For the international readers out there, you may or may not be aware that the Australian government is planning to introduce an Internet Filter to censor “inappropriate material” from the Internet. There is no opt-out option and a pilot program is in the works to filter 10,000 URLs. Initial tests show that the filtering has an adverse effect on connection speeds relative to the accuracy of the filters and exhibited signs of “overblocking”, where legitimate sites were treated as false positives. Arstechnica has a neat article on the technical side of things.

If this travesty goes ahead, I doubt it’s just going to stop at a simple blacklist. So, hypothetically, I predict I’ll be experiencing the following:

• I won’t be able to use any mIRC commands, since the slash (”/”) key will be filtered out.
• Attempting to fire guns in online games I play will reset my PC, write 0s to my hard drive several times over, and spontaneously combust.
• News will consist of human interest stories about puppies. And nothing else.
• Any websites about “prawnography” will be banned.
• Bomberman will be declared an enemy of the state.
• All Wikipedia entries will be replaced with a single page showing Our Benevolent Overseer, Senator Conroy.
• Cleopatra, aka the “Queen of the Nile”, will be banned due to its gambling-related content.
• The Federal Government’s website will be banned due to its political content.

Anyways, I can’t see it going too far.

I haven’t been using this as an emotional outlet, but I think I’m at the all-important crossroads in my life.

I’m starting to come to terms with the idea that I have made a responsible career choice, rather than an enriching one.

I’m willing to change, but I’m not quite ready. It’s going to take a lot of preparation, commitment and patience.

I’m going to talk options through with people, but I think I know where I want to go.

I’ve stopped on the path and turned in the general direction. Now all that’s needed is a series of steps towards an overgrown, murky darkness.

Alter Ego has a portfolio of projects on their site, attempting to bridge the infamous “uncanny valley“.

I’m all for the advancement of technology. I love pretty graphics. I marvel at how we manage to represent breast physics more and more accurately with each passing moon. We have come so far, from a handful of pixels on screen at once to trillions of the buggers, complete with post-processing.

But, at the risk of sounding like one of those senile old porchers who yell unintelligibly at dog walkers (I have some strange people in my neighbourhood), I don’t like the idea of focusing too much on graphics, partly due to the following reasons:
(more…)

Well, the past few weeks have been a bit dramatic for me so far, but I’m willing to put up with a bit more.

I’m going to be moving this brain dump over to some paid hosting for a bit more flexibility and storage. It’ll all be somewhat new to me, but I’m quietly confident.

Once I go over the Ts & Cs then we can take the various steps to get this beast up and running. I just wonder how I’m going to pull all my content over…

I’ll admit it - I’m thinking of bringing my 360 overseas. Yes, a 6 month adventure should not be sullied by the presence of a gaming console. Maybe if I was staying there for a couple of years, sure. Then it would be a necessity - you can only go to so many places in so short a time frame. But 6 months is still a bit too short for my tastes. Plus I’d probably get arrested at Heathrow…all those electronics = bomb, obviously.

Anyway, some titles I’m looking forward to this year:

• Devil May Cry 4 - But of course. I have the sinking feeling that they’re going to screw it up; it’s going to be like DMC2 but next-gen. Oh well, I’ll always have DMC3 to fall back on.
• The Club - I suppose the “battle royale” concept behind this game isn’t terribly unique. In fact, it’s just glorified deathmatch. But it’s piqued my interest, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on it.
• Army of Two - A game that is actually based on co-op? Woohoo, someone was listening.
• Silent Hill 5 - There were 4 games before it: they must be onto something. Seriously though; the series is so fucked up that I can’t pull myself away. Eagerly anticipating this one.
• Condemned 2: Bloodshot - The original was a bit of a sleeper hit, and I can imagine it wouldn’t have connected well with the “when the fuck do i get the big gun” audience. Personally I liked it, a lot. There’s just something about hitting someone with a locker door and watching their teeth go flying.
• Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - Hooray! The trailer for this was pretty uninspiring, but if it’s anything like the original then definitely looking forward to this one.
• Spore - Control the fate of your species as it moves through the various evolutionary phases. Can’t get much more original than that.
• Grand Theft Auto 4 - We’ll see if the dates get knocked back, but that multiplayer mode is looking good, as well as everything else.
• Alan Wake - So…it’s going to be released this year, right? Right?

I’m certain some have slipped my mind - feel free to jog my memory.

So here we are, another year. You made it to the start of a new one - how special do you feel?

All in all, last year was a good one for me. I worked somewhat hard, and now I’m playing hard. I performed satisfactorily in my job (here’s hoping); I got past my little postgrad degree at the same time; I managed to finish off some games while I was at it…and now I’m looking forward to my 6-month stint overseas.

I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions - they have the lasting effect of the taste of chewing gum. There’s a reason why people are still saying, “I’m going to quit smoking” or “I’m going to lose weight”. I’m all up for Life Resolutions - things to do before you die. And since we can drop off at any minute, we may as well narrow it down to Daily Resolutions. You know, one step at a time and all that.

So what are my Life Resolutions, you say? I’d respond by saying one life is enough to worry about - you don’t need to concern yourself about mine.

Anyway, here’s to all of you resolving stuff.

Well, tomorrow is the big day of our Federal Election. Vote with your head, not with your heart.

Being the fine upstanding Australian citizen that I am, I have opted to actually help out at one of these polling places in my local electorate (if you’re in the Ryde area, come and say hey). I think I’ll just be doing vote monkey work, which includes vote counting after 6pm. I actually imagine it’s going to be quite busy, since there are quite a few residentials nearby…hopefully places like the nearby Church and the local bowlo will take some of the weight off.

But yeah, the main point is that I’ll be making myself a nice little packet. Ooh, yeah. Oh, and to contribute in the decision-making process of the people, of course. That goes without saying.

Okay, gotta get some rest for my blissful 7:30 start tomorrow.