| This is remarkably intelligent. |
[Dec. 10th, 2008|10:25 pm] |
According to an email I got today:
On Thursday 18 December the University network should be considered "at
risk" due to engineering works being undertaken to improve the
fault-tolerance of the service. The works will start after 9:30am and
should be completed by 4:30pm, although unforeseen circumstances could mean
the work extending beyond this time. Should a fault occur on the live system
during this time, there will be no failover for the Internet connection or
for the connection between campus and residences/wireless
This is the last Thursday of term. Most humanities essays are due in on the last Thursday of term. They are doing dodgy computer engineering on the last Thursay of term. Somebody, somewhere, is a genius.
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| Insane |
[Dec. 10th, 2008|04:29 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | insane, music | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Jetavana Grove - Brothers and Others and Others | ] |
I think I have gone insane. Too much caffeine, too much time awake, too much (depressingly bad) writing, too much postmodern philosophy I don't really understand. I have begun to have converstations with myself in parentheses and footnotes of my essay. I have referred to its word limit as an apocalpyse. I have referred to YouTube as a "great oracle of popular opinion". Having just checked e:vision, apparently my previous essay for the module garnered me a 69. I don't recall it being worth anything like a 69, the argument was largely ridiculous and patched together with very little evidence behind it. And written in one night I think. Which bodes well for this monstrosity I am creating.
In sensible worlds, I have been listening to a couple of post-rock-eque bands that are more -rock than post-. First is one people have probably heard of before, Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies. I particularly like A Little Late He Staggered Through The Door And Into Her Eyes. They have a tendency for stupidly long names, their album I have being called "Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness". Can only find the whole album download link, the hypem link is bust. Radiobutt has a lot of their stuff. Next is another stupidly named band ...as the Poets Affirm, an entirely instrumental affair that are enjoyably emphatic without the loudness a lot of post-rock gets. I like Calliope a lot, but can't find a link for it. So have something else by them instead, A Lie Told Before Breakfast(best I could do). Oh, and I could listen to No Children by The Mountain Goats on repeat nice and loud forever (but not at this time in the morning I couldn't). Same with the next song on that album, See America Right (live version).
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| Kansas |
[Dec. 7th, 2008|04:39 am] |
I am finding the Border War and Bleeding Kansas periods of history fascinating, and have just spent about four hours leafing through letters and news reports and pictures on this site. The amount of violence and intimidation that occurred on a regular basis, people near constantly raising armies or arresting people and busting them out, all to secure Kansas as pro- or anti-slavery when submitted to the Union (although with some of the free-staters that was dubious. The Topeka constitution just barred the settlement of African Americans entirely rather than banning slavery)
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 6th, 2008|02:32 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | christhmus | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | CHRISTMAS | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Death From Above 1979 - Black History Month | ] |
It is nearly Christmas, 19 days to be exact. Thus today myself and pretty cinema girl Rüüf are going Christhmus shopping. Mostly my plan is to find the most horrible and tacky things in any shop and ridicule them whilst secretly wanting them really.
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 4th, 2008|08:56 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | music, street fight | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Heartsrevolution - Switchblade (Toxic Avenger Remix) | ] |
My word, a Toxic Avenger mix of Switchblade by Heartsrevolution. HAPPY TIMES ON THE ELECTRO BUS!
I would like to see some sort of street fight between Heartsrevolution and Crystal Castles. It wouldn't last long, as I don't think Alice Glass can resist lolling about on the floor for more than about two minutes at a time. And Heartsrevolution could just run them over in their ice cream truck (yes, they have an ice cream truck)
Also, please can I have this for free?
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| Stolen procrastinate meme. |
[Dec. 1st, 2008|12:26 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | meme, work | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Rise Against - Like the Angel | ] |
01. Put your music player on shuffle
02. The first lines of twenty songs = a poem; the first line of the twenty-first song is the title
They turn the lights down low
Everybody knows where you go when the sun goes down
Your ego's stepping on my toes
They're making you what you are
Well, now, don't you tell me to smile
You fashion people in your camouflage wear
Artificial nose, artificial pose, artificial clothes, artificial woes
Give it away, watch it turn
I never thought too hard on dying before
Information kept to myself and everybody wants to know
And when winter comes around you need your winter shoes
I don't want to live in a world without melody
Honestly relax my dear it's clear that we are done
I'm on the run
This is a high intensity sexual show
Everything is everything new
No truth will ever set you free
You take another one in the back, you take another one in the teeth
I keep a count of all my hits and misses
It starts from within
There is a fire to light a sleeping heart
That last one there is really quite worrying. I am sorting out the third chapter of my dissertation, then I just need to pull together the introduction properly. Shouldn't be awful, I hope. Provided that my second chapter didn't turn out to be poo.
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| Someone should invent |
[Nov. 28th, 2008|11:54 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  optimistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Overthrill NLLR Exclusive Mixtape | ] |
Someone should invent a search engine that lets me play part of a song into and it will tell me what song it is. And then give me that song for free. This would mixtapes less torturous, and I could have all their pretty song.
This mixtape by Overhtrill is currently pretty much my favourite thing that goes in ears. Gets super good after the Lady Sovereign/Walkman mashup (Around 12:15). Rolling Stones/Outkast mashup at 24:40 is glory.
Other news, apparently my dissertation isn't crap! Hooray! Dissertation supervisor said it needs some editting and a few things need more emphasis and so on, but that the basic arguments and reading are sound (at points even good, shock). So good day.
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| Some things |
[Nov. 26th, 2008|11:28 am] |
I want this shirt a lot. I was tempted to buy a similar one that was black and white a while back, but this one is pink on blue! Thousand times plus bonus better! Plus, it's apparently Evil Nine merch, and Evil Nine are pretty neat. I am listening to a remix of their new single, it's not ace, but I don't like the other Mumdance stuff I have so eh. Oh hold on, it seems all the good bits are hidden after the two minute mark. Find here if you're interested.
