Factors I would consider when buying a PC or Laptop for my course.

Size

I’m was thinking of buying a laptop in the near future as it is becoming clear  to me that one is needed in my applied psychology course, so this assignment  will give me an opportunity to carefully consider what I would need. One of the most important aspects of a laptop to me would be the size, because I am traveling a long way every morning the device would have to be light so I can easily carry it. My girlfriend recently bought me a rather lovely satchel for college, so any laptop I buy would have to be small enough to fit in that bag. I am aware that the smaller the laptop this less hardware will be able to fit in it, I will have to balance convenience against processing power.

Memory

One of the most important parts of any computer would be memory, as a computer could have remarkably fast processing power but it will not be much use to anyone if it can’t remember anything. Memory is particularly important for students, we need to have a computer that can remember our lecture slides, our notes and most important our CA’s. When it comes to memory I have always found that more is better, and as the course goes on the demand for space is only going to increase. If you look at my multimedia lecture for example an absolute necessity is photo shop and depending on the version it could take up too two gigs of space. When I am getting this laptop I would ideally want upwards of a terabyte as this amount of memory would probably last the four years of my course.

Power supply

An element often overlooked when a person is buying a new laptop, but I believe very important is the power supply. For me who would be using my laptop mainly for college work the longer it can hold a charge the better. It is not always possible to be able to charge your laptop and say for example I have a two gap between lectures which would be a great time to get some CA work done, but if the work is on my laptop and I cannot get near a power socket I will be unable to make any progress on it. If a laptop can go a long time without charging it would also mean that I would not have to depend upon the computers in the library as they are always in high demand it is not always possible to get one. It would also enable me to get some work done on the go, my commute every day takes roughly an hour and a half but with a reliable battery this time would no longer be wasted as I could be using it to do college work.

Fan

Something that I have noticed about laptops is their tendency to become very hot. This is an issue that effects most computers and can cause performance issues. I know for example my own PC has three fans but the temperature gauge in the front is always high and the fans make a lot of noise trying to keep it cool. I titled this section fan instead of temperature management because I think that a fan is the only option for laptops because of their size. A heat sink from what I have seen would be too big unless they make ones especially for laptops and I have never heard of water cooling been available for anything except a PC. So I would desire as many fans as I can get on my new laptop to keep it running smoothly and coolly.

Video/Graphics Card

An important thing for me to consider would be the graphics card, in regards to college work it would mainly have to do with the work I do in multimedia. Because at the moment multimedia is the only one which would require me to see an image clearly on the screen, in the other lectures it wouldn’t really matter if I could even see colours. I must admit though the real reason I would like a higher quality graphics card would be so I could install and play newer video games on the laptop. Although admittedly not important for college work (unless of course I am studying video game addiction in cyber psychology) it would still be something that would affect which laptop I buy.

Modem

The ability to connect to the internet is fundamentally important to college work. Every lecture requires you to go onto the internet for something. It could be a YouTube clip to easily explain Milgrams experiment or finding articles that discuss something about technology that you are interested in. We take it for granted that a laptop will come with a modem these days but it is something that we should double check just to be sure. Along with the modem I would also require a wireless router to enable me to connect to the IADT network so I can use the internet while in college. This would make research for CA’s far easier than if I had to connect the old fashioned way with the wire. Although this would be unlikely as I would just purchase an external router like I have for my PC but I would want it already included in any laptop I purchase.

Article 2 The Future of Mobile Phones

This is a summary from the article ‘The future of mobile phones: A remote control for you life ’

Taken from-

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/the-future-of-mobile-phones-a-remote-control-for-you-life-448816.html and relates to an area of technology which interests me, which is mobile communications and its future.

This is an article written by William Webb, head of research and development at Ofcom, it contains his predictions for the capabilities of the hand held mobile phone in 2025. He starts the article by informing us about the various functions that phones that will be engineered in fourteen years’ time will be capable of. He believes that although the name mobile will stick it will have move well beyond that and a more accurate description might be a remote control for your life.

According to the article this phone of the future will be able to know what time to wake you, if it knows your schedule it will find the best route and compare this to reports on traffic conditions and decide when to wake you. The phone will of course turn on the central heating for you so you will not be cold when you wake up. In the event your home alarm system goes off your phone will immediately notify you and any friends or relatives you that are in the area.

Mr Webb believes the days of routing through your pockets for the exact change needed for the bus are numbered as this the phone will be your payment system, it will be your bus ticket and credit card in one, as it will also be used in shops to pay for your goods. The phone will be able to give you directions and also let you know if anyone you know is in the area. It seems this phone may replace a person’s personal assistant as it will handle your calls by taking messages when it knows you’re busy and record your favourite shows and convert them into pod casts for you.

