Knowledge Unleashed

Star Trek Online Review

2010-02-18T14:57:00.004Z

I posted a review for Star Trek Online over at gamespot.

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/startrekonline/player_review.html?id=708023

Zero Punctuation: Darksiders

2010-01-20T17:42:00.001Z

This week, Yahtzee reviews Darksiders. Usual warning for language. Enjoy.

Star Trek Online: Open Beta Impressions Addendum

2010-01-19T10:04:00.003Z

News from the beta testing bunker is that STO will only be allowing two character slots with a third unlocked at level 6 (when you unlock Klingons). More can be gained if you're willing to shell out for a year subscription before 1st February. Although not confirmed, it is probable that slots can be brought through the Cryptic store. When micro-transactions were announced a while back for "cosmetic items", I was worried about the precedent in a game that already requires a monthly fee. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as long as it was just special uniforms and the like. This, however, reeks of trying to wring every penny out of their customers and is detrimental to the game.

The ability to create new characters and approach the game in a new way is what adds to the replayability that is vital to an MMO's long term life. As I mentioned in my earlier review, Cryptic are masters of the character creator, it's one of their hallmarks. This prevents people using one of their best features. It is also going to make some people who thinking of playing a Klingon less likely to do so, so that they can save their slots for Federation characters. This is going to unbalance the Klingons yet further in population size.

More worrying to me is the question it raises. How many more things we expect as standard, like a decent number of character slots, are Cryptic going to charge as for?

Star Trek Online: Open Beta Impressions

2010-01-15T08:49:00.003Z

For the last couple of days, I have been playing Star Trek Online in it's Open Beta. I figure it's time to gather my thoughts and mention that I'm still pissed at Cryptic for not letting me in Closed Beta, especially after seeing some of the dribbling cretins that did get in only to start crying when they can't kill Klingons with screen licking. Anyway, this isn't about them so I'll move on.

I think it's important to preface this with the fact that I do like this game (translation: I'm going to say some negative things about it). The game launches in the US on 2nd February (EU 5th) although there is an early start a few days before that. Honestly, the game feels hurried. Not in terms of quality or quantity of content, but it does need more balancing and bug testing. Some of the bugs that have come up, such as appearing as a starship on a planet surface, should have been dealt with in Closed Beta.

There are a couple of episode missions that stand out already as having parts you just can't solo because a ship hasn't been scaled properly to your level, meaning that you cruise through most of it okay then get slapped like a bitch. This leads to lots of people hovering outside the star system looking for people to help them with that final bit.

Bridge Officers are mostly fine, but aren't quite as customizable as we'd been led to believe. While a certain amount of that can be dealt with at the tailor, there is no option to choose either their species or gender. You can change their nickname, but not their actual name. For those of us who had planned the officers we want before we played, this is basically a fist up the rectum after being shown the strength of the character creator when building your captain.

On to more positive thoughts. The character creator is, unsurprisingly, great. There are an astonishing number of options, although it is a little bit more limited than Cryptic's earlier efforts to fit the licence. Starship combat is great and the degree of customization you have with your ship and it's equipment adds to that. The ground game gets some criticism from others, but honestly that's a little unfair. It's not going to redefine the genre, but it's no worse than other MMOs. The environments, both in space and on the ground look fantastic and really add to the feel of the game.

For those looking for Star Trek the Sim you will be disappointed, but it's not like Cryptic have ever advertised it as such. This is a fun game in the Star Trek universe. It is a flawed gem, but the good thing about MMOs is that they will be improved and expanded after release. If you're wondering why I haven't talked about Klingons, it's because I haven't got round to playing one yet.

Zero Punctuation

2010-01-15T08:47:00.001Z

I'm a little late putting this up because I've been playing Star Trek Online to much. More on that in the next post.

Do Not Adjust Your Television

2010-01-07T13:50:00.002Z

Yes, I just changed the page background from black to white. It seems to be the trend on websites these days, white backgrounds instead of colours. Plus it's easier to read I think.

Zero Punctuation

2010-01-07T13:41:00.004Z

Another Zero Punctuation for your viewing pleasure. Very funny, but also NSFW.

Bye Wossy

2010-01-07T13:34:00.003Z

I, for one, will be sad to see Jonathan Ross leave the BBC. Partly because I enjoy his shows, but also because it feels like the moaners have won. I think the phone call to Andrew Sachs was stupid, but all it warranted was an apology to the two people actually involved (Andrew Sachs and his grand daughter). But people had to moan on and on like they were being forced to watch him.

On a positive note, hopefully this means he'll do something new and exciting for another channel (probably Channel 4) and he won't be restricted by the Thought Police decrying the waste of their licence fee as if the millions that choose to watch him don't pay it too.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

2010-01-06T15:36:00.002Z

For your viewing pleasure, a song inspired by the video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

There are more video game inspired songs by Rebecca Mayes over at the Escapist Magazine website.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T15:32:00.002Z

Belated happy new year. I hope everyone enjoyed the festive period and is now ready to be back at the crushing grind of regular life. Still, summer is only six months away.

Zero Punctuation

2009-12-30T17:29:00.002Z

I've become a fan of this series and have watched all of them this week. Find it over at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/ The language isn't safe for work.

I'll be posting the new ones, when they're released, here.

Ignoring the Machine

2009-12-18T09:57:00.003Z

By now you would have to be living under a rock not to know about the battle for Christmas number one between the Karaoke Factor winner and Rage Against the Machine. Personally, I don't think either song is any good and don't really want either to be number one. But if I have to pick, it would be RATM. Why? Well, because Bland Factor winner seems to think he deserves it, he wants people to "support him" not buy his record if they enjoy it. Neither choice is about the music and both are owned by the same record company, but RATM was always about the protest. I think the best protest is in not handing my money over to people who churn out music I think is crap and that is why I won't be getting either, even in protest.

