5 out of 7 ain't bad

As meatloaf put it, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Ofcourse he was talking about girls, in my case I talk about the number of nights I've finished. That leaves me with 2 (tonight and tomorrow) and man I just can't wait for this weekend and new year!
This morning at around 6 I thought I'd manage to rest after working nonstop from 9pm the evening before, but then all that went down the drain when a very ill person came in to A&E, requiring two and a half hours of resuscitation and stuff. *sigh*
Hope everyone out there is OK. Sorry G-D is becoming dull, but real life sometimes takes it's toll on the much more superior virtual life.

Peace

So THAT'S what it is!

Man... woke up today around 17:30, got up to a TON of dishes that needed washing. Did that, then took the TON of rubbish out to the skip at last. Finally thought it would be good to have some "ASDA american fried chicken and chips", which needed 1/2 an hour in the oven.
Opened the oven and what do I find there? a TWO MONTH OLD half lasagne that was in a WELL ADVANCED decomposition stage!
The whiff was overwhelming! the whole flat instantly stank of rot, the oven was rendered invalid for at least a week, and I'm currently typing this with my eyes watering cos of the damn pong!
The funny thing is, for a few weeks every now and then I would smell something rotting in the flat but had no clue what it was. I looked all over the place for dropped pizza/dead rodents etc but still nothing! I just gave up on it and thought it was just me. But there you have it, that smell was non other than lasagne ala fungus.

Now I wonder if I can stomach the roast dinner I just microwaved... here's hoping!

Not-So-Good-Delicious!

Hi! It's you! GO AWAY

Not really sure why the title of this post is at it is. Any gamer worth their salt should recognise the quote from the cult classic, the Neverhood.
Anyhow, just wanted to update good delicious briefly. First and foremost a big MERRY XMAS to everyone out there. Hope things are much better next x-mas :)
I'm lucky enough to be working 7 nights (started yesterday, finishes new year's eve!), so my rhythm is going to be all topsy turvy until next year!
The mac is ok, the more I use it the more I realise how I was foolish in the past not to get my hands on one earlier. The system is absolutely gorgeous, and it's just how a computer should be.
And I guess that's it. There's a lot of gaming news and other stuff that I really should be putting here, but it's getting late now (20:40) and work starts at 21:00....

Merry X-mas y'all.

I know, I know, but this really made me laugh. Courtesy of the EXCELLENT little britain show

Trying to run a conversation and download something, ie CONFUSED!

You're NOT going to believe this

OK OK, sit down and be calm. Relax and take a deep breath.
I'm currently posting this from my new laptop! What's so shocking about that I hear you say? Well, this laptop happens to be a Powerbook 17". Which is, erm, ahem, made by.... APPLE!
Yes, your eyes don't fool you, the SoB has switched platfoms (well my main PC is still IBM + Windows)! To be honest, I'm still getting used to Mac OS X. It feels great to work with and literally drips with the style apple are really famous for. But being a windows whore for the last 9 years makes it a bit difficult to get used to something else. Add to that the fact that macs don't have a right mouse button, and we've got a problem Houston.
But still, the laptop itself is a piece of beauty. It's very light weight (about 3kg) and thin, with a big 17" screen and a slot loading (aka no tray) DVD burner superdrive. It also has MAC OS X (Panther) with the iLIFE suite installed.
A great thing about the system is that it's based on *nix so very stable and no viruses. Also, it sets itself up to be compatible with your existing network (in my case it seamlessly connected to my windows wireless network hassle free, and can read shared files from windows pc, and ofcourse use wireless internet).
For the time being, I'm happy. Let's see what happens in a week or so once I've calmed down :)

Till then, Good-mac-delicious!

It's here!

After going through some sort of madness and actually cancelling my pre-order for the nintendo ds, I actually managed to get my hands on one of these beauties (I had to ask a friend going to malasia to get me one and she had a rough time getting her hands on one cos they were all selling out!)
Anyhow, this shit is hot!! it's got dual screens and touchscreen, plus some really cool processors that can juggle around 3d images (it's like a portable n64 I guess!)

all in all a great system, I'll come back later with more details!

sob

NDS

Fanboy? NO!

Seems like it's been a while since I've updated good delicious. Life takes it's toll sometimes and work is getting too busy these days! oh and ofcourse there's the small matter of the life absorbing games recently out (half life 2 anyone? Metroid Prime Echoes, Paper Mario, Prince of Persia 2) Man I just don't know what to do next :)
In other news, I just found a video that would put a smile on anyone that knows who mario is (everyone!). Some japanese nut (fanboy!) has replicated the mario theme AND sound effects on an electronic guitar! It's brilliant stuff, and no explanation will do this video justice.
Point your browsers over to http://media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=marioguitar.wmv and be amazed!
Till later y'all.

