Reasons Why I Would Recommend GiffGaff to Everyone (Literally)

Want a free no-strings  SIM with £5 credit already on it? Here you go: http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/schamael 

If anyone would prefer me to post them a GiffGaff SIM, then get in touch somehow with your name, email and wherever you want me to send it to, and I will be happy to send you one for nothing. (^_^)

Yes, I know how that sounds. I swear I do not work for GiffGaff, and they have not asked me to say that! I do understand how it sounds, and I also understand you’ve heard that same statement about this and that from countless spam blogs and accounts all over the place. Given the fact that my posting here has been a little off-and-on since the launch of CSPS Online, you would be forgiven for thinking that I’ve succumbed to the online spam allure.

This is not the case.

I have legitimate and logical reasons for spreading the word about GiffGaff. Here they are:

• No contracts. You can have the benefits of contracts, but only one month at a time, so if you use your phone a lot more one month, you can get a different plan for that month (called Goodybags).
• You get a lot for your money compared to other providers. I’ll go through this in a minute.
• Even if you’re on their (very, very cheap) Pay As You Go and not a Goodybag, then you get free calls, texts, etc to other GiffGaff members! I’ll mention this in my Masterplan in a moment…
• The whole thing is community-based – there’s a forum full of people to help you with your problems instead of an expensive 0845 number.
• ‘Contract value without the contract’ – unlimited Internet from £10. Yes, you did read that right.

Now to compare it with my current contract:

Currently, I’m on o2 (GiffGaff uses o2’s signal so there’ll be no change in that respect for me) and I enjoy a very good contract from them. Here’s what I get for my £10 every month:

• 250 UK minutes
• Unlimited texts
• Unlimited UK landline calls

I think we’ll all agree that’s pretty awesome. The landline calls is a ‘Bolt-On’, and I could have chosen unlimited o2-to-o2 calls instead, etc. An extremely useful contract.

However, here’s what I can get on GiffGaff for the same amount every month, with no contract to keep me there:

• 250 UK minutes
• Unlimited texts
• Unlimited calls, texts, call forwarding and video calls to other GiffGaff members
• Unlimited mobile Internet (truly unlimited – it’s just not for commercial or automated spammy use)

As such, I’m moving to GiffGaff as it’ll mean I can afford a smartphone a lot more comfortably. These figures are correct as of the moment I press Publish, so over time it may change. This leads me on to my Masterplan though:

Schamael’s GiffGaff Masterplan:

It’s very simple really. The more of my friends and family I can get on GiffGaff, the more I can talk to them all for absolutely nothing! Then I can use my minutes for everyone else, and probably never go over into my credit.

So – whether you know me or not – if you want cheap and awesome phone tariffs, then I heartily recommend GiffGaff.

More information here: http://giffgaff.com/

Whatever you do though, don’t just sign up for a SIM from the normal page! If you have, then ignore it and use this link instead: http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/schamael – you’ll get £5 free extra credit on your account when you activate your SIM, and so will I, so everyone wins. Kind of the same as a Dropbox referral, but this time for actual money for talkage. This works whether you want to go PAYG, or get Goodybags, or even if you activate your SIM and just never use it, but have it in case you run out of credit or as a spare, cheap, emergency phone. Any questions, stick them on the GiffGaff forum or feel free to ask me.

If anyone would prefer me to post them a GiffGaff SIM, then get in touch somehow with your name, email and wherever you want me to send it to, and I will be happy to send you one.

Still here, honest!

Hey all,

I just realised how long it’s been since I’ve posted and I thought I should throw out a quick update really, because it’s been ages and I feel like I’m neglecting you.

University aside, I’ve become ridiculously spiritual recently and I’ve been spending more time on learning interesting things, martial arts, and training spiritually and psionically. I’ve also been pouring lots of time into the CSPS site and its forum.

Actually, there’s a lot of really interesting things on the CSPS forum, aside from all of the combative stuff, so go ahead and take a look; it’s pretty awesome if I do say so myself:

http://cspsonline.proboards.com

Samples of recent topics include:

The mechanics of how firearms work (animations): http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=57

Enter the Dojo, a hilarious spoof of US martial arts dojos: http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tradma&action=display&thread=55

PHDefence now has its own, exclusive board over there: http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=phdefence

Here’s the main one of interest though:

A board dedicated to the discussion and analysis of real combat situations (fights) caught on video:

’Real Combat Videos’, a new board on the CSPS forum: http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=videos

Join the discussion for free! It needs some more members, and even if you have no combat or martial arts experience, you’re more than welcome!

See you there!

P.S. I will be posting more random stuff on here whenever I get the chance…! :)

The Scale of the Universe

Now this is just wonderful.

Accompanied by twinkly, thought-provoking ambient music throughout, this flash thing really opens your eyes if you don’t think about this stuff much, and probably does if you do too. Much like the previously mentioned ‘Size of Our World’ pictures actually.

