To many people, it will just be a formality, having already received unconditional offers, or just from actually being smart and doing revision. For people like me, results day could go either way by a narrow margin. Who knows maybe I’m somehow one of those few who pulled an amazing grade out of their arse despite doing mediocre throughout the year.

Not likely.

If I do somehow manage to scrape 280 UCAS points from god-knows-where, then that means I’ll be off to Aberystwyth to study Computer Science & AI, whilst working a job on the side, as well as my doing work as Deputy Campaigns Officer and Governor for Pirate Party UK – Although thanks to SLC that should perhaps be “I’ll be off to Aberystwyth to work whilst studying on the side”, since they’ve managed to screw up my loans application, meaning I can’t even afford accommodation.

Pictured: SLC's patented sorting system

All that aside, studying Artificial Intelligence at Aberystwyth will be amazing, as they are at the forefront of research into robotics, and artificial intelligence. The university’s work on projects like ExoMars is what drew me to apply, all the other things like the scenery are just a bonus.

And if I don’t get in, I’ll instead be moving to a nowhere 6 miles north of the nowhere in which I currently live, and working there instead.

Oh well.

]]> http://andrewtindall.com/2010/07/29/3-weeks-to-go/feed/ 0 http://andrewtindall.com/2010/05/28/no-more-college/ http://andrewtindall.com/2010/05/28/no-more-college/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 14:31:08 +0000 AndrewTindall http://andrewtindall.com/?p=139 Today was my last day at Brockenhurst College. Yay me. 2 years of travelling 13 miles a day to spend 12 hours a week in lessons, and the rest in the library, or trying to get home, is now over.

Still have exams next month for all my subjects, though – and provided I don’t fuck them up, I’ll soon be moving from:

Bransgore

to

Aberystwyth

Here’s hoping I get in…

Firstly, VAT has just risen to 17.5% again, so expect price rises immediately, or phased in over time depending on the retailer. I would have thought it wise to have extended the VAT break to a later date, as a price rise whilst we’re only just approaching the end of the recession could run the risk of reducing sales, and leading to a double dip; many retailers, in deciding to freeze the increase for a while, seem to be thinking along similar lines.

Related to this, the UK, on May 6th most likely, will have a General Election. Unless a major upset happens, we’re currently looking at a Conservative Government with a small majority, or even forming a minority or coalition government from a hung parliament. But will a shift to a blue government really bring about much change, after all New Labour was an attempt to shift Labour towards the Conservatives, and Cameron’s Conservatives pull themselves towards New Labour? Yes, and no. Both sides promise dangerously low investment, and even cuts, in industry that desperately needs investment, such as eco-technology and energy, sciences, and education. Labour want to balance investment by cutting it in areas they don’t like, the Tories want to destroy the public sector, all the while supporting the renewal of hugely expensive, weapons of mass destruction. The Tories want to slash taxes for the rich, whilst doing little for the middle and lower classes, and Labour aren’t progressive enough to properly support those who need it. Labour risk destroying an entire sector of the economy, and people’s rights, with the ghastly Digital Economy Bill (which the Pirate Party, and non-party organisations such as ORG are fiercely opposing), whilst the Tories are so out of touch as to seem not to even care about the sector at all, with their pledge to scrap the much needed, albeit inadequate, “broadband tax”. So ultimately, we’re screwed either way.

But the winds of change do blow in politics this year. Approximately one-third of the House of Commons will consist of MPs new to the house following the election, with a likely small increase in independents, especially with Jury Team out there supporting them. Many of these new MPs will be replacing those corrupt, out-of-touch bastards who saw fit to abuse a ridiculously poorly regulated allowances system, squandering public money to pay for their first class seats, their mansions, their moats and trouser presses, and all the other crap they apparently can’t afford on their “chumps change” of a salary of £64,766 – some £40,000 more than the ‘average’ wage earner in the UK. Maybe, just maybe, these replacements will be less self-obsessed, more in touch with modern Britain, and able to represent their constituents properly. Maybe, but maybe not… I’m not getting my hopes up for this lot.  Assuming Mr Cameron has a brain, he’ll call an election in 2014 to coincide with the EU Elections, and that year, I feel, will be a big turning point in both British, and European politics. Indeed, 2014 is where I’m focussing my own efforts, not withstanding the results of the 2013 local elections, and where I plan to make my entry into politics under the banner of the Pirate Party of the United Kingdom if I do not do so in 2013.

Another change which will hopefully happen this year is the introduction of, or the preparations to introduce some form of electoral reform; however this will only happen if the Conservatives continue to fail to set themselves apart as anything other than “not-Labour”, and we end up with a Liberal coalition. Such a result is quite frankly the best outcome we could hope for. British politics needs radical change and sweeping reforms, and this would be the place to start, in this year. So let’s hope it happens.

