The course I am doing in college is Applied psychology so there are a number of factors that should be considered when buying a laptop.
Firtly it should be lightweight and fairly compact. Because I have to bring my laptop around with me from my house to college everyday to do work and assignments it needs to be light enough that it won't weigh me down too much and small enough that it will be able to fit into my bag without taking up too much room that nothing else will fit.
Another important thing to consider when buying a laptop is the screen size. It is very annoying having a laptop with a small screen, everything is smaller and you fit less onto the screen than when you have a larger screen, my old computer had quite a small screen but my new one has a much bigger screen which is comes in very handy.
Thirdly it is important that your laptop has at least 1 GB of RAM. RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is the most common type of memory found in computers. RAM is related to the speed of your computer: the more RAM you have the faster your computer will be able to process information. If you don't have very much RAM your computer will run a lot slower than other computers.
Space on the Hard disk is also very important when buying a laptop. The hard disk runs a lot slower that RAM, about 1 million times slower but its size is a lot bigger and it is far cheaper than RAM. Another difference between RAM and hard disk memory is that Hard disk has non-volatile memory meaning that it retains all its information when the computer power is turned off.
It is also important that your laptop comes with all the necessary ports. One of the most important ports on a laptop for a college student is a USB port, others are required less often such as HDMI cable ports, VGA ports, but things like earphone ports and the LAN port are needeed for everyday use.
Relating to the the above point, if your laptop doesn't have a LAN port, or just for convenience sake, it is handy to have an intergrated wireless adaptor for wifi. This is a lot more useful for connecting to the internet if you are bring your laptop from place to place or are far away from another LAN port to connect your laptop to.
Something that could also be a deciding factor for choosing a laptop is if it has a CD drive. CD drives are very useful for running programs on your laptop but having one in your laptop increases its size significantly. Graphic cards are also essential for a laptop. A graphics cards take data from the CPU and turns it into pictures, without it the screen would be blank.
Writing this up and looking up the information I learnt a lot about computers and I think it will help me again when buying a new computer in the future.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Article of interest. Techno-toddlers: A is for Apple
The article continues to talk about how all the large app developing companies have started making apps specifically designed towards toddlers and young children. According to the information in the article more children between the ages of two and five know how to play computer games than swim or ride a bike and a survey by Plymouth council found that 72% of children under the age of five spent half an hour a day on the internet.
I feel that it is kind of crazy that children this young are so proficient at using things like iPads and iPhones nowadays, even though I'm not particularly old at all I still think it is strange for a child less than five years old being able to have such command over something so complex. When I was three or four years old I doubt I would have been able work out how to turn on a computer let alone be able to spend half an hour trawling the internet. This is all happeninng because technology is evolving so fast, as it says in the article by the time these children who are four or five years old now reach adulthood or their teenage years even, technology will have adapted so much that things like the iPad will seem like an old fashioned invention.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/18/techno-toddlers-a-for-apple
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the concluding film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it follows after The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
The third installment in the Lord of the Rings franchise starts off much like the second film: with a considerable jump in time. The second film ended all three parts of the story with Frodo and Sam being released from Osgiliath by Faramir and returning on their quest to destroy the Ring of Power, with Gollum in tow; Merry and Pippin were with the Ents as they attacked and destroyed Isengard and locked Saruman in his tower Orthanc; and Gandalf had just arrived at Helms Deep with Eomer and his army to rescue Aragorn Legolas and Gimli and the rest of the people of Rohan from the Uruk-Hai that were attacking them.
When the third film starts Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli had just arrived at Isengard and were reunited with Merry and Pippin when Pippin picks up Saruman's Palantir (seeing stone) and sees Sauron and his plans to destroy Minas Tirith. Gandalf takes Pippin with him and rides to Minas Tirith to warn Denethor, steward of Gondor and father to Boromir and Faramir, of the impending attack upon the city. Gandalf urges him to call for aid from Rohan gut his prides gets in the way and he refuses to ask for their help. After this Gandalf gets Pippin to sneak off and light a beacon that calls for Rohans help.
Once Aragorn sees thte beacon he informs King Theoden of Rohan who readies his troops and calls to all the other tribes in the surrounding area, while they are all congregating Elrond comes to visit Aragorn, he gives him the sword of his ancestor Elendil: Narsil. He tells Aragorn that with the sword he will be able to suppon an army of the dead, so Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli leave the Rohan army and go to the Paths of the Dead to summon the army.
