which tells us it's autumn and that we should start getting our t-shirts ready for that fucking annoying warm mild spell in December again.
I really do feel like our weather these days is controlled by a bunch of middle-management pointless Post-it note wielding quango dickheads.
When I was younger the seasons in this country were so much more... 'honest'. By that I mean summers were bloody hot and winters were bloody cold.
These days we don't have seasons, certainly not ones defined by the weather... leaves on trees appear sometime at the start of the year and then fall off towards the end, that's about it.
In this country the retartdedness of the weather starts around December - we'll get warm, mild, wet conditions, usually reserved for mid-summer. Making walking around in a winter coat fucking uncomfortable and annoying because it supposed to feel like winter so not wearing a coat just feels weird.
This will continue until January when it'll cool down but we won't get any snow because that would mean we could have some fun and remember kids, no-one has fun these fucking days... so it'll be bitterly cold and wet (but no snow) and will stay that way until mid-May (despite the fact that it should change to more milder conditions around mid-March to May.
Then... like pressing a light switch, conditions will warm-up but they won't be dry... oh no, we won't be allowed that... no, from May onwards we're subjected to almost continuous monsoons which makes any outdoor activity an utterly miserable experience. Then August arrives, and we'll get short periods of nice hot, dry weather but only during a working week, it'll cloud over at weekends and rain.
Between mid September and October we finally get some consistent, dry decent weather, but by then the days have become too fucking short and the sun too weak for anyone properly enjoy it.
Then we get to November and the leaf fall starts... which tells us it's autumn and that we should start getting our t-shirts ready for that fucking annoying warm mild spell in December again.
I really do feel like our weather these days is controlled by a bunch of middle-management pointless Post-it note wielding quango dickheads.
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Ski Preparations...
Well I'm relieved to find out that my ski boots still fit after several years...
As for the actual skiing bit? Ahh, like riding a bike!
Coming soon - my trip to Austria... in pictures!!
As for the actual skiing bit? Ahh, like riding a bike!
Coming soon - my trip to Austria... in pictures!!
Monday, 5 December 2016
People asking directions...
Twice in the last couple of days a two different people have come up to me in the street and asked me for directions... both times I was unable to help.
I feel so inadequate!
I feel so inadequate!
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #9
People who produce artwork... in other words: Artworkers.
Are they being taught badly in college, or are they just plain lazy?
In the print and signage industry, in most circumstances I'm at the end of the creative process, in other words I'm printing the result of a collaborative effort between a customer that wants something printed, a designer/artworker who creates the prints and maybe a marketeer and a salesperson who sold the idea to the customer... anyway I digress, I get sent artwork to print...
In most cases the artwork I receive to print, is shit. It often contains a mixture of lazy graphic 'cheats' to hide things, poor low-resolution image/effects use, no outlined fonts, ZERO bleed ('cos let's face it, adding 5mm onto the edge of your job is SO HARD) and, occasionally, ENTIRE job is just a tiny low-res image that they think will 'magically' increase in resolution when enlarged and printed!
This has gotten worse over the years, when, ironically the software to create electronic artwork has gotten easier to use! Yet people seem to see this as a way to spend as little time as possible and this isn't because they lead truly busy lifestyles that justifies their time management... for example I've seen artwork where white polygons have been positioned at the edges of a logo to 'mask' it against a white background, a method that takes longer to do than the usual masking procedure! They are simply too lazy to learn it. Or not adding bleed, they can clearly see that the graphic elements in their design touches the edges of the overall print but because they started at the edge it's now too hard to extend it out! Any designer worth their salt knows about bleed, it's not some obscure outmoded practice no-one uses anymore, in fact, it's one of the first things you learn about creating printable artwork! This is just the tip of the iceberg, to part-quote Rutger Hauer's character from Blade Runner: "I've seen things you wouldn't believe..."
So, eventually I have to spend additional time 'tidying' up their mess... why? Do you ask, do I do this? I do it because, these days, even if I speak in layman's terms to a designer about what they need to correct in their work, they don't understand and/or don't listen... it's just easier to do it myself than explain it. I've worked hard during my career to adhere to good artworking practices... so fuck you.
This, dear people, is also why it makes living on this planet a little bit shittier as the years go by.
Are they being taught badly in college, or are they just plain lazy?
In the print and signage industry, in most circumstances I'm at the end of the creative process, in other words I'm printing the result of a collaborative effort between a customer that wants something printed, a designer/artworker who creates the prints and maybe a marketeer and a salesperson who sold the idea to the customer... anyway I digress, I get sent artwork to print...
In most cases the artwork I receive to print, is shit. It often contains a mixture of lazy graphic 'cheats' to hide things, poor low-resolution image/effects use, no outlined fonts, ZERO bleed ('cos let's face it, adding 5mm onto the edge of your job is SO HARD) and, occasionally, ENTIRE job is just a tiny low-res image that they think will 'magically' increase in resolution when enlarged and printed!
This has gotten worse over the years, when, ironically the software to create electronic artwork has gotten easier to use! Yet people seem to see this as a way to spend as little time as possible and this isn't because they lead truly busy lifestyles that justifies their time management... for example I've seen artwork where white polygons have been positioned at the edges of a logo to 'mask' it against a white background, a method that takes longer to do than the usual masking procedure! They are simply too lazy to learn it. Or not adding bleed, they can clearly see that the graphic elements in their design touches the edges of the overall print but because they started at the edge it's now too hard to extend it out! Any designer worth their salt knows about bleed, it's not some obscure outmoded practice no-one uses anymore, in fact, it's one of the first things you learn about creating printable artwork! This is just the tip of the iceberg, to part-quote Rutger Hauer's character from Blade Runner: "I've seen things you wouldn't believe..."
So, eventually I have to spend additional time 'tidying' up their mess... why? Do you ask, do I do this? I do it because, these days, even if I speak in layman's terms to a designer about what they need to correct in their work, they don't understand and/or don't listen... it's just easier to do it myself than explain it. I've worked hard during my career to adhere to good artworking practices... so fuck you.
This, dear people, is also why it makes living on this planet a little bit shittier as the years go by.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #8
Driving...
