Good games never die, they just get reloaded. The good peeps at Microsoft have once again dug into the musty video game vault and rescued some of the coolest, nerdiest, most addictive games with their new Game Room addition to Xbox Live.
пятница, 26 марта 2010 г.
четверг, 25 марта 2010 г.
INAPPROPRIATE VIDEO ALERT
They won't be showing this on any domestic violence course any time soon. It's still funny though....
вторник, 23 марта 2010 г.
FAREWELL THEN DIXON
Interesting article from the BBC about changes in policing in the UK, especially the interview with ACPO President Sir Hugh Orde.
Having worked in the UK at the front line and now working in Canada, I can't believe how complicated things were when I was in the UK. Over the years you get used to the complexity and become an expert in your field; so whether you need a Somali interpreter at ten o'clock on a Saturday night in Kent, or the correct form for a racially motivated domestic assault in Leeds or you need to write off a bit of argy-bargy between two vulnerable adults outside a kebab shop in Cheam, you learn how to get round the problems while keeping just within the rules. When you suddenly find out that it could all be a lot simpler and all the skills that you thought you needed are now redundant, it can come as a bit of a shock. My magic book full of 'police only' phone numbers, obscure forms and logon instructions for rarely used computer applications was suddenly useless.
The other thing Sir Hugh was talking about was how police officers, with all their kit, look a bit like stormtroopers and are less approachable. I'm not sure the kit has got much to do with it really. I carry a gun, a couple of sets of handcuffs, spare ammunition, spray and a knife with a locking blade and people are always coming up to me to say hello, mainly because I've actually got the time to stop and chat
Having worked in the UK at the front line and now working in Canada, I can't believe how complicated things were when I was in the UK. Over the years you get used to the complexity and become an expert in your field; so whether you need a Somali interpreter at ten o'clock on a Saturday night in Kent, or the correct form for a racially motivated domestic assault in Leeds or you need to write off a bit of argy-bargy between two vulnerable adults outside a kebab shop in Cheam, you learn how to get round the problems while keeping just within the rules. When you suddenly find out that it could all be a lot simpler and all the skills that you thought you needed are now redundant, it can come as a bit of a shock. My magic book full of 'police only' phone numbers, obscure forms and logon instructions for rarely used computer applications was suddenly useless.
The other thing Sir Hugh was talking about was how police officers, with all their kit, look a bit like stormtroopers and are less approachable. I'm not sure the kit has got much to do with it really. I carry a gun, a couple of sets of handcuffs, spare ammunition, spray and a knife with a locking blade and people are always coming up to me to say hello, mainly because I've actually got the time to stop and chat
понедельник, 22 марта 2010 г.
GAS GAS GAS
Just filled the car up at 58 pence per litre.
At that price you'd have to mad to walk anywhere.
Doughnuts all round.
At that price you'd have to mad to walk anywhere.
Doughnuts all round.
суббота, 20 марта 2010 г.
PHRASES YOU OFTEN HEAR
The current fashion for letting people off as long as they promise not to do it again means that one is forever hearing the phrase, "But I've been doing really well.'
When I was young this meant that you were getting good grades, handing your work in on time, getting into a sports team or whatever. Nowadays it means that you've managed to not get caught committing crime for a while.
When I was young this meant that you were getting good grades, handing your work in on time, getting into a sports team or whatever. Nowadays it means that you've managed to not get caught committing crime for a while.
RPGCast - Episode 120: "Team Rocket Surgery"
Gotta listen to 'em all! We all gain levels in our pokewalkers while discussing the new Pokémon releases. Mikel gives us the scoop on his new game and Reggie gives us some interesting quotes regarding PlayStation Move.
среда, 17 марта 2010 г.
TOUGH TIMES
Interesting story here in the Daily Mail about how 4,000,000 expats want to come home because life is now too expensive. It's mainly about how people with incomes in sterling are adversely affected by its decline, particularly pensioners.
When we came over a pound bought you about $2.00, but now, a little over 2 years later, a pound will get you only about $1.50. We obviously receive our income in local currency which is good for us when we visit the UK, but means that for family and friends in the UK, holidays in Canada are no longer the bargain they once were.
