http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/tech_support_cheat_sheet.png
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Richard Douthwaite.
rdouthwaite@gmail.com
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
UK Travel petition gives UK govt a headache
Read the article, sign the petition...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/12/road_pricing_petition_response/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/12/road_pricing_petition_response/
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Day Six
Following a late stat we decided to head out to a welsh valley, known locally as the Mach loop. It's here that the RAF practice low flying, however it seems that today they have better things to do and we see no planes. We head into the local village for food and then head for home. Another evening in the company of V&C
Days Three, Four and Five
Day Three...
Again last night with the rain and the snoring!
Another sunny morning, I head out to town and discover that Tuesdays are market day in Glastonbury, the main road trough the town is shut, so rather than fight my way around town I decide to drive the two miles to sainsburies to get cash from their machine. When I get there the machine don't work, so it's back to Glastonbury to brave the market day diversions.
I soon have cash and spend half an hour mooching round the market. Nothing really screams buy me so, considering how busy the town is I decide to head over to Wells to get some photos of the cathederal.
Up until now I've been typing this in starbucks over a grande latte, now I must move on, so the remainder of this post will have to wait till later...
... And so dear reader it's 6.15 and the tale of day three continues atop a very windy Glastonbury Tor from where I'll be posting this entry as oddly the G3 connection up here is better than it is at the campsite. Or maybe not as I now seem unable to get a connection of any kind! (as you will see it is actually two days before I post)
I made the decision that it was too windy to stand waiting the hour and a half till sunset and decended the tor with the intention of using the sunset as a backdrop for some photos of the hill. I drive east and before long find the perfect spot. I set up the camera and wait... I'm not dissapointed! (Pics to follow) I also discover that I've had catastrophic GPS failure!
Day four...
Spend the morning breaking down camp and wondering how in the hell I'm going to navigate to North Wales since my GPS software died. I did think of buying a paper map but that kind of defeats the object of the journey as I have a vague idea that the trip should rely as much as possible on the digital domain... Then I thought of multimap. Hah god bless the internet, PDA phones and GPRS/G3.
Off to visit my old friend Glastonbury abbey now... Just got to find some change for the bloody car park.
Afternoon...
Following my visit to the abbey I begin the drive to North Wales. Come 5:30 I decide to spend the night in a real bed and book into a Motorway hotel for the evening, which is spent vegging out in front of the TV.
Day five
The following morning I continue my journey to North Wales, heading through Wrexham and getting lost several times but eventually arrive in Abergele. The evening is spent catching up with my old friends Marni and Kev, over copious amounts of vodka and coke.
Again last night with the rain and the snoring!
Another sunny morning, I head out to town and discover that Tuesdays are market day in Glastonbury, the main road trough the town is shut, so rather than fight my way around town I decide to drive the two miles to sainsburies to get cash from their machine. When I get there the machine don't work, so it's back to Glastonbury to brave the market day diversions.
I soon have cash and spend half an hour mooching round the market. Nothing really screams buy me so, considering how busy the town is I decide to head over to Wells to get some photos of the cathederal.
Up until now I've been typing this in starbucks over a grande latte, now I must move on, so the remainder of this post will have to wait till later...
... And so dear reader it's 6.15 and the tale of day three continues atop a very windy Glastonbury Tor from where I'll be posting this entry as oddly the G3 connection up here is better than it is at the campsite. Or maybe not as I now seem unable to get a connection of any kind! (as you will see it is actually two days before I post)
I made the decision that it was too windy to stand waiting the hour and a half till sunset and decended the tor with the intention of using the sunset as a backdrop for some photos of the hill. I drive east and before long find the perfect spot. I set up the camera and wait... I'm not dissapointed! (Pics to follow) I also discover that I've had catastrophic GPS failure!
Day four...
Spend the morning breaking down camp and wondering how in the hell I'm going to navigate to North Wales since my GPS software died. I did think of buying a paper map but that kind of defeats the object of the journey as I have a vague idea that the trip should rely as much as possible on the digital domain... Then I thought of multimap. Hah god bless the internet, PDA phones and GPRS/G3.
