Wednesday, May 21, 2008

When Gaming Affects Your Girly Shopping Habits

Popped into Myers today and they were having 30% off knitwear. 30%. Off. Knitwear.

*grins*

What doth this have to do with Technobabblement, you ask?

Well...

I saw this lovely long-sleeved, knee-length button knit- there was a choice of cream, charcoal or brown, but I went straight for the charcoal one (which also had hints of a dusky blue). Initially, I was devastated because the Size 10 was too big (Miss Shop have inconsistent sizing) but I managed to snag the last Size 6 which happened to be a perfect fit when I tried it on in the changing room.

And you know what?
It had a hood.

So I pulled it over my head to see what it looked like.

And oh. My. God.

It was an Altair hood.

This dude.

My thought process went as follows:
"This. Is. Way. Cool."
"Hey...it's also kind of like Luke's Jedi cowl in Episode VI except it's totally the wrong colour. Ooh, it's even got that funny pointy bit at the top."
"Hee hee...I look like the guy from Assassin's Creed...if you squint...and if you're drunk...and if you forget the fact that he's a highly trained male assassin and not a woman...tee hee hee."
"I am sooooo buying this."
And that was that.
Of course, if you saw it you'd be like, "Dude, it's a freakin' HOOD. People wear HOODIES, it's not like it's a big deal."
But I love it.
This knit shall now be known as the 'Altair' cardigan :D

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Mobile Update

I have only ever had two mobile phones.

The first was a wonderful, slightly bricky thing otherwise known as a Nokia 5110. The second phone is my current one, and has lasted me four years- a Nokia 6610i which has served me well.

And because I am brave and adventurous, I got another Nokia last week.

I've been pondering the phone question for a while now. Several months ago, I was considering getting a pink Sony Ericsson Z310i. Except that it looked impossibly girly to the point where I might have been embarrassed to actually take it out in public. And when I asked my colleague if it would be too girly, his response was somewhat damning. I think something along the lines of, "Yes, it would be too girly. In the kind of 'oh look at me, I'm a Playboy bunny' girly."

Anyway...I now have a Nokia 6300. Which is a delicious-looking candybar phone, in a pretty slim leather case, and it has this beautiful QVGA screen that blows my old phone out of the water. There's also Bluetooth, which I've never had before, an MP3 player and a theme function that has now let me have Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelecki always with me in my handbag.

However, the battery life sucks.

Really, really sucks.

I didn't even DO anything to the phone except play with it constantly and press the buttons constantly and poke it so I could see the picture of Jensen light up and try out the camera...and the battery life is already 3/4 gone after two days.

Surely that wouldn't have drained it? It's 860mah. Then again, I'm sure Jensen Ackles is so luminously gorgeous that he'd drain anything...

Anyhow, the point is I've finally made that jump and upgraded. But I haven't used any of the extra features because I'M SCARED OF DRAINING THE BATTERY. I looked online and a couple of people suggested shaving off the end of a BL-5C battery so that the contacts can physically fit, but y'know, I'd rather not do that...

I'm assuming/hoping/praying that the battery life will improve after a few charge cycles. If not, I don't think it's going to last quite so long as the 6610i...especially since the first 6300 I got had a faulty directional pad- cue the three of us at work cracking jokes about stroking stiff keys- and I had to delete everything off my one-day-old phone and replace it the next day. Hmm.

Now it's time to upgrade the computer in two or three weeks. Expect a bit more ranting as new developments arise...

N.B, post-post: Put it through a full discharge/recharge cycle. Battery life is MUCH better. And I've chucked on AC/DC as my ringtone on full volume...I still grin every time I hear the opening riff of 'Back in Black' from my handbag.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Signs You Need To Update Your Computer #1

My computer is making an odd chirping sound.

It sounds like there's a cricket stuck in the chassis.

Chirp.

Chirpy chirp chirp.

If the PC weren't running so slowly at the moment I might find it a little bit adorable.

But it's beginning to sound less like a cricket and more like hoards of locusts hiding in my lawn in summer....