Olly Roberts

DS Grows up

2009-04-02T12:24:00.003Z

The DS games, have always been a little bit...... arse.
No one bothered to do anything more than the blatently obvious with the touch screen, the graphical capaibilties and the Dual screenyness of it, and if they did marginally push the envelope a little, they only ever concentrated on one of the three.
That and the average age for the games being about 3, (See "nintendogs and other such criminal excuses for entertainment) being my justification for my opening comment.

Fear no more, 2009 has already seen some GEMs of console gameplay, and not just in comparison to the PSP and iphone. the Wii is just not accurate enough a medium, and underpowered in my opinion, the Xbox and the PS3 may have the raw power, but innovative gameplay is limited to one screen, and a heap of buttons, sticks and analogue throttles.
close, but no cigar.
While previously, Zelda was about as good as the DS got, (dont get me wrong zeldas excellent but it has been overshadowed) the new developments really are pushing the limit of the device, im suprised the card hasnt got hot running some of these....

GTA Chinatown Wars; Ultimate gangland Sandbox, in its finest form. top down view was classic, and in my opinion as soon as it went 3rd person, it went rubbish and i lost all interest.
the new rendition, is better than both, and excells so much more with the quite frankly PERFECT use of the DS capabilities.
110% balanced use of Pad buttons,stylus required touchscreen, and thumb based touchscreen menu handling.

From the Abyss: a Classic looking RPG, bashing monsters and picking up spells, again perfectly controlled use of the touch screen for thumb based organisation of items and skills, AND to top it off, seamless co op with another DS over wifi connection.
tick.

Shaun White DS: touch controlled snowboarding, top notch soundtrack, and excellent gameplay. the only fault, no videos on OooToob, so ill use this Webcam jobby instead.

i hope youve found this thrilling... Can you tell im bored?

2008-12-17T20:42:00.000Z

I'm sittin' at a coffee table, unable to see straight
Watchin' parallel lines unwind and undulate
Behind the rain-streaked windowpane, the scene's bleak
Another train leavin' home,
conceding defeat with a low moan
Hangin' in A sky, made of stone
Everybody's leavin' home, I called my man Jerome
To come meet me in the twilight zone
Leave your mobile phone at home and come alone
I bought him coffee and a snack,
settled back, started speakin'
He was tweakin' with the peak of his cap
While I'm seekin' to discover what it takes to stay sober
Not cover my mistakes,
try to maybe make sense of the evidence
It's over, she's gone for good
Why should I lie, singin' a killer's lullaby
Identified by the dying ring of her goodbye
The last thing you hear before your life disappear

Now it just gets worse, like my stomach 'll burst,
feel like I've been cursed.
With seven centuries of bitter memories
And inadequacies, previous he's and she's
I'm movin' round this old house for the last time
Scene of my past crimes, been here for lifetimes
Hearin' the chimes of the old clock that used to mock
You got eternity for takin' stock,
this place is like a padlock
You look shocked.
Trust me, nothing ever moves but the dust,
There's just us and I'm here to torment and tease
And that's how it was for centuries
Me and my memories, till you brought the keys
Took the couple of Saturdays
I moved in runnin' from tragedies and boozing
Seven hundred years since I came here
You appear, same hair, same quizzical stare
I couldn't get near,
And the sheer frustration was more than I could bear
I was really cursed, thought I'd been through the worst part
That was just the first part, just the start
Every night I'd be sitting with dread, breaking my heart
In case the man she'd been chasin' gets to first base
And I just can't escape, I'm in bad shape
You making love to someone else is more than I can take
And so I make all the movement I can to no avail
Scream and yell, sinkin' deeper into my personal hell

I'm getting heated, I'm sorry, have another coffee
I needed to release my sparrow chest from just a piece of this pressure
Unless an escape route is found,
I'm going down underground
Into lifetimes of pain, it's absurd
The heaviest chain is contained is the sound of one word
So I'm referred back to hell, huh
Just as well, I hate needles an' get twinges at the thought
of syringes

J (as in Jerome), I'm going insane with shame
I dream and watch her makin' love over and over again
With what I call a farmer's swain
Unintelligent, pea-brained retard who's dick is always hard
Oh God, of course I'm jealous, fellows,
oversexed flexing his pec's
Jesus, what's he going make her do next?
I'm mad vex, the way she gently scratches his chest
You used to do that to me back in 1253
Pity me, while you lie with your lover
I stare and suffer in despair while you ruffle his hair
Unaware of who else is there
I move quick, I want to try my trick one last time
You know it's possible to vaguely define my outline
When dust move in the sunshine
So I'm tryin' to change, vibrate myself to near-human pitch
Which reminds me how I used to come unstitched
And switch 'round the house in a blind rage
It took years and an ocean of tears to find the key to this
cage
And write another stage into a new age,
it's difficult to gauge
But I know that I'll see you again, on that you may depend
I just don't know how or when
Sleep on, my lost love I'm gone

Jerome took me home under steel skies
Knowing I'm prone to dramatize but unknown for telling lies
And what I verbalize he can see behind my eyes
The why oh why's that identify killer lullabies
And he surmised
No surprise couldn't hear that
Closed my eyes as he steered that old black BM home again
Not knowing how and not knowing when.

