Merry Christmas

Just wishing everybody a great Christmas, and a happy New Year.


I hope 2011 is a prosperous and fantastic year for you all!


Now go and eat chocolate and turkey (or whatever you eat at your Christmas meal!) until you can't walk.


Merry Christmas!




[Picture is one I took last year]

University and A-Levels

So recently i've been to 3 open days at various universities around the country. Hull, Brighton and Liverpool John Moores Unis. All were very good and i will probably be applying to them all. I have a few other uni's in mind, and i will have to make my mind up about which ones to put on my UCAS form. I am pretty sure that the 3 above will be on that form.

Apart from that, I am still working behind the bar at the Vaults and continuing with my 3 A-Levels, Computing, Maths and Electronics. All are going very well, and I am doing a computing project over the next few months which comprises of a stock management system for the Vaults. Hopefully that will be good, I am using Python 3.1.2, PyQt4 and SQLite 3 for my system.

Exam Results

Got ABCD in my AS level exam results.

A - Electronics (got full marks in the harder paper too :D )
B - Computing (Kind of hoped I would get an A for that but not the end of the world)
C - Maths w/ Mechanics (Happy with that)
D - Physics (which I am not continuing next year)

Overall I think I did pretty well. Went to a party last night to celebrate and that was good fun! Going camping tomorrow with my sister and mum, and her boyfriend and his 3 kids, so should be nice and fun as long as I don't have to babysit too often.

Well done everyone else who got results - hope that was what you wanted!

New Blog Look and Other Stuff

So i decided to update the look of my blog. Hey, I think it looks pretty good!

Anyway, I am doing ok, just got back from holiday in Portugal. Spent most of it by the beach at the bar or by the pool playing solitaire or by the beach reading Lord of The Rings. Anyway, was a good holiday. Just ordered a new shiny Dell 24" Monitor, which should arrive today or Monday. I've cleaned up my desk and ordered a Mini-Display Port to DVI Adaptor, which arrived today, and a DVI-D Cable, which fits into the adaptor (i was worried it wasn't going to :P ) and an HDMI cable to connect my Xbox 360 to it. Should be a nice addition to my workspace and for those times I don't feel like working.

Working at the bar at The Vaults now, working from 9.30pm tonight.
Goodbye till next time! Feel free to email me for jailbreaking tips or whatever, I'm always up for a chat!

More Exams, Apple, and an Election.

Wow, its been so long since i've done a blog post. So many things have happened!

Well, if I do them in order of time, they sort of go like this.

Apple OS 4 - well, doesn't this look shiny! Folders, multitasking (take that Windows Phone 7), Game Center, thousands of new API's! Looks awesome. Makes me want to develop for the iPhone platform even more. In similar news, the iPad prices were announced today for the UK/Europe. Shame about the Apple tax. The prices are nearly 150% more than in America, which is a bit of a rip. WiFi Models: 16GB / 32GB / 64GB - £429 / £499 / £599. 3G versions: 16GB / 32GB / 64GB — £529 / £599 / £699. Crazy money! Although somehow the 3G models seem cheaper to me.
Last but not least, WWDC this year is June 7th. Hopefully Apple will announce their new, not so secret anymore iPhone. Can't wait! I won't be getting this one but hopefully i can upgrade to the one after this one, as my contract runs out in June/July 2011 next. I don't think i will be too disappointed with my iPhone 3GS 32GB compared to the new one.

Exams - I have exams coming up, as most people my age do. AS levels. Got 7 exams in total. First is Electronics, on the 20th May. Only 13 days from this writing. Last is Mechanics for Maths, on the 15th June. Unfortunately, study leave also finishes the day after, which means I have to be in college on the 16th. Which also happens to be my birthday. All i know is it will be a great weekend after.

Election - well what can I say. At this point it looks like the Tories and the Lib-Dems are going to form a coalition government, as no party had enough of a majority to rule outright. Pretty exciting stuff.

Life Update, some ideas please!

Again, i have failed to post in a while. Been quite busy with studying for my immenent exams, with the first on the 20th May and the last on the 15th June (the day before my 17th Birthday!). They are so important so studying is my top priority. Will be good to get them over and done with though.

Got a new keyboard. Microsoft one. Very nice. Also a Blue-Track mouse which is very nice i must say.

