First come first served - Invites to Brightkite and Mento giveaway

May 9, 2008 – 5:45 pm

I’ve recently gotten invites to two new sites and have accounts there.

There is Brightkite which is a social networking site based around where you are, go to or have been. Feel free to add me, although I’m not too sure to which extent I’ll be using it. I have 3 spare Brightkite invites.

And then there’s Mento which seems to be some sort of link sharing site that works in a similar fashion to Facebook sharing. My profile is here for anyone wishing to add me. I can invite 8 people.

If you always wanted to be part of either site, please leave a comment on this post and an invite will be on it’s way to you.

By Cat | Posted in Beta | Comments (5)

Forbidden but not quite? Germany passes new video game distribution legislation

May 9, 2008 – 4:46 pm

The German government yesterday passed a new legislation regarding the sale of video games to minors.

“Auf dem Index” ist ein Spiel, wenn es keine Jugendfreigabe erhält. Erwachsene dürfen es kaufen, aber nur “unter dem Ladentisch”, es darf nirgends offen angeboten werden. “Bundesweit beschlagnahmt” ist ein Spiel, wenn nach dem Strafgesetz seine Verbreitung verboten ist. Wer ein solches Spiel besitzt, kann es zuhause in Ruhe spielen, denn Besitz und die Herstellung sind nicht verboten.

Or translated to English:

A game is listed “on the list” if it’s not allowed to be sold to minors. Adults are allowed to buy it, but only from “under the counter”; it is not allowed to be advertised/on the shelves anywhere. A game is classed as “confiscated nationwide” if it’s circulation is prohibited after the legislation. Anyone owing such game is allowed to play it at home as owning and manufacturing are not forbidden.

Netzeitung

As an aside, that took me far too long to translate!

As a whole rating films and games is a good thing as it gives an indication on the content and means that children and teenagers only have access to media which is suitable for their age, for example GTA IV which can only be purchased by anyone over 18 or various films over the years.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t without it’s flaws. The way the rating, especially for games, is established is broken and the ratings differ between the countries. And then there are always the shops themselves that don’t necessarily honour the ratings and sell ‘over 18′ games to minors or parents buying them for their kids with the misguided belief that ‘games are for kids’.

Maybe it is because I won’t be affected by it, but I support any kind of purchase restriction for minors and have never found myself disagreeing with the rating a game I’ve played has received. Ratings are there for a reason and looking at the big picture it works.

The new scheme Germany is set to introduce does disturb me though. Taking ‘over 18′ games off the shelves and only selling them from ‘under the counter’ isn’t the way to go, especially as films are retailed, advertised and broadcast on TV without any restrictions. In addition, even over 18 games in Germany are different to their American or even UK counterparts with most of the blood or the violent scenes removed, such as ‘The Suffering‘ cutting to a black screen for the most violent cutscenes or ‘Mortal Kombat: Deception‘ removing the violent Fatality scenes.

The legislation sets a bad precedent; adults should still be able to purchase games normally. There rather needs to be more clarification as to what the ratings actually stand for to parents and the general population and to an extent how people perceive games. Attempts have been made in the USA to inform people about the ratings and that is what Germany needs. There is so much talk about so called ‘Killerspiele’ [Killergames] that a positive mainstream news article about gaming is seen as a big surprise that some Germans feel it necessary to write about their surprise. But then there’s always the tabloids with their take on things.

I hope Germany soon realises that this isn’t the way forward and that ratings exist for a reason. And I hope even more that other countries don’t get similar crazy ideas.

By Cat | Posted in Call of Duty games, Community and Games, Films and TV, Germany, Xbox360 | Comments (5)

What I learned from spending a day in the pub.

May 8, 2008 – 9:09 pm

In an effort to actually get lots of work done and minimise any procrastinating, I decided to spend the day at a pub drinking [mostly] non alcoholic drinks, listening to music and finally finish some pieces I had been writing on for a while. I managed to complete all that and even more and this may just be the way to go. I have however spent far too much time twittering and for once I’m actually on top of my RSS feeds!

There are some things I’ve realised during the day:

  • Secluded outside area + sunshine + comfy chairs + wi-fi + outside plugs to charge laptops [well, using the one from the heater which wasn't in use] + parasol = Do I need to say any more?!
  • Going to the pub on your own isn’t all that great when you need to go to the toilet as it involves packing laptop, charger and everything else in the bag just to come back to someone else sitting on the table in the corner with the perfect overview of the whole area.
  • Sitting alone listening to music on headphones typing on a laptop seems to indicate that I want someone talking to me. I don’t. Especially not when it’s drunk people.
  • One worded, uninterested replies does not seem to indicate I have no interest in the above people’s life stories. Really, I don’t in any shape or form. Fuck off.
  • Other people on their own seem to think it’s acceptable to just stare. And I mean literally just stare without even breaking it when I look at them and there’s eye contact. I’m all for watching other people, just don’t stare at me!
  • Staying at the pub for more than just a few hours means the staff are actually nice enough to just bring me a new drink to the table when I’ve finished one.
  • The Club Ciabatta at the Hope Tab is amazing!
  • Reading BILDblog.de is very addictive!
  • Going to a pub you’ve been going to for years is a bad idea if you’ve been going there with friends or, worse, boyfriends. Running into an old boyfriend at 8pm on a Thursday evening while sitting alone at a table listening to music and drinking coke isn’t the best thing to do!
  • Going to a pub half this town seems to go to involves running into old colleagues. Which is not all bad I suppose. On a sidenote, I don’t really know that many people in this town, but lately I seem to be running into someone every time I’m in town.
  • Spending over seven hours in the pub can cost less than £10. You have got to love Wetherspoon pubs!
By Cat | Posted in Food, Life in general, Music, RSS Feeds, Twitter | Comments (6)

What if you knew that today was your last day on Earth?

