No more weekly reviews on hashedge... (k3nshi)

I have decided to split out my weekly reviews onto a new blog.

A couple of reasons for this:

1. I didn't want my weekly tracking posts to take over the blog



2. The client I use to post to the blog kind of screws up formatting for lists UNLESS I change a blog setting. Which would then screw up the formatting on some older blog entries.

So easiest thing is to create a new blog and move the weekly update posts there. And so starts the 2008K blog.

Son of a BITCH... (k3nshi)

...missed my goddamned end of week death by spinning class because of some monumental tube fuck up.

And now I have lingering FURY over this. And I am bored. And it's a Friday evening.

Market says No. (k3nshi)

Well there goes the economy. When George Soros is talking to the press, talking up a recession and the worst economic conditions since WW2, you know 2 things:

1. He is probably right



2. The Quantum Fund will have shorted soooooo much stock and he's ready to reap the whirlwind! (Yes he is a Top Gun Regulator).

If you want to read about this kind of stuff, the best place to look is Robert Peston's blog for the BBC.

Smurfs, a hot AZN and a Leopard (k3nshi)

Spotted on Great Portland Street: a group of lads dressed up as smurfs, bringing much amusement to everyone who spotted them.

@Starbucks: hot, Hot, HOT AZN chick at Starbucks. She was interviewing some other AZN kid about uni entrance I think. It was a depressing conversation filled with things like:

Hot AZN chick: "Yes, I studied Maths and Physics at A-Level,"

Hot AZN chick: "...well I studied at a dance school in LONDON..."

Hot AZN chick: "..so what extra-ciricular activites do you do?.... Oh right, so that's just a hobby..."

Needless to say she was possessed with that kind of smug self-confidence only someone who finds things (everything) ridiculously easy. I felt a bit sorry for the nerd she was interviewing, but not THAT sorry. He'll be going home to tell his mates of the HOT AZN super-smart mega bitch. Just like I am.

Leopard: I had a play with this at Apple Store on one of bigger shinier iMacs. Some pretty slick features in there. Almost bought a Leopard family pack, but fuck it - I'll wait till Apple bothers to release another couple of megapatches to fix up any flaws. What's the secret to great software? Time. And patches.

Yes, I know you were expecting me to post a picture of someone like GRACE PARK here. Tough luck!

Corporate Wanker Wednesday (k3nshi)

For some reason I was feeling the DOOM of corporate existence today. Sitting in Starbucks at lunch time, drinking my green tea and failing to reach a Zen frame of mind, as I seethed at the CORPORATE ZOMBIES surrounding me.

So a day of mostly general irritation, I guess the total fatigue didn't help. No gym either.

Ok so my day wasn't as bad as the above, but hey! Matt Wagner is writing and drawing a new Grendel series called, Behold the Devil. So far, so amazing.

HD-DVD (k3nshi)

"It's dead Jim,"

Mundane Monday (k3nshi)

Check this:

Well it made me laugh. (Scan from WIldstorm: Revelations, issue #1).

Terminators are modest... (k3nshi)

Cake (k3nshi)

Click for the full size version and all will be revealed...

Amazing Flash Game: Cursor * 10 (k3nshi)

No idea if this is old or not, but its AMAZING.

Cursor * 10

MEGATON (k3nshi)

GODDAMNED

I used to be really scared of sharks... (k3nshi)

...as a child. Well, JAWS the film mostly, but I was ridiculously scared of that film and the blood and everything. But now I appreciate the sheer amazingness of SHARKS, which is why I was pleased to come across some amazing shark pictures today by Thomas P. Peschak.

I was going to stick an image here, but it seems that site has some cunning magicks to stop hotlinking of images. So I will respect the man's bandwidth and just urge you to click the link above.

Why so serious? (k3nshi)

Yeah I am looking forward to the new Batman flick (The Dark Knight).

Remember kids, Batman > *

Even Space Marines.

Mo'blogging (k3nshi)

So I have enjoyed doing the traditional hashedge end of year blog posts, so much so that I figure I should do some more blogging. Hell I'm even going to check out the rich client blogging app: Ecto 3. Anything beats using lame web apps and I can't be bothered to roll out my own custom, ninjafied blogging solution.

I'll try and keep it all BLOG 2.0 with lots of gratuitous pictures and stuff.

Hmmmm.

It doesn't get more gratuitous than that now does it?

2007: Challenging conditions, failure, some professional success. (k3nshi)

I ended the 2006 review with a hope:

'I still feel tired and apathetic as 2006 trickles away. Here's hoping 2007 brings a lot of energy, focus and success.'

That hope spectacularly failed to materialise into any tangible gains. The first half of 2007 saw me caught in the grip of the same crushing apathy that held me in 2006. The health problems of members of my immediate family deteriorated to an all time low during the year, massively amplifying stress levels. Family life was extremely difficult right throughout most of 2007, and this would prove to be the anthem for the year.