Maybe it's just me but driving on our nation's roads has gotten a bit shittier these days - it's harder to get anywhere due to excessive traffic and it's dodgy at the best of times due to idiots who don't know how to drive.
I'm not sure of the reasons why to be honest, perhaps because of Facebook ruling people's lives so much they can't tear their eyes away from their smartphone screens to concentrate on something as 'trivial' as driving? Or too much red tape in highways' management slowing down road repair procedures and keeping traffic-delaying diversions in place for longer? I don't know but it sure is shittier...
I still have a car but I try to use it as little as possible, saves mileage, money and, I suppose, the environment (to a certain degree, I don't agree with these 'global warming' tree huggers) and one less person on the roads during rush hour.
Maybe it's just me but driving on our nation's roads has gotten a bit shittier these days - it's harder to get anywhere due to excessive traffic and it's dodgy at the best of times due to idiots who don't know how to drive.
I'm not sure of the reasons why to be honest, perhaps because of Facebook ruling people's lives so much they can't tear their eyes away from their smartphone screens to concentrate on something as 'trivial' as driving? Or too much red tape in highways' management slowing down road repair procedures and keeping traffic-delaying diversions in place for longer? I don't know but it sure is shittier...
I still have a car but I try to use it as little as possible, saves mileage, money and, I suppose, the environment (to a certain degree, I don't agree with these 'global warming' tree huggers) and one less person on the roads during rush hour.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #7
Instagram...
Why is it that some vapid (albeit quite fit) stick-insect takes a picture, via her diamond-encrusted smartphone, of her wearing her latest million dollar bling, she puts a burn-in edge filter on it... it then gets millions of hits, and she gets an instant modelling contract, a mansion and a fuck-ton of money.
It COST me £88 to get what I think is a fucking award-winning landscape photograph printed and framed... yet if I posted online (and I'm not going to) I'd get zero hits... and why? Because it's a landscape photograph (too boring), it has no connection whatsoever to reality TV shit, has no fashion bling in it... and contains no pouting fit vapid stick-insect.
I'm not jealous of their success via Instagram... I'm just annoyed that half as much effort seems to get double the amount of reward these days. For example, there must be millions of truly talented artists out there who went through the mill to get to where they are but are constantly trumped by someone with a smartphone app and privilege to be in places where their photos get viewing hits. As opposed to someone who sits in the undergrowth for an entire day, in the cold, waiting to get that 'one photo' of a Kingfisher, that will (undeservedly) get minimal exposure either in their local paper or 5 minutes of fame in MailOnline only to be obliterated by a cascade of photo-articles about some average shit the Kardashians did.
In my humble opinion humanity's collective taste in art photography has gone down the shitter.
Why is it that some vapid (albeit quite fit) stick-insect takes a picture, via her diamond-encrusted smartphone, of her wearing her latest million dollar bling, she puts a burn-in edge filter on it... it then gets millions of hits, and she gets an instant modelling contract, a mansion and a fuck-ton of money.
It COST me £88 to get what I think is a fucking award-winning landscape photograph printed and framed... yet if I posted online (and I'm not going to) I'd get zero hits... and why? Because it's a landscape photograph (too boring), it has no connection whatsoever to reality TV shit, has no fashion bling in it... and contains no pouting fit vapid stick-insect.
I'm not jealous of their success via Instagram... I'm just annoyed that half as much effort seems to get double the amount of reward these days. For example, there must be millions of truly talented artists out there who went through the mill to get to where they are but are constantly trumped by someone with a smartphone app and privilege to be in places where their photos get viewing hits. As opposed to someone who sits in the undergrowth for an entire day, in the cold, waiting to get that 'one photo' of a Kingfisher, that will (undeservedly) get minimal exposure either in their local paper or 5 minutes of fame in MailOnline only to be obliterated by a cascade of photo-articles about some average shit the Kardashians did.
In my humble opinion humanity's collective taste in art photography has gone down the shitter.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #6
Technological advancement moving at a painfully slow pace...
Don't get me wrong we, as a species, have made huge advancements in technology in just the past 50 years but nowadays I get the feeling that some major technological breakthroughs haven't happened because certain groups of very powerful people are deliberately suppressing development because if they happened, those people wouldn't have it easy in their lives anymore... and by that I mean they wouldn't make as much money as they're used to making. These people (whoever they are) don't care about the future, all they care about is now, the rich lives they live... and fuck the generations of humanity that live on after they die.
I'm not talking about flying cars either... because they are genuinely a bad idea, humankind can't drive properly on the ground, let alone in the air!
What I mean is stuff, for example, like alternative power sources for vehicles, hydrogen for instance... I doubt OPEC would like it if all the worlds' vehicles could all run off water, because of that, we're still lugging around with internal combustion fired by petrol and diesel.
Battery development seems to have stopped, the latest smartphones seemed to have gone backwards when it comes to power management... and it still takes ages to charge any battery up and why? Because if batteries' capacities were improved and it if could take less than a few minutes to charge them, they could go into vehicles, improve their ranges, make it easier to re-charge (i.e. quick stop at a power/petrol station) and no-one would need need fuel for their vehicles anymore... OPEC anyone?
Mobile phone signals - 4G, is shit, it's like some sort of half-assed attempt to get broadband speeds via cellular signal, yet whenever lots of people start to use it in an enclosed space, like at a stadium for instance it grinds to a halt! It's the 21st Century I shouldn't have to wait 5 minutes for a webpage to open on my mobile device, shouldn't get cutouts when talking to people, shouldn't have artefacts appear when streaming content! Why? Because the cellular companies don't want to invest more money into more cell towers or improve their efficiency because they have greedy shareholders to satisfy!
A new rocket engine, called the EmDrive has been announced that could get people to Mars a LOT faster, yet it's development is being hampered 'cos some scientists who's voices are louder than the rest state that it breaks Newton's Third Law. Now, whilst I respect Newton and his ilk, I really don't accept that that is ALL we know about the Universe and that Physics just stops at what scientists said hundreds of years ago. Why don't they just fucking build it, launch it into space and fucking try it out?!
It's stuff like that - it get's 'delayed', or it's science funding gets cut and re-channelled to helping war-weary immigrants... when what they don't realise is that forging ahead with these breakthrough science projects, in the long run, helps humankind and ultimately reduces the amount of war weary immigrants in the first place!
