Cikida

Attention all.

Lazers — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:09:27 +0000

Soon I’ll be uploading the first part of a story onto this blog for the whole Internet to read. It’s the first part out of god knows how many. Yeah, planning isn’t really my strong point. I’m going to try and do this with a whole ‘webisode’ model, where I’ll upload part of the story weekly, or biweekly, or whenever. Yeah. Planning.

Anyway, the premise is such, a traveller who doesn’t know how to travel ends up on a country, mounted on some metal, which is bolted to some engines. Oh, and the countryship is crashing. Into Jupiter. Will they escape? Be saved? Miracles? Who knows. Enjoy the snippet below, and watch this space.

It appeared to be night, and raising his head, he could clearly see the stars, even though they did look slightly distorted, as if a pane of glass had been placed miles above his head. “Bugger. This isn’t Oxford. This is absolutely nothing like Oxford.” He was right; the town was absolutely nothing like Oxford. Jacques, at a complete loss, spun briefly on his heel and picked a direction with a sharp point. “That way it is!” And so, he stalked off in roughly that direction. Before long though, he came to a complete stop. “That’s an elevator.” He spoke aloud, which helped gain him some odd looks from passers-by, who had never before seen such a brilliant display of obviousness.

And that’s a wrap.

Why Apple won before it even started fighting…

Lazers — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:50:42 +0000

Okay, so. Apple iPhone – iPod – iPad – pretty much everything in Apples product range begins with an i. For all we know, they have iCEOs, and iExecutives. and if you don’t perform well enough you get made iRedundant. But, the thing is, whether it was the naming convention, or the products, Apple has pretty much won over the phone/media player market, and is now encroaching on a market that didn’t even exist a few years ago, with the iPad. And, because Apple got there first, getting these new ‘tablet’ thingies out to the public, in a readily, available way, just like it did with it’s iPod and, to a lesser extent, it’s iPhone, we are now going to have to listen to several years of reviewers going on about whether this new tablet idea, or that new tablet idea will be able to compete with the iPad.

I mean, even today, most mp4 players are compared against Apples mighty iPod, and the first line usually relates to whether ‘it can compete with the iPod.’ The same thing’s happened with the iPhone, pretty much all new ‘superphones’ are compared against Apples iPhone, and often come off worse. And that’s why Apple’s already won. Because every new product is instantly compared against the iPhone/iPod/iWhateverthehell

Okay, I’m coming off pretty anti-Apple here.Maybe I am – I never really did like the look of Apples products, but you can’t deny the fact that Apple’s doing something right to be able to attract so many customers. Still, I can’t envisage myself holding any kind of Apple product any time soon. Unless, of course, it’s the crunchy, fruity kind.

Updates

Lazers — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:04:31 +0000

Alright, the whole Digital Economy Bill thing seems to have died down, at least a little bit. I’ve decided to try and work on a short story some time this week, and at least get some of the framework up off the ground. I also need to get round to learning how to draw, which I’ve always wanted to be able to do.

More on the Digital Economy Bill

Lazers — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:37:47 +0000

I’ll try not to rant this time. Promise. I bring you new information on the UK Digital Economy Bill! As we move further and further from the day that the bill was made law, we should start to see everyone settling down, and starting to accept the inevitable, right? A simple Google search will reveal what is, perhaps, the opposite. Recently, both O2, the mobile network and broadband provider spoke out against the Digital Economy Bill, with O2′s own Felix Gayr likening the bill to being an action of ‘Luddites’, who cannot adapt to the 21st century. Personally, I agree with this statement, and so does TalkTalk, with Andrew Hearney deeming the bill a ‘washup’.

Not to mention, twitter is alive with comments about the bill, both protests and support. For more information, you should probably take a look at Wikipedia for unbiased information about the Digital Economy Act. For Biased information, just google ‘Digital Economy Bill’.

If you’re against the bill, do us a favor and spread the word around. Hey, you could even send some people a link to this and the previous post! That would be helpful. And awesome. You are an awesome person if you do that. Seriously.

No, really.

Digital Economy Bill Passed – What Can We Do?

Lazers — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:02:48 +0000

Recently, very recently, the digital economy bill got passed. What does this mean? It means that the goverment now has the right to block websites from the public, and forces ISPs to take action against any form of file sharing, without going to court first. So, no more legal fights, just boom, connection throttled. Or even disconnected.

Shockingly, it doesn’t even seem that any actual thought was put into this bill. The bill passed despite objections from the liberal democrats, and even objections from some members for the party that placed it. A small form of mercy comes in the fact that some clauses were cut from the final version, including a clause to make every member of the public pay an extra £6.50 on top of their internet connection fee, simply to fund a better ‘network’. Yeah, a government controlled, filtered, ‘this-is-what-we-want-you-to-see’ network.

Worse, this ability to slow or disconnect your internet expands to every connection. Including those in hospitals, schools, universities, libraries. So, some poor punk connects his laptop to a libraries wifi, downloads a simple music track to listen to while he reads, and the library loses its connection indefinitely. Don’t let this happen.

Even some MPs were heard talking about how it’s better to ‘Submit the bill now, and fix problems after the election.’ Well. I guess you didn’t see that coming. So, what can we do? Protest. Read up on the bill, and write more blogs about it. Everywhere, spread it. Hubpages. Blogger. Blogspot. WordPress. Your website. Send editorials to newspapers. Visit the Open Rights Group. Or the Pirate Party UK.

Tell everyone. I’d rather not have my privacy ruined like this.

News

Lazers — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:42:38 +0000

But not my own. The BBC’s, to be exact. According to the website, ten armed robbers turned up in two cars and held up a Swedish casino, before escaping into France. Apparently, they couldn’t get into the strong room despite ‘shooting at the door’. I think these criminals were slightly unprepared. I mean, shooting at a thick, solid metal door is usually not the way you get into strong rooms.

Strongroom entry kit.

Still, you have to be thankful that these robbers didn’t actually harm anyone. They just walked in, ordered everyone onto the floor, emptied the till, and buggered off into France. Somehow, they managed to cross the border while still presumably carrying guns and 320,000 stolen dollars. Trying to find them again hasn’t been successful, either. Sneaky bastards.

Mini-Story completed

Lazers — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 21:47:48 +0000

The story I promised has been completed, and posted up on sffworld.com. You can read it here. This is my debut, and sure, it may not be the best, but it’s my first, so I think that counts for something. I’m not quite sure what I’ll be writing next, as I have a few ideas floating around my head, but I hope it’ll be longer, and better, than my first story. Look for it some time around next weekend.

So, what else has been happening? I’ve set my eyes on the glorious HTC Touch Pro 2 for my next smartphone, provided I can work up the not inconsiderable three hundred Great British Pounds neededto purchase it. Damn, that’s a hefty sum. Also, I noticed that yesterday I managed to get five whole pageviews! Coming from none, that’s almost a 500% increase since the day before!

Yay for statistics manipulation.

A BLOG

Lazers — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:35:22 +0000

Is what this is. I think introductions are in order. Okay, my name is Cameron. I’ve never done any blogging before, and only started because I intend to find somewhere to post my short stories. I live on an Island just off the coast of France known as the United Kingdom, and I dislike most forms of cooked potatoes. That’s about it. My introductory post complete. I don’t expect to get a lot of readers, but the few that do, count. Right?

WAIT. Short stories? As it turns out, yes. In fact, I plan to post one on this very blog somewhere in the next two days, so if you’ve just stumbled onto this blog by complete accident, stick around. Bookmark it. Write down the address. I don’t mind.

So, what’s the story gonna be about? This incredible debut? I can tell you this; It’s got a boat in it.