Not sure how the GBA development is going really. I keep hitting brick walls, and not sure if I am getting over them before hitting the next. Since I don't know C well enough, I have just been searching round and round for code and tools and solutions to problems before I start. I think I have all I need now in order to carry on. I just need to dig through a load of source code in order to find out if I really do have solutions, then put them all together. The way I am thinking at the moment, however, is that this will end up being a self contained title, with instructions on how to create similar titles (i.e. this could be a title teaching the Rules of Sports again, but could explain the process so that a Learn Spanish title could be made for example.)
Going to visit Halls and the rest of the UEA crew next week, at last! Been saying I would for 2 years! Should be a good laugh. May as well do it now while the pressure isn't on so much. Got plenty of work to be getting on with though, so guess I should be getting back to it.

Hey hey, busy day! I've just watched Kill Bill vol.1 and have to say it was comical in the way it portrayed it's violence. At least that's what I thought. My brother said he was nearly sick... Nice little twist at the end. I hope there actually will be a second. After that I finished Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne on PC. I enjoyed playing that. It may have even restored some of my faith in games before I lost it again. It hasn't changed much from the original, which can be seen as a good thing. The only gripe I had was that max didn't seem as flexible as the first game, (unless I'm remembering through some rose-tints.) Just a quick-to-get-into, very stylish game that was FUN to play, (its only been out 3 or 4 days I think and I've finished it!) Bit shorter than I thought It would be, but that isn't too bad since I'm looking for quicker thrills now with my games. My interest is waning with Paper Mario, Splinter Cell and Eternal Darkness. I'm not sure which game to pick up after I've finished these (if I do indeed finish them.) Probably F-Zero GX and Soul Calibur 2. Two very different games that are quick action but should hold some interest.

I've been a little slack at times this week. Despite this, I have submitted a proposal for my final year project now (for a second time since I didn't read the brief the first time!) and have begun reading eBooks to teach myself things I need to know. I'm starting with C/C++ in 5 Days since I need that for a few modules and the project, then I'll go on to DirectX probably. The Multimedia Entertainment Systems module is coming along quite well. We have already set out a proposal. I just need to work on some visuals over the weekend. I also have an idea for either Advanced Scripting or Programming for Entertainment Systems which is a multiplayer helicopter battle game in 3D space. Hopefully I can use the same idea for both. I'll have to ask Nigel...

Going home for the weekend today. Just going to view some of last years final year projects before I go. Spoke to Dan Livingstone about my idea for a GameBoy Advance Media Player and he was positive about it, as long as there was a good critical context for it, giving some examples. He also said a working alpha may be enough in terms of GBA coding, which works to my advantage in many ways. I also tried to contact some authors of GBA video codecs which are floating around on the web. They couldn't help much since both are now in the process of selling / licensing their work, but it was worth a shot, and I did get a little bit of info.

Hello there. The first week back is over. Looks like I'm going to have lots of work to do. For my final year project I'm looking at making a media player for GameBoy Advance. I've been researching this for the past few days and I'm still not sure how do-able it is. I'm not sure of the computational power needed to decode an MP3 for example since the processor is only 17MHz... More later.

Phew. Busy busy week. Finished at Fifth Dimension on Tuesday. Packed up and got ready to go on Wednesday, and chose my modules. Thursday was spent in the car driving back down to Plymouth. Friday I had to enroll, before hitting the town for a few bevvies and to watch the football. Saturday I was back on the train to go home for Lauren's (Louise's sister) 18th birthday party. Sunday back on the train to Plymouth, and now I'm about to go to my first lesson of the year, Multimedia Entertainment Systems!
Like I said... phew!

Forgot to write earlier that the GMTV site is now live at gm.tv/sales which is pretty sweet. There is a link on the gm.tv home page too in the left sidebar.
Anyway... looks like today will be my last day at Fifth Dimension, unless they want me to help them moving their stuff into the new office down the road. I'll offer, but hope to get out of that one (it's raining now.) Pay seems to be coming in the form of a cheque to make things easier which is pretty good too. Everyone here now knows I'm going off. And why. Green eyed monster in some maybe? I can't wait to be making games for a living ;-)
I've been looking at the modules I'll be doing when I get back and it all seems pretty sweet. Entertainment systems (i.e. Playstation,) C++ and graphics being some notable ones. Just worried about the project now, but I need to finish reading the uni paper work to get more of an idea of what's involved / expected.

So, after speaking to the uni, looks like everything is fine. No problems with me going back or choosing any modules. Just need to think about my final year project now. Oh and tell my boss I'm leaving... Louise isn't impressed. She has said she won't go back with me to Plymouth right now. Have to see how that one plays out...

After careful consideration, I think I am going to go back to Plymouth this year, changing to Multimedia Computing from MediaLab Arts (as long as they let me etc.) It means I really am focusing on working on computer games, which is a bit daunting, but at the same time, I know I can always work on what I am doing now. It means I can save another year of my life and I can definately go to Full Sail in Florida. So I don't get the degree I wanted, but I'm not exactly gona suddenly forget what I have learnt am I? Plus I want to work in games more than New Media, which is now my backup (always have a fallback plan!) And I miss out on a full year of work experience now, but I have done two and a half months, including workng for GMTV so I have a big name on my CV already. Plus, I get a placement with Full Sail anyway. Working on games. Anywhere in the world. Cool... ;-)

Another day in sunny Harrow. Finished playing in 3ds max for now. Now back to some Illustrator for some fiddly line drawing. Yum. I'm still agonising over whether to go back to uni next week. Life shouldn't be this bloody hard. As the White Stripes say, "I don't know what to do with myself."