Off to visit my old friend Glastonbury abbey now... Just got to find some change for the bloody car park.
Afternoon...
Following my visit to the abbey I begin the drive to North Wales. Come 5:30 I decide to spend the night in a real bed and book into a Motorway hotel for the evening, which is spent vegging out in front of the TV.
Day five
The following morning I continue my journey to North Wales, heading through Wrexham and getting lost several times but eventually arrive in Abergele. The evening is spent catching up with my old friends Marni and Kev, over copious amounts of vodka and coke.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Day two...
It rained last night.When I say rain I mean it was as if someone tipped the contents of th Thames over my tent from a great height. At least that's what it sounded like from inside the tent. Eventually the torrent subsided, only to be replaced by the dulcettones of a fellow camper snoring for England. I'm not sure what time it when I finally dropped off but come 6.30 am I was wide awake.
Had to wait around for the camp site shop to open at 8.30 so I could book someadditional nights.
Eventually headed off site at 9.00 to gather supplies... Let's hear it for sainsburies.
Spent the afternoon sitting in a field painting. I'm a studio watercolourist at heart but I always feel I should spend at least some time out in the field like a real painter. The only thing is, it's just not nice. It's windy, you get stiff from sitting in the same position for ages, it's just not like the studio. Anyway, got a half decent picture, but then I'm never happy with field results, I just can't give it the level of concentration the painting deserves.
Just returned from a short walk in the dark around the campsite, I was, believe it or not, searching unsuccessfully for better G3 reception as the connection on the campsite sucks.
Ah well, it's almost time to settle down for Murphy's Law....
Tomorrow's main objectives. Take photos, watch sun set from top of the Tor.
I'll blog images!
Had to wait around for the camp site shop to open at 8.30 so I could book someadditional nights.
Eventually headed off site at 9.00 to gather supplies... Let's hear it for sainsburies.
Spent the afternoon sitting in a field painting. I'm a studio watercolourist at heart but I always feel I should spend at least some time out in the field like a real painter. The only thing is, it's just not nice. It's windy, you get stiff from sitting in the same position for ages, it's just not like the studio. Anyway, got a half decent picture, but then I'm never happy with field results, I just can't give it the level of concentration the painting deserves.
Just returned from a short walk in the dark around the campsite, I was, believe it or not, searching unsuccessfully for better G3 reception as the connection on the campsite sucks.
Ah well, it's almost time to settle down for Murphy's Law....
Tomorrow's main objectives. Take photos, watch sun set from top of the Tor.
I'll blog images!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Random trip - Day 1
And so the sun sets on day one of my random and unplanned adventure. The day began slowly with a vague idea that I would head south. Needing to place a waypoint in my GPS I decided on Glastonbury as it's one of my favorite places.
I threw some basic camping equipment in the car and made a start.
The first bit of randomness was that the GPS tok me on a route that instilled in me a certain deja vu. It took me on the exact same route I used to drive to and from my college in Wednesbury, West Midlands some thirteen years ago. Once I reached Walsall the GPS told me I needed to divert from my old route and didn't need to visit my old stomping ground.. Yeah right! I knew that the campus had long since been sold for development and demolished, but I had the overwhelming desire to visit the site and see it for myself.
Where once stood the seat of learning that was Kendrick street campus now stand a multitude of uniformly boringlittle residential boxes. Gone is the large red brick main campus building, gone also the studio site which housed radio, tv and multitrack recording studios... I guess that's progress.
It was at this point in the journey that I guess the hitch hicker must have joined me. I didn't notice him until I was on the M5 and he jumped out in front of me. I had a bloody cricket on board. Sadly there's no photographic evidence as I thought better of trying to photograph a jumpy green insect whilst trying to drive on the motorway! Anyway he pinged around happily for a while eventually I realised I hadn't seen him for a while. I guess the little sucker must have pinged himself clean out of the window... Wow, bet that was a rush!
