Driving the future

Today will be more of a rant than anything. With pressure being piled on by society, media, family and friends for young people to learn to drive I think it is important for all of us to be good role models to the next generation. Most of us do it everyday, we hop into the car and commute to our places of work or go to the shops etc. We follow the rules of the road and respect our fellow drivers, or at least most of them, on a daily basis.

So why prey tell have a just witnessed a parent dropping off their child for their test, not only wishing them no luck with the test, but constantly and consistently complaining about how their vehicle is going to get clamped because they have parked illegally. I don't really know about you, dear reader, but I don't think going into a test about road safety, after being driven there by a parent who, by the sounds of things at least, refuses to obey the simplest of rules of the road. 

Furthermore I don't think that it's very wise to stomp into the reception area and aggressively demand to know where they need to go, you already know that you are in the right building and the right place, so stop being so inconsiderate and show your child some support...

Crawl Out Through The Fallout

My love of gaming may have become apparent in a previous post about where the controller system is going. And after this post (or maybe even the title) it will be pretty obvious what I have been playing recently, so let's begin.

After my recent gaming experience I decided to look into fallout/doomsday/apocalypse shelters/bunkers. Now we all hear fear mongering stories about how atomic war is coming or that one day a huge meteor will strike the earth, wiping out life as we know it. Since we can't always depend of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck to save us from such things it would appear that people have begun to make preparations. There are a few companies here in the UK that will build you one a shelter or bunker, provided you have the land and caps/money to fund it. But the main thing I've been looking at is to see if there is a company similiar to the one in the game.

And it would appear there is. A company has build a massive underground bunker (or 'vault' if you want) in which humanity can live on, safe from the radiation that would plague the surface. The main bunker is somewhere in Europe, for obvious reasons the precise location is classified. And I'm assuming there are others around the world. Essentially the deal is that you buy your way into the bunker, receiving a discount if you have vital skills, presumably military or medical backgrounds and possibly even engineering in case some of the technology develops a fault. 

So what does life have in store whilst you're waiting for the fallout to die down to a safe level. Honestly the details are a little vague but it's pretty much paradise, assuming there are several bars and restaurants, although I would imagine the food and drink choices would be quite limited, and an indoor pool and gym to make sure you can still get exercise, something underground life would really be suited for. Of course you get your own living quarters complete with lounge and bedroom. From the images available to the public the facility itself seems very luxurious. And the cost of this luxury? Well I'm afraid they are a little vague on that side of things as well, at least on the Europe based one, one of their smaller bunkers will set you back $35,000 for each adult. 

My concerns lie with this, for us simple folk, trying to scrape a living together, is it worth it. Personally I think that paying that much money for something that might not even be needed is not worth it, I'd much rather spend my money enjoying the life I have, rather than preparing for it to end...

Don't think my heart was in it

After re-reading my recent post of come to the conclusion that my heart wasn't in that topic, to be honest I can't even remember how the idea came about. From time to time I will make a quick note on my phone about topics or thoughts I could write about, but the notes don't get very detailed, so when the words 'petrol money' are sat on their own I can only assume it's because I want to rant about it. 

Some people, if I have regular readers at this point, have probably noticed it's been a while between posts, that is because I have been researching something that I find interesting and a little amusing so on that note, it's time to get to writing...

I'll give you petrol money

A phrase that every driver at some point will hear is "I'll give you money for petrol." Or at least something similiar. These offers usually come from friends or family that don't drive and are asking you to take them somewhere. Usually they would offer up a somewhat modest sum, which, depending on the drivers character, is more that often declined and the 'lift' is offered with no charge. Occasionally though it doesn't quite work like that...

Let's first start with the friend who has no concept of the price of fuel, this can either go well for the driver, if they are of a low moral standing at least, when the friend offer a substantial amount of money for a short journey that would cost much less if they called a taxi. At the other end of the scale is the friend who has no concept of the price of fuel and so offers next to nothing for your trouble. This is generally because they don't understand how much it actually costs to run a vehicle or more likely they are just tight with their money.

