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monster_urby
Track No. 4
I just want to point out that although it wasn't Half-Life 3, Half-Life: Alyx released in 2020, only two years prior to my outlandish estimation.
If you're travelling from Southampton to Bath, best go by road.
Yeah, I guess I kinda work for 3DRealms now?
Still very much early days but yeah. I was approached by the Vice President of Slipgate Ironworks/3DRealms and offered a level designer position on their unannounced FPS. Had a quick interview with the lead devs and... yeah, a week later was told I was in. Waiting on my first tasks now.
I'm also working as a level designer on Core Decay, which I can talk about a little at least because it was announced already.Been working on that since last weekend and getting some good feedback from the project lead...
It's all a bit surreal.
Still very much early days but yeah. I was approached by the Vice President of Slipgate Ironworks/3DRealms and offered a level designer position on their unannounced FPS. Had a quick interview with the lead devs and... yeah, a week later was told I was in. Waiting on my first tasks now.
I'm also working as a level designer on Core Decay, which I can talk about a little at least because it was announced already.Been working on that since last weekend and getting some good feedback from the project lead...
It's all a bit surreal.
I dunno about you folks, but personally I take my mediocre 2002 Vin Diesel action movies intravenously.
Pornography with three eyes.
19/10/19 EDIT: Thanks all! Penguinboy was the only one to put way too much thought into this
No but really it's:
Pornography = XXX
with three eyes = III
XXXIII = 33 in Roman numerals
19/10/19 EDIT: Thanks all! Penguinboy was the only one to put way too much thought into this
No but really it's:
Pornography = XXX
with three eyes = III
XXXIII = 33 in Roman numerals
Some of you might recall me yammering on just over four years ago about having a daughter or whatever. My little princess, Ivory-Rose.
Ivory is now four years and three months old and should be starting primary school in September. However, it now seems as though that is not going to happen. Instead, she will need to stay at home most days, and attend primary school only in the afternoons. Why?
For about a year now we've been unable to get Ivory to speak. She can count, spell, sing along to music, repeat what you say and will happily respond to questions. However she wont start or hold a conversation. She cannot sit and watch a video or a movie because she cannot understand the point of it.
After battling with the NHS to get her in to see the right people over the course of that year, we now finally have her official diagnosis. She's on the Autism Spectrum. Exactly where we do not know, and we have a load of new assessments coming up before she should be starting at school, but currently we've been advised that her speech and communication remains at the level of an 18 month old.
This is of course very upsetting to both me and her mother, but not because of the diagnosis. That came to us with some degree of relief. We're upset because it now means Ivory-Rose will grow up in a world where she will be considered a lesser person, because of something that she has absolutely no control over.
She isn't broken. She isn't worth less than anyone else. She's a human being.
TWHL is the best community I've experienced online, which is why I feel I can post this journal with no apprehension. I don't need to tell any of you this, but keep being good people. Stand up for those who need help and above all, be patient.
Urby.
Update 11/07/19
Her position within the autistic spectrum has been described as spiky. She appears to have strengths and weaknesses within every aspect. Her motor skills are top notch, while her fine motor skills are quite far behind. So she can run around, climb, jump, kick a ball and so on, but cannot hold a pen correctly or draw a shape. This also makes Makaton quite difficult for her which is unfortunate given her speech and language delay.
Her S&L delay which is affecting her communication is actually being considered an entirely separate matter at this point. However, vice versa, her autism is affecting this in other ways. Apparently, when a child has a speech and language delay, they fall back on their motor skills and communicate via gestures. Ivory cannot do this because she lacks the context behind what she is trying to say.
It's a wonderful double edged sword... In spite of this however, Ivory has been approved to go to the school of our chosing, with additional funding for one on one support. She will be going for the morning session every day which is three hours of a more structured, learning environment. The educational psychologist is confident that she can start going full time as soon as the new year, depending on her next few evaluations.
We're at the beginning of a very long journey with this. Thanks for listening.
For about a year now we've been unable to get Ivory to speak. She can count, spell, sing along to music, repeat what you say and will happily respond to questions. However she wont start or hold a conversation. She cannot sit and watch a video or a movie because she cannot understand the point of it.
After battling with the NHS to get her in to see the right people over the course of that year, we now finally have her official diagnosis. She's on the Autism Spectrum. Exactly where we do not know, and we have a load of new assessments coming up before she should be starting at school, but currently we've been advised that her speech and communication remains at the level of an 18 month old.
This is of course very upsetting to both me and her mother, but not because of the diagnosis. That came to us with some degree of relief. We're upset because it now means Ivory-Rose will grow up in a world where she will be considered a lesser person, because of something that she has absolutely no control over.
She isn't broken. She isn't worth less than anyone else. She's a human being.
TWHL is the best community I've experienced online, which is why I feel I can post this journal with no apprehension. I don't need to tell any of you this, but keep being good people. Stand up for those who need help and above all, be patient.
Urby.
Update 11/07/19
Her position within the autistic spectrum has been described as spiky. She appears to have strengths and weaknesses within every aspect. Her motor skills are top notch, while her fine motor skills are quite far behind. So she can run around, climb, jump, kick a ball and so on, but cannot hold a pen correctly or draw a shape. This also makes Makaton quite difficult for her which is unfortunate given her speech and language delay.
