Asia Tsunami

I know a lot of guys from deviantART and some of my friends from other forums are from some of the affected areas (one of those being MythrilNazgul) so if you have any spare cash lying around please donate it to one of the charity organizations involved. A big list of links can be found in the OCR thread at the bottom of this post or in the DA news story (also linked). Whatever you would buy with the money is gonna be there next payday so don't be selfish.

OCR Thread

DA News Story

Those of the button clicking nature can donate through SupportAsia.org. You'll find a button down in the sidebar.

Phone

So I said yesterday I had a new phone for christmas. I've been doing some serious work on it today.

Wallpaper

This is the one I set after uploading a few others. If you want to make me a wallpaper then the dimensions to use are 176x200.

Photos

Here's one of the photos I've been taking with my phone.

Ringtones
I currently have the ballroom theme from Final Fantasy 8 as my voice call tone, The invincibility theme from Sonic 3D as a video call tone and the stage intro jingle from Megaman X as a message tone. I got all my tones free from VGMusic.com and then uploaded them to my phone.

Music
I have a single mp3 on my memory card and that is Someday by the Sonic Underground.

Videos
I'm making sure to check out the latest news and sport on my mobile. I get both delivered every day. As well as that I've got music videos from Maroon 5, Dizzee Rascal and Kaiser Chiefs. I also watch the best of MTV.

Games
I have the whole Yeti Sports (aka Twat the Penguin) series and a cool vertical shooter.

So that's my mobile.



NJ's mobile is an NEC e616 and is powered by 3

Welcome to our Network

Christmas Presents

Want to know what I got? Here's the list.

Halo 2 (COME ON!!)
Halo 2 Strategy Guide (slightly insulting)
Webcam (slightly disturbing)
Mini Digicam (even more disturbing)
Lynx Radio Set (insulting)
Rollerball Edge Game (Gadget Shop = cool)
LCD Alarm Clock (more Gadget Shop)
3 Giftbox (oh yeah, free downloads for a month)
Liverpool Away Shirt (keep the love)
Liverpool Calendar (heh heh)
GLC Greatest Hits (COME ON!! again)
Beyblade Annual (someone was paying attention)
Mega Pack of Jaffa Cakes (I WAS TRYING TO GIVE UP!)

So now you know.

The Christmas Webcomics

I read 6 different webcomics (though I know people who read 10 times that number) which are all in the links to the right. I decided to do a round-up of how those 6 have tackled Christmas.

Sinfest
Tatsuya Ishida hasn't really done a christmas comic though it could be interpreted as the nightmare before christmas.

Penny Arcade
Tycho and Gabe round off their awesome year with The Last Christmas. A special book presentation depicting the destruction of christmas. Nice one guys,

VG Cats
Aeris and Leo take a break and make way for now frequent webcomic character Gordon Freeman. He's opening his presents and as usual finds a lump of shit from his pet headcrab. Christmassy and takes the piss at the same time. VG Cats is still my favourite.

Ctrl+Alt+Del
Tim Buckley really pushed out the boat to produce a heart warming comic. Ethan and Lucas mourn the destruction of their christmas tree and presents (as seen in Wednesday's comic) and find that their friends are all they need on christmas time. Brilliant and something I really didn't see coming from the CAD team.

Sore Thumbs
I really like this comic. Owen and Chris break off their ongoing storyline to let the cast and characters wish the readers a merry christmas. Apart from Fairbanks who's just a miserable asshole.

PvP
I'm kinda getting pissed off with this lot. They've had the christmas thing going on for a while now and it's just gone stale. For christmas eve they have a dog and a cat arguing over who plays baby Jesus in a nativity play *yawns*.

In general it's a good christmas for the webcomics and seeing as how all of them delivered on christmas eve (except PA) it's great to see their dedication to their public on show. Merry Christmas w00ters and don't get too smashed.

Merry Christmas!!

I doubt I'll be posting anything now until Boxing Day so thanks for reading over the past few months. For making this year memorable I'd like to thank all my mates, everyone on all the sites I work/post on (IfritRoms.com, UKGameshows, deviantART, Overclocked Remix, Blogger, HQ Software, Gmail Swap, Challenge) and everyone else who's contacted me for whatever reason. Have a very merry christmas and remember to stock up well on batteries.

Peace y'all
NJ

The Challenge Days of Christmas!!

On the 9th of this month the members of the Challenge forums banded together to create The Challenge Days of Christmas. This is a gameshow themed version of The 12 Days of Christmas. Please don't take the piss as it took a while to write, even amongst all of us.

The Challenge Days of Christmas
On the 1st day of christmas Challenge gave to me
Fort Boyard in the French sea.

On the 2nd day of christmas Challenge gave to me
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 3rd day of christmas Challenge gave to me
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 4th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 5th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 6th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 7th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
7 Rainbow Warriors
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 8th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
8 Krypton courses
7 Rainbow Warriors
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 9th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
9 P'ing students
8 Krypton courses
7 Rainbow Warriors
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 10th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
10 moles betraying
9 P'ing students
8 Krypton courses
7 Rainbow Warriors
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 11th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
11 4 choice questions
10 moles betraying
9 P'ing students
8 Krypton courses
7 Rainbow Warriors
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLIES!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

On the 12th day of christmas Challenge gave to me
12 Hot dog guzzlers
11 4 choice questions
10 moles betraying
9 P'ing students
8 Krypton courses
7 Rainbow Warriors
6 Gladiators
5 BENDY BULLYS!!
4 Folly riddles
3 strange straight lines
2 royal flushes
and Fort Boyard in the French sea

Yesterday JamesP (of the official Challenge team) came to the forum to inform us that he'd be singing it this year and BoyardQueen informed us that she'd accidentally sung it during a carol service. We're working on getting the Challenge bods to sing it on the channel over Christmas, I'll let you know if that happens.

