Aug 2007
One to recommend
26/08/07 12:29 Filed in: Personal
Just a quick post today. But if you plan to visit Canada I can only recommend one site to do the searching on.
Canadian Affair provides flights from Thomas Cook and Air Transat. But before you get all ponderous about whether or not this a good choice (especially considering our Florida problems with Thomas Cook) I would like to say in their defence that the flights we took to Toronto were FANTASTIC. I mean absolutely wonderful. The staff were friendly, the seats supremely comfortable. Heck, even the food was fine!
One other very good reason to use Canadian Affair as your booking choice is the cost. Canadian Affair is usually at LEAST 40% cheaper than ANY other flight provider to Canada. Our June 2006 flights were 60% cheaper than BA, Air Canada and Lufthansa.
The only problem is the name! For similar bargains with a less dodgy name try Iglu.
Canadian Affair provides flights from Thomas Cook and Air Transat. But before you get all ponderous about whether or not this a good choice (especially considering our Florida problems with Thomas Cook) I would like to say in their defence that the flights we took to Toronto were FANTASTIC. I mean absolutely wonderful. The staff were friendly, the seats supremely comfortable. Heck, even the food was fine!
One other very good reason to use Canadian Affair as your booking choice is the cost. Canadian Affair is usually at LEAST 40% cheaper than ANY other flight provider to Canada. Our June 2006 flights were 60% cheaper than BA, Air Canada and Lufthansa.
The only problem is the name! For similar bargains with a less dodgy name try Iglu.
Tiscali and BT join forces to tell porkies
14/08/07 21:54 Filed in: Technology
I read in Ars Technica that ISP's Tiscali and BT are threatening to throttle the performance of the BBC's iPlayer service because they suggest it will suck all the bandwidth out of the UK Internet.
Which makes interesting reading. But not because I think they have a point. Because quite frankly they don't; BT has already started over a year ago to role out the NEXT phase of networking for the Internet. The '100mb' good stuff.
So, what is this really about? Well, it is Tiscali's IPTV product "Home Choice" and BT's "Vision" products being put under pressure by the BBC. Both Tiscali and BT Vision charge a monthly subscription. The BBC, on the other hand, are providing the service as part of their provision under the BBC charter. In other words, you've ALREADY paid for it from your TV licence; it's free.
iPlayer has had something of a mixed launch. Originally being an 'open' beta version. Sadly, the 'open' element being to a select few.
Clearly BT and Tiscali can see what's on the horizon, and don't like it.
Whether this is seen as an anti-competitve step on their part will be down to the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission. Interesting stuff...
Which makes interesting reading. But not because I think they have a point. Because quite frankly they don't; BT has already started over a year ago to role out the NEXT phase of networking for the Internet. The '100mb' good stuff.
So, what is this really about? Well, it is Tiscali's IPTV product "Home Choice" and BT's "Vision" products being put under pressure by the BBC. Both Tiscali and BT Vision charge a monthly subscription. The BBC, on the other hand, are providing the service as part of their provision under the BBC charter. In other words, you've ALREADY paid for it from your TV licence; it's free.
iPlayer has had something of a mixed launch. Originally being an 'open' beta version. Sadly, the 'open' element being to a select few.
Clearly BT and Tiscali can see what's on the horizon, and don't like it.
Whether this is seen as an anti-competitve step on their part will be down to the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission. Interesting stuff...
Anthony Howard Wilson (1950 - 2007)
13/08/07 23:34 Filed in: Personal
It was with some great regret that I heard that the great, ironic genius that was Tony Wilson has lost his battle with cancer.
Wilson was the greatest unpaid ambassador for Manchester that we could have ever wanted. Born in the borough of Salford on the 20th of February 1950 he would go onto create the scene that WAS Madchester and this would intern kick start the long overdue renovation and reinvention of central Manchester. He MADE Manchester cool once more.
Listening to him speak once, I found myself drawn to his political views. Namely that we should adopt regionalism, where distinct areas should be represented in a regional assembly. In the same way that Wales has a regional assembly. The understanding being that people in London have no chance of understanding the regional issues in an area 150-250 miles away.