Her S&L delay which is affecting her communication is actually being considered an entirely separate matter at this point. However, vice versa, her autism is affecting this in other ways. Apparently, when a child has a speech and language delay, they fall back on their motor skills and communicate via gestures. Ivory cannot do this because she lacks the context behind what she is trying to say.
It's a wonderful double edged sword... In spite of this however, Ivory has been approved to go to the school of our chosing, with additional funding for one on one support. She will be going for the morning session every day which is three hours of a more structured, learning environment. The educational psychologist is confident that she can start going full time as soon as the new year, depending on her next few evaluations.
We're at the beginning of a very long journey with this. Thanks for listening.
First of all... Some of you might have seen me banging on about this via social media already, so I apologise. It's not very often I feel really quite proud of myself, but that's the situation right now.
After over a month of studying, I took my Magento 2 Frontend examination yesterday afternoon. Two hours later, I had passed.
I am now officially a Magento 2 Certified Professional Frontend Developer. My name is listed alongside a number of other people who claim they know what they're doing.
Magento Certification Directory
I will be taking a couple of other exams in the coming months to bulk up the profile a little, but this is a positive first step to being somewhat officially qualified. Haha
After over a month of studying, I took my Magento 2 Frontend examination yesterday afternoon. Two hours later, I had passed.
I am now officially a Magento 2 Certified Professional Frontend Developer. My name is listed alongside a number of other people who claim they know what they're doing.
Magento Certification Directory
I will be taking a couple of other exams in the coming months to bulk up the profile a little, but this is a positive first step to being somewhat officially qualified. Haha
Alright. Enough with this Christmas shit! Get rid of them or suffer 12 months of bad luck or something... and bad hat hair! That's bound to happen if you're wearing a hat all year round.
It is time. Get some Christmas all up in your avatars.
The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything... minus ten
I remember once, when I was young, my Grandfather was telling me stories about the war. He told me one story that always stuck with me.
One day, in the midst of the European invasion, he had leapt into a Spitfire and flown over enemy lines. He had then jumped out of his plane and parachuted down to a flag held by the Germans. He took out the four man squad single handed and then defended the flag is it gradually crept down the flagpole, turned into a British Union Jack and then started to climb slowly back up.
Unfortunately, he was then shot and killed by a German sniper who had run up to him, jumped into the air, span around and shot him without looking down his scope.
When my Grandfather respawned, he was surprised to find that he was now figthing for the Germans, as the battle had been pretty unbalanced up to that point. He leapt into a German Tiger tank and got back into the fray.
I'm sure by this point you have figured out that this is not a true story. However, a couple of days ago, EA and DICE released the Battlefield V trailer. The trailer features, most notably, a British female soldier, with a prosthetic arm, fighting on the front lines. Naturally, everyone reacted to this in a perfectly reasonable and level headed manner.
DID THEY BOLLOCKS!
The amount of bile I have seen surrounding the content of the trailer almost makes me ashamed to be a gamer... Countless people have slated the footage for not being historically accurate, which is what the Battlefield franchise is known for (There is a game in the series that includes bipedal robo tanks... but let's gloss over that for now)
There are literally zero videogames that offer an authentic World War One/Two experience because it would be fucking MISERABLE. But the idea that including female soldiers with prosthetic limbs fighting on the front lines is offensive and disrespectful is a fucking joke! It's a VIDEOGAME for fuck's sake, not a DOCUMENTARY! It's supposed to be entertaining! Not historically accurate.
One day, in the midst of the European invasion, he had leapt into a Spitfire and flown over enemy lines. He had then jumped out of his plane and parachuted down to a flag held by the Germans. He took out the four man squad single handed and then defended the flag is it gradually crept down the flagpole, turned into a British Union Jack and then started to climb slowly back up.
Unfortunately, he was then shot and killed by a German sniper who had run up to him, jumped into the air, span around and shot him without looking down his scope.
When my Grandfather respawned, he was surprised to find that he was now figthing for the Germans, as the battle had been pretty unbalanced up to that point. He leapt into a German Tiger tank and got back into the fray.
I'm sure by this point you have figured out that this is not a true story. However, a couple of days ago, EA and DICE released the Battlefield V trailer. The trailer features, most notably, a British female soldier, with a prosthetic arm, fighting on the front lines. Naturally, everyone reacted to this in a perfectly reasonable and level headed manner.
DID THEY BOLLOCKS!
The amount of bile I have seen surrounding the content of the trailer almost makes me ashamed to be a gamer... Countless people have slated the footage for not being historically accurate, which is what the Battlefield franchise is known for (There is a game in the series that includes bipedal robo tanks... but let's gloss over that for now)
There are literally zero videogames that offer an authentic World War One/Two experience because it would be fucking MISERABLE. But the idea that including female soldiers with prosthetic limbs fighting on the front lines is offensive and disrespectful is a fucking joke! It's a VIDEOGAME for fuck's sake, not a DOCUMENTARY! It's supposed to be entertaining! Not historically accurate.
- - - - -
Got myself a new motor! My trusty old Kia Rio from 2009 packed up and I've been using my wife's car for three months. Not great. Ordered a new one in February, but was told the second week of May would likely be the earliest I would get it.
Welp, the second week of May has arrived, and so has my new Kia Rio 2018. The difference is pretty incredible. Central locking, electric windows, bluetooth connection for my phone. I know none of this is particularly impressive by today's standards, but consider that this is moving over from a car that had wind-down windows and no air-con.
Yeah, pretty happy bunny today.