Eventually I arrived at the two oaks campsite in Glastonbury. I had no trouble finding it asI have been before. However, previous visits have not been on a bank holiday weekend. It was full! Thankfully the Island of Avalon campsite just down the road had spaces, though it s a bit too far out of town to make walking to the Tor a practical proposition. Still at least it's in keeping with the random nature of this trip.
Speaking of random nature, guess who thought he would be able to sort out provisions when he arrived? Not on a sunday after 4 you won't sonny jim! Bugger so tea is a trip to MD's (shame) and a quick trip to the local petrol station sorted coffee (gotta have coffee).
So dear reader, that's today sorted. Just time for a quick stroll by the stream , a bit of telly (grand prix highlights and then bed. Should be fun in the dark, guess who's light ain't workin'
Arse!
I threw some basic camping equipment in the car and made a start.
The first bit of randomness was that the GPS tok me on a route that instilled in me a certain deja vu. It took me on the exact same route I used to drive to and from my college in Wednesbury, West Midlands some thirteen years ago. Once I reached Walsall the GPS told me I needed to divert from my old route and didn't need to visit my old stomping ground.. Yeah right! I knew that the campus had long since been sold for development and demolished, but I had the overwhelming desire to visit the site and see it for myself.
Where once stood the seat of learning that was Kendrick street campus now stand a multitude of uniformly boringlittle residential boxes. Gone is the large red brick main campus building, gone also the studio site which housed radio, tv and multitrack recording studios... I guess that's progress.
It was at this point in the journey that I guess the hitch hicker must have joined me. I didn't notice him until I was on the M5 and he jumped out in front of me. I had a bloody cricket on board. Sadly there's no photographic evidence as I thought better of trying to photograph a jumpy green insect whilst trying to drive on the motorway! Anyway he pinged around happily for a while eventually I realised I hadn't seen him for a while. I guess the little sucker must have pinged himself clean out of the window... Wow, bet that was a rush!
Eventually I arrived at the two oaks campsite in Glastonbury. I had no trouble finding it asI have been before. However, previous visits have not been on a bank holiday weekend. It was full! Thankfully the Island of Avalon campsite just down the road had spaces, though it s a bit too far out of town to make walking to the Tor a practical proposition. Still at least it's in keeping with the random nature of this trip.
Speaking of random nature, guess who thought he would be able to sort out provisions when he arrived? Not on a sunday after 4 you won't sonny jim! Bugger so tea is a trip to MD's (shame) and a quick trip to the local petrol station sorted coffee (gotta have coffee).
So dear reader, that's today sorted. Just time for a quick stroll by the stream , a bit of telly (grand prix highlights and then bed. Should be fun in the dark, guess who's light ain't workin'
Arse!
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
A worthwhile persuit
Whilst the internet is undoubtedly a fantastic resource it is for the most part populated by websites created by owners who are, to a greater or lesser degree saying "look at me" or "see how clever I am".
Every now and then though I come across something that bucks this trend, something that is not "about" the site authors. http://www.tadcaster-ww1-memorials.com is one such site.
Basically the guys who run this site have set themselves the mammoth task of documenting and recording a permanent record of those men from their local town Tadcaster and its surrounding towns and villages who gave their lives in the great war.
They research and maintain the site at their own expense in their spare time and already the task has led them abroad to visit and record details.
The site isn't just a list of names though. The site creators are really going to town on researching each individual including, where information exists, detailing family history, the conflict they were involved in.
Even if you have no connection with Tadcaster or the surrounding area, take a trip over and sign their guest book. Who knows, you may even be inspired to start a similar project for your town.
After all isn't this what the internet should be about.
Every now and then though I come across something that bucks this trend, something that is not "about" the site authors. http://www.tadcaster-ww1-memorials.com is one such site.
Basically the guys who run this site have set themselves the mammoth task of documenting and recording a permanent record of those men from their local town Tadcaster and its surrounding towns and villages who gave their lives in the great war.
They research and maintain the site at their own expense in their spare time and already the task has led them abroad to visit and record details.
The site isn't just a list of names though. The site creators are really going to town on researching each individual including, where information exists, detailing family history, the conflict they were involved in.
