Uninspired to Write

Byrichard
Reading Time: < 1 minute

I know that I should be inspired to write, since this is the second day of the year. I am not. I watched Top Gun Maverick and it was better than I expected. I find this a curious film because it uses elements from the old film but all the characters are older and possibly wiser.

I have almost finished an Inspector Morse book. Last Bus to Woodstock. It’s different to other books I have read. It has taken a while for me to read the book, both as a print book, and as a kindle book. This should be the first book that I finish this year.

I did think about using WordPress as a twitter alternative because it’s federated, flexible, easy to setup and in general already has a community. If I want to tweet/microblog/toot into a void then I don’t need to be on a specific server or framework. I can stick to WordPress and post from here. It will be less visible. I find toots are often not that interesting. I need to find a place with a relevant and interesting community.

WordPress is one easy to use solution.

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Byrichard

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With the thermal inversion it’s easy to get above the clouds, simply get in a car and go to the mountains and you’ll get a nice view of the sunshine. We went to the vallée de Joux and that’s where you find many of the watch factories. This includes Audemars Piguet amongst others.

Tomorrow’s Christmas day, then 6 days till the new year.

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A Larger Readership Than The Student Newspaper

Byrichard

A few days ago I was with a friend discussing the student media within my university. I’m not speaking about the content created by those in the various courses but rather about the student newspaper and television channel. It’s gone downhill over the past year.

In my first year at uni although people poked fun at the student magazine they used to get it in order to get all the events listing. It meant that you knew a month in advance what was going on what night and so university spirit was stronger. At the same time, some second-year students of the time decided to create a student television program in which they got up and running external to the student union. In so doing they guaranteed success. Last year the student magazine coasted along and the first discussions about it becoming a newspaper happened.

Since then it’s been downhill. We’ve gone from having a glossy magazine coming out once a month with all events listed to having recycled paper as a newspaper. Rather than having people fighting to get their articles published an apathy seems to have formed around the project. There is no features editor, no listings editor, no main editor, and no layout person. This is a uni with 23,000+ students of which 10,000 full time. You’d be led to believe that they could produce some content without too much difficulty.

The one thing that’s doing relatively well is the student radio but it’s not independent of the Student Union, therefore, it seems to run better. If they had kept podcasting as they were doing last year then I’d still be downloading and listening to those programs as I walk around London.

I’m ready to leave university and get on with other more interesting projects. I’m ready to get back to the world of work. I only have about three weeks left of work.

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Waking up to heavy metal

Byrichard

There is nothing more aggressive or stressful than being woken up by heavy metal. There is nothing but some idiot yelling into a microphone and other idiots calling it music. It’s not music so much as noise to me. I’d prefer to be woken to the sound of seagulls or the waves than music created by the disenfranchised youth of a bygone era.

In halls causes for being pulled from your sleep are numerous. On many occasions it’s people yelling from outside to windows, cleaning staff talking loud to each other, girls talking about subjects that would later embarrass them (hilarious though), and the clanking sound of kitchen utensils. There’s the sound of cupboards being opened and closed, of fire alarms, demolition, grating barriers and more.

I can’t think of anymore but those are a great method by which to make me appreciate the countryside all that much more. Nothing but the sweet sound of birds and wind in the branches, storm clouds, and more. Any noise that is not the result of some selfish person I do not mind.

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Singapore Is the Fastest Walking City

Byrichard

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I wonder how I’d compare to all these people and how I’d affect the averages. It’ just the type of news story I enjoy. Out of all these cities Malawi is the slowest. It’s 20 seconds slower than the rest.

source

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Vernissage

Byrichard

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I saw a vernissage on six floors which included all of these things.  The idea is interesting, how to include the various media and make something practical. It’s a shame most of the people weren’t there to present their ideas though.

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Travian, an online game

Byrichard

Travian is one of those games you would have loved to play after reading a few Asterix comics. There are three civilisations you can be, Gaul, Roman or Teuton. Each player starts off with one village and expands from there.

There are four types of resources. These are wood, clay, iron and wheat. As your village begins you need to decide on what resources you want to grow. Click on the land type and you will see a display with the amount of time it will take for the order to be completed. The next step is to look at your town. Build a granery, a cranny, a warehouse and other buildings that make a village what it is. Overtime as your buildings improve so the town is large enough for more buildings. These are stables, palaces, residences for kings and more.

Getting your village to expand is just one step. The next step is to make sure that you’re safe. Around you are many other villages and some of these players have been playing for a number of months. As a result they have amassed many resources and alliances. They will attack and pillage you therefore you must defend your land with troops. As you expand and form alliances so the game becomes more interesting. At this point you are competing not just as a village but as alliances to see which can be the most prestigious.

It’s a fun game, reminiscient of such games as Civilization amongst others. If you need a two minute break whilst working on a long project then this may be the game for you. I’ve enjoyed it and so may you.

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