I just returned my digi box because I got tired pressing yellow to get rid of the message asking me to retune. Thanks to the digital switchover. The switchover in the Granada take place in two stages. The first on 04th November 2009 at which point BBC2 goes all digital, the second full switchover takes place on 2nd December 2009, at which point you will need to have a set top box, digital tv, sky digital or NTL connection to receive a television service in the Granada region. So plenty of time before I need to retune the box but unfortunately the BBC seem to have added an irritating popup reminded requiring me to press the yellow button to make it disappear. I rather reminded me of the most hated Microsoft update which prompted every 15 minute until you relented and restarted the computer.
The switchover means more channel space being freed up, indeed there are a new bunch of channels already, including a Russian News channel Russia Today. I looked them up on wikipeadia basically it is funded by the Russia State media company, I guess their attempt at the BBC world service.
While I was googling Russia Today I found that the Japanese state broadcaster NHK has an English language channel, and website complete with some free Japanese tutorials awesome!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Ironic
Like something from Final Destination after escaping from a lift a devout Catholic man is crushed to death by a church alter.
White Bathroom :)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
End of an era
I just read that Woodford Aerospace will be closing down in 2012. I have found memories of the Woodford Air-show as a child, I remember getting so excited watching all the plains, I remember one year there were two soviet pilots in the village shop buying chocolate, they were flying the rather awesome Beriev Mermaid. The last air-show took place in 2000, repeated years of bad weather and the increasing cost of using the site, such a shame.
My Great uncle worked for Avro / BA for years, if he were alive I am sure he would be much saddened by the news.
BAe have spent the last few years busily relocating to the United States in order to get more of the US defence spending, I guess it was inevitable that Woodford days were numbered.
My Great uncle worked for Avro / BA for years, if he were alive I am sure he would be much saddened by the news.
BAe have spent the last few years busily relocating to the United States in order to get more of the US defence spending, I guess it was inevitable that Woodford days were numbered.
"free" is not always the primary selling point
IT World have an interesting discussion about why users choose paid for propritary software over free. I must say I agree with the points about features and polish being major turn off especially for people who just want to get things done not spend hours tnkering with configuration options. Not sure I agree about the Gimp though, for the last few years its seems more and more of a credible alternative to the ruinously expensive photoshop.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Airbag
According to this article in the Telegraph computer engineers are the most likely to make an insurance claim following a car crash, yikes!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Vertigo
Phil and I were given some tickets for Alton towers, a friend had got free tickets courtesy of the Sun newspaper. He wasn't able to go and let us have the tickets instead.
I woke up with a terrible hangover having gone out for drinks last night with Ian Faye and Nick. I had to delay leaving for Alton Towers until I was able to make myself more human.
Even after breakfast and a long long shower I was still feeling pretty awful, but I decided not to pass up the trip. It has been over 10 years since I last went to Alton Towers, so I have ridden on Nemesis but not Oblivion.
This was the first ride of the day, as we saw on the monitors that the wait time was zero Minutes. Oblivion is a vertical drop roller coaster, you go up then stop for a few heart stopping moments before plunging 60 meters straight down into a black pit. It was quite an adrenaline booster, and woke me up from my hangover. Its over pretty quickly but you do get a couple of seconds where there is a feeling of weightlessness, oh and top tip keep you head back.
We queued for 30 minutes to get on Rita, and looking at the coaster I didn't imagine it was going to be anything special, I was very wrong! The initial acceleration was quite simply phenomenal. There is about 4.7g of force during the acceleration is simple breathtaking, I was actually tingling when I got off the ride.
At this point Phil and I went for lunch opting to eat at the Rita bar and grill; the restaurants have certainly improved from the drab hot dog vendors I remember to proper bar & restaurants, even branded outlets like KFC and Berger King. Phil had a ribs and chicken combo while I had a cheese and bacon burger. My burger was tasty but Phil really made the right choice he let me try some of the spicy chicken which was really delicious.
We came back for another go on Rita before leaving the park, it was my favourite of the ride, the feeling of speed is just amazing.
This is an interesting ride in which you are effectively laid forward and fly over the ground. While not as fast as Rita or even Nemesis you are only a couple of meters off the ground which. The flight is so close and fast to the ground that the feeling of danger and speed is more intense than the actual physical sensation of the g force. The rider is treated to views of the open sky followed by a flipping down to earth seemingly careering into a wall only to fly over it, very well done.
I had bad memories of Nemesis from my last visit to Alton Towers. I had queued for about 2.5 hours on a hot day and the ride was over in seconds. Going on it again I realised that my feelings were clouded by the wait, this time it was less then 30 minutes, and its a great ride, the loop low over the water is very impressive. Though I did find one bit of the ride batted my head between the harness a bit.
