Club Nintendo Goes Live in Australia (4 years ago)

New Left 4 Dead Update released (4 years ago)

Left 4 Dead patch released (4 years ago)

Rogue: The In-Game Web Browser (4 years ago)

MTV announces Beatles music game (4 years ago)

Alone In the Dark improved for the PS3 (4 years ago)

Pussycat Dolls performing for Xbox Sounds (4 years ago)

Quantum of Solace Environments Clip (4 years ago)

Re: Skill Testers (4 years ago)

Got one of these as a pressie from my girlfriend a couple of years ago as she knew I was a fan of skill-testers (it has sounds and everything):



Still works a treat today. It sits beside my desk and helps me control my sweet tooth - If I don't make it within the time limit the candy craving fades ...

Life with PlayStation released (4 years ago)

Re: Win one of five copies of Too Human (4 years ago)

A competition based on 'skill' isn't classified as 'gambling' and means it's exempt from certain permit requirements, etc.

2K offers prize for most human-like bot (4 years ago)

Re: Football Discussion (4 years ago)

Walcott did well - hope he gets more club play time as a result. Fancy a Man United player (Rooney, who was instrumental in setting up Theo's goals and scoring another) and Arsenal player working so well together!

Re: What made you smile today? (4 years ago)

Definitely, 'cos everybody got along, and there were no dodgy toupees in sight.

Don't know if they offer the same thing nowadays, but boy those were good times. The programme was called 'MITIS' IIRC, and we had to promise to stay with the firm for at least 2 years in order to go.

Just remembered another memory from that trip: We stayed in some cheap hotel for two nights in Orlando, and on the night when most of the others went to go check out the night life, a couple of mates and I found a 24-hr 'amusement arcade' on the lower ground floor of the hotel. It was literally just one smoky room tucked away in the corner with a few machines including Cruisin USA and a coffee-table Frogger machine. Having been away from any sort of gaming for a while, we stayed up most of the night making the most out of that 'treasure room'. Sounds a bit sad, I know, but I just had to have my gamer's fix. Consider that a belated 'what made me smile'.

Re: What made you smile today? (4 years ago)

Congrats on the job offer - the iPod is a nice touch!

I started off my career at PwC just when they merged from being Price Waterhouse Urwick and Coopers & Lybrand, having gone through their campus recruitment programme (6 interviews and 4 exams back then!). I have to say their induction programme was the best thing I've experienced - They flew us business class to Tampa, Florida in the US for 2 months - we lived in our own villas with cleaners, pool/spa, gym, tennis courts and were provided with hire cars and per diems.

One day when we thought we were coming in at 7am for an exam, they told us to flip our exam sheets over, and instead of questions, there was extra cash and they told us "we were only kidding about the exam - now go out and enjoy your weekend". We ended up going on a road-trip to Orlando, Florida to visit Disney World and go jet-skiing.

I've also worked for a few years at Macquarie Bank before now running my own practice. These big firms do make you work hard, but they really know how to provide perks & throw parties! Well done.

Re: What made you smile today? (4 years ago)

Did you register before September 7? If so, then you can actually get Freespace 2 for free as it's an Interplay title, using their Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer (see 1st panel in their flash banner once you log in).

Good Game Episode 21 Preview (4 years ago)

Xbox 360 accessory prices cut (4 years ago)

Good Game Episode 20 Preview (4 years ago)

Best of GC 2008 winners (4 years ago)

Re: Home Stereo Problem (4 years ago)

I had a quick look at your receiver's specs and it looks like it only does HDMI 'switching', ie it can't extract HDMI audio (eg. multi-channel PCM audio from a PS3, which is what you want) and deliver it to your speakers - it just sends it on to its HDMI out.

Apart from upgrading your receiver (which may be an option if you want to get the best quality sound output out of your blu-rays) one option is for you to also hook up an optical cable from your PS3 to your receiver and choose that as your sound output from your PS3's Audio config screen, leaving the HDMI for video only. '

You'll at least get Dolby Digital/DTS decoding out of it, but it won't be as optimal a solution as getting a receiver that can accept uncompressed PCM audio through HDMI, as that is a main feature of the increased capacity of blu-rays, and is better than what can be sent through the limited bandwidth of an optical connection.

Re: Recommend me a martial art! (4 years ago)

Hehe...


