Akademy's academy of life blog

Moving on.

2009-07-31T16:23:00.003+01:00

I've finally found the time to move my blog over to my own space, you can find the blog here:
http://www.akademy.co.uk/blog-personal/

If you use RSS then you can signup for the new one with this:
http://www.akademy.co.uk/blog-personal/?feed=rss2

Thanks for reading!

Nokia hunt

2009-05-28T18:48:00.002+01:00

Am enjoying the current Nokia Hunt game here:
http://blogs.nokia.com/nseries/index.php/search-for-n

The idea is you can win yourself a Nokia N97 (which I love!) for free! If you can find the answers then find the hidden phone that is...

My Nokia Blog is a good place to start too. http://mynokiablog.com/

Got two out of five so far, just three to go...

Galaxy Zoo Two

2009-02-17T22:47:00.005Z

It's back, and better than ever before. Now you can help classify galaxies in even more detail, but still with the excitement of exploring the cosmos and helping expend human knowledge further.

Take part here.

But to see some great evidence of why it's helpful to take part see this page. It shows galaxies never before seen and certainly not categorised neatly divided up into lots of categories. The "anything odd" section has some really interesting objects in. More info from the Galaxy zoo blog here.

See also: Human computing power. (2008-10-20), Intergalatic Explorer. (2007-07-13)

Mars goes Google.

2009-02-03T16:38:00.006Z

The beautiful Google Earth program has gone Martian. The planet Mars is now explorable in full 3D (not just an overlay).

See Olympus Mons rise above the distant horizon or fly down Valles Marines in a full 3D projection. You can even follow the landers progresses, and view some of the panaromic high resolution shots just as the rovers Spirit or Opportunity saw them.

This video from the official "unoffical" Google Earth blog clearly shows of some of the best features:

Just download Google Earth, click on the planet button in the toolbar and select Mars. Some informative pictures here too:
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2009/02/google_earth_5_the_new_google_mars.html

The Collectors tales of beedle the bard.

2008-12-04T18:00:00.002Z

Wowzers...

It's in my hand... and ... it has got to be the nicest looking book I have ever seen!

Don't read on if you want to keep what's in the collectors edition a surprise

The outer box looks like an old book is embossed with the drawing JK made for the front of the original. Open it up and there's a wallet on the back of the front cover containing "Collector's Edition Prints" In the main box is a recess contained a velvet looking pouch with JK's signature stitched in gold.

In side the pouch is the 180 page book. Three dimensional metal engravings appear on the front, with a skull in the centre with emerald eyes. There's a lock on the side that appears to magically unlock just when it needs to.

The text and images inside look like they have been penned in by hand, and some of the text has definitely been done this way (although is probably been magically reproduced).

I'm sure it will raise lots of money for the Children's High Level Group. Thanks to JK Rowling and Amazon.

Star trek XI

2008-11-29T21:53:00.006Z

The new trailer for the Star trek 11 is now out. And it looks really great.

It doesn't start out as your typical star trek, in fact there's no sign it is star trek until a fair way in.

I don't want to spoil it if you haven't already seen it so watch it before reading on:
http://www.startrekmovie.com/

My favourite visual must be the building of the enterprise, that looks great. The new crew even looks like the new crew (except Uhura's been replaced by a model and Scotty looks like he's been on a crash diet...).

Some favourite shots below:

From Star Trek 11

Martian trippers enjoy storm free journey

2008-11-04T14:04:00.002Z

Great news for all Martian wannabes.

The trip to Mars can be made much safer with the realisation of a "Force Field". This will drastically cut down the problems the solar wind can cause, especially when a solar storm occurs.

The high speed particles flowing from the Sun during a Solar Storm can cause serious medical problems for the astronauts, so using technology developed during Fusion research it was found that a "magnetic bubble" can be used to envelope the spaceship and all and protect them in the same way the Earth is protected from the Solar Winds.

More information can be found here:
http://www.physorg.com/news145004546.html

Yep, I'm still here

2008-09-02T20:48:00.006+01:00

So, it's been a while since I made an blog entry - what can I say, I've been busy...

I been working through my open university course, and relaxing at my new house. I've also been updating my other blog a little more, which is more of a technical one.

And I'm a double Uncle now too.

Big Thinking

2008-01-15T16:41:00.001Z

Just thought I'd drop in a link to my current favourite website:
http://www.bigthink.com

It's basically a lot of questions, but you get the opportunity to add your own, leave a response to another, or start a debate about another one.

Makes you think - which has got to be a good thing.

E-Petition: Save physics

2007-12-23T12:38:00.000Z

There has been sudden and wide reaching changes to the support Britain will be giving to Physics research in the coming months, all negative, and impacting some of the biggest experiments across the world.

Please show your suppport by signing the online petition here:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Physics-Funding/

More information here:
NewScientist
British Astronomical Association

Me Tree - The family.

2007-12-20T10:30:00.000Z

Just installed "PhpGedView" to my website.

It's a really nice genealogy package built on php. You can see it here: http://www.akademy.co.uk/gd/

Most of the information has been locked down, but if you want a log in - and I know who you are - feel free to request one.

I have 153 people on my tree, most of the information is on my fathers side. It includes 43 different surnames, the earliest individual dates back from 1753!

However, when I have the time I'm planning on expanding the information about each person, because just a name from 200 years ago means almost nothing - the question is "Who were they?" and "what did they do?"

It's Christmas time.

2007-12-07T20:41:00.000Z

Merry Christmas to you!

And for those who know me, here's some Christmas present suggestions, in no particular order:

Coffee Table / Nest of tables
32 Inch Flat screen TV
Bookcase/ shelving.
Desk (But not a computer one!)
Sofa bed / guest bed.
Rug
Wall clock (Quiet one, i.e. no tick noise!)
Electricity saving devices
Digital TV recorder
Home Cinema system
DAB Radio
Compact Hifi System
Copmuter camera
Cordless Telephone
Garden lounger (for relaxing and star gazing!)
A stupid / gadget / game / waste of time.
Board Game
Drawing lessons / tools
New Scientist subscription
Nintendo DS
Wii Game
Book
DVD
Puzzle
Jigsaw
Cinema Tickets
Bird Table
Asus MiniBook
Desktop computer. (But see above about desks...)

Or just anything fun.

Another move?

2007-11-08T17:30:00.001Z

Yep, I've moved house again. Finally got out of the middle of town. No it's just a few minutes home for me. No more traffic - terrific!

I've moved into a nice little cottage now, exposed beams and all. I was staring at the ceiling in my living room the other day, and It took me that those beams look just like a skeleton. The exposed bones of the house. Just though I'd share that with you.

Also, I just thought I'd complete my broadband NTL posts which I started back in December. I have to admit that since the orginal setup (which they utterly messed me around with) it was running as smoothly as I could hope for. Perhaps Virgin taken them over really picked up there customer care? Who knows...

Well that's me for now.

Webshot woes.

2007-10-03T23:06:00.001+01:00

Penguin
Originally uploaded by akademy

Just recently I've decided to move my photos from Webshots to Flickr. This post was actually created inside Flickr.

The photo of the penguin is one of mine, taken at Amsterdam Zoo in 2006.

I won't go into the details of why I decided to move just now, but basically I just felt that Flickr and its community appeared to look after my photos much better than Webshots were.

Click on it to see some more of my photos.

Soon to be 30

2007-08-19T13:52:00.000+01:00

Yes it's not long till I'll have travelled around the Sun 30 times.

During that time,

The Sun has travelled about 227 Billion kilometres around our Milky Way Galaxy.
I have walked about 10'000 miles around the Earth (mostly in the UK)
I have created almost 300 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide, not including the stuff I breathe out.
And I've been asleep for 10 years

And finally, on average, at the age of 30 I should have about 50 more years left...

But now to finish on something much more interesting: Gifts. People keep asking me for some present ideas so here's a few of them (in no particular order):

A cool mug: http://www.firebox.com/product/1726?src_t=sbk&src_id=mug
Some cool headphones for my mobile: http://www.expansys.com/pf.aspx?i=142852
A bike: http://www.hummer.co.uk/parts_and_accessories_hummer_tactical_mountain_bike.html
A desk, preferably with lots of room to swing my feet, not one of those computer ones. Something like: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-0064.aspx or http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-3046.aspx
A wooden bookcase, something like http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-1308.aspx
A cheap desktop computer (e.g. http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=Ubuntu&s=dhs)
Some cycle accessories, like:
Cool remote control:
http://www.firebox.com/product/530?src_t=cat&src_id=gadgets
Cool candles: http://www.firebox.com/product/1561?src_t=cat&src_id=lifestyle
HArry Potter audio book 7: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Deathly-Hallows-Childrens/dp/0747591091/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/203-6197463-5211144?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187443489&sr=8-2
Map of the surrounding area: http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/leisure/ItemDetails.jsp?item=os_explorer_170#
Cool solar powered fan: http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/solar-technology/solar-powered-perspex-desk-fan/

There should be enough ideas here for everyone but if your still stuck, have a look around the of the websites I've linked to and buy something stupid, cool or nerdy!