Meanwhile Gollum led Frodo and Sam to a back enterance way into Mordor, they are unaware that Gollum is leading them to be attacked by the giant spider Shelob. On the way Sam overhears Gollum ploting to kill them and take the ring but Frodo doesn't believe him and Gollum persuades Frodo to tell Sam to leave them and go home but on his way back Sam changes his mind and rushes back to save Frodo.
As the Riders of Rohan rush towards Minas Tirith Sauron's army attacks and starts to break down the Great gate. Just as it looks like the the Orcs will win the battle the Rohan army arrives and gives back up. When the battle starts to even out again Aragorn arrives with his Ghost army and sweeps the battle.
I thought that this movie was one of the best films I have ever seen and I felt that the ending was a perfect way to close off on the whole series. I would also give this movie 9 out of 10 and rate all of the Lord of the Rings movies as the best trilogy I have ever seen.
Here is the Official Trailer for the movie:
The third installment in the Lord of the Rings franchise starts off much like the second film: with a considerable jump in time. The second film ended all three parts of the story with Frodo and Sam being released from Osgiliath by Faramir and returning on their quest to destroy the Ring of Power, with Gollum in tow; Merry and Pippin were with the Ents as they attacked and destroyed Isengard and locked Saruman in his tower Orthanc; and Gandalf had just arrived at Helms Deep with Eomer and his army to rescue Aragorn Legolas and Gimli and the rest of the people of Rohan from the Uruk-Hai that were attacking them.
When the third film starts Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli had just arrived at Isengard and were reunited with Merry and Pippin when Pippin picks up Saruman's Palantir (seeing stone) and sees Sauron and his plans to destroy Minas Tirith. Gandalf takes Pippin with him and rides to Minas Tirith to warn Denethor, steward of Gondor and father to Boromir and Faramir, of the impending attack upon the city. Gandalf urges him to call for aid from Rohan gut his prides gets in the way and he refuses to ask for their help. After this Gandalf gets Pippin to sneak off and light a beacon that calls for Rohans help.
Once Aragorn sees thte beacon he informs King Theoden of Rohan who readies his troops and calls to all the other tribes in the surrounding area, while they are all congregating Elrond comes to visit Aragorn, he gives him the sword of his ancestor Elendil: Narsil. He tells Aragorn that with the sword he will be able to suppon an army of the dead, so Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli leave the Rohan army and go to the Paths of the Dead to summon the army.
Meanwhile Gollum led Frodo and Sam to a back enterance way into Mordor, they are unaware that Gollum is leading them to be attacked by the giant spider Shelob. On the way Sam overhears Gollum ploting to kill them and take the ring but Frodo doesn't believe him and Gollum persuades Frodo to tell Sam to leave them and go home but on his way back Sam changes his mind and rushes back to save Frodo.
As the Riders of Rohan rush towards Minas Tirith Sauron's army attacks and starts to break down the Great gate. Just as it looks like the the Orcs will win the battle the Rohan army arrives and gives back up. When the battle starts to even out again Aragorn arrives with his Ghost army and sweeps the battle.
I thought that this movie was one of the best films I have ever seen and I felt that the ending was a perfect way to close off on the whole series. I would also give this movie 9 out of 10 and rate all of the Lord of the Rings movies as the best trilogy I have ever seen.
Here is the Official Trailer for the movie:
Saturday, 19 November 2011
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Continuing on from my last post, I also watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers recently. This movie still follows the journey of Frodo Baggins as he tries to destroy the Ring of Power though much has happened between the start of the first movie and the second. Firstly they lost the Wizard Gandalf the Grey during their flight from the Balrog in the Mines of Moria and secondly during the battle against Saruman's Uruk-Hai at Parth Galen their group was split up completely. Boromir was killed by the Uruk-Hai after trying to steal the ring form Frodo, Merry and Pippin were captured by the Uruk-Hai and being brought to Isengard, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli decided to chase after them to try and rescue them while Frodo and Sam went on with their quest without them.
When the film starts it goes back the the Mines of Moria when Gandalf is battling the Balrog, Gandalf and the Balrog fall down a cavern fighting the whole way down until they crash into a lake and the scene snaps to Frodo waking up abruptly.The film now switches between telling three simultaneous stories: Following the path of Frodo and Sam as they try to find a way to Mordor; following Merry and Pippin as they get carried along by the Uruk-Hai and trailing Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they track Merry and Pippin.
