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Random Thought: Are James Bond and Batman Timelords?

Had some time last year and an though hit me “Are James Bond and Batman timelords?”

I am probably not the first person to have thought of this but bear with me on this one.

So Doctor Who has been running since 1963, the premise is of a Timelord who travels around in their Tardis (effectively a time machine that looks like a police box). The ingenious element of the show is when the first actor William Hartnell left the show they regenerated (Replaced) him with a new actor Patrick Troughton.

This process has been pretty much being happening now for the last 50+ years for this show.

The list of all of the Doctors:

First Doctor: William Hartnell (1963–1966)

Second Doctor: Patrick Troughton (1966–1969)

Third Doctor: Jon Pertwee (1970–1974).

Fourth Doctor: Tom Baker (1974–1981)

Fifth Doctor: Peter Davison (1981–1984

Sixth Doctor: Colin Baker (1984–1986).

Seventh Doctor: Sylvester McCoy (1987–1989, 1996)

Eighth Doctor: Paul McGann (1996, 2013)

The War Doctor: John Hurt (50th anniversary episode)

Ninth Doctor: Christopher Eccleston (2005)

Tenth Doctor: David Tennant (2005–2010)

Eleventh Doctor: Matt Smith (2010–2013)

Twelfth Doctor: Peter Capaldi (2013-2017)

Thirteenth Doctor: Jodie Whittaker (2017-present)

Now lets look a James Bond and Batman, both are long running shows that have had different actors play the role but this doesnt seem strange to the recurring characters around them.

Batman incarnations:

James Bond incarnations:

I would go even further and say that other characters in these universes are also Time Lords eg All of the Batman Villains (Joker) Alfred, Commissioner Gordon in Batman and in James Bond M, Q and the villain’s as they also change actor without it seemingly causing any issues

The scenes we are are missing are the regeneration scenes where they change over to their new bodies, my theory is all of these Timelords fled Gallifrey to Earth and have been hiding here ever since.

Just my thoughts on this one, but it sort of makes sense.

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New vs New-Old

Like movie script writers, there seems to be a lot of game developers who have stalled on ideas for new stories and characters, and decided re-making their old games with newer technology is a good idea.

And in some cases, its a fantastic idea and works reasonably well.

However in other cases, the developers use the name and IP from the original game, but make it into something else… completely horrible (ok, I exaggerate, just my opinion on some releases).

One of these, titles was Syndicate.

On the Amiga (and eventually PC), it was a fantastic game – just everything about it was very well done and made the game very enjoyable.

In 2009, it was announced that a new Syndicate game was on its way.

Boy, did I get excited.

Then I read this :

however, it used a first-person shooter format, which differed significantly from the isometric real-time tactics format of the series’ original game

Oh.

It used the name, and some of the ideas etc but was not Syndicate to me.

I did buy it a while after its release, and while was a fun romp, just not Syndicate.

I wanted the original format of the original game – isometric, guiding your little team around these massive cities gunning down other Syndicates. But with newer graphics and sound. But LEAVE THE GAMEPLAY ALONE.

One of the original developers of the original game, did release a Syndicate type game, Satellite Reign, a few years ago and while did fit what I was looking for to a degree, it still was not quite there.

One game that was remade, and did it right, was the all time great, The Secret Of Monkey Island – Special Edition.

Graphics, sound etc updated. Fantastic. But overall gameplay was left as the original. AND you could even switch to the original graphics mode whenever you wanted for that nostalgia.

So developers, ask around before “remaking” a game – see if people want the same gameplay, or something else. I think you’ll be surprised how many will just want updated graphics and sound…

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League – My Thoughts

Justice League (2017) 2 hours – My Rating: 2/5

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) 4h 2min  – My Rating: 4/5

The original Justice League movie came out in 2017 and to put it mildly it was a hot mess, Zack Snyder was the original director but had to depart filming due personal reasons.

Joss Whedon took over directing, while this should have been a good thing the finished movie was giant mess (the behind the scenes sounded like it would make a good movie some day). It lacked heart and the story line sort of plodded along to a boring ending.

This all bought about a movement to see Zack Snyder’s version of the movie over the last couple of years, to be honest I never actually thought this would happen. This sort of thing pops all of the time with not much result.

But HBO Max in the US put the money forward to get this version made and released, you can read all of the details in the below Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zack_Snyder%27s_Justice_League

I have finally finished watching this new version of Justice League, it is just a tad over 4 hours long. I watched in blocks as I cannot these days dedicate a single 4 hour movie watching block.

