Is iOS losing it?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Tim Ford

When Apple first released it’s iPhone and iPod Touch, it had a much more primitive operating system than it does now. There was no app store, no games, just a browser and basic utilities. Some time later, Apple decided that App Store was the way forward and they were right.

I don’t have a problem with iOS functionality. It’s actually a very functional OS, in fact, among the best for a mobile platform. The fact is, it’s not unique in anyway, Android has stepped up it’s game massively, it’s now a suitable operating system for nearly anyone. iOS does what it does well. But not in an interesting way. Every time I use my iPhone now I’m not surprised, nothing crops up in the App Store that’s ground breaking or unique to iPhone any more. The iPhone has lost it’s wow factor. The 4S was a disappointing upgrade from the 4 albeit obvious, the actual interface has stayed exactly the same since 2007. Those coloured icons, shiny buttons, grey keyboard and inconsistent colours. I actually think it’s starting to look a bit old. Sure, if I jailbreak my device I can customise the icons but something made by a company that’s so renowned for it’s ability to design should be able to design a more modern and beautiful. Apple prides itself on it’s stunning design skills yet Windows Phone is a much better looking operating system. When did anyone see Microsoft designers surpassing Apple’s in software aesthetics? Even Steve Wozniak (Co-Founder of Apple) suggested that Windows Phone apps are more beautiful than those on iPhone and Android the other day.

The next iPhone will impress people and people will flock to buy it and they will probably have a very nice device that feels good in the hand and looks great and is faster than the predecessor. But times are changing, people now realise that phones can play Angry Birds and can navigate you from where you are to where you want to be. Apple showed that off ages ago but it’s been a long time since they’ve actually released anything with the wow-factor that the iPhone once bought to people. It’s no longer a game changing device, the interface is starting to bore me. In fact, I feel that the tech industry has started to slow down a bit this year, it’s been ages since I’ve logged onto a decent technology blog and read a piece of “breaking” news that’s worth reading or even the given tagline.

The unification of Apple’s operating systems isn’t impressing me either, I enjoy using my MacBook Pro with OSX Lion more than my MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard but the addition of an iOS style icon interface hasn’t made me more inclined to use it or drastically improved the experience. The App Store was again, obvious and the applications are similar to that you can find in a web browser without the need for additional software. Granted more software is being made for Mac as a result but most of it’s ridiculously expensive and throwaway apps. I use my laptops and desktops for doing real computing, if I wanted a simple device I’d buy an iPad or use my iPhone.

I feel the next iteration of iOS should have drastic improvements that aren’t obvious. I expected a copy of BBM in iOS at some point, I expected notifications on my iPhone to improve, I realise that the operating system is improving but it’s completely lost it’s wow-factor and it’s individuality. I hope the next iPhone and iOS impress me or I may jump ship, those Windows Phones are becoming awfully tempting with their speed and beauty.

 

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The Avengers Assemble – IMAX

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Tim Ford

 

