Archive for the 'Random Rant' Category

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GTA4 : Well its finally here !

Published on April 29, 2008 in Entertainment, Games, Random Rant, Random Stuff and Tech World. 0 Comments

Already, iv started seeing the floods of complaing girls on Facebook, MySpace and MSN about loosing their Boyfriends to this anticipated overdue game.

So with no further ado, congratulations… Games consoles have officially just replaced the love and admiration of women, how sad ! but on the plus side, that sad guy on YouTube with 3 playstation 3′s must be loving this !

But a small review is in order;

“GTA IV has its flaws as a game.” (1) “The flow of the game basically goes like this: you watch a cutscene, someone in the cutscene says that someone has done them wrong, you’re told they need to be taught a lesson, and then you get in a car and go teach them the lesson. At that point another cinema is triggered and the process repeats. … it can definitely become a little repetitive.” (2)
“It’s not like previous GTAs, or most other sequels, where there are new stand-out features that you can easily discuss and rate.” (4) “GTA IV [actually] reduces the amount of activities when compared to the previous game, San Andreas. You cannot go the gym to beef up Niko’s muscles. And eating a ton of cheeseburgers won’t turn you into a massive, wobbly mound of lard.” (3)
“You’ll probably be surprised to hear GTA IV has noticeably fewer weapons and vehicles on offer than GTA: San Andreas did. … Yes, this means San Andreas’ more unusual vehicles like fighter jets, hovercraft, go-karts and jetpacks are all absent. Don’t expect to be wielding chainguns, flamethrowers or chainsaws either.” (4) “The world itself is smaller than the state-sized San Andreas” (7) and in general the game has “a feature list that’s a step back from its predecessors.” (4)
“Even though the plot line is simpler than previous GTA games, it still gets cluttered at times, with a glut of characters entering the scene; it can be tough to keep track of exactly why things are happening and to whom.” (9) “There’s still a clear difference between this and [even] a B-level Hollywood production. … Every story note [is] delivered by flat, to-the-point dialog [and] we get characters over-explaining their feelings and opinions, leading to some awkward exchanges. (8) On top of that, “Niko’s Serbian … is God-awful.” (3)

Accreditation for review : Joystiq

Follow Up : UK ISP’s Saying ‘No’

Published on April 5, 2008 in Random Rant, Random Stuff, Tech World and Torrents. 0 Comments

Stolen from TorrentFreak (lets face it, the guy does good summaries lol);

r getting an “unbelievably rude letter” from the British Phonographic Industry which demanded that ISPs disconnect file-sharers from the internet, the UK’s third largest ISP, Talk Talk, is in fighting mood. “Talk Talk rejects music industry threats and refuses to become internet police” says their statement.

The BPI has been writing to all the major ISPs just lately, on the subject of unauthorized file-sharing. The BPI wants ISPs to work with them to disconnect persistent file-sharers from the internet. Trouble is, like most music industry bodies, the BPI think that muscle flexing and posturing will get them the results they demand. Not so.

When Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC went to see Charles Dunstone, CEO of Talk Talk owners Carphone Warehouse, he didn’t find a happy man. Speaking of the BPI, Dunstone said: “They’ve sent us the most unbelievably rude letter” . True to form, the demands from the BPI carried a threat – comply in 14 days or face legal action, something which has not been well received by one of the UK’s richest men. “Talk Talk rejects music industry threats and refuses to become internet police” said a statement.

Dunstone says he won’t tell his customers what they can and can’t do and believes that the BPI is attempting to force him to pay for their failure to adapt to the digital revolution. “The music industry has consistently failed to adapt to changes in technology and now seeks to foist their problems on someone else,” said Dunstone. “Rather than threatening us, the BPI’s time would be better spent facing up to the reality of our times and adapting its business model accordingly.”

Of course, the BPI aren’t just going to leave it at that. Hitting back with a statement of its own it said: “Talk Talk either seek to misrepresent our position or just doesn’t get it.”

The BPI says that it doesn’t want Talk Talk to become the internet police, rather it wants the ISP to act on evidence it supplies about file-sharers. “It’s not true that we are threatening them or asking them to become the internet police” said the BPI. “In fact, what we are looking for is a progressive partnership that will ultimately create new services for their customers. But clearly they must begin to address problems of illegal downloading on their networks.”

Dunstone says he will fight any attempts to force him to cut his customers off from the internet. “I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer’s account on the basis of a third party alleging a wrongdoing.” he said.

Labeling them as “unreasonable and unworkable”, Talk Talk has responded in writing to the BPI, rejecting their proposals in full.