The question I guess is “Is it better that the original Justice League?” the answer to that would be yes, yes it is but with a few caveats.

With the extra 2 hours of run time the story has more room to breathe and characters like Cyborg and The Flash get more expanded story lines. The bad guys plans also make more sense and are fleshed out.

This movie does have about 5 different endings to it, obviously trying to setup for sequels that now not going to happen, it was also filmed in ratio setup for IMAX when it was plainly obvious this version was never going to ever a see a movie complex.

I would recommend watching it as it is a good movie if not a bit long.

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Radio XPD is live!

Yup, I started a streaming “radio station”.

No, you won’t hear my amazing voice as a live DJ.

What you will hear is over 6 days (!!!!!) worth of Amiga related music streaming 24/7.

Modules, remixes, musicians, you name it, it’ll play.

Game themes, demo tracks, party entries and more.

AND NO ADS. (OK, theres 2 that play at random, just encouraging you to share this cool stream)

And we have the pleasure of including remix tracks DIRECT from the infamous d4xx (aka daxx) of Scoopex/The Ravebusters/TRSI.

Huge thanks to d4xx for this!

So get in there and enjoy!

Click here for the stream page

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Best New Movie of 2021 – Cosmic Sin

So just kidding with that above title this movie looks awful.

Starring Bruce Willis as James Ford and Frank Grillo as General Ryle.

This is another Bruce Willis pay check movie, just following a long line of straight to streaming classics he has now lately, but Frank Grillo deserves better than this.

On IMDB so far it has a Rating: 2.5/10 · ‎2,621 votes and on Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 5% .

Please see the synopsis below:
“In the year 2524, four centuries after humans started colonizing the outer planets, retired Gen. James Ford gets called back into service after a hostile alien fleet attacks soldiers on a remote planet. The threat against mankind soon escalates into an interstellar war as Ford and a team of elite soldiers try to stop the imminent attack before it’s too late.”

One of colleagues on Discord said:
“I watched most of it, please don’t make my mistake. It’s not good, its utter shite.”

I am almost tempted to watch it now, just to see how back it actually. If I do watch I will report back on this site.

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WATCH DOGS: LEGION ONLINE MODE NOW AVAILABLE

THE ONLINE MODE IS AVAILABLE TODAY ON CONSOLES AND STADIA AT NO ADDITIONAL COST. PC PLAYERS WILL GET ACCESS SOON

LONDON, UK – 9TH MARCH, 2021 – Today, Ubisoft announced that the online mode for Watch Dogs: Legion is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5 and Stadia at no additional cost for Watch Dogs: Legion players. The mode will also be coming shortly after on the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, and Ubisoft+*, Ubisoft’s subscription service.
 
The online mode of Watch Dogs: Legion includes:

  • Free-roam open-world co-op where players can team up with their friends for up to four-players and explore London, encounter city events, complete challenges and participate in side activities.
  • New co-op missions for two-to-four players using new co-op gameplay mechanics and giving players the opportunity to recruit the perfect team and fight back against London’s threats across the most iconic landmarks of the city.
  • The first available Player-vs-Player (PvP) mode, Spiderbot Arena, where four players control armed spiderbots and compete in a high intensity free-for-all deathmatch.

Two exclusive single-player missions for Season Pass owners are also available today:

  • Guardian Protocol: DedSec will track down an algorithm that shows that AI can sometimes override human decision. If this algorithm was to be used in weaponized drones… they would have power over life and death.
  • Not In Our Name: DedSec discovers a secret group using their name in London, working under the orders of a ruthless tabloid owner, who uses information stolen by this group to blackmail his notorious victims and gain power in the city.

 
On 23rd March, “Leader of the Pack,” the first four-player co-op Tactical Op which will require teamwork and efficiency will be available. More content will continue being added after launch through free updates, including Invasion PvP mode, all-new co-op missions, free characters and more.
 
In Watch Dogs: Legion, London is facing its downfall. Amidst the growing unrest of a restless London, an unknown entity named Zero-Day has framed secret underground resistance DedSec for coordinated bombings across London. In the aftermath, criminal opportunists from every corner of London took hold and filled the void left by a defeated government. As a member of DedSec, players will be going up against those criminal opportunists in Watch Dogs: Legion; sadists, mercenaries, cybercriminals, and more; they’ll have to be prepared for a variety of situations. Players must recruit members into their DedSec Resistance to take on these criminal opportunists, liberate London and uncover the identity of Zero-Day.
 
Watch Dogs: Legion has a variety of accessibility options, ranging from fully customisable controls to directional audio captions. A full list of accessibility options can be found on news.ubisoft.com.
 
For the latest news on Watch Dogs: Legion and all of Ubisoft’s games, please visit news.ubisoft.com.
For more information about Watch Dogs: Legion, please visit watchdogs.com, and join the conversation by using #watchdogslegion.
*£12.99 per month. Cancel anytime. The Ultimate Edition (Excluding VIP status) will be available as part of a Ubisoft+ subscription. More information at ubisoft-plus.com.

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GTA V : LSPDFR Installation for Epic Games

GTAV LSPDFR is a mod for GTAV that allows you to play as a San Andreas police official.

So you can chase down the crims instead of being one 🙂

Most the installation procedures online are for the Steam version of the game, and fail to run correctly for the Epic Games release.

So, I whipped up this guide which worked for me.

Obviously install GTA5 via Epic Games

Download LSPDFR

Download RageHook

Install LSPDFR – ensure it installs/extracts to your GTAV directory and NOT in a mods/LSPDFR/whateva directory.

ie: D:\Program Files\Epic Games\GTAV – Correct

D:\Program Files\Epic Games\GTAV\Mods\LSPDFR – Wrong

Install RageHook – this will look for your GTA directory, so ensure its located the correct directory.

Run GTAV from the Epic Games launcher, and once its started loading the game engine (usually once the Rockstar logo has appeared and sirens playing), Alt-TAB to Windows, and find the RAGEPluginHook.exe in your GTAV folder, and run it – it should now load and detect the game is already running.

Flick back to GTAV and you should see the Rage logo appear.

If you see this, you are pretty much done.

Running RageHook on its own, does try to load the game, but it gets confused as it tries to authenticate with the Rockstar Launcher rather than Epic Games, and will fail.

LSPDR is not compatible with GTAOnline, and if you try entering GTAOnline with RageHook running, you will get a warning message.

To get back into GTAOnline, you will need to exit/kill the Ragehook process.

Note : I don’t know if its a side effect or just my install, but I’ve noticed that the GTAV game exe does not seem to shutdown properly once you exit the game, so if you need the RAM/CPU back or have issues starting the game again, kill the process or reboot your PC.

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Movies Moving Forward

Living in New Zealand we have been very lucky that we locked down early and are now able to be out and about.

I know in many other parts of the world this is still not possible, this brings me to movies in theatres in 2020 and moving forward.

Me and my wife went to see Wonder Woman 1984 last week at the theatre, it was nice to get out and see it on the big screen but this cost roughly $60.00 once the tickets and snacks were bought. I dread to think how it costs for a family to go to the movies these days.

From what I understand in the States, this movie was shown the streaming network HBO Max as part their plans to show a lot of their movies this year on this network. Disney and other companies are also looking at putting some of their movies on their relevant steaming platform.

I believe moving forward that we will see more simultaneous releases on and a reduced delay between when a movie is released and then appears on streaming.

Now people have got a taste of the convenience of watching movies in the safety of their own homes at a greatly reduced cost the horse wont be able to be reigned back in.

I still some movies would greatly benefit from the big screen, I am personally looking forward to the new Dune movie whenever that gets released, but just like all PC games are now online Movies now will have to change the way they are released as well.

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The Hunt : A Job for 2021

So I’m on the job hunt again. Being made redundant at the end of 2020.

Funny thing is, it’s not because of Covid-19.

Oh well. Shit happens.

So I’ve been applying like crazy to anything that I’d be suited to with my skillset.

Process is :

  1. Find suitable job listing
  2. Compare requirements to my skill set and experience
  3. Apply for position
  4. Wait.

….. and wait…. and wait…. and then an email arrives.

“Sorry, but your skillset does not match our clients requirements”

*blink*

I go back to the advert thinking Ive missed something.

Nope.

Advert asks for skills 1,2,3,4,5,6.

My CV shows my having skills 1,2,3,4,5,6.

I seem to be hitting this a LOT.

Am I too experienced for the position and theyre worried I’d get bored ? Have they listed the wrong skillset ? Or the wrong job ?

The other thing Im encountering, is the lack of personalized response as such. Sure, use a template, but make it seem personlized. Like using my name, or sending the response from a legitimate email address that I can reply to rather than a robot response via Seek.

The hunt continues…….