Song Credits
Original Idea - deb03
Days 1+10 - BoyardQueen
Day 2 - bananaman_007
Days 3, 6, 9, 11, 12 and song editing - njsykora
Day 4 - BillyH
Day 5 - MPK
Day 7 - Porsmond
Day 8 - Games_Master

Change of Plan

I'll post the review of the year when I've finished it. That won't be today.

On a Mother-Fucking Roll!!

Wooo Hooo!! 2 done. The Fightbox article on UK Gameshows was written by me. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this Wikipedia business. Click the post title for the article.

Other Blogging

I've always kinda wondered why other companies try blogging services. Blogger does pretty much everything (and then some) so why other companies try it and then censor some content is beyond me. I used LiveJournal a while back (that site's still alive I think) but since then I've just developed w00tworld on Blogger. It'll stay here don't you worry, I ain't going nowhere.

Preparing for Emergencies

Web User called it the most irresponsible thing they'd ever seen.
The government didn't like it so they sued it's creator (not only in America people).
Betty Swallocks from Swansea didn't have anything to say about it as she's dead.

They didn't get it but whether you live in the UK or the US you'll find this site brilliant. One of the funniest things I've seen this year and the guy has shown me that he's one of the most versatile people on the net. He also works on the UK Gameshows site and on Defending the Fox. To complete his absolute perfection he's also been on Blockbusters! Check out his site and the fake Preparing for Emergencies site, they combine to be one of the funniest sites on the net.

Extract from the site

Welcome to the Preparing for Emergencies web site.

This summer we are sending an information booklet 'Preparing for Emergencies - What you need to know' to every home in the UK. While it won't panic people, it'll hopefully convince them to reelect me and all of my Labour cronies next year.

We are also launching a national advertising campaign letting you know to look out for the booklet coming through your letterboxes during August. In no way does this resemble the Reader's Digest Prize Draw.

Fake Preparing for Emergencies site

Thomas Scott's main site

In case the government sue me, the real Preparing for Emergencies site

What Am I Doing?

Wondered what I'm playing, watching, reading etc? Here's a quick guide.

Listening
I'm listening to Sonic Heroes Triple Threat. A brilliant CD which has a review in the review zone.

Playing
I'm playing Sonic Heroes and Unreal Tournament 2003. Both should keep me busy for a while.

Watching
I'm currently into Pimp My Ride, Fort Boyard Takes on the World and Blockbusters.

Reading
I'm not really into any books right now.

There you go. For a more in depth look check out Playlist. Every Monday on w00tworld Reviews.

My First UKGameshows Article!

Click the post title to check it out! It took a while but I'm fucking in there at last.

A Small Notice

I'm gonna be posting my review of the year on December 22nd. Just to give you a heads up.

Another One Bites the Dust

Criterion bit the dust earlier this year and now the gaming nazis have made a move on the last bastion of gaming creativity Ubi Soft. They now own 20% of Ubi and it's only a matter of time until Ubi fall to EA completely. I don't like to predict doom but this year has proved that no developer is safe. Acclaim went bankrupt, EA and Microsoft have been buying up everyone in sight and even Sega fell to slot machine makers Sammy. Finally Rare seemingly disappeared without trace after the dire Grabbed by the Ghoulies. Chances are 2005 will bring more of the same.

Good or Evil Ads

Just spotted the ad for Knights of the Old republic and it got me wondering. Why in the ads for games where you can be good or evil is good represented by an attractive female and evil represented by an extremely ugly god knows what? I noticed this on the ad for the brilliant Spellforce a while ago as well.

Beware the consequences of your porn habits.

How can you kill something so cute?

A New Convert and My Favourite Keyring

You know those competitions you enter just because you're in the area and might as well try your luck? I did that about 2 weeks ago now. A simple picture puzzle that kept me sat there working out the answer for nigh-on 5 minutes. I sent in the answer which turned out to be right and I won the competition. I got the prize in the post this morning which I was only told about by my mum 5 hours ago (look at the timestamp on this post). F for presentation to quote John Cho as it wasn't the tidiest of bundles (but it was actually wanted unlike my other mail) sealed with sticky tape as it was. Inside lay a (quite proffesional) letter from the webmaster which was nice to get (I might scan it in tomorrow if I can be assed). Alongside that was a (quite pointless actually) little bit of bubble wrap (which is never pointless) and then the bit I really wanted. The keyring. I wasn't expecting miracles (though I did have ideas) but it is pretty cool. The site is in the links (Keshi Heads) now as it's a Takeshi's Castle fans dream. On the one side is a picture of the castle itself with the whole crew and on the other side is the site logo with the words 'Kompetition Winner' and the site address. There is one problem I have with this keyring though and if you're reading Dan then heed this. As most of the regulars know I'm a dedicated Firefox supporter so the fact that the evil blue E has been used in the site logo may pose some tough questions when I go back to school. Why Dan's used this E when the show's logo has a perfectly good E in it escapes me but that's probably just staking his loyalties which I have no problem with (even though he's wrong). Either way the keyring's on my primary keys (front door, locker) for good now. Whether I take off the Science Museum one/thermometer is something I've yet to decide. I don't want more keyrings that keys and my bottle opener's too precious (and useful).

