I recently realised that I have some reward points in my X-Plane shop account. It looks like I’ve spent enough money to get some “free” extras. So I purchased the L29 for X-Plane. I’ve been flying around in it and it’s nice and smooth. It doesn’t react to anything as fast as the other military planes I have but it’s nice.
L29A – X-Plane
The picture is me flying from Hildesheim to Hannover checking out my new scenery files. Now, it turns out that the title of this communication is a reference to a Monty Python sketch that is about an albatross. The problem is that the L29 is really called the Delfín and it’s the L39 that is the Albatross. Oh well, maybe I’ll get the plane correct next time!
For whatever reason a while back I decided to build a “big thing” in Minecraft and I kinda broke my own rules while doing it. Until this point I had made it a mission that all builds shouldn’t be able to be seen from the main base on the shoreline. I failed to do that with this build:
The “Platform” in the Minecraft world
So, I am going to build some sea cliffs to hide the superstructure of the platform. I’ve started the basics of the sea cliffs and we will see what happens. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m also scared at the same time. There’s a lot of work to be done.
One of the weekly events that happen in Gran Turismo is a time trial around a particular circuit in a particular car. When I logged in recently there was a timed lap challenge around Spa-Francorchamps in a Porsche. I always try and do these events as they are an easy way to make some in-game money. With this particular circuit the game seemed very strict with track limits – there were bollards on some corners and if you touched them it invalidated the lap. Here is my laptime result:
Gran Turismo Spa-Francorchamps Online Time Trial Result
The world record is 2:30.316 and then levels of greatness are done in terms of percentage time added on. I managed to get a GOLD time on this circuit. This makes me very happy. I’m normally somewhere around a mid-silver. I’ve only had two gold times before. I think this will bag me a million in-game credits.
Gran Turismo Online Results
Above is my overall results from the online challenges and races. I don’t really enjoy the races because it’s quite common to get bumped off the circuit and all your qualifying practice and time are just ruined. The time trials are more interesting and a better way to compare yourself to others.
I’ve recently been getting into story based games on the PlayStation. So far I have played Horizon Zero Dawn and Hogwarts Legacy. I can only really play these during breaks from work because I find them so addictive and I love the exploring element. Sometimes the cut scenes are too long and I don’t care enough. I have a certain amount of time and I want to enjoy that doing things I like to the fullest – not watching some character building back story. Anyway, this game is fun and I thought I’d share a couple of screen shots I took.
Jedi talking to someone
Spaceship on Planet – I wasn’t paying attention
Playing these sorts of games is like watching a film but being far more involved. They are growing on me.
It’s just about been a week of owning my JetClock zero and there are updates to write about. Firstly, I bought a 7″ screen to display the data and it fits nicely on one of the bookshelves. Given the screen was quite cheap I was surprised at the quality. It works really well, had a decent menu to adjust settings, and can be powered via a USB C.
JetClock Zero with 7″ Display
The JetClock Zero itself is set to turn the display off in the night time and will also restart itself at midnight to make sure it keeps updates and “fresh”. The colours of the display can be customised as can the details that the clock shows. I’m impressed with the settings that allow changing the direction of view so the clock can show aircraft only from the viewing angle that makes most sense. If I had a view of the sky from my workplace I would have one installed there and it would point to the aircraft in real life. As it is I have the JetClock to show all aircraft in a 30km radius and that works well. Although my view to the north is obscured slightly by the North Downs my southerly view is unimpeded and I often see aircraft head to land at Gatwick so the range on JetClock seems appropriate.
One Week Of JetClock Statistics
A good feature of the JetClock is the logbook which is a webpage that collates the data relevant to your position and clock. The clock itself doesn’t detect the aircraft it’s all done by a server somewhere, the same with the logbook. The image above is a summary of the first week of data collection and you can see I’ve had around 2,500 aircraft within viewing range of my house. I love the data this side of the JetClock produces. Very impressive.
I am fortunate (?) enough to live in the south east of the UK so I have aircraft launching themselves from the following largeish airports:
Heathrow
Gatwick
Stansted
Southend
London City
For the smaller aircraft I have Rochester and Headcorn reasonably close so get lots of little planes. For the medium aircraft I am directly under the flightpath for Biggin Hill so I will get plenty of private jets and also a bunch of Spitfires. Occasionally I get a flypast from a Chinook or Apache as there are a few helicopter landing sites in Kent. This is a pretty good place for spotting.
I think I originally saw this product on Reddit. There’s a load of aviation geekery on that site and the JetClock turned up. Plenty of people have made their own aircraft indicator displays but of those I’d seen JetClock is the nicest and best looking. I knew I’d probably get one but waited for the right time. The company recently increased their product range to include a version without a display and also an Android app.
