Alex's Adventures on the Infobahnhttps://www.bennee.com/~alex/2023-12-10T19:28:00+00:00the wanderings of a supposed digital nativeA Systems Programmer's Perspectives on Generative AI2023-12-10T19:28:00+00:002023-12-10T19:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2023-12-10:/~alex/blog/2023/12/10/a-systems-programmers-perspectives-on-generative-ai/<p>Alex discusses his experience playing with the current crop of large language models and muses on the power of processors multiplying lots of numbers together.</p><p>Like many people over the last few months I've been playing with a number of Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs are
perhaps best typified by the current media star ChatGPT. It is hard to avoid the current media buzz while every tech
titan is developing their "AI" play and people are exposed to tools where the label of Artificial Intelligence is
liberally applied. The ability of these models to spit out <a href="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2023/10/22/comparing-forge-based-and-email-based-workflow-for-open-source-projects/">competent comprehensible
text</a> is seemingly a step change in ability compared to previous generations of tech.</p>
<p>I thought I would try and collect some of my thoughts and perspectives on this from the point of view of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_programming" title="link to wikipedia definition">systems
programmer</a>. For those not familiar
with the term is refers to the low level development of providing platforms for the applications people actually use. In
my case a lot of the work I do on <a href="https://www.qemu.org" title="link to QEMU homepage">QEMU</a> which involves emulating the very
lowest level instructions a computer can do: the simple arithmetic and comparison of numbers that all code is eventually
expressed as.</p>
<h1>Magic numbers and computing them</h1>
<p>I claim no particular expertise on machine learning so expect this to be a very superficial explanation of whats going
on.</p>
<p>In normal code the CPU tends to execute a lot of different instruction sequences as a program runs through solving the
problem you have set it. The code that calculates where to draw your window will be different to the code checking the
network for new data, or the logic that stores information safely on your file system. Each of those tasks is decomposed
and abstracted into simpler and simpler steps until eventually it is simple arithmetic dictating what the processor
should do do next. You occasionally see hot spots where a particular sequence of instructions are doing a lot of heavy
lifting. There is a whole discipline devoted to managing computational complexity and ensuring algorithms are as
efficient as possible.</p>
<p>However the various technologies that are currently wowing the world work very differently. They are models of various
networks represented by a series of magic numbers or "weights" arranged in a hierarchical structure of interconnected
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_(mathematics)">matrices</a>. While there is a lot of nuance to how problems are
encoded and fed into these models fundamentally the core piece of computation is multiplying a bunch of numbers with
another bunch of numbers feeding their results into the next layer of the network. At the end of the process the model
spits out a prediction of the most likely next word is going to be. After selecting one the cycle repeats taking to
account our expanded context to predict the most likely next word.</p>
<p>The "models" that drive these things are described mostly by the number of parameters they have. This encompasses the
number of inputs and outputs they have and the number of numbers in between. For example common small open source models
start at 3 billion parameters with 7, 13 and 34 billion also being popular sizes. Beyond that it starts getting hard to
run models locally on all but the most tricked out desktop PCs. As a developer my desktop is pretty beefy (32 cores,
64Gb RAM) and can chew through computationally expensive builds pretty easily. However as I can't off-load processing
onto my GPU a decent sized model will chug out a few words a second while maxing out my CPU. The ChatGPT v4 model is
speculated to run about 1.7 trillion parameters which needs to be run on expensive cloud hardware - I certainly don't
envy <a href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a> their infrastructure bill.</p>
<p>Of course the computational power needed to run these models is a mere fraction of what it took to train them. In fact
the bandwidth and processing requirements are so large it pays to develop custom silicon that is really good at
multiplying large amounts of numbers and not much else. You can get a lot more bang for your buck compared to running
those calculations on a general purpose CPU designed for tackling a wide range of computation problems.</p>
<h1>The Value of Numbers</h1>
<p>Because of the massive investment in synthesising these magic numbers they themselves become worth something. The "magic
sauce" behind a model is more about how it was trained and what data was used to do it. We already know its possible to
encode societies biases into models due to sloppy selection of the input data. One of the principle criticisms of
proprietary generative models is how opaque the training methods are making it hard to judge their safety. The degree to
which models may regurgitate data without any transformation is hard to quantify when you don't know what went into it.</p>
<p>As I'm fundamentally more interested in knowing how the technology I use works under the hood its fortunate there is a
growing open source community working on building their own models. Credit should be given to Meta who made their
language model <a href="https://ai.meta.com/llama/" title="link to Meta's Llama page">LLaMA 2</a> freely available on fairly permissive
terms. Since then there has been an explosion of open source projects that can run the models (e.g:
<a href="https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp" title="link to the llama.cpp project for running CPU bound models">llama.cpp</a>,
<a href="https://ollama.ai/" title="link to Ollama, another tool for locally running models">Ollama</a>) and provide front-ends (e.g:
<a href="https://github.com/oobabooga/text-generation-webui" title="link to Oobabooga's text generation UI">Oobabooga's text generation UI</a>, <a href="https://github.com/s-kostyaev/ellama" title="link to the Ellama github page">Ellama front-end for Emacs</a>) for them.</p>
<h1>Smaller Magic Numbers</h1>
<p>The principle place where this work is going on is <a href="https://huggingface.co/" title="link to the Hugging Face website">Hugging Face</a>. Think of it as the <a href="https://github.com" title="GitHub">GitHub</a> of the machine learning community. It provides an
environment for publishing and collaborating on data sets and models as well hosting and testing their effectiveness in
various benchmarks. This make experimenting with models accessible to developers who aren't part of the well funded
research divisions of the various tech titans. Datasets for example come with
<a href="https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/datasets-cards">cards</a> which describe the sources that went into these multi-terabyte
files.</p>
<p>One example of a such is the <a href="https://huggingface.co/datasets/togethercomputer/RedPajama-Data-1T" title="link to the RedPajama dataset">RedPajama dataset</a>. This is an open source initiative to recreate the LLaMA training data which combines
data from the open web and well as numerous permissively licensed source such as Wikipedia, GitHub, StackExchange and
ArXiv. This dataset has been used to train models like <a href="https://huggingface.co/openlm-research" title="link to OpenLM research Hugging Face pages">OpenLLaMA</a> in an attempt to provide an unencumbered version of Meta's LLaMA 2. However
training up these foundational models is an expensive and time consuming task, the real action is taking these models
and then fine tuning them for particular tasks.</p>
<p>To fine tune a model you first take a general purpose model and further train it against data with a specific task in
mind. The purpose of this is not only to make your new model better suited for a particular task but also to optimise
the number of calculations that model has to do to achieve acceptable results. This is also where the style of prompting
will be set as you feed the model examples of the sort of questions and answers you want it to give.</p>
<p>The are further stages that be applied including "alignment" where you ensure results are broadly in tune with the
values of the organisation. This is the reason the various chatbots around won't readily cough up the recipe to build
nukes or make it easier to explicitly break the law. This can be augmented with Reinforcement Learning through Human
Feedback (RHLF) which is practically the purpose of every <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA">CAPTCHA</a> you'll have
filled in over the last 25 years online.</p>
<p>Finally the model can be quantised to make it more manageable. This takes advantage of the fact that a lot of the
numbers will be have a negligible effect on the result for a wide range of inputs. In those cases there is no point
storing them at full precision. As computation is a function of the number of bits of information being processed this
also reduces the cost of computation. While phones and other devices are increasingly including dedicated hardware to
process these models they are still constrained by physics - and the more you process the more heat you need to
dissipate, the more battery you use and the more bandwidth you consume. Obviously the more aggressively you quantise the
models the worse it will perform so there is an engineering trade off to make. Phones work best with multiple highly
tuned models solving specific tasks as efficiently as possible. Fully flexible models giving a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.A.R.V.I.S.">J.A.R.V.I.S</a> like experience will probably always need to run in the cloud
where thermal management is simply an exercise in plumbing.</p>
<h1>Making magic numbers work for you</h1>
<p>Before we discuss using models I want to discuss 3 more concepts: "prompts", "context" and "hallucinations".</p>
<p>The prompt is the closest thing there is to "programming" the model. The prompt can be purely explicit or include other
inputs behind the scenes. For example the prompt can instruct the model to be friendly or terse, decorate code snippets
with markdown, make changes as diffs or in full functions. Generally the more explicit your prompt is about what you
want the better the result you get from the model. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prompt_engineering">Prompt
engineering</a> has the potential to be one of those newly created job
titles that will have to replace the jobs obsoleted by advancing AI. One of the ways to embed AI APIs into your app is
to create a task specific prompt that will be put in front of user input that guides the results to what you want.</p>
<p>The "context" is the rest of the input into the model. That could be the current conversation in a chat or the current
page of source code in a code editor. The larger the context the more reference the model has for its answer although
that does come at the cost of even more composition as the context makes for more input parameters into the model.</p>
<p>In a strong candidate for 2023's word of the year "hallucination" describes the quirky and sometime unsettling behaviour
of models outputting weird sometimes contradictory information. They will sincerely and confidently answer questions
with blatant lies or start <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/01/chatgpt_poetry_ai/">regurgitating training data</a> when
given certain prompts. It is a salient reminder that the statistical nature of these generative models will mean they
occasionally spout complete rubbish. They are also very prone to following the lead of their users - the longer you chat
with a model the more likely it is to end up agreeing with you.</p>
<p>So lets talk about what these models can and can't do. As a developer one of the areas I'm most interested in is their
ability to write code. Systems code especially is an exercise in precisely instructing a computer what to do in explicit
situations. I'd confidently predicted my job would be one of the last to succumb to the advance of AI as systems aren't
something you can get "mostly" right. It was quite a shock when I first saw quite how sophisticated the generated code
can be.</p>
<h2>Code Review</h2>
<p>One of the first things I asked ChatGPT to do was review a function I'd written. It manged to make 6 observations about
the code, 3 of which where actual logic problems I'd missed and 3 where general points about variable naming and
comments. The prompt is pretty important though. If not constrained to point out actual problems LLMs tend to have a
tendency to spit out rather generic advice about writing clean well commented code.</p>
<p>They can be super useful when working with an unfamiliar language or framework. If you are having trouble getting
something to work it might be faster to ask an LLM how to fix your function that spending time reading multiple
<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/">StackOverflow</a> answers to figure out what you've misunderstood. If compiler errors are
confusing supplying the message alongside the code can often be helpful in understanding whats going on.</p>
<h2>Writing Code</h2>
<p>However rather than just suggesting changes one very tempting use case is writing code from scratch based on a
description of what you want. Here the context is very important, the more detail you provide the better chance of
generating something useful. My experience has been that the solutions are usually fairly rudimentary and can often
benefit from a manual polishing step once you have something working.</p>
<p>For my <a href="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/presentations/kvm23-qemu-keynote.html">QEMU KVM Forum 2023 Keynote</a> I got ChatGPT
to write the first draft of a number of my data processing scripts. However it missed obvious optimisations by
repeatedly reading values inside inner loops that made the scripts slower than they needed to be.</p>
<p>If the task is a straight transformation they are very good. Ask an LLM to convert a function in one language into
another and it will do a pretty good job - and probably with less mistakes than your first attempt. However there are
limitations. For example I asked a model to convert some Aarch64 assembler into the equivalent 32 bit Arm assembler. It
did a very good job of the mechanical part of that but missed the subtle differences in how to setup the MMU. This
resulted in code which compiled but didn't work until debugged by a human who was paying close attention to the
architecture documentation as they went.</p>
<p>One of the jobs LLM's are very well suited for is writing code that matches an existing template. For example if you are
mechanically transforming a bunch of enums into a function to convert them to strings you need only do a few examples
before there is enough context for the LLM to reliably figure out what you are doing. LLM's are a lot more powerful than
a simple template expansion because you don't need to explicitly define a template first. The same is true of tasks like
generating test fixtures for your code.</p>
<p>There is a potential trap however with using LLMs to write code. As there is no source code and the proprietary models
are fairly cagey about exactly what data the models where trained on there are worries about them committing copyright
infringement. There are active debates ongoing in the open source community (e.g. <a href="https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2023-11/msg05007.html" title="link to archive of discussion about LLM code generation">on
qemu-devel</a>) about the potential ramifications of a model regurgitating its training data. Without clarity on what
license that data has there is a risk of contaminating projects with code of an unknown province. While I'm sure these
issues will be resolved in time it's certainly a problem you need to be cognisant off.</p>
<h2>Prose</h2>
<p>Writing prose is a much more natural problem territory for LLM's and an area where low-effort text generation will be
rapidly replaced by generative models like ChatGPT. "My" previous <a href="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2023/10/22/comparing-forge-based-and-email-based-workflow-for-open-source-projects/#comparing-forge-based-and-email-based-workflow-for-open-source-projects">blog
post</a>
was mostly written by a ChatGPT based on a simple brief and a few requests for rewrites in a chat session. While it made
the process fairly quick the result comes across as a little bland and "off". I find there is a tendency for LLM's to
fall back on fairly obvious generalisations and erase any unique authorial voice there may have been.</p>
<p>However if you give enough structure its very easy to get an LLM to expand on a bullet list into more flowery prose.
They are more powerful when being fed a large piece of text and asked to summarise key information in a more accessible
way.</p>
<p>They are certainly an easy way to give a first pass review of your writing although I try to re-phrase things myself
rather than accept suggestions verbatim to keep my voice coming through the text.</p>
<h1>Final Thoughts</h1>
<p>The recent advances in LLM's and the public's exposure to popular tools like ChatGPT have certainly propelled the topic
of AI in the zeitgeist. While we are almost certainly approaching the "Peak of Inflated Expectations" stage of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle">hype
cycle</a> they will undoubtedly be an important step on the road to the
eventual goal of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence">Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)</a>.
We are still a long way from being able to ask computers to solve complex problems they way they can in for example in
Star Trek. However in their current form they will certainly have a big impact on the way we work over the next decade
or so.</p>
<p>It's important as a society we learn about how they are built, what their limitations are and understand the
computational cost and resultant impact on the environment. It will be awhile before I'd want to trust a set of magic
numbers over a carefully developed algorithm to actuate the control surfaces on a plane I'm flying on. However they are
already well placed to help us learn new information through interactive questioning and summarising random information
on the internet. We must learn to recognise when we've gone down hallucinatory rabbit hole and verify what we've learned
with reference to trusted sources.</p>Comparing Forge-Based and Email-Based Workflow for Open Source Projects2023-10-22T12:22:00+01:002023-10-22T12:22:00+01:00chatgpttag:www.bennee.com,2023-10-22:/~alex/blog/2023/10/22/comparing-forge-based-and-email-based-workflow-for-open-source-projects/<p>Comparing Forge-Based and Email-Based Workflow for Open Source Projects</p><p>In the open source technology universe, how teams coordinate,
collaborate and contribute is determined by the workflow they opt for.
At a high level, workflows can fall into one of two camps: Forge-based
or Email-based workflows. Forge-based workflows gained popularity with
platforms such as GitHub and GitLab, while Email-based workflows have
been a stalwart mechanism for open source software development with
mailing list platforms like GNU Mailman and SourceHut.</p>
<p>In this post, we will look at the benefits and drawbacks of the
various approaches, hopefully lending insight to what will work best
for your project.</p>
<h2>Forge-Based Workflow</h2>
<p>Forge-based workflows have revolutionised open source software
development. Various advantages have made it an accessible choice for
many, including:</p>
<h3><strong>1. User-Friendly</strong></h3>
<p>Forge-based platforms such as GitHub or GitLab feature a friendly GUI
and offer excellent documentation, making it super easy for beginners
to contribute to open source projects without needing an in-depth
understanding of git and email tools.</p>
<h3><strong>2. Centralised and Organised</strong></h3>
<p>These platforms provide central repositories that make project
management streamlined. Access controls, issue tracking, continuous
integration, and other tools all exist in one place.</p>
<h3><strong>3. Collaborative Environment</strong></h3>
<p>The pull-request model common to forge platforms encourages
collaborative code review, making it an excellent tool for open-source
projects where code quality is a priority.</p>
<p>However, there's a flip side to this coin:</p>
<h4>Cons: Risk of Vendor Lock-in</h4>
<p>Choosing a specific forge platform means accepting their choices of
features, tools, standard practices, and policies which subtly enforce
vendor lock-in. For most open source projects this also means relying
on the forge supporting projects with cost free access to features and
CI time.</p>
<h2>Email-Based Workflow</h2>
<p>Despite being considered 'old school', email-based workflows still
have merit in today's software development world. They offer:</p>
<h3><strong>1. Decentralized and Flexible</strong></h3>
<p>In sharp contrast to forge-based workflows, email workflows are
inherently decentralized. This approach offers more flexibility for
contributors and maintainers alike, as they are not bound to tools
offered by a single platform.</p>
<h3><strong>2. Line-by-Line Review and Inline Feedback</strong></h3>
<p>Email-based workflows stand out when it comes to the review process.
The nature of emails allows for contributors and reviewers to break
down commits line-by-line. This allows for more granular attention to
detail, leading to clearer communication about specific code changes.
Additionally, the threading mechanism of emails allows for inline
commentary during reviews, making it easier for contributors to
respond and iterate on feedback. This approach can encourage deeper
understanding and discussion around code changes, leading to
well-reviewed and robust code contributions.</p>
<h3><strong>3. Enhances git Understanding</strong></h3>
<p>Contributors working with email-based workflows generally have a
better understanding of git because it requires more hands-on actions
when sharing code.</p>
<p>However, they too have potential drawbacks.</p>
<h4>Cons: Less Beginner-Friendly</h4>
<p>Email-based workflows requires a steeper learning curve and are less
friendly for collaborative code reviewing, making it challenging for
new contributors to a project.</p>
<h1>Adapting Open Source Projects: Email to Forge Workflow Transitions</h1>
<p>Transitioning from an email-based workflow to a forge-based one should
be a meticulously planned process that respects the existing
community's culture and comfort. It's pivotal to keep this move as an
evolution rather than an abrupt change.</p>
<p>Initial steps in such transitions can include moving non-code elements
to the forge platform. Functions such as issue tracking,
documentation, and discussions could be the first set of activities
transferred to the forge platform. This strategy allows the
contributors to become proficient with the platform’s tools and
interfaces while keeping the code contributions intact on email lists.</p>
<p>Your project might encompass several sub-systems, and it could be
worth considering this while transitioning. Instead of transforming
the entire project at once, one could start by moving individual
sub-systems to the new workflow. This incremental, phased approach can
prevent chaos and reduce the chances of any significant disruption in
the project's flow.</p>
<p>Following the sub-system shifts, the project should then introduce
acceptance of pull requests or merge requests created by maintainers.
These PRs should still contain code that underwent email list reviews
in the previous workflow, ensuring the robustness of code quality.</p>
<p>The final stage of the transition is welcoming all contributors to
submit merge requests through the forge platform. The key is to ensure
that contributors understand the reasons behind the shift towards a
complete merge request approach. They should be given clear guidelines
about how and why to use merge requests, making them comfortable with
the transition, and empowering them to take full advantage of the
tool's capabilities.</p>
<p>In transition, it's necessary to alleviate concerns, clarify intents,
and provide resources to learn and help the contributors adjust to the
new workflow. Both email and forge-based workflows hold their place
and value in open-source. So, when transiting, the project needs and
the contributor adaptability should be the cornerstone of your
strategy. No two projects are the same, and neither are their paths in
adopting new workflow models.</p>
<p><em>(Fuller disclosure: as
<a href="https://chaos.social/@epilys/111280150345667417" title="comment spotting the chatgpt origins">@epilys</a> noticed this post was generated via
chatgpt. I may have spent more time fiddling with my pelican settings
to make sure the author slug was properly shown than I did iterating
with GPT4 on the article. It has had some light copy-editing since to
clean up some copy and paste errors between iterations and some of the
more artificial phrasing it used)</em></p>dired-rsync 0.7 released2023-07-14T16:04:00+01:002023-07-14T16:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2023-07-14:/~alex/blog/2023/07/14/dired-rsync-07-released/<p>There haven't been many changes in the last few years but Liu Hui did
submit a new package that allows you to use dired-rsync with a
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/transient.html">transient</a>
interface. Aside from that there have been a few minor bug fixes for a
few issues and I spent some time cleaning up …</p><p>There haven't been many changes in the last few years but Liu Hui did
submit a new package that allows you to use dired-rsync with a
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/transient.html">transient</a>
interface. Aside from that there have been a few minor bug fixes for a
few issues and I spent some time cleaning up the bit rotted CI system
by migrating from the broken Travis setup to using GitHub actions.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>v0.7</p>
<ul>
<li>truncate process buffer output to last status line</li>
<li>raise minimum Emacs version to 25.1</li>
<li>new dired-rsync-transient frontend</li>
<li>various code clean-ups</li>
<li>new customisation hook dired-rsync-success-hook</li>
<li>moved the project CI to GitHub Actions</li>
<li>now understands alternate port syntax in tramp URIs</li>
</ul>The Locksmiths Dream2022-12-28T14:54:00+00:002022-12-28T14:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2022-12-28:/~alex/blog/2022/12/28/the-locksmiths-dream/<p>A review of attending the event The Locksmiths Dream, a Cultist Simulator puzzle experience</p><p>Just before Christmas I attended a LARP adjacent event at the
conveniently local 17th century manor house
<a href="https://www.treowen.co.uk/" title="link to Treowen homepage">Treowen</a>
called The Locksmiths Dream. I use that phrase because I'm fairly sure
some of my fellow attendees had prior live roleplaying experience
although it is certainly not required. The organisers have evidently
spent a lot of time making the game as accessible as possible to the
widest range of participants.</p>
<h1>Setting</h1>
<p>While there is no requirement to dress-up it seems waste of the
environment to not make some sort of effort. The world of event is set
loosely in the 1920's in a house that sits on the boundary of our
world and other planes. Secret gods have met in the house before your
arrival and your mission is to sift through the traces of their
interactions and perhaps discover some deeper meaning. To aid your
exploration and puzzle solving a cast of characters inhabit the house
who are perhaps able to help your exploration. The staff will also
prepare you 3 meals, lunch on arrival, an evening meal and breakfast
the next day, to keep energised for your task.</p>
<h1>Gameplay</h1>
<p>On arrival I headed to my room which involved some winding stairs and
eventually a short ladder to enter my bedroom at the very top of the
house. The player bedrooms are off-limits to everyone else unless by
invitation so I had a chance to collect my thoughts and read through
the supplied materials while enjoying a nice view of the surrounding
Monmouthshire countryside.</p>
<p>The materials included a brief overview of the game (solve puzzles,
collect the ephemeral birdsong left behind by the gods), a letter from
my in-game sponsor outlining some particular tasks and a beautifully
bound personal note book.</p>
<p><img alt="A selection of materials from the game" class="image-process-large-photo" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 800px, (min-width: 992px) 650px, (min-width: 768px) 718px, 100vw" src="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/derivatives/large-photo/800w/locksmith_bumbf.jpg" srcset="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/derivatives/large-photo/600w/locksmith_bumbf.jpg 600w, https://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/derivatives/large-photo/800w/locksmith_bumbf.jpg 800w, https://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/derivatives/large-photo/1600w/locksmith_bumbf.jpg 1600w"/></p>
<p>The note book was the first indication of the attention to detail and
production values of the event. It contained a number of in-game
printed notes to provide background and clues as well as plenty of
blanks pages for taking notes. You are strongly encouraged to make
liberal use of the book and it provides for a nice memento of your
experience afterwards.</p>
<p>The initial puzzles are fairly simple with keys being found around the
house with an attached set of clues. Solving these clues will lead you
to a location where you can find and hopefully unlock a padlocked box
to reveal your prize. Each key comes with several clue styles so for
example those unfamiliar with the lore of the <a href="https://weatherfactory.biz/cultist-simulator/" title="link to cultist simulator homepage">cultist
simulator</a> from which the event draws its story
don't draw a blank. Sometimes the boxes reveal additional clues to
some of the deeper puzzles that require solving in multiple stages and
paying attention to changes in the rest of the house and its
characters.</p>
<h1>My Experience</h1>
<p>I was originally going to attend with a friend of mine however they
were unfortunately unable to attend thanks to our virus afflicted
times. I also missed out on the first few hours where the house tour
and orientation events happen which help the players learn about where
they are. Fortunately the staff were very helpful and able to give a
few useful hints to ease me into the game once I arrived.</p>
<p>The event was certainly immersive and I never found myself bored and
without something to do. The food was very nice although at stages I
was worried if I should concentrate on eating the meal or trying to
solve the meaning of way it was presented. The organisers took full
advantage of the nooks and crannies of the wonderful setting.</p>
<p>Next time I will have to make sure I have a back-up buddy in case of
illness because some of the more in depth puzzle solving benefits from
having another person to bounce ideas off. You can of course talk to
the other guests playing the game although some of them might be
working for competing sponsors with different priorities.</p>
<p>It was certainly one of the most engaging experiences I'd had this
year. I would recommend it for anyone interested in an immersive
puzzle solving weekend and especially if they are already interested
in the source games lore.</p>
<h1>Media</h1>
<p>The following video made by the team behind he game was put together
with footage from the game I attended and gives a give idea of the
setting and ambience you can expect.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay;
clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1uUom0wdM_w" title="YouTube video
player" width="560"></iframe>
<p>I also found another more detailed write-up of the event over at <a href="https://noproscenium.com/the-remarkable-hours-of-the-locksmiths-dream-the-nopro-review-5c7f87f7f5d8">No
Prescenium</a>
if you want another perspective.</p>My Setup (2022 Edition)2022-11-01T09:30:00+00:002022-11-01T09:30:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2022-11-01:/~alex/blog/2022/11/01/my-setup-2022-edition/<p>It's been a while since I last blogged about anything personally (although I have written a few things for work). In a struggle to come up with things to talk about I finally decided it might be worth documenting my current working setup. It's probably a function of my aging …</p><p>It's been a while since I last blogged about anything personally (although I have written a few things for work). In a struggle to come up with things to talk about I finally decided it might be worth documenting my current working setup. It's probably a function of my aging but as I've gotten older I've slowly tweaked and tuned my
environment to minimise the friction of doing things. I'll briefly talk about the hardware but most of the environment is software and therefor fairly malleable.</p>
<p>Starting from the top and working my way down.</p>
<h1>Desktop (sway/i3/Gnome/ChromeOS)</h1>
<p>I spend by far and away the most time in <a href="https://swaywm.org/" title="link to sway website">Sway</a> and previously it's X11 reference <a href="https://i3wm.org/" title="link to i3 website">i3</a> which are both tiling window managers. I don't really use the tiling feature much as in reality my main workflow is to have full maximised single application screens in workspaces. However I do have hotkeys for the two most important applications I open (terminal and editor) and with a narrowing launcher for the rest. I use <a href="https://www.gnome.org/" title="link to Gnome website">Gnome</a> on one of my laptops because I share it with other people and it pays to keep track of the mainstream Linux desktop. I have remapped some keys to closer match my tiling experience as well as tweaking the default applications.</p>
<p>ChromeOS is the weird case where I accept a slightly different desktop paradigm because when travelling I like the ChromeOS feature set of secure and lightweight hardware. Any development I do on the road tends to use the <a href="https://chromeos.dev/en/linux">Crostini terminal</a>. More often than not it's just a shell for a ssh or mosh session to a bigger development box.</p>
<h2>Key Desktop Apps (Emacs, Firefox, Modern Terminal)</h2>
<p>It won't be a surprise to anyone that my main application is <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/" title="link to Emacs website">Emacs</a> which provides the main interface into the rest of the system for pretty much everything except browsing the web. For web browsing I prefer <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/browsers/" title="link to Firefox website">Firefox</a> which is synced up between my desktop and mobile. I occasionally have to use Chrome to access Javascript heavy web apps like Atlassian or some video call solutions.</p>
<p>I currently use a range of <a href="https://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/blob/master/dotconfig/i3/terminal.sh" title="terminal launch script">terminals</a> depending on the system. My daily driver terminal on my main box is <a href="https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot" title="Foot development pages">foot</a> which is simple and minimal. It has a client/server setup so there is really only one foot binary running for all my terminals. I don't need anything fancy because all my terminal multiplexing is handled by <a href="https://github.com/tmux/tmux" title="tmux development site">tmux</a> which also handles shell persistence.</p>
<h2>Hardware</h2>
<p>I now run a single desktop machine which is a ~9 year old Intel brought for work which has seen upgrades to the SSDs and thats about it. When I do serious building I have a range of powerful servers with lots of cores and disk space which I can use. I have an electric standing desk although I don't tend to move it during my work day. I do put it in the upright position at the end of the day to stop me sitting down if I'm just checking something in the evening. I also own a personal XPS15 laptop which I can run Steam on although mostly on the built in Intel graphics as <a href="https://nouveau.freedesktop.org/" title="Nouveau development site">Nouveau</a> can't clock it to get any reasonable performance. I don't really mind because for most of my intensive high frame rate gaming I use my PS5 on a big flat screen TV.</p>
<p>For my NAS I have a Synology DiskStation with around 8TB of storage and a Raspberry Pi 4 in a cute metal case running Kodi connected to the main TV. Finally there is a 24 core Arm server which draws a miniscule 5w which acts as a permanent point of presence and eventually may take on some home automation tasks. This is all supplied with 300Mbs of fibre optic broadband and a mesh network of Eero's supplying WiFi to the rest of the house. My office network has a hard link to the main router and comes through a <a href="https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/" title="Turris Omnia homepage">Turris Omnia</a>.</p>dired-rsync 0.6 released2020-12-24T22:18:00+00:002020-12-24T22:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2020-12-24:/~alex/blog/2020/12/24/dired-rsync-06-released/<p>Given the slowly growing collection of fixes I thought it was worth cutting a new release for the benefit of those that get their dired-rsync via the stable MELPA channels. The biggest user visible change is dired-rsync no longer tweaks mode-line-process itself. You can now decide if to add dired-rsync-modeline-status …</p><p>Given the slowly growing collection of fixes I thought it was worth cutting a new release for the benefit of those that get their dired-rsync via the stable MELPA channels. The biggest user visible change is dired-rsync no longer tweaks mode-line-process itself. You can now decide if to add dired-rsync-modeline-status in your modeline (or anywhere else if you wish).</p>
<p>Merry Christmas ;-)</p>
<p>v0.6</p>
<ul>
<li>use tramp functions to decompose URIs (fix #22)</li>
<li>use username from dired URI if we have it in rsync</li>
<li>fix escaping of 's for remote-to-remote copies</li>
<li>better detection of running jobs by parsing buffers</li>
<li>increment the reverse proxy port based on active connections</li>
<li>don't set mode-line-process, leave it to user to put dired-rsync-modeline-status somewhere</li>
</ul>Edit with Emacs v1.16 released2020-12-24T16:10:00+00:002020-12-24T16:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2020-12-24:/~alex/blog/2020/12/24/edit-with-emacs-v116-released/<p>Despite what I said <a href="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2018/01/17/edit-with-emacs-v1-15-released" title="link to the last release">last time</a> it seems that this is still a useful tool for me. I had some free time to peruse some of the open issues and managed to work out what was breaking the GMail interaction and work out a fix. While <a href="https://github.com/alpha22jp/atomic-chrome" title="Atomic Chrome homepage">Atomic Chrome</a> provides a …</p><p>Despite what I said <a href="https://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2018/01/17/edit-with-emacs-v1-15-released" title="link to the last release">last time</a> it seems that this is still a useful tool for me. I had some free time to peruse some of the open issues and managed to work out what was breaking the GMail interaction and work out a fix. While <a href="https://github.com/alpha22jp/atomic-chrome" title="Atomic Chrome homepage">Atomic Chrome</a> provides a nicer interactive experience with direct feedback the release of Crostini keeps the Emacs flame alive on my Chromebook. I suspect I still need someone to step up who is more conversant in the web languages of Javascript and CSS to improve the front end experience and maybe tackle the frequently requested feature of interaction with fancy javascript editors. In the meantime I'll continue to bumble along and look at what pull requests do come in and leave the pile of feature requests slowly growing.</p>
<p>Merry Christmas ;-)</p>
<p>v1.16</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<ul>
<li>allow disabling of switch to settings behaviour</li>
<li>whitelist penguin.linux.test for edit server (ChromeOS/Crostini)</li>
<li>fix context menu on newer Chromes (#158)</li>
<li>honour edit_server_host instead of hard-coding 127.0.0.1</li>
<li>use the Chrome/Firefox extension UI to set keyboard shortcuts.</li>
<li>fix handling of spellcheck=false nodes for Gmail (#171, #162)</li>
</ul>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<ul>
<li>use make-frame (see updated docs for edit-server-new-frame-alist)</li>
</ul>magit-file-dispatch2020-12-14T16:10:00+00:002020-12-14T16:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2020-12-14:/~alex/blog/2020/12/14/magit-file-dispatch/<p><a href="https://magit.vc/manual/magit/Commands-for-Buffers-Visiting-Files.html" title="manual page for magit-file-dispatch">magit-file-dispatch</a> is my new favourite command since the recent removal of <a href="https://github.com/magit/magit/pull/4237" title="pull request describing change">magit-file-mode</a>. Rather than paper over the change and stick to the old way I tried the <a href="https://emacsredux.com/blog/2020/12/10/essential-magit-file-commands/" title="Bozhidar Batsov blog post discussing Magit launch strategies">suggestions of launching with the dispatch commands</a>. I discovered a few cool things including the ability to trace an individual functions changes over …</p><p><a href="https://magit.vc/manual/magit/Commands-for-Buffers-Visiting-Files.html" title="manual page for magit-file-dispatch">magit-file-dispatch</a> is my new favourite command since the recent removal of <a href="https://github.com/magit/magit/pull/4237" title="pull request describing change">magit-file-mode</a>. Rather than paper over the change and stick to the old way I tried the <a href="https://emacsredux.com/blog/2020/12/10/essential-magit-file-commands/" title="Bozhidar Batsov blog post discussing Magit launch strategies">suggestions of launching with the dispatch commands</a>. I discovered a few cool things including the ability to trace an individual functions changes over time which has completely replaced my old method of piping <em>git log</em> through <em>less</em>. In the end I found the fall-back of going to <em>magit-dispatch</em> a little too much friction given I've a lot of memory muscle to launch the status of git from various non-file backed yet still project orientated buffers. <em>compilation-mode</em> is one example but I also have my mail client set-up so I can quickly get to the code from the relevant mailing list. As everyone can have their own special snowflake settings in Emacs I finally went with:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">with-eval-after-load</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="ss">'magit</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">defun</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">my-magit-file-bindings</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">()</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"Setup my file bindings"</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">local-set-key</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">kbd</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"<f5>"</f5></span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="ss">'my-counsel-git-grep</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">add-hook</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="ss">'magit-find-file-hook</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="ss">'my-magit-file-bindings</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">defun</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">my-magit-dispatch</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="kp">&optional</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">prefix</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"My personal preference for magit-dispatch.</span>
<span class="s">While magit-file-dispatch is cool, falling back to magit-dispatch is</span>
<span class="s">not, I'd rather just go to magit-status. Lets make it so."</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="k">interactive</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"P"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="k">if</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="k">or</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">prefix</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">not</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nf">buffer-file-name</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">not</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nf">functionp</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="ss">'magit-file-dispatch</span><span class="p">)))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">magit-status</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">magit-file-dispatch</span><span class="p">)))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">use-package</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">magit</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="nb">:bind</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">((</span><span class="s">"C-x g"</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">.</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">my-magit-dispatch</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"></span>
</code></pre></div>Migration Complete2020-11-15T10:45:00+00:002020-11-15T10:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2020-11-15:/~alex/blog/2020/11/15/migration-complete/<p>As I'm sure a lot of people have found in these COVID inflected times
the completion of lockdown projects is harder than originally
anticipated. As the hosting platform for my old Wordpress setup gets
closer to end-of-life I finally pulled my finger out to put the
finishing touches on the …</p><p>As I'm sure a lot of people have found in these COVID inflected times
the completion of lockdown projects is harder than originally
anticipated. As the hosting platform for my old Wordpress setup gets
closer to end-of-life I finally pulled my finger out to put the
finishing touches on the migration and switch the DNS across. Now all
I need to do is get back into the habit of posting non-process related
things. Anyway welcome to the new (old) blog ;-)</p>Migrating again2020-05-25T17:53:00+01:002020-05-25T17:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2020-05-25:/~alex/blog/2020/05/25/migrating-again/<p>It's been some time since I last blogged but I have been doing some
spring cleaning amongst my servers. While moving all my web content
onto a new box I though I would take advantage of the fresh start to
migrate away from <a href="https://wordpress.org/">Wordpress</a>. While it is a
fine FLOSS …</p><p>It's been some time since I last blogged but I have been doing some
spring cleaning amongst my servers. While moving all my web content
onto a new box I though I would take advantage of the fresh start to
migrate away from <a href="https://wordpress.org/">Wordpress</a>. While it is a
fine FLOSS project it really needs quite a bit of time to keep it up
to date and secure. I've decided it's much better to have a static
site so I've imported all my exiting blog content into a bunch of rST
and Markdown files and re-generated the site with a Python based
content generator called
<a href="https://docs.getpelican.com/en/stable/">Pelican</a>.</p>
<p>So far it seems easy enough to tweak. The main challenge is ensuring
the various feeds for different planets are in the same place as they
would have been with Wordpress. One difference with the change is the
lack of comments although I think I could probably re-enable them with
some 3rd party solution if I wanted to. We shall see.</p>dired-rsync 0.5 release2019-11-10T19:42:00+00:002019-11-10T19:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2019-11-10:/~alex/blog/2019/11/10/dired-rsync-0-5-release/<p>If you've been running from MELPA you will have had all these features already but it was certainly overdue a stable tagging. The commit history shows a lot of faffing around getting the CI working again. However there are a bunch of customisation tweaks exposed as well as support for …</p><p>If you've been running from MELPA you will have had all these features already but it was certainly overdue a stable tagging. The commit history shows a lot of faffing around getting the CI working again. However there are a bunch of customisation tweaks exposed as well as support for remote-to-remote rsync support (with a very ugly port-forward hack). From the NEWS file:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Big CI clean-ups (dropped emake, added Cask)</li>
<li>smarter modeline status (show R:n% when one job running)</li>
<li>make dired-rsync process dest with expand-file-name</li>
<li>we now support remote to remote with an ugly port forward hack</li>
<li>prompt the user for a passphrase if we detect stall in process</li>
<li>add some basic ert tests</li>
<li>new customisation option dired-rsync-source-files</li>
<li>new customisation hook dired-rsync-failed-hook</li>
</ul>
<p>Happy file syncing ;-)</p>
dired-rsync 0.4 released2018-06-01T18:12:00+01:002018-06-01T18:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2018-06-01:/~alex/blog/2018/06/01/dired-rsync-0-4-released/<p>I started hacking on this a while back but I've finally done the house-keeping tasks required to make it a proper grown up package.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/dired-rsync">dired-rsync</a> is a simple command which you can use to trigger an rsync copy from within dired. This is especially useful when you want to copy …</p><p>I started hacking on this a while back but I've finally done the house-keeping tasks required to make it a proper grown up package.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/dired-rsync">dired-rsync</a> is a simple command which you can use to trigger an rsync copy from within dired. This is especially useful when you want to copy across large files from a remote server without locking up Emacs/Tramp. The rsync just runs as an inferior process in the background.</p>
<p>Today was mainly a process of cleaning up the CI and fixing any issues with it. I'd still like to add some proper tests but the whole thing is interactive and that seems to be tricky for Emacs to test. Anyway I've now tagged 0.4 so it will be available from MELPA Stable once it rebuilds. You can of course grab the building edge from MELPA any time ;-)</p>
Working with dired2018-04-07T11:12:00+01:002018-04-07T11:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2018-04-07:/~alex/blog/2018/04/07/working-with-dired/<p>I've been making a lot more use of dired recently. One use case is copying files from my remote server to my home machine. Doing this directly from dired, even with the power of tramp, is a little too time consuming and potentially locks up your session for large files …</p><p>I've been making a lot more use of dired recently. One use case is copying files from my remote server to my home machine. Doing this directly from dired, even with the power of tramp, is a little too time consuming and potentially locks up your session for large files. While browsing reddit <a class="reference internal" href="#r-emacs">r/emacs</a> I found a reference to <cite>this post <https: 03="" 2018="" 30="" asynchronous-rsync-with-emacs-dired-and-tramp="" vxlabs.com=""></https:></cite> that spurred me to look at spawning rsync from dired some more.</p>
<p>:: <span class="target" id="r-emacs">r/emacs</span>: <a class="reference external" href="http://reddit.com/r/emacs">http://reddit.com/r/emacs</a></p>
<p>Unfortunately the solution is currently sitting in a pull-request to what looks like an orphaned package. I also ran into some other problems with the handling of where rsync needs to be run from so rather than unpicking some unfamiliar code I decided to re-implement everything in my <cite>own package <https: dired-rsync="" github.com="" stsquad=""></https:></cite>.</p>
<p>I've still got some debugging to do to get it to cleanly handle multiple sessions as well as a more detailed mode-line status. Once I'm happy I'll tag a 0.1 and get it submitted to MELPA.</p>
<p>While getting more familiar with dired I also came up with this little helper:</p>
<pre class="code elisp literal-block">
<span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">defun</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">my-dired-frame</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">directory</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="s">"Open up a dired frame which closes on exit."</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="k">interactive</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">switch-to-buffer</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">dired</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nv">directory</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">local-set-key</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">kbd</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"C-x C-c"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">lambda</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">()</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="k">interactive</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">kill-this-buffer</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">save-buffers-kill-terminal</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="ss">'t</span><span class="p">))))</span>
</pre>
<p>Which is paired with a simple alias in my shell setup:</p>
<pre class="code shell literal-block">
<span class="nb">alias</span> <span class="nv">dired</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"emacsclient -a '' -t -e '(my-dired-frame default-directory)'"</span>
</pre>
<p>This works really nicely for popping up a dired frame in your terminal window and cleaning itself up when you exit.</p>
Solving the HKG18 puzzle with org-mode2018-03-26T11:19:00+01:002018-03-26T11:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2018-03-26:/~alex/blog/2018/03/26/solving-the-hkg18-puzzle-with-org-mode/<p>One of the traditions I like about Linaro's Connect event is the
conference puzzle. Usually set by <a href="https://www.linaro.org/author/dave-pigott/">Dave Piggot</a> they provide a challenge
to your jet lagged brain. Full disclosure: I did not complete the
puzzle in time. In fact when Dave explained it I realised the answer
had been …</p><p>One of the traditions I like about Linaro's Connect event is the
conference puzzle. Usually set by <a href="https://www.linaro.org/author/dave-pigott/">Dave Piggot</a> they provide a challenge
to your jet lagged brain. Full disclosure: I did not complete the
puzzle in time. In fact when Dave explained it I realised the answer
had been staring me in the face. However I thought a successful walk
through would make for a more entertaining read ;-)</p>
<p>First the Puzzle:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Take the clues below and solve them. Once solved, figure out what the
hex numbers mean and then you should be able to associate each of the
clue solutions with their respective hex numbers.</p>
</blockquote>
<table border="2" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" frame="hsides" id="org530cfaf" rules="groups">
<colgroup>
<col class="org-left"/>
<col class="org-left"/>
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="org-left" scope="col">Clue</th>
<th class="org-left" scope="col">Hex Number</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Lava Ale Code</td>
<td class="org-left">1114DBA</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Be Google Roe</td>
<td class="org-left">114F6BE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Natural Gin</td>
<td class="org-left">114F72A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Pope Charger</td>
<td class="org-left">121EE50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Dolt And Hunk</td>
<td class="org-left">12264BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Monk Hops Net</td>
<td class="org-left">122D9D9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Is Enriched Tin</td>
<td class="org-left">123C1EF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Bran Hearing Kin</td>
<td class="org-left">1245D6E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Enter Slim Beer</td>
<td class="org-left">127B78E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Herbal Cabbages</td>
<td class="org-left">1282FDD</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Jan Venom Hon Nun</td>
<td class="org-left">12853C5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">A Cherry Skull</td>
<td class="org-left">1287B3C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Each Noun Lands</td>
<td class="org-left">1298F0B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Wave Zone Kits</td>
<td class="org-left">12A024C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Avid Null Sorts</td>
<td class="org-left">12A5190</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Handcars All Trim</td>
<td class="org-left">12C76DC</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h1>Clues</h1>
<p>It looks like all the clues are anagrams. I was lazy and just used the
first online anagram solver that Google pointed me at. However we can
automate this by combining org-mode with Python and the excellent
Beautiful Soup library.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">bs4</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">BeautifulSoup</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">requests</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">re</span>
<span class="c1"># ask internet to solve the puzzle</span>
<span class="n">url</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"http://anagram-solver.net/</span><span class="si">%s</span><span class="s2">"</span> <span class="o">%</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">anagram</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">replace</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">" "</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"%20"</span><span class="p">))</span>
<span class="n">page</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">requests</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">url</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="c1"># fish out the answers</span>
<span class="n">soup</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">BeautifulSoup</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">page</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">text</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">answers</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">soup</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">find</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"ul"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">class_</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"answers"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">li</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">answers</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">find_all</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"li"</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">result</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">li</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">text</span>
<span class="c1"># filter out non computer related or poor results</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">result</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="s2">"Elmer Berstein"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"Tim-Berners Lee"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"Babbage Charles"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"Calude Shannon"</span><span class="p">]:</span>
<span class="k">continue</span>
<span class="c1"># filter out non proper names</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">re</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">search</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"[a-z] [A-Z]"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">result</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">break</span>
<span class="k">return</span> <span class="n">result</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>So with <code>:var anagram=clues[2,0]</code> we get</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>Ada Lovelace
</code></pre></div>
<p>I admit the "if result in []" is a bit of hack.</p>
<h1>Hex Numbers</h1>
<p>The hex numbers could be anything. But lets first start by converting
to something else.</p>
<table border="2" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" frame="hsides" id="orgf38fe0d" rules="groups">
<colgroup>
<col class="org-left"/>
<col class="org-right"/>
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="org-left" scope="col">Hex Prompt</th>
<th class="org-right" scope="col">Number</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">1114DBA</td>
<td class="org-right">17911226</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">114F6BE</td>
<td class="org-right">18151102</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">114F72A</td>
<td class="org-right">18151210</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">121EE50</td>
<td class="org-right">19000912</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">12264BC</td>
<td class="org-right">19031228</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">122D9D9</td>
<td class="org-right">19061209</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">123C1EF</td>
<td class="org-right">19120623</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">1245D6E</td>
<td class="org-right">19160430</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">127B78E</td>
<td class="org-right">19380110</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">1282FDD</td>
<td class="org-right">19410909</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">12853C5</td>
<td class="org-right">19420101</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">1287B3C</td>
<td class="org-right">19430204</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">1298F0B</td>
<td class="org-right">19500811</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">12A024C</td>
<td class="org-right">19530316</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">12A5190</td>
<td class="org-right">19550608</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">12C76DC</td>
<td class="org-right">19691228</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The #+TBLFM: is <code>$1='(identity remote(clues,@@#$2))::$2='(string-to-number $1 16)</code></p>
<p>This is where I went down a blind alley. The fact all they all had the
top bit set made me think that Dave was giving a hint to the purpose
of the hex number in the way many <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword">cryptic crosswords</a> do (I know he is
a fan of these). However the more obvious answer is that everyone in
the list was born in the last millennium.</p>
<h1>Looking up Birth Dates</h1>
<p>Now I could go through all the names by hand and look up their birth
dates but as we are automating things perhaps we can use computers for
what they are good at. Unfortunately there isn't a simple web-api for
looking up this stuff. However there is a project called <a href="http://wiki.dbpedia.org/about">DBpedia</a> which
takes Wikipedia's data and attempts to make it semantically useful. We
can query this using a semantic query language called SparQL. If only
I could call it from Emacs…</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>select distinct ?birthDate {
dbr:$name dbo:birthDate|dbp:birthDate ?birthDate
}
</code></pre></div>
<p>So calling with <code>:var name="Ada_Lovelace"</code> we get</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>"birthDate"
1815-12-10
</code></pre></div>
<p>Of course it shouldn't be a surprise this exists. And in what I hope
is a growing trend <a href="https://github.com/ljos/sparql-mode">sparql-mode</a> supports org-mode out of the box. The
$name in the snippet is expanded from the passed in variables to the
function. This makes it a general purpose lookup function we can use
for all our names.</p>
<p>There are a couple of wrinkles. We need to format the name we are
looking up with underscores to make a valid URL. Also the output spits
out a header and possible multiple birth dates. We can solve this with
a little wrapper function. It also introduces some rate limiting so we
don't smash DBpedia's public SPARQL endpoint.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="p">;;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">rate</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">limit</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="p">(</span><span class="n">sleep</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="k">for</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="mh">1</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="p">;;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="k">do</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">the</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">query</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="p">(</span><span class="n">let</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">((</span><span class="n">str</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">replace</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">all</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">'((</span><span class="s">" "</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">.</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"_"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"Von"</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">.</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"von"</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ret</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">eval</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">car</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">read</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">from</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="k">string</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">format</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"(org-sbe get-dob (name $</span><span class="se">\"</span><span class="s">%s</span><span class="se">\"</span><span class="s">))"</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">str</span><span class="p">))))))</span><span class="w"></span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="k">string</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">to</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">number</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">replace</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">regexp</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">in</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="k">string</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">"-"</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s">""</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">car</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">cdr</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="n">lines</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">ret</span><span class="p">))))))</span><span class="w"></span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>Calling with <code>:var name="Ada Lovelace"</code> we get</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="mf">18151210</span><span class="w"></span>
</code></pre></div>
<h1>Full Solution</h1>
<p>So now we know what we are doing we need to solve all the puzzles and
lookup the data. Fortunately org-mode's tables are fully functional
spreadsheets except they are not limited to simple transformations.
Each formula can be a fully realised bit of elisp, calling other
source blocks as needed.</p>
<table border="2" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" frame="hsides" id="orgb836df6" rules="groups">
<colgroup>
<col class="org-left"/>
<col class="org-left"/>
<col class="org-right"/>
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="org-left" scope="col">Clue</th>
<th class="org-left" scope="col">Solution</th>
<th class="org-right" scope="col">DOB</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Herbal Cabbages</td>
<td class="org-left">Charles Babbage</td>
<td class="org-right">17911226</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Be Google Roe</td>
<td class="org-left">George Boole</td>
<td class="org-right">18151102</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Lava Ale Code</td>
<td class="org-left">Ada Lovelace</td>
<td class="org-right">18151210</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">A Cherry Skull</td>
<td class="org-left">Haskell Curry</td>
<td class="org-right">19000912</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Jan Venom Hon Nun</td>
<td class="org-left">John Von Neumann</td>
<td class="org-right">19031228</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Pope Charger</td>
<td class="org-left">Grace Hopper</td>
<td class="org-right">19061209</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Natural Gin</td>
<td class="org-left">Alan Turing</td>
<td class="org-right">19120623</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Each Noun Lands</td>
<td class="org-left">Claude Shannon</td>
<td class="org-right">19160430</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Dolt And Hunk</td>
<td class="org-left">Donald Knuth</td>
<td class="org-right">19380110</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Is Enriched Tin</td>
<td class="org-left">Dennis Ritchie</td>
<td class="org-right">19410909</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Bran Hearing Kin</td>
<td class="org-left">Brian Kernighan</td>
<td class="org-right">19420101</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Monk Hops Net</td>
<td class="org-left">Ken Thompson</td>
<td class="org-right">19430204</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Wave Zone Kits</td>
<td class="org-left">Steve Wozniak</td>
<td class="org-right">19500811</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Handcars All Trim</td>
<td class="org-left">Richard Stallman</td>
<td class="org-right">19530316</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Enter Slim Beer</td>
<td class="org-left">Tim Berners-Lee</td>
<td class="org-right">19550608</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="org-left">Avid Null Sorts</td>
<td class="org-left">Linus Torvalds</td>
<td class="org-right">19691228</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The #+TBLFM: is <code>$1='(identity remote(clues,@@#$1))::$2='(org-sbe solve-anagram (anagram $$1))::$3='(org-sbe frob-dob (name $$2))</code></p>
<p>The hex numbers are helpfully sorted so as long as we sort the clues
table by the looked up date of birth using <em>M-x org-table-sort-lines</em>
we are good to go.</p>Workbooks for Benchmarking2018-02-21T20:34:00+00:002018-02-21T20:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2018-02-21:/~alex/blog/2018/02/21/workbooks-for-benchmarking/<p>While working on a major re-factor of <a class="reference external" href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2018-02/msg01330.html">QEMU's softfloat code</a> I've been doing a lot of benchmarking. It can be quite tedious work as you need to be careful you've run the correct steps on the correct binaries and keeping notes is important. It is a task that cries out …</p><p>While working on a major re-factor of <a class="reference external" href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2018-02/msg01330.html">QEMU's softfloat code</a> I've been doing a lot of benchmarking. It can be quite tedious work as you need to be careful you've run the correct steps on the correct binaries and keeping notes is important. It is a task that cries out for scripting but that in itself can be a compromise as you end up stitching a pipeline of commands together in something like perl. You may script it all in a language designed for this sort of thing like R but then find your final upload step is a pain to implement.</p>
<p>One solution to this is to use a literate programming workbook like <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/testcases/blob/master/aarch64/benchmark.org">this</a>. Literate programming is a style where you interleave your code with natural prose describing the steps you go through. This is different from simply having well commented code in a source tree. For one thing you do not have to leap around a large code base as everything you need is on the file you are reading, from top to bottom. There are many solutions out there including <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/jupyter/jupyter/wiki/A-gallery-of-interesting-Jupyter-Notebooks">various python based examples</a>. Of course being a happy Emacs user I use one of its stand-out features <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Org-mode">org-mode</a> which comes with multi-language <a class="reference external" href="https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/">org-babel</a> support. This allows me to document my benchmarking while scripting up the steps in a variety of "languages" depending on the my needs at the time. Let's take a look at the first section:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="rubric" id="orgb7da4a0">1 Binaries To Test</p>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1"><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Here we have several tables of binaries to test. We refer to the</div>
<div class="line">current benchmarking set from the next stage, Run Benchmark.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">For a final test we might compare the system QEMU with a reference</div>
<div class="line">build as well as our current build.</div>
</div>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="81%"/>
<col width="19%"/>
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr><th class="head">Binary</th>
<th class="head">title</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>/usr/bin/qemu-aarch64</td>
<td>system-2.5.log</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>~/lsrc/qemu/qemu-builddirs/arm-targets.build/aarch64-linux-user/qemu-aarch64</td>
<td>master.log</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>~/lsrc/qemu/qemu.git/aarch64-linux-user/qemu-aarch64</td>
<td>softfloat-v4.log</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div></blockquote><p>Well that is certainly fairly explanatory. These are named org-mode tables which can be referred to in other code snippets and passed in as variables. So the next job is to run the benchmark itself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="rubric" id="org5a36bd2">2 Run Benchmark</p>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2"><p>This runs the benchmark against each binary we have selected above.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
import subprocess
import os
runs=[]
for qemu,logname in files:
cmd="taskset -c 0 %s ./vector-benchmark -n %s | tee %s" % (qemu, tests, logname)
subprocess.call(cmd, shell=True)
runs.append(logname)
return runs
</pre>
</div></blockquote>
<p>So why use python as the test runner? Well truth is whenever I end up munging arrays in shell script I forget the syntax and end up jumping through all sorts of hoops. Easier just to have some simple python. I use python again later to read the data back into an org-table so I can pass it to the next step, graphing:</p>
<blockquote>
<pre class="literal-block">
set title "Vector Benchmark Results (lower is better)"
set style data histograms
set style fill solid 1.0 border lt -1
set xtics rotate by 90 right
set yrange [:]
set xlabel noenhanced
set ylabel "nsecs/Kop" noenhanced
set xtics noenhanced
set ytics noenhanced
set boxwidth 1
set xtics format ""
set xtics scale 0
set grid ytics
set term pngcairo size 1200,500
plot for [i=2:5] data using i:xtic(1) title columnhead
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnuplot">GNU Plot</a> script which takes the data and plots an image from it. org-mode takes care of the details of marshalling the table data into GNU Plot so all this script is really concerned with is setting styles and titles. The language is capable of some fairly advanced stuff but I could always pre-process the data with something else if I needed to.</p>
<p>Finally I need to upload my graph to an image hosting service to share with my colleges. This can be done with a elaborate curl command but I have another trick at my disposal thanks to the excellent <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/pashky/restclient.el">restclient-mode</a>. This mode is actually designed for interactive debugging of REST APIs but it is also easily to use from an org-mode source block. So the whole thing looks like a HTTP session:</p>
<blockquote>
<pre class="literal-block">
:client_id = feedbeef
# Upload images to imgur
POST https://api.imgur.com/3/image
Authorization: Client-ID :client_id
Content-type: image/png
< benchmark.png
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>Finally because the above dumps all the headers when run (which is very handy for debugging) I actually only want the URL in most cases. I can do this simply enough in elisp:</p>
<blockquote>
<pre class="literal-block">
#+name: post-to-imgur
#+begin_src emacs-lisp :var json-string=upload-to-imgur()
(when (string-match
(rx "link" (one-or-more (any "\":" whitespace))
(group (one-or-more (not (any "\"")))))
json-string)
(match-string 1 json-string))
#+end_src
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>The :var line calls the restclient-mode function automatically and passes it the result which it can then extract the final URL from.</p>
<p>And there you have it, my entire benchmarking workflow document in a single file which I can read through tweaking each step as I go. This isn't the first time I've done this sort of thing. As I use org-mode extensively as a logbook to keep track of my upstream work I've slowly grown a series of scripts for common tasks. For example every patch series and pull request I post is done via org. I keep the whole thing in a git repository so each time I finish a sequence I can commit the results into the repository as a permanent record of what steps I ran.</p>
<p>If you want even more inspiration I suggest you look at John Kitchen's <a class="reference external" href="http://kitchingroup.cheme.cmu.edu/scimax">scimax</a> work. As a publishing scientist he makes extensive use of org-mode when writing his papers. He is able to include the main prose with the code to plot the graphs and tables in a single source document from which his camera ready documents are generated. Should he ever need to reproduce any work his exact steps are all there in the source document. Yet another example of why org-mode is awesome ;-)</p>
FOSDEM 20182018-02-06T09:36:00+00:002018-02-06T09:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2018-02-06:/~alex/blog/2018/02/06/fosdem-2018/<p>I've just returned from a weekend in Brussels for my first ever FOSDEM - the Free and Open Source Developers, European Meeting. It's been on my list of conferences to go to for some time and thanks to getting my talk accepted, my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linaro.org">employer</a> financed the cost of travel and hotels …</p><p>I've just returned from a weekend in Brussels for my first ever FOSDEM - the Free and Open Source Developers, European Meeting. It's been on my list of conferences to go to for some time and thanks to getting my talk accepted, my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linaro.org">employer</a> financed the cost of travel and hotels. Thanks to the support of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ulb.ac.be/">Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)</a> the event itself is free and run entirely by volunteers. As you can expect from the name they also have a strong commitment to free and open source software.</p>
<p><img alt="image0" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-2761" src="/~alex/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/fos-150x33.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 33px;"/></p>
<p>The first thing that struck me about the conference is how wide ranging it was. There were talks on everything from the internals of debugging tools to developing public policy. When I first loaded up their excellent companion app (naturally via <a class="reference external" href="https://f-droid.org/en/packages/be.digitalia.fosdem/">the F-Droid repository</a>) I was somewhat overwhelmed by the choice. As it is a free conference there is no limit on the numbers who can attend which means you are not always guarenteed to be able to get into every talk. In fact during the event I walked past many long queues for the more popular talks. In the end I ended up just bookmarking all the talks I was interested in and deciding which one to go to depending on how I felt at the time. Fortunately FOSDEM have a strong archiving policy and video most of their talks so I'll be spending the next few weeks catching up on the ones I missed.</p>
<p>There now follows a non-exhaustive list of the most interesting ones I was able to see live:</p>
<p>Dashamir's <a class="reference external" href="https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/easy_gnupg/">talk on EasyGPG</a> dealt with the opinionated decisions it makes to try and make the use of GnuPG more intuitive to those not versed in the full gory details of public key cryptography. Although I use GPG mainly for signing GIT pull requests I really should make better use it over all. The split-key solution to backups was particularly interesting. I suspect I'll need a little convincing before I put part of my key in the cloud but I'll certainly check out his scripts.</p>
<p>Liam's <a class="reference external" href="https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/alternative_histories/">A Circuit Less Travelled</a> was an entertaining tour of some of the technologies and ideas from early computer history that got abandoned on the wayside. These ideas were often to be re-invented in a less superior form as engineers realised the error of their ways as technology advanced. The later half of the talk turns into a bit of LISP love-fest but as an Emacs user with an ever growing config file that is fine by me ;-)</p>
<p>Following on in the history vein was Steven Goodwin's talk on <a class="reference external" href="https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/digital_archaeology/">Digital Archaeology</a> which was a salutatory reminder of the amount of recent history that is getting lost as computing's breakneck pace has discarded old physical formats in lieu of newer equally short lived formats. It reminded me I should really do something about the 3 boxes of floppy disks I have under my desk. I also need to schedule a visit to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/">Computer History Museum</a> with my children seeing as it is more or less on my doorstep.</p>
<p>There was a tongue in check <a class="reference external" href="http://n-gate.com/fosdem/">preview</a> that described the <a class="reference external" href="https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/edsac/">EDSAC talk</a> as recreating "an ancient computer without any of the things that made it interesting". This was was a little unkind. Although the project re-implemented the computation parts in a tiny little FPGA the core idea was to introduce potential students to the physicality of the early computers. After an introduction to the hoary architecture of the original EDSAC and <a class="reference external" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcZ1bFfDvSQ">the Wheeler Jump</a> Mary introduced the hardware they re-imagined for the project. The first was an optical reader developed to read in paper tapes although this time ones printed on thermal receipt paper. This included an in-depth review of the problems of smoothing out analogue inputs to get reliable signals from their optical sensors which mirrors the problems the rebuild is facing with nature of the valves used in EDSAC. It is a shame they couldn't come up with some way to involve a valve but I guess high-tension supplies and school kids don't mix well. However they did come up with a way of re-creating the original acoustic mercury delay lines but this time with a tube of air and some 3D printed parabolic ends.</p>
<p>The big geek event was the much anticipated announcement of RISC-V hardware during the <a class="reference external" href="https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/riscv/">RISC-V enablement talk</a>. It seemed to be an open secret the announcement was coming but it still garnered hearty applause when it finally came. I should point out I'm indirectly employed by companies with an interest in a competing architecture but it is still good to see other stuff out there. The board is fairly open but there are still some peripheral IPs which were closed which shows just how tricky getting to fully-free hardware is going to be. As I understand the RISC-V's licensing model the ISA is open (unlike for example an ARM Architecture License) but individual companies can still have closed implementations which they license to be manufactured which is how I assume SiFive funds development. The actual CPU implementation is still very much a black box you have to take on trust.</p>
<p>Finally for those that are interested <a class="reference external" href="https://fosdem.org/2018/schedule/event/vai_vectors_meet_virtualization/">my talk is already online</a> for those that are interested in what I'm currently working on. The slides have been slightly cropped in the video but if you follow the <a class="reference external" href="http://people.linaro.org/~alex.bennee/org/presentations/vectors-meet-virt.html">link to the HTML version</a> you can read along on your machine.</p>
<p>I have to say FOSDEM's setup is pretty impressive. Although there was a volunteer in each room to deal with fire safety and replace microphones all the recording is fully automated. There are rather fancy hand crafted wooden boxes in each room which take the feed from your laptop and mux it with the camera. I got the email from the automated system asking me to review a preview of my talk about half and hour after I gave it. It took a little longer for the final product to get encoded and online but it's certainly the nicest system I've come across so far.</p>
<p>All in all I can heartily recommend FOSDEM for anyone in an interest is FLOSS. It's a packed schedule and there is going to be something for everyone there. Big thanks to all the volunteers and organisers and I hope I can make it next year ;-)</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.15 released2018-01-17T16:47:00+00:002018-01-17T16:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2018-01-17:/~alex/blog/2018/01/17/edit-with-emacs-v1-15-released/<p>After a bit of hiatus there was enough of a flurry of patches to make it worth pushing out a new release. I'm in a little bit of a quandary with what to do with this package now. It's obviously a useful extension for a good number of people but …</p><p>After a bit of hiatus there was enough of a flurry of patches to make it worth pushing out a new release. I'm in a little bit of a quandary with what to do with this package now. It's obviously a useful extension for a good number of people but I notice the <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/issues">slowly growing number of issues</a> which I'm not making much progress on. It's hard to find time to debug and fix things when it's main state is Works For Me. There is also competition from the <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/tuvistavie/atomic-chrome">Atomic Chrome</a> extension (and it's related <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/alpha22jp/atomic-chrome">emacs extension</a>). It's an excellent package and has the advantage of a Chrome extension that is more actively developed and using a bi-directional web-socket to communicate with the edit server. It's been a feature I've wanted to add to Edit with Emacs for a while but my re-factoring efforts are slowed down by the fact that Javascript is not a language I'm fluent in and finding a long enough period of spare time is hard with a family. I guess this is a roundabout way of saying that realistically this package is in maintenance mode and you shouldn't expect to see any new development for the time being. I'll of course try my best to address reproducible bugs and process pull requests in a timely manner. That said please enjoy v1.15:</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Now builds for Firefox using WebExtension hooks</div>
<div class="line">* Use chrome.notifications instead of webkitNotifications</div>
<div class="line">* Use</div>
</div>
<div><p>with style instead of inline for edit button
* fake "input" event to stop active page components overwriting text area</p>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* avoid calling make-frame-on-display for TTY setups (#103/#132/#133)</div>
<div class="line">* restore edit-server-default-major-mode if auto-mode lookup fails</div>
<div class="line">* delete window when done editing with no new frame</div>
</div>
<p>Get the latest from <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/edit-with-emacs/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">the Chrome Webstore</a>.</p>
</div>checkpatch-mode2017-02-09T15:30:00+00:002017-02-09T15:30:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2017-02-09:/~alex/blog/2017/02/09/checkpatch-mode/<p>A couple of weeks ago I mused that I should really collect together the <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/master/my-git.el#L139">various</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/master/my-email.el#L562">hacks</a> to integrate checkpatch into my workflow into a consistent mode. Having a quick look around I couldn't find any other implementations and went to create the said mode. It turns out I'd created the …</p><p>A couple of weeks ago I mused that I should really collect together the <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/master/my-git.el#L139">various</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/master/my-email.el#L562">hacks</a> to integrate checkpatch into my workflow into a consistent mode. Having a quick look around I couldn't find any other implementations and went to create the said mode. It turns out I'd created the directory and done the initial commit 3 years ago. Anyway I polished it up a bit and you can now get it <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/checkpatch-mode">here</a>. I hope it's useful to the wider community and as ever patches welcome ;-)</p>
Running Linux in QEMU's aarch64 system emulation mode2014-05-09T13:14:00+01:002014-05-09T13:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2014-05-09:/~alex/blog/2014/05/09/running-linux-in-qemus-aarch64-system-emulation-mode/<p>Since I started working on <a class="reference external" href="http://translatedcode.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/64-bit-arm-usermode-emulation-in-qemu-2-0-0/">aarch64 support for QEMU</a> the most frequently asked question I got was "when can I run aarch64 system emulation on QEMU?". Well wait no more as support for a VIRT-IO based aarch64 board was recently merged into the master branch of QEMU. In this post …</p><p>Since I started working on <a class="reference external" href="http://translatedcode.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/64-bit-arm-usermode-emulation-in-qemu-2-0-0/">aarch64 support for QEMU</a> the most frequently asked question I got was "when can I run aarch64 system emulation on QEMU?". Well wait no more as support for a VIRT-IO based aarch64 board was recently merged into the master branch of QEMU. In this post I'll talk about building QEMU, a rootfs and a kernel that will allow you to start experimenting with the architecture.</p>
<div class="section" id="quick-start">
<h2>Quick start</h2>
<p>Let's first start with building and running QEMU with some pre-built images.</p>
<div class="section" id="build-dependancies">
<h3>Build Dependancies</h3>
<p>As has been noted in the comments the <em>configure</em> script will automatically enable features as long as the pre-requisite developer libraries are installed on your sytem. With a Debian/Ubuntu system this is easily achieved by running:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
sudo apt-get build-dep qemu
</pre>
<p>Of course if you want to enable a feature (either a bleeding edge or non-standard) that requires additional libraries then you will need to install the appropriate development packages manually. The <em>config.log</em> file is usually a useful first step in working out what headers are being looked for.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="building-qemu">
<h3>Building QEMU</h3>
<pre class="literal-block">
git clone git://git.qemu.org/qemu.git qemu.git
cd qemu.git
./configure --target-list=aarch64-softmmu
make
</pre>
<p>Assuming the build ran without any problems you should now have an executable <em>./aarch64-softmmu/qemu-system-aarch64</em> in your build directory. Grab a pre-built image from <a class="reference external" href="http://people.linaro.org/~alex.bennee/images/aarch64-linux-3.15rc2-buildroot.img">here</a> and we'll check it works. The image is a kernel that has been combined with an initial RAM disk (initrd) with a basic root file-system. I go into more details on how to create this later on.</p>
<p>Be aware the command line is quite long so make sure you copy it all ;-)</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
wget http://people.linaro.org/~alex.bennee/images/aarch64-linux-3.15rc2-buildroot.img
./aarch64-softmmu/qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -cpu cortex-a57 -machine type=virt -nographic -smp 1 -m 2048 -kernel aarch64-linux-3.15rc2-buildroot.img --append "console=ttyAMA0"
</pre>
<p>If all went well you should see the familiar Linux boot sequence and eventually get a login prompt. Login as root (no password) and play in the new sandbox.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
... usual kernel boot output ...
Welcome to Buildroot
buildroot login: root
# uname -a
Linux buildroot 3.15.0-rc2ajb-00069-g1aae31c #39 SMP Thu Apr 24 11:48:57 BST 2014 aarch64 GNU/Linux
</pre>
<p>Once you are done type <em>C-a c</em> to enter QEMU's monitor mode and then quit to exit.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
QEMU 2.0.50 monitor - type 'help' for more information
(qemu) quit
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="accessing-your-local-file-system">
<h2>Accessing your local file-system</h2>
<p>This is all very well but the test image only has a fairly limited root file-system attached to it. It will be a lot more useful if you could access your host file-system to test other binaries. Thanks to VIRT FS we can achieve this without too much hassle. Use the following extended QEMU command line:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
./aarch64-softmmu/qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -cpu cortex-a57 -machine type=virt -nographic -smp 1 -m 2048 -kernel aarch64-linux-3.15rc2-buildroot.img --append "console=ttyAMA0" -fsdev local,id=r,path=/home/alex/lsrc/qemu/rootfs/trusty-core,security_model=none -device virtio-9p-device,fsdev=r,mount_tag=r
</pre>
<p>This sets up the selected path to be mountable by the guest. In this case I'm using an Ubuntu rootfs which can be downloaded from <a class="reference external" href="http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/14.04/release/">here</a>. Once the system has booted the following commands on the guest will mount the local file-system:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Welcome to Buildroot
buildroot login: root
# mount -t 9p -o trans=virtio r /mnt
# ls -l /mnt/
total 84
drwxr-xr-x 2 default default 4096 Apr 2 2014 bin
drwxr-xr-x 2 default default 4096 Feb 27 2014 boot
drwxr-xr-x 3 default default 4096 Apr 2 2014 dev
drwxr-xr-x 64 default default 4096 Apr 3 2014 etc
drwxr-xr-x 2 default default 4096 Feb 27 2014 home
..
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section" id="building-your-own-rootfs">
<h2>Building your own rootfs</h2>
<p>There are many solutions to this (including downloading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linaro.org/downloads/">Linaro engineering builds</a>) but the simplest one I've found for rolling your own from scratch is the <a class="reference external" href="http://buildroot.uclibc.org/">Buildroot project</a>. It present the familiar kernel menuconfig interface and deals with all the hassle of setting up cross compilers for you.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
git clone git://git.buildroot.net/buildroot buildroot.git
cd buildroot.git
make menuconfig
</pre>
<p>There are lots of configuration options to choose from but the following are what I use:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Target Options -> Target Architecture(AArch64)</div>
<div class="line">* Toolchain -> Toolchain type (External toolchain)</div>
<div class="line">* Toolchain -> Toolchain (Linaro AArch64 14.02)</div>
<div class="line">* System configuration -> Run a getty (login prompt) after boot (BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY)</div>
<div class="line">* System configuration -> getty options -> TTY Port (ttyAMA0) (BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT)</div>
<div class="line">* Target Packages -> Show packages that are also provided by busybox (BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_SHOW_OTHERS)</div>
<div class="line">* Filesystem images -> cpio the root filesystem (for use as an initial RAM filesystem) (BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_CPIO)</div>
</div>
<p>The last one will be important for when we build the kernel next. Once you have configured buildroot to your liking it's time to type make and leave it for a while as you enjoy a nice lunch ;-)</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
make
.. lots of output ..
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section" id="building-a-kernel">
<h2>Building a kernel</h2>
<p>For building the kernel I use my distro's aarch64 cross-compiler. On Debian/Ubuntu systems this is easily added with:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ sudo apt-get install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu
</pre>
<p>And the usual kernel building process, with a few tweaks for cross compiling:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
git clone https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git linux.git
cd linux.git
ARCH=arm64 make menuconfig
</pre>
<p>I've put my full config up <a class="reference external" href="http://people.linaro.org/~alex.bennee/images/aarch64-kernel.config">here</a> but important options to note are:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
CONFIG_CROSS_COMPILE="aarch64-linux-gnu-" # needs to match your cross-compiler prefix
CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE="/home/alex/lsrc/qemu/buildroot.git/output/images/rootfs.cpio" # points at your buildroot image
CONFIG_NET_9P=y # needed for virtfs mount
CONFIG_NET_9P_VIRTIO=y
</pre>
<p>Finally you build it all with:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
ARCH=arm64 make -j 8
</pre>
<p>The <em>-j 8</em> just specifies how many parallel build threads to use. Generally set it to the number of cores you have on your machine.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="final-test">
<h2>Final test</h2>
<p>All that remains is to test that the newly built kernel works:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
./aarch64-softmmu/qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -cpu cortex-a57 -machine type=virt -nographic -smp 1 -m 2048 -kernel ../linux.git/arch/arm64/boot/Image --append "console=ttyAMA0"
... lots more output ...
Welcome to Buildroot
ajbtest login: root
[root@ajbtest ~]# ls -l
total 0
[root@ajbtest ~]# uname -a
Linux ajbtest 3.15.0-rc4ajb-00320-gafcf0a2-dirty #41 SMP Fri May 9 13:05:31 BST 2014 aarch64 GNU/Linux
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATED:</strong> 27/05/2014</div>
<div class="line">* Added notes about library dependencies</div>
<div class="line">* Cleaned up formatting of shell sections, mention length of command line!</div>
<div class="line">* Fix some spelling errors</div>
</div>
</div>
Anyone interested at an Emacs BoF at LCU14?2014-04-29T16:00:00+01:002014-04-29T16:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2014-04-29:/~alex/blog/2014/04/29/anyone-interested-at-an-emacs-bof-at-lcu14/<p>I'm fairly atypical as a Linaro employee because I have a desk in a shared office. This means I get to participate in technical banter with the other employees based in the Cambridge office. However it has become quite clear I'm surrounded on all sides by VIMers with only one …</p><p>I'm fairly atypical as a Linaro employee because I have a desk in a shared office. This means I get to participate in technical banter with the other employees based in the Cambridge office. However it has become quite clear I'm surrounded on all sides by VIMers with only one potential convert who wants to try Emacs out "one day". As a result I thought it might be nice to have an Emacs Birds of a Feather (BoF) session at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linaro.org/connect/lcu/lcu14/">LCU14</a>?</p>
<p>BoF sessions are basically an informal gathering where people with a shared interest who come along to swap tips and stories about their area of interest. In the context of LCU it would be an opportunity to network and meet fellow Emacers. So any interest?</p>
Boutique modes2014-03-05T10:12:00+00:002014-03-05T10:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2014-03-05:/~alex/blog/2014/03/05/boutique-modes/<p>I've recently started a new job at <a class="reference external" href="http:www.linaro.org">Linaro</a> which has been keeping me very busy. My role combines the low-level fun of Dynamic Binary Translation that I so enjoyed at Transitive and the fact Linaro is a fully Open Source company. I work directly on the upstream projects (in this …</p><p>I've recently started a new job at <a class="reference external" href="http:www.linaro.org">Linaro</a> which has been keeping me very busy. My role combines the low-level fun of Dynamic Binary Translation that I so enjoyed at Transitive and the fact Linaro is a fully Open Source company. I work directly on the upstream projects (in this case <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page">QEMU</a>) and with the project community. In many ways it's my ideal job.</p>
<p>Of course I've quickly built up a reputation as the Emacs guy in the office surrounded by a sea of VIMers although one of the guys does profess a desire to learn Emacs "one day".</p>
<p>One of the first things I did was move all my email into Emacs. I'd long been dissatisfied with the state of Thunderbird (and previously Evolution) that I took the opportunity to migrate to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.djcbsoftware.nl/code/mu/mu4e.html">mu4e</a>. I spend my days slinging patches and going through mailing lists so I really appreciate being in my editor while I do that.</p>
<p>I have also started streamlining some of my work-flow with a few specialised extensions to Emacs. I think I'm finally comfortable enough with elisp to have a pretty good stab at solving most problems. I'm also appreciating the ability to leverage the mass of Emacs code under the hood to make incremental tweaks rather than solve everything at once. I thought I might give you a tour of the code I've written so far.</p>
<p>First up is <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/risu/blob/aarch-with-ajb-hacks/risu.el">risu-mode</a>. RISU is the code testing tool we've been using to verify our aarch64 ARM work in QEMU. The .risu file is a template that's used to specify instruction patterns that the tool then uses to generate random code sequences with. <em>risu-mode</em> is really just a bunch of regex expressions wrapped in the mode machinery that highlights the elements on the page. It doesn't sound like much but when you are working through a bunch of patterns looking for bugs it's easier on the eye when the different elements are coloured.</p>
<p>Next thing I wrote was my own <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/qemu-mode/blob/master/qemu-mode.el">QEMU mode</a> which is a simple comint-mode based mode for launching QEMU system emulation. It's still very rough and ready as I'm mostly working on user emulation but I suspect it will be handy once I start on system emulation stuff.</p>
<p>Finally there is <a class="reference external" href="http://git.linaro.org/people/alex.bennee/lava-mode.git">lava-mode</a>. LAVA is Linaro's automated test and validation framework. Although it already provides command line and web interfaces I thought it would be nice to launch and track test jobs from within Emacs itself. The job control files a JSON based so I built on the existing json-mode and a <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/xml-rpc/tree/extra-headers">slightly patched version of xml-rpc.el</a> to add job submission. I've started a simple job tracking mode that uses the tabulated-list-mode framework and eventually I'll link it into the tracking library so job completion will be as seamless as my IRC work-flow.</p>
<p>So there you have it, a bunch of code that may well not interest anyone else but shows how Emacs provides a very rich base of functionality on which to build up tools that are useful to you.</p>
<p>Does anyone else want to share an example of their esoteric extensions? What's the most obscure thing you've built on top of our favourite text editor?</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.13 now available2013-11-08T14:05:00+00:002013-11-08T14:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2013-11-08:/~alex/blog/2013/11/08/edit-with-emacs-v1-13-now-available/<p>I've just pushed the latest version of Edit with Emacs to the Chrome App Store. Hopefully most people are already tracking the latest edit-server.el via MELPA but this does introduce a few minor fixes to the extension itself. A new piece of functionality is the ability to trigger bringing …</p><p>I've just pushed the latest version of Edit with Emacs to the Chrome App Store. Hopefully most people are already tracking the latest edit-server.el via MELPA but this does introduce a few minor fixes to the extension itself. A new piece of functionality is the ability to trigger bringing Emacs to the foreground from a key-stroke within Chrome. I added this to support running Emacs on ChromeOS which together with <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs-chromebooks">my chromebooks.el</a> package gives me a rather nice development environment without having to dump ChromeOS.</p>
<p>So new for v1.13</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Change the handling of hidden elements (fix bug #78)</div>
<div class="line">* Add debugging for erroneous hidden text areas (#93)</div>
<div class="line">* Add keyboard shortcut to bring Emacs to foreground</div>
<div class="line">* Pass clipboard contents to foreground request</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* add advice to save-buffers-kill-emacs to avoid prompting on shutdown</div>
<div class="line">* add autoload cookies</div>
<div class="line">* fix bug with format chars in url (#80)</div>
<div class="line">* don't call kill buffer hooks twice (#92)</div>
<div class="line">* don't set-buffer-multibyte on process buffer</div>
<div class="line">* support the "foreground" request with optional clipboard contents</div>
</div>
<p>Get the latest from <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/edit-with-emacs/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">the Chrome Webstore</a>.</p>
Travelling with the truffler2013-04-24T01:22:00+01:002013-04-24T01:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2013-04-24:/~alex/blog/2013/04/24/travelling-with-the-truffler/<p>We're are about halfway through our family holiday to the remote ends of the earth. It has been the first time we've taken Ursula on a plane so we thought we'd make it a big journey while we are at it.</p>
<p>To her credit she was mostly fine with the …</p><p>We're are about halfway through our family holiday to the remote ends of the earth. It has been the first time we've taken Ursula on a plane so we thought we'd make it a big journey while we are at it.</p>
<p>To her credit she was mostly fine with the 24 hours on a plane required to get to the other side of the world. Most of the tears were during take-off and landing when it was hard to explain pressurisation to a 16 month old child. There were a few other snatches of complaint due to tiredness but otherwise it went well. It helps that she is a very cute child who instantly won over the cabin crew who were keen to help keeping her amused. She even had a freshly prepared meal of Salmon Fried Rice cooked for her by the First Class cabin crew.</p>
<p>Before we left the UK I had left Ursula playing in the kitchen while I sorted something out in the living room. When I came back into the suspiciously quiet kitchen I found the following example of toddler OCD:</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="/~alex/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_20130402_074142.jpg">OCD much?</a></p>
<p>An interesting aspect of having psychologist for a mother-in-law is the wonderful insight she gives me on how the mind works. It had only been few weeks earlier that we had been talking about a common behaviour that often precedes a spurt in language development. It seems as children start getting their heads around the concept of things belonging to categories they will start sorting their toys (or anything else) into organised piles. Obviously an understanding of the fact things can exist in categories is a prerequisite for understanding a lot of things about language.</p>
<p>I make the distinction between language and speech because the two are very different skills. Language is primarily a cognitive ability to map communicated ideas to abstract concepts. Speech is the vocalisation of that communication and involves fairly precise control of a dizzying array of muscles in our mouth and vocal chords. The mastery of this physical skill takes a lot longer so often the distinction between words is only recognisable to parents and others who spend a lot of time with the child.</p>
<p>Ursula has been understanding basic instructions for some time now and it's now possible to send her off to fetch or carry things with a reasonable degree of success. Combined with her deistic pointing there has been genuine two way communication for some time. However perhaps due to fluke or stimulated by the new environment she's in on holiday we are starting to see an explosion in words. She's had the basic "Dadadada" and "Momamama" for sometime although it's hard to distinguish from the baby babbling she's been doing for a long time. We have long joked about her generic use of "dat/cat" for the cat and then pretty much any other object she was pointing at. Just before we left she had started associating "NaNa" with bananas (a favourite food of hers). We now have distinct sounds for birds, cats, dogs and my favourite "papa" for the Nexus 7 which we call the PadPad so as to avoid confusing it with the Apple brand product ;-)</p>
<p>My mum found my description of all this behaviour very amusing as I swing between proud Dad and scientific curiosity. I will put on the record that I'm not treating my daughter as a lab experiment but I do find the whole development of language and mind fascinating. I understand now why watching your kids grow and develop is so often cited by parents as one of the main joys of parenthood.</p>
On the death of Google Reader2013-03-14T22:17:00+00:002013-03-14T22:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2013-03-14:/~alex/blog/2013/03/14/on-the-death-of-google-reader/<p>You can probably tell the sort of on-line company I keep from the deluge of noise on the social networks regarding Google's decision to shut down Reader. However we shouldn't be that surprised. In fact some companies that source content from Reader <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/google-reader/">have anticipated the need to collect content themselves …</a></p><p>You can probably tell the sort of on-line company I keep from the deluge of noise on the social networks regarding Google's decision to shut down Reader. However we shouldn't be that surprised. In fact some companies that source content from Reader <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/google-reader/">have anticipated the need to collect content themselves</a>.</p>
<p>I of course will have to make a decision at some point. However I'll not do it today like a lot of Reader users have. The rush to try out alternatives has over-whelmed some <a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/samuelclay">open source based projects</a> who were quietly growing organically. I don't envy those that have to suddenly gear up their back-end systems because an Internet behemoth gave us 2593 hours notice to sort out a replacement.</p>
<p>I'm mulling over the difference between self-hosting and having someone else do it. I'm not overly worried about going for convenience if I know I can get my data back if I need to. In fact the knowledge that you can theoretically self-host might be enough. To be fair to Google their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dataliberation.org/">Data Liberation</a> team made exporting all my Reader data easy.</p>
<p>Before I make a choice I need to decide what my priorities are. Currently I subscribe to 250+ RSS feeds. Obviously I don't read every single post but I make extensive use of tags to quickly process through stuff I do need to see when I need to see it. Aside from news, blog posts, funny cat pictures I also subscribe to other data feeds like bug trackers, code repositories, and other data sources. I of course want access to all of this data at any point on one of a number of devices. This makes a web hosted solution pretty much a must. There is no point having the data on my desktop when I'm somewhere else. From my point of view I want it to be open source compatible because if the company hosting now decides it no longer wants to I'll only have to move the data and not break my work-flow.</p>
<p>It would also be very useful if it had a public API so others can interact with the data. I don't need the solution to be all provided by one company. It's perfectly fine to have multiple 3rd parties sorting out the Android integration. I might even look to doing something to integrate it with my favourite editor (the name of which even my non-geek readers probably know by now). So far my experiment with moving all of IRC and IM into Emacs seems to be working well and should be a subject of another post.</p>
<p>Are you a Reader user? What are your criteria for it's eventual replacement? Is RSS just a dying protocol or is the need to aggregate and sift through data becoming more important?</p>
<p>There may well be a much better way of solving this problem around the corner. I certainly am open to persuasion. But don't take away my current preferred solution until I'm convinced I'm ready to switch ;-)</p>
The future is inching its way onto our set-top boxes2013-02-11T16:41:00+00:002013-02-11T16:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2013-02-11:/~alex/blog/2013/02/11/the-future-is-inching-its-way-onto-our-set-top-boxes/<p>I have from time to time lamented the tardiness of media producers in getting content in-front of my eyeballs. It's not a case of being tight with money, although giving Murdoch £30/month for a glut of programming I'll never watch is *too much* for me. I'll happily pay for …</p><p>I have from time to time lamented the tardiness of media producers in getting content in-front of my eyeballs. It's not a case of being tight with money, although giving Murdoch £30/month for a glut of programming I'll never watch is *too much* for me. I'll happily pay for the stuff I want to watch as long as I can watch it now on whatever device I happen to have to hand. Until it's made that easy for consumers the pirates will keep winning by default.</p>
<p>There was an interesting quote from the boss of Netflix in a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201302/netflix-founder-reed-hastings-house-of-cards-arrested-development?currentPage=1">recent interview</a>: "The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us". Netflix is moving from being just a content distribution company to a producer of content. And if they can create content as good as their new remake <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards_(U.S._TV_series)">of House of Cards</a> hopefully the days of production companies being tied to restrictive bundle contracts are numbered.</p>
<p>The fact that shows can be disconnected from the broadcast schedules also offers other compelling opportunities. The BBC recently aired a number of comedy sketch show pilots which we only caught on iPlayer. Indeed they are now going to start trialling <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9855828/BBC-to-launch-programmes-online-first.html">iPlayer net first runs</a> of new shows over the next 12 months. No longer does the success of a show have to hope that it was picked up by enough of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasters%27_Audience_Research_Board">11500 viewers</a> that happened to catch a random scheduled slot. Each and every viewing can be accounted for and counted even if the show is a slow burner like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)">Firefly</a> which was cruelly cancelled before it built up it's cult following.</p>
<p>So the balls now in HBOs court. How exactly to I pay you so I can watch the next season of Game of Thrones when it comes out?</p>
2012 a year in review2013-01-18T12:38:00+00:002013-01-18T12:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2013-01-18:/~alex/blog/2013/01/18/2012-a-year-in-review/<p>In past years when I would review the year I'd flip back through my blog. For 2012 however I managed on average one post a month and the majority of those were geek related ones which in some ways are a lot easier to write.</p>
<p>The big change has been …</p><p>In past years when I would review the year I'd flip back through my blog. For 2012 however I managed on average one post a month and the majority of those were geek related ones which in some ways are a lot easier to write.</p>
<p>The big change has been becoming a parent of course but at the same time I also took back the reigns of management as I became the head of the software team at work. The combined effect has been a year that flew by very quickly leaving a slight sense of bewilderment about where it has all gone.</p>
<p>I no longer feel quite as out of my depth as I did half way through last year. The first 6 months are pretty gruelling in terms of missing sleep and trying to interpret the needs and desires of something that can basically sleep or cry. However Ursula has grown up so fast you soon forget about what she was like and try and re-focus on what's she's doing now.</p>
<p>For starters she's now a fully mobile and operational battle-truffler able to move under her own direction. Next to that she's moved from simply reporting state (happy/unhappy) to communication. Granted every object she sees currently seems to be a cat (or possibly "that") but I suspect her vocal cords just need to catch up.</p>
<p>She's now pointing to objects she wants to interact with including multiple objects she'd like to combine (e.g. Bonjella and teething ring) like some sort console RPG game. She laughs at silliness, enjoys playing around and being chased and basically has a personality that is uniquely hers.</p>
<p>I used to think that it wouldn't get interesting until she learnt to talk but of course my preconceptions about what it would be like are constantly being shattered. Sure it still gets frustrating at times especially for Ursula. She understands more and more of what her parents are saying without being able to respond the same way. As she gradually realises she's an independent being able to manipulate the world around her she's very quickly having to learn that she can't control everything. I suspect that would put teenage angst in perspective if only we could remember our really formative years.</p>
<p>Well this post seems to have turned into yet another one about my child growing up. Other things have happened to me that are not Ursula related but really there not as interesting. Instead I shall try and look forward to what's coming up. The annual February walking holiday is just round the corner and I'm looking forward to catching up with all the other new (and slightly more experienced) parents at that. We'll be up in Manchester (without Ursula) for P&K's wedding which we are really looking forward to. And we'll be off to the land down-under for a much delayed holiday in April. Hopefully the next post will not be too far away ;-)</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.12 now available2012-12-03T21:58:00+00:002012-12-03T21:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-12-03:/~alex/blog/2012/12/03/edit-with-emacs-v1-12-now-available/<p>Apologies for the extended delay in getting out a new release of Edit with Emacs. Real life has been doing a good job keeping me busy that spare hacking time is in short supply. A number of people have submitted pull requests and I've also done a bit of clean-up …</p><p>Apologies for the extended delay in getting out a new release of Edit with Emacs. Real life has been doing a good job keeping me busy that spare hacking time is in short supply. A number of people have submitted pull requests and I've also done a bit of clean-up on the code.</p>
<p>The JavaScript in the extension has had the hacky change tracking code replaced with a modern funky 21st century <a class="reference external" href="https://code.google.com/p/mutation-summary/">Mutation Observer implementation</a>. This should solve some of the more obvious performance problems on highly dynamic pages.</p>
<p>I've also implemented the iterative save method for edit-server.el. Unfortunately it doesn't quite work as intended if the edited region uses encoding (e.g. longlines). In theory the buffer you have saved should have it's contents replaced with the new data from the browser but it just doesn't seem to work. For now I've just ensured the kill-ring has the real data in it so it's not overly painful to restore formatting. Patches and/or explanations are of course welcome!</p>
<p>So grab it now from <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/edit-with-emacs/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">webstore</a>. The changes are as follows:</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Upgraded manifest to version 2 for future releases of Chrome</div>
<div class="line">* Added an "Enable Debug" flag to control logging to console</div>
<div class="line">* Use Mutation Observers to better track changes in dynamic DOMs</div>
<div class="line">* Fake a keypress when updating the textarea</div>
<div class="line">* Bug fix for handling editable DIV elements</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Now available from the MELPA package archive!</div>
<div class="line">* Beta support for iterative C-x C-s saving (it works but is ugly, see kill-ring)</div>
<div class="line">* Default to using UTF-8 coding for process communication</div>
<div class="line">* Raise existing frame consistently on Mac</div>
<div class="line">* Tweak the portion of the URL used to name buffers</div>
</div>
Many ways to skin a GNU2012-07-24T15:09:00+01:002012-07-24T15:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-07-24:/~alex/blog/2012/07/24/many-ways-to-skin-a-gnu/<p>It's time for another examination of Emacs LISP and a selection of ways to solve the same problem. In this case it's the behaviour of the <em>etags-select</em> package. This handy function will present a selection table when it finds multiple definitions of the same tag. This is handy if your …</p><p>It's time for another examination of Emacs LISP and a selection of ways to solve the same problem. In this case it's the behaviour of the <em>etags-select</em> package. This handy function will present a selection table when it finds multiple definitions of the same tag. This is handy if your global TAGs file contains reference to multiple binaries that might have a common code heritage. It even provides a handy function <em>etags-select-find-tag-at-point</em> which will check <em>point</em> to see if that is a tag. However if <em>point</em> is on a blank line I'd prefer it to just prompt me for a tag name.</p>
<p>First version:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(defun my-naive-find-tag ()
"Find at point or fall back"
(interactive)
(unless (etags-select-find-tag-at-point)
(etags-select-find-tag)))
</pre>
<p>Unfortunately this fails rather badly. I naively assumed <em>etags-select-find-tag-at-point</em> would return <em>'nil</em> on failure. Instead it bombs out with an error because <em>etags-select-find</em> expects a parameter and when <em>find-tag-default</em> fails it errors out.</p>
<p>Second version:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(defun my-working-find-tag()
"Find tag and call etags-select-find-tag-at-point if it will work"
(interactive)
(if (find-tag-default)
(etags-select-find-tag-at-point)
(etags-select-find-tag)))
</pre>
<p>This works by checking <em>find-tag-default</em> will work before calling <em>etags-select-find-tag-at-point</em>. Of course there is some duplication here because <em>find-tag-default</em> will get called again once I know it will work. Dissatisfied I asked the <a class="reference external" href="%20http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11578723/whats-the-best-way-in-elisp-to-trap-an-error-case">stackoverflow</a> community for suggestions. The first solution is to simply trap the error case.</p>
<p>Third version:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(defun my-try-except-find-tag()
"Find at point or fall to etags-select-find-tag on error"
(interactive)
(unless (ignore-errors (or (etags-select-find-tag-at-point) 't))
(etags-select-find-tag)))
</pre>
<p>This works by utilising deep lisp black magic to stop the error propagating and returning a 'nil if it does. The <em>(or (etags-select-find-tag-at-point) 't)</em> line is to ensure a successful call returns something so we don't then fall through. Interestingly the comments around <em>subr.el</em> mentions some of the keywords used may be redefined by common lisp.</p>
<p>Forth version:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(defun my-efficent-find-tag()
"Find tag at point, caching find-tag-default"
(interactive)
(let ((ftd (find-tag-default)))
(flet ((find-tag-default () ftd))
(if (find-tag-default)
(etags-select-find-tag-at-point)
(etags-select-find-tag)))))
</pre>
<p>While I expected something like <em>ignore-errors</em> to exist this demonstrates the flexibility of dynamic languages like Emacs Lisp. The key is the use of <em>flet</em> to redefine <em>find-tag-default</em> so when it gets executed again inside <em>etags-select-find-tag-at-point</em> it simply returns the cached value.</p>
<p>So as usual with these posts I try to invite feedback. Which of these forms do you prefer? Would you solve the problem another way? Have you just learnt something new about Emacs Lisp?</p>
Living la vida ELPA2012-07-10T12:45:00+01:002012-07-10T12:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-07-10:/~alex/blog/2012/07/10/living-la-vida-elpa/<p>I've been running Emacs 24 direct from the version control tree (technically a git mirror, bzr still confuses me) for some time now. As many people have mentioned ELPA is one of the big features that helps de-clutter an Emacs users ~/.emacs.d directory. I thought it might be a …</p><p>I've been running Emacs 24 direct from the version control tree (technically a git mirror, bzr still confuses me) for some time now. As many people have mentioned ELPA is one of the big features that helps de-clutter an Emacs users ~/.emacs.d directory. I thought it might be a useful exercise to discuss which packages I'm now loading from ELPA and which I still track directly.</p>
<p>First and formemost is my <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff">my dotemacs collection</a>. Weighing in at around 2700 lines of elisp it's small by some standards. I've toyed with moving my config across to things like the <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/technomancy/emacs-starter-kit/">Emacs Starter Kit</a> but I'm not sure if it's worth the transition pain. There is certainly a lot of cruft in my code but there is also quite a lot of muscle memory now invested in it. I have been trying to modularise it a little more but to be honest most of that was driven by a desire to get autoload working nicely which is no longer much of an issue as my session tends to stay up for weeks at an end.</p>
<p>I'll gloss over edit-server.el surfice it to say I'd hope your not surprised I keep the development version running given it's for <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">my extension</a> ;-)</p>
<p>After that we have Johnathan Rockway's <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/jrockway/eproject">eproject</a>. I work with lots of code bases during the day and some sort of sensible project type structure is a must. I've tried a number of different solutions and this one stuck as it was fairly lightweight and easy for my smaller lisp brain to extend. I've even managed to contribute some changes back. As a result I find tracking the bleeding edge of development useful.</p>
<p>The same reason applies to Stephen Bach's <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/sjbach/lusty-emacs">lusty-emacs</a>. While ido-mode and ibuffer work well for speed nothing matches lusty's lazy file and buffer matching. It can get a little too much once you start dealing with hundreds of buffers at a time (something <em>midnight-mode</em> is trying to keep on top of). It's still seeing some activitiy on the repository hence the local checkout.</p>
<p>Finally the biggie but generally unused <a class="reference external" href="http://cedet.sourceforge.net/">cedet</a>. There has been some work to make it comparitively easy to run out of a src checkout and as long as it's included early enough it won't conflict with the built in cedet shipping with Emacs 23+. I still haven't really made much use of it although I have managed to get a completion out of it when editing some C. It's basically sitting there until I can commit enough time to figuring out how to use the beast.</p>
<p>Finally a quick review of the ELPA packages that I've got loaded. Obviously there is the latest <em>org-mode</em> which I'm spending an increasing amount of time in. I also have my favourite <em>zenburn-theme</em> for easy on the eyes goodness. The popular GIT interaction mode <em>magit</em> also sits there which I use every day. <em>js2-mode</em> and <em>ssh_config_mode</em> completes the list of modules that I actually use.</p>
<p>I have a number of additional things in there which I don't actually use at the moment but I plan to try out including <em>nose</em> (for python unit test), <em>jsshell</em> (for JavaScript coding) and another one I see a lot of the wizards using <em>yasnippet</em> but again is awaiting time to play with.</p>
<p>So what ELPA packages have you discovered and what hidden gems to you track directly in your .emacs.d?</p>
Trials and Trufulations2012-06-08T18:17:00+01:002012-06-08T18:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-06-08:/~alex/blog/2012/06/08/trials-and-trufulations/<p>One of the most challenging things about managing small bundles of fun is the fact their neural circuitry is brand new and developing very quickly. A key part of development at this stage is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_in_children">bonding with their parents</a>. The last few weeks have been quite hard when Ursula has spent …</p><p>One of the most challenging things about managing small bundles of fun is the fact their neural circuitry is brand new and developing very quickly. A key part of development at this stage is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_in_children">bonding with their parents</a>. The last few weeks have been quite hard when Ursula has spent large chunks of time in my sole presence being very un-happy and wanting Mum (who I've been trying to let have some sleep). Understandably at this point she is most familiar with Fliss as well as having a fairly base urge for the milky goodness only she can provide. It hasn't helped that I've been working hard so not always been able to get home in time for the evening bath and bed ritual.</p>
<p>This combined with lack of sleep has seen me reach a fairly low ebb of late. In fact it's possible I've had a glimpse of the lack of emotional state that someone with depression has to deal with on a more regular basis. I was certainly hard pressed to remember the last feeling of emotion I'd had for some time.</p>
<p>It was fortunate then the jubilee weekend celebrations saw us visiting <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leominster">Leominster</a> for M&T's wedding anniversary. Being able to spend time with both Ursula and so many of my old friends from Manchester was an excellent tonic for my depressed mood. What was even more useful was being able to chat to fellow parents who had already been down this particular road and were more than reassuring. I didn't realise quite how much I'd been bottling up worries about my parental abilities and it was good talk about it.</p>
<p>Of course now with those worries put aside for now we are tackling the next emotional roller coaster of trying to instill a regular sleep pattern in our dear daughter. Much as it is satisfying to successfully rock a previously fractious baby to sleep it's not a long term viable solution. Ursula will have to learn to "self-sooth" and get herself to sleep without her parents. The process however is fraught and there is a lot of conflicting theories on the best way to achieve this. Suffice it to say it's not been overly popular with Ursula herself and the resulting wobbly lipped tantrums have been taking their toll on us. We are trying to maintain perspective and keep our eyes on the long term goals. Wish us luck!</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.112012-05-23T15:57:00+01:002012-05-23T15:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-05-23:/~alex/blog/2012/05/23/edit-with-emacs-v1-11/<p>I haven't really had much time for hacking at home unless programming my daughters <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetware_(brain)">wetware</a> counts. However a few enterprising users have been sending me in some pull requests that fix a few minor bugs that slipped through the extensive pre-release testing I did for v1.10 so I thought …</p><p>I haven't really had much time for hacking at home unless programming my daughters <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetware_(brain)">wetware</a> counts. However a few enterprising users have been sending me in some pull requests that fix a few minor bugs that slipped through the extensive pre-release testing I did for v1.10 so I thought it was worth pushing out a bug-fix release:</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Fixed some breakage to the "edit focused area" feature</div>
<div class="line">* Fixed broken link to embedded edit-server</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* A couple of fixes for Emacs 24 compatibility</div>
<div class="line">* Globalize the minor mode so it persists through major-mode changes</div>
</div>
Now a Windows user!2012-05-01T13:50:00+01:002012-05-01T13:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-05-01:/~alex/blog/2012/05/01/now-a-windows-user/<p>I've finally buckled and now have a Windows laptop. It was mainly forced on me by the need to have some sort of access to the intranet during the large number of meetings I'm now involved in at work. I have to say the experience has been enlightening, especially seeing …</p><p>I've finally buckled and now have a Windows laptop. It was mainly forced on me by the need to have some sort of access to the intranet during the large number of meetings I'm now involved in at work. I have to say the experience has been enlightening, especially seeing all the hacky stuff that has to be done to get things working under Windows. For example by default I couldn't connect to any https (SSL) pages. Luckily I can just hand the laptop back to IT to fix it so I don't have to scratch my head too much.</p>
<p>I've had only sporadic luck getting Emacs up and running on it though. Having been running the tip-of-tree release on my Linux workstation so long going back to Emacs 23 has been a bit of a retrograde step. It doesn't help there are multiple suggestions for installation. I've been trying to get <a class="reference external" href="http://ourcomments.org/Emacs/EmacsW32.html">EmacsW32</a> working but I've run into <a class="reference external" href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/885793/emacs-error-when-calling-server-start">problems on start-up</a>. So far I've been unable to fix the issue as the paths Emacs references don't seem to show up in the system file browser. This seems to be the only avenue by which I can fix the permissions it's complaining about.</p>
<p>Getting my init file onto the system and in the right place has also proved to be more complex than it should have been (there seems to be two "HOME" directories, one under a Roaming title). The Windows shell has finally gained completion but it's still a shadow of a decent Unix shell. On the positive side I can already run <a class="reference external" href="http://emacswiki.org/emacs/CategoryEshell">eshell</a> from within Emacs which provides a nice alternative to the command shell. I've yet to get tramp working though but I suspect that's just a case of getting ssh keys sorted out.</p>
<p>If there are better solutions to getting a decent Emacs set-up on Windows I'm all ears.</p>
Everyone likes stats2012-03-26T23:54:00+01:002012-03-26T23:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-03-26:/~alex/blog/2012/03/26/everyone-likes-stats/<p>So what has my blogging frequency been like, well I'm glad you asked:</p>
<p>[archive_chart name="Posting frequency over the last 12 months" width="600" height="300" count="12"]</p>
<p>It seems the trend is pretty clear and it's not exactly surprising as my hands have been more than full with other …</p><p>So what has my blogging frequency been like, well I'm glad you asked:</p>
<p>[archive_chart name="Posting frequency over the last 12 months" width="600" height="300" count="12"]</p>
<p>It seems the trend is pretty clear and it's not exactly surprising as my hands have been more than full with other concerns. Despite coming to a phase where the odd hour or two in the evenings is possible blogging is still fairly low down the priority list. This parenting lark does seem to occupy a fair amount of time. So far it's an exercise in trying to balance a number of competing demands. While being responsive to Ursula's minute by minute desires keeps her generally happy we are beginning to see the benefit of following some sort of routine. It seems the oft repeated parental sayings are founded in a degree of experience ;-)</p>
<p>Of course just as we started to establish a successful routine we disrupted it all with a trip up to Manchester. Thanks to some friends parents we were able to set up a base of operations in Bolton. We then proceeded to do the local tour and introduce Ursula to our northern friends. She was very well received on her debut although we suspect the schedule may have taken it's toll. By Sunday she was starting to get a little fractious so it was good to end up at P&C's for a very relaxed evening. We took it easy on the journey down on Monday and have been getting back into the swing of the normal routine.</p>
<p>It was really nice to catch up with everyone we saw while we were visiting. Next time we come up North we will probably try a slightly less hectic schedule with hopefully a less frazzled family. Thankfully next week is all based at home which is a much more familiar environment for all of us!</p>
Rewards2012-02-17T07:44:00+00:002012-02-17T07:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-02-17:/~alex/blog/2012/02/17/rewards/<p>As predicted the blogging has dropped off quite precipitously. I still seem to be functioning on a reduced amount of sleep (although Fliss is taking the brunt of the sleep interruption by far). However the evenings are both shorter and much more structured. Eating is slowly moving from a task …</p><p>As predicted the blogging has dropped off quite precipitously. I still seem to be functioning on a reduced amount of sleep (although Fliss is taking the brunt of the sleep interruption by far). However the evenings are both shorter and much more structured. Eating is slowly moving from a task best accomplished at speed as we alternate baby holding/entertaining duties with each other to one where Ursula is happy to sit in a bouncer/bumbo and watch us shovel food in our faces. We have started getting into the bathing/sleeping routine which currently puts us all to bed at roughly the same time.</p>
<p>However it's still very rewarding. I didn't think I'd get quite so gooey inside when Ursula started smiling at me. Although she's simulated smiles for a while it's mostly been a prelude to some sort of gas incident. She is now firmly into social smiling territory and every time she does it it's like a gift to salve the troubled soul that your at least doing something right. In the time that this post has been brewing (I started it a couple of weeks ago) we have even moved on to giggles and laughs. It's certainly noticeable from close up how fast they start developing their personalities as they move from needing food/sleep/cleanliness to discovery and play.</p>
<p>We have managed to leave the house for extended periods and spent a lovely weekend in snowy Yorkshire on the annual walking holiday with friends from Fliss' time at university. It was particularly fun because there was a spike of new parents with their kids (along with a couple of old hands) along with plenty of helpful hands willing to hold babies when parents needed to do something else. I found is particularly helpful chatting to people a few months/years ahead of us in the parenting game and be reassured about what we are doing. My stated parenting style is to exude a air of calm confidence while paddling like mad under the water to figure out what to do next.</p>
<p>Fliss' mum was very kind to come over and spend the night giving us a chance for a meal at one of our favourite Italian restaurants with just the two of us. It was nice to get a few hours to ourselves to remind us of what life used to be like. However for all the work and disruption that a new family member causes we are happy with our new life and only occasionally think wistfully of our former freedoms. It does also make those periods of freedom when they do happen taste all the sweeter.</p>
<p>In other news I have also been working quite hard at my day job and have recently been promoted to Principle Software Engineer. I'm now responsible for all the software engineers in the company as well as all the software deliver-ables. I'm not quite a drop-in for the old Head of Software as I'm sharing some of the management type responsibilities with the Head of Engineering as I'm quite keen to keep my hand as a developer. 2012 is certainly shaping up to be a busy and rewarding year.</p>
Switching buffers and Google+2012-01-24T08:36:00+00:002012-01-24T08:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-01-24:/~alex/blog/2012/01/24/switching-buffers-and-google/<p>When you do so much of your work in one text editor the efficiency of switching between buffers becomes more important. For a long time I've had two bindings "C-x b" and "C-x C-b" which in days of yore I had bound to <em>bs-show</em> and a hacked up <em>list-buffers</em> that …</p><p>When you do so much of your work in one text editor the efficiency of switching between buffers becomes more important. For a long time I've had two bindings "C-x b" and "C-x C-b" which in days of yore I had bound to <em>bs-show</em> and a hacked up <em>list-buffers</em> that opened another window. These are broadly the "quick switch between working buffers" and "show me all the buffers".</p>
<p>For some time I've relegated <em>bs-show</em> to the longer binding and now use Stephen Bach's excellent <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/sjbach/lusty-emacs">Lusty Explorer</a> which works really well when you know the name of the buffer and it's fairly unique. However when you've been going a while it can get un-manageable with a large number of open buffers, especially if you've opened second copy of a file from another source tree. This is what I would use the old classic <em>bs-show</em> for.</p>
<p>A few days ago I discovered <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/IbufferMode">ibuffer-mode</a> with it's <em>ibuffer-bs-show</em> buffer navigator. Looking back through the Planet Emacsen history I can see it has been mentioned before and given it's been in Emacs since version 22 I'm surprised I hadn't cottoned on to it earlier.</p>
<p>One thing that might have put me off is the initial buffer list can be quite sparse. By default you only see buffers with files associated which misses out IRC, Edit with Emacs and *scratch* buffers. However hit "h" and you'll see there are a plethora of quick keys for chaning the view. A quick "//" and all filters are removed and you can quickly filter by different criteria. To get the most out of the mode you'll probably want to set up some custom filters ("/r<completing filter="" name"="">) to make quickly switching to groups of buffers easy. I currently have "work", "remote", "irc" and "logs" as filters. You can filter by name as well as major-mode.</completing></p>
<p><em>ibuffer-mode</em> does have the concept of Filter Groups although I'm not sure what they add on top of having normal filters which as far as I can tell can be arbitrarily complex. It also has some quite handy sorting and selection modes e.g. "sv" - sort by last viewing time. Given the amount of space the wiki devotes <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/CategoryBufferSwitching">to the topic</a> I wish I'd re-examined my buffer switching habits sooner. The change is already paying dividends for my productivity.</p>
<p>Before I go I thought I'd put in a quick mention of Google+. There is growing community of fellow Emacs users starting to post on it. One thing that attracts me to Google+ over Facebook (too data-miney) and Twitter (too short) is the concept of "Circles". It makes sharing geeky Emacs posts with people that might actually care easy while sparing them the flood of baby pictures I share with friends and family. If you'd like to <a class="reference external" href="https://plus.google.com/110732415405459842150/posts">follow me</a> or my <a class="reference external" href="https://plus.google.com/b/109717789196934058146/">alter-ego</a> please do mention Emacs in your profile or in a message so I can assign you to the correct circles.</p>
Getting organised2012-01-13T10:38:00+00:002012-01-13T10:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-01-13:/~alex/blog/2012/01/13/getting-organised/<p>What with becoming a parent and getting promoted I suddenly find myself needing to become a lot more organised. Although I've been using <a class="reference external" href="http://orgmode.org/">org-mode</a> for a bit I need to get a lot more organised with it.</p>
<p>Previously I had two sets of org notes. My personal set where sitting …</p><p>What with becoming a parent and getting promoted I suddenly find myself needing to become a lot more organised. Although I've been using <a class="reference external" href="http://orgmode.org/">org-mode</a> for a bit I need to get a lot more organised with it.</p>
<p>Previously I had two sets of org notes. My personal set where sitting on my server which I could access via the terminal. I generally accessed this at home on the odd occasion when I was doing things like the annual round of insurance quote gathering. The second set was a fairly simple time sheet type affair that I was using at work to keep a vague track of where all my time was spent. The big missing part of this is when I'm on the move.</p>
<p>I've just recently upgraded my phone to the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2012/01/06/nexus-of-possibilities/">Galaxy Nexus</a> which is a fine Google enabled device. I make no apologies for using Google's calendering and shared document services. They work very well and importantly allow me to share things with my wife who doesn't quite share my desire to run everything from a text editor. However for my personal task lists on the move and remembering what's coming up at work it doesn't quite cut it. Besides I like org-mode and I'd heard about <a class="reference external" href="http://mobileorg.ncogni.to/">MobileOrg</a> so I endeavoured to set it up.</p>
<p>MobileOrg has been around some time for the iPhone but the mechanisms it uses for integrating with org-mode are fairly well documented. As a result there is a couple of Android implementations for it. Matthew Jone's <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/matburt/mobileorg-android">mobileorg-android</a> was the first version I tried.</p>
<p>The original sync method for MobileOrg was to use a service like Dropbox to sync files. Given the history of Dropbox's security I wasn't about to move my files into the proprietary cloud. The alternative is to enable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebDAV">WebDAV</a> on my web-server and therefor enable two way communication via HTTP. It was a little concerning to see self-signed SSL wasn't supported as this does open up a potential attack vector on my machine. I've mitigated it a little by using digest authentication instead of basic-auth but I'd still prefer to be conducting these read-write operations over something more secure.</p>
<p>Initial results were a little underwhelming. After some messing around with the format of org-links I eventually got a basic outline summary up. Unfortunately I can't seem to sync notes created on my phone to the server. This seems to be a Apache problem which I shall have to dig into later.</p>
<p>After perusing the market some more I noticed there is a new project in town. Konstantin's <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/kvj/mobileorg-android">MobileOrgNG</a> was forked some time ago from Matthew's code and on installing I found it looked an awful lot better. I've still be unable to post any locally added notes (due to previously mentioned Apache config issues). However it's presentation is a lot slicker and it shows a lot of potential for being a good MobileOrg client.</p>
<p>I'm now stuck with a classic open source fork dilemma. The code bases look to have diverged enough that these two projects are essential going their own way. Looking at the two <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/matburt/mobileorg-android/graphs/impact">impact</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/kvj/mobileorg-android/graphs/impact">graphs</a> it looks like they diverged around August 2011 and since then MobileOrgNG looks pretty much like a solo effort albeit with an impressive commit rate of new features.</p>
<p>So the questions for my readers. Which code base should I jump on? Has anyone got experience with the two different code bases and the reason they split? Are there any other Android clients for org-mode I should be looking at?</p>
Nexus of possibilities2012-01-06T22:47:00+00:002012-01-06T22:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-01-06:/~alex/blog/2012/01/06/nexus-of-possibilities/<p>Looking back the last few months I notice every post has been about family and parenthood. Time to redress the balance a little and add some geek friendly contents.</p>
<p>After Christmas I indulged myself with a new phone. When I got the HTC Hero I'd deliberately skipped the first generation …</p><p>Looking back the last few months I notice every post has been about family and parenthood. Time to redress the balance a little and add some geek friendly contents.</p>
<p>After Christmas I indulged myself with a new phone. When I got the HTC Hero I'd deliberately skipped the first generation of Android phones to give a chance for the hardware to mature. I also made the rash promise it would be my last phone for some time. As it happens I think 2.5 years is a fairly good innings for a piece of technology where the innovation cycle is measured in months. I still have the Hero but now it's not my main phone I can afford to be a bit more experimental with the software I put on it.</p>
<p>There were a couple of changes to my approach to choosing a new phone this cycle. The first was I brought it outright off-contract. Although I suspect I could get it slightly cheaper overall through a phone contract there are some non-financial downsides to the contract approach. The first is the operator takes the view that the phone belongs to them so they can install (and prevent you removing) what they like. The recent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_IQ#Rootkit_discovery_and_media_attention">Carrier IQ controversy</a> should certainly act as a salient reminder that the mobile phone companies do not have your interests closest to their hearts. The second is lack of flexibility. Although thanks to Ofcom we have number portability most people are only able to take advantage of it at contract break points. The operators know this and off course do their very best to keep you tied in to their deals. Now I'm off contract I'm currently paying £10/month for unlimited data and all the calls/texts I use. They have to work doubly hard to keep me as a customer as I can jump ship at any point. That flexibility is more than worth the up-front cost of paying for the phone in full.</p>
<p>As far as choice there was only really one in the frame. Much as I like Android and it's open-source nature it does suffer from a problem due to that openness. Although it's heartening to see manufacturers are starting to relent and cease the practice of locking boot-loaders to prevent 3rd party firmware there are still problems in their support. They tend to stop updating the firmware shortly after they stop manufacturing the phone. Some manufacturers also have a hard time <a class="reference external" href="http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/9387.html">meeting their GPL obligations</a> which makes open source support for the hardware a lot harder. As a result I decided to wait for the next in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Nexus">Google Nexus</a> series which ships with the latest release of Android, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Cream_Sandwhich#4.x_Ice_Cream_Sandwich">Ice Cream Sandwich</a>.</p>
<p>Initial impressions of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Nexus">new phone</a> are good. The phone is a little bigger than the Hero but pretty much 100% screen with more than a few hints of Star Trek data pad ;-). The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_AMOLED">Super AMOLED</a> display looks very clear and crisp with both photos and video. The phone is very nippy thanks to the accelerated 3D hardware and duel core processor. The camera is certainly an improvement on the Hero and with the LED flash is close to achieving the quality I was used to on my old Sony K750. The A-GPS also acquires location a lot faster than the Hero. In fact a lot of things I thought were app problems have cleared up when presented with faster hardware. All in all I'm very happy with the Galaxy Nexus and think it easily stacks up against any iPhone you might want to compare it with.</p>
5 years ago2012-01-02T23:32:00+00:002012-01-02T23:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2012-01-02:/~alex/blog/2012/01/02/5-years-ago/<p>I was reminded of a new years party <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2007/01/02/">5 years ago</a> when I rather drunkenly blurted out to Fliss my desire not to be separated from her by geography next time we welcomed in a new year. We hadn't been together that long and she was visiting Oz for her …</p><p>I was reminded of a new years party <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2007/01/02/">5 years ago</a> when I rather drunkenly blurted out to Fliss my desire not to be separated from her by geography next time we welcomed in a new year. We hadn't been together that long and she was visiting Oz for her brothers wedding. Happily I've celebrated every new year with her in person since.</p>
<p>This year was not exactly rock and roll as we now have Ursula with us. We ordered a large takeout and set about watching a few films (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/">Source Code</a>, pretty good actually) before heading up to bed before Big Ben struck. We watched the local fireworks from our bedroom window and pretty quickly went to sleep (a luxury these days to be taken when possible). When I think about the last 5 years I realise what a lucky and fortunate man I am to have such a wonderful wife and now a beautiful baby daughter.</p>
Simple State Machines and Other Things I Have Learnt2011-12-27T13:27:00+00:002011-12-27T13:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-12-27:/~alex/blog/2011/12/27/simple-state-machines-and-other-things-i-have-learnt/<p>We've just returned from 3 days at Fliss' Mum's house. Although we are still fairly sleep deprived things were made a lot easier by the presence of aunts and grandmothers who offered to take turns tending to the baby. This included one of those rarest of things, time for the …</p><p>We've just returned from 3 days at Fliss' Mum's house. Although we are still fairly sleep deprived things were made a lot easier by the presence of aunts and grandmothers who offered to take turns tending to the baby. This included one of those rarest of things, time for the two of us spend together without any other distractions. My life has now been reduced to a fairly simple state machine. There are predominantly 3 activities, for now ignoring the fourth: "At Work" which won't kick in until the 10th.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Checking baby is happy</li>
</ol>
<p>This involves running though a fairly simple set of checks. Is the baby too hot or cold? Is the baby clean? Is the baby hungry?</p>
<p>I have to confess I have quickly developed the parental habit of sniffing around the crotch area of the baby. It is so far the fastest and most effective way of telling if a change is required.</p>
<p>Ursula is starting show interest in things so occasionally the correct action is just to walk around a bit so she can look at new stuff. I have no idea how her brain is assimilating all the knowledge of corners and ceilings (being areas of contrast she can make out) but it could possibly point to a future career as a engineer ;-)</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="2">
<li>Checking Mummy is happy</li>
</ol>
<p>Invariably the baby's internal state eventually resolves to "Hungry" which requires it to be passed to Mum for feeding. Although we have been expressing and trying bottle feeds at the moment she gulps way to fast and invariably throws most of it up after the feed. So far we have found feeding "at source" is generally the most effective. However it does tend to immobilise Mum while she feeds so it falls to me to fetch and carry to ensure as many useful things are within reach when required.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="3">
<li>Do everything else</li>
</ol>
<p>The general order being cleaning, preparing food, household chores and finally if I'm lucky something else. Last night I did get a few hours to play through some of the latest CoD which Santa delivered over Christmas. I do harbour some hope of doing some recreational coding over the next few days although my start-up latency is so high that the state machine is often reset before I get into anything worthwhile.</p>
<p>The last few weeks have thrown up a few more interesting discoveries though. One of the more recent ones is that white noise is very restful for babies. We've managed to extend naps in the stroller/bassinet from around 5 minutes to up to 45 minutes by running a white noise app on the phone. My favourite Android app so far is <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/p/chromadoze/">Chromadoze</a> which lovely little ope source app with a rather funky main display for setting the frequency balance of the noise. If I get a chance I may have a play at adding some features more aimed at soothing babies.</p>
What big eyes you have2011-12-18T18:42:00+00:002011-12-18T18:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-12-18:/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/<p>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/ursula_eyes/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/ursula_eyes/</a>>`__</p>
<p>We've had Ursula at home for over a week now and are slowly getting into the swing of this parenting malarkey. So far we've nicknamed her "Trufflehog" after the manner she searches for the breasts when she's hungry …</p><p>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/ursula_eyes/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/ursula_eyes/</a>>`__</p>
<p>We've had Ursula at home for over a week now and are slowly getting into the swing of this parenting malarkey. So far we've nicknamed her "Trufflehog" after the manner she searches for the breasts when she's hungry which seems to basically be when she's awake. We are getting a growing amount of the "Quiet Attentive" awake state though. Her fascination is mainly with areas of contrast which to us mainly seems to be corners of the room. I'm not sure how much is down to baby face morphology but one comment that keeps coming up is how big her eyes are. Although I'm bound to be an overly proud Dad I'm fairly sure she's already starting to track objects and points in space. You can play an interesting game carrying her around being guided by the position of her head. A head she seems to be able to keep upright most of the time by herself although she still hasn't mastered the art of pushing up when on the play-mat.</p>
<p>As she is currently not self-propelling the day to day handling is fairly simple. However preparation is the key to success here:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
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<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/img_0725/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/img_0725/</a>>`__</td>
<td>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/img_0726/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/img_0726/</a>>`__</td>
<td>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/img_0727/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/12/18/what-big-eyes-you-have/img_0727/</a>>`__</td>
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</table>
<p>I'm sure all too soon she will become self-propelling and then our lives will become a lot less sedentary. In the meantime we are feeling quite pleased having made it out of the house several times. We've managed a brief trip into town, a tea-morning and a couple of trips to the pub. Ursula certainly seems to be happy to drop off when ever she is put in the car seat and driven anywhere. This tendency also translates to the car seat being "fitted" to the shopping trolley.</p>
<p>One area we have struggled with is the pram cot which she doesn't like at all - tending to kick and scream while at the same time divesting herself of the layers of warm blankets to shield her from the environment. While wheelies seem to briefly calm her down it's not a long term practical solution. I wonder if she is developing Minbari sleeping habits?</p>
<p>As it has been almost impossible to get her to sleep in the mosses basket we've already taken our first major parenting decision to keep her in the bed with us. It has improved on the amount of sleep we actually get and it makes feeding her fairly non-distracting. We do worry about the advice against co-sleeping but feel the size of the bed makes it a little more practical and we've developed fairly light sleeping habits quite quickly. The feedback from others has been interesting though, ranging from warnings about making a rod for our own backs later to encouragements to go with what works for us. At some point we'll have to encourage her to sleep on her own but it's a bridge we'll cross later on when she's sleeping longer hours.</p>
<p>I've been back to work a few days and have the next two to look forward to until I break for Christmas. I'm already looking forward to what month 2 brings. I'm hoping just a little more sleep and a lot more activity from Ursula.</p>
New Family Unit, Some Assembly Required.2011-12-07T22:08:00+00:002011-12-07T22:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-12-07:/~alex/blog/2011/12/07/new-family-unit-some-assembly-required/<p>I brought Fliss and Ursula home on Monday morning so we now have a complete family unit at home. We didn't do much on Monday apart from appreciate being back in the house with all the attendant creature comforts. Tuesday didn't involve much either but we had both sides of …</p><p>I brought Fliss and Ursula home on Monday morning so we now have a complete family unit at home. We didn't do much on Monday apart from appreciate being back in the house with all the attendant creature comforts. Tuesday didn't involve much either but we had both sides of the family visit in the afternoon for a little celebratory drink. So far Wednesday's most taxing task has been a trip to the doctors for a jab for Fliss. We are literally taking baby steps in building up our baby wrangling confidence.</p>
<p>To be fair to Ursula she's not overly demanding as of yet. If she's awake she is generally hungry (and/or in need of changing) otherwise she sleeps a lot. Today we got the first glimpses of a growing interest in the rest of the world, but mainly it's the eating and sleeping that keeps us occupied. It's a good design feature because they are fairly uncomplicated needs to fulfil when operating on a reduced sleep cycle. Still it felt like a small victory to have had a few hours of sleep each last night.</p>
<p>Tomorrow we may tackle the immense task of visiting town to obtain some heavily engineered mammary holders. Before that I need to work out exactly what the minimum functional travelling baby bag is.</p>
Light at the end of the tunnel2011-12-02T11:26:00+00:002011-12-02T11:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-12-02:/~alex/blog/2011/12/02/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/<p>Ursula is quite possibly the healthiest baby that has ever graced the Special Care Baby Unit at our local hospital. The sequence of events that led us there were more than a little concerning. As we were about to be discharged the midwife observed a leg twitch that didn't look …</p><p>Ursula is quite possibly the healthiest baby that has ever graced the Special Care Baby Unit at our local hospital. The sequence of events that led us there were more than a little concerning. As we were about to be discharged the midwife observed a leg twitch that didn't look like the standard <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus">myoclonic twitch</a> you expect with sleeping babies. This led to a summoning of the paediatric registrar followed by the consultant and her crash bag. At the time we wondered if it was just the hospital stalling our discharge as we were getting impatient to go home having been told the final blood test result was one hour away for several hours in a row.</p>
<p>There are a number of possible causes for these twitches, mostly neurological in nature with various infections including <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningitis">meningitis</a> potentially acquired during the birth. After an examination the registrar assured us the most likely cause would be "just one of those things your baby does". However they obviously wanted to rule out any of the other potential causes. Ursula was whisked up to the neo-natal intensive care unit and plugged up to various monitors and a cannula for monitoring and a series of tests. The experience was a little unsettling but the staff were very re-assuring and professional and obviously used to the shock that affects parents as their newborns get whisked into a room full of hospital beeps and alarms.</p>
<p>So far all the tests Ursula has been subjected to have come back negative. The only remaining possibility is meningitis for which the test involves a delicate lumbar puncture procedure. After 3 failed attempts (wriggly babies are very rarely compliant) they abandoned the notion. As a result the working assumption is it was caused by meningitis and Ursula needs to complete the anti-biotic course she has been on since she moved to the ICU. She has since been moved into the rather more sedate Special Care Baby Unit (less beeping, more space) where she continues to be a hungry, alert and otherwise very healthy baby.</p>
<p>Fliss was discharged on Wednesday and has been going through a bit of a hormonal roller-coaster as she comes home after spending the day feeding and reading to Ursula. However the end is in site and we hope to be bringing Ursula home on Monday evening (or possibly Tuesday morning) once she has finished her course of antibiotics.</p>
<p>The experience has been a little unsettling. It seems I've collected the "Parental Worry" trophy a bit earlier than I was planning. However I remain grateful to the professional NHS staff who have been taking care of our precious daughter where her health and not the cost of her care has been their top priority. Meanwhile I've been back to work for a few days so as not to burn all my paternity before the family is fully assembled at home.</p>
Reaching escape velocity2011-11-28T20:39:00+00:002011-11-28T20:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-11-28:/~alex/blog/2011/11/28/reaching-escape-velocity/<p>The last few days have been frustrating. Every time we get ready to pack up and come home something comes up. First it was a bout of jaundice which needed seeing to. Now the pediatricians are being abundantly cautious about a twitch she has while she's asleep. This has extended …</p><p>The last few days have been frustrating. Every time we get ready to pack up and come home something comes up. First it was a bout of jaundice which needed seeing to. Now the pediatricians are being abundantly cautious about a twitch she has while she's asleep. This has extended the sentence by at least another 48 hours which is really aggravating. Having a quite day or two to myself to potter and get the house ready is one thing, but at this rate I'll have burnt all my paternity leave before my child gets home.</p>
<p>I feel bad for abandoning Fliss who keeps patiently sending me home to get another good nights sleep. I know it will be all right in the end but it's definitely making me aggravated. I would like my family at home please!</p>
Do the stars shine brighter tonight?2011-11-25T23:45:00+00:002011-11-25T23:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-11-25:/~alex/blog/2011/11/25/do-the-stars-shine-brighter-tonight/<p>This was my thought as I unpacked the car tonight. It may have been the cold weather and clear skies though, it's hard to be sure. I'm currently pottering around the house tidying up and preparing to welcome Ursula to the home tomorrow. I suspect my perspective may have altered …</p><p>This was my thought as I unpacked the car tonight. It may have been the cold weather and clear skies though, it's hard to be sure. I'm currently pottering around the house tidying up and preparing to welcome Ursula to the home tomorrow. I suspect my perspective may have altered in the last few days.</p>
<p>Lets start with the birth. As it approached it felt much like a late night after party when everything was getting a bit hazy. You know the sort, you're sure someone said something profound but it's been a very long night.</p>
<p>For a variety of totally mundane reasons it had taken us 28 hours to reach the dénouement of this particular hospital visit. I'll spare the tedious details although I'll happily give you the story as I remember it over a beer if you ask me in person. 28 hours is a long time to be awake and the sensation of transforming from the theoretical future parent to an actual real one is much akin to being launched off on a roller-coaster of unknown length and duration. I have now joined that biggest of shared clubs - hello my fellow breeders, I can talk about my child now ;-)</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/11/25/do-the-stars-shine-brighter-tonight/img_0705/">Picture of a newborn baby looking hungry</a></p>
<p>When I was ordered to bed the first night I excitedly blurted the news across the social media. I was worried I would bore my followers with parental ramblings before being reminded there are a lot of parents out there happy to share their experiences. I'll be paying closer attention to what they say in the future on my journey to responsible adulthood.</p>
<p>I've ticked off a few things on my journey so far.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* My baby certainly didn't look like Winston Churchill. I don't know all those other parents cope ;-)</div>
<div class="line">* Nappies aren't really an issue, parental pragmatism kicks in pretty quickly.</div>
<div class="line">* Nuzzling post-feed babies are indeed cute, even to a manly bloke like myself</div>
</div>
<p>I'm sure I am quickly acquiring the list of stereotypical parental behaviours. I get the sense it's going to be a wild ride catching them all!</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.10 released2011-11-06T20:25:00+00:002011-11-06T20:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-11-06:/~alex/blog/2011/11/06/edit-with-emacs-v1-10-released/<p>I received a bunch of feedback and patches from my last announcement but I think all the outstanding bugs are now squashed. The edit-server.el has seen some love to make it more idiomatically correct for elisp. The main change is new code to handle editable DIV tags beloved of …</p><p>I received a bunch of feedback and patches from my last announcement but I think all the outstanding bugs are now squashed. The edit-server.el has seen some love to make it more idiomatically correct for elisp. The main change is new code to handle editable DIV tags beloved of such sites as Google+ (which you are welcome to <a class="reference external" href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/110732415405459842150/posts">follow me on</a>, maybe I should have an elisp circle?).</p>
<p>A big cosmetic change is a brand new settings page which looks less like a web-form from the early 90's and more like part of Chrome. Alas I can take no credit for this but can thank Frank Kohlhepp's <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/frankkohlhepp/fancy-settings">fancy-settings</a> library. In fact a lot of the credit should go to third party libraries like <a class="reference external" href="http://jquery.com/">jQuery</a> and of course the growing list of contributors who have submitted code for merging.</p>
<p>So the final changelog for 1.10 is:</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Ignore textareas marked as read only</div>
<div class="line">* Don't tag areas that are not visible</div>
<div class="line">* General clean-up to use jQuery to find elements</div>
<div class="line">* Explicit CSS for edit button to override page settings</div>
<div class="line">* Handle editable DIV blocks (e.g. Google+)</div>
<div class="line">* Optimise the finding of text areas for highly dynamic pages</div>
<div class="line">* Revamp the settings page with "Fancy Settings"</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Allow customisation of edit-server-default-major-mode</div>
<div class="line">* Allow edit mode to be set by matched URL</div>
<div class="line">* Tweak detection of MacOS X Emacsen</div>
<div class="line">* Change behaviour of C-x C-s to save to kill-ring</div>
<div class="line">* Persist the buffer-local variables beyond mode changes</div>
<div class="line">* Setup keymap within defvar</div>
<div class="line">* Clean-ups to code to be more idiomatic.</div>
</div>
Call for testing for Edit with Emacs2011-10-30T22:55:00+00:002011-10-30T22:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-10-30:/~alex/blog/2011/10/30/call-for-testing-for-edit-with-emacs/<p>I've been doing a bunch of house-keeping on Edit with Emacs recently in preparation for a new release. I can only apologise to those people who have submitted patches and merge requests for my tardiness. I'm afraid Real Life <sup>tm</sup> has been taking precedence.</p>
<p>As regular readers of the non-emacs …</p><p>I've been doing a bunch of house-keeping on Edit with Emacs recently in preparation for a new release. I can only apologise to those people who have submitted patches and merge requests for my tardiness. I'm afraid Real Life <sup>tm</sup> has been taking precedence.</p>
<p>As regular readers of the non-emacs sections of my blog will be aware my recreational coding time is about to be severely curtailed. As it's been a while since the last release and a number of new features have been added it would be nice to get some wider testing. I therefor am hoping to elicit the help of the Emacs community to <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">check out the code</a> and give the tires a bit of a kick before I push out the final release to "the cloud". I'd rather not regress behaviour for the 1917 users who get Edit with Emacs from the Chrome store just before I disappear into a haze of nappies and parental responsibilities. The current changes over the last release are:</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Ignore textareas marked as read only</div>
<div class="line">* Don't tag areas that are not visible</div>
<div class="line">* General clean-up to use jQuery to find elements</div>
<div class="line">* Explicit CSS for edit button to override page settings</div>
<div class="line">* Handle editable DIV blocks (e.g. Google+)</div>
<div class="line">* Optimise the finding of text areas for highly dynamic pages</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Allow customisation of edit-server-default-major-mode</div>
<div class="line">* Allow edit mode to be set by matched URL</div>
<div class="line">* Tweak detection of MacOS X Emacsen</div>
<div class="line">* Change behaviour of C-x C-s to save to kill-ring</div>
</div>
Project Veg Patch2011-10-17T14:46:00+01:002011-10-17T14:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-10-17:/~alex/blog/2011/10/17/project-veg-patch/<p>I noticed I haven't posted anything this month about what's going on in my life. Well as you can imagine the impending arrival of our first child has kind of glossed over everything else. I have not yet achieved a state of panic but it's very firmly in the radar …</p><p>I noticed I haven't posted anything this month about what's going on in my life. Well as you can imagine the impending arrival of our first child has kind of glossed over everything else. I have not yet achieved a state of panic but it's very firmly in the radar now. Although I've been taking it easy on the drinking (so as to help Fliss avoid the temptation) I'm now going fully dry as I'm on potential hospital driving duties.</p>
<p>It was nice to catch up with a bunch of people at Adam and Lou's wedding last weekend. It more or less qualified as our last venture away from home for the foreseeable future. This weekend I spent a good deal of the time laying the excess turf from Project: Veg Patch over what used to pass for our front lawn. This of course means the main landscaping of the new "Vegetable" patch at the back of our property is now complete:</p>
<p>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/10/17/project-veg-patch/alex-and-fliss-landscape-garden-1000/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/10/17/project-veg-patch/alex-and-fliss-landscape-garden-1000/</a>>`__</p>
<p>I have to admit most of the work at the back was contracted out including a my brother and his partner who did most of the work levelling, laying and building what will hopefully be a productive growing area. Still we are both very pleased with the outcome and hopefully the grass will take and we can concentrate on planting what will provide us with fresh food for the future family!</p>
*ritchie=NULL;2011-10-13T16:09:00+01:002011-10-13T16:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-10-13:/~alex/blog/2011/10/13/ritchienull/<p>Now the smoke has settled on the passing of Jobs I'd like to talk
about a real computing hero of mine. Someone who literally has changed
the world (at least for everyone reading this). I learnt last night
that <a class="reference external" href="http://boingboing.net/2011/10/12/dennis-ritchie-1941-2011-computer-scientist-unix-co-creator-c-co-inventor.html">Dennis Ritchie</a>
had passed away. Without pioneers like Ritchie we wouldn't …</p><p>Now the smoke has settled on the passing of Jobs I'd like to talk
about a real computing hero of mine. Someone who literally has changed
the world (at least for everyone reading this). I learnt last night
that <a class="reference external" href="http://boingboing.net/2011/10/12/dennis-ritchie-1941-2011-computer-scientist-unix-co-creator-c-co-inventor.html">Dennis Ritchie</a>
had passed away. Without pioneers like Ritchie we wouldn't have most
of the computing infrastructure we have today.</p>
<p>When I was growing up in our computer filled house I learnt like many
people playing with BASIC interpreters embedded into many of the early
micro-computers. From there I started to learn about assembler and
writing code that runs directly on the processor. However it wasn't
until I picked up my first copy of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language">The C Programming Language</a> (often
just called K&R) I truly started my journey towards becoming a real
programmer. Pretty much every procedural language since has borrowed
from or been developed from the foundations of C. I still own a copy
of the first edition which holds a honoured place on my computing
bookshelf. It's hard for me to imagine a better book to learn from for
my first "proper" programming language.</p>
<p><em>C</em> has been subjected to much criticism over it's long history for
being a source of many classic programmer errors. Non programmers may
have even seen their computers complaining about a "NULL pointer
de-reference" when a program <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmentation_fault">goes bang</a>. This is because
the history of C was wrapped up in the need for a powerful low level
language ("close to bare metal") that allowed the development of
powerful yet portable systems including the original <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIX">UNIX</a> which Richie was also involved
in the development of. Without C/Unix there would have been no
<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objective-C">Objective-C</a>, no <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT">NeXT</a> and ultimately no <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X">Mac OS X</a> which is important for much
of the renaissance of Apple now enjoys.</p>
<p>If your looking for true pioneers of modern computing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FjX7r5icV8">Dennis Ritchie</a> is certainly among
them. The world of computing has lost of it's true innovators and one
of my personal computing heroes.</p>
RiP2011-10-06T12:13:00+01:002011-10-06T12:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-10-06:/~alex/blog/2011/10/06/rip/<p>Today the tech-world has lost one of those rarest of things, a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15193922">tech geek with name recognition</a>. Steve Jobs and the company he founded with the lesser know <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak">Steve Wozniak</a> is now a technology giant with operating profits and margins that most oil companies only dream of. It is all …</p><p>Today the tech-world has lost one of those rarest of things, a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15193922">tech geek with name recognition</a>. Steve Jobs and the company he founded with the lesser know <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak">Steve Wozniak</a> is now a technology giant with operating profits and margins that most oil companies only dream of. It is all the more remarkable given <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.">Apple's</a> turbulent history from early home computer pioneer to near death experience in the 80s (when Jobs was ousted) followed by one of the most successful corporate turnarounds in history. Jobs' return to Apple coincided with the release of the iconic iMac, soon to be followed by the iPod and of course now the ubiquitous iPhone.</p>
<p>In the early days Apple was pioneering as the nascent home computer market was finding it's way into the homes of the world. Arguably their most successful product, the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod">iPod</a>, was not a new innovation. Where Apple made up for this was in their execution. A lot of this is a tribute to Jobs' laser sharp focus on usability. The new Apple did not ship something half working and then worry about fixing it later in software. Nothing was shipped from Cupertino until Jobs was happy they had created a product that worked beautifully and would instantly promote the desire to own one when you played with it. The success of the Apple store is down to the fact that once you've touched and fondled their products parting with your cash seems like such a sensible idea.</p>
<p>I have many criticisms of Apple and the way they conduct business in their walled garden. For this reason I'm not a big user of their products or technology. However I happily concede that Apple under Jobs' leadership have done more for advancing the vision how technology can improve peoples personal world than most companies in the tech sector. A world without Jobs' vision and focus is certainly a poorer one and he deserves his place in the history books for what he achieved.</p>
Saturday evening in New Zealand2011-09-25T09:45:00+01:002011-09-25T09:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-25:/~alex/blog/2011/09/25/saturday-evening-in-new-zealand/<p>A lot of people have made out that having the rugby on in the morning is a bit of a pain for fans. I've been quite enjoying the matches so far. The last two weekends Fliss and I have rotated cooking a Canadian style breakfast to go with our morning …</p><p>A lot of people have made out that having the rugby on in the morning is a bit of a pain for fans. I've been quite enjoying the matches so far. The last two weekends Fliss and I have rotated cooking a Canadian style breakfast to go with our morning rugby. This week was my turn:</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_2438" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Enjoying adding the syrup."]<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/09/25/saturday-evening-in-new-zealand/img_0659/">Picture of bacon, pancakes, eggs and maple syrup.</a>[/caption]</p>
<p>Although England have been really lucky with their group it was hearting to see much better game than the last outing. There were a few times when Romania threatened to put a ball over the line but it brought out the best in the England team. In the end though the match was one sided and England were able to start romping the tries in.</p>
<p>The France vs New Zealand promised to be a very well contested game for the first 10 minutes. However the All-Blacks soon asserted themselves over France and pummelled them into submission. This bodes well for England as it puts of the inevitable All-Black confrontation until the end of the tournament (assuming we make it that far).</p>
<p>We're currently watching the Argentina vs Scotland which looks as though it will be the tightest of the lot so far.</p>
Social Wars2011-09-23T12:48:00+01:002011-09-23T12:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-23:/~alex/blog/2011/09/23/social-wars/<p>Well it seems the next major technology war has kicked off on the web. Google has opened up <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14985494">its beta social service</a> to all and sundry. At the same time Facebook have had another major face lift and announced their intentions to become a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15028920">content hub</a> for the Internet.</p>
<p>For …</p><p>Well it seems the next major technology war has kicked off on the web. Google has opened up <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14985494">its beta social service</a> to all and sundry. At the same time Facebook have had another major face lift and announced their intentions to become a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15028920">content hub</a> for the Internet.</p>
<p>For me Facebook's latest move is eerily familiar of the early days of the web when everyone was vying to be the default <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_portal">web portal</a> in the browser. It didn't work back then and companies like Yahoo have never really recovered from failing in the land grab. Back then everyone underestimated the demand for search that just worked and when Google offered something that broadly gave you relevant results the curated model of the web died.</p>
<p>However Facebook have a massive advantage now having captured 750m users who visit their site on a regular basis. They didn't come to Facebook to find cool places on the internet but to interact with their friends. Facebook didn't invent social networking but they certainly demonstrated that executed properly it was something that lots of people wanted. So far people have been very relaxed about Facebook's access to all that valuable social information and its use in advertising. Frankly any company that launches any sort of consumer product these days has to have some sort of strategy about how they will interact with Facebook.</p>
<p>Google have know that "social" is going to be a big thing for some time now. They have had several attempts to capture a segment of the market and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google%2B">Google+</a> is their most serious contender to the space so far. Their reasons for running the service are much like Facebook's although their principle advantage is not having to worry about how to monetise the service yet. Google's history has very much been developing ideas and seeing if they become popular before working out how to monetise it. Meanwhile it's a dangerous time for Facebook as they move towards an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_public_offering">IPO</a> where their long-term investors will be looking to cash-out on their investment. If Facebook start hemorrhaging users to alternatives its market value will literally disappear before the investors eyes. In the web-based world where a competitor is literally a click away the last thing they want to do is repeat the experience of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace">MySpace</a>. This would be especially ironic as Facebook was one of the major reasons MySpace went the way it did.</p>
<p>Who will ultimately "win" is an exercise in futurology that is a futile as predicting anything related to the fast changing world of the internet. I personally can't wait to move away from Facebook and to a service that gives me more control over my data. For now that is <a class="reference external" href="https://plus.google.com/110732415405459842150/about">Google+</a> but it's by no means certain that's where it will stay. However one thing I'm sure of is the process of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dataliberation.org/">taking my data from Google</a> and moving somewhere else will be a lot easier than the exercise has been from Facebook. Coincidentally it's probably the main reason why I'll be staying with Google for the time-being.</p>
<p>What do you think of these latest moves? Do you care who "wins" or what the services turn into? Or is the age of social networking the latest in a long line of internet fads that has already peaked?</p>
org-mode and clocking in2011-09-20T17:06:00+01:002011-09-20T17:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-20:/~alex/blog/2011/09/20/org-mode-and-clocking-in/<p>I've recently started using <a class="reference external" href="http://orgmode.org/">org-mode</a>'s time tracking to keep track of what I spend my time doing at work. This was in response to being asked by one of my managers what I spend my time doing and basically being forced to guess.</p>
<p>Setting up a clock page is …</p><p>I've recently started using <a class="reference external" href="http://orgmode.org/">org-mode</a>'s time tracking to keep track of what I spend my time doing at work. This was in response to being asked by one of my managers what I spend my time doing and basically being forced to guess.</p>
<p>Setting up a clock page is fairly simple. It's then just a case of C-c C-x C-i and C-c C-x C-o on the appropriate sub tasks. Dynamic blocks can then be added to your org-document to generate <a class="reference external" href="http://orgmode.org/manual/The-clock-table.html#The-clock-table">weekly, monthly or annual reports</a> based on the clock lines in the document.</p>
<p>So far the results have been illuminating and certainly shows how optimistic I can be in predicting how much time I spend doing my core job hacking on the code. However one thing that is captured but hard to summarise is interruption cost. I've taken to switching task every-time I'm interrupted in person or by phone call (I'm not counting IM/IRC as it's less disruptive). I can eyeball the raw data and see that some weeks are exceptionally bad for task switching. However what would useful is a break-down of mean and median clock lengths against each task to give some sort of indication of how much straight line hacking I've gotten done. I have a feeling the :formula and :formatter options could be used for this but I've been struggling to find any example. Does anyone do a similar analysis with their org-mode clock data?</p>
<p><strong>UPDATED</strong>: fixed keystrokes.</p>
Weekend Rugby2011-09-19T13:14:00+01:002011-09-19T13:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-19:/~alex/blog/2011/09/19/weekend-rugby/<p>While last weekend involved a hilarious last minute rush to get a proxied ITV player working while in Paris this weekends England game just involved getting up at 6.50 on a Sunday morning. As some have pointed out I am not yet a Dad so this early awakening on …</p><p>While last weekend involved a hilarious last minute rush to get a proxied ITV player working while in Paris this weekends England game just involved getting up at 6.50 on a Sunday morning. As some have pointed out I am not yet a Dad so this early awakening on Sunday is an alien concept to me (although oddly I tend to wake up naturally early on the weekends compared to weekdays).</p>
<p>The game was very exciting from the start and Georgia's ability to maintain such a fast and aggressive pace for the whole game was pretty impressive. Although England got an early try and awful lot of the first half had me very worried about their discipline, especially with a sin-binning right on the cusp of half-time. The second half was a lot better and I was glad to see that once they got their discipline under control there was some very good flowing rugby and yielded a lot of tries for England. However Georgia kept challenging to the end so there was little let-up in the pressure.</p>
<p>It's been said that the English rugby team are slow starters who's game improves over the tournament. I have to hope this is the case as once we are out of the groups the games are going to get a lot tougher.</p>
Ministry of Nanny2011-09-13T23:36:00+01:002011-09-13T23:36:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-13:/~alex/blog/2011/09/13/ministry-of-nanny/<p>We had our third and final Parent Craft lesson tonight which covered everything from 3rd stage labour to breast feeding and bathing. Most of it was useful stuff and it was nice to be able to ask some questions of the trained midwives. However the section on breast-feeding could do …</p><p>We had our third and final Parent Craft lesson tonight which covered everything from 3rd stage labour to breast feeding and bathing. Most of it was useful stuff and it was nice to be able to ask some questions of the trained midwives. However the section on breast-feeding could do with some work. After asking the class how many people intended to breast-feed (answer: everyone raised hands) they still felt the need to go through the regulation list of all the plus points.</p>
<p>I quite happily accept all the medical evidence that's out there about the benefits of breast-milk over formula. It was also useful to be fore-warned about potential <em>nipple-confusion</em> if introducing expressed bottles too early. No doubt <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Clinical_Excellence">NICE</a> has excellent cost-benefit analyses showing how much money can be saved in the long run if 1% more mothers breast-feed their babies.</p>
<p>However I can understand why some people might feel bullied into breast feeding when presented with such a forceful party line. I can only imagine it also raises the stress levels on mothers if feeding isn't going so well or they stop for some reason. Given that the whole room was already planning on breast-feeding I did think it would have been more useful to launch straight into the practicalities of feeding than continuing to brow-beat the room with the "breast is best" dictate.</p>
We'll always have Paris2011-09-13T13:06:00+01:002011-09-13T13:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-13:/~alex/blog/2011/09/13/well-always-have-paris/<p>We spent a rather spiffy weekend in Paris on the occasion of Fliss' Mum's birthday. We were a little out of the centre but in a rather plush penthouse flat kitted out with a full projector based home cinema system as well as a hot tub and roof garden wet-room …</p><p>We spent a rather spiffy weekend in Paris on the occasion of Fliss' Mum's birthday. We were a little out of the centre but in a rather plush penthouse flat kitted out with a full projector based home cinema system as well as a hot tub and roof garden wet-room. I posted a video of the set-up on <a class="reference external" href="https://plus.google.com/110732415405459842150/posts/G8piZbtfnGB">my Google Plus</a> account for the curious.</p>
<p>We didn't really spend that much time straying from the local base but spent a fair amount of time with the family. It was a lovely long weekend and we are both pretty relaxed on our return. I'm hoping it takes a while to wear off.</p>
<p>In the meantime preparation for B-Day continues. We are now enrolled in the state supplied [STRIKEOUT:indoctrination]education program known as Parent Craft. So far most of the information has been about what to expect on delivery day so I'm still waiting on the section on keeping them alive and raising responsible well-adjusted kids. I suspect I might be expecting a little too much from them.</p>
Poking unexplained holes in reality, for science!2011-09-05T10:01:00+01:002011-09-05T10:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-09-05:/~alex/blog/2011/09/05/poking-unexplained-holes-in-reality-for-science/<p>[caption id="attachment_2385" align="alignright" width="112" caption="What does this do?"]<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/09/05/poking-unexplained-holes-in-reality-for-science/302871_10150780146805315_735315314_20612601_8122858_n/">Picture of Lord Townsend investigating something for Science</a>[/caption]</p>
<p>We had a slightly extended weekend as we headed up North to visit friends in Manchester before heading over to the Yorkshire Hippie enclave of Hebden Bridge for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.victorianalrp.co.uk/">Victoriana …</a></p><p>[caption id="attachment_2385" align="alignright" width="112" caption="What does this do?"]<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/09/05/poking-unexplained-holes-in-reality-for-science/302871_10150780146805315_735315314_20612601_8122858_n/">Picture of Lord Townsend investigating something for Science</a>[/caption]</p>
<p>We had a slightly extended weekend as we headed up North to visit friends in Manchester before heading over to the Yorkshire Hippie enclave of Hebden Bridge for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.victorianalrp.co.uk/">Victoriana</a>. This was going to be our last game before our first child arrives.</p>
<p><strong>Victoriana</strong> is a steam-punk style alternate history <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_action_role-playing_game">LARP</a> game based loosely around Victorian era Britain. The brainchild of Mikey and his team of writers it's an idea that's kicking around for some time and we are happy it's been finally realised. The system is fairly lightweight with a combat system which is mainly based around cosmetically modified <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerf">NERF</a> guns and the occasional traditional LARP sword. However the combat is a fairly small part of the overall experience and certainly not a required skill to enjoy the game. Fliss for example was almost entirely involved in the trials of high society including scandal and match-making of eligible ladies with the appropriate bachelors. My game was almost all concerned with poking things in the cause of science. The science system is fairly free-form where the results are driven by the almost omnipresent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeeves">Jeeves</a> referees who otherwise blend in with the In Character ambiance of the event. It took a little while to get the hang of it but I tried a few experiments of Friday and together with the rest of the scientists we continued to poke at the strange anomaly with reckless abandon as we formulated our theories. By Sunday we were constructing steam-punk style contraptions with handy copper coloured tape and had a better feeling for the interaction between scientists and engineers. There were other areas of the game I didn't really see including occultists and of course the working classes who I only occasionally bumped into .</p>
<p>As it was our anniversary weekend we were off site for most of Saturday evening but nevertheless we enjoyed the game immensely. For a game that was 24 hour time in there didn't seem to be any slack areas where we were just twiddling our thumbs waiting for things to happen. The standard of kit and costume was fantastic including a marvellous automaton by the name of "Number 47" who was being played magnificently by a first time LARPer. Everyone I spoke to after time out seemed very happy with the way the event had turned out. Mikey has said he's learnt a lot from the experience and I'm sure there will be some tweaks to the system and organisation for the next event. However a jolly good time was had by all, including the two of us.</p>
7 Arena Fights, 1 Quest and a fairly late night...2011-08-15T14:32:00+01:002011-08-15T14:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-08-15:/~alex/blog/2011/08/15/7-arena-fights-1-quest-and-a-fairly-late-night/<p>..have left my a little weary this morning. I spent this weekend at my first full length <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/odyssey?2">Odyssey</a> event which gave me a fuller impression of the world than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/08/16/odyssey-in-60-seconds/">last years quick visit</a>.</p>
<p>The arena is still my favourite part of the experience. Certainly as I don't get much LARP …</p><p>..have left my a little weary this morning. I spent this weekend at my first full length <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/odyssey?2">Odyssey</a> event which gave me a fuller impression of the world than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/08/16/odyssey-in-60-seconds/">last years quick visit</a>.</p>
<p>The arena is still my favourite part of the experience. Certainly as I don't get much LARP combat these days it's nice to get several guaranteed mass-battles as day. I was still playing my Roman archer and had a very good day on Saturday notching up some rather nice shots which I was complemented on later in the day. I'm hoping those battles were videoed by somebody because it would be nice to see what they looked like from the bystanders point of view.</p>
<p>Although I went to bed before midnight on the Friday I made an extra effort to wonder about on Saturday night and caught up with the NE brigade and their Greek faction. It was lovely to see them as well as lots of interesting in-play discussion. Having someone mention the presence of the "Roman spy" every few minutes didn't seem to stop the Greeks talking to me.</p>
<p>I got peripherally involved with the "Philosopher" game on the Sunday while indulging in a little <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis">cryptanalysis</a> to verify the approach to the solution of one of the puzzles. If I tire of the fighting I might try out philosophising for my next character.</p>
<p>All in all a fantastically fun weekend. I look forward to returning to it when I'm able to LARP again.</p>
Flash Looting2011-08-10T06:34:00+01:002011-08-10T06:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-08-10:/~alex/blog/2011/08/10/flash-looting/<p>As the sun rises on a new day and businesses across the country count the cost of the nights violence we awake to a new phenomena. The technology and social networking that brought us the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob">Flash Mob</a> have now brought us the Flash Loot.</p>
<p>When you start hearing some of …</p><p>As the sun rises on a new day and businesses across the country count the cost of the nights violence we awake to a new phenomena. The technology and social networking that brought us the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob">Flash Mob</a> have now brought us the Flash Loot.</p>
<p>When you start hearing some of those involved talk about their perceived entitlement to the mobile phones and flat screen TVs it makes you wonder if 18 months of government austerity is really the trigger for these "riots". Wikipedia defines a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot">riot</a> as a <em>"form of civil disorder characterized often by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people"</em>. That doesn't quite gel with the image of looters <a class="reference external" href="http://catchalooter.tumblr.com/page/2">renting vans</a> so they can be more efficient in loading up their swag. They seem to have learnt from the anti-<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettling">kettling</a> tactics of legitimate protesters - co-ordinate when and where to meet, sweep in en-masses and leave before the Police can respond in force. Only instead of making a political point or staging a demo at some perceived enemy of the people it's an excuse to loot shops of whatever they hold.</p>
<p>I find it tricky to keep my inner right-wing instincts under check. It's disturbing when you find yourself starting to agree with the likes of the Mail and bemoaning the sorry state of the UK today. While social divisions and inequality I'm sure have played their parts in forming a generation of youths with the attitudes that can justify these actions to themselves I find myself wondering if it's a problem that can be solved with a few pounds on benefits here and there. These people aren't rioting because they are hungry. They obviously feel so disconnected from society as a whole they don't see or care about the damage they are doing the communities that they love in.</p>
<p>You have to keep a sense of perspective about these things. It is a minority of people involved. Most of our fellow citizens would be more inclined to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixel-eight/6024429000/">make a cup of tea for the overworked police officers</a> or <a class="reference external" href="http://www.riotcleanup.co.uk/Riot_Clean_Up.php">coordinate the clean-up with the real community</a>. Social media is a tool which can be <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/#!/search/riotcleanup">used for good</a> as well as the more headline grabbing bad. This country isn't really going to hell in a hand-basket despite the actions of a small number of disaffected youth. I hope the country remembers that over the next few days and weeks.</p>
Fliss' 32 Inch TV2011-08-08T14:56:00+01:002011-08-08T14:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-08-08:/~alex/blog/2011/08/08/fliss-32-inch-tv/<p>The weekend was both incredibly efficient and lazy in equal measures. We headed into town bright and early at 9:00 in a bid to miss the rather nasty traffic Cambridge inflicts on it's driving population. I would have cycled were it not I was picking up our <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_TV">new Smart …</a></p><p>The weekend was both incredibly efficient and lazy in equal measures. We headed into town bright and early at 9:00 in a bid to miss the rather nasty traffic Cambridge inflicts on it's driving population. I would have cycled were it not I was picking up our <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_TV">new Smart TV</a> for the library. It's an LG LV550T which replaces the ageing CRT with something a lot slimmer and fits nicely on the new shelves in the library. After some faffing with connectors and convincing it that it really was connected to the internet first impressions are pretty good. It's full 1080p with a built in HD tuner so we can finally receive BBC HD. Comparing the two BBC One channels you can certainly see the difference the high definition brings. It's still not enough to warrant upgrading my main TV though which I expect to keep until it finally dies.</p>
<p>The Smart TV stuff is pretty impressive. Aside from having built-in iPlayer (and ITV/4oD) it also offers a slew of "apps" including the ubiquitous YouTube. As a bonus it's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance">DNLA</a> enabled so it can stream stuff directly from our media server. Sadly it doesn't seem to be able to cope with all the audio codecs the PS3 can. About the only wrinkle was convincing it it was on the 'net. Despite having been given an IP address it was convinced it could access the "Gateway". It was still able to access the media server and download a firmware update through the ether so I suspected it was just some needless self-test the wizard went through. Once I plugged it in via a spare broadband router I had lying round it worked fine. I suspect it was trying to do something <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play">UPnP</a>ish to prove it was on a home network.</p>
Bright Lights, Big City2011-08-05T18:29:00+01:002011-08-05T18:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-08-05:/~alex/blog/2011/08/05/bright-lights-big-city-2/<p>I took advantage of my proximity to the big city 45 minutes away on the train yesterday. I joined Rich and Al and the growing number of Northern refugees at the <a class="reference external" href="http://gbbf.camra.org.uk/home">Great British Beer Festival</a> at Earls Court. While I'm afforded free entry to most beer festivals courtesy of my …</p><p>I took advantage of my proximity to the big city 45 minutes away on the train yesterday. I joined Rich and Al and the growing number of Northern refugees at the <a class="reference external" href="http://gbbf.camra.org.uk/home">Great British Beer Festival</a> at Earls Court. While I'm afforded free entry to most beer festivals courtesy of my CAMRA membership I only got a discount at this one. Having said that the £8 entry does grant you access to a massive beer hall with pretty much the largest range of beers I've seen for some time. It seems the money had gone somewhere as it was the first festival I've been to that has gone to the trouble of running lines and fitting proper hand-pulls to the normal festival beers.</p>
<p>Despite the best efforts of Lee to derail my sensible drinking strategy with the last pint of the evening I came through the whole experience is reasonably good nick. It was great to catch up with a whole bunch of people I hadn't seen for some time. I still hate travelling around London but I guess it's not so bad from time to time.</p>
Perils of bleeding edge2011-07-27T16:55:00+01:002011-07-27T16:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-07-27:/~alex/blog/2011/07/27/perils-of-bleeding-edge/<p>I've taken to running the latest <em>emacs</em> from a source tree install. It works well enough and additional modes I use have been liberally ${VC} fetched into my <em>.emacs.d</em>. However there are still a number of packages I'd like to use from Debian's emacs version agnostic site-lisp directories. I …</p><p>I've taken to running the latest <em>emacs</em> from a source tree install. It works well enough and additional modes I use have been liberally ${VC} fetched into my <em>.emacs.d</em>. However there are still a number of packages I'd like to use from Debian's emacs version agnostic site-lisp directories. I came up with this:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
;; Add site-lisp to search path
;
; This is a work-around function for when I'm running bleeding
; emacs from the source tree but still want Debian's developer
; tools. I'd caution about having too many extra packages about that
; have been merged into the source tree (cedet etc) lest it get
; confused.
(defun load-debian-site-lisp()
"Attempt to load Debian's site-lisp if it's there"
(interactive)
(when (and (not (member "/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp" load-path))
(fboundp 'normal-top-level-add-subdirs-to-load-path))
(let* ((default-directory "/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp"))
(normal-top-level-add-subdirs-to-load-path))))
(load-debian-site-lisp)
</pre>
<p>Which seems to work well enough to give me my <em>debian-changelog-mode</em> back. However it's still not seamless as I have to manually <em>(require 'debian-changelog-mode)</em> before loading a changelog which forces the issue with local variables. I suspect I'll have to replicate the boilerplate that <em>/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/debian-startup.el</em> does but I can't use because it doesn't degrade gracefully if no <em>debian-emacs-flavour</em> is defined. Suggestions for making this behaviour neater would be useful....</p>
Ponies and other requests2011-07-21T13:30:00+01:002011-07-21T13:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-07-21:/~alex/blog/2011/07/21/ponies-and-other-requests/<p>So Google Plus is not even in beta, it's still a limited trail but they are soliciting feedback. Following on from <a class="reference external" href="http://richd.me/2011/07/my-beef-with-google/">Rich's</a> suggestions here are some things I would like to see Google+ do.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Allow nesting of Circles</li>
</ol>
<p>Circles are great. They are a pretty intuitive way of arranging your …</p><p>So Google Plus is not even in beta, it's still a limited trail but they are soliciting feedback. Following on from <a class="reference external" href="http://richd.me/2011/07/my-beef-with-google/">Rich's</a> suggestions here are some things I would like to see Google+ do.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Allow nesting of Circles</li>
</ol>
<p>Circles are great. They are a pretty intuitive way of arranging your friends into groups. It's certainly way easier than Facebook's rather clunky friend lists interface. However I have a lot of people in multiple circles but it's a little inconsistent and it's hard to check people are in the right place. To illustrate here is a subset of circles I've defined:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Fellow Geeks</div>
<div class="line">* Cambridge Geeks</div>
<div class="line">* Googlers</div>
<div class="line">* Transitive Alumni</div>
<div class="line">* #blue</div>
</div>
<p>Really the last four circles are all sub-sets of fellow geeks but sometimes it makes sense only to post to a sub-set. For example the Cambridge Geeks are those that are more likely to make a Geek Beer shout out. The Transitive crew are a special set of geeks that would appreciate some really obscure posting that might be irrelevant to the wider Geek community.</p>
<p>What I really want to do is declare Fellow Geeks as a super-set of a the other circles. It's not going to be a one to many relationship either. Cambridge Geeks also should belong to the Local People group because I don't spend all my time socialising with people just like me ;-)</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="2">
<li>Support Huddle in the browser</li>
</ol>
<p>I like the concept of Huddle which is a group based messaging system in the mobile version of Google+. However currently it seems the only place to access is on a mobile device and that is currently Android only. To make it useful you should be able to access the Huddle from the browser as well.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="3">
<li>Allow rolling up of comments</li>
</ol>
<p>This is especially a problem with some of the higher visibility users that I follow. They can often have hundreds of comments attached to a post and there doesn't seem to be any way of hiding the comments. All you can do it "Mute" the whole post. Sometime G+ does hide "older comments" but the only thing you can do with them is expand them.</p>
<p>So like a good trail user I'm also raising these issues via the feedback option. I'm still enjoying the Google Plus experience and once I can post from Gwibber I'll be a lot happier. So what niggles have you found so far? Have you reported them?</p>
Plus One2011-07-17T10:20:00+01:002011-07-17T10:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-07-17:/~alex/blog/2011/07/17/plus-one/<p>Well I've been playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Plus">Google+</a> for a week and a bit now so I thought I would add some punditry to the swirling ether of the 'net. For a product that hasn't even earned the famed Google Beta tag it's already been rolled out to around 10 million people …</p><p>Well I've been playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Plus">Google+</a> for a week and a bit now so I thought I would add some punditry to the swirling ether of the 'net. For a product that hasn't even earned the famed Google Beta tag it's already been rolled out to around 10 million people. A good percentage of my social graph have managed to find their way onto the network. Invites now seem to be permanently open so do let me know if you want one.</p>
<p>So the first thing that struck me about G+ was the circle implementation. It's not surprising that it's such a fundamental part of the experience. I recall seeing a presentation by a Googler some time ago where they discussed the types of relationships people have, the sort of things people share and with whom. While Facebook does allow you to set up friends lists and restrict posts to certain groups the G+ setup is a lot more intuitive and built into every aspect of the service. For example I'm fairly careful about posting my location on-line. Even though I use services like Latitude most people are restricted to City level information unless it's likely to be useful for them to know where I am (for example on a stag weekend). While not many people use Latitude being able to "check-in" to a location that may be relevant to a subset of people is quite a nice ability.</p>
<p>There are a couple of gripes about the circle implementation. The first is duplicates. I have a number of people duplicated because they were originally dragged from my Gmail contacts but have then subsequently joined. It would be nice to have an easy way to group them together and have Google Do The Right Thing (tm).</p>
<p>The second is the default circle screen needs a little work for small screen setups like my netbook. Having created quite a number of circles the screen real estate gets quite tight when trying to add more people to them.</p>
<p>Other nice features include the group video chat known as "Hangouts". It works out of the box on Linux although it does require a proprietary plugin to work. I haven't had more than a cursory play with it so far but it certainly seems slick enough from what I've seen. It's also nice to have an alternative to Skype who's Linux support could disappear any day now Microsoft have taken it over.</p>
<p>The mobile app offers the "Huddle" which is a simple group chat facility. I can see this probably being of most use when catching up with a group of people on some sort of shared activity like a pub crawl.</p>
<p>The photo facility is fairly slick although I don't think it's quite got the edge on Facebook's auto-tagging feature. It remains to be seen how else they will pimp it up. Certainly it's nice to be able to upload everything from Shotwell as it basically re-uses the Picassa infrastructure. It sure beats fighting with the basic upload facility Facebook offers.</p>
<p>The one major omission and probably biggest reason I use Facebook is for event management. For all the problems associated with inviting people only in the walled garden Facebook's event creation/invite system is pretty slick. I suspect Google are planning some sort of event/calender integration. I hope when they do they make it easy to add emails so people don't have to be in G+ to receive invites.</p>
<p>So is it time to close down my Facebook account? Well for the time being probably not. Facebook does have the incumbents advantage given almost everyone who wants a social networking account will have one. However I'll certainly be using G+ in preference for sharing photos and private status updates. Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Data_Liberation_Front">Data Liberation Front</a> give me more confidence that <em>my</em> data won't be kept away from me. It will also be interesting to see what APIs Google release for the platform. Perhaps the biggest problem with Facebook apps is the privacy implications of sharing your data with a third party. It will be interesting seeing how they balance the privacy-centric nature of the G+ ethos with the ability to do cool stuff in the social sphere.</p>
Move along, nothing to see here.2011-07-12T11:38:00+01:002011-07-12T11:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-07-12:/~alex/blog/2011/07/12/move-along-nothing-to-see-here/<p>It's been a while since I've last posted. I make a conscious effort not to post general household news in favour of things that stimulate debate and comments. I hope that my writings end up being interesting to someone even if it is only me reviewing these posts in the …</p><p>It's been a while since I've last posted. I make a conscious effort not to post general household news in favour of things that stimulate debate and comments. I hope that my writings end up being interesting to someone even if it is only me reviewing these posts in the future. However the gap between posts can become intimidating so I'm minded to tap the microphone and whisper "is this thing on?".</p>
<p>Like a large chunk of the country I have been watching the unfolding drama of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_of_the_World_phone_hacking_affair">News of the Screws dirty demise</a>. However things have been moving so fast anything I posted would probably be out of date by the time I hit publish. It's a feeling the newspapers have been having for years.</p>
<p>It's hard not to notice the glee that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_of_the_World_phone_hacking_affair">News Corps</a> many and varied opponents attack this story. I'm not totally unhappy about it, indeed when I want a smile I just have to recall the how much money they burnt with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace">MySpace</a>. However predictions of the death of NI as a leading power behind the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Estate">Fourth Estate</a> are probably misplaced. The axing of NoW and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14112465">withdrawal of undertakings with respect to Sky News</a> may have been dramatic events but I suspect the story still has some to go. In fact Murdoch may well divest himself of more of his print empire if it serves his longer term aims. After all the papers are dieing slowly anyway, this could be just the excuse he needs to divest himself of the liabilities.</p>
<p>Still it gives the journalists something to talk about over the summer.</p>
Pensions2011-06-30T11:24:00+01:002011-06-30T11:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-06-30:/~alex/blog/2011/06/30/pensions/<p>A number of public sector unions are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13967580">striking today over changes to their pension arrangements</a>. As a result Fliss has gone into London today rather than working from home, hopefully balanced out by a slightly less insane commute. Before she left for her train we listened to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9526000/9526631.stm">Mark Serwotka debating …</a></p><p>A number of public sector unions are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13967580">striking today over changes to their pension arrangements</a>. As a result Fliss has gone into London today rather than working from home, hopefully balanced out by a slightly less insane commute. Before she left for her train we listened to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9526000/9526631.stm">Mark Serwotka debating with Francis Maude</a> on the Today programme. It was interesting listening although most of the debate seemed to be centred around the total cost as a % of GDP (see page 23 of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/indreview_johnhutton_pensions.htm">final Hutton report</a>).</p>
<p>What didn't get rolled out to Serwotka's credit was the line that public sector workers are having their pensions slashed to pay for the bank bail outs although I've seen this argument being rolled out in many other places.</p>
<p>Pension reform is as inevitable as death and taxes simply because demographics change as our society moves on. People keep living longer and more are spending a greater proportion of their lifetime economically inactive. I'll still claim the 2/60ths of my final salary pension from Marconi when I eventually retire but since then all my pension arrangements have been contribution based. This means my final pension will be dependant on how much money is in the pot and how long the annuity company thinks I'll live once I finally retire. Although on the face of its not as generous as a final salary scheme it is a easier to calculate the bounds and therefor more sustainable in the long run. The alternative is for some other party to take on the liabilities for people living longer than the pension contributions made by/for them cover. In the case of private sector final salary schemes it was the companies and/or newer members of the schemes. In the public sector the liability eventually rests with the taxpayer. As a result the private sector has pretty much universally moved on from final salary pension schemes. Dealing with the long term sustainability of public sector pensions has been continually deferred until this government decided to finally grasp the political nettle.</p>
<p>Fundamentally each person has to be responsible for providing for their retirement. This is achieved by paying more money into the pot or getting your employer to do so. If your remuneration (salary+benefits) isn't up to the task then you can always look for an employer who is more willing to pay a premium for your skills.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that the Union's shouldn't be doing their best to look after their members interests. This can even include striking, although currently it seems a little premature as negotiations are still ongoing. However I suspect public sympathy for the strikers will be somewhat diminished as even after all the disruption and forced holidays workers in the public sector will still have more generous pension arrangements than their private sector compatriots could ever dream of.</p>
Board Now2011-06-28T08:27:00+01:002011-06-28T08:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-06-28:/~alex/blog/2011/06/28/board-now/<p>The weekend surprised me a bit. I was expecting a so-so weekend with thunderstorms. In the end we ended up with a pretty good Saturday and a fantastic Sunday.</p>
<p>Fliss celebrated her penultimate bit with board games and general merriment. We have acquired a new game, <a class="reference external" href="%20%20%20%20http://www.smirkanddagger.com/hexhex.htm">Hex Hex</a> which I …</p><p>The weekend surprised me a bit. I was expecting a so-so weekend with thunderstorms. In the end we ended up with a pretty good Saturday and a fantastic Sunday.</p>
<p>Fliss celebrated her penultimate bit with board games and general merriment. We have acquired a new game, <a class="reference external" href="%20%20%20%20http://www.smirkanddagger.com/hexhex.htm">Hex Hex</a> which I have vague memories of having played before. It's a fun game although I suspect the additional rules clause becomes a nightmare if any sort of drinking is involved. There were also some Alice in Wonderland cupcakes decorated by L to accompany our first real BBQ of the year.</p>
<p>There was one moment when we ran out of ales and a couple of the wives offered to drive to the supermarket and fetch more. The relevant husbands were most surprised as it's not an offer that is regularly (if ever) made at home!</p>
<p>We finished up the evening watching the hilarious <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/03/17/review-noises-off/">Noises Off</a> which I can heartily recommend, especially to anyone who's done any sort of theatre work.</p>
<p>Fliss' dad left us on Sunday to finish his UK tour before heading back to Oz. It was sad to see him go but at least is Skype in the meantime. We hope to get over to Oz once we have a handle on this "parenting" thing and the ability to travel with small children.</p>
Looking back2011-06-16T09:48:00+01:002011-06-16T09:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-06-16:/~alex/blog/2011/06/16/looking-back/<p>Looking back <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/06/14/a-weekend-of-fresh-air-and-beer/">at last years visit by Jeff and Phil</a> I can see the June weather was also a little changeable - I'm hoping it will improve for the weekend. Fliss' dad is currently visiting from the land down under so yesterday afternoon we wondered down to the local riverside drinking …</p><p>Looking back <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/06/14/a-weekend-of-fresh-air-and-beer/">at last years visit by Jeff and Phil</a> I can see the June weather was also a little changeable - I'm hoping it will improve for the weekend. Fliss' dad is currently visiting from the land down under so yesterday afternoon we wondered down to the local riverside drinking establishment to watch the first day of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumps_race">May bumps</a>. It may not be the best place to see the action, but it's the best location that serves beer :-)</p>
<p>I've got the next couple of days off. In theory we were going to be doing a bike pub tour today. However weather and other events seem to be conspiring to derail those plans. Still a few extra days of relaxation do feel particularly warranted even if we don't have to earn those beers with exercise.</p>
It's all about the package2011-06-14T16:57:00+01:002011-06-14T16:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-06-14:/~alex/blog/2011/06/14/its-all-about-the-package/<p>Apologies in advance for this tech heavy post. I was moved to write it as some friends are doing a crash course in learning Linux. Consider this remote teaching for those that are interested.</p>
<p>Back in the early history of computing software was often built in-situ. Generally programs were distributed …</p><p>Apologies in advance for this tech heavy post. I was moved to write it as some friends are doing a crash course in learning Linux. Consider this remote teaching for those that are interested.</p>
<p>Back in the early history of computing software was often built in-situ. Generally programs were distributed as <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code">source code</a> and compiled on the machine that needed it. This neatly solves a lot of problems as generally if it doesn't compile it will because other pre-requisites don't exist on the system. However compiling does have a few disadvantages - including having a development system on your machine as well as having to send everyone a copy of your source code. For the growing market in computer software where the customers never saw the code a new method was needed. Thus was born the idea of binary software distribution.</p>
<p>Distributing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_file">binaries</a> raises a whole new set of interesting problems. It's very rare an executable exists in a vacuum. Programs generally require the services of libraries and system daemons to which they hand off work. While they all may exist on the machine that the software was built on they may not available on the machine you install to. As a result all sorts of hair pulling problems can arise. Early Unix software was often delivered as a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_(file_format)">tarball</a> and would be wrapped in a bunch of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_script">shell scripts</a>. You would extract the tarball into a sub-directory (usually under /opt - see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard">FHS</a>) and then run a shell script which would spend a considerable amount of effort checking the system and attempting to shim the state of the live system into one that is as close as possible to the system it was compiled on so it could finally run the software. A lot of software is still installed this way and it's not that dissimilar to the approach both Macs and Windows PCs take to installing software.</p>
<p>However the raison d'être of a modern Linux distribution is distributing software written by other people. The solution to these problems (and many more) is through the use of a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_management_system">package manager</a>. As an aspiring sysadmin of a Linux machine it is well worth familiarising yourself with the package manger of your chosen distribution. The package manager is certainly should be the first port of call for finding out what packages files belong to and what other files are associated with a package. While there are many competing systems out there to two main ones are RPM and DEB.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPM_Package_Manager">RPM Package Manager</a> is was originally developed by Red Hat and is unsurprisingly used by them and the many distributions that used Red Hat as a base. This includes RHEL, SuSE, CentOS, Fedora, and Mandriva. It's sufficiently well known it was even added to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Standard_Base">Linux Standards Base</a> as the preferred installation method for installing 3rd party software.</p>
<p>The DEB file format is used by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dpkg">Debian's dpkg</a> tools. Although Debian is probably more known to old Linux hackers it has a excellent reputation as a truly stable server operating system. While RPM systems where still dealing with "RPM Hell" and having to manually resolve dependencies Debian had the "Advanced Packaging Tool" <em>apt</em> which makes installing any piece of software a simple one line affair at the command line. While Debian may only have a niche audience it's popular derivative <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(operating_system)">Ubuntu</a> is probably the most popular distribution seen my newcomers to the Linux experience. Thanks to Debian's long history there is probably more software packaged in the DEB file format than any other packaging system.</p>
<p>In my next package related post I'll go through some of the questions you might ask your package manager and give some real life command line examples.</p>
Travelling while moving2011-06-01T12:56:00+01:002011-06-01T12:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-06-01:/~alex/blog/2011/06/01/travelling-while-moving/<p>Last week I went to Fulda in Germany to attend the OpenNMS European User Conference. OpenNMS is an open source network management system which we make fairly heavy use of at work. The conference was an opportunity to catch up on developments in the project and get a sense of …</p><p>Last week I went to Fulda in Germany to attend the OpenNMS European User Conference. OpenNMS is an open source network management system which we make fairly heavy use of at work. The conference was an opportunity to catch up on developments in the project and get a sense of how it was being used. It was also an chance to make personal contact with a number of the developers. While open source development is typically conducted via faceless email and IRC it does help to put a face to the name every now and again.</p>
<p>Mindful of my experiences last year when my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/05/18/rainbow-nation/">work trip to South Africa</a> was affected by a certain Icelandic volcano I opted for an entirely overland trip this time. I left my house at around 10.30 in the morning and arrived in Frankfurt by 21.30. The journey was lengthened somewhat by a 2 hour wait at Brussels for the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Bahn">Deutsche Bhan</a> train to Frankfurt. However I was able to find a suitably WiFi enabled place to sit down and continue work.</p>
<p>So while being a long journey it was considerably less hassle than going via plane. The amount of interruption to stuff I needed to do was limited to walking between platforms. As soon as I boarded the train I was able to open up my laptop and get on with some work. In fact I probably had one of the most productive days of hacking for some time as I was mercifully free of the distractions a typical day on the office throws at me.</p>
<p>There is a difference between the EuroStar and the DB trains though. The EuroStar trains are getting on a bit and the upholstery is a little tatty although the ride is still very smooth. In contrast the German trains are very well cared for, clean and with a silky smooth ride. I'm certainly looking forward to when DB over <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11567753">direct services to Holland and Germany</a> from St Pancras. When those services start running I'll be able to the same journey door to door in around 6 and half hours which will be much more competitive time wise with those ash-prone planes.</p>
Primary Data2011-05-17T12:56:00+01:002011-05-17T12:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-05-17:/~alex/blog/2011/05/17/primary-data/<p>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/05/17/primary-data/baby-3/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/05/17/primary-data/baby-3/</a>>`__</p>
<p>It's hard to explain the impact of seeing a few grainy pixels waving at you on a medical monitor stand. While it's a sign of our modern magical times that I can provide people with a picture of …</p><p>` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/05/17/primary-data/baby-3/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/05/17/primary-data/baby-3/</a>>`__</p>
<p>It's hard to explain the impact of seeing a few grainy pixels waving at you on a medical monitor stand. While it's a sign of our modern magical times that I can provide people with a picture of my yet-to-be borne child it loses some impact due to it's static nature. While we watched this recognisable form bouncing around in natures playpen my thoughts underwent a moment of crystallisation from the abstract to the actuality. Obviously I've known we* were pregnant for some time however this was the first irrefutable primary data that it is really all happening.</p>
<p>Obviously I'm not the first person to feel these sort of things. Evolution has been doing it's thing for some time providing the unbroken thread of life to something that is now our responsibility. I'm left thinking that questions about my suitability as a parent are rather academic now. I'm slightly mollified by the fact that a number of my friends have already walked this road. Friends that joined me in youthful excesses and moderately irresponsible behaviour back in the day seem to have taken on the mantle of parenthood with relative ease. It gives me hope that the mantle will fit me as well.</p>
<p>* I hesitated to use the pronoun as Fliss is very much taking the brunt of the pregnancy downsides. However it is a shared experience even if my input at the moment is restricted to platitudes and earnest requests if there is anything she would like that I can fetch her.</p>
Uncaged Monkeys2011-05-13T13:09:00+01:002011-05-13T13:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-05-13:/~alex/blog/2011/05/13/uncaged-monkeys/<p>I find it heartening that a thing like <a class="reference external" href="http://www.robinince.com/">Uncaged Monkeys</a> exists. While I doubt science based entertainment will ever reach the stadium busting state that stand-up comedy did a few years ago I hope the trend continues.</p>
<p>The format worked well and was a lively cross between lecture and stand-up …</p><p>I find it heartening that a thing like <a class="reference external" href="http://www.robinince.com/">Uncaged Monkeys</a> exists. While I doubt science based entertainment will ever reach the stadium busting state that stand-up comedy did a few years ago I hope the trend continues.</p>
<p>The format worked well and was a lively cross between lecture and stand-up routine. Most of the comedy was handled my Mr Ince but the others more than held their own keeping the audience engaged. The topics covered included <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Singh">Simon Singh</a> with a quick overview of cryptography which included a live demonstration with a real <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine">Engima Machine</a>. Foxy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)">Coxy</a> waxed on about the LHC's search for the Higgs Boson and the evolution of the Cosmos. Being so enthusiastic about the subject he also overran making the first half of the show quite long.</p>
<p>There was a musical interlude by the rather charming geek songstress <a class="reference external" href="http://helenarney.com/">Helen Arney</a> who played a few songs on her ukulele.</p>
<p>Due to the over-run of the first half the second half started with a very brief question and answer session with Cox and Singh. It's a shame they didn't get to do more but I did find the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf">answer to the question</a> "What's the biggest small thing in the universe?" fascinating. After the Q&A there was a little section on mapping the genetic history of humans were I learnt some interesting facts about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwax">earwax</a>. The presenter <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jones_(biologist)">Professor Steve Jones</a> painted himself as a Dawkins lite but was funny and engaging nevertheless. Finally the energetic <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Goldacre">Ben Goldacre</a> ran through the placebo effect and how to design drug trials. The data he presented about trail bias was was slightly concerning. Although he had no qualms about rubbishing the quack pill pushers it seems even the proper scientific approach of the big pharmacology companies is not averse to being gamed to show one treatment is better than another. Finally Cox brought the evening to a close introducing an audio clip of Carl Sagan musing on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot#Reflections_by_Sagan">Pale Blue Dot</a>.</p>
<p>Although I was familiar with some of the material from Ince's previous show <a class="reference external" href="http://newhumanist.org.uk/1917/nine-lessons-and-carols-for-godless-people">Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People</a> I still learnt new things at this one. I hope the trend for taking science out to the people continues and I look forward to going to more like it.</p>
No news is some news2011-05-10T07:55:00+01:002011-05-10T07:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-05-10:/~alex/blog/2011/05/10/no-news-is-some-news/<p>There is currently a lot of consternation around <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13330409">Twitter users</a> attempting to circumnavigate the latest batch of so called super-injunctions. The approach <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&client=ubuntu&channel=cs&ie=UTF-8&q=%23superinjunction#q=%23superinjunction&hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=sBR&channel=cs&prmd=ivnsu&source=lnms&tbm=mbl&ei=zejHTcThJYeZhQf8haGEBA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=6&ved=0CBgQ_AUoBQ&fp=89ab0539bee4a326&biw=1220&bih=601">being taken by twitter users</a> seems to involve throwing up a number of informed guesses as to the subjects of these injunctions and seeing what gets taken down …</p><p>There is currently a lot of consternation around <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13330409">Twitter users</a> attempting to circumnavigate the latest batch of so called super-injunctions. The approach <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&client=ubuntu&channel=cs&ie=UTF-8&q=%23superinjunction#q=%23superinjunction&hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=sBR&channel=cs&prmd=ivnsu&source=lnms&tbm=mbl&ei=zejHTcThJYeZhQf8haGEBA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=6&ved=0CBgQ_AUoBQ&fp=89ab0539bee4a326&biw=1220&bih=601">being taken by twitter users</a> seems to involve throwing up a number of informed guesses as to the subjects of these injunctions and seeing what gets taken down. An interesting side-effect of the current injunctions being that someone might end up being found in contempt of court without actually knowing the facts that have been protected. It would be interesting if ignorance was actually held up to be a valid defence in this case.</p>
<p>The newspapers of course are free to egg things along by reporting on the reporting that they are unable to report on directly themselves.</p>
<p>However legal issues aside there is another problem with attempting to eradicate the collective memory of the internet. While things are extensively archived and uniquely indexed it become comparatively simple to look for the holes in the record. For example look at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ryan_Giggs&action=history">Wikipedia Revision history for a random premier league footballer</a> and you'll notice a number of edits that have been <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Revision_deletion#Criteria_for_redaction">revision deleted</a> rather than the usual straight reversion of wiki vandalism. This in of itself doesn't prove anything but it would certainly be an interesting exercise correlating the revision deletion patterns with reference to other entries including those that couldn't afford <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imogen_Thomas">to be protected by injunctions</a>.</p>
<p>I should point out I don't really care about stories of celebrities shagging around. Unless their behaviour is at odds with their public pronouncements on how the rest of us should lead our lives it's between themselves and their families. However there have been other cases of super-injunctions being used to prevent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire_toxic_waste_dump">reporting on more serious matters</a> where there was definitely a public interest in making more widely known.</p>
Dodging Rainclouds2011-05-09T13:54:00+01:002011-05-09T13:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-05-09:/~alex/blog/2011/05/09/dodging-rainclouds/<p>We had a nice trip up to Manchester (or more correctly Knutsford) over the weekend. We knew we were approaching Manchester after the sunny afternoon drive was obscured by the large cloud burst darkening the sky. The pattern of rain continued until Sunday but luckily lifted itself for the duration …</p><p>We had a nice trip up to Manchester (or more correctly Knutsford) over the weekend. We knew we were approaching Manchester after the sunny afternoon drive was obscured by the large cloud burst darkening the sky. The pattern of rain continued until Sunday but luckily lifted itself for the duration of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.knutsford-royal-mayday.co.uk/">May Day Parade</a>.</p>
<p>It was lovely catching up with people and news - our own is probably spreading via non-public means as I post. We hope to come up later this year and perhaps catch-up with a few more people.</p>
Self-indulgence2011-05-04T11:35:00+01:002011-05-04T11:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-05-04:/~alex/blog/2011/05/04/self-indulgence/<p>I was thinking of twining about how hard my life was especially as I haven't been able to get my CoD on for the last two weeks due to the extended PSN outage. However I was reminded this morning that it's voting day tomorrow and given the <a class="reference external" href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/av-referendum">current polling</a> is …</p><p>I was thinking of twining about how hard my life was especially as I haven't been able to get my CoD on for the last two weeks due to the extended PSN outage. However I was reminded this morning that it's voting day tomorrow and given the <a class="reference external" href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/av-referendum">current polling</a> is rather disheartening for the Yes to AV camp I thought I'd tilt at a few more windmills. However my loyal readers are most likely bored stiff of me droning on about voting reform I thought I'd offer a video of some cute cats instead.</p>
<p>A lot of hysteria about has been spread about AV. Both sides have made rather exaggerated claims for what it can and can't do. It makes sense to keep things in perspective. AV is certainly not a proportional system. If it were I might be taking a different position as although proportional representation is desirable I have issues with the systems that ensure it. In fact the results it generates won't be too far different from what FPTP system generate now, although without polling on 2nd preferences it's hard to model. The only real change is that candidates who win their constituency races will have to gather a broader range of support, even if they are not first choice of every voter that eventually lends them their vote. It's a small change I think it makes for a better system. So I urge you if your eligible to vote in tomorrows referendum to vote <a class="reference external" href="http://i.imgur.com/Zb9tJ.png">Yes to AV</a>.</p>
Wingnut Special2011-05-03T15:15:00+01:002011-05-03T15:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-05-03:/~alex/blog/2011/05/03/wingnut-special/<p>I suspect yesterday morning will be one of those "remember where you were when..." moments. Our Monday morning alarm was set (having not disabled it for the bank holiday) so we woke to the headlines announcing the killing of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden">US enemy number one</a> in a daring raid into Pakistan.</p>
<p>I …</p><p>I suspect yesterday morning will be one of those "remember where you were when..." moments. Our Monday morning alarm was set (having not disabled it for the bank holiday) so we woke to the headlines announcing the killing of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden">US enemy number one</a> in a daring raid into Pakistan.</p>
<p>I notice it hasn't taken long for the conspiracy nuts to come out of the woodwork. I've seen claims that Osama had been dead for some time and this was announced to boost Obama's flagging approval ratings. A lot also seems to being made of the fact that the body was buried at sea. They all suffer from the classic conspiracy fallacy of substituting something even more unlikely because the official story seems unlikely to them. It's purely an information problem - it's much harder to keep things secret forever than for a limited time.</p>
<p>Take for example the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/sets/72157626507626189/">Whitehouse flickr photo-stream</a>. The conspiracy theorists would argue "It's all staged! It means nothing". However the pictures identify 12-20 people in the most secure room in the world who would have to be in on the deception. That's 12-20 people who could potentially give the conspiracy away at any moment. And that doesn't include the rest of the people involved in an risky operation into a foreign country that left bits of a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH-60_helicopter">Black Hawk helicopter</a> behind and <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/#!/ReallyVirtual/status/64780730286358528">witnessed in real time</a>. Is it really plausible you would choose to violate Pakistani sovereign airspace risking and international incident to pretend you had killed Osama? Wouldn't it make more sense to stage the operation somewhere you had more control, for example in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tora_Bora">Tora Bora</a> mountains in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>There is of course the possibility that they thought they were going after Osama but didn't actually find him when they got there. However the official record has stated they used DNA evidence to be sure they got him, bringing more people into the slowly growing number that have to keep to the conspiracies version of the facts. Pretty soon you'll be in the same position as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories">Moon Landing Deniers</a> that assume half of NASA where in on the lie.</p>
<p>Conspiracies <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal">do happen</a> but they all tend involve a small number of people all equally tied the consequences of the conspiracy being revealed. Even then the group very rarely take the secrets to their graves. By all means question authority and keep an open mind to the possibilities, just don't leave your common sense behind when evaluating an even more far fetched explanation.</p>
Bread and Circuses2011-04-29T14:16:00+01:002011-04-29T14:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-29:/~alex/blog/2011/04/29/bread-and-circuses/<p>I'm not exactly a staunch royalist but in the great scheme of things having a constitutional monarchy ain't so bad. While it's unlikely I'll be glued to the TV watching the high pomp and circumstance of our eventual King and Queen getting married I don't begrudge anyone who wants to …</p><p>I'm not exactly a staunch royalist but in the great scheme of things having a constitutional monarchy ain't so bad. While it's unlikely I'll be glued to the TV watching the high pomp and circumstance of our eventual King and Queen getting married I don't begrudge anyone who wants to. It's certainly been nice to have the 3 short weeks in a row.</p>
<p>We've been spending the wedding day chilling and trying to defeat the Stryder Assault in Episode 2 of Half Life 2. We may head down to the [STRIKEOUT:street party]village picnic later but only to partake in the community bonding experience.</p>
Desperation and Mud slinging2011-04-24T10:15:00+01:002011-04-24T10:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-24:/~alex/blog/2011/04/24/watch-full-movie-streaming-and-download-sing-2016-subtitle-english/<p>It's unfortunate as we roll towards the referendum in May that the debate has become one framed around mud slinging and pandering to fears without actually discussing the system itself.</p>
<p>Item one for the prosecution was the "No to AV" campaigns leaflet that arrived on my doorstep claiming that they …</p><p>It's unfortunate as we roll towards the referendum in May that the debate has become one framed around mud slinging and pandering to fears without actually discussing the system itself.</p>
<p>Item one for the prosecution was the "No to AV" campaigns leaflet that arrived on my doorstep claiming that they believed in "One Person, One Vote". The implication of which was the proposed AV system somehow gave some people more votes than others. This is of course completely distorting the mechanism which AV follows. Anyone voting under AV can only lend their vote to one candidate at a time, there is never a situation where their vote is counted for another candidate at the same time.</p>
<p>There have been many attempts in the media to explain the proposed system using various metaphors and graphic devices. I'm beginning to think this plurality of explanations is part of the reason the public are so confused about how the system works in practise. At the risk of increasing the confusion I've come up with my own preferred way of explaining the system.</p>
<p>Imagine the candidates all stand in a playground with 100 voters. When the vote is called everyone forms a line behind their preferred candidate. Assuming that there are not more than 50 people stood behind one candidate the candidate with the least number of supporters is withdrawn from the race and their supporters go and choose who they wish to support now. Notice crucially that the number of voters (and hence votes) being counted has not changed. The process is repeated until more than 50 people are stood behind one of the candidates. So while it's true that the final winning candidate might have not been in the lead in the first round notice how they now have the votes of more than 50% of the voters involved. Granted they may not be the first preference of everyone but more voters would prefer them to represent them than any other candidate, including the candidate that might have won under First past the Post with only <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/d38.stm">29.4%</a> of the vote. While under the old system the views of 70% of voters are disregarded the proposed AV system would mean at least 50% of the electors have had a say in their representative.</p>
<p>As you may be able to guess I'll be voting "Yes to AV" on May the 5th. I sincerely hope you will to but even if you won't please do go to the polls on May the 5th. This is one vote that really will be decided by a majority.</p>
Knights who say frak, a lot2011-04-19T11:32:00+01:002011-04-19T11:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-19:/~alex/blog/2011/04/19/knights-who-say-frak-a-lot/<p>We watched the first episode of HBO's adaptation of <a class="reference external" href="http://grrm.livejournal.com/">George R. R. Martins</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire">Song of Ice and Fire</a> fantasy series. Or as Fliss likes to describe it Knights who Say F**k, a lot.</p>
<p>First impressions are good, HBO don't skimp when it comes to production quality which explains why …</p><p>We watched the first episode of HBO's adaptation of <a class="reference external" href="http://grrm.livejournal.com/">George R. R. Martins</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire">Song of Ice and Fire</a> fantasy series. Or as Fliss likes to describe it Knights who Say F**k, a lot.</p>
<p>First impressions are good, HBO don't skimp when it comes to production quality which explains why we have so many of their Box Sets on our shelves. They have done a good job at portraying the varied landscape of Westeros and have some impressive sets I hope they are going to make good use of. The cast seem to be well chosen and the performances so far have been good.</p>
<p>The show has Martin signed up as a non-honorific executive producer. This explain why the show seems to be sticking fairly closely to story of the book. It will be interesting to see if that changes over time as the books do tend to wander through a lot of characters. Also having read all the books so far we both know whats coming up. I don't know if this will get annoying or if we will just sit back and enjoy the ride. We are certainly looking forward to the next episode with anticipation.</p>
<p>My only worry is the same fate will befall this that befell <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_(TV_series)">Rome</a> which is high production costs making the show uneconomical. It's doubly annoying as I would love for HBO to start a streaming on-demand service where I could pay as I go to watch those HBO shows when they are on. I'm afraid I can't justify paying Murdoch £20 a month just to watch one show.</p>
Playing Blu-Ray under Linux2011-04-18T13:43:00+01:002011-04-18T13:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-18:/~alex/blog/2011/04/18/playing-blu-ray-under-linux/<p>One of the many deficiencies of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management">Digital Restrictions Management</a> is the fact it makes doing legal authorised things hard for paying customers. For example my brother still can't play Blu-Ray disks on his laptop despite it having the requisite a) drive, b) power and c) display resolution. Because the OS …</p><p>One of the many deficiencies of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management">Digital Restrictions Management</a> is the fact it makes doing legal authorised things hard for paying customers. For example my brother still can't play Blu-Ray disks on his laptop despite it having the requisite a) drive, b) power and c) display resolution. Because the OS on his machine (Vista?) can't see a verifiable encrypted path to his big screen display it refuses to play his legally purchased disks.</p>
<p>This is one reason why I haven't brought any Blu-Ray disks since the couple I got with my PS3 (to test the Hi-Def goodness). I refuse to buy them while I have no devices under my control* that can play them. Still the conversation with my brother and the fact I had a Blu-Ray drive in my desktop prompted me to see if it was indeed now possible.</p>
<p>My desktop system runs <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentoo_Linux">Gentoo</a> which makes running bleeding edge code very easy. I duly enabled the "bluray" and "aacs" <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/dyn/use-index.xml">use flags</a> and recompiled mplayer. This brought in libbluray and the command line utility aacskeys. Unfortunately mplayer was still unable to play the disk, complaining the disk was still encrypted.</p>
<p>After a bunch of searching the interwebs and drawing blanks on finding any explicit "HOWTO" instructions I resorted to running mplayer through a debugger (one advantage of an Open Source system is there are no "black boxes" to reverse engineer) to see how libbluray was being invoked. It turned out it attempts to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_loading">dlopen</a> another library <a class="reference external" href="http://www.videolan.org/developers/libaacs.html">libaacs</a> which wasn't on my system. Once I added it's <a class="reference external" href="http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=352031">ebuild</a> to my overlay I was one step closer.</p>
<p>Unlike the libdecss (which works around the rather anaemic crypto on plain old DVDs) the libaacs library doesn't crack the considerably stronger keys used on BluRay. It relies on a database of Volume keys which can be placed in <em>~/.config/aacs/KEYDB.CFG</em> which are used to calculate the final decryption keys for the content. Confusingly the format is different from the key databases <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=KEYDB.CFG">you may find searching</a> the internet. However the <a class="reference external" href="http://git.videolan.org/?p=libaacs.git;a=blob;f=KEYDB.cfg;h=b3b1a7ec08d1964f215024c777e92e92e519dcc2;hb=HEAD">libaacs file format documentation</a> provides instruction on convert the old format into a new format file.</p>
<p>With all of this in-place I was finally able to play my legally owned copy of Black Hawk Down. Yay!</p>
<p>Of course this does require having the appropriate keys for the disc you want to play in your key database. This is where aacskeys comes in. This program allows you to extract the appropriate volume ID key from the disc you want to play. However there are some potential caveats. For starters the program is a little unfriendly to use as it requires certain files to be in the directory your running from. Also some BluRay drive firmwares will refuse to supply the needed keys if the disks are a newer generation than the drive (due to the AACS key revocation model). I'm not sure if a drive will self revoke under Linux if presented with a newer disk but this is the reason there are patched drive firmwares out there.</p>
<p>In the event I was able to verify that aacskeys generates the same volume ID for my copy of Blackhawk Down as was in the KEYDB.CFG database so I know it works for now.</p>
<p>In summary this does show it is possible to play a Blu-Ray disk on a Linux system however there was a fair bit of hoop jumping involved. If I can find a source repository for aacskeys I might start by cleaning it up and making the process of updating the key database a little less painful. I doubt I'll be buying any more Blu-Ray disks until the process of playback is a lot simpler.</p>
<p>* My PS3 is very much Sony's device, a Faustian bargain I accept because I like playing games every now and again. Witness the removal of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS">OtherOS</a> from working systems in the wild by a mandatory firmware update.</p>
completion-ignored-extensions2011-04-13T16:27:00+01:002011-04-13T16:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-13:/~alex/blog/2011/04/13/completion-ignored-extensions/<p>I've been using the rather spiffy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/LustyExplorer">Lusty Explorer</a> for some time for my buffer and file finding. However it (I thought) had a rather annoying bug where I could never tab directly into some of the repositories I was hacking on. Eventually I figured out that the problem was down …</p><p>I've been using the rather spiffy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/LustyExplorer">Lusty Explorer</a> for some time for my buffer and file finding. However it (I thought) had a rather annoying bug where I could never tab directly into some of the repositories I was hacking on. Eventually I figured out that the problem was down to the way I name them.</p>
<p>My naming scheme for any repository is generally to add the version control extension to the directory. This is more for my benefit than emacs as it's quite capable of working this out for itself in any given repo. However it turns out that Lusty was being a good emacs citizen and using the variable <em>completion-ignored-extensions</em> which included the pattern ".git/" and duly hiding my repo directories from completion. In fact there are a number of patterns in there which should probably be more specific. I wrote this to fix the problem:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(setq completion-ignored-extensions
(mapcar '(lambda (ext)
(if (string-equal "/" (substring ext -1 nil))
(concat "^" ext)
ext)) completion-ignored-extensions))
</pre>
<p>It still seems a little ugly to me so given the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/08/10/looping-in-lisp/">last time I berated elisp's style</a> gained so many useful suggestions I'd welcome improvements.</p>
That would be a psephological matter2011-04-13T15:33:00+01:002011-04-13T15:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-13:/~alex/blog/2011/04/13/that-would-be-a-psephological-matter/<p>One of the most annoying aspects of our current electoral system is the issue of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_voting">tactical voting</a>. This is where voters feel compelled to vote for someone over their preferred candidate as otherwise someone they really don't want might sneak in thanks to the split vote. It's something that's sadly …</p><p>One of the most annoying aspects of our current electoral system is the issue of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_voting">tactical voting</a>. This is where voters feel compelled to vote for someone over their preferred candidate as otherwise someone they really don't want might sneak in thanks to the split vote. It's something that's sadly very common with the current First Past the Post system. You'll often hear politicians on election night discussing swings towards various candidates around various issues and it's all based on hearsay from the campaign trail. No one really knows why the voters voted for a particular person and there is much tea-leaf reading done by the psephologists in interpreting the results for a ward.</p>
<p>This for me is the principle reason I favour the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yestofairervotes.org/">proposed Alternative Vote</a> which will be the subject of a referendum on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/news-and-media/public-awareness-campaigns/public-information-on-5-May-2011-elections-and-referendum">5th of May</a>.</p>
<p>Political parties are not one size fits all stereotypes - all of the main parties have a fairly broad coalition of views. Knowing the preference voting order of the voters will give a much greater insight into the nature of the electorate which can only be a good thing. We will no longer assume that all Tory voters are Eurosceptic social conservatives or supporting the LibDems implies you are a Labour refugee or the Labour party draws all it support from militant union membership. And by raising the bar an MP has to reach they will have to broaden their base and not just rely on there being slightly more of one set of voters than the other platforms.</p>
<p>I have to say so far neither of the campaigning groups has particularly impressed me although the No to AV campaign do seem to be edging ahead in the negative campaigning. However the electoral commission does do a good neutral <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/referendum_2011/referendum_booklet_all_formats.aspx">booklet</a> that explains how AV works without any spin either way. It's worth a read.</p>
<p>While I hope I've done my bit to convince you of the benefits of voting yes (feel free to comment if you want debate!) I do urge everyone who has the right to actually turn up and make their views known. These decisions are only made by those who turn up and if turnout is low it will be a long time before your views on the electoral system are canvassed again.</p>
NoSTalgia2011-04-05T10:16:00+01:002011-04-05T10:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-05:/~alex/blog/2011/04/05/nostalgia-2/<p>In the middle of ripping box-sets to our media server I had a little
bout of nostalgia for the 'ole days. After a little messing about I
got the latest version of <a class="reference external" href="http://hatari.berlios.de/">Hatari</a>
running which still seems to be making releases. It does a very
creditable job in handling Atari …</p><p>In the middle of ripping box-sets to our media server I had a little
bout of nostalgia for the 'ole days. After a little messing about I
got the latest version of <a class="reference external" href="http://hatari.berlios.de/">Hatari</a>
running which still seems to be making releases. It does a very
creditable job in handling Atari ST emulation including some of the
demo effects which abused the shifter hardware. After a couple of
false starts I finally got this up on YouTube:</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay;encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S5RRroytTPc" width="560">
</iframe><p>It may not seem like much but you have to remember how much less
powerful hardware was back then. It took an appreciable amount of a
frame (at 50FPS that's 20ms) to just clear the screen. One thing I do
remember is it made use of the 68k's <em>movep</em> instruction to do the 8
pixel wide morphing of the main logo. This made it fairly efficient
despite the ST's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planar_(computer_graphics)">16 pixel wide, 4 bit-planes</a>.</p>
Getting warmer2011-04-04T14:06:00+01:002011-04-04T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-04-04:/~alex/blog/2011/04/04/getting-warmer/<p>We've been bumbling along with the central heating for the last few weeks. Every time the weather seemed to be taking a turn for the better it would invariably dive back into cold misty mornings. However it's starting to look like spring is finally arrived and starting to make it's …</p><p>We've been bumbling along with the central heating for the last few weeks. Every time the weather seemed to be taking a turn for the better it would invariably dive back into cold misty mornings. However it's starting to look like spring is finally arrived and starting to make it's presence felt. It certainly felt like it when I wandered around the garden on Saturday morning sipping my first cup of tea of the day. It was enough to convince me to hang the washing outside which gives you an insight to how radical my Saturdays have become.</p>
<p>It wasn't a very busy weekend which is just as well as the week at work was fairly harrowing. I did spend some time pottering in the garden doing my assigned tasks and finalising plans for the back garden. About the only other achievement of public note was preparing a full Lamb Sunday Roast for our neighbours.</p>
<p>Apologies for the rather banal quality of this post. I do have a number of things I want to write about including the up-coming AV referendum, some back of the envelope calculations with respect to student financing, and the irony of Microsoft referring <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12918059">Google to the EU competition authorities</a>. However despite having a number of things I want to talk about/spark discussion I'm finding it hard to actually get around to writing about them so for now you'll have to contend with these snapshots of my domestic life :-)</p>
Availability is hard it seems2011-03-30T10:27:00+01:002011-03-30T10:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-30:/~alex/blog/2011/03/30/availability-is-hard-it-seems/<p>It's a mark of how reliable some websites are that the first thing you do when you can't <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12904586">access it</a> you assume it's something up at your end. As it turns out the BBC has suffered a major DNS outage knocking all <a class="reference external" href="http://whois.domaintools.com/bbc.co.uk">four of their DNS</a> servers off the 'net …</p><p>It's a mark of how reliable some websites are that the first thing you do when you can't <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12904586">access it</a> you assume it's something up at your end. As it turns out the BBC has suffered a major DNS outage knocking all <a class="reference external" href="http://whois.domaintools.com/bbc.co.uk">four of their DNS</a> servers off the 'net. At a stroke anything with a bbc.co.uk domain name became inaccessible. It seems this was due to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2011/03/bbc_online_outage_on_tuesday_2.html">routes to the DNS</a> disappearing (similar to how <a class="reference external" href="http://bgpmon.net/blog/?p=450">Egypt disconnected itself last month</a>).</p>
<p>When major sites like the BBC go down it's real time services like Twitter that come to the fore. We spent a good half an hour chortling at a number of humorous tweets that exploded a minute or so after the outage. You can see the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbs=mbl%3A1&hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=bbc&btnG=Search">peak of activity on Google's real-time search</a>. Of course the value of this real-time information quickly falls off as spammers and conspiracy theorists jump on the meta-tags to promote their own products and theories. This included rumours that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)">Anonymous</a> was responsible for bringing down the BBC.</p>
<p>It's a salient reminder for all the "invulnerability" of the Internet high availability is a hard problem to solve.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> It's ironic that my post hasn't made it's way to my LiveJournal mirror yet due a separate outage that seems to have lasted most of the day.</p>
In other news2011-03-28T10:04:00+01:002011-03-28T10:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-28:/~alex/blog/2011/03/28/in-other-news/<p>Rat diversions aside the weekend was a fairly sedate one. We visited a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.teri-aki.co.uk/">rather nice Japanese restaurant in town</a> on Saturday with a bunch of the Cambridge LARP group. We left feeling well stuffed.</p>
<p>I spent a chunk of Sunday attending to tasks as directed by the head gardener while …</p><p>Rat diversions aside the weekend was a fairly sedate one. We visited a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.teri-aki.co.uk/">rather nice Japanese restaurant in town</a> on Saturday with a bunch of the Cambridge LARP group. We left feeling well stuffed.</p>
<p>I spent a chunk of Sunday attending to tasks as directed by the head gardener while she continued attempting the Saturday Times crossword. We seem to have become Saturday Times readers purely on the basis of the quality of their puzzles. Marcus assures me that the Gruniad provides a more brain twisting <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword">Cryptic Crossword</a> which Fliss aspires to graduate to one day. Personally I'm happy to manage one clue per crossword but I think I'm getting better at them over time.</p>
<p>We spent a large chunk of the weekend watching through C4's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits_(TV_series)">alternative take on teen super heroes Misfits</a>. It's been a fun show to watch and I suspect we'll get to the end of the season 2 box set in short order. We'll have to be careful because there seems to be a lull in any decent TV until Easter when we'll be spoilt for choice. Recommendations for other box sets welcome ;-)</p>
Victory for the ape decendents2011-03-28T09:49:00+01:002011-03-28T09:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-28:/~alex/blog/2011/03/28/victory-for-the-ape-decendents/<p>A number of weeks ago our feline owner bought a live rodent into the house. As we attempted to stop the cat playing with it's food it managed to make it's escape into the bowels of our kitchen seemingly disappearing into the skirting behind our sink. After a fruitless hour …</p><p>A number of weeks ago our feline owner bought a live rodent into the house. As we attempted to stop the cat playing with it's food it managed to make it's escape into the bowels of our kitchen seemingly disappearing into the skirting behind our sink. After a fruitless hour of poking with sticks while wearing a head torch we gave up assuming the cat would finish the job next time it ventured out. Unfortunately the rodent proved to be smarter than the average pussy cat and made a life for itself pinching fruit and other scraps it was able to find at night. The carefully baited mouse trap also failed to attract it's attention. In the end we resorted chemical warfare and went for the utilitarian "Rat Kill Station" which presents a one stop bait and poison delivery mechanism in a handy enclosed plastic box. Visions of the rat retiring after a large hearty meal never to wake again were shattered on Sunday afternoon when the noise of it's death throes in the base of our oven summoned our attentions. The thing had grown significantly and we were left with the dilemma of leaving it to finish it's death or handling a rather pissed off but terminal rat out of the house. Next time I think I'll just leave the cat to finish the job and appreciate the relative cleanliness of the circle of life.</p>
Star Stuff2011-03-17T12:21:00+00:002011-03-17T12:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-17:/~alex/blog/2011/03/17/star-stuff/<p>Fliss is fairly convinced I have a man crush on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)">Brian Cox</a>. If I have it's because it is nice to have a telegenic scientist on our TV screens who is obviously so excited by the science he wants to share it with his audience. Last week's Wonders <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/03/07/holy-exponential-parking-charges-batman/">left me …</a></p><p>Fliss is fairly convinced I have a man crush on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)">Brian Cox</a>. If I have it's because it is nice to have a telegenic scientist on our TV screens who is obviously so excited by the science he wants to share it with his audience. Last week's Wonders <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2011/03/07/holy-exponential-parking-charges-batman/">left me a little cold</a> as it plodded through entropy theory and it's implications for the end of the universe. This weeks episode was much better paced as Cox went through the from the Big Bang and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesis">Stellar Nucleosynthesis</a> and Super Nova processes which are responsible for all the diversity of elements found in our solar system. He even touched upon the stellar chemistry which has been detected which is hinting that much of the organic starter materials for life may already have existed in the dust clouds before the planet was formed.</p>
<p>For me there wasn't much new but I readily accept I'm not really the target audience for the program. However it was still fun to watch and a definite improvement on last weeks episode.</p>
<p>Cox has been quoted as saying he's heavily influenced by the late great Carl Sagan and his seminal <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage">Cosmos: A Personal Voyage</a> which we have recently acquired on DVD. Having watched a few episodes of Cosmos so far it's hard not to draw comparisons. However the Cosmos series has the advantage of being 13 episodes long and therefor being much broader in scope in what it tries to cover. While the Wonders series attempts to describe the physics of the universe as it is in 4 episodes Cosmos is able to spend more time on the history of scientific endeavour. It takes time to detail some of the early experiments that started to peel back the mysteries of the universe. On balance I think that makes Cosmos a more interesting series to watch. However if Wonders is sufficiently engaging to make kids think that physics is cool and science is worthy of study then I'm more than happy for it to succeed.</p>
The long shadow of Iraq2011-03-16T13:10:00+00:002011-03-16T13:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-16:/~alex/blog/2011/03/16/the-long-shadow-of-iraq/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_Gaddafi">Colonel Gaddafi</a> must think he's the luckiest dictator in the world. While operating under the imperfect spotlight of the worlds media last week he's now busy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12756874">crushing the rebellion</a> in Libya while the worlds attention is divided by events the other side of the world. Meanwhile the legacy of the …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_Gaddafi">Colonel Gaddafi</a> must think he's the luckiest dictator in the world. While operating under the imperfect spotlight of the worlds media last week he's now busy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12756874">crushing the rebellion</a> in Libya while the worlds attention is divided by events the other side of the world. Meanwhile the legacy of the Iraq war has made most of the Western world hesitant about bold action. So while it's right to try and gather international support at the UN I fear the fighting will be over and the leaders strung up on lamp posts before any action is taken. Obama is certainly an improvement on the last incumbent in the White House but he's not exactly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2011/03/obamas_deliberation_on_libya_l.html">offering leadership</a> in this situation.</p>
<p>Of course it's open for debate if a No Fly zone would help the rebels, but I'm struggling to think what else the west can do? What would those opposed to the Iraq war suggest is the correct response to this situation? Is the lesson the Arab people are to take from this that we are sorry we intervened militarily before, all we can do is offer vocal support while well armed states put down dissent?</p>
<p>The shadow of Iraq is long indeed.</p>
Doom posts2011-03-14T20:26:00+00:002011-03-14T20:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-14:/~alex/blog/2011/03/14/doom-posts/<p>Let me start by saying that I in no way want to minimise the horror the Japanese have been going through. By any standard the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html">earthquake</a> has a big one. Despite their advanced technology and modern 21st century infrastructure there isn't a lot more they could have done to …</p><p>Let me start by saying that I in no way want to minimise the horror the Japanese have been going through. By any standard the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html">earthquake</a> has a big one. Despite their advanced technology and modern 21st century infrastructure there isn't a lot more they could have done to mitigate the effects of nature at it's peak. Having said that the fact Japan is a modern advanced democratic state will no doubt aid it in picking itself up and rebuilding.</p>
<p>However now the news media have shown the awesome power of nature and replayed the footage they have latched onto a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=wiki+fukasma#q=japan+nuclear+emergency&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=nws:1,qdr:w&prmd=ivnsu&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=oXR-TZeuLJG1hAfl28zuBg&ved=0CBAQpwUoAw&fp=3eadc0fb8015b5fa">new story</a>. I've seen reports comparing the situation to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster">Chernobyl</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident">3 Mile Island</a>. The fact the buildings housing the reactors have blown up in a photogenic way has no doubt added to the drama. I found it useful to read up <a class="reference external" href="http://words3pictures.tumblr.com/">on the details in plain English</a> as written by a good friend of mine. As someone who actually knows about nuclear safety she's well worth the read.</p>
<p>There may well be questions about this incident after they have resolved the situation. Nothing can ever be made 100% safe, not everything can be anticipated. What will happen is a long careful analysis of what didn't work (and what did) which will inform the engineering that will go into the next generation of reactors (these having been built in 1971). The anti-nuclear campaigns should think on these facts before declaring that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_I_Nuclear_Power_Plant">Fukushima</a> demonstrates <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/14/germany-likely-suspend-nuclear-plant-plans">we should give up on</a> building our own next generation power stations.</p>
Goodbye Nana2011-03-14T07:44:00+00:002011-03-14T07:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-14:/~alex/blog/2011/03/14/goodbye-nana/<p>The weekend was overshadowed by saying goodbye to my Nana on Friday. She was the last of my grandparents to go after reaching the grand old age of 95. Right up to end she maintained her sharp wit and sense of fun. The service was a nice humanist celebration of …</p><p>The weekend was overshadowed by saying goodbye to my Nana on Friday. She was the last of my grandparents to go after reaching the grand old age of 95. Right up to end she maintained her sharp wit and sense of fun. The service was a nice humanist celebration of her life and was a reminder of how much harder life was back then, especially raising kids while your husband went of to war. It was slightly surreal to see the whole clan gathered in full. I don't see my extended family as often as I should and funerals are such bittersweet affairs. The sisters had done a wonderful job organising everything including putting out a large selection of pictures from over the years which brought back lots of memories of childhood. She loved her grandchildren and there we were all grown up and saying goodbye.</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.92011-03-09T22:22:00+00:002011-03-09T22:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-09:/~alex/blog/2011/03/09/edit-with-emacs-v1-9/<p>It's been a while so I thought I'd push out a new version of <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh/publish-accepted">Edit with Emacs</a>to the interwebs. Unfortunately I wasn't able to <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/commits/interactive_rebase/">wrangle the edit-server.el</a> to reliably handle keeping the current frame open for iterative editing. For now this feature is only available via the python …</p><p>It's been a while so I thought I'd push out a new version of <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh/publish-accepted">Edit with Emacs</a>to the interwebs. Unfortunately I wasn't able to <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/commits/interactive_rebase/">wrangle the edit-server.el</a> to reliably handle keeping the current frame open for iterative editing. For now this feature is only available via the python server. Patches are of course welcome!</p>
<p>v1.9</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Support for iterative editing (python server only currently)</div>
<div class="line">* Add context menu while in text area box</div>
<div class="line">* Fix reference to Alt-E, it's actually Alt-Enter</div>
<div class="line">* Trigger a DOM change() event when we update the text area</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Actively encode responses as UTF-8</div>
<div class="line">* Make edit-server-edit-mode a minor mode instead of a derived mode</div>
</div>
Holy exponential parking charges Batman!2011-03-07T12:53:00+00:002011-03-07T12:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-03-07:/~alex/blog/2011/03/07/holy-exponential-parking-charges-batman/<p>There wasn't much to be achieved at the weekend although I did pick my parents up from their last minute skiing holiday. It did lead to some colourful language when I got tagged by the airports parking scam.</p>
<p>I carefully timed the drive down to arrive as my parented landed …</p><p>There wasn't much to be achieved at the weekend although I did pick my parents up from their last minute skiing holiday. It did lead to some colourful language when I got tagged by the airports parking scam.</p>
<p>I carefully timed the drive down to arrive as my parented landed. In fact they were slightly early so I move from holding point at the local garage to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stanstedairport.com/portal/page/Stansted%5EGeneral%5ETo+and+from+Stansted%5EStansted+parking+options%5EStansted+Short+Stay+Parking/c25992b57c77d110VgnVCM10000036821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/">short stay pick-up parking</a>. However the airport managed to temporally misplace one of their bags delaying their exit just long enough to push the parked time over to 46 minutes and an eye watering £30 parking charge. A cynic might conclude the two things are related. It would be an interesting exercise to work out how much of the car parks profits are due to slow baggage processing.</p>
<p>The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxed although I did win brownie points for cleaning the kitchen floor while Fliss was out LARPing. Technically of course it was a left over job from the big pre-spring clean two weeks ago.</p>
<p>I watched the first episode of [STRIKEOUT:Holiday with Brian Cox]<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zdhtg">Wonders of the Universe</a>. I have to say this episode left me a little underwhelmed but possibly because of the glacial introduction of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy">entropy</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe">heat death of the universe</a>. I'm hoping the next episode is better because I did enjoy the Wonders of the Solar System. We might have to watch the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h">Sky at Night</a> for a little less dumbed down science.</p>
Book Review: Free as in Freedom2011-02-23T16:13:00+00:002011-02-23T16:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-02-23:/~alex/blog/2011/02/23/book-review-free-as-in-freedom/<p>I've just finished reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Freedom-Richard-Stallmans-Software/dp/1441437886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298472191&sr=8-1">Free as in Freedom</a> a biography of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman">Richard Stallman</a> the founder of the free software movement. The title takes it's name from the oft repeated statement used to highlight that software freedom is not about the price rather what you can do with it.</p>
<p>The book …</p><p>I've just finished reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Freedom-Richard-Stallmans-Software/dp/1441437886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298472191&sr=8-1">Free as in Freedom</a> a biography of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman">Richard Stallman</a> the founder of the free software movement. The title takes it's name from the oft repeated statement used to highlight that software freedom is not about the price rather what you can do with it.</p>
<p>The book itself is relatively short and is easy to read. It combines historical sections describing Stallman's intellectual journey with alternating chapters describing experiences Sam Williams had while interviewing this famously prickly character. As a long time follower of the FLOSS movement I was fairly familiar with the well documented early stories of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Computer_Science_and_Artificial_Intelligence_Laboratory">MIT AI Lab</a> and it's demise following the rush to commercialise <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_machine">LISP machines</a>. However Williams adds a lot more emotional colour to the story that left me feeling I had a greater understanding of Stallman's personality. I found it hard not to sympathise with the situation Stallman found himself in and the logic of his actions that ultimately led to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html">GNU Manifesto</a>.</p>
<p>Stallman is often portrayed as a character who divides the disparate FLOSS community. People criticise him for his stubborn intransigence while missing the fact he holds his positions as a result of the logical extrapolation on sincerely held principles. It would be hard to argue that Linux would have taken off as a poster-child for Open Source had the ground work not been laid by Stallman's GNU project. In this light the call to refer to it as GNU/Linux and the importance of understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the movement seems fairly reasonable. After reading Free as in Freedom I do feel as though I have a better understanding of why things turned out like they did. It left me feeling how lucky we are that Stallman was born into this time and wondering how different things would have been otherwise.</p>
Is it spring yet?2011-02-21T16:29:00+00:002011-02-21T16:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-02-21:/~alex/blog/2011/02/21/is-it-spring-yet/<p>Nothing much happened this weekend apart from a complete tidy-up spring clean of the house. This may seem a little premature but when the weather finally does get better we won't have to worry about too much clutter up the house. Fliss' mum came around on Sunday and helped us …</p><p>Nothing much happened this weekend apart from a complete tidy-up spring clean of the house. This may seem a little premature but when the weather finally does get better we won't have to worry about too much clutter up the house. Fliss' mum came around on Sunday and helped us Fliss tackle some of the long overdue pruning ahead of the new spring growth that would have left us drowning in overgrowth.</p>
<p>Oh and Fliss <a class="reference external" href="http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Prestige_Mode">Prestiged</a>, for someone who's apparently not a fan of the FPS genre she certainly seems into it!</p>
Mountains, valleys and the meaning of romance2011-02-15T13:25:00+00:002011-02-15T13:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-02-15:/~alex/blog/2011/02/15/mountains-valleys-and-the-meaning-of-romance/<p>We spent the weekend in Wales on what has become an annual tradition of post-winter walking loosely organised around a couple of friends birthdays. The location changes every year but this year we were based in <a class="reference external" href="http://lledrhouse.co.uk/">a hostel</a> in the Snowdonia National Park.</p>
<p>By convention there are usually two walks …</p><p>We spent the weekend in Wales on what has become an annual tradition of post-winter walking loosely organised around a couple of friends birthdays. The location changes every year but this year we were based in <a class="reference external" href="http://lledrhouse.co.uk/">a hostel</a> in the Snowdonia National Park.</p>
<p>By convention there are usually two walks, higher and lower. I opted for the lower walk to ensure I was back in time to catch <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/9396246.stm">England's crushing defeat of Italy</a> in the Six Nations. Fliss decided to skip the higher walk in favour of climbing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdon">Snowdon</a> with Lee. They made it with no major incidents although I suspect it will take a few days for muscles to reach full flexibility again, especially as there was no bath available for post-walk soaking at the hostel.</p>
<p>I walked to the local pub in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolwyddelan">Dolwyddenlan</a> with a couple of the Scottish contingent to watch Wales dominate in their match. The banter with the locals was all in good humour and I was able to claim English neutrality for the whole game :-)</p>
<p>We sensibly had taken a couple of days of to make this a long weekend and spent Valentines day taking it in turns to level up Fliss' [STRIKEOUT:killing machine]profile in CoD. Fliss assures me it was a most romantic gesture on my part! Our one nod to the local economy on this hallmark holiday was to visit the local for a swift pint before they filled up with romantics enjoying a pub meal. We saw no reason to pay the inflated prices these "special" meals usually incur so I cooked a romantic meal myself. Romance on a budget, no reason to be contradictory concepts.</p>
Still paddling under the water2011-02-10T12:15:00+00:002011-02-10T12:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-02-10:/~alex/blog/2011/02/10/still-paddling-under-the-water/<p>Don't take the lack of activity on this blog as an indication that life has been quiet, far from it. Work continues to be an exercise of multiple plate juggling. Although most nights I've been either clocking up kills on CoD multi-player or vegging watching DVDs other stuff has happened …</p><p>Don't take the lack of activity on this blog as an indication that life has been quiet, far from it. Work continues to be an exercise of multiple plate juggling. Although most nights I've been either clocking up kills on CoD multi-player or vegging watching DVDs other stuff has happened. In brief:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* I bought a new PC, pimped out with 16GB of RAM and an SSD it makes a fine development box.</div>
<div class="line">* I switched my phone from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.villainrom.co.uk/forum/">VillianRom</a> to compiled from source <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cyanogenmod.com/">CyanogenMod</a>.</div>
<div class="line">* I now own real actual shares (as opposed to maybe-someday-options)</div>
<div class="line">* Married life continues to be wonderful</div>
</div>
<p>Fliss has also been very busy doing some long hours in London so a lot of our post-work slobbing has been mutual. However we are both looking forward to a long weekend walking in Wales to blow away the post-Christmas cobwebs.</p>
Memories of 19892011-01-28T23:05:00+00:002011-01-28T23:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-28:/~alex/blog/2011/01/28/memories-of-1989/<p>I remember the fall of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Iron_Curtain">Iron Curtain in 1989</a>. It seemed rather surreal as dictatorship after dictatorship fell in relatively quick succession. Some passed with little bloodshed, some went through more violent phases but in the end it changed the face of Eastern Europe. It was certainly exciting for …</p><p>I remember the fall of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Iron_Curtain">Iron Curtain in 1989</a>. It seemed rather surreal as dictatorship after dictatorship fell in relatively quick succession. Some passed with little bloodshed, some went through more violent phases but in the end it changed the face of Eastern Europe. It was certainly exciting for a 16 year old boy to watch unfold especially as I'd been raised with the spectre of nuclear war and faceless totalitarian states. All of this happened with nothing more than word of mouth and a few <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_service">foreign radio stations</a> reporting what they could.</p>
<p>Watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698">events unfold in Egypt</a> and the wider Arab world you would think the ability to organise and co-ordinate offered by modern communications mean the days of Middle Eastern dictatorships are numbered. However I'm not so sure. While it's true that more people than ever have the ability to access the Internet and mobile communications they are networks that are <a class="reference external" href="http://bgpmon.net/blog/?p=450">controllable</a> for the most part. There are always ways around these blocks but by denying it to the majority it severely hampers peoples ability to co-ordinate. They certainly don't have anything near the facilities available to them that our Students did during the recent student fees protests. I hope I'm wrong and the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_(file_sharing)">darknets</a> are in place and cobbled together networks are playing their part in helping people organise.</p>
<p>What is clear that the only people that can do anything about it are those inside the affected countries. Western governments can only offer warm words with the appropriate diplomatic hedging just in case the dictators manage to hang onto power for the time being. The rest of us just get to watch.</p>
Sound of Drums2011-01-27T11:02:00+00:002011-01-27T11:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-27:/~alex/blog/2011/01/27/sound-of-drums/<p>Yesterday I spent most of the day at the companies annual conference. It's quite a good day as we bring the whole company together in Cambridge so we catch up with the guys working overseas. The first half of the day is the usual discussion about the state of the …</p><p>Yesterday I spent most of the day at the companies annual conference. It's quite a good day as we bring the whole company together in Cambridge so we catch up with the guys working overseas. The first half of the day is the usual discussion about the state of the company and discussing our objectives for the next year. Luckily the business of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cbnl.com/product/">shifting bits</a> seems to be something that is still in demand, whatever direction the economy is heading in. Of course after hitting our targets last year we have even higher targets to achieve this year, there is always another mountain to climb it seems.</p>
<p>The afternoon session was fun. We came back into theatre to find <a class="reference external" href="http://www.drumcafe.co.uk/">some guys</a> banging away and drums and "tuned rhythm pipes" on every seat. Without prompting we soon had the whole company making a lot of surprisingly rhythmic noise and joining in. It was a great two hours although my fingers are feeling it slightly this morning. After the finale we all decamped to one of the local bars where free food and booze and funk had been laid on. It's one of the thing I enjoy about smaller companies where you can reasonably know most of the company and get a genuine sense of camaraderie.</p>
Busy busy bee2011-01-25T11:14:00+00:002011-01-25T11:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-25:/~alex/blog/2011/01/25/busy-busy-bee/<p>One reason my posting rate has dropped off so massively is I've been really busy at work. So busy that my capacity for intellectual thought in the evening is reduced to slobbing on the sofa watching DVDs or occasionally firing up CoD in split-screen and killing people with my wife …</p><p>One reason my posting rate has dropped off so massively is I've been really busy at work. So busy that my capacity for intellectual thought in the evening is reduced to slobbing on the sofa watching DVDs or occasionally firing up CoD in split-screen and killing people with my wife.</p>
<p>While I delivered my main project more or less on time at the beginning of January it's having more teething problems than most releases. This is in part due to it being a rather major upgrade, including the base OS being upgraded. However I have also just been given extra responsibilities for a part of the embedded product which has rather aggressive deadlines of it's own. We were hoping to go skiing at the end of February/Early March with the rest of the family but until I get a handle on things it's hard to predict if we can.</p>
<p>I suppose with everything else that's going on it's good that we are so busy because we can't <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cbnl.com/jobs/">hire engineers fast enough</a> as the company is growing quite strongly. There are worse problems to have I'm sure.</p>
Booze2011-01-18T10:46:00+00:002011-01-18T10:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-18:/~alex/blog/2011/01/18/booze/<p>Finally a non-technical post, although less about my life and more of a comment on the world.</p>
<p>I feel as though I'm on fairly safe ground saying most of my readers have been hungover. It would still be a fairly safe bet to say most people have been hungover many …</p><p>Finally a non-technical post, although less about my life and more of a comment on the world.</p>
<p>I feel as though I'm on fairly safe ground saying most of my readers have been hungover. It would still be a fairly safe bet to say most people have been hungover many times. Learning to drink responsibly takes a lot of practise it seems.</p>
<p>Thinking back to my salad days I can think of a number of occasions when I've failed to carry myself in a manner that I would consider civil. However I have to fight the temptation to harshly criticise the current bane of society, the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge_drinking">binge drinker</a>. is the problem really as bad as the media points out? Are the majority* of the current crop of wasted people found on our streets on Friday and Saturday night just doing what I did, slowly navigating their way to a more balanced use of alcohol? Has it always been thus? Is my transformation to old curmudgeon complete?</p>
<p>The government <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12212240">announced their minimal minimum pricing for alcohol</a> today. The reaction so far has been muted, most campaigners saying that it isn't going far enough. I'm personally happy because this attempts to remove the sale of alcohol at bellow cost levels in supermarkets (which affects struggling pubs) without attempting to be yet another sin-tax. However will it have any effect on the nations drinking habits? I'm less convinced, but then again I'm not convinced price is the main reason people get quite so sloshed at the weekends.</p>
<p>What do you think? Do we have a problem that needs fixing? How else can we do it?</p>
<p>* There are groups for which alcohol leads to fights and criminal damage. I have no problem with dumping them prison cells and prosecuting them for crimes committed under the influence. Being pissed it not an excuse.</p>
Baseline Codecs for web video2011-01-17T13:15:00+00:002011-01-17T13:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-17:/~alex/blog/2011/01/17/baseline-codecs-for-web-video/<p>A lot of 'net comment has been generated in the last few days following <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/html-video-codec-support-in-chrome.html">Google's announcement</a> that they will be dropping support for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC">H.264</a> in future versions of their Chromium browser. They expound on their decision <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/more-about-chrome-html-video-codec.html">here</a>.</p>
<p>In making this move they <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2009/01/26/in-support-of-open-video/">join the ranks of Mozilla</a> in supporting …</p><p>A lot of 'net comment has been generated in the last few days following <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/html-video-codec-support-in-chrome.html">Google's announcement</a> that they will be dropping support for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC">H.264</a> in future versions of their Chromium browser. They expound on their decision <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.chromium.org/2011/01/more-about-chrome-html-video-codec.html">here</a>.</p>
<p>In making this move they <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2009/01/26/in-support-of-open-video/">join the ranks of Mozilla</a> in supporting Open Video in web-pages. The trouble with H.264 is that while it is a documented standard it's not a free one. To implement a H.264 <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec">codec</a> you have to use patented techniques that are controlled by the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_LA">MPEG-LA</a>. Despite claims that licenses will be given away freely for decoding non-commercial video it doesn't meet the requirements of Free Software which needs to be able to distribute implementations freely and without additional restrictions. It's a problem the Open Source world has been talking about for years and it's good that Google are bringing these concerns to a wider audience.</p>
<p>For all practical purposes the change will have little effect for my day to day browsing. I can already view pretty much any video format on my Linux Desktop and if Chromium has to pass decoding to a plugin instead of doing it within the browser I probably won't even notice. This will have more of an effect on Apple's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_(Apple)">iOS</a> devices (iPhones and iPads) when places like YouTube switch to using either <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebM">WebM</a> or fall back to a Flash based player. Even today you can't browse a large amount of media on Wikipedia which favours <a class="reference external" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:File_types">free software compatible audio and video formats</a>. That is because Apple refuse to add support for these alternative codecs to their mobile OS. Not surprisingly they also have a vested interest in H.264 becoming the de facto format for video on the web being one of the many licensees represented by the MPEG-LA.</p>
<p>It's noticeable that the majority of the comments on Google's blog involve people throwing their Chrome shaped toys out of the pram and returning to Safari. Windows users will I assume have the same ability as me to handle formats via plugins instead of native browser support. It does lead me to think that their anger is somewhat misdirected when aimed at Google.</p>
<p>A number of people have pointed out there is a degree of hypocrisy in Google's stated support for open web standards while their browser (in non-free software form) still supports Flash and MP3s which have similar issues. I'm willing to concede this isn't ideal from a software freedom perspective. However I'm happy to accept their pragmatic point about this being a statement on support for open codecs for the emerging <video> tag without wanting to cripple the browser for the amount existing content out there. Now is very much the time to make stand over video lest we repeat the mistakes of MP3's and GIF's in the rush of companies to stake out their own little revenue generating area of what should be the free and open standards that underpin the web.</video></p>
Chromium Privacy Plugin2011-01-10T14:50:00+00:002011-01-10T14:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-10:/~alex/blog/2011/01/10/chromium-plugins/<p>Did you know every time you see a Facebook/Twitter/Social Media-de-jour button on a web-page it's reporting your visiting patterns to home base? If you thought Ad tracking was a worrying invasion of your privacy then just consider how much info Facebook has on you along with your browsing …</p><p>Did you know every time you see a Facebook/Twitter/Social Media-de-jour button on a web-page it's reporting your visiting patterns to home base? If you thought Ad tracking was a worrying invasion of your privacy then just consider how much info Facebook has on you along with your browsing history?</p>
<p>While things like incognito mode have their place I'd rather reduce the amount of information sites collect on me by default. Enter the <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/jeoacafpbcihiomhlakheieifhpjdfeo">Disconnect</a> extension for Chrome. Simple and easy to use it offers a single click button to re-enable those buttons should you want to "Like" something.</p>
Phone v3.02011-01-07T17:56:00+00:002011-01-07T17:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-07:/~alex/blog/2011/01/07/phone-v3-0/<p>I went to the pub last night with some of the ex-Transitive crew who have migrated south. It was a fun night of over the top geekery of the kind you only really get when people like to discuss processor architectures and the pros and cons of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C99">various language</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B0x">standards …</a></p><p>I went to the pub last night with some of the ex-Transitive crew who have migrated south. It was a fun night of over the top geekery of the kind you only really get when people like to discuss processor architectures and the pros and cons of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C99">various language</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B0x">standards updates</a>. For example I found out they have stuffed lambda functions into the growing list of functionality handled by the C++ behemoth. At some point we did whip out our phones.</p>
<p>I had resigned myself to the fact the Android 2.1 update was the last one HTC would be supplying for my Hero. So I finally got around to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooting_(Android_OS)">rooting</a> my phone.</p>
<p>The process is fairly simple but I did have to spend some time hunting and sifting through numerous guides to rooting. One thing I didn't want to be forced to do was downgrade my system image just to root it. In the end I followed <a class="reference external" href="http://rootmydroid.co.uk/guides/howto-simple-root-install-a-custom-rom/">this guide</a> which uses Universal Androot. It took a couple of attempts to work but once it did it was fairly obvious the phone had been rooted.</p>
<p>Instead of using the on board terminal emulator I used "adb shell" from my desktop to flash the recovery image. I had a small panic when the process reported all sorts of read/write errors and looked like it had broken. In the end I rebooted the phone (holding my breath) and tried again and it worked fine.</p>
<p>I chose the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.villainrom.co.uk">VillianROM</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.villainrom.co.uk/vBwiki/index.php/FroydVillain">FroydVillain</a> as a replacement ROM. It's based on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod">CyanogenMod</a> but with a moderately customised kernel and a few additional packages. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.villainrom.co.uk/vBwiki/index.php/Installing_Custom_ROMs">process</a> is fairly simple but it does wipe all your current settings and apps. It's extremely advisable to back-up all your data before you go down this road.</p>
<p>First impressions are fairly good. The phone certainly seems a lot snappier but it's hard to know without having a second phone to hand to do side to side comparisons. I dumped the "Launcher Pro" launcher and installed the open source <a class="reference external" href="http://jbthemes.com/anderweb/">ADWLauncher</a> instead as I was getting pissed off with constant nagging to upgrade to the Pro version every time I tried do something. About the only thing I miss from the old HTC Sense setup is HTC's clock widget/alarm/timer/countdown.</p>
<p>I suspect if I'm going to do any hacking on the low level I'd switch to using CyanogenMod as most of the derived ROMS aren't exactly source driven. However I need to start writing some proper Android Apps first. However I'm mainly just happy not to be reliant on my network/phone manufacturer to be able to update my phone. People running older Androids might find <a class="reference external" href="http://www.villainrom.co.uk/forum/content.php?240-When-did-you-last-get-a-Security-Update-for-your-Phone">this article</a> slightly worrying. While the iPhone is never going to be the device for me the fact they centrally manage updates rather than delegating to vendors who may or may not care means they do actually role out security updates. Given a modern smart phone contains so much personal data it does make one think.</p>
Streaming Movie I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)2011-01-06T11:10:00+00:002011-01-06T11:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-06:/~alex/blog/2011/01/06/streaming-movie-i-don-t-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-2017/<div class="section" style="margin-bottom: 22px;background-color: #f2f2f2;overflow: hidden;width: 100%;max-width: 950px;font-size: 13px;clear: both"><div class="figure">
<img alt="Streaming Movie I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) Online)" src="https://i1.wp.com/image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185//s8eN1gbBLaD4RbXWOCR7O4L2Dy1.jpg" />
</div>
<div style="padding-top: 10px;overflow: hidden"><ul>
<li><div class="first"><div class="movie-title"></div><p class="rubric" id="i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-2017">I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)</p>
</div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="padding-bottom: 2px;overflow: hidden;float: left;margin-right: 30px;width: 120px;margin-bottom: 10px"></div><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Duration</p>
</div><div><p>96 mins</p>
</div></div><div style="margin-right: 30px;float: left;overflow: hidden;padding-bottom: 2px"><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Genre</p>
</div><div><p>Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller.</p>
</div></div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="width: 120px;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-right: 30px;float: left;overflow: hidden;padding-bottom: 2px"></div><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>In Cinemas</p>
</div><div><p>January 19, 2017</p>
</div></div><div style="float: left;overflow: hidden;padding-bottom: 2px"><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Language</p>
</div><div><p>English.</p>
</div></div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="width: 100%;float: left;overflow: hidden"></div><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Country</p>
</div><div><p>United States of America.</p>
</div></div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="margin-top: 40px;padding-bottom: 2px"></div><p><a class="reference external" href="http://flickonline.co/watch/097765/i-don-t-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-2017.html">Watch Full Movie Online I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)</a></p>
</div></li>
</ul>
</div></div><div class="section" style="margin: 22px 0;max-width: 950px;background-color: #f2f2f2;padding:10px"><p class="rubric" id="plot-for-i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore">Plot For I Don't Feel at …</p></div><div class="section" style="margin-bottom: 22px;background-color: #f2f2f2;overflow: hidden;width: 100%;max-width: 950px;font-size: 13px;clear: both"><div class="figure">
<img alt="Streaming Movie I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) Online)" src="https://i1.wp.com/image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185//s8eN1gbBLaD4RbXWOCR7O4L2Dy1.jpg"/>
</div>
<div style="padding-top: 10px;overflow: hidden"><ul>
<li><div class="first"><div class="movie-title"></div><p class="rubric" id="i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-2017">I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)</p>
</div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="padding-bottom: 2px;overflow: hidden;float: left;margin-right: 30px;width: 120px;margin-bottom: 10px"></div><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Duration</p>
</div><div><p>96 mins</p>
</div></div><div style="margin-right: 30px;float: left;overflow: hidden;padding-bottom: 2px"><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Genre</p>
</div><div><p>Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller.</p>
</div></div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="width: 120px;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-right: 30px;float: left;overflow: hidden;padding-bottom: 2px"></div><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>In Cinemas</p>
</div><div><p>January 19, 2017</p>
</div></div><div style="float: left;overflow: hidden;padding-bottom: 2px"><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Language</p>
</div><div><p>English.</p>
</div></div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="width: 100%;float: left;overflow: hidden"></div><div style="font-family: OpenSansBold,Arial,sans-serif;color: #222;font-size: 12px"><p>Country</p>
</div><div><p>United States of America.</p>
</div></div></li>
<li><div class="first"><div style="margin-top: 40px;padding-bottom: 2px"></div><p><a class="reference external" href="http://flickonline.co/watch/097765/i-don-t-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore-2017.html">Watch Full Movie Online I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)</a></p>
</div></li>
</ul>
</div></div><div class="section" style="margin: 22px 0;max-width: 950px;background-color: #f2f2f2;padding:10px"><p class="rubric" id="plot-for-i-dont-feel-at-home-in-this-world-anymore">Plot For I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore</p>
<div style="font-size: 16px"><p>Movie 'I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore' was released in January 19, 2017 in genre Comedy. Macon Blair was directed this movie and starring by Melanie Lynskey. This movie tell story about When a depressed woman is burglarized, she finds a new sense of purpose by tracking down the thieves alongside her obnoxious neighbor. But they soon find themselves dangerously out of their depth against a pack of degenerate criminals.</p>
</div></div><div class="section" style="margin: 22px 0;max-width: 950px;background-color: #f2f2f2;padding:10px"><p class="rubric" id="director">DIRECTOR</p>
<div style="font-size: 16px"><p>Macon Blair.</p>
</div></div><div class="section" style="margin: 22px 0;max-width: 950px;background-color: #f2f2f2;padding:10px"><p class="rubric" id="producer">Producer</p>
<div style="font-size: 16px"><p>Mette-Marie Kongsved, Anish Savjani, Vincent Savino, Neil Kopp.</p>
</div></div><div class="section" style="margin: 22px 0;max-width: 950px;background-color: #f2f2f2;padding:10px"><p class="rubric" id="writer">Writer</p>
<div style="font-size: 16px"><p>Macon Blair.</p>
</div></div><div class="section" style="margin: 22px 0;max-width: 950px;background-color: #f2f2f2;padding:10px"><p class="rubric" id="production-company">Production Company</p>
<div style="font-size: 16px"><p>Film Science, XYZ Films.</p>
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</div></div>CoD: Black Ops2011-01-04T14:55:00+00:002011-01-04T14:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-04:/~alex/blog/2011/01/04/cod-black-ops/<p>As is becoming traditional I got the latest instalment of the Call of Duty franchise, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Black_Ops">Black ops</a>, as one of my Christmas presents. What follows is some brief comments having finished the single player campaign last night. I don't think I've been overly hammering it but I reckon it took …</p><p>As is becoming traditional I got the latest instalment of the Call of Duty franchise, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Black_Ops">Black ops</a>, as one of my Christmas presents. What follows is some brief comments having finished the single player campaign last night. I don't think I've been overly hammering it but I reckon it took around 16 hours of game time to finish.</p>
<p>The CoD series have traditionally alternated developers between <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treyarch">Treyarch</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Ward">Infinity Ward</a>. While Infinity Ward's original <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty_4:_Modern_Warfare">Modern Warfare</a> was fairly ground breaking for a FPS their engine is now used for both streams of development. Some people claim to prefer IW's games but I can say since the original MW I've been happy with both development houses which is just as well as most of the MW developers at IW have left Activision following disputes over bonuses.</p>
<p>The game itself is set in the cold war period following World War II. The plot is driven by the interrogation of the main protagonist and flash-backs to earlier events in which he or other members of the team were involved with. The story is a classic cold war conspiracy thriller set to a large over the top action movie. Considering the game format I think the story worked well and gave me some degree of sympathy for the main character.</p>
<p>The combat is as sharp as you'd expect from this successful franchise with a decent range of weapons to choose from. There are a number of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_time_event">quick time events</a> sprinkled throughout which keep you immersed in the game during cut-scenes although are occasionally frustrating when you want to shoot something. I quite enjoyed the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-24">Mi-24 Hind</a> section which allowed a not quite on rails degree of position control as well as full control of the weapons systems. It's still not quite as satisfying and MW2's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AC-130">AC-130</a> section though.</p>
<p>There are one or two niggles I have with the game though. There were one or two places where I ran into invisible walls at the edge of the game area. Admittedly this was mainly due to me getting confused in a fire-fight and running in the wrong direction. The other thing that annoyed me was occasional infinite enemy re-spawn sections. While the game rewards using cover and not being a damn fool this can mean you are occasionally in a nice comfortable shooting position wondering why the same soldiers just keep running into your kill-zone. Eventually you just have to charge forward and kill anything that spawns behind you and hope the spawning stops at that point. These niggles didn't massively detract from the game but it was slightly disappointing. I suspect some of that is just due to my dislike of re-spawn mechanics.</p>
<p>All in all I enjoyed the single player campaign although it seemed a little short to me. Having said that I'm not a completionist so I may well have missed some chunks of content in my head-long rush through the game.</p>
<p>Of course in terms of gameplay the single player campaign is more about setting. Most of the time a player will spend with the game is in multi-player mode. I've only played a few games so far so haven't had a chance to explore the range of multi-player yet. I did have a quick play with the Zombie modes which are fun although I suspect better in a party setting. Playing it on your own is ultimately frustrating as there is no win condition, eventually they will eat your brains...</p>
2010 In Memorium2011-01-02T15:25:00+00:002011-01-02T15:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2011-01-02:/~alex/blog/2011/01/02/2010-in-memorium/<p>2010 has been a pretty good year for us, it seems like is has packed a lot in.</p>
<p>Professionally I've been doing really well. The <a class="reference external" href="http://cbnl.com/">company I work for</a> has had yet another record breaking year which has triggered my bonus again (although I don't find out how much until …</p><p>2010 has been a pretty good year for us, it seems like is has packed a lot in.</p>
<p>Professionally I've been doing really well. The <a class="reference external" href="http://cbnl.com/">company I work for</a> has had yet another record breaking year which has triggered my bonus again (although I don't find out how much until I get back). It continues to grow in both revenue and <a class="reference external" href="http://cbnl.com/jobs/">size</a>. I finally feel comfortable with the code base I'm working with. At the same time the ever growing feature list means I've still got plenty of interesting things to do with it. Although the internal code is proprietary to the company I've got a fairly wide latitude to work with FLOSS code and it makes a significant portion of the NMS product. Pretty much anything that I hack on that is useful to the wider community outside the application specific task is fed upstream which is good for both the company and the wider world.</p>
<p>Aside from my work based hacking 2010 was also the year I became a real open source project maintainer. I've been <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad">publishing code</a> I write and use for a long time and have done maintenance work on some niche <a class="reference external" href="http://stonx.sourceforge.net/">projects</a> as well as contributing to other projects as normal. However at the start of 2010 I released <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/01/25/finally-public/">Edit with Emacs</a> to an unsuspecting world. It started as a simple exercise in learning some Chrome Javascript and kicking me to delve deeper into elisp coding. However since then it has grown to something that gets regular contributions and is used by <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">over a thousand people</a>. To quote Blur it gives me an enormous sense of well being :-)</p>
<p>This year has also been an interesting year politically. While there is plenty of debate about the economics of some of the choices made by the coalition I'm personally fairly happy with the approach being taken given the fairly dire conditions they inherited. From my geek point of view it's heartening to see the pre-election commitment that was made to open data seems to be being lived up to. I'm hoping the changes to openness will get embedded into the way government does business permanently.</p>
<p>The big thing that dwarfed all other things this year of course was getting married to the wonderful Fliss. Saving up all my holidays for the honeymoon meant we didn't have many extended breaks and of course as the logistical tasks approached there was much running around and controlled panics. In the end everything went like a dream and the wedding itself was a blur of happy memories. It was a fantastic day and made all the better for all the friends and family that came along to share in the celebration. Getting married to Fliss is quite possibly the best thing I've ever done.</p>
<p>I do occasionally have pangs of guilt considering how lucky we have been especially when so many are struggling with the uncertainty of the economic situation and the stress that causes. All I can do is wish the best of lucky to everyone for the next year. I hope it exceeds the positive expectations and under-performs on the negative ones!</p>
Not a creature stirring....2010-12-26T09:52:00+00:002010-12-26T09:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-26:/~alex/blog/2010/12/26/not-a-creature-stirring/<p>As the sun rises on a clear blue boxing day morning my body ponders what to do with the excess calories of yesterdays toughing. After so many years of the Bennee clan together with occasional grand-parental input we are now entering a new phase of the Christmas dynamic as the …</p><p>As the sun rises on a clear blue boxing day morning my body ponders what to do with the excess calories of yesterdays toughing. After so many years of the Bennee clan together with occasional grand-parental input we are now entering a new phase of the Christmas dynamic as the extended grouping of Bennee's and Roberson's gather to celebrate the days finally getting longer. Together the 9 of us have scoffed a small mountain of food, challenged each other in mental battle and revelled in classic party games. One particularly fun game was the one known as <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Santa">Dirty Santa</a> which has the interesting dynamic of present theft built in. I missed out on the Lava Lamp but did gain a pair of touch screen enabled gloves which is very handy in this cold weather.</p>
<p>I was quite happy with the Doctor Who special although the scientists in the room did call out "Double Paradox!" at one point. The Grand Mof is certainly a safe pair of hands for the franchise. I'm looking forward to the 2011 season with much anticipation.</p>
<p>I hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas celebrations and best wishes a we head forward to the new year. What are we calling this decade anyway?</p>
Politicians don't quite trust their erstwhile political opponents shock2010-12-23T10:27:00+00:002010-12-23T10:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-23:/~alex/blog/2010/12/23/politicians-dont-quite-trust-their-erstwhile-political-opponents-shock/<p>I can't quite believe the amount of hot air expended on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12064969">latest "revelation"</a> that some Lib Dem MPs don't quite like some Tories in government. It's on a par with the "news" regarding Ursidae and woodland defecation. About the only news worthy piece from the Telegraph's sting operation was …</p><p>I can't quite believe the amount of hot air expended on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12064969">latest "revelation"</a> that some Lib Dem MPs don't quite like some Tories in government. It's on a par with the "news" regarding Ursidae and woodland defecation. About the only news worthy piece from the Telegraph's sting operation was the thing they tried to suppress about Saint Vince's bias against Murdoch. While I actually agree with Vince on this one he was a little stupid to reveal it to random strangers considering he was meant to be a impartial judge on the facts.</p>
<p>It seems that silly season exists over the winter months as well as the summer.</p>
Tis the season for boilers to fail...2010-12-22T10:53:00+00:002010-12-22T10:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-22:/~alex/blog/2010/12/22/tis-the-season-for-boilers-to-fail/<p>When the weather outside is so cold the mains water supply is coming in close to freezing you certainly notice when the boiler stops heating your water. At first I thought it was just cutting out do to over-pressure in the heating system (having topped it up previously). However on …</p><p>When the weather outside is so cold the mains water supply is coming in close to freezing you certainly notice when the boiler stops heating your water. At first I thought it was just cutting out do to over-pressure in the heating system (having topped it up previously). However on closer inspection we were seeing leakage.</p>
<p>The rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yell.com/b/Plumbing+Birds-Plumbers-Cambridge-CB58LU-6064630/index.html">Plumbing Birds</a> came out and spotted the first of a number of problems. Vaillant had <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vaillant.co.uk/installers/Service/service-reminder/">issued a service bulletin</a> to remind people to replace the old silicon seals with a newer more heat resistant graphite one. This hadn't happened in our case and this had resulted in a fire which had melted the air intake of the boiler (but luckily nothing else). However we still have a leak coming out of the heat exchanger which accounts for the slow drop in pressure that has been observed in our heating system. That part is on order so hopefully it will be fitted before Christmas. In the meantime the leak is slow so we at least have heating although I'm monitoring the boiler for any sudden build-up in leakage. At least we now know why we found some of towels in the airing cupboard where damp.</p>
<p>It looks like I'm getting a bonus this year for excellent performance both from myself and the company. I guess I know what I'm spending it on now.</p>
In praise of... the Highways Agency2010-12-20T11:32:00+00:002010-12-20T11:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-20:/~alex/blog/2010/12/20/in-praise-of-the-highways-agency/<p>It seems any severe weather brings on a large collective national moan. I don't wish to minimise the hassle to people that have been affected by the weather and trapped in places they didn't want to be however I think we are often too quick to criticise when things don't …</p><p>It seems any severe weather brings on a large collective national moan. I don't wish to minimise the hassle to people that have been affected by the weather and trapped in places they didn't want to be however I think we are often too quick to criticise when things don't quite work out how we want. I thought I would take this opportunity to offer some praise for when things work well.</p>
<p>My journey up to Manchester was curtailed slightly by it taking around an hour to get 4 miles away from my house. Despite being out the doors early an incident closed 2 lanes of the main local artery leading to massive tailbacks. As the brunt of rush hour approached I decided to abandon the trek in the closing darkness and try again on the morning.</p>
<p>In retrospect this was a sensible choice. The side roads are fairly slippy and daylight offers a degree of protection as things are a lot more visible. We left Cambridge around 7 in the morning and had a trouble free journey up to Manchester. The main arteries where receiving plenty of grit and combined with a fewer cars on the road generally behaving sensibly we made good time. It only got slightly sketchy once we had turned onto the estate roads which were a mixture of compacted snow and bits of ice.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://suziehill.livejournal.com/84699.html">Sue has documented</a> the fun we had getting up to the Fisherman's retreat rather icy hill. However once we had reached the top and had our first thirst quenching pint things went swimmingly well. I can certainly attest to having my desire for pig well and truly sated.</p>
<p>We made the decision to head back early to avoid any late afternoon traffic snarl ups. The corridor between Manchester and Cambridge (M6/A14) had stayed free of snow overnight and we had yet another event free trip and nice clear trunk roads. The only minor problem was my windscreen washer kept freezing up despite being practically concentrated screen wash at this point. We saw a low of around -12 degrees on the journey, the warmest being around -3.5.</p>
<p>I did my bit by checking the conditions before travel and making sure I had plenty of petrol in the car and emergency rations and blankets just in case. However I would like to extend my thanks to the Highways Agency for ensuring the roads we travelled were clear and trouble free. And for those places that weren't quite as smooth flowing spare a thought for those dedicated staff freezing their proverbials off while trying to get the roads running again.</p>
The Students are Revolting2010-12-10T11:27:00+00:002010-12-10T11:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-10:/~alex/blog/2010/12/10/the-students-are-revolting/<p>I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the travails of modern students. I was one once myself and I was in part subsidised by the state for my education. Despite this I still walked out of university owing student loans, the bank and my parents money. However at some point you have …</p><p>I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the travails of modern students. I was one once myself and I was in part subsidised by the state for my education. Despite this I still walked out of university owing student loans, the bank and my parents money. However at some point you have to stop complaining about the suggested solution and suggest a few of your own. Every time a minority of hotheads <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11969030">do something stupid</a> their cause will suffer and eventually people will wonder why we are subsidising the future of tomorrow if this is how they behave.</p>
<p>As far as I can see it there are a number of approaches to the problem of financing higher education. Which would you choose?</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Reduce student numbers</li>
</ol>
<p>No one seems to be arguing for this. The general consensus seems to be having a large percentage of undergraduates is good for the economy generally.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="2">
<li>Increase general taxation</li>
</ol>
<p>It would have to be by a fair bit to cover the costs. The current funding gap is £4.2bn, so that would around 4p in the pound on the basic rate of tax. You'll also be asking the 50% of the population that don't go to university to pay more taxes so the other 50% can. Personally if I had a spare £4.2bn to spend on education I'd be targeting it at primary and secondary education to ensure more kids come out of school able to read and write to a reasonable degree.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="3">
<li>Introduce a graduate tax</li>
</ol>
<p>This seems to be the (now) preferred option of Labour. I don't like the idea of permanently penalising someone for being educated at Uni. Plus how does that affect areas which require a degree (nursing, teachers) but traditionally attracts lower pay? What happens if students en-mass then decide they would rather move to country which treats people on the same income the same for tax purposes?</p>
<ol class="arabic simple" start="4">
<li>The proposed increase in fees and adjustment to loan system.</li>
</ol>
<p>I personally think this is the way forward. It doesn't penalise the low paid as you have to reach a minimum level before paying back. The debt is a bounded so your not paying back for ever. The variable interest rates based on income adds a progressive edge to it, ensuring the better off shoulder more of the burden. Unlike a graduate tax it's bounded so once you've paid it off your done. And despite all that's been said it's not the same as a mortgage, if your income drops bellow the qualifying level you can postpone payments.</p>
<p>A lot has been made of the opprobrium being heaped on the Lib-Dems for their <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volte-face">volte-face</a>. It's totally justified but it's the LD's own fault for doing what they always do which is promising sunshine and roses while knowing they won't have to make good on their promises. Having joined the coalition they have learnt the hard way, they can repent at leisure.</p>
<p>Still my main point stands, you can complain all you like but at some point you need to suggest what you would do to solve the problem.</p>
Infowar2010-12-07T13:03:00+00:002010-12-07T13:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-07:/~alex/blog/2010/12/07/infowar/<p>Unless you have been living under a rock the last week you cannot have missed the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-us-embassy-cables">wikileaks data dump</a>. This iteration of leaks had lead to what could possibly be described as the Internets first Infowar. Aside from the predictable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack">Denial of Service</a> attacks there has also been political …</p><p>Unless you have been living under a rock the last week you cannot have missed the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-us-embassy-cables">wikileaks data dump</a>. This iteration of leaks had lead to what could possibly be described as the Internets first Infowar. Aside from the predictable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack">Denial of Service</a> attacks there has also been political pressure on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/12/02/amazon-wikileaks-has.html">hosting providers</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/89507/20101207/mastercard-closed-account-wikileaks.htm">sources of funding</a> for the organisation. The most effective act so far was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/03/wikileaks_loses_dns/">EasyDNS dropping support</a> so wikileaks.org no longer resolves to IP address. This makes it a lot harder for non-technical people to find the raw data even though the servers are still up.</p>
<p>The response has been predictable, the Wikileaks site has now been <a class="reference external" href="http://wikileaks.insultant.nl/mirrors.html">massively mirrored</a> making suppression of the data a game of whack-a-mole. It's also trivially simple to setup a <a class="reference external" href="http://wikileaks.bennee.com">redirect to Wikileaks' real IP address</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps realising that technical measures aren't going to stop the spread of information there has also been an intense focus on Wikileaks founder and front-man <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11047811">Julian Assange</a>. By far the most public face of the organisation he has faced calls for extra-judicial <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtIafdoH_g">assassination</a> as well as rather <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/9251635779866625">nonsensical treason charges</a>. This includes the rather unprecedented <a class="reference external" href="http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted/notices/data/2010/86/2010_52486.asp">Interpol involvement</a> resulting in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11937110">his arrest for questioning</a> on rape allegations. It's certainly the story that keeps on giving.</p>
<p>There are some problems with the current raging war. The mirroring system <a class="reference external" href="http://213.251.145.96/mass-mirror.html">used by wikileaks</a> is akin to giving some random unidentified stranger the keys to your front door. Without a domain name they can't effectively use SSL so you can be positive the site your talking to is Wikileaks and not some <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag">false flag</a> operation. Without digital signatures for the mirrored data you can't be sure that what your reading hasn't been tampered with by that host. It will be interesting if they ever mirror the site on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet">Freenet</a> and we can find out exactly how censorship resistant it is. However these are all peripheral to the main story. We are watching Internet history unfold.</p>
A familiar ache2010-12-06T13:53:00+00:002010-12-06T13:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-12-06:/~alex/blog/2010/12/06/a-familiar-ache/<p>I spent a large part of the weekend at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.srcf.ucam.org/tt/">Cambridge Treasure Trap</a> end of term banquet. The format is a cross between a full weekend of club LARP and a day event with a Céilidh tacked on the end.</p>
<p>Most of the Cambridge TT event are effectively day events …</p><p>I spent a large part of the weekend at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.srcf.ucam.org/tt/">Cambridge Treasure Trap</a> end of term banquet. The format is a cross between a full weekend of club LARP and a day event with a Céilidh tacked on the end.</p>
<p>Most of the Cambridge TT event are effectively day events held around some of the local areas of greenery near the river. The adventures are usually around 10 encounters and entirely battleboard-less which means they run quite fast, typically less than 2 hours. However the end of term event takes place at a local scout site which allows for a bit more freedom in plotting the adventures as well as provide a location for the celebratory meal and dancing.</p>
<p>It's been a while since I last actively ran around for an adventure (I'm not sure the 15 minute bursts of activity at Odyssey count) but it was fun to run around hitting things with rubber swords again. In fact the event gave me a great excuse to bring out my longbow and arrows.</p>
<p>The Treasure Trap crowd are a lovely bunch of people. It's a fairly well mixed group including old-timers from formation (2004 IIRC) to the current crop of University students. While I most certainly won't be attending every event (room based "interactive" every Friday and "day event" adventures every Saturday during term time) I shall certainly be attending some more.</p>
Watch Full Movie Streaming And Download All We Had (2016) subtitle english2010-11-23T22:05:00+00:002010-11-23T22:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-23:/~alex/blog/2010/11/23/watch-full-movie-streaming-and-download-all-we-had-2016-subtitle-english/<div style="float:left;margin-right:15px"><p><a class="reference external" href="http://playcinemas.com/en/watch/689062/All-We-Had-2016.php3">Poster Movie All We Had 2016</a></p>
</div><div class="section" id="all-we-had-2016-hd">
<h2>All We Had (2016) HD</h2>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="24%" />
<col width="4%" />
<col width="72%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>Director</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Katie Holmes.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Writer</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Jill Killington.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Release</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>December 9, 2016</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Country</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>United States of America.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Production Company</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Mustard & Co, Straight Shot Films, Jaro/Noelle Production.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Language</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>English.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Runtime</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>105 min.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Genre</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Drama.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="clear:both"></div><p>'All We Had' is a movie genre …</p></div><div style="float:left;margin-right:15px"><p><a class="reference external" href="http://playcinemas.com/en/watch/689062/All-We-Had-2016.php3">Poster Movie All We Had 2016</a></p>
</div><div class="section" id="all-we-had-2016-hd">
<h2>All We Had (2016) HD</h2>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="24%"/>
<col width="4%"/>
<col width="72%"/>
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>Director</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Katie Holmes.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Writer</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Jill Killington.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Release</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>December 9, 2016</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Country</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>United States of America.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Production Company</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Mustard & Co, Straight Shot Films, Jaro/Noelle Production.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Language</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>English.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Runtime</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>105 min.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Genre</td>
<td>:</td>
<td>Drama.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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This wire here?2010-11-22T10:45:00+00:002010-11-22T10:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-22:/~alex/blog/2010/11/22/this-wire-here/<p>I spent most of Saturday hunting a neutral wire fault in the downstairs lighting circuit with my Dad. It was the reason the side lighting in our living room wasn't working and it turned out it was the "spare" wire we found when replacing the ceiling rose in the same …</p><p>I spent most of Saturday hunting a neutral wire fault in the downstairs lighting circuit with my Dad. It was the reason the side lighting in our living room wasn't working and it turned out it was the "spare" wire we found when replacing the ceiling rose in the same room. At least is was helpfully wrapped in masking tape and labelled with what we thought the wire was at the time. I'm becoming resigned to the fact I'll never know quite as much as my Dad about how houses are built, plumbed and wired. I can only hope my skills with media-servers, networking and digital living will become more relevant over the next few years.</p>
<p>The wire hunting wasn't helped by my lower back giving me pain over the weekend. Standing up from sitting currently has me hunched like an old man while emitting various grunts and wheezes. I'm not sure what I've done to aggravate it except maybe a lot of intensive sitting at work. It's mostly fine when I'm walking although I think I might be unconsciously over-correcting which might be putting more strain on it that is good for it. I have started tackling the problem with ibuprofen (better living through chemistry!) and trying to keep mobile.</p>
<p>With that in mind we wandered into town on Sunday to visit <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/grandarcade/">DRM central</a> to investigate replacements for Fliss' ailing MacBook Pro. Fliss has been pondering the difference between a new laptop or maybe a Windows gaming rig. After giving the local Genius a hard time with lots of questions ("the most informed customer I've had" apparently) we did eventually decide on going for a new Apple. We dropped a size of screen (from 17" to 15") as it does make it a lot more portable and only went for mid-range CPU (because really how much can you tax 4 2.53Ghz cores these days?). For Window's gaming we are going to set up boot camp although I have left Fliss to purchase the Windows PC. I'll also see if we can get an Ubuntu release on there so she can compare the two Mac's on the same hardware ;-)</p>
Almost there2010-11-19T22:48:00+00:002010-11-19T22:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-19:/~alex/blog/2010/11/19/almost-there/<p>I thought I might just mention the current state of the development for <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">Edit with Emacs</a>. A number of useful contributions have come in but I want to be able the "incremental edit" feature in the elisp edit server. I had a go but got stuck (marvel at <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/commits/iterative_edit_expr/">hack in …</a></p><p>I thought I might just mention the current state of the development for <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">Edit with Emacs</a>. A number of useful contributions have come in but I want to be able the "incremental edit" feature in the elisp edit server. I had a go but got stuck (marvel at <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/commits/iterative_edit_expr/">hack in progress</a>). So if anyone fancies having a go be my guest ;-)</p>
<p>The rest is as follows:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Ryszard Szopa (1):
Allow the server to send correct Unicode to Chrome.
