Rob's Blog Feed

Animated GIF mood

Rob — 2010-07-25T02:31:15+01:00

Paris Hilton Animated GIF. NOTE: Lack of any other expression. Ditto Lohan

What the duck!!!

Rob — 2010-07-16T10:53:31+01:00

OK. Just wait until Daisy finds out about this. He’s likely to be in the very next wrap served from Chinese restaurant on the World Showcase at Epcot. Question : What exactly WAS he/she doing?

Weather watch result

Rob — 2010-07-10T10:53:44+01:00

Just wanted to let you know the results of my Met. Office Weather watch. For the last 30 days I have been checking out what they said the weather will be and then taking note of what the weather actually was. So... out of 30 predictions they got 7 correct. SEVEN!! That’s 23% correct! Just to add to the amusement. This weekend, the North West of England will be suffering from an an oppressively hot and humid atmosphere. Unfortunately, it is cool (ok, cold) and breezy. Nice.... $300 squillion dollars and no results.

McHonest? McDonald Receipt

Rob — 2010-05-06T20:19:59+01:00

Decided to pop into McDonalds for a chicken sandwich (I know.... don’t start) But someone in the Towcester branch (off the A43) decided to add a few extra details. You know, I’m actually a pretty happy guy. So I’m not sure if the “Smile” message was directed to me. As for the “92% saturated fat” comment, seems a bit mean really. The Chicken Legend I ordered is... oh... much less than 92%. 80% maybe? (Actually 21%)

Was the Polish President Murdered?

Rob — 2010-04-27T09:12:44+01:00

I’ve been holding a little reservation on running this story, but the sheer lack of any news agency offering up the story has forced me into thinking it needs a wider audience. If only for critique purposes. On the 10th of April 2010 the President, his wife and number of senior officials of the Polish Government died in a plane crash just outside Smolensk Air Base in what are described as foggy conditions. (I say ‘described’ because the fog is pretty hard to see in ether the leaked video or the official video.) All 96 on board were killed. Now here is where it gets a little unusual. Just a few days after the tragedy a video is released on YouTube (amongst others) show the plane shortly after the crash and reporting to show individuals on the plane being ‘shot’ where they lie. In other words, they were murdered AFTER the crash. So far I’ve found NO mention of this video in Western media AT ALL. With two exceptions 1. Alex Jones’s Prison Planet has ran the story from the start 2. The No Agenda Show talked about the incident and the video in one of their recent Podcasts. Russia Today Footage The shooting video

More trouble for the Met Office

Rob — 2010-04-25T09:32:59+01:00

I can’t say I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the Met. Office. After all, this is the organisation that claimed • Last year would be a BBQ summer - It was a wash out. • Last winter would be ‘very mild’ - It was the coldest in half a century • Spring would come early - NOPE! So, you might be wondering what their latest gaff is. Well, it was the Met Office who were in charge of making sure our skies were safe from the DEADLY ASH CLOUD OF DOOM! Incidentally the whole ground stop fiasco cost airlines £1.3 billion and left over 150,000 Britons stranded around the world (including a number of people I know). The Daily Mail has pulled its finger out and actually done some JOURNALISM and discovered that; • The Meteorological Office was unable to actually physically measure the density of the ash because its plane was being repainted and was only flown on Tuesday; the day before the ban was lifted. • The ‘computer model’ used by the Met Office produced a whole series of maps predicting that the volcanic ash would affect a vast area reaching as far west as Newfoundland and as far east as Russia. But in reality, physical samples proved this model to be totally false *1. • When the ash WAS over Britain, the maximum density measured by scientists was only 1/20th of the minimum safe limit proposed by aircraft and engine manufacturers. Jim McKenna of the Civil Aviation Authority's head of Airworthiness, Strategy and Policy, admitted last night: 'It's obvious that at the start of this crisis there was a lack of definitive data. It's also true that for some of the time, the density of ash above the UK was close to undetectable.' Back to the Met Office. Despite the initial eruption on March 20, they went ahead with the repaint of their BAE 146 atmospheric survey jet. As a result, samples then had to be taken using an unpressurised and far lower flying turbo-prop Dornier 228. But what really added to the sheer ineptitude of the Met Office was that the most essential bit of equipment, the optical particle counting instrument, used to measure the concentration of ash, was NOT FITTED. No room you see. What with the coffee machine, mini-fridge etc :-) The full story can be found here.

Jamanji TURNS EVIL!

Rob — 2010-04-23T19:40:21+01:00

I’ve realised how negative my blog has got over the last few months. So I thought I’d share this with everyone. Hey kids... imagine Jumanji turned EVIL. Now make a teen horror flick. It’s the very obscurely titled “The Black Wates of Echo’s Pond”

Everest is shrinking... now guess the reason

Rob — 2010-04-20T14:25:05+01:00

Heard somebody comment that Mount Everest is a little shorter than it used to be. Well, we all get smaller with age, right? So I did a look around and came across a CBBC webpage that highlights the story and explains it all for the kids of the UK (and abroad). The only trouble is that the whole article is a propaganda piece for the Pro-Global Warming cabal. The original CBBC article can be found here. But to save you time AND I don’t give a crap, here is the article. I’ve used italics to highlight both the propaganda phrase and the ACTUAL explanation for the change. You’ll notice that the sub-heading gets the lie while the body of the article contains the reality. I’m assuming the idea is that kids, in a hurry, don’t bother reading the whole article and are instead just affected by the headline elements. Further to this, if heavy glaciers are removed from Everest, it would more likely GROW. In the same way that Scotland is rising out of the North Sea and has been doing so since the end of the last ice age. This movement, incidentally, is causing London to since into the sea.

Mount Everest getting smaller?

Just how tall is Mount Everest? The world's tallest mountain, Everest is to be re-measured after a recent survey suggested the summit is getting smaller because of global warming. In March, a Chinese climbing team will use satellite and radar technology to find out its actual height. The size of Everest has been in debate since it was first measured in 1856 as 8,839 meters tall. But in 1954 an Indian survey recorded 8,848 m but in 1999 a US study suggested it was two meters higher. Whatever the team discovers, the movement of the earth's tectonic plates, means Everest's height changes a little each year.

Astronomer Royal for Scotland says Sun DOES affect climate

Rob — 2010-04-13T20:05:40+01:00

Professor John Brown, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland is my new best friend. Why? Well, on this months Sky at Night he basically stated the truth that both the IPCC and the CRU would rather you not know. That sun spot activities and climate ARE somehow connected. Here is a small transcript of the exchange. Patrick Moore - “The solar cycle does affect our climate and our weather. There is no question about that.” Prof. John Brown - “It does. There was a great lack of sunspots for a number of years and there was a lot of talk ‘oh, the suns changing’ and so on. And I even had a number of people asking ‘Could this lack of sunspots be responsible for all this snow over Britain?’. I’m afraid the Sun is not that choosey. But overall it does seem there is a connection to some extent. Because we had this very pronounced Mondum Minimum period a few centuries ago” Patrick Moore - “1625 - 1715. Thames froze every year.” Prof. John Brown - “So you have less sun spots and much colder weather. So there IS some rather subtle connection.” The full program is currently available on iPlayer and I will attempt to find an alternative source for the purpose of comment / education / critique.

When is a missing island NOT a missing island

Rob — 2010-03-30T12:05:05+01:00

Like the famous island in the TV Show LOST we are being told by BBC, Independent, Guardian et al, that the tiny island of New Moore Island in South Talpatti (sometimes spelt Talpatty) has been lost to the ravages of Global Warming. Yes, this plucky little disputed territory decided to succumb to the rising flood waters resulting from melting ice caps and rising sea levels. What a tragedy it is for inhabitants of the island to loose their home under such circumstances. Or at least it would be if the whole story wasn’t a total bit of unsubstantiated propaganda. Not to mention the worst bit of journalism ever. It’s so unscientifically researched and biased that even Richard Black managed to steer clear from it; which is saying something. I’m afraid the whole article was a propaganda hit piece, here are the FACTS. The “island” of New Moore Island, South Talpatti didn’t come into existence until it was washed into being following the devastating cyclone that hit Bangladesh in November 1970. From the Bangladeshi Daily Star, October 1, 2003 The ownership of the island has been in dispute between Bangladesh and India since it emerged in the estuary of the border river, Hariabhanga, after the devastating cyclone that swept through Bangladesh in November, 1970. The island is located about 4km, south of the Hariabhanga river that divides Bangladesh and India on the west. The approximate geographical location is reported to be at Latitude 21 degrees 36.0 North and Longitude 89 degrees 09.10 East. It is believed to be of U-shaped formation with the eastern arm elongated towards the north and had an approximate area at low tide of about 2 square miles in 1978 which may have further grown since then. So just to highlight a few things, firstly, this article from 2003 shows that the island had been going through the process of accumulated silting. In that the alluvial deposits that formed it in 1970 had been built upon. Weather in the region and upstream has been suffering from excessive rain in the last few months. It obviously comes out in the Delta, eroding the already shallow island. An island that at low tide was only a few inches above sea level. Now the washed off silt combined with the current high temperatures in the area have sank the island from view (by a matter of a few inches a low tide). This is then converted into the idea that some akin to the Isle of White has been washed below the waves. The fact is that the reason the island was uninhabited is BECAUSE it was a sand bank and because it was prone to being washed over. But this story does serve one good purpose. It shows us with clarity the depths of falsehood the uninformed will go in order to promote the concept that the seas are rising and “Waterworld” is upon us.

Chief "Unbiased" Climategate Investigator has eco directorship

Rob — 2010-03-29T07:57:16+01:00

Or how the fox is in charge of the hen house

The peer leading the University of East Anglian investigation into Climategate failed to declare he serves as a director of one of the most powerful environmental networks in the world. Once again, The Register manages to get the facts straight on an issue that remains a “done deal” in the rest of the mainstream media. I include the article here. ------ From The Register ------ Exclusive The peer leading the second Climategate enquiry at the University of East Anglia serves as a director of one of the most powerful environmental networks in the world, according to Companies House documents - and has failed to declare it. Lord Oxburgh, a geologist by training and the former scientific advisor to the Ministry of Defence, was appointed to lead the enquiry into the scientific aspects of the Climategate scandal on Monday. But Oxburgh is also a director of GLOBE, the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. GLOBE may be too obscure to merit its own Wikipedia entry, but that belies its wealth and influence. It funds meetings for parliamentarians worldwide with an interest in climate change, and prior to the Copenhagen Summit GLOBE issued guidelines (pdf) for legislators. Little expense is spared: in one year alone, one peer - Lord Michael Jay of Ewelme - enjoyed seven club class flights and hotel accommodation, at GLOBE's expense. There's no greater love a Parliamentarian can give to the global warming cause. And in return, Globe lists Oxburgh as one of 23 key legislators. In the House of Lords Register of Lords' Interests, Oxburgh lists under remunerated directorships his chairmanship of Falck Renewables, and chairmanship of Blue NG, a renewable power company. (Oxburgh holds no shares in Falck Renewables, and serves as a non-exec chairman.) He also declares that he is an advisor to Climate Change Capital, to the Low Carbon Initiative, Evo-Electric, Fujitsu, and an environmental advisor to Deutsche Bank. For a year he was non-exec chairman of Shell. GLOBE is conspicuous by its absence, however. Oxburgh joined GLOBE in 2008. The University of East Anglia appointed Oxburgh after consulting the Royal Society. "We are grateful to the Royal Society for helping us to identify such a strong panel and to the members for dedicating their time to this important matter," said the University in a press statement. It may not be the smartest advice the UEA has ever received - the Royal Society's partisanship is well known. (A parallel enquiry, headed by Sir Muir Russell, is already underway.) One insider, who declined to be named, described Oxburgh's appointment as "like putting Dracula in charge of the Blood Bank". GLOBE has not returned our request for comment. Nor has the University. The network hasn't had much luck with its UK appointments, as key figures have become caught up in the MP expenses scandal. GLOBE's worldwide secretary Elliott Morley and its British branch secretary David Chaytor were two of three MPs to face criminal charges last week. Brent MP Barry Gardiner, co-chairman of the GLOBE Dialogue on Land Use Change & Ecosystems claimed for a second home eight miles from Westminster, and worked the system for £200,000. In 2007 Oxburgh won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Platts. The judges said they were also impressed by “his very high ethical standards".

More Climate Rhetoric from BBC

Rob — 2010-03-22T13:26:25+00:00

I see the BBC is at it again. The heading reads “It’s still real and it’s still a problem”. In which Lord Chris Smith is given and open slot to tell us what he thinks about the recent rather negative publicity towards the science of “Man made global warming” (to give it, its original title). He’s doing this from a position of higher authority with his PhD thesis on Coleridge and Wordsworth no doubt. Oh, and it doesn’t quite get around to mentioning that he’s head of the “Environment Agency” which is currently trying to drum up extra cash from Government to protect waterways for people who are too stupid to purchase a house on a flood plane of a major river. He goes on to say that, “The myth fostered by some parts of the media in recent months - that somehow the scientific evidence for climate change is deeply flawed - needs to be laid to rest, and soon”. In other words, shut and pay your taxes slaves and stop asking tricky questions. Like, why evidence that is 100% needs to be massaged. Why previous periods of warming and cooling were marginalised from CRU (and IPCC) graphs in orders to present the “trended” model with some bite. I could of course mention the number of actual scientific bodies who don’t agree with the AGW theory; all totally scholarly in their efforts. But that would of course fall into the trap being laid out. That we scientists on the other side of the debate have to prove and alternative theory rather than just highlight issues with the existing proposed one.

Al Gore help setup Cap and trade exchange company

Rob — 2010-03-09T16:04:55+00:00

A lot has been in the news regarding the “Cap and Trade” system being proposed in the US. The scheme allows companies to trade the taxation of pollution with other companies (that are greener) in a global “exchange”. This whole mechanism being pushed forward by proponents of man made global warming, such as Al Gore. Now there is considerable opposition to “Cap and Trade” as an environmental mechanism as it removes limits of big business to pollute allowing them to simply buy themselves out of tax, passing higher costs onto the consumer. While this might sound great for a car company that would price itself out of the market, the worlds greatest polluters are in fact power companies. Electricity generation produces a third of CO2 emissions in the UK alone (look it up). So when they increase costs and consumers have no alternative supplier... where does that lead? So the only people Cap and Trade will benefit will be those who run the operation, which takes a cut of all transactions. This company would stand to make billions of dollars. The company that will run the exchange is called “Climate Exchange Plc” - who will operate the European and US climate exchanges. So... take a wild guess who owns them? Chairman Richard Sandow Top ten share Investo Asset mgr The Insiders (18.94% - Of

Something Ebay lacks

Rob — 2010-03-07T17:39:58+00:00

I think Ebay is missing something essential to the entry system - a spell checker. I was bored looking for something to do and ended up looking at boats. Check out this superb example as to why it’s always a good idea to get somebody else to do the typing if you’re not that good at it. Corrections in blue. OK HERE GOES: HERE FOR AUCTION IS A 60ft MOTER (motor) TORPEDO BOAT.X3 THORNEYCROFTS (Thornycroft) 6 CYLINDER DIESEL ENGINS (engines).2 OF WITCH (which) ARE RUNNING THE OTHER NEEDS NEW STARTER TO RUN UP.NEW WHEEL HOUSE FITTED LAST SUMMER.NEW ROOF AND REAR ACCOMADATION (accommodation) JUST FITTED BUT UNFINNISHED (unfinished) DUE TO UNFORFORSEAN (unforeseen)SERCUMSTANCES (circumstances) >ALL MERTERIALS (materials) TO FINNISH (finish) PROJECT ARE ON BOARD . THIS WOULD MAKE A WONDERFUL LIVEABOARD (Er? Lifeboat, live-aboard?) THE FORWARD ACCOMADATION (accommodation) IS ALL IN ORIGINAL CONDITION>CONSISTING OF TWIN BERTH WITH SHOWER >TOILET>SINK>STORAGE SPACE.. THEN A LARDGE (large) GALLEY CONSISTING OF SINK N DRAINER>COOKER >BENCHED DINEING (dining) AREA>LOTS OF STORAGE>THEN UP 4 STEPS INTO ORIGINAL WHEEL HOUSE>THIS HAS RADAR>SHIP TO SHORE RADIO>ORIGINAL SHIPS WHEEL>ALL CONTROLLS (controls) CLOCKS AND DIALS IN WORKING ORDER AS WAS TAKEN OUT TO SEA SEVERAL TIMES LAST YEAR>PROVING TO BE LOTS OF FUN BUT UNFORTUNATLLY (unfortunately) HAS TO BE SOLD AS IT NEEDS T.LC (surely either tlc or t.l.c. but not half way) >AND I JUST DONT HAVE THE TIME TO FINNISH (finish) (HER>CURRENTLY AFLOAT ON A BEAUTIFUL MOORING IN ESSEX ALONG SIDE OTHER HISTORIC VESSELS.SHE DOES HAVE LIVEABLE ROOM ON BOARD . SO SOMEWHERE TO STAY WHILST WORKING ON HER>THIS IS A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO OWN A REAL PEACE (piece) OF CLASSIC HISTORY.YES IT NEEDS WORK /? (well, does it?) BUT ITS ALL THERE.ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL ON 07837200251>THIS IS ADVERTIZED (advertised) ELSE WHER (elsewhere) SO COULD BE REMOVED.A DEPOSITE (deposit) OF £300 REQUIRED ENDING AUCTION VIA PAY PAL (technically should be PayPal) . TO VIEW PLEASE CALL ON ABOVE NUMBER.NO SWAPS OR PX AS NOT ALOUD???:{ (allowed) MANY THANKS FOR LOOKING>PLEASE DO NOT TEXT ME AS IM (I’m) STUPID (no shit) AND CANT (can’t) TEXT BACK;;RESERVE PRICE IS £3.000 (What £3? Or £3,000) Yeah, I’ve got a question to text him. Which illiterate labrador did he get to type the description OWT FUR IM?

Body Scanners - The Lie

Rob — 2010-03-02T15:53:05+00:00

Since their introduction (and subsequent compulsory use) since February this year Body Scanners at airports have proved to be highly controversial. There are two main objections. Firstly, they don’t work. This German TV presentation using the same equipment provided to Manchester Airport show how flawed the system is. Incidentally, I was; • NOT asked to empty my pockets • NOT asked to remove my jacket, and was • NOT scanned from the side. All Lance’s comments ARE FALSE in this respect. Secondly, it’s an infringement of both privacy and civil liberties. I can only assume that all these measures are being put in place in order to put people of air travel. Because given the first point, it can’t be security. My own personal experience of the device and it’s operating staff took place on February 5th of this year. When my family and I had passed the normal security check, we were directed (as EVERYBODY WAS) to be body scanned. The process itself was both pathetic and insulting. Failed to spot “bomb” The device failed to spot the fact I was carrying a plastic container in my top pocket. Because as I leaned forward, the shirt left my body and became opaque to the scanner. You’ll realise it only spots stuff that is in contrast to things around it. The container had two one pounds coins in it. I’d placed them there deliberately to see what would happen. The answer was nothing. Which was both amusing and alarming, because it could have contained ANYTHING! Final insult What really does stick in my mind as objectionable is the way we were made to feel during the process. As though we were actually guilty and required to prove ourselves safe to fly. This impression was further enhanced by a rather stupid UK Borders Agency officer. When my six year old asked her “Why did they have to do that?” to the one female UK Borders Agency offic (aged early 40’s, medium height and build, dark short hair... somewhat man like) her reply had my spinning around. “Because Mummy and Daddy have been naughty,” She said dryly. Now remember, my daughter is six and is now worried. I just span on the spot to face my accuser and said in a calm voice “Did you just say ‘because Mummy and Daddy have been naughty’?” I asked her, “Did you?” “No.” she replied and started to step behind the other officers. “Yes you did. I heard you.” I replied (again, perfectly calm and polite). To be honest, at this point I’d have been happy with “Sorry, it was just a joke” and I’d have pointed out her age. Instead I got a male UK BA officer stepping in between the non-conflict and saying “You can go now,” and pointing towards the exit. So this is the sort of treatment we are to expect in the future? Guilty until proved otherwise, and you’re lucky to be allowed to travel in the first place. I have to say that the UK BA officers prior to this had been both polite and helpful. But you’re only as good as your last performance, and I was left both angry and disgusted by that.

Facebook iPhone App Creates Security Blackspot

Rob — 2010-01-30T11:59:37+00:00

Background

Over the last few months Facebook has made quite a few major updates to amend and increase the security of a FaceBook accounts.

It’s now possible to make all aspects of your profile to be secret, including the fact that you don’t appear on the search results. That was the theory.

The Problem

I accidentally found a way around the security system by using Facebook’s iPhone application. The worrying thing is that it’s actually so simple, it’s alarming how it has been missed. Step 1: Create a list of contacts of people you suspect are on Facebook with their known email addresses (or at the very least, good guesses) Step 2: In the Facebook application press the “Friends” button on the main menu. Step 3: At the top right of that screen you’ll notice a “Sync” button. Press it. The result is the screen above. Facebook searches for ANY matching profiles based upon that email address and brings back what information it can, including the profile picture. It then drops all this information into your Contacts. Along with the name, a link to the face book app (complete with profile ID) it also copied the PRIVATE profile image.

Armed with my new discovery I had a work colleague make his Facebook profile entirely private. I then guessed his private email address and sure enough, I got the following details (greyed out).

So, how do I protect myself?

Well, the answer is pretty obvious. It’s obvious and also something else that I came upon by accident. Because I use an abstract email address for my Facebook profile, people who guess or know my personal email address still cannot find me using the iPhone application. So my suggestion to you would be to create a Yahoo / Hotmail / GMail account specifically for Facebook and don’t share it with anybody.

More Straw from BBC

Rob — 2010-01-26T11:58:59+00:00

I’ve just read an interesting little article written by BBC’s top environmental analyst Roger Harrabin. Now you could ask what makes Mr Harrabin so special as to be the BBC’s top expert in the field. But then you’d also have to ask what expertise he can bring to bare on this subject with an English degree and no science background. Lets be fair, it’s just a long list of public servants who have positions of importance in scientific areas with no actual science background. Lets take Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford. So that must be coming in handy while looking at the figures put out by the CRU. To get back on subject, the article offers a bleak forecast of climate science stating from an (unknown, undocumented and probably non-existent) Oxbridge Professor of Natural Science that; “What’s happening - how is science losing support of the public?” As is the trend with such argument Harrabin’s answer is simple. It’s the right wing press! Polluting the minds of the populous. Yes, that’s right Mr Harribin has evoked the “you must be a fascist” argument. What’s that law called? It was mentioned on QI a few weeks back. It was the theory that in any heated argument on the internet, the longer it laster, the probability of somebody mentioning Hitler or the Nazi’s approached 1. (I’ve seen this personally, I was in a heated debate AGAINST Eugenics and the pro-guy actually stated “You know who believed in supporting the poor, Hitler. That’s who!” At which point the BB fell apart laughing.) Well, I don’t agree with Harrabin. I think he’s 100% wrong. It’s not that the public are easily led; it’s the opposite. I think that we’ve passed the point in society where we are going to blindly believe that Radium tonic is good for us. The fact is that we are all sick to death of having the “climate” cause rammed down our throats. Only to then discover how poor the science actually is. What’s worse is the hypocrisy within the “green” movement. Remember Gordon Brown instructing us to live greener lives before jumping on a plane to Copenhagen to bore them all the bloody death instead. Then we have Prince Charles who once attended a climate change conference in Germany by driving his 4 tonne armoured Bentley from London to Berlin (say) at 4mpg. Only to then fly back and have his car driven back empty. Some things to take note in Mr Harrabin’s post are the facts he’s had to include; • That the IPCC is made up of hundreds of, and not thousands of scientists - The later being a claim often sited on the BBC website as proof of climate change. As we’ve learned from history, collective belief is not evidence of fact. • The man-made climate change is only “widely accepted” by climate scientists and isn’t either “wholly accepted” or a “a know fact” as it often stated as the case.

Great stupid question

Rob — 2010-01-21T10:49:43+00:00

There are some questions that are so dumb that just lift your general wellbeing. The sort of question that makes you realise, even if you do goof up some code, that there is somebody else out there who is more stupid. Case in point. From Aria website. A Freecom Apple Mac pre-formatted external drive gets the following question. “If I buy this drive for my (Windows) PC, will I be able to run Mac software from it” Answer - “No. Only if you plugged it into a Mac computer.” Incidentally, the whole “for Mac” thing is a scam. You pay extra to have it formatted when you can do it yourself in minutes.

Miserable Polce Supt Kill-Joy

Rob — 2010-01-14T12:16:25+00:00

Just weeks after a US police officer was (quite correctly) sacked for drawing his weapon in defence during a snowball fight; Oxford police officers find themselves in line for a dressing own for sledging on riot shields. The footage, shot on Boars Hill in Oxford, shows three police officers from Thames Valley Police having a whale of a time sledging down the hill. To anybody watching this footage it's only a positive message and humanises the service in ways Police self promotion videos can't. Here are three individuals enjoying the snow. However, that's not how Supt Andrew Murray sees it. His opinion is that "tobogganing on duty, on police equipment and at taxpayers expence is a very bad idea". Well, Mr Murray, I've got a message in return for that. Using "police equipment" to assault innocent bystanders* during the G20 protests is a very bad idea. But it didn't stop that happening. If it was a choice between unprovoked assault resulting in death and tobogganing; I'm going for the later. Finally, nobody was killed during the escapade. Nobody was injured and it didn't affect the safety of the public. So, really; Supt Andrew Murray get a life.

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 takes $bn dollars

Rob — 2010-01-13T16:22:24+00:00

I read on the BBC news site (for want of a better description) that Activisions excellent Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 has taken $1bn so far. You might remember it took $550 million in the first five days, which is pretty good going. The unknown written on the BBC points out that this is pretty close to movie hits Titanic ($1.8bn), not to mention Avatar. However, we are told, direct comparisons can't be made because essentially the 'ticket' price is three times higher for the games than the films. This is true, but all a classic case of the lack of journalism I've come to expect from the BBC these days. Sure, it costs three times the price. But the average gaming experience (one player) is expected to be around 6-8 hours. So that's three to four times the duration of entertainment. But the most obvious way in which you cannot compare the two is in production costs. With estimates of production costs for Avatar running from $250-280 million I find it very unlikely that Activition spent more than a tenth of that on COD6. Then you've got advertising. I'm betting that total promotion for Avatar is going to be around $50m. Making the total spend in the $300m range. Making a profit of $700m. Meanwhile, Call of Duty 6 : Modern Warfare 2 (Manchester United 1) made $500m profit in the first week and can only have made even more as it went on. Games like Call of Duty represent the maxim of games production in turns of production cost and values. This is a game with a cast of "known" people (if only when you see their faces). Call of Duty 5 : World At War (Average) had Keifer Sutherland and Gary Oldman in it for gods sake!

Vertigo? Stupid bloody woman!

Rob — 2010-01-08T18:24:23+00:00

According to Fiona Bruce, people who suffer from vertigo should look away while they televised the story of two chaps base jumping off the Burj Khalifa. I'm not sure why having a feeling of dizziness or nausea would stop you watching the item. Unless.... (surely not) the silly cow meant altophobia. No..! TV Presenter caught in "no real idea what they are talking about" shock? :-)

Tanzanite... very dangerous!

Rob — 2010-01-08T10:37:05+00:00

Holy crap! Tanzanite should be added to the list of things that should be banned from planes (along with passengers). Only Vicki Brown on "The Jewellery Channel" just described how "if you have blue eyes, these Tanzanite earings will literally explode in a myriad of blue and green colours". I don't know about you, but having explosive jewellery sounds pretty dangerous.

Climate Fabricated Results - Evidence

Rob — 2009-12-16T14:59:50+00:00

This CRU leaked archive makes interesting reading. Take this email from Tom Wigley from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a man previously Director of the Climate Research Unit. On the 4th May he emails Phil Jones (of the Climate Research Unit - University of East Anglia) with the following subject. "[Fwd: CCNet Xtra: Climate Science Fraud at Albany University?]-FROM TOM W " The messages reads as follows. ...Do you know where this stands? The key things from the Peiser items are ... "Wang had been claiming the existence of such exonerating documents for nearly a year, but he has not been able to produce them. Additionally, there was a report published in 1991 (with a second version in 1997) explicitly stating that no such documents exist. Moreover, the report was published as part of the Department of Energy Carbon Dioxide Research Program, and Wang was the Chief Scientist of that program." and "Wang had a co-worker in Britain. In Britain, the Freedom of Information Act requires that data from publicly-funded research be made available. I was able to get the data by requiring Wang's co-worker to release it, under British law. It was only then that I was able to confirm that Wang had committed fraud." You are the co-worker, so you must have done something like provide Keenan with the DOE report that shows that there are no station records for 49 of the 84 stations. I presume Keenan therefore thinks that it was not possible to select stations on the basis of ... "... station histories: selected stations have relatively few, if any, changes in instrumentation, location, or observation times" [THIS IS ITEM "X"] Of course, if the only stations used were ones from the 35 stations that *did* have station histories, then all could be OK. However, if some of the stations used were from the remaining 49, then the above selection method could not have been applied (but see below) -- unless there are other "hard copy" station history data not in the DOE report (but in China) that were used. From what Wang has said, if what he says is true, the second possibility appears to be the case. What is the answer here? The next puzzle is why Wei-Chyung didn't make the hard copy information available. Either it does not exist, or he thought it was too much trouble to access and copy. My guess is that it does not exist -- if it did then why was it not in the DOE report? In support of this, it seems that there are other papers from 1991 and 1997 that show that the data do not exist. What are these papers? Do they really show this? Now my views. (1) I have always thought W-C W was a rather sloppy scientist. I therefore would not be surprised if he screwed up here. But ITEM X is in both the W-C W and Jones et al. papers -- so where does it come from first? Were you taking W-C W on trust? (2) It also seems to me that the University at Albany has screwed up. To accept a complaint from Keenan and not refer directly to the complaint and the complainant in its report really is asking for trouble. (3) At the very start it seems this could have been easily dispatched. ITEM X really should have been ... "Where possible, stations were chosen on the basis of station histories and/or local knowledge: selected stations have relatively few, if any, changes in instrumentation, location, or observation times" Of course the real get out is the final "or". A station could be selected if either it had relatively few "changes in instrumentation" OR "changes in location" OR "changes in observation times". Not all three, simply any one of the three. One could argue about the science here -- it would be better to have all three -- but this is not what the statement says. Why, why, why did you and W-C W not simply say this right at the start? Perhaps it's not too late? ...I realise that Keenan is just a trouble maker and out to waste time, so I apologize for continuing to waste your time on this, Phil. However, I *am* concerned because all this happened under my watch as Director of CRU and, although this is unlikely, the buck eventually should stop with me. ...P.S. I am copying this to Ben. Seeing other peoples' troubles might make him happier about his own parallel experiences.

McDopey

Rob — 2009-12-09T12:06:35+00:00

Had (and I do mean HAD) to stop at a McDonald's drive through for food yesterday. Sadly, my slightly less unhealthy meal was going to take a little while to cook, so I had to wait in the "Grill Order" bay. Two things struck me; 1 People think it's perfectly OK to park behind you and block you in. 2 People park in the bays and eat meals there... even when the rest of the car park is empty. Anyway, to cut a long story short the little chap from McD's came out and promptly gave my meal to the wrong car. Who duly accepted it and drove off at speed. He then delivered to me a bag of French Fries. The conversation went as follows; Me "What's this?" McD "What you ordered." Me "No, this is what I ordered." - I gave him my receipt. McD "Oh, I just gave it to that guy." Me "Ah. Well, that's not good. Can I have my meal please." McD "He's got it. The bloke who drove off." Me "Because you gave it to him." McD "Oh, right." (long pause) "What should I do?" Me "Get me the meal I ordered." McD "Right." - Then he stands there at my window for about ten seconds. Me "What?" McD "How much was it?" Me "My meal? A lot more than a back of fries. Why?" McD, as if he's realised I should pay again, "Oh! Nothing. I guess I should get you another one." Me "Please, yeah." Five minutes he comes back and looks at another car. Which prompts me to wind the window down and say "Hi, is that for me?" McD "Oh, yeah. Cool." Gives me the food, I thank him (I'm polite) and then her just stands and looks at me. As though I'm meant to complete a questionaire or something. Me "OK, I'm going to leave now. Thanks". Which finally prompts him to move away and I can pull out. How odd was that. Do you think he's been eating too much of their product and he's ended up burger stupid.

BBC overheats CO2 demo

Rob — 2009-12-06T22:09:32+00:00

I don't know if you are like me, but I'm always amused by the BBC's almost zealous attempts to push the CO2 Climate Agenda. Todays little experiment is how the gas CO2 can increase temperatures in an atmosphere. The link to the video is here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8394168.stm In the experiment a 3 litre of bottle has it's atmospheric gases replaced by CO2. The outcome, increase in temperatures. Which is all well and good. But to put this in context, CO2 levels as a percentage of Earth's atmosphere is 0.038%. As the experiment carries on I'm guessing that a good 20-30% of the atmospheric gases in the bottle are being replaced by CO2. In other words, that would mean our atmosphere would need to be 30%+ CO2. And she's worried about the temperatures! How about the fact we'd likely die of Oxygen starvation! CO2 is a heavier gas, so the 30% would likely be hanging around all the LIVING areas of the planet. I'm guessing about a few thousand feet here! Everything on land that breathed oxygen would die! If you put that into context, the temperature issue would be a minor consideration. Talk about not getting your ideas in prospective. The fact is, this is both a divisive and stupid demo. For climate deniers (not sceptics mind) it's a red flag and to everybody with 1/2 a brain it's the most stupid example of how to con the public. The BBC should be ashamed.

Commodores Basic Compiler

Rob — 2009-12-04T13:58:27+00:00

Remember when home computers were a new thing? If you're about my age (sub 40... just) you might remember the efforts Commodore made in order to try and boost the Commodore 64 platform by making a compromise. It created a BASIC compiler. The idea being that you could program within the simplistic BASIC language (no pun intended) and your efforts would be SUPER BOOSTED into 'machine code' by the compiler. Opening a whole new world of exciting posibilities that would otherwise only be available to people with enough time and interest to hand crank assembler (sad people, usually with no girlfriends). Anyway, I remember it fondly for two basic reasons. 1 It was unbelievably slow. Any program greater than about 8kb (yes, KILOBYTES) would take over an hour to compile and the results would be; 2 It was terrible! The code hardly ran any faster than the bog standard BASIC intepreter. OK, so some functions did operate faster. But lets not try and encourage any nostalgia about it. What was interesting was how the compiler basically operated by including a dirty bit library of functions (OK, probable 4-8kb or so) and then use that. But the most interesting thing about the BASIC compiler was that fact that it appeared to be itself a BASIC application, compiled by itself. That's the sort of recursive action that could well have created a black hole back then. I do remember, just before moving on from the (crusty) trusty Commodore 64 that there were in fact a number of funky compiler/languages available for it. Some obvious, Assemblers galore. But how about; • White Lightening* which was a version of Forth developed by Oasis Software, with lots of additional functions for graphics, sound etc. • C - A little C compiler that actually produced really decent executables • Pascal - Not Borland's Turbo.. but I do seem to remember a little version (nothing too exciting) • ADA - Yes, even the Commodore 64 managed to get a port of NATO's favourite language. In the end, the machine was too old to join the later public domain, then open source community on the web. Even the Commodore Amiga arrived a little too early for that. But that's another story entirely. *White Lightening formed part of a development suite of three variants developed by Oasis Software. • Basic lightening was an enhanced version of Commodore basic with lots of extensions of graphics, sound and even structure. Applications needed to be packaged (I want to avoid saying compiled here) into a file that could run on other machines. • White Lightening was a version of the compiled language "Forth". It included the very same libraries as Basic Lightening and provided a very unique environment for development purposes. Forth was decent enough at providing all those features missing from BASIC, but it's Reverse Polish Notation put a lot of people off and in the end White Lightening didn't turn out to be such a resiliant platform for development purposes. White Lightening included Basic Lightening in it's package. • Machine Lightening was the premier package and included the premier assembler development studio, along with White Lightening and Basic Lightening. In Machine Lightening you had the ability to create macro code and link to the Libraries provious mentioned. It proved to be the most useful of the three and did get some work at Ocean software. In the end Ocean Software bought it from Oasis (or bought Oasis) and it because Laser xxx. Laser Basic, Laser Basic Compiler and Laser Genius. The Laser equivalent to Forth was dropped, never to be seen again :-(

That's one big sun..

Rob — 2009-11-25T10:17:53+00:00

Super short post. Very simple. Did you know that the sun (sol) is so massive that it contains 99.8% of all the mass in the solar system. It's radiant energy supports nearly all life of Earth and it drives the climate and weather* Core temperature 15,000,000 degrees and it's surface is about 6,000 degrees. That's pretty warm. Source: NASA * Take note IPCC.

Kick the Myth: Part Two - The world is going to end in 2012

Rob — 2009-11-16T13:49:37+00:00

Ok. So there might well be a likelihood that Roland Emerich might be over egging the whole 2012 thing in order to score it large at the box office. But it's true to say that there is quite a substantial number of stupid gullible nervous people who think that the ancient culture of the Maya might well have a better handle of the world, solar system and everything that is our common understanding today. This is usually stated under the premise of their wide understanding of the solar year. But this is a mistake. Because the calendars of common use in Mayan civilisation were based around exactly 365 days. Making them LESS accurate than either the Julian or modern Gregorian calendar. Not MORE accurate as is commonly believed. So complicated is the nature of Mayan calendars, that a series of calendars run within each other to resolve such issues. The most recently highlighted of which is the so called "Long count" calendar. Next up is the understanding of the Mayan interest, if not obsession with the nature of time and repetition. This has subsequently produced an obsessive response in media pundits. Now, I don't know about you... but I'm looking forward to Christmas, and the New Year and perhaps spring. All of which are, for Western cultures, similar cyclical events. Even if you look at the myth of the end of the long count calendar, it's no way clear whether or not this is a good or bad thing. But it's clear that it's something that will affect the great and bountiful Mayan civilisation. Which is where we have a little problem with the prophesy. In that, quite frankly, there isn't a great and bountiful Mayan civilisation any more. Sure, there are descendants of the Maya, but they neither inhabit the Mayan cities, nor believe the same gods nor share the same culture as the classical Mayan civilisation. In the same way as Italians are descended from the Roman empire... So if there is no Mayan culture to be affected, just how accurate can this myth be. The fact is that Maya culture was already collapsing as early as the 8th the 9th century AD. The reasons for which are unclear. The basic camps are either societal collapse or environment pressures. The fact is, the "myth" is in itself a "myth". "Mainstream Mayanist scholars argue that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history. To the modern Maya, 2012 is largely irrelevant, and classic Maya sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory, suggesting that there was little if any universal agreement among them about what, if anything, the date might mean." (Source: Wikipedia) Next up we have the idea that the planets will align and will all point towards galactic central point. First up, according to NASA, and I imagine they might know, there are NO planatery alignments for a few decades and as for galactic central point. Well, that happens EVERY DAMN YEAR!!! As for the whole Nibiru / rogue planet concept. Well, apart from the fact it's got no scientific basis... we'd see the damn thing by now! Right now, in the sky with our naked eyes. But the thing is we don't. And there is a reason for that, it's not there. What we have here are two conflicting predictions. One by a group of non-scientific people who wish to sell books, DVD's and cinema tickets. The other prediction is by scientist who have spent decades on a mixture of disciplines and know what they are talking about. Sadly, I suspect it's the former who are going to get more and more attention as time goes on.