Scroll all the way over to the left and you’ll get really little things like this:

Move on through the realms of the tiny, looking at Neutrinos, Preons, Quarks, etc before coming to atoms and then tangible stuff that we can identify with a little more readily:

Biggish stuff:

Bigger stuff:

To much bigger stuff and more:

Fantastic – I love stuff like this, and had to share. Sorry I haven’t blogged very actively recently by the way; I’ve been ridiculously busy with university (I finish in August 2012, so you’ll be hearing a lot more from me after that, worry not) and of course my Combative Self-Protection System, which I urge you all to take a look at and spread the word about if you have a moment – while I’m at university I’m trying to spread the word a little regarding the CSPS, and then afterwards properly expand and make it huge.

I’m also working on a massive post at the moment, which I know a lot of people will appreciate, so keep an eye out for that! I’m hoping to finish it soon(ish), but it’s kind of difficult and very time-consuming…

http://primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/

CSPS Online Forum Launched

Hi all,

As you all know, the CSPS has recently exploded from the mind of FCIns. Josh Nixon (yeah, that’s me haha) into the Internet and local venues in Stoke-on-Trent. One of these more recent explosions is the CSPS forum, which is for the discussion of anything to do with health, fitness, martial arts, sports, training, exercise, stress relief, general wellbeing, and in fact anything else. All the changes to the syllabus will be updated on there as well, as opposed to the main site.

Anyone’s welcome, whether combative or not. While content is regulated, children should be supervised anyway.

http://cspsonline.proboards.com

Go ahead and take a look – it’s free of course. The main website has the main CSPS news on it, and there’s links to the forum along with the CSPS Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, email, etc.

http://cspsonline.wordpress.com

The original post on the CSPS blog about the forum is here: http://cspsonline.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/csps-forum-now-online/

Yet Another Amusing Google Earth Image

Here’s one my parents found on Google Earth the other day, completely by accident. It’s at Lowther Street in Bollington:

 

Just thought I’d share! :D

‘50 Things You May Not Know About Bas Rutten’ (Paul Lazenby)

50 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT BAS ‘EL GUAPO’ RUTTEN

Inspired by the ‘Chuck Norris’ lists that have been popping up everywhere, Paul Lazenby decided to throw this one together about Bas Rutten. These are hilarious – check them out over on his blog http://www.paullazenby.com/ , I’m not trying to take any credit for this, just chucking it around because they’re brilliant! I’m a massive fan of Bas Rutten and if you like things that are violent, funny or both at the same time then you probably are too!
 
1. Bas Rutten was once diagnosed with terminal cancer. The cancer is still recovering.

2. The least-aggressive of Bas Rutten’s daughters is still tougher than your pit bull.

3. Bas Rutten didn’t go bald, he evolved for better aerodynamics on his headbutts.

4. Reason #76 why the "Bas Rutten Lethal Street Fighting" DVD rules: It contains a sentence that begins, "If you were to choke a baby…"

5. White dog turds come from dogs who suspect that Bas Rutten is thinking about kicking them.

6. Bas Rutten is responsible for more ruined livers than the entire worldwide membership of AA.
7. "Dangada-dangada-dang" is an actual Dutch phrase meaning "Get your affairs in order".

8. Bas Rutten’s kicks are the official Phase Two of Tokyo’s "Godzilla Defense Plan".

9. After Bas Rutten has a nightmare, it needs counseling to get over its fear of being dreamed by him again.

10. Bas Rutten is the only man on the planet capable of kicking water uphill.

11. The pressure sensor that Bas Rutten kicked on the "Fight Science" TV show is still huddled in a corner and crying.

12. Bas Rutten’s punch is like a delayed-action Ninja Death Touch. Except that he uses all five fingers, and it works right away.

13. In 1997, the Geneva Convention prohibited the use of Bas Rutten’s palm strikes as a weapon of war.

14. Bas Rutten was once fired from a job as a hostage negotiator. In his defense, nobody told him that kicking people in the face was not an approved negotiating technique.

15. Michael Vick once returned a DVD of Bas Rutten’s Greatest Knockouts, complaining that it was "too brutal".

16. Bas Rutten was once bitten by a venomous cobra. It died of testosterone poisoning.

17. Bas Rutten has frequently considered committing suicide. But in every case, it was somebody else’s.

18. Most medical insurance plans classify a Bas Rutten kick to the groin as "gender reassignment surgery".

19. Bas Rutten’s only reason for becoming a chef was to learn even more things to do to a liver.

20. Australian beaches have a special alarm to warn the sharks when Bas Rutten is swimming.

21. Twenty percent of all faces on milk cartons belong to people who were rude to Bas Rutten’s wife.

22. Albino gorillas are actually normal ones that Bas Rutten glanced at with an angry expression.

23. People who bullied Bas Rutten during his childhood are divided into two groups: Group A doesn’t sleep at night. Group B sleeps forever.