In 2003 he successfully petitioned the Government and won the right to a referendum on the subject. Sadly, North East England voted against a regional tier of Government and the whole thing was abandoned.
Late last year Tony was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had emergency surgery. But the cancer, despite treatment, was aggressive and on the 10th he lost his battle with illness.
For me, he will always represent the best Manchester has to offer. He was never dull, frequently thought provoking and always funny.
He'll be very sorely missed.
Wilson was the greatest unpaid ambassador for Manchester that we could have ever wanted. Born in the borough of Salford on the 20th of February 1950 he would go onto create the scene that WAS Madchester and this would intern kick start the long overdue renovation and reinvention of central Manchester. He MADE Manchester cool once more.
Listening to him speak once, I found myself drawn to his political views. Namely that we should adopt regionalism, where distinct areas should be represented in a regional assembly. In the same way that Wales has a regional assembly. The understanding being that people in London have no chance of understanding the regional issues in an area 150-250 miles away.
In 2003 he successfully petitioned the Government and won the right to a referendum on the subject. Sadly, North East England voted against a regional tier of Government and the whole thing was abandoned.
Late last year Tony was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had emergency surgery. But the cancer, despite treatment, was aggressive and on the 10th he lost his battle with illness.
For me, he will always represent the best Manchester has to offer. He was never dull, frequently thought provoking and always funny.
He'll be very sorely missed.
Trouble at mill..
13/08/07 00:51 Filed in: Technology
Somebody at Redmond has blown a gasket. Has a screw loose. Too few sandwiches in the picnic. SharePoint 2007 boasts a host of excellent features, not least of which includes 'greater accessibility'. But what does that mean in real terms?
Well, it certainly doesn't mean that MOSS 2007 or should I say Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is accessible. Not in the slightest. It's greatest no-no is that it uses tables for format. I'm sorry, I'll say that again. It uses tables for formatting.
In a world of elegant CSS it's an unquestionably poor show on Microsoft's part and renders the use of MOSS 2007 'out of the box' in any public (or Government) organisation out of the question. More so in the UK where we have new (and justifiable) laws shunning such inaccessibility. Bare in mind that I'm currently working for the organisation in the UK that would implement such laws, and the problem is slightly more serious. As you can imagine.
Don't think that the clever use of Web Parts will save you either. Sure, you can code up such libraries, hand cranked if your like. But guess what the Web Part Page uses to site it's contents in. You guessed it; Tables. Tables!!
What is wrong with these people?
So.... the solution. Well, after quite a few conversations and secret meetings not akin (so I would imagine) to the Freemasons, what can I suggest. Simple. Write your OWN ASP.NET pages to gain full AAA compliance and simply leverage the SharePoint Server using the Windows SharePoint (web) Service. Best of both words. Content is managed in a very lovely way and you have full and absolute control over the container it comes in.
When I get more on this... I'll let you know.
Well, it certainly doesn't mean that MOSS 2007 or should I say Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is accessible. Not in the slightest. It's greatest no-no is that it uses tables for format. I'm sorry, I'll say that again. It uses tables for formatting.
In a world of elegant CSS it's an unquestionably poor show on Microsoft's part and renders the use of MOSS 2007 'out of the box' in any public (or Government) organisation out of the question. More so in the UK where we have new (and justifiable) laws shunning such inaccessibility. Bare in mind that I'm currently working for the organisation in the UK that would implement such laws, and the problem is slightly more serious. As you can imagine.
Don't think that the clever use of Web Parts will save you either. Sure, you can code up such libraries, hand cranked if your like. But guess what the Web Part Page uses to site it's contents in. You guessed it; Tables. Tables!!
What is wrong with these people?
So.... the solution. Well, after quite a few conversations and secret meetings not akin (so I would imagine) to the Freemasons, what can I suggest. Simple. Write your OWN ASP.NET pages to gain full AAA compliance and simply leverage the SharePoint Server using the Windows SharePoint (web) Service. Best of both words. Content is managed in a very lovely way and you have full and absolute control over the container it comes in.
When I get more on this... I'll let you know.