Duelling - Another One Show C**k *p!

Rob — 2009-11-13T22:35:35+00:00

Another tour de force of b*lls up from tonights "One Show". Dan Snow did a little segment on duelling, detailing the duels of the mid to late 19th century. During the usual blather up at the end of the piece he made a great point to say the "Duelling is actually still legal in Florida. So long as nobody gets hurt." How wrong can any one man get. Florida made a state constitutional law AGAINST duelling in 1838. Article 6, Section 5 states that - "No person shall be capable of holding, or of being elected to any post of honor, profit, trust, or emolument, civil or military, legislative, executive, or judicial, under the government of this State, who shall hereafter fight a duel, or send, or accept a challenge to fight a duel, the probable issue of which may be the death of the challenger, or challenged, or who shall be a second to either party, or who shall in any manner aid, or assist in such duel, or shall be knowingly the bearer of such challenge, or acceptance, whether the same occur, or be committed in or out of the State." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duel So, only 100% wrong and 170 years out of date then. Nice one Dan!

Afghanistan - Support is waining

Rob — 2009-11-09T18:09:30+00:00

According to the BBC news this evening, support for the war in Afghanistan is waining. Waining? When was it ever high? I mean really... when was it universally acceptable? It's getting the point where Childrens BBC news program Newsround is offering more honest appraisal to news.

Gordon Murray invents milk float

Rob — 2009-11-06T10:00:35+00:00

Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1 and several other interesting cars has released his latest incarnation to the world. Shown here in extreme prototype (picture courtesy of Autocar) it's an electric vehicle with a low top speed and a maximum range of approximately 60 miles. Steve Cropley urges us to see how fantastic it is. But... sorry.. Hasn't anyone noticed.... it's a soddin milk float!?!

Climate Change Hypothesis... what's in a name

Rob — 2009-11-01T23:54:46+00:00

You know, one of the most surprising things that hits me in the news these days is how it is reported that (man made) climate change is a "theory", which quite clearly it isn't. More over, climate change is directly a result of 'rising' CO2 is a theory, it is not either. And these are not distinctions that are going un-missed within the scientific community, to which I can personally attest. It's all down the difference between a conjecture, hypothesis and a theory. ...A conjecture is an open statement of question to the proved, test and/or otherwise examined. So I could put forward a conjecture that there an infinite number of prime numbers. This is clearly something that cannot be tested. But there are certain parameters and so forth we can put forward to support or dispute it. But the statement itself, the question if you like, that's a conjecture. Next up on the scientific scale of certainty we have a hypothesis. Now a hypothesis is an explanation of proposition to explain or resolve something. This is something that can be essentially tested, in particularly, in the way it can be disputed. It can be either agreed with or proved false (at which point another hypothesis should be created.... more on this later). ...A theory is a scientifically tested statement that gains huge support, either in terms of a scientific proof or considerable and widely accepted by the scientific community. I'm talking about there being universal appear of the reality that this particular description is both proven by results and/or demonstrates itself. So... back the Climate Change and the concept that it is man made. Can it be proved beyond doubt that man is the driving force behind climate change? Well, it's PROVEN in the scientific records, both ice core and dendrochronology that the have been considerable variation in the Earth's climate within the most recent quaternary era. Extremes of both high and low temperatures have occurred as ice ages both advance and receed. No one single theory for ice ages exists at present and, but a number include both solar output, distances and atmospheric issues. ... One thing that is clearly not included is the idea that "man" is responsible. As for the supporting evidence TO man made global warming. I'm afraid that despite suggestions to the contrary, the whole science understanding is that we don't have enough evidence to support the fact and the reality is that climate change theory is actually a climate change hypothesis (at best) and some would argue that it should be de-listed, as it were, down to conjecture. Fact is that models proposed as evidence by the IPCC since it's original report have year on year failed to match those of predicted output. In fact, in recent reports the IPCC has had to admit that climate change may be taking a 10 (or 20 year, depending on source) year break as a result of changes to the output of the sun. But wait... wasn't it the IPCC that downplayed the output of the sun as a reason for climate change. How very odd then that they should then leap on the idea of blaming solar activity for the lack of results. The reality is that it's a lot worse than we imagine. Because effectively what the IPCC, the UK Met Office et al are saying is that OUR THEORY IS RIGHT and it's the weather and Sun that's got it wrong. On a side note, a friend of mine was telling me about a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (open) meeting where David Miliband stated that "climate change was a fact". Well, he's not going to get an argument from me on that. Of course the climate changes... we are on a third bloody atmosphere as it is! Anyway, when he was questioned on the subject of it not being a fact, it was theory he stated that "99.9% of ALL scientist know it's true". After half the audience laughed at his statement, clearly made up on the spot, he moved onto another subject quickly. The interesting thing is that when the transcript of the meeting hit the FCO intranet, the "99.9%" had been removed a totally different statement was posted in it's place. ...Now, clearly David Miliband was flustered by the sudden question on a subject I can appreciate he's not educated to answer (he studied Philosophy and Political Science), but it's a good example of the "make the stats on the spot" that helps support the who concept. ...Now any advances we can do towards efficiency, lowering polution and recycling what we use are ALL fantastic ideas. But we have to appreciate and understand what each causes. Lets take the idea that if we all switch to electric cars it will be a "significant drop in polution". ...The battery packs used in the cars require some of the most environmentally distructive mining on earth. Not to mention that carrying a stuffing great battery around when your not using it, as in hybrid cars, wastes more energy. ...So children, what's the most environmentally destructive process in the UK at present, in terms of CO2? ...I'll tell you... it's ENERGY GENERATION. ... It equates to nearly DOUBLE the amount of CO2 pollution than road transport. If we have to double the demand on the system, then it means we are going to have to increase our demand on the Energy Generation system. And it's not going to be filled by wave turbines and fluffy windmills. ... No, coal only energy plants will need to operate at higher outputs... pushing the already high 37% towards 50-55%. Which means that it's WORSE environmentally to use an electric car. ...Why are you not clamping down on the amount of CO2 being produced by the coal power stations. By capturing just 50% of the CO2 produced in Energy Production, we could SAVE as much CO2 as road transport produces!

Kick the Myth: Part One - Biodiversity on the Decline

Rob — 2009-11-03T11:23:00+00:00

Recent BBC headline reads "Species' extinction threat grows". The article goes on the describe the pressures placed upon flora and fauna within the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, a list containing 47,677 species. Of the list of these "Threatened Species", some 17,291 are deemed to be "at serious risk". It's a sad story, truly. But what is even sadder is how that raw data is then expanded to encompass ALL species of known mammals, amphibians, plants and invertebrates. When there is no evidense to suggest that this is the case. After all, it somewhat stands to reason that species added to the "Threatened Species" list are by their nature "at risk". That fact that only approximately a 1/3 of the species in the list is "at serious risk" surprises me. Exactly what criteria of being "threatened" are they working too? I digress. From this an other recent stories you'd get the impression that in a few years there are going to be no creatures left on the planet. But to say this is something of a misleading statement on the part of conservatives, would be an understatement. Now, before I start showing the evidence, I want to make something very clear. We should live in a efficient, none (or at least low) polluting way, that maximises energy efficiency. So we should have super efficient vehicles and/or public transport. Every house should employ solar for heating and power generation (it's free after all) and so forth. I think that's ideal. However, having an education does provide me with the tools and interests to look into a story that otherwise reads like a Ronald Emmerich script. If you want to get a whole word prospective of biodiversity, it's necessary to take a longer view of things. Below is a graph (taken from Wikipedia) showing the size and range of biodiversity on planet Earth over the last 550 million years. I'm assuming you've noted it starts today on the left and goes back in time to the right. The point being that at NO Lets start with a premise. It has been widely reported in the media that all species on Earth are in decline. The blame is obvious, in their eyes. It's a combination of the direct effects of mans activities and (most likely man made) climate change. Here are the top five animals, most often sited. 1 Elephants 2 Gorillas 3 Polar Bears 4 Tigers 5 Panda Bears So, is it true. Has their been a sudden decline in animal species and are mans activities truly the major contributing factor Lets take them individually and examine the facts. Elephants (Afican for sake of argument) Before the ivory trade threatened to destroy the noble beast of Africa, you might have been given the impression that Africa was so packed full of elephants that it was more of less packed to the seams. But clearly this wasn't ever the case. Elephants require large amounts of resources to survive, in terms of both food and water. They also only give birth to a single offspring (as you'd imagine). Phanereozic - Wikipedia.

Argos Reward Points - Get more for less

Rob — 2009-11-01T10:15:50+00:00

Very quick post today. Argos have a number of promotion schemes for business. I've got one with Travelodge. But here is something you might not know. Argos vouchers are better than using the points. It's that simple. For example; Sony PRS 505 S Reader is £224.99 In Argos points it is 2308 or £230.80 But more telling are iTunes vouchers. iTunes £15 voucher is 208 points - £20.80 £25 vouchers are 308 - or £30.80 and £50 voucher 558 - or £55.80 So why not just get the Argos vouchers at; £5 Voucher = 50 points or £5 £10 Voucher = 10 or £10.... You get the idea. You can get £15 iTunes voucher FOR £15 and not the equivalent of £20.80... thus saving you £5.80 to spend on something else!

Flashforward - Is MOVING MAN Lloyd Simcoe?

Rob — 2009-10-04T20:42:54+01:00

So there is always a lot of fun to be gained from guessing this early in a TV show. Especially if you happen to hit a target full on. So how about this... I realise it's Detroit, but do you think the character played by Jack Davenport "Lloyd Simcoe" bares quite a resemblance to the myserious "Moving Man" in Detroit. The evidence? Well, there's the obvious (perhaps too much so) fact they are both dressed entirely in black. But how about the fact that Lloyd cannot be found in Stanford and instead turns up some 8-10 hours later. Or... maybe not :-)

Having said that... in the promotion segment... Suspect Zero appears to be wearing an earing... Something white swings forward as 'it' turns it's head to the right. So that's put the cat amoungs the pidgeons. Good this. Like it. All we need now is a good script editor and a very detailed plan for the weeks/months/years ahead. Because nothing is going to kill a show for it's audience than when it starts to tread water for the inevitable conclusion..... .. yeah, I was thinking of LOST there.

Flashforward - ABC Cross over - Oceanic sign in Episode One

Rob — 2009-10-04T20:37:59+01:00

For those who missed the Oceanic sign (and it was quite cheeky), here is a screen grab of it. To save you looking.

Flashforward - What is written on Mark Benford newspaper

Rob — 2009-10-04T20:34:44+01:00

So... after quite a bit of back and forth on Sky+. Here is what it says (as far as I can tell) on the back of Mark Benford's newspaper. It's near the start of the show; when they are stacking out the people in the black SUV. It reads...

I know what you're thinking
Timeless. Destiny.

Now.... what does THAT mean!?! :-)

MORE Dodgy Parking

Rob — 2009-09-27T13:09:12+01:00

Outside the hotel. Normally it's the big cars that cannot park in the spaces. But this Micra is really taking the..... biscuit. :-)

Worst drivers on UK roads... this quarter

Rob — 2009-09-27T12:45:17+01:00

Speeders and lunatics

M6.. Two motorbike drvers decide that slow traffic isn't for them and travel down the hard shoulders at speeds exceeding 100mph. However, something that was known to us and not them was that a Police car had done that same route not more than 5 minutes early and here is that result. I sat next to there booking for about 10 minutes due to the accident. Long enough to see a recovery vehicle come to collect their motorbikes. Basically, they'd either already got points on their licence and now hadn't got a valid one OR the police officers had decided to go for broke and give them the whole 9 yards. Result, two motorbike riders without a ride, just north of Birmingham on a Friday afternoon. Incidentally, picture was taken not by onboard camera (on sat nav) but by camera phone as we were totally stationary for 10 minutes+. So much so that some people were getting out of their cars to stretch their legs.

Diesel Black Vauxhall Vectra MY57 WJY. Joined the M1 Northbound around Leicester and swerved his way into the far right overtaking lane. Then proceeded to tailgate and force everybody out of his way. The driver was a white male, in his mid-thirties. The picture was taken by the Sat Nav, incidentally. So I wasn't driving HANDS FREE :-) Speeds exceeded 100mph (easily) and he changed lanes regardless of who was in his way. This enraged me so much that I reported him to the Police, only to be informed that an unmarked Police car was in behind him and could I please move over. The red BMW M5 slipped past with a nod from the passenger. I presume he got multiple points or perhaps a ban for travelling over 100mph, dangerous driving and driving without due car or attention (he had a paper on his wheel at one point!).

UNDERTAKERS!

M1 Northbound, BMW X5 SKY 480. Swerved in front of me on at least three occasions before stationary traffic meant I could get this shot. Clearly this is an individual who just doesn't like to be overtaken. They would slow down to a crawl, I would overtake at 70mph and then just as I started to pass they would either speed up or just swerve out in front of me to overtake the invisible car in his lane. I don't know what annoys me most. People who undertake, therefore not allowing you to move into the lane and let them pass! Or people who speed up when you try to pass them. It's a tricky one. I'm going for people who speed up. Because it's PATHETIC!

MMR not linked to autism...

Rob — 2009-09-22T12:10:00+01:00

... but the BBC needs a better Health Reporter

Why? Well check out this story on the BBC website. The story is about the latest research that goes to prove the case the MMR hasn't caused a rise in childhood autism. Actually, lets not overstate a case here. The actual size is very low, far too low in fact to start making grandiose claims. But it does go towards stating something a lot of us already knew. There isn't really an autism epidemic (for want of a better term). The problem a lot of people have is that during their childhood the likelihood of meeting an individual with autism was so low as to be zero. Because as few as ten years ago, common practice was to either place them in an institution or a school for special needs. This wasn't considered cruel or brought about by intolerance. It was a genuine feeling that best was being done. But having then had no interaction with autistic people gives you the false impression that they didn't exist. Nowadays its common practice to place individuals with mild autism within a normal school environment. The result of which is that interaction and therefore profile is higher. Add to this the increase in discussion on the subject and the end result is that what appears to have been a little known disorder is prevalent throughout society. Well, the fact is that it was ALWAYS prevalent throughout society. It's just that society has opened up more. What DOES concern me, and should concern any right minded individual, is that lack of knowledge of Michelle Roberts, Health Reporter for the BBC. In the article she states: "For example, autism rates could have been lower amoung older age groups because people had gradually recovered from the condition or died prematurely." Autism is a lifelong development disability. It dies NOT go away with age. Something I would have thought an individual reporting on a story pertaining to autism might have known or at the very least looked up. Source: The National Autism Society

Dell buys Perot

Rob — 2009-09-21T15:07:46+01:00

Just in case you might image that Dell is dodgy enough... now they are going to buy Perotsystems. Yes... the company founded by Ross Perot. You might remember he started EDS some many moons ago, based upon the model of the US military. Like the US military it tended to start out on projects very well, but would then tend to shoot itself in the foot. Just type EDS and legal action in the Google and see what I mean.

Total low on cash - Declares fuel shortage

Rob — 2009-09-21T15:01:08+01:00

As predictable as a Government that spends to much needs to tax to much, so an oil company that finds itself low of coffers openly suggests a reason for the price of fuel to increase. It's no surprise that Christophe de Margerie should be declaring a crisis, his company Total is currently trailing behind such giants as BP and Esso and could need a cash boost. So he's looking for a little hand out from the French Government perhaps. Or just the hope that the scare can justify a price hike to fill their wallets. I'll not be surprised as fuel prices start heading north again.

Wogan <strike>sacked</strike> retires from breakfast

Rob — 2009-09-07T14:35:27+01:00

So, less than 7 days after Tel said “Newscasters (and presenters) have the easiest job in the world” he is ~~sacked~~ retiring from the breakfast club. Wogan in the Morning is the UK’s top breakfast radio show, with some eight million listeners. His replacement will be Chris Evans; who was famously sacked from the Radio 1 breakfast show after going on a mid-week bender and then deciding not to turn up for work. But that was some time ago and he’s “grown up” since then. Back to Wogan, looks like he’s jumping rather than being pushed. Last year his salary was made public and there were plenty who didn’t like that either. All part of the BBC’s “cutting big costs” strategy ahead of the likely revenue sharing will need to do with Channel 4 as part of the licence fee shake up. Other expensive staffers who are in the potential firing like are; Chris Moyles (who’s audience figures are falling) and Jonathan Ross. What’s likely to NOT get the can are programs like “Top Gear”, “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” who regularly spot the top BBC exports; especially via BBC America.

The Hypocrisy of Climate Change Protesters

Rob — 2009-08-28T13:07:14+01:00

I was looking at the pictures from the BBC website regarding the “Climate Camp” that has been setup on the site where Watt Tyler protested poll tax over six hundred years ago. I just wonder whether my reaction to the protesters would be the same as the reception I gave “Greenpeace” in Portsmouth over twenty years ago. In that incident the “Green” group had setup a Ford Transit outside our digs and where running the engine the power their P.A. system. The noxious fumes coming out the back of the tailpipe were so bad that it made a fellow housemate suffer an asthmatic seizure. Little of which seemed to matter to the shouting group of hypocrites. You see it’s “OK” for them to use petrol, plastic etc. because they are doing it for a “good cause”. It’s just everybody else who has to go back to Middle Age technology in order to protect the planet. Fact is, much to my own shame, I had something of a “set too” with a particularly vermant member of the group who, when I told them about the fumes and the problems shouted in my face that I was a “f’ng fascist racist b*stard and should die!”. To be honest, his fellow protesters where also less than impressed. Jump twenty years forward into the present and I see from the images provided by the BBC that the current bunch of CO2 protesters are; • Sleeping under tents made from man-made fibres - produced from oil. • Wearing water proofs made from nylon etc. - Made from oil (as apposed to wearing a waxed cotton coat) • Have brought large plastic nets to hang banners on. • Marked out the areas using plastic hazard stripping. • Arrived in an array of transit vans and cars! Nobody seems to have walked or taken a bus! • Are handing out rations in large plastic boxes (no cardboard then?). • Wearing nomex hats, gloves etc - oil based. • Baseball caps - nylon / polyester? • Have brightly coloured T-Shirts (hopefully made from cotton) but dyed using pigments produced from oil based inks. In fact, the entire operation is either transported using oil, constructed from oil based products or will likely to be cooked or warmed using so called fossil fuels. My point is simple. If you are trying to make a point, follow your own dictum. Offering up a “do as we say, not as we do” doesn’t work for politicians and it certainly doesn’t impress anybody following environmental issues. Why are protesters just such a bunch of hypocrites? Al Gore, spouting non-scientific rhetoric, while jetting between climate speeches in his own private jet... as environmentally damaging as a medium sized jet liner. Remember “swampy” protesting pollution from cars, while sleeping in a tree he wrapped in thick blue plastic? I wish there was a work stronger than hypocrite. My only option would be to swear in advance. But I promised myself I’ve try and avoid that kind of thing. Speaking on Swampy, aka Daniel Hooper. he appears to have settled down somewhat and has TWO CHILDREN! TWO!! Can you imagine the environment damage that’s causing to the world. How will we be able to feed ourselves with such insensitive behaviour towards the planet and it’s resources! Perhaps you should kill one of your children, as a boost to the planet. Obviously, I’m not serious. But it’s not pleasant being on the other side of the debate, is it Daniel?

The weakest question

Rob — 2009-08-14T18:01:39+01:00

Another quiz show, another goof. This time Ann “Smug Git” Robinson asked the question “What is the only land locked principality in Europe” - The answer Liechtenstein. Which isn’t correct! No, I mean Liechtenstein is both in Europe, land locked AND a principality. But it’s not the only one. Obviously, whoever sets the questions at “The Weakest Link” clearly is only interested in central Europe. Because what about Andorra in the Pyrenees? I mean it’s a European principality and very much land locked. Muppets!

So... he landed in a tree?

Rob — 2009-08-13T12:34:04+01:00

Another interesting story on the BBC website. In a nutshell. Man successfully crashes into a tree in order to save himself. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8198268.stm One question.... why didn't he just land on the fairway?

Bader Walk!! Give me a break.

Rob — 2009-08-11T13:08:00+01:00

You have to take your hat off to Birmingham Council for allowing this pun-tastic street name. I’ve used Maps. Live.com to provide a very clear image of the offending street. So... obviously we have a flying theme running in this estate. Hawker Drive, Sopwith Croft, Concord Drive, Hurricane Drive and... Bader Walk. Just in case you don’t know, Douglas Bader was a famous World War Two fighter pilot who crashed his plane and lost BOTH HIS LEGS. He managed to learn to walk again, and indeed fly again, by using artificial legs. But really.... Douglas Bader walk.

Slipstream

Rob — 2009-08-11T12:14:21+01:00

Slipstream is a BBC radio play that was broadcast in early August 2009. It centres around the attempts of British intelligence to steal an experimental German V weapon following the destruction of 150 British planes. The V4 of Slipstream has the appearance of a flying disc and moves at incredible speed.

Knowitalls?

Rob — 2009-08-04T19:11:28+01:00

I love it when “expert” programs make an arse of themselves. There is something deliciously about a smug show making a goof. Witness BBC’s latest attempt to create a new quiz to surpass the “Weakest Link”. The show stars irritate-a-compare Gyles Brandreth presenting the quiz “with no questions”.

Essentially contestants are given a subject and have to yak about it, hoping to name actual facts (rather than something heard in a pub) and in particular hit the list of facts that have be pre-selected. Unfortunately, the shows aspirations of expertise are not always matched by the quality of the subjects or the staff in charge of the graphics. Here is the three “facts” pre-selected for the subject “Sahara Desert”. Just in case you miss it, the Sahara is in fact in “Northern Africa” and not “Nothern Africa” which of course doesn’t actually exist at all :-) Nice one!

So THAT is how a telescope works!

Rob — 2009-07-31T23:23:10+01:00

So, to end July on something of a high note, I wanted to highlight something that certainly caused me to chortle more than a little. The ‘all things electronic’ website MyMemory offers the following description of its entry level Celestron Firstscope 76Telescope. “FirstScope is an ideal entry level astronomical telescope. It is very easy to observe with, the user simply navigates the night sky by moving the tube in the direction of their desired object, making the viewing experience a snap!” So... you POINT the telescope in the direction of what you want to look at it. And it makes it bigger. Got it? Is that clear enough for everybody? What is this? Astronomy for idiots!? I mean have they had complaints from purchasers to the effect that the whole sky hasn’t become magnified, despite taking the telescope outside in the box?

Carbon Trust - Pack of lies?

Rob — 2009-07-27T14:53:49+01:00

I had the immense please of being able to talk to an eminent scientist over the weekend. Now what the person had to say was fascinating and whilst that person was happy for me to blog it; that person didn’t want to be identified. ... Well, because that person had serious concerns that doing so would affect Government funding over the following years. I think what it was encouraging to hear was that the “scientific method” was alive, well and living (if in hiding) in the modern University. For a giggle we looked at the Carbon Trust website, at it’s opening gambit. The basic mechanics of climate change are well understood (1); the world is warming (2), much of the warming is due to human emissions of greenhouse gases (3), and the changes are set to accelerate in the future (4), bringing many and varied impacts around the world. ... 1 The mechanics of climate change are NOT well understood. You want an example; how accurate are weather predictions for the next two weeks? 100% accurate? ... Usually, less than 33% accurate. Which doesn’t bode well considering this is the science behind out ‘understanding’ of climate change. 2 As it has been doing for the last 50,000-100,000 years in fact. Not much of a surprise, as we are seeing the end of an ice age. 3 Not proven, this is only a theory. Plus, just how much IS “much”? I mean that’s a pretty vague statement for a document that pro-ports to be the de-facto truth on the matter. 4 Unproved and highly speculative at best, and absolutely outrageous and politically motivated statement of rhetoric at worse. So far, extreme weather changes have failed to meet computer generated models. But as these are based around “trend analysis” that’s not much of a surprise. 5 Well, ANY change will bring about an “impact”. But whether or not this is a good or bad impact has yet to be calculated. For example, the Sahara desert is in retreat due to the increase of water vapour coming from the Atlantic and Mediterranean sea. Once again Egypt could be a highly fertile land... the same could be said for other such areas. The “FACT” is that there are NO FACTS. All the current estimations, models are estimates are just that... guesses. In some cases highly educated guesses; but no matter how you try and sell a model of something; it’s only a model. It is NOT fact. Should we stop pumping TOXIC gases (sulphur dioxide etc) into the atmosphere? Damn right we should. But that makes more sense to me that worrying about the POSSIBLE effects of a THEORY based upon an ASSUMPTION that flies to the contrary of previous climatic events. To me, CO2 looks more like taxation and control that any real measure of protecting the environment. Oh... and just so we are clear on what makes up our atmosphere. According to NASA, our atmosphere is made up of; ... • 0.9340% Argon • 0.0383% Carbon Dioxide ...0.0383% Carbon Dioxide is NOT a typo, that’s how little CO2 there is in our atmosphere. Now I heard speculation on some HALF ARSED science program that we can see a perfect example of a greenhouse gas planet in action by looking at Venus. Now excusing the fact that Venus is considerably closer to the sun, its atmosphere is made up of; • 96.5% Carbon Dioxide • 3.5% Nitrogen • Then some Sulfur Dioxide, Argon, Water vapour, carbon monoxide... all in the parts per million level. So for Earth to turn into a run away greenhouse effect, are we saying that nearly all the nitrogen, all the oxygen and all the Argon would need to convert to carbon dioxide. Like we’d be bothered about the temperature at this point! So of the sources of this 0.0383% • 57% Surface Ocean (Natural) ... • 5% Fossil fuels / Cement / Deforestation / Changing Land Use So MANS effect on Carbon Dioxide is 5% of the 0.0383% total. Incidentally, so you don’t plan on holding your breath... the following a carbon sinks; ...Of course... water vapour is a considerably more worrying greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide would ever be. But human activity doesn’t really cause much of that... so it can’t be taxed :-)

Hello! Anybody heard of Tesla?

Rob — 2009-07-24T09:49:19+01:00

I guess this post is really two pronged. The first regards a conversation I had with some people at the organisation I’m helping out at present. The second is prompted by this BBC news article. Essentially it all boils down to the same thing. NOBODY HAS HEARD OF NIKOLA TESLA! In case you’ve not, I think this video really says all I could and more. But in case you’re not aware of Tesla and don’t have the time; he’s the inventor of; • AC Current electricity • Neon lighting • Robotics • The logical “AND” gate • Bladeless turbines • Remote control (via radio) • And of course the Tesla coil Not to mention about 700 further inventions he held the patents for. This is a man with a prolific mind and somebody we should revere both in the scientific community and the general public. But he has been lost to the likes of Thomas Edison; a man credited falsely with the invention of the light bulb. Edison neither first invented the “electric light bulb” nor the carbon filament vacuum electric light bulb. But for a decent write up on the incandescent light bulb, wikipedia currently holds a useful breakdown. The variation of the electric light bulb Edison is attributed to inventing was in fact created by Joseph Wilson Swan (carbon fibre filament) in 1878. Swan sued Edison in Britain for patent infringement and won the case; creating the company Ediswan. But the fact remains that many other people both prior to that time and after can lay claim to the continuing improvements in the technology. Nobody can make such a claim with regards Neon. It has just one inventor.

Pink Power

Rob — 2009-07-21T15:05:48+01:00

We were talking at work about the empowerment of gay characters since Russell T. Davis brought “Captain Jack Harkness” to the screen. Initially via Doctor Who and then as the (initially at least) adult Torchwood spin off. Jack is a gay character that strangely I think we can all recognise. OK, I’m not really talking about the dynamic actions and useful immortality. What I’m actually saying that for once, in a long while, there was a gay character in a popular TV show that isn’t some kind of inane, picture postcard camp characteur of a gay man. No “Oh; listen to her!” (except as a joke), no amusing walk and definitely no pink costumes. He’s the anti-Mr Humfries (from Are you being served). An action hero who just so happens to also be gay, but also happens to be immortal, from the future, several hundred years old and totally over played by smiling, singing entertainer John Barrowman. It started me thinking... is Jack Harkness the first heroic gay character in television. And then it him me! Not literally, obviously. Freddie from Scooby Doo. It’s so obvious. This is a chap who ignores the attractive female members of the ‘team’. Never seems terribly interested in girls, dresses immaculately, never has a hair out of place and wears a neckerchief. Plus, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he wearing something similar to a sailor outfit? So R.T.D.... Hannah Barbara beat you but 30 years+ :-) he he he

Globrix - House hunting goes 2.0

Rob — 2009-07-19T01:07:43+01:00

It’s only once in a while that I’m actually impressed by something on the net these days. A good example of something that has really stood out for me has been the property search engine Globrix.

It is one of the most deceptively powerful little tools out there. But don’t let the Google like simplicity of the front page fool you. Once you’ve provided it with a rough area to search, by which I mean you can enter “England”, “Scotland”, “Wales”, “Ireland” or ever “Isle of Man”, select whether you wish to look to rent or buy and click search. But the real power of this system is found on page two, the detail screen. To say that the filter system allows you to drill down like never before would be something of an understatement. But lets look at the comparison site just to highlight the advantages. On RightMove you are able to search at County level and no further and your primary filters are; • Price range • Property type (Houses, Flats/Apartments etc) • Number of bedrooms min to max • Price range min to max • When it was added • Retirement properties (yes or no essentially) • Shared Ownership (shared or not) And I’m afraid to say, that is it. However, the Globrix filter screen is something else.

Clicking the “Keywords” section brings up a list of all the key phrases or single words that have been extracted from the listings. So for example, from the selection above we can see that there are • 54 properties with their own bunker. • 2368 properties that have a cellar. • 504 are three storey • 29 have caravan parking • 23 have their own croquet lawn • 11 are ecohouses Best of all are those desirable features we all dream about but have no other way of finding out. So lets say you’re looking for a 4 bedroom house in Lancashire for under £350,000 that has its own swimming pool. Turns out, there are three. All come with links directly to the estate agent in question and all match the requirements. Incidentally, there’s a house in Rossendale with it’s own recording studio. Best of all was a search I did for houses with their own “home cinema”. Now in my mind, I picture a small room with a big TV and a sofa. Somewhere dedicated to watching the box. However... not everybody has the same idea in mind. In fact some people are a more enterprising when it comes to “Home Cinema” and some people are quite literal about it. Case in point, this house in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It is a seven bedroom property spread over three floors. It’s a terrace house, but looks to be in quite a leafy part of town. In fact, it looks like a very well looked after property. But it does have a feature that no filmophile could do without. Its very own sixteen-seater cinema. I mean, seriously... this is more than a step beyond a few big chairs in a room. They actually appear to be genuine cinema seats. At which point, is there an intermission in the middle, like in the old days, where a lady would sell ice cream? Property details for the Bradford mini-cinema and house can be found on the Halifax Property website.

Air travels dirty little secret

Rob — 2009-07-15T14:30:39+01:00

Air travel has a dirty little secret... and it’s a secret they’d rather you didn’t know about or work out for yourself. But before we get into that, lets have a little trip down memory lane. Do you remember the late 80’s? Duran Duran, Teardrop Explodes, Ferris Beulla and smoking on airplanes. Yes, take any flight in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and you’d have the option of having a smoking or non-smoking seat to sit in. Not that the smoke would know any better... but lets get into that in a moment. Now, you’d imagine that smoking would in itself provide a major fire hazard. But I did a little research and could not find a single air disaster that was caused by a loose cigarette. NOT A SINGLE ONE. Which might come as a big surprise to anybody who has take a flight recently and have not only seen that many warning signs around the cabin, but also the additional information in the pre-flight safety feature; smoking causes fire... and fire causes disasters. It’s a fairly simple message which is usually a strong indicator that it’s a lie. I’m sorry to say that the real reason smoking has been banned is right down to costs. By not having the ingress, compress and process fresh air from the outside; airlines are saving a small fortune of fuel. Essentially, putting fresh air into the cabin uses energy, which requires more fuel to be burned. This fuel is saved by recycling the air fewer. In fact, on flights less than 2 hours, it is unlikely that ANY fresh air is brought into the aircraft for passengers. Which means the air you’re breathing has already been breather by a significant number of your fellow passengers and has lower oxygen content. Which brings us back to the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s which had another magical feature to flights. No deep vein thrombosis, none. Now you might imagine this is a result of changing diets, passengers being fitter ten years ago or many other factors. But here is the truth, as detailed in the Lancent. It is poor air quality in planes that is causing deep vein thrombosis during flights and not lethargy or poor health. Their studies placed individuals on the ground under similar circumstances and compared them to people in flight and the results were both shocking and conclusive. So where do we stand on this? Are airlines trying to balance aircraft safety against potential health risks? No. They are not. At some point, the airline has run the following calculation. It’s a calculation that has been exposed a number of times, most famously with GM. (a) Cost of Savings * Flights versus (b) Number of deaths * potential pay outs due to culpability If (a) is greater than (b), then they will continue to run with poor air quality and individuals will continue to die. Look, to be blunt. The airlines don’t give a crap about you. If you die, tough. You’ve already paid. You’ll just be another little statistic on their bean counting chart.

What can we do?

But lets not wait until another perfectly health individual drops dead because of ‘unknown’ factors. All of which are known to all the major airlines. Instead, lets introduce (c) (c) Cost of lost revenue due to bad press Write to your local MP and demand better air quality on planes. After all, if this was a workplace, the health and safety executive would no doubt have something to say about it!

Best Pun this week

Rob — 2009-07-14T15:13:58+01:00

From the BBC Friday Night Comedy Podcast : Now Show Medvedev, a world leader with his own advertising slogan -“Does exactly what he’s told by Pu-tin” (For those not in the know, “Ronseal” paint products are sold with the slogan that they “Do exactly what they say on the tin”)

Ouch!!

Rob — 2009-07-03T17:24:53+01:00

Well, it had to happen...

So I was sat in a queue of traffic at a round-about, some twenty cars from the front when I noticed a bright light in my mirror. I just managed to glance up to see a speeding Land Rover Discovery (complete with bull bars) driving towards the back of my car with the young lady engaged in both a text and a conversation with her friend. Sadly... that was the driver. The resulting 20 mph crash fairly well pranged up the back of my Saab. But I suffered NO whiplash injuries, which really impressed me. More impressive was the news that the Land Rover was written off! So severe was the damage to its front end. So whilst I’m sorry for the young lady who hit him (she was really very upset) I’m kind of happy that yet another gas guzzling tonka toy is off the road. Incidentally, the price for the parts required to fix my car came to over TWO THOUSAND POUNDS! Equating to little more than a new bumper, sensors, boot and lights. I can’t imagine the cars worth much over double that... so it must have been pretty touch and go for my car getting the boot! Sadly that Ferrari will just have to stay in the show room (JOKE!).

Body beautiful?

Rob — 2009-07-13T17:17:02+01:00

There must be something about direct sunlight that affects other people more than others.

Witness the following individual who perhaps might want to consider the effects of all that sunlight on his rather pail (but now lobster coloured) flesh. Not to mention the idea that we might all think he’s looking fantastic! For some reason he seemed to sit there with his arms tensed as though to show off this (ample?) physique. It really didn’t need the help. Most of it was hanging over his dainty shorts that sadly didn’t have the full coverage at the rear that anybody sat behind him might want. As look would have it, lens flare has hidden what I would have otherwise had to blur out. THE HORROR!!

Postman Prat!

Rob — 2009-07-13T17:07:17+01:00

You know, if there is one thing that really gets on my pip is lousy driving. I’m not talking about the sort of person who fails to notice you and swerves at the last second, although that’s inexcusable. I’m talking about the sort of person who does something very stupid and then looks smug. Like the driver of post office van WP53 GNZ.

Postman Prat here decided that waiting in a queue of TWO CARS was a bit much for him. So prior to this photograph he indicated left at a T-Junction then swerved right into the car in front of me. Who beeped their horn at him, only for him to mouth “Fuck you” at them. So, glad our money is being well spent then. As you can plainly see, he’s unable to operate his indicators at this next junction. He eventually turned left, causing a vehicle from the left to have to brake severely to slow down. Nice one dick head.

BBC 7/7 Conspiracy slur backfires

Rob — 2009-07-02T16:24:10+01:00

I always love it when a well engineered plan backfires. On the BBC news website and article pocking fun at the home made conspiracy documentary “7/7 Ripple Effect” has met with almost universal support.... FOR the film that is. I’ve not actually seen the film (yet) but apparently it highlights the many flawed aspects of the investigation and brings to light issues (errors or otherwise) with the official timeline of the attacks. The BBC article goes on to point out that Muad Dib believes himself to be a Messiah, and George Lucas was told what to write in Star Wars by the very force he describes within it. To be honest, I’m not sure the point the BBC is trying to make here. That he’s a poor witness to history or that his assertions; no matter how potentially accurate, are false because he’s in other ways deluded. For example, Tony Blair believed a bright light of spirituality shone out of his very being every morning... and if that isn’t a good excuse for being sectioned, I don’t know what is.

Kodachrome is dead!

Rob — 2009-06-28T10:54:38+01:00

Probably the most famous colour film in the world is now no longer going to be made. Kodak’s legendary Kodachrome film, in production for over 73 years, is no longer going to be made. Kodak blames lack of demand and in a world of digital, it’s not hard to see why. But you can’t help but think that something is going to be lost after its demise. For one, who is going to sponsor the Canadian theme park “Marineland”. Actually... that’s probably a good thing.

Always check the settings!