Nope there are people who won't allow that, they make too much money and everything is alright as it is right now thank you very much.
Yet another reason why this planet wanting woefully.
Don't get me wrong we, as a species, have made huge advancements in technology in just the past 50 years but nowadays I get the feeling that some major technological breakthroughs haven't happened because certain groups of very powerful people are deliberately suppressing development because if they happened, those people wouldn't have it easy in their lives anymore... and by that I mean they wouldn't make as much money as they're used to making. These people (whoever they are) don't care about the future, all they care about is now, the rich lives they live... and fuck the generations of humanity that live on after they die.
I'm not talking about flying cars either... because they are genuinely a bad idea, humankind can't drive properly on the ground, let alone in the air!
What I mean is stuff, for example, like alternative power sources for vehicles, hydrogen for instance... I doubt OPEC would like it if all the worlds' vehicles could all run off water, because of that, we're still lugging around with internal combustion fired by petrol and diesel.
Battery development seems to have stopped, the latest smartphones seemed to have gone backwards when it comes to power management... and it still takes ages to charge any battery up and why? Because if batteries' capacities were improved and it if could take less than a few minutes to charge them, they could go into vehicles, improve their ranges, make it easier to re-charge (i.e. quick stop at a power/petrol station) and no-one would need need fuel for their vehicles anymore... OPEC anyone?
Mobile phone signals - 4G, is shit, it's like some sort of half-assed attempt to get broadband speeds via cellular signal, yet whenever lots of people start to use it in an enclosed space, like at a stadium for instance it grinds to a halt! It's the 21st Century I shouldn't have to wait 5 minutes for a webpage to open on my mobile device, shouldn't get cutouts when talking to people, shouldn't have artefacts appear when streaming content! Why? Because the cellular companies don't want to invest more money into more cell towers or improve their efficiency because they have greedy shareholders to satisfy!
A new rocket engine, called the EmDrive has been announced that could get people to Mars a LOT faster, yet it's development is being hampered 'cos some scientists who's voices are louder than the rest state that it breaks Newton's Third Law. Now, whilst I respect Newton and his ilk, I really don't accept that that is ALL we know about the Universe and that Physics just stops at what scientists said hundreds of years ago. Why don't they just fucking build it, launch it into space and fucking try it out?!
It's stuff like that - it get's 'delayed', or it's science funding gets cut and re-channelled to helping war-weary immigrants... when what they don't realise is that forging ahead with these breakthrough science projects, in the long run, helps humankind and ultimately reduces the amount of war weary immigrants in the first place!
Nope there are people who won't allow that, they make too much money and everything is alright as it is right now thank you very much.
Yet another reason why this planet wanting woefully.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #5
Brexit.
I voted for it, I really did... and I stick by my decision. I thought long and hard, read and heard all the arguments and in the end I genuinely felt that we were better off out.
What pisses me off is all the bullshit surrounding it now... why can't the Government just send the article 50 letter and get on with it?
Well, on this planet, these days, sending a simple letter WOULD BE JUST TOO FUCKING EASY!
There's everyone in London having it easy, supposedly creaming it off the top with their chums in Europe whilst the rest of the country had the scraps. Then they collectively threw their toys out of the pram and had a hissy fit when WE (everything north of Watford Gap, not including Scotland) voted out... and because of that the whole process has ground to a halt.
Prices have gone up because of opportunistic fuckwads smelling a profit... we lost a major customer at work because of that and we continue to get e-mails off suppliers stating price hikes.
Toblerones have less triangles in them, Cadbury Creme eggs are smaller (although I have to say that was happening BEFORE Brexit), Marmite increased in price AND IT'S MADE HERE! (Well done Tesco, by the way for standing up to that price hike). Pretty much everything is becoming half as big and twice as much in price, which just makes this planet a little bit more like I want to fuck off it.
But I still want Brexit, so fuck you London.
I voted for it, I really did... and I stick by my decision. I thought long and hard, read and heard all the arguments and in the end I genuinely felt that we were better off out.
What pisses me off is all the bullshit surrounding it now... why can't the Government just send the article 50 letter and get on with it?
Well, on this planet, these days, sending a simple letter WOULD BE JUST TOO FUCKING EASY!
There's everyone in London having it easy, supposedly creaming it off the top with their chums in Europe whilst the rest of the country had the scraps. Then they collectively threw their toys out of the pram and had a hissy fit when WE (everything north of Watford Gap, not including Scotland) voted out... and because of that the whole process has ground to a halt.
Prices have gone up because of opportunistic fuckwads smelling a profit... we lost a major customer at work because of that and we continue to get e-mails off suppliers stating price hikes.
Toblerones have less triangles in them, Cadbury Creme eggs are smaller (although I have to say that was happening BEFORE Brexit), Marmite increased in price AND IT'S MADE HERE! (Well done Tesco, by the way for standing up to that price hike). Pretty much everything is becoming half as big and twice as much in price, which just makes this planet a little bit more like I want to fuck off it.
But I still want Brexit, so fuck you London.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #4
Hipsters - the dark side of the millennial generation
"I'm taking an Uber taxi to the get some Sushi for lunch... stopping at Starbucks on the way for a Faff-Laff-Toffee-Decaff-Maff-Paff-Chocolate-Chip-Latte-Mocca-Locca-Chocco Coffee, then we're going onto a wine bar called 'Tosser' that serves it's food on a shovel... which is really novel and edgy!" [all that posted to Facebook of course]
FUCK OFF! Actually no, you all stay there, GET ME OFF THIS PLANET!!
"I'm taking an Uber taxi to the get some Sushi for lunch... stopping at Starbucks on the way for a Faff-Laff-Toffee-Decaff-Maff-Paff-Chocolate-Chip-Latte-Mocca-Locca-Chocco Coffee, then we're going onto a wine bar called 'Tosser' that serves it's food on a shovel... which is really novel and edgy!" [all that posted to Facebook of course]
FUCK OFF! Actually no, you all stay there, GET ME OFF THIS PLANET!!
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #3
I recently ordered two bottles of Ponche Caballero and only received ONE.