Mr Webb discusses about how forgetting your phone will be quiet disastrous in the future because of all of the things our phones will do if a person forgot their phone it would be like forgetting their wallet, keys, music player and mobile phone at the same time. The article ends by discussing how technology will progress from today until the phone of the future, on how the development will be slow but steady.

I don’t know if I like the idea of this phone of the future, I already think technology is moving too fast. In no way am I a Luddite in fact I am far from it but I believe that technology is moving too rapid and as a consumer it seems to moment I buy something it is already obsolete.

I must admit the Idea of my phone knowing what time to wake me is something I like because in the rare event that the busses are running on time and there is no traffic problems I might get a few minutes extra in bed. I have never been very good at figuring out what time to leave the house as to be on time, I’m usually early which is better than late but that does mean I am missing out on some extra sleep.

Most of the technology he is talking about is already around today, what he seems to want is to amalgamate it into the phone and for it to be automated. For instance facebook already has location services and it is a good idea on paper to see if people you are in the area. But if you don’t want to see these people, what if you know them but don’t like them? They can see you too,  I can foresee arguments with mother in laws because I was only around the corner from her but didn’t pop in for a cup of tea. The tracking ability on these phones will also make it rather difficult to have an affair because you will need your phone to pay for the hotel but your wife can see you’re in a hotel when you said that you were working late. I believe it raises a lot of questions about privacy.

Using your phone as a credit card could be a good idea as long as some security measures are in place, if it is a safe and efficient method of payment I would be in favour of it because it eliminates the need to carry cash, which is always a bit risky if case of having ones pocket picked or being mugged.

Is it a good idea to become so dependent on one piece of technology? Remember the old saying about eggs and a basket. What if you forget to charge it?, will you not be able to get the bus and what if the network crashes?, will it not wake you because it can’t figure out what time would be best? This phone of the future sounds promising but I don’t know if it would appeal to me and I imagine this type of phone would be very complicated so what about people who are not that tech savvy such as the elderly? Will they be left behind or will a lot of grandchildren have their hearts broken trying to explain to nanny how pay for her shopping with her phone?

Article 1 The Future of PC Gaming

This is a summary from the article ‘Is PC gaming dead? Three E3 editors tackle the topic--each provides his own perspective. See if you agree.’

Taken from-

http://www.pcworld.com/article/229976/e3_2011_the_future_of_pc_gaming.html and relates to an area of technology which interests me, which is gaming on the pc.

This article is a collection of small articles from three editors of PC world magazine who give their opinions on the future of pc gaming. This was based upon their perception of events at 3E which is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The first contributor was Alex Wawro who discussed how pc gaming is at the beginning of a rebirth because of the limitation of consoles in that they cannot be upgraded he believes that pc’s are going to be that higher quality games will only be available on pc. His expectation is that because Sony and Microsoft show no intention of releasing the next generation of consoles and instead seem to be coming up with new ways to play your favourite games on console (e.g. kinect) that pc gaming is here to stay. He believes that consoles can offer convenience but the pc version of games will be far more impressive in every way.

The second contributor was Nate Ralph who was talking about how during the E3 convention he noticed that he didn’t see much of a presence from games which are exclusively for the pc; he said that the only pc games on the floor were the ones which were being released for both the pc and the consoles. Nate believes that this is not because a shortcoming of the pc as a gaming medium but more to do with accessibility and the ease of use that consoles provide. This is referring to the troubleshooting which inevitably happens after a games release, developers know it is far easier to find a solution for a console as it has a standard design whereas pc’s can be have vastly different hardware and software configurations.  He also believes that the bigger audiences that console games have has a large effect upon developers. But on the other hand console developers will never have a modding community on a scale as the pc.

The third editor was Patrick Miller like Nate agreed that the pc had a poor representation at the press conference. He seems to believe that no one could be bothered to give the pc any floor time and that doesn’t look well for the coming year for the diehard pc gamers out there. What with franchises like Dues Ex which were blockbuster pc games a few years ok designing their new games primarily with console gamers in mind it is no wonder that the floor of E3 was not that pc friendly. He seemed to believe that this was based upon the amount of money that companies like Microsoft can make from xbox gamers by charging them for all expensive hardware as well as having to pay for downloadable content.

