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Who is The Manic Whale?
After a somewhat lengthy hiatus, I have returned to let you know there is some new music I’ve created available for download: Open Your Eyes by I Am The Manic Whale I Am The Manic Whale is a Prog-rock experiment mainly heralded by my old friend and rock companion Michael Whiteman. He wrote the music…
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A hardcore game developer’s favourite iPhone games
As a games developer, I have a rather high standard for games that entertain me. Staring at their inner workings for 8 hours a day has given me the keen ability to spot shallow game mechanics (not to mention lazy bugs) – and having played videogames for pretty much my whole life, I’ve been exposed…
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Neglected Sexism – Wreck-it Ralph’s Ruin
This is no doubt in my mind that Wreck-it Ralph is a good film. I laughed, I liked the characters and wanted them to succeed, and went away feeling entertained. It managed to walk a fine line between not confusing casual viewers who know very little about computer games and catering to dorky obsessive nerds…
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Digital Whimsy: The death of subscription gaming
I’ve started playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, Bioware’s hefty stab at capturing the MMO market, and I’m really enjoying it. It has a rich story that I’ve come to expect from their elite calibre of RPGs, and has me contendly suckling on their upgrade path teet from humble padawan to master jedi. And it’s…
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Reboot
And… I’m back. And reminded of how we humans did not evolve and adapt to 29 hours of flight crossing the world, because I’m feeling physically tired from the flight, but also disorientated to be back in my home country, a place I should understand, and yet also a place that threatens to sweep my…
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Opera Win: Free
Whoops! Be caaaaareful when you add events to Google Calendar, and then change time zones. We had a right mix-up in our first two days in Sydney, because 11 hours time difference can make events move days! Being a conscientious and proudly prepared nerd, I had added the Dr Who Symphonic Spectacular to my GCal,…
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Why pout?
Standing up on a surfboard is really not all that difficult – even when it’s on the water. I would suggest, however, that staying on it is the hard part. Whilst in Byron Bay Laura and I wanted to take a surfing lesson (and even briefly considered the 5-day lesson tour which takes you down…
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Tubular
8 years old again, I’m shivering with excitement and fear – and more than a little cold – standing at the top of a monstrously tall flight of metal stairs, ready to throw myself down a mysterious dark tube that threatens to gobble me up forever. Or at least this is the strongest memory that…
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Insane in the Brisbane
Taking the typical tourist route from Cairns to Sydney, you get a skewed impression of the inhabitants of Australia. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was filled purely with tour guides, tour representatives, and touring Europeans. I’ve met more Swedes in the last 2 weeks than the last 2 years in the UK, which has…
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Just a Fraser we’re going through
I yearn for my shoes! Hot sand becomes unbearable in approximately 2.5 steps barefoot, and if your walking surface is too fine, sandles spoon through it and unhelpfully lift clumps as you trudge along. And on a ‘9/10’ walk, feeling a bit dehydrated and fragile, I curse my previous decision to bring my hoody instead…