So, if someone you love is planning on buying the Beige Factor song this Christmas, be a friend and slap some sense into them.

New Star Trek Online Trailer

2009-12-11T15:30:00.001Z

Awesome new trailer for STO, to be released in the UK 5th February 2009

Video Games | Star Trek Online | Exclusive Explore, Discover, Engage Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Random Distractions

2009-11-27T18:05:00.001Z

A Government For Who?

2009-11-27T13:40:00.002Z

I am in an angry mood today. I think what really started it was watching the news and realising just how self serving our government is. Here's a list of cases where they have put outside interests or themselves above those of the British people.

Gary McKinnon

Gary is the computer hacker who, in his search for evidence of a US cover up on extra terrestrial life, embarrassed the American government by showing that many of their networks lacked even basic password protection. The crime, which he owned up to was committed in 2002, however he is being extradited following a treaty supposedly dealing with terrorists that came in to effect in 2004. In other words he could not have been extradited when he committed the crime, but he can retroactively (something MPs complained about when it was applied to their expenses). Gary also suffers from Asperger's syndrome and is, according to his NHS psychiatrist and lawyers, at serious risk of committing suicide which should prevent his extradition under human rights legislation. Successive home secretaries have refused to intervene on his behalf, the latest being Alan Johnson who may as well have given this poor man a death sentence. All to preserve our "special relationship" with America and let them have their revenge on the man who made them look stupid. It should be the easiest of things for them to phone up Obama and have him cancel the extradition in exchange for the promise that Gary will serve his sentence in Britain. But for that to happen, someone in our government would have to give a toss.

The Iraq Inquiry

The latest Iraq inquiry has begun this week with promises that it "won't be a white wash" (which tacitly implies the other four were). Of course, Gordon and his cronies did everything they could to de-claw the inquiry before it began. Firstly, no one will actually be held accountable and secondly, you can refuse to give evidence for any one of nine reasons including that it might hurt commercial interests. In other words, any evidence that might make an oil company look bad is to be suppressed. Despite this, there has already been testimony that Tony Blair knew there were no weapons of mass destruction days before the war began and that Bush and Cheney had begun pushing for war in September 2001 and were trying to hurry things along so that the weapons inspectors had no chance. Blair sold us and our troops out to Bush and don't think his chancellor, Gordon Brown, was innocent. He must have known. The only person in our government who took a stand was the late Robin Cook.

European Union

During the last election, all three major parties promised the British people a referendum on whether or not we would sign up to further integration into Europe. The Lisbon treaty was recently ratified, but I can't help notice I never voted in a referendum. I know the Irish did twice, because they voted the wrong way the first time so they had their jobs threatened and voted again. Labour made a great deal of fuss about the Tories dropping the referendum from their manifesto because after ratification it was a moot point. The Tories though were never in a position to deliver, Labour were but chose not to and thus broke their campaign promise and sold us out to Europe.

Nick Griffin and Immigration

I hold Labour to blame for the rise of the ugly BNP and here's why. Labour completely ignored the issue of immigration as it spiralled out of control. They tarnished anyone who questioned why they hadn't imposed limits or tightened border security as racists and in so doing gave actual racists an opening. Tensions were growing while the economy was still strong, so it was inevitable that when the recession hit, immigration would become an even greater issue. It is fortunate that a lot of public anger has been directed towards the bankers and MPs, because normally under these circumstances it is immigrants who become the focus of that rage. It is to the credit of the British people that that hasn't been the case so far and that the BNP haven't made more significant gains.

Mandy and the Internet Pirates.

Lord Mandleson, who was twice forced to resign in disgrace but who was brought back to the government by Brown has been shilling for his rich friends. Mandy has put forward legislation that will force ISPs (internet service providers) to look for signs of file sharing and to cut off internet access to any one caught. This would, by extension, cut off their family members who may have no knowledge. It also means that you don't have the opportunity to contest it, so instead of being innocent until proven guilty, you're just guilty. Neither ISPs, nor many musicians want this, as it punishes their customers (a recent study found that illegal file sharers on average actually spend more on music than non file sharers). Rather than address the issues, the legislation criminalises the teenager copying music for his or her own use, even though we all did it, it's just that we had to make do with taping the music off the radio.

There is a petition here.

Frankly I think anyone who votes Labour in the next election is either stupid or a traitor, because Labour have betrayed us. In the next parliament I want to see them fade into insignificance behind even the Green party. I only hope that whoever wins will put our interests first, even is I may disagree with their policies.

I know this was an unusually long post, thanks for reading through.

Atheist Christmas

2009-11-27T11:54:00.002Z

I follow a few celebrities on Twitter, which is good for a laugh. However, in the run up to Christmas, a lot of them have been posting ways for Atheists to get through Christmas. Yes, the least religious religious festival on the entire planet bothers them. Apart from the words of some carols and the odd manger scene, how much Christian content are any of us really exposed too? Bugger all. It's all about Santa Claus, decorating trees and buying presents. That's all you hear about, none of which refer to a belief in God. Even the many versions of A Christmas Carol gloss over any mention of Jesus's birth. The whole season is so devoid of the gospel message that you could almost be forgiven for not even realising that it is a Christian holiday. Do you know what else is a Christian holiday? Hallowe'en. But do we hear any whining about that while they're dressing up as devils? No. Do they complain while they're eating their Easter eggs? No. They, like Christmas, really contain so very little Christianity that it's easy to miss without even actively avoiding it.

My advice to Atheists during this Christmas holiday is to either accept the spirit of the season or boycott it entirely (and Hallowe'en and Easter too). I hope it's the former and we can put theological differences aside in favour of Peace and Goodwill to all and eating a little more then we should.

