Thinking of starting up an Aussie Nerf blog, have a whole bunch of different stories and stuff from different perspectives. Of course, the reviews and leaks and mods are a given, but I wanted to do something more, make it interesting to read.

Been playing TF2 a lot more lately, ever since they updated the drop system. Been getting a lot more items, but at the same time, losing them… I have trouble keeping items that aren’t dupes…

Other than that, I’ve just been looking for work. Hopefully I’ll get something, earn some cash, and I’ll be able to get my groove back for some 3D work again. Been wanting to start a project for a while now, too.

Alright, just wanted to update it to remind people it’s still here I’ll try update later tonight and I can upload some screenies from TF2 or something.

I had a job over the summer! Had. I lost it, and I’m still not 100% sure why. But meh, working on game projects now, and I’ll find something new

Been gaming heaps, obviously. But retro gaming, catching up on all the games I missed out on. I have a red PSP, which I’ve been playing heaps of FFVII and VIII on. Been getting into the PS3 much more too, even got my copy of Bioshock 2 on it. Speaking of which, I’ll do a quick review in the next week. Came with a freaking vinyl record

I’ll be needing to update the computer soon, Win7 RC is going to run out soon. But I need a new HDD to install it on, so that I have something I can fit all my Steam games on. Speaking of Steam, the new UI update is slick. Some improvements could be made, but I really like it anyway.

Pokémon HearGold and SoulSilver next month, as well as FFXIII. I’m going to be busy with JRPGs this March… Really looking forward to Pokémon, though. I still remember when I got Gold, I played it all night, when my parents dragged me along to a friends place for dinner and games. I just laid down on their couch and got… 3 gym badges. Still my favourite in the series, really looking forward to replaying the game

My Nerf collection has just exploded. I have, in order of size, the Reflex, Nightfinder, 2 Mavericks, FuryFire, Recon, Raider and Vulcan. Looking forward to actually finding a Longshot for myself, and I’m excited for the Longstrike coming out soon. Will finally be able to use my Nerf guns in a real fight next week, for Humans vs. Zombies! Expect photos.

That’s about it, really. I’ll try get some more stuff to post soon, but in the meantime…

First off is the reflex sight, or the ‘pinpoint sight’ as they call it. It’s damn cool, but I have to admit, not exactly useful… considering Nerf isn’t good for pinpoint accuracy in the first place. But it does make it easier to line up your gun to a target, it made the Recon more accurate on a horizontal line, vertical always seems to depend on power behind the gun.

Recon with the reflex sight

This is the actual sight, the dot...

Verdict: I like it, but more for style.

Other one is the scope. Disclaimer – no magnification. Though, I do hope I can figure out how to modify it so it does. Otherwise, this is just another thing to add style to the Nerf gun.

Scope put on the Recon, with the front flap open

Just a shot of the entire Recon with the scope.

The one I didn’t get was the night light, which is really just a green LED, so not terribly useful, might get it for a review anyway. But otherwise, these two additions are great for giving your Nerf gun some character!

Mostly just feeling insignificant in the universe… which is fair enough, I really am. You know the whole ‘why does anything matter, I’m like a speck of dust on the shelf that is the universe, I have no effect on anything’ sort of mindset. And don’t worry, I’m not feeling like that now, just throwing it out there. When really, that statement is true… with context. The context of viewing the entire universe at once, that is. In that context, sure… you can’t change anything significant. But how about, in the eyes of family and friends? Yes, you can change everything. Our perception can pretty much be summed up as a field of vision… you can only take in so much at once, anything more is left to the imagination, or you just don’t even realise it enough to care.

But say, you can change the universe… how would you? Most of the time, we only think of, say, changing physics, or destroying the universe… (on a seperate, but somewhat related point, if you _did_ destroy the universe, can you really say, scientifically, that you changed the universe, if you also destroyed everything capable of observing a change?). We can’t really fathom how we’d change the universe any other way, because we don’t understand it… what we do understand is everything right in front of us, that constantly changes. People, society… environments, colours. Even when something is constant, we can suddenly notice it by a change in focus within ourselves (see what I did there?). This all gets into time, which is not a point I want to get into… right now.

