There are times when world turns around and says "you've no chance, mate". It’s then when your actions - no matter how noble or pure - are turned around and your sincere deeds are perceived as being utterly negative.

This has happened to me lately and it’s boggling how you can spend months trying to do the right thing for it all to come to nothing.

All the good you have done is lost in a heartbeat and you're remembered only for the bad.

I’ve realised it stems from getting involved. I used to think people didn't get involved because they were too lazy to make the effort, but I now realise it’s because they know that getting involved involves taking sides, and no matter how impartial you try to be, taking sides has consequences.

Getting involved creates enemies.

People have their own insecurities and prejudices, and many people find it far easier to cast the first stone than to look at their own situation and how they might be affecting others. It’s ultimately self-destructive, but it’s much easier than the alternative: making the effort and trying to affect change in others.

This reminds me of long-term cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson who devoted the last years of her life to raising more than million pounds to charity. She was called all kinds of names, her actions questioned and her motives rubbished. I can’t possibly compare myself to that wonderful woman, but I do try to do the right thing, even if it puts me in the firing line. Which it does, often. The more good I try to do, the more I upset the world around me.

I think people will always see what they want to see, and sometimes, no matter how much good you try to do, there are just sometimes when you can’t win.

But perhaps it’s not important. Some people will always be motivated by greed and hate and anger, and while that might be a fact of life, all we can do is look to the future and hope that there’s a brighter time ahead.

And continue to strive to do the right thing, knowing inside that our path is pure and honest, no matter how many people try to put us down.

After all, it’s the journey that matters. And nothing else.

If you like H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and you're somehow also into plush cuddly animals, then you'll love this.

A bizarre combination, but fantastic nonetheless.

The Rise of Plush Cthulhu

I was sitting on the tube the other day and a child in a pushchair was staring up at me. She couldn’t have been more than 18 months old, with huge dark eyes and a mass of curly, black hair. We made eye contact and she gave me an innocent smile and offered me some of the sandwich she was eating.

This got me to thinking: are we born selfless with the view to share, and if so, do we unlearn these qualities as we get older. Are we born perfect in body, mind, and soul, only to be corrupted by life as we get older.

That tiny child was saying: “hi there, be my friend, want to share my food with me, it’s all I have to give,” and I found that single innocent offering of mashed up egg-sandwich to be incredibly touching. She clearly didn’t understand the meaning of selfishness; to her the world existed in terms of black and white.

So, are we born innocent and learn selfishness from the world around us? If so, that’s a very depressing fact.

Maybe in time we’ll learn to avoid the tar of society and remain as free and innocent as that tiny child in the pushchair, offering her sandwich to anyone who smiles back at her.

EA Mythic today announced details of the Warhammer Online Collector’s Edition. The over-sized box will contain the following goodies: European mousepad, the Librams of Insight - a three-use in game item that offers you a 10% XP bonus for 60 minutes, and twelve bonus quests that will offer additional in-game rewards (including a unique character title).

Give Me Head: Stand out in the crowd with a look unlike anyone else (except for the other 55,000 gamers who bought the Collector’s Edition) by choosing one of twelve unique bonus heads for additional character customization.

No Warhammer Collector’s Edition would be complete without an exclusive metal miniature and ‘Grumlok and his shaman Gazbag’ are no exception (assembly and painting required). Also packed into the box are the 224 hardbound Art of Warhammer book, and Warhammer: Prelude to War – a 128 page hardbound graphic novel that sets the stage for the start of the game.

Ordering online will net you the stat-boosting item: Guardian's Iolite Band that boosts your chance of doing spiritual damage, while ordering in-store gets you Sentinel's Amber Band (similar to the online pre-order item but gives you the chance to do corporeal damage).

If that wasn’t enough, all pre-orders receive Rittenbach's Portable Camp – an in-game healing device - and everyone is guaranteed both a spot in the open beta and access to the live servers days before the game goes on general release.

The Collector’s Edition is limited to 55,000 European units and while no UK price has been set, is retailing for around 79.99 Euros. Get more details at the official website.

I've discovered a brand new and fantastic way to avoid one of those most unpleasant household chores: the washing up.

Instead of washing your mugs and cups, just break them instead!

If you break, say, three or four mugs and glasses in the space of twenty four hours, just think of the time you'll save. This works out over the course of a year at literally HOURS of saved time that you could spend doing other, less boring tasks. 

This happened to me this weekend and I must say, it's great having more shelf space and knowing you've got so much less to wash up every day.

So, lob your crockery in the bin when dirty. It's a housewives' dream!

I can't see a downside to this plan yet...

Maybe it'll come to me in the week.

Think about a Parisien hotel; all that style and splendour and sophistication.

Then think about a hotel that has 'soundproofed walls' as a feature.

That was one of the options today when selecting our hotel for Blizzard's Euro Convention in June.

Soundproofed walls - what do you think it means? It is for a little French Ooh-La-La? Or for purely mundane reasons?

It all sounds very suspect to me.

You've probably already seen this. But does it creep you out like it does me?

