Games Wednesday: New Games

So as promised here is another Games Wednesday again!!  So I'm starting to get through some of my backlog of games (I've finished Far Cry 3/Diablo 3 and almost finished Dishonored) so I'm looking forward to starting some new games now.

Path of Exile

So I'm a big fan of hack 'n' slash RPGs having played all 3 Diablo games, Torchlight, Titan Quest, Too Human (does this count??) and more.  Path of Exile is a free-to-play game that is in the same vein as Diablo 2 and is regarded by many as what Diablo 3 should have been (personally I don't understand Diablo 3's criticism but then again I've only just finished it on normal difficulty).  I've only played around 30-40 mins of the game so far and it was an interesting experience.  While the combat was largely familiar the game has integrated several features that so far feel very different.  The first thing to mention is the ridiculous passive skill tree which from what I can tell will require several playthroughs of trial and error to get to grips with the enormity of it.

The Passive Skill Tree

The other things that make this feel strange is the lack of gold (you use scrolls and other items to barter/trade), having skills bound to socketable items and sockets buffing different attributes.  With all these new ideas I look forward to delving much deeper into this game.

Further reading:

http://www.pathofexile.com/
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/02/27/path-of-exile-hack-and-slash-for-free
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/10/path-of-exile-finds-new-friends-in-open-beta-beginning-jan-23/

BioShock Infinite

 

So I'm a little giddy about the release of BioShock Infinite.  I'm a huge fan of the series having spent many hours playing the first two games and from what I've seen of the latest iteration then it is going to be even better than those set in the underwater city of Rapture.  This game is set on the floating city of Columbia (the polar opposite of Rapture) and the aim of the game is to rescue a woman called Emily from the two opposing groups (who seem to come from either side of the political spectrum).  If like me you can't wait to play this game then you might like my Let's Play of the very first BioShock on my YouTube channel (Playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNFyoNgGhybYxwT7ddZMcSw5GSIDGliXm)

Further reading:

http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/?RET=&ag=true
http://uk.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/
http://uk.ign.com/games/bioshock-infinite/pc-14258733

Thanks for reading everyone and I will be back for Science Friday this week!!

Geek Monday: I'm Back

So I've not written on my Blog for a couple of weeks now and this is due to me being busy at work and being ill.  But now my workload and health is evening out again I feel that I now have the time to devote to writing to my Blog.

Samsung Galaxy S4

So Samsung have just announced a date for revealing of the S4:  March 14th.  I was hoping that  the S4 wouldn't be announced till later in the year because I'm now into the second year of my contract and I'm starting to think about my upgrade in January 2014.  My hopes were pinned on the S4 being released around September to October this year so that when I upgrade I would be able to pick it up with it still be relatively new but with the prices of contracts significantly reduced.  With this early reveal date I'm now worried that the release will be in April/May which will then mean that the phone will already be getting close to a year old.  Bloody hell Samsung!!

Further reading:

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/02/samsung-confirms-march-14th-event-for-galaxy-s-iv/
http://www.kitguru.net/mobile/carl/samsung-confirm-galaxy-s4-launching-march-14/

Nvidia Geforce Titan

Nvidia have gone and released the most bonkers graphics card currently available.  The Titan GPU is inspired by those used in supercomputers but based on the current 600 series Kepler architecture.  This card offers performance that is significantly more than a GTX 680 but only slightly less than a GTX690.  This is attractive over the dual GPU GTX 690 because some games suffer from multi-GPU incompatibility so having a single GPU that can offer close to this performance is ideal.  The only problem with this card is the monster price tag that goes with it!!  This card is retailing at over £800 which is more than a single GTX 690 or 2 x GTX 670/680s.  Two GTX 670s (the GPU in my own rig) wouldn't cost you any more than £600 (reference style cards anyway) which would give you a superior performance to the titan with £200 to spare.  From what I've seen Nvidia are great for releasing SLI profiles for new games so if you don't play the latest releases at launch then a multi-GPU set-up would be no problem.  Still at least Nvidia can now safely beat AMD again with the fastest single GPU!!

Further reading:

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/51985-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/02/21/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-6gb-review/1
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_Titan/

Thanks for reading everyone and I will be back for Gaming Wednesday and Science Friday this weed!! 