Lets Rock!

2007-08-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

Nice cool game here:
http://www.molsoncanadian.ca/coldshots/ampedup.php?

Iff you like guitar hero you'll love this. Just select "Mode 2: Funner", pick up your keyboard and ROCK! (Just try not to break it; not recommended for laptops...)

eStory Telling

2007-08-14T10:44:00.001+01:00

I came across a quite unique idea on
http://www.dailylit.com/index

It has a collection of free online book to read, but it delivers the content in a quite unique way.

You register to recieve the book of your choice, then that book is split into lots of small sections which are then emailed to you or connected into your own personal RSS feed. You can set how often you want to receive the sections.

As they say on their FAQ:

"...if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don't find the time to read books.
DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read."

Becoming an intergalatic explorer 2 - Visit the zoo

2007-07-13T12:49:00.001+01:00

I'm sure you'll remember my last post about becoming an intergalactic explorer, well now there's a new project to help you explore the cosmos but in a similar way to the last one.

The project is:
http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

You'll be rummaging through the Slaon Digital sky survey - a huge database of galactic images. Your mission is to find the images that look like galaxies then pick a category for them. Most of these images haven't been seen by anyone else.

THe image above is an example. it looks pretty good, and I've chosen an anti-clockwise spiral. (I hope you agree...)

Have fun and find something interesting...

UPDATE:
Here's a few nice looking galaxies I've come across:
One, two, three and four.

Google Vacking - See the world!

2007-06-24T15:23:00.000+01:00

I was going to do some University work today but then I came across the latest Google Hack.

It isn't as illegal as it sounds though, it just involves you searching for certain terms using google.

Start with this: inurl:view/view.shtml.

You'll see (mostly) a list of ip address (the four numbers with dots e.g 123.654.12.1) These are actually addresses to numerous surveillance cameras running around the globe. Click on one and you'll see a live view of where ever its pointing.

Basically this works because one of the companies that sell video cameras has a setup program that creates a path of view/view.shtml. Simple.

You can also use terms like: inurl:"axis-cgi/mjpg". This one comes up with actual images not live video feeds, but use your imagination and you can probably find the video feed (try this: remove everything after the first part and type in "/view/view.shtml" and see what you get)

Some of these videos have controls so you can pan and zoom them. I've noticed a lot of these seem to be actually surveillance cameras (as in Big Brother...) such as watching people in the centre of town - a lot must be controlled at some central base by a human sitting at a bank of screens... have some fun with these nosey people and keep panning the videos all over the place!! (See who givens in first...)

See them before they get locked down! Enjoy.

Seven wonders of the WHOLE world.

2007-06-22T16:13:00.000+01:00

Take your pick of the wonders of the world, and pick some of the most famous landmarks in the world.

To make it easier to pick, try this: does it make you think: Wow! How? Why?
http://www.new7wonders.com/

This probably tells you a lot about me but I went for:

Acropolis - Old figure of civilisation
Easter island figures - mysterious people alone on a island
Great wall - Huge effort to build the structure
Hagia Sophia - An impressive temple now museum
Neuschwanstien Castle - A real fantasy castle
Stonehenge - Ancient, mysterious, amazing.
Taj Mahal - An impressive statement.

Choose wisely!

My life online...

2007-05-24T14:19:00.000+01:00

Well, as you do in those quiet times at work.... I just googled myself - which means I put my own name into google and see what cae out (If you want a go don't forget the quotes around your full name)

And, just on the first page there's about 6 relating to me. (It helps if you have a one in a million name... no, I'm not telling you....)

The last item on the search page located a comment I entered four years ago on a website I was into then. It all seems to be pretty dead now, the last news update was back at the end of 2004, the last "clinging on" comment in their Forum was four months ago.... isn't it sad when software ideas don't make it.... I wonder how many more website exist in the after life...

(PS, it was this one if your interested! http://www.3dna.net/ - A 3d world to control your computer buy - it's good for a quick laugh, I quite like the basketball game in the default area...)

Harry Potter Day approaches

2007-05-22T12:55:00.000+01:00

My google gadget on the side of my desktop tells me I've only 59 Days, 11 hours, 1 minute and 8secs... 7 secs... 6 secs... until the release of the new, but last, book.

Two months left and I've just reserved my copy. I've ordered it from Borders and I'll be picking it up from there. (I decided to be nice to the post man this time!) Not decided what time I'll be picking it up though... 12:01am or a more reasonable 9.01am??

Borders in Oxford are putting on a owl show at midnight and I imagine everyone will be dressed up too, might be kind of cool to do that...

My predictions for the book:

Harry will return to Hogwarts but only to find the horcruxes which Voldermort hid there when he had access to the cupboard when he worked in Berkin and Botts...
It will be discovered that the Avada Kedevra curse doesn't kill but actually extracts a soul and hides it in a wand... to be retrieved at a later date...
Time travel will see Harry Meeting his parents, if ever so briefly.
Hogwarts itself will be a Hurcrux with Peeves being the manifestation of this.
Fawkes will save Harry's life.
Neither Harry, Ron, , Harmione or Jinny will die but Ron will get bitten by a werewolf.
The Weasley twins will make a stand but not make it through.
Percy will sacrifice himself to save his mothers life.

Lots more but I won't bore you with them! Also, don't forget the movies out first!

Spiderman 3

2007-05-20T18:13:00.000+01:00

Watched the third film in the Spiderman series on Wednesday.

I really enjoyed it, the action was great and it was really funny in places, the plot didn't always make sense but who's going to let that get in the way of a good story!

I'd recommend it to anyone who liked the second one as its pretty much as good as that one. Also, its quite simple to understand what's going in even if you haven't seen the others - it stands up well as a seperate movie in itself, although it may actually be worth seeing the first film!

Was a rather heart breaking end to the film though..

Webshots and UltraMon

2007-05-13T23:00:00.000+01:00

I've been using webshots for ages now, its great as a desktop image changer and screensaver as they have a huge database of some of the best photos around.

However, for some reason they've chosen to not get their program working on multiple monitors.

Luckily, its quite easy to get the screensaver working with UltraMon, just find where Webshots is installed, then copy the screensaver, (look for a "scr" extension) then copy it to your Windows directory (usually here: C:\WINDOWS\), it needs to be here for UltraMon to pick it up. Just NOTE: That once you move it you won't be able to change the settings, so make sure you set it up before you move it.

Now just open up UltraMon and select screensavers, it should now appear in the list and you can set it to appear on all of you monitors.

Software here:
http://www.webshots.com
http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

UltraMon - Dual Moniter software

2007-05-13T11:51:00.000+01:00

This is a really nice piece of software for anyone with a dual (or more) monitor setup.

The really nice "killer" app is the ability to extend the task bar across all you monitors. This is really useful and improves your productivity, and its really cool too!

It also has some nice other features too. Unfortunately it is Shareware so you'll have to eventually buy it, but you can get a free 30 day demo before you take the leap, here:
http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

Just remember this: your going to really miss it once the 30 days is up!

Work equipment

2007-05-09T11:36:00.000+01:00

I've finally got it all set up.

Bought a brand new computer, but the really interesting news is the beautiful dual screen setup. Two 19 Inch LCD monitors, how I've been surviving with two huge CRT monitors I don't know! No more headaches for me!

I went for two of these:
http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPF-Philips-190S7FS-Silver

And would certainly recommend them. I have one with a VGA cable and one with a DVI-D cable - but actually, the picture quality is almost identical between the two, that's how good these monitors are.

I didn't go for widescreen monitors as the two together give plenty of width, but widescreen wouldn't give much height, and you need that for comfortable on screen reading.

And believe me, it is worth it. Any self respecting programmed NEEDS dual!

Of course, it your really extravagant you could always splash out on three, four or even eight monitors...: (http://digitaltigers.com/zenview.shtml?gclid=CK3fsN77iowCFQvtlAodbHIg3g)

Earth II? Or would you prefer "GLIESE 581 C"?

2007-04-26T13:05:00.000+01:00

A planet which is suspected to be the closet resemblance to Earth has been seen, and its a neighbour.