Hey!

2008-10-28T22:10:00.001Z

Quite like the harmonising by these crazy foreigners.

Johnny Lee - Carnegie Mellon University

2008-10-26T20:14:00.002Z

This chap, can see, nay is writing the future!

DS homebrew controls DSLR

2008-10-26T14:09:00.000Z

DS homebrew controls DSLR camera - DS Fanboy

"Usually when we think of homebrew, we think of awesome games and tech demos and things like that. Not this, which is brought to us by Steve, who wished to work with his camera out in the real world, but didn't want to drag his bulky laptop around with him everywhere he went. So, he came up with his own solution by hacking a DS to work with his big fancy Canon camera, which allows him to do precise shooting and mess with a whole bunch of other settings. Good job, Steve!"

Pinched as is from DSfanboy, but rather nifty no less.

NDS homebrew

2008-09-02T20:08:00.002Z

it turns out, There is SO much cool stuff for the DS!

I am converted from microsofts raw power in gaming, to the gadgetyness of nintendos and the DS quite easily having tried and tested. but the possibility for homebrew on the DS just takes it to a whole new level!
people making thier own games for a console that might as well ave been designed with homebrew in mind. its perfect for the job!

I may have mentioned the most excellent web game, crayon physics before in the past.
well now someones made a version for the DS;

pocket physics
draw shapes and structures, define thier physics and apply gravity.

its a shame gravity is so removed in an artifical world isnt it.....

NO! an NDS motion pack! a homebrew handful of a accelertometers and gyroscopes that plug into slot2 allow you to convert your static DS into a motion sensing.... thing of motion sensing.

what fun!!

Other homebrew freeware programs that i'm going to have to look into?

an FTP server (allowing you to access files on computer from the DS via wireless technology)
a remote for your computer, view the monitor via the screens and control all functions, again via wifi.
use it as a skype mobile
use the DS as a wireless game pad for PC

go homebrew!

..... Holiday

2008-08-05T21:28:00.001Z

Cnigt, ish
Originally uploaded by olly rob.

.....[continued from MTB side]..... and while in North wales we did some walking. I've not been walking since DofE, which was YAARS ago.
it was great.
Now I want to live in Wales again though :(
any Geotech-consultancies in Wales?

Confusion

2008-05-19T22:00:00.001Z

As the last post, of around 20 minutes ago, on MTBwaffleblog may indicate. confusion runs awry at the moment. Having been working for coming on six months, I've still got no money. Sure, I've bought a car, which explains quite a chunk. but money coming in is offset by my rather expensive diesel/nutrition habit (in that order). More beer tokens are passing through my grasp than I've ever seen in my whole (hugely extensive 22 year) existence. I'm still not getting to grips with it, and if I don't soon, the insurance will be round again (for one of many) and I wont have the tokens to appease the man. I need to declutter my life. I've needed to declutter my life for a while now, but a surfeit of bike "spares" and tat are taking their toll. My registry is suffering, in both Windows and the real world. I've aimed to do this before, but it has never worked out massively well due to a lack of inclination to wrap stuff up for the fleabay people. perhaps I shall just give it away to a better cause. that's a much better idea. Broken set of forks, perhaps someone has a pair with the other half broken, and could make a whole. a much better use for them than cluttering up the garage. The same applies for some tired MPH disk brakes. not massively useful for me, but some one who wants a foray into the wonderful world of disk brakes for the price of a pint may. I shall keep you [sporadically] informed. x

Working Animals

2008-04-17T19:56:00.001Z

Just as well I ended up with a big engine mefinks, a week of lugging glass and water and site crap has made quite a dent in my MPG, but not as much of a dent as it would have made in a smaller engine

Still yet to have bikes in it, but that's tomorrow evenings excitement. It has exceeded way beyond expectations, which is always good. Still needs a name though ^o)

Windows Live Writer!!