Science Friday: I'm Back!!

So I haven't written on my Blog since last week!  I've been wanting to but just don't seem to have found the motivation to do so.  But back to the topic at hand:  Science.  I've not really had much success so far writing the science part of my blog.  It's frustrating that it's so easy to find information on completely mundane things but for one of my main passions I can't seem to build enthusiasm.  I thought that today I would fail again until I saw a great page posted on Twitter.  

http://www.pbh2.com/science-nature/awesome-chemistry-gifs/

This is a collection of Chemistry GIFs that really demonstrate how cool some chemical reactions can be.  GIFs like these are the reason that I find Chemistry so fascinating (I do have my undergraduate degree in Chemistry after all) and its amazing to see some of the amazing things that can be done.

Now I'll come to my own gripes in science.  So for my PhD I'm expected to perform experiments but the problem with this is that half the time all the equipment in the department is broken!  It's so frustrating when you think that you might finally be getting somewhere and suddenly you are set back a week or more while you are waiting for equipment to be repaired.  Another annoyance I've found is the uncooperative nature of some academic staff.  It would be nice when you ask politely for permission that you could borrow something that they'd at least have the courtesy to at least be receptive and not hostile.


Well that's my little blog post over for this time.  I will hopefully be back for Geek Monday next week.  Thanks for reading everybody! 

Games Wednesday: So Where's the Rest of my Game?

So I've had a good week in gaming!!  I've managed to finish Far Cry 3 (how awesome is this game), start Dishonored (so far I'm loving it), progressed further in Diablo 3 and started my own YouTube channel in which I'm doing Let's Plays!!

Far Cry 3

Definitely one of the games of the year from last year.  I believe I have described it as 'Skyrim with guns' several times and it is certainly as addictive but maybe no where near as long.  The length of Far Cry 3 is my only concern with the game because after spending many hours completing missions, unlocking weapons, killing animals, taking bases, climbing towers and enjoying the story I though that when you got to the south island that it would be the same case.  Sadly it doesn't quite have the same pace because having already unlocked almost the entire tatau and having almost all the signature weapons the south island didn't give the same experience.  At the beginning of the game you feel vulnerable due to being surrounded by pirates who wanted you dead with limited health, weapons and ammo.  As play you feel yourself becoming a bad-ass and by the end of the north island you're near invincible.  When you have finished this the story and the pacing of the game flops because you have killed Vaas, who is the poster character of the game, but this is not the end of the game because you now have to take on his boss, Hoyt, who isn't any where near as interesting a character and the motivation for killing him is a lot more fuzzy than Vaas (because he killed your brother in front of you)!  Also you start the south island as a walking tank, equipped with all the best weapons, and after one of the first missions you can go almost any where (except enemy camps) with impunity as you are disguised as a mercenary.  Due to having the best weapons and being chums with the baddies getting to places and killing the enemies there happens so much quicker which results in completing the second part of the game in a fraction of the time.  Don't get me wrong I was still enjoying myself thoroughly and there were some great characters as well (Sam in particular) but I wish they had done more with it to keep you playing the game.  At some point I will go back and finish off all the side-quests I have not finished but for now I have plenty of other games to be playing.

Further reading/watching:

Official Site:  http://far-cry.ubi.com/fc-portal/en-gb/home/index.aspx
OMFGCata's Play Through:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lufk-R1cuok&list=SPFx-KViPXIkG98ljzGGAjpq_IeFnsy86z&index=1
IGN Review:  http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/11/21/far-cry-3-review

THQ Collapse

So its sad to see gaming companies come and go but tragic when its a big one such as THQ.  THQ have made some great games over the years (such as Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, Saint's Row, Metro 2033, Darksiders etc.) and it was awesome to see so many of their great games up for grabs recently in the Humble THQ Bundle (which was my first of their pay-what-you-want packs I have bought).  I thought with exposure such as this that they might be able to pull through but sadly not but it is awesome to see that so many of their franchises have now been taken up by other studios!!  RIP THQ!!

