Almost a year after it's first launch I have decided to rebuild IanLunn.co.uk.

I never really made use of the site due to not having a back end system other than phpMyAdmin which is awkward to add entries to. Over the past week I have built an admin section with a WYSIWYG editor to make it easier for me to post entries to the blog. The entire way in which the site works has also changed - it's now much simpler for myself, users and search engines. The major sections (Blog, Portfolio, Reviews and Web Design) either already do or will eventually run off of the same system - whereas before each section had unique code to itself which wasn't really necessary and made the site heavier and messier.

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A band fansite I planned on making in 2005. I made the layout template but never added any content or functionality due to having a lot of uni work to do.

Further description is on the site itself.

Technologies used: HTML, JavaScript, Fireworks, Dreamweaver.

This was a story I started writing whilst at uni. It never really went anywhere but I planned for it to be about apathy and existentialism.

CHAPTER 1

The stone head of St Francis is barely visible through the city smog; a figure of the past standing proud amongst a multitude of generations lost. His body sprayed with graffiti by those desperately seeking recognition for a persona represented in an accumulation of meaningless letters and logos, leaves little purpose for crossing the steel fence surrounding his foundation. The fence once served as protection for maybe a few weeks after its erection but soon became nothing more than seating for the gathering of youths, their backs turned on a symbol of faith and holiness.

Getting from one side of the city to the other has never been such a dilemma: Walking through the stalemate gap between threats and possible humiliation from the yobs, or the frantic, all-or-nothing lunch time charge amongst business people? My watch has no hand to determine such a risk, it can only tell me the last thing I need to know: I am late.

Making my way through the gauntlet–-choosing speed over humiliation–-the burning noon sun and CCTV cameras stare down on us all, casting my tall yet thin shadow amongst the feet of the youths. Someone of my height walking past such a group is often cannon fodder for their amusement, but today I am lucky. The boys sitting on the fence seem more concerned with one of two school girls proudly announcing she is pregnant as her friend looks on the conversation with awe. At least they are still attending school I think, wondering how old the boys actually are.

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Here's a few images of two paint jobs I made in Forza 2 on the Xbox 360:

IanLunn.co.uk:

TNT Sponsored VW Rally Car (as a joke for someone that works at TNT):

If you want to buy any of these or have them painted on to a car of your choice send a message to Noospheric on Xbox Live.

Potentially brilliant

I have had an Xbox 360 for well over 6 months now and have made the most of it's potential. I use it for everything it is capable of: gaming, music, movies and communication.

Connecting all of the above mentioned is the Xbox Dashboard. This is an excellent menu system that simplifies navigation amongst Xbox Live, games, media and console settings.

Xbox Live is Microsoft's attempt at connecting the world of gaming and bringing gamers together not only in games but also with voice and video chat. I had never owned the original Xbox or played on Live but I had read excellent reviews. I was expecting to find an open community which I could browse (in the form of forums) and plenty of user added content. All I really found was Xbox Live Marketplace which is an area where a limited amount of content supplied by Microsoft can be downloaded. So my first opinion of Live was a little of disappointment. However, over the months I began to make friends who enjoyed the same games and interests as myself. My friends list grew and with it did the capabilities that Live is renowned for. Xbox Live is not so much the content but it's brilliant connectivity between gamers. Turning on your next generation console may no longer just be for the want of playing a game, now you can use it as a way of socialising.

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