Rob — 2009-06-25T11:31:09+01:00

Got dragged off some very complicated and necessary development work in order to resolve a problem with a test server. “Nothing is working”, was the cry, “We think that either . NET doesn’t work on Windows Server 2008” “Session management is faulty.” “We might need to rebuild the server.” The problem.... Well, the SQL connections used SQL username and password and the server was configured to just use NT authentication. It’s funny how quickly people panic and look for the obscure rather than look at the more obvious causes.

Raining on HALF the motorway

Rob — 2009-06-24T22:48:56+01:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) I drove home along the M6 in what can only be described as a bizarre weather event. It was pretty odd weather to start with. The entire drive home was a heady mix of super humid climate mixed with sudden cold spells, as though it was GOING to rain, followed by no rain and more heat. Before anyone suggests it was “extreme weather”, I should point out it’s happened before, but not for many years. What did strike me as odd was how everybody in the oncoming lanes had dipped headlights on and windscreen wipers on max. Meanwhle, our north bound carriageway remained dry. I tried to capture the event with my sat nav camera, but unfortunately by this time the water was being thrown over the central reservation. However, hopefully you’ll note the carriageway IS dry and nobody is having to use either lights or wipers. This is very reminiscent of another journey a couple of weeks back when I was in Derby and drove into the trailing edge of a thunderstorm. It was like somebody had just turned a shower on! Then we came out of the tremendous downpour to a totally dry patch of the A50... only to see a wall of rain coming up in front of us.

Thomas Cook to drop Florida flights from Manchester (?)

Rob — 2009-06-24T15:15:39+01:00

In case you are not aware, Fly Thomas Cook is the airline only wing (pardon the pun) of Thomas Cook holidays. Since early this year (or was it last year) they own MyTravel. All of which was pretty bad news for anybody looking to fly to Orlando Florida from Manchester. Why so? Well, in the flight schedule for 2010 it shows that every Thursday is a SCHEDULED flight to Sanford (SFB) leaving Manchester. However, if you try and book the flight you are told that it is unavailable. It should be noted that MyTravel’s flight enquiry system also produces the same results. So I contacted Fly Thomas Cook via email to enquire why it’s the case that a flight is schedule and yet doesn’t appear to fly and they offered up this explanation. Dear XXXXX XXXXXX Thank you for contacting flythomascook.com Flythomascook.com are not able to advise on flight availability, seat cost and route information due to the constant changes that occur on our live system, please though, feel free to search for all availability via our search facility on our website www.flythomascook.com. ..... Yours sincerely flythomascook.com So Fly Thomas Cook is unable to advise me if/when Thomas Cook flights might happen? That doesn’t exactly sound encouraging does it. But what I’ve since found out that following the summer, there is a “great likelihood” that Thomas Cook will no longer be providing a winter scheduled service to Florida. Which is a total pain in the a**e for anybody who

Not a flattering picture

Rob — 2009-06-16T10:35:39+01:00

In a 100% switch around from my previous email with a badly selected picture, here is BT’s Katrina Ames.

Oddly, she looks like that tall prat of Dragon’s Den, sorry “Dragons Den”. What was it Jeremy Hardy said, “Isn’t it lions that life in a den, dragons live in a lair”. Anyway, here’s my other question. If they are so utterly fantastic at ideas/business etc.... why do they need to try and make money off other people? I mean, isn’t it the case that this level of mentoring for a state of 20%, 30% or even up 60% is a clear indicator that they are more interested in take somebody else’s idea and capitalising it than actually ‘mentoring them’. I mean, isn’t mentoring meant to be a voluntary thing? As you can tell, I’m not a big fan of “Dragons/Dragon’s Den”. Although I do enjoy it when you hear of somebody they laughed at, who subsequently went onto make a few bob from their idea.

Too tall for a Toyota

Rob — 2009-06-12T10:27:22+01:00

Last night I sent an email to James Ruppert of Autocar fame, asking advice on what car I should get - it’s not as simply an answer as you might imagine. For example, you’ll have to take into account the following factors: • I do approximately 15-20,000 miles a year due to work *1 • I’d like something safe on the motorways (that is to say, capable of doing 70 mph easily, with brakes, handling to match) *2 • I’m 6’ 2” ... but have proportionally short legs and a very long torso. *3 *1 To all greener members of society who believe that nobody needs a car. Let me point out that some of the places I work don’t even have a bus service, let alone a train. What’s the suggestion? A horse? *2 I’ve always been of the opinion that driving a fast car at the speed limit is safer than driving a car where it’s near the limit of its performance. 70 mph is nothing to a car that’s capable of double and comes with brakes, suspension etc to match its capability. A car capable of 90mph is designed for town, and comes with brakes and suspension to match. Case in point, during particularly bad weather on the M6 both I and a Smart car had to carry out an emergency braking manoeuvre because an articulated lorry took a side swipe out of the Golf in front of us. Although I’ve only got a slightly sport Saab, I managed to outbrake him by about two car lengths. Leaving him dangerously close to the incident and me some way back (hazards on). VW driver and passenger were both fine, by the way. *3 Here is the story I relayed to James Ruppert. ... at a Toyota dealer. I was about 18 and my Mum was looking at Corolla or a Carina or something like that. Anyway, a very ambitious salesman tried to flog me a Mk1 Toyota MR2, one with a panel roof. I have to say, it was more funny because he was just SO into the idea of demonstrating to all around us the levels of comfort in the compact mid-engined sports car as the dealership was actually very busy (remember those days? :-)). So, I guess seeing a young single guy, he must have figured he'd got an odds on sale. But when I politely declined, pointing out my height issue, I think he took it as a challenge to his salesmanship skills. To be fair, we we're practically the same height. But he was long legs, short back. "No mate, it's really roomy inside", he insisted. "No, really. I know I'll be too tall.". "No, YOU TRY IT." he rebuked, and with that opened the door, pushed me towards the seat and looked at the other (now bemused) customers in pre-emptive glory of a lesson told. So in I got. Plenty of leg room (short legs), controls in easy reach. Comfy seats even. It was a pretty cool car at the time.

Only one tiny issue. My chin was at least two or three inches above the top of the windscreen. Imagine "Noddy goes Tokyo drifting", if you will. At which point my Mum wanders over and asks in a loud voice "Does it come with a brolly?". I'd all but forgotten about the incident until last year when a Daihatsu salesman did EXACTLY the same thing, only with a Daihatsu Copen. Where upon my ten year old daughter laughed "NODDY!" at me. I'm assuming she meant because of my height issue..... I hope.

The Neighbours of Mercy

Rob — 2009-05-28T14:49:10+01:00

I was thinking of a good way to introduce this video.. Here’s my best go. I found an old Sisters of Mercy CD in a draw the other day. It was “Vision Thing”. So I ripped it and started to listen to it again (after probably 20 years! eeek). I was particularly interested in a track called “Ribbons” so I decided to look on YouTube to see if there was a video to go with. There are ‘live’ videos that are quite good. Then there is this version.... Which escapes description. Please watch and provide your own via the comments system.

Politics Show - Alistair Darling interview

Rob — 2009-05-24T11:59:56+01:00

I just caught Alistair Darling on the Politics Show getting a proper drumming down by the interviewer. It was a performance worthy of Jeremy Paxman. Poor old Alistair Darling had a little panic session, which was pretty good. But the part of the interview that really shocked me was that he had to pay for rates in the number 11 AND at his home on Edinburgh (where his family lives). What, like EVERYBODY who has two homes has too. I mean his FAMILY live in his Edinburgh house and use the services there and HE lives in number 11 and uses the services there. Am I missing something? Just what is it about politicians? Doesn’t his £180k+ salary doesn’t cover that! Barclays are going to pay out £5 million in bonuses. What did A.D. think of that? Well, he stated that NO bonus would be paid out to anybody who was involved in the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland.... {pause} “unless there was some contractual agreement”. What, like an employment contract then? *Ahem* Talk about paper tiger....

Climate campaigners in Washington

Rob — 2009-05-20T23:09:56+01:00

Newsnight ran an amusing (for me) story about campaigners in the US marching on Washington. Now their main target was coal, which isn’t the cleanest of fuels to burn. But what amused me most was that they arrived by car and they were all dressed from head to foot in man-made fibres. All derived from oil. Not to mention the plastic hard hats, loud speakers, laptop computers and mobile phones. So it’s a sort of “OK for them, not for others” kind of march. Then “ethical man” took a trip to Texas at 55 mph on a train that only reduced his carbon footprint by 18%. Eeeek

What recession?

Rob — 2009-05-17T14:28:35+01:00

I have just been looking at an online survey. The results of which are; Which of the following describes your current employment situation? A My work place is currently making redundancies and I fear losing my job in the near future 12% B I am newly unemployed - within the last 3 months - but NOT claiming job seeker's allowance 4% C I am newly unemployed - within the last 3 months - and I am claiming job seeker's allowance 2% D I have been unemployed for more than 5 months and have been claiming job seeker's allowance for 5 or more months 4% E None of the above 78% You’d imagine with all the talk of doom and gloom on the horizon that the results would be a foregone conclusion. However, here are the results. A 12% B 4% C 2% D 4% E 78% So that’s nearly 80% of people who are in work who have no worries about loosing their job. That kind of flies in the face of the general prospective somewhat. But then I always do get the impression that no news travels faster or LOUDER than bad news. The anti-climax of the Swine Flu pandemic being a perfect example. If you watch the Fox news reports from the US, you’d be more than

Why are Members of Parliament so greedy?

Rob — 2009-05-17T12:53:38+01:00

Why are members of Parliament so greedy? I’m serious... I love the fact that they are hiding behind the concept that they didn’t break the roles (just bend them like a wet stick) by claiming for just about anything they felt like. They are missing the point. The fact that’s enraging the British public is that fact that MP’s are making the claims in the first place. Previously, MP’s salaries were kept private. The fact is that we all know that anyone in the cabinet or a senior member of the political party of their choice is going to be paid OVER £100,000 a year. So if you are on that income, why do you think it is justifiable to claim EVEN more tax payer money purchasing items that the rest of the population not only consider luxury items, but also matters of personal choice. For example, just how can £2,000 on a flat screen television be justified when a £100 shows the same program. The fact that ALL the cost of the TV for anybody else would come out of their salary doesn’t appear to dent the zealous nature to which MP’s seem to have claimed for just about everything. Mortgage payments, interest on loans and even food! It’s no wonder Hazel Blears has the ability to drop a cheque down for £13k when the rest of us would struggle; she’s simple got no domestic expenses to pay and her salary should be considered to be total profit. All of which means that her £100k+ salary is actually closer to £160k if you include all the expenses that she and MP’s like her claim. The whole thing absolutely disgusts me and I think something dramatic needs to happen to put an end to this gravy train. At present they are all trying to come up with new ‘rules’ as to how to pay expenses. But the solution is just blatantly simple. 1 You convert the currently quarter used Old Admiralty Building near Horse Guards Parade into accommodation for MP’s. It’s not as though the area isn’t ‘secure’ enough and conversion costs (if kept to 4* hotel standards) would be LESS than a year of MP expenses. 2 Only allow travel costs as expenses. The rest would be provided by the ‘Hotel’. Food, TV’s etc. etc. etc. In my mind this would be the only way we could guarantee that those individuals who puts themselves forward to represent us in Parliament are doing it for purely valid reasons and not to get themselves on the expenses gravy train. It’s telling that a number of prominent MP’s who had valid cause to have chosen to claim expenses chose not too. Perhaps we should keep those individuals as MP. And as for those who claimed for absolutely anything they could get away with; lets make sure they loose their seats.

7 actors in LOST who had been in Nash Bridges

Rob — 2009-05-16T18:36:55+01:00

Long before LOST hit the screens Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse worked on another TV show together. With Carlton as EP, Damon acted as script chief. You may or may not be surprised to find out that the show in question was none other than Nash Bridges, staring Don Johnson. Now, while “The Don” has yet to make an appearance in LOST (unless he’s the smoke monster) quite a few “Bridges” favourites have turned up; and in some less than subtle roles. So, in no particular order... ...Cheech Marin

While LOST fans will recognise Cheech as being the recurring character of Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes’ father. David Reyes. You might remember the story of the car they planned to rebuild together. Only for David to pull another fast one and leave. Hurley and his father a close now. But this runs a close second to the relationship Cheech has with fellow Police Inspector Nash Bridges, when Cheech played Insp. ...

2. Daniel Roebuck

Daniel Roebuck was a recurring character in Nash Bridges, playing the Richard Bettina a man promoted to the level of his own incompetence. He’d pop up from time to time making life a merry hell for all in SIU department, especially Nash Bridges. However, at NO SINGLE POINT did he explode. No, that was left to LOST where poor old Roebuck played the ill-fated Leslie Arzt. Talk about a bum role. ...Jeff Perry

Of course, Daniel did in fact get a couple of episodes out of lost. Better than poor old Jeff Perry. After spending five years playing unlucky in love Inspector Harvey Leek he then goes on to be the erroneous target of hate for James “Sawyer” Ford. James shoots Jeff, playing a character called Frank 'Sawyer' Duckett, believing he is the original Sawyer who is responsible for the murder-suicide of his parents. Sadly, for all persons around, James is wrong. ...Patrick Fischler

Now Patrick Fischler makes a nice change. In that he’s playing a very different character than that previously encountered “in the Nash”. In N.B. Patrick plays comedy distraction homosexual Pepe A very camp but well organised associate of Nash..... and then you wonder why Nash was divorced twice. Meanwhile, Patrick plays nasty “gets what he deserves” weasel Phil in Lost; and brilliantly creepy as well. Good for him for making it past two episodes. ...Brad William Henk

Quick one here, mainly because I’m short on details. But Brad played a 2 episode character called “P.J. Pollard” in Nash Bridges. But right now he’s got a far more significant part as he’s playing Bram in LOST which makes him particularly interesting for the series to come. ...Mary Mara

Mary Mara played the tough but funny Inspector Bryn Carson in Nash Bridges. I seem to remember she cropped up a few times; which was cool. In LOST, she pops up in a couple of episodes called Jill... and I have to be honest and saying I have absolutely no recollection of her. ...Andrew Divoff

As I don’t have a Nash Bridges show for comparison, I thought I’d go for a nice picture of him instead. In LOST he plays the seemingly indestructible Mikhail Bakunin. I seemed to loose track of how many times Mikhail was “killed” before eventually being blown up with his own hand grenade.... or was he? In Nash Bridges I’m afraid it was a simple single episode “nut job” role of an individual called “Blackbeard”. Can’t remember if he had an eye patch (and parrot) for that role or not. Guessing not.

The WORST possible ways LOST could end

Rob — 2009-05-16T12:01:23+01:00

So, series five of LOST has come to an end and a lot of people have suggested they have a pretty good idea of what the ending is going to be. Indeed, during the official LOST podcast, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse suggested that the last episodes and the first episode of series six will be enough information to solve the mysteries behind LOST. But what could be the result of this? Clearly the series will need to get it’s skates on in order to maintain a sense of mystery and yet tie most of the loose ends up and that could mean some disastrous short cuts. The sort of plot conclusions that would make George Lucas* or Alan Garner* proud. (* personal choices there). So... queue Alan “Fluff” Freeman and start the music for my current top three worst case scenarios. Ta-da-da-dum-dee-dum-taa-da-da-daaaaa.

Aliens did it

The magnetic anomaly and time effects are the result of a crashed alien spacecraft. Either actually the island itself or trapped under the island. All the Egyptian mythology in the show is a result of the fact that these are the same aliens that brought civilisation to the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. Jacob and his rather evil friend would be a couple of individuals previous thought to be gods by those ancient people. Incidentally, the statue on the island looks closest to being Sobek; he’s crocodile headed and carries an Ankh. Sobek’s in charge of water. But according to various sites, Sobek has a four in one job. He’s a fourfold deity, representing the four elemental gods Ra (fire), Shu (air), Geb (earth) and Osiris (water). Sobek, so legend tells, is good guy. Best buddies with Horus (Horace?) and Osiris. As such, not very good friends with Set.

It’s a Mythological location - But not purgatory, obviously!

So, rather than it being purgatory, which has been heavily denied since day one* it is something like the River Styx and the Island is the piggin’ boat. Let’s face it. How else are you going to survive a plan crash like that! *Having said that, in the Official Lost Podcast it was also denied that ACTUAL time travel was going to appear in the show and that statement was made totally false by season five.

It’s not reality - It’s virtual

This would be the sort of ending that would create riots outside the Disney lot, but it’s not without precedent in the television/film industry. To my recollection we have: • The BBC series Red Drawf has done variations on the theme at least three times • Abre los ojos (re-shot as Vanilla Sky) • Cold Lazarus • The Prisoner episode “Living in Harmony” and even “A,B and C” All of which have protagonists experiencing a virtual reality world without realising it.

They all die

My daughter came up with this one. It’s the Etch-A-Sketch ending to the show. Basically, every body who has “issues” resolves them and can therefore moves on to whatever ethereal plane of existence they feel like. Like the film “The Survivor” in which Robert Powell mysteriously survives a plane crash in order to resolve the cause of it... only to then suddenly turn up burned to a crisp where he really started out, in the pilots seat. So that’s the first batch for now.

Amazing Space Shuttle image

Rob — 2009-05-15T18:47:59+01:00

This has to be one of the most spectacular images show on the Daily Mail website. Sadly, no, it’s not a sun-spot. It is in fact the Space Shuttle that is transiting the Sun. At present the Space Shuttle is doing some repair work on the Hubble Space telescope. It’s an incredible picture, made more so by the fact it was taken by Parisian amateur astronomer Thierry Legault from site just south of the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Are widescreen TV's really a right?

Rob — 2009-05-15T18:22:08+01:00

Perhaps somebody could explain this to me. But why exactly do members of parliament think that it’s perfectly acceptable to claim the expense (£2100 in one case) for plasma TV’s? If I tried to claim the cost of a 42” plasma against the company I could very well have HM Revenue and Customs asking very pertinent questions, and rightly so. But for reasons that are totally beyond my understanding, members of parliament appear to think that it’s totally acceptable to claim tax payers money to pay for TV, home cinemas, garden work, swimming pools and so forth. Hazel Blears stands there on television saying that she is going to pay the Inland Revenue (you can assume she meant HM Revenue and Customs) the equivalent money that would have been paid. But the reality is, without fiddling the expenses system, that would be money that SHOULD have been paid to the HM R&C. So she’s doing nobody any bloody favours! If anything, she is edging her bets in case there is a criminal prosecution. My biggest problem with all this is that, this is a woman who’s salary is over £100,000 and yet she feels it’s perfectly acceptable to then go on and further claim for luxury items ON TOP of her salary. It is absolutely disgusting and I sincerely hope that this is one Salford MP who’s going to loose more than her electoral seat!

More MP claim shame

Rob — 2009-05-14T08:36:57+01:00

I read today on the BBC website that ex-minister Elliot Morley is repaying some £16,000 he was paid on expenses he mistakenly claimed for a mortgage he didn’t have. The story goes on to explain how the mortgage was repaid but he continued to claim for another 18 months before being made aware of the error. So you wouldn’t notice £800 was still ending up in your bank account. What appals me most about this, if it was somebody cheating their benefits, they’d be pilloried and heading for jail.

5 Things From The 70/80's That Should Return

Rob — 2009-07-14T15:21:36+01:00

Four things from the 1970’s to bring back

1. Headboards with built in radios

About six months ago I stayed in a hotel that had decor that could only have come from the 1970s. The reception was flanked by a gigantic, apparently wool based, wall mural of the hotel and surrounding area. This huge monolith had sadly faded a lot since it was put up, but it really reminded me of that communist era propaganda wall paintings you used to see in East Germany before Wulfgang got carried away with the magnolia and they were lost to time. One of the key colours in the mural was orange (originating from a Sun) and this was the theme continued in the rooms. Each room had a lovely faded (after thirty years) orange hue to it, with matching carpets, curtains, door handles, desk and feature wall. Best of all, the headboard... in mock wood, contained a shiny faced radio / intercom system. Sadly long since defunct (I even tried it). I distinctly remember these from my childhood where we would stay away and I’d listen to the radio while falling asleep. I also staying in a hotel in Blackpool, when I was left in my room aged 7 with the intercom system being used as a baby/child monitor. Ever so often the receptionist would dial up my room and ask if everything was OK. I remember saying that I didn’t have a blue crayon and the lady on reception sent one up with a waiter who happened to be passing my room. For several days I actually thought that he’d made a special trip. I guess the radios became obsolete due to the adoption and migration of radio from AM to MW and then later from MW to FM channels. I guess they are as obsolete as car radios will be in about 5 years time when the Government makes commercial channels switch from FM to DAB, a move that’s far from universally welcome.

2. Swing ball

Although swing ball never really went away as a stalwart for visual comedy, the number of homes armed with this simple to setup and play game has dwindled to almost zero. Perhaps it’s because of the 90’s craze for decking every bloody square inch of your garden... or the shift towards more urban (no grass) living. I can’t really say, but Swing ball was a big hit in the 70’s and I think everybody I knew had a set (if not two). TIP:For extra points, trying smacking the ball upwards to hit your opponent on the head.

3. Cars that don’t look like every other car

Remember that 70’s? That was the decade that spawned the Austin Allegro, Leyland Princess, Ford Capri and the Talbot Sunbeam. Each had two things in common; • They looked more original than anything else about at the time. • They were all, to a greater or lesser degree, rubbish.

4. The ‘exotic’ Bond movie

I guess this is more of sign of the times and the relative cheapness of travel these days. That and the need for Bond to compete on a like-for-like basis with the Bourne franchise. But in the 1970’s, Bond was all about finesse and exotic locations. The unobtainable (to 99% of the planet) and the corruption that goes with it. Lets face it, Scaramanga’s island might have been very cool, but look what he had to do to get it. Bond was a toff with a conscience with Roger Moore at the helm. I know they generally only resemble the books in name only, but they are a product of their time. Casino Royale’s ‘exotic’ location in the Caribbean resembled a Sandels resort!

Happy, by what percentage

Rob — 2009-05-10T11:49:15+01:00

For some reason I ended up watching some documentary about Myalgic encephalomyelitis. I’ve not enough knowledge on the subject to make any opinion. But what struck me was how a sufferer managed to equate the level of depression following certain treatments. One made her about 40% less depressed; whilst another made her about 50% less depressed. Just how the heck can anyone work that out? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I can tell if I’m 10% less happy one day to the next. I’ll be 8% more informed if you could drop me a quick email to let me know how this all works. Thanks.

Same price = zero devaluation - WRONG

Rob — 2009-05-09T01:25:43+01:00

Just a minor rant-ette this evening on the subject of those “so called” zero devaluation purchases suggested by everything from Bargain Hunt to bloody Autocar. I was just reading a little article that suggested that a car that cost £70,000 brand new 20 years ago has not devalued because it’s now work £80,000. Palpably this is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. But it might not be quite so obvious, so let me explain using a very, very simple example. In 1989 it was possible to purchase a brand new, modern looking three bedroom house in the Astley area for around £80,000. Today, a similar house is likely to cost you £170-£200,000. So has Astley because the Riviera? No. Has the cost of bricks sky rocketed in the last 20 years? Nope. Fact is, that £80,000 in 1989 is the equivalent of £170,000 in 2009 because of inflation. Or to put it another way, the purchasing power of the £1 has decreased by 50%. Put this into perspective and the once £70,000 Lancia Hyena would cost the equivalent of £150,000 in today’s terms. The fact that it now costs £80,000 actually identifies that the car has actually lost 50% of its actual value; and not retained the 100% as claimed in the Autocar article. If you purchased a car for £50,000 in 1989 and it is not worth £100,000 today, then you have a car that’s retained its value. Anything more than the £100,000 is an increase in value. Don’t believe me? A loaf of bread in 1989 would set you back around 40 pence. Today the price of a loaf of bread is around the £1.20 mark. Its a similar argument to those who purchase a house and in 30 years time think they’ve made a fortune because it was £50,000 new and now costs £300,000. Sadly, they’ve not realised that total cost, when you include currency devaluation.

Another raid on the BBC archives

Rob — 2009-05-08T14:12:08+01:00

Following the recent success of the old BBC TV series, now US film “In The Loop” I decided to have a quick look on IMDB to see what else is on the cards. Sadly, it’s worse than I imagined. They are going to make a film version of “Edge of Darkness” with none other than Mel Gibson in the role Bob Peck played on television. Oh, dear why.

Hate to tell you mate.... but

Rob — 2009-05-08T08:59:39+01:00

BBC’s “Breakfast” show have just interviewed David Aaronovitch about his latest book “Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History”. Now, I’ve not got the book. So what I’m commenting on is just the interview. But, I hope the book’s got a lot more ‘facts’ than his interview did. I hate to run the guy down, but he mentioned and laughed about a couple of “well known” facts that really don’t stack up. For a start, I’m not sure the widely held consensus IS that Bush blew up the Twin Towers on September 11th. From what I can gather, I believe the widely held understanding by most conspiracy theorists is that the terrorists were allowed to carry out the attacks. They (not I) would site such facts as the number of times the FBI were pulled off investigations into the perpetrators. The point is that Mr Aaronovitch started by stating an untruth and then worked up from there. “They” (being conspiracy theorists) also believe in the moon landings being faked. He then told a story of a person he worked with and how they surprised him by saying they believed the landings were all staged. “|t all sounded like a plot from a 1978 movie.” by which I believe he is talking about Peter Hyams “Capricorn One”. When in fact, if Mr Aaronovitch had done as much research as he had claimed, he would have discovered that the film was in fact partly inspired by Bill Kaysing’s 1974 book (and subsequent controversy) “We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle” - Essentially the first book suggesting the landings were faked. Incidentally, I don’t think the landings were faked. But the idea that people are automatically deluded idiots for having another opinion; that’s a little arrogant. I noticed on the cover of the book is a picture of John F. Kennedy. Be interesting to see if he writes that the US Government proved there was no conspiracy when in fact the opposite is true. Really? I hear you all cry. Well, the “The House Select Committee on Assassinations”, established in September 1976, came to the conclusion that JFK was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. Don’t believe me? Follow the following links; An easy link to Wikipedia’s write up. The official US Government archive version. That’s the problem with facts, get in the way of a bloody good dishing down. :-)

Suspiciously easy crash

Rob — 2009-05-07T15:04:25+01:00

I was sent a link to this video; with the phrase “Is this a real crash”. It was an interesting question. Because apart from the fact the driver nearly stops the car dead before hitting the wall, we have the actions of the pedestrians. Firstly, despite looking in the direction of the Ferrari; the person who is ‘glanced’ doesn’t bother to move at all out of the way. But what is more dodgy is the way the person struck my the pole appears to walk faster in order to get UNDER the pole. “If you were struck on the head by a pole during a movie shoot... and it wasn’t your fault. Then call Lawyers for you now” Worst of all... the New Your Post coverage. “In the movie Nik Cage plays a sorcerer in search of an apprentice. In real life the Nik Cage double looks distraught after the collission.” - GIVE ME A BREAK!

The Two Jakes - Retro Review

Rob — 2009-05-03T01:43:22+01:00

In 1990 the sequel to the much lauded 1974 mystery thriller “Chinatown” was released to a generally less than pleasing critical reviews. Which is a little unfair, partly because while Chinatown is a good film; it’s actually not that fantastic a film. In some parts the acting and direction are positively ropey. Perhaps a outcome of the heated exchanged betwixt the director Roman Polanski and the two stars of the film Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. 16 years later and Jack Nicholson is again ready to don the Jack Giddes suit to Robert Towne’s follow up “The Two Jakes”. This time around, its post war and everybody in LA is relatively prosperous. So the whole look for the picture reflects the modern and stylish times. Remember, this is the boon times for America. Sadly, this did not appeal to the “Chinatown 2” crowd and I think it counted against the picture. The irony is that just 7 years later, the 1997 movie “L.A. Confidential” plays out this exact cinema style; only the mood has changed and it’s not carrying the baggage of the successful pre-cursor. So it’s lauded with praise for style and originality. Somewhat unfairly, looking back to “The Two Jakes”. The fact is that “The Two Jakes” was never going to be received well, like the new Star Wars trilogy, it could never meet the expectations of the memories of the original movie. Which once again, I’d like to suggest wasn’t quite as brilliant as everybody would like to remember it. Jake Gittes is now runs are very well off and successful investigations agency. Which makes a lovely surprise. I’m always lost of understanding how such superb private detectives Marlone, Spade etc seem to make so little money. I mean what is that all about? Well, contrary to form, Jake operates from a superbly stylish modernist / deco building, drives a stylish convertible car and wears the very best suits money can buy. He’s also something of a war hero to boot. So, not the low at heal, dowdy Jake from Chinatown. He’s older, wiser and wealthier. Which is just as well really, because the plot has him spinning off in more directions than the script can cope with. Which now brings us to the second thing the critics hated.... that narration. Now as a rule, I think it’s obviously better to not include narration in modern films. The idea being that it should be easier to reveal the investigation points as the film roles along. However, “The Two Jakes” suffers from a problem. It has to support two audiences. The first has seen Chinatown and when Jake hears on the wire recording the name “Katherine Mulwray”, they all get up and listen. Audience two wanted to see a detective movie and they weren’t even born when the original came out. So they need a little help... hence the narration and flashback sequences. Having had a look at the critics comments (from IMDB) they all have nothing good to say about these features of the film. Which shows a certain level of arrogance, but there you go. Now I have to admit that I do in fact have a certain guilty secret in having very fond memories of this film. For a start it was the date movie for a old girlfriend. Plus I absolutely loved the look and feel of the picture. None of the fashionable “paint it grim” was present, everything new and prosperous and yet still corrupt... (again, back to LA Confidential). I even like Jack Nicholson’s relaxed performance in the film. Playing it like a man who’s seen a lot of action and nothing surprises him. There are some scenes which do grate a little. Lillian Bodine’s (Madeleine Stowe) comedy seduction of Gittes feels almost like middle aged man wish fulfilment. The earlier scene when he ‘accidentally’ knocks her out was more in keeping. Incidentally, what the hell DID happen to Madeleine Stowe? One minute she’s in superb films such as Twelve Monkeys (1995) and “The General’s Daughter” (1999). Then she’s got a small part in “We Were Soldiers” as Mel Gibsons wife.... then... (flush) carrier down to TV movies and a recurring part in the TV show “Raines” (oddly enough with Jeff Goldbloom - her fellow star in “Earth Girls are Easy”) Bottom line:-

7/10

Gun safety goes awry

Rob — 2009-05-01T09:48:00+01:00

Watch the video.... You know, the very instant he said “I’m the only one in the room professional enough.. and I’ll be careful” the bullet leapt out of the magazine on the desk and into the chamber. WHAT A TOOL!

When activism goes... mad

Rob — 2009-05-01T09:14:59+01:00

They say it’s always bad sport to mock those afflicted with an over abundance of sensitivity towards nature. But what the hell! Lets laugh at a tree hugger! Woah... no, don’t get me wrong. I love a good old oak or Scots pine as much as the next man. But this takes that affection into a whole new area. No, not a clip for “The Evil Dead”... more a clip from the “Dead Loony”. Watch the clip and then read below.... Does it remind you of a Gwyneth Paltrow acceptance speech?

Sunday hits an all time low

Rob — 2009-04-26T19:49:18+01:00

Quick post today. Mainly because I’m busy... Beat The Star But has Sunday taken an all time low when we have Martina Hingis dropping dried peas into a wine bottle in order to stop some dental assistant from winning £50,000. Does this post need to say more?

That was quick!

Rob — 2009-04-20T22:00:01+01:00

Just a day after uploading my little diatribe against the sort of US citizens who walk around with “Commies Go Home!” plastered on them, I’ve had my balanced opinion swung in both directions. First off, thanks to anybody who took the time to send an email (via Facebook) on the subject. To be honest, it was as I expected. I got a fairly 60/40 split of “You’re an insane communist” to “I agree and the protesters views don’t represent ALL opinions”. I was of course, being particularly targeted towards them and in retrospect, I was heavy handed. For which I am sorry. ... and now a story about a tap dancing bear.

When social means socialism (US style)

Rob — 2009-04-19T16:20:23+01:00

The US is a country of enormous wealthy and hypocrisy. Blanket statement I know, but let me back this up. Coming from a European country, where socialised medicine is the norm, I guess I just can’t understand the prevailing (or at least loudest) opinion that somehow inexpensive health care for the masses is the end of all that is good and true for America.

Costs of US Health Insurance

What I also find confusing is just how much Americans pay in terms of medical insurance compared to what Europeans pay in additional tax for the same services. In fact, that comparison isn’t fair, for socialised medicine provides preventative care; not part of standard health insurance schemes. How much is too much? Well, in the US an average four person family pays around $12,700 per year on health insurance. Which sounds terrible to start with and they you realise that the median household salary in the US is $50,233.00. So this makes health insurance 25.2% of the average persons income, over a quarter!

UK Costs for comparison

Now in the UK it’s a bit confusing to make a comparison. Because our “National Insurance” contributions are both means tested and represent not only a payment for health care, but also a payment towards a future pension paid by the Government to everybody over a certain age. Another factor is that basically, EVERYBODY who is a UK citizen gets free health care. So if you had a family of FOUR, it wouldn’t matter how many we’re earning or in fact if ANY of them were working. I guess we consider that even the poor have the right to live. But lets take the average household with a salary of £30,000*2 ($44,334). National Insurance contributions on that salary would be £2,702.15 ($4,000 approx.). ...So US Health Insurance is £5,887 ($8,700) MORE expensive than the UK equivalent. ...So you’ll not be too surprised that it makes my BLOOD BOIL when I hear on US television from either the actors they employ to run the stories or the idiots they are interviewing that socialised medicine costs more. Even a complete idiot could work out that it wouldn’t..... ...

The land of the .... hypocrite

But there is something that amuses me the most. If ‘social’ things are so bad; why do Americans not bat an eyelid to pay for the Fire Service or Police Service? What makes it OK for the Fire Service to be perfectly acceptable and a social Medical Service to not be? What about the school service? Isn’t that free (but paid for in taxation). Well, for one the thing, I guess the Fire Service and Police have historically been paid for by tax, although this obviously hasn’t always been the case. Prior to the introduction of a socialised Fire Service everybody had to pay a fee to a local company or they would let your house / company burn down. Thankfully we’ve all moved on since those bleak times. Well, some of us have. ...I was going to go on to produce statistics showing the huge levels of deaths due to medical incompetence in the US. Or how the majority of medical advances in the last twenty years have come from SOCIALISED medical services.... where profit isn’t a factor in treatment. I could go on to point out that socialised doesn’t mean socialism. But the fact is, what would be the point. The fact that people like this. ...Better disband the Police, Fire and School services then. Although the sign next him saying “WerNot Going To Take It America IS HUMBLE” probably points to the idea that the school systems needs a shakedown. ...“I Want my Children to be in the USA not the USSA” ... 1 The USSR stood for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the R not being Russia. So USSA makes not friggin’ sense at all. ... 3 It is socialised medicine and not SOCIALIST. In the same sense that a paediatrician is definitely not the same thing as a pedophile. It reminds me when Fox started the whole “Liberal” is bad routine when it failed to strike a cord with the American public that the founding fathers must have had similar opinions in order to declare all men as “being equal”. Just to make something clear... socialised medicine is merely a publicly funded healthcare system that is paid for using means tested taxation. The origin of the term is from society and not socialism. For those interested in the reasoning and history of the National Health Service, I’m sure this Wikipedia article will help. Like I say, what’s the point. I’m either preaching to the converted or I’d be regarded as a lying communist. All the statistics come from the Office of National Statistics in the US / UK respectfully.

M1 Tragedy - How could it happen?

Rob — 2009-04-19T15:08:47+01:00

I’ve just been reading this story on the BBC Website. Essentially, a Polish registered Volkswagen Passat drove the WRONG WAY up the M1 and collided at speed with a Jaguar carrying four people. The results shouldn’t be a surprise and tragically all we killed. But what I find extraordinary is how the Polish driver (and I suggest he must be Polish) managed to get onto the M1 THE WRONG WAY. I mean that would mean driving the WRONG WAY around a round about, against the signs, and driving the wrong way down a slip road (again, with signs being backwards) before then driving down the motorway. It just doesn’t seem possible to me how somebody could make so many mistakes. Yet, this appears to be the case. More details are sure to follow.

Rainy Manchester

Rob — 2009-04-18T00:36:37+01:00

I know Manchester has a reputation for sudden downpours. But this Google streetview is ridiculous. I’m looking Dawsons the musical instrument store (fancy a Korg nanokey for when I’m out and about) but I’m not sure where in Manchester it is. So I thought I’d use Google’s Steeetview to get a good picture of it. So here is the junction of Nicholas Street and Portland Street (Dawson’s is somewhere ON Portland Street). One more click on the yellow bar and suddenly it’s piddling down, gloomy skies and very bleak. Not to worry though, just two clicks down the road and it’s sunny again! Hurrah!! And that’s EXACTLY how the rain falls in Manchester :-) By the way, just for your information... according to the Met. Office, Plymouth is the wettest city in England and NOT Manchester.... so there! :-) Just in case you’re wondering.... here is Dawsons.

Avon goes all Resident Evil

Rob — 2009-04-17T20:08:23+01:00

I wonder where AVON got the inspiration for their latest advertising campaign.... Hmmmm... Let me think. Oh yeah, Resident Evil! Don’t believe me... compare the two

Avon

Resident Evil

Or is it the other way around?

Hillborough - 20 years on

Rob — 2009-04-15T13:05:23+01:00

It’s crept up on all of us who remember this particular day, 20 years ago. Perhaps sooner than any of us would like to reflect upon. Of course, at the time we were unaware of everything that transpired until the following Monday, when we all heard the news in person. Carl Brown was a nice guy who happened to love Liverpool football club and computers in equal measure. Carl and I studied a City and Guilds 418 Programming Course at Leigh College, in Leigh Lancashire. It was his local higher education site and for me it was the only local college that covered the extra computer courses I wanted to cover. So we ended up studying on Marshall Street at the same time. I’m not staking claims to being Carl’s best friend, he had many others. But I did like Carl and I think we got on fine. Carl wasn’t to complete his computer course though. Because on this day 20 years ago Carl died, aged just 18, at Hillsborough supporting the team he loved so much. I don’t think anybody who remembers that day or the subsequent service at Leigh Parish Church. Partly because it was so packed and I guess partly because of the Vicars use of two very inappropriate and misguided phrases. Something that I am reflecting most upon right now is the fact that I’ve subsequently lived more years since that day than Carl had in his entire life.

