Einstein was right. Again.
The four gyroscopes in GP-B are “the most perfect spheres ever made by humans…”
Portal 2
I have just finished Portal 2 so here are some thoughts (possible spoilers ahead, but I will try and minimise them).
I really enjoyed it. If you haven't played the first one for some reason things probably won't make that much sense.
Portal had good writing and this second instalment did not disappoint on that front. The dialog was just great; witty, dark and fun. Having Stephen Merchant voice your robot friend added so much more fun to the humour, some nice classic Merchant phrases.
I was a little worried it was going to end too soon, especially as the first one was pretty short, but just when I thought it was over it took a very nice twist and kept going. This back half of the game really added to the backstory of Aperture Science and some nice easter eggs tied things more into the Half Life universe; which did serve as a good reminder that we really need Half Life 2 Episode 3 or just Half Life 3 to carry on the story.
I was sad to see that upon completion I couldn't go back and attempt to speed run the test chambers or try some of them on hard like in the first game; I do love a good speed run (probably thanks to getting Goldeneye cheats). I can see how this might have been a little more difficult to incorporate this time around though.
I have also done a couple of the co-op courses split screen which were loads of fun, more similar to the originals test chambers. Now if only any of my friends on Xbox Live would get the game so I could continue.
Overall the single player is great, a good improvement on the first game, especially in the story department, but it was possibly less fun due to having more of a story. However I think the co-op test chambers make up for this, but I would like to see some more single player testing happen (which appears to be coming in some free DLC this summer!).
Now I better get back to testing, for science.
Sad news indeed about Stargate
Stargate is probably my favourite series, it will be missed. Let’s hope it comes back at some time.
Sir Richard Branson launches Virgin Oceanic: deep-sea exploring submarines
5 days too late to be a joke, very impressive indeed. It does kind of read like the plot to a movie though. Let's try a trailer:
[The camera flys down into the ocean, diving deeper, getting darker.]
Voice Over: "In world, where only 5% of the oceans have been explored, two men will increase that percentage."
[Cut to Richard Branson]
Richard Branson: "We need to see what's down there."
[Cut to Chris Welsh at a dock yard speaking to an old sailor with an pipe and eye patch]
Chris Welsh: "We need a sub to get down to 37,000ft. I hear you're the man to build one."
Graham Hawkes (sub designer): "Aye, that I am, but it will cost you."
Chris Welsh: [Smiles] "Don't worry, that won't be a problem."
[Cut back to the dark ocean]
Voice Over: "Virgin Oceanic"
Now back to reality, by the sounds of it they will only have one of the subs and so no hope of rescue. How about instead of that, Richard Branson uses some of his near infinite money to build maybe a second one, or maybe two.
Sir Richard Branson launches Virgin Oceanic: deep-sea exploring submarines
Thank You Patrick Rothfuss
I have just finished reading ‘The Wise Man’s Fear’ by Patrick Rothfuss. Just like his first book in the series, ‘The Name of the Wind’, it is one of the finest books I have read, if not the best. They are both fantastic, exceptionally well written and very difficult to stop reading.
Thank you Patrick for creating such a good story, I look forward to the next book.
Arcade Fire Albums
‘The Suburbs’ really is a fantastic album. It flows well and is very coherent. Lovely.
‘Funeral’ is also a great album but I do I prefer ‘The Suburbs’ right now.
‘Neon Bible’ is just a little ‘meh’, not keen on it.
Is it "Bad Rap" or "Bad Wrap?"
No-Knead Bread
My first loaf of no-knead bread. It turned out pretty well. Very tasty indeed.
I used Michael Ruhlman’s recipe.
Antarctica, 1961: A Soviet Surgeon Has to Remove His Own Appendix
That is pretty impressive.
My First Batch Of Brownies Ever
They are fantastic.
I have no idea how I managed it, something usually goes a bit wrong but this time nothing. It must have been the awesome recipe from smittenkitchen.com.
Getting back on the blogging tracks
Let’s get this blogging train back on the blogging tracks.