Further reading:

IGN:  http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/thq-dissolved-saints-row-company-of-heroes-darksiders-devs-acquired
Joystiq:  http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/24/court-approves-thq-asset-sales/

So here's my Games Wednesday update.  Don't forget to comment, subscribe and keep reading if you like what you see.  I'll be back this week for Science Friday!

YouTube Video

Here is my third part of the Lord of the Rings:  The Battle for Middle Earth Playthrough!!

Geek Monday: Variety is the Spice of Life

So for this Geek Monday I will look at a few stories that are floating around.

Abrams to Direct Star Wars

So probably one of the biggest stories floating around at the moment is that J.J. Abrams will be the one helming the new Star Wars film.  With this revelation I'm not sure whether to be excited or nervous about the new film.  Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of Abrams having watched all of Lost and loving the new Star Trek films (plus eagerly anticipating the new one) but can he do the same job with Star Wars.  The question is will he make it all mysterious like lost with a tonne more lore and story or will he make it all in your face action like the new Star Trek films?  Also could he remain faithful to Lucas and make a flop like the prequel trilogy?  Well we shall see when it gets released!!    

More reading:

http://io9.com/5979101/can-jj-abrams-do-for-star-wars-what-he-did-for-star-trek-and-should-he
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/24/jj-abrams-to-direct-star-wars-episode-vii
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/jj-abrams-set-direct-next-star-wars-film-exclusive-74596
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/01/its-official-disney-confirms-that-jj-abrams-will-direct-the-next-star-wars-episode-vii/ 

New File Format

So it seems that a long with the hype of 4K TVs there will be a new file format.  The H.265 format will be the successor to the extremely popular H.264 format This new format, called High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), will allow easier streaming of full 1080p HD footage and possibly the future streaming of UHD.  This is particularly exciting for people like myself who, at home, have very slow internet connections due to the inability to access super-fast fibre optic broadband.

More reading:

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/01/the-new-h-265-video-format-helps-chew-up-video-so-networks-can-swallow-it/
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/25/h265-is-approved/

The Following

So I watched an awesome new show this weekend.  I decided to give the Following a chance and I'm glad I did.  This creepy new show stars Kevin Bacon who is case as a retired FBI agent who is drafted to help capture an escaped serial killer (James Purefoy) who has recruited a loyal army of psychos and delinquents to make Kevin Bacons life hell.  This has the same sort of vibe the Killing had (of which I'm yet to watch the 2nd season) and it looks like it has some potential.

Further reading:

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/12/12/why-the-following-stands-out-on-network-television
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2071645/?ref_=sr_1

Returning Shows

So I'm also looking forward to How I Met Your Mother returning to UK TV this week (having had to wait months after the US to watch it)!!  Unfortunately the show will not be ending this season (which I think would have been appropriate) but I won't complain none the less.  Also Spartacus:  War of the Damned will be starting soon which I am also very excited to see as I am a big fan of the previous seasons!!

Further reading:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442449/?ref_=sr_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460649/?ref_=sr_1
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/25/spartacus-war-of-the-damned-enemies-of-rome-review
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-i-met-your-mother/episode-guide/series-8/episode-1

Thanks for reading everybody and I will be back for Games Wednesday!!

YouTube Video

So having had to take down my YouTube video yesterday due to the need for more editing it is now back up along with part two of my Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth Playthrough!

Science Friday: The Gender Divide

So during a tea break at work the other day we were discussing the gender divide when it came to science and engineering.  One of the main points of interest that came up was about the European Commission's video 'Science: It's a Girl Thing'.  

This farce of a video is barely disguised sexism that implies that all women seem to care about is lipstick and looking pretty.  But sexism is only a small part of the point I want to make in this post. 

When you look at certain subjects you do start to notice a pattern in the gender that seems to populate it.  For example I took my undergraduate degree in Chemistry and from my point of view the gender split was almost 50:50.  From another point of view I had friends who took physics and from what I heard in their entire year they had no more than about 2 or 3 girls total.  Why is it that you move from Chemistry to Physics and suddenly all women seem to lose interest.  Then again does it work both ways.  I'm only going speculate here but if you move to something like Biology does the number of males decrease and is this more of a female subject?  Certainly from my male point of view I see biology as my least favourite science.  So why is there this gender divide when it comes to certain scientific subjects.

