IRKED #1: High-horse Vegans.

I have been a vegetarian for most of my life. 

As I was but seven years old when I first made what would be an incredibly persistent decision, my reasoning at the time didn't go far beyond 'I don't want to hurt animals'. 

Obviously as I grew older and became more aware of human nature and the way the meat and dairy industries worked, my beliefs developed further. After much soul searching and many different dietary experiments, not to mention a few brushes with uptight vegans who seem to think that substituting meat for tofu makes them better than everyone else, I have reached a conclusion in my late teens and early twenties that I am perfectly happy with. 

There is nothing morally wrong with eating meat. 

Whether we have higher functions or not has nothing to do with it. We are animals ourselves, and as such we need to feed. We have the power to choose what we eat - some choose meat, some choose alternatives, and I am happy to be a humble, habitual vegetarian. I do not pretend that this decision makes me superior to anyone, and I don't believe that one person saying 'no thanks to that roasted corpse' will really make the meat and dairy industries go "Oh, shit, are we doing this wrong?". My choice to be vegetarian won't save any lives, but hell, it gives my conscience a little cuddle, and I'm fine with that. 

There are some pretty gigantic and gross issues with the way we receive those products as a culture. The mass production of meat is completely unnecessary and the dairy industry is vile, no doubt, but I have a newsflash for the scores of superiority complex ridden vegans out there - putting some soy milk in your tea between soaking chickpeas and scarfing down tubs of peanut butter doesn't save you any more cows than we do. You don't get any moral raw brownie points for that unless you're actually out there pulling pigs out of slaughterhouses or pursuing activism - which, by the way, omnivores do too. 

"What? You mean we're not the only ones who care about animal welfare? Shit, son!"

Yup. That's right. There are plenty of vegetarians and dare I say it, meat eaters, care just as much about animals and the environment as you do - except they actually do something about it. If you're an apparently superior vegan who sits at home barely supporting the weight of your own calcium deficient teeth, living on nuts and vitamin supplements, whining about the plight of the soy bean or whatever it is you people do, you are morally poor compared to the hundreds of veggie/meat eating activists and conservationists. It does not mean that you love the planet any more than they do. 

You are measured by your actions, not your diet. Vegans who go out there and actually do something about the broken industries have the moral high ground here, but no more so than omnivores who do the same. Even if you only eat meat or dairy from local farms, you're doing the world much more good than buying basics ham from your friendly neighbourhood global chain. 

Before you gulp down some rice milk and spend a few hours getting riled enough to pop open those Taurine pills to have a go at me, I did try going vegan, if only to see what all the fuss was about. I hated it, but that's fine. It's not for everyone. What I certainly don't need is some moody hippy spitting scarcely mustered vitriol at me for not adhering to the way they believe people should live. 

I believe that a man is entitled to the sweat of his own brow. If he has reared and slaughtered pigs and cows himself without resorting to the horrible mass production practises, he is entitled to that, and the monetary rewards. If a man spends a day catching fish, he is then entitled to eat those fish. Would you deny any other creature the spoils of the hunt? 

Oh wait. You would.

The idea of denying your pet meat when it's a staple part of their diet sickens me far more than the meat industry. Humans have the power of choice, cats and dogs do not - they are physically built to hunt and eat meat. Surely this is classed as animal abuse. You may claim "Oh, but they can survive just as well on taurine supplements and protein based dishes", but this is fundamentally wrong. If you don't want to feed a cat meat, don't get a cat. It's simple. Your so-called animal love has been twisted by your own broken morals and your animal has become an extremely sad trophy of your crazed 'ethical' crusade. 

Animals hunt. Morals are simply not relevant to them because morality is a human concept - not one of our best, either. Stop trying to implement human ideas onto other animals, because it's just cruel and it makes you just as bad as the meat industry. 

The bottom line: It is the meat and dairy industry that is morally wrong - not the consumption of it, or the people who do so. Hunting is hardwired into nature's philosophy and it all links in to that big ol' circle of life - some animals are born to eat, some animals are born to be eaten. By all means, crawl back into your cave, wipe the granola from your keyboard, and try and enforce your beliefs on the rest of mankind from the safety of the internet.

I'll be sat here, fielding your comments, your snide japes at my philosophy, in the smug knowledge that I'm right. 

-SZ

 

ScreenZombie's sort-of informed opinion on building your own gaming computer: Part One

If I could stick a big bloody disclaimer sticker on this page, I would, but I can't/am too lazy to do so here's a written one:

I am not 'qualified' in any sense in PC building or hardware. Everything I say from this point onwards is merely my opinion and knowledge as developed by time spent with far more capable people than me over the past few years of PC tinkering. I like to think I approach it with casual enthusiasm - I don't spend my whole life doing it but it remains a definite interest. Think of this as a layman's guide to getting started.