No Comment

Jean Michel has decided to postpone the release of the Live in Beijing DVD until the first quarter of 2005. Today, Warner Music confirmed that the DVD will be released on 21 January 2005 in the UK and on 4 March 2005 in The Netherlands.

Does anyone out there

know how to solve Rubik's Cube?
drop me a line if you do, it'll stop me from going insane

Your's, Red-orange-green-white-blue-yellow

Cover sleeve for the latest Jarre DVD

Live in Beijing

Here I go again talking about my favourite artist, Jean-Michel Jarre.
Having done tons of concerts, this man for some reason has only released ONE concert on DVD (Oxygene live in Moscow). But, our prayers have been heard and finally they're releasing his latest concert in Beijing (To celebrate the start of the French Year in China, something cultural) as a DVD!
22 years after visiting China originally (he was the first western artist to be allowed in the then communist China, having to do 6 concerts to satisfy the fans!), Jarre goes back to Beijing to do what he does best, amazing music and concerts that amaze even the most synical viewer.
Anyhow, enough of that, I've preordered it and let's hope it's as good as his excellent album AERO.

Till then, GOOD DELICIOUS

Hi, Care of the Elderly SHO. Can I help?

Yeap. That's how I'm spending this cold but lovely weekend.
Doing 12 hour shifts (8:30 to 20:30) Friday through to Monday at the hospital.
Now that I've got some spare time, thought I'd blog about what goes on in a standard hospital out of hours (after 5pm weekdays, all weekend).
Generally, things are run with "skeletal staff". For every major speciality (Medicine, Elderly, Surgery, Paediatrics, and Gynaecology) there are 2 junior staff (House officers and Senior house officers [HO/SHO]) and one registrar (grown up guy about to become a consultant) looking after all the current in patients and also any new admissions that come our way (via GPs or A&E).
The big bosses (consultants) are at home and can be contacted 24 hours a day in case of emergencies.
To put it in numbers, our hospital has 600+ in patients, looked after by a handful of juniors. Not everyone is sick and needs attention of course, but everyone is a "potential sicky" and can "go off" at any time. Also, generally in every major speciality at least 15 new patients are admitted that are acutely ill and need urgent attention.
This puts alot of strain on everyone working out of hours. Some times it's nice and quiet and not many people are admitted and all the wards are fine. But sometimes all hell breaks loose and you have one person having a heart attack on one ward, the other dropping his blood pressure on the other, a really sick person in resus (A&E) not breathing, and a HO that's confused about a patient they just asked him to see. All in all, it can get quite hectic!
But I guess one shouldn't moan. Choosing medicine as a career (well I didn't really choose, they forced me to it!!) comes with it's pros (non I can think of) and cons (I'll write a book about that some day!) :)
And finally, if you managed to read all this and still haven't manged to browse away to something alot more interesting (http://www.mysticalball.com comes to mind), then I thank you for being a loyal G-D but also urge you to go do something else on your weekend!

Till later then, good delicious!

Half-Life 2

This game is FINALLY out.
I'm not a big fan of the first one, but this one is so cool. Bought my copy today and ran it, just gasped at how beautiful it all is.
Get it now guys, trust me :)

IT'S ALIVE!!!

Frankenstein or Shrek 2, you decide.
After hours of endless fiddling and setting up and all that stuff that anyone remotely associated with a PC is well used too, I FINALLY got my xbox to communicate with my pc and the net via my wireless configuration!
I had to change the position of the router/gateway, and also reconfigure a ton of stuff. Anyhow, yesterday I managed to play a reasonably lag-free game of Topspin tennis on xbox live (got creamed, but that's besides the point!). As far as ftping/streaming stuff to the box is concerned, the network is very slow (not doing the full 54mbit/sec that the G protocol boasts). It is more than enough for xbox live, but still needs fixing!
Now that's out of the way, I can go back to playing halo 2 and see what the fuss is all about.
Good-delicious y'all

RE 4 Special Edition Gamecube Controller. For the FREAK IN YOU.

Now that's what I call cool

Designed with an actual Chainsaw lying in the middle of the R&D lab during brainstorming sessions, this massive sculpted controller comes with a built-in sound chip, imitating the roar of the powerful weapon. The attention to detail goes as far as having gory blood marks on the blade. When not chopping Zombies into pieces, the Resident Evil 4 Controller can rest on its stylish stand, on top on your TV, well at sight for the bill collectors knocking at your door. Very impressive in size, it will bring you fear and respect at the same time, yet light and ergonomic, it stays comfortable and does not affect gameplay at all. Holding it in your hands for sure makes you feel like a man; now who said the Cube was for kids?