Okaaay

2009-11-25T19:35:00.002Z

I have seen everything. I'm not sure if it's brilliant or blasphemous, but it is the LOLCat Bible. This is John 3:16

So liek teh Ceiling Kitteh lieks teh ppl lots and he sez 'Oh hai I givez u me only kitteh and ifs u beleeves him u wont evr diez no moar, kthxbai!'

I have nothing to say to that.

How Does It Make You Feel?

2009-11-24T14:33:00.002Z

I am watching the news coverage of last week's flooding up in Cumbria. A reporter is with a family as they enter their flood damaged house and pretty much everything is wrecked. This is probably one of, if not the, worst moment of their lives. The picture speaks a thousand words, so there aren't many questions to ask them. "Are you insured?" or "when do you think you'll be back in?" are reasonable if a little premature. "What are you feeling?" on the other hand is just plain stupid. "Well, we'd been planning to redo the kitchen for a while, so this is really a blessing." How do you think they feel you cretinous moron? What have we learned from your question? That someone who has lost everything they own is devastated, well I would never have guessed.

If this were a one off, we could forgive the hapless news hound his momentary lapse in judgement. But this isn't the first time some credulous halfwit with a press pass has asked people obviously in distress "how they are feeling." It's de rigueur at the scene of any unfolding tragedy these days. Seriously, do us all a favour and go back to journalism school and leave that silly question for the grinning androids that talk to reality television contestants when they crash out. They don't have emotions so they have to ask.

Recommended Moaning

2009-11-22T16:58:00.004Z

I am a fan of shows based around moaning, which is why I like shows such as The Wright Stuff, The Big Question and Points of View. All of which feature members of the public (and in the case of The Wright Stuff, celebrities) commenting or debating things. It's my only televisual vice, I don't watch reality shows or crap factor or any of the other shows which are basically the modern equivalent of sticking a freak in a tent and getting people to pay to look at them. But I do like watching people argue passionately about something, especially if they have no real clue about it.

I like moaning and ranting, I like to moan and rant myself and do in this blog. It's very cathartic in a British sort of way. There's also nothing like watching a professional rant, especially when it's about things that bother you too. Some of the best comedy is ranting, such as Lewis Black. Anyway, all of this brings me to one of my favourite moaners, a moaner's moaner, Charlie Brooker. This is from his show Screenwipe:

He's on Twitter @charltonbrooker

See You Later

2009-11-22T15:52:00.003Z

"See you later." That's what the sign I saw coming out of the supermarket earlier said. Not, "Thank you for shopping", "Please come again" or even the banal but polite "Have a nice day". No, it's "see you later", like we're old friends. Like I come for the atmosphere and friendly banter with the staff. Banter is unlikely since I normally use the checkout robot because it doesn't have the cold dead eyes of a cashier. There is an assumption being made by the supermarket that I will return, that I have no choice. I am not being treated as a customer to be wooed, but as a consumer with no say in the matter. Sadly, they're right because I'm to lazy to walk somewhere else and I can never plan ahead enough to bother ordering online. Oh well, f you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

See you later.

Random Distractions

2009-11-17T10:35:00.002Z

I've decided to "borrow" an idea from Andrew Sullivan's blog, the Mental Health Breaks. I've cleverly renamed them Random Distractions. Essentially they're amusing videos or games or whatever I find in my browsing of the web. This first one I saw on his blog, I've used it because it is awesome and I wanted to share it.

Extended remix of a Cartman covering Poker Face.

Enjoy.

I Am The Greatest..

2009-11-15T12:56:00.002Z

..at Bejeweled Blitz.

Suck it humans, bow before my awesome skills.

Star Trek Online: System Requirements

2009-11-11T07:34:00.005Z

Cryptic have released the system requirements for upcoming MMO, Star Trek Online. It's not a huge surprise, the game uses the same engine as their superhero effort, Champions Online. The requirements are as follows:

System Requirements

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+
Memory: 1GB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

Recommended System Configuration

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 5600+
Memory: 2GB RAM+
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850+
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

They can be found here and at the official FAQ. It's nice to get confirmation so that I can be sure I can run it.

Eurogamer Expo.

2009-10-30T17:00:00.003Z

So, now I am back from the Eurogamer Expo in London. I won't rant about the train down, which was late and over crowded, nor the train back, which as even later. Or the fact that Blogger seems to be a colossal pain in my green backside. Instead, here is a picture of HMS Belfast which I took from outside the venue. I had a bit of a look at a few games while I was there, but I'll concentrate on the two I was most interested in. All the pictures and videos here were shot by me on my phone, so apologies for the poor quality.

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 was being demonstrated in the basement. It didn't seem a long way down, but judging by the heat it was in Satan's backyard. As a result of that, I only watched the game as I had to drag my desiccated body out before I had a chance to play. What was on display has been seen on various game web sites already and apart from a minor HUD difference, seemed to play exactly like the first one. That's a good thing, the first one was great so they were wise to remember what they say about things that aren't broken.

Star Trek Online

I had two goes on Star Trek Online. The first was a quick blast after someone else left near the end. Later, I returned for a full play through of the demo. One word of advice for the Cryptic people, you can come up and talk to people. I stood around for ages watching them walk about. It also wouldn't hurt to wear a Star Trek Online T-shirt, not everyone knows who the publisher is.

First off, boldly going through space. The demo begins with you warping into a star system in Federation space only to find those dastardly Klingons are there. Words are exchanged, fighting ensued. I stuck my engines on full impulse and charged the three of them, phasers and torpedoes blazing. My forward shields took a hammering, but I was soon past them and they were firing on my healthy aft shields. The first Klingon was out with a satisfying explosion and I switched to the next one. I dispatched the next two fairly easily and was ready to beam down to their base on the surface. Initially, I wasn't all that bothered about space combat, but after playing it, I loved it. It really doesn't need the loops and whirls that some have mentioned on the forums. It felt very three dimensional.

