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| From Pets |
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Three Guitar Special
A rather paltry three day week back in the office has still managed to leave me feeling like I've been trampled by a herd of elephants on their way to the nearest supermarket offering two for one deals on bananas. Or something. Mind you, in three days we've had to deal with a system upgrade, documenting said upgrade and prep for a demo next week, with half the office on holiday taking advantage of the extended break.
In other words, I am ready for another long weekend, please and thank you, and gawd bless Wills and Kate for the extra day off.
I've applied the latest Ubuntu Release Natty Narwhal to my linux box, and very shiny it is too. Firefox 4, Libre Office, Banshee music player and the Unity desktop manager all add up to a very nice package. It seems very snappy on this aging system, and I really like the new task manager which keeps out of the way and offers the whole screen to play with easy switching between different workspaces - handy for my Java development environment.
In other words, I am ready for another long weekend, please and thank you, and gawd bless Wills and Kate for the extra day off.
I've applied the latest Ubuntu Release Natty Narwhal to my linux box, and very shiny it is too. Firefox 4, Libre Office, Banshee music player and the Unity desktop manager all add up to a very nice package. It seems very snappy on this aging system, and I really like the new task manager which keeps out of the way and offers the whole screen to play with easy switching between different workspaces - handy for my Java development environment.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Breathe in the air
I've concluded that I need to see the doctor, after putting up with coughing, croaking, wheezing, spluttering and generally sounding like a moth eaten harmonium for several months. Whatever it is I've got seems to be significantly worse whenever the air conditioning is on at work, so after getting to the point where I felt almost human after six days off over the weekend I am very much back at square one again this week. Bah.
In telly news, I had been slightly discombobulated by the season opener of Doctor Who after all of the build and hype suggested that we would be getting a humungous American style all action blockbuster, but what we actually got was something subtler, more complex and much darker. I suspect it's not entirely fair to judge this one without seeing the second part next weekend. One thing I didn't spot at first was that the black suits that the Silents were wearing don't appear to be made of cloth ... shades of the Low Men in Yellow Coats from Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis, perhaps?
In games news, Portal 2 is a rare treat. I've only played a bit of the single player game before getting stuck into the co-op campaign with Jamie. Mind mangling spatial puzzles combined with some of the sharpest and funniest script writing since Sam and Max Hit the Road make this an absolute gem to savour. I've also been playing a bit more 'Beyond Good and Evil' and I suspect that I am getting near the end after a thrilling slow-mo roof top chase followed by an absolutely heart breaking cut scene back at the lighthouse. Shonky camera controls apart, this game really is a stone cold classic that *must* be played by anyone that calls themselves a gamer.
In telly news, I had been slightly discombobulated by the season opener of Doctor Who after all of the build and hype suggested that we would be getting a humungous American style all action blockbuster, but what we actually got was something subtler, more complex and much darker. I suspect it's not entirely fair to judge this one without seeing the second part next weekend. One thing I didn't spot at first was that the black suits that the Silents were wearing don't appear to be made of cloth ... shades of the Low Men in Yellow Coats from Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis, perhaps?
In games news, Portal 2 is a rare treat. I've only played a bit of the single player game before getting stuck into the co-op campaign with Jamie. Mind mangling spatial puzzles combined with some of the sharpest and funniest script writing since Sam and Max Hit the Road make this an absolute gem to savour. I've also been playing a bit more 'Beyond Good and Evil' and I suspect that I am getting near the end after a thrilling slow-mo roof top chase followed by an absolutely heart breaking cut scene back at the lighthouse. Shonky camera controls apart, this game really is a stone cold classic that *must* be played by anyone that calls themselves a gamer.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Haikusday
Black glass, cool neon
The world inside the mainframe
Shame about the plot
The monsters are real
We just can't remember them
Nixon scares me more
The cat burglar strikes
Climbing in through the window
To sleep on the bed
Six fifteen alarm
Awake from dreams of dogfights
In cellophane bi-planes
The world inside the mainframe
Shame about the plot
The monsters are real
We just can't remember them
Nixon scares me more
The cat burglar strikes
Climbing in through the window
To sleep on the bed
Six fifteen alarm
Awake from dreams of dogfights
In cellophane bi-planes
Monday, April 25, 2011
Derezzed
I've been waiting to see Tron Legacy for a while.
The original was a film that really hit the spot with me as a computer obsessed youngster, so how would the sequel measure up? Well, the visuals were as stylish as ever although there was not a great deal of variety - if you've seen the trailer, you've seen pretty much everything on offer. The score by Daft Punk was excellent, building on the original in fresh and unexpected ways. However, here endeth the good stuff.
The story was an incoherent mess - it made no sense whatsoever and the plot moved at the speed of a glacial snail in between some occasionally thrilling action scenes with the obligatory light cycles and disc throwing bits. Jeff Bridges went from channeling the Dude from the Big Lebowski into Gandalf for no readily apparent reason, Garrett Hedlund (who?) as Sam Flynn was a total charisma vacuum but the real stinker was an awesomely misjudged cameo role from Michael Sheen as a sleazy night club owner (virtual reality needs nightclubs? OK, if you say so ...)
Avoid.
The original was a film that really hit the spot with me as a computer obsessed youngster, so how would the sequel measure up? Well, the visuals were as stylish as ever although there was not a great deal of variety - if you've seen the trailer, you've seen pretty much everything on offer. The score by Daft Punk was excellent, building on the original in fresh and unexpected ways. However, here endeth the good stuff.
The story was an incoherent mess - it made no sense whatsoever and the plot moved at the speed of a glacial snail in between some occasionally thrilling action scenes with the obligatory light cycles and disc throwing bits. Jeff Bridges went from channeling the Dude from the Big Lebowski into Gandalf for no readily apparent reason, Garrett Hedlund (who?) as Sam Flynn was a total charisma vacuum but the real stinker was an awesomely misjudged cameo role from Michael Sheen as a sleazy night club owner (virtual reality needs nightclubs? OK, if you say so ...)
Avoid.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday Links
- Checking in on Linton Zoo's Turkmenian Eagle Owlets Easter fluffiness on Zooborns
- Shiba Inu Puppy Cam Live cuteness! (H/T Alex)
- Choco-Thulhu is real! Assuage those feelings of cosmic insignificance and nameless dread with some delicious chocolate
- 10 beloved cartoon characters reimagined as Cthulhu
- The trouble with Christianity Pat Condell on fine form
- End of the World Notification Service Funny how many definite dates for the end of the world there are
- Web Design Evolution Two Decades of Innovation
- If Logos Could Create Themselves they might look like this
- You are listening to Deep Thought Philosophy plus ambient music
- In the digital era free is easy, so how do you persuade people to pay?
- Doctor Who Girl I can't think of a better tribute to Lis Sladen than this song from Mitch Benn
- The Euthanasia Coaster The ride that is literally designed to kill you
- Amazon’s $23,698,655.93 book about flies When automatic price setting algorithms go wrong, they go *really* wrong
- The Amsterdam Handbag Museum
- Heaven You know how sometimes it feels like the blocks in Tetris are out to get you? This game is the opposite of that.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
When the Music's Over
Last night was fun.
After yet another deliciously warm day, I hauled the barbeque out of the shed and set a match to a pile of charcoal and while it was getting going we hit the apple vodka and rock band with a vengeance. We had a guest vocalist in Pig Orange Grey for the evening:
The patio doors was also flung wide, giving the gig the feel of an open air festival. We played through some Foo Fighters and a couple of old favourites before handing over to Jamie and two of his friends whilst I made a start on cooking up burgers and sausages which were consumed with gusto (and lashings of Nandos Extra Hot sauce). Nom.
Lots of varied music to listen to on the iPod dock (and I even managed to sneak my phone on there to play some Riding the Low), some interesting conversation, cold beer and a warm fire as the sun set behind the trees.
Today has been mostly productive, with question two of the TMA complete. Just one more fifteen pointer to finish and that's it for assessments before the exam in June. I did have to have some tablets and a lie down after lunch to clear a splitting headache which turned out to be due to an apocalyptic storm which passed over giving us an hour of rolling thunder, torrential rain and hail before clearing to be as sunny and warm as before. Strange weather.