Apparently they fucked-up the order... this is happening with deliveries more and more these days, they were probably reading Facebook rather than concentrating.
I ordered a copy of CoD: Infinite Warfare (it's a Christmas gift), a week-and-a-half later I received it... WTF?! This is the 21st Century, not the 1800's where everything was shipped via tramp steamer! I could've walked into town and bought a copy from HMV or Game - time taken to do that, 30 minutes, tops.
So, in other words, I'm fed-up with all the Amazon 'third-party sellers' bullshit where you're not entirely sure what section of the planet your order is coming from.
Apparently they fucked-up the order... this is happening with deliveries more and more these days, they were probably reading Facebook rather than concentrating.
I ordered a copy of CoD: Infinite Warfare (it's a Christmas gift), a week-and-a-half later I received it... WTF?! This is the 21st Century, not the 1800's where everything was shipped via tramp steamer! I could've walked into town and bought a copy from HMV or Game - time taken to do that, 30 minutes, tops.
So, in other words, I'm fed-up with all the Amazon 'third-party sellers' bullshit where you're not entirely sure what section of the planet your order is coming from.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #2
The 'fat in the new fiver' debacle...
This is the new £5 note - plastic, crumple-free, water-proof and hygienic, it's made by a company that has been supplying them for years, so it's generally well-known what ingredients are used to make them.
So then these vegetarian fuckwits decide to put in a protest to the Government and the BoE to get them to stop distributing them because they contain traces of animal fat. My question is: why protest now? Australia (and other counties) has been using these notes for years, surely some of these protesters have visited Australia as tourists and used these notes? Why didn't they protest then?
This is an example of many kinds of 'complaint faffing' these days that I really can't stand to see or hear about - nit-picking and making a big deal out of it just to make a name for themselves. Surely trace elements of animal fat in a plastic note isn't going to them your hands burn?
Then there's that nice old couple who have been running a vegetarian restaurant for 60-odd years, decide to not accept the notes and if people give them the 'legal tender' blurb they ask that they put the note in an envelope to be given to a charity. They're in danger of going out of business, why? Because people will go in there and, on principle, pay for their meal with just plastic fivers thereby forcing them to put all the proceeds of said meal to charity rather than for the running of their business... people are fickle like that. So their business is threatened because they joined in on a pointless, unnecessary protest bandwagon.
The inventor of the plastic notes was right to call them all 'stupid'.
This is the new £5 note - plastic, crumple-free, water-proof and hygienic, it's made by a company that has been supplying them for years, so it's generally well-known what ingredients are used to make them.
So then these vegetarian fuckwits decide to put in a protest to the Government and the BoE to get them to stop distributing them because they contain traces of animal fat. My question is: why protest now? Australia (and other counties) has been using these notes for years, surely some of these protesters have visited Australia as tourists and used these notes? Why didn't they protest then?
This is an example of many kinds of 'complaint faffing' these days that I really can't stand to see or hear about - nit-picking and making a big deal out of it just to make a name for themselves. Surely trace elements of animal fat in a plastic note isn't going to them your hands burn?
Then there's that nice old couple who have been running a vegetarian restaurant for 60-odd years, decide to not accept the notes and if people give them the 'legal tender' blurb they ask that they put the note in an envelope to be given to a charity. They're in danger of going out of business, why? Because people will go in there and, on principle, pay for their meal with just plastic fivers thereby forcing them to put all the proceeds of said meal to charity rather than for the running of their business... people are fickle like that. So their business is threatened because they joined in on a pointless, unnecessary protest bandwagon.
The inventor of the plastic notes was right to call them all 'stupid'.
Reasons why I don't want to live on this planet anymore #1
Reality TV, for these reasons:
They don't require any creative writing, putting talented writers out of work and suppressing younger aspiring writers' desires and ideas, whilst fat-git producers get rich off the advertising revenues.
They promote vapid z-list attention-grabbing 'celebs' who actually make tons of money off that shit, which then gives them the ability to be even more public about themselves whilst simultaneously annoying the shit out of most of the rest of the world.
They're just a reason for ad-breaks, let's face it, it's really all about selling products to the masses who want to see vapid z-list celebs mouthing off at each other. Why do you think Bake-off eventually ended up on channel four? It was inevitable, stuff like that can't be on the ad-free BBC, what the fuck were they thinking? So some fake-tanned orange-faced executive producer tosser 'manipulated' it so that it got took away from them, so he/she/it can make more money for themselves with ad-revenue.
They don't require any creative writing, putting talented writers out of work and suppressing younger aspiring writers' desires and ideas, whilst fat-git producers get rich off the advertising revenues.
They promote vapid z-list attention-grabbing 'celebs' who actually make tons of money off that shit, which then gives them the ability to be even more public about themselves whilst simultaneously annoying the shit out of most of the rest of the world.
They're just a reason for ad-breaks, let's face it, it's really all about selling products to the masses who want to see vapid z-list celebs mouthing off at each other. Why do you think Bake-off eventually ended up on channel four? It was inevitable, stuff like that can't be on the ad-free BBC, what the fuck were they thinking? So some fake-tanned orange-faced executive producer tosser 'manipulated' it so that it got took away from them, so he/she/it can make more money for themselves with ad-revenue.
Saturday, 26 November 2016
Waitrose /fail
The other day I read about a great sounding smoothie so I wrote the ingredients down and went looking for them when I was in Waitrose doing my weekly grocery shop.
I managed to find one lousy tin of peaches - just one out the four required, they either didn't have them in stock or didn't supply them at all. So much for my well-to-do healthy smoothie... fucks sake.
That always bloody happens to me and it's not just Waitrose but any supermarket, I never get them all and am forced to compromise by getting something close to what's required resulting in a smoothie/meal that tastes like shit.
...and while I'm at it I'm thoroughly fed-up of reading about or seeing on TV all those celebrity chefs or food-writers banging on about some poncy dish that requires ingredients that you have to go to some Armenian grocery store located in the back'o beyond to get... and then dictating to us that 'TV dinners are bad for you...' etc etc
I happen to like TV dinners and I do plenty of walking to burn off the calories... I'm happy with my diet and having quick dinners suits my working lifestyle.
