Steven Harrison's Blog

Book 14 on Roheryn

Steven — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:26:04 +0000

Book 14 has made it to Roheyrn today, and if you download the client with the Turbine Download Manager, you’ll get the high-res textures.

Release notes for book 14 are here.

Dye Preview Coming to LOTRO

Steven — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:38:52 +0000

Sick and tired of wasting money, time and resources to dye an article of clothing in LOTRO only to find out you didn’t like the end colour? That’s all about to change with book 14.

Toshiba Unveils Laptop With Cell-derived Chip

Steven — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:26:37 +0000

Toshiba have been promising hardware with a Cell-based processor inside it for some time now. An article on PC World (via digg) looks like this is one step closer to becoming more than just vapourware.

In Keyboard Heaven

Steven — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:33:41 +0000

In the market for a new keyboard, but can’t justify the cost of the Optimus Maximus? At almost $2000, the Optimus Maximus is a bit spendy (but awfully pretty nevertheless).

However, the soon-to-be-released Das Keyboard could be worth a look. As it uses mechanical switches, it should be just as good to work on as the IBM M keyboard, and last just as long. You can even get it with no keymarkings, thus forcing you to learn how to touch-type without looking at the keyboard.

I first encountered the IBM model M (part number 51G8572) as a new sysadmin, working on the RS/6000’s and have always been on the look out for a similar keyboard with a more modern style and the Das keyboard looks like it might fit the bill, plus it’s priced right too.

Please Call off ABC’s Mission to Mars

Steven — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:57:04 +0000

Some enterprising young scoundrel leaked a pre-air version of ABC’s remake of Life on Mars to Mininova. I liked the original, and thought I’d give it a try.

I had to stop watching half way through. It was truly awful. Watch the original instead, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favour.

Thinking About Entering the Gaming Industry? Think Again…

Steven — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:20:17 +0000

Love computer games and thinking of doing a gaming design degree? Pick your course carefully as the BBC reports that only 4 out of the 81 courses on offer at UK universities are accredited.

This could end up being a huge problem for the current generation of students. The gaming industry could seem like easy money for them, especially when they learn that a key demographic for traditional media (i.e television) is playing more and more video games, and spending less and less time watching TV. Having played games themselves, the gaming industry could look like easy money to them.

According to the BBC few courses are requiring mathematics A-level in an attempt to attract students, but students who do not have a solid foundation in maths will encounter significant problems when it comes to game design and programming.

If you’re looking to go into the games design industry, a background in mathematics and science will serve you better than playing the games themselves.

Speeding Drivers Bitten Twice by Fuel Costs

Steven — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:09:17 +0000

As if driving a car wasn’t expensive enough these days, the police force in Holly Springs, Atlanta are passing the rising costs of fuel onto their residents by making the speeders pay for the cost of fuel burned when catching them.

Unsurprisingly, switching from the traditional Crown Victoria’s to Dodge Chargers didn’t help reduce fuel consumption, as Chrysler vehicles are notoriously fuel-hungry

From ajc.com via PistonHeads

An Early Concept of the Internet

Steven — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:16:35 +0000

The NY Times (via Digg) has an interesting story on Paul Otlet, and his vision of a global network of information storage systems that predated the Internet by 30-40 years.

The Diamond Jubilee of the SSEM

Steven — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:30:46 +0000

This month marks the diamond Jubilee of the Small Scale Experimental Machine - the Manchester SSEM - the first computer to execute a stored program.

More information here

First Post

Steven — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:13:42 +0000

Here we go - the first post on my new blog.

Knowing me, I’ll probably get bored within 10 minutes, hopefully it’ll last longer!