For the purposes of this guide I will avoid using tech - specific stats and stick to the basics. I'm also going to stick to a few reference brands just for ease of use. Finally: It's not hard to befriend a computer-friendly person. These people (Read: me) can easily be bribed with Monster or any energy drink of equal size and value. Have your computer friendly person check and double check any decisions you make, especially ones you're not sure about, as they may point out important information that you'd totally looked over because it was lost somewhere in the small print. 

Final points before the guide proper: Do your research - there is a wealth of information on the internet and YouTube is full of tutorial videos. Check out relevant forums - these will be a very good source of answers and reassurance should anything confuse you. Finally, read reviews and do research on parts before buying them. Mistakes other gamers have made can and will benefit your purchases and prevent any disappointment. AMD, Intel, Coolermaster and Corsair aren't the only brands in the computing hardware field so don't feel as though you have to stick to them, there are many other great manufacturers in the market.  

PART ONE: STUFF!

Your average PC is made up of these following components. All of these are mandatory, they're not fluffy little optionals you can get if you feel like it.

CASE:

You need one of these to stick all of your components in, obviously. Although there are some crazy design mavericks out there who like to approach things differently, as can be seen below.

Picture from Overclock.net - A good example of how lots of blue LEDs can make everything look excessively customized. 

Picture from gawker.com - ...Holy fuck.

There are, of course, those who prefer to take an ultra post-modernist (cheapskate) minimalist approach to cases:

Picture from tomshardware.com - Why waste money on all that fancy part storage crap when you can just buy a breadboard and work with that? 

Unless you're already artistically inclined I wouldn't reccommend doing this for your first PC. There are plenty of cool looking cases on the market for prices that won't break the bank, and you can always upgrade later if you're willing to move the parts around. Computing sites will often do case and PSU bundles which are great for your first build. 

KEEP IN MIND:

Make sure the case you choose is big enough for all the parts you want to put in it. This can easily be done by checking measurements on components before you spend anything. I don't imagine this being a huge problem unless you're going all out on parts and buying monster fans and cards. 

POWER SUPPLY UNIT (PSU)

This usually has lots of little tentacle wires stuck in it. Like a digital Cthulhu.

The power supply unit is pretty self explanatory. It has specific wires to power specific parts of the machine, and certain wires which can be used to power peripherals like extra fans or LEDs. Again, on your first PC, you may find yourself lost for choice - so here are a few simple tips. Brands like Corsair and Coolermaster are both generally good choices. For a gaming computer, you're aiming at about 500w. As your system becomes more and more demanding, you may decide on purchasing more wattage - personally I've stuck with a comfortable 650w on a fairly mid range machine. This will be screwed into the top or bottom of your case, depending on which one you end up choosing.

These run at a range of prices but you can get a decent 500w for around £30. Premium ones go from £100 and up. 

MOTHERBOARD

It's like a little electronic house for all your expensive shit.

This is the connecting point of all your components. The main choice you'll have here is whether to go for a mATX or ATX motherboard. This pertains to size - mATX is much smaller and a better choice for smaller cases. However, you'll probably find that ATX motherboards offer much more versatility for case and component management; and are essential for fitting larger graphics cards comfortably. It's vital you know what CPU you want before you buy a motherboard, as they all have particular sockets that determine which kind of processors they fit. There will almost always be identical motherboards with the socket you want, so take your time. Good brands to look at from a beginning point of view are MSI and Gigabyte. Depending on your budget, you can also look at Asus for decent gaming boards. 

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT(CPU)

Small but important. Like Verne Troyer in Austin Powers.

There are two commonly discussed giants in CPU manufacture - AMD and Intel. This is perhaps one instance where it's best to avoid forums as there are fanboys on both sides of this particular debate. The simple truth is that the market is always upgrading and improving so there's no real superior, and there are several non-AMD/Intel CPUs that are just as good. So consider your budget, do some shopping around, make sure if you already have the motherboard that it's the correct socket, and then make your decision. This should be one of the more expensive parts of your machine, though -  £60 is probably the bare minimum you should spend on a good CPU. 

 

CPU COOLING

This is more of a mini-section because it shouldn't be a big deal at first. If you buy your CPU in a retail box it will have a cooler with it, unless you're buying an AMD cooler, then for all of our sakes buy an after-market fan.

 

GRAPHICS CARD(GFX)

Everyone knows that GFX clock speed directly corresponds to ego size.

Motherboards all have integrated graphics, but you're a gamer! You want HD resolutions and dedicated graphics, and a card so big it needs brackets. When deciding on your first graphics card it can be tempting to blow your whole budget on the biggest, shiniest one with the most numbers on it, but don't. The CPU and RAM are both important, and many lower priced cards will still offer sufficient power to play new games if paired with a decent processor. There are thousands of these to choose from, so take advice from PC owning friends and consider carefully. If you're not adverse to buying second hand, it might be worth your while looking for refurbished cards from reputable stores and sites. These things last for years, and a refurbed card is just as good as a new one. 

