Now, not long after I got the game, I noticed a big billboard for Burger King. I thought maybe that’s just a one-off, but no, after a while I noticed ads for Diesel and Gilette too… and then realised: “Holy shit, this game has ADS IN IT!”

I’ve always found the idea of in-game advertising to be disgusting. Computer games seemed (to me) to be the final refuge from the daily bombardment of advertising we get in public places and on TV. But there’s something about these ads that aren’t so bad, they just aren’t in your face. And when you are zooming past them at 200KPH, you don’t even notice them.

And then, last week the Burnout Paradise developers released a HUGE 380Mb patch. With loads of new content, all for FREE! Now, most new content on xbox live you have to pay for, however this whopping great update was absolutely free.

I can only assume it was part-funded by their advertising revenue.

And apparently the next patch will introduce motorbikes (hmm…) and DAY/NIGHT and WEATHER FEATURES which is something I’ve wanted in this game since I first put it in the drive. And from what I hear, that update is going to be FREE as well!

So maybe in-game ads aren’t that bad after all. Provided they implemented the way they have in Burnout Paradise, off the road and not in your face.

This blog post is sponsored by Wenatex(tm). Makers of quality bedding products.

In the news at the moment there is talk that the RBA might lower interest rates later in the year. YES! All the mortgage holders begin to rejoice, but almost on cue the CBA and NAB have started hinting that they won’t necessarily pass this interest-rate cuts back to the mortgage holders. WHY NOT?? Oh, that’s right, because any cut in interest rates is just extra profit to them, and everybody is so used to high interest rates so why stop now?

But I’ve been thinking about WHY the banks are so greedy. Recently the bank that I work for announced that this year, they will only be making HALF A BILLION DOLLARS. And this was terribly SOLEMN news which caused their stock price to go DOWN!!

Normally, if I was a company and I was about to tell the world I’d made half a billion dollars in the last financial year I’d be pretty happy about it. But it was TERRIBLE, all these excuse came out, “Global credit crisis” this, “Unforseen weather events”, that. Apparently that gigantic profit just wasn’t gigantic enough for the shareholders, who all got busy pulling out, selling their shares causing the stock price to go down.

Now, this is where I get to my point: Who are the greedy ones here, is it a) The CEO and board of the bank, who demand high fees and extortionate interest rates to mortgage holders, or is it b) The shareholders, who require multi-billion dollar profits just to stay interested?

Hmm. I think it’s time to watch The Corporation again and contemplate.

I guess while I wait for the site to come back up I’ll watch the episodes on youtube, I know a few guys at work who can relate to these people.

I must admit, I thought we we might have been in trouble after Scott Prince broke him arm in the 15th minute, but it goes to show the resilience of the Queensland side that Thurston, Hunt and Smith didn’t panic and remained in control of the game. The scored were locked for so long in the second half it was almost unbearable, until a little dummy from Thurston broke through the NSW defence.

NSW’s attack was pretty soft I thought, they took a gamble with re-jigging their players (apparently right before kick-off!) but it didn’t pay off. So that’s three in a row, woot!!

Next year we’ll make it 4.

Not much has been happening, went and saw the Chaser Variety Hour on Satuday and it was mega funny.

I seem to go through “love it” or “hate it” stages with PVP. Lately the story has been good and I’m starting to love it again. And now there’s this… pure gold.

• Hid all my spare keys.
• Did an inventory of everything I have in the house (and put it on google docs rather than my PC).
• Put a better latch on the side gate, and secured it with a large padlock.
• Organised to have a home security system installed.

The last one is a pretty expensive option, but spending the entire day at work worrying about whether or not my house was being ransacked just wasn’t working out for me.

In other criminal-related news, I just received a letter and I have a question for you:

What’s the quickest/easiest way to get out of Jury duty??

I’m a contractor, I don’t get paid to do it and it could go for days or even weeks!! Is that enough of an excuse?

I took the day off work today to have the police dust my place for prints (found none) and get the broken window replaced. I’m already done with feeling shithouse about this, time to start feeling lucky. They could have taken my TV (FARK!!), my computer… I have no backups (FAARRK!) or even found the spare key to my car and driven that away (FAAAARRRK!!!).

It’s like they only took stuff small enough to carry, so I reckon they were kids. They smashed the window in my spare bedroom to get in, went through all my cupboards and drawers, nicked what they wanted and then let themselves out the back door. I have security screens on my windows but the grill is only on the part that opens. The other side is just solid glass, so I’m thinking my security screens are pretty much irrelevant right now.

My mate Dave was kind enough to give me an old CRT so I’m back on the interwebs. It takes up a lot of room compared to my old flat screen so I’ve got it elevated on a 6-pack of beer. I’d take a photo, but I don’t have a camera anymore.

Oh, and they stole my aftershave. W T F.

Let’s hope I’m home next time they pop round. It’s legal to hit someone in the head with a hammer if you catch them breaking into your home right? Yeah.. I’m pretty sure it is.

Queensland were a different team compared to their performance in game 1. They had determination and passion, and the Blues were just outplayed and outclassed.

Don’t cry big fella.

And you’ve gotta love the response after Willie Mason (above) called the Queensland supportes a bunch of “Redneck Nutbags” earlier in the week. I especially liked this effort.

I’m mega-excited about decider in 3 weeks time, it’s going to be another one of those series. BRING IT ON!!