New PC! GCSE Options!

Phew, it's been a hectic day!

First, I got my GCSE Options booklet from School! Here are the options I have:

Compulsory courses in:

• Maths
• English & English Literature
• Double Science
• ECDL ICT (European Computer Driving License - Basic stuff like using word processors etc.)

I also have to take non-tested courses in:

• Religious Education (Philosophy etc.)
• Physical Education (I'm rubbish at PE!)
• Personal Development
• Citizenship
• Careers

And the options...

• Art & Design
• Business Studies
• Dance
• Design & Technology - includes
1. Systems & Control (Robotics etc.)
2. Textiles
3. Resistant Materials (Woodwork, Metalwork etc.)
4. Food Technology
5. Graphics
• Drama
• Geography
• German
• Health & Social care
• History
• Home economics
• Advanced ICT
• Music
• Physical Education
• Religious Studies
• Spanish
• French

Out of those, I have to choose four as options. At the moment, I'm thinking of ICT, Geography, Systems & Control & Business Studies. We have a load of meetings and parents-evenings to go to before I actually choose, but I think they're the best for me.

In other news...

My computer broke again! I've decided to buy a new one now though! Hooray for cheap PCs! For £250, I got:

• AMD Sempron64 3400+ processor
• 512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM
• 80Gb HDD (the one I already have)
• 128Mb onboard Graphics (I'll shop around for a better one)

And a load more...
It should be arriving in 3-10 working days, and I'm going to download a 64-bit Linux distro before then, and maybe 'acquire' Windows XP x64 editon from somewhere...

Phew! And an even longer blog! I hope you didn't get bored...

Should I buy this PC?

I've been looking for a new PC for less than £250! Crazy, you might say, but there are actually some quite good offers out there on t'Internet! I managed to find a PC for £239.95 with these specs:

• AMD Sempron64 3100+ processor (256kb cache)
  
• 512Mb DDR400 RAM
• 40Gb HDD (I also plan to add my 80Gb one)
• Onboard graphics*

*I chose to have the onboard graphics, and shop around for the best dedicated card.

I think I'm going to buy it!...

Sllooww School PCs...

Sheesh! I'm fed up with the school computers...

Even though the IT staff just bought new ones, they still only have Celeron D processors, and rubbish little TFT monitors. Worst of all, they seem to have gummed up the whole network.

We have these new School E-Mail addresses, that apparently the whole country has, and I have to say, they are hopeless. They use a web-based interface, and seem to run on one old server that eventually serves up the ASP pages, albeit slowly.

I'm a bit worried actually, because our school uses a new program for ICT SATs, that sends you an e-mail on the school account, and then gives you 10 minutes (for example) to carry out the task and reply with the answer(s) before sending the next one. The problem with this is, it took me nearly 10 minutes to get to the 'Check Mail' screen and a further 3 to get to the Inbox!

They'll have to fix it... :/

Should I be a Junior Scout Leader?

Not many people know this, but I've been a Scout for, well, a long time. I joined Cubs when I was 9, and I still go to Scouts now. Unfortunately, when I'm 14 I can't be a Scout anymore, and while I would usually go up to 'Network' Scouts, there aren't enough people in my area to have a Network Scouts group. So, the choices are:

• Should I leave the Scouts and forget all the great adventurous stuff I've done in the last 4 years
• Should I join a Network Scouts group somewhere close by (I wouldn't know anyone)
• Should I become a Junior Scout Leader, which involves, well, being a leader, and going to some Cubs meetings

I can't make up my mind, as I don't want to turn my back on the whole thing, and I don't want to go somewhere where I don't know anybody, and I'm not very good at ordering people around.
And I've got to make a desicion by Saturday!

Whatever desicion I make, be sure It'll be up here. ;-)

Assembly Code... *shudder*

I think I've really put my foot in it now...
I've said I'll try and be a patchdev, and now I've seen the source code, I want to change my mind!!

It's not that it's gibberish to me, I have a book about Assembly Code (what TTDP is written in), and I'm about halfway through it, it's just that most of the stuff there is just bunged together, and one bit of code will often break another bit of code, and... sheesh, I just can't get my head around it all.

I definitely need all the luck I can get...

IRC Woes

Hmph!

Everyone's ignoring me in #tycoon... :-(

I'm not spammy, and I'm no more annoying than anyone else there. I only got kicked once because I posted about 30 lines at once accidentally...

I have formulated a plan:

• Set XChat to play the 'New Mail Notification' sound every time someone says something.
• Post
• Everyone will go quiet
• Wait until they start talking again
• Pounce and go 'A-Ha! Caught you!'

It'll either work like a dream or get me banned...

GCSE Options

Well, it's that time - time to choose my options!

I've been thinking long and hard about which ones to choose, and while I'll obviously choose ICT (Because I'm so good ;-D), I'm not sure about the rest.
I don't even know how many I'm supposed to choose!

'Connexions' Leaflet wrote:

Choose courses that:

• You know you can do well in
• Are in subjects you like
• Help you learn in the best way for you
• Will help you keep your options open in the future

I guess that means I'll do well in Science, and I might do something Sciency. I also like Music, and I play the Keyboard/Piano, so that'll work. I might also take 'Systems & Control Technology', where you learn how to make/control robotics and learn about things in that area.

I'll have to do some serious thinking...

CDDB... Grrr!

I officially hate CDDB now! When I was trying to rip my Now 59 CD, it stuck 'Various Artists' in every Artist box and the Artist name and song name in the title box!

In the end I downloaded the 2 CDs off BitTorrent... It's kinda legal, seeing as I already have the CDs...

Surely!?

:-?

My New Blog!!

Well, I thought it was about time to start a blog, seeing as everyone else is doing it, and I don't want to miss out on anything! Hopefully Aegir will add it to Planet Tycoon, a site that puts together all the blogs from the TTD community.

This blog'll probably be mainly about TTD, and my attempts at making graphics for it, but I'll also do the odd rant and rave about something, and if I find something interesting on the internet, be sure I'll post it!

That's all I can think of now, but I'm thinking of doing a rant about CDDB soon...