TheFlyingGerbil

It's only a guess but I'd have thought with the WiiU coming out this year they won't release a redesigned 3DS as well, but you never know with NIntendo. I would say the battery is definitely pretty rubbish on the current one, you really need to have the cradle set up and leave it in there or you'll find it's dead when you come to play it. Maybe you could use your PSP as an emulator for older Nintendo games until the redesigned 3DS comes out?

I use bouillon cubes to refer to the yellow coloured ones to make stock (for soup etc) and stock/oxo cubes for the brown coloured ones used to make gravy. I've definitely seen some of them called bouillon cubes in the shops here too so I don't think it's completely clear cut.

I've just finished the third silent realm and have played about 40hrs so far. Which bits do you think are padding? I haven't felt that way about any of the thing I've had to do, in fact it doesn't feel like there has been that much I've had to do and what I have seems well built into the story, rather than breaking the flow of the story until it's done. And, yeah that pumpkin patch harp gig was pretty harsh, because it isn't (as far as I can tell) a predictable pattern, though I did find it easier to follow the guy on the left. The time I managed to complete it I didn't really feel I did any better than the times I failed and the singer wasn't that impressed either! I'll have to give it another try an see if there is a knack to it.

See, I think you have the 'correct' pronunciations but mostly in this country (or at least around here) the wrong versions are used and it is only relatively recently that the correct pronunciations have been introduced (last decade or a bit more?) but because of their late arrival the correct versions seem wrong.

While we're on the subject of brands, how do you guys say Nike and Porsche? "nye-key" or nyk. "poor-shuh" or poorsh.

Scotland has more devolved powers than Wales, but isn't more it's own country than Wales is. They are both 'proper' countries, whatever that may mean. The commonly held myth about Wales being a principality and not a proper country is not true.

I think a lot of people (especially the English) would be surprised by the amount of hatred and resentment many Scots feel toward England. E.g. if England play Germany at football, there will be a lot more Germany fans than England one north of the border. At the moment you can move freely about the nations, you wouldn't be emigrating if you moved to Scotland and wouldn't need permission - they could introduce immigration quotas but I don't believe they could apply to English or Welsh people as we would all be EU members, but it would still require paperwork which it doesn't now. I can't imagine anyone going over to the Euro at the moment. That would be seriously bonkers and it would be unlikely to go to the trouble of creating an entirely new currency. My guess is they would keep the pound with an eye to moving over to the Euro when it is more stable. The biggest thing I would worry about is the North Sea Gas and Oil. I would hope that would not go entirely to Scotland, but other than that I would be happy for them to go. I have a feeling that be careful for what you wish for would be an appropriate phrase for them were it to go ahead. It is such a small country, I don't think they realise how insignificant they would be and don't appreciate what they get from being part of a bigger political power. I certainly hope Wales never fully devolves.

Whenever I've bought the cheaper version of something (even if it does everything I need and more) I always regret it eventually, wishing I'd bought the better version and it sours my enjoyment of the one I did get. But if I buy the version with all the bells and whistles I pretty much forget about the extra money I spent the second I step out of the shop. It's like with my PSP, I saw it new really cheap and even though I knew I wouldn't really use it (and I don't) I knew if I didn't buy it I would regret it. So I'm happier with it sitting there gathering dust than I would have been with the money in my pocket so I know the £230 would be a bigger waste of money than £280. The extra £50 buys me piece of mind and that's priceless . I guess I have unhealthy shopping habits.

when I get it I will have to get the 3G version, even though the first thing I will do is turn the data connection off. I do think I will be better at waiting for the Vita than I was with the 3DS though. I only managed a month with that.

What do Americans use for the different eras of your history? Ours are generally related to the monarchy, usually the king/queen of the time. Table courtesy of Wikipedia (where else?) Anglo-Saxon period (927–1066) Norman period (1066–1154) Plantagenet period (1154–1485) Tudor period (1485–1603) Elizabethan era (1558–1603) Stuart period (1485–1714) Jacobean era (1603–1660) Caroline era (1625–1649) The Interregnum (1649–1660) Restoration era (1660–1800) Georgian era (1714–1830) Victorian era (1837–1901) Edwardian era (1901–1910) World War I (1914–1918) Interwar Period (1918–1939) World War II (1939–1945) Modern Britain (1945–Present)

I hated ecclestone's portrayal, as he seemed to be embarrassed to be playing the Doctor, so I personally wouldn't start there as it may put you off. Although I dont; think everyone disliked him as I did I think most people would say he is the least favourite of the new ones. I'd probably go Matt, then if you want more go back to ecclestone and then tennant so you have a good bad good sandwich.