Just 20 light years away (almost in touching distance) around the star Gliese 581 is a planet not much bigger than Earth (1.5x). It orbits much closer to its star than the Earth does to the Sun, and takes only 13 "Earth" days to orbit. However, the star Gliese is much smaller and weaker than the Sun so a planet orbiting that close would actually have temperatures very similair to Earth, in fact within the temperature limit that would allow liquid water to exist on the surface.

All this has been estimated from the slight wobble of the star seen from Earth, which is created when a something large orbits around, although the effect is very small.

This would make an ideal candidate for the upcoming planet hunting space telescopes, designed to image planets around stars - unfortunately, we still have to wait several decades for this to be achieved...

More info here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6589157.stm
http://obswww.unige.ch/Instruments/harps/Welcome.html (The discovers)

Serenity showing for Charity

2007-04-22T17:07:00.001+01:00

Well I can't believe my luck...

I've become, almost overnight, a browncoat. (No, not a tramp...)

Browncoats are what fans of Firefly/Serenity call themselves, and in the last few weeks when I started watching the show I'm definately one of them. Even now when I've got a pile full of Open university work to get through, I'm surfing the web for info on the show...

...and I'm glad I have because I came upon something I think is an amazing coincidence. Apparently, there's going to be a charitable showing of Serenity AND the firefox pilot just 20 minutes up the road from where I live! This is a global event happening across 51 cities throught out the world.

Here's the website with the full listing:
http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/index.html

But the one I'm interested in, in oxford at the the "Ultimate Picture Palace":
http://www.spiritofwash.com/2/SNEN/Home.html

And as a bonus, all proceeds will be going to the charity "Equality Now":
http://www.equalitynow.org

I must say, I can't wait! (And of course, my girlfriend is sure to want to come too...)

UPDATE: Also, as your already no doubt a fan of Firefly, go here and vote:
http://richlabonte.net/tvvote/index.html Come on, we can beat those Xena pushovers... (!)

My week off

2007-04-17T13:24:00.001+01:00

I finally decided that it was time to take a week off work so that's what I did.

I was lucky enough to get an offer of accomodation in the centre of Vienna, Austria, so I spent a long weekend going around Vienna with some friends. I highly recommend a visit to Vienna as it was such a great city, don't forget to visit the palace.

Here's some photos and videos of my visit:

Vienna

Also, Sharon and I made our way to Bath, England and went around the Roman Baths there. The place is also impressive, and I'd recommend the audio tour around the place. There's some photos and videos here:

Roman Baths

Make sure you check out the video, where you can see the steam coming from the waters. (Oh, and just so you now, in roman times the water was crystal clear. (It's green now because sunlight encourages algea to grow in it, 2000 years ago the bath was originally undercover)

A couple of days later we visited, Longleat, which is a large stately house in a huge grounds, which includes many attractions like a whole safarii and a massive hedge maze. The safarii you drive through also has many monkeys that climb on and pull apart your car! Check out the pictures and videos here:

Longleat

Enjoy.

Incidentally, all these photos and videos where taken on my Nokia N93, for a review on the picture quality just follow the links above. EDIT: I've just realised the movies have been reduced in quality by webshots so I'll try to copy the originals to my own website. Dammit.

A memorial to FireFly Serenity

2007-04-15T21:22:00.000+01:00

In a recent magazine poll on what is the best science fiction film of all time there was a big shock.
Star Wars was knocked off the top spot and the film Serenity was crowned "greatest".
http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=lord_of_the_fireflies

To be honest, I suspected it was a group of fans who got together to push it to the top, but I still really wanted to see what it was like. I was thinking about seeing the film when it was on at the cinema but the trailer made me think it wasn't worth seeing it (neither did it give any idea of what the film was about) this was a great shame.

I went out to hire it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although, I would have to say I didn't think it was the "Greatest" by a long way and my suspicious, I thought, were correct... BUT...

After talking to a friend at work, he told me he had the original series that the film continued from, but which had been cancelled after only 11 episodes. it was called FireFly. He graciously let me borrow them and I was curious to see the story unfold.

I'm glad I did because they were brilliant! I was very surprised, but I really thought they were great. I can now, with a hundred percent certainty, say that the people who voted for Serenity did because THEY DO think its the greatest - they were just talking about the film AND the series.

I'm hoping it all comes back... but until then, I'll have to be buying my own DVD Collection! (And on a side note to this, Amazon have said that after this poll came out, serenity / firefly suddenly shot towards the top seller marks! http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=sfx_poll_result_sends_serenity)

More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_%28film%29
Buy it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Firefly-Complete-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B0001B3YTM/ref=pd_ts_d_h__80/026-7294440-7094841?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

FireFly - May you once again rise from the fire.

Morning Tune

2007-04-14T12:09:00.001+01:00

Almost every morning I wake up with a song or tune in my head - I've yet to figure out why that is (I guess my brains doing something)

But anyway, today I woke up and starting whistling a theme tune of a cartoon I'd watch twenty years ago, so I just had to look it up on the internet and find the real one... A few seconds googling and... Relive one of those great 80's cartoons here:
http://www.muskehounds.com/

Click on "The Theme Tune" on the left.

This has got to be one of my favourite cartoons...

Enjoy.

Website blog updater.

2007-03-29T15:29:00.001+01:00

Last night I added my first real, AJAX + php code to my website. It basically just gets my blog information then adds a list of my last five blogs to my front page.

Look at the bottom of here:
www.akademy.co.uk

UPDATE: The code is in a much better condition now, so please feel free to check it out..

New technology

2007-03-15T00:18:00.000Z

I'm bloging from my n93 phone wirelessly with the help from my wireless cable router. It's very nice and essential for my wii. Oh, did i not mention i've got one of those!

I've changed to electric green.

2007-02-09T10:33:00.001Z

In the long and difficult struggle to fight global warming and pollution I've taken what must be the simplest step of all.

I quick phone call to Southern Electric meant I was paying for electricity from a renewable source: hydro-electric. I say "paying for" because I still think I actually get my power from the big menacing coal burning power station down the road, but at least my money is has its heart in the right place!

Also, I'm not entirelly sure that hydro-electricity is totally green anyway - I know of one hydro-electricity power station that is located in between two lakes, one high up in the hills and one much lower down. When the UK power grid needs extra power the flood gates open and water from the upper lake rushes down through turbines into the lower one. This is 100 % renewable... to a point... obviously the upper lake would haver to be replenshied faster than it was drained, this does not happen so what do you think they do? And this quite surprised me, when the power grid doesn't need that extra power they take power away and use it to pump the water back up!

If you use SouthernElectric then you can have a look at the details here:

http://www.thepower2.co.uk/

Switch now! (It's free and takes less than a few minutes). More and more electricity providers are doing this so check out you place now. (And if you find one for your area add a comment and tell everyone else.)

July 2007 is HP Month

2007-02-02T16:09:00.000Z

Just released news from J. K. Rowlings website is that the next, but final :0( book is due for release on the 21st of July, just a couple of weeks after the next Movie comes out.

Think I'll be taking a couple of weeks off then to read through all the books at a nice gentle pace, it'll have to be this long because unfortunately I'll have to eat, drink and sleep as well. (Darn it all!)

Is this flight tax? It's certainly not fair tax.

2007-02-01T10:55:00.001Z

Usually, I support taxes, at least in principle or until something better comes along. But this story (below) REALLY gets me going...

You win a prize, an amazing astonishing superb prize of flying into space, of becoming an astronaunt. But then it hits you, that's got to be expensive for someone... but wait, that means...

http://www.space.com/news/ap_070129_spacetourist_contest.html

Un - believe - able.

But on much better news, A new competition has just opened up and this one's in England, so, as far as I know, shouldn't have the hidden costs attached...

http://www.winatriptospace.co.uk/blogs/patent/index.html?DCMP=OTC-mc_ns

Petitions and light pollution.

2007-01-31T22:15:00.000Z

The UK goverment now lets people create online petitions which amongst others, the prime minister will see. Not a bad idea.

If you want to have a look click here:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/search?q=light+pollution

Also note that these few petitions are for solutions to the problem of light pollution, something which I get quite annoyed about, so please go ahead and support these ideas, I don't see why you wouldn't want to.

Some people don't even realise that there should be 1000's of stars visible in the night sky, a view which makes us far to inward looking. Also, less light pollution equals less electricity used, so less greenhouses gases released as well as less pollution. It's a no lose decision!

#flag: "Light pollution", Petitions

The lights are out but there is someone home.

2007-01-19T13:03:00.000Z

Yesterday will officially be called "Powercut" day from now on, at least around oxfordshire anyway. High winds knocked several trees over on to the pylons producing a spectacular, if brief, display of lights.