In a day and age when it costs an inordinate amount of sterling to buy a cinema ticket and with 3D being a way for studios and cinema’s to squeeze even more money out of us, I rarely actually go. Although I’m sure most of you are aware of the over inflation of prices of every item on sale in a cinema as well as the initial ticket of entry, many of you may not have an IMAX within a distance worth travelling. In fact, if you have to drive any further than 2 miles to a cinema you’re looking at an expensive day out. The price for an adult IMAX ticket is £13.70 if you go at peak times, or £12.20 off peak, even with a student card it’s going to set you back just over a tenner. It’s pretty darn expensive to see a film, especially when you can pick up 3 DVD’s for £10 in most stores. The problem being is in order to get the most out of a film we are convinced it’s necessary to watch it on a monumental screen with sound systems we could only dream of being able to afford. In all fairness, IMAX shines here, the screens are better, the 3D is on another level when compared to REALD systems and the sound is distinctly clearer.
So, after not being to the cinema since freshers, a fanatical obsession with comic books and marvel I decided to dedicate my funds to a ticket to see The Avengers Assemble. A nerds wet dream, a conglomerate of the Marvel Super Heroes gathering together in order to save the world from evil forces. A combination of stories from said heroes make for an action packed, start-studded nerd fest. For those of you who are too cool to be familiar with the original comic book Avengers they were actually a fairly different set of super heroes and included Ant-Man and The Wasp. There are some of the originals still in there Iron Man, Hulk and Thor are the remaining originals, Ant-Man and The Wasp probably haven’t aged as well and might not fit in with the demands of a modern movie fan.
The basic story of the Avengers Assemble is that S.H.I.E.L.D has to assemble the Avengers in order to protect the earth from Thor’s evil brother who wishes the world will bow to him and treat him like a god.Loki is trying to use the Tesseract to aid his chances of rule and the Avengers need to defeat him. The film has very cleverly intertwined the stories from previous Marvel films, for example the spy from S.H.I.E.L.D in Iron Man 2, Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) story develops more within the film as does Captain Americas. You can expect more of the usual wit and back-chat from Tony Stark as well as some relatively funny slurs from Dr. Bruce Banner. Collectively there is quite a bit of comedy in the film which is a nice touch.
Most important, some might say, in a movie like this is the action. Super Heroes by nature must be action fuelled and The Avengers Assemble does not disappoint. Running in at a somewhat long 143 minutes (2 hours and 23 minutes) if this film was 100% action the viewer might be left overwhelmed with over edited scenes however Marvel have done very well with their CGI. Obviously this is a field that is getting better and better but somehow Marvel have managed to make things that are so unbelievably unrealistic, look realistic. Iron Man himself is inconceivably well made, there has clearly been a large amount of time and effort put into this and it makes the film more enjoyable.
Comic book fan, Marvel Movie fan, Action film fan, watch it. It’s critically acclaimed, doing great on Rotten Tomatoes and is great fun from start to finish. It may help if you get up to date on Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk movies though.

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A Brief Update On My Cliché Life

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Tim Ford

 

I’ve been sat here for about 30 minutes listening to an irregular mix of songs on Spotify just thinking. Not really taking much notice of the lyrics or anything that is happening around me. For all I know someone could of been into my room and stole my supply of baked beans for the month and left the taps running.

 

So, what’s occurring in my world. I’ve realised many things over the past few months. One of the things I’ve noticed is I am incredibly cliché. Whether it be in terms of my background, my interests or my dress sense. I mean for crying out loud, I’m one of three siblings, my Mother drives a German hatchback and  I own a Yellow Labrador. Literally as cliché middle-class as it can get. I even live on a red-brick estate full of family’s just like ours that all know everything about everyone. In fact, when people ask me to explain what the town I’m from is like I liken it to the town in Hot Fuzz. Everyone knows everyone and nothing goes untold. I find it hilarious, why has it taken me so long to notice this? I’m so bloody average it’s unreal.  What makes it worse is friends of mine from 7 miles up the road have been pointing this for years and I’ve just shrugged it off but after a visit back home over Christmas and my new-found knowledge of the world since moving to London have made it all a bit clearer. I think to myself, maybe I should go and do something different, something not everyone else does but then my fantastic brain tells me not to bother because unless I can be creative enough to think of something really different I may as well stick with what I’m comfortable with. I also find it hilarious that when I’m meandering around the local pubs there seem to be so many people who are also comfortable with their cliché selves and have absolutely no intention of changing it. You know the type, wear a Ralph Lauren shirt tucked into their jeans and act like their big time because they’ve got a four year old Range Rover. Then again, who am I to complain, I’ve had a very fortunate life thus far and I shouldn’t go round getting wound up with what has been a relatively privileged lifestyle.

Other than that deeply philosophical nonsense I’ve also done some other middle class things recently such as go on a winter sports holiday. This was with the University and entailed a 18 hour bus journey that I was absolutely dreading. The bus journey actually turned out to be OK(on the way) as I drank a fair amount of vodka and passed out so didn’t really have to listen to anyone’s pathetic conversations that do not interest me at all. The bus journey was without a doubt worth it though, the holiday was absolutely insane! I was slightly worried that when I got out there I wouldn’t know anyone and it would be full of the same old reclusive Kingston students I’m used to. Fortunately KUSS (Kingston University Snow Sports) is actually full of level headed, like minded, alcohol loving head cases! Just my type. The aprés ski was absolutely incredible, the snowboarding was great and we got loads done and the fancy dress was absolutely hilarious. It was a fantastic holiday and I got so much more out of it than I expected. Met some absolutely awesome people, improved my technique a bit and most of all had a great time!