2008-04-13T19:40:00.001Z

Oh my! that IS slick. well done Bill, youv'e pipped Mozilla again at long last. Perhaps this is the beginning of the return from the brick of being eaten alive by Google. "Revenge of the...."kind of thing. Though I do have a horrible feeling they are watching me again ^o) invade my computer will you 8-).

Ill have to try out some of these other functions soon, let me see, "Insert Map" (I must say I do like livemaps muchly) "insert video"

where is all this junk getting stored??

Though you do seem to have eaten my last post, perhaps that was an edit button rather than a "new post" button.

doh

Well ill stick in a screenshot again, in celebration of being able to "throw stuff" into Blogger :)

Girls on Bikes

2008-01-31T21:48:00.001Z

Kind of bike related really, but from some reason i felt like putting it here.

The ever so creepy, tiny bit pervy; http://copenhagengirlsonbikes.blogspot.com/
Though with driving rain and snow forcast at the moment, i'm a bit less inclined to go to work on my bike, when ive got my saddle and lock back, i'll be back in the game.

Cant wait :D

Mobile maps

2008-01-28T19:08:00.000Z

Although the new Microsoft live maps version of google earth absoloutlyleaves google standing at the moment, google DO have google maps for yo' phone.

and it works, and you can find where you are, and a sattelite view route of how to get where you want to be.
its ace (though not amazingly cheap to run at aroun 110kb a screen.
downloading and having a good look around derby cost me 2quid worth of DL time (but i get 4 quid amonth free) we will see how quick i use up the remaining 2 quid!

downloady here (they send you a link by txt and you download it through your phones browser)

Another Chapter

2008-01-23T17:18:00.000Z

Mejin Desk, 'puter, and Phil

Looks like i made it to employment afterall! has all been quiet on the western front sorry, its been a hectic few weeks thanks to moving house and starting work and all sorts of giggles.
nehoo. a few pictures for y'all

On the road with Ady, woo, Birkenhead

Earthship

2007-11-30T13:08:00.000Z

though im not quite sure why he's called it "earthship", cause its blatently not a ship, its a house.
but then again, its pretty awesome.

Part 1

Part 2

I think personally i may streamline his power and water systems, i'm sure they work fine, but look like they are held together with zipties and tape.
Modular housing is awesome, i want to be a modular housing designer.
Mike's a Hippy

http://www.earthship.net/

CaloriesTANmakeup

2007-11-28T11:25:00.000Z

I'm sure its just me, with too much time on my hands and not enough excitement in life, but this is really getting on my boobs.

How come, there are two types of calories? Wikipedia explains:

calorie was never an SI unit. Modern definitions for calorie fall into two classes:

The small calorie or gram calorie approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C. This is about 4.184 joules.
The large calorie or kilogram calorie approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 °C. This is about 4.184 kJ, and exactly 1000 small calories.

Basicly, this allows companies to put on the front of the packets for food "only 15 calories!!"
while on the reverse, it says "15,000 calories"
why should the figures be different by a factor of a thousand for people who read the front and people who read the back?
Its not like it matters, as long as you keep reading the same side of the packet, but its daft!
at least, the front of the back should say gramcals, in the same way the back says Kcals
I think nutrition companies are using the fact that the system is antique and full of holes in its standards, to thier advantage, and convincing people incorrect information (which i guess is what advertising is all about, especially when aimed at the fairer sex)
grrrrr!
speaking of which, I am resigned to the fact that the makeup and beauty industry is taking the piss with thier claims at bit. "Seven signs of aging", i can only count two; getting older, not getting younger. grrr. but i saw an advert today, for some cacky face cream for men, only the advert was aimed at women :S
"buy this product for your chap and he will feel rejuvinated and look younger in half an hour" or something. That strikes me as being almost exactly the same as a kid asking his dad for something, getting told no, and then going and askin his mum and making daddy out to be a faccist.
grrrrrrrrr and grrr
ide become a terrorist or something, except i dont need to bother, cause L'oreal and Mabeline (maybe shes born with it, maybe shes been the victim of a makeupshotgun) wont be getting a penny off me.
arsewipes

P.S, the TAN refers to tangent, not orange in a bottle. grrrrr, fake tan, grrrrr

Samorost

2007-11-09T23:29:00.000Z

Officially the best thing on the interweb so far! go play samorost 1 and 2, 2 is a smidgen better in every resepct but 1 is the original i guess, and still excellent.
a really detailed but still simple game based on exploting the surroundings with the mouse pointer, finding things that do stuff, and linking the actions togther to solve the puzzles
and some awesome graphics (1 has a few low points, like photographic faces which dont fit the feel of the game, and a bit of clipart (sick) but all in all, awesome.
total play time about half an hour if you havent played it before i would say

