London Meetup - A Retrospective
By Johan | June 29, 2008
All I’m going to say is WOW. That was a fantastic two days, for several reasons. The first reason is the obvious one, it being a trip to London, and that is being away from the hell that is parents for a whole 2 days. The second is meeting some awesome people, them people being (in no order whatsoever) Willow Caldera, Rik/Osiris Pfalz (Loaf), Roxette Wise, Nik Butler (Loudmouthman) and Danie Ware (Danacea).
Unfortunately Danie could only make it for a short amount of time, which was at the Founders’ Arms in Southwark. Convenient for me because it is near a Tube station (but where in Central London isn’t?) and convenient for Danie since it is literally 2 minutes away from her place of work. I was the first to arrive, shortly followed by Loaf and Roxette (who arrived 2 or 3 minutes after me despite me having a 30 minute head start on them β says a lot for my navigational skills!) Loudmouthman was the last to arrive, and a couple of minutes later Danacea had to leave. Since she was only there for a short period I did not manage to get a photo β which I rather regret now!
From the Founders’ Arms we wandered across to Leicester Square to meet Willow. This provided ample opportunity for photos and I jumped at the chance. During taking Nik’s photo I also appear to have snapped a hen party with some strange looking nuns…
We all agreed that sourcing food was the best course of action, so we headed into the Wagamama’s that was conveniently placed a couple of minutes walk away. I had a chicken curry (which never disappoints) and an absolutely gorgeous cheesecake. One I would recommend time and again, and I’m sure Willow would agree with me on that. She had the same and seemed to share my opinion on it.
After food we headed into the Oxygen bar. I was worried about not having any ID on me, however these fears were short-lived as I got in no issue. The fact I was wearing a shirt and tie must have helped. Despite my oath not to drink there Loaf tempted me with a Bacardi and Coke, which the barmaid nicely turned into a double. It went down well though, me being an eternal fan of Bacardi.
We all packed in at about 11:25 and wandered our way to the nearest Tube station. I needed to go to Aldgate East, which was reasonably simple to get to. The worry I had was getting to the Travelodge. I had the address but the GPS in my phone didn’t seem to want to get a lock. I ended up wandering, finding the wrong Travelodge once, before turning round, looking more carefully and working my way to the right place. To be honest I needed the exercise, and the walk around London got me more prepared for today’s antics.
Unfortunately I had a lack of sleep due to air conditioning failure, but this didn’t stop me making the most of the day yesterday. I was supposed to meet another SLer, Loolabel Encore. Unfortunately she was ill, so that meeting fell apart. I didn’t have an alternative planned so I did the first thing I could think of and got a ticket to see Iron Man. If you have not seen that film then you have to get to a cinema now and see it. It is totally awesome. Full of surprises and some fantastic special effects make it a rollercoaster ride from the opening credits.
All in all an excellent couple of days. Something I want to do again, ideally as soon as possible. I’m in London in August β anyone interested in a meetup then?
PS β Just as an aside, I have deleted my Twitter account and moved to Plurk. Feel free to add me as a friend here
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More Info Re. London, June 27th/28th
By Johan | June 22, 2008
Just a quick update before I go to bed. I went to Manchester yesterday to meet Roxette Wise, who is rather a rather amazing friend that I met in Second Life (no damn trademark symbol, live with it LL). We went shopping for purple stuff that I can wear to the meetup. The trip was a success, as I managed to get a coat, shirt and tie that all feature the magnificence that is purpleness. I will therefore be wearing purple on the 27th, when we have the meetup. Something to identify me by, I reckon 
In other news (still related) I’ve arranged to meet another SL friend (no blog/site link for this one) on the Saturday. If you want to meet me then it’s looking like the morning is the only real slot available now, since the train I need to get back on is at 16:25. Either DM me on Twitter (@ThePurpleOne) or send me an email (details on the Contact Johan page) if you’re interested at all.
Also (unrelated to London) my dad returned from a weekend at Blackpool tonight with a rather drunken idea of the world. After telling him I didn’t want a chinese (I was stuffed from the earlier Subway sandwich I had) he proceeded to tell me that he was off back to Blackpool for a week commencing tomorrow. Yeah, like that’ll happen, he has no money left!
One more thing (and no, I’m not Steve Jobs in disguise). If anyone has any idea on how I can take a mental holiday without giving up on work then I’m all too willing to listen. Over the past few weeks my mental state has been gradually eroded until now, where I’m getting quite close to rock bottom. Help needed before it gets worse.
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Johan -> London Mk. 2: June 27th
By Johan | June 12, 2008
Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s off to London I go! Second time in a month, this time for a little meetup that Loaf has arranged. Will be arriving at Kings Crossat just gone 4PM on the 27th June and will have some time on the 28th (train back leaves at half past 4-ish) to meet up with people. Let me know if you’re interested 
PS: This time I’ll have power sockets to keep phone/laptop charged up. Where I cannot find WiFi I shall keep my phone tetherd to PC for internets. I’ll be in plenty of contact
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Johan –> London, May 31st.