Since then I’ve returned to Wales for a week had an amazing Easter Sunday dinner cooked by my mother, slept in a bed that didn’t feel like sleeping on nails, spent countless hours with my dog and spent loads of times with my cliché middle-class mates. It was amazing being home and coming back to Uni seemed like such a drag, looking after myself is one of my least favourite things.

One more thing, if you haven’t heard Avicii’s Levels then your missing out on the only happiness left in the world.

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Super Mario 3D Land Review

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Tim Ford

Mario Games have always been some of my favourites. Forever frustrated with the originals on SNES and NES consoles as well as the more modern yet undoubtedly less challenging iterations of everyone’s favourite plumbing based platform game.

There is a slight problem though, none of them have been as magical as Mario 64 was. Not one. I loved the Galaxy games, wasn’t incredibly fussed with Sunshine but none of them have touched Mario 64. That’s just an opinion, I think the closest to getting there so far was Mario Galaxy. I found that game pretty damn fun, I think I prefer the hub style to accessing the worlds in which the desperate aim is to collect stars and save that princess who refuses to stay un-kidnapped.

So Super Mario 3D land. I completed it Yesterday and it was a pretty good run. It has all the charm that a Mario game needs and definitely  plays really well. The story is run-of-the-mill Mario story. That foolish Princess has run off with Bowser again and the only chance of her being saved is by a fat Italian plumber running through worlds full of small brown creatures without arms but sometimes have wings. Never really did make sense did it? But in this rather strange world we live in it works very well and always has. The format of the game is a sort of cross between New Super Mario Bros. and the 3D games such as 64 and Galaxy. You select levels as you would in New Super Mario Bros. although the worlds are much more akin to those found in the modern console game.

The worlds are as you would expect from Nintendo, graphically beautiful and detailed but with a hint of familiarity. You’ve got your water world with disgustingly infuriating fish, you’ve got your desert worlds with cactus cats everywhere. There are 8 worlds in total and each level takes it’s own theme. Some original ideas in this iteration keep it interesting but I won’t spoil anything for those of you that haven’t played it. Is all you need to know is that it’s everything you’d expect from a Mario game in terms of design.

In terms of how much of a challenge it is,  the first part, not so much. This is something that has come to annoy me about modern Mario games they are becoming too easy. The original games would be offended at the thought of being as easy as New Super Mario Bros. was. This one is a little harder but if you actually die something like 5 times on one level you get the stripy leaf Tanooki suit that makes it virtually impossible to lose. It gives you the power to run into just about everything you want and watch it die instantly and hover around without much chance of falling off anything. I actually did everything I could to avoid using this and didn’t rely on it for one level entirely once. The normal Tanooki suit does come in useful when you are required to get as many stars as possible as some places are impossible to get to without the use of the suit. It is quite fun to play as Tanooki Mario especially seeing as the suit hasn’t been in any of the games for so long.

Then there is, once you’ve completed the game, you unlock the special worlds. Part of the game that offers insane time-trials and a much more challenging game. It’s much more frustrating and everything I look for in a Mario Game (except the hub, I like hubs). It’s fantastic fun, incredibly frustrating and overall a fantastic addition to the game giving it far more play time and great replay value.

The 3D effects on this game are far better than any of the other games I have played on the 3DS thus far. They compliment the gaming experience incredibly and make those really annoying nooks and crannies that used to be so hard to find on 2D screens so much less frustrating and it really adds to the game. There are sections of levels that are specially tailored to the 3D experience and they are great fun.

Overall it’s a great game, it’s a great bit of fun and an essential buy for those of you that want your favourite Plumber on the move with you on your 3D gaming console! This game was made to show off what the 3DS can really do and it really makes a good rob it! You’ve also got that being a 1st party Nintendo game it will hardly loose value over time compared to any other game!

Posted in Games, Life, Tech, Thoughts and Opinions | 1 Comment

Uni Life: The First Semester

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Tim Ford

 

Early in Semester one!

So I’ve been living in Kingston for a fair few months now, I’ve completed my first semester recieving three 1st’s and 2.1 in my first semester modules and am carrying on with my second semester modules in order to complete the year.

The first semester went fast so bloody quickly I can hardly believe It’s already over. I’ve learned a lot about Kingston, the university way of life and academic protocols that go with being in university. I’ve also learned a lot about London as a whole and on average spent about 2 or 3 days a week in various parts of the city other than this incredibly south borough.

