Month: April 2006

What's in a name?

Anyone who has been visiting this site for a while will know that I have a bit of an ‘issue’ with the identity.

It’s been through “snowgoon” to “something” to “gordonmclean.something” to “gordonmclean.co.uk” to “informationally overloaded” (and I’ve probably missed a couple).. and I’m sure you will agree when I say that THE MADNESS MUST STOP!!!

Thing is… well… I dunno about you but I’m just not that keen on “informationally overloaded” as a title. I’ve considered shortening it to “info-overload”, and considered switching it back to being a tagline.

I just don’t know. It’s a quandary indeed but I’m leaning on having just “Gordon McLean” as the title, with “is informationally overloaded” as the tagline.

And I know I should just make up my bloody mind and either do it or shut up but, honestly, these things trouble me. Do they trouble you?

Or maybe I should go back to the snowgoon days… or the something days.. re-introduce the blue eye… ahhhh memories.

[This post was brought to you by the archive code I stumbled across this evening}

April 14, 2006

Snippets

I promised myself I’d limit this kind of post to a Friday only, so please just ignore Wednesday’s post (it’s full of woe anyway…). In fact so am I, being a Wednesday child. Explains a lot, doesn’t it.

Er… no. Not really.

~

Things wot I have learned to be effective #627: Don’t tag people with a Meme, let them lift it for themselves. Much more efficient than the usual “tag you’re it” method, and ensures no-one feels ‘excluded’ when you don’t pick them.

~

So, if comment is free why are all the comments riddled with dross and insults and negativity? No wait, that’s WHY they are full of dross, insults and negativity, because they are free… it’s a cyclic paradox wrapped in an enigma, cloaked by … ohh you know the drill..

I propose a new title: “comment is free, but only if you have something constructive to offer”.

Admittedly it’s not as catchy and yes, sometimes the quality of the articles could be better, but sometimes I think that blogs have a lot of bad things to answer for… but then I remember that it’s nothing to do with blogs and everything to do with ranting, opinionated, glory-seeking idiots.

Ladies and Gentlepeeps, if you don’t have something interesting to say, SHUT THE FUCK UP! And yes, THAT comment IS free. Pass it on.

~

I fully expect that previous nugget of wisdom to boomerang around this little corner of blogland and smack me square on the nose.

~

I’ve been toying with setting up an olde fashioney “homepage”. That means moving this blog and ideally doing clever things with redirects and such. Not exactly sure what I want to do yet but thoughts, advice and general “no! for the love of all things cute and fluffy, don’t do it!” comments are, as usual, more than welcome.

After all, if you lot didn’t keep commenting I couldn’t keep ignoring you this site wouldn’t be half as much fun, or even ⅝ as much …

~

Whilst First ScotRail are improving, the conduct of passengers is still a matter of concern.

As well as ignoring my telepathetic glares to turn down THEIR music which I can hear over MY music —but that’s because I’m considerate and don’t play my music at ear-bleeding volumes—
it seems that some unsavoury types have decided that it’s OK to start boarding the train whilst others are getting off.

Yesterday morning I found myself nearest the doors and, as they hissed open and I moved forward, some oik started to step up into the carriage. Next thing I know and my hand is thrust inches from his chest, palm out, and I’m doing my best Barbara Woodhouse impression:

“Wait.” said firmly, with authority.

And he did (“Good dog!”).

He stood there looking bemused, mouth slightly agape, whilst behind me a small cheer rippled through the carriage.

I may have imagined that last bit.

Now I’m not sure it’s related, but have I mentioned that I’m currently reading the latest offering from Lynn Truss, Talk to the Hand?

April 14, 2006

Lunching with the diva

Of the pixel variety.

Always good to meet a fellow blogger, and as we’ve “known” each other for several years (before she was a diva in fact) it was extra special to spend a pleasant lunch in the company of pixeldiva herself. We chatted about all sorts, as us eclectic bloggers are known to do, and my lunch hour (and a half) came to a close all to quickly.

One topic we did discuss was you lot. Not ALL of you, obviously, but the core group of bloggers that I’ve been visiting for years, commenting, and emailing (with the occasional IM thrown in for good measure, you do have my MSN details, don’t you?) and, as I stated as we headed out into the Glasgow rain, I should really try a little harder to get “dahn sarf” to a blogmeet or two. I was toying with putting together a list of “bloggers wot I’d like to meet” but that may turn into a vanity exercise and I’d hate to assign an order to such things. Suffice to say that all of them are listed on the left (down a bit) and they probably know who they are.

Other topics covered: how to spot a room full of geeks, the flats they are building which will have a view over one of the most hideous roundabouts in Scotland, the joy of having parents read your blog (and no I’m NOT gonna expand on that one!!), weird flatmates, the amazement of being recognised by your peers, and … knickers (not mine, and I just realised that I forgot to ask what colour Ann was wearing, presuming she was wearing some of course…).

Top stuff, a pretty good lunch and all in the company of a lovely, smart, bubbly lady.

April 13, 2006

Just one more

Hands up everyone who’s played Tetris.

Hours I spent, flipping blocks round, shuffling them left and right, until my hand would cramp and the buttons of my GameBoy start to wear down. One memorable train journey down to London gave me the opportunity to play for some 6 straight hours and I could hardly move my thumb for days. You should’ve seen the high score though!

Anyway, I’m a bit too busy to play many games these days, and I certainly don’t have the time nor the patience required for something like Tomb Raider. In fact, my game playing has evolved to the point where I much prefer a good “pick up and play” to anything that requires time or devotion (I can place Pro Evolution Soccer in the “pick up and play” category because I’ve been playing it’s first inception —ISSDeluxe on the Megadrive— and know the controls off by heart).