Sixty minutes to Doctor Who ...
After yet another deliciously warm day, I hauled the barbeque out of the shed and set a match to a pile of charcoal and while it was getting going we hit the apple vodka and rock band with a vengeance. We had a guest vocalist in Pig Orange Grey for the evening:
The patio doors was also flung wide, giving the gig the feel of an open air festival. We played through some Foo Fighters and a couple of old favourites before handing over to Jamie and two of his friends whilst I made a start on cooking up burgers and sausages which were consumed with gusto (and lashings of Nandos Extra Hot sauce). Nom.
Lots of varied music to listen to on the iPod dock (and I even managed to sneak my phone on there to play some Riding the Low), some interesting conversation, cold beer and a warm fire as the sun set behind the trees.
Today has been mostly productive, with question two of the TMA complete. Just one more fifteen pointer to finish and that's it for assessments before the exam in June. I did have to have some tablets and a lie down after lunch to clear a splitting headache which turned out to be due to an apocalyptic storm which passed over giving us an hour of rolling thunder, torrential rain and hail before clearing to be as sunny and warm as before. Strange weather.
Sixty minutes to Doctor Who ...
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Way Down in the Hole
Yet another gloriously sunny and warm day - so warm in fact that the large fan has been awoken from its winter hibernation in the garage and set to work cooling the lounge down. I've mostly been working on my Java project today, and I think I've broken the back of the second question with reading data from text files and loading it into sorted maps for analysis.
A quick walk with the dog down to the chemist to pick up a prescription and I'm currently installing Portal 2 ... I'll see you on the orange side!
A quick walk with the dog down to the chemist to pick up a prescription and I'm currently installing Portal 2 ... I'll see you on the orange side!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
My Sarah Jane
I went to bed early last night, feeling as if I was coming down with a cold. I woke up at four in the morning and started reading the tweets about Elisabeth Sladen, who died yesterday. I loved Sarah Jane when I was small and watching from behind the sofa, and I loved her even more when she came back in The Sarah Jane adventures. I won't say that watching a kids programme was a guilty pleasure, because dammit, it wasn't. The show was funny, scary, thought provoking and dealt with weighty themes in a way that didn't pander to or patronize any viewer of any age.
This is a repost of a review I wrote back in 2006, which I think says it all:
She was the one.
I was of that particular demographic of Doctor Who viewers, who were introduced to the character sometime during Jon Pertwee's tenure. The chronology of that time is a little hazy in my mind and I can only remember fragments and impressions of the various stories - giant maggots and giant spiders, daemons and daleks. When Jo, the slightly dippy hippy companion, left to be taken up the Amazon some long haired biologist I felt aggrieved on the Doctor's behalf as he drove off into the night in Bessie.
Sooner or later, and I can't really recall the exact date or story, Sarah Jane Smith arrived in the Tardis and proved to be a loyal and resourceful assistant. Smart, brave and sassy, in a proto-feminist stylee, she was a stalwart and saw us through the transformation of the Doctor from silver-haired dandy to floppy hatted bohemian. She faced Daleks and Cybermen, Anti-Matter monsters and Mummies, but when the Doctor was summoned back to Gallifrey she was left behind, with only a robot dog for company.
My eleven year old self recognised the injustice of it, but last night’s episode of Doctor Who made up for it. Demonic teachers, school dinners, K9, explosions, the temptation of ultimate power, and of course, a second chance and an opportunity to put things right by saying goodbye properly.
Telly really doesn’t get much better than this.
This is a repost of a review I wrote back in 2006, which I think says it all:
She was the one.
I was of that particular demographic of Doctor Who viewers, who were introduced to the character sometime during Jon Pertwee's tenure. The chronology of that time is a little hazy in my mind and I can only remember fragments and impressions of the various stories - giant maggots and giant spiders, daemons and daleks. When Jo, the slightly dippy hippy companion, left to be taken up the Amazon some long haired biologist I felt aggrieved on the Doctor's behalf as he drove off into the night in Bessie.
