Making Fast Cash in Skyrim

I've just found a quickish way of making fast money in Skyrim without cheating or using a known bug. This way will also level you up quicker too.

While playing I've found both empty and full Soul gems and they are normally of the low level petty variety. Having found an enchantment alter and a few magically items I've disenchanted the ones I don't want to use and was going to sell them anyway. Disenchanting breaks the magical sword or whatever it is and allows you to learn the enchantment. Once you've learnt an enchantment you can apply it to most weapons/apparel using the alter. The soul gems are needed to make the enchanted item but they can only be used once.

An Enchantment Alter

So with my collection of petty soul gems and naff weapons that are left lieing around after a battle I've been turning these cheap weapons into expensive enchanted ones (I had about 10 full petty soul gems).

I've also just found an enchanted sword that captures the souls that you fill soul gems with. So I'll be using this for a while to fill up the empty soul gems I have.

Skyrim Adventure Blog

For Christmas Zoe got me the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Xbox 360. I've been playing for a few hours now and I thought it would be a good idea if I describe my progress through this massive role playing adventure. The problem I see is that my endurance in writing this blog. Not only can the game take 100 hours+ to complete and therefore much to write about but I think I might just end up playing Skyrim rather than writing about my adventures in it.

Starting Out

A Khajiit. Does look a bit like my character

I've chosen to play a race called khajiit which is a type cat. Khajiits are good a being stealthy, can see in the dark and have a powerful claw attack. After playing the last Elder Scrolls game a few years ago I found that seeing in the dark without a torch is a must for my type of play and holding a flaming torch while trying to sneak up on someone is pointless.

I'm currently at level 7 and I've not selected  any perks yet. I'm going to save them up and decide later what I'm going to choose.

The Story So Far
I've managed to pick up a load of heavy armour, an amulet that increases your heavy armour skill rating and a pair of boots that increase the amount you can carry. This is all good but heavy armour is no good for sneaking around. So, instead I've made some very good light armour using a blacksmiths forge and I'm now wearing it.

After killing my first dragon (which wasn't too difficult since I had an army with me) I found a load of magical weapons at a bandit camp while on a mission to return some guys sword, a family heirloom. On the way to the camp I came across a fort occupied by a whole load of mages (magic users) hell bent on roasting my furry hide with fireballs. After killing the mages, a necromancer (a mage who raises the dead to fight for him) and skeletons I found a few spell books (one of them is raise zombie) and an enchanting alter. Using the alter I learnt most of the enchantments found on the magical weapons that I had.

Leaving the mage fort at night a whopping dragon flew overhead and landed nearby. Armed with a magical bow of lightening and my claws I ran towards it. I also noticed a very large humanoid creature running towards it too - odd, I thought. After firing a few arrows in the dragons direction (with a couple of hits) I figured out that the dragon was attacking a couple of giants. I've fought giants before and always died so I didn't want to get too close to them. Eventually, after I received a few scorchings from the dragon it landed between the giants and as they fought I pinged off a few arrows and the dragon died. Now all I needed to do was search the dragon but the giants had noticed me and trying to hide wasn't going to work. All I could do was run and they are fast. In the end I managed to search the dragon (and picking up it's treasure) and I managed to get away by sprinting for my life. I think if it wasn't for the fact of changing out of heavy into light armour I'd probably be giant's dessert.

Christmas with Herman in the New Forest

This Christmas we are spending it in Herman on a little campsite in Bartley, New Forest. My parents are staying at the Bartley Lodge Hotel which is a 45 minute walk away. One narrow section of the walk goes through the national park and is very muddy and dark at night. Wild horses roam these path and it's very normal for a group of them to be mingled together blocking the way. And sometimes they seem to loom out of the darkness to scare you witless.

Watch what happened on Christmas day when Zoe opens her presents

This is where we spent Christmas
View Christmas in a larger map

Otters, again

Today we decided to go back to Studland Beach to see if we could see the otters again but this time with our cameras. We weren't disappointed. Check this out.

We also went to see Old Harry's Rock which is in the same area.

Corfe Castle and Studland Bay

Corfe Castle is a bit drafty

The last couple of days have been great and the weather has been kind. Even though it has been forecast for torrential rain and 60 mph gusts.

Yesterday we went to Corfe Castle which is now a ruin. It was built in stone in the 11th century by William the Conqueror and was a royal fortress for 600 years.

Santa's Express

From the castle you look down upon the village of Corfe and the old railway line. At the moment they are running a steam train called the Santa Express. Well it is December after all.

Middle Beach

Today started out as a bright sunny day and we decided to risk it and go for a walk at Studland Beach. When we arrived the SBS (Special Boat Service, like the SAS but on water) were training by jumping out of a Hercules and parachuting into the ice cold sea.

Old Harry Rocks

We walked along the beach and headed to one of the bird hides on a lake called Little Sea which is a nature reserve. From the hide we saw a couple of otters, a kingfisher and a marsh harrier. At one point the otters were about 4 metres from us.

We had a brilliant time.

Pre Christmas Holiday in Herman

Wareham,we have ventured out in Herman for a week.

We will be staying at a Caravan Club site called Hunter's Moon in Wareham near Swanage which is on the south coast.

We've been told that it's very beautiful around here and we intend to find out for ourselves although the weather is forecasting rain. Never mind, there are plenty of other things to do such as Corfe Castle.

This is the first time out in Herman since we replaced the internal lights with LEDs. It's now a lot brighter. Before, it was like reading by candle light but now I'm a little worried about getting sun burn. Totally recommend doing this and it uses a lot less electricity too.

How to Hide Your Details in Facebook

It has recently came to my attention that my mobile number and other contact details are viewable by everyone on Facebook. As we all know Facebook keeps changing its security from time to time which exposes data that you may have hidden a while back so it's a good idea to check it once in a while.

With the new interface changing your profile security settings is easy but somewhat hidden. Here is how you find and change your security levels.

At the top right of the Facebook web page is your name, "Find Friend", "Home" and a down arrow. Clicking the down arrow displays a menu. Select the menu option 'Privacy Settings".

At the very top of Privacy Settings web page you'll see "Control Privacy When you Post" followed by the text "You can manage the privacy of your status updates, photos and information using the inline audience selector — when you share or afterwards. Remember: the people you share with can always share your information with others, including apps. Try editing your profile to see how it works or learn more."

To edit your privacy settings click the text that says "editing your profile" which takes you to the "Edit Profile" page.

On the left of the Edit Profile page you'll see a list of categories, the first one being "Basic Information' which is currently selected. The main part of the page displays your information depending on the category on the left. Clicking on a category changes the content on the page.

All you need to do now is change the privacy option by clicking the down arrow next to each piece of information. "Public" will allow everyone to see your info; "Friends" means only your friends can see your info; and "Only me" means nobody but you can see your info.

The privacy information for your contact details such as email and mobile number can be changed by clicking on the "Contact Information" category.