Journals

ThatGuy48788 years ago2015-10-20 01:59:50 UTC 11 comments
This is going to be a long post, so buckle in if you're in the mood for journal reading.

It's weird how nostalgia grows. I mean yeah, sure, I'm only 18 pressing 19, but I remember hanging out on this website for a long time being a lurker before finally joining this thing many years ago. I have an oddly nostalgic relationship with TWHL.

I came for the tutorials and for the entity glossary, which still provides me help and guidance to this day, and I stayed (albeit quietly, and for a short amount of time) for the community. It actually didn't really take me that long to know the regulars, if only because their online handles were memorable.

My last map uploaded was 7th January, 2013 - the last time I made a journal was 8th August, 2012 - and then I stopped playing Half-Life for a while. And with Half-Life stopped, my frequent visits here ended. To be completely honest, I really didn't think much of the years I was gone.

However, this is the present. If you're the kind of human who like to round numbers up, it's been nearly 3 years since I've seen the inviting Orange layout of this site. And holy shit, is it great to see it again.

I'm happy that TWHL still exists, and I want to high-five the people behind it all that keep this place going. And hey, while I'm here, I might as well post some maps I've cleaned up that are hideously brushed and textured maps that play surprisingly well.

Hopefully I'll stick around longer on this second wind. :D
monster_urby8 years ago2015-10-18 05:56:13 UTC 13 comments
XXIX
Suparsonik8 years ago2015-10-04 13:12:05 UTC 8 comments
I am now 0 years old.
DiscoStu8 years ago2015-09-27 03:45:38 UTC 22 comments
If anyone even cares and had been following, I now have one of these.

Comes with Android 4.4.2, it updated to 4.4.4 but hasn't offered me 5.x yet. After fiddling with it for a few hours now, I can say the following:
  • My older phone has a 140dpi screen. After two years of use everything was good. The new one has a 330dpi screen. After two hours of use, there was no turning back. Everything looks so bloody fuzzy on the old one.
  • I actually liked the 3x4 keyboard on the old one. The new one only has a QWERTY keyboard which I find much slower and error-prone. I'll look into installing a custom keyboard or something.
  • It's pretty snazzy but I have one gripe: On the contacts list, the old one has an option labelled "Only show contacts with phone numbers". Which is pretty nice. The Moto G has no such option and it displays every Google contact ever. I do not like that. The list gets a bit long.
  • It's pretty nice to have more than one app installed at a time.
  • I probably don't need to worry about it freezing or hanging for several minutes every time I try to do anything, including nothing.
Conclusion: I like it. It's affordable and good. I'm happy with it.
Archie8 years ago2015-09-18 22:12:38 UTC 11 comments
XXIV
Alabastor_Twob8 years ago2015-09-13 22:05:45 UTC 8 comments
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Instant Mix8 years ago2015-09-07 17:42:47 UTC 6 comments
Well, looks like I'm going to have to take a year out of uni for not passing a prerequisite course that's difficult as fuck, which means I'm going to be a year behind all of my mates, as well as having to work full time at this shitty chocolate shop.

Feel like shit
DiscoStu8 years ago2015-09-02 04:20:53 UTC 14 comments
//UPDATE1: Since I unexpectedly I can afford a tiny bit more if necessary, I've been looking a bit more. I've come across two models that are essentially the same, the only differences being a marginally bigger screen, more camera resolution (can't say I care about either) and a bigger battery (I do care about that though).

Does a 2600mAh battery vs. a 2000mAh battery seem worth a $75 difference? Because I'm thinking probably not and I'd rather find out if the bigger battery fits the smaller phone :P
I managed to scrounge up a few bucks from places I didn't know existed so I could get a long-needed phone upgrade* and now I must choose what to spend them on. From what I can afford, I'm between two models with very minor differences**.

Do I need to worry about 4G vs. dual-band wi-fi, or should I go for 4G without a second thought?

I don't care about the other differences, but I won't refuse an explanation if anyone feels I should know something I'm ignoring. Such as what's listed under Bluetooth or NFC***, which are things I'm intrigued about but I'll probably never need. I just want to future-proof it as much as I can so I can hold on to it long after most people change it. Because I'm poor and also because I'm lazy and I don't want to do this research too often.

*Current phone not only hangs, freezes and restarts, now it started to reject texts blaming lack of memory. Deleting all the old ones did nothing, so I can pretty much only receive calls.

**I know those sites might give incomplete or inaccurate information, but that seemed the most complete. I tried to double-check with the manuals, but they don't say anything at all about the specs. How silly is that?

***NFC intrigues me the most because the manuals don't even mention it. If I don't even know how to use it, how am I going to know if it's useful?
DiscoStu8 years ago2015-08-18 20:24:38 UTC 15 comments
I truly hope it's considering it failed because I didn't agree to it, and not that it's constantly trying without my permission and failing for other reasons.
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This appears to be happening since the day of the release. I like W7 and have no intentions of upgrading for now. STOP TRYING TO SHOVE IT DOWN MY THROAT.

The day W7 becomes W10 without asking me first, will be the day I turn to Debian and never look back.
Instant Mix8 years ago2015-08-16 11:30:07 UTC 5 comments
This is going to be my view for the next fornight!
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Lighting Op for Little Shop Of Horrors @ the Edinburgh Fringe; going to be good!
Jessie8 years ago2015-08-15 17:18:46 UTC 14 comments
Oh man, I forgot about these! (Ep1) (Ep2) (Ep3) (Ep4)

They were, and are, incredible. (Despite featuring a way-out-of-date me.)
Dr. Orange8 years ago2015-08-14 08:22:45 UTC 5 comments
I found an unused texture in the Half-Life 2 game files. Of course I did the one responsible thing to do:
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On the topic of map optimization:
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He's hungry:
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Then we have the obvious 'must have':
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Download the base image and make your own!

GIMP xcf

Photoshop psd
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Alabastor_Twob8 years ago2015-08-11 15:01:45 UTC 4 comments
Breaking news, I am in Lanzarote on holiday. It is warm and sunny, and there are penis bottle openers in every shop.
More on this story as it develops.
[Edit]
On the off chance that any TWHLers look this journal up in future before holidaying in Lanzarote, I would recommend Groucho Pub in Puerto del Carmen, if you happen to be staying nearby. It's a pleasant place to spend an evening, and the music is good.
Dr. Orange8 years ago2015-08-11 14:00:17 UTC 1 comment
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I sincerely hope this is a scam.
Jessie8 years ago2015-08-06 07:40:21 UTC 6 comments
I noticed this thread again. I don't think I ever got around to making any of my own at the time, so I thought I'd go ahead and do a couple now. (Didn't want to reanimate the thread, either, hence the journal.)

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I really need a bigger font selection.