Drinking a cocktail from a bowl with a spoon 0_o

 

When moving here I had an idea of what it would be like in terms of meeting people and making friends based on what other people I knew who have been through university have told me. I had only two friends from home that were nearby in London that were at least 30 minutes away on the train, one studying at LSE and the other at UCL.  I met the people I hang round with most at the halls socials at the start of the year and we all still chill together. The halls I’ve moved into are massively reclusive though, absolutely nobody leaves their rooms and the majority are international students who tend to stay in their respective cliques. It’s almost like those of us that hang round together in halls were destined to be friends because otherwise we’d all be sat in our rooms doing nothing. The whole meeting people thing doesn’t just happen at the start of university though. I feel like I meet a new person every week at the moment, when I go to watch the rugby I meet people, when I’m up at my friends universities I meet new people and when I go home I meet my friends new friends and it’s all a bit nuts but it’s great fun. I find myself going out on nights out with people all the time where I only know about 20% of them and by the time I’ve had four or five pints with them we talk like we’ve known each other for ever.

So there’s an incredibly sad paragraph on making friends for you. Might of put that there to slightly spite the majority of my friends who decided I wasn’t going to make any friends because I’m “hard work” (as they like to put it).

As for actual University and doing work is concerned it’s all been good so far. Obviously my first semester went very well in terms of grades and the modules have all been relatively interesting although sometimes I do get annoyed at how my degree seems like a combination of  Business and  ICT with a bit programming on the side. It is a bit more advanced than what I have studied before although the time I spent reading up on technology and computing out of interest is now stressed in modules as something we should learn. I do tend to lose focus in classes that are simply going over thinks that are implicitly stuck in my head. One thing that I wasn’t exactly 100% on when I first came to University is how keen they are on forcing you into group work with people you’ve never met and then reminding you how it’s essential for your future. It all works out in the end but I guess I’ve been lucky, I’ve seen people who’s groups have never turned up and left them confused and lost as to what to do for their work. It happens to everyone though, you all turn up, find it awkward and everyones in the exact same position so the only thing to do is get on with it.

In terms of social life I’ve come to learn that Kingston Oceana is the pits of the world and I have absolutely no intention of spending any time there in the foreseeable future. In fact Kingston as a whole is pretty dire in terms of clubbing and going out. There are a few pubs that are quite cool but they are relatively expensive. That is except for The Mill on a monday which is full of Satan’s worshipers and the bowling alley which is two for tuesdays. But that said, Central London is a trains journey away and clubbing there is absolutely incredible. I’ve been to Pacha, Fabric, Cable, Egg and countless bars and pubs around the city centre and they put previous clubs I’ve been to in Britain to shame. Fabric was once voted as the best club in the world and after some mental Dub and Drum and Bass nights in there I can see why. Pacha is the ultimate Ibiza super club that happens to have a venue in London which is perfectly fitting with my house obsession even if it is extortionate. As for Cable and Egg, they are a little less touristy and I’ve had some of my best nights clubbing ever in them. There are also some fantastic bars around the south that I have visited including round by Waterloo, Chelsea and Wimbledon. I’ve also spent a fair amount of time up in Camden and Islington as that is where my friends from home are residing throughout their first years.

Budget fun

That brings me on to money. Budgeting isn’t easy as a student, especially in London. It’s especially hard for me when I live in between two massive shopping centres and the closest supermarket is a Waitrose. I absolutely adore good food and I love shopping for just about anything so every now and then I’ve just got splash out. In fact I’ve taken a stance that I will spend money on one physical item that will last each month, whether that be an item of clothing, a game or books or whatever. So long as I don’t spend all my money on consumables then I’m happy.

This probably comes a bit late as I finished my first semester a month or so ago after being back to Wales a few times and taking my flat mate the once to show him Wales but I have actually been doing things. I now have quite a big year ahead as I have a holiday or two planned but the biggest surprise for me is that I have been Accepted into California State University for my next semester so shall be moving out to California for my next semester and shall not be spending the first half of next year here in the UK let alone Kingston. So I shall be moving back to Wales at the end of this semester with the intention of leaving a sleeping bag in my room in halls so I can make the most of London in the Summer as I have a 50 week tenancy here.

The year has been an absolute blast so far and there have been ups and downs but the majority of them have been ups and I absolutely love this City. California is the next step in this story but I shall probably post a bit more on Uni Life before I depart.


