It’s that time of month again when Matrix needs its jabs. Security patches and
upgrades must be applied so we can keep all your important projects and netris
scoreboards safe from nasty h4×0rz.
The downtime is scheduled for 7pm this Friday 28th February and *should* take
no longer than a couple of hours.
And you’re not to go to the pub! Remember, it’s the National Boycott of
Pubs/Nightclubs Day in Ireland.
Next Monday’s tutorial will cover XML, the Extensible Markup Language.
All netsoc members are welcome to attend, and membership is available on the door.
The tutorial takes place on Monday 24th February at 6pm in the East End PC Lab 1.
Fingers on the Blackboard
So Edinburgh
then. This is a short account which really does the weekend no justice.
Despite having to get up before the badgers, everyone was in the airport for
6am. Sleep deprivation notwithstanding, we managed to stay awake on the plane
and not miss our stop. A chilly minus-four-degrees Edinburgh greeted us, but
did not stop us from climbing the hill to look at the entrance prices to the Castle.
Poor students, as we were, we decided to save the £8.50 for more worthier
causes (however the more affluent among us, vowed to return the next day).
After that, some of the more epicurean among us took the Whisky tour, before a
well-deserved siesta.
Drinking began punctually at 6pm, where it took in not 1, but 4 happy hours,
incorporating the worse pint of Guinness and something called a woo-woo.
Teetotallers and pals departed for a walking ghost tour. One member of our
party was guaranteed not to ever have any children and another got up to
mischief with a slice of pizza. Lost hat count: 1.
For breakfast we had free hangovers and toast before departing for the
highlight of the weekend which was Game
On (yes, we actually made it this time). The general verdict was
of approval. Despite getting our collective asses kicked by various little
brats, we did get to play all the old favourites like Streetfighter 2,
Bomberman and Virtua Racing. The exhibition itself was great, forming a
timeline from Space Race to GTA3. We even got to play Pong and listen to the
Wipeout soundtrack. There was lots of eye candy and background info in each
section as well as interesting zones on Japanese games and characters in games.
If there was one criticism, it would be the lack of PC games and too much
emphasis on modern console games – but maybe we’re just showing our age.
After a couple of hours of sleep was grabbed, some cheap hostel chilli
and haggis and were consumed, and some aimless wandering, we were ready for
some more drinking. This time, we gave our patronage to a place called Opium,
which is a nice, quiet, low-key pub/club playing alternative music and serving
cheap blowjobs (a delicious shooter made of Baileys and Kahlua). Expect many
drunken photos of this night. Lost hat count: 2.
On Sunday, we ate pies and read Comics. We also returned to the Opium for
more blow jobs. This lack of imagination was forced upon us by silly UK
licensing laws and the fact that Bar Kohl was
shut by 11pm. Still, we did get to sit around a big stump on cushions and
listen to kerbdog. What followed then has been described as ‘the greatest
snowball fight this side of the himalayas’. The ensuing running street battle
with the Australians led to such insults as ‘the entire southern hemisphere
throws like a girl’. Lost hat count: 3.
Monday, and the excessives of the previous night (drinking and throwing
balls) caught up with everyone involved. Maybe this led to the overwhelming
unenthusiasm of the cheesiness which is the Edinburgh Dungeon, but we
weren’t very impressed, despite other appearances.
Then, after a customary delay, we flew home to reflect on what was a
lovely weekend.