Unfortunately (snigger, snigger) my office had no power so there was little work that could be done. "Why doesn't everyone go home now", eventually came after waiting an hour, "well OK" , I said, "I think there's work I can be doing at home anyway" (snigger, snigger).

So, I get in my car and "Top 10 at 10" is playing on the radio and it starts with "Fantastic Day" by Haircut100, and I find my self think this really is a great day, (at least from my perspective), I get to go home on a work day, a free holiday if you will, and no one pestering my with questions of demands and I'm getting payed for it.

Then the thought of all the power that would have been used during this day hit me, so how much was that:
there was about 45'000 house holds without power (from here: bbc news)
Average emissons from home electricity use 1693.62 kg of CO2 per year (from here: Scottish electricty couldn't find english one)
Which is about 4.5 kg per day, now we have to assume that some houses had their electricity back quicker than others, so lets say each house had on average no power for half a day.

So our total carbon saving number is = 45'000 * (4.5 kg * 0.5)
thats 5000 kgs of carbon not sent into the atmosphere (Or more than three households woth of carbon)

Not bad, but really a drop in the ocean, what we really need is more powercuts... (enter the "Ecowarriors"?)

Note, that this is just a bit of fun. (I doubt any of this is accurate!)

#flag: Powercut, "Day of work", "Carbon saving"

NTL Broadband update

2007-01-17T13:25:00.000Z

Continued from earlier post.

So my broadband lasted only four hours before it stopped working. I didn't realise it had gone down because I was busy trying to get my wireless router to connect - I thought it was a problem with that - I spent several hours trying to get it to work then gave up and left it for another day.

The following day I tried to connect again, but now I noticed the "ready" light was flashing - there's no information anywhere about what that means, no documentation or scribbles on the modem - anyway, I thought that can't be good, so I phoned them again (Call number 4). They said there was a problem and it would be fixed by 15:00 the following day. Great, I thought, but there's nothing I can do about that now, so I was forced to wait.

The next day at around 17:00 I get a call on my mobile from NTL, stating "When would be a good day for us to come around to install broadband?", "What?!" I thought, and told them I already had it. "Oh", he said, then I told him about the problem I had yesterday,
"Ah, he said, are you at home now? "
"no"
"when would be a good time"
"I'll be home at 6"
"Oh, unfortunately I can't come out then, but I might be able to find a evening engineer to come in"
"OK, that would be good"
"I'll ring you back in 5 to 10 minutes then"
"OK, thanks"

Later that evening (19:00) still not heard anything back broadband still not working. I have the last guys mobile number (which I was seriously thinking of posting here...) so I ring him - no answer, but I leave a message even though I doubt he'd phone - (he hasn't a week later). So then I phone NTL Broadband again (call 5). They say,
"Yes there's a fault on the line it will be fixed by 15:00 tomorrow" (And I'm sure this is the same guy I spoke to yesterday)
"OK, I had a call from a guy earlier who said he was going to come around"
"We never send engineer people around to houses sir." (So then I'm thinking some guy phoned me pretending to be an engineer, but the guy on the end didn't seem to care in the slightest.")
"So you can guarantee 15:00 tomorrow then?
"15:00 tomorrow"
"Thanks"

That was Thursday night, I know it wasn't working Friday morning, but I couldn't try it till Sunday - and I'm glad to say it was working, and still is.

#flag: NTL, Broadband, problems

Earth Now

2007-01-15T22:35:00.000Z

A nice website from ESA. Real time (or close) pictures of the Earth from an orbiting Satellite. Click on the pictures to the left to see what part of the World they are from, if you click on subsequent photo's you can trace the path of the satellite.

http://miravi.eo.esa.int/en/

Click on the little small icon on each picture to see a larger image.

See if you can see England - every time I've looked its completly covered in cloud!

#flag: ESA, Earth

Installing NTL Broadband

2007-01-10T13:20:00.000Z

Well I've now got Broadband - and only £10 per month (Although thats a 12 month contract so if I move it's going to be expensive. ) And I've gone with NTL.

The reason behind the NTL choice this is simple - the flat I'm renting already has an NTL line in, a BT line would cost around £120 to be installed, and as you might guess, I'm not willing to pay any company to install something of their's in my house, then charge me a fee per month to keep it there...

Here's what I had to do to get NTL broadband .
- First I went to their website and signed up online.
- Next they phoned me to arrange an appointment.
- They agreed to come round only five days later - but they couldn't give a time more precise than "between 12.00pm and 5.30pm" (which then changed in a text message they sent to "between 12.00pm and 6.00pm") - so I had to waste half a day of my holidays to wait at home.
- They turned up at a 1.00pm (and as it was already installed) they stuck a wire in a box on the wall and attached a modem to it, then left. (So, 15 minutes of my lunch break could have covered this...)
- Now all I had to do was install the software and attach the modem.

Installing the software. So the idea is you install from a cd they provide and plug it when your told to. This I did. several installer screens later I got "Error 204, call 0870 48...", with no other options than "close" available. So, even though I hate calling any tech help I did, and after a lengthy several minutes of "Hello, welcome to NTL Broadband support..." recorded message I got striaght through to a person and they solved my problem by doing something to the registration their end. I just had to reinstall. Great.

Installing the software again. Run through the installer again, and didn't get any error (horah) so I could now register my details. Click OK - "Error 602. Call 0870...". Right something else wrong, Suppose I've got no choice where's that phone again, "Hello, welcome to NTL Broadband support..." (blah blah blah). So I explain the new problem ("It say's Error 602, and nothing else). Now they want me to open up Internet explorer and go to an IP address (which makes me think I alrady have access...) So I go there and I fill my details in again, this time I can't have my original login name (it must be taken... probably by me...) so I go through this while the lady stays on the phone, everthing seems OK, then they say "SO, I'll leave you to finish that off now, all you'll have to do is keep clicking OK" - now if that's not the kiss of death I don't know what is... - anyway I hang up and continue.

Registering. I click OK - Horah, every thing seems OK! , I click OK again - "An error has occured please contact technical support..." - you might guess I'm getting a little annoyed now - So I ring technical support again. "Hello, welcome to NTL Broadband support..." (blah blah blah blah bl**dy blah). Now when I get through the first thing I say is "This is the third time I've rung you..", OK now she wants to put me on hold while she checks what the problem is, so I sit listening to "Lift music + Hi, Your call is important + lift music + We are recieving unusally high... + "if you have access to the internet please go to"... ) She comes back and says OK everything should work now - I ask if she can gurantee this, apparently she can and she's willing to stay on the line while I fix it... I take the risk of believeing her (as I'm paying way to much for these calls from my mobile - I don't have a landline)

Re-registering (Login name now different again), click OK, click OK, click OK.... the suspense is killing me... click OK. IT WORKED! Time to go to the pub me thinks...

(And just for the record, I did feel the people on the end of the line were trying to help - they were courteous and plesent, even if they were talking from the other side of the world very late at night. The last girl eveb sounded like I really nice person... but thats a different story)

And if your curious of how long it stayed up for: More storys coming soon... (Anyone care to take a guess?

#flag: NTL, broadband, internet

Moving home to the same address.

2006-12-29T16:18:00.000Z

Just moved house! Well, actually I've just moved webpages, but for some reason I think thats almost as exciting...

I am definately in a much better position than I was before. I had my website hosted my my broadband provider which meant if I wanted to move (or had to move) providers I would have to set all my website and emails up again - as it happened my new (real) house can't get BT as it has NTL so I've had to move it.

After a quick looking around I decided to go with www.streamline.net . They have some really good features, everything I want, and they seem pretty cheap too. I only bought it yesterday and told my current (PlusNet) providers I didn't want to host it with them. By this morning FTP, email and website were all there waiting for me.

I'll do future updates on how streamline handle it from now on.

#flag: "Streamline.net", plusnet, "broadband provider", "website hosting"

Just converted..

2006-12-28T01:35:00.000Z

Yep, I've just converted my blog to the new google controlled one, with all the new bells and whistles.

The first one I've used, and the one I've been most eager for, is the labels part. I've just been over the last 25 blogs and updated them with a category, not to difficult as I've always tried to add my own flag in each of the blogs under the line below each blog starting "#Flag:"

Something I'm proud to say I added for the very reason that new features were probably going to be added soon!

Probably be other nice features too but not had a good luck round yet so a job for later. Off to bed now though as pretty tired!

#flag: Blog, software

Software like it should be.