I didn't get as much work done that I had wanted to in the first half of the year. Projects and ideas languished or failed to get to even an early alpha status. Books remained unread, desired new knowledge proved elusive. In this gloom, one project did make it to launch: Eye It Up!. Needless to say the expected, rabid audience failed to turn up unless constantly cajoled and coerced into a minimal level of participation. Despite this I think Eye It Up! is my best failure to date. I got some very positive feedback from complete strangers which is always nice. I also learnt a lot of interesting lessons, developed a fun project and beat Digg's implementation by god knows how many months.

A somewhat more successful project in some respects was alive. Always intended to be some throwaway tool which I expected almost no user interest from, I found people pestering me for new features and finding the tool useful. Ironically, I got to witness my friends use this tool to record massive, impressive and sustained improvements in their fitness whilst my own fitness went spectacularly the other way.

In times of stress I find solace in a cake, pizza and other great (bad) food. I didn't meditate all year. I barely went to the gym save a few sporadic visits. I end 2007 in the worst physical shape of my life.

2007 has not been a total write off however. In a professional capacity 2007 has been very good to me. Lucrative contract work in a specialist field, minimal interference in my work by managers, a phenomenally good client. I also made time to go to various events and conferences which were all interesting in one way or the other.

Around November, almost out of the blue the situation at home massively improved. This is a huge relief and quite literally takes a tonne of pressure off me. Yet, I am left facing 2008 feeing older, wearier and with a distinct lack of the old energy and motivation.

I recognise that I am at a critical juncture in my life with a choice of accepting an 'easier' life of compromise and wasted ambition, or facing the harder (futile?) task of reinvigorating and reinventing myself.

So 2008 approaches rapidly and presents me with an uncompromising challenge: Can I get my edge back after over a year of decline and stagnation? And beyond that: can I succeed where previously I have consistently failed?

Year End Awards 2007 (k3nshi)

The Kenshi Institute's Year End Awards 2007

• Man of the Year: Steve Jobs


• Woman of the Year: Megan Fox


• Film of the Year: The Bourne Ultimatum


• Game of the Year: Halo 3 (Xbox 360)


• Book of the Year: Batman & Son by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert


• Food of the Year: Cake


• Feeling of the Year: Apathy


• Website of the Year: facebook.com


• Technology of the Year: iPhone


• Move of the Year: DOWN + PUNCH


• Imbecile of the Year: Schnibble


• Anti-Technology of the Year: CSS


• Blog of the Year: Scans Daily


• TV Show of the Year: 30 Rock


• Application of the Year: Quicksilver


• Shape of the Year: Villarceau circles


• Place of the Year: Checkpoint Charlie


• Colour of the Year: Rust


• Year of the Year: 2005

Games of the Year 2007 (k3nshi)

An amazing year for games, but you can only pick one:

Gamer	Game of the Year	Platform
Blueflame	Portal	Xbox 360
corps	Portal	PC - Quad Core!!!!
Franki	Space Giraffe	Xbox 360
Gwyn	TF2	PC
Kenshi	Halo 3	Xbox 360
M-P	Call of Duty 4 - on LIVE	Xbox 360
Meh	Vampire Rain	Xbox 360
Pow	Super Mario Galaxy	Nintendo Wii
qazimod	Crackdown	Xbox 360
Rayn	Super Mario Galaxy	Nintendo Wii
Schnibble	Halo 3	Xbox 360
Shimmy	Super Mario Galaxy	Nintendo Wii
Spanx	Super Mario Galaxy	Nintendo Wii
The G	Super Mario Galaxy	Nintendo Wii
Unspec	Mass Effect	Xbox 360
Vame	Halo 3	Xbox 360
Van	Call of Duty 4	Xbox 360
Wickedkit	Mass Effect	Xbox 360

Platform	Number of GOTY votes
Xbox 360	11
Nintendo Wii	5
PC	1
PC - Quad Core!!!!	1

Any more? Let me know...

VF5 ATE MY WEEKEND! (k3nshi)

Well a sizeable chunk of it anyway.

And I still havent completed Halo 3.

Halo 3 Experience (k3nshi)

Wait for ages. Hear about scratched discs and worry. Get game (with scratches on disc). Try it anyway. It works. Play on Heroic. Game proceeds to kick my ass almost immediately (ok, ok - no almost about it). Struggle in the first couple of levels - kind of underwhelming. Play in co-op and get past those levels...

Halo moments arrive.

OMG WTF HALO3 IS THE BOMB.

Micro-Gaming (k3nshi)

Haven't been playing any games for a loooong time really. Until the other weekend. When I switched on the 360 and downloaded a few games and demos from LIVE. The Darkness demo was ok, but not enough to make me want to buy the game. Instead I ended up playing Pacman CE for ages, and this is the game that is consuming 100% of the limited time I make for gaming.

It feels kind of silly having a £300+ games console that is primarily used to play little LIVE Arcade games like Pacman CE.

Micro-Gaming FTW. Now can someone do an amazing Pacman CE port to: Google IG, PSP, Mac, Windows, Linux, mobile phone and *?

THANKS.