To finish we had a go on the spinball wizzard a smaller coaster but an d interesting one in which 4 people sit in opposing quarters of a car. The car can spin round as you go round the rollercoaster creating some pretty strange sensations as you whizz around the track not really knowing which way you will turn. As there was still no wait time we walked back onto Oblivion for one last thrill before leaving the park.
I woke up with a terrible hangover having gone out for drinks last night with Ian Faye and Nick. I had to delay leaving for Alton Towers until I was able to make myself more human.
Even after breakfast and a long long shower I was still feeling pretty awful, but I decided not to pass up the trip. It has been over 10 years since I last went to Alton Towers, so I have ridden on Nemesis but not Oblivion.
Oblivion
This was the first ride of the day, as we saw on the monitors that the wait time was zero Minutes. Oblivion is a vertical drop roller coaster, you go up then stop for a few heart stopping moments before plunging 60 meters straight down into a black pit. It was quite an adrenaline booster, and woke me up from my hangover. Its over pretty quickly but you do get a couple of seconds where there is a feeling of weightlessness, oh and top tip keep you head back.
Rita Queen of Speed
We queued for 30 minutes to get on Rita, and looking at the coaster I didn't imagine it was going to be anything special, I was very wrong! The initial acceleration was quite simply phenomenal. There is about 4.7g of force during the acceleration is simple breathtaking, I was actually tingling when I got off the ride.
At this point Phil and I went for lunch opting to eat at the Rita bar and grill; the restaurants have certainly improved from the drab hot dog vendors I remember to proper bar & restaurants, even branded outlets like KFC and Berger King. Phil had a ribs and chicken combo while I had a cheese and bacon burger. My burger was tasty but Phil really made the right choice he let me try some of the spicy chicken which was really delicious.
We came back for another go on Rita before leaving the park, it was my favourite of the ride, the feeling of speed is just amazing.
Air
This is an interesting ride in which you are effectively laid forward and fly over the ground. While not as fast as Rita or even Nemesis you are only a couple of meters off the ground which. The flight is so close and fast to the ground that the feeling of danger and speed is more intense than the actual physical sensation of the g force. The rider is treated to views of the open sky followed by a flipping down to earth seemingly careering into a wall only to fly over it, very well done.
Nemesis
I had bad memories of Nemesis from my last visit to Alton Towers. I had queued for about 2.5 hours on a hot day and the ride was over in seconds. Going on it again I realised that my feelings were clouded by the wait, this time it was less then 30 minutes, and its a great ride, the loop low over the water is very impressive. Though I did find one bit of the ride batted my head between the harness a bit.
To finish we had a go on the spinball wizzard a smaller coaster but an d interesting one in which 4 people sit in opposing quarters of a car. The car can spin round as you go round the rollercoaster creating some pretty strange sensations as you whizz around the track not really knowing which way you will turn. As there was still no wait time we walked back onto Oblivion for one last thrill before leaving the park.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Farmville
Seems like Zynga are taking over Facebook at the moment, my feed seems to be full of people wanting me to join the Mafia or to start a farm. According to the Zynga blog FarmVille surpassed 11 million daily active users. That is some pretty amazing usage statistics. I had dismissed these games as a fad but it seems some people take it really seriously, check out Pablo Paniagua' in depth analysis of the investment returns of different trees.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Until It Breaks
Today I had several helpers at my house. As usual my dad came to help me, and I started in the mornign painting the bathroom. Now the yellow nicotine stain is covered it started to look better already.
Next Bruce arrived with his cable tester and wand (basically as device you can attach to one end of a cable then use the wand to find the other end). We traced out the first six sockets, discovering in the process we managed to get the backs on upside down!
In the afternoon Andy Gilmore arrived to help do some painting. Originally he had planned to arrive about lunchtime but a night on the tiles had left him a little worse for wear. I gave him the grand tour then set him to work putting another coat on the bathroom. I started glossing some bits in the hallway, including the doors to the garage and kitchen.
Bruce suggested that we went to see Inglorious Bastards and as Andy was up for that too we went back to my parents house to get changed and have some food before Bruce picked us up. I was slightly worried about Storm, whether he would like Andy, fortunately after having a sniff he decided that he was OK. We even took him for a short walk.
My parents made a pasta dinner, with asparigus spears and cougettes. It was pretty tasty and I was hungry after the days decorating.
Inglorious Bastards played out like an old school spaghetti western, indeed the first Chapter is called once upon a time in Nazi occupied France. It marks a real return to form. It still the over the top violence and reference but somehow here it works better, I thought only the Mike Myers scene was really overplayed. Brad pit plays the over the top American with aplomb. There are a load of wonderful quotable lines and film references, ending the film with the understated line "this is my greatest masterpiece".
Next Bruce arrived with his cable tester and wand (basically as device you can attach to one end of a cable then use the wand to find the other end). We traced out the first six sockets, discovering in the process we managed to get the backs on upside down!
