The Grax Domain

25 Feb 2007 YEAAAHH!!

YEAH!!! YEEAAAH! YEAAAH!!

YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!!!

YEEEAAHHH!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

..... yeah!

16 Feb 2007 Birthday note/I.O.U.

I've written a note. If you can't read the image below then click here to see a larger version.

14 Feb 2007 Bad Anger Managment Technique

Who wants some bad advice on controlling ones anger?

Here's an example on a possible scenario.

Lets say you had a discussion with somebody and they ended it on a bad note, something that you don't like. Then they happen to walk away before you get to blow you top. Or perhaps you go away for a bit, think about what has transpired and it gets you all steamed up.

Now you could go back to that said person and unleash hell upon them, effing and blinding and whatnot. But it might not be a good idea to do so as doing so would, for example, ruin your chances for a promotion, get you fired or cost you the one thing you want most in life.

So rather than doing the act of blowing up, why not try thinking about it? Use the power of your imagination.

Find a nice quiet, relaxing place (like in a hot bath) replay the instance in your mind to remind yourself of what made you so mad. Then imagine what you would do next. This is your safe-zone so you can do anything you like. You could try talking calmly, you could see what it's like to completely lose your cool and really let them have it? Say what's on your mind, raise your voice, see their reaction. What to get a little bit rough in your imaginary world, give it a try. Feels good doesn't it? Almost exciting isn't it?

And because you've played out the scene in your head it can help calm you down a lot, thus you don't feel nearly the same level of hate towards that said person you can carry on with your day quite happily with no ill will. And becuase you kept your mouth shut then whatever was originally pissing you off will probably blow over and work itself out and status quo is restored. All because you kept your mouth shut. Brilliant.

Course the disadvantage of this imagining your anger is that you can only imagine the scenario in the way that you want to be. The person on the other end will not react in a way that they would actually react in real life, so basically it's all a lie. Another word of warning is that you act violently in your imagination then please do not act this way in real life when you are having a conversation. It'll only end in tears.

This concludes some bad advice on controlling ones anger.

If you want some good advice on controlling ones anger, then try talking and sharing your problems with your friends. Chances are they'll tell you what you need to know.

11 Feb 2007 Labtec Ultra Flat Wireless Desktop review

My computer desk is a mess. There's klutter all over the place, blocking access to my keyboard and mouse. So naturally the perfect solution would be for me to get a wireless keyboard and mouse bundle. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it (an £80 bundle would be silly) so I settled for a Labtec Ultra Flat Wireless Desktop after being drawn to it's slim design and not-too-much-not-too-little price tag.

*sigh* Keyboards and mice should not be this much hassle...

I unpacked the kit, looked at the instructions, plugged in the USB wireless receiver, got the keyboard and mouse connected and everything seemed to be working fine. Thumbs up. I then proceed to install the bloatware on the CD that is provided, after all I figured that's where the hotkey magic comes from and I wanted to encourage my laziness with hotkeys. However trouble struck after I restarted my computer.

The keyboard was working happily, but the mouse would keep cutting out. I'm not talking just a lack of signal, I'm talking the mouse would just loose power and die despite the fresh batteries inside its belly. Pull the batteries out, plug them back in, the mouse works ok for about 5 minutes then dies again. Repeat again and again. I tried uninstalling the bloatware, the drivers for the keyboard and mouse, restarting the computer over and over again, swearing, nothing was working. I must have gotten a dud set.

So I return to where I got the set from and asked for a replacement. After returning home and unpacking everything and plugging everything again I try to connect the mouse. And glory-be it works! It didn't die unexpectedly. Great, now lets get the keyboard working. That should be ok.

Oh no it wasn't...

This new keyboard was very unresponsive, it only registered a key being pressed after the fourth or fifth frustrating attempt. And now it had affect the mouse so that the pointer was jerking all over rather than gliding across the screen. By this point I'd had enough.

I was drawn to the though of having the freedom to browse the Internet from the comforts of my bed. I loved the slim, laptop-esque design with the handy hotkeys. I could quite happily ignore the slight pause from the mouse as you moved it from its idle mode. I really wanted this to work.

I am very unimpressed with this shoddy attempt at wireless keyboard and mouse technology. I returned it from whence it came and got my money back. I shall search through the internet for this product and add a negative review to the small but significant pile of negative reviews as a warning. Oh why didn't I heed their warnings? And finally I shall end this review with a bad mark for the Labtec Ultra Flat Wireless Desktop set. Shame on you Labtec. You make such adequate speakers, why did you go and ruin my experience with wireless desktops?

GRAX RATING: 0/5

One last note; you don't want to be using a wireless keyboard if you play games like FPS. The slight pause with the mouse and keyboard every time you leave them idle will ruin your game. Stick to the wired sets.

7 Feb 2007 Bigger than Cheese: saying what we're all thinking

One of the things that bothered me about Star Wars episode 3 was the ending and Padme's end. Turns out this web comic knows where I'm coming from.

I also got really annoyed in Spider-Man 2 how Peter Parker seemed to be revealing his secret identity to anyone who happened to be around. Bigger than Cheese must have felt the same way too.

I didn't think this about The Matrix Revolutions thought.