Halo The Master Chief Collection Digital Download

SO ,,, this will show why reading the small print is important.

See that scrolling text box, it has a LOT in it telling you what's included ...

BUT ... then this showed up ... check the 4th line from the bottom about the Halo 5 Beta

"Halo 5: Guardians Beta : GAME DISC REQUIRED"

eerrr.... okay, but DIGITAL downloads DON'T have a disc so how ???

Wee call to Xbox Customer Support Line 0800 587 1102

The guy on the other end of the line thought it was odd and not something they had noticed ... off he went... came back with the expected news

It's a typo for the digital version.

If you get the hard disc version then yes you WILL need your MC Collection disc to play the Halo 5 Beta and when you go to play it you will get a screen alert to make sure you have the disc in.

The DIGITAL version wont blink the alert.

Can you imagine if that wasn't the case tho ... you download your 45gig game and 20 gig update (apparently that is how big the game is) and go and play and get excited for the beta only to find out you cant cos you dont have a disc ... the 0800 number would meltdown ... the forums would crash !!!

But worry ye not ... and maybe there will be a small wording change on the dashboard in the next few days :D

FREE PATTERN Cat Toy

You know those little plastic center things with toys inside you get in Chocolate eggs (the ones that used to be fun to pop and launch but now have a hinge so you cant do that) ... well they also make great cat toys

I have some tiny pasta bits left over from weaning the kids (yes it was 6 years ago, i'm a hoarder but also thought great for gluing onto paper for craft things for them). ANYWAY,popped about a level teaspoon inside the yellow plastic and it made a decent rattle ... rice, barley,bell,buttons or anything else small and solid is worth a try tho.

This made it great for being a noisy toy to pat around ... but cats also like to paw-lift and mouth carry things and the smooth plastic sides don't allow that ... SO I thought, let's knit a cover that claws and teeth can get stuck into. This only uses a TINY amount of yarn. I havn't weighed it but i have 4 toys from a 20 gram ball and maybe just under half of it left so a great use of oddments.

Going to get some of these made up for the local Cats Protection and other rehoming places as I go to try and keep the guys and girls looking for forever homes a bit of entertainment

SO pattern time

pop some rice/pasta/split peas/barley into plastic toy holder to make a rattle noise (less is better than more)

using 3mm straight needles and DK yarn

1. Cast on 8sts
2. inc in each stitch - 16sts
3. p1row
4. (k1,inc) to end - 24sts
5. work 13 rows stocking stitch (1 row k, 1 row p)
6. (k1,k2tog) to end - 16sts
7. p1 row
8. (k2tog) to end - 8sts
9. break yarn, thread thru remaining 8 sts and pull tight to gather.

Sew row ends about half way up, pop plastic toy center in and continue sewing row ends closed. finally gather the cast on edge to close other end, fasten off tightly and sew in ends.

TIP ... don't sew row ends completely cos you'll never squeeze the plastic in ... altho loose mattress stitch could be done then pulled tight once the middle is in place. Halfway is enough to hold it all in place while you finish the seam.

Rangers Octopus Loo Roll Cover

 As the title says ... a loo roll cover, in the shape of an octopus, in Rangers FC colours :D

Weird Xbox Tenure

Okay ... so the number of years you have had an Xbox Live profile shows on your profile. I think mine is 5 or 6 years now, havnt checked.

ANYWAY

eviltedi has got something a bit weird, and currently tweeting with XboxSupport  to see if we can work out what's up (if you have a problem tweet them cos they are pretty quick at responding and so far so good with answers in the past :D )

Sometime last week eviltedi's tenure changed to 9 years ... a helluva long time ... or rather it sort of changed.

He'd gone onto his 360 to see the free game that's up on offer ... we have Sproglets who like playing and sometimes theres things that they'll enjoy too ... and he noticed there he'd changed from 8 to 9.

It's pretty clear on the 360 as you can see here

So after doing whatever he was doing on there he went back to the One ... Titanfall, say no more LOL

BUT ... on the One it hasn't changed, still only saying 8 years. So contacted support above to ask if they had any idea

First answer back was did you check the number properly ... and yes the font can look a bit deceiving so got 'tedi to come out of the game to check and it is definitely still an 8 ... see below

The next suggestion was to delete and reinstate profile on the One to see if that updates it ... he's done that now and still no change (altho he was a tad miffed as his friends were not showing and getting a weird code but it turns out there was actually a wee problem in the systems that they new about and once that was sorted the ages of birling circle to get a black screen with error code dissappeared)

SO, this is where we are now on March 19th 2014 at 10.43am UK time ...  just gonna publish this and link to them so they can see the pics in full definition (twitter insists i half the size the camera takes) to show we're not imagining it :D ... will update as we work thru this and find out what up. eviltedi did a forum scan and found no info, so 'tis a mystery :D

watch this space

Edit 20 March 2014

Support were not sure why it hadn't changed yet, but did say keep an eye and to let them know if it hadnt changed within about a week. Not a problem.

So 'tedi signed on there this morning and lo and behold ... 

So the One has updated it's tenure about a week behind the 360. Not sure if this will be the norm or if others will immediately update ... but just in case this happens to anyone else the info is here :D

YAY, 9 years :D

A child's "innocent" Hobbit question

Sproglet2 "why has he got no shoes on?" while watching LOTR and looking at Billy "Pippin" Boyd 

cos he's a hobbit, they have big hairy feet and dont wear shoes ... how else do you think they are different (thinking he'll see the height)

"big hairy hands?"

nope not that

" a big hairy winkie???"

I died

Digital Download Gripe

Yes it has been a while since I wrote anything on here. Been busy with Teeny Dudes and my own Sproglets and general life stuff. 

BUT ... this digital download stuff is really getting on my goat, and today I REALLY need to say something about it.

SO...


Dear Xbox ... you want us to use the digital download thing right??? well here is an idea. make it worth our while. 

Today we see Rayman Legends digital download on the dashboard for £34.79

 https://store.xbox.com/en-GB/Xbox-One/Games/Rayman-Legends/b1613d47-2330-459a-a99f-4cc84a481db9 

but Asda have it for £27 for the hard copy disc

http://direct.asda.com/Rayman-Legends---Xbox-One/003734872,default,pd.html

SO... as a mother and a gamer, with 2 kids who game, and a husband who games ... and in these current times of austerity ... where the *bleep* do you think I'm gonna get this one from.???

One to two quid fine, that would be a minor grumble that would get a typically British quiet whinge while it made it's way down the phone lines ... but nearly £8 is far too much to be let away with that.

Look at the competitors prices ... charge a competitive price... and we WILL use the system