Other thing. I was thinking last night while playing some Caylus about information in games, mostly boardgames but also more widely. Everything in Caylus is visible, all players can see all other players resources at all times, turns are taken sequentially so you know what the previous player has selected to do. The only unknown information ever is the players strategies/planned actions. There are many games where some piece of information is kept secret. Power Grid keeps money secret, as does 18xx and Container, but this seems pointless. The start money is known, and so are all incomes, so amount of cash held by each player is not logically secret, it can be tracked. This pseudo-hidden information could be remembered by a player with good memory, or by someone willing enough to be a social pariah and track it with pen and paper. This means those with memory skills and no care for being an outcast have a distinct advantage. It adds an element other than interacting with the game mechanics, it privileges those with better memory skills. This is okay in a game where it is one of the main mechanics of the game, but otherwise it feels unneccesary. Generally I would prefer to focus on the game mechanics than metagame concerns, such as whether someone has a big hand full of one-value money cards or is it all tens? (to use a Container example). I can't see much advantage to these pseudo-hidden but completely trackable pieces of information.
I am also becoming a little unenthusiastic about games where players maintain a concealed hand of cards or whatever, mostly when there is still a draw pile. Information is lacking about what might be in play, so play cannot be accurately gauged. Where an entire deck with all known cards is dealt, this allows knowledge of what else is in play as you know all cards so can base play on that(Hearts for example), or where hands are built (or even partially built as in Tribune) from a face up central draft pile, you have some knowledge of other players hands and plans with which to guide play, which seems more fun to me. This gripe mainly applies to games that have a somewhat take-that mechanic, with hidden cards trumping other peoples hidden cards, and nothing happening turn after turn.
I was thinking how information is treated in other games. In roleplaying games it is quite different, as they serve an entirely different purpose. They are not competitive. being mainly about collective storytelling, and so concealed information allows surprise and revelation and so on. 4E seems to move towards sharing more information however, most notably through the bloodied state. Bloodied tells players the state of one of the monsters resources, without divulging the exact amount. If any GM's reading have used monster that can mark, have you indicated or told the players that they are marked, or kept it secret? Are there even monsters that can mark?
I am completely unsure about information in videogames, as they seem to serve a dual purpose of competitive (player beats game, player beats player) and entertainment. In an FPS tracking how likely someone still is to have ammunition is as much part of the skill of the game as shooting them in the head. How much information do other people think you should have in games?
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| We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed |
[Nov. 14th, 2008|02:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | music | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | bouncy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Los Campesinos - Ways To Make It Through The Wall | ] |
It seems Los Campesinos have released a follow up album, We Are Doomed, We Are Beautiful, and it appears it is much better than Hold On Now Youngster. The songs are oddly aggressive for jangly indie. It is rather enjoyable indeed. Will probably listen to this as much as Hold On Now Youngster
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| Tomorrow Evening |
[Nov. 3rd, 2008|11:10 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | election, music | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | OK Go - Crash the Party | ] |
Tomorrow I shall watch Little Boots perform on Later with Jools Holland at 10pm, then I shall watch the election coverage, then I shall go to bed happy, because Obama is going to win. This is what will happen tomorrow, and it shall be glorious. |
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| Has a pumpkin |
[Nov. 1st, 2008|11:34 pm] |
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I has a pumpkin. It has the batman symbol carved into it. Good day. |
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| Hooray! |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|12:08 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Uffie - Pop The Glock (Sebastian Rmx) | ] |
Today I own Rock Band 2. Now I shall be off the intertubes for a while.
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| Westerns |
[Oct. 24th, 2008|11:55 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | westerns | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | When Saints Go Machine - Sell Me Your Exit | ] |
Seems there is another Western having just come out and almost passed me by completely. Appaloosa is showing in Cinema City now, and seems to have got reviewed generally well as a genre Western, with a few tweaks. I am also quite fond of Ed Harris recently, having rewatched Walker recently. Hopefully I shall manage to find time to see it before it slips out of cinemas.
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 14th, 2008|11:29 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Arch Enemy - Silverwing | ] |
Song lines meme. Post 32 and people guess. Points can be redeemed for as unyet named prizes.
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( Song meme ) |
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| Gamessoc update |
[Oct. 2nd, 2008|01:03 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything - 65daysofstatic | ] |
Had 5 new people (who have been at previous events) turn up to board/cardgames tonight, which was pretty good. Pubcrawl on Friday, so hopefully will get more people to that.
Also this 65dos song just sounds like a crappy version of something they have done before, it is definitely not the best on the album. Listening, it sounds like a less creepy/eerie Asphalt and Trouble, which is named after the game Full Throttle which is pretty awesomes. |
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| D&D Intro |
[Sep. 30th, 2008|10:33 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | gamessoc | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  confused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Santogold - Get It Up (Radioclit Mix feat. MIA and Gorrila Zoe) | ] |
At last nights introductory D&D game we had 16 new people turn up, and had to run 3 concurrent groups. I count that as a success. |
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| Icebreaker |
[Sep. 25th, 2008|07:03 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love For Planet Earth | ] |
The icebreaker went alright, as did Socmart. 107 signups led to £216 of subs taken in, and having something on the same night written down on a piece of paper handed to everyone led to around a dozen new people in the ribs with us people. I might have gotten a little excited and drunk a little too much, but eh. Tomorrow is a general games day, and from the forums it sounds like a few people who couldn't make it last night will be turn up, so hopefully we'll end with around dozen new people actually turning up to things fairly regularly with any luck. Lots of people entirely new to gaming but full of enthusiasm. Am quite pleased. |
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