Rediscovering my PSP

Last week I finally decided on a course of action that I’d been leaning towards for a number of months. It was one of my many internal arguments and will likely go unnoticed outside this collation of humble words. I turned my back on the somewhat underground world of custom firmware (CFW) and returned to the highly regulated hand of Sony Official Firmware (OFW) for my PSP.

Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe there is a need and market for CFW on the PSP or any other embedded device or proprietary system for that matter. However it is these justifiable loopholes that are being exploited for the more unethical features of custom firmware. Sadly I was using the seedier features of customer firmware, over any positive enhancements other budding technology enthusiasts had added to the PSP’s repertoire.

I bought my PSP nearly 5 years ago; when my now Wife and I headed on a holiday of a life time to England and select European countries. It was a life saver and made many a long train, bus or plane trip that little bit more manageable. On returning home I was sure its existence would be fulfilling and plentiful. I intended to get a job based in the CBD and commute daily by train sharing the same joys it provided in transit while on holiday. This was not to be, my eventual place of work was located a comfortable drive away in a neighbouring suburb. The PSP had been shunned, over time it moved from the top of my desk to the corner of a draw. Then to the back of the draw and finally to the box that everyone has but doesn’t know what to do with.

Twelve months had passed, I’d invested a considerable amount of money in the platform and outside of a couple of months of glory it wasn’t giving me anything back. A trip to a holiday house for a week was looming and I though it was time to spark new life in the old girl. I couldn’t justify spending more money on a platform that was failing me, so I did the next best thing. I used my own gadgetry skills to port it to the dark side so that I could test out the current games on the market and see if my PSP had any more love to give.

In a way it is an education in monetary value. In our consume driven, capitalistic world, products aren’t sold for how much they cost to make and develop but rather how much the market will pay for them. You then likely associate that value with the product and with any luck it fills a purpose and at the end of the day you feel like you’ve got your money’s worth. Although after paying for the initial hardware and two games I was left feeling less than compensated, I found the opposite was also true. If I didn’t spend anything on the software then I wasn’t compelled to get any value out of it at all. I’d take the time to get a software title, but often not even bother to play it than alone finish it. This resulted in the PSP resting in the same ill fated box.

So with the amalgamation of a couple of factors such as purchasing a PS3 and reading some positive things about PSN mini’s I’ve decided to go full circle, as I mentioned earlier and return to Sony OFW. As a pretty enthusiastic gamer it is a little embarrassing how many gaming capable devices I own. I guess it is the enthusiast within, that still understands the strengths and weaknesses of each device and can see a use for all of them in one way or another. The most likely competitor to the PSP that I own is my iPhone, though as much as I over rely on my phone there is something entirely necessary about buttons that not all games can emulate on a touch screen interface.

So far I’ve had mixed results in the week or so that I’ve been sporting my OFW PSP. Having recently finished the Harry Potter books I’d opened up a large void of free time on the 55 plus minute train ride I endue each way to work. I purchased a couple of Mini as well as a full title game (all be it electronically) and had little issues getting them on the 8 Gb stick I’ve loaded in my PSP. I also found the official Comic Book reader application present on the Sony OFW and set about checking out some of the freely available comics. I enjoyed reading a number of the free comics and playing a handful of the games for a couple of days. I’ve since found my nose back in a book so time for mobile gaming is again Ad Hoc and more complementary to a device like the iPhone which is always a fingertips length away and much more casual the PSP.

I don’t regret the decision by any stretch of the imagination and are happy to be back on the easy path to new features and integration with my PS3. I even had some gaming Kudos thrown my way scoring a copy of a new PSP exclusive release via Kotaku and eagerly await its arrival in the mail ...

Rest in Peace Mindy Dog

It is with a pang of regret but many happy memories that I remember the late Mindy Pickstone. My families last pet dog. She passed earlier this week; from what can only be described as old age, and leaves everyone she ever meet with muddy paw prints at about waist height. While only a medium sized dog she always found reason to bound up to greet a returning or fresh face.

She is and will always be the first dog I knew from day dot, and was as loving and loyal as you’d expect of her kind. An English Springer Spaniel a breed my father painstakingly picked out. She loved wide open spaces, the water and above all else the lap of a willing participant settled down in front of the television. I think Dad still suspects she willed herself to remain that little bit smaller than usual, in order to keep the privilege of being a lap compatible canine. He’d lovingly label her a ‘runt’ of a dog, but her nuzzled snout against his favourite chair was always enough to secure her an occasional snoozing place upon his lap.

Mindy could very easily have been a rat and not a dog at all. Many years had passed since my family’s first dog; Rani passed from old age. My younger sister starting to get a little stronger in her convictions of having a family pet, and after a weekend of looking after some school rats she made a startling declaration. Years of prior hassling for a dog hadn’t paid off as she could never counter the argument of what to do with a canine when the family was away for the weekend. My sister calculated that with feeding bottles and food rat’s where much lower maintenance and the same argument couldn’t prevent her from having at a pet if not a dog.

After hitting up the research books on what type of Dog was right for our family, Dad and Mum announced to us kids that they'd organised a puppy for the family and we'd be picking her up from Melbourne in a couple of months. It might have been weeks and while I'm filling in a few of the gaps with assumptions, the announcement only felt like a day or two after my sister's declaration of rat ownership. My sister either through pure genius or complete dumb luck had won, and the family was better for it.

I still remember driving up in to the then strange hills of the outskirts of Melbourne to pick her up from the breeders. Dad likes to do these kinds of things right, so she was a pure breed English Springer Spaniel, now 16 years older and hopefully a little wiser I realise that she likely cost a pretty penny too, a price she returned in spades. If I recall correctly Mum and Dad had secured her as the last of the litter so we didn't have much choice in which pup we where taking home. Even at that early age she was a little smaller than her siblings, but showed the same canine curiosity as her kindred, greeting us strangers at her Mothers pen.

It was a decent drive back to my Aunties where we where staying that night and then a much longer trip back to Portland her eventual stomping ground. I think spending so much time in the car with us initially gave her an absolute love for car trips. Car was one of the first words she ever learned to recognise. Upon hearing it uttered she'd bound to life and circle frantically between the front door, garage door and the kitchen draw that her lead was stored in. All necessary in her puppy brain to make sure she was included in any potential adventure.

Even a week old she was the centre of a family tale I’ll never forget. The so called fool proof system that Dad insisted would give everyone an equal say on her naming. This system inevitably tied with boys versus girls so unmistakeably she was named as the ladies of the house wished. I ultimately found more joy in Dad's claims that his system was infallible, so at the end of the exercise at least three of us where happy, and I think Dad had more fun coming up with the system than interest in the name in the end anyway.

She had the same energy explosion upon hearing the phrase 'walk' uttered in mid sentence as she did when hearing ‘car’, always keen for another wander through the streets of her stomping ground. In her early years my sister and I made the mistake of teaching her to run before she could walk. On roller blades or bicycles we'd use her to propel us all over the neighbourhood inspired by her raw puppy enthusiasm. It would be almost a decade before she out grew the desire to tug on a lead and while a mistake at the time, it crafted her into the dog we all knew. Her later years on the lead might have had fewer children's giggles but her enthusiasm never wavered as she accompanied a combination of Mum, Dad or both around the Fawthrop Lagoon. The image of Mindy returning muddy and water logged is as true to her being as curled up on a lap and snoozing.

She didn’t seem to pick favourites and loved every family member equally. If any of the four of us weren’t home she’d happily camp by one of the many front facing windows and keep an eye out for our safe return. We soon realised that the windowed outside world was a bit like a dog TV. A deep rumble of a bark would occasionally accompany a ruffling of the curtains. It sounded so out of character to her temperament, I’d be amazed if she didn’t surprised her self the first time she let out her rumbled low bark.

To as loyal and loving a dog as any family could ever wish for, we thank you for the memories Mindy. You will be sorely missed and forever remembered, you where the perfect companion and gave more than you ever asked for, may you rest in peace as you continue to your next walk of life ...

Oh snap! … I’m all grown up.

As the movers and shakers of Australian parliament name call, seduce, lie and contradict each other all under the guise of forming a ‘minority government’. I realised an undiscovered truth about myself in the fallout of the 2010 Australian Federal election.

I care

This might well be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but if I’m honest with myself. I have to admit that my opinion of Australian politics is likely to have changed forever. It is comical that I’ve come to this insight after we have headed to the polling booths, but then we could be heading back sooner than we think.

Since coming of age and having a say in my nation’s future I’ve always taken a pretty bullish and simpleton view of the political landscape. I would whimsically declare “I don’t think either party has any true power to influence or change anything in my life”, so I’d vote for the same party every election regardless of polices.

Despite taking great interest in a number of issues that affect a minority of Australia’s. Such as R18+ censorship for video games or the recently announced intention of the government to ‘try’ and censor electronically distributed apps to tap into a source of revenue. I didn’t really draw the dotted lines together and see that either lack of action or attempted action would negatively impact my life.

Unfortunately with this new found appreciation to at least take an interest in what is going on in the nation, I can only concur with the rest of Australia. It is pretty much a dead all draw as to which party I favour running our borders, digital highways and general coming and goings.

I hope to do go back to the polls, and both parties run another campaign based on what they learnt listening to us the people. Given the decision is clearly on a knife’s edge either party could make an ever so slight adjustment and potentially stream role the opposition. It might even be proof the whole kit and caboodle system actually works!

Now while I’m on a role, maybe its time I try Vegemite again, you never know I might even like it this time around …