As far as I’m concerned, money just creates problems. How many times have you felt depressed about your lack of money? How many times have you spent too much on a night out or gambled too much of it away and felt guilty? How many bankers and ‘celebrities’ are being paid a shit-load just to do jobs that ‘normal’ people could do. I suppose it all comes down to power and the evolution of man to be greedy and always want more. But in my eyes, money is making the world a horrible place to live in.

Why should there be whole continents that struggle in poverty when there are some individuals with more worth than a small country’s GDP? Imagine a world were everyone could live without the fear of debt and not being able to put food on the table (if you can even afford a table to put it on). Imagine a world where your luxuries depended on the difficulty of the job you did, and everyone could eat a healthy amount of food every day for free. Imagine a life where there wasn’t undesirable places to live and you didn’t have to worry about people trying to steal what you had. Imagine a life where you didn’t have to feel like shit just because some rich cunt is looking down their nose at you. Imagine a life where you could do what you enjoy without having to worry about whether you could afford it or not. Imagine a life where you could go anywhere on Earth without having to save up for an extortionate plane fare. Imagine a life where oil companies weren’t making billions of Dollars every year as a result of screwing over Joe Public.

It’s hard to imagine what that would be like. And why? Because generations before us have screwed up our societies so much that we have to rely on little bits of paper and numbers on a balance sheet to get us through the day. You can’t do anything without money being involved. Even walking down the street and seeing the odd coin lying on the pavement makes you think about whether it’s worth picking up and what people would think of you if you did. What has the world come to when we need to fundraise just so people in other parts of the world have access to clean water?

I very much doubt I’ll see any kind of resolution to these problems in my lifetime. In fact, I very much doubt that these problems will ever be solved. Governments can get together and think up crackpot ideas to try to fix things, but there’s not a chance in hell that more tax and a bit of recycling is ever going to make the world a better place to live in.

Well, it’s not all been bad – it’s just the bad has far outweighed the good. But that’s enough negativity. Let’s talk about what’s going right with the world… Well, we’re still in a depression, petrol prices are sky high, VAT has just gone up permanently (I never liked that awkward 17.5 percentage anyway!), unemployment is at its highest rate in decades, innocent lives are still being taken in warfare and poverty and famine in the world as aren’t getting any better. Deary me, that didn’t go very well, did it? Is anything going right in the world?

We have a Royal Wedding this year. Yee-ha! People get married every day – not sure why this one is any different. That’s enough about the Monarchy; I feel like I’ve wasted too much energy typing even that! We have a new government that’s promising to fix the country’s problems. But that’s not exactly working so far. What else is there… I’m actually struggling to think of something.

Maybe I’m just out of touch with the world. I have a routine and it’s working well for me right now. And that doesn’t really involve reading newspapers or going out of my way to find out about world news. But does that matter? Do you really need to know what’s going on around you when you’re just one person in a population of 7 billion? Sure, it gives you things to talk to people about; but what if I don’t want to talk to people? What if I want to avoid the unintelligent and rude people that generally make up the population?

I might just have to grin and bear that though since my bedroom is starting to feel like a prison cell. In an open prison, of course. You know, the prisons were the inmates can do whatever they like. But what else is there out there apart from the lovely people of the world? Shops that are too expensive, weather that is not dissimilar to that of the Arctic, the constant feeling that you’re being judged, and a general culmination of life’s disappointment. Fabulous. That’ll encourage me to get out more.

Don’t get me wrong, I have moments of inspiration that give me quick bursts of motivation. But they quickly drain away when I realise nothing has changed in the world and I’m not in any position to do anything about it. Perhaps I should just try to change my life before I try to change the world. I’ll let you know how that goes. Maybe I’ll post a shockingly positive update next time!

Speaking of XEv5, I’ll give you all a little update while I’m here. I’ve actually had some time to work on it over the last few weeks. My original plan was to relaunch on July 13th and a few weeks ago I didn’t think that was possible – but I do actually think that’s a possibility now. I might still wait until I can get lots of media and content added before I relaunch though – so July 13th might not be the date I decide on.

What I’ve been doing recently is working on the front page and the caching system. The main aim of recoding the front page is to get all content on it instead of just news – which I have managed to do through the wonders of arrays. News, reviews, previews and interviews will all appear on the front page automatically, and there will be an option for the staff to add manual updates such as media being added and other pages being updated. The caching system turned out to be relatively easy to code, thanks to PHP’s output buffer. Most pages will be cached for a number of minutes (currently 30, but that’s easy to change) and there will also be a full section on the Admin Panel about it so that staff can force the cached files to be updated (on an individual page and whole site basis). Apart from that, I’ve been adding a few games and some media, so that’s the start of that process too. I hope to have the best selling Xbox games and ALL Xbox 360 games added to the site by the relaunch, and as much media as possible for each game.

