Since I joined the EVE Online affiliate scheme I figured I’d create one of my mini-themes for EVE. It has to be my favourite so far :D
The important part of the theme is the flash banner (it only appears on the actual post pages). Clicking this takes you to a free 14 day trial so you can try EVE out. Warning, it can become addictive very quickly!
EVE, EVE Online, MMORPG
Whether Windows Media Center can create video DVDs (that is DVDs that will play in a normal DVD player and not just a computer (or certain “posh” ones)) is a little hit and miss, mainly because of the complicated OEM nature of MCE. If you buy a media center PC from a shop you’re probably okay. If you buy the OEM version of MCE and install it yourself you’re probably out of luck. You see, MCE can’t do it by itself, it requires an extra piece of software called “Sonic” something. If you buy the normal OEM version of MCE you don’t get it - you have to buy the three pack which contains an “extras” disk. If you do buy the Sonic software separately (available from Sonic.com) it does work fine - albeit apparently not from the MCE interface. There is the distinct possibility I did something wrong so I’ll keep fiddling with it.
Well the comments by people having problems with TalkTalk are still trickling in and I’ve still yet to experience any of them. Although it does seem the biggest problem is customer service which I haven’t had reason to encounter yet.
I recently asked a football loving friend what would happen if the teams were tied at the end of the group stages. I mean completely tied (i.e. if there were no goals for instance). He didn’t know. Well unfrtounately the answer is that acomittee draws lots to decide who goes through.
Well in an interesting twist if England beat Sweden 2-0 and Trinidad & Tobago beat Paraguay 1-0, then lots will be drawn to decide which of Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago go though. Group B after such a result would be:
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
| Sweden | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| Paraguay | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -3 |
If each of the teams in those matches scores the same number of goals in excess of those numbers the same result occurs (e.g. England 4-2 Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago 3-2 Paraguay.
After finding a permanent blood donation place near where I work, Julia and I finally got round to giving blood again on Tuesday. And unless you have a very good reason not to, you should too.
There’s more info in my previous post about donating blood.
I knew it would happen eventually. Once I got an income it was only going to be a matter of time before I found a massively multiplayer online game to play.
EVE Online is such a game. It’s in space, has a single persistent universe (i.e. all players are in the same world - no sharding), has a completely player run economy, has the record for most number of simultaneous players (over 25,000) and is tremendously fun. And now I have an income, the monthly fee of 14.99€ is looking very affordable.
And now could be the best time to join. The a big update is coming over the next year (starting at the end of the month and ending in 2007) called “Kali”. The big part (which won’t be added until towards the end of the updating) is factional warfare. As with most of these games you choose a race for your character to be in. Generally the race itself doesn’t make that much of a difference. There are role-playing elements that are different (different style of missions (think quests) for example) but other than your base attributes it’s not a big factor. If the factional warfare system is done well that could all change.
Anyway, go play now.
EVE, online games, MMORPG, MMOPG
Since I got MCE working I’ve been watching TV on a one day delay - that way I don’t have to actually remember when things are on. One such show was ECW One Night Stand, which has definitely been the best “WWE” pay-per-view* in a long time. And 90% of the reason was the fans who just never shut up. The funniest example was the Cena/RVD match. After a whole match of the fans tearing Cena apart, he manages a good move that I haven’t seen him do before. The crowds response? “You still suck”.
For a complete review check out Online Onslaught.
Greg Egan is a “hard sci-fi” author. Hard sci-fi is a vague term referring to science fiction with a strong founding in complicated, plausible (if not real) science. He released a few really good novels that deal with several recurring themes including people living entirely as software (and the interactions between such people and those with bodies) some of the issues surrounding duplicating people if they exist as software and some exotic possibilities for life (some not even based on the idea of particle interaction).
That last part is mainly what is expressed in Schild’s Ladder - life existing based on the myriad of possible interactions between different quantum theories that are found to exist in what is originally thought to be a super-stable vacuum. Sounds confusing (and in points it is) but for anyone interested in technical mind bending sci-fi, it’s a must read.
Then go read Diaspora, another book of his following similar themes.
Google Mail (no longer Gmail) has a confusing feature.
I recently got a Google Mail account to test out Google Talk. Since I was already logged into my Google account it asked if I wanted my new email account to be part of it. I said yes. Then I couldn’t log into my Google Account for anything else. The problem is they’ve decided my new Google Mail email address is my primary address and that’s what I need to use to log in.
Ah well.
Julia is going to America next year on an exchange and she needs a student visa obviously (a J-1 if you’re interested). So we had a nice trip to London to the US Embassy this week.
The first problem we faced was finding it. Using Google Maps gives different results depending on whether you use the address or the postcode. I figured the address was right since it at least showed a road with the right name.
Speaking of the road, it’s blocked off. The whole road in front of the embassy is completely blocked to traffic and has armed police patrolling it. For various reasons we needed to find a bank so Julia asked one of the police officers. Somehow feels like misusing resource - asking someone with a gun that big for directions.
Then once Julia was in (I couldn’t get in without an appointment) there was a three hour wait. But they said yes. Even the page full of Arabic in her passport (following a recent trip to the United Arab Emirates) didn’t worry them.