Robot Dog

I don't know whether it's the weird fly legs, the odd movement, or simply the unnaturalness of it all. Well, no matter how you look at it it's is exceptionally creepy.

Do humans have a pathological fear of robots? Or is that just me? 

Can you imagine that kind of thing skittering down the street every day?

How did it make you feel?

I just found out I've been paying £29 a year for credit card cover I didn't even know I had.

Or wanted.

Apparently, I signed up for "free" cover in January 2001 and had to manually cancel it by letter or telephone, although I never sign up for those things; they're just a con. No one told me at the time and I was very surprised when I received a letter today (the first in eight years) telling me that my cover was about to expire.

So it got me thinking: how many people are paying for pointless cover they don't even know about. It seems that EGG automatically signed me up for this. Which is pretty unethical business. 

If I hadn't had a letter from them, I would probably have missed it from my statement, again.

So my advice here: check your statements oh-so-carefully these days. It's not only the fraudsters that are after your cash.

Well, it's live. Of sorts. A heavily edited article is now live on IGN UK, which bears almost no semblance to the article I submitted. There's all kinds of mistakes in it. For example: you won't be fighting the Balrog (as that fell into the pit with Gandalf) and the Nameless are creatures previously only ever mentioned in Tolkien's lore but have never been seen in game.

Anyway, you can catch what is almost my work at: http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/859/859609p1.html

I'm off to Connect08 tomorrow to do my write-up. Funny how I feel so nervous for just three hundred measly words. Clearly, size isn't everything...

Anyway. Ahem, yes. Check out UK IGN tomorrow from around noon to see my headline. But be warned: it'll be very short!

Visit IGN at the following URL: http://uk.ign.com/

If you're into gaming, and you love online gaming, then you'll know the 14th of March is Codemasters' first major event. Called Connect08, it's like a mini E3 and the the main story is that the developers of The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar - Turbine - are making an exclusive press statement on the game's first major expansion. What will it be? Moria? Grey Haven? Or something even more fabulous? Only seven days to find out...

Of course, I'll be there to report on it all, only this time I'll be reporting for internet phenomenon IGN.

I'll have the low down early on the 14th, but if you want to check out Connect08, go their website and buy tickets. It's worth it purely for the goodie bags.

Check out Connect08.

The latest issue of Shivers magazine is on shelves today, and within you'll find the juiciest bits of horror ever.

There's a huge preview of EA's Dead Space, and Romero's Diary of the Dead.

My features are:

• Top 10 Most Anticipated Horror Movies for 2008
• Review of Condemned 2 (and my terrifying trip to Amsterdam)
• Review of Devil May Cry 4.

That's more gaming goodness there than you can handle (or deserve).

Go buy it at once!

The granddaddy of Dungeons & Dragons passed away today.

You're probably wondering "who?". Well, Gary was one of the founding creators of Dungeons & Dragons that has entertained gamers the world over for three decades. He has also starred in numerous TV shows, the most famous being Futurama where he played himself: well, his future self - which was little more than a head in a jar.

I interviewed him a few years ago. He was in poor health then, but he was a unique individual. He was eccentric and funny and clever and quite the typical D&D nerd type - and unashamedly so.

He was like the captain of a great ocean liner at conventions; everyone wanted to have breakfast with him.

It was somewhat tragic that he was so embittered by the game that made him name. He sold the game two decades ago, and when his wife divorced him, he lost pretty much everything that he cared about.

If you're like me (and you're probably not), you've been dreaming about a Cadbury Cream Egg the size of a dinner plate since you were a kid.

I know Cadbury did make some oversized ones a few years ago, but they were for special customers and not for retail.

All my dreams were dead... until someone had the special idea of making one. That's right, a whopping Cadbury Cream Egg the size of a football.

Oversized Cadbury Cream Egg

With thousands of calories and a month's load of fat per egg, it's not something you could eat every day, but it's pure indulgence - and a sure fire way to a heart attack.

But, c'mon, it'd be SOO worth it

Alexander Graham Bell (3 March 1847 - 2 August 1922) was an eminent scientist and inventor associated with the invention of the telephone. His research on hearing and speech led him to experiment with hearing devices that eventually culminated in the invention of the telephone in 1876.

I'm mentioning this today because it made me realise just how much technology has integrated itself into our society. We all carry mobile phones and think nothing of sending a text - even my mother sends texts, but ten years ago, no one but a wealthy and select few had heard of the mobile...

Mobiles are super fashionable and everyone wants the next best thing, but where do all those old mobiles that no one wants any more go? Is there a mobile heaven, and if not, isn't it a horrible waste having mountains of old phones that have a lifespan of just a year or so?

It seems incredibly environmentally unfriendly. But then again, we live in an environmentally unfriendly age, where no one gives a moment's thought to pouring bleach down the toilet, or for swapping their phone endlessly when the first one we had would have met our needs quite nicely.

If you like Star Wars, this is an exellent Star Wars-esque lightsaber battle.

Check out Ryan vs. Dorkman 2.