In my opinion I believe that the PC has always been at the forefront of gaming and I have confidence that it always will be. The PC has always offered the most impressive graphics, the cheapest games and the most engrossing games. The death of the PC as a gaming platform has been predicted before and it still hasn’t happened yet. I would agree with the contributors of these articles as I don’t see me hanging up my mouse and keyboard for a joystick in the foreseeable future. Alex discusses how games are higher quality on the PC than consoles, I have some experience with this myself as I have played one or two games and both, and  from the moment I turned on the console I was struck at how poor the visual quality was compared to my own PC. 

I have had my troubles with glitches and bugs that exist on PC games and I have spent hours looking through forums for advice on how to fix the problem. But it is a price I will gladly pay to play such fantastic games as the Witcher 2 and have access to the modding community who in their own free time design modifications which breed new life into old games. An interesting point about the Witcher 2 the downloadable content is free on PC but you are charged for it on Xbox which supports what Patrick was saying. I am really disappointed that greed takes precedence in the gaming world, if a game is successful on pc the will make every subsequent title for both pc and console just so they can make more money. I have been burned by this before with sequels for good challenging games been dumbed down for the consoles such as with Dragon Age 2 and Dues Ex 3. 

And I will always bear in mind buying more ram and a new graphics card cost a lot less than a new Xbox or Playstation.

Scarlet carson

this is the rose form V for vendetta the scarlt carson, I always liked this rose, I think it is gorgeous. No rose as the scarlet carson exists they are based upon the violet carson hybrid rose. This picture is in face a grand prix rose as they were the ones used in the film.

Hey Followers a few websites that might help you with the course.

http://psychology.about.com/
I recommend signing up for their newsletter, rather informative about the field.
http://www.coolinfographics.com/
A good place to get inspiration for your multimedia C.A
http://www.wikipedia.com
It gets a bad rap but I find it rather helpfull.
http://psychcentral.com/
Huge website focusing on psychology.
http://www.youtube.com
Don't underestimate it guys you can find funny cartton versions of experiments and a few guides for photoshop.
http://www.wired.com
A great website for information about tecnology guys, important for this course I think.
http:www.guardian.co.uk
This newspaper has a good technology section, we do need to keep up with the trends you know.

Hugs and kisses
Gav

Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino Ladies and Gentlemen, so it is hard not to have high expectations (when he is directing not acting of course) from Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction to Kill Bill this man had made some of my favorite movies of all time and this little gem is no excetion. From it's tense nail bitting opener to the action packed finale I was clued to the screen.  Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa is absolutely fantastic, this man truely deserved the oscar as I found myself at times forgetting I was watching an actor on screen, so believable was his performance that I still Can't look at waltz without feeling a small amout of fear and a large amount of hate. If you have ever enjoyed a Tarantino film see this one, in fact even if you were not to fond of his earlier work this might be the one to convert you.

The Smurfs

I suppose as a grown man that I should be ashamed to admit that I have seen this film, especially seeing as it was voluntary ( I can't blame the girlfriend on this one). But I must to say I enjoyed it. Although a far cry from films such as Shrek and Toy Story which are 'fun for the whole family' The smurfs is very much a kids film but one which this slacker found as a welcome distraction on a rather depressing rainy day. If you are a big kid at hart and have nothing better to do, I would recommend this for you.

Films The Tourist

While not the worst film in the world, it is a far cry from the quality pictures I have come to expect of mr depp, with the exception of the last three pirates of the caribean films of course. The last one in praticular had me counting the minutes till the three hour travesty was over but I digress this film in short this film is about two really good looking people prancing around venice, falling in love with the occasional chase scene thrown in. The final  few minutes in what is supposed to be the big twist, I felt like screaming at the characters 'duh' and found myself wondering how they had taken nearly two hours to figure it out. Not worth the price of admission, wait till it is on tv3 in five years time but only watch if there is nothing better on.

Films The Lion King

As some of you may know Disney recently re released the lion king in 3D, I was impressed by just how clever those guys at disney are, throw some paint on a old film and boom millions of dollars. The lion king is a absolute classic but the 3D in this film is third rate at best. Do your wallet a favor and just watch the dvd or have they changed that to blue ray yet? 

Introduction

Hello I am starting this blog as part of my I.C.T, creating and maintaining a blog is part of the assessment for the year. At the moment I do not know what to base this blog on, I would use ''my shit life so far' but I believe Franky Boyle has that trademarked, So I will probably keep it vauge untill I make a decision. Hugs & Kissess
Gav

Films Scarface.

Regarded as one of the best gangster film of all time, I can't disagree with anyone in that regards but I do think somebody should have gotten Michelle Pfeiffer a sandwich.