Idoru (William Gibson)
Sci-fi, 6/10 – December 2005 It’s supposed to be the 2nd book in the bridge series but it’s pretty self contained. It’s about a rock-star celebrity wanting to marry a sort of computer-generated personality called an Idoru. It is not confirmed whether the Idoru is truly AI but she lives in the net more than […]
Pattern Recognition (William Gibson)
Fiction, 8/10 – December 2005 This book is set in the present and is not sci-fi like I’m used to from Gibson. The main character, Cayce Pollard, is a rather odd fashion Guru capable of identifying any piece of clothing but so opinionated that she is actually physically allergic to some trademarks (e.g. the Michelin […]
Kitchen worktop, Hob and Sink (September/2005)
We decided we’d go the extra mile and get a real granite worktop because we couldn’t resist the shiny bits of pearl sparkling in the light. Once the worktop was fitted we got a plumber to fit a sink and a tap that we bought on ebay. We got our gas-hob plumbed in and went […]
TimeSplitters – Future Perfect
XBox,FPS,6/10 – September 2005 Good simple FPS fun. I say simple because you can’t jump, not a bad thing but a bit old-fashioned. There is a entertaining selection of characters (ninja monkey anyone?) including brilliant undead creatures to mess around with. On the character selection screen, each character performs a move when they are selected […]
Kitchen units (August/2005)
We constructed the kitchen units and replaced the handles with ones that we chose ourselves. Then we had to do quite a bit of carcase butchering to cut holes for electrics and plumbing. Before we fixed and levelled the units we got the electricians back in to finish their work. They fitted some smart stainless-steel […]
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The origins of the internet (Katie Hafner, Matthew Lyon)
Computing History, 5/10 – Summer&Autumn 2005 I felt like reading an educational book on a subject which I’m interested in. I’m interested in the Internet because it is THE invention of my lifetime, one which has and is changing the world in a hugely significant matter. Ok so it was invented in the 70’s and […]
Kitchen painted and floor tiled (June+July 2005)
We painted the kitchen ceiling white and the walls a colour called “midnight dew 6”, however the difference is so subtle as to be funny. We painted the doorframes and then got to work on the floor. First we sealed it with PVA, then we levelled it with screed, fixed the tiles and lastly we […]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J. K. Rowling)
Fantasy, 7/10 – July 2005 It’s Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts and the plot follows the usual mould of the Hogwarts school year (Hogwarts Express, Sorting Hat, Quidditch, appointment of replacement teachers, etc). Lord Voldemort’s past is explored in much more detail than previous books in the series, but we don’t actually get to meet […]
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
DS,Platform,5/10 – July 2005 This game is a classic platform beat-em-up. Same old formula, mass-produced so it comes out at the same time as the films. But it is quite well done, with a good use of buttons, a bit of character progression, interesting moves and a nice level of difficulty. It also has a […]
Yoshi: Touch&Go
DS,Puzzle,5/10 – June 2005 The control mechanism relies purely on the stylus and so demonstrates how quirky and different the DS is from other handhelds. It’s a fresh and original game (if-by-game-I-mean two mini games). The first game see’s baby Mario falling from the sky on the top screen and you have to draw a […]
Kitchen plastered (12/May/2005)
We filled in the holes left from removing the wall ourselves and then we got a plasterer to skim the entire kitchen so that it will be fresh and ready to paint.
Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds
XBox,Strategy Combat,7/10 – April 2005 Think pokemon meets street fighter. This is strategy combat where it’s tactics and planning that win a battle rather than button mashing. Collect mana orbs, cast creature spells, magic spells, enhancement spells; try to do all of this and still evade your opponent’s attacks. I got to the pen-ultimate level […]
Kitchen prepared for plastering (April 2005)
Having gutted our kitchen and living with a just a microwave and fridge in the dining room, we got some electricians in to do a 1st fit of the new kitchen electrics. One of the walls was uneven and so we used battens and plasterboard to level it out. We also bought our new kitchen […]
VoIP is exciting technology (28th/April/2005)
I’m very excited about VoIP technology – It’s going to change the whole telephony business-model. There are a number of killer-apps for each element of technology, email is a killer-app (even my mum now uses it), Wi-Fi is an up and coming killer-app and I think that VoIP will become a killer-app. I don’t understand […]
Tory mud slingers (27th/April/2005)
I think politicians should argue about how to make things better rather than spend time slagging their opposition. The current Tory election campaign is disgusting because all they are doing is slinging mud at Tony Blair. I know politicians always point out the other parties mistakes but they have gone too far and I’m sick […]
