The Cheezy Blog

Netboot.me

Chris Stretton — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:17:51 +0000

I’ve recently found out about this brilliant little boot disk option. It boots up and downloads installers for all kinds of popular *nix variants as well as offering live boots of various systems. All are downloaded live from the internet, so the image itself is very small.

Here’s the demonstration video:

Screen Cheat-Sheet

Chris Stretton — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:12:50 +0000

I use screen daily, and yet I still have trouble remembering all the commands you can give the surprisingly powerful little app. Here’s a nice cheat sheet I found.

A Magnetic Movie

Chris Stretton — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:40:10 +0000

Really quite a cool movie about magnetic fields. It’s hard to tell at first if it’s animated or some cool effect NASA have managed to produce.

Credit Crisis: Visualised

Chris Stretton — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:30:51 +0000

Yeah yeah, it’s been a while, I know.

Just seen this cool video on Vimeo, I’ve tried to keep abrest of this whole credit thing, but until I watched this I never truly understood just HOW the whole issue started. Worth watching.

Aliens? In my toolbar?

Chris Stretton — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:08:26 +0000

A neat little firefox addon has been made for our Mixes system at work. Limi has been working in Chrome (no, not the Google Browser) and has produced a great way of seeing what servers are available to join.

It’s available now at Firefox Addons, so check it out!

Note: Until they pull it out of the “new addons” section, you’ll have to sign in and allow sandbox addons before you can install it. If you like it, please rate it so that this is done faster!

Yahtzee ‘Does’ GTA 4

Chris Stretton — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:40:57 +0000

It’s Wednesday, which means a new Zero Punctuation is available for our viewing pleasure. This week Yahtzee is espousing the virtues and deriding the foibles of Rockstar’s most recent installment of the celebrated Grand Theft Auto series, GTA 4, with his usual celerity.

He makes some good points, the game is hillariously fun to mess about in, its lauded “sandbox” world means you can bimble around to your heart’s content without ever really getting anywhere, but still ending up with a sense of achievement.

The game is not without it’s issues however, for me the most notable is the awful save system when you are doing the missions. The main problem is that the missions are often preceeded with a long, drawn out expositionary element, where you have to drive accross the city without attracting the attention of the errant LCPD, sometimes following gang bangers or drug dealers who drive like a senile old grandparent. Once you arrive at your destination, you then usually have to face a fast paced gun battle of some description, which often ends up with you waking up outside a hospital to find some kind doctor has half-hitched a sum of cash that could keep the NHS going for a decade, and a mocking text message asking you if you’d like to repeat the entire experience, exposition and all.

This is probably the single most frustrating gameplay element I’ve encountered this side of the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2. Several times I have contemplated defenestrating my XBox due to this, and it is almost responsible for me giving up on the game entirely. The ability to save when and where you want to would, in my mind, make the game far more eminently playable.

He does take issue with the game’s somewhat subdued colour pallet. But I don’t think it really detracts from it as much as he seems to believe. Like most cities, New York is a dirty, swrawling mass of dull grey buildings, and I feel that this is reflected well.

Mind Blowing Graffiti

Chris Stretton — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:11:02 +0000

Just seen this awesome graffiti animation. It must have taken weeks to paint and film, and I’m surprised it didn’t get the guy put away.
The video is very freaky but is truly excellently executed.

Aussie straps in beer, not child

Chris Stretton — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:36:41 +0000

It’s well known that Aussies love their beer, but it never really sunk in before until I read this BBC News story about an Australian man who was pulled over, only for the police to find a case of beer strapped in with a seatbelt and a 5 year old child sitting on the floor of the car.

The mind boggles sometimes.

Yahtzee Hits Back

Chris Stretton — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:25:32 +0000

I know I’m a few days late with this, but it would seem Yahtzee doesn’t appreciate the world of hatemail he recieved over this review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

He’s hit back with this run down of the worst mail he’s recieved, ridiculing and correcting where neccessary.

Good stuff.

Snarathon

Chris Stretton — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:00:26 +0000

Snickers bars, after two decades under that name, are being returned to their original and far superior name of Marathon, The Telegraph is reporting.

It took them long enough to realise no one liked the name Snickers.