Sooner or later, and I can't really recall the exact date or story, Sarah Jane Smith arrived in the Tardis and proved to be a loyal and resourceful assistant. Smart, brave and sassy, in a proto-feminist stylee, she was a stalwart and saw us through the transformation of the Doctor from silver-haired dandy to floppy hatted bohemian. She faced Daleks and Cybermen, Anti-Matter monsters and Mummies, but when the Doctor was summoned back to Gallifrey she was left behind, with only a robot dog for company.
My eleven year old self recognised the injustice of it, but last night’s episode of Doctor Who made up for it. Demonic teachers, school dinners, K9, explosions, the temptation of ultimate power, and of course, a second chance and an opportunity to put things right by saying goodbye properly.
Telly really doesn’t get much better than this.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Haikusday
With Inland Empire
Lynch proves he is king of the
Celluloid nightmare
Pedants take note
It was actually shot on
SD video
An icy wind blows
It's sunny and warm outside
Air con on inside
Out of office set
Inbox and worktray emptied
See you in a week!
Lynch proves he is king of the
Celluloid nightmare
Pedants take note
It was actually shot on
SD video
An icy wind blows
It's sunny and warm outside
Air con on inside
Out of office set
Inbox and worktray emptied
See you in a week!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Grey Stripe
Just one more day of work to go, and then six days off over the Easter weekend, followed by a three day week and another long weekend. To say I'm looking forward to it would be an understatement on a scale hitherto unimagined in the span of human history. Or something like that.
My nerves were jangled somewhat last night by having to hunt and trap a rather large house spider in the bathroom at two in the morning. It's unusual to see them so big at this time of the year - I'm starting to worry that come the autumn we will seeing Shelob style monstrosities clomping through the house in search of prey at odd hours of the night.
Talking of clomping monstrosities, the boy seems to be consuming bandwidth at a prodigious rate by the simple expedient of playing Warcraft whilst simultaneously watching (or rather listening to) YouTube videos in the background. I'm still not entirely convinced that his Vista pc hasn't got some sort of malware running in the background as well. In other clomping monstrosity news, the girl is back from Uni tomorrow for the Easter break, so her usage will need to be monitored as well, also. Where are the modern parenting manuals that advise on network management policies, eh?
Yesterday's OU work included reading an article about the development of Linux as an example of collaborative development. It seems that volunteers (and Torvalds himself) were motivated partly by the desire to get recognition as being clueful hackers from their peers and also by the need to produce a useful operating system that they wanted to use themselves. Fascinating stuff, and interesting to compare and contrast with companies like Microsoft who have draconian management policies and still churn out bloated and fundamentally broken code.
My nerves were jangled somewhat last night by having to hunt and trap a rather large house spider in the bathroom at two in the morning. It's unusual to see them so big at this time of the year - I'm starting to worry that come the autumn we will seeing Shelob style monstrosities clomping through the house in search of prey at odd hours of the night.
Talking of clomping monstrosities, the boy seems to be consuming bandwidth at a prodigious rate by the simple expedient of playing Warcraft whilst simultaneously watching (or rather listening to) YouTube videos in the background. I'm still not entirely convinced that his Vista pc hasn't got some sort of malware running in the background as well. In other clomping monstrosity news, the girl is back from Uni tomorrow for the Easter break, so her usage will need to be monitored as well, also. Where are the modern parenting manuals that advise on network management policies, eh?
Yesterday's OU work included reading an article about the development of Linux as an example of collaborative development. It seems that volunteers (and Torvalds himself) were motivated partly by the desire to get recognition as being clueful hackers from their peers and also by the need to produce a useful operating system that they wanted to use themselves. Fascinating stuff, and interesting to compare and contrast with companies like Microsoft who have draconian management policies and still churn out bloated and fundamentally broken code.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday Links
- Tiny Tim the Tortoise has “Grape” Expectations Extra tiny = extra cute on Zooborns
- Walk the dinosaur Best school assembly. EVAR!