This is where most of the problems with the movie occur. In my opinion it is because the path of Frodo and Sam is one of the most boring things I have ever seen in my life. They are attacked by Gollum who wants to steal the ring back from Frodo but they subdue him and force him to show them the way to Mordor. Gollum agrees but all the while is plotting ways he would be able to steal the ring back. Sam doesn't trust Gollum but Frodo has complete blind faith in him. The whole time the story line is with them it seems to me that Frodo is moaning about how hard it is for him to carry on with the pressure of his task to destroy the ring. It is very tedious watching this but the other two thirds of the movie more than make up for what is lacking from Frodo's section.
The Merry and Pippin storyline involves them escaping from their captors during a battle in the night and fleeing into Fangorn Forrest, away from an Orc who was chasing them, where they run into an Ent (Giant tree person) called Treebeard who kills the Orc and brings Merry and Pippin with him. Merry and Pippin play very minor roles in this film compared to the other main characters but they still are enjoyable to watch.
The parts of the film with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are by far the most exciting in my opinion. When they are chasing after the Uruk-Hai they come across a group of horsemen from Rohan led by Eomer, they say that they have left Edoras, the capital of Rohan, because their King has been brainwashed by his hand servent Grima Wormtongue. Aragorn and co. part company with them and continue searching for Merry and Pippin and come across the ground where they had been. Aragorn tracked their movements to straight into the forest, when they follow their path into the trees they find a man blocking their path, it is Gandalf, reborn as Gandalf the White after dying in battle after killing the Balrog. Gandalf brings them to Edoras where they free King Theoden from Grima's spell and then he leaves to go find Eomer to reunite him with his uncle the King.
After this Theoden decides to evacuate the city and move everyone to Helms Deep, Saruman's Uruk-Hai follow them there and lay siege to them and a large and exciting battle ensues.
I really thought this movie was really good even though I was sorely tempted to fast forward the parts which involved Frodo, but overall I thought this Film was Excellent like its predecessor and I would give it a 9 out of 10 as well, definitely worth another watch if it's been a while since you last watched it!
Here is the Official Trailer for the movie:
When the film starts it goes back the the Mines of Moria when Gandalf is battling the Balrog, Gandalf and the Balrog fall down a cavern fighting the whole way down until they crash into a lake and the scene snaps to Frodo waking up abruptly.The film now switches between telling three simultaneous stories: Following the path of Frodo and Sam as they try to find a way to Mordor; following Merry and Pippin as they get carried along by the Uruk-Hai and trailing Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they track Merry and Pippin.
This is where most of the problems with the movie occur. In my opinion it is because the path of Frodo and Sam is one of the most boring things I have ever seen in my life. They are attacked by Gollum who wants to steal the ring back from Frodo but they subdue him and force him to show them the way to Mordor. Gollum agrees but all the while is plotting ways he would be able to steal the ring back. Sam doesn't trust Gollum but Frodo has complete blind faith in him. The whole time the story line is with them it seems to me that Frodo is moaning about how hard it is for him to carry on with the pressure of his task to destroy the ring. It is very tedious watching this but the other two thirds of the movie more than make up for what is lacking from Frodo's section.
The Merry and Pippin storyline involves them escaping from their captors during a battle in the night and fleeing into Fangorn Forrest, away from an Orc who was chasing them, where they run into an Ent (Giant tree person) called Treebeard who kills the Orc and brings Merry and Pippin with him. Merry and Pippin play very minor roles in this film compared to the other main characters but they still are enjoyable to watch.
The parts of the film with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are by far the most exciting in my opinion. When they are chasing after the Uruk-Hai they come across a group of horsemen from Rohan led by Eomer, they say that they have left Edoras, the capital of Rohan, because their King has been brainwashed by his hand servent Grima Wormtongue. Aragorn and co. part company with them and continue searching for Merry and Pippin and come across the ground where they had been. Aragorn tracked their movements to straight into the forest, when they follow their path into the trees they find a man blocking their path, it is Gandalf, reborn as Gandalf the White after dying in battle after killing the Balrog. Gandalf brings them to Edoras where they free King Theoden from Grima's spell and then he leaves to go find Eomer to reunite him with his uncle the King.
After this Theoden decides to evacuate the city and move everyone to Helms Deep, Saruman's Uruk-Hai follow them there and lay siege to them and a large and exciting battle ensues.
I really thought this movie was really good even though I was sorely tempted to fast forward the parts which involved Frodo, but overall I thought this Film was Excellent like its predecessor and I would give it a 9 out of 10 as well, definitely worth another watch if it's been a while since you last watched it!