On the surface, things felt a lot like Champions. I had a big gun with which I could either shoot the Klingons or hit them with the blunt end. My Bridge Officers seemed to handle themselves okay and dutifully followed me around, fighting Klingons with me. I never found anyway to order them to do anything, though hitting the space bar meant that everyone fired phasers on my target. After emptying the base of Klingons, we beamed over to the Guardian of Forever, dispatched more Klingons and then spoke to the Guardian. At this point the demo resets.

My initial impressions were very positive. It all looks very slick and plays well, though it was obviously missing advanced skills and tricks. I look forward to seeing more of the game in beta, though sadly the NDA will prevent me blogging about it.

Eurogamer Expo Prologue

2009-10-30T08:27:00.003Z

Today, I'm going to the human hive of London to see the Eurogamer Expo. The games I am most looking forward to seeing are Star Trek Online and Mass Effect 2. I will be using my phone to take pictures and video. I have not really done much with the video function before. I had a quick go with it last night and while it's not brilliant quality, I'll do what I can. I should be uploading it all when I get back this evening.

Martian out.

Star Trek Online: The Future Past 2

2009-10-27T21:58:00.002Z

New time-line video from Cryptic:

Looks interesting.

Changes

2009-10-27T09:14:00.002Z

I've made a quick change to my blog's formatting because the old one was chopping videos in half. My horrible choice of colours remain to offend your human eyes. Now the Wright Stuff is on so I'm off.

A Neighbourly Warning

2009-10-26T11:13:00.003Z

Humans, most of you have probably seen adverts asking if you want to sell your gold as it is now at it's most valuable. Adverts such as this:

Alarm bells rang in my head. Why is gold suddenly so valuable? Why are the people asking for it not the usual actor drones, but these strange, unblinking creatures (such as the one in the ad above)? The first question is easy, it's valuable because "people" want to buy it. The second is more sinister. These creatures hiding behind a caricature of humanity are melting down your gold so they can turn it into an alien super-weapon! Or possibly some other sinister, alien scheme. Be ready humans, their plans will soon be revealed.

STO Closed Beta Has Begun

2009-10-26T08:26:00.003Z

Last week, Cryptic announced that Star Trek Online's closed beta has begun. My application is already in, so be sure to get yours in too.

There has been some whining on the official forums that people who didn't subscribe to Champions have gotten in the first round while some that did haven't. What they don't realise is that the beta process is about testing, so Cryptic have to focus on getting in people who have computers with the desired specifications. Cryptic isn't blameless here though, they did offer beta access with Champions subscriptions without explaining the process. I think they would also benefit from stricter forum moderation too.

Attention Libel Lawyers, I'm Back

2009-10-26T08:19:00.002Z

Apologies for my long absence from my blog. Life got a little hectic for a while so I couldn't blog, then when I could it had been a while and I procrastinated. I've missed so many things I could have commented on too, such is life.

Being Crazy, Not Just For Reality TV Contestants

2009-07-01T17:14:00.003+01:00

No, this isn't satire, this is a genuine news channel, Fox News.

You couldn't make it up could you? I'm not sure whether to laugh at this or be afraid that not only do people think like this but they're put on television and people watch them.

An Address to my Loyal Subjects

2009-06-30T15:40:00.003+01:00

Earlier today, I was watching the news and noticed all the money the British Royal family gets from the British taxpayer and thought to myself, "I need a piece of that action." However, since the Queen and her family have cornered that racket, I don't think I can muscle in. I have also left humanity and thus Britain behind, so I suppose I can't claim royal status there. But, as one door closes another opens. I decided that my new people, the Martians, are a monarchy too and I am the King. I then announced my new royal status earlier over Twitter, I can't afford a proper coronation so that will suffice. Anyone interested can still apply for a title within my Kingdom, though I am taking a play from Tony Blair's book and charging, but you'll find my rates are far more reasonable then his were. You, yes you, can be the Lord of Olympus Mons, the solar system's biggest mountain!

My first act as King was not a happy one though, I declared war on the USA, UK and Nauru (wikipedia it) at 11:45 UK time. Fortunately, the bitter war with the humans was short lived and I have formally surrendered to Britain and the US, though the war continues with Nauru. I am looking for £4.2 million to rebuild the Martian economy and the loss of all our buildings, their human probes can confirm that there are no buildings on the surface of Mars anymore. £2.1 million is incredibly reasonable I think, it is probably the cheapest war either country has thought. If they hurry up, I may change my mind about Nauru. The ball is in your court President Obama and Prime Minister Brown. Cheques to Concerned Alien Saving Humanity or CASH.

Captain America Reborn

2009-06-17T09:11:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I heard the "surprise" news that the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, will be coming back from the dead. Cap was shot by a sniper back in 2007 just after the events of Marvel's Civil War (Captain America #25). His former sidekick, Bucky Barnes, has been filling in since then. Of course, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before Steve would be back and that the whole thing was just a way of making the news. So that farce will be over soon.

Still, at least it wasn't as bad as Spider-man's One More Day.

The Tyranny of Taking Offense

2009-06-16T20:32:00.004+01:00

It's something I've been thinking about blogging on for a while, but the latest thing with David Cameron's German accent and David Letterman's repeated apologies to the Palins bought it back to mind and made it newsworthy. It's the latest craze, especially on the interwebs, being offended by silly or misguided comments and jokes.