If you're wondering WTF all that is about, it's the resident evil 4 special edition gamecube controller!! I'm not a fan of the games, but this surely has to be cool by any standard.
Check the awesome picture above.
Oh, and before I go. Interested in it? get your arse over to www.lik-sang.com and order it :)


SoB

Happy Eid!!!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy (safe!) Eid!
I hope things get better in Iraq soon, I'm watching something called "Voices of Iraq" now, someone's given 150 digital cameras to the people of Iraq just after the regime fell and they're just saying what they want, and what they think of it all. It's scary watching a city I grew up in and loved fall apart like that.
I hope everyone's ok there... and again

HAPPY EID!

Wireless Schwireless

Yes, it's a rant. I hate it when things don't work.
To celebrate my new flat and BB thought I'd treat myself to a nice wireless router from CISCO. It's a linksys, and I also got a wireless adaptor for the xbox so I can use xbox live!. So far so good, and I managed to get my xbox to say hello to the pc magically over the airwaves! Problem is, ever since my BB was activated the damn wireless network stopped working! it's driving me up the wall!!
And because there are no cables to fiddle about with, you end up thrashing at thin air in the hope that you might create some disturbance that will carry the data across one room to another. Still, nothing seems to be working.
*sigh*. I go fiddle some more, but don't have that much time as I'm going to London to celebrate the lesser bayrem (at last! woops, maybe wasn't meant to say that :p)
Peace till later.

Zen ADSL 1000

At LONG LAST!
yes, today I finally got the damn email that confirmed my adsl was installed and is up and running. And here it is in all it's glory doing business from my home pc! Wow it feels so much better back on broadband. This one's a one mbit connection also which is faster than my old connection here.
now, what have I missed from the net the last month or so........ there's so much to catch up on!

see ya around!

An Apology

to anyone regularly checking this page and sighing when they see the last news update was more than 10 days ago.
Not having broadband is such a cripple, and I literally use the net once or twice a day for 10 or so minutes. I'll be back in speed early next month where I can feed the addiction yet again.

thanks for your patience.

Froogle

Oh the luxuries of having broadband... being back in London for the weekend, I have the pleasure in using my secondary box which isn't that powerful but happens to be linked to a big fat 2mbit line. Oh bliss.......
Also, google inc have finally openned froogle for the UK public. Froogle is google's retail search engine, it was launched in the states and it's a great search engine for the cheapest deals. Lots of websites exists like this but froogle is from the biggest search engine company, so it was quite good at what it does. It also shows you what the latest searches have been from other frooglers, hence giving you some gift ideas etc.
As this site is hosted on the google network, I wanted to advertise their new uk froogle service. Perhaps one of them is reading and gives me 1000 free shares in the company? Fingers X-ed.
I'm also VERY hungry. It's 14:48 here and there's still another 3 hours and 20 minutes (200 minutes, 12000 seconds) till futoor (eating time). Ramadhan may be cool but the colder it gets, the more hungry I do.
Till then, good-delicious.

Superman

died.

RIP.

you're the only real superhero. As Bill put it in Kill Bill, he was the only one of the superheroes to wear human clothes to hide himself, and not the opposite way round.

So here's a small tribute to Christopher Reeve from all the millions of 80's children that grew up dreaming of being like him.

Ground Control to Major SoB

Ok, so I stole the title from David Bowie's classic, but who cares.
Just realised it's been ages since I updated good-old-good-delicious (sorry). Been dead busy recently, first with exams (still no results. 80% of me says fail though :), then had to do night shifts (silly things from 9pm to 9am, they do your head in). Also got a few things that needed ironing out with my "Special friend"
Now that's all sorted out (I hope), I'll try to make more of an effort to be around here more.
On another note, Nintendo is releasing it's NDS handheld on 04/11/04 in the USA. I might just pre-order it from www.importmadness.com as it ships for free :)
That's it for now. Gonna go try reset my internal clock to the normal sleep-at-night-wake-in-the-morning routine that's so popular these days.
Till later y'all

Hello?

Just back from a silly 12 hour shift we tend to do. Thought I'ld say "HELLO!" on the site to everyone. Sorry things are slow, but this damn dial up really hinders me from updating G-D properly. Oh, and I'm busy sorting things out in Animal Crossing! Yes folks, DO NOT BUY THAT GAME unless you want to waste your life away infront of a purple cube and a big blaring box.
See y'all later

