Mega update

Well, a lot's been going on.

Archery:

Not much here due to other stuff. Due to issues with the compound being so heavy, I've been using Rob's old recurve bow, but using it barebow. It shoots really well and I've been having a lot of fun with it. Due to other commitments though, haven't been to archery very much.

Computers/Games:

I got Saints Row IV for the 360 for a pittance and have been enjoying that. It's a bit weird as it goes in a very weird direction, but great fun. I've also still been replaying BioShock Infinite on the PC but have had a bit of a lull recently. Still a fantastic game though.

I've also been enjoying FTL again after rediscovering it and also it runs nicely on my laptop which definitely not a gaming machine. Today I bought Elite: Dangerous in the Steam sale as it's hard to resist at that price but won't get to try it until tomorrow on my main PC. I'm also tempted to to try out Civilisation V again.

Going to have a computer shakeup at some point as I'm now effectively living between two places. My main PC is still on Windows 8.1 but my Yoga laptop is on Windows 10. The PC is still running great though, even though it's only a 2nd generation i5.

I'm feeling very ambivalent about Windows 10 though, which has left me reluctant to install it on my main PC. I like the OS generally but I don't like the rampant data mining that things like Cortana apparently need, or the way it keeps 'recommending' it's own browser, etc, and how updates keep resetting things to the default apps and so-on. It just feels like Microsoft have taken away a lot of control of it from the user. I suppose that's fine for most people but for an enthusiast it doesn't feel quite right.

Have been experimenting with a Raspberry Pi and a 5" screen that connects to it. It works very well and I discovered that it will run from one of those mobile phone backup battery packs for a good 5-6 hours, even with a backlit desktop keyboard plugged in. Not quite the most practical portable computer but it could be fun to put it into a case or something. The Raspberry Pi Zero is an interesting concept which has just been announced today.

TV etc:

Been watching several things recently. The main one which was very good is Mr Robot - absolutely amazing first season. I appreciated both the story and the largely accurate depictions of technology.

Other things have included The Andromeda Strain, which was awesome. I enjoyed The Detectorists which is a really nice gentle comedy, and we have also started Bottom as I'd never seen it before. It's completely insane but good fun.

Series 9 of Doctor Who has been OK so far - a lot better than series 8 I think, although they really need to get rid of Clara. She's been there far too long now.

Rob lent me a graphic novel series called Saga. Hard to explain what it's about but it's extremely well drawn and has a very compelling story. Really good. Halfway through volume 5 at the moment.

Aunt visit:

We went to see my aunt a few weeks ago as we had said we would after seeing her at my cousin's funeral. She lives near Bury St Edmunds which is about 4 hours drive away. We travelled down on Saturday without any issues and checked into a new Premier Inn before heading over to see her. The hotel is brand new and very nice. The restaurant was great and we had some really nice breakfasts and evening meals there, and it was in a nice quiet location.

It was a really nice weekend - that first evening we had chips and watched the village fireworks display. She has a good view of them from her flat. We spent Sunday morning exploring the town. It's a nice place - very old and has a unique style in the town centre. It was Remembrance Day so all that was going on.

On Sunday afternoon we went and picked her up and went out for a drive, taking her to see some places she likes. Then we headed back to hers and spent quite a lot of time sorting out photos and things and then headed back to the hotel. The next morning we went and had a coffee with her and headed back. The return journey wasn't as good as the weather was bad and the roads busier, but made it OK.

Work:

Not much to report - it's settled down a bit now but still not quite sure what's coming up - possible restructure, etc. My primary laptop had a weird issue with BSOD so I ended up using a spare Thinkpad Helix that I'd repaired from the scrap. It was nice but the screen and keyboard were a little small. If it had had 8gb RAM though I might have made it my main machine as the small size of it is nice.

Misc:

The Merc is due to be taxed - can't believe I've had it that long! It's going in on Tuesday to have the brakes and suspension checked out as I think it's at that age where it needs it.

It's Steve's stag do this weekend which will be interesting. Hopefully it'll be a good time.

I saw a page recently that said what is something cheap and fun to buy off Amazon and one of them was a nano-quadcopter called the Cheerson CX-10. It took quite some time to get the hang of flying it, but once I did I really enjoyed it. It takes 15 minutes or so to charge and flies about 5 minutes.

I enjoyed it so much I ended up buy a CX-10C which is basically the same, but with a camera in it that can record video and take pictures. It's a bit more stable in flight. The other cool thing was an MJX-901 which is basically the same thing but a hexacopter. It's much more stable and controllable than the other two and flies longer. Very cool. I know these quadcopters can be a very expensive hobby if you get into the larger ones, but these little ones are so cheap and so much fun.