So why science is traditionally considered a male orientated subject and you have applaud people for trying to encourage more women to take part in science maybe they just have to realise that they already are but they need to encourage women to take part in the sciences they currently have very little interest in.  

Games Wednesday: Delving into YouTubing

So when I bought my new gaming PC one of the other areas I had it built for was game recording and video editing.  Recently my fiancée has started working which means that she is now working until after I get home from work.  This has given me the opportunity to start recording some game footage/commentary because before I felt both self-concious and embarrassed about doing it in front of her. 

For my first Let's Play I have decided to play through one of my favourite RTS's of all time, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth'.  I've played this game many times when I was younger and I felt that it was the perfect game to get my YouTube channel off the ground as there are so far only a couple of other people that have done so.

So the recording program I am using is Fraps.  So far this has been a good program to use as the set-up and recording is easy to do and there is relatively little system slowdown that I have noticed (especially as I am using an SSD to play the game from and a HDD to record to).  The problem with Fraps is that when it records it does so in an uncompressed manor so 20 mins of game footage equates to about 40 GB of space spread out over 10 different files.  To combine these together, add audio and compress them down you need to use video editing software.

The editing software I chose to use is Sony Vegas 12.  From my relatively limited experience with video editing I can so far say I'm enjoying using Vegas and putting together my video.  I'm still getting the hang of it as the first few times I've rendered it has either had black spots in the video or hasn't compressed and produced a video that was 130 GB in size and I was wondering why YouTube wasn't accepting the file!!

So far I have recorded two episodes of the game and started the editing process with both but I still do not have a fully rendered video....yet.  My current plan is to keep recording footage while my fiancée is out and then spend some time editing the video later on.  The first video should be uploaded in the next few days and I will also post a link to it on my blog.

Thanks for reading everyone and if you like the blog then please subscribe, post comments, share and distribute it please!!

P.S.  I will be doing a Science Friday post this week even if it kills me!!

Geek Monday: New Year's Reading

So I've started to get back into my reading again recently thanks to a few really good books that  I've been reading.  

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (by Stieg Larsson)

I managed to acquire the whole of the Millennium trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest) thanks to my fiancée's Dad wanting to throw them out and giving them to me instead.  I've already finished the first two books which were amazing.  Usually my genre of book is Sci-Fi/Fantasy so I went into reading a thriller with some apprehension.  The first two books in the series had very good pacing with the first half of each book starting off slow with a sudden injection of pace that had the ends of both books finishing with a bang.  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest is different from the other two in which it starts directly after the events of the previous book (which was left on a cliffhanger) which means that it doesn't start slow but jumps straight into the action and in my opinion works fantastically.  I'm about half way through this book so far and I can't wait to finish it and see how this very well written series ends.

A Crown Imperilled (by Raymond E. Feist)

A Crown Imperilled is the penultimate book in REF's Riftwar cycle that start with 'Magician' and will finish with 'Magician's End'.  I've been a big fan of this series since I started reading it many years ago and I've read most of the sub-series that have been published (I need to read the Empire Trilogy and the Krondor series mainly) with my favourites being the Riftwar Trilogy (the original series) and the Serpentwar Saga.  This latest book from REF has me seriously hooked but I can't forgive the mistakes that have been made in terms of editing.  It would be nice for huge books like this to have somebody proof read it before publication because there are several small errors like grammar and spelling but there is one really big error.  Chapter 4 has one major character doing something in one part of the world with several chapters later that character is in a completely different part of the world and then in chapter 15 the character from chapter 4 has become a completely different character altogether.  According to REF this was due to him submitting an older version of one of the chapters (I'm guessing Ch.4 as this would make most sense as it would make sense with the character from Ch.15 replacing him) with the editing team not picking up on this.  I did ask for the paperback version of this book, where the error is supposedly corrected, but my parents accidentally ordered the hardback where it is still present.  Apart from this error the book is very gripping and I look forward to the final book of the cycle.

A Memory of Light (by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson)

So my final new year read is the final book in the Wheel of Time Series.  I came to this series after the previous 13 books has already been published but as soon as I started reading it I was hooked.  It took me almost a year to read all of them with some of the books were very hard going (and it was very difficult not to read too many spoilers on the Wiki as well).  But now the final book is out which means that I can read the conclusion of this epic series (which outlasted the author who sadly died needing Brandon Sanderson to step in to finish it but was actually the breath of fresh air it needed).