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The Nintendo 3DS

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Tim Ford

red 3DS console

Nintendo announced the 3DS all the way back in 2010 and it wasn’t until Christmas this year that I actually came to own the device. I was a massive fan on the Nintendo DS and have owned absolutely every iteration of Game Boy Advance released in the United Kingdom and the majority of Nintendo hand-held consoles prior to that.

When it was first released, the Nintendo 3DS was pricey, in fact it was a whole lot pricier than any of the portable gaming systems Nintendo had ever released before hand at a staggering £230. That was more than the Wii was selling for at the time and it didn’t have anywhere near the power.

I remember watching the announcement and was absolutely astounded to see that Nintendo were again implementing a resistive touch-screen rather than the capacitive touch screens that have been adopted for just about every modern touch screen device on the market. The main feature was that it had a 3D screen and it didn’t need glasses but that really wasn’t enough to shift the consoles at a price like that.

By the time I was actually looking at purchasing the 3DS at it’s original price a lot of it’s functions had become clearer, it had Camera’s, 3 in total, they could take 3D photos and be used for augmented reality in games, something that I believed would quickly become gimmicky, even if Nintendo does have a history of making gimmicky things last. (Google: Wii) Another feature that was going to change the gaming experience was a built in gyro, similar to the ones used in iPhones and Smart, thought to be the biggest threat to portable gaming consoles.

When you actually look at what a 3DS is, it’s a heavily upgraded DS. People expected Nintendo to make something revolutionary just like they did when they released the Wii. The company that created the GameCube a console that couldn’t nearly stand up to it’s competitors single handedly changed gaming with the Wii and people wanted more. The problem is that the DS was absolutely incredible. Everyone had one, I even bought my Mum one and she would never use a gaming console but was happily swiping away playing brain training night after night. So there was absolutely nothing wrong with having a heavily upgraded DS right? Completely, the 3DS has been an absolute joy for me. There is still some very annoying bits to it, like how the Applications are just too simple. There is no reason why Nintendo Video should not allow me to search for videos at will rather than have random videos given to me when Nintendo sees fit.The Photo applications are fun for about five minutes as are the Augmented reality cards that come with the device. Although that’s not really the point, the point of a hand-held gaming consoles is gaming and with the addition of the analogue stick and the gyro the gaming experience is heavily improved with the 3DS. The added power of the system also makes the games look better, the larger screen is more vivid than ever and the option to turn 3D on and off is a welcome one.

Nintendo will always have a slight hold over me in the way that no matter what console they push out, it will be the only console that I will be able to play the latest Nintendo games on. Their 1st party developments are absolutely incredible and the same goes for the games on the 3DS. Super Mario 3D Land has been a blast thus far and Mario Kart 7 is absolutely incredible. I can only hope that Luigi’s Mansion 2 will be just as good as the first and all other releases for the platform be brilliant. Nintendo have cleared up their on-line issues with the incredibly annoying friend codes, they have implemented Mii’s on the device and will hopefully allow for great interaction with the upcoming WiiU console.

As for the 3D functionality, I have had an absolute blast with it. Every now and then I get a little pop-up telling me I should take a break but I’ve had absolutely no eye strain what so ever. The only slightly annoying thing about it is you move to much then your eyes need to re-adjust to the screen. It’s kind of good for me though because it’s encouraging me to calm down rather than be the hyperactive nightmare I usually am!

There is bound to be a re-release of an upgraded 3DS in the coming months that will hopefully have a better battery life, maybe be a bit thinner and have the same sort of subtle improvements that each iteration of the original DS had. I’ve spoke to many people about their opinions on the 3DS and some believe it to be a massive flop, some believe it to be the best hand-held they have ever owned and a fair few believe that there is no need for such a device when our Mobile Phones are becoming more and more powerful and better for gaming. It’s a viable argument as carrying an extra device round with you just to play a game on the tube or bus is a bit of a pain but I stand by the fact that Gaming is far better with a dedicated device. If I spend 20 minutes playing Angry Birds on my iPhone it’s even less likely to get through the day on a single charge. Not to mention any long period of gaming on the iPhone sucks.

Overall a fantastic device and I can only hope that the next games I buy are just as good as the Mario games I currently own!

