New Dive Computer: Suunto D4i

So, after a button fell off my trusty Suunto Mosquito, and I was quoted at around £80 to put it back on again, I decided it was time to just get a new dive computer. So, I settled on the Suunto D4i. I got it from SDS Watersports (Here) at the Dive Show (DIVE 2011 Birmingham NEC). I just thought I’d post some photographs of it here:

^Shiny box!

^ Oooooooo… Shiny computer

I do rather like it

But at the moment it is going to be a little while till I dive, so I’m not going to be able to do any sort of reviews on it for a while.

-Skip

Songs I can’t currently get enough of: Freelancer by Sonic Syndicate

Thought I’d start something new on here. Songs I can’t get enough of. Time changes ones taste in music, and you can find songs that you really enjoy, then forget about them, so I thought I’d write them down somewhere so as never to forget, and to share them with anyone who is interested… That’s you by the way.

So, to start off with, Freelancer by Sonic Syndicate. Not entirely sure why I like this song so much at the moment, I think it’s probably the chorus…

“If you gave me the power to turn back time, [random screaming]

I would shape it the way it was meant to be”

It’s just singable… And since I’m heading back up to Yorkshire in a couple of days, this is definitely going to be on the CD player, and I’m definitely going to be singing loudly, safe in the knowledge that no one can hear me, or at least if they can they have no idea who I am and will never see me again.

ROCK ON!

-Skipper

STALKER Patches!

So, I ordered some patches from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shop.

^ The Loner faction

^ Freedom faction

^ The Ecologists/Scientist Faction

Very cool looking, though I’m not entirely sure what I'm going to stick them on… We shall see!

-Skip

Metro 2033 Completed

So, on Monday I bought Metro 2033, it was on sale on Steam, for £3.71. Bargain, loaf of bread and a couple pints of milk worth, organic bread and milk mind, but still, cheapish. I wasn’t sure when I would be able to play it, seeing as I’m on a new course. Turns out I was in luck, or not so, I got ill. This gave me a couple days of being unable to walk about, or do anything, so I thought I should just haul my ass over to the computer and complete it.
So, it took me 9 hours, with a couple of rage quits, to complete. Overall, my impressions of this game are good though it is creepy as hell in places! Really eerie. I think it was made by some people who used to work on the original STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.
==Possible Spoilers ==
This STALKER connection does seem to show in places, and I don't mean the simple fact that they’re both set around Russia and the Eastern Bloc. The first one I noticed was the fact that when you ascend to the surface with “Bourbon” he refers to “Stalkers” and “stashes”…. Got to be a reference to STALKER?
The second, was not so much to STALKER, but to the scene and the community, a reference to  Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and their famous (in STALKER communities) book, Roadside Picnic.

With regards to the storyline, something I care most about, overall I did like it. No real twists, I could’ve seen how the story would've played out if given the main points: Big bad monsters you never really see, a home place, main character, and some missiles… Pretty much sums it up… Make some friends, friends die, monsters die… The end. Not to say I didn't enjoy it! Despite a mildly predictable storyline, it was well executed. The characters were well voiced and likable. Ulman was a legend, made some amusing jokes. Khan was a very cool character, he would be a very useful companion if STALKER was real, or Metro 2033 for that matter. The level Ghosts was really quite eerie, and very cool, has the atmosphere of the original STALKER, SOC.
Graphics are very good, well, grimy and nice. I do like it. There is always something out there with better graphics than something else, but hey, I’m a storyline over graphics person.

So for me, graphics were top notch. Storyline was very enjoyable, and that is all that counts. So overall, I’d give this game an 8 or 9 out of 10. Lets say:
8.5/10
Would I play it again? Yea, I think I would. There are achievements for this game that are worth a go at trying to get. Creepy game

Accepted!

So, little while ago I told you about my latest model submitted to 3d Warehouse. After a few weeks, it finally got accepted! So, in Google Earth, switch the 3D Buildings thing on and go to:  53°13'36.84"N   4° 9'32.21"W

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=277fdbce09b9a04ddd49019832b1e707

So, what to make next?

New Google Earth Model (Hopefully...)

During the first couple days in Bangor University there was very little work happening, so I found time to make a model of this boathouse I found myself rather attracted to, there is something about it in a very weathered state that is very... cool.
An Old Boathouse in Menai Bridge:

3D model by Skipper

Photomatched 3d building of an old boathouse in Menai Bridge

I recommend actually looking at it in the 3d Warehouse rather than that picture... doesnt give much of an impression..
I'm still waiting for the review to come through on whether it is acceptable in the Google Earth Layer, but here is hoping!
It is based on the buiding here:

Anyways, fingers crossed!