Anyway, onto the main reason for this post – you know what really grinds my gears? Online betas. There seems to be an influx of beta opportunities these days and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s becoming a tired idea. I know developers must get a lot of feedback from beta programmes, but I for one am tired of seeing them appearing. The reason I thought about making a post about this is because I just read that Tom Clancy’s EndWar will be having a private beta on Xbox LIVE. What happened to the days where developers did internal beta testing? Most of the games seemed to turn out OK without beta testing over LIVE, so why is there a sudden influx of beta programmes now? Especially now since updates for games can be released over Xbox LIVE, so issues found after release can be easily fixed.

What annoys me more is “private” betas. Surely the point of having an external beta programme is to get as many people playing the game at once as possible – so why limit it to people that can get their hands on an activation code? Let everyone download it or there’s not much point to doing it in the first place.

Another reason I don’t like betas is that it’s just like a really early demo that’s possibly prone to crashing. Why give people a chance to play it if it’s nowhere near finished and could go wrong at any time? And if it doesn’t go wrong, why is it a beta? If it’s that close to being finished then why do it in the first place? Also, for big, high-profile releases, it’s just another way to hype up the game even more than it should.

One of the most well-known Xbox LIVE beta programmes is probably for Halo 3. Did this help Bungie with their programming and help them finish the game off? Probably. But did this hype the game up to massive proportions and end up making the final release a bit of an anti-climax? Probably. Case in point.

Let me know if you’re fed up of beta programmes too…

(N.B. I’ve disabled comments on this post due to high amounts of spam.)

Due to personal reasons that I won’t go into here, I think this blog was probably a pretty bad idea for me. As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted anything in over 3 months – and that’s due to me 1) not having anything interesting to say, and 2) the reasons I mentioned above.

I’ll still be keeping the blog alive to post XEv5 updates – but I won’t be posting anything else on here. While I’m here, I may as well give a small update…

I’ve pretty much not done any more work on XEv5 since I started this blog (mostly due to the same reasons I haven’t been posting here), so I’m not sure if I’ll make the 13th July date I was planning on making. I can’t say what will happen if I don’t make that date, but I’m hoping to get it online this year at some point. For the record, I’m also hoping to start posting here again in the future – but until I sort my life out, I think it’s best if I walk away from this right now. Basically, if I start posting here again it means I’ll be a lot happier with the way things are going for me, and I’ll be a lot more comfortable posting my thoughts again.

And in case any of you are wondering – this won’t affect XE currently. The site will still run as normal because I’m still happy enough to run the site (and it’s actually a great distraction for me).

So, until my next XEv5 update – catch you all later!

The last remaining premium rate phone-in quiz show on TV (Quiz Call on five) has finally managed to surpass its previous incompetence. I haven’t entered a quiz show for about a year now, but I still like to keep an eye on what’s happening. Don’t get the wrong idea about the quiz show I’m talking about – it’s not the only one still on air because it’s the best one… far from it, in fact.

A couple of weeks ago Quiz Call returned to five (Channel 5) after its Christmas break, and with it brought a new web entry system. According to guidelines regarding this type of programming, there must be a free entry route in order to be treated as a competition; otherwise it would be classed as a lottery and at least 20% of the profit made would have to be given to charity. Well, as you’d expect Quiz Call have a free entry route on their website, just like they used to have, and just like every other live phone-in quiz show had. Basically you go to their website, enter your details up to 140 times per day, and you get a PIN each time to use when you phone up a separate web entry phone number – however, since it’s a “free” web entry, you’d expect that phone number to be free, wouldn’t you? That’s how ITV’s quiz shows used to work, and that’s how others worked too (some called you back instead, like Quiz Call used to do).

Quiz Call have a history of taking the rules into their own hands (in my opinion, of course…) – at one point they pretty much scammed me out of winning £500, but that’s something I’d rather forget instead of explain (all I’ll say is that they gave out the wrong clue and were unusually strict about my answer). Rest assured I didn’t lose any money over this scam – I always have and always will use free web entries for these quiz shows. Of course I can’t use the web entry now, even if the following problem didn’t exist – you see they banned me from entering a couple of years ago (along with my parents and a good few of my mum’s friends across the UK). Why did they ban us, I hear you ask? Well they decided that we were all breaking a section of their Terms and Conditions which I’m pretty sure didn’t even exist at the time. To this day, we still strongly believe that the bans were due to us winning too much from the free web entry and because we didn’t actually phone their premium rate number to inflate their profits even more.

So, once you submit your details on their website, what are you presented with along with your PIN? An 0845 number – and is that free? Far from it! Even if you dial and hang up after 2 seconds it still costs you a few pence and that’s only if you’re on a BT landline. Their defence is that they’re not making a profit from the phone call and in fact the company that receives the cost of the call is your phone network – Quiz Call don’t see a penny of it. Also, they have compared it to buying a postcard and stamp to gain free entry into other competitions that you see on bars of chocolate and suchlike. But to be honest, I have had enough of Quiz Call’s shit now, and I will actually celebrate on the day they go off air for good. I wish the decent members of staff good luck for finding their next job, but I think the overall quality and deceitfulness of that show is beyond repair. I thought I lost all respect for Quiz Call a long time ago, but this has really done it.