Draytek Vigor 2800 Firmware Upgrade Issues
11/08/07 10:42 Filed in: Technology
Over the last week or so our iMac has been suffering a little 'connectivity' issue with the Draytek Vigor 2800 G Wireless router we use.
Having looked at the Draytek's firmware and noting it was significantly out of whack with that on Draytek's website, I decided it needed a boost.
But here's where the problem start.
Draytek, unlike other Wireless Routers, don't have a built in function on the router itself to upgrade it. There could be a number of reasons for this, perhaps security being one of them. But the fact is, you'll need to update your Firmware using software running on a desktop machine. Mac users (like me also) this is where we have a problem. Because, despite Draytek providing a Mac version of the software, it lacks a particular feature that is definitely required.
Speed up, your going too slow
I'll get to the point. Draytek's Router tools include the Firmware Upgrade Utility. But it has an amusing problem. The time out is set FAR TOO LOW. There is no way a firmware flash of nearly 4 MB is going to get uploaded in the router in 5 seconds!
So, here's what I decided would be a good option. 13 hours or so. Plenty of time... and sure enough... up it loaded.
One last tip. If you abort at any time, it times out and you have to kill a dead upgrade... Make sure you look in your Windows Task Manager for any FrmUpg.exe that happen to be left running. Kill them all, then try again, remembering to set the Time Out value first.
Then it should work!
Having looked at the Draytek's firmware and noting it was significantly out of whack with that on Draytek's website, I decided it needed a boost.
But here's where the problem start.
Draytek, unlike other Wireless Routers, don't have a built in function on the router itself to upgrade it. There could be a number of reasons for this, perhaps security being one of them. But the fact is, you'll need to update your Firmware using software running on a desktop machine. Mac users (like me also) this is where we have a problem. Because, despite Draytek providing a Mac version of the software, it lacks a particular feature that is definitely required.
Speed up, your going too slow
I'll get to the point. Draytek's Router tools include the Firmware Upgrade Utility. But it has an amusing problem. The time out is set FAR TOO LOW. There is no way a firmware flash of nearly 4 MB is going to get uploaded in the router in 5 seconds!
So, here's what I decided would be a good option. 13 hours or so. Plenty of time... and sure enough... up it loaded.
One last tip. If you abort at any time, it times out and you have to kill a dead upgrade... Make sure you look in your Windows Task Manager for any FrmUpg.exe that happen to be left running. Kill them all, then try again, remembering to set the Time Out value first.
Then it should work!
The many pictures of ?
10/08/07 16:04 Filed in: Personal
I've been checking out the news bulletins for the organisation I'm currently doing work for. What's tickled my fancy today is that whatever the story, there appears to be an appropriate picture of the individual on hand. Fun stories get a smiling picture and the opposite is also true.
So I figure that when the photographer is taking the snaps, which I presume this is some time BEFORE it is actually used, the subject must be asked to provide a series of expressions. I wonder to what extent this goes.
Is there a call for "startled" or "look it's a puppy" type expressions?
So I figure that when the photographer is taking the snaps, which I presume this is some time BEFORE it is actually used, the subject must be asked to provide a series of expressions. I wonder to what extent this goes.
Is there a call for "startled" or "look it's a puppy" type expressions?
Chicken what!
09/08/07 12:02 Filed in: Personal
It's always nice to be nostalgic. Don't get me wrong, I'm very much 21st century man. But occasionally it's fun to remember those cultural things that, for better of worse (usually better) we have left behind for good.
Growing up in England in the 1970's (I was born in 1970) was an interesting experience mainly because so many things have changed over the last thirty years.
Let me give you some brief examples.
At one point in time, I think pre-1985, it was the height of cultural sophistication to serve 'Prawn Cocktail' as a starter at dinner parties. Actually, dinner parties themselves are something of a dying breed these days. Most groups tend to go to a restaurant together or at best all slum around 'the barby'. I digress.
The prawn cocktail consisted of a small bowl (usually a glass stemmed type thing) with lettuce, lots of lettuce, and the odd prawn covered in either Rosemarie OR Thousand Island dressing. To accompany this tiniest of starters came a thin slice of brown (and ALWAYS BROWN) buttered bread.
