Playstation Customer Care...

...are brilliant!

So, back in November my PS3 died (A geek's day of mourning), and I had to get it replaced. When I called the helpline I was expecting lots of waiting, moving round to different people... Basically all you'd normally expect from support lines where you want something delivered to you.

But to my shock, I spoke to one guy and he sorted me out with a delivery for 2 days later.

Jump to now, the replacement PS3 I got decides that it should be make more noise in the flat. It's fan is horrendously loud! So loud that I can no longer watch blu-rays without having a window open and the PS3 right next to it to cool it so the fans aren't needed in overdrive.

So, just now I called the wonderful people at Playstation Customer Care, explained the problem, gave them the reference number from my previous dealings with them, and after a 13mins call (which included the time to get through to someone in the first place) I've got a delivery date of tomorrow!! Now THAT is service. And best part is that because I'm still within the 3 months warranty of the replacement model, it's all free. Can't ask for more than that.

Also, I had a concern that some content that is obtained from the Playstation Network only allows downloading onto 5 PS3s... This was slightly worry, considering this was to be my 3rd. But once again PCC come to the rescue and tell me that by decativating my PSN account on the console I'm replacing, it take it out of the pool of 5 consoles allowed.

Is there anything that can't be solved by these people?!

Staff of PCC... Your next assignment... Cancer. I'm expecting it done by the end of the month.

M

Why did the chicken cross the road?

CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK: To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

GRANDPA: In my day, we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

KARL MARX: It was a historical inevitability.

SADDAM HUSSEIN: This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it.

RONALD REAGAN: What chicken?

DR. SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes! The chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed, I’ve not been told!

MACHIAVELLI: The point is that the chicken crossed the road. Who cares why? The end of crossing the road justifies whatever motive there was.

FREUD: The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 98, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an inextricable part of eChicken.

EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What do you mean by chicken? Could you define chicken please?

IMMANUEL KANT: The chicken was acting out of a sense of duty to cross the road, as chickens have traditionally crossed roads throughout history.

THE BIBLE: And God came down from the heavens, and He said unto the chicken, Thou shalt cross the road." And the chicken crossed the road, and there was much rejoicing.

RICHARD M. NIXON: The chicken did not cross the road. I repeat, the chicken did not cross the road. I don’t know any chickens. I have never known any chickens.

M

Young (and stupid) drivers

So... I was watching "Police, Camera, Action" and they were doing a special on boys racers and they said that the average insurance premium of the male aged 17-19 is £3,500!! (Apparently 9 times more than females in the same age bracket)

This got me thinking about something I came up with a while ago and never got round to sending it to the PM and a new law that should be imposed on new drivers...

I think that for 2 years after you have passed you test and earn your driving licence you should not be allowed to drive anything more powerful that a 1.2l engine car (or something of a similar restriction).

Too many young (rich parent) kids are learning to drive, passing their tests then getting a brand new 2.5l BMW from mummy and daddy and going out like they know how to drive. They go out, cause accidents, feel bad for 6 seconds, get a smack on the back of the hand for a lame judge and get a new car with the promise that it won't happen again.

If they learnt to actually drive on the road, get experience behind them, we might not lose as many lives pointlessly from morons who think they own the roads because they've got a piece of paper that allows them to operate a car legally.

M

My first 5k

Date	Sunday Jan. 24th 2010
Time started	14:00
Average speed**	7.5kmph
Total time taken**	40 minutes
Showers taken	1
Food now needed	Lots
Sleep now needed	More
The feeling of finally realising I CAN do a 5k run	Priceless

M


* Given from treadmill
** Calculated from average speed given

New Twitter background

I've created a new Twitter background in Gimp from some of my favourite pieces I've submitted to my deviantART portfolio.

I do enjoy playing with Gimp and creating/manipulating pictures.

Too bad the visible part of the background on Twitter is dependant on the size of the screen you are looking at it on.

Oh well. All fun

M

More than just my own thoughts

After becoming a Twitter addict I've been spending my internet life finding way to blog in 140 characters. Sometimes it just isn't enough. I've also discovered that a blog isn't just for my own original thoughts and feelings. It is for sharing. So here, I'm sharing.

I just got this email from my girlfriend's mum. It made me chuckle:

Yesterday I was at my local CO-OP buying a large bag of Purina dog food for my loyal pet and was in the checkout queue when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had an elephant? So, since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn’t, because I ended up in hospital last time, but that I'd lost 2 stones before I woke up in intensive care with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again.

(I have to mention here that practically everyone in queue was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked me if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's arse and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

I'm now banned from the Co-op.

More of this sharing lark should be going on.

Your Blog: When Twitter just isn't enough.

M

New year, new ideas

Laying in bed this morning I was reading Webdesigner Depot "The Most Popular Posts of 2009" and it's made me want to play more with web design and development. (Almost as if my new years resolutions are taking care of themselves) (I wish)

I already have a domain name (www.turbogeek421.me) that at the moment redirects to... here. I could add some web hosting to it and start playing, but as always, the issue of time, money and worry of nothing of interest to share all try to hold me back. But then again, anyone who follows me on twitter knows that I don't have a great problem with saying things that are of no interest to the masses.

Maybe I should just start with playing around with this blog template, it is a bit plain at the moment.

M


PS - Happy new year everyone