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- The bad: the car failed to start on Wednesday morning, so I walked in to work
- The good: it had started Tuesday evening, in the station car park - it would have been a right royal pain if it had failed to start there
- The bad: although it started Thursday morning (my having bought and applied a battery charger), it failed to start Thursday evening
- The good: it's not too far to walk home, and the evening was nice
- The bad: even with jump leads from
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bellinghwoman's car, it failed to start this morning - The good: the garage sent its technicians round to get is started, and with a jump pack, they got it started and round the corner to the garage
- The bad: the battery required replacement
- The good: it was under warranty (new last November), so it was free
A tradition of writing
Apr. 8th, 2011 04:37 pmThanks totamaranth, I've been reading some of the works of Joan Aiken recently. Last night, I started A Harp of Fishbone and other stories.
I'm thinking that if I had encountered almost any of the stories therein that I've read so far, and been asked to guess the writer, I'd have plumped for Neil Gaiman. There are a few differences, but mostly due to the era in which she was writing, which is probably the early 70s - late enough for decimalisation, but early enough for prices to be somewhat low by today's standards.
These are stories more for grown ups than for children, and I think that shows the problem that Aiken may have had: her most celebrated works are probably The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and its successors, which are set in an alternative history where the Hannoverians lost. They started to come out in the early to mid sixties, and for those of us that encountered them, they were some of the best children's literature of the time. I may have tried to read this book when it came out - if so, I think it would have deeply disappointed me, because I would not have got them at all. Hope for example, concerns a spinster central character with a love affair lost 30 years in the past. I suspect that Aiken got tagged as children's literature in a way that Gaiman hasn't, to the possible detriment of her more adult work.
tamaranth, I've been reading some of the works of Joan Aiken recently. Last night, I started A Harp of Fishbone and other stories.I'm thinking that if I had encountered almost any of the stories therein that I've read so far, and been asked to guess the writer, I'd have plumped for Neil Gaiman. There are a few differences, but mostly due to the era in which she was writing, which is probably the early 70s - late enough for decimalisation, but early enough for prices to be somewhat low by today's standards.
These are stories more for grown ups than for children, and I think that shows the problem that Aiken may have had: her most celebrated works are probably The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and its successors, which are set in an alternative history where the Hannoverians lost. They started to come out in the early to mid sixties, and for those of us that encountered them, they were some of the best children's literature of the time. I may have tried to read this book when it came out - if so, I think it would have deeply disappointed me, because I would not have got them at all. Hope for example, concerns a spinster central character with a love affair lost 30 years in the past. I suspect that Aiken got tagged as children's literature in a way that Gaiman hasn't, to the possible detriment of her more adult work.
The Distraction Club's inaugural night
Apr. 6th, 2011 01:00 pmOn Tuesday night we attended the Distraction Club in the Phoenix on the corner of Cavendish Square in London (a block or two away from Oxford Circus). This is something that Mitch Benn has apparently been wanting to do for a couple of years, and last night he finally did it.
( details as I remember them - possible mistakes )
( details as I remember them - possible mistakes )
On whiskies
Apr. 4th, 2011 02:43 amDownstairs, on the cabinet in the living room there are three bottles, each containing a whisky from a different country.
Not one of them is from Scotland. Or Ireland. Or Kentucky. Or Tennessee. Or even Canada or Japan.
(Not that I object to a Yamazaki Single Malt.)
What I have are a Welsh Whisky - Penderyn.
An English Whisky - the rather tasty youngling from the English Distillery Company.
And the newest arrival, found in a shop in Gare de L'Est in Paris: Whisky de Lorraine.
It's interesting, and it's definitely a whisky. But I have to say, I don't like it as much as the other two.
(For those that wonder, I do have a whole bunch of whiskies in the dining room.)
I'm still trying to find a bottle of a Swiss Whisky I once saw (named Swisskey, IIRC).