Wouldn't it end by Link and Zelda finally sealing/destroying Ganon permanently? I think Ganon knows he keeps coming back but I don't think the other two do? So it would be quite cool if just before his end he said something like 'you've doomed yourselves too. mwahaha...' Even then though, that wouldn't necessarily mean the end of the series as the games don't follow on chronologically. Plus we still haven't had anythjing set in the great war or whatever it's called - the one referenced at the start of skyward sword.

Is there a reason for pre-ordering? It's unlikely to sell out and if Japan is anything to go by there will be price cuts soon after release.

I just hope they lose the failure tag as I think the stench of failure just makes consumers and developers less confident in a product even if the reality is that it is doing well.

Interesting The Grauniad is so much higher up the list than the Observer as they're sister papers. No surprise about the BBC though. I hope they don't mess about with its budget too much. Also surprised the ITV news is ahead of Channel 4 as it is a lot more sensationalist which I cant help but think makes it seem less trustworthy. I think of it as the Daily Mail of TV news. I'll seriously stockpile tablets for when I get old/terminally ill if they don't have anything in place by the time the inevitable comes around.

Made some shortbread today which is my very favourite biscuit. Half with chocolate chips and half without. Had a warm one while it was still soft and another after it had cooled and gone crumbly. Both gorgeous even if I do say so myself.

iTampon:

that suits me fine! I just might be able to complete it

Well, I just tried out the best ever way to make cheese sauce, AND IT IS LIFE CHANGING. but I guess that isn't healthy. How does everyone else make cheese sauce? I have the tastiest soup recipe ever, which I will post tomorrow.

Finally got Kirby's Epic Yarn.

I watched Heartbeats today - I liked it better than his (xavier dolan) first film 'I killed my mother' which I think I probably put in the OK thread. I loved the music on it. It's about a male and female best friend who both befriend and become obsessed with the same man. The style was much less wearing than the first one, but I would say French Canadian is still very french style wise.

@MasterDex: Yes, there do need to be more gay characters in video games, but: me: And I hope I don't need to point out (at least on this forum, though I'm sure I would elsewhere) that the win state is not a world full of muscle march or even a gay character in every game. It's just to have the world that we escape to to include a few of the more bits of the world we're escaping from. I don't want gay smooshed into every game. Even in most games. But that the ratio of gay characters to straight characters is way off whack to the real world. I don't want game designers to feel compelled to put gay characters in. What I (optimistically/naively) want is for the game designers to want to put gay characters in. If they want to create the best game they can they should be thinking about things like this. With regard to your novel. It really depends on what you were writing, but If you were writing a novel with a large cast and you were trying to write a convincing portrayal of modern life then you should be thinking about putting a diverse cast of characters in yourself from the outset. It's just lazy to not think about anything outside your own sphere of experience and would make for a very poor novel. You may as well just set up a twitter account. With regards to the complaints you would receive I guess that depends on whether you are driven by artist intent or money. Obviously video game companies are driven by money but I would like to think that a bit of social responsibility could be thrown in to the mix, in the same way environment and local communities are looked after in megacorps corporate responsibility initiatives that cost them money, why can't publishers do a bit of the same instead of spending extra money they could take a risk that including a diverse cast may impact sales. They don't have to do it with AAA titles, but maybe in download games or DLC These people are coming up with entire new world with poilitical systems so complicated they make ours look like a rock paper scissors decision making process, and yet it cannot occur to them that everything that exists in this massive world they have created is not straight and male, or big breasted and slutty. I guess the main difference is if you are discussing reality or what you would like to be true. I'd like game designers to want to put gay characters in to make their games better and to make the world better. I know they put whatever the hell they think sells in there.

Maybe by having more gay representation in the media we wouldn't live in a society were having a gay person in a game would piss people off and tank it's sales?