- A Flappers' Dictionary Don't be an apple knocker - just study these handy phrases to drop into your feathers and you are guaranteed to be the cat's particulars
- How to dig jive talk Dig what I'm putting down - I'm hipping you man to all you need to be a cat who's really in there
- When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? More recently than you might think
- 50 Years Ago: Yuri's Planet
- Interactive 3D model of Solar System Planets and Night Sky
- Spacewalk - the blue sky below us
- Aurora Borealis via Airplane
- Google Earth: 10 of the best pictures
- Sorting algorithms as dances Amaze!
- Hyro Da Hero Lists His Essential Rap Songs For Metalheads (H/T CerebralPig!)
- One Chance to save the world
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Bums and Binge Drinking
We have a new addition to the cocktail cabinet - a bottle of Blavod. I can exclusively report that it is deliciously smooth, with a hint of anis and herbs in the aftertaste.
Even better, it goes superbly well in cocktails like this:
In other news, I have got a fair bit done today, reading some journal articles about the use of wikis and instant messenger technologies. As a result I can now use words like 'outeraction' and 'dyadic' which if nothing else may well come in handy in Words with Friends at some point.
Even better, it goes superbly well in cocktails like this:
In other news, I have got a fair bit done today, reading some journal articles about the use of wikis and instant messenger technologies. As a result I can now use words like 'outeraction' and 'dyadic' which if nothing else may well come in handy in Words with Friends at some point.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
One more red nightmare
A disturbed night, with dreams of being pinned down by evil doctors and then waking up wheezing with my throat feeling like a particularly sandy and hot bit of the Sahara. Not good. I'm running an energy deficit at the moment, and I'm really looking forward to a couple of days off over Easter to recharge my batteries.
Some interesting stuff coming out of the group work on my T215 course at the moment about the difference between how others perceive us and how we see ourselves in the context of team roles and behaviours. I did a Johari window exercise a while ago and I'm tempted to redo it to see if anything has changed in the intervening period.
In telly news, I have been slightly disappointed by 'Campus', perhaps because I was expecting something more like 'Green Wing'. We re-watched the first episode of that series recently and it certainly stands up to repeated viewing because of the sheer volume of surreal sight gags and character interactions, combined with the catchy music and trademark speedy up/slowy down camera work.
In music news, I am going to be writing reviews of some of the acts at Love Music, Hate Racism for Sally's Gig Reviews, so I will be flitting between the White Bear and the Cedar Room from about four o'clock onwards. It strikes me as something of a shame that they didn't call the White Bear upstairs room the Red Moon for all of us old skool Runequest fans ...
Some interesting stuff coming out of the group work on my T215 course at the moment about the difference between how others perceive us and how we see ourselves in the context of team roles and behaviours. I did a Johari window exercise a while ago and I'm tempted to redo it to see if anything has changed in the intervening period.
In telly news, I have been slightly disappointed by 'Campus', perhaps because I was expecting something more like 'Green Wing'. We re-watched the first episode of that series recently and it certainly stands up to repeated viewing because of the sheer volume of surreal sight gags and character interactions, combined with the catchy music and trademark speedy up/slowy down camera work.
In music news, I am going to be writing reviews of some of the acts at Love Music, Hate Racism for Sally's Gig Reviews, so I will be flitting between the White Bear and the Cedar Room from about four o'clock onwards. It strikes me as something of a shame that they didn't call the White Bear upstairs room the Red Moon for all of us old skool Runequest fans ...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Fresh Start
Once upon a time, one of the machines on our network was designated 'newpoot' and acted as the server because of the unimaginably huge 80Gb drive that it had. Over the years it has been patched and updated, and at some point set up to dual boot Ubuntu.
After looking at just how much space the windows partition was taking up on this machine when I have no need to actually ever use it, I bit the bullet and did a complete wipe and install of Ubuntu 10.10 from scratch. The whole process took just over half an hour, and once I'd put Dropbox and Firefox Sync on everything was back up and running smoothly.
As a result I now have over 60Gb of free space to play with that I didn't have before. Why didn't I do this before? The important documents are always backed up in Dropbox and everything else is backed up on the network storage drive, so a fresh install is nothing to worry about, and certainly much less stressful than the equivalent procedure in Windows.