Not one of them is from Scotland. Or Ireland. Or Kentucky. Or Tennessee. Or even Canada or Japan.
(Not that I object to a Yamazaki Single Malt.)
What I have are a Welsh Whisky - Penderyn.
An English Whisky - the rather tasty youngling from the English Distillery Company.
And the newest arrival, found in a shop in Gare de L'Est in Paris: Whisky de Lorraine.
It's interesting, and it's definitely a whisky. But I have to say, I don't like it as much as the other two.
(For those that wonder, I do have a whole bunch of whiskies in the dining room.)
I'm still trying to find a bottle of a Swiss Whisky I once saw (named Swisskey, IIRC).
Slightly obsessive fan ...
Apr. 3rd, 2011 11:55 pmWhile in Basel for Fasnacht, we spent a lot of time wandering the streets and alleys taking in the atmosphere. At one point, wanting a coffee, we looked around for the nearest suitable place, and found this place.
Interesting features include not only the odd gold disc around (well, we're all used to those, aren't we?), but slightly more outré accompaniments. Such as one of Madonna's corsets.
We were amused that not only did they have the usual signed guitars, but they'd worked out what to do with drums, hanging them from the ceiling.
More impressively, upstairs featured large paintings by and of rockers, including one large one by Ronnie Wood.
And signatures on most of the items, to one 'Andy', the owner, whose personal collection all this memorabilia was.
It's nice to see it done personally, rather than the generic Rock Café corporate take.
Interesting features include not only the odd gold disc around (well, we're all used to those, aren't we?), but slightly more outré accompaniments. Such as one of Madonna's corsets.
We were amused that not only did they have the usual signed guitars, but they'd worked out what to do with drums, hanging them from the ceiling.
More impressively, upstairs featured large paintings by and of rockers, including one large one by Ronnie Wood.
And signatures on most of the items, to one 'Andy', the owner, whose personal collection all this memorabilia was.
It's nice to see it done personally, rather than the generic Rock Café corporate take.
Vanity plate
Apr. 1st, 2011 05:19 pmA colleague has herself a vanity plate.
Some years ago, she got herself a registration that was her three initials, a single digit and a single year letter. It cost a bit, but not all that much. It took her a while to notice that it might be a little more valuable than she'd initially noticed.
Her initials are ALP
She failed to get the much prized '1', and had to settle for '3'.
The year letter happened to be 'N'.
She's hoping that one of these days, Weetabix Limited notice and make her a nice offer for 'ALP3N'.
Some years ago, she got herself a registration that was her three initials, a single digit and a single year letter. It cost a bit, but not all that much. It took her a while to notice that it might be a little more valuable than she'd initially noticed.
Her initials are ALP
She failed to get the much prized '1', and had to settle for '3'.
The year letter happened to be 'N'.
She's hoping that one of these days, Weetabix Limited notice and make her a nice offer for 'ALP3N'.
Dear $young_male_colleague
When $young_female_coworker is having a conversation with you at your desk, please be more careful where you rest your distracted gaze while listening to her.
Professionally speaking, her crotch is probably not the most appropriate location.
Yes, yes, I know, we've seen the pair of you together and it's all very sweet, but not during work, hey?
Best regards
Me
(Edited to addresspir's first comment)
When $young_female_coworker is having a conversation with you at your desk, please be more careful where you rest your distracted gaze while listening to her.
Professionally speaking, her crotch is probably not the most appropriate location.
Yes, yes, I know, we've seen the pair of you together and it's all very sweet, but not during work, hey?
Best regards
Me
(Edited to address
pir's first comment)Sneaky, BBC, sneaky
Apr. 1st, 2011 12:34 pmAt a scant 8 minutes past midnight this morning, this article was posted on the BBC News website. It purports to describe a possible electric Roller.
This would appear to be an April Fool.
Except for this 3 week old article in European Car News.
This would appear to be an April Fool.
Except for this 3 week old article in European Car News.