2006-12-21T14:12:00.000Z

Whether you into astronomy or not, this piece of software is worth looking it just to see how well an application can be presented and perform.

http://www.stellarium.org/

And, as is usual for great software, it's free open source project.

It's been a while...

2006-12-15T10:48:00.000Z

...and a lot of things have happened over the last month and a half.

Firstly, the biggy, I've moved house, and was the first time I'd moved with stuff I couldn't fit all in my car. Not moved far though, just nearer the town centre, for a little less money with a little less space (and unfortunately a lot more noise...)

Secondly, I never finsihed my November story, but had very little time with all the moving.

Thirdly, went to amsterdam for a long weekend with Sharon was very enjoyable. Ann Frank's house is certainly worth a trip, just be prepared to get a little emotional.

Fourthly, today I should get my results for the OU course I've been doing... but not had courage to look yet.

Fifth, just got a new Phone, it was the N93 I think I've mentioned before - got a cool Wi-fi connection on it which means I can surf the web for free in any open wi-fi access point. (But unfortunately not at home because I can't transfer my web access as my new place has NTL and not BT, so I have no broadband access... I think I'm having withdrawel symptons!)

And there's probably some other things I haven't mentioned yet, but hopefully I'll have time to write later and expand on the things I've mentioned above.

Finished! Now I need some new deadlines...

2006-11-03T19:58:00.000Z

It's finally the end of another academic year - thats right my OU courses have now all been completed. Just sent my last assignment off yesterday - now I'm free to do nothing.

Well not nothing - I have to find a place to live soon as I'm moving out my flat - so that's one deadline there.

However, that's not really enough so I've signed myself up for a little challenge - to write a novel by the end of November, that's "only" 50'000 words or about 1700 words a day. And the good news is I'm well on my way already, only 49,800 words to go now (which means I'm behind by about 4000 words...

#flag: OU, Novel, Flat

I name ye "David"...

2006-11-03T19:48:00.000Z

Got a surprise at work yesterday. There was a name the guy (and girl) competition at work and my suggestion won!

The guy and girl are puppets who are burned on a bonfire.

Here's my winning suggestion:

Yep that's the names "David and Victoria Bake-em"!

#flag: Work

OU Planetary Science End

2006-10-20T14:45:00.000+01:00

At last, my OU course is completed - not that I didn't enjoy doing it, it just means I have much more free time and I don't have to worry about revision or pending exams.

Just took the exam yesterday after a couple of solid days at home revising. It didn't go to badly me thinks but to be sure I'll have to wait a couple more months for my results to come in - no doubt they'll be posted as soon as I know.

If I do pass it, it does means I'll be able to claim a certifcate in (something like) "Space Physics" which should be handy for my CV and look cool (if nerdy) on my wall.

#flag: OU, "Planetary Science", Exam

On screen newspaper (Times Reader)

2006-10-15T15:41:00.000+01:00

I've just been reading the news using the Times News Reader software and I've been most impressed.

You can get a beta copy here:
http://firstlook.nytimes.com/?category_name=times%20reader

Its layout is just like reading a newspaper but much easier to look through and find interesting articles. The screen is also very readable and it syncs the news in under a minute for you to look through offline.

Give it a try, tell me what you think. (This is the New York edition though so all the news may not be relevant.)

Say Cheese Opportuinty.

2006-10-10T13:34:00.000+01:00

Another amazing picture from Mars.

This one's taken with the high resolution imager and managers to take a shot of "Opportunity".
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/index.html

A big picture here:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08816

#flag: Mars, Opportunity

Robbie Williams at "Wembly"

2006-09-26T16:40:00.000+01:00

Sharon and I went to see Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes bowl (should have been at wembly...) as Sharon is a big fan of his.

Was a long day, got up early to get a good place and queed for several hours, then it started to rain but it was still enjoyable. Three hours later we got into the place and found a nice place looking over the stage - A good view, and some space to stretch out... then for the next 5 hours we watched as more an more people squeezed and our room dwindle down as more and more (bloody) people try and fit it to a space they DO NOT deserve. Coming in with only an hour left and sitting right in front of us. That makes me SOOOOOOOOOO angry.

Anyway...

There was also another band warming up (name I've forgot) and Basement Jaxx which I thought was really good. Then Robbie came out and the lights went up.

Even though I've never been a big fan (although I listen to most of his stuff) I thought the show was really well put together. Robbie was quite the entertainer! Lights and explosions and fire, and some songs the 150'000 people were singing a long to.

Anyway, I thought it was good, so thanks for the memories Robbie and thanks Sharon for taking me.

All was left to do now was try to get out of the car park... (I'm not driving again...!)

#flag: concert, "Robbie Williams", "Milton Keynes Bowl"

Mallorca Astronomy Week

2006-09-16T09:15:00.000+01:00

Its been quite a holiday, if I can call it that.

I spent a week in Mallorca studying astronomy and planetary science with the Open University.

Sharon kindly drove me to the airport early in the morning and I caught the plane on to Mallorca. (Actually I only just made it to the plane as I was queing through security for an hour and a quater, I actually arrived at the plane five minutes after it had flown... or at least should have...)

The flight was uneventful apart from quite a lot of stomach turning drops as we flew over the Mallorca mountians, then over an hour wait for my luggage but after that a half hour trip to "Hotel Horizonte"

Just time for a quick walk into the centre to have a look around and get some essentials (Snickers and coke...) before the first coach ride into the heart of Mallorca and towards the "domes of knowledge" (telescope domes...). The coaches follow an ever narrowing road, eventually bearly much wider than the bus itself. (And we learned days later that the coach company uses the run as a "initiation test" and actually there's a perfectly good motorway just up the road.)

After about an hour drive into the centre of the island we arrived at the observatory, I was expecting a panarama view of the island, but even though we were pretty high up the observatory was completely surrounded by trees, a problem we encoutered as some times the telescopes had to look right through the branches. (Apparently, this was all part of planning permission, to be able to build the observatories a certain number of rare and local plants had to be planted - unfortunately plants grow and had begun to crowd over the telescopes)

Check out some of my photo's here

#flag: "Open University", Mallorca, SXR208, Astronomy, "Planetary Science", links

My Birthday

2006-09-11T00:01:00.000+01:00

Got some presents posted to me... but none of them arrived yet. (They will arrive next week though when I'm on holiday - Edit 26/09/06) Did get some cards though.

Sharon bought me loads of presents so thanks. A new large plant for my front room, a load of DVD's and A rocket clock that changes colour depending on the hour.
(Also got some more DVD's (From Ma and Pa, two Tshirts (From Sis and Bro), two planes so I could have my own "Air Race" (after the disaster on Saturday) and a flying lesson (also from Mum and Dad) - Edit 26/09/06)

Then Sharon took me out for Dinner at the "Linton Lodge Hotel" in Oxford - I wanted to try this place as I'd been informed that they had a wide range of food's like Crocodile, Kangaroo and Ostrich. (Oh, and Belgain waffles (uuuummmm) ) Sadly they didn't have Crocodile that day (or belgain waffles ) but Sharon tried the Ostrich which tasted quite nice. It was a nice evening out. So thanks Sharon.

#flag:

Star trek's 40 years old.

2006-09-08T08:47:00.000+01:00

I've been watching star trek for years and years. I don't even remember the first time I watch it.

I wouldn't call myself a trekkie, but I would say I'm a big fan if the show and its positive outlook for all our future's.

The bbc has some nice images from shows acroiss the decades here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/5306538.stm

And here's the official star trek site:
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/editorials/article/25215.html

#flag: "Star trek", birthday

Robin hood, Robin hood, out amongst the trees

2006-09-07T23:03:00.000+01:00

Sharon and I with a group of seven others went out in to the park at night to watch the legendary tale of Robin hood played out before us by the people at Creation theatre

The open air show was perfectly placed in the centre of Hedington Park in Oxford. Seating half ringed a 200 year old great oak with a backdrop of the woods and park just behind.

Then Robin Hood arrived from his battles in the Middle East and arrows began to fly hither and there. John Little fights with staffs and Maid Marion shows off her sword play. And not forgetting Fryer Tuck, Will Scarlett and Robin of Lockslys servant.

The Sheriff of Nottingham plots Robin's downfall, tricking him into taken part in a great archery competition but his merry men fight to the last to try free him .

Meanwhile Witches and wizards of the forest battle it out for ultimate power.

Until the final show down when Robin must stop the power crazed megolomaniacs from taking over. Can he do it?

I can honestly say I really enjoyed it, it was funny, and exciting, witty but sad, well written, and well acted. I recommend going to see something like this as its a great experience - unfortunately this play has now finished, but a new one starts in November, "Arabian Nights". I for one will be trying to catch it.