Even if you have no connection with Tadcaster or the surrounding area, take a trip over and sign their guest book. Who knows, you may even be inspired to start a similar project for your town.
After all isn't this what the internet should be about.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
In Memoriam - Spencer Braithwaite
I recently discovered that an old friend of mine passed away at a tragically young age. I had not spoken to him for a few years, I just kind of figured that there was no hurry and we'd catch up sooner or later.
If there's someone you know who you haven't seen for a while don't leave it too long, you may never get the chance.
Here's to you Spen.
If there's someone you know who you haven't seen for a while don't leave it too long, you may never get the chance.
Here's to you Spen.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Good or Bad: Adobefication
I have always been a great advocate of the Macromedia range of products, in particular Flash and Dreamweaver. Macromedia have consistently produced sensibly priced, high quality user friendly products that are powerful yet easy to pick up.
On the other hand I have never been a fan of Adobe products, I have always found them over priced and their user interfaces clumsy, unintuitave and overly complicated.
So now what? Where does the Adobe / Macromedia "merger" (read takeover) leave users? It is obvious from the recent changes to the Macromedia website who the dominant party is. Many of the users on the "Adobe formerly Macromedia" Team Macromedia forums have expressed similar concerns, such as the future for Macromedia products that conflict directly with existing Abobe products, for instance Macromedia Freehand and Adobe Illustrator. I know which product I think is superior, but in cases like this it's not the end user that matters, it's "brand identity" and "rationalization". Some have suggested that any rationalization will lead simply to any such products being sold of to other interested parties. I'm afraid I don't see this happening. For all Adobe are making all the right noises at the moment about continued support and product development I can't see any rational in selling off what are competing products to a competitor, it just makes no sense. Ultimately I see such products being shelved or, even worse, core elements of the Macromedia product being incorporated into the main Adobe product to create a single Adobeised hybrid product.
Personally I would have liked to see Adobe act as an umbrella company, maintaining the Macromedia brand. Now this may be a generalization, but I think, and this seems to be confirmed by opinion on the forums, that Macromedia users are not the same as Adobe users they belong to different markets and, more importantly, have a different cultural mindset. The Macromedia website was(and for the time being remains) a user driven, community based environment where users could feel they actually made a difference and that the company Macromedia listened to them directly. It was warm and friendly, something that has been lost following the recent Adobe brand "makeover".
Whenever any large company seeks to remove a competitor via the acquisition route the only people to suffer are the customers. I have just one thing left to say directly to Adobe. Guys, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
On the other hand I have never been a fan of Adobe products, I have always found them over priced and their user interfaces clumsy, unintuitave and overly complicated.
So now what? Where does the Adobe / Macromedia "merger" (read takeover) leave users? It is obvious from the recent changes to the Macromedia website who the dominant party is. Many of the users on the "Adobe formerly Macromedia" Team Macromedia forums have expressed similar concerns, such as the future for Macromedia products that conflict directly with existing Abobe products, for instance Macromedia Freehand and Adobe Illustrator. I know which product I think is superior, but in cases like this it's not the end user that matters, it's "brand identity" and "rationalization". Some have suggested that any rationalization will lead simply to any such products being sold of to other interested parties. I'm afraid I don't see this happening. For all Adobe are making all the right noises at the moment about continued support and product development I can't see any rational in selling off what are competing products to a competitor, it just makes no sense. Ultimately I see such products being shelved or, even worse, core elements of the Macromedia product being incorporated into the main Adobe product to create a single Adobeised hybrid product.
Personally I would have liked to see Adobe act as an umbrella company, maintaining the Macromedia brand. Now this may be a generalization, but I think, and this seems to be confirmed by opinion on the forums, that Macromedia users are not the same as Adobe users they belong to different markets and, more importantly, have a different cultural mindset. The Macromedia website was(and for the time being remains) a user driven, community based environment where users could feel they actually made a difference and that the company Macromedia listened to them directly. It was warm and friendly, something that has been lost following the recent Adobe brand "makeover".