The society with which I am associated has sold out its latest annual conference - 375 places, at up to £665 per place for the full 4 days.
Even if the average actual fee is half that (everyone coming is a student), that's still decently into 6 figures, blowing any VAT threshold. It's probably just as well that these monies do not flow through our accounts[1], since they dwarf our other amounts quite considerably.
[1] We have an arrangement with a professional conference organiser. We say "we want this and this speaker", they do the actual logistics, pay the speakers fees and expenses, hire the conference facilities, etc etc. We get a conference at much less per day than a standard conference would be, while having world-class speakers, and they get to make a nice little profit with a lot of credibility in the conference world.
Even if the average actual fee is half that (everyone coming is a student), that's still decently into 6 figures, blowing any VAT threshold. It's probably just as well that these monies do not flow through our accounts[1], since they dwarf our other amounts quite considerably.
[1] We have an arrangement with a professional conference organiser. We say "we want this and this speaker", they do the actual logistics, pay the speakers fees and expenses, hire the conference facilities, etc etc. We get a conference at much less per day than a standard conference would be, while having world-class speakers, and they get to make a nice little profit with a lot of credibility in the conference world.
I note from RISKS that
Perhaps the enemies list will also be added to social media.
PALO ALTO, CA -- Facebook today announced availability of a new feature, theMany years ago, there was a wonderful April 1st ad from BMW, which promoted their latest feature: the automatic windscreen wiper that turned on when it started raining. This is a feature now available on cars, including mine - I just leave the level at intermittent, and it changes speed from 'off' all the way up to 'frantic' depending on how much rain is arriving. (It's pretty good at it, though it will every now and again do a dry wipe, if a lot of dust has accumulated.)
enemies list. "This is the single most requested feature from our customer
base, and we always respond to our customers," said company spokesman Ronald
Ziegler.
Perhaps the enemies list will also be added to social media.
On Saturday night, I did something I've not done since 1981. I slept in college.
My goodness, the rooms are much nicer than they were in my day.
And I did wonder: what would a tourist pay for a room in the heart of Cambridge, facing out across a narrow lane at Queens' College, with King's College also visible? I suspect it would be a lot more than the £27 per night B&B (and that being a hot breakfast) that I paid per single room.
(Conceded - the views are not of the pretty aspects of either college. But for location, unbeatable.)
My goodness, the rooms are much nicer than they were in my day.
And I did wonder: what would a tourist pay for a room in the heart of Cambridge, facing out across a narrow lane at Queens' College, with King's College also visible? I suspect it would be a lot more than the £27 per night B&B (and that being a hot breakfast) that I paid per single room.
(Conceded - the views are not of the pretty aspects of either college. But for location, unbeatable.)
New Android phone
Mar. 28th, 2011 12:29 pmOh dear.
The insurance company have come to the conclusion that they cannot do a like-for-like replacement for the Google Nexus One, so they're going to credit me with the amount instead.
So I'm looking for a new Android phone. Initial thoughts are the Google Nexus S, the Samsung Galaxy S (almost the same, but having removable storage is nice), and the LG Optimus 2X. Nice big screen (4" of larger), decent resolution (i.e. 480x800) wanted. Android 2.2 minimum version. Any phone doing SDXC cards yet?
(timill: I don't the HTC Thunderbolt is an option in the UK.)
Any thoughts on other alternatives?
(nwhyte: we know you really, really didn't get on with Android. That's fine, there's no one-size-fits-all solution.)
ETA: oh, no hardware keyboard desired.
ETA: also avoiding Sony every since their rootkit malfeasance. I trust Sony corporate ethics pretty much not at all. (This means the PS3 won't get replaced by Sony product, nor will the eReaders. Also and alas, the Sony Ericsson phones were, in my experience, somewhat mechanically unreliable.)
The insurance company have come to the conclusion that they cannot do a like-for-like replacement for the Google Nexus One, so they're going to credit me with the amount instead.
