Archive for July, 2007

New Site, Same Old Webmaster

Published at July 31, 2007 in General and Uni. 0 Comments

So again I have failed to blog consistently. There is a surprise! But we all knew that I would be the kind of guy who started up a blog, got it working well, and just left it. So here I am, trying to make amends.

I do have a reason though, and that reason would be my other website which I have started: IT04.ORG. This site is for everyone enrolled in the course I am studying, and I will be using it to (hopefully) get everyone sharing ideas, notes, hints, information and just talking about what they love, Games.

At the moment it is still under construction, but I have a prototype RSS feeds page which will have all the latest and greatest gaming news, and also technology news and all kinds of stuff on it. I thought this would be a good idea if people are always going to the site, and want to keep up to date with the news and stuff which is happening around the world, or even if they don’t want to, they have to. Because information slew the techno-beast. Or something.

Semester two has started and it is looking good. The subjects will be up in my uni page soon, with some run-downs on what they are. I might do that tomorrow, I will have some spare time.

Andrew

Case Modification 1: Switches

Published at July 20, 2007 in Technology. 1 Comment

After my recent purchase of a Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum the door on my case which has the power lights and covers my drives is unable to shut. The volume knobs on the I/O panel stick out to far. This has made me consider some things which I have not considered before. My case has a window, with a fan (80mm, red LED’s), a coloured rear exhaust fan (120mm, Orange and Green LED’s) which is not too bright, but doesn’t suit, a foot-long red Cold Cathode tube which I procured the other day, and a few other little lights. These can be quite annoying when you are trying to sleep.

This is why I have decided I am going to create a switch panel for my peripherals using a blank 5.25″ drive bay cover. I have purchased 6 on – on switches from Jaycar, a female Molex connector, and 6 male Molex connectors. Tomorrow I am going over to my father’s house to borrow his soldering iron, and I will whip it up after work.

I also have some plans for changing the door of my case so that I can shut it. That will be another time though.

Monday will be my first day back at uni, so we will see how that goes.

Blog at you later,
Andrew

Semester Two, Two Thousand and Seven

Published at July 16, 2007 in General, Technology and Uni. 0 Comments

This previous week has been incredibly busy for me. I apologize for my lack of blogs, but I have been non-stop from the late AM’s when I usually drag myself out of bed into the early AM’s when I find myself falling asleep. A lot has happened since my last post.

First of all, I have been trying to work out my uni timetable for this semester. It isn’t looking good. So far I have a single class on Monday, a single class on Tuesday, Wednesday 9 till 12, Thursday 8 – 4, with an hours break and possibly a class I will have to move to Friday, making that a single class. Although the timetable sucks, the subjects are looking quite interesting.

DEB201 – Digital Communication
ITB751 – Games Production
KIB202 – Enabling Immersion
KMB105 – Music And Sound Technology

These will all have their own respective pages, which will most likely be upkept while I am in those classes. (I will add links as they go up) The worst part about this selection is that KIB202 and KMB105 are on the Kelvin Grove campus, and DEB201 and ITB751 are at Gardens Point campus. This means that there will be even more traveling for me to get from one place to another.

I am not sure if this has any way around it, but I am sure that this course should have been planned a little better, so students didn’t have to go from one campus to another. Because I have chosen the Game Design major, I will be spending quite a bit of time at Kelvin Grove.

But anyway, Something else I have been doing is playing Paintball! (Or skirmish, whatever you wish to call it) I was invited to a mate’s 18th which was there a few months ago, and loved it, so I organized for me and 9 mates to go again last Sunday. Good times. Not as many bruises as last time, and my legs are not as sore, but definitely still very enjoyable.

On the technology side of my life, I purchased a Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum which has very quickly become my new best friend. I was considering only getting the Xtreme-music edition, but for an extra $80 or so, the Platinum came with the X-Fi I/O panel with a 6mm headphone jack (perfect for my new headphones!) and a remote control which works with Windows Media Player which is something I have wanted for ages.

The sound quality is amazing. Not a great lot of difference to the ear from my Audigy 2 ZS but the features… Oh the features! The 24-bit Crystallizer is my favorite, because you CAN hear the difference from having it on or off.

I am also considering creating a Peripheral Switching Panel using one of my spare 5.25″ bays on the front of my case and some switches purchased from one Jaycar which has moved to Ipswich. I’ll let you know how that progresses.

Andrew

Children Targeted by Mature Rated Movies

Published at July 12, 2007 in General and Society. 0 Comments

What do Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix all have in common? They are all rated M or higher, and they all have toys in shops aimed at children no older than 7 or 8. Children who want the toys will definitely want to see the movie, but if they are too young, then why are the toys on the shelves? An M rated movie is designed for people who are 15 years or older, or accompanied by an adult. Most parents would not let their 7 year old son see a movie if it was M rated for sexual references or violence, but they would definitely buy them spider man toys.

The movies themselves are not aimed at children, but just the content and context in which they are based makes them perfect for kids. A fantasy world where there are good guys and bad guys and in the end the good guys always win, but the adult version of events seems to make the movies have more violence, more sex, more everything that could make it rate higher.

Movies based off cartoon shows aimed at children that age for adults would definitely be appealing to children, as children love anything that adults like. Some people would argue that toys based on these adult adaptations of children’s shows can just be for the children’s show itself, but it is ridiculous to believe that because the children have a TV show, they will not want to go to the movies to see what is most likely a better storyline, in a more interesting atmosphere.

I’m not suggesting that we stop making these movies, because for people who are old enough to see them, they are excellent, I just suggest that toys are not made for the movies, or they are not aimed at children so obviously. Parents have a hard enough time saying no to their children as it is, but after they buy them the toys, it gets that much harder again.

Anyway, stay happy, and listening to the wind
Andrew

New Headphones and Great Results

Published at July 10, 2007 in General, Technology and Uni. 0 Comments

So today has been a fairly good day. I found out yesterday that I have passed all my subjects at uni (with a credit in Problem Solving and Programming), this has made my next few days, and I have splurged and bought myself a set of Senheiser HD555 headphones. These beauties are amazing. Everything about them screams style, and they sound pretty damn nice.

I would like to take the time to remind everyone who comes here to have a look around, I know that it isn’t all finished, but i will be working on it tomorrow, and if you could please just click my google ads on the sidebar… I get paid for it! All money I earn will go straight back into the site. Or something for me to blog about.

Andrew