gfxmonk (4):
trigger a DOM change() event when textarea content has changed
clarify that the shortcut key is Enter, not "E"
only re-request edit when "x-open" header is "true", not merely present
Made indentation consistent across all source files
</pre>
Data Tsunami2010-11-19T11:39:00+00:002010-11-19T11:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-19:/~alex/blog/2010/11/19/data-tsunami/<p>The government has done another <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11792894">public spending data dump</a> today. It's one of the policies that I was really in favour of before the election and it's good to see the coalition holding to it's word with this release. The raw data is available from the <a class="reference external" href="http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/money.php">Cabinet Office</a> and should …</p><p>The government has done another <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11792894">public spending data dump</a> today. It's one of the policies that I was really in favour of before the election and it's good to see the coalition holding to it's word with this release. The raw data is available from the <a class="reference external" href="http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/money.php">Cabinet Office</a> and should soon appear on the government's data portal <a class="reference external" href="http://data.gov.uk/">data.gov.uk</a>. Reports of what is being done with the data is being followed by people like the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/nov/19/government-spending-files-live-blog">Guardian Free our Data</a> bloggers. Expect people like the Open Knowledge people to come up with some fancy visualisations of the data at <a class="reference external" href="http://wheredoesmymoneygo.org/">Where Does My Money Go</a>.</p>
<p>I'm sure there will be a number of stories about individual line items that get queried, something <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/19/francis-maude-government-data-published">ministers want to happen</a>. I'm hoping people will in general take a more holistic view of what's being provided. It won't benefit anyone if we tie up banks of expensive civil servants answering FOI requests to justify and contextualise individual items in the data set. However I'm hoping there will be some serious analysis on the trends of spending as well as leaving people more informed of what government actually does.</p>
<p>Personally I'm looking forward to next year when all contracts over 25,000 will be published. That should really make for some interesting reading.</p>
Back with a bump2010-11-16T10:34:00+00:002010-11-16T10:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-16:/~alex/blog/2010/11/16/back-with-a-bump/<p>We went up to Manchester last weekend to complete Fliss' much delayed hen night. The ladies reported having much fun partaking in a combination of tea and gambling.</p>
<p>I took the opportunity to go on a short tour of some of Manchester's many fine ale houses. It was nice to …</p><p>We went up to Manchester last weekend to complete Fliss' much delayed hen night. The ladies reported having much fun partaking in a combination of tea and gambling.</p>
<p>I took the opportunity to go on a short tour of some of Manchester's many fine ale houses. It was nice to catch up with some of the old Transitive crew as well as the regular beer drinking buddies. Somehow we managed to end up exploring some interesting cocktail bars in dark recesses of Salford. We also forgot to eat dinner which might have accounted for the slightly wobbly state which we returned to Aidan and Gillian's in.</p>
<p>Our post weekend high was brought to a rather abrupt halt last night when a neighbour brought Andy, one of our cats, who had been hit and killed on the main road. We are understandably quite shocked, least of all because we thought with all the space behind us the cats wouldn't be tempted to go near the road. However being free roaming felines as they are it's hard to think what else we could have done to dissuade venturing to the front of the house.</p>
A step towards reducing Emacs Pinky2010-11-03T15:33:00+00:002010-11-03T15:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-03:/~alex/blog/2010/11/03/a-step-towards-reducing-emacs-pinky/<p>As someone who spends most of the day attached to their keyboard I'm fairly sensitive to RSI inducing things. One thing I do suffer from is what's colloquially known as "Emacs Pinky". As the Ctrl is the start of practically every editing command in Emacs it's the left little finger …</p><p>As someone who spends most of the day attached to their keyboard I'm fairly sensitive to RSI inducing things. One thing I do suffer from is what's colloquially known as "Emacs Pinky". As the Ctrl is the start of practically every editing command in Emacs it's the left little finger that spends most of it's time stretched out and after a long heavy coding session can be more than a little sore.</p>
<p>I've made adaptations including re-binding the useless Caps Lock key to being an alternative to Ctrl (although my use of it is sporadic). However one other culprit is the incredibly useful <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen">GNU Screen</a>.</p>
<p>I've been running with the default bindings for some time which use the Ctrl-A sequence as the command sequence. This is especially troubling when you have multiple nested screens. Today I finally cracked and made the decision to <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/commit/61a201d930f9919143a607b11d9840481cf7e172">break out of this bad habit</a>. So starting today I've chosen the backtick (`) character for the escape sequence. This makes the normal (and most frequent) screen action of switching screens a two stroke press without having to hold any control key down. We shall see how long it takes to retrain my muscle memory.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any tips for reducing strain on the little finger inside Emacs itself? Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to replace Ctrl actions with a double tap on the space bar before going for the modifier key. Is that even possible?</p>
<p>I found <a class="reference external" href="http://superuser.com/questions/74492/whats-the-best-prefix-escape-sequence-for-screen-or-tmux">this entry on superuser</a> useful for other screen config tips.</p>
US Midterms2010-11-02T11:25:00+00:002010-11-02T11:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-11-02:/~alex/blog/2010/11/02/us-midterms/<p>Today the citizens of the USA <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/us_elections_2010/">go to the polls</a> for the midterms. I'm following the story with a mild interest as given their position as a world power their politics does have an impact on the rest of us. The media in the UK are reporting them as a …</p><p>Today the citizens of the USA <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/us_elections_2010/">go to the polls</a> for the midterms. I'm following the story with a mild interest as given their position as a world power their politics does have an impact on the rest of us. The media in the UK are reporting them as a referendum on Obama's first year and a bit in office which seems a little harsh. However American friends often remind me the whole federal system is designed to be unstable, it's very rare a president has control of both houses. Even when operating with majorities senators and congressmen cannot be relied on to vote with the party line as they all have an eye to their electoral fortunes back home. Parliamentary politics it ain't.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if the country takes a collective jump to the right or if the moderate republicans decide the more colourful <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement">Tea Party</a> candidates are too much of a risk. There is a worry if the Tea Party wing does well it will embolden them to push for a populist candidate for the 2012 presidential race where they could do real international damage.</p>
<p>However another aspect of the US electoral system is the local state referendums that will be run. The two ones I'm interested in are both in California. The vote for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11626572">Proposition 19 on legalising marijuana</a> might start a process of revisiting the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs">War on Drugs</a> that has been rumbling on since the 70s. The other interesting one will be if anti-climate Proposition 23 is defeated, something being challenged by the Republican <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/28/arnold-schwarzenegger-proposition23-oil-climate-change">Govenator</a>.</p>
<p>Of course as interesting as the movements in California are it's still fairly liberal compared to the rest of the USA. And not being a citizen I have no voice in the election so all I can do is be relegated to the role of interested observer.</p>
More on TRAMP2010-10-29T12:10:00+01:002010-10-29T12:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-10-29:/~alex/blog/2010/10/29/more-on-tramp/<p>I've mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/07/29/the-power-of-tramp/">TRAMP before</a>. It's a very handy way of editing remote files. However I've been having a few problems with it today.</p>
<p>The most common access method used by TRAMP to access files these days is via <em>ssh</em>. It basically uses a remote terminal session to navigate the remote …</p><p>I've mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/07/29/the-power-of-tramp/">TRAMP before</a>. It's a very handy way of editing remote files. However I've been having a few problems with it today.</p>
<p>The most common access method used by TRAMP to access files these days is via <em>ssh</em>. It basically uses a remote terminal session to navigate the remote file system and fetch files back and forth. However it does take a few things for granted and one of those is the shell environment on the far end. For most *nix users this will be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_(Unix_shell)">Bash</a>. Long time command line hackers like myself usually have a rather <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles">heavily customised</a> shell environment which can cause problems for TRAMP, especially if you pull tricks with customising the command prompt. In an effort to handle this a little better I <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/commit/126f32ff538214e3de4b40993a3406a15379ec45">modified</a> my .bashrc to treat 'dumb' terminals as non-interactive. It works but it still seems a little hacky. I would welcome any better suggestions for detecting TRAMP sessions my start-up files.</p>
<p>I was still experiencing a problem navigating to one of the directories on my remote machine. Whatever I did when I got to the root of my code tree I couldn't navigate into the correct directory. The prompt would only offer me an old (since moved away) directory. Tricks like opening <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Dired.html">dired mode</a> and navigating in would cause the session to spin consuming 100% cpu. In the end I tracked it down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/InteractivelyDoThings">IDO</a> and the old directory existing in my ~/.ido.last file. Once removed and emacs restarted the problem went away. I'm hoping this is just a peculiarity of the interaction between ido and TRAMP but is was certainly annoying.</p>
Google Gate-gate2010-10-25T14:13:00+01:002010-10-25T14:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-10-25:/~alex/blog/2010/10/25/google-gate-gate/<p>Google was on the news this morning for the latest piece of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11614970">fall-out from their WiFi survey</a>.</p>
<p>For the uninitiated for some time the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Street_View">Google Street View</a> cars have been scraping WiFi data as they roam the streets. The intention has been to build a database of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_set_(802.11_network)">SSIDs</a> as an …</p><p>Google was on the news this morning for the latest piece of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11614970">fall-out from their WiFi survey</a>.</p>
<p>For the uninitiated for some time the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Street_View">Google Street View</a> cars have been scraping WiFi data as they roam the streets. The intention has been to build a database of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_set_(802.11_network)">SSIDs</a> as an alternative way of locating position than using GPS or Cell Tower information (which I assume is out of Google's control). It's a testament to Google's resources that these sort of mass data collection exercises are seen as a simple exercise. I do have to wonder what a geo-location database of thousands of "linksys" WiFi SSIDs will achieve though*.</p>
<p>However it seems the configuration of the information gathering was a little over zealous. Instead of just recording WiFi information they also recorded live network data, i.e. what was being transmitted when the Street View car went past peoples houses. This has rightly gotten Google into hot water with the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Commissioner's_Office">Information Commissioner</a> for the sort of mass surveillance that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Communications_Headquarters">GCHQ</a> just wish they could afford. A lot of noise has been made about the potential capture of private emails and passwords. There is more than a hint of hysteria building up with <a class="reference external" href="http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41267&SESSION=905">MPs getting in on the act</a> and rent-a-quote heads turning up on TV. However as per-usual there is a distinct lack of perspective.</p>
<p>For one thing the window of data is very small. Unless you had a street view car parked outside you house the amount of potential privacy busting information have on you personally will be quite low. It also ignore the fact that when sending data across the Internet you don't actually need to be outside someones house. The Internet is made up of a collection of networks run by a disparate group of corporations and individuals. None of these organisations have the security of your data at the top of their list of concerns and any one of them could actively be snooping on every packet of information you send. In fact as far as networks go it's about as untrustworthy as you get.</p>
<p>As far as passwords are concerned if your not sending them over an encrypted channel then anyone can see what they are. At the very least you should ensure all web-sites your log-in to over a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Sockets_Layer">SSL</a> link (usually signified by a padlock or similar icon in your address bar). Nowadays the padlock may turn another colour or show a cross if there is some other problem with the connection that may indicate your connection is secure but maybe not to who you thought it was too. None of these precautions addresses the issue of if you should trust the remote end not to tell anyone else your user name and password. This is why you should have different passwords for each service you use and not share credentials between sites (i.e. only give your Google logon details to Google).</p>
<p>When it comes to email not many people seem to be aware that it's less secure than sending a postcard. Everything in the email is readable by any system between you and the person your sending it to. Even worse any system could tamper with the message and make alterations the message and neither you or the recipient would know it. If you really want to send email that can only be read by you and your recipients you really should use <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnupg.org/">encryption</a>**.</p>
<p>So while I applaud the ICO for bringing Google to book for not thinking through what they were doing please realise it's not the new Big Brother. Big Brother has been quite happy reading everybody's data before the first Street View car took to the roads and ultimately you are the only person that can actually do anything to stop him.</p>
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<div class="line">* - slightly facetious, if they were recording MAC addresses they would be guaranteed unique.</div>
<div class="line">** - my key can be found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/key.asc">here</a></div>
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Passing by faster2010-10-17T10:43:00+01:002010-10-17T10:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-10-17:/~alex/blog/2010/10/17/passing-by-faster/<p>The last two weeks have certainly seemed to flash past. Last weekend saw a flying visit up to Manchester for K & V's wedding. I have left it to others to document and supply photographic evidence.</p>
<p>In the meantime we've both been getting into the swing of the work schedule. Luckily …</p><p>The last two weeks have certainly seemed to flash past. Last weekend saw a flying visit up to Manchester for K & V's wedding. I have left it to others to document and supply photographic evidence.</p>
<p>In the meantime we've both been getting into the swing of the work schedule. Luckily I managed to get ahead on my TODO list having done the ground work before I left to get married. There is still an impossibly long list of things that need doing, but it's more about whats required for the current approaching deadline. As a result I accepted an invite from the company to represent them at some engineering awards in London. Although advertised as 14 courses it was more a 5 course gala meal with 14 individual types of food. It was very nice with the good selection of Champagne and free flowing wine. I felt kind of guilty as out of the 7 of us there I was the only engineer, the others in my team all being to busy too go.</p>
<p>This weekend is being treated with a little more measured respect. I went to a mini-beer festival in town on Friday while Fliss attended the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.srcf.ucam.org/tt/">local LRP clubs</a> interactive. I joined her on site the next day to monster her first linear adventure. Given her only experience of LARP so far has been fest systems it was interesting to watch her reaction to the adventure format. She was playing with a group of new recruits to the club and the way they came off the dungeon all so enthused made me very nostalgic for those first adventures all those years ago. The next day aches are also very familiar.</p>
Another day, another eviscerated corpse2010-10-06T09:34:00+01:002010-10-06T09:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-10-06:/~alex/blog/2010/10/06/another-day-another-eviscerated-corpse/<p>The cats have been on quite a murderous campaign of rodent eradication since we returned from our honeymoon. One particularly memorable night found me unable to sleep as Andy was making an interesting set of crunching and slurping noises at the foot of the bed. When I turned the light …</p><p>The cats have been on quite a murderous campaign of rodent eradication since we returned from our honeymoon. One particularly memorable night found me unable to sleep as Andy was making an interesting set of crunching and slurping noises at the foot of the bed. When I turned the light on it was as I had imagined the noises a cat makes when eating a rodent, bones and all.</p>
<p>Fliss reckons this is down to the cats insecurity after our prolonged absence possibly due to lack of food. By leaving the half eaten corpses they are ensuring we are well supplied. I'm not so sure this thesis holds up given the cats seems to enjoy a healthy portion of the aforementioned rodents themselves, despite being well fed from the bowl. I'm sticking with the theory that they are natural born rodent killers and they just like showing off....</p>
There and back again2010-10-01T10:01:00+01:002010-10-01T10:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-10-01:/~alex/blog/2010/10/01/there-and-back-again/<p>We have finally returned from our honeymoon although the luggage has contrived to take a more circuitous route back. Hopefully it will arrive later today. I have left preparations for the weekend (Katy & Vince's wedding) hilariously late but we shall be driving up Saturday morning, staying in town (we thought …</p><p>We have finally returned from our honeymoon although the luggage has contrived to take a more circuitous route back. Hopefully it will arrive later today. I have left preparations for the weekend (Katy & Vince's wedding) hilariously late but we shall be driving up Saturday morning, staying in town (we thought we'd try out the Hilton) and heading back at the crack of dawn on Sunday. We shall make time for a less rushed visit to Manchester when we are, ahem, less rushed.</p>
<p>We will start the process of re-syncing social calendars next week and see how quickly the rest of the year fills up.</p>
Seeing how the other half live2010-09-27T14:34:00+01:002010-09-27T14:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-27:/~alex/blog/2010/09/27/seeing-how-the-other-half-live/<p>I'm aware that yet another post of our time on a tropical island paradise is likely to be stirring up the odd pang of jealousy however I'm afraid this is another one. As the end of the honeymoon hoves into view we decided to take advantage of the "romantic night …</p><p>I'm aware that yet another post of our time on a tropical island paradise is likely to be stirring up the odd pang of jealousy however I'm afraid this is another one. As the end of the honeymoon hoves into view we decided to take advantage of the "romantic night" special and spend a night in one of the lagoon suites (it was well outside our price range for the whole honeymoon).</p>
<p>The suite itself sits off a jetty that extends off one end of the island. Each suite has it's own platform to swim off (although the current can be quite strong). The bedroom windows offer a view directly over the sea, skipping any inconvenient beaches. It does seem to induce a slight swaying feeling though. There is also a rather ostentatious 4 poster bed and most importantly a large bath.</p>
<p>Fliss being very much a water creature has been pining for a bath since we arrived on the island. Jumping into a hot bath with a good book was the second thing she did on getting here :-)</p>
<p>We have been doing some snorkeling over the last few days now the weather has improved. Yesterday we visited the ocean side Disco Reef where I saw a turtle, several sting rays and a moray eel doing a fairly good impression of the Leviathan from Empire Strikes Back. However most of the coral was rather distant and dead.</p>
<p>Today we visited a site inside the atoll and swam around the moored up boat on the edge of the coral reef. The colours here were much brighter as the shallows of the atoll protect the corals from the onslaught of oceanic tides. The shoals of colourful fish seemed quite unconcerned as I flailed through them. Hopefully some of the low tech pictures will come out.</p>
It seems Llamas are land mammals after all2010-09-21T20:03:00+01:002010-09-21T20:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-21:/~alex/blog/2010/09/21/it-seems-llamas-are-land-mammals-after-all/<p>After my second abortive attempt at my open ocean dive I've come to the conclusion that I must be a land mammal after all. Despite the improvement on my last lagoon dive I have yet to convince the reptilian part of my brain that submerging oneself into the open ocean …</p><p>After my second abortive attempt at my open ocean dive I've come to the conclusion that I must be a land mammal after all. Despite the improvement on my last lagoon dive I have yet to convince the reptilian part of my brain that submerging oneself into the open ocean with only a bunch of valves between you and certain death is less risky than a number of other activities I regularly partake in. I still have snorkeling though and yesterday Fliss and I explored the reef side of the island and found a lot of interesting wildlife in the shallows. We hope to do a more organised excursion tomorrow.</p>
<p>The weather has been less than brilliant the last few days. I can still walk around in trunks and a T-shirt and to be fair I actually enjoy the cooler temperatures. However the lack of sun and the sudden torrential rain cloud bursts have meant we have spent a fair amount of time indoors. We have yet to resort to playing I-spy though so we haven't reached the boredom threshold just yet ;-)</p>
<p>I have been watching with a slightly detached amusement the hullabaloo around the Pope's visit and the selection of some of the more special Tea Party wing-nuts. I would usually compose long posts on the subject for debate but I just can't psyche myself up for it. Perhaps comments will be forth coming when I revert to normal service in a few weeks time.</p>
<p>Current Reading: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow</p>
Cloudy with a chance of cloud burst2010-09-16T14:28:00+01:002010-09-16T14:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-16:/~alex/blog/2010/09/16/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-cloud-burst/<p>I was due to do my open dive this afternoon but I woke up so bunged up I decided to delay it yet again. I keep reminding myself I have plenty of time and the experience should be fun.</p>
<p>However I have been acquainting myself with the local Maldivian wild …</p><p>I was due to do my open dive this afternoon but I woke up so bunged up I decided to delay it yet again. I keep reminding myself I have plenty of time and the experience should be fun.</p>
<p>However I have been acquainting myself with the local Maldivian wild life while out of the water. I spent a rather late breakfast watching some <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacktip_reef_shark">Blacktip reef sharks</a> basking around beneath me waiting for their free scraps from the restaurant. We've also seen a number of weird translucent crabs (who are very fast), a number of hermit crabs as well as locating the nesting tree of the local Fruit Bat population. As a bonus we also saw a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionfish">Lionfish</a> hiding amongst some rocks under the jetty as I walked with Fliss to the boat for her night dive. Despite my relative dryness she has been taking full advantage of the diving around here.</p>
<p>There is currently a weather system moving over the Maldives and the rest of the Indian ocean. This suits me quite well as the weather is now a touch cooler and therefor more manageable. However the rain bursts do make getting my netbook out in the special EM zone I have discovered a little tricky. Still if we do end up stuck in our room I'm sure we'll not be bored, the 1.5TB of media entertainment is at least a starting point ;-)</p>
Finding the Signal2010-09-14T14:27:00+01:002010-09-14T14:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-14:/~alex/blog/2010/09/14/finding-the-signal/<p>With no diving excursions today we set about mapping the island. Despite my earlier comments there is GPS signal around and fairly good visibility of satellites. However the signal-to-noise ratio is pretty bad that most of them can't be used for location. I'm not sure if this is by accident …</p><p>With no diving excursions today we set about mapping the island. Despite my earlier comments there is GPS signal around and fairly good visibility of satellites. However the signal-to-noise ratio is pretty bad that most of them can't be used for location. I'm not sure if this is by accident or design. Despite this I did build up an incomplete GPS trace with I shall upload to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openstreetmap.org">OSM</a> when I am in slightly better connected conditions.</p>
<p>During the course of our exploration we did "find" the east side of the island which is a lot quieter and for me benefits from being a lot more shaded in the afternoon. It also has a nice view to the edge of the coral reef where it meets the ocean proper. There is also a connected island although fenced off so I'm not sure we are allowed to explore.</p>
<p>We did during our investigations find the nesting tree of the fruit bats we've been observing over the last few evenings. This has been a source of excitement to Fliss and one of the GO's we have befriended.</p>
Losing Weight2010-09-13T17:00:00+01:002010-09-13T17:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-13:/~alex/blog/2010/09/13/losing-weight/<p>Today I had my second lagoon dive to run through the rest of the basic diving procedures. The simulated air failure (by turning off the tank) wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be on account of the relatively slow way the residual air between first and second …</p><p>Today I had my second lagoon dive to run through the rest of the basic diving procedures. The simulated air failure (by turning off the tank) wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be on account of the relatively slow way the residual air between first and second stage gets used up. About the most distracting manoeuvre was full removal of the mask as while wearing contacts I had to close my eyes for the full minute. However re-attaching the mask went without any hitches.</p>
<p>I also did a number of buoyancy control exercises and worked on improving my breathing. Together with a smaller BCD, more comfortable fins and eventually less weights (about the only 2kg I can claim to have lost on the holiday) I proved to be a lot more adept at moving about in the sub-marine environment than yesterday. My instructor, apparently their most experienced, was certainly happy about my progress after our one-on-one session.</p>
<p>The only downside was that as we descended further I again experienced problems with re-equalising my ears. We only made it to about 1.5m before deciding to give up and head back to the pontoon. A follow-up to the on-site nurse confirmed my left ear has an inflamed section just outside the ear drum. Whether this is a pre-existing symptom or a result of the dives so far has yet to be determined. I shall see the doctor later on today. Either way the advice is to lay off the diving for a few days and re-check the ear before trying again. One advantage of the length of the trip is having that luxury.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Doctor says ear canals very inflamed and two have two days off and turn off the room A/C before coming back.</p>
Unfamiliar Territory2010-09-12T16:59:00+01:002010-09-12T16:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-12:/~alex/blog/2010/09/12/unfamiliar-territory/<p>Today was the day of my first dive. Although Fliss is already a qualified diver she came with me to refresh her skills.</p>
<p>The morning was spent in the lagoon and went reasonably well. I do seem to have trouble equalising pressure, especially in my partially deaf ear. It was …</p><p>Today was the day of my first dive. Although Fliss is already a qualified diver she came with me to refresh her skills.</p>
<p>The morning was spent in the lagoon and went reasonably well. I do seem to have trouble equalising pressure, especially in my partially deaf ear. It was hard to follow the mantra of constant breathing while at the same time doing the nose pinching manoeuvre to equalise. However once we reached our depth of 5-6 meters it was seemed reasonably easy to control my depth with breathing. We circumnavigated a handy wreck before working our way back to the line and slowly returning to the surface.</p>
<p>The afternoon was the first open sea dive. We were only due to go to 12 meters depth though I didn't get that far. Again I had trouble with equalisation and the instructor had to hold me as I repeated a descend, pause, up a bit, pause, re-descend cycle. Once we reached the coral reef I was having trouble maintaining depth and my breathing started to get short and erratic. While I don't think I reached a full on panic moment I was uncomfortable with my ability to control breathing and buoyancy in the surging ocean. I erred on the side of caution and signalled my instructor my desire to surface. In all I was only in the water for about 10 minutes.</p>
<p>With my flying experience I'm certainly familiar with situations where inattention can lead to catastrophic failure, panic is never a useful state to achieve. However at least with flying the default state is for gravity to bring you down to ground (you just control how fast that happens). When my breathing got erratic I just continued to slowly sink down and being unfamiliar with diving I was worried about getting back up. I certainly felt out of my comfort zone.</p>
<p>I'm doing another 2 lagoon dives tomorrow and hopefully I can do enough practise of the basic techniques to not cock up quite so much on my next open water dive in the afternoon.</p>
Mysterious Islands in the Sea2010-09-10T15:39:00+01:002010-09-10T15:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-10:/~alex/blog/2010/09/10/mysterious-islands-in-the-sea/<p>We have arrived on a tropical island paradise. It's only slightly disconcerting that the GPS on my phone still hasn't figured out where we are. Although so far smoke monsters and polar bears have not been in evidence. The flights weren't too hard to deal with (6 and 4 hours …</p><p>We have arrived on a tropical island paradise. It's only slightly disconcerting that the GPS on my phone still hasn't figured out where we are. Although so far smoke monsters and polar bears have not been in evidence. The flights weren't too hard to deal with (6 and 4 hours) but we nevertheless fell to sleep quite readily after dinner and watching the stars come out.</p>
<p>Today has mostly been taking it easy, we figured we should allow whatever jet-lag type effects to pass before plunging into full activity mode. We have been swimming in the sea as well as taking advantage of the horizon pool near the bar. We've also had "medicals" for the diving course were starting on in a few days.</p>
<p>Being in the Indian ocean we're actually fairly off the beaten track for western Europeans. So far we've chatted to some South Africans, played backgammon with some Lebanese and played pool pig in the middle with some Japanese. It's very much a Pacific Rim melting pot here.</p>
<p>Current Reading: The Skinner, Neal Asher and On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin.</p>
Wow2010-09-06T13:40:00+01:002010-09-06T13:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-06:/~alex/blog/2010/09/06/wow/<p>You really don't appreciate the build-up to the weekend without the sense of calm relaxation that descends afterwards. Sure there have been simple tasks to achieve like returning suits and doing the washing. However there is no longer a list of things to be done related to the wedding preparations …</p><p>You really don't appreciate the build-up to the weekend without the sense of calm relaxation that descends afterwards. Sure there have been simple tasks to achieve like returning suits and doing the washing. However there is no longer a list of things to be done related to the wedding preparations. Even if some of the things didn't get ticked off the list I don't think anyone noticed.</p>
<p>It was so nice to see so many friends and family coming together celebrate our nuptials. I did have a slight narcissistic moment standing up in the gazebo while everyone watched us say our vows. I even remember most of the day. The faces are still a bit of a blur though. People looked as though they where having fun and we certainly enjoyed the whole day.</p>
<p>It's been fun going through the pictures from the evening. At some point I might try to collate a selection from all the various sources into an "official" crowd-sourced album. I suspect the lack of obvious ways to pull stuff from various external sources will require me to write a tool of some sort. Unless anyone has any suggestions?</p>
Once more2010-09-04T07:23:00+01:002010-09-04T07:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-09-04:/~alex/blog/2010/09/04/once-more/<p>Well that's the legal bit done. It all passed in a bit of a blur but Fliss was wonderful and we've been enjoying calling each other Husband and Wife. We knew it was real when we changed our Facebook status*. We also crashed quite early and slept like logs. I …</p><p>Well that's the legal bit done. It all passed in a bit of a blur but Fliss was wonderful and we've been enjoying calling each other Husband and Wife. We knew it was real when we changed our Facebook status*. We also crashed quite early and slept like logs. I have no idea how we are going to make 11 tonight for the repeat performance (never fear, new material is being introduced!). Looking forward to seeing everyone this afternoon, especially the new Mrs Bennee :-)</p>
<p>* This is a joke, I think</p>
Tea Minus2010-08-31T22:12:00+01:002010-08-31T22:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-31:/~alex/blog/2010/08/31/tea-minus/<p>Today has involved physical introduction of remaining in-laws to actual parents. This was by way of a wandering cycle through town via the odd pub or two. Tomorrow is a fairly light day where I have to achieve a) a hair cut b) get some keys cut. The rest of …</p><p>Today has involved physical introduction of remaining in-laws to actual parents. This was by way of a wandering cycle through town via the odd pub or two. Tomorrow is a fairly light day where I have to achieve a) a hair cut b) get some keys cut. The rest of the day can be put aside to ale quaffing with both fathers (and assorted Cambridge types). The heavy logistics kick in on Thursday, suits and ales all needing to be in their pre-allocated places. Friday I hand the metaphorical keys over to my best men and ride the wave in.</p>
<p>I have secured a 30-45 minute slot for back to back rocking out. I have the beginnings of an over populated play list which needs honing but any suggestions for classic rock material will get a passing notice from me. Hopefully.</p>
Code Insomnia2010-08-27T06:14:00+01:002010-08-27T06:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-27:/~alex/blog/2010/08/27/code-insomnia/<p>It's very rare programs are ever complete, let alone perfect. I pulled a fairly late session night to push a release out at work. Hopefully testing have a chance to raise any major clangers before I go on holiday for the next month. However the combination of late night coding …</p><p>It's very rare programs are ever complete, let alone perfect. I pulled a fairly late session night to push a release out at work. Hopefully testing have a chance to raise any major clangers before I go on holiday for the next month. However the combination of late night coding plus fretting meant I didn't really sleep well. While I may have technically entered <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep">REM</a> sleep dreaming about code and architectural deficiencies in your code isn't the most refreshing way to let your brain unwind. I eventually gave up and got up. It's been a while since I heard Farming Today.</p>
Serious Business2010-08-23T11:41:00+01:002010-08-23T11:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-23:/~alex/blog/2010/08/23/serious-business/<p>While Fliss was away for the weekend on her extended crochet and knitting course I was handed a list of tasks to do in her absence. My Dad came around to help me* replace the light fittings and we then cycled into town for the most enjoyable task from the …</p><p>While Fliss was away for the weekend on her extended crochet and knitting course I was handed a list of tasks to do in her absence. My Dad came around to help me* replace the light fittings and we then cycled into town for the most enjoyable task from the list.</p>
<p>We will be having a couple of barrels of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/index.html">local beer</a> at the wedding. The brewery had given me a list of beers that would be ready by wedding day so together with CW (enjoying a rare break from the family) we set about tasting our way through the list. We only needed to go to two pubs in the process. The fist the <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/places/gb/cb1-1/cambridge/king-st/129/-st-radegund-pub?gl=uk">St Radegund</a> is a big fan of Milton brewery and also a regular haunt of the brewers themselves. We started with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/beers/nero.html">Nero</a> (me foolishly starting with a pint) and then the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/beers/tiki.html">Tiki</a>. After that we had to head down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/places/gb/cambridge/devonshire-rd/1/-devonshire-arms?hl=en&gl=uk">Devonshire Arms</a> which stocks around 5 lines of Milton ales in their extensive range. The food was nice, especially the rather cool Chocolate Ale Cake which was made with the previously mentioned Nero. We ended the tasting on Nero's "bigger brother" <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/beers/marcus-aurelius.html">Marcus Aurelius</a> which was a wonderful winter stout but certainly not a session beer. People shall have to wait until the wedding to find out the final selection but hopefully they will both be popular.</p>
<p>After my Dad headed home we retired to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.the-cambridgeblue.co.uk/">Cambridge Blue</a>, CW keen to take advantage of the rare visit into town. We didn't stay up too late although it was dark by the time my beer wheels (bike, off-road) took me home. Job Done :-)</p>
<p>Or I helped him, as is often the way of such things :-)</p>
The wheels of Justice turn slowly indeed2010-08-20T13:26:00+01:002010-08-20T13:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-20:/~alex/blog/2010/08/20/the-wheels-of-justice-turn-slowly-indeed/<p>I spent this morning at Cambridge Crown Court to see the sentencing of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.courtserve2.net/courtlists/current/crown/cambr_T100820.02.htm">the guy</a> that burgled us <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/07/12/while-you-were-out/">last month</a>. This was a novelty for me as this is the first time I've been burgled and the perpetrator was caught. I did see him briefly when his name was called …</p><p>I spent this morning at Cambridge Crown Court to see the sentencing of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.courtserve2.net/courtlists/current/crown/cambr_T100820.02.htm">the guy</a> that burgled us <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/07/12/while-you-were-out/">last month</a>. This was a novelty for me as this is the first time I've been burgled and the perpetrator was caught. I did see him briefly when his name was called out by the defence counsel for a consultation before the court sat. He came out of the consultation room quite fast and as it turned out later in court was under the misapprehension he was there for a pre-sentencing session. This explains that when dully appointed hour rolled around and the case called there were just the clerks and a few bemused counsels waiting for him to turn up. The court didn't seem particularly concerned and had already postponed one trial hearing as the defendants couldn't be found.</p>
<p>I did hang around for one sentencing of someone who had plead guilty an assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The prosecution and defence counsels summarised the facts of what was essentially a pub fight that one person had decided to continue after having been kicked out of the pub. The victim had ended up with a few cuts and bruises ("out of luck more than anything else") and there was some discussion about whether the cheek bone had actually been fractured. The defendant did have a previous history of assault although as he'd just turned 18 this was his first time in front of the crown court. While the judge did say the case had passed the threshold for custody she in the end awarded a two year community supervision order, 80 hours of community service and an order to attend an anger management course. She seemed persuaded not to award custody on the basis the defendant had been looking for work and had a supportive family (who were in the public gallery). Hopefully this near miss of jail time will be enough to put the guy on a more positive track.</p>
<p>As for "our" guy I did briefly ask the counsel what was likely to happen. It seemed unlikely having left the court he would come back for sentencing today. There will most likely be a warrant put out for his arrest and the mater will get picked up later. One can hope he won't just walk out before the next hearing. I don't know if not turning up will attract extra punishment but the signs on the walls made it clear you could get up to 2 years in custody just for taking photos in court, one would assume missing your appearance attracts more?</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.82010-08-19T11:10:00+01:002010-08-19T11:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-19:/~alex/blog/2010/08/19/edit-with-emacs-v1-8/<p>After a relatively quiet period a number of patches have flowed my way so I thought it was worth pushing out a new version. Perhaps the most "important" feature is the edit box flashing and fading from yellow after being updated (like <a class="reference external" href="http://trac.gerf.org/itsalltext">It's All Text</a>). It wasn't that hard to …</p><p>After a relatively quiet period a number of patches have flowed my way so I thought it was worth pushing out a new version. Perhaps the most "important" feature is the edit box flashing and fading from yellow after being updated (like <a class="reference external" href="http://trac.gerf.org/itsalltext">It's All Text</a>). It wasn't that hard to do given <a class="reference external" href="http://jquery.com/">jQuery</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="http://plugins.jquery.com/project/color">colour animation plugin</a> do all the heavy lifting.</p>
<p>We've added a new hook to the edit-server for pre-edit customisation. If anyone has some nice examples of using the various hooks it would great if you could add examples at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Edit_with_Emacs">emacs wiki</a>.</p>
<p>As ever the extension can be found at the <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">Chrome Extensions site</a>. Development versions are hosted at <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">github</a>.</p>
<p>Full Change Log</p>
<p>v1.8</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Added option to enable/disable visual edit boxes</div>
<div class="line">* Improved feedback as editable elements come in and out of focus</div>
<div class="line">* Updated text box will now fade from yellow after an update</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<p>* Added edit-server-start-hook for additional customisation when edit starts</p>
Odyssey, in 60 seconds2010-08-16T11:24:00+01:002010-08-16T11:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-16:/~alex/blog/2010/08/16/odyssey-in-60-seconds/<p>We went to the new PD LRP fest game <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/odyssey">Odyssey</a> this weekend. Although we didn't stay for Saturday evening as we had wedding planning to do we did get a good feel for the game. Instead of Maelstrom's Play-by-(e)mail game of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(video_game)">Civ</a> Odyssey is very much rooted in …</p><p>We went to the new PD LRP fest game <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/odyssey">Odyssey</a> this weekend. Although we didn't stay for Saturday evening as we had wedding planning to do we did get a good feel for the game. Instead of Maelstrom's Play-by-(e)mail game of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(video_game)">Civ</a> Odyssey is very much rooted in the events of the weekend. The generals get to plan their stratagems, assign limited resources (Warbands) to defending and taking lands decided by battles in the Arena. Going as a grunt it was nice to have the certainty of 2 battles a day where the results were meaningful to the game. The battles tended to be of the order of 10-30 people per side depending on the forces at the disposition of the commander. This neatly solves the large scale balancing act <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorien_Trust">the Gathering</a> had to do to ensure the mass battles weren't too skewed. There was plenty of name calling and taunting going on (our response to "All the way to Rome" was "in chains!"). The atmosphere was very much of competing nations unlikely to "degenerate" into a nice civilised political consensus. It was fun :-)</p>
<p>I didn't get much of a feel for the other roles although the priests were by far the most visible playing a part in the preamble to each battle. They also had the unenviable job of keeping the capricious and cruel Gods in check.</p>
<p>I didn't get a chance to do one of the many linear adventures but heard generally good things about them. Certainly the game provides a great change of pace to the relative civilisation of the Maelstrom setting (which I still enjoy BTW). I shall be trying to persuade some of my more sword jockeying friends to join us next year when we hopefully return for the whole event.</p>
Looping in LISP2010-08-10T09:04:00+01:002010-08-10T09:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-10:/~alex/blog/2010/08/10/looping-in-lisp/<p>Loops are a fairly important part of any programming language and fairly fundamental to a language that is purported to be all about manipulating lists. However it's not something I use that often in my .emacs code so I thought it might be useful to discuss the various options with …</p><p>Loops are a fairly important part of any programming language and fairly fundamental to a language that is purported to be all about manipulating lists. However it's not something I use that often in my .emacs code so I thought it might be useful to discuss the various options with some examples.</p>
<p><strong>Problem:</strong> I run emacs on a number of machines, each with a different set of sound sets. I want to set up set up a valid sound for erc but I don't want an overly verbose set of cases depending on what machine I'm on. Instead a given a list of sound files I want a function that will return the first one that actually exists.</p>
<p>This problem can be easily generalised into return the first valid path from a list of paths.</p>
<div class="section" id="first-version-pure-emacs-lisp">
<h2>First version: pure emacs lisp</h2>
<pre class="literal-block">
; the 'elisp' way
(defun find-valid-file-elisp-way (list-of-files)
"Go though a list of files and return the first one that is present"
(let (r '())
(mapc '(lambda (f)
(if (file-exists-p f) (add-to-list 'r f)))
list-of-files)
(car r)))
</pre>
<p>First impressions aren't good. The lisp parenthesis do seem to get in the way of making what is happening clear. However it's using one of common <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/s/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Mapping-Functions.html">mapping functions</a> you see a lot of in lisp. A mapping function essentially takes a list, applies a function to each element of the list and eventually returns a result. The most common of the mapping functions is <em>mapcar</em> which returns a modified list as a result. In this case that isn't what we want so we use <em>mapc</em> where the only value that is built up is the result <em>r</em> as we identify each valid file. The final return value is just the first entry in that list. This does mean we have processed the whole list of alternatives which is sub-optimal.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="second-version-common-lisp-version">
<h2>Second version: Common Lisp Version</h2>
<pre class="literal-block">
(defun find-valid-file-clisp-way (list-of-files)
"Go though a list of files and return the first one that is present"
(loop for path in list-of-files
until (file-exists-p path)
finally return path))
</pre>
<p>This version probably is the easiest to read for people familiar with other programming languages. The intention of the code jumps out at you. However the actual implementation is done with a macro. If you look at the help for <em>loop</em> you'll see it can take a number of different forms - follow that to the code and you'll see a fairly complex elisp implementation. However to my mind still easier to follow than the pure elisp version with mapc.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="third-version-using-the-dolist-macro">
<h2>Third Version: Using the dolist macro</h2>
<pre class="literal-block">
; using 'cl-macs
(defun find-valid-file-dolist-way (list-of-files)
"Go though a list of files and return the first one that is present"
(dolist (f list-of-files)
(if (file-exists-p f)
(return f))))
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This is yet another version using an LISP macro but this one has considerably less potential forms to cause confusion. It's fairly comprehensible what is going on and even follows the traditional parenthesis happy form. It also takes advantage of the common LISP <em>return</em> to early return from the loop when we detect a valid file. If it makes it to the end of the list it evaluates the 3rd optional form to calculate the result which in this case will be 'nil.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>So what do you think? What version do you prefer? Where does the balance lie between writing code is LISPy ways and for code comprehension? Are there any other ways to solve this particular problem? I'll be looking forward to your comments.</p>
</div>
General Melchett was right2010-08-09T17:50:00+01:002010-08-09T17:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-08-09:/~alex/blog/2010/08/09/general-melchett-was-right/<p>My first impressions of Oxford where that it's even less car friendly than Cambridge. I was visiting for James' stag and had elected to stay at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.club.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford Social Club</a>. Having booked it through a third party site I was under the impression there was parking. As it turned out …</p><p>My first impressions of Oxford where that it's even less car friendly than Cambridge. I was visiting for James' stag and had elected to stay at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.club.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford Social Club</a>. Having booked it through a third party site I was under the impression there was parking. As it turned out the street parking was limited to 3 hours between 8 in the morning and 6 in the evening which meant I was up early to feed the local pay and display machine. After enough of the fug of Friday had cleared I then had to shuffle my car to St Giles where it could sit for a further two hours before we left for our afternoon excursion. As it involved guns it seemed best not involve the obligatory drinking. Luckily the parking restrictions where lifted on Sunday so I did have a little longer to lie in. However I did discover some twat had decided to kick/swipe my passenger side wing mirror off which requiring a Sunday morning excursion to find some gaffa tape.</p>
<p>Car troubles aside the actual celebrations were fun. We were almost all various types of software geeks, some with more academic bents than others. As a result there where many fascinating (to us!) discussions about relative merits of language features, the point of lambda functions and even a friendly mini vi/emacs flame war. As stag does go probably not the hardest on my liver* but entertaining non the less.</p>
<p>* Brief aside: Oxford CAMRA need to sort their act out as to making a list of recommended pubs easier to find.</p>
Edit with Emacs v1.72010-07-29T15:31:00+01:002010-07-29T15:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-29:/~alex/blog/2010/07/29/edit-with-emacs-v1-7/<p>It's been a while so I released a new version of <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh?hl=en">Edit with Emacs</a> for Google Chrome(ium). To be honest most of the changes are to edit-server.el. The most major change is moving all the frame configuration options into a single <em>edit-server-new-frame-alist</em> which might cause confusion if people …</p><p>It's been a while so I released a new version of <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh?hl=en">Edit with Emacs</a> for Google Chrome(ium). To be honest most of the changes are to edit-server.el. The most major change is moving all the frame configuration options into a single <em>edit-server-new-frame-alist</em> which might cause confusion if people don't read the change log which is:</p>
<p>Extension</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* New icon state. Blue=Waiting, Green=In Progress, Red=Error</div>
<div class="line">* Improved mouse-over text for icon to give more useful feedback</div>
</div>
<p>edit-server.el</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Move all frame customisation into edit-server-new-frame-alist</div>
<div class="line">* Don't ask user before closing emacs and network process</div>
<div class="line">* Just skip creating new network process if it's already running</div>
<div class="line">* Make sure edit buffer is selected on new frames</div>
<div class="line">* Prompt window manager to bring new frames to the top of the stack (X windows only)</div>
<div class="line">* Enable multi-byte mode on edit buffers for better unicode handling</div>
<div class="line">* Explicitly fail on XEmacs if make-network-process isn't found (XEmacs patches welcome)</div>
</div>
The power of Tramp2010-07-29T08:06:00+01:002010-07-29T08:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-29:/~alex/blog/2010/07/29/the-power-of-tramp/<p>The project I've been working on at work the last few weeks has involved bringing up a brand new embedded system. As part of that I've been tweaking a lot of start-up scripts and configuration files on the new system.</p>
<p>For part of that task I've installed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/zile/">GNU Zile</a> which …</p><p>The project I've been working on at work the last few weeks has involved bringing up a brand new embedded system. As part of that I've been tweaking a lot of start-up scripts and configuration files on the new system.</p>
<p>For part of that task I've installed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/zile/">GNU Zile</a> which provides a nice Emacs-like experience for quick edits where you would usually fire-up <em>vi</em>. Despite the fact the new platform has a considerably larger backing store I'm not going to install the full-fat Emacs just to satisfy my editing needs.</p>
<p>Fortunately the full-fat Emacs has long carried a feature called TRAMP (standing for "Transparent Remote (file) Access, Multiple Protocol") which is incredibly useful in this and other use cases. TRAMP allows you to edit files on remote machines in your normal home Emacs environment. <em>find-file</em> and friends all behave as if you are editing local files while behind the scenes Emacs pulls directory listings and files from the remote machine with ssh (or ftp or whatever actually works). I use TRAMP all the time to edit files on the rather ancient build machine rather the using the relatively ancient Emacs it has installed on it.</p>
<p>There was one minor wrinkle getting TRAMP working with my new embedded system. As some of the methods used to move files back and forth are designed for transferring text files Emacs goes to great pains to ensure the files are moved across un-mangled. Typically this involves some sort of encode/decode utility. The tramp code is actually quite a good example of using elisp in an extensible way and if you look at <em>tramp-remote-coding-commands</em> you'll see it will even fall back to running remote in-line perl if it has to. As it happens we don't have perl running on the embedded platform and as it would be a little overkill to put perl on the remote machine so I added the recode utility.</p>
<p>I consider TRAMP to be one of Emacs' killer features. Next time you sigh at the prospect of being consigned to an inferior editor on some remote box consider visiting the file with TRAMP straight from your current Emacs session.</p>
A few paragraphs2010-07-26T10:33:00+01:002010-07-26T10:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-26:/~alex/blog/2010/07/26/a-few-paragraphs/<p>There are a number of potential topics for blog posts swirling in my brain which I'm not going to have time to write. I shall therefor attempt to address each on in paragraph form (Twitter style is a little too brief for me).</p>
<p>We were at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/maelstrom">Maelstrom</a> this weekend. We …</p><p>There are a number of potential topics for blog posts swirling in my brain which I'm not going to have time to write. I shall therefor attempt to address each on in paragraph form (Twitter style is a little too brief for me).</p>
<p>We were at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/maelstrom">Maelstrom</a> this weekend. We splashed out for a van so we could take our proper IC tent to the event which we also slept in. Although our normal sleeping tent is quite spacious the IC tent is a lot more so and benefits from not broiling you in your sleeping bag when the sun rises.</p>
<p>I tried Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/">Navigation</a> mode on my software pimped up Hero. I can see why the shares in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TomTom">TomTom</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmin">Garmin</a> shares fell so sharply on it's announcement. I particularly liked the street view picture that's presented at the end of the journey for extra confirmation. I predict the era of the dedicated GPS road navigation unit is coming to an end - to be replaced by multi-functional smart phone type data pads.</p>
<p>I awoke this morning to the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks</a> data dump as reported by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/datablog/2010/jul/25/wikileaks-afghanistan-data">the Guardian</a>. I can understand why the armed forces are upset about this but it's really an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_security">OpSec</a> fail on their part that someone can extract that much data from their systems. Going after Wikileaks will ultimately be a futile exercise. Also baring a live twitter feed of current manoeuvres I'm not sure there should be an expectation of secrecy for historical military data. Transparency is coming to government which I think is a good thing, why not the military? At the same time we need to take some steps to educate the public on the limits of data. If people consider an entry in a database as equating to actual truth on the ground they are going to find themselves disappointed.</p>
<p>We watched the latest Grand Moff/Gatiss <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_(TV_series)">collaboration</a> on TV last night. Although the final third had us shouting at the TV for the slowness of the protagonists to put two and two together overall we liked it. The text overlays were fun and the writing has done a good job of bringing the characters forward into the 21st century. We shall be watching the rest of the series.</p>
New Phone2010-07-22T14:03:00+01:002010-07-22T14:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-22:/~alex/blog/2010/07/22/new-phone/<p>One of the advantages of the current bread of smart phones is they are field upgradable. As so much of their functionality is basically software it makes no sense to treat the phone as a static product once it leaves the factory gates. Coupled with the rapid development of the …</p><p>One of the advantages of the current bread of smart phones is they are field upgradable. As so much of their functionality is basically software it makes no sense to treat the phone as a static product once it leaves the factory gates. Coupled with the rapid development of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)">Android</a> OS means that updating the system firmware can result in a much improved experience without having to buy new hardware.</p>
<p>My phone, an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Hero">HTC Hero</a>, was one of the second generation Android phones. It's a nice phone with a solid feel and nice touchscreen and display. However the default system software is the now rather old Android 1.5. It has been a continual source of frustration watching other phones get their updates to more recent versions while HTC continually slipped the release dates. As the base OS is all open source one might wonder what took them so long. Part of it might be due to the need to integrate HTC's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Sense">Sense</a> layer with Android. A large part is no doubt due to the fact that by not submitting changes to the kernel <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upstream_(software_development)">upstream</a> the company gets to keep the burden of porting the drivers to a newer kernels. It's not entirely HTC's fault, Google can take some of the blame for developing a power management infrastructure behind closed doors and being surprised the kernel developers weren't going to just dump Wavelocks into their carefully engineered kernel. Eventually the embedded world will wake up to the cost of not working with upstream but I predict it will be a while yet.</p>
<p>The greatest reason is most likely that the bulk of HTC's engineering resources will be working on the software for their latest phones and therefore making older phones work better is lower in their priorities. Unfortunately without <a class="reference external" href="http://www.roothtchero.co.uk/">jumping through hoops</a> to install community firmware I was dependant on HTC to provide the update. While I was relaxed about getting a locked down phone (compared to a locked down PC) the experience has reminded me there are other reasons to prefer open systems than just a desire to hack about on them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the promised Over The Air (OTA) update never arrived on my phone so I had to bootstrap the upgrade by manually updating to the next minor version. This took me two days of fighting with various flavours of Windows (install, un-install, re-install in a different order, arrggghg!) and HTC's rather crappy update tool. However once done the notification duly arrived and 3 phone reboots later I had a brand new spiffy Android 2.1 phone.</p>
<p>First impressions are good. The responsiveness seems a lot better and the Google applications all offer significant improvements to the 1.5 based ones. While the hardware has always supported multi-touch the older Android release couldn't take advantage of it. Now I can quickly switch between the many work spaces with a quick pinching motion. It really does feel like getting a new phone.</p>
But will it make the boat go faster?2010-07-16T12:16:00+01:002010-07-16T12:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-16:/~alex/blog/2010/07/16/but-will-it-make-the-boat-go-faster/<p>Yesterday I attended an all day away event with work. It was a combination of motivational speaking, team working exercises as well as management Q&A's and board level views. There was talk about vision and values. We had pretty much the entire company in the same place including the …</p><p>Yesterday I attended an all day away event with work. It was a combination of motivational speaking, team working exercises as well as management Q&A's and board level views. There was talk about vision and values. We had pretty much the entire company in the same place including the teams from South Africa and Malaysia.</p>
<p>I'm usually quite cynical about these sort of exercises, probably as a result of my experience with Marconi Communications fall from grace. However yesterday's event was genuinely exciting. The day was facilitated by Olympic rowing champion <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hunt-Davis">Ben Hunt-Davis</a> who described the steps the coxed eights rowing team took over 2 years that lead to winning the gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Apart from it being an inspiring story he drew out a lot of lessons on how to get a team functioning well together even if they didn't all actually like each other.</p>
<p>Other sessions included the obligatory <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Egg_Race">Great Egg Race</a> type challenge as well as for me the most interesting "view from the board". While the <a class="reference external" href="http://cbnl.com/">company</a> has been going for 10 years, all but the last 2 supported by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital">VC</a> cash it is now making money and growing. It was refreshing the board are committed to growth and taking advantage of the massive opportunity the current explosion in mobile data provides us. No one can predict the future with regards to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_public_offering">IPOs</a> or someone coming along with a suitably large bag of cash it was very much concentrate on growth and the field of options will only get wider.</p>
<p>After the day event we relocated to a <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/places/gb/cambridge/trinity-st/14/-the-vaults-restaurant?gl=uk">cocktail bar in town</a> where the free bar was serving themed cocktails and a fantastic band had most of the company funking out on the dance floor. It was a great informal occasion and a chance to chat amiably to people I don't tend to deal with on a day to day basis.</p>
<p>I came away from the day feeling pretty good about the company. Even after a horrific recession the company is still standing, achieving double digit growth, <a class="reference external" href="http://cbnl.com/about/vacancies.html">hiring new people</a>* and most importantly exporting to the rest of the world. Who says the UK can't produce world class products the rest of the world wants to buy?</p>
<p>* if your interested let me know, recruitment bonuses are worthwhile, especially considering the fee's agencies can charge :-)</p>
While you were out...2010-07-12T21:00:00+01:002010-07-12T21:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-12:/~alex/blog/2010/07/12/while-you-were-out/<p>On Sunday we headed down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelfordfeast.co.uk/">Shelford Feast</a> to catch up with my parents and generally enjoy beer in the sunshine. However while we were out thieving scumbags attempted to break into our house. Apparently there is a bit of a spate of break-ins around fete times as it …</p><p>On Sunday we headed down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelfordfeast.co.uk/">Shelford Feast</a> to catch up with my parents and generally enjoy beer in the sunshine. However while we were out thieving scumbags attempted to break into our house. Apparently there is a bit of a spate of break-ins around fete times as it offers a weekend opportunity when houses are generally empty during the day.</p>
<p>They started by trying to leaver the back door open. However the multi-point lock system held up well. They did however put enough force into it to wedge one of the lock point so solidly that even when we unlocked the door we couldn't get in. They also attacked the patio door with some sort of heavy implement. Although the window is fairly smashed up the laminate finish held it together to thwart their attempt. Unfortunately they didn't leave empty handed as after forcing the lock on the garage they left with Fliss' old mountain bike (fortunately we had taken our brand new bikes with us to ride to Shelford). They also forced the lock on one of the outbuildings but as far as I can tell they didn't nick anything from what is essentially our walk-in LARP wardrobe.</p>
<p>The police turned up fairly quickly followed fairly shortly by the "method of entry" specialist. There was much discussion about the subtle and the not-so-subtle way to gain entry. After the subtle way failed we declined the more direct method to wait for the insurance authorised engineer to turn up. Eventually the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_of_Crime_Officer">SOCO</a> turned up (offering to wear his sunglasses if it would us feel better :-) and managed to get some potential evidence from the scene. Hopefully it won't have been in vain.</p>
<p>Our lovely neighbours put us up and allowed us to watch the World Cup final while we waited for the engineer to turn up and get us into the house. It's a shame the game was so disappointing.</p>
<p>All in all the experience wasn't too bad, the Police (2 officers responsible for most of the villages to the north of Cambridge) were especially helpful. I've been burgled before so from my point of view I can write this of as a failed attack, Fliss however has a slightly different perspective. Overall we are happy* that the house withstood the attack however we will however be reviewing security to make the place even more fortress like. While Cambridge is not like Manchester this has been a reminder of some of the downsides to our relatively exposed rural setting.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* modulo the hassle that is inevitable with dealing with insurance companies and the magic vaporware cover.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Managing Mammals2010-07-12T15:22:00+01:002010-07-12T15:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-12:/~alex/blog/2010/07/12/managing-mammals/<p>I'm writing this post the Sunday house break-in attempt. However much as I'd like to vent and praise I thought I'd stick with some positive commentary on the weekend and save the rest for another post.</p>
<p>This weekend has involved a variety of mammals and their interactions with their human …</p><p>I'm writing this post the Sunday house break-in attempt. However much as I'd like to vent and praise I thought I'd stick with some positive commentary on the weekend and save the rest for another post.</p>
<p>This weekend has involved a variety of mammals and their interactions with their human masters/slaves/overlords*. We started on Friday when an old friend of Fliss' came over to stay with his lovely half-whippet dog Mina. Mina is very friendly and approachable but also fairly excitable which explains why our two cats didn't really hang around for too long to get to know her. They quickly came to the decision that the wilds at the back of the house were more preferable than sharing with an unknown dog. We did shut the door between kitchen and living room to create a dog-free refuge for the cats but they seemed reluctant to trust in our security arrangements, even scarpering at high speed when I came into the kitchen to do some washing up.</p>
<p>I found another mammal in our garden during the evening. A <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog">hedgehog</a> came wandering across my path before rushing into the perceived shelter of the garage. Rather than rush it out we decided to leave the garage open as late as possible. However the hedgehog persisted in hiding itself away until I eventually gave up and locked it in for the night.</p>
<p>Once Mina left with Thom late on Saturday it took a degree of coaxing to convince the cats that it was safe to approach the house again. I ended up taking a food bowl outside and progressively moving it closer to the house. I'm happy to report the cats are now back to fully the facilities offered by our humble abode.</p>
<p>That left us on Sunday evening with our hedgehog visitor having endured two overnight stays in the garage and showing no sign of leaving via the open doors during the day/evening. I ended up picking it up with some suitable gardening gloves, watching it cutely go into defencive ball position before laying down on the garden border and watching it waddle into the bushes, hopefully hungry to tackle the slugs in the garden.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">* delete as appropriate</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Emacs Daemon and Handling Projects2010-07-05T11:16:00+01:002010-07-05T11:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-05:/~alex/blog/2010/07/05/emacs-daemon-and-handling-projects/<p>All my machines have been running persistent Emacs daemons for some time now. Every time I edit a web-page text area or a tweak a configuration file the Emacs client whizzes me to the file with efficient enthusiasm.</p>
<p>However I'm still running individual sessions for each "project" I work on …</p><p>All my machines have been running persistent Emacs daemons for some time now. Every time I edit a web-page text area or a tweak a configuration file the Emacs client whizzes me to the file with efficient enthusiasm.</p>
<p>However I'm still running individual sessions for each "project" I work on. For example at work I currently have one for the main source tree, one for the standalone Java project and one for a kernel I'm working on. This is in no small part due to the rather basic <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/master/my-devel.el#L6">project support I hacked up</a> some time ago.</p>
<p>While conceptually switching my various project variables to be buffer locals would solve a lot of problems there would be a mess of smarts to improve on and I currently can't justify the diversion. I've attempted to get things like <a class="reference external" href="http://cedet.sourceforge.net/">CEDET</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://jdee.sourceforge.net/">JDEE</a> working before but with limited success. They all seem overly heavy-weight solutions to the things I'd like it to achieve:</p>
<ul>
<li><p class="first">Associate new open files with the "project" they are in</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Make M-x compile do the right thing:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Select compile command from per-project compile history</li>
<li>Separate compile window for each project</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Make M-x find-tag behave in the project context</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>As I say simple needs. Once I have all that working then current pain points like having multiple IRC channels over multiple instances of Emacs can go away and everything is literately only a few key-strokes away.</p>
<p>Dear lazyweb, what lightweight project management tools exist out there and which are really good?</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong> I'm going to have a look at <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/jrockway/eproject">eproject</a>. Other suggestions still welcome though :-)</p>
On the nature of Planets2010-07-01T16:26:00+01:002010-07-01T16:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-01:/~alex/blog/2010/07/01/on-the-nature-of-planets/<p>I upgraded my Wordpress install yesterday which inadvertently broke the 'emacs' tagged feed to <a class="reference external" href="http://planet.emacsen.org/">Planet Emacsen</a>. The aim of having a sub-feed from my blog was so I didn't pollute the planet feed with my rambling life story which is probably of more interest(?) to my friends and family. They …</p><p>I upgraded my Wordpress install yesterday which inadvertently broke the 'emacs' tagged feed to <a class="reference external" href="http://planet.emacsen.org/">Planet Emacsen</a>. The aim of having a sub-feed from my blog was so I didn't pollute the planet feed with my rambling life story which is probably of more interest(?) to my friends and family. They tend to read the other <a class="reference external" href="http://syndicated.livejournal.com/stsquad_real/profile">syndicated feed</a> on LiveJournal which has no filtering and as a result often generates confusion from my less technically inclined friends when I start talking about esoteric editor features.</p>
<p>However one of my non emacs related <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/06/30/phone-home/">posts</a> did generate a number of useful replies pointing me towards the useful <a class="reference external" href="http://www.harding.motd.ca/autossh/">autossh</a> tool. This made me wonder if sticking to purely emacs related posts was being a little too limiting. I'd be interested in hearing from Planet Emacsen subscribers what they actually expect from the feed? I'll assume non-techie posts should be off limits but is there value in reading technical posts by emacs users that are not actually related to emacs? Or do people prefer the planet feed to be all about our favourite editor and the things we can do with it? Are we just a community of like-minded individuals with a penchant for octipedal key-strokes?</p>
Digital Democracy2010-07-01T10:22:00+01:002010-07-01T10:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-07-01:/~alex/blog/2010/07/01/digital-democracy/<p>Our new Coalition Overlords<sup>tm</sup> have launched a <a class="reference external" href="http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/">new web-site</a> to solicit feedback from the citizenry on what laws should be repealed/modified. This is a little more involved than the current option to sign <a class="reference external" href="http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/">e-Petitions at the number 10</a> website. The site supports commenting, tagging as well subscribing to …</p><p>Our new Coalition Overlords<sup>tm</sup> have launched a <a class="reference external" href="http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/">new web-site</a> to solicit feedback from the citizenry on what laws should be repealed/modified. This is a little more involved than the current option to sign <a class="reference external" href="http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/">e-Petitions at the number 10</a> website. The site supports commenting, tagging as well subscribing to feeds for each idea. I'm quite impressed if this site has come from zero to production since the new government took power.</p>
<p>Of course experience with the e-Petition site has shown governments are quite capable of ignoring causes with popular support. There are also issue of selection bias, astro-turfing and inclusion of people without broadband connections. However it's an interesting experiment and we'll see where it goes.</p>
Phone Home2010-06-30T14:37:00+01:002010-06-30T14:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-30:/~alex/blog/2010/06/30/phone-home/<p>In the old days when I ran my server from my basement I automatically had access to my home machines. This was useful for all sorts of things but mainly allowing me to monitor my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/">Gentoo</a> system while it re-built the world. However nowadays this is trickier, especially when I'm …</p><p>In the old days when I ran my server from my basement I automatically had access to my home machines. This was useful for all sorts of things but mainly allowing me to monitor my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/">Gentoo</a> system while it re-built the world. However nowadays this is trickier, especially when I'm using my work provided pipe which goes through multiple <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation">NAT</a> steps, not all of which I can control.</p>
<p>There is of course a solution available with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSSH">OpenSSH</a> and it's powerful port forwarding capabilities. First I add a backchannel configuration to <em>~/.ssh/config</em>:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Host backchannel
User username
HostName myserver.com
RemoteForward localhost:10001 localhost:22
TCPKeepAlive no
ServerAliveInterval 2
</pre>
<p>Now by simple typing <em>ssh backchannel</em> I've created a reverse tunnel that means I can ssh into my server on the public internet and login to my home machine by typing <em>ssh -p 10000 username@localhost</em>. As my public machine is also fairly locked down only people actually logged into my machine can use this port (in fact I can lock this down further with a --uid-owner <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptables">iptables</a> rule).</p>
<p>The one remaining problem is that occasionally the backchannel connection drops, most likely due to rogue RST packets from the ISP. This is solved by a some metaphorical duct tape:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
while [ 1 ]; do ssh backchannel; done
</pre>
<p>The only thing I'd really like to improve is using a special key for the backchannel which would only be able to set up the tunnel rather than have full shell access to my server. Apparently it's possible but my Google-fu has been weak in finding out the answer.</p>
Stagged2010-06-22T11:30:00+01:002010-06-22T11:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-22:/~alex/blog/2010/06/22/stagged/<p>I returned from a long weekend in a rather sunny <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York">York</a> yesterday morning. I am now apparently prepared with all the techniques and knowledge required to become a loving and supportive husband in September.</p>
<p>Both my brother and dad did well at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_bridge">Bridge</a> scoring a number of crucial rubbers …</p><p>I returned from a long weekend in a rather sunny <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York">York</a> yesterday morning. I am now apparently prepared with all the techniques and knowledge required to become a loving and supportive husband in September.</p>
<p>Both my brother and dad did well at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_bridge">Bridge</a> scoring a number of crucial rubbers. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman">Batman</a> through the ages retrospective gave us plenty to ponder about the development of this seminal character. I think we all came away from Saturday's advanced driving lessons having learnt some new skills to make us safer participants on our nations roads. The food was simple but nourishing with plenty of healthy herbs and spices to supplement the modest amount of meat in our weekends diet. We also enjoyed a modest selection of wines and other fermented goods made from harvested berries and other natural organic ingredients. Although I did take my PS3 up with me it was mainly used to introduce Andy to a new realistic driving simulator.</p>
<p>I have to thank my best men for organising the weekend and generally removing the need for me to think too hard. I also valued the advice from all those present who had already partaken in the august and revered institution that is marriage.</p>
RIP: PS32010-06-14T11:17:00+01:002010-06-14T11:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-14:/~alex/blog/2010/06/14/rip-ps3/<p>My PS3 died last night with the dreaded Yellow Light of Death (or at least it briefly flashes yellow before turning itself off). Unfortunately it won't stay on long enough to eject the copy of GTA currently stuck in the drive. It also seems the DRM will render any effort …</p><p>My PS3 died last night with the dreaded Yellow Light of Death (or at least it briefly flashes yellow before turning itself off). Unfortunately it won't stay on long enough to eject the copy of GTA currently stuck in the drive. It also seems the DRM will render any effort to transfer the 250gb drive into the new PS3 slim useless. This means all saved progress is currently stuck on an encrypted drive I can't access. I'm hoping the backup I took for the 250gb upgrade will at least restore something to the PS3 Slim currently winging it's way in my direction.</p>
<p>There are a number of tutorials on the net for potentially fixing broken PS3's by re-flowing the solder. I shall have to chat with my Dad next weekend to see if it's doable in his lab. Has anyone successfully resurrected a dead PS3? Or failing that found a list of PS3 <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-on_self-test">POST</a> codes so we have some idea of what's failing?</p>
The Lodger2010-06-14T10:53:00+01:002010-06-14T10:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-14:/~alex/blog/2010/06/14/the-lodger/<p>I finally caught up with the latest Doctor Who last night (drinking/football had over-ruled the Saturday showing). I thought it was a fantastic episode, certainly better than the last two.</p>
<p>Was I the only one who thought the errant device might have been the Master's TARDIS (or at a …</p><p>I finally caught up with the latest Doctor Who last night (drinking/football had over-ruled the Saturday showing). I thought it was a fantastic episode, certainly better than the last two.</p>
<p>Was I the only one who thought the errant device might have been the Master's TARDIS (or at a push some other Time Lords TARDIS)? The Doctor danced around saying it only referring to it being a time travelling ship, but seriously a perception filter would be how the TARDIS chameleon circuit would work if the Doctor turned it back on right? The fact it interfered with the TARDIS operation is also a fairly big pointer? Discuss?</p>
<p>I was mildly irritated by the potentially spoiler infested trailer for the series finale, but I guess I'm just going to have to get used to that sort of thing.</p>
A weekend of fresh air and beer2010-06-14T10:43:00+01:002010-06-14T10:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-14:/~alex/blog/2010/06/14/a-weekend-of-fresh-air-and-beer/<p>Today's weather has returned to a sort of grey overcast but not overly cold averaging day which seems very out of place for June. Luckily the weather over the weekend was much better.</p>
<p>We had Jeff and Phil + family visiting for the weekend. Luckily the summer event calender threw up …</p><p>Today's weather has returned to a sort of grey overcast but not overly cold averaging day which seems very out of place for June. Luckily the weather over the weekend was much better.</p>
<p>We had Jeff and Phil + family visiting for the weekend. Luckily the summer event calender threw up a local event which was easy to get to. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Bumps">May Bumps</a> which paradoxically run in June are a series of rowing races run on the River Cam. As the races start from the Fen Ditton end of the river and much of the action in a bumps race is in the first few hundred yards the river side becomes highly desired property. The parish council must make a decent amount of money allowing cars to park on the recreation ground and the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theploughfenditton.co.uk/">local river side pub</a> had put out a number of extra tents as well a food tent some rather expensive (but tasty) burgers.</p>
<p>To be honest we didn't see that much of the actual races given the throng of people pressed up to the river side however it was a nice day and there was beer present. The students were also very polite, say what you like about some of the privileged people we get at Cambridge but their parents generally seem to beat manners into them early.</p>
<p>After our guests headed back to The North we joined the rest of my family up in Rutland for what is turning into a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/06/15/topping-up-the-tan/">regular event</a> cycling around one of the countries smallest counties. This time we only followed a little of Rutland water and this time focused on cycling though the picturesque villages. Jason had yet again plotted a course that covered a good number of pubs to ensure we didn't get thirsty. Of course the millage meant each pint was well deserved ;-)</p>
<p>This morning the back of my neck feels a little sore to remind me I really should use sun-tan lotion when out and about. However if June is going to save up it's meagre allocation of sunny days just for the weekends I'm not going to mind if they are all as good as this one :-)</p>
Dunkirk, as it happens2010-06-08T12:17:00+01:002010-06-08T12:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-08:/~alex/blog/2010/06/08/dunkirk-as-it-happens/<p>It's interesting to see how much of a shock the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation">Dunkirk Evacuation</a> was to British. Although the start of war was noted by Orwell he quickly moved back to documenting his small holding activities and egg production. However as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Expeditionary_Force_(World_War_II)">B.E.F.</a> was beaten back to their eventual humiliation …</p><p>It's interesting to see how much of a shock the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation">Dunkirk Evacuation</a> was to British. Although the start of war was noted by Orwell he quickly moved back to documenting his small holding activities and egg production. However as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Expeditionary_Force_(World_War_II)">B.E.F.</a> was beaten back to their eventual humiliation <a class="reference external" href="http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/28-5-40/">Orwell writes of growing talk about the war</a> amongst those on the home front. It's eerie reading along in real time but it also gives a wonderful insight to the development of attitudes to the war and how it was viewed at home.</p>
Openness and Transparency2010-06-03T12:41:00+01:002010-06-03T12:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-06-03:/~alex/blog/2010/06/03/openness-and-transparency/<p>One of the things that I found encouraging about the Tory manifesto was they seemed to get the concept of government transparency and open data. While news about top civil service pay is what hit the headlines yesterday the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/statements/transparency/pm-letter.aspx">new directive to civil servants</a> is much wider. While the last …</p><p>One of the things that I found encouraging about the Tory manifesto was they seemed to get the concept of government transparency and open data. While news about top civil service pay is what hit the headlines yesterday the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/statements/transparency/pm-letter.aspx">new directive to civil servants</a> is much wider. While the last government should be saluted for bringing the country the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_2000">Freedom of Information Act</a> this directive goes much further. The intention is to create the presumption that all government information should be proactively made available rather than released on demand.</p>
<p>From my point of view the two biggest items are a publishing of all central government IT contracts and access to the spending databases (at various levels of granularity depending on level of government). I expect the next few months will have all sorts of stories about excessive or hard to justify spending by various departments in the civil service. This is a good thing and hopefully the net result will be better, more accountable government.</p>
<p>The mechanics of delivery for all this information is going to be overseen by a new Public Sector Transparency Board which has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mysociety.org/about-tom-steinberg/">Tom Steinberg</a> (of MySociety fame) amongst it's members so I'm pretty hopeful this data won't end up in hard to parse and analyse proprietary formats. It will be interesting to see what sorts of uses all this information can used for.</p>
Review: The Ballad of Gay Tony2010-05-27T10:34:00+01:002010-05-27T10:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-27:/~alex/blog/2010/05/27/review-the-ballad-of-gay-tony/<p>We finally reached the limit on the PS3's hard disk a few weeks ago. Although I had the option of reformatting the hard drive to reclaim the 10gb after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/manual.html">Sony disabled OtherOS</a>* it seemed a lot easier to get a newer more spacious disk. A quick trip to Amazon later …</p><p>We finally reached the limit on the PS3's hard disk a few weeks ago. Although I had the option of reformatting the hard drive to reclaim the 10gb after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/manual.html">Sony disabled OtherOS</a>* it seemed a lot easier to get a newer more spacious disk. A quick trip to Amazon later and a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZkgmDjAIWo">very simple backup and upgrade</a> and my PS3 was wallowing in a spare 300gb of internal storage which should be enough for all the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downloadable_content">DLC</a> we can afford for a while.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Gay_Tony">The Ballad of Gay Tony</a> has finally finished it's exclusive stint on the Xbox360 and is now available on the PS3. Being a long time fan of the GTA series I forked over my hard earned cash for the ~2gb download. When you first start GTAIV again it detects the presence and offers you a chance to start a new TBGT based game complete with a new disco friendly loading sequence.</p>
<p>Although the game takes part in the same expansive world of Liberty City it involves a brand new set of characters and a new protagonist in the form of Luis Fernando Lopez who is the titular "Gay Tony" Prince's right hand man. The story line is what you expect from GTA although being DLC skips a lot of the build up from the main game dumping you almost immediately into the sort over the top gun battles and movie inspired chase scenes that are the GTA's forte. Refreshingly your character starts tooled up for the job without having to start at the bottom of the equipment tree like Nico does. A couple of other gameplay tweaks are also evident including the ability to restart sections of the mission (although you lose trophy bragging rights if you do) as well as rudimentary targets to aim for in each mission. A few new mini-games are also introduced including golf and the ability to take a more proactive role in managing Tony's night clubs.</p>
<p>The game benefits a lot from the solid foundation created by the GTAIV rendition of the living detailed Liberty City. Even after finishing the original game I found there is still a lot of discovery possible. Given the amount of effort invested in building the city simulation the DLC model should prove lucrative for Rockstar providing the story, characters and acting keep up to the high standards expected of the series. So far for me TBGT has done exactly that, it's just a shame I had to wait so long for it to turn up on my platform of choice.</p>
<p>* Brief aside: Yes I'm pissed off at Sony for removing OtherOS but realistically I never really used the functionality as the core operating system support for media and streaming is already very good. It does provide yet another salutatory lesson on how we don't really control our modern consumer hardware anymore though.</p>
Detecting a certain warmth2010-05-24T11:38:00+01:002010-05-24T11:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-24:/~alex/blog/2010/05/24/detecting-a-certain-warmth/<p>I arrived back from my whistle-stop tour of southern Africa on Friday morning. By the time I arrived back at home I was good for little more than drifting in and out of consciousness on the sofa while noticing little change in environment. In fact Africa was probably perceived as …</p><p>I arrived back from my whistle-stop tour of southern Africa on Friday morning. By the time I arrived back at home I was good for little more than drifting in and out of consciousness on the sofa while noticing little change in environment. In fact Africa was probably perceived as slightly cooler given they are heading into winter and had a lower humidity.</p>
<p>We had a friend visiting for the weekend who gamely helped Fliss tackle the state of the pond. We decided it was a little unfair on the fishes when we spotted one with pond weed threaded through it's gills. While I busied myself with other tasks (fetching, carrying and other assorted easily instructed operations) the girls donned swimming costumes and hauled out large amounts of pond weed and other general muck. We replaced the waterfall pump with one that doesn't cause the house power to trip out whenever it's turned on. As a result the pond is now looking a lot healthier.</p>
<p>We had both wings of the family over for a BBQ the previous weekend which was mainly consumed indoors due to the rain and wind. This weekend was a full on scorcher that was well suited to the small mound of meat that we sacrificed to the BBQ gods. Considering that people generally look forward to the warming of summer it's kinda ironic I spent most of my time darting from shade to shade and following the cats lethargic lead by staying motionless. Sadly I can't be quite as cute with it.</p>
<p>It looks like it will be <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/324">cooling down later in the week</a> which is no bad thing. There is probably less chance of being severely burnt the couple of times we hope to make the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgebeerfestival.com/viewnode.php?id=23&format=html">beer festival</a> this week.</p>
Rainbow Nation2010-05-18T17:31:00+01:002010-05-18T17:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-18:/~alex/blog/2010/05/18/rainbow-nation/<p>Well I finally made it to South Africa for my whistle-stop tour south of the equator. I managed to get an exit seat so I wasn't too confined. During the 10 hours of flight I reckon I managed to achieve about 2 hours of somnolent state which has been enough …</p><p>Well I finally made it to South Africa for my whistle-stop tour south of the equator. I managed to get an exit seat so I wasn't too confined. During the 10 hours of flight I reckon I managed to achieve about 2 hours of somnolent state which has been enough to get me to the evening. Although I would heed the warnings about nocturnal wanderings outside the fortified compound that is the hotel I suspect it is a moot point for today. Hopefully I'll get out and about a bit more tomorrow evening. I fly back on Thursday evening which will make this one of the shorter African excursions on record. Now time to find a menu and eat something before I fall asleep.</p>
Still here2010-05-17T12:55:00+01:002010-05-17T12:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-17:/~alex/blog/2010/05/17/still-here/<p>I should be on a plane at this point, however <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8685913.stm">ash has conspired</a> to cancel my connecting flight this morning. I'm now re-booked onto another flight this evening so I'll still be in South Africa in time for meetings just on considerably less sleep.</p>
<p>The weekend was lovely and relaxed …</p><p>I should be on a plane at this point, however <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8685913.stm">ash has conspired</a> to cancel my connecting flight this morning. I'm now re-booked onto another flight this evening so I'll still be in South Africa in time for meetings just on considerably less sleep.</p>
<p>The weekend was lovely and relaxed. We attended to some wedding preparation on the Saturday including measuring me up for my suit and picking up the wedding rings. As I very rarely wear the things it still feels a little odd making my left hand hang a little oddly, I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough though :-)</p>
<p>As I was due to be leaving home at 3.30 in the morning on Monday we time shifted Sunday to try and make the morning less painful. Fliss cooked me a wonderful roast Chicken dinner and we enjoyed a quite evening together. I was fairly relieved when the flight cancellation notification finally came through. It was much nicer waking up at a civilised time in the morning with my soon to be wife.</p>
Return to normality2010-05-12T11:19:00+01:002010-05-12T11:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-12:/~alex/blog/2010/05/12/return-to-normality/<p>Now the new government is installed and running we can return to our usual programme. One of the things I shall be looking forward to is the promised shake up in Government IT procurement. Both the Lib Dems and the Tories are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/analysis/2262529/party-comparison-procurement?page=1">more or less</a> singing from the same song …</p><p>Now the new government is installed and running we can return to our usual programme. One of the things I shall be looking forward to is the promised shake up in Government IT procurement. Both the Lib Dems and the Tories are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/analysis/2262529/party-comparison-procurement?page=1">more or less</a> singing from the same song sheet. More specifically capping individual contracts at £100M and publishing tender and contract details should shed more light on what is traditionally a rather murky area of government spending. IT is often seen as a silver bullet and has led to some massive white elephant projects which lock departments into vendor solutions over long periods.</p>
<p>While none of the parties have mandated (and nor should they) increased use of Open Source it should be a by-product of encouraging smaller, modular and openly interoperable projects. Time will tell.</p>
Electoral Reform2010-05-11T10:16:00+01:002010-05-11T10:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-11:/~alex/blog/2010/05/11/electoral-reform/<p>I know I planned to stop writing about politics post election but as things aren't quite decided yet I find I'm still thinking about it.</p>
<p>One of the more common statements coming from people wishing to see Labour somehow continue in office is that 52% of the population voted to …</p><p>I know I planned to stop writing about politics post election but as things aren't quite decided yet I find I'm still thinking about it.</p>
<p>One of the more common statements coming from people wishing to see Labour somehow continue in office is that 52% of the population voted to keep the Tories out. By the same logic 59% voted to keep Labour out and a whopping 65% voted to keep the Lib Dems out. If you wanted to descend into <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum">absurdity</a> you might claim that 124% of the population would be unhappy with a Lib/Lab pact. This is the problem with attempting political divination about the will of the electorate based on the current electoral system.</p>
<p>A vote should always be a positive thing: "I believe in Candidate X and the policies they stand for". However in the current setup too many people feel they have to vote for candidate they dislike the least of the two likely to win. If enough people do this the actual real will of the electorate is distorted by expediency.</p>
<p>The Tories have as I hoped they would but feared they wouldn't <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8673807.stm">offered a referendum on election reform</a>. The reform they are suggesting should be the subject of the referendum in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting">Alternative Vote</a>. The system neatly eliminates the dilemma of tactical voting by allowing voters to rank their candidates in order of preference without worrying about their support for a potential minority candidate allowing someone they object to getting in. It's about the least proportional of the potential PR reforms but it does favour the smaller parties (like the Lib Dems) who often get squeezed by votes for the major parties. It also makes it easier for independent candidates to build up a mandate over several election cycles. To me it also communicates more information from the electorate so it would be possible to divine the left/right leaning credentials of middle of the road voters*.</p>
<p>If I were Nick Clegg I'd be taking that deal in a heartbeat. Realistically a coalition with the Tories has far more chance of getting stuff done than the proposed "progressive alliance". Any such alliance would be one or two heart attacks away from losing a majority. My personal worry is such a beast would do nothing about sorting out the deficit especially as the nationalists have stood on a platform of preventing cuts to public service in their own countries.</p>
<p>Other proportional systems are available including <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Vote_Top-up">AV+</a> which uses party lists (albeit directly voted ones) to adjust for share of the vote. The Lib Dems favoured reform is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote">Single Transferable Vote</a> which is similar to AV but requires super-constituencies of multiple candidates to spread the votes around so there are no "wasted" votes. It also breaks the direct link between constituency and candidate which I think is a bad thing. All in all I think the proposed AV system is a good system even if it's just a stepping stone on a longer** term migration to more proportional systems. One thing I would like however it the addition of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/None_of_the_above">Re-open Nominations</a> so a constituency really can reject all candidates if offered a very poor choice.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* A massive simplification of the Lib Dems being somehow between Labour on the left and Tories on the right. Never the less I do contest there are plenty of Lib Dem voters who are for economic radicalism, small government and greater localism.</div>
<div class="line">** Maybe in 2-3 more elections time when we've allowed AV to bed in and see what it's like.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Interesting times, part 22010-05-07T11:55:00+01:002010-05-07T11:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-07:/~alex/blog/2010/05/07/interesting-times-part-2/<p>I didn't make it to the declaration of my local constituency which eventually declared sometime around 5 in the morning. As a result I'm basically functioning on tea infusions. I may have to whip up a super-caffeine latte in a bit.</p>
<p>The results last night where all over the place …</p><p>I didn't make it to the declaration of my local constituency which eventually declared sometime around 5 in the morning. As a result I'm basically functioning on tea infusions. I may have to whip up a super-caffeine latte in a bit.</p>
<p>The results last night where all over the place. Some stonking swings to the Tories in bits of the north where they didn't expect to win but at the same time less than stellar performances in the old true blue heartlands. My local constituency had a pretty decent swing to the Lib Dems after the collapse of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/04/27/interesting-times/">local Labour Campaign</a> but it was still a fairly comfortable <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/e12.stm">Conservative hold</a>.</p>
<p>The big story seems to be the collapse of the Lib Dem vote, both the <a class="reference external" href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/ukpr-projection-2">Uniform Swing projection</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/05/final-uk-projection-conservatives-312.html">the chaps at FiveThirtyEight</a> predicted a far higher number of seats for the Lib Dems than the 59 or so they look likely to get.</p>
<p>Personally I hope Cameron sucks up his objections to offering Clegg a referendum on PR and forms some sort of Lib/Con alliance. I suspect that may dismay many LD voters hoping for a Lib/Lab pact though. Either way as a voter it's out of my hands now and up to those politicians in smoke-free rooms to hammer out a deal.</p>
Election day in the UK2010-05-06T10:04:00+01:002010-05-06T10:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-06:/~alex/blog/2010/05/06/election-day-in-the-uk/<p>Today is the general election in the UK. It's the closest race I've ever been eligible to vote in and the outcome is far from certain. If you do one thing today please go and vote. That is all.</p>
Big Society vs Proportional Representation2010-05-05T10:58:00+01:002010-05-05T10:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-05:/~alex/blog/2010/05/05/big-society-vs-proportional-representation/<p>This will be my last post on the subject of politics for some time. Tomorrow is election day and even though blogging is not yet subject to the oversight of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom">Ofcom</a> the convention of not campaigning on election day seems like a good one to follow.</p>
<p>The campaign has taken …</p><p>This will be my last post on the subject of politics for some time. Tomorrow is election day and even though blogging is not yet subject to the oversight of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom">Ofcom</a> the convention of not campaigning on election day seems like a good one to follow.</p>
<p>The campaign has taken a certain negative turn, a number of ministers have been calling on people to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8658694.stm">vote tactically</a> to keep the Tories out. We'll see how it plays out with the electorate but asking people to vote for you because your not the other guy isn't exactly an inspiring call. Personally the view that the Tories will be making significant cuts to public spending is re-assuring and makes me wonder if we would reach Greek/Spanish-like positions if Labour had another 5 years of failing to tackle the size of the public sector. For all the rhetoric you'd think that Tories enjoy cutting spending and making themselves unpopular instead just being resigned to having to clean-up after yet another Labour crash.</p>
<p>Of all the ideas that have been articulated over the election that of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2010/03/Plans_announced_to_help_build_a_Big_Society.aspx">Big Society</a> has been the most confusing. Parodied as citizens learning to do their own appendectomies or creating new schools when state schools fail it hasn't really moved on from a vague idea. If it's more about local empowerment and greater transparency of decision making then these are things I can support. Unfortunately the whole policy lacks detail on what real practical solutions would be possible. It also suffers from the sharp-elbowed middle-class syndrome as poorer sections of society have trouble getting the most out of public services as it is. Of course <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/may/14/election2005.constitution">voter turnout and social status are closely correlated</a> so poorer people will benefit less from electoral reform anyway. Perhaps this election is just all about the middle classes?</p>
<p>So I agree the national voting system is broken, my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.voterpower.org.uk/cambridgeshire-south-east">vote is worth less</a> than most by virtue of where I live. Some of that could be rectified by better boundaries but really some sort of proportional system is needed somewhere in our national elections. On the other hand changing the composition of the MPs in the House of Commons is going to have less effect on things that matter to me day to day, like the state of the cycle paths and local services. If the big society is about making those things more reactive and accountable to local needs it could have a bigger effect on my life than who occupies Number 10? I suspect I'll still be trying to decide when I'm standing in the voting booth tomorrow.</p>
<p>The only thing I can gaurentee is I will be voting tomorrow, hopefully with more people going to the polls than in the last election.</p>
Thoughts on Steve2010-05-04T10:21:00+01:002010-05-04T10:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-05-04:/~alex/blog/2010/05/04/thoughts-on-steve/<p>The current spat between <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/">Apple's Steve Jobs</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/10093314.stm">Adobe</a> has been amusing to watch from the sidelines. There is an irony in Apple having a go at Adobe for supporting a closed proprietary de-facto standard like Flash. Much as it pains me to say it on most of the points …</p><p>The current spat between <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/">Apple's Steve Jobs</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/10093314.stm">Adobe</a> has been amusing to watch from the sidelines. There is an irony in Apple having a go at Adobe for supporting a closed proprietary de-facto standard like Flash. Much as it pains me to say it on most of the points Steve makes I find myself agreeing. The web will be a better place when video is delivered over standard HTML5 tags instead of being wrapped up in some closed plugin. There are also better standards based solutions for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics">vector graphics</a> which together with JavaScript and <a class="reference external" href="http://raphaeljs.com/">libraries</a> can render the other major use of Flash obsolete.</p>
<p>My advice to Adobe would be to concentrate on the authoring tools and output to a common supported standard for the final rendering.</p>
<p>Of course the <a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/pot-meet-kettle-a-response-to-steve-jobs-letter-on-flash.ars">FSF have joined in</a> to comment. Apart from the major flaw that Job's walled garden locks out all sorts of competitors that aren't Flash there is the small elephant in the room around video <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec">codec</a> patents. Apple would love the de-facto embedded video standard to be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC">H.264</a> which is already available from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/html5">YouTube</a>. The free software community also has one of the best video codec implementations in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ffmpeg.org/">FFmpeg project</a>. Actually playing video is already a well solved problem. Unfortunately the uncertainty around patents means the distributions are incredibly hesitant to distribute binaries supporting such encumbered codecs. Luckily for Apple they hold a significant number of patents related to the technology.</p>
<p>There is of course <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theora">Ogg Theora</a> which is on the surface patent free and the <a class="reference external" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Videos">default codec used by Wikipedia</a>. Google's recent acquisition of On2 <a class="reference external" href="http://newteevee.com/2010/04/12/google-to-open-source-vp8-for-html5-video/">hold out hope for a more modern video codec</a> becoming fully open. It's clear that the next few years will see some shake up in the delivery of video over the web.</p>
<p>So while I will happily cheer the demise of the bloated security nightmare that is Flash beware of gifts brought by turtlenecked geeks.</p>
The story is around the world before the rebuttal gets it's boots on2010-04-28T14:18:00+01:002010-04-28T14:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-28:/~alex/blog/2010/04/28/the-story-is-around-the-world-before-the-rebuttal-gets-its-boots-on/<p>Sometimes I feel quite sorry for Gordon Brown. I have plenty of fundamental problems with his politics but sometimes he just can't catch a break. Thankfully I'm rational enough not to base my vote on how lucky the candidates seem to be. Brown has joined a long line of politicians …</p><p>Sometimes I feel quite sorry for Gordon Brown. I have plenty of fundamental problems with his politics but sometimes he just can't catch a break. Thankfully I'm rational enough not to base my vote on how lucky the candidates seem to be. Brown has joined a long line of politicians caught saying things in private which they didn't realise would become public.</p>
<p>I'd recommend watching the clip on <a class="reference external" href="http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/2010/04/28/gordon-browns-jekyll-and-hyde-moment-in-rochdale/">Channel 4</a> as it includes the "on screen" conversation as well as his private comments. Unfortunately for the PM most people will just hear him insulting a ex-loyal Labour voter without the wider context of the conversation before it. It is up the the viewer to judge if the comments were justified.</p>
<p>I suspect the spin doctors in all parties are sending hastily written notes to all candidates reminding them to always know what mikes they have attached.</p>
Interesting Times2010-04-27T11:50:00+01:002010-04-27T11:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-27:/~alex/blog/2010/04/27/interesting-times/<p>The election race in my constituency just got a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8644018.stm">lot more interesting</a>. The suspension of the local Labour candidate offers up some interesting options for the voters. While the Tory incumbent has a fairly healthy majority he does benefit from a splitting of the <a class="reference external" href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/cambridgeshiresoutheast">opposition vote</a>.</p>
<p>Despite kicking the candidate …</p><p>The election race in my constituency just got a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8644018.stm">lot more interesting</a>. The suspension of the local Labour candidate offers up some interesting options for the voters. While the Tory incumbent has a fairly healthy majority he does benefit from a splitting of the <a class="reference external" href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/cambridgeshiresoutheast">opposition vote</a>.</p>
<p>Despite kicking the candidate out (who would never win anyway) the party are still asking their loyal voters to "hold their noses" and vote Labour. This to me seems extremely silly as he a) won't win b) if he did win he wouldn't be a Labour MP and c) he seems to be a bit of a loose cannon anyway. If all those Labour voters joined the Lib Dems for this election then the thumping majority of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/james_paice/south_east_cambridgeshire">James Paice</a> suddenly looks a lot less thumping. You'd think for Labour central office one less Tory would be something they could live with even if it was a Lib Dem. I usually stay up quite late on polling day, with this development I'll certainly stay up until my constituency declares.</p>
BarCamb 32010-04-25T12:48:00+01:002010-04-25T12:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-25:/~alex/blog/2010/04/25/barcamb-3/<p>This weekend has mainly been filled with <a class="reference external" href="http://barcamb.org/">BarCamb 3</a>. I had a modest part to play in it's running (watching doors, carrying stuff) but still had plenty of time to attend a number of interesting sessions.</p>
<p>This will be my third <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/tag/barcamp/">BarCamp</a> event and it's nice to attend one on …</p><p>This weekend has mainly been filled with <a class="reference external" href="http://barcamb.org/">BarCamb 3</a>. I had a modest part to play in it's running (watching doors, carrying stuff) but still had plenty of time to attend a number of interesting sessions.</p>
<p>This will be my third <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/tag/barcamp/">BarCamp</a> event and it's nice to attend one on my home turf. What I like so much about the format is the shear serendipity of discovery. While a lot of the speakers have some sort of idea about what they will present there is plenty of scope for last minute presentations or contributing to sessions like Lightning Talks.</p>
<p>So far I've attended a number of interesting talks/discussions. The first one was a discussion about the relative merits of micro vs monolithic kernels. This led onto discussion of if the benefits of isolation of components could be achieved with a JITing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine">Virtual Machine</a> and if that would solve some of the performance problems that micro kernels traditionally suffer from.</p>
<p>The next talk was an interesting history of Babbage's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine">Difference Engine</a> including a number of the implementation details. The talk included a demo of the engine written in Flash. Unfortunately time didn't allow for delving deeper into the "Method of Difference" from which the engine derives it's name.</p>
<p>Another interesting talk was <a class="reference external" href="http://blogs.nature.com/eva/">Eva Amsen</a>'s discussion about scientific communities and the un-conference concept. It started with discussion about the plurality of science social networks that exist and the problems that fragmentation causes. This is slightly surprising given scientists were one of the first groups to use the 'net extensively for collaboration. The discussion then moved on to musing about why scientists haven't taken on to the BarCamp style meet-ups. A lot of practical issues surrounding not announcing research before publication and worries about presenting partial data and work in progress. Events have been shown to be successful (by for example inviting them to a "normal" conference and then cancelling the schedule once they had arrived). There also seems to be a thirst for normal tech people to meet scientists which may not be reciprocated by the science community. I left the discussion feeling a little sad that the ad-hoc collaboration that is so natural in the Open Source world still has some way to go in the realms of science.</p>
<p>All in all it's been very stimulating so far and I'm looking forward to the closing sessions this afternoon. There is going to be some 80's computer nostalgia which I'm quite looking forward to.</p>
<p>It seems to be the season for BarCamps as I've got another one next weekend when I'm attending <a class="reference external" href="http://oggcamp.org/">OggCamp 10</a> up in Liverpool. Anyone want to join me?</p>
Seconds out, round two2010-04-22T11:54:00+01:002010-04-22T11:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-22:/~alex/blog/2010/04/22/seconds-out-round-two/<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8636311.stm">knives are well and truly out</a> for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats ahead of tonight's debate. They can't exactly complain now they have been propelled from third party to potential front-runners (modulo electoral effects). While the "scrutiny" offered by the British press is predictably smear-like I'm hoping it's …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8636311.stm">knives are well and truly out</a> for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats ahead of tonight's debate. They can't exactly complain now they have been propelled from third party to potential front-runners (modulo electoral effects). While the "scrutiny" offered by the British press is predictably smear-like I'm hoping it's policies that will come under more scrutiny in the actual debate.</p>
<p>Tonight's debate is meant to be focusing on foreign policy where the only real issues there is measurable difference between the parties seem to be Europe and Trident.</p>
<p>Trident is a tricky one. A lot of play has been made about it's cost and the extra money that could be ploughed back into defence/other spending if it was scrapped. However the renewal of Trident is a long term project so I doubt cancelling it now would result in a bonanza for the Treasury over the next few years. The effectiveness of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent is even more questionable. The role of the deterrent is to keep your enemies guessing as to if you would or would not vaporise a load of civilians for the transgressions of a rogue state. As time goes on it's getting harder and harder to imagine we ever would. Besides the greatest growing threat is a non-state actor ("terrorists") get their hands on a nuke and I don't think they are dissuaded at all, they would probably want a fire and brimstone response to validate their warped point of view. While I was staunchly against unilateralism during the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War">Cold War</a> I'm finding it harder to come down in favour of nukes now.</p>
<p>The other area for debate is Europe. I'm sure Labour will on their usual attack on the Tories that siding with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Conservatives_and_Reformists">European Conservatives and Reformists</a> group is tantamount to supporting homophobia and racism. It's true some of the members of the group have less than spectacular domestic records but the actual European agenda is what you would expect, fair trade, secure clean energy and greater transparency of EU institutions. Pro-European I may be but it's certainly not without a desire to see some sort of reform in Brussels (and Strasbourg). Europe is a very broad church and it would seem right to be able to co-operate at the European level without that implying support for sovereign domestic agendas.</p>
<p><em>The Second Prime Ministerial Debate airs tonight at 2000 BST on Sky News, BBC News and Sky 3</em></p>
Apropos my last post2010-04-19T11:00:00+01:002010-04-19T11:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-19:/~alex/blog/2010/04/19/apropos-my-last-post/<p>Struck by a desire to know I penned the following:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Dear Geoffrey Van Orden, Richard Howitt, Stuart Agnew, David Campbell Bannerman, Vicky Ford, Andrew Duff and Robert Sturdy,
I noted with interest today the news that the EU transport ministers
held a video-conference to discuss the response to the paralysis …</pre><p>Struck by a desire to know I penned the following:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Dear Geoffrey Van Orden, Richard Howitt, Stuart Agnew, David Campbell Bannerman, Vicky Ford, Andrew Duff and Robert Sturdy,
I noted with interest today the news that the EU transport ministers
held a video-conference to discuss the response to the paralysis of
the air transport network by the results of the eruptions of
Eyjafjallajökull.
While I by no means think that every EU conference could be held by
video link I did wonder how often ministers take advantage of modern
telecommunications technology. As my representatives in Europe I would
like you to find out:
* how many meetings could be held by video conference?
* how many meetings are actually held by video conference?
* what is the environmental impact of holding physical meetings where video ones would do?
Europe takes a leading role on environmental matters which I applaud.
However I hold a sneaking suspicion our European institutions could do
a better job of leading by example.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Bennée
</pre>
The shape of things to come?2010-04-19T10:41:00+01:002010-04-19T10:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-19:/~alex/blog/2010/04/19/the-shape-of-things-to-come/<p>The ramifications of the eruption of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallajökull">Eyjafjallajökull</a> continue to rumble on as people suddenly find themselves stranded and reminded that the Earth is actually quite a big place. Meanwhile it's news that EU ministers co-ordinating a response has a <a class="reference external" href="http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8628867.stm">video conference</a> to discuss the response to the transport paralysis.</p>
<p>I …</p><p>The ramifications of the eruption of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallajökull">Eyjafjallajökull</a> continue to rumble on as people suddenly find themselves stranded and reminded that the Earth is actually quite a big place. Meanwhile it's news that EU ministers co-ordinating a response has a <a class="reference external" href="http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8628867.stm">video conference</a> to discuss the response to the transport paralysis.</p>
<p>I find it interesting that the fact they had a video conference is news worthy. It implies that normally any time a bunch of European ministers need to discuss something they all de-camp and meet in a single physical locality. This is a measure of how far we have taken the ability to jet about for granted. While I'm sure there are good reasons to have conferences where close physicality to a mixture of people can result in useful side meetings I find it slightly disheartening that video-conferencing isn't used more routinely. Having said that the European project does ferry it's MEPs <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament#Proceedings">back and forth</a> between two buildings every week so maybe I'm expecting too much. If Europe wants to take the lead on reducing the worlds carbon footprint it could do worse things than fixing up a few of it's inefficiences.</p>
<p>The news will no doubt spend the next few days reporting on stories of weary travllers making it back to the shores of old Blighty showing appropriate displays of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation">Dunkirk Spirit</a>. While we celebrate the return of out fellow countrymen to the this green and pleasent land I wonder if we'll take deeper stock of what the future without cheap and plentiful air travel will be like? Has anyone been in a supermarket the last few days and noticed the state of the fruit and veg section? This is the shape of things to come.</p>
Post Match Analysis2010-04-16T15:16:00+01:002010-04-16T15:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-16:/~alex/blog/2010/04/16/post-match-analysis/<p>Our polling cards arrived this morning. Now I know I can vote I'm still a little conflicted about who to vote for. Last night I tuned into ITV to see if I can clear up that confusion.</p>
<p>The debate was certainly livelier than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/03/30/who-got-all-the-laughs/">the chancellors debate</a>. Part of that was …</p><p>Our polling cards arrived this morning. Now I know I can vote I'm still a little conflicted about who to vote for. Last night I tuned into ITV to see if I can clear up that confusion.</p>
<p>The debate was certainly livelier than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2010/03/30/who-got-all-the-laughs/">the chancellors debate</a>. Part of that was down to the aggressiveness of the moderator <a class="reference external" href="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_Stewart">Alistair Stewart</a>. Perhaps he felt he had to cut people off mid-flow to demonstrate he was in control of the debate (despite the times he obviously wasn't) but it annoyed me. I'd prefer the firm but tolerant <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dimbleby">David Dimbleby</a> who will be moderating the final debate. Although I'm sure all the parties where monitoring talk time awarded to each participant I doubt any of them will complain, it did feel as though <a class="reference external" href="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Clegg">Nick Clegg</a> was getting more than his fair share.</p>
<p>The coaching all the participants had gotten was very obvious. Some where making sure to address the camera, some the questioner. All of them employed the trope of recalling anecdotes as part of their response to questions in an effort to "bond" with the audience. After around 60 minutes you started noticing a tendency to fall back on rehearsed lines, David Cameron in particular fell back to the £1 in 100 illustration which I assume is part of the "message" when discussing savings. Gordon Brown had a few prepared jokes up his sleeves, "It's not question time, it's answer time" and "You can't airbrush your policies like your posters", which were actually quite good lines but their delivery came across as very forced much like his occasional rictus smile. Cameron looked uncomfortable and uncertain at points, normally a confident orator I think he found the dead quiet more disconcerting without the noise of the House of Commons behind him. Nick Clegg was by far the most relaxed and confident. He even made some good meta-references to the debate format, breaking the rules by getting acknowledgement from questioners if he was answering in the right way.</p>
<p>By the end it felt as though it had been a long debate. The format is still too restrictive, especially with the strict deadlines on rebuttals forcing them all to stick to prepared soundbite points. While I appreciate the need to be "fair and balanced" all of the participants were clearly frustrated that they couldn't fully develop some of their points.</p>
<p>While Nick Clegg certainly won on style I don't feel he was pressed enough on policy points. He was happy to sit back and take pot shots at Cameron and Brown slugging it out between prepared attacks and quoting statistics. While it payed off for him in this debate I doubt he's going to get off that easily in the next two debates.</p>
<p>I'll be watching the next debate with interest.</p>
Almost2010-04-14T14:31:00+01:002010-04-14T14:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-14:/~alex/blog/2010/04/14/almost/<p>Reading through the <a class="reference external" href="news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8619630.stm">bullet summary</a> of the Lib Dems manifesto I was struck at how well it aligned with the Tory proposals on political reform (smaller House of Commons). There are a number of other good proposals including per-flight instead of per-passenger flight tax, local income tax, shared parental leave …</p><p>Reading through the <a class="reference external" href="news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8619630.stm">bullet summary</a> of the Lib Dems manifesto I was struck at how well it aligned with the Tory proposals on political reform (smaller House of Commons). There are a number of other good proposals including per-flight instead of per-passenger flight tax, local income tax, shared parental leave (similar to Tory proposals). There are a number of wish list items as well which I guess would never make it through a coalition administration but look good on paper.</p>
<p>Then I saw one I wasn't expecting:</p>
<p><em>"....reject new generation of nuclear power"</em></p>
<p>FAIL.</p>
Dirty Election2010-04-12T11:07:00+01:002010-04-12T11:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-12:/~alex/blog/2010/04/12/dirty-election/<p>It looks like it's shaping up to be a very dirty election. The latest scare tactic involving <a class="reference external" href="news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8614075.stm">cancer treatment</a> also raised question about how the leaflets were targeted. The Labour party seem to be working very hard to promote the image of posh Tories waxing their moustaches between looking for …</p><p>It looks like it's shaping up to be a very dirty election. The latest scare tactic involving <a class="reference external" href="news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8614075.stm">cancer treatment</a> also raised question about how the leaflets were targeted. The Labour party seem to be working very hard to promote the image of posh Tories waxing their moustaches between looking for puppies to kick. Health care is such a hot potato topic that all the parties have "protected" funding for the NHS but the accusation still stands that after kicking all those puppies Conservative politicians like nothing better than screwing over cancer patients.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="www.conservatives.com/Policy/Where_we_stand/Health.aspx">reality</a> is less of a cartoon caricature. The Conservatives are looking to abolish a large number of the central targets because they question their effectiveness. I've seen myself how the organisation games the system to meet targets without effectively meeting the needs of the patient. But of course we are asked accept that Labour know how to improve the NHS despite having had the last 13 years to do so.</p>
<p>I'm also finding the arguments about public spending cuts more than a little weak. Our total spending is around <a class="reference external" href="www.wheredoesmymoneygo.org/prototype/">£620bn</a> and we are having slanging matches between the parties about £6bn to pay for Tory NI proposals. That's less than 1% of total spending and well within the sort of efficiency savings the private sector regularly asks it employees to make. I know from personal experience that over the last year or so the private sector has been busy making those savings, quite often at the cost of jobs. When I heard someone of the radio suggesting that in that case the private sector could save a little more to cover the cost of the NI increase I had to hold myself back from shouting at the radio. While I like having public services and have a lot of respect for people that work in them it doesn't give them a blank cheque to carry on as normal while the rest of us have to tighten our belts. I suspect I'll be turning into Victor Meldrew by the end of it all.</p>
Sunshine, sand and spades2010-04-12T10:43:00+01:002010-04-12T10:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-12:/~alex/blog/2010/04/12/sunshine-sand-and-spades/<p>My muscles are currently protesting but not quite as much as post-Snowdon. We took advantage of a lovely sunny weekend to start planting some fruit and vegetables in our new veg patch.</p>
<p>It turns out that the hardstand for the out-building actually extends much further out into the area we …</p><p>My muscles are currently protesting but not quite as much as post-Snowdon. We took advantage of a lovely sunny weekend to start planting some fruit and vegetables in our new veg patch.</p>
<p>It turns out that the hardstand for the out-building actually extends much further out into the area we want to turn into our mini-allotment than originally thought. After much exploratory digging I think I've located the final boundary which only left around a metre between that and the hedge. Fortunately the concrete in deep enough for the <a class="reference external" href="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_strawberry">strawberry</a> bed to go over as their roots aren't that deep. The tomatoes went further back and both beds where de-rocked/bricked and then improved with a significant quaint of compost. Given the amount of land we should probably take advantage of the <a class="reference external" href="www.transitioncambridge.org/thewiki/ttwiki/pmwiki.php?n=TTFood.Donarbon">free compost</a> from the new anaerobic compost facility in Waterbeach which processes a lot of the green bin waste.</p>
<p>We also cleared out a large amount of ivy and other junk from the hedge row at the back as well as dismantling the last of the old corrugated iron fence. I think the next step is going to be finding how much it would cost to get someone in to break up the concrete and remove the resulting rubble. It will take a few years to get the land into full-production but at least we will have some local produce to show for this year.</p>
Under starters orders2010-04-07T13:38:00+01:002010-04-07T13:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-07:/~alex/blog/2010/04/07/under-starters-orders/<p>It wasn't exactly the most surprising announcement but the race is now on for who forms the next government. Anyone not registered to vote has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/">about 13 days</a> to make sure they are registered for the election.</p>
<p>According to the Electoral Reform Society there isn't much point voting as all …</p><p>It wasn't exactly the most surprising announcement but the race is now on for who forms the next government. Anyone not registered to vote has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/">about 13 days</a> to make sure they are registered for the election.</p>
<p>According to the Electoral Reform Society there isn't much point voting as all our seats are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Seven-Cambridgeshire-parliamentary-seats-are-dead-certs.htm">dead certs</a>. It seems like a council of despair and misplaced for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>Leaving aside the civic duty aspects of voting (whoever you vote for, or spoil your ballot) this is going to be one of closest elections in a long time. We have a record number of incumbent MPs standing down this election ensuring more election battles between new candidates. For those election battles where the incumbent is fighting the seat there is a wealth of information that allows voters to see their MPs actual performance. Given the turbulence and disrepute politics has fallen into over the last few years I'm sure those "safe" seats are feeling a lot less safe now.</p>
<p>Although my political complexion is broadly of the blue variety I'm starting to go off my local MP. His lack of record on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1477&dmp=996">transparency</a> and disappointing record <a class="reference external" href="http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1477&dmp=826">equality</a> are leading me to consider other candidates. I'm voting for my local representative not a voting peon for the national party. Unfortunately the LibDem representation so far has been less than stellar. While it's hoping too much for no negative campaigning this year I'm really not persuaded by arguments telling me to vote for someone because the other party will do X. It's a shame as a 7.5% swing looks <a class="reference external" href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/cambridgeshiresoutheast">doable</a> if the Lib Dems can pull votes from both the Tory and Labour in my constituency.</p>
<p>Anyway there is all to play for over the next 4 weeks, we shall see how the country decides soon enough.</p>
Damn you Virgin Media2010-04-02T10:18:00+01:002010-04-02T10:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-04-02:/~alex/blog/2010/04/02/damn-you-virgin-media/<p>I'm unreasonably happy this weekend. We had made the right choice to skip the first and last Maelstroms this year. We still have memories of waking up in snow last year. Instead we are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend of chilling.</p>
<p>After a bit of tweaking we finally …</p><p>I'm unreasonably happy this weekend. We had made the right choice to skip the first and last Maelstroms this year. We still have memories of waking up in snow last year. Instead we are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend of chilling.</p>
<p>After a bit of tweaking we finally got my radio link working (weird routing through the CISCO). Suddenly we are able to stream iPlayer again something that has been next to impossible on Virgin's ADSL link. Luckily as I happen to write the NMS for the radio link so I can actually see what heavy strain iPlayer puts on the link. It turns out not very much, an actual video stream demands less than 2Mb/s while running. According to the router status the physical link is nearly 6Mbs so I can only assume this is due to downstream congestion and/or bandwidth shaping. Considering the amount I've shelled out to Virgin over the last few months I consider it a bit of a rip-off. I am supposedly a couple of rungs up on the allowed download limits which makes no real difference if I can't physically pull that amount through a squeezed data pipe.</p>
<p>Interestingly the data rate for CoD4:MW2 is only around 40Kb/s which includes the voice chat data. I could play OK on the ADSL link but the radio link does improve the ping times by around 40ms which is nice.</p>
Learning to love the snake2010-03-31T10:47:00+01:002010-03-31T10:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-31:/~alex/blog/2010/03/31/learning-to-love-the-snake/<p>Yesterday I finished of what is hopefully the last testing release of the product I'm responsible for, assuming no major problems it will go gold soon. This means I can start on doing some new development work. The thing I'm working on next will be done in a scripting language …</p><p>Yesterday I finished of what is hopefully the last testing release of the product I'm responsible for, assuming no major problems it will go gold soon. This means I can start on doing some new development work. The thing I'm working on next will be done in a scripting language as basically the task of ensuring configurations are correct and properly setup is a) not performance critical and b) a hell of a lot easier than wrangling strings in C.</p>
<p>While most of the scripting stuff on the product is written in perl I've been contemplating doing something a bit more major with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)">Python</a>. While the perl I write (<a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/ps3enc/blob/master/ps3enc.pl">example</a>) probably looks more like C with extra punction marks compared to the code of a seasoned perl wrangler I still occasionaly get tripped up by it. In contrast my experience with Python so far has been much more pleasent, no doubt helped by the ability to experiment in an <a class="reference external" href="http://ipython.scipy.org/moin/">interactive python shell</a>. So far it's behaviour has been unsurprising. We shall see how I feel about it after this piece of work :-)</p>
<p>Of course the first thing to do before starting out on this course is to see if my editor is configured and ready. I've immediately walked into the <em>python.el</em> and <em>python-mode.el</em> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/PythonMode">schism</a>. I'm going with <em>python-mode.el</em> for the time being but at the moment I'm not doing much more than run iPython as a inferior shell within Emacs.</p>
Who got all the laughs2010-03-30T10:57:00+01:002010-03-30T10:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-30:/~alex/blog/2010/03/30/who-got-all-the-laughs/<p>As <a class="reference external" href="http://www.channel4.com/microsites/A/askthechancellors/">debates</a> go the whole thing seemed more than a little sterile. The 3 would-be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer">holders of the purse strings</a> post election kept their points so tightly focused it almost had the air of people running through checklists. Although there was a little back and forth between the candidates, usually …</p><p>As <a class="reference external" href="http://www.channel4.com/microsites/A/askthechancellors/">debates</a> go the whole thing seemed more than a little sterile. The 3 would-be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer">holders of the purse strings</a> post election kept their points so tightly focused it almost had the air of people running through checklists. Although there was a little back and forth between the candidates, usually totally unrelated to the actual question asked, the debate was cut off quickly by the moderator. I'm not blaming the moderator as the rules agreed by all the parties are pretty specific on the format.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if the rules for the chancellors debate precluded the audience from applauding and cheering but it only happened a few times over the whole hour. Vince Cable's robust performance certainly got the most positive audience reaction. If this was against the rules then maybe there is hope for a more lively audience come the main events when the leaders go head to head.</p>
<p>Next time I'll be watching with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/03/the_chancellors_twitter_and_se.html">my social media feeds on</a> as I suspect that's where the real cheering and jeering will be taking place.</p>
Clinging to the side of a mountain2010-03-29T08:26:00+01:002010-03-29T08:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-29:/~alex/blog/2010/03/29/clinging-to-the-side-of-a-mountain/<p>The trip up the tallest peak in Wales was a fairly interesting affair. It's certainly not understood by one of our Danish hosts who despite working next to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdon">Snowdon</a> has never been up it. Apparently the Danish don't make a habit of walking up hills just for the hell of …</p><p>The trip up the tallest peak in Wales was a fairly interesting affair. It's certainly not understood by one of our Danish hosts who despite working next to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdon">Snowdon</a> has never been up it. Apparently the Danish don't make a habit of walking up hills just for the hell of it. I guess not <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Denmark">having many hills</a> of interest makes them keener cyclists.</p>
<p>We took the Watkin path up which is one of the less crowded paths. It take you past a number of blasted ruins and the site of a more popular political rally. The climb was slow and steady and certainly kept me warm on the way up, however the final peak continued to loom. The sense of perspective is oddly distorted at the bottom of the valley and gets progressively more dominating as you approach the final peak. It was wreathed in a cloudy top which also hid a lot of scree shifting underfoot. The final assault involved a scramble up a fairly steep slope with lots of shifting scale. There were a number of times I attached myself to the nearest solid looking rock while I caught my breath. There was the occasional burst of vertigo when I looked into the distance. However I soon learnt to stop doing that and concentrate on the task at hand and continue upwards. Thanks to the cloud obscuring our progress the sudden appearance of the cafe looming out of the mist was a welcome surprise. The steps to the final <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/stsquad/status/11144863776">peak</a> where a lot easier to negotiate.</p>
<p>The top was still covered in snow which made coming down the other side a little treacherous. However it was also a lot busier as most people seem to be using the non-scrambling (and also train friendly) route. Although we headed down this side of the mountain we quickly split from the main thoroughfare and descended the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdon#Pyg_Track">Pyg track</a>. The initial bit of the track involved controlled sliding through the snow whilst trying not to think about how narrow the path was. However past the worst of it and we made rapid progress back down the other side of the mountain. The track splits up halfway down and we stuck to the more scenic Pyg track ignoring the flatter and easier Miners track. However it's evident the track has been fairly heavily hammered in previous seasons. There were a lot of sacks of stones for re-doing the path. This made the going fairly heavy and quite hard on the knees thanks to some big steps. By the time we arrived at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pyg.co.uk/">Pen-y-Gwryd</a> hotel we were appreciative of the local Welsh ale waiting for us.</p>
<p>Special mention must go to the hotel. It has shared bathroom facilities including one of most amazing Victorian baths I've ever seen. Although it scored points for being so incredibly big (at 7 feet long you could lie in it) it also had some fancy brass-work controlling the multiple delivery options. I shall see if I can actually get the video I have uploaded somewhere.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD</strong>: There, my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZdAHYjLKgM">YouTube upload</a>.</p>
At the base of the mountain2010-03-27T08:06:00+00:002010-03-27T08:06:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-27:/~alex/blog/2010/03/27/at-the-base-of-the-mountain/<p>I'm currently stuck in a veritable radio black-spot at the base of Snowdon in Wales. After breakfast we shall strike out for the ascent. The drive up was OK although having been up since 6.45 yesterday morning to ferry various people to various places I was fairly shattered so …</p><p>I'm currently stuck in a veritable radio black-spot at the base of Snowdon in Wales. After breakfast we shall strike out for the ascent. The drive up was OK although having been up since 6.45 yesterday morning to ferry various people to various places I was fairly shattered so sleep cam easily. I suspect after climbing the mountain today it should also not be a problem tonight. Time to go and find some tea.</p>
All downhill after the first climb2010-03-21T08:57:00+00:002010-03-21T08:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-21:/~alex/blog/2010/03/21/all-downhill-after-the-first-climb/<p>Today I'm quite achey after Saturday morning's excursion to the top of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alderley_Edge">Alderley Edge</a> . Although the ride to the base of the climb was fairly easy the actual mile of steep ascent defeated me as well as the chain on Fliss' bike. By the time we got up to the …</p><p>Today I'm quite achey after Saturday morning's excursion to the top of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alderley_Edge">Alderley Edge</a> . Although the ride to the base of the climb was fairly easy the actual mile of steep ascent defeated me as well as the chain on Fliss' bike. By the time we got up to the Wizard Coffee shop we were both soaked through and looking forward to the promised "downhill all the way from here" back to Knutsford.</p>
<p>Unfortunately we couldn't get the chain on Fliss' bike working so she retired early via taxi to a nice warm bath while myself, Mufi and Daz continued on back via the predominately downhill route. I say predominately because there where still a number of rises we had climb as the landscape of Cheshire is still considerably more lumpy than the flat fenland that is my usual staple cycling experience. This wasn't helped by the occasional navigational snafu. The 10% incline was great to zoom down but not so much when we discovered we needed to go back up it to take the turn we had missed.</p>
<p>By the time we made it back to the house we'd managed 34 miles and some very soaked feet. The king size bath was a welcome end to the excursion.</p>
<p>The rest of the day was mainly concerned with the last three games of the 6 Nations. The Wales game was fantastic, all credit to the Scot's for saving themselves from the humiliation of the wooden spoon. It was also good to see England playing considerably better than they have been the last few days. It's a shame it wasn't enough to win but good that we held France to such a narrow lead. There was a mini party afterwards although no overly late nights as there was a preponderance of tiredness around.</p>
Review: Noises Off2010-03-17T16:54:00+00:002010-03-17T16:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-17:/~alex/blog/2010/03/17/review-noises-off/<p>Last night Fliss and I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/">film</a> version of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Frayn">Michael Frayn</a>'s Noises Off. Fliss explained to me that it is a film beloved of theatre technicians due to it's setting, following the goings on behind stage of a dysfunctional group of actors performing a classic English farce. The …</p><p>Last night Fliss and I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/">film</a> version of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Frayn">Michael Frayn</a>'s Noises Off. Fliss explained to me that it is a film beloved of theatre technicians due to it's setting, following the goings on behind stage of a dysfunctional group of actors performing a classic English farce. The film version stars Michael Caine and includes fine performances from Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve and Denholm Elliott.</p>
<p>There is not much I can say about the plot as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. However it is a laugh out loud comedy that had been literally crying with laughter throughout. I'd quite like to see a proper staged version of it some time. Highly recommended.</p>
Adding Google Juice to mutt2010-03-17T07:35:00+00:002010-03-17T07:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-17:/~alex/blog/2010/03/17/adding-google-juice-to-mutt/<p>As I've been mailing out invites I discovered a minor problem with my data.</p>
<p>My main email client is the fantastically functional <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org">mutt</a>. It's terminal based but incredibly flexible. When it comes to mass sorting/searching your email it leaves GUI based clients standing. However now I'm a roving around …</p><p>As I've been mailing out invites I discovered a minor problem with my data.</p>
<p>My main email client is the fantastically functional <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org">mutt</a>. It's terminal based but incredibly flexible. When it comes to mass sorting/searching your email it leaves GUI based clients standing. However now I'm a roving around with a Google Phone the majority of my contact data is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail">in the cloud</a>. While I have a small address file used by mutt it only has a few oft-mailed addresses in it.</p>
<p>Luckily thanks to <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/">Google's data APIs</a> <strong>your information</strong> is only a few <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer#RESTful_web_services">RESTful</a> requests away. The <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/p/goobook/">goobook</a> program provides a handy mutt compatible address book interface to this cloud data.</p>
<p>There is one wrinkle however. The <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/p/goobook/source/browse/trunk/README.txt#59">configuration</a> of the script involves putting some rather valuable login details in a plain text file on your home partition. While I like to think my machines are pretty secure and maintained you can always do more. Good security is defence in depth. A <a class="reference external" href="http://groups.google.com/group/goobook/browse_thread/thread/f632e3d5c4fcaf25">quick patch later</a> and I can store those details in an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard">GPG</a> encrypted file that can be decrypted on the fly when required.</p>
<p>The final piece of the puzzle is creating these encrypted config files in the first place. Although you can do this by hand from the command line I find the best method is using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EasyPG">EasyPG</a> (now part of Emacs 23). This will automatically cause any files with a .gpg extension to be encrypted. You can control the Emacs mode selection and default encryption key to use by using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Specifying-File-Variables.html#Specifying-File-Variables">file variables</a> in the header comments of the file.</p>
<p>It's not all perfect though, when enabling EasyPG I had to do the following:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(if (maybe-load-library "epa-file")
(progn
(setenv "GPG_AGENT_INFO" nil) ; gpg-agent confuses epa when getting passphrase
(epa-file-enable)))
</pre>
<p>The problem seems to be that when GPG agent runs in terminal mode it confuses Emacs/EasyPG. By suppressing the GPG_AGENT_INFO environment variable EasyPG will fall back to requesting your passphrase in the mode line. While it takes care to flush the value as soon as possible it does open a small window of attack if an attacker can cause emacs to crash and dump core.</p>
Here comes the Sun2010-03-15T12:09:00+00:002010-03-15T12:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-15:/~alex/blog/2010/03/15/here-comes-the-sun/<p>The weather this weekend was a lot nicer, not only sunny but also well on the right side of the thermometer. Fliss and I spent Sunday in front of the Grand Prix going through the wedding spreadsheet and started mailing out the wedding invites. However it's already become apparent that …</p><p>The weather this weekend was a lot nicer, not only sunny but also well on the right side of the thermometer. Fliss and I spent Sunday in front of the Grand Prix going through the wedding spreadsheet and started mailing out the wedding invites. However it's already become apparent that we've not been nearly inventive enough with the hidden code. The next one will almost certainly involve a cipher of some sort - although possibly not as advanced as the <a class="reference external" href="http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45552">ones in the xkcd book</a>.</p>
<p>While the Facebook group is a handy solution for those on Facebook we are actually managing the responses via our own website. For those (very few) interested people the hacked up version of the <a class="reference external" href="http://davidebenini.it/wordpress-plugins/events-manager/">Events Manager</a> plugin can be found on my <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/events-manager/tree/my_hacks">github pages</a>.</p>
<p>We are up in Manchester next weekend and the following weekend we climb Snowden. It certainly feels like I'm awakening from hibernation. Today was the first day I got into work without having to massage the live back into frozen fingers.</p>
Shout out to my bro2010-03-10T11:32:00+00:002010-03-10T11:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-10:/~alex/blog/2010/03/10/shout-out-to-my-bro/<p>Please join me in wishing my brother a happy birthday. I'll take the oppertunity to pimp his <a class="reference external" href="http://jason.bennee.com/wordpress/">photo blog</a> which people with an interest in photography and photoshop might find quite interesting.</p>
New Keys Please2010-03-08T11:25:00+00:002010-03-08T11:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-08:/~alex/blog/2010/03/08/new-keys-please/<p>I've finally gotten around to updating my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/key.asc">personal GPG key</a>. At the same time I've plumbed in the various bits I need into my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">mail client</a> so it's a little easier to sign, encrypt, and verify GPG enabled email. Of course the super paranoid will want to check the public …</p><p>I've finally gotten around to updating my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/key.asc">personal GPG key</a>. At the same time I've plumbed in the various bits I need into my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">mail client</a> so it's a little easier to sign, encrypt, and verify GPG enabled email. Of course the super paranoid will want to check the public key linked to is in fact mine and not some evil twin clone of me. Contact me by some other means (any of my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Messaging_and_Presence_Protocol">XMPP</a> accounts* will do although to be safe I recommend using a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging">Off the Record</a> plugin).</p>
<p>If you show me your cryptographic fingerprint I'll show you mine ;-)</p>
<p>* That would be LJ chat, Google Talk or the new Facebook chat</p>
App Review: Smart Alarm Clock2010-03-05T11:10:00+00:002010-03-05T11:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-05:/~alex/blog/2010/03/05/app-review-smart-alarm-clock/<p>One of the reasons to own a smart phone is to run applications on it. There are some fantastic ideas out there and given the relative youth of the mobile app explosion I'm sure there is plenty more to come. Today I thought I would offer my thoughts on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.smart-alarm-clock.com/">Smart …</a></p><p>One of the reasons to own a smart phone is to run applications on it. There are some fantastic ideas out there and given the relative youth of the mobile app explosion I'm sure there is plenty more to come. Today I thought I would offer my thoughts on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.smart-alarm-clock.com/">Smart Alarm Clock</a>.</p>
<p>The concept is fairly simple. When you go to bed you place your phone on your bed. It uses the built in accelerometers to monitor your movements as you move about in the bed. By analysing the magnitude of your movements it attempts to deduce what part of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep">sleep cycle</a> you are in. Once your within range of when you want to wake up it and it detects you exiting the REM cycle of your sleep it will gently wake you up.</p>
<p>There are some problems with some models of phones that require the phone doesn't go to sleep for the sampling of the accelerometer. However the workaround of leaving the phone on is fairly benign as it's the time the phone is attached to the charging cable. Also there has been an update in the last few days which increases the accuracy of movement detection. You even get a nice graph of your movements over the night.</p>
<p>The app also has a number of other features including a useful muting of all ringtones while you are asleep as well a feature I haven't tried that attempts to stop you snoring by giving you an acoustic nudge.</p>
<p>As I've gotten older I've often found myself waking before the alarm, however when I don't the waking I've gotten from the gentle increasing alarm sound has been a lot less jaring than <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrys">John Humphrys</a> suddenly berating some politician. I have noticed I'm remembering my dreams more vividly the last few days but I suspect I need a few more data points to see if it is due to the app. Either way the trail version is free and I can heartily recommend giving it a try.</p>
Free Software legal battles version 22010-03-03T12:40:00+00:002010-03-03T12:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-03:/~alex/blog/2010/03/03/free-software-legal-battles-version-2/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><em>"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."</em></div>
<div class="line">- <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU">Steve Jobs</a>, Apple</div>
</div>
<p>With the embers of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO-Linux_controversies">SCO's legal shenanigans</a> slowly dieing down we were long overdue for the next round of legal attacks on Free Software. We all knew it was coming, having failed with spurious copyright claims the …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><em>"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."</em></div>
<div class="line">- <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU">Steve Jobs</a>, Apple</div>
</div>
<p>With the embers of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO-Linux_controversies">SCO's legal shenanigans</a> slowly dieing down we were long overdue for the next round of legal attacks on Free Software. We all knew it was coming, having failed with spurious copyright claims the next tool the enemies of free software would employ would be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent">patents</a>. The opening salvo came from Microsoft when they sued <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/26/microsoft_sues_tomtom/">Tom Tom</a> for making their devices interoperable with the worlds most used operating system. It was a short skirmish that ended in a settlement and no clear precedent set, and the usual <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/338981/">technical workarounds</a>. However free software advocates knew that bigger patent threats were out there and have been preparing for the next round. The biggest fear would be a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll">patent troll</a> would assert rights over free software that would be hard to defend against with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Invention_Network">counter suites</a>. As it happens the next enemy of free software is not a troll but the polo-neck wearing lawyers of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/02/apple-sues-htc-iphone-patents">Cupertino</a>.</p>
<p>Apple is obviously worried by the rise of Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)">Android</a> smart phone operating system and has decided to protect it's market share by suing the competition for patent infringement. While Apple haven't invented the smart phone (much like they didn't invent the MP3 player) they were the company that brought smart phones to the mainstream. It's obviously an area they wish to monopolise.</p>
<p>Regular readers will be aware of the many problems with patents, especially as they relate to software. Patent's are meant to be awarded for novel and innovative solutions to problems and give the inventor a limited time to monopolise those inventions in return for making the details public and growing the corpus of human knowledge. Patent's are routine in areas like biotech where companies get a number of years to sell their drugs at higher prices to recoup the cost of development before the patent expires and everyone can make them. The problem with software patents is they are rarely novel and innovative, they are usually just a codification of commonly used techniques written up in patent language and submitted to the relevant authorities.</p>
<p>Apple have listed 20 patents in their suit. They include such innovations as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=S0AZAAAAEBAJ&dq=5920726">turning off the camera when power is low</a>. Others are more technical like the concept of using <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming">objects</a> to manage <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=HrobAAAAEBAJ&dq=5455599">graphical elements on a display</a>. Needless to say none of them look especially novel and hopefully most will get invalidated now the legions of free software users that were so instrumental in researching the flaws in the SCO case turn their attention to finding <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art">prior art</a>. There is also the possibility the Open Innovation Network will step in and counter-sue with it's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/pat_owned.php">broad range of defencive patents</a>. Unlike a patent troll who has nothing to loose Apple could have it's injunctions served against shipping products if they (as is likely) infringe.</p>
<p>It will be a few days before all the key players make clear how they are going to respond to Apple's legal attacks. It's a fight that is likely to get fairly nasty given the stakes involved. In the meantime any pretence that Apple are a company that is friendly towards free software is should have demolished by their action yesterday.</p>
Start of Spring?2010-03-01T11:26:00+00:002010-03-01T11:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-03-01:/~alex/blog/2010/03/01/start-of-spring/<p><a class="reference external" href="/~alex/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bike.jpg">Giant Talon 1 Mountain Bike</a>In many ways February has been a bit of bumpy month, the sort when your never quite sure if your going to hit take-off speed for the year. Luckily it's a short month and this morning I cycled out into bright sunshine on my new …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="/~alex/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bike.jpg">Giant Talon 1 Mountain Bike</a>In many ways February has been a bit of bumpy month, the sort when your never quite sure if your going to hit take-off speed for the year. Luckily it's a short month and this morning I cycled out into bright sunshine on my new bike.</p>
<p>Since the death of my old bike I've been muddling along with walking in and using the bike my Dad loaned me. All too often I've taken the easier car route and driven the 1 mile (as opposed to 4 mile bike route) to work. However I now have a bright new shiny, off road, well geared and well braked Giant Talon 1 and no more excuses for taking the easier route in. Hopefully I can start reducing the post-Christmas spread that I've obtained over the winter months.</p>
Return to form2010-02-26T14:15:00+00:002010-02-26T14:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-02-26:/~alex/blog/2010/02/26/return-to-form/<p>I have returned to my clean shaved form. As the mornings get lighter and winter starts to recede I prefer my whole face to take advantage of the additional sunlight. I fairly certain I shall return to bearded form next winter.</p>
<p>Today has been clear-out day at work. Much of …</p><p>I have returned to my clean shaved form. As the mornings get lighter and winter starts to recede I prefer my whole face to take advantage of the additional sunlight. I fairly certain I shall return to bearded form next winter.</p>
<p>Today has been clear-out day at work. Much of the activity has been stymied by the lack of skip which was due to be delivered this morning. I've done my best to return spare staplers and folders and the like to the stationary cupboard. I've also managed to snaffle a rather nice wide screen monitor for my principle display. The only downside is dragging windows across from the normal aspect monitor on the left can result in ugliness (and the odd feeling the fonts have changed). However as the one directly front of my face is the one I stare at the most I'm willing to live with that.</p>
<p>I am a little dismayed by the amount of stuff going into the skip though. I've been assured the electronic stuff won't end up in landfill but I don't know if that just means it will get shipped to India or China for dismantling. I can see why it's not worth keeping the base units (or even scavenging the memory) but I'm fighting the thought that something better could be done with all that hardware. I have rescued an EeePC which will put into service as a router/access point as it's a fairly low power device.</p>
Tenuous Grip2010-02-22T21:25:00+00:002010-02-22T21:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-02-22:/~alex/blog/2010/02/22/tenuous-grip/<p>We have just returned from a weekend in the Peak District, ostensibly for walking although we stayed on for extra loafing and a Goose dinner on Sunday. The event is a regular birthday celebration/mass catering event held in various youth hostels near various peaks over the years. This was …</p><p>We have just returned from a weekend in the Peak District, ostensibly for walking although we stayed on for extra loafing and a Goose dinner on Sunday. The event is a regular birthday celebration/mass catering event held in various youth hostels near various peaks over the years. This was my second time attending and it was most agreeable.</p>
<p>The walking element of the weekend included climbing a snow covered Kinder Scout. Unlike previous years I wasn't failed by poor fitting shoes or a particularly steep ascent so enjoyed the fresh air all the more. I can't help feeling the large amount of walking I do around Cambridge is essentially useless as a preparation for anything with slopes. Snowden is currently the next beast to conqueror although schedules are starting to fill up.</p>
<p>The journey home did start with a mini-Volkswagen adventure. The road we had followed on the way looked clear the way back. Indeed most of the rolling hills were carefully navigated by following the clear black tire tracks. Unfortunately the final climb up the highest local hillock had a few un-thawed regions which led to a lose of grip before cresting the hill. A vaguely concerning controlled skid backwards as gravity re-asserted itself over momentum eventually rested the car across the whole road. Luckily the road was used by locals with slightly more appropriate 4x4s. In the end we were unable to tow the car up the hill so I tenderly reversed it to the bottom of the hill before a final 3 point turn to take us back the way we came. The locals where very nice about helping but I'm not sure if they were exchanging looks with each other judging the silly southerner in his impractical car. There are signs in the Peaks that instruct you to follow the damn diversion signs and ignore what the Sat-Nav tells you to do, I suspect I fell into the same admonished category.</p>
Lost and Found2010-02-16T11:09:00+00:002010-02-16T11:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-02-16:/~alex/blog/2010/02/16/lost-and-found/<p>The mystical JJ Abrams series <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)">Lost</a> has entered it's sixth and final season. I've been a long time fan of show and remember spending many evenings discussing episodes with Andy back in Manchester. While many stopped watching the show after concluding the writers where just making stuff up while they …</p><p>The mystical JJ Abrams series <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)">Lost</a> has entered it's sixth and final season. I've been a long time fan of show and remember spending many evenings discussing episodes with Andy back in Manchester. While many stopped watching the show after concluding the writers where just making stuff up while they went along I've stayed loyal. While I find the meta-analysis of clues and references an interesting game I've always found the character development and acting the main enjoyable factor.</p>
<p>Even so while the show may have made stuff up on the hop (the mysterious <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_numbers#The_Numbers">numbers</a> are one documented example) it has always consistently followed strong themes. One of the themes I have enjoyed is the way the series has played with time. The first season made extensive use of flashbacks and over the seasons there has been use of flash-forwards and even time travel. The final season has started using alternate time-lines. Of course these time lines may be more closely related than we suppose, I'm assuming this is part of this seasons arc.</p>
<p>TV Sci-Fi has come along way since the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5">Babylon 5</a> made a point of developing a series <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_arc#Story_arcs_in_television">story arc</a>. It's nice to see the form is well embedded and surviving well in the 21st century. I suspect Lost could have pushed for a seventh or possibly eighth season but given the vagaries of TV commissioning it makes sense to bring the series to a close now. After all not many people will buy the box set of a series that doesn't come to some sort of conclusion (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Firefly-Complete-DVD-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B0001B3YTM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266317996&sr=8-1">Firefly</a> being a notable exception on my DVD shelf).</p>
<p><em>Episode 4 of Season 6, "The Substitute" airs</em><a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&q=lost+s06e04+filetype:torrent&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=&oq=">somewhere</a><em>tonight</em></p>
Zero Food Miles2010-02-14T12:32:00+00:002010-02-14T12:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-02-14:/~alex/blog/2010/02/14/zero-food-miles/<p>We currently have 3 large Geese hanging up in our garage. They were locally sourced (from next door) and are slow grown organically fed birds. The only real downside of all this direct food supply is the requirement to pluck and draw them before we can eat them. We are …</p><p>We currently have 3 large Geese hanging up in our garage. They were locally sourced (from next door) and are slow grown organically fed birds. The only real downside of all this direct food supply is the requirement to pluck and draw them before we can eat them. We are taking them with us to the peaks next weekend for Sunday lunch for a small multitude. This will technically increase the food miles they have travelled, but at least they will be direct food miles rather than bouncing from farm to distribution centre before ending up on the plate.</p>
Thoughts on Java2010-02-12T11:18:00+00:002010-02-12T11:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-02-12:/~alex/blog/2010/02/12/thoughts-on-java/<p>I've been spending the last week hacking around in Java. One of the components of the product I develop is the open source <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opennms.org/wiki/Main_Page">OpenNMS</a>. As I've mentioned before it's been lightly modified by myself to blend in better with our code mainly in the JSP department for it's web interface …</p><p>I've been spending the last week hacking around in Java. One of the components of the product I develop is the open source <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opennms.org/wiki/Main_Page">OpenNMS</a>. As I've mentioned before it's been lightly modified by myself to blend in better with our code mainly in the JSP department for it's web interface. Last week I discovered I needed to make a slightly deeper change to the code to export some more data to it's scripting interface.</p>
<p>While I was exploring the code base and scratching my head at some of the exceptions being thrown I thought I'd have yet another go at making my Java development environment a little more integrated than binding the build script to "C-c c".</p>
<p>So far I have a couple of observations about Java code. The first is that it never seems to do very much. As you navigate the code base you tend to find a lot of simple skeleton classes, usually working as simple adaptors between one framework and the next. Thanks to Java's strong support for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_programming">generics</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interface_(Java)">interfaces</a> you often find yourself looking at a class wondering what else it might do. None of this is helped by Java's standard/deep/directory/naming/strategy/of/doom. My usual tools of a decent programmers editor and grep start to show their limitations. Java is a language that is designed to be serviced by a full <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment">IDE</a> to help you make sense of the whole system.</p>
<p>Having previously tried and failed to get <a class="reference external" href="http://jdee.sourceforge.net/">JDEE</a> working I thought I would capitulate and try <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eclipse.org/">Eclipse</a>. I blithely thought that given the fact it's the standard Java developers tool with a long development history it would Just Work (tm). I was to be sorely disappointed.</p>
<p>I tried several different versions on both my home Gentoo machine as well as various PPA based versions on my work Ubuntu setup. A lot of times it failed to start up due to some Mozilla dependency issues and when I did finally get it started I couldn't get any of the plugins to install. The entire Eclipse stack is designed around the concept of plugins and it seems every Java framework comes with it's own additional plugin for Eclipse. Without the plugins I wasn't able to get a working build or any sort of source level debugging. Eventually I had to concede defeat and bin the IDE approach and return to some tedious grep work and piece together the structure of the software by hand so I could finally crank out what in the end was a <a class="reference external" href="http://marc.info/?l=opennms-devel&m=126582776211008&w=2">fairly simple patch</a>. I doubt I shall return to Eclipse.</p>
<p>I did have a brief tinker with JDEE which at least installed better from it's SVN repo (needing a one line patch). However the documentation is a little sparse on how to import an existing large project into it's view of the world. Annoyingly potentially useful links like the FAQ referenced on the <a class="reference external" href="http://jdee.sourceforge.net/">main site</a> lead to <a class="reference external" href="http://sunsite.auc.dk/fom/jde/cache/1.html">dead ends</a>. I never got to the point of seeing if I had a working Java <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GrandUnifiedDebugger">GUD</a> integration. I hope to revisit JDEE in the future when I'm a little less pressed for time at work. It's hard to work up the enthusiasm for plumbing in support for a language you never intend to use for fun in your own time.</p>
Visitations, apparitions and lack of spirits2010-02-01T11:51:00+00:002010-02-01T11:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-02-01:/~alex/blog/2010/02/01/visitations-apparitions-and-lack-of-spirits/<p>We had the slightly odd couple of Lee and TJ visiting the country house this weekend. Lee who hadn't seen more than the front of the new place since we moved was suitably impressed by scope of the place, probably less so by the even grander plans we have for …</p><p>We had the slightly odd couple of Lee and TJ visiting the country house this weekend. Lee who hadn't seen more than the front of the new place since we moved was suitably impressed by scope of the place, probably less so by the even grander plans we have for it.</p>
<p>As they arrived late Friday evening (having negotiated the rather unhelpful closure of the A14) we only got round to a late dinner. However we did take the opportunity to explore a few bottles from my recent delivery. Words like "complexity" were used a lot to describe the rather tasty bottle of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rioja_(wine)">Rijoca</a> from the collection. Despite the switch to port as the evening progressed past the small hours we still managed to keep stocks vaguely in shape. Unlike the previous port session with Rich the week before we actually put the bottle back with some contents still in it!</p>
<p>I had a brief excursion during the day on Saturday to drop my parents off at the airport for their late booking ski holiday. Now they are "retired" (whatever that means these days) they are fully taking advantage of the ability to whizz away for snow at the last minute.</p>
<p>Our plans for Saturday mainly revolved around taking advantage of the lovely scenic route for a walk into town via a couple of pubs. Despite making some friends in the second pub and participating in a few drinking games for birthday celebration purposes we still had the wherewithal to leave by 7pm and get home with time to cook some lovely fillet steaks with sweet potatoes and mash. We may of been slightly tipsy, but at least we were being responsibly tipsy!</p>
<p>We didn't actually get around to discussing Stag plans, allegedly the purpose of the visit, until Sunday morning. If you haven't heard from my best men by the end of February feel free to poke them into action by me. I should be making the return journey sometime in March. I shall also most likely be up around the early May bank holiday for <a class="reference external" href="http://oggcamp.org/">OggCamp</a>, schedules permitting.</p>
Sniper Fi2010-01-28T10:32:00+00:002010-01-28T10:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-28:/~alex/blog/2010/01/28/sniper-fi/<p>I actually has an opportunity to play with the Special Ops mode of CoD4:MW2 last night with a friend. Despite a terribly laggy connection we had a blast working our way through the Alpha and early Bravo missions. I suspect the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AC-130">AC-130</a> mission was the most fun although the …</p><p>I actually has an opportunity to play with the Special Ops mode of CoD4:MW2 last night with a friend. Despite a terribly laggy connection we had a blast working our way through the Alpha and early Bravo missions. I suspect the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AC-130">AC-130</a> mission was the most fun although the player on the ground is mostly just following behind the creeping barrage of explosions.</p>
<p>The mode is fairly well thought out. The missions are short and tactical and really reward co-operative play (re: quite difficult as solo missions). This also stands in contrast to the main multi-player game where unless you are in a clan you tend to just get on with your own thing. While most of them seem to be re-hashes of the main game areas (maybe tweaked a little) there is also some new level designs in there as well. Hopefully next time we can get the lag sorted out, unfortunately with my partner on shifts our congruent frag times are fairly rare. Any other CoD:MW2 players out there who want to work their way through Spec Ops?</p>
Finally public2010-01-25T12:41:00+00:002010-01-25T12:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-25:/~alex/blog/2010/01/25/finally-public/<p>After much faffing about with repeated sending of faxes to multiple numbers I finally proved I was human and accountable enough for "Edit with Emacs" to appear on the <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">Chrome Extension Gallery</a>. This almost immediately showed up some documentation and usage usability issues so I spent some of my spare …</p><p>After much faffing about with repeated sending of faxes to multiple numbers I finally proved I was human and accountable enough for "Edit with Emacs" to appear on the <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ljobjlafonikaiipfkggjbhkghgicgoh">Chrome Extension Gallery</a>. This almost immediately showed up some documentation and usage usability issues so I spent some of my spare time at the weekend creating an options page. I've also got a growing number of <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/network">feature branches</a> coming in from other github users so I merged some more contributions into the v1.4 release.</p>
<p>I have to say the usage of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)">git</a> as an SCM tool as well as <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/">github's</a> non-fussy functional website makes managing contributions a lot easier. It's nice to see the world has moved on since the venerable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge">SourceForge</a> was the only option for those who didn't want to bother maintaining their own project infrastructure.</p>
<p>One of the feature branches being <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/wh5a/emacs_chrome/commit/b319b05d7854632551301acad34b6bb7fdfeeac9">proposed</a> is changing the interface to the "Edit Server" to pass a richer set of information about the text area being edited. This would allow the server to do clever things like position the frame near the position of the text area on the browser and possibly manipulate fonts. So far I'm trying to keep the current edit server calling conventions similar to those offered by <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ppoadiihggafnhokfkpphojggcdigllp">other similar</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/cdkefpgghindmmclchkbcdgikbpnbiaj">extensions</a> that need to do a similar thing. Although for Emacs users <em>edit-server.el</em> will surely be the default and most used method it seems churlish to break compatibility for those that prefer to run/hack other servers. I've been <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/blob/master/servers/README">documenting</a> the URL conventions so it would be nice if I got some feedback how to maintain a useful extensible "API" for the broadest range of solutions.</p>
The more noise they make, the more interesting they are.2010-01-25T10:51:00+00:002010-01-25T10:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-25:/~alex/blog/2010/01/25/the-more-noise-they-make-the-more-interesting-they-are/<p>We played host to Rich and Al this weekend as they visited local family. Although we did abandon them during the day on Saturday to attend the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridge-camra.org.uk/2010/waf.html">Winter Ale Festival</a> while they attended more sober children's parties. However around those two commitments we did get a chance to catch up …</p><p>We played host to Rich and Al this weekend as they visited local family. Although we did abandon them during the day on Saturday to attend the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridge-camra.org.uk/2010/waf.html">Winter Ale Festival</a> while they attended more sober children's parties. However around those two commitments we did get a chance to catch up and generally put the world to rights. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.warre.com/otima/">Otima Port</a> was also very moreish, luckily after last weeks bumper success in the charity raffle we still have two bottles left :-)</p>
Career Best Performance2010-01-21T11:22:00+00:002010-01-21T11:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-21:/~alex/blog/2010/01/21/career-best-performance/<p>We went for a meal and bowling before Fliss' sister Steph sets of on her next adventure for a year in India. I haven't been ten pin bowling for some time which explained by rather ropey start in the first game (scoring a total of 1 across the first two …</p><p>We went for a meal and bowling before Fliss' sister Steph sets of on her next adventure for a year in India. I haven't been ten pin bowling for some time which explained by rather ropey start in the first game (scoring a total of 1 across the first two frames). However my second game went a lot better. 5 strikes and 3 spares led to possibly my career best total for a game of 157. Unfortunately I crumbled slightly on the 9th frame and guttered my 1st bowl and despite getting the all important spare on my last frame failed to take full advantage only scoring 1 point for the bonus. I blame the barracking coming from the other players for throwing me of my streak. Still I comfortably won that frame and it is the winning that's important isn't it? ;-)</p>
Help! Most of our Universe is missing2010-01-19T12:14:00+00:002010-01-19T12:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-19:/~alex/blog/2010/01/19/help-most-of-our-universe-is-missing/<p>We went to an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/21031">lecture</a> last night at Churchill College.</p>
<p>There is a problem with the universe. It doesn't quite behave as we would expect it to given the amount of mass we can see in it. To account for the difference in the observed universe and the what …</p><p>We went to an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/21031">lecture</a> last night at Churchill College.</p>
<p>There is a problem with the universe. It doesn't quite behave as we would expect it to given the amount of mass we can see in it. To account for the difference in the observed universe and the what the gravitational models predict in simulations cosmologists have created two cosmic fudge factors, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy">Dark Energy</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter">Dark Matter</a>, which when added to the simulations produce a universe structured much like what we observe today. Together these account for around 95% of the mass-energy of the universe (leaving ~5% for stars, planets, gas clouds and everything else we see, basically all the atoms in the universe). Dr King's talk focused only on the problem of Dark Matter which the models predict makes up ~24% of the universe and left the remaining ~71% of the equation to attributed to dark energy as a problem for someone else to solve.</p>
<p>The problem with observing dark matter is the fact that it is dark. It doesn't emit any radiation and doesn't interact with any of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baryon">baryonic matter</a> other than by it's mass effects. The topic of what it actually made of was again left to others to investigate, most probably the particle physics bods at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider">LHC</a>.</p>
<p>The phenomenon of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lens">Gravitational lensing</a> was predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. In fact <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Arthur_Eddington">Arthur Eddington's</a> observation of light bending around the Sun during a solar eclipse was one of the early successful tests of Einstein's theory. In the lecture Dr King talked about using lensing as an indirect detection method for proving the existence of all this invisible mass. Detecting lensing on a galaxy cluster scale (hundreds to thousands of galaxies) is one thing, they don't move that fast relative to the observer and the evidence for dark matter is fairly compelling. However it doesn't really address the problem of where the matter is. We know our galaxy has significant amount of dark matter to hold it together but detecting it with micro-lensing is much harder as things are moving much faster in comparison with each other. The question I never got to ask was how much can we determine about the density of dark matter? Are there clumpy blocks of it or is it spread more homogeneously throughout the galaxy? Does dark matter exist for example in our solar system but at a density too low to detect by it's effects on the local orbital mechanics?</p>
<p>All in all it was a fascinating talk and I certainly learnt more about the topic. Completely un-related to the talk I also learnt that it's now possible to sequence the entire human genome in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.illumina.com/systems/hiseq_2000.ilmn">one week</a>. Go science!</p>
Today's Ubuntu Emacs PPA tip2010-01-19T10:56:00+00:002010-01-19T10:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-19:/~alex/blog/2010/01/19/todays-ubuntu-emacs-ppa-tip/<p>Like many Emacs users I use the excellent <a class="reference external" href="https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-elisp/+archive/ppa">Ubuntu Elisp PPA</a> to get a more recent Emacs than the main distro repos package. However I'd been puzzled as to why <em>emacs-snapshot</em> hadn't been updated in ages. The was doubly confusing as the <a class="reference external" href="http://emacs.orebokech.com/">orebokech</a> packages on which they are based and …</p><p>Like many Emacs users I use the excellent <a class="reference external" href="https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-elisp/+archive/ppa">Ubuntu Elisp PPA</a> to get a more recent Emacs than the main distro repos package. However I'd been puzzled as to why <em>emacs-snapshot</em> hadn't been updated in ages. The was doubly confusing as the <a class="reference external" href="http://emacs.orebokech.com/">orebokech</a> packages on which they are based and I use on my server had seen a couple of version bumps.</p>
<p>Turns out <em>emacs-snapshot</em> is no longer packaged by the PPA, but <em>emacs23</em> is. Once I'd installed that my little (make-frame-on-display) <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/issues/closed#issue/2">problem</a> went away.</p>
Cleaning up the tags2010-01-17T19:17:00+00:002010-01-17T19:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-17:/~alex/blog/2010/01/17/cleaning-up-the-tags/<p>When I first converted my old blog to Wordpress I used tags for all the old categories. This was probably the wrong choice as tags present more subtle meta-data about a post. After manually updating a whole bunch of posts I discovered Wordpress already has useful "Tags->Categories" and "Categories- …</p><p>When I first converted my old blog to Wordpress I used tags for all the old categories. This was probably the wrong choice as tags present more subtle meta-data about a post. After manually updating a whole bunch of posts I discovered Wordpress already has useful "Tags->Categories" and "Categories->Tags" tools to help with the clean-up. So now my tag-cloud is a little less dominated by the generic "general" and reflects the distribution of posts a little better. It remains to be seen if this is a good thing.</p>
Google's change of heart2010-01-13T08:34:00+00:002010-01-13T08:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-13:/~alex/blog/2010/01/13/googles-change-of-heart/<p>So Google are finally having <a class="reference external" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html">second thoughts about their relationship with China</a>. We may see then end of google.cn as a search engine that filters search results that might embarrass the authorities.</p>
<p>Google got a lot of stick at the time when they first created their Chinese presence. In …</p><p>So Google are finally having <a class="reference external" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html">second thoughts about their relationship with China</a>. We may see then end of google.cn as a search engine that filters search results that might embarrass the authorities.</p>
<p>Google got a lot of stick at the time when they first created their Chinese presence. In reality they were doing what every other western Internet company had to do to get access to the massive growing market that is China. I suspect the reason they got more stick than most is because it was one of the early tests of their (in)famous "Don't be Evil" motto, a statement of purity that is never going to be easy to live up to while operating a profitable business.</p>
<p>Now that Google seem to be resigned to not being able to operate inside Chinese law I wonder if they would be willing to go the next step. There may be many arguments for censorship but secret censorship is very hard to defend. If you don't know what you aren't allowed to see how can you be sure of the motives of the powers that be that create that list. What I would love Google to do is share that list of censored results so we know exactly what it is the Chinese authorities don't like. For bonus points Google could rank the list in order of search popularity so we know what is the most requested censored pages are.</p>
<p>I suspect this won't happen as Google, despite their new approach, will want to maintain as cordial relationship with the government of the largest growing market in the world. While google.com does periodically drop off the radar in China every now and again (as it does not filter results) the temptation must surely be to ensure it has at least some visibility rather than none at all.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong> More information about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/google-hack-attack/">hacks used</a> and speculation about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/asia/13beijing.html?pagewanted=1">why</a>. I'm just glad I don't use Adobe Reader...</p>
First elisp patch for emacs chrome2010-01-09T12:40:00+00:002010-01-09T12:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-09:/~alex/blog/2010/01/09/first-elisp-patch-for-emacs-chrome/<p>One of the nice things about putting your coding experiments up early and under a permissive license is people can submit patches. I'd been trying to get the native elisp <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/blob/master/servers/edit_server.el">edit server</a> working but I'd fallen back to the working python script as I've been busy at work. However along …</p><p>One of the nice things about putting your coding experiments up early and under a permissive license is people can submit patches. I'd been trying to get the native elisp <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/blob/master/servers/edit_server.el">edit server</a> working but I'd fallen back to the working python script as I've been busy at work. However along comes Riccardo Murri who cleaned up the code and got it working. I've pushed the changes to the <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">repo</a> and with a little extra glue spawn it when emacs is in <em>--daemon</em> mode:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
;; Do we want an edit-server?