Where I wanted to live as a kid

Rob — 2009-04-12T15:32:15+01:00

Growing up in the early seventies meant a lot of going on ‘local’ holidays and for us, that meant Blackpool or if we were pushing the boat out... Lytham St. Annes (which is the more posh place NEXT to Blackpool). You’ve got to realise that in the early 1970’s, Blackpool was a VERY different place in terms of perception. Sure, there were the odd racy T-Shirt, but nobody walked around with an inflatable penis on their hen night. In fact, Blackpool was good, working class family entertainment. Or at least that’s how I saw it... aged 8 and younger. I mention the age, because by the time 1978 had come around I’d not only got my own passport but I’d been abroad. After that, Blackpool felt just a little TOO close. One treat that still affects me still is, of all things, a house I always wanted to live in. It’s on the coast road of Lytham and stands out for having a few very interesting features. Most notable of which is the front door. Its ROUND! I mean it’s a freakin’ round door! You have know idea how outstandingly cool that was in the 1970’s to have a round door. I guess these days it’s more associated with Hobbits and the like. But in 1970 it meant “space age” and “hyper modern”. It was the brick and mortar equivalent of Moonbase Alpha! Microsoft’s Virtual Earth offers a useful view of the house in question here. With this being a close view of the amazing door. I suspect now it’s just a round portal and normal door(s) on the inside. Still, the door is still round. I used to imagine myself driving home and parking some expensive red Italian sports car in front of the house while some sultry brunette calls the dogs back off the beach and puts the kids to bed early. :-)

Terrorist in the North West - Aparantly

Rob — 2009-04-10T18:36:44+01:00

I don’t know how you feel about this, but I’m getting pretty fed up with the total ‘lack of’ news regarding the 11 terrorists SUSPECTS arrested in the North West. Basically the facts are; • 12 men have been arrested under suspicion of terrorism • 11 of them are from Pakistan and are here on student visas • No evidence of bomb making has so far been found • The raids were brought about because Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick decided to not carry documents classified as “Secret” in a folder! He’s since resigned. That’s it... Now here’s what’s being speculated. • That they ‘took pictures’ of various sites around Manchester • They ‘frequented’ an internet cafe In other words, those in the media HAVEN’T GOT A CLUE. Listen out for choice phrases such as “this is an evolving story”, “police remain tight lipped” and yet more versions of “we haven’t a clue”. Despite this, the nation news gave us an exclusive shot of police knocking down a door and 20 minutes of the top three facts over and over and over. Then the local news did EXACTLY the same. Question: Can two people offer ‘exclusive’ video? Anyway, here’s what I think. If they new EXACTLY where to pick these guys up at a moments notice you’ll have to assume that they were previously the subject of a 24 hour surveillance program. But then look at all the previous ‘terrorist raids’ that resulted in highly public arrests and very quiet subsequent releases with charges. Remember those two guys in London who got ‘accidentally’ shot in an anti-terrorist raid only for the whole ‘evidence’ for the raid being based upon a neighbour who hated them. So you’ll have to accept I’m a little sceptical about all this. Partly because the amount of information is minimal and therefore the constant regurgitation of known facts seems more about scare mongering than providing a true service.

Ice shelf falls off, anybody check for Earthquakes

Rob — 2009-04-05T12:51:39+01:00

BBC news is reporting the mysterious and worrying collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf bridge yesterday, 4th April. It’s a climate change story... sorry, we are back to ‘global warming’ again. I wandered over the USGS, that’s the United States Geological Survey website and sure enough there is a report of an earthquake in the magnitude of 5.4 in the region of the collapse on the given period it did so. Last Friday there was another earthquake of 5.2 in a similar spot. OK, so they are not RIGHT ON TOP of the collapse. But as the ice was described as being brittle, I don’t think it would have taken much to cause the shift. Kind of reminds me of the Mount Fuji photo on “The Inconvenient Truth”. Mount Fuji being a volcano and all... sometimes it does loose it’s snowy cover. Funny how embedded science is these days.

60 Ways to save the world.. whare the other 59!?!

Rob — 2009-04-04T23:51:18+01:00

I wonder how many of you have seen this incipid little message on the towel rail of the your travelodge. It’s the helpful ‘green’ message regarding the reuse of towels and/or linen in order to save the planet. There are number of things that strike me most about this message of environmental appeasement, so I’ve created a list. If this is number 57, what are the other 59 ways to save the world? How about ; 1. Traveleodge starts using recycled plastic bags in their bins. 2. They stop turning on my damn radiator every time I go out for the day. I neither want the heating on nor understand why anybody would heat an empty room! NOTE: The only time I ever needed to heat the room because it was bitterly cold - the radiator didn’t work. Is THAT the reason to turn them on, to make sure they still work? 3. That Travelodge stop changing the bloody mini soap bar EVERY SINGLE DAY! It got to the point where I’ve even tried leaving a note asking for a new block not to be replaced when the previous days block is perfectly useable. But the cleaner failed to READ the note and I ended up with a friendly “OK” and three extra bars. What did she think I was doing with them? Eating them!? Apart from the obvious total waste of soap, these things come in plastic bags. Doesn’t anybody do soap in paper these days? 4. Why the hell are the kettles in hotel rooms so massive these days. Used to be that your average kettle would make a couple of cups at a go. Which, when you think about it, was perfectly fine as most rooms only allowed two people in it. But in my last room (Travelodge - Towcester) the kettle was so massive that I could have brewed up for the entire sodding hotel, in one go! I’m not joking, this thing was a huge domestic job. My point being that while it is true that most modern kettles are designed to be (slightly) more efficient. The fact that they are geared to heating four times the amount of water means they burn through electricity faster. 5. Turn the bloody power off on the TV. It’s not rocket science and if the room is going to be empty (frequently the case over winter) why not. I’m sure that even the most dopey of people will be able to work out how to turn a plug socket on (you would hope). 6. What’s with all the light! Ever single Travelodge I’ve ever been in is lit up like the forth of July. I’m sure there must be better ways to manage the lighting in common areas than have the power blaze away all night. 7. Stop with the automatic upgrades and check before you replace. Marstone Moretaine was a pretty unused little Travelodge just South of Newport Pagnell and while the decor did have something a little mid-90’s about it; it was perfectly clean and perfectly serviceable. The carpets where actually pretty comfy wool jobs. But some muppet at head office decided that it wasn’t in keeping with the new Travelodge colour palette and as a result the entire hotel had it’s clean carpet ripped out and replaced by some tragic blue stuff with the electrostatic properties of a Van der Graaf Generator! Now the reception is beset with complaints of static shocks and the likelihood is that one day there will be a coming together of loose fuel vapour from the local petrol station and spark and the whole place will go up like a Michael Bay movie.

Vampire Baby Found On Mars!!!!

Rob — 2009-04-04T02:10:45+01:00

... OK. So that’s a lie. Which is EXACTLY what it has in common with this headline in the April 3rd posting on the Independent news paper. The headline reads Obama hails the new world order Then goes on to describe how UK Prime Minister Brown said where we no “quick fixes” and that “today’s decisions will not immediately solve the crisis. But we have begun the process by which it will be solved.”. So far, no comment from Obama regarding the “New World Order”. By paragraph eight it is mentioned that a UK cabinet minister, with regards the enhanced role of world institutions like the IMF, whose budget will triple, that “a new world financial order has been born, almost by accident, because of this crisis.” Still no comments by BHO himself then... In fact, I’ll spare you any further reading. At no point does the article mention ANY incident of President Barack Obama so much as mentioning the “New World Order” a “New Order of the World” or any combination of the three words. But I tell you what, I bet every rabid, right wing agenda website is now directed towards the Independent. People like Alex Jones or Jeff Rense will be looking to cool there ardors (he he he) in the light of this ‘revelation’. Or should I say ‘non-revelation’ because with the exception of some traffic capturing, I’m not suer of the point. Which is where this posting has something over the Telegraph piece. Because my post DOES include “Vampire Baby Found On Mars!!!!” in the body of the text. They haven’t found any... just in case you’re still wondering.

Is Ari Fleischer on drugs?

Rob — 2009-03-12T20:30:14+00:00

Caught MSNBC’s Countdown today and it’s left me with a sincere question. Just how many drugs does Ari Fleischer take in a single sitting? Quote “.. but after September 11th, having being hit once, how could we take the chance that Saddam wouldn’t strike again” Despite the CIA’s best efforts, there has been no evidence provided to prove that Saddam assisted Al Queda. In fact, the opposite is true. This kind of rewrite of history bs just drives me insane.

Don't believe everything you hear on the Radio

Rob — 2009-03-30T21:52:10+01:00

Or the Alex Jones is a downright liar post

I have been asked by a friend to post my own little “Alex Jones’ story on the web, just for the record. It’s not a very long story, so I’ll get right down to it. Quite some time ago I used to listen to the Alex Jones show as a PodCast whilst driving around. What can I say, I didn’t listen for more than six months and found most of it to be incredulous nonsense, the sort of ranting diatribe you might expect from a show that only makes money from sensationalism. Much like all of the news these days. Alex Jones is the sort of person who says he loves Latino people and then goes on to stereotype them as anti-American, murdering psychotics. I don’t like that. However, my real problem with Mr Jones was a piece he did about a ‘talking police camera’ in Manchester, England. He read out the original article along with his usual Anglophobic comments that we are all too scared to fight oppression blah blah blah. Well, I live near that talking camera and after less than a month of operation and the local Government had to admit it was useless. In an article published, again in the Manchester Evening News, over half those reprimanded simply ignored the voice in the box. And... frankly, what do you expect. It’s a piggin’ box! What’s it going to do, talk LOUDER TO YOU. So, one up for freedom! I contacted Alex Jones’ show to spread the good news. Nada. I tried again, making sure it get a receipt of delivery and reading. This seemed to prompt Alex to read the original article again, only this time with a full 10 minute monologue on how everybody in England was a coward, to “yella” to stand up for their rights or those of our fellow man. Mainly because we lack a constitution. Small point here; a) We do HAVE a constitution. It’s just not a single document called the “constitution of the United Kingdom”. b) The blue print for the US Constitution has been widely accepted as being Magna Carter. Signed in 1215 by King John of England at Runnymede. My next tactic was to call the show. But despite “Foreign callers and decenters” being put to the front of the queue I was put on hold then dropped. Called again the next day, different name. This time I got to speak to somebody who worked at the show. Told him what I knew. Mild interest but would pass on the message. Needless to say, he never read out the latest peace on the downfall of the camera. Or the subsequent covering on the local news program which stated it was going to come down and be replaced by a voluntary police officer known as a Special Constable. It should be noted that Alex also suggests that the recent creation and rise of the “Special Constable” was as a result of New World Order forces, with the “Special’ being akin to a member of the Stazi. Of course (as I emailed to him) the fact that Special Constables have been around since 1673 might put a little dampener on them being recently created. But that’s the thing with facts, that get in the way of a good story. The Alex Jones show is purely based upon the idea that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Giving you the idea it’s likely to happen in the two to three hours it’s on.

Beware Online Loan Sharks

Rob — 2009-03-26T23:19:51+00:00

It’s no surprise that we offset the cost of hosting with advertising. Feel free to click anything that catches your eye by the way :-) We run another site, Everything You Know Is A Lie and I figured it was about time we freshened up the advertisers. We use Trade Doubler as our advertising broker and things have been great. We did have a brief go at using Google Ads on our site. But the 3 month delay in payment, crap rates of return and frequent claims of ‘gaming the system’ were too much for us. So we dropped them like a stone. I could go into the details, but the claimed ‘bogus’ IP’s traced back to Microsoft’s NAT in Reading. I digress. What I wanted to talk about was one of the advertisers on Trade Doubler. A short term loan company called Wonga. Apart from the catchy name, something else stands out for me. Have you noticed it yet. In the bottom right corner. The APR for a £200 loan for 5 days is.... 2,689% APR. I’ll spell that out for your TWO THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-NINE PERCENT!! That is total daylight robbery. What is more, the APR is fixed at that rate, so a loan of £200 for 30 days will set you back £266.11. For those without calculators that’s £2.20 interest per day until the loan is paid off. And I thought the worst rate I’d ever seen for a loan (on moneysupermarket.com) was 50% APR. How wrong can you be? Well, 2,639% wrong.... obviously.

How stupid do you have to be!

Rob — 2009-03-25T15:03:22+00:00

Just browsing the BBC news website and this story grabbed my attention.

Robert Jones of Doncaster followed the directions of the Satellite Navigation system down a narrow, steep footpath until he nearly fell off a cliff onto Gauxholme railway bridge. I mean, really! Frankly he was lucky to get away with just being charged with driving without due care or attention. My favourite line in the story is about how Mr Jones relies on his Satellite Navigation system. What? Instead of looking out of the windscreen.

10 Years Younger Insane Comment

Rob — 2009-03-12T22:29:35+00:00

I should be running some kind of website of bizarre things that get said in television programs. Tonight I had the great misfortune to catch the near end of “Ten Years Younger”; a show that attempts to remodel otherwise coffin dodging individuals with the virtue of youthful appearance. Tonight’s nightmarish parade of the macabre centred around common Sybil and her bad skin, teeth, hair, whatever. However, following a gazillion pounds worth of dental work she had the smile of Shergar. Nice. All of which prompted Myleene Klass to say; “You can go out there and open your mouth and smile and a beautiful butterfly will fly out.” Which makes me wonder that if she’d spent less time eating caterpillars , she might have had nicer teeth. According to the Channel 4 website “Sporty Sybil, 61, has the body of a woman half her age; but her face looks double it”. Firstly, I’m not sure she looked 122 years old and the other point requires investigation by the police. So long as they can figure out where she’s hidden that 30 year old’s body.

La Dolce Vita is 50!

Rob — 2009-03-05T17:00:32+00:00

I see on the BBC website that Fellini’s La Dolce Vita is 50 years old this month. The BBC has dedicated a lovely page of eulogy regarding what is for me a personal favourite. But what’s probably not clear for anybody who’s not seen La Dolce Vita is just how utterly bleak and quite frankly bizarre it is, at least in part. Some scenes of which have led to speculation since it was made. What is the significance of... Actually, go and watch it and we’ll chat later :-)

Forgot your SU password? Don't panic

Rob — 2009-02-27T13:23:32+00:00

Ever typed in an SU password when you first setup the machine, only to totally forget what it is six months later. Yeah, me too. In fact, that just happened. So what I ended up doing was using the following neat bit of code. If you can log in to OS X with an “Admin” type account then you’ll be lucky enough to sort the problem out with the following. First, open a Terminal window. Terminal is an terminal command line program that lives in Application -> Utilities Once you got that going, then type in the following command. sudo passwd root You be asked to type in a new password and then confirm it. AND THAT”S IT!! You’ve set a new root / su password. Now wasn’t that easy enough? By the way. It’s always best to create an “Admin” account that’s not your active account. Then create a “User” account for all your normal work. When you need to install heavy duty software, then you can simply use the Admin account or simply type those credentials into OS X. The benefit of which is that by default, you machine is running a more secure environment. Plus, if you DO trash your user profile. You can just log in as the Admin, delete it and start again.

Sodding pigeons!

Rob — 2009-02-27T10:37:54+00:00

I’m being annoyed to hell by two sodding pigeons. They are either attempting to get amorous or constantly scrapping over the same branch. With one flapping to new tree and the other giving chase. It’s so annoying I’m contemplating buying a gun and shooting one of both of them. Of course, this would mean getting my passport, driving licence and then driving to my nearest gun store (20 miles) where I would only be able to purchase an air-rifle. Fill out the necessary paperwork, perhaps I need a written statement from my local police station saying I’m off good character and then wait 24 hours in order to pick up said rifle with ammunition. I would also, of course, being a good chap insist on having the correct locked area to hold the rifle to avoid it being stolen or played with. With the ammunition being held in a separate but equally secure location. But it would be worth it! UPDATE: I just shouted at them, and they flew off. It was cheaper and less hassle.

Don't you mean something else?

Rob — 2009-02-27T10:31:41+00:00

Can somebody explain to me this. Why is it that when two aircraft travel too close to each other, but don’t hit each other, it’s called a “near miss”? Surely that means they collided. If you nearly miss something that you actually hit it. In the same way that if you nearly caught something, you dropped it. Look at it this way, if you “nearly avoided being burned” you got burned. Right? So why is the idea of two planes, or cars or whatever, getting too close, described as a near miss. On the same line. Why is it “birth control”? Surely contraception is implemented somewhat earlier than the actual “birth”. I mean “birth control” is what exactly, holding baby in longer? Surely it should be “conception control”. Rant over.

That Glenn at Logitech is a nice looking fella

Rob — 2009-02-25T13:43:42+00:00

There is something endemic about computer adverts. Put bluntly, its eye candy. For some reason IT companies are under the impression that nothing sells IT kit more than an attaching it (either metaphorically or literally) to an attractive (usually young) woman. Case in point. Here is the “Thank you” for registering our Harmony 515 Universal remote. With the possible exception that Glenn Rogers is both a very happy person and a transsexual, what on earth has she got to do with the bit of hardware I registered? Can I just add, if Glenn Rogers is both happy and transsexual, that is great. Because otherwise I’m left with the impression that Logitech is just one a long line of male chauvinistic organisations. Perhaps I ought to start to listing of scans of some of the worst offenders. What do you think?

My climate conversation with Marcus Brigstock

Rob — 2009-02-24T17:14:18+00:00

In March last year I had a bit of an email banter with erudite comedian Marcus Brigstocke, picking him up on some the conflicts on his CO2 opinion. In a sketch he performed on “The Now Show” he talked about being terrified by a Polar Bear swimming within 200 metres of him; only to later make comments to the effect that they would drown without ice. The email exchange went something like this; I include the full emails, with amendment made for privacy ONLY. It all boils down to this email.

CO2 where science meets science fiction

Rob — 2009-02-24T16:55:48+00:00

Could somebody tell me why CO2 continues to be the blame-all “pollutant” and driving force to climate change in “popular” science? Actually, that’s not really a question. It’s more a rhetorical statement, because I’ve a scientific background and the level hockey science being banded as “fact” in climate change is extraordinary. I should point out that I do have a scientific background. So I’m not just having an ill informed rant. But what does make me rant is the statements of absolute truths being banded by the media (BBC, ITV etc) that is both ill informed, misleading or at worst, a bloody lie. Case in point, BBC reported that Polar Bears are “close to extinction”, quoting Al Gore’s eco film as fact. However, if they had taken the time to look at reports created by scientists studying Polar Bears, they’d have found another picture. Most amusing this week is the sad story of the loss of the CO2 ODO detector in what appears to be a faulty bit of rocketeering by NASA. You might have missed the key element, but at the bottom of the story is the little admission that “scientists” (as though they are a single block of people) are at a loss to understand where 20% of the CO2 goes. Really? Because you’d imagine any scientific projection that includes atmospheric CO2 and its interaction with the climate as a whole, might be a little inaccurate given a 20% discrepancy.

My History in Computing

Rob — 2009-02-23T16:12:46+00:00

I’ve decided to start a little personal history of computing. No, nothing that’s extraordinary or thought provoking. It all starts here.

Kind of remind you of something?

Rob — 2009-02-22T12:26:25+00:00

If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll have no doubt spotted the points over time where Alan Sugar has turned up on TV and prompted me into a 5 page monologue on how much of a twerp I think this guy is. If it’s not dismissing ideas as being unsuccessful because they are “Disney-like” (Disney make more money per day, than Amstrad did in the year he said this; he’s spouting on about his business genius while watching the fortune he made selling (somebody else’s) cheap computers diminish over time, whilst supporting the decreasing market for Sky boxes. Amstrad, it should be noted, don’t DO Sky HD. Sky+ is their only business now. So it was no surprise to find that there was yet another “also like” product that graced the Amstrad shelves; until finally being put out of our misery some time back. Not that this stops it appearing regularly on “The Apprentice”. Behold! The Amstrad, it’s a phone, it’s an internet station, it’s a game machine... er device. The Amstrad E3 or E-m@iler Plus!

Now, I don’t know about you. But while on the phone, I can think of nothing better than playing an old Sinclair game whilst browsing the internet via a 56k modem. Especially when it comes to the highly competitive rate of; • Email at 20 pence each, and • Internet access at 5 pence per minute Now there’s value. But at least it appeared original.... except.... Behold! Apple patent filling “User Interface for All-in-One Office System”. Filled on November 16th, 1995. The fax-top-phone combines a mini-computer (think eMate), telephone, fax machine and MODEM in a single box. Now all this isn’t without precident. Remember when Amstrad beat Apple to the first PDA type device by a matter of days. Apple blaming itself for holding back release in order to iron out all the bugs in the software (something that didn’t stop Amstrad, you should note). Of course, pre-dating EITHER device is this.. OK monstrosity by ICL.

Powered by a Motorola 68008 processor (16 big CPU, 8 bit bus!! I ask you!!) it was basically a Sinclar QL clone with two microdrives (i.e. mini tape drives) an integrated MODEM and phone. Screen display was separate and of the old school HUGE monitor variety. And the date of production? 1985, ten years before Apple and nearly twenty before Amstrad. Still, it IS an ugly old brick. All of which goes to prove, there’s no such thing as a new idea.

A Hyundai WHAT?!

Rob — 2009-02-20T17:14:27+00:00

OK. Simply question. Has anybody, EVER seen one of these? Hyundai Grandeur A £26,825 gigantic Korean attempt at Lexus. 3.3 v6 petrol engine and 17 mpg around town. Nice!

PLEASE PLEASE Buy a Saab

Rob — 2009-02-20T14:54:28+00:00

Does this smack of desperation? I think so. Stratstone have this offer to purchase a Saab 93 Convertible. Purchase a brand new Saab 93 Convertible. Get a 15% discount and...... Get a Harley-Davidson Sportster for FREE. Now, I don’t know about you. But that’s not an appealing offer. I can only presume this is the base Saab 9-3 Convertible, so it’s a double whammy. Two over priced and under powered vehicles for the price of one (or -15% to be exact). That’s almost as bad as Broadspeeds BOGOF offer for the Kia Magentis Talk about a double whammy. Bad enough you’ve bought a Kia Magentis, but to end up with two of them. How could you cope?!

Just deserts? Or what do you expect..

Rob — 2009-02-19T23:43:36+00:00

I found this interesting video on YouTube. Now what’s really wrong with this “police” man. He’s doing 130 mph on the motorway, flashing his lights and he comes up on the blind side of the articulated vehicle. Think about it, it’s a sweeping left hand bent and he moves from lane one to three. Now the fact he’s not got his sirens and blue lights on, really shows what a complete ***** he is. Apparently there was “no need” to put the lights on. Really? I think the result really puts pay to that little concept. He then claims he could see it coming and coming. But if he’s as good a driver as he thinks he is, why didn’t he just pass the lorry on the left? I’ve certainly found myself in that situation and have been forced to do the same. [update] Admittedly not at 130 mph. The second video shows him crossing the chevron areas with no regard for moving traffic. I love the idea that he thinks he “controlled it the best he could”. Clearly he totally looses it and was just very lucky. Bless. Oh, one minor point. I’ve never cause a road accident in the 20 years or so I have been behind the wheel. But I’ve been hit twice by police vehicles. One was a van that jumped the red light and hit the side of my car. The GATSO camera proved he jumped the light and didn’t have blue lights on. Next was a motorway police car who rear ended me because the driver was filling out his paperwork. All caught on the internal camera. So I’m not particularly enamoured with police drivers. Bottom line is this, they are just people; and people make mistakes.

Why video games make terrible movies

Rob — 2009-02-05T11:43:16+00:00

I read last week with some horror (I know, I’m catching up) that there is to be a live action movie version of Bioshock and worst of all, Gore Verbinski will be directing. Eeek You might know Gore Verbinski from such average middle of the road hits as “Pirates of the Caribbean” whose success owes more to the people staring in it and superb marketing, than actual delivery from the film. The fact that he went to make two dismal sequels only goes to show how effective this can be. Pirates 4? Well, that could be a different matter. Oh, and don’t get me started on Star Wars. Because I ALWAYS thought every film other than “Empire Strikes Back” was rubbish. So the new ones couldn’t have been that much worse! I digress. Games made into movies have a terrible reputation that almost reflects back

Camelot, lost forever?

Rob — 2009-02-04T17:29:59+00:00

Anybody who has visited Camelot in the last few years will have two overriding thoughts. The first one, is less than polite. The second being, “How does this place stay open?”. Well, the reality of the later thought has finally set in. In 2005 I reviewed Camelot on the excellent site ReviewCentre. I stand by all my comments, some of which appear to be apocryphal in the 20/20 of hindsight. The list of problems Camelot had was extensive. But I can’t help but think that so much of those issues could have been rectified with a combination of a little money and stronger management. By which I mean the staff, on the whole, really didn’t give a crap. Which is why simple DIY jobs never got finished and the whole place had a rather... lesser atmosphere than it really could have. What was worse is that golden opportunities for extra revenue were squandered. For example, you could walk miles between places to grab a snack in Camelot, where a simple and inexpensive booth could have netted extra revenue. The over feeling I got from the place was “We can’t be bothered” which basically made everyone in the park feel the same way. My only hope is that; a) Lancashire council BLOW THE PLACE UP. b) Somebody with deep pockets comes along and starts a fresh. Neither of which seem very likely. So it will soldier on under a ‘new’ management (same as the ‘old’ management) concern in the same ‘Doomed to failure’ way as Southport Pleasureland. The basic problem is this. Unless you have some heritage to keep you going (as in Blackpool) you are going to have to compete with the likes of Alton Towers and European parks like Disneyland Paris or Port Adventura. Especially if you want to charge the sort of prices that are going to keep the place open. Just to put this into context, for the price of three visits to Camelot; you can purchase an annual pass to Alton Towers... for a family of four. To be blunt. I’m sorry for the people who have lost their jobs. Though I can’t help but think that if they all worked harder then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. But l can’t say I’m sorry to see Camelot go. I’d rather spend 80 minutes driving to either Alton Towers or Blackpool than drive the 20 minutes to Camelot and endure a day of disappointments. Hopefully, Camelot will disappear in time. Like its namesake. Before I do go... just as an aside. If you ever wanted a better example of how terrible Camelot was. I can’t even be organised enough to close down its own website or post a message to say they have gone into receivership. Even Southport’s Pleasureland managed that!

Manchester faces ID Cards

Rob — 2009-02-01T16:04:32+00:00

Just weeks after having their plans of toll charging kicked out, Gollum faced Wacky Jacqui Smith has stated plans to put trial ID cards in Manchester. For some extraordinary reason she appears to be under the impression that, “people can’t wait for the ID cards”. Now normally I’ve kept my blog as a place free of all offensive language. But after reading this the only word that sprang to mind was bollocks. In fact, it was absolute bollocks because out of all the people I know, personally and through work. I don’t think I know a single one of them who; a) Thinks the National ID is anything more than a new tax collection scheme for a Government obsessed with waging war and blaming other people for the current financial crisis and; b) Believes it offers anything at all in terms of extra security or convenience. Her major selling point is that it would allow people to open bank accounts and travel abroad (presumably just in Europe). Which is odd really, because we already have a bit of documentation for that... it’s called a passport. And you can open a bank account armed with a birth certificate. I presume most people opening a bank account will have been born. But what about security? Well, if we take the case of the London bombers (if you entirely believe that story) then every single one of the bombers would have been entitled to an ID card. EVER SINGLE ONE. So quite how our “security” is going to be improved, that’s a good one. Actually, sensing that the “security” element has had its day, or rather, nobody in the right mind is going to believe it; J.S. is going for the “convenience” strategy. Now Alex Jones (he of the insane rhetoric and ranting) suggests that ID cards will get into favour with the public because the “Government will make it trendy”. Really? I mean is he serious? Pity we aren’t being offered a referendum on this one! Maybe we will... Or has Greater Manchester council already worked out how that will go...

Agatha Christie Radio Mysteries

Rob — 2009-01-28T15:05:11+00:00

In my mind there is nothing so abhorrent as a plagiarist. Although I’m not entirely sure the term is applicable in this particular instance. Whilst wandering around iTunes attempting to locate episodes of the superb BBC production of Miss Marple, staring Joan Hicks, I came across an intriguing Podcast called “The Agatha Christie Mysteries”. Now being a Podcast and the work being still under Copyright I considered that the productions must be amateur and therefore perhaps considered outside the normal scope of infringement. You should note that as well as lesser works, the current list includes; • Murder on the Orient Express • Nemesis • A Murder Announced • Thirteen at Dinner • Death on the Nile, and • Evil under the sun But what’s worse is the nature of the recordings. Somebody (or some people) called “Humphrey Camardella Productions” have tagged a production credit onto what are in fact BBC Radio production. Apart from the obvious copyright infringement, it’s a TOTAL SCAM! Implying in fact that Humphrey Camardella had anything more than a cursory part of its production. In fact, that total amount of effort involved is that removal of the BBC copyright warning and replaced it with the incepted message “You are listening to another premier Old Time Radio program and also a proud member of the Blueberry community. Another Humphrey Camardella production” Of course, my problem now is that whilst I hate this kind of outrageous credit where no credit is due, I also love Agatha Christie dramatisations. I guess I’m going to have to be the honest bloke and report it to the BBC. I mean it’s one thing to replay radio plays from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s... but stealing BBC radio productions from less than a decade ago. That goes beyond the pale. I mean this is a US podcast, so it’s not like they’ve even paid a bean towards the actually BBC production.

.NET driven mad!

Rob — 2009-01-27T13:57:01+00:00

For a solution that is meant to eradicate DLL hell, . NET can be such a pain the ***. Today’s fun surrounds our use of ReportViewer and how Visual Studio 2008 figures that it’s not needed on the server. Now I’m getting an unrelated refused connection. You know, some days just go great and others.... Calm... Calm... “See the pony! See the pony! See his gentle ho-of” - Mighty Boosh Radio Show Episode One

Sky uses Lost in attempt to drive visitors

Rob — 2009-01-26T14:00:38+00:00

In what can only be seen as a vein attempt to drive customers to its less than appealing video content solution, Sky is now forcing Lost fans to endure a web based video instead of it’s previously convenient to receive iTunes based (video) podcast. Ever since season two of Lost, “The Lost Initiative“ with Iain Lee, has been something of a runaway iTunes success. Both for Channel 4 (who showed seasons 1 and 2) and then for Sky (who aired season 3 and 4). But the fun is over and Sky has now chosen to promote its less than rounded video service by delivering the show as purely “browser only”. All of which reminds me of the audience shrinking steps made by the actual Lost producers. For the first two series they got fantastic viewing figures from Channel 4 (in the UK this is a free to view channel) and when they moved over to Sky One (a subscription satellite channel) they have lost over half their audience. Now that Sky is forcing people to its video site (and perhaps to register) I think they are doing the same again. What a bunch of muppets! I expect in the next few days that Episode 1 of Lost Season 5 will appear on iTunes (if it has not already). I wonder if it would be cheaper to purchase Lost via iTunes than pay for a Sky subscription. I’m still not convinced by the BT Home thingy solution. “Why pay for channels you don’t watch?” I suspect it’s because Sky starts at £15 and BT charge £2.50 per WHAT EVER! Rant over! :-)

Shiny Happy Toilet Paper - The explanation!

Rob — 2009-01-22T08:25:25+00:00

After 20 years of pondering why it was that certain facilities came equipped with shiny (happy?) toilet paper. I now have the definitive answer... and from the oddest place. So I was talking to a colleague today and the conversation somehow (and for reasons I’m not entirely sure) drifted towards what I described as “Municipal shiny toilet paper”. I was basically pondering its use when George came up with the answer. “It’s for health reasons” he said. “In what way?” “The paper is non-porus and bacteria cannot pass through it. So if people don’t bother or can’t wash their hands, they don’t walk around with bacteria on there hands.” The army uses it exclusively for this reason and its standard for kitchen staff in the MOD. So there you have it. That’s why municipal toilets in the 70’s / early 80’s used shiny toilet paper. It was a means to improve public health in the absence of people having the brains to wash their hands.

Funny old month

Rob — 2009-01-21T11:20:53+00:00

It’s been a funny old month. What with Gordon Brown PM suggesting that the entire nation would understand and accept Prince Harry’s racist comment. Firstly, I don’t think the entire nation didn’t. But then should we be surprised that Prince Harry has racist tendencies, what with his father Prince Charles calling a fellow polo player “Sooty”. “Sotty” is a non-white polo player. Still, the biggest racist gaff-meister has to be Prince Philip who has done as much for diplomacy as Hitler did for world peace. The list is endless and I won’t go into it here... but there’s got to be a website of his greatest hits. Well, that’s my two-penneth. So, now for something a little lighter. I have been trawling the iTunes music store (after a friend generously gave me a £15 voucher for helping out) and decided to have a listen to the original “The Mighty Boosh” radio show. It’s now prompted me to check out the TV series (shown on BBC Three) via my LoveFilm account. It’s hard to come up with an adequate description for the show. Essentially the first series (in Radio and TV) is centred around the surreal adventures of a couple of zoo keepers (if that’s not overstating a case). If I like them, I’ll buy the box sets (perhaps even from iTunes). Sadly, I missed out on getting the first TV show for just 99p an episode!

More email blues

Rob — 2009-01-14T11:39:56+00:00

I’ve got a serious techie blind spot. It’s email. There is just something about the way email works that conspires to make me change settings blindly or find solutions with issues. So far in the last six months I’ve moved from Yahoo, GMail, various solutions and now I’m looking at Apple’s MobileMe. Actually, to be fair, it’s not just the email that appeals. For a £150 I can get 5 machines backed up online, and so forth. It’s quite a neat solution (we are all Apple at home) and that really appeals to me. The bottom line is that while I’ve got it up and running on my MBP and even accessed my email remotely via a PC... I still cannot send email directly from my iPhone.

As if it couldn't get worse....

Rob — 2009-01-05T08:24:26+00:00

OK... Its official, the banks own everything. I’m not sure how much money Norwich Union got out of the Government hand out. But here is the latest ad campaign. Which stars (in no particular order). • Bruce Willis • Ringo Star • Alice Cooper • Dame Edna Everage Bruce Willis Driving Himself Mad in the Latest Norwich Union/AVIVA advert They even show computer edited clips from Die Hard 3. Amusingly, they introduce Alice Cooper. So... what’s that thing the media are telling us about the banks being totally poor and having not got two pennies to rub together? The motivation for the advert is that Norwich Union is changing its name to its parent companies title AVIVA. So we have Bruce asking where Walter Willis would have become famous etc etc

Happy New Year!

Rob — 2009-01-01T22:36:13+00:00

Need I add more?

Sweet J****s the world is over!

Rob — 2009-01-04T22:27:02+00:00

The world is over...... Iggy Pop is now hocking Car Insurance for less than middle of the road insurance company SwiftCover.com If there was ever a sign that the world was on the way, this would be. I mean how the hell did the snake of punk get rolled up with this. I mean I can see Johnny Liddon doing adverts for Anchor Butter because, lets face it, he was ALWAYS a sell out. BUT IGGY POP! Think about it, the mouth that uttered the enigmatic and ground breaking songs; No Fun, The Passenger, Lust for Life and Search and Destroy Is now talking utter BS about how he looses his insurance documents!

Hitler - The toothbrush

Rob — 2008-12-13T22:58:23+00:00

OK. This is going to sound a little crazy, I realise. But it’s got a basis. Is it me... or does this Braun Oral-B electric toothbrush looks like HItler? No... I’m being serious! I was sat in a hotel room reading a few days back and could see the toothbrush through the bathroom door and the likeness just struck me. I guess it’s partly because I’ve seen a stylised version of Hitler used in perhaps a less than tasteful advertising campaign for a hat making company in Munich. See below.... If only Hitler had bought a hat...

Manchester says NO to C-Charge

Rob — 2008-12-12T13:30:12+00:00

The people of Greater Manchester have voted. 79% have voted NO to the Transport Innovation Fund. The innovation being the fact that we would have to pay £5 a day for roads we have already paid for three times already. Local tax, vehicle excise duty and the tax in petrol. Out of the ten council districts to whom the referendum was sent, not a single one returned a yes decision. NOT A SINGLE ONE. So what does that mean for Manchester? Well, it does stop our area becoming a business black spot, that’s one hopeful outcome. I’ve looked at the the pro-TIF sites and obviously they remain unchanged. Unwilling to accept the reality that not everybody shares their opinion. Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council suggests that it’s the economic downturn. He is wrong.

The Da Vinci Spam

Rob — 2008-12-10T22:24:42+00:00

What is it with SPAM these days? Times where when you could expect at least a few lewd suggestions regarding the availability of female individuals or the implication you have a certain short coming. But these days the SPAM I check every week in the SPAM bin of our email server have more in common with the cryptic messages found in the “Da Vinci Code” than something more associated with the seedier side of the net. Not that I’m a big fan of the book / film. But you get the idea. I’d have used the reference to “Treasure Hunt” but I imagine I’ll be in the minority to remember that particular gem of Channel 4 television from the mid to late 80’s (1983-89 to be exact). Anneka Rice gets whizzed around the countryside in a helicopter while studio based contestants try to solve clues So what is all this cryptic nonsense about? I suspect somebody must imagine that it will somehow magically find it’s way through the SPAM filters and land on somebody’s desk. They are fooling themselves. It’s utter nonsense and the SPAM filters see it as such. Perhaps this is all a subtle plot and the Russians or Chinese are using SPAM to trigger sleeper cells. Okay. That’s rubbish, isn’t it!

Hang your heads in shame

Rob — 2008-11-30T14:37:30+00:00

If there is one thing I cannot stand it’s abuse of power. It has to be true that whenever you allow individuals to act in a management position over other individuals, there are those who consider it fair game to abuse such trust. Such is the case with these three police officers, members of Greater Manchester Police, stationed in Wigan. On the 27th of July this year they misidentified (not that this is any excuse) Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall (veteran of both the Afghan and Iraq war) as another man wanted in connection to an assault on ambulance crews. Without warning the three run at Lance Corporal Aspinall, causing him to fall over backwards. In which point our three cowards jump upon him, handcuff him and assault him. But don’t take my word for it. The video evidence of the attack is available from the BBC website and the Sunday Mirror website. What makes this more sickening is that Mark was actually convicted of assaulting THE POLICE OFFICERS. It was only when the case went to appeal and Crown Court Judge John Phipps watched the CCTV footage that the verdict was quashed. On seeing the video he said “I am shocked and appalled at the levels of police violence shown here”, adding that he had great concerns about the footage and branded the policemen as liars, saying “I would go as far as to say the statements (by the officers) contain untruths.” You’ll realise that would be a legal term. So you might imagine that given it got country wide coverage in the media that the new Chief Constable of GMP would have something to say by way of an apology or just a recognition of the incident. Well, check out his blog here. You’ll notice at this time he has name made any reference to the incident that’s currently blighting his service, which I find particularly appaling in itself. Of particular note in this incident is PC Lightfoot or Orrell, Wigan. The 20 stone officer who repeatedly punches Lance Corp. Aspinall in the head. The IPCC is investigating as I write. Whether or not this will be another white wash or something actually comes of it, that’s anyone’s guess.

