Over a month ago I said I had bought a MacBook, and it's taken me far too long to buy a router, but I finally have one; I found it all rather confusing so I had no idea which one to get. Initially it wouldn't install, so I thought... "AOL, if you mess this up... God help your pathetic company". Anyway, I went on the live AOL helpline, and amazingly the guy knew what he was talking about and told me to change some complex settings. More importantly it worked. So, I then got my laptop, found the network, typed in my password, and sat with a smile on my face. Then... A little error message popped up saying there was a problem connecting to the network. No matter what I did I couldn't connect to MY OWN network. Sure, I can acquire a connection from Bob (please note, Bob does not exist >_>) down the road, but not from the one I made myself. Apparently there is an issue with the passwords made on windows and the passwords entered on Macs. I read something about "hex", and WEP security but I don't understand much of it, leaving me, once again, completely stuck. I thought it would be easier to remove the password completely but I can't even work out how to do that, nor do I know if it's even possible with the Netgear DG834G router. If anyone knows anything about this kind of thing, I would appreciate some help. Even AOL can't help me out since they don't provide support for Macs.

Yesterday I reserved my Xbox 360 at ASDA, since I work there, and I picked it up today. I got Hitman with the console and I bought Gears Of War seperate. I can't say I really wanted Hitman but it was bundled with the only console available. Usually I wouldn't buy anything like this from a supermarket, but I get a 10% discount which was quite a big saving. After messing around with all the wires and getting confused for half a hour, I finally managed to get the little green light to flash. Quickly discarding Hitman, I put GeOW into the tray and prepared myself. I was impressed straight away by the graphics; pretty much flawless as far as I'm concerned. That was the moment when I realised my money had been well spent, though I have been told I'm a little graphics whore *sobs*. I did have a problem though, and that was when the game decided to stop playing and a message saying "disk read error" appeared. Upon seeing this I was rather worried, but it worked when once I had wiped the disk. If it happens again, I'll be far from happy.

Yep, happy times indeed. I'm glad to say that their new album will be released on February the 5th here in the UK, and on the 6th in the US. I've started the countdown in my sig, in case you hadn't noticed. Though I was shocked when one of the tracks was leaked onto the internet, which I quickly downloaded. It's certainly different and seems to be more rock orientated. Even so, I love it just the same as their old stuff; perhaps even more so, and that's saying something. I honestly cannot wait. I've listened to that one song repeatedly over the last couple of days, and like the rest, it hasn't lost it's appeal. I know most of you don't care, but I'm sure you can appreciate how excited I am. If you're bothered, you can listen to it here. FOB also plan on releasing a single before Christmas, so I look forward to that. February can't come soon enough, then of course the PS3 comes out the month after, so I might just pass out at some point from all the excitement.

Well, I never really had a problem with Windows. It always used to crash on me, and I suffered from all the usual computer problems, but I never knew any different. However, I ordered a Mac Laptop (MacBook) a few weeks ago. It didn't come until this week, but it was worth the wait. I was unsure about using the Mac OS instead of Windows, but so far it seems to be better in almost every aspect. Not to mention that it's about one hundred times faster. I haven't set up an internet connection yet though, so I'm still having to use my windows desktop at times (like now). Once I sort this out I might be saying goodbye to Windows for good. To be honest, I don't think it's going to be a sad goodbye either. I'm looking foward to being able to move around the house too, rather than being restricted to my computer room. Perhaps this might cause me to spend even more time on GameSpot... if that's possible.

Oh yeah, and I've updated my About Me section for all my fans out there >_>

Hopefully you can help me celebrate by posting in the party thread.... Bring on 20K ;)

Note: Sadly, my party is now over, and has been for quite a while. So, please don't bump the thread. Sorry for any confusion.

Today was the day I had been dreading for the last couple of months, but I guess I shouldn't have been so worried. I got what I expected in all my subjects, except one, and in some cases I did better than what I had hoped for. I'm rather proud of these, lol...

English Language- A*
English Literature-A*
French- A
Geography- A
History- A*
ICT (Double Award)- BB
Maths- A
Religious Education- A
Science (Double Award)- A*A*

I'm just a little disappointed with getting a BB in ICT. This was the subject I enjoyed the most, and looked forward to studying further. Perhaps I was too complacent, but the teacher assured me that I was going to get an A. Nice call. I have nothing to moan about though, because I certainly didn't expect to get all A's for the rest, and definitely not that many A*'s.

Recently I've had my sig stolen numerous times, and it's getting a little bit tiresome now. I'm far from being the best when it comes to photoshop, but that doesn't seem to deter people from taking them without permission. Perhaps it's because my sigs are of Jessica Alba, but that doesn't seem a good enough reason to me anyway. The admins have taken action against some of the culprits, but there's not much I can do to stop future problems. If they would only ask, then I'm sure I could make a deal with them, but they show no respect for the time I spend when creating my sigs. Anyone who uses photoshop will know how difficult it is to make something worthy of a signature, and when someone takes it from you, it's not a nice feeling. I've decided to put a little reminder in my signature as to who the sig belongs to, but this might only cause the problem to get worse; only time will tell.

As of today I am the new leader of the Gran Turismo 5 Union, which came as quite a surprise, but nonetheless, it was a nice surprise. Just for the record, this is the first time of being a union leader, so if I do something stupid, then that will be why. The union is going through a difficult stage at the moment, probably because no one seems to be posting despite there being over 200 members. If you are reading this then hopefully you will stop by and help me out a little. Even if you don't like GT you can still post, since off-topic talk is most welcome. You can find the union here. Hopefully union activity will increase over the next few weeks...

Yesterday marked my one year Gamespot anniversary, so to speak anyway. To be honest it seems like I've been coming on Gamespot for much longer, even though I didn't start posting on the forums until September. I must say that I've enjoyed my time on Gamespot, particularly in the unions and the Off Topic board. Not only that though, I also reached 5000 posts yesterday as well, which certainly shows how much these forums have occupied my time. Seeming almost like a reward, I also completed the dreaded level 20 recently. I know many people say that levels mean nothing, but it's nice to be acknowledged for my contributions to this site. Hopefully this will only be the beginning...

After only a week of owning DMC3, I managed to complete the game, but it wasn't short by any means. I have to say that it was one of the best games I've ever played, but not as good as MGS... obviously. Therein lies the reason why I finished it so quickly; I just couldn't stop playing, although I did only complete it on easy mode. Before I bought the game I had heard that it was a very challenging experience, and I'm not the type who enjoys difficult games, which is why I quickly selected the easy mode offered to me after dying numerous times on the second level. Now I feel as though I'll be able to play it through on normal as well, seeing as I've improved quite a bit since I first tried. The game itself had an excellent story, and some well thought out cutscenes, which enhanced the whole experience. And the gameplay wasn't lacking either, with none stop action throughout; even when the credits rolled Dante got a last opportunity to slay some demons. When you consider that I bought this game for under £9, brand new, it doesn't seem like a bad deal at all; quite a bargain in fact.
The good new doesn't stop their though... my exams are finally over, but I'll have to wait until the 24th August before I get my results. Hopefully I'll have done okay and got the grades I wanted but I'll just have to wait and see; there's no point in worrying now. I don't think I'll have chance to though, since I'm going on holiday next week. Obviously I wont be posting on Gamespot for a while once I go, but I probably need a break from this site anyway.