I've been doing my new media thang and churning out the work like there is no tomorrow as usual! Tomorrow I get to play with the beast dual 3Ghz Xeon machine to bust out some 3ds max models that I have been making the textures for (for a fly through of a new housing development.) I finished those off this morning and spent the rest of the day so far doing some designs for the new Fifth Dimension site. Half the work has already been done, so I have been collating ideas (picking the ones I liked and the ones I was told to like) and putting them together as a base before making layout for the various content that would go into it (all in Photoshop.) As long as this design phase doesn't go on too long, this could actually be a nice little project since there is a load of dynamic content to be added. Might learn a little something.

Hi! I'm back from Florida (landed yesturday so major jet lag!) and am now sitting at my desk at Fifth Dimension (starting my 10th placement week I think.) Holiday was good. Bought some nice gear, ate nice food, cinema (S.W.A.T. is a pretty cool film,) pool etc. etc. Full Sail was a pretty amazing place. My brother is set on it so hopefully I can use him as an excuse to go if nothing else works ;-)
Not alot else going on right now, so updates as they happen later.

Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be today. Infact I haven't done that much. The guy that said he had a lot of comments is too busy to speak to me so I've just done some little bits and pieces. The site isn't 100% finished due to the slackness of someone who only needed to give me 10 numbers, but hasn't. But apart from that I think it is done. I'm quite happy with it, (as long as they are really,) and they seem fairly impressed that this job that has been kicking around for 2 years or more has finally been done, and done well.
The only thing I did do today which was of mild interest was try out Mozilla for the first time to test the site (and mine!) Seems like it is very similar to Netscape to me (which seems right since Netscape and IE are both based on Mozilla in it's early days I believe.) It proved my coding prowess by not showing up a single problem on either site :-) I believe I officially rock.
Anyway, I've been hanging around all afternoon for no real reason and just want to go home. But I have to see out the day and go for a farewell drink (which I don't really want.) Never mind. Just have a swift one and be off. Someone else is leaving today, so hopefully we can all knock off soon...
Laters.

Went to the pub at lunch with the heads of advertising so now all is well with the world :-) Managed to take advantage of the slack GMTV disipline in order to have a 2 hour lunch, and get a little bit drunk. Now work is no problem! Anyway, I have been doing some more changes and its getting very close to finished.

Made a few little changes to the GMTV site. But really the news today is that they are definitely gonna be working me tomorrow. I still need to do some work on one or two pages and I am waiting for people to decide what they want to write on them. Knowing I'm going tomorrow they have decided to have a meeting for an hour or so tomorow at 12, thereby giving me the afternoon to make any changes to the site. Better not be anything major for their sake! I knew this would happen, (a final day panic) but I didn't expect them to plan it! ;-)

Yawn. What a slooooow day. I've had one page to make today from notes given to me yesturday afternoon. I specifically saved them so that I would have something to do this morning. Well, I was right but it hasn't helped much.

I noticed the tabs were not changing their backgrounds in Netscape, so after a little more research I found that the code I was using was indeed Explorer only. Its fixed now for any DOM compliant browser, so that is IE, Netscape and hopefully everything else too. Only older browsers should struggle, like NS4, which I also found out is now in use by less than 1%, so I think I'll be safe ;)
Plenty of work has come flooding in and most of the day has been converting the GMTV rate card into electronic copy and then the website. 2 other tiny tweaks too, so all is well for a while. The design is approved and I am now waiting on content for 5 pages, of which only 3 are important, and I have just been handed one of those. Although there may be some more Excel work thrown my way...
Looks like all will be done shortly :) Just as well... only 3 days now!

This was a bank holiday weekend, and in the best tradition I ever heard of, GMTV all knock off early on bank holiday Friday! Sweet. That means I'm not in my last week here and it'll only be for 4 days before holiday in Florida and then my new job.
I spent most of the weekend working on my room again. Very nearly finished. Once I have the last few bits I can probably do it in one more day / weekend, but it will have to wait until I get back probably.
Got a meeting in a min to see how they like the site now my boss is back off holiday. I can't do anything until then, and hopefully they will like it as is.

I've been asked to do some bloomin' Excel now! Some people really have no clue about technology or even what they want. I really think I could be useful around GMTV though, (since I have the skills to do things like this random Excel request,) but they aren't willing to wait for me to finish uni (which is all of like 9 months or something in a years time!) Oh well, their loss. I hope I have made a good impression here. Just 5 more days left.

Well... there is good news and bad news... Good news? I got the job ;) Bad news? It's 9 to 6 and takes longer to get there, so its gonna be a long ass day! Ahh well. Rough with the smooth, since the job looks pretty cool and it is paying about 15k. So thats my year sorted then! Excellent. Should have a nice well rounded CV by the end too! GMTV will be ending soon. I'm STILL waiting for some content from some people but I'm assured I'll get it. Probably the day before I leave! Never mind.
I'll have a week in Florida when I finish to chill before I start the new job. I'm gonna check out Full Sail while I'm out there, with my Bro, in case you didn't know. I'd still love to go out there and do it, but we'll have to see if it happens. Fifth Dimension have pretty much said there is a job there after I graduate too, so I guess time will tell.