Throwing my life away - PART II

Day 2 of my Animal Crossing chronicles. This might sound really insane, but this morning I woke up thinking of the Crossing village and wanting to go see what's happenning! it sounds absurd, but I think I'm starting to like this game *cough* addict *cough*
But the idea of going around a small village, helping delivering stuff to people, selling fruit and digging up fossils isn't that exciting, surely? Nintendo have cleverly made sure that you get back to the Crossing. Using the real-time clock, things change in the village according to when you visit. So for example, the store is open from 9am to 10pm. The carpet salesman left a note saying he's coming to town tomorrow. I have a raffle ticket for the 27th of September. If I don't play tomorrow I miss out on both these things.
The lady that sells turnips only works on a Sunday. And things are also tied in to national holidays, so if it's a holiday in the UK, it's one in the Crossing (that's why I waited for the local PAL version than to import)
I'm also waiting for 2 important letters, one's definitely coming tomorrow but the other could be any time!
It's scary that a game can do this to someone. But millions of NTSC gamers couldn't be wrong when they all raved about it years ago... now it's my turn. and YES, I am throwing my life away. Now, let's see if Belle got my post......

Throwing my life away

or so they claim. For 2 years now, those lucky NTSC gamers have been enjoying something called Animal Crossing (on Gamecube). A village that carries on living while you're not there (it comes with a special memory card that has an internal clock). Things are different at the village each time you visit it, and you practically "live there".
So, it came out on PAL yesterday (well europe, PAL australia have had it for a year!) and it's taken so long to convert that most people just imported the NTSC version. I waited. Till now, I still don't see the fuss about this game. Walking around the village you can do what you want, whenever you want. Not my type of game. I want to go from A to B without figuring out where A and B is, but just worrying about what's in the middle. In other words, I'm a sucker for good old linear gameplay.
So why did I get this? cause it's Nintendo that's why. I very nearly didn't get the Legend of Zelda - Wind Waker cause it wasn't linear, and very nearly missed out on one of the best gaming experiences on the Gamecube.
I'm gonna give Animal Crossing a bit more time and give good old 'tendo a chance. After all, they did conceive a certain fat plumber with a moustache.
Good-delicious

WOW!

Today the VERY KIND postman delivered aero through my door. Man is this album amazing! in true 5.1 surround it really blows anything else I've heard by a mile!
I'll try to post a more detailed review but for now, I got back to the AEROzone :)

AERO ships!

Greetings from Amazon.co.uk,
We thought you would like to know that the following item has been sent to:

Ali Alsawaf
x xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxxxx xxx
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx xxx xxx

using Royal Mail.
For more information about delivery estimates and any open orders, please visit:http://www.amazon.co.uk/your-account

Your order #202-9635323-2105438 (received 31 August 2004, 00:18 BST)

1 Aero [CD + DVD] 8.99 GBP 1 8.99 GBP

This completes your order.

SoB comment: those interested, go to www.jarre.net and listen to the amazing excerpts from the album!

STILL smoke free!

Those of you following Good-delicious will know that it's been 2 weeks since my last cigarette. I'm happy to say that I'm still 100% smoke free. It's not easy you know, I get the cravings every day, especially those good-with-cigarette times (when I wake up, after food, before food, on the loo, with/without tea/coffee, between laps on burnout 3, watching tv/movie, before/after sex.. all the time actually!). But I use my trusty gum and try to forget all about it.
In a nation where nearly everyone smokes, it's not proving to be easy.

KiSS DP 1000

KiSS DP 1000

Ok, so finally decided to buy a DVD player. I've been watching all my movies on either the PC or the XBOX (via ethernet streaming). Problem is, in the flat the lounge is far from the PC (bedroom), and I didn't fancy getting a wireless network. The solution? get a standalone DVD player.
The KiSS DP 1000 is an awesome thing. It plays DVD, DVD-/+R(W), VCD, SVCD, XviD, DivX, OGG, MP3 CD and DVD, multiple .avi/mpg on DVD and loads more!
it's also firmware upgradeable, hence potentially future-proof (and region free as well). A great buy with tons of cool features.
If you're thinking of getting a standalone DivX player, this is one of the best!
over and out

Moved!

Hi All
Thought I'ld let you know that I've moved from my old single room to a one bedroom flat within the same area. Hence, good-delicious hasn't been updated for quite some while. I still don't have BB here so using snail-speed .net at home for the time being *sigh*
Hope everyone's been ok. Over and out!

Game Stars Live!

