Mike Jennings.co.uk

As the title suggests, I've been incredibly busy - mostly with work - lately. That'll teach me to take on writing most of Computer Buyer in a single month.

I also got to go to Dublin and, as I've never flown or been abroad before, I was highly excited.

Flying is amazing: I've told people at work that the next time a trip pops up where there's a plane involve, stick me on it. I've written more about flying and the whole trip over on the PC Pro blog, so you can read that they're if you're at all interested. Which you probably won't be.

The rest of my time has been devoted to finishing my current Labs for the magazine which, in turn, has mostly been spent fighting with a Mac Mini.

I do need an answer to this so Chris, please let me know if you're reading: why doesn't the Mac Mini have an eject button? I know you can right-click the icon for the optical drive on the desktop but that can be annoying if you've got several windows open and have to click back to the desktop.

I know they like their products minimalist, but omitting such a basic feature still strikes me as a little odd.

A week on Saturday is my driving test, at 8:40am. I'm probably going to fail, so I'm not too fussed. Oh well.

I'm reviewing this game for Den of Geek this week - so be sure to look out for the review when it goes online.

Anyway, I got home tonight and I've been playing on the game for an hour or so and, so far, I'm pretty impressed.

It does get off to an odd start, but you're thrust into the action pretty soon. It's incredibly cinematic, switching from intricate, gorgeously animated cut-scenes to gameplay without missing a beat. However, there's been plenty of controversy about various aspects of MGS4 - namely the cut-scenes and the installation - that have generated plenty of heat on forums.

I think fussing about the installation is a little bit silly. People seem to complain that it's not in the spirit of consoles etc, but I think they're fussing over nothing. Set the game installing and watch TV for 10 minutes; then come back, it's done, and you're ready to go. It's only got to install once and, as far as I can see, it's a miniscule price to pay for one of the most cinematic and, as far as I can tell, effecting experiences of the millennium so far.

The cut-scene issue is, in my mind, less clear-cut. I've only played for around an hour, but there's an awful lot of narrative exposition and an awful lot of cut-scene. There's no doubt that these parts of the game are splendid: full of film-quality, well, everything. However, from what I've seen of the game so far, it's just as good. It leaves me wanting to play more, rather than playing in short, tense spurts in between the plot.

I have a friend.

Surprising, I know. But that's not the point of this story.

As far as I can tell, she's a total and utter World of Warcraft addict and, as far as I can tell, it's having a detrimental effect on her life.

We used to talk quite a lot - either on the phone, or on msn, or via text message - and were really good friends. We've known each other for a long time and get on really well. Except she got this game a few months ago and, well, she's been getting more and more distant since she's been playing it. The first signs of trouble were so minor that I didn't really pay them much attention. MSN screen-names containing her character class and level; that sort of thing.

She even tried to get me to play it. I've dabbled in MMORPG's before - Guild Wars and Tabula Rasa are my favourites - but have no desire to play a standard RPG that has, luckily, very high production values. I've told her this in several emails that I was bombarded with at work, and also said that I don't have the time to play WoW enough to justify paying for a subscription every month. I have work, freelance work, books to read, other games to play, whiskey to drink. 'I never thought I'd have time to play it either', the lady doth protested, 'but I started and then I managed to find time anyway!'

That, ladies and gentlemen, sounds a bit like addiction.

It all got a little surreal last week. As far as I know, the level cap is 70, and she was on 68. She was also on Windows Live Messenger in the daytime, which is unusual as she's normally at work. So I asked, and was told that she'd booked the day off.

'Oh, for a special occasion?' I asked. Then, the answer that I'd been dreading came back.

'Yeah, I'm getting to level 70 today!'

Oh dear.

I haven't had a conversation with her for, literally, months. I can't make any inroads on MSN because I don't get past the initial greeting before she's back in fantasyland, and I'm not really in the mood to go ringing her. I'm too angry to speak, anyway. She texted me at the end of last week with an apology and, while I'm tempted to say it's fine and try to go back to normal, I know that won't be the case. She's ignored me - after saying that I'm her best friend - before and, when I've made issue with it, has promised that it won't happen again. Except it does, time and time again.

So now I'm left waiting. If she'd like to chat and talk and have a real conversation - which I really do miss, actually - then I'm here. If not, then I hope she's happy killing orcs and stuff.

I've just got home from an HP-hosted pub quiz with prizes - we won pint glasses - and a free bar. Eight double whiskys later and I'm back, so it's all good.

Work's good too. Products are arriving and things seem to be arriving on schedule so, touch wood, everything's going to plan.

I've got a new laptop! It's a Dell XPS M1330 and I'm delighted with it. It's been bought as a tool to work on the train and, while that is the case - I can review a lot more now, which is good for Gamersinfo.net, Computer Buyer, Den of Geek and my bank balance - and I've picked up work on my novel again. It's been months since I've written any of Gargantua and it's good to disappear into that world for forty minutes every morning.

As well as that, though, it's a superb piece of machinery. Build quality is almost without reproach for a £550 laptop - my only qualm so far is the slightly flimsy wireless switch - and the screen is lovely and bright. The keyboard is, obviously, crucial, and it's solid and comfortable. It extends to the edges of the base and so there's room for full-size keys. I plumped for a larger-celled battery too. It doesn't add much weight or size to the machine but means it can last almost 5 hours if you're careful, which is ample for my regular train journeys.

