I’ve decided today that I’m not very good at regular blogging, well I am consistent at forgetting I suppose, so here is a quick update. The majority of my projects for my final year of university have now been completed and submitted. The thermal sited project was available online for a short time, but I will soon have to take it off line as the server rental is nearly up and as it is really demanding on the server, it requires its own virtual server. I will make offline versions of the flash simulations available under the project blog.

This term see the completion of my main project, which comprises 1 3rd of my degree. Recent thoughts on the project have led me in a new direction. As development gets underway I will be posting more regarding its progress, but the key concept now is to focus on how the portfolio/ project system can be adjusted to suit the current trends of social networking. I will also be looking at what features current systems off and how I can include the best of these.

Uni work aside I’ve spent quite a bit of time the past couple of weeks making changes to this website, mostly just minor tweeks. I have also been working on some more video content which I hope to post this week.

The last month has been the busiest so far, and March is going to be even worse with 4 deadlines still to come. I hope to have the time to keep posting to this blog but I have a feeling my next entry may not be until April. I will however be keeping the project blogs updated, especially for the 4D project and the 3D game, so remember to check them out.

After a month and a half of trouble I’m pleased to say I finally have a working PC and touch wood have had no more problems since. In the end it was found to be a compatibility issue between the motherboard and the processor even though they were supposed to be compatible! According to Plymstock computers, where I took my pc to be fixed, it seems to be a common problem with the new 45nm processors and Asus board. I now have an XFX motherboard, which is a very similar spec to the ASUS board and only cost a little bit extra.

Works has been going well the past month. The Elec group presentation seemed to go ok and I hopefully will get the mark back for that soon. I spent the last 2 weeks concentrating on my 4D project; you can check it out at http://www.thermalsited.com. Registration is free. I still need to add a lot more content to it but the basic functionality is there now. I have just started work on my 3D and will be posting more about that to the 3D Game blog soon. As the 4D deadline is less than a week away I will be focusing most of my attention on that.

Even with my new processor I am still getting problems with my PC. There is some progress in that I can now access windows and use some applications, but after about 10 minutes of running I get the Blue Screen of Death and the error "Hardware Malfunction". Even stranger, the first time after the computer restarts following the Blue Screen, I get a green screen with the same error.

I have tried all I can think of to fix the problem, including stripping it down to basic components and trying different RAM and graphics cards. As I really am starting to need my PC to carry out my 3D work I have decided to take my computer to a PC shop to get them to have a look at it. I am hoping to know more by the end of the week.

A few weeks ago I mention my processor had been returned to the manufacture for replacement and that the process could take up to 28 days. From past experience I know that returns can be a lengthy process, so naturally I was delighted when I received a call on Friday saying my processor was replaced and would be sent to me by Tuesday. It is 4am Tuesday morning so in a few hours (or more as it can come any when up to 5:30pm) I should have my processor back.

I have been able to test the rest of my system is working thanks to a loan processor from Novatech, which I have since return, so touch wood everything should go smoothly. As I’m busy with a lot of work for a presentation on Wednesday I have decided it best to leave installing the processor until after the presentation. My Mac has been very useful the past few weeks and I will not need to use anything which requires my pc anytime soon.

I’ve been working a lot on my 4D project the past few days and will be updating the blog for that very soon, so be sure to check it out. I’m also going to be working on my Main project, which is currently involving a lot of configuration of Drupal, a system I am using as the framework to the site. I hope to post updates on my Main Project later in the week.