Here is the Official Trailer for the movie:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
One of my favourite movies of all time and one that I watched recently is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I watched the trilogy last week and I had forgotten how good all the movies were.
The movies are based on the books of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkein.
It is set in Middle Earth, a land inhabited by Men, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and many other species including Hobbits.
The film starts off by showing showing the forging or the rings that were given to each race: 3 to the Elves; 7 to the Dwarves and 9 to the race of Men. But the Dark Lord Sauron also forged anothe ring in secret. A ring of power, intended gave him control of the other rings. The scene skips to a view of an army of Men and Elves, the last free people of Middle Earth, as they march towards Mordor to fight a last stand against Sauron and his army or orcs. During the battle Isildur picks up the sword of his dead father, King Elendil, and uses it to cut the Ring of Power off Sauron's hand, removing his power and destroying his body.
Isildur, overcome with lust, keeps the ring instead of destroying it thus preserving Saurons life force which was bound to the ring. After Isildur is murdered by Orcs the ring disappears from all knowledge for over 2,500 years. The ring is then found by Gollem, once a creature similar to a Hobbit, he keeps the ring to himself in the Misty Mountains for 500 years until Bilbo Baggins stumbles across him and takes the Ring from him.
The prologue ends and the film starts properly in the shire, home to many Hobbits and the protagonist of the three films, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). There is a party being hosted for Frodo's uncle Bilbo for his 111th birthday and preparations are in full swing when the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) arrives. He is old friends with Bilbo after sending him on an adventure to rescue treasure and battle a dragon ( in 'The Hobbit' also by J. R. R. Tolkein ) and as such is invited to his birthday party. While talking to Bilbo, Gandalf realises that he intends to leave the shire and go on another adventure or go somewhere quiet to finish writing his book. Gandalf convinces him to leave his 'magic ring' behind in Frodos care.
After Bilbo leaves Gandalf decides to do a bit more research into the ring that Bilbo had and discovers that it is the original Ring of Power created by Sauron. At a similar time to this, Saurons followers captured Gollem and tortured him into telling them where Bilbo lived so they could get the ring back.
Gandalf then gets Frodo to agree to take the ring to Rivendell, the home of the Elves but Frodo decides to take the ring the whole way to Mt. Doom in Mordor to destroy the ring once and for all. Frodo was accompanied by his best friend Samwise Gamgee and two other of their friends Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took ( Merry and Pippin ) from the shire and once they left Rivnedell they also travelled with an Elf Legolas, a dwarf Gimli and two men Aragorn and Boromir, along with the Wizard Gandalf.
They encounter many difficulties and dangers on their journey and the audience is left wanting more at the end of the film.
The Fellowship of the Rings has been critisized as being the most boring of the three movies and the one that deviates the furthest from the novels but I still think that it is the best of the three movies as it gives a great introduction to each character and sets the basis of the other two to follow on from.
I doubt that there are very many people out there who have never seen a Lord of the Rings movie but if so I encourage everyone to go and watch one, or if you have seen it, watch it again! I would give this movie 9 out of 10
Here is the Official Trailer for the movie:
The movies are based on the books of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkein.
It is set in Middle Earth, a land inhabited by Men, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and many other species including Hobbits.
The film starts off by showing showing the forging or the rings that were given to each race: 3 to the Elves; 7 to the Dwarves and 9 to the race of Men. But the Dark Lord Sauron also forged anothe ring in secret. A ring of power, intended gave him control of the other rings. The scene skips to a view of an army of Men and Elves, the last free people of Middle Earth, as they march towards Mordor to fight a last stand against Sauron and his army or orcs. During the battle Isildur picks up the sword of his dead father, King Elendil, and uses it to cut the Ring of Power off Sauron's hand, removing his power and destroying his body.
Isildur, overcome with lust, keeps the ring instead of destroying it thus preserving Saurons life force which was bound to the ring. After Isildur is murdered by Orcs the ring disappears from all knowledge for over 2,500 years. The ring is then found by Gollem, once a creature similar to a Hobbit, he keeps the ring to himself in the Misty Mountains for 500 years until Bilbo Baggins stumbles across him and takes the Ring from him.
