My first encounter was when someone said, “I don’t like the cut of their jib” and then wondered where the phrase came from. Fortunately I knew and explained all about jibs, but he still wasn’t quite sure what the jib was, so into the search box I typed ‘jib’ and clicked on the result, then to remember it was a wiki page and be introduced to a black screen. I gave up my search there, it wasn’t that important after all.

Next up was when I was trying to remember the 110^th periodic element, the reason for needing this information was because I was thinking about the tv quiz show, Pointless. In this show, you are given a category and have to come up with an answer which the least amount of surveyed people know, so for instance, “Name a periodic element ending with –ium” would be a good question to know what the 110^th element was. I knew the 111^th was Roentgenium and 110 had another German name which was something-stadtium, but couldn’t remember the first bit, I just kept thinking of tram stops in Berlin. There were other options for finding out this information, but since I wasn’t actually going to be a contestant on Pointless, I didn’t see it as essential information.

The next use for wiki came from the point above. I remember in a computer game on the Amiga, X-Com: Enemy Unknown, that there was an element named Elerium and they even gave it a periodic number, but I couldn’t remember what that was and if we had in fact discovered that element. The search page results actually answered my question, it was 115, which has the “we can’t think of a good thing to call it yet” name of Ununpentium. But the Wikipedia page in the results was about “materials in science fiction,” and since it was my lunch break, it sounded like a really good read. I wonder if there’s a campaign to name the element Elerium. I should start one…

A friend started talking about a tv programme I had never heard of called ‘When Paddy met Sally’, I knew who the Paddy was, but I hadn’t a clue who this Sally was, so I resorted to a quick search. I found out her full name and then searched for Sally Bercow, the top result was a Wikipedia page which would have had everything I wanted to know, all the other results on the first page were news articles. I didn’t bother looking any further.

The rest of the day involved me not bothering with searches that I knew a Wikipedia page would be the result I was looking for. I admit that I only use Wikipedia to fill my random fact knowledge so everything I was searching for throughout the day was of no importance, but it still meant that I was a little more rubbish at pub quizes for 24 hours.

On the other hand, I have this friend who we’ll call Dug. I’ve known ‘Dug’ for a long time, since we played pen and paper RPGs, and Dug always liked to play the most evil characters. To listen to him, you would have said that he was a bit disturbed as a child, always talking about the crazy things that his characters could do and laughing about it. But 15 years on he’s exactly the same, marvelling at the malevolence these games let him perform, but outside the game, in real life, he’s not killed anyone, he’s not resorted to a life of drugs or crime, he’s completely normal. There is a definite difference in the personalities between me and Dug, and if I considered some of my ‘light side’ friends, I would say they are closer to my way of thinking. But is Dug, and people like him, inherently evil? Are they harbouring deep secrets within their souls that want to escape? Or do they just separate fantasy and reality better than I do, accepting that a character isn’t them but something completely different?

Whilst playing The Old Republic, because there are so many class types, making the same choices play through and after play through would be boring. So I’ve tried to give my characters personality. I do have one character that just makes the ‘right’ choice, and I have starred at many a conversation choice agonizing over what to choose. But I also have a Bounty Hunter whose character, I have decided, will never break a contract. If this character is paid to kill someone and then this target offers alternatives, no matter how moral, they carry out the original contract – and I’m loving making these choices, I have a reason choose the evil option, or indeed sometimes the good one, but, in fact, the choices aren’t up to me, they’re up to the personality of the Bounty Hunter. Is this all that Dug has been doing for years, thinking, “well what would an evil person do”? Suddenly, because of the number of characters am I less emotionally invested in them all and have space to create separate personalities from my own? So if you see your kid constantly mowing down the innocents in games, try them with a pen and paper, maybe there are some great stories waiting to get out.

Playing as Femshep does make the evil options a bit easier to stomach

My friend and I had agreed that he would get me a headset and I would get him a gaming mouse for his new Alienware M11x as Christmas presents. He asked if I prefer 3.5mm over USB (which I do otherwise it puts a nice soundcard to waste) and that was all the information he was given. So when he unwrapped the Razer mouse I had bought for him, and I unwrapped the Razer Carcharias, it was a bit of coincidence that we had opted for the same brand gaming peripherals. Or possibly not, with Razer being one of the main names in PC gaming accessories, you rarely go wrong when you choose their products.