So, well done to Charles Dunstone – this should further increase your profile and boost Talk Talk’s popularity somewhat. Now, if you could please stop throttling P2P traffic, that would be wonderful. Get in touch – you can break the news here on TorrentFreak…

Virgin Media Sucking on the Tit of Copyright !

Published on March 31, 2008 in Personal, Random Rant and Tech World. 0 Comments

A recent article found on ‘The Register’ reads as follow;

Virgin Media could soon become the second major ISP to attempt to implement a “three strikes” system against illegal filesharers in partnership with the record industry.

The cable company is in talks with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to trial a system of warnings, followed by disconnection, for the most persistent copyright infringers.

It’s the same scheme that Tiscali briefly put in place last summer. That led to 24 customers being disconnected after allegedly ignoring the warnings, but relations between Tiscali and the BPI collapsed in a row over how the costs should be shared.

In a statement today, Virgin Media said: “We have been in discussions with rights holders organisations about how a voluntary scheme could work. We are taking this problem seriously and would favour a sensible voluntary solution.”

A spokesman promised that customers will be told when any trial begins, but couldn’t say when that will be.

Under the proposed three strikes rules, BPI enforcement agents will detect IP numbers participating in copyright-infringing peer to peer networks. They will alert the ISP, which will voluntarily send out warnings to stop or face disconnection from the net.

My take on this, well to begin with im a little confused by the term ‘voluntary scheme’ someone wanna explain how thats gonna work, cus i sure as hell aint signing up to have virgin trawl through my online traffic hunting for illegal P2P contents and thats kinda what it sounds like… unless it means virgin are planning to volunteer themselves as a guinea pig for this service, which makes me wonder how much crapper their service is going to get !

As for 3 strikes, not quite comfortable with that either, how do u judge a strike… ISP’s as we all know keep logs of data traffic for random periods of time, this is done by law. But in the case of knocking off peoples strikes, is it a case of saying ‘hey, were giving u a warning because a log showed u downloading ‘pirates of the caribbean’ 6 months ago, and another strike for ‘lost in space’ 4 months ago… oh and we spotted that ‘lesbian chicks’ one u grabbed yesterday… guess thats your three strikes, goodbye !” kinda worrying, but sounds like Virgin media logic to me !

Well either way, iv been looking for a good excuse to rip that crappy motorola modem off the wall and throw it at a passing Virgin van for years, if this monitoring systems comes into reality, it might be the straw that sends this donkey running to BT for a new landline and ‘be’ internet for 24Mbps service !

Vista SP-1 Second Opinion, Random Rant from a ‘un-named’ Friend

Published on March 21, 2008 in Random Rant. 0 Comments

First, yes, it does make Vista faster. Slightly. More stable? Can’t say yet. BUT! It may be faster, but it is still slower than XP.

Vista SP1 takes an eternity to install. About an hour in my VM.

Vista SP1 cannot be slipstreamed into an already exsistant DVD. This is a big fucking deal Microsoft. It takes less time to install a fresh Vista than install SP1.

I actually lied slightly. You can slipstream SP1 in one way. But it’s a pain. Let me explain. My DVD has loads of versions on it (MS designed it that way of course). To slipstream SP1 I have to install a version, install SP1, run sysprep and other crap, pack the installation, repeat for each install type and create a new DVD. With the amount of time needed for SP1 to be installed each time you’d be there all bloody day! Screw that!

Still a memory hog. A fresh SP1 install starts with 360MB used. It then increases to about 375MB and then slowly decreases to 250MB where it stays. What the hell is going on in there?!?!? I know it uses a new memory manager to keep the most used things in memory on boot, like OS X and Linux, but why the RAM dance at the start? Oh, and it thrashes the hard drive while doing it too.

Hard drive activity. Still thrashes that when it gets half a chance.
Open Media Centre then close it. Good minutes trashing there. Screen saver activate then deactivate, another good thrashing session. Random thrashing still happens quite often, but appears to be slightly better.
On boot Vista is using enough RAM for three fresh XP installations, why does it need to access the HD so damn much?!?!

The activity lights in VMware says it accesses my CD drive every second or so when a disc is in it. WHY?!?!?! Hard drive too – obviously.

Vista is still ugly as sin. I know SP1 was never going to fix that, but I think it needs mentioning.

Media Centre is still good. Too bad you have to have Vista to use it.