Yesterday I went to a place called Docklands in London. It's this modern sky scraper-ish place with lots of funky stuff. It also has ExCeL, a massive indoor show room for exhibitions. I took my good friend Wisam (gaming-freak-geek also) and we went to see the first public gaming exhibition in the UK. Usually, stuff like eGN and others are trade-only, just for the press and other lucky gits. This time, some bright spark decided to open one up for the public, and called it Game Stars Live.
Man was this thing cool! it was a massive showroom with all the major players in the market. Starting off in the xbox section it was great to play pre-releases of outrun 2 (AWESOME!) and fable and loads more. Ofcourse the legendery halo 2 was in a bunker section all by itself, with 2 real life Master Chiefs guarding it. Inside the atmosphere was too cool, dark strobing lights and 100% completed code of halo 2 for us to get our hands on!
Next stop: nintendo. Good old tendo made it's exhibition area into a massive traditional British sea-side pier, with a working helter-skelter and all! Inside, playable demos of Metroid Prime 2 (the original metroid prime is the best game I've played to date on any system, bar non) with 4 player deathmatch support! Also, there was the wacky but totally cool donkey konga game, where you got to groove with the kong using a special bongo controller, great fun stuff. They also had playable demos of Paper Mario 2, Animal Crossing, and Mario Tennis. All in all a great exhibition.
Ubisoft demonstrated their power with playable demos of Prince of Persia 2: The Warrior Within. Now that game is going to piss all over the great first part. Sam Fisher was there too in Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory. They had loads more stuff as well.
EA had massive sport arenas where you could play the real and virtual sports. Atari was publicising the remake of Sid Mier's classic Pirates!, and also the imminent Roller Coaster Tycoon III. They had installed a big virtua coaster machine which was awesome to ride!
Sierra had playable demos of the new Larry adventure (magna cum laud) in an 18-only booth with naked babes!
There was just so much stuff there that all the above doesn't cover the half of it. A great time out, and ofcourse I got my hands on tons of posters/stickers/badges and all that crap you get from exhibitions!
Just makes me feel lucky to both live here, and still have the gaming spirit.
Keep gaming y'all!!

The Woman Seatbelt

No, I'm not chauvinistic, but this got me laughing!

Nictonell FRUIT 2mg

Oh how I crave for a cigarette right now... sitting infront of the PC on this lazy afternoon, the curtains are closed and my room is dark and warm. Robert Miles' "fable" is blasting out of the sound system, and I'm updating Good-delicious. What more could a man want other than a puff of his favourite poison. *sigh*
After running out of some cheap fags I got from Barcelona, I decided not to fill the taxman's pockets with my money for buying cigarettes at the outrageous British prices (the average price of 20 marlboro lights is £4.70, about $7. MURDER!). So this morning, went down to good ol' ASDA and bought some Nicotinell FRUIT 2mg gum. You chew one everytime you feel the urge to have a puff, and it should help ease the pain. Till now I've had about 4 gums, and the pain is still there. It feels weird not to smoke, but I guess it's for the better. My appetite has significantly improved (even though I only quit this morning), I just pigged out at a Harvester pub with a friend, I ate more than a coach party to Blackpool.
Here's hoping I can keep it up. Keep your fingers crossed for me y'all
Good-delicious (now 100% cancer free!)

Perfect 10

The other day on VH1 I saw a great song, it was called Perfect 10 and it's by The Beautiful South. The song tells about the love of "larger" body sizes, and on how it doesn't matter how fat you think you are, there's still someone out there for you!
A bit sloppy yes, but this isn't a teen-love-britney-crap song, with lyrics like "if he's extra large, well I'm in charge, I can work this thing on top!" it makes for a refreshing hear. It's old, but it remains an all time favourite here at the Good-delicious HQ.

The AERO jewel case

'Anthology of Electronic Revisited Originals'

Or AERO for short. What is it? it's the new album by Jean-Michel Jarre. Those who know me well I'm sure know how keen I am on this genius's music and what he's done for electronic music as whole.
The album has been in creation for ages (ever since the AERO concert in Denmark 2002), it's actually a best-of album + 3 new tracks. You might think that he's already released loads of best-of albums, but this one is different. The tracks are remixed and also distributed in pure DVD audio 5.1 format! The album comes as a double AudioCD/DVD-Audio pack so even if you don't have DVD audio yet you can still listen to the tracks on CD. Jarre had to engineer the album himself as he couldn't find an audio engineer in the world to help (www.jarre.net)
I'm fortunate enough to have a 5.1 audio card that supports DVD audio + 5.1 speaker system. Believe me, DVD audio is THE WAY FORWARD! I've sampled it's delights and it is a truely amazing aural experience, placing you right in the music. Just the thought of listening to classic Jarre tracks in this format makes me drool!
A sneak preview of the new AERO website is at www.jeanmicheljarre.com
The album is due for release on 22/09/04 all across Europe. It's going to be a long, hard wait....
Till later, good delicious!