(if (and (daemonp) (maybe-load-library "edit_server"))
(edit-server-start))
</pre>
<p>And bingo you save the cost of 2 unnecessary fork/execve's to get emacs editing your Google Chrome(ium) hosted <textarea>. It seems to have an odd interaction with longlines-mode though which I need to investigate, perhaps longlines mode does magic stuff with the buffer text on save which gets skipped when the edit server does it's thing?</textarea></p>
<p>I've submitted the extension to the Google extension gallery although it's currently held up in actual physical paperwork. As my content script needs fairly liberal permissions to work I have to at least demonstrate I'm not an evil hacker/spammer intent on creating browser malware. I may take advantage of the delay to some clean ups to the browser feedback as we will likely be housebound sheltering from the weather. That is of course unless anyone else beats me to it :-)</p>
No Snow Yet2010-01-06T10:43:00+00:002010-01-06T10:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-06:/~alex/blog/2010/01/06/no-snow-yet/<p>According to the new <a class="reference external" href="http://uksnow.benmarsh.co.uk/">live weather map</a> we live in the only part of the country that has dodged the snow bullet so far. That's certainly the impression I get from seeing every ones various social media musings on the matter. No matter the platform we Brits seems to love …</p><p>According to the new <a class="reference external" href="http://uksnow.benmarsh.co.uk/">live weather map</a> we live in the only part of the country that has dodged the snow bullet so far. That's certainly the impression I get from seeing every ones various social media musings on the matter. No matter the platform we Brits seems to love talking about the weather.</p>
<p>I'm easy about it really, as I can work from home at the drop of a hat and I'm certainly not going to make my life difficult by struggling in if I don't need to. This didn't stop me from using the car to come in today though. It's comforting to be able to nip home in 10 minutes rather than face a 1 hour trudge through freezing water meadows, modulo the time it takes to defrost the car.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong> And right on cue the snow finally arrived at midday, we take things easy here on the Fens ;-)</p>
On Coal, Avatar's, Empty Roads and Plot Resets2010-01-04T12:53:00+00:002010-01-04T12:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2010-01-04:/~alex/blog/2010/01/04/on-coal-avatars-empty-roads-and-plot-resets/<p>So that was the festive season, welcome to a new year. As we stumble back into the daylight and routine of work can I extend my best wishes to all for this new decade.</p>
<p>After the family centred Christmas we headed up to Manchester to celebrate the new year amongst …</p><p>So that was the festive season, welcome to a new year. As we stumble back into the daylight and routine of work can I extend my best wishes to all for this new decade.</p>
<p>After the family centred Christmas we headed up to Manchester to celebrate the new year amongst friends. It was great to see so many people at C&P's to welcome in the new year, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to catch up with a number of people before they left. Hopefully I can make up for this next time I visit. Now we have successfully measured the sleeping capacity of the house we are already booking up the new year with people coming down to visit.</p>
<p>One interesting ceremony we took part in on the turn of the clock was bringing coal to the party. More correctly we were all supplied with some charcoal and sent out the back of the house to come in via the front door as the chimes struck. This is apparently a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_Eve#Scotland">Scottish tradition</a>, albeit a slightly messy one* :-)</p>
<p>On New Years Day we trundled into town to take advantage of Manchester's superior <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX">sound and vision facilities</a> to watch the Cameron 3D CGI festival that was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/">Avatar</a>.</p>
<p>I'd lowered my expectations of what to expect from the script so I was pleasanter surprised on the day. While the film is certainly follows a plot-by-numbers approach it didn't feel too long given it is over 2 and a half hours long. Part of this was no doubt due to the IMAX skipping the traditional 30 minutes of advertising opportunity and launching straight into the film once everyone was seated. However workman like the plot was the dialogue was perfectly functional and only led to me cringe a couple of times. I'm not sure if "Unobtanium" was the script writers "<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampshade_hanging">hanging a lantern</a>" on a plot point or just laziness in failing to search and replace generic <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin">MacGuffins</a> before they started shooting.</p>
<p>However the main reason for the film was to push the envelope for CGI and 3D. On that score the film certainly delivers everything you expect. The use of 3D seemed pretty thoughtful, avoiding poking things at the viewer or forcing the eye to switch depth of field too much. There were some genuine vertigo inducing effects and the whole fantasy world of Pandora was vividly brought to life. Certainly worth seeing in 3D if you get the chance just don't expect a challenging plot.</p>
<p>We drove back to Cambridge on the 1st which proved to fairly easy given how quiet the road where. There was only a minor concern as we ventured into the wilds of Rutland to find a petrol station that was actually open. This allowed us to visit Fliss' mum for a little drinks and nibbles soiree on the 2nd.</p>
<p>I finally caught up with Doctor Who and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_T_Davies">RTD's</a> swan song as he hands over creative control to Steven Moffat. I've been avoiding LJ updates until I caught up but I have to say I wasn't overly annoyed with it. The acting was all good, Simm's makes a good master and the inevitable plot-reset wasn't nearly as annoying as the previous specials. Sure the Doctor's "reward" was soppy and self indulgent but it was a nice change to the usual emo wrangling. While I have a lot of criticisms of the RTD era at least he bought Doctor Who back to our screens and I look forward to what Moffat will bring us in the next year.</p>
<p>* pictures coming to a Social Network soon</p>
So that was Christmas2009-12-28T12:03:00+00:002009-12-28T12:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-28:/~alex/blog/2009/12/28/so-that-was-christmas/<p>You'll have to excuse the radio silence since my last post. The run-up to Christmas was a rush to ship the next version of the product to the testing team for next year. This wasn't helped by a whole day being taken up with the company Chrimbo do for clay …</p><p>You'll have to excuse the radio silence since my last post. The run-up to Christmas was a rush to ship the next version of the product to the testing team for next year. This wasn't helped by a whole day being taken up with the company Chrimbo do for clay pigeon shooting and lunch in one of the colleges. They also changed their mind and let everyone have the whole of Christmas eve off instead of a half day as a freebie which cut into my release schedule. Still it all came out right in the end.</p>
<p>As this is the first year in our new house Fliss had decided to offer to host the festivities for both families. Although catering for 9 seems a fairly daunting job at first (especially without a dishwasher!) it all seemed to go pretty smoothly - mostly due to Fliss' careful planning. I was mostly operating under instruction. The willing army of washing volunteers also helped keep that particular aspect under control.</p>
<p>For Christmas Eve we played an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie">Agatha Christie</a> murder mystery game while Fliss served up some wonderful local Duck. Christmas was the usual Turkey affair (again Norfolk local) but with plenty of top-ups throughout the day. Fliss then prepared a wonderful piece of pork which was cooked for 16 hours overnight leaving a third delicious piece of meat for Boxing day. We also did plenty of fresh stock preparation which should see us through the next few weeks of warming hearty meals.</p>
<p>Although it is probably unseemly to talk about Christmas swag I will say the PS3 faeries have been good to both of us. Although <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SingStar_Queen">SingStar Queen</a> is unlikely to see public light unless I'm very drunk both <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Arkham_Asylum">Batman: Arkham Asylum</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Warfare_2">CoD: Modern Warfare 2</a> have been exercising the console in the post Christmas chill-out zone. I suspect Fliss will finish Arkham before testing out <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin's_Creed_II">Assassin's Creed II</a>. The winter months truly are designed for idling the hours away on a console.</p>
<p>Unlike previous years there hasn't been a rush to get out an visit other places straight after Christmas so we have mainly been relaxing. We are due up in Manchester on the 30th and shall be at C&P's for New Years Eve.</p>
Update on Emacs Chrome2009-12-21T13:49:00+00:002009-12-21T13:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-21:/~alex/blog/2009/12/21/update-on-emacs-chrome/<p>In my spare time I've been mostly bashing away at trying to implement an edit server for the Emacs Chrome extension in Emacs Lisp. It's taking longer than I hoped mainly as it's the first time I've ever tried to use the Emacs Lisp Debugger and it's fairly alien compared …</p><p>In my spare time I've been mostly bashing away at trying to implement an edit server for the Emacs Chrome extension in Emacs Lisp. It's taking longer than I hoped mainly as it's the first time I've ever tried to use the Emacs Lisp Debugger and it's fairly alien compared to the usual functional GDB's of the world which I'm used to. The <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/blob/master/servers/edit_server.el">current version</a> should be pushing canned response back to every edit request but for some reason it's not working. Once the basics are working the rest is just cleanup :-)</p>
<p>In the meantime I've pushed a few additional updates to the repo. The first makes the extension usable on multiple tabs by passing the "port" back to the XmlHttp handler. You would think being an Emacs user I'd be used to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-class_function">first class function</a> paradigm by now but it's not something I really get a chance to use much in the day job. I'm not sure if:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
function contentTalking(port)
{
port.onMessage.addListener(function(msg, port) {
handleContentMessages(msg,port);
});
}
</pre>
<p>is the correct way way to pass parameters from the local function's scope to the listener function's scope but I'm not sure how else you'd do it. Certainly the pattern of declaring functions in-line seems to be very common in the world of Javascript (as well as Emacs Lisp via the <em>lambda ()</em> directive). If you look at the earlier <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome/commit/a642737b39f38f36507485588ad22b4dabd6eaf2">version of the code</a> you'll see my C habits come through, after all it's just a pointer :-).</p>
<p>I've also tweaked the pycl.py edit server code to handle running on Python 2.5 as my work box is running a fairly old Hardy Heron. Anyway the latest results of my hacking can, as always be seen <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">on github</a>.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD</strong>: Well that seems to be working now. I was getting confused in my use of car/cdr which is probably a result of too much <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_(programming_language)">Forth</a> when I was younger. They are not equivalent to grabbing the first and next bits off the stack. Specifically cdr returns a list, so you had better munge it to what you want if it's not a list.</p>
End to End Connectivity2009-12-16T23:22:00+00:002009-12-16T23:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-16:/~alex/blog/2009/12/16/end-to-end-connectivity/<p>We had a slight degree of excitement this evening when we got home. All the power was out and the refrigerating appliances were slowing defrosting. Due to the randomness of the breakers tripping we thought it was the boiler. As it happened it was a earth-neutral leakage that was causing …</p><p>We had a slight degree of excitement this evening when we got home. All the power was out and the refrigerating appliances were slowing defrosting. Due to the randomness of the breakers tripping we thought it was the boiler. As it happened it was a earth-neutral leakage that was causing the craziness. Once that was all sorted out I sacked off doing the washing-up to do a little more tweaking.</p>
<p>I'm almost there with the <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/emacs_chrome">Chromium extension</a>. I based it on the work done by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thegibson.org/blog/archives/689">David Hilley</a> and basically further hacked it about to make it work more like <a class="reference external" href="http://trac.gerf.org/itsalltext">It's All Text</a> on Firefox. I'm still using David's Python 2.6 shim layer to handle the edit requests until I can get around to implementing an elisp one for Emacs. Don't let my intention to do write one stop any readers from doing so in the meantime should you wish :-).</p>
<p>It works if you stick to one page, currently it gets confused if you have multiple pages open which have sent edit requests. This is because the xmlcomms.js function which handles farming out the edit requests has a single reply_port parameter which will point to the port of the last page to connect to the master extension. I'll need to come up with a slightly neater solution but I'm fairly crusty on Javascript.</p>
<p>Hopefully I'll get around to packaging it up properly in the next few days. In the meantime you can run it from a git checkout by pointing the Extensions page at it via "Load Unpacked Extension".</p>
<p>Still it's my first Chromium extension so I feel quite proud of myself :-)</p>
Morning coffee for my workstation2009-12-15T10:36:00+00:002009-12-15T10:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-15:/~alex/blog/2009/12/15/morning-coffee-for-my-workstation/<p>My work machine has always been slow in the mornings. I may have moaned about this before but it's mainly due to the rather excessive overnight processing it does (convert a 3.8G CVS repo into a 714M GIT repo). This tends to leave all the active applications somewhere in …</p><p>My work machine has always been slow in the mornings. I may have moaned about this before but it's mainly due to the rather excessive overnight processing it does (convert a 3.8G CVS repo into a 714M GIT repo). This tends to leave all the active applications somewhere in swap. With 3G of RAM in my machine this shouldn't really be a problem. Last night I enabled a very short script to run at 6.00 every morning:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
#!/bin/bash
swapoff -a
sleep 10s
swapon -a
</pre>
<p>The machine certainly seemed a lot snappier this morning when I sat down in front of it.</p>
Chrome and Emacsclient2009-12-12T13:24:00+00:002009-12-12T13:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-12:/~alex/blog/2009/12/12/chrome-and-emacsclient/<p>I had a number of things planned to do today, one of which was to go pick up some parcels that the local delivery service failed to do. However some workmen started digging up the road opposite my house. As the un-controlled single lane alternating between inbound and outbound traffic …</p><p>I had a number of things planned to do today, one of which was to go pick up some parcels that the local delivery service failed to do. However some workmen started digging up the road opposite my house. As the un-controlled single lane alternating between inbound and outbound traffic is right outside my drive I decided I couldn't face the horror and stayed in to tinker.</p>
<p>I've switched my default browser settings to Chromium on all my machines. It's just so much faster to launch and get around. I've sacrificed the security of NoScript but I'm less worried about Flash on my netbook now as each tab kills any CPU sucking plugins when deleted. The only major problem left is finding an alternative to It's All Text so I don't have to fire up Firefox every time I post something to the web (like this blog entry).</p>
<p>I decided to have a look into what was involved in getting a Chrome extension running that can call an external editor. I checked the group before I started and stumbled on Dave Hilley's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thegibson.org/blog/archives/689">rough cut solution</a>. It's almost exactly what I need so I've started toying with it.</p>
<p>Due to the way Chrome works it doesn't seem possible to spawn additional processes from Chrome itself (unless you want to use the NSAPI sledgehammer). Dave's solution is a simple server script that the Chrome extension can make calls to using XMLHttpRequest's. The server is written in Python but my first thought is there is no reason why the local <em>emacs --daemon</em> couldn't terminate the calls directly. Certainly the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs-se/EmacsEchoServer">example echo server</a> on the Emacs Wiki doesn't look too complicated to hack up.</p>
<p>The other thing that could be improved is the detection of text areas. Currently the Javascript just searches the DOM for text areas and selects the first one as a candidate for editing. I'm fairly sure it would be possible to detect either which text area currently has focus or do something more akin to It's All Text and wrap unique <div>'s around each text area and have a edit content button.</div></p>
<p>Unfortunately I seem to be having trouble getting the Chrome side to work. Trying to set breakpoints in the extension scripts keeps causing the extension to "crash" so it's hard to follow the sequence and tweak it. I also have to wrap my mind around Chrome's distinction between "content" and extension scripts. Still at least it's something to work from. Of course if anyone else wants to jump in with ideas (or even better a pointer to a better piece of emacs server code for handling XMLHttpRequests) then don't let my stumbling hack attempts hold you back :-)</p>
Meta Meme2009-12-11T12:05:00+00:002009-12-11T12:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-11:/~alex/blog/2009/12/11/meta-meme/<p>I thought I'd jump in with the current meta-meme which if I understand the rules correctly is the first line from the first post of each month:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/01/02/">Jan</a>: Rockbox happily made it through the New Years Eve gathering without frustrating anyone with its occasional rough edges.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/02/06/">Feb</a>: True to Hofstader …</div></div><p>I thought I'd jump in with the current meta-meme which if I understand the rules correctly is the first line from the first post of each month:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/01/02/">Jan</a>: Rockbox happily made it through the New Years Eve gathering without frustrating anyone with its occasional rough edges.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/02/06/">Feb</a>: True to Hofstader’s law it took a few extra days to finish of my (unpaid) work at Essex University.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/03/02/">Mar</a>: You may recall the adventures of playing with the bleeding edge of Xorg.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/04/01/">Apr</a>: I’m slightly wary of posting anything on Internet Lie Day but I’m guessing it all depends on the timezone.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/05/07/">May</a>: I went to a embedded conference today (re: sales pitch).</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/06/01/">Jun</a>: While browsing stackoverflow I (re)discovered Desktop Save Mode which I must of played with in an earlier emacs version and then disabled.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/07/01/">Jul</a>: Thanks to all who came to the party on Saturday.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/08/03/">Aug</a>: We spent the weekend attending the wedding of C&P in the royal county of Buckinghamshire.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/09/01/ready-to-go/">Sep</a>: I dropped my car off at the body-shop for it’s cosmetic surgery today.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/10/05/">Oct</a>: I was little disappointed by David Cameron’s performance on Sunday AM.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/11/02/migrated-to-wordpress/">Nov</a>: I’ve finally gotten around to migrating the blog to Wordpress.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/12/01/weekend-and-travels/">Dec</a>: The weekend was a relatively quite one.</div>
</div>
<p>So that's 4 geek, 2 job, 5 life and 1 politics post. I'm a well rounded individual I am ;-)</p>
Simon Singh2009-12-11T11:37:00+00:002009-12-11T11:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-11:/~alex/blog/2009/12/11/simon-singh/<p>As the nights draw in again it's time to hit the lecture circuit. Cambridge is pretty <a class="reference external" href="http://talks.cam.ac.uk/">well served</a> with public lectures as well as a number of other organisations that organises talks in return for a small donation on the day or subscription. Last night I went to the IET's …</p><p>As the nights draw in again it's time to hit the lecture circuit. Cambridge is pretty <a class="reference external" href="http://talks.cam.ac.uk/">well served</a> with public lectures as well as a number of other organisations that organises talks in return for a small donation on the day or subscription. Last night I went to the IET's "Christmas" lecture by author, producer and journalist <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Singh">Simon Singh</a>. If you haven't heard of him you may be familiar with his Horizon documentary on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat%27s_last_theorem">Fermat's Last Theorem</a> (and a follow-up book) or his <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Book-Secret-History-Code-breaking/dp/1857028899">excellent book</a> on the history of codes and code breaking.</p>
<p>The talk was nominally titled "Science and the Media - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly". He started with an interesting observation that he used to believe we should get as much science in the media as possible but wonders if now that is a bad thing. There is a tendency now for journalists to jump on the latest random case studies (or worse University issued press releases) and write stories without surrounding context. This is how we get to the confused state that Wine is both good and bad for you, depending on which paper you have read today. The true picture is generally more complex and nuanced than the column inches allow.</p>
<p>Simon Singh presented a couple of examples of editing in science documentaries and discussed the ethics of the choices made. The first was an example from his own film on Fermat's Last Theorem where he made the choice to edit one of his contributors discussing why computers can't prove theorems. The actual edit can bee seen about at about 07:30 into the <a class="reference external" href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8269328330690408516&ei=ySMiS8msIoaJ-Abap8mdDg&q=fermat%27s+last+theorem&view=2#">film</a> where the mathematically significant word "prime" is cut between "1000" and "numbers". The argument being that to get the point across about why it's not a proof it would have been an unnecessary distraction to discuss why <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_number">primes</a> are significant in this exercise. While standing behind his decision in this case he left it to the audience to come to their own conclusion on where on the ethical spectrum this editorial choice lay.</p>
<p>The next example was the sensationalist introduction to the OU and BBC's documentary <a class="reference external" href="http://www.open2.net/alternativemedicine/">Alternative Medicine: The Evidence</a> which <a class="reference external" href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4173821733321450451&ei=ISgiS8HSGZWz-Aaa0cWzAQ&q=alternative+medicine+the+evidence&hl=en#">showed</a> (warning graphic medical procedure footage) someone having open heart surgery while conscious and undergoing acupressure. Although apparently mentioned later on in the episode the intro made no mention of the 3 strong sedatives and local anaesthetic being used during the procedure (possibly rendering the acupuncture rather superfluous). This led to Singh feeling compelled to make a complaint to the BBC which after several appeals they finally <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/apr2007.pdf">responded too</a>. It's probably fair to say the audience considered this example of editing as being on the darker side of the ethical spectrum.</p>
<p>In the final section of the talk he discussed the Ugly side of science and the media. The main bugbear hear being the increasing use of liable law to silence or suppress criticism of "alternative" medicine. Singh's own case was launched by the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Chiropractic_Association">British Chiropractic Association</a> after daring to <a class="reference external" href="http://svetlana14s.narod.ru/Simon_Singhs_silenced_paper.html">suggest</a> there may not be evidence for efficacy of chiropractic treatments of some medical conditions. It's not the first such case, the main reason being that even if you win, you lose. The current state of liable law means that even though <a class="reference external" href="http://www.badscience.net/2009/12/libel-reform/">Ben Goldacre won his case</a> against a vitamin pill magnet he and the Guardian ended up £170,000 poorer than they started. That's without getting into the discussion about whether the courts are the best place to decide on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial">scientific facts</a>. There is more information on <a class="reference external" href="http://simonsingh.net/">Simon Singh's website</a> as well as a relaunch of a campaign to reform <a class="reference external" href="http://libelreform.org/our-report">UK liable laws</a>. I strongly urge UK readers to read the site and perhaps write to your MP to ensure they are on side for reform.</p>
Post Travel Slump2009-12-07T13:51:00+00:002009-12-07T13:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-07:/~alex/blog/2009/12/07/post-travel-slump/<p>I got back from my Hungarian adventures at a slightly more reasonable time than Wednesday mornings departure. Never the less I find travel still zaps the energy out of me. On Friday night I managed to eat dinner before crawling upstairs and passing out.</p>
<p>Saturday has been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/uncategorized/bunch-of-krull/">ably documented elsewhere …</a></p><p>I got back from my Hungarian adventures at a slightly more reasonable time than Wednesday mornings departure. Never the less I find travel still zaps the energy out of me. On Friday night I managed to eat dinner before crawling upstairs and passing out.</p>
<p>Saturday has been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/uncategorized/bunch-of-krull/">ably documented elsewhere</a> and basically involved a large amount of DVD watching. I was twiddling with my nascent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.android.com/">Android</a> application in the background but until I can make sense out of JDB and it's associated emacs GUD bindings it's going to be slow progress. Once I've figured out how to make breakpoints actually work as well as show position in the Android base code hopefully things will progress faster.</p>
<p>Sunday involved much de-construction as we took down the metal fencing at the back of the property. We are planning on replacing the boundary with more aesthetically pleasing (and fruitful) bushes. Once that was done I was minded to have a final push at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9677?project=1&only_watched=1">getting my playlist patch</a> into Rockbox. I also did my bit testing another outside contributors <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/10832?project=1&only_watched=1">better solution</a> to my stale hacky <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/10160?project=1&only_watched=1">m4a mdat patch</a>. I can appreciate Juliusz' frustrations with getting things into <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/">Rockbox</a>. It's a great project and it's amazing we have truly free firmware we can install on a variety of bits of hardware. However it's by far and away one of the hardest communities I've had to deal with as a casual contributor. I don't know if the project suffers as a result, it's one of those hard to quantify things. I suspect the bar is pretty high anyway as the embedded nature probably rules out a lot of people used to desktop development unless they are really keen to dig into and learn the code.</p>
Exploring Budapest2009-12-03T16:57:00+00:002009-12-03T16:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-03:/~alex/blog/2009/12/03/exploring-budapest/<p>After finishing work around midday I took advantage of the rest of the day to go and do a little exploring around town. There is a handy tourist bus which does a 24 hour ticket and runs a continuous loop around the principle tourist points. Hopefully I'll get a second …</p><p>After finishing work around midday I took advantage of the rest of the day to go and do a little exploring around town. There is a handy tourist bus which does a 24 hour ticket and runs a continuous loop around the principle tourist points. Hopefully I'll get a second stab at using my ticket tomorrow morning. <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest">Budapest</a> really is a beautiful old European city, it reminded most of my trip to Prague. Although large chunks of it were destroyed during various wars (including all the bridges) the Hungarians have done a fantastic job restoring it while maintaining the 19th century grandeur.</p>
<p>I spent today looking around the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buda_Castle">castle</a> area which although walled is more a massive palace complex. I did check out the curious <a class="reference external" href="http://www.labirintus.com/en">Buda Labyrinth</a> which is a series of interesting tunnels under the castle area. Each area has a number of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Gormley">Gormley</a> style sculptures, sometimes with ambient music and set to various themes. I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a tourist destination (2000 HUF, about £6.60 seemed a little steep), however I think the place would make a fantastic LRP dungeon complex.</p>
<p>I didn't have time to explore any of the many museums on the castle hill and tomorrow I need to decide between going up the Zoo and impressive <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%91s%C3%B6k_tere">Heroes Square</a> or visiting one of the many "medicinal" hot spring Spa's. My flight home is at 17.20 so I think I'll get most of the day before I have to sequester myself in the airport for my flight home.</p>
That was quick2009-12-02T19:41:00+00:002009-12-02T19:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-02:/~alex/blog/2009/12/02/that-was-quick/<p>I've spent about 4 hours traveling today and about 3 hours in the clients offices. Everything went fairly smoothly and despite occasional language impeadence I've only gained an extra 3-4 feature requests, none of which should be too tricky to implement. I'll probably pop into our local partners office tomorrow …</p><p>I've spent about 4 hours traveling today and about 3 hours in the clients offices. Everything went fairly smoothly and despite occasional language impeadence I've only gained an extra 3-4 feature requests, none of which should be too tricky to implement. I'll probably pop into our local partners office tomorrow morning for a write-up before having the rest of the day to explore. Any recommendations gratefully received.</p>
Weekend and Travels2009-12-01T13:40:00+00:002009-12-01T13:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-12-01:/~alex/blog/2009/12/01/weekend-and-travels/<p>The weekend was a relatively quite one. I took advantage of the temporary loan of my Dad's bike to pay a visit into town and tick of a number of tasks in preparation for Christmas. This included by first every cut-throat* trim of the Winter Beard to prevent it going …</p><p>The weekend was a relatively quite one. I took advantage of the temporary loan of my Dad's bike to pay a visit into town and tick of a number of tasks in preparation for Christmas. This included by first every cut-throat* trim of the Winter Beard to prevent it going too wild. Other tasks included buying a present for Fliss and fetching silicone sealant for the repair to the show pan. All fairly mundane stuff.</p>
<p>I did reformat my laptop and after a little struggle with generating USB install keys massaging a version of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.debian.org/releases/testing/">Debian Testing</a> onto one of the partitions. I've skipped Gnome and gone for a more netbook friendly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.xfce.org/">Xfce</a> for my desktop environment. Suspend and resume sort of works although seems to introduce an odd bug when trying to login on fresh virtual terminals. I suspect there may be screwy events being sent to X as well although existing applications still seem to be usable. It will give me something to do on the flight I suspect.</p>
<p>This time I've kept a spare partition free on the disk. I did attempt to get the latest Fedora installed but the installer was very confused. I may try the latest Ubuntu just to see how much difference there is between Debian and Ubuntu.</p>
<p>I'm up at denial a.m. tomorrow to fly to Budapest in Hungary. I have two days on a customer site to see my software being put to real use (and answer questions on its future). If I'm lucky I'll get Friday morning shopping before flying back. This week is likely to literally fly by.</p>
<p>* with disposable razors these days, sign of the times</p>
What's in your Browser?2009-11-26T11:16:00+00:002009-11-26T11:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-26:/~alex/blog/2009/11/26/whats-in-your-browser/<p>The official <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/index.html">Chrome Extensions</a> page is coming and soon I'll be seriously considering making a switch to my default browser setting. While <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_%28web_browser%29">Chromium</a> (the open source component of Chrome) is a fantastically speedy, low memory and nimble browser it's lack of extensions if the main thing holding me back from …</p><p>The official <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/index.html">Chrome Extensions</a> page is coming and soon I'll be seriously considering making a switch to my default browser setting. While <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_%28web_browser%29">Chromium</a> (the open source component of Chrome) is a fantastically speedy, low memory and nimble browser it's lack of extensions if the main thing holding me back from making the fully committed switch. I already use it to access my various Google applications and it's also useful for accessing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/listen">last.fm radio</a> as when the Flash plugin goes mad I don't have to kill my entire browsing session. With the discovery of the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greasemonkey">Greasemonkey</a> based <a class="reference external" href="http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/40933">AdSweep</a> I can even move my Google Reader browsing across to Chromium without suffering from animated banner induced madness.</p>
<p>However Firefox still has a number of killer Add-On's which would need to be ported before I can throw the switch. These include:</p>
<div class="section" id="firebug">
<h2>Firebug</h2>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://getfirebug.com/">Firebug</a> has become an indispensable tool as I've done more JavaScript based hacking. I literally would not attempt to develop anything client side scripting based without this tool by my side.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="it-s-all-text">
<h2>It's All Text</h2>
<p>This simple <a class="reference external" href="http://trac.gerf.org/itsalltext">tool</a> allows me to spawn an Emacs client to edit any text area on a web-page. It's what I use when I'm making blog posts and pretty much any non-trivial amount of web based text entry. While it might be tempting to do the Greasemonkey treatment to something like <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ymacs.org/">Ymacs</a> to get something close to the Emacs experience there is really no substitute for the real thing. Especially, as you may have noticed, when you want to insert code snippets into your posts.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<h3>It's All Text</h3>
This simple <a href="http://trac.gerf.org/itsalltext">tool</a> allows
me to spawn an Emacs client to edit any text area on a web-page. It's
what I use when I'm making blog posts and pretty much any non-trivial
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section" id="no-script">
<h2>No Script</h2>
<p>The Web 2.0 experience is certainly a good thing, browsers have certainly moved from being a presenter of static pages to being a platform where all sorts of fantastic stuff can be done. However I still like to have <a class="reference external" href="http://noscript.net/">control over who gets to run code in my browser</a>.</p>
<p>I used to have <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bugmenot.com/">Bug Me Not</a> in my list of must-have extensions but to be honest I just skip stuff that requires registration these days. I'm looking forward to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/11/microsoft_and_murdoch_teaming.html">Murdoch's content</a> dropping off the search engines radar when he finally learns to use <a class="reference external" href="http://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html">robots.txt</a>.</p>
<p>So are there any extensions essential to your Firefox experience? Or have you already made the jump to Chrome(ium)? Or do you still see something in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_%28web_browser%29">Opera</a> that I never could?</p>
</div>
For Science!2009-11-24T15:14:00+00:002009-11-24T15:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-24:/~alex/blog/2009/11/24/for-science/<p>A couple of stories recently have gotten me thinking about the process of doing science and how it may change in the coming years. The current approach is to spend time doing your research and once your happy you have a defensible theory you write a paper explaining what you …</p><p>A couple of stories recently have gotten me thinking about the process of doing science and how it may change in the coming years. The current approach is to spend time doing your research and once your happy you have a defensible theory you write a paper explaining what you did and submit it to one of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_journal">journals</a> appropriate to your field. The paper will then spend some time being peer reviewed, possibly bouncing back and forth before (hopefully) being accepted and published. At this point you score science points which can be spent on doing more science*. If the journal doesn't accept your paper you either go back to square one or possibly submit to a less well known journal that is a little more forgiving.</p>
<p>This is all well and good as peer review is an important aspect of the scientific process. However it takes time and there is always the risk that some other group gets through the publishing process first. There isn't really a concept of a second prize and journals loose interest in publishing papers that just confirm what the first guy said (unless it brings some new revelation that builds on previous work). It also has potential problems with bias as members of the review pool may be working on different theories.</p>
<p>The Internet has long been a tool of academia and allows disparate groups scattered around the world to collaborate on shared areas of interest through email. However emails are by their very nature private and even public mailing lists don't really approach the rigour of a properly cited and argued paper. Sites such as <a class="reference external" href="http://arxiv.org/">ArXiv</a> offer an additional place to get ideas out there. Scientists can publish to ArXiv while waiting for papers to go through the review process and it can be argued the additional scrutiny of being read by people on the site adds to the quality of peer review. Some people take things even further, for example <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Garrett_Lisi">Garrett Lisi</a> who's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Exceptionally_Simple_Theory_of_Everything">theory of everything</a> offers an intriguing potential solution to grand unification, does all his work <a class="reference external" href="http://deferentialgeometry.org/">in public</a> on his website. Of course Lisi is in an interesting position as being privately funded he doesn't *need* the academic points to secure future funding. However from my experience with Open Source software I can see the attraction of a more open collaborative approach to research. After all scientists in the main are all about improving the body of public knowledge about how things work.</p>
<p>It's interesting to consider the principles of open collaboration in the light of the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_Research_Unit_e-mail_hacking_incident">selective leaking of the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit</a>'s emails.</p>
<p>On the face of it there are two main concerns raised by the incident. The first being a generally poor attitude held by member of the CRU to people that hold opposing views and their attempts to use <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_information_in_the_United_Kingdom">Freedom of Information</a> legislation to obtain access to the raw data. The other the fact that for research that involves a lot of simulation the raw source data and simulation code is kept secret. The first is probably a reflection of the intensity of the debate between the two sides of the argument (and not treating anything committed to an electronic medium as potentially public). The second is most likely a function of worrying about exposing potentially hacky code to critical eyes and the perceived value of the data-set that has involved many man-years of effort to build.</p>
<p>Let me be clear that I'm perfectly happy with accepting the current scientific consensus about anthropogenic <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming">climate change</a>. However it is important for the progress of science to keep testing all the theories until they break. The current <a class="reference external" href="http://www.devilskitchen.me.uk/2009/11/some-cru-email-summaries-4.html">frothing over the leak</a> while raising eyebrows doesn't expose a conspiracy to defraud the worldwide community with fake science. However I can't help wondering if the current hullabaloo could have been avoided if a more open approach had been taken towards doing the science?</p>
Waterfalls2009-11-23T14:44:00+00:002009-11-23T14:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-23:/~alex/blog/2009/11/23/waterfalls/<p>We spend Saturday visiting the big smoke for a birthday party and house warming. For Graeme's birthday we frequented a cordoned off area of an Ausie Sports bar to watch the two Rugby international. England where predictably beaten although managed to hold onto their dignity up until the last twenty …</p><p>We spend Saturday visiting the big smoke for a birthday party and house warming. For Graeme's birthday we frequented a cordoned off area of an Ausie Sports bar to watch the two Rugby international. England where predictably beaten although managed to hold onto their dignity up until the last twenty minutes when it all went to pot. To give the Scots their due though they did very well to hold (and finally beat) the Wallabies. After the game we repaired to Hackney for El Franco's South American themed house warming. My voice had started to go by this point (the tale end of my last cold) so I switched to soothing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Russian_%28cocktail%29">White Russians</a>. Fliss was also asking me to do various <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_White">Barry White</a> impressions as my voice had dropped an octave or two and was apparently super sexy - an association I've not made with illness before!</p>
<p>After much breakfast and getting a lift through London traffic we finally made it back to our house to find the kitchen floor covered with water and the light fitting dripping. This pretty much eliminated the planned evening of unwinding and led to hurried calls to the insurance company to get a plumber out. After much lifting of carpets and floorboards and scratching of heads we finally tracked it down to a leak in the shower pan seal and the dripping shower head that had not been fully turned off. The water had evidently slowly leaked through over 24 hours and then run back into the centre of the ceiling through the helpful hole formed by the light fitting. Luckily no major damage has been done and getting it fixed up should be a pretty simple task. I'm glad I took out the home emergency cover with the house insurance though.</p>
Would you accept a patch like this?2009-11-20T17:54:00+00:002009-11-20T17:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-20:/~alex/blog/2009/11/20/would-you-accept-a-patch-like-this/<p>Wow, I actually found something that netcat can't do.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
--- netcat-openbsd-1.89/netcat.c 2009-11-20 17:44:40.000000000 +0000
+++ netcat-openbsd-1.89.patched/netcat.c 2009-11-20 17:43:35.000000000 +0000
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@
/* Command Line Options */
int Cflag = 0; /* CRLF line-ending */
+int cflag = 0; /* CR line-ending */
int dflag; /* detached …</pre><p>Wow, I actually found something that netcat can't do.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
--- netcat-openbsd-1.89/netcat.c 2009-11-20 17:44:40.000000000 +0000
+++ netcat-openbsd-1.89.patched/netcat.c 2009-11-20 17:43:35.000000000 +0000
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@
/* Command Line Options */
int Cflag = 0; /* CRLF line-ending */
+int cflag = 0; /* CR line-ending */
int dflag; /* detached, no stdin */
int iflag; /* Interval Flag */
int jflag; /* use jumbo frames if we can */
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@
sv = NULL;
while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv,
- "46Ddhi:jklnP:p:rSs:tT:Uuvw:X:x:zC")) != -1) {
+ "46Ddhi:jklnP:p:rSs:tT:Uuvw:X:x:zCc")) != -1) {
switch (ch) {
case '4':
family = AF_INET;
@@ -230,6 +231,9 @@
case 'C':
Cflag = 1;
break;
+ case 'c':
+ cflag = 1;
+ break;
default:
usage(1);
}
@@ -748,6 +752,12 @@
if (atomicio(vwrite, nfd, "\r\n", 2) != 2)
return;
}
+ else if ((cflag) && (buf[n-1]=='\n')) {
+ if (atomicio(vwrite, nfd, buf, n-1) != (n-1))
+ return;
+ if (atomicio(vwrite, nfd, "\r", 1) != 1)
+ return;
+ }
else {
if (atomicio(vwrite, nfd, buf, n) != n)
return;
</pre>
<p>My dad has been experimenting with putting an old <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLEX_%28operating_system%29">Flex</a> system on the net. I was having trouble talking to it with netcat. Using Telnet was a little better but still failing. It turns out some very old systems have different line termination sequences. I can now play the original <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure">Colossal Cave</a> :-)</p>
Ripping PS3 compatible MP4s2009-11-20T12:29:00+00:002009-11-20T12:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-20:/~alex/blog/2009/11/20/ripping-ps3-compatible-mp4s/<p>There are literally hundreds of scripts and tools for encoding stuff to various compressed video formats. However I was never able to find something that did exactly what I wanted and until recently just did everything from the command line with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html">mencoder</a>. Eventually I got tired of the copy and …</p><p>There are literally hundreds of scripts and tools for encoding stuff to various compressed video formats. However I was never able to find something that did exactly what I wanted and until recently just did everything from the command line with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html">mencoder</a>. Eventually I got tired of the copy and paste and scripted stuff up which I've pushed <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/ps3enc">onto github</a>.</p>
<p>There are two scripts. The first is rip.py which is designed to automate the task of ripping box sets as much as possible. Originally it spawned the encoder step but that is a very quick way to overload your machine. Syntax is fairly simple:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
rip.py -v -m 45 -b 13 -l
</pre>
<p>Which means rip tracks that are around 45 minutes in length and number them from 13. Create a log file with a list of ripped VOB files. Currently everything is hard-coded to ${HOME}/tmp</p>
<p>The second script is even simpler:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
ps3enc.pl /path/to/file
</pre>
<p>By default it does a automatic guess at crop detection and then a 2 pass encoding of the file into a PS3 compatible .avi. That is then unpicked and re-packaged into an .mp4 file.</p>
<p>By it's very nature it is tailored to my command line sensibilities but I push it to the outside world in case it's useful to someone else. Patches are of course always welcome but don't expect it to grow much beyond it's current scope. About the only thing I'd like to get working properly is handling subtitles for foreign films. It's currently a bit of a black art.</p>
<p>The original "recipe" for the PS3 friendly encode options where gleaned from <a class="reference external" href="http://subvida.com/2007/06/18/convert-divx-xvid-to-ps3-format-mpeg4-on-linux/">Carlos Rivero's blog post</a>.</p>
Restoring GUI connectivity from screen2009-11-19T14:48:00+00:002009-11-19T14:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-19:/~alex/blog/2009/11/19/restoring-gui-connectivity-from-screen/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen">GNU Screen</a> is one of the most useful tools in my arsenal. In the days before I used screen I used to make extensive use of Gnome Terminal's multiple tab functionality. I'd have one tab for edit/commit commands, one for running code, others for watching logs and the plethora …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen">GNU Screen</a> is one of the most useful tools in my arsenal. In the days before I used screen I used to make extensive use of Gnome Terminal's multiple tab functionality. I'd have one tab for edit/commit commands, one for running code, others for watching logs and the plethora of other tasks you may be doing while working on something. Whenever X went down (sadly a fairly common occurrence if you are a heavy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiz">Compiz</a> user) I spent a significant amount of time recreating my terminal sessions.</p>
<p>With screen all that happens is the controlling terminal detaches, preserving all the running processes inside and allowing a simple reattach once you have a GUI again. As a bonus you can do this at any time, this is most useful when working from home. All I need to do is logon to my machine remotely and attach to the screen session and I can pick up from where I left of the previous day. It's also incredibly useful for servers. I read all my mail in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">Mutt</a> running in a screen session on my server which I can attach to from anywhere on the net.</p>
<p>One problem however is GUI environments, specifically talking to various agents and the like. As the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_%28computing%29">shell</a> inside the screen never terminates the environment variables telling it how to talk to things like the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_session_manager">Session Manager</a> or the various other desktop agents will not be updated. So I spent a little time hacking up a solution to the problem. First of all I need to detect when in the GUI and dump the environment variables somewhere:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
ENV_DUMP_FILE="${HOME}/current_${HOSTNAME}.env"
alias dump_env="env > ${ENV_DUMP_FILE}"
# If in a GUI dump the current environment
# This is not perfect, if you spawn an xterm out of your screen session it
# vape your carefully stored environment, so don't do that.
if [[ ${TERM} == "screen" ]]; then
echo "In a screen session - run restore_gui_env to pick up GUI vars"
elif [[ ${TERM} == "linux" ]]; then
echo "In a console session"
else
echo "In a GUI session - dumping env in ${ENV_DUMP_FILE}"
dump_env
fi
</pre>
<p>Once that is done I have a simple function I can run to slurp up the relevant environment variables into my current screen session:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
# Restore a single environment variable from ${ENV_DUMP_FILE}
function restore_env_var
{
if [[ "$1" && -f ${ENV_DUMP_FILE} ]]
then
line=`grep $1 ${ENV_DUMP_FILE}`
delim=`expr index $line =`
value=${line:$delim}
echo "export $1=$value"
export $1=$value
fi
}
function restore_gui_env
{
echo "Restoring GUI environment settings"
restore_env_var DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
restore_env_var XDG_SESSION_COOKIE
restore_env_var DISPLAY
restore_env_var SSH_AUTH_SOCK
restore_env_var GPG_AGENT_INFO
restore_env_var GNOME_KEYRING_SOCKET
}
</pre>
<p>It's not perfect, for example if I spawn a GUI shell from inside screen it could overwrite the current correct environment with stale data. However I think that's just a case of "don't do that then". The changes can be seen in context in my <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/commit/d80ed1426ab5f49d527ddac56c690d03e0a34078">dotfiles repo</a>.</p>
Thinking about email2009-11-17T12:49:00+00:002009-11-17T12:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-17:/~alex/blog/2009/11/17/thinking-about-email/<p>I saw a <a class="reference external" href="http://keithp.com/blogs/notmuch/">post on my feeds</a> today discussing a new email client called <a class="reference external" href="http://notmuchmail.org/">notmuch</a> which set me thinking about my own use of email.</p>
<p>I have three primary ways of accessing email at the moment. On my domain I run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">Mutt</a> in a screen session. At work I have …</p><p>I saw a <a class="reference external" href="http://keithp.com/blogs/notmuch/">post on my feeds</a> today discussing a new email client called <a class="reference external" href="http://notmuchmail.org/">notmuch</a> which set me thinking about my own use of email.</p>
<p>I have three primary ways of accessing email at the moment. On my domain I run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">Mutt</a> in a screen session. At work I have the GUI behemoth that is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_%28software%29">Evolution</a> and most of my mailing list subscriptions run through a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail">Gmail</a> account I have set aside for the very purpose.</p>
<p>I'm quite happy with Mutt for my main personal email. As I don't use my personal email to subscribe to mailing lists the volume is low, it's fairly quick and snappy to write email (in an emacsclient naturally) and searching is only a "/" away. However it is intrinsically a folder based email client which works fine as I only have two folders: Inbox and Oldmail. I periodically (~annually) move email into Oldmail when Mutt starts to slow down on start-up.</p>
<p>The main bugbear is my work email. I mainly run evolution through inertia and 2 features:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>It connects to the work Exchange server, although calendering doesn't really work properly as I can't Accept/Decline meeting invites.</li>
<li>The vFolder concept allows me to easily separate company emails from the bug tracker and CVS commits and the odd work related mailing list while still offering a quick eyeball indication of what pending emails there are.</li>
</ul>
<p>Other than those features Evolution sucks balls in every other way. It takes an age to compose a new email, I have to shut it down every night to avoid swap death and it's certainly not keyboard operable.</p>
<p>The GMail account I have to live with as there isn't really anywhere else I can easily index and search the 4gb (and growing) of mailing lists I subscribe to. Of course it is accessible via IMAP so it would be nice if I could access it from the same client, especially as the web interface tends to munge in-line patches.</p>
<p>The obvious choice would be to look into one of the many many modes for handling email in emacs. However the plethora of choices is one that makes selecting one to try even harder. Some people at work have fetchmail tasks setup to mirror the email on the server which sounds a little clunky but I guess must work well enough. I don't think it would be practical for Gmail though, I usually just browse through various tags for mailing lists, including the very handy 'mythreads' which marks any email list thread I'm involved in.</p>
<p>I think the key feature I need will be something like Evolutions vFolders for the quick eyeball along with a decent way to interact with Gmail. Any suggestions?</p>
Film Review: Dark Star2009-11-17T11:43:00+00:002009-11-17T11:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-17:/~alex/blog/2009/11/17/film-review-dark-star/<p>As part of our wandering approach exploring film rental the latest instalment to drop on the door mat was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter">John Carpenter</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Star-DVD-Brian-Narelle/dp/B001V7P30S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1258456845&sr=1-1">Dark Star</a>. It's a weird black comedy about a bunch of bored stoners, some sentient bombs and strange beach ball aliens aboard a deep space planetary destroyer. As …</p><p>As part of our wandering approach exploring film rental the latest instalment to drop on the door mat was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter">John Carpenter</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Star-DVD-Brian-Narelle/dp/B001V7P30S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1258456845&sr=1-1">Dark Star</a>. It's a weird black comedy about a bunch of bored stoners, some sentient bombs and strange beach ball aliens aboard a deep space planetary destroyer. As it was Carpenter's first film, and being made in 1974, the special effects are fairly rudimentary. However watching it will immediately remind you of a number of Sci-Fi classics which it predates. For example the opening sequence of the ship is eerily reminiscent of the first scene in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Episode-IV-Theatrical/dp/B000FMH8UI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1258457311&sr=1-1">Star Wars IV: A New Hope</a> where the Imperial Destroyer tracks across the screen. Reading up on the film afterwards it's probably not surprising as <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_O%27Bannon">Dan O'Bannon</a> was picked up to work on Star Wars when Lucas saw the "groundbreaking special effects" in Dark Star.</p>
<p>There are many other things in the film that seem to have influenced what came after it. The control panels and corridors portrayed have evolved from earlier Sci-Fi but certainly defined an aesthetic that has been built on several times since. Although the main computer interaction seems incredibly dated now I'm sure I've seen the diagnostic screen used in a number of films since.</p>
<p>Overall it's an odd film but worth watching if your a student of the history Sci-Fi or Carpenter.</p>
Partaaaay Aftermarth2009-11-16T12:14:00+00:002009-11-16T12:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-16:/~alex/blog/2009/11/16/partaaaay-aftermarth/<p>Well this weekend was filled with the preparation, execution and aftermath of our House Warming party. Fliss finished a number of final touches to curtains, clothes racks, and other such details while I pottered around moving cardboard to the outbuildings and ordering two <a class="reference external" href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Polypins">polypins</a> of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/">local ale</a> to keep people …</p><p>Well this weekend was filled with the preparation, execution and aftermath of our House Warming party. Fliss finished a number of final touches to curtains, clothes racks, and other such details while I pottered around moving cardboard to the outbuildings and ordering two <a class="reference external" href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Polypins">polypins</a> of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/">local ale</a> to keep people suitably lubricated.</p>
<p>We had a mixture of friends from near and far, family and neighbours attend the party. The early part was taken up with bonfire and fireworks (which I observed from the warmness of inside the house). The lack of launch tubes seemed to account for the large number of ground bursts I saw. However given we had such a large area of land to use for the fireworks the safety margins were a lot higher than your typical Dangerous Fireworks Party <sup>tm</sup>. However one downside of the outdoor pursuits was a grey trail of clay from the fireworks field to the back door. Luckily people were pretty good about removing shoes and our kitchen is easily mopped clean.</p>
<p>The new table got it's first use as a ad-hoc gaming establishment while last.fm's recommendation engine supplied the players with a large amount of hi-energy disco music. I finally switched it to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/listen/artist/Alexis%2BKorner/similarartists#pane=webRadioPlayer&station=%252Flisten%252Fartist%252FAlexis%252BKorner%252Fsimilarartists">my namesakes radio</a> which was better received. I think it may have won over a new fan to the social networking music idea.</p>
<p>The front room had the <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/08/it-only-does-everything/">universal entertainment system</a> switched on to keep the kids (and some of the adults) happy with a combination of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulcalibur_IV">Soul Calibur IV</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Rub_%27a%27_Dub">Super Rub'a'Dub</a>. I was only able to pop in briefly to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn">pwn</a> a few of the younger upstarts before returning to hosting duties.</p>
<p>The kitchen proved to be the central hub of the party and benefited from it's size as well as selection of food courtesy of in house catering with relatives supplying additional dishes. The only downside was having to leave the warmth of the kitchen to pick up another pint of ale from the chilled confines of the garage.</p>
<p>By early morning I was starting to flag and we started allocating sleeping facilities before crashing. It proved to be a useful exercise as we realised the Library was missing a door, something that will need addressing for Christmas where potential guests may be less comatose than S&S who used it. I seem to recall I slept much like a log would.</p>
<p>The next day involved me cooking an excessive amount of bacon, sausages and baking bread as successive kitchen faeries whittled the large stack of washing into a manageable amount. The rest of Sunday was filled with casually directed lounging with a brief intermission watching the new Doctor Who as he turned ever slightly more <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalomania">megalomaniacal</a>. Than I slept.</p>
<p>It was great seeing everyone at the party, especially those that travelled so far to join us. Future visitors can expect better accommodation when bed pressure isn't quite so high! I'm glad everyone has so much fun, the only real lesson I can take from the event is to keep a closer eye on the port decanter ;-)</p>
SIM Troubles2009-11-12T10:29:00+00:002009-11-12T10:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-12:/~alex/blog/2009/11/12/sim-troubles/<p>My SIM card is starting to show it's age and refusing to allow my phone to connect to the network. It's not surprising as the thing is fairly old having had it since I first joined T-Mobile. I managed to order a new SIM yesterday throwing only a minor strop …</p><p>My SIM card is starting to show it's age and refusing to allow my phone to connect to the network. It's not surprising as the thing is fairly old having had it since I first joined T-Mobile. I managed to order a new SIM yesterday throwing only a minor strop when they suggested I pay for it. However despite a final buff of the contacts it totally gave up the ghost this morning. It will be a few days before I'm available for GSM based voice chat again. Of course I remain very contactable by numerous other methods</p>
Are the Armed Forces being let down by government?2009-11-11T15:05:00+00:002009-11-11T15:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-11:/~alex/blog/2009/11/11/are-the-armed-forces-being-let-down-by-government/<p>Well the gruby <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8354131.stm">counter accusations</a> continue over <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349757.stm">a letter sent by Gordon Brown</a> to offer condolences to a bereaved mother. For all the heat and noise it's generating for the papers, no doubt not helping the poor mother come to terms with her grief, it's become a proxy for a …</p><p>Well the gruby <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8354131.stm">counter accusations</a> continue over <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349757.stm">a letter sent by Gordon Brown</a> to offer condolences to a bereaved mother. For all the heat and noise it's generating for the papers, no doubt not helping the poor mother come to terms with her grief, it's become a proxy for a wider debate. Frankly I'm appalled we need such a proxy argument when the real issue we should be discussing is the mission itself and how to support it.</p>
<p>I've held off commenting for some time as it's a fairly hot button topic and one that raises my hackles. I have tremendous respect for the Armed Forces partly informed by my extended family's history of service. They are placed in harms way at the behest of politicians to project political will by force of arms. While we should hold our forces to the highest standards for their conduct on the battlefield the responsibility for their deployment lies with their political masters. Soldiers don't start wars, they only fight in them.</p>
<p>It's perfectly acceptable for a government to reduce spending on our military budget and re-prioritise funds to other areas. That is an entirely political decision. What I find objectionable however this government taking the political decision to deploy force and then failing to support the armed forces. Wars are expensive things to fight and while members of the service put their lives on the line the government has a responsibility to supply them adequately. The government then compounds the problems by equivocating and changing their political objectives for fear of domestic unpopularity. This is not the political environment that the soldier on the ground want to be in. For all of the disagreements I have with the current administration this is the thing that makes me angriest.</p>
<p>In the meantime service men and women continue to make the ultimate sacrifice.</p>
Familiarity and Contempt2009-11-11T10:46:00+00:002009-11-11T10:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-11:/~alex/blog/2009/11/11/familiarity-and-contempt/<p>I didn't walk into the office today, instead I drove in. This was mainly because I spent a few hours at A&E this morning playing taxi driver to YABT (Yet Another Broken Toe). I'm considering asking for my money back from evolution, surely these vestiges of our tree swinging …</p><p>I didn't walk into the office today, instead I drove in. This was mainly because I spent a few hours at A&E this morning playing taxi driver to YABT (Yet Another Broken Toe). I'm considering asking for my money back from evolution, surely these vestiges of our tree swinging past should have evolved into nice stubby structures that are hard to break while walking/running in our new upright position.</p>
<p>Today is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day">Remembrance Day</a>. Please take a moment to remember the sacrifices of our Armed Forces who serve the country.</p>
Spotify2009-11-10T14:22:00+00:002009-11-10T14:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-10:/~alex/blog/2009/11/10/spotify/<p>I was all set to fire up the free <a class="reference external" href="https://www.spotify.com/en/">Spotify</a> client listen to one of the suggested albums from a previous post. I was ready to accept the rather grating adverts every few tracks when I noticed the people at Spotify over a 0.99p day pass which I duly …</p><p>I was all set to fire up the free <a class="reference external" href="https://www.spotify.com/en/">Spotify</a> client listen to one of the suggested albums from a previous post. I was ready to accept the rather grating adverts every few tracks when I noticed the people at Spotify over a 0.99p day pass which I duly signed up to.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Getting the client to work on my office machine proved to be a little more of a challenge as running through Wine it seemed to be having issues playing sound. My work machine is on the current Ubuntu LTS so getting a little long in the tooth but I eventually found the "padsp" emulation function that allows programs to think they are talking to an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Sound_System">OSS</a> sound device while using the new schizzle that is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PulseAudio">PulseAudio</a>. For reference the correct solution to running is:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
padsp wine spotify.exe
</pre>
<p>The Spotify experience is different from that of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/user/stsquad">last.fm</a> offering as it does complete control of the playlist. However if I really want the music I will most likely buy the music and add it to my various distributed digital devices. Having said that I can certainly see me paying for a day pass every now and again to listen to albums before I buy them. So any releases from the last year I should be listening to on today's pass?</p>
Manchester BarCamp22009-11-09T11:59:00+00:002009-11-09T11:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-09:/~alex/blog/2009/11/09/manchester-barcamp2/<p>I didn't even know there was a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp">BarCamp</a> event running in Manchester until I happened across <a class="reference external" href="http://danlynch.org/blog/2009/11/bc-needs-you/">Dan's post</a> the night before I was due to head up for a party I was attending. My previous experience with the un-conference style of organisation was limited to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/10/26/lug-radio-live-and-oggcamp/">OggCamp</a> which I had attended …</p><p>I didn't even know there was a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp">BarCamp</a> event running in Manchester until I happened across <a class="reference external" href="http://danlynch.org/blog/2009/11/bc-needs-you/">Dan's post</a> the night before I was due to head up for a party I was attending. My previous experience with the un-conference style of organisation was limited to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/blog/2009/10/26/lug-radio-live-and-oggcamp/">OggCamp</a> which I had attended a few weeks previously. Seeing as <a class="reference external" href="http://bcman2.nwdc.org.uk/">the event</a> was free I thought it was too much of an opportunity to miss to visit while I was back in Manc.</p>
<p>The scope of the event was a fair bit larger than OggCamp with a lot more rooms/areas available for people to gather together. It was also not as tech focused as a number of people were coming from "new" media perspectives as well as other non-coder types. As a result I was involved in one talk about the future of newspapers in a digital age and attended another on the concept of <a class="reference external" href="http://coworking.pbworks.com/">coworking</a> as a way for individual freelancers to share the collaboration potentials of a shared office. There was also a good selection of more tech related things going on. Things I learnt about included: <a class="reference external" href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpolygen.org%2F&sl=it&tl=en&history_state0=">automated grammar based text generation</a>, the 20 minute <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/p/barcamp-android/">Android App</a> as well as a quick demo of some N900 frameworks. The final session was about the perennial problem of getting more women involved in technology and computer science (a trend that has been going the wrong way since the 80s).</p>
<p>Sunday's sessions where a more muted affair (which may have been due to the sponsorship of the previous evenings drinking?) but seeing as I was also a few bars down from Lee's party suited me just fine. However the primary draw of the BarCamp shouldn't be judged purely by the number of sessions it holds. I met and chatted to a number of really interesting people over the event and the collegial atmosphere is one that really encourages people to jump in an explore.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.contact-theatre.org/">venue</a> should get an additional mention for providing a nice environment for the event as well as providing numerous wireless access points throughout the space. While there was still the odd connection problem this was probably inevitable with the number of laptops and netbooks competing for the limited RF space, usually a little patience was rewarded. All in all a happy confluence of geek and synchronicity :-)</p>
Avoiding RSI one keypress at a time2009-11-04T12:04:00+00:002009-11-04T12:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-04:/~alex/blog/2009/11/04/avoiding-rsi-one-keypress-at-a-time/<p>Much as I love emacs some of the key combinations it expects of you to a) remember b) use are don't help when your trying to ameliorate the effects of RSI. As I spend an lot of time in compilation mode the following quick win helps:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(define-key compilation-mode-map (kbd "n …</pre><p>Much as I love emacs some of the key combinations it expects of you to a) remember b) use are don't help when your trying to ameliorate the effects of RSI. As I spend an lot of time in compilation mode the following quick win helps:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(define-key compilation-mode-map (kbd "n") 'compilation-next-error)
(define-key compilation-mode-map (kbd "p") 'compilation-previous-error)
</pre>
<p>If you try executing (self-insert-command) the buffer would complain it's read-only anyway. I took this single keypress approach to the next level when I was doing a lot of patch merging and <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/master/my-diff-mode.el">tweaked diff-mode</a> to be a little less multi-finger.</p>
Bad Science2009-11-03T14:42:00+00:002009-11-03T14:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-03:/~alex/blog/2009/11/03/bad-science/<p>I finally finished <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000728487X?ie=UTF8&tag=alexsadveonth-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=000728487X">Bad Science</a><img alt="image0" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=alexsadveonth-21&l=as2&o=2&a=000728487X" style="width: 1px; height: 1px;" /> last night, written by the excellent Guardian science reporter <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Goldacre">Ben Goldacre</a>. It's a tour-de-force of rage against the combined forces of exploitative quacks, big pharma and of course the media. Throughout the book he lays down the basics of the scientific method and how it …</p><p>I finally finished <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000728487X?ie=UTF8&tag=alexsadveonth-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=000728487X">Bad Science</a><img alt="image0" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=alexsadveonth-21&l=as2&o=2&a=000728487X" style="width: 1px; height: 1px;"/> last night, written by the excellent Guardian science reporter <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Goldacre">Ben Goldacre</a>. It's a tour-de-force of rage against the combined forces of exploitative quacks, big pharma and of course the media. Throughout the book he lays down the basics of the scientific method and how it related to epidemiological research while debunking the many quack claims that get dredged up by the alternative medicine brigade. Topics covered include homoeopathy, chiropractors, faux nutritionists as well as the failings of real scientists that should have known better. It's all written in a calm measured style that doesn't come across nearly as hectoring as someone like Dawkins can do. While a lot of the basic science concepts were already familiar to me the additional details on things like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias">selection bias</a> and other biases less prevalent in the pure physical science experiments was concisely explained. I feel his suggestion of representing all risks in the media as natural frequencies (i.e. 1 person dies for every 100,000 horse rides*) is worthy of a campaign.</p>
<p>All in all I can highly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in the way medical science is reported in the media. I look forward to what he has to say in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007322615?ie=UTF8&tag=alexsadveonth-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0007322615">The Atheist's Guide to Christmas</a><img alt="image1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=alexsadveonth-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0007322615" style="width: 1px; height: 1px;"/> :-)</p>
<p>* I have no idea what the actual risk is, it just seemed a pertinent example given <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2009/10/nutt_gets_the_sack.html">recent events</a></p>
Migrated to Wordpress2009-11-02T11:34:00+00:002009-11-02T11:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-11-02:/~alex/blog/2009/11/02/migrated-to-wordpress/<p>I've finally gotten around to migrating the blog to Wordpress. While I'm still very happy with Personal Weblog it was getting a little long in the tooth and given <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/support/">Livejournal's ongoing problems with syndicated feeds</a> I thought it would be easier to host everything (including comments) on my site. You …</p><p>I've finally gotten around to migrating the blog to Wordpress. While I'm still very happy with Personal Weblog it was getting a little long in the tooth and given <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/support/">Livejournal's ongoing problems with syndicated feeds</a> I thought it would be easier to host everything (including comments) on my site. You can see the very ugly migration script <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/Personal-Weblog-to-Wordpress">on github</a>.</p>
<p>The one remaining thing to do is code up some re-directs in the original news.php page so the syndicated feed still slurps up something, but there is no rush I guess seeing as LJ isn't currently paying attention.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong>Well LJ may not be paying attention but I've implemented the redirect for both normal pages and RSS feeds. Old permalinks should continue to the old page.</p>
Albums2009-10-27T10:57:00+00:002009-10-27T10:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-27:/~alex/blog/2009/10/27/albums/<p>One of the perils of having the entire smorgasbord of a music collection available on your computer (or music playing device) is the shuffle button. I almost unconsciously end up setting the player on random and just hitting skip when a track that doesn't quite fit my mood comes on …</p><p>One of the perils of having the entire smorgasbord of a music collection available on your computer (or music playing device) is the shuffle button. I almost unconsciously end up setting the player on random and just hitting skip when a track that doesn't quite fit my mood comes on. Sometimes I use my last.fm account and set some tag parameters for what I'd like to listen to however the experience is still a disjointed one. During a conversation with Arwel about the relative merits of Last.Fm vs Spotify he cited the ability to listen to whole albums as a key selling point of the service. While I'm not ready to sign up to Spotify yet I have started taking more care to listen to the many many albums I already own. For the last few weeks I've made a conscious effort to set my player up to play an entire album first thing in the morning before it switches back to the usual eclectic sampling of the some 10,000 tracks I have in my collection.</p>
<p>So what albums would my readers recommend as a good start to the day?</p>
LUG Radio Live and OggCamp2009-10-26T13:03:00+00:002009-10-26T13:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-26:/~alex/blog/2009/10/26/lug-radio-live-and-oggcamp/<p>I spent the weekend in the company of fellow geeks in Wolverhampton at <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LugRadio">LugRadio Live</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://oggcamp.org/">OggCamp</a>. As can be expected the ratio of connected devices to attendees was over 1 and we successfully saturated several WiFi routers to death.</p>
<p>While LugRadio was a more typical conference type event with …</p><p>I spent the weekend in the company of fellow geeks in Wolverhampton at <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LugRadio">LugRadio Live</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://oggcamp.org/">OggCamp</a>. As can be expected the ratio of connected devices to attendees was over 1 and we successfully saturated several WiFi routers to death.</p>
<p>While LugRadio was a more typical conference type event with scheduled speakers OggCamp was a more informal <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp">BarCamp</a> style affair. Both had a number of interesting speakers and discussions including presentations made by the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">Open Street Map</a> people discussing their ambitions to map the world in an open and re-usable way. An interesting suggestion made for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freethepostcode.org/">Free the Postcode</a> campaign was to skip adding postcodes to Christmas mail replacing them with FREE THE POSTCODE on the last line. It was suggested it would get the Royal Mails attention very quickly as it would increase their cost of routing mail by more than the money they make selling the database. Other people pointed out making lives harder for the workers on the ground was not the right way to campaign. I'm in two minds about the idea but I suspect the Royal Mail have other concerns higher up their agenda at the moment.</p>
<p>I finally signed up with cold hard cash to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openrightsgroup.org/">Open Rights Group</a> who I've had plenty of warm words for recently. I even volunteered some time for one of their projects which I shall talk about more when I have something to show. However it was pleasing to find out that the plans to widen electronic voting and counting have been effectively abolished although slightly worrying to hear some of the stories from our brief flirtation with the technology. Their report on voting can be found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/e-voting/e-voting-2007/e-voting-main">on their website</a>. For now their current campaigns include petitioning against the 3 strikes proposals and the mass surveillance of peoples electronic communication.</p>
<p>Some people who were following my Twitter/Identi.ca/Facebook status feeds may have been confused by the preponderance of #lrl2009 and #oggcamp <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_(metadata)#Hash_tags">hash tags</a> in my updates over the last few days. These were the conference tags which were being followed by attendees as well as several live projectors which were displaying messages posted with the tag. This was the source of much hilarity to people at the conference although probably made less sense to people following the stream from the outside world. It seems that micro-blogging is quickly overtaking communal IRC channels as the way to keep in touch with conferences.</p>
<p>I came home on Sunday evening tired but having enjoyed a lovely weekend of geeking out and looking forward to a 2 day OggCamp sometime next year!</p>
Question Time2009-10-23T12:48:00+01:002009-10-23T12:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-23:/~alex/blog/2009/10/23/question-time/<p>Well the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8321578.stm">reaction quotes</a> are in from last nights Question Time, as are the viewing figures (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/23/bnp-question-time-ratings">7.9m</a>, easily beating the previous 3.8m water mark at the height of the MPs expenses scandal). I'm not sure I'm cynical enough to accuse the BBC of engineering the media storm on …</p><p>Well the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8321578.stm">reaction quotes</a> are in from last nights Question Time, as are the viewing figures (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/23/bnp-question-time-ratings">7.9m</a>, easily beating the previous 3.8m water mark at the height of the MPs expenses scandal). I'm not sure I'm cynical enough to accuse the BBC of engineering the media storm on the run up to boost ratings but it certainly promised to be a media circus.</p>
<p>I have no problem with allowing the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_National_Party">BNP</a> (now they have national representation) to come onto programmes like Question Time. Free speech is not a privilege that can only extend to the right-on. Nothing from last night has changed my view that when exposed to questioning the facade of respectability quickly falls away to expose their true colours. I was a little disappointed that the odds where obviously stacked against Griffin and will probably re-enforce the idea he was brow beaten in the minds of some. While I don't think <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dimbleby">Dimbleby</a> was totally biased as the chair he certainly wanted to make sure Griffin was pinned down on some of the things he has said in the past. Unfortunately the whole thing degenerated into a bit of an unstructured clusterf**k. This meant many opportunities for Griffin to hang himself on the rope he'd been supplied with got lost in the interruption and barracking.</p>
<p>The questions were all focused on the few areas where the BNP have a political view namely immigration and Islam. It was obvious members of the audience wanted to ask wider questions to expose them as a one trick pony they are, however it was not to be.</p>
<p>It was disappointing to see the failure of most of the other politicians to deal with the issues the BNP so obviously play on. There is unease about radical Islam and the level of immigration out there but it seems people are worried about being labelled a racist for even questioning the current received opinion. I was impressed with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayeeda_Warsi,_Baroness_Warsi">Baroness Warsi</a> who seemed to be the only one willing to tackle the subject of immigration.</p>
<p>I'll just add a brief aside to the new interactivity offered by micro-blogging sites like Twitter. No longer is interactivity gated by sending text messages to the BBC in the hope it gets published on some red button feed. Now everyone can join in by tagging their posts (in this case #bbcqt), truly a democratising technology. I'm sure there will be analysis of the trends in the next day or so but it does seem the twitterati are generally anti-BNP and that view didn't change over the program.</p>
Finding Open Source Android applications2009-10-21T19:00:00+01:002009-10-21T19:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-21:/~alex/blog/2009/10/21/finding-open-source-android-applications/<p>I love my HTC Hero and growing number of applications that are available for it. However the marketplace really doesn't make clear the difference between free (as in beer) and free (as in freedom). For all sorts of reasons I'd like to be sure the code running on my new …</p><p>I love my HTC Hero and growing number of applications that are available for it. However the marketplace really doesn't make clear the difference between free (as in beer) and free (as in freedom). For all sorts of reasons I'd like to be sure the code running on my new favourite device is Open Source. I've been scratching my head about the best way to find a decent applications and had been throwing all sorts of queries at Google and generally getting lost in a sea of links. A lot were irrelevant as proprietary apps get mentioned on news sites with Open Source sections.</p>
<p>Then I had a slight brainwave (you wondered what the burning smell was?). Seeing as the most important thing is having available source code I skipped the main Google index and used their excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/codesearch?q=AndroidManifest.xml&hl=en&btnG=Search+Code">code search</a>. As every Android application contains an XML file called "AndroidManifest.xml" every thing else is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/codesearch?hl=en&lr=&q=AndroidManifest.xml+twitter&sbtn=Search">a process of refinement</a>.</p>
Bad Ankles2009-10-21T13:34:00+01:002009-10-21T13:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-21:/~alex/blog/2009/10/21/bad-ankles/<p>On my way into work I popped into the local primary school (via the non-CRB cleared entrance naturally) to drop of the measuring trundle thing Fliss borrowed. My suggestion that I could have used the MyTracks GPS trace and walked around the allotment had been met with a raised eyebrow …</p><p>On my way into work I popped into the local primary school (via the non-CRB cleared entrance naturally) to drop of the measuring trundle thing Fliss borrowed. My suggestion that I could have used the MyTracks GPS trace and walked around the allotment had been met with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>There is something wrong with my right ankle, specifically how it fits into my rather fine walking boots. If I don't carefully place the tongue on the right and secure it tightly it tends to migrate across and rub rather painfully on the mutant prominence on the left. Any advice on better solutions gratefully received.</p>
Twitter Storms2009-10-19T15:58:00+01:002009-10-19T15:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-19:/~alex/blog/2009/10/19/twitter-storms/<p>Last week there were two Twitter Storms that kicked off around the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire_toxic_waste_dump">Trafigura toxic waste dumping</a> and Daily Hate's predictable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gately#Jan_Moir_controversy">sewer journalism</a>. I'm still to be convinced about the long term future of micro-blogging and prefer the more wordy proper blog as a vehicle for discussion and debate. With that …</p><p>Last week there were two Twitter Storms that kicked off around the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire_toxic_waste_dump">Trafigura toxic waste dumping</a> and Daily Hate's predictable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gately#Jan_Moir_controversy">sewer journalism</a>. I'm still to be convinced about the long term future of micro-blogging and prefer the more wordy proper blog as a vehicle for discussion and debate. With that in mind I can recommend reading Stephen Fry's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stephenfry.com/2009/10/19/poles-politeness-and-politics-in-the-age-of-twitter/">latest blog post</a>.</p>
Ale to the chief2009-10-19T14:27:00+01:002009-10-19T14:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-19:/~alex/blog/2009/10/19/ale-to-the-chief/<p>Had a good but slightly tiring weekend exploring some more of the pubs of Cambridge. I've made a few more discoveries that will be useful to remember for later although I missed out on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kingston-arms.co.uk/">Kingston Arms</a> which I shall have to visit next time I'm in town.</p>
<p>There was …</p><p>Had a good but slightly tiring weekend exploring some more of the pubs of Cambridge. I've made a few more discoveries that will be useful to remember for later although I missed out on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kingston-arms.co.uk/">Kingston Arms</a> which I shall have to visit next time I'm in town.</p>
<p>There was a lot of technology involved in the weekend with GPS enabled phones and shared maps in the Google Cloud informing us of potential places to visit culled from the Good Beer Guide. Latitude did seem to work quite well although one lesson learnt was to pay attention to the area circle around icons or you can end up chasing around a ghost position if people aren't updating via the more accurate GPS.</p>
<p>We also had visit from Rich and Al with Rosie and the local family in tow on Sunday which was nice. It was followed by the first Sunday lunch of the season at my parents with by brother and one of my cousins visiting as well. We enjoyed the post-meal digestion while watching the penultimate F1 race where <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8313523.stm">Button claimed his crown</a>. I've fallen out of favour with F1 over the last few years as it turned from exciting motor sport to a procession of cars with very little overtaking. However yesterdays race was exciting to watch and I think benefits from the uninterrupted coverage the BBC can give it. While I doubt I'll be going out of my way to watch every race it's certainly up in the rankings for those lazy Sunday afternoons.</p>
Putting on my drinking trousers2009-10-16T13:22:00+01:002009-10-16T13:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-16:/~alex/blog/2009/10/16/putting-on-my-drinking-trousers/<p>The drinking posse will be in town this weekend for Matt U's birthday celebrations. As the geek quotient is high I'm taking the opportunity to immerse myself in the magic Google juice that my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Hero">new phone</a> makes available. I've pondered the danger of getting too tied to Google before but …</p><p>The drinking posse will be in town this weekend for Matt U's birthday celebrations. As the geek quotient is high I'm taking the opportunity to immerse myself in the magic Google juice that my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Hero">new phone</a> makes available. I've pondered the danger of getting too tied to Google before but I'm getting more relaxed about it as I go on. I'm now signed up <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Latitude">Latitude</a> so the orbiting mind control satellites will always be able to find me, and more importantly so will Fliss. The privacy controls are actually fairly solid and I'm not about to start publishing a public location badge. If I really want to go off the grid I'm going to have to turn off the phone anyway (and change car, go completely cash based and only ever access the 'net via Tor), it's a good job I'm not likely to ever be on the run from the state.</p>
<p>My address book has gone from my Palm through various phones I've owned to the "cloud". Luckily Google are pretty good about making it easy to export backup copies. As more of my documents are stored in the cloud (sans any important data like passwords and identity details) I thought it was about time I backed them up. I found a nice little <a class="reference external" href="http://1st-soft.net/gdd/">python app</a> that I can run on a regular basis to stay synced.</p>
<p>I shall probably be posing more about the phone later. However I've just upgraded to the latest firmware (sadly not yet the <a class="reference external" href="http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-1.6-highlights.html">donut</a> release) and as a result have to spend some time configuring the phone more sensibly. However I can generally report it's a lovely little phone and a very diverse platform.</p>
Hiting its stride2009-10-12T15:24:00+01:002009-10-12T15:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-12:/~alex/blog/2009/10/12/hiting-its-stride/<p>In between household tasks and playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Hero">my new toy</a> we indulged a mini DS9 viewing extravaganza. Every now and again Fliss suggests watching DS9 with our meal. Yesterday was the first time I recall Fliss excitedly requesting <a class="reference external" href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Fascination_(episode)">another episode</a> to follow the <a class="reference external" href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Defiant_(episode)">one we had just seen</a>. We ended …</p><p>In between household tasks and playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Hero">my new toy</a> we indulged a mini DS9 viewing extravaganza. Every now and again Fliss suggests watching DS9 with our meal. Yesterday was the first time I recall Fliss excitedly requesting <a class="reference external" href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Fascination_(episode)">another episode</a> to follow the <a class="reference external" href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Defiant_(episode)">one we had just seen</a>. We ended up watching a <a class="reference external" href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Past_Tense,_Part_I_(episode)">further</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Past_Tense,_Part_II_(episode)">two</a> in what could only be described as a mini-marathon of viewing.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this was because Fliss was taking pity on my lack of Trek recently or indicative of DS9 finally reaching it's stride in the 3rd season. Of course it's doesn't get Klingon heavy until the next season.</p>
Cheating2009-10-08T12:02:00+01:002009-10-08T12:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-08:/~alex/blog/2009/10/08/1302/<p>I cheated today and drove the car the stones throw from home to work. Since the bike suffered it's catastrophic failure I've been walking the 7 miles a day which I hope is more beneficial from a calorific point of view than the shorter time spent cycling. However if I …</p><p>I cheated today and drove the car the stones throw from home to work. Since the bike suffered it's catastrophic failure I've been walking the 7 miles a day which I hope is more beneficial from a calorific point of view than the shorter time spent cycling. However if I don't get out of the door by 9 I'll be later getting in that I'd like.</p>
<p>After much groveling and tweeting I've managed to secure a ticket (or more correctly authentication token) for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lugradio.org/live/2009/">LUG Radio Live</a> in Birmingham on the 24th of October. It's followed by <a class="reference external" href="http://oggcamp.org/">OggCamp</a> which is a collaborative effort between two of my favorite geek podcasts: <a class="reference external" href="http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/">Ubuntu UK</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://linuxoutlaws.com/">Linux Outlaws</a>. OggCamp is an un-conference so there isn't a pre-published schedule. I may dip my toes into doing a session or two, current ideas are "Drive by patches, more hassle then they are worth?" and "Why Rockbox is awesome!".</p>
About last night2009-10-07T13:13:00+01:002009-10-07T13:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-07:/~alex/blog/2009/10/07/1301/<p>Last night's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/electricdreams/">Electric Dreams</a> moved into the far more memorable territory of the 80's. While I slowly wound Fliss up with statements like "we had one of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Ace">those</a>.. and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_32/64">those!</a> ... " I had a flood of nostalgia for birth of the home computer. I was surprised the family chose the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro">BBC …</a></p><p>Last night's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/electricdreams/">Electric Dreams</a> moved into the far more memorable territory of the 80's. While I slowly wound Fliss up with statements like "we had one of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Ace">those</a>.. and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_32/64">those!</a> ... " I had a flood of nostalgia for birth of the home computer. I was surprised the family chose the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro">BBC Model B</a> over the more games orientated <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_ZX_Spectrum">ZX Spectrum</a> which was the first real computer games platform in our house. However what was heartening was to see the kids (Dad and Son anyway, the gender gap was very evident) breaking out the manual and playing with the inbuilt <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC">BASIC</a> interpreter to write some simple programs. I think it's something we've lost since the advent of the PC age, new computers don't come with anything like a built in interpreter for budding programmers to play with. While computers are far more powerful than the micros of the 80's (hell, my phone is more powerful than anything I owned back then) the opportunities to tinker have disappeared.</p>
<p>According to the program the thought was that everyone in the future would need to learn to program to get on in the digital age. I still think it's true although a lot of people write programs without realising they are doing so. What is a spreadsheet other than a structured numerical recipe?</p>
<p>However I can't predict a point where we won't require people who understand what a computer is and how it works under the hood. My question is where these people will come from? Will the first time the engineers of tomorrow come across concepts like registers, interpreters and compilers be when they start their Computer Science GCSE's? Am I being overly nostalgic for my primary school after hours computer club when we used to lug a random assortment of hardware to school and compare capabilities with our peers?</p>
<p>I'm obviously further along the old curmudgeon path than I realised....</p>
Policies I can get behind2009-10-05T16:26:00+01:002009-10-05T16:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-10-05:/~alex/blog/2009/10/05/policies-i-can-get-behind/<p>I was little disappointed by David Cameron's performance on Sunday AM. It may just be the curse of any political leader these days if to be vague enough to avoid splitting their own party or come across as uncaring hatchet men. Everyone seems keen to cut waste without actually reducing …</p><p>I was little disappointed by David Cameron's performance on Sunday AM. It may just be the curse of any political leader these days if to be vague enough to avoid splitting their own party or come across as uncaring hatchet men. Everyone seems keen to cut waste without actually reducing the head count.</p>
<p>However it's a mistake to judge a party purely by the leader. A good leader should be making the best of their cabinet and advisers. It's good to see Frances Maude announcing the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8290181.stm">enlisting of Tom Steinberg</a> to advise on government IT. He's the founder of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mysociety.org/">mySociety</a> who know a thing or two about making the best use of technology to engage the public in politics.</p>
<p>While I'm at it I may as well give plaudits to the government for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8250159.stm">appointing Professor David MacKay</a> who's book <a class="reference external" href="http://www.withouthotair.com/">"Sustainable Energy - without the hot air"</a> is my go to reference for useful numbers.</p>
Digital Nostalgia2009-09-30T12:54:00+01:002009-09-30T12:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-30:/~alex/blog/2009/09/30/1299/<p>Now we have a working* broadband link to the outside world the house is almost fully commissioned. There are a few final cabling/routing details to be sorted once the microwave up-link is installed and the house will be fully armed and operational. Now all I need to do is …</p><p>Now we have a working* broadband link to the outside world the house is almost fully commissioned. There are a few final cabling/routing details to be sorted once the microwave up-link is installed and the house will be fully armed and operational. Now all I need to do is finishing unpacking my room before I move again!</p>
<p>We sat down to enjoy BBC Four's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/electricrevolution/">Electric Revolution</a> season last night. The first episode of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/electricdreams/about.shtml">Electric Dreams</a> was entertaining fun, especially watching the parents realise the impact of the loss of home mod-cons while looking forward to their kids disappearing PSPs and iPods.</p>
<p>On the tech side the 70s was a little too early for me to remember much. I certainly remember my grandparents had a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasmade">Teasmade</a> and we owned an old-school Pong game. The ritual of swapping aerial leads at the back of the TV is one that I'd almost forgotten in this world of auto-sensing multi-input TVs we have now. A quick check of my TV revealed 4 SCART, 2 HDMI, 1 UHF and 1 VGA port, no need for external switch boxes these days. The family in the show had all sorts of trouble with their TV along with commentary about shoddy UK manufacturing standards. It's not something I remember but then again the colour TV we had was a Panasonic (or possibly Phillips) which my Dad had the full schematics for. It managed 20-30 years before finally giving up the ghost.</p>
<p>I'm suspecting the show on the 80s will stimulate more memories, partly because I was older and partly because we moved back to the UK in 1980. Of course I was still incredibly lucky with the amount of computers I had access to when I was younger but I still remember the thrill when we finally got a games capable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum">Sinclair Spectrum</a>.</p>
<p>Following on from Electric Dreams was a one off Charlie Brooker's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n1j8q">Gameswipe</a>. In the usual *wipe style he deconstructed the history and culture of computer games. However he's obviously a games player himself and was more than sympathetic to the bad press games have gotten over their history (computer games are the new TV when it comes to threats to our kids). If you like Charlie's semi-ranting style and acerbic style then it's worth a watch. Unfortunately it's a one-off but if the commissioning gods are listening hopefully it will get picked up for a series.</p>
<p>* There are a few kinks to work out to get Fliss' work VPN connection working. Apparently the VPN needs a higher MTU than the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netgear_DG834G">Netgear DG834G</a> can provide. However I can telnet into it so I may be able to work around that.</p>
Migrating to Wordpress?2009-09-21T17:39:00+01:002009-09-21T17:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-21:/~alex/blog/2009/09/21/1298/<p>Live Journal have been more than a little crap the last week or so. As many may know I actually host my blog on my own website but most people comment on the syndicated feed on Live Journal. I'm thinking of migrating my blog to the slightly more feature complete …</p><p>Live Journal have been more than a little crap the last week or so. As many may know I actually host my blog on my own website but most people comment on the syndicated feed on Live Journal. I'm thinking of migrating my blog to the slightly more feature complete <a class="reference external" href="http://wordpress.org/">Wordpress</a> and enabling comments on my own site (useful for posts that come in via <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_(software)">Planet's</a>). The question that leads on from that is if I should maintain the RSS feed for the benefit of Live Journal?</p>
<p>Are the people reading just following their Friends Page or actually following RSS feeds of their friends? Would people still want to comment on LJ or would they be happy commenting directly on the web-site? I'm fairly certain I could get Wordpress working with LJ's OpenID so you wouldn't need *another* login.</p>
Promise of Cake2009-09-21T12:53:00+01:002009-09-21T12:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-21:/~alex/blog/2009/09/21/promise-of-cake/<p>The house has reached a state considered acceptable for receiving guests. There are still a few boxes left to empty (including *somewhere* a box with a pestle and mortar in it) but all the main areas are habitable and presentable. As a result we invited over some friends for our …</p><p>The house has reached a state considered acceptable for receiving guests. There are still a few boxes left to empty (including *somewhere* a box with a pestle and mortar in it) but all the main areas are habitable and presentable. As a result we invited over some friends for our first "formal" event since moving in. Chris and Naomi joined us for a lovely Sheppard's Pie (renamed House Pie) followed by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/sweet/spiced-apple-muffin-cake-with-pecan-streusel-topping.html">cake</a> cooked by my own fair hand. I did discover that fan-assisted ovens cook cake a lot faster than the recipes may indicate.</p>
<p>We visited my parents on Sunday to enjoy a lovely September afternoon in the garden with a lovely pot roasted piece of pork loin. Once we had returned home we were greeted by a fly-past from the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain_Memorial_Flight">Battle of Britain Memorial Flight</a>'s Lancaster and a display from the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Arrows">Red Arrows</a>. It seems there was an airshow going on over at Marshall's (Cambridge Airport) but we got an excellent view from our house.</p>
The power of the wheel2009-09-18T12:47:00+01:002009-09-18T12:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-18:/~alex/blog/2009/09/18/the-power-of-the-wheel/<p>I suffered bike death last night on the way home. Thankfully the mechanical failure (which I heard) occurred about 1/2 a mile away from the house so I didn't have too far to push the bike. I'm not sure what failed but the rear wheel had a slightly eccentric …</p><p>I suffered bike death last night on the way home. Thankfully the mechanical failure (which I heard) occurred about 1/2 a mile away from the house so I didn't have too far to push the bike. I'm not sure what failed but the rear wheel had a slightly eccentric rotation in the morning. After <em>something</em> audibly snapped the wheel rotation went completely weird and it basically stuck to the side of the frame. This necessitated me pushing the bike home with the wheel dragging along the floor giving me pause to think how useful a mechanical contraption the wheel is when it's working.</p>
Should have been obvious...2009-09-15T13:04:00+01:002009-09-15T13:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-15:/~alex/blog/2009/09/15/1295/<p>I recently turned on longlines-mode for my <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4125">It's All Text</a> buffers as that is generally what I want (especially for this blog). However when I'm editing email for GMail I want to be able to switch between modes as I may be writing a simple message or inserting a patch …</p><p>I recently turned on longlines-mode for my <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4125">It's All Text</a> buffers as that is generally what I want (especially for this blog). However when I'm editing email for GMail I want to be able to switch between modes as I may be writing a simple message or inserting a patch which shouldn't get mangled.</p>
<p>It took me a bit longer than it should because I was scratching my head trying to work out how to tell if a mode was on. Once I actually read the code it was obvious there is both <em>longlines-mode</em> the variable and <em>(longlines-mode)</em> the function, hence <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/commit/b015520c888412d5f898a802da8d681f0223731b">this tweak</a>. I guess it's an idiom enforced by the define-minor-mode macro but I have to admit there is some unfamiliar syntax which I didn't follow. I shall put exploring the elisp macro syntax on my list of things to do once the house is sorted.</p>
Unsurprising2009-09-14T11:55:00+01:002009-09-14T11:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-14:/~alex/blog/2009/09/14/unsurprising/<p>The broadband fitting I expected to turn up on Saturday didn't actually materialise. It turns out the automated system got confused by our move from a cable area to a "national" area and went ahead and cancelled one without booking in the other. I'm not totally cut off though, I …</p><p>The broadband fitting I expected to turn up on Saturday didn't actually materialise. It turns out the automated system got confused by our move from a cable area to a "national" area and went ahead and cancelled one without booking in the other. I'm not totally cut off though, I have an excellent 5 bar + 3G signal in the new house. It does cause Fliss a bit of a problem for working from home until our new ADSL based service arrives though.</p>
<p>It became clear in selecting ADSL we become second class broadband citizens. Our service levels drop from a choice of speeds (5-10-20mb) to "up to 7mb" and a choice of usage caps, in our case I went for the 40gb monthly limit. Hopefully however I'll be able to get an up-link to <a class="reference external" href="http://cbnl.com/">work</a> on a 10GHz up-link that will put the DSL solution to shame, especially if I'm the only one in the cell.</p>
<p>Otherwise everything is slowly un-boxing and we await the next major delivery of bits and pieces on Wednesday. However undeterred we have already cooked a few meals on a lovely new gas hob, the horrors of the last year and a half on electric hobs now fading into distant memory. Curtains have been installed in key rooms which mean we do get a bit of a lie in when the sun comes up. I cycled in on my new route and found it to be a pretty easy and mostly off-road. We are pencilling in November for a house warming, hopefully we will be fully unpacked by then.</p>
The hinterland...2009-09-12T11:28:00+01:002009-09-12T11:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-12:/~alex/blog/2009/09/12/1293/<p>..that is waiting for the broadband to turn-up. The first night in the house was nice although lacking in curtains so woke up early this morning. We have a mostly functional kitchen although no fridge yet. Fliss is building furniture upstairs. There are still a fair number of boxes to …</p><p>..that is waiting for the broadband to turn-up. The first night in the house was nice although lacking in curtains so woke up early this morning. We have a mostly functional kitchen although no fridge yet. Fliss is building furniture upstairs. There are still a fair number of boxes to go, including in what is designated as the library.</p>
Tetris2009-09-11T11:50:00+01:002009-09-11T11:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-11:/~alex/blog/2009/09/11/tetris/<p>Yesterday's packing went smoothly enough that by the end of the day our life was contained in a series of tessellating boxes. Theses boxes are currently being carried out by a series of big strong men and loaded into the two vans. At the rate they are going we should …</p><p>Yesterday's packing went smoothly enough that by the end of the day our life was contained in a series of tessellating boxes. Theses boxes are currently being carried out by a series of big strong men and loaded into the two vans. At the rate they are going we should be able to make a move by lunchtime and start the whole unpacking/un-boxing process.</p>
<p>Fliss and I picked up the keys yesterday and checked out what we had brought. It obviously looks a little more spartan now the previous owners have removed all the furniture and pictures but we were still feeling good about the purchase (as you would hope!). One thing we do need to sort out quickly though is getting the key charged electricity meter replaced with a normal one. I have my fingers crossed that Virgin will actually turn up tomorrow to fit the broadband.</p>
Statements of the bleeding obvious2009-09-09T16:50:00+01:002009-09-09T16:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-09:/~alex/blog/2009/09/09/statements-of-the-bleeding-obvious/<p>This <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8243922.stm">little gem</a> turned up in the news today. The suggestion that the rest of industry should cut greenhouse emissions <strong>even more</strong> to accommodate the growth in aviation is frankly silly. Aviation has to do it's part and certainly in the short-term this means less flying. In this context it's …</p><p>This <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8243922.stm">little gem</a> turned up in the news today. The suggestion that the rest of industry should cut greenhouse emissions <strong>even more</strong> to accommodate the growth in aviation is frankly silly. Aviation has to do it's part and certainly in the short-term this means less flying. In this context it's hard to see what building extra runways will achieve in the next 10 years.</p>
<p>Charlie Stross recently posted <a class="reference external" href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2009/09/doing_our_bit.html#more">his analysis</a> of what he could do to reduce his foot print. He was disappointed to realise that any effort he made locally was literally blown out of the water by air travel. Turning to my favourite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c5/page_36.shtml">climate change numbers reference</a> I can see even the fullest most efficient plane works at around 37 kWh per 100 p-km, twice as efficient as me driving in my car on my own. So the lesson is rather simple physics, transporting mass from one end of the globe to another requires energy and that means its unsustainable at it's current growth rate. There is a lovely appendix <a class="reference external" href="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/cC/page_269.shtml">at the back</a> that examines the physics of air travel in more detail. The final conclusion is that although there may be scope for some improved efficiency in planes they are already getting close to what the physics will allow.</p>
<p>If we are going to travel to far away climes we need to start getting used to the idea of taking longer about it. We will also need a set of intercontinental underwater tunnels for those electric trains which are about the only way you'll get the efficiencies (6kw per 100 p-km) to make up for all those extra miles.</p>
More iPlayer updates for the PS32009-09-07T16:27:00+01:002009-09-07T16:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-07:/~alex/blog/2009/09/07/more-iplayer-updates-for-the-ps3/<p>There is more information about the new iPlayer support for the PS3 on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/09/new_version_of_bbc_iplayer_for.html">BBC Internet Blog</a>. While I don't get a shiny iPlayer logo on my XMB (due to owning the Japanese version) I don't really miss much as it was just a link to the iPlayer web-page. However …</p><p>There is more information about the new iPlayer support for the PS3 on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/09/new_version_of_bbc_iplayer_for.html">BBC Internet Blog</a>. While I don't get a shiny iPlayer logo on my XMB (due to owning the Japanese version) I don't really miss much as it was just a link to the iPlayer web-page. However according to the BBC blog one of the drivers for improved performance has been the 3.0 firmware release which has hardware accelerated some aspects Flash video playback. Certainly from the stuff I watched yesterday it seems a lot smoother than before. The BBC have also re-worked the layout of the iPlayer applet which now renders a lot better on the PS3 display.</p>
<p>Now if only Channel 4's On Demand service worked on the PS3....</p>
A few inches more2009-09-07T13:07:00+01:002009-09-07T13:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-07:/~alex/blog/2009/09/07/a-few-inches-more/<p>I adjusted the seat on my bike by a couple of inches over the weekend. I now have to come off my seat when I stop (or lean fetchingly against a support) but it certainly makes delivering power to the peddles easier. This as it turns out was useful for …</p><p>I adjusted the seat on my bike by a couple of inches over the weekend. I now have to come off my seat when I stop (or lean fetchingly against a support) but it certainly makes delivering power to the peddles easier. This as it turns out was useful for the main adventure of the weekend with a visiting Lee. Leaving Fliss behind to tend home we did an ~30 mile round trip to near <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100521915190804968577.000472faa01b896491aa3&ll=52.111671,0.110893&spn=0.071792,0.154152&z=13">Thriplow</a> to sit in a field. We were afforded a pretty good view of the planes coming and going from the <a class="reference external" href="http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/">Duxford Airshow</a> and felt fairly good about nullifying the calories of the sandwich and beer Fliss had insisted we pack for the journey. While in no way the distance that <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/?p=15">some have done</a> and certainly less grand than some of the regular jaunts I hear are going on in Manchester these days I still felt well exercised.</p>
<p>The house move is coming on like a relentless train at the moment. We exchanged last week and we complete on Thursday. We move in on Friday and have already spent a small fortune on white goods (actually brushed stainless steel) to equip our kitchen. Being a veteran of many house moves we have decided to go for the full packing option (encouraging work in the local community) leaving us to worry about bigger things. The house warming is tentatively planned for November, fingers crossed.</p>
Scripts from Scratch2009-09-04T16:18:00+01:002009-09-04T16:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-04:/~alex/blog/2009/09/04/scripts-from-scratch/<p>I wrote my first <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dbgsym/tree/master">from scratch python script</a>* today. It's not the first time I've touched the language having submitted a number of patches to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)">python</a> based programs as well as spell <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/same-diff-colour-test/tree/four_colours">fairly hefty tweaking</a> existing code. But this was one of those tasks I would have usually picked up …</p><p>I wrote my first <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dbgsym/tree/master">from scratch python script</a>* today. It's not the first time I've touched the language having submitted a number of patches to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)">python</a> based programs as well as spell <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/same-diff-colour-test/tree/four_colours">fairly hefty tweaking</a> existing code. But this was one of those tasks I would have usually picked up <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl">perl</a> to do. I've never been a big fan of perl as although it's fairly easy to knock stuff up it also encourages all sorts of bad habits in the lazy programmer**. This leads to all sorts of sub-optimal interactions later on when you come back to the code later on. Python code is by virtue much cleaner, as Chris put it: "you can go back and edit the code again later without getting a headache". Next time I need a script from scratch I think I shall reach into the python toolbox again.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Not quite true, I did a GUI prototype last year. It wasn't really a script though.</div>
<div class="line">** What? All the best programmers are lazy, it's a positive trait</div>
</div>
Ready to Go2009-09-01T12:13:00+01:002009-09-01T12:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-09-01:/~alex/blog/2009/09/01/ready-to-go/<p>I dropped my car off at the body-shop for it's cosmetic surgery today. It will be there for 8-9 working days. On a completely unrelated note we have a completion date now which is in the scarily close sub-fortnight range. Hopefully we'll be moved into our new house the weekend …</p><p>I dropped my car off at the body-shop for it's cosmetic surgery today. It will be there for 8-9 working days. On a completely unrelated note we have a completion date now which is in the scarily close sub-fortnight range. Hopefully we'll be moved into our new house the weekend after next. This means I won't be going to the final Maelstrom of the year. Hopefully we shall have the car back in time for the move, I don't think my computer desk will fit on the push-bike ;-)</p>
Orwell Diaries2009-08-28T11:46:00+01:002009-08-28T11:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-28:/~alex/blog/2009/08/28/orwell-diaries/<p>The Orwell Diaries have been running for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1091">little over a year now</a>. One thing I've learned is his slight obsession with the egg production of his chickens as well as a few notes about living in Spain. However the last few weeks has seen more earnest reporting of the …</p><p>The Orwell Diaries have been running for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1091">little over a year now</a>. One thing I've learned is his slight obsession with the egg production of his chickens as well as a few notes about living in Spain. However the last few weeks has seen more earnest reporting of the political situation in the UK and Europe as it lumbers towards <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II">World War II</a>. It's kinda of spooky though because while I know what is coming as <a class="reference external" href="http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/28839/">Orwell writes</a> he along with the rest of the country of the time really didn't know how it would end. It's an interesting peak back into time.</p>
Updates and clarifications2009-08-26T13:19:00+01:002009-08-26T13:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-26:/~alex/blog/2009/08/26/updates-and-clarifications/<p>My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1292">previous post</a> regarding the frustrations of a slow frame update when <em>emacsclient</em> was spawning frames wasn't helped by a gotcha I've walked into a couple of times regarding the if function. In my haste to debug problems I'd added a <em>message</em> in some code:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(if I-am-emacs-22+
+ (message "loading color-theme …</pre><p>My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1292">previous post</a> regarding the frustrations of a slow frame update when <em>emacsclient</em> was spawning frames wasn't helped by a gotcha I've walked into a couple of times regarding the if function. In my haste to debug problems I'd added a <em>message</em> in some code:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(if I-am-emacs-22+
+ (message "loading color-theme at %s" (current-time-string))
(if (maybe-load-library "color-theme")
</pre>
<p>As my eyes are used to scanning indentation and considerably sparser use of {}'s I never twigged that I'd completely changed the meaning of the code. As <em>C-f h if</em> will tell you:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
if is a special form in `C source code'.
(if cond then else...)
If cond yields non-nil, do then, else do else...
Returns the value of then or the value of the last of the else's.
then must be one expression, but else... can be zero or more expressions.
If cond yields nil, and there are no else's, the value is nil.
</pre>
<p>If we ever want to have multiple line of functions in the "true" case you always need to wrap them up using something like <em>progn</em>:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(if "true"
(progn
(message "It's true")
(message "I wanted to say something else"))
(message "No it's not"))
</pre>
<p>Of course this makes things a little messier (even more parenthesis!) and you'll notice a lot of LISP code strives to be as dense as possible. However it's a worthwhile gotcha to keep in mind if your just starting with LISP.</p>
<p>In the meantime I've made a <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/commit/7d90254c7619476558f61aed1f53b47c5e602d2d">few changes</a> to my <em>.bashrc_emacs</em> when I realised having <em>emacsclient</em> called with -n makes no sense in <strong>EDITOR</strong> and <strong>VISUAL</strong> environment variables. These variables are typically used by tools such as <em>crontab</em> or <em>git</em> which get confused when the editor they spawned for a user input returns straight away.</p>
<p>I also solved (or at least mitigated) the slow drawing of new frames by <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/commit/c3fcdf1fd5a5af472e798fc5c996ca120bbb66c5">caching the colour theme</a> so it doesn't get set every time I bring up a new frame. Notice the use of <em>progn</em> in the code ;-)</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(defvar my-last-theme 'nil
"Last color theme we set")
(defun my-color-theme-set (theme)
"Set colour theme but don't bother if we already have"
(if (eq my-last-theme theme)
(message "my-color-theme-set: theme already set")
(if (fboundp theme)
(progn
(funcall theme)
(setq my-last-theme theme)))))
(defun my-set-tty-colours ()
"Set the colours for tty mode"
(my-color-theme-set 'color-theme-midnight)
; some tweaks
(set-face-attribute 'show-paren-match-face nil :weight 'extra-bold)
(set-face-background 'region "blue"))
(defun my-set-x-colours()
"Set the colours for X windows mode"
(my-color-theme-set 'color-theme-gnome2))
(defun my-new-frame-colours(frame)
"Set the colour scheme of a new frame"
(if (frame-parameter frame 'tty)
(my-set-tty-colours)
(my-set-x-colours)))
; Lets hook into the frame function
(add-hook 'after-make-frame-functions 'my-new-frame-colours)
</pre>
Write to your MP time2009-08-25T20:43:00+01:002009-08-25T20:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-25:/~alex/blog/2009/08/25/write-to-your-mp-time/<p>I've not sent many letters to my current MP since I moved down south. So today I was moved to send the following:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Dear James Paice,
I'm writing to you today to let you know about my views on the
Governments proposed Internet disconnection policy [1] on accusation
of illegal …</pre><p>I've not sent many letters to my current MP since I moved down south. So today I was moved to send the following:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Dear James Paice,
I'm writing to you today to let you know about my views on the
Governments proposed Internet disconnection policy [1] on accusation
of illegal file sharing. While I agree that digital piracy is a
problem there are a number of issues with the current proposals.
* Identifying an IP address is not the same as identifying a person
All the current methods for tracking down digital pirates come down to
someone, somewhere logging an IP address. This is the address people
are assigned when they access the Internet. However it generally
doesn't identify a person, at best it identifies the broadband router
in someones house attached to the phone line or cable. If multiple
people share the connection there is no way to identify which one is
which. With wireless routers the offending person may be using the
network without the knowledge of the person who's router it is.
* No oversight of the data collection
There is typically no oversight of the 3rd party companies who monitor
the Internet for theft. As only an accusation is made the evidence is
never tested in a court of law. Without the oversight of a legal
process there is no chance of justice for the falsely accused.
* Wrong tool for the job
In the end even a draconian policy like this will not eliminate
file-sharing. The original "Gnutella"[2] network was a technical work
around to the fall of Napster [3], one of the first file sharing
technologies to get the attention of the media companies. I fully
expect a growth in anonymous networks and routine encryption of data
traffic as a response to legal and quasi-legal attempts to stop file
sharing. It is in essence a battle that will never be won as technical
measure continually evolve to work around legal threats. In the
meantime innocent people will be caught in the cross-fire and lose
what the Digital Britain report compared to a Human Right.
The correct tools are education and competition. Children need to be
educated about the rights and wrongs of illegal file-sharing (while
remembering some things like Creative Commons [4] and Open Source
software [5] positively encourage it). At the same time the media
companies must provide competition to the pirate materials by offering
products people want. There is no point providing DRM [6] crippled
products at excessive prices and complaining the users prefer the
better quality pirated products.
* Internet Access is a Human right
As more and more of our access to information, government and society
becomes dependant on a decent Internet connection people without it
will suffer. If these people have lost access because of an unfounded
accusation by a rights holder then justice will not have been served.
By all means provide the rights holders with the ability to take
people to court and seek redress if their rights have been infringed.
However such a system has to be a balanced and fair. This is not what
the current government proposals offer.
I hope as we approach an election next year you can assure me that
your party would not follow the path being suggested by the current
government?
I was unable to find your voting track record with respect to these
matters. I hope this letter leaves you better informed for future
votes in the house. I would be pleased to provide further
clarifications if anything is unclear. I can also point you towards
the Open Rights Group [7] who are a lobbying organisation I broadly
support.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Bennee
[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8219652.stm
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnutella
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster
[4] http://creativecommons.org/
[5] http://www.opensource.org/
[6] Digital Restrictions Management, digital locks that for example
prevent you using iTunes music with any player other than an iPod.
[7] http://www.openrightsgroup.org
</pre>
New Job, Old Job2009-08-24T12:53:00+01:002009-08-24T12:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-24:/~alex/blog/2009/08/24/new-job-old-job/<p>I started my new job today. In many ways* it's like my old job except with paid holidays and stuff. I'll miss the 2 spare days a week I had to indulge other interests but projects but I suspect I'll just have to do that at the weekends like everyone …</p><p>I started my new job today. In many ways* it's like my old job except with paid holidays and stuff. I'll miss the 2 spare days a week I had to indulge other interests but projects but I suspect I'll just have to do that at the weekends like everyone else. Half-Llama will still be around though for consultancy work and I suspect I'll keep up with the networking.</p>
<p>* pretty much every way except my effective daily rate. The world is full of ironies ;-)</p>
The curious case of (make-frame) delays2009-08-22T16:32:00+01:002009-08-22T16:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-22:/~alex/blog/2009/08/22/the-curious-case-of-make-frame-delays/<p>I had a problem on my home machine with the way emacs created new X frames. New frames would appear but then pause for 4-8 seconds before I could type any text. My question to the <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help/67364">mailing list</a> was met with a comment to get a faster graphics card. This …</p><p>I had a problem on my home machine with the way emacs created new X frames. New frames would appear but then pause for 4-8 seconds before I could type any text. My question to the <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help/67364">mailing list</a> was met with a comment to get a faster graphics card. This seemed a little silly so this morning I put on my debugging head and tried to figure out what was going on.</p>
<p>First up was <a class="reference external" href="http://oprofile.sourceforge.net/news/">OProfile</a> which confirmed that the problem wasn't CPU bound anywhere in the system. Then I threw the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org/emacs/elp.el">Emacs Lisp Profiler</a> at the problem:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(load-library "elp")
(elp-instrument-function 'make-frame)
(elp-instrument-package "frame")
(make-frame)
(elp-results)
</pre>
<p>This confirmed that the "make-frame" function was indeed taking between 8-12 seconds to complete. However none of the other frame functions where taking that long. Time for another tack and breaking out strace. This did show that emacs was getting a lot of -EAGAIN's while reading from a Unix socket. Unfortunately it seems impossible to find out what the other end of the socket is connected to on Linux. I had some guesses but couldn't narrow it down.</p>
<p>Then I started emacs with "-q --daemon" so I could use <a class="reference external" href="http://gnufans.net/~deego/pub/emacspub/lisp-mine/dope/">Dope</a> to profile by .emacs. A quick test showed that new frames popped up straight away before my init file was loaded. This really should have been the first thing I checked as often configurations can break things.</p>
<p>After some radical M-x comment-region surgery on the .emacs I found that unsurprisingly my <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/0ce1e494802eb7696bc218e65d0fafbdb13bec43/dotemacs#L504">display hacks</a> seemed to be the culprit. I wasn't sure why so I started adding some (message) calls to the various functions to see if I could track down the delay. After instrumenting I found the problem had gone away which was very unexpected. In fact I tracked down the minimum diff to the following:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
diff --git a/dotemacs b/dotemacs
index 55609aa..6948e3c 100644
--- a/dotemacs
+++ b/dotemacs
@@ -511,9 +511,11 @@ on the command line"
; First we need the colour-theme package
(if I-am-emacs-22+
+ (message "loading color-theme at %s" (current-time-string))
(if (maybe-load-library "color-theme")
(if (fboundp 'color-theme-initialize)
- (color-theme-initialize))))
+ (color-theme-initialize)))
+ (message "loading color-theme done at %s" (current-time-string)))
; Define the default frames sizes, shouldn't apply to a tty invocation
; TODO: handle remote sessions better, probably by probing remote X
</pre>
<p>This doesn't make any sense to me. For starters the colour-theme library is only loaded on start-up not for every frame. Besides why would an additional message change this behaviour? Have I just triggered some sort of weird racyness? And what an earth could this have to do with all the -EAGAIN's I saw emacs suffering from when talking to the unknown Unix socket?</p>
<p>One additional interesting data point from my investigation. Without the change the syscall count for a new frame looks like this:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
11:22 alex@danny/x86_64 [elisp.git] >strace -c -p 6369
Process 6369 attached - interrupt to quit
^CProcess 6369 detached
% time seconds usecs/call calls errors syscall
------ ----------- ----------- --------- --------- ----------------
42.11 0.000435 0 6692 writev
40.08 0.000414 0 13674 poll
9.68 0.000100 0 16940 10341 read
4.55 0.000047 0 6637 1 rt_sigreturn
3.58 0.000037 0 3700 3696 open
0.00 0.000000 0 4 close
0.00 0.000000 0 4 stat
0.00 0.000000 0 2 fstat
0.00 0.000000 0 17 brk
0.00 0.000000 0 72 rt_sigprocmask
0.00 0.000000 0 269 1 select
0.00 0.000000 0 1 setitimer
0.00 0.000000 0 41 kill
0.00 0.000000 0 1 uname
0.00 0.000000 0 10 getdents
------ ----------- ----------- --------- --------- ----------------
100.00 0.001033 48064 14039 total
</pre>
<p>And with the change we get this:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
11:24 alex@danny/x86_64 [elisp.git] >strace -c -p 6441
Process 6441 attached - interrupt to quit
^CProcess 6441 detached
% time seconds usecs/call calls errors syscall
------ ----------- ----------- --------- --------- ----------------
100.00 0.000040 0 1189 poll
0.00 0.000000 0 1135 706 read
0.00 0.000000 0 268 264 open
0.00 0.000000 0 4 close
0.00 0.000000 0 4 stat
0.00 0.000000 0 2 fstat
0.00 0.000000 0 16 brk
0.00 0.000000 0 114 rt_sigprocmask
0.00 0.000000 0 433 2 rt_sigreturn
0.00 0.000000 0 445 writev
0.00 0.000000 0 140 2 select
0.00 0.000000 0 3 setitimer
0.00 0.000000 0 18 kill
0.00 0.000000 0 1 uname
0.00 0.000000 0 10 getdents
------ ----------- ----------- --------- --------- ----------------
100.00 0.000040 3782 974 total
</pre>
<p>It's all very curious.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong> Doh! It's all the fault of color theme. I was spending so much time being confused why the (message) patch changed everything and it's obvious when you look at it cleanly. The first (message) passes the (if I-am-emacs-22+ stanza and the else leg which loads color-theme is never executed. It then become very clear where the delay is coming from when you profile color-theme:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
(load-library "elp")
(elp-instrument-package "color")
(elp-instrument-function 'modify-frame-parameters)
Function Name Call Count Elapsed Time Average Time
============================================== ========== ============ ============
color-theme-gnome2 1 6.949076 6.949076
color-theme-install 6 6.9489930000 1.1581655000
modify-frame-parameters 28 6.8929370000 0.2461763214
color-theme-install-frame-params 6 6.8865859999 1.1477643333
color-theme-blue-gnus 1 1.707156 1.707156
color-theme-salmon-font-lock 1 1.06505 1.06505
color-theme-blue-erc 1 1.045608 1.045608
color-theme-salmon-diff 1 1.041382 1.041382
color-theme-blue-eshell 1 1.040324 1.040324
color-theme-install-faces 6 0.062013 0.0103355
color-theme-spec-compat 218 0.0012549999 5.756...e-06
color-values 21 0.000656 3.123...e-05
color-theme-filter 18 0.000298 1.655...e-05
color-theme-install-variables 6 9.7e-05 1.616...e-05
color-theme-plist-delete 58 9.099...e-05 1.568...e-06
color-theme-alist-reduce 12 3.9e-05 3.25e-06
color-theme-canonic 6 3.700...e-05 6.166...e-06
color-theme-alist 12 1.100...e-05 9.166...e-07
color-theme-variables 6 9e-06 1.5e-06
color-theme-frame-params 6 5.999...e-06 1e-06
color-theme-faces 6 5.999...e-06 1e-06
color-theme-spec-filter 1 2e-06 2e-06
</pre>
<p>And it's very obvious that the extra eye candy is expensive, especially when applied to every frame.</p>
It's just cricket2009-08-20T14:14:00+01:002009-08-20T14:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-20:/~alex/blog/2009/08/20/its-just-cricket/<p>I'm never been a big fan of spectator sports. Generally the only things I watch with any sort of regularity is international Rugby Union and the occasional World Cup game. However there is something to be said for the institution of Cricket. It's a lot easier to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8211140.stm">watch the figures …</a></p><p>I'm never been a big fan of spectator sports. Generally the only things I watch with any sort of regularity is international Rugby Union and the occasional World Cup game. However there is something to be said for the institution of Cricket. It's a lot easier to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8211140.stm">watch the figures slowly grow</a> in the corner of a web page over 5 days while doing other things. If it starts looking close on day 3 or 4 I may even consider listening in to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Match_Special">TMS</a> while doing the weeding. And if England <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes">win the Ashes</a> I can at least say I paid some sort of attention to the game and use it as an excuse for a celebratory pint :-)</p>
Lovely Evening2009-08-18T11:26:00+01:002009-08-18T11:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-18:/~alex/blog/2009/08/18/lovely-evening/<p>Thanks for all the good wishes for yesterday. Despite spending the day in work it was actually a fairly interesting one for that. I headed back in time to enjoy the evening chatting with Fliss while enjoying a BBQ steak with fresh home grown tomatoes, supermarket corn on the cob …</p><p>Thanks for all the good wishes for yesterday. Despite spending the day in work it was actually a fairly interesting one for that. I headed back in time to enjoy the evening chatting with Fliss while enjoying a BBQ steak with fresh home grown tomatoes, supermarket corn on the cob and a baked potato with a lovely bottle of red wine. A lovely relaxing evening and a nice change of pace from our usual evening routine.</p>
<p>Fingers crossed house stuff is moving forward. As September is full of mostly non-movable events we are aiming to move in the second week of October. Hopefully even the most inefficient solicitors can have everything sorted by then, obviously we'll exchange as soon as possible and then can start planning the move.</p>
Unlikey to be wiser2009-08-17T11:45:00+01:002009-08-17T11:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-17:/~alex/blog/2009/08/17/unlikey-to-be-wiser/<p>Well I'm now a year older* although not necessarily wiser for it. With Fliss back on her feet after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/?p=12">enforced invalidity</a> we spent the Saturday mooching about (Fliss preparing food, me doing washing up) before heading over N&MA's house warming BBQ/party thing. They have recently taken on a …</p><p>Well I'm now a year older* although not necessarily wiser for it. With Fliss back on her feet after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/?p=12">enforced invalidity</a> we spent the Saturday mooching about (Fliss preparing food, me doing washing up) before heading over N&MA's house warming BBQ/party thing. They have recently taken on a fairly extensive renovation for their first house. When we first got there much time was spent admiring pipe work and talking about the thermal store. My attempts at working out the energy stored in my head failed (but hey <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+many+joules+of+energy+in+227+litres+of+water+at+85c">Wolfram Alpha can't even start working it out yet</a>). For what it's worth I think it's roughly equivalent to a 6.6kw/h boiler.</p>
<p>Sunday was fairly lazy and I spent most of the morning watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/">Tron</a> while enjoying the Tron themed cake F had made for my birthday. I also spent a while going through the extras on the second DVD. I remember the CGI in Tron being fairly groundbreaking at the time but I didn't realise quite how much work had gone into the live action footage. Apparently the "backlight" process they used was so labour intensive (24 cells per frame!) they never used the technique again. I assume the forthcoming <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/">Tron Legacy</a> does actually do it all with computers.</p>
<p>I spent some time doing some recreational coding and coming to the decision that despite <a class="reference external" href="http://banshee-project.org/">Banshee</a> being funky I can't be arsed doing any coding on it until the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mono-project.com/Debugging">debugging tools</a> get better. It's no fun debugging crashes in generated code and I'm fairly sure part of the point of having a managed environment is not having to chase down NULL pointer bugs. As a result I dusted off my Work in Progress on <a class="reference external" href="http://projects.gnome.org/rhythmbox/">Rhythmbox</a>.</p>
<p>We got a slew of documents through for the house and am now going through them. Hopefully we'll be set for a fairly quick move but we'll see what gets thrown up in the meantime. Our weekends are actually fairly booked up all the way through to October so we have no idea when we can actually move at the moment.</p>
<p>Cheers for all the various multimedia/multiband birthday greetings. I haven't thought of what I'm going to do to celebrate today apart from go to work (although hopefully I'll be back on paid holidays soon). I suspect birthdays are starting to become less of celebration and more of a marking of time passing.</p>
<p>* It's all relative of course, I'm technically only a day older than I was this time yesterday ;-)</p>
Numbers to make your point2009-08-14T12:20:00+01:002009-08-14T12:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-14:/~alex/blog/2009/08/14/1278/<p>I assume most people are aware of the recent furore over Daniel Hannan's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00mCXaG8-rg">appearance on Fox News</a> where some fairly distorted views of the NHS where given. I'm not going to say the system is perfect but I certainly know which system I'd choose to be treated under. However I …</p><p>I assume most people are aware of the recent furore over Daniel Hannan's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00mCXaG8-rg">appearance on Fox News</a> where some fairly distorted views of the NHS where given. I'm not going to say the system is perfect but I certainly know which system I'd choose to be treated under. However I thought I'd confine my comments to some of the slides shown during the piece. My experience watching Fox news has always illuminating. Where as in the UK journalists tend to bend over backwards to ensure some degree of balance in the US partisan presentation seems to be standard. With this in mind it always pays to be sceptical of any "facts" that are presented.</p>
<p>The first slide which grabbed my eye was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00mCXaG8-rg#t1m36s">at 1 minute 36 seconds</a> showing NHS waiting times. The slide is on for 5 seconds and you'd be forgiven for thinking they are up to date figures. The source is quoted as the BBC May 27, 2009 although the data is for 2004. It's interesting there are two dates on the slide which you may miss one given the short time it's up. I tried to find this reference on the BBC and in fact the 2009 reference is completely wrong, the data comes from <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3749801.stm">this page</a> also from 2004.</p>
<p>The next factiod under the "Prescription for Truth" banner doesn't seem to be sourced stating "23% of Australians wait for than 4 months for elective surgery". The best I could find that matched that were figures for <a class="reference external" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=JrftoTkGhcIC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=23%25+australians+4+months+elective+surgery&source=bl&ots=O1wYrWEM7N&sig=TtIFdC5YQ8NxGwhSnMhzijIXkQc&hl=en&ei=Ch6FSsi-BZGsjAeK55WiCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false">2001</a>, perhaps some Australians more familiar with their government stats could point me towards some more current figures?</p>
<p>The next big slide discusses <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00mCXaG8-rg#t3m26s">5-year relative survival rates</a> for prostate cancer. Here I'm a little less sure as I'm no expert on cancer. However the choice of Prostate Cancer is an interesting one affects the older population and is often so slow that people die of other things first. According to the slide the US has a 100% relative survival rate to our rather paltry looking 77%. According to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-year_survival_rate">the Wikipedia article</a> relative survival rates is dependant on how many of the general population of the same age and sex are also survive. I'll happily accept help from my more stats trained friends here but it seems to me the lower life expectancy is the higher the relative survival rate for any condition that affects primarily the old will be. Having said that the UK (77.2) and the US (75.6)* don't seem to be that far apart in male life expectancy to explain the difference. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_prostate_cancer_36.asp">American Cancer Society page</a> certainly backs up the 100% figure although I'm not sure what happens if you diagnosed but uninsured in the USA. The UK Cancer Research figures <a class="reference external" href="http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/survival/fiveyear/?a=5441#prostate">also backup the 77% figure</a>. It's also interesting to note that the <a class="reference external" href="http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/prostate/incidence/?a=5441#geog">incidence rate</a> is so much higher in the US, almost double in fact the incidence rate in the UK. At this point I decided to ask Wolfram Alpha what it knew about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=prostate+cancer+in+the+us">the US</a> stats compared to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=prostate+cancer+in+the+uk">the UK</a> numbers. It finally told me that prostate cancer is the cause of 1.5% of deaths in the US compared to 1.8% in the UK. A much smaller difference than 100% vs 77% might lead you to believe.</p>
<p>It's been an interesting exercise digging into these numbers. For what it's worth I'm fairly convinced cancer is more aggressively screened and treated in the US if you have health insurance (after all it makes economic sense from the point of view of the insurance companies). However living in the UK I'm happy I'll never <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7423458.stm">have to queue in a stadium</a> for life saving treatment if medical insurance won't protect me.</p>
<p>* UN figures, via <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy">Wikipedia</a></p>
The Pirate Party2009-08-13T12:23:00+01:002009-08-13T12:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-13:/~alex/blog/2009/08/13/1277/<p>Well it seems the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2009/aug/11/party-registered/">Pirate Party in now registered</a> with the electoral commission in the UK which opens the way for their participation in elections. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/">front page policies</a> are all good stuff, reform copyright and patent law, reduce surveillance and uphold …</p><p>Well it seems the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2009/aug/11/party-registered/">Pirate Party in now registered</a> with the electoral commission in the UK which opens the way for their participation in elections. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/">front page policies</a> are all good stuff, reform copyright and patent law, reduce surveillance and uphold free speech. I hope that having a political party expounding these things will bring the issues more into the mind of the electorate. However I don't think their doing themselves much favours with the name as it immediately prejudices people opinion of the party. The idea that their principle concern is representing people illicitly downloading free music in their bedrooms will surely become quickly lodged in the national consciousness, and that is a fairly week position to argue for the sort of reforms they are looking towards. I shall withhold further judgement until I see if they get any air time and how they come across.</p>
<p>Spodula mentioned the <a class="reference external" href="http://spodula.livejournal.com/151645.html">Pirate Bay verdict</a> a while ago and I have to say I have little sympathy for the admins as well. I have plenty of concerns about the trial and the legal interpretation of "contribution to copyright infringement" but the behaviour and demeanour of defendants did invite the generally liberal Swedish Judges to cross that line. It's one that now leaves me wondering if as a programmer who has contributed to <a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/en/?page=news">GTK Gnutella</a> I can now be held liable for what someone does with the software regardless of the number of perfectly legal uses it can be put to.</p>
<p>Finally I'll point out there are political lobbying groups that do not have party affiliations that are worth supporting. These include the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openrightsgroup.org/">Open Rights Group</a>, the European arm of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsfe.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> and the of course the pioneering Internet civil liberties organisation the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eff.org/issues/eff-europe">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>. I wish the major political parties would take more notice of what these guys have to say as well.</p>
Streaking2009-08-12T15:10:00+01:002009-08-12T15:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-12:/~alex/blog/2009/08/12/1276/<p>I'm currently working from home so I can provide ambulatory acquisition and relocation services to Fliss as she recovers from her gammy foot. Running X clients over broadband is a bit of a pain but I haven't had a chance to get my VPN setup working properly yet.</p>
<p>After prompting …</p><p>I'm currently working from home so I can provide ambulatory acquisition and relocation services to Fliss as she recovers from her gammy foot. Running X clients over broadband is a bit of a pain but I haven't had a chance to get my VPN setup working properly yet.</p>
<p>After prompting from <a class="reference external" href="http://renniek.livejournal.com/167739.html">Katie's post</a> I stayed up way past my bedtime in an attempt to view the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids">Perseid Meteor shower</a>. I did see about 7-8 streaks over an hour or so although most were while I was facing south (the meteors radiate from between Perseus and Cassiopeia in the North East sky). I suspect the brightness of the moon was obscuring a lot of the view. I did have a scout around the rest of the sky with my binoculars and I think the very bright blob in the south of the sky was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter">Jupiter</a>. In fact it was as I've just checked with the rather marvellous <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stellarium.org/">Stellarium</a> which gives a glorious "personal view" sky map rendered in OpenGL.</p>
<p>I may head out again tonight but the current cloudy conditions do not look good for the evenings viewing. Maybe one day I'll borrow my Dad's telescope. The view in Cambridge may not be as good as it was in the grasslands <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1225">of Oz</a> but it certainly not that bad once you've let your eyes adjust for a while and use a little bit of magnification.</p>
Requires webbed feet aparently.2009-08-10T16:25:00+01:002009-08-10T16:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-10:/~alex/blog/2009/08/10/requires-webbed-feet-aparently/<p>As has been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/?p=11">reported elsewhere</a> we went for a training walk on Saturday. We caught the train from Waterbeach to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely,_Cambridgeshire">Ely</a> and walked back home. The route was <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=52.330094,0.215607&spn=0.141831,0.308304&z=12&msid=100521915190804968577.000470c7003e5c00169f4">11 miles</a> and fairly easy to follow. There was only one point where the compass was useful in validating we were going …</p><p>As has been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whereislittlebear.com/?p=11">reported elsewhere</a> we went for a training walk on Saturday. We caught the train from Waterbeach to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely,_Cambridgeshire">Ely</a> and walked back home. The route was <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=52.330094,0.215607&spn=0.141831,0.308304&z=12&msid=100521915190804968577.000470c7003e5c00169f4">11 miles</a> and fairly easy to follow. There was only one point where the compass was useful in validating we were going the right way. As mountain climbing training goes the Fens are never going to provide much of a challenge being basically flat but it at least proved my shiny new kit worked. Next time however hats and sun tan lotion are on the checklist as there was very little shade for the whole walk which left us both a little pink at the end.</p>
<p>We both suffered a little the next day due to blisters and muscles unused to the walk. However Fliss' foot gave a lot of pain last night making it hard for her to sleep. She trundled off to the Doctor this morning who's diagnosis was either a very odd form of gout or the blister had gotten infected and gone to the bone. She is now waiting in A&E for drip fed antibiotics for her foot. Who would of thought a blister could cause so much trouble!</p>
<p><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong> Damn these blisters, it looks like an overnight stay in the hospital for Fliss. Time to charge the iPod.</p>
NHS IT Systems2009-08-10T15:54:00+01:002009-08-10T15:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-10:/~alex/blog/2009/08/10/1275/<p>Uber-systems don't work. The internet is testament to the value of having a distributed system built with components from multiple vendors inter-operating through common protocols. With that in mind I was happy to see the Conservative <a class="reference external" href="http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2009/08/Conservatives_will_end_Labours_costly_central_plans_for_NHS_IT.aspx">response to their</a> independent report on NHS IT. While I haven't finished reading the …</p><p>Uber-systems don't work. The internet is testament to the value of having a distributed system built with components from multiple vendors inter-operating through common protocols. With that in mind I was happy to see the Conservative <a class="reference external" href="http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2009/08/Conservatives_will_end_Labours_costly_central_plans_for_NHS_IT.aspx">response to their</a> independent report on NHS IT. While I haven't finished reading the full report I have been through the key conclusions and the policy response. The idea of getting rid of the centralised nightmare that the current government is wedded to and returning control of IT procurement to the consumers (i.e. the healthcare providers) makes perfect sense. The push for interoperability and multiple suppliers is all good stuff as is the nod to allowing open source solutions to compete on a level playing field.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see what the political responses will be to the plans. The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8189674.stm">current line</a> seems to be about how patient confidentiality can be kept. In that response seems to be an implicit idea that you can secure a centralised system better than multiple ones. In reality of course the problem is a lot more complex than that. Central solutions do provide a single point of failure where the entire database can be compromised. However if you remember the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103828.stm">Child Benefit fiasco</a> the reasons for failure where human and not technical. If you divide your data amongst <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1078.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=153">152</a> systems each with the attendant reduction of people with access to it you dramatically reduce the chances of a catastrophic failure. However it is still possible that an individual PCT could have a technical flaw that leaks confidential data. It won't be much comfort to those that are affected but the consequences will be a lot more manageable than if all medical records had been involved.</p>
<p>I suspect the biggest headache will be caused by the laudable goal of giving people access to their own data. If all that is required to access your records is a username and password we can expect a number of leaks caused by bad passwords and/or comprised user machines running keyboard sniffers. I hope some sort of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_token">hardware token</a> approach is mandated in the minimum requirements* to help mitigate the problems.</p>
<p>All in all this is a policy I can happily support.</p>
<p>* I'd prefer tokens that don't need to connect to a computer to work, eliminating the trap of only being supported by some operating systems. For example my bank token is totally self contained and only needs to read my ATM card and display some numbers I enter into the web-form when I log in.</p>
Using daemon mode2009-08-09T13:23:00+01:002009-08-09T13:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-09:/~alex/blog/2009/08/09/1273/<p>Now the Fedora 11 has <a class="reference external" href="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=487615">pushed Emacs 23</a> into it's testing repository I can now have 23.1 goodness on all the machines I regularly interact with (although having checked my Gentoo box is still 23.0.96.1, must fix that). I've previously implemented <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/2939e6b33943baebc706676daefa5b5cbf467ec1/my-emacs-server.el">rather painful hacks</a> to make …</p><p>Now the Fedora 11 has <a class="reference external" href="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=487615">pushed Emacs 23</a> into it's testing repository I can now have 23.1 goodness on all the machines I regularly interact with (although having checked my Gentoo box is still 23.0.96.1, must fix that). I've previously implemented <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/blob/2939e6b33943baebc706676daefa5b5cbf467ec1/my-emacs-server.el">rather painful hacks</a> to make a --server mode work well but now the mainline supported --daemon mode is the new shizzle. I had a quick play with my .bashrc shell scripts and came up with:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
#!/bin/bash
#
# Alex's .bashrc_emacs
#
# Emacs Specific setup
#
# There is only one editor (although I can get to it in different ways).
# For most stuff I want to use emacsclient to spawn a quick shell and
# for emacs 23 I want to ensure the daemon is always running for the user.
#
# Luckily this is covered by specifying -a '' which will spawn a daemon if
# one is not running
#
if [[ "$DISPLAY" == "" ]]; then
# Can we use muti-tty?
emacsclient --help | grep "\-\-tty" > /dev/null
if [[ "$?" == "0" ]]; then
# Thats a yes
EMACS_CMD="emacsclient -a '' -t"
else
# Hmmm, opening in another pane would be a pain?
EMACS_CMD="emacs -nw "
fi
else
# otherwise don't wait and open a new frame
EMACS_CMD="emacsclient -n -a '' -c"
fi
# Set the environment variables for the editors
export EDITOR=${EMACS_CMD}
export VISUAL=${EMACS_CMD}
export ALTERNATE_EDITOR=emacs
# shortcut
alias ec="${EMACS_CMD}"
# And finally lets get the status of the emacs server
DT=`emacsclient -a '' -e "(server-running-p)" 2> /dev/null`
echo "loading .bashrc_emacs (server-running-p)=${DT}"
</pre>
<p>The "emacs -nw" fallback is a little redundant but I suppose it's worth keeping for the day someone gives me shell access without the latest goodies :-)</p>
You certainly notice...2009-08-07T17:19:00+01:002009-08-07T17:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-07:/~alex/blog/2009/08/07/you-certainly-notice/<p>..when your spam scanner stops working. After carrying out some maintenance to my server yesterday I noticed a sudden upsurge of spam arriving in my mailbox. Sure enough a quick check showed that the spam checking daemon <a class="reference external" href="http://spamassassin.apache.org/full/3.1.x/doc/spamd.html">spamd</a> wasn't running. A little poking about pointed to behaviour that looked very …</p><p>..when your spam scanner stops working. After carrying out some maintenance to my server yesterday I noticed a sudden upsurge of spam arriving in my mailbox. Sure enough a quick check showed that the spam checking daemon <a class="reference external" href="http://spamassassin.apache.org/full/3.1.x/doc/spamd.html">spamd</a> wasn't running. A little poking about pointed to behaviour that looked very much like <a class="reference external" href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=520947">this bug</a>. However after instituting automatic recover with <a class="reference external" href="http://mmonit.com/monit/">monit</a> the problem seems to have gone away. I suspect the problem may ultimately be my poor little web-server is finally running out of its rather paltry 240Mb of RAM and there may be a rouge OOM on the loose, I haven't yet caught it in the act though. Examining the system did show it was close to the limit although why mysql needs quite so much memory to serve up a couple of megabytes of blog databases is a little beyond me.</p>
<p>Seeing as I couldn't catch another crash I spent the morning mostly creating new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cacert.org/">signed SSL certificates</a> for my secure websites. Next task on the list is phoning all the utilities and checking what our current credit/debt status is. After that I may give T-Mobile a call about the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Hero">HTC Hero</a> and making me an offer I can't refuse :-)</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Well it seems the kernel upgrade caused it to miss the 1Gb of swap the system usually has. A quick mknod and swapon later and I've quadrupled the available memory. That should do the trick.</p>
Half-Life 2 and the Orange Box2009-08-05T12:27:00+01:002009-08-05T12:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-05:/~alex/blog/2009/08/05/half-life-2-and-the-orange-box/<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orange_Box">Orange Box</a> certainly represents the best value for money for gaming in a long time. I think we picked it up for the PS3 for about £12 which in an era of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10000000/newsid_10000500/10000568.stm">£55 for a new release</a> is welcome in the credit crunch.</p>
<p>People make much of …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orange_Box">Orange Box</a> certainly represents the best value for money for gaming in a long time. I think we picked it up for the PS3 for about £12 which in an era of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10000000/newsid_10000500/10000568.stm">£55 for a new release</a> is welcome in the credit crunch.</p>
<p>People make much of the fact the PS3 port was out-sourced but certainly I've only noticed frame-rate issues once so far and that disappeared on re-load. I've long gotten used to playing FPS games with console controllers to the point I suspect I'd find it hard to play with the PC mouse/keyboard combo. It's also a fairly old game so it probably not making the most of the graphics hardware. However to be honest I don't think I'd notice, graphics reached the point I stopped caring about them a long time ago. I can still jump when some unspeakable horror surprises me in a dark corner and I'm not sure any extra <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_shader">pixel shaders</a> would be noticed as I reach for the shotgun.</p>
<p>On to the game itself. The original <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_(video_game)">Half-Life</a> was fairly ground breaking at the time. Along with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex">Deus Ex</a> it was one of the few PC <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter">FPS</a> games I played all the way to the end. The combination of combat with in game scripted plot without resorting to cut-scenes made it a compelling play. The only reason I never bought <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_2">Half-Life 2</a> when it first came out was the shift I was making away from PC gaming and single-booting my main machine on Linux. Having had the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty_(series)">Call of Duty franchise</a> remind me how much I enjoy the genre it was a fairly easy buy.</p>
<p>One of the things that stands out is a fairly complete <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havok_(software)">physics implementation</a> which allows the player to interact with the environment in more elaborate ways. I think the developers got a little happy with their new toys though having done several variations of the see-saw puzzle throughout the game. This aided by the addition of the Gravity Gun which you can put to good use in later levels and is especially useful in building quick barricades so you don't get overwhelmed by the occasional mass bundles in the game. It can make a fairly useful weapon as well especially when combined with things like circular saw blades. I've read it gets powered up later in the game but I've still to reach the last few levels.</p>
<p>The game is pretty faithful to it's horror roots and alongside the numerous set piece battles with human forces and various aerial contraptions there are mutant zombies, aliens and other twisted lurkers waiting to jump out at you. It is not a game for the faint hearted to play in the dark and it's certainly made me jump out of my seat more than once.</p>
<p>As I've noted previously I'm still in the main Half-Life 2 game. Once out of that I have another two episodes to play before I run out of straight shooting action. This is already far more single player game play than any individual member of the CoD series has delivered. However the other two components are <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_2">Team Fortress 2</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(video_game)">Portal</a>. TF2 is certainly a fun little multi-player shooter and I enjoy it's cartoon aesthetic and reasonable variety of game-play. However for multi-player I think CoD will still be vying for my attention. I have yet to play Portal but Fliss has been enjoying it immensely (not being a fan of horror shooters herself). It certainly seems to have a sense of humour which combines well with the pure puzzle genre.</p>
<p>So in summary if you are a fan of the FPS genre and for some reason didn't buy any of the components of the Orange Box before then I can highly recommend buying it now.</p>
Wedding-Fu2009-08-03T13:35:00+01:002009-08-03T13:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-08-03:/~alex/blog/2009/08/03/wedding-fu/<p>We spent the weekend attending the wedding of C&P in the royal county of Buckinghamshire. The less said about the hotel and it's concept of service the better. Needless to say things went downhill when we adjourned to alternative bar to avoid the bi-monthly "night club" running in the …</p><p>We spent the weekend attending the wedding of C&P in the royal county of Buckinghamshire. The less said about the hotel and it's concept of service the better. Needless to say things went downhill when we adjourned to alternative bar to avoid the bi-monthly "night club" running in the main bar. As no real beer was forthcoming I was quite keen to get my cocktail groove on. We were soon disappointed to find the "Cocktail Bar" was a cocktail bar in name only. Anyway best not dwell on the negatives of the accommodation, just <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bellhousehotel.co.uk/">avoid this hotel</a>.</p>
<p>Otherwise it was a fine wedding which we saw through the prism of noting ideas for our own forthcoming nuptials. Highlights included the classic <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routemaster">Routemaster Bus</a> which shuttled us between the hotel, wedding and reception venues. It was the bus companies reserve bus as the other one had developed a fault but this just added to the excitement as we climbed, nay crawled, up the rather steep hills in the area. The cheers as we crested and moved out of 1st gear were much fun. The caterers should also get recognition for serving out more than a hundred portions of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_Wellington">Beef Wellington</a> from a shed hidden behind the marquee. There was also the launching of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_lantern">Chinese Lanterns</a> which provided some lovely background to the evening sky.</p>
<p>Hotels aside it was a lovely event :-)</p>
A Bad Week for Cars2009-07-28T19:04:00+01:002009-07-28T19:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-28:/~alex/blog/2009/07/28/a-bad-week-for-cars/<p>On the back of previously mentioned car issues it's existence was topped off with an unplanned impact with the side of the road yesterday.</p>
<p>We had been enjoying a meal with S&J who are providing the venue for the wedding. The drive back was through some rather wet A …</p><p>On the back of previously mentioned car issues it's existence was topped off with an unplanned impact with the side of the road yesterday.</p>
<p>We had been enjoying a meal with S&J who are providing the venue for the wedding. The drive back was through some rather wet A roads (not helped by the non-functional driver side window) and we were caught unawares on a rather slippery S bend. Mercifully there were no other cars on the road when we executed the skid, bounce and spin manoeuvre. The final result was a large chunk of the road-side caught up underneath the car and 3-4 dents in the driver side where the car lost an argument with the hedge. The wing mirror was also decapitated by the greenery although as it was dark we never found the detached pieces. We were both a little shaken but pretty much unhurt.</p>
<p>Last night's cryptic status update wasn't actually referring to the wedding costs but my initial assessment of the damage once we got home. Luckily the fully comprehensive insurance will cover everything above our rather high excess but it's still obviously an annoyance. Still the most important thing was we walked away from accident and as pilots like to point out the ability to walk away is considered a success condition.</p>
Inauspicious2009-07-28T01:18:00+01:002009-07-28T01:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-28:/~alex/blog/2009/07/28/inauspicious/<p>Maelstrom was fun to a degree but I was plagued by a number of OOC occurrences which slightly marred our enjoyment of the event.</p>
<p>We arrived on site pretty much without incident and as per usual we opened the car windows as we handed over our tickets. After finding somewhere …</p><p>Maelstrom was fun to a degree but I was plagued by a number of OOC occurrences which slightly marred our enjoyment of the event.</p>
<p>We arrived on site pretty much without incident and as per usual we opened the car windows as we handed over our tickets. After finding somewhere to park (having car next to OOC tent is a great idea BTW) and erecting the tent I went to lock up the car. On trying to close the driver side electric window it managed about half the full travel before something twanged and the whole window shot down into the hidden guts of the door, never to return. I was able to patch up the window with some black bin bags before the distant storms arrived but it was an inauspicious start to the day.</p>
<p>As we were camping Fliss gave me some of my birthday presents early. These included a fantastic stow-able sleeping bag with a rather funky silk lining and a "self-inflating" camp mat which will be a lot more portable for our trip up <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro">Kilimanjaro</a> next year. The mat itself works better than any other I've used at insulating the body from the coldness of the ground. However it seems I'm not really designed for the relative solidness of the floor. By Sunday morning my back had decided to throw it's metaphorical arms up in disgust as I struggled for about 5-10 minutes to move from all fours to some sort of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus">erect posture</a>. I'm not ready to dismiss the mat completely as my situation may not have been helped by a relatively sedentary event.</p>
<p>All this sudden invalidity meant Fliss became responsible for all the packing of the car and the eventual drive home. On the drive home it very quickly became apparent the jury rigged replacement of black bin bags with cling-film wasn't going to hold up to motorway speeds. The final result was Fliss having to endure an open window while driving the car home while I was almost permanently apologetic for having put her through the ordeal.</p>
<p>Once we got home a long bath did ease my back a bit but it put the kibosh on cycling to work today. Every day I miss of work is a day I don't get paid. However we are still off to our wedding venue this afternoon to do some planning type activities. Tomorrow I drop the car off to get the windows fixed and we are off to another wedding next weekend. Hopefully we have exhausted the current run of bad luck although we are still waiting for the bank to get back to us about the mortgage.</p>
Packed and ready to go2009-07-24T13:41:00+01:002009-07-24T13:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-24:/~alex/blog/2009/07/24/packed-and-ready-to-go/<p>I'm all packed and ready to head off to the (hopefully) sunny climes of Maelstrom for a little light role-playing fun. The weather forecast doesn't look too horrendous and at least Saturday looks as though it will be fine. As usual I have a nagging feeling I've forgotten something but …</p><p>I'm all packed and ready to head off to the (hopefully) sunny climes of Maelstrom for a little light role-playing fun. The weather forecast doesn't look too horrendous and at least Saturday looks as though it will be fine. As usual I have a nagging feeling I've forgotten something but I'm sure it#s nothing major.</p>
<p>Still no news from the bank as far as the mortgage is concerned. We should have found out yesterday but Friday was mooted as a possibility. Hoping that no news is good news for the time being.</p>
It's not a crime if the Police don't get involved2009-07-22T14:51:00+01:002009-07-22T14:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-22:/~alex/blog/2009/07/22/its-not-a-crime-if-the-police-dont-get-involved/<p>We went to our (hopefully) last mortgage meeting yesterday to finalise the application so we can buy a house. The meeting went fairly well although because of my "special" employment status the application now has to go off to the banks underwriting department to ensure they don't lend out irresponsibly …</p><p>We went to our (hopefully) last mortgage meeting yesterday to finalise the application so we can buy a house. The meeting went fairly well although because of my "special" employment status the application now has to go off to the banks underwriting department to ensure they don't lend out irresponsibly to people who can't afford it. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow.</p>
<p>On coming out of the meeting I noticed the passenger side of my car was looking a little odd. There was a streak of white across the tyres and a couple of large gouges in the front bumper. Some twat badger had obviously failed parking 101 and buggered off without leaving their insurance details. Annoyed I phoned up the Police on the non-emergency number to report the incident only to be told I had to report it in person at a Police station within 24 hours, bringing by log book/MOT with me. Helpfully the only Police station now open was in the centre of town as our local station shuts a 16:00. "They have visitor parking"* I was told as parking anywhere in Cambridge is an exercise in frustration the best of times. So at the peak of rush hour I drove into town and after circling the station twice eyeing the "No Visitor Parking" signs I finally found a free parking space up the road.</p>
<p>The first question the desk operative asked me was where the incident had taken place. On telling him I was parked in the HSBC customer car park he then told me it wasn't their problem. "It's a private car park see, so we won't deal with it". I was slightly credulous as even though IANAL I would think the nations finest would want to talk to me if I had damaged someones car no matter what the location was. After some to and fro discusion on the finer points of the law that neither of us are qualified to hold opinions on he finally relented and issued an Incident Number** grumbling "the system might not like it". He again reminded me the Police wouldn't do anything about it due to the private nature of the car park and helpfully reminding me as a private citizen I could do nothing about obtaining CCTV footage that may have caught the white vehicle leaving the scene between 15:25 and 16:20 on the day in question. Only the Police have the ability to collect evidence but seeing as they won't do any investigation of the matter there is no way to track down the affor mentioned miscreant who damaged my car. "After all it might have just been an accident and thats not illeagal", I had to refrain from pointing out that you couldn't assert that without invesigating the facts of the matter which as we already know wasn't going to happen. Having wasted an hour of my life I headed back home and retired to the pub to mutter about the decline of society with my friends.</p>
<p>So the lesson I took from yesterday is that if I ever feel like vandalising someones car I should do it on a private car park because apparently that is not a crime***.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Quoted conversations are paraphrased and may not be verbatium.</div>
<div class="line">** From what I can tell an Incident Number is just as useful from insurance purposes but I suspect carries the benefit of not showing up in any crime stats. Not that the Police would want to massage those.</div>
<div class="line">*** Joke! I would not condone or incite anyone to treat the law with contempt even if it seems the Police would.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
The things geeks think about....2009-07-14T16:01:00+01:002009-07-14T16:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-14:/~alex/blog/2009/07/14/the-things-geeks-think-about/<p>I've been thinking about the whole Twitter* thing recently having been trying it out for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1243">two months</a> or so. I haven't much to add to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1244">previous analysis</a> other than spam will continue to be a problem in this new landscape and risks bogging it down.</p>
<p>From the start of …</p><p>I've been thinking about the whole Twitter* thing recently having been trying it out for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1243">two months</a> or so. I haven't much to add to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1244">previous analysis</a> other than spam will continue to be a problem in this new landscape and risks bogging it down.</p>
<p>From the start of the experiment I was keen to ensure I was insulated from the vagaries of corporate idea development. This is why I micro-blog on many different networks and prefer sites using open APIs that are compatible with free software. Unfortunately I walked into that trap when I renewed my subscription to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/home">last.fm</a> earlier this year.</p>
<p>My current preferred music player is <a class="reference external" href="http://banshee-project.org/">Banshee</a> which had admirable support for last.fm until <a class="reference external" href="http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=541227">recently</a>. Unfortunately without the <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.last.fm/2009/06/10/message-from-the-lastfm-founders-felix-rj-and-martin">original founders</a> and new <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_Interactive">corporate interests</a> it looks like it will be hard to get a license key for FLOSS software, being by it's very nature open to inspection. As soon as you need a document signing on behalf of a loose knit community things get tricky. I do have a fall back solution of running the Flash radio player in my browser but it's not the ideal solution as it puts me at the mercy of <a class="reference external" href="http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/">Adobe's Linux support</a> and of course isn't open source**.</p>
<p>I think it is time to break out the scripts and start importing data into <a class="reference external" href="http://alpha.libre.fm/user/stsquad">libre.fm</a> just in case the rules get changed again.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">* Other micro-blogging sites <a class="reference external" href="http://identi.ca/">are available</a> but I suspect #tweets have won the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neologism">naming race</a>.</div>
<div class="line">** I know it's a shock I'm running Flash. It was all iPlayer's fault. I try <a class="reference external" href="http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnash/">gnash</a> every now and again but I can't get even get YouTube to work though it is <a class="reference external" href="http://gnashdev.org/?q=node/25#youtube">supposed to</a>.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Fayres2009-07-13T11:51:00+01:002009-07-13T11:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-13:/~alex/blog/2009/07/13/fayres/<p>We had a lovely weekend with Sheila visiting for the weekend. We spent our time attending a number of the local fayres which all provided a mix of community stands, beer and various burnt meat offerings. My feet are a little sore today after a few miles of walking in …</p><p>We had a lovely weekend with Sheila visiting for the weekend. We spent our time attending a number of the local fayres which all provided a mix of community stands, beer and various burnt meat offerings. My feet are a little sore today after a few miles of walking in my finally splitting footware but otherwise everything was good.</p>
<p>Everything else is up in the air as we are still awaiting a response to our second offer. Our second meeting with the bank is today and hopefully the figures all still make sense.</p>
Spreadsheets and P60s2009-07-09T11:22:00+01:002009-07-09T11:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-09:/~alex/blog/2009/07/09/spreadsheets-and-p60s/<p>This afternoon we will spend an hour or so with a bank going through P60's and my self-employment spreadsheet to see if we qualify for a mortgage. I'm suffering a little angst as this is the first time I've gone for money without a permanent job and I'm acutely aware …</p><p>This afternoon we will spend an hour or so with a bank going through P60's and my self-employment spreadsheet to see if we qualify for a mortgage. I'm suffering a little angst as this is the first time I've gone for money without a permanent job and I'm acutely aware that banks are wary of self-certification mortgages given <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932009">what happened last time</a>. Having said that we are in a slightly better position of borrowing less as a ratio of the total value of the property than before. Of course we are borrowing more money than we have ever borrowed before so it's really all a mater of your perspective. Fingers crossed!</p>
Microsoft vs Google, who will win?2009-07-08T10:03:00+01:002009-07-08T10:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-08:/~alex/blog/2009/07/08/1262/<p>There was a slightly hyperbolic <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8139711.stm">BBC article</a> describing Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html">Chrome OS</a> announcement. Apart from the obvious significance of the two largest tech behemoths going head to head the BBC did wonder if it would spell the end of the push for Linux on the netbook platform. Of course they didn't …</p><p>There was a slightly hyperbolic <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8139711.stm">BBC article</a> describing Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html">Chrome OS</a> announcement. Apart from the obvious significance of the two largest tech behemoths going head to head the BBC did wonder if it would spell the end of the push for Linux on the netbook platform. Of course they didn't actually read the blog post which describes the new Chrome OS architecture being essentially Linux* running a new windowing system designed to support the Chrome browser.</p>
<p>Google's use of Linux as a base shouldn't be surprising. For starters their entire server farm (or is that the "Google Platform") relies on Linux. They used Linux as the basis for their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.android.com/">Android Mobile Phone OS</a>. They employ a large number of prominent kernel hackers in the company. Google is very much a Linux company and mighty as they are I think they appreciate that re-writing a kernel is a little like re-inventing the wheel. There are areas that Linux is still a little immature in. It has yet to develop the definitive power management strategy that modern mobile hardware really needs. However Google's involvement can only accelerate work in these directions.</p>
<p>There are some other things worth noting. The push for "Browser as the platform" and "The Cloud" is going to ask some serious questions of the Free Software movement. When you have the freedom to run entirely free (as in libre) software on you hardware it will mean nothing if all your data and applications are proprietary services in the network. There needs to be some serious thought given to the compatibility of Software as a Service with the ideals of computing freedom.</p>
<p>*When I refer to Linux I of course refer to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(computing)">kernel</a></p>
Sea of sharks2009-07-07T19:17:00+01:002009-07-07T19:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-07:/~alex/blog/2009/07/07/sea-of-sharks/<p>I spent the day with a potential client today looking over an interesting safety product. If I get any paying work out of it my client list would total 3 which isn't too bad considering how long I have been trading as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.half-llama.co.uk/">Half Llama Technology</a>. The catch of course is …</p><p>I spent the day with a potential client today looking over an interesting safety product. If I get any paying work out of it my client list would total 3 which isn't too bad considering how long I have been trading as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.half-llama.co.uk/">Half Llama Technology</a>. The catch of course is getting paid for the work.</p>
<p>Like most of the UK manufacturing base this company is suffering in the current climate. It's not helped by being a start-up type affair with investors jumping ship. However it's an interesting product and despite development being hosted on Windows and using a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfin">unfamiliar processor</a> I was able to sort a few things out during today's free consultation. I'll probably end up committing 5-10 days of my free time to the project and crossing my fingers. If nothing else it will add a few more tick boxes to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">CV</a>. Being paid for the work will feel like a bonus ;-)</p>
Big Numbers2009-07-06T11:58:00+01:002009-07-06T11:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-06:/~alex/blog/2009/07/06/big-numbers/<p>Yesterday we went for a cycle ride around <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=fen+ditton&sll=53.956086,-4.042969&sspn=17.537993,39.462891&ie=UTF8&z=13">Fen Ditton</a> to get a feel for the place. Given that we already seem to be developing some roots in Milton it was good to know it's only a short cycle ride away. The principle target of the evaluation involved visiting a …</p><p>Yesterday we went for a cycle ride around <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=fen+ditton&sll=53.956086,-4.042969&sspn=17.537993,39.462891&ie=UTF8&z=13">Fen Ditton</a> to get a feel for the place. Given that we already seem to be developing some roots in Milton it was good to know it's only a short cycle ride away. The principle target of the evaluation involved visiting a few of the local pubs. I think we have been spoilt by Milton's fine selection of hostelries, all of which guest beers. The Fen Ditton pubs all serve ales but mainly of the Green King variety and guest beers are not very much in evidence.</p>
<p>However the village is still lovely and has other fine amenities including the all important cricket oval. Talking to the locals it seems like a pretty good community spirit exists in the area. Overall we are still very positive about it as a place to live. The next few days are going to involve crunching some eye-watering numbers and talking to banks to see if we can buy our dream house. Striking the balance between emotional attachment and cold hard reality is an interesting line to walk.</p>
Podcasts2009-07-05T12:41:00+01:002009-07-05T12:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-05:/~alex/blog/2009/07/05/podcasts/<p>I have been updating my list of podcasts recently. A couple of days ago I added the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theskepticsguide.org/">Skeptics Guide to the Universe</a> having followed a random shared link*. It's certainly and interesting format so far. The team discuss a couple of science related news items for the week and apply …</p><p>I have been updating my list of podcasts recently. A couple of days ago I added the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theskepticsguide.org/">Skeptics Guide to the Universe</a> having followed a random shared link*. It's certainly and interesting format so far. The team discuss a couple of science related news items for the week and apply a critical eye to new reports. Think a slightly more wide ranging <a class="reference external" href="http://www.badscience.net/">Bad Science</a> in helpful podcast form. The last show I listened to discussed the details around the report of a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5511619/14-year-old-hit-by-30000-mph-space-meteorite.html">boy being hit by a meteorite</a>, some stuff about thought heuristics and the potential to introduce bias into our thinking and some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090612203303.htm">long term projections for Earth's biosphere</a>. It's an interesting podcast which is well worth a listen. Their work is funded by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi">James Randi's</a> educational fund so you know it's going to be good :-)</p>
<p>Would anyone like to recommend their favourite podcast? If you don't do the podcast thing is there any reason why not?</p>
<p>* ahh the power of social sharing, I think it was via someones shared feed ( <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/reader/shared/04449031981434496650?hl=en">bit like mine</a>). I suspect that will become a better way to find things than relaying on the <a class="reference external" href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/digg_dug_buried_how_linux_news_disappears">collective vote of a bunch of random people</a>.</p>
All Weeds must Die!2009-07-04T02:20:00+01:002009-07-04T02:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-04:/~alex/blog/2009/07/04/all-weeds-must-die/<p>We have started harvesting things from the garden. It's a testament to how easy it is considering we don't know what we are doing. One habit I have picked up is picking a few weeds out every time I pass a bed. It's enough to keep them at bay and …</p><p>We have started harvesting things from the garden. It's a testament to how easy it is considering we don't know what we are doing. One habit I have picked up is picking a few weeds out every time I pass a bed. It's enough to keep them at bay and give your plants more space.</p>
<p>The bounty so far amounts to a few strawberries, large quantities of savoy cabbage, a stupid number of courgettes (not a favourite) and some spring onions. We of course suffer the feast and famine of the garden but when we do get food it does seem to taste nicer (or at least it seems that way ;-).</p>
<p>All this gardening is a prelude of course - we haven't kicked in the full planting plan as it's a rented house. Today we went and visited our first potential house to buy. The place itself seemed a little ramshackle (from a decoration point of view) but it was huge. It also came with a large chunk of land (two paddocks) at the back. While there is a certain charm to the idea of a living the rural idyll I'm not sure I'm ready to be a farmer of a small holding. We have a few more houses to view tomorrow, we shall see how it goes.</p>
Getting very warm2009-07-01T11:46:00+01:002009-07-01T11:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-07-01:/~alex/blog/2009/07/01/getting-very-warm/<p>Thanks to all who came to the party on Saturday. It all seemed to go well and for the most part the weather held off enough for a large amount of char grilled meat to be consumed.</p>
<p>I most pleased with the relatively small pile of washing up left on …</p><p>Thanks to all who came to the party on Saturday. It all seemed to go well and for the most part the weather held off enough for a large amount of char grilled meat to be consumed.</p>
<p>I most pleased with the relatively small pile of washing up left on Sunday afternoon (after the final guests had gone home). This was mainly due to the diligent efforts of guests to do a stint (unprompted!) of washing up at various points of the day.</p>
<p>The weather has been slowly getting warmer and warmer and has now reached the point that it's too hot for me. Fliss being used to warmer climes thinks the evenings are getting cold enough for us to close the bedroom window at night. Needless to say I couldn't face working in my office yesterday and spent most of the day in the comparative coolness of downstairs with the netbook. Unfortunately Fedora has broken the spell checking functionally of my emacs with a <a class="reference external" href="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=508033">switch to hunspell</a> which took a little time to track down so I wasn't as productive as I hoped.</p>
<p>Today I shall be heading into the big smoke around lunchtime to join Fliss for a few more birthday drinks. I think her birthday will be well celebrated by the end of the week :-)</p>
Floods of biblical proportions2009-06-26T10:55:00+01:002009-06-26T10:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-26:/~alex/blog/2009/06/26/floods-of-biblical-proportions/<p>I can't tell you exactly what I was doing when I heard that retro pop sensation Michael Jackson had died however I did find out on Twitter which I'm sure will make the BBC happy. However that's all I have to say on that matter as I have been preoccupied …</p><p>I can't tell you exactly what I was doing when I heard that retro pop sensation Michael Jackson had died however I did find out on Twitter which I'm sure will make the BBC happy. However that's all I have to say on that matter as I have been preoccupied with other things.</p>
<p>It was Fliss' birthday yesterday so we headed down to <a class="reference external" href="http://legrosfranck.com/">Le Gros Frank</a> last night for a meal with Fliss' Mum, partner and sister. Despite a slightly shakey start from a lovely but nervous waitress (warm champagne, the horror!) the meal was lovely. We did however forgo desert and instead supped our coffees and desert wines back at the ranch.</p>
<p>The serving of such food was slightly hampered by the every expanding micro-fracture in the master pipework coming into the house. As a result 3 days after reporting the leak to the rental agency we currently have a rather leathal kitchen floor and ad-hoc towel based dam. In theory the plumber should be with us in the next half hour and then we can continue preparing for the BBQ on Saturday.</p>
<p>The forcast for the weekend is looking less than ideal but then I stopped believing the forcasts around here a long time ago. We shall have to see what happens on the day, at least it's currently drier than Glasto ;-)</p>
Cryptographic Hashes2009-06-26T09:12:00+01:002009-06-26T09:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-26:/~alex/blog/2009/06/26/1255/<p>If your new to cryptographic hashes or simply want an intro that isn't overly heavy detailed maths then I can recommend <a class="reference external" href="http://valerieaurora.org/monkey.html">The Code Monkey's Guide</a> by kernel hacker Valerie Aurora.</p>
Turning off the internet2009-06-24T10:31:00+01:002009-06-24T10:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-24:/~alex/blog/2009/06/24/1254/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A couple of <a class="reference external" href="http://asert.arbornetworks.com/2009/06/iranian-traffic-engineering/">interesting</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://asert.arbornetworks.com/2009/06/a-deeper-look-at-the-iranian-firewall/">blog</a> href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/06/irans_internet_dilemma.html">http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/06/irans_internet_dilemma.html</a>">posts</div>
<div class="line">looking at the difficulties Iran is having in turning off it's</div>
<div class="line">internet. While countries like Iran and China have some very</div>
<div class="line">sophisticated filtering solutions to limit what their own citizens can</div>
<div class="line">see …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A couple of <a class="reference external" href="http://asert.arbornetworks.com/2009/06/iranian-traffic-engineering/">interesting</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://asert.arbornetworks.com/2009/06/a-deeper-look-at-the-iranian-firewall/">blog</a> href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/06/irans_internet_dilemma.html">http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/06/irans_internet_dilemma.html</a>">posts</div>
<div class="line">looking at the difficulties Iran is having in turning off it's</div>
<div class="line">internet. While countries like Iran and China have some very</div>
<div class="line">sophisticated filtering solutions to limit what their own citizens can</div>
<div class="line">see on the internet (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.iwf.org.uk/">just like
us</a>) as the internet becomes more pervasive the option to turn it</div>
<div class="line">off becomes harder to do. Countries have to balance economic interests</div>
<div class="line">with their desire for political control.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Assuming there will always be some connectivity it makes sense to</div>
<div class="line">support projects like href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network</a>)">Tor</div>
<div class="line">and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet">Freenet</a> that</div>
<div class="line">allow users to bypass state imposed censorship. We should be very wary</div>
<div class="line">if our governments start mandating what we href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8091044.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8091044.stm</a>">should</div>
<div class="line">and shouldn't run on our machines. We should always protect href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html</a>">freedom 0.</div>
</div>
Visiting the North2009-06-22T15:35:00+01:002009-06-22T15:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-22:/~alex/blog/2009/06/22/visiting-the-north/<p>Our visit to Manchester was considered a success. It was a slightly longer visit than usual as Fliss was working in the area. This gave us the opportunity to travel up on Wednesday evening. What follows is a summary of what I/we did:</p>
<p>Wednesday saw us at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.awesomewalls.co.uk/">climbing …</a></p><p>Our visit to Manchester was considered a success. It was a slightly longer visit than usual as Fliss was working in the area. This gave us the opportunity to travel up on Wednesday evening. What follows is a summary of what I/we did:</p>
<p>Wednesday saw us at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.awesomewalls.co.uk/">climbing wall</a> with Chris and Paula (and the rest...). Fliss had climbed before whereas this was my first time giving it a go. All in all it was quite enjoyable although I slightly lost my nerve on the one of the flatter walls. It seems even experienced climbers try not to look down too much!</p>
<p>For Thursday I was on my own as Fliss was working so I headed down to Knutsford to join Mufi for a working lunch discussing various business approaches and other trials and tribulations of being a coder for hire. I left him in good spirits in the evening, I have no idea of what happened between that and when TJ arrived home ;-)</p>
<p>Friday started with a lunch with Sue, Al and Rosie with a swift visit from Anne. After a suitable pause for digestion (and a light evening repast) we headed down to Lee's for his birthday burnination event. Things seemed to go well, wood was burnt, beer consumed and apparently so were some marshmallows. I think we ended up staying later than intended as I have memories of manoeuvring Chris home followed by very quickly falling asleep in bed.</p>
<p>I had a comparative lie in on Saturday as the rest of the household headed to various work like activities. However once the sun made it's presence felt through the Manchester clouds I got my stuff together and headed into town. I'd booked the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.englishlounge.co.uk/">English Lounge</a> for the combined birthday/engagement bash. Having a dedicated room for the celebrations certainly made things a lot easier and it was good for the growing number of families to be able to attend. It was really cool to catch up with everyone at the party, I hope I didn't miss anyone while walking around. Thanks for all the good wishes for the up-coming married life experience:-) After we were finally kicked out we made our slightly roundabout returns to Radcliffe</p>
<p>Sunday didn't see us achieve much apart from slowly extracting ourselves from Chris and Paula's sofa to drive home. I spent the evening doing a little weeding in an attempt to hold back the tide of invaders to our growing garden. We feasted on our first harvest after cutting the Savoy cabbage back to prevent them smothering each other. It made a lovely soup. Some ripe (but eaten) strawberries were spotted during my sweep so it may be time to start putting some netting around the more tempting of our fruit and veg.</p>
<p>Lovely if a little tiring (extended) weekend.</p>
Geoglyphs?2009-06-22T12:24:00+01:002009-06-22T12:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-22:/~alex/blog/2009/06/22/geoglyphs/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We decided to drive back to Cambridge via the Woodhead pass on Sunday as it's a much prettier drive. However I did notice a bunch of "path" markings before the final tight turn and climb. It looked like some one had been creating <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoglyph">Geoglyphs</a> but looking on Google maps <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=A628,+SK13+1,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=Fc5FMAMdpJPj_w&split=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.875,57.630033&ll=53.500951,-1.789634&spn=0.008628,0.027444&t=h&z=16">reveals …</a></div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We decided to drive back to Cambridge via the Woodhead pass on Sunday as it's a much prettier drive. However I did notice a bunch of "path" markings before the final tight turn and climb. It looked like some one had been creating <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoglyph">Geoglyphs</a> but looking on Google maps <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=A628,+SK13+1,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=Fc5FMAMdpJPj_w&split=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.875,57.630033&ll=53.500951,-1.789634&spn=0.008628,0.027444&t=h&z=16">reveals nothing</a>. Anyone else noticed them?</div>
<div class="line"><strong>EDIT TO ADD:</strong> There is something on Google Maps now, mazes perhaps.</div>
</div>
longlines-mode2009-06-16T15:06:00+01:002009-06-16T15:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-16:/~alex/blog/2009/06/16/1251/<p>I use a fantastic little Firefox add-on called <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4125">It's all Text</a> to spawn an Emacs client when editing text boxes. However up until recently I kept having problems with formatting of my posts. Even though HTML doesn't really care about white space most blog software tends to treat them as …</p><p>I use a fantastic little Firefox add-on called <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4125">It's all Text</a> to spawn an Emacs client when editing text boxes. However up until recently I kept having problems with formatting of my posts. Even though HTML doesn't really care about white space most blog software tends to treat them as though they mean something. This can lead to some ugly formatting because hidden HTML elements still count towards <em>auto-fill-mode</em> when flowing text. Yes I can turn off auto-fill mode but then lines wrap at the full width of my emacs window.</p>
<p>Enter <em>longlines-mode</em> which still wraps the text pleasingly on my display but only puts the real "hard returns" in the final text. As a bonus it even shows me the real returns as special glyphs.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
; I don't want all text-mode stuff to be auto-fill as editing text
; boxes can screw with the formatting (especially if html is involved)
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook
'(lambda ()
(if (string-match "itsalltext" (buffer-file-name))
(progn
(message "enabling long lines for itsalltext")
(longlines-mode 1)
(longlines-show-hard-newlines))
(turn-on-auto-fill))))
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I can finally remove the horrible /r /n gobbling hack in my blog script and post code snippets formatted the way I want them :-)</div>
</div>
GStreamer and stdin2009-06-16T14:25:00+01:002009-06-16T14:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-16:/~alex/blog/2009/06/16/1250/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GStreamer">GStreamer</a> is the media framework used by the Gnome Desktop. For the most part it's working is hidden from users as media players setup up the processing pipelines required. However sometimes you just want to play something from the command line and that's where a lot of head scratching can …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GStreamer">GStreamer</a> is the media framework used by the Gnome Desktop. For the most part it's working is hidden from users as media players setup up the processing pipelines required. However sometimes you just want to play something from the command line and that's where a lot of head scratching can be involved as you try and work out the correct incantation. Thankfully the developers have tried to make command line invocations simple. The "playbin" option mostly does the right thing:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
gst-launch playbin uri=file:///home/alex/broken.ogg
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">However while I was indulging a little nostalgia and playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://sc68.atari.org/project.html">sc68</a> I found myself wanting to use that other *nix convention of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipeline_(Unix)">pipes</a>. The sc68 player doesn't actually deal with playback but provides a raw audio stream that can be "piped" to an audio output. Unfortunately searching for "gstreamer pipes" on Google brings up a lot of overly technical discussions about GStreamer's multimedia processing pipeline which while undoubtedly powerful and flexible (and modelled after Unix pipes) doesn't actually help me with my problem. After some playing about with gst-inspect and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grep">grep</a> I finally found something that looked promising, the "fdsrc" element. The <em>fd</em> refers to a "file descriptor" and it's relevance to pipes would probably be missed by someone not familiar with *nix terminology. Eventually I arrived at my solution:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
./sc68/sc68 music/Jochen\ Hippel\ \(Mad\ Max\)/Atari\ ST/Cuddly\ Demo.sc68 | gst-launch-0.10 fdsrc ! audioparse ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! alsasink
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Of course the real aim of exercise was to replace my current ring tone with something a bit more retro. Here another utility comes in, the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAME">LAME</a> mp3 encoder. This follows the "standard" convention of using <em>-</em> in place of file names to indicate input (or output) should from <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_streams">standard input</a> (or of course to standard output). The command line was easily guessed:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
./sc68/sc68 music/Jochen\ Hippel\ \(Mad\ Max\)/Atari\ ST/Cuddly\ Demo.sc68 | lame -r - cuddly.mp3
Track : 0/6
Title : Cuddly Demo
Author : Jochen Hippel (Mad Max)
Composer : Jochen Hippel (Mad Max)
Replay : built-in
Hardware : Yamaha-2149
Start time : 0:00
Duration : 06 13:07
Track : 1/6
Title : Color Shock
Author : Jochen Hippel (Mad Max)
Composer : Jochen Hippel (Mad Max)
Replay : mcoder
Hardware : Yamaha-2149
Start time : 0:00
Duration : 01 03:12
Assuming raw pcm input file
LAME 3.98.2 64bits (http://www.mp3dev.org/)
Using polyphase lowpass filter, transition band: 16538 Hz - 17071 Hz
Encoding to cuddly.mp3
Encoding as 44.1 kHz j-stereo MPEG-1 Layer III (11x) 128 kbps qval=3
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">And bingo, one very retro ring tone for my phone :-)</div>
</div>
Another Manchester Visit2009-06-15T14:29:00+01:002009-06-15T14:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-15:/~alex/blog/2009/06/15/another-manchester-visit/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We are coming up to Manchester on Wednesday evening for the weekend.</div>
<div class="line">As Fliss will be busy making UK government better during the day on</div>
<div class="line">Thursday and Friday I shall be pootling around Manchester with time on</div>
<div class="line">my hands. If anyone wants to do lunch/visit pub during the day …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We are coming up to Manchester on Wednesday evening for the weekend.</div>
<div class="line">As Fliss will be busy making UK government better during the day on</div>
<div class="line">Thursday and Friday I shall be pootling around Manchester with time on</div>
<div class="line">my hands. If anyone wants to do lunch/visit pub during the day please</div>
<div class="line">ping me. And a quick reminder that we are having a little gathering to</div>
<div class="line">celebrate engagement/Fliss' 3rd decade of survival on Saturday</div>
<div class="line">afternoon in town. I have been very lazy and organised it all with</div>
<div class="line">the dreaded Facebook so again ping me if you want the details.</div>
</div>
Topping up the tan2009-06-15T10:01:00+01:002009-06-15T10:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-15:/~alex/blog/2009/06/15/topping-up-the-tan/<p>My arms are starting to approach some sort of healthy* shade of brown as I've spent the last three days out in the sunshine and fresh air.</p>
<p>Friday I took advantage of my current employment flexibility to join my parents for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelford.org/walks/walk45.htm">walk in Hertfordshire</a>. My parents had been planning …</p><p>My arms are starting to approach some sort of healthy* shade of brown as I've spent the last three days out in the sunshine and fresh air.</p>
<p>Friday I took advantage of my current employment flexibility to join my parents for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelford.org/walks/walk45.htm">walk in Hertfordshire</a>. My parents had been planning on going on Wednesday but the turn in the weather made Friday a far more preferable day to be walking. By the end of the day my neck felt a little red but not overly burnt.</p>
<p>Saturday was spent messing about on the river as we punted from town to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grantchester">Grantchester</a> for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.parm.net/">Chris'</a> birthday celebrations. I'm sure I've drunk Pimms before but it certainly goes well with the activity. Again the weather held up for the day and I returned home well illuminated.</p>
<p>Fliss and I headed to the tiny county of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland">Rutland</a> on Sunday with bikes attached to the car to join <a class="reference external" href="http://benzworld.vox.com/">my brother</a>, partner and parents for a cycle ride around Rutland water. All told it was around 18 miles of fairly easy cycling with a few pubs and a gasto pub/restaurant thrown into the bargain. The only downside was hearing my brothers power assisted mountain bike whir past me on some of the steeper climbs!</p>
<p>After 3 days of sunshine I won't mind the rain being forecast for this evening. The forecast has however been woefully wrong for the last 3 days I have no idea what today will bring!</p>
<p>* healthy/radiation burns, it all depends on your point of view</p>
Distributed VCS2009-06-09T10:17:00+01:002009-06-09T10:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-09:/~alex/blog/2009/06/09/distributed-vcs/<p>I've mentioned distributed version control systems a few times. It was interesting note the advice that <a class="reference external" href="http://savannah.nongnu.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=5828">Savannah is giving</a> about recovering from a recent disk crash. Both Git andMercurial based projects can restore from local repositories as they contain all the revision history within them. The centralised version control systems …</p><p>I've mentioned distributed version control systems a few times. It was interesting note the advice that <a class="reference external" href="http://savannah.nongnu.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=5828">Savannah is giving</a> about recovering from a recent disk crash. Both Git andMercurial based projects can restore from local repositories as they contain all the revision history within them. The centralised version control systems are relying explicit backups being made. History has proved that getting <a class="reference external" href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/15/0138204">backups done right</a> is harder <a class="reference external" href="http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Gentoo_Linux_Wiki:Backups">than it looks</a>. If your running an open source project there is a lot to be said for having ever developer mirror you code for you. To slightly misquote Linus*: <em>"Only wimps use backup: _real_ men just upload their important stuff and let the rest of the world mirror it"</em>.</p>
<p>* The <a class="reference external" href="http://groups.google.com/group/linux.dev.kernel/msg/76ae734d543e396d?pli=1">original quote</a> mentions tape and ftp which dates it a bit.</p>
Getting it2009-06-08T22:50:00+01:002009-06-08T22:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-08:/~alex/blog/2009/06/08/1246/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Apparently according to href="<a class="reference external" href="http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LispUsersAreArrogant">http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LispUsersAreArrogant</a>">some learning</div>
<div class="line">Lisp is a path to programming enlightenment. Although I'm not in that</div>
<div class="line">school (elisp is about a better editor for me, not a way of life) I</div>
<div class="line">did have a slight light-bulb illuminating moment today.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">One of the …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Apparently according to href="<a class="reference external" href="http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LispUsersAreArrogant">http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LispUsersAreArrogant</a>">some learning</div>
<div class="line">Lisp is a path to programming enlightenment. Although I'm not in that</div>
<div class="line">school (elisp is about a better editor for me, not a way of life) I</div>
<div class="line">did have a slight light-bulb illuminating moment today.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">One of the jobs I have at the moment is maintaining some href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Network_Management_Protocol">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Network_Management_Protocol</a>">SNMP</div>
<div class="line">agent software. It's written in C with a hand hacked GTK GUI and very</div>
<div class="line">sparsely documented. One of the tasks has been converting a bunch of</div>
<div class="line">the code to abstract some of the SNMP tables into proper structures</div>
<div class="line">which is a massive improvement on the dense mixture of sparsely commented OID</div>
<div class="line">parsing/GUI update code. However I caught myself Copy & Pasting a lot of the</div>
<div class="line">boiler plate code because most of it is identical apart from the</div>
<div class="line">actual object parsing which looks like:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
if (snmp_oid_compare(oid, oid_entry_A))
{
obj->valueA = oid->val->integer;
}
else if (snmp_oid_compare(oid, oid_entry_B))
{
obj->stringB = g_memdup(oid->val->string)
}
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Clearly something has gone wrong when you find yourself copying and</div>
<div class="line">pasting code. Really it should be possible to describe the mapping in</div>
<div class="line">a data structure and have one common set of code for iterating a</div>
<div class="line">table. I started wondering how such a structure would work:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
myMagicMappingTable[]= {
{oid_a, INT, offset(&magicObj->objA)},
{oid_b, STRING, offset(&magicObj->objB)},
}
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well that would work OK, except the munging code isn't quite all that</div>
<div class="line">boiler plate. The existing code isn't all straight mapping of SNMP</div>
<div class="line">types to the C structure. Also using offsets into anonymous structures</div>
<div class="line">is the sort of old-school C trick that one should try to avoid in</div>
<div class="line">maintainable code.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As I thought on I considered a formulation involving C function</div>
<div class="line">pointers in the table. This would have involved a lot of typing to</div>
<div class="line">declare each function snippet before some shady casting tricks could</div>
<div class="line">be pulled. "What I really need", I thought, "is some way to add</div>
<div class="line">anonymous functions to my data structure". That's when the light bulb</div>
<div class="line">went off and I recalled the meaning of href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-class_function">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-class_function</a>">first class</div>
<div class="line">functions and the world made a little more sense.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So I can't recode this application into Lisp (or even elisp) but as an</div>
<div class="line">exercise I coded up an approach to the problem in emacs to see if</div>
<div class="line">things are making more sense. I ended up with:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
(setq snmp-results (list
(list ".1.2.3.4.5" "value A")
(list ".1.2.3.4.6" "value B")
(list ".1.2.3.4.7" "value C")
(list ".1.2.3.4.8" "value D")))
(setq magic-object (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
(setq magic-map '(
(".1.2.3.4.5" . (lambda (val obj)
(puthash "thingA" val obj)))
(".1.2.3.4.6" . (lambda (val obj)
(message "skipping thing B")))
(".1.2.3.4.7" . (lambda (val obj)
(puthash "thingC"
(format "value is %s" val)
obj)))))
(let ((results snmp-results))
(while results
(let ((pdu (pop results))
(magic))
(setq magic (assoc (car pdu) magic-map))
(if magic
(funcall (cdr magic) (cdr pdu) magic-object)
(message "Couldn't map:%s" pdu)))))
(maphash (lambda (k v) (message "k:%s v:%s" k v)) magic-object)
=>
k:thingA v:(value A)
k:thingC v:value is (value C)
nil
</pre>
<p>And that code makes sense to me. I wonder if that means I'm starting to "get lisp"?</p>
Elections2009-06-08T11:56:00+01:002009-06-08T11:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-08:/~alex/blog/2009/06/08/1245/<p>It's a slightly odd situation where the results of local elections and European's were so spread apart. Locally in my ward the Lib Dems <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/democracy/elections/elections2009/candidatesandresults/division.htm?division=waterbeach">held on</a> while a resurgent Tory party chipped away at the incumbents lead. Overall the council was no change from the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/3850.stm">fairly safe Conservative council</a> you …</p><p>It's a slightly odd situation where the results of local elections and European's were so spread apart. Locally in my ward the Lib Dems <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/democracy/elections/elections2009/candidatesandresults/division.htm?division=waterbeach">held on</a> while a resurgent Tory party chipped away at the incumbents lead. Overall the council was no change from the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/3850.stm">fairly safe Conservative council</a> you would expect to see down in the rural(ish) south east. The council elections are basically a 3 way fight with a few independents thrown in and luckily no BNP candidates attempting to chance their arm.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the same can't be said of the European elections whose foot and a half long ballot paper bought out all the fringe parties. While the BNP were still beaten by the Greens (and still very short of winning a seat) it's depressing to see nearly 100,000 people have voted for them, even given the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2009/06/fewer_votes_for.html">analysis</a> is their share is only up because of collapse in support for the other parties.</p>
<p>The real question now is where this leave the current government? I'm all for reviewing the constitutional basis for when elections can be held but the rules as they stand say Mr Brown gets to decide when that is. While I'm fairly partisan in my desire to have this current government thrown out I'd happily live with them hanging on until next year if they could at least given a semblance of an impression of the ability to govern. All I'm seeing at the moment is in-fighting and the occasional <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8087648.stm">gimmick</a>.</p>
In preparation for tomorrow2009-06-03T10:55:00+01:002009-06-03T10:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-03:/~alex/blog/2009/06/03/1244/<p>A few weeks ago I contacted all my MEPs to request the last years worth of expenses claims they had made. Only the Lib Dems actually provided the information requested (although being MEP's in condensed summary form, they have an even laxer expenses than Westminster). The one Labour MEP was …</p><p>A few weeks ago I contacted all my MEPs to request the last years worth of expenses claims they had made. Only the Lib Dems actually provided the information requested (although being MEP's in condensed summary form, they have an even laxer expenses than Westminster). The one Labour MEP was completely non responsive, I suspect his position at the top of a PR list means he will always get in without having to win over new voters.</p>
<p>I present the results in handy <a class="reference external" href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rE_W212HklvFmIQEXBOd03Q&output=html">spreadsheet form</a>. I'm sure more interesting analysis is possible but it is a small data set. Still hasn't helped me decide on my vote tomorrow though :-(</p>
Messing about with emacs server2009-06-02T17:11:00+01:002009-06-02T17:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-02:/~alex/blog/2009/06/02/1243/<p>I've been messing around with some weird-ass behaviour with my emacs-server. I had some code in it to deal with automatically opening a fresh frame (while in X) which I had plugged from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsClient#toc14">emacsclient wiki page</a>. In one of my more recent updates the bleeding edge emacs I run …</p><p>I've been messing around with some weird-ass behaviour with my emacs-server. I had some code in it to deal with automatically opening a fresh frame (while in X) which I had plugged from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsClient#toc14">emacsclient wiki page</a>. In one of my more recent updates the bleeding edge emacs I run on most (but not all) of my boxes gained -c option to create a new frame for editing.</p>
<p>This caused all sorts of confusion and I started seeing inconsistent behaviour between invocations of emacsclient causing new frames to maybe appear or multiple frames being created. A bunch of (message)'s latter I started making the code more defencive and detecting the case when the current frame was the original server frame.</p>
<p>It was at this point the inconsistent behaviour disappeared and I was able to reliably bring up a fresh focused frame for everything I was editing. Calls without the -c parameter will cause the code to spawn a new frame automatically although it doesn't benefit from correct workspace focus -c will give you. I can only think that the code as it was would break at some subtle point (I'm guessing the server-edit-hook) and at that point not be able to recover. Still the <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/commit/95c3569e0f55d51150b42bc4382b516885b972dc">changes I've made</a> do seem to have improved things for now. Now all I need to do is test it on the other boxen with emacsen.</p>
Desktop Save Mode2009-06-01T18:56:00+01:002009-06-01T18:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-01:/~alex/blog/2009/06/01/desktop-save-mode/<p>While browsing <a class="reference external" href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/847962/what-alternate-session-managers-are-available-for-emacs">stackoverflow</a> I (re)discovered <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Saving-Emacs-Sessions.html">Desktop Save Mode</a> which I must of <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/commit/b2b7428026ea8cae4964d6bc6debe77d148f7cc1">played with</a> in an earlier emacs version and then disabled. My only gripe at the moment is watching emacs load everything in it's old face style before my magic new frame starts up. I suspect this is …</p><p>While browsing <a class="reference external" href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/847962/what-alternate-session-managers-are-available-for-emacs">stackoverflow</a> I (re)discovered <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Saving-Emacs-Sessions.html">Desktop Save Mode</a> which I must of <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/commit/b2b7428026ea8cae4964d6bc6debe77d148f7cc1">played with</a> in an earlier emacs version and then disabled. My only gripe at the moment is watching emacs load everything in it's old face style before my magic new frame starts up. I suspect this is probably a hangover from the funny hacks I have to ensure the default frame appears as I want it.</p>
Swift Visit2009-06-01T15:15:00+01:002009-06-01T15:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-06-01:/~alex/blog/2009/06/01/swift-visit/<p>My swift visit to Manchester was fun. Not having suffered too much from the party the night before both Lee and I attended the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stockportfestival.org.uk/">Stockport Beer Festival</a> on the Saturday. Although out doors we where shaded from the sun most of the day by virtue of Edgeley Park's orientation. This …</p><p>My swift visit to Manchester was fun. Not having suffered too much from the party the night before both Lee and I attended the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stockportfestival.org.uk/">Stockport Beer Festival</a> on the Saturday. Although out doors we where shaded from the sun most of the day by virtue of Edgeley Park's orientation. This is probably a good thing in retrospect, we are fast approaching sun burn territory. There were some nice beers in attendance although I have to admit I'm still feeling a little spoil-ed by the previous week's Cambridge beer festival.</p>
<p>We went around to Chris and Paula's for the evening, nominally to watch DVDs and eat food. In the end we ended up mainly eating food and having a general natter and chin wag. We were also joined by the lovely Jo who latter ferried us back home so we could avoid the perils of taxi services. We were actually in bed by more or less midnight which is a testament to our advancing years. It was just as well though as Lee was heading off for some early Sunday morning bike riding and I wanted to get back to Cambridge and see at least some of the day with Fliss.</p>
<p>I took the scenic route home having gotten tired of the M6 on the way up. It was a lovely summer morning drive and more interesting being on A roads compared to the sameness of motorway driving. I made it home by midday in time for a light bout of gardening. I'm in charge of the tomatoes so spent a little time "training" them to grow in mutually beneficial directions. I spent the remainder of the day clearing up under Fliss' direction*. We ended with a lovely marinaded Chicken and Steak cooked on the BBQ, a trend I suspect will continue this week.</p>
<p>* This in no way is meant to imply she doesn't work in the garden, she very much does the bulk of the work. I only point out that once I have attended to my personal duties I need direction on what to pick up and put where :-)</p>
Rocking out in the 'burbs2009-05-30T11:55:00+01:002009-05-30T11:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-30:/~alex/blog/2009/05/30/rocking-out-in-the-burbs/<p>We went to ChrisP's party last night. Aside from a brief thoughts about how I could have converted my old house to 3 flats it was a fun packed night. Help was provided by the excellent party game Guitar Hero (World Tour). The original guitar now aided by drums, bass …</p><p>We went to ChrisP's party last night. Aside from a brief thoughts about how I could have converted my old house to 3 flats it was a fun packed night. Help was provided by the excellent party game Guitar Hero (World Tour). The original guitar now aided by drums, bass and a even a Sing Star style vocal track. Yes even I attempted to sing a Nirvana track (About a Girl IIRC). It really works well as a party game. I have to admit I did feel a little old at points wanting to point out to two people stood next to each other that shouting wasn't required to communicate effectively. Yet another step towards becoming my parents :-)</p>
New Feed: Emacs Stuff2009-05-29T12:59:00+01:002009-05-29T12:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-29:/~alex/blog/2009/05/29/1239/<p>I've created a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_topic=6&wl_mode=rss">feed</a> for my emacs related posts (there are <a class="reference external" href="http://bennee.com/~alex/feeds.php">more</a>) with an eye to getting it syndicated on <a class="reference external" href="http://planet.emacsen.org/">Planet Emacs</a> and joining the wider emacs blogging community. Of course this means I'll have to blog about emacs more often which may throw the "all topics" <a class="reference external" href="http://syndicated.livejournal.com/stsquad_real/">syndicated livejournal …</a></p><p>I've created a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_topic=6&wl_mode=rss">feed</a> for my emacs related posts (there are <a class="reference external" href="http://bennee.com/~alex/feeds.php">more</a>) with an eye to getting it syndicated on <a class="reference external" href="http://planet.emacsen.org/">Planet Emacs</a> and joining the wider emacs blogging community. Of course this means I'll have to blog about emacs more often which may throw the "all topics" <a class="reference external" href="http://syndicated.livejournal.com/stsquad_real/">syndicated livejournal feed</a> people, but they are probably use to the wild swings between general trivia and geek overload already :-)</p>
<p>As soon as I have a working solution for my "emacsclient frames keep jumping to the wrong workspace" problem I'll be sure to post it up here.</p>
Travel Plans2009-05-26T11:55:00+01:002009-05-26T11:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-26:/~alex/blog/2009/05/26/travel-plans/<p>I'm planning a quick visit to Manchester this coming weekend. I should be up Friday evening and will be going to the Stockport Beer Festival on Saturday. Certainly beats Tequila :-/</p>
Bank Holiday Sunshine!2009-05-26T11:50:00+01:002009-05-26T11:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-26:/~alex/blog/2009/05/26/bank-holiday-sunshine/<p>The lead up to the Bank Holiday was pretty good and improved up to the weekend and pretty much held out until this morning's overcast and grey skies. As far as bank holiday's go it was pretty atypical :-)</p>
<p>We had the first of the two summer Cambridge beer festivals last …</p><p>The lead up to the Bank Holiday was pretty good and improved up to the weekend and pretty much held out until this morning's overcast and grey skies. As far as bank holiday's go it was pretty atypical :-)</p>
<p>We had the first of the two summer Cambridge beer festivals last week. Fliss and I joined some of our local friends for a sup or two on Wednesday evening before the ale ran out. We were joined by Mark and Asun on Friday and Saturday by which time the queues for the festival has become very excessive. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=100277">CAMRA membership</a> certainly has it's uses and I think it will be well worth keeping my membership up while I'm living in Cambridge. As the beer was rapidly running out on Saturday I took the two of them for a quick tour of some of Cambridge's other drinking spots. These included <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=pickerel+inn,+cambridge&vps=4&jsv=159e&sll=62.915233,0&sspn=179.804855,360&ie=UTF8&ct=clnk&cd=1">The Pickerel Inn</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.radegund.org.uk/">St Ragegund</a> (home of the Milton beers we can't drink in Milton!), and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.the-cambridgeblue.co.uk/">The Cambridge Blue</a>. Mark certainly seemed impressed by the range of beers on offer and the city's real ale credentials.</p>
<p>Sunday was spent mainly lazing in the beautiful sunshine in the garden while testing out the new BBQ. Monday wasn't quite as warm but still gave plenty of opportunity to potter about in the garden and fight the never ending battle against weeds. After a weekend like that I didn't mind the rain this morning giving the garden some much needed water.</p>
Social Media2009-05-19T13:07:00+01:002009-05-19T13:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-19:/~alex/blog/2009/05/19/1236/<p>I've been experimenting with various <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">micro-blogging</a> sites for a week or so seeing if I could understand the hype. I have to say I'm starting to see the things it's good for. For example I've just been notified of the speakers <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057203.stm">impending resignation</a> not by reading my news feeds but …</p><p>I've been experimenting with various <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging">micro-blogging</a> sites for a week or so seeing if I could understand the hype. I have to say I'm starting to see the things it's good for. For example I've just been notified of the speakers <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057203.stm">impending resignation</a> not by reading my news feeds but because I follow the Today programmes <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/r4today">twitter feed</a>. I've also found that by using proper tagging I get timely <a class="reference external" href="http://identi.ca/stsquad/replies">replies</a> to problems I'm tackling at the time.</p>
<p>Micro-blogging seems to be very much a tool "of the moment". Reading through the last two days of feed would be too much and not as useful as say reading the last two days of RSS feeds you may follow. You never really want to go beyond the current page of notifications. Luckily decent software means that replies to you (often the really useful posts) are kept in nice separate tab.</p>
<p>To get the most out of these services you need to learn to use tags. I'm still a little unclear about the difference between # and ! tags but these mean your tweet/dent/comment is disseminated beyond your direct followers and to the relevant groups/searches. In this way your message is more immediate than a mailing list but a little less involved/interactive than connecting directly to an IRC channel.</p>
<p>I'm still not totally taken in by the hype. I'm also sure there is a lot of useful aggregate data in the ${MB}-sphere that is going to be a gold mine for advertisers and market research companies. Given the open APIs these services have I find it hard to imagine how they could close up to serve adverts to their users. I suspect it will be more useful to keep the user feeds "clean" and report back to ${MEGACORP} about the impact of their latest viral advertising effort. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.</p>
<blockquote>
<strong>p.s.</strong>: I tweaked my Gwibber client to filter out some tags when posting status updated to Facebook and Pidgin. My hacks can be found at <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/Gwibber/tree/working_hack">github</a>.</blockquote>
Grab Bag of Comments2009-05-13T12:26:00+01:002009-05-13T12:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-13:/~alex/blog/2009/05/13/grab-bag-of-comments/<p>I've had a long series of blog posts percolating in my brain over the last few days which have never made it to fruition due to <em>stuff</em>. I now present those posts in condensed form:</p>
<p><strong>House and Home:</strong> We have weeded, prepped and planted out our garden. Although we are …</p><p>I've had a long series of blog posts percolating in my brain over the last few days which have never made it to fruition due to <em>stuff</em>. I now present those posts in condensed form:</p>
<p><strong>House and Home:</strong> We have weeded, prepped and planted out our garden. Although we are renting we will most likely be in the current place long enough to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of our labour</p>
<p><strong>Work:</strong> I have seen accountant and things are in motion for my new status as freelance consultant. As a result I spent yesterday with my arms deep in exim/drupal erecting my professional store front. Keep me in mind if anyone mentions a desire to have an expert look at their use/potential use of FLOSS code for a project.</p>
<p><strong>Micro-Blogging:</strong> I still don't see the point but as all the cool kids are doing it I thought I'd give it a go. You can find me on <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/stsquad">Twitter</a> and the more open <a class="reference external" href="http://identi.ca/stsquad">identi.ca</a>. My tweets/dents/FB status/IM status updates are handled by the lovely <a class="reference external" href="https://launchpad.net/gwibber">Gwibber</a>.</p>
<p><strong>MPs Expenses:</strong> Yes it's easy to get outraged by the whole thing, abuse of trust, bring politics into disrepute and all that. However it's not the most pressing political issue of the day and it's getting an inordinate amount of coverage for the importance of the issue. It is however gratifying seeing the leaders race each other for the sack cloth and ashes at the moment.</p>
<p><strong>Star Trek:</strong>: Fantastic, enjoyed it immensely and happy about the return of the franchise. There were a few points in the film that where a little too slapstick but I'm willing to give it a pass.</p>
Professional Development2009-05-07T18:25:00+01:002009-05-07T18:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-05-07:/~alex/blog/2009/05/07/professional-development/<p>I went to a embedded conference today (re: sales pitch). It's been awhile since I've been exposed to salesperson snake oil but I thought it would be useful to see what the state of the art in the embedded world was like. All in all it was a useful event …</p><p>I went to a embedded conference today (re: sales pitch). It's been awhile since I've been exposed to salesperson snake oil but I thought it would be useful to see what the state of the art in the embedded world was like. All in all it was a useful event and I did learn a few things.</p>
<p>First of all the first thing that struck me was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.windriver.com/">WindRiver</a> conversion to Linux. Their attitude was a welcome improvement on my last professional involvement with them which was very different. The company still has propensity to binary blobs as I watched their spiel for the <a class="reference external" href="http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS1983455946.html">Tilcon GUI</a> environment. I wasn't sure exactly what it did better than existing toolkits like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qtopia">QTopia</a> or <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTK%2B">GTK</a>, especially as the back-end on Linux was X11!</p>
<p>I spoke to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mvista.com/">MontaVista</a> guys about their offering and got a few pointers to my holly grail of a decent embedded build system. I'm going to have a play with <a class="reference external" href="http://bitbake.berlios.de/manual/">BitBake</a> and have a go at getting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/embedded/handbook/">Gentoo Embedded</a> building. Maybe a custom distro for my netbook?</p>
<p>Hardware has moved on a little. Pretty much everyone is using JTAG for ICEs now, most with more advanced tools like integrated Logic Analysers and CPU Trace support. The talk from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lauterbach.co.uk/frames.html?ukindex.html">Lauterbach</a> guy was good. I was particularly impressed in their coverage tool which can integrate power measurement with code coverage to indicate mJ per line of code. Next time I'm responsible for deciding on development hardware I'll certainly get some of their kit for trail. My only real disappointment is none of the JTAG debugger boards have really worked on decent GDB integration. If GDB is supported it's usually by a hacked up forked version of an old build. A number of the sales drones expressed surprise that I would want to use a clunky command line instead of their pretty GUIs. I will use their GUI tools if I'm doing fancy timing analyses or coverage work, but sometime you just want to connect to the host see where it is and get a back-trace, command line GDB is by far the most useful debugging tool for well over half the problems I ever have to look at.</p>
On the move2009-04-28T22:49:00+01:002009-04-28T22:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-28:/~alex/blog/2009/04/28/1233/<p>I finally got tethering working on between my netbook and mobile phone. Tethering is the process where you use your 3G mobile phone as a "modem" for you laptop to surf on the move. It's also something the mobile phone providers hate as they would like to sell you a …</p><p>I finally got tethering working on between my netbook and mobile phone. Tethering is the process where you use your 3G mobile phone as a "modem" for you laptop to surf on the move. It's also something the mobile phone providers hate as they would like to sell you a special dongle and charge you for bits from your laptop rather than bits from your phone. Doubtless to say this piece of artificial marketing annoys the hell out of me, if they are really worried they should just lower the already low caps on the phone based data packages. Of course then people surfing on their phones would notice. I'm not against charging for bandwidth per se, however I draw the line at the telecoms company caring where the packets are from (or what they carry).</p>
<p>There was some black voodoo magic involved which may have involved disabling SELinux and browsing the phone SD card to establish a connection that "pand" so failed to establish on it's own. Also it would probably help if I didn't test this stuff while zooming at 100mph on a train from Cambridge to London. Still get it working once and everything else is just scripting :-)</p>
Ashes to Ashes2009-04-28T10:47:00+01:002009-04-28T10:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-28:/~alex/blog/2009/04/28/ashes-to-ashes/<p>We caught an episode of the new series of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/ashestoashes/">Ashes to Ashes</a> last night. To this date I only had watched half of the first episode of the first series and was giving it a second try before deciding if it was worth catching up with the series. Fliss wanted …</p><p>We caught an episode of the new series of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/ashestoashes/">Ashes to Ashes</a> last night. To this date I only had watched half of the first episode of the first series and was giving it a second try before deciding if it was worth catching up with the series. Fliss wanted to be brought up to speed which I think can be fairly summarised as "It's Life on Mars but with no Sam Tyler, in the Eighties, and for some unexplainable reason in London".</p>
<p>Unfortunately IMHO it isn't that good. I can see the nostalgia trip may do it for some people but where as the 70's are far enough away to be a warm fuzzy glow I can remember a lot of 80's. Maybe it's an age thing? I don't really want to ooh and ahh at the fashions in vogue at the time and the rampant non-PC approach that worked so well in Life on Mars just seems forced in the setting of Ashes. While the LoM gave excellent excuses to bring out some classic music tracks drifting through the background of the show the producers seem to take every scene change in Ashes as an excuse to jam in another dubious tune. It's like they think we have attention deficit disorder and would forget the premise of the show if it weren't for the soundtrack.</p>
<p>Last nights episode did have a few classic Gene Hunt lines and a tolerable plot involving the endemic infiltration of the Met by the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry">Masons</a>. But overall it was disappointing and most likely won't have use following the series. We <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_(TV_series)">have</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood_(TV_series)">a number</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Space_Nine">of series</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv�le">currently</a> clamouring for our attention.</p>
<p>I will make one reference to the BBC Red Button department. In this world of digital TV the edict has obviously come down for "value add" for the digital platform. Basically this means adding "interactive" features so people can press their <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Button_(Digital_Television)">red button</a> on digitally enabled sets. The Ashes to Ashes contribution is the "Ashes to Ashes Singalong". This DVD-extra alike invites users to sing, karaoke style, to a few choice "hits" from the show. I have to say this did provide some amusement. Apart from some hilarious <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_Pops">Top of the Pops</a> showings the feature also taught me how few of the words I actually know to "Come on Eileen" and "Town Called Malice", the former being a lot dirtier than my rose tinted child memory recalled.</p>
In need of a new name2009-04-23T10:42:00+01:002009-04-23T10:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-23:/~alex/blog/2009/04/23/in-need-of-a-new-name/<p>I'm starting work today as a contractor. The irony of identity of my new(old) employer is not lost on me. Although it will only be 2/3 days a week it keeps the money flowing in and gives me spare time to pursue other opportunities. One of those was …</p><p>I'm starting work today as a contractor. The irony of identity of my new(old) employer is not lost on me. Although it will only be 2/3 days a week it keeps the money flowing in and gives me spare time to pursue other opportunities. One of those was on Tuesday when I went to my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/events/article/default.aspx?objid=57799">networking event</a> to find like minded entrepreneurs and see what's happening in the city. Not so much nosing for a job but more getting to know who's who and showing my face around. I think one silver lining of the current downturn is the opportunity for new start-ups. I'm quite keen to do something with green technology but as with all start-ups you need to find like minded and diversely skilled people to form a decent team.</p>
<p>One thing I was lacking however is the tool of the networker: the business card. I've had numerous business cards in my times at various companies. They usually come in 250 card minimums and many times I've never handed out more than 2-3 before they get collected for the next re-branding of the company. Now it appears I shall get better use out of them. Of course the other thing I need to do now I've joined the ranks of pimped out coders is create a trading name and company. We were thinking of ideas last night in the pub. The favourite was "Llamatech: Open Source at any Altitude", however a bit of searching this morning revealed several Llamatech's out there already. I liked the strap line though but I suspect it would only work with similar mountain dwelling camelids. I'm open to suggestions.</p>
Weekends of the past and future2009-04-20T11:02:00+01:002009-04-20T11:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-20:/~alex/blog/2009/04/20/1230/<p>We finally seem to be have returned fully to the UK time zone. This week sees a return to normal service.</p>
<p>We had Fliss' sister visiting for the weekend as she prepares to head of to sunnier (and more dangerous) climes for her MSc project. This coincided with my Mum's …</p><p>We finally seem to be have returned fully to the UK time zone. This week sees a return to normal service.</p>
<p>We had Fliss' sister visiting for the weekend as she prepares to head of to sunnier (and more dangerous) climes for her MSc project. This coincided with my Mum's brother and wife visiting from Canada. As a result we celebrated with an extended family meal at local restaurant <a class="reference external" href="http://www.restaurant-guide.com/sycamore-house-restaurant.htm">Sycamore House</a>. Saturday came and went in a blizzard of news papers and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067959/">some film</a> I succeeded in passing out in front of. The tiredness of jet lag seems to hit me very quickly and suddenly making it very difficult to stay awake.</p>
<p>Sunday involved to Sudbury for breakfast and dropping Steph back at the family home. We took advantage of the lovey sunshine to tackle to the garden. I'd tackled the 5 weeks of unrestricted growth earlier in the week with a general hack attack, however it still wasn't neat. Fliss gave the lawn a second mowing and also cleared up and trimmed all the borders. I was directed to attend to one of the flower beds and give it a general weeding. We have a plethora of seeds for various vegetables which we shall attempt to propagate over the next few days. The garden now looks a lot neater and ready for the summer season of BBQ's and gatherings. Even at this early stage of spring the patio area is still proving to be a lovely sun trap. Despite the days hard labour we made it through Sunday's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499448/">film</a> even though it was over 2 hours long. I did fall asleep pretty quickly though!</p>
<p>We were planning to visit Manchester next weekend however there is a confluence of sisters and mothers which makes staying down south the more sensible option. We would like come up to Manchester soon and celebrate our engagement amongst our northern friends. It may be worth combining with some other event going on up there so I'm open to suggestions (as well as offers of crash space!). We're thinking sometime in May/June. Ideas?</p>
TED TALKS: Electric Cars2009-04-18T17:30:00+01:002009-04-18T17:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-18:/~alex/blog/2009/04/18/1229/<p>I have to say <a class="reference external" href="http://video.ted.com/talks/podcast/ShaiAgassi_2009.mp4">this guy</a> certainly has the vision thing. I share his thesis that green tech is going to be growth opportunity in the next few years. I just wonder how much software it's going to need.</p>
Back2009-04-15T02:06:00+01:002009-04-15T02:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-15:/~alex/blog/2009/04/15/back/<p>Well we physically are in the UK, or bodies are still on WTF TZ?</p>
Things I found out on the plane2009-04-13T12:01:00+01:002009-04-13T12:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-13:/~alex/blog/2009/04/13/1227/<p>As I was spooling through the in flight entertainment system I found out there is a update to the classic 1980's TV show <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_(2008_TV_series)">Knight Rider</a>. Oh dear god it's bad. I watched about 15 minutes of it before giving up and returning to my Astrochemistry book. They seem to have …</p><p>As I was spooling through the in flight entertainment system I found out there is a update to the classic 1980's TV show <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_(2008_TV_series)">Knight Rider</a>. Oh dear god it's bad. I watched about 15 minutes of it before giving up and returning to my Astrochemistry book. They seem to have turned KITT into a cross between a transformer and a contender for the Fast and Furious. They even trump Trek's infamous radiation for "spurious events that have a time limit until death to inject tension". The episode I watched spent 10 minutes in a race against time to get a burning neo-napalm coating burning on the outside of KITT slowly roasting the people inside.</p>
<p>So so bad. EPIC FAIL.</p>
Flying back tomorrow2009-04-13T11:53:00+01:002009-04-13T11:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-13:/~alex/blog/2009/04/13/flying-back-tomorrow/<p>We are heading back to the norther hemisphere tomorrow. Hopefully <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7995606.stm">they</a> don't decide to storm the airport again for the 5 hours we are there.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: Well we have arrived in Bangkok where we will be staying the next 5 or so hours. Despite it all <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7996241.stm">kicking off</a> in town …</p><p>We are heading back to the norther hemisphere tomorrow. Hopefully <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7995606.stm">they</a> don't decide to storm the airport again for the 5 hours we are there.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: Well we have arrived in Bangkok where we will be staying the next 5 or so hours. Despite it all <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7996241.stm">kicking off</a> in town it's surreally quite in the airport. Much as I wish any one a democratic country I'm just keeping my head down and crossing my fingers that we get home without incident.</p>
Footy2009-04-12T01:35:00+01:002009-04-12T01:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-12:/~alex/blog/2009/04/12/footy/<p>Australia is a very sporting orientated nation so Friday night Football is a big sporting event. In fact there is a lot of it over this Easter weekend. Of course <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football">Football</a> i an incredibly overloaded term but the 3 most popular forms over here involve feet and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolate_spheroid">prolate spheroids</a>. They …</p><p>Australia is a very sporting orientated nation so Friday night Football is a big sporting event. In fact there is a lot of it over this Easter weekend. Of course <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football">Football</a> i an incredibly overloaded term but the 3 most popular forms over here involve feet and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolate_spheroid">prolate spheroids</a>. They are in rough order of popularity <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football">Aussie Rules</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League">Rugby League</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union">Rugby Union</a> although the more familiar <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football">round ball</a> football is increasing in popularity.</p>
<p>Aussie Rules is an interesting game. Of the three games it's by far the most active as the players are constantly running up and down the pitch. The pitch is an oval shaped one, usually the same size and shape as a cricket pitch. That makes it's around about 50% larger than most Rubgy/Soccer pitches. There is an awful lot of high catches which necessitate very athletic jumping from the players. The game itself runs for four 20ish minute quarters and the players spend most of the intervals lying on the ground looking very knackered. As a result of the very free flow of the game it's also quite high scoring. It's not a game that encourages a team to get ahead and then try and sit on their lead. Basically the players don't stop until the final whistle has blown before they head off to spend a few days letting their bodies recover.</p>
Review: Silicon Snake Oil2009-04-09T08:23:00+01:002009-04-09T08:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-09:/~alex/blog/2009/04/09/review-silicon-snake-oil/<p>I picked up a copy of Clifford Stoll's Silicon Snake Oil in a second hand book shop a few days ago. You can read the review behind the cut.</p>
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<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288476.Silicon_Snake_Oil?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Silicon Snake Oil</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288476.Silicon_Snake_Oil?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Silicon Snake Oil</a> by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10947.Cliff_Stoll">Cliff Stoll</a></div>
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<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/51755044?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">rating: 2 of 5 stars</a></div>
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<p>I first came across Clifford Stoll while …</p><p>I picked up a copy of Clifford Stoll's Silicon Snake Oil in a second hand book shop a few days ago. You can read the review behind the cut.</p>
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<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288476.Silicon_Snake_Oil?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Silicon Snake Oil</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288476.Silicon_Snake_Oil?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Silicon Snake Oil</a> by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10947.Cliff_Stoll">Cliff Stoll</a></div>
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<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/51755044?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">rating: 2 of 5 stars</a></div>
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<p>I first came across Clifford Stoll while reading the excellent Cuckoo's Egg. It's a griping real life story about how he discovered and chased down one of the early Internet hackers. This is why when I was in a second hand bookstore I picked up a copy of Silicon Snake Oil. The subtitle, "Second Thoughts on the Information Highway" gives an indication about what it's about.</p>
<p>The first thing to note is this is a book that really shows it age. Published in 1995 it was when the Internet was moving from a cosy academic network used by scientists to the first commercial ISPs and early influx of AOLers. This when the World Wide Web was still know by the browser Mosaic. As will soon become apparent 13 years ago counts as ancient history when it comes to the 'net.</p>
<p>The books central thesis is one of scepticism of the promises that the advocates of the so called Information Superhighway where making. Stoll deals with the issues of information overload, signal to noise on Usenet and whether this technology will really turn people into infonauts or just passive consumers of the fire hose of information coming from another glowing box on our desks. He saves most of his reservations for the trend at the time to computerise education and worries the educational benefits of computers and 'net access are being oversold. Time and again he worries we will turn into one dimensional beings denied the "authentic" experiences of actually seeing, touching, smelling and interacting with things in the real world. There may be some interesting ideas that are still relevant for discussion today however it's hard to tell because of the numerous predictions that in hindsight completely wrong.</p>
<p>I don't blame Stoll for this. Predicting the future is always a tricky business. The 'net has grown up so fast and is consistently surprising the world with new inovations growing out of it. He's also not a reactionary Luddite, he "looks forward to the time when our Internet reaches every town and trailer park". However at the time he wrote this book he was clearly having a crisis of faith in what the futurists where promising.</p>
<p>A few illustrative predictions are worth quoting. When discussing shopping he asserts "no electronic shopping can compare with the variety, quality, and experimental richness of a visit to even the most mundane malls". This is before Amazon gave the bricks and mortar book shops a serious run for their money. He talks of the frustration of searching for information by keywords in titles of documents through various gopher services. This is before the all powerful Google "solved" the problem of search by using links to information to rank the usefulness of a page.</p>
<p>One thing that becomes clear is many of the obstacles he mentions has either been solved or is in the process of improving. The ease of use of computers which is another bugbear of his, usability has been late in the game of software development but people like Apple take problems like getting Grandma on the 'net very seriously. Humans have proved remarkably ingenious at solving seemingly insurmountable problems.</p>
<p>There are some areas he flags for concern that may still be relevant today. He wonders if the instant response of email is affecting our ability to write properly. If the ability to self publish will drown the 'net is a sea of dross. If social interactions on the screen can ever replace physically meeting people. However so much of this is mixed in with problems I know are now solved it's hard to not just write them off as excessive pessimism on Stoll's part.</p>
<p>In summary I would recommend reading the book if you want to remind yourself of where the 'net came from and what the early days looked like. However if your looking for a clear treatise on the potential downsides of the information world I suggest looking for a more recent book on the subject.</p>
Bad timing2009-04-08T09:57:00+01:002009-04-08T09:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-08:/~alex/blog/2009/04/08/bad-timing/<p>We fly back on Monday. I <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7989048.stm">this has cleared up</a> before we land in Bangkok.</p>
I blame "The Good Life"2009-04-06T09:56:00+01:002009-04-06T09:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-06:/~alex/blog/2009/04/06/i-blame-the-good-life/<p>The birds down under sound so very different from the ones I'm used to back in the UK. With so many brightly lit parrot-like birds squawking its easy to imagine yourself on some tropical island.</p>
<p>We visited an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpacas">Alpaca</a> farm today and asked questions about the care and keeping of …</p><p>The birds down under sound so very different from the ones I'm used to back in the UK. With so many brightly lit parrot-like birds squawking its easy to imagine yourself on some tropical island.</p>
<p>We visited an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpacas">Alpaca</a> farm today and asked questions about the care and keeping of these distant cousins of the Llama. It's probably the fault of "The Good Life" but we have this misty eyed plan for a small plot of land in the countryside where we can have a few Alpacas (for the wool) and Llamas (for the supermarket run/guard duties) along with a chicken run. Of course we can't be to far from train links and the rest as we are not intending to become fully self sufficient farmers, just a little more self sufficient and in touch with nature. It's something we will have to consider when we start looking for a house to buy.</p>
And now for a little financial commentry2009-04-03T02:04:00+01:002009-04-03T02:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-03:/~alex/blog/2009/04/03/1221/<p>Just because I'm the other side of the world on holiday doesn't mean I haven't had an eye on what's going on back home. The papers in Oz have also had the global financial crisis headlining as the great and the good gathered <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7979483.stm">in London</a>. With all this talk of …</p><p>Just because I'm the other side of the world on holiday doesn't mean I haven't had an eye on what's going on back home. The papers in Oz have also had the global financial crisis headlining as the great and the good gathered <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7979483.stm">in London</a>. With all this talk of billions and trillions I do hope that everyone is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales">on the same page</a> as to how big these numbers are. Fortunately <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7980209.stm">Auntie is on the case</a> ;-)</p>
Society, nosuchthing...2009-04-01T13:32:00+01:002009-04-01T13:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-01:/~alex/blog/2009/04/01/society-nosuchthing/<p>I'm slightly wary of posting anything on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool%27s_Day">Internet Lie Day</a> but I'm guessing it all depends on the timezone.</p>
<p>Today has mostly involved lounging around the house while the unseasonable weather dumps another load of water on Sydney's parched streets. This evening we joined the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.winesociety.com.au/">Wine Society</a> for an evening …</p><p>I'm slightly wary of posting anything on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool%27s_Day">Internet Lie Day</a> but I'm guessing it all depends on the timezone.</p>
<p>Today has mostly involved lounging around the house while the unseasonable weather dumps another load of water on Sydney's parched streets. This evening we joined the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.winesociety.com.au/">Wine Society</a> for an evening of Thai food and wine tasting. While I would usually be a beer man for Thai food the choices were all interesting and quite palatable. There was also an appreciable quantity to get through as well as interesting and stimulating conversation. Tomorrow we investigate the local theatrical talent for a showing of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest">"The Importance of being Earnest"</a>. I assume there will be less drinking involved!</p>
Famine and Feast2009-04-01T00:09:00+01:002009-04-01T00:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-04-01:/~alex/blog/2009/04/01/famine-and-feast/<p>Australia is a country of feast and famine. Even coastal Sydney operates under water restrictions most of the time as it is a precious resource. The house we are staying in here uses phosphate free washing powder so the run-off can go straight into the garden without killing the plants …</p><p>Australia is a country of feast and famine. Even coastal Sydney operates under water restrictions most of the time as it is a precious resource. The house we are staying in here uses phosphate free washing powder so the run-off can go straight into the garden without killing the plants.</p>
<p>However the weather <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDN28500.html">has been doing it's best</a> to make me feel at home. There is flooding going on further up the coast and I suspect a number of the dry creeks we saw last week will be flowing again. On the plus side I'm sleeping a lot better as the rain has de-stultified the atmosphere enough to make the room a lot less stuffy. It looks like the weather will <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN10064.shtml">stay wet</a> for the next few days as we potter around Sydney for various social and cultural events. Our final excursion starts on Saturday when we head down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Highlands,_New_South_Wales">Southern Highlands</a> for a few days. We then have a final week of exploring Sydney before heading back on the long journey home.</p>
The wanderers return2009-03-31T02:46:00+01:002009-03-31T02:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-31:/~alex/blog/2009/03/31/the-wanderers-return/<p>We have finally arrived back in Sydney after our extended tour of western New South Wales. Internet at the hotel room in Mudgee proved to be extortionate hence the flurry of posts now we are back.</p>
<p>Wine tasting can be a tricky exercise. Even taking all possible care to rinse …</p><p>We have finally arrived back in Sydney after our extended tour of western New South Wales. Internet at the hotel room in Mudgee proved to be extortionate hence the flurry of posts now we are back.</p>
<p>Wine tasting can be a tricky exercise. Even taking all possible care to rinse between tasting your palate can take quite a hit after 12 or so red wines. The circumstances aren't often ideal as the taster bottles may well have been opened for some time and experienced a degree of oxidization. Most of the wineries where also only tasting relativity recent vintages which often means the tannins haven't had an appreciable amount of time to mellow.</p>
<p>Having said that we seem to be happy with the choices we made and we should be bringing one or two bottles back home with us (once import limits have been checked). I intend to experiment with my choice and allow it to lay down for a few years before opening. Given the distance I don't think anyone could classify a trip to Oz as a booze cruise ;-)</p>
<p>A quick final note to mention we visited a lovely <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mounttomahbotanicgarden.com.au/">botanical garden</a> on our way back through the Blue Mountains. It's a pretty impressive setting in one of the more verdant regions of Australia and well worth a visit for any plant lover.</p>
It's full of stars, and galaxies, and clusters and planets!2009-03-30T08:36:00+01:002009-03-30T08:36:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-30:/~alex/blog/2009/03/30/1217/<p>28/3</p>
<p>We visited <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mudgeeobservatory.com.au/">Mudgee observatory</a> on Saturday. It's set a fair way away from the main town down a long dirt track and hidden by two hills. Despite the small bush fire adding a little smoke to the atmosphere we still got a magnificent view of the night sky …</p><p>28/3</p>
<p>We visited <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mudgeeobservatory.com.au/">Mudgee observatory</a> on Saturday. It's set a fair way away from the main town down a long dirt track and hidden by two hills. Despite the small bush fire adding a little smoke to the atmosphere we still got a magnificent view of the night sky. John the owner gave us a wonderful tour of globular clusters and nebula on his large reflector telescope. He also had his computer controlled telescope tracking Saturn with a fantastically clear view of the rings and 4 of the moons.</p>
<p>I can't believe I had such trouble finding the Magellenic clouds the night before. They are easily seen with the naked eye especially in the relative darkness we where in. I think the clouds coming in the night before made things trickier to spot. I also did some exploring with my binoculars and spotted the Coal Sack region in the milky way, a dark splodge in an otherwise bright part of the sky caused by a large cloud of hydrogen gas. The only thing we didn't get to see was M7 which is the nebula we think Sol came from. It was still bellow the horizon with the rest of Scorpio by the time we finally decided it was time to head back to the hotel for bed.</p>
<p>One that I hadn't seen in Oz until last night was a proper wild kangaroo. They are around most places out of town but are essentially nocturnal animals. However as we headed back to the hotel at half eleven along the dirt track we did come across a couple. They are not very bright though as they hopped along in front of us down the track for about 2km before finally jumping off the road. I did manage to get a few grainy shots of them with my camera by leaning out of the car window though.</p>
Two eyes are better than one2009-03-30T08:34:00+01:002009-03-30T08:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-30:/~alex/blog/2009/03/30/1216/<p>27/3</p>
<p>It really is quite amazing how much difference a pair of binoculars makes to the whole process. The stars where not quite as forthcoming as they where in the wilds of the Whitesunday's but thanks to Fliss' expert orienteering we had a successful scope of the heavens before …</p><p>27/3</p>
<p>It really is quite amazing how much difference a pair of binoculars makes to the whole process. The stars where not quite as forthcoming as they where in the wilds of the Whitesunday's but thanks to Fliss' expert orienteering we had a successful scope of the heavens before clouds stopped play. I even managed to image Orion now that I have a tripod that allows a long exposure to be taken of the night sky.</p>
<p>Under Fliss' direction we where able to make out the difference in colour between Rigel (Blue white) and Betelgeuse (Red/Orange). I also managed to see my first non star objects. Although the Horses Head nebula evaded my sights I could make out the Orion Nebula. I had a go at viewing the Magellanic clouds but clouds of a more terrestrial nature intervened before I could do so. However it more than made up for our disappointment yesterday. I'm really keen to see how we do tomorrow when we have the power of the Mudgee observatory behind us.</p>
The Dish2009-03-30T08:33:00+01:002009-03-30T08:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-30:/~alex/blog/2009/03/30/1215/<p>27/3</p>
<p>Today we visited Parkes observatory. It seems since the film "The Dish" it has become quite a tourist attraction. We eschewed the opportunity for breakfast at hotel and instead dined on pancakes with a lovely view of the the main radio telescope. The science displays where relatively basic …</p><p>27/3</p>
<p>Today we visited Parkes observatory. It seems since the film "The Dish" it has become quite a tourist attraction. We eschewed the opportunity for breakfast at hotel and instead dined on pancakes with a lovely view of the the main radio telescope. The science displays where relatively basic but we did treat ourselves to the "Isn't the universe amazing" slide-show in one of the theatres. The staff were very helpful but were a little lost by my questions, I'm afraid the bar has been set quite high by my visit to Joderall Bank.</p>
<p>On our way to the wine growing region of Mudgee we stopped off for a visit at the Peak Hill open cast mine. It's a pretty impressive example (yet small by Aussie standards) of open cast gold mining. We went for a wonder around 3 of the mines and snapped a number of nice shots of the landscape.</p>
<p>We arrived in Mudgee with enough time to visit one of the local honey shops. I'm afraid I found most of the honeys too sweet for my tastes. This is apparently a product of the high amount of eucalyptus in the area. However the mead was quite nice and hopefully Lee will appreciate the bottle we are bringing back for him.</p>
<p>We stayed car bound for the early afternoon and visited a port producing place as well as a sheep/goat cheese manufacturing farm. It took a while to rinse the taste of the stronger goat cheese from my taste buds. We then retired to the hotel and prepared for the evenings pursuits. We ate at a local restaurant that allows you to cook your own steak. Once we were all sated by large slabs of beef we wandered back into the blackness out of town for a little star gazing.</p>
Stargazing Curtailed2009-03-30T08:32:00+01:002009-03-30T08:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-30:/~alex/blog/2009/03/30/stargazing-curtailed/<p>26/3</p>
<p>Star gazing has been curtailed for the day on account of the clouds that have descended over Parkes for the day. However this didn't stop us visiting the town and eating some hearty $10 T-Bones before retiring for the evening. We visit "The Dish" tomorrow morning and possibly …</p><p>26/3</p>
<p>Star gazing has been curtailed for the day on account of the clouds that have descended over Parkes for the day. However this didn't stop us visiting the town and eating some hearty $10 T-Bones before retiring for the evening. We visit "The Dish" tomorrow morning and possibly also an open cast gold mine before heading across to the wine growing region of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudgee">Mudgee</a> for wine/port/mead tasting for the next free days. Our attempts at celestial observation aren't completely abandoned. Hopefully we will find the clouds have parted when we visit <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mudgeeobservatory.com.au/">an optical observatory</a> on Saturday evening.</p>
Last day in the mountains2009-03-26T00:01:00+00:002009-03-26T00:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-26:/~alex/blog/2009/03/26/last-day-in-the-mountains/<p>Today is our last day in the mountains. We went to Leura Cascade yesterday which starts as a little stream and some minor waterfalls before tumbling off a rather spectacular cliff to the valley bellow. Today we drive off to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkes,_New_South_Wales">Parkes</a> which should give us some good views as we …</p><p>Today is our last day in the mountains. We went to Leura Cascade yesterday which starts as a little stream and some minor waterfalls before tumbling off a rather spectacular cliff to the valley bellow. Today we drive off to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkes,_New_South_Wales">Parkes</a> which should give us some good views as we come down from the mountains.</p>
<p>One thing I won't miss leaving here is the mosquitoes. They have been gorging themselves on both Fliss and myself for the last few days. Resisting the temptation to scratch is proving to be pretty hard.</p>
Blue Mountains2009-03-24T06:48:00+00:002009-03-24T06:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-24:/~alex/blog/2009/03/24/blue-mountains/<p>We are currently staying in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(Australia)">Blue Mountains</a> area with Fliss' brother, wife and kids. In between providing pushes for swings (something that works up a hell of a thirst) we have struck out into the bush for a short walk. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(Australia)">Three Sisters</a> are just down the road and …</p><p>We are currently staying in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(Australia)">Blue Mountains</a> area with Fliss' brother, wife and kids. In between providing pushes for swings (something that works up a hell of a thirst) we have struck out into the bush for a short walk. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(Australia)">Three Sisters</a> are just down the road and the view across the untouched mountains is pretty impressive. The forest valley stretches beyond the horizon with the tree's emitting the blue haze which gives this region it's name.</p>
<p>Hopefully we shall go for another walk tomorrow. The local wildlife has been pretty benign. The only danger so far is a recently incinerated <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_funnel-web_spider">funnel web spider hole</a> and a massive hunter spider that was evicted from the house before I woke up and learnt of it. Apparently it's the snakes I have to watch for.</p>
More on stars2009-03-22T11:58:00+00:002009-03-22T11:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-22:/~alex/blog/2009/03/22/more-on-stars/<p>As I may have alluded to in my last post the view of the stars on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitsundays">Lindeman Island</a> where particularly bright. In fact even with illumination of the resort around you you can easily make out the broad swath of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way">Milky Way</a> as well as numerous other southern constellations …</p><p>As I may have alluded to in my last post the view of the stars on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitsundays">Lindeman Island</a> where particularly bright. In fact even with illumination of the resort around you you can easily make out the broad swath of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way">Milky Way</a> as well as numerous other southern constellations. This is thanks to the relativity low levels of ambient light and the fact you can be miles from any major conurbation and the dreaded glow of the sodium street lighting. Even so the islands aren't ideal viewing locations given the high degree of humidity thanks to the shallow warm seas around them.</p>
<p>Hopefully the next leg of our journey which takes us through the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(Australia)">Blue Mountains</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkes,_New_South_Wales">Parkes</a> should afford us even darker and clearer skies. In preparation we went into Sydney today and purchased a set of 40x8 Nikon binoculars to aid in our star gazing. We topped it off with a visit to the Sydney observatory where we had a brief tour and purchased some maps to guide us later.</p>
<p>The walk back home took us across the the iconic harbour bridge and to a traditional Aussie Barbie of T-Bone steaks and other assorted meats. I was surprised when some of the participants requested jumpers and other such warming devices as the sun went down. To my mind it's still a very warm evening, the sort you'd enjoy in late June or early July back home.</p>
A star lit story2009-03-16T07:29:00+00:002009-03-16T07:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-16:/~alex/blog/2009/03/16/a-star-lit-story/<p>Fliss is a tricky person to deceive. Much as she loves surprises the knowledge that something is going on she’s not aware of drives her crazy. A few months ago I obliquely mentioned a “top secret project” taking up a few hours of my visit into town. The result …</p><p>Fliss is a tricky person to deceive. Much as she loves surprises the knowledge that something is going on she’s not aware of drives her crazy. A few months ago I obliquely mentioned a “top secret project” taking up a few hours of my visit into town. The result was a torrent of requests asking what it was and more than the occasional sulk at my intransigence in sticking to the dictionary definition of secret. Had I know I would have kept my mouth shut or lied about something else taking longer than it actually had. That leads me to the second dilemma that I’m not a very good liar and after these three-ish years of being together she is pretty good at reading my responses.</p>
<p>The top secret project I’d alluded to was the sourcing of an engagement ring with which to propose marriage. A number of people have probably heard me witter at them about the angst of choice and the pros and cons of going with a ring that had tacit prior approval or making it a genuine surprise. In the end I went for an original design and hoped my tastes and sensibilities when it came to selecting rings are not related to my fashion sense.</p>
<p>Getting the ring to Australia proved a whole extra level of hoops including getting the ring through customs where I had declared I was bringing “things” over the value of 900 dollars into the country. Fortunately taking the customs man to one side and whispering my intentions in his ear didn’t arose any suspicions as both our minds were fairly befuddled from 24 hours of travel. However as our luggage was going to be mixed for the trip to Lindman Island I handed over ring bearer duties to Fliss’ Dad’s wife Lucia. I was able to sneak it to the hotel reception and get it stored in the hotel safe. This was fortunate as Fliss had reported her disappointment to Lucia that there wasn’t anything special in the safe in our room!</p>
<p>The final stages were wonderfully managed by the hotel. Last night having implied we had booked into the restaurant for a change from the usual uber-buffet downstairs I led Fliss up the hill under a starry starry night. She had just started to wonder why the lights to the restaurant were off when our Chef* Matty appeared and led us to the table for two set up on the veranda. After the first two starters had passed by with Fliss complimenting me on my romantic streak the “3rd course” arrived and I took the traditional position and asked Fliss if she would become my wife. I am both fortunate and very privileged that she agreed to my request. We enjoyed the rest of 5 courses washed down with a little Moet while listening to the local wildlife and watching the stars.</p>
<p>* When I say our chef the emphasis is on the exclusivity. Basically Matty had his chef’s table set up a few feet away and quietly prepared food just for us the whole evening. The food was fantastic by the way ;-)</p>
The power of lag2009-03-08T17:56:00+00:002009-03-08T17:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-08:/~alex/blog/2009/03/08/the-power-of-lag/<p>It's currently 3:57am local time and I'm suffering from a combination of jetlag and being way too warm. I slept fitfully yesterday but more or less to local time schedule. We went into town to run a few errands and visited a local watering hole to taste test some …</p><p>It's currently 3:57am local time and I'm suffering from a combination of jetlag and being way too warm. I slept fitfully yesterday but more or less to local time schedule. We went into town to run a few errands and visited a local watering hole to taste test some beers prior to visiting the "Bottolo". I thought I was good for the day but got hit really hard by a desire for bed at around 18.30. It seems it will take a few more days to shake the lag out of my system.</p>
In the Zone 5x52009-03-06T09:58:00+00:002009-03-06T09:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-06:/~alex/blog/2009/03/06/in-the-zone-5x5/<p>Fliss has sworn me off updating my blog every time I find a new open WiFi point while on holiday. So my comments on the business lounges broken redirect hack-age will have to wait for the time being :-)</p>
<p>I've flown business once before and I must say the lounge is …</p><p>Fliss has sworn me off updating my blog every time I find a new open WiFi point while on holiday. So my comments on the business lounges broken redirect hack-age will have to wait for the time being :-)</p>
<p>I've flown business once before and I must say the lounge is a much more pleasant experience than slumming it with the proles. Comfortable seats, quite background music and all the pastries you can eat. I've not gone near the free beer taps just yet, it seems a little early to start on the sauce.</p>
<p>We stayed in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheam">Cheam</a> last night which luckily is on a direct bus route to Heathrow. Despite the bus drivers complete customer care failure the journey was pretty easy, certainly easier than navigating the underground with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1215">a broken toe</a>. We don't actually fly off until around 11.30 but now the megatons of luggage are the baggage handlers problem and not mine the rest should be easy going*.</p>
<p>* Fate, I am not tempting you!</p>
Minor Hiccups2009-03-04T22:57:00+00:002009-03-04T22:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-04:/~alex/blog/2009/03/04/minor-hiccups/<p>Packing almost complete. Fliss is despairing of my preparation being more focused around chargers and cables. I think she finds my need to be able to plug everything together a sign of technology dependence. It might be true but I like to believe tech make life easier. She did put …</p><p>Packing almost complete. Fliss is despairing of my preparation being more focused around chargers and cables. I think she finds my need to be able to plug everything together a sign of technology dependence. It might be true but I like to believe tech make life easier. She did put here foot down when I wondered what the plugs in Thailand where like. After all my battery is good but it might be needing a few joules of energy during our stopover!</p>
<p>Speaking of feet Fliss managed to break her little toe today stubbing it on a suitcase of all things. This involved a brief visit to A&E for x-rays to confirm the break. Prognosis is that it should be nicely healed about a week after we get back. This is going to make transiting the London underground an interesting experience tomorrow and Friday morning. I'm thinking a taxi might be a very good idea.</p>
Preparation2009-03-03T17:46:00+00:002009-03-03T17:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-03:/~alex/blog/2009/03/03/preparation/<p>The bags are slowly filling and I'm crossing the t's and dotting the i's for our trip to Oz. I have a slight trepidation about flying for 24 hours straight (modulo a half hour in Thailand) but hopefully I shall have enough to amuse me. It's all getting quite exciting …</p><p>The bags are slowly filling and I'm crossing the t's and dotting the i's for our trip to Oz. I have a slight trepidation about flying for 24 hours straight (modulo a half hour in Thailand) but hopefully I shall have enough to amuse me. It's all getting quite exciting. I suspect I should be making a list of some sort...</p>
Giving up on Xorg2009-03-02T12:32:00+00:002009-03-02T12:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-03-02:/~alex/blog/2009/03/02/giving-up-on-xorg/<p>You may <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1209">recall</a> the adventures of playing with the bleeding edge of Xorg. Well I've given up, I just don't have enough time for tinkering with my main machines display. I managed to get a locally built Xserver after a fashion but I keep hitting <a class="reference external" href="http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.freedesktop.xorg/37185">various</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.freedesktop.xorg/37355">brick walls</a>. I've basically …</p><p>You may <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1209">recall</a> the adventures of playing with the bleeding edge of Xorg. Well I've given up, I just don't have enough time for tinkering with my main machines display. I managed to get a locally built Xserver after a fashion but I keep hitting <a class="reference external" href="http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.freedesktop.xorg/37185">various</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.freedesktop.xorg/37355">brick walls</a>. I've basically committed myself to trying out the latest driver releases in my working distro xorg setup as and when they are released and tracking and offering feedback on a few bugs.</p>
<p>It's a shame really as accessibility to new developers is a key feature of any successful open source project. While <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.Org_Server">Xorg</a> has come a long way and are making pro-active efforts at improving their code-base and interaction with upstream projects it's still hard to jump in and try. This is of course complicated by the type of project X is. It touches the kernel, the 3D subsystem and the windowing subsystem and is by it's very nature a complex beast. Hopefully things will improve over time and next time I have a desire for compiz bling things will have improved a few more incremental steps. In the meantime it's back to having grouped tabs on my browser and using Gnome's workspace setup.</p>
Turing Complete2009-02-26T19:58:00+00:002009-02-26T19:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-26:/~alex/blog/2009/02/26/1204/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LittleBigPlanet">LittleBigPlanet</a> continues to be a source of wonderment for me. Today I did a search for "calculator" to find the apparently famous LittleBigCalculator only to find there were many implementations. The calculator is fairly simple in that it can only add and subtract numbers between 0 and 99 but it …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LittleBigPlanet">LittleBigPlanet</a> continues to be a source of wonderment for me. Today I did a search for "calculator" to find the apparently famous LittleBigCalculator only to find there were many implementations. The calculator is fairly simple in that it can only add and subtract numbers between 0 and 99 but it is a lovely example of what can be achieved with the engine. This led me to a lovely little Sack Boy logic tutorial starting with AND gates and building up more complex logic from that. The tutorial covered <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_adder">Half Adders</a> and ended with a full blown <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary-coded_decimal">BCD</a> coding and decoding implementation with calculator style displays. Implementing digital electronics through the medium of kinetic physics simulation is possibly one of the most inefficient uses of CPU time ever, I suspect it will be a while before we see the first LittleBigDifference engine. I wonder how many programmers of the future will have implemented their first bit of logic in the game?</p>
Slumdog Hat Maker2009-02-26T10:40:00+00:002009-02-26T10:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-26:/~alex/blog/2009/02/26/slumdog-hat-maker/<p>We joined my parents for a credit crunch influenced film and food last night. Apart from the normal Orange Wednesday film deal they are now also offering 2 for 1 on a starter and main at Pizza Express. I suspect we made up for it with the wine though.</p>
<p>We …</p><p>We joined my parents for a credit crunch influenced film and food last night. Apart from the normal Orange Wednesday film deal they are now also offering 2 for 1 on a starter and main at Pizza Express. I suspect we made up for it with the wine though.</p>
<p>We went to see the multi award winning <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/">Slumdog Millionaire</a> and were not disappointed. First things first, a quick note about the PR people. I've seen a lot of posters announcing Slumdog as the "Feelgood film of the year". While it is a beautifully shot and uplifting film there are also parts of it which are pretty unrelenting in it's portrayal of life in the slums. Having got that out of the way I have to give it plaudits for pretty much everything else. The film has a lot of energy and presented with beautiful cinematography. The soundtrack is also an excellent mix of traditional Indian sounds with a number of high energy dance tracks. While a number of critics have described the story as unbelievable I'm quite happy with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/entertainment/kermode.shtml">Kermode's</a> fable thesis and happily suspended my disbelief. I also have to hand props to Danny Boyle for the wonderful <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood">Bollywood</a> style credits at the end. Overall verdict: Well worth a watch.</p>
Interview Contemplation2009-02-25T00:10:00+00:002009-02-25T00:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-25:/~alex/blog/2009/02/25/interview-contemplation/<p>I had my first interview of the current job hunting period yesterday. Although the end result was the company in question didn't want to go forward with the process I thought it might be do some introspection and contemplation as to why.</p>
<p>The job would have involved joining a small …</p><p>I had my first interview of the current job hunting period yesterday. Although the end result was the company in question didn't want to go forward with the process I thought it might be do some introspection and contemplation as to why.</p>
<p>The job would have involved joining a small local team as part of the Cambridge annex of a large international telecoms firm. The work looked pretty low level, about 30% assembler writing firmware for a domain specific processor and the rest C++ based management code. From a technical point of view it was certainly in the right direction which would have seen me heading back to my system level roots.</p>
<p>The interview lasted for around and hour and a half which I think is usually a good sign. It might be that I just gabber too much when discussing technical things but hopefully this gives a good idea of how you think and approach problems. I was itching for access to a whiteboard though! Surprisingly I wasn't asked many technical questions about the job I was going for, we mainly went over my CV. This is not necessarily a bad thing as not many engineers come to posts with the exact skills profile a company is looking for. I think my CV demonstrates I have worked within a variety of problem domains and can apply that broad experience to picking up new knowledge quickly. In fact the feedback confirmed that as for as the interviewer was concerned my technical skills where perfectly fine for the role.</p>
<p>However as the interview progressed and we talked about the role we both started wondering if it contained enough to keep me interested. As I would be one of 3 or 4 experienced engineers there wouldn't be much opportunity to build on my technical lead and mentoring skills. The code base is also relatively mature and team boundaries quite rigidly defined so I would basically confined to a single area of the overall system. The interviewer intimated that a deal of the work would be of a "handle turning" variety. He wondered that given my experience if there would be the potential of me getting bored. We did try and discuss the scope of changes that are likely to be made but it's no substitute to getting your hands dirty hacking around with the code. One of the disadvantages of working entirely in the proprietary sphere is the inability to be transparent about the work with potential employees.</p>
<p>So later in the day I got a phone call from the agent who confirmed they didn't want to take the process forward. They didn't want to waste time on hiring someone who may get frustrated with the rigidity of the role. I'm a little disappointed but I'm grateful the guy was honest about the scope of the job. I'm determined to take the time to find a job that is going to be a good match for my skills. I've been very lucky that I've enjoyed most of my career to date and although I don't live to work it certainly helps if I find my work engaging.</p>
The perils of the bleeding edge2009-02-17T13:51:00+00:002009-02-17T13:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-17:/~alex/blog/2009/02/17/1201/<p>After my fun playing with the 3D desktop bling on my Netbook I finally took the plunge on my main desktop machine. This was after all the reason I had specced it with hardware capable of doing 3D with open drivers. In the beginning it worked well enough but it …</p><p>After my fun playing with the 3D desktop bling on my Netbook I finally took the plunge on my main desktop machine. This was after all the reason I had specced it with hardware capable of doing 3D with open drivers. In the beginning it worked well enough but it had a small fly in the ointment that video playback was jerky.</p>
<p>Video generates all sorts of interesting problems for graphics, especially when dealing with 3D. The central point about a 3D desktop is every 2D window renders onto it's own little bit of memory which is then used as a texture for 3D objects when the screen is rendered. This works fine for windows that only update every few seconds but it puts a strain on the video bus for 25fps of Hi-Def video data.</p>
<p>Fortunately X hackers have come up with solutions to this. The main one being off-loading some of the video decoding into the video chip using an extension called <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Video_Motion_Compensation">XvMC</a> (and an earlier extension called <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_video_extension">Xv</a>). Unfortunately these features where not supported in the "stable" version of the graphics drivers for X. This started a round of upgrading X which coincided with moving up kernel versions and a drastic drop in performance. The recent introduction of the <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/283793/">GEM</a> graphics memory manager has regressed my particular chipset (<a class="reference external" href="http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=19738">bug 1</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=19873">bug 2</a>). I'm presented with the choice of waiting nicely for the fix to percolate into an official release or manning up and getting my compiling shoes on.</p>
<p>One aspect of Xorg compilation that usually gives people the willies is the fact it's rather complex. The system has kernel components, 2D drivers and 3D drivers as well as the host of X libraries. The only real sane way of dealing with it without bringing your workstation down around your ears is to build a parallel X install. Luckily it seems a <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.x.org/wiki/ModularDevelopersGuide">simpler process</a> than when I last looked into it. However it is a long one so it will take a while before I'm in a position to try it out.</p>
Apropos my last post2009-02-11T23:05:00+00:002009-02-11T23:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-11:/~alex/blog/2009/02/11/1200/<p>The future is <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7883479.stm">here</a>. While I have reservations about wide scale surveillance and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7819230.stm">recording every e-mail I send</a> it seems very sensible to equip the Persons in Blue with personal video recorders. Especially if it reduces the amount of paperwork the Police have to fill in when the could be …</p><p>The future is <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7883479.stm">here</a>. While I have reservations about wide scale surveillance and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7819230.stm">recording every e-mail I send</a> it seems very sensible to equip the Persons in Blue with personal video recorders. Especially if it reduces the amount of paperwork the Police have to fill in when the could be out on the streets.</p>
Halting State2009-02-11T12:09:00+00:002009-02-11T12:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-11:/~alex/blog/2009/02/11/halting-state/<p>I've just finished reading <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_State">Halting State</a> by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stross">Charles Stross</a>.</p>
<p>It's an enjoyable SciFi whodunit mystery set in the near future involving a robbery in a MMORPG. The book is presented in the second person narrative which is unusual but helps give a sense of the setting. It's set in a …</p><p>I've just finished reading <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_State">Halting State</a> by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stross">Charles Stross</a>.</p>
<p>It's an enjoyable SciFi whodunit mystery set in the near future involving a robbery in a MMORPG. The book is presented in the second person narrative which is unusual but helps give a sense of the setting. It's set in a recently independent Scotland where technology has progressed slightly beyond it's current point but is pervasive and in the hands of the masses as a matter of routine. This is one of the aspects of the book I really enjoyed as Stross does a very good job of imagining what will happen when everyone has the toys that the geeks currently have. He also does a good job on developing on some of the social trends we have today and predicting what that will mean in a few years.</p>
<p>The book does have a fair number of technical terms in it that betray the authors geek credentials but I don't think it makes the book inaccessible. Technical stuff aside the story is also very enjoyable and keeps you turning the pages. Recommended.</p>
Wikipedia Tools2009-02-09T18:45:00+00:002009-02-09T18:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-09:/~alex/blog/2009/02/09/1197/<p>I've long held that Wikipedia provides a "good enough" source of facts for a lot of information. Sure I wouldn't base my moon landing equations on equations copied from Wikipedia's page on celestial navigation. Not at least until I'd verified the cited facts with "reputable" sites. The trouble with checking …</p><p>I've long held that Wikipedia provides a "good enough" source of facts for a lot of information. Sure I wouldn't base my moon landing equations on equations copied from Wikipedia's page on celestial navigation. Not at least until I'd verified the cited facts with "reputable" sites. The trouble with checking other links is it's hard to know if they are reputable as well.</p>
<p>However on the odd occasion I've spotted a fact that looked out of place I consult the history and see if there is much edit warring going on. Also some articles are essentially the work of a select group of people who may not be totally objective. It would be cool if you could visualise that sort of information.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://wikidashboard.parc.com/wiki/The_Moon">Compare</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://wikidashboard.parc.com/wiki/Live_action_role-playing_game">and</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://wikidashboard.parc.com/wiki/Maelstrom_(live_role_playing_game)">contrast</a>.</p>
Some thoughts on that compiz bling2009-02-09T12:03:00+00:002009-02-09T12:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-09:/~alex/blog/2009/02/09/1198/<p>I spent some time pimping my Samsung NC-10 netbook over the weekend. I had been having problems with Firefox slowing down and becoming sluggish and unresponsive. A little digging around later and I unearthed the culprit as being the closed source Flash plugin. Although well behaved Flash applications like the …</p><p>I spent some time pimping my Samsung NC-10 netbook over the weekend. I had been having problems with Firefox slowing down and becoming sluggish and unresponsive. A little digging around later and I unearthed the culprit as being the closed source Flash plugin. Although well behaved Flash applications like the YouTube and iPlayer viewers don't seem to cause a problem a lot of other flash instances where being created with general browsing. A quick installation of <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433">Flashblock</a> improved the situation massively. I now only have Flash starting up and running when I want it to play video.</p>
<p>One of the main deficiencies of the NC-10 is it's rather puny touch-pad and rocker style click buttons. I knew this was an issue when I bought the machine but as I'm mainly keyboard driven didn't think it was a major problem. However it was causing me trouble when selecting windows, especially as I usually keep them maximised. However the NC-10 does have a simple Intel 3D graphics chipset with fully open source drivers so I spent some time tweaking <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiz">Compiz</a> for my setup.</p>
<p>As can be <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXKrmWRAW4A">seen</a> Compiz is responsible for the flashy rotating 3D cubes and general "bling" on the Linux desktop these days. While I had it on my old work machine it was a pretty demo but somewhat marred by the binary nVidia drivers which would periodically freeze my machine. However with careful tweaking it makes my netbook a lot more usable. I can now use key chords (super+[DWAE]) to bring up the desktop, windows on work view, windows of app (i.e. all Firefox windows) and a full <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expos%C3%A9_(Mac_OS_X)">Expose</a> type view. The touch pad is now relegated to pointing at a window (no click required) to bring it into focus.</p>
<p>As a result of the way Compiz works every application can always draw to a "display". This means you get, relatively cheap computationally, thumbnails of the actual window contents for these summary displays. So instead of heavily using tabs on my netbook which take up valuable screen real estate I now open fresh windows for every page. Super+A then easily brings me thumbnail views of all my current browser views to switch to a new window.</p>
<p>There remains a debate as to whether enabling Compiz on a Netbook increases or decreases battery life. Without actually measuring the consumption in-line it remains to be seen. It could be that by using the otherwise powered graphics chip to move graphics around you save the main CPU from having to run faster to manually copy stuff around into the frame-buffer. Unfortunately I don't really have a objective way to measure it right now.</p>
Open Street Map2009-02-07T13:24:00+00:002009-02-07T13:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-07:/~alex/blog/2009/02/07/1196/<p>I have the usefulness of Open Street Map before. Go and have a look at their coverage of your area compared to Google maps. If you think it was worth donating to Wikimedia's recent £6 million fund drive then space a thought for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opengeodata.org/">hardware needed for Open Street …</a></p><p>I have the usefulness of Open Street Map before. Go and have a look at their coverage of your area compared to Google maps. If you think it was worth donating to Wikimedia's recent £6 million fund drive then space a thought for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opengeodata.org/">hardware needed for Open Street Map</a>. They have nearly hit their <a class="reference external" href="http://donate.openstreetmap.org/">£10,000</a> target.</p>
Bunker mentality2009-02-06T09:58:00+00:002009-02-06T09:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-02-06:/~alex/blog/2009/02/06/bunker-mentality/<p>True to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law">Hofstader's law</a> it took a few extra days to finish of my (unpaid) work at Essex University. You can see the final results <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/same-diff-colour-test/tree/master">here</a>. It was essentially tweaking a psychology experiment to work in a different colour space and with some funky high dynamic colour range hardware. After …</p><p>True to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law">Hofstader's law</a> it took a few extra days to finish of my (unpaid) work at Essex University. You can see the final results <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/same-diff-colour-test/tree/master">here</a>. It was essentially tweaking a psychology experiment to work in a different colour space and with some funky high dynamic colour range hardware. After the first day of struggling with Python IDLE editor I caved in and installed a <a class="reference external" href="http://ourcomments.org/Emacs/EmacsW32.html">Windows aware copy of Emacs</a> and fiddled with getting python-mode working in Windows. It removed a lot of the pain apart from every time the keymap randomly switched and whenever I had to use the browser which didn't have an awesome bar. And I certainly don't miss the constant reboots and bad crashes.</p>
<p>The last few days we have been hunkered in at home as the weather decides how much snow it will dump each day. The trains to London are basically broken so Fliss has been working from home. I'm also working from home and onto my next project of generating smart playlists for Rhythmbox. Luckily it seems someone has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mail-archive.com/rhythmbox-devel@gnome.org/msg05606.html">already done some work</a> on this so I can concentrate on plumbing the existing code into Rhythmbox and cleaning up the UI.</p>
Struggling to understand microblogging2009-01-30T10:21:00+00:002009-01-30T10:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-30:/~alex/blog/2009/01/30/1194/<p>Fliss has been playing with the king of the micro-blogging platforms <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a>. It something that has been making the news on a regular basis as more celebrities have accounts and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/01/twitter_and_a_classic_picture.html">more news stories break on it</a>. I'm still not sure where it fits in in the social media pantheon. I …</p><p>Fliss has been playing with the king of the micro-blogging platforms <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a>. It something that has been making the news on a regular basis as more celebrities have accounts and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/01/twitter_and_a_classic_picture.html">more news stories break on it</a>. I'm still not sure where it fits in in the social media pantheon. I prefer blogs for espousing thoughts (although often the comments are where the real discussions take place). Tweets just seem to be a slightly more democratised form of Facebook's status updates. While Facebook decides who's updates you see based on some form of magic heuristic the tweeter stream seems like some sort of firehose. Consider people like twitter fan <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/stephenfry">Stephen Fry</a>. I'm sure following 32000 people must be like reading a disorganised set of RSS feeds with most of the summaries making no sense out of context.</p>
<p>The times I update my Facebook status are varied and the updates themselves often very random. I'm not sure how often my updates generate any form of interaction. However I suppose it would be nice to do them outside of the walled garden of Facebook but I'd be wary of going from one closed platform to another. Maybe I should look at one of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconica">Laconica</a> based services? How people who want to stay on Twitter/Jaiku/Pwnce/Walled Platform of choice follow me?</p>
<p>But perhaps people could start by telling me why they like Twitter and what they use it for? Understanding would seem to be the first step.</p>
Sleep FAIL2009-01-29T14:14:00+00:002009-01-29T14:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-29:/~alex/blog/2009/01/29/sleep-fail/<p>I didn't really sleep last night. Not sure why but I suspect a combination of real ale and wine gave me a slight nagging headache and I couldn't shift my brain out of thinking gear*. The first time I gave up I went downstairs and made myself a hot chocolate …</p><p>I didn't really sleep last night. Not sure why but I suspect a combination of real ale and wine gave me a slight nagging headache and I couldn't shift my brain out of thinking gear*. The first time I gave up I went downstairs and made myself a hot chocolate which usually does the trick. On returning I was dropping off until I thought I heard the doorbell. Although it was unlikely the doorbell did ring at 4 in the morning I couldn't stop wondering if it had. I eventually gave up, got dressed and walked to the 24 hour Tesco's to join the rest of the waking dead.</p>
<p>Before the alarm was due to go off I returned to bed and drifted into the morning news when the radio turned on. Fliss wondered if I'd had trouble sleeping so turned the radio off and started reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/398080.Driving_Over_Lemons_An_Optimist_in_Andalucia">Driving over Lemons</a> at which point I went out like a light. So far Fliss reading to me is the best insomnia cure I know :-)</p>
<p>* This usually involves me thinking about programming problems. Oddly last night it was a combination of thinking about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1199">today's planned work</a> and how <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_(TV_series)">Dexter</a> is going to escape being caught in season 2.</p>
Useful Tools2009-01-28T17:48:00+00:002009-01-28T17:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-28:/~alex/blog/2009/01/28/1192/<p>The exceptionally useful traintimes.org.uk has a lovely mobile site with simple bookmarkable URLS, for example <a class="reference external" href="http://m.traintimes.org.uk/london/waterbeach">http://m.traintimes.org.uk/london/waterbeach</a>. Very useful to keep links on your mobile browser :-)</p>
A few days of purgatory2009-01-22T11:40:00+00:002009-01-22T11:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-22:/~alex/blog/2009/01/22/1191/<p>I spent most of yesterday (and will spend today) operating in the Windows world. Every time I do this it reminds me of how much I hate it. Having to use IE certainly reminds me that Firefox is a much much better browser. I also miss having a comfortable editor …</p><p>I spent most of yesterday (and will spend today) operating in the Windows world. Every time I do this it reminds me of how much I hate it. Having to use IE certainly reminds me that Firefox is a much much better browser. I also miss having a comfortable editor or a powerful shell although I do note the DOS prompt has finally caught up with TAB completion for file paths. It still has nothing on a decent *nix command shell though.</p>
<p>The reason I'm putting myself through this is I'm tweaking a psychology experiment for Fliss' mum. The experiment itself is written in Python and commendably uses an Open Source framework called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.visionegg.org/">Vision Egg</a> to generate and display the images. Unfortunately the experiment needs to run on some special <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crsltd.com/catalog/visage/overview.html">graphics hardware</a> which doesn't seem to have Python support (odd considering previous generations of hardware do seem to). The system however does supply examples in MATLAB, C++ Builder and a variety of .NET variants. So the choice was either to figure out how to drive the hardware from Python or convert the experiment to MATLAB (the only other tool the department has).</p>
<p>Fortunately Python's built in <a class="reference external" href="http://docs.python.org/library/ctypes.html">ctypes</a> library makes interfacing to arbitrary libraries really easy. Once I'd dug out the C headers and loaded the DLL everything else was pretty mechanical. Today I just need to figure out the most expeditious way to thunk VisionEgg to VISAGE.</p>
<p>Python is fast becoming a favourite programming language of mine. I would probably still reach for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl">Perl</a> if the script involved much text grokking having invested so much time in learning it's regexp implementation. However for prototyping or extending a program through plugins Python makes much more sense. It seems remarkably consistent in it's behaviour and has yet to pull something unexpected on me. The interactivity of the shell/interpreter makes exploring approaches a lot easier than the multiple edit/save/run cycles of Perl.</p>
<p>I still miss having a decent editor though :-(</p>
Rockbox (But not really)2009-01-19T19:11:00+00:002009-01-19T19:11:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-19:/~alex/blog/2009/01/19/1190/<p>I finally got my git-svn cleanup patch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9758">accepted</a> into the code base. It's a trivial fix but makes my life easier. I also think my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9677">playlist tweak</a> is finally clean enough to go in.</p>
<p>That's not the real reason for this post though. Frank (the LJ Bot) has just told …</p><p>I finally got my git-svn cleanup patch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9758">accepted</a> into the code base. It's a trivial fix but makes my life easier. I also think my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9677">playlist tweak</a> is finally clean enough to go in.</p>
<p>That's not the real reason for this post though. Frank (the LJ Bot) has just told me this mornings post has been slurped. A fair way after the once per hour the <a class="reference external" href="http://syndicated.livejournal.com/stsquad_real/profile">syndication page</a> claims. Hence this super quick entry afterwards to see how quickly LJ scales back it's feed polling.</p>
The Moon on a Stick Paradox2009-01-19T11:48:00+00:002009-01-19T11:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-19:/~alex/blog/2009/01/19/the-moon-on-a-stick-paradox/<p>I went and did my initial sign on for JSA last week. The process was mainly painless although a little delayed due to the office being quite busy. As far as I could tell the first floor was given over to new claims (and possibly follow-ups) as the normal sign …</p><p>I went and did my initial sign on for JSA last week. The process was mainly painless although a little delayed due to the office being quite busy. As far as I could tell the first floor was given over to new claims (and possibly follow-ups) as the normal sign on location is downstairs. Talking to one of the agents she confirmed they are currently rushed off their feet with new cases. The new claims started to pick up last November and have been going strong ever since. The agents were keen to point out there are things the job centre will pay for including travel to interviews. However when I enquired about local VC Meet N' Greets and the possibility of paying exam fees for certification I drew apologetic shrugs. The phrase used was the rather charming "We are not really set up for people as job ready as you". So as long as I write to at least one agency/company a week and read the relevant job postings I'm good for about 3 months before they review my l33t job hunting skills.</p>
<p>This brings me to the most frustrating aspect of the process which is dealing with some of the agencies. People I've dealt with before I usually pretty clued up but some of the agencies (at the behest of their clients) are suffering from the <a class="reference external" href="http://flyspray.psi-im.org/task/518">Moon on a Stick</a> paradox. The reasoning seems to be because of the current economic climate the world is awash with available engineers. The result they conclude is if they wait long enough they can hire (cheaply) someone who ticks every box. It's a slightly more acute form of TLA bingo that lead to my meta-morphing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">CV</a> to ensure which-ever combination of my skills <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cv+%22c%2B%2B%22++forth+%2BSQL+%2BSDL+%22emacs+lisp%22+%2B6809&btnG=Search">someone may want</a> can be found.</p>
<p>It's ultimately a short sighted approach as the value of an engineer isn't in having done exactly the same in his old job as you want him to do now. Once you've learned a few languages (say something system level, a modern scripting language and maybe a bit of XML/HTML) picking up new languages is pretty easy. It goes doubly so for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_(computing)">libraries</a> which one would hope you chose for your implementation because they are well documented and consistent. I'll freely admit to not having the entire C99 spec memorised in my head or comprehensive knowledge of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAN">CPAN</a>. If I'm not sure about something I'll read the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_pages">man page</a> or the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code">source code</a>. Frankly I'd be suspicious of anyone who claimed they didn't need to.</p>
Call of Duty: World at War2009-01-13T11:58:00+00:002009-01-13T11:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-13:/~alex/blog/2009/01/13/1188/<p>I am a bit of a FPS fan. Although I'm almost universally outclassed in online play by twitchy trigger fingered teenagers I do enjoy the solo story missions. As games have advanced over the years and become more cinematic I'm beginning to think the war film genre's days are numbered …</p><p>I am a bit of a FPS fan. Although I'm almost universally outclassed in online play by twitchy trigger fingered teenagers I do enjoy the solo story missions. As games have advanced over the years and become more cinematic I'm beginning to think the war film genre's days are numbered. The opening section from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/">Saving Private Ryan</a> was a jarring assault on the senses that really attempted to put the viewer in the action. The set piece battles of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_World_at_War">Call of Duty: World at War</a> are strong contenders to replace that experience where the player is *in* the action, albeit with a quick rewind and restart when you inevitably die horribly the first few times because you weren't cowering behind the small piece of cover between you and the arrayed forces of the axis powers.</p>
<p>The game engine behind CoD:WaW is more or less the same as the hugely enjoyable CoD4 which took up so much of my time last year. However the graphic realism has been turned up a notch with even more blood and gore as your companions and enemies are a churned through the horrors of WWII's bloodiest battles. There also has been some tweaks to the physics although nothing much of note apart from improved fire handling. The multi-player is much like CoD4's but with different era weapons and replacement of the air strikes and helicopters with artillery and rampaging dogs. I haven't played on many of the maps yet but I have no reason to think it won't be as enjoyable as it's predecessors.</p>
<p>The game is not without it's flaws. The story mode appears quite short, having finished it last night after a few weeks of play. It suffers from the same re-spawning legions of soldiers that will keep coming until you push up to the next trigger point. Occasionally you do feel the challenge is to trigger the next bit of "plot" rather than destroy all the enemy soldiers. However if the on-line multi player lives up to it's promise it will make a fine addition to the series.</p>
<p>I'll just make a special note of the bonus mini-game you unlock at the end of the game. <em>Nazi Zombies</em> places you in a run down house with far too many breakable entry points and a relentless horde of Zombies attempting to eat your brains. You can upgrade weapons with points but you will eventually die. The challenge is how long you can last. It's harder than it sounds :-)</p>
Doing the sums2009-01-12T14:01:00+00:002009-01-12T14:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-12:/~alex/blog/2009/01/12/doing-the-sums/<p>I've just finished a rather epic 30 minute long phone call to Job Centre Plus to establish I'm eligible for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_015272.xml.html">contributions based JSA</a> which given my advancing years is a not too shabby* £60.50 a week. I have an interview at the job centre on Thursday which should …</p><p>I've just finished a rather epic 30 minute long phone call to Job Centre Plus to establish I'm eligible for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_015272.xml.html">contributions based JSA</a> which given my advancing years is a not too shabby* £60.50 a week. I have an interview at the job centre on Thursday which should get me out of the house for a bit.</p>
<p>The JSA phone system, like most call centres, does ask a few basic questions before putting you through to a human. However unlike commercial setups the script seemed to be completely fixed. About 70% of the questions I was asked where entirely irrelevant to me. I reckon at least 50% of them could have been skipped if answers to earlier questions where taken into account. I have a new admiration for the art of the script designer who in the commercial world is driven to make the call as short as possible so the operator can get on to the next customer. It would be interesting to know what the differential in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity">productivity</a> between the public and private sector call centres is. I suspect it's quite high.</p>
<p>As part of our credit crunch planning we did the spreadsheet sums last night to work out how long we can last. Given the general air of doom and gloom we planned on making the redundancy pay last for six months just in case. Hopefully I'll be gainfully employed a lot sooner but at the moment the market does seem very flat. I've had a few bites from agencies but nothing that's made it through to interview yet. Still it's only January so no need to panic just yet.</p>
<p>* By which I don't mean to imply £60 is a lot of money. If it's your only income you have to work quite hard to make it stretch given the rise in utility bills. However considering the amount of tax I've paid over the last 15 years I don't feel that guilty getting a bit of it back from the government while I look for work. And it's the only help I will get as saving money for a rainy day effectively ensures the government will never help you out with other costs.</p>
Ding Dong DRM is dead2009-01-07T10:54:00+00:002009-01-07T10:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-07:/~alex/blog/2009/01/07/1186/<p>Well it took long enough to get there but finally iTunes is <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7813527.stm">bowing to the inevitable</a>. Of course I'm not the world biggest Apple fan so I don't see this as altruism on their part. When their market share is threatened they will act to maintain it and iTunes still …</p><p>Well it took long enough to get there but finally iTunes is <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7813527.stm">bowing to the inevitable</a>. Of course I'm not the world biggest Apple fan so I don't see this as altruism on their part. When their market share is threatened they will act to maintain it and iTunes still practically owns the digital download market.</p>
<p>Of course a freedom crusader like me won't be satisfied until music is downloadable in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis">less encumbered formats</a> but for now I'm happy. I wonder if the seeing of the light by the music industry will be noticed by their cousins in the movie business? Somehow I doubt it will.</p>
Job Centre Plus, FAIL2009-01-06T17:24:00+00:002009-01-06T17:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-06:/~alex/blog/2009/01/06/job-centre-plus-fail/<p>I attempted to sort out my JSA claim today. Unfortunately everything has been centralised behind a single 0800 number. I can call it on my mobile but I don't really want to spend my first week of dole money paying for the call while I wait in the queue. Of …</p><p>I attempted to sort out my JSA claim today. Unfortunately everything has been centralised behind a single 0800 number. I can call it on my mobile but I don't really want to spend my first week of dole money paying for the call while I wait in the queue. Of course currently only having an old style <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_dialing">loop disconnect</a> phone connected to the land line I can't get past the first automated menu, *sigh*. Phoning the local Job Centre was pointless as they couldn't tell me a geographic number I could call on my mobile. The usually excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php">No to 0870</a> site has also failed me. If one was very cynical you might conclude this is a move to cut a few percentage points off the dole numbers :-(</p>
Day One2009-01-06T11:09:00+00:002009-01-06T11:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-06:/~alex/blog/2009/01/06/day-one/<p>Yesterday was the first "proper" day of unemployment. Despite the snow on the ground I still cycled in the long way round to pick up my redundancy papers. I then tracked into town to pick up a rabbit for the evening meal before finally relaxing with a bath. With all …</p><p>Yesterday was the first "proper" day of unemployment. Despite the snow on the ground I still cycled in the long way round to pick up my redundancy papers. I then tracked into town to pick up a rabbit for the evening meal before finally relaxing with a bath. With all the cycling it felt like I'd achieved a reasonable amount considering my indolence.</p>
<p>Today however is probably going to be different. I was up at 5.30 this morning to drive Fliss to the station. It was -7 whilst I de-iced the car which is pretty damn cold over hear. Since I've been back I've been hiding in the relative warm of the bed trying to beat emacs into shape on Fliss' MacBook so I can post this. I have some stuff I could be hacking on Rockbox at the moment but my office is too cold as are my fingers. Hopefully I won't go stir crazy to soon :-)</p>
Finally2009-01-03T12:25:00+00:002009-01-03T12:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-03:/~alex/blog/2009/01/03/1183/<p>One of the games we got for the PS3 was the wonderfully cute physics platformer <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LittleBigPlanet">Little Big Planet</a>. It could prove to be a very funky distraction. One of the things it does have is some very cute music. Previously if you were looking for individual tracks your options were …</p><p>One of the games we got for the PS3 was the wonderfully cute physics platformer <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LittleBigPlanet">Little Big Planet</a>. It could prove to be a very funky distraction. One of the things it does have is some very cute music. Previously if you were looking for individual tracks your options were limited to encumbered iTunes or using nefarious file-sharing apps to hunt out the individual tracks. Today I found what I wanted on Amazon's MP3 store and despite a little fiddly messing about with Amazon's special downloader continually trying to launch iTunes it all went very smoothly. I now have some nice high bitrate MP3's that will work on my Linux systems and my music players without any DRM hassles. If only the legal music download systems had been this easy back when people were first introduced to download-able music. Instead the music industry spent so much of it's time trying to lock up bits in various incompatible vaults while illegal tools showed how much easier it could be.</p>
Codec Fixing2009-01-02T14:33:00+00:002009-01-02T14:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2009-01-02:/~alex/blog/2009/01/02/codec-fixing/<p>Rockbox happily made it through the New Years Eve gathering without frustrating anyone with its occasional rough edges. However I am having problems with .m4a files (unlocked iTunes files) causing Rockbox to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9745">throw a strop</a>. Unfortunately debugging is made harder by the inability to attach the very much copyrighted tracks …</p><p>Rockbox happily made it through the New Years Eve gathering without frustrating anyone with its occasional rough edges. However I am having problems with .m4a files (unlocked iTunes files) causing Rockbox to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9745">throw a strop</a>. Unfortunately debugging is made harder by the inability to attach the very much copyrighted tracks to the bug report. I don't know how much love the m4a playback routines have seen. I assume most right thinking developers mainly run Oggs and Mp3's which of course work without any problems.</p>
<p>My hunt for un-encumbered test media continues.</p>
Start of a Journey2008-12-31T12:11:00+00:002008-12-31T12:11:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-31:/~alex/blog/2008/12/31/1181/<p>Fliss has always known I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan and on the run up to Christmas was probing me as to which series I thought was the best. The subtle questioning resulted in a present of season one of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Space_Nine">DS9</a> for Christmas (FWIW she got a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy">Family …</a></p><p>Fliss has always known I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan and on the run up to Christmas was probing me as to which series I thought was the best. The subtle questioning resulted in a present of season one of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Space_Nine">DS9</a> for Christmas (FWIW she got a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy">Family Guy</a> box set). Fliss' previous experience with Trek has been the odd episode here and there. Since watching them all and no longer having Sky I haven't seen many recently and those I have seen were the usual random selection of re-runs. It should be an interesting experience watching the series together in order.</p>
<p>DS9 was the Trek response to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5">Babylon 5</a> which at the time was being fairly innovative with the concept of a 5 year story arc. While plenty of TV shows had an ongoing narrative Sci-Fi shows tended to be fairly short story based with everything wrapped up by the end of the episode. Before DS9 the original TNG had only occasionally experimented with breaking the episode driven format. Although DS9 started in much the same way as TNG it grew into a more sweeping story told over the eventual 7 seasons of it's run. In part this was due to set-up of the show based at a fixed point in space. This meant the relevance of the politics of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajoran">Bajor</a> while it rebuilt from it's recent occupation and it's relationship with it's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardassian">neighbours</a> was a key part of the story. The alien races involved were treated more than a simple trait caricatures which is a common criticism of Treks approach to aliens*.</p>
<p>While I (unlike most people) still have a soft spot for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Voyager">Voyager</a> I still think DS9 was possibly the best of the Trek series. While Trek as a show suffers from many criticisms including many cliches and the near communist utopia that is the Federation I still count myself as a fan. Sci-Fi is often a lot more free to explore difficult contemporary topics through it's medium of story telling than most shows and I think Star Trek has played an admirable role in that cultural discourse.</p>
<p>* This is a little unfair. While a lot of Trek races tend to take a human trait and make it the basis for a whole alien civilisation it did also explore what real differences would mean. We can all point to the ubiquity of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_translator">Universal Translator</a> (a pragmatic story telling device in many Sci-Fi shows) as a Trek conceit. That however ignores a number of excellent episodes where the writers tried to imagine what communicating with very different lifeforms would actually mean in reality.</p>
I have found what I'm looking for2008-12-29T15:35:00+00:002008-12-29T15:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-29:/~alex/blog/2008/12/29/i-have-found-what-im-looking-for/<p>Unlike U2's abortive attempts I have found the netbook I'm looking for. I went into town to play <a class="reference external" href="http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/spec.do?group=computersperipherals&type=mobilecomputing&subtype=netbook&model_cd=NP-NC10-KA01US&fullspec=F">with it</a> after my Dad pointed out the review in PCW. Sure I was wanting to go for an SSD based machine but who can argue with the battery life even if …</p><p>Unlike U2's abortive attempts I have found the netbook I'm looking for. I went into town to play <a class="reference external" href="http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/spec.do?group=computersperipherals&type=mobilecomputing&subtype=netbook&model_cd=NP-NC10-KA01US&fullspec=F">with it</a> after my Dad pointed out the review in PCW. Sure I was wanting to go for an SSD based machine but who can argue with the battery life even if it is rotating disks? To be honest even though SSD's are getting bigger I can carry a lot of distributed source tree's with me. The salesman at the shop kindly instructed a techie to let me boot my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page">USB key</a> on it so I could check out the hardware. It's pretty much all Intel chipset stuff apart from the wireless which is an Atheros chipset. Thankfully that should be handled in <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/300758/">recent kernels</a>. No all I have to do is see if I can source it without Windows Tax.</p>
It's cold outside....2008-12-29T12:48:00+00:002008-12-29T12:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-29:/~alex/blog/2008/12/29/its-cold-outside/<p>..although the atmosphere does in fact seem present. I can't decide if I'm coming down with man-flu or not. When we finally arrived home yesterday my nose developed a distinct runny edge which I combated with Lemsip. However this morning it all seems pretty much fine and I'm about to …</p><p>..although the atmosphere does in fact seem present. I can't decide if I'm coming down with man-flu or not. When we finally arrived home yesterday my nose developed a distinct runny edge which I combated with Lemsip. However this morning it all seems pretty much fine and I'm about to cycle into town to check out some netbooks. It's most confusing.</p>
<p>In other news the base load the house draws in around 68 Watts. That would be central heating control, radio on standby, fridge and laptop power brick. So far we haven't peaked much over 4 kW (lights, kettle, TV, PS3 on). Fliss is less impressed with these figures than I am, that might tell me something ;-)</p>
The Inevitable Post Christmas Write Up2008-12-28T16:06:00+00:002008-12-28T16:06:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-28:/~alex/blog/2008/12/28/the-inevitable-post-christmas-write-up/<p>So now the Christmas celebrations are over and we head towards the new year I thought I'd better do a quick write-up.</p>
<p>This year we split Christmas between the two families over two days. This resulted in me feeling a little over fed by the end of the process. Christmas …</p><p>So now the Christmas celebrations are over and we head towards the new year I thought I'd better do a quick write-up.</p>
<p>This year we split Christmas between the two families over two days. This resulted in me feeling a little over fed by the end of the process. Christmas Day at my parents had a green theme from the presents to the hand made crackers at the dinner table. Everyone now has a large selection of wind up charging devices to reduce our carbon footprints. We also now have a nice wireless inductive <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theowl.com/">electricity meter</a> to give a current indication of the household load.</p>
<p>Christmas Day 2 continued at Fliss' mums with even more chocolate, booze and a large Goose. I ended up in my second carb induced coma of the week. There was no particular theme for this round of gifts but books and DVDs where a strong theme. I also have a number of new games to keep me occupied in my upcoming indolence :-)</p>
<p>I didn't make it up to Manchester for the traditional Ste Birthday Bash and we'll be staying down south for a quite New Year. Hopefully I'll be up in time for the Winter Ales Festival in January.</p>
Happy Festivities2008-12-26T11:13:00+00:002008-12-26T11:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-26:/~alex/blog/2008/12/26/happy-festivities/<p>I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas. Yesterday involved a small mountain of the food and associated mini lake of wine which left me in a carb induced coma for the est of the day. As Christmas is split over the two family homes we are having Christmas 2 …</p><p>I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas. Yesterday involved a small mountain of the food and associated mini lake of wine which left me in a carb induced coma for the est of the day. As Christmas is split over the two family homes we are having Christmas 2 today with the attendant second set of presents. There will be another Christmas lunch although this time with Goose instead of Turkey. I suspect I may be a little heavier than usual going into the New Year.</p>
Done2008-12-18T17:37:00+00:002008-12-18T17:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-18:/~alex/blog/2008/12/18/done/<p>I've packed my work headphones, USB drive and other accoutrements and headed home. I am now a man of leisure for the foreseeable future.</p>
Electric Heads2008-12-16T12:21:00+00:002008-12-16T12:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-16:/~alex/blog/2008/12/16/1175/<p>We watched Top Gear last night and I saw a car I'd be happy to buy and still feel good enough about my environmental credentials. I thought Clarkson was a little hard on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster">Tesla Roadster</a>'s range. The rated range of 244 miles on a full charge assumes a …</p><p>We watched Top Gear last night and I saw a car I'd be happy to buy and still feel good enough about my environmental credentials. I thought Clarkson was a little hard on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster">Tesla Roadster</a>'s range. The rated range of 244 miles on a full charge assumes a level of sensible driving your not going to get throwing the thing around the Top Gear test track. It had echos of the "test" they ran with a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius">Prius</a> racing around the track against a BMW. The Top Gear team are more in favour of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_FCX_Clarity">Honda FX Clarity</a> and it's hydrogen fuel cell approach.</p>
<p>The only figure that matters when comparing all these vehicles is how much energy it takes to move for a fixed distance. Both the Tesla and the FCX get their energy from potentially dirty power stations, it's just the FCX's power is indirectly used to separate hydrogen from water before being trucked around to filling stations. Luckily I don't have to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1175">look far</a> to get all the numbers I need.</p>
<p>A very efficient petrol car runs at about 62kWh per 100km (roughly equivalent to 43mpg). The Tesla roadster runs at a significantly better 15kWh per 100km, remarkably around the same efficiency as the micro <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Wiz">G-Wiz</a> but a lot cooler to drive. The FCX clarity comes in at 69kWh per 100km which is more than an efficient petrol car! Sure it has zero emissions (at least on the road) but it's still using more energy and that will become an increasingly scarce resource. Still it's not as bad as BMW's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_7">Hydrogen 7</a> which comes in at a massive 254 kWh per 100km.</p>
<p>One of the central thrusts of the programmes argument is given the recharge time of pure battery cars we will have to use hydrogen fuel cell cars to get any sort of range. However the average daily commute is 8.7 miles which is well in the range of all battery cars. I suspect the future will be hybrid fuel-cell/battery cars which never need the fuel cell in daily use.</p>
<p>Much as I like the show I do sometimes find myself shouting at the intellectual dishonesty of some of their "tests". However it is heartening that electric cars are starting to become mainstream and even desirable*. Any manufacturer still developing petrol or even hybrid cars at the moment isn't really deserving of government support. The future is electric. Who wants to lay a bet on an all electric Formula 1 within 10 years?</p>
<p>* Technically I could buy one right now. Fliss said no, citing things like buying a house and paying bills as being more important. Bah humbug! ;-)</p>
Inadvisable Experiment?2008-12-15T13:36:00+00:002008-12-15T13:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-15:/~alex/blog/2008/12/15/inadvisable-experiment/<p>One of the aspects of my personal grooming the last number of months has involved dropping the regular shaving. There are a number of reasons of which laziness and the fact it keeps my face moderately warmer when cycling are the key drivers. Outside of the first day or so …</p><p>One of the aspects of my personal grooming the last number of months has involved dropping the regular shaving. There are a number of reasons of which laziness and the fact it keeps my face moderately warmer when cycling are the key drivers. Outside of the first day or so of scratchy stubble Fliss actually quite likes a soft beard. However it usually comes to pass after a week or so I find the hair keeps catching on jumpers and the like and I relent and return to my clean shaven self for the whole cycle to repeat again.</p>
<p>Last night as I prepared to denude my face once more I decided to try an experiment. The first casualty was straggly growth attempting to join my facial hair to my chest hair which is the main culprit for jumper catching annoyances. Followed up with a little judicious trimming to prevent any <a class="reference external" href="http://colinpillinger.com/barnstormpr.co.uk/index.asp">pillinger-esque</a> excesses and I seem to have ended up with something that looks OK.</p>
<p>I suspect this experiment won't last into the warmer months when I'll most likely find my face too warm. However in the meantime it looks like if fitting into the beardy *nix hacker idiom :-)</p>
Home is where the bandwidth is2008-12-12T15:06:00+00:002008-12-12T15:06:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-12:/~alex/blog/2008/12/12/1173/<p>After a few false starts last night I finally got a chance to play with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home">PlayStation Home</a> for a bit this morning. The simplest description of it would probably be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life">Second Life</a> for consoles.</p>
<p>First impressions are actually pretty good. The initial avatar creation process certainly gives you plenty of …</p><p>After a few false starts last night I finally got a chance to play with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home">PlayStation Home</a> for a bit this morning. The simplest description of it would probably be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life">Second Life</a> for consoles.</p>
<p>First impressions are actually pretty good. The initial avatar creation process certainly gives you plenty of knobs to tweak to create your customised model. Everyone gets their own corner apartment overlooking the harbour bay (why let real life limitations impact the virtual world :-) which they can pimp out to their own tastes. It all looks pretty enough and once you get connected there didn't seem to be much in the way of lag issues.</p>
<p>Getting out and about involves teleporting from location to location rather than a free-for-all sandbox type setup. Media seems to handled well, the first thing we came across in the main square was a bunch of people dancing to a promotional video running on the virtual big screen. I've yet to setup my own apartment's media but the idea is people visiting your apartment can hear music streaming from your PS3. It's certainly a nicer way to meet new people compared to randomly friending people who where involved in your last CoD4 frag fest.</p>
<p>Sony obviously have big ideas for the future of the environment. Although the basics are free they expect to sell branded items for people who want to pay for custom sets of polygons. The other major source of revenue will be from advertisers who will want to stream their advertising in the various lobbies and public areas. Some companies have already gone the whole hog and have their own islands and areas for people to congregate in. There is talk of users being able to generate their own content but I don't know how this will work.</p>
<p>So is this the future of social networking? I don't know but it certainly looks nice and I can see the attraction of getting players to congregate in Home before launching directly into games. Whether the novelty will wear off after a while is still to be seen. However seeing how much thought Sony have put into the setup it will certainly be interesting to watch.</p>
Week to go2008-12-11T12:33:00+00:002008-12-11T12:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-11:/~alex/blog/2008/12/11/week-to-go/<p>I'm entering my final week of work. Baring coming in on January the 5th for the official redundination notice my last day is the 18th of December. I'm not really going to think about any job hunting/career stuff until well past the Christmas holidays.</p>
<p>Luckily I seem to have …</p><p>I'm entering my final week of work. Baring coming in on January the 5th for the official redundination notice my last day is the 18th of December. I'm not really going to think about any job hunting/career stuff until well past the Christmas holidays.</p>
<p>Luckily I seem to have boxed off all the "must do" tasks to get the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cbnl.com/news/press_release/mi17nov08.html">product</a> to it's general availability state with a few days in hand. I may be being made redundant but I can at least point to yet another complete project on my CV. I really don't like leaving projects halfway through, at least professionally!</p>
<p>I'm giving a "Linux 101" presentation to the support and sales people today. It's a little different from the day to day code monkey stuff but variety is good. Still 45 minutes seems like an awfully long time to fill especially given my tendency to speak a lot faster than normal when I'm in front of a lot of people. I shall do my best to get "Free as in Freedom" into the talk ;-)</p>
Wikipedia and the IWF2008-12-10T15:36:00+00:002008-12-10T15:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-10:/~alex/blog/2008/12/10/1171/<p>It seems the IWF have <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7774102.stm">backed down</a> in their attempt to censor Wikipedia. One of the reasons they cite is the unintended consequence more people having seen the questionable image since they <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Watch_Foundation_and_Wikipedia">pointed it out</a>. This is sometimes referred to as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect">Streisand effect</a> after <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbra_Streisand">Barbra Streisand</a>'s attempt to …</p><p>It seems the IWF have <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7774102.stm">backed down</a> in their attempt to censor Wikipedia. One of the reasons they cite is the unintended consequence more people having seen the questionable image since they <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Watch_Foundation_and_Wikipedia">pointed it out</a>. This is sometimes referred to as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect">Streisand effect</a> after <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbra_Streisand">Barbra Streisand</a>'s attempt to censor the internet.</p>
<p>There are a number of issues raised by the whole affair including questions about censoring stuff on the belief it may be against the law. However I'd like to concentrate on the technical issues involved.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanfeed_(content_blocking_system)">Cleanfeed</a> system is actually fairly well thought out. For starters they only filter URLs rather than whole <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name">domains</a>. This means an offending page can be filtered out without knocking out a whole site. I'm sure people can imagine the outcry blocking the whole of Wikipedia would have caused.</p>
<p>They way the filtering is handled is by passing your web-request through a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_proxy#Transparent_and_non-transparent_proxy_server">transparent proxy</a>. Obviously if everybody had their web surfing routed through this one proxy everyone would suffer from slower surfing. For this reason Cleanfeed utilises a two stage process where only requests to sites in the IWF blacklist are forwarded to the proxy. Unfortunately for UK Wikipedia users this meant that all requests to the site went through the proxy. From Wikipedia's point of view this meant the entire UK population where making requests from a single IP address. As an IP address is the unique identifier of a device connected to the internet Wikipedia use it as a way of blocking sustained vandalism. The side effect being that all anonymous edits of Wikipedia where blocked once some-one had committed some vandalism through the proxy. Another unintended consequence of the IWF filter.</p>
<p>There are a number of lessons that can be drawn by the whole episode. However this case is should be held up as a example to those people that think technical solutions to filtering the internet are <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Australia#Policy_of_compulsory_internet_filtering">workable</a>. Unintended consequences indeed.</p>
iGenius!2008-12-09T21:27:00+00:002008-12-09T21:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-09:/~alex/blog/2008/12/09/1170/<p>I've mentioned the iPhone <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1107">once or twice</a> before. Their last <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/26/iphone_ad_pulled/">entanglement with the ASA</a>, for overly blinging the iPhone "usage experience", got the ad pulled. However undaunted I have just seen the same ad with the rather apologetic light text on a light background "sequence has been shortened" tacked onto …</p><p>I've mentioned the iPhone <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1107">once or twice</a> before. Their last <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/26/iphone_ad_pulled/">entanglement with the ASA</a>, for overly blinging the iPhone "usage experience", got the ad pulled. However undaunted I have just seen the same ad with the rather apologetic light text on a light background "sequence has been shortened" tacked onto the end. I bet the Ad Men really worked for their fee!</p>
Dell Sales Droids2008-12-04T16:53:00+00:002008-12-04T16:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-04:/~alex/blog/2008/12/04/dell-sales-droids/<p>In a further quest to decide on netbooks I offer the following:</p>
<blockquote>
15:20:01 Customer Alex Bennee
Initial Question/Comment: Are there any plans to offer the better spec Mini 9 (1.3MP camera and 16GB SSD) with Ubuntu instead of Vista?