To all the celebrity chefs/food writers: Go fuck yourselves.
I managed to find one lousy tin of peaches - just one out the four required, they either didn't have them in stock or didn't supply them at all. So much for my well-to-do healthy smoothie... fucks sake.
That always bloody happens to me and it's not just Waitrose but any supermarket, I never get them all and am forced to compromise by getting something close to what's required resulting in a smoothie/meal that tastes like shit.
...and while I'm at it I'm thoroughly fed-up of reading about or seeing on TV all those celebrity chefs or food-writers banging on about some poncy dish that requires ingredients that you have to go to some Armenian grocery store located in the back'o beyond to get... and then dictating to us that 'TV dinners are bad for you...' etc etc
I happen to like TV dinners and I do plenty of walking to burn off the calories... I'm happy with my diet and having quick dinners suits my working lifestyle.
To all the celebrity chefs/food writers: Go fuck yourselves.
Friday, 25 November 2016
Thursday, 24 November 2016
Time Flies...
Where the HECK has this year gone?! It only seems like yesterday that I was waking-up from a Crabbies Ginger Beer-induced hangover on January 1st (and no, I wasn't at kick-ass New Year's Eve do, I was on my own at home, gaming, scoffing a Tesco Chinese meal for two and getting drunk off several bottles of, well, all kinds really but I felt the Crabbies the next day!)
So let's recap this year... firstly;
My Life
For me personally my medical condition flared up giving me the worst six months of my life (although it's settled down again now in preparation for flaring up when I least want it to... as is it's wont as the most annoying medical condition known to mankind).
I finally gave up Sky TV in the pursuit of other avenues of entertainment (thanks to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, Twitch and gaming in general) but BOY did Sky try to keep me on! Despite my rants about excessive ad-breaks, no decent English Rugby coverage and me refusing to personally subsidise their obsession with throwing money at the Premiere League footy (which has gotten shit by several orders of magnitude over the last decade). Even after cancelling I got missed calls everyday until I blocked their number, now I await the reams of offers of half-price membership via snail mail.
I gave up my gym membership after 15 years, doing so has probably condemned my body to a big bout of weight gains but I've made my decision and am trying really hard to get an outdoor regimen going, especially as I'm off skiing in 2017 for the first time in 10 years.
Sport
Our national sport when through it's usual highs and lows - UK had a good showing at the Olympics with the best medal haul in modern times. England Rugby: Six Nations Slam, whitewashed the Aussies in their backyard, England Footy: Shit ('nuff said), Cricket: I don't really care tbh (I don't like it), they played some games, probably lost. Wasps, (I am a season ticket holder) finished 3rd, Allez Allez Allez!
Gaming Wins
Pokemon Go launched this year, took a BIG bite out of my time and still continues to do so, in fact, I have to say that it is the single biggest positive thing I can take out of this year and would like to take the opportunity to thank Nintendo and Niantic (and I suppose Google too) for creating such an engaging, enjoyable and, quite possibly the healthiest game around. I say 'healthiest' because no other game gets you out and about walking so much! I'm well on my way to doing 1000 KM's in-game and, even though I already do a lot of mileage walking due to commuting, Pokemon Go has added to that significantly and I'm soo much fitter! Plus it's part of the reason why I decided to cancel my gym membership simply because I've been out catching Pokemon during the times I would be at the gym! I've been to places I wouldn't normally go, I've gotten semi-lost in a marsh and almost run-over a couple of times... all in the pursuit of catching them all!!
Gaming Fails
No Man's Sky launched to a big fanfare and after only a couple of days failed big time... in my part I mostly tried to stay positive about the game and posted about it in this blog but now, even I have to agree that the gameplay is not what it was advertised... I'll still play it occasionally though.
Technology Wins
Virtual Reality - a technology that's been pottering about in the background of the tech world for decades finally exploded to the forefront this year. Previously, it's been the exclusive plaything of Silicon Valley, insanely rich pharmeceutical research companies and Hollywood but now thanks to HTC, Sony and Oculus it's affordable for us plebs to have a go... and Microsoft aren't far behind with their Augmented Reality tech too. It's about time the tech industry got us something interesting... rather than pushing unappealing pap such as 3D in cinemas and TVs... and glasses that do nothing except invade people's privacy for the sake of pushing ads.
Technology Fails
Apple brought out the latest MacBook Pro, with an LED emoji strip instead of function keys (I say that because that's all it'll become, despite what Adobe say with Photoshop support). Four expansion ports that require at least a hundred pounds' worth of adapters for all your currently owned peripherals (including iPhones FFS) and an Intel processor that's one generation back from the current line, well played Apple.
Entertainment
Several high-profile music/movie/TV celebs died (RIP Terry Wogan, Alan Rickman, David Bowie et al). Actually, in this case life isn't fair - we lost some good people but GAINED some Kardashians, how can that be fair!? Kim got robbed and it was no surprise considering she kept flashing it all over Social Media, served her right really and now she's gone dark. Kanye West has been sectioned - again, not surprising really, anyone connected to that family needs to be institutionalised. I know, I know... I don't need to read about them but I look at Google News every day and they're all over the fucking feeds! It would be a good year if they all just faded into the background, live quiet lives with all their money and we never heard from them again, I'd consider this a good year of that started to happen.
Politics
We had Brexit (and we'll never hear the end of it either), we've got a new Prime Minister - Teresa May... who, I have to say, I've been impressed with so far, I think she's doing her best in a very difficult climate. We gained a new Opposition Leader in Jeremy Corbyn who I simply can't find it in myself to dislike! I doubt I'd vote for him but he really doesn't offend me, I think he's good for British politics in that he keeps the majority in Parliament on their toes.
America chose a former reality-show former-failed Billionaire for POTUS, and I think our Brexit somewhat influenced them to do that, I guess they're just as fed-up with the political elite taking the piss as much as we are.
In conclusion it has been a very interesting year with the Brexit and Donald Trump being elected as the two 'stand-out' events, certainly they will make for a strange 2017!
As for me, well, I think I'll end 2016 with a more gaming, a Tesco Indian meal for two and a crate of Carling, enough to knock me into a senseless state to not be able to hear the fireworks at midnight.