After looking at just how much space the windows partition was taking up on this machine when I have no need to actually ever use it, I bit the bullet and did a complete wipe and install of Ubuntu 10.10 from scratch. The whole process took just over half an hour, and once I'd put Dropbox and Firefox Sync on everything was back up and running smoothly.
As a result I now have over 60Gb of free space to play with that I didn't have before. Why didn't I do this before? The important documents are always backed up in Dropbox and everything else is backed up on the network storage drive, so a fresh install is nothing to worry about, and certainly much less stressful than the equivalent procedure in Windows.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Haikusday
Oddly, it seems a
Plastic guitar has rekindled
My love of music
Belbin profiles seek
To categorize people
By their team function
A jaded author
Faces his ghosts in
Room 1408
Old cat bears the scars
Of bloody, hard fought battles
Rests on his laurels
Plastic guitar has rekindled
My love of music
Belbin profiles seek
To categorize people
By their team function
A jaded author
Faces his ghosts in
Room 1408
Old cat bears the scars
Of bloody, hard fought battles
Rests on his laurels
Monday, April 11, 2011
On a pale horse
The first day of the school holidays, the sun still shining and the road works finally finished all conspired to get me in work and at my desk for eight o'clock. Amaze!
I snucked out of work a little after half past four and was one junction away from home at five o'clock when the traffic ground to a halt. For an hour and a half. Bah!
Still, looking on the bright side I cleared my queue of podcasts and audioboos and managed to be reasonably philosophical about the whole thing unlike the angry, bald man in the car behind me who looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit when I let a car merge into the queue from the left. Outrage!
Home now, with Monday night spag bol to look forward to. Yum!
I snucked out of work a little after half past four and was one junction away from home at five o'clock when the traffic ground to a halt. For an hour and a half. Bah!
Still, looking on the bright side I cleared my queue of podcasts and audioboos and managed to be reasonably philosophical about the whole thing unlike the angry, bald man in the car behind me who looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit when I let a car merge into the queue from the left. Outrage!
Home now, with Monday night spag bol to look forward to. Yum!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday Links
- Busch Gardens Tampa Welcomes Baby Thomson's Gazelle Anerable hoofular and big ear action on Zooborns
- Lego Portal Turret Target acquired!
- Mysterious number 6174 A mathematical connundrum
- The Möbius Gear Mind bending
- Precision A sci-fi short film, shot and edited in 48 hours
- Tune for Two An execution takes an unexpected turn in this decidedly odd (and grim) short film
- Cory Doctorow on internet privacy The audio on this is a bit rubbish, but it is worth sticking with
- Paddy Considine on Tyrannosaur
- A more perfect union Online dating profile key words analysed and mapped - which states are 'naughty' and which are 'nice'?
- Access Main Computer File Computer interfaces, Hollywood style
- Discussing AV Rupert Read and Darrell Goodliffe debate the issues on The Daily (Maybe) - probably one of the best and most balanced political blogs out there at the moment
- SOON ...
- BEACON An intriguing platform game
- Cycleblob If you have Chrome or Firefox 4 then you should be able to play this nifty 3d take on the light cycle genre of games
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Beautiful Pea Green Boat
Off to Leeds on a gloriously sunny Saturday for a T215 tutorial. This was the view from the bridge over the canal as I walked up towards the university.
The tutorial was an excellent chance to meet some of the people from my project group, and also to discuss some of the topic areas that I am really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into on this block. It was also very nice to sit out in the sunshine to have my lunch before going back into the air conditioned lecture room on what was turning out to be quite a warm afternoon - this signpost had a very inviting message!
The tutorial was an excellent chance to meet some of the people from my project group, and also to discuss some of the topic areas that I am really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into on this block. It was also very nice to sit out in the sunshine to have my lunch before going back into the air conditioned lecture room on what was turning out to be quite a warm afternoon - this signpost had a very inviting message!