24. Bas Rutten taught Hannibal Lecter everything he knows about liver.

25. Bas Rutten once smoked a cigarette and gave it cancer.

26. Bas Rutten keeps several handguns in his house. He gives them to home invaders in order to make it a fair fight.

27. I once tore my bicep punching Bas Rutten in the liver, proving that his favourite techniques are so deadly that they even hurt you when you use them on him.

28. Bas Rutten could get your girlfriend pregnant from across the street while wearing hip waders and a condom.

29. Bas Rutten can kick a football so hard that whoever ate the pig it came from dies.

30. Bas Rutten’s testicles are so dense that the American Astronomical Society has officially classified them as black holes.

31. Every time Bas Rutten punches a liver, a pedophile gets hepatitis.

32. When Bas Rutten goes to the zoo, the lions double-check that their cages are locked.

33. Bas Rutten gets monthly residual cheques from wheelchair manufacturers.

34. Before every one of Bas Rutten’s fights, the arena had to be re-zoned as a slaughterhouse.

35. Bas Rutten can put his hands behind his head and play "The Sabre Dance" on a xylophone with his penis.

36. Bas Rutten has hospitalized more Asian people than SARS.

37. Bas Rutten’s knee strikes were on the list of WMDs that the American military was looking for in Iraq.

38. Bas Rutten is so manly that he once lost a job as a department-store Santa Claus when every child who sat on his knee walked away with a five o’clock shadow.

39. Steven Seagal learned the front kick from watching Bas Rutten videos.

40. Every night at bedtime, Osama Bin Laden phones his mommy for reassurance that Bas Rutten is not hiding under his bed.

41. Bas Rutten Underoos have a special pocket for condoms and bail money.

42. According to international law, "El Guapo Likes To Dance" is the official national anthem of whatever country Bas Rutten happens to be in.

43. Bas Rutten invented "The o2 Trainer", a device that helps people to breathe, which is kind of ironic coming from a guy who’s helped so many people to stop.

44. Bas Rutten hasn’t lost a street fight since he was four years old, and that one probably doesn’t count since it was a five-on-one ambush outside his baby-momma’s house while he was drunk.

45. Every year, Belgians celebrate the day that Bas Rutten moved to the USA and Belgium stopped having to give Holland its lunch money.

46. Chuck Norris has an ongoing argument with The Most Interesting Man In The World over which one of them is more like Bas Rutten.

47. Bas Rutten once broke somebody’s nose with a Retweet.

48. Bas Rutten’s clean urine is on the CSAC’s "Banned Substances" list (sorry, Machida!).

49. Bas Rutten is the reason that the Grim Reaper still uses a nightlight.

50. Bas Rutten has won fights by head kick, leg kick, palm strike, knee strike, punch inna face, and of course liver shot. He has also won more fights by submission than by KO/TKO or decision. No joke here, just some well-deserved verification of Bas as one of the first true mixed martial artists, and one of the greatest combat athletes of all time.

30 Day Song Challenge | Day 30: Your Favourite Song This Time Last Year

Turn The Page by Metallica

This 30 Day Song Challenge started with Metallica, and it’s ending with it too. They’re so good. This song was actually from a little later than this exact time last year, more towards the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, but who cares? It came up at a time in my life when it really resonated with me on a number of levels, and it’s just a great song regardless. A great one for the summer too.

Turn The Page, Metallica

30 Day Song Challenge | Day 29: A Song From Your Childhood

Inside by Stiltskin

This was the song that got me into rock way back when I was really young. I first heard it on a Top Gear tape – one of those where they mash together a mix of driving music – and loved it. I thought it was heavy at the time! Since then of course my taste has become wildly eclectic and my sense of what’s ‘heavy’ has, shall we say, changed. Nevertheless, this song has always remained close to my heart. Love it.

Ahh, the 90s…

Inside, Stiltskin

30 Day Song Challenge | Day 28: A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty

Ozar Midrashim, Legacy of Kain

I’m being really naughty with this one and bending the question as much as possible – this is a song that makes me feel guilty on behalf of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics, etc for not continuing the Legacy of Kain series. It honestly is the best series of games I’ve ever come across, and deserves so much more credit than it gets. It’s the classic underrated champion of gaming. A modern title would be amazing, considering the gameplay and graphics available now. I urge everyone to make as big a stink as possible about this, because it’s just criminal. The same goes for the possibility that Stargate’s going to die out soon, but I won’t even go into that at the moment.

This video’s got a nice mix of scenes from Legacy of Kain: Defiance in, but it looks like they turned the graphics down to record or something, because they’re normally much better.

Ozar Midrashim, Legacy of Kain

30 Day Song Challenge | Day 27: A Song You Wish You Could Play

Bliss by Cookie Monsta

It’s not just this song really, it’s just an example. I’d love to find out how to make good Dubstep and have a bash at it sometime. As it is though, I really can’t be bothered. I’d also love to take up guitar and drums again, but I just have too much going on with The Combative Self-Protection System at the moment to take up anything new.

Bliss, Cookie Monsta