It happens all over, whether we're talking about anonymous posters on internet forums or people in the public eye. Jeremy Clarkson is, of course, a frequent target (remember the furor over his "lorry drivers are prostitute murderers" quip), Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's "Sachsgate" ran for weeks on the news (granted, it was stupid, but did it really require the lynch mob?). The same thing happens on a smaller scale on some of the internet forums I frequent. Some one makes a silly comment and some one else is offended. The often cited reason being that humour doesn't carry as well when it's typed as it does when spoken because you can't hear the tone. While that's sometimes true, I think it's often just someone looking for an argument and wanting to take the moral high ground by being offended rather than defend their opinions. I think that's often true of celebrity offenses and the media is very quick to stoke the flames to fill the 24 hour news cycle.

So what are our options? We're left with two options. The first is to be more careful in what we say, read and reread our posts, filtering out anything that could be misinterpreted. That is ultimately self defeating, people looking for an argument will find one and you will always be limiting what you say through self censorship. The second option is to say what you want and stick two fingers up if anyone is offended. I'm not giving license to be a jerk, looking to offend people for the sake of it, but if someone is offended by a silly comment then they're the one with the problem. Hopefully a few celebrities will do the same and tell the media that they don't care what they say about them or their fake outrage.

The Price Of Liberty

2009-05-16T10:51:00.005+01:00

Few people in Britain at the moment can be unaware of the events that shook Westminster last week, the revelations of MP's expenses. I am sure there are also very few people in the western world who can be unaware of the allegations of torture aimed at the last US President and his administration. What shocks me about both allegations is not so much that they occurred or that partisans will defend them, it is the fact that some independent people are unwilling to pursue these crimes. Last week (6th May) on Real Time with Bill Maher, prominent lefties suggested that it might be harmful to America's democracy to look into torture allegations. Meanwhile, on our side of the Atlantic, a similar point was made on Friday's Wright Stuff over MP's expenses. How can Britain be governed if half the government is helping the police with their inquiries? What happens to America if a former president or vice president is answering questions in the Hague (or more likely some sort of Congressional committee)?

I'm not sure what happens, no one is. Nothing like either scandal has happened before in either nation. That uncertainty though cannot be their defence. I don't want to equate robbing the tax payer with torturing people, but both cases have harmed the reputation of their respective governments and democratic systems. The answer to these crimes cannot be to simply sweep it under the carpet. We know abuses have happened, the world knows, the damage is done. The answer is that we need to, as Americans and Britons, "man up". Most of us have never fought for our democracies, but they were fought for. Against fascist dictators and tyrant kings our people fought and sacrificed. Have we really become so meek that we won't even stand up to grubby liars and call them on their falsehoods? We aren't being asked to sacrifice our lives, just our time and energy on seeking truth and making sure those that have weakened our democracies are held to account. The months, perhaps the years ahead might be ugly, but what will be truly hideous is if we're here in ten years arguing about the same grievances carried out anew.

Anti-Smoking Ads

2009-05-14T10:09:00.003+01:00

Another day, another rant about an advert that annoys me. This time it's the turn of the NHS's ads to make people give up smoking. Why do I hate these ads, after all, I don't smoke and would be happy if everyone gave up? The ads focus on reasons to give up smoking, "to walk her down the aisle" or "to see him score a goal". I have a question, what the heck are you smoking that's going to shorten your life that significantly, uranium tainted anthrax? I'm not disputing that smoking causes all sorts of disease, my granddad died of lung cancer which is a horrible way to die, but very rarely do they catch you that early in life. My problem with it is that when you exaggerate the case, people will see through it and dismiss the real issues, like lung cancer and emphysema later in life, because they've blown it out of proportion.

The one reason they offer that actually makes sense, "to take them on holiday". A pack of cigarettes is burning money, quit and you can do something fun with it whether you're17 or 70.

Sokator

2009-05-03T17:32:00.002+01:00

Great little game I've been playing. It's an alien football team manager.

http://www.sokator442.com/index.htm?aid=888-nPstJ

2009-05-03T17:28:00.001+01:00

Does Gordon Really Not Get It?

2009-05-03T08:48:00.003+01:00

This week has been pretty disastrous for Gordon Brown and not because of the large issues like the economy or the imaginary apocalypse of Swine Flu. Even the end of combat operations in Iraq has been mostly undiscussed, which can be chalked up as a win for Labour because it means people haven't been asking things like "what was the point?" or "did we ever find those WMDs?"

No, the problems have been two relatively minor issues in the grand scheme of things that have shown just how out of touch he is. The first is MPs expenses the second is the rights of Gurkhas. Both are really about a basic fairness that crosses political lines. MPs, already paid more than most of us, have been seen to be basically helping themselves to taxpayers' money to pay for everything from bath plugs to houses. Gordon's idea to reform this system was inept, remove the need to claim expenses by paying them to turn up. In other words, we can no longer check your receipts (something Jacqui Smith's husband would be grateful for) and you get two wages for one job. That doesn't seem very fair does it?

Then we have the Gurkhas. For those who don't know, the Gurkhas are Nepalese men who have been associated with the British army for 200 years, fighting in both World Wars and just about anywhere else Britain has deployed soldiers. To the British public, the Gurkhas are held in the same esteem as any other British soldier. Having served our country, we think it's fair to let them stay here, regardless of when they served (the current law prevents them if they served before 1997). How Gordon ended up opposing them is a mystery to me, I really cannot understand his thinking. Naturally, both the Tories and the Lib Dems have supported the Gurkhas, as have some Labour MPs.

All of which leaves the government with some awkward questions. Why is a Prime Minister that the public never voted for, and so incredibly out of touch with public opinion, still in power? Will he make one decent decision, based on fair play and our nation's interest instead of his and finally call an election instead of waiting for an opinion poll that gives him a chance of winning?

Moderated for Defamation.

2009-04-30T08:19:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, I posted a comment on BBC reporter, Justin Webb's blog about Obama's first 100 days. You can read it here. You will notice the third comment, by mars_central (me), has been moderated. The BBC runs an approval process before publishing comments, which mine passed. It was then removed after about ten minutes. I received an email yesterday afternoon to explain why.