The Razer Carcharias was obviously more expensive than my previous headsets, and it was bigger too. On opening the box I was greeted with a size of headphone that I hadn’t seen since ones my dad had for his HiFi in the 80’s, but they were adorned with the obligatory Razer branding and bold styling to make sure people knew you weren’t just old fashioned. The padding on the headband and ear surrounds are made from a soft almost felt like material which feels quite comfortable when wearing them, which is a good job because there is a noticeable weight to the headphones, especially compared to my previous ones. The hefty size is also combated by the adaptable length sides so can accommodate a plethora of head sizes allowing the band to take up the weight of the cans with the top of your head. The microphone can just be rotated down and up, there’s no other movement available, although it sits in a useful place and seems to pick up my voice with no problems and it looks quite funky resembling a bar with one bend in it. The inline controls have the usual volume and microphone options but to ensure a something unique, they sit on a braded cord, which I am familiar with from gaming mice, which do a good job at reducing snags and twists.

But it’s all about the sound. And these don’t disappoint. The sound emanating from them is absolutely booming. My first trial with them was playing MW3 and the explosions and gunshots sounded fantastic, really bassy but not missing any of the top end noises. This headset is so good that my speakers are almost superfluous now. The only trouble is that now I’ve tried sound of this quality, there’s just no going back! So hopefully, for my wallet’s sake, I won’t be breaking these anytime soon.

Razer has a bit of a naming convention depending on the product type, for instance their headsets are linked to sea creatures, their keyboards are spider related and mice all seem to borrow their names from snakes.

As a long time World of Warcraft player, I became very aware of my epeen, i.e. my ability to goad over other players about something I had virtually. This was most likely because everyone was playing together in the same world, so you could oftentimes see what other people had accomplished with their characters just from the way their character was equipped. Of course, I would never run around with some ultra rare loot taunting people, I’m not the type, I was more the silently proud, and wonder if other people thought, “damn, that’s cool” as I would when I saw such items on other players. What I really enjoyed in WoW, was collecting vanity pets, little characters that followed you around, like animals or robots. They served no purpose apart from looking cute and of course everyone else could see them. These pets you could buy in game for virtual money, sometimes you had to overcome difficult bosses to challenges to get them, or they were bundled with Collector’s Editions. This sparked my curiosity once again, I really wanted those pets, it wasn’t to say “I can afford an expensive version of this game” but just for the digital content for my collection. But I had missed the boat on that one.

Gran Turismo 5 was a game I was really looking forward to. They had a few versions of their game out, a standard one, a deluxe one which included some extra in game cars, and then the Signature Edition at a whopping price of (I think) £150. This was a whole new world of pricing for a Collector’s Edition for me. Admittedly the game came with a lot of stuff. Not only would you get the extra cars in game, but you also had a keyfob, several books, a die cast car for the shelf, a wallet, a USB dongle and an opportunity to enter a competition to win a £150k car. I couldn’t resist. I wanted that wallet, I wanted my car keys to sit on that fob. So I did. And I still use those items now, which somehow rationalized it in my head, I was getting something useful for my money. The extra cars in game also helped, allowing you to progress quicker instead of spending all my time working up to buy cars. Was it worth what I paid? Well maybe, the wallet is worth about £20, maybe £30 given the limited run, a key fob is probably £10, two books worth about £10 each, a model of a car, maybe another £10, a game £40, digital extras, £15, USB stick £5. Would I have bought all that stuff separately? No way! I’ve never even read the books. But the only way I could get to the stuff I wanted was to also get the items I didn’t want, and they knew that. As much as I rationalised that, I avoided Special Editions of games for a while. Even the MW3 and pending Mass Effect 3 editions, I’ve passed on.

But then came Star Wars: The Old Republic, and memories of the vanity pets in WoW came flooding back, and this is exactly what was included in the Collector’s Edition, along with another ridiculous price tag. I wasn’t after the statue that came with the game, I didn’t want the journal I could read, the soundtrack I could listen to, the poster I could put on my wall or the authenticator to secure my account. I wanted the little robot that followed my character about whilst I played the game. I wanted the holodancer that people could dance around, the flare gun that would rally my friend’s to my side. But more than all that, I wanted to get into the VIP lounge and visit the in game Collector’s Edition vendor to get super equipment that I could stare at and admire. I could not resist – albeit after a load of alcohol and very late at night, The Old Republic Collector’s Edition was ordered.

I was wrong.