Jet Clock Desk Version
I bought the JetClock Zero as this seemed the most versatile version. I could use it on an existing display or I could buy my own screen if I wanted. Yesterday it arrived and the packaging was super nice. I don’t generally care for “unboxing” but the fact that the cables were in a reusable bag and the device itself was in a sealed bag made the whole experience really nice. It took a few minutes to set up the JetClock Zero but that was painless. I like the fact I can change the settings via a web-page but I am slightly concerned that the company aren’t asking for a subscription, I hope they’ve really thought that out.
Today I have ordered a 7″ display so that I can have the JetClock running permanently and on display. I know I want to put it in the lounge but I haven’t quite decided where and how it should be fixed yet. That’s some work to look forward to.
The Logbook is a lovely addition to the device. It’s an online database of aircraft that the JetClock has “detected”. The device doesn’t detect aircraft itself but relies on a server somewhere knowing the position of the JetClock and providing data to be displayed. I already have a Raspberry Pi in the loft that feeds aircraft data to an aggregation service and I have written about that extensively on this site. Below is an image of the logbook output:
Exported View Of JetClock Logbook
I get pretty pictures of aircraft with the world map showing the routes my JetClock can see. I live in the south east of the UK and so aircraft are very common because of travel to and from London and also because the UK happens to lie on a line of the great circle from Europe and South West Asia to the USA. Another bonus for me is that Biggin Hill isn’t far away and plenty of smaller jets fly into there. I’m also sure that at some point over the weekend there will be a Spitfire popping over towards the White Cliffs.
Rarest Aircraft Seen In Just 24 Hours
JetClock has a “rarity” score for aircraft. I’m not sure you could do a lot to increase the likelihood of seeing these unless you take your clock with you as you go around spotting. As you can see within 24 hours of set up I’ve already had a plane with rarity of 100. Just as I was writing this I heard an A400 fly over and I’m a little disappointed that its score is only 52! Maybe I’ll do better with the AN-22 that fly over a couple of times a week!
RAF A400
This device is great. Super easy to set up. The customisation options are brilliant and it gives me all the information I could want. Highly recommend.
After the aborted attempt at a short break in the Lake District I caught up with playing the game Hogwarts Legacy. I think I got it as it was reduced in the PlayStation store to about GBP15. This seemed reasonable and I had a go at playing it. I had started a game a couple of years ago but didn’t really feel it so left it alone. This time I paid a bit more attention to the details and the mechanics of the actual game and I also think that playing Horizon Zero Dawn gave me more of an idea of how these adventure stories work. It’s a new genre of game for me.
Hogwarts Legacy – A screenshot
After about 45 hours of playing the game I have completed the main storyline and while there are lots of smaller quests to complete and objects to find I think it’s time to stop. I’m not that used to playing games for three hours straight. Most of the other games I enjoy I can easily pop in and out of so short bursts of playing time are the norm for me. Minecraft doesn’t care how long you spend in the game and I always feel as though I have achieved something. Gran Turismo is normally played for about half an hour and then I’m almost bored, I find other things to do that are more interesting. I can also enter that game and undertake a single race, which including qualifying will get me the daily mileage completed bonus.
The thing that struck me most about Legacy was the lighting. It is very impressive. Likewise that’s what amazed me about the Horizon games. How the game was coded and the engine it used to ensure that the lighting was gorgeous! I loved the sunrise and sunsets within the game. They looked just wonderful. Sure, the mechanics of the actual game was fun too but to be able to stop and watch the sun within a virtual world amazes me.
This midwinter break I’ve spent my time playing a PlayStation game, I guess it could be available on other platforms, I don’t keep a track of these things. I’ve been playing Horizon Zero Dawn [remastered]. I’ve been playing this because the Lego version of the game was free with PlayStation Plus and I completed that particular game. I decided to get the actual game because I really enjoyed the Lego version and it gave me something to do over the break. I’ve really enjoyed playing this game. I’d like to say I think I’m getting better at these types of fighting games.
What I’ve Spent This Mid-Winter Doing
I’ve completed a playthrough of the basic game but I haven’t yet ventured into the Frozen Wilds. I think I will leave that for another break in my work time. I have found this game very addictive to the point that I deleted it about a week ago as I thought I was spending too much time playing it. Within a few hours I had downloaded it again and continued playing. There’s so much to the game and plenty of little challenges that make it really good fun. The rewards are plenty too. It’s very well designed. Not only is the game play well constructed but the game is pretty too.
Horizon Zero Dawn 1
Horizon Zero Dawn 2
These two images were captured as I collected some PSN trophies. They don’t really capture what the game looks like. I’ve been so impressed with the falling snow in the mountains, I genuinely think that’s the bit I will remember most, such clever artwork. There is a photo mode in the game and it’s not something I’ve really played with, I like working through the quests. Maybe when I’ve finished it all I’ll have a look at getting some amazing shots from that mode. I did take one picture and that was when Aloy walked past a downed aircraft.
Horizon Zero Dawn 3
This game has been amazing fun. Really well designed and also, a little challenging at times. However, as my skill levels have increased I no longer dread taking on the machines, it’s more of a fun challenge now.
