Laughing in the face of danger!
Reviews
Virgin Trains – An experience
Jul 23rd
I think Virgin Trains project their excellence through over-paid advertisers and completely manufactured statistics. They are late, unreliable and usually dirty.
On the 19th, I travelled from Preston, Lancs to Glasgow Central Station on a Virgin Pendolino. The train arrived on time with no expected interruptions. I boarded and was rudely told to sit somewhere else because a seat was “taken” for someone’s hand luggage. I passed it off as just a rude individual, and sat down next to a lovely lady who kindly put her bags on the floor. The train carried on through the principle stations, Lancaster and Oxenholme (Lake District). About half way between Oxenholme and Carlisle, the Train Manager (who we’ll call Dave) put an announcement out that the train would only be stopped about 20 minutes due to an overhead power failure. This was fine, I’d been in train delays on numerous occasions. 20 minutes passed, and Dave put another announcement out stating that it would be another 20 minutes before the train could proceed. This frustrated me, and pretty-much everyone else on board. We couldn’t work out why Dave had told us 20 minutes, for a problem which would clearly take longer than 20 minutes to sort. Eventually, this turned into an hour and 15 minutes.
Due to this stupendous fuck-up, we then got stuck behind a freight train which was moving so slow, it was defying the laws of physics going forwards. This pushed us behind schedule by about 45 minutes, going through the forests around Dumfries. Eventually, the train pulled into Glasgow Central at about 2 hours late. I wasn’t bothered about the delay, but what pissed me off the most, was the fact Dave had fabricated a time, which he, nor Network Rail could confirm.
To make matters worse, on my return journey on the 23rd, I walked into Glasgow Central, and the timetable information boards said the train was delayed. When asking a member of staff if they knew what time the train would be delayed until was like getting a Christian to believe the Big Bang really happened. Eventually the train rolled in at 19:25, forty-five minutes late. Then they had to clean the train (which is can be understood). The train finally departed from Glasgow Central at 19:40, an hour behind schedule.
Seriously, Virgin, if you are going to claim to have consistent services between Glasgow and London, MAKE SURE YOU BLOODY ADHERE TO IT. Either I am incredibly unlucky to be delayed by 3 trains in a week, or Virgin are the culprits. On the outbound journey, they handed out customer comment forms to fill in for some form of compensation. I’m not sure what type of compensation I would get, but not only was I late into Glasgow, my friend was waiting for me in the station for over an hour, because we weren’t given an arrival time.
I think I would rather Drive to Glasgow, and probably end up spending more money on fuel, than arriving late without a proper reason.
What are Google thinking??
Jun 10th
Seriously, what are Google thinking? My idea of a Google search page is a clean white background, with blue text, and a great big Google logo at the top of the page. That’s not what I see today, I see a plethora of eyesores, making my “Google Time” somewhat dis-pleasurable. I want my Google back, I don’t want some crackpot images from National Geographic every time I go to the search page, I want my white background, and blue text back. ITS HOW I LIKE GOOGLE…
The worst image possible, is when you click “Remove background image“, and you get this.. It’s disgusting.
I mean look at the image first of all. Its silver and a dull brass on a black background, which is okay, but the image is not flat. It has a 3rd dimension added to it which makes text hard to read. I mean, don’t get me wrong, some of the images work with the rather generic text, such as the image of the sand-dunes, you can still see the text. But when you’ve got white backgrounds with white images, and then white text with a bit of a shadow, it doesn’t work Google…
Secondly, the Google logo is somewhat ugly. What happened to the blue, red, yellow and green we’ve all grown to love? Why do they have to bastardize our beloved ones?
Thirdly, what happened to the text, we all know white text on a black and white background makes the text hard to read?
Next, when you do select a background image, you have this bright-white atrocity stuck at the top of the page, which is the navigation bar. Its ugly when you have your own background. If you’re going to have a background image, at least change the image at the top as well, so that it all blends in.
All I am asking for, is for you to give me back the Google I remember from the very first time I went onto your Search Engine. Mesmerized by the colours and the simplicity, it became the ONLY search Engine I used. And yes, that’s how much I like Google! But I think I may stray away from using the home page to search from now on, and just stick to using the URL bar in Chrome to search, at least my eyes won’t implode when they try to read the text!
