Since getting my iPod and discovering the joys of podcasts via iTunes, I’ve been suscribing to a reasonable number of them. A lot of them are BBC or Guardian podcasts, but I’ve also been subscribing to a good few Linux podcasts after the article in Linux Format on them.

One particular favourite is the Linux Outlaws podcast. Presented by Fabian and Dan it provides a good balance of news, reviews and discussion on all things Linux. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a new podcast to listen to. Its quickly become a podcast that jumps the queue on my iPod when there’s a backlog to listen to.

Okay, I’m just playing around with the look of the blog at the moment.

With Wordpress adding tags a release or two ago, I thought I should start adding them, and by extension, add the tag cloud widget to my sidepanel. However, I’ve also been aware that the length of the sidepanel was increasing, so I thought I’d give a 3 column layout a whirl.

Feel free to leave feedback as to whether or not its better. But if you think it sucks, don’t panic. It may not be permanent

Kind of a follow up post this. Since I’d ranted about the grief I had installing the Oblivion mod, it seemed only fair to mention how it played.

The mod in qestion was the Fighter’s Stronghold mod available from Oblivion Downloads. Filling in an obvious gap in their player housing mods, this one introduces Castle Battlehorn, a player-owned castle aimed at (you guessed it) Fighter-based characters.

I’m not a big fan of the huge houses. While they look impressive, personally I tend to find them a bit impractical. I prefer somewhere I can duck into, rest and stash my equipment, without having to wander through 5 different rooms first. Small wonder then that my houses of choice tend to be the Imperial City shack and the Bruma house.

The castle itself is impressive. There’s loads of rooms, with player quarters and a grand dining hall. However, my only complaint was the ease at which the castle is aquired. Once you have the quest, its a simple matter of defeating four enemies (with help from the guards) and its yours. There is apparently another quest that can be unlocked, but I’ve not played that one yet, and I was a bit dissappointed by the lack of a proper quest to own the house.

If your very own castle floats your boat, then I’m more inclined to recommend the Castle Ravenpride mod. Available freely, you are presented with an incredibly satisfying quest before you are given lordship of the castle. The mod is probably the best player-created quest I’ve played, with several hours playtime needed, full voice acting, and some nice scripted bits (the bridge to the castle is visually stunning when you first see it, and provides a great backdrop to one of your fights).

Check out the trailer for the mod: