Obinice

Hey guys and girls! Remember a while back, Vinny talking about getting his Amateur Radio Licence? I was especially interested, as I've been interested in the world of radio for a while now!

I've yet to take my primary exam, although it's really easy (seriously, young kids can get the Foundation licence). Basically if it's not in this book, you don't need to know it for the Foundation. At least, if you're in the UK!

Anyway, I've just been having some fun with a 1/2 wave silver rod barely poking above my roof, and a 30 year old Transcom GBX4000 (with an Amstrad 901 board) that my uncle gave to me when I was a little kid years ago (always loved electronics!). But now I want to do more than just talk/listen to the handful of locals on CB. I want to reach the world!

To that end, I decided to grab myself an Anytone AT-5555, and program it so I can listen in on all the freebanding (and some amateur) frequencies for now. The advantage is that while freebanders often aren't licenced in their respective countries, they are able to take advantage of skip, and work with a common code/language (as opposed to the slang and constant swearing of CB), that allows them to make and communicate well with distant contacts, begin to learn that there's more to radio than what CB has to offer, and really enjoy what radio is all about without the pressure of assessments and exams.

It's also an excellent stepping stone towards the licenced Amateur bands, where the users are more knowledgeable than simply turning a channel dial, and have good rules of etiquette (while there's nothing wrong with swearing in every day life, remember that anybody, including children could be listening!).

Anyway, I guess I'm getting a bit off topic, maybe? My point is, radio is awesome, and I was wondering if anybody else here at Giant Bomb is into it too? :D While it's great to talk to the radio community folks that have a wealth of knowledge and experience in radio, I'm finding it hard to find any people anywhere remotely near my own age who are into it (I'm 24), and none of my friends could care less :P

Wow. I just bought this game, and then found out it didn't let me set the controls. That's crazy! I understand it's not the default scheme, but my first console was set up that way and I knew no different, and have always played inverted ever since. I plan to play this game in relatively short bursts, I don't have time to try to train my brain to a new system :( I've heard so many good things about it too! Crazy.

I don't watch regular TV, instead I have XBMC on the big TV and to answer your question in two ways....Firstly I watch everything Giant Bomb produces, including all QLs, usually in the evening while having dinner or chilling out :D

Secondly, I feel that certain genres are better represented by certain peeps on the GB team, "work to your strengths" and all that, so I'm glad to see a variety of the team on different things!

That said.....if Vinny's in a Quick Look, I'm sure to enjoy it way more :P

@RazielCuts said:

@Obinice said:

we're authorised to rent it out before release

Why would they authorise renting it out before release? That seems counter intuitive as it'd eat up day 1 sales, unless they're getting some type of hefty cut from the rentals but even then that's kind of a slap in the face to the people who actually pre ordered the game. 'Yeah you renters, you get to play before release. You pre orders, wait like everyone else.' Weird.

Apologies, let me clarify :) We (as in staff members) are authorised to rent it out (to ourselves). Not to customers! lol, that would indeed, if you'll excuse the expression, be a dick move.

@awesomeusername: Awfully kind of you! I wouldn't say no :)

Thanks folks, a few thoughts for, a few against, I think I'll live life on the edge and go for it :P

@TheSouthernDandy: I can only get it because I work there, we certainly wouldn't rent it or sell it to anybody until the day of release! And staff can't always get everything early, I guess it's down to company agreements.

So here's the question! I work at a video games rental store, we've got Halo 4 in and we're authorised to rent it out before release (so that's all dandy), but I do know that a few weeks ago Microsoft were banning accounts for playing early. That was with a pirated copy though, presumably before review copies went out, and before stores started to get their stock.

So my question is, can I throw Halo 4 into my Xbox now and not have to worry about being Xbanned, or should I play offline?

Thank you good Bombardiers :D

Coincidentally (am I living in the Truman Show?) Lifehacker wrote an article on the "five best office chairs" yesterday. They included several of the chairs you guys mentioned, as well as the one I'm gonna go look at soon cos it's a reasonable price (the Markus) and looks pretty good.

I'll let ya know what I end up with :)

http://lifehacker.com/5941523/five-best-office-chairs

I like the bomb, it's what I imagine the GB bomb would be if it were viewed in the Fallout universe.

@Ravenlight said:

I can't find the UK link, but this chair is highly recommended for the price. Assuming you're relatively local to an Ikea, you can skip shipping costs, too.

That chair looks pretty nice! It's £125, so well within my budget, the specs seem to give me what I want, and it's got a 10 year guarantee, so I know it will last...longer than the receipt :P I might have to take a trip down to Ikea and sit on it....there's one a nice 20 minute drive away (never been inside one, apparently it's a weird alien world in there?).

Some of the other chairs mentioned, while cool and hopefully helpful for someone else, are way out of my price range xD Maybe when I win the lottery? I totally understand the philosophy "price shouldn't matter, get the one that will be great and last the rest of your life", but for a guy in a part-time job in this economic climate, I shouldn't really be spending up to £200 on a chair at all, never mind even more than that ><. I should probably be spending this money on bills or something :P

Anyway, I'm going to take everyones advice and sit my ass on a bunch of chairs. Perhaps....ALL THE CHAIRS.