15:24:04 Agent DSD
i am …</blockquote><p>In a further quest to decide on netbooks I offer the following:</p>
<blockquote>
15:20:01 Customer Alex Bennee
Initial Question/Comment: Are there any plans to offer the better spec Mini 9 (1.3MP camera and 16GB SSD) with Ubuntu instead of Vista?
15:24:04 Agent DSD
i am afraid it is not possible to have Ubuntu with 16 GB hard drive and 1.3 Mega pixel cam.
15:24:52 Customer Alex Bennee
Will Dell honour the MS OEM refund program if I buy the Windows Mini 9 and make a refund request for the unused OS?
15:25:30 Agent DSD
I am sorry we do not have the information on this.
15:26:16 Customer Alex Bennee
Dell has no policy on OS refunds?
15:27:41 System System
DSD has left this session!
15:27:41 System System
The session has ended!</blockquote>
<p>I assume they don't want a repeat of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/04/dell_windows_eula_israel/">this</a>.</p>
It's all about the options2008-12-04T00:27:00+00:002008-12-04T00:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-04:/~alex/blog/2008/12/04/its-all-about-the-options/<p>I went along to a see a prospective employer today for a "see what we do" visit. The company is still quite a young start-up with a small team of around 10 people. They haven't been going that long (the last two companies could be termed "late stage" start-ups having …</p><p>I went along to a see a prospective employer today for a "see what we do" visit. The company is still quite a young start-up with a small team of around 10 people. They haven't been going that long (the last two companies could be termed "late stage" start-ups having been going some time when I joined). However they seem on track with their business plans. They certainly have some interesting challenges ahead of them that would take me out of my comfort zone which I think is a good thing. However salary would likely be lower* and I have long stopped counting on the inevitable share options to pay for my early retirement ;-)</p>
<p>I shall have to give it some thought over the next few days. I'm conscious that I'm not even unemployed yet and there are a number of irons in the fire already. I don't want to jump on the first thing that presents itself without giving a chance for other opportunities grab my attention.</p>
<p>* I like to say I'm more motivated by interesting work than the cash. But it's one thing saying it, quite another doing it when your looking forward to the uber mortgage you need to buy a house around here.</p>
Energy for all2008-12-02T13:26:00+00:002008-12-02T13:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-02:/~alex/blog/2008/12/02/1167/<p>I went to an interesting talk last night hosted by the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.csar.org.uk/">Cambridge Society for the Application of Research</a>. It was given by local professor Dr David MacKay promoting his new book <a class="reference external" href="http://www.withouthotair.com/">"Sustainable Energy: without the hot air"</a>. Although you can buy a copy you can download the whole thing in …</p><p>I went to an interesting talk last night hosted by the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.csar.org.uk/">Cambridge Society for the Application of Research</a>. It was given by local professor Dr David MacKay promoting his new book <a class="reference external" href="http://www.withouthotair.com/">"Sustainable Energy: without the hot air"</a>. Although you can buy a copy you can download the whole thing in Creative Commons licensed glory from his website.</p>
<p>The book is basically a scientific approach to the problem of how we manage the energy deficit and move to sustainable energy future. He started his talking about the current problems with "Greenwashing" and the dangers of an emotive approach to promotion of alternatives. The big elephant in the room is of course the role Nuclear could play in the equation with most of the environmental lobby against it without having the answers to fill the shortfall in energy.</p>
<p>The principle problem with renewables is the low energy density (a limit of physics) which lead to the Wales unit. If we were to provide all our energy we would have to convert all farm land to biomass, have several Wales sized wind farms both on and off shore as well as ship in solar energy from significant chunks of the Libyan dessert.</p>
<p>The flip side of the problem of course is reducing demand. The big runners seem to be all electric transport and more efficient heating and cooling by using <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump">Heat Pumps</a>. Current car usage is very inefficient in term of power budget and there is much more to be done in the field. The current hybrids really only scratch the surface of what is possible and from MacKay's point of view can only be a stepping stone to fully electrified personal vehicles. I was impressed by the numbers on Heat Pumps which claim greater the 100% efficiency by virtue of tapping energy from the environment. The question remains if we will reach a limit by permanently refrigerating outside while we are kept warm inside the buildings.</p>
<p>The overall conclusion of the talk was a positive one. If we added nuclear and "clean" coal to the mix ("sustainable" equals will last for 1000 years at current demand) and reduced the area set aside for renewables to be more realistic at the same time as aggressively reducing consumption by transport and heating it is a scientifically doable thing. Whether we will is another question all together.</p>
Hardware Choices2008-12-01T13:28:00+00:002008-12-01T13:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-01:/~alex/blog/2008/12/01/1166/<p>It's getting to the point I'll have to make a decision soon on what I want out of a laptop. The current runners and riders are:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Dell Mini 9</li>
<li>Dell Mini 12</li>
<li>Acer Aspire One</li>
<li>Asus Eee 1000 PC</li>
</ul>
<p>Unfortunately there is no current clear winner. Certainly I want SSD …</p><p>It's getting to the point I'll have to make a decision soon on what I want out of a laptop. The current runners and riders are:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Dell Mini 9</li>
<li>Dell Mini 12</li>
<li>Acer Aspire One</li>
<li>Asus Eee 1000 PC</li>
</ul>
<p>Unfortunately there is no current clear winner. Certainly I want SSD instead of a normal rotating hard drive. Intel Atom based is the way to go (for now) and Intel Graphics. I'd prefer 1GB of RAM to 512Mb (but often 1GB models are only available with Windows). The wireless complicates things as most of them need binary blobs to get the working, although hopefully all the major chipsets will have open source drivers soon. I would certainly *not* want anything that came with Windows pre-installed (and therefor paid for) because I'm never going to use it.</p>
Paperwork2008-12-01T12:44:00+00:002008-12-01T12:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-12-01:/~alex/blog/2008/12/01/paperwork/<p>We went down to London on Saturday to join some birthday drinks while enjoying the Wales-Australia game (the pub not wanting to splash out 20k on the Sky Sports license for the England-All Blacks game). It was a good choice to as we were treated to a nice close game …</p><p>We went down to London on Saturday to join some birthday drinks while enjoying the Wales-Australia game (the pub not wanting to splash out 20k on the Sky Sports license for the England-All Blacks game). It was a good choice to as we were treated to a nice close game which was won by the home side. Well done Wales!</p>
<p>Sunday was a lazy day of TV watching as we spent around 5 hours sorting through a few months accumulated paper work, filing a large chunk of it and re-cycling an even larger chunk Boring work but needed some sorting out.</p>
<p>We did watch a few films over the weekend including the rather touching dystopian <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/">Wall-E</a>. It's a lovely film and very well presented. There are a number of references/homages to other science fiction films including the obvious <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_running">Silent Running</a> which is now on our rental list. I was also quite taken with the space travel sequence which was heavily influenced by the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Voyager">Star Trek: Voyager</a> title credits. Wall-E is certainly a worthwhile addition to any collection.</p>
Experience2008-11-27T19:00:00+00:002008-11-27T19:00:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-27:/~alex/blog/2008/11/27/1164/<p>Well it looks like everything should be wrapped up by January 5th at which point I shall be officially jobless. I probably won't add to the stats though as despite having worked for most of my adult life I don't qualify for any benefits.</p>
<p>Obviously I've been polishing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">my CV …</a></p><p>Well it looks like everything should be wrapped up by January 5th at which point I shall be officially jobless. I probably won't add to the stats though as despite having worked for most of my adult life I don't qualify for any benefits.</p>
<p>Obviously I've been polishing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">my CV</a> to bring it up to date. One rather glaring problem with it at the moment is I over use the word "experience" in the prose. It's a tricky problem because I am actually very experienced in a lot of things. However converting the excess experiences into other synonyms seems like an act of linguistic gymnastics to avoid repetition of a positive word. I'm open to suggestions for alternate phrasings.</p>
<p>I've also been giving some thought to what I can do with my spare time next year. A number of ideas are currently percolating:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>See how much I can reduce the power consumption of my desktop (Linux Kernel, C, System Libs)</li>
<li>Implement a mash-up of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/home">Last.Fm</a> meta-data to generate play lists based on selected songs (python, rhythmbox, gnome)</li>
<li>Implement <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/">Rockbox</a> support for <a class="reference external" href="http://projects.gnome.org/rhythmbox/">Rhythmbox</a> (python?, gnome)</li>
<li>Improve Rockbox's playlist support (embedded, C, rockbox)</li>
<li>See what bounties are available for various projects and do them (may actually make money!)</li>
<li>Cleanup my <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/tree/master">.emacs</a> to have less hacky project support and do a better job of dealing indentation and tabs on random projects</li>
</ul>
<p>My ideal job would be 100% FLOSS based, preferably at the kernel/system level. However I don't really have anything that needs fixing in my setup because I've been careful to select well supported hardware. I don't know if tackling the <a class="reference external" href="http://kernelnewbies.org/KernelJanitors/Todo">Kernel Janitors TODO list</a> would just get very boring very quick.</p>
Plans of a festive nature2008-11-26T11:49:00+00:002008-11-26T11:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-26:/~alex/blog/2008/11/26/plans-of-a-festive-nature/<p>It was a classic good day to bury bad news moment. I hadn't even realised there was a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2008/pre_budget_report/default.stm">mini-budget</a> going on the day I was told I had to get a new job. Still the changes wouldn't of made me spend more or less over Christmas, and that's probably not …</p><p>It was a classic good day to bury bad news moment. I hadn't even realised there was a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2008/pre_budget_report/default.stm">mini-budget</a> going on the day I was told I had to get a new job. Still the changes wouldn't of made me spend more or less over Christmas, and that's probably not going to change anyway with this years theme being "Green".</p>
<p>One upside of the upheaval is I no longer need to horde my holidays from this year for next years trip <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia">down under</a>. Also given family commitments I don't think I'll be heading up to Manchester for the traditional post turkey festivities from Ste's birthday to New Year. However I am due to be in Manchester on the 19th of December to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/music/James">James</a> playing at the [STRIKEOUT:GMEX]Manchester Central. My current thoughts involve stretching the weekend to Monday or Tuesday before heading back. That's if anyone can put me up and there will be festive things to see/do/drink?</p>
Lot of it about apparently2008-11-24T17:33:00+00:002008-11-24T17:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-24:/~alex/blog/2008/11/24/1162/<p>Despite thinking the company was relatively immune to the credit crunch it now seems rather less so. When VC money wants to be matched by normal borrowing in a credit crunch something is going to give. There was a fairly glum faced meeting today as rather swinging redundancies were announced …</p><p>Despite thinking the company was relatively immune to the credit crunch it now seems rather less so. When VC money wants to be matched by normal borrowing in a credit crunch something is going to give. There was a fairly glum faced meeting today as rather swinging redundancies were announced. As my position was working on the fringe of the core products on which they want to focus I've got caught in the cost cutting exercise. You start feeling middle aged after a few redundinations ;-)</p>
<p>I intend to spend the next few weeks with my feet idly perched on the sofa while sipping glasses of port on the run up to Christmas. Failing that I might start looking for gainful employment - possibly of a contract nature this time. If anyone knows of anything <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">appropriate to my skills</a> please do shout.</p>
Snow Days and Ducks2008-11-24T14:13:00+00:002008-11-24T14:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-24:/~alex/blog/2008/11/24/snow-days-and-ducks/<p>I went past a number of ducks this morning that had their heads tucked into their wings. I don't think they were ignoring me because of my consumption of a rather tasty duck on Friday, I think it was the cold.</p>
<p>The servers at work have been down since Friday …</p><p>I went past a number of ducks this morning that had their heads tucked into their wings. I don't think they were ignoring me because of my consumption of a rather tasty duck on Friday, I think it was the cold.</p>
<p>The servers at work have been down since Friday. This could almost be derived to be a snow day like occurrence. However I was meant to be rolling the final build for project that has absorbed the last 6 months on Friday. Most of the time I spent twiddling my fingers while waiting for Firefox to respond having failed to read anything* from $HOME. In the end I admitted defeat and headed home to try and pick things up on my own system</p>
<p>We had a lovely weekend with M&C visiting for a little bit of countryside pursuits. We ended up walking instead of riding to out now traditional river side pub before loading up on carbs for the walk back. It was a nice day although the faces response very much depended which side was facing the sun. Sunday was fairly quite and we ended up in bed before 10 to get a nice early night.</p>
<p>Servers are still down today (which I foolishly only discovered after going in). I have since headed back home only to have to go in for 14.30 for a staff meeting. I may get half the build sorted today, possibly a whole release even if I can't email the details to anyone who cares :-(</p>
Is the Economy Stupid?2008-11-20T13:11:00+00:002008-11-20T13:11:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-20:/~alex/blog/2008/11/20/1160/<p>The economy has been very much at the top of the news agenda (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/11/strictly_come_dancing_message.html">modulo dancing hysteria</a>). I've recently added TV superstar <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/">Robert Peston</a> to my feeds and I do find his articles very enlightening.</p>
<p>There seems to be a growing furor over the banks reluctance to start lending again. What …</p><p>The economy has been very much at the top of the news agenda (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/11/strictly_come_dancing_message.html">modulo dancing hysteria</a>). I've recently added TV superstar <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/">Robert Peston</a> to my feeds and I do find his articles very enlightening.</p>
<p>There seems to be a growing furor over the banks reluctance to start lending again. What I don't understand is how we've come to the conclusion that the correct remedy for a credit crunch bought about by ten years of cheap money is to increase the availability of cheap money? One would hope the banks have learnt their lesson about lending more money than they have to potentially bad risks. If they continue behaving as they did last year we would be heading towards an even greater fall further down the road.</p>
<p>There are problems with companies that are over extended with their lines of credit. However as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2008/11/can_darling_kickstart_lending.html">Peston points out</a> most small businesses are actually well prepared for the downturn. Their problems are not with the banks but with the larger companies that are starting to delay payments because they have over extended. The raw capitalist solution to this is for a frenzy of bloodletting as these unprepared companies undergo rapid contractions or takeovers by people who have a better idea how to run them. However this is not politically acceptable. It seems the politicians would like to solve the problem by pouring taxpayers money into the banks hoping we the consumer will ignore the current conditions and keep spending on our credit cards. Much like that "last pint" the end result is likely to be an even longer hangover where we ask ourselves what were we thinking.</p>
<p>A lot of energy seems to expended on getting the housing market moving again. This seems to fly in direct contradiction with the stated aim of making housing more available to first time buyers. I admit I have a vested interest here but surely what the housing market needs is a readjustment where house prices can realign with earnings. It seems to me like another case of trying to re-inflate a slowly bursting bubble.</p>
<p>Of course I'm no economist so what do I know?</p>
DLC2008-11-19T14:19:00+00:002008-11-19T14:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-19:/~alex/blog/2008/11/19/dlc/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulcalibur_IV">Soul Calibur IV</a> has been seeing a resurgence of play on the PS3 recently. I bought it on a whim because it's always worth having a least one fighting game in your collection and I was disappointed with the sterility of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtua_Fighter_5">Virtua Fighter</a>. Soul Calibur is basically more fun to …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulcalibur_IV">Soul Calibur IV</a> has been seeing a resurgence of play on the PS3 recently. I bought it on a whim because it's always worth having a least one fighting game in your collection and I was disappointed with the sterility of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtua_Fighter_5">Virtua Fighter</a>. Soul Calibur is basically more fun to play, more forgiving of button mashing (important for social games) and actually has a degree of depth too it. I'm not sure if the developers play up to the Engrish translation but the plotting is more funny than annoying. Also there is a substantial customisation environment which allows you to tweak and dress any of the characters in quite complex detail. It's not a feature I've played with much* but Fliss really enjoys it. It's also something the developers have spotted the potential of for down-loadable content. There are packs that unlock Yoda**, provide more weapons, holiday themed costume and finally the rather dubious Maid outfit and School Girl/Boy outfit sets.</p>
<p>All in all I can heartily recommend it as a worthwhile addition to any gamers collection.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">*: I found the customisation of GTA:SA a little too much like hard work, however it was nice to dress Niko up as "proper" mafia in GTAIV.</div>
<div class="line">**: Yeah, the PS3 version comes with Darth Vader complete with rip in the fabric of space-time story. It seems an incongruous addition of licensing to the franchise and certainly not a reason to buy the game. But it doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the rest of it.</div>
</div>
Requiem For a Tune2008-11-18T13:46:00+00:002008-11-18T13:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-18:/~alex/blog/2008/11/18/1158/<p>I wanted to listen to some of Fliss' music that she had recently brought. However unlike CD's tunes purchased via iTunes require a bit more work to get playing on anything other than the iTunes it was bought on or a limited number of Apple Firmware iPods.</p>
<p>There exists a …</p><p>I wanted to listen to some of Fliss' music that she had recently brought. However unlike CD's tunes purchased via iTunes require a bit more work to get playing on anything other than the iTunes it was bought on or a limited number of Apple Firmware iPods.</p>
<p>There exists a simple analog hole which means you can burn the CD and then re-rip it in a format of your choice. However that's a lossy process (not to mention not very environmentally friendly). It's also silly as my Rockbox'ed iPod can quite happily deal with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding">AAC</a> coded files if they where slipped of their mathematical shackles.</p>
<p>Apple have done a fairly complete job <a class="reference external" href="http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=17241#17241">C&Ding</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay#Requiem">Requiem</a> off the net but it still survives via various torrent sites and Freenet pages, helpfully in source form. It works pretty well although it did have a few interesting behaviours, the first being you need to decrypt the source files in place. This is when I ran into the limitations of the rather sparse BSD find/xargs implementations. In the end I wrote a little piece of perl this morning to run through the whole list. At least the 900 or so tracks that had been purchased can no longer disappear in a little puff of logic now :-)</p>
What is Rule 34?2008-11-17T14:29:00+00:002008-11-17T14:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-17:/~alex/blog/2008/11/17/1157/<p>There's a rather nice <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com/505/">new xkcd</a> but I'm troubled by the alt-text caption. Google <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=wolfram%27s%20rule%2034&meta=">just throws up a lot of spam links</a>. I suspect xkcd is just being clever but damn my curiosity is being peeked!</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Ahh, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_automaton">makes more sense</a> now.</p>
Downturn2008-11-17T13:18:00+00:002008-11-17T13:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-17:/~alex/blog/2008/11/17/downturn/<p>There was definitely more of a chill to the weather this morning as I wheeled the bike over the frosted ground. My head felt very cold for the first mile or so until my internal body heat started trying to radiated through my aerated head.</p>
<p>The weekend was mainly full …</p><p>There was definitely more of a chill to the weather this morning as I wheeled the bike over the frosted ground. My head felt very cold for the first mile or so until my internal body heat started trying to radiated through my aerated head.</p>
<p>The weekend was mainly full of family things for various family related duties. I was yet again introduced to the large number of cousins, aunts and uncles that make up her sprawling family. I managed to persuade Fliss to drop the occasional name into the conversation stream to help me along. I did un-tether myself and run solo for a bit and discussed the physics of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooker">induction cookers</a> and the possibility of detecting conditions such as reaching a boil so power input can be lowered to keep the temperature stable. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that our rather ancient cooker has trouble maintaining a stable oven temperature even if we have calibrated for the hot-plates.</p>
<p>One of the benefits of the family duty was Fliss' sister was over for weekend taking a brief break from her foreign studies. Her course will see her studying in Liverpool next year so at some point we'll need to introduce her to some of the North West crowd so she knows a few people oop Norf.</p>
Batteries Included2008-11-14T14:29:00+00:002008-11-14T14:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-14:/~alex/blog/2008/11/14/1155/<p>I posted my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/mail/archive/rockbox-dev-archive-2008-11/0075.shtml">simple patch</a> for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org">Rockbox</a> to their mailing lists yesterday. It's a pretty simple one but I'm a big believer in trying to make the build system as flexible as possible. Also as I'm thinking of various experiments on my one and only iPod it would be …</p><p>I posted my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/mail/archive/rockbox-dev-archive-2008-11/0075.shtml">simple patch</a> for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org">Rockbox</a> to their mailing lists yesterday. It's a pretty simple one but I'm a big believer in trying to make the build system as flexible as possible. Also as I'm thinking of various experiments on my one and only iPod it would be nice not to nuke the stable software.</p>
<p>I've been a little concerned that my iPod has dud batteries. There have been a number of times it hasn't woken up to key presses until given some USB juice. However I'm currently running the battery benchmark tool and it's been happily playing away since I left the house this morning. It could be that spending a lot of the time playing with the setup the last few days is draining the batteries faster as the back-light is on. The other option is the boot firmware is getting itself into a funny state going through various USB connections (connecting to USB switches over to Apple's "Disk Mode" firmware on the flash).</p>
<p>There is a lot to like about Rockbox, not least the ability to play my music collection. However I think the area I'm going to focus on is it's handling of playlists. It's currently a little clunky and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/mail/archive/rockbox-dev-archive-2008-11/0060.shtml">seems to have bugs</a> in adding stuff to existing playlists. One nice thing about the setup though is they <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/UiSimulator">have a simulator</a> which will run on your desktop. This means I can be a lot faster in tweaking the logic and testing things out. It even plays the music through SDL so you don't have to work in silence ;-)</p>
Web/Flash Moonlighting?2008-11-13T13:17:00+00:002008-11-13T13:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-13:/~alex/blog/2008/11/13/1154/<p>Any Web/Flash monkeys around who fancy a bit of work on the side? A friend of a friend is looking to update their website. I mention Flash as it seems to be a whole Flash website *shudder*. Anyway if anyone is interested ping me and I can point you …</p><p>Any Web/Flash monkeys around who fancy a bit of work on the side? A friend of a friend is looking to update their website. I mention Flash as it seems to be a whole Flash website *shudder*. Anyway if anyone is interested ping me and I can point you towards existing site etc..</p>
Early Riser2008-11-12T14:15:00+00:002008-11-12T14:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-12:/~alex/blog/2008/11/12/early-riser/<p>As part of the Faustian deal that puts our house within a few miles of my place of work I have to occasionally share the pain of Fliss' commute. As she had to be in London pretty early we woke at 5.30 so I could drive her to the …</p><p>As part of the Faustian deal that puts our house within a few miles of my place of work I have to occasionally share the pain of Fliss' commute. As she had to be in London pretty early we woke at 5.30 so I could drive her to the station for 6ish. The morning drive was not helped by my car flashing "Stop Now!" and other such worrying messages on computer display as I started to back the car out of the drive. The level of higher brain function at that time in the morning is not suited to diagnosing why your car is dying. In the end it turned out to be the radiator reservoir had fallen bellow the line. It's nice the car is intelligent enough to tell me before I screw it up but I can't help feeling the messages could have been a little less apocalyptic.</p>
<p>Last night was a little late as Fliss was catching a later train home. So I left the Beef and Ale pie mix simmering and joined T&F for a few pints in what is fast becoming our "local". T had a quick play with my Rockbox'ed iPod which seemed to pass muster. I suspect he's going to do the same to his iPod soon. We didn't get home and eat until 10ish which probably means I shall be asleep in my food after the cinema tonight.</p>
No Follow2008-11-11T12:26:00+00:002008-11-11T12:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-11:/~alex/blog/2008/11/11/1152/<p>I don't really want to mention SPAM blogs in-case I give them Google Juice. However <a class="reference external" href="http://amdvsintel.nits.in/">this one is interesting</a> just for the phrasing of the language. For example (from <a class="reference external" href="http://amdvsintel.nits.in/uncategorized/quicktransitr-cross-platform-virtualization-performance-boosted.html">here</a>):</p>
<p><em>"“Transitive congratulates AMD on its incoming promulgation of the newborn Quad-Core AMD Opteron (TM) processor,â€? said Ian Robinson …</em></p><p>I don't really want to mention SPAM blogs in-case I give them Google Juice. However <a class="reference external" href="http://amdvsintel.nits.in/">this one is interesting</a> just for the phrasing of the language. For example (from <a class="reference external" href="http://amdvsintel.nits.in/uncategorized/quicktransitr-cross-platform-virtualization-performance-boosted.html">here</a>):</p>
<p><em>"“Transitive congratulates AMD on its incoming promulgation of the newborn Quad-Core AMD Opteron (TM) processor,� said Ian Robinson, evilness chair of marketing for Transitive. “By deploying solutions virtualization papers much as the award-winning QuickTransit for Solaris/SPARC-to-Linux/x86-64 or QuickTransit for Solaris/SPARC-to-Solaris/x86-64 on systems armored with these stylish procreation of AMD processors, customers crapper change senior servers with x86 stylish profession patch all avoiding the costs and delays of porting their applications. �"</em></p>
<p>I suspect there is some sort of automatic translate and back going on here with a press releases, the source of most spam blogs posting.</p>
About last night2008-11-11T12:01:00+00:002008-11-11T12:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-11:/~alex/blog/2008/11/11/about-last-night/<p>Wow, the cycle in this morning was hard. A full headwind all the way down the river left me spluttering like wizened old man at the end. Anyway, about last night:</p>
<p>We started the evening with having dinner at the forth floor restaurant at the theatre. Despite the pressures of …</p><p>Wow, the cycle in this morning was hard. A full headwind all the way down the river left me spluttering like wizened old man at the end. Anyway, about last night:</p>
<p>We started the evening with having dinner at the forth floor restaurant at the theatre. Despite the pressures of getting all their covers out in time for the show they did very well. I had a lovely duck dish with a modicum of wine. We were with a group that included quasi-family connections so I did my best to be on good behaviour. I still consider a nice shirt with non-scummy jeans as appropriate smart casual though. I did wear nice shoes :-)</p>
<p>Despite being in the corner of the circle we still got a very good view of the stage. The play was fantastic. Despite the melancholy of the overall plot there was a tremendous amount of energy and comedy in the performance. The whole audience was laughing along to the whole thing which was a good sign. The set was relatively simple but still did well. The staging was also very well done. If the play <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_Girls">of the film of the true story</a> turns up in your neck of the woods I would heartily recommend you go see it.</p>
Visitations2008-11-10T13:07:00+00:002008-11-10T13:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-10:/~alex/blog/2008/11/10/visitations/<p>We had Lee visiting our rural idyll over the weekend. It was a fairly relaxed affair with the planned cycling curtailed on Saturday by the prospect of the weather "throwing it down". Instead we adjourned to local pub to generally set the world to rights as is the want of …</p><p>We had Lee visiting our rural idyll over the weekend. It was a fairly relaxed affair with the planned cycling curtailed on Saturday by the prospect of the weather "throwing it down". Instead we adjourned to local pub to generally set the world to rights as is the want of any pub drinker.</p>
<p>We had "Sunday Lunch" on Saturday for obvious logistical reasons. I have to say I took a rather less prepared approach to the cooking than normal. However the quality of the beef saved me from any major culinary embarrassments on that side. However the less said about my excuse for an Apple Pie the better. Next weekend I get the opportunity I shall endeavour to prepare one a) with reference to one recipe b) before any pub related supping.</p>
<p>We watched a couple of films over the weekend. The rather charming <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799934/">Be Kind Rewind</a> with an on form Jack Black and a rather wry nod to the issues of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">IP rights</a> and the film industry. There was also Aboriginal mood piece <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466399/">Ten Canoes</a> which I found a little slow but very atmospheric and I assume indicative of the story telling culture.</p>
<p>We did get some cycling done on Sunday, trying an alternate slightly muddier route down the opposite side of the river. The <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sll=42361489,-71056834&q=green+dragon,+cambridge,+uk&ie=UTF8&cid=52218154,146198,9540594938508800093&ll=52.246932,0.15398&spn=0.067475,0.154324&z=13&iwloc=A&iwd=1&dtab=3">Green Dragon</a> does seem to becoming a regular stopping off point on these weekend cycle rides.</p>
<p>Today Monday has re-asserted itself but I'm still looking forward to seeing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgeartstheatre.com/pages/Autumn%202008%20Show%20Pages/sp-Calendar%20Girls.html">Calender Girls</a> at the local Arts Theatre.</p>
Friday Link Dump2008-11-07T18:35:00+00:002008-11-07T18:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-07:/~alex/blog/2008/11/07/friday-link-dump/<p>Firstly Mephistopheles encounters <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com/501/">the EULA</a>, thanks to xkcd.</p>
<p>Public data mash-ups are on the way. The people at Show Us a Better Way have announced their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.showusabetterway.co.uk/call/2008/11/and-the-winners-are.html">competition winners</a> and funding. I look forward to the data mashing potential. While we are on the subject of politics as it applies to …</p><p>Firstly Mephistopheles encounters <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com/501/">the EULA</a>, thanks to xkcd.</p>
<p>Public data mash-ups are on the way. The people at Show Us a Better Way have announced their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.showusabetterway.co.uk/call/2008/11/and-the-winners-are.html">competition winners</a> and funding. I look forward to the data mashing potential. While we are on the subject of politics as it applies to the personal it seems the presidential transition <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7715264.stm">has gone all Web 2.0</a>. I shall keep an eye on the blog with interest.</p>
<p>Meanwhile in the "and we thought 42 days was bad" category how <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7714696.stm">about a potential two years</a> for blogging?</p>
<p>And finally, just one week after I disabled WPA to get my PS3 Ubuntu setup working it turns out <a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/wpa-cracked.ars">it's pointless anyway</a>!</p>
Gone Apple?2008-11-06T23:26:00+00:002008-11-06T23:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-06:/~alex/blog/2008/11/06/1148/<p>A few weeks ago when it looked like my solid state player had given up the ghost I decided to get a new music player. Fliss put the wheels in motion and I now own a shiny almost new iPod. After a little <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodConversionToFAT32">faffing about</a> and one iTune restore later …</p><p>A few weeks ago when it looked like my solid state player had given up the ghost I decided to get a new music player. Fliss put the wheels in motion and I now own a shiny almost new iPod. After a little <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodConversionToFAT32">faffing about</a> and one iTune restore later I know have a fully functioning <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org">Rockbox</a> install. I haven't actually listened to much in it yet as copying my music collection has been occupying disk mode for the last hour or so. However it all works as advertised, even playing <a class="reference external" href="http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Freedoom">Doom</a> which is of course essential on a media player :-)</p>
The power of powder2008-11-06T11:48:00+00:002008-11-06T11:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-06:/~alex/blog/2008/11/06/the-power-of-powder/<p>While the USA celebrated it's democracy by the election of it's first black president we followed suite the next day by detonating a large quantity of [STRIKEOUT:dark]black powder. Although the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot">Gunpowder Plot</a> was more an attempt at regicide than subverting our fledgling democratic institutions. Still fireworks are fun …</p><p>While the USA celebrated it's democracy by the election of it's first black president we followed suite the next day by detonating a large quantity of [STRIKEOUT:dark]black powder. Although the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot">Gunpowder Plot</a> was more an attempt at regicide than subverting our fledgling democratic institutions. Still fireworks are fun :-)</p>
<p>I spent most of yesterday feeling like a member of the undead but still managed to make it down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/content/arts-and-entertainment/fireworks/2008/fireworks.en">council run display</a> with my parents, Fliss, Frank and R&J. The display took me back to my childhood although I was a little disappointed with it's length expecting it to run for a bit longer. It could be that things from your childhood always seemed bigger (the wagon wheel effect) or just a lack of sponsorship in the current credit crunch climate. Still it was very pretty and I especially liked the aerial catherine wheels.</p>
<p>We managed to find a pub for a quick post display drink before everyone headed back home. I passed out pretty quickly but didn't sleep very well as I started having coding dreams which is not very relaxing (and generally crap code as well!). Still I feel better this morning than I did yesterday. I suspect the TV and sofa beckon this evening.</p>
The Result2008-11-05T12:51:00+00:002008-11-05T12:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-05:/~alex/blog/2008/11/05/1146/<p>The pundits in the studio where certainly more confident than I was as we waited for the various states to declare. The slightly odd exit-poll + sample declaration system they use in the US meant the TV networks where being very cautious before calling the contended states. The geography of the …</p><p>The pundits in the studio where certainly more confident than I was as we waited for the various states to declare. The slightly odd exit-poll + sample declaration system they use in the US meant the TV networks where being very cautious before calling the contended states. The geography of the US ensured we saw a series of states repeating their red/blue pattern from the previous election. Every time <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Vine">Mr Vine</a> pulled up a contended state on his whiz-o CGI touch screen the numbers always seemed to be within a few percent of each other. It was only when Ohio went blue I started to relax and consider the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7709978.stm">eventual historic result</a> possible. We finally headed to bed around 3.30 in the morning which is having a bit on an impact on me today.</p>
<p>Obama has his work cut out for him now. He gave yet another commanding piece of oratory for his victory speech. However he inherits an uncertain economy, a massive public deficit, two wars and a lot of damaged foreign relations. Looking at the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7697829.stm">popular vote</a> he has a slight edge but the US still looks more or less evenly divided between the liberals and the conservatives. While the capability to inspire and unite the American people will stand him in good stead it's no small task he has to accomplish when he takes office in January. It certainly is a historic result, however we won't know history's judgement on impact of last night for some time yet.</p>
More emacs server support2008-11-03T19:05:00+00:002008-11-03T19:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-03:/~alex/blog/2008/11/03/more-emacs-server-support/<p>I found that one of the <a class="reference external" href="http://emacs.orebokech.com/">Debian developers</a> packages emacs-snapshot for Debian stable. A little bit of <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/commit/ecb4e99a697e63f71f069222482a812cd72cb09e">shell script</a> later and my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">Mutt</a> is firing off a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.enigmacurry.com/2007/05/24/multi-tty-emacs-on-gentoo-and-ubuntu/">muti-tty emacsclients</a> whenever I need to edit a mail. It shaves literally seconds off the time it takes me to compose an email …</p><p>I found that one of the <a class="reference external" href="http://emacs.orebokech.com/">Debian developers</a> packages emacs-snapshot for Debian stable. A little bit of <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/dotfiles/commit/ecb4e99a697e63f71f069222482a812cd72cb09e">shell script</a> later and my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mutt.org/">Mutt</a> is firing off a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.enigmacurry.com/2007/05/24/multi-tty-emacs-on-gentoo-and-ubuntu/">muti-tty emacsclients</a> whenever I need to edit a mail. It shaves literally seconds off the time it takes me to compose an email!</p>
For our American Cousins2008-11-03T12:37:00+00:002008-11-03T12:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-03:/~alex/blog/2008/11/03/1144/<p>It's a big day tomorrow and the last of the <a class="reference external" href="http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2008/11/black-and-white.html">endorsements for the next President of the USA</a> are coming in. While I have some fairly good ideas of who I'd like to see installed in the White House it's not really my place to say. It's a rather fundamental …</p><p>It's a big day tomorrow and the last of the <a class="reference external" href="http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2008/11/black-and-white.html">endorsements for the next President of the USA</a> are coming in. While I have some fairly good ideas of who I'd like to see installed in the White House it's not really my place to say. It's a rather fundamental concept of democracy that people get to choose their own leaders. If we respect the institution of democracy we have to accept the result even if we don't like it. Having said that I have found it rather amusing hearing some of the accusations of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism">socialism</a> being bandied around. I think the USA has a rather different view of socialism than we do over in Europe. A friend of mine who has emigrated to the US once described the politics there as "right wing and even more right wing" :-)</p>
<p>What I can wish for is that the USA has a free and fair election and everyone eligible gets a chance to vote. I would urge that any US citizen of any political persuasion does exercise their right to vote even if they think it won't be electorally significant. The votes are still counted and I think that's still an important thing.</p>
<p>Despite our complete lack of control over the outcome it doesn't mean we are disinterested in the result. Who ever wins will hold a privileged position as leader of the major world power. That position inevitably has the power to influence the world and we will all feel the consequences of that. So tomorrow night we will be hosting our US election soiree and enjoying a few beers and nibbles as we watch the results come in. I wonder if there is a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swingometer">Swingometer</a> for tomorrows elections?</p>
Sunday Slob2008-11-02T15:52:00+00:002008-11-02T15:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-11-02:/~alex/blog/2008/11/02/sunday-slob/<p>The sun is over the yard arm, F1 will be on in a few hours followed by a new Sharpe. The Sunday Slob is in full effect. Some days are just made for lounging.</p>
Excuses2008-10-31T17:14:00+00:002008-10-31T17:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-31:/~alex/blog/2008/10/31/excuses/<p>I'm feeling more than a little guilty having used the car 3 days so far this week. While the cold snap is upon us it's very easy to come up with reasons why I should be using the car (visiting folks, picking up Fliss from station etc). Must try better …</p><p>I'm feeling more than a little guilty having used the car 3 days so far this week. While the cold snap is upon us it's very easy to come up with reasons why I should be using the car (visiting folks, picking up Fliss from station etc). Must try better next week!</p>
Spot the bug2008-10-30T17:21:00+00:002008-10-30T17:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-30:/~alex/blog/2008/10/30/1141/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Another example from a long line of bugs that had me scratching my head for a while:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
if (sscanf(dirname, "%8x", &scanf_id)==1)
{
// We can extract the ID right now
su = alloc_vsSu((uint32_t) strtoul(dirname, NULL, 16));
g_assert(su->config->id.idAsUint32==scanf_id);
}
else if (g_strcmp0("default", dirname)==0)
{
// The …</pre><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Another example from a long line of bugs that had me scratching my head for a while:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
if (sscanf(dirname, "%8x", &scanf_id)==1)
{
// We can extract the ID right now
su = alloc_vsSu((uint32_t) strtoul(dirname, NULL, 16));
g_assert(su->config->id.idAsUint32==scanf_id);
}
else if (g_strcmp0("default", dirname)==0)
{
// The "default" has an id of 0
su = alloc_vsSu(0);
}
</pre>
<p>Can you tell what it was yet?</p>
Interesting2008-10-29T16:12:00+00:002008-10-29T16:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-29:/~alex/blog/2008/10/29/1140/<p>While browsing some new <a class="reference external" href="http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/prototypes/archives/2008/10/iplayer_list.html">BBC mash-ups</a> I noticed a reference to a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freebase.com/">data source</a>. Freebase is still in alpha but it aims to be a flexibly addressable database of facts (rather than articles containing facts like Wikipedia). This has all sorts of intriguing possibilities.</p>
<p>In other news, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tanosokolow.com/yeswecan.html">Obama is …</a></p><p>While browsing some new <a class="reference external" href="http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/prototypes/archives/2008/10/iplayer_list.html">BBC mash-ups</a> I noticed a reference to a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freebase.com/">data source</a>. Freebase is still in alpha but it aims to be a flexibly addressable database of facts (rather than articles containing facts like Wikipedia). This has all sorts of intriguing possibilities.</p>
<p>In other news, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tanosokolow.com/yeswecan.html">Obama is teh funk!</a>.</p>
Bicycles, punts and loads of food2008-10-27T11:57:00+00:002008-10-27T11:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-27:/~alex/blog/2008/10/27/bicycles-punts-and-loads-of-food/<p>We spent this weekend entertaining as Phil and Karl visited from the wild climes of the North. The weekend was mostly catered by Fliss who cooked a wonderful Roast Duck (with Port and Marmalade sauce) on Friday and a lovely Katsori Dom (sp?) on Saturday. I was mostly relegated to …</p><p>We spent this weekend entertaining as Phil and Karl visited from the wild climes of the North. The weekend was mostly catered by Fliss who cooked a wonderful Roast Duck (with Port and Marmalade sauce) on Friday and a lovely Katsori Dom (sp?) on Saturday. I was mostly relegated to Breakfast and desert duties.</p>
<p>On Saturday we braved the chilly but bright day to cycle down into town with Phil and Karl on rented bikes. A little exploration of the city centre before going <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_(boat)">punting</a> down the Cam. We didn't manage to complete run of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Backs">the backs</a> as once we had manged to get back up to Trinity against both the flow and the headwind we decided we had had enough of the experience. Phil was not very impressed with the experience!</p>
<p>In the evening we relaxed into the evening meal and a bit of lounging in front of the TV and the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ps3iplayer.com/">PS3 iPlayer</a>. We also learnt a new card game which was interesting.</p>
<p>After saying goodbye to our visitors on Sunday we went for lunch with my parents and Nana who was visiting for the week. My Dad managed to fix my venerable Ogg player which was great as the cycle journeys were starting to get a bit wearing without the distraction of my podcasts. Next weekend is looking free-ish at the moment although I believe <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridge-camra.org.uk/">Cambridge CAMRA</a> is having yet another beer festival. Choices, choices....</p>
Searching for old iPods2008-10-23T13:57:00+01:002008-10-23T13:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-23:/~alex/blog/2008/10/23/1138/<p>My venerable Ogg capable media player died* a few days ago. I'm now in the market for a new media player as it helps the time battling the on-coming headwind pass by as I cycle in and out of work. Although I mostly listen to pod-casts it would be nice …</p><p>My venerable Ogg capable media player died* a few days ago. I'm now in the market for a new media player as it helps the time battling the on-coming headwind pass by as I cycle in and out of work. Although I mostly listen to pod-casts it would be nice to have a little more storage so I can keep my entire music collection** with me. This is increasingly attractive as next year's 24 hours of plane travel beckons. There is plenty of <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/PortablePlayers">hardware that supports Ogg</a> nowadays but owning another locked down device doesn't quite appeal to the geek in me. The solution of course is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/">Rockbox</a> which has support for a pretty good spread of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/TargetStatus">players</a> although none that are currently in production. In terms of bang for buck the 5th/5.5 gen iPod looks to be <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodPort">the solution</a> so we currently have a number of eBay bids and potential Amazon market place purchases underway. I quite like to idea of having a play with the code but I certainly don't have the patience to get involved with a from scratch port on newer hardware.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Having been dropped a few too many times I think the solder has cracked on the jack plug mounting. I may ask my dad very nicely if he can open the sealed case and attempt a fix.</div>
</div>
<div class="line">** Current collection runs to around 56Gb, mostly Ogg format music.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Athesit Activism2008-10-21T22:44:00+01:002008-10-21T22:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-21:/~alex/blog/2008/10/21/1137/<p>It's interesting looking at the <a class="reference external" href="http://justgiving.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/atheist-bus-campaign/">graph of donations</a> for the Atheist Bus Ads. For something that kicked off it's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.justgiving.com/atheistbus">fund raising effort</a> today for a now modest looking £5,500 it seems to have caught the zeitgeist. Perhaps it's because their is a silent majority* that feels left out …</p><p>It's interesting looking at the <a class="reference external" href="http://justgiving.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/atheist-bus-campaign/">graph of donations</a> for the Atheist Bus Ads. For something that kicked off it's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.justgiving.com/atheistbus">fund raising effort</a> today for a now modest looking £5,500 it seems to have caught the zeitgeist. Perhaps it's because their is a silent majority* that feels left out of the regular debates about religion that the take up is so high?</p>
<p>I wouldn't describe the campaign as militant atheism just another ad in a sea of adverts competing for peoples attention. The "probably" language is mainly there to skirt around the ASA guidelines** which would prevent the flat out assertion (although curiously other groups can make such assertions). However the use of "probably" does make the advert softer and less prone to sounding like preachy hectoring which would kind of defeat the point.</p>
<p>I'm fairly fluffy and certainly wouldn't want to prevent anyone from practising their sincerely held beliefs. It's hard to predict what this campaign will achieve than pointing out there is a chunk of the population that don't subscribe to any religious viewpoint. Certainly there are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.secularism.org.uk/">other organisations</a> devoted to the more weighty issues of campaigning for removing religion from it's protected and privileged status in public life.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* based on no facts whatsoever. The ONS <a class="reference external" href="http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=984&Pos=6&ColRank=1&Rank=176">states we are 70-80% Christian</a> but I don't know how much of that is due to the default effect.</div>
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong> ** From the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.atheistcampaign.org/probably/">campaign blog</a></div>
</div>
Why does it always rain on me?2008-10-21T11:19:00+01:002008-10-21T11:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-21:/~alex/blog/2008/10/21/why-does-it-always-rain-on-me/<p>The cycle home last night certainly counted as interesting. I didn't actually get around to leaving the office until around 1830 by which time is was quite dark. And raining. To be fair the rain wasn't the <em>almost horizontal</em> sheets of stuff that had been coming down earlier in the …</p><p>The cycle home last night certainly counted as interesting. I didn't actually get around to leaving the office until around 1830 by which time is was quite dark. And raining. To be fair the rain wasn't the <em>almost horizontal</em> sheets of stuff that had been coming down earlier in the day. However it was certainly wet enough to cause problems for this glass wearing cyclist. The cold and wet didn't really bother me too much once I'd got going and started generating my own heat. The cycle path alongside the river is entirely unlit and combined with the clouds obscuring any moon light I was left with the light from what I had previously considered the bright LED lights on my bike. While my bike lights did offer some illumination it was mainly directly in front of me. This gave the interesting effect of branches appearing out of the murk just before they tried to knock me off the bike. Of more importance was the contrast between the path, grass and river which was approaching a value of 0. Before I try the journey again in the dark I think I'm going to invest in a head-light so I'm not just restricted illuminating where my handlebars are pointing which may or may not be the area I require clarification of at the time.</p>
<p>The only other problem generated by cycling in the wet is the shuffle you have to do once arriving home to make sure you don't drip muddy splats over your rented carpet. On the plus side there was a nice warm bath waiting for me when I got home which was, as they say, nice :-)</p>
Yacky Yacc2008-10-20T16:19:00+01:002008-10-20T16:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-20:/~alex/blog/2008/10/20/1135/<p>I'd hopped I would get by without having to learn the mysteries of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_bison">Bison</a> and how to build parsers. Unfortunately <a class="reference external" href="http://cgit.freedesktop.org/~keithp/parsecvs/">parsecvs</a> uses it to grok the CVS files. Someone has added some new binary files into the CVS tree and it's causing parsecvs to go into a death spiral of …</p><p>I'd hopped I would get by without having to learn the mysteries of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_bison">Bison</a> and how to build parsers. Unfortunately <a class="reference external" href="http://cgit.freedesktop.org/~keithp/parsecvs/">parsecvs</a> uses it to grok the CVS files. Someone has added some new binary files into the CVS tree and it's causing parsecvs to go into a death spiral of memory allocation. The backtrace shows yyparse() and yylex() in the call chain so I suppose I'd better learn how this is meant to work before I break it.</p>
Back to our usual program2008-10-19T15:05:00+01:002008-10-19T15:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-19:/~alex/blog/2008/10/19/back-to-our-usual-program/<p>A nice <a class="reference external" href="http://www.slate.com/id/2202262/pagenum/all/">article on Slate</a> talking about the history of the fail meme. Something I can't seem to find on the usually authoritative Wikipedia. I wonder if it's become a victim of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deletionism_and_inclusionism_in_Wikipedia">deletionists</a>?</p>
<p>In other news <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonlounge/2008/10/cartoonoff-xkcd.html">XKCD cartoon off with the New Yorker</a>.</p>
Thursdays hate us2008-10-19T00:16:00+01:002008-10-19T00:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-19:/~alex/blog/2008/10/19/thursdays-hate-us/<p>We've not been having good time with Thursdays recently. Last weeks <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1136">funeral/car break-in</a> was topped this week by Fliss getting admitted to hospital on Thursday with suspected <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stone">kidney stones</a>. As anyone who has ever them will know they are very painful. As she had been in London for a …</p><p>We've not been having good time with Thursdays recently. Last weeks <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1136">funeral/car break-in</a> was topped this week by Fliss getting admitted to hospital on Thursday with suspected <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stone">kidney stones</a>. As anyone who has ever them will know they are very painful. As she had been in London for a meal with a friend at the time it made the logistics of the following day interesting. This was the reason for my denial a.m. trip to our nations capitol on Friday morning carrying the essential supplies you need when in hospital. I spent most of the day with her on Friday in the CDU unit who's main purpose seems to be a holding ward so A&E's targets of shipping on or out within 4 hours are maintained. A bed in the renal unit was finally available at around 1900 although it took the hospital a further 4 hours before she got moved there. I have a lot of respect for the staff that work in the NHS (and for the institution itself) but every-time I come into contact with the organisation I can't help wondering why it can't run more efficiently.</p>
<p>She called this morning to say that the consultants think the stone may have passed over night so hopefully she'll be hack home this evening. I don't think we'll be doing much this weekend other than chilling...</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Fliss is back home, everything is right with the world again :-)</p>
Plans2008-10-17T08:51:00+01:002008-10-17T08:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-17:/~alex/blog/2008/10/17/plans/<p>As I was chilling last night I didn't think I'd be on a train to London this morning carrying books and supplies. Still it looks like I may be kicking around the capitol today.</p>
News Fatigue2008-10-16T22:07:00+01:002008-10-16T22:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-16:/~alex/blog/2008/10/16/1131/<p>The relentless news coverage of the collapse of capitalism gets a bit wearing at the time. Sometimes it's hard to keep a sense of perspective with other things going on. One piece of good news was <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7668477.stm">45 days getting shelved for the meantime</a>. The government had to cock up a …</p><p>The relentless news coverage of the collapse of capitalism gets a bit wearing at the time. Sometimes it's hard to keep a sense of perspective with other things going on. One piece of good news was <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7668477.stm">45 days getting shelved for the meantime</a>. The government had to cock up a good move by pushing forward with a policy <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7671046.stm">that would make Big Brother proud</a>. One of the many problems of massive centralised databases is that it makes investigators lazy. They can already monitor my traffic if they need to now, using whatever mechanism they have at their disposal. However before they can tap me they need to have done some ground work (also known as intelligence work) to determine I'm worth looking at. With a big database to mine they will spend more time doing wonderful statistical analysis of peoples private behaviour to point at "probable targets" netting the inevitable <a class="reference external" href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/10/nofly_list.html">false positives</a>. All this time not noticing that a bunch a really interesting email left a server in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.geoiptool.com/en/?IP=78.47.77.181">Germany</a> because hey everyone knows the Brit's read all their citizens email.</p>
<p>Politicians need to learn that huge technical solutions that infringe on citizens privacy are not silver bullets. Yes IT has a role in making the world a better and safer place but not by becoming a tool of oppression. It's also a technological pissing contest that the people that really want to go about their business unnoticed will be able to do.</p>
<p>Talking of draconian legislation there was a degree of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/mccain-campaign-feels-dmca-sting">schadenfreude at McCain vs the DMCA</a>. The DMCA has lived up to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/">many of the predictions made of it</a> since it was introduced. Obviously the idea that politicians should have a special exemption to the DMCA not available to the normal citizenry is laughably unbalanced with respects to free speech. This is especially pointed given the growing influence the digital sphere has on politics these days.</p>
Long Ride2008-10-14T12:45:00+01:002008-10-14T12:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-14:/~alex/blog/2008/10/14/long-ride/<p>I had a relatively early start this morning as I had to drop my car off at the garage for the fix to the window. After re-learning the correct incantation for the bike rack I headed down with my spare two wheels. The cycle <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=100521915190804968577.00045933fa8657daa0bf1">back from Shelford</a> seemed to go …</p><p>I had a relatively early start this morning as I had to drop my car off at the garage for the fix to the window. After re-learning the correct incantation for the bike rack I headed down with my spare two wheels. The cycle <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=100521915190804968577.00045933fa8657daa0bf1">back from Shelford</a> seemed to go a lot easier than previous attempts. I hope this is generally a sign of increasing fitness although it has to be said I am a lot more efficient sweating in my fancy cycling clothes. The niceness of the weather also helps, cool but sunny.</p>
Administrava2008-10-12T13:32:00+01:002008-10-12T13:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-12:/~alex/blog/2008/10/12/administrava/<p>Fliss has working phone but very much depleted phone list. If people could drop her a address book entry via text she can start repopulating it :-) The number has not changed.</p>
<p>My windows however could not be fitted due to damage to the electric mechanism. Grr arrrg, stops being a …</p><p>Fliss has working phone but very much depleted phone list. If people could drop her a address book entry via text she can start repopulating it :-) The number has not changed.</p>
<p>My windows however could not be fitted due to damage to the electric mechanism. Grr arrrg, stops being a straight glass service to more expensive stuff. On the plus side weather is indeed lovely.</p>
Minor Vent2008-10-09T20:28:00+01:002008-10-09T20:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-09:/~alex/blog/2008/10/09/minor-vent/<p>Just a minor vent at the s**ts who put in the passenger side window on my car. They made off with Fliss' bag which had a few bits in it including the iPod and the phone (so call me if you want to speak to Fliss). The major surprise …</p><p>Just a minor vent at the s**ts who put in the passenger side window on my car. They made off with Fliss' bag which had a few bits in it including the iPod and the phone (so call me if you want to speak to Fliss). The major surprise was they did the deed while my car was parked in Colchester Crematorium while we were attending the service. I hope the people responsible catch an interesting form of genital warts. I've just spent most of the last two hours on the phone organising those things that need organising when cars are broken into and things stolen. I'm off to drink beer now, cursing every so slightly at the a***holes who ruined our day.</p>
Security FAIL!2008-10-08T18:10:00+01:002008-10-08T18:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-08:/~alex/blog/2008/10/08/1127/<p>I've just <a class="reference external" href="http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01332633863">automated call</a> purporting to be from my credit card provider to confirm some recent activity on my card. The concept is a laudable one but not having <a class="reference external" href="http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_64444--View_1270,00.html">foreknowledge</a>of the system I treated it like any other phone call. I certainly don't give personal/security information over the …</p><p>I've just <a class="reference external" href="http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01332633863">automated call</a> purporting to be from my credit card provider to confirm some recent activity on my card. The concept is a laudable one but not having <a class="reference external" href="http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_64444--View_1270,00.html">foreknowledge</a>of the system I treated it like any other phone call. I certainly don't give personal/security information over the phone to people who call me without verifying their identity first.</p>
<p>I've noticed recently that some companies have learnt that not all their customers will automatically verify their identity when called. This usually involves authenticating them first by getting them to answer questions only they should know. You then go through to the normal process of them checking you are who they think you are. Of course this two way approach does run the risk of information leak from the organisation but typically they do it by answering a question like "what's the 2nd and 6th digit/letter of some account detail". I assume if you fail to identify yourself properly they would flag the account having possibly leaked a few bits of information.</p>
Took a while2008-10-08T15:20:00+01:002008-10-08T15:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-08:/~alex/blog/2008/10/08/took-a-while/<p>It took a while to get my parents fully signed up to the digital lifestyle. Of course now they habitually carry their mobile phones the next stage is complete. It's a shame the picture of them enjoying the sunshine outside a pub in York just makes me want to leave …</p><p>It took a while to get my parents fully signed up to the digital lifestyle. Of course now they habitually carry their mobile phones the next stage is complete. It's a shame the picture of them enjoying the sunshine outside a pub in York just makes me want to leave the office and enjoy fresh air....</p>
Snakes!2008-10-06T19:24:00+01:002008-10-06T19:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-06:/~alex/blog/2008/10/06/1125/<p>I've been doing some prototyping recently in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org">Python</a> as an experiment. The idea being I can mock up a simple app with GUI with minimal effort and of course learning new languages is fun. A big driver is that it's not perl. An awful lot of perl is implicit based …</p><p>I've been doing some prototyping recently in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org">Python</a> as an experiment. The idea being I can mock up a simple app with GUI with minimal effort and of course learning new languages is fun. A big driver is that it's not perl. An awful lot of perl is implicit based on context and a lot of the syntactic sugar you end up sprinkling about to make things explicit can make your code look as though it's been vomited on. I didn't fancy trying to cope with that in a moderately complex perl script.</p>
<p>So far I'm pretty happy with how quickly I've picked up Python. The principle of least surprise seems to be holding when using new things. The only problem I have is how to break an arbitrarily sized list into an arbitrary number of arguments for a varargs style function call. I suspect the solution will be beautiful in it's simplicity but I suspect I need to read up more on Python's concept of sequences. Of course this is simple in perl as all function calls basically just pass an array of <em>stuff</em>.</p>
Lies and damn lies2008-10-06T12:52:00+01:002008-10-06T12:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-06:/~alex/blog/2008/10/06/1124/<p>I haven't commented much on the US election recently. It after all the democratic process in a sovereign country which is quite capable of making it's own decisions about who represents it. Of course given the USA's influence on the rest of the world it's understandable that we do take …</p><p>I haven't commented much on the US election recently. It after all the democratic process in a sovereign country which is quite capable of making it's own decisions about who represents it. Of course given the USA's influence on the rest of the world it's understandable that we do take an interest in the result of the upcoming election.</p>
<p>It is saddening to see the campaign sinking into <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7653132.stm">dirty smear tricks</a> territory. Fortunately if you follow up on the comments you can <a class="reference external" href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/05/fact-check-is-obama-palling-around-with-terrorists/">see them for what they are</a>. However it really depends on those floating voters that aren't decided proactively following up on what is reported in the media. The other key group of people is those not yet registered to vote so it's good to see Google <a class="reference external" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/nows-time-register-to-vote.html">doing their bit</a> to encourage voter registration and I assume by extension voter turnout. I'm always disappointed by the comparably low turnout in these things. If things go to form a little over 55% of the registered voters in the US will decide who the next "leader of the free world" will be.</p>
I may be a socialist2008-10-03T14:16:00+01:002008-10-03T14:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-10-03:/~alex/blog/2008/10/03/1123/<p>I've been spending quite a lot of idle cycles on Facebook with the rather fun <a class="reference external" href="http://www.new.facebook.com/applications/Nations/7219203953">Nations</a> game. My nation now scores very highly in social freedom, education, technology and pretty much every other meaningful statistic. This is not surprising as I've consistently gone with pro-education, pro-choice decisions and a marked …</p><p>I've been spending quite a lot of idle cycles on Facebook with the rather fun <a class="reference external" href="http://www.new.facebook.com/applications/Nations/7219203953">Nations</a> game. My nation now scores very highly in social freedom, education, technology and pretty much every other meaningful statistic. This is not surprising as I've consistently gone with pro-education, pro-choice decisions and a marked reluctance to execute people who disagree with me. However my Government Wealth score is very defiantly in the red. I guess I should try and tax people a little more ;-)</p>
<p>I watched David Cameron's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7646660.stm">full conference speech</a> and I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. It was fairly measured and didn't make promises he couldn't keep. The speech was pretty policy light which is understandable. However the call to abandon a third runway at Heathrow and build a high speed rail network linking north to south sounds like an eminently sensible proposal to me. We certainly need a more balanced economy across the country. A large amount of the speech was countering the current trend towards the state being everything to everybody. The concept that the state should solve every persons problems for them has an infantilising effect on the whole population, not to mention bringing out the worst tendencies of authoritarian government. The call to break the state monopoly on education is also something I think is interesting. The current system which only allows certain special interest groups to set-up semi-autonomous schools is terribly biased. It's also good to see the Conservatives fully on board with progressive employment reform and behind things like flexible working.</p>
<p>But in general the thing I liked most about the speech is it gave me a good impression of the values Cameron claims to have. If he's sincere I can see myself trusting him to make the right calls as Prime Minister. Certainly more so than the current incumbent.</p>
Wedding Bells and Gambling2008-09-30T11:39:00+01:002008-09-30T11:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-30:/~alex/blog/2008/09/30/wedding-bells-and-gambling/<p>We had a lovely weekend in Manchester for the wedding. The usual superlatives about bride and groom should apply. I was especially impressed with how Manchester managed blue skies and warmth for a September wedding. The wedding was split into two sections, the lunch time service at the church (just …</p><p>We had a lovely weekend in Manchester for the wedding. The usual superlatives about bride and groom should apply. I was especially impressed with how Manchester managed blue skies and warmth for a September wedding. The wedding was split into two sections, the lunch time service at the church (just round the corner from where we lived in Sale) and an evening ceilidh in the centre of town. The dancing was fun and I was particularly impressed with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.elmh.co.uk/">venues</a> ceiling which has very interesting acoustic properties.</p>
<p>In between the wedding stuff we made the most of our trip up to see various people. Chris very kindly put us up for the weekend as well as handing over a game of Poker to Fliss which financed a rather nice bottle of wine on Sunday evening :-)</p>
Upgrade2008-09-26T11:46:00+01:002008-09-26T11:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-26:/~alex/blog/2008/09/26/upgrade/<p>We haven't really used the bread maker since moving down to Cambridge. The main reason is that ever since the lid got broken on it it has been hard to get consistent results out of it. However I love having fresh bread at the weekends. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chrisrand.com/panasonic-SD255-breadmaker-bread-maker/">upgrade</a> arrived this morning …</p><p>We haven't really used the bread maker since moving down to Cambridge. The main reason is that ever since the lid got broken on it it has been hard to get consistent results out of it. However I love having fresh bread at the weekends. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chrisrand.com/panasonic-SD255-breadmaker-bread-maker/">upgrade</a> arrived this morning. It's a bigger model and importantly has a seed and nut dispenser for those extra funky breads you want to make. However as we are up in Manchester this weekend I won't get a chance to try it out until Sunday.</p>
<p>The reason we are up is for a wedding on Saturday but we'll be in Radcliffe at Chris and Paula's this evening and thought we might pop in for a few jars at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/11/1172/Sinclairs_Oyster_Bar/Manchester">the local</a> around 1700 on Saturday before we continue on to the wedding's evening ceilidh.</p>
I've never...2008-09-25T15:16:00+01:002008-09-25T15:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-25:/~alex/blog/2008/09/25/ive-never/<p>One film I hadn't seen until a few days ago was Stephen King's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/">Stand by Me</a> which was a source of some amazement from Fliss. She is currently working through a number of her favourites with me including recently <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/">The Breakfast Club</a>, another brat pack classic. She didn't force me …</p><p>One film I hadn't seen until a few days ago was Stephen King's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/">Stand by Me</a> which was a source of some amazement from Fliss. She is currently working through a number of her favourites with me including recently <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/">The Breakfast Club</a>, another brat pack classic. She didn't force me to join her watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092890/">Dirty Dancing</a> however, a film that seems to make a convincing case for not allowing your children to spend time alone with holiday camp staff.</p>
<p>I mention all of this not to increase IMDB's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/google-juice.html">Google Juice</a> but to remind myself (and you dear readers) of a new series hosted by everyone's favourite middle class corduroy wearing polemicist Marcus Brigstocke. In a homage to TJ's viewing habits it's called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/iveneverseenstarwars.shtml">I've never seen Star Wars</a> and it airs tonight on Radio 4 at 6.30. So what activity/film/show/album have you never done/seen/listened to that might surprise your peers?</p>
So very, very, very2008-09-25T12:23:00+01:002008-09-25T12:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-25:/~alex/blog/2008/09/25/so-very-very-very/<p>Our DVD rental queue doesn't just have a list of the films we missed at the cinema in it. I've consciously added classic films from before my time or widely acknowledged films from outside our filmic comfort zone. So last night we sat down to watch the classic romantic weepy …</p><p>Our DVD rental queue doesn't just have a list of the films we missed at the cinema in it. I've consciously added classic films from before my time or widely acknowledged films from outside our filmic comfort zone. So last night we sat down to watch the classic romantic weepy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/">Brief Encounter</a>.</p>
<p>The thing I found most interesting about it was how it contrasts to life today and throws a light on attitudes and morals in previous generations. The first scene has a station ticket man crossing from the opposite platform across the train tracks and my first thought was a semi-outraged "you can't do that!" before reminding myself there was a time where peoples first thought wasn't automatically that of Health and Safety. The language of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Coward">Noel Coward</a> was immediately noticeable with every line delivered in precise clear Queens English, a marked contrast to shows like the excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_wire">The Wire</a> where it usually takes a me a few episodes to understand what a number of protagonists are actually saying. Other stereotypes that are hard to find resonance nowadays is the general "weakness" and predilection to hysterics and faintness for the female character. Near the end of the film when the would-be lovers decide to part the man states he will be moving his family to Africa in two weeks, although he has yet to tell his wife. There is no hint there would be a discussion about the family move in a society where it was still the mans prerogative to make the real decisions.</p>
<p>However for all the jarring contrasts that make it hard to envisage how you could remake such a story in a modern context it still remains a good film. The acting is excellent, especially <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_Johnson">Celia Johnson's</a> expressive body language which often says more than the words. The camera work and setting is all very well handled and captures the mood of the film very well. If your a fan of cinema and haven't seen it I can say it is well worth while.</p>
Free broadband for every child2008-09-24T17:33:00+01:002008-09-24T17:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-24:/~alex/blog/2008/09/24/1118/<p>I'll stick to the geek topics in Chairman Brown's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/23/gordonbrown.labourleadership">speech to conference</a> yesterday. The issue of broadband poverty is a uniquely western problem in an age where we have mostly* solved the problems of feeding, housing and medical care for the population. However as more and more things become available …</p><p>I'll stick to the geek topics in Chairman Brown's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/23/gordonbrown.labourleadership">speech to conference</a> yesterday. The issue of broadband poverty is a uniquely western problem in an age where we have mostly* solved the problems of feeding, housing and medical care for the population. However as more and more things become available at the click of a mouse people without access to the 'net start to be put at a disadvantage. It is a laudable aim with which I can broadly support.</p>
<p>The difference as ever is in the manner of execution. I suspect** the governments approach will be to means test every applicant first. Assuming the government is still in Redmond's pockets a significant cost of the basic net machine will be for software that will further entrench the desktop monopoly. Then there is the matter of the actual net connection itself which I suspect will become a guaranteed government revenue stream for another near-monopoly, BT.</p>
<p>There is, as has already <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7631163.stm">been suggested</a>, a better way to approach the problem. The concept of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_wireless_network">Municipal WiFi</a> has been around for a while although it has often butted heads with the vested interests of the telecoms companies. By providing blanket base level broadband you skip the tedious "cost-saving" accounting, enable quick mass adoption and force the telecoms companies to differentiate their services from what you can get for free. The only remaining problem is getting computers into the hands of those who still don't have them. There are many solutions to this. I know of homeless charities that teach their residents about computers by getting them to re-furbish donated computer equipment. There is a new class of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook">Netbook</a> computers which are already pushing into the sub £200 range and are only going to get cheaper. It's a problem that really would benefit from diversity of supply rather than central mandate. One thing we do not have in this country is a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/gallery/2008/may/06/computer.waste?picture=333898276">lack of computer hardware</a>.</p>
<p>I wonder which approach the government will take?</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* Yes we still have problems but we often forgot exactly how good we have it compared to the rest of the world</div>
<div class="line">** I don't know, as usual these sort of announcements are very light on actual detail although often heavy on <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/965682.stm">deja vu</a>.</div>
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong> I hadn't fully read the Guardian article in my rush to find something to link to. I'd watched the speech live and the BBC didn't seem to report it in much detail. The Guardian article does contain a little more detail on how the system is to work.</div>
</div>
Green musings2008-09-23T11:49:00+01:002008-09-23T11:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-23:/~alex/blog/2008/09/23/green-musings/<p>Cambridge has been improving it's kerb-side recycling scheme to include <a class="reference external" href="http://www.scambs.gov.uk/Environment/Wasteandrecycling/Recycling/plastics.htm">plastic bottles</a> which will make another dent in our total black bag waste volume. While some people complain about the two week rubbish cycle we haven't found it that bad. Currently pretty much all of our vegetative waste going on …</p><p>Cambridge has been improving it's kerb-side recycling scheme to include <a class="reference external" href="http://www.scambs.gov.uk/Environment/Wasteandrecycling/Recycling/plastics.htm">plastic bottles</a> which will make another dent in our total black bag waste volume. While some people complain about the two week rubbish cycle we haven't found it that bad. Currently pretty much all of our vegetative waste going on our own compost heap with any overflow in the green bin (along with bones and such to avoid attracting the rats). The first green box is pretty much filled with bottles<sup>*</sup> and a few cans every two weeks. The black wheelie bin is usually half full when it gets wheeled out for it's bi-monthly trip to the kerb and most of that is plastic envelopes from food and milk bottles making up the rest of the volume.</p>
<p>The daily on-demand food shop has also practically eliminated food waste in the house. Granted this isn't such a practical option for most people, especially if cars are involved. However it does make me appreciate the 24 hour fully stocked supermarket that sits between me and work, I can only <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/what_we_are_doing/default.page?">hope their drive for efficiency</a> limits the waste they produce.</p>
<p>My main worry environmentally speaking at the moment is energy use. Unfortunately a large number of the lights in the house are halogens which limits the options somewhat.</p>
<p>* We are not sure if that's a bad thing or just gives a bad impression</p>
Everybody's favorite topic?2008-09-22T11:26:00+01:002008-09-22T11:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-22:/~alex/blog/2008/09/22/everybodys-favorite-topic/<p>I keep having to re-adjust my expectations of the weather down here. As we approach the depths of September it's not unknown to have nice crisp sunny days as the weather attempts to make up for it's disappointment for the summer proper. To that end we went for a walk …</p><p>I keep having to re-adjust my expectations of the weather down here. As we approach the depths of September it's not unknown to have nice crisp sunny days as the weather attempts to make up for it's disappointment for the summer proper. To that end we went for a walk around the local <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miltoncountrypark.org/">Country Park</a> on Saturday in an effort to ensure we took advantage of the Great Outdoors<sup>tm</sup>. Jeans, trainers and a light leather jacket seemed to be the required apparel for the excursion. It turned out I had grossly overestimated as was evidenced by the afternoon which I spent enjoying my garden enjoying reading with a cold beer while wearing shorts and sandals. I never really fully appreciated the garden at Barton road which was mainly a location for BBQ's than any real garden based lounging. The main problem it had was the limited arc of sky allotted to the Sun which necessitated all sorts of manoeuvring to track it. The garden we have in our rented house is conveniently south facing meaning bright mornings in the kitchen and if the sun is out a nice long languorous setting keeping the patio area nicely warmed to the last.</p>
<p>The fact it was nice weather yesterday actually encouraged me to plug into my podcasts and start a bit of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoe_(tool)">hoeing</a> in an effort to keep the weeds at bay. It may be I have found a reason to get more involved in this gardening malarkey. It remains to seen if such enthusiasm can be maintained as we approach the depths of winter. It was mentioned recently that the trouble with Manchester rain isn't the fact it rains a lot (indeed it's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester#Geography">lower than the UK average</a>) but it's pervasiveness. The clouds are simply too lazy to dump all their rain in one go and instead subjecting it's citizens to the well known day-long drizzle. Clouds around here are generally more efficient so it rains in bursts. However on the flip side we do get long sustained winds rolling off the fens that irritatingly change direction between my cycle in and my return journey. It seems wherever you go in the UK there will always be something wrong with the weather.....</p>
Yarrr2008-09-19T11:40:00+01:002008-09-19T11:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-19:/~alex/blog/2008/09/19/yarrr/<p>Yarr, tis morning I mounted my fine vessel for the first time since me experience of tasting the salt of da road on Monday. I was a wonderin' why the chain had come away, perhap some plan by the revenue them scurvy bilge rats? Despite that I made good time …</p><p>Yarr, tis morning I mounted my fine vessel for the first time since me experience of tasting the salt of da road on Monday. I was a wonderin' why the chain had come away, perhap some plan by the revenue them scurvy bilge rats? Despite that I made good time 'o the Cam dis mornin' and have no new scars, yarrr!</p>
History repeating2008-09-17T10:05:00+01:002008-09-17T10:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-17:/~alex/blog/2008/09/17/history-repeating/<p>Has anyone seen the rather excellent documentary <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/">The Smartest Guys in the Room</a>? It analyses the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron">Enron</a> scandal and the hows and whys it happened. They had been indulging in accounting fraud where they hid losses and inflated assets until the wheels came of and the hole house of cards …</p><p>Has anyone seen the rather excellent documentary <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/">The Smartest Guys in the Room</a>? It analyses the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron">Enron</a> scandal and the hows and whys it happened. They had been indulging in accounting fraud where they hid losses and inflated assets until the wheels came of and the hole house of cards fell down.</p>
<p>I don't think the current market turmoil caused by the collapse of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7615931.stm">Leman's</a> and "rescue" of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7620127.stm">AIG</a> are the result of deliberate fraud but they certainly haven't learnt the lessons of managing your risks. When I got my mortgage I checked I could afford to pay it and also worked out what would happen if rates went up. In fact to this day I run a spreadsheet that lists my monthly and annual costs so I have an idea of how long I could survive while jobless and what I'm paying out for. I know the financial institutions invest millions in their IT systems so they can get an up to the minute statement of their current positions. What I don't understand is why they don't model what-if scenarios if the market does get a bit tighter and people are less likely to lend the money, in short what would they do if there was a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_crunch">credit crunch</a>? It seems the answer is approach the government (and it's taxpayers) to bale you out. As the last few days have shown you can one of two answers which makes the end result about as predictable as flipping a coin.</p>
Time for a change?2008-09-16T13:19:00+01:002008-09-16T13:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-16:/~alex/blog/2008/09/16/1113/<p>Fun as it is to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7617984.stm">Labour struggle to contain</a> a revolt by it's own members to oust Chairman Brown I can't help thinking a change of leader wouldn't do any good right now. While it's easier to argue against a general election for your <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6245682.stm">first switch of leader while …</a></p><p>Fun as it is to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7617984.stm">Labour struggle to contain</a> a revolt by it's own members to oust Chairman Brown I can't help thinking a change of leader wouldn't do any good right now. While it's easier to argue against a general election for your <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6245682.stm">first switch of leader while in power</a> I don't think it would hold for a second. The Tories had the luxury of being in opposition for their last 4 changes, while in power they are <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election,_1990">pretty efficient</a> at wielding the knife on their incumbent leaders.</p>
<p>I suspect with all economic turmoil going around at the moment no party really wants to be in power. However someone needs to be in charge of the country and indulging internal party politics seems like a bit of a luxury in these times.</p>
Newton was right2008-09-15T13:11:00+01:002008-09-15T13:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-15:/~alex/blog/2008/09/15/newton-was-right/<p>It seems Newton knew what he was talking about when he formulated the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion">laws of motion</a>. I'm not entirely sure what happened but I had just made an avoiding manoeuvre for the large truck coming through the traffic calmed pinch-point just down the main road. For some reason my front …</p><p>It seems Newton knew what he was talking about when he formulated the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion">laws of motion</a>. I'm not entirely sure what happened but I had just made an avoiding manoeuvre for the large truck coming through the traffic calmed pinch-point just down the main road. For some reason my front wheel turned 90 degrees and brought the bike frame to a rather sudden stop. Students of physics will appreciate the fundamental laws of inertia were still in effect with respect to my body which ended up forward but grounded. No major damage done although I was quite winded by the landing and had to sit for a bit. I have a large graze of one arm which apparently took most of the fall and a mobile phone shaped bruise forming on my right thigh. I've decided working from home will be the order of the day today.</p>
Guilty Pleasures2008-09-14T17:58:00+01:002008-09-14T17:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-14:/~alex/blog/2008/09/14/guilty-pleasures/<p>I've finally started taking advantage of all the memory I put in this machine to indulge a guilty pleasure. Seeing as I'm only testing the next Ubuntu in my virtual machine I can install Flash on it so I can watch iPlayer. Although I'm obviously critical of the fact it …</p><p>I've finally started taking advantage of all the memory I put in this machine to indulge a guilty pleasure. Seeing as I'm only testing the next Ubuntu in my virtual machine I can install Flash on it so I can watch iPlayer. Although I'm obviously critical of the fact it locks people into the closed Flash platform to use it. The web-based solution is slick, easy to use and quite obviously the future of TV. I just caught up with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dmpd2/">film of the last show Humph did</a> before he died. It was filmed at the Lowry which reminded me of where I saw him last live. There is also a nice recording of one of his <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ddwd0/">Jazz performances</a> currently showing which I'm enjoying now.</p>
<p>The weekend has involved a touch of garden related activity including a very overdue grass cutting and the acquiring of many potted herbs and flowers. We also have a lovey baby maple tree which is now shading the Wizard which has been wondering where it would sit every since I fetched it from Manchester. We are enjoying whats left of the nice weather while we can. I hope it lasts the week, it's quite nice for cycling in the morning.</p>
Rag tag bag2008-09-11T11:46:00+01:002008-09-11T11:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-11:/~alex/blog/2008/09/11/rag-tag-bag/<p>I went clay pigeon shooting last night with work. I'm not sure if the guns just had better recoil protection or if my technique is getting better but I have no bruised shoulder this morning. Anyway aside from that I have a few links to share today.</p>
<p>Firstly the story …</p><p>I went clay pigeon shooting last night with work. I'm not sure if the guns just had better recoil protection or if my technique is getting better but I have no bruised shoulder this morning. Anyway aside from that I have a few links to share today.</p>
<p>Firstly the story about <a class="reference external" href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/10/203233&from=rss">the United Airlines having it's share price decimated</a> when an old story from 2002 appeared on Google's news aggregator. I'm sure the lawyers are currently winding up to see if they can blame anyone but really the story should be a warning about trusting fully automated news sources. Although this case looks fairly innocent I'm sure cyber-criminals are now devising attacks against <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_bot">news bots</a> for more elaborate <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump">pump and dump</a> scams.</p>
<p>The second is the launch of a UK <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7608442.stm">classical music download store</a>. As seems to be a growing trend they have launched <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management">DRM</a> free and refreshingly also offer music in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flac">FLAC</a> format for high fidelity.</p>
<p>In contrast I offer the furore over <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/10/spore_drm_amazon_effect/">Spore's draconian DRM</a> and the resultant flash mob reviews on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/product/B000FN7K2S/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary/202-4313796-3939025?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending">Amazon</a>. This sort of DRM will eventually kill the PC games industry when people realise how it's turned into a rental market. Admittedly my PS3 is DRMed to the hilt as far as games are concerned. However two key differences that I can live with are that the DRM scheme doesn't get in the way of me using the PS3 as a general purpose computer and secondly when I'm bored of the game I can sell it to someone else.</p>
Damp but warm2008-09-08T13:03:00+01:002008-09-08T13:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-08:/~alex/blog/2008/09/08/damp-but-warm/<p>The weekend passed by without any great revelations. We had planned to go out for a walk on Sunday to get some fresh air but where scuppered by the approaching rain clouds. Apart from a brief trip to the supermarket we stayed in the house for the whole weekend. We …</p><p>The weekend passed by without any great revelations. We had planned to go out for a walk on Sunday to get some fresh air but where scuppered by the approaching rain clouds. Apart from a brief trip to the supermarket we stayed in the house for the whole weekend. We did watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419887/">The Kite Runner</a> which is a touchingly lovely film set over two decades with the back-drop of Afghanistan. The geopolitics is incidental to the story of personal growth and redemption and I suspect does a lot of justice to the book it was based on.</p>
<p>My brother and his partner are visiting today for familial duties. I decided to have another go at making <a class="reference external" href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/melting-chocolate-puddings,1403,RC.html">Delia's Melting Chocolate Puddings</a> for the occasion. I had one last night but was a little too quick taking it of the oven. However there are now 6 pots of chocolate loveliness waiting in the fridge for this evening.</p>
Best video in ages2008-09-06T17:22:00+01:002008-09-06T17:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-06:/~alex/blog/2008/09/06/1108/<p>I hope everybody is suitably excited about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/">Big Bang</a> next week. I have to say <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vimeo.com/1431471">this video</a> has the best explanation of particle physics in the form of a phat rap track you could hope to hear.</p>
Himmm2008-09-05T16:55:00+01:002008-09-05T16:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-05:/~alex/blog/2008/09/05/1107/<p>How have I filled up 250Gb of my spare hard drive? External drives apparently do have their limits....</p>
Fair Weather2008-09-05T13:22:00+01:002008-09-05T13:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-05:/~alex/blog/2008/09/05/fair-weather/<p>I'm sacking off Maelstrom this weekend. There are a variety of reasons but it mostly comes down to rather spending my time chilling with Fliss in a nice warm house than shivering in the cold and damp forcing myself to have fun on my own<sup>*</sup>.</p>
<p>Looking back in the calender …</p><p>I'm sacking off Maelstrom this weekend. There are a variety of reasons but it mostly comes down to rather spending my time chilling with Fliss in a nice warm house than shivering in the cold and damp forcing myself to have fun on my own<sup>*</sup>.</p>
<p>Looking back in the calender it looks like the last quiet weekend was in July (and July was a pretty packed month). I find you do need to occasionally just spend a weekend doing nothing in particular to wind down from the week before and prepare you for the week ahead. Of course I'm a little angry with myself for wasting the ticket but I hope every one else enjoys the event. I've certainly not hung up the LRP boots just yet despite my fair weather pretencions.</p>
<p>* Yes I know other people will be there, but not nearly as cute and lovely as Fliss (bleuurgh ;-)</p>
Three showers a day2008-09-02T17:33:00+01:002008-09-02T17:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-02:/~alex/blog/2008/09/02/three-showers-a-day/<p>I played Rugby (touch version off) at lunch time today. There is a hell of a difference between a 30 minute cycle ride at constant speed and the fast stopping and starting of a game like Rugby. This is what I discovered after the first 5 minutes of play when …</p><p>I played Rugby (touch version off) at lunch time today. There is a hell of a difference between a 30 minute cycle ride at constant speed and the fast stopping and starting of a game like Rugby. This is what I discovered after the first 5 minutes of play when I started my impression of an asthmatic. Still I managed to get through all 45 minutes of the game despite a couple of points feeling like I wanted to throw up. Assuming my muscles haven't gone on strike tomorrow I look forward to playing again next week.</p>
Dirty Shoes2008-09-02T10:54:00+01:002008-09-02T10:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-02:/~alex/blog/2008/09/02/1104/<p>Today is the first slightly grotty cycling day since I started my new regime. My shoes now have a subtle brown spray encrusting them from the tow path by the river. Starting the journey was the hardest bit, but once I had got going it and started warming up it …</p><p>Today is the first slightly grotty cycling day since I started my new regime. My shoes now have a subtle brown spray encrusting them from the tow path by the river. Starting the journey was the hardest bit, but once I had got going it and started warming up it was fine. I wonder how cold it will have to get before my single layer hi-tech <a class="reference external" href="http://www.polaris-apparel.co.uk//category-5925/product-20847//BLAKE-SHIRT,-Olive/Black,-S.html">Polaris top</a> will cease to be enough protection from the elements.</p>
<p>I had a nice surprise last night when our new local friends T & F came around for dinner and a movie. I had lent T an <a class="reference external" href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD">Ubuntu LiveCD</a> to give a spin on his laptop which had been buckling under the strain of Vista. When I enquired how the test had gone he told me it had been great and he had installed it as the only OS on both his laptop and the desktop PC both he and F use. Both are very happy with the result which is heartening. Considering neither of them are classed as computer geeks it's also a shot in the eye for those who say Linux isn't ready for the consumer desktop.</p>
<p>T's keen on playing with a bit of programming with GUI's and databases so we shall arrange a lads night in where I can run through some of the basics. I'm thinking <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)">Python</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glade_Interface_Designer">Glade/libglade/GtkBuilder</a> are probably the easiest way to learn these days. Having said that I'm open to suggestions on good first languages to learn when getting into programming. I started with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC">BASIC</a> before moving onto 6502 and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/68000">68000</a> assembly. I think the state of the art of learning programming may have moved on since?</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> And suggestions for good editors also accepted. I'm a big Emacs fan but it's octa-pedal keystrokes and elisp based configuration would probably be a distraction while learning.</p>
Homeless, partied out and tired2008-09-01T11:09:00+01:002008-09-01T11:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-09-01:/~alex/blog/2008/09/01/homeless-partied-out-and-tired/<p>It's been a fairly busy weekend of travelling as we were in Manchester for Phil and Karl's party. We headed up through rather grotty traffic on Friday which made the celebratory champagne at the end of the journey a relief. I had completed on the house sale on Friday so …</p><p>It's been a fairly busy weekend of travelling as we were in Manchester for Phil and Karl's party. We headed up through rather grotty traffic on Friday which made the celebratory champagne at the end of the journey a relief. I had completed on the house sale on Friday so it seemed worth celebrating being richer than we have ever been before. Unfortunately despite converting from equity to liquid assets it still doesn't count as "real" money, still it's nice not to be paying a mortgage and rent at the same time.</p>
<p>The party was most entertaining. It was really nice to catch up with a chunk of the Manchester people while enjoying some of Phil's very nice <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daiquiri">daiquiri</a>'s. There was discussion on what cars I could buy now, places to stay on future visits and possible dates for people to visit us down south. I believe I successfully avoided any discussion about pensions although I did call it a day around about one in the morning unlike some more of the hard core party-goers. This was mainly because I wanted to be in a reasonable state for the drive home the next day.</p>
<p>Once back down south we joined my parents for a nice lamb roast before heading over to my grans place to look over the garden for potted plants for our garden. We decided against removing too many plants while the rain was ensuring everything was well watered. However we have identified a number of culinary herbs which will pick up over the next few days. We then headed back home to watch the last of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wing">Green Wing</a> with a nice glass of wine before retiring rather tired to bed.</p>
Lisp Service2008-08-29T11:49:00+01:002008-08-29T11:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-29:/~alex/blog/2008/08/29/1102/<p>I finally figured out the correct magic to pass custom command line arguments to my emacs. This has allowed me to get the emacs-server running in a way more tuned to the way I work.</p>
<p>A lot of emacs people only run one instance of emacs and therefor take the …</p><p>I finally figured out the correct magic to pass custom command line arguments to my emacs. This has allowed me to get the emacs-server running in a way more tuned to the way I work.</p>
<p>A lot of emacs people only run one instance of emacs and therefor take the start-up hit and leave it at that. I however tend to run several (one per project) so I can keep a certain amount of state in each session. All the solutions involving shell scripting to optionally use emacs client weren't quite what I wanted. Instead I want to start up one emacs at the start of my windows session that handles all the emacsclient stuff (like editing web-forms) and leave everything as is. It will be no surprise to emacs users that there is a hook for processing custom command line options so now my emacs is "-server" enabled. The only wrinkle is the command line options are processed after you .emacs is loaded so I can't define a "-skip-stuff-for-mutts-edits" flag for invoking from mutt. I don't really want to start messing with the Muti-TTY stuff just yet so I suspect rather than custom flags I may well start parsing the command line to detect mutt temp files.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> My emacs commit is mirrored <a class="reference external" href="http://github.com/stsquad/my-emacs-stuff/commit/16f86aa4bb0bd1be55479085dce514d759a07426">here</a>.</p>
More experimentation2008-08-28T13:06:00+01:002008-08-28T13:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-28:/~alex/blog/2008/08/28/more-experimentation/<p>Today I'm trying out the "recycled foam" method for generating the milky foamy head on my coffee. In theory by recycling the milk from the destination cup back into the system the milk gets more warmed through which should affect *something*. However I suspect the biggest change is due to …</p><p>Today I'm trying out the "recycled foam" method for generating the milky foamy head on my coffee. In theory by recycling the milk from the destination cup back into the system the milk gets more warmed through which should affect *something*. However I suspect the biggest change is due to the the discovery of a pack of chocolate sprinkles that allow for the authentic Chain Coffee Shop flourish on top.</p>
<p>We'll be up in Manchester this weekend as part of the "not being strangers plan". Of course I'll be cursing Big Oil as I drive up but you can't have everything ;-)</p>
Healthy Living?2008-08-27T14:06:00+01:002008-08-27T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-27:/~alex/blog/2008/08/27/healthy-living/<p>I'm not sure if this is related to <a class="reference external" href="http://athena25.livejournal.com/141768.html">athena25's post</a> or the fact we had dinner with Izzy and Andy. Yesterday we had a fully veggie evening meal. Fliss informed me it was my turn to come up with a suitably meat free meal for this evening. Despite being a …</p><p>I'm not sure if this is related to <a class="reference external" href="http://athena25.livejournal.com/141768.html">athena25's post</a> or the fact we had dinner with Izzy and Andy. Yesterday we had a fully veggie evening meal. Fliss informed me it was my turn to come up with a suitably meat free meal for this evening. Despite being a fully paid up omnivore we do occasionally have meat free meals. Along with moves like stocking the fridge only with the normal daily allowance of alcohol and regular cycling it's all part of a move to be generally more healthy. Unfortunately I'm all out of ideas beyond the basic salad to prepare tonight. I suspect I shall just have to go home first rather than swinging by the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco">local retail behemoth</a> on the way home. Maybe a veggie curry would be a good move, I had notes on my old wiki for a nice one but I've since taken that down - bad geek that I am.</p>
On Apples Side2008-08-27T11:12:00+01:002008-08-27T11:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-27:/~alex/blog/2008/08/27/on-apples-side/<p>I think I'm Apple's side with the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7582197.stm">ASA ruling</a>. The crux of the ASA's argument is that Flash and Java are part of "internet". It's dangerous because it makes a precedent that supporting these proprietary applications<sup>*</sup> is the only way you can support the full fat internet. This is …</p><p>I think I'm Apple's side with the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7582197.stm">ASA ruling</a>. The crux of the ASA's argument is that Flash and Java are part of "internet". It's dangerous because it makes a precedent that supporting these proprietary applications<sup>*</sup> is the only way you can support the full fat internet. This is something free software will have big problems doing. Perhaps Apple would of escaped the attention the ASA if they had said the iPhone gives you access to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.w3.org/">standards based</a> World Wide Web.</p>
<p>Note that I'm overly worried about Apple's shoeing. I get pretty good access to most well written HTML pages on my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K800">k800</a> with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_mini">Opera Mini</a>. However my main concern is the if the up-coming open platforms such as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Handset_Alliance">Open Handset Alliance</a> phone or the existing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openmoko">Openmoko</a> platforms can't make claims to give access to the internet without Flash.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* technically Java has now been freed although a stable free Java is still <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openjdk">in development</a>.</div>
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong> ASA <a class="reference external" href="http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_44891.htm">adjudication</a></div>
</div>
Family weekend2008-08-26T10:28:00+01:002008-08-26T10:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-26:/~alex/blog/2008/08/26/family-weekend/<p>The (extended) weekend has been mostly filled with family related stuff. Saturday started with a trip to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newmarket_Racecourse">Newmarket Races</a> to start the celebrations for Fliss' Mum's birthday. Predictably the first bet I placed on the first race came in at 15/2 netting be 20 something pounds. This of …</p><p>The (extended) weekend has been mostly filled with family related stuff. Saturday started with a trip to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newmarket_Racecourse">Newmarket Races</a> to start the celebrations for Fliss' Mum's birthday. Predictably the first bet I placed on the first race came in at 15/2 netting be 20 something pounds. This of course was not replicated over the remaining 8 or so races which despite some further wins saw me down around £20 on the day. Fliss had some more successful bets so I think overall we walked away from the day roughly even.</p>
<p>The rest of Saturday and Sunday was filled with significant quantities of food at various familial homesteads. There were profiteroles which as law dictates always improves a situation. I'm slowly developing a mental map of exactly how all the various cousins/aunts/uncles are related in the family tree and getting slightly better at remembering the various names. By the time we got home on Sunday evening we were pretty "familied out" and enjoyed a few DVDs before a relatively early night.</p>
<p>Monday was a pretty relaxed day. I spent the morning making more progress into GTA's story while Fliss <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(series)">conquered the known world</a>. I then cycled across town to visit my grandmother is hospital before looping back to meet up with Fliss, Andy and Izzy in the rather nice Real Ale Pub and Thai Restaurant <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=The+Wrestlers+Arms&sll=52.207975,0.132093&sspn=0.035608,0.11158&ie=UTF8&ll=52.20829,0.132093&spn=0.035608,0.11158&z=14&iwloc=A">The Wrestlers Arms</a> for dinner. We finished the meal vowing to explore more of Cambridge's eating options.</p>
<p>I know I cycled a lot yesterday as my knee is a little sore today. I think I might be getting old.....</p>
Arrrghhh2008-08-22T12:36:00+01:002008-08-22T12:36:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-22:/~alex/blog/2008/08/22/arrrghhh/<p>I hate selling houses. It really does bring out the most anal nit-picking aspects in people who I'm sure are really nice in person. My house is empty, I'm ready to complete and I keep getting the same question about a burglar alarm I haven't used for over 2 years …</p><p>I hate selling houses. It really does bring out the most anal nit-picking aspects in people who I'm sure are really nice in person. My house is empty, I'm ready to complete and I keep getting the same question about a burglar alarm I haven't used for over 2 years.</p>
Broken DVDs2008-08-21T11:28:00+01:002008-08-21T11:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-21:/~alex/blog/2008/08/21/1096/<p>I've been getting a number of DVDs through my current rental deal that seem to skip and pause on my DVD player at the start. At first I thought it was scratches but it turns out there are <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARccOS_Protection">more sinister reasons</a> behind it. It's basically the DVD equivalent to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_control">Copy …</a></p><p>I've been getting a number of DVDs through my current rental deal that seem to skip and pause on my DVD player at the start. At first I thought it was scratches but it turns out there are <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARccOS_Protection">more sinister reasons</a> behind it. It's basically the DVD equivalent to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_control">Copy Control</a> for CDs which creates intentionally corrupted sectors in the hope that legitimate players will skip around them but dirty rippers will choke on the bad data. Of course the logic is flawed. DVD players are commodity items which hastily thrown together and shipped for ever lower prices, like my £26 multi-region, DivX capable player. Ripping programs develop and become more mature about routing around failure.</p>
<p>The solution to the problem is the same as for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/">defective</a> CDs. Return them to the store and ask for a refund. When the stores get tired of loosing money processing returns they will either put pressure on the studios to stop supplying broken merchandise or at the very least label such broken disks in their stores.</p>
Adult Country2008-08-18T09:28:00+01:002008-08-18T09:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-18:/~alex/blog/2008/08/18/adult-country/<p>Travelling first class in Germany is pretty good. We had a compartment to ourselves with some rather comfortably seats, a table and power socket. This meant we could enjoy a few DVDs without having to resort to shared headphones. The waiter service was pretty cool too. The difference in price …</p><p>Travelling first class in Germany is pretty good. We had a compartment to ourselves with some rather comfortably seats, a table and power socket. This meant we could enjoy a few DVDs without having to resort to shared headphones. The waiter service was pretty cool too. The difference in price wasn't too massive and for a long journey (this one was around 4 hours) it's totally worth the investment.</p>
<p>Frankfurt with Jess has been fun. Friday night was filled with large quantities of Spanish food with equally large quantities of garlic. Saturday was a house party much geeky chat was entertained as well as the teleportation of a widescreen TC for Wii purposes (still not convinced by the system BTW).</p>
<p>For the actual birthday on the Sunday we left the huddled masses back at the flat and borrowed the dog and went for a walk along the river. We found a lovely little green area with a cafe attached. Treating people like adults is a general European trend which means you get served in proper glass glasses and pick up some deck chairs and sit down wherever you want on the grass. It was very chilled and very lovely spending the afternoon with my honey, and a dog.</p>
<p>The one downside of Germany is it's interesting approach to customer service at restaurants. As the waiter staff don't need tips to survive the punctuality isn't quite what you expect when used to the UK. However the food at the Chinese on Sunday evening was lovely.</p>
<p>We are now preparing for our journey down to Brussels today. I booked a 5 star hotel last night so should be fun. Apparently it's where all the euro big-wigs stay.</p>
There are 30,000 bicycles in Berlin2008-08-15T11:49:00+01:002008-08-15T11:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-15:/~alex/blog/2008/08/15/there-are-30000-bicycles-in-berlin/<p>The travel down was interesting. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostar">Eurostar</a> is fast, after a quick security screening and quick exchange of seats we were on. It gets up to 186mph and it didn't seem like long at all until we reached a mostly closed Brussels station. We had an hour to kill before …</p><p>The travel down was interesting. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostar">Eurostar</a> is fast, after a quick security screening and quick exchange of seats we were on. It gets up to 186mph and it didn't seem like long at all until we reached a mostly closed Brussels station. We had an hour to kill before the overnight sleeper which was mainly filled with reading the papers. Unfortunately there had been trouble with some of the carriages so we didn't get the "Deluxe" compartment with it's own shower and toilet facilities so we arrived in Berlin needing a little freshening up.</p>
<p>Sleep on the journey was light but I did feel rested once I got to Berlin although it took about a day on solid ground for my sense of balance to fully right itself. Sleep hadn't been helped by the regular network messages my phone received as we crossed numerous cell-phone operator boundaries. I was too paranoid about missing the alarm for getting off the train that I didn't put the phone on silent. In the end though it wouldn't have mattered as the conductor did knock and check we would be ready about an hour before arrival (~8.10 in the morning local time).</p>
<p>Fliss' cousin picked us up from the station and took us to their flat to freshen up and drop off bags before we did the tourist bit. Most of Wednesday was completed on foot as we took in the major sites including what little was left of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_wall">Wall</a>, one of the many <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europe">holocaust memorials</a>, the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate">Brandenburg Gate</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(building)">Reichstag</a>. Fliss' camera now has a lot of photos of Berlin in it. By the end of the day we had walked quite a distance so headed to bed rather quickly after the evening meal.</p>
<p>Yesterday we spent mostly on the beach of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee">Wannsee</a> enjoying the fine weather and catching up on reading. We spent the evening in East Berlin enjoying a lovely meal in a traditional German restaurant.</p>
<p>General impressions of Berlin are that it is a poor city. Mainly as a consequence of it's history re-development has only really kicked in since the wall came down. Central government has been moving here slowly and it has very little industry of its own (unlike say Frankfurt which is Germany's financial centre). This means that it's still relatively uncrowded so it is possible to get around by car although it does have a well supported integrated public transport system. What was West Berlin offers mostly post 50's architecture with a significant chunk of the city having been flattened during the war. However the eastern part of the city does have more of the surviving pre-war buildings which the Soviets only knocked down if they had to. As a result the more bohemian style middle classes are moving into these areas which are where the fancy bars and clubs are. Despite it's poor outlook Berlin still gives the impression of a city that is on the up and it will be interesting to see how it develops over the years :-)</p>
Holiday Begins2008-08-11T19:06:00+01:002008-08-11T19:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-11:/~alex/blog/2008/08/11/holiday-begins/<p>It's official, we are in fact on holiday. In fact I've been "on holiday" since Thursday evening when I got home from work. The first task of the weekend was hiring a transit<sup>*</sup> van and picking up table from Fliss' Mum's to replace the rather crappy white plastic one that …</p><p>It's official, we are in fact on holiday. In fact I've been "on holiday" since Thursday evening when I got home from work. The first task of the weekend was hiring a transit<sup>*</sup> van and picking up table from Fliss' Mum's to replace the rather crappy white plastic one that currently fills our garden. We now have a surfeit of outdoor seating.</p>
<p>We headed up to Manchester for the start of our brief circuitous loop around the midlands and the north west. The rather helpful Anne and Ed came over to pick over various bits of the cellar that where skip bound. A little food bribery later and they stayed for a few more hours and helped us bag up and move the initial chunk of the cellar into the van. I'm very grateful as it made the surprisingly large mountain of crap not seem so massive the next day when I started loading it into the van at 6.30 in the morning.</p>
<p>The main driver for this uncharacteristically early start to the day was the absolute back marker of having to be in Buxton at 16.00, preferably having had a chance to change in time for Tom and Jules wedding. I also needed to have emptied the house of everything and get the keys to the estate agents for the hopefully, fingers crossed, touch wood, soon to be completed exchange of contracts.</p>
<p>It was a little sad waving goodbye to the old house but hopefully I'll not be stranger to Manchester even if I won't be laying my head down in Stretford in the future. It was also a lesson in how much crap you can accumulate through living somewhere for 7 years. I feel guilty enough as it is throwing this stuff away. At least the electronics and TV's were separated at the recycling centre.</p>
<p>We made it to Buxton with an hour or so to spare which gave us time to wash the smell of the tip off and be ready for the ceremony. Other people have <a class="reference external" href="http://gothadh.livejournal.com/601542.html">better write-ups</a> and some picture can be found <a class="reference external" href="http://daysout.fotopic.net/c1559451.html">here</a>. It was a fantastic bash although by the time the music had finished I was starting to fall asleep. I managed to finish my last pint in the cockerel bar before leaving the others too make rude jokes.</p>
<p>Sunday morning was filled with tea and cakes in Buxton centre before we headed off for a long drive through the peaks of Derbyshire to visit some family. P&C as always were excellent hosts and ensured we had a lovely evening with plenty of flowing conversation. I did a little statutory computer<sup>**</sup> support and we then finished off a number of bottles of wine before heading to sleep.</p>
<p>Today was a sprint back to Cambridge to get the van back in time and the traditional day before panic while we checked where our passports where. Tomorrow we start our European train odyssey. Reports may be limited but I'm looking forward to it.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* It was actually a VW, so I assume it's OK to de-capitalise the generics-ed noun</div>
</div>
<div class="line">** <strong>Note to Self</strong> remember to carry spare distro CDs around</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Free Stuff2008-08-08T10:29:00+01:002008-08-08T10:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-08:/~alex/blog/2008/08/08/free-stuff/<p>We are up in Manchester tomorrow and early Saturday to do the final clear out of bits and pieces from the cellar. A bunch of stuff is going to the tip but if anyone wants any of the following then please contact me.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Assorted random bits of computer stuff (ex-Glyn …</li></ul><p>We are up in Manchester tomorrow and early Saturday to do the final clear out of bits and pieces from the cellar. A bunch of stuff is going to the tip but if anyone wants any of the following then please contact me.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Assorted random bits of computer stuff (ex-Glyn)</li>
<li>Dreamcast and N64 (ex-Glyn)</li>
<li>A wodge load of cabling</li>
<li>A bunch of metal shelves, ideal for garden/cellar storage solutions</li>
<li>Numerous DVD players</li>
</ul>
<p>Offer ends Saturday lunchtime.</p>
Caffinated Win!2008-08-07T13:17:00+01:002008-08-07T13:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-07:/~alex/blog/2008/08/07/1091/<p>Today I figured out how to make proper frothy head on works new coffee machine. I suspect I may have started drinking coffee because it gives me the opportunity to play with new toys ;-)</p>
Messanger2008-08-06T15:57:00+01:002008-08-06T15:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-06:/~alex/blog/2008/08/06/1090/<p>It has been mentioned that people don't see me on IM any more. By IM they mean MSN messenger and they are right. Some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=976">time ago MSN died on me</a> and I've limited myself to the Google and LJ Jabber services. I've just tried re-activating my [STRIKEOUT:Shite]Hotmail account …</p><p>It has been mentioned that people don't see me on IM any more. By IM they mean MSN messenger and they are right. Some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=976">time ago MSN died on me</a> and I've limited myself to the Google and LJ Jabber services. I've just tried re-activating my [STRIKEOUT:Shite]Hotmail account to see if I can re-activate the MSN but the web-site just went into a perpetual loop bouncing between various Microsoft domains. MSN clearly doesn't like my browser/OS choice. I reciprocate the feeling about their service.</p>
<p>These days no self respecting on-line chatter should be running a single protocol Instant Messaging client. I can <a class="reference external" href="http://pidgin.im/">recommend</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.adiumx.com/">several</a>. I've never used <a class="reference external" href="http://www.miranda-im.org/">Miranda</a> but Windows users may want to check it out if running GTK applications on Windows is a little too alternative for them.</p>
Meters2008-08-06T13:32:00+01:002008-08-06T13:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-06:/~alex/blog/2008/08/06/1089/<p>I've been playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/EmacsClient">emacsclient</a> in an effort to make things like editing blog entries faster by re-using existing emacs sessions. It's almost doing what I want it to do but there doesn't seem to be a way of checking if there is already a server running withing emacs itself …</p><p>I've been playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/EmacsClient">emacsclient</a> in an effort to make things like editing blog entries faster by re-using existing emacs sessions. It's almost doing what I want it to do but there doesn't seem to be a way of checking if there is already a server running withing emacs itself. I'm not touching tty support yet as the many hacks do indeed look quite hacky, especially with screen involved.</p>
<p>We had a water meter installed this morning which in theory should mean lower water bills. We do like the occasional bath but apparently you can have about 15 baths for �2.40 so we shouldn't be maxing out too soon. Gardening is a worry but really we should get a water butt and collect rain water for that. However I doubt we will bother while renting here.</p>
<p>Spent last night watching another chunk of the very funny <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburban_Shootout">Suburban Shootout</a> last night. I'm giving the season 2 DVD some thought. Tonight we do the Dark Knight.</p>
Folked Out2008-08-04T13:52:00+01:002008-08-04T13:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-04:/~alex/blog/2008/08/04/folked-out/<p>Yesterday was the last night of the 2008 Cambridge Folk Festival. We left in the early evening not long after Mufi and TJ headed back to Manchester as we were quite Folked Out after 4 days of festival. However a good time had been had by all and we saw …</p><p>Yesterday was the last night of the 2008 Cambridge Folk Festival. We left in the early evening not long after Mufi and TJ headed back to Manchester as we were quite Folked Out after 4 days of festival. However a good time had been had by all and we saw a number of excellent bands. There is a small stack of CDs I need to rip into my digital collection now.</p>
<p>As festivals go (certainly ones I'm familiar with) it's fairly light weight. This may or may not be influenced by the fact we were able to take full advantage of the festival but return home every evening. This starts by not having to go through a ring of security steel to get onto site. I suspect this is because the crowd are a more mature mix of people who don't need excessive corralling to follow the rules. The main thing that concerned the staff is you had your wristband on and didn't bring any glass onto site.</p>
<p>The site is quite small and housed 3 main performance areas. This was great as it meant a quick trip to the tent to pick up your jumper wasn't a journey of dread like at Glastonbury. Several hatched paths had been marked with line paint around the stages to ensure the free flow of people back and forth which worked exceptionally well. The most exasperated comments from the organisers where cajoling people inside the performance tents to be a little less territorial with their rugs. We spent the majority of the festival outside the tented areas of the main stage and for the most part had enough space to stretch out. Even though Saturday involved a little battling with the rain the drainage on the site was so good you could sit directly on the grass later in the afternoon.</p>
<p>I should make special mention of the bar. The organisers were taking the green agenda quite seriously this year and doing their best to reduce the potential environmental impact of the festival. This was evident in the plastic bag ban for traders, compost-able eating utensils and a glass deposit scheme. Instead of the throwaway thin plastic ping mugs they had a decent solid plastic pint mug and a slightly more grand glass tankard style mug. The deposit was �2 for the plastic and �3.50 for the glass and could be collected on the way out or after 10.30 in the bar. They provided glass washers at the end of the tent for people to clean their glasses albeit with the admonishment not to do it all the time due to the third of a pint of water it takes. All in all the scheme seemed to work well, everyone held onto their glasses and the site was certainly very clean. The majority of the rubbish, collected of course in separately labelled bins, was food and paper plates.</p>
<p>The best thing about the bar was the service. A lovely choice of 4 real-ales, including a very drinkable "Festival Special" session beer, all served quickly. I think the longest queue for the bar was maybe 2 people deep, most of the time I could walk straight to the bar and be served.</p>
<p>All in all it's a very nice way to spend a relaxing weekend sitting in the (mostly) sunshine and listening to cool chilled out music. I can certainly see myself going next year.</p>
Folk Festival2008-08-02T11:34:00+01:002008-08-02T11:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-08-02:/~alex/blog/2008/08/02/1087/<p>Yesterday was the first full day of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk/">Cambridge Folk Festival</a>. There was a slight delay to getting there as Mufi and TJ had been held up by one of those rare M6 accidents. However once they arrived we took the very environmentally friendly bus to the site.</p>
<p>It's a …</p><p>Yesterday was the first full day of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk/">Cambridge Folk Festival</a>. There was a slight delay to getting there as Mufi and TJ had been held up by one of those rare M6 accidents. However once they arrived we took the very environmentally friendly bus to the site.</p>
<p>It's a very gentle festival which is nice because it means the loos are OK, there is a selection of real-ales at the not overly crowded bar and a great selection of food. We spent most of the day in front of the main stage and met some interesting people who where next to our "patch".</p>
<p>Last nights bands included <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/music/The%20%20Waifs">The Waifs</a> (lovely bluesy aussie band), <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/music/Peatbog+Faeries">The Peatbog Faries</a> (high energy celtic dance), <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/music/Billy+Bragg">Bill Bragg</a> (political protest songs of a slightly leftish hue ;-), and the final band was festival stalwarts <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/music/Levellers">The Levellers</a> (sing-a-long folk rock from my youth).</p>
<p>We shall see what today brings :-)</p>
More on the iPhone2008-07-31T15:49:00+01:002008-07-31T15:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-31:/~alex/blog/2008/07/31/1086/<p>There is another piece on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/why-free-software-and-apples-iphone-dont-mix">iPhone</a> over at the FSF blog today. While there my be "Free as in Beer" applications available for it the article makes it pretty clear the incompatibility between Apple's license and copyleft licenses that encourage free (as in freedom) software. The birth of the …</p><p>There is another piece on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/why-free-software-and-apples-iphone-dont-mix">iPhone</a> over at the FSF blog today. While there my be "Free as in Beer" applications available for it the article makes it pretty clear the incompatibility between Apple's license and copyleft licenses that encourage free (as in freedom) software. The birth of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPL3#Version_3">GPL V3</a> was a slow one but it does contain terms to stop people locking free software behind the DRM bar and denying your freedom to modify and use the program. Of course most of the Apple bling is BSD powered which is considerably more liberal about allowing itself to be taken behind closed doors and tied up.</p>
So it begins2008-07-30T17:42:00+01:002008-07-30T17:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-30:/~alex/blog/2008/07/30/1085/<p>So the DNS attacks are <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.metasploit.com/2008/07/on-dns-attacks-in-wild-and-journalistic.html">starting</a>. Unfortunately the distributed nature of DNS means people may well get affected if their ISPs haven't been paying attention. The upshot is it is very possible that you will get sent to a site that may look like what you wanted but is actually …</p><p>So the DNS attacks are <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.metasploit.com/2008/07/on-dns-attacks-in-wild-and-journalistic.html">starting</a>. Unfortunately the distributed nature of DNS means people may well get affected if their ISPs haven't been paying attention. The upshot is it is very possible that you will get sent to a site that may look like what you wanted but is actually what you thought it was.</p>
<p>Typically these rouge sites either install malware, steal passwords or serve up advertising. As I noted <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1083">earlier</a> SSL can help mitigate things by proving the server you are talking to really is the one you think it is. So for now you should still be safe connecting to your bank (assuming you've not mistyped it or been re-directed under a cloak). That is of course assuming no one uses the same passwords on their bank account as they do on LiveJournal.</p>
Server Migration2008-07-30T12:56:00+01:002008-07-30T12:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-30:/~alex/blog/2008/07/30/1084/<p>Not that it will mater to anyone but I've now migrated the main wwww.bennee.com server (from where this blog is delivered) to a new virtual server in Germany. My Dad's server will still maintain as a backup although I need to figure out if it's possible to replicate …</p><p>Not that it will mater to anyone but I've now migrated the main wwww.bennee.com server (from where this blog is delivered) to a new virtual server in Germany. My Dad's server will still maintain as a backup although I need to figure out if it's possible to replicate MySQL databases. The new server has a decent connection to the 'net so stuff will load a lot faster although my website is fairly lightweight. My <a class="reference external" href="http://jason.bennee.com/">brothers site</a> will certainly notice the speed increase more.</p>
Foreshadowing and DNA2008-07-30T12:50:00+01:002008-07-30T12:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-30:/~alex/blog/2008/07/30/foreshadowing-and-dna/<p>It seems oddly appropriate that on the day it's reported that keeping the DNA of innocent people <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7531588.stm">criminalises them</a> that <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7531000/7531426.stm">George Orwells diaries are to be released</a>. In a thoroughly modern approach the diaries will come out in "real time" + 70 years in blog form. You can find the blog …</p><p>It seems oddly appropriate that on the day it's reported that keeping the DNA of innocent people <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7531588.stm">criminalises them</a> that <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7531000/7531426.stm">George Orwells diaries are to be released</a>. In a thoroughly modern approach the diaries will come out in "real time" + 70 years in blog form. You can find the blog <a class="reference external" href="http://orwelldiaries.wordpress.com/">here</a>, rss feeds and all. I reckon it will be an interesting read and I wonder what sort of parallels we will notice given the writings are on the run up to WWII.</p>
Flying Dutchmen2008-07-29T14:14:00+01:002008-07-29T14:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-29:/~alex/blog/2008/07/29/flying-dutchmen/<p>As previously mentioned I went flying last night thanks to the company social fund. It's left me wondering if I should join the club and take up the hobby again (once the house is sold and finances are more capable). My main concern is the time budget but I do …</p><p>As previously mentioned I went flying last night thanks to the company social fund. It's left me wondering if I should join the club and take up the hobby again (once the house is sold and finances are more capable). My main concern is the time budget but I do enjoy it.</p>
<p>I was a little nervous for the first flight as we where in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibreglass">glass</a> birds, the more forgiving wood and canvas gliders nowhere in sight. The launch is always the most "intense" bit as your speed can pick up quite quickly and the glider makes all sorts of interesting groaning noises as the airframe is put under stress. However the intervening 15 years had obviously exaggerated my memory of the launch and I found it fairly easy to cope with.</p>
<p>For the first circuit I took control after cable release and brought the glider all the way to the final leg of the circuit. My instructor took control for the final approach as we where a little far out from the strip. Despite my memory of being very bad at co-ordinating turns I seemed to be able to keep the turns in the groove OK. My instructor certainly seemed to think I hadn't forgotten what to do. I still find keeping speed constant tricky, especially as you really should spend most of your time looking out of the cockpit and not at your instruments.</p>
<p>The weather was very nice but very "flat", most of the thermal activity disappearing as the sun went down. This meant the flights where around 5-6 minutes which basically enough for a few turns before thinking about the landing.</p>
<p>By the time of my second flight we were quickly approaching dusk and visibility although good was getting a little hazy. However under guidance I took the glider all the way from cable-release to landing which I was very happy with. There was a slight communications issue regarding which way was "more" air brake which led to the ground approaching slightly faster than desired leading to the instructor taking over that particular control. However he assured me the rest of the landing was all by my own hand :-)</p>
<p>So now I'm pondering the �470 p.a. membership (+ about �31 per hour flying fees). However first things first I think I need to get Fliss along for a trail flight!</p>
Got my logbook, ready to fly2008-07-28T15:35:00+01:002008-07-28T15:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-28:/~alex/blog/2008/07/28/got-my-logbook-ready-to-fly/<p>Well I have a spare hat and my old log book packed in my bag in preparation for this evenings trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.glide.co.uk/aboutus/default.aspx">Gransden Lodge</a> for a company social trip. According to the log the last time I flew was in 1992 so it's been awhile. I actually had two flights …</p><p>Well I have a spare hat and my old log book packed in my bag in preparation for this evenings trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.glide.co.uk/aboutus/default.aspx">Gransden Lodge</a> for a company social trip. According to the log the last time I flew was in 1992 so it's been awhile. I actually had two flights that day. The first one I managed to over cook the winch launch and snapped the cable at 200ft which required a rather quick instructor response to land it down the runway. The second one was a rather more sedate 37 minutes of "street" soaring.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliding#Winch-launching">winch launch</a> is probably the most dramatic part of the flight. Basically you attach a long piece of wire to the glider and wind it in at the other end of the airfield launching the glider much like a kite. This means your attitude is the incredibly un-glider like steep climb and also compared to the rest of the flight quite noisy. I have to say I preferred the self-launched motorised gliders I did my training in as the launch is much gentler. Having said that I still prefer gliding to powered flight. It is basically you and your mind making the best use of the natural environment which holds more of a challenge than having a big noisy gas guzzling engine on nose. It shall be interesting to see how much I can remember given the intervening 15 years.</p>
Bit of kink2008-07-26T13:30:00+01:002008-07-26T13:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-26:/~alex/blog/2008/07/26/1080/<p>I'm not sure what to think about the implications of the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7523034.stm">Max Mosley</a> story. It's not like I hold the head of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIA">FIA</a> as any sort of role-model for how to live my life. And apart from a little prurient curiosity as to what he was getting up to …</p><p>I'm not sure what to think about the implications of the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7523034.stm">Max Mosley</a> story. It's not like I hold the head of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIA">FIA</a> as any sort of role-model for how to live my life. And apart from a little prurient curiosity as to what he was getting up to it's really none of my business. Of course my opinion of the man may be modified by what I've learnt but it's hardly relevant to anything, the only people that he's answerable to are <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7510193.stm">those involved</a>. Of course this would be different if the person in question had been lecturing the population on standards of "decent" behaviour. I generally find those that complain loudest about the decline of civil society have the most to hide.</p>
Beds, Coffee, epic win2008-07-25T11:12:00+01:002008-07-25T11:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-25:/~alex/blog/2008/07/25/beds-coffee-epic-win/<p>I don't know if the SNP candidate plays Warcraft, but if he does he gets the thumbs up for his delivery of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7522153.stm">Epic Win</a>.</p>
<p>Although sleep last night was slightly patchy this was mainly due to the heat and the small feasting colony of mosquitoes that seem infest these southerly …</p><p>I don't know if the SNP candidate plays Warcraft, but if he does he gets the thumbs up for his delivery of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7522153.stm">Epic Win</a>.</p>
<p>Although sleep last night was slightly patchy this was mainly due to the heat and the small feasting colony of mosquitoes that seem infest these southerly climes. The new bed however is very comfortable and a blessed relief from the last month or so of the blow up bed.</p>
<p>I've started to develop a taste for coffee thanks to the new machine at work. Having said that the preferred form is about 2/3rds milk with a coffee top. It renders the experience more like a coffee flavoured hot-chocolate rather than a true hardcore bean appreciation. I'm currently trying to convince the local authorities that we need to run some taste tests on various types of coffee bean to find the best type.</p>
screenrc2008-07-23T18:04:00+01:002008-07-23T18:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-23:/~alex/blog/2008/07/23/1078/<p>I've been using <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen">screen</a> more and more out of habit recently. I used to use a lot of tabs in Gnome Terminal on each project I'm working on. Now I run one terminal per project with a screen session for all the sub-sections. It seemed a good time to revisit …</p><p>I've been using <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen">screen</a> more and more out of habit recently. I used to use a lot of tabs in Gnome Terminal on each project I'm working on. Now I run one terminal per project with a screen session for all the sub-sections. It seemed a good time to revisit my <em>.screenrc</em> which looks something like:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"># Ensure we run a fresh login shell shell <span class="pre">-${SHELL}</span> # I want more scrollback defscrollback 2048 # Set the caption to show: # current window # other windows # date/time caption always <span class="pre">"%{+b</span> <span class="pre">Rk}@%H%{kk}</span> %{Yk} %n %t <span class="pre">%{-b</span> <span class="pre">-s}%{kk}</span> <span class="pre">%{wb}%W</span> <span class="pre">%=%{kk}</span> %{wB} %c %D %d %M "</tt></p>
<p>The only missing bit is getting the session name in there somehow. I've tried various experiments with the backtick command and echoing $STY but I expect it's not available to the context the script runs in.</p>
Alpha, ALPHA!2008-07-22T13:07:00+01:002008-07-22T13:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-22:/~alex/blog/2008/07/22/alpha-alpha/<p>Work has finally got a replacement <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jura.com/products_com/products_home/products_f-line/f50.htm">coffee machine</a> which has prompted an experiment. I'm a staunch tea drinker having never acquired the taste for coffee. However over the years I've cut sugar from my tea and developed a taste for many bitter flavours. It seems I shouldn't ignore the drink …</p><p>Work has finally got a replacement <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jura.com/products_com/products_home/products_f-line/f50.htm">coffee machine</a> which has prompted an experiment. I'm a staunch tea drinker having never acquired the taste for coffee. However over the years I've cut sugar from my tea and developed a taste for many bitter flavours. It seems I shouldn't ignore the drink that is so renowned by the geeks of the world.</p>
<p>The pure black stuff is still quite bitter for me. However experimentation with the milk frother is turning out a pretty drinkable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappuccino">Cappuiccino</a> (or is it a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte">Latte</a>?). I'm fairly awake right now, although there is a tinge of headache at the back of my eyes.</p>
Multiple FAIL2008-07-22T11:07:00+01:002008-07-22T11:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-22:/~alex/blog/2008/07/22/multiple-fail/<p>I decided to vary my routine and skip my morning shower and have it at work <strong>after</strong> the 3.5 mile cycle ride. Only when I got to work I discovered the shower was broken. Happily the office next door was happy to share facilities so I am clean in …</p><p>I decided to vary my routine and skip my morning shower and have it at work <strong>after</strong> the 3.5 mile cycle ride. Only when I got to work I discovered the shower was broken. Happily the office next door was happy to share facilities so I am clean in front of my desk. With home made pack lunch as well, so not all fail!</p>
<p>For the weekend I skipped Maelstrom for a friends Stag Do. It sounds like I missed a lot of fun (after Fliss frothed at me on Sunday) as well as some squishyness. I hope there is enough fun left to be had for the last event.</p>
<p>The laws of this stag where slightly different from I'm used to so I can reveal more about what happened. We were camping in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gillheadfarm.co.uk/">Troutbeck</a> near Keswick in the Lack District. The weather proved slightly challenging but we overcame it with suitable applications of gazebos lashed up with spare guy ropes. My (borrowed) tent suffered and epic FAIL by having a hole in the bottom and suffering major leakage. Luckily my stuff wasn't too damp and I was able to crash in Jim's tent.</p>
<p>The Saturday was set aside for manly activities including "Blind Driving", Clay pigeon shooting (doing a little better than last week) and the traditional Paintball. Combined with the meat, beer and the prospect of another 300 mile drive it meant my Saturday actually finished fairly early at around eleven in the evening.</p>
<p>The drive back was uneventful but gave me a chance to appreciate my parents Seat Leon which they had loaned me for the weekend. It's a nice sporty car and deceptively powerful. It has the same hard but steady handling characteristics of my car which shouldn't be much of a surprise considering VW own Seat.</p>
<p>I still had a not inconsiderable number of sausages when I got home and neither of us could face another fry up. So I improvised a Sausage and Pasta casserole which hit the spot nicely. Overall weekend score, win!</p>
Firefox Anoyances2008-07-17T15:57:00+01:002008-07-17T15:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-17:/~alex/blog/2008/07/17/1075/<p>It's been a few weeks since the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html">was released</a> onto an expectant world. I have to say all things considered its a blinder of a release. The "Awesome bar" is indeed made of Awesome and the whole browser has been on a much needed diet, uses less memory and …</p><p>It's been a few weeks since the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html">was released</a> onto an expectant world. I have to say all things considered its a blinder of a release. The "Awesome bar" is indeed made of Awesome and the whole browser has been on a much needed diet, uses less memory and runs faster. The native theming also looks good on Fliss' Mac.</p>
<p>There is however one small annoyance. As part of the security setup it is now a lot more explicit about "bad" SSL certificates. In this case bad means not signed by a recognised <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority">Certificate Authority</a>. Unfortunately there are a lot of self signed certificates out there (including ones I've generated) and the authorising of them sequence has added an extra mouse click as the certificate has to be fetched and examined before you can add the exception.</p>
<p>Unsigned SSL certificates aren't always bad. The fact your running under SSL does mean stuff is encrypted. Once you have authorised a certificate if it changes you will still get a warning if the signature changes (indicating the server your talking to may not be the same one as last time, i.e. a potential hijacker). However these are probably subtleties you don't want to inflict on the masses who just like to see a padlock (with optional <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Validation_Certificate">green address bar</a>) to make their judgement on the safety of the site. However I would like a "yeah I know, I won't be divulging my bank details to this site thanks" button. Us power users are never satisfied!</p>
Petrol2008-07-16T15:07:00+01:002008-07-16T15:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-16:/~alex/blog/2008/07/16/1074/<p>To me <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7509156.stm">this</a> is just another indication the government has gone into fully reactive mode. Another example was the lead up to the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7506618.stm">Youth Crime Action plan</a>.</p>
<p>I quite like the Tory <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7491907.stm">proposals</a> for fuel duty although with one caveat. The cost of fuel must continue to rise as an …</p><p>To me <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7509156.stm">this</a> is just another indication the government has gone into fully reactive mode. Another example was the lead up to the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7506618.stm">Youth Crime Action plan</a>.</p>
<p>I quite like the Tory <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7491907.stm">proposals</a> for fuel duty although with one caveat. The cost of fuel must continue to rise as an incentive to use less and reduce our dependence on it. While the proposals would smooth out the rises we currently get due to fluctuating oil and duty rates if it wasn't raised year on year eventually there would be a) no fuel duty to the government, b) we won't of reduced our dependence. Still a guarded thumbs up from me.</p>
Misc2008-07-15T14:10:00+01:002008-07-15T14:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-15:/~alex/blog/2008/07/15/misc/<p>I must have had spider senses last night. I only noticed a few flecks of the Parmesan looked slightly different after I had sprinkled on my bolognese sauce, even after soaking up the juices. On closer examination of the bottom of the cheese tub I found tell tale signs of …</p><p>I must have had spider senses last night. I only noticed a few flecks of the Parmesan looked slightly different after I had sprinkled on my bolognese sauce, even after soaking up the juices. On closer examination of the bottom of the cheese tub I found tell tale signs of mold. A little creative fork activity removed the dodgy flecks from dinner which seems to have been successful seeing as I'm posting this morning ;-)</p>
<p>My brothers web site now exports its news feed to <a class="reference external" href="http://syndicated.livejournal.com/benzworld/">LiveJournal</a>. If your looking for a photo-feed I can heartily recommend it.</p>
The Data Firehose2008-07-14T12:06:00+01:002008-07-14T12:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-14:/~alex/blog/2008/07/14/1072/<p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://ababyyou.livejournal.com/19035.html?mode=reply">my other half</a>.</p>
<p>One of the guys behind <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysociety">mySociety</a> has been involved with a report on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/poi/power-of-information-review.pdf">opening up government data</a>. There is a <a class="reference external" href="http://showusabetterway.com/">consultation site</a> which is soliciting ideas of what could be done if certain data was released. One of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.showusabetterway.co.uk/call/2008/07/find-and-go.html">ideas</a> is something I've dreamed of having …</p><p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://ababyyou.livejournal.com/19035.html?mode=reply">my other half</a>.</p>
<p>One of the guys behind <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysociety">mySociety</a> has been involved with a report on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/poi/power-of-information-review.pdf">opening up government data</a>. There is a <a class="reference external" href="http://showusabetterway.com/">consultation site</a> which is soliciting ideas of what could be done if certain data was released. One of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.showusabetterway.co.uk/call/2008/07/find-and-go.html">ideas</a> is something I've dreamed of having for ages, even going so far as to make a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=831">FOI request</a> (which never got actioned).</p>
<p>There is a cross over with my previous post about mobile devices. Geo-location driven services are going to benefit from all sorts of public data being available.</p>
Captive Hardware2008-07-14T11:15:00+01:002008-07-14T11:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-14:/~alex/blog/2008/07/14/1071/<p>In the days when phones just made phone calls it was fairly easy to treat them as devices. Indeed my current phone is a pretty locked down Sony-Erricson K800i. However as phones become more capable and the potential services they can offer grows it becomes a more general device, and …</p><p>In the days when phones just made phone calls it was fairly easy to treat them as devices. Indeed my current phone is a pretty locked down Sony-Erricson K800i. However as phones become more capable and the potential services they can offer grows it becomes a more general device, and free (As in freedom) considerations come into play. The FSF has an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/5-reasons-to-avoid-iphone-3g">opinion piece on the iPhone</a> on it's blog. While they are probably more vociferous than I am in their dislike of DRM (I just don't buy DRM'ed stuff<sup>*</sup>) the key point is the first one:</p>
<p>“<em>iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can't be on everyone's phones.</em>”</p>
<p>Even if you could get free as in beer access to the iTunes store to distribute your apps you still fail the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/06/11/iphone.sdk..gps.nav/">freedom test</a>. Apple specifies what can and can't be written by third parties which would bar a fair number of the current <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/android/images/adc1r1_deck.pdf">top 50 Android</a> apps ever being ported to the iPhone. The freedom <em>"to run the program, for any purpose"</em> is of course Freedom 0 of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">Free Software Definition</a>.</p>
<p>So while I envy the iPhone bling and it certainly does make a sexy piece of hardware I won't be purchasing one. I consider it a shame to have such a capable device limited in what it can achieve because of Apple's control of it.</p>
<p>In a twist of irony I was offered the option on a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod">iPod</a> this weekend. It's current owner has now got an iPhone and is wondering if the iPod is now surplus's to requirements. I shall have to find out exactly what version it is so see if it will run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodPort">Rockbox</a>. I'm not going to swap my current <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-YP-U2R-UltraSlim-Player-Radio/dp/B000IOMUK6">proprietary player</a> if it can't play <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis">Ogg Vorbis</a> with which most of my collection is encoded<sup>**</sup>.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* This is a bit of a lie. I buy DVDs as the DRM is very well <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS">broken</a>.</div>
</div>
<div class="line">** Another problem I need to solve is getting automatic syncing of Oggs from Fliss' iTunes (where it works, with plug-in) onto her iPod. She's not averse to Rockbox but it would have to be a "native" solution. I'm sure there must be trans-coding plug-in that syncs stuff up.</div>
</div>
Busy weekend2008-07-13T21:34:00+01:002008-07-13T21:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-13:/~alex/blog/2008/07/13/busy-weekend/<p>We got a lot packed into the weekend. Having taken Friday off we were able to blitz up to during the day and get the house ready for the party. Great turnout and it was good to catch up with so many people. Managed to vaguely in one piece enough …</p><p>We got a lot packed into the weekend. Having taken Friday off we were able to blitz up to during the day and get the house ready for the party. Great turnout and it was good to catch up with so many people. Managed to vaguely in one piece enough the next day to make bacon sarnies and get up in time for appointment with guns. However as is bound by ancient law details of stag remain in solemn secret!</p>
<p>Didn't quite get the denial a.m. start I had predicted on Sunday morning. Nevertheless I managed a reasonable clip getting back down south even with the lawn mower and half a vat of wine in the back. Attended the village <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelfordfeast.co.uk/">feast</a> and caught up with parents and old teachers before heading back home for evening chillage. I suspect I should prepare a bite for dinner.</p>
Context, Attributes and JSP2008-07-10T20:02:00+01:002008-07-10T20:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-10:/~alex/blog/2008/07/10/context-attributes-and-jsp/<p>One thing that is rapidly becoming clear is a lot of different concepts get mixed together when you start playing with JSP. On the face of it it's a simple model, your JSP code get built into a Java class (of type servlet) which is a combination on normal Java …</p><p>One thing that is rapidly becoming clear is a lot of different concepts get mixed together when you start playing with JSP. On the face of it it's a simple model, your JSP code get built into a Java class (of type servlet) which is a combination on normal Java code and JSP mark up which gets converted into Java when the page is loaded. At any point in your HTML you can escape back into Java code, do calculations, execute loops, generally compute things. However that approach can get very messy because you end up spreading logic all through your presentational HTML. This is why using an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-view-controller">MVC</a> pattern is so encouraged. Put all your logic and complex code at the top of the file and then display page expanding the odd attribute here and there.</p>
<p>However I don't think I've fully grasped whats going on behind the scenes. It doesn't help with <a class="reference external" href="http://jetty.mortbay.com/jetty-6/">Jetty</a> I can't find where the intermediate Java source code is generated. Trying to understand whats going on when I'm not familiar with the cryptic backtraces has been frustrating to say the least.</p>
<p>Now I'm a little confused as to what exactly happens with the ${var} notation in terms of the java code generated. My earlier <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1070">code</a> has mutated to a list with a custom class. Hence I have had to generate the following:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"><c:foreach <span="" class="pre">var="entry" <span class="pre">items="${model.jvmMemInfo}"</span> <span class="pre">varStatus="status"></span> <% // This is complex, I'm not sure how you can use ${} syntax on // arbitrary objects to expose the values, hence this bit // of inline java. I'm open to elucidation on how you would do so NameValuePair data = (NameValuePair) <span class="pre">pageContext.getAttribute("entry");</span> %> <tr> <td> <%= data.name %> </td> <td> <%= data.value %> </td> </tr> </c:foreach></tt></p>
<p>However there are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/codesearch?hl=en&q=show:TrTtpLmB-cE:ZBsQHHkeTcM:TrTtpLmB-cE&sa=N&ct=rd&cs_p=http://dddjedi.googlecode.com/svn&cs_f=trunk/buyingbook/web/list.jsp&start=1">examples on the net</a> showing arbitrary classes exposing their contents with this simple ${data.name} type syntax. I just couldn't get it to work. My NameValuePair class isn't much different from their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/codesearch?hl=en&q=BookOrderData+show:D4EVt5aRC54:b7tWwGGm4c8:D4EVt5aRC54&sa=N&cd=1&ct=rc&cs_p=http://dddjedi.googlecode.com/svn&cs_f=trunk/buyingbook/test/model/BookOrderData.java">one</a>. I suspect this would be a lot easier to work out if I could see the generated applet.</p>
<p>Any Java web monkeys got experience with Jetty or can tell me what piece of obviousness I have missed?</p>
Missles everywhere2008-07-10T17:10:00+01:002008-07-10T17:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-10:/~alex/blog/2008/07/10/1068/<p>Andy pointed me to the excellent Photoshop Disasters site a few weeks ago. It very quickly become a favourite feed. Today's <a class="reference external" href="http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/07/iranian-govt-persian-pixels-pwned.html">example</a> has slightly more political consequences than the usual <a class="reference external" href="http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/07/zoo-where-is-outrage.html">digital nip and tuck</a> which seems to be so routine these days. It's becoming increasingly common, who remembers the Reuters …</p><p>Andy pointed me to the excellent Photoshop Disasters site a few weeks ago. It very quickly become a favourite feed. Today's <a class="reference external" href="http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/07/iranian-govt-persian-pixels-pwned.html">example</a> has slightly more political consequences than the usual <a class="reference external" href="http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/07/zoo-where-is-outrage.html">digital nip and tuck</a> which seems to be so routine these days. It's becoming increasingly common, who remembers the Reuters <a class="reference external" href="http://steve-payne.com/blog/2007/10/10/reuters-admitting-photo-alteration/">releasing a sexed up picture</a> of the Israel-Lebanon conflict?</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~farid/research/digitaltampering/">This site</a> has a nice breakdown of some more memorable examples of photo manipulation. Sadly it's becoming more common in news reporting which I think is a dangerous trend. It looks like Obi Wan's advice is becoming increasingly relevant:</p>
<p><em>Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.</em></p>
Hen2008-07-10T11:41:00+01:002008-07-10T11:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-10:/~alex/blog/2008/07/10/hen/<p>Note to self. Old Speckled Hen, tasty as it might be, doesn't make a good session beer.</p>
<p>We met up with Fiona and Tom last night and completed a mini crawl around the remaining Milton pubs we had yet to familiarise ourselves with. The final pub was the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/10/10197/Lion_and_Lamb/Milton">Lion and …</a></p><p>Note to self. Old Speckled Hen, tasty as it might be, doesn't make a good session beer.</p>
<p>We met up with Fiona and Tom last night and completed a mini crawl around the remaining Milton pubs we had yet to familiarise ourselves with. The final pub was the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/10/10197/Lion_and_Lamb/Milton">Lion and Lamb</a> who's ale selection included the aforementioned Hen, as well as a friendly magician/barman to serve it.</p>
Party Details2008-07-09T18:12:00+01:002008-07-09T18:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-09:/~alex/blog/2008/07/09/party-details/<p>Hmm, Facebook seems to have eclipsed the usual blog dissemination approach on this one. Lee did ask what sort of time was good. Fliss and I are taking Friday off to get up to Manchester so we should be there by early afternoon. I guess that means from 1700 onwards …</p><p>Hmm, Facebook seems to have eclipsed the usual blog dissemination approach on this one. Lee did ask what sort of time was good. Fliss and I are taking Friday off to get up to Manchester so we should be there by early afternoon. I guess that means from 1700 onwards? I may be drinking earlier ;-)</p>
Good news2008-07-09T15:50:00+01:002008-07-09T15:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-09:/~alex/blog/2008/07/09/1065/<p>It seems Jodrell Bank will be safe for the next <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7496848.stm">next two years</a> at least. Of course I still have questions about the general level of funding in science in this country but as it stands I think it's good news. I'm glad I wrote the letter to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/beverley_hughes/stretford_and_urmston">my MP …</a></p><p>It seems Jodrell Bank will be safe for the next <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7496848.stm">next two years</a> at least. Of course I still have questions about the general level of funding in science in this country but as it stands I think it's good news. I'm glad I wrote the letter to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/beverley_hughes/stretford_and_urmston">my MP</a> (and judging by her reply many others did too). I have no idea if it helped of course, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.</p>
<p>On the subject of letter writing I've had two replies from MEP's with regards to the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7492907.stm">telecoms</a> regulations. The UKIP one was the most hysterical combined with an admonishment to <em>"get out of the EU. That can only be achieved by electing to Westminster a party with that aim."</em> which was rather self serving. I think it will be pretty hard to convince me we should withdraw from Europe although there are certainly reforms that could be made to it.</p>
It's not The Departed, honest2008-07-09T11:48:00+01:002008-07-09T11:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-09:/~alex/blog/2008/07/09/its-not-the-departed-honest/<p>We made an abortive attempt to go bowling last night which was scuppered when we got to the bowling alley at 6pm only to discover it was fully booked until midnight. The run of luck was compounded by a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chiquito.co.uk/">distinctly average chain restaurant meal</a> driven by my desire for a …</p><p>We made an abortive attempt to go bowling last night which was scuppered when we got to the bowling alley at 6pm only to discover it was fully booked until midnight. The run of luck was compounded by a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chiquito.co.uk/">distinctly average chain restaurant meal</a> driven by my desire for a Burrito. I shall probably have to make some at home to remind myself that chain restaurants are bad. The waitress was very good about it and knocked off Fliss' meal from the bill.</p>
<p>We meandered back from the chav infested area of the cinema dropping in on another one of Cambridge's many excellent real ale pubs (this city is really spoiling me in that respect). After securing real food for Fliss we watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/">Infernal Affairs</a> which is the inspiration for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/">The Departed</a>. It's a hard call as to which I prefer, although despite the setting change and a few minor details The Departed is fairly faithful to the original storyline. I'm tempted to go for Infernal Affairs as it did it first.</p>
Booked!2008-07-08T17:30:00+01:002008-07-08T17:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-08:/~alex/blog/2008/07/08/booked/<p>I've just booked the bulk of our travel for our mini European vacation next month. The total cost comes out at somewhere in the region of £400 per person which is slightly inflated by me going for 1st class tickets on the two long train journeys (Berlin to Frankfurt and …</p><p>I've just booked the bulk of our travel for our mini European vacation next month. The total cost comes out at somewhere in the region of £400 per person which is slightly inflated by me going for 1st class tickets on the two long train journeys (Berlin to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Brussels). As one of the journeys will be an overnight sleeper train to Berlin we will almost inevitably spend more time travelling by train than we would have by plane. However the purpose of the experiment isn't just to look at the time spent, it's also the quality of the experience.</p>
<p>I've done a rough calculation that the equivalent journey with flights works out at around £250 per person. However it's already apparent that to get those cheap deals you have to be prepared to fly at less pleasant times where as all the train journeys start at nice and easy mid-morning/lunchtime starts (post morning rush hour).</p>
<p>I haven't been able to find a carbon calculator that doesn't require an odious registration or require a flash plugin. All I can be fairly sure of is that train is lower than flying, but I don't know by how much. Which is just as well as next year we fly to Australia!</p>
JSP tags2008-07-08T14:56:00+01:002008-07-08T14:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-08:/~alex/blog/2008/07/08/jsp-tags/<p>Arrggh. I've just wasted the best part of half a day scratching my head as to why I was unable to iterate through a Java HashMap in a JSP page:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"><c:forEach <span class="pre">var="entry"</span> <span class="pre">items="${model.jvmInfo}"</span> <span class="pre">varStatus="status"></span> <tr> <td> ${entry.key} </td> <td> ${entry.value} </td> </tr> </c …</tt></p><p>Arrggh. I've just wasted the best part of half a day scratching my head as to why I was unable to iterate through a Java HashMap in a JSP page:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"><c:foreach <span="" class="pre">var="entry" <span class="pre">items="${model.jvmInfo}"</span> <span class="pre">varStatus="status"></span> <tr> <td> ${entry.key} </td> <td> ${entry.value} </td> </tr> </c:foreach></tt></p>
<p>It would of been immediately clear had I looked at the resulting HTML the page was echoing. Note to self, always check you have explicitly included the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaServer_Pages_Standard_Tag_Library">taglib</a> you are planning to use.</p>
Dinner, Strawberries and Wimbledon2008-07-07T13:01:00+01:002008-07-07T13:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-07:/~alex/blog/2008/07/07/dinner-strawberries-and-wimbledon/<p>I've just finished filling in a dead trees worth of documentation with relation to selling my house. The envelope was so large it didn't even fit in the post box!</p>
<p>The weekend has been a full an entertaining one, involving doing some entertaining as well as being entertained. It started …</p><p>I've just finished filling in a dead trees worth of documentation with relation to selling my house. The envelope was so large it didn't even fit in the post box!</p>
<p>The weekend has been a full an entertaining one, involving doing some entertaining as well as being entertained. It started on Friday with a visit to another one of our local pubs, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/89/8979/White_Horse/Milton">The White Horse</a>. We headed down after work to meet up with some work colleges as well as ex-work colleges I hadn't met before. It turned out Sarah, being an HR person and used to remembering names and faces, asked me if I had indeed gone to Sawston before informing me me she was in my year. Unfortunately my memory of my years there is more than clouded by intervening years but we exchanged a number of names that did ring bells.The pub was very nice too, and a landlord who knows his beers and gets a good selection of short-run guests in :-)</p>
<p>We headed into town on Saturday to do a little wardrobe re-stocking and picked up a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lecreuset.co.uk/">Le Creuset</a> pan for the evening. We had both sets of parents over for an evening meal and bridge. Many comments on the cleanliness of the house were made and we felt very adult about our new home. It seems a good time was had by all which was nice.</p>
<p>Fliss was given some tickets to finals day at Wimbledon so Sunday was spent down in SW19. Unfortunately we didn't have centre court tickets but did catch the Boys Singles Final and a little doubles action before the traditional Wimbledon rain storm. We caught some of the main match on Henman Hill although it was very crowded. After the second rain delay we decided to head back to Cambridge and the warm comfort of the house. We caught snatches of the main game at the station and they were still playing when we got home so we caught to catch the end of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7490443.stm">a fantastic match</a> before catching up with the finale of Who.</p>
rms on the BBC2008-07-03T14:37:00+01:002008-07-03T14:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-03:/~alex/blog/2008/07/03/1060/<p>I see <em>rms</em> has a piece published on the BBC. You can read it <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7487060.stm">here</a>.</p>
Gentoo USE flags2008-07-02T12:12:00+01:002008-07-02T12:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-02:/~alex/blog/2008/07/02/gentoo-use-flags/<p>I run three distributions most of the time. My servers all run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> which despite recent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1031">cock-ups</a> is a stable, unsurprising distribution. Exactly what you want from a server OS. My work desktop runs <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> which is regularly updated, runs pretty much the latest Gnome, Firefox etc and is simple …</p><p>I run three distributions most of the time. My servers all run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> which despite recent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1031">cock-ups</a> is a stable, unsurprising distribution. Exactly what you want from a server OS. My work desktop runs <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> which is regularly updated, runs pretty much the latest Gnome, Firefox etc and is simple to administer. However for the last 3 and a bit years I've been running <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/">Gentoo</a> on my desktop at home. When I recently upgraded my desktop machine I considered other options but decided to stick to Gentoo for the main reason it is incredibly flexible.</p>
<p>Gentoo is a source based distribution. This means instead of downloading binary packages with pre-compiled images it downloads <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code">source code</a> and compiles it on your machine before installing it. This has many benefits, none of which involve running silly compiler optimisations to get an extra 2% performance out of the applications. However for a developer there it is inherently useful to have all the headers for your libraries by default - and by implication every package you compile is linked against the right library. The result of this is it's very easy to run bleeding edge applications alongside a stable base system, something that quite often doesn't work with a binary distributions which make assumptions about what is actually installed on you machine.</p>
<p>The principle control for all of this is <em>/etc/portage/package.keywords</em> for which a portion of mine looks like this:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"># KVM, bleeding edge <span class="pre">app-emulation/kvm</span> ~amd64 # Flash support (bit flakey) <span class="pre">net-www/gnash</span> ~amd64 # Kernel <span class="pre">sys-kernel/kerneloops</span> ~amd64 # Firefox <span class="pre">www-client/mozilla-firefox</span> ~amd64 <span class="pre">dev-libs/nss</span> ~amd64 <span class="pre">dev-libs/nspr</span> ~amd64 <span class="pre">net-libs/xulrunner</span> ~amd64</tt></p>
<p>This allows me to run the latest KVM, Firefox and gnash without having to sacrifice the stability of my base-system.</p>
<p>Another feature of the compiling by source is you don't need to enable every feature in the world. For example my <em>/etc/make.conf</em> is contains things like:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">USE="$USE</span> <span class="pre">-kde</span> <span class="pre">-qt</span> gnome gtk2"</tt></p>
<p>Which disables all KDE and QT stuff (seeing as I don't run KDE) while enabling any gnome support an app my have. You can see the use flags that packages respect by running <em>emerge -p -v</em>:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal">danny ~ # emerge <span class="pre">-p</span> <span class="pre">-v</span> emacs [ebuild R ] <span class="pre">app-editors/emacs-22.2-r2</span> <span class="pre">USE="X</span> alsa gif gtk jpeg kerberos png spell tiff xpm <span class="pre">-Xaw3d</span> <span class="pre">-gzip-el</span> <span class="pre">-hesiod</span> <span class="pre">-motif</span> <span class="pre">-sound</span> <span class="pre">-source</span> <span class="pre">-toolkit-scroll-bars"</span> 0 kB</tt></p>
<p>So my emacs automatically picks up X and GTK support (my make.conf is a little bigger than alluded to above ;-). However you may not want to build every application with support for everything. <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAlib">aalib</a> is very handy on mplayer for checking encodes over a shell, but I don't want every application to link against it. Enter <em>/etc/portage/package.use</em>:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"># KVM # # Disable kvm module (we have our own) # Explicitly enable gcc4 support. <span class="pre">app-emulation/kvm</span> <span class="pre">-kvm</span> ncurses sdl gcc4 # Firefox needs Java support <span class="pre">www-client/mozilla-firefox</span> java <span class="pre">dev-java/blackdown-jre</span> nsplugin # I hate totem but it's needed for other apps # disable nsplugin so it doesn't drag firefox down # disable dvd so doesn't have to pull in <span class="pre">gst-plugins-ugly</span> <span class="pre">media-video/totem</span> <span class="pre">-nsplugin</span> <span class="pre">-dvd</span> # mplayer needs aalib <span class="pre">:-)</span> <span class="pre">media-video/mplayer</span> aalib</tt></p>
<p>So here I stop kvm from building it's own kernel module (as I run my own kernels), enable java on Firefox (where it's useful, but I don't want it everywhere), disable totem plugins and dvd support (but keeping the library which other apps use), and explicitly enable aalib for mplayer (but not anyone else).</p>
<p>This is the sort of fine grained control I really appreciate for my home machine. And my compile flags, the rather sedentary <em>CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe"</em> ;-)</p>
On the Subject of GTA2008-07-01T12:53:00+01:002008-07-01T12:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-01:/~alex/blog/2008/07/01/on-the-subject-of-gta/<p>So despite my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex//news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1021">obvious desire</a> for the game I haven't mentioned much about it since I got it. Some times it makes sense to comment on things with a little perspective that time can provide.</p>
<p>Well the first thing to note is I'm a fan of the GTA series and …</p><p>So despite my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex//news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1021">obvious desire</a> for the game I haven't mentioned much about it since I got it. Some times it makes sense to comment on things with a little perspective that time can provide.</p>
<p>Well the first thing to note is I'm a fan of the GTA series and the general concept of free roaming dynamic world environments. As an example of the genre GTAIV does take it to another level with the amount of detail the cram into the living, breathing Liberty City. The next-gen bling has certainly been applied to city and everything looks really nice. The dynamic weather is pretty stunning and a great improvement on what SA supported. You quite often want it too rain because things look a lot shinier :-) The animation has also benefited from the increased horse power offered with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.naturalmotion.com/">Euphoria</a> engine offering a lot more realistic responses by the random characters. The first time I dragged a police officer along the road as he tried to stop me stealing a random car was pretty impressive. As far as looks are concerned I think the game has it pretty much nailed.</p>
<p>Controls however are more of an issue. I have managed to balls up a mission more than once due to the switching of the "fire" button between foot and vehicle mode. Also the cover system for combat while useful still occasionally grates and gets in the way. It could be I just don't play enough games to have developed a context sensitive control re-mapper in my brain. The ability to re-try a mission directly from the phone does help though although they could have given a little thought to the distance between brief and start location. There are times I swear at the rush hour traffic as I try and get back to the start of the mission. I have to say I think the control system is probably the weakest aspect of the game, however I don't think it's an area the GTA series has been especially strong at anyway. Still who cares about the controls, what about the game?</p>
<p>The main plot is very well thought out. The central character, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niko_Bellic#Niko_Bellic">Niko</a> is probably my favourite GTA protagonist so far. The script, setting and feel is all very well done. The replacement of San Andreas' annoying keep fit system with a more nuanced friendship system for keeping up with all your contacts is an improvement. It remains to see if the morality choices will keep you coming back for replays of the main plot line, as far as I can tell the main plot doesn't branch too much. As you would expect Rockstar have done an excellent job with the satire of modern New York. Little details like dynamic radio news reports (the stations are no longer 60 minute loops) and TV coverage add a lot of colour to game. You can even kick back at a comedy show , or bizarrely watch it on the TV at your home!</p>
<p>I think there are less side missions than previous games. While you can pull taxi journeys I don't think you can just nick a yellow cab and get on with it. You can actually take taxis but I generally avoid it as the AI of the driver is (deliberately?) worse than mine, even in "drunk" mode. There is a sub-way system as well but having ridden it once I don't see it becoming a regular event, unless perhaps it makes escaping cops easier. These issues aside though there are plenty of places to see and I suspect given the scale of the city I will have enough to do if I just want to idly cruise the game.</p>
<p>The multiplayer is a new addition to the game. Unfortunately it's not as slick games like CoD4. When you join a game the system should hurry things along, filling the game up and getting it running as fast as possible. The customisations the game offers offer the promise of depth but so far getting playing has seemed too much of chore to have explored this option much. The free-mode looks intriguing but I suspect that will wait for when some other friends suggest some wacky challenges to meet up complete on-line.</p>
<p>All in all it's a pretty solid addition to the series. I'm not sure it's worth all the 10/10's is has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/grandtheftauto4">received</a> but I suspect a lot has been due to anticipation and relief when it delivered. It's still a solid addition to any console gamers collection, certainly a must have for fans of the series.</p>
End of LUG Radio2008-07-01T11:08:00+01:002008-07-01T11:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-07-01:/~alex/blog/2008/07/01/1057/<p>Well it seems the chaps at LUGRadio are <a class="reference external" href="http://forums.lugradio.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4216">calling it a day</a>. I only discovered the podcast last year and although it's quite long and full of swearing I generally found it very entertaining. The irreverent style blended quite well with the occasional deep technical geekery and random wittering. Time …</p><p>Well it seems the chaps at LUGRadio are <a class="reference external" href="http://forums.lugradio.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4216">calling it a day</a>. I only discovered the podcast last year and although it's quite long and full of swearing I generally found it very entertaining. The irreverent style blended quite well with the occasional deep technical geekery and random wittering. Time to look for more podcasts for my extended cycles into work.</p>
BBQ, Parties, Who2008-06-30T11:29:00+01:002008-06-30T11:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-30:/~alex/blog/2008/06/30/bbq-parties-who/<p>This weekend was mostly taken up with Saturday's welcome home BBQ and party for Fliss' sister who has just returned from travels. I headed over to Fliss' Mum's on Friday night to join Fliss who had already prepared a small metric load of food for the bash. We chilled to …</p><p>This weekend was mostly taken up with Saturday's welcome home BBQ and party for Fliss' sister who has just returned from travels. I headed over to Fliss' Mum's on Friday night to join Fliss who had already prepared a small metric load of food for the bash. We chilled to the rather silly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445934/">Blades of Glory</a> and a little vintage QI.</p>
<p>The weather held out for Saturday, despite predictions of cloudy weather it maintained a sunny, if slightly windy, disposition for most of the day. Much ale was consumed, meat eaten and silly board games played. The new camera performed well and has captured some very good photos which I may get up at some point. We also got given some tickets for Wimbledon Finals Day as a present which was nice. We finished up at a relatively sedentary 2300 but all the better for it.</p>
<p>Sunday involved a near traditional breakfast with Tom and general pottering. Another substantial chunk of deforestation has taken place behind the "Den" and we added another two plants to the garden stock before relaxing to Doctor Who. Very good episode although I hope there is some resolution next week as I'm not sure I can handle a massive cliff-hanger spread over the next 3-4 specials!</p>
Play the games you can win2008-06-27T11:55:00+01:002008-06-27T11:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-27:/~alex/blog/2008/06/27/1055/<p>It speaks volumes about how much Labour believe in themselves that they put a candidate up for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/313.stm">Henley</a>, one of the safest Tory seats in the country but won't for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7476255.stm">Haltemprice and Howden</a>. It's odd logic because there, with the Lib Dems stepping aside, they arguably stand a good chance …</p><p>It speaks volumes about how much Labour believe in themselves that they put a candidate up for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/313.stm">Henley</a>, one of the safest Tory seats in the country but won't for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7476255.stm">Haltemprice and Howden</a>. It's odd logic because there, with the Lib Dems stepping aside, they arguably stand a good chance of beating Davies on a single issue they claim popular support for. As it happens they got <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7476703.stm">more than a drubbing</a> in Henley being pushed way into 5th place behind the Greens and BNP. So much for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.labourhome.org/story/2008/5/9/132449/8746">saving money</a> not fighting lost causes.</p>
BBC Follow-up2008-06-26T14:58:00+01:002008-06-26T14:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-26:/~alex/blog/2008/06/26/1054/<p>Well the moderators have finally got back to me on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1055">previously mentioned</a> blog comment. The "reason" was:</p>
<p><em>Comments posted to BBC blogs will be removed if they are considered likely to provoke, attack or offend others; are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable; are considered to …</em></p><p>Well the moderators have finally got back to me on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1055">previously mentioned</a> blog comment. The "reason" was:</p>
<p><em>Comments posted to BBC blogs will be removed if they are considered likely to provoke, attack or offend others; are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable; are considered to have been posted with an intention to disrupt; contain swear words (including abbreviations or alternative spellings) or other language likely to offend.</em></p>
<p>I'm still confused.</p>
Happy Birthday Fliss2008-06-25T12:21:00+01:002008-06-25T12:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-25:/~alex/blog/2008/06/25/happy-birthday-fliss/<p>My all together wonderful other half is one year older, temporarily narrowing the yawning gap between us. We'll be in London tonight celebrating. Hopefully the first of many quick jaunts to the city now we live considerably closer. I get to try out my Network Rail Gold card which I …</p><p>My all together wonderful other half is one year older, temporarily narrowing the yawning gap between us. We'll be in London tonight celebrating. Hopefully the first of many quick jaunts to the city now we live considerably closer. I get to try out my Network Rail Gold card which I get on a account of Fliss giving a significant portion of her income to the train company to get her to work in the morning.</p>
Free Symbian2008-06-24T17:17:00+01:002008-06-24T17:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-24:/~alex/blog/2008/06/24/1052/<p>This <a class="reference external" href="http://symbianfoundation.org/">launch</a> is interesting. Together with Linux this will make the majority of cell phone platforms "open"<sup>*</sup>. I'm unsure if this was coming anyway (Nokia having some FLOSS sympathies) or as a catch up reaction to Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/android/">Android</a> platform. Certainly having an open platform makes it easier to get developer …</p><p>This <a class="reference external" href="http://symbianfoundation.org/">launch</a> is interesting. Together with Linux this will make the majority of cell phone platforms "open"<sup>*</sup>. I'm unsure if this was coming anyway (Nokia having some FLOSS sympathies) or as a catch up reaction to Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/android/">Android</a> platform. Certainly having an open platform makes it easier to get developer mind-share which is important when you want people to write the next generation of cool apps to put on your mobile device.</p>
<p>* Of course being an open platform doesn't currently mean anyone can write software for their mobile phone. However it is a stated aim of Android. It will be interesting to see if the handset manufacturers will see the light</p>
Too much perl, the irony2008-06-24T16:42:00+01:002008-06-24T16:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-24:/~alex/blog/2008/06/24/too-much-perl-the-irony/<p>I got my current job based on my experience with C/C++ and GTK. So far most of the code I've been writing has been perl and Java. Some times I think I'm writing too much perl:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"># Quick and dirty match for IP (but without the tedious address # verification) my …</tt></p><p>I got my current job based on my experience with C/C++ and GTK. So far most of the code I've been writing has been perl and Java. Some times I think I'm writing too much perl:</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"># Quick and dirty match for IP (but without the tedious address # verification) my <span class="pre">$ip_match=qr#([\d]{1,3}\.[\d]{1,3}\.[\d]{1,3}\.[\d]{1,3})#i;</span></tt></p>
<p>The tedious address verification is what I laboured through on one of my Google phone interviews. I'm still not convinced by the argument of doing within the regex, and it will make it the regex so much more ugly and hard to follow. I skipped it here because the data is already verified and all I really need to differentiate from is [d]*.</p>
Scenic Education2008-06-23T11:08:00+01:002008-06-23T11:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-23:/~alex/blog/2008/06/23/scenic-education/<p>I attempted a slightly more <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100521915190804968577.000450514624594dfacf5&ll=52.233109,0.16531&spn=0.034747,0.075102&z=14">scenic route</a> into work this morning to give the cycle a little more meaning. Apart from the one tree blocking the path it was a nice pleasant ride in. Of course I'm now sat in the office being hot and sweaty but I guess that …</p><p>I attempted a slightly more <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100521915190804968577.000450514624594dfacf5&ll=52.233109,0.16531&spn=0.034747,0.075102&z=14">scenic route</a> into work this morning to give the cycle a little more meaning. Apart from the one tree blocking the path it was a nice pleasant ride in. Of course I'm now sat in the office being hot and sweaty but I guess that means I've burnt some calories.</p>
<p>The weekend was spent mostly in Manchester. Despite the long say that driving up from Manchester on a Friday entails we managed a respectable two o'clock at Lee's cocktail fuelled birthday bash. It was good to catch up and also nice to see the floor of Lee's garden again. He really should try and keep it in some sort of shape (on that note Fliss' garden project is going very well).</p>
<p>We stayed at Chris and Paula's rather than trek back to the rather bare house in Stretford. It was nice to sleep in a real bed for a change (the blow up bed at home it getting less novel by the day, T-3 weeks to the new bed get delivered). The following morning involved some bracing dampness to get to the metro station which was followed by a very hearty breakfast in town. We collected a few more bits and pieces from the old house before heading down to Knutsford for the evening.</p>
<p>We went to a very nice Thai restaurant for food. The crispy noodles I had were a little too sweet accompaniment for the "Heavenly Beef" which was absolutely delicious. A lesson for next time I think.</p>
<p>The drive back the next day was pretty uneventful although <a class="reference external" href="http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/">Staffordshire's finest</a> seemed to be out in force on the roads. We got back with plenty of time to catch Mr <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_T_Davies">Davies</a> scene setting for this seasons (and his) finale. This was followed by the politically incorrect but fun <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_gear">Top Gear</a> before heading for a mostly early bed. A nice relaxing weekend, if not very carbon neutral.</p>
Lords of the Blog2008-06-20T12:09:00+01:002008-06-20T12:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-20:/~alex/blog/2008/06/20/1049/<p>You may have spotted a theme in my witterings over the last few weeks with my references to democracy and the importance of participation in it. All to often politics is conducted at megaphone level with the media and the press filtering (and molding) the message of the man/women …</p><p>You may have spotted a theme in my witterings over the last few weeks with my references to democracy and the importance of participation in it. All to often politics is conducted at megaphone level with the media and the press filtering (and molding) the message of the man/women on the street and the politicians responding. The advent of the circuitry of internet allowing grassroots movements to form and discuss while bypassing the potentially partisan media can only be a good thing.</p>
<p>With that backdrop it was good to see another <a class="reference external" href="http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/the-authors/">political blog</a> added to the frame. The Lords of the Blog is a multi-author experiment being run by the Hansard society where sitting members of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords">House of Lords</a> post their thoughts and views on a range of topics. Refreshingly they don't seem to be afraid <a class="reference external" href="http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/42-days-detention/">answer comments</a> and develop on their arguments. Blogs work best when the actual blog post is the start of the conversation and the author holds a discussion with the commentators. Sometimes, as is the case with a lot of the BBC blogs, the author just posts and never responds to the comments made (or merely notes the volume of comments in their next piece). This misses the opportunity to engage with the audience although I guess the Lords temporal may have a bit more time to read and digest comments than your typical rushed journalist.</p>
<p>A blog that doesn't allow commenting isn't really a blog at all. It's just a PR publishing engine that happens to use blog software.</p>
Crystal Aliens!?2008-06-19T11:50:00+01:002008-06-19T11:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-19:/~alex/blog/2008/06/19/crystal-aliens/<p>Despite less the glowing reviews we thought we would chance <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367882/">Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</a> at the cinema. It's not the worlds worst film, in fact if you disengage brain and enjoy it for what it is I thought it was pretty good. Some people have …</p><p>Despite less the glowing reviews we thought we would chance <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367882/">Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</a> at the cinema. It's not the worlds worst film, in fact if you disengage brain and enjoy it for what it is I thought it was pretty good. Some people have complained about the mixing of "Sci-Fi" with the traditional ancient relics and daring dos of the fedora wearing archaeologist. It's not really a problem and it's perfectly within the idiom of pulp 30's adventure flicks which was the entire point of the series. Having watched the original <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/">Raiders of the Lost Ark</a> only a few days ago I can say much the same thing, it's not high brow cinema or particularly brilliant script, but it is a fun adventure.</p>
<p>Having said that there where one or two places where the modern propensity for CGI grated slightly. I suspect the director had just issued the declaration "walk quickly up those stairs" while omitting the CGI wizards would have them collapsing right behind them while being ground up by giant rolling stone wheels.</p>
Arrogance of the blogosphere?2008-06-18T17:38:00+01:002008-06-18T17:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-18:/~alex/blog/2008/06/18/1047/<p>There is a nice piece in the Gruniads Comment is Free section on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/16/internet.politics">disconnect</a> between the mainstream media and the rest of the world. Of course it's very hard from here to tell if "user-generated" content is as representative as the main stream media says it is not. However …</p><p>There is a nice piece in the Gruniads Comment is Free section on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/16/internet.politics">disconnect</a> between the mainstream media and the rest of the world. Of course it's very hard from here to tell if "user-generated" content is as representative as the main stream media says it is not. However its great when people can sound off on their opinions when the media doesn't give them a voice. To that end, as it's still stuck in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newguide/popup_checking_messages.html">BBC moderation hell</a> my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2008/06/interesting_gue.html#comment15">comment</a> reads thus:</p>
<p><em>What upsets me most about these sort of stories is in the current climate it completely misses the interesting things happening in politics.</em></p>
<p>Looking at the papers after the weekend they are starting to role back on their criticisms of Davies having realised there is a sizable (majority/minority?) group of people that actually care about the issue of civil liberties. The blog-sphere (outside the BBC) is alive with comment from both sides of the debate talking about the *issue*. You seem to be doing your best to ignore DD and the by-election campaign. And it should be plain to see with the number of comments on your pieces on DD that people are interested in whats going on.</p>
<p>Nick, you are a political reporter. Go report on the politics. Try and avoid the Westminster village mentality that ignores what is happening out in the real world. There are people out there who are not politicians but still have views on it and they are just as much of the political arena as the elected representatives. Please, go earn your paycheck!</p>
<p>I'm struggling to see how that message breaks the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newguide/popup_house_rules.html">House Rules</a> except maybe being off-topic (which was the point of the comment, besides there other mentions of DD on the post). Perhaps <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/">News Sniffer</a> needs to monitor comments on the BBC blogs?</p>
Quizical Broadband2008-06-18T12:33:00+01:002008-06-18T12:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-18:/~alex/blog/2008/06/18/quizical-broadband/<p>Last night we headed to t'other <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_St_Edmunds">Bury</a> to meet up with Fliss' mum and friends for a pub quiz night. Apparently we bring depth to the team. This is the second time we have participated and yet again we managed a valiant second place (although we did beat the pub …</p><p>Last night we headed to t'other <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_St_Edmunds">Bury</a> to meet up with Fliss' mum and friends for a pub quiz night. Apparently we bring depth to the team. This is the second time we have participated and yet again we managed a valiant second place (although we did beat the pub favourites who crashed out in the "Wipeout" round). Much fun was had by all and we shall most likely making the pub quiz a semi-regular event.</p>
<p>I had a bit of a struggle getting the broadband up and running last night. Virgin had me pegged as a technical customer so sent the kit direct to me (despite UPS's best efforts) for a self install. However they neglected to mention any of the default passwords for the router instead supplying a Window's setup disk for the purpose. Never the less it all got sorted this morning when the modem got registered with the network. All that's left is trying to get some wireless bridges setup so I can put the flying cables away. The connection measured a reasonably respectable 16mbs this morning and it currently "soak" testing :-)</p>
For Freedom?2008-06-17T17:47:00+01:002008-06-17T17:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-17:/~alex/blog/2008/06/17/1045/<p>Well my comment on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2008/06/interesting_gue.html#comment15">Nick Robinson</a> blog is still stuck behind the moderation wall. I'm not sure why, I was only asking why he was covering political gossip rather than the actual issues of politics. I hope they tell me why at some point.</p>
<p>In fact the after the shock …</p><p>Well my comment on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2008/06/interesting_gue.html#comment15">Nick Robinson</a> blog is still stuck behind the moderation wall. I'm not sure why, I was only asking why he was covering political gossip rather than the actual issues of politics. I hope they tell me why at some point.</p>
<p>In fact the after the shock and coverage of last week the media seems to have gone very quiet on the Civil Liberties/Davies story. It seems to be sinking into one of those stories that lasts less than three days - and therefore to be consigned to oblivion. It has been quite noticeable the difference in coverage in the traditional media (especially the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch">Murdoch</a> press) and the more diverse blogosphere. It's is perhaps inevitable that to get the message out politicians will need <a class="reference external" href="http://www.daviddavisforfreedom.com/">campaign sites</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/ddforfreedom">twitter feeds</a>. I'm not going as far to friend him on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=100000080&id=1318315362">facebook</a> though!</p>
<p>It remains to be seen if these will become locations for the debate or just a collection of ra-ra's backing their candidate. Social sites can still be incredibly insular within a certain group of people and what's critical is getting the debate out there with the 60% of people that allegedly support the government in these draconian measures.</p>
BBQ, Housework and Roasts2008-06-16T17:14:00+01:002008-06-16T17:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-16:/~alex/blog/2008/06/16/bbq-housework-and-roasts/<p>Since the new blog system came in at the BBC it seems my comments are less likely to get published. It's slightly troubling. Anyway the weekend:</p>
<p>Friday evening was mainly spent getting the bike working again for the weekend. I suffered a puncture on Thursday and it's been a while …</p><p>Since the new blog system came in at the BBC it seems my comments are less likely to get published. It's slightly troubling. Anyway the weekend:</p>
<p>Friday evening was mainly spent getting the bike working again for the weekend. I suffered a puncture on Thursday and it's been a while (if at all) since I've had to repair such a thing. However it all seemed to go OK and the test drive confirmed the bike was fit for purpose.</p>
<p>My promise to use the bike whenever possible when going into town didn't start smoothly on Saturday. It was obviously having issues with something as the chain was slipping every now and again until just over the bridge from Milton it jammed into the gap between the gears and the spokes. After much oiling of the hands I got it free only for the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derailleur">derailleur</a> mechanism to wedge itself into the spokes once I started up again. This entailed walking the bike 2 miles to the nearest bike repair shop for some emergency intervention.</p>
<p>Once in town we did some bed shopping to check out the various options. The stiffer memory foam setups looked as though they might be quite comfortable (although how do you tell with a 1 minute lie of the bed test?). However the prices pretty much double the cost of the frame which is a fairly large gamble to take. Having said that we some ideas now and are going to check prices on the 'net.</p>
<p>We also did a little shopping for potential presents for Fliss. We found one potential <a class="reference external" href="http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/digital_camera/powershot/PowerShot_G9/index.asp%22">camera</a> which fits the bill for what Fliss wants. While I was checking pricing with the sales guy Fliss popped over to the jewellers on the other side of the road. Apparently my face was a picture when the shop assistant mentioned she might want to look at another set of engagement rings. However I did make some notes :-)</p>
<p>The afternoon was filled with BBQ fun at one of Fliss' Cambridge based friends from Uni. We got to meet a number of interesting people including some that are based in Milton and in need of drinking partners to try out some of our local pubs. When it was home time they took us the low traffic route towards Milton which was a lot more pleasant even if it did go through some of the "rough" parts of Cambridge.</p>
<p>Sunday was filled with housework. Fliss tackled the weeds in the flower beds while I borrowed my parents hoover to do a quick spring clean. By the end of the evening we had one almost clear flower bed, several hacked down shrubs and I'd revealed the floor in every room in the house. That is except my office which gained a number of items moved from the other rooms! This will be this evenings task assuming the internet bits arrive from Virgin Media today.</p>
Stunt?2008-06-13T11:17:00+01:002008-06-13T11:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-13:/~alex/blog/2008/06/13/1043/<p>Well <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Davis_(British_politician)">David Davies</a> certainly got <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7452117.stm">peoples attention</a>. It's nice to be surprised by a politician for a change and it's certainly an issue that could do with more debate. Is it a political stunt though?</p>
<p>I think it's pretty clear it's not what the Tory's wanted to do, it's not …</p><p>Well <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Davis_(British_politician)">David Davies</a> certainly got <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7452117.stm">peoples attention</a>. It's nice to be surprised by a politician for a change and it's certainly an issue that could do with more debate. Is it a political stunt though?</p>
<p>I think it's pretty clear it's not what the Tory's wanted to do, it's not part of the other Dave's game plan. That leaves two options. Either David Davies has decided to bow out of politics in a spectacular crash or he's doing this on a point of principle. I'm prepared to believe the later and salute him for it. Having said that looking at his <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/290.stm">constituency</a> it's a fairly safe place to force a by-election, especially with the Lib Dems <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/12/daviddavis.conservatives1">standing aside</a>. Of course by-elections are unpredictable and if we are to believe the polls chairmen Brown has the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2107480/42-day-terror-detention-British-public-overwhelmingly-in-favour-,-poll-shows.html">people on his side</a> on this particular issue. I respectively submit the people are wrong and in need of re-education. But it does make the election less of a slam dunk for Davies.</p>
<p>I sincerely hope that the next few weeks are ones where a wider debate about civil liberties can be had. We need to convince the rest of the pro-42 days populace that just because some one is arrested under the terrorist act it doesn't mean <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/10/terrorism.jacquismith">they are</a>. People need reminding that the rights <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus">habeas corpus</a> and a fair trail are there to protect us citizens from the state. That just because you have nothing to hide it doesn't give the state a right to routinely pry into your lives. That just because a few criminal nutters decided to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings">blow themselves up on the underground</a> we shouldn't live in a climate of disproportionate fear and accept whatever the government does is for our own "protection". Really I want to talk to people that think these moves are good ones and convince them why they are not and I hope everyone else does to.</p>
<p>It has still to be decided if Labour will put up a candidate or rely on a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7452264.stm">proxy candidate</a> (which tells you everything you need to know about the current government IMHO). I'm sure every effort will be made to make this about the personality of Davies and his relationship with Cameron but I hope the arguments will be about the principles. And for allowing that argument to get aired for more than a days worth of coverage on a parliamentary vote Davies has my support. And I hope you support him on this issue even if you disagree with his party on everything else.</p>
Flasher2008-06-12T11:07:00+01:002008-06-12T11:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-12:/~alex/blog/2008/06/12/1042/<p>Wow flash memory is getting cheap. I decided that my current 512mb key fob was starting to show it's limitations so picked up a shiny new 8gb one from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.woc.co.uk/">World of Computers</a> which I cycle past on the way into work. I'm sure I could find it cheaper than the …</p><p>Wow flash memory is getting cheap. I decided that my current 512mb key fob was starting to show it's limitations so picked up a shiny new 8gb one from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.woc.co.uk/">World of Computers</a> which I cycle past on the way into work. I'm sure I could find it cheaper than the �23 I paid but it's pretty good value compares to what it used to be only a few years ago. I've been making a concerted effort to reduce the number of CDs and DVDs I burn these days. As a result instead of watching stuff on the DivX DVD player we are using a portable USB drive plugged into the PS3. I now finally have a tape adaptor for the car so we can play stuff straight off the iPod/<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Samsung_YP_U2R_2GB__6633715#productdetail">YP-U2R</a>. My work machine doesn't actually have a CD drive but that's OK now. When I need to transport more than 7gb by sneaker net I'll have to think again about my data storage needs.</p>
<p>My main desktop music player the last few years has been the rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythmbox">Rhythmbox</a>. However over the last few weeks on my work desktop it has kept getting confused when I pause and restart music, sometimes ending up in two parallel tracks starting. Rather than spend too much time poking it with sticks I thought I would give <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee_(music_player)">Banshee</a> a spin.</p>
<p>Banshee is a fine music player. The first thing was the seamless importing of the Rhythmbox music library, one click and you are done. I particularly like the layout which shies away from the standard Artist/Album/Genre browser for a more natural layout. The bottom bar constantly suggests potential other artists (with album art) while you are listening as well as other tracks by the artist you may like. It has <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last.fm">Audioscrobbler</a> integration as well as a number of traditional online radios setup out of the box. The preferences are deliberately simple (a trend I'm starting to appreciate in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME">GNOME</a>) and it integrates well with the notification bar.</p>
<p>However in the end it is missing two killer features that Rhythmbox has. The first is "Add to Play Queue" which allows you to queue songs up to play next outside of the current playlist (or more often random selection). If often use this when I my random selection jumps into the middle of an album and I want to listen to the end and then continue. The second vaguely related feature is gap-less playback which you can turn on when going between tracks in the same album. This is a godsend for dance albums where you may have individual ripped tracks but they are mixed together. So after a day with Banshee I'm back with Rhythmbox. However I shall check back next release (or maybe when I get internet at home and can install the latest version easily on my desktop).</p>
1. Get Arrested, 2. ?, 3. Profit!2008-06-11T10:56:00+01:002008-06-11T10:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-11:/~alex/blog/2008/06/11/1041/<p>The debate on 42 days detention without trial (or should we call it <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment">internment</a>) continues to roll on. It's been particularly interesting listening to the politicos curious at why Parliament is being particularly difficult about this considering it allegedly a very popular policy with the "people". This hasn't been my …</p><p>The debate on 42 days detention without trial (or should we call it <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment">internment</a>) continues to roll on. It's been particularly interesting listening to the politicos curious at why Parliament is being particularly difficult about this considering it allegedly a very popular policy with the "people". This hasn't been my experience when I've discussed it with any one, perhaps I just hang around with too many pinko liberals :-)</p>
<p>As the bill rolls toward the vote the talk is of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7447477.stm">concessions</a> to appease the rebels. I'm not sure if I heard the radio right but I thought I heard them mention a figure of �3000 pounds a day for each day over 28 days you where held. It's almost tempting to buy a laptop and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_(Unix)">cat</a> the contents of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//dev/random">/dev/random</a> to spare partition on the disk and start wandering around London taking pictures of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/central/discuss/72157604494352123/">CCTV posts</a>. Might turn into a nice little earner. Of course I have to hope I'm white and British enough that I don't end up on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ciarendition">on a plane</a> to somewhere <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp">less savoury and respecting of human rights</a>.</p>
<p>I can only hope the bill gets properly defeated today and I salute any Labour rebel who refuses to tow the party line just because the government has other political difficulties at the moment.</p>
Stuff2008-06-10T11:53:00+01:002008-06-10T11:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-10:/~alex/blog/2008/06/10/stuff/<p>In order to qualify for exemption from Council Tax in Manchester I need to empty the house of all furniture. So post party (11th July) I need to find deserving homes for:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Shelves</li>
<li>Budda Bag? (I'm not sure I can be arsed carting back down south)</li>
<li>Dish Washer</li>