Thanks for reading everyone and I will be back for another Games Wednesday this week.

Games Wednesday: Steam Sales and Why they are Evil

I've previously mentioned that I've recently bought myself a new gaming PC.  Before I almost exclusively played games on Xbox and only occasionally played older games that would run on my laptop.  Due to this I never really paid attention to Steam very much (unless I wanted to play some Half Life 2) and just bought my games from Amazon or Game.  Now that PC gaming has become my main platform I've been booting up Steam almost everyday. 

So just after I got my PC the Steam Autumn Sale started.  This was my first taste of how tempting it can be to splurge a tonne of money of their sales.  I ended up spending £30 on this sale but managed to get 8 games (Bioshock 1 &2, Batman Arkham Asylum & City, Crysis 1, Warhead & 2 and Deus Ex: HR).  These were all big games in my opinion and some of them had not been out long (no more than a year in the case of DE:HR and BM:AC as I remember my friend buying them during my final year of Uni).  I couldn't really believe the ridiculous amount of money you could save in these sales.  Most games were between 50-75% off and with sales like this I can now see how high street retailers don't get any business.  Another thing these sales made me realise is that why would anybody want to download any of these games illegally. 

So after the post-Autumn sale high I was hoping that my bank balance would get a break.  Valve burst my bubble by starting the Holiday sale no more than a month later.  Seriously were they trying to bankrupt me?  Just before it started I said that I would not buy too many games this time and limit my spending.  By the end of the sale I spent another £30 on games.  The really evil part of these sales are the deadlines they place on the offers.  I sat debating with myself so many times over whether I should be shelling out more money because a game was 75% and if I didn't buy it now would I regret it and would it be on offer again.  Also they kept cycling round games in either daily deals or flash sales which meant that if I managed to resist it first time around it came back up and tempted me all over again!!  The final kick in the teeth that this sale dealt was the encore sale.  I though that as soon as January 5th rolled around my wallet would be safe!  Oh no, they then made Dishonored 50% off again and for the final time I couldn't resist it.

After these 2 sales, winning a Never Settle code (for Far Cry 3, Hitman and Sleeping Dogs) and getting Diablo 3 for my birthday I have enough games to last me till next year.  Unfortunately I know that there will probably be a Steam Summer sale with more obscene bargains and several games coming out around March which I want (Bioshock Infinite, SimCity, StarCraft: HotS) which will drain my wallet and provide me a never-ending list of games I'll struggle to get around to playing!

Thanks for reading and I will endeavour to release a Science Friday this week but no promises due to attending a funeral but will definitely do one next week along with the usual Geek Monday and Games Wednesday.

Geek Monday: Upcoming TV

So I'm quite an avid watcher of TV.  My fiancée at times has told me I watch too much TV but truth be told I try not to watch TV for the sake of watching it (I'd rather play a game on my PC or Xbox if there is nothing on).  What I do like to watch are good TV series that I can follow week by week and look forward to the continuing story.  I've watched many a good TV series and some came to an end last year (like Merlin and Chuck) and this year looks like it is going to provide some really good TV.  I'll now go through some of the shows I plan on watching this year.

How I Met Your Mother  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460649/)

I'll do this one first as it's fresh in my mind because my fiancée has been watching every episode from the beginning (while applying for jobs)!  I've been really into HIMYM for a long time now and I've been waiting for the new series (season 8) to start in the UK (I'm looking at you E4 for delaying it till the new year).  Although HIMYM is still funny  I feel as though they've dragged out the story too far now.  While I'm glad for more series its kind of frustrating to know that we won't know the culmination of the story for still over another year.  Here's hoping he actually meets the mother this series and they spend season 9 wrapping up all loose ends and possibly show the wedding/aftermath.

