pete.ecksdee.net

Use the new notes system. It’s awesome and a pretty good compliment to blogging and tweeting and digging and clogging and flogging.

When you get on Reader, just click the new notes button and then drag the little bookmarklet up to your tool bar and yeah… Beats bookmarking non-feed sites and it’s pretty good for taking notes too.

For the 99% of people who don’t use Reader… Ignore this post OR get Google Reader and be my friend more.

Can you tell that I haven’t slept that much?

(I have a surprise to show you, sonny. You shall see it soon enough.)

VOLCANO LIGHTNING = AWESOME IRL

Hiroshima, 1945 – The Atomic Tragedy

Right click, view image to see in full-size.

[source]

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I think I may have to finish GTAIV’s single player a little slower…

Picked up GTAIV pretty casually on Tuesday when it came out. Went into one of those general electronics stores and picked it up for Xbox 360 (DLC + better controller). Upon entering the disc into my Xbox I was dumped straight into the world of Niko with a pretty awesome intro sequence (nice tunes too). The game is… Pretty polished. I haven’t had anything to complain about with this title. The controls are responsive and clever yet still feel like good old GTA controls. The physics engine, whatever it is, does the job nicely. Some of Niko’s falls look so realistic (and painful).

I’m about 20-30% through the game now (I haven’t checked my stats in a while) but I feel like I’ve played through a game’s worth already considering playing Saints Row this much got me to the last few missions. I must say this game is much better than Saints Row which I enjoyed quite a bit. Except for the awful humour. GTAIV, of course, has literally made my friends and I burst out laughing – I love the conservative radio show and Lazlow is always a worth a laugh. Niko’s cellphone and the way in which missions are executed makes for a very fluid feeling game experience. The friend system is actually pretty fun. I would never have thought I’d hear myself saying that doing silly mini games to increase relationships with NPCs could be made so well.

Combat is very “2007-2008-third-person-shootery” with cover being paramount in staying alive. The guns are awesome and actually have some realistic feeling power to them. This is the first game I’ve played in a while with a shotgun that I can use at long ranges. Even the smallest gun fight is pretty memorable as they are just so fun and pretty cinematic. The combat sure has evolved since GTA and even the GTAIII-era games.

The story is your run of the mill GTA rags to riches American Dream with Niko Bellic as the protagonist. Niko is likeable with a few more morals than Tommy Vercetti or GTAIII guy. Seems a little darker than CJ since, well, he was in slave trading and he doesn’t seem to have a problem with getting his hands really dirty. Niko’s friends and associates are all good in their own ways, which makes for a pretty funny yet awesome story.

I have yet to try out multiplayer as the single player has been more than enough (I had an American Studies test the day after it came out…) for the moment anyway. However, I have heard from people that it is really fun, especially with large groups of people. I really can’t wait to get into the multiplayer after I’ve finished single player.

I can’t really say much this far into the game but I can tell you that it is a great game. There’s no denying that this game will go down as one of the greatest social commentaries of America and popular culture. I can’t stress how much you should play this game. It’s just so good.

“Albert Hofmann, who died on Tuesday aged 102, synthesised lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 1938 and became the first person in the world to experience a full-blown acid trip. RIP Hofmann.”

Bicycle Day will carry on.

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Feeling the effects of late night writing. Indeed.

The terrible title for this entry can be blamed on “fuck you for asking”. I’m in a lazy/angry mood. Perfect for a POLS test! However much I’ve been complaining about this test (or at least reminding myself at every waking hour that it is coming up), I’m pretty confident that I’ll do well. Here’s hoping they don’t ask too many questions about Foucault.

Updated WP to 2.5 yesterday. Dashboard is good. Liking the new posting page too. This text box is much more responsive. I found my PC struggling with whatever script was behind it in 2.3.x.

I got a Twitter account since everyone seems to be getting one. (http://twitter.com/hybridutterance)

And I like. Short sentences. Bye. Gonna write some Prosperity stuff. Tonight.

Been rather busy. Writing my term paper for Mass Communication. McLuhan’s theory of a global village is making me cry myself to sleep.  Wait, no, I’m not sleeping that much. Damn grief.

Once I’ve finished this paper (estimated sometime tomorrow afternoon) and studied for my POLS102 test on Wednesday, I will probably go home, tidy my mess of a room and update WordPress to 2.5. I think we have a holiday coming up.

Now! Back to media globalisation and Robertson and McLuhan and collective media consciousness or whatever the hell I’m actually writing about. </kentucky fried brain>

OR: Quick update. I guess. We’ll see how quick it is.

(Mental note: I say “I guess” and  “I suppose” way too often)

I’m at Chilcombe doing some work for Mass Communication. I’m also doing some work for this little story I’ve been playing with in my head. I’m basically just writing the mythos and everything for the universe at the moment. It’s called Fogsdown which is also where the story takes place. A good way to summarize it would be Steampunk/Elder Scrolls/New Zealand/Alice in Wonderland/Ancient Greek Myth. Kinda. Jonny’s gotten into my ideas which fuels more ideas. So far I’m enjoying the concept (so much that I’ve added a category for it on this here blawg).

I have a term paper due in on Wednesday and a test the same day. Best head back to work…

That was relatively quick now wasn’t it?

Sore throat. Bane of man. Also have a slight fever. Words cannot explain my anger.

Started writing a couple of stories in my spare time. One is about a fantasy world within New Zealand. It’s my favourite at the moment. Quite proud with the ideas that have spawned from my bored and uninspired mind (at the moment anyway). I’ve been trying to make up for my lack of creative ideas by working through it and concocting many story concepts. I guess I can come back and fix them up when I’m feeling inspired too!

Been listening to Rush – 2112 quite a bit lately. Pretty good.