 

 

 

 

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Playing round with Microsoft Photosynth

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Tim Ford

It doesn’t feel like that long ago that Microsoft’s Photosynth app showed up in the AppStore and I remember looking at it wondering how it got so many good reviews, I assumed it had to be something pretty incredible so I hit the download link and had a go at it. The first couple of times I played around with it, I managed to create some “OK” images with a little bit of distortion and overlap here and there. It wasn’t until I watched a video on TED.com about PhotoSynth that I decided to give it another go.

The problem with using the iPhone version is that the iPhone is used in the hand, as in my clumsy, shaky hands. That leaves too much room for movement that stops the software being able to understand perfectly what it’s looking at because the perception has changed. I therefore decided I would actually take my DSLR outside and try and take a panoramic picture of the river and bridge in Kingston. I used my tripod and tightened it all up to make sure there was minimal shake and downloaded the software for my PC in order to stitch the photos together ready to upload to PhotoSynth.net and utilise the silver light based browser. You can also tag the image onto it’s location on Bing maps and the place where you were standing’s view for the first part of the picture. This means that when someone goes onto Bing Maps and looks at the panorama you created they start where you were first stood (camera and tripod were facing).

Below we can see a PhotoSynth I made today of my room in halls and as you can see there are lots of imperfections. Particularly the bit where they sliced up my Welsh flag and the door is a bit mixed. This is obviously from me moving in the wrong way.

However when I used the tripod and the SLR the image is clearly better. I’m not sure whether the software is any better at doing it, in fact I’m pretty sure it works the exact same way but the SLR’s superior image quality and the rigid use of a tripod definitely created a better photo. The finished DSLR panorama was just over 146 megapixels however the quality seems to have been reduced for uploading purposes, on the original photo’s you can zoom in quite far and it still looks pretty good, I had the ISO on 100 to lower distortion and since using a tripod I didn’t have to worry too much about shutter speed as the camera was static.

It’s a fantastic little toy and it can have very powerful applications such as the ones shown in the TED lecture embedded above, if you have an iPhone give it a bash! It’s on the AppStore. I have absolutely no idea why it is yet to be released for Windows Phone 7 but that’s just the confusing side of Microsoft. Feel free to post your PhotoSynth’s in the comments, I’d love to have a look!

Posted in Life, Photography, Tech, Thoughts and Opinions, Web | 2 Comments

Welsh Rugby in London!

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Tim Ford

So the six nations are off to a roaring start, the Welsh are two games in and at the top of the league tables but since moving to London, I’ve missed out on watching the game in various pubs and rugby clubs with a mad atmosphere that makes the games so much more exciting to watch.

When the world cup was on I googled around a bit to find out about the Welsh Community in London and there was two prominent results among my research that suggested the London Welsh centre and the London Welsh Rugby Team’s grounds for watching the game.

I didn’t really get a chance to go to either of them during the World Cup as by the time I had got settled in here in Kingston there was not a lot of games left and they were all on at an unbelievable time, so I ended up just watching them in my room.

There was just one other place that was suggested on a website, I think it was something like TimeOut but it doesn’t really matter where I found it, the fact is I found it. A friend text me to go and watch the Wales vs. Scotland game last Saturday at the Famous Three Kings in West Kensington. This pub has a huge Welsh Community that all visit for the games and the pub was absolutely massive, rammed with Welsh fans and the atmosphere was brilliant.

There are loads of screens, a massive bar, beer is relatively standard in terms of pricing for London pubs(around £3.50) and they serve Brains if you want to drink a Welsh beer. The staff are all relatively friendly and welcome the Welsh Supporters and chant over the P.A system when ever Wales get points and generally keep the atmosphere going. It was such a great match it felt just like being in a pub in Cardiff and when we won everyone went mad. People all sang the national anthem at the start as well. So great to see a Welsh Community in London and knowing that whenever the rugby is on I don’t have to get a train back to Wales in order to get a good crowd to watch it with.

If your a Welsh Rugby fan definitely check out The Famous Three Kings in West Kensington. (nearest tube stop, West Kensington, District Line).

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ACTA, PIPA, SOPA and Internet Censorship

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Tim Ford

Some people I’ve spoke to recently have considered acts such as SOPA, PIPA and ACTA as things that need doing to protect the intellectual property and believe that those of us that oppose the bills are simply “hippies” trying to “stick it to the man”.

These people I’ve spoken to are clearly misinformed about how much these proposed bills will effect the internet. I know that this blog does not drive millions and millions of viewers a month but even with 100 views a day, if I can help change an opinion or gain support for opposing the bill that helps a cause I feel strongly about.