Moving away from politics, 2010 will be bringing about many changes to my personal life. I’ve got exams in a few weeks, exams that will ultimately decide whether I get into Aberystwyth; my university of choice, have to utilise the terrible clearing system in a (post-)recession climate, or just end up not getting into university at all. This of course means I’m also finishing college this summer, and quite frankly I’ll be glad to be leaving, because that college was a pretty exhausting place to be, crushing and suppressing the hobbies, hopes and interests that I had when I first attended there. And running alongside all this, those few friends I do have will all also be heading off to university and whatnot themselves, so this year is really our last year together, and I want to spend as much of it as I can with them. In reality I realise I probably won’t see them much more than I did this past year, and that is upsetting to me; but even so, spending some time with them is better than none at all, right?

So there you go – 2010 will bring change right from the start, but it’s not necessarily good change, and that’s incredibly frustrating, especially for a powerless control freak like me, who just wants to be able to change things, make them better, improve on what we have.

Addendum: Whilst writing this post my  site went down, luckily I learnt long ago to always copy what I’ve written to the clipboard just in case something like this happens. Downside is I lost links and stuff I’d put in. Let this be a lesson to you all, copy to clipboard, and save drafts often. I also realised I never got around to talking about 2010 in technology like I planned, but I can’t be bothered to write more for this.

(Originally this was going to be a top 10, but I couldn’t think of enough major stuff, so I had to drop it down to 5…)

5 – Going to Forbidden Planet for the first time. It’s a Megastore filled with wall upon wall, shelf upon shelf of comic books and graphic novels, books, DVDs, collectables, posters, and just in general amazing stuff. Need I say more? It truly is Geek Heaven.

4 – Spending the weekend at MCM. October 23rd-25th 2009. For those who don’t know, London MCM Expo is a convention held every May and October at the London ExCel Exhibition Centre. It’s similar to Comicon, and what-have-you, only it’s British. Anyway, this wasn’t the first time I’d been to MCM, rather it was my 3rd outing to the expo; the first being in 2006 or something with my brother, who didn’t even want to be there. I didn’t get to stay long that time, but it left me wanting more. In May 2009 I got a chance again, and I went up with friends, again for only one day. Although fun, it was let down slightly by the travel. Finally, this October we went up again, but this time for the entire weekend, and in doing  so it became better by several orders of magnitude. We had time to hang out, we got to really explore the expo and buy overpriced swag, and we got to have a walk around London; and then return to a fancy apartment in the evenings.  London also has a habit of closing the underground or DLR on the weekend of the expo, but that just turns the journey into part of the fun!  A few cosplayers wandering around London, trying to find their way. Soon those few cosplayers have turned into a living wave of excited geeks and nerds all heading, in a round about way, to the docklands. So yeah, MCM’s always fun, and I’m looking forward to the next one in May; especially since it’s the last before everyone goes off to university.

3 – Seeing Zebrahead live for the first time.  Thursday 16th October, 2008.  Doors opened 8PM. Headline act was Zebrahead. Now, I’d lived a pretty sheltered life, especially when it came to music, so I’d never actually been to a gig until that night.  The show was in Portsmouth, and I went by train with a few friends from school, they’d been to countless shows before, they knew what to expect, they had the shirts, I did not. When we got through the doors, we were greeted by a small, cramped, and dark venue. By the time the main act came on, we were squashed in like sardines, hot and sweaty, and blinded by the stage lights, and it was awesome; and it was a night that I’ll never forget. I’ve now been to 5 gigs, 3 of which had Zebrahead playing, 2 headlining. I also have a further 3 already booked for 2010, two of which with Zebrahead headlining within the space of 2 days, the 3rd being Green Day at Wembley, it’ll be my first arena gig!

2 – Rediscovering Ska. The start of this century was a dark time for me, musically. I wasn’t really listening to anything in particular, I had maybe a few odd wav and mp3 files on my pc and nothing more. The later half of this decade had me picking up more and more music, and as of right now I have over 40GB of music, or just under 10,000 tracks, and over 20,00 scrobbled plays since January 2009 on last.fm. The genres of music I have is increasingly diverse, but it’s built upon a solid foundation of wonderful, incredibly uplifting 3rd wave and ska-punk. And let me tell you, if having a music library that resembles the collective soundtrack of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

1 – The seating plan change in GCSE French. “What?” I hear you say, “how is this seemingly unimportant, completely trivial thing the biggest thing for you this past decade?”, you add. I’ll tell you how. I’d say that had it not happened, nothing else on this list would have happened either, most likely. You see, such a simple thing meant I was sat next to someone who I would become friends with, and through our discussions, would have a large influence on me. They’ve introduced me to a lot of amazing music, they’ve always had something interesting to say, they never fail to make me smile, and they’ve changed me – for the better, I’d say/hope. So that’s why a simple moving of seats was so important, because it meant I got to know someone who even now is really important to me, and who I still enjoy talking with, and  spending time with, when I get the chance.

So yeah, it’s not the major events like 9/11, or world cups, or wars that have the biggest impact; it’s those seemingly little things in life, the things that make you happy. Even when things get bad, there’s always those little things to remind you of why you’re still there. I look forward to discovering what little things await me in 201x.

The first half of the month was uneventful and unexciting. Just college day after day, waiting for the more busy second half to come. So not much to say there.

