. As I mentioned, I did not receive any standing change after finishing the Amarr Epic Arc. My support ticket was answered after a day or two and a 12.5% increase applied by a GM. This impacted only Amarr Empire. It went from 5.49 to 6.05.
. I use RSSOwl to read the various EVE blogs I follow. (I prefer downloading them to my desktop instead of relying on web based services.) Recently I wiped Java from my PC and did a fresh install of the latest Runtime. RSSOwl then failed to run, providing no error message I could find. In the end I worked out the problem was that it required the 32 bit Java Runtime, and I had installed 64 bit. Interestingly both versions can coexist fine.
. There was an article on The Mittani a little while ago which exemplified how I think many PVP focused players completely fail to understand Carebears. It was about Micro Conflict Drivers. I am paraphrasing, but the author wanted some way for the bigger powers to go mess with the little Null Sec guy that did not require hitting strategic assets. The conflict driver had to in effect force Carebears to undock and fight; else they should be punished harshly. The example was making all the ratting revenue for the last hour or so being available in space. If it was not defended, the attackers could take it. I can imagine the author smiling with glee at the thought of it – except for the fact it would fail miserably. Bigger Powers would simply beat any Carebear defence and take the revenue anyway, so what incentive is there for a Carebear to undock?
. We have an old Panasonic DVD/PVR (DMR-XW450) that we use as a backup to record shows when our main PVR is too busy. It is configured to stop you from copying recordings off it except to DVD, which if you want to watch a show in another location is time consuming and now unreliable. I spent some time researching how I could capture the HDMI output, and ended up getting the AverMedia Game Capture HD II and using this specific HDMI splitter – vhd-1x2mn3d – to strip the HDCP copy protection from the signal. It has worked well, and should also be a solution for the PS3 HDMI output. The files are a little on the large size however – around 8GB an hour compared to our PVR’s 3GB.
. I still find myself employed in the same job. If I was under financial pressure it would have been pertinent to have started looking for work elsewhere some time ago. Things are good however in that regard, so I’ve stayed as it was convenient. Last week the state staff levels dropped from 7 to 5. Two resigned to go form their own company and work for their current clients. This would generally be a huge no-no in Consulting, but apparently they are doing it with the blessing of management. It might be because the clients were going anyway, or because these two were close to management, but it also raised a warning flag I hadn’t been considering. Up until this point the question was would I leave with about 3 months pay for owed leave entitlements, or around 6 months with a retrenchment package. Now I have to consider the possibility of the company closing its doors and me leaving with nothing. I will still get my months off regardless, but I might not be so willing to open the wallet for some projects around the house I want to get stuck into. I’m not sure if I mentioned it or not, but my colleague who has been looking for work has been told numerous times now to dumb down his resume and make it look like he has 10 years instead of 20 years experience. Apparently some companies think if someone has too much experience they won’t be dynamic and edgy enough. It is apparently more important to be able to talk the talk than actually do the job.
Evehermit 