The little robot looks dumb. The holodancer as a long cooldown. The flare gun is hardly noticeable because it shoots so high. The collector’s edition vendor sells expensive tat (although the Imperial Armour does look cool). But instead the statue of Darth Malgus sits proudly on my desk, I am reading through the Journal of Gnost-Dural, I listen to the soundtrack when walking the dog, and the poster adorns my computer area wall as a guide to the galaxy. Was it worth it? Not for my epeen, but for a physical reminder of a game I am currently playing and enjoying, I guess so. Would I buy it again? I dunno…

Are these extras we get with the most anticipated of games worth it? In pure monetary value, most of the time not. But are they worth it personally to us as something extra to show our commitment, our excitement about a game? That can only be answered by the person who bought it. In my case, probably.

So the show itself came to a brilliant finale which featured three celebrities who had become astounding dancers. There were 10s being awarded left, more left, right and centre, the “more left” shockingly referring to Craig and it was exciting all the way to the end. So well done to Harry and Alvioli (or something like that, I’m normally too transfixed to notice her name at the bottom of the screen). And, as was announced yesterday, a fond farewell to Alisha. I was never bothered about the drama surrounding her replacing Arlene, and thought she did a great job in conveying my perception of the dances. I wonder who will replace her? Perhaps she thinks there’s a new girl in town and her name’s Chelsee?!

After watching a few of the films and playing a few levels of the game with her, I must say I’m quite enjoying the gifts I bought. The two player options on Lego Harry Potter are great, especially how either of us can jump in or out as needed whilst the other goes to do real life tasks. I also like the large amount of secrets in the game, it’s not just a case of a simple game for kids, but the more obsessed amongst us can figure out the most cunning of secrets to unlock all the achievements.

So the only question tonight is whether it will be another film or another level?

I approached the beta with an open mind. It’s not the first time I’ve beta tested an MMO, and some of these have caught my attention better than others. But The Old Republic was different. I didn’t feel as if I was playing some unfinished product which I later find out is in fact the completed article. I didn’t look at features and think how other MMOs do it better. This game was good, it worked, and I was very interested.  

I couldn’t quite put my finger on what attracted me to it, but all I could think was familiarity. It had the combat style from World of Warcraft, the cut scenes style from Mass Effect and the voice acting of Lacey Chabert (actually that’s more of me just being attracted to her than the effect her voice has on the game). I wanted to play more, I wanted to see how the story ended.

Could this be the MMO that will finally attract the large numbers in the way that WoW has done? Heck, I don’t know if it will be at all popular, or if it has longevity, but I’ve pre-ordered it. And hopefully, come December 20^th, I’ll be there to find out the answers to these questions myself.

Even a long time ago there was a weight issue

It all started when my Lumia 800 went back to Nokia for repair recently. It came with a quirky WiFi issue, where it would drop connectivity and refuse to turn back on unless I restarted the device. It only happened every few days and I could have lived with it, but, why should I compromise? Since I had the Samsung Omnia 7 as a back-up, I thought it would be no hardship on my behalf, so off it went. But then I remembered when trying to remove the SIM from the Samsung, all hell had broken loose and there were bits of SIM card reader everywhere. I blame the kid in the Orange shop, he probably inserted the card with the finesse of a 7 tonne truck and got it stuck in there, leaving a surprise for the first time it was removed. Suddenly incommunicado, I had the task of looking through drawers and cupboards for the phones that time forgot, just hoping one of them would work.

There were a few options. Firstly was a HP Business Navigator running Windows Mobile 6. It had been my main phone for a long time, and I had loved it dearly. My only reason for changing it was a persistent battery shut off issue. But times had changed; I had seen the future and a step back into the Microsoft mobile OS past would require weeks of therapy. Next up there was: a Nokia walkman flip phone and a Siemens S65, both of which would no longer hold a charge; an O2 Cocoon which wouldn’t take my Orange SIM; and a Skype phone which was pink.

My last shot was a BenQ-Siemens S68 phone which I was provided with by work about five years ago. I remember it having the same slick interface as my Siemens S65, much faster than anything else I had ever used and a phenomenal battery life. So I went for it.

The phone powered up in an instantly recallable fashion. The greeting said, “Stop Exploring Loser” something I had changed from the stock BenQ one of “Keep Exploring”. The menu was familiar, the shortcuts I had programmed into the keys came flooding back. Composing a message using T9 was a bit of a learning process, but I was quick to pick it up. It may have been basic, but it could text and make calls. What more would I need? I still had my Samsung to play games on and check mail over WiFi, it was like having an iPad-non-3G and then a DumbPhone to make calls with.