Postings to BBC blogs will be removed if they appear to be potentially defamatory.

That's why it was removed. Here it is, my original post.

It's a bit early to really judge him or where his policies will lead us. So far so good in most areas though, in my opinion (which I reserve the right to change).

I would like to see him tackle the torture issue though, it's the real minus at the moment. It's hard to regain America's moral grounding with the sins of the past still unaccounted for. He really needs to show Cheney and Fox News up for what they really are, torture apologists and set up an investigation in to the last eight years.

While I accept that my post was inflammatory, I don't think there's anything there that is unfair or untrue, especially when taken in the context of it being my opinion. If you don't believe me, Andrew Sullivan's blog has been good at chronicling the abuses, what we know and when and the defences of various people on the Right. Far better than me. I don't mind being moderated, it's happened before, but my problem here is that the main defence of the torture programmes has been to avoid talking about it or using the term "torture". By not holding Bush and Cheney and those who enabled them to account, we risk leaving the door open for future governments to torture. Next time, it might not be suspected Islamic terrorists, it could be protesters or anyone else a future government puts in it's sights. It could be you or me. That's the slippery slope we're on if we don't draw a line now.

Norwich Aviva

2009-04-24T10:33:00.004+01:00

Time for a little rant thanks to an advert for Norwich Union/Aviva. So many things infuriate me about these ads that it's hard to know where to start.

Firstly, I think it's idiotic that they're changing their name at all. Why would you go from a recognised name (Norwich Union) with it's connection to the English city, to a meaningless, corporate, non-name like Aviva? But that's a side issue, it's the ads themselves that really irritate me.

Ad one, the one with people like Bruce Willis and Ringo Starr asking, "would I be where I am today if I stuck with my original name?" Well, would Walter Willis be as famous as Bruce? Probably, let's be honest, "Bruce" isn't anymore macho than "Walter". I had always assumed that Bruce was his real name. Would Ringo have been mobbed by fans if he was known as Richard Starkey? Yes, because he was the drummer for the Beatles!! Being known by their real names didn't hurt John, Paul or George's careers did it? Okay, Paul was his middle name, but still. So these celebs all changed their names in order to craft their stage personas, fair enough. But what does that have to do with an insurance company doing it? Richie wants to be Ringo Starr, drummer; Norwich Union, insurer, wants to be known as Aviva, insurer. Just be honest, it's not "who you want to be", it's because you've been taken over and they want you to use their name.

Ad two (the one that sparked me to write this morning), the one that says "I'm not a reference number, I'm a person". You are a reference number to an insurance company. You will always be a reference number to them because the person on the other end of the line is probably sitting in a faceless call centre somewhere and only knows who you are because the computer told them. This is our modern world, we get it, we accept it, we have too. This ad also annoys me because now one celeb doesn't want to be known by his stage name, something I'm sure resonates with thousands of people watching the ad. And who is it that is fed up with his stage name? Ringo. So you're not Richard Starkey and you're not Ringo Starr, what do you want to be called, the fourth most talented Beatle? Or maybe you want to pick out a meaningless squiggle or some corporate non-name like the company you're shilling or maybe Norwich Union since they're not using it anymore.

The Future of Television

2009-04-14T08:32:00.003+01:00

This post is sort of inspired by conversations I've had over the internet about the latest Red Dwarf. A lot of people I know were very excited by the news that Red Dwarf was coming back and were eager to see it, however they live outside the UK. This means that, unlike me and 2.2 million other people who watched it on Dave, they will have to wait for the DVD release in June or for a local station to broadcast it.

Except of course, they don't.

While the situation is unusual because it's us Brits that get to see something first, it is not exactly new. American shows have, up until recently, been up to a year ahead of those of us outside the United States, it allowed local TV stations to see how a show performed before opting to buy it for themselves. This was the situation for decades, but the rise of the internet has made it untenable for two reasons. Firstly, we are now an international community. If a show really is a "water cooler" show, the proverbial water cooler isn't confined to an office, it's also the many forums of the internet. Going back to Red Dwarf, when the last series aired, I discussed it with school friends and work mates. This time round, I discussed it (or more accurately, tried to avoid giving spoilers too) people from Europe and the US. This means that, now more than ever, there is a demand for everyone to be able to see a show when it first airs, regardless of geography. This leads me to point two, downloading. Red Dwarf became available to download illegally moments after it aired. US shows do too, at least the popular ones. They are usually good quality and with high speed connections can be ready to view in a couple of hours. They are free and do not contain adverts.

How do TV makers get past this? As more and more people use the internet and are comfortable in doing this, the problem is only going to get worse. I imagine it already has an impact on viewing figures. The fact that shows like Lost and Heroes are now only a week or two behind the US in Britain helps, but doesn't solve the problem. Simple, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Many broadcasters make their shows available to view over the internet shortly after they show them on TV. Save yourself the effort and put them up at the same time and get the license to do so internationally. This will upset some applecarts, channels like E4 and Sky One seem to get half their programming from America, they would go from exclusive to repeats and would pay less money for the rights to show it. Their are two remedies for this. Firstly, don't leave shows up online indefinitely. Secondly, make sure you get region specific adverts in the show. You get money from the American ads as normal, but also the British ads, the French ads, etc. You've cut out the middle man, the international broadcasters.

Channels that currently make their money off imports will have to adapt to survive, perhaps make more original programming which they can export to the rest of the world too. Or just accept that they exist to air repeats from the other side of the pond. I hope the former and that Britain will start to produce more unique shows like it did in the old days and of the calibre of those in the US right now.

STO Recurring Themes: Qs for GMs

2009-04-11T16:50:00.003+01:00

Another common suggestion from the forums of STO, having the game's GMs represented as members of the Q continuum. The reasoning goes that Q is (more or less) omnipotent, GMs are (more or less) omnipotent, so making GMs into Q fits the game's Star Trek theme.