Polar bears AGAIN!

Rob — 2008-11-24T22:33:52+00:00

Will somebody in the know PLEASE tell the media that they can bloody swim! ITV had some sodding program about Polar Bears and how one has been recorded as swimming 300 miles. And you point is what? If you'd actually look at migration, swimming, hunting patterns of Polar Bears; while 300 miles is extreme it is no way unique. But I'll save you the Polar Bear details for next month and my debate with Marcus Brigstocke.

Coming next Month

Rob — 2008-11-24T22:29:29+00:00

I have an email environmental 'debate' with Marcus Brigstocke who then appears to be attacked in the crouch by a cat. Guess it must have been all those awkward facts. I contact the head of Salford Primary Care Trusts regarding the Fluoridation he wishes to introduce and ask whether he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Can you guess the reply? ... all this and more coming in December.

C-Charge paperwork at home

Rob — 2008-11-24T22:20:16+00:00

I've been informed today that the referendum for the Manchester C-Charge has already landed on my door. Ironically the anti-C charge league have erected a huge advertisement on the side of the M60 motorway on the way from junction 13 of the M60 to the Warrington on the M62. I was going to vote YES but seeing as the GMPTA didn't bother and the sign was so nice, I'm going to vote NO. he he he :-) I'm rather hoping that the majority of Manchester will feel the same way as I do. I don't take kindly to being TOLD what to do from Westminster and then threatened to vote YES or ELSE. Fact is, even if they do stumble, they are not going to have a major re-think. No, they will just try again and again with the same old idea until so muppet votes YES and we all end up paying a fortune to live in the city we were born. The fact that they are trying to introduce this at the time of economic crisis is simply beyond me. It's as though the economic uplift we've all enjoyed in the city has upset somebody and now we are being made to toe the line. You can trace all this back to when Prescott (John) first supported secured (low rate) lending to expand the MetroLink and then decided to reject it. Then he wondered why he wasn't exactly regarded as Mr Popular. You know, I can't help but wonder what Tony Wilson would have thought of all this?

Crap Parkers of the Month

Rob — 2008-11-24T21:53:38+00:00

It's been quite a while since I've last ran the "Bad Parking Award" but a very necessary trip to the local electrical store to pick up a new washing machine paid dividends on what had to be the worst car parking I've ever seen. So in no particular order.

Mercedes Benz CLR 320 CDi BF07FZG

As we can see this car is so delicate that it is necessary to make sure that nobody can park too close to it.

Rover 24 W381LNA

I can only assume the owner of this Rover 25 is so embarrassed to be driving it that it's simply a case of dump and abandon rather than parking. You should note that the owner actually managed to nose the car into the facing bay!

Ford Fiesta MV55DCG AND Vauxhall Astra N10 OGF

A DOUBLE EVENT!! Yes, one of the most compact cars on the UK market. Yet the owner appears to think it's more tank than midge. You could suggest that the bad parking is the result of the Astra (also over the line). But if this is the case, why not park in the perfectly valid parking space one away? It was obviously empty when they parked.

Vauxhall Astra YG57KXV

I'm at a loss to figure out which of the two spaces they were attempting to park in. But what gets me is that they clearly must have seen how badly they were all parked and yet could not be bothered to correct the problem. I should point out that there was at least half a dozen more cars dotted around the place and these were by no means atypical. But if you ARE a rubbish parker, get an Astra. Seems to be the done thing.

Manchester C-Charge - Pay twice for your roads?

Rob — 2008-11-15T18:38:40+00:00

Or a tale of the stick and then the bigger stick

So, time to put my thoughts on the Manchester C-Charge down. But before I do, I want to point something out, I'm not going to be affected by it, not in any way. So I'm haven't really got a personal reason to kick off about this. But I'm gonna. Why? Well, first we have the buried Manchester University report that said that the congestion charge would INCREASE pollution in the centre and the fact that year on year congestion is DROPPING and not increasing. Then there is the the threat. Which is what is REALLY making me hot under the collar. It appears that if we vote "No" to the congestion charge, then we will not receive funds for improving the transport in Manchester. Now lets just take a moment to take that in. Year on year our local rates are in part funding transport in Greater Manchester and vehicle excise duty is collected to improve roads across the UK. So given we've already paid this money, if the majority vote NO and no money is to be spent, can be have our rates / VED back? Obviously, I'm totally disgusted by the bully boy tactics and I can't imagine anybody else in the area is impressed by them.

Shared loos to stop bullying?

Rob — 2008-11-20T18:11:54+00:00

So tonight's light weight Granada Reports new program has highlighted Worden Sports College's attempts to stop bullying by introducing 'Unisex' Loos. Can somebody explain to me exactly how that's going to work? I mean if people bully other people in the playground what's a unisex loo going to do? The effective experiment has cost £85k. I'm not sure how they managed to spend that amount of money on toilets... but there you go. Perhaps it's £20k for the toilets and £65k for the 'designer' blue (for boys) and pink (for girls) doors.

The Worst Kind of Ex-Pat

Rob — 2008-11-10T19:59:26+00:00

You know, working in the service industry means having to put up with the worst kinds of people and having to smile back at them. Case in point. Tonight, instead of the usual 5 minute pleasantries rewarded with a key to my hotel room; I had to put up with a 30 minute diatribe of the worst order. Our players are two The poor receptionist, in the hotel I'm staying all week, has just had to put up with the very worst kind of Ex-Pat. This pair of moaning coffin dodgers are on a visit home to Milton Keynes partly for a funeral and partly to see their grandson. Frankly, it sounded more like their funeral. They didn't like the weather - Well, here's a surprise... it's November. What did you expect? 30c and blue skies! They didn't like the roads - Although they did admit that they were better! No, I don't understand that either. Then we had to suffer the virtues of Cyprus (Greek) rammed down our throats like a sweaty Kebab. Now I'm sure that Cyprus is a wonderful place full of interesting and exciting people. But there two biggest selling points were: 1 They could smoke anywhere. 2 Drink was 60 pence a litre and you could drink a litre in a day and still feel fine to drive. So in other words.... What they hated about the UK was our Nanny State law about sharing their addiction to cancer and our Draconian view of drink driving. The patriac of the pair added "We're not coming back. We've not missed England." I guys my only reply to that would be "It's not missed you." Oh, and before I forget. The reason I was dragged into this conversation was that the woman was complaining bitterly that her 'cheap as anything' Cyprus Pay as you Go phone wasn't working. She also bragged about how cheap it was because it was actually operated by an African provider. But sadly, Vodafone weren't impressed by her international roaming credentials. Who would have thunk it! As the late Bill Hicks would say.

Super fast catchup....

Rob — 2008-11-10T19:51:24+00:00

It's been over a month since I last put a post online and to be honest I've been feeling the need. One thing I didn't want to do is create the ever swelling ranks of people in the UK debating the merits of the US Presidential election, it's outcome or the actual significance here in the UK. I can but hope that Mr Obama spreads peace and wealth to ALL nations and so forth. Of course, that sort of talk got a certain J Kennedy shot.... or are we STILL to believe that Oswald killed him on his own. Away from all that 1 I bought a 3G iPhone. Not sure what all the fuss about battery life is about. But then I've owned a number of Windows Mobile based devices... so I guess I'm used to charging up every other day (or in the HTC Exec... every 9 hours!). 2 Two of the kids have had birthdays.... and a really cool party on a Canal Barge. 3 I've changed my car for an economic runabout and now I'm looking to change back; because when you're on the motorway and you are between trucks... it's like being inside a tin can in terms of feeling safe and secure. Not that I'm going to swing 180 degrees and go '4x4'! 4 Works been intense with more and more people pulling me in separate directions. Sadly, cloning NOT an option. 5 Going to try and blog each night... as a kind of Catharsis. 6 My trusty (2.5 year old) MacBook Pro is showing signs of hard use and old age. One of the USB ports now refuses to power full gusto USB 2 devices. But more on the options in another post. So from now on, my posts should be brief and probably moaning. :-)

Proud American (8 year old author?)

Rob — 2008-10-11T09:25:31+01:00

Have you ever followed a link off ITunes movie trailers, just for the hell of it? What a mistake. Proud American At first I thought it was actually a comedy, a spoof.... but NO. It's the very worst trailer for what could easily be the most stomach churning sycophantic film of all time.

EDS good again! This time it's MOD files on the loose

Rob — 2008-10-10T12:08:05+01:00

The HP recently acquired IT services company EDS has yet again put sensitive information on the streets due to carelessness. This time it's MOD information. You might remember that prior to that they mislaid a laptop. What really gets my goat is that EDS nearly always ends up being 'preferred' supplier despite their atrocious record of late deliveries, poorly fitting IT solutions, over charging and incompetence... and I speak as somebody who was hired in by them on two occasions and was offered a job by them.

Nostalgia for a past that didn't exist

Rob — 2008-10-07T19:18:30+01:00

Dame Helen Mirren just suggested she'd like to live in the 19th century because "It wasn't polluted". Oh really. Perhaps Dame Helen would like to tell us all how people heated their houses or cooked their food? Solar panels? Windmill power? No... wood. Burning HUGE amounts of wood. Or converting it to charcoal and burning that. How much wood? Enough to nearly deforest all of England to the point that the Crown had to create designated preservation areas. You know I'm always fascinated by this, it was better in the past mentality. It really, really wasn't. If you got ill, you could die and what's more; there was nobody to help you or who would want to. There's poverty and starvation and death. Something that we in the UK don't really have to worry about because no matter how far you fall, there are opportunities to be helped. But not in the 19th century. You fall from grace, you die. That's how cruel life was. And their are even people on YouTube who think that returning to that would be a step in the right direction. Little do they really know.

The cats meow - count the cost

Rob — 2008-10-07T18:57:46+01:00

Just caught another outstanding (sarcasm) story from the Look East team. So.. woman in Northampton's cat suddenly stopped meowing and she took it to the vet. The diagnosis was a paralysed larynx that required surgery or the cat 'might' die. Cost.... £9,000. Let me say that again

£9,000

And the cat, remember, is twelve years old. But the icing on the cake for this stupid cat story. The owner.... Jean Kelly. How cruel were HER parents!?!

Sell your home, rent it back schems get a slamming... WHY!?

Rob — 2008-10-06T18:25:24+01:00

The BBC just ran a critique of companies that purchase people in serious debts and then allow them to rent them back. "Beware", they said, "there might be serious implications ahead.". We are then treated to the now 'terrible' domestic life of a family who subsequently "lost" their house to one such company. Now they are having "suffer" in "rented accommodation" (which happened to look nicer than their old home). Now, given it seems pretty clear that they'd only loose the house if they didn't pay the rent I'm not sure how we are meant to feel this is terrible. Especially when we have to consider that the father of the family pointed out that they HAD paid off all their debts. So here we have it in a nutshell. They sold their old house for an amount they agreed too. All their debts were paid off and then they failed to keep up payments to keep in their old house and get evicted. And this is the fault of the "Buy back" company in what way? I mean if you consider that they might have been a few days late of payment, what's the excuse. Their debts were clear. But are we really meant to consider that living in a rented house is so bad? Right now the rental market is excellent for the renter. Prices are at an all time low and quality can be obtained for less than the 60% of the equivalent mortgage on the place. Examples? Well, a house that sold for £700k in Lytham WITH swimming pool was up for rental for £1,500 a month. Or perhaps a nice little Spanish style five bed detached in Telford... £950 a month. It had a HUGE garden. But I digress. What made the report worse was the mother saying "They just kept calling and calling and 'made' us sign up". MADE THEM? HOW? At gun point? Simple advice.... PUT THE PHONE DOWN!!!!! Phew, glad I got that of my chest. Comments anyone?

Oh, X-Factor Off!

Rob — 2008-10-05T15:23:08+01:00

I had the great misfortune to have to watch X-Factor the other day. I say misfortune for obvious reasons and have too, well it was my daughters 9 birthday and she 'had to have it on' for reasons that are not exactly clear. So, what's my rant about today. Just this. On at least three occasions the contestants claimed they had to win X-Factor because "they were working class". I'm sorry? So X-Factor is now the only escape for the poorer of our nation? Is that it? Forget hard work or extra (and often FREE) college study. Or applying yourself to get a job and promote yourself. No! Forget all that! Just go on X-Factor. I guess I take this doubly personal because I grew up in the 70's in a single parent family. Just what exactly is X-Factor trying to tell the majority of people who watch this rubbish. You're poor and therefore your a nobody. I'm sorry, but f*%@ off! It's both insulting and exploitative because, lets face it, the poorer of our nation have just got to be the target audience of this drivel. If I was a single parent family, working hard to improve myself, I'd be pretty gutted to hear all the contestants and their sob stories. But I'm not, I'm lucky enough to have grown up in a household where I was constantly pushed to improve myself through education. But maybe that's the point. Because suddenly it's OK to moan about your lot and claim there is nothing you can do about it. Like all those parents who claim their kids run wild and it's not their fault. *Phew* Rant over.

When a condition isn't good enough

Rob — 2008-10-01T23:41:56+01:00

Had a fantastic bug the other day. In fact it's still a mystery as to why this is a problem. But there you go. Here was the original "Where" clause for an invoice report. Where ( CASE WHEN IsDate(tblOrder. SentDate) = 0 THEN '19000101' ELSE CONVERT(DateTime, tblOrder. SentDate, 103) END BETWEEN CONVERT(DateTime, @FromDate, 103) AND CONVERT(DateTime, @ToDate, 103) ) AND ((tblCustomer.customerid = @customerID) or (@customerID is null)) We changed the billing date and ended up with this query.. Where ( CASE WHEN IsDate(tblOrder. AvailableForBillingDate) = 0 THEN '19000101' ELSE CONVERT(SmallDateTime, tblOrder. AvailableForBillingDate, 103) END BETWEEN CONVERT(SmallDateTime, @FromDate, 103) AND CONVERT(SmallDateTime, @ToDate, 103) ) AND (cust.customerid = @customerID) or (@customerID is null) ... only trouble is, while the CustomerID section worked fine T-SQL TOTALLY ignored the first part of the where clause. I mean, totally. At first we couldn't believe it and ran it on a number of servers. But to no affect. The problem? Well, SentDate was declared as DateTime format while AvailableForBillingDate is defined as a SmallDateTime. But why would create a section of clause to be ignored, that's a realy mystery. In the end, I employed a trick and included the conditions of the Where clause within the From section. FROM inner join ... tblOrder as ord on ... and ord. AvailableForBillingDate is not null and ord. AvailableForBillingDate >= @FromDT and ord. AvailableForBillingDate <= @ToDT inner join ..... Where (cust.customerid = @customerID) or (@customerID is null) Now SQL responds to the query. How odd is that.

Share prices fall.... and your point is?

Rob — 2008-10-01T23:03:17+01:00

OK. I really want to spell something out here. Shares are not real. They are banking world equivalent of betting slips 5.15 a Claptown - Apple 4-2 etc etc. It's the way speculators value the bet on a companies performance to profit in order to attract buyers to purchase shares in that company. The bottom line is that if enough people say a company is duff... people sell their shares, the share price drops. But here's something... the company isn't affected. Because share price and day to day trading HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. I'll repeat that... THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. That is, unless, you're trying to raise capital. If that's the case, then banks value your company on it's current performance on the balance sheets and a certain percentage indicator on the stock exchange. What a examples? Well take Yahoo. When the dot com bubble burst it shares plummeted down to next to zero. But they are still in business 8 years later. Why? Because their business model of paid advertising in listings and secured listings was sound. Hell, look at Google. They stole the idea and are not cash rich. Are their shares falling, yes. Are they any less richer? Nope. The bottom line is that every single day the media bombards with you with the shares going up and down and IT'S ALL COMPLETE SHIT. The reality is this. The big banks, and by which I mean the REALLY BIG banks, those that lend directly to the high street banks all decided that they were going to cut off the practically credit. Suddenly mortgage companies that had de-mutualised found themselves in the situation of not being able to quickly turn over mortgages (their main source of income) and with shortfalls on their books. Now normally that would be OK. Because if a bad debtor forcloses on the loan, hell you can get a new tenant in. But as no new credit was available and the oil price was rock high it meant that an increasing number of US lenders couldn't meet payments and nobody could replace them. Once the housing markets starts to slump then it starts hitting all the other industries related to it and sure enough a panic hits the stock market and economy in general. So did too many people get too greedy? Well, while it's true to say that 110% mortgages had disaster written all over them, it was the lure of cheap money and then the suddent removal of it that caught the majority out. I'm talking about the banks here, not the people. After all, if you lend money to somebody who can't afford it... who's the idiot in this equation? Then I started to think that all this sound very familiar. Like I'd heard something like this happening before... and sure enough I had. From Social and Economic History, all those years ago in college. 1907 US Banking Panic. I'd not bother with the Wikipedia article, if I were you. Looking at the history it's been filleted. Instead, turn to this lengthy and accurate documentary The Money Masters. What was it Garfield once said "He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation". You bet your ass.

Cor blimey! October

Rob — 2008-10-01T22:58:13+01:00

Sorry.. but with the looks of things it's been over a month since I last put .. er.. finger to keyboard. Has it really passed so quickly? I guess it must have. But to say I've nothing to talk about would be a total lie. So I'd better start tapping.

You reckon?

Rob — 2008-09-06T13:25:24+01:00

Just been reading this article on Cnet regarding Tuesdays Apple event. I think it's pretty obvious the iTunes is going to get a revamp. Apart from the obvious 'falling down on the pure weight' factor of having EVERYTHING go through it, it's not exactly smart of handling multiple iPod / iPhone combinations. But hey, it's a richer environment than the competition; which is why I guess it's so popular. The Nano... well, it's not lighting my boat. But then I never saw a need for it because I always needed capacity, comments regarding the iPod classic updates just being increased capacity would fit in line with that thinking. But come on Cnet! The new iPod touch having features from the new iPhone. You think?! I mean how much of a stretch was that to work out. OF COURSE IT WILL! Why maintain two disparate chip sets? It makes no sense. As for hard drive or 64gb option. It's a possibility sure, but what about the price. Most people consider the entry £200 as being FAR TOO MUCH and the £329 for 32gb is even worse. I don't know what the comparison of sales of iPod Touch to iPhones is, but I'm pretty sure the iPhone must sell at the very least double. I mean... it's £159 and you get a decent phone and a REALLY generous data plan. Anyway, back to the show. There's a slim possibility of a subscription 'all you can eat' model for getting music. I did say 'slim' but Apple does have the technology to manage that kind of thing.

Best and Worst Meals On The Road

Rob — 2008-08-31T17:53:07+01:00

Worth the stop?

It's always struck me that the fast food industry is more about numbers than happy customers. OK, that's pretty obvious. But the long term strategy of keeping customers alive, you would imagine, would be a strategy any good food vender would be interested in. You would imagine. Perhaps that's unfair. But what is fair to say, is that despite a lot of adverse publicity to the contrary, the calorie (kcal) and fat content of the most popular purchased items remains surprisingly high. What's even more of a surprise is the identity of the worst culprits. The results of which can be found on this link here. It should be noted that I've NOT included 'specials' such as the current Batman Movie related Dark Whopper or McDonald's recent 'Tastes of America'. But I will mention the 'Dark Whopper' at the end.

Do as I say, not as I DID

Rob — 2008-08-28T19:42:44+01:00

So in the news just a few days back US President George Walker (no jokes) Bush has 'had a go' at Russia for invading a sovereign nation without provocation. Is it me, is does W'ya suffer from a severe case of irony deficiency. I mean he is a satirical comedians wet dream!

Doesn't anyone in Wales sound Welsh these days?

Rob — 2008-08-26T18:26:43+01:00

Just an observation, but I caught the news tonight and it highlighted the Welsh Olympians going home. Not a single one of them sounded Welsh! What's that about? Don't get me wrong, I love the Welsh language and I'm happy to admit I'm 1/4 Welsh. But what's the score with the lack of Welsh voices in the Olympic 'Welsh' team.

Too scared to view

Rob — 2008-08-12T21:17:24+01:00

I'm not going to watch the TV tonight. I'm too scared. Not too scared of the current goings on in Georgia. That's all to complicated to pick through just yet. I mean clearly Russia could easily have more than the odd motive towards shutting down the BP gas / oil pipeline that runs through Georgia. But then other people also have stronger motivations towards getting some NATO / UN troops in their. I'll need to get a few days at the full facts to get a better picture. It's not about the Olympics either, though god only knows I'm sick of it. I think it has to be the bloody commentators. Where the hell do they get them?

ITV to give up public remit

Rob — 2008-08-06T20:31:44+01:00

ITV is in trouble.... again. You can't expect it to do very well, it's a huge organisation and advertising revenues are on the dive. So they are going to drop their public service broadcaster remit. Which shocks me, because quite frankly I didn't realise they HAD a public broadcaster remit, not in the definition I understand it to mean. But Michael Grade made some excellent points on Channel 4 news this evening. For example; while they are allowed to show films like "Casino Royale", a film packed with product placement, they are not allowed to do it themselves. Personally, I think they'll be better off dropping the licence. It's a fairly unbalanced state of affairs with the BBC getting the licence fee and also having all the luck at present in terms of successes. But it's not always been that way, in fact it's been only in the last 10 years that the BBC has been so 'on top'. Prior to that, ITV had all the best programs and nearly all the viewing figures. Where did it go wrong?

Bin Laden's Driver Guilty.... great

Rob — 2008-08-06T20:18:56+01:00

So one of the big stories today is that the driver of Osama Bin Laden has been found guilty in the US Military Commission. That's not a jury trial, mind. It is a Military court with six army officers specially selected by the Pentagon. So... no card stacking here then. Who's up next week? Bin Laden's dentist? Bin Laden's pastry chef? Given the US's resources... how come they've yet to find Bin Laden. Odd that. What's all that about?

Is Linus spinning yet?

Rob — 2008-08-05T23:43:50+01:00

Forty years ago Nobel prize winning scientist Linus Carl Pauling introduced the concept of high doses of Vitamin C as a treatment for Cancer (he was introduced to the idea himself by Irwin Stone) he was right royally ridiculed by the scientific world. Linus had committed the ultimate sin, he'd piddled in somebody else's pond (field) and they were not going to stand for it. This somewhat reminds me of the current climate change debate. Or rather the lack thereof. Those uppity Paleoclimatologists keep ruining a good theory with some rather 'Inconvenient Facts' (sorry, couldn't resist). But before I get sidelined, back to Pauling. So now Linus must be spinning in his grave (if indeed he was buried) because today Cancer Research UK have completed studies that "suggested large vitamin C doses may interfere with cancer treatment". What... like HE said. You do start to consider how many people who have died may still be alive right now if the idea of trial and error (lets face it, they were dying anyway) could have saved at least some of them. Sadly, Linus's own personal tragedy is that his wife died of cancer and he himself died of prostate cancer. But then it should be noted that he was in fact 93 years old and I think statistic say that 90% of men over 90 years of age have it. The treatment being more devastating than the disease. I'll spare you all the gory details, although you can read the article here. But even a layman's eye will see how extraordinary the process is. The vitamin C reacts with this chemical make-up, producing enough hydrogen peroxide to kill the cancer cell, while leaving healthy cells unscathed. Mind you... walking around with all that hydrogen peroxide in your system, you might get labelled a bomb waiting to happen by the powers that be :-). Best be careful around lit matches.

More BBC BS? House of Saddam

Rob — 2008-08-01T11:09:22+01:00

Just a quick note. BBC are pretty much pushing their due docu-drama "House of Saddam". I've just got one question. Are they going to cover the Iraq - Iran war where the Americans sold biological, chemical and other such weapons of mass destruction. I think John Bird and John Fortune put it best. "We know exactly what weapons Saddam has?" "Really, how?" "Well, we've still got the invoices.". Here's a video of Rumsfeld shaking the glad hand with Saddam. I've got to say something. Why I'm so down on the BBC. You see, I used to respect them. To me, the BBC was the one bastion of honesty in the UK. But ever since the whole "Hutton Enquiry" and the very public threats to the structure and indeed nature of the license fee, the BBC has effective shut up and is now towing the Government line. The Hutton Inquiry. Remember that... Effectively the BBC accused the Government of 'sexing up' the report of Saddam's ability to attack the UK with weapons of mass destruction. The report stood to beat down the BBC and in particular the journalist Andrew Gilligan. You may remember the case more clearly if I was to mention Dr David Kelly. Who, it is supposed, committed suicide as a result of the BBC reports blowing open his cover as the original whistle-blower. But it was the Government who names Kelly. In the five years since he whole debacle it's been pretty much accepted that like the US equivalent, the 'September Dossier'. But take the events out of context. "The Government wants to prove the case for mass destruction. They include a panel to create a dossier. One member of the team thinks the statements are being exaggerated to make a case and leaks this information to the press, in order to stop it. He is then found dead in a wood." No... that doesn't sound suspicious at all. :-) This interesting clip from You Tube has a lot to show. Including an interesting slip around 1:12. 'doubts'? Hmmmm.

Oh and another thing!

Rob — 2008-08-01T10:46:06+01:00

When I was Milton Keynes earlier this week I had to listen to the news presented on Look East come out with one of my pet hate statements. It's the use of "literally" in a completely stupid context. It would appear that these four lady protesters were 'literally' galvanised. What?! They've been dipped in molten zinc in order to protect them from corrosion!? Seems a bit severe... and they look pretty good from it. It reminded me of a story my Grandfather told me. But perhaps it's not a good place to write this up. It was a story of mercy and tolerance. Somehow I don't think the outcome would be the same today. Have a nice day!

Not so smug now..

Rob — 2008-08-01T08:56:56+01:00

So... the very week after "The Now Show" went overboard in levels smugness over the fact that Channel 4 got 'kind of' nobbled by Ofcom. To be honest, the Ofcom report was actually quite tame. At least it was tame compared to the general drubbing the Corporation got handed out when Ofcom nailed them for faking quizzes. In one example, 17 times! They got a £400,000 fine. Reduced 100 times due to the fact the BBC is paid for by licence fees. In other words, the General public would have had to pay. I wonder how smug the Now Show is going to be this Friday. Somewhat less I imagine.

Wow.. thanks The One Show

Rob — 2008-08-01T05:17:54+01:00

Wow... According to "The One Show" peat absorbs carbon dioxide. Really, because I don't mean to be funny... THAT'S HOW THE BLOODY CARBON CYCLE WORKS! Is the entire country stupid?!

No longer Global Warming... so lets change the name

Rob — 2008-07-19T14:07:08+01:00

You know, something that's really amused me over the last few months has to be the way the media has switched tact's on the whole 'Global Warming' thing. Earlier this year we had a very mild winter, in which ALL (and I mean ALL) news reports and weather reports stated that it was global warming in action. However, since March, it's been one of the mildest and wettest Summers for a number of years. No anybody who can be bothered to look at the eleven year solar cycle could see that little number coming, but lets not get in the way of a good con. No, it's no longer 'Global Warming'. Especially as the last six years have seen a steady decline to global temperatures. Where was THAT story reported? No, from now on it's going to be called 'Climate Change'. Well, here is the thing. The climate is constantly changing. Sometimes it goes very, very hot. From 200 B.C. to A.D. 600 saw the Roman Warming period of 800 years; from 600 to 900 A.D. the cold period of the Dark Ages lasting 300 years; from 900 to 1300 was the Medieval warming period lasting 400 years; and 1300 to 1850, the Little Ice Age lasting over half a century. There's something else. Despite what you hear on TV. THERE IS NOT A, NOR HAS THERE EVER BEEN, A SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS THAT CO2 IS CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING. Sorry to shout, but being one and having spoken to many, many scientists on the subject, it drives me ABSOLUTELY LOOPY to keep hearing this phrase on TV. Pushed down our throats. Comments welcome.

Al Gore is a liar and a hypocrite.. there I said it

Rob — 2008-07-19T13:42:19+01:00

Right now, nobody annoys me more than Al Gore. Why? Surely this bastion of an eco-warrior should be above insults. Acquiring as he has a kind of saint like divinity, not to mention a Nobel prize. You know Nobel, invented Dynamite, Gelignite and more seriously Balistite; a mixture of soluble nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin specifically designed so that snipers could shoot people and their rifles wouldn't give them away with the telltale smoke of gunpowder. What a nice chap. Back to Gore. Gore... I mean even his name has a nasty edge to it. But get this, recently he's been telling the people of the US to use less gas (petrol) and so on and so forth. In the same way that Gordon Brown told us all to stop wasting food a matter of hours before tucking into a eight course meal during the G8 summit. I digress. No, Al Gore's greatest crime in my mind is hypocrisy.

Here's a picture of Al Gore's house, or rather the front of it. Because it's far more extensive at the back than you might imagine.

So I've included an image taken from satellite so you can see the true extent. But that's not the story. No, the real story is that despite Al Gore bragging he'd made extensive changes to his own home to become more eco-friendly; it still manages to burn through 191,000kWh or electricity versus a average of 15,500kWh. Keith Olbermann, who's show Countdown I like (if not always agree with) points out that the majority of the electricity comes from renewably sources. SO WHAT!!?! That's like saying it's OK to run a 3mpg car because it runs on Vegetable Oil. Are they seriously telling us that it's impossible to get the house more efficient that TWENTY TIMES THE LOCAL AVERAGE!!?! My other question would have to be; What the hell is he running in their?! James Bond style laser beams?! Wait... what if Al Gore is creating Global Warming by some kind of electrically powered 'death ray'!!! :-)

Google Street View car spotted on M1.. heading NORTH!

Rob — 2008-07-11T15:02:45+01:00

So I was driving home today on the M1 and just around Watford Gap I spotted the Google Street View car! Luckily, my colleague was able to grab a few snaps using my camera phone. I was driving, obviously. It looks like a lot of weight on top of an Vauxhall (Opel / GM) Astra. But there you go. Not sure what it must be like in a strong wind! As you can see, it's not taking many images at present. Just as well, or there would be 20 miles of me following it. Which does make me wonder if anybody has started a game of trying to get their picture taken as often as possible. So you appear on the same road ten times or something.

The return of Award Time!

Rob — 2008-07-10T20:11:41+01:00

It's been a few months since I last ran the Bad Parking Awards. To be honest, I've actually been quite fortunate to have been parking with some decent fellow parkers. But in the last two days, it's all gone to pot. I need a BIGGER SPACE!

Despite the rather generous parking spaces on offer outside most Travelodges, why is it nearly impossible for this VW Passat to find in a space. I'm in the Punto and there is the same space on the right of the car as can be seen on the left.

Maybe he (it was a he, by the way) needs the white lines to guide him in. I was lucky to be able to take this picture out of my hotel room window. So you can get the full effect. The Vauxhall (Open) Corsa's front wheels are actually over the white lines at the front. I guess their other car is a stretch limo. That or an articulated lorry. ;-)

Clean skies means hotter climes

Rob — 2008-07-09T22:44:02+01:00

I've been reading New Scientist from 5 July (2008) and all the way back on page sixteen is a article that I was so surprised to read I had to read it at least two more times. Coincidentally I was having a conversation with the lady on reception about the weather and she said she'd NEVER had a Summer this wet. "Never?" I asked, "I'm sure that's not right." (It isn't, but I digress). Anyway, it sparked a whole conversation about global warming, is it real, is it natural etc. etc. So when I got to page sixteen and read this little story, it just compounded what I suspect was the case anyway. You'll realise that I grew up in the 1970's. Coal was extensively used for domestic heating back then, cars ran without catalysts and put out Carbon Monoxide and ALL aerosols operated using CFC laden gases. The story reads;

Europe's clear air makes for brighter days but hotter climes

Good-bye air pollution and smoky chimneys, hello brighter days. That's been the trend in Europe for the past three decades - but unfortunately cleaning up the skies has allowed more of the sun's rays to pierce the atmosphere, contributing to at least half the warming that has occurred. Since 1980, average air temperatures in Europe have risen 1ºC: much more than expected from greenhouse-gas warming alone. Christian Ruckstuhl of the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science in Switzerland and colleagues took aerosol concentrations from six locations in northern Europe measured between 1986 and 2005, and compared them with solar-radiation measurements over the same period. Aerosol concentrations dropped by up to 60% over the 29 year period, while solar radiation rose by around 1 watt per square metre (Geophysical Reseach Letters, DOI: 10.1019/2008GLO34228), "The decrease in aerosols probably accounts for at least half of the warming over Europe in the last 30 years." says Rolf Philipona, a co-author of the study at Metroswiss, Switzerland's national weather service. The latest climate models are build on the assumption that aerosols have their biggest influence by seeding natural clouds, which reflect sunlight. However, the team found that radiation dropped only slightly on cloudy days, suggesting that the main impact of aerosols is to block sunlight directly. Now firstly, I'd like to comment that the later points with regards clouds not stopping solar radiation. I'm sorry, but these guys really should get out of the lab more often because this has been a known fact for years now. Anybody who has been sunburned in Florida on a cloudy day could have told them that. But to find out that efforts to improve air pollution has resulted in doubling (or greater) the effects of 'global warming' is really something of a slap in the face. I don't know what alarms me the most. I guess it has to be the admission that the computer models (those that Governments around the world are current basing increasingly aggressive and unbalanced taxation and legislation upon) is fundamentally flawed. Because how can you create a long term prediction on climate into the next century when you can't even model solar radiation correctly. This story should have been on page one of the New Scientists. But instead, its way back on page sixteen. Odd, I wonder why that is.

Family snaps get shared about

Rob — 2008-07-06T12:20:20+01:00

I've got to say I'm ALWAYS surprised when somebody says they like a picture I've taken. I guess if you take as many pictures as I do, you're bound to get something OK. :-) So I was more than chuffed to find out today they another of my pictures has been shortlisted for somebody's website. Fantastic! So far, my successes have been.....

Panoramio, which used to be in Google Earth but now the layer has gone. Ho hum. You can still find it on Panoramio. It's my picture of Disney's Saratoga Spring Resort and Spa. The original being here on Flickr.

Orlando Attractions Magazine published one of the panoramas I'd created from my trip on October 2007. It's a series of combined images of the "Curious George Goes to Town" play area. One of they very best places in Orlando to take kids when it's hot. Water pours down from gigantic buckets onto their heads. Take spare clothes.

Now Schmap has shortlisted my image to be used to hold a picture for the Downtown Disney restaurant "The House of Blues". Which is fantastic.... but... please, don't tell them that unlike the others in the short list, this isn't a 'professional' shot. It was actually a snap shot taken over my daughter's head. Ooop. Boy do I feel like a faker. :-)

UNBELIEVABLE!

Rob — 2008-07-06T10:24:16+01:00

UNBELIEVABLE! Just watched the pseudo religious / eco show Sunday Life on BBC One. They had an article about people growing their own food near Bristol. Which I think is great, I grew up on home grown vegetables as a child and quite frankly the taste is superior to anything you are likely to find in anything except the most local of farm shops. But that's my opinion. Then they linked into a group of individuals who are living mostly without using cash. OK, I think that's possible, they grew their own food etc etc. But he did odd jobs to make cash for goods. But then they went onto a scheme/society where they have 'totally eradicated money' because it made them a better community. Instead, what they do is sell goods or services and in exchange for paper cheques called LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems) which can in turn be traded for goods or services. IN WHAT WAY IS THIS NOT MONEY!!!!! Just because it come from the Bank of England doesn't mean they aren't simply replacing one currency for another. They even 'trade' with local businesses (including the Co-Op), which is the principle of an exchange rate mechanism! When asked by Colin (Jackson) if it was 'like' money a spokeswoman said "No, because this is just paper." WHAT?!?!! I found myself doing a combination of trying to mouth off at the TV and being totally speechless. I applaud the ideals of trying to increase community relations - I'm with that. But don't try and fool yourself into thinking you've beaten capitalism when you've merely exchanged one currency for another. At some point somebody is going to start collecting LETS and then lending them with interest. Then they'll allow people to hand over their LETS to be lent out for a small commission. Then they'll start lending out more then they actually have in the vault and hey presto LETS fractional reserve banking. Oh, too late. Already done. Give me a break!

Uncovered : The War On Iraq - Review

Rob — 2008-07-03T22:14:04+01:00

Just wanted to drop out a quick recommendation for anybody looking for a good, well researched documentary then can I recommend "Uncovered : The War On Iraq". It's an outstanding piece of journalism with some star interviews from people within the intelligence community and beyond. What's more, it's irrefutable in it's damning evidence towards the decisions and misleading statements running up to the second Gulf war. This is no insane, radical conspiracy theory film. It's cold hard facts and I heartily recommend it. Or if you fancy something little different, why not. Walmat : The high cost of low prices or even Enron : The smartest guys in the room Both of which are superb.

Portsmouth University... wow.. time flies

Rob — 2008-07-02T21:23:44+01:00

I was looking at my CV the other day. Nothing unusual in that, often tenders required CV of our staff to be sent and I don't mind mine going into the bundle. The fact is, like I guess a lot of people, I only really read the last few entries and update them. Which results in a long CV but detailed CV. Trouble is, it was getting too long so I went back and had a look at all my early jobs. But before I get all very nostalgic for the past, what shocked me most was the year I started at University. I'll cut to the chase.... next year, it will be 20 years ago. TWENTY FRIKIN' YEARS!! So, while I University I saw in transition to GUI operating systems. First by my work on the Commodore Amiga on which we studies 68000 assembler and then C. And boy... did we appreciate the move to C, I can tell you. Then we did some DTP work on the MiniVax units.... then... heaven. We finally got our hands on the Macintosh machines in the Library and quite frankly.. it was the start of a love affair the remains with me. They just worked! OK! :-) I'm still in touch with a couple of those friends I met at University. I think I'll drop them an email to drop the bombshell. Why should it be just me feeling like an old git! Maybe I should claim I went while I was only 12. That would be ideal. So many things have changed at Portsmouth University. But the library still looks absolutely cool. This is how I remember it. Thanks to Bollops on Flickr for this wonderfully nostalgic picture (for me at least). Brings a very real tear to my eye. Why? I guess being a poor English kid, architecturally at least, it gave us a little feel of what Silicon Valley must be like. I still get that kind of feeling when I pass some buildings today. I must try and grab their picture more often.