Man that took longer than I thought. As for the new convert (this should be quick) it's none other than Numbus of Hentai Palm fame! He's started blogging now and as a bonus (or bribe) includes a few hentai pics with all his posts and quite often he has something genuinely funny to say (or download) unlike me. Link's in the bar but beware as it does contain mature content.

Sayonara Keshi Heads.

Fixes

Bit of general maintenance. I tidied the link's bar and put up a new photo of me for my profile.

Next Door

Ever looked at the blog next door? Look at the guy next to me, now I understand all that 'how to blog' crap.

Coming Soon...

Wow, busy day today (see first post of the day to see why) but it's nearly over. I've revived my old 3 story series A Cracked Looking Glass and you lot can read it here on the feature channel. It's coming soon so keep an eye on those live bookmarks Firefans.

Check It Ouuut

I've been fiddling with my blog template for an hour now. In the sidebar now resides a long list o' links and the feature, review and this blog have now combined into the almighty.....

W00TWORLD NETWORK!!

Talk about melodramatic. I'll keep adding pages so this site becomes better and better.

Dulling the Pain?

You know times when things are renamed to make them sound better? I'm in one of those situations now. At this school when the usual routes of demerits and detentions have failed students get chucked into internal exclusion. We just get delivered work from the various subject teachers and do it in a special room supervised by a teacher who's got nothing better to do. Well that used to be the case. Now we've got a fancy re-intergration room which I must admit is a bit better than the old internal room. Let me explain what's going on around me in comparision to the old room.

1) In internal there had to be complete silence at all times. No communication with anyone. In here at the moment there are 2 other girls in here, one's doing an exam and the other's sending a text in full view of our permanent supervisor (Mr Rowberry). Seems like most of the rules don't apply in here. Oh, we've also got one of Julia's CDs on (Now Playing: George Michael - Flawless).

2) In internal if you were found to not be doing work you may as well book the execution. Well I'm writing this blog entry so that's that.

3) Permenant supervision is required at all times. That was internal. Mr Rowberry is constantly in and out of the door.

So for everyone at this school who fears this room, don't. It is different from internal believe it or not.
Peace y'all.

And Now the News

Evening all. I got a few things to tell you about and most of them refer to the gameshow top 10.

1) I'm now on the staff of UKGameshows.com. A bit of showing off got me in and I'm currently working on my first article. Check out the site in the links at the end of this post.

2) I'm collecting TV theme tunes and there are some I could use some help with. If you have the theme tunes to Treasure Hunt and Sub Zero then give me a buzz.

3) I got F-Zero GX yesterday. If you're gaming skills are anything below great then don't bother. Look for a review on the review channel in the next few days.

That's everything I think.

Links
http://www.ukgameshows.com (I'm working here now)
http://njreview.blogspot.com (F-Zero GX review coming soon)

Violent Videogames (yet again)

Those who know me will know that nothing pisses me off more than TV programs constantly taking on videogames. Yesterday apparantly a grave dodging MP called for an outright ban on violent videogames even though those in question are given 18 ratings. Newsflash to OAPs TV programs. Just because we play games like this doesn't mean we're all sick, violent perverts. Doesn't mean any of us are. We're not, full stop.

The 10 Best Gameshows Ever: Number 9

Number 9 - Sub Zero

The ultimate interactive experience is what it was billed as and it truly was. The battle of the sexes on TV (again) and this time everyone was involved. Robin Banks and Gemma James were the overseers of the game and also the inhabitants of the bunker. This bunker was the core of the game and unfortunately had a contaminated water supply which could only be fixed by a copious supply of one thing, biospheres. These had to be obtained by the two teams with help from the viewers. In some of the games the players and viewers had to work together, Biorats being the best example where the viewers controlled a pair of robots and tried to push biospheres around so they could be picked up by the players' cranes. Sometimes the players worked alone, Arcadia for example where one player from each team faced off at a video game challenge. Also came times where the viewers were alone like in Web Connection, a quiz over webcams with the resulting biospheres going to the supported teams. The highlight of the show for me however was the almighty Net Detectives, a web wide biosphere hunt. 5 clues were posted on the Sub Zero website at the beginning of the week and the viewers had to find the 5 sites that those clues related to. On those sites lay a biosphere and whichever team's supporters found the most spheres over the week got a bonus sphere at the end of the show. A member from each team also ran the hunt on the day winning biospheres for every site found as well a 6th for getting all 5 (if that makes sense). After every game had been played and the Net Detective results were in (a tense moment as it could turn the game) the winners were announced (to mass cheering in my house if the XXs won or to just me cheering if the XYs won) and prizes were handed out. These included a souvenir biosphere for every member of both teams (someone say Crystal Maze?) but while the winners headed back to the surface the losers had to pay. They would be sent, biospheres and all into the cryogenic chamber where the temperature was (go on, guess) sub zero. Sub Zero is gone now after it changed location to a space station and suddenly sucked but the bunker days alone give it this place. A truly irreplacable show and great Sunday morning telly.