Friday, April 08, 2011
Thursday, April 07, 2011
The Musical Box
Pardon me for a second but I'm going to get exited - Love Music, Hate Racism is back on again in Barnsley on the 30th of April with dozens of bands dotted around the town playing in different pubs and stages from mid day until late. If I'm honest, there are no bands on the list so far that I have ever heard of, but that matters not one jot as far as I'm concerned. It's all about the atmosphere and the free music (and the beer) that make this such a great event.
We really enjoyed this last year (in spite of the rain!) and if you are in the area I can highly recommend it - what better way to spend the long bank holiday weekend? Anybody going?
We really enjoyed this last year (in spite of the rain!) and if you are in the area I can highly recommend it - what better way to spend the long bank holiday weekend? Anybody going?
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
The Wednesday Club
Yet another busy day, as seems to be par for the course around payroll year end time. It didn't exactly help that the HMRC portal went down after lunch (and they only got around to emailing a notification to that effect at four o'clock).
I've also submished my T215 CMA and TMA for block 2 and made a start of looking at the work for block 3 - meep! There's a lot to get through (with collaborative stuff to organise as well).
At least it was gloriously sunny and warm for most of the day, still being 16 degrees at eight o'clock which is verging on summery in these latitudes.
Not much else to say, so I'll leave it there.
I've also submished my T215 CMA and TMA for block 2 and made a start of looking at the work for block 3 - meep! There's a lot to get through (with collaborative stuff to organise as well).
At least it was gloriously sunny and warm for most of the day, still being 16 degrees at eight o'clock which is verging on summery in these latitudes.
Not much else to say, so I'll leave it there.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Haikusday
To burn a bible
Is boorish and ignorant
To kill, barbaric
Hounded by felines
Looking for refuge, the end
Of a mouse's tale
Cut off in my prime
Words vanished in the ether
Audioboo fail
Polling cards arrive
For the first time I don't know
Just who to vote for
Is boorish and ignorant
To kill, barbaric
Hounded by felines
Looking for refuge, the end
Of a mouse's tale
Cut off in my prime
Words vanished in the ether
Audioboo fail
Polling cards arrive
For the first time I don't know
Just who to vote for
Monday, April 04, 2011
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Sunday Links
- Little Sister Wolf Pup Is Ready to Be Named I suggest "Little Missy Fluffy Mc Wolfpants"!
- 1920s Monkey race Errm, what?
- Black and WTF ... and on a similar theme
- Strahov Philosophical Library, Prague World's largest indoor photo: a 40 Gigapixel 360º panorama - wowzers.
- Microscopic Insect Photography Eeep!
- Goodies and Baddies Does humanitarian intervention ever work? More worthwhile insight from Adam Curtis
- Now *that's* a canyon
- The History of Web Browsers (Picture)
- Homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs
- New office for Matt A Minecraft office cubicle - best prank ever!
- Jaws: A movie review By a climate change denier ...
- Drench Start in the top left corner and change the board to one colour ...
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Sound of the Revolution
How the hell is it possible in law to tresspass in a public building? Does this mean that anybody that enters Fortnum and Mason (other posh shops are available) without express permission from the owners is liable to be kettled, arrested and charged? This appears to be a purely political gesture by the police to inflate the number of charges of violent behaviour for last Saturday's protest from 14 (not bad for a crowd in the hundreds of thousands) to a much scarier sounding 150 or more. Our civil rights to peaceful protest are rapidly being eroded here, folks.
In less ranty news, I've finished the first draft of my report for my TMA (as mentioned yesterday), so tomorrow will be the critical evaluation and revision. The collaboration work seems to be going well too, with the impending deadline encouraging a decent amount of participation in the forum and wiki. Good stuff.
After a gloomy start, the weather picked up too allowing me to cast a clout a fore May is out (in other words go out for the afternoon dog walk sans coat). Smashing.
In less ranty news, I've finished the first draft of my report for my TMA (as mentioned yesterday), so tomorrow will be the critical evaluation and revision. The collaboration work seems to be going well too, with the impending deadline encouraging a decent amount of participation in the forum and wiki. Good stuff.
After a gloomy start, the weather picked up too allowing me to cast a clout a fore May is out (in other words go out for the afternoon dog walk sans coat). Smashing.
Friday, April 01, 2011
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