So let's recap this year... firstly;
My Life
For me personally my medical condition flared up giving me the worst six months of my life (although it's settled down again now in preparation for flaring up when I least want it to... as is it's wont as the most annoying medical condition known to mankind).
I finally gave up Sky TV in the pursuit of other avenues of entertainment (thanks to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, Twitch and gaming in general) but BOY did Sky try to keep me on! Despite my rants about excessive ad-breaks, no decent English Rugby coverage and me refusing to personally subsidise their obsession with throwing money at the Premiere League footy (which has gotten shit by several orders of magnitude over the last decade). Even after cancelling I got missed calls everyday until I blocked their number, now I await the reams of offers of half-price membership via snail mail.
I gave up my gym membership after 15 years, doing so has probably condemned my body to a big bout of weight gains but I've made my decision and am trying really hard to get an outdoor regimen going, especially as I'm off skiing in 2017 for the first time in 10 years.
Sport
Our national sport when through it's usual highs and lows - UK had a good showing at the Olympics with the best medal haul in modern times. England Rugby: Six Nations Slam, whitewashed the Aussies in their backyard, England Footy: Shit ('nuff said), Cricket: I don't really care tbh (I don't like it), they played some games, probably lost. Wasps, (I am a season ticket holder) finished 3rd, Allez Allez Allez!
Gaming Wins
Pokemon Go launched this year, took a BIG bite out of my time and still continues to do so, in fact, I have to say that it is the single biggest positive thing I can take out of this year and would like to take the opportunity to thank Nintendo and Niantic (and I suppose Google too) for creating such an engaging, enjoyable and, quite possibly the healthiest game around. I say 'healthiest' because no other game gets you out and about walking so much! I'm well on my way to doing 1000 KM's in-game and, even though I already do a lot of mileage walking due to commuting, Pokemon Go has added to that significantly and I'm soo much fitter! Plus it's part of the reason why I decided to cancel my gym membership simply because I've been out catching Pokemon during the times I would be at the gym! I've been to places I wouldn't normally go, I've gotten semi-lost in a marsh and almost run-over a couple of times... all in the pursuit of catching them all!!
Gaming Fails
No Man's Sky launched to a big fanfare and after only a couple of days failed big time... in my part I mostly tried to stay positive about the game and posted about it in this blog but now, even I have to agree that the gameplay is not what it was advertised... I'll still play it occasionally though.
Technology Wins
Virtual Reality - a technology that's been pottering about in the background of the tech world for decades finally exploded to the forefront this year. Previously, it's been the exclusive plaything of Silicon Valley, insanely rich pharmeceutical research companies and Hollywood but now thanks to HTC, Sony and Oculus it's affordable for us plebs to have a go... and Microsoft aren't far behind with their Augmented Reality tech too. It's about time the tech industry got us something interesting... rather than pushing unappealing pap such as 3D in cinemas and TVs... and glasses that do nothing except invade people's privacy for the sake of pushing ads.
Technology Fails
Apple brought out the latest MacBook Pro, with an LED emoji strip instead of function keys (I say that because that's all it'll become, despite what Adobe say with Photoshop support). Four expansion ports that require at least a hundred pounds' worth of adapters for all your currently owned peripherals (including iPhones FFS) and an Intel processor that's one generation back from the current line, well played Apple.
Entertainment
Several high-profile music/movie/TV celebs died (RIP Terry Wogan, Alan Rickman, David Bowie et al). Actually, in this case life isn't fair - we lost some good people but GAINED some Kardashians, how can that be fair!? Kim got robbed and it was no surprise considering she kept flashing it all over Social Media, served her right really and now she's gone dark. Kanye West has been sectioned - again, not surprising really, anyone connected to that family needs to be institutionalised. I know, I know... I don't need to read about them but I look at Google News every day and they're all over the fucking feeds! It would be a good year if they all just faded into the background, live quiet lives with all their money and we never heard from them again, I'd consider this a good year of that started to happen.
Politics
We had Brexit (and we'll never hear the end of it either), we've got a new Prime Minister - Teresa May... who, I have to say, I've been impressed with so far, I think she's doing her best in a very difficult climate. We gained a new Opposition Leader in Jeremy Corbyn who I simply can't find it in myself to dislike! I doubt I'd vote for him but he really doesn't offend me, I think he's good for British politics in that he keeps the majority in Parliament on their toes.
America chose a former reality-show former-failed Billionaire for POTUS, and I think our Brexit somewhat influenced them to do that, I guess they're just as fed-up with the political elite taking the piss as much as we are.
In conclusion it has been a very interesting year with the Brexit and Donald Trump being elected as the two 'stand-out' events, certainly they will make for a strange 2017!
As for me, well, I think I'll end 2016 with a more gaming, a Tesco Indian meal for two and a crate of Carling, enough to knock me into a senseless state to not be able to hear the fireworks at midnight.
Wednesday, 23 November 2016
A Nice Cup'o Tea!
In my never-ending quest to master 3D modelling in Photoshop CC, I present to you...
Tea! mmm... :)
Tea! mmm... :)
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| I'll continue to add to this with other crockery... |
Friday, 18 November 2016
Photoshop CC 3D #101
Here's my first attempt at making a cake in Photoshop CC... the lighting is bit too dramatic for my liking but it's damned difficult to control it in Photoshop. The default infinite light source, when enabled and at 100% intensity kept bleaching out the tablecloth despite the fact that it's shine/reflection texture settings were set at 0%
Something for the Adobe bods to work on methinks, because I know for a fact that I would get better results if I'd done it in Strata 3D.
Something for the Adobe bods to work on methinks, because I know for a fact that I would get better results if I'd done it in Strata 3D.
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| Yep... the cake is a lie! |
Abstract Art #18
Finally, another abstract artwork done!
This one is called 'RGB Swirls' ... if you stare at it long enough the meaning of life flashes before your eyes.
This one is called 'RGB Swirls' ... if you stare at it long enough the meaning of life flashes before your eyes.
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Friday, 4 November 2016
The Subway Deception
I stopped by Subway this evening after doing one of my long Pokemon-hunting walks...