Bold 2 in 1 with WHAT SMELLS EXACTLY!?!?!

Rob — 2008-07-01T21:03:21+01:00

I just caught the latest advert for Bold 2 in 1. It's a detergent and softener. Personally, I couldn't give a jot about it. Except this months flavour for Bold 2 in 1 is Lotus Flower and White Diamond. Could somebody tell me exactly what the hell "White Diamond" is meant to smell of? Really. I'm keen to know. Is it the same as Diamond White, which is a (not that good) cider available in 'cans' (would you believe). So you wash you clothes in cider.. I guess it must be apples. Sadly, the best cider house I ever frequented has closed. It was the "Ram Cider House" in Godalming, Surrey. When I was at the University of Portsmouth I had a good friend (still do) who lived in Godalming and we spent many a very happy and friendly weekend getting gently blitzed. With ciders called GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm) and Half-Grenade. You know you were in for a potentially rough time. But I never once had a hangover with cider... despite my best efforts. :-)

Dear god no! Superstars is coming back!

Rob — 2008-06-23T18:59:44+01:00

Right on the back of Gladiators coming back.. an even early variation on the theme returns. Yes, the 1970's classic SUPERSTARS is set to return to television. Even the 70's logo is there. Thankfully, like Gladiators it's on a channel most people won't watch. Phew.. we are saved. But it can't be much longer now until... It's a Knockout returns. I can't wait :-(

The northwind shall blow and we shall have....

Rob — 2008-06-23T18:54:33+01:00

... A Tree In Your Trampoline

So, last night it was pretty windy in Manchester. Actually, it was pretty windy all over. But in the middle of the night something cracked outside and we all held our breath waiting for the inevitable crash. Except... it didn't come. Because what happened is that the branch that snapped off landed in our kids trampoline! Just to put this into some prospective. The trampoline has a diameter of 15" (4.5m)! So this isn't exactly a tiny little branch. How it managed to plonk itself right in the middle of the trampoline without damaging the netting is a mystery. OK.. it's not that much of a mystery, but it did make me laugh this morning.

M6 / M1 car park - TMC - Silent....

Rob — 2008-06-23T18:29:44+01:00

Here are a few shots of the M6 Southbound from around 1pm today (23rd June 2008). As you can see, from the front and rear pictures, it's a car park! What's impossible to convey is just how hot it got on the carriageway. With little breeze and being the height of the sun, some people did find it a little too much. Luckily, fellow drivers helped out with water. I say fellow drivers because despite being there for over three hours, we only ever saw police / traffic officers whizzing by in police cars. Nobody bothered to see how we were going on.

Given what I've been blogging recently, I'm not surprised. So far, I've been unable to find out what's happened. Whilst I can see that AA had it listed as an accident, and I personally saw the central barrier being damaged, quite why it took over three and a half hours to clear the carriageway is beyond explanation! What's worse, in my mind at least is that the TMC (Traffic Message Channel) system didn't utter a peep. Nothing, nada, not a peep. Considering I paid an extra £30 of so for my TomTom One XL to have this kind of thing alerted to me. Amusingly, after the whole thing was over and we managed to get going... it started telling me about a 15 minute delay. TRY THREE HOURS MATE!

Twitter

Rob — 2008-06-23T18:14:22+01:00

After hearing the call to arms from Leo Laporte. I've decided to have a little experiment with Twitter. So I thought I'd have a go.

Did somebody take it too far?

Rob — 2008-06-22T00:15:59+01:00

Whilst I was looking for reference pictures for my 'policeman done wrong' post, I stumbled across this little gem from 2005. Did somebody take it all too seriously or went too far? Only murder offer murder mystery packages for private and corporate entertainment. It appears to be ran by an ex-police officer. So it will probably have more authenticity than, say, Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap". Not that the Mousetrap is really much of a mystery in the first place. But I'll not say who the murderer is...... Hmmm... how annoying could I be right now?

It's the law, when it suits them

Rob — 2008-06-21T23:17:27+01:00

Hello all, it's nice to be able to find the time to actually post a blog entry.. after such a long delay in doing so. As I've got something I want to get off my chest right away, I think I should do so. To be honest, it's two things. It all sorted of started this morning around 1am. Our next door neighbours had been out for the night, only to find they had locked themselves out. Now they thought they have given us a set of keys, but as it turns out they hadn't. Two weeks ago they have the locks changed on their front door (key broke in lock) and got a whole new set; but totally forgot to give us a copy. ...So as it was, I gave Anne and Neil a lift to Anne's son in Salford who just happened to have a copy of the correct set of keys. ...But on the way back home along the M602 a white car came hammering behind me on the slip road as we joined the M60. He (or maybe she) then decided that to hurry me along (after all, I was only doing 70mph at the time) it would be best to tailgate me around the apex of the corner (which is in effect a bridge over the M60 that eventually lowers and joins the main carriageway). In fact at one point he got so close that his lights were obscured by the boot of my car. But, I kept calm, didn't really mind. After all, we enter the motorway and more of less exit. ...The white car that was driving so dangerously and so aggressively. Well, it turned out to be a a sodding police car. The very sort of person you would expect to drive a lot better. He (or she) then proceeded to blast out of the entry slot road (across the white marker lines) and hammer away at 100mph plus. All of which under NO safety guise of blue lights and siren. What makes this worse in my mind is that it comes less than a day after a police van crashed into a car in Manchester, killing it's female driver. Well, the two incidents have nothing in common and I wouldn't like to compare the two. But it really does show a complete lack of responsibility on the part of the police in this area. For more evidence, I've just taken these pictures (and this prompted the post). We live a cul-de-sac close to a relatively busy road. The road at the top end of the junction is marked off with double yellow lines. ... Tall conifers line the end of the cul-de-sac and people driving into the close find any view INTO the road obscured by the trees. So imagine my annoyance and disgust when I spotted this police car reversing and parking into both the most blindest and most clearly marked NO PARKING ZONE. And to add insult to injury, in order to do this, the police driver actually drives up the pedestrian pavement to make it easier for them. ...Here they are reversing onto the pavement, at this point they nose was 3 feet into the main road. You can see in the water reflection from the reversing lights the curved curb of the pavement they are mounting. ...You'll notice how light's of the car opposite the police car are silhouetting something to the left of the police car. It's a huge tree that will block any sign of the police car being there as you turn into our cul-de-sac. ... Good job they have their lights on. ...He/she now decides to turn off their lights. Leaving only their red brake lights to illuminate the back of their car. ...In this picture you get to see just how dark it is at the top of cul-de-sac and just how much of his police car is illegally bumped on the pavement. Note the huge canopy of foliage shown by the orange sodium street light. In the brake lights you can clearly see the parallel double yellow lines. For reference, here is roughly the same patch in winter (2005). You can see the pavement and the trees. Of course, being winter.. they have no large amounts of leaves on them. ... But you can get the general road layout. So in this picture, the police car's front end is in line with the last tree on the left. ...The car in the middle is in the correct place to exit the road. The police car, therefore, really is set well into the blind spot of the bend. ...That some police officers are marginally better at preventing crime than they are complying with it. ...I'm not some anarchist of have a go type of bloke. But I just don't accept the 'do as we say, not as we do' attitude. ...Imagine how this police officer's attitude would be towards a private motorist who had taken it upon themselves to park on a blind bend, on the pavement. I sure it would meet with the same level of approval as I am currently giving "MX06CWV". MX06CWV, I've got your number mate.

Indiana Jones and the blah blah blah

Rob — 2008-05-30T02:21:31+01:00

So.. having heard all the relatively bad reviews in the media regarding Indian Jones and the (Whatever) I have to report that on the whole, I actually really enjoyed the film. Which, if you have read my previous post, was of some relief to me. OK, so some of the opening scenes had rather too much of the "Basil Exposition" about them. What with Jim Robinson (OK... Alan Dale) spilling out Indiana's entire war record in an accent that's American via South Africa. Actually that scenes that weakest in the entire film. So a good job they got it out of the way early! :-) I get what people are saying about the scene regarding his dead being dead. But it cuts into the arrival of a new person in his life. I'll not spoil it... although you'd have to be completely stupid not to work it out. The "brought a knife to a gunfight" line is interesting. I could only link it to the scene in "The Untouchables" where it is spoken by Sean Connery does his Scottish / Irish accent (as opposed to his Scottish/Russian, Scottish/Egyptian or any other variant). Back to the film. It's not a good as Raiders of the Lost Ark. But then that's a pretty high target. It looked fresh, people have fond memories. It's totally better than "The Last Crusade" which was a total mess and (if you ignore Kate Capshaw... not hard) it's probably on par with "The Temple of Doom". With better effects.... and ANTS!

Indiana Is Nearly Here..

Rob — 2008-05-23T14:40:57+01:00

Just a short post today. I'm back at base and time allowed me to take a look at the latest trailers for the Indiana Jones movie everybody is waiting for. The only problem is that I'm not one of them. Oh, please. Don't me wrong. I LOVED the Indiana Jones movies. I thought Raiders was (and I) one the best films ever made. It's fantastic. I even have a soft spot for "The Temple of Doom", especially if you've edited the move to remove all Kate Capshaw's screaming out! And that's my problem. I love the Indiana Jones movies so much, I hate the fact they've made a new film. I can't be alone in thinking that the delivery is in no ways going to meet the expectations.

Eggs on Balmer

Rob — 2008-05-21T21:55:10+01:00

Has everybody had a chance to watch the video of Steve Balmer getting pelted by eggs? I watched the video a few times from my hotel room and one question really sticks in my mind. No, not WHY was he pelted. How could he miss?!?! Sorry Mr. B. But exactly what level of security do you have when the guy has Microsoft = Corruption on the back of his shirt!! Come on!

FOR A PICTURE!!!!!!

Rob — 2008-05-20T20:44:51+01:00

About three months ago I had some work done on my Saab at Stratstone Saab. It's one of those jobs that only a Saab dealer can do (a rather expensive £500 'glitch') but as part of my complementary Stratstone gift park (for presumably keeping the dealer open for that month) there came a little black envelope into which a free photo-session at Venture was included. Now, right out of the gate I want to point out that I thought this was a complete scam. But despite all my best moaning and protestations 'the Mrs' took the kids anyway. In less than an hour they had all returned, with 'the Mrs' showing a somewhat paler complexion than she left with. Now Venture is a nation-wide chain of studios specialising in extracting large amounts of cash out of people with little or no sense. Sorry, but there it is. No I've always subscribed to the idea that stupid people and money were already showing unlikely signs of getting together in the first place. But there's a whole nation of people with iPhones to prove me wrong. Just to digress... it's a 2 MP camera phone that can't take video and you can't install 3rd apps (yet) onto; it costs a fortune to buy and the monthly tariffs are ridiculous (in the UK)... sounds perfect. Perhaps version 2, due in June, might be better. In the first instance, thanks stupid people for paying the way for a better phone. ...After your complimentary 30 minute session you are gifted a free photograph. ... I presume it is protected in some way to stop duplication. Perhaps a Venture watermark or such. But should you wish a second 5" x 7" picture. It's yours for just £75 ($150). ... For a 5x7 picture. ... But the price range gets better and better 10x8 is £150 ($300). Perhaps you might like something a bit more like a proper picture, framed. The VERY least you can pay is £325 ($650) for a 5x7 in a very cheap looking pine frame. ...They sell a composite picture, printed on canvas, made up of three 29" x 29" squares for... wait for it... hold breath. ... Just short of THREE THOUSAND POUNDS!!! You could get a car for that! ... Hell, you could probably get David Bailey for the piggin' day for that! My particular favourite is the book of ten photo-book with 5"x4" pictures in it. Yours for the bargain price of £1,050 ($2,100). Or for another £100, why not 15 pictures.

WHAT A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RIP OFF!!! ...Now quite aside from the fact that the quality could be questioned. Who the hell buys a picture like that. I mean it is beyond conspicuous consumption and enters into insanity. Like I say, the foolish and money were lucky to get together in the first place. So, what ARE the alternatives. Well, via Apple iPhoto you can order some very lovely books; both softback, hardback and wirebound. But the hardback version compares with Ventures. Only instead of being £1,050 for 10 pictures... it's actually £20 for either ten pages of double or single printed paper. Please note that each page can in fact have anything from a one to sixteen pictures upon it. So that would be a saving of £1,030. Now Apple don't do canvas prints; more is the pity. But Print on Canvas do. They offer various sizes and styles and their price range is between £25 for a 12" x 12" canvas print to £250 for a 60" x 60" print. Or does that sound more impressive as 5 foot by 5 foot. Either way, three by 29" x 29" would cost £285 from them (£95 each). So that's a saving of £2,615 pounds. So send it to them... and take a family holiday. ... Take the holiday and send some of the snaps to them. Another option is Photo Canvas Printing who offer some lovely little ones that look fantastic for baby pictures. Prices start at just £7.99. ...Get a half decent camera (check out this site or this site for the best reviews) and take lots of pictures.

Roll out the scape goats

Rob — 2008-05-06T19:55:51+01:00

I was reading on the BBC news website about a fraudulent mortgage broker who submitted false details to lenders in order to obtain mortgages; that couldn't be afforded. The story dovetails into a series of other such stories about dodgy mortgage brokers, self-certification mortgages. Which in turn caused the credit crisis ba-boom-da-boom - Hence a crisis. Only trouble is this. All mortgages have to pass through a basic credit worthiness check. So people's salary, savings and debts are all on record. In the UK this is done by Equifax or Experian. But the fact of the matter is that mortgage lenders DID have an opportunity to turn back risky clients, but chose not to.

The Conspiracy Files 9/11 : First 12.5 minutes

Rob — 2008-04-12T11:42:33+01:00

I've just found a bit of time to watch the first 5th of "The Conspiracy Files: 9/11" made by the BBC. So far, after just 12.5 minutes I've ended up with a few questions that the BBC seem to have created and washed over. Something I'm finding really very odd. 1) The show states that nobody expected such an attack. Yet this is plainly false as drills for such an attack had not only been carried out prior to 9/11 but according to testimony to congress were taking place ON 9/11. The WTC is shown in cross-hairs on a number of anti-terrorism documents (which contradicts Condoleezza Rice's statements they they never expected the WTC to be a target) and drills since the 1980's in the Pentagon for a jet liner being flown directly into it. 2) The show states that jets headed east towards potential foreign attackers. Who would that be? Surely the most likely origin of attack would be north west or west; TOWARDS Russia. Is is likely that Greenland would attack? After all, on that same day, we are told that Russian bombers had triggered an alert and intercept, giving the most likely direction of attack to be the west. Given the sheer performance of the F-16, it's unlikely it wouldn't be able to cover the 150-250 miles or so in a matter of a few minutes. Top speed at sea level of an F-16 is 915 mph and at altitude this would rise to 1,500 mph. That would average out at a performance of a one mile every three seconds. Not to mention to sophisticated radar and targeting system. 3) "They turned off the transponder and could not be found". "4500 aircraft across the country". Frankly this is the strangest claim. Now as the aircraft were known to be last detected in the North East of the states, why would ATC be looked at the rest of the country in the first place? Essentially air traffic control systems are built up a overlay of transponder signals and radar tracks. This is known as Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR). Unlike Primary Radar Systems (PRS) this system not only detects and measures and position of an aircraft, it also requests additional information (such as aircraft identification). So position and bearing are provided by Radar. Altitude and identification are provided by the Transponder. As for ATC identifying the aircraft. Well, they would be the ones on radar and without Transponders. Which the ATC systems automatically flag up. It works the same for light aircraft not fitted with transponders. This a known application. Of course, given the F-16 is capable of being fed this very same information. But given the first plane would have hit the WTC before they were scrambled, wouldn't you fly TOWARDS the obvious targets and not away from. It also doesn't explain why aircraft from bases considerably close to New York or Washington were not scrambled or why the defences on the Pentagon were never put into operation. 4) In the demonstration of the floors collapsing, it shows the trusses failing and the floors falling away from the central core. With the central core being left standing. But this didn't happen on 9/11. Thus rendering such models inaccurate at best. Of course, they could just be being very lazy and not commissioning their own model. But then that just adds credence to conspiracy theorists. So what do I think? Well, it's a poor effort to try and rebut some of the many serious questions regarding 9/11. So much so that it enforces them. Fighter aircraft too far away. Couldn't be found because of lack of transponders. It's all pretty easy to knock down when a more suitable and potentially accurate explanation would be that those expected to take charge in such an event, were negligent in their duties. But if that was the case; why has nobody been court marshalled over the events? The theories of on...

Review : Three USB Modem

Rob — 2008-05-29T23:04:09+01:00

So, while I've got a moment I'm going to give you a quick review the Three's Mobile Broadband USB Modem. Three are a mobile phone/network provider that pioneered 3G in the UK. In recent years they have expanded their well priced service to provide generous data packages and currently they are heavily promoting a USB based modem solution for use by computers. The first thing that strikes you about the USB is it's neat, almost Apple like, design. The white modem is clean, simple and easy to use. What's better is that 3 actually supply support and drivers for Apple Mac machines. Something rival companies have been very poor of late to offer. So how good is it to use? Well, so far I've tried it up and down the country and I've yet to find an area where I can't get at least GRPS coverage. It's fantastic! The 1GB monthly limit sounds mean; but for the £10 per month fee (lowest in the UK) it's actually quite low. If you have a 3 mobile on business contract this figure actually drops to £5 a month. Another advantage that 3 has over over providers is that if your in an area where they don't have any coverage, they'll piggyback another providers network. Now, how this works with the mobile broadband is anyone's guess. We're off to Cornwall early next week. So this should really set the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of access. Wish us luck!

Update

Believe it or not I've never actually plugged it into a PC until today. After about 30 minutes of looking for the installation CD (and not finding it) I eventually found the installation booklet. What impressed me most was that 3 have installed the drivers and control software in the device and the it works like a standard flash memory. So no installation CD required. How awesome is that!?

Tibetan protests mar Olympic Torch Parade

Rob — 2008-04-06T19:00:56+01:00

Just been watching the coverage of the protests against China at the passage of the Olympic torch. Much to my surprise the BBC gave a rather PRO-Tibet coverage. GOOD! Because quite frankly I think it's to our total shame that we are allowing the torch to come to the UK. What was all that talk about supporting countries from terrorism. Do we really need cheap DVD Players this much? When is somebody going to say to China, enough is enough?

Brazilian National Anthem

Rob — 2008-04-06T14:13:16+01:00

Just turned on the TV to catch end of the F1 Grand Prix. They played the Brazilian National Anthem and after a few bars.. well, is it me, or does it sound like the incidental music from a Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple film?

Ban Cola and save the Planet!.. and more BS

Rob — 2008-04-03T21:17:50+01:00

I just heard yet another 'Carbon Dioxide is bad' speech from some Minister or other. Billions of plants WOULD disagree, if only they had a voice. Then I looked down and spotted just how many bubbles of CO2 were coming off my Diet Coke. Top ingredient Carbonated Water. Holy crap! This glass of Coke just killed a Polar Bear! Where is the Greenland Icesheet! ?! We're all doomed. But seriously, if CO2 is so bad.. why are BILLIONS, TRILLIONS of bottled of Coke allowed to be opened to 'pollute' our atmosphere with it's toxic prime ingredient. Shame on you Mr Brown, for not Carbon Taxing Coke, Pepsi, Tango (Nazi Coke) or any such fizzy beverage. Shame on you.

Ebay apology

Rob — 2008-03-12T23:14:04+00:00

I received an email today from an Ebayer using the handle border2walking. He or she commented that they had read my Eburks posting and while they agreed with most of it (especially the lack of space for adequate comments) they had something to tell me. My partner and I used the account to buy and sell the odd item off Ebay and it appears the Sue had a run in with EBay member pompington. I think Sue was selling tickets and pompington won the auction then pulled out. The bottom line is that we failed to offer up either a negative or neutral score and for reasons I cannot explain, a positive score was given along with a negative "they pulled out, these things happen" sort of comment. border2walking makes the comment that had our comments truly reflected the situation then he/she might not have also fallen into the same trap. They are right of course... and I'm apologising herel

Who gives a stuff!!

Rob — 2008-03-10T18:06:50+00:00

I am piggin' sick of this! Today, we've been having typical winter weather. That is to say, strong winds and rain. But according to the news (BBC and ITV) we are having the sort of weather only seen before the forth horsemen of the apocalypse turn up. Oh, look as the waves crash over the sea wall onto the road. Look as 'warning signs' have to be illuminated on the M5. What! Worst storm of the winter!?! Give me a bloody break.. and what comes after it. Seven people dying in a car crash, the rapist and presumable murderer of a 15 year old girl in Goa is arrested and the costs of the war costs are increasing. It's a disgrace. Tomorrow we'll have some 'expect' (you can read that as spokesman from the Government) saying it's all due to Global Warming and everybody's carbon footprint. Sadly, recent admissions that temperatures are falling GLOBALLY, not rising. Oooops. But I could write a book about the whole thing. Who would ready it?!

Actors Not 'Acting' Their Age

Rob — 2008-03-09T23:44:43+00:00

There is something of a tradition for actors to portray people considerably younger than their true age. I suppose part of the problem is control of the actor. Certainly, in the pre-70's movies, it would the case that actors would be part of a studio collective and therefore that usually meant a contract and a responsible age to go with it. ... With some very few exceptions.. and lets be fare here, most child actors are crap. ...But what's the worst affront to age dislocation? ...Cary Grant in North By Northwest 15-20 years OUT OF AGE ...By the time North By Northwest was made, Grant was already 55 years old. Twenty years senior to his onscreen femme fatale Eve Marie Saint. I'm guessing the Grant is meant to be playing somebody in his late thirties or early forties. So that's either twenty or fifteen years out of whack. To add more amusement to the proceedings, his mother in the film is played by Jessie Royce Landis. The common fact about this is that while she plays his somewhat over bearing mother (does anyone find that a little odd) she's actually only 7 years his senior. ...Fox as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future Trilogy 9-14 years OUT OF AGE ...Fox was never going to have a problem playing a teenage boy. Despite being 24/25 at the time. Even by the time the final film in the trilogy (the terrible) part three, he was still only 14 years older than his character. You'll realise the Marty never actually gets much older and all three films take part over about the space of four days for Marty.... although many decades in 'space time'. You should also note that co-star Lea Thompson was ALSO 24/25 at the time of shooting... which brings me too... ...Wilson as Biff/Griff/Whatever Back to the Future 10 - 15 years OUT OF AGE Who was 10 years older than his character and therefore 15 years older by the time the last film came out. ...But that's nothing..... lets move onto Ferris Beuller's Day Off. ...Alan Ruck as Cameron in Ferris Beuller's Day Off 13-15 years OUT OF AGE ...At the time of shooting Matthew Broderick was a fresh faced and convincing 15 year old. Despite actually being 25 at the time. So that's quite a jump of ten years. ... I was convinced at the time. ... Mia Sara, by the way, was a fresh faced 20. Making her the babe in the pack... mainly because by the time Ferris Beuller was filmed... ... Lets just say that one more time. HE WAS THIRTY ONE YEARS OLD! Or put it another way, he was TWICE the age of the person he was portraying. In fact, he was 9 years younger than the woman who played Ferris's mother, Cindy Picket and just ten years younger than Jeffrey Jones who played "Ed Rooney"!! But most shocking of all... and I mean this sincerely. He was just five years younger than Edie McClurg who played Rooney's somewhat dappy secretary Grace! ...Jason Earles as Robbie Jackson in Hannah Montana (2006 - 2007) 12-14 years OUT OF AGE ...This is purely down to the "should he really be doing that" factor. Jackson is Hannah's brother in the series. Which would be fine, except that while Hannah (Miley Ray Cyrus) is her correct age of 15.. Mr Earles is a somewhat more senior 30 years old at the start of shooting. Making him at least twelve years older than his character (assuming he's meant to be 17). Now this wouldn't be quite so bad if Robbie's character wasn't so frequently seen chasing 'babes' who frequently appear to be in Hannah's age group. ...In other words, we have a thirty year old man pretending to be a teenager and chatting up fifteen/sixteen year old girls. NOW do you see why I find this a little odd?! What's even odder is that Hannah Montana is made by Disney. Can Disney REALLY not find a suitable child actor to play Robbie? So.. that's my list for today.

Adam Buxton

Rob — 2008-03-09T23:26:31+00:00

I've subscribed to Adam Buxton's YouTube Channel. For those in the know, Adam Buxton is one half of the 90's comedy clip duo Adam & Joe. The Joe being Joe Cornish. They have a radio show on BBC 6 (Radio) and I suggest you listen to it if you can. But here's something from another program. Late night comedy quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Adam is describing his experience with the experimental drug us 'magic' mushrooms. Not suitable for office or youngsters.. but very funny all the same.

No posts... too busy.

Rob — 2008-03-01T23:02:34+00:00

I'd love to find the time to post something intelligent or thought provoking. There's always a first time! Right? But I've just not got the time. What's not been blogged. The tremor come MAJOR EARTHQUAKE TO HIT THE UK. What a load of tosh. Harry getting a let off and coming out of harms way. I'm sure he must very sincerely be upset about it. Honest. Gordon Brown gave a very sinister speech about services being highly personalised and fair for those who chose to comply. I'm paraphrasing. But the implication was that you either do as they (they being the Government) or it might get a little unpleasant. I can't say I like the way UK Government has turned in the last ten years. The whole CCTV, be scared of your neighbour, rhetoric is getting a little too much to bare. But where is it any better? America? I don't think so. And Canada might not end up any better given the whole North American Free Trade Agreement being extended to both currency, movement of people. The bottom line. They plan to turn Canada, USA and Mexico in a North American Union. In the style of Europe, only even more of a single super state. God help us.

The Patomic Primaries - I think Jon Stewart says it all

Rob — 2008-02-24T21:55:55+00:00

The Potomac Primaries - In come the results and out go the reality. Needless to say, FIX er.. Fox News runs the gamut of BS! But then CNN fields as much of the brown stuff. What are we to learn from this? Well, clearly CNN, FOX, NBC and every other big media outfit in the US wants there to be a false impression that Hillary is right on track for a sudden victory while it's a cake walk for McCain. Neither of which is true. And you say the media isn't corrupt. Anybody is an IQ above 80 would have seen the actual percentage results at.... oh.. See what I did then?

Anyone for an iPhoney?

Rob — 2008-02-22T17:28:02+00:00

I noticed in this weeks Digg.com they showed the iPhoney, as I like to call it.

What surprised me most is how long it has taken for this copy cat cell phone to have any impact on the media. They have been on sale via various EBay shops since at least December 2007 and the price has dropped from £150 to £100 on average in that time frame. I'm still not tempted. As fun as the phone looks, it's still a copy with none of the features that make the iPhone such a 'with it' device might not be present. Having said that, videos of it in operation show it has 'the pinch', 'swipe' and other such innovative user interface features. So what you're getting here is a clone iPhone for a third of the price and not locked to a network. On top of which; • Dual SIM • Upgradeable memory • Easily replaced battery • Video recording Any thoughts that this came out the back of the same Chinese factory as the iPhone should be dismissed. It's got MORE features! But would I purchase one? NO CHANCE! Are you kidding?

Is now the best time to buy HD-DVD!

Rob — 2008-02-22T10:06:45+00:00

OK. Before you all think I'm either unaware of Toshiba's announcement or the general 'death of HD-DVD' stories, here me out. I'm not talking about a lifelong purchase. But think about this; In the next few weeks the world and his wife are going to be flogging off HD-DVD players at bargain basement prices. Already, over priced retailer Comet has dropped £115 of it's entry level Toshiba player, bringing it in under £100. But don't make a rush purchase, because Amazon.co.uk are selling the same unit for just £77.99!!!! Putting it as close to the XBox external add-on drive as you can get. Whether or not you'll still get your FREE 7 DVD's is anyone's guess. But hey, it's an offer they should still support because the expiration date is still in the future. Now we have Amazon dropping 1/3rd off nearly every single one of it's HD-DVD disks, making then on average around £17. But then there is also the great 3 for 2 offers on a decent range. So why would you get a system? Because it's a REALLY, REALLY cheap way to get HD content in the short to mid-term. The fact that despite the rhetoric, there are STILL some disks you can only get on HD-DVD and not Blu-Ray. Actually, what about the basic fact that content wise, those movies will look the same from HD-DVD than Blu-ray. After all, this isn't the difference between Laserdisc and DVD. Where laserdisc manages 560x420 lines and DVD is obviously superior at 720x480. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray are "HD" format video formats, in fact they are likely to be the same video codec! Either VC-1 or H.264.

Thank you Clive!

Rob — 2008-02-21T19:19:51+00:00

As I've commented before, the standards of research within the BBC have really dropped in my lifetime. But tonight's "One Show" really takes the biscuit, or sandwich as the case may be. First we have the highly dubious Earl of Sandwich story. But following this we had a couple of real gems; 1. The claim that triangular sandwich boxes where invented in the late 80's by Marks and Spencer. Which I find particularly odd because I remember being bought a sandwich before flying on holiday from Manchester airport in the mid-70's. 2. Then the 'sandwich expert' suggested that farmers would eat them as a traditional meal in the fields with cheese and onion. AKA the 'ploughman's lunch'. The ploughman's lunch is an infamous creation of the Cheese Marketing Board in the 1970's that created the who 'cheese with salad' concept to counteract suggestions that cheese was bad for you and the resulting drop in sales. But before I could launch an email in their direction, Clive Anderson made exactly the same comment. So I'm in good company.

The chain gang is a thing of that past... right?

Rob — 2008-02-11T02:02:30+00:00

The chain gang is a thing of the past right? Sadly, not it's not. I heard on a radio show about how there is still a chain gang in the US. I was a little sceptical..... Then the same day, National Geo. advertised this... Yes. They are living in tents. Under martial law style guards and its a chain gang. It is the 21st century? Right?

Ice floats for a reason...

Rob — 2008-02-11T00:01:36+00:00

This post is very important. In fact it's my most important blog post to date. But let me first enter the confessional...... I'm guilty of complacency. I've committed the ultimate scientific sin. I've taken a statement as fact, merely because it has been repeated so many times as to make it so. The statement is this.....

If the arctic ice melts, then London (and all low lying capitals) will be lost to the rising sea levels.

There's only one small problem with that.... It's complete rubbish! It's so much rubbish and I'm so appalled that I didn't realise it earlier, I've even been moved to make this quick video. Using footage from a quirky little "National Geographic" program. But I'll make it really simple. Take some ice and drop it into water. It floats. Why? Because it is LESS DENSE. So when ice melts it goes from a less dense state of water to a MORE dense state. Or to put it into simple terms, it takes up less space because it's MORE SQUASHED. Remember Archimedes? So ice all the water trapped in the arctic ice cap was to melt. It's likely to take up LESS space. In other words, tides would DROP. But don't take my word for it.....

Dumbing Down... (not serious)

Rob — 2008-02-10T12:32:25+00:00

No real big post on this one.... but one of my favourite excepts from the documentary "Bowling for Columbine" is this little cartoon "History of the United States".

Sayid Leaving Lost?

Rob — 2008-02-05T20:15:20+00:00

So is Sayid leaving "Lost"? I can't be the only person to have noticed that while they are still shooting the current series... he appears to be in the UK doing interview after interview. Filming, due to the writers strike, ended in November. But in interview, Naveen Andrews used a LOT of past tenses when describing his role in Lost. Interesting......

Lost.... the interest

Rob — 2008-02-05T20:00:05+00:00

Am I alone in thinking that the return episode of Lost, called "The Beginning of the End" was something of a let down. I mean in last seasons opening episode we had the "Others" having a normal day and suddenly Oceanic 815 turns up, exploding in mid air. Very spectacular. But series four, in my opinion, was something of a damp squib of a start. It didn't even improve much during the entire episode. Highlights would be what? Naomi dying a little later. Hurley is a bit nuts. Lock (and I presume it was Lock) was having a chat with yer' man in the shack "Jacob". Then Charlie turns up as an hallucination. ... And what's with James "Sawyer" Ford? He's calling Hurley "Hugo", I realise it's his name. But despite "Hugo" throwing the walkie-talkie into the sea, is he really sticking to the "No nicknames" rule. Come on! All of a sudden Jack is acting all butch and Sawyer has turned into Mr Touchy-feely. Have the writers got amnesia from the last three series? Or has somebody stolen the character cue cards? What can we expect next? Is Ben going to start a self-help group for liars anonymous? Sayid start a knitting circle and Gin start giving English lessons. If all this sounds like I'm a little disappointed, I am. After an outstanding series of "Heroes" which gained huge audiences both in the US and the UK, you would have imagined that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse would have wanted to start the latest series with a real blow out episode. In fact, unlike other series, this wasn't even a double episode. Add to this, the basic fact that more episodes are in the tin than will be produced and all I can say is that I hope this coming Sundays show is a huge improvement or I don't think I can be bothered. It didn't help their case that they chose Sky as the broadcast company in the UK. When the BBC got "Heroes" it opened up a rival with a much wider and more accessible audience. Leaving Channel 4 (available subscription free) was a HUGE mistake. My other rumour... no, I'll make another post.

Where DOES Petroleum come from kids?

Rob — 2008-02-03T13:32:37+00:00

The discovery

I was wandering around the web (maybe I shouldn't do this) and stumbled across a couple of interesting articles on acclaimed scientific web sites. But let me say something in advance. Firstly, I've got a scientific background and have an understanding of scientific terms. This will become very important in just a few sentences. In school (as I was told) kids are taught the FACT that oil is created from ancient plant material that over time is compressed and heated until it eventually creates crude oil. This is then refined into what we know as petroleum or diesel or whatever. We all know that.. it's told as fact. Except it's not fact. It's THEORY. That is it say, it's a conceptualised model of how we believe something works based upon the available evidence. Which is a heck of a long way from saying that it is an absolute truth of the matter. The theory goes as follows; Dead organic material accumulates on the seabed, riverbeds or swamps, mixing with mud and sand. Time passes and more layers are added, resulting in heat and pressure transforming the organic layer into a dark and waxy substance known as kerogen.

The kerogen molecules eventually crack, breaking up into shorter and lighter molecules composed almost solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Depending on how liquid or gaseous this mixture is, it will turn into either petroleum or natural gas. How long does this process take? You might ask. The basic fact of the matter is, they do NOT KNOW. Not at all. They guess it could take millions of years. But for all they know, it could be two weeks.

But it's not the only theory

The Russians have a totally different theory. Called the "Abiogenic theory". Essentially; The idea proposes that hydrocarbons of purely geological origin exist in the planet. Hydrocarbons are less dense than aqueous pore fluids, and are proposed to migrate upward through deep fracture networks. Thermophilic, rock-dwelling microbial life-forms are proposed to be in part responsible for the biomarkers found in petroleum. I mean think about it. Received science says it must be biological because we find microscopic dead creatures IN the oil. But the oil passes through porous material containing such material. I mean it's like saying that glacial water in the Alps contains detergent because your taking samples of it from the estuaries into the sea.

Conclusion

Only the Russians use this theory. But I would like to point out that Russia is the 2nd biggest oil/gas exporters in the world, after Saudi Arabia. So perhaps there is more to this theory than meets the eye. But my real question is this; why is the Abiogenic theory never discussed in the UK or the US? As if I couldn't guess. Because without the idea of shortages you can't increase prices... and companies like Shell can't post record profits of £13.9 billion. That's £1 million an hour.

Just spent 20 minutes shouting at the TV

Rob — 2008-02-03T12:09:45+00:00

Just spent about 20 minutes shouting at the TV. So this blog post is therapy :-) The BBC are asking the people of New York about the major issues of the 2008 election campaign. The question was; "What are things that concern you most?" We had a mixed bag

people complaining that wages had fallen so low that they could not afford to live in the city they worked.
people who pointed out the loss of the middle classes, there are just rich, super rich and poor people due to the area zonings.

But then we had some rent-a-cop saying he was most concerned about the immense levels or terrorism in New York (state). Excuse me? What terrorist attacks have there been since 9/11? Then the reported interviews a Vietnam vet. who said that the war on Iraq was just because "They killed nearly four thousand people in 2001". Iraq? UNBELIEVABLE! the majority of the 9/11 terrorist came from Saudi Arabia! Not one of them was Iraqi! How has America become so easily fooled?

Cloverfield - 30 second review

Rob — 2008-02-02T22:15:43+00:00

Hello everyone. Managed to wangle myself an early UK preview of the latest J.J. Abram's monster smash hit "Cloverfield". Well, it's a really interesting film. Very much based in that tradition of the documentary style, first person view. Thankfully, unlike the "Blair Witch Project", J.J. must have taken the advice to introduce some modicum of steadier shooting. Otherwise it would be a complete blur. But fantastic use of blackness and the simply fantastic scene with the night vision camera are to be highly commended. However, having said that. The plot more than a stretch. No, I'm not talking about the giant monster (note I'm not going to spoil the plot here) attacks New York. It's the idea that three people would gamely follow 'Rob' into harms way. After about 50 "Rob, come back". I'm pretty convinced I'd be telling Rob to call me when he gets back. And I think that's where the film "jumps the shark". Actually. Before I do end on what might sound like a negative. The thing that I really find to be refreshing about the film. It's about real people. Not the Top Gun pilots pitted against invading aliens or top level scientists. Just a bunch of 20-somethings with absolutely no idea what's going on. And that, above anything else, is what this film should be commended for the most. Oh... and one final point. It's huge, angry, hungry... would you SCREAM around it? I think I'd be taking tipi-toe steps and whispering. :-)

Mad Madge

Rob — 2008-02-02T00:58:52+00:00

Just checked out Apple's film trailer site and stumbled across this 'gem'. Doomsday OK. Right from the off it's clear that this film is a cross between. a. 28 days later b. Resident Evil c. Mad Max d. Escape from New York Lead is played by newbie Rhona Mitra playing 'Eden Sinclair'. Think of her as being a cheaper (cost wise) 'Alice' (Resident Evil). Virus takes over country (the UK). Think 28 days later, only deadly. Everybody not infected legs it to Scotland blah blah. 'Infected / Wild' side of country is sealed off by a giant barrier. In the same way as Manhattan island was transformed into a giant prison in Escape from New York. She goes in the find a cure, runs into anarchic elements on the wild side. Lots of car chases... that's our Mad Max element and so forth. It seems to have been mainly shot in Scotland, London or South Africa. Starting the aforementioned Rhona Mitra, always good for a giggle Malcolm McDowell (in a role that appears similar to Dennis Hoppers role in the most recent 'of the dead' movies), perennial cock-er-ney Bob Hoskins (who was actually born in Bury St. Edmonds and only seems to have received a cockney accent during the mid-70s). The very watchable Sean Pertwee. David O'Hara who people might remember got his first big break as "The Monocled Mutineer". Rick Warden who was in Band of Brothers as Harry Welsh and most recently got ate by a Sabretoothed tiger in Primeval. The list... it goes on. Will it be the Citizen Kane of Action/Horror? I doubt it. But you never know........... After all, the writer/director is Neil Marshall of the very excellent Werewolf (there wolf, there castle) movie Dog Soldiers and sheer chilling "The Descent" fame. So, you never know.