Bank Holiday Monday

11 am Monday morning... for some funny reason, the British public annually enjoy what they like to call "Bank Holidays". It's always a Monday, and I think there are 4 of them each year. Today is one of those "Bank Holidays". So what happens? well nothing. Banks are obviously closed, but other shops are usually open and tend to have a massive sale (Bank Holiday sale they call it). TV sucks as usual. The hospital is ran on skeletal support staff (in other words, about 10 doctors for 600+ patients), and in general it's all very sedate.
I would have been very bored today if it weren't for my "special friend" who's asleep right now just behind me on my bed. She looks just like an angel, but even more beautiful. I managed to convince her to take the day "off sick" from her shifts and to come down :)
So here's a thank you to my special friend, for making this Bank Holiday Monday alot easier to digest. Hope she's not dreaming of another man right now :)
Good-delicious y'all

Come Get Some

A regular Good-delicious visitor who's also a good friend of mine has made his own blog. The address is http://www.come-getsome.blogspot.com
It's cool to see more people having their own (sort of) space in the vast, vast universe of the net. Spread the word!

Boredom

Sigh..... these last 2 weeks I have been SO BORED I thought I'ld moan about it on the blog. It all started when my new rank as SHO was appointed. They told me I'ld be a floater (at my size? they had to be kidding!), in other words I will be with a different team every day/week covering the other SHO's on leave (hence "floating")... problem is, for the last 2 weeks no one is on leave! This leaves me earning quite a lot every week without working. A good thing in a sense but also a potential killer. Add to that the fact that I'm attempting the ever so difficult MRCP-UK part 1 exam in September, so not just being at home with nothing to do, but being at home with nothing to do but STUDY!
I tell you, it is the most lethal combination known to man! on top of that I'm not going out with everyone (cause I'm "studying") and that a "special friend" of mine is working shifts for 16 days in a row, means I can't see her till next Friday! It all drives me up the wall I tell's ya.
I think tomorrow I'm going to electively ask someone to take the day off and I'll cover. I'm THAT desperate to get out of this prison. Talking of prison, everyone has to play the excellent Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay (Out on XBOX, PC soon). This game is good in every sense, a bit of a first for anything license related-they all tend to suck!
Back to the books.

The SEXY Viewsonic VP201s on my rig. A beauty in every sense!

My XFX 6800GT has arrived! Serious power

Joke

Here's a joke I got by email. I enjoyed it, and so should everyone else!
for those non-brits around, ASDA is a big supermarket chain in the UK

One day, in line at the company cafeteria, Jack says to Mike behind him, "My elbow hurts like hell. I guess I better see a doctor." "Listen, don't waste time," Mike replies. "There's a diagnostic computer down at Asda. Just give it a urine sample and the computer'll tell you what's wrong and what to do about it. It takes ten seconds and costs five pounds.................a lot quicker and better than a doctor". So Jack deposits a urine sample in a small jar and takes it to Asda.
He deposits five pounds, and the computer lights up and asks for the
urine sample. He pours the sample into the slot and waits. Ten seconds
later, the computer ejects a printout: "You have tennis elbow. Soak your arm in warm water and avoid heavy activity. It will improve in two weeks". That evening while thinking how amazing this new technology was, Jack began wondering if the computer could be fooled. He mixed some tap water, a stool sample from his dog, urine samples from his wife and daughter, and masturbated into the mixture for good measure. Jack hurries back to Asda, eager to check the results. He deposits five pounds, pours in his concoction, and awaits the results. The computer prints the following:
1. Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener.
2. Your dog has ringworm. Bathe him with anti-fungal shampoo.
3. Your daughter has a cocaine habit. Get her into rehab.
4. Your wife is pregnant. Twins. They aren't yours. Get a lawyer.
5 If you don't stop playing with yourself, your elbow will never get better ..........and thank you for shopping at Asda!

The XFX Geforce 6800GT 256mbyte

The SEXY viewsonic VP201s

Upgrades, upgrades

Money itches alot. when you have extra money it itches so much. And in this age of plastic money, it's impossible to stop spending.. damn that itch.
On the recommendation of the EXCELLENT pc-zone (uk mag), I've bought 2 things for my main PC:
1\ XFX Geforce 6800 GT 256mbyte
check this beast at http://www.xfxforce.com/product_view.php?sku=PVT40AUD
why not ultra I hear you say? well cause ultra is £100 more and does 5 frames more. NOT WORTH IT if you ask me
2\ now this one I'm excited about. I finally caved in and decided to jump the CRT and go for the ever-sexy LCD monitor. Since the 16ms response time is affordable nowadays (essential for any gamer, anything more than 16ms and you get "ghost" images on screen), I decided to invest in another pc-zone recommendation: the viewsonic vp201s 20" LCD.
Check this beauty out at http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDProf/VP201s.htm

Problem is, I still haven't received this stuff :( XFX reaches tomorrow I hope, and the monitor is due for Thursday.... half life 2 could never come at a better time!

Till later y'all.....