I ordered two foot long subs and asked them to be put in separate bags so the guy serving me would think that I was ordering for two people.
I don't know which was sadder - the fact that I was out Pokemon hunting on a Friday night or the Subway deception!
I ordered two foot long subs and asked them to be put in separate bags so the guy serving me would think that I was ordering for two people.
I don't know which was sadder - the fact that I was out Pokemon hunting on a Friday night or the Subway deception!
French Bulldog Madness
I've been moaning a lot on my blog recently, but I guess it comes with the territory as I approach old age where it's a requirement to moan all the time
Anyways... here's a design I did recently, couldn't help myself after one of my work colleagues showed me his collection of pictures of his dog...
Anyways... here's a design I did recently, couldn't help myself after one of my work colleagues showed me his collection of pictures of his dog...
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| He's called 'Bruce' ... and he's adorable! |
Tuesday, 1 November 2016
FA and FIFA reach a compromise over players' poppy wearing
Article here
I'm merely echoing what a lot of people have been saying in that why should a corrupt organisation like FIFA have the qualification to dictate to us that our players' wearing of poppies on their shirts is a 'political statement'.
What a load of bollocks... if anything it's MADE political by FIFA stating that! Bunch of tossers, and our FA are just as bad by asking them in the first place! But then they are bunch of spineless idiots at the best of times. Right now they're wishing this 'problem' would just 'go away' like most things that are thrown their way.
The FA should have just ignored FIFA, had the players wear poppies then when FIFA fined them, don't pay it to FIFA, instead give it to Help for Heroes or the British Legion.
And if FIFA banned us from the World Cup over it? So what? We've got nothing to lose as we're shit when we get to any finals, no-one will miss us and, frankly, no-one really wants to watch a World Cup hosted by Russia anyway.
I'm merely echoing what a lot of people have been saying in that why should a corrupt organisation like FIFA have the qualification to dictate to us that our players' wearing of poppies on their shirts is a 'political statement'.
What a load of bollocks... if anything it's MADE political by FIFA stating that! Bunch of tossers, and our FA are just as bad by asking them in the first place! But then they are bunch of spineless idiots at the best of times. Right now they're wishing this 'problem' would just 'go away' like most things that are thrown their way.
The FA should have just ignored FIFA, had the players wear poppies then when FIFA fined them, don't pay it to FIFA, instead give it to Help for Heroes or the British Legion.
And if FIFA banned us from the World Cup over it? So what? We've got nothing to lose as we're shit when we get to any finals, no-one will miss us and, frankly, no-one really wants to watch a World Cup hosted by Russia anyway.
Bye Bye Sky
I've finally gone and done it... I've shown Sky TV a clean pair of heels and cancelled all the TV subscription ...and boy was it painful process!
I must have been on the phone for three-quarters-of-an-hour having to justify to an operator why I don't want it anymore, rough transcript below:
This is after about 10 minutes of me telling them that I'm fed-up with all the ad-breaks and that I'm not really watching Sky TV anymore because I'm Netflix and chillin' a lot...
Me: Yes, I want to cancel it all
Operator: Are you sure?
Me: Yes
Operator: Are you ABSOLUTELY sure?
Me: Yes
Operator: Because you'll end-up paying more if you want to come back again
Me: Fine, just cancel it all
Operator: Are you REALLY sure? You sound unsure?
Me: [for fucks sake] yes, I'm sure, I've deliberated over this decision for the past two months and I have made my decision to cancel it all
Operator: If you've taken that long then maybe you ARE unsure and that you'd like to think more about it?
Me: [sigh] No I've made my decision
Operator: REALLY sure? Because we can just take off some of the packages [blah blah blah... etc]
Me: [after listening patiently] No I just want to cancel it all
Operator: You won't be able to watch any content that you have store on your HD box and you won't be able to record or rewind anything, are you sure?
Me: Yes, absolutely sure
Operator: Remember that you can't come back as a new customer and benefit from any 'new customer' deals
Me: I'm aware of that
Operator: You mentioned that you like Blue Bloods, which is a Sky Atlantic exclusive, perhaps we can downgrade your add-ons so you can watch that?
Me: No thanks, I do love that show but I think I can live without it
Operator: Do you like box sets?
Me: I've got loads and no, I don't watch them via Sky
Operator: OK, how about we keep your standard Sky TV package?
Me: [steam slowly rising from the top of my head] no thanks I just want to cancel it all
Operator: Okay, we if you REALLY want to cancel [adding a tone to make me feel guilty] we'll process that for you, I just need to go through some statements to read out to you
Me: [sigh] okay
15 minutes after that conversation I peeled my mobile phone away from my ear and was able to get on with my life!
It really is like pulling teeth, I tell you that I'm actually put off getting Sky again simply to avoid the pain if I had to cancel it again!
Note to Sky: just fucking make it easier for us to cancel! We're the customers, we know what we want not you!
I must have been on the phone for three-quarters-of-an-hour having to justify to an operator why I don't want it anymore, rough transcript below:
This is after about 10 minutes of me telling them that I'm fed-up with all the ad-breaks and that I'm not really watching Sky TV anymore because I'm Netflix and chillin' a lot...
Me: Yes, I want to cancel it all
Operator: Are you sure?
Me: Yes
Operator: Are you ABSOLUTELY sure?
Me: Yes
Operator: Because you'll end-up paying more if you want to come back again
Me: Fine, just cancel it all
Operator: Are you REALLY sure? You sound unsure?
Me: [for fucks sake] yes, I'm sure, I've deliberated over this decision for the past two months and I have made my decision to cancel it all
Operator: If you've taken that long then maybe you ARE unsure and that you'd like to think more about it?
Me: [sigh] No I've made my decision
Operator: REALLY sure? Because we can just take off some of the packages [blah blah blah... etc]
Me: [after listening patiently] No I just want to cancel it all
Operator: You won't be able to watch any content that you have store on your HD box and you won't be able to record or rewind anything, are you sure?
Me: Yes, absolutely sure
Operator: Remember that you can't come back as a new customer and benefit from any 'new customer' deals
Me: I'm aware of that
Operator: You mentioned that you like Blue Bloods, which is a Sky Atlantic exclusive, perhaps we can downgrade your add-ons so you can watch that?