Quite who the heck invented the the Prawn Cocktail and for what reason is not fully known. But I suspect it's a chef with low amounts of sea food, lots of lettuce and a brown loaf that needed using. Also, why is it a 'cocktail'? Maybe it's because the serving bowl was usually shaped like a large glass. That's my theory.
Next up in the meal of the 1970's was 'Steak Diane'. Nothing to do with the ill fated namesake. More to do with a pounded flat bit of meat cooked with cream and brandy. Actually, I sometimes miss "Steak Diane". But not that much.
Finally, if you where somebody in the 1970's.. desert would consist of Black Forrest Gateaux with fresh (had to be fresh) whipped cream.... and that was it.
Except in my home. Long before the cultural revolution my Mum would cook us traditional Italian foods all the time. Then she migrated into Indian cuisine and finally Chinese food. Fact of the matter is, people would come to our house to basically stare at what we were eating. Even in 1975 pasta dishes were something 'odd'.
But....
One thing I did miss, event wise, was the point when chicken pieces or bites turned in Chicken Goujons. CHICKEN GOUJONS! Like 80% processed chicken and who knows what, combined with bread crumbs somehow doesn't conger up images of the best in French cuisine.
Growing up in England in the 1970's (I was born in 1970) was an interesting experience mainly because so many things have changed over the last thirty years.
Let me give you some brief examples.
At one point in time, I think pre-1985, it was the height of cultural sophistication to serve 'Prawn Cocktail' as a starter at dinner parties. Actually, dinner parties themselves are something of a dying breed these days. Most groups tend to go to a restaurant together or at best all slum around 'the barby'. I digress.
The prawn cocktail consisted of a small bowl (usually a glass stemmed type thing) with lettuce, lots of lettuce, and the odd prawn covered in either Rosemarie OR Thousand Island dressing. To accompany this tiniest of starters came a thin slice of brown (and ALWAYS BROWN) buttered bread.
Quite who the heck invented the the Prawn Cocktail and for what reason is not fully known. But I suspect it's a chef with low amounts of sea food, lots of lettuce and a brown loaf that needed using. Also, why is it a 'cocktail'? Maybe it's because the serving bowl was usually shaped like a large glass. That's my theory.
Next up in the meal of the 1970's was 'Steak Diane'. Nothing to do with the ill fated namesake. More to do with a pounded flat bit of meat cooked with cream and brandy. Actually, I sometimes miss "Steak Diane". But not that much.
Finally, if you where somebody in the 1970's.. desert would consist of Black Forrest Gateaux with fresh (had to be fresh) whipped cream.... and that was it.
Except in my home. Long before the cultural revolution my Mum would cook us traditional Italian foods all the time. Then she migrated into Indian cuisine and finally Chinese food. Fact of the matter is, people would come to our house to basically stare at what we were eating. Even in 1975 pasta dishes were something 'odd'.
But....
One thing I did miss, event wise, was the point when chicken pieces or bites turned in Chicken Goujons. CHICKEN GOUJONS! Like 80% processed chicken and who knows what, combined with bread crumbs somehow doesn't conger up images of the best in French cuisine.
And the best computer to run Office 2007 is....
02/08/07 20:06 Filed in: Technology
What the !!!
So first we had Microsoft showing off the Windows Vista on an Apple MacBook Pro. Then it was revealed that they are demonstrating Office 2007 on the same platform.
But this latest promotion image from Microsoft just goes one step too far.
Yes. That's a 12" Powerbook G4 in the picture. A lovely little laptop that's totally unable to run either Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 (Trust me, I had Virtual PC for the Mac).
And just in case you think it's a one off.. here it is again!
Obviously, Microsoft are not exactly paying more attention to how their Getty provided images look rather than the actual content. That or they are trying to absorb some of the Apple chic via it's older products. Next thing the Zune will be all white with just four buttons on it! Ohhhh. It is available in white. Hmmm. IC
See: here or here
Microsoft PC by Christmas?
01/08/07 12:55 Filed in: Technology
I've been catching up on a lot of email over the last few days. Some of which was SPAM and some of which was people just keeping in touch.