Big Bang Theory  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898266/)

I started watching the new series last year and I'm completely looking forward to watching the rest of the season now it has restarted in January.  The only thing that worries me with BBT is that unlike HIMYM there is no clear end goal in sight for the series.  While HIMYM has now set its self an ultimate deadline (it showed Ted's child in 2014 so he must have met the mother by then) BBT doesn't really have anything to aim for in comparison.  This could then run the risk of overstaying its welcome and allowing the comedy of it to run dry as they renew it season after with no reason to end it (as does happen often such as with shows such as Family Guy with even Seth McFarlan saying it should have ended long ago).  But with these concerns long in the future I'm still enjoying this show immensely.

Revenge  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837642/)

Disclaimer:  This is not my typical type of TV program.  With that out of the way I can now discuss how much I'm looking forward to watching season 2.  I missed the pilot of season 1 but my fiancée made me watch episode 2 and since then I've been hooked.  This show is a bit of a guilty pleasure really and it looks like season 2 will continue on providing intrigue and drama.

Person of Interest  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839578/)

This was one of my favourite new series that was on last year and when I saw that channel 5 were doing a mid-season break I was livid.  I wouldn't have minded if it coincided with the typical American mid-season break but season 2 in America had started not long after season 1 in the UK.  So we're expected to wait over a year longer than America to watch some of our favourite shows?  It's a wonder why people go away and pirate TV shows when we're expected to wait this long after its been out across the pond (Suits is another show that has this problem)!  Apart from that this series has massive potential but could run the risk of becoming similar to Lost (unanswered plot points abound).

Once Upon a Time  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843230/) 

Another really good show that is broadcast on Channel 5 but unlike Person of Interest we only have to wait a couple of months after the states to watch the new season.  The first season had some serious Lost vibes about it (with all the flashbacks and I believe that it was written by ex-Lost writers) and the massive cliff-hanger at the end of the season has really set the stage for season 2 which will introduce even more Disney characters (as the studio who makes the show is owned by Disney).

Grimm  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1830617/)

A show in the same vein as Once Upon a Time in which fantasy stories are brought into the modern world but this show does in a much more darker way with lots of gore and more adult themes in general.  Season 1 was really interesting and season 2 looks like it should be building on this so far (its currently in its mid-season break both here and in the states).  When I first started watching I was concerned it would fall flat due to no overall plot but I think one is very gradually starting to form but we shall see.

Arrow  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193021/)

Really exciting start to the show and definitely has a much grittier feeling to it than something like Smallville (which did feature Green Arrow).  Be nice to see where they go with the remainder of the season and I'm looking forward to all the guest star appearances which should be coming up.

Doctor Who  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436992/)

Since Matt Smith took the reins the quality of Doctor Who has fallen.  This is nothing to do with actor its more to do with the arrival of Stephen Moffat at the same time I think.  While the head writers one off episodes during David Tenant's tenure were some of the best I've see I don't think that he can keep up the quality when helming the series and it has shown.  After the 2012 Christmas episode this looks as though it could be changing with a definite increase in quality that was shown (as well as a very attractive new companion).

Warehouse 13  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132290/)

One of my favourite TV shows period.  Currently on its mid-season break (here and in the States) this is definitely one show I'm looking forward to returning.  Initially a spin-off to its sister show Eureka it has definitely surpassed its older sibling with its quality, humour and story telling.

So these are my shows to look forward to this year.  There are other shows I will watch such as Elementary (when it returns from its break), Revolution, Spartacus: War of the Damned and many more but there are too many good shows to list.  My next post will be a Gaming Wednesday and this week I hope to do a Science Friday which I didn't get around to last week. Thanks for reading!

Games Wednesday: Catching up on games

The Diablo 3 Saga

So since getting my gaming PC I've finally been able to catch up on one game that I've been wanting to play for months but haven't had the ability to do so because of the fact that the laptop I had been using for two and a half years was a pile of junk.  The game I'm talking about of course is Diablo 3.