N-Power try to pull a fast one..

Rob — 2008-01-25T19:52:21+00:00

You have to be impressed by N-Powers' moxie. On the very same day that EnergyWatch announce an investigation into unjustified energy price rises, NPower announce a 'new' three year deal' where customers 'worried about an uncertain future' can FIX their over inflated prices for three years. Given Energywatch has had some success in the past shaming providers into dropping their prices, it would make sense in a world where profit is more important than people, for NPower to trick people into paying the higher price, before the drop, for three years. Imagine the profits. What astounds me is how much profit NPower declares each year and then in the same breath say how tight their margins are. Nice. So... if I were you, I'd give that offer a miss.

On the Piste!

Rob — 2008-01-25T00:25:24+00:00

Just been watching what I thought was the BBC weather report and it started talking about snow over Western Canada, particularly Alberta. "It's winter..." I thought, "What would you be expecting?!" On this wasn't an everyday weather report. No, because (and for reasons I can't imagine) the 12.15 (pm) weather report includes a ski resort breakdown. So anybody who should be going on holiday for a quick Ski, would be fully informed of the details. 1. Why is it on at 12.15? 2. Why would anybody going on holiday check the BBC. Actually, maybe the do. Just because I'd rather find a more sensible/safer way to slide down a mountain doesn't meant that those who do choose to do so, won't check the BBC.

Lenny Henry.TV

Rob — 2008-01-22T22:59:22+00:00

Did anyone catch LennyHenry. TV on Channel 4? I deeply sympathise. I thought it would never happen. But poor old Lenny has been reduced to making funnies in between stupid YouTube clips. Apart form this being the worst idea the BBC came up in a long time.. it's terrible to see Lenny in such a position. I'm of an age to remember Lenny when his careeer started, way back in the distant 1970's. He won a TV talent show called "New Faces" and I saw him in the same year on the Central Pier in Blackpool.

Top 5 Things in America that disturbed ME

Rob — 2008-01-21T23:16:45+00:00

I recently read an article linked from Digg from a Canadian blogger, it's essentially his Top Five things about America that freaked him out. ...I wanted to create my own Top Five list of things that concerned, disturbed and frankly upset me about America also. ... But if anyone from the US does read this blog (and I do get approx. 500 or so hits a month from America) then they would look upon my list in terms of the worst and not representing the whole. ...We've been the US on five occasions and each time had to hire a car. ...It did about 15-20 mpg, made lots of noise but was actually incredibly slow.. so, not much 'charging' around there. ...The steering wheel was fixed more of less vertical, in the style of an arcade game, it just about managed 20-25 mpg (on mainly highways) and it went around corners like a greased whale. ...This 4.6 litre V8 (or was it the 3.6 litre v6.. there is no performance difference) box only manages to deliver 224 bhp. ... I have since found out the 0-60mph time (should you be brave enough) is 8.9 seconds. Compare that to my European Saab 9-3 2.0 litre turbo. 210bhp, 25 mpg around town and 45.6 top. Oh, did mention it also does 0-60 in 7 seconds and has a top speed of 145 mph. 2000cc. ...In previous years I had a super little run around by Fiat that would do 0-60 in 8.5 seconds and because it was diesel would do 58 mpg. ...I shocked me the first time I got into a conversation with a couple of seemingly well educated guys in a bar. ... I had to eventually get a diary out to prove it was in North Africa... and even then they asked somebody else. ...While I encourage my kids to learn all they can about the world, it seems a large amount of America is happy to just think the world will remain the same.. so why bother. ...Some people have even gone to suggest it's systematic and intentional; a less educated nation is a happier easier nation to lead. ...And by this, I want to make it clear that I'm talking about the sort of racism that most people aren't even aware of. Next time you in the states, epecially Florida, take a quick pole of which ethnic groups are doing what jobs. ... While people (poor) are often in charge or shops or restaurants while the richer members of the white community are managers or very senior staff. ...The very first time we went to Florida (2005) all and the back of a very generous offer by Sue's father. ... From talking to her it seemed her kids (also girls) we the same age as our kids. ...Time came to leave and as we left, so did our server for a little break. So my father in law and I ended up getting into a little conversation with her outside the restaurant. ... Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the restaurant manager (late forties, white, died red hair) staring at us through the windows and she came belting out. ...Which was funny, because no matter what happened how the Manager answered the question, it was going to sound bad. ...Lets just say that we pointed out our displeasure in what she implied and pointed out just how much of a benefit our waitress was to her restaurant and she should treat them with more respect. ...But in the World Health Organisation ranking (based on deaths, treatment, preventative etc), out of 190 surveyed, the US came in 37th. ...Of course, despite having no evidence to the contrary, your average US Joe (who by the way usual spends MORE on Health Insurance then most 'heavy taxed and socialist' countries do in health tax) believes we have to wait years for treatment, there are no advanced equipment etc. etc. It's rubbish of the highest order and you are told this so that you feel it's OK to spend 13.4% of the Gross Domestic Product on healthcare versus us foolish saps in the UK who spend just 6.6% (and get universal health care... and only pay $9 for drugs). Then we have the argument about all those people on 'welfare' not paying a penny in taxes and claiming all the free benefits. Maybe it's because we've known nothing but war for the last two thousand years and it's changed us. ... But I could not in all honesty want to risk the concept that some poor person would die as a result of not getting treatment because they could not afford it while I can. Me, I can't judge a person on how much they earn or what they've paid in tax. How many people in the US die each year because they can't afford treatment? ...So once you do have 'a medical problem' they nail you with half a dozen (mostly pointless) drugs and then ramp up your insurance and drug charges. I met a woman in Lake County, Florida and she told me that she's been saving up to have her hip replaced (due to an accident!) ... She would have been classified as emergency and would have had the operation on the day of her accident. ...We considered moving to Florida last October, after speaking to an Ex-Pat who we bumped into at Downtown Disney of all places. ... He also went on to mention that if a company wanted you, they could find ways and means to get the visa quick. ...I was ill on the flight out (nothing major, just a bad cold) so I decided to sleep off the travel while Sue and the kids got to wander around our Disney resort. ...Turns out, some poor (as in economic) kid had an infection in his tooth that would just require a simple operation or drugs. ...It's very emotive and I'm sure a lot of you will not agree. ...The only trouble (for the US) is that for a long while now £10 doesn't equal $10, it actually equals $20. ... All of which meant that for the price of one decent three/four bedroom house in a really nice area of Manchester it would be possible to afford two or even three similar sized houses in a nice area of Florida. ...Now, what turned out to be a sales guy, sparked up a conversation with us and asked how much our house in the UK was worth in dollars. ...I suddenly became 'Sir' to the waiter (who had overheard me), the female Manager kept on coming over and making sue everything was fine and it all got a little embarrassing. ...But it didn't half make me feel that there was something fundamentally wrong with this. ...Those people who day in and day out put their own lives on the line to help over people. ...If you think I'm wrong or right then please do find the time to leave a comment. If you think I'm unfair or my understanding or expectations or off kilter then please do put me right. If you're just going to be rude or sarcastic, don't bother, I get enough of that from the kids.

There's always one... EBURKS

Rob — 2008-01-20T15:32:34+00:00

Couldn't resist but create a sub-blog for all the people on EBay who might not be the best buyer or seller.... I call it EBERKS!

Now there's a thought....

Rob — 2008-01-14T21:17:21+00:00

Just been thinking about DVC. Our Disney Vacation Club membership... which has another 48 years to run. My thought is that if my kids have their own children in their twenties, that my grand children will be old enough to go to Disney on their own.. i.e. in their 20's. It's a combination of feeling old and impressed at the same time.

Remember this

Rob — 2008-01-14T17:55:13+00:00

Many moons back BBC 2 (or was it Channel 4) used to show a fantastic travel show called Lonely Planet. Rather than usual run of the mill travel show, that often is nothing more than one step away from what's in the brochures, Lonely Planet specialised on giving places a fresh look and feel. Years pass.... then when I came to look a places to visit for our family holiday I turned to guides on Love Film. They appeared to have very similar offerings from, at first glance, appears to be two sources. But basically here it is. Pilot Guides and Globe Trekker are the same company and if you're wondering where this is going. Check out this still from Pilot Guides - California Yes... it's Lonely Planet. So I wasn't going mad.

Globe Trekker California

Rob — 2008-01-14T18:56:40+00:00

Working away a bit this week so I've managed to take with me a few DVD's from "Love Film". Love Film, in case you've not seen it, is an online DVD service... ...I wanted to just give a quick write up of the California DVD... that I've just watched. Firstly, at only 49 minutes long, it's definately something you'll want to rent rather than purchase. Unless you see it for about £2 that is. So Justine Shapiro takes us on a journey from Southern California. From Joshua Tree where the Mormons believed that had seen a representation of Joshua in the open arms of the local flora and U2 got an album name.

It's also home to the Slab Rats. People who choose to live out in the desert on cement slabs left when the US Army left the area and took the buildings with them. But some are more creative than others, including Leonard Cooper who has devoted the last 25 years to creating his very public shrine; Salvation Mountain. This DVD is a number of years old and I'm not sure how extensive Salvation Mountain is now, or what Leonards current state of health is.

Next up is Palm Springs, a heady mix of nostalgia and Botox (which incidentally, is in fact the botchalistis virus). Not much to talk about on that front. Although they do got to a rather famous racquet club and meet somebody who was there in it's heyday, in the 40's and 50's. Plus we also see the campiest dress shop owner on Earth. ...Then we are off to Los Angeles... making a very deliberate point of it not being that dangerous to visit and the crime really has gone down considerably in the last seven years.

I'm somewhat reminded of what a (female) Project Manager once said after a colleague made a claim of being good at their job. "Saying something like that is a bit like saying you have a large penis." she said, "If you have to tell everybody, it's probably not true.". ...We do get to see the "Skating Coach to the stars". It's not clear WHICH stars she's coached. But she did have a very patriotic line in beach wear. ...

...

It's amazing what just a few hundreds of millions of dollars can get you in California! ...Not in a totally distasteful way, just an obscenely opulent kind of way. It's also on this little trip that Justine meets this interesting young Californian chap. ...We have our hot sauce hot and our beer cold". ...I mean how cold would beer have to be in order to make it an extreme sport?!

Then she takes a fantastic drive up Highway One towards Big Sur, which has to be one of most beautiful places in California.

...It's gigantic trees being just one of the highlights of DVD. Plus we even have enough time to deafen Big Foot with some great big speakers playing big foot calls. Needless to say, Big Foot didn't make an appearance during the filming. Did I mention to Garlic Festival in Gilroy? Depending on how you feel about garlic, this could be a spot to visit or miss like that plague. I imagine vampire attacks in Gilroy must be non-existant.

Along the path she visits ghost town Bodie. Which was last inhabited in the 1940's. The gold ran out and the third largest city in California emptied. It's an extraordinary site, with quite a few items simply abandoned when the people left.

So the General Store still has tines of spices and food gathering dust and one of the saloons (there were 65 at one time*) has playing cards and poker chips on the tables. It really is spooky and it's pretty eerie during the day. What must it be like at night? * which reminds me of a local town called Leigh. It's town centre is entirely made up of shoe shops, card shops cake/pie/bread shops and pubs. On Bradshawgate alone there are eight card shops and it's only 1/2 mile long. ...Well, judged against the better of the rival Lonely Planet DVD's it's better than average. So I'd say it's about 7/10. Worth a drop in your rental list... but not a purchase.

M&S slump in sales... ERGO It's a recession

Rob — 2008-01-09T19:32:49+00:00

BBC, ITV, Channel 4. Simply story, it appears that Marks and Spencers sales we're about 2.5% down, their share prices dropped 17%... Conclusion. WE ARE IN RECESSION. Is it me, or is that a bit of a step too far. They keep talking about $100 a barrel, which I covered in a previous posting. It's the dollar that's devalued, not oil that's got more expensive. Quite why Brent Crude, traded in the INCREASEING Euro is more expensive, is anyones guess. You can't help but wonder whether there is a need for a recession.

When 'tech' doesn't cost the Earth

Rob — 2008-01-06T12:44:15+00:00

Here's a little cute product for 2008. (OK, so they have been around a little while, but now they are slightly cheaper). These cute little 'Free Trade' devices are mainly constructed from renewable sources, and those parts that are not are easily deconstructed for recycling. Sounds like a great idea and the bring the friendly colours are the perfect gift for kids.. or bright and friendly adults you might know. They market two devices at present. The starfish style 4 port USB hub, called "Oscar" and the 1.3MP USB WebCam called Lili.

Lili is obviously meant to be an Octopus or Squid, to go with the star fish style Oscar. But I can't help be reminded of the UK children's television program Itzy and Bitzy. A couple of cute spiders whose antics are sadly underreported on the Web. Oscar and Lili are constructed from combinations of cotton, sand & kapok. Kapok, in case your wondering, is used for the padding. It used to be used for stuffing pillows before some numbty decided it was smarter to use highly inflammable poly-what's-it's-name instead. Reviews seem to suggest that both Lili and especially Oscar perform up to scratch. While 1.3Mp doesn't sound fantastic, 1280 x 960 pixels is more than good enough for a WebCam and you might find yourself dropping down to 800x600 unless you've got decent bandwidth. But lets be honest, these little things are so cute... are you really 100% focused on the specification? UK distribution is via Aria (a fine Manchester firm) or via Play.com (who are technically based outside the UK in Guernsey). Currently Oscar is selling for £21 from Aria and Lili is £30. However, Aria does have Oscar on offer at present and frequently during the month. But do bare in mind, this IS free trade. So stretch a little.

Holidays a coming, time to book

Rob — 2008-01-05T22:50:31+00:00

Well, like everybody who's just got over the hump of Christmas, I'm looking towards this years holiday. Having a young family and a fondness for fun, it's likely to be in Florida... and given the crazy temperatures in June, we will be looking at October. Shhhh. Don't tell everyone, but with the exception of late January / early February, it's the best time of year to go. But where is the best place to 'bag a bargain'. Well, I guess that all depends on your needs. We're Disney Vacation Club members, so our accommodation is taken care of. But if you are looking for a whole package can I recommend Kenwood Travel. The second time we went to Orlando as a family we travelled with Kenwood and hired one of their excellent villas. Actually, if you want to stay in the area we went, you can actually hire direct. They are under a company called Global Resort Homes. The link I've provided is directly for where we stayed, and it was really very nice. If you want to be really sad, you can stay at 16837, which is at the bottom of the map on the right, near the "Clubhouse". I digress. If you're in the UK, you'll find them excellent value for money. But lets say you are only looking for flights. Well, here are the top search engines for flights. Cheap Flights has been around for many years now. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was one of the UK's earliest independent flight finder. They also provide some links to a great number of independent (but ABTA/ATOL registered) travel agencies that really offer superb deals because they don't have huge overheads. Travel Supermarket are relatively new to the market, having been around for a couple of years now. But they have a fantastic search system that really does delve into the fairs to get some decent options. Opodo are more of a broker than flight/holiday finder. But they sometimes come up with some surprising bargains. If you looking for Florida holidays in particular, a new site has come up. It's part of the Co-Operative Travel group and it's called Florida4Less. I've had a look at the prices and options and it seems a pretty decent site, especially given it's got the backing of the Co-Op. Best airline for good seats at a bargain. Well, it would have been MyTravel. But they have been taken over my FlyThomasCook. But while the prices have remained the same, Fly Thomas Cook has consistently been the most unreliable of web sites. Which, at the end of the day, is a pretty poor show from a company that's been in the industry for nearly two hundred years!

Doctor Who... it's actually very good

Rob — 2008-01-01T23:44:11+00:00

Watched the Doctor Who special today (Sky+ it) and you know, it was actually really good. But then I have to say that the latest incarnation of the timelord from Galyfrey (or however you are meant to say it) has been a breath of fresh air. I think a lot of it's popularity has to be put at Christopher Eccleston's feet, fellow Salfordian that he is. Don't get me wrong, David Tennant has picked up the baton and turned the show into what it is today. What where my highlights from the third series? Well, I was very impressed with "Blink". Where the silent assassins (who look very much like statues of weeping angels) not only appeared to be stone when you looked at them, but could also move very fast and when they caught you... sent you back in time. Sucking out the life-force you would have had, or some such nonsense. Fact is, it played upon our fears of statues being alive. Plus the bit when the light started to flicker in the cellar and they got closer and more frightening. Well, it was fun to see the kids hide, then laugh. I also liked the two parter when the Doctor became human and taught at the school. Especially the soldier scarecrows!

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the tv.....

Rob — 2008-01-03T12:08:00+00:00

Big brother is back... or rather some weird celebrity big brother thing... I'm banished from the living room. No.. I've escaped from it. :-)

Oil crisis creates $100 a barrel.. if you'd care to believe that

Rob — 2008-01-02T16:21:19+00:00

So, apparently, we are in the middle of oil crisis because oil has hit $100 a barrel. Which is odd really. Because production hasn't fallen and demand hasn't risen. Then in the very next story we are told that Gold has risen to an all time dollar price. Again, no increase in demand or loss of supply. So come on.... do the math. If nothing has happened to either oil or gold, what is the real truth about this story. Well, it's simple. The dollar has devalued. That's why all other commodities have also taken a sudden increase in cost. By how much, well take a look a the GBP to USD or EUR to USD conversion. At the time I write this posting, it's currently running at; 1 GBP = 2.21 USD and 1 EUR = 1.53 USD What's really annoying me though, is that petrol (gas) prices in the UK have risen, when the exchange rate is working IN OUR FAVOUR. Quite how long petroleum companies like Shell or BP can get away with this is astounding me. People are actually suggesting that it's OK for them to profiteer on this because it allows them to build up cash reserves for when times are hard. I'm sorry, did I miss something here. But don't they put the prices up when there is a crisis? BP makes around £3.5 BILLION pounds PROFIT each Quarter. That's £14 BILLION PROFIT per year. It's about time somebody started to really kick off about this. Because that's absolutely ridiculous. I'm not suggesting the Government, because lets face it... 2007 was another fantastic year for cock-ups. No, I'm talking about customers. Trouble is, they ALL make stupid profits. So just how do you fight back? Well, short of opening your own oil field... I'm short of answers. But I'm open to suggestions. It was only a few years back when the truckers blockaded the main petroleum distribution depots and forced a price drop. I think it's about time that happened again. Don't get me wrong, I understand that most of the price in petrol is tax. But can somebody explain to me how BP makes £14 billion a year profit if things are paired to the bone?

Happy New Year!

Rob — 2008-01-01T16:16:39+00:00

Happy New Year to all my readers (if any) :-) Sorry I've been offline for a while. It's been a combination of the screen dying on my MacBook (tubes only) and being really busy.

Royal Family, German? You think?

Rob — 2007-12-06T15:33:19+00:00

This post is prompted by a couple of things. A couple of weeks ago ITV presented a little piece about QE2 and he husband Price (Don't let him speak) Philip. At some point during the promo Giles Brandrift said "And there was no doubting he had German blood and this didn't go down well in Britain. The Queen, marrying a person of German decent so close after the war.". Oh... HE'S German is he. Like the entire royal family isn't?!

Surely everybody knows that they are the German family of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty. King George V in changed their name to Windsor in 1917 because of bad PR as a result of World War One. What's more, and I don't want to stretch this. The famous Louis Mountbatten, born in Windsor, is also from German stock. His parents were Prince Louis of Battenberg and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. You'll realise at this point that Mountbatten is the anglicised version of Battenberg; both meaning the Mountain of Batten. The name change... oh, did I mention it was in 1917? My second prompt is that Channel 4 is going to air "Hitler's favourite Royal" about Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Grandson to Queen Victoria and nephew to King Edward VIII. That would be the the King Edward who abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson and with whom he went to Germany with in 1937 to shake the glad hand of Adolf Hitler. Not to mention the full Nazi salutes. Considered Nazi sympathiser they spent the rest of their lives under the watchful gaze of British intelligence long after the war was over.

One you may have missed. Google maps for ALL mobiles

Rob — 2007-12-01T11:23:39+00:00

Nokia's N95 and the iPhone have been around for quite some time now, and both contain Google Maps to allow you navigate around. The N95 contains a build in GPS receiver (it's quality gets mixed reviews) while the iPhone doesn't. On the iPhone you tell it where you are and where you'd like to go or what you're looking for or any of the standard Google Maps function. After all, this is the full blown version of Google Maps. But "here's the thing" (as Kevin Rose would say), did you know you could get Google maps for just about ANY mobile phone. If you navigate here you'll be given a nice splash screen detailing which systems Google Maps for Mobile can run on. The list is; Windows Mobile Palm OS, or Blackberry Enterprise

But if this doesn't sound like your phone you can always open your mobiles web browser to www.google.com/gmm and give it a go. I'm running it on a Nokia N93, which sadly (and for reasons I can't explain) run Nokia's version of the same. But I can run Google's Symbian application. If you're Nokia phone does run the Nokia version then I suggest you run it, because it allows you to download the maps in advance and use those on the go. Which, unless you have a significant data plan on your mobile phone contract, would be the better way to go. Especially if you're in the middle of nowhere! The most likely place to get totally lost. One last thing before I go.... did I mention it works with any Bluetooth GPS receiver you happen to link to your phone? Well, I'm using a fairly recent Sirf III job and even in the house it's working pretty spectacularly. Not that I needed to know where in the world I was, I know where I live. But it serves as a decent test. Best of all, you can even map out routes (before driving, obviously) and presumably you can track your progress with live GPS feed. One thing it can't do, sadly, is re-route on the fly. Which is a bit of a shame, but what do you expect from a complete and totally free service! Just for fun, you can even have the satellite image. I'm in, it appears.

Best job advert this week

Rob — 2007-11-26T09:05:40+00:00

I was looking at last weeks paper before we put it in the recycle bin and I found this from thursdays Manchester Evening News. That was the 22nd of November. CyberSpace Sales Manager • Location: Virtual World • Credit Package: Configurable • Company Mouse Provided DiscreteHeat are UK manufacturers of the revolutionary TermaSkirt® room heating systems for residential developments and office environments. The company has introduced an energy efficient, space saving and aesthetically superior radiator product that can reduce heating costs and provide a real challenge to the UFH market. The capitalists in grey suits who own the company now require a CyberSpace Sales Manager to create & co-ordinate their internet and web based sales and marketing activities. This includes working in web sales arenas, email, marketing and other on-line activities. You might even have to talk to real people now & again, though. Conversant in Java, HTML and all other stuff that means nothing to us, you will be responsible for growing sales in the Virtual World, by flying a desk rather than driving a car. Experience in C and C# a great help. If you are a computer whizz with a personality and fancy a 2nd life, ping us an email with your data. Send your provide with current up to date information to the following address. They included an email address. But the role may already have gone. Try their website to see if the role is still there or for contact details. Talk to 'real' people?!

Another day, another site!

Rob — 2007-11-25T11:59:21+00:00

We've launched ANOTHER site. You might have read in previous posts that we've bought into the Disney Vacation Club, in order to cut the costs of our holidays down. For the price of 10 years of holidays we've bought 49 years of free accommodation. Which is a pretty decent deal.

So far, we've only been to Florida. But our future plans include California and Paris (Disney Resorts) as well as Canada and even further afield. Only trouble is.. while there are a number of very excellent Disney sites, there are very few that offer a European prospective and none that specialise in the Vacation Club. So we created our own, using Microsoft's Community Server. I should point out, this is NOT FOR PROFIT. Any advertising revenue made (unlikely) is going to be put towards hosting costs and if it picks up enough, prizes! After some deliberation we've decided on EuroDVC.com. Because that seems to sum it up pretty well.

Vista Update May Kill MacBook Pro

Rob — 2007-11-17T23:55:19+00:00

I just wanted to get this out there as quickly as I could. I own a MacBook Pro running Microsoft Vista under BootCamp and I just patched Vista with the latest updates. The results? My MacBook Pro will boot Vista, but after the main desktop appears it crashes out. Clearly something in the system library files has changed, because reverting to a previous working boot fails. This may be a terrible coincedence; but I just wanted to get the message out ASAP. Unless you can risk loosing your machine, please be VERY, VERY careful with this. I'd love to hear from anybody else who has been affected or people who have not. I'd like to get a full picture as to what has gone on. Thanks

Couple of boots

Rob — 2007-11-12T23:56:27+00:00

Had a bit of a surprise on the road the other day. In the UK it's not unusual for 4X4 (or SUV's) to have an image or similar on the spare wheel. You know, the one that's attached to the back door. It's usually the address and logo of the dealer the car was bought from or the logo of the car company. Not long back a craze for amusing logos on the rear wheels took hold. In the late 90's when tripped up mini-SUV's hit their zenith, you often had Rhinos in various states of activities. But nothing prepared me for what I saw on the M1 the other day. On the rear wheel of a (frankly ridiculous) red Land Rover Discovery there was the most outrageously sycophantic image of a middle age couple 'in lurv'. Pictured cheek to cheek on the rear wheel. To say it was a distraction would be a understatement. To be honest, I understand there was an accident later that day on the M1, not a serious one, but one all the same. I can't help but wonder if that Land Rover had something to do with it.

Nice... almost

Rob — 2007-11-05T21:56:48+00:00

Breakfast was OK. But, considering I was the first person to get to the buffet type arrangement, the food had a 'been here a while' look to it. Which is a worry. Do they have a cafe somewhere? :-) Meeting went fine and it was off to Huntingdon and the delights of the local Travelodge. It's an 'in between' type establishment. I think it was probably built in the very late 80's or early 90's. The give away is the location, style of building and the interior layout. Having spent far too much time in these establishments you get 'an eye'. The newest one I ever stayed at was near Plymouth and the oldest... near York I'd say. Obviously, the newest have the newer fittings and so forth. Most amusing place I stayed as the Welcome Break at Newport Pagnell. It was like stepping back into the 1970's. The room was orange! It even had the radio built into the headboard. Fantastic!

Arrival

Rob — 2007-11-04T22:51:52+00:00

Nothing on the blog and then suddenly a load of relatively short (perhaps) postings. But I'm away on business and to be honest, at the rate hotels charge for Internet Access in the UK, I'd rather upload at the weekend. ...But first I'll do a quick run down of what I've not posted in the last few days because, frankly, I couldn't be that bothered. Firstly, the Salford Advertiser (always a demigod of gaff) has broke the truth regarding ya' singing chap "The Voice" from Salford. It would appear from the MASSIVE headline next to the picture that it was in fact a shocking domestic violence issue. Reality check is that Russell Watts was in fact rushed into hospital to have some emergency brain surgery due to a very aggressive tumour. Rhetoric has him as being out of the woods. ... Which, as my eldest pointed out during evening meal, was how the Egyptians scooped out the brain during mummification. Not a single morsel of the cauliflower cheese was eaten that night. Next up we have another competition winner for worst parker. This one is from this evenings drive down to Reading. I have a 9.30 meeting in Reading tomorrow and somehow the idea of getting up at 5 am in order to guarantee I make it; it just didn't appeal. This is from the Services on the M6 Toll road. There's only one, so I don't feel the urge to spend a fortune checking the name out on the internet.

This rather large red pickup was so badly parked in the MORE THAN adequate spaces that he's actually penned in the little Renault Clio from escape. Curiosity made me want to stay to see what the outcome would be. But needs must and apart from anything else... it was piggin' freezing. As you'll probably note from the fog, everybody wearing coats and the slight blur of the image due to me shivering. ...Most people who park badly do so preventing another person parking in a valid space. ... You've actually managed to trap a car in situ. ...There's been an increase in number of these kind of trucks and especially the double cab type trucks that have started to come over from the US. Anybody who professes to work a blue collar job and has their own business is buying these cars in disguise and claiming back all the VAT for them. Plus they pay pittance in road tax because they are considered a work vehicle. Surely somebody will cotton on to the fact that 99% of all these things are being being driven around in such pristine condition as to give you the idea they are just the same shop models being moved around the country. Before I risk sounding like a complete nut case, I'll move on. So I'm in a hotel at present near Reading called "The Wee Waif Lodge". Because I booked via Lateroom.com I managed to get the room rate of £35 for tonight £75 for tomorrow. ... But that's neither here not there. Reading, for reasons I've yet to understand, is extraordinarily expensive to visit. So an average of £55 spread over the two days isn't too awful. I could have stayed 'in town' at the Travelodge for £50. But to be honest, they were so remarkably stupid that I decided not to risk it. The Reading Central Travelodge has no parking of its own. So I called them up and asked "as they didn't have parking; could they advice me where I could park". He put me on hold, or rather he thought he did. Actually I heard him book somebody in while I was waiting. To be honest, he could have just asked me to call back in five minutes; but he didn't. ... We don't have a car park.". ...We don't have a car park." ...But where else could I park?" (He sighed) "There are a few car parks." and with that he hung up on me. ...Also, the car parks, according to Google Maps, are about 3/4 to a mile away in either direction. ...I'd take a picture of the room. Which is actually OK, quite nice in fact. Not £85 a night nice, but certainly £55 a night nice. ... Only it appears that Reading is a 10 watt bulb town. I am sure it must be creating an intimate atmosphere. But the reality is that the rooms, unless you have the 'main beam' light on; are a bit dark. So it's either bathed in the glow of a supernova or nothing. ...Only a reasonable nights sleep and an effective alarm clock separate us! :-)

Ssssssh Don't tell the RIAA!

Rob — 2007-11-02T18:52:22+00:00

Sssh. Can you keep a secret? Hope so. There's a new kid on the block promoting the (free) distribution of songs all over the place. His name is Captain DJ and he's a pirate.

In fact he's such a successful pirate that he operates his own pirate radio station. Around the galaxy! BBC Children's Television (or as it exists today cbeebies) will launch a new program on Saturday 3rd November, that stars a 'Space' Pirate who travels the Universe looking for new tunes to play on his pirate radio show. I guess being in outer space will have the same effect as being in China or Russia or being part of an organised crime network. In other words, the RIAA will keep well clear. Frankly, if Captain DJ was a single parent in Seattle; he'd be target number one. For more fun and games follow the official link. But related to this. Is it me, or is the BBC using it's drama/entertainment departments to do most of its social comment? Recent episodes of "Spooks" have the sort of plots more akin to New World Order conspiracy theories. Criminal elements in the UK Government organising terrorist attacks against its own people (in a story a bit TOO similar to the back story of V for Vendetta). Government scientific advisors being murdered in a way to make it look like suicide. Cabinet Ministers who don't toe the line being murdered. Is this plausible denial in action?

When one mistake isn't quite good enough.

Rob — 2007-11-02T16:53:48+00:00

Just before lunch I got an email from an IT agency touting for staff to work a Liverpool contract. I wasn't interested. I also wasn't to impressed with the fact the agent, from Allegis Group, instead of sending a mass mailing to multiple SINGLE recipients he just simply created a 91 address to list and sent a single email. Now sending an email in a single company in this fashion isn't a problem. But the problem is that this was a permanent role and the other 90 recipients would presumably be people looking for a new job. It was a poor mistake to make and certainly somebody with more time and experience in the business wouldn't have made it. But to compound matters we have a couple of real brain aches who take it upon themselves to put things right. Firsly, at 14:31 (GMT) we have Scott Crichton. Who says Hello Paul, I think it very unproffessional of you to include my email address with a mass email send. This both shows other people that i could be looking for work and shows me that they are. I am sure you could create an alias and put all the emails beneath this. Apologies at the start of the email are not good enough!! It's like saying, sorry for punching you in the face and then punching me in the face!! The act has already been done before being able to respond to it. Please remove me from your email list and do not include me in future correspondence. Regards Scott Crichton I think the punching in the face analogy was totally pathetic. Just because you received this email DOES NOT mean you are looking for work. You could have been signed up with the agency years ago and it was sent in error. Worse was to come. In fact, it was so bad I'm even considering publishing his email address. Jamie Williams wrote at 15.37. Paul. I suggest you start looking for another job as your f**king techinical incompetence is legendary. You have provided everyone on the list a nice little contact file for people looking for work. DO NOT SEND ME ANY FURTHER EMAILS from Allegis or I will contact your ISP and ensure your domain is blacklisted for sending stupid f**king spam mails out en-mass complete with my details to other people. F**k Off! Thanks Why am I so annoyed at this jerk and his predecessor? Because both these idiots replied to EVERYBODY when they complained. I don't think for one minute it was an accident. Clearly they wanted everybody to know how clever they were being. So clever, in fact, that if they were concerned about being "found out" about looking for a new job, they compounded that problem twice over. Quit why Jamie felt it necessary to swear (and lets face it, we all know what he meant) in an email to 90 other complete strangers is beyond me. May I suggest that Jamie drink de-cafe from now on. You'll be glad to know I didn't join the 'round robin' of moaning by replying to either of them.

Another bit of great research BBC

Rob — 2007-11-01T18:40:12+00:00

Do we live in 'rip off Britain'? Well, it's an interesting question. The fact we get all get paid more than our US equivalents is never taken into account... plus we have relatively inexpensive health care. But before I expand the scope of this too far I just want to zero in on the actual report. Essentially they compared prices of goods in London to those in New York. The shopping list was: • A designer T-Shirt • A Playstation 2 Game • Perfume They concluded that prices were 30% extra in London. Tiny problem. You CAN'T BUY Playstation games in the US that work in the UK. EVERYBODY knows this!!! Talk about poor research. The list of platforms that ARE multi-national is; • Nintendo DS/DS Lite • Nintendo Gameboy Advance • Sony PSP • PC • MAC That is it! Platforms that ARE region locked... • Nintendo GameCube • Nintendo WII • Microsoft XBox • Microsoft XBox 360 • Sony Playstation, Playstation2 and Playstation3 So basically, console systems ARE locked. Where portable and of course computers are not. You can get some fixes; upgrade chips or additional software. But most if not all revoke your warranty, are consider against the terms of the licence or are not totally effective. If you want a comparable list. What about this easily sourced items; • A chart CD • A chart DVD • A PC Game How much of a saving? Well, 80% of DVD's are $19 OR LESS (That's £10 versus £15). CD's are usually $10-12, that's just £5 - £6. And PC games! Well, they are usually the same in $'s as they are £'s. So at present, that's 50% off. I bought Call of Duty 2 for the MAC for just £18 and sold it on Ebay 4 months later for £25! Of course.. this is all very good. But there's just one problem. First, you have to get to the US. So unless you're already going on a holiday... what's the point. If you are, rules are £125 of goods EACH. So.. if like me you take the kids, they also get the allowance. And Gabriella (1 at the time) REALLY DID want that iPod. :-)

How much!

Rob — 2007-10-31T18:33:08+00:00

Firstly, happy Halloween. I've just been watching North West Tonight, our local news program. They outlined a case of a refugee who managed to escape Congo (and I'll spare you the details) and made it to Liverpool. I don't think there is a single person in the area of indeed the United Kingdom who wouldn't agree with her refugee status. She is only 14. But what's really made my head spin is that Liverpool (City) Council have stated that it costs £1500 (that's $3000) a WEEK to keep her. £1500!!! It would be cheaper to send her all expenses paid to Disneyland Paris! Is it me.. or is somebody taking the 'you know what'. You'll note that Liverpool City Council that charges it's own departments £70 ($150) for a USB Printer cable. Why so much? Well... and this is no joke. It's about £10 ($20) for the cable and the rest is taken up by administration fees and a "Designated Project Manager". Yes, that's right.. a Project Manager to make sure a USB printer cable gets put in a bag and send to the department. Oh, didn't I mention that the £70 DIDN'T include somebody to plug it in? Sorry. My bad.

One of the best

Rob — 2007-10-30T17:14:43+00:00

You don't usually get much of an opportunity to ring the praises of an organisation. Which in my mind is a bit of a shame. So I'm going to buck that trend and recommend a company. Either your looking for a member of staff or want to find a new role; in any case check out Monarch Recruitment. I can do nothing but praise their professionalism and personal service. This is really an organisation you can form personal ties to... and no... I'm not getting slipped a fiver for this free advertisement. So... Give them a go. Visit their website at: http://www.monarchrecruitment.co.uk/ Tel: 0870 603 9071 Fax: 0870 603 9077 E-Mail:contactus@monarchrecruitment.co.uk

Award Time

Rob — 2007-10-30T16:28:49+00:00

Now.. I don't want to make it appear like I'm being a bit of a miserable so and so. So, I'm in an award giving kind of mood.

So this months worst parking award goes to....

The owner of this M-Class Mercedes. Who despite there being at least 50+ parking spaces in the motorway service station car park appears to have elected to park in these TWO. There must be something about private registration plates that make people drive so badly. Or in this case, park. You note. Shortly after these pictures. The owner came back and almost drove out into the side of a 30' articulated lorry. Nice one!

What the!!

Rob — 2007-10-30T16:08:16+00:00

Short post again I'm afraid. Not that I've been Mr Verbose for a while. Driving along a perfectly happy stretch of dual carriageway I get to a round about and while heading across to the far side a driving instructor waves on his student right in front of me! To say I had to slow down hastily would be an understatement. Not wanting to make a bad situation worse, I refrained from beeping my horn in discussed and instead settled back to laugh at the instructors pure method. 45 mph in the 40 zone. Then anchors on to 25 when he sees a 30 mph sign (remember, it's a dual control car). And the name of this driving mishap outfit? "Easypass". Easy crash more like!

The best one yet

Rob — 2007-10-29T18:19:56+00:00

Stop the press.

BBC news has just reported that Lewis Hamilton is moving to Switzerland. But it's not what you think. No, no, no. It's to do with the pressure people put him under by saying "Hello" and sometimes asking for his autograph. So having been put under this tremendous stress he's been forced to move to TAX HAVEN Switzerland. Not because it's a TAX HAVEN, not at all. But because it's a lovely gentle place where people let you be famous and leave you alone. So, just to make sure there is no confusion. This is not AN OBVIOUS MOVE TO A TAX HAVEN that you might imagine. It's all about his mental health. Because lets face it, the mental stress of doing 200 mph in a tiny car doesn't come close to compare to signing a child's autograph book or smiling for a picture. Brave Lewis Hamilton, we salute you. With two fingers.