In the afternoon Andy Gilmore arrived to help do some painting. Originally he had planned to arrive about lunchtime but a night on the tiles had left him a little worse for wear. I gave him the grand tour then set him to work putting another coat on the bathroom. I started glossing some bits in the hallway, including the doors to the garage and kitchen.
Bruce suggested that we went to see Inglorious Bastards and as Andy was up for that too we went back to my parents house to get changed and have some food before Bruce picked us up. I was slightly worried about Storm, whether he would like Andy, fortunately after having a sniff he decided that he was OK. We even took him for a short walk.
My parents made a pasta dinner, with asparigus spears and cougettes. It was pretty tasty and I was hungry after the days decorating.
Inglorious Bastards played out like an old school spaghetti western, indeed the first Chapter is called once upon a time in Nazi occupied France. It marks a real return to form. It still the over the top violence and reference but somehow here it works better, I thought only the Mike Myers scene was really overplayed. Brad pit plays the over the top American with aplomb. There are a load of wonderful quotable lines and film references, ending the film with the understated line "this is my greatest masterpiece".
Dance Little Liar
The last week has been fantastically busy, I feel washed out and very glad its weekend. Tonight I went round to Phil's to drink beer and watch TV on his incredible TV room. There wasnt much on Sky so we ended up watching Last Samurai, which I think was Tom Cruises last decent film. It is loosely based on the events of the Satsuma Rebellion. The film much like Braveheart pit the Brave and noble Samuri against the Government forces, who are evil and corrupted by forign influences. This totally ignores the real history in which the Samurai were fighting to retain the feudal system which benefited them. Initially brought about by the arrival of the Americans, who humiliatingly defeated the Japanese; who due to an extended period of isolation failed to have modern weaponry. A rapid period of modernisation followed including the formation of a conscription based army (using the Franco - German model). After which the Samurai found themselves no longer in a privileged position. Yes there was government corruption but more than anything this was a class war which really proved the feudal system was a failure.
I walked home from Phil house, it was the most magical night, there was a brilliant nearly full moon so I took a short cut across the fields, bathed in moonlight. It was pretty nice except for the grass being wet.
I walked home from Phil house, it was the most magical night, there was a brilliant nearly full moon so I took a short cut across the fields, bathed in moonlight. It was pretty nice except for the grass being wet.
Friday, September 04, 2009
419 goes YouTube
The classic Nigerian email scams gets all web 2.0. The Register has full covereage.
This is pure comedy genius
This is pure comedy genius
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Fabulous World of Jules Verne - Part 1 - Karel Zeman
Wired is running a series of best sci fi films (pre and post star wars) this one caught my eye, its a Czeck film looks pretty surreal
Proxy Auto configuration
I found a site which details away to have dhcp server out an address for a Proxy Automatic configuration.
It isnt a standard ICP Dhcp option but can be added with the following
#Create a new option
option local-pac-server code 252 = text;
#Pointer to the PAC file
option local-pac-server "http://www.example.com/wpad.dat";
It isnt a standard ICP Dhcp option but can be added with the following
#Create a new option
option local-pac-server code 252 = text;
#Pointer to the PAC file
option local-pac-server "http://www.example.com/wpad.dat";
Monday, August 31, 2009
Dance Little Liar
Friday I went out at lunch time to have a walk and some fresh air. Not good to sit in the basement all day. I cant help wondering what is going on with the world, Macclesfield seems to be full of mobile phone shops all the major networks plus at least one independent.
I bought the new Arctic Monkeys album from the little independent music store in Macclesfield, they are lucky to still have somewhere that sell music. I was in Altrincham a few weeks ago and the only place that sells music was Tesco, and they basically don't stock much beyond the charts.
I quite like Humbug, they have recorded something which sounds unmistakable Arctic Monkeys but also is a little different. I could hear the Queens of the Stone age influence in places. I think it is a grower album rather than an instant hit like Favourite Worst Nightmare.
On the way back to work the heavens opened, I was absolutely soaked by the time I got back to the office. I have to sit there dripping wet for the afternoon :( I did however finally manage to get the project I had been struggling with to completion before I left.
Friday night I went round to Phil we got some beers and rented a couple of films. New Town Killers in which a Glasgow youth has to survive one night whilst hunted by two sharp suited but brutal financiers. It was actually a pretty good film like a take on "the game". We also watched a trashy Steven Seagal film, "the plot" of which involved zombies / undead, Seagal came riding to the rescue, mindless but watch-able, after 6 or 7 beers.
Strangely enough Saturday night (after a log of painting) I also ended up at Phil's this time watching True Blue. Its a TV series from American, the premise of which is the Vampires have come out and live amongst people. This allows all sorts of racial and social issues to be explored. We watched the first two episodes and was really hooked.
