Fresh Start.

I've finally gone and switched to the new version of Blogger because I was having some problems with the older version. I couldn't get an 'Older Posts' link at the bottom of my blog, plus - let's face it - my layout was getting a little dated.

With all the headaches of the previous version I'm glad that it's so easy to set things up with the new version. Pretty soon I'll probably start customising it to my own tastes once I figure out how to edit the new template properly.

Also, thanks to Deitrix for the amazing header!

Um, What?

I just got an email about promoting clothing and fashion on this blog....

Hmm, I think they slightly misunderstood the purpose of this site. I put a description in the right sidebar so people know what the blog is about - it doesn't take long to read it!

With that said I'm impressed that this blog is actually getting any marketing interest.

It's MOSTLY working.

Right, so DNS settings are set and this blog now shows up as www.nosignalinput.co.uk as .blogspot.com now re-directs to this address. This means any incoming links to the blog will still show up as blogspot.com (if you hover over the link) but will re-direct to the new address, meaning you don't have to change anything on your side.

There's one big problem though. If you type in www.nosignalinput.co.uk my website will load fine, but if you type in nosignalinput.co.uk the website won't load - at all. This is apparently a known problem by blogger (although they've still not given us a way to fix it) and is causing much frustration amongst people with custom domains and many posts on the Blogger Help Group.

Apparently there's a fix here but I'm not too confident about trying it and I don't want to screw up the DNS settings now I've got them sorted.

Everything is re-directing so I'm fine with that. I just have to hope that no-one types the URL in their address bar (like I'm that popular) and said person is lazy enough to miss the 'WWW' (Ok, I know we all do). If you do link to me remember to put the 'WWW' in first or just save yourself the hassle and link to nosignalinput.blogspot.com instead.

It's all a big barrel of fun!

Nosignalinput.co.uk Has Arrived!

It's a momentous occasion here at No Signal Input as I've finally done the inevitable and registered my own domain name.

The domain in question, nosignalinput.co.uk (.com was taken), currently forwards itself to nosignalinput.blogspot.com. So, if you hit nosignalinput.co.uk or www.nosignalinput.co.uk into your browser then you'll end up at this blog. Instead of getting your URL address bar showing nosignalinput.blogspot.com it'll show nosignalinput.co.uk.

For the moment I'm having a bit of trouble re-directing my blogspot address to the .co.uk one because of DNS settings (which are a tad bit confusing to say the least) so if you go straight to the blogspot.com address (as all the incoming links here will) it'll still show up as blogspot.com. The reason for this is that it takes up to 48 hours for any DNS settings to take effect and changing the address in the blogger settings right now just re-directs my blog to a blank page (although the page source on the blank page does show the meta tag details I entered at the domain registration site so it should, in effect, be working properly soon) . Of course I don't want my blog down for 48 hours so I'm going to wait until the DNS settings are working properly.

If it doesn't work after the 48 hours then I'm really at a loss at what to do next. Are any of you out there using custom domain settings for a 123-reg.co.uk registered domain? Did you have any trouble? It's been a bit frustrating and confusing so far and having to wait 48 hours every time I change something makes it more so.

Remember you WON'T have to change any of your links here because, when it's sorted, the old blogspot address will just re-direct to the new .co.uk address.

Retro Review Will Return!

Neglect, it's what sprouts weeds in your garden and makes dust build up on your furniture. It makes your engine cut out when driving on the motorway, or your computer crash when you've been downloading too much porn without a spyware scan in sight. It's what drops your blog from 5th in the rankings to 45th, it's what cuts your visitors in half, it's what makes you lose touch with the community you chose to adopt as your own. Neglect, however, can be a good thing. It can make you frustrated due to not being able to write, to exercise your talents. It can make you come back to your blog and think 'Fuck it, let's get back on track'. So what better way to revive a rotten corpse then look back into the past and get high on the glorious memories of your gaming past? Retro Review is neither the future nor the past, it is now.