When we came over a pound bought you about $2.00, but now, a little over 2 years later, a pound will get you only about $1.50. We obviously receive our income in local currency which is good for us when we visit the UK, but means that for family and friends in the UK, holidays in Canada are no longer the bargain they once were.
вторник, 16 марта 2010 г.
NEW ARRIVAL
I'm told that my Norinco AR15 should be arriving soon. It's being sold to me on the basis that it's built to military specifications apart from the finish (which can flake off a bit) so it's considerably cheaper than, say, a Bushmaster AR15. I imagine that you can probably spend a lot more money and get a bit better gun, but at some point you have to be sensible and think what else could you spend the money on. Hopefully, with the saving on the gun, I'll be able to buy an Eotech sight as well.
PS Sorry for deleting your comments to the last post, my finger slipped...
PS Sorry for deleting your comments to the last post, my finger slipped...
понедельник, 15 марта 2010 г.
MORE POWERS
Imagine if you didn't have to arrest people on the mere suspicion of having committed a criminal offence. OK, so you don't have to arrest people on suspicion but where you've got a named suspect, it's difficult to get the file past the various levels of supervision and audit without interviewing them under caution.
Imagine that rather than arresting them, you could write up a report and say, 'Look there's little or no evidence against person x, there are no independent witnesses and no physical evidence that really corroborates person x's story over person y. I've got no idea where person x lives so I'm saying that he's a suspect and leaving it at that.'
Imagine also that your workload was sufficiently manageable that you could decide for yourself, on the basis of your knowledge and experience as an invesitgator, which suspects were worth interviewing and which were not.
What would happen if you didn't have to interview suspects and they didn't have a right to speak to a solicitor in person? What if you could simply charge them when you thought you had enough evidence and didn't have to refer to anyone else for advice? And what if you could hand out all the paperwork and do all the typing in the car?
How much time would you save? How much less time would you spend in the station? Would this be a charter for lazy coppers or an opportunity to use professional judgement?
Imagine that rather than arresting them, you could write up a report and say, 'Look there's little or no evidence against person x, there are no independent witnesses and no physical evidence that really corroborates person x's story over person y. I've got no idea where person x lives so I'm saying that he's a suspect and leaving it at that.'
Imagine also that your workload was sufficiently manageable that you could decide for yourself, on the basis of your knowledge and experience as an invesitgator, which suspects were worth interviewing and which were not.
What would happen if you didn't have to interview suspects and they didn't have a right to speak to a solicitor in person? What if you could simply charge them when you thought you had enough evidence and didn't have to refer to anyone else for advice? And what if you could hand out all the paperwork and do all the typing in the car?
How much time would you save? How much less time would you spend in the station? Would this be a charter for lazy coppers or an opportunity to use professional judgement?
суббота, 6 марта 2010 г.
RPGCast - Episode 118: "Math Is Hard"
Glenn Wilson is on to discuss Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. Sony had its own strangeness this week. And even Valve got into strange fun with its images hinting at Steam coming out on the Mac.
среда, 3 марта 2010 г.
'Dante's Inferno' raises hell
'God of War'. 'God of War'. I am tired of the comparisons to 'God of War'. Don't get me wrong. I am a big fan of Kratos and his ancient misadventures as much as the next guy but 'Dante's Inferno' is not 'God of War Jr.', as some have described it. To refer to it as such is an insult to the outstanding work developer Visceral Games put into the title.
вторник, 2 марта 2010 г.
CANADA WINS GOLD
Obviously you all know that Canada won gold in the mens hockey in Vancouver on Sunday. I was working and as it was quiet (yes I know, weird eh?) I took some paperwork and polished off a few outstanding reports all while listening to the game on the radio.
By coincidence, one of our local radio stations had a phone-in that morning all about who was the most canadian Canadian, so I took this photo because I thought it all looked rather Canadian: the snow, the gravel road stretching over the horizon, the coffee cup....
понедельник, 1 марта 2010 г.
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