Bruce was telling me today that a mutual friend of ours who used to be an open source evangelist now works for Microsoft! Which reminded me of a story about Microsoft destroying the culture of one of the games companies they bought. I wonder if the imminent take over of the company I work for will change the culture, I kind of hope so just not in the Microsoft way.
I spent the weekend painting my bathroom from nicotine stained magnolia to bright white, looks pretty nice if I do say so myself. I ended up just painting it white, which is a lot nicer than the nicotine stained magnolia colour on the walls or the weird purple grey colour round the window.
I bought the new Arctic Monkeys album from the little independent music store in Macclesfield, they are lucky to still have somewhere that sell music. I was in Altrincham a few weeks ago and the only place that sells music was Tesco, and they basically don't stock much beyond the charts.
I quite like Humbug, they have recorded something which sounds unmistakable Arctic Monkeys but also is a little different. I could hear the Queens of the Stone age influence in places. I think it is a grower album rather than an instant hit like Favourite Worst Nightmare.
On the way back to work the heavens opened, I was absolutely soaked by the time I got back to the office. I have to sit there dripping wet for the afternoon :( I did however finally manage to get the project I had been struggling with to completion before I left.
Friday night I went round to Phil we got some beers and rented a couple of films. New Town Killers in which a Glasgow youth has to survive one night whilst hunted by two sharp suited but brutal financiers. It was actually a pretty good film like a take on "the game". We also watched a trashy Steven Seagal film, "the plot" of which involved zombies / undead, Seagal came riding to the rescue, mindless but watch-able, after 6 or 7 beers.
Strangely enough Saturday night (after a log of painting) I also ended up at Phil's this time watching True Blue. Its a TV series from American, the premise of which is the Vampires have come out and live amongst people. This allows all sorts of racial and social issues to be explored. We watched the first two episodes and was really hooked.
Bruce was telling me today that a mutual friend of ours who used to be an open source evangelist now works for Microsoft! Which reminded me of a story about Microsoft destroying the culture of one of the games companies they bought. I wonder if the imminent take over of the company I work for will change the culture, I kind of hope so just not in the Microsoft way.
I spent the weekend painting my bathroom from nicotine stained magnolia to bright white, looks pretty nice if I do say so myself. I ended up just painting it white, which is a lot nicer than the nicotine stained magnolia colour on the walls or the weird purple grey colour round the window.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Humbug
Had a lan party on Saturday, only the second one this year the last one was held in January. I expected it to be busy, however I wasn't expected a pose of new players to arrive 45 minutes before the start time! We ended up having 22 players, which was pretty manic in Quake III. It was great as it enabled a several different games to be run with enough players. It was pretty hectic for us though, the pizza order was huge, 17 pizzas, 3 1/4 pounder burgers and 8 chips.
Phil got to show off his new 3D setup, and one of the new guys won CS 30 0.
Nick turned up later in the evening to collect some money off Martin, I think he was quite surprised how busy it was. Ian came in too and he was surprised to find me behind the bar, so surprised he took a photo!
Phil got to show off his new 3D setup, and one of the new guys won CS 30 0.
Nick turned up later in the evening to collect some money off Martin, I think he was quite surprised how busy it was. Ian came in too and he was surprised to find me behind the bar, so surprised he took a photo!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
ID Cards fail
I have never been a fan of the ID card scheme. I think its an expensive and ineffective solution, that despite assurances wont solve the age of problems of fraud criminality and bureaucratic mistakes, indeed someones already managed to clone the cards in 12 minutes. The Register seems to agree so do the Banks, even retailers think twice.
Obviously if the cards themselves are prone to fraud, and ineffective methods of proving our identities the government and the IPS really has other ideas Really its not the card they are interested in but in producing mega databases of everone which can be used in all mannor of ways. I really think that this will mostly impact normal people criminals will simply used cloned cards and never have a real identity.
I certainly will not be registering or queuing up to get one once the scheme goes live in Manchester (which is one of the Trial areas).
Obviously if the cards themselves are prone to fraud, and ineffective methods of proving our identities the government and the IPS really has other ideas Really its not the card they are interested in but in producing mega databases of everone which can be used in all mannor of ways. I really think that this will mostly impact normal people criminals will simply used cloned cards and never have a real identity.
I certainly will not be registering or queuing up to get one once the scheme goes live in Manchester (which is one of the Trial areas).
Thursday, August 13, 2009
He's A Pirate
One of my friends works for a security company, I think he should be driving one of these!
Options include, flag holders and gun case with compartments for 2 machine guns, awesome stuff.
Options include, flag holders and gun case with compartments for 2 machine guns, awesome stuff.
Monday, August 10, 2009
iPhony
Saw this in Wired magazine, as ever US centric but most of the reasons have meritc nonethless
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