Just a quick explanation for anyone wondering why a games console appears to have hacked into this site 🙂
The short version is that my Xbox 360 posts details of games I have played recently, and any achievements attained. Whenever you see the nickname AntiSceptic, you can swap that for Chris, in your head 🙂 SilentlyScreaming is pretty much the only other alias I tend to use online. That was too long for Xbox live though 🙁 So I had to use my second choice, the one I ‘borrowed’ from Gavin all those years ago.
The slightly long winded version is this… IF my console is connected to the internet (not possible right now, as I have no xBox WiFi adaptor, and there is no network socket in the in-law’s living room), then every time I play a game, the Xbox Live service is informed of any relevant data. From Microsoft’s servers, the people over at 360voice & GamerDNA extract enough data to create blog posts. (See the last link in this post to see the original version). From here, my blog grabs the RSS feed for that page (see here), and posts the information up, under a different user account (it was simpler than trying to form lots of regex expressions to swap AntiSceptic for Chris or ‘I’, and I didn’t like making it look like I was actually talking about myself in the 3rd person), using the WP-o-matic plugin.
As mentioned, the Xbox 360 is currently offline, so the posts so far have all been my console ‘complaining’ that I’m not giving it enough attention. I’m not sure what will happen when I reconnect it when we move back to our flat – whether it’ll ignore games played and achievements…. …. achieved, or amend the older posts, or simply provide a summary of what has been missed.
Anyway, why do all this? Because I wanted to see what was possible. Am I claiming any sort of originality here? No, Narcogen has been doing this for a couple of years, I only just got around to viewing his site’s source to get a clue how he achieved this. Ha, upon checking I had got the right URL for his blog, I now see that each Xbox post actually has a link in it to 360voice. Hey ho.
You can see my official profile over here, and the 360voice/GamerDNA pages here.
May 19th, 2009 10:19 am
“Whether it’ll ignore games played and achievements…”
Gained?
May 19th, 2009 9:04 pm
Thanks, had a bit of a brain freeze I think 🙂
We are obviously back in Astana, when will you (two?) be around next?
May 19th, 2009 9:06 pm
Lol Oleg.
Oh Divine Goddess, I am missing you guys heaps. I’m sure Australia didn’t seem this lonely before I came home for a holiday 🙁
So anyway, you mention your in-laws’ living room here and decorators in another post. Where r u right now and why have you got decorators in? Are you back in the flat yet? If you’re at your in-laws where are the cats? Haha, bet you miss my 20 questions. I’m just trying to get a picture of you all in my head and I can’t do that if I don’t know the story.
Pants, I sound like a raving looney, wibble wibble burp puff! Fiddlesticks, I came on here to get a blog post done before work and as usual I am sidetracked. 45 mins til I have to go to the stinking office, poo face bananas! Crikes, for petes sake tell me if this is like really bad tagging on your newly painted wall and I will never rant on a comment again (well, unless I’m drunk or something?).
May 19th, 2009 9:38 pm
I’ve edited the time on my previous comment, so it makes more sense to other readers (I forgot to reload the page before adding my reply to Oleg, it had been open since this morning).
I know what you mean re. feeling different about our respective countries since having been back to Britain. Re. other questions, almost all answered in my reply to your comment on the Driftwood, Seb and Anna post. Decorators in because the kittens have shredded a lot of wall paper, a few lights and mains sockets needed fixing, and some other stuff I’ll post on in the future. No, you don’t sound like a raving looney, yes you do sound like you’re drunk ;-P Fiddlesticks do seem to be on your mind recently. Feel free to carry on posting whatever you like in the future.
PS Congratulations, your Alexa rank has now improved again, so AnnaMerriman.com no longer beats you 🙂
May 20th, 2009 7:47 pm
I’ll be in Astana in July, there’s some paper work to be done. Not sure if Marina will be able to join me.
Look forward to see all five of you. 🙂
May 20th, 2009 8:05 pm
Look forward to seeing you then 🙂
June 12th, 2009 3:27 am
[…] had hoped my previous explanation (and the fact that these posts didn’t say by: ChrisM, but Chris’ Xbox 360) would have […]