But after a few days, I started to wonder if my memories had become corrupt. The battery was often lasting less than my Windows Phone handsets – weakened with aged, you might think? But no, this was down to the life being sapped out when it tried to find a signal in my faraday-cage-like office. And the snappy interface, which I remember being much better than other phones at the time, was actually quite slow. A click took time to register. I would fly past the words I was trying to spell in a text because I was too quick for the screen. On the other hand, without a SIM card and just WiFi on, the Samsung was lasting for days. These hey days of simple phones meaning a smoother experience weren’t true, admittedly, this was an old phone, it was even old fashioned when it came out, but the likes of the younger O2 Cocoon I had to pay to upgrade from because it was painful to wait for!

I’m not sure where my belief that non smart phones sported a huge battery life and responsive interface had stemmed from. It was certainly none of the phones I had owned. Perhaps Windows Mobile was that bad that it made these phones look good. But I had adored my Siemens phones, I had four of them, and the BenQ version was no different, how could I be so wrong?!

All I can be sure of now is that once my Nokia comes back, it’s no longer a case of Pros and Cons compared to a DumbPhone, it’s pros all the way.

BenQ-Siemens S68

Who’s Your Summer Movie Boyfriend?
Result: My summer movie boyfriend is: Sam Witwicky in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Well judging from his past girlfriends, that would mean that I was incredibly hot, so I guess I can live with that.

Which Confident Celeb Are You Most Like?
Result: I’m like Hilary Duff — I’ve got quiet confidence!
She seems quite loudly confident to me… I’ve seen that music video where she is wearing very little!

Are You Too Needy?
Result: You’re giving him too much space!
Wait, guys never complain that you’re giving them too much space! I am a guy, this quiz is wrong!

Who’s Your Celeb Beauty Match?
Result: You Should Try Blake Lively’s Natural Look!
Probably because I said I don’t wear makeup.

What Should You Get Your Guy for His Birthday?
Result: You Should Get Him: Tech!
Well this was probably the most obvious quiz I’ve done in a while. No, wait, here come the Twilight ones…

Which Girl from Twilight Are You?
Result: You’re Bella Swan
Well thank goodness… because I can’t think of any other girls in Twiglet.

Which Twilight Guy Should You Date?
Result: You Should Be With Edward Cullen!
Seriously? I could make up a load of questions and just say Edward at the end too so teenage girls would convince themselves that the shiny vampire was perfect for them. The wolf guy was way hotter.

What Type of College is Best for You?
Result: You Should Go to a Small Private School!
That’s probably because I said dorms are dirty.

Which Short Haircut is Best for You?
Result: You Should Try a Pixie Cut!
I might try this…

Which Hairstyle Should You Try?
Result: The Hairstyle You Should Try is: Bella Thorne’s Long Waves and Bangs
I probably shouldn’t try this.

So there we go, all my inner teenage girl questions answered. If you fancy giving it a go, head over to their webpage at www.seventeen.com (if it’s working).

Then we came to Sunday’s show, which just kept going and going. The acts sung 19 songs each (or it felt like that). There were constant cuts to hopeful friends and family members, who the audience have no emotional investment in. They went back to the silly idea of having the same song for all the finalists, but also making them both sing it. I was really quite bored by the whole process. At least Coldplay were there and they did eventually announce the winner.

But this has to be my favourite part, almost the reason why I watch the show: the voting statistics of who was top and runner up each week, which can be seen at this site, http://xfactor.itv.com/2011/news/story/read_the-x-factor-voting-numbers-revealed_item_100293.htm It seems young Janet had been dominating from the start, being at the top most weeks probably until she tripped up over the lyrics to Mmmmmm Bop and suddenly found herself in the bottom two. How fickle we are! Then we saw Little Mix who had been gaining positions throughout the competition, take the top slots for the remainder of the shows. Marcus was the funny one though. Someone who was a favourite from early on, only finished second three times, including the semi-finals and the final. He didn’t top the board once. It’s almost like he only just made it, whereas I couldn’t imagine a final without him.

Well, good luck to all the acts. I have no doubt we’ll see many of them emerging next year. And hopefully Sophie Habibis will be one of them – she was third one week!

X Factor Winners 2011