Download it here (note it uses some weird archive format called XZ, which you might need to install (I did (I’m on OSX (but you mightn’t)))). Compile, install, yadda yadda, but alas there’s no recurse option, so to run over a directory:


find ./ -name *.png -exec pngcrush -rem alla -reduce -brute '{}' '{}'.crushed \; -exec mv '{}'.crushed '{}' \;


A scene where Grylls was purported to have escaped from an active volcano by leaping across lava, avoiding poisonous sulphur dioxide gas, was actually created with special effects, using hot coal and smoke machines. Sulphur dioxide gas is colourless.

As the attack patterns are deterministic, the emphasis is on memorising and replaying, but seriously, who has that kind of time. At only five levels short, it’s not an insurmountable task to remember when to to move here or shoot there, but my brain just isn’t up to the task.

So what do you do? You cheat. It’s not big, it’s not clever, but when you’ve spent all weekend trying to get to level 5 of game that has no real-world value, at the detriment of any social life you thought you had going, it’s the only option left.

In my defence, by cheat, I mean watch videos on youtube of Japanese teenagers playing through it. But, as always within the ‘tube, one video leads to another, to another, to another, until I landed on the one below. Apparently the work of one man, the brilliantly titled ‘Imperishable Night’, part of a Japanese game series called the Touhou Project, falls within a sub-genre of the 2D shooter called ‘bullet hell’. Taking the shooter to it’s extreme, the game is a testament to one person’s vision, regardless whether anyone else understands or even wants it (as it goes, this stuff is lapped up in it’s home country).

So now, whenever I’m stuck, close to giving up or even worse, about to throw the controller through the screen, I just think, ‘At least I’m not playing this’…

Alfredo starts University and sets up an account with his local high street Bank^[1]. 4 years later Alfredo finishes full-time education. On the 17th August he has exactly £0.54p in his account.

Five years later Alfredo receives a letter from a debt collection agency informing him there are outstanding monies owed to the Bank. Upon investigation, Alfredo ascertains that on the 16th April, 2008, a certain mobile phone company^[2] that Alfredo has never had (and consequently never will have) an account with tried to set up a £42 direct debit. As this amount was lacking from his account, the Bank charged a standard £38 ‘handling’ fee, sending Alfredo into his overdraft. One week later the same mobile phone company attempted to set up the same direct debit account, leading to the Bank deducting the same ‘handling’ fee.

Assuming the bank charges a monthly £28 overdraft charge for the overhead of sending a letter to an address Alfredo moved from years ago but forgot to update his details, as well as their standard 1.7% interest, and Alfredo received the debt collection letter on the 21st May 2009:

1. How much money is the Bank demanding?
2. How long did it take Alfredo to acquire previous bank statements for his account, that has now become frozen?

For extra marks:

1. How long will it take for the Bank to response to Alfredo’s letter of complaint/demand for refund?

If it helps the candidate visualise the situation better, assume, for arguments sake

1. [1] is National Westminster Bank
2. [2] is 3 mobile

But first of all, lets be completely clear, I’m not going to use this as an opportunity to complain about their policy of rolling membership; join for one month and they take your money every month thereafter. And god forbid I’m going to use this opportunity to complain about the inability to cancel your account with the world’s biggest technological corporation on the internet; a call centre in India is the only place that holds that kind of power.

The only complaint I have, only as an inconsequential aside, barely even worth mentioning, is when inquiring to our call centre rep as to how we formally complain, we were informed to do it online, but ‘your account will be cancelled’.

Inside…

Outside…

Moving…

Distortion Pedal from Darren Hurley on Vimeo.

Roll on the Taito lawsuit

Boxes

Follow it here, or get the source.