Position - 9th
Created by - Unknown
Still going? - No (1999-2001)
Theme music - Orgasmicly good
Memorable moment - The afternoon after the first show when it was announce that the BBCs network had been so overwhelmed by viewers calling, texting and emailing in that it had crashed completely.

Next time on The 10 Best Gameshows Ever
Number 8 - The Krypton Factor

The 10 Best Gameshows Ever: Number 10

Number 10 - Scrapheap Challenge

It's 2 teams creating something working from piles of scrap. What is better than that? The premise behind Scrapheap is 2 teams constucting a certain machine from a titanic mountain of scrap metal and (sometimes) working machinery. These two teams do have a structure. At the top there's the captain, the head honcho. Whatever he/she says goes (that's the theory anyway). Next there's the TC or technical consultant. This is someone from outside the team who has loads of experience in the particular area of the challenge. Finally there are the 2 scavengers who are responsible for finding all the crap needed to build the item. These items are always constructed in the build areas which are only separated by a high wall meaning that often when parts are hard to come by some 'borrowing' is required. Keeping it all together are the hosts Robert Lewellen and Cathy Rogers (or Lisa Rogers now - no relation) who both show incredible enthusiasm for the show. The core is of course the challenges themselves. These have been racing cars, chariots, car flingers, spy cars, log pullers, fire engines and bombs. After the build day (10 hours) the 2 teams put their machines to the test in a final contest after which the winners move on to the next round. First to the quarter finals, then the semis, then the final and then the series champions take on the reigning champions in the grand final. The first champions were the Megalomaniacs who became scrapheap legends until they were replaced at the top by the best scrapheap team of all time, the Catalysts. A team of Jaguar engineers who went on to win 3 championships until being taken down at last by the current champs the Anoraks. Scrapheap Challenge takes the 10th place in my chart.

Position - 10th
Created by - Cathy Rogers
Still going? - Yep

Spin-off list
Junkyard Wars (american version but they had to use our scrapheap)
Scrapheap vs Junkyard (the americans challenged us at our game, we won)
Scrapheap Mega Challenge (we took on the russians and the chinese, we lost)
The Rustys (the end of series awards/piss take)

Next time on The 10 Best Gameshows Ever
Number 9 - Sub Zero

The 10 Best Gameshows Ever

Putting the A-Z on hold for a bit to present this look at my favourite gameshows ever. I've always held gameshows as my favourite genre of program and I've watched loads of them over the years and winced as the genre has gone downhill and become soaked with reality TV. I'll put up a more in-depth look at each one as we go along but here's the list so you know what to expect.

1 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
2 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
3 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
4 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
5 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
6 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
7 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
8 - ?? (I'm not telling you this)
9 - Sub Zero
10 - Scrapheap Challenge

Heh heh.

An Apology

Obviously someone did spot that last post and decided to spam my ass. Nice try but I picked out an intellegent mail amongst all the shit. Here's the important bit.

"In the post your age thread and in your profile you stated that you are under 16. Numbus recently added a sticky thread in the forum rules explaining that members who said they were under 16 would be banned."

The guy went on to say that he respected me for telling the truth but didn't like the way I sounded off at Numbus yesterday. I accept all of this and would like to take this chance to apologise to Numbus and the whole Hentai Palm team. I realise the guys were looking after their own hides as well as the wellbeing of the site. No way would I willingly endanger that site. Don't worry those who enjoyed my (very few) posts as in a few months when I hit 16 I'll be back and I'll be ready to really and legally have some fun.

A Message to Forum Mods

As a forum mod myself I feel I have to say this to all forum owners/power hungry moderators. Do you all get a kick out of banning members for no reason? I just headed over to the Hentai Palm forums and found out that I'd been banned. A look at the ban list showed njsykora alongside a number of other names. Most of the time even the asshole mods (you reading Money?) give out a reason for the ban where it isn't clear. I usually read every post I make carefully to make sure it won't offend/upset everyone. I was feeling really happy to be a part of the community there and suddenly Numbus, the guy I credit with getting me into hentai takes that feeling away and leaves me with a bit of a hole inside. Numbus, I've no doubt that your a great guy but at the very least give me credit and explain to me why I was banned. You know how to contact me and if anyone who does have the spamophobe's email reads this please get in contact with him and point him this way. Peace.

What Do You Want To Watch?

Another break from the eh two zee as it's being a bitch. I've finally got digital telly! Loads of channels including the two major anime channels (Toonami and Sci-Fi), the fun to watch (Paramount, Challenge) and the cult ones (price-drop.tv). Here's what I'm making a habit of watching.

Sonic X (Fox Kids)
Megaman NT Warrior (Fox Kids)
Takeshi's Castle (Challenge)
When Games Attack (Bravo)

I'll keep you updated. Later.

The A-Z of My Life: J

J is for JFG

One of the games that changed my life. Jet Force Gemini took over my life in 1998 and I still have the game in my N64 and the poster covering my door. The adventures of Juno, Vela and Lupus have kept me glued to my 3 pronged controller for the 2 years I've had it and I still haven't finished it. Someday I'll do it and you lot will be the first to know about it.

