Will

I'm really looking forward to F1 coming back too, have really missed it these last few months. I think the street circuits are going to be pretty difficult. I know for Singapore they said if it can't be the planned weekend it can't happen at all. Given how the restrictions are here for Covid-19 I really doubt they will be ready to host something like the F1. Both Imola and Mugello are classified Grade 1 circuits so could be used for an F1 race. I'd love to see them throw in a few tracks we don't usually go to, would make for a really interesting season imo.

I think it would be better if there were high transmission rates between completely asymptomatic people with the virus. It would mean that many more people would have had it without any problems and we'd probably be much closer to the end of it than we are. Even so, just based on the numbers here in Singapore and the rate of infection here I'm not entirely convinced that will turn out to be true. Currently, in Singapore, 97.9% of active cases are classified as "Patients who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19" which is really quite positive on how bad this thing can be. It will be very interesting to see the true spread of things once tests are more widely available.

Let's hope so, though at this rate the next international disaster should be hitting right around then.

I buy very few PC games, maybe one every two or three years or so. Been looking forward to the C&C Remasters since I heard about them. Download is almost complete and I can't wait to play a Red Alert skirmish!

The Hue stuff is great. I used to have my whole apartment fitted with them and it was great being able to control everything from one place or have the lights come on automatically at certain times. The last few places I've lived in have all had the lighting in single piece fittings that don't use regular bulbs so I haven't been able to use them. When we eventually move into our own place having smart lighting will be very high on the list of things to put in.

In further news... When they called to make the offer they said there was no way they could match my last salary and would I be willing to negotiate? Of course, that wasn't great to hear but at this point in time, I thought it was something I'd just have to accept so said I could definitely be flexible on the salary. This morning I got the full offer letter and they've actually managed to give me a 5% increase. Very happy right now!

I've had a pretty crappy couple of months on the job front. It became clear about a week into the job I started at the end of last year that the CEO was about as dishonest as you can get and the promises of the new role were pretty much non-existent. I started looking for something new pretty much instantly but the industry is tiny here and it takes a long time for anything suitable to come up. I was going to have to put up with it for as long as it took to find something new. At the end of March, the lockdown started in Singapore and we went into working from home. A few days in and the CEO calls to tell me my position was being eliminated. I'd made it through a number of rounds of interviews for a new role but things had totally ground to a halt with all of the restrictions. On top of this, I'd now lose my visa at basically the worst time possible. I've spoken with basically every company operating in the games industry here since then and pretty much everyone has a freeze on hiring. I decided to send a random email to an HR guy for one of the bigger game developers just to see if they had anything going that might be suitable. He got back to me almost instantly with a role that seemed to fit and we set up some interviews. Three rounds and six people later I finally got an offer to join them this morning. PHEW! Now just need to sort out the paperwork and officially accept, but after the stress of the last few months and the letdown of the company I moved to, it feels great to be rejoining a proper game developer again.

I think as long as you're consistent in what you do it doesn't make much difference. On my route, I know there are certain places I'm going to have to stop for traffic and plan my routes with those in mind. I mostly base my training plans around time per km so I choose to have the clock stop when I'm not moving.

It's a really cool idea but the implementation seems really crappy. It looks way too small to actually be able to play in any enjoyable way and having only four of the games on each colour of console means you need to spend more for extra hassle. Guess it's built for Japanese collectors. I'll probably end up buying the package with all of them included like the idiot SEGA fanboy I am.

So we have the confirmed first eight races of the season: 3-5 July - Austrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring) 10-12 July - Steiermark Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring) 17-19 July - Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring) 31 July-2 August - British Grand Prix (Silverstone) 7-9 August - 70th Anniversary Grand Prix (Silverstone) 14-16 August - Spanish Grand Prix 28-30 August - Belgian Grand Prix 4-6 September - Italian Grand Prix Not too bad all things considered. Going to be quite a manic couple of months as they go through them all. I do kind of wonder about the double races at the same track. Will we get essentially copies of the first Grand Prix at the second? I know there is talk of mixing things up with sprint races and reverse grids for the second races but seems they will not go through due to team disagreements. Main thing is we'll have some racing very soon!

