Jerome Turner

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Designer living in Wednesfield and working at a university usability lab in Birmingham, UK. Although these, of course, are my own thoughts and not affiliated to anything. No, not even that. More...

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Sony Tablet P plays Playstation games... but probably horribly

Media_httpcdniwiredco_jejfm
via wired.co.uk

Wired's review of the new Sony P tablet states that: 'It's PlayStation certified, so you can play old-school PS games using onscreen PlayStation controls.' But I note a lack of any joysticks, or buttons, or anything, so does that mean the controllers just appear on screen, like so many iPad game controls? That sounds terrible. How can that even begin to emulate the satisfaction of wrapping your hands round and over the stick, buttons and triggers of a Playstation controller? Let's not assume touch screen, or any interface design, can be a multi-use device all the time.

Filed under  //  design  
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This elephant's head may be responsible for my fear of stuffed animals

Media_httpfarm1static_ucddb
via flickr.com

First point: Interestingly, lots of people seem to be afraid of stuffed animals, but there is no phobia name for it. My best guess, taxidermaphobia.

We recently went to the Horniman Museum in London and I was reminded of how afraid I am of stuffed animals, especially when in large quantities in museums. It's generally the larger things that concern me. Anyway I always come back to an experience at Tring Museum as a child, coming through a doorway, looking above me, and seeing a huge elephant's head hanging over it looking down at me. And through the power of the internet, I reckon it's the one in this photo. I'm not sure if it's still over a doorway, as this might have been as many as 30 years ago.

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The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff is... terrible.

I'm just watching some of the BBC's comedy offering this Christmas, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff. But it's so bad, I'm not even going to hyperlink to the iPlayer link, I'd rather you didn't watch. I'm not quite sure how this show came about, and I think it's in four episodes - here's hoping none of them occur on Christmas Eve or Day because it will really spoil Christmas for a lot of people. The jokes come thick and fast but are lame and misfiring. It just feels a little dated, and I don't mean in the respect that it's set in the Dickens era, I mean there's something about the comedy that feels a bit 90s, a bit beneath the stellar cast of Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Robert Webb and Katherine Parkinson. Just watch this clip:

Now does that come anywhere near anything David Mitchell has done before? 

I think I also take offence because I am a fan of Dickens and am currently reading Great Expectations. The jokes made in this show seems to miss the point and fire easy shots. And let's not forget, the BBC have done all this much better already on Radio 4's Bleak Expectations - funnier, and somehow more reverent. Both shows also star Richard Johnson, in case you were wondering. 

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BBC Three risque animal puppet sitcom Mongrels oddly references JG Ballard's Concrete Island

via youtube.com

I'm not sure if this is totally accidental, I'm guessing it is, but a recent episode of Mongrels features Nelson and Vince marooned on a traffic island between roads. Which is exactly he plot of JG Ballard's novel Concrete Island, written in 1973. I've read it by the way, it's very good.

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Two grey cats

Greaycats

Had a look at Flickr this morning and noticed two of my contacts just uploaded almost identically posed and framed photos of smiling grey cats. Spooky. Well, I thought so. 

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