  

I have been a  big fan of the Diablo franchise since I was about 11 having played the original Diablo online with friends and on my own.  We then moved onto Diablo 2 which over the years I have completed many times on my own and with friends due to its highly addictive nature of killing everything in an area, collecting the loot monsters drop and then returning to town to equip new items, sell old/useless ones and then venture forth again to collect even more loot.  Every time I've played Diablo 2 over the years I've been looking forward to a potential sequel that didn't come.  But when the sequel was finally announced I was extremely excited but also apprehensive because I realised that I would possibly not be able to play it because of my outdated laptop that could barely run one of Blizzard's older games (Starcraft 2).  My fears were confirmed when I was able to try Diablo 3 when Blizzard ran an open Beta for the game for one day only.  With the limited graphics options set to as low as possible it was an extremely laggy experience and I don't even think I finished the length of the Beta (it ends after the defeat of the skeleton king).  So having realised that I'd have to wait to play this I put it to the back of my mind.

In November I finally managed to purchase my first gaming PC (see introduction post for specs) and the possibility to play Diablo 3 was now a reality (as my PC could play Crysis on full settings smoothly so therefore should easily run Diablo 3) unfortunately due to limited funds (starting my PhD, paying rent/bills and fiancée not finding work) I still couldn't play Diablo 3.  Finally my opportunity to play the game came around.  It was my birthday last week and thankfully my parents were willing to buy it for me..... SUCCESS!!

So how does the game hold up?  So far it has been amazing.  When I heard about the new mechanics they were introducing (such as not being able to assign skill points or spam potions) I was hesitant it was going to be fun but having spent a few hours playing it, plus activating elective mode and tool tips, I am now convinced many of the changes they have made work extremely well.  Elective mode in particular needs to be turned on as without it I can see the system they use working far better on consoles than on PC due to limited flexibility in skill mappings.  Tool tips are also necessary for advanced players or Diablo 2 veterans as with out them it is difficult to understand why you would want to use certain skills or why constantly upgrading your weapon is also important (as weapon damage is now related to skill damage).  After realising all this the game is far deeper than it appears on the surface and I look forward to constantly finding more loot, levelling up to unlock more skills/runes and experiencing the story.

Other Games

So I'm also currently also playing Far Cry 3.  I was initially not going to bother with this game but having won it in a competition (along with Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs) I thought that I would give it a go.  So far this game is highly addictive (on par with Skyrim in which I compared Far Cry to it saying its the same but with guns and pirates instead of swords and dragons) and I look forward to exploring more of the island and playing out the rest of the so far compelling story.

Thanks for reading my first games Wednesday post and I look forward to providing more insights and anecdotes into my gaming lifestyle.  Also read my older posts and my future posts including Science Fridays. 

Geek Monday: The Tablet Dilema

So my friend comes to me recently and ask which 7" tablet should he buy?  Well for me the simple answer would be anything but an iPad.  The reason being is that as a serious techie (as my fiancée constantly reminds me), I hate Apple products.  I've only ever bought one piece of their merchandise before which was a 120 GB iPod touch and the reason for this was because no other company offers a hard drive based music player which can store more than about 32 GB usually (so no good if you want to watch films on the go as well having a large music library) but I quickly realised how awful it is to use iTunes on a windows based computer as it a bloated, slow program that could be done so much better.

So from an unbiased point of view which tablet is the best.  The main contenders in the 7" tablet market currently are the iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 (7.0), Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7.  Each of these tablets has their pros and cons and I shall attempt to detail these for each tablets.

Kindle Fire HD (from £159)

The Kindle Fire HD is the logical extension of the Kindle Ebook readers (one of which I own) in which Amazon have created their own tablet with a customised Android operating system with a full colour HD screen.  The people I can see buying a Kindle Fire are those with little experience with technology.  The reason for this is the heavily streamlined version of Android compared to other devices running this operating system.  While this makes it easy for people to use it also limits the usability of this device for people such as myself who like to download tonnes of apps (as you can't use the traditional Google Play store) or play around constantly with home screens and widgets.  Another good point to this tablet is the price in which you can pick up the 16 GB version for £159 or the 32 GB version for only £40 more.  Like most tablets there are always areas where costs are cut and for the Kindle these include a limited version of android and the lack of expandable storage.  

iPad Mini (from £269)