The A-Z of My Life: I

I is for IM

I got connected, I started to chat to my mates and now I can't live without it. I don't have much more to say about instant messenging.

MSN - njsykora@hotmail.com
AIM - njsykora08

The A-Z of My Life: H

Why does H seem so far along the alphabet? Meh.

H is for Hentai

The thing that really annoys me about talking about hentai is that so many people just think of it as a porn substitute and assume that just because you jerk off to cartoons you have something wrong with yourself. Another thing is when people refer to it as anime and I have to explain the difference between the 2. Maybe I should force my mates to read this so they know that these 2 things piss me off. Ranting over and yes I know I covered hentai under B but I didn't fully explain my love for it then (plus nothing else went for H). Like I said earlier my love of hentai started on the (now slowly dying) unmoderated forums of Overclocked Remix. Back then I was but a fledgling online and was still foolishly signing up for the 'free' porn sites which consequently demolished my Hotmail inbox with spam. Then in the late "Post Your Hentai Pics" thread I found a link to Hentai Key and signed up for free membership. For the next few months hentai ruled my life until I finally decided to take control and set some limits. After a few days of hard thinking I finally set my limits and since then I've stuck to them. The 2 rules for me are as follows;

Rule 1: If I really like a certain character I won't get hentai of that character.
This is a rule that my subconsious keeps for me. I just don't feel right when I break this rule.

Rule 2: Anime series' that I follow don't translate to hentai.
This one wasn't made by me straight away. I was happy living with the first one until I broke it and headed for Card Captor Sakura (or Cardcaptors as I know it). Around that time I had a major attatchment to Miss Sakura Avalon (and still do) so I was going on instinct. However the extreme bondage I found left a nasty feeling in my stomach and after a few more minutes browsing the gallery I was in it left a nasty stain on my carpet as the nasty feeling left my stomach (along with everything else). The puke-up lead to this rule.

These really rule over my hentai but I follow it for a number of reasons.
Availability - Free sites are exactly that
People - Artists and webmasters are friendly and always respond to emails, regular porn just doesn't have that interaction
So to summerise this subject hentai is easy to get, everyone involved is friendly and it's a way of establshing self-control (in my opinion). Peace out y'all.

The A-Z of My Life: G

G is for Gaming

Whoa! We're at letter 7/26 already. Gaming is a part of my life. Forget that, gaming is my life. The first video game I ever played was Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System and the first one I ever finished was Sonic 2 on the same console. Since then my console timeline goes;

Master System
NES
Mega Drive
Game Boy Pocket
SNES
N64
Game Boy Color
Playstation
Xbox
Game Boy Advance
Gamecube

I've played over 400 games and finished a large number of them. A select few get the 100% treatment like Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario 64. Games have changed my life and those have letters to themselves. You'll see them when they crop up.

Blogging's Cool

Taking a break from the A-Z for a bit to bring you a few notes of recent developments. This quote is one of them;

"The 10 Coolest Things to do on a Friday Night
1 - Blog"
NME

In female character from cartoon/comic/game becomes unbearably attractive news the following have been added to my (scarily big) list.

Cartoon
Sailor Mars (took long enough eh)

Comic
Harmony (Sore Thumbs)
Aeris (VG Cats)
Kara (Penny Arcade)

Game
Tangier (Red Faction 2)
Akari Hayami (1080 Avalanche)

Good news for those people who follow wherever my reviews go. You've followed me past PaletteSwap.com, IfritRoms.com but now the journey is at an end (for now). Check out The Reviews of njsykora @ http://njreview.blogspot.com and learn what's good.

Finally in this news I have to announce that I've become obsessed with the Atari ST. If you happen to have one that you'd 'donate' to me then I'll be happy to hear from you. Peace guys.

Links
http://www.penny-arcade.com (Penny Arcade)
http://www.sorethumbsonline.com (Sore Thumbs)
http://www.vgcats.com (VG Cats)
http://www.nme.com (NME)

The A-Z of My Life: F

F is for Firefox

Yes people the Fox is my F. After using the Google toolbar for a bit and enjoying the pop-up blocking I ended up on the recieving end of a barrage of emails from OC Remix forum members and Firefox users. They pointed me to the current release (0.7) which I downloaded, installed and loved from the off. Since then I've only ever used IE to redownload Ff after a system crash. The only problems I had with Ff were with the profile manager but since v1.0 that seems to have been sorted. It truly is the perfect browser and I encourage anyone reading this blog to nip over to the foundation's site and get it. Come on guys, Take Back the Web.

Links
http://www.getfirefox.com (go get it)
http://www.spreadfirefox.com (spread the word)
http://www.mozilla.org (the foundation)
http://www.defendingthefox.com (some sites don't work in Ff, find out where to avoid here)

The A-Z of My Life: E

E is for Emulation

Scourge of the gaming industry (apparently) but I've always enjoyed the extra benefits that emulation can bring. Without it I would never have played games like Chrono Trigger and Shining Force. I first got into emulation through my mate Oli who'd come across the Mega Drive (Genesis) emulator DGen. Once I hit the net at home I explored emulation a lot more and discovered more. So what do I use for emulation?

