This is an apologetic catchup post due to my lack of bloggage recently, I could say that I’m really busy running a business and exam revision for University - but we all know that students don’t really do anything.
First of all, what a mint couple of episodes of Shameless. I love Mickey more than ever, and yes I agree you do look ‘propa fit’ in unifrom - and Paddy “You’ll always be a bitter cunt”.
Back to work - As students do best, I’ve been getting totally hammered, eating tons of junk food, retaking failed exams (due to the hammered part) and doing tons loads of assignments+revision+ procrastination. Thank god the years nearly coming to an end.
In other areas of spent some business profit on a shiny brand new spanking Sony Vaio. Yes folks - I didn’t buy a MacBook Pro. Why - because they don’t have a full HD 16:9 aspect ratio screen or BlueRay. I was also less than impressed with the spec of them - where has the wow factor gone Apple?!
Back to TV realm - and you’ve really gotta love Brothers & Sisters. It really is an amazing TV show. Nora is the best character for me, closely followed by Kitty, Kevin and Scotty. Although I’m not a huge fan of his character, you’ve also gotta love Rob Lowe - fit, clever and cute = perfect.
I find it interesting that in Brothers & Sisters there is such a diverse range of political differences - Republicans(conservatives) & Democrats(liberal/labour). What’s admirable is that Kitty & Robert (the conservatives) are nothing like our Conservative party. Unlike prize twit David Cameron (despite what he might want you to think), Kitty & Robert are for gay rights (gay marriage, gay adoption etc etc) and small businesses. Unforutnatley if the conservatives get in, we are at worst going to return to a society of prejudice where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, best case scenerio we just won’t progress at all! Please please please vote Labour - Liberal Democrats will not get in (due to our voting system) and we need our nukes until everyone else agrees to get rid of theirs!
Thanks for your time. This has been another form of procrastination whilst I’m listening to the soundtrack of Hairspray attempting to revise whilst drinking lot’s of CocaCola and Milk Chocolate Digestives resulting in failure of test tomorrow and excessive weight gain. Life’s just brill :P
A while ago now I got a big fat ZERO in a test at uni. This is the worse score I’ve ever had in my life, well you can’t get worse can you lol.
In fairness, one of them was a definite trick question. And there was only five questions, of which I got some parts right, but none of them fully. Also in my opinion the answers where worded very badly. Excuses Excuses I know.
The real reason is that I’m on a course which I do not attend very often at all. This is because I’m too busy running a business which is actually earning me money and is teaching more than the pointless copied lectures/workshops will ever teach me (as did my job, my business before that, my uncle before that and my dad before that). By the way if anyone bothered to do any of the reading of the operating systems module, they will see that the text in the lecture is just a badly rephrased and bullet pointed version of the recommended book, which is equally dull. This leads me to ponder why I’m actually on the course, and believe me I can not find an answer.
So today I’ve hit rock bottom, I got my old friend (cactus) Jack(s) out at about 4 o’clock, and we’ve been trying to work things out together since. (Note I don’t usually need the help of Jack to do things mid-day anyhow, this is a one off occasion to hopefully knock me out before I go - even more - insane.)
I fear I will get another big fat ZERO in my test tomorrow even though I have revised (sober as well), I’m not really reading it, its just going somewhere in that brain of mine never to be retrieved again.
I’ve obviously set my self up for a big fat ZERO. I’ll let you know how I get on :P
A recent project I did at uni involving a video ringtone and a flash website - you can check the flash website (which also has the video ringtone on it) here or by clicking on the big image. Like me it’s a bit weird, and I feel it’s worth checking out if you want a bit of a giggle. Anyway I don’t like flash very much - so this is probably the most interactive I’ve got with it in a while :P and in turn it has some rough edges. All artwork is of course conceived and created by yours truly - as is the actual ringtone (although it’s not really what you’d call music…). Not so Interesting fact: I recycled part of Supernova Names logo (a sub-brand of my company, Specific Gravity Ltd) in the video for the comets and the sun.
Well I have an excuse for not updating my blog this time. Again I’ve gone through massive changes – it’s September again and I’m back in Lincoln (in a new Flat with the wonderful Lizz Brady – see I do mention you!), this time on a Web Technology integrated masters course, which is perfect because I’m in 2 days a week, and the rest is for my business I launched WebFloat.co.uk and I’m really pleased with it, it’s something original and yet, very very simple.
I’ve also had to deal with the threat of legal action from my ex-employer Easy Internet. Anyway the long and short of it is I have been accused of stealing all their clients in some elaborate conspiracy theory. Anyway after repeat attempts to defend myself against legal action and threats to cease trading- I think, just maybe, they have realised that the only threat from me is in their heads.
Right then – Gays. Stop ganging up on Dannii, it wasn’t and isn’t a big deal. It annoys me, it really does. If she’d of said to the little lad (which they did) “all the girls will be crying rivers for you” – was that shock horror, no! Why not say it – it wasn’t malicious, and he said himself he’s not ashamed, so it’s no biggy. Simon Cow showed his true colours again though.
Moody post is over – hope it was both enlightening and entertaining, and even a bit disturbing. I shan’t grammar or spell check it – consider it organic.