My problem with this is it basically fails to understand who Q is, who the Q continuum are and what their role is within Star Trek. The Q we are most familiar with is Jean Luc's sparring partner, played fantastically by John de Lancie. A GM's job is to deal with the problems of players, bugs and such like. Q never directly helped anyone, he was amusing himself at Picard and the Enterprise crew's expense. This often led to them learning deeper lessons, warning them of the Borg, teaching Picard to embrace his errant past, but he only once solved a problem for them and that was a gift for protecting him when he was powerless. Other members of the continuum barely acknowledged humanity's existence.

Q's role in STO should be to start missions, to be the driving force behind stories, not the person fixing things when a glitch occurs or you can't find an objective.

Let Q be Q.

Dogs and Leads

2009-03-31T09:39:00.003+01:00

I just saw a story from the Daily Mail on the Wright Stuff about a dog owner being sued because his Great Dane jumped up at someone and broke his ankle. Of course, the dog was not on a lead.

This is one of my pet hates (pardon the pun). I am a dog owner and my dog is quite big too, not Great Dane big, but still large. I always have him on a lead when he leaves the house, always. Why? Because he's a dog! I don't expect him to make sensible decisions, that's my job. I don't even bother taking him to the local park any more because of the selfish people who can't be arsed to control their dog. Their dog catches sight of mine and comes running after him, barking and growling with it's demented owner apologising, mystified that their dog isn't obeying them. Here's a newsflash, your dog can hear you, I know this because I can hear you and your dog has better hearing, but he's ignoring you. If you are repeating your commands, you aren't in control, you are trying to persuade your dog to obey. If you are trying to persuade an animal to do something, you're an idiot. What's my dog doing in all this? Oddly, mine is doing exactly what I want him too because I've pulled in his extending lead the second I saw your dog. If you had done the same, everyone would be happy.

So, stop anthropomorphising your dog, it's still an animal and as such will always let his instincts get the better of him. Whether that's going after other people's pets or chasing cars and possibly getting run over. Show some sense and courtesy and exercise the advantages humans have over them, tools.

So, dog owners, get a lead or you're on notice.

Dear IMDB

2009-03-30T23:22:00.002+01:00

I don't know if you or your advertisers have surfed the net in the last five years, but if they have they may have noticed something missing. Pop-up ads. Yes, everyone realised that all they do is piss people off, even the porn sites, that's why everyone went crazy for pop-up blockers. No one clicks them, they just hate them and those of us who are a bit vindictive hate the companies who pay for them and boycott their products. I e-mailed a company once to tell them that and they pulled the ad because they hadn't realised the ad company did that. I don't have a problem with banner ads, I know you guys have to make money and that's done through advertising.

So here it is, I'm going to stop closing the ads on your site before they have a chance to show themselves and start taking names. Then I'm going to complain to them directly about your pop-ups. I doubt you'll read this imdb and I hate to take on an otherwise great website, but if I don't punish you, you will never learn.

You are officially on notice.

Stemming the Tide

2009-03-29T09:34:00.004+01:00

After reading yet another post by one of the usual crowd of naysayers on the STO forums, I have decided to implement an idea I read about a couple of weeks ago in David Mitchell's column for the Guardian. Instead of getting worked up and getting into an argument or posting for the 100th time that I like the graphics, I am just going to post this:

"It just goes to show you can't be too careful!"

It is almost meaningless, so it can mean anything. It doesn't agree or disagree and is light hearted without being funny. It also saves me a lot of effort. Feel free to use it too.

Shepard's Nightmare, Part One

2009-03-21T18:49:00.002Z

A short story in three parts that I wrote. It focuses on my ship's future First Officer, Victoria Shepard. Find the story here. Enjoy.

STO Recurring Themes: Player Crews

2009-03-16T16:41:00.004Z

Any veteran of the Star Trek Online forums will be aware that certain questions and themes keep being raised. This is the first in a series of posts that will look at those issues and why the decisions made by Cryptic won't wreck the game but improve it. The first of these is probably the most commonly raised by newbies and trolls alike, Player Crews.

The Complaint

Star Trek Online sets each player as the captain (captain in this case is the commander of a ship, not the rank) of either a Starfleet or Klingon vessel. NPC "pets" fill the roles of all the senior staff, these are as customizable as your captain and their skills provide bonuses for you in ship to ship combat. They also join you on Away Missions when there are no other players to help. The gripe is that people do not want an NPC crew but a player one.

The first problem people raise is that they do not want to be the captain, they want to be an engineer, doctor or a tactical officer. This is one of the most common issues, but it ignores some key points. Firstly, all captains will have skills in those areas, something born out in Star Trek. Geordie La Forge (engineer), Beverly Crusher (doctor), Jadzia Dax (science), Worf (tactical), Spock (science) and Data (operations) all became captains either during the course of their adventures or in alternate timelines. Secondly, those jobs are only interesting at certain times. There is very little for a science officer to do during combat, an engineer will have very little to do unless something is damaged, a tactical officer has nothing to do during exploration... you get the picture. Cryptic (wisely) chose to concentrate those roles into the captain's chair.

The second big problem people have revolves around grouping. The first part of the argument is that groups of players will automatically be a number of ships while Star Trek is almost always about one ship. This is a valid point, but grouping ships is hardly unprecedented. In fact, while a big ship like the Enterprise may wander the final frontier alone, it could be argued that it would be the exception, not the rule. They also argue that it makes roleplaying difficult, since players would usually be on different ships. In this, I agree, it is difficult in that setting. There is a compromise though, players can freely interact during missions and in social hubs. While I agree that is not perfect, it does seem to me to be a fair concession for gameplay.