Clicky:

Samorost 1

Samorost 2

Outrage

2007-10-31T20:50:00.001Z

Thought i'd dust off the car today, as its been about 4 years, and got a bit carried away. washers in all the pushings to stop the chassis rattling, regreased the gearbox, cleaned all the contacts, cleaned and setup the shocks properly (oil dampened progressive coils dont you know, eat that Tamia Fighter Buggy with your crappy plain coils on plastic sliders)
could do with a new speed controller as the metal contacts are pretty worn and its reluctent to reverse, perhaps i'll be persuaded to spend a couple of quid on an electronic one off fleabay (parrently they improve battery life too)
tis much faster than i remember! could do with new tyres as slips and slides all over the shop at the moment.
Bwarp!

This week i 'ave been mostly drinkin'

2007-10-18T15:59:00.001Z

...Asda Extra speccy columbian fairtrade coffee. bit over roasted for me mefinks, and now we know for next time...

of grass being greener, and growing faster, on the other side

2007-10-15T21:05:00.001Z

from what i understand (and it is understandable) people spend their entire (genuinely entire) working lives trying to escape the cube farm. so how come no one will let me in one?!?!

i'm praying (yes its getting religious) that once driving is undercontrol i should get in to one without toooo much of a problem, and im getting all the dim replyio applications out of the way for free. I'm telling everyone this, but that only highlights how little there is going on in my life at the moment; categorically, nothing.)

Then again, maybe i'm just not what people are looking for. call me a pessimist.... "you pessamist"... but outlook at the moment is so bleak.
Am bored of the everlasting holiday, and hoovering and mowing are getting repetative, the grass dosent grow fast enough to warrent it, and the carpet dosent bloody grow at all!
the Cat and I are going to get fat.

Streamlined contol

2007-10-08T18:33:00.001Z

Streamlined contol
Originally uploaded by olly rob.

The old control system was
A: not very stong due to its vertical configuration
B: Rubbish because of poor valve set up. each move built up more and more pressure in the system and eventually it became very heavy to move. now it has "ports" (missing hoses) to let out the used air, and allow for much smoother lighter action. i moved the horizontal pivot piston too to allow for a wider range of movement with less load.
I'm sure you are as impressed as I am.

Webcam

2007-10-08T11:23:00.001Z

Latest lego thingy. a Pneumaticly powered/controled gimble for a PlayStation2 Eyetoy.
iT should really run off a pump or a compressed air tank (apparenlty they are the basis for some of the lego robotics systems i found out afterwards) but it works ok-ish with a master cylinder.
an afternoons work well done mefinks!

Automower

2007-10-04T12:42:00.001Z

While looking for the correct spelling of Husqvarna for a raather witty msn message;

"By the power of my Husqvarna, i shall smite the crap out of you"

(i was strimming some long medow to within an inch of its life) i came across das Automower.
its pretty cool, and a nice idea. i dunno how much it would cost though.
However, the programming on it looks far too simple for my liking :S
its got no system to its mowing, a completley random pattern, which the website claims makes for a even lawn with no patter visible. but it also means there are little tufts which by the rules of chaos theory (if you can call them rules, being chaos) which will never get cut, or very rarely.
Anyhoo, the point i was getting at;
I could SO make a better one ;-p
and why isnt is solar powered too?

Tidy Monster

2007-09-27T11:52:00.001Z

The chair, is on its side.

Blutooth Pimpin'

2007-09-13T22:53:00.001Z

Pimpy Bluetooh headset anyone?

im thinking for both Skype and mobile
i bet it wont be cheap though :(

Yarr, one week to go, Yarr

2007-09-12T10:34:00.001Z

Avast. Wedesday the 19th be international Talk like a pirate day! Yarr!
dont forget maties!
For info, a charity song and other such guff... sail over too www.yarr.org.uk which be where i plundered this snippet from,

Double up on all your adjectives and you'll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. Pirates never speak of "a big ship", they call it a "great, grand ship!" They never say never, they say "No nay ne'er!"
Drop all your "g"'s when you speak and you'll get words like "rowin'", "sailin'" and "fightin'". Dropping all of your "v"'s will get you words like "ne'er", "e'er" and "o'er".
Instead of saying "I am", sailors say, "I be". Instead of saying "You are", sailors say, "You be". Instead of saying, "They are", sailors say, "They be". Ne'er speak in anythin' but the present tense!

if any further inclined to prepare for the great glorious day, clicky. If and landlubber and less enthralled, just wing with it