Mega Drive - Kega (switched from DGen pretty quickly but also use Gens)
Snes - ZSnes (accept no substitute)
GBA - Visual Boy Advance (I use Rascal Boy for multiplayer though)
PSX - ePSXe (pain in the ass at first but I got used to it)
Atari ST - STeem (only retro console I feel comfortable with)
Nintendo 64 - 1964 (defected from PJ64)

For emulators I go to Zophar's Domain and for roms I usually use IfritRoms.com which I co-admin. In the past I've used Emuparadise before it became spyware central and Emumaniacs before I learnt the problems with leeching. There's lots of games I've discovered with emulation and I'll bet that there's plenty more.

The A-Z of My Life: D

NEW LAYOUT!!

D is for DDR

In a way I could have had Bemani as a whole as B as I also enjoy a few other music games but DDR was a game that changed my life. It started when I checked out a game called Dancing Stage Euromix in Bowness, Lake District. I'd known about dancing games before that but EM1 was the game that kicked it off for me. After that I searched my homelands for machines but couldn't find any. I heard of a flash game known as Flash Flash Revolution. I hung around there for a while but left (it was crap). Then this year I discovered Stepmania. The DDR simulator became an obsession but after numerous problems with this unstable sim I changed to a sim I'd used before but given up as I couldn't find simfiles, Dance With Intensity. The effect was instant and after a few months I'd accumulated over 700 simfiles (not bad for a dialup connection). After my last computer crash I had to revert to Stepmania and the 200-odd files I had backed up. I'm now waiting for DWI3 when I'll continue to collect as the file-limit is being removed. DDR is in my blood now, it ain't going away anytime soon.

Links
http://www.flashflashrevolution.com (FFR)
http://www.stepmania.com (Stepmania)
http://dwi.ddruk.com (DWI)
http://www.bemanistyle.com (My bemani bible)
http://www.ddruk.com (My homeland's own DDR page)

As this is going to be my last post today I'd like to take this chance to wish all those celebrating it a happy thanksgiving. Peace y'all.

The A-Z of My Life: C

C is for Cats

All my life I've lived with at least one cat and they have rapidly become my favourite animals. My family have taken in homeless cats from the Cats Protection League, the RSPCA and from local vets as well as strays found wandering the streets. Over these years I've seen cats go missing and die at all ages. Here's a list (from memory) of the cats I've lived with.

Charlie - A legend in the family and more friendly than any human (dead - cancer aged 7)
Edgar - Petrified of everything (dead - put down aged 9)
Harry - Also scared of most things (missing - thought to now be living with new owners)
Samson - Tiny and cuddly (dead - cancer aged 4)
Cilla - Allergic to fleas and always losing fur (missing presumed dead)
Thomas - Scared of anyone he doesn't know after being mistreated as a kitten (alive)
Jerry - Outdoor cat who vanishes in summer and returns for winter (alive)
Gizmo - Fat furball who only moves if he has to (alive)
Lucy - Affectionate but sometimes annoying due to clingy nature (alive)
Ebony - My disease ridden black cat who's greatful for what she gets (alive, god knows how)
Jack - Lively black kitten (dead - hit by dickhead neighbour in his car aged 1)

Don't think I missed anyone. With that many you can see how cats are a part of my life now and will probably always be.

The A-Z of My Life: B

B is for Bashing the Bishop

So masturbating takes up more of my life than it should. In the first OC Remix masturbation marathon I came (quiet) sixth. I get all my porn for free over either p2p or a free hentai network. Since I first saw hentai I've been hooked and I've been a devotee for about 8 months now. IMO there is only one true free network as the one I use has never sent me spam or secretly charged me. No credit card, just an email was needed and I've had access to the network's 10k sites (and growing) ever since.

Questions I've Been Asked
Will I sign up to a pay site once I get a credit card?
Only H-Key's GT section.

Would my life have been the same without hentai?
Yes, I'd wank a lot less.

What got me into hentai?
The Unmod forums on OCR.

The A-Z of My Life: A

I'll start this so you can see how fucked up I am.

A is for Anime

Pokemon started it back in 1997 and since then I've tried to keep up with everything but a combination of being skint and a severe lack of material released in the UK has prevented this from happening. Both situations are getting better though so the next few years should be good.

Blogger Code

B3 d- t- k s- u-- f- i o++ x e+ l+ c
Cool huh?
Copy-Paste it into this site and see how cool I am.
http://travis.kroh.net/archives/blogger_decoder.html
You can also get your own code there.

I am a Master (and NaNoWriMo week 3)

I've done it. I have completed Ocarina of Time: Master Quest and proved my mastery of that game. I rule.

Also in news today, shit I have 12k words and it's week 3. Normally for me 12k in 15 days is a miracle but now it puts me in trouble. I need 38k words in the next 15 days.

NaNoWriMo 2004 - Week 2

Well well, it's been a while since I last posted here but I just wanted to get away from NaNo writing for a bit. It's now week 2 and as well as NaNo I have to think about Firefox 1.0 (tomorrow!!) and taking back the web. Anyhoo, nearly 7000/50000 words. It's going well but this is the hardest week according to those who've done it for a few years. Peace y'all.

Oh Shit....