There is no point me explaining what each bill is because other people have done it in a far better way than I ever could and the internet being fantastically open and lovely in it’s current state has allowed me to embed some videos for you to watch to help you understand what will actually happen to the internet.

I will start with ACTA as it is one of the least talked about:

Now after that, you can see how that effects the world  and how pathetically boring the internet would become afterwards. It completely restricts freedom of speech and things such as twitter and wordpresss could not exist in the way they do today.

So now SOPA, similar ideas, also restricting and changing our internet:


The problem with SOPA is that it targets the provider of content rather than the person who has uploaded it. Websites like YouTube and Blogger could be shut down imediately just because one person uploaded copyrighted material, whether they knew they were doing it or not. Obviously Google services would have systems implemented to minimise the chances of this but as it’s processing 60 minutes of video a second now, it’s unlikely they’d be able to track it all. The freedom of information would be so limited that websites that don’t support government acts and papers could be completely unaccessible and that prevents the chance for the end user (internet consumers) to even find out if these things are being done. It would put us completely in the dark.

I’m going to pop one more video in here that explains PIPA and SOPA in one because there aren’t many PIPA dedicated videos around:

Even experts are completely against the ideas proposed by the ignorant politicians that well and truly do not understand what the internet is about. There are ways to prevent this from happening, Wikipedia and Google did massive raise awareness days by limiting their services or showing a black banner. Over the next few months numerous boycotts and protests will be carried out by internet freedom supporters around the globe to protect the internet. People are boycotting companies that support the bill purely to get them out of pocket, counteracting exactly what they thought the bill has done.

I hope, those of you that didn’t understand how much this would change the internet, now do! There is more information around via a quick Google search of SOPA or ACTA and it’s worth keeping an eye in the news searches for them to see what activists are up to in order to try and prevent them from being passed. Many politicians have stopped backing the bills since the internet black outs on the 18th of Jan 2012. The bill has also been shelved temporarily although it is still on the cards and that has to change.

 

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Uni Life: Sainsbury’s Basics and Bad Decisions.

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Tim Ford

I remember telling people that I’m moving into halls of residence up in Kingston and they tended to tell me how nice it would be. They’d say things like “no more steaks” and “beans on toast for every meal” which hasn’t really turned out true until now.

December and January have absolutely rinsed me for money and it’s pretty much all my fault. Turning down nights out didn’t really happen once, weekends in expensive clubs in central London and eating food out nearly every night has taken it’s toll and I’m now well and truly living on the bread line. I’ve got hardly any money for the rest of the month so I went to Sainsbury’s to stock up and ended up coming back with things like basics tomato soup, pasta and rice and a couple sausages. All standard items that students usually live on but because I’ve always been a massive budgeter I’ve never really been in a position where I literally have no choice but to eat the standard “student meals”. Not only that we tend to chip in together and collaborate whatever random foods we have to make some pretty nice meals. I honestly think I’ve made Spaghetti Bolognese once since I’ve been in uni and only really had Spaghetti/Beans on toast a maximum of three times in a week.

I did eat some relatively terrible food at the start of the semester (kebab’s 3/4 times a week) and drank a fair amount but I did try and get in as many healthy meals as possible. This month it’s not been as easy because I find healthy meals cost more and take more effort to make and tend to taste fairly bland. Especially seeing as I’m the fussiest eater going. I hope I’m going to survive on the basics stuff. To be fair it’s relatively nice for what it costs although I’ve not tried some of the stuff I bought this time so I could be in for a shock. The fish fingers are epic and you get like 10 for 50p but I forgot to pick any of them up, they make a nice sandwich and the meal comes to like 30p if that’s all you have.  I’m also a bit annoyed because since coming to university the instant chicken noodles have gone from 9p to 11p and are now coming in at a massive 15p! Just for a small portion of chicken noodles!

Ah well, only got myself to blame, spent a vile amount on clothes in the january sales and beer over Christmas. I keep convincing myself I’ll save money if I go home for a bit but it never happens because I end up spending loads on going out with my friends from home and the trains there and back aren’t cheap. It’s also annoying how I love to ignore that spending money on my oyster card is spending money!

Needless to say when I receive my next instalment of money a better and more efficient budgeting system shall be used and impulse buying will not be taken into account. I shall also do everything in my power to avoid the clothing stores.

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