I got my old desktop fixed. However it is now without a case and is on a rickety document filer, which is it's temporary home until i make or find a cheap case that I like the look of.

I think i'll write a blog post on the iPhone 4.0 keynote tonight. The usual people are going (i.e. Gizmodo, Engadget, Macrumors etc) so check out their sites for liveblogs. Come back here for my opinion on the keynote after it has finished.

Also I would like some ideas on what to post on my tutorials blog, i can do photoshop, Microsoft Office, Operating System installation, system maintenence, anything like that. Please feedback in the comments!

Exam Results....

Well today, i got some major exam results. Lets just say, they weren't great.

I got an E in Maths. This, considering the fact i got predicted B/A, makes me extremely disappointed. Of course, it's not just me, but my parents too. They are not happy at all. They expected me to get A's in all my subjects, and then I told them that is extremely hard at A level, they still expected me to get B's or C's. I've got to say I was shocked at getting an E, which is the lowest grade possible other than a U (unmarked). I literally just passed too. Which means I am going to have to retake. What does that mean? It means knuckling down to revision when the time comes, going to workshops, and just paying more attention in general at college. I imagine my maths teacher, who is fantastic at her job, is going to be extremely surprised. I've got some major work to do.

My main stress I feel is actually going to be my parents, because they will just stress me all the time, which I don't want. Making me work 24/7, which i fear they might, just doesn't work for me, as most people who are competent at revising will tell you. I think i took the more relaxed approach to the January exams, which has failed me, which means more time devoted to organising notes and generally studying. I feel I can do well if i really want to, it's just setting out everything right.

There's another thing, when I'm at my dads, I get no work done. Now, this isn't meant in any offence, but I think it is my stepbrother. He has little to no work ethic. He is retaking his GCSE's,but I've never seen him do any work. Just how he does it I guess. I think he will realise afterwards that he should have spent more time working. I feel I might have to stay at my mums more, even though i get less work done and i feel more laid back there, its not as good for my life long term.

My other results were a B in Computing and a C in Physics. The computing grade i expected to be sub-A grade, as it was the theory section, which I am not so great at. The programming exam, which is worth 60%, I will hopefully get a better mark on. This doesn't mean no preparation at all of course, just that I am expecting to get an A after I have done all the work that is expected.

I've also got major responsibility at college now as a Student Governor. I have to attend a meeting a term, and in the meetings we are treated as equal, with the same right to speak and a vote each towards any decisions. It doesn't take up much time, but my other role as Entertainments Rep squeezes my time slightly more. I've got a karaoke event organised next week, with proceeds going to Sport Relief.

Any advice would be appreciated, such as good alternative exam techniques if you want to drop a line on the comments below.

Ranting on and on...

I haven't posted anything in a while, so here's an update on everything that is up in the life of me, Jamie.

I'm now one of two student governors at Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. Basically, that means I go the governor meetings and put over the student's point's of view to the adults. I also get a vote in certain things in the governor meetings. This is alongside my role as Entertainments representative in the student committee thing.

I did exams in January, as quite a few people did. These were actually very important, and account for varying degrees of my A-levels in Computing, Maths and Physics. I didn't have an electronics exam because I do coursework for it instead. Speaking of that, I accidentally just deleted some pictures I needed for it from my iPhone. Epic fail. Anyway, I get the exam results on Thursday this week. if i decide to retake any of them, I have a 6 day window to do so in.

I have next Tuesday (16th March) off of college. Ha.

OMG Halo Reach multi player trailer!

I got a ping.fm account, which updates my twitter and facebook at the same time which is quite useful.

Oh and something which has really pissed me off.

i bought a pack of stuff earlier from game that had a 3 month card for live, a 1 month sky player thing and a universal media remote for the same price as a 3 month card, so i bought that instead. The 3 month live subscription card was missing from the pack so i tried to return it. They said i had to call Microsoft to get the code. I called them up, first time i got cut off with a bloody phone survey when i was giving the woman my gamertag details to put the 3 months on. Second time i got some mouthy bitch who compared it to buying a packet of potatoes from a grocery shop and basically told me to fuck off. So i hung up. It really annoys me that Microsoft don't have any way of telling what codes go where. For a company with billions of profit each year, they don't do the basics. Maybe they should also allow me to use my Maestro on Xbox Live.

Rant over.

iPad - it has finally arrived.