See, he IS funny

Rob — 2007-10-25T19:36:21+01:00

Steve Martin. What can you say. Well, "L.A. Story" remains the only romantic comedy I can watch for more than 10 minutes; plus it contains some very prophetic lines to boot. But since then, he's been in a self admitted crisis of just not being able to be funny anymore. In his own words, he's forgotten how to be funny. Recent examples of which would be the latest remake of the Pink Panther film, that was about as much fun as a wet weekend in Grimsby, with a broken leg.

So it's always nice to hear when the old magic returns to a performa. For evidence, simply check out his moustache. If this isn't an act of genius I don't know what is! Is that not the most bizarre face fur you've ever seen? For me, It's a reminded of those Sunday mornings with my Grandfather watching the Basil Rathbone 'bad guys' out of so many swashbucklers of the 1930's. Think "Captain Blood" or "The Mark of Zorro". Steve martin has stolen his face ornament! Why else would it be a different colour to the rest of this hair!?!

iPhone SDK hits the streets and it's NOT NATIVE EXECUTABLES!

Rob — 2007-10-25T07:00:33+01:00

UPDATE: Since writing this blog post I've had a lot of comments and emails pointing out that this SDK is for web development. I clearly didn't make it clear enough in my posting. But the point I'm making is that calling what is essentially a web design guideline an SDK is somewhat overstating a case and that releasing a simply guideline would have been more appropriate. That was my point. Hope that clears up the matter.

Well, after a turn around and then a little hype the iPhone SDK has finally hit the streets. Apple have sent me (and ADC member) a link to get hold of the SDK, including a link for iTunes training videos. So far it's been pretty much a rolling advert to get an iPhone. It's a remarkeable device. When I get a chance I'll look into this. But not having an iPhone and being in the UK. I'll not get too excited. But there's a problem. These are NOT native applications. These are applications that run 'from YOUR website'. The guides are merely to describe how to design the web applications for best practice. In fact, even a quick glimps of the demo code shows they are HTML and JavaScript based applications. Basically, this IS NOT an SDK to develop applications to run natively on the iPhone. So is anybody else disappointed? You'll need to get a free ADC account to see this page. Should you want to bother

Excuse me?!

Rob — 2007-10-24T13:31:21+01:00

I was watching the BBC news today and they were talking about a witness to Diana's death. There's a considerable amount of conspiracy theory going around at present; some of which as some merit and some of which that is completely ridiculous. However, something I picked up on today was a report made by Olivier Partouche to the inquest into her death. On the BBC news (but not in this print version) it was alleged that Mr Partouche heard the Mercedes revving it's engine. But here's the thing. Diana's car was a Mercedes Benz S280 and, as with all S class Mercedes, was in fact AUTOMATIC. Which means that Henri Paul must have taken the car out of Drive and moved into Neutral in order to rev the engine, presumably loosing speed. This puts the car into what used to be termed "uncontrollable". Because you can't accelerate. Henri then put the car back in Drive in time for the fateful crash. Conspiracy theory aside. Does that make sense to anyone?

Come on Google!

Rob — 2007-10-23T03:13:30+01:00

You know. Not everything about Google is so terrific. For one, if you should happen to change the content of a site, as we did on Everything You Know Is A Lie, it can take weeks if not months for the new links to be indexed out. This is made all the more frustrating as we are using Google AdSense and Google is the search engine used on the site. Come on Google! Get a move on!

What a load of old tosh!

Rob — 2007-10-21T13:29:37+01:00

If anybody has the misfortune to be ill or worse.. you'll have no doubt caught the BBC television program "Cash in the attic". The premise is simple. Person or persons require a set amount of money. 'Experts' come to the house and locate items that added up will sell at auction that will add up to that amount. Here's what happens. They find an item that's meant to be worth something and an item that despite all evidence to the contrary is valued at bargain basement. You'll see why in a second. But lets say its a tankard owned by Henry V, signed 'Harry was here!' ; £50 - £100 would be the price. So the auction starts. And this happens EVERY SINGLE TIME. They are going well. Then the hit item fails to sell or goes for massively under value. Queue the "Doo doo do dooo do do dooo" music and lots of disappointed faces and "I can't believe it" comments. But not to worry. Because the 'Tankard' is coming up and you never know. Amazing! It went for a gizzillion pounds! Who would have bloody believed it!! I'll tell you who. Everyone!! It's complete tosh! Do the BBC REALLY THINK WE ARE THAT THICK! So, now I drive the Mrs mad by singing the "doo doo do dooo" tune to her. Which at least is a bit of fun.

Looking for that N goodness?

Rob — 2007-10-11T20:59:38+01:00

If you own an early (but not 1st Gen.) MacBook Pro, the ones sporting 2.0 CoreDuo but NOT Core2Duo; then like me you're missing out on all the Wireless-n 802.11n goodness. Sadly, the upgrade options would appear at first glance to be fairly low. For one, there's this rather expensive and somewhat 'home made' appearing model. It's called the nQuicky. And it comes out as $149.95 USD. Which, is pretty expensive. To say the least. So.. always on the hunt for a bargain, I started a trawl. First up, the Edimax EW-7718Un. It's a USB 2.0 802.11n adapter. Which, although it doesn't suggest it support the Mac and OS X, 10.3 and 10.4 in fact. The link I've provided is for the driver screen.. so you can see I'm not making it up! Costs? Around £35 - £40 ($70 - $80). Now, if you're in the mood for some serious work, that's going to mean getting down and dirty with your laptop. There is an excellent solution from xlr8yourmac. Using the simple instructions you can take the laptop carefully apart (it's not too hard) and then replace the existing WiFi card with an upgrade card for the Mac Pro! Sounds drastic, but is actually straight forward. It's also probably the best method, because you won't be reliant on anybody else's drivers. Price, well apparently you can get them for $49 and indeed I did find the MA688Z/B from Powermax. So... who's feeling brave then.

When will X-Factor die!?

Rob — 2007-10-06T18:59:30+01:00

Just a heartfelt cry to anybody in TV land who is listening. We, as in anybody with 50% of a brain, is just about sick and fed up of X-Factor, Big Brother, Castaway, I'm a celebrity (please re-brand my career). It's just not clever anymore. It's wasn't very clever before... But now it's just getting down right annoying. Week after week, year after year, the same old warmed over garbage on our screens. Any more of this and Britain will end up with 20% of it's people not being able to find the UK on a map of the world. Do you want this? I picked this version because it comes with sub-titles for those who aren't bilingual in gibberish.

Florida State University - Acknowledgement Letter

Rob — 2007-09-22T14:55:51+01:00

Quick Recap

Four days ago I watched a YouTube video of five or so brave police officers first sit upon and then taser an unarmed, immobile student at the University of Florida for asking one to many questions of John Kerry. John Kerry, who attempted to stop the proceedings but failed, could only look on in horror as Mr Andrew Meyer was first grabbed, dragged, strangled, sat upon and then tasered. All when he was so very clearly rendered immobile. Furthermore, what was the motivation for such an attack? He asked a couple of potentially uncomfortable questions of John Kerry. The good squad, for I can find no better name for them, stepped in and beat up Mr Meyer. I was appalled. So much so that I took the time to send an email to the President of the University of Florida, Mr J. Bernard Machen's who can be contacted via the following email address president@UFL.EDU. Before I show you the reply, I just wanted to include the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. For those individuals, such as the University of Florida Police Department, who don't know the words, they read; "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The Reply

Mr J. Bernard Machen's reply is as follows. Good morning, Your message was among those I have received since Monday afternoon when University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was tasered and arrested at a town hall forum held by Sen. John Kerry. I want you to know I hear you loud and clear and share many of your concerns. What I regret most of all about the incident that occurred during a political forum is the lack of civil discourse, which is the keystone of an academic institution such as ours. We have begun several steps to gain a full understanding of how events unfolded on Monday and to determine what protocols need changing. Students and faculty will play an active role in this process, and every aspect will be open to public review. We have not and will not assign blame until the investigation is complete. Updates will be posted regularly on www.ufl.edu. We appreciate your patience as we allow the process to take its course. ...Bernard Machen President, University of Florida Firstly, I would love to know exactly what charge Mr Meyer was being indicted with. Failure to comply with a completely made up rule invented on the spot? Unwillingness to be a passive victim of a fascist mentality? ... But given he couldn't have broken any law, his arrest for subsequent 'resistance' would be unmerited. In the UK this chain of events is known as "Fruit from the poison tree.". In other words, the initial event can not support any further legal action as itself was illegal. In the sense that a police officer burgles a house and subsequently finds some potential evidence of a crime. That evidence is rendered unusable because it cannot be relied upon due to the 'chain of evidence'. In this case, the chain shows an individual exerting his rights held under the constitution (or any legal framework say) who is then attacked by first one, then a number of police officers. From this point onwards, no matter what we or they may consider him, HE is the victim of the attack. ...Lets change the context. Your walking down a street whistling and a police officer jumps out of a cruiser and attempts to use pepper spray on you for 'that offence'. It doesn't exist. It's not open to legal interpretation and yet the officer appears to feel they are both officer, judge, jury and executioner. This is not legal. No matter what the 'best advice' might suggest. The bottom line is this. Despite all the strongest suggestion to the contrary, the Police Officers in Florida, New York, Manchester UK, London, Paris or wherever ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW. Neither are they allowed to MAKE LAWS UP WHEN THEY SEE FIT. Police Officers do not have the right to dispense justice if and when they see fit. Unless I'm not mistaken, we are not living in Nazi Germany or New York in the time of Judge Dredd and just because some officers would like to do something, it doesn't give them carte blanche TO DO something. Did I mention I was going to reply to Mr Machen.

Fantastic and easy Paranorama tool

Rob — 2007-09-21T18:30:00+01:00

For ages now I've been looking for an easy tool to stitch together photographs I've taken while on my travels. Now, there ARE a number of OpenSource alternatives that give good results. But to be honest, none of them (at present at least) offer the kind of drag and drop interface that a 'purchase' bit of software can. Not that there is a vast amount of choice. Clearly Photoshop and Photoshop Elements will contain such a tool. It's called PhotoMerge and while it is present in Photoshop Elements 5.0 for Windows; it's not so clear whether the current Mac version (4.0) contains it. Am I crazy, or did previous versions of Mac OS X (10.0? 10.1? 10.2?) contain a free Panorama tool? Just me then.

Motivation

There's some appealing about being able to give a 'big picture' of the location and it helps to show people who've never been there a feel of how it all fits together. So, armed with a bit of cash in PayPal I bought an unwanted version of Serif's PanoramaPlus 3 (retails at $49.99) to give it a go. OK. Firstly, this is a Windows only product. But I run Parallels (and I'm in MSDN) so that's not a problem. It was easy to setup and the results are actually pretty good. Although the application can occasionally blow up in your face and bizarrely, doesn't appear to have the ability to save 'work in progress'. Anyway, I've played around a bit with some images I took in Disney June 2007. One of the great things you can do is that you can create both panoramic images AND Quicktime VR movies. Both of which I've included below. Here is a Quicktime VT of Main Street USA, in the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida. While here is the link to the Curious George Goes to Town play area, Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida. Finally, I've create a quick panorama of the Lights Motors Action Stunt Show, Disney Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World, Florida. (That's Disney MGM Studios of late). Finally, I've published the source combined images in a quick gallery. Sorry if it blows up your browser! Some of the images are nearly 10,000 pixels wide. Please be patient as the images are so large they can take a few minutes to fully download. As can be seen in this image here.

Appalling brutality at Florida University

Rob — 2007-09-18T18:31:57+01:00

Believe it or not, I don't usually get all worked upon about videos I stumble across on YouTube. However, I'm making an exception here. In the UK, given this evidence, the police officers in shot would be put on a charge and at best would be reprimanded on unpaid leave. Watch the video as Florida University Police tackle a student for asking the 'wrong' question. Quite why it takes so many of them and they deem if necessary to Taser him, you decide. I was so appalled I've pulled back on an investment I was going to make in Florida. But then it was the straw that broke the camels back. I decided to ask the President of the University of Florida to explain his Police Officers actions and what he felt about it. I've included my email here. I'll keep you posted if he replies..... but don't hold your breath. Dear J. Bernard Machen, Having recently viewed the actions of your campus police assaulting and then tazering a student for simply asking John Kerry a series of questions I find myself sickened to the core. If this is the sort of brutality Florida University believes is acceptable in a free society then it doesn't bode well for the country. I myself have no reversed a decision to invest in the state of Florida. Partly because of the actions of your officers, seemingly without any repercussions, but also for other similar acts of brutality. Florida seems to have truly turned into a violent place. But never would I have expected it to encroach into University life. I only hope that you view the video with some regard and perhaps reflect upon whether or not the actions taken by those officers was indeed justified in the very first instance. I believe if you watch Mr Kerry and listen carefully you can see him hold up his hand to stop the attack on the student and clearly hear him say that he wanted to answer the question. I await your reply. In the meantime, I will post my email to my personal blog for reference. Yours Mr Robert Leather CEO Ascolti

The TopUp.TV Saga - Bad service or worse?

Rob — 2007-09-15T16:51:56+01:00

About two months ago we had just about enough of Sky Television. Multiroom had died and they just couldn't give a stuff. Then we had two sets of engineers out, but told in advance we had a tall house... and both leaving when they discovered the house... was.... tall. I blogged about this and the outcome as well as look at some of alternatives available. Having looked into it, and knowing I could get FreeView channels no problem at all, we opted for TopUp.... All in all this seemed the best of both worlds. We could cancel at any time, the devices (160gb PVR) wasn't too overpriced and did include two tuners and the £10 a month ticket for what we got was all in all a good deal. ...Fact is, even though we have strong signals and the hardware delivered worked 'to specification' it NEVER worked well. Some channels we totally unwatchable on the Thomson device and worse of all, the channels you £10 to have them download over night; never once managed to download more than a couple that could ever be watched. The problem was TOO MUCH signal it transpired. So a device was dispatched so we could cut down on those strong Freeview signals from further afield. But that made little or no difference and in the end we gave up, cancelled with TopUp and went back to Sky..... ... it's at this point it all turned a bit Pete Tong.

28th August - The first letter - TopUp have Strop Up

...When you subscribed to TopUp TV you indicated that you would make payment by direct debit. We have recently approached your bank to set up a Direct Debit Instruction. Unfortunately your bank has returned the instructions to us with the reason "Instruction cancelled by payer." ...The fact that they took TWICE the payment for the service instead of giving me a free month seems to have been lost. But given they had been in receipt of a cancellation letter for over three weeks, why the shock!? ...We hope this matter can be resolved as soon as possible but failure to respond within 14 days from the date of this letter may result in a disruption to your service - You have to laugh. ...Furthermore as you are currently within your 12 month contract period, failure to provide us with an updated payment method could result in your details being passed to our debt collections agency. - At this point... I went mental! ...
Allow me to present exhibit A M'Lord
You will note that for NEW CUSTOMERS that it's "Just £99.99 for the PVR" (We actually paid £140 at the time), "NO CONTRACT" and "£9.99 a month" ...I looked at the SLA and the T&C's and there was only a mention of a minimum period "Should there be one". ...For a few minutes I did indeed think I'd gone mental and signed up to a year with them. Then I calmed down and sent them a very strongly worded (no swearing mind) letter about how I felt they were attempting to defraud me because I had signed NO SUCH 12 month contract. I took the time to find the particular legislation relating to such fraud and included it in my letter. ..... and I get excited about the possibility of having a day in court over this.
12th September - Top Up. TV caught with Pants Down
...Dear Mr Leather, Thank you for contacting Top Up Tv. ...I wouldn't imagine so. But if you say so. We would like to confirm that the deal you signed up for on our Website did not indicate a 12 month contract. - I wasn't under ANY impression it did! ...We would like to apologise for the previous letter sent to you regarding a breach of contract, this was a Administration error. - Well, I think that's a load of BS. ... They send out the "YOU OWE US CASH" letter first in the hope some poor old Granny will have a heart attack, panic and rush them a cheque. Even I had to check the contract twice and Sue initially sided with the letter. ... Send something official looking with threats of Bailiffs and most people panic; I include myself in that list. We can confirm that you have no outstanding balance on your account... ...Because you owe me £10! .. and there is no refund due to yourself. ...But can I be bothered. It then goes on saying I can't get the money back for the device because it's OUTSIDE the 7 day return period. ... Because THEY say to give the device a week in order to get up and running. So if you take their advice... you run out your hand back period..

Sun Solaris gets all cozy with Linux

Rob — 2007-09-12T19:55:00+01:00
It's can't be much more than a year ago (but is likely to be two the way times flying at present) that Sun came out of gates with Microsoft saying that it was nothing but love between them and they had patched their differences (umpty trumpty millions of dollars will do that) and would now be working together in peace and harmony. Microsoft shared the secrets (and pitfalls) of their SMB system and Authentication methodologies for better interoperability twix Windows and Solaris and in return SUN Microsystems waited a month before making Solaris, ALL VERSIONS, free to anybody to download! Like the big bang resonates forever in space, you can apparently still hear the echoes of Steve Ballmer. So pundits of IT's last remaining corporate Geek Tech company will not be shocked or awed by the news that the latest version of Solaris, 10, is all warm and fluffy towards the OpenSource gravy-train that is Linux. Linux, the dream of free O/S that while is prevalent in lots of markets seems to have ABSOLUTELY ZERO impact in UK Government (a place where savings SURELY need to be made), charities or just about anybody to large to think beyond Microsoft. Now don't get me wrong. Microsoft products have come along leaps and bounds over the least few years and certainly projects like Mono bring MS technology (C#) to the Linux platform. But the costs! Microsoft, please take a long hard look at what you want to charge for software... if it wasn't so expensive, would anybody pirate it?

20% of (US) Americans can't find America on a map!

Rob — 2007-09-09T09:06:40+01:00
Now I'm not going to scoff and I'm definitely not going to act all superior. But how has it come about that one fifth of the people in the World's THIRD largest land mass cannot find it on a map. It's 9.6 million square kilometres! You could throw a dart blindfolded and stand a good chance of hitting it on a world map! But the questions that's really burning in my mind is this. Exactly where DID they think it was? So here is a nice simple map of the world for people like Miss South Carolina. America is the one on the left, in green (or the irony) and with that 'Stars and Stripes' flag over it.

Vote for Ron Paul and give the world a break!

Rob — 2007-09-09T10:58:31+01:00

If you're from the United States of America... and have any interesting in either your own country (that would be America) or the rest of the world then please vote for the only candidate who appears to base his policies on common sense, the US Constitution and an understanding of history. Despite winning a considerable number of the 'Straw Polls' he doesn't seem to be making much of an appearance on mainstream media. I wonder why that would be? Thanks goodness for the Internet, because he's actually gaining a 'grass roots' following purely down to word of mouth. Personally, having listened to what he says over the usual rhetoric of the likes of Giuliani, Romney and McCain. All they can deliver is "terrorists", "homeland security" or "more terrorists" as a campaign speech. What's even funny is how he's appearing on the Fox News site... in that he's hardly there. Yet, when you look at the Straw Poll results; out of the twenty three straw polls so far he's: • Won 9 • Came second 4 times • Came third 4 times and • Came forth 3 times. Considering he isn't back by the main media forces, big business and whatever secret forces you might think exist and run the world.. that's some record!

Al Gore... he's a very naughty environmentalist

Rob — 2007-09-08T01:57:50+01:00
I see Al Gore has been caught red handed taking a private jet. Fox news, always the bastion of truth and justice in America (sarcasm) are going to release the damning video this coming Sunday (9th September). What will there headline be? Politician found lying? Which then leads to to ponder if this is actually 'news' or not. Either way, it's another example of 'do as I say, not as I do'. With John Prescott telling the UK public that they are killing the planet with their cars and then has a 5.3 litre V12 Jaguar drive him 100 yards to a conference so, and I quote, his wife's hair didn't get blown about too much. Well, as I said at the time, I find my hair gets blown about a lot on public transport also... hence the car.

Replacing the bulb on a Sagem Axium HD45 H/S DLP Television

Rob — 2007-09-09T16:01:14+01:00
So you've got a fantastic Sagem Axium HD45 H G4 and then 18 months go by and then suddenly... without warning (or very much warning)... nothing. ...Wander over to the web (if you dare) and look up the price of a replacement (projector) bulb unit. But before you do this, take a swift shot of whatever you need to calm your nerves because the news isn't good. It's bad... very bad. In the UK at least I managed to track a lowest (that's LOWEST) price of £355.27 ($710), that's EXCLUDING VAT making the actual price around £420 ($840)!!!!. Which is even more shocking given that you can pick up a new Sagem Axium for about £1,100. So the bulb nearly equates to half it's value! Which kind of reminds me when a mate of mine asked for an car insurance quote many years ago and was told it would be £2,000. ... he replied, "I'd have to right the car off twice to get my money back!"... said insurance agent hung up. ...
Here's how to save yourself £320.
...Sorry, but I realised I was starting to sound like an 'Info-mercial'. The Sagem Axium HD45 (and 50 for that matter) is lit using a Osram P-VIP 100-120/13 E23h bulb. ... Fact is, you can pick this bulb up for £100 ($200) from a number of suppliers in the UK. But then what.
The Osram Bulb as fitted to the Sagem Axium DLP television

Step One - Shopping List
• Order you bulb, as detailed above. • Make sure you've got some 20mm 0.5 Amp fuses. If you haven't, then order them, because they are essential to the completion of your installation. • You'll also need either a VERY sharp craft knife or better still a Dremmel or similar. It should be noted I used a knife... and was VERY careful. ... • Latex gloves (or similar)
Step Two - Removing the enclosure
The VERY easy bit. Remove the bulb enclosure from the TV. You open the side panel using the large screw like lock at its top. Then remove the entire door (it's not attached). Then you undo the two retaining silver screws at the top left and bottom right of the enclosure and slowly and carefully remove it.
Step Three - Removing the bulb from the enclosure.
This is actually VERY easy on a Sagem Axium as it is held in place with a simple retaining clip. What isn't so easy is the power block. Firstly, you need to cut the power connector (pictured above) in half. this is to allow it to be removed from the enclosure without breaking the part that retains the power block. ... If you should break the top arm off, it can easily be bonded back to the main unit using Superglue.
Step Four - Re-Assembly
Using latex gloves to protect the new bulb during installation. It is essential that the glass remain perfectly clean and smudge free for best working. Install the light first, making sure you can route the cables, don't try it the other way around. Install the cable plug.. again... superglue as a standby.
Step Five - Before we finish! ...Now it's time for the fuse. At the top of the enclosure, behind the barcode you'll find a tiny 0.5 amp fuse. It WILL be blown. Simply replace it with any 20mm 0.5 amp fuse and... wait for it... ...
Step Six - Finishing up
While there you might want to VERY carefully clean up the inside of the projector unit which can because dusty. Always pull the dust outwards, never push in as you'll get dust on the colour wheel... which is BAD. Pop the enclosure back in the TV. Then replace the door and turn on the TV. Then turn the TV on. After about 10 seconds it will switch on and your 10-15 minutes work will have saved you several hundreds of pounds.

One to recommend

Rob — 2007-08-26T12:29:57+01:00
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. :-)

Tiscali and BT join forces to tell porkies

Rob — 2007-08-14T21:54:31+01:00
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...

Anthony Howard Wilson (1950 - 2007)

Rob — 2007-08-13T23:34:00+01:00
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.

Trouble at mill..

Rob — 2007-08-13T00:51:00+01:00
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.

Draytek Vigor 2800 Firmware Upgrade Issues

Rob — 2007-08-11T10:42:00+01:00
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!

The many pictures of ?

Rob — 2007-08-10T16:04:00+01:00
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?

Chicken what!

Rob — 2007-08-09T12:02:00+01:00
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.

And the best computer to run Office 2007 is....

Rob — 2007-08-02T20:06:00+01:00

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. :-D 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?

Rob — 2007-08-01T12:55:00+01:00
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

Comments from a flight

Rob — 2007-08-01T12:30:00+01:00
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.

..as one door closes. Or so we are led to believe

Rob — 2007-07-31T22:30:00+01:00
So.. despite the BBC telling us the Sir Alan Michael Sugar is Britain's most famous entrepreneur, fingers in pies and all that, he's selling his fledgling company Amstrad. Now I've commented in the past on the alleged success of Amstrad previously. It was nothing personal, Sir Alan. It was just that the BBC tried to portray Amstrad as a real force within the technology market in the UK. With offices in Canary Wharf. None of which was actually true. Mind you, Sir Alan didn't exactly ingratiate himself to me when he criticised the 'Disney' approach to customer care; "This isn't a Mickey Mouse company!" he shouted. No. They are VERY successful and Amstrad ISN'T. Anyway, he's sold Amstrad for £125 million to BSkyB. This is rather interesting, because Sky is Amstrad's main client and equated to 80% - 90% of their income. Now in the period year ending 2005 Amstrad made £100 million pounds (with just £19 million profit) the majority of which was from Sky. In 2006 Sky has increased in customer base and obviously as a result Amstrad made more money. So I presume that Sky would have paid Amstrad approximately £120 million year ending 2006. So, if you were Sky and wanted to cut costs... wouldn't YOU buy the supplier for your set top boxes for the same amount of money it costs you to buy the equipment from them? Sky have paired their costs down per customer. Quite why the BBC would imagine this is a good deal for Sir Alan Sugar and a not so good deal for Sky is confusing.

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear

Rob — 2007-07-29T23:30:00+01:00
In what can only be described as a real life imitating art. The little boats off the South coast if Britain have all dashed out and caught the 'big shark' that was caught on film. Tonight's 10.30pm news has put something of a heroic slant of things. But lets put this context. Nobody has been attacked. The shark was posing a danger and lets face it.. given the rough seas the likelihood of people and shark ever coming together seem pretty slim. So what's been achieved? Well. Once again a member of the endangered species of the world has been put under just a little bit more pressure because of a knee jerk reaction, a popular 70's film (coincidentally shown this weekend) and presumably somebody has made a bit of cash.

Land of the inappropriate song.. or What NOT to put in the background of your news report

Rob — 2007-07-26T02:30:00+01:00
I know, 2.30am is a seriously odd time to suddenly decide to put keyboard to blog. But I've had inspiration from a (I'll leave it anonymous) podcast I had on soothingly in the background. Today's (or is that tonight's) subject is the use of inappropriate music in the background of news items and/or tv programs. Now to be honest, I'm not sure if it's UK only phenomenon or whether or not other nations have the same issue. But the theory goes in the head of TV executives that a news item about a particular subject or a feature in a TV show can be transcended to the audience by the use of a tenuously linked piece of popular music. Most famous of which is the BBC music promo.
Perfect day
Perfect day was meant to represent all that was good about BBC music to the UK listening audience. ...What a perfect day ...Help convey the idea of a life enhancing experience provided by the BBC. ...Lou Reed's song is actually a homage to heroin. Which is a fact that couldn't have escaped the BBC given he sings the opening lines in person and I'm sure might have mentioned it to them. It also didn't miss the attention of rival ITV; "Satirical comedians on standby." Actually, smack connection or not, "Perfect Day" remains one of the BBC's most successful self publicity campaigns and sold several million copies when released on CD. I link to the YouTube video for your delight. ...And the background music for nearly ALL reports of China is.... A spate of news reports carried out by my local BBC news channel BBC North West on China re-introduced the world to Suzi and Banshees seminal 1983 hit "Hong Kong Garden". This catchy little ditty from the age of punk mixes Suzi Sue's hard fast singing voice with distinctly oriental in nature musical background. The major force behind it's very choice. However, I'm not sure how impressed the local Chinese community would be if they had realised the background music to their; ... • Anniversary of the establishment of Manchester's / Liverpool's "China Town" • Opening of a major new Chinese theme event Was actually a stark and rather disturbing critic of child prostitution within the Asian sub-continent. The subtle give away being the line regarding; ...Or the suggestion that you could pick up the girls (I presume) with just a few Yen.
Ain't gonna work....
So... a person is retiring after a very long time in a job. They make the local news and... from the speakers come Hue and Cry's top hit "I ain't gonna work (for you no more)". Which is fine... very nice. So long as the person is actually leaving the service of Margaret Thatcher. Because the song is specifically about her... and famously so. Now it is true that for some part the lyrics or meanings behind a song can be misleading. "Perfect Day" 'could' be about a person (come on.. this is Lou 'What decade are we in' Reed we are talking about). But when the meaning is clear or the chorus CLEARLY has another meaning... I give you
.. if the subject is about Japan
...Have you already guessed? You know it already. "Turning Japanese" by XXXXX is background fodder for so many stories about Japan it's untrue. But if the production staff would just spend 20 seconds listening to the lyrics they would clearly see the lyrics don't even suggest Japan. No wine, no fun, no sin, no women No you no wonder it's dark Everyone around me is a total stranger Everyone around me is a pycho-ranger ...What are they about? Well... at the risk of giving my blog an adult rating. The lyrics are about the 'loneliness' of being in a prison cell. The 'turning Japanese' phrase relates to a facial expression during a given moment of happy distraction. Which, in a similar way to "Hong Kong Garden" can only go to further divide links between world cultures. ...The Stranglers were singing about heroine.

It's all in the name...

Rob — 2007-07-22T11:00:00+01:00
A couple of months ago.... No, I'll start from the top. In the UK we have something called the Sales of Goods act. Part of which basically, in legal mumbo jumbo, says you cannot give a misleading description to items. So it's with this in mind that I'd like to talk about the sort of hire cars I've had to drive while on holiday in Florida. First up... The Dodge Charger
This aggressively design four door (but in the style of a coupe) car from the giant Daimler Chrysler organisation, in hire car form, is powered by either the 2.7 litre DOHC V6 or 3.5 litre SOHC V6 engines. Putting out approximately 190 bhp and 250 bhp respectfully. Sounds good. Until you realise the that the Dodge Charger weights in at 2 (imperial) tons and nearly 2 (metric) tonnes! Making the bhp per tonne a considerably less impressive 95 bhp and 125 bhp. Compare this to a Saab 93 Aero Auto that weights in at 1.6 imperial tons or 1.49 metric tonnes. You can see what I talking about here. The Dodge needs to go on a diet. Actual performance figures for the Dodge Charger concentrate purely on the HEMI powered car. With good reason. The 3.5 litre just about manages 0-60 in 8.9 seconds and a top speed of 120 mph. And just manages a terrible 19 mpg around town and 27 mpg top!! Plus the 2.7 litre car has a measly four speed auto transmission. That's 11 seconds for 0-60 and actually worse fuel economy than that 3.5 litre. Which confirms my suspicion that my 1.3 litre turbo diesel car was in fact FASTER than the Dodge Charger. Which brings me back to the Trades Description act. The car couldn't 'charge' and it's dodging ability left a lot to be desired! :-) Mercury Grand Marquis
Wow.. I mean where to start.. The 1970's 'box on wheels' styling? The suspension powered by jelly (jello to you Americans) The asthmatic 4.6 litre V8 that barely pushes out 224 bhp in a car that weighs in at a staggering 4,094 lbs. The 'change in my own time' four speed automatic with amusing 'increase engine noise' button... that doesn't actually make the car go faster. The less than funny 17 - 25 mpg None. It's the completely pretentious Grand Marquis name. Grand Marquees would be more appropriate. Tent metaphor aside, this is the first US car I've driven where it actually felt like I was a sea captain and the only car where all three of my kids got motion (or potentially 'sea') sick when I drove. Well done Ford motor company. For a car that should have been forgotten about in the 1970's and never repeated. So what do we get in Europe by comparison?
Well, here is the 2007 Ford Mondeo. It's shorter than the Mercury Grand Marquis on the outside. But it's actually bigger on the inside. Not to mention it handles, performs and has massive gas mileage by comparison. Think it's time to start importing from Europe?

That's ya' lot sky!

Rob — 2007-07-20T20:30:00+01:00
At the risk of sounding like a consumer rank blog. After quite a bit of provocation we have decided to ditch Sky. Sky, the satellite TV provider... to you home. Sadly, though. Despite the gigantic £47 per month ($94) they haven't been able to provide TV to our home on anything like a consistent basis. In fact, they have been rubbish. First it started with our multi-room set-up having glitches. Then in anything over a slight drizzle we lost all signal completely. Then we had all the fun of having Sky make umpteen promises to rectify the problem (see my blog). They would send out the high building team, they would not leave until the job was done. Reality, two blokes turned up. Looked at our NOT EXACTLY gigantic house and decided not to bother!! So I called up Sky evening and had to do the run around to actually give my 30 days notice. 20 minutes! Twenty minutes and about half a dozen times with me saying "I'm not interested. You had your chance. I am just calling to cancel.". Only to then be passed onto YET ANOTHER technical person to discuss my problems. In the end. I was firm but polite and the message sank in. "Why," I argued, "would I take anybody at Skys word that anything will be done.". So.. we are dropping them and of the two possible options, we are going to go with Top Up TV. Tiscali (Home Choice) have to be kidding when they say you have to sign up for 12 months. With their reputation! Top Up TV!! Here we come.

Funny the people you meet....

Rob — 2007-07-18T01:30:00+01:00
I'm staying away from home at present, in a rather nice Travelodge in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire. But that's not the real reason for this post. The point is that the guy on reception, Neville, has had quite a life. I wanted to send a fax, but you know how it is. You get chatting. Turns out he was a commercial airline pilot. But then he was diagnosed with lung cancel. If there could be a good side it is the fact that it hadn't spread anywhere. But it had affected both lungs. So five years ago he had to have both lungs removed and spent 11 months on artificial support. Luckily, for him, a donor became available and he had a complete lung replacement operation. Now the only down side is that the anti-rejection medicine he takes has affected his eyesight. But using glasses corrects this. The only other problem is that he is not allowed to fly. Not because he is unfit, he regularly does marathons and half marathons. Not because of his eyesight, because there are other pilots with similar eye conditions. No, the reason he isn't allowed to fly is because he takes a 'drug'; the effects of which are unknown. So it's OK for a one armed pilot, with bad eyesight and type 1 diabetes to fly. But not him. Surely this is discrimination!

Mr Armstrong Gets Another Cheque

Rob — 2007-07-15T21:30:00+01:00
I caught a little bit of the BBC "How me made Britain" series and I have to say that Craig Armstrong must be expecting the cheque shortly. But it's really not unexpected. Because I have heard "Escape" from the "Plunkett & Macleane" soundtrack on at least two OTHER programs today. In fact, once you've heard it... you'll recognise it all over the place. Check it out here. REAL format. The BBC are especially fond of the track. So far I've heard it on "The Apprentice" and on "Top Gear" at least three times! I think they used it most recently on the Bugatti Veyron race. Or was it the Merc. McLaren? Not sure now. Of course.. the real heart stopper is watching James (Mr Slow) May maxing it out at 253mph! No wonder his eyes water!

Stroppy.... works

Rob — 2007-07-15T01:42:00+01:00
If you read my last blog posting, nearly two weeks back now, you'll be aware of the generally terrible service provided to us by View Tek. Where the concept of a 12 month guarantee is at THEIR convenience. So vexed were we about the whole experience that I decided to get ride of the whole Sky setup. Or rather, sell the Sky kit we had on Ebay and cancel our monthly service agreement. It's been well over a year and we are within our rights. Now, as an aside, BBC television have been airing a show called "Don't Get Done, Get Dom" in which diminutive Dominic Littlewood gets consumer rights issues made good while showing the best ways to haggle for great bargains. To be honest it's been more distraction than education on the few days I've been fortunate to work from home. But when I called Sky some of his tips came in VERY HANDY. I guess another very strong thing in my favour was that Sky is now facing some very serious competition from a couple of previous underdogs made good. These are the Freeview on steroids provider TopUp TV whose £10 ($20) a month price plan provides you with an extra 19 channels over the standard Freeview's 30 or so. But as a father, the best news is that the four channels the kids couldn't live without (Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Boomerang and Cartoon Network) are all on it. For me, I'd loose FX (so no more Nash Bridges etc) and of course we would loose Sky One. But as Lost isn't on until January 2008 and it's *ahem* widely available from other sources* then it's not such a big deal. Best of all, TopUp.tv are packaging in a very nice PVR (or Digital TV Recorder DTR if your prefer) with dual tuners and 160GB of hard drive space. Enough for 120 hours or so. It's actually a nice bit of kit and of course is a direct competitor to Sky+. Plus TopUp TV offer something called "Top Up TV Anytime". I'll let them explain what it is... What is Top Up TV Anytime?  In addition to Freeview**, Top Up TV Anytime brings you over 600 programmes a month from Pay-TV channels (shown below) to watch when you want to. Programmes appear automatically on your box every day to start and stop at your say-so. Sounds mysterious? * I should point out that I'm the sort of sad muppet who buys the box sets of each series... Next up is something of a surprising novelty in the UK. Homechoice for £15 per month provide a broadband service that includes a cheaper phone service as well as a system of providing TV. Now it's difficult to see if this is a video on demand service (although some clearly are HBO on demand for example) or a combination of streamed AND VOD. But the additional channels that might make it worth your will are all the TopUp. TV plus FX , Sci Fi channel, ABC 1, Film 4 On Demand, National Geographic, Nick Jnr and a service called Direct from sky using a service called 'Sky by Wire'. All of which I presume will mean you'd need a PC (Windows) to access the content. Anyway, I called Sky and basically asked to be put right into termination's. First stop, customer relations. Is that something wrong with my dish? Yes... it doesn't work well enough... and they fitted it. Plus they charged me £75 to have it fixed and they turned up and said our roof was TOO HIGH* and didn't refund the money..... CS panics, hits the red button and I'm now into the 'Retention Staff' area. In other words, the 'rather die than loose a customer' section. So I tell Jeremy all about the problems and how it appears that Sky only want to come fitting if they are going to get more money (like when they managed to get on the roof to fit Sky+ and Multiroom). I tell him all about the £75, crap service.. .etc. etc. So, here's the deal. We are getting a month off.. because service has been so bad. They are going to send around a specialist team (this Thursday) to put new equipment on the roof and (so he hinted) new boxes in the house. ALL free of charge. Plus, the £75 I was changed, will be credited back within three days. Now; here is my confession. I had no intention WHAT SO EVER to leave Sky. None. I just wanted them to fix my dish. But it sure does have benefits making them jump once in a while. Don't you agree?