First event that happened was Aberystwyth Open Day. This involved getting up at 4am in the morning, and being taken by my father all the way to Aber. I’d have to say that the journey there and back was most certainly the worst part of the day. As it is I try to avoid contact with my father, and this journey was a prime example of exactly why that is. Firstly, he pulled over every 30 minutes or so to smoke several cigarettes, adding quite some time to the journey. Secondly, he was using an outdated sat-nav that he never bothers to update; this meant that it kept losing signal, or not displaying roads, causing him to swear and rant and rage, as is his way. Now imagine having to put up with several hours of this… yeah. That being said, the open day itself was pretty good. I got to look around Aberystwyth’s main campus, which is rather steep. The facilities are pretty good, although the exteriors look quite grey and dull. I didn’t go into town itself, because I left in the early afternoon to stop my father complaining, which is a shame, as from what I’ve seen, it appears to be quite nice. The Open Day also offered a chance to briefly talk with friends I hadn’t seen in quite some time, which was pretty much the highlight of the day.

After that was my birthday. Originally I had planned to go up to London to see Ross Noble, but in the end I sold my tickets because I could only find one person who wanted to go. Instead of that, I had a meal at the pub with my family, excluding my father, before returning to watch Question Time; it was the one with Nick Griffin on the panel. Pretty boring day, no different to any other birthday.

But the following day, after I finished my lessons I hopped on the train to London, where I’d be spending the weekend for London MCM Expo. My journey up to London was far better than the one to Wales. On the train to Waterloo I was at a table seat with a jittery talkative fellow, whom I believe may have had some kind of condition. We had a chat about some stuff, like how one day he wishes to take an old phone with an O2 sim to the O2. Behind me were some old women talking about the previous night’s Question Time, and how Nick Griffin was a “nasty little shit”, which amused me. Once I got to Waterloo I managed a transfer to the Jubilee Line with a perfectly timed tube train, I always seem to manage this when travelling long distances. On this tube is where it began, for as you get closer to ExCel, the more cosplayers you find, and here I was standing next to two of them, although I didn’t recognise what their costumes were specifically. Once we transferred to the DLR another guy popped up wielding a foam scythe and a Charlie the Unicorn shirt. The 4 of us got on the DLR to find a few more cosplayers, in our carriage there was maybe 8 or so heading for the expo, or so I thought – when we got off, so did about 50 people in costume, I have no idea how they got there, they most certainly weren’t on the DLR, yet they came off at the station.  Madness.

Cosplayers Play Lego Rockband

The Expo itself was awesome, with games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Assassins Creed 2, Tekken 6, and an assortment of Rock Bands and DDR set ups;  celebrity guests like Tom Baker and Craig Charles, lots of overpriced goods, and a few small freebies, and the upbeat and energetic atmosphere emanating from all the freaks in costume, as well as those of us who are more reserved.

Despite the high cost of most of the stuff for sale, I ended up paying out for quite a few things: A large Zombieland (Which I pirated rather than seeing in the cinema, nobody seemed to want to go) poster, the Cowboy Bebop Remix boxset, which I was later disappointed to find is not the newest high quality remaster, and then some series from ADV which I’ve already seen  – Coyote Ragtime Show, and This Ugly Yet Beautiful World. All great shows.

This was my 3rd time at the expo, and 2nd this year. It was definitely the best so far, too. Next one is in May, which I plan to attend for the entire weekend once more, especially since it’s the last expo before we all head off to university and whatnot. Looking forward to it.

The final event of the month, for me at least, was a concert at the Bournemouth O2 Academy on Wednesday. Headline act was Bowling For Soup, supported by The Leftovers, MC Lars, and Zebrahead. Before this tour was announced, I’d never actually heard of Leftovers or MC Lars, but now they’re both already integrated into my ever music collection. The gig was great, and all the bands, unlike quite a few artists such as say, Studioforce, are brilliant live. It also gave me a good chance to test out the camera on my new phone in dark conditions and in busy, high-movement areas- the result? Mediocre, overly dark, blurry pictures.

Bowling For Soup

This gig was my 5th ever, and just over a year since my first gig on October 16th ’08, when I went to see Zebrahead. Even with so few under my belt, the cost of tickets and transport sure has been quite high, but it’s totally worth it for the awesome music and chance to spend some time with friends.

Following the gig, only a few minor things really happened. At midnight the Left 4 Dead 2 demo finally went live, so I played through that,and from what I’ve played, I’d say it’s shaping up to be far better than the original, although with the limited character interaction so far, I can’t really comment on the new cast. Then, on Friday I downloaded a copy of Borderlands, which I spent the entire weekend blitzing through with a friend, trying to ignore the major bugs and flaws in the game due to just how addictive and enjoyable it is. After 17 1/2 hours we hit the incredibly disappointingly easy final boss, and today I plan to start playthrough 2, perhaps there’ll be some actual difficulty in the game this time around, although it’ll probably be even easier since I’ve fixed some issues the game had so that it actually works properly.

So that’s it for October, and November’s already started. Only plans for this month are Kids Can’t Fly at Southampton Joiners on the 7th, and a US Politics Conference on the 10th. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t really do much this month anyway, since I have so little money following last month, but oh well.