To that end puzzle games are something I try to avoid, knowing full well that a “quick game” soon turns into “IT’S 3AM! TURN THAT BLOODY COMPUTER OFF!!”.

I’ll pause at this point to say that I hate Ben. I hate his games even more. Specifically I hate Bubble Blitz.

Like all the best puzzle games it’s simple to learn, easy to play, and has the ability to bend time to it’s will. It’s pure evil, there’s no other excuse for it.

I downloaded a copy of the game a couple of weeks back but it wasn’t until the weekend that I finally installed it, fired it up and… whoooosh. It’s 3AM. Just like that.

Thankfully I was TRYING to stay up to pick Louise up after a night out but, that aside, it’s a testament to this game, and more specifically it’s addictiveness, that I hardly noticed the time until my mobile buzzed with someone demanding a lift (thankfully it was Louise).

Dammmit. It did it again!!!

I was just firing it up to check something and next thing it’s an hour later!

Where was I?

Ohh yes. The interface is nice and bright and friendly, the sounds can be turned off (but aren’t as bad as some, and yes that includes the original Tetris tune!), and there is just a nice chunky feel to this game. Only annoyance is the continual interruption of the in-game messages —GOOD MOVE, BONUS and so on— but that’s a minor irritation and it didn’t stop me from playing it for about four hours straight.

So, if you DON’T want to lose valuable time playing a game, if you DON’T want to wonder where the past couple of hours went then avoid this game altogether.

On the other hand, it’s wonderfully addictive and hey, we all like a little diversion now and again, right?

Bubble Blitz by Binary Sun ~ an excellent waste of time!

April 12, 2006

Miscellany

Quick one today, things to do, people to see.. etc etc.

Despite my recent plaudits First Scotrail aren’t happy to rest on their wotsits and have updated their notification system to include further updates on a set timescale. So, I can ask for an email to be sent to my work address with any problems of the evening train home AND then have text messages sent to my phone for the next 20 minutes after that in case of any late breaking issues. Top stuff indeed.

I really must get along to one of their “meet the manager” sessions and congratulate them in person, although I’m sure my post will have been sent round and they are all patting themselves on the back already.

~

One personal bug-bear of mine is bad communication, and of course this has come back to bite me in the bum as it seems that I’ve been the cause of some “tension” over on Scottish Blogs. My reply to a slew of emails and comments over the past months is on the site now. Hopefully it’s little more than a storm in a teacup.

~

I’m not sure what type of tree it is that lines the path outside my office window but it’s suddenly started showing the first hints of green. The bark is a dark grey colour at the moment, slick and wet with rain, with tiny light green shoots vividly bursting forth. Spring has sprung, so can we stop with the snow and hailstones please…

~

I need some tips to improve my memory. Last night Louise and I had a wonderfully surreal conversation about.. um… something… and whilst I can remember thinking “must blog that” I can’t actually remember what we were talking about. I’d rather not become some sort of notepad-wielding blog-psycho, jotting down every encounter and conversation in the vague hope it may be interesting or humourous, yet I fear that may become my only option.

On the other hand, I’ve seen books that promise to IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY IN… err… a few days I think it said… See. Hopeless.

Suggestions please!

April 12, 2006

Jack of none

I’m a fairly intelligent guy. I’m not a huge intellect but I reckon I’d be “slightly above average” on the scale of smartness which I’m sure exists somewhere… I mean I’ve taken one of those Mensa tests, and did some sort of “smartypants” test, before I joined Sage/tetra back in the day, so based on the those I have PROOF that I’m smarter than you. Well not you (obviously), but definitely YOU (yeah, you).

I’m not boasting. Honest. In fact it’s become a bit of a puzzle for me, you see I’ve always been smart-ish, was in the top classes for Maths and English and if I’d applied myself a little more I’m sure I could’ve gone on to great things at University whereas I took the “real life” education route and spent far too much time in the union bar. Lack of application, also known as laziness, is one problem but that’s coupled with an inability to focus on things in which I’m not inherently interested. As a result I find myself picking up new projects/interests with abandon and then doing just that, abandoning them.

And therein lies my problem. It’s all well and good to be kinda clever but it’s much more helpful to be very good at one thing, rather than OK at many, right?

When it comes to general “life” stuff I’m quite glad that I don’t have a single area of expertise as it assures that I won’t be the bore at the party, waffling on about MY topic in great (and no doubt fascinating) detail. Instead I can converse on a variety of topics, to a reasonable level, as my mood takes. Except politics. Apathy usually kicks in early when that topic rears its head as it’s never a discussion but inevitably turns into one or two people dominating the conversation, talking over others and trying to state their opinions the most vociferously. It’s very boring.

Why? Because people don’t want to explain their political stance, they want to convert you, educate you forcibly to see that THEY ARE RIGHT. Either that or they think that the only way to explain their support of a particular branch of politics is to prove how much better it is than all the others, usually by concentrating on the flaws of the other parties. Tedious. Anyway, where was I… ?

Specialism is something I lack and whilst it has nothing to do with being smart —and everything to do with being unique— it is beginning to piss me off. In short; I’m “quite good” at many things but excel at none, I know “a fair bit” about a lot of topics but I’m not an expert at any.

I’m not going to go on as this could be come one of those boring, introverted whaaa whaaa whaaaaaa posts that we all despise, where I’ll end up over-analysing everything and coming to some far-reaching and wholly inaccurate assumption (another thing at which “I’m quite good”). I’m putting this current malaise down to lack of sleep, general meh-ness, and that’s that.

Anyone else feel like this? Or are you very good at one thing in particular? How many experts do we have in the audience?

April 11, 2006