7 Months Ago vs Edit: Today
Well first of all I’ve failed miserably with regards to keeping my blog up to date – but I will put in more effort on that front! Anyway I’m on holiday in France and it’s raining so after hacking in and updating WP I thought it was time for a new post! A lot has happened since my last post back in March, so I thought I’d kick start my new effort by doing a quick round up… *Edit: And I’m starting that new effort again lol
After over five years of service, I left my job as SEO Team Leader & Web Designer at Easy Internet in Leicester. I’d been part time for nearly two years and to be honest, it was becoming an unnecessary waste of my time. I decided I’d reached the top of the hill, and I’d prefer to jump off rather than tumble down slowly. All the best to them for the future. *Edit: They since tried to sue my ass for the below - but that’s all now sorted (I think…)
I launched Specific Gravity – www.specificgravity.co.uk – I’m steadily building up a client base and plan to launch a more detailed/comprehensive site in September. I’m also due to launch WebFloat (webfloat.co.uk) in the next few weeks. I’m also looking to launch the new version GAYY.co.uk in the coming months (this has been on hold for about a year). SG and WF will also be taking a more prominent role on my personal sites – aiming for a more personal and transparent image for potential customers/visitors to my business sites. Edit: I did this :D And I’ve also launched other sub brands www.supernovanames.com and www.getgravity.co.uk with more to come soon
I’ve shut down my 7ft reef aquarium, I’ve now sold all of the stock to good homes and I’m in process of selling of the equipment and then the tank. Sad to see it go but what with being a student, running (and funding) a business plus spending most of my time away from home, I really don’t have the time or the spare income to justify it. I set up my Dad with a very small 15″ nano cube tank tho to keep him occupied. I plan to make ReefKeep.in a gallery/tribute sort of thing – mainly for me really, but I’m sure others in the reef keeping community will enjoy it as well – anyway that’ll be on the back-burner perhaps late this year or early next. *Edit: I’ve still not done this. But we have got two little clown fish in the nano cube - and they survived a 5 day marathon on a current treadmill - they are called fish n chips (thanks Lizz)
Other news on my personal site front, SJSNET.co.uk got a makeover – well I’ve decided RetroNerd.org is to replace SJSNET.co.uk by the end of the year, I want to move away from this old identity which really now has no hold over any of my projects. Expect some more enhancements to RetroNerd before this move takes place. EugenetheDragon.info is to be re-designed and updated and I’m planning some retirements for other domains. *EDIT: I’ve since given it another makeover - and eugene etc still has no makeover.
Back to the “real” world. I’m going back to Lincoln University in September to start an Mcomp in Web Technology, providing I pass a maths exam – glad I made the decision to nip the Graphic Design degree in the bud, although I love graphic design, I think my time is better spent elsewhere and this new degree will reinforce my work experience in the web industry. Looking forward to being a fresher for the second time around – this time with just a little bit of restraint. *EDIT: I’m now at uni just finished my semester A - but I’ve changed course, now doing Computer Science. Also have the perfect house for next year with Amy and Lizz
and how could I forget! I managed to get hold of tickets for the Michael Jackson This Is It concert at London o2. Since then Michael Jackson has died – I’m so gutted that we never got to see him live in concert, but even more gutted that we’ll never have the opportunity to hear anything from him again. RIP Michael Jackson. *Edit: But I did see and hear new things from him again. I got my souvenir ticket and went to see This Is It. Total and utter legend.
Some updates to previous posts…
Since my Not To Twitter post back in February, I’ve now joined (reluctantly, but on good advice) Twitter – but you’ll find I’ve not yet become an active user (I don’t think active is a good word for me) I best get to it before they remove my account! http://twitter.com/specificgravity Edit: In fact I now have two twitter accounts, a personal one and a business one. @retronerdorg and @specificgravity
Also on the TV front Hero’s Fugivitives has finished, along with the third season of Brothers & Sisters and Skins. All brilliant, even – dare I say – Robin Hood, though it is what it is. I’m now on the 3rd season of Ugly Betty (love it!), Big Brother (charlie to win of course) and looking forward to watching 5 hours worth of Torchwood when I get home next week. *Edit: I’m now on season 4 of brothers and sisters, season 2 of being human and season 7 of shameless starts Next Thursday. Get In.
On the Apple front I upgraded to the 16gb iPhone 3G as my 18 month o2 contract came to end – which was really stupid because the iPhone 3GS was released a few weeks after – always the case, you can never have the latest model. I’m still running Safari 4 beta – it’s getting better and the initial bugs I reported are now resolved – woo. *Edit: It broke, and I got a brand new one free from Apple.
What with all of these big changes and decisions to make I’ve managed to put on a few stone in weight, which I’m now on an effort to lose again as quickly as humanly possible. Anyway I’m getting back on track again now, still lot’s going on over the next few months – so hopefully posting again soon with something more useful/interesting. Edit: I have failed to lose much weight - although probably lost a little if not put any on.
Well this has been a very interesting look - for me anyway - of what I have achieved and not achieved in the last 7 months and how things have changed.
This is a mini book that I did for my final project in Media and Visual Communication in 2008. Click to view or download (Large PDF).
At 4pm tomorrow afternoon I have to hand in a 3000 word essay on how social computing is influences and changes modern living and communication, and whether or not it can be likened to a modern day ‘opiate of the masses’. Well I am currently half way through my essay, but my friend has just introduced me to tumblr. So I have now immediatley created an account, moved my retronerd.org blog and am now distracted with importing old posts, setting up the iphone app, integrating with twitter and giving it a nice custom design.
If I don’t ever make any money in my life or finish my degree I blame social computing! In summary social media is making us lazy bums. End of essay.