Whenever any large company seeks to remove a competitor via the acquisition route the only people to suffer are the customers. I have just one thing left to say directly to Adobe. Guys, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
istockphoto.com - The designers dirty secret! (review)
If, like me, your job (or even hobby) involves an element of creative design then you have absolutely no excuse for not signing up to istockphoto.com , a repositiry of royalty free stock imagery containing images from photographs to flash files. You would be hard pressed not to find what you need for your latest masterpiece somewhere in the vast collection.
istockphoto.com differs from many stock image suppliers in several areas, not least on price. Pricing is based upon a pre-purchased credits system with each image being available in various resolutions, typically costing between 1 and 3 credits. At time of writing one credit is equal to one US dollar, which by anyones reckoning is a fair price for design imagery. Another interesting feature of istockphoto.com is that the imagery is provided exclusivley by existing members and submission is open to all. Provided that the images meet istockphoto.com submission criteria it is possible for anyone to add their photos to the collection and earn commission on every download (see site for current commission rates).
The quality of images at istockphoto.com is generally good, with many professional photographers and designers being active contributers, however it must be remembered that not all the images are of a professional standard and it pays to be picky before making a final desicion.
The site has many other useful features to get the creative juices flowing, including an active collection of forums, plenty of articles submitted by pros and amatures alike and image searching functions that are second to none.
All in all istockphoto.com is one of my favorite haunts, and I must say I spend probably far too much time there browsing through images.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Is your CD collection messing with your PC?
Sony BMG learns hard lesson in war against 'casual piracy' of CDs - Technology - International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/13/business/rights.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/13/business/rights.php
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Enough said...
For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Uber search
Yahoo, Google, Google, Yahoo. Sometimes it can be a difficult choice between both these leading search monsters. Well not any more, search both at once with GahooYoogle
Woohoo!
Woohoo!
Thursday, November 03, 2005
EFF: Is Your Printer Spying On You?
EFF: Is Your Printer Spying On You?
If you're really paranoid (or if you really do have something to hide) you may want to check out this article!
www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/
I wonder how the law stands in the UK, does the DPA cover this? As a company DPA officer I know that the DPA is pretty toothless anyway when it comes to law enforcement, I suspect the same is true of the intelligence services
If you're really paranoid (or if you really do have something to hide) you may want to check out this article!
www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/
I wonder how the law stands in the UK, does the DPA cover this? As a company DPA officer I know that the DPA is pretty toothless anyway when it comes to law enforcement, I suspect the same is true of the intelligence services
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Free ipods, Oh yes...
Let me ask you a question....
Do you fancy a free ipod just for reffering a few friends to
http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=24060743
Do you fancy a free ipod just for reffering a few friends to
http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=24060743
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Techdirt:How Will We Regulate Online Games Whose Premise Is About Virtual Illegality?
V. interesting point about the boundries of law ... here
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Open source intranet anyone...?
I think I may have just found the answers to my prayers. I'm tasked
with developing an intranet/extranet for our company and also with
bringing the development and maintainence of our company website in
house.
I have been looking at various products over the last few months and
in the main those that fit the bill have had fairly large cost
implications (we're not a huge company). I looked at open source
products too but they were in the main either too intensive for our
limited number of IT staff to install and maintain or they were simply
not up to the job.... until last night, when at some ungodly hour I
stumbled upon Metadot. I installed it on my laptop in under 2 minutes
and I'm just printing out the manual now... I'll let you know how I
get on.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Bloody internet!
Spent most of the last hour trying to access the mamboforge.net website to download Mambo CMS. Very frustrating… I really want to try it out!
Poker Mania
Is it me or has the UK gone stark raving poker mad? It seems like evey late night TV channel schedule isn't complete without it's very own casino website sponsered poker tournament variant. I can't help but be secretly pleased at the idea of pro gambling scheduling in what is rapidly becoming a nanny (or should that be police) state, but at the same time can't help wondering how long before some point scoring politician in search of a crusade decides it's time to ask questions in the house about the corruption of the poor british publich who are, let's face it, incapable of making their own decisions. It's not long ago that a similar situation arose when someone in government suggested that the UK should become the next vegas with large licensed casinos... boy did that cause a stir!
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