Another review here.

#flag: play, theatre, "Robin Hood"

Red bull air race longleat

2006-09-05T16:12:00.000+01:00

To say the least I'm Disappointed but here's how it went:

On Saturday after a three hour drive to Longleat (about an hour more than it should have taken because of the traffic) Sharon and I arrived in a muddy field on the top of a hill.

From the Car park it was about a 20 minute walk down to the valley floor where Longleat house was, but the impressive view as you walk down is worth the walk.

Even though the sky was grey, umbrellas were up and the wind was trying to knock us over, the air was full with an excitement which made you forget the dull light that was trying to overcast the day.

Hangers had been put up for the planes just across from the 16th Century LongLeat House and the place was filling up with people. The house is surrounded by acres and acres of land and scattered around where giant inflatable cones, standing 12 feet high. Or at least they would have been inflated if it hadn't been so Windy...

The pre-race shows were cancelled - parachute display and helicopters - because of thew wind, but my hopes were still high (as you could sense were the other 99,999 peoples) that the weather would soon change.

Even as we huddled under a unberella away from the rain trying to stop it from exploding inside out our hopes were high - announcements were good that soon the wind would fall and we'd be seeing what we came for.

Then two planes took off and flew around - at first I was impressed by the amazing flying sideways tricks they were doing, until I realized they were simply being blown sideways by the high winds.

Things were getting desperate now. Recent weather news said the wind was soon to drop so - ever optimistically - the pilots and entourage knocked on the doors of Longleat house and Lord Longleat himself declared that the race was open.

Unfortunately the miracle we were all praying for didn't come and the inevitable cancellation was announced.

Still we'd been there five hours and I was dammed if I was leaving so early.

So, as yesterday the pilots had successfully completed a qualifying round - the award ceremony was played out and we stopped to watch.

Then all there was to do was to climb back up the 20 minutes walk (now 40 minutes long) and sit in the car for an hour until the cars could actually get through the massive amount of traffic that had accumulated.

It had been a good but highly disappointing trip. :o(

There's always next year...

Redbull: www.redbullairrace.com
Longleat: www.longleat.co.uk

#flag: "Red bull air race", longleat

Respects to Steve Irwin

2006-09-04T23:24:00.000+01:00

Sad news today. Steve Irwin died yesterday while filming another of his "Worlds deadliest" series.

I, as I expect most people, have only seen and known him on TV but I have a lot of respect for him. You could always tell he enjoyed working with the animals and firmly believed in Conservation of the planet and all its inhabitants.

Although its hard to tell what people are really like on TV he came across as a genuine person working hard for something he believed in. I, for one, will miss his unique shows and his pure enthusiasm.

I just want to add my condolences to his family and friends. The World would be a better place with more like him, it seems a little less friendly now he's gone.

Rest in Peace.

Early birthday present.

2006-08-26T18:00:00.000+01:00

Today Sharon bought me a new plant for my Flat as an early birthday present. We went to have a look around "Millets Farm".

Thanks Sharon!

#flag: Present, plant, "Millets farm"

Planets and plutons

2006-08-17T15:35:00.000+01:00

Are we soon to expand our solar sytem to include more planets?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Charon and 2003 UB313 ?

Ceres orbits in teh asteroid belt, Charon was a moon of Pluto but now Pluto and Charon are two planets (or plutons) orbiting each other. 2003 UB313 (provisional name - thank goodness!) is one further out even than pluto, but thought to be much bigger.

Any suggestions for 2003 UB313 - your comments / suggestions welcome.

See also: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816082231.htm and http://www.iau.org/

#flag: space, planets

Becoming an intergalatic explorer

2006-08-05T10:28:00.000+01:00

The stardust at home project is now up and running. Explore the cosmos from the comfort of your living room.

Check it out here:
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

Find the dust from what we are made of: Stars!

August

2006-08-01T12:55:00.000+01:00

Well, I've been slacking again, no post for several weeks.

Apparently July has been the hottest month ever (since records began anyway), and I mean the hottest of any month, not just the July ones... I really should get around to finishing my Green website... but SO busy...

Work is also offering some new challenges, I'm currently working on Flash, I'm supposed to be creating a installer menu thing, but actually I'm just playing with it - I've never used it before!

OU work is also catching up on me, I'm supposed to finish reading a 300 page assignment book by end of August... which now seems pretty impossible... still, I'm sure I'll be able to blag it! :0)

Also, around bank holiday in August I'm going camping and surfing - really looking forward to the surfing... not so sure about the camping... I'm going here.

#flag: work, OU, camping, green, links

Lights go out...

2006-07-14T21:52:00.000+01:00

Reduction in light and power in Essex. Cool, lets hope this goes Nation wide. Be nice to see the skies black again instead of the usual orange we are all used to nowadays.
Check out the story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/5179610.stm

Full marks to Essex Council!

Shuttles ups and downs.

2006-07-11T10:22:00.000+01:00

Some great video clips from the recent launch of Discovery. To make the flight much safer, camera's were attached all over the Shuttle and its rockets to check fall falling debris. But as an added bonus, the camera's recorded some of the best space videos around!

Check them out at Nasa or you can just click these couple of clips (there may be more but I haven't found them yet):
Solid Rocket booster looking down - a great view of the luanch in action
Solid Rocket booster looking up - a great view of the shuttle seperation then fall to Earth

#flag: SPace, shuttle, launch, link, video

Discovery back up.

2006-07-04T21:47:00.000+01:00

Al last one of the shuttles returns to what is mostly another full mission. Lets hope they finish putting together that massive space jigsaw, the ISS, before the shuttle gets perminately grounded...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5146866.stm

And good luck to Thomas Reiter, Esa's first Astronaut staying long term at the ISS.

ISS = International space station

Those Crazy Japanese!

2006-07-02T15:45:00.000+01:00

Just found this little Gem - got to be the funniest prank ever!

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/false-wall-prank.html

No idea how these guys recovered from this...

White noise - on CD.

2006-06-21T14:15:00.000+01:00

Can't get to sleep at night? Strange sounds keeping you awake at night? Workmates annoying you constantly??

Now you can pretend not to notice anything with:
http://www.purewhitenoise.com/

Listen to the calming noises of white noise or rainfall or rolling waves or electiric fans (?) Air Conditioners (??) or Blow dryers (???) or Vacuum Cleaners (?????????)

No, I'm serious. And you can even try them on the website.

(Actually the first three are pretty calming, you can buy me one if you like...)

You took the slow road to get here...

2006-06-20T09:13:00.000+01:00

Someone somewhere is messing with our Internet...

First ask yourself this: Whats wrong with the Internet? Personally, I don't think there's any problem, but some companies (like AT&T, Verizon, Comcas) want make it legal for websites to slowdown other websites - probably your website unless you want to pay a fortune - and prioritise the bandwidth that you've payed for to channel their pages.

Outrageous.

Lets put a stop to this madness before it all goes to far. These websites will give you more information on how you can help fight this, and just what is happening out there: SaveTheInternet or It'sOurInternet

The Internet needs YOU! (Imagine old American guy pointing his finger at you). That's YOU!

#flag: "Net Neutrality", "Save the internet", links

Curios Mind

2006-06-15T12:54:00.000+01:00

I've just psycho-analysed my self here:
http://web.tickle.com/tests/inkblot/?sid=2647&test=inkblotogt&supp=nopop-CDCD1

And I think its pretty accurate. It's one of those famous Ink Blot test you always see Psychologists doing. Try it for yourself. Let me know how accurate you think yours is.

And just so you know here's mine:

Your Unconscious Mind Is Most Driven by Curiosity.

You are full of questions about life, people, and your own potential. You spend more time than others imagining the possibilities for your life – and you're open to things others are too afraid to consider. You have an almost physical need to know and do more. It's only through new experiences that you feel a greater understanding of yourself and the world.

You also have a rebellious streak that shows up when you feel unable to truly influence the world or circumstances around you. Your appetite for novel experiences also shows an openness others don't have, but wish they did. Your psyche is very rich; the more you lern about it, the more you will understand who you really are...

So there you go!

My First Ubuntu Blog

2006-06-12T23:47:00.000+01:00

I've been playing around with the great operating system, Linux (Ubuntu flavour). Its really nice and easy to use, and there's a million bits of software out there for it, all free-tastic.

Check it out here:
Ubuntu

The Producers

2006-05-11T23:32:00.000+01:00

So I've got a week off next week - looking forward to the break very much.

Just booked a couple of days in London, hotel and show. Sharon and I are off to see "The Producers", I've heard its good - can't wait to see it. Also going round the sites in London - actually staying in the centre of London not far from Big ben and House of commons - looks like a really nice hotel, hope they let us in!