May 8, 2008 – 12:42 pm

Last night I watched a documentary on children affected by cancer who know that they’re not going to live much longer and with the help of multiple charities they were able to do things they always wanted to do, such as meet a footballer they admire, go to Thorpe park or go to see a concert. During the course of the program they were asked by the team what they would do if they knew that it was their last day on Earth. That is also one of those questions that I’ve been asked many times in my life and everyone has their own ideas what they would do if they knew it was indeed their last day on Earth.

I’ve never given it much thought, but the way the children were able to give such clear answers did leave me wondering if it means that I have no aspirations or dreams and just go with the flow and concentrate on the ‘daily survival’ a bit too much. So, if today was my last day on Earth, what would I do?

Something that obviously doesn’t reflect in this post is that for the past five minutes I’ve been sitting here staring at the screen thinking about it without actually being able to give an answer! The most important thing used to be spending some time with friends, having a good time, maybe over a coffee or sitting somewhere in the sun talking, but recent experiences and being let down too many times to count put that into question and, as I don’t currently have a desire to meet them, it’s not really an option!

There’s too much left in the world that I’d want to see before I die, but none of that would be possible within a day! There’s Egypt, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America, Ireland to just mention some countries. I’d love to see the USA again, especially San Francisco and New York [no, this is not brought on by GTA IV, thank you very much!] and places I’ve been in my life, such as Cuxhaven, Bibione and to an extent my hometown and other places in Germany.

In a more realistic sense based on where I am, I suppose I’d like to see Oxford and London again, but that’s more of a requirement rather than an actual wish as those towns are so close I could’ve gone to see them any day, but the unreliable train services, the Tube and the masses of tourists and people in general deter me.

Looking at other things there are so many books I’ve been wanting to read, so many films I’ve been meaning to see, so much music I’ve been missing out on, but that isn’t possible to do in a day either.

And apart from that there isn’t anything else left. Sure, there are all the books ‘X amount of things you have to do til you you die’, but bungee jumping, parachuting or the like have never much interested me.

At the end of the day we are the lucky ones. We don’t know when we’re going to die and effectively we know we have our life still in front of us. Of course we could die any moment being run over by a car, ambushed by ASBO kids or the world blowing up, but we have the chance to do and see what we want in life when we want it. We have more than 24 hours or even a week and we should use that chance.

Always wanted to learn another language? Go for it.
Been meaning to read that long book, but never found the time, because of trivial things? Make the time.
Always wanted to go and visit a certain place? Well, what’s stopping you? Do you want another generic holiday or spend your money on things that don’t mean anything anyway?

What I have planned for today? I am currently catching up with an old acquaintance from South Africa who’s been inviting me to come and visit many times before. I might go and see him soon..

By Cat | Posted in Life in general, Personal | Comments (0)

What the hell is going on?

May 6, 2008 – 8:41 am

Simple answer: How the hell do I know? No, seriously, I dunno..

I admire people who know what they want to do in their life, who know who they are and what their aims are. I’ve never known all that for me, not back in Germany, not during school, not ever. I’ve been going along with the flow, occupying myself with things that in the grand scheme of things don’t matter.

That sort of improved when I moved to the UK, which again was just one of those opportunities that pushed the actual question a bit further to the back and let me swim around aimlessly avoiding the big question and now, almost five years later, I am at a point where I really don’t know what I want in the slightest any more. I do, however have many things I know I don’t want any more.

One of those things is living in the South of the UK doing what I’ve been doing or rather not doing in the last years. Whilst I’ve been happy on a day to day basis I’ve not been happy overall and life’s been dragging on and on with no clear goal or idea what I want with my life.

I have a fairly basic CV with specialisation in one area meaning I can get a job easily, but that’s a job within a certain industry and nothing more. I’ve thrown away opportunities, because I was settled with what I’ve been doing and I guess the last five years shall be known as ‘the years I’ve not jumped at things I should have’..

Where does that leave me and where do I stand? Well, that is the big ‘I dunno’. I know I have to leave this town in the next few days because I cannot stand being here longer. In a sense I guess I am running away from things [again], but I need a new start. Somewhere somehow somewhat.

So what brings this up more than it has done in the last months?

My friends mean a lot to me.

My friends are the family I made.

Both are statements I have made in the past. Over the years I’ve made many acquaintances and some very few good friends who mean very much to me.

Both are statements I’m not at all sure about any more. I haven’t been for a while, but in the recent week, hell, even in the recent hours I have realised that all the people I thought I could rely on I can’t any more. Taking it that one step further, I can’t actually remember when I could last or maybe even ever rely on them.

Asking a friend for help made me realise just how self centred and selfish that friend is, as not only the friend turned it down for completely selfish reasons, but the conversation was changed almost immediately about that person. It reminded me about a person I used to be friends with many years ago who asked me some straightforward questions about themselves from eye colour to character. Something I guess we’d call a meme these days. If I were to ask the friend who just let me down the same kind of questions I’m sure all the answers would be wrong or made up along the way.

So what does that show about me? Does it mean that I’ve been choosing the wrong friends? Does it mean I’ve made wrong decisions? Does it mean I’ve been foolish in the past? Does it mean all my priorities are wrong? Does it mean I need to change myself?

I guess the anwer to all the above is a simple and straightforward yes and to an extent it shows that I need to radically change something as the way things are going or have been is not good and bad for me.

So that’s where I’m at or rather not at. Confused more than ever, unsure of what I want all over again. All I know is that I need to sort it out.

Somewhere somehow somewhat.

By Cat | Posted in Life in general, Personal | Comments (12)