Gameplay is the major problem with Player Crews. There are others besides those I have already mentioned. Giving people the freedom to do the missions they want to do, to go where they want to go would be impossible while having to follow the orders of another player until you earn the right to captain your own starship. Trying to keep control of a bridge while players go away from the keyboard, disconnect or just do their own thing would make even the fabled captain's chair a poisoned chalice. Players aren't Starfleet Officers or Klingon warriors, deliberate griefing aside, they all want to have fun and advance their characters and agendas and to succeed, STO will need to give them all the opportunity, not leave them at the mercy of other players.

Craig Zinkievich, STO's executive producer, blogs about the decision here

Wright Stuff

2009-03-16T09:37:00.002Z

I'm watching The Wright Stuff this morning as I often do. It's one of the few daytime television shows I like. This morning is particularly amusing as I am waiting to see when today's guest, Scott Capurro, gets him kicked off the air. He is really trying to push the boundaries of what is allowed on TV at this hour. I am surprised he hasn't been gagged and beaten in the break.

New Champions Images

2009-03-09T23:01:00.002Z

There are new screenshots from up coming superhero MMO, Champions Online over at http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=17174

That game has come on leaps and bounds visually since I first started following it a few months ago.

Reality Versus The Martian

2009-03-09T13:28:00.004Z

How did I get to become a Martian living on Earth? It is a valid question. You don't meet many Martians and they don't even include us on diversity questionnaires. I always have to write in Other, Green at the bottom. I didn't start life as a Martian, I too was once a human being or so I thought. Then, after many years feeling like an outsider and not understanding the fascination with killing each other and reality television, I realised that I would probably be better off severing ties with humanity.

That led to a problem, while I never really felt human, I have always looked human. Indeed, medical science seems to be off the opinion that I am human. That was when I came face to face with my greatest foe, my archenemy, Reality. Most people are forced to accept Reality and never wonder why. This is because Reality has slandered Denial, Delusion and Daydream, making them into monsters so that we are forced to accept Reality's meagre offerings. Want to be a famous astronaut, Reality tells you that you have to go through all sorts of training and colleges. Daydream lets you go straight there. Want to be rich, Denial wants to put money in your pocket, it's cold-hearted Reality that tells you you're broke.

So, I gave Reality the kick in the junk that he deserves and now I am a Martian. All the terrible things that people do are no longer part of my DNA. You can do it too, build your new world with your new friends Denial, Delusion and Daydream and you can be all that you want to be not what that tyrant Reality said you were. Join the Martian Revolution!!

Watching the Watchmen

2009-03-08T11:09:00.003Z

I saw Watchmen last night. Without giving too much away, it was alright. It stuck pretty close to the book, a bit too close as I felt it could have dropped a little bit to keep the pace up as it didn't always translate well. Some scenes were great (like the prison), others just seemed to drag. If you like the book, it's worth a watch but I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone who isn't into comics (which is odd because I'd recommend the book to someone who isn't into comics). I noticed a lot of blue nakedness, but I think I was only so aware of it because people kept going on about it.

On a side note, Alan Moore isn't credited in the film at his request. He doesn't want to be linked to any of the film adaptations of his books after the fiasco of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I admire the principle, but I don't think I could turn my back on thousands of dollars. To be honest, if it was my book, they could turn it into a musical and change all the characters so long as I got the money. I have no integrity, but at least I'm honest about that.

Marscentral's rating 4/5

Far more exciting to me was the chance to see the trailer for the new Star Trek movie on the big screen. I am more of a Next Generation era fan, but I really am looking forward to this. I know they have probably taken liberties with the holy Trek "canon", but I for one don't care as long as it still conveys all those good things about Star Trek and brings in a new generation of fans.

New STO Screenshots

2009-03-06T14:45:00.004Z

There are new screenshots of STO over at www.zam.com The Akira class, producer Craig Zinkievich's favourite, looks awesome in it's debut images.

Alien Identification Contest

2009-03-05T13:43:00.003Z

Cryptic have a new competition and this time I can enter as it's international. Unlike last time, where my entry was ready in under an hour, I can not think of anything to write. Typical. Still, the image does show off how cool their character customisation is.

Side note, they are taking questions on character customisation on their forums.

Wright Stuff: Should Brown Say Sorry?

2009-03-04T09:38:00.002Z

Question posed on Channel Five's The Wright Stuff, should Gordon Brown apologise for our current economic crisis? Yes, he has been in government for over ten years and this has been brewing for a few years now. He has failed to manage the economy prudently enough in our good years to provide stability now. He has also not held the City to task for it's failures. While I don't need to see a grovelling apology, I'd like to see some acknowledgement of his failings. It would also be nice if we had a chance to actually elect him.

Why I Twitter

2009-03-03T20:07:00.003Z

I have said elsewhere that Twitter allows me to indulge my love of stalking and my love of sitting around watching telly at the same time. How else would I know about Stephen Fry's trip to Mexico, Jimmy Carr's pink tennis bag or Levar Burton's trip to Toronto? Add to this the often humourous entries by people such as John Hodgeman on why he hates the word 'Meh'.

It has also allowed me to hear directly from the developers at Cryptic on the games they're working on and news from the BBC as they add it to the website. While there are a lot of inane posts, mostly by me, there are also some real gems and real insight.

Welcome

2009-03-03T17:52:00.000Z

Why have I created a blog? For my deep insights into the machinations of global politics? The fact that I have the confidences of many famous and powerful people? Nope. While I could post on such things, these subjects are too pedestrian for me to limit my blog to them. While I may occasionally throw out something on Obama's latest policy or Brad Pitt's love life, I will stick to the things I find interesting. That may be what I am watching on television or on computer games (some will be directed here from Star Trek Online whose development I am closely watching) or it could be my more philosophical musings on life, the universe etc.

So, the journey has begun, see you at the next post.