By Johan | May 28, 2008
I’ve announced it on Twitter previously, but I’ll announce it here too: I’m heading down to London this Saturday. Anybody that is in the area, feel free to meet me, I’ll be at the Forbidden Planet Megastore from about 10:30 till lunchtime, then will head round museums etc. If anybody fancies meeting me in RL, comment here. If anybody has any ideas on what to do in the afternoon, let me know also
PS: I’ll have a little tag made up before the weekend to identify me. Will likely be just something small like a purple label, but it’ll have something to do with me
Topics: First Life | 1 Comment »
Book Meme
By Johan | May 4, 2008
Right, been tagged by a couple of people over the past couple of months to do this meme, so here I go. The rules are as follows:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
The nearest book of 123 pages or more is Scott Mueller’s Upgrading and Reparing PCs, 17th Edition (Yeah right, as if I need that). Here we are then:
After the fourth-generation chips such as the 486, Intel and other chip manufacturers went back to the drawing bord to come up with new architectures and features that they would later incorporate into what they called fifth-generation chips. This section defines the fifth-generation processors from Intel, AMD and others.
On October 19, 1992, Intel announced that the fifth generation of its compatible microprocessor line (codenamed P5) would be named the Pentium processor rather than the 586, as everybody had assumed.
As for tagging, not a chance. Everyone I know has already done it xD
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Microsoft 0 - Yahoo 1 - Google 20?
By Johan | May 4, 2008
So it appears as though Microsoft has decided to pull its offer to buy Yahoo after all, and not go through with the threat of a hostile takeover that it appears to have made in its previous letter to the company. While this is good news for Yahoo themselves (since they’re not owned by the monopolising monster that is Microsoft) it is even better news for their greatest rivals in the Internet search engine and advertising markets: Google.
Google have, for the most part, stayed quiet during this whole affair, only signing one cooperation deal with Yahoo (and a temporary one at that) but their market position is so strong at the moment that they don’t need to worry about either Yahoo or Microsoft as individual companies. A combined company would pose much more trouble, as a bigger entity can drive more business away from Google. The fact that Microsoft has pulled out is only a good thing for Google.
The reasoning for the pullout that has been given is that Yahoo were demanding too much for the business. Whether that is true or not the amounts of money that would have changed hands is huge - I think even Microsoft would have been put into debt over it. So Yahoo have done the right thing - they’re keeping their business. However the real winner is Google, which keeps its dominant position in the market. So it’s Microsoft 0 - Yahoo 1 - Google 20.
Topics: First Life | 1 Comment »
I Now Know What To Do…
By Johan | April 28, 2008
And it’s something I never thought I’d want to do. I’m applying to go to University. Foundation year first, of course, since I’d never get into a full degree course with my (rather abysmal) A Level results. I have a course in mind - I’m going totry and do Computer Science at one of 3 universities - Hull, Huddersfield or Newcastle. All three offer a foundation year, and I have friends near all three locations.
Two things are still nibbling away at my mind about it though. One is the original issue of debt. I don’t want it, but it has become apparent that I’m not going to get myself where I want to be in my life without getting a degree, and debt is a natural consequence of this. The second is whether I will actually get in. I’ll most likely need togo through clearing, and from what I’ve heard it’s not too nice. That’ll be later though.
So think of the year I’m missing to do other stuff as being a sort of gap year. Fine, I’ve not travelled the world or anything, but it’s getting me work experience, some money and the realisation that what I’m really after in terms of work is not what I have now. Roll on September. That’s all i have to say.
Topics: First Life | 5 Comments »
And What Now…?
By Johan | March 30, 2008
Okay, so I found a job and the first week went reasonably well. The pay isn’t amazing but it’s better than what I was on, with a possible increase in 6 months if I stick it out. But where does this leave my RL? What am I going to do from here? My current plans are in no way set in stone and probably never will be until the day they get put into action, so a lot of things in my RL I just have no idea about at all. It’s a pickle that I won’t know the answer to until I get there and I don’t foresee me getting there for a long time. The main thing is that I live ach day as it comes, taking things as they come and being there for those that matter the most.
The road ahead is going to be the most challenging time of my life in more ways than one. I just hope I’m up to it.
Topics: First Life, Second Life | 1 Comment »
Second Life Trademark Non-Compliance Statement
By Johan | March 27, 2008
Infringement of any copyrighted works on this blog is intentional and may bear full resemblance to trademarks, real and fictional people. Any likeness to real or fictional characters or trademarks is fully intentional and wanted. Live with it, Linden Lab, live with it.
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A Warning To ALL Job Hunters
By Johan | March 17, 2008
I had an interview at either side of this weekend, both with marketing companies. One went by the name of ETM Marketing, the other went by the name of Centurion Marketing. Both were based in Leeds City Centre, so not exactly the cheapest place to have a business. In the first interview I was interviewed by the “training supervisor” and in the other I was interviewed by the man that supposedly owns the business. 2 words in both of these interviews were what made me place this post up: Cobra Group.
Cobra Group advertise themselves as the largest direct sales and marketing company in the world and was started by Chris Niarchos in Australia. They have clients ranging from utility companies to credit card companies. This is where the good stuff ends. Their tactics employ the principle that the more people that are contacted, the more likely sales will be. They use door-to-door selling and “event marketing” to generate sales, as well as business-to-business relations. This is all well and good, but the main issue is that they employ people not to work for them, but to work self-employed on a commission-only basis. You are therefore basing your entire earnings on generating sales, which for people that make hundreds of sales is good, but for the *vast majority* of people it means they will be earning a pittance, with little chance of getting out of it.
The Daily Mirror in the UK investigated them and I have seen stories all over the internet about them. They’re bad news for anyone that wants to earn a decent, honest wage.
So my message is this: If you hear the words “Cobra Group” in an interview GET OUT! Both companies want me in for taster days tomorrow and Wednesday. I won’t be going. Take my advice and make sure you don’t get stuck in the trap.
Topics: First Life | 3 Comments »