Retro Review got off to a shaky start and, due to that rather troublesome neglect I think I mentioned, never continued. I rushed it out in the first place and realised the writing on display was nor more than an unplanned mass of words begging to be read, going so far as to jump you in a dark alley and force you to give an opinion. What it was missing was the memories, the memories that got me utterly obessed with gaming in the first place.

In recent years I'm not as up-to-date with the latest games as much as I'd want to be, and I don't play half the time I'd like to. There is the fact that many games these days don't spark my interest because developers have largelly lost the innovative ideas of the past. Because of this it's good to look back on your gaming past, mope around for a while knowing how much you've missed it, then try your best to get back into gaming as much as you once loved it. By writing these memories down it sparks my interest in the current generation. Confusing right? Well, I know they are good games out there and I know that there were just as many bad games as they were for good games in the past (believe me, I wasted the money on them).

What I am remembering from the past is the memories from the good games, the games I spent hours everyday playing. If I actively go out and buy the good games of the present I can treasure the memories of the moment and know that I'm not missing out on anything. The good games aren't always the ones that sell the most, they are the ones that get neglected yet fucked up the ass by the hardcore gaming community. Those are the games I neglect but mark them on my mental list 'I'll buy them later, I swear' and I never do. I want to remember them today, just like I remebered the good games of yesterday. I don't want to remember I never played that game like I remember about some games I would have loved to have played properly in the past (e.g Zelda series, Sam & Max etc. I want to write about both in order to remember them more thus; the re-birth of a blog.

If I don't make any sense then questions on a postcard to 'I don't care'.

About Me And This Blog

About Me

I'm Tom, a 19 year old student currently studying English & History at Leeds Metropolitan University.

I began blogging, or something resembling that, around five years ago when I first got online. At this time I kept a poorly written diary of my daily life, thoughts, and feelings, on a website known as Opendiary. I made a number of good friends and realised that writing my feelings down helped a lot, especially when I recieved advice from fellow OD'ers.

I eventually moved on from there as I struggled to persue my creativity through a layout I had begun to dislike. I arrived at Livejournal, a medium I'm sure you've all heard of. I was instantly captivated by the wonderous community over at LJ and still am today. I eventually became a paid member and started to fiddle around with the layout of my LJ, to get it looking exactly how I wanted, but still found it had it's limitations. It was then I discovered blogger where I am able to express my creativity to it's full potential, and I remain on both Livejournal and blogger to this day.

My hobbies include creative writing, reading, video games, online games, the internet, blogging (duh), establishing a network of friends/contacts both off and online, trying to keep fit, music (anything goes but I'm mostly into varieties of rock and Indie), photography and much more.

I can be an avid writer although my creative writing is lacking at the moment. I want to pursue a career in writing, hopefully through some form of Journalism. I also wish to become a published fiction writer sometime in the future.

About This Blog

No Signal Input is largely a video game and technology blog. That said I do sometimes post things I've found on the Internet that I find funny or interesting. You won't really find many personal posts here, that's the job of my LiveJournal and anyone who wants to get to know me better can go there. I don't provide a link here but if I like you enough I might give you the link.

I'll also be posting reviews up of the games I play, books I read, films I watch, websites I visit, programs I use etc.

It's not about getting people's attention, it's about making a record of interesting things and opinions, providing links and information for other people, and expanding my writing skills. I love to meet new people and will regularly go on blog hunts, as well as visiting my daily reads every day or when I get the chance.

I welcome criticisms of my opinions, as I love a good debate, but if you're going to criticise me then please present a decent argument and don't just mouth off at me because I won't even bother to respond to that.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and that you will come back and visit me again sometime. If you wish to contact me just email me at:

tmulrooney at gmail dot com

I will get back to you as soon as possible!

- Tom

Bandwidth Theft Notice

All images on this site are linked directly from my own server or picture hosting service. Linking directly to my images to place on your own site constitutes as bandwidth theft and will NOT be tolerated.

If you wish to use the pictures I have taken from the internet, save them to your computer and upload them to your own server. It may take longer than linking to the image but at least it is legal and is not using up my valuable bandwidth.

If you wish to use any personal images owned exclusively by me please ask permission and/or give credit to me on your website.

Thank you for your time.