It's only got Intel's integrated X3100 graphics, but they're surprisingly good - I could have paid £50 extra for a dedicated GeForce 8400M chip but it's really not worth it. I can play plenty of games on here and it's given me a chance to dig out some old classics - Age of Empires II, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, Trackmania, Football Manager and Red Alert 2 have all had outings.

In short, it's brilliant. We've never reviewed it on Pro, though, which is a shame. But now I have to go as I have work in the morning.

News broke yesterday that, in an effort to prove to the rest of the world that they had been telling the truth, the Brazilian Government released pictures of a previously-uncontacted tribe that they'd, well, contacted.

Specifically, they'd flown a plane directly over the tribe's village a couple of times and took pictures - mainly of their various houses and huts, as well as a group of villagers brandishing spears, bows and arrows at the plane. I don't think it's a stretch to say that they had probably never seen a plane, at least one that close.

Personally, I think it's a bit of a shame that the Brazilian folk have done this just so they can massage their own ego - it's as if they've done it for their own willy-waving purposes, rather than anything else. They claim that they needed to prove that the tribe exists to protect their land - but from who?

The only people who, ultimately, are responsible for the land are the Brazilian government. If some corporation wants to wade into the forest and chop it down for burger meat or paper or something then, if the Government knows that the tribe is there, they can protect them. There's no need to release a load of pictures to help the process.

It just seems as if they've done this to show off that:

a) they have at least one plane, and
b) Brazil also has a vaguely competent photographer who can, at least, enable Auto Focus.

Of course, the real losers are the tribe. They've probably been there for thousands of years, and it's a baffling concept that, these days, an uncontacted tribe still exists - apparently there's around 100 left in the world, roughly divided between Brazil and Peru. Expect, there's now one less uncontacted tribe because the Government decided that releasing photographs like this was the best way to protect them. It's just self-centred and, for the tribe, potentially destructive.

Why would they need to prove the tribe's existence anyway? Surely they already knew that they were there -if not, fly a plane over at a far higher altitude and take satellite pictures of their settlement, a lá Google Earth - which has shown that it is doable.

It's just a little bit strange, and it seems like Brazil are just courting the international community - trying to show off their photography, as it were - with little regard for the tribe living in the jungle.

Some of the BBC's coverage also makes me laugh. They've posted a page that attempts to explain what's going on in the pictures, and it's a lesson in pointing out the blindingly obvious.

According to Fiona Watson, an expert on the region in question, the tribe's huts 'often have fires' which are used for 'cooking and heating'.

Really? I would never have guessed.

It goes on to explain that the men, shown brandishing bows and arrows at the camera, are trying to 'drive off' the plane.

Odd. I thought they were waving.

So, had a very busy weekend - well, Sunday and Monday at least.

Saturday, I did absolutely nothing. It rocked.

On Sunday me, Dad, Brother and Cousin went to the PGA Championship, at Wentworth. It's one of the bigger European golf events of the year - the winner takes home almost £600,00 - and it was an excellent day. The conclusion to the golf was pretty exciting, but the beef pie with mash was even better.

Monday was, remarkably, better than the Pie - as Beth came down to London. It was raining all day, so we got a bit wet, but we also visited the British Museum and saw lots of cool things. If she tells you that I have leprosy, then she's a dirty liar.

In the afternoon we met up with Chris and Frances to laugh at dirty books in Waterstones and then went and had some awesome food at Ed's Diner. We then bummed around Harrods looking at things we can't possibly afford and then she went home. Which sucked.

Today, though, I've been feeling the affects of the weekend: a couple of blisters from endless walking on Sunday, a bad back from ducking under a rope at an odd angle - don't ask - and a cold from tramping around London in the rain. Then there's the two armfuls of insect bites from the golf on Sunday, too. It's been proven that it's scientifically impossible to avoid scratching them, which is a bit of a double-edged sword - it feels incredibly nice until you start bleeding and pulling chunks out of your arm.

Anyway, my room needs tidying and I need to lather my arms in Eurax, a cream to stop me wanting to itch them.

So, on Tuesday I got a ticket to go to an advance press screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so I could review it for Den of Geek.

The film's a bit special, but you'll have to go and read my review to find out.

In the meantime, I seem to have totally overloaded myself with games that I'm just aching to play.

As well as rushing around London on release day to get hold of a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4, which I've already written about and is brilliant, I ended up buying several old PS2 classics that week as well, just because I saw them in shops - both in London and Leicester - and didn't know when I'd see them again, as they're quite rare.

After playing the brilliant God of War: Chains of Olympus on PSP - which acts as a prequel to the series - I found out God of War 1 and 2, both on PS2. I've only managed to play God of War for a little bit, but first impressions are good: huge amounts of OTT action with Kratos and his Blades of Chaos.

Another game I've always fancied is Ico. It got great reviews when it was released a few years back - it's a quirky, odd adventure/platform game - and then proceeded to sell about fourteen copies. Simply because it's a little arty and high-brow compared to your average Spiderman game. So I'm excited about playing that.

Okami is another arty game that got absolutely blistering reviews, and Dave at work assures me that it's brilliant. As is the follow-up to Okami, Shadow of the Collosus. Just Cause is another odd one: not a brilliant set of review scores when it was released, but I followed its development with interest - it's free-roaming in jungles, like Crysis but not as good or advanced - and couldn't find it anywhere when it was released.

Add that in to the fact that a new version of TrackMania Nations has been released, entitled Forever, and you can see that I'm a little preoccupied. And the group test for Computer Buyer, and three w games that are on the way from GamersInfo.net.

Hmm. The quest for a work-less day goes on!