Anyway, I'll give some details next week.

#Flag: London, hotel, break, "The Producers"

Job

2006-05-11T23:25:00.000+01:00

So I've got a new job!

Well actually I've got the job I've been doing for the last six months but still - at least its official now. And I got a bit of a payrise to, which is nothing bad.

I had to do a couple of graduate tests first - they test your english then you Maths skills - then I had to take a two hour interview which included a 15 minute presentation about a project I had done. (They give you 30 minutes before hand to get something ready - thats just about a enough time to write a few notes and scribble a few words on a flipchart...) But actually I think it went pretty well - well they employed me in the end so I guess I couldn't have been that bad!

The one thing that does worry me though is the time some of the people have been there. 10, 15, 20 years... do I really want to be in the same thing for that long... I'll just have to watch out!

#Flag: Job, interview

I'm an Uncle....

2006-04-28T04:00:00.000+01:00

What the?

I didn't think I was that old, but now I'm beginning to feel I'm passed it. Just today I fell like I've aged about 20 years....

Yep, my sister has just had a baby - which makes me officially an Uncle, I don't rmember ever agreeing to this - actually I don't even remember being consulted - but its happened and now I've got responsibilities: I'll have to start buying toys... for my nephew... though obviously I'll have to check whether they are OK first...

His name is Filbert and his Mum and Dad are called Raquel and Anthony.

#flag:

My current favourite

2006-04-23T21:07:00.000+01:00

Here's what game I'm currently wasting time playing. Check it out:
Cubrius

#Flag: Game, "Wasting time"

I've got a living room!

2006-04-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

It came, its here, I have somewhere to sit.

Yes, it only took three months but they are here and I think they look great.

My front room looks SO much better now, with the Futon (An ancient torture device) thrown out and my brand new sofa and chair in its place. Its sitting on them now, and I'd say it's somewhere in the region of 1'000'000 times more comfortable than my futon...

I've been really worried that the delivery guys wouldn't be able to get them up to my 3rd floor (or is that 2nd floor?) flat. In fact when I first met one of the delivery guys he looked up the first flight of stairs and said "It's not going to get up there mate, there's no room", which was certainly reassuring... Luckily the other delivery guy knew that the sofa I'd bought actually had a really clever trick up its sleeve (or should I say through its underbelly) the sides of the sofa are designed to come off with a simple turn of a few screws. Hooray! (I didn't even know that when I bought it, big bonus!)

Anyway, I'm well pleased with my new furniture, all I need to do now is buy a 32 Inch high definition LCD screen and my life will be complete (!)

#flag: Sofa, furniture, flat

The age of the Snowmen...

2006-04-20T17:07:00.000+01:00

So did you get the film title from the cryptic title? Well, it's Ice Age of course, actually Ice Age 2. And I went to see it last night. I thought it was very good. The animation of the characters had much improved and the lighting made everything seem closer to reality than before. They almost look like really models. Although the water effects sometimes looked a bit funny, noticeably when a wall of ice collapses.

The story was also very funny, and I laughed to myself throughout the film. I'd recommend it. Scrat is as funny as ever - can't beat a good bit of slapstick!

I thought it was better than the first one, but others didn't. Have a look at trailers and games here.

#flag: Film, "Ice Age"

45 years out of Earth

2006-04-12T19:00:00.001+01:00

Its 45 years to the day that Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin became the first human to leave the Earth and fly in space.

Some nice information here

Flag: Space, history

Girlfriends better.

2006-04-03T19:42:00.000+01:00

Horah!

She's back to her old wonderful self... but more importantly I didn't get what she had!

#flag: Girlfriend

To Sharon

2006-03-17T20:12:00.000Z

To my poor girlfriend

Get better soon....

#flag: Girlfriend.

Zoom to Mars.

2006-03-17T19:23:00.000Z

This is rather cool. It's by those clever people at google.

http://www.google.com/mars/

Its another map but this time of Mars. You can scroll around and zoom in. Take in the martian sites like Olympus Mons or Valles Marineris.

#Flag: Mars, link, space, science

Think about the sheep....

2006-03-16T19:33:00.000Z

Some really great puzzle games here.

http://www.woolythinking.com/

I'd recommend The Dark Room to begin with:

Thanks to Sharon for sending me the link.

Have to go and waste more time in the "Dark Complex" now!

#Flag: game, link, fun, puzzle

Boinc at home... or at work... or in fact anywhere

2006-03-15T21:19:00.000Z

This is really new, but It's still pretty good. Remember the Seti@home software you could down load years back, well its still running, but now there's 10 other projects running to, and you can download all of them if you want and run them on your computer when it's not doing anything.

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/

My favourite ones are:

BBC Climate Change Experiment - Save the planet (running for half the time on my work computer)
LHC@Home - CERN's particle accelerator
Einstein@Home - Pulsar search
SETI@home - Hello world!

#Flag: software, links

Performancing test

2006-03-12T19:06:00.000Z

Just come across this little extension for Firefox - my web browser of choice - and it basically pops up a nice little text box at the bottom which I can format with all the regular stuff, bold, colour, bullets, etc. But then it automatically adds it to my blog. Sweet. Just what I need when I'm surfing the web and find something I want to tell everyone about: I simply press the "pen and pad" icon and type.

This is the first attempt at using it. Here's the link: Firefox addon

If your reading *this* then it's worked. Brilliant!

#Flag: Software, firefox, blogging

Fat man shrinking across America.

2006-03-12T11:56:00.000Z

This is a really nice story of a man losing his way in life and trying to lose some weight.

This is the link:

http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/page/66308/

He's walking the 5000 miles across America to find himself and lose some weight in the process. Mostly following Route 66 and there's also lots of photo's too.

Quite inspirational... I think I could do with a little weight loss... Time for a walk me thinks.

#flag:

Maze of Rah

2006-03-12T00:15:00.000Z

This is a cool little game I've come across. The idea is the mummy walks along and kicks the last part of the pyramid into place. The puzzle is, he can only follow a certain route and the route changes as he walks over it.

Bonus.com® - Fun and Games!

Be warned, there's 100 levels...

Edit: you can't link straight to the game so have a look at the maze sections.

Oh you, story teller....

2006-03-11T19:23:00.000Z

I've been working though the OU story writing course over the last few weeks and I've been really enjoying it. The course is here.

I may post some of my stories online if I'm feeling brave... although thinking about it.... that's probably unlikely... Forget I mentioned it...

I've got a bedroom!

2006-03-11T19:07:00.000Z

Its come at last. Two and a half month's after ordering it. I've finally feel like I've actually got a bedroom, instead of a few cardboard boxes I've been using as bedside tables!

Shipped all the way from Malaysia, I now have two bedside tables, a three door wardrobe and a 6 draw dressing table. Oh, and also two king size beds... You can't have enough king size beds you know.... OK, so I actually got the second one because it came in a set with everything else but only worked out to be £10 more! So I'm going to try to sell it maybe at work or somewhere.

Nice dark wood, Japanese style, king size bed FOR SALE...

Edit: actually the spare bed is just a double one...

End of the Month review

2006-03-11T18:35:00.000Z

OK, so the end was actually about two weeks ago, but I've been a little worst for wear later, and I've just not had the time to keep it up to date.

I went to the doctors to see what it was but unfortunately they didn't know and thought it was probably nothing, possibly even just my imagination... which I guess was better than being on death's door although it does open the possiblity that I'm completly nuts... Cool!

I think the possibility that I might be ill, was actually making me ill. And that got my depressed that made me ill.... etc, etc, etc... Oh well enough about that.

So februray wasn't a great month, but it had its moments.

Going to Chesterfield for a friends birthday party was good fun back up north where I used to live. Sharon and I stayed in a nice four star hotel which we had got for half price. "The Chesterfield" it was called and it was pretty good. We had a corner room, which was fairly small actually, but adequate for what we needed.

Can't think of anything else for this month, but I think it was mostly all good.

#flag: February, Chesterfield, Sharon, illness

totd: Registering at Doctors

2006-03-11T18:04:00.000Z

Do NOT wait until your ill to register at a Doctors.

It will take longer than you think, I'd put aside a week from the point you decided toregister until the time you see a doctor.

You'll likely need to take in some ID and fill in a load of forms, so you'll need to know your previous Doctor's name and address. Once you've proved who you are, you'll probably need to wait another 48 hours for them to process your details and put you on their computer and of course, eventually you'll have to wait until a doctor can fit you in.

The Feast of Lupercalia.