Me: No thanks, I do love that show but I think I can live without it
Operator: Do you like box sets?
Me: I've got loads and no, I don't watch them via Sky
Operator: OK, how about we keep your standard Sky TV package?
Me: [steam slowly rising from the top of my head] no thanks I just want to cancel it all
Operator: Okay, we if you REALLY want to cancel [adding a tone to make me feel guilty] we'll process that for you, I just need to go through some statements to read out to you
Me: [sigh] okay
15 minutes after that conversation I peeled my mobile phone away from my ear and was able to get on with my life!
It really is like pulling teeth, I tell you that I'm actually put off getting Sky again simply to avoid the pain if I had to cancel it again!
Note to Sky: just fucking make it easier for us to cancel! We're the customers, we know what we want not you!
Saturday, 8 October 2016
England Footy #2
Yep, same old bollocks...
Eleven talented individuals all trying to put the ball in the back of the net. Admittedly they DID - twice, in the first half... yet they failed miserably in the second half. Against a team ranked over a hundred places below them.
2-0 against Malta, not good enough.
Goddam it! Why can't they all play as a team ffs!!
England Footy
Here we go again... I'm in a pub, watching England potentially cause me a great deal of stress and grief...
We're a long suffering bunch when it comes to football... and clearly the laughing stock of world football.
I think that if I added up all the money I've spent on lager over the years whilst watching England play, I could probably buy a really nice car!
Formula One
After much musing and consideration from watching many seasons of F1 races, interviews and news articles I have come to the conclusion that Lewis Hamilton is one hell of a stroppy little git.
Don't get me wrong, he is a fantastic driver - agressive, focussed, exciting (well, as much as FIA's prosiac rules allow at least) but he's quick to throw his toys out of the pram when things don't go his way...
He needs to chill the fuck out, accept that things in F1 occasionally go to shit, focus on the task at hand and get on with it rather than bleating at the press all the time.
Jenson Button, for instance, failed to get past Q1 today but I didn't see him moaning.
Ah well, that's my ha'penny's worth... not that it accounts to much.
Go Lewis!
Saturday, 1 October 2016
Bloody Rattatas!
Out Pokemon hunting today I couldn't help but notice that a bunch of Rattatas were following me...
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| Go away! |
Pokemon Hunting
Just completed a large trek out around Town and caught loads, had to maneuvor my way around a massive Police presence due to the Tories holding a conference there but man knows no bounds when catching Pokemon are concerned.
I'm now heading home, getting some supplies from Waitrose en route, then I shall spend the rest of the afternoon XBox gaming and after that watching LOTR The Two Towers on Bluray*.
Geekdom has nothing on me :)
Edit: Oh and a big fuck you to London Midland for flooding the arrivals board at Moor Street with trains I didn't want, potentially forcing me to have to wait almost an hour for one I DID want... I got a Chiltern train instead.
*Edit 2: I changed my mind and decided to watch Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Bluray instead...
*Edit 2: I changed my mind and decided to watch Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Bluray instead...
Friday, 23 September 2016
Photoshop CC 3D #101
I've been playing around in Photoshop CC's 3D features... and decided to create a teapot.
No idea why, just popped into my head. Perhaps the challenge of figuring out how to model the spout or perhaps, being English, the thought of tea is never far from my mind.
Anyway I thought it came out rather well...
No idea why, just popped into my head. Perhaps the challenge of figuring out how to model the spout or perhaps, being English, the thought of tea is never far from my mind.
Anyway I thought it came out rather well...
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Sunday, 18 September 2016
Gaming, back up and running!
Now that my PC is finally fixed (through no fault but my own... see previous post) I am back up and running in Steam.
...and I've been messing around in Subnautica again:
...and I've been messing around in Subnautica again:
Saturday, 17 September 2016
Finally!
Finally got my gaming PC back up and running... I say 'finally' because, dear reader, there were delays since it blew a gasket on me. These delays were not caused by additional problems found, or difficulties in acquiring new parts etc. no, the delay was that I simply couldn't be arsed.
Two weeks ago my PC went tits-up and I could have got it up and running two days after that when my new SSD arrived from Amazon. However I was going through a massive case of CBA's, so much so, that I was simply felt like doing nothing but crashing in front of the TV every day when I got home from work... add to that a hectic previous weekend of boozing away from home and it resulted in a two-week delay.
But, now, finally, it's back up... and boy does it boot fast!
I've installed a Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD 480gb, put Windows 10 back on it (kudos to Microsoft for making the procedure to download and create a Windows 10 USB installer so easy) and now, after adding all my peripherals (Corsair wireless headset, Razor mouse, Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse etc.), Steam is downloading and installing my games library, except it's doing it onto a 2TB secondary SATA HD rather than the SSD... I thought it better to do that for two reasons - to keep the write-to count down on the SSD and save space as it's only 480gb.
After installing the Sandisk SSD dashboard I discovered that it's only running at 3.0gb/s rather than it's top speed of 6.0gb/s, that's a shame but can't be help as clearly my motherboard only supports that speed... it's still very quick though!
Bring on the gaming!
Two weeks ago my PC went tits-up and I could have got it up and running two days after that when my new SSD arrived from Amazon. However I was going through a massive case of CBA's, so much so, that I was simply felt like doing nothing but crashing in front of the TV every day when I got home from work... add to that a hectic previous weekend of boozing away from home and it resulted in a two-week delay.
But, now, finally, it's back up... and boy does it boot fast!
I've installed a Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD 480gb, put Windows 10 back on it (kudos to Microsoft for making the procedure to download and create a Windows 10 USB installer so easy) and now, after adding all my peripherals (Corsair wireless headset, Razor mouse, Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse etc.), Steam is downloading and installing my games library, except it's doing it onto a 2TB secondary SATA HD rather than the SSD... I thought it better to do that for two reasons - to keep the write-to count down on the SSD and save space as it's only 480gb.
After installing the Sandisk SSD dashboard I discovered that it's only running at 3.0gb/s rather than it's top speed of 6.0gb/s, that's a shame but can't be help as clearly my motherboard only supports that speed... it's still very quick though!
Bring on the gaming!
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