<li>Fridge Freezer …</li></ul><p>In order to qualify for exemption from Council Tax in Manchester I need to empty the house of all furniture. So post party (11th July) I need to find deserving homes for:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Shelves</li>
<li>Budda Bag? (I'm not sure I can be arsed carting back down south)</li>
<li>Dish Washer</li>
<li>Fridge Freezer</li>
<li>Double bed and mattress</li>
</ul>
Bandwidth2008-06-09T21:27:00+01:002008-06-09T21:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-09:/~alex/blog/2008/06/09/bandwidth/<p>I had suspected it for a while but I've just confirmed it. T-Mobile is altering my web-pages. I suspect in this case it's nothing overly sinister like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorm">Phorm</a> but it is still un-announced tampering with web-pages I request from 3rd party servers.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server#Intercepting_proxy_server">Transparent proxies</a> have existed almost as long as …</p><p>I had suspected it for a while but I've just confirmed it. T-Mobile is altering my web-pages. I suspect in this case it's nothing overly sinister like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorm">Phorm</a> but it is still un-announced tampering with web-pages I request from 3rd party servers.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server#Intercepting_proxy_server">Transparent proxies</a> have existed almost as long as consumer internet. Usually they just cache frequently accessed files (like the Google logo) and pass them to the browser directly rather than pulling it over the expensive backbone network again. Since a lot of the worlds content doesn't change and popular sites are visited by the majority of your customers this can make a significant saving to an ISP's bandwidth costs.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In the case of T-Mobile the proxy is inserting the line:</div>
<div class="line"><script external"="" href="http://1.2.3.8/bmi-int-js/bmi.js" reference="" src="<a class="></script></div></div>Bifurcated Weekend2008-06-09T12:46:00+01:002008-06-09T12:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-09:/~alex/blog/2008/06/09/bifurcated-weekend/<p>The weekend was one of two halves, one half LRP and the other half drinking bubbly in gardens.</p>
<p>I worked late on Thursday to get everything I needed out of the door for our "alpha" release so I could take Friday off. This included a crash course in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaServer_Pages">Java Server …</a></p><p>The weekend was one of two halves, one half LRP and the other half drinking bubbly in gardens.</p>
<p>I worked late on Thursday to get everything I needed out of the door for our "alpha" release so I could take Friday off. This included a crash course in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaServer_Pages">Java Server Pages</a> so I could make some changes to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opennms.org/index.php/Main_Page">OpenNMS</a>'s web pages to link to our own graphs and data. I can see why JSP is popular in the enterprise. The ability to tightly bind with your Java model and create web-apps can be pretty useful. However the development cycle is very slow. I have to edit the "installed" files while hitting re-load to develop the feature and then copy and paste the code across to the "repository" version, re-build and make sure I didn't screw up. There has to be a better way of doing this that doesn't involve custom build scripts to hack links about. Perhaps it will make more sense once I've read up a little bit more on the technology.</p>
<p>We spent the first half of Friday unpacking the rest of the boxes from the move. This mainly involved a vast quantity of LRP kit. While sorting through we created about 3 bags of Freecycle LRP kit (of which about 1/3rd turned out to be Bacony's) which we hauled over to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a> to find new homes. By the time we left on Saturday afternoon it seemed most of it had gone to a better place.</p>
<p>The rest of Friday and Saturday day was spent actually playing which in my case proved to be quite fulfilling. Kita managed to get herself poisoned (again) so having a resident Alchemist around proved to be useful. I'm even spreading out my skills into a bit of surgery just so I'm not 100% potions.</p>
<p>Saturday evening we headed over to a friend of Fliss' for her 30th birthday bash (and engagement celebration). Despite some issues with navigation we made it to the house in one piece. Much bubbly was consumed and we even played a game or two of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet">Croquet</a> which is actually quite a vicious game when played tactically. I didn't stay up that late still being tired from the inevitable early start on Saturday morning that camping entails.</p>
<p>Sunday was a more relaxed newspapers and lunch affair where I got to improve my knowledge of Fliss' social network by remembering more names and faces and the inter-relationships of people. I was firmly in the HABs category of people there which was no bad thing in itself. We also met a few people based in Cambridge so we can increase the social network at home now :-)</p>
The Ark of Truth2008-06-05T10:56:00+01:002008-06-05T10:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-05:/~alex/blog/2008/06/05/the-ark-of-truth/<p>Fliss and I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942903/">Stargate: The Ark of Truth</a> last night. It's a made for TV movie that wraps up the plot from the end of season 10 of SG1. Fliss couldn't take it seriously given she had no background in the last 10 seasons of plot. I think the …</p><p>Fliss and I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942903/">Stargate: The Ark of Truth</a> last night. It's a made for TV movie that wraps up the plot from the end of season 10 of SG1. Fliss couldn't take it seriously given she had no background in the last 10 seasons of plot. I think the accusations of ham may be a little unfair though, I'm sure a lot of the plot devices where added as pure fan service. In retrospect I'd say this was almost purely for fans and people not familiar with the series probably want to give it a miss.</p>
<p>One thing I did find out though is that Fliss hasn't seen <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farscape">Farscape</a> which is a much better sci-fi show than SG1. This will have to be rectified once I can locate a box set.</p>
<p>There hasn't been much preparation for Maelstrom this week. In fact all out kit is still in cardboard boxes in one of the sheds in the garden. This has coincided with the rush to get the test version of the software to the testing team. I'm hoping to get everything squared away quickly today and then we should have some time this evening and tomorrow morning to get everything ready before heading up to Birmingham for a day or so.</p>
Life without Broadband2008-06-03T17:39:00+01:002008-06-03T17:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-03:/~alex/blog/2008/06/03/life-without-broadband/<p>Since the move down we have been without broadband. In fact without a fixed line we are subject to the whims of the mobile phone networks. Hopefully (landlords assent and trees permitting) I'll be able to get super-fast broadband through my works <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgebroadband.com/product_overview.htm">test network</a> in Cambridge. However we have managed …</p><p>Since the move down we have been without broadband. In fact without a fixed line we are subject to the whims of the mobile phone networks. Hopefully (landlords assent and trees permitting) I'll be able to get super-fast broadband through my works <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgebroadband.com/product_overview.htm">test network</a> in Cambridge. However we have managed in the meantime with other alternatives.</p>
<p>I currently have the T-Mobile's "Unlimited"<sup>*</sup> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/mobile-internet/on-your-phone/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_S_Google&WT.srch=1">Web'n'Walk</a> package which adds about �7.50 a month to my monthly contract. I predominately used it for phone browsing using the rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Mini">Opera Mini</a>. However it is possible to connect to my phone over a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_area_network">PAN</a>. Once paired you can simply hop on an off at will. On the Mac it's a pretty easy drop down menu "Join Alex's K800i Network" and only slightly more involved from my Linux box. Once connected to the PAN and running a normal dhcp client you get assigned an <a class="reference external" href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1918">RFC1918</a> 10.0.0.0 address which I assume it <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation">NAT</a>ed somewhere in the mobile network.</p>
<p>The network filters some ports (typically the ones used by IM clients) but normal web browsing works fine as does <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssh">ssh</a> which I use to access my email host. In the house we get a 3G signal so we can stream stuff from the BBC's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml">Listen Again</a> service. Measuring a download on my machine I maxed out at around 20kb/s which is perfectly good for audio streams and can handle low res YouTube if you pause it and give it a bit of time to buffer up. I suspect however iPlayer will prove too much for it.</p>
<p>* The only real downside is the persistent use of the word unlimited for a service that quite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/uk/fairuse/">blatantly is</a>. Since I reset my data counters a few days ago we have already clocked up around 113Mb of data downstream so I can see us hitting the 1Gb "Fair Use" limit if we are not careful. The next price point is 3Gb which doesn't seem much better. Having said that I have yet to get a warning so it could be T-Mobile aren't yet enforcing these limits.</p>
Command Line Google2008-06-03T14:19:00+01:002008-06-03T14:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-03:/~alex/blog/2008/06/03/command-line-google/<p>I have learnt to love the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_line">command line</a>. GUI's may make things easy to find but they suck at expressing complex things efficiently (e.g. "show me every file that I've changed in the last hour and it less the 100kb"). So this cool <a class="reference external" href="http://goosh.org/">CLI interface to Google</a> caught my …</p><p>I have learnt to love the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_line">command line</a>. GUI's may make things easy to find but they suck at expressing complex things efficiently (e.g. "show me every file that I've changed in the last hour and it less the 100kb"). So this cool <a class="reference external" href="http://goosh.org/">CLI interface to Google</a> caught my eye. I was particularly impressed with the way it handles things I take for granted like auto-expansion and completion all in the web page. I wonder if it can be built for a real command line like bash?</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: Excellent, <a class="reference external" href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/02/222234&from=rss">Slashdot</a> comments pointed me to <a class="reference external" href="http://surfraw.alioth.debian.org/">surfraw</a> which is now installed on my work box.</p>
Travel, Parties and TV2008-06-02T10:59:00+01:002008-06-02T10:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-06-02:/~alex/blog/2008/06/02/travel-parties-and-tv/<p>Things are starting to pick up at work as we get close to a delivery date (to testing) of the first cut of our product. None the less I had time for a flying visit to Manchester for fun and frolics.</p>
<p>As Fliss wasn't coming up (and Friday driving rarely …</p><p>Things are starting to pick up at work as we get close to a delivery date (to testing) of the first cut of our product. None the less I had time for a flying visit to Manchester for fun and frolics.</p>
<p>As Fliss wasn't coming up (and Friday driving rarely inspires "fun") I drove up ridiculously early on Saturday morning. The drive itself was uneventful and got me to Manchester in plenty of time for the taxi to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stockportfestival.org.uk/">Stockport Beer and Cider festival</a> with Mark and Co. One of the things I really like about this festival is the stands are open to the public so especially on a nice day you get plenty of space to stretch out sitting looking over the grounds. I tried a number of very hoppy brews including some quite dark milds and chocolaty stouts. By four we left the festival and wandered down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/12/12337/Crown_Inn/Stockport">The Crown</a> for a few additional top up pints before heading into town. At this point I separated from the group (leaving behind Aidan and Gillian) to navigate the massively subsidised public transport to Bolton for Anne's bash.</p>
<p>The early start in the morning made staying up until the small hours tricky but I was kept going by the sparkling conversation. It was good to catch up with some of the old crowd, including people I hadn't seen for some time even when I was in Manchester. Jess and Fez also made an appearance so we plotted a bit more of the European adventure this summer. Unfortunately I only realised too late the promise of cake which proved elusive at half one in the morning. Met a few interesting new people although I was too tired to realise the full majesty at the time ;-). I headed back with Lee and Dave rather than returning to a rather bare house in Stretford.</p>
<p>Sunday was mainly involved with house related things. Lee helped me unload the Budda Bag (after it's brief holiday in Cambridge) so Will actually had somewhere to lounge. I picked up a few bits and pieces that had been missed in the move and after gluing the hover back together tried to make the house look part way respectable for the viewing today.</p>
<p>The journey back proved to more tedious than expected and the hopeful desire to get home early was lost to the whims of traffic jams <em>for no discernible reason</em>. Once home we began the task of building a 30kg stand and mounting a 40kg TV on it. There was a slight panic when we realised we didn't have a magic size of hex key to remove the old wall mounting but that was rectified by popping round to my parents where my Dad has more tools than I do. We now only have Freeview terrestrial digital TV but I was impressed by the number of channels it has including <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_(TV_channel)">Dave</a> which probably got as much viewing time as Sky at the old house. The rest of the TV situation will have to rely on pre-recorded shows and DVD's until the broadband situation<sup>*</sup> is sorted out. Having said that I'm sure I'll have plenty of other <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV">distractions</a> to keep me busy.</p>
<p>* Mobile broadband is good enough for email and Listen Again, but TV is right out</p>
Early Birds2008-05-29T10:19:00+01:002008-05-29T10:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-29:/~alex/blog/2008/05/29/early-birds/<p>Fliss gets up quite early now to get the early train into London. As a result my 8.10 last minute warning alarm to get out of bed is a little to late. I left the house at about 8.25 this morning and the cycle to work really only …</p><p>Fliss gets up quite early now to get the early train into London. As a result my 8.10 last minute warning alarm to get out of bed is a little to late. I left the house at about 8.25 this morning and the cycle to work really only takes 10 minutes. I suspect this is the first time I've been in work before 9 o'clock for some years. However my usual peak operating efficiency (in terms of code) is reached at three in the afternoon running until six or seven in the evening. We shall see if this pattern changes or if I'm just going to be doing longer hours.</p>
fanfic, bicycles, thought crime2008-05-28T12:04:00+01:002008-05-28T12:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-28:/~alex/blog/2008/05/28/fanfic-bicycles-thought-crime/<p>I have a number of custom Google searches for my surname that feed my RSS reader. These usually throw up references to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.milosport.com/Justin_Bennee_r22.htm">Justin Bennee</a> a snow-border who may or may not be related to me. However today it threw up a slightly more "interesting" result from it's use as the …</p><p>I have a number of custom Google searches for my surname that feed my RSS reader. These usually throw up references to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.milosport.com/Justin_Bennee_r22.htm">Justin Bennee</a> a snow-border who may or may not be related to me. However today it threw up a slightly more "interesting" result from it's use as the name of a character in some Jane Austin <a class="reference external" href="http://lizzardgirl.livejournal.com/42492.html">fanfic</a> (although self deprecatingly tagged as <em>badfic</em> as well). Oddness.</p>
<p>I picked up my Dad's bike yesterday as my Dad won't be using it for the next few weeks which saves me having to buy a bike <em>right now</em>. The cycle ride from Shelford to Milton was slightly circuitous round the centre but still weighed in at a relatively modest 8.3 miles (and around 60 minutes, give or take a stop for a phone call). At the end of it I wasn't dead so I think pretty much any journey around Cambridge should default to cycling, especially given the way petrol prices are going. In a slight unrelated point my car insurance has dropped by another 100 or so pounds now I have left the environs of Manchester.</p>
<p>Listening to the news this morning I heard that ministers are considering adding <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7422595.stm">thought crime</a> to the statute book. I have no problem with people being prosecuted for owning images that have been processed from images of real abuse. The problem with the proposals is the criminalising of the act of depicting minors in sexual fantasy in art. It may be socially unacceptable, it may upset the wider populace but is it abuse? Even if you argue it may be a precursor to actual abuse (I have no idea what the stats are on this) surely that would be a call for psychological intervention rather than hard jail time? The proposal makes me uneasy as it currently stands.</p>
Empty House2008-05-26T17:23:00+01:002008-05-26T17:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-26:/~alex/blog/2008/05/26/empty-house/<p>I spent my second night in our new house alone as Fliss has a prior engagement down in London. This wasn't so bad as it has given me a chance to finish setting up my office (after much searching through boxes to find my PC) and catch up on some …</p><p>I spent my second night in our new house alone as Fliss has a prior engagement down in London. This wasn't so bad as it has given me a chance to finish setting up my office (after much searching through boxes to find my PC) and catch up on some TV.</p>
<p>Lost seems to be getting even more OMFG, WTF? Certainly some answers to what is going on seems to be coming and the writers are trying hard to make it consistent with the mythology to date. As they have declared Lost will finish at the end of season six I'm hoping everything will be nicely tied up by that point. However I don't believe the writers for a moment when they say they had a grand arc envisaged from the get go. It shouldn't be a problem assuming they don't suffer the stop-start that caused <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5">Babylon 5</a> to be so dire.</p>
<p>Battlestar Galactica continues to entertain. They have declared an earlier end date which I suspect will end with the discovery of Earth. The theological angle of the story is becoming more pronounced which is quite an interesting mirror to our current times.</p>
New House, Old Boxes2008-05-25T11:15:00+01:002008-05-25T11:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-25:/~alex/blog/2008/05/25/new-house-old-boxes/<p>Today is brought to you by the power of bluetooth and mobile phones :-)</p>
<p>Yesterday was a very long one. We left Manchester at 7 in the morning to make sure we got to Cambridge in time to pick up keys. In the event we made very good time because even …</p><p>Today is brought to you by the power of bluetooth and mobile phones :-)</p>
<p>Yesterday was a very long one. We left Manchester at 7 in the morning to make sure we got to Cambridge in time to pick up keys. In the event we made very good time because even on a bank holiday weekend no one is on the roads *that early*. We had packed the bed and a few bits and pieces so we wouldn't be in a completely empty house. It turns out it was a good plan as the truck with everything in it was a fair number of house behind us.</p>
<p>After our first trip to the shopping magnet that is Tesco's (conveniently about a mile down the road) we set about the task of drinking Champagne, clearing cobwebs out of "The Den" and watching a few things on the laptop. We even has a little bit of a nap given the very early start to the day.</p>
<p>The van finally arrived some time after 8 in the evening and the lads did a sterling job getting it unloaded and all the furniture re-assembled. They finished around midnight and then headed off back to Selby and their homes.</p>
<p>Today's job is going through the 50 or so boxes and filling the selves and cupboards with "stuff". About the only thing that didn't make it down was the stand for the plasma TV which puts off playing more PS3 games until next week when I can pick it up.</p>
<p>Time to go and start on the boxes. So many boxes.....</p>
Guilt, but not much2008-05-23T18:38:00+01:002008-05-23T18:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-23:/~alex/blog/2008/05/23/guilt-but-not-much/<p>You feel slightly guilty as you sit back and play GTAIV while people potter around your house and pack stuff into boxes. However the feeling passes after a while, it's certainly how a plan to move next time :-D</p>
Wow2008-05-23T09:35:00+01:002008-05-23T09:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-23:/~alex/blog/2008/05/23/1028/<p>That was a big <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7415362.stm">swing</a>.</p>
Clean Room2008-05-23T00:22:00+01:002008-05-23T00:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-23:/~alex/blog/2008/05/23/clean-room/<p>Well my office is now cleaner than it has been in probably 7 or so years. Which is a shame really seeing as it's going to get packed into boxes tomorrow. Although I'm paying for men to pack my house it seems a little silly to pack crap so I've …</p><p>Well my office is now cleaner than it has been in probably 7 or so years. Which is a shame really seeing as it's going to get packed into boxes tomorrow. Although I'm paying for men to pack my house it seems a little silly to pack crap so I've been ruthless in weeding out my room. Tomorrow should hopefully involve a little light packing of the kitchen and personal stuff out of the bedroom and letting the movers get on with the rest. We have a denial a.m. journey down to Cambridge on Saturday to sign the papers and pick up keys before the truck gets down there. I'm going to try really hard to keep my new office tidy, helped slightly by my Dad's offer to take spare bits of kit (I'm not sure he knows quite how much I have!).</p>
<p>Chances are I'll be off-line for a few days until I have some sort of broadband sorted out. See you all later.</p>
Migration, take two2008-05-20T16:39:00+01:002008-05-20T16:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-20:/~alex/blog/2008/05/20/migration-take-two/<p>Second time lucky. The removals firm is booked and Fliss and I will be emigrating to Cambridge this coming weekend. I'm more than a little apprehensive about fitting 3 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms and a cellar into the new (smaller) house. However Fliss has done some sterling work mapping out …</p><p>Second time lucky. The removals firm is booked and Fliss and I will be emigrating to Cambridge this coming weekend. I'm more than a little apprehensive about fitting 3 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms and a cellar into the new (smaller) house. However Fliss has done some sterling work mapping out both houses in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SketchUp">Google SketchUp</a> so we have at least some vague confidence that the big items will fit where they should. I've gone for the full packing option because I've grown to hate packing, I suspect however it won't make the exercise completely stress free.</p>
It's like they never read 19842008-05-20T12:48:00+01:002008-05-20T12:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-20:/~alex/blog/2008/05/20/its-like-they-never-read-1984/<p>I don't know why this government has such a fetish for these <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7409593.stm">grand monitoring schemes</a>. From ID cards to detention without trial this has got to be one of the most illiberal governments we have ever had in this country. The state has no right to routinely monitor me "just …</p><p>I don't know why this government has such a fetish for these <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7409593.stm">grand monitoring schemes</a>. From ID cards to detention without trial this has got to be one of the most illiberal governments we have ever had in this country. The state has no right to routinely monitor me "just in case" I am going to be a suspect in future. The very approach of treating citizens as potential suspects is a fundamental shift in power that's un-warranted. The world hasn't changed, we are not living in a new world order that demands these measures. Terrorists are not the greatest threat to life in this country and the sooner the population as a whole stop swallowing the line that it's all for our own good the better.</p>
<p>I'm not against phone tapping or email monitoring systems as tools for law enforcement. However these measure should be carried out as a result of judicial approval given reasonable suspicion to warrant it. When you start databasing the whole state you start relying on data mining rather than good old fashioned human intelligence. Data mining is great for telling you how many people buy crisps in a certain postcode, it's less useful for exposing a terrorist network. Funnily enough normal law abiding people do talk to terrorists every day. How long will it be before that phone call discussing fund raising for the local mosque lands you jail for 42 days? Will that help or hinder getting the "community" on our side. Just witness the effect that stop and search has had on alienating the black community from the police.</p>
Stand and Deliver2008-05-16T17:47:00+01:002008-05-16T17:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-16:/~alex/blog/2008/05/16/stand-and-deliver/<p>Oh dear. It seems that stands for plasma TV's are expensive. I suspect it's going to be around �200 just so I can use my TV when I move. Does anyone recommend any companies that supply these things. I'm currently looking at stuff from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theplasmacentre.com/index.php?cPath=286&prod_list=all&menu=Filtered&filters=_cat_310__8__31&sort=2a&page=2">The Plasma Centre</a> and the …</p><p>Oh dear. It seems that stands for plasma TV's are expensive. I suspect it's going to be around �200 just so I can use my TV when I move. Does anyone recommend any companies that supply these things. I'm currently looking at stuff from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theplasmacentre.com/index.php?cPath=286&prod_list=all&menu=Filtered&filters=_cat_310__8__31&sort=2a&page=2">The Plasma Centre</a> and the humorously names <a class="reference external" href="http://www.standanddeliver.com/acatalog/tvstands.html">Stand and Deliver</a>.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong>At 30kg it's a fairly hefty beast to suspend on anything other than a wall.</div>
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE 2:</strong> Went for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theplasmacentre.com/product_details.php?products_id=2962">this</a> in the end. After chatting to the guys at The Plasma Centre who advised the vertical mountings are better for Panasonic TV's. Right time for job 2, find a removal company who offer the "I'll be in the pub, move my house please" option.</div>
</div>
My god it's full of (a lot less) stars2008-05-16T12:52:00+01:002008-05-16T12:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-16:/~alex/blog/2008/05/16/my-god-its-full-of-a-lot-less-stars/<p>The ructions of the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://metasploit.com/users/hdm/tools/debian-openssl/">Debian OpenSSH/SSL</a> failure are likely to be with us for some time. It's probably one of the most serious security failures in Debian's history. I'm still waiting for <a class="reference external" href="http://schneier.com/blog/">Bruce Schneir's</a> reaction, I'll assume there will be one.</p>
<p>There have been security problems with OpenSSH …</p><p>The ructions of the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://metasploit.com/users/hdm/tools/debian-openssl/">Debian OpenSSH/SSL</a> failure are likely to be with us for some time. It's probably one of the most serious security failures in Debian's history. I'm still waiting for <a class="reference external" href="http://schneier.com/blog/">Bruce Schneir's</a> reaction, I'll assume there will be one.</p>
<p>There have been security problems with OpenSSH and related tools before (and there will be in the future, the only secure computer is turned off, not plugged into the net and locked in a box with armed guards around it). While some have been a cause of concern others have mostly been theoretical weaknesses when the attacker has had an unusual amount of access. Still when the vulnerability is discovered and the updates provided you read the vulnerability, update you servers and move on. The problem with the current problem is it doesn't affect just by Debian based servers, potentially the problem is much wider as any machine you logged into from a Debian machine may have a compromised key on it.</p>
<p>This particular security issue is a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_space">key space</a> vulnerability. Cryptography relies in part on very large numbers that are computationally expensive to transform and therefor hard to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute_force_attack">brute force</a> a result by going through every possible number. Attacks on cryptography itself (rather than the programs that do it) usually involve very brainy mathematicians testing the assumptions of the authors and trying to reduce the number of possible keys there may be, or finding shortcuts to reduce the number of calculations required to eliminate potential candidate keys.</p>
<p>Assuming your algorithm is secure and the number of possible cryptography keys stays high you look to see if the user is somehow limiting the number of keys he has selected from. This is where the importance of randomness is so key. It's actually very hard to generate real random numbers on a computer as they are by their logical nature very predictable things. Most modern computers add to their <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_pool">entropy pools</a> when external events happen but care had to be taken. For example some timing attacks are based on the fact people type in certain patterns for certain keys. None of this mattered in this case as the "randomness" of the key generation was reduced to being based on one value, the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_identifier">process id</a> of the key generation program. This is simply a number between 1 and 32,768 (and most likely in the low few thousands) and basically makes it trivially easy to generate every key that a comprised Debian system would have ever generated.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So what now? Well don't ignore it. I predict the next few weeks we will see a rise in automated scans probing for lucrative shell accounts. It's not a matter of if but when. But if you take a methodical approach you can fix the problem.</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="for-every-debian-based-and-it-s-derivatives-like-ubuntu-machine-you-are-responsible-for">
<h2>For every Debian based (and it's derivatives like Ubuntu) machine you are responsible for</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Login and update the Open SSH and OpenSSL software</li>
<li>Ensure the host keys and SSL certificates are updated</li>
<li>Scan the machine for all key files (.ssh/id.*) and delete them (you may want to save a <strong>secure</strong> copy somewhere in case your users have only their key to log into some machine, but fundamentally those keys are broken).</li>
<li>Audit all the <em>authorized_keys</em> files (.ssh/authorized_keys) files. Delete them (maybe keeping a saved copy). Users will need to copy new keys onto the machine to use key based authentication</li>
<li>Audit all the <em>known_hosts</em> files (.ssh/known_hosts). Each one of these machines may have a comprised key installed by your user. If you are responsible for any of these machines make note of it to fix</li>
<li>If you are especially paranoid reset all user passwords and get them to go through the normal reset channels to get them back</li>
<li>Delete your keys and regenerate a fresh set for you machines</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> I see xkcd is <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com/424/">on the case</a>.</p>
</div>
Cool Maps2008-05-14T15:09:00+01:002008-05-14T15:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-14:/~alex/blog/2008/05/14/1022/<p>I see Google Maps has added a whole bunch of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9943316-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20%22">geo-coded</a> stuff to it's display now. Turn on "Photos" and you get little thumbnails of pictures all over your map. I'm still unsure how these photos get geo-tagged in the first place? Is it all done manually (and subject to …</p><p>I see Google Maps has added a whole bunch of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9943316-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20%22">geo-coded</a> stuff to it's display now. Turn on "Photos" and you get little thumbnails of pictures all over your map. I'm still unsure how these photos get geo-tagged in the first place? Is it all done manually (and subject to error) or are there automatic ways a camera can slurp geo data from a GPS?</p>
What now?2008-05-13T09:39:00+01:002008-05-13T09:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-13:/~alex/blog/2008/05/13/what-now/<p>One by-product of my currently segmented sleep regime is situations like now. I'm breakfasted, showered and ready for work but about 3/4 of an hour early. I could start the commute in now but seriously why put myself through the grimness of Cambridge rush hour....</p>
Nice legal hack2008-05-12T15:53:00+01:002008-05-12T15:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-12:/~alex/blog/2008/05/12/1020/<p>Now this is a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1938076/The-Get-Out-Clause%2C-Manchester's-stars-of-CCTV-cameras.html">cool legal "hack"</a>. Having worked in the CCTV industry I have a passing familiarity with the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_protection_act">Data Protection Act</a>. In my opinion it's one of our better laws given it's general bias towards the rights of the individual. Current <a class="reference external" href="http://www.no2id.net/">political trends</a> seem more keen on removing …</p><p>Now this is a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1938076/The-Get-Out-Clause%2C-Manchester's-stars-of-CCTV-cameras.html">cool legal "hack"</a>. Having worked in the CCTV industry I have a passing familiarity with the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_protection_act">Data Protection Act</a>. In my opinion it's one of our better laws given it's general bias towards the rights of the individual. Current <a class="reference external" href="http://www.no2id.net/">political trends</a> seem more keen on removing those rights in favour of the state. I look forward to seeing the video :-)</p>
<p>via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/09/band-shoots-video-by.html">BoingBoing</a></p>
It's hot2008-05-11T20:13:00+01:002008-05-11T20:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-11:/~alex/blog/2008/05/11/1019/<p>The weather is proving to be lovely and warm this weekend. A lot of outdoor activities have been involved combined with an appropriate amount of thirst quenching. Saturday saw us undertake a moderate walk followed by a pub lunch. Sunday has so far involved cycling into Cambridge for flume related …</p><p>The weather is proving to be lovely and warm this weekend. A lot of outdoor activities have been involved combined with an appropriate amount of thirst quenching. Saturday saw us undertake a moderate walk followed by a pub lunch. Sunday has so far involved cycling into Cambridge for flume related frolics before coming home to a lovely BBQ chicken Sunday Lunch.</p>
<p>We popped out to the pub after lunch to watch the dying embers of the premier league but much as I tried to muster up chanting for Wigan in their match against united I still couldn't find it in my heart to cheer against Bolton's valiant show against the [STRIKEOUT:ruskies]Chelsea. I'm sure I'll asked to endure the Champions league game in a week or so but it's not so bad following this football malarky, they generally seem to server beer in the places you can watch it.</p>
<p>I've only had a passing eye on the weeks geek news but I did notice <a class="reference external" href="http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/05/10/166204.shtml">slashdot</a> talking about Microsoft's latest censoring of IM conversations. Having said that I'm not sure I can have full confidence in any of the IM service providers. Luckily if you keep away from the official clients you can ensure that what conversation happens between you <a class="reference external" href="http://pidgin-encrypt.sourceforge.net/">stays that way</a>. It pays to be paranoid some times ;-)</p>
Stuff2008-05-09T21:44:00+01:002008-05-09T21:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-09:/~alex/blog/2008/05/09/stuff-2/<p>I'm currently down in Cambridge having enjoyed a lovely BBQ with Fliss while my parents are down in London. It looks like the weather will be nice this weekend which bodes well for our relocation plans.</p>
<p>The week has thrown up a few frustrations at work but it's all part …</p><p>I'm currently down in Cambridge having enjoyed a lovely BBQ with Fliss while my parents are down in London. It looks like the weather will be nice this weekend which bodes well for our relocation plans.</p>
<p>The week has thrown up a few frustrations at work but it's all part of the mix that is software engineering. I've actually written more perl in the last week than C (which isn't bad thing, just odd). I'm keen to implement a nice flexible architecture for the product but it's meeting the inevitability of deadlines. The trouble with architectural decisions is there is a degree of fortune telling involved in guessing what direction your likely to take. That may imply putting work into code for current releases that doesn't realise an immediate benefit for the next release. The compromise (which is pretty much engineering) is a layer of abstraction so any mechanism that may be re-factored can be done as single whole and not searching for cookie cutter code across a myriad of inter-working binaries. I hate cut and paste code, it shall all die ;-)</p>
RMS2008-05-06T17:09:00+01:002008-05-06T17:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-06:/~alex/blog/2008/05/06/1017/<p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stallman.org/">rms</a> last week. I've always had a lot of respect for the guy but I think the talk last week has elevated him to the level of one of my technology heroes.</p>
<p>I got to the Renolds building and it took some poking around trying to find a …</p><p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stallman.org/">rms</a> last week. I've always had a lot of respect for the guy but I think the talk last week has elevated him to the level of one of my technology heroes.</p>
<p>I got to the Renolds building and it took some poking around trying to find a door that wasn't locked. After I gained entry I went up to the supposed meeting room only to find it empty. It seemed the organisers had seen sense and moved the talk to one of the main lecture halls. It was a good job to because after taking my seat the hall filled up to standing room only.</p>
<p>rms started his talk discussing the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">four essential freedoms</a> and the reasons for them. One of the things I admire about rms is his consistency (which is often confused with obstinacy) and time and again he would refer to the four freedoms when answering questions from the audience. He is quite clear that software that isn't free (as in speech) is a tool for subjugation of the user rather than empowering them. During the description of why users should prefer to run free software he mentioned a number of examples of programs that act against their "owners" interests, <a class="reference external" href="http://badvista.fsf.org/what-s-wrong-with-microsoft-windows-vista">Windows</a> being a leading example of such behaviour.</p>
<p>He followed up with a history of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html">the GNU project</a> and how it went from an idea to fully free system in the space of nice years. Ironically while the first combination of GNU/Linux was a fully free system distributions have been on the slow slide away from freedom since. The issue of convenience isn't an concern for rms, he applies his philosophy regardless of any inconvenience it puts him at, as can be witnessed by his removal of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/can-we-rescue-olpc-from-windows">wireless networking</a> from his new laptop. This led to a discussion about the proper description of systems as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html">GNU/Linux systems</a> which has been the source of many a on-line flame war. I have to say the opportunity to hear him explain his position in considered logical steps without the staccato effect of on-line "debate" was refreshing. The issue of credit is secondary to the message of the GNU project and letting people know why they can install a free operating systems on their systems. There is a fundamental difference between the philosophies of the Free Software Movement and the Open Source movement even if a lot of the code is the same.</p>
<p>He touched on a number of other topics including why he doesn't care about the software installed on his microwave (yet) and is only just starting to care about what software runs on a mobile phone (which he doesn't own anyway). Someone else asked the question I was planning to about if you could write free software for a "cloud" service to which his answer was a simple (paraphrased) "yes, but why would you trust the server". The more interesting digression covered why education should only be using Free Software.</p>
<p>Apart from the already discussed issues of freedom it simply makes no sense to run closed software in an educational environment. If a pupil has questions about how things work a teacher needs to be able to point the pupil at the actual source code, something that at that age they are likely to read and pull apart and play with. Certainly if I get to the stage of having kids they will be given machines running free software even if they don't show any interest in whats going on under the hood.</p>
<p>One thing rms was careful to do was be precise in his answers which was useful when people kept asking the same question in subtly different ways. He also wasn't keen to over-stretch the analogy to other areas (embedded devices and bio-tech being two areas). Overall the talk was very interesting even if I was already fairly familiar with the subject matter. rms is an engaging speaker who comes across very differently from the impression I had formed of him based on the various bios and flame wars I'd read on the 'net. It was certainly a very worthwhile evening.</p>
New Machine2008-05-02T18:43:00+01:002008-05-02T18:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-05-02:/~alex/blog/2008/05/02/1016/<p>I've now got my new machine up and running and once the couple of hundred of GB have transfered across from the old one (which takes a surprisingly long time, even on a LAN). Setting up the dual head was not without it's frustrations. It does actually work out of …</p><p>I've now got my new machine up and running and once the couple of hundred of GB have transfered across from the old one (which takes a surprisingly long time, even on a LAN). Setting up the dual head was not without it's frustrations. It does actually work out of the box but I was getting nothing out of the second DVI port. I did however notice there was a difference on the two DVI to SVGA connectors I had, one which fitted and one that didn't. A quick trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface">wikipedia later</a> and I realised my mistake. The D in DVI-D meant there was no chance it could drive my Widescreen TFT monitor with an SVGA adapter. Luckily the local PC World had a quite reasonable <a class="reference external" href="http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=itbusiness&type=monitors&subtype=lcd&model_cd=LS20PEBSFV/EDC">Samsung Syncmaster 2032BW</a> which is now my main monitor.</p>
<p>The new desk layout means I've been experimenting with desktop layout. Given the monitor to my left is no longer at eye height I'm using it for status displays (build window, logs, IM clients and the like). For super bonus points if I could figure out a way to make every window dragged to the left toggle the "Visible on all workspaces" property my setup would be almost perfect.</p>
Score Draw2008-04-30T19:28:00+01:002008-04-30T19:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-30:/~alex/blog/2008/04/30/1015/<p>When we arrived back in Manchester we found CityLink had excelled in their efficiency and attempted to deliver the new PC. Luckily their depot was open until 8 and based in conveniently close in Trafford Park. While I grabbed that I made a half hearted attempt to locate a GTAIV …</p><p>When we arrived back in Manchester we found CityLink had excelled in their efficiency and attempted to deliver the new PC. Luckily their depot was open until 8 and based in conveniently close in Trafford Park. While I grabbed that I made a half hearted attempt to locate a GTAIV but even the behemoth of ASDA Wallmart had sold all of it's stock. Instead I consoled myself with a quick blast on the new Call of Duty 4 maps. Amusingly they where offering double points on them this week which Will suspected was a "please play us and not GTA this week" gambit.</p>
<p>The new maps are a mixed bunch but certainly will add a lot of variety to the multi-player game. "Creek" is a massive open air level which is designed with snipers in mind and possibly my favourite so far. The re-done "Broadcast" and "China Town" both offer maze like urban warrens which saw me wiped out many times over, they are going to take some learning. I haven't had a chance to play the "Kill House" yet, but if it's anything like "Container" it will be insane.</p>
<p>I've spent today working while setting up my new PC on the spare monitor. It took me a while however to figure out the TFT monitor (Fliss' spare from when her laptop had no working screen) was powered via a plug in the VGA socket. The setup should hopefully be finished by tomorrow which is the one downside of building everything from scratch. However it builds stuff pretty quickly and it should be a nicely customised setup once finished.</p>
<p>Fliss surprised me this afternoon when she got back from a quick shopping trip. Somehow she had managed to find a spare copy of GTA IV. I would like to mention at this point I love Fliss very much :-D</p>
Houses, Boxes, Stuff2008-04-29T12:10:00+01:002008-04-29T12:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-29:/~alex/blog/2008/04/29/houses-boxes-stuff/<p>Well it turns out we were the only one to apply for the house on the day so short of my secret Bolivian drug lord contacts coming out in the reference screening it looks all go. Hopefully we'll be moving down proper somewhere around May 21st. Next up is planning …</p><p>Well it turns out we were the only one to apply for the house on the day so short of my secret Bolivian drug lord contacts coming out in the reference screening it looks all go. Hopefully we'll be moving down proper somewhere around May 21st. Next up is planning what we shall take and ordering a stand for my currently wall mounted TV of doom.</p>
<p>My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=1014">new PC</a> has shipped so delivery will coincide nicely with my arrival for the next week. I think I'll stick with Gentoo on the desktop although it's tempting to run a Ubuntu partition side by side with it. My current desktop will become a slightly more up to date media server (which will consume a bit less power than my current web-server, and take up less space). The current web-server will be scrapped although it would be nice to find somewhere to donate it to (along with my remaining 2 monitors and 4 chassis in various states of completion).</p>
<p>So generally life is good today, despite fixing a bunch of 64/32 bit issues on this code base (worthy but tedious) and Google's disappearance from da interweb (at least from here).</p>
Want2008-04-28T11:57:00+01:002008-04-28T11:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-28:/~alex/blog/2008/04/28/1013/<p>It seems a day before it's release GTA IV has been attracting <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7370590.stm">acclaim</a>. Metacritic is equally <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/grandtheftauto4">glowing in it's appraisal</a> which leads to a small problem on my part.</p>
<p>I've generally not been enough of a games fan-boy to get involved in the pre-order approach to gaming. However I quite …</p><p>It seems a day before it's release GTA IV has been attracting <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7370590.stm">acclaim</a>. Metacritic is equally <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/grandtheftauto4">glowing in it's appraisal</a> which leads to a small problem on my part.</p>
<p>I've generally not been enough of a games fan-boy to get involved in the pre-order approach to gaming. However I quite fancy playing the game tomorrow when it comes out, I have no idea if I'll be able to get hold of a copy. I'm also very curious to see how the multi-player aspect works itself out. It's one thing all joining a map with a bunch of FPS jockeys, it's another to play in a living breathing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_City_(Grand_Theft_Auto)">Liberty City</a>. If I do manage to get hold of a copy I'll be secretly wishing for a few more days of rain and cold so I don't have to feel guilty about missing out on the sunshine.</p>
Springtime Sunshine2008-04-27T19:54:00+01:002008-04-27T19:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-27:/~alex/blog/2008/04/27/springtime-sunshine/<p>We've been spending the weekend in Suffolk and generally chilling out after the hectic activities of Friday evening. We headed out for the fast becoming traditional Saturday breakfast at the local greasy spoon with Tom before going to a local beauty spot called "Aga Fen" to enjoy the sunshine. After …</p><p>We've been spending the weekend in Suffolk and generally chilling out after the hectic activities of Friday evening. We headed out for the fast becoming traditional Saturday breakfast at the local greasy spoon with Tom before going to a local beauty spot called "Aga Fen" to enjoy the sunshine. After dropping Tom off for the evening we lounged about and watching Doctor Who and movies on TV. Today has been as quiet although I did mow the lawn for Fliss' mum. It's been a pretty relaxing weekend which is what we needed.</p>
Papers are in2008-04-25T18:56:00+01:002008-04-25T18:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-25:/~alex/blog/2008/04/25/papers-are-in/<p>Well the paper work is in. Assuming none of the other two viewings put in paper work today we should get it. It's incredibly convenient for he science park although Fliss will have a slightly longer cycle to the station. She has already assured me that I'll be doing lots …</p><p>Well the paper work is in. Assuming none of the other two viewings put in paper work today we should get it. It's incredibly convenient for he science park although Fliss will have a slightly longer cycle to the station. She has already assured me that I'll be doing lots of additional exercise to make up for it.</p>
Maps2008-04-24T12:26:00+01:002008-04-24T12:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-24:/~alex/blog/2008/04/24/1010/<p>The last few days have involved quite a lot of map time. I'd heard of the <a class="reference external" href="http://openstreetmap.org">OpenStreetMap</a> project before but hadn't actually has a look at recently. For example compare <a class="reference external" href="http://openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.22924&lon=0.15292&zoom=17&layers=B0FT">it's rendition of my work location</a> to <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=cambridge+buisnesspark&sll=54.162434,-3.647461&sspn=8.14837,20.566406&ie=UTF8&ll=52.229087,0.151341&spn=0.00416,0.010042&z=17">Google's</a>. Granted the OpenStreetMap doesn't have the bling of Google's satellite imagery (or …</p><p>The last few days have involved quite a lot of map time. I'd heard of the <a class="reference external" href="http://openstreetmap.org">OpenStreetMap</a> project before but hadn't actually has a look at recently. For example compare <a class="reference external" href="http://openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.22924&lon=0.15292&zoom=17&layers=B0FT">it's rendition of my work location</a> to <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=cambridge+buisnesspark&sll=54.162434,-3.647461&sspn=8.14837,20.566406&ie=UTF8&ll=52.229087,0.151341&spn=0.00416,0.010042&z=17">Google's</a>. Granted the OpenStreetMap doesn't have the bling of Google's satellite imagery (or Google's bandwidth and computing power), however the data is available for all sorts of interesting things.</p>
Grrr2008-04-23T14:45:00+01:002008-04-23T14:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-23:/~alex/blog/2008/04/23/grrr/<p>I f***ing hate house hunting. We saw a nice place yesterday which did tick most of the boxes. I wanted to view a few places today so we didn't put our paperwork in this morning (although we were nervous the house would go soon). It turns out the house …</p><p>I f***ing hate house hunting. We saw a nice place yesterday which did tick most of the boxes. I wanted to view a few places today so we didn't put our paperwork in this morning (although we were nervous the house would go soon). It turns out the house had already gone so god knows why they bothered with the viewing. I'm starting to get really hacked off with the process.</p>
4 a day2008-04-22T04:17:00+01:002008-04-22T04:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-22:/~alex/blog/2008/04/22/4-a-day/<p>I hate being ill. I'm no martyr however as I'll quite happily dose myself up to the eyeballs to keep the symptoms at bay (which explains why I got out of bed and made up the Lemsip next to me at the moment). I'm still feeling pretty tired though which …</p><p>I hate being ill. I'm no martyr however as I'll quite happily dose myself up to the eyeballs to keep the symptoms at bay (which explains why I got out of bed and made up the Lemsip next to me at the moment). I'm still feeling pretty tired though which is why we didn't go out last night and instead opted for a quiet night in with a curry and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/">Sneakers</a>.</p>
<p>Working from home imposes certain limitations when you don't have access to the full work network. This usually entails carefully planing the things you do on home days versus office days. Even if I had full VPN to the corporate network I would still be limited as I actually need the test network my desktop is attached to. You can get a fair way with ssh and port forwarding but it kinda breaks down when you need UDP stuff. Imagine my delight to find out ssh now works with <a class="reference external" href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SSH_VPN">the tun interface</a>. All worked out of the box :-)</p>
Meme2008-04-18T20:01:00+01:002008-04-18T20:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-18:/~alex/blog/2008/04/18/1007/<p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://kyle.mcmartin.ca/.plan/index.php/2008/04/10/meme-me-harder/">here</a></p>
<pre class="code shell literal-block">
<span class="m">15</span>:31 alex@malory/AMD Athlon<span class="o">(</span>tm<span class="o">)</span> <span class="m">64</span> Processor <span class="m">3400</span>+ <span class="o">[</span>linux-2.6-stable.git<span class="o">]</span> > <span class="nb">history</span> <span class="p">|</span> awk <span class="s1">'{a[$2]++ } END{for(i in a){print a[i] " " i}}'</span><span class="p">|</span>sort -rn<span class="p">|</span>head
<span class="m">79</span> <span class="nb">cd</span>
<span class="m">71</span> ls
<span class="m">35</span> make
<span class="m">26</span> git-log
<span class="m">22</span> git-branch
<span class="m">20</span> grep
<span class="m">15</span> ssh
<span class="m">15</span> less
<span class="m">12</span> git-push
<span class="m">10 …</span></pre><p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://kyle.mcmartin.ca/.plan/index.php/2008/04/10/meme-me-harder/">here</a></p>
<pre class="code shell literal-block">
<span class="m">15</span>:31 alex@malory/AMD Athlon<span class="o">(</span>tm<span class="o">)</span> <span class="m">64</span> Processor <span class="m">3400</span>+ <span class="o">[</span>linux-2.6-stable.git<span class="o">]</span> > <span class="nb">history</span> <span class="p">|</span> awk <span class="s1">'{a[$2]++ } END{for(i in a){print a[i] " " i}}'</span><span class="p">|</span>sort -rn<span class="p">|</span>head
<span class="m">79</span> <span class="nb">cd</span>
<span class="m">71</span> ls
<span class="m">35</span> make
<span class="m">26</span> git-log
<span class="m">22</span> git-branch
<span class="m">20</span> grep
<span class="m">15</span> ssh
<span class="m">15</span> less
<span class="m">12</span> git-push
<span class="m">10</span> man
</pre>
Upgrade time2008-04-18T19:58:00+01:002008-04-18T19:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-18:/~alex/blog/2008/04/18/1006/<p>I'm currently pondering if it's worth spending £400 or so pimping out one of <a class="reference external" href="http://efficientpc.co.uk/desktops/camulus/">these</a>. I could then retire my desktop to server duties and have a dual head open source driver setup.</p>
Fresh Air2008-04-18T11:50:00+01:002008-04-18T11:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-18:/~alex/blog/2008/04/18/1005/<p>Fliss has a friend up this weekend and we thought it might be an idea to go visit some of the countryside on Sunday. We were considering wondering around <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivington">Rivington</a> 'cause it's got castles and stuff (and I'm slightly nostalgic for the place). Anyone else up for a bit of …</p><p>Fliss has a friend up this weekend and we thought it might be an idea to go visit some of the countryside on Sunday. We were considering wondering around <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivington">Rivington</a> 'cause it's got castles and stuff (and I'm slightly nostalgic for the place). Anyone else up for a bit of fresh air and exercise on Sunday?</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:I have lurgy so I'm staying in and feeling poorly</strong></p>
Beards2008-04-17T14:06:00+01:002008-04-17T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-17:/~alex/blog/2008/04/17/1004/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman">Richard Stallman</a> (or in geek circles simply <em>rms</em>) is an outspoken advocate of Free Software. One could argue that without his pioneering work founding the GNU project that things like Linux and Firefox wouldn't exist today.</p>
<p>He is also a controversial figure who can and does divide opinion in the …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman">Richard Stallman</a> (or in geek circles simply <em>rms</em>) is an outspoken advocate of Free Software. One could argue that without his pioneering work founding the GNU project that things like Linux and Firefox wouldn't exist today.</p>
<p>He is also a controversial figure who can and does divide opinion in the wide diaspora that constitutes the world of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software">FLOSS</a>. Not given to compromise on his core values of freedom he is often at loggerheads with the more pragmatic proponents of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source">Open Source</a> or the "more free" <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissive_free_software_licences">BSD</a> style licenses. Although he's often criticised for perceived obstinacy many admire him for sticking to his unwavering principles even if it causes him inconvenience.</p>
<p>Today I noticed that he is <a class="reference external" href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/blog/2008/04/13/richard-stallman-1st-may/">coming to Manchester</a> at the start of May. I've never seen him give a talk before so I'll be there on the day. If you only see one bearded hacker talk in your life then this would be the one to see.</p>
Cyclic2008-04-16T15:10:00+01:002008-04-16T15:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-16:/~alex/blog/2008/04/16/cyclic/<p>I cycled into Cambridge yesterday to catch up with Izzy and Andy. I was a little wary at first given the lateness of the hour and coming back in the dark. However Cambridge is pretty quite and most of the journey was on nice separated cycle lanes. The <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=52.180879,0.130119&spn=0.065891,0.160675&z=13&msid=100521915190804968577.00044afd1c8fc744d9a3c">route</a> was …</p><p>I cycled into Cambridge yesterday to catch up with Izzy and Andy. I was a little wary at first given the lateness of the hour and coming back in the dark. However Cambridge is pretty quite and most of the journey was on nice separated cycle lanes. The <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=52.180879,0.130119&spn=0.065891,0.160675&z=13&msid=100521915190804968577.00044afd1c8fc744d9a3c">route</a> was almost an 8 mile round trip which certainly made me appreciate the beer at one end. The legs felt a little tired at the end of the day but were fine this morning. I think I could handle a daily commute like that and it would be more fun than the gym.</p>
HearFromYourMp2008-04-12T11:21:00+01:002008-04-12T11:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-12:/~alex/blog/2008/04/12/1002/<p>My morning browsing took me past the excellent people at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mysociety.org/">MySociety</a>. One of the sites I noticed is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hearfromyourmp.com/">HearFromYourMp</a> which is a rather cool light-weight mailing list/forum idea. Rather than a free form mailing list you sign up to be informed of when your MP sends a message. When …</p><p>My morning browsing took me past the excellent people at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mysociety.org/">MySociety</a>. One of the sites I noticed is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hearfromyourmp.com/">HearFromYourMp</a> which is a rather cool light-weight mailing list/forum idea. Rather than a free form mailing list you sign up to be informed of when your MP sends a message. When they do you can go to the forum page and discuss what they have said. Unfortunately my MP <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hearfromyourmp.com/view/13486">has yet to use the service</a> but to give her credit she did reply to the letter I wrote to her via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.writetothem.com/">WriteToThem</a>. Worth checking out :-)</p>
Transport2008-04-09T11:04:00+01:002008-04-09T11:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-09:/~alex/blog/2008/04/09/transport/<p>Last night I was out with the guys from work for a few social drinks and food. Under the auspices of team bonding we went to a pub called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pub-explorer.com/cambs/pub/greendragoncambridge.htm">The Green Dragon</a>. The food wasn't up to much (pretty standard pub fare) but it had a couple of lines real …</p><p>Last night I was out with the guys from work for a few social drinks and food. Under the auspices of team bonding we went to a pub called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pub-explorer.com/cambs/pub/greendragoncambridge.htm">The Green Dragon</a>. The food wasn't up to much (pretty standard pub fare) but it had a couple of lines real ale and the Otter Ale was pretty nice. Much merriment was had and we only occasionally dipped into the topics of source control and release management. Other topics included local restaurants, government IT projects, nutters on radio phone-in programs and the accountability of the European Union. All it all a pretty interesting evening learning more about my co-workers.</p>
<p>Today I'm at the mercy of public transport as I'm heading into London this evening to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=38">Speed the Plow</a> at the Old Vic. There is no way to drive to the train station but I think the Park and Ride service that got me to work this morning should be fine. After that only the trains and tube can fail me :-)</p>
Logistical Chaos2008-04-07T20:55:00+01:002008-04-07T20:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-07:/~alex/blog/2008/04/07/logistical-chaos/<p>This week is going to prove interesting in the number of places transport could fail. Aside from the usual Tues/Thurs commute to/from Cambridge I have to ensure a few additional constraints are met. Working backwards:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>My car is in Shelford on Thursday morning while I'm at work</li>
<li>I …</li></ul><p>This week is going to prove interesting in the number of places transport could fail. Aside from the usual Tues/Thurs commute to/from Cambridge I have to ensure a few additional constraints are met. Working backwards:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>My car is in Shelford on Thursday morning while I'm at work</li>
<li>I get from London to Shelford late Wednesday evening</li>
<li>I get from work to London on Wednesday evening</li>
<li>I get into Cambridge without car Tuesday evening</li>
</ul>
<p>It was starting to look so complicated I even asked my Dad for a lift into town for Tuesday evening. It makes me feel somewhat like a teenager again :-). I now have all the necessary information plugged into Google Calendar so I know where I should be at what times.</p>
<p>In other news my front room now has a sofa, my dinning room currently has a surplus of Buddha Bag's and my office looks even more like a bomb has hit it than normal.</p>
Activities to date2008-04-06T20:01:00+01:002008-04-06T20:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-06:/~alex/blog/2008/04/06/activities-to-date/<p>We had a pretty laid back Saturday up until heading out for a meal to celebrate Will's birthday. We then headed down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.112-116princessstreet.co.uk/">Paradise Factory</a> for some clubbing action. It was the first time I'd been there and it was pretty fun although the meal had slightly slowed me …</p><p>We had a pretty laid back Saturday up until heading out for a meal to celebrate Will's birthday. We then headed down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.112-116princessstreet.co.uk/">Paradise Factory</a> for some clubbing action. It was the first time I'd been there and it was pretty fun although the meal had slightly slowed me down. We didn't do the full night (which runs way into the morning) but we did throw some shapes in the temple of dance. The city seemed a little quieter than normal as we managed to get a taxi back pretty quickly :-)</p>
<p>My Sunday lie in was slightly shattered by the roadworks that appeared outside my house yesterday. I understand why they are doing the works over the weekend (although notice would of been nice), however it does slightly grate when I get woken up at denial a.m. by the digger breaking up the road and then seeing the crews bugger off by lunchtime. A later start would have been appreciated!</p>
<p>We spent the rest of the day doing dump runs and making more space for the delivery of the sofa tomorrow.</p>
Linksys Hackery2008-04-04T13:43:00+01:002008-04-04T13:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-04:/~alex/blog/2008/04/04/998/<p>Now the decorating and carpet laying is complete Fliss has her brand new office. Unfortunately due to my lack of desire to run cables under the floor boards and past the bathroom she's missing the needed network connection.</p>
<p>Luckily Will had furnished me with a spare <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series">WRT54G</a> so I proceeded …</p><p>Now the decorating and carpet laying is complete Fliss has her brand new office. Unfortunately due to my lack of desire to run cables under the floor boards and past the bathroom she's missing the needed network connection.</p>
<p>Luckily Will had furnished me with a spare <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series">WRT54G</a> so I proceeded to look into building a wireless bridge with it. It's not quite like the wireless bridges I've been building the last 4 days at work though, for starters it doesn't quite supply the same bandwidth :-)</p>
<p>It seems the land of 3rd party firmware for the WRTG has become pretty <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrt54g#Third-party_firmware_projects">fragmented</a> with a number of projects, some of which seem to have questionable adherence to the GPL. As I value my freedom I tried to find a project which had the most open development policy and offered the greatest flexibility. In the end I plumped for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freewrt.org/trac/">FreeWRT</a> project, which itself is a fork of the bigger <a class="reference external" href="http://openwrt.org/">OpenWRT</a> project. Both seem pretty capable but the FreeWRT project does supply a rather nice web based <a class="reference external" href="http://wib.freewrt.org/config/step0">image</a> builder which clinched it.</p>
<p>The re-flash of the hardware went without a hitch and after a little faffing about with routing default IP addresses I had ssh only access to a minimalist router setup. It didn't take long (and a brief grep for "bridging" in the manual) to get a working <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System">WDS</a> setup. Maybe one day I will get around to fixing up my main router with some pimped up firmware.</p>
Brain Stretch2008-04-01T23:49:00+01:002008-04-01T23:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-04-01:/~alex/blog/2008/04/01/997/<p>The last few days have involved a blizzard of technical terms such as QAM16 and QPSK as well as re-hashing more familiar ground of embedded Linux machines and ATM and E1 connections. This week has been set aside as product training on the VectaStar system so I have a general …</p><p>The last few days have involved a blizzard of technical terms such as QAM16 and QPSK as well as re-hashing more familiar ground of embedded Linux machines and ATM and E1 connections. This week has been set aside as product training on the VectaStar system so I have a general idea of what the hell the product I'll be managing (via my software) actually does. Thankfully it seems all the residual knowledge I picked up while at Marconi is still there and my scientific knowledge (such as it is) is proving to be pretty useful. In fact it seems the company where very accurate in predicting a good match between my skills and what I need to know for the job which is a relief :-)</p>
<p>House hunting is proving to be more of an issue. Four of the properties that we selected as potentials had already gone by the time I had called the agent this afternoon. I saw one yesterday which seemed alright (nice kitchen, good office space) but still seemed a little cramped. Not to mention pretty expensive at £900 pcm. I'm not overly worried so far as I still have a house in Manchester and the mid-week commute down south hasn't been crippling. I had another offer on the house but it was still in the silly region so I didn't feel too worried rejecting it. Maybe there is something to be said for the coming housing slump if it will make renting in Cambridge a little cheaper. Of course such a wish is a bit of a double edged sword.</p>
Memories of the 90's2008-03-27T13:49:00+00:002008-03-27T13:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-27:/~alex/blog/2008/03/27/996/<p>My University days where a long time ago. My memory of certain events was prompted by reading <a class="reference external" href="http://media.www.bgnews.com/media/storage/paper883/news/2006/10/24/Campus/Game-Leads.To.Arrests-2384463.shtml">this article</a>.</p>
<p>(via <a class="reference external" href="http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/26/2247224&from=rss">slashdot</a>)</p>
cvsps and the diet pill revolution2008-03-27T11:12:00+00:002008-03-27T11:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-27:/~alex/blog/2008/03/27/995/<p>One thing I've been doing at work is an experiment to convert the source code repository from CVS to something a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)">little newer</a>. This has been more than a little challenging.</p>
<p>The main problem is the tool <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cobite.com/cvsps/">cvsps</a> is quite hungry for memory, especially on the rather large repository I'm …</p><p>One thing I've been doing at work is an experiment to convert the source code repository from CVS to something a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)">little newer</a>. This has been more than a little challenging.</p>
<p>The main problem is the tool <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cobite.com/cvsps/">cvsps</a> is quite hungry for memory, especially on the rather large repository I'm trying to convert. It very rapidly allocates around 2.5 Gigabytes of heap memory (way more than physical RAM) to parse the revision history of CVS and build up all the change-sets. I set it off yesterday and shut down everything I could on the machine to give it as large a resident set size as I could. However parsing randomly allocated data in the heap is probably as close to a pathological use case for the virtual memory subsystem as you could get. As I logged of the machine last night I could see it doing about 1% real work while the rest of the time it was waiting on IO (I assume swap activity) and idling. Luckily by this morning it had got over that hump (although some of the git-repack calls are pretty memory hungry themselves). If I have to do the conversion again I'm going to invest some time into putting cvsps on a memory diet.</p>
Today's XKCD2008-03-26T14:23:00+00:002008-03-26T14:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-26:/~alex/blog/2008/03/26/994/<p>I like <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com">xkcd</a>, it's a true geeks comic. Today's topic is the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider">LHC</a> at CERN which goes on-line later this year.</p>
<p><img alt="image0" src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/large_hadron_collider.png" /></p>
<p>Of course the real LHC will be generating data at such a massive rate it may well be some time until we know if the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model">Standard Model</a> gets another …</p><p>I like <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com">xkcd</a>, it's a true geeks comic. Today's topic is the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider">LHC</a> at CERN which goes on-line later this year.</p>
<p><img alt="image0" src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/large_hadron_collider.png"/></p>
<p>Of course the real LHC will be generating data at such a massive rate it may well be some time until we know if the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model">Standard Model</a> gets another proof point. Not that finding the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson">Higgs Boson</a> is the only science that will be done with the LHC, a lot of scientists (and a silly amount of computing power) will be very busy for the next 10 years after it gets turned on.</p>
Cell Travel2008-03-25T15:10:00+00:002008-03-25T15:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-25:/~alex/blog/2008/03/25/cell-travel/<p>I drove down south this morning in what will be a regular occurrence until we sort out where we will eventually end up living. All in all it wasn't too bad, leaving Manchester at 8 and getting me to work around 11.</p>
<p>I enjoy listening to the radio while driving …</p><p>I drove down south this morning in what will be a regular occurrence until we sort out where we will eventually end up living. All in all it wasn't too bad, leaving Manchester at 8 and getting me to work around 11.</p>
<p>I enjoy listening to the radio while driving as it keeps me intellectually involved (my lower brain functions can cope with avoiding hitting things and watching for hazards without too much input). However I may have to consider what I listen too after the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/">Today programme</a>. I enjoy debate and I think there is a useful role played by radio <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/morning.shtml">phone in programmes</a> in informing the national discussion. However this morning I found myself wanting to shout at the radio during this mornings debate about the upcoming <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7312715.stm">embryo bill</a>. One person even came on and had the arrogance to state (roughly paraphrased) "Any right thinking person can see it's morally wrong to mix human and animal cells". I'm fairly sure none of the major faiths and their "prophets" have carefully considered and discussed the point at which a collection of cells become sentient and "human". It's almost certain the Bible/Koran/A.N.Other holy book don't discuss cell biology and it's moral implications. I find it arrogance of the highest order for religions to assume they are the authoritative source of morals and ethical behaviour.</p>
<p>It was interesting hearing a number of suffering believers talk about how they would refuse treatment based on any of this potential scientific work. It shows there is a poor understanding of the way science works by building on a global pool of knowledge.</p>
<p>However who am I to deny them their right to refuse treatment? Of course it begs the question of who they are to deny scientific advance to the rest of us?</p>
Early Return2008-03-23T20:41:00+00:002008-03-23T20:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-23:/~alex/blog/2008/03/23/early-return/<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter#Date_of_Easter">complex calculations</a> governing Easter meant Maelstrom's first event was very early this year. The weather decided to have a last blast <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7310286.stm">of winter</a> the very same weekend. After suffering through the biting wind on Friday night (which was apparently not as bad as the experience others had on Thursday …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter#Date_of_Easter">complex calculations</a> governing Easter meant Maelstrom's first event was very early this year. The weather decided to have a last blast <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7310286.stm">of winter</a> the very same weekend. After suffering through the biting wind on Friday night (which was apparently not as bad as the experience others had on Thursday) we were almost ready to head back on Saturday morning. However we did play through all of Saturday by mainly locating ourselves in the bar and several layers of clothing. I bought Fliss a new outfit which see was very happy with, although it does give her the aspect of a mint humbug. However we decided that all things considered we wouldn't push through until Monday so we headed back this afternoon taking advantage of the nicely quiet roads. Tomorrow we shall go out for a meal before I head down to Cambridge on Tuesday.</p>
Location2008-03-21T12:18:00+00:002008-03-21T12:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-21:/~alex/blog/2008/03/21/991/<p>I'm not sure what did it but I upgraded the firmware on my phone last week and this week I noticed the "My Location" option now works on Google Maps while running on the phone. I haven't been able to find a Changelog for the firmware version (Dave/Sheila/Jo …</p><p>I'm not sure what did it but I upgraded the firmware on my phone last week and this week I noticed the "My Location" option now works on Google Maps while running on the phone. I haven't been able to find a Changelog for the firmware version (Dave/Sheila/Jo?) but I'm guessing it was a fix to the info about current base-station exported to the J2ME environment. Either way it's a cool feature, now I just press 0 and the map centers on where I (more or less) am.</p>
<p>Fliss' dad has arrived from the land of Oz this morning. At some point we shall start our heading towards the wilds of Birmingham for Maelstrom.</p>
When I became a Geek2008-03-20T15:52:00+00:002008-03-20T15:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-20:/~alex/blog/2008/03/20/990/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Braben">David Braben</a> has an opinion piece on the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7305699.stm">BBC today</a> as they celebrate the legacy of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_micro">BBC Micro</a>. My family never actually owned a BBC Micro, although we did own <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangerine_Computer_Systems#The_Atmos">several</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SWTPC6800_Computer.jpg">other</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Ace">esoteric</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_32/64">machines</a> which came with the premise that the main activity anyone owning one would be to …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Braben">David Braben</a> has an opinion piece on the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7305699.stm">BBC today</a> as they celebrate the legacy of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_micro">BBC Micro</a>. My family never actually owned a BBC Micro, although we did own <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangerine_Computer_Systems#The_Atmos">several</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SWTPC6800_Computer.jpg">other</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Ace">esoteric</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_32/64">machines</a> which came with the premise that the main activity anyone owning one would be to tinker and play with it, including program it. A lot of what I learnt about computing was by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input_Magazine">entering listings</a> and figuring out why things did what they did. Together with the demo coding me and my friends on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_st">ST</a> these machines gave me a fantastic grounding in the way computers actually work which has served me well in my career to date. I've had many pub conversations with colleges where the knowledge graduates today have about the nuts and bolts of computing has been debated. These days the ability to program a new PC is so far down the list of priorities of anyone buying one I wonder if we are damaging the future of computer science?</p>
Lost2008-03-19T22:36:00+00:002008-03-19T22:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-19:/~alex/blog/2008/03/19/lost/<p>I had to perform emergency surgery on Jack last night after I got a message from my brother saying he couldn't login into the webmail. It turned out the rather aggressive dropping of bounced messages (usually replying to messages faked as being from bennee.com) wasn't aggressive enough. Changing the …</p><p>I had to perform emergency surgery on Jack last night after I got a message from my brother saying he couldn't login into the webmail. It turned out the rather aggressive dropping of bounced messages (usually replying to messages faked as being from bennee.com) wasn't aggressive enough. Changing the timeout from 2d to 12h and putting Jack on a diet (he really didn't need half of X windows installed) bought me about ½ gig of spare space. Hopefully that should last until I switch to the new server (which I am assiduously avoiding doing tonight having had a few nice glasses of wine, I've been down that round before and I know it never ends well).</p>
<p>The evening has been mainly filled with catching up on Lost. I know a lot of people think the show jumped the shark last season. I can't agree. Although it's easy to cast accusations at the writers that they have been winging the plot since season 2 for me it doesn't really matter. Sure it's a show where the mythology of the previous seasons is important. I'm pretty sure these days any there are not many shows where you can treat every episode as a standalone story. However it's always been the intensity of the character drama that’s done it for me. It is fun to speculate on what is Actually Going On ™ but the main thing I enjoy is watching the character development. Having said that this seasons plot does seem a lot more directed and it looks as though the writers are delivering on their promise that there will be answers.</p>
Oddness of Location2008-03-19T00:26:00+00:002008-03-19T00:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-19:/~alex/blog/2008/03/19/oddness-of-location/<p>It is odd staying at your parents place while they are away. Although I spent over a decade living here as a child it's quite a different experience while pottering around preparing your own food and doing your own thing. For one thing I'm paranoid about rectifying the bumps and …</p><p>It is odd staying at your parents place while they are away. Although I spent over a decade living here as a child it's quite a different experience while pottering around preparing your own food and doing your own thing. For one thing I'm paranoid about rectifying the bumps and spills of everyday life to my parent's almost antiseptic levels of cleanliness. My hob at home is kept clean of major spills and the like but I suspect you could conduct surgical operations on any surface in my Mum's kitchen at a moments notice. On the plus side the large selection of wine and beer does help make the house feel like home :-)</p>
Exchange the root of All Evil2008-03-18T17:26:00+00:002008-03-18T17:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-18:/~alex/blog/2008/03/18/987/<p>It seems <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Exchange_Server">MS Exchange</a> really is as bad as I've heard. Thankfully Evolution can talk to the in-coming/out-going mail bits of Exchange. It also happily slurps up invites and adds them to it's own calender view (which I assume I can publish somewhere that Google Calender could slurp). However …</p><p>It seems <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Exchange_Server">MS Exchange</a> really is as bad as I've heard. Thankfully Evolution can talk to the in-coming/out-going mail bits of Exchange. It also happily slurps up invites and adds them to it's own calender view (which I assume I can publish somewhere that Google Calender could slurp). However when it sends the reply back to Exchange it gets cryptic messages about quotas which make no sense to the IT guy. *sigh* so much for interoperability.</p>
<p>I've been playing with a few <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Modeling_Language">UML</a> tools to capture this products Use Cases. I'm not looking for anything very flash (certainly not going down the full code generation root) however it would be nice to have something a little swisher than a hand-drawn document. So far I've played with <a class="reference external" href="http://uml.sourceforge.net/index.php">Umbrello</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://gaphor.devjavu.com/">Gaphor</a>. Both seem reasonable although the Gaphor package is a little broken, it may be easier to run from the bleeding edge. I gave up on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dia_%28software%29">Dia</a> as it's UML support was more in the form of a widget palette. Anyone care to recommend any other FLOSS UML tools?</p>
Day One2008-03-17T22:09:00+00:002008-03-17T22:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-17:/~alex/blog/2008/03/17/986/<p>Today has been a busy first day. The journey in was surprisingly easy, so much so I beat my new boss into the office. A brief chat with H.R. was quickly followed diving straight into the technical details of the system and where the product I'll be responsible for …</p><p>Today has been a busy first day. The journey in was surprisingly easy, so much so I beat my new boss into the office. A brief chat with H.R. was quickly followed diving straight into the technical details of the system and where the product I'll be responsible for is heading. The first few days are always a little overwhelming, especially when initial timescales for delivery are quoted in 3 months. Luckily it was made clear the product development will be an iterative one. I still need to get some planning and analysis in place though as it would be silly to start writing code without some agreement from other stakeholders. I've got some initial coding to do with an existing product as a way to get familiar with the existing code-base although luckily it's divorced from the bundled system build so I was able to wack it into git so I can avoid the horrors of CVS. Hopefully by the end of the week my head will have stopped spinning quite so much and the mountain will seem a little shorter, if only by a few feet :-)</p>
Bright Lights, Big City2008-03-14T12:18:00+00:002008-03-14T12:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-14:/~alex/blog/2008/03/14/bright-lights-big-city/<p>We headed down to London last night to meet up with some of Fliss' old friends for a few drinks and a meal. As we wondered past the bright lights of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Circus">Piccadilly Circus</a> I saw the adverts flashing up on the multi-media advertising for the BBC's iPlayer, now available for …</p><p>We headed down to London last night to meet up with some of Fliss' old friends for a few drinks and a meal. As we wondered past the bright lights of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Circus">Piccadilly Circus</a> I saw the adverts flashing up on the multi-media advertising for the BBC's iPlayer, now available for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/03/bbc_iplayer_on_iphone_behind_t.html#c7011201">iPhone</a>. The background information on the blog makes interesting reading, no WMV or Flash for the iPhone, but a nice standards compliant H.264 video stream. It has not gone unnoticed that the iPhone isn't the only thing that can <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/08/bbc-drops-drm-from-i.html">play such a stream</a> although some hoops do have to be jumped through. All I need now is a little Gnome App that fetches streams from the BBC so I don't have to tell my main browser to lie about itself all the time, assuming that the BBC doesn't decide that Linux users are about as likely to pirate the shows as their polo-neck wearing, iPhone carrying cousins.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE 13/3/08:</strong> And the hole <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7293988.stm">is plugged</a>. For now...</div>
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE 14/3/08:</strong> Didn't take <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/14/bbcs-iplayer-drm-cra.html">long</a></div>
</div>
Government of all the Gimmicks2008-03-11T12:24:00+00:002008-03-11T12:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-11:/~alex/blog/2008/03/11/985/<p>Today's latest <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7287984.stm">big idea</a> to get pupils to swear allegiance to the country every morning US style is yet another example of political gimmickry that I'm starting to increasingly associate with this government. It works in the US because of the strong association people have with their shared (relatively new …</p><p>Today's latest <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7287984.stm">big idea</a> to get pupils to swear allegiance to the country every morning US style is yet another example of political gimmickry that I'm starting to increasingly associate with this government. It works in the US because of the strong association people have with their shared (relatively new) history and the founding of the country. The UK however has a much longer and more diverse history both as a union and it's constituent nation states. I have no idea how you could come up with an oath that would encapsulate the diverse views of republicans and monarchists, Scots and English (and Welsh!), pre and post commonwealth nationals, without being reduced to meaningless platitudes and drivel. On top of all that the idea of standing hand on heart to proclaim this loyalty for all to see seems a very un-British act to me. For me the strength of the UK is it's wide diversity, it's blend of cosmopolitan melting pots and old traditions. The best way to bind the country together better is to teach the history of the UK both in schools and to the adults so everyone knows where we have come from and why things are the way they currently are. Knowing our shared history isn't an impediment to changing society as we grow and evolve but it increases understanding and that can be no bad thing.</p>
Daywatch2008-03-11T11:50:00+00:002008-03-11T11:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-11:/~alex/blog/2008/03/11/daywatch/<p>I watched the rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409904/">Daywatch</a> last night. The production values and Grime-Fi approach of the story is a real refreshing change from the your usual modern day fantasy fare. I have to say I'm surprised it's planned out as a trilogy though.</p>
<p>I was so tired after my very …</p><p>I watched the rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409904/">Daywatch</a> last night. The production values and Grime-Fi approach of the story is a real refreshing change from the your usual modern day fantasy fare. I have to say I'm surprised it's planned out as a trilogy though.</p>
<p>I was so tired after my very early start yesterday morning that I only made it half way through <a class="reference external" href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0425112/">Hot Fuzz</a> before I decided to call it a night and went to bed. Slept like a log though which was good :-)</p>
The Wind in the Wilderness2008-03-10T09:43:00+00:002008-03-10T09:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-10:/~alex/blog/2008/03/10/the-wind-in-the-wilderness/<p>I'm currently ensconced in Fliss' mum's house after getting up at denial a.m. to get Fliss to the station on time for the next stage in the odyssey that is fixing her knee. The winds are currently howling outside and I've already had one power cut (for about 5 …</p><p>I'm currently ensconced in Fliss' mum's house after getting up at denial a.m. to get Fliss to the station on time for the next stage in the odyssey that is fixing her knee. The winds are currently howling outside and I've already had one power cut (for about 5 minutes). Considering I'm currently on the right side of the country I wonder what the wind is like in Manchester at the moment. Hopefully the power and broadband will hold up for the next few days while I work from Sudbury. I'm heading back to Manchester on Wednesday evening and my last two days at Transitive before I head back down south again.</p>
<p>We spent Saturday in Nottingham for my brothers birthday (actually today, Happy Birthday Bro!). We enjoyed a number of pints while watching the poor England performance in the rugby before heading back to his place to chill-out while watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205873/">The Dish</a>. My brother still amazes me in his ability to efficiently store stuff in custom carpentry, he reminds me more of my grandfather every day :-)</p>
<p>Ironically the best Rugby of the weekend was yesterday in the Italy vs France match. My only hope is England salvages some of it's self respect next week. All the best to Wales in their final game, I think the odds of them beating the French have never been better.</p>
Science Cuts2008-03-07T12:08:00+00:002008-03-07T12:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-07:/~alex/blog/2008/03/07/981/<p>Due to the government's failure to properly fund science (for the frankly piddling £80m shortfall) several of our high profile experiments are <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7274956.stm">under threat</a>. Considering the amount spent bailing out Northern Rock or daily on the various wars they have started you would of thought they could find the …</p><p>Due to the government's failure to properly fund science (for the frankly piddling £80m shortfall) several of our high profile experiments are <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7274956.stm">under threat</a>. Considering the amount spent bailing out Northern Rock or daily on the various wars they have started you would of thought they could find the cash to help advance the state of knowledge in this country. One of the sillier cuts is pulling funding from <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodrell_Bank_Observatory">Jodrell Bank</a> and the pioneering <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MERLIN">e-Merlin</a> project after we have spent many millions <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7281176.stm">upgrading it</a>. Please sign the <a class="reference external" href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/jodrellfunding/">petition</a> and tell your friends.</p>
More quiet time2008-03-06T17:37:00+00:002008-03-06T17:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-03-06:/~alex/blog/2008/03/06/more-quiet-time/<p>I have been quite quiet over the last week or so for a variety of reasons. However I can break the silence about one thing today. I have a new (new) job. In just over a weeks time I shall be working for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgebroadband.com/">Cambridge Broadband Networks</a> based, funnily enough, in …</p><p>I have been quite quiet over the last week or so for a variety of reasons. However I can break the silence about one thing today. I have a new (new) job. In just over a weeks time I shall be working for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cambridgebroadband.com/">Cambridge Broadband Networks</a> based, funnily enough, in Cambridge.</p>
<p>Despite the ISP sounding name they are not in fact one. Their main business is microwave back-haul links for things like linking up satellite mobile phone masts to the main network without the need to lay expensive cables. They make extensive use of Linux and other open-source technologies and I was very impressed with their approach to meeting their obligations to the licenses. The project I'll be working on is also quite early on in it's inception so I'll be in at the "ground floor" when a lot of the important decisions are made.</p>
<p>Given our experience of our last move down south we are going to be taking our time finding somewhere to live. So the first few months will involve trying combinations of commuting from London and Cambridge while also doing a bit of work from Manchester around the weekends. However it's good to have some sort of direction to follow now.</p>
Maintaining the semblance of normaility2008-02-28T17:42:00+00:002008-02-28T17:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-28:/~alex/blog/2008/02/28/979/<p>I've updated the picture on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/">homepage</a> to make it a little more contemporary. Credit's for the image go to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chrisfleming.org/">Chris Flemming</a> who took it during the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=978">weekend in Scotland</a>. It turns out to be possible to get good pictures of me :-)</p>
Seen on the 'net2008-02-25T17:08:00+00:002008-02-25T17:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-25:/~alex/blog/2008/02/25/978/<p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/270632/">this</a> on the news feeds today. It's still too early to hope for a new stable release this year. Interestingly I did some hacking on <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/74754">vc-git.el</a> on Friday in an attempt to improve the annotate support. <em>vc-git.el</em> is now living in the emacs distribution proper but …</p><p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/270632/">this</a> on the news feeds today. It's still too early to hope for a new stable release this year. Interestingly I did some hacking on <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/74754">vc-git.el</a> on Friday in an attempt to improve the annotate support. <em>vc-git.el</em> is now living in the emacs distribution proper but unfortunately doesn't work with older emacs, I assume as part of the of the <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/87309/focus=89595">vc.el hacking</a> going on in the emacs development. It's probably worth putting some effort into pulling useful bits out of the emacs cvs and making the git contrib version play nicer for the time being.</p>
Rugby2008-02-25T16:11:00+00:002008-02-25T16:11:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-25:/~alex/blog/2008/02/25/rugby/<p>After sofa shopping we settled ourselves down for a nice afternoon of Rugby. We were joined by Mark, who had been abandoned by his wife for seats in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade_de_France">Stade de France</a>, and Anne. The most impressive game was the Wales vs Italy one - there where tries a-plenty as the …</p><p>After sofa shopping we settled ourselves down for a nice afternoon of Rugby. We were joined by Mark, who had been abandoned by his wife for seats in the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade_de_France">Stade de France</a>, and Anne. The most impressive game was the Wales vs Italy one - there where tries a-plenty as the Welsh got stuck into the Italians. We shall see if they can keep the momentum up when they meet the French - it will certainly be worth watching. During the Wales game we where joined by Chris and Paula who had stated an intent to pop in for a cup of tea and then head off for some shopping. They were very quickly lured into the festival of Rugby and ended up staying for the evening. The power of the Budda bags may have been a factor.</p>
<p>Having said that the Scotland vs Ireland game was rather dull so it proved and excellent opportunity to catch up with Paula while Chris and Mark where introduced to the delight of Lego: Star Wars. I was informed that they have had an inaugural dinner party so I look forward to further chances to catch up in the future :-)</p>
<p>The England <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A32714688">game</a> was exciting, although possibly not for all the best reasons. I unfortunately missed the early lead due to slightly optimistic estimation of the time it would take the Chinese take-away to fulfil our order. However the first half was pretty good (as it has been in the last few matches). My main concern was the second half where England have so far proved to be dodgy. As the second half started it seemed England were going to repeat their form of the last two matches and throw the game away. Luckily they picked up their game and were re-warded with their first second half try of the tournament. The results this weekend leave the tournament <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7262102.stm">nicely poised</a>, there is still plenty to play for. I look forward to it :-)</p>
The slow stiffling of the soul2008-02-25T11:55:00+00:002008-02-25T11:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-25:/~alex/blog/2008/02/25/the-slow-stiffling-of-the-soul/<p>The weekend has been full of many wondrous and varied things. However the main thing that stick in my mind have been sofa shopping, securing socrates, and the rugby.</p>
<p>We went out to DFS on Saturday morning and sat in a series of sofas trying to decide if they where …</p><p>The weekend has been full of many wondrous and varied things. However the main thing that stick in my mind have been sofa shopping, securing socrates, and the rugby.</p>
<p>We went out to DFS on Saturday morning and sat in a series of sofas trying to decide if they where acceptable. We deflected the over eager salesman and said we'd be back the next day (for that was the last day of the sale). We had a nice long lie in on Sunday but eventually extricated ourselves from the bed to go and buy the sofa around two in the afternoon. It turned out there where several furniture shops across the road in the <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=white+city,+manchester&sll=53.480712,-2.234377&sspn=0.068444,0.160675&ie=UTF8&ll=53.461351,-2.284067&spn=0.00214,0.005021&t=h&z=18">White City</a> retail park opposite DFS. I overcame my sofa buying weariness and we decided to check out the others. Luckily we found a nicer sofa <a class="reference external" href="http://www.csl-sofas.co.uk/corner-groups/">here</a> (the Fiori one). It will still be an 8 week delivery but we reckon it's got the "character" to go wherever we end up living. I still find the whole 0% APR falseness annoying but I might as well take it and leave the money in the bank if I can't get the price down for a cash sale.</p>
Impossible!2008-02-22T12:36:00+00:002008-02-22T12:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-22:/~alex/blog/2008/02/22/975/<p>So the government want to punish the ISP's if they don't <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7258437.stm">do the impossible</a>. The spokesman from ClaraNet on Today this morning (somewhere around <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today4_20080222.ram">here</a> I think) was fairly direct in his rebuttal. It was apparently "impossible", even if is wasn't impossible technically it would be legally. Well technically it …</p><p>So the government want to punish the ISP's if they don't <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7258437.stm">do the impossible</a>. The spokesman from ClaraNet on Today this morning (somewhere around <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today4_20080222.ram">here</a> I think) was fairly direct in his rebuttal. It was apparently "impossible", even if is wasn't impossible technically it would be legally. Well technically it would be possible, you could restrict the traffic to only that which ISP's could peak into, but I doubt anyone has thought through the consequences of that sort of approach yet.</p>
Cute2008-02-22T11:35:00+00:002008-02-22T11:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-22:/~alex/blog/2008/02/22/cute/<p>There is something inherently heart warming about watching one of your favourite childhood movies being re-told by your favourite <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Star_Wars_II:_The_Original_Trilogy">childhood toy</a>.</p>
Blu-Ray and CoD42008-02-19T15:50:00+00:002008-02-19T15:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-19:/~alex/blog/2008/02/19/blu-ray-and-cod4/<p>I see that Sony have "won" the battle for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7252506.stm">physical high definition media</a>. Unfortunately since the last firmware update my Japanese PS3 has rather taken against playing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc">Blu-ray discs</a>. It does however play <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DivX">DivX</a> files quite nicely (better than my ageing Cello DVD player). Given current trends I'm unlikely to …</p><p>I see that Sony have "won" the battle for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7252506.stm">physical high definition media</a>. Unfortunately since the last firmware update my Japanese PS3 has rather taken against playing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc">Blu-ray discs</a>. It does however play <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DivX">DivX</a> files quite nicely (better than my ageing Cello DVD player). Given current trends I'm unlikely to be buying any Blu-Ray discs for a while. The problem of the firmware is probably fixable once I (finally) get Linux up and running on the spare partition but I suspect the pain of the DRM will get in the way. Up till that point I shall have to get my Hi-Def joy via other means.</p>
<p>Which leads me nicely onto the topic of Call of Duty 4. I have mentioned the game in the past so I thought it might be worth a quick review.</p>
<p>First of the main game is very short. It doesn't take more than a few days of play to get through the game. When you do reach the end however wait until after the credits to play the last aircraft hostage mission. Once you finish you open up the Multiplayer and Arcade mode. Arcade mode is fairly fun for quick dipping in play should you want to know if you have cleared a level the best possible way. I can highly recommend giving the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC-130">AC-130</a> section several goes. It's quite a fun over the top level even if the infrared view is eerily close to the real video footage the real war PR departments churn out.</p>
<p>Multiplayer is however where a lot of attention has been payed. They haven't simply slapped a multi-player mode onto the existing engine and let people get on with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathmatch_%28gaming%29">deathmatches</a> (which is pretty much what <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_fall_of_man">R:FoM</a> did). Instead they have a full XP system and a series of un-lockable perks and weapon modifications. Once you gain the ability to create your own classes you will find yourself playing with particular weapons just to complete it's challenges. They also have added non-weapon based challenges (including things like downing a helicopter, or falling certain heights). There is also a wide range of game types from Free for All to Capture the Flag and other variants. My current favourite is Headquarters in which you take over an HQ and your re-spawns are stopped until the attackers over-run and destroy your base. All this variety means you are unlikely to get stuck in a rut being shot by camping teenagers in repetitive free-for-all games.</p>
<p>Having said that the muti-player does befit from the game engines attention to detail. Listen out for the direction sound of people running as they approach, creep around if you don't want to be heard. If you choose your camouflage carefully (and take the right perks) your <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghillie_suit">ghillie suited</a> sniper really does blend into the scenery. The variable protection offered by different types of scenery also comes into play, in fact one of the challenges is how many kills you can get through scenery. Last night I bagged someone who had retreated from the doorway but still stood the other side of a flimsy shed wall :-)</p>
<p>There are rumours that there will be some download-able content for CoD4 multi-player around spring. When it arrives Activision are almost certainly welcome to a few more of my hard earned pounds. CoD4 for the PS3 is a must have game for any fan of the FPS genre and I can highly recommend it!</p>
New Box2008-02-18T12:40:00+00:002008-02-18T12:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-18:/~alex/blog/2008/02/18/972/<p>I have a new hosted Xen box in Germany now. I decided that it was worth the rather small hosting fee to have at least one box I could configure that was unlikely to have it's incomming and outgoing ports filtered, limited or otherwise manipulated by consumer ISPs. I didn't …</p><p>I have a new hosted Xen box in Germany now. I decided that it was worth the rather small hosting fee to have at least one box I could configure that was unlikely to have it's incomming and outgoing ports filtered, limited or otherwise manipulated by consumer ISPs. I didn't help my setup though modifying the root password while tired and enjoying a rather fine wine with the household last night. I was sure I'd set it to a variant of one of my other <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passphrase">passphrase</a> based passwords but after a further 20 minutes of fruitless guessing I admitted defeat and had to start again. It is now set to a more random password but this is stored in several encrypted password safes. I have also got some ssh-key based logins set-up, I trust the maths more than my memory (or rather the memory of my long ssh key passphrase that I use every day to one I haven't used that much yet).</p>
<p>As it lives on the big bad 'net and is totally exposed to the outside world I need to spend a few days locking it down well. I'll need to be especially careful crafting the iptables firewall rules so I don't accidentally knock out my ssh access to the box on a firewall restart. I'm considering limiting the addresses that can ssh to it as an additional precaution.</p>
<p>The principle goal of the exercise is to migrate all my bennee.com mail to the new box. This way I should solve the problem of Virgin Media rate limiting my outgoing/forwarded aliased email. I'll also be able to upgrade to a newer email MUA without knocking out the current service. This brings me to the choice of MUA. Do I go with the next gen exim (exim4) or Postfix (as used on my Dad's Ubuntu box)? Any suggestions from the geeks?</p>
Old Legs2008-02-18T12:18:00+00:002008-02-18T12:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-18:/~alex/blog/2008/02/18/old-legs/<p>Fliss and I spent the weekend in Scotland, in <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=newton+stewart&ie=UTF8&z=14&iwloc=addr">Newton Stewart</a> to be precise. The gathering was an annual event to celebrate the birthdays of two of Fliss' friends from her days at Edinburgh. The 22 or so people had exclusively hired out the local youth hostel and provided a …</p><p>Fliss and I spent the weekend in Scotland, in <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=newton+stewart&ie=UTF8&z=14&iwloc=addr">Newton Stewart</a> to be precise. The gathering was an annual event to celebrate the birthdays of two of Fliss' friends from her days at Edinburgh. The 22 or so people had exclusively hired out the local youth hostel and provided a handy barrel of ale as well as cooking food on a grand scale. I was under instruction to bond (not tricky, everyone was very nice) and join the planned walk up to the top of <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=merrick,+newton+stewart&sll=40.66901,-73.55436&sspn=0.174472,0.32135&ie=UTF8&ll=55.114906,-4.467316&spn=0.06578,0.160675&t=p&z=13">Merrick</a>. The walk was a scant 16km, although it did incorporate a not inconsiderable 800m of climb, some of which was quite steep. The legs as usual where up to the walk but I fear the walk did test my currently poor aerobic fitness quite well. The success of the walk however did make the appreciation of the food and drink in the evening all the sweeter :-)</p>
More Lisp2008-02-12T20:32:00+00:002008-02-12T20:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-12:/~alex/blog/2008/02/12/970/<p>I continue to gain confidence with (Emacs) Lisp. I used to have a hacked up (my-find) function that worked reasonably well but was a bit flaky and capable of missing stuff in other languages. It turns out it's faster to ask <strong>git</strong> a lot of these questions if your working …</p><p>I continue to gain confidence with (Emacs) Lisp. I used to have a hacked up (my-find) function that worked reasonably well but was a bit flaky and capable of missing stuff in other languages. It turns out it's faster to ask <strong>git</strong> a lot of these questions if your working in a source controlled environment. A quick hack later and <em>f5</em> magically does that if it sees a .git directory when I start up. I feel I can justify mentioning the language on my CV :-)</p>
On IM's and data snooping2008-02-12T14:20:00+00:002008-02-12T14:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-12:/~alex/blog/2008/02/12/969/<p>Lee noticed I haven't been "on-line" for ages. What actually has happened is that I stopped using my various Yahoo IM accounts as they kept getting spammed every time I logged on. My MSN/Hotmail account seems to have died a while ago and the password I used to use …</p><p>Lee noticed I haven't been "on-line" for ages. What actually has happened is that I stopped using my various Yahoo IM accounts as they kept getting spammed every time I logged on. My MSN/Hotmail account seems to have died a while ago and the password I used to use no longer works. The webmail account with which it was associated died even longer ago so there isn't any practical way to resurrect it. So if you have a desire to get hold of me in an instant way (aside from good old SMS) I suggest you try either Google Talk or LJ Talk (which are both nice Jabber based IM networks).</p>
<p>As a brief aside the latest green paper from the government brings up the old favourite of ISP's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7240234.stm">monitoring</a> traffic. I'm sure the ISP's want the responsibility of tracking the petabytes of traffic across their networks like a hole in the head. They have been forced into shaping to a degree by their creaking networks. However shaping a heavily utilised broadband connection and snooping inside the traffic to see what it is are two very different tasks. As soon as something is encrypted it's game over for the snooper.</p>
Storms in tea-cups2008-02-11T15:55:00+00:002008-02-11T15:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-11:/~alex/blog/2008/02/11/968/<p>It seems that the Archbishop of Canterbury's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/07_02_08_islam.pdf">lecture</a> is still causing ructions in the news. Sadly it has lead to a great deal of hostile comment, most of which from people who have never read the text of lecture but see it as a chance to put the boot in …</p><p>It seems that the Archbishop of Canterbury's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/07_02_08_islam.pdf">lecture</a> is still causing ructions in the news. Sadly it has lead to a great deal of hostile comment, most of which from people who have never read the text of lecture but see it as a chance to put the boot in and have a go at "savage primitive muslims". Having read the text I fail to see where all the hysteria is coming from. He makes a quite reasoned argument for consensual involvement in religiously based arbitration within the bounds of existing British law. The reference to adoption of Islamic law being "unavoidable" is about the most selective sensationalist quoting I have seen by the media in a long time.</p>
<p>Please don't misunderstand me. I'm a secularist by nature. I believe in equality of treatment under the law. I think the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_england">Church of England</a> doesn't have any place being the official church of the state - we have no need for one. At the same time I'm happy for various members of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_lords">House of Lords</a> to be from the major faiths. Even if I disagree with their beliefs I recognise they can contribute to the debate. I have strong issues with framing laws in statute that refer to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3753408.stm">certain religious doctrines</a>. I have some misgivings that the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3873323.stm">religious hatred</a> laws give religions too much cover against being questioned and satirised.</p>
<p>At the same time I recognise that accommodating people who wish to settle disputes through something other than our civil court system is reasonable and aids social cohesion. While we have to be beware that people don't feel pressurised to take a particular course of action by local culture or family these are things for more measured and sensible debate.</p>
The matches so far...2008-02-09T19:05:00+00:002008-02-09T19:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-09:/~alex/blog/2008/02/09/967/<p>I'm currently down south having spent Thursday night mingling with the great and the good of the London IT world. I two interviews on Friday, one physical and one phone one. I wasn't really taken with the Cambridge job but the virtual distro one seemed quite tempting. I have another …</p><p>I'm currently down south having spent Thursday night mingling with the great and the good of the London IT world. I two interviews on Friday, one physical and one phone one. I wasn't really taken with the Cambridge job but the virtual distro one seemed quite tempting. I have another phone interview next week for the 'net company. We shall see how it goes.</p>
<p>The rugby so far has been pretty good. The Scotland-Wales game was not as exciting but Wales certainly have the bit between their teeth. We shall see how they do when they are against Ireland or France though. The Ireland-France game however was a lot more exciting and I certainly feel bad for Ireland after all the effort they put into the game in the second half. Hopefully England will find their form again tomorrow. If they can't beat Italy we really don't deserve any silverware this year.</p>
Mobile hacking and job hunting2008-02-07T17:50:00+00:002008-02-07T17:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-07:/~alex/blog/2008/02/07/966/<p>I'm taking a break from trying to get this Mac to talk to the Internet via my phone. Considering how easy it was to get the company VPN connection set-up I'm a little disappointed by the uncharacteristic kludge of mobile 'net. To be fair the Bluetooth pairing went very smoothly …</p><p>I'm taking a break from trying to get this Mac to talk to the Internet via my phone. Considering how easy it was to get the company VPN connection set-up I'm a little disappointed by the uncharacteristic kludge of mobile 'net. To be fair the Bluetooth pairing went very smoothly. However the 'net connection starts talking about GPRS CID's without any real hint as to where you are meant to get it from.</p>
<p>Browsing the various forums (a little painful in Opera Mini on the small screen of my phone) brings up a variety of contradictory comments as to what it means. Some seem to imply it's a magic number in the phone that I need to tell the Mac about. Other posts seem to say it's something that is set up by the pairing process. Also it's not helped that their is a password associated with my 'net connection that is hidden by the phones helpful *'s.</p>
<p>Yesterday I started what was described as a process that could take up to 90 days for a job at a (the) major 'net company. It was the first of several phone interviews which I need to get past before I even meet anyone face to face. The chat was very amiable and relaxed before moving onto the self assessment section. There 1-10 scale goes from "I know nothing" to "I wrote the book/invented it" so I don't feel to bad about the generally low score I gave myself. Having said that this company does employ several people that have actually invented the 'net. The technical question where just screening ones to get a general idea of the level I'm at. I suspect I'm going to have to brush up on some of the computer "science" terminology before the next call. While I have a fairly good understanding of the engineering side of algorithms I don't express them in CS terms. In fact I'd go on to say that in most of my roles you generally tend to cheat to ensure things come out ready sorted or in useful order so you need not worry about your set size.</p>
<p>It will certainly be an interesting process. It's heartening that my friends seem to think I'm up to the task even if I think it looks little daunting from the start line :-)</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> Yet again the it's very simple (too simple for me). Just ignore all the gubins about accounts and modem settings and select "Join <em>Your phones name</em>'s Network" from the Bluetooth drop down menu. It seems the concept of modems is something you only need with older phones. Who would of thunk it?</p>
Nostalgia2008-02-06T19:15:00+00:002008-02-06T19:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-06:/~alex/blog/2008/02/06/nostalgia/<p>I wondered down to visit my old colleagues from the Braddahead days
for lunch today. Since the acquisition (and subsequent collapse of the
acquiring company) they have set up shop as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.streamscale.net/">Streamscale</a> and are working on upgrading and
developing the CCTV system I started on over 5 years ago. They …</p><p>I wondered down to visit my old colleagues from the Braddahead days
for lunch today. Since the acquisition (and subsequent collapse of the
acquiring company) they have set up shop as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.streamscale.net/">Streamscale</a> and are working on upgrading and
developing the CCTV system I started on over 5 years ago. They even
have the original Debian development servers I set-up all that time
ago. We went to the pub and spent the time swapping war stories of
redundancy and poor timing as well as a bit of discussion on how the
technology had moved on. I also got to find out the reason behind some
of those niggling little bugs I hadn't gotten to the bottom of when I
left Baxalls. I'm glad to see it's all still going. The Vivid DVR is
still an amazing piece of kit and has got quite a lot of potential to
do clever stuff given the software system design, even if I do say so
myself :-)</p>
Busy2008-02-05T18:13:00+00:002008-02-05T18:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-05:/~alex/blog/2008/02/05/964/<p>Now Google Calender sends me helpful SMS messages for meetings I've started filling in more of my day to day events in it. My current schedule looks quite busy with a number of phone interviews and tradesmen quote visits scattered all over the week. I hardly miss my chirping little …</p><p>Now Google Calender sends me helpful SMS messages for meetings I've started filling in more of my day to day events in it. My current schedule looks quite busy with a number of phone interviews and tradesmen quote visits scattered all over the week. I hardly miss my chirping little Palm at all. One thing I do need however is a password safe, preferably one which will run on my mobile phone. Needless to say it should be open source :-)</p>
<p>It's pancake day today. I was going to enquire as to any Knights Fat Wappa events but as Fliss was going to London I made her pancakes this morning. It was very much appreciated but I don't think I'll be scoffing another boatload this evening. I sense a nice glass of wine and tonight's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/index.shtml">Horizon</a> in my future today. There may be some work orientated VPN fiddling as well although I'm told it's a breeze to set-up on a Mac.</p>
Defeat by the Red Dragon2008-02-04T12:58:00+00:002008-02-04T12:58:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-04:/~alex/blog/2008/02/04/defeat-by-the-red-dragon/<p>Most of Saturday was taken up with the Rugby. We tried a new layout of the front room so we could fit everyone in front of the TV. We more or less succeeded although without the backing of the wall the Buddha bags do tend to achieve a rather flat …</p><p>Most of Saturday was taken up with the Rugby. We tried a new layout of the front room so we could fit everyone in front of the TV. We more or less succeeded although without the backing of the wall the Buddha bags do tend to achieve a rather flat wide aspect. Fliss has convinced me of the benefits of moving to a sofa. Comfy as I find them the ease of extracting yourself from a sofa is becoming more appealing.</p>
<p>The games themselves were good. I don't remember much about the Ireland game except they had a reasonably easy time of it except for a few injuries. The England-Wales game was the main event. It started well with England taking an early lead and the Welsh supporters voicing their hopes it wouldn't be a total embarrassment. This probably made the victory taste even sweeter when England forgot to play well and Wales having stopped kicking the ball about got some good grinding play in to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7224631.stm">go ahead</a>.</p>
<p>Sunday not much happened except me waiting for a tradesmen to turn up to price the decorating job. We have however started in earnest on the second season of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(TV_series)">The Wire</a> as well as a review of the original (new) series of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_%28re-imagining%29">Battlestar Galactica</a> for the benefit of Will and Fliss. We are all hopelessly out of sync for various TV shows so I'll have to catch the latest lost at some point when everyone is away from the TV :-)</p>
xkcd2008-02-02T22:20:00+00:002008-02-02T22:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-02:/~alex/blog/2008/02/02/962/<p>I swear the HTML for <a class="reference external" href="http://xkcd.com">xkcd</a> is a revelation.</p>
Only Google...2008-02-01T16:04:00+00:002008-02-01T16:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-02-01:/~alex/blog/2008/02/01/961/<p>Only Google could disappoint investors with a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7221170.stm">17% rise in profits</a> over the last quarter. Considering many companies are going to find this year a tricky on to actually make money you could think the market is being a little harsh. It was interesting that the next story I saw …</p><p>Only Google could disappoint investors with a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7221170.stm">17% rise in profits</a> over the last quarter. Considering many companies are going to find this year a tricky on to actually make money you could think the market is being a little harsh. It was interesting that the next story I saw on my feed was Microsoft getting it's not inconsiderable wodge out <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7222114.stm">for Yahoo</a>. I have a fair amount of respect for Yahoo but the last innovative thing they did was <a class="reference external" href="http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/">their mash-up engine</a>. Absorption by Microsoft could give them the cash injection to take on Google or they could be pressed into making Yahoo a Windows only portal and therefor irrelevant for a growing percentage of 'net users. I wasn't sad the day my login for Hotmail and MSN died, I wonder if they same will be said for my various Yahoo logins in a years time?</p>
Rhythmbox Shuffle2008-01-30T12:41:00+00:002008-01-30T12:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-30:/~alex/blog/2008/01/30/960/<p>It seems I'm not the only one unconvinced by Rhythmbox's shuffle mode. No sooner I mention it on the local IRC than one of my colleges points at some work he <a class="reference external" href="http://mail.gnome.org/archives/rhythmbox-devel/2007-December/msg00146.html">did over Christmas</a>. While I've not got time to start running around patching my work box with a suitable …</p><p>It seems I'm not the only one unconvinced by Rhythmbox's shuffle mode. No sooner I mention it on the local IRC than one of my colleges points at some work he <a class="reference external" href="http://mail.gnome.org/archives/rhythmbox-devel/2007-December/msg00146.html">did over Christmas</a>. While I've not got time to start running around patching my work box with a suitable new version I am now using the "hidden feature" of clicking Shuffle and Repeat which turns on the true random mode rather than the list based mode which is somehow flawed. According to Dave he's looked at the shuffle code which looks right and should ensure every song is played only once before it is regenerated. However the last few days I've been having repeating songs within 4 or so hours and my library is somewhere in the region of 8000 songs. It's been posited the list is either wrong or being regenerated too often. I'll add it to the list of things to look at should I ever have time.</p>
WAP Day2008-01-27T13:21:00+00:002008-01-27T13:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-27:/~alex/blog/2008/01/27/959/<p>With the chaos of the last few weeks behind us we decided to take the opportunity of weekend for some old school lazing. It was much appreciated. The big screen background for yesterday was provided by the ever excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/">Withnail and I</a>, the absurdly over the top <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337978/">Die Hard 4 …</a></p><p>With the chaos of the last few weeks behind us we decided to take the opportunity of weekend for some old school lazing. It was much appreciated. The big screen background for yesterday was provided by the ever excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/">Withnail and I</a>, the absurdly over the top <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337978/">Die Hard 4.0</a> and the outrageously funny <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0888817/">Family Guy: Blue Harvest</a>.</p>
<p>There is not much to say about Withnail except that if you have yet to see it it's well worth taking the time to. It's an eminently quotable film as was demonstrated by Fliss and Will last night who had to stop themselves echoing the lines throughout the film. Wine is pretty much essential to the viewing experience. It's a film for one of those slow days :-)</p>
<p>Die Hard was pretty much as you would expect from the Bruce Willis franchise. The action is over the top, the destruction of bits of the city fairly comprehensive and McClane's anti-hero demeanor as fun to watch as normal. The plot involves computer hackers but is fairly irrelevant to the story so the Hollywood approach to cracking security systems didn't grate with me too much. Having said that I think I did see a Unix command line in the opening credits and as far as I can remember they avoided to any 3D cracking sequences with animated blobs for security programs.</p>
<p>The Family Guy Star Wars spoof is classic Family Guy humor. I'm assuming they are owned by Fox because they seemed to have access to a lot of the original score and sound effects from the film. It was very funny but given it's length probably not quite the �9 the DVD is currently on sale for.</p>
<p>I took the opportunity to cook Toad in the Hole last night following Delia's recipe (saving slightly different batter consistency). All went well apart from the slight covering of Insanity Sauce I gained when opening one of the kitchen cupboards. I should have removed my trousers sooner as the sauce soaked though and has since imbued my thighs with an interesting warmth. I have no cooking to do tonight as Will has offered to cook for everyone.</p>
Finding a Trade2008-01-25T13:50:00+00:002008-01-25T13:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-25:/~alex/blog/2008/01/25/958/<p>Now I based back in Manchester I have spent the last few days of unemployed freedom trying to achive a few things.</p>
<p>Yesterday I visited Alison and Rosie, somthing I failed to do when she gave birth as I had been running around aranging my move down south. Both where …</p><p>Now I based back in Manchester I have spent the last few days of unemployed freedom trying to achive a few things.</p>
<p>Yesterday I visited Alison and Rosie, somthing I failed to do when she gave birth as I had been running around aranging my move down south. Both where well even if I was exposed to some interesting machinery. I even saw Sam as he popped around while I was there. I found myself having to appologise for laughing at his recent troubles. I guess scatological topics are inherently funny.</p>
<p>After a quick lunch with Lee, Ste and Lucy I popped into my old office to say hi to new (old) colleges. I shall be testing the IT departments employee archival procedures to the full on Monday.</p>
<p>After Fliss got home I cooked a meal and we watched some TV. There was an abortive attempt to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492492/">Sleeping Dogs</a> which was on my rental list. It turned out to be quite a bad film, badly paced and much like watching a slow car crash. We instead retreated to a few episodes of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Life_%28television%29">The High Life</a>.</p>
<p>Today has been spent looking for tradesmen. Now we are based back in Manchester I need to make good on my promise to give Fliss a proper office. However I'm tired of DIY (and it's more prone to delay) so I'm putting the job out to tender. Unfortunately opening the yellow pages and working through the list seemed like too much effort. So far my record of selecting decent people from general listings has been 50/50. Nothing really beats personal recommendation. So I've gone for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ratedpeople.com/">service</a> that hopefully will combine the best of a rating system and making other people do the work (which lets face it's why I'm paying people :-). We shall see how it goes.</p>
Frenetic2008-01-21T15:55:00+00:002008-01-21T15:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-21:/~alex/blog/2008/01/21/957/<p>This morning has been highly frenetic. I have put the flat rental on hold (which blows away the 250 pounds of agency fees). I've spent what seems like the entire morning making phone calls to various job agencies as well as my previous employers. I've fixed my CV script which …</p><p>This morning has been highly frenetic. I have put the flat rental on hold (which blows away the 250 pounds of agency fees). I've spent what seems like the entire morning making phone calls to various job agencies as well as my previous employers. I've fixed my CV script which was broken on the new machine because of the change in PHP's handling of global varaibles from POST methods. It is unlikely to be the last change however, some agencies think that PDF is a little too cross-platform for their likeing and prefer Word Documents. I'll be blowed if I'm going through the "Save as HTML/Open Word/Load as HTML/Save as Doc" cycle for every custom CV they request. I've generally been as productive as any unemployed bum can be.</p>
<p>The upshot of which is I'll be back in Manchester on Wednesday and starting a new job on Monday at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com">Transitive</a> (again). I'll be on a short term contract (with possible extensions) and an honest understanding with my boss that I will be looking for other jobs down south. I'm pretty happy with the outcome as I can continue in a job I enjoyed and Fliss can spend a bit more time learning to love Manchester. In the long term I still expect we will make the move down south but this way I can take my time and I don't have to be bounced into taking any old job for lack of pennies. There are a couple of irons in the fire but we shall see how it goes.</p>
Curveball Central2008-01-20T18:12:00+00:002008-01-20T18:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-20:/~alex/blog/2008/01/20/956/<p>There are some times in life when you get pitched a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curveball">curveball</a>. But before I launch into that topic perhaps a little reflection of the last week should be in order.</p>
<p>I've spent the last week in the Austrian resort town of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B6ll">Soll</a> on skiing holiday with the family. The …</p><p>There are some times in life when you get pitched a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curveball">curveball</a>. But before I launch into that topic perhaps a little reflection of the last week should be in order.</p>
<p>I've spent the last week in the Austrian resort town of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B6ll">Soll</a> on skiing holiday with the family. The conditions where fantastic and only marred by the fact that Fliss couldn't join me for more than few days on the slopes. Still it was good to get out on the slopes and get confidence back about what I was actually doing with a pair of skis. All in all I came back from the holiday pretty relaxed and looking forward to starting my new job on Monday.</p>
<p>Given the late hour of our arrival I only got around to checking my email this morning. The email from my soon to be new employer with the title "Alexis Bennee" did set off some alarm bells. As did the first line that ended with the line "bearer of this bad news". The final upshot of the email was that MIPS had, while I was away, decided to have a corporate round of operating cost reductions and redundancies. It seems I am to be made redundant for a second time will still in my thirties. The immediate effect of course is to stay any signing of paperwork that incurs any further financial burden on my strained financial situation. Although the news came as a bit of a shock on a Sunday morning it does open up an intriguing set of possibilities. For the short term it looks like I shall be moving back to Manchester and attempting to secure some sort of short term income. However the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=941">original reason</a> for the intended move down south hasn't really changed so a relocation to the region of shandy drinkers still remains a possibility. Having said that now does seem as good as time as any to pursue the roll of mercenary contractor.</p>
<p>In summary don't worry about me, I am not likely to starve in the next few weeks. If you however know of any jobs that may be within my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">skill set</a> then please don't feel shy in letting me know ;-)</p>
Writing up tomorrow now2008-01-11T18:19:00+00:002008-01-11T18:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-11:/~alex/blog/2008/01/11/955/<p>Tonight shall be an early night, I have still to pack for the Ski holiday which starts at an exceptionally deniable 0300 hours tomorrow. Fliss is making noises about not accessing the 'net for the week so I'm gathering and transcribing my thoughts now.</p>
<p>We have a place to live …</p><p>Tonight shall be an early night, I have still to pack for the Ski holiday which starts at an exceptionally deniable 0300 hours tomorrow. Fliss is making noises about not accessing the 'net for the week so I'm gathering and transcribing my thoughts now.</p>
<p>We have a place to live! After much searching and despite my pre-viewing misgivings we have in fact decided to live above the CO-OP. There where a few factors that helped swing it and to be honest the cheaper rent was a bonus. It's actually a surprisingly spacious flat so we will get separate lairs to retreat to when we need space. The living room is actually quite big and the kitchen well appointed (if a little crooked) with a gas hob and double oven. We get a fair area of the flat roof outside and the landlords (the CO-OP) are quite reasonable about things like picture hooks and tacking cables. Anne warned about street noise but to be honest with the double glazing (in substantially better condition than the 4 year old new build) compared to both Manchester and London I think it will be quieter. We even double checked with the CO-OP when their deliveries are and they are restricted to between 7am to 7pm. Fundamentally the flat had "character" which we where more happy to live with than the more expensive and smaller "executive" flat. The fact it's very convenient for food and wine is also a big win.</p>
<p>Expect a few months from us moving in before the house warming invite goes out. We shall no doubt be shuttling between Manchester and Cambridge for a bit as we move in piece by piece :-)</p>
Dropping Off Google2008-01-10T13:24:00+00:002008-01-10T13:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-10:/~alex/blog/2008/01/10/954/<p>My parents where a little concerned to find their company <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lucidata.com">website</a> had dropped of Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=lucidata">search</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=lucidata%20data-communications">index</a>. In fact the mirror copy on this server (which curiously isn't linked to from anywhere) turned up higher in the search index. In fact searching using the <strong>site:</strong> keyword shows <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Awww.lucidata.com&btnG=Search">no results</a> (which …</p><p>My parents where a little concerned to find their company <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lucidata.com">website</a> had dropped of Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=lucidata">search</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=lucidata%20data-communications">index</a>. In fact the mirror copy on this server (which curiously isn't linked to from anywhere) turned up higher in the search index. In fact searching using the <strong>site:</strong> keyword shows <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Awww.lucidata.com&btnG=Search">no results</a> (which compares to the 500 or so of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Awww.bennee.com&btnG=Search">this domain</a>).</p>
<p>One reason could be the pages are a little stale. The majority of work over the last few years has been bespoke stuff or shipping existing units which hasn't mandated an update to the web pages for a while. The other thing I noticed is that a lot of the higher search hits where <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_farm">link farms</a>. I know Google has various algorithms for punishing link farms but I'm not sure if that extends to the domain they link to (which would be anoying as they never asked to be added to a link farm).</p>
Going Mobile2008-01-08T14:33:00+00:002008-01-08T14:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-08:/~alex/blog/2008/01/08/going-mobile/<p>I spent bits of yesterday getting final meter readings in and cancelling my Sky account. The rest of it was taken up with a fair amount of cursing at <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_duty_4">Call of Duty 4</a> as I struggled my way through act 3. Having the rest of the household point out the …</p><p>I spent bits of yesterday getting final meter readings in and cancelling my Sky account. The rest of it was taken up with a fair amount of cursing at <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_duty_4">Call of Duty 4</a> as I struggled my way through act 3. Having the rest of the household point out the danger of hand grenades every time I bit the dust again didn't help that much. I'm really quite enjoying the game but it does get quite hard in places. I'm tempted to say it's one of the best FPS games I've played and I'll stick my neck out and say the experience is probably better than playing on the PC. After all not many PC's have the wide-screen display my PS3 does. Although a lot of PC gamers pour scorn on the controller vs the classic mouse and keyboard I think it's actually a better control method. The two sticks give quite fine control when you are maneuverings and of course all the buttons for grenades and weapon switched are in ergonomically helpful places.</p>
<p>I switched my mobile tariff a few days ago to one that included a decent amount of data. I subsidised this by dropping the number of free minutes as I wasn't quite using all 900 every month. As a result I've been playing with the mobile web.</p>
<p>First up is <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_mini">Opera Mini</a>. It's a little Java app that runs on your phone and runs as a clipping browser. This means it takes normal non-phone optimised web-pages and attempts to render them in a vaguely sensible form. Generally it works very well although I personally preferred the older versions rendering of the BBC new site. The new version added a panning display instead of forcing the text to flow down one column which was a little simpler to read. The only website that has so far failed is the ever present <a class="reference external" href="www.facebook.com">Facebook</a> and that could just be down to finger trouble.</p>
<p>I've also played with some of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Google_services">Google services</a>. Of all the services <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Calendar">Google Calender</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps">Google Maps</a> (separate application) are the most mature. The calender functionality is basic but enough to check your appointments while on the go. Adding a simple events with a natural language (e.g. "Meeting at 1400 tomorrow") works well enough. Given the growing ubiquity of mobile data services I can see my days as a loyal <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm%2C_Inc.">Palm</a> user coming to an end. I've been using the calender a lot over the last year and especially like the ability to have different ones with different collaboration profiles. It's extremely handy for Fliss and I to have one shared calender for all out activities (even though I suspect I rely more on electronic memory augmentation than Fliss does). If the <a class="reference external" href="http://code.google.com/soc/2007/gnome/appinfo.html?csaid=752B5B84A5A50C80">integration with Evolution</a> pans out it will pretty much solve all my calender requirements.</p>
<p>The Google Maps application warns you it is data-intensive but on modern 3G networks it still runs pretty quickly. They have taken care with the design of the UI, especially in the zoom control. You can very quickly get a map of the right scale for navigation in the limited space of a phone display. The only disappointment is the non-GPS <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=81869&ctx=sibling">"My Location"</a> service isn't supported on my phone. The list of supported devices is a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=81871&topic=12595">little vague</a>.</p>
<p>There is not much to say about the mobile version of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_reader">Google Reader</a> except that it works reasonably well. However I suspect the reading of large numbers of RSS feeds is going to hard to optimise for a mobile phone sized screen.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Apps">Google Apps</a> is also available in a limited mobile flavour. You can't edit documents but you can certainly view documents and spreadsheets (if you select desktop mode, the default spreadsheet view is one column at a time which isn't all that useful) with Opera Mini. I don't expect to be using it much but it certainly could be useful if you just want to check the last time you called a certain utility company while in the pub.</p>
<p>The last app I played with was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.xk72.com/midpssh/">MidpSSH</a> which is a GPL'ed Java ssh client implementation. I doubt you will be wanting to do much with the hassle of text-typing to the command line but it may prove useful for an emergency server reboot or service restart. Having said that I haven't managed to log onto one of my boxes yet (I haven't tried very hard yet).</p>
Continuation2008-01-05T01:05:00+00:002008-01-05T01:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-05:/~alex/blog/2008/01/05/952/<p>House hunting continued today. There was much messing about with mobile phones and reschedules and I've managed to book myself two viewings for Denial A.M. tomorrow before I drive back to Manchester. The spreadsheet (and gut feeling) seem to be gravitating towards the flat I saw yesterday although I …</p><p>House hunting continued today. There was much messing about with mobile phones and reschedules and I've managed to book myself two viewings for Denial A.M. tomorrow before I drive back to Manchester. The spreadsheet (and gut feeling) seem to be gravitating towards the flat I saw yesterday although I am doing a second viewing to confirm. I saw some of the cheaper places today and wasn't impressed. If tomorrows 695 property proves to be anything other than a grotty dive I will be very surprised.</p>
<p>Current plans are to be in Manchester until Wednesday (driving down during the day) and then I won't be back until the weekend after I start the new job.</p>
Notes on House Hunting2008-01-04T03:09:00+00:002008-01-04T03:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-04:/~alex/blog/2008/01/04/951/<p>I've spent most of today house hunting. After seven years of comfortable living in my frankly over-sized house I'm finding it tricky to walk into a 2/3 bed house and visualise the two of us living in it. The cheapest one I saw today was 695 pcm but there …</p><p>I've spent most of today house hunting. After seven years of comfortable living in my frankly over-sized house I'm finding it tricky to walk into a 2/3 bed house and visualise the two of us living in it. The cheapest one I saw today was 695 pcm but there were several things I wasn't happy with (ground floor security, potential damp). I did see a nice 2nd floor two bedroom flat in the city centre which was quite modern and spacious but it came with a rather hefty price tag of 895 pcm (before bills). It did seem slightly incongruous that it had 2 whole bathrooms in it although I admit the idea of an en-suite seems slightly luxurious :-)</p>
<p>While I am getting a bit of a salary lift for the move down south crunching the numbers does induce a slight flutter. It's potentially going to take a while to sell my house and paying rent just seems like wasted money. Unfortunately it's just not feasible to be in a sell/buy chain when moving to a new area.</p>
<p>When I saw my current house it was obvious to me I could live in it. So far none of the houses today have jumped out and made a great impression on me. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I'd like to get this bit out of the way and sorted as soon as possible so I can get back to Fliss in Manchester and start preparing for my holiday. However I don't want to make the wrong choice for where we live for the next 6-12 months. I really hope finding the house we shall finally buy will be a less depressing affair.</p>
The Festive Period2008-01-01T22:39:00+00:002008-01-01T22:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2008-01-01:/~alex/blog/2008/01/01/950/<p>Happy New Year to all my friends/readers/associates/internet lurkers. I hope 2008 brings you everything you wish for.</p>
<p>It has been quite a punishing schedule for the last few weeks. The day after I finished at Transitive we headed straight down to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury%2C_Suffolk">Sudbury</a> to stay with Fliss' mum …</p><p>Happy New Year to all my friends/readers/associates/internet lurkers. I hope 2008 brings you everything you wish for.</p>
<p>It has been quite a punishing schedule for the last few weeks. The day after I finished at Transitive we headed straight down to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury%2C_Suffolk">Sudbury</a> to stay with Fliss' mum. Over the next few days I mostly wapped out, practised flying my helicopter and did some light <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/See-MIPS-Run-Dominic-Sweetman/dp/0120884216/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199222552&sr=1-1">reading</a> in preparation for my new job.</p>
<p>We spent Christmas morning going through stocking presents before heading over to my folks in time for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_Damned_(Doctor_Who)">Doctor Who</a>. The main Bennee Christmas was offset for a day when we had Fliss' mum around for the full meal on Boxing Day. We went for a non-commercial Christmas this year which had made choosing presents <a class="reference external" href="http://www.oxfam.org/en/donate/unwrapped">pretty easy</a>.</p>
<p>We headed back up to Manchester in time for the now traditional Ste birthday party. It was a little quieter this year but was still an enjoyable affair. We popped back a few days later to pick up my spare bed and Fliss got a taste of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_warcraft">WarCrack</a>. Hopefully the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero_III:_Legends_of_Rock">Guitar Hero</a> I got her for Christmas will provide enough gaming excitement that she doesn't feel the need to get a WarCrack account on her machine.</p>
<p>The New Year was celebrated in Edinburgh this year. Although it was mainly in a house party we did head outside to see the fireworks as the new year rolled in. I felt particularly classy drinking champagne from the bottle while surrounded by what seemed to be hordes of 12 year olds. The boy who insisted he was a Tory (or at least would be when he could vote) was especially amusing.</p>
<p>We enjoyed a massive fry-up courtesy of more of the Edinburgh contingent before heading back to Manchester with Frank in tow. I am now planing on striking up a few power chords before getting an early night. I'm back in Cambridge tomorrow doing some last minute house hunting trying to find a place to live.</p>
Helicopter2007-12-23T11:42:00+00:002007-12-23T11:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-23:/~alex/blog/2007/12/23/949/<p>I was touched by my former work colleagues presents for my leaving do. They got me several bottles of beer, some really nice wine as well as a print out of an old O'Reily poster of the "Anatomy of a Linux system". However the best present was a remote control …</p><p>I was touched by my former work colleagues presents for my leaving do. They got me several bottles of beer, some really nice wine as well as a print out of an old O'Reily poster of the "Anatomy of a Linux system". However the best present was a remote control helicopter. The controls take a little bit of getting used to but it's really cool :-)</p>
Site has moved2007-12-18T11:23:00+00:002007-12-18T11:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-18:/~alex/blog/2007/12/18/948/<p>You shouldn't notice anything at all (except the disappearance of the wiki and picture archives). Bennee.com is now being hosted on my Dad's <a class="reference external" href="http://selwynet.co.uk/">server</a>. The old server can still be found at <a class="reference external" href="http://oldwww.bennee.com">oldwww.bennee.com</a> until it gets switched off (around the time I move to a new house …</p><p>You shouldn't notice anything at all (except the disappearance of the wiki and picture archives). Bennee.com is now being hosted on my Dad's <a class="reference external" href="http://selwynet.co.uk/">server</a>. The old server can still be found at <a class="reference external" href="http://oldwww.bennee.com">oldwww.bennee.com</a> until it gets switched off (around the time I move to a new house).</p>
<p>I've not been using the Wiki for ages although I suppose there is still some junk stored within it's pages that may be useful to the odd crawling search engine. My plan is to migrate the data to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki">MediaWiki</a> but it's not a super high priority. I'll probably start using Facebook/Flickr/A.N.Other Picture site to host pictures in future seeing as it saves on killing the bandwidth on domestic broadband lines. I'm open to suggestions, as long as it is an open service and doesn't require weird add Flash plugins to bulk upload pictures.</p>
<p>Next step, re-configure the email server to handle multiple domain email drops.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Well that didn't go quite as well as expected. Anyway email is still being delivered to the bennee.com domain at the moment. I've set up an additional alias of <a class="reference external" href="https://webmail.bennee.com/">webmail.bennee.com</a> which still connects to the old server.</p>
Irony2007-12-17T16:07:00+00:002007-12-17T16:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-17:/~alex/blog/2007/12/17/947/<p>The definition <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Understanding-Intelligent-Lifestyle-Paperback/dp/1592575552">of it</a>.</p>
The last few days2007-12-17T14:29:00+00:002007-12-17T14:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-17:/~alex/blog/2007/12/17/946/<p>As I enter the last 5 days at <cite>Transitive <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTransit></cite> a quick re-cap of my weekend is in order.</p>
<p>I'd taken Friday off to look after Fliss post her tooth operation. Unfortunately we also had tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasha_%28DJ%29">Sasha</a> at the Warehouse project for Jo's birthday …</p><p>As I enter the last 5 days at <cite>Transitive <https: en.wikipedia.org="" quicktransit="" wiki=""></https:></cite> a quick re-cap of my weekend is in order.</p>
<p>I'd taken Friday off to look after Fliss post her tooth operation. Unfortunately we also had tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasha_%28DJ%29">Sasha</a> at the Warehouse project for Jo's birthday celebrations. Fliss was keen that I shouldn't miss out and thanks to Mufi coming around to look after her I was able to head into town for the rave. I didn't stay the full event as I needed to get home at some sort of reasonable time (the actual event finished at 5am). I did get a chance to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Zabiela">James Zabiela</a> who was on before him.</p>
<p>The venue is in someways an improvement on the site they had last year. Being essentially an underground car park under <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Piccadilly_station">Manchester Piccadilly</a> the acoustics are much better than the echo infested <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=756">aluminium box</a> of last year. However the temperature was also very variable. If you were crushed up in the main mass it was fine but the rest of the area could get quite chilly (it was below zero outside). The toilets where a retrograde step, last year we had ceramic toilets in portable loo blocks, this year it was blue box chemical toilets which by all accounts got a bit grim. Still I managed to bounce away for a good few hours before returning home with TJ to find Mufi and Fliss watching films.</p>
<p>Saturday was a low effort day which mainly involved me following Fliss around the supermarket as she brought food for the next two days. We had Lee and Kell visit for an evening meal which was fun. He turned down Fliss' lovely Chicken Catachori in favour a Chicken burgers but at least we tried. To his credit he only went for one scoop of ice-cream :-)</p>
<p>I was quite shattered from the previous night so I went to bed quite early on Saturday evening after having fallen asleep in the Budda Bag snuggling next to Fliss.</p>
<p>We had Mufi and TJ, Mark and Helen, and Aidan and Gillian around for Sunday dinner yesterday. Fliss cooked a massive ham while I had another go at making the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/melting-chocolate-puddings,1403,RC.html">melting chocolate puddings</a>. By the end of the evening we were all quite stuffed. All that was left was for the boys to get a massive whupping playing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabble">Scrabble</a> despite some valiant attempts to catch up. After everyone had headed home I ended up having yet another early night. In retrospect this was probably a good thing given the denial a.m. I got out of bed this morning so go to the train station for Fliss' 9.15 train.</p>
Anyone fancy beer Thursday?2007-12-15T17:51:00+00:002007-12-15T17:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-15:/~alex/blog/2007/12/15/945/<p>I thought Thursday evening in town would be a good chance for people to exchange cards and such. Who's up for it?</p>
The Angst of House Selling2007-12-14T12:09:00+00:002007-12-14T12:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-14:/~alex/blog/2007/12/14/944/<p>Well I've just got my first offer on the house. It's good to know it's not a complete lemon and worth something. However I do feel the offer was slightly taking the piss. For the drop in price from my (recently lowered) headline I could run the house for a …</p><p>Well I've just got my first offer on the house. It's good to know it's not a complete lemon and worth something. However I do feel the offer was slightly taking the piss. For the drop in price from my (recently lowered) headline I could run the house for a year while getting additional viewings. I suspect the viewer thought given I was moving to a new job in January they could get away with a pressure bid. I shall steel my nerves and wait it out a bit longer.</p>
Banging On and On2007-12-11T18:43:00+00:002007-12-11T18:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-11:/~alex/blog/2007/12/11/943/<p>I know I've mentioned the topic of DRM once or twice. Well the BBC has had a special sub-section of the news site for a while (educating and informing :-). Two new pieces include a summary of recent <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7136527.stm">consumer unfriendly solutions</a> and a list of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6944830.stm">cracked DRM technologies</a>.</p>
Winner2007-12-11T15:12:00+00:002007-12-11T15:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-11:/~alex/blog/2007/12/11/942/<p>Heh, my team just won the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/">Transitive</a> Christmas Quiz. I'm now sporting a rather fetching promo hat for our SPARC migration products. We were all quite shocked that we won because it was quite a hard quiz. However I feel I contributed well with my knowledge of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Bernstein">Leonard Bernstein</a> musicals …</p><p>Heh, my team just won the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/">Transitive</a> Christmas Quiz. I'm now sporting a rather fetching promo hat for our SPARC migration products. We were all quite shocked that we won because it was quite a hard quiz. However I feel I contributed well with my knowledge of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Bernstein">Leonard Bernstein</a> musicals, the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madchester">Madchester</a> music scene and recent viewings of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QI">QI</a> :-)</p>
Today's interesting bug2007-12-10T14:35:00+00:002007-12-10T14:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-10:/~alex/blog/2007/12/10/941/<p>I spent a lovely weekend with Maz and Ivan. On Friday night I was introduced to the delights of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero_%28series%29">Guitar Hero</a> which has now been added to the list of things to get for the PS3.</p>
<p>One of the consequences of a weekend away is my phone battery was practically …</p><p>I spent a lovely weekend with Maz and Ivan. On Friday night I was introduced to the delights of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero_%28series%29">Guitar Hero</a> which has now been added to the list of things to get for the PS3.</p>
<p>One of the consequences of a weekend away is my phone battery was practically drained by the time we got home. While down south I had noted the paucity of signal for my T-Mobile connection but I didn't notice until this morning that my fully re-charged phone was still displaying zero bars of signal. It was unlikely the Manchester area was suffering a massive phone network failure so I power cycled the phone. Once it had returned from it's ludicrously long reboot sequence a flood of messages arrived confirming it's self imposed solitude. It looks like the phone powers off it's GSM chip when really low on power and forgets to turn it on when it has a few more joules at it's disposal.</p>
<p>One of the things I take for granted with open source applications is the availability of public bug trackers. You could report a problem with a consumer application to some faceless email alias but nothing beats a public bug tracker where you can add an email address to the CC list. It's interesting to note that the OpenMoko project already <a class="reference external" href="http://bugzilla.openmoko.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/index.cgi">has one</a> and the Google Android people are already <a class="reference external" href="http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/browse_thread/thread/e2c7fe4a4062be12/75b078b04f483342?#75b078b04f483342">talking about it</a>. I'm wondering how long it will be until I can get my hands on a proper open phone platform. Even if I don't get around to coding for it myself there are plenty of benefits to an open platform.</p>
Chemical Brothers2007-12-07T13:19:00+00:002007-12-07T13:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-07:/~alex/blog/2007/12/07/940/<p>A bunch of us went to see the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chemical_Brothers">Chemical Brothers</a> at the Apollo last night. It's the first time I've seen them in an indoor venue and I must say not being covered in mud and cold made a lot of difference to my enjoyment of the set. The visuals …</p><p>A bunch of us went to see the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chemical_Brothers">Chemical Brothers</a> at the Apollo last night. It's the first time I've seen them in an indoor venue and I must say not being covered in mud and cold made a lot of difference to my enjoyment of the set. The visuals where appropriately funky as they played there way through a mixture of classic tunes and a fair selection of new stuff from the new album. The encores where a little slow starting but I gather this was due to power issues which according to Gillian wasn't unknown for the venue. I'm pretty sure one of the tracks sounded like a mix of a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylo">Mylo</a> track although I'm assured it was just because of the 80's retro feel it had.</p>
<p>The drive out proved to be an entertaining example of navigation by committee which must of frustrated Gillian no end. For some reason we ended up travelling a fair way down the A6 before traversing through Rusholme and Fallowfield.</p>
<p>Today has been a reasonably slow start as I've taken the day off. We are heading down south for a weekend away visiting Ivan and Maz.</p>
Digging my own Hole2007-12-06T17:03:00+00:002007-12-06T17:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-12-06:/~alex/blog/2007/12/06/939/<p>Off to see the Chemical Brothers tonight. Come on :-)</p>
Always worth trying something new...2007-11-30T17:16:00+00:002007-11-30T17:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-11-30:/~alex/blog/2007/11/30/938/<p>Fun as it is watching the government <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7120511.stm">tear itself apart</a> over yet another party financing scandal I do worry this will be used as yet another excuse for state funding of political parties. Although we should always strive to hold our politicians to high standards I'm not that worried about …</p><p>Fun as it is watching the government <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7120511.stm">tear itself apart</a> over yet another party financing scandal I do worry this will be used as yet another excuse for state funding of political parties. Although we should always strive to hold our politicians to high standards I'm not that worried about corruption in this country. We score quite respectably on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index">several</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribe_Payers_Index">different</a> indexes although we could do better on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index">some</a>.</p>
<p>I've spent a lot of time over the last week or so looking for <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100521915190804968577.00043e449997b4dd7af3b&z=11&om=1">places to rent</a> in Cambridge. It looks like the cheapest I'm going to manage is in the order of ?750 pcm which is doable. However I'm not relishing having to pay mortgage and rent together for too long. I've had two viewings of the house so far. Both sets of people where quite positive when walking around although I have yet to hear any offers. The lack of feedback from the estate agents have only served it reinforce my view of the profession. I'm also starting to get a little tetchy when I hear the news talking about a slowing economy and falling house prices. I have to keep reminding myself that although my house is my largest economic asset it's not that important in the grand scheme of things.</p>
Slipping the surly bonds...2007-11-28T00:24:00+00:002007-11-28T00:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-11-28:/~alex/blog/2007/11/28/937/<p>As part of my impending move I've been decentralising a lot of tasks. One of my central points of failure is my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/">CVS repository</a>. It proves really handy to have a version controlled repository where you store your customisations, especially when you come to a new machine. I've been converting …</p><p>As part of my impending move I've been decentralising a lot of tasks. One of my central points of failure is my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/">CVS repository</a>. It proves really handy to have a version controlled repository where you store your customisations, especially when you come to a new machine. I've been converting the single CVS repo to a series of <a class="reference external" href="http://git.or.cz/">GIT repos</a>. In the process I was able to combine the full history of my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs?rev=1.56&view=log">dotemacs</a> from one module with the contents of my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/lisp/">lisp</a> directory into a new (fully fetch-able) <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/software/elisp.git/">elisp.git</a> repo.</p>
Cool GUI2007-11-27T19:25:00+00:002007-11-27T19:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-11-27:/~alex/blog/2007/11/27/936/<p>Today's geek link <a class="reference external" href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/26/monday-inspiration-user-experience-of-the-future/">reviews a bunch of user interfaces</a>. These go beyond the bling of a Mac desktop. My particular favorite is the <a class="reference external" href="http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable/">reactable</a> system. Follow the links from the stories for some demo movies.</p>
National ID anyone?2007-11-20T23:46:00+00:002007-11-20T23:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-11-20:/~alex/blog/2007/11/20/935/<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stm">breaking news today</a> is perhaps one of the greatest arguments against allowing a government to maintain ubiquitous cross-departmental database of it's citizens. The guilty party today was HM Revenue and Customs who store <a class="reference external" href="http://www.esd.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/esd/DoSearch.asp?reg=3438195">quite a lot about you</a>. The politicians have been pretty vauge about exactly what fields have …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stm">breaking news today</a> is perhaps one of the greatest arguments against allowing a government to maintain ubiquitous cross-departmental database of it's citizens. The guilty party today was HM Revenue and Customs who store <a class="reference external" href="http://www.esd.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/esd/DoSearch.asp?reg=3438195">quite a lot about you</a>. The politicians have been pretty vauge about exactly what fields have been leaked although they are pretty sure it's not being exploited yet. I'm wondering if the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nao.org.uk/home.htm">National Audit Office</a> are due some opprobrium for not insisting the data was anonymised before it left Revenue and Customs on it's merry way in unregistered post on a CD.</p>
The quiet period is over2007-11-19T15:16:00+00:002007-11-19T15:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-11-19:/~alex/blog/2007/11/19/934/<p>Regular readers will have noticed the blog has had an unusually taciturn nature over the last few weeks. This has been because life and career changes are in progress and I wasn't quite ready to go fully public until the paperwork was out of the way.</p>
<p>The headline is that …</p><p>Regular readers will have noticed the blog has had an unusually taciturn nature over the last few weeks. This has been because life and career changes are in progress and I wasn't quite ready to go fully public until the paperwork was out of the way.</p>
<p>The headline is that I'm moving down to Cambridge to work for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mips.com/">MIPS</a> as a Linux kernel hacker. I start at the end of January after a hectic Christmas of house hunting and a Skiing holiday. It's a fantastic opportunity for a full time open source coding job and I'm quite looking forward to it.</p>
<p>The main reason for the move however is that it's going to be a lot easier for Fliss and I to maintain both our careers while seeing each other every day. I have indeed got it bad (in a good way) :-). It's going to be a wrench moving away from Manchester which has been my home for the last 16 years but I'm hoping not to be too much of a stranger.</p>
<p>The next few months are going to be quite hectic. Anyone want to buy a house?</p>
Still to come2007-11-05T16:18:00+00:002007-11-05T16:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-11-05:/~alex/blog/2007/11/05/933/<p>There is a long post brewing but I haven't had a chance to commit it to (electronic) paper yet. In the meantime publishing has never been easier with Google Docs. As demonstrated by the current <a class="reference external" href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pAJUGfOzqSxwnchROydbKCA">Baby Sweepstake</a>.</p>
More commentary than code2007-10-29T17:23:00+00:002007-10-29T17:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-29:/~alex/blog/2007/10/29/932/<p>Yet another <a class="reference external" href="http://git.kernel.org/?p=git/git.git;a=commitdiff;h=fd0b9594d0c2bb50469bfc1481ea4395b7a76548">small nugget</a> of code has gone into a public source tree. When I get a chance I'll have to fix up the one that <a class="reference external" href="http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/55901/focus=55913">didn't make it</a>.</p>
Wireless World2007-10-19T14:10:00+01:002007-10-19T14:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-19:/~alex/blog/2007/10/19/931/<p>Yet another <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7052223.stm">report</a> has come out on how badly broken Wi-Fi "security" is. It's mainly talking about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy">WEP</a> which is the most rolled out method, however <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access">WPA</a> is not without it problems (lest of all for me finding decently supported cards for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=892">Linux</a>).</p>
<p>People often query why I leave my …</p><p>Yet another <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7052223.stm">report</a> has come out on how badly broken Wi-Fi "security" is. It's mainly talking about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy">WEP</a> which is the most rolled out method, however <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access">WPA</a> is not without it problems (lest of all for me finding decently supported cards for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=892">Linux</a>).</p>
<p>People often query why I leave my home wireless network open to all. Well in part it's a convenience thing so I don't have to give guests long hex strings so they can browse the web in my house. However the clue is in WEP's name, "Wired Equivalent Privacy". Wires are certainly not inherently more secure than wireless, it's just as easy to sit on a wire and snoop traffic. The true security approach is to assume someone can always listen to you over the wire/air and establish security you can be more confident with. For me this involves <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSSH">ssh</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security">TLS</a> when I don't want stuff to be seen in plain text. It would involve <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy">PGP</a> if I ever wanted to send something <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON">secure in email</a>.</p>
Clutter--2007-10-15T15:56:00+01:002007-10-15T15:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-15:/~alex/blog/2007/10/15/930/<p>The house is slowly taking shape. In between nights out (lads poker night, girls night on the town) and rugby games we made a concerted effort to sort out the bedroom. This mainly involved a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Not_to_Wear">Trinny and Susannah</a> sorting of all our clothes with ruthless binning and recycling policies and …</p><p>The house is slowly taking shape. In between nights out (lads poker night, girls night on the town) and rugby games we made a concerted effort to sort out the bedroom. This mainly involved a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Not_to_Wear">Trinny and Susannah</a> sorting of all our clothes with ruthless binning and recycling policies and an strict upper limit on numbers of types of garments. A large number of clothes have been packed away in boxes as specialist garments and will probably be stored in the spare room eventually. All my current every day clothes now fit into one wardrobe and set of drawers. Fliss has the slightly larger wardrobe and consequent storage space although I'm assured this is a fair division of storage ;-)</p>
<p>While the girls were out on Friday night we engaged in a little poker. I didn't manage to identify the patsy which probably accounts for the slight dent in my wallet the next day. I must learn there are times you don't attempt to bluff the chip leader.</p>
<p>We were intending to go out on Saturday and watch the rugby outside. However due to a slight case of food poisoning we ended up having a quiet night in with the rugby. As has been noted by some people it wasn't the prettiest most inspiring game in the world but it's the result that matters. Given the result of the England game I was compelled to watch the South Africa vs Argentina game on Sunday. Based on the match I reckon next week's final will be close one if England can ensure they don't make any mistakes that South Africa can capitalise on. I'm hoping (although not very confident) that England can pull of a historic defence of their title.</p>
<p>The in-between times of the weekend as been filed with a fair bit of game playing. We traded in a large chunk of our duplicate PS2 games and walked away with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty_3">Call of Duty 3</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_McRae:_DiRT">Colin McRae's: Dirt</a> for the PS3. Both games are exceptionally pretty on my large HD display, in fact I'd wager they give high end PC graphics a fair run for their money. However a lot of our game playing over the weekend was on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Stardust_HD">Super Stardust HD</a> which is a very simple blaster but very fun (and hard) to play.</p>
About bloody time2007-10-12T15:52:00+01:002007-10-12T15:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-12:/~alex/blog/2007/10/12/about-bloody-time/<p>Moans about the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_iPlayer">iPlayer</a> aside one of the other aspects of the BBC's latest media push was to make more of their radio programs available as podcasts. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/directory/">new page</a> lists many more programs than the anaemic list they had during the long trail period. Thankfully they have set up …</p><p>Moans about the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_iPlayer">iPlayer</a> aside one of the other aspects of the BBC's latest media push was to make more of their radio programs available as podcasts. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/directory/">new page</a> lists many more programs than the anaemic list they had during the long trail period. Thankfully they have set up Friday night comedy as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/fricomedy/">one feed</a> so you don't have to keep switching subscriptions when the Now Show and News Quiz swap around.</p>
Here's Johnny2007-10-12T09:59:00+01:002007-10-12T09:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-12:/~alex/blog/2007/10/12/928/<p>After much hand waving and threatening from Microsoft the predicted first patent suit has been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071011205044141">filed</a>. Predictably it's not from Microsoft themselves but a proxy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll">patent troll</a> firm. This doesn't directly affect us over here as software patents aren't allowed (yet) in the EU. However it is going to need …</p><p>After much hand waving and threatening from Microsoft the predicted first patent suit has been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071011205044141">filed</a>. Predictably it's not from Microsoft themselves but a proxy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll">patent troll</a> firm. This doesn't directly affect us over here as software patents aren't allowed (yet) in the EU. However it is going to need to be sorted out. I suspect the defence for this claim will have to be based on prior art as IP Innovation (sic) makes nothing of value itself RedHat can't defend itself with a counter-suit from any of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Invention_Network">open patents</a>. Hopefully this can be cleared up faster than the SCO case, which is good as it won't be last patent suite the open source world has to deal with.</p>
Tyres2007-10-10T00:32:00+01:002007-10-10T00:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-10:/~alex/blog/2007/10/10/927/<p>Tyres are very expensive. I've been searching for some new ones (225/452R17 91W) and so far the best price I've managed is around ?70 for a make called "Barum" which I've never heard of. Most of the name brands come in at around ?120 per tyre. Last time I …</p><p>Tyres are very expensive. I've been searching for some new ones (225/452R17 91W) and so far the best price I've managed is around ?70 for a make called "Barum" which I've never heard of. Most of the name brands come in at around ?120 per tyre. Last time I replaced them on my old Passat I used Costco but unfortunately I can't check the prices on-line. Can anyone recommend any other places for cheap tyres?</p>
What I did at school today2007-10-09T13:16:00+01:002007-10-09T13:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-09:/~alex/blog/2007/10/09/926/<p>Or technically last week. The button isn't up yet but if you have some old <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARC">SPARC</a>/<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%28operating_system%29">Solaris</a> applications and are running Solaris on x86 hardware you may want to try our <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/products/solsparc_solx86.htm">beta</a>.</p>
Our House2007-10-07T15:50:00+01:002007-10-07T15:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-10-07:/~alex/blog/2007/10/07/925/<p>My house has become Our house again as Fliss has moved in with me in Manchester.</p>
<p>The move itself went quite well although having to get up at 6.30am so we could load the TV into the van and leave before being parked in the bus lane incurred a …</p><p>My house has become Our house again as Fliss has moved in with me in Manchester.</p>
<p>The move itself went quite well although having to get up at 6.30am so we could load the TV into the van and leave before being parked in the bus lane incurred a fine. On the plus side it did mean we made it to Manchester before mid-day. Several people came around to help unload the van. Thanks go to Anne, Paul, Aidan and Mark for helping with the unloading.</p>
<p>The extra hands and early arrival ensured we had the whole van unloaded by the start of the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7030422.stm">England vs Australia</a> quarter final. It was an incredibly tense game, especially with some divided loyalties in the room :-). We celebrated the result with a little bubbly and I'm looking forward to the next game, especially after France did us a favour taking out <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7030471.stm">New Zealand</a>.</p>
<p>The rest of the truncated evening and this morning was concerned with playing with some of the games I had downloaded from the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Store#PlayStation_Store_for_PS3">Playstation store</a>. I say truncated because Fliss went to bed during the New Zealand game and I quickly followed after it was finished.</p>
Interesting table2007-09-30T19:09:00+01:002007-09-30T19:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-30:/~alex/blog/2007/09/30/924/<p>The results of the weekend have left an interesting quarter final <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Rugby_World_Cup#Quarter-finals">line-up</a>. This of course means the Australia vs England match is right at the time we hopefully arrive in Manchester with a van full of Fliss' stuff for her move North. If we get unpacked fast enough we may …</p><p>The results of the weekend have left an interesting quarter final <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Rugby_World_Cup#Quarter-finals">line-up</a>. This of course means the Australia vs England match is right at the time we hopefully arrive in Manchester with a van full of Fliss' stuff for her move North. If we get unpacked fast enough we may even to be able to squeeze in the New Zealand vs France game. If anyone is free next weekend and wants to combine physical exercise (lifting a few boxes) with free beer and Rugby matches then please let me know :-)</p>
Rugby2007-09-28T23:45:00+01:002007-09-28T23:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-28:/~alex/blog/2007/09/28/923/<p>Mark and Helen came around to support England on wide-o-vision. I was quite happy with the result although I'm sure we are going to have to play a lot better in the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7011213.stm">next game</a>.</p>
Install Day2007-09-24T23:16:00+01:002007-09-24T23:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-24:/~alex/blog/2007/09/24/922/<p>I spent most of the day trying to re-create bugs in my release candidate. I hadn't had much success by half six and I had a bit of a headache coming on so I decided to get home relatively early. Unaccustomed to having quite so much free time I thought …</p><p>I spent most of the day trying to re-create bugs in my release candidate. I hadn't had much success by half six and I had a bit of a headache coming on so I decided to get home relatively early. Unaccustomed to having quite so much free time I thought I'd give my PS3 a spin <a class="reference external" href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PlayStation_3">installing Ubuntu</a>. The graphic live CD boots but runs rather slowly off the DVD. Unfortunately the installer locked around 15% into the install with the symptoms of needing more memory. I'm currently giving the text-mode installer a spin and it seems to be getting a lot further. The next thing is to fix up the wireless networking and see if I can thin down the apps a bit as I'm not planning on using the PS3 for day to day computing.</p>
Hoax?2007-09-22T15:02:00+01:002007-09-22T15:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-22:/~alex/blog/2007/09/22/921/<p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/09/woman_arrested.html">Bruce Schneier</a>'s site. Apparently wearing a flashing LED on your t-shirt is a good reason to use deadly force. Because we all know that real bombs are made with circuit board and flashing LED's. You always cut the red wire right?</p>
<p>Just don't read some of the <a class="reference external" href="http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_264172648.html">commentary …</a></p><p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/09/woman_arrested.html">Bruce Schneier</a>'s site. Apparently wearing a flashing LED on your t-shirt is a good reason to use deadly force. Because we all know that real bombs are made with circuit board and flashing LED's. You always cut the red wire right?</p>
<p>Just don't read some of the <a class="reference external" href="http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_264172648.html">commentary</a> unless you want to see what a baying mob can be like. If the court case is fair they will have to prove intent. I'm not sure it will be.</p>
Those smiley Irish eyes2007-09-22T14:06:00+01:002007-09-22T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-22:/~alex/blog/2007/09/22/920/<p>You have to hand it to the Irish, despite watching a rather <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7005286.stm">crushing defeat</a> by the French in the rugby it didn't dampen their spirits. We stayed in <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=M1+6NF&spn=0.005,0.02&hl=en">O'Sheas</a> after the match and enjoyed the band until we eventually left around half one in the morning. We caught up with …</p><p>You have to hand it to the Irish, despite watching a rather <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7005286.stm">crushing defeat</a> by the French in the rugby it didn't dampen their spirits. We stayed in <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=M1+6NF&spn=0.005,0.02&hl=en">O'Sheas</a> after the match and enjoyed the band until we eventually left around half one in the morning. We caught up with Philipa, Gillian and TJ in the village before heading home. Quite a fun and entertaining night. Now I must go and achieve something today to make up for it :-)</p>
Pizza Mode2007-09-20T19:42:00+01:002007-09-20T19:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-20:/~alex/blog/2007/09/20/919/<p>We entered Pizza mode this week to crunch through the 25 or so bugs that are currently gating the Beta release. By the end of Tuesday we'd gotten down to zero critical bugs and it looked good for another release candidate on Wednesday and I'd get home in time to …</p><p>We entered Pizza mode this week to crunch through the 25 or so bugs that are currently gating the Beta release. By the end of Tuesday we'd gotten down to zero critical bugs and it looked good for another release candidate on Wednesday and I'd get home in time to cook the Wednesday meal. Luckily I hedged when I selected to the meal and picked a starter and main from the "Quick and Easy" cookbook.</p>
<p>I was all ready to leave the office around 1700 yesterday when one of the features we tweaked turned out to have broken horribly in the last baseline. Hilarity<sup>*</sup> ensued as headless chicken mode was engaged. In the end I had to leave some of my team mates with the problem so I could get home and prepare the meal. Luckily they got it all fixed up while I was away (which I checked by logging into the network at 11.00 after everyone had gone home).</p>
<p>The meal itself went well. I went for a simple soup followed by healthy<sup>**</sup> turkey breasts with seasonal vegetables. It all seemed to go down well, as did the rather lavish Profiterole Gateaux that followed for desert.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">There has been more running around today but currently the bug database is looking a little sparse. I'm hoping this lasts until the weekend.</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* for certain values of hilarity, may not actually be hilarious</div>
</div>
<div class="line">** until the large chunks of butter and pot of Creme Fraiche. According to Fliss Wednesday can be my cream night :-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Bruised2007-09-16T12:03:00+01:002007-09-16T12:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-16:/~alex/blog/2007/09/16/918/<p>Today is going to be a gentle one methinks. Fliss and I went paint-balling yesterday to celebrate Karl's (of Phil and Karl) birthday. Most of the 24 strong group ended up on one team playing a bunch of teenagers who seemed shocked at how we kept beating them. Of course …</p><p>Today is going to be a gentle one methinks. Fliss and I went paint-balling yesterday to celebrate Karl's (of Phil and Karl) birthday. Most of the 24 strong group ended up on one team playing a bunch of teenagers who seemed shocked at how we kept beating them. Of course they did keep loosing players due to the inability to listen to instructions like "Masks off and don't touch your guns".</p>
<p>The final free for all (a.k.a. use up your paint) was the most devastating in bruises. I've got a fairly good grouping down my left hand side although they haven't come up nearly as purple as Fliss'. I think Chris and Marcus got particularly large welts which explains why they didn't make it out for drinks in the evening. It's slight silver lining to my current weight that it affords a bit of padding :-)</p>
<p>We joined some of the veterans of the days warfare at the rather swank Odder bar for a few drinks in the evening. We didn't stay out too late though on account of rapidly synchronising mutual yawns. Today, predictably, everything hurts.</p>
They think it's all over...2007-09-16T11:44:00+01:002007-09-16T11:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-16:/~alex/blog/2007/09/16/917/<p>A few days ago I briefly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=921">mentioned the SCO case</a>. Well it seems the fat lady is very possibly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070915234516501">singing now</a>. While in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_11%2C_Title_11%2C_United_States_Code">Chapter 11</a> SCO can't pursue it's litigation strategy. As that seemed to be their primary business plan I don't believe SCO has got long for this world …</p><p>A few days ago I briefly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=921">mentioned the SCO case</a>. Well it seems the fat lady is very possibly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070915234516501">singing now</a>. While in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_11%2C_Title_11%2C_United_States_Code">Chapter 11</a> SCO can't pursue it's litigation strategy. As that seemed to be their primary business plan I don't believe SCO has got long for this world. It's obviously a shame for any employees that will get made redundant although it is hard to believe they couldn't see this coming. I wonder if the any of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darl_mcbride">architects of this train wreck</a> will ever be held accountable though?</p>
<p>One slightly geeky interest will be what finally happens to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix">Unix</a> source code. However as it's been shown that Linux didn't need it so it is purely of academic interest.</p>
And finally....2007-09-11T20:03:00+01:002007-09-11T20:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-11:/~alex/blog/2007/09/11/916/<p>I forgot of course the best piece of news of the last few days is AMD's announcement of <a class="reference external" href="http://airlied.livejournal.com/50187.html">Open Drivers</a>. Finally.</p>
Trashing the OS of "Developers"2007-09-11T19:41:00+01:002007-09-11T19:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-11:/~alex/blog/2007/09/11/915/<p>Sun would really like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%28operating_system%29">Solaris</a> to re-capture the hearts of developers since loosing so many to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux">Linux</a>. They are certainly making strides in the right direction with their Open Source strategy. However sometimes the creakiness of the code does show up.</p>
<p>I've spent the best part of the day trying …</p><p>Sun would really like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%28operating_system%29">Solaris</a> to re-capture the hearts of developers since loosing so many to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux">Linux</a>. They are certainly making strides in the right direction with their Open Source strategy. However sometimes the creakiness of the code does show up.</p>
<p>I've spent the best part of the day trying to get the <a class="reference external" href="http://cvs.opensolaris.org/source/xref/onnv/onnv-gate/usr/src/cmd/stat/mpstat/mpstat.c">mpstat</a> command to build and still haven't gotten any closer. One of the reasons is you can't quite build things out of the box. Although <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Compiler_Collection">gcc</a> has been shipping in <em>/usr/sfw</em> for a while you can't just go and start building tools with it. You need a 40 lines of environment variables set up as well as additional <a class="reference external" href="http://opensolaris.org/os/community/on/devref_toc/devref_2/">packages</a> installed. Even then the compiler wrapper script can throw up weird and wonderful errors that looks like it really didn't believe you wanted to build with gcc (and not with Sun Studio).</p>
<p>It's rare in the Linux world that I've not been able to build a random user space command with <em>./configure; make</em>. It's true that you usually have to specify the installation of gcc when you install a distribution however it's never more than an apt-get/emerge/yum away. Linux is still my favourite development environment.</p>
Geek bits2007-09-11T18:56:00+01:002007-09-11T18:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-11:/~alex/blog/2007/09/11/914/<p>Aidan noted I hadn't mentioned SCO's rather devastating <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO_v._Novell">judgement</a> in the Novell case. If I had of been less busy I may well of posted something but in my opinion it's just another step in the long road of SCO's legal campaign. I have long ceased to worry that anything …</p><p>Aidan noted I hadn't mentioned SCO's rather devastating <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO_v._Novell">judgement</a> in the Novell case. If I had of been less busy I may well of posted something but in my opinion it's just another step in the long road of SCO's legal campaign. I have long ceased to worry that anything from the case will materially affect Linux going forward. It does seem however SCO want to die by a thousand cuts.</p>
<p>I spent the weekend in a field in Derby at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/index.asp?NavID=123">Maelstrom</a>. My usual bumbling about was slightly overshadowed by an assassination attempt on the leader of one of the colonies. Next game I shall have to cope with the very real possibility that there are characters who want Danny dead. Exciting games ahead!</p>
<p>I caught up with Jessie last night as a bunch of us went out for a meal at The Frozen Mop near Knutsford. This was the same restaurant Fliss and I went to last week with Mufi and TJ. While the food was nice the service was rather poor again. I doubt I shall go there again.</p>
<p>I seem to have become very busy this week. Today is definitely gym day but I have the Wednesday Meal tomorrow, Investors Party on Thursday, and Lucy's meal on Friday. The weekend will then involve some paint-balling and if not too knackered more house clearing tasks.</p>
Boxen Required2007-09-06T18:20:00+01:002007-09-06T18:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-06:/~alex/blog/2007/09/06/913/<p>As part of my plan<sup>*</sup> I find myself in need of a hosted virtual machine. The requirements are not very high, a few hundred MB of RAM, 20Gb or so of HD space and an IP address to itself. I'd be happier with a virtual machine than sharing an existing …</p><p>As part of my plan<sup>*</sup> I find myself in need of a hosted virtual machine. The requirements are not very high, a few hundred MB of RAM, 20Gb or so of HD space and an IP address to itself. I'd be happier with a virtual machine than sharing an existing machine because that way I don't need to worry about hosing someones setup when I migrate bennee.com's email and web hosting to it. If anyone is involved in a box rental consortium and has a spare Xen partition then I'm all ears.</p>
<p>I shipped RC1 of my projects beta to the release engineering people today. I've been quite pleased on how stuff has come together this week so I can go to Maelstrom at the weekend without feeling too bad about it. Obviously there is still plenty of work to get done for the 1.0 release (never mind the next few Beta release candidates I'm sure we will have to do) but it's a nice milestone none the less. I may have a beer or three tonight to celebrate.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>Plan includes selling house, finding place with Fliss, settling down, yada, yada, yada</p>
Junk Weekend2007-09-03T15:28:00+01:002007-09-03T15:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-09-03:/~alex/blog/2007/09/03/912/<p>In between a night in Knutsford, impromptu <a class="reference external" href="http://gothadh.livejournal.com/499983.html">dinner party with cards</a> and a visit from Lee last night I have been mostly going on trips to the dump.</p>
<p>As Fliss is moving in at the beginning of next month we thought it would be a good time to get junk …</p><p>In between a night in Knutsford, impromptu <a class="reference external" href="http://gothadh.livejournal.com/499983.html">dinner party with cards</a> and a visit from Lee last night I have been mostly going on trips to the dump.</p>
<p>As Fliss is moving in at the beginning of next month we thought it would be a good time to get junk cleared out of the house. The cellar now has new empty spaces although it's still not as clear as it could be. I dumped around 4 CRT's and 2 TV's in the special recycling bit of the dump before one of the tip workers came over. He told me they were instituting a one TV per family limit as they currently get around 200 TVs/Monitors a day and are running out of space. It was a little lazy to dump them but at least some recycling will take place and I suspect it would be hard to free cycle these bits. Having said that we found another 2 CRTs in need of recycling at the end of Sunday. I will make a concerted effort to <a class="reference external" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ManchesterFreeCycle/">FreeCycle</a> the surplus VHS recorders and DVD players.</p>
<p>We re-watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/">Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels</a> and Mel Brook's inspired <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/">Blazing Saddles</a> on Sunday before a well deserved sleep. Fliss headed back to London this morning as I did my best impression of a zombie shuffling around.</p>
Network or Playback?2007-08-28T23:26:00+01:002007-08-28T23:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-28:/~alex/blog/2007/08/28/911/<p>I saw an interesting piece <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.rlove.org/2007/08/those-dang-dpcs-clogging-mmcss.html">discussing</a> Microsoft's woes with their band-aid fix for playing multi-media while on a <a class="reference external" href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/21/1441240">loaded network</a>. From the description of the scheduling work around it does seem like a school boy error, you just can't fix performance issues by tweaking priorities.</p>
<p>Although Linux is still meant …</p><p>I saw an interesting piece <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.rlove.org/2007/08/those-dang-dpcs-clogging-mmcss.html">discussing</a> Microsoft's woes with their band-aid fix for playing multi-media while on a <a class="reference external" href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/21/1441240">loaded network</a>. From the description of the scheduling work around it does seem like a school boy error, you just can't fix performance issues by tweaking priorities.</p>
<p>Although Linux is still meant to be trying to fix interactivity issues it's been a long time since I've noticed any conflict between my media players and other tasks such compiling. About the only performance issue I still come across is "morning swap syndrome" when a lot of overnight activity on your machine can lead to it taking a while to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory">swap</a> your open apps back into main memory.</p>
<p>Of course it's not all totally green on this side of the OS fence. Of the two wireless interfaces on my laptop the old Lucent Gold Card does utilise a rather high amount of processor time when doing large copies. It doesn't interfere with the desktop performance but it is a little disappointing. Looking at /proc/interrupts I can see it would certainly benefit from being able to support a pure poll mode although I suspect the main bottle neck is just the copying of data across the PCMCIA/PCI bridge. It is not yet enough of a bug factor to make me dig into the code though.</p>
Smooth Running2007-08-28T22:37:00+01:002007-08-28T22:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-28:/~alex/blog/2007/08/28/smooth-running/<p>I came home on the metro today after a month or so of using the pretty efficient bus service. The ride is certainly a lot smoother although they seem to be taking it easy on the new rails at the moment. I knew it was quieter as I could hear …</p><p>I came home on the metro today after a month or so of using the pretty efficient bus service. The ride is certainly a lot smoother although they seem to be taking it easy on the new rails at the moment. I knew it was quieter as I could hear my radio without having to turn the volume up to silly levels. We shall see if the other promises of increased reliability materialise over the next few years.</p>
<p>Last weekend was the second weekend in a row I've spent in London. Hi-lights include seeing Jo O and her new physics bloke. Apparently I engaged in some willy waving although I like to feel my question about the practical use of the knowledge of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_model">Standard Model</a> was a conversational gambit.</p>
<p>We went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=36">All About My Mother</a> at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Vic">Old Vic</a> last night. It was a preview night but despite <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Spacey">Spacey's</a> "Just in case" speech it all seemed to go quite well. It certainly wins a lot of technical points for the amount of scene changing involved. <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Rigg">Diana Rigg</a> was excellent playing Huma and plaudits should also go to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Gatiss">Mark Gatiss</a> for his portrayal of the transvestite prostitute Agrado.</p>
London Calling2007-08-23T19:18:00+01:002007-08-23T19:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-23:/~alex/blog/2007/08/23/909/<p>There was an amusing story last night involving know when the August Bank Holiday actually was. Due to some sleepy conversation with Fliss a few days before I thought it was next weekend and we had made some plans accordingly. Hence this weekend was a more than normal flying visit …</p><p>There was an amusing story last night involving know when the August Bank Holiday actually was. Due to some sleepy conversation with Fliss a few days before I thought it was next weekend and we had made some plans accordingly. Hence this weekend was a more than normal flying visit to London with me heading back to Manchester on Sunday while Fliss abandoned me for role-playing in the evening. Last nights elucidation has spurred a quick re-arrangement of travel plans. Pleasingly it turns out <a class="reference external" href="http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/default.aspx">Virgin Trains</a> aren't complete twats and the re-scheduling of my ticket only cost ?5 (although I do need to post tickets back to them to claim the refund).</p>
<p>So I will be down in London until Tuesday morning and I'm kicking my heels on Sunday evening so will gladly entertain distractions.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong>So I'm at Roo's for evening roast, but if anyone else want to catch up over the rest of the weekend then give me a shout.</p>
Harry Potter2007-08-23T16:10:00+01:002007-08-23T16:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-23:/~alex/blog/2007/08/23/908/<p>I finished it last night. It turns out <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca">Chewbacca</a> isn't his father after all...</p>
Quite Period2007-08-20T23:47:00+01:002007-08-20T23:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-20:/~alex/blog/2007/08/20/907/<p>I've not written much about the last week or so mainly due to the lack of time. Work has continued to be very busy as we head towards the beta release. I managed a few trips to the gym, finally finished Cyrptonomicom, finished Resistance: Fall of Man with Andy, and …</p><p>I've not written much about the last week or so mainly due to the lack of time. Work has continued to be very busy as we head towards the beta release. I managed a few trips to the gym, finally finished Cyrptonomicom, finished Resistance: Fall of Man with Andy, and attended a few birthday and wedding celebrations.</p>
<p>I spent the last weekend down in London visiting Fliss who I hadn't seen for 4 or so weeks. Ostensibly I was to be looking after Fliss in her post-operative haze. In the end the operation was cancelled by the consultant so we spent a lazy weekend playing LotR: Return of the King and watching various movies including the Bourne Ultimatum. The Bourne film was pretty much as expected although as I may of previously mentioned the propensity for "shaky cam" was distracting. As we were sat so close to the front of the screen I had a mild headache by the end of it.</p>
<p>I have been powering my way through the last Harry Potter book the last week. I'm not a super fan of series but it is entertaining easy reading. My main motivation in reading it is to know how it finishes before I have a "Vader is Lukes father" moment.</p>
Sign of the coming apocalypse?2007-08-11T01:04:00+01:002007-08-11T01:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-11:/~alex/blog/2007/08/11/906/<p>So Universal have decided it might be worth allowing <a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070809-music-drm-in-critical-condition-universal-tests-drm-free-music-sales.html">customers unlocked music</a>. Of course mp3's are still problematic from a free software point of view but it's definitely a step in the right direction.</p>
RIP Tony2007-08-10T23:44:00+01:002007-08-10T23:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-10:/~alex/blog/2007/08/10/905/<p>It was a shame to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Wilson">Tony Wilson</a> has <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6941392.stm">died</a>. One the reasons I came to Manchester was because of the music that had been coming out of it in the late 80's and early 90's. On top of that he's been a big advocate of the city and the …</p><p>It was a shame to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Wilson">Tony Wilson</a> has <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6941392.stm">died</a>. One the reasons I came to Manchester was because of the music that had been coming out of it in the late 80's and early 90's. On top of that he's been a big advocate of the city and the region. He also didn't seem like the sort of person to take it all too seriously.</p>
Splish Splash2007-08-08T15:36:00+01:002007-08-08T15:36:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-08:/~alex/blog/2007/08/08/904/<p>Cleaning the hob in my kitchen was not the most exciting thing I did last night. During my visit to Asda to pick up the legion of cleaning products and bin liners I needed for my task I also picked up a copy of the "Official Playstation Magazine" which had …</p><p>Cleaning the hob in my kitchen was not the most exciting thing I did last night. During my visit to Asda to pick up the legion of cleaning products and bin liners I needed for my task I also picked up a copy of the "Official Playstation Magazine" which had some playable demos for my shiny new toy.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_Racer_7">Ridge Racer</a> confused me. It's a very shiny racing game but the drifting aspect just seems digital and unnatural. I suspect if you ever actually try to drive like that you'd end up a dark smear on the road very quickly.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Rub_%27a%27_Dub">Super Rub 'a' Dub</a> was a demo version of a download-able game from the Playstation store. It looks very much like a tech demo with very nicely animated water effects and cutesy puzzle play. I'm not massively impressed with the six access controller though. I guess they dropped the rumble pack for battery life but the Wii has shown how effective a rumble can be for feedback which would be useful when your sloshing a tray of water about.</p>
<p>The final game I had a gander at was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genji:_Days_of_the_Blade">Genji: Days of the Blade</a> which is a very pretty fighter game. I was quite impressed running around a beautifully rendered canyon complete with splashing through the stream. All in all from my point of view the PS3 is very pretty and obviously making use of the ridiculous amount of power the Cell offers. I think despite my earlier reservations about the Playstation store I may have to wander over and see what other content they have there.</p>
Return from Stag2007-08-05T21:09:00+01:002007-08-05T21:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-08-05:/~alex/blog/2007/08/05/903/<p>I'm back from Daz's stag. As befits ancient tradition the details are to remain shrouded. However the "road" to the barn seems to have taken a toll on my car. I now have some plastic shielding hanging down from the engine compartment which is a pain given I only just …</p><p>I'm back from Daz's stag. As befits ancient tradition the details are to remain shrouded. However the "road" to the barn seems to have taken a toll on my car. I now have some plastic shielding hanging down from the engine compartment which is a pain given I only just shelled out for service and MOT last week.</p>
<p>The house is curiously quite now Andy has moved out. I'm contemplating housework but currently lacking in the appropriate motivation. Maybe a task to tackle tomorrow.</p>
The three cultures of Alex de Bennee2007-07-31T23:40:00+01:002007-07-31T23:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-31:/~alex/blog/2007/07/31/the-three-cultures-of-alex-de-bennee/<p>The weekend involved several brushes with the arts (of sorts). Saturday saw me join Mikey and co to see the robot movie <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/">Transformers</a>. Friends reviews have been quite varied. My personal take on the film is if you turn your brain off for the plot and want to see giant …</p><p>The weekend involved several brushes with the arts (of sorts). Saturday saw me join Mikey and co to see the robot movie <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/">Transformers</a>. Friends reviews have been quite varied. My personal take on the film is if you turn your brain off for the plot and want to see giant robots fighting in glorious CGI then this film delivers.</p>
<p>Sunday saw me joining Phil and Karl for an open air production of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk/datestwelfth.htm">Twelfth Night</a> in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wythenshawe">Wythenshawe Park</a>. It was a fantastic show and ticks another live <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare">Shakespeare</a> off my list.</p>
<p>On Monday the company social fund paid for a trip to the cinema to which I took the opportunity to see the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/">Simpsons Movie</a> in the gallery of the Filmworks. The film was pretty good although it did feel a little padded. I was less impressed with the Gallery experience. Although I wasn't expecting the alcohol to be inclusive the snack selection was less than stellar. Yes the seats are bigger but you'd still be better off buying a normal ticket and what you actually want to eat over the counter.</p>
Pictures2007-07-28T14:40:00+01:002007-07-28T14:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-28:/~alex/blog/2007/07/28/pictures/<p>I've finally pulled my finger out and uploaded the pictures from this years trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Holidays/Canada%202007">Canada</a>. I didn't take my compact camera in the end so I took them all with my mobile phone. I'm quite pleased with how some of them came out. Any loss of quality due to …</p><p>I've finally pulled my finger out and uploaded the pictures from this years trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Holidays/Canada%202007">Canada</a>. I didn't take my compact camera in the end so I took them all with my mobile phone. I'm quite pleased with how some of them came out. Any loss of quality due to it being a phone cam (of which I don't think there is much) is more than made up for the ability to whip out the phone and take a snapshot on demand. Of course a digital SLR would be better, but I've not got one yet :-)</p>
<p>I've uploaded some to Facebook as well, but the "simple upload tool" is a pain for mass uploading and the Java based tool keeps crashing firefox.</p>
Thought Crime?2007-07-26T19:29:00+01:002007-07-26T19:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-26:/~alex/blog/2007/07/26/900/<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6917288.stm">sentencing</a> of 4 young men today for downloading and discussing Jihadist material makes me a little uneasy. As far as I can tell none of them had planned any attacks although they did head out for training. The youngest student Raja got two years youth detention although he spent …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6917288.stm">sentencing</a> of 4 young men today for downloading and discussing Jihadist material makes me a little uneasy. As far as I can tell none of them had planned any attacks although they did head out for training. The youngest student Raja got two years youth detention although he spent 3 days in Afghanistan before getting cold feet and going home. On balance it was probably right to bring this prosecution but where exactly is the line you can't cross. Am I a terrorist because I have read the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchists_Cookbook">Anarchists Cookbook</a>? Would the judgement be any difference if the colour of my skin was different or I had religious beliefs?</p>
Flashing Blue Lights2007-07-26T16:13:00+01:002007-07-26T16:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-26:/~alex/blog/2007/07/26/899/<p>Yesterday's Wednesday Meal provided excitement as TJ "The Black Widow of Knutsford" fed us a Pea and Asparagus soup for a starter. The bread and cake had already been checked and alerted as not Ste safe although who'd of thought that ASDA's Extra Special soup would contain traces of nuts …</p><p>Yesterday's Wednesday Meal provided excitement as TJ "The Black Widow of Knutsford" fed us a Pea and Asparagus soup for a starter. The bread and cake had already been checked and alerted as not Ste safe although who'd of thought that ASDA's Extra Special soup would contain traces of nuts? His response was pretty quick and after due discussion with the NHS we summoned the flashing lights of the ambulance. He was returned to us about 4 hours later after we had finished eating and watched the first couple of episodes of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_%28TV_series%29">Dexter</a>. We are all now a lot more aware of what the symptoms of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylaxis">anaphylactic shock</a> look like. Luckily it was all a happy ending.</p>
Fast Forward2007-07-23T15:43:00+01:002007-07-23T15:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-23:/~alex/blog/2007/07/23/898/<p>Some sales people deserve shooting. There is no justification for selling gold plated 1.5m <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Multimedia_Interface">HDMI</a> cables for ?60-100 and if an "inferior" cable was giving me "lower than VHS quality" I'd take it back because obviously some of the bits are jumping across air to get to my TV …</p><p>Some sales people deserve shooting. There is no justification for selling gold plated 1.5m <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Multimedia_Interface">HDMI</a> cables for ?60-100 and if an "inferior" cable was giving me "lower than VHS quality" I'd take it back because obviously some of the bits are jumping across air to get to my TV.</p>
<p>So in quick recap. Montreal was good. Entirely by accident we managed to arrive just as the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_for_Laughs">Just For Laughs</a> festival was kicking in. We caught a couple of shows, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Nichol">Phil Nichol</a>'s The Naked Racist and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.godspottery.com/">God's Pottery</a>. Both were very funny although bonus points must go to God's Pottery for playing it completely straight through out.</p>
<p>After a slight delay at the airport we made it back to blighty in one piece. A brief rest followed before navigating our way through 2 hours of London rush hour traffic to get to Fliss' Mum's. I got to meet her brother, his wive and their two sons. After watching a LRP related <a class="reference external" href="http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=7891">documentary</a> we crashed to sleep. The following day my parents popped round do join the family gathering to celebrate the wedding. A fun time was had by all.</p>
<p>I drove back up on Wednesday (avoiding the temptation of the M6 Toll) before driving south again on Friday for Maelstrom. The event was OK if a little washed out from the rain. I was very tired from a combination of jet lag and several hundred miles of driving.</p>
<p>New week, new start. I have a pile of project related stuff to bang out now. To the grind!</p>
Road to Montreal2007-07-12T15:28:00+01:002007-07-12T15:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-12:/~alex/blog/2007/07/12/897/<p>We decided to drive to Montreal in one big lump. Driving as a couple is the ultimate test of patience and the strength of your relationship. I've been trying my best to avoid commenting after rebukes for my right hand seat driving earlier on. I was however woken up by …</p><p>We decided to drive to Montreal in one big lump. Driving as a couple is the ultimate test of patience and the strength of your relationship. I've been trying my best to avoid commenting after rebukes for my right hand seat driving earlier on. I was however woken up by an extended trip over the rumble strip about halfway to Montreal. Having said that the roads have basically been uneventful, straight and pretty boring. We have come to an understanding that I shall eschew any more navigational decisions and we will have rotated me into the driving position before we hit any cities.</p>
Relative Values2007-07-12T10:00:00+01:002007-07-12T10:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-12:/~alex/blog/2007/07/12/896/<p>We stayed two nights with my Aunt and Uncle in Tilsonburg spending the day in-between on the shores of Lake Erie chilling out. I got a chance to catch up with my cousins when we went out for a family meal. Fliss made friends with Stephanie's daughter Elizebeth although their …</p><p>We stayed two nights with my Aunt and Uncle in Tilsonburg spending the day in-between on the shores of Lake Erie chilling out. I got a chance to catch up with my cousins when we went out for a family meal. Fliss made friends with Stephanie's daughter Elizebeth although their younger son Ben spent a lot of time glowering at her. Multi-generational cartwheels where displayed :-)</p>
<p>Tilsonburg is a pretty small town, the largest local town being London with around 250,000 people (and it's own river Thames). We discovered the town centre is actually a small mall with the local council offices housed in it's first floor. However the roads around the area do have addresses that go into the 10's of thousands.</p>
Niagra Falls2007-07-11T01:00:00+01:002007-07-11T01:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-11:/~alex/blog/2007/07/11/895/<p>There is not much I can say about the Falls. They are as impressive as
you would think but the area around is basically tourist trap hell.
The parking was $18 (?9) and a good walk away from the <cite>Maid of the
Mist <https://www.maidofthemist.com/></cite>. However we did …</p><p>There is not much I can say about the Falls. They are as impressive as
you would think but the area around is basically tourist trap hell.
