Determination

I am of the firm belief that I can do just about anything, should I decide to devote enough attention to it. It requires a healthy dash of me being interested in doing it in the first place, coupled with more than a touch of perseverance. In the case of this blog, I'm most certainly interested. The fact that I keep coming back to it shows that I'm determined. It's just that I so often forget about it, in favour of doing something a lot more interesting at the time. Like gaming.

So nothing has really happened over the last few weeks - still going to ReBOOT more or less constantly, though I did take some time off on Friday last week. All that would have happened is cleaning, and it had been a tiring week. Lots of lifting and wrapping and whatnot. This week is shaping up to be quite busy as well - got a large shipment of equipment to be recycled / refurbished, and we're spending all of tomorrow working on it. Or, at least, some of us will be. I may be drafted into building three identical PCs for a training group in Inverness.

I've slacked off on creating a list of all of my games, though I do have all of the PlayStation ones input. Again, it's something I'll get around to for a certainty; if there's anything I love more than gaming, it's making lists / filling in details. You'd never think it, what with my hatred for all things database related (MS Access, hisssss), but I've always been like that. I assume my room would really piss me off if I actually wanted it structured in the same way, but when it comes to the point that I'm buying games that I already own, it's definitely time to start taking notes. Next up is the PS2 collection, and I dread to think how many I've not completed... hell, never mind that, how many I've never even played.

On the brighter side of things, I've started Final Fantasy XII... again. This must be the third or fourth time now. Each previous attempt has resulted in boredeom with the plot (which is pretty tame, to say the least) or the battle system (which is basically a direct port of Vagrant Story). Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Vagrant Story is even in the same world as Final Fantasy XII...

*Checks*

It is as well! Ivalice gets everywhere - FF Tactics, FF XII, Vagrant Story... makes you wonder if the designers are getting a bit tired of making new worlds. I hear the fjords are particularly tricky.

WoW is coming along nicely - my Druid has some semi-decent healing gear, my Hunter is progressing through Northrend (albeit painfully slowly, much to the despair of my levelling partner), my other Druid is sitting pretty at 58, waiting for the aforementioned levelling partner to run through Scholomance once or twice before I rape Outland. Aside from that, my various other alts haven't budged more than a level or two. Always trying to strike a balance between the games and other pursuits.

Speaking of which, I trudged my way to the end of the Dune "sequels". I now fully agree with the majority of Dune fans in saying that Brian and Kevin have ruined the new novels - they are badly written and replete with plot holes, conveniences and petty storylines. Please, stop making them, or at least hook up a dynamo to Frank's grave so we can use the perpetual rotation as a green source of energy.

I moved from Dune to Pratchett, namely "Nation". Boy, does that start out depressing. Not in a "this is no good" way, but in a "calamity and woe" way. It's all very dark when compared to his other work, but the hilarity stands out all the more for it. A fantastic read - I'm glad I got around to it. Yes, I had a backlog of books as well, argh. Pretty sure it's gone, now. I dread to look in my cupboard, just in case any more jump out at me, demanding to be read. For now, I think I'll go back to one of my favourite trilogies - one that is barely even known: The Sea King Trilogy (Madbond, Mindbond, Godbond). Written in the first person, don't you know.

Another extensive blog! Brought to you by the power of Ye Olde Packarde Belle Keyboarde.

Another Keyboard

So I’ve gone one step further in my search for the perfect keyboard typing experience, and my travels have taken me back in time.  It occurs to me that the best part of my typing (the majority, if not the best quality) has always taken place on keyboards that are “clicky”.  Yes, that’s a technical term.  My laptop keyboard is like this to a degree, but not to the extent that I would like.

At work, I’ve come across one of the best keyboards in the entire world – it’s attached to a Dell Inspiron 8000 Laptop, however, so it’s not a viable addition or extension to my own laptop or PC.  But it did put me in mind of another keyboard that felt strikingly similar, if not identical – my old, old Packard Bell PS/2 keyboard.  It’s been sitting in the cupboard for years, ever since we gave away our old 100MHz Packard Bell machine (huge 1.14GB HDD, massive 32MB RAM).

Now, I’m not suggesting for a second that it’s a better keyboard than my shiny Logitech G15, but it’s certainly much nicer for typing.  The G15 is a gaming keyboard, and the keys are designed to be softer and more responsive.  When I’m typing, I take a certain amount of pleasure from having to hit the keys properly (another technical term that makes perfect sense).  To that end, I decided to take it out of the cupboard and put it to good use.

My quest to type more was cut short when I saw that little purple PS/2 connector – my laptop (like most others) does not possess a PS/2 connection.  Of course, there are billions of USB to PS/2 converters in the world, but the reverse of this is not so common.  Amazon soon sorted this dilemma, and I’m now the proud owner of a Belkin PS/2 to USB converter.  Spent around £5 for it, and while there were cheaper options, they all had complaints about keys not working, or the converter not working full stop.

The end result is one I’m very happy with – I’m typing from my new, old keyboard right now, and I can already sense that this is the solution.  Whole streams of thought are becoming easier to put to screen, with my fingers reporting their satisfaction at being connected to an adequate peripheral.

Now if I can just get some of the myriad ideas I have floating around in my head to stay put for long enough, perhaps I can being writing properly again.