It's now 1608. In less than 8 hours NaNoWriMo 2004 will start. Hopefully I'll start with it. I don't mind telling you that I am nearly pissing myself. I'm petrified. To follow my progress you can check out my NaNoWriMo blog at http://njsboard.blogspot.com. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Gaming News: I Don't Love Bees

Those following Halo 2 intently will know of the I Love Bees campaign. The trail has been twisted and flowed but the backlash has started and from Nintendo no less. Check out http://www.ilovesqueeze.com and you'll find a simple warning shot at Microsoft that revives the greatest quote of all time. On the site (and 40/50 others) you'll find a picture of Samus Aran along with the phrase "ALL YOUR BEES ARE BELONG TO US. NEVER SEND A MAN TO DO A WOMAN'S JOB". It's clear and simple but ILoveBees has truly sparked something bigger.

In another piece of news in the FPS war (and it is a war) Half-Life 2 has fulfilled all predictions and proved to be worth the wait. Not content with 97 in PC Zone and PC Gamer it has gone on to scoop the second biggest accolade in video gaming. A 40/40 score in Famitsu is the highest but HL2 has joined Super Mario 64, Gran Turismo, Ocarina of Time and Halo in the Edge 10/10 club. A perfect score is rare in any magazine but in Edge it's a phenominal achievement.

My Greatest Achievement and My New Challenge

Tick Tock Clock
100 Coins
Star #120
I've collected all 120 stars in Super Mario 64. This is officially my greatest ever gaming achievement and it's taken nearly a year. Thank god that Gamestation rejected my N64 when I tried to trade it in.

And now for a new challenge. I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo 2004. I'll post the addy to my novel blog when I set it up.

Write then

How do I get a pun that bad?
My blog for NaNoWriMo 2004 is...
http://njsboard.blogspot.com
It gonna be called The Board. Hope you enjoy November because I sure as hell aren't.

It's Coming....

Date: November 9th 2004
Place: The New York Times

Will you make history?

Will you break free?

Will you take back the web?

100!! ONE FUCKING HUNDRED!!

Shifting Sand Land
Pyramid Puzzle
2 minutes ago my star counter on Super Mario 64 hit triple figures after the above star. Only 20 stars to go. I will get all 120.

Diamond on the Floor

I've finally got a deviation to my name!
http://njsykora.deviantart.com

Spread Firefox

If you still only use IE then dump it now and change to Aviery.
http://www.firefox.com
Get both Firefox and Thunderbird.

Dammit

I've been meaning to write in here all day. I posted my first deviation a few minutes ago, check it out at http://njsykora.deviantart.com

Winamp Music

I've been using this for a while now and it kicks ass. If you haven't got the latest version of Winamp (5.05) then get it just to use this. Beats paying to listen to music.

17 Days

The US elections are coming. If you are in the USA then I urge you to get out and vote. I don't care who for but just take an interest in the country's future.

Random mumblings will return tomorrow.

Back Online

Yes you read that right, my home internet is back online so you can contact me through AIM (njsykora08) or by Gmail (njsykora@gmail.com).

Livin in America

I don't but today's Blogger news is just another reminder of how useful it would be to live in America. I'm 15 now and I'm planning on moving around a bit when I hit 20. Hopefully to Japan or US. Depending on the state of the net then of course as so much more of it would open up to me if I lived across the Alantic.

OCR in Edge (again)

Quote from Edge

"There are countless sites devoted to game music but few are as comprehensive as OverClocked ReMix. The site aims to prove that '[videogame music] is not disposable or merely just background, but is as intricate, innovative and lasting as any other form', and offers countless modern-day reinterpretations of classic themes. A cursory dive through their archive will turn up countless vaguely familiar Sonic masterpieces and others, like a remix of the Asterix theme called 'Niggaz 4 Life' which are rather more unexpected."

By my count this is the 4th time OCR has got website of the month. Edge gets 9 w00ts out of 10.
http://www.ocremix.org

Done in a Weekend

It took a single weekend for me to complete Sonic 2. How much of a disappointment is that? Only 2 emeralds though. I'm doing Sonic 3 now but Sonic 2 was the big prize with the remix project nearly finished (http://www.paletteswap.com/sonic2). On second thoughts, that's really tempting fate.

Me and NJ: Part 2

As promised I'm going to say a bit about njsykora outside the net. Quite a few people use their webnames in real life as I do quite often. Even some teachers at school have started using NJ for me now and a few of my mates call me Niall (NJ's full name being Niall Jared Sykora). I feel differences between NJ and myself as well. NJ's witty, confident and willing to make an ass of himself. I'm quiet, sensitive and a bit smarter. Either way you look at it, njsykora is a part of my life now.

Blogger users will have noticed this in the notices today but I have to put it here.
http://dubster.com/cars
Priceless.

OK, OK

I know I said I'd post again tomorrow but this lesson is just too boring and I have to plug something.
http://www.paletteswap.com
One of my favourite sites. I'm gonna keep the whole NJ thing until Friday so I'll see you then.

Me and NJ - Part 1

A question for you lot who use the net a lot. When you sign up for something where you need a username do you use the same name for everything or just something different that sounds cool every time? I started signing online registration forms as Shiek. This worked well until I realised it was spelt wrong (supposed to be Sheik). I kept using it regardless and usually having to sign in twice for spelling my badly spelt username wrong until I signed up for the MSN Gaming Zone (which I've since stopped using) and found the name taken. That was the turning point of my online life and the birth of njsykora. Taken as New Jersey (no I don't live there) for my ice hockey team and Petr Sykora for my favourite player who moved to Anaheim within days prompting people joking and saying I should change to anasykora. Anyhoo, that's the name's origin and tomorrow I'll tell you how NJ has become a part of me in real life.