The parking was $18 (?9) and a good walk away from the <cite>Maid of the
Mist <https: www.maidofthemist.com=""></https:></cite>. However we did persuade the
nice parking attendant to give us a temporary disabled badge so Fliss
didn't have to walk quite as far.</p>
<p>The "Maid" trip was probably the best of the excursions you could do
as it takes you up close and personal to the falls. We didn't want to
spend all our money on seeing the falls in every conceivable way. The
boat does a circuit past the American falls which although impressive
are basically a three or four "High Forces" bolted together. The
Horseshoe falls on the Canadian side is the iconic one and the boat
holds it's position there for a good ten minutes. While downwind you
get the full spray of the river in your face, everyone kitted out with
their regulation branded ponchos.</p>
<p>We considered lunching at the falls but decided to make our way to
Tilsonburg and ensuring we were on time.</p>
Toronto2007-07-10T01:00:00+01:002007-07-10T01:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-10:/~alex/blog/2007/07/10/894/<p>Yesterday we "did" Toronto. Given the size of the place it's pretty impossible to get a proper idea of what it's like so we stuck to tourist traps and Jazz.</p>
<p>After a few rounds on the hotels water slide to unwind from the drive down we headed out to the …</p><p>Yesterday we "did" Toronto. Given the size of the place it's pretty impossible to get a proper idea of what it's like so we stuck to tourist traps and Jazz.</p>
<p>After a few rounds on the hotels water slide to unwind from the drive down we headed out to the CN Tower. Given the fact the tower is basically a large lump of cast concrete the only really impressive thing about is it's height. The lift certainly gives you an excellent view as it rises the tower and you do get a good view of the whole of Toronto from the observation deck. The glass floor section is also vertigo inducing (for me) although Fliss quite happily bounced up and down on it. I've never been a big believer in tempting fate. We resisted the temptation of spending more money on the standard green screen memento picture and left the tower having only spent $40 (~?20).</p>
<p>We then visited <cite>C'est What <https: cestwhat.com=""></https:></cite>, a hostelry that specialises in local Canadian micro brews. Top of the menu was their "Hemp Ale" which tasted surprisingly not of hemp, maybe adding a slight oily finish to the beer. We dinned on some <strong>huge</strong> ribs while sampling a few more beers. Fliss then proceeded to thrash me at pool before I conceded defeat and one or two favours to her.</p>
<p>Following a recommendation from the bar we navigated Toronto's public streetcar system to <cite>The Rex <https: therex.ca=""></https:></cite>, a famous although not air-conditioned Jazz venue. We caught the first set of a Jazz Quartet of Guitar, Bass, Drums and Piano. The guitar player gave the air of Robert Di'nero having a siezure as he worked his way through each song. The drummer, the most relaxed band member, was a cross between William H Macy and Steve Bushemi. Despite early warning signs of "Jazz Wank" in the first song it mellowed out into some pretty cool old standards including a guest spot by some fellow musicians (Trumpet and Soprano Sax) who had just walked in for a drink.</p>
<p>We then headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest to prepare for today's excursion to Niagra.</p>
Canada is made of Lakes2007-07-09T20:37:00+01:002007-07-09T20:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-09:/~alex/blog/2007/07/09/893/<p>We set out from the wedding venue after yet another large breakfast for our cross country trek over the top of Ontario and through the Algonquin Provincial Park. Our departure from Quebec was slightly delayed by a us trying to find a garage that sold any maps of the province …</p><p>We set out from the wedding venue after yet another large breakfast for our cross country trek over the top of Ontario and through the Algonquin Provincial Park. Our departure from Quebec was slightly delayed by a us trying to find a garage that sold any maps of the province. Once suitably equipped we were on our way.</p>
<p>Lakes are one of Canada's most common features. These are both natural and man/beaver made. One of the drawbacks of lakes however is the large number of mosquito's that breed in them. Fliss and I are now sporting the signs of feasting from the last 3 days.</p>
<p>We had planned on doing a few walks in the park but after our visit to the Beaver walk and the subsequent feasting on our tasty European blood we decided to haul through to Huntsville. The Beaver walk was impressive however. The guide book enthused on impact beavers can have on their local environment, an impact that only man can beat.</p>
<p>We stopped off at a motel where we splashed out for the room with it's own jacuzzi and ginormous Emperor bed. After discovering that all the state owned liquor stores were closed we stayed for a meal and a few beers at one of the river/lakeside pubs. We were caught in a rather impressive thunderstorm on the way back to our room and ended up rather damp although not too cold. We decided to take advantage of the facilities and watched the final episode of Doctor Who from the jacuzzi.</p>
<p>Today we are heading down to Toronto and exploring the downtown area. The hotel we selected does have it's own pool and 3 story water slide but I'm sure we won't get around to playing with that :-)</p>
Driving Miss Daisy2007-07-09T05:51:00+01:002007-07-09T05:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-09:/~alex/blog/2007/07/09/891/<p>I've managed about 5 hours behind the wheel now without incident. I'm currently typing this up as Fliss gives the wilds of Route 60 a shot. I'm not a big fan of the hire car (a Dodge Avenger) as it feels very wide. The large engine (somewhere between 2.5 …</p><p>I've managed about 5 hours behind the wheel now without incident. I'm currently typing this up as Fliss gives the wilds of Route 60 a shot. I'm not a big fan of the hire car (a Dodge Avenger) as it feels very wide. The large engine (somewhere between 2.5 and 3.4l)is also wasted on the automatic gear box. Having said that I really wouldn't want to be re-training my gear shifting skills while coping with a whole new traffic system. The stop/go of an automatic does make driving in town really lazy. Adapting to driving on the right hand side of the road has not been too hard, I just repeat the mantra "they drive on the right" every morning. The "right on red" rule makes sense and I've done it a few times now. Once thing that could do with improving though, especially in Quebec, is the road signs. You get very little waring of the turns and the road signs are postage stamp sized so you need super vision to resolve the name in time for the turn.</p>
<p>One feature I do like on this car however is the cruise control. I assume it's a pretty standard feature because the motorway traffic maintains a smooth steady flow at constant speed. When you get to someone you wish to overtake you simply pull out while adding a few notches to the cruise control and then notch down once you go past again.</p>
Brika and Jordan's Wedding2007-07-09T05:51:00+01:002007-07-09T05:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-09:/~alex/blog/2007/07/09/892/<p>We arrived for the main event on Friday evening after a day at the Museum of Civilisation. They have rented a massive cabin/retreat called Enoichie with which to host all the ceremonies. I think there where about 40 people staying at the retreat itself with more coming in from …</p><p>We arrived for the main event on Friday evening after a day at the Museum of Civilisation. They have rented a massive cabin/retreat called Enoichie with which to host all the ceremonies. I think there where about 40 people staying at the retreat itself with more coming in from elsewhere. Friday was just a mingle and drink with a little swimming pool and hot tub action thrown in.</p>
<p>Saturday was probably one of the most relaxed build ups to a wedding I've had so far. It started with a healthy Canadian style breakfast involving Bacon/Egg/Hash Notates with Pancakes and Maple Syrup. This was followed by a nice wander though the forest trail walk and some lounging in the hot tub. About an hour before the ceremony we jumped in the shower and got ready and wandered down into the glade where the ceremony was to be held.</p>
<p>The ceremony itself was a Unitarian one with some pagan influences and even a Hebrew reading thrown in for good measure. I have to admit even my normal steely nature softened and my eyes went a bit moist during the vows. It was really lovely the way they included Jordan's kids from his first marriage quite so completely in the ceremony.</p>
<p>After the sit-down the evenings celebrations started with a belly-dance. The couple then took position for the first dance of the Time-Warp before we settled into the usual disco.</p>
<p>The DJ'ing was beset by a few technical difficulties including the lack of cros-fader mixing deszk and the inability of being able to wire up my laptop to the sound system. Despite these little hurdles (and prior planning to bring some CD's and blanks) I managed to muddle through alternating with Graham's sets. People seemed to be happy with the music and it was quite pleasing to get people dancing.</p>
Democracy Now2007-07-04T22:58:00+01:002007-07-04T22:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-04:/~alex/blog/2007/07/04/890/<p>One of the interesting things about the Canadian parliament is how similar it is to ours. The whole set of buildings practically apes our own palace of Westminster. This includes the clock tower that chimes Big Ben's familiar notes with the occasional rendition of the national anthem. Having said that …</p><p>One of the interesting things about the Canadian parliament is how similar it is to ours. The whole set of buildings practically apes our own palace of Westminster. This includes the clock tower that chimes Big Ben's familiar notes with the occasional rendition of the national anthem. Having said that this place does have a few advantages over our seat of government. For one thing the view it has over the Ottawa river is a lot more impressive than sitting level with the murky Thames. Because of the extra space it also means people are free to wonder around the whole set of buildings which is littered with various statues and tributes, bronze being a particular favourite. There is even a cattery for strays that wonder around the hill.</p>
<p>The Rideu canal which ends it's run entering the Ottawa river is pretty impressive given the many locks needed for the final drop. Apparently it was built by us as a military canal just in case there were ever hostilities between the UK and US. It is considerably wider than most UK canals as it was designed explicitly to handle steam ships.</p>
<p>In other news I have brought a present for Fliss I'm reliably informed she will love :-)</p>
It's not a stag2007-07-04T18:32:00+01:002007-07-04T18:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-04:/~alex/blog/2007/07/04/889/<p>Stella, it seems, can give you a bad headache whichever country you drink it in. It's not like I had a lot during Brika and Jordan's combined bachelour/bachelourette bash but the days of the OLS have obviously spoilt me for choice - it was Stella or Carlsberg. The food at …</p><p>Stella, it seems, can give you a bad headache whichever country you drink it in. It's not like I had a lot during Brika and Jordan's combined bachelour/bachelourette bash but the days of the OLS have obviously spoilt me for choice - it was Stella or Carlsberg. The food at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kinki.ca/">Kinki</a> was OK although the menu was heavily biased towards fish and sushi which Fliss would have probably enjoyed more. We ended up at the "Industrial" night at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.zaphodbeeblebrox.com/">Zaphod Beeblebrox</a> (after having taken a little detour back to my hotel to pick up ID). My initial impressions is that the Canadian flavour of "Industrial" may be slightly different from it's definition across the pond (I'm sure there was some Orbital at one point, the Chemical Brothers apparently too mainstream). It was quiet due to the Tuesday date but we had fun anyway. It was a little odd being able to talk to each other while sat around the dance floor, the music was loud but not so loud we had to shout to make ourselves heard.</p>
<p>Today I explore the seat of government :-)</p>
Conference Wrap-up, Canada Day, Working on a National Holiday2007-07-02T20:35:00+01:002007-07-02T20:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-07-02:/~alex/blog/2007/07/02/888/<p>I've really enjoyed my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2007/">OLS</a>. I felt a little isolated at first as I didn't know anyone there but I've met and talked geek with a lot of people. The technical contents have been pretty good which has given me lots of good material to take back to work …</p><p>I've really enjoyed my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2007/">OLS</a>. I felt a little isolated at first as I didn't know anyone there but I've met and talked geek with a lot of people. The technical contents have been pretty good which has given me lots of good material to take back to work. The only thing I'm missing is the ability to be more directly involved in the technical development. We use Linux day-to-day at work but we don't get that involved in the kernel side of things. I would like to get more of a chance to do that if I could.</p>
<p>The after party was at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theblackthorn.ca/">Black Thorn Cafe</a> which is a nice pub in the market area of the city. The bar was free all night and they had a large selection of local and imported beers to work my way though. Apparently the geeks have a reputation for drinking the place dry but they didn't succeed this time. I headed back to the hotel rather merry having done a lot of geek chatting over beer. More people recognised the company which was good. I even discussed the options for reviving my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/software/kernel/index.php">User-space DMA patch</a> although finding a use for it outside the platform is was originally written for may be tricky.</p>
<p>Canada Day was fun. I was a little hazy on my initial wanderings as I was searching for food and caffeine having slept right though the hotel breakfast slot. Once that had been dealt with I ambled from busker to street performer while enjoying the pedestrianised city centre. I then joined Fliss' friend Brika (who's wedding I'm attending next weekend) and some other friends of theirs for the day. We went to Jessica's in the evening and watched the Canada Day fireworks from a balcony that had a magnificent view of downtown Ottawa. I eventually returned to the hotel and watched Doctor Who which has somehow miraculously managed to download itself despite the hotels rather unstable wireless connection.</p>
<p>Today is a public holiday in Canada but this is my last day of work before I start my holiday (I've gotten Tuesday off in lieu of working Saturday). I decamped from the hotel to a nice coffee place called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bridgehead.ca/">Bridgehead</a>. Having to get a new ticket for the wireless every hour is a little annoying but I don't need to be on the VPN now everyone back home has left work. Hopefully I'll get a good chunk of coding out of the way :-)</p>
I am Win2007-06-30T18:57:00+01:002007-06-30T18:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-30:/~alex/blog/2007/06/30/887/<p>I've just attended a short C BoF at OLS which was a series of questions on what C would do in various tricky situations. I managed to get one of them right and win myself a shiny Google T-shirt. It's the last day of the symposium today and it's finishing …</p><p>I've just attended a short C BoF at OLS which was a series of questions on what C would do in various tricky situations. I managed to get one of them right and win myself a shiny Google T-shirt. It's the last day of the symposium today and it's finishing with a party in one of the bars downtown. It's a free bar and apparently the geeks have a bit of a reputation for drinking the place dry. Hopefully I'll be vaguely in one piece enough to enjoy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_day">Canada Day</a>.</p>
<p>I hope everyone back home is doing well and safe. It does seem from this distance however that the latest round of attacks have incompetence as a common theme.</p>
Talk Talk Talk2007-06-29T17:41:00+01:002007-06-29T17:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-29:/~alex/blog/2007/06/29/886/<p>The conference has been going well. I haven't had much downtime though as the last two nights have had welcoming parties or BoF (Birds of a Feather) sessions. The talks as you might expect have all been quite technical and geeky. Last night was IBM's Cell BoF session which was …</p><p>The conference has been going well. I haven't had much downtime though as the last two nights have had welcoming parties or BoF (Birds of a Feather) sessions. The talks as you might expect have all been quite technical and geeky. Last night was IBM's Cell BoF session which was more of a hurrah for their architecture. They had a lot of interesting stuff there but unfortunately I didn't win any of the 7 PS3's they where giving away. There was free beer though which they provide a pretty decent range of.</p>
<p>My network access has been incredibly flaky, especially when accessing my work VPN. This is mainly due to a bug in Ubuntu's dhcp client which keeps killing my resolv.conf by overwriting the local DNS server. Until I figured out what was happening this was a real pain in the ass as I tried to update some of my work at the office so it stands a chance of being in the baseline when I get back off holiday.</p>
Geeeek2007-06-28T01:21:00+01:002007-06-28T01:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-28:/~alex/blog/2007/06/28/885/<p>I had a few drinks at the welcome shindig last night but then crashed pretty early (or by my bodies recking, very very late). The first day has been full of some interesting stuff. I've given up on note taking instead preferring to take notes on the laptop. This does …</p><p>I had a few drinks at the welcome shindig last night but then crashed pretty early (or by my bodies recking, very very late). The first day has been full of some interesting stuff. I've given up on note taking instead preferring to take notes on the laptop. This does however mean descending like a vampire on spare sockets between sessions to slurp up a few more joules of energy for my rather hungry machine.</p>
<p>Net access should in theory be very good. However the organisers in their wisdom have gone for full WPA which isn't supported on a wide range of drivers (certainly not my trusty Lucent). As a result I've not been able to be networked at the conference. I have access here but it's a little flaky and keeps dropping out, especially on the VPN.</p>
<p>Time to head back in for the Intel welcome party :-)</p>
Unpacked2007-06-26T21:43:00+01:002007-06-26T21:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-26:/~alex/blog/2007/06/26/884/<p>I'm setup in my home for the next 9 days. It's time to explore Ottawa! It's about 31 degrees at the moment and quite humid so I think I'll go for geek friendly shorts.</p>
Sat in Gatwick2007-06-26T21:40:00+01:002007-06-26T21:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-26:/~alex/blog/2007/06/26/883/<p>Well I'm currently sat in Gatwick looking forward to the fact that smoking indoors will be banned by the time I return to the country. It seems every bar/cafe allows smoking, even the "smoke free" areas have a large amount of bleed through from the smokers. It also seems …</p><p>Well I'm currently sat in Gatwick looking forward to the fact that smoking indoors will be banned by the time I return to the country. It seems every bar/cafe allows smoking, even the "smoke free" areas have a large amount of bleed through from the smokers. It also seems that every smoker in the world is taking advantage of the ability to do so while they still can.</p>
<p>The security is a nightmare. I was very lucky to get to the front of the check-in queue for my "Premium Economy" seats although it turned out in the end I had been directed there by a BAA person trying to help, but causing me to bypass the pre-screening of my passport. Luckily they sorted me out quite quickly - smiling at the check-in lady probably helped. The queue for departures however is massive. I was just joining the 400 people long queue when a member of staff said there was a departures gate upstairs as well. I rushed up and joined the moderately short queue. It only took half an hour to get through, but as I looked back I can see it had quickly snaked around the corner as everyone rushed to it.</p>
<p>Luckily they didn't ask me to boot the laptop with each of the 3 batteries I have brought with me. They did however swab it for explosives. I'd love to know how the machine works (A Barrington Machine?) but the only thing I could make out was a big container of (anhydrous?) crystals at the back and a window to some sort of sampling/injection mechanism at the top.</p>
<p>Well back to finding somewhere a little less smokey to sit while I wait the hour until boarding.</p>
Bandwidth of a truck2007-06-24T11:02:00+01:002007-06-24T11:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-24:/~alex/blog/2007/06/24/882/<p>It took almost 24 hours to sync my music collection to the USB drive on my laptop over WiFi. It seems the combination of network and drive keeps the PC quite busy servicing interrupts even if it's not actually doing much. I wanted to take some films with me but …</p><p>It took almost 24 hours to sync my music collection to the USB drive on my laptop over WiFi. It seems the combination of network and drive keeps the PC quite busy servicing interrupts even if it's not actually doing much. I wanted to take some films with me but the multi-gigabyte transfer across the air didn't appeal. In the end I used my second (somewhat beefier) usb drive to transfer them downstairs. I also cleared a 10's of gigabytes out of my home partition in the process.</p>
Hardware Worries2007-06-21T01:10:00+01:002007-06-21T01:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-21:/~alex/blog/2007/06/21/881/<p>I was a little worried that the rather cute portable <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=261">HD</a> was broken as I tried to sync my music collection to it this evening. After a bit of poking around I discovered the USB hub was getting very hot. I don't know if this is directly it's fault or …</p><p>I was a little worried that the rather cute portable <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=261">HD</a> was broken as I tried to sync my music collection to it this evening. After a bit of poking around I discovered the USB hub was getting very hot. I don't know if this is directly it's fault or just exacerbated by the rather dodgy USB powering on my desktop but the end result seems to be a thermal cut out which kicks in and resets the drive. The cut out was kicking in before the drive finished formatting which was a little concerning. However it all seems to be fine running through the laptop which is a little slow (as it's going over the air) but at least it's the target platform for the drive. Next time I buy a desktop machine I'm making sure the built in USB ports aren't quite so flaky as this current one.</p>
After the dust has settled2007-06-19T23:59:00+01:002007-06-19T23:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-19:/~alex/blog/2007/06/19/880/<p>Fliss was up for the weekend for Rocky Horror. I bowed to the inevitable (as well some practicalities) and gave Fliss her birthday present a week early. I'm pretty sure she likes her new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pure.com/Products/Product.asp?Product=VL-60767">Evoke-3</a> DAB Radio. It's quite a full featured radio which along with the very handy multi-alarm …</p><p>Fliss was up for the weekend for Rocky Horror. I bowed to the inevitable (as well some practicalities) and gave Fliss her birthday present a week early. I'm pretty sure she likes her new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pure.com/Products/Product.asp?Product=VL-60767">Evoke-3</a> DAB Radio. It's quite a full featured radio which along with the very handy multi-alarm setting (no more remember to turn the alarm off for the weekend) it also can record, pause and rewind live radio.</p>
<p>Rocky Horror was the appropriate amount of fun. My feet were not nearly as sore this time around although I did limp a little on Sunday to keep the weight off the ball of my right foot. I think I may invest in some new friendlier shoes before the next Rocky outing.</p>
<p>Sunday was mostly lazing playing PS2 games (having resisted buying the ?299 PS3 again). We joined Andy, Ant and Sal going to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486576/">Rise of the Silver Surfer</a>. It wasn't a spectacular film, pretty much what you'd expect from a comic book tie in. I'd probably rank it higher than this years Spiderman but not by much. According to Fliss my last few movie picks have been pretty poor so I'll be deffering to her choices for a bit. This assumes she'll want to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/">Transformers</a> this summer of course :-)</p>
<p>Fliss was able to catch the Monday morning train this visit which was really nice. I suspect my soppy romantic conversion is almost complete when I start running alongside trains to wave her off...</p>
That old syncronitic thing again2007-06-15T21:27:00+01:002007-06-15T21:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-15:/~alex/blog/2007/06/15/879/<p>In a remarkable display of the world organising it's self for my benefit I'm being sent by my company to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2007/">Ottawa Linux Symposium</a> in a week or so. This is kind of handy as I start my holiday (in Ottawa) the following week. This of course does involve a …</p><p>In a remarkable display of the world organising it's self for my benefit I'm being sent by my company to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxsymposium.org/2007/">Ottawa Linux Symposium</a> in a week or so. This is kind of handy as I start my holiday (in Ottawa) the following week. This of course does involve a sudden re-arrangement of plans as I need to have myself packed and ready to go for 4 weeks worth of travelling by Friday.</p>
Hot Hot Sun2007-06-12T15:04:00+01:002007-06-12T15:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-12:/~alex/blog/2007/06/12/878/<p>Not much to report on Maelstrom. Suffice it to say I had a good time. Someone commented that it's hard to get frustrated in your ambitions when your goals are being able to get to the bar. The weather was nice although a little stifling during the day, luckily I …</p><p>Not much to report on Maelstrom. Suffice it to say I had a good time. Someone commented that it's hard to get frustrated in your ambitions when your goals are being able to get to the bar. The weather was nice although a little stifling during the day, luckily I didn't have such accoutrements as armour to worry about. However as a bonus the evenings retained the heat which made it easier to hang around without freezing as soon as the sun went down. In fact the only real frustration was finding the bar had run out of real beer (and lager) on Sunday given I wasn't driving.</p>
<p>We came back in plenty of time to catch the repeat of the latest Doctor Who. I have to say the last three episodes have been stonking ones. This episode will have no doubt left many kids hiding behind the sofa. Even I let a little yelp of surprise pass my lips when the face of one of the Weeping Angels was revealed. I'm looking forward to the final three episodes :-)</p>
<p>Today I brought Fliss her birthday present. I'm pretty sure she will like it. I'm faced with the dilemma of letting her take it back to London this weekend or lugging with me on the train the following weekend. I'm not sure if it's a good test or mental torture to have a birthday present wrapped up sitting in your bedroom for a week.</p>
Down with the Kids2007-06-08T11:29:00+01:002007-06-08T11:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-08:/~alex/blog/2007/06/08/877/<p>Last night I had Sheila and Lee around for a meal and catch up natter. For the food I tried a variant of a stir-fry recipe Fliss taught me. I was quite happy I've finally seem to have got the hang of making Egg Fried Rice without having it all …</p><p>Last night I had Sheila and Lee around for a meal and catch up natter. For the food I tried a variant of a stir-fry recipe Fliss taught me. I was quite happy I've finally seem to have got the hang of making Egg Fried Rice without having it all clump together. Sheila brought some very nice strawberries and ice cream for dessert and Lee added a bottle of his rather palatable home brew white wine.</p>
<p>Sheila showed me <a class="reference external" href="www.facebook.com">Facebook</a> last night so I finally signed up to another one of the internet's hot social networking tools. It seems email is old school these days.</p>
<p>In other news I may be doing some DJ'ing during my trip to Canada next month. There seems to be some sort of collective approach to the wedding music. The bride and groom are keen to avoid the traditional wedding cheese (although I'm not sure I've been to a wedding recently that has played Jive Bunny, the Hokey Cokey or the Grease Megamix). The request for Goth, Alternative and Soft Electro may stretch my collection a little although some of the bands suggested where distinctly Indie which should be a lot easier.</p>
LSB, chkconfig and the frustration of multiple distro support2007-06-06T18:17:00+01:002007-06-06T18:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-06:/~alex/blog/2007/06/06/876/<p>I've had a frustrating time with getting some of our init scripts working on both <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux">RHEL4</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server">SLES10</a>. The issues have mostly been to RHEL4's less than stellar <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Standard_Base">LSB</a> implementation. Despite having a compatibility header for <em>chkconfig</em> it still sees the LSB stuff and promptly fails to resolve any of …</p><p>I've had a frustrating time with getting some of our init scripts working on both <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux">RHEL4</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server">SLES10</a>. The issues have mostly been to RHEL4's less than stellar <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Standard_Base">LSB</a> implementation. Despite having a compatibility header for <em>chkconfig</em> it still sees the LSB stuff and promptly fails to resolve any of the dependencies. As we are a 3rd party application we can't exactly tell our customers to install a newer version of <em>chkconfig</em> which works (which the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_core">Fedora Core 6</a> one does). It's also a logistic PITA if we start generating separate RPMs for both distros. In the end I took advantage of having the source code for <em>chkconfig</em> and sprinkling fprintf statements in it until I figured out what it was doing. I managed to craft an appropriate header that works properly on SLES and works (by virtue of understanding the bug in <em>chkconfig</em>) on RHEL. I far prefer actual application coding.....</p>
Comedy of Beers2007-06-04T16:28:00+01:002007-06-04T16:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-04:/~alex/blog/2007/06/04/875/<p>There are many ways to prepare for the afternoon session of the 21st <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stockportfestival.fsnet.co.uk/">Stockport Beer and Cider Festival</a>. I suspect that staying up until 4 in the morning after visiting a few of Manchester's finer <a class="reference external" href="http://v1.marblebeers.com/">drinking establishments</a> followed by a bit of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/">dancing</a> is not one of them. Despite flagging …</p><p>There are many ways to prepare for the afternoon session of the 21st <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stockportfestival.fsnet.co.uk/">Stockport Beer and Cider Festival</a>. I suspect that staying up until 4 in the morning after visiting a few of Manchester's finer <a class="reference external" href="http://v1.marblebeers.com/">drinking establishments</a> followed by a bit of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/">dancing</a> is not one of them. Despite flagging slightly (and resting my eyelids) the next day I still had an enjoyable day. We headed into town to continue the festivities although I headed home before the end so I could have some well deserved sleep.</p>
<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.danielkitson.com/">Daniel Kitson</a> last night. I've seen him <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=593">before</a> and he didn't disappoint last night. The first half was a lot more ad-lib but the second half delivered, as promised, "Comedy Gold". Yet again I can highly recommend you see him if you get the chance.</p>
Today's letter2007-06-01T14:17:00+01:002007-06-01T14:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-06-01:/~alex/blog/2007/06/01/874/<p>Supplied without further comment:</p>
<p>I received a letter from your department detailing that photos have been taken of:</p>
<p>"household waste from your property was incorrectly stored"</p>
<p>The statement is remarkable in the lack of information it imparts as to what my actual offence is. I do however have to commend …</p><p>Supplied without further comment:</p>
<p>I received a letter from your department detailing that photos have been taken of:</p>
<p>"household waste from your property was incorrectly stored"</p>
<p>The statement is remarkable in the lack of information it imparts as to what my actual offence is. I do however have to commend it on the clarity of the warning about the potential ?1000 fine.</p>
<p>Please could you let me know the details about this incorrect storage so I can rectify the situation? Without knowing what I did wrong how can I ensure I don't inadvertently transgress again?</p>
<p>Could you also clarify what day my bins are collected? The attached notice says my collection day in Friday although the refuse collector seems to come by and collect it on Thursdays. The collection day for SR which is where the rear egress of my property is located in listed as Thursday on your website. However the front of house is on BR which is listed as Friday. The notice is very specific that I should be putting my bin out at the rear of my property.</p>
<p>I'm sure you understand I would like to get to the bottom of these seemingly contradictory pieces of information given the potential fines involved.</p>
<p>Yours Sincerely,</p>
Routine is the Enemy of the Conscious Mind2007-05-30T14:07:00+01:002007-05-30T14:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-30:/~alex/blog/2007/05/30/routine-is-the-enemy-of-the-conscious-mind/<p>It's easy to make your mind switch off by following a fixed daily routine. Things are likely to go wrong when you mess with that routine even with a few small details. For example my daily commute involves reading the free sheet, listening to the radio on the way in …</p><p>It's easy to make your mind switch off by following a fixed daily routine. Things are likely to go wrong when you mess with that routine even with a few small details. For example my daily commute involves reading the free sheet, listening to the radio on the way in. When I get to town I drop the free sheet in the recycling bin and possibly drop of a DVD in the post box.</p>
<p>Today I decided to skip the free sheet to do some actual <a class="reference external" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/100704?shelf=currently-reading">book reading</a> on the Metro. I also had a DVD to return by post. I'm sure you can guess the rest.</p>
<p>Friday night was a boys night out with Lee and Mark (joined by Jeff, Chris and Chris). After a curry with what can only be described as an heroic amount if garlic in it we ended up in Ara. Lee had neglected to tell me to wear black but they are a pretty accepting lot there :-) I came home to the lovely surprise of finding Fliss back from her brief sojourn to London. She had decided that heading home before a Bank Holiday weekend was a little silly.</p>
<p>I had made drunken plans with Lee on Friday night to try out <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cagedasylum.com/">Caged Asylum</a> but after canvasing for interest we decided to postpone until we could raise a larger pose. Instead we had Lee, Anne and Paul around for board games and films. We watched the rather dire <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475394/">Smokin' Aces</a>. Overly complex and involved, the only highlight was watching Ben Affleck's character being killed in a random drive by shooting.</p>
<p>Sunday saw Fliss taking advantage of my car to drive us to Rich and Al's for (not) BBQ and chance to play with their <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii">Wii</a>. I must say I like the controller concept. The jury is still out on if I should buy one for the social aspect. There is still an element of isolation of watching two people play console games. Maybe this would be different with 4 controllers? I has earlier seen a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS3">PS3</a> for ?299 in my local games store. It was a Japanese version but apparently the only limitation was it wouldn't play PS2 games as there was no region locking on the PS3. However I held off buying it until I get a chance to play with one. I can after all wait a year or so...</p>
<p>We also took a break during the proceedings to join some of the others down at the local cinema to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0449088/">Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End</a>the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I enjoyed the film a lot more than the second instalment although would of preferred some more mass naval battles. I quite liked the film makers solution to how they could get more <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Depp">Johnny Depp</a> into the film.</p>
<p>We visited Bolton again on Monday for Fluff's birthday meal followed by a few drinks at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bolton.org.uk/manscyth.html">Ye Olde Man and Scythe</a> before heading home to sleep.</p>
Meters not Pounds2007-05-25T14:43:00+01:002007-05-25T14:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-25:/~alex/blog/2007/05/25/872/<p>I got my electricity bill this morning. The headline figure of being ~?330 in debt despite the ?94/month direct debit spurred me to actually phone in a more up to date reading. PowerGen, unlike British Gas, always seem to send their meter readers around during the week. The plea …</p><p>I got my electricity bill this morning. The headline figure of being ~?330 in debt despite the ?94/month direct debit spurred me to actually phone in a more up to date reading. PowerGen, unlike British Gas, always seem to send their meter readers around during the week. The plea of the cards they drop though the letter box, to leave the readings outside, always seems to fall into the "I'll get round to that category". While on the phone to the nice lady it transpired the last actual reading was last August. It was still a bit of a surprise to see my account to switch from a debt to ~?750 credit. I shall be arranging for them to credit my account soon, no point them holding onto my money!</p>
14 Days Later2007-05-25T01:19:00+01:002007-05-25T01:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-25:/~alex/blog/2007/05/25/14-days-later/<p>Fliss has headed back down to the big smoke after spending a lovely two weeks visiting up north. While work has been going crazy it's been really nice to come home to my lovely girlfriend. I'm more than a little sad we are seperated by geography again. On the plus …</p><p>Fliss has headed back down to the big smoke after spending a lovely two weeks visiting up north. While work has been going crazy it's been really nice to come home to my lovely girlfriend. I'm more than a little sad we are seperated by geography again. On the plus side my house is a lot tidier and I'm sure she's happy to be looking after my car. I'm fighting the urge to pine....</p>
<p>I joined Aidan, Dave, Jacob and (alt) Marcus to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463854/">28 Weeks Later</a>. It was pretty much as expected although I did find the large amount of shaky cam a little annoying at the end. It also confirms my belief that the majority of the population in horror movies are obviously far too stupid to be allowed to survive. TJ would have fits at some of the lapses in risk assessment portrayed in the film. For one thing an Access All Areas pass for site services shouldn't include the room your keeping you confirmed infected hosts in. Having said that it was a fun enough film. We shall see what Pirates of the Caribbean : <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449088/">At Worlds End</a> is like on Sunday. Some of the reviews I've seen so far have not been promising.</p>
The Run2007-05-21T14:20:00+01:002007-05-21T14:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-21:/~alex/blog/2007/05/21/870/<p>It didn't go as well as I hoped due to the cramp (or possibly <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints">Shin Splints</a>) I developed at the 2.5km stage. It was pretty much a repeat performance of the type of cramp I developed on my Sunday <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=868">Whitby run</a>. I had to stop running and break into …</p><p>It didn't go as well as I hoped due to the cramp (or possibly <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints">Shin Splints</a>) I developed at the 2.5km stage. It was pretty much a repeat performance of the type of cramp I developed on my Sunday <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=868">Whitby run</a>. I had to stop running and break into a walk until it eased off. However once you've stopped running it's very hard to get going again and keep it up. I managed around 1hr15 which was worse than my first race which is disappointing. Although my training hasn't been spectacular this year I don't think it's general fitness that's the problem. It would be nice to know whats actually going on so I can actively try and avoid it happening in the future. Otherwise I may have to abandon running and concentrate on my other sports.</p>
<p>The weekend otherwise has been very pleasant. My parents came up on Thursday in order for my Dad to join me in the race. Fliss and I cooked for the first two days and we had some pleasant meals in town over the weekend. We also spent a large amount of time in the Budda Bags watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/">The Departed</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436697/">The Queen</a>, both good films. They head home today so I get 3 more days with Fliss to myself before she heads home. At some point we must get around to organising our holiday and I need to get my bike fixed up in time for the Metro being shut down over the summer.</p>
Race Day2007-05-20T08:28:00+01:002007-05-20T08:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-20:/~alex/blog/2007/05/20/869/<p>Well I'm heading into town in under an hour. My start time is something like 10.15 so hopefully it will all be over by 11.30. I'm meeting up with people at the Knott which is conveniently at the end of the race.</p>
Failed by Google Shocker2007-05-18T22:07:00+01:002007-05-18T22:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-18:/~alex/blog/2007/05/18/868/<p>A lesson in reliance on one search engine. I was looking for the number for the Gio restaurent to book a table. Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=gio&near=Manchester,+UK&radius=0.0&cd=1&li=lmd&t=m&ie=UTF8&latlng=53475800,-2246822,17999355373162210105&ei=egJORqbVIYeu2wLHp5TdBw&sig2=BxsrLOCzHwdu1KKeuIAZlA">results</a> looked promising but the number rung out. Evidently Yell are much more <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.yell.com/clients/browse.cgi?client=yell_mandd&nat_id=3580127&pc=M2+3WS&sl=&storePC=M2+3WS&ssm=&companyName=Gio+Restaurante&replayURL=%2Fucs%2FUcsSearchAction.do%3FcompanyName%3Dgio%26M%3D0%26location%3Dmanchester%26scrambleSeed%3D91338193">current</a>. I suspect the old details are given more prominence due to old reviews …</p><p>A lesson in reliance on one search engine. I was looking for the number for the Gio restaurent to book a table. Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=gio&near=Manchester,+UK&radius=0.0&cd=1&li=lmd&t=m&ie=UTF8&latlng=53475800,-2246822,17999355373162210105&ei=egJORqbVIYeu2wLHp5TdBw&sig2=BxsrLOCzHwdu1KKeuIAZlA">results</a> looked promising but the number rung out. Evidently Yell are much more <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.yell.com/clients/browse.cgi?client=yell_mandd&nat_id=3580127&pc=M2+3WS&sl=&storePC=M2+3WS&ssm=&companyName=Gio+Restaurante&replayURL=%2Fucs%2FUcsSearchAction.do%3FcompanyName%3Dgio%26M%3D0%26location%3Dmanchester%26scrambleSeed%3D91338193">current</a>. I suspect the old details are given more prominence due to old reviews and the like that contain the old number. I guess it would be less of a problem if they had their own website though.</p>
Training Status2007-05-14T23:00:00+01:002007-05-14T23:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-14:/~alex/blog/2007/05/14/867/<p>Given the grey start to the day it was easy to postpone the run to this evening. It helped that the weather was nice and sunny this evening although of course I didn't now that this morning. 50 minutes for a 7.32km run isn't exactly a super pace setting …</p><p>Given the grey start to the day it was easy to postpone the run to this evening. It helped that the weather was nice and sunny this evening although of course I didn't now that this morning. 50 minutes for a 7.32km run isn't exactly a super pace setting time but it's 3/4 of race distance which makes me a lot happier about Sunday's race.</p>
<p>My thoughts now turn to what soundtrack I should listen to on the run. The last few weeks I've had <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cream-Anthems-2002-Various-Artists/dp/B00005TO1R">Cream Anthems 2002</a> which is pretty bouncy from the get go. Today I had Matt Darey's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pure-Euphoria-Vol-4-Matt-Darey/dp/B00004SUE6">Pure Euphoria</a> which although it has some floaty sections it also has banging good tunes which helped lift me on the final few laps. Can anyone recommend any other good mixes that I can run to for 70-80 minutes?</p>
Mundane Machinations2007-05-14T14:53:00+01:002007-05-14T14:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-14:/~alex/blog/2007/05/14/866/<p>Fliss has been visiting since Thursday. Thanks to the magic of public sector breaks she's able to stay up until after the Great Manchester Run next weekend. We thought we'd experiment with our living compatibility by trying to avoid making every day a special "do something day" which explains why …</p><p>Fliss has been visiting since Thursday. Thanks to the magic of public sector breaks she's able to stay up until after the Great Manchester Run next weekend. We thought we'd experiment with our living compatibility by trying to avoid making every day a special "do something day" which explains why we spent a chunk of Saturday and most of Sunday cleaning and pottering around the house. This has also lead to a re-imagining of my living room which seems to have worked out quite well. It certainly seems bigger now than it did. Hopefully it will keep some sort of tidy state for more than a few days.</p>
<p>We did do some other slightly more fun things over the weekend as well including visiting Knutsford for a rather nice Chinese Meal with Mufi and TJ on Friday. I did a reasonable 5km run on Saturday although I think I'll avoid the tow path for future training runs, it's just a little too uneven. We visited the Trafford Centre (argggh my eyes, how big is that chandelier!) to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/">Spider-Man 3</a>. My general impression of the film is although the action sequences are well executed the structure of the film is just pants.</p>
<p>We had an unscheduled visit from Anne and Paul on Sunday who then stayed to enjoy the newly re-configured living room and some chili as we watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386741/">Renaissance</a> and Mesrs Pegg and Frost's <a class="reference external" href="http://library.digiguide.com/lib/uk-tv-highlight/Frost+and+Pegg's+Perfect+Night+in-453">Perfect Night In</a>.</p>
<p>I retired a happy, content, and slightly full Alex :-)</p>
Not Long Now2007-05-08T20:40:00+01:002007-05-08T20:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-08:/~alex/blog/2007/05/08/865/<p>I've been a bit lax on the longer runs given how soon it is to the race. I sacked off the gym today in favor of getting home early and going for a quick run around the park. I'm quite happy with the 4.8km I clocked. I'll try for …</p><p>I've been a bit lax on the longer runs given how soon it is to the race. I sacked off the gym today in favor of getting home early and going for a quick run around the park. I'm quite happy with the 4.8km I clocked. I'll try for 4 laps next time.</p>
In the News2007-05-08T11:32:00+01:002007-05-08T11:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-08:/~alex/blog/2007/05/08/864/<p>The project I'm currently working on has had it's first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=249380">Press Release</a>. There is even a competition being held for people that want to Beta test it when it comes out - although I'm guessing there is a friends and family clause somewhere in there.</p>
<p>I for one welcome our new …</p><p>The project I'm currently working on has had it's first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=249380">Press Release</a>. There is even a competition being held for people that want to Beta test it when it comes out - although I'm guessing there is a friends and family clause somewhere in there.</p>
<p>I for one welcome our new Solaris overlords ;-)</p>
May Day Weekend2007-05-07T12:02:00+01:002007-05-07T12:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-07:/~alex/blog/2007/05/07/863/<p>I went down to Knutsford on Saturday for Mufi's slightly delayed birthday celebrations. We caught the tail end of the May day parade before retiring to the pub for lunch. We then headed down to the fun fair where I tried one of the largest fair ground rides I have …</p><p>I went down to Knutsford on Saturday for Mufi's slightly delayed birthday celebrations. We caught the tail end of the May day parade before retiring to the pub for lunch. We then headed down to the fun fair where I tried one of the largest fair ground rides I have seen for a while. There was also a few goes on the Dodgems as well as the traditional ripping off at some of the "skill" games. Admittedly my aim wasn't helped by a slight beer induced wobble in my aim, however the sights did seem pretty bent this time.</p>
<p>We headed back to Mufi's to continue the party although a bunch of us did stop for Doctor Who. There was also some extreme <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet">Croquet</a> played which turns out to be quite a mean game.</p>
<p>Given the early start to the days activities I flaked out by around midnight. I believe everyone had finally crashed by 2am which is either a testament to our sensibility or our advancing years.</p>
<p>A laid back Sunday morning was spent drinking a small gallon of tea and watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464196/">Severance</a> before heading back home. I spent most of Sunday afternoon with some friends from work at the Rain bar. I had toyed with the idea of holding a BBQ today but the weather is looking a bit too dodgy to take it on. I may try to hold a BBQ next weekend when Fliss is up.</p>
DeCSS the return, history repeats2007-05-02T11:53:00+01:002007-05-02T11:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-02:/~alex/blog/2007/05/02/862/<p>I noticed a lot of duplicate stories in my "technews" RSS feed this morning. The were all coming from the <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.digg.com/?p=74">Digg</a>, the social-network story posting site. What had evidently happened was one of the processing keys for decrypting <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System">AACS</a> "protected" <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD">HD-DVDs</a> has been posted to the 'net. Digg received a …</p><p>I noticed a lot of duplicate stories in my "technews" RSS feed this morning. The were all coming from the <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.digg.com/?p=74">Digg</a>, the social-network story posting site. What had evidently happened was one of the processing keys for decrypting <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System">AACS</a> "protected" <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD">HD-DVDs</a> has been posted to the 'net. Digg received a cease and desist from some lawyers and started silently censoring stories. In a rather predictable <a class="reference external" href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/02/0235228&from=rss">reaction</a> Digg got swamped while people demonstrated the futility of attempting to <a class="reference external" href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/01/1935250">censor a number</a>. I have started to see some more activity echoing the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/">inventiveness</a> showed when the content industry tried to put the genie back in the bottle when <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS">DeCSS</a> was released to the world. There are already <a class="reference external" href="http://09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0.com/">domain names</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=3218">legal threats</a>, and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HaNbsIfp0">songs</a> that contain the number. In fact a quick <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=09+F9+11+02+9D+74+E3+5B+D8+41+56+C5+63+56+88+C0">search on Google</a> will show you how widespread the number is now. It's funny how history repeats itself isn't it?</p>
Da Whitby Weekend2007-05-02T00:37:00+01:002007-05-02T00:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-05-02:/~alex/blog/2007/05/02/861/<p>In what seems in danger of becoming a regular annual seaside jaunt I've spent a long weekend in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby">Whitby</a>, ostensibly for the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby_Gothic_Weekend">Whitby Goth Festival</a>. In reality it's more of an excuse for visiting the fresh air of the sea side, mingling it with some drinks and spending time with …</p><p>In what seems in danger of becoming a regular annual seaside jaunt I've spent a long weekend in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby">Whitby</a>, ostensibly for the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby_Gothic_Weekend">Whitby Goth Festival</a>. In reality it's more of an excuse for visiting the fresh air of the sea side, mingling it with some drinks and spending time with friends who may also happen to be <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goth_subculture">Goths</a>. We stayed in a nice little holiday cottage up on the west cliff side of Whitby. We shared with Aidan and Gillian (who had organised the place and brought bacon) and Jacob.</p>
<p>As part of a regular exercise pact with <a class="reference external" href="http://vodkafrenzy.livejournal.com/">Mandy</a> we went out for two runs this weekend. The Friday afternoon one was hampered a little by the large lunch I had eaten about an hour earlier. About half way through I was suffering from a stitch which forced me to slow down to a walk for a chunk of the route. We moved Sunday's run to an earlier noon slot to avoid conflicts with lunch but I ended up with a cramp in my right leg (and a rather unsettling lump) which halted me about half way around. The training has not been going well, but at least I did some running instead of spending the whole weekend in slob mode.</p>
<p>This was of course Fliss' first outing to the Goth Weekend. I was a little worried she wouldn't enjoy it given she didn't know anyone apart from Aidan and Gillian. I was of course being overly paranoid as she easily adapted to the Goth style and made plenty of new friends. Despite her raised eyebrows at the mention of Sunday's "Cheesy 80's night" at Laugtons she still succeeded in out dancing most of the people there. Hopefully the picture of her leading the conga line will come out well :-)</p>
<p>An excellent weekend all round :-D</p>
25 to 892007-04-26T14:34:00+01:002007-04-26T14:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-26:/~alex/blog/2007/04/26/860/<p>I'm such an easy target for sales people. Part of the requirements laid down by my friends for this years Whitby is I get some proper black boots. So this lunchtime I dutifully ambled down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.militarykit.com/">Army Surplus</a> store on Tibb Street to purchase some second hand army boots …</p><p>I'm such an easy target for sales people. Part of the requirements laid down by my friends for this years Whitby is I get some proper black boots. So this lunchtime I dutifully ambled down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.militarykit.com/">Army Surplus</a> store on Tibb Street to purchase some second hand army boots. Seeing the price difference between ?25 for an old pair and ?39 for a good looking (black) walking boots I tried them on. The sales guy waxed lyrical about the Magnum brand but none of those shoes had the external eyelets until you got to ?89. I decided to try them anyway just to see. As you would expect they where a lot more comfortable and waterproof to boot.</p>
<p>Still at least these are boots I'll be prepared to stomp around the countryside in so hopefully don't fall into my Mum's "fancy dress" category which she applied to the lace up PVC trousers :-)</p>
Red Shoes2007-04-25T01:08:00+01:002007-04-25T01:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-25:/~alex/blog/2007/04/25/859/<p>I brought a new pair of shoes yesterday. As with the last pair I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.upandrunning.co.uk/shops/manchester.php">Up and Running</a>. Previously my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_gait">gait</a> was analysed by a nice lady on her hands and knees staring at me from behind. They now have a digital camera hooked up to the PC with …</p><p>I brought a new pair of shoes yesterday. As with the last pair I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.upandrunning.co.uk/shops/manchester.php">Up and Running</a>. Previously my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_gait">gait</a> was analysed by a nice lady on her hands and knees staring at me from behind. They now have a digital camera hooked up to the PC with some fancy software. My old shoes, either due to old age or being a little too big, still don't fully correct my odd shaped feet. It seemed as we went through the various options that my left foot would prove to be the tricky one (as with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Family/Skiing%20in%20Austria%202007&startFrom=3">ski boots</a>). Luckily the last pair I tried seemed to level everything up. The test runs last night and this morning were pleasantly free of any blistering. I like my new shoes.</p>
Nottage2007-04-24T01:42:00+01:002007-04-24T01:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-24:/~alex/blog/2007/04/24/858/<p>I went down to Nottingham on Saturday for Cheryl's party. As it's also my brothers hometown it gave me a chance to catch up with him. After a little discussion about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Css">CSS</a> and website styling we headed down (or rather up the steep hill) to the party. The party was …</p><p>I went down to Nottingham on Saturday for Cheryl's party. As it's also my brothers hometown it gave me a chance to catch up with him. After a little discussion about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Css">CSS</a> and website styling we headed down (or rather up the steep hill) to the party. The party was a fun affair full of interesting people. I crashed out moderately early having nabbed a part share in a bed. The next day was helped by with a large helping of tea and T's bacon sarnies. It was a good weekend and it was great seeing the Nottingham crowd. I should make an effort to visit it more often.</p>
Damn Virus2007-04-21T13:21:00+01:002007-04-21T13:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-21:/~alex/blog/2007/04/21/857/<p>I hate colds. I seem to be suffering a string of the infernal viruses this year which is really getting in the way of my training. Certainly it's making it very hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning for my runs. I can go to the gym …</p><p>I hate colds. I seem to be suffering a string of the infernal viruses this year which is really getting in the way of my training. Certainly it's making it very hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning for my runs. I can go to the gym in the evenings but it's less than ideal compared to proper road running. Not to mention I seem to be working later these days as it seems I can only get any real work done after 6 once people have gone home.</p>
<p>Bah and arrrrgh!</p>
<p><strong>ETA:</strong>Enough mopping, ran a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=879494">2.7km</a>, it's a easier if I loop around without going near my end point.</p>
New Geek Toy2007-04-17T01:26:00+01:002007-04-17T01:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-17:/~alex/blog/2007/04/17/856/<p>I only noticed <a class="reference external" href="http://raphael.slinckx.net/deskbar/">Desk Bar</a> when I was installing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> on my new work machine. It's dam useful. It provides pretty much everything I wanted from <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beagle_%28software%29">Beagle</a> plus an easy way to launch all sorts of queries and applications. I particularly like the way it integrates with your <a class="reference external" href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio …</a></p><p>I only noticed <a class="reference external" href="http://raphael.slinckx.net/deskbar/">Desk Bar</a> when I was installing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> on my new work machine. It's dam useful. It provides pretty much everything I wanted from <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beagle_%28software%29">Beagle</a> plus an easy way to launch all sorts of queries and applications. I particularly like the way it integrates with your <a class="reference external" href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a> bookmarks. It has now found it's way onto the panels of all my machines.</p>
Weekend Report2007-04-17T01:12:00+01:002007-04-17T01:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-17:/~alex/blog/2007/04/17/855/<p>I managed to fit a lot into my London weekend.</p>
<blockquote>
The journey down was uneventful aside from my dribbling nose which still seems to be some sort of hay-fever related thing. As I left later in the day I decided some recreational hacking was in order so I spent it …</blockquote><p>I managed to fit a lot into my London weekend.</p>
<blockquote>
The journey down was uneventful aside from my dribbling nose which still seems to be some sort of hay-fever related thing. As I left later in the day I decided some recreational hacking was in order so I spent it tweaking my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotbashrc?r1=1.23&r2=1.25">shell customisations</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs?r1=1.46&r2=1.48">.emacs</a> (actually the majority was getting transitive.el working so I could share the love ;-).</blockquote>
<p>Once safely arrived in London Fliss treated me to a lovely improvised pasta dish and general entertainment until her Mum arrived back from the theatre. There may of been champagne involved - it's a theme.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Saturday morning was booked up by Fliss' cousin who was taking photographs for an art project on a subject close to my heart. This is how I ended up in a photo studio with a strategically placed flash unit in front of me while Fliss and her Mum posed for three reels of topless shoots. I could only wonder what was going on from the yelps and giggles and the shuffling of feet. I shall see the finished product later this year.</p>
<p>After the photo shoot we went to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borough_Market">Borough Market</a> for lunch and to pick up some food for the evening. We ended up in the bar enjoying hand made chocolates and a pint of summer ale in the rather warm weather. To take further advantage of the weather we went for a scenic walk down the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bank">South Bank</a> before heading home to prepare for the evening.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Saturday night was set aside for Physics Jo's birthday party. After some initial navigational confusion locating Wimbledon village we finally located the rather posh <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eclipse-ventures.com/wimbledon.html">bar</a>. Jo has been wanting to meet Fliss ever since I started mentioning this new lady I was interested in on IM. They got on very well. One could say conspiratorially well. I'm not sure exactly what they talked about but I'm guessing my edification was not their main aim.</p>
<p>As a group we consumed an heroic quantity of champagne as is only fitting for someone like Jo. There where also cocktails, I remember some of them. I also remember Jo and Fliss competing to see who could lift each other the highest. Some of these attempts didn't achieve full stability. All in all a fun night was had by all.</p>
<blockquote>
Sunday was a relatively relaxed affair which saw us heading down to Tolworth to visit my Nana and have lunch with Uncle George and Aunt Sue. I don't get much opportunity to see my relatives mostly due to time constraints but also because a lot of them are down south. It was nice to catch up with everyone, especially Nana.</blockquote>
<p>Having been suitably stuffed with Sunday lunch we headed back home before spending the evening reading to each other and finally slobbing in front of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/">The Fifth Element</a>.</p>
Is it hay time already?2007-04-12T21:58:00+01:002007-04-12T21:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-12:/~alex/blog/2007/04/12/854/<p>I had real difficulty getting to sleep last night. I'm not sure if it was the wine at the meal or if I'm coming down with another lurgy. By 6am I decided to give up and got up early and headed into work. I spent most of the day fighting …</p><p>I had real difficulty getting to sleep last night. I'm not sure if it was the wine at the meal or if I'm coming down with another lurgy. By 6am I decided to give up and got up early and headed into work. I spent most of the day fighting with X and the dual head setup on my new desktop machine. It's a nice beefy machine but unfortunately these days Dell tend to ship the latest and greatest graphics cards so it's crappy binary drivers just to get the dual head features. It wasn't helped by the fact one of my monitors seems to be unable to be detected by X in the big screen configuration. Considering it's identical to the other one it's more than a little confusing. I have a work-around for the time being but it does make it a pain every-time I want to log out of my X session.</p>
<p>My early start did mean I headed home before 5. I've been filling the time with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_%28TV_series%29">Rome</a> season 2 which is proving most entertaining.</p>
Hitting Goals2007-04-11T00:05:00+01:002007-04-11T00:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-11:/~alex/blog/2007/04/11/853/<p>As Lee noticed by how early I logged on I went for a run this morning. However I was running the risk of working another late stint this evening so I was glad when some work colleagues invited me out for a swift drink down Sinclairs. In a bid to …</p><p>As Lee noticed by how early I logged on I went for a run this morning. However I was running the risk of working another late stint this evening so I was glad when some work colleagues invited me out for a swift drink down Sinclairs. In a bid to ensure I get up early enough tomorrow for another run I declined the usual (to derision from the bar staff) in lieu of an orange juice. I got home in time to rush prepare a meal before watching the final episode of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_%28TV_series%29">Life on Mars</a>. I was about to head to bed but Andy has just wandered down suggesting we catch up on the latest episode of Lost. I am yet to decide if this will impact tomorrows run.</p>
Maelfroth2007-04-10T23:51:00+01:002007-04-10T23:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-10:/~alex/blog/2007/04/10/852/<p>We were very lucky with the weather over the long weekend for Maelstrom. I had headed down on Thursday to join Fliss who was preparing her colony camp site. This gave us plenty of time to enjoy the weather while putting up the tents before time-in on Friday.</p>
<p>The Easter …</p><p>We were very lucky with the weather over the long weekend for Maelstrom. I had headed down on Thursday to join Fliss who was preparing her colony camp site. This gave us plenty of time to enjoy the weather while putting up the tents before time-in on Friday.</p>
<p>The Easter event is the longest one of the four as it gets the full benefit of the Bank Holiday. I didn't go in with any particular game plan or in fact go around doing any trading. However I still managed to fill my time quite nicely in Danny's usual meandering style. The Church put itself about a bit more this time and despite it's reduced numbers came out feeling pretty positive about the event. Fliss discovered the faucet of full-on LARP that results from being a colony leader. It was perhaps the fact I was pretty busy during the day which meant I was in bed pretty early most nights.</p>
<p>The only downsides was how cold the evenings were compared to the warmth of the days. My new inflatable bed is also about half a foot too short when shared. Luckily the attached nature of the built in sleeping bag combined with 2 duvets, 2 throws and 2 people kept us warm save our heads poking out the top.</p>
<p>All in all is was an excellent weekend which I enjoyed thoroughly.</p>
Maelstrom2007-04-05T17:19:00+01:002007-04-05T17:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-05:/~alex/blog/2007/04/05/851/<p>It's turned sunny. I'm seeing Fliss in a few hours at Maelstrom. I think I've packed everything. Life is good :-)</p>
London Travels2007-04-03T00:49:00+01:002007-04-03T00:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-04-03:/~alex/blog/2007/04/03/850/<p>It was a familiar Monday evening homecoming after spending a weekend away. I spent the usual 30 minutes cleaning away stuff in the kitchen so I could prepare my food. I shall have to be give Andy another lesson in "tidying stuff away when you're finished with it" and a …</p><p>It was a familiar Monday evening homecoming after spending a weekend away. I spent the usual 30 minutes cleaning away stuff in the kitchen so I could prepare my food. I shall have to be give Andy another lesson in "tidying stuff away when you're finished with it" and a reminder on how to wipe surfaces down.</p>
<p>I had a lovely weekend down in London with Fliss. Friday night was spent at her flat where she prepared a fantastic Lamb roast. We watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/">Shawshank Redemption</a> with one of her flatmates while enjoys a rather splendid red wine.</p>
<p>We spent Saturday morning engaging in a little bit of shopping. I was trying to find some cheap army boots while Fliss was looking for some material for drapes for her colony at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a>. I failed in my mission to find boots but did get some new shirts and trousers.</p>
<p>The afternoon was spent travelling to her Godparent's where her father was staying for part of his visit from Australia. There was a party in the evening in honour of Juan which saw a collection of relatives and old friends in attendance. The air was soggy with nostalgia :-)</p>
<p>I was asked on more than one occasion how I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=698">first met Fliss</a>. The phrase "cross country pantomime" was oft-repeated. I have also been invited to attend the wedding one of her cousins which may be a mark of some integration :-)</p>
<p>After the party had finished and the guests headed home someone suggested we play a few hands of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_bridge">bridge</a>. I partnered up with Sue who successfully talked me through my bidding and prevented me from making too many silly mistakes. I played and made both of my contracts (with spare tricks no less despite poor hands). She was kind enough to say I obviously knew what I was doing but I was just rusty having not played for a long while. It would be nice if I could find 3 other people up in Manchester who want to play on a semi-regular basis to keep my hand in.</p>
<p>We skipped the walk on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampstead_Heath">Hampstead Heath</a> the next day in favour of a lie in. We then headed over to more Godparents for lunch. The hospitality consisted of seeing how much wine and second helpings they could offer me before I exploded. Apparently there is a technique of saying no I need to master. Apparently folding after the fourth "I couldn't possibly eat another thing" isn't good enough. They even offered to open a fourth bottle of white wine when we finished the last drops at the end of the meal despite everyone else having switched to red wine. Needless to say I didn't need to eat much that evening.</p>
<p>The evening was taken up with a visit to the cinema to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/">"300"</a>. It's a fun if terribly bad film. I mean this in the sense that it's a perfectly entertaining special FX film that follows Sin City's comic-to-screen style approach to film making. The plot, "Persians invade, the Greeks fight them at a narrow gap for 3 days then die", is a pretty concise summary of the battle of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae">Thermopylae</a>. The films characterisation of the principle antagonists is pretty one dimensional so as to be irrelevant to the film. In summary while entertaining enough it certainly isn't the definitive film on the subject.</p>
<p>I returned to Manchester this morning to a small mountain of work at the office. Hopefully I can clear a load of it in time for Maelstrom this coming weekend.</p>
What's in a word?2007-03-30T13:18:00+01:002007-03-30T13:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-30:/~alex/blog/2007/03/30/849/<p>I went out last night for Gillian's leaving bash. Saw a lot of people I haven't seen for a while given how busy my weekends have been of late. It was especially good to catch up with Katie and discuss what it's like being a student again. There was a …</p><p>I went out last night for Gillian's leaving bash. Saw a lot of people I haven't seen for a while given how busy my weekends have been of late. It was especially good to catch up with Katie and discuss what it's like being a student again. There was a decent smattering of the Radcliffians as well as a recovering Lee. We ended up in an Italian restaurant in St Peter's square which was pretty good. The lashings of wine may of helped :-) There was much philosophical discussion before eventually heading home tired to my waiting bed.</p>
<p>I'm London bound this weekend to see the very lovely Fliss and even more relatives! Have a good weekend y'all.</p>
Flashes of Blue2007-03-29T17:30:00+01:002007-03-29T17:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-29:/~alex/blog/2007/03/29/848/<p>The FSF released the third (and final?) draft of the <a class="reference external" href="http://gplv3.fsf.org/gpl-draft-2007-03-28.html">GPLv3</a> yesterday. The current <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/info/GPLv2.html">GPL</a> is a seminal document that has arguably done more to enable the free software ecosystem than any other software license. It's the default license I apply to software <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/software/">I release</a>.</p>
<p>The GPLv3 draft however is …</p><p>The FSF released the third (and final?) draft of the <a class="reference external" href="http://gplv3.fsf.org/gpl-draft-2007-03-28.html">GPLv3</a> yesterday. The current <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/info/GPLv2.html">GPL</a> is a seminal document that has arguably done more to enable the free software ecosystem than any other software license. It's the default license I apply to software <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/software/">I release</a>.</p>
<p>The GPLv3 draft however is controversial in it's attempt to hold back the tide of embedded devices that utilise FLOSS software but prevent people tinkering with them. The problem being that it's all very well being supplied with source code but, assuming you get over the hurdles of how to build it, it's no uses if you can't play with your modified creation. This is usually done by requiring some sort of DRM or code signing so the hardware will only accept blessed binaries. The trouble is, despite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=833">my</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=827">numerous</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=739">diatribes</a> on the subject, there are some valid uses for DRM type stuff. You wouldn't want a diagnostic medical station to just accept any binary it was fed for example. The draft attempts some legal sophistry in an attempt to define "household objects" to go after the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivo">Tivo's</a> of this world however how successful this will be remains to be seen. The cumulative effect of these changes seem to be chipping away at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">Freedom 0</a> - the right to run the program for any purpose. I'm sure there will be many days of pontification to come on the subject although I'd love to know what the real lawyers think.</p>
Historical2007-03-27T00:52:00+01:002007-03-27T00:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-27:/~alex/blog/2007/03/27/847/<p>Apparently it's been a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6494599.stm">pretty good day</a> over the water. It's great that the two democratically elected parties have decided to get on with it. Having said that I can't help but feeling a little like the chap on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbcworld.com/Pages/Programme.aspx?id=24">Dateline London</a> who's principle comment was the rest of the UK …</p><p>Apparently it's been a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6494599.stm">pretty good day</a> over the water. It's great that the two democratically elected parties have decided to get on with it. Having said that I can't help but feeling a little like the chap on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbcworld.com/Pages/Programme.aspx?id=24">Dateline London</a> who's principle comment was the rest of the UK didn't care anymore.</p>
<p>I didn't leave the office until 9.30 this evening which didn't really leave enough time to head to the gym for a work out so I headed straight home. On the plus side I did get a 64 bit <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Debugger">gdb</a> working for my projects target platform. This should please the guys who can currently only read core files for the translator with the systems rather sparse non-symbolic debugger. However I'm certainly thinking I need to buy a new pair of running shoes so I can have one pair at home when I leave my gym kit at work.</p>
Procrastination2007-03-24T17:55:00+00:002007-03-24T17:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-24:/~alex/blog/2007/03/24/846/<p>This morning has been mainly about putting off the inevitable. Not only did I watch BSG, 2 episodes of Lost (sorry Andy you need to catch up), and spend a while fiddling with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/ogmtools/ogmcat.1.html">ogmcat</a> to re-blend some mixes onto my portable music player. In the end I couldn't put off …</p><p>This morning has been mainly about putting off the inevitable. Not only did I watch BSG, 2 episodes of Lost (sorry Andy you need to catch up), and spend a while fiddling with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/ogmtools/ogmcat.1.html">ogmcat</a> to re-blend some mixes onto my portable music player. In the end I couldn't put off any longer and put my trainers on and went for my first proper road run. It was only a mile or so (a couple of laps of my park) but it certainly was a lot harder than the running I've been doing at the gym. I'm really going to have to make and effort to do more runs in the morning to strengthen up rather than just concentrating on my gym work.</p>
...but not too much2007-03-23T20:52:00+00:002007-03-23T20:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-23:/~alex/blog/2007/03/23/845/<p>Of course the down side of being away from your desk for 2 days (plus the time I spent preparing) is the inevitable pile-o-work. Unfortunately it's just been one crisis after another so I haven't really had a nice calm day yet (hence the lateness of posting). In fact I'm …</p><p>Of course the down side of being away from your desk for 2 days (plus the time I spent preparing) is the inevitable pile-o-work. Unfortunately it's just been one crisis after another so I haven't really had a nice calm day yet (hence the lateness of posting). In fact I'm still in the office now updating between compile cycles. One of the changes I put into the current release candidate caused a bunch of regressions. My story can be told by diffstat. My original reviewed and tested changes:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
7 files changed, 75 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
</pre>
<p>Tracking down the regressions (not in the test set) has opened the proverbial can-o-worms which so far had my change-set looking more like:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
15 files changed, 229 insertions(+), 119 deletions(-)
</pre>
<p>Most of these came to light when I turned on the assertion checking trying to debug the one test failure I had left. Needless to say all these lines I've fixed have cleared some assertions but not gotten to the bottom of my bug.</p>
And relax...2007-03-23T20:39:00+00:002007-03-23T20:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-23:/~alex/blog/2007/03/23/844/<p>It <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/">all</a> seemed to go surprisingly well. I was preceded by James' rather interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/ThatCouldntHappenToUs.pdf">talk</a> on planning for failure at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>. It was suggested that they might actually have the data to prove if there was a correlation between random data errors and solar flare activity. I wondered if correlating …</p><p>It <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/">all</a> seemed to go surprisingly well. I was preceded by James' rather interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/ThatCouldntHappenToUs.pdf">talk</a> on planning for failure at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>. It was suggested that they might actually have the data to prove if there was a correlation between random data errors and solar flare activity. I wondered if correlating failures on their data centres around the world could be used to pin point gamma ray bursts although I'm not sure their time stamps would be accurate enough.</p>
<p>After James' grilling at the hands of a room full of Unix geeks I was worried <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/AlexBennee.pdf">my talk</a> would seem boring in comparison. I shouldn't of worried. Although there were a few questions I couldn't answer (like James because our companies didn't want to talk about them) I got plenty of questions fielded. After the talk a number of people came by to ask more detailed questions and talk about potential deployments which was a good sign. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sun.com/">Sun</a> where also there and a few of their kernel engineers came over to ask a few more detailed techie questions about how we achieved some of the things we did.</p>
<p>All in all I enjoyed the event a lot. I shouldn't of worried so much about giving the presentation and I got to do some "customer facing" work. No I'm not about to sell my soul to marketing, it's just broadening my base ;-)</p>
18 minutes2007-03-18T20:53:00+00:002007-03-18T20:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-18:/~alex/blog/2007/03/18/843/<p>So first talk through ran to 18 minutes. Adding in the demo and question time that should fit into the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/">40 minutes allocated</a>. Of course I'm only slightly concerned by the fact there is no talk in the other stream opposite mine. I think this will probably be the largest …</p><p>So first talk through ran to 18 minutes. Adding in the demo and question time that should fit into the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/">40 minutes allocated</a>. Of course I'm only slightly concerned by the fact there is no talk in the other stream opposite mine. I think this will probably be the largest audience I've had. I think I'm meant to imagine them all naked or something.....</p>
Weather Watch2007-03-18T12:23:00+00:002007-03-18T12:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-18:/~alex/blog/2007/03/18/842/<p>It's frikin' hailing and snowing outside. I'm staying wrapped in my cocoon.</p>
Rugby and Films2007-03-18T01:44:00+00:002007-03-18T01:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-18:/~alex/blog/2007/03/18/841/<p>I watched a lot of Rugby today. I feel for the Irish who seem to be down on their luck this Paddy's day. I can't fault Scotland for playing their <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/scottish/6455035.stm">own game</a> though - even if it meant the French won the championship. Unfortunately the English <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6454287.stm">performance</a> was less then stellar …</p><p>I watched a lot of Rugby today. I feel for the Irish who seem to be down on their luck this Paddy's day. I can't fault Scotland for playing their <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/scottish/6455035.stm">own game</a> though - even if it meant the French won the championship. Unfortunately the English <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6454287.stm">performance</a> was less then stellar. Even though England's result was disappointing it was good the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations_Championship">Six Nations</a> ended in such a knife edge way.</p>
<p>Mark and Helen joined me for the Rugby and then I was planning to attend Alison's St Patrick's and birthday celebrations. However screwing up my shoulder lead to a spasming back today so I decided against the journey up to Bolton on the train. Instead we stayed in and watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464049/">The History Boys</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458352/">The Devil Wears Prada</a>. Tomorrow I fully intend to do some work on my presentation!</p>
Code Bonanza2007-03-16T13:16:00+00:002007-03-16T13:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-16:/~alex/blog/2007/03/16/840/<p>Having mentioned my GPL TV the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=845">other day</a> I feel I should point out the quick response from Panasonic. They pointed me to a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.am-linux.jp/dl/UKIDTV4/">website</a> where the GPL components of the software can be downloaded. Now granted it's just a bunch of tarballs so there is not a recipe for …</p><p>Having mentioned my GPL TV the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=845">other day</a> I feel I should point out the quick response from Panasonic. They pointed me to a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.am-linux.jp/dl/UKIDTV4/">website</a> where the GPL components of the software can be downloaded. Now granted it's just a bunch of tarballs so there is not a recipe for how to build a firmware image to verify the code is correct. However I'll download the files over the weekend and at least check the Linux tarball isn't a vanilla kernel - which would be very surprising.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html">GPL</a> section 3 does specify:</p>
<blockquote>
"The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source
code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any
associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
control compilation and installation of the executable."</blockquote>
<p>But I don't know if they have violated that term yet until I look into
the code. So in summary it's helpful they have considered how to make
the code available even if they haven't followed the spirit of the
GPL.</p>
Uber Busy2007-03-15T13:48:00+00:002007-03-15T13:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-15:/~alex/blog/2007/03/15/839/<p>I've been exceptionally busy the last few days. I've just been made Project Lead on a new project at work. It's not a huge project compared to the last one but it certainly gives me an opportunity to show my management-like type skills. I'll still be coding but should be …</p><p>I've been exceptionally busy the last few days. I've just been made Project Lead on a new project at work. It's not a huge project compared to the last one but it certainly gives me an opportunity to show my management-like type skills. I'll still be coding but should be taking no more than 25% of my time managing stuff. Of course this all kicked off the same week that we're pushing a release out and I'm trying to get everything sorted for my UKUUG <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ukuug.org/events/spring2007/programme/">talk</a> next week. I've been doing a lot of headless running around attending meetings and planning that I've hardly had a chance to stop and catch my breath.</p>
<p>I'm off to the "Free our Data" <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/">panel discussion</a> tonight. All good geek activist fun ;-)</p>
GPL TV2007-03-14T16:20:00+00:002007-03-14T16:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-14:/~alex/blog/2007/03/14/838/<p>As I was idly flicking through the menus on my TH42PX60 I discovered something unexpected under the Software Update menu's. There was a curious menu item called "Software License" which prompted the following email:</p>
<p><em>" I noticed that the License display on my Panasonic TH42PX60 displayed the Gnu General Public License …</em></p><p>As I was idly flicking through the menus on my TH42PX60 I discovered something unexpected under the Software Update menu's. There was a curious menu item called "Software License" which prompted the following email:</p>
<p><em>" I noticed that the License display on my Panasonic TH42PX60 displayed the Gnu General Public License in relation to the software on the TV. As you are no doubt aware by distributing binaries of GPL software you must also be able to provide the source code to the those same people on request.</em></p>
<p>Where can I get the source code for the software running on my TV?</p>
<p>As per the GPL I'm willing to pay a reasonable costs for physical media although obviously I would far prefer it if I could download the source code directly.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Regards,</div>
<div class="line">Alex Bennee "</div>
</div>
<p>They endeavour to answer my email within 24 hours. We shall see ;-)</p>
Very Close2007-03-11T19:17:00+00:002007-03-11T19:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-11:/~alex/blog/2007/03/11/837/<p>I wasn't confident we could <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6429955.stm">pull it off</a> but I was happy to be proved wrong. After a scrappy start it was good to see our subs make such an impact on the game. Now all we need is Scotland to hold France while Italy defeat Ireland and we are …</p><p>I wasn't confident we could <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6429955.stm">pull it off</a> but I was happy to be proved wrong. After a scrappy start it was good to see our subs make such an impact on the game. Now all we need is Scotland to hold France while Italy defeat Ireland and we are in with a chance. The alternative is to beat Wales by a good 40 or more points which may more a more tricky proposition.</p>
<p>I've been spending the weekend down in London. Friday night was taken up with a fantastic stir fry courtesy of Fliss as well as a quirky little Korean film called <a class="reference external" href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0395140/">Little Bride</a>. Saturday was shopping in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Market">Camden Market</a> for some Goth kit for Whitby. Aidan and Gillian will be pleased to know I now have a pair of shiny black PVC lace up trousers and some skinny black drainpipe jeans.</p>
<p>Saturday evening saw us joining our parents to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=30">The Entertainer</a> at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Vic">Old Vic</a>. It was quite a long show and the play itself is a little depressing. However after the slightly flat but witty first half it picked up quite well. I think the plaudits for the show went to grandpa as played by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Normington">John Normingotn</a>.</p>
<p>I'm heading back home on the train tomorrow morning where I shall find out if my car is still in one piece after spending the weekend with Lee ;-)</p>
Getting my vote2007-03-08T14:57:00+00:002007-03-08T14:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-08:/~alex/blog/2007/03/08/836/<p>I noticed <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6430069.stm">this</a> today. George Osbourne is calling for more use of open source software in Whitehall. However FLOSS ain't exactly a panacea for all your IT problems there are certainly places it is a good fit. However the most illuminating quote came from him criticising the procurement procedures for …</p><p>I noticed <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6430069.stm">this</a> today. George Osbourne is calling for more use of open source software in Whitehall. However FLOSS ain't exactly a panacea for all your IT problems there are certainly places it is a good fit. However the most illuminating quote came from him criticising the procurement procedures for lacking "open standards".</p>
<p><em>"All too often a government IT system is in compatible with other types of software, which stifles competition and hampers innovation."</em></p>
<p>I would have far preferred the new uber NHS database had been specified by a set of interoperable protocols and data interchange formats which software companies (open and closed) are free to implement. That way instead of throwing away all the IT investment in forward thinking GP's surgeries we could simply let them upgrade to a newer version of their preferred software which can talk to the central NHS. That is after all how the Internet works, and that seems to be doing quite well ;-)</p>
I'm not dead!2007-03-06T13:23:00+00:002007-03-06T13:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-06:/~alex/blog/2007/03/06/835/<p>I went to the gym last night for a little light exercise. I didn't do too much on the cardio (mindful of last weeks relapse) but I did start my new weight programme. Despite the strain I felt on the second set of reps on most of the machines my …</p><p>I went to the gym last night for a little light exercise. I didn't do too much on the cardio (mindful of last weeks relapse) but I did start my new weight programme. Despite the strain I felt on the second set of reps on most of the machines my muscles felt fine this morning. This could either be because my warm-down did it's job or the muscles just haven't noticed yet. Still it's good to feel back in full health, now all I need to do is address the problem of losing 2 weeks worth of training for the run.</p>
Reminder on the iPlayer2007-03-05T15:59:00+00:002007-03-05T15:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-05:/~alex/blog/2007/03/05/reminder-on-the-iplayer/<p>I was reminded of this today when reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.advogato.org/person/dwmw2/diary.html?start=157">Dave Woodhouse's blog</a>. There now exists a <a class="reference external" href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/iplayer/">petition</a> on the Number 10 website. Also the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/open_consultations/ondemand_services.html">consultation</a> is still running which you really should fill in if you want to be able to access your BBC content on-line in the future. Dave's own …</p><p>I was reminded of this today when reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.advogato.org/person/dwmw2/diary.html?start=157">Dave Woodhouse's blog</a>. There now exists a <a class="reference external" href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/iplayer/">petition</a> on the Number 10 website. Also the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/open_consultations/ondemand_services.html">consultation</a> is still running which you really should fill in if you want to be able to access your BBC content on-line in the future. Dave's own response also makes interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.advogato.org/article/918.html">reading</a>.</p>
In Brief2007-03-05T00:14:00+00:002007-03-05T00:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-03-05:/~alex/blog/2007/03/05/833/<p>This weekend saw Fliss visiting Manchester as part of the regular North/South cultural exchange project. To that end we attended <a class="reference external" href="http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/play.asp?playid=195">The Vortex</a> at the Royal Exchange in celebration of TJ's birthday. I quite enjoyed the play although the second half seemed a lot shorter than the first. I was …</p><p>This weekend saw Fliss visiting Manchester as part of the regular North/South cultural exchange project. To that end we attended <a class="reference external" href="http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/play.asp?playid=195">The Vortex</a> at the Royal Exchange in celebration of TJ's birthday. I quite enjoyed the play although the second half seemed a lot shorter than the first. I was a little disappointed that it very quickly centred on the mother/son relationship to the exclusion of all the other inter-relationships explored in the first half. We finished the evening with a swift jar or two in Sinclairs before Mufi squeezed 5 of us into TJ's little car to give us a lift home.</p>
<p>Fliss and I visited <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bolton.org.uk/terraced.html">Rivington</a> for a walk on Saturday morning. We tackled the castle first but found it was closed. After a few abortive attempts to find the path to the bottom of the oriental gardens we ended up going round the back of Rivington Pike. A lot of the buildings seem to have been caged off due to "unsafeness". However I suspect this just makes them more tempting to climb around.</p>
<p>The evening saw film watching. We watched <a class="reference external" href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0424345/">Clerks 2</a> which was very funny although I'm not sure if it's better than the original. There was also the rather fine Sci-Fi flick <a class="reference external" href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0206634/">Children of Men</a> which was very enjoyable.</p>
<p>We spent a lot of today playing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TimeSplitters_2">Time Splitters 2</a> in co-op mode. Despite having had it in my collection for ages this was the first time we played it. It's very enjoyable with each level having it's own theme and I'm pretty sure lots of references to various films and other games. We did get stuck on the Neo-Tokyo mission and had to resort to searching the 'net for some advice. Hopefully we will finish it next time Fliss visits.</p>
<p>It's always sad seeing Fliss off at the end of a weekend but luckily I'll be seeing her again in 5 days. It's times like this I wish there was a decent rail ticket discount scheme.</p>
Relapse2007-02-28T11:03:00+00:002007-02-28T11:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-28:/~alex/blog/2007/02/28/832/<p>I always seem to misjudge when I should start normal activity after being ill. I played Badminton at lunch time and by the evening my hands had turned into little ice-blocks and I was feeling distinctly ropey. I shall be spending today mostly sleeping.</p>
More Family Fun2007-02-26T17:20:00+00:002007-02-26T17:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-26:/~alex/blog/2007/02/26/831/<p>I was down in London again this weekend to see Fliss. For bonus points it was also my Nana's 90th birthday on the Sunday. This gave Fliss a chance to meet most (if not all) of my Dad's side of the family. It was also nice to catch up with …</p><p>I was down in London again this weekend to see Fliss. For bonus points it was also my Nana's 90th birthday on the Sunday. This gave Fliss a chance to meet most (if not all) of my Dad's side of the family. It was also nice to catch up with the cousins who I haven't seen for ages. The meal itself took around 4 or 5 hours although we hung around with Nana, Uncle George, Auntie Sue and my parents having a few more drinks. I think Fliss is now starting to appreciate just how long my family spends at the dinner table. There was a little wibble with sorting out how we were going to get home but in the end we just walked back to the station and caught the train leaving the others to the rather scarce taxis. I returned to Manchester on the Monday morning train which is proving to be a much nicer than Sunday evening. For starters you get a fast train and I get to spend more time with Fliss. I just need to remember to load up the laptop with enough work to have stuff to do on the train.</p>
Clogged2007-02-21T10:39:00+00:002007-02-21T10:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-21:/~alex/blog/2007/02/21/830/<p>Oh how I hate this stage of a cold. My head feels like a big puffy ball of cotton wool. My balance is completely shot and my hearing is very asymmetrical at the moment. Still I'm glad I opted for the work from home option because that way I can …</p><p>Oh how I hate this stage of a cold. My head feels like a big puffy ball of cotton wool. My balance is completely shot and my hearing is very asymmetrical at the moment. Still I'm glad I opted for the work from home option because that way I can do some work so I don't go completely stir-crazy. I think however a very steamy bath is in order today.</p>
Lots of Travel2007-02-19T23:53:00+00:002007-02-19T23:53:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-19:/~alex/blog/2007/02/19/829/<p>I drove down South for the weekend to visit Fliss and her coterie of new LARPers she's bringing to Maelstrom this year for her first colony. I was there as the "old lag" larper to offer advice, show kit and generally drink beer. However I crashed quite early on Saturday …</p><p>I drove down South for the weekend to visit Fliss and her coterie of new LARPers she's bringing to Maelstrom this year for her first colony. I was there as the "old lag" larper to offer advice, show kit and generally drink beer. However I crashed quite early on Saturday and soon found myself rather delirious and shivering in bed. I spent the rest of the weekend being pampered by Fliss and her mother while feeling generally useless. As I didn't feel up to the full 5 hour drive back to Manchester I stopped off at my parents to be generally useless in their direction. I was ok enough to drive back this morning but I think I'll be working from home for a day or two.</p>
Ever taken a shortcut?2007-02-16T11:31:00+00:002007-02-16T11:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-16:/~alex/blog/2007/02/16/828/<p>I did a quick lunchtime stint at the gym yesterday as I was out in the evening. I made a quick enquiry about the FitLinxx system and ended up with an instructor who specialises in helping runners. It turns out that just doing a lot running on the treadmill won't …</p><p>I did a quick lunchtime stint at the gym yesterday as I was out in the evening. I made a quick enquiry about the FitLinxx system and ended up with an instructor who specialises in helping runners. It turns out that just doing a lot running on the treadmill won't cut it so she put me on a series of weight sets as well. I didn't do the full set but my muscles had noticed the extra work this morning.</p>
<p>I went out to see the latest Simon Pegg comedy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/">Hot Fuzz</a> last night. I don't want to spoil it by giving away any plot stuff. However I will say it very funny and well worth watching.</p>
<p>After the film we popped into the newly re-furbished "Deansgate" pub for a few jars. Apparently they spent around 1/2 million pounds converting it from a working mans drinking den into a posher (but Cask Ale serving) pub. We suspect this is due to the brand new Hilton just down the road. It's certainly improved the place quite nicely and I'll add it to my list of nice pubs to drink in.</p>
Everything the iPhone is not2007-02-15T12:06:00+00:002007-02-15T12:06:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-15:/~alex/blog/2007/02/15/827/<p>Unfortunately including having hardware available now. However when they do start rolling out I want <a class="reference external" href="http://openmoko.org/">one</a>. There have been Linux phones before (mostly in the far east). But they still tend to be locked down creations. The OpenMoko is aiming to be the worlds first truly hacker friendly phone. I …</p><p>Unfortunately including having hardware available now. However when they do start rolling out I want <a class="reference external" href="http://openmoko.org/">one</a>. There have been Linux phones before (mostly in the far east). But they still tend to be locked down creations. The OpenMoko is aiming to be the worlds first truly hacker friendly phone. I hope it succeeds - it will just be a race to see what I get first, the phone or the <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=OGD">OGD1</a>.</p>
Linkification Day2007-02-14T12:24:00+00:002007-02-14T12:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-14:/~alex/blog/2007/02/14/826/<p>A selection of links for everyone today. First off all one from the <a class="reference external" href="http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/insideit/story/0,,2007703,00.html">Guardian</a> predicting the imminent death of SCO. While I have some sympathy for the normal working Joe's that will loose their jobs I'll still be having a party to celebrate the death of SCO and their ill …</p><p>A selection of links for everyone today. First off all one from the <a class="reference external" href="http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/insideit/story/0,,2007703,00.html">Guardian</a> predicting the imminent death of SCO. While I have some sympathy for the normal working Joe's that will loose their jobs I'll still be having a party to celebrate the death of SCO and their ill founded <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO-Linux_controversies">legal attacks</a> on Linux. They deserve everything they get.</p>
<p>A few on the topic of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management">DRM</a>. Bill Thompson analyses <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6353889.stm">Steve Jobs pronouncements on DRM</a>. He seems to share a little of the scepticism I professed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=827">a few days ago</a>. People experiencing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista">Vista</a> may want to read <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier">Bruce Schneier</a>'s interesting article on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/drm_in_windows.html">DRM in Vista</a>. I don't quite share the pessimism of his final thoughts but it's interesting reading none the less.</p>
<p>Vanity Fair are also running an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/features/2007/03/piratebay200703?currentPage=1">piece on The Pirate Bay</a>. Including some heretical quotes (at least to the MPAA) like Disney's Anne Sweeney:</p>
<p><em>"Piracy is a business model, It exists to serve a need in the market-consumers who want TV content on demand. And piracy competes for consumers the same way we do: through quality, price, and availability."</em></p>
<p>I hope the BBC takes note of the consequences of making their TV content on-demand less attractive than the pirate option.</p>
Recreational Coding2007-02-13T18:59:00+00:002007-02-13T18:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-13:/~alex/blog/2007/02/13/825/<p>I had an itch to scratch yesterday for which I engaged in a little recreational programming. I'm toying with making this a full project because it seems to be a niche not currently filled by any FLOSS.</p>
<p>What I need/want is an intelligent configurable auto-sync daemon for my desktop …</p><p>I had an itch to scratch yesterday for which I engaged in a little recreational programming. I'm toying with making this a full project because it seems to be a niche not currently filled by any FLOSS.</p>
<p>What I need/want is an intelligent configurable auto-sync daemon for my desktop. I'm thinking a little above your current "plug your iPod in and iTunes auto syncs functionality". Features I would be aiming for would be:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Multi-device. A one stop shop where I can configure what happens when I plug in my pen-drive, my music player, my external USB hard-drive.</li>
<li>Recognise new hardware devices and offer to manage syncing to them. e.g. "I've just seen you plug in a 512Mb USB Pen, would you like to set-up any auto sync stuff? Yes, Later, Never"</li>
<li>Backup functions: normal rsync or call a script for extra flexibility</li>
<li>Sync music. The current solutions are sub-optimal as they involve too much manual poking and don't consider small devices well. Features like:<ul>
<li>Where device storage < collection size allow smart selection, remove old tracks/albums to make space for new tracks for example.</li>
<li>Track twiddling. Examples: Chain tracks on dance albums together into one long file to avoid skipping, transcode Ogg's into Mp3's for broken players.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Intelligent podcast support. Example: Only keep the latest of any program on the device.</li>
</ul>
<p>Anyone want to suggest any other usage cases?</p>
<p>Luckily I don't think it will be too hard to prototype something up. Gnome already deals with the ickyness of auto-mounting devices. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/dbus">dbus</a> provides a neat mechanism to watch for these hotplug events. I can probably hack stuff like file tagging into Nautilus using it's <a class="reference external" href="http://g-scripts.sourceforge.net/">script interface</a>. I had a quick play with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> last night and I think it has all the bindings I need. I think it's a small enough project to learn a new language while not being performance critical enough to need a hardcore C implementation.</p>
Data Pimpage2007-02-12T23:44:00+00:002007-02-12T23:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-12:/~alex/blog/2007/02/12/824/<p>A friend of mine has organised a panel debate on the subject of :<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/">"Free our Data"</a>. The blurb runs as thus:</p>
<p><em>"Should social researchers have unlimited access to the data that Government collects about individual UK citizens? Would the benefits of better evidence on which to base social policy outweigh …</em></p><p>A friend of mine has organised a panel debate on the subject of :<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/">"Free our Data"</a>. The blurb runs as thus:</p>
<p><em>"Should social researchers have unlimited access to the data that Government collects about individual UK citizens? Would the benefits of better evidence on which to base social policy outweigh concerns about privacy? Experts from academia and government will offer their views and respond to questions from the audience."</em></p>
<p>Although the panel is in the context of social research free access is to data is something I've been interested in for a long time. For example why can't I get access to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gmpte.com/">GMPTE</a> bus route data in a machine readable form<sup>*</sup>? People have achieved some really <a class="reference external" href="http://del.icio.us/stsquad/mashup">neat things</a> screen scraping data from public websites, just imagine what they could do with the raw data.</p>
<p>You can register for the discussion <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncess.ac.uk/events/register.shtml">here</a></p>
<p><sup>*</sup>I've just put a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gmpte.com/content.cfm?subcategory_id=2229476%22">FOI</a> request in. We shall see.</p>
Reality Resumes2007-02-12T20:12:00+00:002007-02-12T20:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-12:/~alex/blog/2007/02/12/823/<p>After a very pleasant weekend I am back to the grind. I spotted a bit of a flaw in my assumptions at the end of last week which called into question the use of templates for my static compile tables. Luckily today's re-factoring of my code seems to have worked …</p><p>After a very pleasant weekend I am back to the grind. I spotted a bit of a flaw in my assumptions at the end of last week which called into question the use of templates for my static compile tables. Luckily today's re-factoring of my code seems to have worked out well without breaking the general look of the code. It's arguable if templates are truly needed in the codes current iteration but I can see it will be more useful as that section of code grows.</p>
<p>It was interesting listening to Today this morning on the twin issues of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6352673.stm">flexible working</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6352957.stm">pay-as-you-drive</a>.</p>
<p>I'm fortunate to work in an industry that flexible working is becoming more and more the norm. It's not with fondness I remember the long early hour commute when I worked at Marconi or the upper managements intractable approach to implementing any sort flexible working. Being able to leave early to catch a show or work from home when I'm expecting a delivery is certainly liberating. I really appreciate the fact I can work on the train when visiting Fliss (which saves money by avoiding the major Friday Eve/Sunday Eve price trap). If I ever look for a new job the lack of flexible working arrangements would certainly be a deal breaker. Of course not everyone is so lucky - it's hard to imagine a nurse being able to pick and choose when they come into work. Some areas are always going to need some sort of shift system if they need to cover all their operating hours. Part-time working can help by allowing people to have 3 days weeks, however there are issues with that. Firstly the employee is trading full-time pay (and no doubt promotion prospects) for flexibility. This is a factor which already biases the gender pay gap somewhat. Also the employer still has to suck up the fixed costs of employing someone which won't go down in proportion to the reduced hour. Still these issues aside I'm definitely a proponent for more flexibility at work and improving that elusive "work/life" balance.</p>
<p>Pay as you drive is more emotive. Assuming the government reduced other costs of driving<sup>*</sup> (lets remember the duty on petrol is effectively a pay-by-mile) I'd probably be better off as I use public transport every day, drive at the weekends (if at all) and can telecommute. However I'm lucky living in a metropolitan area with decent public transport and flexible hours. I worry about the costs falling hardest on the rural poor who currently have little choice but to use the car. I assume<sup>**</sup> that the costs will be structured based on local congestion so hopefully journeys on under-capacity roads won't attract the same usage charges as sitting on the M6 at 8.30 in the morning. However this brings it's own issues. The proposed satellite tracking system is a privacy nightmare. Imagine the abuses that could be made of a central database that can tell you where every car has travelled to at any particular time? This alone is enough to raise my opposition to whole scheme.</p>
<p>In the end road pricing tackles the problem the wrong way around. It attempts to solve congestion by making it too expensive to use a car. What we should be doing is making other forms of transport more appealing or accessible. There should be a solid push to improve our rail network to move freight off our roads as much as possible. We should be rolling out more flexible working to make the idiocy of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_hour">rush hour</a> seem like a quaint 20th century phenomenon. If that fails then we'll have to roll out the personal jet-packs ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>Stop laughing at the back. We can but hope</div>
</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>I know, 2 assumptions that may not come true. I'm taking a gamble that the department of transport can sort it out.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Weekend of Rugby2007-02-11T23:18:00+00:002007-02-11T23:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-11:/~alex/blog/2007/02/11/822/<p>Fliss came visiting to Manchester to the weekend. We had our valentines meal at the Gaucho Grill in a repeat of an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=740">earlier date</a>. However this time we came home considerably less stuffed having skipped starters and any extra side dishes. The steak was as ever fantastic.</p>
<p>Saturday was filled …</p><p>Fliss came visiting to Manchester to the weekend. We had our valentines meal at the Gaucho Grill in a repeat of an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=740">earlier date</a>. However this time we came home considerably less stuffed having skipped starters and any extra side dishes. The steak was as ever fantastic.</p>
<p>Saturday was filled with much rugby as well as a visit by Marcus and Sue. Aidan and Gillian joined us later for the Scotland vs Wales match which was much better after England's poor (winning) performance. In retrospect they both paled into insignificance compared to today's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6352033.stm">Ireland vs France</a> match.</p>
<p>Today was mainly spent lazing around reading the papers which was a nice change of pace from TV. After dropping Fliss off at the train station I got a chance to catch up with Lost with Andy. Time for an early night now....</p>
Plans for the Weekend2007-02-09T16:39:00+00:002007-02-09T16:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-09:/~alex/blog/2007/02/09/821/<p>Fliss is visiting this weekend for a semi-valentines type affair. However I will be having an open house tomorrow afternoon for the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/6344537.stm">rugby</a>. If you want to pop round you need only bring a few beers to aid the viewing on my large 42 inch TV :-)</p>
End of DRM?2007-02-07T17:45:00+00:002007-02-07T17:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-07:/~alex/blog/2007/02/07/820/<p>Well maybe not but are we seeing the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6338603.stm">first cracks</a> in the facade. I'm not sure how much sincerity Mr <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/">Jobs</a> is showing. After all it's not exactly harming the iPod when you can't transfer iTunes purchased songs onto a rival platform. Having said that he makes a valid point …</p><p>Well maybe not but are we seeing the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6338603.stm">first cracks</a> in the facade. I'm not sure how much sincerity Mr <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/">Jobs</a> is showing. After all it's not exactly harming the iPod when you can't transfer iTunes purchased songs onto a rival platform. Having said that he makes a valid point about the number on non-DRM'ed tracks on your average iPod. But as has also been pointed out <a class="reference external" href="http://nanocrew.net/2007/02/06/steves-thoughts-on-music/">iTunes cripples some songs available DRM-free elsewhere</a>. Still I think it's a welcome addition to the debate and hopefully something that will catch the attention of the Big Four labels. I await their response with interest.</p>
<p>While this is going on the BBC Trust is conducting it's consultation into it's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/open-consultations/ondemand_services.html">on-demand TV proposals</a>. Their current thinking seems to be embracing DRM (on Windows only no less) to prevent people keeping a show for more than a few days. As I have pointed out in my contribution it seems silly to add a restriction that people who just set their videos or PVR's won't have. I wonder if the BBC would prosecute people for downloading DRM-free shows from UK-Nova because they can't from the BBC? That answer should inform their approach to their on-demand services.</p>
Double Points Day2007-02-07T11:46:00+00:002007-02-07T11:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-07:/~alex/blog/2007/02/07/819/<p>I achieved two separate and distinct pieces of exercise yesterday. I both played and hour of Badminton with Lucy and then went to the gym in the evening. I was most pleased that maintained a good 15 minute run on the treadmill without falling over in a puffing ball of …</p><p>I achieved two separate and distinct pieces of exercise yesterday. I both played and hour of Badminton with Lucy and then went to the gym in the evening. I was most pleased that maintained a good 15 minute run on the treadmill without falling over in a puffing ball of blubber. It seems my health levels haven't dipped that much in the last few months. Of course the real test will be once the frost lifts and I can start running outside.</p>
<p>It's just as well as today my morning started with cake (from someone who's leaving the office today) and has a lunch time <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tnq.co.uk/main.pl">meal</a> (again for leaving do) and the Wednesday Meal <sup>tm</sup> this evening.</p>
Font of Emacs knowledge2007-02-05T23:59:00+00:002007-02-05T23:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-05:/~alex/blog/2007/02/05/818/<p>Although my system was mostly up to date after my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=823">remote hacking</a> it still required a bit of tinkering. Despite everything else rendering fonts in full anti-aliased glory emacs was <a class="reference external" href="https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=242311">failing to find</a> some fonts to display text with. It turns out in the end that it was the only …</p><p>Although my system was mostly up to date after my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=823">remote hacking</a> it still required a bit of tinkering. Despite everything else rendering fonts in full anti-aliased glory emacs was <a class="reference external" href="https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=242311">failing to find</a> some fonts to display text with. It turns out in the end that it was the only app I was using that cared about xorg.conf's FontPath settings. I had commented out all the lines X complained about on starting but it seems the error messages are not quite as dire as they seem. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more productive day. I have great plans for my use of C++ <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_metaprogramming">templates</a> :-)</p>
The Weekend2007-02-05T23:43:00+00:002007-02-05T23:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-05:/~alex/blog/2007/02/05/817/<p>I was able to get the pipework for the upstairs bathroom sink finished pretty quickly. I'll probably need to revisit the waste drain pipe at some point but overall it's all good. That left me plenty of time to watch England's performance against Scotland. It wasn't a fantastic performance but …</p><p>I was able to get the pipework for the upstairs bathroom sink finished pretty quickly. I'll probably need to revisit the waste drain pipe at some point but overall it's all good. That left me plenty of time to watch England's performance against Scotland. It wasn't a fantastic performance but certainly solid enough to give hope for the rest of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations_Championship">Six Nations</a>. I'll be opening up the house next Saturday for anyone who wants to watch the England vs Italy match on my uber-TV while enjoying a few jars :-)</p>
<p>Saturday evening I had Aidan, Gillain, Anne and Paul along with Katie and Vince around for food and DVD's. We selected the rather dodgy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005550115,00.html">Abducted by the Daleks</a> from Andy's Doctor Who collection. It elicited many chortles while waiting for food. The slightly more noir-ish <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425210/">Lucky Number Slevin</a> made up the main event. It was nice enough although I spotted the upcoming twist quite early on in the film.</p>
<p>I went for a walk around the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sale_Water_Park">water park</a> with Lee and K on Sunday. I took my super kite out with me but the wind remained stubbornly still. Aidan returned the cooking favour in the evening while we watched Top Gear and some <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Mind_the_Buzzcocks">Buzzcocks</a> before tootling home for an early bedtime.</p>
All hail the cat2007-02-03T02:40:00+00:002007-02-03T02:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-03:/~alex/blog/2007/02/03/816/<p>So I left my work machine upgrading this evening. When I logged into the VPN to check on it's progress I found a few things stopping it so had to temporarily un-install some packages. Unfortunately I didn't notice the package management tools and ssh get un-installed when I pulled one …</p><p>So I left my work machine upgrading this evening. When I logged into the VPN to check on it's progress I found a few things stopping it so had to temporarily un-install some packages. Unfortunately I didn't notice the package management tools and ssh get un-installed when I pulled one of their dependencies. Not a place you'll want to be when you have one surviving connection and your cable connection keeps dieing. Luckily I was able to piece together a working system using netcat until I got ssh up and running again. It's useful practise to extricate yourself from a hosed system every now and again just to remind yourself of the low level tools at your disposal. Besides re-installing is a mugs game!</p>
Food and Power2007-02-01T18:24:00+00:002007-02-01T18:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-02-01:/~alex/blog/2007/02/01/815/<p>My snazzy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg">Ogg</a> capable Samsung <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-YP-U2R-UltraSlim-Player-Radio/dp/B000IOMUK6">YP-U2R</a> finally arrived yesterday. It's a nice little neat 2Gb solid state player with a built in FM tuner. It has it's own internal rechargeable battery which charges off the USB port. Well when I say charges I actually mean it draws enough power of …</p><p>My snazzy <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg">Ogg</a> capable Samsung <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-YP-U2R-UltraSlim-Player-Radio/dp/B000IOMUK6">YP-U2R</a> finally arrived yesterday. It's a nice little neat 2Gb solid state player with a built in FM tuner. It has it's own internal rechargeable battery which charges off the USB port. Well when I say charges I actually mean it draws enough power of my home desktop machine to cause the overload circuitry to kick in and kill the box. Luckily I had a powered hub handy.</p>
<p>This is all part of the grand plan to go to the gym tonight and not be put off by the single channel chav-tastic music tv channel they have it tuned into. I was originally going to be in on Tuesday but working until 21:30 kinda killed that idea.</p>
<p>The meal last night was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/goulash_71688.shtml">Goulash</a>. It didn't end up as red or gloopy as I thought it would. I think the main problem was attempting to upscale the liquids in the same ratio as the core constituents. The physicists noted the ability to reduce a sauce will be will probably be reduced if the increase in volume is not commensurate with an increase in the surface area. However people seemed to enjoy the food. The dilemma posed by the "Fruit" or "Sticky Chocolate Pudding" choice was also amicably solved so all round a good evening :-)</p>
Wah Wah, We're Special2007-01-30T12:42:00+00:002007-01-30T12:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-30:/~alex/blog/2007/01/30/814/<p>It's tempting to comment on today's release of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6309651.stm">Vista</a> but I suspect I shall wait until reports of machines being bricked when drivers start getting remotely revoked by Microsoft.</p>
<p>Instead I thought I would offer a comment on the Catholic Church <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6312395.stm">complaining</a> they haven't been given the right to discriminate …</p><p>It's tempting to comment on today's release of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6309651.stm">Vista</a> but I suspect I shall wait until reports of machines being bricked when drivers start getting remotely revoked by Microsoft.</p>
<p>Instead I thought I would offer a comment on the Catholic Church <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6312395.stm">complaining</a> they haven't been given the right to discriminate. The central basis of their argument is the state in trying to dictate a new morality through new laws. Frankly I find it mildly offencive that churches consider themselves to be special when it comes to the issues of morals. By all means they can preach why they think children should be denied loving homes with gay couples but that's something for the pulpit<sup>*</sup> - not when offering a service. The new law isn't exactly dictating morality, it's reflecting the changes in society that is broadly more accepting and tolerant than some ancient books. If we start allowing religions exemptions from the law then what about my deeply held beliefs? Do they trump the law as well?</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>As ever I'm a believer in free speech. I'll stand up for peoples right to say what they think just as I'm free to draw my own conclusions from their statements.</p>
Notice the large amounts of Green2007-01-29T22:31:00+00:002007-01-29T22:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-29:/~alex/blog/2007/01/29/813/<p>Pictures from my skiing holiday <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Family/Skiing%20in%20Austria%202007">are up</a>. Notice the large amounts of green from the first few days and how much snow on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Family/Skiing%20in%20Austria%202007&pageType=image&image=DSC00408.JPG&startFrom=2">last day</a>. And of course the snazzy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Family/Skiing%20in%20Austria%202007&startFrom=3">boots</a>.</p>
Back to Front2007-01-28T23:32:00+00:002007-01-28T23:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-28:/~alex/blog/2007/01/28/812/<p>I am now back in Manchester having returned from a week of Skiing with my nearest and dearest. I was also induced to abstain from accessing the 'net for the week so will be summarising the week from memory :-)</p>
<p>I headed down to Cambridge on Friday as the clan (and …</p><p>I am now back in Manchester having returned from a week of Skiing with my nearest and dearest. I was also induced to abstain from accessing the 'net for the week so will be summarising the week from memory :-)</p>
<p>I headed down to Cambridge on Friday as the clan (and partners) assembled for the denial a.m. departure. We were up at 3 in the morning to catch the flight. We weren't doing a package deal so Dad had arranged for a private transfer at the other end which meant we walked straight out of Salzburg airport into a minibus to Soll. After sorting out Ski hire I crashed out while the others went up the rather green mountain.</p>
<p>Apparently despite having a reasonably good base of snow the last few weeks most of it had been blown off the previous few days. Luckily they managed to keep 3 runs open with artificial snow. After the first few days the temperature dropped enough for the snow cannons to kick in and by the last days skiing we had enough snow to cross from our resort across to the rest of the area.</p>
<p>It was Fliss' first time skiing so we arranged for 3 days of private lessons for 2 people. I attended most of them so I could re-learn my technique from first principles. Luckily Fliss proved to be a fast learner who impressed our instructor Simon with her ability. We were off the nursery slope by the first afternoon and skipped learning "Snow Plough" turns and went straight for parallel turns. After 3 days of tutoring we went out by ourselves and did a bit of a tour over the Scheffau region and a mixture of blue and red runs in rather cold conditions. By this point I really got the impression she was fully paid up skiing fan :-D</p>
<p>When it comes to buying ski boots the days of trying lots of boots and hoping it feels the same on the slopes as it did in the shop are over. The latest system involves a scanner that measures the exact shape of your foot and then can match that to templates of various boots. They are then heat formed for extra fit and you can even have computer molded insteps. My parents had brought some snazzy new boots the previous day and were already singing their praises. As Fliss was now a fully paid up skiing fan we invested in two pairs ourselves. We only need another 5 skiing holidays before they have paid for themselves.</p>
<p>Perhaps spurred on by her new boots Fliss was persuaded (or possibly did the persuading) by my brother to try one of the harder red runs in Soll. Two runs passed without incident but the 3rd one proved to be the reality check. Luckily she suffered no permanent damage and assures me she's certainly up for <a class="reference external" href="http://ababyyou.livejournal.com/10180.html">skiing again</a>.</p>
<p>All in all it's been a fantastic week. It was really nice to spend the whole week with the full family (to which Karen and Fliss were added for the week) while enjoying a cool sport. Pictures will follow in due course :-)</p>
Wrong kind of wind2007-01-19T00:40:00+00:002007-01-19T00:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-19:/~alex/blog/2007/01/19/811/<p>The metro got taken out by today's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6272193.stm">high winds</a>. I was literally forced to camp out in Sinclairs waiting for the city centre grid lock to abate. I suppose I could of walked but I didn't want a premature injury given I'm off down south before catching a flight to …</p><p>The metro got taken out by today's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6272193.stm">high winds</a>. I was literally forced to camp out in Sinclairs waiting for the city centre grid lock to abate. I suppose I could of walked but I didn't want a premature injury given I'm off down south before catching a flight to Ski ;-)</p>
<p>In the meantime I have updated the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/DIY/Operation%20Loo">Operation Loo pictures</a>. I've also put up family <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Family/Christmas%202006">Christmas</a> pics, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Parties/2006/New%20Years%20Eve">New Years Eve</a> and January's visit to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/Kew%20Gardens%20Jan%202007">Kew Gardens</a>.</p>
Climate of Debate2007-01-18T12:27:00+00:002007-01-18T12:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-18:/~alex/blog/2007/01/18/810/<p>I was disappointed with Today's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_climate_20070118.ram">discussion</a> about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Avery">Dennis Avery's</a> book <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unstoppable-Global-Warming-Every-Years/dp/0742551172">Unstoppable Global Warming</a>. The central tenant of the book is that global warming is not due to human action but part of a natural environmental cycle of the earth - basically we can't do anything about it and should just prepare …</p><p>I was disappointed with Today's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_climate_20070118.ram">discussion</a> about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Avery">Dennis Avery's</a> book <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unstoppable-Global-Warming-Every-Years/dp/0742551172">Unstoppable Global Warming</a>. The central tenant of the book is that global warming is not due to human action but part of a natural environmental cycle of the earth - basically we can't do anything about it and should just prepare for it. What was unsatisfying about the discussion was the environmentalist wouldn't discuss the science. While it may be relevant to bring up Mr Avery's funding once the rest of his argument was basically an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem">ad hominem</a> attack. Avery claimed at least a hundred of his cited sources where peer reviewed papers in science journals. The other guy basically accused him of lying. It was a poor debate; either he should of pulled in up on some of these "fake" citations or discussed alternative interpretations of the evidence (for example does the pattern of past warming match the current trends?). Without engaging in the science it makes the Global Warming lobby look like arrogant bullies who are above arguing with people not part of the consensus. That is never good science.</p>
Quick Catch Up2007-01-17T09:48:00+00:002007-01-17T09:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-17:/~alex/blog/2007/01/17/809/<p>I took advantage of my flexible working to leave early last Friday to visit the lovely Fliss. As has been noted <a class="reference external" href="http://ababyyou.livejournal.com/9883.html">elsewhere</a> there was, in rough order: Cocktails, parents, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew">Kew Gardens</a>, and catching up with old school friends. I did take a whole bunch of pictures which I should do …</p><p>I took advantage of my flexible working to leave early last Friday to visit the lovely Fliss. As has been noted <a class="reference external" href="http://ababyyou.livejournal.com/9883.html">elsewhere</a> there was, in rough order: Cocktails, parents, <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew">Kew Gardens</a>, and catching up with old school friends. I did take a whole bunch of pictures which I should do a camera dump from my phone at some point. Sunday was slightly more subdued but it did give opportunity for a lie in and a chance to watch the beautifully shot <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246677/">Heaven</a>. Leaving for the train was a little bittersweet but I shall be seeing Fliss on Friday and spending a week with her Skiing in Austria with the rest of the family :-)</p>
<p>Monday saw the delivery of my uber TV. The guys from Curry's arrived on the dot of 8.30 and had everything installed within an hour. So far everything is working well although I'd like to get an HDMI signal to it at some point. The guys suggested plugging the PS2 through it's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCART">SCART</a> adaptor because the SCART input supported full RGB. However I'm wondering if it would be better to use the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video">component</a> inputs directly to cut down on any noise from whatever the cheap magic block that came with the PS2 may introduce. I'm also thinking about what I could do with the VGA input.</p>
<p>Jo came around today to see the TV in action. We watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205873/">The Dish</a> which I enjoyed a lot. It's quite an understated film but sets the scene for the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing">moon landings</a> very well. It was a good reminder of how momentous an event it was at the time - something I think I'm too blase about having been raised during the "Space Age".</p>
<p>Only 4 days left until I Skiing. Woot!</p>
<p><strong>EDIT: Component - not composite!</strong></p>
iSteve snatches defeat from the jaws of victory2007-01-12T13:55:00+00:002007-01-12T13:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-12:/~alex/blog/2007/01/12/808/<p>Why would I bother with a fancy OSX enabled iPhone if I can't <a class="reference external" href="http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/12/0430200&from=rss">hack about with it</a>?</p>
Franks 2000inch TV2007-01-11T14:47:00+00:002007-01-11T14:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-11:/~alex/blog/2007/01/11/807/<p>Jo very kindly came into town today to take advantage of her last week of employment at Empire of Evil and their staff discount. After an initial faffing on with a price higher than I was quoted on Tuesday the salesman came right down to the best web price I …</p><p>Jo very kindly came into town today to take advantage of her last week of employment at Empire of Evil and their staff discount. After an initial faffing on with a price higher than I was quoted on Tuesday the salesman came right down to the best web price I had found (but including installation). <a class="reference external" href="http://www.panasonic.co.uk/plasma-tv/th42px60wall/index.htm">It</a> will be delivered and installed on Monday so tonight I need to figure out exactly where on the wall it needs to be mounted. I also have to work out what to do with the old TV. Currys offered to take it off my hands but I figured at the very least I could Freecycle it. It is after all perfectly usable as a TV. Anyone looking to upgrade?</p>
<p>We then headed down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.suburbstore.com/manchester.html">Suburb</a> for an early lunch and general natter and catch up which was nice. I shall no doubt be inaugurating the new TV with a film night at some point.</p>
Data Leak2007-01-09T19:12:00+00:002007-01-09T19:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-09:/~alex/blog/2007/01/09/806/<p>I had a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing">phishing</a> email arrive in my INBOX today. This wouldn't be noteworthy except it was an attempt was mailed to one of my many aliases. I create these aliases so I can track who's being liberal with my data even though I always tick the "Do not share …</p><p>I had a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing">phishing</a> email arrive in my INBOX today. This wouldn't be noteworthy except it was an attempt was mailed to one of my many aliases. I create these aliases so I can track who's being liberal with my data even though I always tick the "Do not share my email" boxes and generally grace the privacy policy with a quick scan. I'm pretty certain it's not a lucky guess because the mail does claim to be from that site and even uses my site user name (although the headers reveal a dubious ancestry). Considering the site in question is a certain high profile social networking site you'd think they would want to know when their database has been compromised. However despite many attempts to report it through their (<em>shudder</em>) web-based email form all I get is an 200 error telling me to come back later. I wonder if it's worth reporting to someone else?</p>
Sooo close2007-01-09T16:57:00+00:002007-01-09T16:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-09:/~alex/blog/2007/01/09/805/<p>If I can bring the Currys.Digital sales guy down another 100 or so pounds I'm tempted to get <a class="reference external" href="http://www.panasonic.co.uk/plasma-tv/th42px60wall/index.htm">my Christmas present to self</a>. His current (first) offer was ?1100 including tilt wall mounting with delivery and install. I think the best web price I found was ?929 but I'm …</p><p>If I can bring the Currys.Digital sales guy down another 100 or so pounds I'm tempted to get <a class="reference external" href="http://www.panasonic.co.uk/plasma-tv/th42px60wall/index.htm">my Christmas present to self</a>. His current (first) offer was ?1100 including tilt wall mounting with delivery and install. I think the best web price I found was ?929 but I'm willing to give a little (but not a lot) of slack for the convenience of having a local store to berate if I have issues.</p>
A few Geek triangles2007-01-09T00:46:00+00:002007-01-09T00:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-09:/~alex/blog/2007/01/09/804/<p>I was asked which of the next gen consoles I was most likely to get. Currently there is a strong chance Nintendo's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii">Wii</a> will join my collection. However I do want to actually have a play with one before I make the purchase.</p>
<p>Despite it being a Sony product I …</p><p>I was asked which of the next gen consoles I was most likely to get. Currently there is a strong chance Nintendo's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii">Wii</a> will join my collection. However I do want to actually have a play with one before I make the purchase.</p>
<p>Despite it being a Sony product I am a bit of a PlayStation fan. It's always had a more unconventional architecture which, despite it's reputation for being hard to programme, appeals to me. However to do any sort of hacking on the PS2 involved getting a bunch of upgrades which was too much of a pain. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3">PS3</a> however runs Linux out of the box. I remember discussing with John how much of the hardware would be locked down behind the virtulisation. Sony have stated that Linux won't have access to the "accelerated graphics" however according to IBM you do <a class="reference external" href="http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-linuxps3-1/">get access to the SPE units</a> of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_Broadband_Engine">CBE</a>. Assuming the memory bandwidth between the Cell and the frame buffer is fast enough for a few full screens worth of data per frame I think there is plenty of scope for some cool homebrew hacks. It should certainly be capable of acting as a network video/media player.</p>
<p>In other geek news the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Graphics_Project">Open Graphics Project</a> has released pictures of their first prototype boards. Even though I'm not interested in developing VHDL for the FPGA's I'm tempted to buy the OGD1 development board instead of waiting for the ASIC version. One thing I learnt in my time at Braddahead is how useful it is to have the flexibility of FPGA's on your hardware. It would also be a good way to show support for one of the more important open hardware projects out there.</p>
The Transformed Man2007-01-08T18:22:00+00:002007-01-08T18:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-08:/~alex/blog/2007/01/08/803/<p>I'm slightly melancholic today (but only slightly as I'm off to London on Friday). I've had a lovely long weekend with Fliss (enhanced by her early <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=809">arrival</a>). I prodigious quantity of film watching was one of the primary themes of the weekend. The somehow appropriate <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/">Kiss Kiss Bang Bang</a> kicked …</p><p>I'm slightly melancholic today (but only slightly as I'm off to London on Friday). I've had a lovely long weekend with Fliss (enhanced by her early <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=809">arrival</a>). I prodigious quantity of film watching was one of the primary themes of the weekend. The somehow appropriate <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/">Kiss Kiss Bang Bang</a> kicked it all off. It's a nicely understated but funny noir-ish film about a private eye and bumbling accomplice based in Hollywood. Robert Downey Jr plays to type alongside a refreshingly funny Val Kilmer. Fliss brought <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/">Casablanca</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/">Breakfast at Tiffany's</a> which I hadn't seen. This required me to plumb the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=733">VHS player</a> back into the TV. I think of the two I preferred Casablanca although I should probably not have timed all the screen kisses :-).</p>
<p>Before Gillian's birthday on Saturday evening we headed out with Andy and Sal to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449010/">Eragon</a>. Andy liked it but Fliss and I spent most of the film cringing at the "Fantasy plot by numbers" approach to the plot. I was slightly mollified by the fact the film was based on a children's book (which looks suspiciously like a rip-off of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McCaffrey">McCaffrey</a>). Having said that the acting wasn't overly bad and it certainly did look pretty.</p>
<p>When we arrived at the party I received a number of compliments on my appearance. However I'm afraid I have little to do with the look, the shirt being a lovely Christmas present from Fliss who has also spent some time getting my hair to approach some sort of "Bed Head" look. A chunk of the discussion that evening revolved around the sort of shoes I should be buying. It seemed I was woefully undereducated on the correct taxonomy of footwear given my belief that what I was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=674">wearing</a> were not trainers. We also arranged to visit Jule and Thom in Chesterfield in February, making my first free weekend the 10th of Feb.</p>
<p>In other news, only 2 weeks until I go Skiing :-D</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: made free weekend language clearer</strong></p>
Paramour Conspiracy2007-01-04T13:12:00+00:002007-01-04T13:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-04:/~alex/blog/2007/01/04/802/<p>Neither the long conversation to wish Andy a Happy New Year or the not so subtle questions about Lee's LJ identity tipped me off to Fliss arriving a day earlier than originally planned. The surprise when I discovered her hiding upstairs at the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> was however very welcome …</p><p>Neither the long conversation to wish Andy a Happy New Year or the not so subtle questions about Lee's LJ identity tipped me off to Fliss arriving a day earlier than originally planned. The surprise when I discovered her hiding upstairs at the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> was however very welcome. Unfortunately I have to be at work today but I've left Fliss with a visiting Anne and a comatose Sal which should keep her entertained. I have tomorrow off :-)</p>
Pipe Frustrations2007-01-03T12:55:00+00:002007-01-03T12:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-03:/~alex/blog/2007/01/03/801/<p>I had a go at tackling the leak from the cistern feed last night. PFTE tape didn't seem to do the trick, in the end it looks simply like the plastic screw thread wasn't flat enough to mate cleanly with washer. After dinner and Newsnight I thought I'd try fitting …</p><p>I had a go at tackling the leak from the cistern feed last night. PFTE tape didn't seem to do the trick, in the end it looks simply like the plastic screw thread wasn't flat enough to mate cleanly with washer. After dinner and Newsnight I thought I'd try fitting the old inlet valve mechanism. Unfortunately I gave it one turn too many and it snapped off. It's times like this I'm glad I fitted those isolator valves.</p>
Happy New Year2007-01-02T12:35:00+00:002007-01-02T12:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2007-01-02:/~alex/blog/2007/01/02/800/<p>A happy "brand spanking new" 2007 to everyone. I hope everyone finds it a fulfilling one.</p>
<p>The party seemed to go well. I reckon we had at least 70% participation in the theme. It was probably higher if you count the number of "technicians" and "press" people we had! The …</p><p>A happy "brand spanking new" 2007 to everyone. I hope everyone finds it a fulfilling one.</p>
<p>The party seemed to go well. I reckon we had at least 70% participation in the theme. It was probably higher if you count the number of "technicians" and "press" people we had! The house seemed pretty full without being too crowded and everyone looked as though they were having a good time. Mark brought a selection of bottles of various home brew type stuff including a pea-pod wine and some "Champagne-like" home brew. I have to say I preferred Helen's brownies but I did try one or two sips of the various wines. We had visitors from as far afield as London and Newcastle, it was nice to have Jo and Ed visiting Manchester. I think I finally crashed to bed around 6.30 in the morning after turfing Lee out of it and into the mattress downstairs.</p>
<p>Monday was pretty much filled with moderate tidying and general BLT munching and loafing. We did watch the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sarah_Jane_Adventures">Sarah Jane Adventures</a> (Wikipedia already up-to date on continuity ;-) which was rated more highly than the over to top silliness of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchwood">Torchwood's</a> end of season. However it is kids TV so I doubt I'll be rushing home to watch in on Monday afternoons. I really hope they don't spread the Who franchise too thin though, I don't want the main show taken down because the failure of the spin-offs rubs off on it.</p>
<p>This week should be an easy one, I've already booked Friday off as Fliss is visiting following her month abroad :-)</p>
All plumbed in2006-12-30T23:48:00+00:002006-12-30T23:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-30:/~alex/blog/2006/12/30/799/<p>"A simple job" my Dad mused today "is one were you only make two trips to B&Q". So the accumulated knowledge of my forefathers played out today. The second trip for a widget to mate my lovingly constructed copper bypass with the plastic of the cistern feed. Unfortunately by …</p><p>"A simple job" my Dad mused today "is one were you only make two trips to B&Q". So the accumulated knowledge of my forefathers played out today. The second trip for a widget to mate my lovingly constructed copper bypass with the plastic of the cistern feed. Unfortunately by the time I realised I was missing tap and plug hole bits for the sink I decided a third trip would be pain. I have to spend most of tomorrow cleaning, cooking and thinking about what I'm actually going to wear for the theme, the usefully generic "Movies" option. I'd better have a good costume lest I get lynched ;-)</p>
<p>I am now relaxing to Top Gear and desired to know who <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig">The Stig</a> actually was. So of course I went to that bastion of un-sourced, randomly contributed material <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wikipedia.com">Wikipedia</a>. However I doubt <a class="reference external" href="http://info.britannica.co.uk/?bbcam=adwds&bbkid=britanica&x=&source=jelly10102121&partner=ukjelly">Britannica</a> has an article on the Stig. Well not that I can access anyway :-) The general article quality it pretty good and had references to source material. It didn't tell me the definitive answer but certainly sated my transient curiosity. This is only one way the 'net has been great today :-)</p>
<p>I think I'm OD'ing on Sadam news now. Yes he was a bad guy, no it was wrong to execute him (on principle) however I'm not exactly losing sleep about it. Is there anything else happening in the world? Maybe something seasonally cheery?</p>
Traffic, Parties, Adverts2006-12-28T21:05:00+00:002006-12-28T21:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-28:/~alex/blog/2006/12/28/798/<p>The trip back yesterday was a bit of a pain. It took five and a half hours which is a little longer than usual. This had a knock on effect making me late for Ste's. The party was quieter than previous years but was nice to catch up with people …</p><p>The trip back yesterday was a bit of a pain. It took five and a half hours which is a little longer than usual. This had a knock on effect making me late for Ste's. The party was quieter than previous years but was nice to catch up with people and meet some new ones. I came back with rest of the massive at an early 3 in the morning.</p>
<p>Today has been quite a quiet day. Apart from brief activity to make some BLT sandwiches. After a chunk of Family Guy we switched to Sci-Fi's Angel fest. Angel itself was entertaining stuff but it seems the current advertising policy is to book the same ad sequence for the day. This means every ad break for the last 4 hours has had the same adverts. I found this rather off-putting. I think an early night will be called for tonight and I have plenty of things to do tomorrow.</p>
Happy Chrimbo!2006-12-25T19:59:00+00:002006-12-25T19:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-25:/~alex/blog/2006/12/25/797/<p>I hope everyone has had a great Christmas. Today started a little slow following a last minute call from Ed last night that drew me to the pub for a jar or two. It took me a while to wake up but after my Mum's lovely dinner I'm restored although …</p><p>I hope everyone has had a great Christmas. Today started a little slow following a last minute call from Ed last night that drew me to the pub for a jar or two. It took me a while to wake up but after my Mum's lovely dinner I'm restored although a little sleepy. Time for Doctor Who now :-)</p>
Overgeek factor2006-12-24T22:27:00+00:002006-12-24T22:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-24:/~alex/blog/2006/12/24/796/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://zandev.livejournal.com/">John</a> popped round today for a catch up. He's one of my oldest friends who was involved in the original <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=22507">ST Squad</a> when we were teenagers. Plenty of high geek discussion ensued only slightly interspersed with real life stuff. I shall have to make more of an effort to visit …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://zandev.livejournal.com/">John</a> popped round today for a catch up. He's one of my oldest friends who was involved in the original <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=22507">ST Squad</a> when we were teenagers. Plenty of high geek discussion ensued only slightly interspersed with real life stuff. I shall have to make more of an effort to visit Oxford in the upcoming year.</p>
<p>In other news my Mum has successfully converted me from my usually agnostic view of mince pies. Mmmmm pie....</p>
Christmas is coming....2006-12-24T16:33:00+00:002006-12-24T16:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-24:/~alex/blog/2006/12/24/795/<p>The drive down was a bit of a pain. The denial a.m. departure was good in so far as the M6 proved to be a breeze. The predicted fog of doom seemed mostly absent. However some idiot managed to prang themselves on the A14 so I spent an hour …</p><p>The drive down was a bit of a pain. The denial a.m. departure was good in so far as the M6 proved to be a breeze. The predicted fog of doom seemed mostly absent. However some idiot managed to prang themselves on the A14 so I spent an hour or so stuck in my stationary car listing to the radio. Still I made it home under 5 hours which was still marginally better than the train and with a lot more baggage capacity.</p>
<p>It seems like a very small Christmas this year as my brother is working over the holidays. We settled down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433383/">Good Night and Good Luck</a> last night which was interesting. It's quite an understated film though but worthwhile watching if you want to get a sense of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy">McCarthy era</a>. Fun piece of trivia: Test audiences who saw the film thought the person playing Senator McCarthy was over-acting despite the fact they used library footage of the real McCarthy in the film.</p>
<p>Today has been mainly concerned with eating a lovely Lamb Shank (courtesy of my Mother) and chatting to Australia over skype. I really must get round to wrapping those presents before tomorrow :-)</p>
Champagne is Nice2006-12-22T23:22:00+00:002006-12-22T23:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-22:/~alex/blog/2006/12/22/794/<p>So Champagne was on offer at four in the afternoon which even while coding <a class="reference external" href="http://www.perl.com/">Perl</a> was a sufficient inducement to finish early. I was unable to resist the Christmas cheer and joined my fellow work college for a few jars (in half pint measures, I'm driving tomorrow) before heading home …</p><p>So Champagne was on offer at four in the afternoon which even while coding <a class="reference external" href="http://www.perl.com/">Perl</a> was a sufficient inducement to finish early. I was unable to resist the Christmas cheer and joined my fellow work college for a few jars (in half pint measures, I'm driving tomorrow) before heading home. As a result the flooring has remained undone, it has been rescheduled to the 27th before Ste's birthday party. I shall spend the rest of the evening watching people decry the state of our transport infrastructure before packing for home.</p>
<p>In other news I think I am developing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii">Wii</a> lust. Having discussed it at length with a few friends from work I think it will only take a decent playtest before I'm ordering one as stocks are replenished. I'll need something to tide me over until the PS3 approaches good value for money.</p>
Tired2006-12-21T12:15:00+00:002006-12-21T12:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-21:/~alex/blog/2006/12/21/793/<p>I'm quite tired this morning. The last 3 days I've been getting to bed well after my usual bedtime and it's been taking it's toll. Monday and Tuesday evening were taken up with frantic DIY as I wall-papered the toilet as part of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/DIY/Operation%20Loo">Operation Loo</a>. I had a break last …</p><p>I'm quite tired this morning. The last 3 days I've been getting to bed well after my usual bedtime and it's been taking it's toll. Monday and Tuesday evening were taken up with frantic DIY as I wall-papered the toilet as part of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/DIY/Operation%20Loo">Operation Loo</a>. I had a break last night for the Wednesday Meal's Christmas outing which happily coincided with Marcus' birthday drinks at Sinclairs. Tonight I have the painting to look forward to and maybe if I'm done quickly the flooring (they are only vinyl tiles). If I get the flooring done I can at least have a few festive drinks on Friday night, although not too many as I'm driving down to my folks at denial a.m. on Saturday morning. I've scheduled the actual fitting of the toilet for 29th (Marcus helpfully pointed out the 28th is probably not a day to be using gas torches). That leaves me a whole day to clean the house and think about what I'm wearing for the party. I suspect this Christmas won't be as relaxed and laid back as normal. I shall have to wait for the Skiing near the end of January for that ;-)</p>
With the smell of dust in my nostrils2006-12-19T02:04:00+00:002006-12-19T02:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-19:/~alex/blog/2006/12/19/792/<p>The power sander didn't seem to make as much impact on the remaining shreds of wall paper as I expected. However I did get most of the large chunks off. The rest seems to have smoothed down OK. Hopefully the wall paper will stay on tomorrow, I'm not too worried …</p><p>The power sander didn't seem to make as much impact on the remaining shreds of wall paper as I expected. However I did get most of the large chunks off. The rest seems to have smoothed down OK. Hopefully the wall paper will stay on tomorrow, I'm not too worried about it being totally smooth seeing as it's going to be painted over.</p>
<p>Amsterdam was a nice break. Even though I have been there more times than I can count (or possibly remember) I still discovered some new things. The best discovery was some of the Belgian Beer bars. I showed people the one I had been to earlier this year with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=672">last trip</a>. The next day Mark discovered the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crackedkettle.com/">The Cracked Kettle</a> which we spent a chunk of time in discussing beers and how long they can mature for. The owner dissuaded me from buying some more Chimay I have been <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=783">drinking recently</a>. I now have a beer which will be best enjoyed if I cellar it for 6 months to 2 years. We shall see which end of the time spectrum I manage. After the beer shopping we retired to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cafegollem.nl">bar opposite</a> for some more beer tasting. Mark proved to be knowledgeable as usual as we worked our way through a selection of 8% to 12% beers....</p>
<p>Saturday evening is a little hazy. A bunch of people wandered off to enjoy some of Amsterdam's more traditional entertainment. I'd seen the live shows before so explored some more of the bars with Mark and Helen. When I caught up with them Lee insisted I at least visited the Banana Bar. It was certainly a novel and eye opening experience although much to Lee's annoyance I thought it was a little over rated. I think it's very easy to become blase about free flowing vice of the 'dam that is ceases to be new and interesting. I wasn't however prepared for the sight that greeted me in the early hours of the morning when Lee was banging on my door to borrow a pair of trousers. I guess the surprises just come in different forms ;-)</p>
<p>I took Mark and Helen to one of my favourite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amsterdamtourist.nl/en/home/search/display_itemdetail/xp/itemid.77bc3751-3fcf-4b15-91db-a77be6593ab4/default.aspx">Pancake restaurants</a> on Sunday before doing some last minute browsing for Christmas presents. I'm unusually paranoid about making sure I get back to the airport in time which is a little silly considering Amsterdam has probably one of the most efficient and reliable public transport systems in Europe. As it happened I made it to the airport with plenty of time which I killed riding up and down the departures hall on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelator">travalators</a> while everyone else waited patiently in the queue for gate security. Well why not?</p>
The traveler returns2006-12-18T01:10:00+00:002006-12-18T01:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-18:/~alex/blog/2006/12/18/791/<p>I have returned to the warmth of my own home after a pretty mellow Sunday in Amsterdam. I shall write and post up <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Amsterdam%20December%202006">pictures</a>[STRIKEOUT:later]. Needless to say it proved to be interesting, informative and educational. I have some excellent examples of writing and a few beers that can …</p><p>I have returned to the warmth of my own home after a pretty mellow Sunday in Amsterdam. I shall write and post up <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Amsterdam%20December%202006">pictures</a>[STRIKEOUT:later]. Needless to say it proved to be interesting, informative and educational. I have some excellent examples of writing and a few beers that can be laid down for up to 15 years.</p>
Goin' to da 'Dam2006-12-15T10:03:00+00:002006-12-15T10:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-15:/~alex/blog/2006/12/15/790/<p>Last nights Christmas party was fun. I didn't get to pack for Amsterdam in advance but web check-in has taken up the slack. Best dash ;-)</p>
Getting a few things off my chest2006-12-14T12:31:00+00:002006-12-14T12:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-14:/~alex/blog/2006/12/14/789/<p>A bunch of stuff has been on the news that is causing a mini-rant to bubble from my unconscious mind. So here I go:</p>
<p>First things first, the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6171319.stm">murders in Suffolk</a>. While the responsibility for the murders must always be that of the perpetrator there are a few things that …</p><p>A bunch of stuff has been on the news that is causing a mini-rant to bubble from my unconscious mind. So here I go:</p>
<p>First things first, the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6171319.stm">murders in Suffolk</a>. While the responsibility for the murders must always be that of the perpetrator there are a few things that annoy me about how the law makes the situation worse. It is perverse that the law forces the women to choose between walking the streets on their own and running their business from the relative safety of their own premises. When you look at the cold hard numbers of penalties for solicitation compared to running a brothel it's little wonder a large number of women go for the former. In the current legal framework the only brothels that do exist tend to be run by organised crime who have as little respect for the women as the law. It may offend some peoples morals if society <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6172273.stm">accepts prostitution</a> however it does and will continue to exist. No amount of wishing it didn't will improve the situation of some of the most vulnerable women in society.</p>
<p>Secondly a constant theme for a lot of these women is <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6175411.stm">heroin</a>. While I have a pretty liberal view of what should happen with this countries drug laws I accept it's unlikely to happen for a good while. One thing we could do however is give addicts free heroin which they can shoot up under medical supervision in safe locations. The cost of providing heroin (and also support to ween people off it) would be dwarfed by the savings to society in crime reduction. Without having to earn ?250 a night to feed their habit a lot of women wouldn't be forced into selling their bodies. Not to mention the addicts that steal up to five times their habits worth of goods a day. We could even source the heroin from the farmers in Afghanistan (and pay them considerably more than the drugs barons do) and kill two birds with one stone. There are plenty of examples in Europe we could look to on how to improve the situation with hard drugs and why we don't is a mystery to me.</p>
<p>I caught the interview with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Al-Fayed">Al-Fayed</a> this morning. The guy comes across as a complete idiot. Everything seems to be about him and peoples relationship with him. I may hold a certain amount of distrust with some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/">enquiries</a> but to accuse <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3518342.stm">Lord Stevens</a> of being nobbled by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI6">MI6</a> without offering any proof was astounding. I'm pretty sure that report will come to the conclusion that they died for 3 reasons: speed, alcohol, and failing to wear seat belts. Any one of those reasons kills people on the road every day so it's not exactly a stretch to believe.</p>
<p>And finally I was going to comment on the story I saw in the paper this morning about the approximately 1000 unanswered questions that have been tabled in Parliament (and apparently don't have to be if the current session ends). However seeing as the paper was the Metro which is barely a real newspaper I shall hold my pontification on the nature of parliamentary democracy until I can actually find some supporting evidence for the story.</p>
Time Poor2006-12-12T23:51:00+00:002006-12-12T23:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-12:/~alex/blog/2006/12/12/788/<p>So I have striped the wallpaper and removed the sink out of the bathroom. However for the next few days I am time poor. I have in order: The Wednesday Meal, the work Christmas party, and 3 days in Amsterdam. I can literally do nothing until next Monday. So if …</p><p>So I have striped the wallpaper and removed the sink out of the bathroom. However for the next few days I am time poor. I have in order: The Wednesday Meal, the work Christmas party, and 3 days in Amsterdam. I can literally do nothing until next Monday. So if anyone reading has spare time and thinks they can put up lining paper and paint and empty small room I'm all ears to reasonable offers!</p>
Sinking feeling2006-12-12T15:24:00+00:002006-12-12T15:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-12:/~alex/blog/2006/12/12/787/<p>Hmmm. Well the parcel arrived but the sink was smashed. I shall have to wait to see how good their returns policy is. Technically I agreed to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/info-3">Terms and Conditions</a> that restrict me from making negative comments in any on-line forum. I'm unsure how legally enforceable that may be …</p><p>Hmmm. Well the parcel arrived but the sink was smashed. I shall have to wait to see how good their returns policy is. Technically I agreed to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/info-3">Terms and Conditions</a> that restrict me from making negative comments in any on-line forum. I'm unsure how legally enforceable that may be - I suspect not. Hopefully it will be sorted out within the 14 day limit anyway.</p>
Good intentions, meet wayside2006-12-12T10:33:00+00:002006-12-12T10:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-12:/~alex/blog/2006/12/12/786/<p>Today I'm working from home as I wait for some fresh porcelain to arrive at my house. I say I'm working from home but currently the VPN is down so I've been reduced to watching TV and surfing the 'net while waiting for our IT people to fix it. Still …</p><p>Today I'm working from home as I wait for some fresh porcelain to arrive at my house. I say I'm working from home but currently the VPN is down so I've been reduced to watching TV and surfing the 'net while waiting for our IT people to fix it. Still I was at work until 11 last night working on a "super urgent bug" so I think my credit it good.</p>
<p>I wasn't planning to do much on the Saturday. My mention of smoothies did however entice Aidan and Gillian to visit for the evening. Between us we ate a small mountain of various curried foods alongside with a few bottles of a rather nice <a class="reference external" href="http://www.conchaytorousa.com/wines/diablo.html">Merlot</a>. We watched a chunk of Family Guy and the wrapped up version of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/">Pulp Fiction</a> I got some time ago. It reminded me of how much I like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Tarantino">Tarantino's</a> dialogue and films.</p>
<p>I had however planned ahead and brought some flooring and valves with the intention of doing some low brain power work on Sunday. As it happened I spent most of Sunday lazing about watching TV. Very relaxing but not achieving much in terms of restoring my house to two toilet status :-)</p>
Sasha!2006-12-09T15:41:00+00:002006-12-09T15:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-09:/~alex/blog/2006/12/09/785/<p>I went to see Sasha last night at the Old Brewery. We had Aidan and Gillian, Fez and T, and Ste. Sam brought along his lovely girlfriend Jill who had travelled up from London. I also had a couple of chaps from work, Rikki the party animal and Jim. I …</p><p>I went to see Sasha last night at the Old Brewery. We had Aidan and Gillian, Fez and T, and Ste. Sam brought along his lovely girlfriend Jill who had travelled up from London. I also had a couple of chaps from work, Rikki the party animal and Jim. I had a fantastic night. I think the sound system has been improved (or possibly better suited to Sasha's progressive house than 2 Many DJ's electro mash-ups). Some shapes were in fact thrown in the temple of dance. Aidan may of even taken a good picture of me! Everyone seem to have a good time although some started drifting home to sleep from 2 to 3. I went the full distance (until 4) with Rikki waiting until the turntables stopped spinning. As a result I didn't have the post gig gathering I was expecting at the house. I now have a fridge's worth of supplies for Strawberry and Banana smoothies all to myself ;-)</p>
WIP2006-12-05T23:56:00+00:002006-12-05T23:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-05:/~alex/blog/2006/12/05/784/<p>Well it's all <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./General/DIY/Operation%20Loo">out now</a>. Unfortunately the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/">suppliers</a> are out of stock until Monday meaning I won't get the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0-16273">replacement</a> shipped until Tuesday/Wednesday. It's tempting to pop down to B&Q and just get one but the difference in price is actually quite large. It's surprising how much a …</p><p>Well it's all <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./General/DIY/Operation%20Loo">out now</a>. Unfortunately the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/">suppliers</a> are out of stock until Monday meaning I won't get the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0-16273">replacement</a> shipped until Tuesday/Wednesday. It's tempting to pop down to B&Q and just get one but the difference in price is actually quite large. It's surprising how much a few bits of porcelain can cost in B&Q and thats before you've added the fittings and a seat!</p>
<p>Having said that it's not as though I'll get a chance to fit it before then anyway. I'm at the meal tomorrow, I have a niggling feeling about Thursday and the weekend is going to be a no no given the looming Sasha gig.</p>
Sasha2006-12-05T14:39:00+00:002006-12-05T14:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-05:/~alex/blog/2006/12/05/783/<p>[STRIKEOUT:One]Three of the tickets I've got have become free so if anyone is interested give me a shout. First come, first served. I suppose I should start organising some sort of plan. I suggest Sinclairs would make a good staging post. It seemed to work well last time …</p><p>[STRIKEOUT:One]Three of the tickets I've got have become free so if anyone is interested give me a shout. First come, first served. I suppose I should start organising some sort of plan. I suggest Sinclairs would make a good staging post. It seemed to work well last time. As the doors don't open until 10 and it will be a while before Sasha turns up I don't think there is a massive rush to get in. Does meeting 9.45 in Sinclairs seem reasonable. I want to get home and eat food first.</p>
Overlay this2006-12-04T20:59:00+00:002006-12-04T20:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-04:/~alex/blog/2006/12/04/782/<p>I had a quick play with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.getdemocracy.com/">Democracy</a> last night on my laptop. I've now added to my main box (using the very handy <a class="reference external" href="http://overlays.gentoo.org/">overlay concept</a>). At first blush its just an integrated video player which can slurp stuff of things like YouTube and Google Video. Of course it's ambitions are …</p><p>I had a quick play with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.getdemocracy.com/">Democracy</a> last night on my laptop. I've now added to my main box (using the very handy <a class="reference external" href="http://overlays.gentoo.org/">overlay concept</a>). At first blush its just an integrated video player which can slurp stuff of things like YouTube and Google Video. Of course it's ambitions are much bigger. Apart from leveraging the existing centralised video sites it aims to make it easy to become a video broadcaster. Where as iTunes is a more of a media store for corporate publishing (and is associated DRM evils) the Democracy project is trying to encourage a growth in <a class="reference external" href="http://participatoryculture.org/">participatory culture</a>. In this increasingly connected world it would be silly if everyone just became mindless consumers of big-media companies "intellectual property".</p>
<p>Of course all this open access and easy publication has it's downsides. I'm sure, like the web now, there will be all sorts of pointless junk out there. However I'm fundamentally positive about these sorts of developments. Yes there is a lot of crap on the 'net but I think the downside is easily outweighed by what happens when you make it easy for people to communicate. Now people can look down on TV as the lowest common denominator medium however we are visual creatures. Over and above words on a page and sound off your music player being able to see and hear whats going on can be very profound. And no longer do you have to maintain audience figures in the 10's of thousands to share your vision with the world via traditional broadcasting. Even if there are only 10 people out in the connected world that would like to see pictures of your tropical fish swimming in their tank you can start a community. Perhaps it will grow?</p>
<p>One of the people involved has a speculative piece on what he would like the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.getdemocracy.com/articles/future_of_video.php">future of video</a> to be like. It would be good if it lived up to its promise.</p>
Spanners2006-12-04T00:37:00+00:002006-12-04T00:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-04:/~alex/blog/2006/12/04/781/<p>You would think that B&Q would stock 24mm or 26mm spanners given that you need to tighten the bits on standard stock 15mm pipe fittings. It was a bit of a pain but I managed to get everything capped off nicely. The plan to remove the old toilet was …</p><p>You would think that B&Q would stock 24mm or 26mm spanners given that you need to tighten the bits on standard stock 15mm pipe fittings. It was a bit of a pain but I managed to get everything capped off nicely. The plan to remove the old toilet was slightly scuppered by Sunday's hangover courtesy of some Polish Vodka from last nights party. I wouldn't normally touch the stuff and it come in a unlabelled plastic bottle and had a slight turpentine like taste. The guy seemed quite insistent people try it out. I should really stick to general rule of avoiding spirits. Next week I think I shall be having a few alcohol free days in the gym by way of compensation. Sasha is coming up on Friday and I want to be rested for it. Friday gigs are hard work.</p>
All I want for Christmas is.....2006-12-02T00:10:00+00:002006-12-02T00:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-12-02:/~alex/blog/2006/12/02/780/<p>....an adaptor for my K800i the provides a 3.5mm mini jack. I don't mean one of the overpriced Sony branded "Walkman" headphones with added 3.5mm jack. I mean the little attaching fly leads I found in the Orange shop but the guy wouldn't sell me without a new …</p><p>....an adaptor for my K800i the provides a 3.5mm mini jack. I don't mean one of the overpriced Sony branded "Walkman" headphones with added 3.5mm jack. I mean the little attaching fly leads I found in the Orange shop but the guy wouldn't sell me without a new phone. Come to think of it a decent bottle opener would be useful. One that can open wine bottles that is better than the current poor excuses for corkscrews I currently own. It would also be useful to find some nail clippers that actually have somewhere to capture the bits. I have knocked up a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=topnav__w_h_/203-3338559-4577549">wish list</a> on Amazon for people that may need some sort of easy click-able reference. Of course one of the best presents I got last year was an African toilet. Although ironically this year I have to wait a few days for the replacement toilet to arrive. I have full intentions of doing some of the pipework and a stopcock tomorrow. I can then attempt to have the thing dismantled and removed by the time the new one arrives.</p>
AFFIRMED and ADOPTED in its entirety2006-11-30T00:29:00+00:002006-11-30T00:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-30:/~alex/blog/2006/11/30/affirmed-and-adopted-in-its-entirety/<p>And finally <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061129165103775">this</a> put a smile on my face before going to bed.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: And so did</strong><a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=45.123785,-123.113962&spn=0.012112,0.024097&t=h">this</a></p>
Git and CVS2006-11-30T00:13:00+00:002006-11-30T00:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-30:/~alex/blog/2006/11/30/778/<p>Given we have shipped 1.0 the pressure to get changes into the code base has abated a little. I've spent a large chunk of the day trying to work out how to get <a class="reference external" href="http://git.or.cz/">Git</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/">CVS</a> to play well together. I'm convinced by the power of mini atomic commits …</p><p>Given we have shipped 1.0 the pressure to get changes into the code base has abated a little. I've spent a large chunk of the day trying to work out how to get <a class="reference external" href="http://git.or.cz/">Git</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/">CVS</a> to play well together. I'm convinced by the power of mini atomic commits and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/howto/isolate-bugs-with-bisect.txt">bisect</a> that git brings when trying to pin down regressions. However due to the way CVS works using <em>cvs tag</em> as frequently isn't an option. I've written a little script to import our CVS tree's into git and maintain some degree of baseline information with the changes while ignoring the CVS gubins. However maintaining this all in one "tree" is suboptimal when it comes to checking stuff into CVS. I think the solution is going to involve having a master git tree (with it's hidden CVS context pointing at the baselines) tracking that while using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-clone.html">"git clone -s"</a> to make shallow copies for each change-set which can have their own CVS related meta-data for their commits. Ultimately I hope to convince the powers that be that a more modern revision control system will be a beneficial solution for the whole company. In the meantime it will be good to get some decent work-flow going to actually demonstrate it's a good idea.</p>
1.02006-11-28T10:52:00+00:002006-11-28T10:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-28:/~alex/blog/2006/11/28/777/<p>We shipped version 1.0 of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/products/sol_sparc_lin_x8664.htm">Quicktransit SPARC Solaris to X86-64</a> last night. As a result we went for a nice team lunch followed by one or two jars at the local hostelry. I'm currently running a little late getting in this morning. These two facts may or may not …</p><p>We shipped version 1.0 of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/products/sol_sparc_lin_x8664.htm">Quicktransit SPARC Solaris to X86-64</a> last night. As a result we went for a nice team lunch followed by one or two jars at the local hostelry. I'm currently running a little late getting in this morning. These two facts may or may not be related.</p>
Pool, Ducks, Trains2006-11-27T12:31:00+00:002006-11-27T12:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-27:/~alex/blog/2006/11/27/776/<p>I had a lovely weekend down in the big smoke visiting Fliss, Roo and Jay. Once I got to London I did a brief wander around the seat of government before heading down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.namcoexperience.com/countyhall/index.php">Namco Station</a>. Apart from one particularly good run of shots my pool skills showed definite …</p><p>I had a lovely weekend down in the big smoke visiting Fliss, Roo and Jay. Once I got to London I did a brief wander around the seat of government before heading down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.namcoexperience.com/countyhall/index.php">Namco Station</a>. Apart from one particularly good run of shots my pool skills showed definite signs of needing polishing.</p>
<p>Fliss took me to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borough_Market">Borough Market</a> on Saturday morning. It's a fantastic food lovers market where I had to force my self to hold back from tasting everything. The smells emanating from all the stalls caused a lot of temptation. We picked up some bacon for the next morning and I found a beer shop which had a 75cl bottle of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chimay.be/en/chimay_blue_220.php">Chimay Reserve</a> which I added to the growing pile of ales I had picked up over the day. I've been promised the chance to visit it again next time I'm down in London. The rest of the afternoon was filled with Ski gear shopping for the holiday in January.</p>
<p>We had Roo and Jay over on Saturday night for an evening meal. Fliss cooked a fantastic duck complete with port and orange sauce. The Chimay proved a nice starter followed by some excellent wine. I slept quite full and contently :-)</p>
<p>Sunday was quite a lazy day. The bacon and lamb from the previous day made a nice breakfast which was walked off with a wonder around <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooting_Commons">Tooting</a>. We then lounged watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119229/">Grosse Pointe Blank</a> before I had to head back to Manchester.</p>
<p>I was on the slower of the return trains which was a bit of a pain. However it did give a chance to read the rather funny <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Futurological_Congress">The Futurological Congress</a> by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem">Stanislaw Lem</a>. It will definitely make good source material if I ever run another <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_%28role-playing_game%29">Paranoia</a> game.</p>
Bowling2006-11-24T12:34:00+00:002006-11-24T12:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-24:/~alex/blog/2006/11/24/775/<p>I went bowling last night with the guys from work. As per usual the first game was abysmal although I started picking up strikes in the second game. I was quite tired when I got home last night. In part this was explained by the fact our team had a …</p><p>I went bowling last night with the guys from work. As per usual the first game was abysmal although I started picking up strikes in the second game. I was quite tired when I got home last night. In part this was explained by the fact our team had a spare lane so once they synchronised we started bowling 4 balls at a time. I also walked most of the way home before the 23 finally caught up with me. As a result I slept very well.</p>
<p>I'm off down to London this weekend to visit Roo, Jay and Fliss. I'm reliably informed there is bowling at the Namco station but I believe the main event will be the air hockey ;-)</p>
Food and Chemistry2006-11-22T23:51:00+00:002006-11-22T23:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-22:/~alex/blog/2006/11/22/774/<p>I took advantage of Ste's absence from the meal to cook a Chicken dish in a Hazelnut sauce. I also cooked another Apple Pie despite still having half a pie left over from the weekend.</p>
<p>The Chicken seemed to go OK. I thought at the time that I should of …</p><p>I took advantage of Ste's absence from the meal to cook a Chicken dish in a Hazelnut sauce. I also cooked another Apple Pie despite still having half a pie left over from the weekend.</p>
<p>The Chicken seemed to go OK. I thought at the time that I should of done a few more vegetables. It turned out that people where fine with the amount I served. Maybe having fresh desert persuades people to take the main course easy to have space left?</p>
<p>After my pretty poor pie at the weekend I thought I'd better figure out what went wrong. I solved the crumbly pastry problem by using the remaining half of the frozen puff pastry from last months <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=748">pie</a>. That seemed to work well. I was also quite generous with the sugar to take the edge off the apple's sharpness. I'm now firmly on the side of powdered Cinnamon vs the stick type I usually use. Having some cloves also helped, I hadn't realised I had run out.</p>
<p>The custard worked out a lot better with generous heaps on the tablespoons of the custard powder. I cocked up the sugar by a factor of two or three but it didn't seem to mater. Apparently it takes a lot to put too much sugar in something ;-)</p>
<p>Today it seemed like I put my chemistry training to use :-)</p>
Shiny shiny things...2006-11-20T18:42:00+00:002006-11-20T18:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-20:/~alex/blog/2006/11/20/773/<p>It's true I'm weak. I went into the phone shop to enquire where one might get those foam bits that fit on ear phones. I walked out having renewed my contract with a shiny black <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=global&lc=en&ver=4001&template=pp1_1_1&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10407">K800i</a>. Initial impressions are good. The camera is pretty good with its 3.2 mega-pixels …</p><p>It's true I'm weak. I went into the phone shop to enquire where one might get those foam bits that fit on ear phones. I walked out having renewed my contract with a shiny black <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=global&lc=en&ver=4001&template=pp1_1_1&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10407">K800i</a>. Initial impressions are good. The camera is pretty good with its 3.2 mega-pixels, proper flash and auto-focus goodness. It has the only other real feature I use which is a radio (including AM!). The only thing that I'm really annoyed about is Sony have invented yet another proprietary flash format. Anyone want a 512Mb Memory Stick Duo?</p>
Bitesize Weekend2006-11-20T11:51:00+00:002006-11-20T11:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-20:/~alex/blog/2006/11/20/772/<p>I eschewed Michelle and Nook's Wedding Reception for spending the weekend in the company of Fliss who was visiting for the weekend. We saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/">Casino Royale</a> on Friday. It was a bit bitty compared to your usual Bond fare although that may be down to the plotting required to establish …</p><p>I eschewed Michelle and Nook's Wedding Reception for spending the weekend in the company of Fliss who was visiting for the weekend. We saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/">Casino Royale</a> on Friday. It was a bit bitty compared to your usual Bond fare although that may be down to the plotting required to establish the character. I found the product placement a little grating, especially the "Is that a Rolex? No it's an Omega" line. I wonder if the writers cringed as much for that line as I did.</p>
<p>Saturday involved introducing Fliss to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080455/">Blues Brothers</a> which she seemed to enjoy. We then cooked for Aidan and Gillian, drinking all the wine, before heading over to Phil and Karl's little soiree. Despite being quite tipsy when we got there I managed to successfully moderate my intake of Champagne and Cocktails to be in reasonably good shape the next day.</p>
<p>Sunday involved a walk down the canal to Sale before a swift pint and alcohol shopping. I had a rather poor attempt at apple pie to go with the bolognaise. Fliss did considerably better at picking the evenings wine. We spent the rest of the evening lazing in front of the TV including taking in Torchwood. The show has now approached the point where I just laugh at the silliness of it all. It's still required Sunday watching though :-)</p>
The Response2006-11-15T18:38:00+00:002006-11-15T18:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-15:/~alex/blog/2006/11/15/771/<p>For balance after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=772">last weeks link</a> I should point out <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monbiot">George Monbiot</a>'s response in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1947248,00.html">Gruniad</a>. He's obviously done the follow up checking on the references that I was too lazy to do. He points to enough deliberate bias in the original article to discredit in my eyes. However …</p><p>For balance after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=772">last weeks link</a> I should point out <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monbiot">George Monbiot</a>'s response in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1947248,00.html">Gruniad</a>. He's obviously done the follow up checking on the references that I was too lazy to do. He points to enough deliberate bias in the original article to discredit in my eyes. However the original point about the dangers of too much scientific consensus stands.</p>
Old Mans TV2006-11-14T01:03:00+00:002006-11-14T01:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-14:/~alex/blog/2006/11/14/770/<p>I was working quite late tonight so when I got home I just made some food and slumped in front of the TV. I skipped out on the finale of Spooks this evening for BBC Four's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/features/sfb.shtml">Sci-Fi season</a>. The first offering today was a documentary covering the early British authors …</p><p>I was working quite late tonight so when I got home I just made some food and slumped in front of the TV. I skipped out on the finale of Spooks this evening for BBC Four's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/features/sfb.shtml">Sci-Fi season</a>. The first offering today was a documentary covering the early British authors from <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HG_Wells">HG Wells</a> up to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke">Clark</a>. The documentary was followed by a nice remake of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_for_Andromeda">A for Andromeda</a>.</p>
<p>Yesterday after the visit to Jodrell Bank I joined Mark, Helen and Fez for a Sunday roast at Sheila's. Apparently it was obvious to Helen that I had had a good time at the observatory given the amount I was talking about it.</p>
New Years Eve Party2006-11-12T19:47:00+00:002006-11-12T19:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-12:/~alex/blog/2006/11/12/769/<p>I have still to come up with a theme but I think it's about time I hosted a new years party again. So far in the running is "The 80's" and "Rubiks Cube", the later being one were people arrive in multiple colours of clothing and have to finish the …</p><p>I have still to come up with a theme but I think it's about time I hosted a new years party again. So far in the running is "The 80's" and "Rubiks Cube", the later being one were people arrive in multiple colours of clothing and have to finish the party "solved".</p>
It's full of Pulsars2006-11-12T19:37:00+00:002006-11-12T19:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-12:/~alex/blog/2006/11/12/768/<p>I spent the day at Jodrell Bank on a tour of the facility. It was all good science geek stuff with a fair dash of engineering thrown in. In computational terms they are dealing with massive amounts of data at very high speeds. The new fibre optic link that is …</p><p>I spent the day at Jodrell Bank on a tour of the facility. It was all good science geek stuff with a fair dash of engineering thrown in. In computational terms they are dealing with massive amounts of data at very high speeds. The new fibre optic link that is being built to link their <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MERLIN">MERLIN</a> array will operate at a bandwidth of around 30 Gbits/s. It was impressive how a their measurements are working so close to background noise and how they get around that with clever processing. They were quite proud at how good their sensors are and how close to the limit of physics they are. The guy giving the talk and tour was very good going through the basics of the history up to the physics of their latest observations. He was particularly proud of the observation of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR_J0737-3039">binary pulsar</a> which supports General Relativity.</p>
Supplies2006-11-11T15:49:00+00:002006-11-11T15:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-11:/~alex/blog/2006/11/11/767/<p>Oh well. No one it seems stocks toilet pans with separate cisterns anymore. B&Q quoted a 4 week delivery. Luckily the plumbers merchants in Stretford can do something by Thursday if I let them know on Tuesday. I'm half tempted to find a plumber to fit it though as …</p><p>Oh well. No one it seems stocks toilet pans with separate cisterns anymore. B&Q quoted a 4 week delivery. Luckily the plumbers merchants in Stretford can do something by Thursday if I let them know on Tuesday. I'm half tempted to find a plumber to fit it though as I'm not sure I have a clear weekend until December but I can work from home one day and get the boiler serviced and the toilet fitted in one go. It's amazing how much a piece of porcelain can cost though. We are talking just shy of ?300 for a bowl and cistern. Still nothing I can do about it now. I'm heading into town to join Mark and Al and drink beer by way of commiseration.</p>
Morning Smiles2006-11-10T11:48:00+00:002006-11-10T11:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-10:/~alex/blog/2006/11/10/766/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Lyttelton">Humph</a> was on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs.shtml">Desert Island Discs</a> this morning which brought smile to my face. Especially given my boiler is playing up again. Hopefully getting it serviced won't cost and arm and a leg.</p>
<p>Beer is firmly in the air again. The off-license near Ste had a nice selection of Holt's …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Lyttelton">Humph</a> was on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs.shtml">Desert Island Discs</a> this morning which brought smile to my face. Especially given my boiler is playing up again. Hopefully getting it serviced won't cost and arm and a leg.</p>
<p>Beer is firmly in the air again. The off-license near Ste had a nice selection of Holt's ales which was unexpected. They were seasonal good winter ales which probably explains why the walk back from Eccles didn't seem that long or cold. I did keep back a bottle of Marston's Double Drop for Thursday. The point to all of this of course is leading up to tonight's UMIST beer festival. As long as I stick to my one book of tickets rule and don't spend ?50 getting bad music played on the "jukebox" I should be in reasonable shape for tomorrows DIY. I'd better be as I'm off to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodrell_Bank">Jodrell Bank</a> for most of Sunday!</p>
Getting Warmer?2006-11-07T14:47:00+00:002006-11-07T14:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-07:/~alex/blog/2006/11/07/765/<p>Coming via <a class="reference external" href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/06/1942231&from=rss">Slashdot</a> I came across <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/05/nosplit/nwarm05.xml">this article</a> today. It's quite a thorough piece examining the data on Climate change and more importantly it's presentation. I was especially impressed by the linked source material which is a pretty complete (although not peer reviewed and published) scientific paper. It comes with …</p><p>Coming via <a class="reference external" href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/06/1942231&from=rss">Slashdot</a> I came across <a class="reference external" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/05/nosplit/nwarm05.xml">this article</a> today. It's quite a thorough piece examining the data on Climate change and more importantly it's presentation. I was especially impressed by the linked source material which is a pretty complete (although not peer reviewed and published) scientific paper. It comes with an extensive reference list. The central thrust seems to be although man may well be affecting the temperature of the planet the impact of the Greenhouse Effect may be less than we think. The <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period">Medieval Warm Period</a> also makes an appearance in the evidence. Of course the fact that it has been warmer pre-industrial revolution doesn't mean the current changes are going to be because of the same reason. However there is a point that if the influence of CO<sub>2</sub> is less than say sun activity we are basically at the mercy of the Sun. However it is sobering to realise that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus">Venus</a> experiences the same Sun patterns as <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth">Earth</a> but has a much harsher temperature regime because of the CO<sub>2</sub> levels it experiences.</p>
<p>I'm not a climate scientist so I'm not really well placed to judge who's right and who's wrong in the debate. I would prefer it if scientists did keep up the debate though - on the science and not on who's funding who. It's not exactly unknown for scientific consensus to be wrong. A true scientist is one who when presented with the evidence can accept their view is disproved and to move the science on from that point.</p>
<p>Does reading this single article change my views on environmental issues? Not really. There are plenty of good reasons to cut our usage of fossil fuels - one day they will run out. The society that is most advanced in weaning themselves of their addiction to oil will be best placed to prosper into the future. The general principle of moving to a more sustainable economy is common sense. Until we get off this one rock that houses the entire of humanity we need to careful to conserve resources. The consequences of getting it wrong are pretty severe. The Earth will keep going for a few billion years before it's eventual demise but we are quite capable of wiping ourselves out in a few generations if we're not careful.</p>
Garden State2006-11-07T00:50:00+00:002006-11-07T00:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-07:/~alex/blog/2006/11/07/764/<p>I forgot to mention I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Braff">Zach Braff</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0333766/">Garden State</a> on Sunday evening. It's nice whimsical RomCom but it caught my interest because the protagonist was coming off a long period of medication. I also quite liked the soundtrack. I'm quite impressed by the 31 years young Braff having …</p><p>I forgot to mention I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Braff">Zach Braff</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0333766/">Garden State</a> on Sunday evening. It's nice whimsical RomCom but it caught my interest because the protagonist was coming off a long period of medication. I also quite liked the soundtrack. I'm quite impressed by the 31 years young Braff having written and directed it. After all when I was 31 I'd already, y'know, done stuff. Damn youngsters think they know it all ;-)</p>
17 out of several hundred2006-11-07T00:01:00+00:002006-11-07T00:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-07:/~alex/blog/2006/11/07/763/<p>I did manage to find a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/">poppy</a> this year when I went to B&Q on Sunday. I haven't seen anyone selling them on the streets in the last few weeks. I did a quick count as I walked around St Anne's square for lunch and saw 17 poppies and …</p><p>I did manage to find a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/">poppy</a> this year when I went to B&Q on Sunday. I haven't seen anyone selling them on the streets in the last few weeks. I did a quick count as I walked around St Anne's square for lunch and saw 17 poppies and 1 white poppy. I reckon I must of walked past a good couple of hundred people who didn't. 1 in 20 seems like quite a low participation rate and I wish I knew the reasons.</p>
<p>The Metro broke down this evening so I walked home this evening. It was a nice change to walk home while listening to XFM on the radio. I did treat myself to a take-out (which is a first in many months) to balance out all that extra exercise :-)</p>
No-score draw2006-11-05T19:27:00+00:002006-11-05T19:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-05:/~alex/blog/2006/11/05/762/<p>I should of stayed watching TV but I instead attempted to tackle the DIY. I'm now up one working extractor fan but it seems I exceeded the weight tolerance on the toilet bowl. As Aidan keeps mentioning it was cracked anyway but it's obviously not meant as a Workman's platform …</p><p>I should of stayed watching TV but I instead attempted to tackle the DIY. I'm now up one working extractor fan but it seems I exceeded the weight tolerance on the toilet bowl. As Aidan keeps mentioning it was cracked anyway but it's obviously not meant as a Workman's platform. I'm pretty sure fitting a new toilet bowl and tank should be within my abilities.</p>
<p>Last nights Paul Simon gig was fun. It was one of the more laid back gigs I've been top in a while - at least compared to Prodigy last time I was at the M.E.N. Arena. He played quite a wide range of his repertoire including a number of tracks with just him and a guitar. All in all a relaxing gig. There where a few shocked whispers between some of the older members of the crowd when a couple of the scally's lit up their spliffs but the front of house staff didn't seem to notice the large rather obvious plumes of smoke. Of course everyone was too polite to mention it the scallys themselves. I of course missed the annual Dangerous Fireworks do so I don't know what happened there. I think I'd of heard if someone had been set on fire again.</p>
The Poison Pill2006-11-04T13:24:00+00:002006-11-04T13:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-04:/~alex/blog/2006/11/04/761/<p>The open source world has been buzzing with comments on the impact of the joint announcement by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/nov06/11-02MSNovellPR.mspx">Microsoft and Novell</a>. From this distance is does look like getting into a cage with a 800lb Gorilla and hoping he'll be nice to you. The after shocks are being followed by the …</p><p>The open source world has been buzzing with comments on the impact of the joint announcement by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/nov06/11-02MSNovellPR.mspx">Microsoft and Novell</a>. From this distance is does look like getting into a cage with a 800lb Gorilla and hoping he'll be nice to you. The after shocks are being followed by the ever excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061103201234813">Groklaw</a>. When you make a deal with the devil it really does pay to look closely at the fine print. It may be good for the community if interoperability between Linux and Windows is improved. However based pn past experience I'm not going to hold my breath. It certainly won't be worth anything if the resulting code comes with the poisoned patent pill. The GPL has language to cover the distribution of code that can have patents asserted against it. It's telling that the lawyers of Novell and Microsoft have had to think about it - time will tell if their analysis is correct.</p>
<p>Due to the way patents work they are a very real problem for free software. Short of reforming the patent system I don't think these sort of company to company licensing deals are the answer. Already MS is making noise about other distributors making deals with them for the unspecified patents that <em>may</em> be infringed in a Linux distribution. I'm hoping no more take up this offer. I'd almost actually prefer it if MS did show their hand and try and sue someone for patent infringement because then we'd know the phony FUD war was over and if things like <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pubpat.org/">PubPat</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.patentcommons.org/">Patent Commons</a> are going to provide the protection we need.</p>
Winter is here, the TV beckons2006-11-02T14:22:00+00:002006-11-02T14:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-11-02:/~alex/blog/2006/11/02/760/<p>I'm testing out the limits of NTL's usage policy over the next few days. I'm currently 2 episodes of Lost behind (and despite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/01">PA's take</a> I'm still hooked). I'm also catching up on Spooks having played catch up to sync with the broadcasts I've fallen back again because watching the …</p><p>I'm testing out the limits of NTL's usage policy over the next few days. I'm currently 2 episodes of Lost behind (and despite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/01">PA's take</a> I'm still hooked). I'm also catching up on Spooks having played catch up to sync with the broadcasts I've fallen back again because watching the downloads is <em>so damned convenient</em>. I've got the 3rd episode of Robin Hood currently queued up although it's more out of fascination to see how the train wreck will continue. I expect I won't be downloading the forth. I thought I'd have a go at watching the Amazing Mrs Pritchard (I saw the first episode and was intrigued by the concept). I'm trying to put some of the new US series out of my mind until they hit their UK air dates.</p>
<p>This is not to say broadcast is dead. Thursday still continues to be a good TV night. BBC One's advertising shizzle is temping me to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/thestatewithin/">The State Within</a> and the return of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/listings/programmes.shtml?day=today&service_id=4224&filename=20061102/20061102_2200_4224_20763_30">Never Mind the Buzzcocks</a> later on BBC 2. Then Andy will no doubt retire to his room as I see how much consternation yesterdays intervention by the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6106038.stm">Speaker</a> causes on <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/default.stm">Question Time</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_week/default.stm">This Week</a>.</p>
<p>When was I going to catch up on those downloads again?</p>
The GPL in practise2006-10-31T15:04:00+00:002006-10-31T15:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-31:/~alex/blog/2006/10/31/759/<p>Harald Welte has an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/2006/10/30/#20061030-gpl-devices">post in his blog</a> today about the effects of GPL enforcement actions.</p>
<p>The GPL can mean different things to different people. To some it is an engine of social change, freeing software of the corporate manacles. To others it is a pragmatic license that engenders …</p><p>Harald Welte has an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/2006/10/30/#20061030-gpl-devices">post in his blog</a> today about the effects of GPL enforcement actions.</p>
<p>The GPL can mean different things to different people. To some it is an engine of social change, freeing software of the corporate manacles. To others it is a pragmatic license that engenders co-operation between disparate engineers in producing well engineered software. Whatever your take as to the purpose of the GPL if you use/adapt/write GPL software you should be sure you understand the responsibilities that come with the rights it assigns.</p>
<p>Welte's blog points out that the code dumps generally don't have much to the "community" as they are often either specific to the one niche or contain such hacked up non-portable code too much pain would be involved in getting the code into the mainline. In my experience some code submission makes sense <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/ChangeLog-2.6.8-rc1">submitting</a>. Typically this is common code (in my case CPU specific code) that will benefit multiple platforms. However there was little point submitting the BSP parts of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.baxall.com/vivid">Vivid DVR</a> as only one product would have used it. Without having an active external community building and testing with the mainline source it would have just withered on the vine. Besides it's not exactly in the hobbyists league, well not until they start turning up on Ebay. Regardless of that the point still remains the source has to be available to anyone you distribute the binary to. Anyone who distributes GPL software must be able to satisfy their responsibilities to the license regardless of if the source code will be of any interest to anyone.</p>
Making travel plans2006-10-30T16:46:00+00:002006-10-30T16:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-30:/~alex/blog/2006/10/30/758/<p>Yesterday was the cause of much frustration trying to book various tickets for travel. It seems that travel systems aren't cut out for this sort of thing on Sundays. However I have now booked train tickets to visit Jay and Roo at the end of November and I'm also joining …</p><p>Yesterday was the cause of much frustration trying to book various tickets for travel. It seems that travel systems aren't cut out for this sort of thing on Sundays. However I have now booked train tickets to visit Jay and Roo at the end of November and I'm also joining the Goth outing in Amsterdam for the weekend before Christmas. That will be the second time this year but what the hell, I like the place.</p>
<p>The weekend was a pretty lazy affair. I was planning on fitting a new extractor fan but inertia saw me drinking tea and watching TV for most of Saturday morning. I eventually fitted some net curtains in the bathroom on Sunday but it's hardly massive DIY activity.</p>
<p>I did go to Jenny's rather spiffing Halloween party. Me and Lee conspired to break the 20 year old with "Skarl" toasts. Cheryl was left to pick up the pieces and provide amusement. I guess I could look at as an educational instruction. I mean after all how are kids meant to learn to pace themselves if they don't overdo it once or twice? I'm pretty sure it took me a fair few "sessions" to figure out where my limits where. I still don't get it right all the time these days as I keep having to recalibrate due to age. Having said that Lee's mead (as is common with most meads) proved to be refreshingly hangover free.</p>
<p>Sheila came round for food and films on Sunday. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/">V for Vendetta</a> proved entertaining and a welcome addition to my collection. One Sheila went home I did my usual Sunday evening potter and clean before turning in for a respectfully early night.</p>
<p>This week I need to pick up gym activity again as the cough has subsided to sensible non-sleep interfering levels. I have a few pounds to shed that don't seem to shift by themselves ;-)</p>
Trying New Things2006-10-28T15:40:00+01:002006-10-28T15:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-28:/~alex/blog/2006/10/28/757/<p>I've been trying a few new things this week. One of them was visiting the new food market in the Arndale in town. It looks like a lot of the farms that turn up to the regular farmers markets have a place in there. There is also a massive fish …</p><p>I've been trying a few new things this week. One of them was visiting the new food market in the Arndale in town. It looks like a lot of the farms that turn up to the regular farmers markets have a place in there. There is also a massive fish mongers if you like that sort of thing.</p>
<p>After struggling trying to get Ubuntu onto my soon-to-be desktop system at work yesterday I gave up and headed up to meet Lee and Cheryl for a few drinks. I left them to head to Ara and went home for a moderately early night. I finally gave up trying to get the latest LastFM player to build (and not crash) so I switched to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.o-hand.com/~iain/last-exit/">Last-Exit</a> which had an ebuild on Gentoo. It's not quite as shiny as the LastFM player but it works which is the main thing.</p>
Things to do with your palms2006-10-25T17:29:00+01:002006-10-25T17:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-25:/~alex/blog/2006/10/25/756/<p>As has been noted <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=754">previously</a> I suffered a bit of a data loss when my Palm failed and the hotsync had not been doing it's job. I'm now going for multiple redundancy with two open source tools, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.planepla.net/vfsbackup.html#sec2">VfsBackup</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.redfelineninja.dsl.pipex.com/software/rfbackup.html">RfBackup</a> which will do a backup to an external SD card …</p><p>As has been noted <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=754">previously</a> I suffered a bit of a data loss when my Palm failed and the hotsync had not been doing it's job. I'm now going for multiple redundancy with two open source tools, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.planepla.net/vfsbackup.html#sec2">VfsBackup</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.redfelineninja.dsl.pipex.com/software/rfbackup.html">RfBackup</a> which will do a backup to an external SD card. Finally I'm actually using some of the 512Mb SD card that has been plugged into my m505 for the last year and a bit. It also means I have an option if stuck on the train wanting to play solitaire and the battery is looking a little low.</p>
Not pissing in the wind2006-10-24T16:43:00+01:002006-10-24T16:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-24:/~alex/blog/2006/10/24/755/<p>It's good to know that when I make comments about the problems with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2006/10/using_technology.html">proprietary codecs</a> to the BBC I'm not alone. Out of 6 comments on the BBC's use of technology to deliver news to it's users 3 mention the problems we have accessing it on free software systems.</p>
Failing Body2006-10-23T17:52:00+01:002006-10-23T17:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-23:/~alex/blog/2006/10/23/754/<p>I've been fighting the assumption that I'm still ill since last week.
The "long tail" of the cough is something I can deal with during the
day. However when I lie down in bed I can look forward to a good few
hours of hacking coughs. It can be heard …</p><p>I've been fighting the assumption that I'm still ill since last week.
The "long tail" of the cough is something I can deal with during the
day. However when I lie down in bed I can look forward to a good few
hours of hacking coughs. It can be heard through floorboards
apparently. The cough mixtures I've tried so far seem to encourage
rather than stifle the coughing. As a result I may bot be "ill" but
I'm certainly tired and hacked off with my failing body.</p>
<p>The annoyances of the hacking cough aside the weekend in London was
fun and entertaining. Through means too nefarious to go into on a
public system I travelled first class on Thursday. Unfortunately the
beer was not as free flowing as advertised, however it was nice to get
hot food served for free. It became apparent I need a new coat that is
somewhere between my warm winter coat and my leather jacket especially
for the life of the Underground. And possibly some new lungs...</p>
<p>I was on my own for most of Friday so I did a bit of a tour. I skipped
the London Eye (again) as by the time I got there the queues where far
too much to deal with. Instead I went for a very pleasant walk around
the south bank. I then got my fill of public art at the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/">Tate Modern</a>. I was quite supprised to see how many of the items where
recognisable - obviously one of the benefits of being a national
gallery. Some pieces did make me wonder what was artistic about them.
<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_pollock">Jackson Pollock</a>
still makes little sense. However it was great to be able to see
pictures by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD">Dali</a>
and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso">Picasso</a> up close and in
real life (which is surprisingly different from a poster). Quite a lot
of stuff was familiar even though I didn't realise it was "art" like
<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Calder">Alexander Calder</a>'s
mobiles and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Ray">Man Ray</a>'s
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=27062&searchid=9740">Indestructible Object</a>.
I shall have to go back next time and go over the other floors.</p>
<p>I wondered over in the Soho direction to get food although I ended up
near Harley Street (and very expensive Italian restaurants). I was
intending to hit the Science museum and possibly visit Parliament but
time was against me at that point. I did walk through Hyde park but
found it disappointing. I was expecting a little bit more than a large
flat piece of grass, more tree's would have been nice. I met up with
Fliss before heading down to Windsor.</p>
<p>Ivan is an exemplary host who ensured we didn't go hungry for the
whole weekend. Although I was planning to get Fliss to watch Blues
Brothers we never got round to that. Instead we had a fine time
playing a series of board and card games. Memorable ones include <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/roborally">Robo
Rally</a>
which appealed to my inner geek as it involves programming your robots
course in advance while ensuring we don't lock instructions into your
course if you get too damaged. We also played the original Settlers
board game.</p>
<p>We were joined by Chaz and Dan on Saturday and tried a few more board
games that involved building <a class="reference external" href="http://uberplay.com/games/alhambra/">Arabic palaces</a>. It was quite interesting
seeing how you can develop strategies even when at the outset the
games seems quite dictated by chance. There was also a fun card game
by the name of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.smirkanddagger.com/hexhex.htm">Hex Hex</a>
which provided plenty of amusement. We also played a monster 4 hour
game of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_2210">Risk 2210</a>.</p>
<p>Before heading back on Sunday I caught up with Roo and Jay for a few
beers and some pool to round of the day. I then endured a long journey
back on the train (luckily having a seat, unlike a large chunk of
people). So despite the rather annoying cough it has been an enjoyable
weekend. Hopefully I don't have to spend too much of this week
cleaning up after the party I missed for it.</p>
Big Smoke2006-10-20T11:22:00+01:002006-10-20T11:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-20:/~alex/blog/2006/10/20/753/<p>I?m currently in London contemplating my Friday grand tour. I?ve got the London Eye and the Tate Modern down as the first places to visit. If I still have time I may make it down to South Kensington to visit the Science Museum for a little bit of …</p><p>I?m currently in London contemplating my Friday grand tour. I?ve got the London Eye and the Tate Modern down as the first places to visit. If I still have time I may make it down to South Kensington to visit the Science Museum for a little bit of Nostalgia. The rest of the weekend will actually be down in Windsor before returning to the centre for lunch with Roo and heading home in the evening. Don?t worry I still love Manchester more ;-)</p>
Web 2.0 apps that are worth it?2006-10-18T14:29:00+01:002006-10-18T14:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-18:/~alex/blog/2006/10/18/web-2-0-apps-that-are-worth-it/<p>Web 2.0 is a lovely little marketing buzzword that is bandied about a lot. It refers to the concept of applications running on your web browser. It used to be that people thought Java apps would be what everyone would want but it turns out that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_%28programming%29">AJAX</a> can provide …</p><p>Web 2.0 is a lovely little marketing buzzword that is bandied about a lot. It refers to the concept of applications running on your web browser. It used to be that people thought Java apps would be what everyone would want but it turns out that <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_%28programming%29">AJAX</a> can provide you with quite a powerful application experience.</p>
<p>The one I've been playing with quite a bit over the last few days is Google's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/reader/view/">RSS Reader</a>. RSS readers are an exercise in saving the time poor from too many clicks. I used to use <a class="reference external" href="http://liferea.sourceforge.net/">Liferea</a> and then when that stalled I started using the Fixefox extension <a class="reference external" href="http://sage.mozdev.org/">Sage</a>. However I've finally come across a web application that is truly comfortable to use.</p>
<p>It seems a natural fit of course. RSS is a product of the web - why would you want to leave your web-browser to read stuff? Much as I find the Live Bookmark capability of Firefox useful it doesn't give the status view of what is new. However Google Reader allows you to set up <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/reader/shared/04449031981434496650">aggregate feeds</a> really easily which are an ideal compliment of Firefox's live feed view. The natural integration of feeds into the web environment is one of the key selling points of the reader for me.</p>
<p>Another thing which is very well done is the keyboard shortcuts. I've not seen them used so widely in a web application before. I'm definitely a keyboard person. Compared to navigating with a mouse it's far more efficient to use a couple of well placed keys. On Reader they have made the process of browsing through articles pretty painless. Switching between feed "tags" is a simple 2+n key sequence which auto-completes to the best fit tag within 2 or 3 keys. "Staring" and sharing items are similarly easy operations.</p>
<p>The one big bonus of all of this of course is that it's independent of which machine I'm on. I can pick up from were I left of if I'm on the laptop, desktop or work machine. For this reason Google's Reader picks up the first Bennee award for a truly use-able web application.</p>
Lurgy, Pt 22006-10-17T14:29:00+01:002006-10-17T14:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-17:/~alex/blog/2006/10/17/751/<p>I failed to drag myself out of bed today as I'm still suffering from lurgy. I went to bed quite early last night but didn't sleep massively well. I was having some very weird dreams concerning rebuilding galaxies, go delirium! I'm not sure if the back pain is due to …</p><p>I failed to drag myself out of bed today as I'm still suffering from lurgy. I went to bed quite early last night but didn't sleep massively well. I was having some very weird dreams concerning rebuilding galaxies, go delirium! I'm not sure if the back pain is due to the lurgy or just I've spent too long lounging in the Buddha Bags. I hope another good nights worth of sleep will be enough to see me back at work tomorrow.</p>
Lurgy of Death2006-10-16T10:14:00+01:002006-10-16T10:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-16:/~alex/blog/2006/10/16/750/<p>I woke up this morning feeling a little groty. I would of put it down to feeling a bit tired after watching episode 2 of Lost last night. However a brief conversation with myself confirms my voice has dropped to Barry White levels and all my muscles ache. I'm going …</p><p>I woke up this morning feeling a little groty. I would of put it down to feeling a bit tired after watching episode 2 of Lost last night. However a brief conversation with myself confirms my voice has dropped to Barry White levels and all my muscles ache. I'm going back to bed....</p>
Pounding, pounding, techno music2006-10-15T17:18:00+01:002006-10-15T17:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-15:/~alex/blog/2006/10/15/749/<p>I have often been teased for listening to Radio 4. For my money when you start listening to Radio 2 and Bob Harris you are really ready for the slippers and the comfy chair.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the Radio Soulwax Warehouse party although there were a few negative points. The music …</p><p>I have often been teased for listening to Radio 4. For my money when you start listening to Radio 2 and Bob Harris you are really ready for the slippers and the comfy chair.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the Radio Soulwax Warehouse party although there were a few negative points. The music was pretty hardcore electro for most of the night until 2 Many DJ's came on at 2 in the morning. It was a fair wait for the headline act so the remainder of us that had lasted that long left after about 3.30. I quite like the venue, inside it doesn't get too hot and you can break out to outside if you want to catch some fresh air. However the acoustics are not the best in the world, at the end of the day it is a big aluminium box. It also seemed very crowded in the main hall so there was a fair bit of jostling going on. Having said that apparently it was quite empty in the other small "Beer Hall". Maybe it will be a better if the crowds are more spread out. The chav quotient was quite high but as they were all pretty muntered so it didn't really cause many problems. I'm still at a loss to explain why bratwurst was the food available on site.</p>
<p>We got back around four in the morning and after watching the classic 50's Sci-Fi <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044207/">When Worlds Collide</a> headed to bed around half past six. The rest of the weekend has involved a fair amount of sleeping :-) I did travel into Bolton for the Howcroft Beer Festival although I missed the morning session. I had a few pints and a meal with a bunch of the boltonites and a few radliffians before catching up with a few more people at Gemma's birthday drinks. I didn't stay out too late leaving soon after Andy had arrived.</p>
<p>Today I've been watching a documentary on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/missing.shtml">dark matter and dark energy</a>. Luckily Sheila is cooking for me later so I can afford to lounge about for most of the evening :-)</p>
Plan for the Gig2006-10-12T23:15:00+01:002006-10-12T23:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-12:/~alex/blog/2006/10/12/748/<p>I'm off to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulwax">Radio Soulwax</a> tomorrow. We're meeting up in Sinclairs between 8 and 9 before wondering over to the depths of Salford for the doors at 10.</p>
On the subjects of Backups2006-10-11T18:24:00+01:002006-10-11T18:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-11:/~alex/blog/2006/10/11/747/<p>I got caught in a massive rainstorm on the way into work this morning. I'm still not fully dried out. As a consequence my Palm pilot decided to forget about everything. This wouldn't be a massive problem except at some point<sup>*</sup> the sync software decided to stop syncing the address …</p><p>I got caught in a massive rainstorm on the way into work this morning. I'm still not fully dried out. As a consequence my Palm pilot decided to forget about everything. This wouldn't be a massive problem except at some point<sup>*</sup> the sync software decided to stop syncing the address and date book with Evolution. As a result I've lost a whole chunk of dates and notes. Luckily I can remember a chunk of what I'm doing over the next few weeks but otherwise I may be miss stuff. If you've told me about stuff since August you may want to remind me.</p>
<p>I think I shall take this data loss opportunity to fix figure out a better syncing solution. I've mentioned before the possibilities of syncing with Google's Calender functionality. This is obviously preferable to having everything on the one machine at work. It also makes it easier to update stuff when I don't have my PDA on me. I shall probably have to put some coding into this but I reckon I can put aside a weekend to get something up and running.</p>
<p>We also had a lot of systems down today so I've been having a quick play with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.digg.com/users/stsquad/dugg">Digg</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://del.icio.us/stsquad%22%22">del.icio.us</a>. I think I'm at the stage I'm willing to trust a lot of non-sensitive (but useful to have) data to "offsite" storage.</p>
Spam Tweaks2006-10-10T00:15:00+01:002006-10-10T00:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-10:/~alex/blog/2006/10/10/746/<p>I've been troubled with a rather large amount of spam recently. I had a bit of a dig around today to see if I could improve the situation. The first mistake I found was in the exim directors which didn't verify the user. This meant I was getting a lot …</p><p>I've been troubled with a rather large amount of spam recently. I had a bit of a dig around today to see if I could improve the situation. The first mistake I found was in the exim directors which didn't verify the user. This meant I was getting a lot of mail addressed to things like <a class="reference external" href="mailto:accounting@bennee.com">accounting@bennee.com</a> because all badly addressed mail was hitting the spam director and ending up (somehow) being re-routed to root, therefor to me.</p>
<p>The other reason stuff was getting through was because stuff was being tagged as <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/ALL_TRUSTED">ALL_TRUSTED</a> which was dropping the score bellow the threshold. A quick <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/TrustPath">tweak</a> to teach <a class="reference external" href="http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/SpamAssassin">Spamassassin</a> about my internal network seems to have had an effect. Hopefully my early morning clear out of the Inbox will be a lot easier.</p>
Travel Rant2006-10-09T23:53:00+01:002006-10-09T23:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-09:/~alex/blog/2006/10/09/745/<p>I'm visiting London later in October and wanted to book my tickets in
advance. The cheapest return seemed to be £57 which is more than I was
expecting given the notice (it's the same Andy paid on the day he
travelled IIRC). It's probably cheaper (and a lot more convenient …</p><p>I'm visiting London later in October and wanted to book my tickets in
advance. The cheapest return seemed to be £57 which is more than I was
expecting given the notice (it's the same Andy paid on the day he
travelled IIRC). It's probably cheaper (and a lot more convenient
given my itinerary) for me to drive down. The website did offer the
option for 2 singles although it seems tricky to get the same single
offer as a single ticket! Added to this a load of the websites kept
failing with same random IIS error when they tried to book a ticket
has meant I'm giving up for the day. I think I shall head into
Piccadilly tomorrow and go through the various options with a human
being at the ticket office. Today the web had failed me :-(</p>
Le Weekend2006-10-09T16:30:00+01:002006-10-09T16:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-09:/~alex/blog/2006/10/09/744/<p>I did manage to strip some wallpaper on Saturday. I now need to leave it a few days to ensure there is no residual damp and repaper with some lining paper. The full re-decoration of the Kitchen is still someway of in the grand scheme of things.</p>
<p>Saturday's "Thatcher: The …</p><p>I did manage to strip some wallpaper on Saturday. I now need to leave it a few days to ensure there is no residual damp and repaper with some lining paper. The full re-decoration of the Kitchen is still someway of in the grand scheme of things.</p>
<p>Saturday's "Thatcher: The Musical" at the Lowry was an exercise in surreality. As Mufi noted there weren't any particularly memorable songs (although I quite liked "The Cabinet Reshuffle") but I don't think that was the point. It covered her career from humble shop keeper background all the way to her downfall. I think it went for a pretty neutral approach not overly condemning or praising her role in our recent history. They did take the opportunity to have a few pops at the current incumbent, for example when referring to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War">Fawklands War</a> the main Thatcher noted "the key thing Tony is to make sure they attack you first". The finale made the point that whatever you think of her we are all Thatcher's children now in the sense of most of the transformation of the UK is still in place. The lead Thatcher remarked on how many of Tony Blair's policies could of been hers!</p>
<p>Sunday was a quick jaunt to Liverpool and back to help Jo sell her Mini. Nia was well behaved for most of the day although she did get a little upset on the way back until we got moving in the car. We watched the new Robin Hood (alright, probably not going to make time to watch it), ate chili and then returned Jo and Nia home.</p>
Waking up is so hard to do2006-10-07T15:31:00+01:002006-10-07T15:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-07:/~alex/blog/2006/10/07/743/<p>Getting going on a Saturday morning seems to be very tricky to do. I have yet to tackle the wall paper or take anything down to charity shop. I have a few hours left before heading down to the Lowry to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thelowry.com/WhatsOn/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=2498">Thatcher: The Musical</a>.</p>
<p>Rich and Al torpedoed my …</p><p>Getting going on a Saturday morning seems to be very tricky to do. I have yet to tackle the wall paper or take anything down to charity shop. I have a few hours left before heading down to the Lowry to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thelowry.com/WhatsOn/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=2498">Thatcher: The Musical</a>.</p>
<p>Rich and Al torpedoed my plans for visiting the gym before meeting Vikki at 8 by dragging me out earlier for a little pre-pubage pubage. Next time I plan any gym activity for Fridays I should go at lunchtime. Friday evenings develop far to fluidly!</p>
<p>I got to meet Vikki's new house mate Nic (certainly not Nikki) and talk about theatre. She's currently promoting a show with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Day">Darren Day</a> in it. I'd heard the name before but had no idea who he is. When she mentioned his string of the engagements I recognised at least two of the names. Anne will be proud of my periphery gossip column knowledge I'm sure :-) I sensibly resisted the temptation to head to Rock World leaving the girls to <a class="reference external" href="http://morningstar-lj.livejournal.com/">Dave's</a> care.</p>
<p>This morning has been mainly tea drinking and watching and analysing the first episode of season 3 of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_%28TV_series%29">Lost</a> with Andy. I must go an achieve something now....</p>
Too hot to handle?2006-10-06T15:05:00+01:002006-10-06T15:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-06:/~alex/blog/2006/10/06/742/<p>As is customary last night was TV night. I thought Extra's went further down the road of cringe which may turn me off it in the end. While a lot of humour is derived from awkward situations half an hour of cringing is not the same as half an hour …</p><p>As is customary last night was TV night. I thought Extra's went further down the road of cringe which may turn me off it in the end. While a lot of humour is derived from awkward situations half an hour of cringing is not the same as half an hour of belly laughs. Mitchell and Webb continues to be top notch stuff as well as Mock the Week.</p>
<p>Question Time promised to be a good one with both <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Letwin">Oliver Letwin</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hislop">Ian Hislop</a>. The first question went straight into the furore over Jack Straw's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5411954.stm">veil comments</a>. I'm glad it came up. As I've mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=734">before</a> I think it's important these sort of issues get debated. One thing that is guaranteed to increase divisions in society is people not talking to each other and left to form their own ideas of the "other side" without honest discussion. It seem however the audience had more than it's fair share of Daily Mail reading closet racists. No one used the phrase "I'm not a racist but..." but there was plenty of references to "they" and "them" trying to paint the whole Muslim com unity as one amorphous blob of fundamentalists. Luckily Hislop was quick to jump on that and there were a few Muslim audience members that pointed out how varied dress practise can be. All in all the panel gave will reasoned views without playing on peoples fears. I have to say given the bashing I gave Mr Straw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=744">last week</a> his performance on Today <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm">this morning</a> came across as very honest and sincere. Hopefully the wider debate will be to. For the record I don't think its taboo to ask for someone to remove their veil as long as the persons wishes if they don't want to are respected. I take the point that it is a barrier to social interaction though, I would be uncomfortable approaching someone in the street for directions if they were covered head to toe save for a pair of eyes. Although I'm happy for people to dress how they want there are always some places where a persons choice may be compromised, for example school uniforms, formal ID and health and safety issues.</p>
<p>This Week's fun was enhanced by a smattering of Boris and the exceptionally right wing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hitchens">Peter Hitchens</a>. His main thesis was that the Tories where denying a substantial portion of the electorate a viable right wing alternative by their move towards the centre ground. One of the more laughable points was they could of one the last two elections if they had campaigned on Europe and immigration "with real conviction". Both <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Portillo">Portillo</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Abbott">Abbot</a> pointed he could go and vote for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Independence_Party">UKIP</a>. The irony of Peter's statement that they were not a "viable party" seemed to be lost on him. I think it's quite clear the electorate want their parties to be more centrist. I don't buy into the idea you need a ideological gulf between left and right for parties to successfully differentiate themselves on centrist policies. We shall find out if I'm right in a few years :-)</p>
Pie!2006-10-05T15:02:00+01:002006-10-05T15:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-05:/~alex/blog/2006/10/05/741/<p>My turn again for the meal last night. I cooked a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Mums%20Chicken%20Pie">pie</a> that had seen a previous outing at one of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=336">Ms Orange's parties</a>. It's a great recipe as it's pretty easy to put together. However yet again I seem to be missing all my measuring jugs and pastry brushes …</p><p>My turn again for the meal last night. I cooked a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Mums%20Chicken%20Pie">pie</a> that had seen a previous outing at one of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=336">Ms Orange's parties</a>. It's a great recipe as it's pretty easy to put together. However yet again I seem to be missing all my measuring jugs and pastry brushes. I think I'll buy a proper glass measuring jug this time as plastic ones are too easily appropriated to other tasks. Desert was Scotch Pancakes with Green and Blacks Vanilla Ice-Cream and Maple Syrup. I don't usually cook desserts on the fly but this was pretty easy to do and certainly seemed to be appreciated. It all seemed to go well enough and I suitably over-estimated so ended up with a whole spare pie at the end :-)</p>
<p>I'm currently going through a re-calibration phase for the heating in my house. It's not helped by the hysteresis that my thermostat seems to exhibiting. I need to have some heating on in the morning and late evening but at the moment it either doesn't trigger or goes on a 2 hour sauna fest. I think a new heating system is next on the list of things to sort out. As that's probably a big investment I'm wondering what the pay back of just fitting a newer controller and thermostat(s) would be.</p>
Starry Starry Night2006-10-02T01:23:00+01:002006-10-02T01:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-02:/~alex/blog/2006/10/02/740/<p>It was nice that I was able to walk home from the centre of town this evening. I was treated to the sight of sheet lightning lighting up the clouds in the distance while the vista of the countryside starfield filled my view. It also helped work off the calories …</p><p>It was nice that I was able to walk home from the centre of town this evening. I was treated to the sight of sheet lightning lighting up the clouds in the distance while the vista of the countryside starfield filled my view. It also helped work off the calories from the 2 or 3 pints I enjoyed while catching up with Izzy in town. I'll be heading back to Manchester tomorrow and looking forward to a quite couple of weeks. The only major event in the future is Radio Soulwax Warehouse party on the 13th of October. I have a spare ticket available if anyone wants to join me and 9 other aspiring ravers attempting to relive their youth. Anyone who's interested should let me know.</p>
Comparative Cakeology2006-10-01T00:25:00+01:002006-10-01T00:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-10-01:/~alex/blog/2006/10/01/739/<p>One thing I learnt this weekend is that it is possible to make a chocolate cake out of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courgette">courgettes</a>.</p>
<p>My Grandmothers 90th has been an entertaining affair. She had no idea we had assembled friends and relatives from 5 countries to celebrate her birthday. I got to meet my Welsh …</p><p>One thing I learnt this weekend is that it is possible to make a chocolate cake out of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courgette">courgettes</a>.</p>
<p>My Grandmothers 90th has been an entertaining affair. She had no idea we had assembled friends and relatives from 5 countries to celebrate her birthday. I got to meet my Welsh cousins again which was nice. We also got a chance to compare my Grandma's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachertorte">Sacher Torte</a> with the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Sacher">"genuine" article</a>. I have to say, with no hint of bias, that my Grans version wins hands down. It was certainly moister and not as sweet at the imported cake. I would bring some back to Manchester to share but I doubt the remainder of the cake will survive long enough.</p>
<p>I spent a portion of the evening helping my Dad diagnose the fault with the boiler which has chosen the day we have 8 people staying to pack up. Unfortunately we are unlikely to find a replacement fan unit tomorrow. Thankfully we have a backup immersion heater so we can have some sort of wash :-). Tomorrow will mainly involve visiting garden centres, eating scotch beef and catching up with Izzy in town. I may have a beer or two in the process ;-)</p>
Burning2006-09-29T14:18:00+01:002006-09-29T14:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-29:/~alex/blog/2006/09/29/738/<p>I've just burnt another 5 CD's from my newly re-organised and re-tagged collection. Hopefully I'll have a nice selection for all possible moods for my drive down to Cambridge for my Grandma's 90th :-)</p>
Goggle Box2006-09-29T12:44:00+01:002006-09-29T12:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-29:/~alex/blog/2006/09/29/737/<p>Thursday nights seems to be the best TV night so far. Started from "Dragon's Den - Where are they now", Extras, and Mitchell and Webb all the way to "This Week" which is back now the wheels of democracy are rolling again after the summer break.</p>
<p>Question Time was quite amusing …</p><p>Thursday nights seems to be the best TV night so far. Started from "Dragon's Den - Where are they now", Extras, and Mitchell and Webb all the way to "This Week" which is back now the wheels of democracy are rolling again after the summer break.</p>
<p>Question Time was quite amusing as Jack Straw spent a lot of his time reeling of statistics about how much better Manchester has gotten over the last 10 years. He has some justification, Manchester has been coming on leaps and bounds as a major regional city in the North West. I magnanimous enough to let the government have some of the credit for the chunks of cash we got post the IRA bomb. However continuous arguments about funding for our public transport takes the shine off it a little.</p>
<p>He did come a little unstuck on War in Iraq after some impressive barracking from the audience. Although I thought removing Saddam on humanitarian grounds was appropriate justification back at the start of this debacle it become clear some time ago that we were rushed into this war. His argument that by being the USA's closest ally we at least got another UN resolution rang a little hollow. However who knows what would of happened if we would of let the weapon inspectors finish and gotten a second resolution? We may well of still had the war but probably with a little more thought and the support of the international community. One thing that is painfully clear is how hard it is to build a nation without the support of the rest of the world.</p>
<p>I've noticed the anti-war protesters have conflated both Afghanistan and Iraq in one great "anti-Islam" war we should be getting out of. Unfortunately this is where I'll have to disagree with the popular consensus. Firstly I don't buy the war against Islam rhetoric. It certainly hasn't helped relations but it seems the west never gets credit for it's (admittedly belated) intervention in Bosnia. Secondly the war in Afghanistan was perfectly justifiable as a police action. It was a direct and valid response to 9/11 which was effectively launched from the country. The tragedy of Afghanistan was in the rush to get into Iraq we didn't consolidate our position, something we shall be paying for for a while.</p>
Technology Failure2006-09-28T18:39:00+01:002006-09-28T18:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-28:/~alex/blog/2006/09/28/736/<p>I am now about 4.5k poorer which means now would not be a good time to experience redundancy. The new doors were fitted today and my house is now fully wrapped up in double glazed goodness. There will now undergo a retraining period to get used to doors that …</p><p>I am now about 4.5k poorer which means now would not be a good time to experience redundancy. The new doors were fitted today and my house is now fully wrapped up in double glazed goodness. There will now undergo a retraining period to get used to doors that don't shut on the latch and some consideration to fire escapes. In some ways it is easier as there are bottom openings on two of the middle floor windows that give you some options (even if leg breaking is one of them). However the front doors have to be locked with a key so one needs to be kept nearby but obviously not so nearby someone can nick the key and break into the house.</p>
<p>I was optimistic in predicting I could cook this week at last nights meal. On Tuesday I realised the kitchen could well be in an unusable state for Wednesday and I sent out a message to the list touting for replacements. The technology failure was not remembering that email isn't a panacea for communications - especially when other people are without electricity for a few days. Sorry Ste!</p>
Almost done.. and something about books2006-09-27T18:13:00+01:002006-09-27T18:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-27:/~alex/blog/2006/09/27/735/<p>There has only been one guy the last two days but he's made good progress. All but the kitchen sunlight and the doors are now installed. It turns out the windows have been replaced at least one anyway as the old sash mechanisms are still in the frames. Thanks in …</p><p>There has only been one guy the last two days but he's made good progress. All but the kitchen sunlight and the doors are now installed. It turns out the windows have been replaced at least one anyway as the old sash mechanisms are still in the frames. Thanks in part to getting rid of the crappy secondary glazing and the fact the new windows sit a little further back I actually have window sills. I may even consider some house plants :-)</p>
<p>I got tired of plodding through <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein">Heinlein's</a> "Time Enough for Love" last night so I switched to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_Peake">Mervyn_Peake</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Groan_%28novel%29">Titus Groan</a>. This was a book recommended to (and brought as gift :-)) for me after I recounted my Mum's failed attempt to get me reading some classic Dickens one school holiday.</p>
<p>Let me set out my position first. I love the English language. I really do enjoy the versatility of it. One of the things I enjoy about books is the fact that even in these days of ubiquitous CGI the pictures are in fact better. Reading or hearing the word "pendulous" for example conjures up more than a fleeting moments of screen time can.</p>
<p>However where Dickens failed me was how ponderous the books were. Yes I appreciated the colourful and descriptive language. However do you really need to take 2 pages walking from the creaky front gate to the ornately decorated front door? It is probably not helped that barring holidays I do most of my reading in bed. There is only so much a tired brain can take in.</p>
<p>I was heartened to see the number of chapters Titus Groan had. At least keeping all the chapters short makes it more manageable bed time reading. Having read the first chapter I can certainly agree the language is very evocative. My minds eye visualisation was certainly more detailed than for Heinlein's book. The next week will see if it engages me enough to pick it up every night :-)</p>
Glass2006-09-25T16:09:00+01:002006-09-25T16:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-25:/~alex/blog/2006/09/25/734/<p>I'm working from home this week (helpfully missing the Labour party conference impact on travel). The double glazing people are in smashing out the old windows. So far they seem to be making good progress although there have been a couple of close calls with shards of glass. Hopefully all …</p><p>I'm working from home this week (helpfully missing the Labour party conference impact on travel). The double glazing people are in smashing out the old windows. So far they seem to be making good progress although there have been a couple of close calls with shards of glass. Hopefully all of upstairs will be sorted out by the end of the day.</p>
<p>It's a good job to as although I like using the laptop downstairs the touchpad has proved to be a right royal pain. It seems to get itself into a state where it keeps emulating middle button presses resulting in pages of randomly select X paste buffer ending up in the field you are editing. Luckily manually building the latest driver makes it behave more sanely. It seems the 0.14.4 version (released before this version of Ubuntu) has a bunch of fixes for 64bit which may well of been missed by Ubuntu's QA thanks to the relative paucity of 64bit laptops out there. The latest 0.14.6 release seems to be making more sense.</p>
Food, Snakes, Vampires2006-09-24T14:28:00+01:002006-09-24T14:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-24:/~alex/blog/2006/09/24/733/<p>We went to the Gaucho Grill on Thursday before the cinema. Much as I enjoyed it for my birthday the selection was limited because of the size of the group. With just Fliss and I we had the whole menu available and the personal service of a waitress bringing the …</p><p>We went to the Gaucho Grill on Thursday before the cinema. Much as I enjoyed it for my birthday the selection was limited because of the size of the group. With just Fliss and I we had the whole menu available and the personal service of a waitress bringing the meat to your table and talking us through the options. In the end we both went for the Churrasco Lomo steak which had been marinated for 24 hours. It was absolutely divine :-)</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/">Snakes on a Plane</a> delivers exactly what you would expect from the title. You have to leave your pedant hat at home as some of the plans are a little left field. However it delivers on snake bites and Samuel L Jackson so you can't complain.</p>
<p>We headed across to Chris and Paula's on Saturday for a Buffy day. We all got to pick one of our favourite episodes although we didn't follow any particular chronological order. A very pleasant afternoon and evening followed as Fliss got to meet another bunch of my friends. She even managed to drink Chris under the table which endeared her to the assembled masses. We took the metro home and enjoyed a nice walk in the warm (but slightly windy) evening air.</p>
DRM Link2006-09-22T18:39:00+01:002006-09-22T18:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-22:/~alex/blog/2006/09/22/732/<p>Another good piece on some of the brain <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5371182.stm">dead DRM implementation</a> in Microsoft's new Zune media player. Bill expands on the wider implications of DRM on the public domain. What? You thought DRM would only be applied to big media's own licenced content? Of course any player that can play …</p><p>Another good piece on some of the brain <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5371182.stm">dead DRM implementation</a> in Microsoft's new Zune media player. Bill expands on the wider implications of DRM on the public domain. What? You thought DRM would only be applied to big media's own licenced content? Of course any player that can play unencumbered media is a potential piracy tool which is why we have to resit laws that make DRM compulsory. It's interesting the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons">Creative Commons</a> people are working out what anti-DRM clauses they may need to add to the next revision of the CC licenses.</p>
Withering2006-09-22T13:18:00+01:002006-09-22T13:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-22:/~alex/blog/2006/09/22/731/<p>As I left the house this morning I received a bit of a shock finding out one of my neighbours had died 3 weeks ago. The fact he died in bed and was found later had some resonances with Glyn. The morning had been very pleasant up to that point …</p><p>As I left the house this morning I received a bit of a shock finding out one of my neighbours had died 3 weeks ago. The fact he died in bed and was found later had some resonances with Glyn. The morning had been very pleasant up to that point....</p>
<p>Fliss has been visiting since Wednesday when she got to experience the Wednesday Meal. Yesterday we attempted a bit of culture<sup>*</sup> at the Lowry. The show was Lip Service's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lip-service.net/lips_shows_withering.html">Withering Looks</a>, a review of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bront%C3%AB">Bront?</a> sisters careers. It was very funny even given my lack of familiarity with the canon. Fliss seemed to enjoy it immensely. I think I shall look out for the next time they bring a show to Manchester and go again. Tonight will probably be more low brow if I can find a cinema that is still playing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/">Snakes on a Plane</a>.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>OK so the show was comedy, but in a theatre and on a stage counts as culture for me ;-)</p>
Yarr2006-09-19T11:53:00+01:002006-09-19T11:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-19:/~alex/blog/2006/09/19/730/<p>It be the last of the evening badminton sessions last night. Me scurvy opponents knew the cut of me jib a little too well. Arrgh I was too tired to cook when I got back aboard so I nibbled on some crusty bread before heading to me bunk.</p>
Gimp Suits and Aliens2006-09-18T13:18:00+01:002006-09-18T13:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-18:/~alex/blog/2006/09/18/729/<p>Following on from the Subculture party I had the house to myself for Saturday. I mainly was ripping music until the evening when I picked up my trusty PS2 controller to get a little further on GTA. I got Liberty City Stories for my birthday and I need to finish …</p><p>Following on from the Subculture party I had the house to myself for Saturday. I mainly was ripping music until the evening when I picked up my trusty PS2 controller to get a little further on GTA. I got Liberty City Stories for my birthday and I need to finish San Andreas first :-)</p>
<p>The 4 and 5 star chases at the end of missions take a lot more work to deal with. I'm not sure if using the pausing to the map and marking the police star location I'm heading to constitutes cheating or using the tools at your disposal. With a little careful getaway route planning I was able to finish "Architectual Espionage" although I stalled on gimp mission as I couldn't find the guy. I did actually get all the way through Area 69 only to get shot out of the sky making good my escape. However I think I have perfected my One Man Army technique for the retry. It was quite relaxing to have a day entirely to myself which I haven't had for some time.</p>
<p>Sunday saw me visiting Mufi and TJ for an impromptu BBQ before heading out for a night of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.frogandbucket.com/website2006/burlesque.htm">burlesque fun</a> at the Frog and Bucket with a Aidan, Gillian, Lee and [STRIKEOUT:JJ]Jacob. It was all pretty fun stuff including a very talented lass with a special technique for mixing cocktails. The surreality of it probably explained the oddness of my dreams this morning.</p>
Music and Mayhem2006-09-16T15:07:00+01:002006-09-16T15:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-16:/~alex/blog/2006/09/16/728/<p>Last night was the opening night<sup>*</sup> of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thesubculture.co.uk/">The Subculture</a>. Lee organised the minibus so a bunch of people from Manchester could go and sample it's delights. The venue never reached capacity but kept a pretty good atmosphere none the less. Apparently we drank more beer than the previous night …</p><p>Last night was the opening night<sup>*</sup> of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thesubculture.co.uk/">The Subculture</a>. Lee organised the minibus so a bunch of people from Manchester could go and sample it's delights. The venue never reached capacity but kept a pretty good atmosphere none the less. Apparently we drank more beer than the previous night despite their higher numbers. Despite T's insistence that real ale doesn't sell in night clubs the bar got through all its Abbot Ale and Hobgoblin bottles. I'm pretty confident once the cask ale is installed (pending the cask handling course for the manager) it will sell well. There was a touch of drama on the way back as we gained too many people for the minibus back but otherwise all seemed to go well. I gave quick instructions to Sal on how to set the breadmaker (although neglected to mention the difference between strong flour and normal flour or where the yeast was) and then crashed into bed.</p>
<p>This morning has been spent mainly ripping CD's and re-tagging a lot of the old stuff. I can't recommend <a class="reference external" href="http://easytag.sourceforge.net/">EasyTAG</a> enough for this. I've left it to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/user/stsquad/">Last.fm</a> to play music to me today. It seems to understand what I need ;-)</p>
Free to speak?2006-09-15T16:17:00+01:002006-09-15T16:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-15:/~alex/blog/2006/09/15/727/<p>It's interesting watching the reaction to the Pope <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5348456.stm">quoting</a> another <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_II_Palaiologos">one</a>. Reading what the Pope said is does not seem particularly inflammatory. The central point was about if faith should be forced by the sword. However as we <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy">have seen before</a> you can open a can of worms if you …</p><p>It's interesting watching the reaction to the Pope <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5348456.stm">quoting</a> another <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_II_Palaiologos">one</a>. Reading what the Pope said is does not seem particularly inflammatory. The central point was about if faith should be forced by the sword. However as we <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy">have seen before</a> you can open a can of worms if you<sup>*</sup> even associate Muhammad with anything negative. It is curious though I don't hear as much condemnation when <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden">others</a> associate their actions with Muhammad. However that could just be it doesn't get as much media attention.</p>
<p>But here's the rub. You can't have a dialogue between people if one side will get offended and demand you retract a statement before continuing. Causing offence (either deliberately or un-wittingly) is part of the process of debate. Without it both parties would simply be reduced to stating a series of uncontroversial statements at each other before going home for a nice quiet cup of tea.</p>
<p>If you really believe that what the Pope was wrong then engage. "The Pope is wrong because...." is something I've been known to say on occasion. It will achieve more than demanding an apology and shutting down your embassies. I think the outrage and isolationism being demonstrated at the moment is doing more to engender the sense of Islamaphopia and prejudice in the Western world than any Papal statement. It plays directly into the hands of the racists and bigots if anyone who wants to discuss Islam is accused of being one.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>By you I suspect I mean non-Islamic/secular Western commentators</p>
Domestication2006-09-15T14:34:00+01:002006-09-15T14:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-15:/~alex/blog/2006/09/15/726/<p>Last night I got home pretty early (and logged onto the VPN while sat in front of the TV). I then had a sudden urge to do some housework and started cleaning all around the back of the TV. After conquering the dust devils I decided to rationalise the cables …</p><p>Last night I got home pretty early (and logged onto the VPN while sat in front of the TV). I then had a sudden urge to do some housework and started cleaning all around the back of the TV. After conquering the dust devils I decided to rationalise the cables coming out of the back of my TV. One executive decision later I had unplugged the video recorded and moved the PS2 into the TV's base unit. VHS is such a dead format now I don't see any reason to keep it hanging around. I think the pre-recorded videos can go to charity shops although I'm not sure what to do about the others. I'm guessing the solid plastic isn't that good for land fills. I will also feel a little sad throwing away the original recording of the UK TV premiere of Star Wars. But what else could I do with them?</p>
<p>We then collectively lounged (buddha'd?) for BBC2's Thursday comedy run. I'd not watched the first season of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/?id=extras">Extras</a> but last nights episode was very funny. I'm impressed at how <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Gervais">Gervais</a> has convinced the celebrities to send themselves up. It was followed by the TV adaptation of Radio 4's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Mitchell_and_Webb_Sound">That Mitchell and Webb Sound</a>. I think Andy liked it despite it's origin ;-)</p>
DJ Saint Squad2006-09-14T19:13:00+01:002006-09-14T19:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-14:/~alex/blog/2006/09/14/725/<p>I went to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thesubculture.co.uk/">Subculture</a> investors (and associated helpers) party last night. Sarah started out by announcing there were no DJ's and people were welcome to spin a few CD's. I did casually wonder over to look over the equipment but left people who looked like they knew what they …</p><p>I went to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thesubculture.co.uk/">Subculture</a> investors (and associated helpers) party last night. Sarah started out by announcing there were no DJ's and people were welcome to spin a few CD's. I did casually wonder over to look over the equipment but left people who looked like they knew what they were doing at it. A fair bit latter that evening I joined Paul in the booth helping select tracks. This was slightly hampered by the small selection of CD's (left from the decorating sessions) and my less than passing familiarity with the Goth/Alternative Genre. Paul and I had the odd artistic discussion/disagreement as we slid in Hip-Hop numbers between Metallica tracks. The DJ'ing became a lot better when Sarah pointed out the set of headphones she had brought. Once I'd got the hang of the monitor set-up I did a lot better with my fades from track to track. It also meant I could grab CD's where I knew the band name and quickly preview the tracks until I found something that stimulated a glimmer of recognition. This is probably why "eclectic" was a adjective being much used last night. I finished of my "set" with Charles Daniels Band's "Devil Went down to Georgia" which seemed to go down well. Even though it was basically a private party I didn't seem to totally suck although Paul reckoned it was probably down to the fact people will dance to anything once drunk. Lee reckoned I was enjoying the DJ buzz. Apparently I looked quite happy up in the booth :-)</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: Fear my l33t DJ</strong><a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsogmm/243142063/in/pool-thesubculture/">skillz</a><strong>:-)</strong></p>
Pictures and Dancing2006-09-13T01:08:00+01:002006-09-13T01:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-13:/~alex/blog/2006/09/13/724/<p>See pictures of me <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Weddings/Ruth%20and%20Jay%202006/Dancing&pageType=image&image=P1010127.JPG&startFrom=1">throwing shapes</a> in the temple of dance... er and Ruth and Jay <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Ruth%20and%20Jay%202006">getting married</a>. Enjoy :-)</p>
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh2006-09-12T21:27:00+01:002006-09-12T21:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-12:/~alex/blog/2006/09/12/723/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It took me far too long to figure this out:</div>
<div class="line"><tt class="docutils literal">- u32int pfMxcsr = shadowMcxsr & MXCSR_MASK_BITS; + // reset any exception bits so we can work out whats new + u32int pfMxcsr = shadowMcxsr & ~MXCSR_EXCEPTION_BITS;</tt></div>
</div>
War, what is it good for?2006-09-12T15:10:00+01:002006-09-12T15:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-12:/~alex/blog/2006/09/12/722/<p>I watched the final half hour of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/">Lord of War</a> last night (having been too tired to finish it last Wednesday). It's an excellent film which I can heartily recommend.</p>
<p>I was the pillar of temptation resistance yesterday after a "Free Drinks!" email announced a mini-celebration for shipping our Beta …</p><p>I watched the final half hour of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/">Lord of War</a> last night (having been too tired to finish it last Wednesday). It's an excellent film which I can heartily recommend.</p>
<p>I was the pillar of temptation resistance yesterday after a "Free Drinks!" email announced a mini-celebration for shipping our Beta 2 software. I did turn up and enjoy two fresh orange juices and a few nibbles before heading down to Badminton. Unfortunately I wasn't on my top form which may of been a combination of eating chips, being tired from Maelstrom and not being able to see the shuttle. I did go and ask the guy to turn on the lights to which his response was "yeah its a bit dark in there, been like that since I joined". I pretty sure there were times it took me a second or so to re-acquire the shuttle it was that dim. The lower light levels really affects the contrast between the shuttle and the background. I shall have to make up for it next week which will probably be our last weekly group game as the students tend to block book the whole of the Sugden Centre during term.</p>
Do you want some?2006-09-11T13:07:00+01:002006-09-11T13:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-11:/~alex/blog/2006/09/11/721/<p>I wasn't originally due to go to the final Maelstrom of the year having believed my conversion to fair weather LRPer was finally complete. As it happens the weather was excellent (in many ways better than the previous two events) and I had a very enjoyable weekend to top off …</p><p>I wasn't originally due to go to the final Maelstrom of the year having believed my conversion to fair weather LRPer was finally complete. As it happens the weather was excellent (in many ways better than the previous two events) and I had a very enjoyable weekend to top off an excellent week in many respects.</p>
<p>I took Friday off so we could make good time to the site. Drum Hill is a bit of a blast from the past as it's the site of my first ever Gathering. I have memories of sheltering in my Polo as hurricane force winds swept over the site sometime in the 90's<sup>*</sup>.</p>
<p>Danny's modus operandi is already well documented. The only thing worth noting is he soon decided that gambling was burning through his money faster than the Chamber of Delights. I'd love to be able to blame the Jaguar for this but at the end of the day Danny is weak ;-)</p>
<p>We were involved in some plot type stuff although as per usual Danny's participation in such things is at best ancillary.</p>
<p>The journey back was complicated by a rather large crash on the M6 which involved a lot of slow crawling. We felt more for those on the Southbound M6 however who had basically given up and turned off their engines and lights while waiting. It was quite eerie passing them. However the delays weren't that bad. It gave Fliss and I plenty of time to critique each others musical tastes. Her approval of Pink Floyd and Dire Straits scored big points although I'm unsure if this balances out her raised eyebrows at Queen and Meatloaf. Time will tell if this proves insurmountable :-P</p>
<p>A quick pit stop home before dropping Fliss off in Liverpool and I made it to bed by about 12.30. I hope to have more weeks last the last one!</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>Sometime in the nineties is about as good as any of my recollection of the nineties gets. It will have been some time after I started University and before the LT stopped using Drum Hill.</p>
A Scanner Darkly2006-09-08T11:30:00+01:002006-09-08T11:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-08:/~alex/blog/2006/09/08/720/<p>I went with Fliss to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405296/">A Scanner Darkley</a> last night. Fliss was unsure how faithful the adaption to the book would be although it seems as though it was pretty close. It even included <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_k_dick">Philip K Dick's</a> homage to his fallen drug taking friends at the end. The film …</p><p>I went with Fliss to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405296/">A Scanner Darkley</a> last night. Fliss was unsure how faithful the adaption to the book would be although it seems as though it was pretty close. It even included <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_k_dick">Philip K Dick's</a> homage to his fallen drug taking friends at the end. The film has a lot of common themes with other PKD adaptations in so far it deals with the self-perception as well as twists that leave you wondering if you really knew what it was all about. The use of rotoscoping for the film allowed it to play with the drug induced halucinations to great effect. It also begs the question "if you're halucinating aphids crawling over your skin have you taken too many drugs?". It's certainly a dark film but well recommneded. I really must read some of his books at some point. Fliss recommends them quite highly.</p>
Green Times2006-09-05T12:19:00+01:002006-09-05T12:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-05:/~alex/blog/2006/09/05/719/<p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zac_Goldsmith">Zac Goldsmith</a> on HardTALK last night. Whatever people may think about the Tories new penchant for green issues Cameron certainly seems to convinced Zac that he's willing to do what it takes. The emphasis seems to be on the polluter pays, gaming the free market (which is never …</p><p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zac_Goldsmith">Zac Goldsmith</a> on HardTALK last night. Whatever people may think about the Tories new penchant for green issues Cameron certainly seems to convinced Zac that he's willing to do what it takes. The emphasis seems to be on the polluter pays, gaming the free market (which is never totally free) to make green the economically best option. It's a very Tory approach to favour the market over regulation that tends to force costs up at the expense of competitiveness. He was quite happy to say the era of "flights to Cornwall for a pound" would be a thing of the past under a Cameron government.</p>
<p>If there is a fly in the ointment it was on the subject of Nuclear power. The arguments over the true cost of nuclear where persuasive. The policy of "Nuclear power only if it can fund itself" is certainly a sensible one. However I'm not rabidly anti-nuclear. I'm quite satisfied we can operate safe nuclear power, and indeed its beneficial from a scientific and engineering point of view to have a nuclear industry. However the main niggle is if we don't have any nuclear capacity, and our fossil dependence drops over the medium term, what do we have for those quite windless summer days for power.</p>
<p>Still they don't have to convince me. I'm tired enough of Labour which for all its words still hasn't suggested legislation to <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5304570.stm">reduce emissions</a> although quite happy to go down the road of introducing thought crime on the statute book. The Lib Dems (my traditional shelter from the rabid right wings days of recent Tory leaderships) seem to of sunk without trace. While I can applaud their principled stand over <strong>not starting</strong> the Iraq war its not something I'm considering as a vote winner at the next election. The last policy they came up with which caught my attention was Local Income Tax. Since then I've heard nothing of note. Who else is coming up with policies I can get behind? Anyone care to suggest something that should get my consideration when I next vote?</p>
Sock Day2006-09-04T20:02:00+01:002006-09-04T20:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-04:/~alex/blog/2006/09/04/718/<p>Well the beta 2.0 software seems to be running OK though our release tests. This means I can step back a little from the "OMG fix this!" approach we have been running recently. Despite appearances to the contrary I'm quite a methodical coder. Recently has been involved a little …</p><p>Well the beta 2.0 software seems to be running OK though our release tests. This means I can step back a little from the "OMG fix this!" approach we have been running recently. Despite appearances to the contrary I'm quite a methodical coder. Recently has been involved a little too much of throwing patches into the project that I've only just seen passing my own limited testing. Of course this of course costs even more time when you have to back it out because its caused a regression somewhere else. The pace of project baselines has also meant a lot of distraction as each release needs testing (and possibly bug fixing) so its been very hard to get something working neatly.</p>
<p>So today has been a lot more restful as I've been bringing code up to scratch for review for the company baseline and reviewing other peoples code. I feel better already :-)</p>
Pink Taps2006-09-04T01:50:00+01:002006-09-04T01:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-04:/~alex/blog/2006/09/04/717/<p>Friday saw me visitng Rich and Al's for Mikey's birthday party. He got an interesting LoTR game which involved a sword and a sensor. Once we got the hang of calibrating it it proved to be quite entertaining. I briefly caught up with Izzy and will have to visit when …</p><p>Friday saw me visitng Rich and Al's for Mikey's birthday party. He got an interesting LoTR game which involved a sword and a sensor. Once we got the hang of calibrating it it proved to be quite entertaining. I briefly caught up with Izzy and will have to visit when I'm down in Cambridge later this month.</p>
<p>Andy and I visited little baby [STRIKEOUT:Ceri/Nia]TBD on Saturday. She didn't do much apart from sleep and occasionaly hicup. I think she has inheritred that from Arwel ;-)</p>
<p>Saturday night involved a minor tap malfunction at Ikan<sup>*</sup>. We had headed there to try some of the Champagne Cocktails. When I visited the loo I went to wash my hands. The tap seemed to be leaking a bit but I thought it was just a loose washer. Unfortunately I didn't notice the brash valve which should of been attached to the leaver sitting in the sink. When I touched the leaver it just came off in my hand starting a torrent of high pressure water streaming from the tap. Much activity then ensued as the manager came in and tried to stem the flow while also failing to find the stop-cock for the water supply.</p>
<p>The resulting delay in our cocktails, due to the staff trying to keep the torrent at bay, combined with Andy T's jury rigged solution got us a free round of drinks. All in all an interesting experience. The rest of the evening in the Salisbury and Rock World is more of a blur.</p>
<p>Today has been pretty slow although Lee and I did pop over to Leeds to lend a helping hand with decorating the Subculture. The place looks as though it taking shape although there is still a lot to do before it opens in 2 weeks.</p>
<blockquote>
<sup>*</sup>I have been there <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=669">before</a>. It's highly recommended.</blockquote>
Installing Windows!2006-09-01T18:28:00+01:002006-09-01T18:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-01:/~alex/blog/2006/09/01/716/<p>No, its ok. I've not seen the light and re-embraced myself in the fold of Mr Gates :-) I've just committed to the latest quote to get the double glazing sorted out for my house. It's going to cost me most of my savings but at least it'll be done this …</p><p>No, its ok. I've not seen the light and re-embraced myself in the fold of Mr Gates :-) I've just committed to the latest quote to get the double glazing sorted out for my house. It's going to cost me most of my savings but at least it'll be done this year. In the end I've gone for a local firm on the basis of a pretty competitive quote and the fact they didn't destroy Mark and Helen's house installing the 2 windows<sup>*</sup> they had done. Of course my 12 Windows, 2 Door and a Skylight is a much bigger job but there is only so much procrastinating you can do.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>It could be said there is not much I know about either type of Windows these days....</p>
Computers have ESP?2006-09-01T16:20:00+01:002006-09-01T16:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-09-01:/~alex/blog/2006/09/01/715/<p>Today's linkage a little <a class="reference external" href="http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/Pickover/esp.html">ESP experiment</a>. It fair bit of head scratching to figure it out. Still it proved an interesting diversion from SSE FP bugs.</p>
Intrigued2006-08-28T17:30:00+01:002006-08-28T17:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-28:/~alex/blog/2006/08/28/714/<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/testimonials.html">This</a> really caught my attention. I wonder if the "Don't be Evil" corporate mantra of Google is good enough for people to entrust all their data to a company that's also a excellent at searching, indexing and analysing huge amounts of data. Having said that what's security anyway. Do companies …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/testimonials.html">This</a> really caught my attention. I wonder if the "Don't be Evil" corporate mantra of Google is good enough for people to entrust all their data to a company that's also a excellent at searching, indexing and analysing huge amounts of data. Having said that what's security anyway. Do companies with there own IT system have any better a record at keeping stuff backed up and secure? And of course being web-based and hence usable anywhere with a web-browser you are brought closer to the vision of truly virtual companies. I can certainly see why a small company would jump at the chance of everyone in the company having email, IM and calender in a few clicks. They'll probably be able to throw in Word Processing and Document storage from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.writely.com/">Writely</a> at some point and then you wouldn't even need to upgrade Office every three years. Maybe Google understand Microsoft's idea of Software as Service a little too well ;-)</p>
Congratulations2006-08-28T16:17:00+01:002006-08-28T16:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-28:/~alex/blog/2006/08/28/713/<p>First things first. Congratulations are in order to Arwel and Jo and their new baby daughter. I only found out when I got home from a session in town with Mark, Chris and Fez. I can reveal Dave won the sweep.</p>
<p>The weekend started at the Sten do on Friday …</p><p>First things first. Congratulations are in order to Arwel and Jo and their new baby daughter. I only found out when I got home from a session in town with Mark, Chris and Fez. I can reveal Dave won the sweep.</p>
<p>The weekend started at the Sten do on Friday evening. The theme was an Elizabethan banquet. The floor show was appropriatly tongue in cheack and did take a slight turn for the bizarre ending with "All that Jazz" from Chigago. The DJ proved to be interesting - we suspected he put CD's of pre-mixed music on as they set themselves apart from the normal rather random mixing. I retired at the end of the night rather bloated from too much meat.</p>
<p>Saturday was Nook's Stag night. The many ancient laws prevent me from revealing much. However I can say we enjoyed ourselves and Newcastle is a very lively place to go out.</p>
<p>I headed home with Andy and Neil in tow and made good time driving back to Manchester. I made it to the Mark Addy to meet Mark and eat. A brief tour of real-ale followed (a welcome break from the lager I'd been on Saturday). After being joined by Chris and Fez (on recovery from their Saturdays) we eventually returned home for DVD's. We watched the original* version of Star Wars. Andy noted many points, including how the Moss Eisley shots don't require all those extra creatures. Han shooting Greedo in cold blood was also well greeted. We are such geeks :-)</p>
<p>I didn't last that late, calling it a day sometime around 2. Today hasn't involved that much apart from watching Spiderman and 12 Monkeys. 12 Monkeys is a very good film - I think it benefits from multiple viewings.</p>
Bring me the Head of a GCC Hacker2006-08-24T21:16:00+01:002006-08-24T21:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-24:/~alex/blog/2006/08/24/712/<p>Anyone who doesn't grok floating point, assembler and gcc should probably look away now. This may fry your brain, it certainly hasn't been healthy for mine.</p>
<p>So I've been trying to debug a natty little problem with why my little assembler stub didn't generate a SIGFPE/FPE_FLTINV when it tried …</p><p>Anyone who doesn't grok floating point, assembler and gcc should probably look away now. This may fry your brain, it certainly hasn't been healthy for mine.</p>
<p>So I've been trying to debug a natty little problem with why my little assembler stub didn't generate a SIGFPE/FPE_FLTINV when it tried to add two signalling NaN's together.</p>
<p>Like any good programmer with a nice repeatable test case to hand I bring fprintf out to probe whats going on. I add the line:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
fprintf(stderr,"faddRRR 0x%x + 0x%x\n", bit_cast<32int>(a), bit_cast<u32int>(b));
</u32int></pre>
<p>to my routine to check the numbers are indeed what they say they are. The observant amongst you may note that a and b are not touched, they are merely converted to unsigned integers <em>in situ</em> before fprintf does it's stuff.</p>
<p>Lo and behold, as soon as this fprintf is added my program starts throwing the correct signals again. "That's a little odd" I think. After all its printing out the right values (<em>"faddRRR 0x7fbfffff + 0x7fbfffff"</em>) so it should be working. I spend a while reverting all the other changes until I confirm I really can just comment/un-comment that one line to change my program from working to broken.</p>
<p>We have now reached the point to break out <em>gdb</em> and trace at the instruction level. Now I feel at this point I should point out that the product I'm working on runs on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EM64T">X86_64</a> chips we make extensive use of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSE2">SSE2</a> for out floating point operations. My understanding of this area is basically what I have picked up writing SSE2 stubs for various floating point operations. We know the X87 exists, but lets face it who would use it when SSE2 is faster and easier.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So I comment out the fprintf again and start tracing through the code:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
(gdb)i
0x701a9500: mov (%rdx,%rax,4),%eax
(gdb) p/x $rax
$2 = 0x7fbfffff
(gdb)i
0x701a9503: mov %eax,0x108(%rsp)
(gdb) p/x $rsp + 0x108
$3 = 0x7fbffff128
(gdb) x/w $3
0x7fbffff128: 0x7fbfffff
(gdb) i
0x701a950a: flds 0x108(%rsp)
"Hmmm, whats that do I wonder?" (queue ruffling though the manuals).
"Well that seems fair enough, lets just check something"
(gdb) info registers float
st0 nan(0xffffff0000000000) (raw 0x7fffffffff0000000000)
"$@$@!!!!nnngghhh"
(gdb) i
0x701a9511: fstps 0x20(%rsp)
"And it doesn't even do anything with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
</pre>
<p>So I try and understand what's just happened and why an fprintf makes a difference. The mystery of the signalling NaN is easy. The X87 does all its maths at double precision. As exceptions aren't enabled at this point it doesn't complain about loading a signalling NaN into its registers. It obviously thinks the signalling bit is no longer of interest in double mode.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The interesting thing is why the fprintf makes the difference. So out again with gdb:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
0x701a8e73 : mov (%rdx,%rax,4),%eax
0x701a8e76 : mov %eax,0x108(%rsp)
0x701a8e7d : mov 0x108(%rsp),%r15d
0x701a8e85 : mov $0x3f,%eax
0x701a8e8a : sub %esi,%eax
0x701a8e8c : add $0xf8,%eax
0x701a8e91 : cltq
0x701a8e93 : mov (%rcx),%rdx
0x701a8e96 : mov (%rdx,%rax,4),%eax
0x701a8e99 : mov %eax,0x108(%rsp)
0x701a8ea0 : mov 0x108(%rsp),%r14d
0x701a8ea8 : mov %eax,%ecx
0x701a8eaa : mov %r15d,0x108(%rsp)
0x701a8eb2 : mov 0x108(%rsp),%edx
0x701a8eb9 : mov $0x702f10a1,%esi
0x701a8ebe : mov 2989739(%rip),%rdi # 0x70482d70
0x701a8ec5 : xor %eax,%eax
0x701a8ec7 : callq 0x700a3eb0 fprintf@plt
..
..
0x701a8fda : mov %r15d,0xc(%rsp)
0x701a8fdf : movss 0xc(%rsp),%xmm1
0x701a8fe5 : mov %r14d,0xc(%rsp)
0x701a8fea : movss 0xc(%rsp),%xmm0
0x701a8ff0 : mov %r12,%rdi
0x701a8ff3 : callq 0x701b8024 <potentialfaulty_fadds(float, float)="">
</potentialfaulty_fadds(float,></pre>
<p>So the very act of calling fprintf alters gcc's register allocation so instead of passing the floating point number in the X87 register stack it keeps them hanging around in the copious number of integer registers it has handy. As you can see the calling convention for potentialFaulty_fadds is to use the SSE registers. As far as I can tell it's just using the X87 registers for shits and giggles.</p>
<p>And breaking my code :-(</p>
<p>I'm filling this bug under "tricky"</p>
The Startup Life2006-08-23T12:33:00+01:002006-08-23T12:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-23:/~alex/blog/2006/08/23/711/<p>Just watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rioton.net/rioton/Testein/index.htm">Riot On!</a>, the story of a Finnish mobile start-up, on BBC Four. It was quite illuminating although my place certainly hasn't reached their levels of bacchanalian excess. On reflection this is probably a good thing.</p>
<p>I'm trying to sort out tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Many_DJs">2 Many DJ's</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Coe">Sasha</a> at …</p><p>Just watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rioton.net/rioton/Testein/index.htm">Riot On!</a>, the story of a Finnish mobile start-up, on BBC Four. It was quite illuminating although my place certainly hasn't reached their levels of bacchanalian excess. On reflection this is probably a good thing.</p>
<p>I'm trying to sort out tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Many_DJs">2 Many DJ's</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Coe">Sasha</a> at the old <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewarehouseproject.com/line-ups/">Boddington's Brewery</a> this winter. Unfortunately Ticketline is being pants at the moment :-(</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: Got 10 Soulwax tickets this morning :-)</strong></p>
Knees2006-08-22T19:26:00+01:002006-08-22T19:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-22:/~alex/blog/2006/08/22/710/<p>I seem to of strained my knee playing Badminton last night. Well I say strained - its OK but I can feel its a bit odd. It's making the question of "should I go to the gym or wait until Thursday" a bit of a tricky one. Still I played very …</p><p>I seem to of strained my knee playing Badminton last night. Well I say strained - its OK but I can feel its a bit odd. It's making the question of "should I go to the gym or wait until Thursday" a bit of a tricky one. Still I played very well last night and I'm sure I'm up on my calorie burning quota already :-)</p>
Meat Overload2006-08-20T22:47:00+01:002006-08-20T22:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-20:/~alex/blog/2006/08/20/709/<p>Following on from Thursdays food I have just returned from Ruth and Jay's wedding where a roast hog was provided. Today's food was a burnt meat feast at Mark and Helen's. I think I need to go veggie for the next week or so to balance things out.</p>
-ETOOMANYYORKIES2006-08-18T16:13:00+01:002006-08-18T16:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-18:/~alex/blog/2006/08/18/706/<p>It was my turn to cook last night. I went for Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding as it is one of my favourite dishes. My Mum still offers it on a regular basis when I visit the folks and its always good. I made a double batch of batter for …</p><p>It was my turn to cook last night. I went for Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding as it is one of my favourite dishes. My Mum still offers it on a regular basis when I visit the folks and its always good. I made a double batch of batter for the giant Yorkshires. Despite having to shuffle stuff in and out of the oven during the rise period (a big no no apparently) they still all turned out OK. The beef practically cooked itself and was just right inside although a little dry on the outside. I suspect I should of left it bound while cooking to keep the moisture in better.</p>
<p>So I'm 33 today. If I was Jesus I'd have been dead by now.</p>
Slow Day2006-08-18T13:39:00+01:002006-08-18T13:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-18:/~alex/blog/2006/08/18/708/<p>In retrospect going to Revolution and drinking a bunch of vodka and cocktails wasn't the smartest thing I could of done. The morning has been appropraitly wilted. Thanks to everyone that came out, I had a fantastic evening even if I am paying for it now ;-)</p>
Plan for Tonight2006-08-17T13:23:00+01:002006-08-17T13:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-17:/~alex/blog/2006/08/17/707/<p>Leave work ~ 5.15/30 for a few pints at the local hostelry (Sinclairs) before heading down to Gaucho's for meet induced coma. If I'm not unconscious after that head back to the bar before crawling home and preparing for the next days hangover.</p>
Home Hacking2006-08-16T18:28:00+01:002006-08-16T18:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-16:/~alex/blog/2006/08/16/705/<p>I've been working from home today lounging on my rather spiffy Budda Bags while using a quite kick ass laptop. Getting Ubuntu and the VPN to play together was pretty wasy. However auto mounting NFS over the VPN seems beyond its ability. However the fruits of today's labour have been …</p><p>I've been working from home today lounging on my rather spiffy Budda Bags while using a quite kick ass laptop. Getting Ubuntu and the VPN to play together was pretty wasy. However auto mounting NFS over the VPN seems beyond its ability. However the fruits of today's labour have been I think there is a bug in the X86_64 Linux kernel w.r.t correctly setting si_code for FP bugs. I'll have to experiment with the latest RHEL kernels tomorrow - unfortunatly we can't just tell customers to run the latest kernel.org ones :-(</p>
Peace through superior firepower2006-08-15T11:26:00+01:002006-08-15T11:26:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-15:/~alex/blog/2006/08/15/704/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/ammo.jpg">These</a> arrived for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/guns.jpg">these</a> today. Hopefully we won't run out in the first 30 seconds of the next developer vs sys admin conflict :-)</p>
Snap2006-08-15T00:08:00+01:002006-08-15T00:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-15:/~alex/blog/2006/08/15/703/<p>I'm not sure how I did it but I woke up with a very stiff neck this morning. It was slowly easing up all day and I hoped once I started moving it would loosen up. I managed one game at tonight's badminton before I decided common sense dictated not …</p><p>I'm not sure how I did it but I woke up with a very stiff neck this morning. It was slowly easing up all day and I hoped once I started moving it would loosen up. I managed one game at tonight's badminton before I decided common sense dictated not pushing it. Instead I headed home to have another experiment at making decent egg-fried rice and a long soak in the bath. Hopefully I'll be set for tomorrows game against Lucy. She made me work quite hard for the points last week :-)</p>
I feel loved2006-08-14T15:34:00+01:002006-08-14T15:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-14:/~alex/blog/2006/08/14/702/<p>When I first booked the Gaucho I picked the number 6 out of the air expecting to revise it up to 10 or so. When I told them I had 21 people confirmed on Friday there was a slight panic about if they could handle that number of people. As …</p><p>When I first booked the Gaucho I picked the number 6 out of the air expecting to revise it up to 10 or so. When I told them I had 21 people confirmed on Friday there was a slight panic about if they could handle that number of people. As it happened I've had further people confirm over the weekend so it now stands at 27. Luckily the lady was very helpful and can fit us all in at 7pm. Of course it could just be the attraction of a very nice restaurant ;-)</p>
Quick Review of the Week2006-08-13T14:58:00+01:002006-08-13T14:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-13:/~alex/blog/2006/08/13/701/<p>On Thursday I was invited to Mark and Helen's for a little dinner soiree. The food was (as per usual) excellent.</p>
<p>Friday was a combination of leaving do and birthday for one of the guys at work. We headed to the rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/20/2077/Knott_Bar/Deansgate">Knott Bar</a> where I enjoyed many of …</p><p>On Thursday I was invited to Mark and Helen's for a little dinner soiree. The food was (as per usual) excellent.</p>
<p>Friday was a combination of leaving do and birthday for one of the guys at work. We headed to the rather excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/20/2077/Knott_Bar/Deansgate">Knott Bar</a> where I enjoyed many of the guest beers. Of particular note was the Northern Lights which made a fine light summer session beer. I then wondered up toward Ara pausing to update the reservation at the Gaucho Grill from the original 6 to the (then) 21. The manager seemed a little panicked at this point before moving the reservation to 7. I'll have to go in tomorrow and make sure they can handle the 26 people that have now confirmed! Otherwise I may have to go for a change of venue on Thursday.</p>
<p>I met up with Lee and Chris and a few of the Leeds crowd in Ara before having my arm twisted to head back to Lee's to continue the party. It's very hard to say no to Lee and Chris when they are in full arm twisting mode. As a result I made it to bed around 5.30 on Saturday morning.</p>
<p>I headed back home to find the freezer hadn't been shut properly so the whole thing needed defrosting and cleaning. That took up most of the afternoon which made me a tad late to follow up on furniture plans that <a class="reference external" href="http://babbage.livejournal.com/60966.html">Jay</a> had planted in my mind. Two car trips latter (and 80kg of tightly packed memo-forming foam) I now have 2x6ft <a class="reference external" href="http://www.buddabag.com/">Budda Bags</a> in place of the old sofa's. In the default configuration of two people in the room they basically form two ridiculously comfortable beanbags. However each one can fit two people (three if you are very cosy) bringing the seating space for the living room back up to spec. We shall see how they perform when I next have guests. The guys at the shop assure me they have ditched their sofa's as their friends prefer the bags<sup>*</sup>.</p>
<p>By the end of all that running about I didn't feel up to negotiating the public transport system (and already being late) drove up to Rich and Al's for Rich and Sue's birthday. There was a little bit of kitchen chemistry involved as we got Sue's chocolate fountain running before eating a whole bunch of cherries. I only managed to keep conscious viable until around 11 when I dragged a protesting (although very droopy eyed) Andy back home. I managed what must of been my first post-9 o'clock lie in this morning which is a first as far as I can remember.</p>
Atomic Number of Arsenic, apparently.2006-08-10T15:57:00+01:002006-08-10T15:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-10:/~alex/blog/2006/08/10/700/<p>My Birthday will be rolling round next Thursday as I reach the grand old age of 33. I'm not sure if this counts as mid-thirties yet or I have a years grace.</p>
<p>Instead of the usual debauchery of a weekend party I thought I would go out for a meal …</p><p>My Birthday will be rolling round next Thursday as I reach the grand old age of 33. I'm not sure if this counts as mid-thirties yet or I have a years grace.</p>
<p>Instead of the usual debauchery of a weekend party I thought I would go out for a meal during the week instead. I have booked the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gaucho-grill.com">Gaucho Grill</a> on Deansgate for the purpose. The table is for 7.30 but no doubt I shall head to a local hostelry in town for a few drinks after work.</p>
<p>If anyone would like to join me to celebrate this auspicious occasion then please let me know so I can revise the reservation. Be warned it's not the cheapest restaurant in town so I won't be offended if some people can't make it due to budgetary issues. The food however is excellent for anyone who is on the Aitkins diet :-)</p>
Crack, and mp3's2006-08-09T17:45:00+01:002006-08-09T17:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-09:/~alex/blog/2006/08/09/699/<p>I wonder how many of my friends suffer from <a class="reference external" href="http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/08/08/world_of_warcraft_players_addicted_uk/">dry eyes, headaches, back aches, and erratic sleep patterns</a>. The articles premise is around 40% of Warcrack players are addicts. I now feel slightly better about my addictive personality :-)</p>
<p>I've been fighting with getting mp3's working again since I updated my …</p><p>I wonder how many of my friends suffer from <a class="reference external" href="http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/08/08/world_of_warcraft_players_addicted_uk/">dry eyes, headaches, back aches, and erratic sleep patterns</a>. The articles premise is around 40% of Warcrack players are addicts. I now feel slightly better about my addictive personality :-)</p>
<p>I've been fighting with getting mp3's working again since I updated my work box to SuSE 10.1. There are many solutions, the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fluendo.com/resources/fluendo_mp3.php">Fluendo MP3 GStreamer</a> plugin being one of them. Unfortunately I couldn't find any rpm's for the distro so I had to build from source. GStreamer seems to of got rid of the need to register plugins however this also means there seems no sane way of letting it know you have a locally compiled plugin installed. In the end I hacked it by forcing configure's --prefix=/opt/gnome and it all started working.</p>
<p>So now I have my full collection up and running you can see what I'm listening to at work on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/user/stsquad/">lastfm</a>. You know if you want to stalk me or something....</p>
Acid Redux2006-08-09T00:41:00+01:002006-08-09T00:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-09:/~alex/blog/2006/08/09/698/<p>It seems whoever wired my house may of been experimenting with psychedelics at the time. Still it all seems to be working now although I'm a little concerned the whole house will need re-wiring at some point.</p>
<p>I eased into work today by spending most of the morning getting my …</p><p>It seems whoever wired my house may of been experimenting with psychedelics at the time. Still it all seems to be working now although I'm a little concerned the whole house will need re-wiring at some point.</p>
<p>I eased into work today by spending most of the morning getting my system up to the latest SuSE 10.1. There are a log of curves on the desktop now although unfortunately it doesn't seem to support <a class="reference external" href="http://en.opensuse.org/Xgl">Xgl/Compiz</a> on the Matrox card my machine has. This is mildly annoying as I know the card is quite capable of accelerated 3D.</p>
Frank'n'furters2006-08-07T20:33:00+01:002006-08-07T20:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-07:/~alex/blog/2006/08/07/697/<p>I'm back from a nice relaxing visit to Frankfurt for Jessie's birthday celebrations.</p>
<p>The birthday soiree was fun. It was nice to meet a whole bunch of new people (including some from Manchester!). As a result the discussion was wide and varied which was nice. We then headed out to …</p><p>I'm back from a nice relaxing visit to Frankfurt for Jessie's birthday celebrations.</p>
<p>The birthday soiree was fun. It was nice to meet a whole bunch of new people (including some from Manchester!). As a result the discussion was wide and varied which was nice. We then headed out to the restaurant for a meal. One thing that I noticed over the weekend is that Germany's hospitality industry doesn't understand service with any sense of urgency<sup>*</sup>. We then headed on to a nice bar where I sampled a few rather nice cherry liqueurs. One quick rain storm later and a quick rampaging<sup>**</sup> visit to a garage to pick up more booze and we returned to Jessie's for night caps. The rest of the night is a little hazy from that point.</p>
<p>We didn't really achieve much on Saturday. We mainly lounged around chatting away until the last of the overnight visitors left. Jess doesn't own a TV for the purposes of mooching about wasting time. Luckily Lee had brought a 300gb portable drive so we could veg out watching the IT Crowd and Peep Show. I also watched most of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327084/">Over the Hedge</a> while the others were having their afternoon snooze. It was OK, but that good.</p>
<p>There was the option of heading in for some salsa dancing on Saturday night but we knocked it on the head due to a combination of language barrier fear and general tiredness.</p>
<p>Sunday was a planned cultural activity day. We didn't get much cultural done although we headed into Frankfurt on Sunday for one of the bi-weekly street festivals. The beer (as you would expect in Germany) was indeed excellent. I visited a Beach Party club which was nice if a little quiet on a Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>The wasn't much to do today apart from a nice walk down the river and catching a bite to eat before heading off home. A nice relaxing finish to a relaxing weekend.</p>
<p>A few pictures can be found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Holidays/Frankfurt%20August%202006">here</a>.</p>
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<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>Jessie contended this is due to the staff not needing tips to get by.</div>
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<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>Lee <em>cf</em> Bull in China Shop</div>
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Frankly2006-08-04T11:06:00+01:002006-08-04T11:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-04:/~alex/blog/2006/08/04/696/<p>I am happily installed in Frankfurt for the weekend with Jessie. Lee will be arriving later today before we start the full festivities to celebrate her Birthday. I have been told to look out for steroetypes tonight. I have also commited some funds to thesubculture. Lee told me it would …</p><p>I am happily installed in Frankfurt for the weekend with Jessie. Lee will be arriving later today before we start the full festivities to celebrate her Birthday. I have been told to look out for steroetypes tonight. I have also commited some funds to thesubculture. Lee told me it would get me chicks if I told people I had stake in a night club ;-)</p>
Today's Factoid2006-08-03T01:15:00+01:002006-08-03T01:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-03:/~alex/blog/2006/08/03/695/<p>It takes approximately one hour to walk from Ste's house in Eccles to mine.</p>
<p>The Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> tonight was only slightly marred by my tardiness in getting to Ste's via public transport. This was partly the Metro's 24 minute delay and partly due to me and Rich visiting Sinclairs …</p><p>It takes approximately one hour to walk from Ste's house in Eccles to mine.</p>
<p>The Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> tonight was only slightly marred by my tardiness in getting to Ste's via public transport. This was partly the Metro's 24 minute delay and partly due to me and Rich visiting Sinclairs for a swift pint or 3 to celebrate my uber-CR finally making it into the company baseline. I think my official line was although my code has caused some minor regressions it has merely exposed existing bugs rather than adding new ones :-)</p>
<p>I'm off to Frankfurt tomorrow to visit Jess and sample some proper lager. No doubt connectivity will be good although I'm less sure about my cognitive ability.</p>
I can see clearly now2006-08-02T01:24:00+01:002006-08-02T01:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-08-02:/~alex/blog/2006/08/02/694/<p>Andy invited me to attend the Tuesday Meal which he was hosting today. Somehow we ended up sorting out and putting up the GSC Memorial Library. We had to Executive Decision a few books, mainly the fighting fantasy and a few of the one that would obviously wind me up …</p><p>Andy invited me to attend the Tuesday Meal which he was hosting today. Somehow we ended up sorting out and putting up the GSC Memorial Library. We had to Executive Decision a few books, mainly the fighting fantasy and a few of the one that would obviously wind me up<sup>*</sup>. Unfortunately a few of the series seem to be missing initial books which is a bit of a pain. However it's pretty clear which authors Glyn really liked as they take up vast tracts of the bookshelf. I am now soliciting advice on which authors are worthy of my attention for the next few years :-)</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks">Ian M Banks</a> - I'm told I should read some of his straight fiction but I think the only one I have is Whit. I have read most of the Culture books over the last year or so</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Cook_%28science_fiction_author%29">Hugh Cook</a> - I've read "The Wizards and the Warriors" as it was required reading for NV spell-casters. I don't think I've read any of the others.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms">Forgotten Realms</a> - Glyn had a shed load of these (so much so we double stacked them to save space). Opinion seems very much this is on the trashy side of D&D tie in<sup>**</sup>. I have vague memories of reading the original <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drizzt_Do%27Urden">Drizzt Dourden</a> books when I was younger.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_F._Hamilton">Peter F Hamilton</a> - I enjoyed the Mindstar trilogy although I haven't read much else of his.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein">Robert Heinlein</a> - A veritable stack load of these. I'm currently starting <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Enough_for_Love">"Time Enough for Love"</a> which I had heard of before so should give me a good idea of if I like him.</li>
<li>Brain/Frank Herbet's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_universe">Dune</a> series - I really love the film and I think I've read the first book. However I'm wary of the series as I'd hate to read a series knowing it was getting worse.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hobb">Robin Hobb</a> - Another good chunk including a bunch of hardbacks. I think Mufi is a fan as well.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Salvatore">R.A.Salvatore</a> - Another chunk of his none Forgotten Realms stuff. Is this worth reading?</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Smith">E.E. "Doc" Smith</a> - I keep confusing "The Galaxy Primes" with a book I read as a kid that involved people gambling on alien ships taking them to riches rather than certain death. According to Andy the Lensman Series is a major influence on the Green Lantern... or something...</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Weis">Weis</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Hickman">Hickman</a> - I read the original Dragon Lance trilogy when I was young. Is there anything else thats notable worth reading?</li>
</ul>
<p>Of course thats not all the books in the library but people are more than welcome to browse when they next visit. If anyone want to borrow any books then let me know - Glyn was always happy to lend books to people.</p>
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<div class="line"><sup>*</sup><em>Secrets of Atlantis revealed! How Aztec carvings prove they were into transplants!</em> - That sort of thing.</div>
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<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>This of course assumes there are some non-trashy D&D tie in novels</div>
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Warning: May contain hardcore geek content2006-07-29T17:00:00+01:002006-07-29T17:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-29:/~alex/blog/2006/07/29/693/<p>Debugging your brothers Windows connection problems over a flaky Skype connection while suffering a hangover from the previous nights drinking is not was I was planning on doing today. However at least its a pretty static and doesn't involve moving around in this humid warmth.</p>
<p>My brother couldn't connect to …</p><p>Debugging your brothers Windows connection problems over a flaky Skype connection while suffering a hangover from the previous nights drinking is not was I was planning on doing today. However at least its a pretty static and doesn't involve moving around in this humid warmth.</p>
<p>My brother couldn't connect to my website or ssh in. Everything just kept failing with unspecified network failures. I ran through the basics, he could ping me. I could see my site from work's network. My parents and w3c could also see the site. It only occurred to me after a few hours that both me and my brother both access the 'net through NTL. Maybe the problem was NTL to NTL?</p>
<p>I had a quick google around for the NTL proxy servers (the explicit ones, not the transparent proxies). As soon as I had loaded up my homepage via a proxy Jason let me know everything started working. I don't know why it un-wedged the network, but it did.</p>
Hardcore, too the max, coding2006-07-28T12:11:00+01:002006-07-28T12:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-28:/~alex/blog/2006/07/28/692/<p>I left work around 21.45 last night. I was in by 8.10 this morning. My "Get out of bed alarm" went off whilst I was fixing my uber-tag<sup>*</sup> for baseline inclusion. Today will be mostly brought to you by caffeine and loud music. How I shall stay awake …</p><p>I left work around 21.45 last night. I was in by 8.10 this morning. My "Get out of bed alarm" went off whilst I was fixing my uber-tag<sup>*</sup> for baseline inclusion. Today will be mostly brought to you by caffeine and loud music. How I shall stay awake at Chris P's house warming is currently unknown, I expect a total body shutdown at some point.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This chunk of work been one of the most demanding bits of code I've worked on. The diffstat says it all really</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
162 files changed, 6730 insertions(+), 1136 deletions(-)
</pre>
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<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">And that's just the final chunk of code. I've been splitting off chunks of code over the last year which have already made it into the baseline. If you're wondering why I've become so familiar with emacs diff-mode now you know.</div>
</div>
<p>If anyone is wondering what product it is I've been hacking away on you can find the product announcement <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/products/sol_xeon.htm">here</a>. I doubt anyone I know will be running it though but still now you know :-)</p>
<blockquote>
<sup>*</sup>tag, basically you can think of it as a patch.</blockquote>
Transportation Metaphors Abound2006-07-24T20:21:00+01:002006-07-24T20:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-24:/~alex/blog/2006/07/24/691/<p>My social calender for the start of this week has been filled in with lunches and drinks with various lovely ladies. Lee has cautioned me against smugness although I myself feel pleasantly surprised at the sequence of events.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a> was very good. The fact I didn't actually use any of …</p><p>My social calender for the start of this week has been filled in with lunches and drinks with various lovely ladies. Lee has cautioned me against smugness although I myself feel pleasantly surprised at the sequence of events.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a> was very good. The fact I didn't actually use any of my "stats" for the whole weekend I feel is a vindication of the quality of my role-playing :-)</p>
<p>The travel down was a little fraught. As Andy was already slated to drive I thought I should take full advantage of my non-driving status by having my first few beers on the way down. I was berated for a slight navigational mishap while trying to bypass the M1's roadworks. I still contend the road layout was sufficiently confusing for any navigator to follow. I wasn't *that* drunk at that point as the last of the 3 cold beers had been consumed some 4 hours previously.</p>
<p>The event itself was warm and sultry and although thunder threatened for the whole weekend it never did clear the air. Activity suffered slightly from the heat but we still achieved much as a group. We had a load of new players associating with the church including several LRP virgins. The fact they all seemed to enjoy themselves is a good sign the group was involving people and having an effect of the direction of plot<sup>*</sup>. I may not be progressing power-wise as a character but I'm certainly still enjoying it. The phrase "it's not a race, there is no prise" was an oft-repeated phrase :-)</p>
<p>The drive back was notable only for its length and occasional bouts of off-key singing. We finally got home some time after 11 and even discovering a huge spider sharing the shower did not dampen my relaxed happiness<sup>**</sup> when I collapsed in bed. I'm hopping this week will not sap too much of the good vibes away by next weekend.</p>
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<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>I use the term plot in the very loosest terms. Maelstrom is one of the most player-led systems I know. It really does feel like we are achieving things we want to - not because some plot team has dictated X must be achieved before we level up</div>
</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>Although a rather effeminate scream did emanate from the shower cubicle when I first spotted the monster. Andy was dispatched to show the guest the door</div>
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Score!2006-07-18T18:25:00+01:002006-07-18T18:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-18:/~alex/blog/2006/07/18/690/<p>I played using a new <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton#Scoring_system_development">badminton scoring system</a> last night and today with Lucy. Essentially someone scores a point on each serve. To compensate for the speed of point accumulation the match winning score has been upped to 21 instead of the old 15. I quite like it as you …</p><p>I played using a new <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton#Scoring_system_development">badminton scoring system</a> last night and today with Lucy. Essentially someone scores a point on each serve. To compensate for the speed of point accumulation the match winning score has been upped to 21 instead of the old 15. I quite like it as you can't get stuck in the rut of exchanging serve without advancing the score. Of course it does mean every shot counts so you can no longer use your serve to get a bit of a breather. In the current weather we are having that's quite important.</p>
Drinking Lessons2006-07-17T14:09:00+01:002006-07-17T14:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-17:/~alex/blog/2006/07/17/689/<p>This weekend I learnt two important drinking lessons. The first is it is in fact possible to drink too many Strawberry Daiquiris<sup>*</sup>. The second is the supermarkets are now stocking quite a nice range of decent lagers.</p>
<p>Friday's plan of after work gym was scuppered by the general attraction of …</p><p>This weekend I learnt two important drinking lessons. The first is it is in fact possible to drink too many Strawberry Daiquiris<sup>*</sup>. The second is the supermarkets are now stocking quite a nice range of decent lagers.</p>
<p>Friday's plan of after work gym was scuppered by the general attraction of the pub and sitting outdoors in this sunny weather. It turned out to be a bit blowy and I only had a few pints so it wasn't too bad.</p>
<p>Saturday saw me attend two BBQ's. The first was Daphne's house-warming which bar far had the most advanced BBQ present. It did however do a good job of smoking most of the burnt meat. There was an entertaining conversation with a recently qualified lawyer about the direction copyright law was going and also a realisation that a number of the family attendees where either ex or currently working in various law enforcement roles. As I am still at liberty I assume I didn't say anything too controversial.</p>
<p>I headed to Karl and Phil's for the rest of the evening. Apart from <a class="reference external" href="http://marcushill.livejournal.com/20747.html">ensuring hilarity</a> during discussions about Sci-Fi shows I also learnt I'm not quite as right wing as some older people. It seems I have a fair way to go before I reach the "hangin's too good for them" stage. I was also hit-upon again and as per usual didn't pick up on the signs<sup>**</sup>.</p>
<p>Sunday was mainly an excuse to laze around in the garden burning even more meat. It was nice to see Cheryl and Lucy who Lee brought along. Mark and Helen attended to as I explored the Kronenburg 1664 Blanc and Chemiy Trapiste beers I'd brought earlier. Although I like real ale's they are not really a summer drink. I'm thinking that I need to drink more interesting lagers but less overall volume :-)</p>
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<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>For the record, 11 punnets of strawberries and 4 litres of Bacardi White Rum was consumed. However I think my head was more to do with the fact they had run out of little plastic cups so my portions where based on the pint mug I was using...</div>
</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>Well maybe. It did run through my mind that the women had mentioned being married. My inner monologue was something along the lines of "Hmmm, could I be reading this wrong? Didn't she say she was married? Abort! Abort! Go for the hug!".</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Burn as much meat as you can while the Sun is out?2006-07-15T15:44:00+01:002006-07-15T15:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-15:/~alex/blog/2006/07/15/688/<p>I'm doing two BBQ's today (Daphne and Phil and Carl's) so I'm wondering if hosting one tomorrow will be too much meat? Given I've seen 5 straight sunny days on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0009">forecast</a> I can be pretty confident the weather will hold up.</p>
Music like it ought to be?2006-07-15T11:40:00+01:002006-07-15T11:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-15:/~alex/blog/2006/07/15/687/<p>On a whim I had a little play with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.allofmp3.com/">AllofMp3.com</a> last night (when you sign up you get $0.50 credit to play with). Now when I originally heard of this service my main thoughts was why anyone would pay for something thats so legally dubious, especially as it's …</p><p>On a whim I had a little play with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.allofmp3.com/">AllofMp3.com</a> last night (when you sign up you get $0.50 credit to play with). Now when I originally heard of this service my main thoughts was why anyone would pay for something thats so legally dubious, especially as it's not exactly hard to get music for free. Legality aside the user experience is quite good. The site is easy to navigate, the samples are pretty long (and don't require Realplayer to listen to) and the selection is comprehensive. However the thing I liked most was the media options your offered. There is no DRM'ed formats and you can choose between mp3, ogg, mpc or mpeg-4 encoding and a choice of bitrate. Once you click order it goes and encodes the file for you there and then. The actual charge is based on final file size so the lower quality encoding the cheaper it is. I'm not sure how close to the normal track price a full quality (lossless) file is but I suspect its on a parity to a cheap CD price.</p>
<p>Of course this sort of flexibility and value for money probably won't catch on. With more and more CD's getting the DRM treatment I guess I'll just have to buy less music and listen to my back catalog or find <a class="reference external" href="http://creativecommons.org/">alternative sources</a> of music.</p>
Patch me, not RSI me2006-07-14T17:34:00+01:002006-07-14T17:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-14:/~alex/blog/2006/07/14/686/<p>I've been doing a lot of manual patching of baselines at work recently. It has become apparent that emacs is a lot better at patching code than the venerable patch program. However after two aborted baselines that seem to have suffered from me not noticing when C-c C-a fails I …</p><p>I've been doing a lot of manual patching of baselines at work recently. It has become apparent that emacs is a lot better at patching code than the venerable patch program. However after two aborted baselines that seem to have suffered from me not noticing when C-c C-a fails I though I'd better take advantage of the programmable nature of my editor. It actually took me about 5 minutes to prototype the function. It took a little longer to get a bullet-proof function I could include in my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs?r1=1.37&r2=1.38">.emacs</a> (including accidentally shutting down emacs twice with an unsaved *scratch* buffer). Although I'm sure it's not the neatest code I think I'm well over the learning hump required for knocking simple stuff up.</p>
Super Radioactive Bugs, or Not2006-07-13T23:23:00+01:002006-07-13T23:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-13:/~alex/blog/2006/07/13/685/<p>I've just watched a fascinating episode of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5173310.stm">Horizon</a> which examine the data collected since the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster">Chernobyl disaster</a>. It's a fine example of why you should collect data points for as much of your model as possible. One of the most interesting things the program discussed was the wildlife that is …</p><p>I've just watched a fascinating episode of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5173310.stm">Horizon</a> which examine the data collected since the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster">Chernobyl disaster</a>. It's a fine example of why you should collect data points for as much of your model as possible. One of the most interesting things the program discussed was the wildlife that is living in the area now. Although radiologically very active the animals show remarkably little sign of cell damage. Of course given the natural variation of background radiation on the planet its not surprising life has evolved to be able to cope with low dosage radiation.</p>
To expand, ever so slightly2006-07-10T19:38:00+01:002006-07-10T19:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-10:/~alex/blog/2006/07/10/684/<p>I eschewed the pub for an early return to my empty house on Friday. I even went to bed early (well if 11 is early) planning to have a lie in on Saturday. Imagine how annoyed I was to be awake at 7.30 the next day with the bread …</p><p>I eschewed the pub for an early return to my empty house on Friday. I even went to bed early (well if 11 is early) planning to have a lie in on Saturday. Imagine how annoyed I was to be awake at 7.30 the next day with the bread still having half an hour until it finished baking.</p>
<p>I mainly pottered around writing lists and shopping for a new mattress until heading into town to meet Aidan and Co at the <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=M3+5EJ&hl=en&ie=UTF8&om=1">Mark Addy</a>. I opted for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.inbev.com/brands/2__3__0__globalspecialtybrands.cfm">Hoegaarden</a> which I've had a few times before. It was only about 4 pints in that Mark reminded me how strong it was. We then de-camped for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383574/">PoTC: Dead Mans Chest</a> which I rather enjoyed. I don't the plot was quite as tight as the first one. However the film was certainly entertaining and a little wacky. After the film we decamped into a pub down the road which we managed to score a lock-in. Unfortunately for the ale drinkers all the cask stuff was off however I was kept happy by the Staropramen. We then returned to Aidan's for kebabs and tea before retiring for the evening. I woke up the next day surprisingly refreshed.</p>
<p>I went sofa shopping on Sunday. I failed to find something I was willing to part with cold hard cash for. I shall have to search harder. I'm assuming I should be able to get a reduction on the 0% finance prices as I'll be paying for it outright but I'm not sure what the correct bartering ritual is for this sort of thing.</p>
<p>Sheila invited me around for food on Sunday evening which helpfully solved my cooking for myself problem that evening. I shall have to remember next time that walking to the Metro and waiting takes longer than walking direct to Dane road.</p>
<p>This week I will be mostly putting into effect my "Default evening activity is exercise" routine. I've been letting it slide far too easily - the rot stops here ;-)</p>
Meat Burning?2006-07-09T02:51:00+01:002006-07-09T02:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-09:/~alex/blog/2006/07/09/683/<p>Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was good if a little hammy. Enjoyed Aidan and Fez's birthday celebrations, much beer was consumed. I may be having a BBQ this afternoon depending on what the weather looks like when I regain consciousness.</p>
Before I forget: Monday and Tuesday2006-07-05T18:52:00+01:002006-07-05T18:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-05:/~alex/blog/2006/07/05/682/<p>Karen came around on Monday for a catch up (and postal collection). After experimenting with cooking Sweet and Sour pork from scratch (mainly so I could use up the oranges from last week) we ended up watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/">The Island</a>.</p>
<p>It's not actually a bad film. However if I had remembered …</p><p>Karen came around on Monday for a catch up (and postal collection). After experimenting with cooking Sweet and Sour pork from scratch (mainly so I could use up the oranges from last week) we ended up watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/">The Island</a>.</p>
<p>It's not actually a bad film. However if I had remembered the trailer I would have been a little miffed. The rather salient plot points the trailer gives away would have made the first half of the movie drag ("Yes I know the secret! Cut to the chases already"). The only other major nitpick was the final plan which seemed to revolve around letting the highly professional mercenary pick you up and hope he didn't check for a concealed weapon. It had all the hallmarks of a bad LARP plan.</p>
<p>Tuesday was a chance to catch up with Chris S again with Rich and others at Sinclairs before dashing back for the Tuesday Meal which Andy was hosting at my place. A lot of interesting conversation involving energy saving took place. There was also beer involved which is why I don't remember a lot of it :-O</p>
Pictures of Health2006-07-04T02:30:00+01:002006-07-04T02:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-04:/~alex/blog/2006/07/04/681/<p>The pictures are up in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Chris%20and%20Paula%20-%202006">usual place</a>. As usual I've tweaked a few up but not all. Let me know if you want any originals or tweakage done.</p>
Oh So Hot2006-07-03T00:30:00+01:002006-07-03T00:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-07-03:/~alex/blog/2006/07/03/680/<p>It's been a nice 3 day weekend of weddings and copious BBQ's and beer.</p>
<p>It was Chris and Paula's Wedding on Friday. The usual superlatives about the blushing bride can be taken for granted. I was impressed with the speed of the vows which they achieved by memorising them so …</p><p>It's been a nice 3 day weekend of weddings and copious BBQ's and beer.</p>
<p>It was Chris and Paula's Wedding on Friday. The usual superlatives about the blushing bride can be taken for granted. I was impressed with the speed of the vows which they achieved by memorising them so the register didn't need to prompt. I was consigned to the naughty table with Lee and Chris S who had flown over from the states for the do. Our heckling was moderate although there was plenty of scarls.</p>
<p>I didn't do much dancing as outdoors was quite pleasant and it was quite warm on the dance floor. However the ancient gods of air guitar where sated. There was even a jacuzzi involved at one point in the evening.</p>
<p>Saturday was a relaxed affair as Aidan and Gillian visited and we spent the afternoon in the garden. Dave followed on later and was eventually joined by Mark and Helen and Lee. As enjoying the weather was high on the agenda I set-up a temporary outdoor TV for the match.</p>
<p>On the subject of the match my main assessment of it is we should play with 10 players more often. If only they could play like that more often. Still it was inevitable we would crash out to penalties - it seems to be our idiom.</p>
<p>The garden didn't really get cold in the evening so we enjoyed a Mediterranean style wine drinking session. It was a very pleasant evening involving little direct effort :-)</p>
<p>Today I visited Jo with Lee to christen her garden with its inaugural (permanent) BBQ. Being chauffeured around by Lee meant the only real achievement of today was cleaning my garden and putting on some washing. I don't feel too guilty as in this heat there is not much point trying to be too active. I did get a chance to watch Jarhead which was quite a cool film.</p>
<p>I don't know what time I'll get to sleep tonight. I'm a typical English man who complains when its too cold and then complain when it warms up. I wish we could have nice bright fresh springs all year round.</p>
Good News Today2006-06-29T11:25:00+01:002006-06-29T11:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-29:/~alex/blog/2006/06/29/679/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060628175203644">This</a> made my smile this morning. The <a class="reference external" href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&q=SCO+IBM&btnG=Search+News">news</a> hasn't filtered into the mainstream tech press but it will be interesting what spin SCO put on this blow to their case.</p>
Food (I hope you've not eaten)2006-06-29T01:11:00+01:002006-06-29T01:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-29:/~alex/blog/2006/06/29/678/<p>I went for a flyer on tonight meal and made-up a lemon/honey/garlic/orange glaze for a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haloumi">Haloumi</a> starter. I don't think people noticed exactly how much garlic was involved in the glaze. I also went for a main course that involved <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/mediterraneanlambcho_14373.shtml">courgettes and aubergines</a>. Although other people liked …</p><p>I went for a flyer on tonight meal and made-up a lemon/honey/garlic/orange glaze for a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haloumi">Haloumi</a> starter. I don't think people noticed exactly how much garlic was involved in the glaze. I also went for a main course that involved <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/mediterraneanlambcho_14373.shtml">courgettes and aubergines</a>. Although other people liked it I'm not sure it's done anything to advance my appreciation for these vegetables. The lamb itself however was very nice.</p>
<p>I've just dumped the pics from my camera in preparation for Chris and Paula's wedding on Friday. As they have been requested there are 2 (not very flattering) pictures from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=680">Rocky</a>. Do you like <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/rocky2006_1.jpg">my</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/rocky2006_2.jpg">red shoes</a>?</p>
Wet and Willing?2006-06-26T15:31:00+01:002006-06-26T15:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-26:/~alex/blog/2006/06/26/677/<p>The network went down today at work so I went shopping during the morning. I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pioneer.com.sg/storefront/ProductDetail/ProductDetail.asp?ProductId=273&CatId=,64,6">this</a> and am sorely tempted. The best price I can find at the moment is around ?1800 plus another ?200-300 for the brackets. However my natural reticence to spend money is holding me back …</p><p>The network went down today at work so I went shopping during the morning. I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pioneer.com.sg/storefront/ProductDetail/ProductDetail.asp?ProductId=273&CatId=,64,6">this</a> and am sorely tempted. The best price I can find at the moment is around ?1800 plus another ?200-300 for the brackets. However my natural reticence to spend money is holding me back. Lee however reckoned I should get the 53" that was behind it even though it wouldn't fit on my wall. His main criteria was I should get something that was a BTM<sup>*</sup> - personally I think 43" should be enough for anybody! I think I know what I'm buying myself for my birthday :-)</p>
<p>The weekend saw me visiting Jeff and Phil for a laid back weekend of sailing and TV vegging. Despite not really thinking through what I should be wearing for a water sport I still had a great time. Although it was a pretty calm day when we did get wind we got the boat to a fair speed. It quite exhilarating getting a ship moving purely by the application of brain power to natural forces. It's why despite my minor petrol head tendencies I far prefer flying gliders to powered planes. After all any idiot can go fast in a powered vehicle, it takes skill to get the best out of a craft when you just have the wind to power you. I think I could really enjoy this hobby so I'll be on the look out to do it again when I get the chance.</p>
<p>Saturday evening saw us vegging in front of the TV watching Doctor Who while enjoying some of Jeff's cooking. We spent the rest of the evening having a natter in the garden and general catching up. My presence - and therefor the presence of beer - did have a slightly deleterious effect on Jeff though. Phillipa had to kick him awake on Sunday morning when he was on baby duty :-)</p>
<p>On Sunday I headed down to the parents as I was in the neighbourhood. We ended up watching the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991536.stm">England-Ecuador</a> match. It was a scrappy match but it was good to see a vintage Beckham free kick given his otherwise average performance so far. It was also good to see Rooney play a full 90 minutes although I do worry that he will pick up a red card at some point. Given the fall out of red cards handed out at the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5116414.stm">Portugal-Holland</a> game I'm tempted to believe the next game will be easier. However England aren't exactly known for coasting though the World Cup.</p>
Off for the Weekend2006-06-23T20:59:00+01:002006-06-23T20:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-23:/~alex/blog/2006/06/23/676/<p>I'll shortly be heading down south to visit Jeff and Phil (and James!) for a bit of Sailing on Saturday. After the week of late nights I suspect I'll be asleep early on Saturday night. I'm popping in to my parents for Sunday Lunch before heading back to the homelands …</p><p>I'll shortly be heading down south to visit Jeff and Phil (and James!) for a bit of Sailing on Saturday. After the week of late nights I suspect I'll be asleep early on Saturday night. I'm popping in to my parents for Sunday Lunch before heading back to the homelands and furniture assembly</p>
It will never work2006-06-23T02:00:00+01:002006-06-23T02:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-23:/~alex/blog/2006/06/23/675/<p>Just finished watching the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/">Dragons Den</a> and one guy actually persuaded <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/biogs/peter.shtml">Peter Jones</a> to part with ?175,000 to fund a new magazine. I thought I pop over to the site to see what it looks like. I couldn't see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/wonderland_silly.png">much</a>. I'm assuming the site is, much like the title …</p><p>Just finished watching the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/">Dragons Den</a> and one guy actually persuaded <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/biogs/peter.shtml">Peter Jones</a> to part with ?175,000 to fund a new magazine. I thought I pop over to the site to see what it looks like. I couldn't see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/wonderland_silly.png">much</a>. I'm assuming the site is, much like the title, a triumph of style over content.</p>
For the amusement of Aidan and Lee2006-06-22T01:03:00+01:002006-06-22T01:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-22:/~alex/blog/2006/06/22/674/<p>Yesterday I thought I was quad booked with popping to the shops to get food for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup>, building shelves, attending AM's birthday and watching the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5100682.stm">match</a>.</p>
<p>As it happened the magic of LJ reminded me that G was cooking a guest spot. AM had wisely decided to …</p><p>Yesterday I thought I was quad booked with popping to the shops to get food for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup>, building shelves, attending AM's birthday and watching the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5100682.stm">match</a>.</p>
<p>As it happened the magic of LJ reminded me that G was cooking a guest spot. AM had wisely decided to go with the flow and double team with the football at the Pitcher and Piano for her birthday. Anne removed the final piece of guilt by profusely apologising for forgetting to bring the power screwdriver back from Bolton. The building of the shelves can wait until next week :-)</p>
<p>Despite the poor final score-line and injuries I was actually quite happy with the England - Sweden game. I was looking forward to see what the Rooney/Owen partnership could bring to the game. Despite Owen being stretchered off in the first few minutes I thought the first half went very well. Our defence was solid (I include plenty of praise for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Terry">Terry</a> there who greatly impressed me in the last game). Rooney, despite any prejudices I hold against his character from tabloid gossip leakage, did a very creditable job. He really chases down every ball he can which keeps the defenders on their toes. The combination of tenacious strikers with the solid set-ups of our mid-field meant the shots on goal counted for a lot more than they did in the last match. Even one of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beckham">Beckham's</a> shots was well on target which was an improvement on the last few games.</p>
<p>The second half was a lot more scrappy and I was starting to worry we were going to emulate the cricket team and have a tail-end collapse. As it happened Sweden had more to play for which meant they fought a lot more for the draw once we were ahead. However the general trend is improvement and it is often stated that the most successful England teams struggle for the first few matches before getting to their best performances.</p>
<p>None of this means of course we won't be defeated in the semi-finals by Germany after a penalty shoot out. Still I'm looking forward the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4991536.stm">England - Ecuador</a> game on Sunday although I don't know if I'll subject my parents to it or listen in the car driving back.</p>
Ohhh Rocky2006-06-19T16:33:00+01:002006-06-19T16:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-19:/~alex/blog/2006/06/19/673/<p>The start of the weekend was quite hectic when I got up at denial a.m. on a Saturday to help Anne move into her new house. I've taken the opportunity to offload bits of furniture which were hand-me-downs in the first place. I will not be offended if she …</p><p>The start of the weekend was quite hectic when I got up at denial a.m. on a Saturday to help Anne move into her new house. I've taken the opportunity to offload bits of furniture which were hand-me-downs in the first place. I will not be offended if she decides to skip them in 6 months time when she's more settled in. As a result my front room is currently quite empty until I sort out a replacement suite. I'm going to check out the usual places although knowing how much they rip of the manufacturers I would be tempted to try buying direct if I could try them first.</p>
<p>The move itself went pretty well with only a few minor setbacks. Anne did seem slightly concerned by the rattling as I reversed the van down the street and into her front lawn. Nothing has been reported broken however. I also replaced the lock for the front door and I seem to of been tagged as knowledgeable in the art of DIY as I'll be checking her plumbing later ;-)</p>
<blockquote>
I skived off moving duty around about 4 to head home to prepare for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show">Rocky Horror</a>. I decided to shave my chest so my "boobs" where a little less hairy. I was surprised at how long it takes and how many passes you need to make with the razor over one point. Even after that I still needed a touch up shave when I got to Lee's.</blockquote>
<p>The pinch (a mini-corset for cross dressing men) certainly seemed a lot tighter than last time. I'll have to review the pictures to see how fat I was 4 years ago but it was yet another warning that I need to improve my exercise regime. Unfortunately despite putting the conductors tails to one side for Aidan I'd forgotten to bring it to the car. Rather than remove the pinch I quickly covered up for a drive back home. It was an unsettling experience as not only did I need to adjust the seat to sit up straighter I had the unsettling feeling everyone was looking at me knowing what I was wearing underneath. It's a lot easier to be confident in drag when your with a bunch of similarly dressed types!</p>
<p>A quick rush to catch the coach (Lee is the king of party transport :-) we got to the Opera House just as the doors where being called. The show itself was excellent and the Rocky virgins seemed to enjoy it as well. Nigel Planer did a good job as the Narrator and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bedella">David Bedella</a> (who we recognised from JSTO) was a creditable Frank'n'furter. I also managed to attract many envious comments from women who wanted my slutty red high heals.</p>
<p>On the subject of high heals I had to be practically carried out of the theatre by Jules and Tom as my feet had gotten very painful by that point. It was a relief to take them off at the bar while we waited for the coach to take us back to the party.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The after party at Lee's was comparatively calmer than the previous one I (don't) recall. Despite that I still ended up passed out on Lee's bed with Chris and Jessie.</p>
<p>The next day we watched a load of Firefly and Serenity before I finally gathering myself to leave. After dropping off Andy and a rather broken Sam in Stretford I took Jessie to the airport to catch her flight.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On returning home I found we had visitors in the form of Katy and Vince just at the point we had no furniture to accommodate them. Still its easy to keep Katy happy if you have Rum and Strawberries on hand. After the wondered off for food and back we caught up on some Family Guy and the repeat of Doctor Who which I'd missed the day before. I enjoyed the episode but it was a little weak compared to some of the others this season. Paving slab sex seems so very very wrong.</p>
<p>Once our visitors had left Andy and I caught up on the back log of Lost episodes. I detected a distinct shift to the mystic from 2x18 to 2x21 although I'm predicting that we are not going to learn too much more. The writers do seem to be in the habit of throwing plot cookies out that are never going to be resolved.</p>
<p>Tonight I'm off to buy and assemble some shelves so I can unpack some of the books and DVD's that have been lying around for a while. I shall then lend some pondering to the subject of wide-screen plasma TV's which will no doubt please Andy.</p>
I can see you now2006-06-14T23:39:00+01:002006-06-14T23:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-14:/~alex/blog/2006/06/14/672/<p>Work is picking up as we head to another major release. I finished one test case today which then proved what I though might be the problem wasn't. This is both good and bad, I have more defencive tests but I'm still hunting elusive corner case bugs. The trouble with …</p><p>Work is picking up as we head to another major release. I finished one test case today which then proved what I though might be the problem wasn't. This is both good and bad, I have more defencive tests but I'm still hunting elusive corner case bugs. The trouble with applications that have strange behaviour is they can cover literally millions of instructions which is more than a human can sensibly parse. Most of my time is currently taking theories about what might be going wrong and reducing it into a test case of a few hundred instructions that demonstrate the fault (and more importantly allow me test it is actually fixed afterwards). It's stimulating but hard work, especially when a deadline is looming.</p>
<p>I had a quick play with the new release of <a class="reference external" href="http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html">Google Earth</a> now they have released a Linux version. Despite the fact I'm not running accelerated 3D (another rant for another time) it runs surprisingly well. I'm not sure if it's another <a class="reference external" href="http://www.winehq.com/site/winelib">WineLib</a> port like Piccasa or a portable toolkit job. Either way it's nice to see more apps having Linux version even if I generally prefer running open source stuff myself.</p>
A Plan2006-06-12T22:49:00+01:002006-06-12T22:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-12:/~alex/blog/2006/06/12/671/<p>So plan for tomorrow:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Go to Work</li>
<li>Play Badminton with Lucy</li>
<li>Work late, Eat at work</li>
<li>Come home, measure stuff with tape measure</li>
<li>Visit IKEA - apparently it's open until midnight</li>
</ul>
<p>It's not like I'm getting an early night in this weather anyway :-)</p>
Here comes the Sun2006-06-12T14:56:00+01:002006-06-12T14:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-12:/~alex/blog/2006/06/12/670/<p>This weekend I was mainly hiding in the shade and drinking plenty of fluids. I have caught a touch of the sun but it seems my genetics are not that different from my brother, although he no doubt has already turned a deep golden brown.</p>
<p>As an English man its …</p><p>This weekend I was mainly hiding in the shade and drinking plenty of fluids. I have caught a touch of the sun but it seems my genetics are not that different from my brother, although he no doubt has already turned a deep golden brown.</p>
<p>As an English man its my god-given right to complain about the weather whatever state it may be in :-) I would of preferred a little more of an overcast air to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/index.asp">Maelstrom</a> just for making it easier to get about. As it happens it was still a very enjoyable weekend where people continued to seek me out for stuff. I also has a good line in banter with <a class="reference external" href="http://mrssshhh.livejournal.com/">Neil</a>'s Vaclav character who's name I would deliberately<sup>*</sup> misremember. I'm surprised he didn't snap and cut me to the ground where I stood for insulting his family :-) All in all a good event, although hopefully the weather will be a little fresher next month!</p>
<p>Last night was difficult to sleep in. Even though I am sold on the benefits of ear plugs (enabling me to have my bedroom windows open and not be woken up by the rush-hour traffic) it was still uncomfortably humid. It doesn't help that being a west facing terrace my house has the whole afternoon to trap the heat into my bedroom and front room. However the garden was very pleasant. I suspect tonight's trip to ASDA may involve getting some beer for garden drinking.</p>
<p>* Well maybe not deliberately. I failed to catch his name when we introduced ourselves and just winged it. As the event progressed I got more inventive with the V names, I think I peeked when I called him <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Versace">Versace</a> :-D</p>
Getting on that Hobby Horse2006-06-07T01:22:00+01:002006-06-07T01:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-07:/~alex/blog/2006/06/07/669/<p>We have course been here before, however for the benefit of the record.</p>
<blockquote>
To: Prime Ministers Office Webmaster</blockquote>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was following a link from the BBC to your site (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page9565.asp">http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page9565.asp</a>) and wanted to watch the interview of the Prime Minister. Although a …</p><p>We have course been here before, however for the benefit of the record.</p>
<blockquote>
To: Prime Ministers Office Webmaster</blockquote>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was following a link from the BBC to your site (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page9565.asp">http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page9565.asp</a>) and wanted to watch the interview of the Prime Minister. Although a transcript of the interview was available I wasn't able to access any of the multi-media files. This is because the only formats available were proprietary formats I couldn't play.</p>
<p>Unfortunately due to their secret nature and the patent protections FLOSS* authors are unable to implement the required software to play these files. Although it is possible to get these formats to work on some variants of GNU/Linux systems the support is usually sporadic and architecture dependant.</p>
<p>I was wondering if the choice of these formats was fixed or open to being expanded?</p>
<p>For audio the Ogg Vorbis** codec is an already well known and tested solution.</p>
<p>Unfortunately Video compression codecs are a patent minefield although plenty of FLOSS players exist for MPEG's various derivatives as they are based on published standards.</p>
<p>Can I take the opportunity to applaud your websites accessibility statement (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page4049.asp">http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page4049.asp</a>). I found the phrase "The Prime Minister's Office is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience - regardless of ability or browsing technology" most encouraging. I take it the PM's office is well aware that not everyone runs Microsoft Windows on x86 PC's.</p>
<p>I look forward to your answers.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Regards,</div>
<div class="line">--</div>
<div class="line">Alex, homepage: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/</a></div>
<div class="line">index, n.: Alphabetical list of words of no possible interest where an</div>
<div class="line">alphabetical list of subjects with references ought to be.</div>
</div>
<p>* - FLOSS refers to Free/Libre/Open-Source Software, an ecology of software written by people collaborating around the world. See <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_Open_Source_Software">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_Open_Source_Software</a> for more details.</p>
<p>** Ogg Vorbis is an audio compression codec popular in the FLOSS community. It is already widely used by the community as well as several internet broadcasters. See <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg_vorbis">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg_vorbis</a> for more details.</p>
Le Weekend, fashion and food2006-06-05T16:34:00+01:002006-06-05T16:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-05:/~alex/blog/2006/06/05/668/<p>I went out for rare Friday night drinks after work to catch up with some of the people from the Lee's place (sans Lee). Aidan joined me as Gillian was off with Paula for the first day of the hen do. I was planning on having a few drinks, enjoying …</p><p>I went out for rare Friday night drinks after work to catch up with some of the people from the Lee's place (sans Lee). Aidan joined me as Gillian was off with Paula for the first day of the hen do. I was planning on having a few drinks, enjoying the sun and having an early-ish night. In the end Daphne dragged us both out to 5th Avenue where I spent a lot of the night feeling so very old.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Saturday I went on my annual shopping trip with BGP in an attempt to broaden out my wardrobe. I shall save my rants on the pointlessness of "distressed" jeans for another day. However on the whole it was a successful trip although I set a new record for expenditure on a shirt. Phil really liked the ?90 shirt from <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=intro+near+m3&cid=53483512,-2252173,13421371638030065967&li=lmd&om=1">Intro</a> and worked hard to persuade me it was worth it. I quite like it but I was seeing the negatives (for example it's a hand-wash only shirt). Phil was keen to point out no one else will have a shirt like it. Apparently that counts for something in the world of fashion. Still everyone will be able to judge my purchase at Chris and Paula's wedding.</p>
<p>Phil invited me back to Carl's for free food in the evening. It was a very pleasant evening of chatting and meeting a few more of Phil's friends. It was nice to get to know Carl better considering he's been seeing Phil for 6 months now. There was a lot of theatrical discussion over the course of the evening.</p>
<p>In the end the BBQ was a relatively quite affair as most people where caught up in LRP, Bon Jovi concerts or moving houses. Still it was a nice relaxed Sunday which was the main point. I got to see baby James who is a lot chubbier now. I tried to persuade Jo that sorting my life out would be a valuable post-delivery career move. We also watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706/">Doom</a> which was firmly in the "So Bad its Good" category of films. All in all a nice end to the weekend.</p>
</blockquote>
New Suede Shoes2006-06-01T14:22:00+01:002006-06-01T14:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-06-01:/~alex/blog/2006/06/01/667/<p>I hate buying shoes. Why can't there be a shop that sells comfortable, durable and gripped shoes at a reasonable price? I don't bother with trainers (or at least the fashion-fest associated with them). I avoid "smart" shoes as they are generally uncomfortable and not well suited to the many …</p><p>I hate buying shoes. Why can't there be a shop that sells comfortable, durable and gripped shoes at a reasonable price? I don't bother with trainers (or at least the fashion-fest associated with them). I avoid "smart" shoes as they are generally uncomfortable and not well suited to the many miles I walk. An awful lot of the "stylish casual" shoes seem to skip basics such as grip and practicality. It wouldn't be so bad if I knew paying more for shoes actually equated to better shoe life expectancy - however from speaking to people who know it seems not. So today I spent ?85 on a pair of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sebago.com/Shop/Detail.aspx?ParentNavID=&NavID=0&PID=9860&STID=M">dark brown casual shoes</a>. Tomorrow I purchase 30 pairs of socks!</p>
<p>It looks the weather <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2638">may well hold out</a> for Sunday. Given people are going to be recovering from all manner of weekend activities (including Paula's Hen) Sunday seems an excellent opportunity to take advantage of my well maintained garden and burn some meat according to ancient customs. So bring your tired huddled masses yearning to be free and of course booze and meat from 2pm onwards on Sunday :-)</p>
The Low Down2006-05-31T16:58:00+01:002006-05-31T16:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-31:/~alex/blog/2006/05/31/666/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251191/">The Low Down</a> proved far too much of a drag last night. It seemed they had forgotten to write a script and decided to improvise a load of the dialogue. After about half an hour we decided the film wasn't going to improve and dumped it in favour of something …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251191/">The Low Down</a> proved far too much of a drag last night. It seemed they had forgotten to write a script and decided to improvise a load of the dialogue. After about half an hour we decided the film wasn't going to improve and dumped it in favour of something more intellectual.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/listings/programme.shtml?day=yesterday&filename=20060530/20060530_2100_4544_10622_60">"Every Prime Minister needs a Willie"</a> was a rather informative history on the post of Deputy PM with a nod to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prescott">Mr Prescott's</a> contemporary troubles. I found an entertaining and informative program although my street-cred will no doubt take a blow for watching Radio 4's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/">intellectual cousin</a>.</p>
<p>I'm feeling pretty relaxed after the long weekend in the Dam. We shall see if these good vibes last until the weekend. I was considering a BBQ if it all <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2638">looks good at the weekend</a>.</p>
Its all about the Art2006-05-28T14:43:00+01:002006-05-28T14:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-28:/~alex/blog/2006/05/28/665/<p>Meet up with Jesse last night and generally wondered around the place. The 149 beer place had an interesting selection. In the end I shared a 75cl bottle of Chemy Reserve (a 9% trappist ale) which was very fine. After that we went to on of Amsterdams many Gauchos. Several …</p><p>Meet up with Jesse last night and generally wondered around the place. The 149 beer place had an interesting selection. In the end I shared a 75cl bottle of Chemy Reserve (a 9% trappist ale) which was very fine. After that we went to on of Amsterdams many Gauchos. Several people have told me the Manchester one is very nice. The food was fantastic - it was all about the steak. The wine wasn't half bad either and I left quite full.</p>
<p>Today we went to the modern art museam which was really fun. There was a whole section on digital reality which included some pieces based on flying around the World of Warcrack as well as an exploration of the two sides of CJ in Grand Theft Auto: San Adreas. One of the exhibits was a video of the artist killing himself in a lot of different ways in a large selection of first person shooter games. There were paintings as well as some slightly wierder installation stuff. I suspect some of the artists may of taken something as one point :-)</p>
<p>I've just seen Jess off at the station so I'm now considering a little bit of exploring further south. I have tram tickets and I'm not afraid to use them :-D</p>
Stretched2006-05-25T18:42:00+01:002006-05-25T18:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-25:/~alex/blog/2006/05/25/664/<p>I've been working pretty hard over the last few weeks so I'm looking forward to my short break to the continent. It looks like I may even get some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0036">reasonable</a> weather for the weekend. I know its a city I return to again and again but its one I really …</p><p>I've been working pretty hard over the last few weeks so I'm looking forward to my short break to the continent. It looks like I may even get some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0036">reasonable</a> weather for the weekend. I know its a city I return to again and again but its one I really enjoy. It reminds me of my roots (having been born in Holland) and the Dutch are such a chilled bunch of people. Hopefully I'll get a chance to catch up with Jesse while I'm over there now she's returned to the correct continent.</p>
The Tyranny of ASDA2006-05-24T11:55:00+01:002006-05-24T11:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-24:/~alex/blog/2006/05/24/663/<p>As Anne had offered to cook for me last night I thought I'd better make an effort at re-stocking my wine rack. This usually involves going down to ASDA and seeing what I can find in their rather generic collection. However I decided to try the Oddbins across the road …</p><p>As Anne had offered to cook for me last night I thought I'd better make an effort at re-stocking my wine rack. This usually involves going down to ASDA and seeing what I can find in their rather generic collection. However I decided to try the Oddbins across the road from work.</p>
<p>The bottle I opened last night was 2004 Casillero Del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon<sup>*</sup>. I can't remember if its the same one my parents got on their booze cruise (it may of been the Merlot). However its a very nice wine with an awful lot of flavour to it which is one of the things I often find lacking in the ASDA wines. Apparently if I tell the Oddbins people what I like and give them ?70-ish pound they will put together a 12 bottle selection. It sounds better than the pot-luck of a late night ASDA visit.</p>
<p>*This is not to say I'm starting down the road of keeping a wine diary. However if you do find a nice wine how do you remember to get it again?</p>
I Can!2006-05-22T12:47:00+01:002006-05-22T12:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-22:/~alex/blog/2006/05/22/662/<p>I went out to <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=M1+4GX&om=1">Ikan</a> for Sheila's birthday meal last night. Although the wine prices brought on a little bit of a nervous wallet foraging the food was fantastic. The food style seems to be a bit of a oriental fusion and in the words of the owner less of …</p><p>I went out to <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=M1+4GX&om=1">Ikan</a> for Sheila's birthday meal last night. Although the wine prices brought on a little bit of a nervous wallet foraging the food was fantastic. The food style seems to be a bit of a oriental fusion and in the words of the owner less of a menu than a collection of favourite dishes from over the years. I opted for the Strawberry Duck which was really nice - I never considered real strawberries would go so well with duck. The desert consisted of 3 mini tarts (I requested an extra chocolate one instead of coconut). It was exquisite - none of the heavy super sweet desserts of pub fayre but a really rich but not overpowering chocolate mouse. I tried some of Fez's sorbet which has to be one of the fruitiest sorbets I've ever tasted.</p>
<p>The service was full silver service - no pouring your own drinks here. I found the owner a little intimidating at first. It felt like she was pushing us into ordering quickly. However she was really only making sure you understood the menu and very willing to answer any questions about it. The decor was also pretty stunning - very modern and classy. No paper table cloths graced the solid marble tables.</p>
<p>It's not a cheap place. Even though I avoided drinking wine the 3 courses came out at roughly ?25/head and you could probably spend more if you went for a ~?20 of wine. However the food was fantastic and for a special occasion I can heartily recommend Ikan as an excellent Manchester restaurant.</p>
Rock!2006-05-21T14:29:00+01:002006-05-21T14:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-21:/~alex/blog/2006/05/21/661/<p>It was great to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordi">Lordi</a> win the Eurovision Song contest last night. My country (Denmark) has a nice bouncy pop tune but they where massively overshadowed by Lordi's showmanship. Honourable mention to Lithuania's entry for outright cheek.</p>
<p>Getting up this morning I was kind of glad I pulled out …</p><p>It was great to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordi">Lordi</a> win the Eurovision Song contest last night. My country (Denmark) has a nice bouncy pop tune but they where massively overshadowed by Lordi's showmanship. Honourable mention to Lithuania's entry for outright cheek.</p>
<p>Getting up this morning I was kind of glad I pulled out of the Manchester run. Usually its very warm - and while runners like a bit of lite drizzle to keep them cool today seems to be dropping buckets of water.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT: Changed Latvia to Lithuania - easily confused...</strong></p>
Dirty2006-05-20T12:23:00+01:002006-05-20T12:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-20:/~alex/blog/2006/05/20/660/<p>I'm currently emerge'ing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.winehq.com/">Wine</a> so I can run the 2.5 Beta of Skype instead of the crappy linux version they provide. I feel slightly sordid about the whole thing....</p>
Lighter, not slimmer2006-05-19T14:10:00+01:002006-05-19T14:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-19:/~alex/blog/2006/05/19/659/<p>When you fork out 390 of you hard earned pounds for a new trim,
service and fresh brakes it really makes you wonder if your getting
enough out of your car. Still I'll be driving it this weekend and I
suppose my fuel bill isn't that high.</p>
<p>Last nights <a class="reference external" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1q9">Question …</a></p><p>When you fork out 390 of you hard earned pounds for a new trim,
service and fresh brakes it really makes you wonder if your getting
enough out of your car. Still I'll be driving it this weekend and I
suppose my fuel bill isn't that high.</p>
<p>Last nights <a class="reference external" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1q9">Question Time</a> was very good. Anne and
I simultaneously shout "F**k off" at the TV when an audience member
suggested a national water grid would solve the South Easts <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4713592.stm">water
problems</a>. The
solution of course is to spread our population around more not
concentrate on the "All roads lead to London" approach which seems to
be the central governments policy for so many years. Perhaps those
keen gardeners who dread hosepipe bans so much would like to move up
north where the gardens are bigger and never go thirsty?</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.helenakennedy.co.uk/">Baroness Kennedey</a> made a very
powerful argument for why we should be uncompromising in supporting
human rights and against torture. Any country that practises torture
not only harms the victims but corrupts the perpetrators. Its a
corrosive effect which has repercussions for all of us down the road.