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

Well, at long-f***ing last, the new album by the Prodigy is finally upon us. Doesn't sound like it needed 7 years to make, but Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned is a back-to-the-roots album from the excellent team. Missing out on both Keith and Max, Liam adds a few guests but makes music just like the great Jilted Generation 10 years ago!
A great album for techno/proj lovers all over. If you're expecting another Fat of the Land though, you'll be disappointed. This isn't angry rock, it's just pure techno heaven!

The TomTom GO installed in my car (read below)

Tomtom GO

Call it stupidity, call it impulse buying, but once I saw this thing I had to get one. It's a great car sat-nav system that's really easy to use and doesn't need any professional installation!
Real plug-and-play if you ask me. So, what does it do? well it's supplied with a map of great britain, including all major Points of Interest (eg cash machines, restaurants, parking, repair, hospitals, theme parks and tons more). You can either tell it to take you from A to B, or even better ask it to find the closest point of interest and it'll show you how to navigate there. It has a real-time 3D interactive map and gives clear voice and visual instructions on what to do next (in a sexy voice nontheless).
All in all, a great product that all drivers must have!

Just thought I'ld post this: the final design for Nintendo's EXCELLENT DS system!

PSU

Just thought I'ld update the blog with PC news.
I'm happily typing away on my main PC at last! Went down to PCWORLD today and got me a 500w (not v - thanks Hackers :p) PSU. It's bog-standard, nothing fancy, but it does the job quite well. Tried playing D3 for about 2 hours today and luckily I didn't blow my arse off!
In other news, I'm off to London tomorrow for the weekend, so wish you all a good-delicious weekend!

My PC is DOOMED!!

No, this is NOT about the game, but while playing Doom III today, just as I was faced with one of those fire-ball throwing things (that bite and scratch as well!), a BIG BLUE flame suddenly came out of my pc with a massive big bang (louder than my speakers!), and the screen went black. Suddenly everything was silent.... I opened the box to find a blown up PSU... hope it didn't surge the voltage and burn the rest of the mobo/components!
Trouble is, I'm on-call tomorrow so can't fix the damn thing till Thursday. I'll keep y'all updated on how much cash I gotta part with!
Enjoy your PCs while they work, and take my advice: change your PSU to more than 350v if you're gonna play any new game
*SIGH*

2xH, O

Things are looking grim here in Colchester. For the last 3 days all it's done is rain, rain and then rain again! Outside it's cold, but my bloomin' room is a furnace!
Not sure what's going on here, I've checked the heaters to make sure they're all off, but still my room is hotter than a turkish sauna.... is it me? am I so hot that I heat the environment as well? no I didn't think so either..........
Anyhow, enjoy the summer (if you still have it) where ever you are, I'll just sit and rust here in the damp heat!

PS: Doom III rocks!

Contrary to Popular Belief!

Just wanted to clarify that the lithotomy picture below is NOT me! lots of people seemed to have thought I was crazy enough to post my own picture :)
In other news, it's a busy period here now, cause everyone changes jobs and you gotta get used to different teams/patients/wards etc...
Wish me luck for tomorrow, the dreaded ON-CALL day!

Good delicious!

Doom III manual index page

Doom III

It's 1 am over here.. I'm STILL on-call (finishes at 2am)
Got time to come over home and pray that no one bleeps me at this time of night!
Anyhow, enough whining! Just browsing and found that the Doom III manual has been released by some good people! Some of you are lucky enough to have it in their inbox as we speak ;)
This game is gonna KICK ASS! well at least I hope so, they announced it 4 years ago so it better be good, damn it!

ps: the manual sux :p
Good delicious night!

Senior House Officer?!!

Yup, you read right... next Wednesday I upgrade to becoming an SHO. This means making decisions (yikes!), looking after a House Officer who's going to be asking me tons of questions (they're fresh you see), and tons of other things I'ld rather NOT be doing.
Scares the crap out of me I tell ya.
Oh, and to add insult on injury, I am on-call the very first day of work, ie accepting acutely ill patients and expecting to manage them, a 12 hour shift from hell! God bless anyone who comes to me that day!
Wish me luck y'all

Port Britain

Hello!
 
just back from Barcelona, one of the most amazing cities I have seen in my life!
if you have the chance to just go to one place, go there!
i'll update you guys with pics and stuff later on, got to sort myself out now!
 
Good-delicious!

The Dragon Khan

Port Aventura

Just a quick one to tell all you good delicious people that I'm off to Barcelona
today at 7am for 6 days.
The main reason I go there is for Port Aventura, the Universal Studio's theme park in Europe. it boasts Dragon Khan, a MASSIVE looper coaster :)
 
hope you all have a good delicious weekend!

Here's a difficult one: spot the parrot.
Answers in the comments please.
PS: We love you Haniboy!