The park is re-opening in phases from this month. I think if that goes to plan and they get back to normal operations then there would be no reason not to open this when it's ready. Most of the visitors will be Japanese people anyway so any travel issues shouldn't come into their consideration.

Weather seems OK at the moment so hopefully, that holds out. Think I'll stay up and watch this thing happen.

I'm way more excited about that than I reasonably should be.

I would. To me, it's all about being as careful as you can be without letting it completely ruin your life. If I'm working at home, not going shopping as much and avoiding anywhere crowded then I've already massively reduced any contact I have with people. I'd rather see people and start getting back to normal than wait around even longer for some unknown point in the future that things may or may not happen. If not now then when do you start moving forward?

There are definitely some issues with the privacy they should address before they roll it out fully - and should have been done before the trials really. If you allow groups, especially the government, to overlook these things then it sets you down a bad path and should be stopped. That being said, the reality of the privacy issues is that they know some random codes you've generated and some other random codes of people you've come into contact with. Given the general competence levels of the people who have access to this, I wouldn't be particularly worried about them doing anything that could harm me with the data. In theory, it's a great idea to have it, but I don't think people will use it as intended as it does require some level of self-diagnosis and self-imposed quarantine. Given how people have behaved so far I think a lot of people would quietly ignore anything that meant they may have to stay at home longer or multiple times. Combined with other initiatives and traditional contact tracing it will probably help bring numbers down and isolate clusters, but it won't be a magic bullet.

The Cummings thing is totally ridiculous. Even if he can wriggle through having done anything technically illegal there is no way they can say he complied with the spirit of the rules - which people following is the only thing that will keep it from descending into chaos. The fact the tories (or increasingly, just Boris and the inner circle) are willing to keep him on and seemingly defend what he did to the bitter end does not send a good message at all. I can imagine many people in the UK will just start to ignore the advice given which could be disastrous as things start to open up a bit. On the positive side at least things are opening up. The numbers are under control so it seems right to test what happens with a more relaxed approach. If people can just be a little sensible and be ready to control movements when necessary then I think things are on the right track in the UK.

Haha, I've always wondered why it's so popular too, I remember as a kid my Nan going on about it like it was the best thing ever. Following your review of it, I'm now keen to watch it myself!

I don't think they would even consider him. Makes no sense now and even less in the future.

I'd second this. It's worth it for everyone to have a credit card for protection on large purchases and as an emergency backup. No need to use them at any other time if you don't want to, and managed properly they are no issue at all.

Not shocked by the moves but I am surprised by how quickly it's all been announced. So now I'm going to hold out hope for an Alonso drive at Renault.

Never got a chance to properly play the original launches and was always jealous of my Playstation friends having it. These new versions look pretty awesome, looking forward to finally playing them!

Sorry to hear about that @Cookyman - sounds like you had an awesome trip planned. Hopefully when things recover you'll be able to get it done. I'd keep up with complaining and trying to speak to whoever you can on the bookings, a lot of the companies will try their luck at keeping as much money as they can while quietly sorting it out with those who shout loudest about it. The new TV and PS5 will be a pretty good consolation prize - you definitely deserve it and hope you enjoy them!

Looks pretty damn impressive. Really looking forward to seeing some games designed to take advantage of the system.

I'd forgotten about Perez but yeah, it would be great to see what he can do in a top car. For Russell, as long as any move was based on the Mercedes factor then McLaren is a decent spot for a year or two, just has to make sure it doesn't stop him moving to Mercedes when the time comes.

I thought he would retire at the end of this year and I still think that will be the case. I just don't see what team would be a good fit for both sides. I would guess the Ferrari drive will probably go to Sainz, but Ricciardo could be in with a shot of it if they can come to some sort of arrangement. He'd probably have to take a huge pay cut but may well be willing to do that for such a seat. Totally unlikely but I'd love to see them put Alonso back in the car for one or two years before bringing in Schumacher for the long term.