I'm definitely a liberal on this issue. Human rights aren't human
rights unless they apply to all humans. If we start saying that some
people don't deserve them we are basically saying that its OK to treat
people as non-human.</p>
<p>The issue of animal testing came up and it was a pleasure to see
<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Forsyth">Frederick Forsyth</a>
pick apart one of the audience members anti-testing speeches. One of
the arguments of the anti-vivisectionists I've been hearing more of
these days is that animal testing didn't prevent the six drug trial
men having <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4808090.stm">adverse reactions</a>. It's a hell of a
jump to go from one experiment that failed and wasn't picked up by
animal testing to say its all ineffective. <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide">Thalidomide</a> is an example of a drug
that would never of made it to the market if the proper range of
animal tests had been run. The point was made that we never hear about
all the drugs that don't make it to human trials precisely because of
suspect reactions in animals.</p>
<p>It's often seems to me the anti-vivisectionists try and portray the
scientists involved in animal testing as inhuman sadists that enjoy
torturing animals. This argument is lacks merit as testing is a
consequence of the regulatory framework which is there to try and
avoid another tragedy like Thalidomide. Sure I'll be glad when our
science has advanced to the point we can safely bring drugs to market
without animal testing. However we should come to that point based on
good solid science and not a reactionary response to emotive pictures
of beagles on placards.</p>
<p>Note: I found an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pro-test.org.uk/Default.aspx">pro test site</a> which has some useful
information with proper citations.</p>
Testing the Tubes2006-05-16T21:43:00+01:002006-05-16T21:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-16:/~alex/blog/2006/05/16/658/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4985420.stm">This</a> may very well come under the heading of preaching to the converted. I have felt a certain amount of concern as more and more <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4970160.stm">Chemistry</a> departments have been shut down. It is the continuation of many years of neglect of our science base which has seen a continuous <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_drain">brain …</a></p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4985420.stm">This</a> may very well come under the heading of preaching to the converted. I have felt a certain amount of concern as more and more <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4970160.stm">Chemistry</a> departments have been shut down. It is the continuation of many years of neglect of our science base which has seen a continuous <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_drain">brain drain</a> of our brightest and best.</p>
<p>There are many factors involved here. For starters science seems to have a low status (with its corresponding low pay) in this country. We no longer hold the "boffins" in such high esteem. This could be due to a lack of trust between the public and science in general. Unfortunately I don't see the trend reversing if the overall scientific literacy of the country declines.</p>
<p>It doesn't help that we lack the entrepreneurial spirit in this country to really apply science. Experience in the US from places like <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs">Bell Labs</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasa">the space program</a> shows what science can achieve when given free range. Of course there are all sorts of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/">places our scientists</a> can go but nothing beats building lasers or launching rockets to get the kids interested in the subject. We should fund more blue sky research and see where it leads - not purely be driven by which easy, manageable and predictable project we can research for industry money.</p>
<p>Finally it doesn't help that university is so expensive these days. As more of the University's funding come direct from the students I can see a real pressure for them to cut back on science. After all lecturers cost roughly the same for all disciplines but science has extra costs in expensive labs and equipment. It would sad if our higher education became purely driven by how many bums on seats they could achieve. This is compounded by the effect of student fees which not only generally puts people off but is exaggerated by the comparatively low pay for science graduates. Why do science when you do a Business Studies degree and get on a graduate program for big business?</p>
<p>Anyway, enough of this bitching. What would I do about it? Well I'm glad you asked:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>I would subsidise graduates in designated subjects to the tune of their loan repayments (or a portion of) while they are resident and working in this country. Much like the way certain teachers are payed bonuses in subjects where there is a shortage.</li>
<li>I would give tax breaks to business for sponsoring blue sky research (that won't necessarily result in a product they can sell). I would also include the tax breaks for companies offering bursaries to promising science students to help them through university.</li>
<li>I would double the current science funding for research. I would put the emphasis on the new money 50/50 between blue sky research and "big idea" research that will engage the public and scientists of tomorrow.</li>
<li>I would increase the funding of our space program with at least 3 big UK led satellites/probes over the next 3 years. About the only UK space project I've heard of recently was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beagle_2">Beagle 2</a> which was a piggy back mission on a ESA flight. I'm not saying we should spend as much as NASA or aim to put someone on the moon, but we should at least be bold enough to achieve something that isn't done a shoestring and a whim.</li>
</ul>
<p>What do you think? Will it work?</p>
Caffeine Day2006-05-15T10:46:00+01:002006-05-15T10:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-15:/~alex/blog/2006/05/15/657/<p>It's not often I'm in work before 9 in the morning. My physiology seems to be far more enamoured of a leisurely wake-up sequence these days. However seeing as I couldn't do a web check-in for the return flight this morning I was up at extreme denial AM (0350) to …</p><p>It's not often I'm in work before 9 in the morning. My physiology seems to be far more enamoured of a leisurely wake-up sequence these days. However seeing as I couldn't do a web check-in for the return flight this morning I was up at extreme denial AM (0350) to leave myself plenty of time to make it to the airport.</p>
<p>Dublin is a very nice city. I think James has done very well to choose it as a new home. It shares a lot in common with Manchester is its compactness. Its very easy to walk around to get from place to place. James took us to a few of the sites - one being an excellent pub with a selection of beers that were not Guinness. There was also an excellent converted church with possibly one of the most refined drinking experiences Dublin had to offer. I say refined as there have not been many places I've visited that serenade their drinkers with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Flack">Roberta Flack</a> and Beatles numbers played by a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_trio">String Trio</a>. We also visited Trinity College to see the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells">Book of Kells</a> and the rather spectacular library.</p>
<p>It was nice to catch up with James and I did by best to resist the temptation to over geek (although Cheryl did look blank a couple of times). I did however get a chance to play with James' <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25218">Nikon D70s</a> under the guise of research for potential Digital SLR's in August. I have to say I was quite impressed with the difference a fast reacting SLR makes to your ability to frame and shoot, especially with live subjects. I shall have to try out the Canon equivalents over the next few weeks.</p>
Ubuntu2006-05-13T11:53:00+01:002006-05-13T11:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-13:/~alex/blog/2006/05/13/656/<p>Its nice to see the communal computer at the B&B is running Free Software. That is all :-)</p>
All Packed2006-05-12T14:06:00+01:002006-05-12T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-12:/~alex/blog/2006/05/12/655/<p>I hate that niggling feeling you get when you're due to go somewhere and your sure you forgot to pack something. Still I have my passport, wallet, phone and (new experience) boarding pass which for Dublin should be enough.</p>
<p>Last nights game was cancelled so I ended up in Space …</p><p>I hate that niggling feeling you get when you're due to go somewhere and your sure you forgot to pack something. Still I have my passport, wallet, phone and (new experience) boarding pass which for Dublin should be enough.</p>
<p>Last nights game was cancelled so I ended up in Space with a few people for evening drinks. Another new experience was trying <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drambuie">Drambuie</a> and Soda which was nice. I think my Mum occasionally drinks it.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong>I am in fact informed she doesn't - I was probably confusing it with Dubonnet.</p>
Ring Ring Ring...2006-05-10T13:00:00+01:002006-05-10T13:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-10:/~alex/blog/2006/05/10/654/<p>My faith in our Boys in Blue has been reduced even further. The person who witnessed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=658">the crime</a> got in contact with some details including descriptions and a partial number plate. I have tried to contact the police to give them the extra information and for my troubles I get …</p><p>My faith in our Boys in Blue has been reduced even further. The person who witnessed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=658">the crime</a> got in contact with some details including descriptions and a partial number plate. I have tried to contact the police to give them the extra information and for my troubles I get to spend 10 minutes listening to a phone ring before I give up. I hope they are up to something important because obviously following up real leads on real crimes is not one of those things they do!</p>
Bleurrgh2006-05-09T14:18:00+01:002006-05-09T14:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-09:/~alex/blog/2006/05/09/653/<p>My mood today was not helped when I was woken up by a phone call from the Police at 7.30 this morning. Apparently he was chasing up as I hadn't gotten the witness statement yet (despite having told them everything I know and who the witness was). I don't …</p><p>My mood today was not helped when I was woken up by a phone call from the Police at 7.30 this morning. Apparently he was chasing up as I hadn't gotten the witness statement yet (despite having told them everything I know and who the witness was). I don't even get a crime number yet and have to wait for the paper work to come through. I may get a personal call from a police officer sometime between now and a few days time to get a statement - maybe.</p>
<p>Apparently its likely its going to be used to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/motoring/buying_advice/ringing.shtml">ring</a> another car. I did ask what I should do if I start receiving speeding tickets or parking fines. "You should be fine", I am told, "All you need to do is prove you weren't there". It's nice that I have to be cognisant of what my alibi for my non-crimes need to be for the few months.</p>
<p>I'm off work today because I still have man-flu. Hopefully it will of cleared by the weekend for when I fly to Dublin to visit <a class="reference external" href="http://babbage.livejournal.com/">James</a>. By the end of this week I may need to drink like the Irish....</p>
And in other news2006-05-09T01:13:00+01:002006-05-09T01:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-09:/~alex/blog/2006/05/09/652/<p>I'm happy to present <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Friends/Baby%20James">Baby Pictures!</a></p>
MoFo2006-05-08T21:38:00+01:002006-05-08T21:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-08:/~alex/blog/2006/05/08/651/<p>Some scally twonks drive up to my car sometime between yesterday evening and this evening a removed the front bumper / license assembly from my car. Having phoned the police and informed them of what I know I get the strong impression they would like me to go and interview the …</p><p>Some scally twonks drive up to my car sometime between yesterday evening and this evening a removed the front bumper / license assembly from my car. Having phoned the police and informed them of what I know I get the strong impression they would like me to go and interview the witnesses and forward them the information. I am unsettled by this and the recent upsurge in car vandalism around here.</p>
Go Team2006-05-08T14:44:00+01:002006-05-08T14:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-08:/~alex/blog/2006/05/08/650/<p>As dictated by ancient law I'm not going to reveal what happened on the stag. However it did become apparent on the drive down that I was in fact suffering some form of man-flu. This did restrict my physical consumption somewhat (which was probably a good thing). My ocular senses …</p><p>As dictated by ancient law I'm not going to reveal what happened on the stag. However it did become apparent on the drive down that I was in fact suffering some form of man-flu. This did restrict my physical consumption somewhat (which was probably a good thing). My ocular senses where however un-impaired which was a little bit of positive karma along with being paid a bonus on Friday. I still have some money left.</p>
<p>Go Team!</p>
Pop the Vox2006-05-05T15:18:00+01:002006-05-05T15:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-05:/~alex/blog/2006/05/05/649/<p>I got <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_pop">Vox Popped</a> for this
weeks <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/heavenandearth/">Heaven and Earth Show</a>. I doubt
my contribution will make it to the screen as my otherwise coherent
thoughts come out as verbal diarrhoea in front of the camera.</p>
<p>The question itself was about what I thought about the prospect of a
<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4971930.stm">63 …</a></p><p>I got <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_pop">Vox Popped</a> for this
weeks <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/heavenandearth/">Heaven and Earth Show</a>. I doubt
my contribution will make it to the screen as my otherwise coherent
thoughts come out as verbal diarrhoea in front of the camera.</p>
<p>The question itself was about what I thought about the prospect of a
<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4971930.stm">63 year old women</a>
becoming Britain's oldest mother. For the record I'm not too worried
about it. If the issue were about if the NHS should fund the IVF
treatment then I would be against that (I don't believe there is such
a thing as a "right" to have kids). However seeing as we allow drug
addicts or extreme sports people to have kids I regard the risk of the
child losing their mother due to age as a hazard but not one we should
be trying to legislate for. I would be very uncomfortable with the
prospect of deciding who could or could not have kids based on a set
of arbitrary criteria.</p>
Vote for Me?2006-05-04T15:12:00+01:002006-05-04T15:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-04:/~alex/blog/2006/05/04/648/<p>Paul <a class="reference external" href="http://stsquad.livejournal.com/10019.html">pointed me</a> at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nocandidate.org.uk/">this party</a>. Finally a political party I would have no problem standing as a candidate for (even if I would be unlikely to vote for myself).</p>
My body, the deceiver...2006-05-03T15:23:00+01:002006-05-03T15:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-03:/~alex/blog/2006/05/03/647/<p>First of all a quick shout out to Phil and Jeff (who I assume are too busy today to read LJ) to congratulate them on the birth of their baby boy James. I like James - it is a fine name. Sheila wins the book thanks to her finely honed maternal …</p><p>First of all a quick shout out to Phil and Jeff (who I assume are too busy today to read LJ) to congratulate them on the birth of their baby boy James. I like James - it is a fine name. Sheila wins the book thanks to her finely honed maternal instincts :-)</p>
<p>Yesterday my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluteus_maximus_muscle">Glutes</a> felt as though I'd been on a long run. This was a tad confusing as the weekend had been mainly sedentary (and walking <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=651">2.9 miles on Saturday</a> shouldn't really register on a Tuesday). Un-deterred I went to the gym last night to try and get my race preparation back on track. I've more or less given up on beating my personal record but I'd be happy to complete the race. I found the left ankle seemed to be fine (although I felt it this morning) and I could maintain the 10 Km/hr pace. Unfortunately my right thigh muscle keeps getting painfully stiff. I'm not sure if this is due to an unconscious imbalance into my running (favouring the right leg over the left leg) or just not yet doing enough running to get used to it.</p>
<p>To top it all off I woke up this morning and my lower back was in pain and keeps spasming when I make certain moves. This is all very frustrating as I want to do the race but I can't see any point if I just pull out or run the first few kilometres. I want my fitness back!</p>
Buy my vote?2006-05-02T15:40:00+01:002006-05-02T15:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-02:/~alex/blog/2006/05/02/646/<p>So two days until the local elections and I'm rather disappointed in the leaflets that have arrived so far. So far all I've had is one from a prospective Labour councillor descrying the cuts the Tory council has made. I have some sympathy but the cuts don't actually affect me …</p><p>So two days until the local elections and I'm rather disappointed in the leaflets that have arrived so far. So far all I've had is one from a prospective Labour councillor descrying the cuts the Tory council has made. I have some sympathy but the cuts don't actually affect me and I do note that the council tax in Stretford is pretty reasonable - certainly compared to Manchester itself (or my parents down in Cambridge). However much as its tempting to give the national government a kicking I do take local issues into account. After all councillors should be in the best position to make my life better, think local - act local. It's a pretty poor show that the incumbents haven't made a token effort to persuade me to vote for them. I'm really not minded to vote for a party that won't at least tell me what they stand for and I'm afraid catching 5 minutes of a party political broadcast won't cut it.</p>
Activism?2006-05-01T00:17:00+01:002006-05-01T00:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-05-01:/~alex/blog/2006/05/01/645/<p>I am considering <a class="reference external" href="http://www.explorerdestroyer.com/">this</a> on my website. However I guessing that most people who haven't switched don't actually care now, so why should I piss them off?</p>
<p>Went to Rich and Al's BBQ today. Unlike some people I kept the faith and only ate food seared by the flames of …</p><p>I am considering <a class="reference external" href="http://www.explorerdestroyer.com/">this</a> on my website. However I guessing that most people who haven't switched don't actually care now, so why should I piss them off?</p>
<p>Went to Rich and Al's BBQ today. Unlike some people I kept the faith and only ate food seared by the flames of the charcoal. Much of the usual banter was exchanged including people critiquing my dating profile. Apparently the profile is "very you" although I can't remember what the suggestions for its improvement where. I am still unconvinced if it is an area that can benefit from open source style collaboration!</p>
Weekend so far2006-04-30T13:12:00+01:002006-04-30T13:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-30:/~alex/blog/2006/04/30/644/<p>Friday saw me attending the annual BGPBGPC which this time involved less of a crawl as we spent most of it in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tribeca-bar.co.uk/">TriBeCa</a>. Got a chance to catch up with a lot of people I don't see that often these days including a long chat with <a class="reference external" href="http://richc.livejournal.com/profile">richc</a> who will be …</p><p>Friday saw me attending the annual BGPBGPC which this time involved less of a crawl as we spent most of it in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tribeca-bar.co.uk/">TriBeCa</a>. Got a chance to catch up with a lot of people I don't see that often these days including a long chat with <a class="reference external" href="http://richc.livejournal.com/profile">richc</a> who will be joining Transitive in a few weeks. Unfortunately the conversation I started with <a class="reference external" href="http://renniek.livejournal.com/profile">renniek</a> was prematurly interrupted by me telling her to get a beer and I failed to catch up after that. We must sort out doing lunch!</p>
<p>After TriBeCa I had considered going home for an early night but ended up following Phil to club (after a brief diversion via the Hollywood Show Bar which gave me flash-backs of Si and Fluff's wedding). After a vaugley entertaining altercation at the taxi rank I went back with Phil and some other friends to Carl's place. Phil managed to dissuade me from walking the 2.9 miles back home at 4 in the morning so I crashed in the spare bed only to be woken at 7.30 on a Saturday morning by a rubbish truck!</p>
<p>On reflection is was a good choice as the walk back was a lot nicer on Saturday morning with spring really making an effort for the morning. In between me locking myself out of the house and watching Doctor Who (yes I blubbed like a girl too) I fixed the pan rack and cleaned the oven. I also subjected myself to King Kong which was pretty and all but also a little tedious. I shall make note not to visit anywhere called Skull Island in the future - especially with Anne or Lee in tow.</p>
Klingon Cuisine2006-04-27T00:58:00+01:002006-04-27T00:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-27:/~alex/blog/2006/04/27/643/<p>It turns out <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Empanada">this</a> comes out like a spicy beef pasty. I was disappointed with the result today but it serves me right for not having sorted out what I was cooking yesterday evening. I was work at 4 o'clock and getting to a panic point trying to find something …</p><p>It turns out <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Empanada">this</a> comes out like a spicy beef pasty. I was disappointed with the result today but it serves me right for not having sorted out what I was cooking yesterday evening. I was work at 4 o'clock and getting to a panic point trying to find something from the right time zone (-1 to -3 GMT). Knowing that I needed to get home, get to ASDA and then back and cook meant I was a lot more rushed than usual. Unfortunately it showed :-(</p>
<p>Kudos to Lee for helping out and showing me the ropes on the very nice coconut rice that accompanied the meal. I shall have to use it again at some point. Still every new meal is a learning experience!</p>
Whitby Pictures2006-04-26T00:44:00+01:002006-04-26T00:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-26:/~alex/blog/2006/04/26/642/<p>Gah - I should of been looking for recipes for tomorrow but I was being mithered to get <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20April%202006">these up</a>. I only touched up 2 pictures but I've cropped a fair few. I've also been a lot more strict about throwing away (well not putting on the web) the marginal pictures …</p><p>Gah - I should of been looking for recipes for tomorrow but I was being mithered to get <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20April%202006">these up</a>. I only touched up 2 pictures but I've cropped a fair few. I've also been a lot more strict about throwing away (well not putting on the web) the marginal pictures. It's amazing the difference a bit of judicious cropping can make to a poorly framed picture. One problem with the current camera is what you see in the view finder isn't what goes on the CCD. Given how much I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20April%202006/Gillians%20Photo%20Shoot">enjoy taking photos</a> I feel a digital SLR may be my present to self for my birthday.</p>
Salmon Days2006-04-24T17:01:00+01:002006-04-24T17:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-24:/~alex/blog/2006/04/24/641/<p>I got up at denial a.m. this morning to drive back from Whitby. I had been convinced to stay for the 80's alternative night and indeed had expressed an interest in it. However in the intervening time I visited the famous <a class="reference external" href="http://www.magpiecafe.co.uk/">Magpie Cafe</a> with Thom, Jules and Vikki. The …</p><p>I got up at denial a.m. this morning to drive back from Whitby. I had been convinced to stay for the 80's alternative night and indeed had expressed an interest in it. However in the intervening time I visited the famous <a class="reference external" href="http://www.magpiecafe.co.uk/">Magpie Cafe</a> with Thom, Jules and Vikki. The combination of 3 courses and the enticement of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480002/">Sharpe's Challenge</a> on ITV meant I didn't actually leave the cottage. I may have to institute some sort of "Eat Less Pies" plan after this weeks excesses.</p>
<p>I far prefer the April Whitby Goth Weekend and this year it was especially noticeable as I wasn't rushing about to get into the Spa in the evenings. The weather basically helps make it a nice relaxing sea-side break with a little kit shopping and a lot of catching up with friends in pubs. It was particularly nice to catch up and natter with the Leeds crowd. Even though I visit Leeds fairly often for Wendyhouse there is a lot more leeway for general chat in a pub compared to a noisy club. I had a particularly long chat with Ms Orange in which the delights of Databases, Floor-plans and Music where seamlessly blended into an invite to bug Lee into running a regular Manchester to Leeds Club Bus service.</p>
<p>It's been a very nice relaxing week which I'm just easing out of by working from home today. Hopefully the benefits of the break won't of evaporated by the time I finish a full day in the office tomorrow.</p>
Vote Blue, Go Green2006-04-20T00:49:00+01:002006-04-20T00:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-20:/~alex/blog/2006/04/20/640/<p>Depending on your political cynacism levels it's nice to see the parties scrambling for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4924656.stm">greener</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4922034.stm">ground</a>. Despite my light blue political hue I do actually care about the environment and its certainly an policy area I'll be keen to hear about. For the record I have voted both Green and …</p><p>Depending on your political cynacism levels it's nice to see the parties scrambling for <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4924656.stm">greener</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4922034.stm">ground</a>. Despite my light blue political hue I do actually care about the environment and its certainly an policy area I'll be keen to hear about. For the record I have voted both Green and Lib Dem over the years so my vote isn't in the bag for the Tories. However they are making the right noises.</p>
<p>Today's activities where mainly centered around <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelford.org/walk3.htm">another walk</a>, more network tweaking, and an evening meal at <a class="reference external" href="http://thechequersfowlmere.co.uk/index.htm">The Chequers</a>. The walk wasn't quite a nice as Monday's given the bleak landscape, wind, and broken hiking shoes. However it did provide a suitable amount of exercise that left me feeling pretty relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. For the evening meal I took the opportunity to try <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras">Foie Gras</a> which raised an eyebrow or two from my Mum. I'm well aware of the controversy that exists over its production methods however I'm also wary of our societies tendency to anthropomorphise the animals we eat. I'm pretty happy to accept the animals are not stressed during the production as stressed animals generally produce poor food which would kind of defeat the point of creating this "delicacy". Having said that while it tasted quite smooth and rich I don't think I'll be eating Foie Gras again, I far prefer the texture of a decent course farmhouse style <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A2t%C3%A9">pat?</a>.</p>
1.566e23 Years2006-04-19T00:44:00+01:002006-04-19T00:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-19:/~alex/blog/2006/04/19/639/<p>Tonight I sleep happy in the knowledge that even if we supplied all the UK?s energy by harnessing the tidal power of the Moon the Sun would still destroy the Earth first. I also know a fair bit more about how <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrature_amplitude_modulation">16QAM</a>works. Sometimes it is just good to …</p><p>Tonight I sleep happy in the knowledge that even if we supplied all the UK?s energy by harnessing the tidal power of the Moon the Sun would still destroy the Earth first. I also know a fair bit more about how <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrature_amplitude_modulation">16QAM</a>works. Sometimes it is just good to know things :-)</p>
<p>I had a lie in today before spending the afternoon tweaking my Dad?s Linux box and debugging his mail configuration. Hopefully tomorrow stuff should start flowing once the DNS records have propagated to the rest of the ?net. We then headed to the squash courts for an instructive drubbing where the best score I achieved was being beaten by 9-4. Still I picked up a few tips for the next time I play a less experienced competitor. Hopefully tomorrow we?ll have another long walk and I?m coming to the conclusion it will probably be best to head up to Whitby on Thursday so I can avoid any Friday traffic madness.</p>
Carb Coma2006-04-18T00:27:00+01:002006-04-18T00:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-18:/~alex/blog/2006/04/18/638/<p>It may amuse people to know that this is being typed up on Microsoft Word 2003 (NHS Edition). I lack the will power to trudge across to the lab with my Dad?s Linux machine and EMACS (or find a decent AJAX implementation).</p>
<p>Today we went for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelford.org/walk16.htm">6 mile …</a></p><p>It may amuse people to know that this is being typed up on Microsoft Word 2003 (NHS Edition). I lack the will power to trudge across to the lab with my Dad?s Linux machine and EMACS (or find a decent AJAX implementation).</p>
<p>Today we went for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.shelford.org/walk16.htm">6 mile walk</a> around Linton. I like walking and we were lucky with the weather this morning which although slightly windy was pretty sunny for the whole trip. We ended up at the Dog and Duck and after a nice stodgy pie and a few pints of ale ended back slumped at home joining my parents in a mid-afternoon nap. Tomorrow I subject myself to a game of squash with my Dad. I assume it will be the only physical activity of the day!</p>
<p>I?m thinking of heading up to Whitby on the Thursday so I can avoid the Friday traffic chaos but I?m not sure who will be up by then. Anyone?</p>
Brown Liquids2006-04-16T20:38:00+01:002006-04-16T20:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-16:/~alex/blog/2006/04/16/637/<p>I had a very entertaining day and evening round at Mufi's birthday last night. I got down by 2.15 convinced I was running late but beating everyone else by a good few minutes. I briefly saw Lee in full Dad mode while Chris shamelessly spent his time trying to …</p><p>I had a very entertaining day and evening round at Mufi's birthday last night. I got down by 2.15 convinced I was running late but beating everyone else by a good few minutes. I briefly saw Lee in full Dad mode while Chris shamelessly spent his time trying to convince Kell to shout me in the face with his portable nerf weaponry. Kell also demonstrated another habit he's picked up from his Dad but luckily he didn't draw blood :-)</p>
<p>We headed for a walk to Tatton Park with Chris and Paula while we discussed driving technique and how the nice weather was mainly down to Chris bringing a coat with him. Our attempted pub crawl (which Mufi started with a half pint of cider!) was made prematurely short due to the seeming closure of half the hostelries in Knutsford. Still we enjoyed a few ales watching the local <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls">bowling team</a> practice on the green. It was nice catching up with Daz and Heidi and the curious Niamh. Babies apparently prefer beer mats to shiny rattling things. We failed to convince Daz to stay on for the evening session before we headed back to Mufi's.</p>
<p>An amazing amount of advanced planning on my behalf had managed to both prepare a CD of pictures for Si and bring a copy of Foundation to pass onto Gillian for Yuwei. Much chilli and strange coloured cocktails later (and a little enforced drought as the water supply cut off) I finally retired to bed having had a big day.</p>
<p>Today hold little strenuous activity aside from packing for a week's worth of travel and watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/">Doctor Who</a>. I'll be heading down south to visit my parents over the week. Aside from being well fed I'm going to try and get into the habit of jogging to see if I can kick start my training given the few short weeks until the Great Manchester Run. I'm currently debating if its worth taking squash kit down to play my Dad in a match but I'm not sure I could take the embarrassment of another sound thrashing - we shall see. I'm heading up to Whitby for the following weekend to catch up with the goth crowd (and don't laugh - maybe repeat last years run). In fact I should have fully flushed my brain of any work concerns just in time to head back after a chilled week.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT: Fixed some spelling</strong></p>
Meme Speed2006-04-14T01:25:00+01:002006-04-14T01:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-14:/~alex/blog/2006/04/14/636/<p>My casual copying of a <a class="reference external" href="http://stsquad.livejournal.com/9687.html">meme</a> seems to of spread. I don't know if everyone on my friends list saw it on mine first or its just one of those things that goes in cycles. As far as <a class="reference external" href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?as_q=&num=10&hl=en&c2coff=1&as_epq=I+ll+respond+with+something+random+I+like+about+you&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_qdr=&as_drrb=b&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=2005&as_maxd=1&as_maxm=10&as_maxy=2005&lr=&q=%22I+ll+respond+with+something+random+I+like+about+you%22&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d">I can tell</a> the meme originated on the 27th September 2005. If …</p><p>My casual copying of a <a class="reference external" href="http://stsquad.livejournal.com/9687.html">meme</a> seems to of spread. I don't know if everyone on my friends list saw it on mine first or its just one of those things that goes in cycles. As far as <a class="reference external" href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?as_q=&num=10&hl=en&c2coff=1&as_epq=I+ll+respond+with+something+random+I+like+about+you&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_qdr=&as_drrb=b&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=2005&as_maxd=1&as_maxm=10&as_maxy=2005&lr=&q=%22I+ll+respond+with+something+random+I+like+about+you%22&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d">I can tell</a> the meme originated on the 27th September 2005. If I hadn't of had a few ales this evening I'd almost be tempted to do some data mining to figure out how fast it propagates. Or maybe I'm only thinking that will be interesting because I've had a few ales?</p>
Full but Tired2006-04-13T00:12:00+01:002006-04-13T00:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-13:/~alex/blog/2006/04/13/635/<p>I've just got back from Lee's (yet again eliciting puzzled looks as to why I was happy to get the tram back to Stretford). Despite his protestations last week that he wouldn't get time to practice the meal was very good. I especially likes the aromatic rice cooked with sultanas …</p><p>I've just got back from Lee's (yet again eliciting puzzled looks as to why I was happy to get the tram back to Stretford). Despite his protestations last week that he wouldn't get time to practice the meal was very good. I especially likes the aromatic rice cooked with sultanas. Hopefully this will embolden him to be more daring in trying out new recipes on the night in future.</p>
Choices or Calamities2006-04-12T13:19:00+01:002006-04-12T13:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-12:/~alex/blog/2006/04/12/634/<p>I could engage in a long rant on how crap certain traditional Unix tools are compared to their GNU equivalents but as CPAN is currently having issues with gcc I shall have to shelve that for another day.</p>
<p>I could mention the catastrophic gravitational failure that my pan and saucepan …</p><p>I could engage in a long rant on how crap certain traditional Unix tools are compared to their GNU equivalents but as CPAN is currently having issues with gcc I shall have to shelve that for another day.</p>
<p>I could mention the catastrophic gravitational failure that my pan and saucepan rack suffered when I got home last night. Needless to say I am now a nice glass teapot down.</p>
<p>Instead I should probably mention meeting up with Gillian and her new RA to show her the town. Manchester's best kept secret <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/50/5052/Corbieres_Wine_Cavern/Manchester">Corbieres</a> was popular and we eventually ended up eating at <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/local?q=the+bridge&hl=en&near=M3&latlng=53483512,-2252173,3038626468265172202">The Bridge</a> which was very nice although a little more expensive than most places. They are having a North West Gourmet Night on the 17th May which was very tempting. We finally ended up for a final night cap at the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/maps?f=l&hl=en&sll=53.483512,-2.252173&sspn=0.272529,0.644073&q=mark+addy&near=M3&cid=53483512,-2252173,16925141579430411099&li=lmd&z=14&t=m">Mark Addy</a>. Gillian surprised me by not knowing about most of these places despite having lived here for over 4 years. It then hit me that I've been living here for around 14 years. And I still haven't been to the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/local?q=museum+industry&hl=en&near=M3&f=l&sll=53.098145,-2.443696&sspn=8.806121,20.610352&latlng=53483512,-2252173,15290372839421070480">Museum of Science and Industry!</a></p>
Salty Dogs2006-04-09T15:58:00+01:002006-04-09T15:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-09:/~alex/blog/2006/04/09/633/<p>I entertained Nook, Michelle, Jo, Arwel, Anne, Paul and Sheila last night. Yet again I went to the butchers in Sale but this time went for a nice joint of pork loin. I think I slightly over-seasoned the joint but everyone still seemed to enjoy it. I even served spinach …</p><p>I entertained Nook, Michelle, Jo, Arwel, Anne, Paul and Sheila last night. Yet again I went to the butchers in Sale but this time went for a nice joint of pork loin. I think I slightly over-seasoned the joint but everyone still seemed to enjoy it. I even served spinach which will probably shock my Mum but not as much as the fact I had a second helping. The dessert (a lemon curd pie) required hand beating egg white. Its the first time I've made anything involving whisking egg white and I think I'll get an electric hand whisk before I try it again! We finished the evening watching the South Park Scientology episode which had Anne rather open mouthed when she saw the basis of the "religion".</p>
Closet Heretic2006-04-08T16:54:00+01:002006-04-08T16:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-08:/~alex/blog/2006/04/08/632/<p>Despite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chefgate.info/">never being shown</a> I got hold of a copy of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southpark">South Park</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.xenu.net/">Scientology</a> episode. Its certainly not the funniest episode Messrs <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trey_Parker">Parker</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Stone">Stone</a> have done - for example they rather laboured the Tom Cruise in the closet joke. However full marks for the animated guide to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu">Xenu's</a> history …</p><p>Despite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.chefgate.info/">never being shown</a> I got hold of a copy of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southpark">South Park</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.xenu.net/">Scientology</a> episode. Its certainly not the funniest episode Messrs <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trey_Parker">Parker</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Stone">Stone</a> have done - for example they rather laboured the Tom Cruise in the closet joke. However full marks for the animated guide to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu">Xenu's</a> history including the infamous rocket powered DC-8's. They show ends with Stan daring the Scientologists to sue him, a very real possibility in the real world. I would heartily recommend spending 20 minutes watching it :-)</p>
Jason Webley2006-04-07T13:32:00+01:002006-04-07T13:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-07:/~alex/blog/2006/04/07/631/<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jasonwebley.com/index.html">Jason Webley</a> last night with Lee et all last night. I last saw him at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=422">Glasto</a> so this was a chance to catch his UK tour as it hit Manchester. If your a fan of "Power Accordion Angst" I can heartily recommend his stuff. The location …</p><p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jasonwebley.com/index.html">Jason Webley</a> last night with Lee et all last night. I last saw him at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=422">Glasto</a> so this was a chance to catch his UK tour as it hit Manchester. If your a fan of "Power Accordion Angst" I can heartily recommend his stuff. The location was quite a small cafe but well filled with a roughly half and half mixture of fans and people dragged along by the fans. The only minor downside was a few self important dick-heads at the back who felt everyone else in the cafe should benefit from their conversation. This stunted the start of the set a little as Jason didn't have the benefit of amplification. However once he got going it all went brilliantly ending up with the traditional drinking song finale. An excellent night out :-)</p>
Will someone rid me of this troublesome music player?2006-04-07T12:15:00+01:002006-04-07T12:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-07:/~alex/blog/2006/04/07/630/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">At work I'm a little limited on which music players I can use (basically it has to be one that compiles with the system libs of SuSE 10.0). I also want a player that has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=615">Audioscrobbler</a> support. This has meant running <a class="reference external" href="http://audacious.nenolod.net/Main_Page">beep-media-player</a> which was quite stable although know is …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">At work I'm a little limited on which music players I can use (basically it has to be one that compiles with the system libs of SuSE 10.0). I also want a player that has <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=615">Audioscrobbler</a> support. This has meant running <a class="reference external" href="http://audacious.nenolod.net/Main_Page">beep-media-player</a> which was quite stable although know is going through the motions of crashing every 1-10 songs. Looking at the core dump is pretty shocking:</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
(gdb) frame 5
#5 0x40fcc92f in readComments (fp=0x848ac88) at vorbis.c:58
58 *dp = '\0';
(gdb) l
53 fread(cToInt, 1, 4, fp);
54 fielddata->len = le2int(cToInt);
55 data = malloc(fielddata->len);
56 fread(data, 1, fielddata->len, fp);
57 dp = strchr(data, '=');
58 *dp = '\0';
59 dp++;
60 fielddata->name = malloc(strlen(data) + 1);
61 fielddata->data = malloc(fielddata->len - strlen(data));
62 *(fielddata->data + fielddata->len - strlen(data) - 1) = '\0';
(gdb) p dp
$1 = (unsigned char *) 0x0
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">There are quite a number of failure points in those 10 lines where no checking is done of the results. I would go to the latest code but it seems beep (which itself is a fork) has forked twice since. This doesn't give me a warm feeling. I'm considering <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet">Quod Libet</a> as it might give me a chance to play with python. However I'll have to get a working set of python-gstreamer bindings on this machine somehow.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Dear Beeb (reprise)2006-04-06T15:50:00+01:002006-04-06T15:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-06:/~alex/blog/2006/04/06/629/<p>Continuing my on and off dialog with the nations favourite institution.</p>
<p><em>"Will the BBC support other formats for their podcasting trial? At the moment only having mp3 podcasts available make it very difficult to listen to on my GNU/Linux system.</em></p>
<p>The legal status of playing mp3's on my system …</p><p>Continuing my on and off dialog with the nations favourite institution.</p>
<p><em>"Will the BBC support other formats for their podcasting trial? At the moment only having mp3 podcasts available make it very difficult to listen to on my GNU/Linux system.</em></p>
<p>The legal status of playing mp3's on my system is a grey area at best and something I'd rather avoid if there was a fully free alternative.</p>
<p>I know the Beeb has experimented with Ogg's for streaming before. Would it possible to add ogg's to the podcast support? "</p>
Trips2006-04-05T12:11:00+01:002006-04-05T12:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-05:/~alex/blog/2006/04/05/628/<p>I caught <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/allinthemind.shtml">All in the Mind</a> on the way home last night. They were discussing the possible therapeutic uses of various <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4877462.stm">recreational psychoactive compounds</a> and the problems clinicians have studying them because of their legal status. I've always held that there should be more research into these compounds not withstanding …</p><p>I caught <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/allinthemind.shtml">All in the Mind</a> on the way home last night. They were discussing the possible therapeutic uses of various <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4877462.stm">recreational psychoactive compounds</a> and the problems clinicians have studying them because of their legal status. I've always held that there should be more research into these compounds not withstanding their recreational use. It seems once a drug is made illegal we stop trying to understand it in either context which as a scientist seems nonsensical. I'm still not sure why the government made mushrooms <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4692359.stm">Class A</a> apart from the fact that lots of people seemed to be enjoying them.</p>
(or weak geek) = t2006-04-05T11:46:00+01:002006-04-05T11:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-05:/~alex/blog/2006/04/05/627/<p>Last nights good intentions evaporated by 19.48 when the suggestion of visiting Sinclair's was suggested by my other late working college. I'd had my head buried in floating point stuff (like how do you make an add underflow?). Still the following pub conversation was suitably geeky and I expounded …</p><p>Last nights good intentions evaporated by 19.48 when the suggestion of visiting Sinclair's was suggested by my other late working college. I'd had my head buried in floating point stuff (like how do you make an add underflow?). Still the following pub conversation was suitably geeky and I expounded on my desire to give <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org/git/">git</a> a go on our source tree.</p>
<p>I'm working from home today as I have a window guy coming around to sort out a quote for double glazing and hopefully I'll get the new battery in the car during lunch. My home integration to the office is quite good now I have the duel screens. All sorts of magic is possible thanks to <a class="reference external" href="http://fuse.sourceforge.net/sshfs.html">sshfs</a> and creative emacsology. However I'm still not sure this is the best piece of lisp I've ever written:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
;; set-transitive-compile-command
;
; (re-)sets the compile command using project root and other such
; magic. If I'm not at work then I send the compile command through
; ssh to my work machine (who wants to compile at home anyway ;-)
;
(defun set-transitive-compile-command ()
"Set the compile command for dynamite"
(interactive)
(when I-am-at-home
(set 'compile-command
(concat "ssh okra \"cd " current-project-root "/"
current-project " && make \"")))
(when I-am-at-work
(set 'compile-command
(concat
"cd " current-project-root "/" current-project " &&
make"))))
</pre>
Dublin Calls2006-04-03T19:03:00+01:002006-04-03T19:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-03:/~alex/blog/2006/04/03/626/<p>I booked my flights to Dublin this afternoon for James' do in May. I feel a little guilty because low cost airlines are pretty bad for the environment but the only other options would involve silly amounts of driving. Plus it was only ?40 which is practically an order of …</p><p>I booked my flights to Dublin this afternoon for James' do in May. I feel a little guilty because low cost airlines are pretty bad for the environment but the only other options would involve silly amounts of driving. Plus it was only ?40 which is practically an order of magnitude cheaper than the other options. I did go for the cheapskate flight back on Monday morning which will be slightly entertaining. I must make sure I get an early night on the Sunday!</p>
Wedding Bells2006-04-02T21:27:00+01:002006-04-02T21:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-04-02:/~alex/blog/2006/04/02/625/<p>Well not really. It was a very modern church and capped off with a pretty modern ceremony. A cover of Primal Scream's "Movin on Up" replaced one of the hymns and the priest gets points for mentioning sex three times, porn stars once and intimating that bestially was OK by …</p><p>Well not really. It was a very modern church and capped off with a pretty modern ceremony. A cover of Primal Scream's "Movin on Up" replaced one of the hymns and the priest gets points for mentioning sex three times, porn stars once and intimating that bestially was OK by God (that last one might be a bit of an extrapolation ;-).</p>
<p>A brief stop over at Nook and Michelle's for buffet goodness before I headed over to Marcus and Sue's to get changed for the evening session. The music was excellent and had me dancing for a large portion of the night reliving my student days. There was plenty of air guitar action and I practically shouted myself hoarse for "Livin' on a Prayer". There was even an "Old Dad" dancing competition which I declined to enter myself although Sam did a great job defending his title.</p>
<p>I eventually retired back and Marcus and Sue's only to be slightly disturbed the collection of large metallic bugs. Marcus continued to educate me in the appreciation of single malts before I collapsed for a long lie in.</p>
<p>I've put the pictures <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Si%20and%20Fluff%20-%20April%202006">up here</a>. I've tried to be merciless at culling out the chaff. I'm still trying to figure out how to make red-eye removal as painless as possible but I have learnt a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/ContrastMask/">new trick</a>. I've renamed all the images that have been manipulated and of course if you want the original masters at full size give me shout.</p>
Very Vindictive2006-03-31T12:24:00+01:002006-03-31T12:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-31:/~alex/blog/2006/03/31/624/<p>I have to admit I was worried when I heard they were making Alan Moore's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_vendetta">V for Vendetta</a> into a Hollywood <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/">film</a>. I remember Chris lending me the original graphic novel some years ago and it struck me as a fine example of a political novel. The themes of anarchy …</p><p>I have to admit I was worried when I heard they were making Alan Moore's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_vendetta">V for Vendetta</a> into a Hollywood <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/">film</a>. I remember Chris lending me the original graphic novel some years ago and it struck me as a fine example of a political novel. The themes of anarchy, the power of ideas and the complicity of the populace in their own suppression are very powerful.</p>
<p>I'm not slavish to the plot. There are some things that make sense on the page that are hard to convey on film. Re-reading the plot synopsis of the novel its clear a fair amount of the plot has been re-jigged and updated. However the writers have obviously tried to be very faithful to the novels themes during the screen adaptation. Hugo Weaving does a brilliant job of playing the enigmatic V (tricky for an actor who's face is hidden behind a mask for the whole film). Natalie Portman can almost be forgiven for the travesty that was Star Wars given a very strong performance in this film. There were a number of contemporary references in the film including many to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror">"War on Terror"</a> that keep the films political edge. The difference between defeating a person and defeating an idea is something that we should all think about. Even the obligatory <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/">Matrix</a> homage didn't grate. All in all I was more than pleasantly surprised with the job and can well recommend the film to anyone who's not seen it yet.</p>
Run x22006-03-30T11:43:00+01:002006-03-30T11:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-30:/~alex/blog/2006/03/30/623/<p>Despite the lie in and my initial intention to just drag myself awake I forced myself to done my running kit to have another go today. I'm trying to work up to keeping a decent pace rather than falling back to the slow easy paced jog when your body suddenly …</p><p>Despite the lie in and my initial intention to just drag myself awake I forced myself to done my running kit to have another go today. I'm trying to work up to keeping a decent pace rather than falling back to the slow easy paced jog when your body suddenly realises its doing exercise. It was about 3/4's of the way around my first lap when I discovered that although running didn't seem to be to bad (despite the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=629">aforementioned odd feeling</a>) lateral movement is something entirely different. I'd stepped on one of the more uneven bits of the path and suddenly it all felt very different. I had to stop running at that point because I just wasn't confident I would be able to keep balance at speed on what felt like a weakened ankle. I shall try again tomorrow but damn, this is frustrating.</p>
<p>I find myself at a bit of a loose end this evening. I was considering filling it with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/">V for Vendetta</a>. Anyone else in town fancy a flick?</p>
Ankle Bitter2006-03-29T15:02:00+01:002006-03-29T15:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-29:/~alex/blog/2006/03/29/622/<p>I went for a run this morning much to the amusement of my housemates. It was only a short one to test if my ankle could take the stress. Seeing as I'm still walking I could conclude that it succeeded. However while I was running my ankle felt different (if …</p><p>I went for a run this morning much to the amusement of my housemates. It was only a short one to test if my ankle could take the stress. Seeing as I'm still walking I could conclude that it succeeded. However while I was running my ankle felt different (if your want gruesome details I could feel the tendon snapping back and forth over the bottom of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibula">fibula</a>). It wasn't causing pain but it just feels odd. I'm not sure if that will go away and I just need to get used to it or if its indicative of not being fully healed yet. And all this delay has cost my training program for the <a class="reference external" href="http://gmr.realbuzz.com/">Great Manchester Run</a> dear.</p>
Rollins2006-03-28T12:51:00+01:002006-03-28T12:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-28:/~alex/blog/2006/03/28/621/<p>I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/rollins.jpeg">see</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins">Henry Rollins</a> last night at the Academy. Not usually enamoured with titles such as "The Spoken Word" I wasn't sure what to expect although several people have recommended seeing the show. You can't really describe Rollins as a stand-up comedian, he is more of a raconteur …</p><p>I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/rollins.jpeg">see</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins">Henry Rollins</a> last night at the Academy. Not usually enamoured with titles such as "The Spoken Word" I wasn't sure what to expect although several people have recommended seeing the show. You can't really describe Rollins as a stand-up comedian, he is more of a raconteur telling stories of his various experiences. Although the topics varied from the surreal to serious he still kept the audience engaged. It was a slow build up but by the end of the 2 hours I had laughed heartily. He comes across very much as an American patriot and appealed to the audience not to judge the country too harshly based on its current incumbent leaders. His message was very much that it would get better in the next few years and although he was tempted by the idea of a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice">"Black Lesbian"</a> he was going to support the other <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton">women</a>. Personally I think it will very interesting if America elects a female president, I guess we shall see in a few years time if thats a possibility.</p>
My Jerry Springer Moment2006-03-26T15:40:00+01:002006-03-26T15:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-26:/~alex/blog/2006/03/26/620/<p>Went to see Jerry Springer: The Opera last night with a host of people. I'd quite enjoyed it when I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=318">the BBC presentation</a> but seeing it live is an improvement. I started the evening having a debate with on of the Christian Voice demonstrators (I assume, as thats what …</p><p>Went to see Jerry Springer: The Opera last night with a host of people. I'd quite enjoyed it when I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=318">the BBC presentation</a> but seeing it live is an improvement. I started the evening having a debate with on of the Christian Voice demonstrators (I assume, as thats what the leaflet said). I was trying to find out what they thought was so offensive in the play but it turned into a rather circular argument around the fact we were all sinners and therefor going to hell unless we saw the light. The guy did try and wheel out the "they would never do something like this about Islam" but gave up on that line of argument when I asked him if such a thing was written would that make JS:TO ok. I may swing by the protests next week on the way to the gym as I had to cut short the debate when the bell rang.</p>
<p>The show itself was fun and in places pretty surreal. The music although operatic was pretty contemporary with one or two traditional vocal arpeggios thrown in for good measure. There is a fair amount of swearing in the show but its against the background of what the Jerry Springer show is about. The first act mainly deals with the malady that is our celebrity obsessed culture that make people desire their 15 minutes of fame on the show. Then the dancing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan">Klu Kulx Klan</a> chorus line came on :-)</p>
<p>Andy and I debated weather the second act (where most of the blasphemy accusations come from) was that offensive on the way home. I think a lot depends on how you interpret the characters. First of all the whole thing is rigged by the Devil so your going to expect a certain point of view to come across. The view that Mary was rapped by an angel is certainly one the devil could have (who is portrayed as being very pissed off about being cast from the heavens). A lot hangs on if you see the characters as actual representations of the biblical characters or representations on how their religion sees them. The Jesus characters continually goes on about having been crucified either paints Jesus as petulant and arrogant or could be viewed as the churches emphasis on his "dying for our sins" instead of what he taught (which Andy assures me is more or less <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_and_ted">"Be Excellent to Each Other"</a>). By the end of the evening I think we reached the consensus it was quite clever, but maybe not as clever as <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southpark">Matt Stone and Trey Parker</a>could be.</p>
<p>I have to admit I'm grateful to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/">ignorant bigots</a> for having raised so much publicity for the show. If they hadn't of done so I would of missed out on a very enjoyable evening of bawdy culture :-D</p>
Force Wins2006-03-25T14:40:00+00:002006-03-25T14:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-25:/~alex/blog/2006/03/25/619/<p>I have finally managed to extract my battery from the clutches of my car bonnet. I can safely say I look forward to the Star Trek utopia when fixing things is a case of replacing square blocks in square easily accessible holes. In the batteries case I had to remove …</p><p>I have finally managed to extract my battery from the clutches of my car bonnet. I can safely say I look forward to the Star Trek utopia when fixing things is a case of replacing square blocks in square easily accessible holes. In the batteries case I had to remove the front headlight cover just to be able to reach the bolt securing the battery to the base. This was a point missed by the now obviously defunct Haynes manual I ordered last week. Hopefully replacing the battery tomorrow will be less of a ball ache.</p>
I hear lugyified people2006-03-24T20:33:00+00:002006-03-24T20:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-24:/~alex/blog/2006/03/24/618/<p>My hearing has been getting woollier and more tinny all day today. It seems I have attracted a lurgy. I declined Lee's invitation to kill it with alcohol poisoning and I'm attempting to get an early night. If its the same thing Anne had hopefully a good nights sleep is …</p><p>My hearing has been getting woollier and more tinny all day today. It seems I have attracted a lurgy. I declined Lee's invitation to kill it with alcohol poisoning and I'm attempting to get an early night. If its the same thing Anne had hopefully a good nights sleep is all I need.</p>
A little controversy2006-03-24T17:41:00+00:002006-03-24T17:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-24:/~alex/blog/2006/03/24/617/<p>Given I was making a point about Christian fundamentalists earlier this week I should perhaps add a little balance. My mind boggled reading <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4841334.stm">this article</a> as I tried to correlate the statements:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><em>"Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity"</em></div>
<div class="line">with</div>
<div class="line"><em>"those who convert from Islam should be …</em></div></div><p>Given I was making a point about Christian fundamentalists earlier this week I should perhaps add a little balance. My mind boggled reading <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4841334.stm">this article</a> as I tried to correlate the statements:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><em>"Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity"</em></div>
<div class="line">with</div>
<div class="line"><em>"those who convert from Islam should be killed if they refuse to come back"</em></div>
</div>
<p>A terrifying case of carrot and stick. I know my immortal soul will be in jeopardy should my atheistic stance is proved wrong. But I'm pretty sure my corporeal body is safe from my culturally inherited religion<sup>*</sup>.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>Assuming I don't change <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_God">career</a> or sexuality. And being fair these guys are independent bigots and not agents of the state.</p>
Jason Webley2006-03-24T13:03:00+00:002006-03-24T13:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-24:/~alex/blog/2006/03/24/616/<p>Just got a mail to say Jason Webley (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=422">previous mention</a>) is playing Manchester on Thursday the 6th of April at the Thirsty Scholar. Should be fun, who's with me?</p>
Mild Peril to those who Insult Opera2006-03-24T12:25:00+00:002006-03-24T12:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-24:/~alex/blog/2006/03/24/614/<p>Last night I exercised my democratic right to protest at the Manchester premiere of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Springer_-_The_Opera">Jerry Springer: The Opera</a>. We were actually a counter protest against the fundamentalist Christians that wanted to use our outmoded blasphemy laws to ban the show. I'm not well known for demonstrating against stuff but free …</p><p>Last night I exercised my democratic right to protest at the Manchester premiere of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Springer_-_The_Opera">Jerry Springer: The Opera</a>. We were actually a counter protest against the fundamentalist Christians that wanted to use our outmoded blasphemy laws to ban the show. I'm not well known for demonstrating against stuff but free speech is one of my pet subjects (and something thats not actually protected by law in this country).</p>
<p>After much deliberation on slogans and waiting for the "other side" to turn up we decided to head out anyway and placed our selves opposite the Opera House. We got a few strange looks until people realised what our placards actually said. When the anti-Springer protesters turned up there was some good natured singing of "Your late and you know you are" and "We hope you enjoy the show". A quick count showed we had 16 placards vs 3 which led to some football style "16-3" chants. I think there were a few more anti-Springer protesters but they didn't have placards so don't count ;-)</p>
<p>The crowd seemed generally supportive of our efforts and several of them came over to take pictures and chat as we handed out stickers. We even had a couple of the cast members come over and thank us for our support. I told them they had better be good when I go and see the show on Saturday :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Once the final bell had rung inside the opera house we left the opposition to hold their vigil while we headed off to the pub for a bit of post demo celebration. All in all a successful and entertaining evening of political activism!</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="linkage">
<h2>linkage</h2>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/men/news/s/208/208418_comics_hit_back_at_springer_protest.html">Manchester Evening News</a></div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.mikelanders.plus.com/jstp/index.html">Mike's write up</a></div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?as_q=jerry+springer+opera&num=10&hl=en&c2coff=1&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_qdr=&as_drrb=b&as_mind=20&as_minm=3&as_miny=2005&as_maxd=24&as_maxm=3&as_maxy=2006&lr=&q=jerry+springer+opera&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d">The Blogsphere!</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Looming Deadlines2006-03-24T11:44:00+00:002006-03-24T11:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-24:/~alex/blog/2006/03/24/615/<p>Sam reminded me last night that the Great Manchester Run is only 7 weeks away. I'm still not running although I'm going to test the waters tomorrow. Not all is lost though as I'm not totally out of shape however I'm not sure I'll be beating any of my records …</p><p>Sam reminded me last night that the Great Manchester Run is only 7 weeks away. I'm still not running although I'm going to test the waters tomorrow. Not all is lost though as I'm not totally out of shape however I'm not sure I'll be beating any of my records.</p>
Hans Blix2006-03-19T20:09:00+00:002006-03-19T20:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-19:/~alex/blog/2006/03/19/613/<p>Timed the beer just right so I was finishing my last Bodingtons as we pulled into Stretford. Came in to find the house clean so have proceeded to loaf for the rest of the day. Robot's proved to be a very odd film and I doubt I'll make it in …</p><p>Timed the beer just right so I was finishing my last Bodingtons as we pulled into Stretford. Came in to find the house clean so have proceeded to loaf for the rest of the day. Robot's proved to be a very odd film and I doubt I'll make it in time for V for Vendetta but I may give it a go. No fatalities for this one, only one surgical intervention. Good training for next stag which I think is Chris.</p>
Pad Thai2006-03-17T15:36:00+00:002006-03-17T15:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-17:/~alex/blog/2006/03/17/612/<p>I was dragged out (kicking and screaming mind you - otherwise I would of gone to the Gym) by Mark and Lee last night. We went for a very nice Thai meal at the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.com/local?f=q&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.684144,79.277344&q=siam+orchid+manchester&latlng=53480732,-2234507,16400414217079532970">Siam Orchid</a>. I even tried Lee's monkfish which was quite nice. I've been informed the reason I …</p><p>I was dragged out (kicking and screaming mind you - otherwise I would of gone to the Gym) by Mark and Lee last night. We went for a very nice Thai meal at the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.com/local?f=q&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.684144,79.277344&q=siam+orchid+manchester&latlng=53480732,-2234507,16400414217079532970">Siam Orchid</a>. I even tried Lee's monkfish which was quite nice. I've been informed the reason I don't like fish is probably because I've not eaten the really good fresh stuff. In my defence I do eat some fish (Cod and Salmon mainly) however its not at the top of my list of foods to try, especially if it looks at me with it's cold dead eyes.</p>
<p>I did very well resisting the lure of Rockworld so I could save all my energy for Si's stag this weekend. Should be fun :-)</p>
Good Things about working in Town #63422006-03-16T12:32:00+00:002006-03-16T12:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-16:/~alex/blog/2006/03/16/611/<p>I went to the Picadilly Box office which I was unaware was just round the corner from work to see if I could snarf some tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.manchesteracademy.net/henryrollins.html">Henry Rollins</a>. Luckily I managed to get the last 3 they had. So now I know if ticketmaster (or other rip off online …</p><p>I went to the Picadilly Box office which I was unaware was just round the corner from work to see if I could snarf some tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.manchesteracademy.net/henryrollins.html">Henry Rollins</a>. Luckily I managed to get the last 3 they had. So now I know if ticketmaster (or other rip off online ticket + booking fee agency) doesn't have tickets I should try whats on my doorstep.</p>
Necessity meet Mum2006-03-14T17:06:00+00:002006-03-14T17:06:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-14:/~alex/blog/2006/03/14/610/<p>Occasionally when I'm feeling appropriately inspired I'll get an idea in my head for an invention. This is a bit of a family tradition as we often would come up with ideas on how to solve particular problems around the dinner table. Such an idea occurred on the way to …</p><p>Occasionally when I'm feeling appropriately inspired I'll get an idea in my head for an invention. This is a bit of a family tradition as we often would come up with ideas on how to solve particular problems around the dinner table. Such an idea occurred on the way to Paul's party (much to Andy and the Cab drivers amusement).</p>
<p>We are always being told we should reduce energy consumption but its very hard to know exactly how much power we are using on a day to day basis. Most electrical devices nowadays come with an energy rating but this still isn't instructive when it comes to the saving you can make by for example not keeping your TV on standby.</p>
<p>So whats the solution? Well I envisage a adapter plug that goes between the socket and the appliance plug. It would contain a simple current meter and timer to measure the energy consumption of the device it was plugged into. It should be as simple as possible to operate so by default it should reset the counters when it is plugged into a wall socket and then when unplugged it can display the average energy consumption in kW-h and possible an energy rating on an LCD panel.</p>
<p>Enhancements have since been suggested to me including monitoring the voltage or noise on the line to detect when heavy loads turn on and off in the system. However the core idea of this is it should be cheap. It should be cheap enough that every household could afford to have one and conduct the "how much money do we save if we don't leave the TV on standby for a week" experiment.</p>
<p>I did a quick look around and it does seem that <a class="reference external" href="http://www.electricitymetering.com/category/category.php?scdfa-230100461-selectMenuItem-idzq39&source=Adwords">some similar</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.backwoodssolar.com/Catalogpages2/meters2.htm">products are</a> available. However it must be possible to make a simple device that you can sell for less the $48?</p>
Advancing Years2006-03-11T11:42:00+00:002006-03-11T11:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-11:/~alex/blog/2006/03/11/609/<p>Considering the road outside my house is a lot quieter on Saturdays compared to the rest of the week how come I'm always up by 9.30 despite my best attempts at having a lie in?</p>
<p>I've had my parents visiting for most of the week while my Mum as …</p><p>Considering the road outside my house is a lot quieter on Saturdays compared to the rest of the week how come I'm always up by 9.30 despite my best attempts at having a lie in?</p>
<p>I've had my parents visiting for most of the week while my Mum as been doing some of her genealogy research. It turns out a lot of my relatives lived around this area so I may not be such a southern imposter after-all.</p>
<p>We did the usual visit to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusholme">Rusholme</a> which my parents seem to regard as a bit of a curry Mecca. I cooked for them twice including one Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> where my friends appreciatively wolfed down my Mum's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Tiramisu">Tiramisu</a>. I am assured it is easy to make so will probably have a go making it myself later. We also visited the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/">Bridgewater Hall</a> for a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/whatson/index.asp?action=display&date=3/9/2006">Halle concert</a> including Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. I think my Dad was suitably impressed with the acoustics of the place and I enjoyed the concert as well. If I wasn't so busy this weekend I'd be tempted to go along to Sunday's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/whatson/index.asp?action=display&date=3/12/2006">Sci-Fi special</a>.</p>
<p>Work has been a little odd. After the hectic rush of the last few weeks before the holiday it seemed odd somehow to be heading home before 7. I'm sure it will all build up quickly enough as we now have to go from Beta to product and people always underestimate how long it takes to convert from quick hacks to nice well-engineered code. Still it should keep me in beer tokens for the rest of the year ;-) <img alt="image0" src="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/track_img.png"/></p>
Last.fm2006-03-06T11:36:00+00:002006-03-06T11:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-06:/~alex/blog/2006/03/06/608/<p>I've been playing about with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/">Last.fm</a> over the last few weeks. The basic concept is you enable your music player with an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.audioscrobbler.net/">Audioscrobbler</a> plugin which transmits meta-data<sup>*</sup> about each song played to their servers. From this Last.fm can build a profile of your <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/user/stsquad/">listening habits</a>. From this data …</p><p>I've been playing about with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/">Last.fm</a> over the last few weeks. The basic concept is you enable your music player with an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.audioscrobbler.net/">Audioscrobbler</a> plugin which transmits meta-data<sup>*</sup> about each song played to their servers. From this Last.fm can build a profile of your <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/user/stsquad/">listening habits</a>. From this data it can do a number of things including recommend artists you may like based on the listening habits of people like yourself. What I've been using most is the radio player (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/help/player/">open source!</a>) which will play stations that can either be recommended stuff or based on a particular "tag". A simple subscription (?18 for the year) expands the number of radio stations you can listen to including your personal station. Its quite cool having an internet radio station thats so well tailored to your listening habits that also introduces you to new music. If any of the music it does throw at you is really not to your taste you can always skip/ban it and it won't assault your ears again. Quite a lot of the tunes its recommended have been things I've caught in the past but didn't know who it was by or from what album. Luckily this is all digital now so finding out who you liked is so simple. Must resist the urge to buy more CD's :-)</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>Andy did point out this sharing of data is a bit at odds with my general opposition to exposing too much personal data on the 'net. After all I still buy a lot of stuff from the supermarket in cash for this very reason. However for music I feel the exception is warranted as its one of those things I like to discuss and share with people. Besides I did read the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.last.fm/help/privacy.php">privacy policy</a> which gets good marks for clarity.</p>
Back in Black2006-03-05T12:09:00+00:002006-03-05T12:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-05:/~alex/blog/2006/03/05/607/<p>Well until I've washed all my clothes that is ;-)</p>
<p>Getting back from Andorra proved pretty simple save the walk up and down the hill for breakfast. The ankle is recovering well but occasionally I just get the wrong angle on it and it gives me a shot of pain to …</p><p>Well until I've washed all my clothes that is ;-)</p>
<p>Getting back from Andorra proved pretty simple save the walk up and down the hill for breakfast. The ankle is recovering well but occasionally I just get the wrong angle on it and it gives me a shot of pain to remind me its still damaged. Hopefully it will be fixed up soon so I can get onto some serious training for the Great Run in May.</p>
<p>Today is going to be a slow one. My parents are up visiting for the next week so I need to get some housework done. The joy ;-)</p>
Unnatural Noises2006-03-02T19:35:00+00:002006-03-02T19:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-02:/~alex/blog/2006/03/02/606/<p>So it came to pass that as I was making a rather scrappy left turn my ankle made a very audible (and unwelcome) popping noise.</p>
<p>The day had begun rather well (if a little late due to the previous nights exuberance). Rich and I left the snow boarders behind and …</p><p>So it came to pass that as I was making a rather scrappy left turn my ankle made a very audible (and unwelcome) popping noise.</p>
<p>The day had begun rather well (if a little late due to the previous nights exuberance). Rich and I left the snow boarders behind and explored the slopes of El Tarter which my instructor had showed me the day before. I was taking the opportunity to practice what I?d been taught the day before and was quite pleased I was getting nice "in the groove" turns. We did a couple of blue-into-red runs and generally had some very nice ski-ing.</p>
<p>After lunch back down at Slim Jim?s we headed back to the same region to try some of the other reds down. The first one we came to was a bit steeper than the previous red and my early morning form temporally vanished. It was as I was making a rather hasty correction to bleed off some speed my ankle decided to make its presence felt. As soon as it went I knew right turns where out of the question and I was a little concerned the only thing holding my ankle together was the sturdy boot. After attempting to slid down most of the incline I decided that common sense was the better approach and signalled Rich to go an fetch help.</p>
<p>After about 30 minutes sitting on the side of the mountain (and the occasional query to my well being) the montain side medical assist turned up. The ride down in the stretcher was less scary than I had been anticipating. This is partly due to the very secure way in which you are strapped into the thing (I assume so you don?t attempt to throw the skiers balance) and also by the fact that pretty much all you can see is a rotating skyscape (although not rotating that much - I think the route was more or less straight down). After what seemed like an eternity of bumbling and face fulls of snow spray I arrived at the El Tarter medical centre where the part I was most dreading, the removal of the boot, was to occur. Luckily where as I spend a good 5 minutes squeezing my feet into these boots every day the medical staff are considerably more experiences at removing them without moving the foot too much. The Doctor was very good, insisting I should relax as I?m on holiday. A quick X-Ray later to confirm nothing was broken I hobbled out of the medical centre with a ankle covered in tubi-grip. End result mountain 1 - alex 0 and I will be spending tomorrow in the health spa getting a pampered for my last day.</p>
70 Euros Well Spent2006-03-01T18:08:00+00:002006-03-01T18:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-03-01:/~alex/blog/2006/03/01/605/<p>I spent 70 Euros for two hours with a private instructor today. It has made the world of difference. Before I knew roughly what I was doing wrong but to have a professional watch you do it and point out which technique crimes are currently the most prevenalent is very …</p><p>I spent 70 Euros for two hours with a private instructor today. It has made the world of difference. Before I knew roughly what I was doing wrong but to have a professional watch you do it and point out which technique crimes are currently the most prevenalent is very useful. I can now really feel when the turns are working well which is nice. I was still a little scrappy on the run home but now I have Tony?s voice as an internal monalogue telling me what I <strong>should</strong> be doing. He also confirmed that the "red" run I wiped out on on the first day was a black the previous year so I don?t feel it was such a setback. I?m feeling a lot more confident about exploring some of the less familiar runs tomorrow.</p>
<p>The weather over the last few days has been really nice during the day although a little windy at the peaks. However the runs are starting to show some wear and tear so I?m quite hoping the clouds that are currently working their way over the mountain will give us a nice dump of snow for the morning.</p>
Cross-country2006-02-28T16:21:00+00:002006-02-28T16:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-28:/~alex/blog/2006/02/28/604/<p>Woot! I?m connected. I was starting to get concerned not having the working lifeline of a mobile phone. Its enough to make you wonder what will happen when that big EMP pulse goes off.</p>
<p>Anyway today has been quite a hard cross country trek from our valley to the …</p><p>Woot! I?m connected. I was starting to get concerned not having the working lifeline of a mobile phone. Its enough to make you wonder what will happen when that big EMP pulse goes off.</p>
<p>Anyway today has been quite a hard cross country trek from our valley to the far left of the map in search of food for this evenings meal. None of the supermarkets around here seem to have considered the concept of fresh meat. I was mainly on red runs today although on the route back I switched to some long blues as I was getting quite tired. Also the wind has been a bit active today making everything a lot more icey. I know my technique is suffering from not being in a Ski-School although I keep trying to remember the basics. I?m still leaning back too much on my skis and basically getting away with it. Tomorrow I may put aside to proper practice to see if I can get it right.</p>
Disconnected Pain2006-02-26T16:57:00+00:002006-02-26T16:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-26:/~alex/blog/2006/02/26/603/<p>Gutted to see England lose last night to Scotland. It was a very close game but it was damn frustrating watching England crawl towards the line only to be denied at the last moment.</p>
<p>Anyway sporting fixtures aside today had been very good. Although my current communication difficulties meant I …</p><p>Gutted to see England lose last night to Scotland. It was a very close game but it was damn frustrating watching England crawl towards the line only to be denied at the last moment.</p>
<p>Anyway sporting fixtures aside today had been very good. Although my current communication difficulties meant I got seperated from the people I was sking with quite early on so I was on my own for most of the day. I?ve mainly been doing blue runs to ease myself in although I have done a couple of reds. The first time I did the red I mainly coped with the steepness of the slope by going straight down it. The second time gravity took care it despite my skis being above my head. I?m still thinking it might be worth joining a ski school for a few days but I remember most of what I should be doing, now its just a case of actually doing it. If I can keep in touch with the others tomorrow I may get ore practice. Anyway enough pontificating, time to celebrate Cat and Vic?s birthday. Catch you later ;-)</p>
Hello from Andora2006-02-25T15:36:00+00:002006-02-25T15:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-25:/~alex/blog/2006/02/25/602/<p>Happily installed in Andora although currently sans-working phone. Hopefully T-Mobile will turn it on. I hope they can do it while I?m off the domestic network!</p>
Later than planned2006-02-24T01:39:00+00:002006-02-24T01:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-24:/~alex/blog/2006/02/24/601/<p>I left work at 11 again today but I was substantially more successful in my bug squashing. We had an epiphany about what was on happening with the tests at about 6.30 and I stayed to hack something together to leave the guys to try out. Its always nice …</p><p>I left work at 11 again today but I was substantially more successful in my bug squashing. We had an epiphany about what was on happening with the tests at about 6.30 and I stayed to hack something together to leave the guys to try out. Its always nice if you can make your problems go away by hacking code out. I also commented chunks of the code so it will be in a better state than when I got to it. I have no done as much as I can (although I may give the test results a quick peek in the morning as I update my car insurance.</p>
<p>I'm all packed now. I have a niggling feeling (as you always do) that I've forgotten to pack something. However I've booked my skis, sorted insurance, booked car park (praise the power of da interweb!) and found my passport. The rest is in the lap of the gods (and my credit card, just in case). See you in a week :-D</p>
Good/Bad2006-02-23T03:57:00+00:002006-02-23T03:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-23:/~alex/blog/2006/02/23/600/<p>Good: I'm Home, Bad: Its past 2.30. Good: My work station is set-up and running, Bad: I typed the work password into my home machine this evening. Good: I'm on holiday on Friday, Bad: I have one more day of head scratching to go.</p>
Crank it up a notch2006-02-22T01:54:00+00:002006-02-22T01:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-22:/~alex/blog/2006/02/22/599/<p>I left the office very late today. So late in fact I didn't get home until past 11. The feature I've been working on for the last few weeks has been turned on by default in the current baseline and it has exposed a few bugs. I'll hasten to point …</p><p>I left the office very late today. So late in fact I didn't get home until past 11. The feature I've been working on for the last few weeks has been turned on by default in the current baseline and it has exposed a few bugs. I'll hasten to point out these aren't bugs in my code but areas of code that have had their previously untested corner cases busted.</p>
<p>To add pressure to the mix my HD drive got swapped out yesterday as it was looking like it was due to die any moment (the <a class="reference external" href="http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/">smartmontools</a> giving a heads up). However in common with most IT departments the new drive had the default image installed which is a fair way away from where I was. Its like driving an unfamiliar car and certainly hit my productivity for the day. Luckily my <em>.emacs</em> was proved to handle the regression in emacs version gracefully so I didn't have to battle with my text editor.</p>
<p>I have discovered the power of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/">screen</a> after I had dismissed it many moons ago because its primary key binding conflicts with emacs. I'm currently upgrading my work box to the latest SuSE which requires a little messing around with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Packaging_Tool">apt</a> and friends. Screen allows me to start the process running in a terminal at work and then just close the session leaving it running in the background. I can then login from home and re-attach to the terminal as though I never left. Its more useful than you realise as staying in the same terminal session keeps a lot of useful context like command histories which stay available to you. You can even have multiple screen sessions pointing at the same display if your moving around a lot.</p>
<p>Anyway enough of this geeking, I need some sleep before tomorrows hack-a-thon.</p>
Wendy and Steam2006-02-19T21:10:00+00:002006-02-19T21:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-19:/~alex/blog/2006/02/19/598/<p>Last night was a trip to Wendyhouse. I had a much better night than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=512">last time</a> mainly on account of not doing anything more strenuous than completing a few more GTA missions and getting a cheaper car insurance quote (I shall save the rant for the general idiocy of online …</p><p>Last night was a trip to Wendyhouse. I had a much better night than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=512">last time</a> mainly on account of not doing anything more strenuous than completing a few more GTA missions and getting a cheaper car insurance quote (I shall save the rant for the general idiocy of online insurance site web design for another day). We had a few first timers including TJ and (I think) Sam. It was cool catching up with James although I think we may of slightly over geeked out on the way there. The club itself was noticeable by a few absences but I was happy enough dancing for most of the night. Despite getting home by 4 o'clock I was still up by half nine this morning. I'm not sure why that happens.</p>
<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348121/">Steamboy</a> at the Cornerhouse with Aidan, Dave and Andy. I also bumped into Gav and Cal which was a nice surprise. Despite not being a big fan of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime">anime</a> I really enjoyed the film. It probably had me on side when the opening scenes in Manchester had recognisable (if slightly out of time) buildings in it. Patrick Stewart did a good job of voicing the insane northern grandfather and the action was generally over the top and enjoyable. We retired to the Rain Bar afterwards for a bit of a natter before Aidan gave me and Andy a lift home. The rest of the evening is now set aside for catching up with Lost and BSG.</p>
Do a little Dance2006-02-18T11:41:00+00:002006-02-18T11:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-18:/~alex/blog/2006/02/18/597/<p>Instead of the usual post work drinking with my work colleagues I join Lee, Ste and Hayley for a few drinks. We ended up in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/">FAB</a> where I lowered myself to drinking Carlsberg Export as the ale was off again. I didn't stay that late but I did do a …</p><p>Instead of the usual post work drinking with my work colleagues I join Lee, Ste and Hayley for a few drinks. We ended up in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/">FAB</a> where I lowered myself to drinking Carlsberg Export as the ale was off again. I didn't stay that late but I did do a little bit of dancing to their eclectic mix of Madchester, the A Team theme and Nirvana. I got home early as I wanted to get a good nights sleep so I'm good for tonight's trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/news.htm">The Wendyhouse</a>. The theme is "Sport" so I'm currently trying decide what I'm going to wear. Do I go for the normal clubbing gear or my running kit?</p>
GCC Inline Assembler2006-02-16T21:39:00+00:002006-02-16T21:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-16:/~alex/blog/2006/02/16/596/<p>I hatesss it precious. Why you can't just simply specify "put these parameters in these register and the result will be here" and "stack everything I clobber" is a mystery to me. The constraints system is approaching a black art that requires virgin sacrifices to get something that works. And …</p><p>I hatesss it precious. Why you can't just simply specify "put these parameters in these register and the result will be here" and "stack everything I clobber" is a mystery to me. The constraints system is approaching a black art that requires virgin sacrifices to get something that works. And FFS don't even consider letting gcc allocate registers for you. That way lies madness and despair.</p>
<p>Seriously I have spent the evening trying to implement approximately 6 lines of assembler (repeated across three inline functions) and I'm still not done. Arrrrrgggghhh!</p>
Linky2006-02-15T17:14:00+00:002006-02-15T17:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-15:/~alex/blog/2006/02/15/595/<p>I found this <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/film/scifi.html">diatribe on SciFi films</a> an amusing distraction a lunch time. I found the revelation that Microsoft was <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4713018.stm">negotiating with the UK government</a> about putting back-doors into Vista surprising only in so far as it made it into the news. Here's to the parliamentary process shining a light …</p><p>I found this <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/film/scifi.html">diatribe on SciFi films</a> an amusing distraction a lunch time. I found the revelation that Microsoft was <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4713018.stm">negotiating with the UK government</a> about putting back-doors into Vista surprising only in so far as it made it into the news. Here's to the parliamentary process shining a light on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html">Treacherous Computing</a> :-).</p>
The Need for Speed2006-02-15T01:33:00+00:002006-02-15T01:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-15:/~alex/blog/2006/02/15/594/<p>In an un-characteristic display of impulsiveness<sup>*</sup> I booked my self onto a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.speeddater.co.uk/">Speed Dating</a> event this evening. Once I had dealt with the logistics of getting home and back into town in under and hour and a half I was stuck waiting in the bar for around 40 minutes trying …</p><p>In an un-characteristic display of impulsiveness<sup>*</sup> I booked my self onto a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.speeddater.co.uk/">Speed Dating</a> event this evening. Once I had dealt with the logistics of getting home and back into town in under and hour and a half I was stuck waiting in the bar for around 40 minutes trying to work out witty and entertaining questions to ask my 21 dates.</p>
<p>As it turns out I shouldn't of worried. The 3 minutes you get per person is doesn't really give too much scope for a conversation to go disastrously wrong. I found I could avoid the ever so predictable "Who, What, Why?" by simple random conversation and having a few off the wall questions in my back pocket in case of emergencies. The conversations themselves were pretty ephemeral<sup>**</sup> and your are forced into making a snap decisions on someone as soon as the bell goes and moving on. I had a couple of conversations with previous "dates" during the breaks that did leave me wondering how much of the conversation I had been paying attention to. I suspect there was more than one pilot in the room :-) As the evening progressed I got a lot more comfortable in stretching the time boundaries and continuing chatting until the organisers came around with their (metaphorical) whips to move people on.</p>
<p>At the end of the evening I noticed I hadn't marked down many of my dates as either Yes, No or Friend despite only a few dates being definite Nos. If I'm following the spirit of "You will know if you click" that the system encourages that still leaves me with 6 ticks. I will find out in the next few days if any of them have been reciprocated.</p>
<p>All in all the fear and apprehension was rather quickly dissipated in the first few minutes of dating. I enjoyed it and got to meet a lot more interesting ladies than a typical night out clubbing. Something I can certainly recommend.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>Blame my Mum for pointing me at <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4712814.stm">the UK love map</a>. I was quite shocked to find out that 71% of the people living in this fair city are single.</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>Yes there was one semi-Linux bit of conversation but there was context and culture involved!</div>
</div>
Sunday Lunch, Transposed2006-02-12T12:46:00+00:002006-02-12T12:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-12:/~alex/blog/2006/02/12/593/<p>When I was planning my weekend last week (my transformation to fair weather LARPer is practically complete) I invited Jo and Arwel round for a meal. Also joining us where Anne and Paul, Marcus and Sue and Mark and Helen. The choice of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding seemed to …</p><p>When I was planning my weekend last week (my transformation to fair weather LARPer is practically complete) I invited Jo and Arwel round for a meal. Also joining us where Anne and Paul, Marcus and Sue and Mark and Helen. The choice of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding seemed to be popular as well as giving me a chance to practice this traditional classic.</p>
<p>I spent most of the day shopping for various bits and pieces. Of most importance was securing a decent joint of beef. I got the meat from a butchers in Sale recommended by Helen earlier in the week. It is always a good sign when the butcher can tell you which farm the meat came from which makes a difference from the anonymous pieces of meat you find in most supermarkets. I completely failed to find a pie funnel from our supper sized Asda (but I did walk away with a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.radio-now.co.uk/2004/12/alba-trdab2820-dabfm-radio-launched.htm">radio</a>).</p>
<p>The actual cooking wasn't too hard although juggling roast potatoes, meat, yorkshire puddings and apple pies with only one oven did provide certain logistical issues. I did learn that waiting for ground nut oil to smoke prior to adding the batter can take a long time. However it didn't seem to affect the final result which considering the voracious appetite for Yorkshire puddings around the table was probably a good thing. The meat came out just right, pink and tender in the middle. I did have to whisk away the carving board the first time to drain the blood into the gravy as apparently some of my guests don't like to see it. I was quite pleased with the whole meal even though I did let Mark make the custard for the Apple Pie at the end which gave me a chance to just to sit down and let someone else run around for a bit. Hopefully my Mum will be proud :-)</p>
Spooky2006-02-11T02:18:00+00:002006-02-11T02:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-11:/~alex/blog/2006/02/11/592/<p>I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/">Blair Witch Project</a> for the first time when I got home tonight. I think I can safely surmise the principle failure of the group was not having enough <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kendal.mintcake.co.uk/">Kendal Mint Cake</a>.</p>
All work and no play makes Alex a dull boy2006-02-10T14:17:00+00:002006-02-10T14:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-10:/~alex/blog/2006/02/10/591/<p>I haven't been updating much as my world has generally consisted of large amounts of staring at the screen, the occasional shout of "thats impossible" and the even more occasional whoop of triumph as I nail yet another bug. However I am approaching potential burn out as my bug hunting …</p><p>I haven't been updating much as my world has generally consisted of large amounts of staring at the screen, the occasional shout of "thats impossible" and the even more occasional whoop of triumph as I nail yet another bug. However I am approaching potential burn out as my bug hunting has reduced from looking at the code to binary chopping to find which change broke things. Still this can't go on much longer - I get on a place to Spain on the 24th. This is not open for debate.</p>
A little DRM linkage...2006-02-07T16:03:00+00:002006-02-07T16:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-07:/~alex/blog/2006/02/07/590/<p>A bit of Bill Thompson <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4677454.stm">linkage</a> for people who want to read more about Trusted Computing and how it could become Treacherous Computing.</p>
Le Weekend2006-02-06T12:09:00+00:002006-02-06T12:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-06:/~alex/blog/2006/02/06/589/<p>I travelled down to the land of my forefathers (down south to you and me) to visit Jeff and Phil ahead of the upcoming delivery of Bub. It was good to catch up even though we didn't do much actual "stuff" except eating until bloated and working our way through …</p><p>I travelled down to the land of my forefathers (down south to you and me) to visit Jeff and Phil ahead of the upcoming delivery of Bub. It was good to catch up even though we didn't do much actual "stuff" except eating until bloated and working our way through a load of beer. Apparently there all sorts of things that bones and joints do in preparation for delivery that make me glad I'm a bloke.</p>
<p>We did travel out on Saturday to visit Jeff's boat but I was so weary of driving I actually let both Phil and Aidan drive my car. Phil had already instructed me on the dangers of back seat driving so I kept a dignified silence throughout most of the journey. Her reminding me of the fact she had totalled her previous two cars was less concerning than Aidan's gesticulations (and resultant one handed steering) between the lake and the pub. Still I improved the situation with the addition of profiteroles for dessert so it was all good :-)</p>
<p>On Sunday the drive back was uneventful save for the realisation that my car needed a really good clean once I got home. Jo came round to hang out and watch movies. We watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375063/">Sideways</a> which was good if a little slow paced. Great if you like wine though. We also re-watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250491/">Late Night Shopping</a> which is a nice little understated brit flick I can well recommend to anyone who wants to watch a good old fashioned character based rom-com.</p>
<p>This week is going to be a hard one at work. Were running up to a beta release on the 14th so I expect to be working late every night until then. But still there skiing round the corner from that so its not all bad :-)</p>
Late Night, Early Evening2006-02-02T19:49:00+00:002006-02-02T19:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-02:/~alex/blog/2006/02/02/588/<p>I'm working late again tonight in an effort to get everything lined up for heading down to Philipa's at a reasonable time tomorrow. Luckily one of the milestone tests is now working with my code (well works 1 time out of 3 but thats a hell of an improvement on …</p><p>I'm working late again tonight in an effort to get everything lined up for heading down to Philipa's at a reasonable time tomorrow. Luckily one of the milestone tests is now working with my code (well works 1 time out of 3 but thats a hell of an improvement on where I was). Once I've got this stuff into the baseline (always a late night effort) all thats left is being able to have that feature switched on by default.</p>
<p>In the meantime in light of yesterdays amendment of the religious hatred bill which I assume was aimed at cutting down on <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/4672792.stm">this</a> while at the same time not preventing <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4673908.stm">this</a>. I notice the BBC has started censoring itself no longer showing the cartoons as it did in earlier reports. I can appreciate it to a degree as I don't think you should go out of your way to deliberately offend people if you can help it. However once people start threatening to target citizens of countries that refuse to punish their free press you've lost any sympathy I may have. The question I hope comes up on tonight's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/default.stm">Question Time</a> is:</p>
<p><em>"Would the publication of the Danish cartoons in the UK constitute</em><strong>reckless</strong><em>incitement of religious hatred?"</em></p>
One thing done right2006-02-01T13:31:00+00:002006-02-01T13:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-02-01:/~alex/blog/2006/02/01/587/<p>It was nice to see parliament <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4668266.stm">protecting free speech</a> last night. It was a little annoying to hear ministers saying the defeat was "political opportunism" on the part of the opposition parties, much the same line as was trotted out <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4422086.stm">last time</a>. I'm generally of the view this current government …</p><p>It was nice to see parliament <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4668266.stm">protecting free speech</a> last night. It was a little annoying to hear ministers saying the defeat was "political opportunism" on the part of the opposition parties, much the same line as was trotted out <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4422086.stm">last time</a>. I'm generally of the view this current government has a unfortunate tendency to use the law as a cure all solution to most of the problems they face. I like to think the Tories (and Lib Dems) where thinking of civil liberties - I generally think of them as a liberal party despite some previously <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Justice_and_Public_Order_Act_1994">ill thought out</a> laws of their own. Having said that next to the current lot they practically come across as tree hugging hippies!</p>
Live Comedy2006-01-31T01:37:00+00:002006-01-31T01:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-31:/~alex/blog/2006/01/31/586/<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.danielkitson.com/">Daniel Kitson</a> at the Royal Exchange on Sunday. Its an excellent venue for stand up comedy and he made very good use of it. Very funny and well recommended.</p>
Hail to the King2006-01-29T15:01:00+00:002006-01-29T15:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-29:/~alex/blog/2006/01/29/585/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=311">A year has passed</a> since I first joined the Sealed Knot. Tempting as it was to just turn up to the banquet for the wine, women and song I thought I should also attend the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=27">battle</a>. It was the second time that I've actually marched out into a battle and …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=311">A year has passed</a> since I first joined the Sealed Knot. Tempting as it was to just turn up to the banquet for the wine, women and song I thought I should also attend the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=27">battle</a>. It was the second time that I've actually marched out into a battle and the last time was in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=449">August</a>. Luckily the drill standards are nowhere near as tough as my old ATC days and the firing sequence came back quite quickly with repetition. I've still got to get my shotgun and powder licenses sorted out but I'm seriously tempted to spend the ?150 on getting the musket. The police will have to come around to the house and check where I'm going to store it. As it is a firearm I need to install a gun cabinet secured to a solid the wall. I find it hard to believe that anyone would blag a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musket">matchlock musket</a> to rob a post office :-)</p>
Just plain strange2006-01-27T16:00:00+00:002006-01-27T16:00:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-27:/~alex/blog/2006/01/27/584/<p>I'm not sure what was stranger: The revelation that Cheltenham was built on a platform of stilts or the works (presumably experimental) nuclear reactor had gone a "bit critical" and I couldn't find where we kept the iodine pills. Odd dream indeed.</p>
I should go home2006-01-26T22:09:00+00:002006-01-26T22:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-26:/~alex/blog/2006/01/26/583/<p>I was planning to go to the gym after work today but I've kinda ended up working. It's a moot point now as the gym has in fact closed and I'm still in the office. It's not all a lost cause. Since everyone left I've been solving bugs without any …</p><p>I was planning to go to the gym after work today but I've kinda ended up working. It's a moot point now as the gym has in fact closed and I'm still in the office. It's not all a lost cause. Since everyone left I've been solving bugs without any distraction and the code is a lot neater than when I left it. Still I really should do some exercise so I think I'll go to the gym on the way to work. That way I'll of done some exercise to make up for curry and beer in the evening.</p>
Auntie Links2006-01-25T17:23:00+00:002006-01-25T17:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-25:/~alex/blog/2006/01/25/582/<p>I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4642366.stm#3">famous</a><sup>*</sup> :-). Of course the BBC edited my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=580">original question</a> and skipped the last bit (which is fair enough, it was probably overly technical). However they either didn't get the point or chose to interpret the question in a different way. The phrase <em>"harder to move around than a CD …</em></p><p>I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4642366.stm#3">famous</a><sup>*</sup> :-). Of course the BBC edited my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=580">original question</a> and skipped the last bit (which is fair enough, it was probably overly technical). However they either didn't get the point or chose to interpret the question in a different way. The phrase <em>"harder to move around than a CD"</em> was meant to allude to the fact its easier to buy a CD and rip the music yourself<sup>**</sup>. Once you've ripped the music in your preferred <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vorbis.com/">encoding format</a> you can put it on whatever device you like. The guy from HMV takes a very different view of versatility of digital music than I do. Overall I'm not very impressed with the answers from these experts but I'll leave you to judge the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4641054.stm">whole debate</a> yourselves.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>Fame being rather subjective on the 'net</div>
</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>Not withstanding <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=586">previously mentioned</a> broken CDs.</div>
</div>
Gloves and Gnomes2006-01-25T14:11:00+00:002006-01-25T14:11:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-25:/~alex/blog/2006/01/25/581/<p>I failed to buy some gloves from M&S today. The only ones they had left where nice leather gloves. However at ?35 a throw I'm not sure if I'm capable of buying accessories for a mere <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2613">cold snap</a> for the price of a pair of decent trousers. I can …</p><p>I failed to buy some gloves from M&S today. The only ones they had left where nice leather gloves. However at ?35 a throw I'm not sure if I'm capable of buying accessories for a mere <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2613">cold snap</a> for the price of a pair of decent trousers. I can always stick my hands in my pockets.</p>
<p>The latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnome.org/start/2.12/">Gnome</a> has just been unmasked for amd64 on Gentoo so I'm currently taxing the CPU to update it. Despite my failure at tying to test the <a class="reference external" href="http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Modular_Xorg">modular X.org</a> release last week this is going a lot better. Maybe I'm just not cut out for the very bleeding edge anymore? Having said that once I've updated I do want to get <a class="reference external" href="http://beaglewiki.org/Main_Page">Beagle</a> running. I want to see how it stacks up against OS X's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/spotlight/">Spotlight</a> which some of the Mac fans at work keep singing the praises of.</p>
TV Night2006-01-24T11:50:00+00:002006-01-24T11:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-24:/~alex/blog/2006/01/24/580/<p>Karen visited last night to catch up as we watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/lifeonmars/">Life on Mars</a>. I must say I've really warmed to the show and it is certainly developing nicely. It's still keeping me guessing as to exactly what is really going on but it keeps dropping clues along the way. That …</p><p>Karen visited last night to catch up as we watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/lifeonmars/">Life on Mars</a>. I must say I've really warmed to the show and it is certainly developing nicely. It's still keeping me guessing as to exactly what is really going on but it keeps dropping clues along the way. That and the test card has never been so scary :-)</p>
<p>Monday seems to be shaping up as a good evenings worth of TV as [STRIKEOUT:So Graham Norton]The Bigger Picture with Graham Norton also proves to be quite entertaining and (dare I say it) topical to boot. Its followed by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/film2005/index.shtml">Film 2006</a> which is always worth a watch.</p>
<p>My only regret about last night is I didn't convince Anne to watch the whole of Mel Brooks' classic <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/">Blazing Saddles</a> which she had never seen before. I guess seeing as it was going on until 1.05 she had a point about needing to get up in a few hours. I shall have to add the classic to the rental list.</p>
And now for a little geek...2006-01-22T16:32:00+00:002006-01-22T16:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-22:/~alex/blog/2006/01/22/579/<p>I made it back in more or less one piece from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=585">last night</a> although I didn't make it to the planned Badminton session this afternoon. I have instead spent most of this morning trying to get to grips with ripping Moby's "Hotel" onto my machine. It seems the CD isn't …</p><p>I made it back in more or less one piece from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=585">last night</a> although I didn't make it to the planned Badminton session this afternoon. I have instead spent most of this morning trying to get to grips with ripping Moby's "Hotel" onto my machine. It seems the CD isn't actually an audio CD as it <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_Control">introduces deliberate errors</a> into the audio stream. Although I can get <a class="reference external" href="http://www.xiph.org/paranoia/">cdparanoia</a> to rip the disc there are audible glitches which I assume are related to the corrupted error checking codes. I know it must be possible to get a good copy out of the CD drive because after all its just data. I think the trick must lie in getting the raw data and then applying the same error correction code that a normal CD player does.</p>
As with everything, pacing2006-01-22T16:31:00+00:002006-01-22T16:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-22:/~alex/blog/2006/01/22/578/<p>I went to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.asp?WCI=ShowCat&CatId=644">Manchester Winter Ale Festival</a> to celebrate Marks slowly climbing years. Being a veteran of beer festivals myself I got one of the half pint glasses instead of the usual pint. I also drank a lot slower and generally avoided the stronger beers in an effort to …</p><p>I went to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.asp?WCI=ShowCat&CatId=644">Manchester Winter Ale Festival</a> to celebrate Marks slowly climbing years. Being a veteran of beer festivals myself I got one of the half pint glasses instead of the usual pint. I also drank a lot slower and generally avoided the stronger beers in an effort to make it to the evening in one piece.</p>
<p>After Mark & Co headed off for food I wandered over to the Salisbury (via Kro where I briefly caught up with some of the guys from work). Somehow (the details are a little hazy) I ended up in Rock World with Nook, Michelle, Si,, Fluff and Anne's step brother. At a further point in the evening the guys from work caught up with me. Everything else is a little blurry.</p>
Go On, Go On, Go On...2006-01-18T16:38:00+00:002006-01-18T16:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-18:/~alex/blog/2006/01/18/577/<p>I've just <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=17">entered</a>, have you?</p>
Invitation to Tender2006-01-17T22:28:00+00:002006-01-17T22:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-17:/~alex/blog/2006/01/17/576/<p>Well I had a think about the Potential New Company mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=582">last week</a> when I realised that I'm actually quite happy where I am<sup>*</sup>. I was very tempted but came to the realisation there is more to job satisfaction than chasing the latest shiny opportunity. Part of my rationalisation was …</p><p>Well I had a think about the Potential New Company mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=582">last week</a> when I realised that I'm actually quite happy where I am<sup>*</sup>. I was very tempted but came to the realisation there is more to job satisfaction than chasing the latest shiny opportunity. Part of my rationalisation was there are still plenty of challenges and achievements to go at my current job and I don't like leaving things half way through. This is the second start-up I've been involved with and there is a certain excitement working in a company in that stage, something the PNC has already done. However I have updated my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">CV</a> to reflect my current status and you know in a couple of years time if PNC is still looking they have but to ask :-)</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>It should be noted its my one year <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=306">anniversary</a> today. Perhaps I should now start referring to my job as simply Work.</p>
End of Week Wrap Up2006-01-13T12:17:00+00:002006-01-13T12:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-13:/~alex/blog/2006/01/13/575/<p>The game of Squash last night went quite well and my body isn't protesting nearly as much as I thought it would. This is a good thing. The last time I played squash that I remember was when I was at Uni and my Dad was visiting. That time I …</p><p>The game of Squash last night went quite well and my body isn't protesting nearly as much as I thought it would. This is a good thing. The last time I played squash that I remember was when I was at Uni and my Dad was visiting. That time I was quickly reduced into a sweating semi-cardiac arrested pile in the corner as my father proved not only the experience counts for a lot but also he was a lot fitter than his 19 year old son. Yesterday was quite different - for one thing it was quite enjoyable. Although I still had to pause for breath after a few of the rallies I still managed to hold out (although eventually losing) to a respectable 10-8 score. We didn't get far into our second game before we ran out of time due to how long we had taken warming up and reminding me of the basics of the game. I think I shall play again, anyone up for a game?</p>
<p>When I got home I noticed my mutable <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/cv.php">CV</a> had attracted yet another query. However when I first read the email title I was almost ready to dismiss it as spam. However on closer examination it was from who it said it was. Not bad for a CV that's over a year and a half out of date. Given what I know about the place I am sorely tempted, I mean how often do you get a chance to try for a job at somewhere even more geeky than my current employer?</p>
Gastronomically Pleasing2006-01-12T14:49:00+00:002006-01-12T14:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-12:/~alex/blog/2006/01/12/574/<p>I was quite pleased with my hosting of last nights Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup>. I decided to try something different for a starter (having a bread maker has made me lazy) so I cooked up a Potato and Leek Soup. In addition to the main course (Beef in Guinness Stew) I …</p><p>I was quite pleased with my hosting of last nights Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup>. I decided to try something different for a starter (having a bread maker has made me lazy) so I cooked up a Potato and Leek Soup. In addition to the main course (Beef in Guinness Stew) I also managed to knock up Apple Pie v4.0 to make up for experimenting on the regulars with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=533">v1.0</a>. I was only slightly rushed but ultimately happy with the result. I'm still trying to decide if missing out the cinnamon was a good or bad thing. I think I shall now have to expand on the range of pies and desserts in my repertoire.</p>
One to watch2006-01-11T15:07:00+00:002006-01-11T15:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-11:/~alex/blog/2006/01/11/573/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4596228.stm">This debate</a> should be interesting. I wonder if my question will get in:</p>
<p><em>" Why should I buy music over the 'net when its lower quality, more expensive and harder to move around than a CD?</em></p>
<p>The industry seems to be intent on locking out people from the official distributions channels …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4596228.stm">This debate</a> should be interesting. I wonder if my question will get in:</p>
<p><em>" Why should I buy music over the 'net when its lower quality, more expensive and harder to move around than a CD?</em></p>
<p>The industry seems to be intent on locking out people from the official distributions channels which has the perverse effect of making illegal options more attractive. I run a fully open source OS (GNU/Linux). Given that I like the freedom Open Source gives me I'll not be running any untrusted programs on my system (e.g. Sony's "rootkit"). This means I can't play any of the DRM'ed formats. It also makes MP3/MP4 playback tricky as open source players are legally dubious due to patent restrictions.</p>
<p>Should I just give up being a paying customer now?"</p>
My Achey Breaky Legs2006-01-11T14:41:00+00:002006-01-11T14:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-11:/~alex/blog/2006/01/11/572/<p>I joined the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yclub.org.uk/">gym</a> yesterday and did my first session for over a month with predictable results. I keep reminding myself that the second session won't ache as much and I should be over it by the third session. However I'm playing squash tomorrow so that will be a whole …</p><p>I joined the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yclub.org.uk/">gym</a> yesterday and did my first session for over a month with predictable results. I keep reminding myself that the second session won't ache as much and I should be over it by the third session. However I'm playing squash tomorrow so that will be a whole new set of muscles.</p>
Good Intentions, Part One2006-01-09T16:52:00+00:002006-01-09T16:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-09:/~alex/blog/2006/01/09/571/<p>I've spent my lunch hour trekking around Manchester to check out various health clubs. My original intention was to join <a class="reference external" href="http://www.holmesplace.com/campaign05.aspx">Holmes Place</a> which is just round the corner from work. However I did check out the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yclub.org.uk/index.html">Y Club</a> in Castlefield. The Y Club comes in at 11 pounds a month …</p><p>I've spent my lunch hour trekking around Manchester to check out various health clubs. My original intention was to join <a class="reference external" href="http://www.holmesplace.com/campaign05.aspx">Holmes Place</a> which is just round the corner from work. However I did check out the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yclub.org.uk/index.html">Y Club</a> in Castlefield. The Y Club comes in at 11 pounds a month cheaper and includes an indoor running track, 'net linked training machines (which track your reps against your program) and a hall capable of playing Badminton. As its located on the end of the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/maps?q=y+club&hl=en&near=M3&cid=53483512,-2252173,9836900764847022326&li=lmd&t=m">canal</a> there is also the tantalising possibility<sup>*</sup> of being able to run in from Stretford and getting changed and showered before work. The only downside is the majority of my work colleges go to Holmes Place which would probably be an easier sell on the motivation. I shall go along tonight and do a session to try it out.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>This could well be pie in the sky, but in theory when I'm approaching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=17">race</a> fitness I should be more than capable of running <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?centerX=-2.2838687896728516¢erY=53.46148163145451&zl=3&fl=m-m-h-0-1&polyline=%7DoeeIhhaMu%5Dq%5Due@xo@y%60@aVuNuf@h@%7Bw@s@wn@_N%7Dx@yJgQuMkLcDmTaM%7DZyBoMaIoC&elev=0a1a10170b8858b8530b9842b9842b11154b10170b7217b8530b8858b9842b10170b10826b10826">6km</a> in the morning.</p>
Restored Faith2006-01-09T12:17:00+00:002006-01-09T12:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-09:/~alex/blog/2006/01/09/570/<p>I was listening to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/frontrow/">Front Row</a> last week as they discussed the roll the 'net had played in promoting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/">The Artic Monkeys</a>. When they played their first London gig (selling out the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Astoria">Astoria</a> no less!) their audience already knew the songs despite it being the first time they had seen …</p><p>I was listening to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/frontrow/">Front Row</a> last week as they discussed the roll the 'net had played in promoting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/">The Artic Monkeys</a>. When they played their first London gig (selling out the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Astoria">Astoria</a> no less!) their audience already knew the songs despite it being the first time they had seen the band. Not wanting to be left out of a potential "down with the kids" bandwagon (but without listening to Radio 1) I thought I should check them out. I took advantage of this "file-sharing" thing that people keep talking about to preview a couple of their tunes on they way into work this morning.</p>
<p>I have to say my faith in the music industry has been partially restored. The tunes are from the sort of solid indie guitar band I so miss from my student days. The lyrics are great witty and highly observational that are actually worth paying attention to. I liked every one of the 3 tracks I have downloaded so far. Their album <em>'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'</em> is out at the end of the month and for ?8.99 I'd be silly not to have pre-ordered it this morning.</p>
Lights Ahoy2006-01-09T10:01:00+00:002006-01-09T10:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-09:/~alex/blog/2006/01/09/569/<p>One advantage of the blinding light my camera has for a "flash" is it practically eliminates red-eye. Whether this means I take better pictures or not <a class="reference external" href="images/jason.jpg">remains to be seen</a>.</p>
Bullitt2006-01-07T20:20:00+00:002006-01-07T20:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-07:/~alex/blog/2006/01/07/568/<p>Today I've not really done much but chill at home catching up on a little GTA will recovering from a little too much Speckled Hen last night. I finally completed "Just Business" the Terminator 2 inspired bike ride through the storm sewers of Los Stantos (loosely based on LA) and …</p><p>Today I've not really done much but chill at home catching up on a little GTA will recovering from a little too much Speckled Hen last night. I finally completed "Just Business" the Terminator 2 inspired bike ride through the storm sewers of Los Stantos (loosely based on LA) and finally opened up San Fierro. I'm sure it doesn't take too much to guess which West Cost city that is based on. I've had a bit of a raz around the city, briefly marvelled at the Golden Gate bridge and discovered the Police are a lot more willing to shoot first and ask questions later. The streets are quite cool with the full chassis smashing inclines and tram tracks. I foresee some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062765/">Bullitt</a> inspired car chases over the next few weeks.</p>
<p>Rught, time to head over to Gillians for her birthday bash.</p>
Cool Tools2006-01-06T14:02:00+00:002006-01-06T14:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-06:/~alex/blog/2006/01/06/567/<p>One of thew newest extensions I'm now using on all my machines is <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=445">Feedview</a>. Feedview replaces the default rendering of XML feeds when you click on the raw feed. This is handy for when the Firefox feed parser can't find feeds on a page. Once you click on the feed …</p><p>One of thew newest extensions I'm now using on all my machines is <a class="reference external" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=445">Feedview</a>. Feedview replaces the default rendering of XML feeds when you click on the raw feed. This is handy for when the Firefox feed parser can't find feeds on a page. Once you click on the feed you can then add the Live Bookmark by clicking the RSS icon in your address bar.</p>
My God its Full of Pixels2006-01-06T01:45:00+00:002006-01-06T01:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-06:/~alex/blog/2006/01/06/566/<p>I'm feeling a little guilty as I told Mufi last night that I'd be coming along to Yoga. I'd forgotten all about the delivery of my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=571">previously mentioned</a> shiny toys.</p>
<p>Walking though Manchester city centre carrying two obviously valuable boxes of was only partially nerve wracking (given the blanket CCTV …</p><p>I'm feeling a little guilty as I told Mufi last night that I'd be coming along to Yoga. I'd forgotten all about the delivery of my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=571">previously mentioned</a> shiny toys.</p>
<p>Walking though Manchester city centre carrying two obviously valuable boxes of was only partially nerve wracking (given the blanket CCTV coverage). The walk from the Metro to my house was a little more worrying mainly compounded by the fact my hands were getting quite tired by that point. Still I made it home in one piece. So much for paranoia.</p>
<p>I now have both screens up and running in their full wide screen glory and have been experimenting with new setups for my desktop. One of the reasons I went for width over depth is I figured short of page layout most things that require more than 900 pixel will need to be scrolled anyway. With the extra width I can afford to be more creative with things like toolbars. For example the Workspace Switcher works a lot better stacked up on the side. I can actually move windows from workspace to workspace without having to be pixel accurate. The Window List can also usefully display a lot more window titles now it has more space to itself.</p>
<p>I've set aside the left hand screen for status like stuff so I can keep things like beepfind_remote and Gaim open and on all workspaces for easy checking. I'm going to have to keep an eye on how I move my head though. If it starts causing me grief I may have to engage in a more major re-engineering of my workspace.</p>
<p>The quality of the images is a lot better than the old CRT as well. Everything is very sharp and well defined. The video playback also benefits from the increased contrast, as well as the wide screen aspect ratio. In short the best ?350 pounds I've spent this year :-D</p>
Knocking on my door2006-01-04T12:39:00+00:002006-01-04T12:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-04:/~alex/blog/2006/01/04/565/<p>Whilst trying to sort out one of my users connection problems I checked the authentication log on Jack. It turns out various IP addresses in Asia have been knocking on my door since at least the start of December. Time to start pestering my users to ensure they are using …</p><p>Whilst trying to sort out one of my users connection problems I checked the authentication log on Jack. It turns out various IP addresses in Asia have been knocking on my door since at least the start of December. Time to start pestering my users to ensure they are using strong passwords and see if I can lock out an IP address after a number of failed attempts.</p>
Present to Self2006-01-03T20:02:00+00:002006-01-03T20:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-03:/~alex/blog/2006/01/03/564/<p>I've just ordered two <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=4894">LCD Monitors</a> for my workstation. A very reasonable ?360 for the pair. I went for width over depth because I think I'll make more use of pixels to the side than bellow. Hopefully the computer will figure out the address to deliver it to by Thursday …</p><p>I've just ordered two <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=4894">LCD Monitors</a> for my workstation. A very reasonable ?360 for the pair. I went for width over depth because I think I'll make more use of pixels to the side than bellow. Hopefully the computer will figure out the address to deliver it to by Thursday and then I'll have new toys to play with :-D</p>
Mini Shop and Drop2006-01-03T17:35:00+00:002006-01-03T17:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-03:/~alex/blog/2006/01/03/563/<p>Yesterday I went out for a few jars of beer with Katie and Karl followed by a quick tour of the more quirky Manchester shops. I introduced Andy to the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/maps?q=empire+exchange&sll=53.480843,-2.234674&spn=0.008661,0.019121&sspn=0.036469,0.080509&cid=53480843,-2234674,11022260934953444837&iwloc=A&hl=en">Empire Exchange</a> which he seemed to like (lots of old comics). I even found a old live Orb CD which …</p><p>Yesterday I went out for a few jars of beer with Katie and Karl followed by a quick tour of the more quirky Manchester shops. I introduced Andy to the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/maps?q=empire+exchange&sll=53.480843,-2.234674&spn=0.008661,0.019121&sspn=0.036469,0.080509&cid=53480843,-2234674,11022260934953444837&iwloc=A&hl=en">Empire Exchange</a> which he seemed to like (lots of old comics). I even found a old live Orb CD which I got for a quid. Lee will probably like it as it's quite like the Ozric's.</p>
<p>Found it difficult to get to sleep last night but hopefully I should get back into the swing of the working week without too much hassle.</p>
Welcome to the final leg of the decade2006-01-01T16:05:00+00:002006-01-01T16:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2006-01-01:/~alex/blog/2006/01/01/562/<p>Well 2006 is shaping up nicely so far on account of the zero hangover quotient. I split myself between 2 parties this year so I stayed sober while visiting Rich and Al's bash in Bolton. It was nice to catch up with people I haven't seen for a while (mainly …</p><p>Well 2006 is shaping up nicely so far on account of the zero hangover quotient. I split myself between 2 parties this year so I stayed sober while visiting Rich and Al's bash in Bolton. It was nice to catch up with people I haven't seen for a while (mainly as I haven't been LARPing during the winter). I also caught up again with Daz and Jules before they headed off for their flight back to the states this morning. I now have 2 places to crash at next time I go over, one east-coast and one west coast. I also met a very new people including the enigmatically named Wednesday who was vey nice. I felt a little guilty leaving for the next party but hopefully random pubbage on Monday should assuage the guilt.</p>
<p>I then headed over to Paul's in Swinton (Paul from work not Anne's Paul although they seem quite close to each other). Not quite as big a do but did meet some interesting French guys who informed me that torching cars on New Years Eve is a bit of a tradition in France. I also caught of with some of my work mates SO's which was all good interesting fun. I didn't drink as much as I had planned to but I had drunk enough that I couldn't drive so I crashed out on the Sofa student style. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that staying sober on New Years Eve is possibly the best plan as I like simple home comforts like a real bed without snoring background noise. It is a theory I may put into practice next time, after all the rest of Christmas certainly gives my liver enough of a work out. Of course if I host New Years in 2006 all bets are off.</p>
Sharp Things2005-12-29T02:47:00+00:002005-12-29T02:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-29:/~alex/blog/2005/12/29/561/<p>I like my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wusthof.com/main.htm">new kitchen knives</a>. I particularly like the way they "zing" when you run them over the steel. Its a much crisper more musical sound to the dull grind you get from my old Asda set. Now all I need to do is some more cooking.</p>
Christmas + One2005-12-27T02:05:00+00:002005-12-27T02:05:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-27:/~alex/blog/2005/12/27/560/<p>Today?s activities have been pretty muted. The main event was my annual catch up with John (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zandev">zandev</a>) in which we exceeded the daily geeky conversion quota by a fair margin. This is probably not much of a surprise to either of us considering our history. That was followed up …</p><p>Today?s activities have been pretty muted. The main event was my annual catch up with John (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zandev">zandev</a>) in which we exceeded the daily geeky conversion quota by a fair margin. This is probably not much of a surprise to either of us considering our history. That was followed up by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/">Minority Report</a> which is yet another cool <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick">Philip K Dick</a> movie. I thought Doctor Who was fantastic by the way. I look forward to the new series starting in the spring. Right now time for bed, I travel to Manchester later today?.</p>
Re-living the youth I never had2005-12-25T14:43:00+00:002005-12-25T14:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-25:/~alex/blog/2005/12/25/559/<p>Last night I headed down to the Rose for the now seemingly traditional Christmas Eve drinks. The revelation that I have been drinking there for exactly half of my life so far was only slightly sobering. We then headed down to the old stomping ground of ?The Rec? to ?hang …</p><p>Last night I headed down to the Rose for the now seemingly traditional Christmas Eve drinks. The revelation that I have been drinking there for exactly half of my life so far was only slightly sobering. We then headed down to the old stomping ground of ?The Rec? to ?hang out? before returning to our beds.</p>
<p>Christmas day so far has consisted of the usual early drinking (Champagne) and canap?s and present guessing. I have now got a fantastic set of shiny kitchen knives together with instructions on how they should be cared for. My housemates can expect a full briefing before they are allowed to use them. I also have a decent size wooden cutting board to go with the knives. There is not much left to do now apart from attacking the gluttony inducing pile of Christmas meal before slumping in front of the TV in time for Doctor Who.</p>
<p>To all my friends wherever they may be I extend the finest compliments of the season and my best wishes for the new year.</p>
Loafing Up a Gear2005-12-23T02:04:00+00:002005-12-23T02:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-23:/~alex/blog/2005/12/23/558/<p>I am now fully ensconced in the bosom of my family. This means my loafing has extended from a moderately active activity to a full passive mode where my parents feed me and provide seemingly limitless beer. Today?s main activity was having lunch at the local Chinese restaurant with …</p><p>I am now fully ensconced in the bosom of my family. This means my loafing has extended from a moderately active activity to a full passive mode where my parents feed me and provide seemingly limitless beer. Today?s main activity was having lunch at the local Chinese restaurant with an old friend of my parents followed by a long session of tea drinking while setting the world to rights. One thing I should mention about my parent?s house is the fantastic kitchen. The kitchen is quite large and also houses the dinning table. This means that breakfast, lunch, dinner and random tea breaks can all take place in a nice homely surrounding well away from the temptations of television. The end result is we have quite long conversations that aren?t merely distractions from the ad breaks. I?m guessing we got back from the restaurant around 1.30/2. We didn?t finish and say goodbye to our guest until around 6.30/7.</p>
<p>Eventually we did get to the ?traditional ? family around the television set-up and watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084058/">Heat and Dust</a> from the Sunday paper freebie DVD?s. It was a very well presented vision of the British Raj in the early twenties although the plot itself was rather slow. Now that everyone has gone to bed I can start on the preparation of some of the Christmas presents.</p>
You don?t have to play every hand, apparently2005-12-21T12:29:00+00:002005-12-21T12:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-21:/~alex/blog/2005/12/21/557/<p>I finally made it through the traffic to Nottingham in time for my brothers weekly card game. I did quite well and even managed to be chip leader a couple of times. However by 2 in the morning I was starting to make mistakes and playing with rather weak hands …</p><p>I finally made it through the traffic to Nottingham in time for my brothers weekly card game. I did quite well and even managed to be chip leader a couple of times. However by 2 in the morning I was starting to make mistakes and playing with rather weak hands. I now owe my brother ?10.</p>
<p>While my brother sleeps until 4 I?m going off exploring Nottingham?s new shiny public transport system and meeting up with Cheryl for lunch. And then the final journey to my parents :-D</p>
Loaftastic2005-12-20T13:56:00+00:002005-12-20T13:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-20:/~alex/blog/2005/12/20/556/<p>So the last 4 days have been loaded with loafage. I was intending to spend a large portion of my time playing GTA but instead have been quite busy seeing people.</p>
<p>Saturday involved getting up before being fed pre-Christmas dinner until I nearly exploded. It was nice to see Katy …</p><p>So the last 4 days have been loaded with loafage. I was intending to spend a large portion of my time playing GTA but instead have been quite busy seeing people.</p>
<p>Saturday involved getting up before being fed pre-Christmas dinner until I nearly exploded. It was nice to see Katy and Chris who I don't see that often. After being suitably loaded on carbs I headed into town to meet up with the horde who had co-opted the top of Sinclairs. I even got chauffeured to Radcliffe and back to say hi to Bu and Mel and the special secret guests!</p>
<p>Sunday I caught up with Chris Peet as we explored the Sunday drinking opportunities. Re-discovered Bar Fringe (more on that later) before heading back to watch the tail end of Andy's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.themightyboosh.com/">Mighty Boosh</a> DVD. I collapsed in bed woefully early.</p>
<p>On Monday (despite thinking it was a Sunday) I headed down to Knutsford for lunch and an aborted attempt at walking in Taton park. It was nice to see Heidi with baby Neave who greeted me with a massive fart when I held her. Still like most baby's she is enduringly cute which made up for the ickness factor. Heidi seems to have the mothering bit well under control.</p>
<p>I was intending to be having lunch in Nottingham having lunch with Cheryl at this point today. The reason I'm not is mainly down to those parters in beer crime Mark and Lee. I headed out to Bar Fringe again last night as Mark introduced me to the world of foreign lagers. It was a very entertaining night and although I got to bed roughly on time I fear I may of slightly over indulged. At 10 o'clock this morning with hangover in full force I decided driving was off the cards for the time being. I shall head down later this afternoon - possibly this evening....</p>
Hooray, Hooray, its a Holi-Holi-Day!2005-12-16T23:23:00+00:002005-12-16T23:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-16:/~alex/blog/2005/12/16/555/<p>I finally got out of the office at 20:30 this evening after two false starts. I am now officially on holiday until the new year. This year has been fun but having deadlines just before Christmas sucks serious ass. Still I don't have to think about it for 2 …</p><p>I finally got out of the office at 20:30 this evening after two false starts. I am now officially on holiday until the new year. This year has been fun but having deadlines just before Christmas sucks serious ass. Still I don't have to think about it for 2 and half weeks :-D</p>
Hardcore Hacking!2005-12-15T01:33:00+00:002005-12-15T01:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-15:/~alex/blog/2005/12/15/554/<p>I may of mentioned the joys of sys-admining a box while *ahem* under the influence. So now (00:32) I've just committed 17 lines of code changes into the company code base after a part share in 2 bottles of white wine. Hopefully work will still be <a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/H/HCF.html">there tomorrow</a>.</p>
FAO: Andy2005-12-14T23:51:00+00:002005-12-14T23:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-14:/~alex/blog/2005/12/14/553/<p>It looks like we weren't the only ones that found <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4521876.stm">it very freaky</a>.</p>
Need to Know?2005-12-14T12:24:00+00:002005-12-14T12:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-14:/~alex/blog/2005/12/14/552/<p>Well it seems we shall be given a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4527104.stm">"Narrative of Events"</a> written by a civil servant to draw a line under the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings">July 7th London Bombings</a>. While I do believe an awful lot of money is wasted on needless <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_inquiry">public inquiries</a> I don't think this will be one of them …</p><p>Well it seems we shall be given a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4527104.stm">"Narrative of Events"</a> written by a civil servant to draw a line under the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings">July 7th London Bombings</a>. While I do believe an awful lot of money is wasted on needless <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_inquiry">public inquiries</a> I don't think this will be one of them. While it may be helpful to the victims families to understand what happened on the day my main interest would be understanding how 3 British born men became radicalised to the point of becoming suicide bombers. It would also be good to examine the role of the security services and if things could be improved (as well as what <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3127696.stm">wouldn't of made a difference</a>). Of course it could be that a report written by a top senior servant and signed off by the government will be an in-depth impartial spin free document - but we have been <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3052847.stm">here before</a>.</p>
More DIY to catch up on2005-12-12T11:44:00+00:002005-12-12T11:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-12:/~alex/blog/2005/12/12/551/<p>I was running a quick update on my desktop machine this morning when I noticed the collision light on my hub going crazy. The wired network in my house is a little ad-hoc which is something I've been meaning to sort out for a while. When I looked back to …</p><p>I was running a quick update on my desktop machine this morning when I noticed the collision light on my hub going crazy. The wired network in my house is a little ad-hoc which is something I've been meaning to sort out for a while. When I looked back to the console I noticed the source download had averaged 872 kb/s which explained the collision light. It seems I have finally reached the point when my broadband pipe can supply data faster than the aging 10BASE2 and 10BASE-T cables that run around my house. Just thought I'd mention that :-)</p>
Tech Failure2005-12-10T18:30:00+00:002005-12-10T18:30:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-10:/~alex/blog/2005/12/10/550/<p>Aidan just asked me where Mark's house is for tonight and I couldn't extract the address out of my mail client (out of sync as I can only sync at work). I would have referred to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.palm.com/us/support/m505/">life</a> but I had left that downstairs. It was only after I went …</p><p>Aidan just asked me where Mark's house is for tonight and I couldn't extract the address out of my mail client (out of sync as I can only sync at work). I would have referred to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.palm.com/us/support/m505/">life</a> but I had left that downstairs. It was only after I went looking I realised my phone also knew the answer as it has an almost sync-ed version of my Palm's database.</p>
<p>What I actually need is a master central repository which will stay in sync and not generate any weird duplications (when I add a new contact to my phone for example). Web access would probably be quite useful as well.</p>
<p>However I also want to find a copy of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boris-johnson.com/index.html">Boris Johnson</a>'s last appearance on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_I_Got_News_For_You">Have I got News for You</a> so playing with LDAP servers will have to wait.</p>
30 second catch up2005-12-09T20:55:00+00:002005-12-09T20:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-09:/~alex/blog/2005/12/09/549/<p>Its not that anything hasn't been happened, its more that I've been very busy and less inclined to write up the day when I get home.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Work has been racing towards getting to a feature complete status for Friday. Feature complete meaning getting the chunk of work I'm working on …</p></blockquote><p>Its not that anything hasn't been happened, its more that I've been very busy and less inclined to write up the day when I get home.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Work has been racing towards getting to a feature complete status for Friday. Feature complete meaning getting the chunk of work I'm working on stable and ready for inclusion. Unfortunately while moving across from the other development branch has gone better than expected it has exposed a few bugs in the underlying code. The debugging has been frustrating especially as I'm currently working with other people and getting regressions in my own development branch that I have to fix-up before I continue. This week has been unusual as I lost my temper with one colleague in the office and I've also been sparing with another geek over email. I'd of probably let the second thing go if I hadn't been accused of trying to slip in some changes under the radar. Hopefully things will be sorted once we deliver just before the Christmas holidays. I'm really looking forward to the break!</p>
<p>There has been some recompense this week as I went to the works Christmas do last night. Much hilarity ensued with various silly charades and a very nice air-soft rocker launcher as a Secret Santa gift. Plenty of dancing to the cheesy DJ as well before heading over to Sub Space for professionally DJ'ed cheesy 80's. As per usual I threw a lot of shapes to the Church of Dance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was slightly broken this morning as I only got to bed around 4.15 this morning. My nice fancy shoes are actually proving to be a little hard on the feet for wearing all day as well. Still I had fun which is the main thing :-)</p>
Leave a light on2005-12-06T00:57:00+00:002005-12-06T00:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-06:/~alex/blog/2005/12/06/548/<p>You'd think if you were leaving the house switching off lights (even the energy saving ones) would be a good idea.</p>
<p>Grrrr.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong>Prompted by discussion I decided to look up how much energy it costs to start a energy efficient bulb. I liked <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nef.org.uk/energyadvice/mythstruths.htm">this link</a> as it has a …</p><p>You'd think if you were leaving the house switching off lights (even the energy saving ones) would be a good idea.</p>
<p>Grrrr.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong>Prompted by discussion I decided to look up how much energy it costs to start a energy efficient bulb. I liked <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nef.org.uk/energyadvice/mythstruths.htm">this link</a> as it has a simple calculation attached. However the short answer is once you've had the light on for more than 5 minutes in an empty room your on the wrong side of the energy equation.</p>
Worth watching?2005-12-04T19:03:00+00:002005-12-04T19:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-04:/~alex/blog/2005/12/04/547/<p>Seems <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4496894.stm">Mr Brason</a> has plans for my broadband. Could be interesting.</p>
Just something I threw together2005-12-04T17:08:00+00:002005-12-04T17:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-12-04:/~alex/blog/2005/12/04/546/<p>Friday I popped over to a charity gig to see Helen play in her band. I seem to have finally acquired a taste for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness">Guinness</a><sup>*</sup> which is odd. I think the first alcohol my parents ever bought me was a bottle of Guinness for one of my teenage birthdays. It …</p><p>Friday I popped over to a charity gig to see Helen play in her band. I seem to have finally acquired a taste for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness">Guinness</a><sup>*</sup> which is odd. I think the first alcohol my parents ever bought me was a bottle of Guinness for one of my teenage birthdays. It may of been a ploy to put me off the taste of ale, a hurdle I finally seem to have overcome.</p>
<p>On Saturday Mufi and I braved the town centre shopping. I did quite well having managed to sort out both <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Santa">Secret Santa</a> targets and one of my house mates. I still have my Mum and Brother to do - oh and actually order the rest, but its the choosing stuff thats the hard bit. I also got a new winter coat which seems to have been approved of by the style police.</p>
<p>Half way through shopping we got a call from Chris who was wondering if anything was up. After considering the cinema I offered up my place to slob around in. In the end I had 8 visitors (Mufi, Chris/Paula, Sue, Aidan/Gillian, Jo/Arwel) round while I whipped up a Beef <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulash">Goulash</a> (slightly modified) and my third ever <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=538">Apple Pie</a>. It all seemed to go well. The 7 bottles of red wine, bottle of champagne and half a bottle of Talisker seems to be a testament to everyone having had fun. I do enjoy entertaining :-D</p>
<blockquote>
<sup>*</sup> has to be said I went for Guinness because there was no decent beer</blockquote>
Blog Power Part III2005-11-30T23:52:00+00:002005-11-30T23:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-30:/~alex/blog/2005/11/30/545/<p>I've mentioned them before. I wonder how the use of the Official Secrets Act will fair against various <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boris-johnson.com/archives/2005/11/bush_and_al-jaz.html">UK</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/node/603">bloggers</a>.</p>
New Shiny2005-11-30T17:04:00+00:002005-11-30T17:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-30:/~alex/blog/2005/11/30/new-shiny/<p>My new phone arrived yesterday, I'm quite pleased with it.</p>
<p>First of all the basics. It's a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=gb&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=php1_10244&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10244">d750i</a> which is a development of my old k700i. I'm pretty brand loyal with phones and while most of the world seems to be Nokia fans I've generally found Sony-Ericsson phones capable (and …</p><p>My new phone arrived yesterday, I'm quite pleased with it.</p>
<p>First of all the basics. It's a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=gb&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=php1_10244&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10244">d750i</a> which is a development of my old k700i. I'm pretty brand loyal with phones and while most of the world seems to be Nokia fans I've generally found Sony-Ericsson phones capable (and geek friendly). The basic layout is much the same although navigation is snappier indicating more processor power. Even Java doesn't suck!</p>
<p>A couple of welcome additions include a more sturdy connector for the hands free kit as well improvements to the Radio. The FM tuner is now RDS aware and seems to be more resilient picking up more stations than the k700 did. The volume the radio is capable of seems to be better as well (unless this mornings metro was a quite one). They lose marks for using the proprietary <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_stick">Sony Memory Stick Duo</a> format although it is nice to have a way to boost the phones memory.</p>
<p>The thing I'm most pleased with is the built in camera. I've never been a fan of the concept of phone camera's. I generally regarded them (and the associated MMS photo messaging) as rather gimmicky. However the quality of the images on the 2.0 mega-pixel camera is quite good. Instead of the fixed lense the camera will focus. It has several shoot modes including a rapid 4 in a row mode that gives you more chance of catching a good picture in rapidly moving action. Most importantly the lense is covered so you don't have to clean the lint from your pocket off the lense before you take a photo. It's certainly entering the quick snap capable territory that means I'd be comfortable using it instead of a "real" digital camera.</p>
<p>This of course means the next real camera I get will have to be a decent SLR style digital ;-)</p>
One for the SysAdmin crowd2005-11-28T21:20:00+00:002005-11-28T21:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-28:/~alex/blog/2005/11/28/one-for-the-sysadmin-crowd/<p>In the next few months I face a choice. Upgrade to Exim 4 or change MTA. I originally chose Exim because it was simple and had a readable config file. However looking at the Exim 4 configuration it seems to be heading the way of Sendmail. Does anyone have any …</p><p>In the next few months I face a choice. Upgrade to Exim 4 or change MTA. I originally chose Exim because it was simple and had a readable config file. However looking at the Exim 4 configuration it seems to be heading the way of Sendmail. Does anyone have any experience with Postfix or other MTA's on Debian? Especially a multi-drop setup with integrated <a class="reference external" href="http://spamassassin.apache.org/">Spamassassin</a>?</p>
This is my Wife2005-11-28T19:02:00+00:002005-11-28T19:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-28:/~alex/blog/2005/11/28/542/<p>The title is either cold induced miss-spelling or the postal spam from DFS addressed to myself and the wife I never knew I had.</p>
<blockquote>
The traditional Friday night jaunt was cut short by a desire to get home at a sensible time so I could have a lie in and …</blockquote><p>The title is either cold induced miss-spelling or the postal spam from DFS addressed to myself and the wife I never knew I had.</p>
<blockquote>
The traditional Friday night jaunt was cut short by a desire to get home at a sensible time so I could have a lie in and recover. I did however briefly pop into Ara to say hi and catch up with a few people. Luckily I hadn't quite gotten to bed when I received a call from Lee at 1.30 in the morning to chastise me for leaving so early.</blockquote>
<p>Much as I tried to have a lie in I was still awake by 9.30 although it still took a good 5 hours before I got out of the house. I did get round to purchasing the bits I needed from B&Q (briefly considering getting a decent volt meter before deciding to wait). The fitting of said stuff is waiting for a time when I feel a little more balanced.</p>
<p>Saturday night had originally gotten 3 activities planned which I was going to partake of sequentially. As it happened I only managed the concert. I decided to pass on the other two so I could attempt to get some rest to get over this damn cold.</p>
<p>The concert at the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Hall">Bridgewater Hall</a> was very good. It was the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall%C3%A9_Orchestra">Hall?</a> playing a selection of Oscar winning music from the movies. I really enjoy classical music as there is not much to beat a full orchestra in proper concert hall for richness of sound. I'm very lucky to have somewhere like Bridgewater Hall on my doorstep, I really should take more advantage of it.</p>
<p>Sunday was a "nothing much" day although I did watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364725/">Dodge Ball</a> which I had avoided because the trailer looked juvenile. It turns out in this case the trailer didn't do the movie justice because it was really funny. We also watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259711/">Vanilla Sky</a> which was nice if a little "huh?".</p>
<p>I now intend to follow the rest of this week following my Mum's advice (Mum's usually knowing best in these cases) of "Don't work too hard, eat healthy and early nights".</p>
Questions2005-11-25T12:33:00+00:002005-11-25T12:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-25:/~alex/blog/2005/11/25/541/<p>Interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/default.stm">Question Time</a> last night covering quite a lot of interesting topics. After reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vandruff.com/art_converse.html">this page</a> I noticed an awful lot of the techniques described being used, especially by <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Hattersley">Roy Hattersly</a>.</p>
Prodigy2005-11-24T20:31:00+00:002005-11-24T20:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-24:/~alex/blog/2005/11/24/540/<p>Last night I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prodigy">The Prodigy</a> for the first time. Executive summary: danced like a loon, shame it was a school night.</p>
<blockquote>
We got inside the MEN arena just as Audio Bully's were finishing their set with the remix of the Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang". Suitable to the …</blockquote><p>Last night I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prodigy">The Prodigy</a> for the first time. Executive summary: danced like a loon, shame it was a school night.</p>
<blockquote>
We got inside the MEN arena just as Audio Bully's were finishing their set with the remix of the Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang". Suitable to the audience although I still much prefer the original. A couple of DJ's followed on who again did well working the audience up with some nice dance/rock mash-ups although they could of done with working on their technique a little. However it was all good, by the time they finished the crowd were well up for it.</blockquote>
<p>Once the Prodigy came on they basically kicked off and didn't stop save for the little break between end of main set and encore. They had the crowd dancing from the get-go and basically wouldn't let them sit down and passively enjoy the show.</p>
<p>Throughout the show they kept teasing the crowd with snippets from known crowd pleasers and then going straight into different songs. I didn't actually recognise that much during the first half of the act although it didn't really matter that much. Once I'd pushed further into the crowd I just kept dancing.</p>
<p>Special commendations should go to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VJ">VJ</a> who did a great job doing real-time mixing of live and delayed feeds on the large screens. It made a nice change from either pre-recorded video feeds or a boring repeat of what was on the stage.</p>
<p>For the encore they went particularly old-school playing "Charly" and "Out of Space" which I remember from my student days. Fantastic stuff.</p>
<p>It was one of the best gigs I've been to this year - the Prodigy are certainly know about showmanship . I would defiantly recommend any dance fans to go next time the get a chance. I shall probably go along next time they are in Manchester.</p>
As with everything, context.2005-11-22T15:07:00+00:002005-11-22T15:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-22:/~alex/blog/2005/11/22/539/<p>Watched the "Taming of the Shrew" last night. Its a tricky one to set in a modern context as the plot basically revolves around the male protagonist deciding to tame his prospective partner by being really nasty to her until she submits to his will and becomes the good obedient …</p><p>Watched the "Taming of the Shrew" last night. Its a tricky one to set in a modern context as the plot basically revolves around the male protagonist deciding to tame his prospective partner by being really nasty to her until she submits to his will and becomes the good obedient wife. The un-reality of the situation is expanded on by the short whirlwind romance and the cringing wedding scene. I guess the grotesqueness of the situation is part of the "comedy". The ending was a little more nuanced trying to make the point that a successful marriage takes compromise from both sides to transcend the little things. I would be interested in knowing how the feminists found the adaptation.</p>
<p>I still haven't shaken of this cold. I think I'm just not giving my body enough time to just relax and chill and get better. Its not helped by being quite busy at work as well as socially. I'm booked up Wednesday (Prodigy) , Friday (Ara) and triple booked on Saturday (Halle and 2 parties)! If I'm still feeling crap later this week I'll probably have to dump a bunch of stuff to get some early nights.</p>
Lookin' Dandy2005-11-21T21:14:00+00:002005-11-21T21:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-21:/~alex/blog/2005/11/21/538/<p>Unfortunately cameras where not allowed at the Ball. However I did take some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/Erotica%20Ball%202005">pictures</a> before we left.</p>
Kill, Murder, Destroy2005-11-21T14:54:00+00:002005-11-21T14:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-21:/~alex/blog/2005/11/21/537/<p>One little addendum to the last post. When I got back I did find the left hand wing mirror on my car had been smashed off. This was on the pavement side so it was obviously deliberately vandalised. Must. Fight. Scally. Killing. Urge...</p>
The Weekend, In Review2005-11-21T14:51:00+00:002005-11-21T14:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-21:/~alex/blog/2005/11/21/536/<p>My first visit to London in a long time was a very pleasant affair. I think the last time I went down to London was for the Millennium Dome experience. The experience that time left me wondering what an earth the capital had to offer for me since I migrated …</p><p>My first visit to London in a long time was a very pleasant affair. I think the last time I went down to London was for the Millennium Dome experience. The experience that time left me wondering what an earth the capital had to offer for me since I migrated up North.</p>
<p>It was good to catch up with Ruth in the flesh and under better circumstances than a funeral. She has a very nice flat in <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wapping">Wapping</a> with a nice peaceful urban landscape which seemed at odds with what I thought industrialised London would be like. It was possibly helped by the nice fresh bright winter morning as we walked down the river side to the show.</p>
<blockquote>
The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.erotica-uk.com/">show</a> itself was a lot better than my previous experience in Manchester. For starters the floor area was a lot larger and there where a lot more stands. The stage show was also very well done being more of a set gymnastics routines where the performers wore little rather than being explicitly seedy. In the end I didn't end up buying anything (apart from a lot of olives<sup>*</sup>) but it was still fun to go to.</blockquote>
<p>The evening was more of an eye-opening experience. Aside from a one guy in a Goldilock's wig (and not much else) you could see most people had made an extra special effort for the night. I was pleased with my new jacket (suitable for LARP, less so for lots of dancing) and think I scrubbed up pretty well. I even had new shoes.</p>
<blockquote>
Sunday was a little hectic as I planned on visiting my Aunt and Uncle and Nana before catching the train back. However as they are based south of the river (and further out than the tube) meant I had to take a punt on the regional railways not being crap. It did not bode well when I discovered the Tolworth train was actually a train to Wimbledon and then catching the bus. Luckily (and thanks to the power of mobile communication) we managed a re-rendezvous and my Uncle picked me up from Surbiton and whisked me to their house a cup of tea and sandwich (less ambitious than the original plan of me taking them out to lunch). Still it was nice to see them and next time I travel down to London I shall have to arrange travel better so I can do the lunch thing properly.</blockquote>
<p>The return journey proved to be another exercise in excitement as despite getting the "fast train" (defined by the fact it only stopped at 3 places before Waterloo) it insisted on waiting at each station for 5 minutes so we could stretch our legs or have a fag! When my Palm beeped its half hour warning I was still on the overland regional train on the wrong side of London. Thankfully the I was lucky getting the connection on the Victoria line and made it to the rather packed train at Euston with a whole 5 minutes to spare. Still kudos to the Underground working well (and also being a lot cleaner than I remember).</p>
<blockquote>
The journey back Manchester was pretty uneventful apart from the fact the train was very packed and the queue for the shop lasted most of the journey. I did chat to the producer/director from the BBC who was sat next to me which was interesting. I was even helpful to the point of being able to provide Sunrise and Sunset times for her filming the history of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-operative_Group">Co-Operative movement</a>. She's probably cursing the Manchester fog right now...</blockquote>
<p>Once I got home I mainly collapsed, watched half of Spooks before Anne turned up and then watched Rome which seems to be in sync with where I left of on the HBO version. And then I slept :-)</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>The phrase "you can never have too many olives" may well require the amendment "unless they are chilli stuffed olives".</p>
Rhetorical Question?2005-11-18T02:01:00+00:002005-11-18T02:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-18:/~alex/blog/2005/11/18/535/<p>So I'm one velvet jacket up and I may end up buying shoes tomorow because apparently you need more than one pair. Strange days indeed.</p>
<p>I caught young Mr Cameron being <a class="reference external" href="rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/news/media/avdb/news_web/video/9012da68002bc10/bb/09012da68002bd2e_16x9_bb.rm">grilled my Mr Paxman</a> this evening. How do you think he did?</p>
Hypocrisy2005-11-17T17:42:00+00:002005-11-17T17:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-17:/~alex/blog/2005/11/17/534/<p>So following the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.the-interweb.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/20051117.html">latest developments</a> and it looks like Sony violate the GPL (as well as the LGPL) in their XCP root kit. So what is the message they are sending out? "We'll screw your machine to stop you copying our CD's, but we don't respect the copyright of other …</p><p>So following the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.the-interweb.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/20051117.html">latest developments</a> and it looks like Sony violate the GPL (as well as the LGPL) in their XCP root kit. So what is the message they are sending out? "We'll screw your machine to stop you copying our CD's, but we don't respect the copyright of other people". Of course in the light of this their U-turn makes more sense as the copyright holders could go to the court and enforce their copyrights to stop Sony distributing the stolen code. I wonder if they realised they had infringed the GPL and stood a very real chance of getting an injunction served against them?</p>
Two for the Blogs2005-11-16T22:26:00+00:002005-11-16T22:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-16:/~alex/blog/2005/11/16/533/<p>As I'm catching up with the news between compiles I noticed two stories that I was first aware of through the Blogsphere. The first was a follow up to something I've mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=535">before</a>. It seems that Sony are <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4441928.stm">recalling</a> their XCP copy protection discs. The second was regarding the use …</p><p>As I'm catching up with the news between compiles I noticed two stories that I was first aware of through the Blogsphere. The first was a follow up to something I've mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=535">before</a>. It seems that Sony are <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4441928.stm">recalling</a> their XCP copy protection discs. The second was regarding the use of <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4442988.stm">White Phosphorus in Iraq</a>.</p>
<p>While in both cases I'm sure the respective spin machines are revving up as we speak I have little doubt that blogs have played a major part in the stories. The fact motivated individuals can do some research and make their findings universally available has to be a good thing. Some people point to the dangers of online repeating lible (one of the first 'net cases I was aware of was a libel case). However they miss the point. If a journalist takes the supposition of a random blog at face value they aren't doing their job. However if lots of people a linking (and more importantly discussing and commenting) to a blog story then it points to something the traditional media should at least investigate. And in that regard I think that is a good thing. Thats why I support the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/badges/">EFF's latest campaign</a>.</p>
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Is this a Knife I see before me?2005-11-15T17:33:00+00:002005-11-15T17:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-15:/~alex/blog/2005/11/15/532/<p>Yesterday we watched the next in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/tvdramas.shtml">ShakespeaRe-told</a> series: Macbeth. It was more of a transposition than a re-telling but still enjoyable. As far as I could tell all the classic aspects of Macbeth where kept in (Witches, Bloody Hands, Mad People). Yet again there where bits of the original …</p><p>Yesterday we watched the next in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/tvdramas.shtml">ShakespeaRe-told</a> series: Macbeth. It was more of a transposition than a re-telling but still enjoyable. As far as I could tell all the classic aspects of Macbeth where kept in (Witches, Bloody Hands, Mad People). Yet again there where bits of the original language inserted in as well as some sly references to theatrical tradition for laughs. Obviously it was a lot darker than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=530">previous play</a> but still entertaining. Well done BBC :-)</p>
Plays, Pies and Parenthood2005-11-14T15:03:00+00:002005-11-14T15:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-14:/~alex/blog/2005/11/14/531/<p>I was collared by the market research people on the way back from a lunch with Jo this lunchtime. Apparently I looked like someone who could have been a parent. Obviously the weekend has taken more toll that I thought!</p>
<p>Saturday night saw me heading down to see TJ's performance …</p><p>I was collared by the market research people on the way back from a lunch with Jo this lunchtime. Apparently I looked like someone who could have been a parent. Obviously the weekend has taken more toll that I thought!</p>
<p>Saturday night saw me heading down to see TJ's performance in <a class="reference external" href="http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:www.knutsfordlittletheatre.com/4.htm">"One For the Road"</a>. I really enjoyed the play. Aside from the excellent script there was more humour in enjoying TJ's delivering admonishments for people being late during the play. Unfortunately I missed Andy's party as I returned back to TJ's to enjoy champaign with the thespians.</p>
<p>Sunday was very laid back as I joined Aidan and Gillian in town for a few drinks. I was a little shocked that there were so few poppy's on display considering it was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Sunday">Remembrance Sunday</a> although the ratio was substantially improved in the pubs which had a lot of the people in for their post-ceremony drinks.</p>
<p>I returned home to be fed by Anne's cottage pie (in a bid to use up some of the mountain of mince Andy got for the party). I reciprocated with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=533">another attempt</a> at Apple Pie. I followed the same Ms Beaton recipe but added a little water during the mixing stage. The resulting mixture proved a lot easier to work. I'm unsure about the brushing cold water on the crust bit though. On other pies I've always gotten a better result with milk or a bit of beaten egg. I'll have to try that next time.</p>
Rome2005-11-12T13:38:00+00:002005-11-12T13:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-12:/~alex/blog/2005/11/12/530/<p>After the beer festival last night we decided to catch up on the latest HBO/BBC co-production <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/rome/">Rome</a>. Anne had already seen it when it first aired on the BBC and it transpired that the version I had (I assume the HBO one) was subtly different. It seems that the …</p><p>After the beer festival last night we decided to catch up on the latest HBO/BBC co-production <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/rome/">Rome</a>. Anne had already seen it when it first aired on the BBC and it transpired that the version I had (I assume the HBO one) was subtly different. It seems that the BBC version has been more heavily cut and the episode endings changed around a bit. I'm not sure what to do when I catch up with the BBC schedule. It might get confusing if I keep chopping and changing between the two variants.</p>
<p>Cuts aside I enjoyed it. Its certainly a big budget drama with a lot of historical flavour. And of course the classic Roman debauchery appeals to me a little as well ;-)</p>
Music be the food of drunks2005-11-12T13:03:00+00:002005-11-12T13:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-12:/~alex/blog/2005/11/12/529/<p>Well day two of the Beer festival went well after I we were joined by Mark and co. I only spent ?15 on getting Bohemian Rhapsody on the charity request list (someone had paid ?10 to get it off just as we where getting into our full operatic roar). There …</p><p>Well day two of the Beer festival went well after I we were joined by Mark and co. I only spent ?15 on getting Bohemian Rhapsody on the charity request list (someone had paid ?10 to get it off just as we where getting into our full operatic roar). There was other cheesy rock as well as a repeat rendition of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesney_Hawkes">Chesney Hawkes'</a> "I am the one and only". Apparently there was an extra 15 barrels of beer compared to last year yet they still managed to run out of glasses and beer by the end of Friday night. It wasn't us, honest.</p>
<p>We retired to the Student Union bar, continued to sing at the top of our lungs before retreating to the Retro bar. They had a really cool jukebox which had a selection of 2 million tracks (I assume it downloads them on demand). Given our already inebriated state we monopolised the juke box dredging up tracks from "Highway to Hell" (<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayseed_Dixie">Hayseed Dixie</a> version) to "Thunderchild" from <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wayne">Jeff Wayne's</a> War of the Worlds. There may of been singing - but to be honest it starts to get hazy from that point.</p>
Latest Salvo2005-11-11T14:32:00+00:002005-11-11T14:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-11:/~alex/blog/2005/11/11/528/<p>Music lovers may be interested in the latest <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4427606.stm">activity</a> surrounding the Sony CD "root kits". Its even more enlightening when you read the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004145.php">EULA</a> that comes with them. Thats right kids, you no longer buy CD's, your just a licensee.</p>
Spare Head One2005-11-11T13:30:00+00:002005-11-11T13:30:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-11:/~alex/blog/2005/11/11/527/<p>Last nights visitation to the (ex-UMIST) Beer Festival was enjoyable. There was only a small amount of air guitar and raucous singing involved. We all got home at reasonable times. I absolutely stuck to my policy of not getting a second book of tickets (ref: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=257">last year</a>). My head is …</p><p>Last nights visitation to the (ex-UMIST) Beer Festival was enjoyable. There was only a small amount of air guitar and raucous singing involved. We all got home at reasonable times. I absolutely stuck to my policy of not getting a second book of tickets (ref: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=257">last year</a>). My head is only slightly sore and thats probably more to do with the contents of the beer rather than actual volume.</p>
<p>One side effect of wearing my contacts last night was I (rather sensibly I thought) left my glasses at work. Although I wondered around the house this morning wearing my prescription sunglasses I walked to work sans visual enhancements. Everything took on a fuzzy aspect that seemed strangely appropriate ;-)</p>
Aftermath2005-11-10T15:33:00+00:002005-11-10T15:33:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-10:/~alex/blog/2005/11/10/526/<p>Reading up on the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4424594.stm">political aftermath</a> of yesterdays commons victory (and Blair's defeat) did make me wonder how much our glorious leader wants to ape <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher">Thatcher</a>. Time for a night of the long knives yet?</p>
<p>The meal last night went well if a little rushed thanks to tram chaos. I …</p><p>Reading up on the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4424594.stm">political aftermath</a> of yesterdays commons victory (and Blair's defeat) did make me wonder how much our glorious leader wants to ape <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher">Thatcher</a>. Time for a night of the long knives yet?</p>
<p>The meal last night went well if a little rushed thanks to tram chaos. I did have trouble getting the pastry for the Apple Pie right. In the end I didn't have to pierce it to ensure the steam could get out as it already had a series of gaps from where it didn't quite reach properly. However I shall endeavour to bake more pies in the future ;-)</p>
It makes me so angry...2005-11-09T12:14:00+00:002005-11-09T12:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-09:/~alex/blog/2005/11/09/525/<p>..waking up this morning listening to government ministers accusing the opposition of short term political opportunism on the run up to the vote on the new <a class="reference external" href="http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4419970.stm">terror laws</a>. The central argument seemed to be because the police said they had to have the extended detention times you were anti-country by …</p><p>..waking up this morning listening to government ministers accusing the opposition of short term political opportunism on the run up to the vote on the new <a class="reference external" href="http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4419970.stm">terror laws</a>. The central argument seemed to be because the police said they had to have the extended detention times you were anti-country by opposing the proposals. I got even more annoyed when they start trotting out the "if you knew what we knew line" about the current threat levels. It seems people haven't learnt about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/news/butler.html">spin</a> from this government over the whole WMD debacle. Apparently we are meant to be a changed country since the July 7th attacks. I'm not sure why, after all the IRA were quite capable of inflicting casualties during their campaign. The current lot may have different motivation but the end effect is the same. This shouldn't be an excuse to throw out a whole bunch of <a class="reference external" href="http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4329839.stm">fundamental</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_jury">rights</a>. We shouldn't forget that detention without trial is one of the chief tools used by repressive regimes to intimidate and harass their detractors.</p>
<p>Raaar!</p>
Remembrance2005-11-08T14:37:00+00:002005-11-08T14:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-08:/~alex/blog/2005/11/08/524/<p>I've been trying to get a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/who/remember_sunday.asp">poppy</a> for the last week and haven't had any luck. Last time I was in Tesco's I asked the cashier and she remembered they did sell them in previous years but they haven't seen them this year. Apparently there have been people about in …</p><p>I've been trying to get a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/who/remember_sunday.asp">poppy</a> for the last week and haven't had any luck. Last time I was in Tesco's I asked the cashier and she remembered they did sell them in previous years but they haven't seen them this year. Apparently there have been people about in St Anne's square at the weekends but I've obviously missed them all. I'm actually quite annoyed that I haven't been able to get one so far.</p>
Worth the Fee2005-11-08T14:31:00+00:002005-11-08T14:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-08:/~alex/blog/2005/11/08/523/<p>I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/tvdramas.shtml">ShakespeaRe-told</a> version of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing">Much Ado About Nothing</a> last night. Its one of the plays I've not seen before so I cam to it completely fresh. I thought it was really good and nice to see an adaptation to modern language which probably makes it a lot more …</p><p>I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/tvdramas.shtml">ShakespeaRe-told</a> version of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing">Much Ado About Nothing</a> last night. Its one of the plays I've not seen before so I cam to it completely fresh. I thought it was really good and nice to see an adaptation to modern language which probably makes it a lot more immediately accessible that the normal modern dress adaptations that keep the language of the Bard intact. It was a nice touch bringing in some of Shakespear's sonnets in the hotel room scene though. I shall be keeping Monday evening's free for the next 3. I've seen "The Taming of the Shrew" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the original language on the stage so it will be interesting to compare those adaptations.</p>
Burn Him!2005-11-07T19:52:00+00:002005-11-07T19:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-07:/~alex/blog/2005/11/07/522/<p>I'm feeling a lot better and cheerier today. I think the cordite and fumes have done my lungs a world of good and helped clear up my recent stuffiness. Anne does however seem to crashed with some (possibly un-related) lurgy.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Friday night proved to a repeat of the usual Friday …</p></blockquote><p>I'm feeling a lot better and cheerier today. I think the cordite and fumes have done my lungs a world of good and helped clear up my recent stuffiness. Anne does however seem to crashed with some (possibly un-related) lurgy.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Friday night proved to a repeat of the usual Friday night post works drinks with a couple of minor variations. I didn't leave the office until around half eight (although in its favour this did mean I'd actually eaten something before starting down the path of drinking). I did moderate to degree being one of the few patrons of a drinking establishment to ask for some hot water for my Lemsip. Overall probably a no-score draw in terms of getting better.</p>
<p>I didn't really achieve that much on Saturday apart from starting on the slowly growing pile of paper work. About the only thing I managed was paying the guy that fixed my roof. There is a pile of stuff now sat by my PC awaiting the next time I get home on time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I made to decision to stay sober for the annual dangerous fireworks party and headed to Knutsford to celebrate the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes">failed terrorist</a>. Marcus and myself appointed ourselves launch marshals for the event and set to work preparing to almost - but not quite blow ourselves up. The first order of business was ensuring we had a launch pit that would meet at least some of the requirements of the firework safety guide (25 meter range being the other rather difficult to achieve one). After digging up a considerable tract of Mufi's lawn we proceeded with the main event.</p>
<p>The display went down quite well although I think the number of large fireworks has gone done a little compared to 2 years ago. There where only a few lessons learned. Yet again I failed to appreciate the sticks on the rockets did more than provide a tube docking system. Still no one died so thats the important thing ;-)</p>
<blockquote>
Sunday was pretty much a wash out. Although intending to be in town for 3pm the household was delayed considerably by watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335438/">Starsky & Hutch</a> which despite some of the comments I've heard from others I still enjoyed. I guess it comes down to if you don't mind one of the shows from your youth being totally played for laughs.</blockquote>
<p>I wandered into town to catch up on a few "chase the winter blues away" drinks with a bunch of the "goth" crowd in Sinclairs. I decided to pass on the food and popped into the office to see if I could improve on the situation from Friday although I got nicely sidetracked chatting to Jo online instead. After a quick pass-through Via Fossa on the way home I eventually got home after a nice relaxing evening.</p>
<p>So all in all an entertaining weekend. It would of been better if I wasn't so lurgified. However I think I'm all set for this week now :-)</p>
Phlegmatic2005-11-03T14:34:00+00:002005-11-03T14:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-03:/~alex/blog/2005/11/03/521/<p>I'm feeling a little crappy today. I've been carrying a cough for the last week or two and I thought I'd gotten away with it this year. Now the cough is slowly getting better I'm starting to feel generally crappy and bunged up. It probably not helped by being tired …</p><p>I'm feeling a little crappy today. I've been carrying a cough for the last week or two and I thought I'd gotten away with it this year. Now the cough is slowly getting better I'm starting to feel generally crappy and bunged up. It probably not helped by being tired from the late nights I've pulled this week. I have resorted to my usual <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_juice">cure all</a>.</p>
All Work, Little Play2005-11-02T20:36:00+00:002005-11-02T20:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-11-02:/~alex/blog/2005/11/02/520/<p>The last two evenings have been mainly filled with work. I left the office at 22.40 on Monday and had some very poor sleep - I couldn't stop dreaming of the re-compile/test cycle. It can get very annoying dreaming about code sometimes, especially when your dreaming version of the …</p><p>The last two evenings have been mainly filled with work. I left the office at 22.40 on Monday and had some very poor sleep - I couldn't stop dreaming of the re-compile/test cycle. It can get very annoying dreaming about code sometimes, especially when your dreaming version of the codes layout is wrong and <strong>you know it</strong>.</p>
<p>Yesterday I didn't stay so late and left by 21.00 followed by a few beers at the work local (logic being it would help idle-cycling the brain). When I got back me and Anne educated Andy in a few techniques for identifying processed food. I have a felling I followed up with a little rant on what cleaning a toilet actually entails. Still we did stay up for a bit discussing the original Star Wars (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=504">with it on!</a>). I hope Andy isn't feeling too put upon.</p>
<p>Today I had good session of Badminton with Lucy. Two of the games where quite close (went to tie-breakers) and I certainly feel as though I got some exercise out of it. A good job too as I'm probably going to miss Yoga again tomorrow :-(</p>
Nipples and Chilli2005-10-31T13:32:00+00:002005-10-31T13:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-31:/~alex/blog/2005/10/31/519/<p>Saturday I managed the small piece of DIY by finally painting over the hideous brown of the central ceiling rose in my front room. Unfortunately as around 3 coats of paint where needed I didn't get the new lights up that night being late as I was for Lucy's Halloween …</p><p>Saturday I managed the small piece of DIY by finally painting over the hideous brown of the central ceiling rose in my front room. Unfortunately as around 3 coats of paint where needed I didn't get the new lights up that night being late as I was for Lucy's Halloween party.</p>
<blockquote>
I went for the zombie look again although this time as a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/_anima_/57510222/in/set-1245185/">dead gangster</a>. I was quite pleased with the gunshot effect which I achieved with a Brule lighter and a plumbers mat. In hindsight I should of checked the positions of the bullet holes more carefully. The top right shot was inconveniently positioned near by right nipple. The fake skin (basically liquid latex) did a very good job of bonding with my chest hair which made removing the shirt when I got home an interesting experience. Still it was an entertaining evening where I got to meet some new people, dicuss film and stuff my face with Lucy's very nice party food.</blockquote>
<p>I left around one in the morning pleading tiredness and walked back home in full Zombie get-up. Although somehow I ended watching the final episode of season one of <a class="reference external" href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/">Lost</a> with Andy. Still I feel as though I ended up in better shape than had I followed Lee onto Chris P's party which only started at 10.</p>
<blockquote>
Despite the eventual late hour of getting to sleep I was woken at 9.30 by a phone call from Lee pleading that I "achieved something" with my day on account of his impending in-ability to achieve anything of note for the rest of the day. This did re-assure me I'd made the right choice the previous night as I already had some plans for the day.</blockquote>
<p>After I finished putting up the light fitting I did a quick run to Asda (which for some reason has been uber-busy the last two days) to pick up food for the afternoon. I was starting to get worried I wouldn't get everything ready in time for when my friends from work arrived at 3 when I realised I magically gained an extra hour. Once the chilli was in the oven I able to relax into an afternoon of DVD entertainment.</p>
<p>We watched the pilot episode of Firefly (in a blatant attempt at fan generation) before settling down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376541/">Closer</a>. I really enjoyed the film despite the fact the plot didn't really go anywhere. Even though the majority of the scenes where depressing (the film mainly concentrates on the break-ups) I still found the dialog and acting very good. Some of the lines where also wickedly funny - especially the chat room scene.</p>
<blockquote>
After my guests had departed having had a nice relaxing evening Andy and I continued to sate our Lost habit with the first 3 episodes of season 2 back-to-back. I'm a little concerned what we are going to do once we catch up with the US and have to wait 3 weeks between episodes. I'm already eagerly anticipating Battlestar Galactica which doesn't restart until January!</blockquote>
I had to pinch myself2005-10-29T12:04:00+01:002005-10-29T12:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-29:/~alex/blog/2005/10/29/518/<p>I caught up with Sheila last night for a few after work drinks. I met a bunch of her work/TKD friends including a lass by the name of Clare. Turns out she is a software engineer which was nice. For some reason my industry has a deficit of female …</p><p>I caught up with Sheila last night for a few after work drinks. I met a bunch of her work/TKD friends including a lass by the name of Clare. Turns out she is a software engineer which was nice. For some reason my industry has a deficit of female software engineers. We chatted for a bit and it transpired she was a bit of a command line fan as well. We started really geeking out at this point and discussing editors at it turns out she was an <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMACS">Emacs</a> user as well (in *nix world your generally a fan of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi">vi</a> or EMACS). We didn't spend all our time discussing computer geekery, we did spend a little time talking about make-up and latex. It turns out she also likes wearing "provocative" rubber dresses - although like me in the "not a goth" category. I think I shall ask Sheila to see if she wants to come along to the next <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aranights.com/">Ara</a>. That's assuming I've not just recollected a dream ;-)</p>
Free Beer: Re-dux2005-10-28T18:32:00+01:002005-10-28T18:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-28:/~alex/blog/2005/10/28/517/<p>The companies 5th Birthday party was a relatively quiet affair involving free food (which I didn't eat much off having stuffed myself at lunch with Paula, Lee et all). However the 3 crates of Stella lasted about 1.5 hours which may of explained the pictures of me playing twister …</p><p>The companies 5th Birthday party was a relatively quiet affair involving free food (which I didn't eat much off having stuffed myself at lunch with Paula, Lee et all). However the 3 crates of Stella lasted about 1.5 hours which may of explained the pictures of me playing twister. There was Boddingtons as well but I didn't really drinking a pale imitation of beer from a can (larger to its credit tends to taste the same from a can or pump).</p>
<p>At some point there was a desire expressed to leave the office and head to somewhere hipper. We ended up in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.purespacecafebar.co.uk/">Pure Space</a> before heading down to the club underneath (scene of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=491">lost number incident</a>). I'm starting to quite like this club. Despite being quite hot and sweaty I had a great time dancing around like a loon to a whole bunch of classic student tunes (i.e. from when I was a student!). This has affected me slightly today as I got to bed at around 3 this morning. Thank god for flexible working hours, although the progress meeting this morning was a bit of a drag. Early night for me tonight I expect.</p>
TDB if Broken2005-10-28T03:42:00+01:002005-10-28T03:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-28:/~alex/blog/2005/10/28/516/<p>Well that went well. Ended up in Spaced/Sub-Space after the free beer. Danced a <strong>lot</strong> and fully expect breakage tomorrow.</p>
Just another manic Week2005-10-27T13:14:00+01:002005-10-27T13:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-27:/~alex/blog/2005/10/27/515/<p>I'm down on my exercise quota for the week. I had planned on running on Tuesday but found the bed too warm. i was going to be playing Badminton yesterday but it got cancelled at the last minute. I could go to Yoga today but the company is having a …</p><p>I'm down on my exercise quota for the week. I had planned on running on Tuesday but found the bed too warm. i was going to be playing Badminton yesterday but it got cancelled at the last minute. I could go to Yoga today but the company is having a 5th Birthday party this evening. That and I've been developing a cough over the last few days.</p>
<p>Work in the meantime has been quite intense. I've been shuffling between 4-5 worlds (different streams of work) all week. This is not the best way to work as my brain is constantly context switching between different problems and I far prefer to hack solidly for a few hours on one problem. However interruptions have pretty much been wiping out my mornings and then the long compiles and run-times leave me either twiddling my fingers or looking at another world (flushing the brain cache so to speak). I'm going to have to learn to start saying no to some of the people that turn up to my desk today.</p>
The Price you Pay2005-10-25T23:25:00+01:002005-10-25T23:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-25:/~alex/blog/2005/10/25/514/<p>There is some reason I'm actually sat in the office at 22:20 tonight. I've just come back from seeing Mitch Benn at Matt & Phreads. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to kick of all the test runs before I dived out and I figured it would be easier (with …</p><p>There is some reason I'm actually sat in the office at 22:20 tonight. I've just come back from seeing Mitch Benn at Matt & Phreads. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to kick of all the test runs before I dived out and I figured it would be easier (with history and all that) to kick it off from the office. If I hadn't of had so many beers I may even be tempted to code some l33t routs.</p>
Mitch Benn2005-10-24T19:17:00+01:002005-10-24T19:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-24:/~alex/blog/2005/10/24/513/<p>Scot pointed out Mitch Benn is playing at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.manchestercomedyfestival.com/textonly/event.asp?eventID=58">Matt and Phreads</a> tomorrow. I love working in town.</p>
Your dead to me now2005-10-24T12:48:00+01:002005-10-24T12:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-24:/~alex/blog/2005/10/24/512/<p>I finished off the final hour or so of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/">The Godfather: Part II</a> last night. It was probably a mistake to get the super extended special edition version in the first place. However in the end its still quite a good film, although not as good as Part I in …</p><p>I finished off the final hour or so of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/">The Godfather: Part II</a> last night. It was probably a mistake to get the super extended special edition version in the first place. However in the end its still quite a good film, although not as good as Part I in my opinion.</p>
<p>I also got a chance to pop in on Daz and Heidi to see the new addition to the clan. Both mother and baby are doing fine. There was only minor talk about the nutritional content of placenta. There was also hi-tech baby monitoring kit, mini-CCTV no less! I didn't get a chance to get any photo's, however at this stage they all the same right?</p>
Gods own country2005-10-23T00:27:00+01:002005-10-23T00:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-23:/~alex/blog/2005/10/23/511/<p>Today has been a nice day of walking in the Yorkshire Dales with the folks and family friends. One thing I miss living in the city is the ability to walk 10 miles and see no other people (although a lot more sheep). The weather wasn?t perfect but certainly …</p><p>Today has been a nice day of walking in the Yorkshire Dales with the folks and family friends. One thing I miss living in the city is the ability to walk 10 miles and see no other people (although a lot more sheep). The weather wasn?t perfect but certainly manageable. I appreciated the couple of pints in the Sam Smiths pub at the end. I think my Dad got the chance to savour a round costing under a fiver ;-)</p>
<p>The evening was rounded off with a nice meal in the centre of York. Apparently I committed a social faux pas by declining the chance of dessert at the restaurant by mentioning we had remembered we had a nice home made apple pie at home left over from the previous night. Once we got home the text messages started flying as we welcomed baby Niahm into the world (Mufi won the sweepstake by the way). The final few hours of the evening have been spent fixing an errant IE (by way of Firefox) and refreshing myself on the rules of bridge. Anyone want to partner up for a rubber?</p>
Hooray, Hooray, its a Holi-holi-day!2005-10-21T15:50:00+01:002005-10-21T15:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-21:/~alex/blog/2005/10/21/510/<p>Well I'm now booked on a flight to Barcelona next February for a skiing holiday in Andorra with a bunch of the guys from work. I hope my liver can take it....</p>
You heard it here first2005-10-20T12:16:00+01:002005-10-20T12:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-20:/~alex/blog/2005/10/20/509/<p>It was nice to see the EFF announcement I pointed to on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=514">Tuesday</a> was the headline in this mornings <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/home/live/index.html?in_page_id=10">Metro</a>. I'm not holding my breath for the expose on DRM and online music price gouging though.</p>
<p>This morning was slightly odd start having had a post-apocalyptic War of the Worlds …</p><p>It was nice to see the EFF announcement I pointed to on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=514">Tuesday</a> was the headline in this mornings <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/home/live/index.html?in_page_id=10">Metro</a>. I'm not holding my breath for the expose on DRM and online music price gouging though.</p>
<p>This morning was slightly odd start having had a post-apocalyptic War of the Worlds type dream. I only mention it because for reasons only known to my subconscious I decided the Trafford Centre was a good place to hole up. Oh and I did manage to do a run this morning, much to Anne's surprise. I must of looked only slighty better than <a class="reference external" href="http://fleur7717.fotopic.net/p21740882.html">this</a>.</p>
Bad Men2005-10-19T17:53:00+01:002005-10-19T17:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-19:/~alex/blog/2005/10/19/508/<p>Mark is a bad man. Combined with Lee the two make a positively corrupting duo. Today I had possibly my longest lunch ever having left the office at 12.30 for my Badminton session with Lucy. I veered off course returning to the office to grab some lunch<sup>*</sup> at the …</p><p>Mark is a bad man. Combined with Lee the two make a positively corrupting duo. Today I had possibly my longest lunch ever having left the office at 12.30 for my Badminton session with Lucy. I veered off course returning to the office to grab some lunch<sup>*</sup> at the Rain Bar with the two aforementioned reprobates. I eventually got back to the office just before 3. As I left at the comparatively early time of 6.30 last night to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312004/">Wallace & Gromit</a> and I'm off more or less on time today for the Wednesday Meal the pile of work looks loomingly large considering the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=510">circumstances</a>. I think this means I shall have to skip Yoga tomorrow (which involves leaving just after 6 to get to Altrincham in time). So with this in mind I <strong>must</strong> go for a run tomorrow morning.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>A pint of beer may of been involved</p>
Tin Foil2005-10-18T16:53:00+01:002005-10-18T16:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-18:/~alex/blog/2005/10/18/507/<p>Got a colour printer? Print anything subversive? You may want to read <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/">this</a>.</p>
A Question of Leadership2005-10-18T13:38:00+01:002005-10-18T13:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-18:/~alex/blog/2005/10/18/506/<p>So for some people (me included) today will be an <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4351414.stm">interesting experience</a>. Heck even if you oppose the Tories and all they stand for hopefully you'll appreciate the importance of having a strong opposition party. So my run-down of the candidates is:</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.drliamfox.com/">Dr Liam Fox</a> has always been someone I've …</p><p>So for some people (me included) today will be an <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4351414.stm">interesting experience</a>. Heck even if you oppose the Tories and all they stand for hopefully you'll appreciate the importance of having a strong opposition party. So my run-down of the candidates is:</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.drliamfox.com/">Dr Liam Fox</a> has always been someone I've admired, especially when he shadowed Health. However as leader I'm not as comfortable with his right wing euro-sceptic position. His speech to conference promoting "traditional tory values" smacks of preaching to the blue-rinse brigade and not reaching out to the broader electorate. Being un-apologetically insular will just not win an election these days no mater how well you can hold up your core vote.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.ken-clarke.com/">Ken Clark</a> is probably the most popular choice. He is well known, liberal and has a record in office that is pretty respectable. Un-spun would be a good counter to the New Labour media machine. However he is getting on a bit and much as I agree with his european agenda I can just see him getting messily entangled in his parties internal schism should we ever actually need to move forward on the issue. However if he does make it I'm not going to complain.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://modernconservatives.com/">David Davies</a> just leaves me cold. I did not find his party conference speech that inspiring although I don't believe you should write someone off for a bad day. I'm not sure if I can put my finger on what I dislike about him except maybe his known right-wing views. Maybe its just the fact that he is apparently popular to the party membership makes me fear the preaching to converted that hasn't gotten the party anywhere in the last 2 elections.</p>
<p>And finally media darling <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cameroncampaign.org/">David Cameron</a>. One small worry I do have is given all the media speculation on his drug taking in the past I haven't heard much about his policies. Having said that his reputation as a radical reformer is exactly what is needed at this point. And I think the fact he has handled the intense media storm without breaking and keeping smiling bodes well for the future.</p>
<p>So my preference? David Cameron. Failing that I'd accept Ken Clarke with Cameron in the cabinet ready to take over after the first term. I may accept Davies but I worry that I really won't.</p>
Defeated by Exim2005-10-16T20:54:00+01:002005-10-16T20:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-16:/~alex/blog/2005/10/16/defeated-by-exim/<p>Failed in my attempt to upgrade to exim4 today. The documentation for upgrading is just so dam sparse. It doesn't help that all the Debian Specific Documentation is in the exim4-base package. This means you have to commit to upgrading before you've had a chance to read the migration notes …</p><p>Failed in my attempt to upgrade to exim4 today. The documentation for upgrading is just so dam sparse. It doesn't help that all the Debian Specific Documentation is in the exim4-base package. This means you have to commit to upgrading before you've had a chance to read the migration notes. After about a hour of faffing around with a non-working mail system I reverted back to exim3 and everything starts working again. I may of generated a few bounces in the process but I think they where mainly all spam anyway. A re-send will work. I shall have to give it another go once I'm more compos mentis.</p>
<p>I blame a lot of this on being very tired. I had an okay Wendyhouse last night although not one of my best. I should of been more awake but I was paying for my exuberance on Friday night. Still next weekend should involve some healthy exercise as I join my parents up in York for a bit of walking. And drinking, *ehem*...</p>
Broken Again2005-10-15T16:54:00+01:002005-10-15T16:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-15:/~alex/blog/2005/10/15/504/<p>Keeping up with the twenty-five something set is going to take a lot of hard work. I ended up heading home from Salford at 3.30 last night after a traditional beer and kebab experience. I lay in bed for a while this morning while recovering. Needless to say my …</p><p>Keeping up with the twenty-five something set is going to take a lot of hard work. I ended up heading home from Salford at 3.30 last night after a traditional beer and kebab experience. I lay in bed for a while this morning while recovering. Needless to say my high falutin' plans of DIY and decorating have bitten the dust. I've just got about enough time to sort out costume for tonight and get vaugley respectable.</p>
<p>Revelation of last night (well re-statement by someone other than Lee) was I may possibly come across as arrogant. I was a little taken aback because I thought I tried to maintain a self-effacing demeanour. Still my mum assures me its something my father also "suffers from" so at least I can just blame genetics ;-)</p>
Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Old Bones2005-10-14T14:40:00+01:002005-10-14T14:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-14:/~alex/blog/2005/10/14/503/<p>I'm feeling a little achy today after Yoga last night. I keep missing the odd week and my exercise regime has been sporadic to say the best. This week has been the most I've done in a while. I'm going to make more of an effort to keep it regular …</p><p>I'm feeling a little achy today after Yoga last night. I keep missing the odd week and my exercise regime has been sporadic to say the best. This week has been the most I've done in a while. I'm going to make more of an effort to keep it regular so I don't have to deal with my body re-adjusting every few weeks. TJ gave me my birthday present last night which was a very cool little solar panel gizmo. It is definitely a geek toy as it has a bunch of different connectors including crocodile clips for all your power needs. I can see it being most useful for re-charging my phone at festivals :-)</p>
<p>Today our manager offered free food and beer for the next month or so. This display of generosity wasn't entirely altruistic though. We are entering the lead up to our first beta release so its now all hands to the pump. He mentioned what sort of incentives we would like and I've been giving it a little thought. At the end of the day I get paid pretty well for what I do and I'm not actually mad keen on sacrificing all my time for a few hundred extra quid at the end of the year. One problem with the VPN access I have at home is its quite hard to head upstairs when you get home and lock yourself in the study and get decent code done. However there are plenty of things I can push through in the evening while chilling downstairs catching up on TV and housemates. What I miss from the last job is having a laptop so I think I shall see if he goes for that.</p>
Yes!!!!!!2005-10-13T00:46:00+01:002005-10-13T00:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-13:/~alex/blog/2005/10/13/502/<p>I've just checked and Greedo never gets the shot off :-)</p>
Badminton2005-10-12T16:38:00+01:002005-10-12T16:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-12:/~alex/blog/2005/10/12/501/<p>I have just played an hours worth of Badminton with Lucy and now feel suitably worked out. Along with the 40 minutes of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanks%27_mare">Shanks' pony</a> for the round trip I'm feeling a lot better about troughing the meal tonight.</p>
<p>Watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/">The Day the Earth Stood Still</a> last night. Very enjoyable …</p><p>I have just played an hours worth of Badminton with Lucy and now feel suitably worked out. Along with the 40 minutes of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanks%27_mare">Shanks' pony</a> for the round trip I'm feeling a lot better about troughing the meal tonight.</p>
<p>Watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/">The Day the Earth Stood Still</a> last night. Very enjoyable it was too. I now understand one of the jokes in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/">Army of Darkness</a>.</p>
Media Frenzy2005-10-11T11:57:00+01:002005-10-11T11:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-11:/~alex/blog/2005/10/11/500/<p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.channel4.com/more4/event/S/socialsecretary.html">A Very Social Secretary</a> which was part of the More4 launch last night. I still remember when the current lot claimed to be <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1211161.stm">"whiter than white"</a> and it did provide a nice potted history of Labour Scandals since they got in.</p>
<p>For the record I have no issue …</p><p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.channel4.com/more4/event/S/socialsecretary.html">A Very Social Secretary</a> which was part of the More4 launch last night. I still remember when the current lot claimed to be <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1211161.stm">"whiter than white"</a> and it did provide a nice potted history of Labour Scandals since they got in.</p>
<p>For the record I have no issue with who a minister may or may not be having an affair with (well I do if they start moralising at the masses: cf <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_Basics">Back to Basics</a>). However its all the other little (and not so little) abuses of power that get me annoyed. I always found it hard to understand how a blow-job almost bought down a President.</p>
<p>While on the subject of media I should also mention Alan Bennett's "Untold Stories" is currently the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/book_of_the_week.shtml">Book of the Week</a>. I love his ironic comedic style which is well complimented by his delivery in his rolling Yorkshire accent.</p>
<p>I should also mention (quite appropriately) catching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshourdrama/pip/kjrzy/">this</a> last night driving to the Trafford Centre to get my eyes poked. I shall have to see if I can catch the rest of them over the week.</p>
Relative Values2005-10-11T00:37:00+01:002005-10-11T00:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-11:/~alex/blog/2005/10/11/499/<p>I had a call from my brother today which was a welcome surprise. The main purpose of his call was to try out his new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skype.com/">Skype</a> Phone (one of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?MenuNo=1182&MenuName=Voice+Over+The+Internet&worldid=7&FromMenu=y&doy=search">these</a> I believe). The sound quality was very good They have obviously solved a lot of the latency and echo problems …</p><p>I had a call from my brother today which was a welcome surprise. The main purpose of his call was to try out his new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skype.com/">Skype</a> Phone (one of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?MenuNo=1182&MenuName=Voice+Over+The+Internet&worldid=7&FromMenu=y&doy=search">these</a> I believe). The sound quality was very good They have obviously solved a lot of the latency and echo problems we came across when we looked at IP telephony back when I was in telecoms. The deal seems pretty good for calling out to the normal phone network - less than a 1p a minute, even abroad. It will also do free 'net to 'net chat. It prompted me to introduce him to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/talk/index.html%22%22">Google Talk</a> which I have slightly better odds of being <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html">able to use</a> - assuming the specs <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/talk/developer.html#realtime">get released</a>. At least the does seem to be some <a class="reference external" href="http://groups.google.com/group/google-talk-open">interoperability discussion</a> going on.</p>
Sooo tired2005-10-10T14:25:00+01:002005-10-10T14:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-10:/~alex/blog/2005/10/10/498/<p>The weekend has caught up with me. I shall sleep early tonight after having had my eyes poked around for a bit. I need to stop mainlining this tea...</p>
Broken, part 22005-10-09T14:01:00+01:002005-10-09T14:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-09:/~alex/blog/2005/10/09/497/<p>I attended Sarah's Dim Sum party last night. My duplicitously packaged Dim Sum from the Chinese Supermarket in town was spotted quite quickly so I didn't have to carry the guilt with me too long. I spent the rest of the night enjoying the conversation including chatting about the availability …</p><p>I attended Sarah's Dim Sum party last night. My duplicitously packaged Dim Sum from the Chinese Supermarket in town was spotted quite quickly so I didn't have to carry the guilt with me too long. I spent the rest of the night enjoying the conversation including chatting about the availability of the original (i.e. un-blinged) Star Wars in a decent state. My VHS copy from the ITV network premier is getting a little worn given its almost 20 years old. Apparently there was a version released on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc">LaserDisc</a> before Lucas got to cgi happy. I shall have to see if I can find a copy somewhere.</p>
<p>I didn't last that long as I was still quite tired from the previous evenings entertainment. I think I crashed out before 1. Luckily I was able to snipe the spare bed (with apologies to James, whoever he was). So time for a shower and a cup of tea and I'll get ready for today's party. I may not drink today....</p>
Serenity2005-10-08T16:33:00+01:002005-10-08T16:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-08:/~alex/blog/2005/10/08/496/<p>Went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://serenitymovie.com/">Serenity</a> last night. Its definitely a fan film, and people who have watched Firefly will get the most out of it. However its certainly watch-able as a stand alone and I would recommend seeing it in the cinema at least once (its about the experience remember ;-). It …</p><p>Went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://serenitymovie.com/">Serenity</a> last night. Its definitely a fan film, and people who have watched Firefly will get the most out of it. However its certainly watch-able as a stand alone and I would recommend seeing it in the cinema at least once (its about the experience remember ;-). It shall no doubt join my DVD collection in time. About the only thing I could of done without is the 10 minute H&M advert before film started. It was truly terrible.</p>
<p>We then spent the evening in the pub, continuing on round one of my work mates rather posh city centre flat. I left around about 4.30 this morning so as a consequence I'm a little broken. Still another party tonight and tomorrow, its all go :-)</p>
Code a Go Go2005-10-06T11:05:00+01:002005-10-06T11:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-06:/~alex/blog/2005/10/06/495/<p>Yesterday was a good day code wise. One of the chunks of work I've been doing over the last 6-7 weeks looks as though its coming to a close. Its been an interesting technical challenge if a little infuriating as it progressed with lots of weird behaviour observed. However yesterday …</p><p>Yesterday was a good day code wise. One of the chunks of work I've been doing over the last 6-7 weeks looks as though its coming to a close. Its been an interesting technical challenge if a little infuriating as it progressed with lots of weird behaviour observed. However yesterday it made it through all my test cases (the first thing I wrote for the project). Considering it had only passed a few of them by the end of last week its quite gratifying the way the whole thing came together yesterday.</p>
<p>This probably explains why I didn't run this morning, having joined Sam and Lee at the pub at half five for a few drinks before the Wednesday Meal outing ;-)</p>
Linked to Leather2005-10-04T14:06:00+01:002005-10-04T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-04:/~alex/blog/2005/10/04/494/<p>I may of mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_search=patents">patents</a> once or twice over the last few years. Here is another interesting article from the International Herald Tribune on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/02/business/IPRpatents.php">ideas economy</a>.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> And while on linkification, Tycho is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-03">on form today.</a> He's right about watching the series before the movie of course. Luckily the …</p><p>I may of mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_search=patents">patents</a> once or twice over the last few years. Here is another interesting article from the International Herald Tribune on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/02/business/IPRpatents.php">ideas economy</a>.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> And while on linkification, Tycho is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-03">on form today.</a> He's right about watching the series before the movie of course. Luckily the weekend Firefly marathon has me ready for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.serenitymovie.com/">Serenity</a> when it <em>finally</em> arrives here.</p>
Shifty Eyes2005-10-04T01:53:00+01:002005-10-04T01:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-04:/~alex/blog/2005/10/04/493/<p>I made an effort to catch up on the rental DVD's tonight with a classic <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059578/">Western</a>. I'm starting to develop an appreciation for the genre. Certainly I rated it as better than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346491/">Alexander</a> last night. Sure it is literally chock-a-block with cliches but thats half the fun of watching it …</p><p>I made an effort to catch up on the rental DVD's tonight with a classic <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059578/">Western</a>. I'm starting to develop an appreciation for the genre. Certainly I rated it as better than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346491/">Alexander</a> last night. Sure it is literally chock-a-block with cliches but thats half the fun of watching it. I'm left wondering if the scene with the old man talking about the railways was an inspiration for a similar bit in the Blues Brothers.</p>
<p>I've also had a quick play on cleaning up <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Weddings/Rich%20and%20Al%20-%20Oct%202005&pageType=image&image=p1010059.jpg&startFrom=1">some</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Weddings/Rich%20and%20Al%20-%20Oct%202005&pageType=image&image=p1010104.jpg&startFrom=3">of</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=image&currDir=./Weddings/Rich%20and%20Al%20-%20Oct%202005&image=p1010105.jpg&startFrom=3">the</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Weddings/Rich%20and%20Al%20-%20Oct%202005&pageType=image&image=p1010127.jpg&startFrom=4">pictures</a>. I'll clean up the others if anyone one wants any particular image fixing up. I've also been playing with some other effects as well. Which is better? Image <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/gimp/a.jpg">A</a> or image <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/gimp/b.jpg">B</a>?</p>
First Cut of the Pics2005-10-02T15:29:00+01:002005-10-02T15:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-10-02:/~alex/blog/2005/10/02/492/<p>Ok - for all you photo fans I've put the first cut of the pictures from Rich and Al's Wedding last night. You can find them in the usual <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Rich%20and%20Al%20-%20Oct%202005">place</a>. I'm going to go over them again later and do some more cropping and red-eye reduction now I understand the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp …</a></p><p>Ok - for all you photo fans I've put the first cut of the pictures from Rich and Al's Wedding last night. You can find them in the usual <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Rich%20and%20Al%20-%20Oct%202005">place</a>. I'm going to go over them again later and do some more cropping and red-eye reduction now I understand the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</a> a bit better. But in the meantime my couch and TV beckon ;-)</p>
Sweet choice2005-09-30T11:58:00+01:002005-09-30T11:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-30:/~alex/blog/2005/09/30/491/<p>A large box of sugar has just arrived in the office from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/?source=affwin">A Quarter Of</a> today. Combined with the reinstatement of Friday doughnuts I predict an office of hyper-active engineer.</p>
<p>Due to some prompting from other people I have decided it really is time a change my bank account to …</p><p>A large box of sugar has just arrived in the office from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/?source=affwin">A Quarter Of</a> today. Combined with the reinstatement of Friday doughnuts I predict an office of hyper-active engineer.</p>
<p>Due to some prompting from other people I have decided it really is time a change my bank account to something more suited to purpose. Front-runner at the moment is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.smile.co.uk/">Smile</a> who in addition to being more competitive than Barclays<sup>*</sup> offer a nice simple web interface with ISA built in. They are also owned by the Co-Op and generally more ethical than the other banks which salves my social conscience a little. However to do this properly I should get one of the Sunday tomes and do a proper comparison to make sure I'm getting a good rate (even if its not the absolute best). What Sunday paper would do people recommend for their finance section?</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>This is an assumption. It is actually very hard to get a interest rate figure out of the Barclays website. I'm assuming this is for a reason.</p>
Food Glorious Food2005-09-29T12:57:00+01:002005-09-29T12:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-29:/~alex/blog/2005/09/29/490/<p>Yesterday was a chance to take advantage of Paula's more sedentary manager lifestyle and "do lunch" in town. Lee also joined us in the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/local?q=yatra+lounge&hl=en&lr=&near=M3&rl=1&sc=1&radius=0&latlng=53483532,-2252156,1105295264152634739">Yatra Lounge</a> as we chatted away a very pleasant hour or so before heading back to our respective city centre bases. We should repeat the experience …</p><p>Yesterday was a chance to take advantage of Paula's more sedentary manager lifestyle and "do lunch" in town. Lee also joined us in the <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/local?q=yatra+lounge&hl=en&lr=&near=M3&rl=1&sc=1&radius=0&latlng=53483532,-2252156,1105295264152634739">Yatra Lounge</a> as we chatted away a very pleasant hour or so before heading back to our respective city centre bases. We should repeat the experience soon and hopefully joined by more of the city and near city workers.</p>
<p>It was my turn for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> this week. Due to lower numbers caused by rampant thespian-ism and family commitments we filled the numbers with special guest star Jo which was as always a pleasure. The meal I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/roastoreganolambchum_74662.shtml">cooked</a> was well received although I felt I could of done better. I miss having a decent butchers available. I'm not sure if the lamb steaks I got where quite what was intended when the recipe says "lamb chumps". However with no human expert to query I had to guess and I suspect the meat was meant to be a little more juicy than it ended up. I also think I may of used a little too much vinegar with the peas. Still if you don't experiment you'll never get better as a cook.</p>
<p>In a remarkable display of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three">three's</a> (which seem to be the rage at the moment) I got collared by the market research people this morning. I occasionally allow myself to be submitted to these interrogations to get an idea about what business wants to know about its consumers. Today's research was quite an interesting one about labelling. It seems they are trying to get an idea about the best way to label pre-packaged food for its salt, fat and sugar content. The traffic light system was the easiest to follow at a glance but my preference was for the more detailed gram amounts alongside % of GDA. I don't support the noises the government is currently making about "fat taxes" on unhealthy food but as far as labelling is concerned I'm of the opinion you can never have too much information. The last question was the most telling: "Would I be happy if the GDA was calculated by for example Tesco?". Of course I wasn't - I would far prefer someone independent of the retailers and preferably at arms length from the government. My choice of preference was the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/">FSA</a>.</p>
Presents2005-09-28T13:49:00+01:002005-09-28T13:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-28:/~alex/blog/2005/09/28/489/<p>I've brought 3 presents in the space of 4 days in a total time of around 10 minutes. I love the internet - I really do :-)</p>
Replacement Activity2005-09-27T15:14:00+01:002005-09-27T15:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-27:/~alex/blog/2005/09/27/488/<p>As I couldn't partake in Badminton last night I found myself with a bit of spare time on my hands. I took the opportunity to catch up with some of the rental DVD's that have spent their time waiting by my TV as viewing time has been taken up by …</p><p>As I couldn't partake in Badminton last night I found myself with a bit of spare time on my hands. I took the opportunity to catch up with some of the rental DVD's that have spent their time waiting by my TV as viewing time has been taken up by a combination of BSG, Lost and Spooks.</p>
<p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120394/">Twin Town</a> which was enjoyable but not stellar. The plot takes a while to get going and although suitably dark once it does still drags a little. The dialog was good in places and slightly non-sensical in others. It has however put me off visiting Swansea.</p>
<p>After the movie I only had a small occasion to berate a housemate before I headed to bed. This gave me a chance to finish the last few chapters of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I have to say after the relative disappointment of Order of the Phoenix <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/welcome.cfm">Ms Rowling</a> is back on form. I'm looking forward to last book when it eventually emerges.</p>
<p>Of course none of this activity was a replacement for the exercise I should of got last night playing badminton. Thats why I managed to drag myself out of bed this morning for a run around the park. Hopefully I can return to running form quickly enough for the few extra pounds gained over the last few weeks to drop off again.</p>
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to go2005-09-26T13:41:00+01:002005-09-26T13:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-26:/~alex/blog/2005/09/26/487/<p>I brought my Badminton kit in for the weekly Monday night Badminton (having had a few weeks of for "stuff"). Unfortunately we can't book the Sugden centre anymore as the University groups have everything block booked until 10 every night. Is there anyone who can book a court that wants …</p><p>I brought my Badminton kit in for the weekly Monday night Badminton (having had a few weeks of for "stuff"). Unfortunately we can't book the Sugden centre anymore as the University groups have everything block booked until 10 every night. Is there anyone who can book a court that wants a game of badminton tonight?</p>
Rare moment2005-09-25T17:07:00+01:002005-09-25T17:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-25:/~alex/blog/2005/09/25/486/<p>I've just installed the closed source <a class="reference external" href="http://toolbar.google.com/firefox/index.html">Google Toolbar</a> extension which is now available for Firefox. The auto-suggest feature is quite nice. It gives you realtime feedback on words you could use in your query and how many results they could give. This makes refining your search very easy. Of course …</p><p>I've just installed the closed source <a class="reference external" href="http://toolbar.google.com/firefox/index.html">Google Toolbar</a> extension which is now available for Firefox. The auto-suggest feature is quite nice. It gives you realtime feedback on words you could use in your query and how many results they could give. This makes refining your search very easy. Of course there is a potential privacy issue although if I'm honest Google probably know more about me than I do.I should see how much functionality is replicated by the <a class="reference external" href="http://googlebar.mozdev.org/">Googlebar</a> which is an open source version. Unfortunately it won't install at the moment however Google's own bar is pretty slick.</p>
When I were a lad2005-09-25T14:03:00+01:002005-09-25T14:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-25:/~alex/blog/2005/09/25/485/<p>Went to a house warming party last night in the depths of Lancashire. I had a good time (from what I remember) talking geek and doing the tour with an eye to DIY details. I seem to recall balancing some coins on the shelves at one point to check if …</p><p>Went to a house warming party last night in the depths of Lancashire. I had a good time (from what I remember) talking geek and doing the tour with an eye to DIY details. I seem to recall balancing some coins on the shelves at one point to check if they where level. Round about 12.30 the party seemed to be winding down - the excuse being they started at the beer festival around 12. Apparently I then proceeded to berate the youth of today for having no stamina before wandering to the next room and passing out in one of the chairs. I think they only managed another half hour or so. I then slept on the floor for a few hours (the only space left) before finally giving in and getting up. The whole thing reminded me of the Newville parties of old, only the house was a lot cleaner ;-)</p>
Definition: Denied2005-09-24T03:23:00+01:002005-09-24T03:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-24:/~alex/blog/2005/09/24/484/<p>So tonight I spent a pleasant evening catching up with Sheila. In the progress of the night I also chatted to a nice lass called Lucy. After a bit of dancing and as I had to leave the club early I got her number. Before sending a text to bid …</p><p>So tonight I spent a pleasant evening catching up with Sheila. In the progress of the night I also chatted to a nice lass called Lucy. After a bit of dancing and as I had to leave the club early I got her number. Before sending a text to bid her good night I realised I had two Lucy's stored in my phone. When I got home I tweaked the entry for the Lucy in my PDA to "Lucy (Goth)" and beamed it to my phone. Guess which entry in the phone got over-written?</p>
Next Time I Pay Someone2005-09-23T16:01:00+01:002005-09-23T16:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-23:/~alex/blog/2005/09/23/483/<p>Well I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/albums/General/Decorating%20the%20Spare%20Bedroom/p1010030.mov">finished</a> with the wall-papering. All I have left to do is re-do the fitted shelves and clean up. I may leave the moving stuff into the room to Andy when he gets back this evening. I'm not a big fan of wallpaper. Its damn tricky stuff to line …</p><p>Well I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/albums/General/Decorating%20the%20Spare%20Bedroom/p1010030.mov">finished</a> with the wall-papering. All I have left to do is re-do the fitted shelves and clean up. I may leave the moving stuff into the room to Andy when he gets back this evening. I'm not a big fan of wallpaper. Its damn tricky stuff to line up well and going around corners is a complete bitch. Next time I think I'll just prep the room and pay someone to deal with it. Still at least it is done now.</p>
Almost There2005-09-22T21:05:00+01:002005-09-22T21:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-22:/~alex/blog/2005/09/22/482/<p>I've done past the door, window and first side of the chimney breast. All I have tomorrow is the tricky alcove (ensuring I can put the fitted shelves back up afterwards) and a sneak around some pipes. Then its a home straight on the final flat wall! I should be …</p><p>I've done past the door, window and first side of the chimney breast. All I have tomorrow is the tricky alcove (ensuring I can put the fitted shelves back up afterwards) and a sneak around some pipes. Then its a home straight on the final flat wall! I should be good for going out Friday night and celebrating :-)</p>
Framing2005-09-22T12:33:00+01:002005-09-22T12:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-22:/~alex/blog/2005/09/22/481/<p>So thats one door frame and light switch done. Now I just need to turn a corner.</p>
Fold and Drop2005-09-21T00:19:00+01:002005-09-21T00:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-21:/~alex/blog/2005/09/21/480/<p>Well thats 5 drops of wallpaper done in 2.5 hours with two people. They are the easiest drops in the whole room but I'm not so worried about going solo Thursday day. Anne will be able to move into her room as soon as she comes up. We just …</p><p>Well thats 5 drops of wallpaper done in 2.5 hours with two people. They are the easiest drops in the whole room but I'm not so worried about going solo Thursday day. Anne will be able to move into her room as soon as she comes up. We just might not get Andy's stuff out until Friday. I've updated the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./General/Decorating%20the%20Spare%20Bedroom">pictures</a> for the benefit of parents and doubters ;-)</p>
LJ Interests Meme2005-09-20T15:05:00+01:002005-09-20T15:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-20:/~alex/blog/2005/09/20/479/<p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/wibblefish/">wibblefish</a>, based on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=stsquad">stated interests</a> on LJ.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><strong>bandwidth</strong>:
Ever since I got onto the broadband teat I've found it hard to wean off. Certainly for someone who develops FOSS its a boon, but it has many many other advantages.</li>
<li><strong>books</strong>:
Ever since my Mum put in the groundwork …</li></ol><p>Via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/wibblefish/">wibblefish</a>, based on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=stsquad">stated interests</a> on LJ.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><strong>bandwidth</strong>:
Ever since I got onto the broadband teat I've found it hard to wean off. Certainly for someone who develops FOSS its a boon, but it has many many other advantages.</li>
<li><strong>books</strong>:
Ever since my Mum put in the groundwork to get me out of the remedial reading class in primary school my reading just took off. I love reading books and have recently inherited an entire library of Sci-Fi and Fantasy I'm slowly working my way through.</li>
<li><strong>cool stuff</strong>:
Well cool stuff is cool. Thats enough right?</li>
<li><strong>fantasy</strong>:
My interest in fantasy books probably started with reading the Narnia Chronicals. Throw in some Tolkien and a load of D&D when I was younger is enough to generate a life long interest in the genre.</li>
<li><strong>linux</strong>:
When I started playing with computers it was with systems I could tinker with and try stuff. I cut my teeth writing code that played directly with the hardware of my ST to make pretty demos. The day I got my PC I realised the machine is not tinker-able by default. When I discovered linux (sometime in 1999 IIRC) I found the joy of having something I could play with again. I've since gone from a neophyte struggling to upgrade libc->glibc on a spare box to running Linux (and other FOSS) full time at home and work.</li>
<li><strong>manchester</strong>:
I came to Uni here and fell in love with the place. It has so much to offer that London can only add crowding, rude people and high prices.</li>
<li><strong>music</strong>:
I have practically no musical talent (unlike others in my family) but I have long fostered a massive appreciation of music in all its forms. I listen to music every day of many different genre's.</li>
<li><strong>open source</strong>:
See linux. In the old demo days I used to crack the protections on other peoples demos to figure out how they where achieving their effects. Now I'm practically 100% open source if I want to know how a particular program works I can just look at the source code. I've submitted fixes and functionality to loads of programs I use, most of the time they are accepted.</li>
<li><strong>photography</strong>:
I like taking pictures. I'm quite proud of some of them but I admit I rely more on the take loads of pictures approach and I occasionally get lucky.</li>
<li><strong>programming</strong>:
Its a great intellectual exercise. It why I do the job I do, because I enjoy the work.</li>
</ol>
<p>Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.</p>
<form action="http://www.memento-mori.ca/cgi-bin/lj-int-quiz.pl" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" method="post"></form>Heresy2005-09-20T14:38:00+01:002005-09-20T14:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-20:/~alex/blog/2005/09/20/478/<p>Through means that I shall not go to in this public forum I acquired some low alcohol larger. As last nights activity was DIY but I still fancied a beer after a hard day at work so I tried one. I was most surprised with the result. The beer tasted …</p><p>Through means that I shall not go to in this public forum I acquired some low alcohol larger. As last nights activity was DIY but I still fancied a beer after a hard day at work so I tried one. I was most surprised with the result. The beer tasted pretty good which is a marked improvement on the Kaliber that put me off the whole idea of low alcohol beers so many years ago.</p>
<p>In other news I set a new swarming download speed on <a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/en/?page=news">Gtk-Gnutella</a> this morning. 213Kb/s which meant the 350Mb file I kicked off this morning was downloaded by the time I got out of the shower ;-)</p>
Staaaaag!2005-09-18T15:04:00+01:002005-09-18T15:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-18:/~alex/blog/2005/09/18/477/<p>What happens on the stag, stays on the stag. Although Rich's body may exhibit some evidence of Saturday daytime ;-)</p>
What I learnt today at school2005-09-16T19:24:00+01:002005-09-16T19:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-16:/~alex/blog/2005/09/16/476/<p>Today I refined my knowledge of control flow, parameter passing and regular expression munging. One would think I was upto date on this stuff but today I learnt to do it in LISP :-) My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs?rev=1.27&view=log">.emacs</a> should be getting a bit more fancy in the future.</p>
Its Criminal2005-09-15T11:00:00+01:002005-09-15T11:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-15:/~alex/blog/2005/09/15/475/<p>Due to double booking with Rich's Stag this weekend I have a pair of tickets for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flcnyc.com/">Fun Lovin' Criminals</a> on Saturday. First person to offer me the cover price (?17.50 each) gets them.</p>
Get Thee Behind Me SatanLee2005-09-13T22:57:00+01:002005-09-13T22:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-13:/~alex/blog/2005/09/13/474/<p>I successfully resisted Lee's call to the pub/comedy tonight and got home and got on with the DIY job at hand. The upstairs bathroom is now both quieter while at the same time no longer using the external overflow that has been slow-soaking the external wall. True I still …</p><p>I successfully resisted Lee's call to the pub/comedy tonight and got home and got on with the DIY job at hand. The upstairs bathroom is now both quieter while at the same time no longer using the external overflow that has been slow-soaking the external wall. True I still need a new extractor fan but at least now I can see how big a whole is there.</p>
<p>I am now however going to have a beer, happy in the knowledge I have been productive this evening.</p>
Ghostlike2005-09-12T19:39:00+01:002005-09-12T19:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-12:/~alex/blog/2005/09/12/473/<p>I'm currently a bit pale. This is due to the large amount of plaster dust I'm acquired from a today's ceiling fixing. I went for tiles instead of paper as they are easier to fix. However they are a bugger to line up when the walls aren't true. Hopefully once …</p><p>I'm currently a bit pale. This is due to the large amount of plaster dust I'm acquired from a today's ceiling fixing. I went for tiles instead of paper as they are easier to fix. However they are a bugger to line up when the walls aren't true. Hopefully once they have been painted over it will look OK. I'm back at work tomorrow so I'll have to get the ceiling finished in the evenings this week. I'll probably book some days off at the end of next week for a final push with the wallpaper.</p>
<p>On the plus side, I got to listen to England win <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes">The Ashes</a> today ;-)</p>
For One Night Only2005-09-11T22:19:00+01:002005-09-11T22:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-11:/~alex/blog/2005/09/11/472/<p>I'm glad I didn't head down to Maelstrom on Friday night. I would of been trying to put my tent up in the dark during torrential rain before drinking a pint and collapsing in bed tired from a day of decorating.</p>
<p>As it happened I got up a denial AM …</p><p>I'm glad I didn't head down to Maelstrom on Friday night. I would of been trying to put my tent up in the dark during torrential rain before drinking a pint and collapsing in bed tired from a day of decorating.</p>
<p>As it happened I got up a denial AM<sup>*</sup> and drove straight down to London. I had my tent set up by 11 when happily I bumped into the rest of my group and a visit to the bar ensued. I made a load of money without really trying that hard and generally frittered the day away drinking and hanging out round the group IC tent. Plot happened, I got hacked down in a fight and enjoyed myself enormously rabble rousing. I kept going until about 3 in the morning - practically a record for me at a LRP festival seeing as I usually crash by 12.</p>
<p>All in all the weekend was a little truncated but I made up for it by really throwing myself into enjoying Saturday. It was expensive though as I didn't car share I must of burnt around ?50 of petrol for around 16 hours of LRP. Of course I could have probably saved a bit more if I didn't drive so fast but its a very long journey otherwise.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>denial AM being defined as 6.45 on a Saturday!</p>
Link for the Lawyers2005-09-09T23:51:00+01:002005-09-09T23:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-09:/~alex/blog/2005/09/09/471/<p>A rather funny piece of <a class="reference external" href="http://humorix.org/articles/2005/08/notice/">legalese</a>. I was very impressed with the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LISP">LISP</a> joke ;-)</p>
Comparative Media2005-09-09T23:25:00+01:002005-09-09T23:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-09:/~alex/blog/2005/09/09/470/<p>It is no wonder the subject of the weather is a national obsession. Try this for an experiment. Watch the weather reports on 3 foreign/international stations and compare with out own domestic output. The latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/#no_url">BBC forecast</a> was positively poetic in its description of thunder breaking out across the …</p><p>It is no wonder the subject of the weather is a national obsession. Try this for an experiment. Watch the weather reports on 3 foreign/international stations and compare with out own domestic output. The latest <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/#no_url">BBC forecast</a> was positively poetic in its description of thunder breaking out across the country. So, nice weather we've been having recently?</p>
Slight pause for rain2005-09-09T17:33:00+01:002005-09-09T17:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-09:/~alex/blog/2005/09/09/469/<p>I've spent most of the day stripping and plastering the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/Decorating%20the%20Spare%20Bedroom">spare room</a> while listening to the final test on Radio 5. I've still got a little bit more to do but I've decided to avoid driving tired I'll head down to Maelstrom first thing in the morning (hopefully avoiding the …</p><p>I've spent most of the day stripping and plastering the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/Decorating%20the%20Spare%20Bedroom">spare room</a> while listening to the final test on Radio 5. I've still got a little bit more to do but I've decided to avoid driving tired I'll head down to Maelstrom first thing in the morning (hopefully avoiding the London evening rush hour traffic). Andy has also been pitching in this afternoon so hopefully it should be all set for Monday when I'll start on the ceiling tiles and wall paper. Sleeping tonight should not be a problem.</p>
<p>p.s. Full <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/stuff/spare_room.mov">multimedia view</a> also available ;-)</p>
Gutted2005-09-08T23:27:00+01:002005-09-08T23:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-08:/~alex/blog/2005/09/08/468/<p>I've taken today and Monday off so I can make a serious attempt at getting the decorating done in Andy's new room. Tonight we cleared out all the furniture and removed the fitted shelves. Tomorrow I'll re-plaster the hole and prep the walls for Monday (I'm at Maelstrom over the …</p><p>I've taken today and Monday off so I can make a serious attempt at getting the decorating done in Andy's new room. Tonight we cleared out all the furniture and removed the fitted shelves. Tomorrow I'll re-plaster the hole and prep the walls for Monday (I'm at Maelstrom over the weekend). The room looks so bare right now.</p>
Crash and Dream2005-09-08T16:17:00+01:002005-09-08T16:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-08:/~alex/blog/2005/09/08/467/<p>I was so very tired last night when I got back from the meal. I only said a brief hello to Andy before I headed to bed. I slept quite soundly through the night. One of my dreams did manage to wake me up, unfortunately. I say unfortunately as my …</p><p>I was so very tired last night when I got back from the meal. I only said a brief hello to Andy before I headed to bed. I slept quite soundly through the night. One of my dreams did manage to wake me up, unfortunately. I say unfortunately as my brain rebelled when I was showing a rather nice lady the way to my room via my parents garden. You would think I have the suspension of disbelief thing sorted out - but apparently my subconscious doesn't ;-)</p>
Relative Weddings2005-09-07T11:23:00+01:002005-09-07T11:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-07:/~alex/blog/2005/09/07/466/<p>This weekend has been one of family and friends. The events gave me cause to reflect on how lucky I am.</p>
<p>First up was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Jeff%20and%20Phils%20Wedding%20Sept%202005">Jeff and Phil's</a> wedding bash on Saturday. The location was in the heart of the rural idyll that suites Phillipa so well. The ceremony itself was …</p><p>This weekend has been one of family and friends. The events gave me cause to reflect on how lucky I am.</p>
<p>First up was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Jeff%20and%20Phils%20Wedding%20Sept%202005">Jeff and Phil's</a> wedding bash on Saturday. The location was in the heart of the rural idyll that suites Phillipa so well. The ceremony itself was quite short (which I appreciated) with the rest of the day given over to the less solum activities. Jeff seemed pretty resigned to his fate, especially after the 3 or so whiskeys he had by the time of the vows ;-) Phillipa of course looked stunning and seemed to have developed a perma-grin. Daz acquitted himself well as the best man and now joins me in the ranks of seasoned best men. The disco covered a wide range of music from classic clubbing anthems to the obligatory cheese. I was under the impression the kids were impressed with our dancing until I found out the next day they where deliberately copying the most ridiculous dancer.</p>
<p>As a result of the double booking I wasn't able to attend my cousins wedding but I did travel up to catch up with the family <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Family/Amanda%20and%20Tony%20Wedding%20After%20Party">the next day</a>. It was cool to catch up with some of my extended family who I don't get to see that often (most of them being based down in London). I really should make more effort to visit London so I can see them. My aunt Claudia (a most excellent host) did a very good job of persuading me to stay and enjoy the remainder of the wine from the wedding. I finally crashed having watched a country storm and ended up driving home on Monday before rushing into work.</p>
Open Source Ripping2005-09-01T12:27:00+01:002005-09-01T12:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-09-01:/~alex/blog/2005/09/01/open-source-ripping/<p>So it came to pass I was chatting to Andy last night and I noticed he was typing the CD sleeve details for the CD being ripped. I was surprised as thanks to the magic of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freedb.org/">FreeDB</a> every CD I've ripped in the last few years has automagically had its …</p><p>So it came to pass I was chatting to Andy last night and I noticed he was typing the CD sleeve details for the CD being ripped. I was surprised as thanks to the magic of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freedb.org/">FreeDB</a> every CD I've ripped in the last few years has automagically had its details filled in and tagged<sup>*</sup>. So cue a quick look around the application Andy was using to find the settings for the CD lookup and see if we can set it to use the freedb database. Unfortunately the CD lookup option was a tick box (do, or do not, there is no alternative). Whatever the application did it was hidden from us.</p>
<p>Now of course I could have just suggested Andy run Linux where there are a range of rippers<sup>**</sup> ready to run. Experience has taught me people don't want to change OSes, no matter how much I point out the benefits of open systems. However more and more FOSS software is available for the Windows platform so a quick <a class="reference external" href="http://freshmeat.net/browse/118/?orderby=&filter_scope=230">search of freshmeat</a> pointed us at <a class="reference external" href="http://jtagger.sourceforge.net/jripper/">jRipper</a>.</p>
<p>The installation<sup>***</sup> didn't go too well. First we needed the latest Java before we could proceed and then when actually running the app showed its rough edges by screwing up some of the shortcuts and not making it very clear how to configure the ripping drive. This is understandable as it is basically tuned to running on Linux. However it doesn't give a good impression to people running it on other systems. Luckily having experience with the tools I was able to eek out the settings Andy needed and we set it off ripping. Time will tell, now the app is set up, if Andy will find his new FOSS application superior to the commercial competition.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><sup>*</sup>Occasionally I use the excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://easytag.sourceforge.net/">EasyTag</a> to mass clean up tags. Its pattern matching abilities make re-tagging track names that are Track/Artist on compilation albums a breeze.</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup>For the record I use <a class="reference external" href="http://nostatic.org/grip/">Grip</a> to rip tracks into 160kbs <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vorbis.com/">Oggs</a>.</div>
<div class="line"><sup>***</sup>Since I'm used to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_package">packaged apps</a> I find the concept of individual installers, each with their own little foibles and idiosyncrasies rather archaic. On all my systems installing a package is generally a single command line which automagically pulls in required dependencies as needed. As the software is all installed via the package management system un-installation isn't the gamble I recall from my Windows days. And don't get me started on how easy it is to audit every executable on my system and know where it came from.</div>
</div>
Virtually Organised2005-08-31T13:15:00+01:002005-08-31T13:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-31:/~alex/blog/2005/08/31/464/<p>I've been taking the time to actually set up the vFolders on my work and home <a class="reference external" href="http://gnome.org/projects/evolution/">evolution</a> setups. When I first started using evolution I wasn't sure what the point of vFolders was considering you could already setup filters to shuffle stuff around into sub-folders. However now I've started using …</p><p>I've been taking the time to actually set up the vFolders on my work and home <a class="reference external" href="http://gnome.org/projects/evolution/">evolution</a> setups. When I first started using evolution I wasn't sure what the point of vFolders was considering you could already setup filters to shuffle stuff around into sub-folders. However now I've started using them in anger its a lot more obvious how powerful they can be.</p>
<p>The limitations of basic folder shuffling quickly shows up when you may want to read an email that can be in two categories, but cannot be in two real folders at the same time. For example I have a master vFolder which contains all work related email (i.e. to and from my work address). Under this I have various sub folders, one for team related stuff (via a distribution list), one for mail directly addressed to me, and a final one with all unread email. I also have one that catches all the admin messages.</p>
<p>I can read an email in multiple views however I can now just glance at the vFolder summary and see all my current unread messages are people's OoO messages and there is no waiting team mail. Its a lot easier than seeing I have 30 unread messages and having to plough through them to find out none of them are relevant right now.</p>
Light Reading2005-08-30T00:55:00+01:002005-08-30T00:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-30:/~alex/blog/2005/08/30/463/<p>I may add reading <a class="reference external" href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1557687,00.html">this</a> on Sunday while sat in a field in Leeds was possibly one of the funniest things I'd read all day. Unfortunately the break-out box with quotes from kids about what their parents is missing on the online version.</p>
Earning my Indie Stripes2005-08-29T22:22:00+01:002005-08-29T22:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-29:/~alex/blog/2005/08/29/462/<p>Because most of us were working on Friday we didn't get onto site until about half seven in the evening. I managed to catch the last of Marilyn Manson but unfortunately it wasn't enough to appreciate. I will have to make an effort to see him next time he tours …</p><p>Because most of us were working on Friday we didn't get onto site until about half seven in the evening. I managed to catch the last of Marilyn Manson but unfortunately it wasn't enough to appreciate. I will have to make an effort to see him next time he tours.</p>
<p>The Friday headline act was <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Maiden_%28band%29">Iron Maiden</a>. Despite their success in the 80's I never got around to seeing them live. I have to say I got what I expected: a rocking guitar fest with the energetic Bruce Dickinson running around the stage and encouraging the entire crowd to shout themselves horse.</p>
<p>Honourable mention for Friday night should go to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylo">Mylo</a> who's set I caught the tail end of when I went to find some people in the middle of Iron Maidens set. "Drop the Pressure" was a particularly funky track. Obviously something to listen to again on a more dance inspired day.</p>
<p>On Saturday we had the whole gamut of the set-list to explore. It started with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Me_Bad_Things">Do Me Bad Things</a> who entertained us with the soulful rock as we chilled in the main stage area. Next up I finally got to see a whole <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldie_lookin_chain">Glodie Lookin' Chain</a> set. For a one trick pony they are a very fun band to watch/listen to.</p>
<p>I then spent a fair amount of time wandering around the site which didn't take too long (the site is far smaller than Glastonbury). I did catch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.marcusbrigstocke.com/index.asp">Marcus Brigstocke</a> in the comedy tent. He's done a lot of writing for various Radio 4 stuff as well as a regular stint in the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/nowshow.shtml">The Now Show</a>. Live he was fantastic, freed of the constraints of broadcasting he really let rip with his angry man comedy. I was laughing so hard I cried, it was that good.</p>
<p>The acts leading up the Saturday headline where <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_coral">The Coral</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killers_%28band%29">The Killers</a>. The Coral have definitely been influenced by the Beetles (not surprising I guess as they are local to Liverpool). A lot of trippy melodic rhythms on top of the main theme of the music. The Killers where pretty much as I remember from the last time I saw them, banging out the tunes to an appreciative crowd.</p>
<p>The numbers in the main stage thinned quite quickly before the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixies">Pixies</a> were due to start. This was slightly concerning as although I've listened to some Pixies stuff before I wasn't exactly keen. However given the glowing praise with which Arwel and Neil showered on them I thought I'd give them the first few songs. It turns out I needn't of worried.</p>
<p>I totally understand why their music was difficult to get into. Live they worked very well but I think I'll have to be in a certain mood to listen to them on a whim. However their set rocked, including the guitarist infusing the spirit of Hendrix in a rather fevered guitar solo. I was also quite impressed with the skill they showed after making a mistake. The band had a quick discussion with the crowd/each other and then started again as though someone had just pressed the play button.</p>
<p>Sunday I spent a lot more time in the Comedy tent (I guess I was in the mood for more laughter). I caught <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mitchbenn.com/">Mitch Benn</a>, another Radio 4 favourite. His act didn't disappoint and I'll take this moment to plug his single "Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now" which is out next week. Anything to knock of some of the crap thats currently in the charts. And as he pointed out if everyone in the tent brought a copy then it could make number one.</p>
<p>The final wrap up act was the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.foofighters.com/">Foo Fighters</a>. It was possibly a combination of the poor sound quality (we where on the left side of a windy arena with no booster speakers) with my general tiredness that left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed. Still it wasn't a bad gig, I just expected more.</p>
<p>So that was yet another music festival. It was great to go with Neil and Arwel and discuss the music. I was even more great to have Jo along and drive us about in my car. I think I listened to more music than I did at Glastonbury. For the record the new CDs currently on the way from Amazon are:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>"The Coral" and "Magic & Medicine", by The Coral.</li>
<li>"Wave of Mutilation - The Best of the Pixies"</li>
<li>"Destroy Rock & Roll", by Mylo</li>
<li>"Too Late to Cancel", by Mitch Benn and the Distractions</li>
</ul>
Here comes the music2005-08-26T13:18:00+01:002005-08-26T13:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-26:/~alex/blog/2005/08/26/461/<p>I'm off to Leeds festival this evening for a weekend of musical frolics. I'm doing my best to catch Marilyn Mason, although I'm not a massive fan I'm told he does a very good live show. He's being followed up by Iron Maiden which should prove a bit of a …</p><p>I'm off to Leeds festival this evening for a weekend of musical frolics. I'm doing my best to catch Marilyn Mason, although I'm not a massive fan I'm told he does a very good live show. He's being followed up by Iron Maiden which should prove a bit of a nostalgia trip (although it does mean missing Echo and the Bunnymen). Tomorrow Goldie Lookin' Chain are playing who I constantly miss at festivals so I'll try and track them down. The nights headline is the Pixies whom I'm told are the best Indie band eva! I'm not sure if it will be considered heresy to sneak of to see Ladytron which has come round a fair bit on the jukebox at work, peeking my curiosity. I figure Sunday will be more wondering around although there are people at the office that will not forgive me if I don't make and effort to catch the Foo Fighters. I'm also tempted by Razorlight.</p>
<p>We shall see how it compares to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=191">last year</a> when I only did one day. I'm not camping thanks to getting Jo insured on my car. Should be nice to get to the festival fresh and clean everyday :-)</p>
Money Pits2005-08-25T11:10:00+01:002005-08-25T11:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-25:/~alex/blog/2005/08/25/460/<p>Gah. Waking up to a distinct dripping noise at 4 o'clock this morning was not what I needed. Luckily I can work from home while waiting for the nice man with a ladder to come around and figure out what is wrong with the roof.</p>
Google Talk2005-08-24T12:45:00+01:002005-08-24T12:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-24:/~alex/blog/2005/08/24/459/<p>The much trailed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/talk/">Google Talk</a> is now online. I have an account already (alex dot bennee) although I can't yet use the voice side of it. However seeing as they have based the text side on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jabber.org/">Jabber</a> I'm hoping the voice side is also similarly open. Hopefully there will be …</p><p>The much trailed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/talk/">Google Talk</a> is now online. I have an account already (alex dot bennee) although I can't yet use the voice side of it. However seeing as they have based the text side on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jabber.org/">Jabber</a> I'm hoping the voice side is also similarly open. Hopefully there will be a plug-in soon.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong>In fact according to their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/talk/developer.html">developer</a> pages it should be more than possible.</p>
Hangin'2005-08-24T01:06:00+01:002005-08-24T01:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-24:/~alex/blog/2005/08/24/458/<p>It turns out hanging pictures is actually quite tricky, especially if you have to get three frames lined up. Even with meticulous measuring we had to redo one of the hang points when things didn't quite line up. I wish I had my uber-spirit level but it seems of disappeared …</p><p>It turns out hanging pictures is actually quite tricky, especially if you have to get three frames lined up. Even with meticulous measuring we had to redo one of the hang points when things didn't quite line up. I wish I had my uber-spirit level but it seems of disappeared somewhere.</p>
<p>Next on the list re-decorating the spare room.</p>
Now comes with added standards compliance2005-08-23T00:56:00+01:002005-08-23T00:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-23:/~alex/blog/2005/08/23/457/<p>Seeing as BSG wasn't quite ready for viewing this evening I fixed up HTML on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php">News Page</a> and added an RSS link. Hopefully LJ won't complain next time it slurps the page up.</p>
New Art! Old Cable!2005-08-22T19:16:00+01:002005-08-22T19:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-22:/~alex/blog/2005/08/22/456/<p>I've had today off as holiday, ostensibly to recover from the weekend*, but also to catch up on a number things. Apart from boring life administration** I also picked up my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/ros_landscape.jpg">commissioned piece of art</a>. The 3 panel format was inspired by Glyn's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch">Bosch</a> picture. I'm holding off hanging …</p><p>I've had today off as holiday, ostensibly to recover from the weekend*, but also to catch up on a number things. Apart from boring life administration** I also picked up my first <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/ros_landscape.jpg">commissioned piece of art</a>. The 3 panel format was inspired by Glyn's <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch">Bosch</a> picture. I'm holding off hanging it for the time being until Andy gets back and I can try a few positions. The advantage the commissioning approach is you get input into how the piece turns out. Ros was very good, sending me preliminary sketches and asking all sorts of questions as to what I wanted. Its also nice to support an artist in their work directly. I must say I'm very pleased with how it turned out. If anyone wants me to put them in touch with Ros I would be happy to do so.</p>
<p>In other news I spent a bit more time trying to track down the network issues I've been having (and also play with <a class="reference external" href="http://git.or.cz/">git</a>). I'm pretty sure both the 8139too and forecdeth drivers have bugs which mean they don't handle the failure gracefully. However having gone and un-looped the cable to the router and straitened it out a bit things seem to be a lot more stable. I suspect the cable is just damn noisy making it hard for the Phy's to compensate. This makes sorting the cabling out properly before Andy moves into Karen's old room a bit more urgent. I don't think going through the corner of the door did the current cable many favours.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><sup>*</sup> Not much recovery required, surprisingly</div>
<div class="line"><sup>**</sup> The number of conversations about pensions and DIY I've had with my friends recently is getting concerning.</div>
</div>
The Weekend, in review2005-08-22T01:16:00+01:002005-08-22T01:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-22:/~alex/blog/2005/08/22/455/<p>I'm not exactly sure what the 3 boxes of bottles currently sitting outside of my kitchen door is testament to. I did make sure I'd put signs on the bins reminding people to recycle but that alone shouldn't explain the shear volume of bottles I'll need to pass onto the …</p><p>I'm not exactly sure what the 3 boxes of bottles currently sitting outside of my kitchen door is testament to. I did make sure I'd put signs on the bins reminding people to recycle but that alone shouldn't explain the shear volume of bottles I'll need to pass onto the bin men on Thursday. My fridge also has a fair amount of spare beer which should keep my fluid level well stocked for the week.</p>
<p>So the birthday bash went well. It was nice to see everyone including the people I don't get to see that often. I hope everyone who came along had a pleasant time - strange drinks not withstanding.</p>
<p>The weather continued to hold up well for Saturday when I visited Mark and Helen at their new place. Well I say new but they have lived there for a year or so now. I left promising myself to visit more often, which may or may not been due to the excellent hospitality. Helen's Strudel, made with fruit picked from her own allotment, proved to be fantastic. We felt a little guilty attacking it before most of her guests had arrived. And of course we got to try some of Mark's latest home-brew which he only casually mentioned was 7% abv after I'd had two pints of it.</p>
<p>The fact I'd been eating since 1 probably explained why I wasn't that hungry by the time we got to Dimitri's for Jeff's Stag outing. I'm also very glad I managed to convince the table that a 8 persons worth of mezze would be fine for a table of 11 people. The food was ok although I would recommend the Mediterranean in Parsonage Gardens as better. We refused to pay the service charge when they wouldn't even let us order coffee because they wanted to clear the table. We also discovered bars where it can cost ?8.50 for 2 drinks, but you can buy packs of 20 fags for ?2. Needless to say we didn't frequent the bars for long before heading home to chill out at mine. Only a mild amount of corruption of the innocent was engaged in.</p>
<p>Today has been mostly been about lying in the sun and finishing off the last of the food left over from Friday. Tomorrow I go and pick up some art. I'm quite excited to see my new picture "in the flesh" so to speak.</p>
Quick Note for tonight2005-08-19T18:01:00+01:002005-08-19T18:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-19:/~alex/blog/2005/08/19/454/<p>I have cooked up a shed load of chili, have many many baked potatoes and a BBQ on stand-by.</p>
<p>Off to chill before the storm now ;-)</p>
Penultimate bit flipped2005-08-17T14:44:00+01:002005-08-17T14:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-17:/~alex/blog/2005/08/17/453/<p>Well today I turned 100000, or 20h if you prefer. To celebrate the fact I brought my self a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/Portable+Audio/Radios/Clock+Radios/Ferguson/CR100D/900523">alarm clock radio</a> yesterday. The difference this morning was huge. I no longer have a radio that introduces hum depending on the location of the power cable or what else …</p><p>Well today I turned 100000, or 20h if you prefer. To celebrate the fact I brought my self a new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/Portable+Audio/Radios/Clock+Radios/Ferguson/CR100D/900523">alarm clock radio</a> yesterday. The difference this morning was huge. I no longer have a radio that introduces hum depending on the location of the power cable or what else I have plugged in to the extension block. Plus I can change what station I'm listening to without having go through the micro adjustment of the tuning wheel to find the a least noisy setting. DAB rocks ;-)</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who sent cards, I look forward to seeing most of you on Friday.</p>
Yesterday I learnt...2005-08-17T11:18:00+01:002005-08-17T11:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-17:/~alex/blog/2005/08/17/452/<p>..or thought I learnt that <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/gdb.html">gdb</a> can corrupt your stack if you plant a conditional breakpoint. Queue much wailing and gnashing of teeth after wasted a half a day trying to track down another bug using this feature. Of course I'd made a rather simple schoolboy error which a C …</p><p>..or thought I learnt that <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/gdb.html">gdb</a> can corrupt your stack if you plant a conditional breakpoint. Queue much wailing and gnashing of teeth after wasted a half a day trying to track down another bug using this feature. Of course I'd made a rather simple schoolboy error which a C compiler would of waved a red flag over. Can you spot whats wrong with this gdb command?: <em>b SomeCode.cc:70 if state.subjectAddress = 0x70003a18</em></p>
<p>The re-learnt lesson is <em>"usually computers do exactly what you ask them to do"</em></p>
And I would like to thank....2005-08-15T14:35:00+01:002005-08-15T14:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-15:/~alex/blog/2005/08/15/451/<p>Well this weekends LARPing experience was certainly different. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crookedhouse.org/">Crooked House</a> crew did a fantastic job of capturing the flavour of 30's pulp fiction. There where (in rough order): ancient tombs, plagues of locusts, uranium mines, ancient doomsday devices and a Voodoo Witch Doctor. It all built up to a …</p><p>Well this weekends LARPing experience was certainly different. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crookedhouse.org/">Crooked House</a> crew did a fantastic job of capturing the flavour of 30's pulp fiction. There where (in rough order): ancient tombs, plagues of locusts, uranium mines, ancient doomsday devices and a Voodoo Witch Doctor. It all built up to a final thrilling showdown with the Undead Nazi General.</p>
<p>The games production quality was probably amongst the best I've seen at a LARP event. The use of Directorial description was saved for things like flights between locations with everything else being <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pagga.net/wiki/index.php?pagename=Phys-rep">phys-rep'ed</a> with fantastic sets and costume. We even had genuine sand dunes to climb as we trekked to our desert dig sites. I particularly enjoyed clambering down the mine to attempt to deactivate the fiendish doomsday device (another fantastic prop). The scene was enhanced by noises emanating from my <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger_counter">Geiger Counter</a> which changed as we tried different techniques to disarm the device. After we had succeeded in deactivating the bomb we were captured and tortured by a Nazi Dominatrix before the Witch Doctor proceeded to raise my companions as fiendish unliving. The final battle took place with the backdrop of the castle and a full size tank. The pyrotechnics for the tank shells and the mines(!) added a whole new level to experience.</p>
<p>The only (minor) criticisms I can come up with where that maybe there were too many players. With a party of around 30 people I'm sure some must of felt a bit like a spare wheel at times. Also it was quite a gruelling event, Friday finished at 3 in the morning, Saturday ran from 11 'till 2 with the Sunday finishing at 3 in the afternoon. It was a fair effort to drive all the way back from South Wales after that.</p>
<p>However those criticisms aside the event was very enjoyable, definitely worth the money and a refreshing change to my usual LARP diet. I shall certainly consider attending the next Cinedrama presentation.</p>
Off again2005-08-12T17:28:00+01:002005-08-12T17:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-12:/~alex/blog/2005/08/12/450/<p>Heading off to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crookedhouse.org/index.php?page=127">Voice of the Seraph</a> now. Have a good weekend everyone!</p>
DIY Podcasting2005-08-12T12:16:00+01:002005-08-12T12:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-12:/~alex/blog/2005/08/12/449/<p>My Mum asked me how to save a Real stream so she can listen to it at a later date. Unfortunately although technically possible the player denies you this ability (there is a lesson about proprietary software for you). Although the BBC is experimenting with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting">podcasting</a> (AFAICT another name for …</p><p>My Mum asked me how to save a Real stream so she can listen to it at a later date. Unfortunately although technically possible the player denies you this ability (there is a lesson about proprietary software for you). Although the BBC is experimenting with <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting">podcasting</a> (AFAICT another name for putting mp3's on a webpage) they don't offer all their programs in this format yet.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Ideally what I need is an <a class="reference external" href="rtsp://">rtsp://</a> aware version of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/">wget</a> which can just save a stream. However in the meantime there is a workaround. First of all you need the URL of the stream. I used <a class="reference external" href="http://mplayerplug-in.sourceforge.net/">mplayerplug-in</a>'s</div>
<div class="line">handy "Copy URL" facility although you could probably get the same result by looking in the .ram file which contains the list of streams. Then its just a case of using mplayer to play the stream to a raw wav file and then re-encoding it to mp3.</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
10:55 alexjb@okra [tmp] >mplayer rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio4/arts/book_week_tue.ra -ao pcm
MPlayer 1.0pre7-SUSE-9.3-i586-Packman-3.3.5 (C) 2000-2005 MPlayer Team
Playing rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio4/arts/book_week_tue.ra.