So I'm looking for a new Android phone. Initial thoughts are the Google Nexus S, the Samsung Galaxy S (almost the same, but having removable storage is nice), and the LG Optimus 2X. Nice big screen (4" of larger), decent resolution (i.e. 480x800) wanted. Android 2.2 minimum version. Any phone doing SDXC cards yet?
(
timill: I don't the HTC Thunderbolt is an option in the UK.)Any thoughts on other alternatives?
(
nwhyte: we know you really, really didn't get on with Android. That's fine, there's no one-size-fits-all solution.)ETA: oh, no hardware keyboard desired.
ETA: also avoiding Sony every since their rootkit malfeasance. I trust Sony corporate ethics pretty much not at all. (This means the PS3 won't get replaced by Sony product, nor will the eReaders. Also and alas, the Sony Ericsson phones were, in my experience, somewhat mechanically unreliable.)
On the Met/NotW link
Mar. 24th, 2011 04:50 pmReading this BBC article, it does sound as though senior Scotland Yard ossifer John Yates is looking at the end of his career. He's thus far denying covering up the worst of the news International privacy hacking allegations, but in doing so, he has come directly into conflict with the Crown Prosecution Service as to what advice they gave him at the time.
The advice basically was whether it was an offence at all to hack into a voice-mail box if there were no unheard messages within. Yates rather astonishingly says he was told that the hacking per se was not illegal unless the hacker listened to messages that the owner themself hadn't yet heard.
So, the prosecution would have to prove that there were unheard messages, and since that could be difficult, a prosecution could not be guaranteed.
Now, I'm not a lawyer, but I rather feel that this is one of those cases where the court would rather assume that the hacker had, in getting access, had the opportunity to listen to messages, and that it would then be for the hacker to prove that he did not hear any fresh messages, rather than for the prosecution to prove that he did.
In other words, if Yates had been doing his best to avoid having to prosecute, this is the sort of argument he might have used to justify such avoidance.
I do rather think that someone, somewhere, should have written something down.
Oh dearie me, I think I need more popcorn.
The advice basically was whether it was an offence at all to hack into a voice-mail box if there were no unheard messages within. Yates rather astonishingly says he was told that the hacking per se was not illegal unless the hacker listened to messages that the owner themself hadn't yet heard.
So, the prosecution would have to prove that there were unheard messages, and since that could be difficult, a prosecution could not be guaranteed.
Now, I'm not a lawyer, but I rather feel that this is one of those cases where the court would rather assume that the hacker had, in getting access, had the opportunity to listen to messages, and that it would then be for the hacker to prove that he did not hear any fresh messages, rather than for the prosecution to prove that he did.
In other words, if Yates had been doing his best to avoid having to prosecute, this is the sort of argument he might have used to justify such avoidance.
I do rather think that someone, somewhere, should have written something down.
Oh dearie me, I think I need more popcorn.
Electronics prices to see an uptick
Mar. 24th, 2011 02:30 pmWe get used to the price of silicon semiconductor products generally declining. But much of the reason for that is that supply usually meets demand, and actual cost of production is being tightly controlled by ever newer and more efficient plant. Right now, that may not be the case: this article in Information Week notes that two of the factories that make silicon wafers (from which RAM and CPUs and so on ultimately are made) have been shut down during the aftermath of the Sendai quake.
Those two factories produce something like 25% of the raw wafers for the industry. And you can't build new factories easily - they're hugely expensive affairs by dint of having to be the cleanest places on the planet.
So supply of the basic feedstock for the later stages has just been squeezed, whereas demand is almost untouched.
Expect prices to rise for a bit, if these factories stay offline for very long.
Those two factories produce something like 25% of the raw wafers for the industry. And you can't build new factories easily - they're hugely expensive affairs by dint of having to be the cleanest places on the planet.
So supply of the basic feedstock for the later stages has just been squeezed, whereas demand is almost untouched.
Expect prices to rise for a bit, if these factories stay offline for very long.