Microsoft really dropped the ball on the OEMBIOS activation front. SP1 was supposed to disable and remove the current activation hacks. That works. But, my (now deleted) install is still genuine after changing the type of BIOS attack used. A modified Linux boot loader chainloads Vista to inject the BIOS information needed. And it’s easier to install. Fix that one Microsoft. Why was XP never subject to these attacks? Someone fucked up Vista. As we know…

All in all,

The only good Vista is a virtualised Vista. Clicks “Delete VM from Disk”.

Let’s hope Windows 7 fixes this train wreck.

Things Men Wish Women Knew

Published on January 1, 2008 in Personal and Random Rant. 0 Comments

Okay, important to note, i don’t agree with all of these, but there are some dam good ones in here, please don’t hate me because im messing with the natural order of the universe !

1. Express yourself. It makes us proud, even if someone thinks you’re wrong.

2. You look hot in running shoes and shorts. And that top thingy with the stripes.

3. Bare, tan shoulders are underrated.

4. If you think I’m speeding now, you should see me drive when you’re not in the car.

5. If you’re truly interested in us, don’t play hard to get.

6. Shopping is a chore, not an activity.

7. When I screw up, go ahead and tell me–once.

8. No question need ever be asked through a closed bathroom door if I’m inside. I love you less with each syllable you utter.

9. I’m hot for you, not your sister or your friend or your coworker.

10. My guy friends. Not only are they not negotiable, they’re your best sign that I’m not a whack job.

11. Don’t be afraid to ditch the makeup. Natural is sexier.

12. Leave the eyebrows alone. Plucked ain’t pretty.

13. You can have sex with us any time you want. Seriously.

14. When the game is on, we will pay attention to you if you’re nice about it. Bark, and we shut down.

15. I don’t ask for directions because I’m just happy to be driving. Anywhere.

16. Masturbation is merely practice for the big game. Encourage it.

17. We crave hugs and hand-holding too. And no, it doesn’t always have to lead to sex.

18. But you can have sex with us any time you want. Did we mention that?

19. There’s no better sound in the world than you, having an orgasm.

20. Though the exhaust note of a Porsche Boxster is pretty damn fine, too.

21. I just may lie to make you feel good. Don’t be angry about this. You really weren’t looking for the truth anyway.

22. When you get angry over some stupid little pointless thing, I question your intelligence.

23. You’re really bad at faking it.

24. If I offer my help while you’re getting ready, it means you’re late.

25. Never ask me to pick out your outfit. (See above.) I will invariably get it wrong and make us even more late.

26. Giving me two or three choices, however, can be fun. Assuming you will change outfits in front of me. Slowly.

27. Err on the side of hot; I love to show you off.

28. Unless we’re meeting my parents.

29. When you call us at work “just to chat,” we’re not really listening; we’re checking our e-mail.

30. Spring means baseball and skirts. Doesn’t need to be a mini-skirt; it’s been a long winter.

31. Chicks who drink beer are hot. Better yet: chicks who drink beer and watch the game. Better still: chicks who buy us a beer during the game.

32. We don’t mind being told we look good. Just don’t call it a “cute outfit.”

33. We love ponytails.

34. Being good in bed means a) enthusiasm; b) a sense of humor; and sometimes c) patience.

35. The first time? We’re as nervous as you are.

36. A random unexpected grope is always welcome, even in public. Especially in public.

37. Make us laugh and we’ll want to hang around.

38. Yes, I laugh really loud around the guys. And I always will, so deal.

39. Sure, men stereotypically like to solve a woman’s problems. But a woman who solves her own while we watch? Instant erection.

40. You can pick the movie, but have a reason.

41. Do not expect to have a conversation via text message unless you use the words “naked” and “waiting.”

42. Sometimes we wonder why any woman would want to be with us, much less someone as amazing as you. So, thanks.

43. Anytime you cook for us, we’re happy.

44. If you can hit a golf ball 150 yards, we just might fall in love.

45. No, I don’t remember what he said next. Or she. Or anybody, for that matter. I’m a guy, not a tape recorder.

46. We love you even more because you know we need to go out with the guys once in a while.

47. And we love it when you hang with us guys, too.

48. We have a keen sense of imminent danger. It sounds like, “Do you think she’s pretty?”

49. Don’t rely on us for keeping you up on the news.

50. Never say, “I know you better than you know yourself.” Nobody does.

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About Us

Welcome to Fluxbox, im afraid we have no affiliation with the Linux window manager, so if your looking for that, turn around now.

Fluxbox is now the combined effort of a group of former University of Plymouth students, who use this site to document their IT endeavours and general random rants, we invite you to join or world, where everything is in a state of flux !