But seriously, in response to the OP:

In my opinion anyone who has learnt a martial art properly to a decent level should be able to defend themselves, if that's what you're looking for, but it really does take years of proper training. Your confidence may be built up after training for a few weeks and learning particular 'moves', but the chances of meeting that exact same situation in real life are slim, so it's better to learn principles. After instructing a few people, you find that its more important to instil a sense of humility in new starters than anything else. False confidence can be more dangerous for newbies than anything else, so take the time to really get to know the art you choose. Learning how to defend against one particular punch from one specific angle of attack does not mean you can now go and take anybody on, etc.

Each situation is different depending on things such as proximity to your opponent (eg. being able to execute flashy kicks won't help you if your're cornered in a tight stairwell, or are sitting down on a train). Kata (patterns/sequences of moves) should be used to learn principles and develop muscle memory/reflexes rather than as specific responses to specific situations. Flexibility/unpredictability, adaptation and making use of your environment and tools available to you is just as important, and this can really only come with real experience. Make sure the place you choose has regular sparring as part of their training regimen if you want to develop self-defence, as has been said before, punching air does not give you the same feedback as hitting a determined opponent who isn't going to take a step back.

I trained in Karate for four years at a Police Boys' Club that had an excellent teacher, then a style of Kung Fu for another year, before moving and taking up Wing Chun, which I've been training in for about three years. I can say I learned more about the scientific principles of self-defense in my first year of Wing Chun than the other training combined, but that's just my personal experience. Chi sao ('sticking hands' training), for example, is a very useful aspect of WC that develops sensitivity and reaction time.

I think it's impossible to say which martial art is better overall as a lot of it also depends on your own body and physical stature. Some of what are called 'softer' martial arts like Wing Chun (which was invented by a short nun) are just as effective as 'harder' arts such as Karate/Tae Kwon Do - they simply incorporate techniques that don't rely on brute force or meeting force head-on, eg. compare an 'upper block' in Karate with a bong-sao deflection in Wing Chun. Even though you may not be small, there's always someone out there larger/bigger/stronger than you, and it's this kind of person who is more likely to initiate a fight with you in the real world. Not many people pick a fight with someone 'bigger' they think they'll lose to, so that's why WC appealed to me - even an 80-year old grandfather can use it effectively.

There's a TV show called 'The Human Weapon' where a couple of guys (one an MMA Mixed Martial Artist, the other a former footballer and pro-wrestler) visit various countries around the world to gain insight into various martial arts. They go to Thailand to cover Muay Thai in episode 1, the Philippines to cover Eskrima (think Jason Bourne) in episode 2, and also cover Krav Maga in a later episode.

At the end of each of the shows, after training with some of the best exponents in the martial art they're studying that week, one of them takes on a 'master'. I must say the ground-fighting techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu looked impressive, as did Krav Maga, for real-world fighting. They also cover Tae Kwon Do, if you're interested.

There's a full episode list here. Might be worth checking out for those who want to quickly get to know a bit more about various martial arts in order to choose one for them, or those who are looking to incorporate the techniques of an additional art into their training.

Good luck with your adventure into the world of martial arts, I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it

Fallout 3 release date confirmed (4 years ago)

Xbox 360 controller with enhanced d-pad confirmed (4 years ago)

80GB PS3 on sale from August 28 (4 years ago)

Re: 'One Up' Picture Game (4 years ago)

Re: Soul Calibur IV Thread (4 years ago)

My pre-order of the 360 limited edition from JB was sealed when I picked it up this morning. The Tin came seperately and that was also wrapped in plastic, so all hope is not lost.

Apart from pre-orders they sometimes also keep sealed copies at the counter for re-stocking, so if you try to get one from there rather than one off the shelf that has to have the disc re-inserted you might be able to get a sealed one.

Re: Caption This! (4 years ago)

Bowser: "Yo' Vader, how much would one of those Death Stars set me back?"

Re: 'One Up' Picture Game (4 years ago)

Re: Gold Class/La Premiere Question (4 years ago)

BTW, The menu for Gold Class (with prices) is also available online here:
http://www.greaterunion.com.au/goldclass/moviemenu.asp

There's a printable PDF on that page as well.

The food is decent and the service is good - but make sure you get there early enough (at least 30 mins before) so that you can let them know what you want and when during the movie (approximately) to serve it.