Microsoft and EA

Literally as I started this the other IE window I had open crashed (again). That's why I hate MS. Everywhere I go I see their stuff displayed at me. When I went to Gamestars Live the first thing I saw was the gigantic Microsoft logo over the Xbox stand. I hadn't intended taking a toilet break that early but the puke was moving fast. Billy's boys had their stand stretched along the whole left side and that's when I decided to do a comparision. EA had their stand stretched (and it was stretched) all down the middle. To get from the north side to the south side of the ExCel Center I had to stumble through The Sims 2, endless Lord of the Rings, EA Sports (I liked that bit actually) and Burnout 3 (their best bit). That's pushing through endless teenage girls (Sims 2), dozens of malnourished freaks (LotR), Overweight sports fans (EA Sports) and boy racers (Burnout 3). I class these 4 types of people as the scum of the earth and trying to get through all of them just to get from one side of the hall to the other and trust me I was doing that a lot (that's a lot of those people). Eventually I picked up a sick bag and ventured into MS's area. Why did only they have Juiced? Last time I checked it was multi format. The thing I found absolutely hilarious was the fact that half of the Xbox pods weren't working and no-one was doing anything to fix them. Microsoft are the dominant force in their market (trust me that isn't games). For now. EA are becoming the dominant force in the gaming market and I don't want that to happen. If EA keep growing then competition will die out and gaming will become stagnant and boring like the operating system market. No need for innovation and no need for decent customer service. Until Linux appeared anyway. It's happened to PCs. Please EA, don't let it happen to gaming.

Sociality

My mates always say they want me to be a bit more social, stop sitting in front of my comp all day. Clearly they don't know that keeping my comp alive all day is a full time job. The thing about this that bugs me is that everytime there's a reason for me to get out of my room (i.e. a party) no-one tells me about it. There's a sleepover at my mate Chris' place this weekend. Will I get invited? Will I hell.

FUCKING HELL!

Apologies for the language but I've just had to reformat my hard drive AGAIN. I'm officially ditching Windows and changing to Linspire Linux. I've seen the light, come on in.

Some Ideas

I'm pretty excited about these special reviews. I wrote the first one last night and I was surprised at how simple it was to get started (imo the hardest part of writing). After that it just flowed but you'll see that tomorrow. Remember all the games featured in the review specials are 100% free. No shareware and no hidden fees or dialers. I've virus tested them all so don't be scared of downloading them and having lots of fun. E-mail me with your high scores as well and I'll put up some tables eventually.

The other subject I wanted to talk about today is should I write a story? I'd post it here similar to Something Awful's Untitled Document (www.somethingawful.com). Look forward to some response on that at least. Later all.

Review Specials

I love writing reviews and soon I'm going to be starting a new series of special reviews based on freeware games. I'm going to be looking at how freeware games can often surpass their commercial counterparts and at the same time be perfect examples of their respective genres. This series will start on Tuesday with shoot 'em ups. Look forward to it.

GameSpy

Gaming website GameSpy (www.gamespy.com). Widely (and rightly) regarded as the scum of the internet GameSpy works on a Microsoft like presumption that it is doing everything right. As such it's "25 Most Overrated Games Ever" list went unchallenged on it's own website. This tactic would have worked but other gaming forums (notably GameFAQs) flamed GS to death. Here's my advice...

GameSpy includes Fileplanet and IGN (which suck)
Gamespot includes DLX, GameFAQs and Game Rankings (which pwn)

My choice for most Overrated game?
Video Gaming - Halo
Real Life - Poker
Later.

How to screw up a post

The more vigilant among you will notice that I completely screwed up my last post. This is because the preview function on the new post screen is shit. Anyhoo, anyone wants tips on screwing up their blog (or online diary of choice) then email me. Hell I need stuff in my inbox, I've got 1Gb and nothing to fill it with. Later.

Whoa, WHOA, WHAT THE F**K?!!

http://news.deviantart.com/article/15965/
Get Linspire linux for free! IMO this is the best version of linux there is. Still here? GO GET LINUX NOW!!

Gabe and Gabe

I feel it is my duty as a gaming fan and as a Penny Arcade fan (www.penny-arcade.com) to congratulate Mike and Kara Krahulik on the birth of Gabe Aden Krahulik. Today the (technically) adult Gabe posted the events and his thoughts on the hours spent waiting for the magic moment. This was a great thing to read and shows the benefits of having a strong community on a website alongside a pair of great webmasters. To my knowledge PA is the only site where Gabe would be able to make a news post like that, I quote from the post; "I don’t think that Penny Arcade is a webcomic. I’m honestly not sure it’s ever been one. For me PA is a diary, and so I hope you’ll all forgive me if I spend this morning recounting a particularly incredible day I had recently." For me a site is massively improved if the admins are approachable friendly people. I believe that in successfully doing this PA has secured it's place as an internet institution. Long may it reign and maybe me, Ifrit and Zero will be able to do this with IR (www.ifritroms.com) someday. Peace.

Hey all you people

Hey there. Chances are you came from my LiveJournal. I will still post there from time to time but now this is my main rambling place. If you were a keen follower of my LJ then welcome back. If you're new to my world then welcome. Come in, sit down and grab a drink from the bar because the show is about to begin.