Well, here it is. The iPad. I must say it is exactly like rumored and
expected. A large iPhone, that has a capacive touchscreen and does 3G
and has similar capacitys to the iPod touch. Cause that's the thing,
people say it's an iPhone made big, but to be honest I think it's more
like a iPod touch with 3G. It is essentially a more powerful, more
expensive iPod touch.

Ok, I liked the look of the iPad and the iWork and iBooks apps look
good. Very cool, I like the menus in the iWork app, the details of the
iBooks app and the iBook store (is it a new store or just a part of
the iTunes store though?) and generally I think it will be a cool
thing to have. However, as an owner of a perfectly working laptop and
a 32GB iPhone 3GS, I feel this device fills a gap that doesn't really
need filling, and would be good for someone who doesn't want to do
anything complex except browse websites, do some basic document
editing, some music and film watching and maybe some other things.
However, most people I know would be moving stuff around using USB
sticks and external hard drives, using keyboards for keyboard
shortcuts, maybe using DVDs and CDs occasionally and so on. So
basically, I won't be buying one unless I get a desktop with some
serious syncing capabilities and possibly some kind of programming app
and a few other things such as media streaming that integrates with
some server (a la LaLa, which Apple bought).

So that is my take. Oh yeah and here are the details (in USD because
they haven't released details for the UK yet).

• prices start at $499 for the 16GB, $599 for the 32GB and $699 for
the 64GB.
• add 3G for $120 (i think, don't quote me on that)
• available in 60 days, 90 for the 3G versions.
• 3G is on AT&T, without a contract.
• $15 for 250MB a month, $30 for unlimited.

Hardware:
• 1Ghz custom Apple processor ("A4")
• in sizes from 16GB to 64GB.
• dock connector, microphone, speaker. Not sure about 3.5mm headphone
slot. I haven't heard about it.

When people buy them I want your opinions!

Parties and Friendship

Parties are always good. I've been to a couple since I last posted, and I loved them. I enjoy the drinking, the drunken dancing and the late night sobering walks. But most of all, I love them because i get to spend some quality time with my friends, most of who I don't get to see enough off any more. Its kind of depressing when you hear that some of your friends who you have known for years are purposely not inviting you to their party for some reason or another. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I feel that if they don't want to be friends with me that they should tell it to my face and not make me and other people who aren't invited feel shit because of the fact that they won't invite us. That is all I have to say on that.

News:

http://www.formspring.me/Rooster212 This is me. Ask me anything you like and I will (probs) answer it.

APPLE TABLET. Wednesday, 6pm GMT. I imagine there will be a stream to watch somewhere. I wants me one of those.

I am level 31, 2nd Prestige on COD: MW2 on Xbox 360. I am a PS3 hater, just so you know.

Bye everybody. Have a good weekend!

After Christmas

So, christmas has been and gone and so has a week of college for me too.

For Christmas, i got everything i wanted which i am very happy about and eternally grateful to everyone who got me presents. I feel i never thank people enough, and i really should more.

Anyway, since christmas not much has happened. Been revising for exams this week mostly. Well, i say mostly, probably a bit. Enough, i feel. I don't want to pressure myself too much. I completed assassins creed and also am nearly halfway through forza 3, which i got for christmas. I also got my Earforce x31 gaming headset, which is also great for music. I got a 360 Elite, which is great because now i have room for all the things i need to store, like my copy of GTA: San Andreas i downloaded from the xbox live marketplace but didn't have enough room to store. I also like having Modern Warfare 2 installed to the hard drive because it is nice and quiet and also cuts load time. I'm level 53 on First Prestige, and I haven't been able to improve on that for the past 3 days because my internet at my mums isn't working well. Download speeds have plummeted on all the PC's in the house to below 1mb/s but the BT Home Hub says it's download speed is still 5 to 6 mb/s. Its strange.

Anyway, I have assassins creed 2 to complete 100% and also Forza Motorsport 3 to play so i'm not bored too much, while mixing playing with revision.

I did the maths exam today for Core 1, the first basic unit I am doing. It was quite difficult and I feel i probably could have done better, however it was mostly bad wording of the questions that made it difficult. A lot of others found the parts I found difficult the same, so I am still hopeful for a good grade.

Arrivedeci everybody. Wish you all well. I have 2 exams to go, Physics and Computing. After that, life returns to normal and hopefully better... more next post hey :P