2006-02-15T12:33:00.000Z

So today is the day after what is usually a pretty miserable day for me. Usually, I'm all on my lonesome at home... (sob, sob...) but this year was different, this year I decided to go out and be lonesome somewhere else. Just kidding, this year of course, I had my girlfriend, Sharon, over.

I even got presents! No less than several acres of martian land! Cool. Some rather fetching boxer shorts, and a new computer game "Metroid Prime 2" for my GameCube. (I'd tell you what I bought her, but she'd only get embarrassed when I mention how extremely revealing the skimpy underwear was....)

Still, there's always a down side to Valentines day, and this years' was I let Sharon pick a DVD to watch... "A perfect catch" - , a romantic comedy, quite a recent release, about a girl who meets a bloke, and he turns out to be "mad" about baseballs' "Red Sox". In my opinion, the madness didn't go far enough, I don't remember laughing at all. The whole film seemed to go nowhere, incredibly slowly... (Of course, there was one redeeming feature)

Now, I bet your wondering what Lupercalia is... Well its all to do with the beginnings of Valentines day, back around 2300 years ago... back Romans, shepards and wolves. This website has some nice information, if a rather sickening background (pink, with hearts on..., girls....), and so does this one.

In closing, I'd just like to sing a little valetines song, and bring back a long forgotten tradition from England: (see website above)

Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine---
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

Doesn't that just put a cheer in your heart.

Out of the office

2006-02-05T11:26:00.000Z

On the request of my company, I've been taking a course in C#. And actually, I've quite enjoyed it. The full course title was: "Developing Applications with the .NET Framework using C#" - rather catchy, no? I went with a company called QA and I can highly recommend them, at least for the course I was on anyway.

The course taught, .Net (forms applications), ASP.Net (web forms applications) and ADO.NET (database driven applications). It was quite interesting and enjoyable, and I left that little bit more knowledgeable. The course can be found here, and just so you know, I went to Swindon QA.

(I wouldn't recommend driving there every morning from Oxford though! It was taking me 1.5 hours to drive the 30 miles to Swindon... I hate traffic... especially when its dark and you can hardly see the road for the glare of the on coming traffic... but that's another story...)

Now I've got my certificate of completion I think I'm virtually guaranteed a pay rise when I get back to work on Monday... Not. (Which is actually tomorrow - the weekend goes so quickly....) But at least I'll be working on some new stuff when I get back to work, I can hardly wait...

#flag: course, QA, link, works

End of the Month review

2006-01-31T19:38:00.000Z

Wow, the month really goes quickly, seems like an eternity since the 1st of January. Lots of things have happened to me this month, but the main one is the awfully large amount of money I've spent - or at least will spend as soon as my furniture arrives (which is unfortunately still over a month away - this means another month sitting on the most uncomfortable futon...)

Of course, this was also the month I got rejected zero percent finance - I'm yet to find out why.

Also the month I got my broadband connection in. I've been working on my new website for a couple of weeks but haven't got anything I'd want to share yet.

And we've started a new project at work - the current one everyone been working on (I''ve been on it for only a couple of months) is finally finished, but its amazingly two years late and has cost 2.5 times as much as was budgeted (I think around half a million!)

Overall, it's been a good month but looking back I don't appear to have had much play... That's my target for next month: Less work, more play!

#flag: January review, money, work

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

2006-01-27T17:30:00.000Z

Thought I'd say a quick Happy Birthday to one of the worlds lost geniuses.

Happy 250'th Birthday Mozart
Though I don't think he'll read this...

Find some of his music here, and just so you know, Mozart's full name is: "Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart" though he seems to have changed it a lot!

#flag: Birthday, Mozart, links, music

2005 + 1 (*2)

2006-01-27T16:03:00.000Z

Yes, its happened again, and only less than a month later...

Happy new (Chinese) year!
Apparently - its the dogs!

Some interesting stuff about the Chinese new year here. It explains when the Chinese new year starts and how the Chinese have a leap month!

And if you're wondering why "dog", see here.

#pic: http://www.chinapage.com/

In response to the girlfriend's blog...

2006-01-25T19:15:00.000Z

I think you'll find it was YOUR idea to go shopping on Saturday - I specifically said I don't want to just go shopping.

If you didn't have such a bizarre fetish for Kentucky fried chicken I doubt we would even have gone into Oxford at the weekend...

But as luck would have it... I did buy a rather nice book...

#flag: Girlfriend, shopping, fun

totd: Purchasing stuff on credit.

2006-01-18T12:56:00.000Z

I don't think there's anything wrong with buying stuff on credit, but here's a little tip about it.

Even if your absolutely sure you'll get the credit, NEVER put down a deposit on the goods BEFORE you get confirmation of the credit agreement. As, if for some reason (and there's loads of stupid reasons you might not get it) you'll have no way of paying for the goods and you'll have lost your deposit.

Although I personally think it would be a very hard company who wouldn't cancel the deposit free of charge... (Check my story out)

#flag: tip, credit, purchase.

Sit down and relax - not.

2006-01-18T12:41:00.000Z

At the weekend I decided to buy myself a Sofa. Since I moved in to my new flat I've been siting on a futon - probably one of the most uncomfortable things ever invented to sit on, and when its in its bed position it isn't much better (probably worst!), so it was definitely time to get something a bit more permanent.

So I decided to buy a sofa that was in a sale, had several hundred pounds off, and the store was offering interest free credit for two years which was a sweet deal as I didn't real want to spend a lot of money all at once.

So I picked one out, and went through all the documents and signed my name at the bottom, the only thing now was to ring the finance company to confirm my credit and pay a deposit. As far as I know I'd have no problem with the credit so I paid the deposit and left the store before they had a final confirmation from the company... that was my first mistake....

About half an hour later i got a phone call saying the credit had fallen through and I wouldn't be getting it. (As the information is confidential the finance company couldn't tell me why, but the BIG problem was that they said they'd already confirmed the furniture from the manufacturer so unless I could find the money from somewhere else I would loose my £300 (pound sterling)

Dammit! (For moral of story find totd here!)

Conclusion - I've had to raid my savings to pay for it. (Well technically I haven't yet, because I've got to wait 8 to 10 weeks for devliery...)

#flag: moan, flat, purchase

Find the stuff star's are made of..

2006-01-15T11:38:00.000Z

The stardust nasa mission has just returned to Earth after seven years in space and being bombarded by a comet. Its has on board material stolen from that comet, and should help to understand the origins of our solar system.

It was a successfully touchdown, the parachute opened and as far as is known, the material is on board waiting to be analyzed...

...and the good news is you can help to find it! Berkeley university has created a program that acts like a virtual microscope. You'll be able to zoom in on the material to try to work out if its actually material that has come from the stars! But first you've got to pass a test! The website is here and you can register for the test by giving your email here - I've already signed up of course - Good luck!

#pic: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
#flag: science, space, links

Somethings about me: Work

2006-01-13T19:45:00.000Z

So I thought it was about time I told you a bit more about me. So here I am...

I've been working as a computer programming for about six years now (although I prefer the terms "Coder" as it sounds cool or "Software Engineer" as it sounds really professional!

I'm currently working for a company who produces educational software, I'm a bit nervous about revealing the name so I'm not going to, but I will say its a rather large company employing around 1200 people, and has produced many different educational programs for UK schools.

Currently I'm working on an interface to a 3D engine that will be used to teach Geography - imagine an island with just about every geographical feature you could imagine and you'll get a good idea of what it looks like. It will be written in the programming language C# , I'm only just getting in to this, but I already think its great (at least for a programming language! ) and I'd recommend it to anyone.

#flag: "about me", work, software

Its here and its so broad...

2006-01-12T23:57:00.000Z

Yep, you've guessed it, I've finally got Broadband in. Only took a week to set it all up, send me out a modem, and hook in. Not bad me thinks. Thanks PlusNet.

As I said before I'll be reporting on how well they do, but so far I'm very happy with it. And I've even got a 2Mb connection - well it's pretty fast for the UK anyway! (My last was only 512 k)

No, its late so I'm off to bed.

#flag: Broadband, PlusNet, link

I on board

2006-01-12T23:32:00.000Z

A new rocket engine has been created - more efficient then any other engine. Its called the DS4G Ion thruster and its created by an Australian team for the ESA.

Once it gets scaled up it could even push people all the way to Mars! Now, that's a trip I would love to take.

Have a look at the engine here and you can find out how they work here, but if you'd rather not look at this, basically an Ion drive works by pushing ions out of one end of a space craft to force the space craft to move in the opposite direction. Simple...

#Pic: www.esa.int
#flag: Space, engine, science, links