I am 25 years old and technology has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I got my first games console – ZX Spectrum – when I was 4 years old and it just kept on going from there. After listening to the latest podcast on tested.com and one of the topics of discussion was about life without the internet. This got me thinking about what I would do without technology…or should I say what I could do without technology.
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Personal
Emotional Blackmail
If you are like me, your life has become a constant reminder that there are people who are not as well off as you are. Now, I am more than aware that people suffer all over the planet from famine, poverty, disease, abuse and a whole host of other hugely serious issues; although people act like you are completely oblivious.
In my 25 years on this Earth, I have given to many charities – in the form of sponsored walks, runs, sending old clothes and toys to the more needy etc, so I feel despite my meager efforts I have at least spared a thought to the less fortunate.
I suppose by this point you are wondering what exactly is it that I am complaining about, and this is a reasonable question. The last thing I want to do here is sound like someone who thinks charity is a bad thing. It couldn’t be further from the truth. What I object to is the use of “emotional blackmail” to essentially guilt you out of your money.
The story goes, I am listening to Spotify when all of a sudden I hear an advert addressing me personally. Not just one advert, but two! The first is someone telling me that they have cancer and would love it if I would donate some money to their cause, and secondly someone asking for money for the younger sister who was born prematurely. I don’t know if these scenarios are true to life or not, but I feel sort of uncomfortable by hearing these ads.
I know that the world is full of harsh truths ands that sometimes shock value is the best way to get people to take notice of things, but I am not to sure of this. There are so many great stories of people being helped by the charity of others, and I would far rather hear of how people have helped in the past.
This is supposed to be a blog about tech, movies, music and games, but I think I will probably use it as a sounding board for some stuff like this too. This month I have given to Marie Curie and Unicef, so I at least feel like I am trying. It would be nice to be able to listen to some music or even take a walk down the town (canvassers ahoy!) without having the weight of the world become an accessory. By all means help the less fortunate, just don’t be bullied into it.
If you want to give to charity do it, if not that’s your choice and no one should judge you on that. Here is a link to a bunch of charities I found on Google, if you can and want to donate. Like I said though…no pressure.
Out with the old, in with the new
Welcome to the new platform for my thoughts. My name is Stephen King – no, not the famous one – and I have decided that I should have a fresh start for my writing.
First off, how about a little bit about me? That sound okay? I mean, I am going to write it anyway….
Difficult to start really, so I think we will go back to my finishing up from school. I used to live in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire in Scotland, but my university career had me move to Dundee in Scotland. Not that far away from home, but far enough for the first time living away from home. I studied forensic science for a year at Abertay University, met lots of wonderful people – many of whom are still my friends today – had lots of fun times, but decided that the course wasn’t for me. For the year following I worked at a cinema, trying to make some money to enjoy life and also trying to make a decision about what I wanted to do next with my life. Not really expecting much out of this job, I was surprised when I met the girl of my dreams…smart, funny, beautiful and for some reason, interested in me. What started out as friendship, grew into more and soon we were dating. After a brief 6 months of going out, we were living together….
Eventually, a year later I stumbled upon a course at the other university in the city, the University of Dundee. The course was in Applied computing and software development. My first year went passed without much issue, but my second year knocked me for six (I don’t like using cricket analogies, it just seemed the most apt. Hell! I don’t even like cricket!)
Anyway, I dropped out of my second uni course, leaving my self esteem in tatters and my future in complete uncertainty. The plus side of this was that I had gained an interest in music and audio design after helping some friends with a video game project. Soon my love of video games had flourished, much like it had in my youth.
In order to keep living away from home and to give me the money to fuel my interest in video games, I needed to find a full time job. Soon I was working on the phone lines for BT, dealing with peoples technical issues. I would like point out that I wasn’t one of those idiots who followed a script and told you it wasn’t their problem. I was one of the people who got things done! However, it turned out that after a year and a half of hating what I did, the opportunity of a life time presented itself.
In May of 2010 I was offered a QA position with the games company Realtime Worlds. It was less money and the contract length was only 9 months, but after talking it over with my girl friend (still living with her and we are engaged to be married at this point) she thought that I would hate myself if I didn’t take the job.
The next few months were amazing…I mean, the hours were long, the work was hard, I barely saw my girlfriend and the pay was low, but finally I loved what I did. Let’s not beat around the bush here, my aim wasn’t to stay in QA for the rest of my days, this was just a stepping stone to the audio job I so badly wanted. However, the bubble burst 3 short months later, when the companies newest release, “APB”, didn’t sell the anticipated numbers and the company was liquidated.
So there I was, jobless, short on cash and with a wedding coming up in just less than a year. Things were looking pretty bad. After a few months of unemployment, I managed to get a temp position at a local video game store, but the pay was minimum – literally – and the hours were practically nonexistent. It took a little while but someone must have been looking out for me, because I got an email from Rockstar North asking me to do some focus testing. I had been to do this before earlier in the year for a week and had really enjoyed myself, so it seemed like I would be stupid not to go again. Plus the money was good, especially compared to the meager money I was making elsewhere.
I went along for my two weeks focus testing and within a week I had been offered a further three week contract to do some testing. I happily accepted and was at least going to be employed until Christmas. Fortunately, my contract was increased and I actually only finished up with the company on the 1st of April.
This brings us to now…less than two weeks to my wedding, unemployed again, but doing my best. What does this have to do with this blog I hear you cry! The answer is, I love games, films, music, technology and a number of other things. I have even tried to write about them all on a number of occasions to varying success, but I have decided that I am going to have a real go at it this time. Starting when I get back from my honeymoon at the end of April, on top of looking for work, I will begin to write a review blog about anything that I am interested in. I will update it 3 times a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
My aim is to have somewhere to share my thoughts, practice my writing skills and to keep me sane. I hope that anyone who reads this will find me interesting to read and informative. Until the start date, I bid you all a good night and when I return, I will be a married man.
Soon, we can all start a journey together….
Explodobot 