But basically, we’re creatures of society. We used to be creatures of survival… taking care of ourselves primarily. Now, we’re evolving together, through society and technology. I want to focus more on society in this post, though. We define ourselves based on clichés and terms we made ourselves. We categorise, that’s how we understand things easier. We’re successful, or losers, based on common terms made by people. But more importantly, we feel we need to be judged by those who are close to us… friends, family. Because it’s trust that can’t be commonly defined… where we find trust can’t really be categorised, or clichéd.. trust comes from places we don’t expect it. We’re social creatures, and we’re only human… we live our lives in our own heads, sharing it with other people, people that we trust. Getting all existential doesn’t really matter, because in the end, we’re aiming too high in what we expect to comprehend… what we’re supposed to understand is right in front of us. Trust, love, hunger, fear, anger, happiness… emotion, basically. Emotion is the driver, humanity is just the vessel. Our destination? Well, that’s another can of worms.

If you read the whole thing, please comment… there are only a few people I actually expect to read this, but I’d like more thoughts on all this

Beatles : Rock Band vocal harmonies are really fun. Especially because I can switch what I’m singing – lead vocals to harmonies. Just a shame my drum kit for Rock Band is on it’s way out too…

That’s about it, still going to do Nerf reviews soon, I guess I’ll start with the Vulcan. Anyway, good night internet.

Thinking of doing some reviews on my Nerf gun collection, which would be – Nite Finder, Maverick x2, Recon, Hornet and as of today, the Nerf Vulcan. Let me know in comments what you want to happen first!

Need to get Fiona over to test out the second mic and harmonies in Beatles RB . Will post the verdict on here too.

Got The Beatles : Rock Band recently, and it’s amazing. Was never a huge Beatles fan (always liked their music, just never got into them), but this game alone has made me appreciate their music even more. The game is same old Rock Band, but with a strong Beatles influence, with art and, obviously, music, making the game fun and fresh. I’ll be getting another wireless mic for the Xbox 360 tomorrow, and I’ll post about how the vocal harmonies play out.

And that brings me to my next point; the Xbox 360 wireless microphone. Looks awesome, 18 hour battery life (apparently, haven’t used it enough to tell), and the LEDs on it just look pretty. Major gripe? The fact it has ‘works with Rock Band 2!’ on it, but in actuality, it doesn’t. The patch is still unreleased, so I wasted a good 10 minutes trying to make it work… Hopefully that patch will come out soon.

That’s about it for now, might do a review of ‘AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — A Reckless Disregard for Gravity’ soon, though.

Thanks to Jaeryl for the new (sub)domain, and I hope to do more with it all soon! Expect a showcase of my stuff soon.

Lastly, if there’s any links I’ve missed, tell me, I’ll add them as I go.

All my games, with the TF2 RED logo and theme.

You can also see the new ‘OPTUS’ service logo, and the weather in the top bar. Also, the obvious 5 columned SpringBoard, which I quite like, even if it is a little cramped.

This is quite cool too

The RED logo there too, and the Control Point capture indicator as the battery charge. I’d love if I could change the font to the TF2 font…

The things I installed through the Cydia App Store

Here’s where I had a lot of fun; unofficial 3rd party apps. So I have the ability to tether my phone to my laptop via wifi, so I can use the iPhone as a 3G modem. I can turn apps on/off, finally removing that pesky stocks app I never use. And bluetooth file sharing, which didn’t work too well, yet. And, as already demonstrated, WinterBoard, a theme customiser for the SpringBoard (see the pun? ha).

I’m actually glad I jailbroke my iPhone, but I only see this as temporary for now. I like having a cherry iPhone, even if that means the system is closed off.

Is it a good thing? I’m not sure, it makes everything convenient, and it’s not like the internet can easily go down in one big hit. If that were to happen, I doubt we’d be worrying about how to order pizza, or which movie to rent over iTunes, but rather, finding a place to stay safe from the nuclear fallout. But we all know, the services I listed are mostly for entertainment and communication. What about the other stuff? Like financial, or business? They’d be screwed.

But maybe I’m looking at this way too superficially. Maybe the internet isn’t something that’s a phase that’ll pass with time. Who knows though. Phones are becoming more and more obsolete as technology advances. But seeing as we’re drifting towards a digital future, I think the internet is almost certainly going to be something that will never disappear, at least not completely.

Personally, I love it. I use the internet quite extensively. It’s interesting drawing comparisons to older technology though. Like, my Google Reader is like a newspaper, but I choose the content (and unlike a newspaper, I read it everyday). iTunes is my media library, instead of having lots of CDs and DVDs cluttering my room. Steam is my collection of games, that lets me track achievements and friends. And when I’m out and about, my iPhone becomes a personal assistant, giving me internet, email and IM anywhere (as long as Optus allows it =.=).