 

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY(RAM)

Essential for those moments where you absolutely must Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, 4chan, Spotify, PhotoShop, and play World of Warcraft all at once. 

 Think of this like your computer's short term memory - the more of it you have, the more stuff your computer can do at once. They come in many flavours but make sure you get the correct voltage and DDR (Double Data Rate) for your motherboard. RAM will either be DDR, DDR2, or DDR3. The numbers simply mark the jumps in generation and does not imply any speed changes. From my experience, Kingston RAM is an invaluable choice for low budget gaming, but Corsair do a few £30+ options that are equally good. 4GB is pretty much an absolute amount if all you want to do is play games on your machine, but if you're looking to do any advanced video editing or photoshop work it may be worth investing in an 8GB kit.

HARD DRIVE

 

For all those pictures of cats you'll be downloading. Yes... cats.

You're probably familiar with this so I won't go into too much detail to avoid sounding condescending. As this will be storing all of your long term data, music, videos, games, and of course, your operating system,  you need to consider how much digital estate you'll be using. For most, 500GB is sufficient, but I'd say go for a terabyte (1TB) as they're really not that expensive these days. Solid State Drives (SSDs) are also an option, but while they may be the future of memory, you also pay much more for much less. Buy yourself a good Samsung hard drive with 7200 RPM(Revolutions Per Minute, this determines how fast the drive can access data) and it should certainly serve you well for a good few years. 

OPTICAL DRIVE

This is what you'll need to read DVDs and CDs. It's worth spending a little more on them if you can manage it, but it's worth pointing out that blu-ray drives are only really cool factor at this point in time. Admittedly, buying a blu-ray drive for about £50 works out cheaper than buying a blu-ray player, but game discs won't be using it forever, and if you already own a PS3 or BD player it's a bit redundant. LG, Sony, Samsung - all trustworthy brands, and all of them offer a budget choice. 

I have one. Because I have no self esteem. 

That's it for part one of the guide, but check back next week for Part 2 - Peripherals (Things to make you feel better about being sat on your arse playing games all day). 

-SZ

 

 

VIDEO: Remembrance Day and why it's still relevant.

It was cold and raining slightly, so what better time for a journalism teacher to send his delicate students out into the harsh arms of Farnham's wandering denizens? 

After many, many rejections, people looking at us like we were wandering lunatics filming old people for kicks, we eventually scrounged together enough footage to present you with this.

Project_Test_lowquality.wmv Watch on Posterous

Young people were confused, old people were incensed at the very notion of someone not remembering Remembrance Day, and some believed it should be rebranded and made more current.

I think the most important thing to remember on Remembrance Day is that while it was a long time ago that those men fought and died in far away lands to protect what little remained of once-great Britain, the fact remains that they fought for it. Just because that particular war has faded into the annals of history does not mean that the war effort should be forgotten in lieue of this new, phony American clusterf**k. Those soldiers fought and died because they were fighting fascism - the closest thing to comic book evil humanity gets. They aren't fighting and dying to secure oil contracts for the United States. 

-SZ

ASSIGNMENT: Newspage Story

Before anyone gets confused about why I've suddenly switched from writing about games and media to rambling about a little town in Surrey, let me point out that this is part of a University portfolio and has no reflection on my actual field of journalism. 

"Farnham's failings reviewed"

FARNHAM residents will soon be reading a document that details the 'failings' of their town. 

Surrey County Council have compiled the document from several surveys, and some of the major problems that appear are pollution and waste disposal. Farnham is notorious for pollution and several campaigns have been launched by the Farnham Herald and other local organizations to decrease it. 

Resident Annie White said "It's just too much. We're a little farming town, there's absolutely no reason why Farnham should be one of Britain's most polluted towns" Several methods have been suggested to fix it, including changes to the one-way system, which accounts for an estimated 30% of excess pollution as it forces drivers to make unnecessary journeys. 

Student Mark Turner said "It's horrible to get around. Even driving back from Uni is stupidly complicated and ends up costing more petrol".

Whether or not the town council can or will do anything with the information remains to be seen, but many Farnham locals hope this will be the start of more pollution awareness. 

By Laurence Braddow

ASSIGNMENT: Farnham: "Cool because it has a castle"

Grace_and_Laurence_-_radio_project_(1).WAV Listen on Posterous

As part of our multimedia platform assignment, my classmate Grace and I went out into Farnham to find out what students and older people thought of the town. This just involved a recorder, a wander around town accosting random strangers, and an hour or so in the editing room. 

The result was definitely a mixed bag, but it can be said that Farnham's older inhabitants enjoy it more than the younger ones, the students predictably bemoaning the lack of things to do.