So, I think there should be a bit of generalisation, for example, if you invite yourself or are asked to go somewhere then usually no money should change hands, the journey was being made anyway, the extra weight in the vehicle will cause the engine to use more fuel, but not a substational amount. The same applies if you invite a friend to go with you somewhere, such as the cinema or out for a meal, the usual inclination is that you would then pay for snacks or buy a drink or similar. The only real time money should change hands is if the trip benefits you.

A Gentleman's Rules

The etiquette of the gent's bathroom has always astounded me, it seems bizarre when you actually think about it and yet we still comply to the social convention, even if we don't realise it. 

There are a few rules when it comes to using a public convenience, but the first and foremost is that 'gap' rule. Whether it is for a row of urinals or a 'trough' if there is somebody else there a gap of one urinal or a space big enough for another person must be left. If this is not possible you should wait, only in times of real desperation can this rule be broken. I should point out that this is not to leave space for another person, as the rule states that he must then leave a gap, no the reason behind it is, well it varies, the more childish person believes that if you stand next to somebody they will peek at you, personally I follow this rule in case of backsplash, it happens, especially in a public house. 

So, following the rule, imagine there is no space at the urinals, so either one of two choices are left, either wait for one to become available or use a cubical, or 'stall'. Most would probably think at this point the social etiquette is no longer required, being surrounded by walls and usually a lockable door surely would prevent peeking and/or backsplash. While this is true the social convention still stands, if there are three cubicals and the far left is taken you never use the middle cubical and always opt for the far right. This, I'm afraid, I cannot explain, it bewilders me as much as you I would imagine but that is how the etiquette works. 

And that ladies and gentlemen is the gent bathroom etiquette, so next time somebody takes the urinal next to you, make sure you give them a little tut from me...

Happy new year

Another year has come and gone, welcome to 2016. Having to work New Year's Day meant that I wasn't able to fully celebrate the coming of the new year, however it did mean I was able to witness something beautiful. 

For the first time I am attaching 'media' to a post. Ladies and gentlemen, the first sunrise of 2016 (UK). Please note this was taken on a camera phone, I am not a professional photographer etc etc...

Hail the controller

Over the years I have played many different games on a variety of devices, whether it's been on PC or console, from tapes to CDs, I've been there for them all. As we have progressed through the 'technology tree' these devices, although mainly consoles, have altered the controllers with which we play. 

After looking back at some of the controllers of 'yester-year' I have noticed just how much they have changed. Starting with a typical joystick used for PC gaming all the way to the console controllers we use today. And gone are the days of wrapping wires only to find that after a while the plastic coating splits and you find yourself desperately trying to find the other one. My thoughts are mainly on older controllers for the consoles that take cartridges (younger readers may get confused at this point). 

After looking back at some of them I have come to realise that the developers of the past must never have seen human hands before, the controllers always seemed to have extra handles to hold or too many buttons to operate without using your toes as well as fingers. Some consoles got it right, giving us three buttons on the right, usually operates using your thumb and a D-pad on the left, again your thumb was ample to operate. But then they went and made the casing in the most bizarre shapes, although it looked practical when first picked up it was near impossible to hold comfortably. And now, 'wands'. 

The 'wand' controller was a good attempt at making gaming a bit more of an active experience. An infrared (or similar) sensor would track the movement of it meaning you would have to phyisically move to play the game, good idea right? Not really as most of the gamers soon discovered that you could play to exactly the same extent by simply flicking it up and down from the comfort of your armchair. 

Keeping to the same kind of design some consoles have got it right, keeping the same amount of buttons, a sturdy and well crafted design and nicely spaced controller. However as the technology advances the consoles want to try and out do PC games, which usually offer a bit more of extensive control with use of both keyboard and mouse (would you look at that a control system that works), but in order to do that they must add extra functions. So shoulder buttons were added and extra buttons under the usual 'diamond' on the right hand side. In addition to the D-pad, 'sticks' were added, then they could be pressed down for additional functions. So as the world of gaming progresses we seem to be regressing to the days of old, misshapen controllers with too many buttons, when will the controller madness end and will we all be driven to PC gaming because of it, only time will tell...