Got people coming round tomorrow so we have been doing some tidying up. Nothing major, just so that you can actually see the floor on the landing. Got a shredder for my birthday so I have been shredding things prior to throwing them away. Just things like bank and credit card statements - nothing too secret. For some reason I'm scared of someone stealing my identity; which is an interesting prospect.

 

Sorry folks. Can you believe I was to busy playing WarioWare Inc. to fill in my blog? Yep, it is true. Nearly finished the game (at least for the first time) and it is still super. Best game of the year so far (although I quite liked Microsoft Midtown Madness for the XBOX).

The product which cannot be named has won another award. Maybe I will cast off all secrecy and reveal to a hushed audience the nature of this mystical beast.

 

Question: Do you have a Gameboy Advance?

If the answer is yes, buy a copy of "WarioWare Inc."

If the answer is no, buy a Gameboy Advance and then buy a copy of "WarioWare Inc.". Yes, it really is that good. It is one of the most original and enjoyable games that I have found for ages. The big surprise with it is that it is also sociable. I've never seen two player games for a single Gameboy before, and they are great fun to play. Explaining what the game is all about is rather tricky, it is a collection of little games which are played in succession. They get progressively more frantic and dafter as you get deeper into the game. I'm not sure of the long term appeal, but at the moment I'm having a ball!

 

Not been to work today. Feel that I am allowed to slack if it is my birthday. Got a whole bunch of DVDs as pressies including Family Guy season 3. If you have not seen Family Guy you have a treat in store. It is like the Simpsons without the cheese. Some people say it is loud, crude and obnoxious. This is kind of surprising - since I like it and.... oh...

Also got the James Bond of BBQ toolkits in an ultra posh case. Then had a BBQ and it rained a bit....

I have this strange power (no - not that one). When I have a BBQ it rains, unless I have one by mistake. Today I bought a new pair of sunglasses (bad move) and planned a BBQ (very bad move). And it rained. Now that I have the full kit as it were we can probably look forward to a serious lull in the good weather we have been enjoying. And it will be my fault. Sorry folks. Tomorrow I'm going to buy 20 umbrellas and a Sou Wester (if that is how you spell it). Hopefully this will fix the problem.

 

Hmmm. Sega GT 2002 for XBOX. Good game. Got started, spent nearly all my money on a lowly Fiat Punto. Won the first few races and then earned some more cash which I ploughed back into the car. I really like the way that the car handles. The graphics aren't the best around, but they are adequate and the draw distance is good enough to let you plan for the corners rather than react to them.

It is so like Grand Turismo for the PS 2 that a "look and feel" lawsuit would be a walkover for Sony. It even has the cheesy music and prize displays. However, it also has some other really nice touches. It is the first XBOX driving game to take the replay side properly seriously. There is something really nice about watching your wonderful driving all over again. Particularly if you can take snap shots, save the best videos and so on.

Only problem with my copy, after half an hour of hard racing I had a nicely tuned machine with upgraded engine, brakes, tyres and suspension (I always go in that order) and then the game reported a disk problem and I lost the lot. Ho hum, never had this problem before. Unfortunately, rather than saving as you go along (like a game on a hard disk machine should do) GT 2002 saves when you tell it to. Result, all that hard work and planning gone to waste. Never mind, there is always tomorrow...

 

Been exam boarding at Doncaster. A bit like snow boarding, but without the mountains, snow, snowboard, ski-lift and good times. Good fun reading the project reports though. The students have done some amazing work - but one thing stands out a mile when I read these, and that is everyone (including me) is improved by good proof reader. Just because Word has not put red wavy lines underneath your deathless prose does not mean that it is perfect. Even the grammar checker (green wavy lines) is sometimes useful - although I've yet to find anyone who knows what "verb may be used in a passive sense" actually means. If it is important, i.e. worth marks, money, a better job, a place on a course etc, then get someone else to read it. Don't worry that it is technical and they won't understand it (if they don't understand it at all you are a pretty poor writer) most of the big mistakes are in the simple stuff.

My favourite on the day: "The first stage of a project is the Design Panning Meeting". I've been to a few of those in my time....

 

No time to play games. Too busy running about having a good time. Hull students, if you want to show your parents a good time (and probably get them to pay for you) get them to take you to the Wolds Village Restaurant. Good food which is not exorbitantly priced in very pleasant environment, with a nice little gift shop attached. And they have their own web site.