An old friend of mine Aman sent me a link to a very interesting couple of articles regarding the potential of Microsoft launching a PC. You'll find the links at the bottom.
But would Microsoft really create it's own PC? Sounds crazy.. but then five years ago would you imagine that Microsoft would create a top selling games platform in the guise of the Xbox and Xbox 360 or would try and usurp Apple's ubiquitous iPod with it's own Zune player. In the former example they got it all right (although recent details of Xbox 360 early deaths have not done Microsoft any favours) and in the later, all wrong.
But what platform would the Microsoft PC run on. You might imagine that Intel would be best choice. After all, for all those people outside Silicon Valley, Wintel is the phrase of choice.
But the reality is that Intel and Microsoft have not 'got on' in years and Microsoft still owns stock in AMD. Remember the 'design for Windows' AMD K5, K6 range?
So when Forges ran this story at the end of June it certainly made a number of people sit up. I'll cut the story down.
AMD and Microsoft have teamed up with India's Zenith Computers to launch a personal computer aimed at Indian students. How much they invested in this is something of a mystery.
But the key thing is that this is a MICROSOFT branded PC.
So would Microsoft launch a PC outside India? It's an interesting idea. But the reality is that they may face still opposition in the courts if they lock down the device. If you cannot run Linux on the unit then European anti-competition lawyers would soon be sharpening their pencils for court.
I'm going to have a good think about this.
References
Marketwatch article
Forbes article
An old friend of mine Aman sent me a link to a very interesting couple of articles regarding the potential of Microsoft launching a PC. You'll find the links at the bottom.
But would Microsoft really create it's own PC? Sounds crazy.. but then five years ago would you imagine that Microsoft would create a top selling games platform in the guise of the Xbox and Xbox 360 or would try and usurp Apple's ubiquitous iPod with it's own Zune player. In the former example they got it all right (although recent details of Xbox 360 early deaths have not done Microsoft any favours) and in the later, all wrong.
But what platform would the Microsoft PC run on. You might imagine that Intel would be best choice. After all, for all those people outside Silicon Valley, Wintel is the phrase of choice.
But the reality is that Intel and Microsoft have not 'got on' in years and Microsoft still owns stock in AMD. Remember the 'design for Windows' AMD K5, K6 range?
So when Forges ran this story at the end of June it certainly made a number of people sit up. I'll cut the story down.
AMD and Microsoft have teamed up with India's Zenith Computers to launch a personal computer aimed at Indian students. How much they invested in this is something of a mystery.
But the key thing is that this is a MICROSOFT branded PC.
So would Microsoft launch a PC outside India? It's an interesting idea. But the reality is that they may face still opposition in the courts if they lock down the device. If you cannot run Linux on the unit then European anti-competition lawyers would soon be sharpening their pencils for court.
I'm going to have a good think about this.
References
Marketwatch article
Forbes article
Comments from a flight
01/08/07 12:30 Filed in: Personal
We went to Florida earlier in the year. The flight was.. well, I've blogged it. But we didn't know how the kids felt about it until Sue found a little notepad Grace had filled out during the flight.
She's filled four tiny pages with her thoughts.
He first comment reads;
I am dying. Call an ambulance.
I am dying of boredness!
Then she added
We are no where near U.S.A. yet.
I wonder what people at home are doing?
She then adds
It is an earthquake
Oh on
That's turbulence and lots of it!
"I am bored", I say.
"Nice to meet you bored" Dad says
Then she added a little diagram of an in flight meal with the label
My dinner on the plane was HORRIBLE
So I guess that cleared that up.
She's filled four tiny pages with her thoughts.
He first comment reads;
I am dying. Call an ambulance.
I am dying of boredness!
Then she added
We are no where near U.S.A. yet.
I wonder what people at home are doing?
She then adds
It is an earthquake
Oh on
That's turbulence and lots of it!
"I am bored", I say.
"Nice to meet you bored" Dad says
Then she added a little diagram of an in flight meal with the label
My dinner on the plane was HORRIBLE
So I guess that cleared that up.