So we come to the iPad mini next.  I have to admit that Apple can make nice products.  The main problem with all their products is the bloody mark up price.  Why does it cost over £100 more for a similar product that is arguably worse in terms of technology.  Apple would have you believe that iPads are the height of technology but the iPad mini features a dual core processor, a 1366 x 768 display and non-expandable storage all of which are improved upon by its competitors for fractions of the iPad's price.  If you want any of the added extras such as additional storage then the price increases exponentially with a 32 GB version with 3G costing £449 (over £200 more than the Nexus 7).  While I moan, the iPad does do things well such as ease of use (simple operating system) and does provide an option for 64 GB of storage.  But due to the ridiculous pricing of it I could not recommend this product.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 (7.0) (from £174.99)

While I am a big fan of Samsung products (I own a Samsung Galaxy S 2) I can't help but feel that they could have done better with their 7" tablet.  While I believe that Samsung are the leaders in terms of smart phones where they have managed to put a quad core processor and HD screen into the Galaxy S 3 why couldn't they do the same with their tablets.  The Galaxy Tab is only sporting a dual core processor and a 1024 x 600 display with is lower than HD and the processor is lacking compared to some competitors.  Also the Tab is only supporting ICS not Jelly Bean which would have been a nicer touch.  One area where the Tab does benefit is that it does have expandable memory which would make it attractive to people who want to carry around a lot of music and films.  The price of the Tab is also a problem in which to get the basic 8 GB model will cost you more than some 16 GB models from its competitors.

Google Nexus 7 (from £159)  

Finally we come to the tablet I would get myself if I had the money.  The Nexus has almost everything you could want in a tablet.  It has the most powerful processor of all the 7" tablets (a quad core NVIDIA Tegra 3), a HD screen resolution, up to 32 GB of storage, vanilla Jelly Bean Android operating system and an excellent price to boot.  You can the Nexus with 32 GB of storage with 3G access for £239 which is over £200 less than the equivalent iPad mini.  The only thing that could improve the Nexus would be to have expandable storage as an option but if you get the 32 GB version that should be ample storage for almost anybody (but then there are things like cloud storage that could be used to improve this as well) unless you want to carry around a huge music or film library on it.

Conclusions

So there you have it......the Google Nexus 7 is the tablet I would recommend.  Thanks for reading my first Geek Monday and in future I will be addressing more tech and other general geek stuff.  Look out for Games Wednesday!!
  

Introduction to me

Hi Everyone my name is Olli and this is my new blog.  Currently I'm 23 years of age, studying for my PhD, engaged and enjoying life.  Also in my free time I like to run, cycle, read watch TV and play video games.

What currently takes up most of my time is studying for my PhD.  I was lucky enough to get into the Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) for Hydrogen, Fuel cells and their Technologies which is a joint effort between three top universities (Birmingham, Loughborough and Nottingham).  The aim of the DTC is to train a new generation of scientists in all aspects of hydrogen based power generation due to its potential importance in the future of a low carbon economy. 

I am personally studying at the University of Nottingham and my project involves the investigation into new hydrogen storage materials as this is potentially the most critical area that is holding back the widespread implementation of a hydrogen economy.  Currently hydrogen must be stored in large containers at extremely high pressures to make it usable in applications such as cars but to make a storage container that could be used for automotive applications that has the same capacity and size of a petrol tank, solid state storage must be used.  Currently metal hydrides are the main contender for this use as many of them meet the American Department of Energies storage targets but they also suffer from the problem that it takes a great deal of heat to cause them to release the hydrogen they store.  There are methods for lowering this decomposition temperature and my research will be looking into these different methods.

One of my main interests is gaming.  I've been a keen gamer since I was young but recently I have gotten back into PC gaming.  The reason for this is the purchase of my new gaming rig from PC Specialist.  I've been wanting a decent rig for many years now but lack of funds and moving around year by year while at University has meant that it has not been possible to own one.  Now that I know I will be living in the same place for the next 4 years I finally bit the bullet and splashed a lot of dosh.  My spec is an i7 3770 CPU, Asus P8Z77-V motherboard, 16 GB of Kingston Hyper-X RAM, Palit 2 GB GTX 670, Kingston Hyper-X 120 GB SSD, Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD, Spire Gemini CPU cooler, Corsair 850W PSU and an InWin GR-One case.  This rig is capable of playing almost every game at maximum settings at smooth frame rates (perhaps with the exception of Metro 2033 due to poor coding) and has so far been a dream.     

So that's my introduction and I look forward to writing future posts for you to read.