AC2 will probably be replaced by Planetside as my online game of choice, the combination of virtual guns, vehicles and mass battles is hard to resist. AC2 has become too monotonous with it's constant level chasing and monster killing. Billed as an RPG...it's not. Planetside on the other hand doesn't make any pretence to be anything but a persistent online battlefield with progress giving you access to extra hardware. So far most players seem to be treating it as just another first person shooter with scant regard for squad orders or tactics which I might suggest this game excels at. I therefore wonder how long it'll be before I'm looking for my next online gaming fix. Besides Mrs C is demanding more computer time and no I don't have room for another.

Ed Brill posted an interesting piece on his blog the other day which raises questions about the trist that is employers, employees and their blogs. Should the organisation you work for have any say in content you publish on a personal blog or website? Most of you probably feel like me that the answer is a capital no. However with more and more people blogging or running their own websites with the potential to say things their employers might not like I can't see this issue going away. What do you guys think?

After a months wait we have received the Izzy's papers from the Kennel Club. The family tree goes back at least five generations and nearly all of it is Hungarian...no surprise I suppose as she is a Hungarian Vizsla. Her full posh kennel name is Helmlake Red Ball which is rather appropriate considering her colour. There are even more piccies of Izzy here.

Can someone answer me this? Why is the media so interested in whether or not a footballer and his talentless wife move to Spain? OK he can kick a ball about but he's not as good as the papers would have us believe, he's too inconsistant for that. Manchester Utd realise that in a few years they'll get nothing for him and need to cash in now, as someone at the BBC commented if he and his wife going to turn themselves into a commodity then they shouldn't be surprised if they gets treated like one. The lamentable Beckham tour of America is a case in point, which lets be honest it was more about his wife than about him. As for her...she is completely without merit. So lets hope they do go to Spain...or America...or Mars.

I've never been a big fan of John Wayne films but having watched Rio Bravo made in 1959 I'm willing to reassess 'The Duke’ and beside any film that gets top marks at rottentomatoes.com probably deserves a second look. My guess is that it’s probably the third best western ever made after High Noon and The Unforgiven. If you’re in two minds about John Wayne movies it’s worth a look and if you’re not you’ll already understand.

Oh dear. Get prepared for a more lorries on the road as Royal Mail and the freight carrier English Welsh & Scottish Railways (EWS) fail to agree how much it should cost to move mail by rail. The upshot of which could create 160,000 more road journeys a year. Dumb or what?

Monday was my first day but I thought I'd wait a few before sharing my initial impressions. As expected it's been a bit of a whirl and I've already forgotten the names of most of the people I've met, such is the problem when you join a new company but they have been universally friendly and always willing to help out with the typical dumb questions like "Wheres the loo?". The MS head office at Thames Valley Park is very, very impressive with everything on site from a rather good restaurant, three coffee bars, a deli, a place to go for a massage, lots of Xboxs to play on, a nursery if you bring your children to work, which includes emergency places if visiting customers need to do likewise, pool tables, flat widescreen televisions everywhere, a wireless network, more AV kit than you can shake a stick at and swanky new Executive Briefing Centre. It is like a breath of fresh air to work for a company that has a more egalitarian approach to it's employees. And thats another thing...need new kit like peripherals for your laptop, phone etc? No problem...just ask. I even like Outlook 2003...been using beta 2...

Tomorrow I start my new job at Microsoft. It's a big day for me and I'm looking forward to it. I expect the 'Imperial March' to be playing at maximum volume as I walk into reception and for the Dark Lord of the Sith himself to greet me. Well that's what a few people I know would have me believe. I have already seem how friendly and affable MS are when their fleet people kindly send me a hire car so I can drive to work tomorrow rather than go on the train. Hope this is a foretaste of things to come...