If you’d like to read more information about these homepage changes, view: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/art-of-homepage.html
New Phone – HTC HD2 – A Review
Jan 13th
I’d had a Nokia 6300 for over 12 months, and I was beginning to get incredibly bored with it. It’s an incredible phone. It’s survived being dropped, soaked, washed, crushed and burnt, yet it still works
like it did when I first turned it on. But as technology advances, I felt I needed a more technologically advanced phone. I needed a phone which could keep me informed about the news on the move, allow me to take photo’s and upload them to sites to share them instantly, provide me with entertainment when I am on my travels, and most of all, be reliable.
This is where the HTC HD2 stood out. I first saw it advertised on a Technology site’s advertising banner while reading some “Hater’s” article on Google. Being the inquisitive type that I am, I followed the link, which took me to the HTC website, and showed me a much larger image, in more detail, with more than one view. I was in total awe. A 4.6″ Touch Screen, 1GHz Snapdragon™ Processor, 5 Megapixel Camera, and weighs about about the same as 3 packets of peanuts.
Physical Review
The HD2 can outrun the iPhone any day. Instead of it sliding around in your hand while your trying to use it with only one hand available, it sits perfectly in the palm of your hand, waiting for you to caress its massive 4.6″ screen. I’m the type of person that hates scratches/scuffs appearing on the case of the phone, so it has to be polished constantly. the HD2 has a brushed steel battery cover, a matte plastic case on the rear, and about 3mm of glossy plastic which needs to be shined up occasionally.
The buttons at the bottom are a bit of a pain, just too small. Its handy having buttons available which you can quickly enter the home screen, or access the start menu, but they need to be slightly bigger. Also, the buttons on the side which control the volume are ever-so slightly annoying. They are just there, waiting to be pressed uncontrollably. I’m right handed, and my fingers naturally sit there, awaiting a sudden jolt of my unsteady hand to press them and change the volume to hyper-deafening.
Operating System
Well, having been a Linux user for over 2 years now, I was a bit miffed the HD2 had Windows Mobile 6.5. I would have much preferred Android’s new operating system, but I can’t have it my way every time. Despite Windows Mobile being installed on my phone, I must say the performance is fantastic. It responds when you want it to, unlike earlier versions of Windows Mobile. Compared to the iPhones 620MHz processor, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor at the HD2′s disposal gives far superior computing performance.
HTC Sense
This is an amazing piece of software. It makes using the phone so much easier, by making everything you want to use available quickly and efficiently. When HTC first put HTC Sense on the Hero, it took mobile computing to the next level. It makes all your favourite applications easily available, keeps your contacts a couple of finger-slides away, it makes your emails easy to access, and not only does it look great, it works like a dream.
Make it Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected.
These are the three fundamental concepts of HTC Sense, and they really did stick by them…
I don’t usually like using Metaphors, but using HTC Sense is like dining in your own Michelin Star Restaurant, you’re eating your own high quality food, your around your customers and staff, and you never know who’s going to turn up.
Prototype – A Review
Aug 25th
Quick Overview
Prototype is simply a great game. It is based in New York City during an outbreak of a lethal virus, and the prototype of this virus, Alex Mercer, is trying to find out why he is the way he is.
You start off with a few basic powers, running, jumping, and punching. As you progress through the game by completing missions, you earn EP or Evolution Points. You use these points to upgrade Alex Mercer, into a more agile, aggressive and accurate weapon. You can also gain EP by consuming people, completing side missions, or simply killing the hell out of the city. That’s another great thing about this game, the ability to “consume” innocent civilians of the city, to boost your health, and/or disguise yourself from the primary enemy, the military.
As you progress through the game, you have the opportunity to learn about what happened to you. The game cleverly does this buy putting in Web of Intrigue characters. These are individuals who know a little bit about what happened to you, and give you the ability to piece together exactly what happened. Another great thing about the game play of this game, is you have the ability to perform devastator attacks. These are large scale attacks which simply focus on destroying/disabling all enemies within range of the attack. One of my favourites is the Tendril Barrage, a complete genius attack where thousands of tendrils fire out of Alex, and consume/disable all living enemies within range.
As you expect with most games, more difficult enemies are introduced, more difficult scenarios are introduced, and it gets harder to upgrade. Obviously, you can do all the side missions (or events) and get EP that way, or you can just plough through the game with little upgrades and show yourself how awesome you really are.
Negatives
I only really found one negative feature with this game, and that is the inability to consume victims “on the run”. You have to stop, and be susceptible to enemy attacks. If you had the ability to consume a victim in mid-air, or while running up the side of a building, that would be awesome!
Conclusion
Overall, this game satisfied everything I look for in a game, from game-play, to interacting with your surroundings, to being able to at least play with everything in the game. I would give the game a 9.5 out of 10.