The prologue ends and the film starts properly in the shire, home to many Hobbits and the protagonist of the three films, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). There is a party being hosted for Frodo's uncle Bilbo for his 111th birthday and preparations are in full swing when the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) arrives. He is old friends with Bilbo after sending him on an adventure to rescue treasure and battle a dragon ( in 'The Hobbit' also by J. R. R. Tolkein ) and as such is invited to his birthday party. While talking to Bilbo, Gandalf realises that he intends to leave the shire and go on another adventure or go somewhere quiet to finish writing his book. Gandalf convinces him to leave his 'magic ring' behind in Frodos care.
After Bilbo leaves Gandalf decides to do a bit more research into the ring that Bilbo had and discovers that it is the original Ring of Power created by Sauron. At a similar time to this, Saurons followers captured Gollem and tortured him into telling them where Bilbo lived so they could get the ring back.
Gandalf then gets Frodo to agree to take the ring to Rivendell, the home of the Elves but Frodo decides to take the ring the whole way to Mt. Doom in Mordor to destroy the ring once and for all. Frodo was accompanied by his best friend Samwise Gamgee and two other of their friends Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took ( Merry and Pippin ) from the shire and once they left Rivnedell they also travelled with an Elf Legolas, a dwarf Gimli and two men Aragorn and Boromir, along with the Wizard Gandalf.
They encounter many difficulties and dangers on their journey and the audience is left wanting more at the end of the film.
The Fellowship of the Rings has been critisized as being the most boring of the three movies and the one that deviates the furthest from the novels but I still think that it is the best of the three movies as it gives a great introduction to each character and sets the basis of the other two to follow on from.
I doubt that there are very many people out there who have never seen a Lord of the Rings movie but if so I encourage everyone to go and watch one, or if you have seen it, watch it again! I would give this movie 9 out of 10
Here is the Official Trailer for the movie:
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Johnny English review
A movie I saw in the cinema recently and really enjoyed was Johnny English Reborn.
This was my first time going to the cinema in ages for whatever reason and I was really hoping that this movie wasn't a disappointment and luckily I thought it was brilliant.
The movie picks up several years after the first one left off with Johnny English (played by Rowen Atkinson) studying martial arts in tibet after he ruined a mission in Mozambique to protect their president. Johnny English is then called back by MI7 to help in a mission to stop the assassination of the Chinese premier. English and his new sidekick Tucker travel to china and back to try and find out how to stop 'Vortex', a group of international assassians, from killing the Chinese premier. Despite his best efforts to stop the assassians, English accidentally takes a drug and becomes their wepon to kill the premier. He must then use all his training from the tibetan monks to overcome his orders and save the day.
Without giving away everything Johnny English of course saves the day and leaves with the girl (who happens to be a behavioural psychologist).
I thought this movie was very good and had some hilarious jokes and scenes where Rowan Atkinsons comedic personality shines through but overall I thought it wasn't as good as it's predecessor, which is the same with most movie series. I would give this movie a 7 out of 10 and encourage everyone to go and see it!
Here is a link to the trailer for the movie if anyone hasn't seen it yet.
This was my first time going to the cinema in ages for whatever reason and I was really hoping that this movie wasn't a disappointment and luckily I thought it was brilliant.
The movie picks up several years after the first one left off with Johnny English (played by Rowen Atkinson) studying martial arts in tibet after he ruined a mission in Mozambique to protect their president. Johnny English is then called back by MI7 to help in a mission to stop the assassination of the Chinese premier. English and his new sidekick Tucker travel to china and back to try and find out how to stop 'Vortex', a group of international assassians, from killing the Chinese premier. Despite his best efforts to stop the assassians, English accidentally takes a drug and becomes their wepon to kill the premier. He must then use all his training from the tibetan monks to overcome his orders and save the day.
Without giving away everything Johnny English of course saves the day and leaves with the girl (who happens to be a behavioural psychologist).
I thought this movie was very good and had some hilarious jokes and scenes where Rowan Atkinsons comedic personality shines through but overall I thought it wasn't as good as it's predecessor, which is the same with most movie series. I would give this movie a 7 out of 10 and encourage everyone to go and see it!
Here is a link to the trailer for the movie if anyone hasn't seen it yet.
Welcome!
Welcome to Peter's movie reviews!
I'm Peter and I'm studying in IADT at the moment. I have to make a blog for my ICT class so I hope you take a look at it.
By reading this blog hopefully you will get lots of ideas about which movies to see and which to skip.
I'm Peter and I'm studying in IADT at the moment. I have to make a blog for my ICT class so I hope you take a look at it.
By reading this blog hopefully you will get lots of ideas about which movies to see and which to skip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)