The UK Blog Awards 2015

Right now, I am feeling rather overwhelmed with work. Don’t let anyone tell you that University students just sit around all day twiddling their thumbs; we don’t, well some don't.

I find myself spending each week trying to carefully balancing:

Two law modules, one creative writing module,  two part-time jobs, being co-admin of the University of Winchester’s Writer’s Society; trying to eat, sleep and generally stay healthy; be a good friend/boyfriend, keep up with a ten thousand word dissertation and write a blog post a week.

Do you know what? I am shattered.

But, I will say that sometimes hard work can pay off and this week I found out that my blog has been nominated for two categories in the UKBlog Awards 2015.

Geek Boy Babbles has been nominated in the categories of young blogger and technology blog. This news gave me a little pep that showed me hard work can pay off.

From now until the 1^st December 2015, the nominees are up for the public vote. I would really appreciate any and all support from you, dear reader.

You can follow these links, here and here, to vote for Geek Boy Babbles in the categories.

I really do appreciate the votes and if you can join my campaign by spreading this post and the links to anyone and everyone I would be really grateful.

A cheeky shout-out to some of my blog friends who have also been nominated; please show them the support they deserve too:

Dependent on Gadgets

Emily Benet - more laughs than Bronte, also here.

The Willow Web, also here.

Thank you very much for any and all support, here is a slightly embarassing photo of me for your troubles.

Student Essentials - Wireless Range Extender

I have something to admit, I am one of those people who are more than a little set in their ways. Nothing demonstrates this better than my university housing record. Most students will probably start in halls before floating between landlords for the rest of their degree.

 Not me no, I found a house I liked in my first year and stayed put. I got a little adventurous during my second year. Switching rooms to one upstairs, but now for third year I am happily back in my downstairs cave. I’m happy like this, the room may be small, but its cosy and I have had good times there. Honestly, when the landlords come to get me out they will probably find me growing on the walls; a bit like the cursed crew of the Flying Dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Except hopefully, I won’t have sold my soul and my skin will have slightly less barnacles growing on it.

To demonstrate my technical know how:
 I have no idea what this is about.

The only real problem with the room is that it is a wireless dead spot. For my first year that wasn’t too bad. Yes, I was cut off from technology when I was at home. But it meant I left the house a lot more, instead of using Facebook to socialise I used my actual face! However, now that I am in my final year the workload makes a good connection a bit essential.

You may think we students spend our whole time slacking off, hell even I think that of certain students. But we do a lot of work and in this age a constant connection is needed for this. I could go back to using the uni’s facilities for work, but this means trekking to campus. This is great on nice days, let’s face it though, I live in Britain and the majority of the days it is going to be cold, wet and I’ll probably be set upon by wolves; seriously, some days you just can’t leave the house for those things.

So this year I took affirmative action, well I bought something shiny, (Firefly reference for the win!) I got myself a wireless extender, luckily Argos were having a sale and I found a few cheap(ish) options. I hammered in the code for the TP Link Wi-Fi extender or TL-WA850RE, but I call it Jeff.

As technology know-how goes I am somewhat limited. Restricted to being able to plug stuff in and pray that it does what the box tells me it will. Luckily this model has an easy set-up, which was: plug it into a spare socket, press a button on the front and on our router and then place it between said router and my room.

The difference was immediate, enough that I constructed a review for it. I can actually now have a signal throughout my cave without having the door open. Better yet, I can stream videos, whole videos, without getting hypnotised by those swirling circles. Just think with that kind of help I may be able to write my dissertation, so long as I don’t watch too many videos.

For a student like myself I have to recommend a Wi-Fi extender like this. It really is an essential for university; make sure you put one on your packing checklist. Also I recommend a packing checklist, but that’s for another post.

I’m not being paid by T.P Link and hopefully prove this by suggesting you buy any model of extender, regardless of brand. But the model I have is great, plus it comes with a three year warranty. This means that when I need a work break I can play keepy-ups with it too.

If you do find areas in your home have issues with dropping Wi-Fi then definitely give one of these a go. They are small, simple to use and usually cheaper than buying another box to re-route the signal. Definitely a student essential.

T.P Link image from PCAdvisor, Info graphic from biztech magazine

Moving House

It is a widely known fact that moving is one of the most stressful experiences a human can endure. So, why have I decided to go through that trauma four times in the last year and a half?

Every year students, like myself, move out of their term time accommodation and migrate back home for the holidays. I'm sure it is easier for some than others, it factors  on many things such as:

• How much you enjoy your term home/out of term home.
• How much stuff you need to pack.
• How organised you are, not just in packing but also planning what you need due to holiday work etc.
• How well you cope with stress.

The list could go on - with many multitudes of problems. Unfortunately, I am a self confessed hoarder/compulsive shopper; which means not only do I buy anything and everything I see, but also that I can never bring myself to throwing away either. I find it very easy to attach emotional meaning to the inanimate of objects. 

This is only the tip of the nerd-shelf!

As my housemate packed his items away he asked if I wanted anything on a table in his room. He explained how otherwise, 'it's all going in the bin.' This statement knocked me; many of the items appeared handmade. Surely they held a special place in his heart? When asked if anything I wanted was important to him - 'I don't really get sentimental over things,' was his reply.

I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for those who may have given him these items, and on a weird level for the items themselves destined for the trash heap. As a result of this I acquired more random tat for my nerd shelf (now pretty much a bookcase); ironic how I curse these items as I try to pack them away. Learning from this experience, I have resolved that when it comes to unpacking later I will scrutinise everything - my local charity shops will be pleased I'm sure.

The weather afforded the perfect opportunity for garden photos.

Worse than the packing/unpacking is the limbo like state of uncertainty a short term move brings. As I put stuff into those bland brown boxes I have to think whether I may need them at any time during the break. Another one of my flaws highlighted by moving is my disorganised nature, I find it hard to plan too far ahead. So, whilst I know I will need some books for working on my dissertation at home; I haven't really prioritized properly. In the end, I threw them into a canvas bag separate from my other books. 

This transition phase feels horrible; you're ever aware your moving again in a months time, leaving you feeling rather out of place. When I get back to my hometown I realise it's temporary, so do I choose to live out of my boxes or unpack them? Do I make any plans for my time there or should I just take it as it comes? In the end my time will probably be spent desperately trying to catch up with friends, panicking over the year ahead and attempting to get some work done. Unfortunately, the outcome will probably be that none of these get achieved and I return to University feeling like I have wasted a whole month.

My great modelling skills put to good work.

One silver lining to clearing out my cupboards, is in rediscovering all the things that have fallen down the back of furniture. I love finding my forgotten treasures as they spark memories I hadn't expected to revisit that day. For instance: my Dr Horrible freeze ray, which I built for London expo 2013. As I turned it over in my hands I remembered the amazing time I had at the event when my friends and I attended. Not just of expo itself, but of staying in a hotel for the weekend, going bowling and having dinner together. In my mind the whole experience was like a very geeky stag weekend.

I also used packing as an excuse to do a photo-shoot of some of my geeky items. The weather outside seemed to agree and the sunlight made the garden a perfect location. It's little moments of joy like those that softened the blow of packing. At the end of the day, yes packing is stressful and it does suck. But it allows us to rediscover sometimes, to move on at other times and to hopefully grow. My self I hope that this move will make me more careful in what I buy and hold on to. Although we will see if my plans to lighten my clutter come to fruition soon.