{"id":2403,"date":"2015-01-01T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.payneful.co.uk\/blogsplosion\/?p=2403"},"modified":"2016-03-16T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T14:53:14","slug":"the-year-in-blogs-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.payneful.co.uk\/blogsplosion\/2015\/01\/01\/the-year-in-blogs-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"The Year in Blogs: 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had high hopes for 2014, but when I started the year by almost killing myself with alcohol it sort of set the mood. Despite that little hiccup at the start of the year, a lot of effort went into the first few chapters of the Two Doctors’ World Tour<\/a>, I dipped my toes into the world of podcasting and also managed to write some blogs, too. Here’s a recap on some of the things I produced (aside from alcohol-induced bile and vomit).<\/p>\n

Manchild at Play: Paint Your Own Gromit (Peppa Pig)<\/a> – 09\/01<\/h2>\n

There was a young family member who was obsessed with both Peppa Pig and the Gromit Unleashed event in Bristol, so it made perfect sense to me to mash the two together as a nice Christmas present for Xmas 2013.<\/p>\n

Game Guides for Non-Gamers: Hitman<\/a> – 08\/02<\/h2>\n

In the first of a series of blogs aimed at folks who are not so familiar with video games, I summarise my favourite murder simulator while trying to justify all the murder as “if you kill a lot of people then you’re just not trying very hard to be a professional killer”.<\/p>\n

Derren Brown is a Malevolent Supervillain<\/a> – 07\/05<\/h2>\n

There are a lot of crackpot conspiracy theories out there, but this one is 100% true (probably). Once you have read it, you will see through the lies and believe! Or, in the very least, believe everything Derren wants you to believe.<\/p>\n

Manchild at Play: Ghostbusters LEGO<\/a> – 11\/06<\/h2>\n

I sate my desire for children’s building blocks while also padding out my growing collection of LEGO sets based around classic films<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UX: The Invisible Developer<\/a> – 19\/06 (Work\/Portfolio)<\/h2>\n

In the first blog I’ve ever written from the perspective of the web development industry, I highlight my views on how user experience should<\/em> work.<\/p>\n

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #01: Liquid Snake\u2019s Arm Across the Eighth Dimension<\/a> – 24\/06<\/h2>\n

My first foray into producing recorded media is a rambling, messy, cluttered exercise in trying to play Minecraft<\/em> while holding a conversation with my other half. Oh, and I tried to explain the stupidly convoluted story of Liquid Snake’s severed arm within the context of the Metal Gear Solid<\/em> universe.<\/p>\n

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #02: Grand Theft Scavenger Hunt<\/a> – 01\/07<\/h2>\n

Not to be deterred, we returned for a second week! We didn’t play a game while we were recording! We had an agenda! We’d found somewhere to record away from our pet birds! And we still rambled on about football, Discworld, Grand Theft Auto V<\/em> and (my favourite topic) video game scavenger hunts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #03: Chitty Chitty Bond Bond<\/a> – 14\/07<\/h2>\n

With the vague theme of “Ian Fleming”, me and Sam talk at length about (mostly) James Bond and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #04: Spaceships in Space<\/a> – 13\/08<\/h2>\n

Having just seen Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>, I gush at length about it alongside Sam while also touching on our other favourite series featuring “a bunch of dudes cruising around on a spaceship”.<\/p>\n

Game Guides for Non-Gamers: Metal Gear Solid<\/a> – 17\/08<\/h2>\n

I desperately attempt to condense the nigh-impenetrable wall of series lore that is the Metal Gear<\/em> franchise, with some reasonable success (i.e. I barely scratch the surface).<\/p>\n

I Did the ALS\/MND Ice Bucket Challenge (in Style)<\/a> – 31\/08<\/h2>\n

In which I shamelessly hop on a passing bandwagon and, at the same time, do the tiniest slither of good in the world.<\/p>\n

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #05: A Tale of Two Controversies<\/a> – 20\/09<\/h2>\n

If you don’t know what #GamerGate is, join the club. I spent about an hour and a half of discussion with Sam trying to figure out exactly what it is\/was and I don’t think we were any the wiser afterwards. Oh, and I briefly touch on John Constantine (Hellblazer)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spammers Say the Creepiest Things<\/a> – 04\/10<\/h2>\n

Most blogs try and avoid spam, but I collect it and publish it because I’m mad. As a sequel post to a previous “spotlight on spam<\/a>“, this time I was focusing on the creepy, slightly off<\/em> spam I’d received.<\/p>\n

Murdered: Soul Suspect, as Lifeless as the Ghost That Stars in It<\/a> – 11\/10<\/h2>\n

I was not impressed at all with the massive waste of potential that was Murdered<\/em>. It’s alright, I think I’ve just about gotten over it now. Barely.<\/p>\n

Pulling the Plug | Creepypasta<\/a> – 31\/10<\/h2>\n

The first part of this year’s Halloween double-post special was a short story I put together (only to immediately realise afterwards that I’d basically subconsciously nicked the plot from an old Hellblazer comic<\/a>, d’oh!).<\/p>\n

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #06: Creepypastaganza<\/a> – 31\/10<\/h2>\n

The second part of this year’s Halloween double-post special was an extended podcast of me reading out some choice spooky stories plucked from the web to Sam.<\/p>\n

How to Improve the John Lewis Christmas 2014 TV Advert<\/a> – 08\/11<\/h2>\n

The John Lewis TV ad was nice, but I thought it just wasn’t gay<\/em> enough (in both senses of the term).<\/p>\n

So I Built a Fake French Accent Translator<\/a> – 16\/11<\/h2>\n

I find writing comical French accents a chore (as I’m sure many other people do) so I built a little web interface over the course of a weekend to help with that exact problem. No no, the pleasure is all mine, I realise how much easier I have made your life by building this.<\/p>\n

How to Improve the Sainsbury\u2019s Christmas 2014 TV Advert<\/a> – 22\/11<\/h2>\n

Having helped John Lewis, I decided that Sainsbury’s controversial advert could have used a bit more comedy (you know, just to liven up the grim event of WW1 a bit).<\/p>\n

Facebook Doesn\u2019t Know How to Talk to Its Users<\/a> – 29\/11 (Work\/Portfolio)<\/h2>\n

Facebook managed to arbitrarily offend me by mismanaging their message system. It’s alright, I’ve got a hard skin, I’ll let it off this time.<\/p>\n

Game Guides for Non-Gamers: Shadow of the Colossus<\/a> – 07\/12<\/h2>\n

I explain the fairly simple plot of one of my all-time favourite video games (and optionally spoil the living hell out of it too).<\/p>\n

Manchild at Play: Paint Your Own Gromit Redux (Dick Dogstardly the \u201cBad Dog\u201d)<\/a> – 23\/12<\/h2>\n

I spent many weekends this year in my parent’s kitchen, painting my very own Gromit. I made him evil as hell, obviously.<\/p>\n

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