I’m guessing the only reason Quiz Call don’t give you a free number to call when using the web entry is because leasing an 0800 number would cost them money, whereas leasing an 0845 one doesn’t (or at least is dirt cheap in comparison). Shit off, Quiz Call – you’re not wanted on our TV screens anymore!

(N.B. I’ve disabled comments on this post due to high amounts of spam.)

I’ve never liked football that much, however my dad comes from a village near Motherwell and hence he grew up supporting them. He’s not an avid supporter as he doesn’t go to many games, but he does try and go to the odd important one – in fact he was at the 1991 Scottish Cup final where Phil scored his first goal for Motherwell, which helped them win the game and the cup.

On 1st January 2008 my family travelled through to the West of Scotland (near Motherwell) to see my gran as we do every year. The next day, before we came home, my dad went to Motherwell’s stadium, Fir Park to see the tributes left for Phil. He asked my brother and I if we wanted to come, and I wasn’t too bothered at the time, but I’m glad I went in the end. To see such a massive range of support (from fans not only from Motherwell, but lots of different clubs and areas) for Phil and his family was amazing. In his 17-year football career, Phil played for Motherwell, Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday and most recently for Motherwell again, so his friends and fans span the whole of the UK and, as you’ll see from the following Fan Tributes page, all over the world. I believe there are nearly 500 messages on this page…

Fan Tributes for Phil O’Donnell (Motherwell FC website)

I have attached some photos below from when I went to Fir Park, and you’ll see how missed Phil will be. Up until now I’ve only mentioned the support from his friends and fans – but my sincerest condolences also go out to his wife, 4 young children, and the rest of his family. From what I’ve heard, Phil was not only a good footballer – he was also a perfect gentleman and a great person to know – and for those reasons, he will be sorely missed by a lot of people.

R.I.P. Phil O’Donnel 1972-2007.

I had a great start to 2007, but it turned out to be an average year. I’ve had an average start to 2008, so does that mean the rest of the year will be great? I doubt it…

I don’t get why people try to predict how well their whole year will be based only on the first few days of it – it doesn’t make any sense. As pointed out on the Xbox Elite forums, the same can be said about New Year’s Resolutions – why plan things for a certain time just because it’s the start of a new year? What’s the difference between starting now and starting on 1st January?

Back to my original point, just because you have a bad/average/good few days at the start of the year doesn’t mean anything. The first 3 days of the year are the same as any other 3 days of the year – if you have a really great 3 days in June do you expect the next 362 to be good too? No. So why make the same assumption just because the 3 days in question happen to be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January? Who knows…

Personally, I plan to start working a bit harder on everything I do and stop being so lazy. I’m not going to call it a New Year’s Resolution because it’s not – I didn’t work as hard as I would’ve liked in my first term at uni (October-December) so I want to make sure I do work hard from now on; and it just so happens that my next term starts in January and coincides with the new year.

I’m not going to ask what all of your Resolutions were – what I’m going to ask is this… What are you planning on changing in your life in 2008 that could’ve been done in 2007 if you had the motivation?

Last year (2007, in case you’re not used to it being 2008 by now) wasn’t one of my best years to say the least, but I’ve been feeling better about things over the last week or so, so I shouldn’t get too depressed in 2008 hopefully! I feel a bit more motivated to do things now – I don’t have a clue why; I just do. That’ll probably change when I go back to uni on Monday, mind you…

One of the main things on my mind right now is the health of my laptop – there are currently 2 things wrong with it. First of all, it keeps crashing; second of all, the battery time is getting ridiculously short. The crashing problem I have tracked to my new RAM – I’m currently using my old RAM (slowwwwwwwww!) and it hasn’t crashed yet, so I’m pretty sure that’s what the problem is. The battery problem is annoying because I’m going to have to phone up Samsung and get a replacement – I’ve already emailed them asking them about the problem and about the warrany (it should cover it, so I’m told), but they said I had to phone to get it replaced. I looked earlier today at the fully charged capacity of the battery, and it was less than half of what the designed capacity is – that’s over 50% wear in about 8 months. You can expect to hear more about these problems in the future – I might have to end up getting more new RAM and selling my current new RAM to my mum (for my old laptop, which she uses) or my best friend (who got a new laptop for Christmas – lucky git!). I suppose I should probably phone them ASAP considering I’ll probably need my laptop for uni work. Oh well… just need to do it and get it out of the way!

Happy New Year, everyone – I hope your 2008s aren’t as bad as my 2007 was.