Damsel in distress

yup.
There I was, 00:30 just about to settle in bed when I get a phone call from a
Dr *****
"Hi aaaaallllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"
"hi, are you ok.....?"
"no, I'm drunk *hiccup*"
"and where are you now?"
"just walking up to the hospital, near that big yellow thing"
Note: that "big yellow thing" is a storage area about 1 km down the hill from the hospital. To walk up the hill to the hospital at 00:30 requires careful coordination, lots of navigation (including avoiding a big deep pond with killer ducks), and a hell of a lot of strength, none of which this damsel had.
"do you want me to come and pick you up?" - Yes, I am kind sometimes
"is that ok? are you sure it's not too late?" then the unmissable sound of "khudddaaaaaaaaaaaaa", ie vomit
so, down I drove, to find the damsel in distress sheepishly standing (swaying drunk actually) waiting for me. I'm sure anyone who'ld have stopped to pick her up would have been mistaken for me. After all it was dark, and so am I.
Managed to get her in the car, and drove up to her accommodation. Took her up the stairs (DANGEROUS!) and into her room.
After 3 further bouts of sickness, luckily all in the bathroom, I got her in bed and made sure she slept before leaving.
I tell you, she has got ALOT of explanation to do tomorrow.
 
ps: kudos to the russian wolf for the "khuddaa" sound effect, first pioneered when fuji-san decided to be sick all over haniboy's persian carpet. NOT FUNNY

The Lithotomy Position! (read below)

Bum(mer)

So, here's another one of those things you do when you got nothing else to do and happen to be off work. Boredom is the mother of creativity (is it? not sure I made that up or am quoting it. Whatever)
A week ago or so my bum started to hurt. The pain got worse until I decided to consult a doctor on friday. The minute he'd finished staring at my poor behind, he jumped up and said "OPERATION! as soon as possible, now maybe!!"
Hold on, that can't be so! images of me in the lithotomy position (same one that pregnant women are in at labour!) with a surgeon sticking a knife up my arse started flashing before my eyes.
*SIGH* no matter how I tried to convince the damn medic he just wouldn't hear my excuses. "But I need my bum to function properly" I say, "but your bum is NOT functioning properly, needs fixing!!" and so on.
Come Saturday (that's a weekend here you know, spent in hospital) and I find myself in a hospital bed, wearing a theatre gown, and staring at the ceiling as someone is pushing my bed down to theatres.
The man who was going to put me to sleep (anaesthetist for those in the know) introduced himself and told me all about himself and how he was going to make me feel nothing. (I'm SURE his name was Grim Reaper and that he was explaining how I was going to die, mentioning lights in tunnels and other things).
With nothing else to do than stare at the ceiling (again), I felt a sharp prick in my left hand and Grim saying "I've just put a needle in". Then he said "ok, you're going to go to sleep (die!) now".
My face started tingling. You know how your legs fall asleep when you sit on the loo for a long time, it was that kind of tingling.
Then nothing. Quite alot of nothing. Just black. No thoughts, no dreams. No tossing and turning. I think it's the deepest sleep I've had since ages ago. It was so serene and calm and quiet and dark. Still, it was nothing.
"Ali, you're waking up now" was the next thing I heard from an unknown feminine voice (angel maybe?). Just managing to open my eyes, I realised this was an angel dressed like a nurse, with a concerned smile on her face. Eyes closed again.
"It was just a small collection of blood. He drained it for you. You're in recovery now"
And that's when it struck me. The PAIN! I was suddenly hit by this red-hot poker up my arse and for some strange reason, another red-hot one down my throat!
Angel the nurse then told me about some tube in my mouth which she was removing. That did solve the throat thing, but what about my bum?!!
"How's the pain? do you need some morphine?"
Hmmm, morphine. I wonder if it's as good as the songs make it out. "yeah..." I blurted. After some time I felt something cold go up my left arm and this sudden intense itch all over it as well. So it DOES make you itch, Pink was right.
The pain was getting better, and the itch disappeared.
Finally managing to open my eyes fully (they get real heavy for some reason) I saw that this part of heaven was called "Post-op recovery" and there were two angel nurses around (well one angel, the other was a far-eastern looking man in white. The mental hospital team perhaps?)
Soon after I was wheeled back to my ward, where I found a worried-looking old-brother sitting there impatiently.
"Hi" I said. Not sure if he answered that, cause the morphine was also a good sleeping tablet, and that I did. Sleep.
Things got better after that. My bum was feeling better than it had the day before, and I was sent home the next day (Sunday, weekend again!!)
I got some days off work, and big brother stayed around till yesterday. We played alot of gamecube Ace golf, and I lost the tournament. Ofcourse with a stinging bum and a bruised hand, my video game power was significantly reduced.
He, ofcourse, was taking non of that. Dancing around the room he announced "I WON, I WON!"
 
THIS MEANS WAR!