Resolving rmv8.bbc.net.uk for AF_INET6...
Couldn't resolve name for AF_INET6: rmv8.bbc.net.uk
Resolving rmv8.bbc.net.uk for AF_INET...
Connecting to server rmv8.bbc.net.uk[212.58.224.53]:554 ...
Cache size set to 640 KBytes
Connected to server: rmv8.bbc.net.uk
Cache fill: 18.75% (122880 bytes) REAL file format detected.
Stream description: audio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio logical stream
Stream mimetype: audio/x-pn-realaudio
Clip info:
name: Book Of The Week - Tuesday
author: BBC Radio 4
copyright: (C) British Broadcasting Corporation 2005
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [realaud] RealAudio decoder
opening shared obj '/usr/lib/codecs/cook.so'
Audio codec: [23] 44 Kbps Stereo Music High Response - RealAudio
Audio bitrate: 44.100 kbit/s (5513 bps)
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 44.1 kbit/3.13% (ratio: 5513->176400)
Selected audio codec: [ra10cook] afm:realaud (RealPlayer 10 COOK audio)
==========================================================================
Checking audio filter chain for 44100Hz/2ch/s16le -> 44100Hz/2ch/s16le...
AF_pre: 44100Hz/2ch/s16le
[AO PCM] File: audiodump.wav (WAVE)
PCM: Samplerate: 44100Hz Channels: Stereo Format s16le
[AO PCM] Info: fastest dumping is achieved with -vc dummy -vo null
PCM: Info: to write WAVE files use -waveheader (default).
AO: [pcm] 44100Hz 2ch s16le (2 bps)
Building audio filter chain for 44100Hz/2ch/s16le -> 44100Hz/2ch/s16le...
Starting playback...
Stream EOF detected
Exiting... (End of file)
11:11 alexjb@okra [tmp] >mv audiodump.wav tuesday.wav
11:11 alexjb@okra [tmp] >lame tuesday.wav tuesday.mp3
AME version 3.96.1 (http://lame.sourceforge.net/)
Using polyphase lowpass filter, transition band: 17249 Hz - 17782 Hz
Encoding tuesday.wav to tuesday.mp3
Encoding as 44.1 kHz 128 kbps j-stereo MPEG-1 Layer III (11x) qval=3
Frame | CPU time/estim | REAL time/estim | play/CPU | ETA
34417/34419 (100%)| 1:09/ 1:09| 1:15/ 1:15| 12.934x| 0:00
average: 128.0 kbps MS: 34420 (100.0%)
Writing LAME Tag...done
ReplayGain: -2.7dB
</pre>
<p>Et voila, an mp3 of a BBC realplayer stream.</p>
Partay!2005-08-11T17:05:00+01:002005-08-11T17:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-11:/~alex/blog/2005/08/11/448/<p>Last night was another party at work to celebrate the shipping of one of our top secret products to a top secret customer. Much fun was had, mainly at the expense of the CEO's credit card behind the bar. Free beer is so much more enjoyable when you can watch …</p><p>Last night was another party at work to celebrate the shipping of one of our top secret products to a top secret customer. Much fun was had, mainly at the expense of the CEO's credit card behind the bar. Free beer is so much more enjoyable when you can watch the bar tab climb on the cash register every time you get a fresh drink ;-)</p>
<p>On the subject of parties its probably worth reminding people that I'll be having a little soiree <strong>next Friday evening</strong> to celebrate my ascension to 100000 (or 20 if you prefer hex). It should prove a nice lead into the Stags and Hen do's planned for Saturday.</p>
Book of the Week2005-08-09T19:10:00+01:002005-08-09T19:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-09:/~alex/blog/2005/08/09/447/<p>I was listening to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592401554/qid=1123607178/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl/202-8412707-8192604">The Hungry Years</a> this morning on the way into work. It had a whole bunch of interesting facts about the development of fast food processes intertwined with the authors own struggle with his weight. He also talked a fair bit about the various diet "crazes" and …</p><p>I was listening to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592401554/qid=1123607178/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl/202-8412707-8192604">The Hungry Years</a> this morning on the way into work. It had a whole bunch of interesting facts about the development of fast food processes intertwined with the authors own struggle with his weight. He also talked a fair bit about the various diet "crazes" and how they have changed over the years. Well worth a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/book_of_the_week.shtml">listen*</a></p>
<p><sup>*</sup>link good for this week only</p>
<p>p.s. also found: <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4132752.stm">Tim Berners-Lee interview</a></p>
Testers2005-08-07T19:02:00+01:002005-08-07T19:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-07:/~alex/blog/2005/08/07/446/<p>We just took <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./LRP/Voice%20of%20the%20Seraph%20Tester">these test pictures</a> in preparation for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crookedhouse.org/index.php?page=127">Voice of the Seraph</a>. The question is do I look like a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg">German 1930's nuclear scientist</a> and Andy an affable Archaeologist?</p>
Shoppage2005-08-06T18:47:00+01:002005-08-06T18:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-06:/~alex/blog/2005/08/06/445/<p>You can never own too many hats. That is all.</p>
Dumb but not Stupid?2005-08-05T12:17:00+01:002005-08-05T12:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-05:/~alex/blog/2005/08/05/444/<p>Let me state right now that I'm no fan of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush%22">Dubya</a>. In fact the number of questionable policy decisions he has made is legion (even given my belief it was unlikely Iraq would of been sorted out without some sort of military intervention). However this venerable "quote" was mentioned last …</p><p>Let me state right now that I'm no fan of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush%22">Dubya</a>. In fact the number of questionable policy decisions he has made is legion (even given my belief it was unlikely Iraq would of been sorted out without some sort of military intervention). However this venerable "quote" was mentioned last night:</p>
<p><em>“The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur.”</em></p>
<p>I did question the source but no one could remember where it was from although there was a consensus it hadn't come from an email. However it is a continual source of frustration that stuff that circulates on the internet often get re-reported in the mainstream media as fact. While I would like to believe the quote the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.snopes.com/quotes/bush.htm">evidence</a> I've found so far hasn't convinced me.</p>
<p>While its easy to paint Bush as the village idiot I think thats a dangerous road to take. Despite what the conspiracy theorists would have you believe I think you still have to be a pretty intelligent to get to the top of the political heap (although I have no doubt that large bags of money and influence help, especially in the US). Otherwise you run the risk of underestimating your opponent, something I'm sure <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu">Sun Tzu</a> would have something to say about.</p>
Found on the blog-o-sphere...2005-08-04T19:19:00+01:002005-08-04T19:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-04:/~alex/blog/2005/08/04/443/<p>..an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.paulgraham.com/opensource.html">interesting essay</a> from Paul Graham. I agree whole heartedly with his analysis of the normal working environment. Luckily I haven't been exposed to it since my Marconi days but I wonder how much cajoling I'd need to go back to a regular 9-5 job?</p>
The Earl of Montrose, and his merry men2005-08-02T13:54:00+01:002005-08-02T13:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-08-02:/~alex/blog/2005/08/02/442/<p>The weekend was one of new experiences, from the use of the hot drink holder in my car to firing off cannon.</p>
<p>I was enlisted into the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sealedknot.org/regiment.asp?RN=Northampton">Earl of Nothampton's Regiment of Foote</a> after attending the regimental dinner <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=311">earlier this year</a>. Since then I've been trying to find a spare …</p><p>The weekend was one of new experiences, from the use of the hot drink holder in my car to firing off cannon.</p>
<p>I was enlisted into the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sealedknot.org/regiment.asp?RN=Northampton">Earl of Nothampton's Regiment of Foote</a> after attending the regimental dinner <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=311">earlier this year</a>. Since then I've been trying to find a spare weekend to go along and actually take part in some re-enactment. Last Friday I finally headed of to Castle Fraser for a weekend of muskets and beer.</p>
<p>The drive was a rather unremarkable 6 hours of me looking out for mountains (which I didn't see) and speed cameras (of which there where a fair few). Once I arrived camped up with Bu and Mel and the rest of the regiment. A quick costume check revealed my large green coat is perfect for the regiment so I only needed to borrow some britches and a hat. The re-enactments are fun involving burning large amounts of black powder combined with a fair amount of marching. I'm planning on getting my shotgun license sorted out so I can draw powder and actually fire next time.</p>
<p>In terms of effort its quite an easy weekend. We were only marching about for about 4-5 hours of the day leaving the rest of the time for sitting round the camp fire, drinking beer and singing songs. The people I met where all really friendly and easy to get along with. All in all a very nice weekend which I'll hopefully get to repeat in a more local setting in September at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.castlewales.com/chirk.html">Chirk Castle</a>.</p>
Synchronicity2005-07-28T16:15:00+01:002005-07-28T16:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-28:/~alex/blog/2005/07/28/441/<p>I've just got back from a rather pleasant lunch with Paula to find my code is now behaving as I expected. The two events may or may not be connected.</p>
<p>I filled in for Lee doing the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> last night. I went for another rissoto although it seemed …</p><p>I've just got back from a rather pleasant lunch with Paula to find my code is now behaving as I expected. The two events may or may not be connected.</p>
<p>I filled in for Lee doing the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> last night. I went for another rissoto although it seemed more like a chicken and potato stew with rice thrown in at the end. It didn't turn out as flavourful as I had hoped but at least we didn't run out of food. I also savoured the fruity bouquet of the white wine I got for the occasion. Yet another sign of me turning into my parents ;-)</p>
Every journey starts with a single step2005-07-27T23:49:00+01:002005-07-27T23:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-27:/~alex/blog/2005/07/27/440/<p>I've got a <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?spn=3.936064,10.353516&saddr=Stretford,+Greater+Manchester,+M32,+UK&daddr=castle+Fraser&hl=en">long journey</a> to plan for on Friday. It will be a first for me. I hear their money is funny.</p>
Like a log2005-07-25T12:59:00+01:002005-07-25T12:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-25:/~alex/blog/2005/07/25/439/<p>Yesterday was mainly spent dealing with the aftermath of Paula's rather excellent party. Unfortunately my plans to crash in a stupor on the couch and gibber at the TV until going to bed where slightly derailed by emergency plumbing work.</p>
<p>Although Saturday's main plumbing work seems leak free the slight …</p><p>Yesterday was mainly spent dealing with the aftermath of Paula's rather excellent party. Unfortunately my plans to crash in a stupor on the couch and gibber at the TV until going to bed where slightly derailed by emergency plumbing work.</p>
<p>Although Saturday's main plumbing work seems leak free the slight movement of the pan in relation to the wall had induced a stress leak on the flush feed. A quick trip to B&Q and a stocking up on a selection of compression joints (I'm aiming to have a selection of spare parts in the house for emergencies) and I was able to redo the feed pipe. I briefly toyed with the idea of doing soldered joints (which I'm more experienced with) before deciding to stick with non-flammable plumbing for the day.</p>
<p>Once that was out of the way I did get some [STRIKEOUT:sleeping]vegging time in front of the TV. We watched the original <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/">Manchurian Candidate</a> which was a good film, although it does seem 1950's women just will quite happily dump their fiancee's for obviously psychologically scared war veterans. We followed with the start of the new season of Six Feet Under which was rather good too. I then went to bed and for a change had no problems in getting to sleep :-)</p>
<blockquote>
p.s. mini-meme. Do a <a class="reference external" href="http://images.google.com">Google Image Search</a> for your name and post the top image.</blockquote>
<p><img alt="image0" src="http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:dNdUfDMsZsYJ:www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/images/2004/11/23/lomo_02_400x267.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 80px;"/></p>
Events and Parties, Oh My!2005-07-23T20:25:00+01:002005-07-23T20:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-23:/~alex/blog/2005/07/23/438/<p>Friday evening held a few surprises including bumping into <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001172/">Christopher Eccleston</a> who was having a pint at the pub round the corner from work. After some badgering from my work colleges I worked up the courage to ask for an autograph. I apologised profusely for interrupting his evening and thanked …</p><p>Friday evening held a few surprises including bumping into <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001172/">Christopher Eccleston</a> who was having a pint at the pub round the corner from work. After some badgering from my work colleges I worked up the courage to ask for an autograph. I apologised profusely for interrupting his evening and thanked him for the good job he did as the Doctor. Hopefully I didn't come across as total fan boy.</p>
<p>I then proceeded down to Rusholme, picked up a Camel One Kebab and headed round to Jenny's house warming party. It was a most entertaining evening and it was nice to see Jenny again as well as meet her new house mate. Time seemed to pass by very quickly before Me and Lee headed off to Ara to catch up with Karen.</p>
<p>Ara was a little bizarre as I was feeling a little under dressed in my green combats and Great Manchester Run T-Shirt. Of course it did mean I stuck out which could be seen as an act of post-goth irony. Although things took a turn for the wielder when a very hug obsessed Sam turned up. We bobbed in and out of the church for a while, finally finishing off with a swaying on the floor to a James' "Sit Down". Yes, yesterday was odd.</p>
<p>Today's task has been all about trying to get the toilet flush sorted. However the combination of rusted screws and un-stocked seals have made the task one of epic proportions. I think I'm done now, I'm just giving the silicon sealant a bit of time to dry off before I turn the water back on and start getting ready for Paula's birthday party tonight.</p>
Violence or Sex, which is more Evil?2005-07-21T12:03:00+01:002005-07-21T12:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-21:/~alex/blog/2005/07/21/437/<p>As featured on <a class="reference external" href="http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/07/20/2059221.shtml?tid=10">slashdot.org</a>, it is being reported the ESRB has pulled the 17+ rating of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/">GTA: San Andreas</a> and re-rated it at 18+. This is due to a 3rd party patch that unlocks a mini game that involves having sex with your girlfriends. In full explicit<sup>*</sup> pink polygon …</p><p>As featured on <a class="reference external" href="http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/07/20/2059221.shtml?tid=10">slashdot.org</a>, it is being reported the ESRB has pulled the 17+ rating of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/">GTA: San Andreas</a> and re-rated it at 18+. This is due to a 3rd party patch that unlocks a mini game that involves having sex with your girlfriends. In full explicit<sup>*</sup> pink polygon detail!</p>
<p>Now I don't particularly mind what rating GTA is. Its probably a game that young kids shouldn't play but I think the onus should really be on the parents who buy these things to take at least some interest in the content of the game. What surprised me was a game that is essentially about amoral criminal activity including indiscriminate murder is apparently fine for 17 year olds but as soon as there is a hint of sex involved that bumps the age up by a year to 18+ (aka Adults only). Am I the only one who thinks the ratings people have their priorities the wrong way round?</p>
<p>*explicit as in not as explicit as Sex in the City after the watershed. If you really want to see what the fuss is about go <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gtasanandreas.net/news/single.php?id=1469">here</a>.</p>
Domain Squatters2005-07-19T17:10:00+01:002005-07-19T17:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-19:/~alex/blog/2005/07/19/435/<p>Annoyingly it seems someone thought songofsteel.org was a worthwhile domain to squat on and have accordingly snarfed it as soon is came out of the renewal period. Some background may be in order.</p>
<p>Back in <a class="reference external" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000818002644/http://www.songofsteel.org/">2000</a> we registered the domain name songofsteel.org to replace the rather less memorable …</p><p>Annoyingly it seems someone thought songofsteel.org was a worthwhile domain to squat on and have accordingly snarfed it as soon is came out of the renewal period. Some background may be in order.</p>
<p>Back in <a class="reference external" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000818002644/http://www.songofsteel.org/">2000</a> we registered the domain name songofsteel.org to replace the rather less memorable <a class="reference external" href="http://web.archive.org/web/19981202133747/www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos/sos.html">www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos/sos.html</a>. Now domain names have to be re-registered at intervals and at the time I think I registered it for the maximum 5 years. A few months ago the domain expired and the name songofsteel.org dropped off the virtual internet landscape. Unfortunately I had used my old hotmail account to register the domain and when the renewal came about I had no idea what my password was to log into the Network Solutions website and complete the renewal. I did try and contact them to get the account password reset (the hotmail account being long dead) but there automated answer was basically "wait for the renewal period to expire and then everyone gets a chance to buy the domain". It was followed by a "by the way someone will probably buy the domain then and attempt to sell it to you for a profit". I thought there wasn't much commercial interest in a .org domain currently used by a non-profit LRP club so I'd just have to wait until the renewal period to expire and re-purchase the domain.</p>
<p>It seems I was a little nieve. The songofsteel.org website now points at a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_farm">link farm</a>. Despite the token "under construction" notice I'm assuming the process is automated as the link farm does point at various steel related websites rather than having anything to do with LRP. So now time to pick a new domain name for SoS. In the meantime could anyone who links to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org.uk">SoS</a> update their bookmarks to the new url <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org.uk/">www.songofsteel.org.uk</a> so the domain squatting c**ts don't get the benefit of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_rank">misplaced links</a>.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong></p>
<p>The wonderfully efficient <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/spodula/">spondula</a> has pre-empted the crisis by registering <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org.uk">www.songofsteel.org.uk</a>. Update your bookmarks!</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE 2</strong></p>
<p>As suspected the affor mentioned c**nts want $850 to sell the domain back to us. Screw them :-(</p>
BSG2005-07-19T12:58:00+01:002005-07-19T12:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-19:/~alex/blog/2005/07/19/436/<p>I wondered where I was going to get my Sci-Fi fix from now that Doctor Who is over until Christmas and Enterprise has flown it last mission. Luckily the new season of Battlestar Gallactica is upon us. Despite it being late on a school night I was unable to wait …</p><p>I wondered where I was going to get my Sci-Fi fix from now that Doctor Who is over until Christmas and Enterprise has flown it last mission. Luckily the new season of Battlestar Gallactica is upon us. Despite it being late on a school night I was unable to wait until today to watch the first episode of season 2.</p>
<p>The first episode leads, as you would expect, straight on from the cliffhanger at the end of season one. I quite like the continuing exploration of the meta-physics of Cylons and Humans. It adds a lot intense drama when the Cylons interact with the humans on an emotional level which you never got with the old series where they where just evil robots.</p>
<p>I was glad the writers resisted the "Trek" temptation to reset everything to fine by the end of the episode. The plot looks as though it will continue to develop in the complex intertwining way it did during season 1. There was a continuation of character development as some of the back story of some of the characters was hinted at. There was a little bit of angsty loss thrown in, but not so distracting and it provided a nice counterpoint to the main theme of the episode.</p>
<p>All in all I give the first episode top marks. I look forward to the rest of the season as and when it arrives.</p>
Mild Protests2005-07-18T13:00:00+01:002005-07-18T13:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-18:/~alex/blog/2005/07/18/434/<p>Today my muscles are offering a mild protest at the amount of exercise they had over the weekend. However its only a mild protest and its heartening to know I can successfully play a scout, a character class that I would of ruled out 5 years ago due to being …</p><p>Today my muscles are offering a mild protest at the amount of exercise they had over the weekend. However its only a mild protest and its heartening to know I can successfully play a scout, a character class that I would of ruled out 5 years ago due to being so terribly unfit.</p>
<p>The weekend also brought home the fact that if I can be bothered to get of my arse and get my contacts in I far prefer "monstering" than reffing. While most of my characters tend to avoid close combat for survival reasons no such bars exist when playing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pagga.net/wiki/index.php?pagename=Monster">monsters</a> which is a lot of fun. I also came to the realisation that LARPing in nice weather is so much easier than the cold and rain. I suspect I may become more of a fair weather larper over the next few years. Of course I'm still planning on doing <a class="reference external" href="http://vikings.larp-conspiracy.co.uk/">Viking</a> in December as there is a lot to be said for catered events after running around in the cold. With global warming the way it is I suspect its going to be the months of January, February and maybe March that suffer.</p>
Double Bookings2005-07-17T22:54:00+01:002005-07-17T22:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-17:/~alex/blog/2005/07/17/433/<p>So after I got back from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/">SoS</a> (good weekend BTW, Rustle continued his murderising, other characters died) I had to sort out some social double bookings.</p>
<p>The acceleration of the pairing off of my contemporaries means my cousins wedding will be clashing with Phil's in September. This evening I called …</p><p>So after I got back from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/">SoS</a> (good weekend BTW, Rustle continued his murderising, other characters died) I had to sort out some social double bookings.</p>
<p>The acceleration of the pairing off of my contemporaries means my cousins wedding will be clashing with Phil's in September. This evening I called her mother to express my regret about not being able to turn up. I've arranged a visit the next day by way of mitigation which means I shall attempt to be vaugley sensible at Phil's bash. On top of that I have at least one letter (email denied!) to write to confirm I'm going to Rich and Al's later this year. There was even random wedding planning conversations at SoS this weekend. This has made me feel a little old today ;-)</p>
Articles to watch2005-07-14T12:44:00+01:002005-07-14T12:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-14:/~alex/blog/2005/07/14/432/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/07/11/28OPopenent_1.html">Part one</a> of an article looking at the BBC's decision to support Dirac and how patents make it tricky for them.</p>
Badminton2005-07-12T14:01:00+01:002005-07-12T14:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-12:/~alex/blog/2005/07/12/431/<p>Played Badminton for the first time in a while last night. Everything feels a little tight...</p>
Perfectly chilled Weekend2005-07-11T13:32:00+01:002005-07-11T13:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-11:/~alex/blog/2005/07/11/430/<p>My fate was sealed from the point I decided to skip the Friday of Maelstrom for Aidan's 30th. Once Karen mentioned Maz would be up for the weekend it was a certainty I wouldn't make it out of Manchester at all.</p>
<p>Aidan's birthday proved an entertaining mix of drinking and …</p><p>My fate was sealed from the point I decided to skip the Friday of Maelstrom for Aidan's 30th. Once Karen mentioned Maz would be up for the weekend it was a certainty I wouldn't make it out of Manchester at all.</p>
<p>Aidan's birthday proved an entertaining mix of drinking and dancing in the venerable Scu Bar. My present was well received, especially as I had kept with <strong>the colour scheme</strong>. Consumables it seems is always a good choice for presents. It avoids the whole "have they already got one" issue which I have yet to devise a decent strategy for coping with. It was nice catching up with Jenny and Cheryl who I don't get to see that often. Having learnt from the previous weeks worth of drinking I did end up being a little more sober than usual at the end of the night before hiking off in search of a cab.</p>
<p>Saturday I spent the majority of the afternoon in the coolest place I could find, namely the driving seat of my air-conditioned car. It wasn't purely selfish eco-destruction though, I did have some errands to run as well as give the car a decent run-out to avoid a repeat of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=423">previous problems</a>. I swung via ASDA to pick up a few bits and pieces including the industrial quantity of Strawberries I seem to get through in the summer.</p>
<p>The original plan had involved going to Sin City. However through the careful application of Strawberry Smoothies (a new variant of the recipe) and offering the temptation of food I eventually ensnared Aidan, Gillian, and Mandy in a new plan (and Maz and Karen once they arrived). While they went to change and locate suitable wine me and Jo went about preparing food. As we weren't rushed we decided to make the Fajita sauce from scratch. We did this by reading the ingredients list from one of the ready made packets and then working our way through my spice rack for rough equivalents. This included hand grinding mustard seeds in the pestle and mortar! I was very pleased with the final result which had the edge of chilli flavouring but also a nice subtle flavour.</p>
<p>Seeing the forecast for Sunday earlier that evening had convinced me that a BBQ was in order. This is now a well practised operation in the household so everything was set up for a relaxing afternoon of meat burning and Strawberry Daquiri's. All in all a very relaxing and entertaining weekend.</p>
Whether the weather be fine2005-07-09T22:22:00+01:002005-07-09T22:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-09:/~alex/blog/2005/07/09/429/<p>Seems like its worth having a BBQ to enjoy the sunshine on Sunday. Especially as I didn't make it to Maelstrom. Feel free to pop by from 1pm..</p>
Aftermath2005-07-08T13:09:00+01:002005-07-08T13:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-08:/~alex/blog/2005/07/08/428/<p>Although <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Coordinated_terrorist_attack_hits_London">yesterdays events</a> where obviously difficult for people caught up in the maelstrom of the moment for the rest of us nothing much has changed. Having lived in the shadow of terrorism for most of my life its just another one of those things that may get you, but way …</p><p>Although <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Coordinated_terrorist_attack_hits_London">yesterdays events</a> where obviously difficult for people caught up in the maelstrom of the moment for the rest of us nothing much has changed. Having lived in the shadow of terrorism for most of my life its just another one of those things that may get you, but way down bellow drunk drivers and being hit by a bus.</p>
<p>What I was struck by was how well the emergency services handled the situation. Anyone who has ever done any first aid training will of been drilled on how the most dangerous moments are usually straight after an incident when chaos can led to secondary injuries and compound the issues you have to deal with. The coverage showed people on whole calmly evacuating the affected locations while the authorities took control of the situation and established well practised command and control. The media was generally well behaved and despite sometimes feeling like a mobious loop gave a pretty calm picture of what was going on. There was no impression that the sky was falling.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Portillo">Michael Portillo</a> made some very good points on This Week last night. Although I disagree with using terms like "winning" and "losing" when referring to the "War on Terror" I certainly think its true the terrorists are under pressure. Although intelligence failed <em>this time</em> the terrorists have had to adapt to avoid coming up on the radar. Operations like yesterdays take co-ordination and support networks that they have to keep small to avoid bringing attention to their activities. This limits the overall impact that any terrorist cell can have. I have no doubt the resulting <strong>criminal</strong> investigation will do more to dent their capabilities than any number of bombs dropped on far away countries. This was no 9/11, we do not need any fundamental changes to the way we run our country and I hope the politicians remember that over the following weeks and months.</p>
Worries2005-07-07T12:27:00+01:002005-07-07T12:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-07:/~alex/blog/2005/07/07/427/<p>Events seem to of overtaken my planned summery of the last few days. I hope everyone down in London is safe. I'll not be trying to contact people via the phone for the time being but please use email and/or comments to let people know your ok.</p>
Nice Pyramids2005-07-05T13:29:00+01:002005-07-05T13:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-05:/~alex/blog/2005/07/05/426/<p>I woke up at 6.30 this morning so I could be outside B&Q first thing so I could fix up the cistern and turn the water back on. Despite its super store status it didn't have any ball cock valves with shorter arms. Instead I went for a …</p><p>I woke up at 6.30 this morning so I could be outside B&Q first thing so I could fix up the cistern and turn the water back on. Despite its super store status it didn't have any ball cock valves with shorter arms. Instead I went for a compact armless mechanism which works quite well. Unfortunately it turned out the mechanism gets in the way of the syphon mechanism (the bit that actually flushes the cistern). I've temporarily worked around the problem by reversing the orientation of the syphon but this means you have to flush the loo by manually pulling the syphon hook. I'm trying to work out if the best solution is to jury rig the flush handle with a coat hanger or replace the syphon with a more modern <a class="reference external" href="http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?ts=56952&id=43148#">mechanism</a>. I just wish the screwfix site had the dimensions of these things.</p>
<p>There is a positive side to all of this though. As I do more and more DIY I'm getting more confident with taking stuff apart and putting it back together. Not quite ready for boiler fitting just yet though ;-)</p>
Hydrogen Dioxide2005-07-05T00:33:00+01:002005-07-05T00:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-05:/~alex/blog/2005/07/05/425/<p>Got home this evening to find the bathroom cistern had flooded again. Halfway through replacing the aging ball-cock mechanism I discovered the new arm is too long. I've had to shut off the water for the time being and face a denial am visit to B&Q in the morning …</p><p>Got home this evening to find the bathroom cistern had flooded again. Halfway through replacing the aging ball-cock mechanism I discovered the new arm is too long. I've had to shut off the water for the time being and face a denial am visit to B&Q in the morning to get replacement parts. Double Bah!</p>
Semi-productive domesticity2005-07-04T16:39:00+01:002005-07-04T16:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-04:/~alex/blog/2005/07/04/424/<p>Forgetting Live-8 and Katy's housewarming was on led to a very compressed Saturday in which my main achievement was fixing the dishwasher. Thanks to Andy's AA membership we also managed to get my car jump started which was a relief. I now have to take it for a drive at …</p><p>Forgetting Live-8 and Katy's housewarming was on led to a very compressed Saturday in which my main achievement was fixing the dishwasher. Thanks to Andy's AA membership we also managed to get my car jump started which was a relief. I now have to take it for a drive at least once a week so I don't find myself in that position again.</p>
<p>Sunday was only moderately more successful although I did manage to clean the Bathroom and Living Room. Magically whatever weird oil composite the AA guy had sprayed into the bonnet mechanism seemed to of shifted the problem. As a result I spent the afternoon washing my car! I think "free" weekends are more of a curse than the busy ones. I seem to achieve a lot more when I have less time.</p>
<p>A quick side note. Cool targeting at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mov/120698main_Outburst%20Movie-070305.mov">80 million miles range</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Glastonbury%202005">Glasto Pics!</a>.</p>
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back2005-07-01T17:36:00+01:002005-07-01T17:36:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-07-01:/~alex/blog/2005/07/01/423/<p>Amongst the easier parts of yesterdays proceedings was identifying the leak that has made my kitchen wall wet. It looks as though the overflow pipe on the upstairs toilet is right on the cusp of the fill level. I assume this has been the case for a while as the …</p><p>Amongst the easier parts of yesterdays proceedings was identifying the leak that has made my kitchen wall wet. It looks as though the overflow pipe on the upstairs toilet is right on the cusp of the fill level. I assume this has been the case for a while as the wetness seems less from a leak and more from the effect of drips travelling back along the overflow pipe. Looking at the wall its seems that part of it has more moss like growth on it which I assume means it has always been a little wet.</p>
<p>While on the subject of leaks I also (re?)discovered the workaround for the dripping shower. It seems turning off the mains and then turning the shower on and off fixes the drip. Unfortunately once the shower is run again with the power on it drips again. I'm unsure as to how I'm going to fix that because it doesn't seem there would be an obvious thing<sup>*</sup> to tighten.</p>
<p>However the apparently simple step of getting the battery out of my car to charge defeated me last night. I'm not sure if the bonnet release requires power or its just it has just been closed funny. I didn't want to force it in case I damage it but it looks as though I'll need a mechanic.</p>
<p><sup>*</sup>thing, thats a technical term ;-)</p>
Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth2005-06-30T12:12:00+01:002005-06-30T12:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-30:/~alex/blog/2005/06/30/422/<p>I was due to drive down to the meal last night. I got in the car, turned the key, nothing happened. It seems not driving my car for 3 weeks has caused my battery to drain. I have also spotted a damp patch on my kitchen wall which seem to …</p><p>I was due to drive down to the meal last night. I got in the car, turned the key, nothing happened. It seems not driving my car for 3 weeks has caused my battery to drain. I have also spotted a damp patch on my kitchen wall which seem to be due to a leaking drain pipe in the upstairs bathroom. I must sort out the bathroom door properly and fix the leaking shower. Looks like the weekend will be taken up with DIY and housework. Bah!</p>
Glastonbury 20052005-06-28T15:16:00+01:002005-06-28T15:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-28:/~alex/blog/2005/06/28/421/<p>I got home at 1.30 this morning and after a quick bit of cleaning the kitchen and a nice warm cup of hot coco later I was watched a little of the BBC 3 coverage before realising they must of been at an entirely different festival.</p>
<blockquote>
So my thoughts …</blockquote><p>I got home at 1.30 this morning and after a quick bit of cleaning the kitchen and a nice warm cup of hot coco later I was watched a little of the BBC 3 coverage before realising they must of been at an entirely different festival.</p>
<blockquote>
So my thoughts, before they boil down into the homogenous "experience" that Glasto memories usually become. First of the bat is my appreciation of the Camper Van approach to camping. The downside of being outside the festival proper and having to walk in was totally compensated for by not having to carry loads of kit (twice), providing a warm shelter from which to watch the 5 hour thunderstorm and a bed I could actually sleep in. Despite the on-board shower providing a mere dribble of warm water it still felt like living in the lap of luxury. Some days I even had two showers just to demonstrate how soft I have become ;-)</blockquote>
<p>One thing that this decadent water usage did bring home however was how much we take water for granted. To have a shower camper van style involves getting wet, turning the water off, lathering, and finally turning the water on to rinse yourself down. On average this uses about 15 litres of water. At most I had to queue about 15 minutes for the tap and carry the 25 litre container 100 yards. There are plenty of people in the world that <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wateraid.org.uk/">have it so much harder</a>. It certainly made me think.</p>
<blockquote>
So as far as band are concerned who did I see?</blockquote>
<p>Friday was a relatively light day which started of with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thezutons.co.uk/zuteconstruct/">The Zutons</a> who I enjoyed. I caught the tail end of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.royksopp.com/">Royksopp</a> which was quite chilled although slightly tempered by the field of mud I was standing in. I shall probably try and catch them again at an indoor venue some time. I finished off Friday night with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fatboyslim.net/start.htm">Fat Boy Slim</a>. Its a bit tricky for someone who is essentially a DJ to do a live set but he managed well. Compared to the last time I saw him when he was playing a DJ set this was all his own stuff (with occasional mash-up mixes). The visuals where fantastic and included a rather funky pair of holographic specs which literally altered your perception of the stage. I have a feeling Mr Slim has "indulged" once or twice ;-)</p>
<p>Saturday saw me catching a full set from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kttunstall.com/">KT Tunstall</a> which was very good. I'm certainly looking forward to her next album. I spent the rest of the day wondering around the Theatre and Circus fields where I saw the very funny and entertaining <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jasonwebley.com/index.html">Jason Webley</a>. He had us hooked from the point he got the audience to shout "Arrrgh" like pirates. After that I got roped in by the funky reggae of Berlin based <a class="reference external" href="http://www.seeed.info/">Seeed</a> at Jazz stage. I'd never heard of them before but certainly worth dancing in a field to.</p>
<p>By the Sunday the site was getting a lot more navigable so I wandered over to the main Pyramid stage to sit in the sun whilst listening to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/">Jools Holland</a>. I caught the first part of Van Morrison's set before wandering of to explore some more. I did catch a little <a class="reference external" href="http://www.toriamos.com/">Tori Amos</a> but was put off by how busy the Acoustic tent field was (she obviously has a lot of loyal fans). I returned for the final act, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beautifulsouth.co.uk/bs/">The Beautiful South</a> who just played hit after hit. A very nice way to wrap up the weekend :-)</p>
<blockquote>
But to be honest the music is a very minor part of the festival experience. Sure I'd gone though the timetable and selected acts that I "planned" on seeing. However schedules and Glastonbury don't really mix. Your much better off just wondering around and seeing what you bump into, be it random bands, circus performers, or just fellow Glasontites. I'm glad that the Glasto Virgins we brought along this year all said they had enjoyed themselves. When you look at the initial list of bands, the ticket price and the hassle of being organised enough to buy the tickets in the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4401389.stm">small window of time</a> I can see why some people are put of the idea. However if you want to join us in 2 years time (next year is a fallow year for the site) then ask someone who went for the first time this year what they thought of it.</blockquote>
<p>Phew!</p>
Float My Boat2005-06-21T19:16:00+01:002005-06-21T19:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-21:/~alex/blog/2005/06/21/420/<p>Today has been a struggle to beat the compiler into submission for so I could transfer floating point numbers out of a signal hardware context into something that <em>printf()</em> would sanely display. Simple assignment fails as the compiler thinks you passing an integer and munges the result. In the end …</p><p>Today has been a struggle to beat the compiler into submission for so I could transfer floating point numbers out of a signal hardware context into something that <em>printf()</em> would sanely display. Simple assignment fails as the compiler thinks you passing an integer and munges the result. In the end I just abused the casting of pointers to prevent conversion:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
/*
** These #define's allow you to pick out floating point registers by
** clever casting. Otherwise the C compiler will do subtle and broken
** things to the value you actually want.
*/
#define get_sf_reg(x) *( (float *) &x)
#define get_df_reg(x) *( (double *) &x)
#define get_qf_reg(x) *( (long double *) &x)
</pre>
<p>It doesn't help that the office has been running at around 28 degrees all day. Heat + thinking are not very good bed fellows. Especially considering I'm not that familiar with Floating Point maths (all the 3D stuff I worked on in my ST days was integer based stuff). Still none of this matters now because tomorrow I go to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/">Glasto!</a>.</p>
<p>Although there looks like there may be some rain I don't think its going to be anything like last year. We also have the benefit of the camper van this year, chosen mainly for the in built shower :-)</p>
<p>No updates for the next week, well maybe not many!</p>
Soap2005-06-21T03:03:00+01:002005-06-21T03:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-21:/~alex/blog/2005/06/21/419/<p>As an art form I have always been left cold by the concept of Soap Opera. The genre has taken a whole new meaning in the last few days. I may be starting to understand....</p>
A Man of Many Hats2005-06-20T01:03:00+01:002005-06-20T01:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-20:/~alex/blog/2005/06/20/418/<p>Lee's birthday was suitably entertaining. I danced a load and took my trusty <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Parties/Lees%20Birthday%20June%202005">camera</a>. You may notice a theme ;-)</p>
Code Coherency2005-06-17T15:22:00+01:002005-06-17T15:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-17:/~alex/blog/2005/06/17/417/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Have you ever written a piece of code that doesn't behave like it should? A failure thats so unexpected you start to doubt your own abilities? The majority of this morning has been taken up with following up on some oddness I saw last</div>
<div class="line">night which made me blink. In …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Have you ever written a piece of code that doesn't behave like it should? A failure thats so unexpected you start to doubt your own abilities? The majority of this morning has been taken up with following up on some oddness I saw last</div>
<div class="line">night which made me blink. In the end I had 2 other people look at my code to make sure I wasn't going mad. Consider the following generic Un*x code:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
/*
** Code that don't behave quite what like it ought to
*/
#include
#include /* memset() */
#include /* mmap() */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
int pg_sz = getpagesize();
void *page;
page = mmap(0,pg_sz,PROT_WRITE, MAP_ANON|MAP_PRIVATE, -1, 0);
memset(page,'w',pg_sz);
printf("data = %c\n", *(char *) (page));
}
</pre>
<p>Try it on your own favourite <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX">POSIX</a> machine and let me know if it doesn't <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmentation_fault">segfault</a>. I am still trying to work out if this is exploitable in some way.</p>
Eliza2005-06-15T16:02:00+01:002005-06-15T16:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-15:/~alex/blog/2005/06/15/416/<p>Today has been influenced by artificial conversations. This morning I got a phone call at home from a recorded message from Egg. It was an automated check on transactions which I humoured for the first few seconds ("press 1 if you are Alex...") until it wanted to do a security …</p><p>Today has been influenced by artificial conversations. This morning I got a phone call at home from a recorded message from Egg. It was an automated check on transactions which I humoured for the first few seconds ("press 1 if you are Alex...") until it wanted to do a security check.</p>
<p>Call me paranoid but if an automatic message phones you up and starts asking for your password, mothers maiden name and the rest would you give it to it? How do I know the message is actually from Egg and not some automated telephone <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing">phishing</a> scam? In the end I just hung up. It tried ringing my phone again this afternoon. I feel a letter to Egg coming soon.</p>
<p>The second <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA">Eliza</a> moment came when <em>readyforu111</em> IM'ed me on Yahoo. I was just about to go to a meeting so all I managed was a "who are you?". When I returned and apologised for my diving out of the conversation "it" repeated the initial intro, complete with the same spelling mistakes. A quick Google <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?&q=readyforu111">search</a> later confirmed that I was in fact talking to a bot, despite its protestations to the contrary. I assume it was a spambot trying to drive hits to some adult site. Common sense did prevail however as I was pretty sure a site by the name of Cyber Fun Girls was possibly not work safe ;-)</p>
Woof Woof!2005-06-14T11:54:00+01:002005-06-14T11:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-14:/~alex/blog/2005/06/14/415/<p>In a bizarre reversal of fortunes I actually watched Doctor Who at the scheduled (repeat) time on Sunday. In the meantime my parents are taking advantage of the On Demand services to watch it at their convenience. Obviously the demand for non-scheduled TV isn't coming from the geeks alone.</p>
<p>As …</p><p>In a bizarre reversal of fortunes I actually watched Doctor Who at the scheduled (repeat) time on Sunday. In the meantime my parents are taking advantage of the On Demand services to watch it at their convenience. Obviously the demand for non-scheduled TV isn't coming from the geeks alone.</p>
<p>As to the episode, well in a word fantastic. Although I was hoping for more multi-parters I like the way they have blended the episodic nature of classic Who with a season story arc. I now await the final episode with baited breath. I find myself wondering what the weekends TV will be like without it. Hopefully the 6.3m viewing figures (which beats the figures of seasons 2-4 of Enterprise in the US) should ensure we will be getting new Who for some time to come.</p>
Got my murderin' knife2005-06-13T02:23:00+01:002005-06-13T02:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-13:/~alex/blog/2005/06/13/414/<p>Got back from an entertaining weekend at Wilderness Farm with SoS. I played the pun-tastic Rustle Crow with the new arrows I got at Maelstrom. Me and Fart twined up as some of the most effective scouts ever, especially handy as I only drew my sword once over the entire …</p><p>Got back from an entertaining weekend at Wilderness Farm with SoS. I played the pun-tastic Rustle Crow with the new arrows I got at Maelstrom. Me and Fart twined up as some of the most effective scouts ever, especially handy as I only drew my sword once over the entire adventure. I would of also kept a clean sheet for getting hit accept I got caught out in the final Zombie swarm.</p>
<p>The new arrows certainly made a difference. The new tear-drop design heads give it a much improved range as well as altering the flight dynamics to be less like those of a brick. Although I only lost one arrow over the weekend I think I shall pick up some more at the next Maelstrom as I was easily getting through all 7 arrows in one encounter. I'm not sure if this is because I was doing a good impression of Legolas or just monsters not wanting to get too close to me while I pointed a loaded bow at them. We shall see if I can keep up the form next month :-)</p>
Bleep you, bleeping bleep bleep2005-06-08T12:51:00+01:002005-06-08T12:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-08:/~alex/blog/2005/06/08/413/<p>I was planning to go for a run last night after work. In the end due to the Metro being so rammed I missed my stop and walked back along the canal in the sunshine. It was a nice walk of a couple of miles so it counts as exercise …</p><p>I was planning to go for a run last night after work. In the end due to the Metro being so rammed I missed my stop and walked back along the canal in the sunshine. It was a nice walk of a couple of miles so it counts as exercise.</p>
<p>Instead of listening to my usual station on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=gb&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=php1_10139&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10139">handy radio</a> I thought I'd check out what the kids are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/zanelowe/index.shtml">listening to</a>. I enjoyed bouncing along to the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ying_Yang_Twins">Ying Yang Twins</a> and "Wait (The Whisper Song)" so much I thought I'd check them out when I got home. Unfortunately I didn't like the album version of the track nearly as much as the Radio Edit. The song takes on a whole different flavour when the suggestive samples are replaced by copious references to dick, pussy and bitchin' hoe's. Now I'm not exactly a prude and I don't think you should censor songs. However compared to my childhood and those classic <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_And_Roses">"Explicit Lyrics" artists</a> I still thought it was just gratuitous swearing for the sake of selling records. And thats before I get started on the heavily misogynistic tone that made me distinctly uncomfortable while listening to the track.</p>
<p>I shall now retreat to a corner and suck me teeth whilst bemoaning the youth of today...</p>
Wages of Sin2005-06-07T13:45:00+01:002005-06-07T13:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-07:/~alex/blog/2005/06/07/412/<p>Stylish, sexy, great dialog, top actors, great film. Go see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401792/">it</a>.</p>
Next Clone Please2005-06-06T14:38:00+01:002005-06-06T14:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-06:/~alex/blog/2005/06/06/411/<p>Paranoia seemed to go quite well. Due to the pressures of attending beer festivals and other distracting activities I didn't get much of a chance to review the adventures I was going to run. I managed to get through the first two segments with a passing nod to the plot …</p><p>Paranoia seemed to go quite well. Due to the pressures of attending beer festivals and other distracting activities I didn't get much of a chance to review the adventures I was going to run. I managed to get through the first two segments with a passing nod to the plot and applying liberal interpretation to the rules. However by the third segment (about 4 hours into the game) the red wine was starting to take its toll and I came to a shuddering stop as my Troubleshooters solved the white corridor problem. More preparation next time I think. I should probably also try to stick to one set of rules at a time. However the players seemed to enjoy it.</p>
<p>The rest of the evening was taken up with Doctor Who and random crap TV. Sheila popped in to visit which was enjoyable. She joined forces with Karen to torture Lee who was fading in and out of consciousness for the rest of the evening. I eventually crawled into bed with thoughts of some sort of detox plan for the next week.</p>
Festival2005-06-05T11:15:00+01:002005-06-05T11:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-05:/~alex/blog/2005/06/05/410/<p>The Stockport Beer festival was good, tried plenty of interesting beers. We then retired to Manchester where we proceeded to eat until we exploded before heading into FAB. I escaped before I got any drunker and collapsed into bed. Mark and Lee may not of fared so well, I believe …</p><p>The Stockport Beer festival was good, tried plenty of interesting beers. We then retired to Manchester where we proceeded to eat until we exploded before heading into FAB. I escaped before I got any drunker and collapsed into bed. Mark and Lee may not of fared so well, I believe they were tempted.</p>
<p>Now all I need to do is find my Paranoia books and do some preparation. Panic!</p>
And stretch...2005-06-03T11:45:00+01:002005-06-03T11:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-03:/~alex/blog/2005/06/03/409/<p>I went to my first Yoga class last night. It was quite hard trying to maintain position whilst trying to watch the instructor and figure out what I was meant to be doing. Not nearly as hard as trying to maintain my gaze point however :-). At the end of the …</p><p>I went to my first Yoga class last night. It was quite hard trying to maintain position whilst trying to watch the instructor and figure out what I was meant to be doing. Not nearly as hard as trying to maintain my gaze point however :-). At the end of the session I certainly felt very relaxed as well as stretched out. I'll be going again.</p>
<p>I feel I possibly negated any positive karma by spending the rest of the evening writing letters to the Inland Revenue, but these things have to be done. Still the weekend looks as though it will be fun, anyone else coming to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stockportfestival.fsnet.co.uk/">Stockport Beer Festival</a>? I think Mark is planning some sort of evening session back in Manchester after lunch and beers. It seems the train is the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.traintimes.org.uk/?pr=1&0=manchester&1=stockport&3=&datesel=tomorrow&9=A&outHourField=12&outMinuteField=00&27=9&dateselret=tomorrow&12=D&retHourField=16&retMinuteField=30">best way</a> to travel to and from Stockport.</p>
<p>And finally, I just had to link to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=150">this</a>.</p>
Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist.2005-06-02T13:21:00+01:002005-06-02T13:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-02:/~alex/blog/2005/06/02/408/<p>I've just booked onto <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crookedhouse.org/index.php?page=146">Voice of the Seraph</a> in August. It has been a while since I last did a one-shot live action adventure (The Final Voyage of the Mary Celeste IIRC). I'm quite looking forward to see how it pans out.</p>
<p>In a completely unrelated note I finally got …</p><p>I've just booked onto <a class="reference external" href="http://www.crookedhouse.org/index.php?page=146">Voice of the Seraph</a> in August. It has been a while since I last did a one-shot live action adventure (The Final Voyage of the Mary Celeste IIRC). I'm quite looking forward to see how it pans out.</p>
<p>In a completely unrelated note I finally got bullied into running another <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_%28role-playing_game%29">Paranoia</a> game this Sunday.</p>
Paranoid, moi?2005-06-01T00:39:00+01:002005-06-01T00:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-06-01:/~alex/blog/2005/06/01/407/<p>I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4597503.stm">this</a> on the news this evening. The fact I've been watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182587/">Harsh Realm</a> by arch conspiracy specialist <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004810/">Chris Carter</a> prompted me to think: "I wonder what else will happen today that this will keep out of the news".</p>
Blending of Idioms2005-05-31T16:14:00+01:002005-05-31T16:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-31:/~alex/blog/2005/05/31/406/<p>Yesterdays BBQ rounded off a very pleasant weekend indeed. I managed to successfully mix both work colleges and the usual suspect without any incident<sup>*</sup>. Much meat was consumed, daiquiris quaffed, and conversation was had. Feedback has been so positive that all I need now is to come up with other …</p><p>Yesterdays BBQ rounded off a very pleasant weekend indeed. I managed to successfully mix both work colleges and the usual suspect without any incident<sup>*</sup>. Much meat was consumed, daiquiris quaffed, and conversation was had. Feedback has been so positive that all I need now is to come up with other excuses to have repeat the event.</p>
<p>I do feel a little guilty that news of the event was only spread by viral marketing after I mentioned it briefly on my blog. I must try and avoid falling into the habit of using the 'net as my sole means of communication about events. There was a half-written text message on my phone, but I got distracted. Apologies<sup>**</sup> to anyone he didn't find out in enough time and wanted to come.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* say compared with my thirtieth birthday</div>
<div class="line">** irony, I guess.</div>
</div>
Sunny Day2005-05-30T13:46:00+01:002005-05-30T13:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-30:/~alex/blog/2005/05/30/405/<p>The house is tidied, the weather is fantastic, the food is brought, the beer is chilling, ice-cubes freezing and the patio set out. Time for a BBQ :-)</p>
The rattle and hum of tracks2005-05-29T22:18:00+01:002005-05-29T22:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-29:/~alex/blog/2005/05/29/404/<p>This weekend has been a pleasant reminder of what public transport can be about.</p>
<p>Friday I left (via a few pints with work) to Daz's leaving do up in Radcliffe. An entertaining night was had by all with me solidifying my plans for visiting New York over Christmas and New …</p><p>This weekend has been a pleasant reminder of what public transport can be about.</p>
<p>Friday I left (via a few pints with work) to Daz's leaving do up in Radcliffe. An entertaining night was had by all with me solidifying my plans for visiting New York over Christmas and New Year. Having arranged for several different crashing locations I ended up staying at Daz and Phil's overnight and catching the Metro back in the morning.</p>
<p>I had the opportunity to abuse the driving abilities of one of my house mates on Saturday and get them to drop me off near Platt Fields to catch up with Chris for his birthday. After an appropriate amount of chilling in a rather windy park I headed on up to the Student's Union for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ozrics.com/">Ozric Tentacles</a> gig. I enjoyed the gig a lot. The Ozric's is one of those bands I can't listen to at the PC as their music is too "busy". However as a live band they are very cool. I did have to step out of the venue once or twice for fresh air however ;-O By the end of the gig I was too tired to make it to Sin City so I headed home by tram.</p>
<p>Today has mainly involved getting to Bolton (again not driving myself), eating food and getting a little bit of local history. Fluff's birthday Ghost Tour basically didn't involve anything more taxing than sitting and listening and a short jaunt around the pub and its cellar. Having passed on eating even more food I got the train back to Manchester and made my way home.</p>
<p>Thanks to the nice weather and the lack of people I was able to chill out on the journey back. Its nice to kick back on a train and watch the landscape go by without having to worry about paying attention to the road. It gives me and enormous sense of well being. Maybe I should go and feed some pigeons ;-)</p>
Hot, hot, hot2005-05-27T16:16:00+01:002005-05-27T16:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-27:/~alex/blog/2005/05/27/403/<p>The summer seems to have hit this week. The office is currently somewhere around sub-tropical due to the mix of old air conditioning and lots of power hungry PC's. Hopefully the new air-con will be installed in the next few weeks before the weather changes its mind again.</p>
<p>We had …</p><p>The summer seems to have hit this week. The office is currently somewhere around sub-tropical due to the mix of old air conditioning and lots of power hungry PC's. Hopefully the new air-con will be installed in the next few weeks before the weather changes its mind again.</p>
<p>We had a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseline_%28configuration_management%29">baseline</a> party last night. Much beer was consumed and curiously I didn't have a headache in the morning, despite the wifebeater. I was a little disappointed by the way the younger engineers drifted off while there was still beer to be drunk. Obviously their University training was not as rigorous as mine all those years ago. Normal healthy living will return after the bank holiday weekend :-)</p>
<p>On that subject it seems that I'd forgotten we have Monday off. Seeing as there seems to be a dearth of Monday activities I thought it would be nice to have a BBQ. Brollies and Burgers commence around 1ish?</p>
Gratuitous Code Post2005-05-24T23:58:00+01:002005-05-24T23:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-24:/~alex/blog/2005/05/24/gratuitous-code-post/<p>I got home today and had a sudden urge to run. I think this is because I've been cooped up in an office all day and needed some physical exertion. I didn't run far, but I did run hard (so to speak).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I think it cleared my mind enough that …</div></div><p>I got home today and had a sudden urge to run. I think this is because I've been cooped up in an office all day and needed some physical exertion. I didn't run far, but I did run hard (so to speak).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I think it cleared my mind enough that I could face adding the following code to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotbashrc">.bashrc</a></div>
<div class="line">to make working with gentoo overlays a little easier. Basically it allows me to hack around with ebuilds without doing my editing as root.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
#
# Gentoo Related Macros
#
# These are various tools for manipulating a local
# portage structure (which can be part of an overlay)
#
# These functions allow you to list, clone, delete and diff ebuilds
#
LOCAL_PORTAGE=$HOME/portage
MASTER_PORTAGE=/usr/portage
alias ls_le="find $LOCAL_PORTAGE -xtype d -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 | sed s#$LOCAL_PORTAGE##"
alias ls_me="find $MASTER_PORTAGE -xtype d -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 | sed s#$MASTER_PORTAGE##"
#
# guess_ebuild
#
# Take a string, possibly partial and match it a proper group/ebuild
#
function guess_ebuild()
{
tmp=`ls_me | grep $1`
group=`echo $tmp | perl -ne 'm#/([^/]*)#; print "$1"'`
ebuild=`echo $tmp | perl -ne 'm#/([^/]*)/(\w*)#; print "$2"'`
}
#
# diff ebuild
#
# Do a diff for a given ebuild
#
function diff_ebuild()
{
result=0
if [ "$1" ]
then
guess_ebuild $1
if [[ "$group" && "$ebuild" ]]
then
diff -ub $MASTER_PORTAGE/$group/$ebuild $LOCAL_PORTAGE/$group/$ebuild
fi
else
for ebuild in `ls_le`
do
diff -ub $MASTER_PORTAGE/$ebuild $LOCAL_PORTAGE/$ebuild
done
fi
}
#
# Clone an ebuild from the master tree into the local tree
#
#
function clone_ebuild()
{
if [ "$1" ]
then
guess_ebuild $1
if [[ "$group" && "$ebuild" ]]
then
echo "Cloning ebuild $group/$ebuild"
mkdir -p $LOCAL_PORTAGE/$group
cp -aP $MASTER_PORTAGE/$group/$ebuild $LOCAL_PORTAGE/$group/
else
echo "$1 not in Master Portage"
fi
else
echo "No ebuild specified"
fi
}
#
# Clean ebuilds
#
# Delete untouched ebuilds from local portage
#
function clean_ebuilds()
{
for ebuild in `ls_le`
do
result=`diff -br --brief $MASTER_PORTAGE/$ebuild $LOCAL_PORTAGE/$ebuild`
if [ "x$result" == "x" ]
then
echo "Removing local copy of $ebuild"
rm -rf $LOCAL_PORTAGE/$ebuild
fi
done
}
</pre>
And the results are in...2005-05-23T16:52:00+01:002005-05-23T16:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-23:/~alex/blog/2005/05/23/401/<p>Yesterday I reached the culmination of my training yesterday and completed the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/4558969.stm">Great Manchester Run 2005</a>. I was quite pleased with my result of 1h08m15s although I didn't make under the hour which was one of my targets. I did however keep going for the whole 10k without breaking into …</p><p>Yesterday I reached the culmination of my training yesterday and completed the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/4558969.stm">Great Manchester Run 2005</a>. I was quite pleased with my result of 1h08m15s although I didn't make under the hour which was one of my targets. I did however keep going for the whole 10k without breaking into a walk half way round (which I did last year). The trend is downward :-)</p>
<p>The race itself was within my limits, I didn't push myself too hard. The field was very crowded at the start which stopped me from racing ahead. This was probably a good as it meant I could slip into the zone at 2km without having to deal with the repercussions of over-cooking the start. Getting onto Chester Road (which is a slow climb over about 2.5km towards the Old Trafford football ground) caused me a little concern as the sun came out from the clouds. Luckily it didn't get as hot as last year. The only other bit which caused me concern was the deceptively steep climb after the water stop after Trafford Wharf. Once I got onto the final straight down Chester Road (downhill this time) I felt quite comfortable although not able to put on a final burst of speed for the finish.</p>
<p>Generally I enjoyed the race (the event, the crowd, the sense of achievement). I'm very happy with the result as well as the motivation to exercise that the race has given me for the last 4 months. Although I'm going to scale back on the running for the rest of the year to try out new things I think I'll enter the 2006 race. Anyone else joining me next year?</p>
In brief2005-05-22T16:02:00+01:002005-05-22T16:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-22:/~alex/blog/2005/05/22/400/<p>I went, I ran, I finished and kept going until the finish line. More later after the post run beers have worn off....</p>
Many Threads2005-05-21T17:37:00+01:002005-05-21T17:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-21:/~alex/blog/2005/05/21/many-threads/<p>I've spent most of the morning trying to properly fix the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html">glibc</a> on my Gentoo system. It appears after much analysis my problems stemmed from the backward compatibility to the old Linux Threads system (TLS). Once I specified <em>nptlonly</em> in my USE flags and rebuilt glibc everything worked fine. I …</p><p>I've spent most of the morning trying to properly fix the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html">glibc</a> on my Gentoo system. It appears after much analysis my problems stemmed from the backward compatibility to the old Linux Threads system (TLS). Once I specified <em>nptlonly</em> in my USE flags and rebuilt glibc everything worked fine. I now no longer need to keep the unmanaged tarball around to overwrite emerge's breakage.</p>
<p>I was planning to write some letters to the Inland Revenue today but I've had an attack of the "it can wait for a week day"'s. I think I shall play on the PS2 whilst Carb Loading for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/news.asp?id=17">race tomorrow</a>. My wave (white) starts at 10.15 and hopefully I'll be finishing just as the pubs open. I'll have my phone on me after I've finished if anyone wants to join me in a celebratory pint before I go home to get ready for Sheila's birthday bash later in the day.</p>
Episode III2005-05-20T14:06:00+01:002005-05-20T14:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-20:/~alex/blog/2005/05/20/398/<p>Well its over. My overall conclusion, not as bad as I feared it could be. In fact I enjoyed the whole film although it was slightly marred by the poor dialog, especially some of the Yoda stuff. It seems they wrote the dialog and then just went around switching words …</p><p>Well its over. My overall conclusion, not as bad as I feared it could be. In fact I enjoyed the whole film although it was slightly marred by the poor dialog, especially some of the Yoda stuff. It seems they wrote the dialog and then just went around switching words to Yodarise it. The interaction between Padme and Anakin was also a little cringe worthy in places.</p>
<p>However there are plenty of good things to say about the film. The corruption of Anakin was subtler than I expected and in my opinion feeds well into the original trilogy. The action sequences where all good stuff, I especially liked the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin on the Lava planet. The final destruction of Anakin's body and his re-birth as the armour clad Vader exceeded my expectations. The was plenty of fan-wank<sup>*</sup> material including the prototype technology of X-Wings and Tie Fighters. There was a fair amount of loose end tying up, some of which I suspect I'll only notice on re-watching the film. All in all Lucas is partially absolved for Episode One.</p>
<p>Which brings me to some retrospection on the entire Star Wars thing. When I got back from the film I caught the last few minutes of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/generation_jedi.shtml">Generation Jedi</a> which Karen was watching. One of the points made was our collective impression of the original Star Wars is made through the prism of childhood. It set me thinking if I've just simply become too critical of prequels coming at them in my late twenties/early thirties. If I could watch the original trilogy again cold without the baggage of my childhood experience would I find the same flaws I obviously gloss over now?</p>
<p>There is also one final question to answer. Should I ever spawn what order should I show the films to my kids. My initial feeling is in the original order (IV, V, and VI first). I'd be interested in knowing what people think.</p>
<p>* fan-wank, Andy's word</p>
A Whale of a Time2005-05-18T12:50:00+01:002005-05-18T12:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-18:/~alex/blog/2005/05/18/397/<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.moby.com/">Moby</a> at the Apollo last night. I like the Apollo. It may be a little dirtier and out of the way than the MEN Arena but its also a lot more intimate as a venue. You get a good view from most places on the ground …</p><p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.moby.com/">Moby</a> at the Apollo last night. I like the Apollo. It may be a little dirtier and out of the way than the MEN Arena but its also a lot more intimate as a venue. You get a good view from most places on the ground floor and the sound really fills the space which isn't always the case in the Arena.</p>
<p>The first time I saw Moby live was at Glastonbury. At the time I thought it was a fantastic gig although that was probably tempered by the fact I was at Glastonbury and everything seemed pretty fantastic at the time. Last night he still impressed, obviously caring about the towns he was playing in. He made a reference to "24 Hour Party" people, expressing his regret he never got a chance to see the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fac_51_Hacienda">Hacienda</a> in its heyday before launching into one of the tracks used in the film. He then followed on covering a Joy Division track which the crowd really appreciated. Other covers of the night included Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side", the Doors and "Break on Through" as well as a funny bossa nova style cover of Radiohead's "Creep". One of the main thing that comes through on stage is he is a true music fan and quite happy to acknowledge his influences and pay homage to other artists. This also comes through on his <a class="reference external" href="http://www.moby.com/journal">blog</a>.</p>
<p>All in all, a great night out.</p>
Why do the Gods tempt me so?2005-05-16T19:07:00+01:002005-05-16T19:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-16:/~alex/blog/2005/05/16/396/<p>It seems Metrolink are unable to organise a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metrolink.co.uk/servicedisruptions/index.asp">piss up in a brewery</a>. It seems I shall be forced to locate to a brewery supplied establishment until service can be restored.</p>
Naked, in your minds eye....2005-05-16T16:13:00+01:002005-05-16T16:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-16:/~alex/blog/2005/05/16/395/<p>I took advantage of working from home on Friday so I could get straight off to Maelstrom. Its nice to have the ability to work from home when needed although its not something I plan on doing much. Although I can connect to the work IRC server I still miss …</p><p>I took advantage of working from home on Friday so I could get straight off to Maelstrom. Its nice to have the ability to work from home when needed although its not something I plan on doing much. Although I can connect to the work IRC server I still miss the atmosphere of the office. Of course the fact I don't have shiny duel TFT displays at home may also play a part :-)</p>
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<div class="section" id="getting-there-attempted-geek-workarounds">
<h2>Getting there, attempted geek workarounds</h2>
<p>Despite the benefits of being able to prepare my kit over lunchtime I still managed to forget to pack my sleeping bag and duvet into Andy's car. As I only realised this as we where heading onto the M6 I decided to throw technology at the problem. Unfortunately asking <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/">Google</a> to show me where local camping supplies shops where failed due to a combination of the screen on my mobile being too small to usefully read the maps as well as a poor choice of <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/local?hl=en&lr=&q=camping+supplies&near=Bromsgrove&btnG=Search&sc=1">query</a>. Post mortem analysis reveals I should of just <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/local?hl=en&lr=&q=sleeping+bags&near=Bromsgrove&btnG=Search&sc=1">asked for what I wanted</a>. Having the post code to the scout site would of also been helpful.</p>
<p>In the end it was the ever present tendency for LARPers to pack more kits than they needed that saved the day. Still interesting exercise in mobile 'net usage.</p>
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<div class="section" id="having-some-at-the-event-itself">
<h2>Having some at the event itself</h2>
<p>The event itself was enjoyable if a little more laid back than last time. I didn't get as politically involved as last time although our community is certainly starting to make waves into the rest of the system. I didn't even spend much time hawking my wares although I do seem to of acquired various potions and creams thrown in my general direction. I'm not sure if it was the event being comparatively shorter or the fact the weather (for the most part) was pleasant and congenial to lazing around in the sun/bar.</p>
<p>So nothing much to report from the weekend. I shall be attempting to live the live of a chaste, water drinking hermit for the next week as I prepare for the run this coming weekend. I'm currently feel guilty about the tailing off of my training regime.</p>
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Media Geek2005-05-12T19:34:00+01:002005-05-12T19:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-12:/~alex/blog/2005/05/12/394/<p>I noticed <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4538111.stm">this</a> on BBC today. In a world where media interests are scrabbling to control content (and by extension the user) its nice to see the BBC opening up. Go BBC, worth the license fee any day :-)</p>
Price Sensitive2005-05-12T12:55:00+01:002005-05-12T12:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-12:/~alex/blog/2005/05/12/393/<p>My personal copy of Firefly arrived today having decided to splash out and buy it after watching Fez's copy. The price was a very reasonable ?12.99 which was a full ?14 cheaper than my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk">default media purchase node</a>. It's a testament to Amazon's success as a 'net savvy brand …</p><p>My personal copy of Firefly arrived today having decided to splash out and buy it after watching Fez's copy. The price was a very reasonable ?12.99 which was a full ?14 cheaper than my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk">default media purchase node</a>. It's a testament to Amazon's success as a 'net savvy brand that they get my business by default. However to get the full benefit of the global purchasing power of the interweb I really should take more care to <a class="reference external" href="http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?scoring=p&q=firefly+widescreen&btnG=Search+Froogle">compare prices</a> first.</p>
Monday is never a good day to abstain2005-05-10T00:34:00+01:002005-05-10T00:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-10:/~alex/blog/2005/05/10/392/<p>I was intending to avoid the traditional post work drinks this evening. This was meant to be the start of my 2 weeks of abstinence for the lead up to Great Manchester Run. In the event the sudden bursting into life of one of my bits of code just before …</p><p>I was intending to avoid the traditional post work drinks this evening. This was meant to be the start of my 2 weeks of abstinence for the lead up to Great Manchester Run. In the event the sudden bursting into life of one of my bits of code just before home time gave me sufficient excuse to indulge in a celebratory pint or two. However my fellow drinking conspirators are now sworn to not put temptation in my way for the next fortnight :-)</p>
<p>As a minor form of penance I made myself a fully vegetarian Carbonara. I did experiment and finesse the usual recipe with a little Parmisan in the sauce. The rest of the evening was frittered away on watching Sky's run down of the political sex scandal and seeing if William Shatner was any good in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-25525/Boston_Legal/">Boston Legal</a>. Tomorrow I eschew TV for the benefits of running around Platt Fields with Sheila.</p>
Arty Moi?2005-05-09T01:05:00+01:002005-05-09T01:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-09:/~alex/blog/2005/05/09/391/<p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082269/">Diva</a> round at Aidan and Gillian's this evening. I really enjoyed the film, it was a nice change of pace to my usual film fair. One thing I often notice watching foreign language films is how different the style of dialog can be. I don't really mind subtitles …</p><p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082269/">Diva</a> round at Aidan and Gillian's this evening. I really enjoyed the film, it was a nice change of pace to my usual film fair. One thing I often notice watching foreign language films is how different the style of dialog can be. I don't really mind subtitles, I like hearing the rhythm of the original language which you can appreciate as more lyrical than English often seems. Can anyone recommend any other good films? My rental list is currently full of fluff.</p>
Carbon Anyone?2005-05-08T00:29:00+01:002005-05-08T00:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-08:/~alex/blog/2005/05/08/390/<p>I managed a small measure of self control with after work drinks yesterday. This was mainly driven by the fear if I had too much to drink I would fall asleep in my beer having only really slept for 3-4 hours Friday morning. It took a lot of coke to …</p><p>I managed a small measure of self control with after work drinks yesterday. This was mainly driven by the fear if I had too much to drink I would fall asleep in my beer having only really slept for 3-4 hours Friday morning. It took a lot of coke to keep me awake as we went for a Mexican to celebrate <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/babbage/">James'</a> birthday.</p>
<p>I had a long lie in this morning as I caught up with my beauty sleep before taking the new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=388">bling</a> out for a test drive. The real test will come on Tuesday when I'm doing another long run with Sheila. The rest of the afternoon has been filled with stuffing myself with fast quantities of meat at Cheryl's leaving BBQ. I have now retired for a surprisingly modest Saturday night. Tomorrow I may go for another little run to wear in the trainers...</p>
Swinging and Climbing2005-05-06T13:13:00+01:002005-05-06T13:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-06:/~alex/blog/2005/05/06/389/<p>Jo came round and visited us last night as we sampled the best of the media blitz that surrounded the election coverage. The BBC where in my opinion the best with the elder of the Dimbleby brothers showing the Paxman's of this world how to control your guests. Peter Snow's …</p><p>Jo came round and visited us last night as we sampled the best of the media blitz that surrounded the election coverage. The BBC where in my opinion the best with the elder of the Dimbleby brothers showing the Paxman's of this world how to control your guests. Peter Snow's swing-o-meter was impressive, complete with ancillary animation and sound effects to flesh out the effect of the CGI. I particularly liked the 3 way pie chart that depicted the various battles between the 3 main parties. The interactive features where OK although let down by the slowness of the Sky Box meaning transitions kept cutting the video feed.</p>
<p>ITV certainly had the celebrity aspect hands down. They hosted an election party where they could troupe out a series of impersonators and famous people to comment on how they thought it was all going. There CG wasn't as polished as the BBC's and when the election snakes and ladders board came on I felt they where dumbing down a little. The red button just brought forth a bunch of adverts.</p>
<p>Channel Four held back the wave of stats with their Secret Election coverage which included some very bitting "hidden camera" footage. The humour was very heavy on the satire which I found ok in small doses.</p>
<p>Five choose the easy route of re-broadcasting Sky's coverage which did win the "Most screens on the interactive section" award. They even included a camera in their gallery where the program controllers sit. After about 5 minutes of waiting for them to swear whilst barking instructions we came to the conclusion it was just boring filler.</p>
<p>The only "foreign" channel we saw covering our exercise in democracy was CNN. Their main conclusion was that given Tony's slimmed down majority we wouldn't be having a second American led war with the UK assisting! I was a little shocked that some people thought 2 wars in 8 years was a possibility :-(</p>
<p>All in all I found this year a pretty boring election. For all the accusations over Iraq I was never going to base vote on who said what about the war. I'm more interested in the idealogy behind domestic policies. It seemed this year there wasn't much to separate the parties aside from how negative they could be about each other. The result is as I expected. I'm happy Labour's majority has been curtailed a little, hopefully it will help keep them honest. I'm not overly worried they are going to screw things up as they have, either though luck or judgement, kept the country ticking along reasonably well. I also glad the Conservatives have made some modest gains. Hopefully this means they can start broadening their support base and move on in developing their policies away from the entrenched position they found themselves in after the last static performance. It is interesting to the Lib Dems have done well, mostly at the expense of Labour. I think this shows they are now to the left(-ish) of Labour which is odd for me seeing as they got my vote this time round. Who'd of thunk it ;-)</p>
And the result is...2005-05-06T03:12:00+01:002005-05-06T03:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-06:/~alex/blog/2005/05/06/388/<p>Nice to see turnout in my constituency <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/551.stm">is up</a>. Also good to see the Lib Dems climbing up the ratings. If you add up all the opposition Labour only had 733 votes more although their simple majority is a pretty respectable 7k odd. I've drunk rather a lot of tea …</p><p>Nice to see turnout in my constituency <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/551.stm">is up</a>. Also good to see the Lib Dems climbing up the ratings. If you add up all the opposition Labour only had 733 votes more although their simple majority is a pretty respectable 7k odd. I've drunk rather a lot of tea now so I may need some hot Chocolate before crawling into bed for work tomorrow.</p>
Comprehensive Spending2005-05-05T17:35:00+01:002005-05-05T17:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-05:/~alex/blog/2005/05/05/387/<p>Today I spent ?80 on a pair of trainers. Don't worry I haven't become bling obsessed, I'm just treating myself to something a little more practical than my ageing 4x4 Silver Shadows. I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.runningshoes.org.uk/site3/manchester.php">Up & Running</a> where the nice lady spent about 45 minutes trying various shoes and analysing …</p><p>Today I spent ?80 on a pair of trainers. Don't worry I haven't become bling obsessed, I'm just treating myself to something a little more practical than my ageing 4x4 Silver Shadows. I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.runningshoes.org.uk/site3/manchester.php">Up & Running</a> where the nice lady spent about 45 minutes trying various shoes and analysing my gait on the in store treadmill. My first impressions are good however I need to wear the shoes in for a while before my first short run. Hopefully I shall be shaving minutes of my race time now I'm properly equipped.</p>
<p>I have come to the conclusion however that despite running not being my favourite activity its probably worth keeping it up after the race. It certainly cheaper than going to the Gym.</p>
Nearing the End2005-05-04T14:50:00+01:002005-05-04T14:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-04:/~alex/blog/2005/05/04/386/<p>So tomorrow in polling day and I have still to make my choice. I'm pretty much decided I'm not going to vote tactically. My Dad convinced me that even if it makes no difference locally my vote will register on the national share of the vote. So the choice is …</p><p>So tomorrow in polling day and I have still to make my choice. I'm pretty much decided I'm not going to vote tactically. My Dad convinced me that even if it makes no difference locally my vote will register on the national share of the vote. So the choice is now between a party (broadly aligned with my views) or None of the Above. Hence the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/blog/4511891.stm">question</a>.</p>
Arrgh Deadlines!2005-05-03T13:13:00+01:002005-05-03T13:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-03:/~alex/blog/2005/05/03/385/<p>Yesterday was entertaining due to the (successful) attempt to hold a BBQ with Manchester's abnormally schizophrenic weather. I even inflicted some original Trek on my guests after they retreated to the living room. They may never forgive me...</p>
<p>The Maelstrom downtime deadline is tomorrow and I still haven't decided how …</p><p>Yesterday was entertaining due to the (successful) attempt to hold a BBQ with Manchester's abnormally schizophrenic weather. I even inflicted some original Trek on my guests after they retreated to the living room. They may never forgive me...</p>
<p>The Maelstrom downtime deadline is tomorrow and I still haven't decided how I'm going to spend my downtime. To be honest downtime is one of things I find a double edged sword for a LRP system. Its nice to advance your characters with stuff but it does turn an essentially interactive role playing event into more of a play-by-mail experience with a lot of your IC discussion being based around resource management. Ho-hum, thank god for email!</p>
Contentment2005-05-02T00:46:00+01:002005-05-02T00:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-05-02:/~alex/blog/2005/05/02/384/<p>I love visiting my parents. It is so nice to have the opportunity to head back to you roots and just relax. Today's activities have not been excessively taxing but enjoyable none the less. I started by doing a 3 mile run, keeping up (more or less) with the training …</p><p>I love visiting my parents. It is so nice to have the opportunity to head back to you roots and just relax. Today's activities have not been excessively taxing but enjoyable none the less. I started by doing a 3 mile run, keeping up (more or less) with the training schedule for the end of the month. The rest of the day was taken up with "Sunday" which as a family consists of reading the papers, having lunch and generally chatting. Its nice to be able to amble over topics as diverse as the efficiency of boilers, the physics of photo multipliers, politics, intellectual property, the use of web cams as cheap telescope imaging sensors, work life balance, detecting pond leaks through the application of maths and music. Most of this has been in the wonderful May weather in my parents garden. To top it all I even had a decadent *two* helpings of my Grandmothers Sache Torte chocolate cake.</p>
<p>The weekend had left me feeling much refreshed and nicely relaxed. All in all a worthwhile way to spend the Bank Holiday Weekend :-D</p>
In the Bosom of the family2005-04-30T17:40:00+01:002005-04-30T17:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-30:/~alex/blog/2005/04/30/383/<p>So far the visit to my folks has involved a long drive down to Cambridge. Followed by beer and wine. A long walk in the country side. Followed by ale. A minor re-engineering of the BBQ. Shortly followed by some more beer.</p>
<p>The weather down here is proving to be …</p><p>So far the visit to my folks has involved a long drive down to Cambridge. Followed by beer and wine. A long walk in the country side. Followed by ale. A minor re-engineering of the BBQ. Shortly followed by some more beer.</p>
<p>The weather down here is proving to be particularly fine so I'm off back to the garden to enjoy some more, you guessed it, beer ;-)</p>
Stop the Press!!2005-04-29T10:44:00+01:002005-04-29T10:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-29:/~alex/blog/2005/04/29/382/<p>It is 9.00am and I'm in the office at work. "What!" I hear you gasp, "what have you done with the real Alex?". Unfortunately this isn't part of a new working schedule but due to me pulling a muscle in my back while at work yesterday evening. I couldn't …</p><p>It is 9.00am and I'm in the office at work. "What!" I hear you gasp, "what have you done with the real Alex?". Unfortunately this isn't part of a new working schedule but due to me pulling a muscle in my back while at work yesterday evening. I couldn't find a comfortable position in bed and as a result didn't really get much sleep. After finally admitting defeat and getting out of bed at 6 and having a bath to try and loosen it up I was ready for work by 8. There is a little serendipity though as I'm off to my parents for the weekend so I'll be able to get an early start to Cambridge.</p>
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<div class="section" id="politics">
<h2>Politics</h2>
<p>The Lib Dems have obviously been reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=377">my blog</a> and gotten around to dropping of a leaflet. It only covered 3 issues (Iraq, Police/Civil Liberties and Local Income Tax) which was a little light compared to some of the others parties leaflets. The only one that really grabs me is scraping the proposed ID card scheme in favour of more police officers. I'm lukewarm about Local Income Tax because I'll probably be in the 25% who will be worse off compared to Council Tax although I accept its a fairer system. While I accept its valid to bring up Iraq to highlight trust with the current government its not like I needed a lot of convincing, I don't see it being an issue thats going to sway my vote. UKIP have also been by with their offering (with a well designed leaflet according to Andy) but they don't really have anything to offer me on any of the issues.</p>
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<div class="section" id="geekery">
<h2>Geekery</h2>
<p>Following on from a conversation on Wednesday when TJ noted there had been occasions when she was unable to connect to the bennee.com webmail service. As Mufi pointed out high uptime is of no use if the service isn't available to your users. I did a bit of poking around yesterday and discovered the problem didn't lie with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com">jack</a> but the WRT54G router. Specifically running <a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">GTK-Gnutella</a> is obviously pressuring the port forwarding hard enough the router is running out of memory and not able to accept new incoming connections. Hopefully I'll get a chance to re-visit the alternative firmware situation and see how it has moved on since I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=168">last looked</a>.</p>
</div>
Geek, reasserting2005-04-26T17:56:00+01:002005-04-26T17:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-26:/~alex/blog/2005/04/26/381/<p>Today's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-04-25">Penny Arcade</a> pretty much nails a lot of the feelings I have about MMORPG's. I think it is worth reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php3?date=2005-04-25">Tyco's</a> commentary as well.</p>
<p>While we are on the subject of monetising online services it was refreshing to see <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4474143.stm">this article</a> on the BBC talking people realising the limitations …</p><p>Today's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-04-25">Penny Arcade</a> pretty much nails a lot of the feelings I have about MMORPG's. I think it is worth reading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php3?date=2005-04-25">Tyco's</a> commentary as well.</p>
<p>While we are on the subject of monetising online services it was refreshing to see <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4474143.stm">this article</a> on the BBC talking people realising the limitations DRM places on them as the legal download market expand. I did see mention of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bleep.com/">Bleep</a> which offers DRM free music in mp3 format. The format choice is only a minor hurdle and its nice to know they are looking at Ogg and FLAC as potential formats. I'm going to have a play with the service and see if its Firefox friendly and of course if they have any decent music :-)</p>
!Goth2005-04-25T20:28:00+01:002005-04-25T20:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-25:/~alex/blog/2005/04/25/380/<p>I have returned from the Whitby weekend. I enjoyed it a lot although it was a lot more chilled compared to last November. The weather behaved itself and it was nice getting about and chatting to people. I did a little experimentation with hair styles, a short run, and brought …</p><p>I have returned from the Whitby weekend. I enjoyed it a lot although it was a lot more chilled compared to last November. The weather behaved itself and it was nice getting about and chatting to people. I did a little experimentation with hair styles, a short run, and brought some clothes to. All in all very relaxing.</p>
<p>Next week, I visit my folks who have promised me more walks and runs :-)</p>
Packed2005-04-21T12:45:00+01:002005-04-21T12:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-21:/~alex/blog/2005/04/21/379/<p>I'm all packed for Whitby and am just waiting for the rest of the household to catch up before driving up. I've decided against taking the Frock Coat again because it is very impractical and hot. As a result this weekend I shall be mainly going for the Cyber look …</p><p>I'm all packed for Whitby and am just waiting for the rest of the household to catch up before driving up. I've decided against taking the Frock Coat again because it is very impractical and hot. As a result this weekend I shall be mainly going for the Cyber look. I have packed my running kit just in case I feel like going for a run along the seaside. If I actually do manage to I'll be dead impressed with myself.</p>
<p>The rest of you not doing Whitby, have a good weekend. I look forward to coming back to find my house <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/240941.html">in the same state</a> or <em>better</em> ;-)</p>
Googley Eyed Fan Boy2005-04-20T13:06:00+01:002005-04-20T13:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-20:/~alex/blog/2005/04/20/378/<p>I've just been playing with Google's new <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/">local search</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=manchester&hl=en">map service</a>. However I didn't realise until today you could get access to a load of their services via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/sms/howtouse.html">SMS</a> instead of using fiddling about with WAP. The killer app of course is being able to query Froogle while in …</p><p>I've just been playing with Google's new <a class="reference external" href="http://local.google.co.uk/">local search</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=manchester&hl=en">map service</a>. However I didn't realise until today you could get access to a load of their services via <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.co.uk/sms/howtouse.html">SMS</a> instead of using fiddling about with WAP. The killer app of course is being able to query Froogle while in the shops. Happy Geek :-)</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> While on the subject there is an interesting story about Google and where it may be going <a class="reference external" href="http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050322.gtflgooglemar22/BNStory/Technology/">here</a>.</p>
A Little More Politics2005-04-20T12:15:00+01:002005-04-20T12:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-20:/~alex/blog/2005/04/20/377/<p>Hmmm, just gave <a class="reference external" href="http://www.politicalsurvey2005.com">Political Survey 2005</a> a spin. It has my vote split between the Green's and the Tory's. I'm fairly left wing on some subjects, and very right wing on others. Basically I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://www.politicalsurvey2005.com/scripts/quiz?s=MBPBEACFBEBDADBCBDABDEDADCDDBDCDCBCDCCBDCC">conflicted</a>.</p>
Enduring Memories2005-04-20T11:57:00+01:002005-04-20T11:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-20:/~alex/blog/2005/04/20/376/<p>I went running with Sheila and some of her friends last night. For a change of venue we ran a few laps around Platt Fields. I was quite pleased to finish the 3 laps which worked out at about 8.2km. This is by far the longest run I've done …</p><p>I went running with Sheila and some of her friends last night. For a change of venue we ran a few laps around Platt Fields. I was quite pleased to finish the 3 laps which worked out at about 8.2km. This is by far the longest run I've done in training so far. It certainly was a lot easier to keep going when your running with someone else as you don't have to keep fighting the lonely mental battle to keep yourself going. I'm going to try doing at least one run of that length a week on the run up to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=17">big day</a>.</p>
<p>I'm going to take a little break in my training for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/2005/april/">Whitby</a> this weekend. It is a pretty hilly location and I'm sure I'll be burning enough calories in the evenings dancing. I seem to be unusual in the fact that my packing will involve throwing a few sets of clothes into my suitcase tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>And finally the polling cards arrived today. None of my house mates have been disenfranchised which is good. Still no word from one of the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/551.stm">candidates</a> which is a shame. I'm not going to vote for a candidate that doesn't bother to at least let people know what he believes in. Come on Lib Dems, you could be losing my vote!</p>
Tricky Phone Calls2005-04-19T12:39:00+01:002005-04-19T12:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-19:/~alex/blog/2005/04/19/375/<p>I got a difficult phone call from Glyn's sisters yesterday. They were calling to let me know they were going to intern his ashes with his father instead of scattering them in Amsterdam. I'm not sure how I feel about this. The first thing is say there is not a …</p><p>I got a difficult phone call from Glyn's sisters yesterday. They were calling to let me know they were going to intern his ashes with his father instead of scattering them in Amsterdam. I'm not sure how I feel about this. The first thing is say there is not a lot I can do about it. In absence of any written instructions they are his next of kin and therfore have the final say. Secondly from <em>my own personal agnostic point of view</em> it is a symbolic act for the benefit of the living rather than having any deeper spiritual resonance. It certainly won't stop be from visiting Amsterdam again with Glyn's other friends to celebrate his life in a style befitting his memory. Still it left me a little maudlin last night.</p>
Almost Fully Productive2005-04-17T22:18:00+01:002005-04-17T22:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-17:/~alex/blog/2005/04/17/374/<p>Being the designated driver at Mufi's birthday do last night meant I got a good nights sleep including dreaming of Skiing. However as I was doing pretty badly I woke up and went for a run instead. I didn't finish by planned distance given my left leg was getting quite …</p><p>Being the designated driver at Mufi's birthday do last night meant I got a good nights sleep including dreaming of Skiing. However as I was doing pretty badly I woke up and went for a run instead. I didn't finish by planned distance given my left leg was getting quite tense. I'm not sure why although I should probably check my shoes are both in reasonable shape.</p>
<p>I spent the rest of the day DIY'ing trying to remember some of the carpentry of my school days. The rest of the evening so far has involved watching Sci-Fi. We saw the latest Enterprise which while having several atractive qualities did continue T'Pau and Trip the soap opera. I only hope the rumor Andy told me earlier doesn't pan out. I can see why <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0086883/">Jolene Blalock</a> would be pissed given the direction the writers are going.</p>
<p>The Doctor Who episode didn't arrive via its usual means. The Sunday repeat on BBC Three was marginally more convenient. I reckon the sooner the BBC make their programs available to their consumers at times suitable for them the better. Given they started counting <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4449243.stm">legal music downloads</a> this weekend think what it would do to the BBC's ratings if they counted legal torrent downloads. Of course I suppose this is why the BBC need projects like <a class="reference external" href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/dirac">Dirac</a> to succeed. Unfortunately I think <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divx">DivX</a> is too much of a legal and patent minefield.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed the episode itself. It met my expectations for a Doctor Who episode although with grittier and more up to date writing. I thought the cliffhanger was a little overplayed, but all in glorious Who tradition :-) One tradition I really want them to drop however is the American style "what's on next week" previews. There is absolutely no point showing a cliffhanger and then starting the end credit music and immediately showing a montage of next weeks death defying escape. Some one should write a letter to points of view or something!</p>
My nemesis, we meet at last2005-04-14T16:12:00+01:002005-04-14T16:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-14:/~alex/blog/2005/04/14/373/<p>Despite last night being a school night the New Company had its launch party for it first pressed CD shipping to a customer. I still suffer from my inability to refuse free beer and last night I was tempted even further into mixing my drinks by the Champagne monkeys. I …</p><p>Despite last night being a school night the New Company had its launch party for it first pressed CD shipping to a customer. I still suffer from my inability to refuse free beer and last night I was tempted even further into mixing my drinks by the Champagne monkeys. I think I was making up for my rather conservative drinking at Mufi and TJ's wedding where staying sober was actually high on my list. However in a fit of sensibleness I did head home before midnight rather than attempt to keep drinking until 2 (did I mention the bar was still free at this point). I stumbled home, muttered at Andy, (in theory) watched a Futurama episode before collapsing in bed. I had a lie in this morning.</p>
<p>In other news, due to a inexplicable series of events, it transpires I've not eaten any meat since Tuesday lunchtime. Lee thinks I may be ill!</p>
Quick get me a Halo2005-04-12T13:46:00+01:002005-04-12T13:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-12:/~alex/blog/2005/04/12/372/<p>Well I'm into my third month at New Company so its time to get the pension stuff sorted out. As you may or may not know you don't have to go with the default fund, usually a "With Profits" smoothed fund that usually gives a moderate growth. Because I'm right …</p><p>Well I'm into my third month at New Company so its time to get the pension stuff sorted out. As you may or may not know you don't have to go with the default fund, usually a "With Profits" smoothed fund that usually gives a moderate growth. Because I'm right at the beginning of my thirty or so years I can afford to be a little more risky with my fund choices given I have a longer period to claw money back. At the same time pension funds are a major part of the financial sector and therefor have an impact on society due to the things they invest in. As a result I've decided to spread my risk over a couple of "ethical" funds (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ethicalinvestors.co.uk/fund_directory/Companies/norwichunion.htm">Norwich Union</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ethicalinvestors.co.uk/fund_directory/Companies/nusustain.htm">Sustainable Futures</a>). Of course this isn't really an altruistic act on my part, it is basically a gamble, which is all investing is. But the premise of the gamble is that at some point over my lifetime there will be a crunch either due to major environmental issues, fossil fuels, social change or government intervention. If that happens I'm hoping that the companies that think about the long term will be less affected than the rest. Of course it also feels good in the karma stakes, as long as I don't have to look at any really bad numbers in the next 30 years ;-)</p>
Almost Virtual2005-04-12T00:24:00+01:002005-04-12T00:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-12:/~alex/blog/2005/04/12/371/<p>I have been geeking tonight. I have mostly been cleaning up my Bitzi Cache patch (temporally on hold as Bitzi seems to <a class="reference external" href="http://bitzi.com/bboard/message?message_id=271709&forum_id=4076">spewing bad XML</a>). Simultaneously I have been setting up IPsec so I can access work remotely. I seem to most of the way there although I've had to …</p><p>I have been geeking tonight. I have mostly been cleaning up my Bitzi Cache patch (temporally on hold as Bitzi seems to <a class="reference external" href="http://bitzi.com/bboard/message?message_id=271709&forum_id=4076">spewing bad XML</a>). Simultaneously I have been setting up IPsec so I can access work remotely. I seem to most of the way there although I've had to tweak setup given to me by the administrator to use the latest Gentoo OpenSwan code. My only problem now is starting IPsec adds a bunch of weird default routes to the routing table which breaks networking. As far as I can tell it shouldn't do that, but this is all new stuff to me. It may not help that the remote end may well be down so I'm postponing further testing for tonight. The only thing I need to work out after that is the correct resolv.conf<em>foo</em> so I can access work machines via their short name without screwing up my own internal domains DNS.</p>
The sunshine of hope breaking through the clouds of disappointment2005-04-11T15:53:00+01:002005-04-11T15:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-11:/~alex/blog/2005/04/11/370/<p>Yesterday was an day of mildly hedonistic loafing. Although I had some plans of catching up on some code I decided instead to abandon the day to serial TV watching. Lee turned up from his late night meanderings and Karen and I where eventually joined by Andy (only slightly pouting …</p><p>Yesterday was an day of mildly hedonistic loafing. Although I had some plans of catching up on some code I decided instead to abandon the day to serial TV watching. Lee turned up from his late night meanderings and Karen and I where eventually joined by Andy (only slightly pouting at the fact we'd started on Doctor Who before he got home). Other audio visual treats included the animated <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077869/">Lord of the Rings</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439591/">Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure</a>. It was all very chilled.</p>
<p>Today so far has been interesting. We have had leaflets from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/beverley_hughes/stretford_and_urmston">incumbent MP</a> and her <a class="reference external" href="http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&PersonID=94018">main challenger</a>. I read both. The Labour leaflet was rather wooly (8 years of us being great, please vote for us again) compared to the Conservative one (Our survey said these are your top concerns, this is what we will do about them). They didn't even play the immigration card until the very last line of the text. I'm still waiting for the Liberal Democrats to post their leaflet.</p>
<p>Seeing as morning politics had put me into a marketing frame of mind I <em>allowed myself</em> to get pulled from the crowds by the market research people in St Anne's square. For some reason the computer decided I was going to get the beer selection of questions. The final conclusions seems to be I actively don't associate with any particular brands, apart from the fact I occasionally find the John Smiths adverts funny. It was interesting the word associations the marketing people where trying to draw to given products, words like "confident", "successful" and "masculine". All obviously irrelevant to me as I don't feel the kind of beer I drink sends out any particular message apart from the "I like to drink beer", and generally <strong>good beer</strong>. The representative sample was not good beer, mainly covering the Carling and Carlsberg's of this world with the honorable exception of London Pride which featured on a slide or two. Still I got a free pen out the deal, always handy for reffing.</p>
Only slightly sinful2005-04-10T11:54:00+01:002005-04-10T11:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-10:/~alex/blog/2005/04/10/369/<p>Yesterdays DIY went very well, ably assisted by Jo who helped me choose the lighting and generally fetched and carried as we fitted them to the walls. Next step is getting some shelving sorted and I will have my dining room in working order again.</p>
<p>I forgot to watch or …</p><p>Yesterdays DIY went very well, ably assisted by Jo who helped me choose the lighting and generally fetched and carried as we fitted them to the walls. Next step is getting some shelving sorted and I will have my dining room in working order again.</p>
<p>I forgot to watch or record Doctor Who last night. Luckily the <a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">global information cache</a> has it so I'm going to watch after I put up this post :-)</p>
<p>The lead up to Sin City was interesting. I accidently brought a drink for a random nutter who had attached himself to our table. My mistake was confirmed after he started singing and playing the harmonica while running up and down the pub. Much hilarity ensued as we high tailed it out of the pub hoping he wouldn't follow us to the club. Once in the club things started slowly but eventually bumped into some familiar faces and danced away for a couple of hours.I have some memory of conversations involving lactating and a few more surreal moment. However I must of been very tired because by one o'clock I was falling asleep in the corner to the dulcet tones of power noise. I decided to head home at that point leaving the rest ponder going to parties while I slept in my nice warm comfortable bed.</p>
Ferment!2005-04-10T03:07:00+01:002005-04-10T03:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-10:/~alex/blog/2005/04/10/368/<p>I've just started an experiment with non quick activating yeast in the breadmaker. We shall have to see how it goes...</p>
So hungry now2005-04-09T11:19:00+01:002005-04-09T11:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-09:/~alex/blog/2005/04/09/367/<p>Last night was a pleasant evening down in Knutsford with Mufi, TJ, Marcus and Sue. An animated evening of discussion over crispy duck covering topic as diverse as Shakespear's best plays to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management">DRM</a> and why it is Evil<sup>tm</sup> (or not, depending on your point of view). There seemed to …</p><p>Last night was a pleasant evening down in Knutsford with Mufi, TJ, Marcus and Sue. An animated evening of discussion over crispy duck covering topic as diverse as Shakespear's best plays to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management">DRM</a> and why it is Evil<sup>tm</sup> (or not, depending on your point of view). There seemed to be some consensus that the people who use DRM'ed stuff didn't worry about price gouging because companies have to price stuff conscious of the fact free stuff is out there. This argument runs along similar lines to the view that Software Piracy is a legitimate market force (which I disagree with, feeling of course open source software is a far more moral market balancer). Of course this doesn't mean the people actually working on breaking DRM or developing <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P2P">P2P</a> software are immune from the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Johansen">legal consequences</a> of keeping the playing field level. Laws are being brought in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/04/30/alan_cox_attacks_the_european/">all the time</a> that are slowly eroding what software I can and can not write. These laws affect me irrespective of if I've ever actually copied something without the owners permission. Its something I wish more people where aware of.</p>
Venting is good for the Soul2005-04-08T14:30:00+01:002005-04-08T14:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-08:/~alex/blog/2005/04/08/366/<p>A whole load of factors made yesterday a bit of a mare apart from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=366">already mentioned SoS stuff</a>. So I took the mature and responsible step of dragging some work colleges to the pub after work to try and ensure at least one aspect of the day wasn't a …</p><p>A whole load of factors made yesterday a bit of a mare apart from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=366">already mentioned SoS stuff</a>. So I took the mature and responsible step of dragging some work colleges to the pub after work to try and ensure at least one aspect of the day wasn't a complete loss. I then bumped into to Andy who was on the way back from the Pagga pub meet and proceeded to vent <strong>at him</strong> on the way home before settling down to watch the Incredibles. Luckily by the end of the evening when I crawled into bed I was feeling a lot happier.</p>
<p>This morning has been a little frustrating after I rebooted my machine at work to try something out and my X server stopped seeing my second monitor. So I spent most of this morning in console mode until I discovered for some bizarre reason the SuSE kernel doesn't have support for the Matrox cards compiled in by default. A quick recompile and everything was fixed, and as a bonus I fixed up the serial ports so I could sync my Palm Pilot. I must say my experience with SuSE so far has been far from edifying. It makes a bunch silly policy decisions which mean for things like audio and serial ports you have to be a member of certain groups rather than using udev to make them accessible to the current user. I am allowed to put my own favorite distro on my machine if I want to, but I'm holding back for the time being as I seem to be slowly getting comfortable with the current set-up.</p>
<p>Things are looking up though, I've just eaten 3 donuts for lunch and I think the sugar rush is starting to kick in. Plus its Friday, so the weekend is just around the corner :-)</p>
Grrr Arrrgh!2005-04-07T16:59:00+01:002005-04-07T16:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-07:/~alex/blog/2005/04/07/365/<p>Things were going so well today until I got accused of re-writing the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">Song of Steel</a> rules in advance of RulesCom reaching a consensus. This has made un-characteristically grouchy and antagonistic all day. I took the decision to step down from RulesCom because I have been a member of it …</p><p>Things were going so well today until I got accused of re-writing the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">Song of Steel</a> rules in advance of RulesCom reaching a consensus. This has made un-characteristically grouchy and antagonistic all day. I took the decision to step down from RulesCom because I have been a member of it for far too long and for a change other people <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/OOC_board/discuss_toc.cgi?referer=22653&boardname=0">want to stand</a>. This is great, but I harbor a secret fear that some people are prone to a) not read the existing rules and b) make stuff up as they go along. Unfortunately I shall be away in Whitby for this years AGM so I won't be able to grill the prospective candidates on the day. I suppose given the disagreements I've had with some people about the problems of a democratically run club I should try and be sanguine and learn to trust the clubs electorate.</p>
Too Much Notice?2005-04-06T12:46:00+01:002005-04-06T12:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-06:/~alex/blog/2005/04/06/364/<p>Just a quick mention that I shall be celebrating my accession to a 6 bit defined entity on Friday the 19th of August. Now all I have to do is make sure my dinning room is decorated by then ;-)</p>
A Little bit of Politics2005-04-05T18:38:00+01:002005-04-05T18:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-05:/~alex/blog/2005/04/05/363/<p>So El Presidente has finally announced <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4409935.stm">the big day</a> for May the 5th. I'm at a bit of loss who to vote for at the moment. My natural inclination as most people probably know is towards the Torries. I'm happy to see a slowing in the growth of public spending …</p><p>So El Presidente has finally announced <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4409935.stm">the big day</a> for May the 5th. I'm at a bit of loss who to vote for at the moment. My natural inclination as most people probably know is towards the Torries. I'm happy to see a slowing in the growth of public spending, trying to get more value for money from the record increases our public services have seen. On foreign policy (sans EU) I don't see much difference between the two main parties. As far as Europe is concerned although I'm more pro-european than the front bench I don't actually think the Euro in on the agenda for the next parliament. Getting the proposed constitution rejected may actually make the EU think about how its going to make its institutions more democratically accountable. The recent anti-terror debacle also convinces me (bizarrely) they care more about human rights.</p>
<p>However, the main problem I currently have with the Tories is their insistence on demonising Gypsies and immigrants. These are things I emphatically <strong>don't</strong> support and I can't see myself supporting the party while they think this is a good idea. This brings me top option 3, the Lib Dems. Although I disagree with the anti-war stance I think they demonstrated they could stick to some clear principles. Their tax policy seems honest and I like their focus on Education. And the bonus is if the Lib Dems made significant progress maybe that will cause a welcome shift in the current two party system.</p>
<p>Of course the whole thing is complicated when I look at <a class="reference external" href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/0,,-1347,00.html">last years results</a>. This is the first time I've come against the thorny issue of tactical voting. The best not Labour vote on my constituency in the Tories although I'd prefer the Lib Dems. Its a dilemma. I know for sure I'll be voting on May the 5th, I'm just not sure who for yet.</p>
The High Life2005-04-04T23:28:00+01:002005-04-04T23:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-04:/~alex/blog/2005/04/04/362/<p>I'm currently sitting at my computer sipping at my first Strawberry Daiquiri of the year. I feel pretty satisfied with today as I made of for this mornings tardiness by running more than I originally intended this evening. I then ran a successful test of the new shower enclosure (<a class="reference external" href="%20%20http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/New%20Shower%20Enclosure%20April%202005">would …</a></p><p>I'm currently sitting at my computer sipping at my first Strawberry Daiquiri of the year. I feel pretty satisfied with today as I made of for this mornings tardiness by running more than I originally intended this evening. I then ran a successful test of the new shower enclosure (<a class="reference external" href="%20%20http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/New%20Shower%20Enclosure%20April%202005">would you like to know more?</a>) which seems to be both stable and leak free. Life is good, which only makes me slightly suspicious...</p>
The Hard Disk is not Big Enough2005-04-04T15:11:00+01:002005-04-04T15:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-04:/~alex/blog/2005/04/04/361/<p>Due to a number of reasons I'm currently having problems playing my music collection at work. As a result I've switched from a random selection of 22,000 tracks to listening to some 'net radio stations.</p>
<p>When I'm in the coding zone I often like to listen to dance music …</p><p>Due to a number of reasons I'm currently having problems playing my music collection at work. As a result I've switched from a random selection of 22,000 tracks to listening to some 'net radio stations.</p>
<p>When I'm in the coding zone I often like to listen to dance music as decent bouncy music doesn't distract you with too many lyrics. Currently the 3 stations I've been listening to the most are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.somafm.com/groovesalad.pls">Groove Salad</a> (ambient, very chilled), <a class="reference external" href="http://www.di.fm/mp3/trance128k.pls">Digitally Imported</a> (more bouncy trance), and <a class="reference external" href="http://broadband.afterhoursdjs.org:8008/">Afterhours DJ's</a> (more of mix, generally a little more ambient the DI). I'm beginning to think buying the laptop off Lee would be a good idea so I can have 'net radio downstairs when I want it.</p>
<p>And finally, I'm going to Glasto! Woo Hoo!</p>
Fingers Crossed2005-04-03T11:10:00+01:002005-04-03T11:10:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-03:/~alex/blog/2005/04/03/360/<p>Well hopefully with the co-ordinated and distributed ticket buying process (organised by the fantastic <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zheers/">Lee</a>) I should have a ticket to this years Glasto :-D</p>
<p>I say should because although we have seen confirmation pages we have yet to get the confirmation emails. However at least I can do some …</p><p>Well hopefully with the co-ordinated and distributed ticket buying process (organised by the fantastic <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zheers/">Lee</a>) I should have a ticket to this years Glasto :-D</p>
<p>I say should because although we have seen confirmation pages we have yet to get the confirmation emails. However at least I can do some more work on the shower now....</p>
Box Shaped Enclosures2005-04-02T21:30:00+01:002005-04-02T21:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-04-02:/~alex/blog/2005/04/02/359/<p>Todays DIY seems to of gone quite well. Despite a slow start thanks to drinks last night the dismantling of the old unit went without a hitch. All we need to do is clean up the panels and they can be refited on top of the new tray. We had …</p><p>Todays DIY seems to of gone quite well. Despite a slow start thanks to drinks last night the dismantling of the old unit went without a hitch. All we need to do is clean up the panels and they can be refited on top of the new tray. We had a little trauma locating a tray that was 180mm tall (wanting to avoid any new tilling) and dealing with feet that would not fit due to the hole in the ground for the drainage. Luckily I am becoming adapt at the carpentry technique known as "using batons". I just have to stress test the tray before sealing it to the wall and fitting the drain. I have left the re-assembly of the cabin until tomorrow as I'm pretty sure it will require the presence of my plumber's mate, Andy.</p>
<p>The second episode of Doctor Who was excellent. Any worries people may of had about the production values should be dispelled by the effects tonight. The plot was another single parter and quite face paced, although a few hints of long term plot we dropped. The writers take full liberty of the Doctor's background to explain why some stuff just works without getting too dragged down into techie speak. There is a good mixture of serious dialog, funny jokes and good 'ole Who murder mystery. There are also plenty of classic behind the Sofa moments for the kids. My only criticism if the BBC's desire to foreshadow the next episode during the credits. Its just plain annoying, I see enough of it on American shows and I don't think its needed over here. It would certainly spoil the flow if we ever to get to having some Doctor Who cliffhangers.</p>
<p>Tomorrow brings more work on the Shower and attempting to obtain some Glastonbury tickets.</p>
Plan to be wet2005-03-31T22:16:00+01:002005-03-31T22:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-31:/~alex/blog/2005/03/31/358/<p>I've just had a quick chat with my Dad for advice and plan "install new shower tray and enclosure" is go for the weekend. Luckily I have the offer of help from Andy because I think its going to be a 2 person job.</p>
Film at Eleven2005-03-30T12:13:00+01:002005-03-30T12:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-30:/~alex/blog/2005/03/30/357/<p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0176250/">Tube Tales</a> which has been sitting on my TV for the last few months since I brought it on the strength of Amazon's recommendation. The film is basically a collection of shorts all somehow related to travelling on the tube. Each segment has its own style ranging from …</p><p>I watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0176250/">Tube Tales</a> which has been sitting on my TV for the last few months since I brought it on the strength of Amazon's recommendation. The film is basically a collection of shorts all somehow related to travelling on the tube. Each segment has its own style ranging from the visually comedic to the touchingly emotional. I enjoyed it a lot. It was funded by Sky which shows they can produce some decent TV when not peddling crap like the "? Uncovered" series and "Top 100 Trivia Facts" type stuff.</p>
<p>The rest of the evening was spent doing the hoovering. The excitement!</p>
Festivals Abound2005-03-29T15:29:00+01:002005-03-29T15:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-29:/~alex/blog/2005/03/29/356/<p>I've just booked a full weekend ticker for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.leedsfestival.com/">Leeds Festival</a>. After <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=191">last years</a> experience I thought it would be worth getting the full weekend ticket. I'll once again be taking advantage of the proximity to civilisation (and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/icklejo/">icklejo's</a> transport) to avoid the nasty bits of festival life and fully …</p><p>I've just booked a full weekend ticker for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.leedsfestival.com/">Leeds Festival</a>. After <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=191">last years</a> experience I thought it would be worth getting the full weekend ticket. I'll once again be taking advantage of the proximity to civilisation (and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/icklejo/">icklejo's</a> transport) to avoid the nasty bits of festival life and fully enjoy the music. I'm still planning to do <a class="reference external" href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/">Glasto</a> if I can get hold of tickets on Sunday but at least this way I'm guaranteed a decent dose of live music this year :-)</p>
The final installment2005-03-29T01:06:00+01:002005-03-29T01:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-29:/~alex/blog/2005/03/29/355/<p>Have returned from the previously mentioned Marathon 'O LARP, consumed curry, cleaned house a little and watched a rather <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212974/">plot-less distraction</a> on DVD with Jo, Arwel and Andy.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/index.asp">Maelstrom</a> proved to be an entertaining affair. I didn't really approach the weekend with much more of a plan than to survive …</p></blockquote><p>Have returned from the previously mentioned Marathon 'O LARP, consumed curry, cleaned house a little and watched a rather <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212974/">plot-less distraction</a> on DVD with Jo, Arwel and Andy.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/index.asp">Maelstrom</a> proved to be an entertaining affair. I didn't really approach the weekend with much more of a plan than to survive with slightly more money than I started with. My main activity of running some card games at the Enlightenment Coffee house took 2 days of organising to achieve. Our hosts, a bunch of Hillbilly types by the name of the Artemens, and proscribed gamblin' an illegal activity. As a result I spent most of the time peddling drugs while definitions of games of chance and games of skill were run by the Sheriffs and Magistrates. Although I had already decided to hang back on the drug peddling (being a lot less profitable than the alchemical powders) I found people came to see me for supplies. I guess the miles of trudging I put in the last 3 events paid off :-) Other activities included singing and dancing at the Hootanany as well as testing out my new creations of random passing victims.</p>
<p>A couple of my OOC choices made dealing with damp weather a lot easier. The choice of duvet + 3 season sleeping bag meant I slept well on all 3 nights. The choice of the relatively weaker session beer instead of the usual bottled Real Ales meant hangovers where easily avoided. I also partook of a shower on the Sunday morning and went to bed at sensible times. The result was a much more comfortable event all round. Hopefully I'll still have the motivation for tomorrows morning run.</p>
</blockquote>
Not bendy enough!2005-03-24T15:37:00+00:002005-03-24T15:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-24:/~alex/blog/2005/03/24/354/<p>I briefly activated my Biff Field last night. Whilst at Sam's for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> (enjoying a mighty fine pie I may add) I managed to fall <strong>up</strong> the stairs wrenching my back in the process. I wasn't fully apparent until this morning until I tried to get up …</p><p>I briefly activated my Biff Field last night. Whilst at Sam's for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> (enjoying a mighty fine pie I may add) I managed to fall <strong>up</strong> the stairs wrenching my back in the process. I wasn't fully apparent until this morning until I tried to get up for my morning run and ended up running a bath instead. The second incident of biffage was when I came into the house and through a <em>bizarre sequence of events</em> stabbed my self with a propelling pencil in Andy's coat. Bah!</p>
Harvesting Time...2005-03-23T14:55:00+00:002005-03-23T14:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-23:/~alex/blog/2005/03/23/353/<p>It seems the week is flying by already. Last night I took advantage of a good spell of coding and celebrated by catching up with Lee at the local for "just the one". I was pretty impressed we managed to get away with just three pints and a meal. Still …</p><p>It seems the week is flying by already. Last night I took advantage of a good spell of coding and celebrated by catching up with Lee at the local for "just the one". I was pretty impressed we managed to get away with just three pints and a meal. Still I didn't feel that guilty as I had been for a run that morning, although I was a little worried if it would affect me this morning (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Local%20Runs">luckily not</a>, hopefully I can do a 4km tomorrow).</p>
<p>The rest of the evening was spent watching <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346156/">Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow</a>. Its obviously a very stylistic movie although I found the continuous soft focus a little distracting. It was surprisingly funny, even the long build up gag getting a laugh from me at the end of the film. Worth a watch certainly.</p>
Hunting for reasons2005-03-22T16:21:00+00:002005-03-22T16:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-22:/~alex/blog/2005/03/22/352/<p>I watched the film adaptation of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S_Thompson">Hunter.S.Thompson's</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas">Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</a>. The film itself is typical surreal <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Gilliam">Terry Gilliam</a> stuff as he re-creates the sights and sounds of Thompson's massive drugs bender. Despite my rather liberal views I did find myself wondering how much of the …</p><p>I watched the film adaptation of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S_Thompson">Hunter.S.Thompson's</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas">Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</a>. The film itself is typical surreal <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Gilliam">Terry Gilliam</a> stuff as he re-creates the sights and sounds of Thompson's massive drugs bender. Despite my rather liberal views I did find myself wondering how much of the portrayed trip was actually happened. It seemed despite numerous bad trips nothing discouraged the characters from consuming more of their cocktail of drugs while simultaneously trashing more hotel rooms. The end of the film did discuss the ramifications of the tail end of the 60's where pro-drug proponents such at <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary">Tim Leary</a> encouraged experimentation with consciousness versus the hedonistic reality for most drug users. I still came away thinking Thompson was an irresponsible, self centred idiot who isn't really deserving of being an icon of the 60's counterculture. I'll have to see if I can get hold of a copy of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0552993662/reviews/202-8412707-8192604">The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test</a> to see if there was a point to the psychedelic 60's because from last nights film I'm kind of wondering why it happened?</p>
Signs of things to come2005-03-21T16:24:00+00:002005-03-21T16:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-21:/~alex/blog/2005/03/21/351/<p>After recovering from the aches and pains of the LARP weekend I decided to watch the George Lucas remake of his student film <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/">THX 1138</a>. I wouldn't exactly rate it as an good film, for starters it is far to slowly paced. However it did prove an interesting exercise in …</p><p>After recovering from the aches and pains of the LARP weekend I decided to watch the George Lucas remake of his student film <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/">THX 1138</a>. I wouldn't exactly rate it as an good film, for starters it is far to slowly paced. However it did prove an interesting exercise in spotting visual cues that Lucas would re-use in his later films. For example one of the sequences was very recognisable as the pre-cursor to the Death Star firing sequence. The story is a blend of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_new_world">Brave New World</a> dystopia with shades of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four">1984's</a> Big Brother. The story follows a similar plot to Logan's Run and ends with THX emerging from the underground city having evaded the authorities by the happy accident of economics. If your curious and want to understand a little more about film making and the evolution of a Director then worth a look, but don't go out of your way to see it unless you want to.</p>
<p>In contrast I got a chance to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/casanova_1.shtml">BBC Three's Casanova</a> on Sunday evening. Very funny costume drama Rom-Com. Worth the license fee!</p>
<p><strong>EDIT: clarified the films non-student status</strong></p>
The Second Week 'O LARP2005-03-20T17:54:00+00:002005-03-20T17:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-20:/~alex/blog/2005/03/20/350/<p>This weekend was one of nostalgia as I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.destiny.org.uk/">Forever's Destiny</a>. FD is the current incarnation of Nothing Ventured, the club I first LARP'ed with all those years ago when I first came up to Manchester. I started a new character on Friday night and had a great dungeon …</p><p>This weekend was one of nostalgia as I went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.destiny.org.uk/">Forever's Destiny</a>. FD is the current incarnation of Nothing Ventured, the club I first LARP'ed with all those years ago when I first came up to Manchester. I started a new character on Friday night and had a great dungeon. Although I died in the last encounter (having been turned into a pin cushion by the archers) I had loads of fun wading into the enemy lines as my warrior.</p>
<p>I spent a really fun Saturday monstering in nice spring weather. Due to the large gaps between encounters I got a lot of chance to laze in the sunshine. The Saturday evening double length wasn't quite as warm but I did get to play some cool monsters and give the party a good mashing. After the evening dungeon I spent a couple of hours at the high table and was able to reprise some of my characters from the old days which was entertaining.</p>
<p>I guess a weekend spent playing at your old system makes you compare it with your current role-playing experience. There are some things I don't miss, especially the stop-motion combat that is prevalent in high level parties due to lots of Time Freezes. The rules are still the large and complex set I remember although there have been some revisions. I suspect less is unwritten lore that used to be explained when it was convenient to certain people who used to run the system. On the plus side the production values are a lot higher than <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">Song of Steel</a> due to better organisation. At a minimum all monsters go out in basic monster kit (that doesn't get confused with player kit). The armourer also packs several bags of heraldic tabards and masks to be trucked around with the monsters so there is less description between encounters required. The turnaround time between dungeons is also a lot faster and without the histrionics that used to make monstering a chore.</p>
<p>In summary I can see myself going back again, although probably not that often. I have other stuff to do with my life as well :-D</p>
WikiSpam2005-03-18T12:23:00+00:002005-03-18T12:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-18:/~alex/blog/2005/03/18/349/<p>Hmmm, it appears my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki">Wiki</a> got <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/HowToUseWiki?versions%5B%5D=2&versions%5B%5D=1&action=diff">spammed</a>. Not amused :-(</p>
Experimental Evidence2005-03-18T12:15:00+00:002005-03-18T12:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-18:/~alex/blog/2005/03/18/348/<p>It appears <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=283">previous assertions</a> on the lack of hangover properties of Staropramen need to be re-thought following some additional experimentation last night. The CEO of New Company was in town to give us the run down on last year and what this years plans are. He then called Beer 'o …</p><p>It appears <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=283">previous assertions</a> on the lack of hangover properties of Staropramen need to be re-thought following some additional experimentation last night. The CEO of New Company was in town to give us the run down on last year and what this years plans are. He then called Beer 'o Clock and we headed down to the new <a class="reference external" href="http://www.revolution-bars.co.uk/bars.php?bar_id=169">Revolution bar</a> near parsonage gardens. Unfortunately I suffer a blind spot when it comes to free beer which interferes with my usually modest and sensible approach to drinking. The choice of decent beers in Revolution was either Staropramen of Hoffmiester. I decided on the former based on my previous research which it now appears was not a properly bounded with respect to discovering upper limits. Still a few jam donuts and a some tea seem to of helped...</p>
Look who's talking now2005-03-16T17:03:00+00:002005-03-16T17:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-16:/~alex/blog/2005/03/16/347/<p>T-Mobile are back in the good books after they responded to my letter saying they where ever so sorry my a/c had screwed up, cleared the last months bill and added 200 Free Texts a month to my tariff. The only minor concern if the network setup messages for …</p><p>T-Mobile are back in the good books after they responded to my letter saying they where ever so sorry my a/c had screwed up, cleared the last months bill and added 200 Free Texts a month to my tariff. The only minor concern if the network setup messages for my GPRS gets through so WAP et all work properly. Still goes to show what you can get if you actually get round to sending a good old printed letter to people.</p>
Boing2005-03-16T12:26:00+00:002005-03-16T12:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-16:/~alex/blog/2005/03/16/346/<p>It looks like spring is making a proper attempt to come out today. The weather is substantially warmer so I no longer need to carry a jumper in my bag just in case. My run was quite pleasant this morning, although I failed my mental stamina test after landing awkwardly …</p><p>It looks like spring is making a proper attempt to come out today. The weather is substantially warmer so I no longer need to carry a jumper in my bag just in case. My run was quite pleasant this morning, although I failed my mental stamina test after landing awkwardly on my ankle and deciding not to risk running the rest of the second lap. Still I think on average my distances are going up and my time down, so its all in the right direction.</p>
Sub-standard2005-03-15T14:44:00+00:002005-03-15T14:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-15:/~alex/blog/2005/03/15/345/<p>After my last sampling of a Subway wrap which left me hungry after about half an hour I thought I'd give them one more go for lunch today. I tried their daily special, the Meatball Marina. The experience was unsettlingly similar to eating a McDonald's (something I've not done for …</p><p>After my last sampling of a Subway wrap which left me hungry after about half an hour I thought I'd give them one more go for lunch today. I tried their daily special, the Meatball Marina. The experience was unsettlingly similar to eating a McDonald's (something I've not done for getting on for 8 years). I think its the combination of processed cheese and very sweet sauces they put on top. I won't be going again I'd rather pay the little extra for an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eatcafe.com/">Eat</a> sandwich.</p>
The noise made by the black bird as it moves through the trees2005-03-13T19:45:00+00:002005-03-13T19:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-13:/~alex/blog/2005/03/13/344/<p>I had an entertaining <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> weekend even though the numbers where down so it was a little quite. I started a new character on a last minute whim to play a bowman again. Although the name is an a appalling pun the character is an attempt at a serious sneaky …</p><p>I had an entertaining <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> weekend even though the numbers where down so it was a little quite. I started a new character on a last minute whim to play a bowman again. Although the name is an a appalling pun the character is an attempt at a serious sneaky type <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/index.cgi?section=campaign&subsec=book_of_races&page=Effnaril.htm">Effnaril</a> (our self styled "costume" elves). Given the grace of your typical LRP arrow I was a little concerned about my ability to survive the rather high pointed dungeon, especially seeing as it had been about 2 and half years since I last had used a bow. Luckily I seemed to get through in one piece and had a throughly enjoyable time. I got a number of complements on my kit/makeup which is probably a testament to the amount of spare random kit I have floating about rather than any particular effort I'd made. Hopefully there will be some decent pictures I can post up later if anyone wants to know what I look like carry a long bow while wearing elf ears :-)</p>
<p>My broadband has been upgraded to a shiny 3Mb today. While I was doing so I had to read through NTL's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.home.ntl.com/page/userpolicy">User Policy</a>. Although there are always things you can dislike about these things it was nice to see NTL acknowledge people run servers on their broadband links, even if it is a "you break it, your problem" type clause. It was BT's sudden blocking of incoming SMTP that lead to my jump from ADSL to cable broadband and I have yet to see a good reason to go back.</p>
Dum de Run de Dum2005-03-09T12:42:00+00:002005-03-09T12:42:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-09:/~alex/blog/2005/03/09/343/<p>This morning punishment for drinking last night was getting up at denial o'clock (somewhere around 7.20) and forcing myself to get changed and run. I only did one lap for my sins, but it was a hard lap. Next time I go for "just the one" I'd better show …</p><p>This morning punishment for drinking last night was getting up at denial o'clock (somewhere around 7.20) and forcing myself to get changed and run. I only did one lap for my sins, but it was a hard lap. Next time I go for "just the one" I'd better show a little more resolve.</p>
<p>I have a small dilemma sitting in my DVD player at the moment. It seems the world of broadband TV has reversed it usual roles and arrived on the doorstep of the <a class="reference external" href="%20%20http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4326005.stm">new Doctor Who series</a>. I'm not exactly suffering any moral issues with watching something I've already brought and paid for with my license fee. From the first 10 minutes I saw I think the encode quality it perfectly fine (now I have a DVD player that can handle DivX). So what reasons should I use to wait for the official broadcast date in 3 weeks? In fact even once its official I'd prefer to be able to download it and watch it when I want to rather than be artificially confined to watching it at a specific time and date. The fact that downloading stuff is easier than setting my video recorder/set top box combo may also be playing a role. Come on media, get with the program!</p>
Domesticity and Broken Records2005-03-08T12:17:00+00:002005-03-08T12:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-08:/~alex/blog/2005/03/08/342/<p>Jack, my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/">web server</a> was shutdown last night after 274 days of uptime. This was a planned shutdown as I had to fit a new light switch in the kitchen. Proud as I am of the stability of my servers (any Windows users want to claim better uptime?) it didn't …</p><p>Jack, my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/">web server</a> was shutdown last night after 274 days of uptime. This was a planned shutdown as I had to fit a new light switch in the kitchen. Proud as I am of the stability of my servers (any Windows users want to claim better uptime?) it didn't seem worth the risk of mains voltage shocks. Still I'm sure it will be good for another year or so.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My analysis of my boiler problems continues. While I have no intention of anything that involves dismantling gas appliances there is no reason why I can't apply scientific reasoning to diagnosing the problem. As far as I can deduce the boiler never fails whilst on full burn, its only when it is in pilot light mode. Examining the pilot flame it seems to be burning a nice pale blue which seems to rule out any deposits building up around the pilot mechanism. My current theory is that the wind has been quite strong over the last week, and perhaps combined with the direction (straight down the flu?) this is blowing the flame out. Still its probably worth getting an inspection mirror (unless anyone has a handy endoscope) to have a closer look at the mechanism.</p>
<p>I watched the Bourne Supremacy with Karen last night. I really enjoyed it. Others have noted the fight scenes where a little confusing. I personally think the scrappy style is more realistic than the super kung-fu style they could of gone for. The plot made sense to me although I wonder if they are going to be ripe for a sequel or not.</p>
</blockquote>
A Tale of Two (or Three?) Parties2005-03-07T01:12:00+00:002005-03-07T01:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-07:/~alex/blog/2005/03/07/341/<p>Friday night was a more or less standard post work pub kind of affair.After a few beers with my work colleges I ended up heading down to meet up with Lee and some of his work colleges. For some reason the bouncers in the Revolution Bar didn't think I …</p><p>Friday night was a more or less standard post work pub kind of affair.After a few beers with my work colleges I ended up heading down to meet up with Lee and some of his work colleges. For some reason the bouncers in the Revolution Bar didn't think I was properly attired so we where forced to retire to the Salisbury for real beer (what a shame ;-). I eventually ended up in an Irish bar but I only stayed for a while before heading home to a cooler house.</p>
<blockquote>
I didn't really achieve much on Saturday apart from getting a replacement for the DVD player I brought last week. Installing it led to me cleaning the entire TV stand which was the only way to unstick the old DVD player. It turns out my TV is also black rather the shade of gray I'd assumed it was.</blockquote>
<p>After a day of domestic activities I headed down (with passengers in tow) to the first of the evenings parties. TJ's Wine and Cheese party was, at least up to the point I left, a respectable affair. I spent a pleasant couple of hours catching up with people and enjoying the cheese. I then headed back to Manchester to make the second engagement of the evening.</p>
<p>The second party was being hosted in the centre of town by one of my new work colleges. It was a nice flat party with a mix of DJ's and interesting cocktails. To my surprise I managed to last until half four in the morning before heading home for a well deserved sleep.</p>
<blockquote>
After having a hell of a lie in I spent most of today watching the complete series of Firefly. Lee, Aidan and Mark where in attendance as we sampled an interesting blend of drinks and nibbles. I must say I think the show is great, its such a shame it got cancelled halfway through its first season. The mixture of characters, deeply woven plotting as well as excellent direction really puts staple sci-fi shows like 'trek to shame. I wonder if its possible to fund shows like this differently given so much is at the whims of the networks. I don't think they help.</blockquote>
Reasons why working in town rules #85239072005-03-04T12:15:00+00:002005-03-04T12:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-04:/~alex/blog/2005/03/04/340/<p>I took advantage of my proximity to the center of town to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kttunstall.com/">KT Tunstall</a> at Fopp. She played a couple of songs from her new album ("Eye to the Telescope", rather good) and then did the usual signing and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/kt.jpg">pictures</a>.</p>
<p>The evening involved a few quick drinks in town …</p><p>I took advantage of my proximity to the center of town to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kttunstall.com/">KT Tunstall</a> at Fopp. She played a couple of songs from her new album ("Eye to the Telescope", rather good) and then did the usual signing and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/kt.jpg">pictures</a>.</p>
<p>The evening involved a few quick drinks in town before heading back to watch the second of an Enterprise two parter. One of the most terrible, hammed up episodes ever! Andy joined me half way through and seemed to be in agreement, although my breathless préecis of the plot so far may of biased his opinion. We wondered if the writers knew the series had been canceled and had just stopped trying. Was rather funny to watch though....</p>
Cold Showers2005-03-03T11:48:00+00:002005-03-03T11:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-03:/~alex/blog/2005/03/03/339/<p>The boiler pilot light went out last night meaning I had to re-light it this morning. As the hot water tank was empty I waited for the tank to heat up only to find some one jumping in the shower ahead of me using up all the hot water again …</p><p>The boiler pilot light went out last night meaning I had to re-light it this morning. As the hot water tank was empty I waited for the tank to heat up only to find some one jumping in the shower ahead of me using up all the hot water again. Brrrr..</p>
Must be the shoes?2005-03-02T12:25:00+00:002005-03-02T12:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-02:/~alex/blog/2005/03/02/338/<p>I went to the pub last night with my work colleagues again. I didn't feel too guilty as I'd used my last day of the trial gym membership to have another go at the 5km run. I completed the run in under 30 minutes which bodes well for my target …</p><p>I went to the pub last night with my work colleagues again. I didn't feel too guilty as I'd used my last day of the trial gym membership to have another go at the 5km run. I completed the run in under 30 minutes which bodes well for my target of under an hour in the actual race (not withstanding treadmill running is "easier" than real road running). The hardest part was the mental game though. Its very hard to stop looking at the display and see some numbers slowly climbing up towards your target. As it looks like the weather is returning to normal I shall be resuming my road training soon. I'm even toying with the idea of doing my runs in the morning before I shower and go to work.</p>
A cautionary tale of insurance2005-03-01T12:34:00+00:002005-03-01T12:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-03-01:/~alex/blog/2005/03/01/337/<p>My credit card has just taken on wodge of debt for this years car insurance renewal. My previous insurers esure lost out on my business as they wouldn't let me proceed with getting a quote with out using Netscape 4 or IE. Tesco's also proved pretty crap, silently failing when …</p><p>My credit card has just taken on wodge of debt for this years car insurance renewal. My previous insurers esure lost out on my business as they wouldn't let me proceed with getting a quote with out using Netscape 4 or IE. Tesco's also proved pretty crap, silently failing when I clicked on the "Get Quote" link. Egg proved competitive, but not quite as much as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.admiral.com/">Admiral</a> who get the honor of my business despite the tendency (shared by many insurance companies) of throwing quote windows up as separate pop-ups instead of linking through their front page. Its most annoying when you want to take full advantage of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">Firefox's</a> tabbed browsing to do multiple quotes at once on one browser window. The only other negative comment is Admiral's quote page times out very quickly so I had to redo the quote several times.</p>
List Infection2005-02-28T14:16:00+00:002005-02-28T14:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-28:/~alex/blog/2005/02/28/336/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I passed a milestone with Emacs today. I did some boolean logic is Emacs LISP. I have to be careful here. LISP has a bit of a cult following among language weenies and you will find staunch defenders (and critics) of it in FOSS circles. For me its just another …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I passed a milestone with Emacs today. I did some boolean logic is Emacs LISP. I have to be careful here. LISP has a bit of a cult following among language weenies and you will find staunch defenders (and critics) of it in FOSS circles. For me its just another language to learn and allow me to mold my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs?rev=1.21&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup">.emacs</a></div>
<div class="line">into something that it not only useful, but my kind of useful. The thing is I know my solution is not perfect.</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
@@ -411,6 +411,9 @@
; There should be an easier way to set the default
; however I'm currently setting each time a file
; is opened using the find-file-hooks
+;
+; Also if I'm on a odd machine I'll skip it as they have the ispell.el
+; library but not the actual ispell program
; I'm British, not Amercian damit!
(defun set-british-dict ()
@@ -418,17 +421,17 @@
(ispell-change-dictionary "british")
(message "Set ispell to British Dictionary"))
-(if (locate-library "ispell")
+(if (or I-am-at-work I-am-at-home)
+ (if (locate-library "ispell")
(progn
(message "Doing ispell dict setting")
-; set British dict for all files
+ ; set British dict for all files
(add-hook 'find-file-hooks 'set-british-dict)
; if we are editing text turn on flyspell mode
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'flyspell-mode)))
-
-(message "past ispell setup")
+ (message "Skipping ispell"))
;; calculator
;
</pre>
<p>You see the I-am-at-work and I-am-at-home variables are the result of a string comparison to the machines hostname. However at home I certainly work on more than one machine. I suspect the answer lies in using a list somewhere.</p>
<p>While I'm at it I should point out that my mobile is currently playing silly buggers in recieving texts. If you want to be sure to get hold of me please ring or IM until I get round to writting the letter to T-Mobile.</p>
Mmmmm Pie2005-02-27T19:18:00+00:002005-02-27T19:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-27:/~alex/blog/2005/02/27/335/<p>This weekend has involved a mixture of flirting, whipping, supporting, and eating.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Friday night started with me heading out with my work colleges for "just the one" which evolved into my mentors girlfriends birthday. She brought a friend from work who I spent a pleasant hour or so chatting to …</p></blockquote><p>This weekend has involved a mixture of flirting, whipping, supporting, and eating.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Friday night started with me heading out with my work colleges for "just the one" which evolved into my mentors girlfriends birthday. She brought a friend from work who I spent a pleasant hour or so chatting to. Well I say chatting, it was more like 20 questions so we now know a lot about each other. By the time they headed off to Kro2 I sacked any idea of going home before Ara so I picked up some beers and headed on down in blue jeans and (luckily) black t-shirt. I still felt a little self conscious on the dance floor as I looked so out of place. I didn't dance that much and aside from the whipping I also helped out on front of house duties and got to know some of the organisers better. Anne, obviously having a sober weekend, had her car with her so I didn't put people through the 3 mile hike to get a taxi this time.</p>
<p>Saturday had me running about to get the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Mums%20Chicken%20Pie">ingredients</a> for the Pie and also a DivX capable DVD player my Dad pointed out. I then headed over to the Armitage to witness Shiela's TKD competition. Unfortunately I was late to actually see Sheila in action but still hung around to watch the Black Belts kick the crap out of each other. I then headed back to start cooking the pie for the party later.</p>
<p>Sarah's party was an entertaining affair. I think I did reasonably well in trying to remember the names and faces of the Leeds crowd. There was an interesting array of pies to sample including some innovative ones as well as creations that stretched the definition of pie. My Chicken Pie seemed to be well received which will please my mum to who is the world expert on giving me simple recipes that make me look like good cook ;-) The original plan had been to crash in Leeds however beds where in scarce supply and Anne (still being sober) offered to drive us back in my car. I think she enjoyed it and hopefully I wasn't too much of a passenger seat driver. We crashed at Lee's (being closer and where Anne's car was) and finally got to sleep around 4 in the morning.</p>
<p>I finally got round to heading over to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/spodula/">Graham's</a> to drop off some SCSI hard drives that have been stored in my cellar for the last 3 or so years. In return I now have a "new" duel processor Sun Sparc 20 workstation which can make use of the 21" Sun CAD monitor that has also been in my cellar for at least 3 years. All I need to do now is dig out the Keyboard from the back of my cellar and I can have a little play with it. assuming the desk its currently set up on doesn't suffer any major structural failures between now and then.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So there you go, quite a busy weekend. I am now retiring to the living room to watch Collateral and while the remaining hours of the weekend away :-)</p>
Geek out2005-02-25T19:04:00+00:002005-02-25T19:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-25:/~alex/blog/2005/02/25/334/<p>I've just spent nearly an hour making the follwing change to my .bashrc. My head is now spinning with single and double quotes.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
diff -u -b -r1.12 dotbashrc
--- dotbashrc 23 Feb 2005 14:46:14 -0000 1.12
+++ dotbashrc 25 Feb 2005 17:58:06 -0000
@@ -21,17 +21 …</pre><p>I've just spent nearly an hour making the follwing change to my .bashrc. My head is now spinning with single and double quotes.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
diff -u -b -r1.12 dotbashrc
--- dotbashrc 23 Feb 2005 14:46:14 -0000 1.12
+++ dotbashrc 25 Feb 2005 17:58:06 -0000
@@ -21,17 +21,27 @@
# I like a quick grep of history
alias h="history | grep"
+
#
# Some systems I use don't have a decent 'find' implentation so
#
FIND=`find --version 2>/dev/null`
if [ "${FIND:0:8}" == "GNU find" ]; then
+ # Some nice find expressions
+ FIND_BACKUPS=" -name '.#*' -o -name '#*#' -o -name '*\.~*.~' -o -path '*./CVS/*.'"
+ FIND_CVS=" -path '*./CVS/.*' "
+ FIND_CCODE=" -iname '*.[chS]' -or -iname '*.cc' "
+ FIND_CHEAD=" -iname '*.h' "
+
# Find files under here
alias f='find . -iname'
- # and search code for stuff
- alias sc="find . -iname '*.[chS]' -or -iname '*.cc' -print0 | xargs -0 grep -H "
+ # and search code for stuff (when I figure out proper expansion and quuting I'll make this neater)
+
+ #alias sc="find . -iname '*.[chS]' -or -iname '*.cc' -and -not \( -name '.#' -o -name '#*#' -o -name '*\.~*.~' -o -path '*./CVS/*.' \) -print0 | xargs -0 grep -H "
+
+ alias sc="find . \( $FIND_CCODE \) -and -not \( $FIND_BACKUPS -o $FIND_CVS \) -print0 | xargs -0 grep -H"
alias sh="find . -iname '*.h' -print0 | xargs -0 grep -H "
alias sa="find . -xtype f -print0 | xargs -0 grep -H "
else
</pre>
Nice Weather for Polar Bears2005-02-24T23:34:00+00:002005-02-24T23:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-24:/~alex/blog/2005/02/24/333/<p>As the 6 day gap in my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Local%20Runs">training record</a> shows the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4293111.stm">inclement weather</a> has been interfering with my preparations for the Great Manchester Run. Luckily one of my work colleges has just joined one of the central Manchester gyms and so I got hold of a 7 day trial …</p><p>As the 6 day gap in my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Local%20Runs">training record</a> shows the recent <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4293111.stm">inclement weather</a> has been interfering with my preparations for the Great Manchester Run. Luckily one of my work colleges has just joined one of the central Manchester gyms and so I got hold of a 7 day trial pass. I went for a 5km run expecting it to be easier than normal being on a treadmill. I was a little disappointed with myself falling back to a walk after a mile and a half. I completed the rest of the run in intervals (walk a bit, run a bit, repeat). I'm not sure if it was just the relentless pace of treadmill or its harder to play the mental game while starting at the same piece of wall. Or maybe it was because I was wearing the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=326">wrong shoes</a> again?</p>
<p>I did have a quick spin in their pool although it Blue arty lighting and shorter length did make me wonder what the point was. I'm not sure I actually need to join a gym given (in theory) I shall be running up until at least May and I also play badminton with work. After the run I'd like to try some yoga and I'm assuming lesson fees will be nowhere near the monthly cost of a gym membership.</p>
<p>One positive note, I weighed myself today on the gym scales and I came in at around 11st 4lbs which is the lightest I have been for a long time. I guess I can believe the people that have said I've lost some weight :-)</p>
Cold Temptation2005-02-22T14:35:00+00:002005-02-22T14:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-22:/~alex/blog/2005/02/22/332/<p>Monday nights Badminton was canceled due to the lack of court. The small amount of snow yesterday was enough to convince me that beer was a better idea than running. We eventually ended up in a restaurant after a fair number of pints at a very quiet <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/show.shtml/1172/Sinclairs_Oyster_Bar/Manchester%22">Sinclairs</a>. Topics covered …</p><p>Monday nights Badminton was canceled due to the lack of court. The small amount of snow yesterday was enough to convince me that beer was a better idea than running. We eventually ended up in a restaurant after a fair number of pints at a very quiet <a class="reference external" href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/show.shtml/1172/Sinclairs_Oyster_Bar/Manchester%22">Sinclairs</a>. Topics covered included tuition fees, Norway's constitutional history, class divisions: perception and reality, anti-terror measures and various other bits and pieces. So I loose points for physical inactivity but gain points for intellectual discourse :-)</p>
<p>While on the topic of intellectual discourse I thought I might point people at the <a class="reference external" href="http://eff.org">EFF</a>'s latest piece on <a class="reference external" href="http://eff.org/wp/eula.php">EULA</a>'s (End User License Agreements). You know the text that pops up when you install a program with the "I Agree" button. You do read what your agreeing to don't you?</p>
Food2005-02-21T01:09:00+00:002005-02-21T01:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-21:/~alex/blog/2005/02/21/331/<p>Went into town today to grab lunch with Mufi. I picked up another recipe book (Nigel Slater: Real Fast Food) in an effort to vary my diet a bit. My mum has also been adding to my culinary knowledge having sent a Chicken Pie recipe for use next week. It …</p><p>Went into town today to grab lunch with Mufi. I picked up another recipe book (Nigel Slater: Real Fast Food) in an effort to vary my diet a bit. My mum has also been adding to my culinary knowledge having sent a Chicken Pie recipe for use next week. It has both easy and hard way techniques, of which I shall probably go for the easy way. Hopefully I won't violate any of the ground rules for bringing homemade food at one of Ms Orange's parties ;-)</p>
Wendyhouse, the sober version2005-02-20T16:49:00+00:002005-02-20T16:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-20:/~alex/blog/2005/02/20/330/<p>After a little chopping and changing over my passenger list we finally headed over with a full car load. One advantage of being the driver does seem to be you come out of the club with more money than you normally would.</p>
<p>I got some early bopping about in the …</p><p>After a little chopping and changing over my passenger list we finally headed over with a full car load. One advantage of being the driver does seem to be you come out of the club with more money than you normally would.</p>
<p>I got some early bopping about in the Mutate room where the line between EBM and dance is pretty thin. Phil was especially happy I'd brought some glow sticks with me. Once I'd got the blood up I was pretty constantly dancing in the main room around until 1-ish when I started to flag. I got a chance to catch up with some of the Leeds crowd and am now trying to work out how to fit in Sarah's pie party next Saturday after watching Shiela get her ass handed to her at the TKD competition.</p>
Clean2005-02-19T20:14:00+00:002005-02-19T20:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-19:/~alex/blog/2005/02/19/329/<p>Rather mundane today involving putting a can crusher up on the wall (twice!), crushing a load of cans, dropping a load of recyling off, cleaning my kitchen and checking the pressure on my tyres. Still tonight I'm off to Wendyhouse to go dancing in my new clothes. Assuming I make …</p><p>Rather mundane today involving putting a can crusher up on the wall (twice!), crushing a load of cans, dropping a load of recyling off, cleaning my kitchen and checking the pressure on my tyres. Still tonight I'm off to Wendyhouse to go dancing in my new clothes. Assuming I make it across the penines in one piece that is :-)</p>
The future of media?2005-02-18T16:52:00+00:002005-02-18T16:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-18:/~alex/blog/2005/02/18/328/<p>According to the Gruniad <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1415715,00.html">today</a> our great nation heads the league of people downloading TV programs. The interesting line near the end:</p>
<p><em>"The interesting thing is whether the likes of BitTorrent will fast-forward the forces making television a database rather than serial experience."</em></p>
<p>I can only hope although I suspect …</p><p>According to the Gruniad <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1415715,00.html">today</a> our great nation heads the league of people downloading TV programs. The interesting line near the end:</p>
<p><em>"The interesting thing is whether the likes of BitTorrent will fast-forward the forces making television a database rather than serial experience."</em></p>
<p>I can only hope although I suspect the same DRM control frenzy currently sowing confusion in the music field will engulf the media companies.</p>
<p>What I envision is a leveling of the media field where producers sell direct to consumers over the 'net with a buying a program over the 'net being equivalent to buying a DVD, only cheaper as a whole bunch of middlemen being removed from the equation. The exciting part of this would be the barrier to entry would be lowered. Imagine a world where some young students create a few cheap as chips episodes of a new Sci-Fi series, distributing the pilot free and selling the next few episodes on pay-per-download. The feedback would be instant, and if they sell enough they can increase their budget with their fan base. No longer would we have to wait for the Paramount or Sci-Fi channel to pick up the next decent series. However there are people that would loose out on this model, and they are the ones that hold the money so I suspect for the time-being its just a little fantasy I can have ;-)</p>
Conflicts2005-02-17T14:21:00+00:002005-02-17T14:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-17:/~alex/blog/2005/02/17/327/<p>I'm currently conflicted about what to do this weekend. On the one hand there is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> which is running a special weekend. Although I'm feeling a little fair weather about it its only down in Middlewood so I could convince Andy to do the shuttle thing again.</p>
<p>On the other …</p><p>I'm currently conflicted about what to do this weekend. On the one hand there is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> which is running a special weekend. Although I'm feeling a little fair weather about it its only down in Middlewood so I could convince Andy to do the shuttle thing again.</p>
<p>On the other hand <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a> is on this weekend and could dance around in my shiny new clothes. I could also theoretically get other stuff done during the day like maybe a daytime run and some bits of DIY.</p>
<p>I may end up tossing a coin, bah!</p>
Run Rabbit Run2005-02-15T21:25:00+00:002005-02-15T21:25:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-15:/~alex/blog/2005/02/15/326/<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Local%20Runs">Today's run</a> has topped of a day of accomplishment. I don't know if it was due to finding my proper Hi-Tech running shoes or just subconsciously pushing myself a bit harder after finishing the day at work on a high note. I certainly felt happier with my stride and maintained …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Local%20Runs">Today's run</a> has topped of a day of accomplishment. I don't know if it was due to finding my proper Hi-Tech running shoes or just subconsciously pushing myself a bit harder after finishing the day at work on a high note. I certainly felt happier with my stride and maintained a decent pace without having to slow down because of feeling out of breath.</p>
<p>In other news my younger brother has headed off back down to Nottingham after finishing the decorating of my dining room. Next on the list is buying some new light fittings and a visit to Ikea (<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4252421.stm">sans knife</a>) for some shelving. Hmmm, maybe it will be worth having another party now my house is a little more spacious?</p>
Shrove Tuesday, Remixed.2005-02-12T13:56:00+00:002005-02-12T13:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-12:/~alex/blog/2005/02/12/325/<p>Last night was an entertaining catch up in the presence of <a class="reference external" href="%20%20http://www.livejournal.com/users/icklejo/">icklejo</a> which quickly expanded into a flash mob. A most enjoyable and agreeable evening was had by all with the general consesus being I made a good tosser (of pancakes of course!).</p>
<p>My brother eventually turned up in his …</p><p>Last night was an entertaining catch up in the presence of <a class="reference external" href="%20%20http://www.livejournal.com/users/icklejo/">icklejo</a> which quickly expanded into a flash mob. A most enjoyable and agreeable evening was had by all with the general consesus being I made a good tosser (of pancakes of course!).</p>
<p>My brother eventually turned up in his usual display of serendipity. He saved me the cost of his bus fare by blagging a lift from one of his mates who happened to be going to Manchester last night. He even got free food out of his lifts parents the scamp :-) He is now in the process of preparing the dining room for its final decorative blitz. Once its decorated I'm planning a stack load of shelving and hopefully we shall have another room in the house again!</p>
<p>Nothing much else to report apart from the training schedule (as documented <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Local%20Runs">here</a>) continues with yet another landmark of me running first thing this morning. Will wonders never cease? We shall see if I get through my list of things to do today and relax to a quite evening watching a DVD or some such thing.</p>
Can this be true?2005-02-11T11:27:00+00:002005-02-11T11:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-11:/~alex/blog/2005/02/11/324/<p>According to the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4255591.stm">bbc</a> a 28 year old man has been charged with attempting to hack the Tsunami donation fund. The fact he's 28 and from East London makes me wonder if its the same guy as reported <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/27/jailed_for_using_a_n.html">here</a>. That will be an interesting case to watch.</p>
Two Pieces of Good News2005-02-10T15:27:00+00:002005-02-10T15:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-10:/~alex/blog/2005/02/10/323/<p>Firstly a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050209203941896">ruling by Judge Kimball</a> in the SCO case. Phrases like:</p>
<p><em>" Viewed against the backdrop of SCO's plethora of public statements concerning IBM's and others' infringement of SCO's purported copyrights to the UNIX software, it is astonishing that SCO has not offered any competent evidence..."</em></p>
<p>should give you a …</p><p>Firstly a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050209203941896">ruling by Judge Kimball</a> in the SCO case. Phrases like:</p>
<p><em>" Viewed against the backdrop of SCO's plethora of public statements concerning IBM's and others' infringement of SCO's purported copyrights to the UNIX software, it is astonishing that SCO has not offered any competent evidence..."</em></p>
<p>should give you a flavor of the direction in which the wind is blowing. Today is a good day for us Penguin fans.</p>
<p>And on a more media friendly note, Sci-Fi have picked up a new series of <a class="reference external" href="http://scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=30357">Battlestar Galactica</a>. :-)</p>
Currying Favor2005-02-10T12:16:00+00:002005-02-10T12:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-10:/~alex/blog/2005/02/10/322/<p>Last night I stepped into the breach filling in for Lee's Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> as he is currently infectious. One of my work colleges gave me a quick recipe for a curry dish loosely based on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.route79.com/food/channa-masala.htm">this one</a>. It was the first time I've made a curry from scratch so …</p><p>Last night I stepped into the breach filling in for Lee's Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> as he is currently infectious. One of my work colleges gave me a quick recipe for a curry dish loosely based on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.route79.com/food/channa-masala.htm">this one</a>. It was the first time I've made a curry from scratch so I was quite happy with the result. I shall have to add it to my repertoire and make more of a conscious effort to cook a wider variety of food during the week. Andy also made a decent wine discovery of Tesco's Californian Cabernet Sauvignon which was on offer of 3 for a tenner. I was initially sceptical as the bottle has a screw top but it turned out to be a very acceptable quaffing wine. I'm also feeling fine this morning which flew in the face of TJ's theory on organic wines and the relative hangovers they generate. Still I'm sure its an area that could stand more study :-)</p>
The Running Man2005-02-09T12:19:00+00:002005-02-09T12:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-09:/~alex/blog/2005/02/09/321/<p>After the relatively pain free run around the block on Monday I doubled it up last night to do a whole 2 laps (according to the highly useful <a class="reference external" href="http://www.magic.gov.uk">Magic Maps</a> 2.4km). My main concern is I'm not pushing myself hard enough time wise (not actually owning a watch anymore …</p><p>After the relatively pain free run around the block on Monday I doubled it up last night to do a whole 2 laps (according to the highly useful <a class="reference external" href="http://www.magic.gov.uk">Magic Maps</a> 2.4km). My main concern is I'm not pushing myself hard enough time wise (not actually owning a watch anymore) but at the moment its all about raising endurance. Once I get up to around 6-7km I'll consider running the canal tow path home but last weeks experience of hacking my lungs up has convinced me any running in the city center itself scores negative health points.</p>
<p>Of course none of this distance is even remotely close to what my folks run on a Sunday morning! Still we all have to live in the shadow of our parents ;-)</p>
Heavy Strings2005-02-07T11:35:00+00:002005-02-07T11:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-07:/~alex/blog/2005/02/07/320/<p>After a weekend of shopping last night was the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rammstein.com/">Rammstien</a> gig at the MEN. Not being relegated to the gods this time was a lot better. The way the band where staged you could see quite well from a 3rd of the way back in the "pit". I've never seen …</p><p>After a weekend of shopping last night was the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rammstein.com/">Rammstien</a> gig at the MEN. Not being relegated to the gods this time was a lot better. The way the band where staged you could see quite well from a 3rd of the way back in the "pit". I've never seen Rammstien before (indeed I don't have any albums and only know a few tracks from clubbing) but I really enjoyed the show. Its not as much about the music (which kinda blurs into one loud pulsing head throb) as the theater. A range of impressive pyrotechnic apparatus was wheeled out over the evening, including devices attached to the band members themselves. There was even a rubber dingy.</p>
<p>Special mention should go to the support band <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apocalyptica.com/home/">Apocalyptica</a> who are a 4 piece string quartet with drums. They managed to swing from covers of various Metallica songs to finishing on an excellent version of Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King". I'm pretty convinced the bass of the Cello's physically moved my body more than the main event. 'twas cool ;-)</p>
Entertainment2005-02-05T11:18:00+00:002005-02-05T11:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-05:/~alex/blog/2005/02/05/319/<p>Last night was enjoyable (if a little hard on the liver). I was due to meet Sam for a few after work drinks. Due to a combination of factors (I shall avoid yet another T-Mobile rant for the time being) I arrived at the bar to find a bunch of …</p><p>Last night was enjoyable (if a little hard on the liver). I was due to meet Sam for a few after work drinks. Due to a combination of factors (I shall avoid yet another T-Mobile rant for the time being) I arrived at the bar to find a bunch of his work colleges and not him. Luckily his work colleges where very friendly and much better looking so I spent time chatting with them. Sam finally showed up after we'd called him a poof on the phone and we headed down to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/">FAB</a> which was a lot less crowded given they now charge to let people in. I didn't stay out too late as I was due to be in town at 10 this morning to go shopping with Phil. It turns out however Phil's self-control is less refined than mine so I'm heading in later to catch up with TJ with Phil possibly following on should he feel human later in the day. To the clothes shops ahoy!</p>
Moral Indignation?2005-02-03T13:13:00+00:002005-02-03T13:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-03:/~alex/blog/2005/02/03/318/<p>I'm about 2 acts into <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jerryspringertheopera.com/">Jerry Springer, the Opera</a> so far having been watching it on my PC. I downloaded it as I missed the BBC2 showing and the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4159217.stm">moral outrage</a> means a repeat on the BBC in unlikely. I must say given I'm not an opera fan I've enjoyed …</p><p>I'm about 2 acts into <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jerryspringertheopera.com/">Jerry Springer, the Opera</a> so far having been watching it on my PC. I downloaded it as I missed the BBC2 showing and the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4159217.stm">moral outrage</a> means a repeat on the BBC in unlikely. I must say given I'm not an opera fan I've enjoyed it so far. There is a fair amount of swearing but its all part of the scene setting (and for people to count each chorus member seems a little bit like twisting the facts to your own ends). If it comes to Manchester during its <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4170559.stm">UK tour</a> I could well be tempted to go along and see it live. They would have to make their web-site a little more accessible first so I could tell when that might be.</p>
<p>While we are on the subject of Moral Outrage<sup>tm</sup> it looks like Sun have finally qualified their statements on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050202140308780">their patent pledge</a>. I think it was a little rich for them to mock IBM for their license agnostic <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ibm.com/ibm/licensing/patents/pledgedpatents.pdf">patent pledge</a> although it should be noted its only a small fraction of their portfolio and of course due to timing not applicable to CDDL licensed code. What annoys me about Sun is the fact they have made significant contributions to the FOSS community but they still don't seem to "get it" treating Open Source developers as free labor rather than working with the existing "community". Still I could be wrong, we shall see how far <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opensolaris.org/">OpenSolaris</a> gets once their is some real code rather than the current flood of press releases.</p>
The Teacher2005-02-02T12:57:00+00:002005-02-02T12:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-02-02:/~alex/blog/2005/02/02/317/<p>Last night I felt in an educational mood of which Andy was the principle benfactor*. I taught him the quick and easy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Carbonara">Carbonara recipie</a> I cook a lot. He has promised** to cook the meal for myself and Karen on Thursday as a form of practice***.</p>
<p>We also exchanged tips …</p><p>Last night I felt in an educational mood of which Andy was the principle benfactor*. I taught him the quick and easy <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Carbonara">Carbonara recipie</a> I cook a lot. He has promised** to cook the meal for myself and Karen on Thursday as a form of practice***.</p>
<p>We also exchanged tips and tricks on making better use of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">Firefox</a> including my personal favorite of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/smart-keywords.html">Smart Keywords</a> which are indispensable if you search several sites. I also tried to find the <a class="reference external" href="http://sage.mozdev.org/">Sage RSS</a> extension but had forgotten the name of it at the time. Its integration into Firefox seems a lot more natural than an external RSS program although I do miss the quick summary highlighting of Liferea. Maybe need to investigate the extension dev stuff at some point. We also discussed the art process so I've pointed him at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a> (and by ESP its cousin <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sodipodi.com">Sodipodi</a>) which may offer better integration of bitmap and vector art so he doesn't have to keep switching packages. However Andy's got more graphics experience so I'll leave it for him to comment if they are useful or not.</p>
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<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">*He may see it differently</div>
</div>
<div class="line">**Promised may be too strong a word, maybe more railroaded?</div>
<div class="line">***Or penance?</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
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Good DVD/Bad DVD2005-01-31T19:23:00+00:002005-01-31T19:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-31:/~alex/blog/2005/01/31/316/<p>For some reason best left to the hazy darkness of time I had decided to rent the DVD of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0349683/">King Arthur</a> on my Amazon rental thing. As noted <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/202731.html">elsewhere</a> it was actually truely terrible film with no real redeaming features. However the follow up DVD was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/B0002W1A0A/glance/026-9634192-5577232">Dylan Moran's Monster</a> which …</p><p>For some reason best left to the hazy darkness of time I had decided to rent the DVD of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0349683/">King Arthur</a> on my Amazon rental thing. As noted <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/202731.html">elsewhere</a> it was actually truely terrible film with no real redeaming features. However the follow up DVD was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/B0002W1A0A/glance/026-9634192-5577232">Dylan Moran's Monster</a> which is a recording of one of his live shows. It was hillariously funny and had me in stiches many times.</p>
<p>Nothing much else happened last night apart from Sam and Sheila feeding me until I almost exploded. Which was nice...</p>
Le Weekend2005-01-30T17:30:00+00:002005-01-30T17:30:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-30:/~alex/blog/2005/01/30/315/<p>I was feeling a little down from the fact I hadn't got to the Gym all week (things like visiting the pub seemed like better ideas at the time). However I think I've made up for it with the last two days of dancing at both <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aranights.com/What.htm">Ara</a> and Sin City …</p><p>I was feeling a little down from the fact I hadn't got to the Gym all week (things like visiting the pub seemed like better ideas at the time). However I think I've made up for it with the last two days of dancing at both <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aranights.com/What.htm">Ara</a> and Sin City. I don't think Karen was expecting to walk quite so much to get home though, but it was all good exercise.</p>
<p>I also got a chance to nip down to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.asp?WCI=ShowCat&CatId=644">Beer Festival</a> to celebrate Sue finally finishing her accounting exams. We had an unplanned rendezvous with Mark (at a beer festival, who'd of thunk it?) and the two of us tried (unsuccessfully) to convince Andy that it only takes 30-60 pints of beer to acquire the taste for Ale. Luckily there was some mead on hand so he didn't have to spend the afternoon sober ;-)</p>
<p>After being woken at denial am by Sheila looking for a quick lift and jump start her car I've been vaugly productive in ttrying to sort the mess that is my study. This has mainly involved stripping old boxes down and actually throwing some stuff away. I'm going to see if I can recycle a bunch of the computer stuff to deserving causes however I fear the relentless onslaught of technology means the land fill will get most stuff.</p>
post Rabbit Hole2005-01-28T11:51:00+00:002005-01-28T11:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-28:/~alex/blog/2005/01/28/314/<p>I really enjoyed the writing for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll">Rabbit Hole Day</a>. It took me a while to figure out what was going on but Google was my friend. I even <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad/6652.html">participated</a> myself although I think prize goes to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/renniek/40852.html#cutid1">Katie's 5 part opus</a>. It certainly took my mind of our latest Home Secretary …</p><p>I really enjoyed the writing for <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll">Rabbit Hole Day</a>. It took me a while to figure out what was going on but Google was my friend. I even <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad/6652.html">participated</a> myself although I think prize goes to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/renniek/40852.html#cutid1">Katie's 5 part opus</a>. It certainly took my mind of our latest Home Secretary and his <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4210685.stm">plans</a> to restrict even more civil liberties. From the people that brought us WMD's a new plan to place people under house arrest because they have seen intelligence the courts cannot. *shudder*</p>
A Thousand Deaths are not enough for United2005-01-27T11:55:00+00:002005-01-27T11:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-27:/~alex/blog/2005/01/27/313/<p>I spent an hour and a half in the freezing cold last night as trams went by packed to the rafters with commuters and football "fans". In the entire time I saw 1 double tram which was also hopelessly overcrowded. Finally 5 minutes before kick off and double tram arrived …</p><p>I spent an hour and a half in the freezing cold last night as trams went by packed to the rafters with commuters and football "fans". In the entire time I saw 1 double tram which was also hopelessly overcrowded. Finally 5 minutes before kick off and double tram arrived which was empty (surprisingly) and as I waited for Lee to pick me up for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> I saw another double tram go past. Although you might think my anger is misplaced and I should be chastising <a class="reference external" href="http://www.metrolink.co.uk/">Metrolink's</a> poor capacity planning I have enough invective stored up about United anyway it makes me feel better to abuse them.</p>
<p>TJ's meal was very nice. As were the multiple bottles of wine we quaffed. This went a long way to making sure my rage had subsided by the time I retired for the evening :-)</p>
Waaaargh, Oink Nyyaaarrr!2005-01-25T15:16:00+00:002005-01-25T15:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-25:/~alex/blog/2005/01/25/312/<p>With minimal persuasion I diverted from the Gym to another Monday evening pub experience with my new work colleges. After a lengthy and heated debate about the relative merits of New Battlestar Galactica versus Enterprise it transpired a number of the table had prior experience with href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.warped.man.ac.uk/info.html">http://www.warped …</a></p><p>With minimal persuasion I diverted from the Gym to another Monday evening pub experience with my new work colleges. After a lengthy and heated debate about the relative merits of New Battlestar Galactica versus Enterprise it transpired a number of the table had prior experience with href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.warped.man.ac.uk/info.html">http://www.warped.man.ac.uk/info.html</a>">Warped. This means there are people in the New Company with the secret and arcane knowledge of Chief Sneaks, The No Pointing Rule and the Thumb Game. I have yet to decide if this is to my advantage or not.</p>
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<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I booted up my system at home to run a final test before shipping of back to base this morning. The network came up straight away. Now I'm sure I ran all the right tests, used known working baselines, checked with different cables and different ports on the hub. My only theory is because I shut the system down last night (an unusual event, my desktop runs 24x7) everything cooled down and whatever was up settled back into place. This would certainly support the dry joint theory but its annoying non the less. Its a good job I double checked though because it saved me lugging the unit into town to get picked up only for CCL to find nothing wrong. I worry about what will happen if it does it again though....</div>
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<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I also entered the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=17">Great Manchester Run</a> yesterday. My intention is to beat my time from last year but it seems there are a surprising number of runners in the New Company so I'll probably also</div>
<div class="line">be racing for the company trophy as well. If the weather holds up I may try for a test run in the park at the weekend and actually start my training early this year. According to mum it will be easier than starting from scratch last year although she reckons the first week will still be hard. Time to find that motivation, has anyone seen where I last left it?</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Charles, King of England!2005-01-24T12:34:00+00:002005-01-24T12:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-24:/~alex/blog/2005/01/24/311/<p>The weekend started with the swift pint after work on Friday turning into a sequence of pints and skipping the planned trip home before meeting up with Lee. This may explain why I could possibly of given the appearance of being drunk.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">However Friday night was merely a warm up …</div></div><p>The weekend started with the swift pint after work on Friday turning into a sequence of pints and skipping the planned trip home before meeting up with Lee. This may explain why I could possibly of given the appearance of being drunk.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">However Friday night was merely a warm up for Saturday which after a quick jaunt into town to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405159/">Million Dollar Baby</a> with Anne and buy some desert boots saw me heading out of the country for a <a class="reference external" href="http://northamptons.org.uk/public/index.asp">regimental</a></div>
<div class="line">banquet. I yet again made the fatal mistake of being involved in a drinking partnership with Bu. However each time we toasted "Charles, King of England!" we became wittier and more urban. The entire table was enamored by our royalist loyalty by the end of the evening. I also had good fun dancing apparently being quite a hit with the ladies. Or</div>
<div class="line">at least thats how I remember it ;-)</div>
</div>
<p>I spent most of Sunday morning drinking tea until I was in a fit state to return home and diagnose what was wrong with my PC. Unfortunately my shiny new machine is having problems seeing the LAN. I suspect its probably a dry solder joint on the Eth-Phy but having moved jobs I no longer have access to the sort of lab equipment to diagnose it. I'm waiting on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cclonline.com">CCL</a> to get back to me with their policy on non-Windows installs on Hard Disks before arranging the warranty fix.</p>
Science - Good and Bad2005-01-21T11:37:00+00:002005-01-21T11:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-21:/~alex/blog/2005/01/21/310/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I watched href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/einstein_symphony_prog_summary.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/einstein_symphony_prog_summary.shtml</a>">Horizon</div>
<div class="line">last night which was looking at Einstein's later work as he tried to reconcile the uncertainty of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics">Quantum
Mechanics</a> with his work on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity">Relativity</a>.</div>
<div class="line">I enjoy "pop science" programs a fair amount because I know …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I watched href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/einstein_symphony_prog_summary.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/einstein_symphony_prog_summary.shtml</a>">Horizon</div>
<div class="line">last night which was looking at Einstein's later work as he tried to reconcile the uncertainty of <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics">Quantum
Mechanics</a> with his work on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity">Relativity</a>.</div>
<div class="line">I enjoy "pop science" programs a fair amount because I know enough science to follow what they are talking about but without the pain of having to actually follow and prove the maths myself. Of course you should still do research before you proclaim anything you learn in a 50 minute documentary to be true to all your friends, but it still beats boring lectures.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It was probably watching this higher brow educational material that prejudiced me when I watched the latest Enterprise episode later on in the evening. It was pretty comedic, we spotted the plot pretty early on (exposition being sandwiched between soap opera style sections) and</div>
<div class="line">there were several major violations of physics. Honestly "a subspace node is an area of curved space-time, hence there are no stars". What were they thinking!</div>
</div>
<p>I skipped breakfast this morning because I wasn't feeling hungry. I now am. *sigh*</p>
Cheats and Beats2005-01-20T11:45:00+00:002005-01-20T11:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-20:/~alex/blog/2005/01/20/309/<p>I cheated last night by going for the monumentally easy Taco Meal<sup>tm</sup> last night. This is mainly due to the first week in New Job being been quite intense (especially as I'm getting back upto speed on C++). Still everyone was fed and I even have leftover ingredients for …</p><p>I cheated last night by going for the monumentally easy Taco Meal<sup>tm</sup> last night. This is mainly due to the first week in New Job being been quite intense (especially as I'm getting back upto speed on C++). Still everyone was fed and I even have leftover ingredients for the next few days.</p>
<p>Lee is twisting my arm to go out on Friday despite the fact I really don't like Rockworld any more. However he has also been working at motives that I'm meant to be stamping out (or at least suppressing). He is Jack's drooling temptation.</p>
F**k Yeah!2005-01-19T14:21:00+00:002005-01-19T14:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-19:/~alex/blog/2005/01/19/308/<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372588/">Team America: World Police</a> last night with Andy and Karen. I was never a massive fan of Messrs Parker and Stone and their work on South Park. However <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158983/">South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut</a> was one of the funniest films I'd seen for a long time. I …</p><p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372588/">Team America: World Police</a> last night with Andy and Karen. I was never a massive fan of Messrs Parker and Stone and their work on South Park. However <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158983/">South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut</a> was one of the funniest films I'd seen for a long time. I was a little apprehensive they wouldn't live up to my expectations but luckily I wasn't disappointed. They obviously like writing songs and the selection in Team America was appropriately funny, especially as they don't let such things as taste and political correctness get in their way. I laughed a lot, and so did Karen and so did Andy. F**k Yeah!</p>
Soft is me...2005-01-18T14:34:00+00:002005-01-18T14:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-18:/~alex/blog/2005/01/18/307/<p>A nice lady called from T-Mobile in answer to my letter of complaint. She agreed that T-Mobile's system shouldn't stop people giving out PAC numbers if the account is in debt. Whether they fix their system is debatable, I should of asked if I'd get a formal letter in reply …</p><p>A nice lady called from T-Mobile in answer to my letter of complaint. She agreed that T-Mobile's system shouldn't stop people giving out PAC numbers if the account is in debt. Whether they fix their system is debatable, I should of asked if I'd get a formal letter in reply.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">When she asked if there was anything they could do to keep me on board I mentioned this issue I had with the fact my upgrade level was so pitifully low. The result, I'm now getting the phone I want on a lower tariff than I was offered on Friday and still with T-Mobile. So I guess kudos to T-Mobile to turning it around, or maybe I'm just weak and</div>
<div class="line">easily persuaded....</div>
</div>
Day One in the New Company House....2005-01-17T22:52:00+00:002005-01-17T22:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-17:/~alex/blog/2005/01/17/306/<p>First impressions: definitely a High-Geek company. To give you an idea the after work pub conversation covered such diverse topics as: pixel shader pipelines, Tivo hacking, why ARM assembler is l33t, Oggs on iPods, iMac Mini's compared to Baby-ITX systems. So you see, High-Geek indeed.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">My first day was relatively …</div></div><p>First impressions: definitely a High-Geek company. To give you an idea the after work pub conversation covered such diverse topics as: pixel shader pipelines, Tivo hacking, why ARM assembler is l33t, Oggs on iPods, iMac Mini's compared to Baby-ITX systems. So you see, High-Geek indeed.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">My first day was relatively easy. After signing my name 15 times on various non-disclosure and IP agreements (so even in the unlikely event you *wanted* to know what I did I couldn't tell you :-) I spent the rest of the day installing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/">.files</a></div>
<div class="line">and setting up <a class="reference external" href="http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_:_Tips_:_Quick_searches">Firefox quick searches</a>. The New Company also has quite a handy intranet with a people directory (with pictures) as well as a click-able room map which makes the task of remembering everyones names a little easier. I'm already in love with my</div>
<div class="line">work station which is a) appropriately powerful, b) has duel TFT monitors, and c) root access.</div>
</div>
<p>Tomorrow I get to munch some code :-D</p>
Fun Anyone?2005-01-17T00:59:00+00:002005-01-17T00:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-17:/~alex/blog/2005/01/17/305/<p>I must of been a little apprehensive that I wouldn't enjoy the LARP weekend after my few months hiatus. I had written "Fun?" as the last item on Fridays To Do list. In the event I had a great time including flexing my military control during the dungeon (someone has …</p><p>I must of been a little apprehensive that I wouldn't enjoy the LARP weekend after my few months hiatus. I had written "Fun?" as the last item on Fridays To Do list. In the event I had a great time including flexing my military control during the dungeon (someone has to keep shouting at people to hold formation). I also played Mallory during tavern having fun at the expense of others (in a playful way of course) which was highly entertaining. In fact I managed a reasonable amount of tavern time on both nights which is most unlike my usual early nights. One of the fun parts about tavern was it involved a lot of PC to PC interaction. I even got to play a Prosecutor in a trial of a suspected heretic and witch, including plenty of "Objection!" and "If it may please the court" dialog. Cheesy but fun to play.</p>
<p>I even managed to get off site by midday so I could get home to a Black Books marathon followed by watching Peacekeeper wars. My ratings don't count of course as the Sky box isn't plugged into the phone box but at least I'm showing willing. Actually it was good to watch a second time because I'm sure I'm picking up more detail this time round.</p>
<p>First day at the new place tomorrow. The guy I'm meeting first has already email-ed me to say it doesn't usually get in until 9.30/45 so I shouldn't be too early. This counters some of my first day nerves ;-)</p>
Holiday!2005-01-14T17:08:00+00:002005-01-14T17:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-14:/~alex/blog/2005/01/14/304/<p>Today I have been taking advantage of my one day off by getting up
earlier than normal and heading into town. I had to pick up a few
things such as a Metro pass and some super glue. I took the
opportunity to do some phone shopping while I was …</p><p>Today I have been taking advantage of my one day off by getting up
earlier than normal and heading into town. I had to pick up a few
things such as a Metro pass and some super glue. I took the
opportunity to do some phone shopping while I was there.</p>
<p>T-Mobile have managed to piss me off so armed with my PAC code I
headed into town to see what I could get. The experience has not
increased my faith in the British Retail....</p>
<div class="section" id="phones-4u">
<h2>Phones 4U</h2>
<p>The best of the bunch. An enthusiastic and helpful member of staff
listened to my requirements (Bluetooth/IR/Data capable phone, Any
Time/Network Tariff, minimal free texts) and then proceeded to offer a
good tariff with a free phone and (eventually) free Bluetooth Headset.
He did lay it on a bit thick to try and get me to sign on then and
there but certainly friendly and attentive.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="o2">
<h2>O2</h2>
<p>The women didn't seem to care, listed there best tariff (which was
worse than I'd already been offered) and showed no interest in
sweetening the deal.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="vodafone">
<h2>Vodafone</h2>
<p>Had a reasonable deal, but I disliked the approach of sign up at the
high tariff (but 1/2 price for 6 months) and then switch after 6
months. Also the lady was basically just pointing me at the brochure
(I was after the value add of telling someone what I want and having
them suggest options). She also failed to spell Bluetooth correctly
which didn't improve my confidence. If I had to guess she was a
clubbing casualty.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="orange-and-carphone-warehouse">
<h2>Orange and Carphone Warehouse</h2>
<p>Both so busy no members of staff where available.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="t-mobile">
<h2>T-Mobile</h2>
<p>To be fair to T-Mobile I thought I'd go into the shop. I explained my
situation and the fact I hadn't had an upgrade since I started with
them some 4 years ago. The lady was very nice and pointed out she
could get me a better deal with a brand new contract (thus losing my
number) than through an upgrade. She agreed that was a little silly
seeing as I can keep my number if I switch to a new contract on any
other network (thank you Ofcom ;-). When she phoned up T-Mobile to
find out my upgrade allowance it came back as ?79, which basically
meant they could only offer me the lower end of phones. Considering I
hadn't ever upgraded with T-Mobile I was shocked, talk about snatching
defeat from the jaws of victory.</p>
<p>In the end I didn't sign up today as I only had phone bills and they
needed a utility bill. However next week I'll be starting in town so I
can pop down during my lunch hour. Unless anyone knows of any good
'net deals?</p>
<p>So now its time to pack my SoS kit and head out for some LARP action.
Its been a while but I feel up to hitting things tonight ;-)</p>
</div>
Last Day on the 'morrow2005-01-12T19:20:00+00:002005-01-12T19:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-12:/~alex/blog/2005/01/12/303/<p>Tomorrow is my last day at my current job. The rush of jobs is trickling to a close with the realisation that some things are just going to have to be left hanging. I hope I've passed on enough <a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/suffix-fu.html">Linux-Fu</a>, teach a man to fish and all that.... I wish …</p><p>Tomorrow is my last day at my current job. The rush of jobs is trickling to a close with the realisation that some things are just going to have to be left hanging. I hope I've passed on enough <a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/suffix-fu.html">Linux-Fu</a>, teach a man to fish and all that.... I wish them well.</p>
<p>I'm a more than a little apprehensive about what its going to be like joining a brand new team after 2 years of working in a small close-knit team. Fearing change is part of the human condition I'm told. However the new place is a geek company, so it will be a chance to see if my geek credentials check out (something I'm often told, even if I don't believe people when they tell me).</p>
<p>So I'll be kicking around town on Friday shopping before <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofosteel.org">SoS</a>. Anyone up to much?</p>
Its a Flying Thing2005-01-11T13:19:00+00:002005-01-11T13:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-11:/~alex/blog/2005/01/11/302/<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338751/">The Aviator</a> with Anne last night. The film is about aviation pioneer and "eccentric" <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes">Howard Hughes</a> who was responsible for the legendary <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose">Spruce Goose</a> amongst other things. The film was very long but I thought did a good job at demonstrating the fine line between madness …</p><p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338751/">The Aviator</a> with Anne last night. The film is about aviation pioneer and "eccentric" <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes">Howard Hughes</a> who was responsible for the legendary <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose">Spruce Goose</a> amongst other things. The film was very long but I thought did a good job at demonstrating the fine line between madness and genius that Hughes travelled. Reading up on him since has been interesting. I have to take my hat of to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_DiCaprio">Leonardo DiCaprio</a> who I wrote off as a pretty boy actor some years back. He certainly seems to have wide acting range, I wonder what he'll be like when he starts looking older?</p>
Artistic Recognition?2005-01-10T18:27:00+00:002005-01-10T18:27:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-10:/~alex/blog/2005/01/10/301/<p>I was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?&q=site:bbc.co.uk%20bennee">checking the BBC site</a> to see if my message of support for the BBC showing Jerry Springer: The Opera had made it onto the Have Your Say pages and I found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/image_galleries/lomo_manchester_gallery.shtml?2">this link</a>. I do remember taking the picture with EK's camera at the rather funky <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=229">Lomo Disco …</a></p><p>I was <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?&q=site:bbc.co.uk%20bennee">checking the BBC site</a> to see if my message of support for the BBC showing Jerry Springer: The Opera had made it onto the Have Your Say pages and I found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/image_galleries/lomo_manchester_gallery.shtml?2">this link</a>. I do remember taking the picture with EK's camera at the rather funky <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=229">Lomo Disco</a> but just a little (pleasantly) surprised to see it turn up with attribution and even spelling my name correctly. Now if only I could remember the girls name....</p>
Births, Marriages and Deaths2005-01-10T14:06:00+00:002005-01-10T14:06:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-10:/~alex/blog/2005/01/10/300/<p>What an entertaining weekend! After a little retail therapy on Friday and getting my hair cropped I headed into town for a few drinks to see Toby off. We discussed various festivals including <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bigchill.net/">The Big Chill</a> which I'm thinking of attending instead of Glastonbury, especially as its a smaller event …</p><p>What an entertaining weekend! After a little retail therapy on Friday and getting my hair cropped I headed into town for a few drinks to see Toby off. We discussed various festivals including <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bigchill.net/">The Big Chill</a> which I'm thinking of attending instead of Glastonbury, especially as its a smaller event.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Mark and Helen's wedding was very swish. Although hosted in the spiritual <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peckforton_Castle">home
of UK LARP</a> (a topic banned on pain of withering looks from Helen) it has now been renovated into a rather swish themed hotel. The usual superlatives apply: the bride looked stunning, the groom was well oiled, and the music was cheesy (much air guitar was enjoyed).</div>
</div>
<p>One minor wrinkle was in the pursuit of single brides maids of which I suffered from poor intelligence. Hopefully the husband will forgive me at some point although in my defence I'd say she was a willing participant in our "dirty dancing". However on the plus side several people mentioned I'd lost weight and looked good, which was all encouraging, not that I care about my appearance of course ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The wedding also saw a chance to catch up with a bunch of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.destiny.org.uk/">FoF</a> lot. I was a little apprehensive about it at first, but it appears time is a pretty good healer (and probably applies the right amount of perspective to pretty silly differences). I suspect Glyn's death also helped in reminding people we have more in common than what divided us. I'll probably be going along to their March meeting and catching up with the rest of them and re-living my LARPing youth.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>So all in all another excellent weekend, and a nice lead in to my final 4 day week at the current job.</p>
Hair Today2005-01-07T14:55:00+00:002005-01-07T14:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-07:/~alex/blog/2005/01/07/299/<p>Although I've been putting off getting my hair cut for a while having a wedding to go to tomorrow has brought things to a head, so to speak.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I managed to find a place that is open in the evenings in the Selfridge's in the Trafford Centre. I'm booked in …</div></div><p>Although I've been putting off getting my hair cut for a while having a wedding to go to tomorrow has brought things to a head, so to speak.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I managed to find a place that is open in the evenings in the Selfridge's in the Trafford Centre. I'm booked in with Ashley which is already a departure from the usual whoever is available when I sit down. I already know in advance this cut is going to cost me ?36 which made my jaw drop, although I've been assured by women that is a relatively reasonable price for a posh hair cut. I'm also going to</div>
<div class="line">try something different, although I have no idea what yet. I'm going to defer to the expert on the matter and see what Ashley suggests. As long as it doesn't require anything too long and complicated when I'm awaking from my slumber in the mornings.</div>
</div>
<p>They say things always come in three's so New Job, New Haircut, what next?</p>
Represent!2005-01-05T12:15:00+00:002005-01-05T12:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-05:/~alex/blog/2005/01/05/298/<p>Despite the sudden unexpected appearance of the <em>masses</em> last night I did get a chance to boot up href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/">http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/</a>">GTA San Andreas on the PS2. First impressions are pretty favourable.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">The map is huge, and of course I've not unlocked the whole thing yet. You …</div></div><p>Despite the sudden unexpected appearance of the <em>masses</em> last night I did get a chance to boot up href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/">http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/</a>">GTA San Andreas on the PS2. First impressions are pretty favourable.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">The map is huge, and of course I've not unlocked the whole thing yet. You can tear down the interstate for a few minutes before coming off into the urban sprawl of the main city. I'm concerned its going to take me a while to learn where all the stars are. I got busted several times last night because once your wanted level reaches 2 your</div>
<div class="line">pretty screwed until you find a star. I wasn't expecting</div>
<div class="line">the graphics to be much of an improvement as I thought Vice City was already pushing the hardware to the limit. However they have added some nice touches including motion blur at high speed and a setting sun that literally does get in your eyes if your driving the wrong way.</div>
</div>
<p>I'm still getting used to the new car physics which feel a little less forgiving than the previous instalment. However the one or two crashes I've had so far have shown the car roll more realistically than I remember. I suspect its just a case of getting practise in.</p>
<p>The biggest change seems to gone into the "RPG" aspect of the game. You can customise pretty much everything about your character including hairstyle and clothes (all costing money of course). There is a series of stats that cover things like your fitness, sex appeal and various technical abilities like driving and riding. One of the stats controls how many people you can have in your crew, however I haven't had a chance to start doing missions with minions yet. The controls for running around have been revamped (no more snapping to FP view to look around) and the character is a lot more mobile than before. You can now climb over fences and up walls which is handy when you've run into someones back yard to escape the cops.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The plot seems very in tune with the 90's environment the game is set in. There where a couple of occasions where I wasn't sure what peoplewhere talking about but I guess after a bit more play I 'll get more used to the language of the street ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>And finally today's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/docs/1-5-05.jpg">strip</a> on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/">Penny Arcade</a> encapsulates exactly the reason I can't get enthused about a lot of the cartoons on TV these days. If only there was more <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cs.rose-hulman.edu/~stinerkt/Tick.html">SPOONS</a> on TV.....</p>
Geek Time2005-01-03T18:59:00+00:002005-01-03T18:59:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-03:/~alex/blog/2005/01/03/297/<p>I've just sat down in front of my shiney new PC, kicked of a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.afterhoursdjs.org/">'net radio</a> session and I'm looking forward to some self awarded Geek Time.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've been pretty productive over the last few days. New Years day saw me disassembling, analyzing and fixing my broken washing machine. I …</div></div><p>I've just sat down in front of my shiney new PC, kicked of a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.afterhoursdjs.org/">'net radio</a> session and I'm looking forward to some self awarded Geek Time.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've been pretty productive over the last few days. New Years day saw me disassembling, analyzing and fixing my broken washing machine. I was quite impressed with myself (ably aided by plumbers mate Anne) and can now add Washing Machines to the growing list of DIY tasks I am not afraid of. Seeing as the last major DIY effort involved fixing the</div>
<div class="line">Central Heating system I'm beginning to feel that slowly but surely I am actually turning into my Dad despite my original plan to pay people to sort stuff out.</div>
</div>
<p>Last night was a DVD movie-fest of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000147/">Firth-ian</a> proportions. We kidnaped Jo and forced her to watch href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/</a>">Love Actually as well as having my arm twisted to watch href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335119/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335119/</a>">Girl with a Pearl Earring. Both where enjoyable and much wine and food was consumed in the process. A particularly decadent evening :-)</p>
...and a sober New Year?2005-01-01T14:35:00+00:002005-01-01T14:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2005-01-01:/~alex/blog/2005/01/01/296/<p>I must say it is a pretty unusual event for me to be stone cold sober at midnight on New Years Eve. Not quite feeling a hundred percent after the stomach bug (and more than a little guilty having passed it on to Karen) I headed back home with Anne …</p><p>I must say it is a pretty unusual event for me to be stone cold sober at midnight on New Years Eve. Not quite feeling a hundred percent after the stomach bug (and more than a little guilty having passed it on to Karen) I headed back home with Anne while laying bets on if I would get pulled by the police for being all dressed up and in a fast car. Once at home Karen was still up so we chatted for a bit watching Jools Holland and enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate before retiring for a relativly early night. It was nice to see people at the party last night but I dare say I feel better this morning than I would of if I'd done my usual post-Christmas debauchery.</p>
<p>2004 has been a bit of a mixed year. I've continued working as a bona-fida kernel hacker, seen good friends married, gotten out of the country on holiday (twice no less!) and generally gotten on with life. However the year also saw a good friend of mine pass away far too young. The world has also had its fair share of woe with continuing problems dividing populations, <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4123889.stm">often violently</a>. And as we have seen in the last few days nature has also shown how powerful it can be. Hopefully people <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dec.org.uk/">pulling together</a> to help will show the better side of humanity this year.</p>
<p>However despite last year I'm still pretty optimistic about this year and what it holds. I start a new job in a few weeks which should keep me intellectually occupied. I hope to do the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=135">10 Km</a> run again this year and improve on my time from last year. I'm also aiming to be become a little more "buff" and productive and maintain my general happiness with who and what I am.</p>
<p>Best wishes for a 2005 to you all.</p>
Post Christmas Events2004-12-31T17:12:00+00:002004-12-31T17:12:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-31:/~alex/blog/2004/12/31/295/<p>I've been out of action the last few days since contracting a rather nasty stomach bug from visiting my Gran in hospital. I'm still not a hundred percent but I'm on the up now although feeling bad that I've managed to infect a housemate. Still apart from gory medical details …</p><p>I've been out of action the last few days since contracting a rather nasty stomach bug from visiting my Gran in hospital. I'm still not a hundred percent but I'm on the up now although feeling bad that I've managed to infect a housemate. Still apart from gory medical details what else has happened?</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">The last few days in Cambridge gave me a chance to catch up with some old school friends and talk geek. I now have a much better understanding of modern 3D graphics hardware thanks to <img alt="[info]" src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif" style="width: 17px; height: 17px;"/><a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zandev/">zandev</a> which I may apply if I get round to writing some graphics drivers for my new machine, you know just for fun.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I also got a chance to catch up with Ed who was by far the more successful Chemist of the two of us. The stuff he's working on is quite cool and it was good to chat pure science geek which I don't get much of a chance to do. A whole bunch of faces from my childhood also came through the pub that afternoon which was nice. Eventually I headed home back up to Manchester when I couldn't drink anymore orange juice.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Ste's party was as expected entertaining and debauched. Much hugging was witnessed and enjoyed. Phil was especially vocal whenever I hugged him, maybe he's just easily pleased ;-). It was nice to see Ren again who I had not seen since one of Ste's parties a few years back. She definitely had the advantage on me in the conversation stakes though. All in all an entertaining evening.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>The combined factors of a 24 hour incubation period and a party weakened immune system meant I came down with a bit of a crash Tuesday evening. I'm glad Katie and Anne where about to fetch me nutrients from the shops. My bug induced delirium wasn't helped by Lee bugging me to work around a network problem he was having with his mail servers at work. I eventually had to turn my phone off so I could get some sleep. Although I'm feeling better now for possibly the first time in my memory I shall be avoiding drinks and retiring to bed early for this evenings celebrations. It may also influence my new year resolutions, we shall see...</p>
Carbohydrate Coma2004-12-26T00:43:00+00:002004-12-26T00:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-26:/~alex/blog/2004/12/26/294/<p>As the evening moves on and the family retires into the traditional post meal slump I thought I?d better recount the events of the day. I woke relatively early this morning to go visit my Grandma in hospital and bring her some presents. According to my mum she was …</p><p>As the evening moves on and the family retires into the traditional post meal slump I thought I?d better recount the events of the day. I woke relatively early this morning to go visit my Grandma in hospital and bring her some presents. According to my mum she was looking a lot better than earlier this week but it was still a bit of a shock seeing her breathing through a nubuliser. Hopefully she will be fully recovered soon.</p>
<p>It was a little odd having our traditional present opening session with just the four of us because we usually have one or other of the grandmothers around. My choice of sculpture for Dad seemed to go down well. My brother and I managed to get the same wooden croaking frog for my Mother. Luckily I also got her a funky glasto frog which she liked. My brother now has more drill bits and attachments than I do and apparently his other half is looking forward to more DIY from him. My haul was nice including a geek chic Firefox T-Shirt as well as some art from Jamaica. There was also an environmental theme with a can crusher, book on green living and personal grooming accoutrements from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lushdns.co.uk/system/index.html">leaves and mud people</a>.</p>
<p>Mum's Christmas dinner was (as usual) fantastic and left us all well stuffed before we retired into the living room in front of the fire slowly slipping into our digestive comas. The next two days will be a little busier as I catch up with some of my old school friends before heading home for the incredibly packed New Year run up party season. I?m looking forward to next year. Should be a cracker ;-)</p>
The season is upon us....2004-12-24T13:01:00+00:002004-12-24T13:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-24:/~alex/blog/2004/12/24/293/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I spent last night wrapping most of my presents. I have not wrapped my Dad's but I have placed it in a box. I'm still considering if its worth href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4122729.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4122729.stm</a>">wrapping the box. I also burned a bunch of GTA …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I spent last night wrapping most of my presents. I have not wrapped my Dad's but I have placed it in a box. I'm still considering if its worth href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4122729.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4122729.stm</a>">wrapping the box. I also burned a bunch of GTA:Vice City soundtrack CDs for me to listen to as I ferry my younger sibling to the bosom of my family this afternoon. Hopefully I'll avoid the worst of the traffic excess and be relaxing</div>
<div class="line">at home being pampered by my parents by the early evening.</div>
</div>
<p>My warmest compliments of the season to you all. Have a large one on me ;-)</p>
Yay for Poland2004-12-21T20:24:00+00:002004-12-21T20:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-21:/~alex/blog/2004/12/21/292/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Just a quick note to cheer on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20041221102644104">Poland</a></div>
<div class="line">for stopping the EU Software Patent proposal getting slipped in through an Agricultural council meeting. Bill Thompson has a nice article explaining to the layman why href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4104841.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4104841.stm</a>">they are a bad idea …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Just a quick note to cheer on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20041221102644104">Poland</a></div>
<div class="line">for stopping the EU Software Patent proposal getting slipped in through an Agricultural council meeting. Bill Thompson has a nice article explaining to the layman why href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4104841.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4104841.stm</a>">they are a bad idea. I'm personally also annoyed that the European directive process isn't democratic or accountable enough that these weird procedures get adopted. No wonder people don't vote in the European parliamentary elections if it doesn't make any difference to the actions of the un-elected commissioners. Grrrr</div>
</div>
Le Weekend2004-12-21T18:48:00+00:002004-12-21T18:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-21:/~alex/blog/2004/12/21/291/<p>For sure, its was an entertaining weekend break.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Flying to Amsterdam is very quick and easy. We hardly had time to finish our drinks before the plane started its decent and the cabin staff hurriedly collected to the rubbish. Having taken everything on the plane as hand luggage we were …</div></div><p>For sure, its was an entertaining weekend break.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Flying to Amsterdam is very quick and easy. We hardly had time to finish our drinks before the plane started its decent and the cabin staff hurriedly collected to the rubbish. Having taken everything on the plane as hand luggage we were straight out of the airport and onto</div>
<div class="line">the cheap, efficient and quite train to the city centre with 90 minutes of leaving Liverpool Airport.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">We didn't stay up that late on Friday but we did manage a little wander around the local coffee shops including returning to Balou. I spent an interesting hour or so discussing the difference between drug laws in our respective countries as well as the origins of the coffee</div>
<div class="line">shop soundtrack CDs with the guy behind the bar.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">We met up with J&K who are friends of Jess and Lee's in the morning. We then proceeded to wander about the place, alternating between bars and coffee shops so everyone could suitably indulge in their inebriating substance of choice. It was basically a holding pattern while waiting for Jess and Charles to turn up later in the evening. I did get</div>
<div class="line">invited to a party in January though, which should give me another reason to get my arse down to Nottingham.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">My linear memory is a little hazy as to what order things happened. However notable events include: a nice Thai green curry, a very nice Italian lamb dish, Lee's item anti-retention field, geek discussion with a member of the BSD camp, a little (prompted) open source evangelising, bloat trumps libido, one unfriendly coffee shop, lots of</div>
<div class="line">friendly coffee shops, plastic grinders, the politics of inaction, minor french bashing, wondering why the British drink so much, cold outside, warm inside, repeated attempts to visit the modern art museum, being congratulated on my pro-European views, fine selection of plants, temptation (and not yielding to it), finding a cool present for my dad, failing to find equally cool present for my brother, proactive nocturnal sonic management techniques, my bad dutch impressions, early nights!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">All in all a very relaxing weekend. It was great seeing Jess again (and in much happier circumstances than last time). Amsterdam is still one of my favourite European cities. Its compact enough to walk around but also full of lots of interesting places to explore. The Dutch are</div>
<div class="line">all most universally friendly and excellent English speakers. I love the cafe culture of the coffee shops where going out implies meeting and chatting with friends and not a scrum to the bar to drink as much alcohol as you can before last orders.</div>
</div>
<p>Where can I sign up for more weekends like that?</p>
Its all about the Shopping2004-12-19T15:15:00+00:002004-12-19T15:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-19:/~alex/blog/2004/12/19/290/<p>I have been in Amsterdam 2 days now and it is very plesent. The weather is a little on the cold side but it just gives you an excuse to wander into warm coffee shops along the way. I think I've found something my dad will like for Christmas although …</p><p>I have been in Amsterdam 2 days now and it is very plesent. The weather is a little on the cold side but it just gives you an excuse to wander into warm coffee shops along the way. I think I've found something my dad will like for Christmas although I'm still strugling with my brothers present. Its all part of my quest to be more empathic with my choices this year. Any way enough of the 'net malarky, back to the streets of Amsterdam ;-)</p>
Hamsters be damned2004-12-17T15:28:00+00:002004-12-17T15:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-17:/~alex/blog/2004/12/17/289/<p>Last nights BSG was entertaining. I think the new series has a future which is nice to see because the Sci-Fi genre has been a bit flat over the last few years. Of course Sky could end up putting me off if they don't stop their saturation advertising of the …</p><p>Last nights BSG was entertaining. I think the new series has a future which is nice to see because the Sci-Fi genre has been a bit flat over the last few years. Of course Sky could end up putting me off if they don't stop their saturation advertising of the series.</p>
<p>I was also heartened by the fact the Law Lords can actually <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4100481.stm">stand up to the government</a> when it comes human rights. Even if the individuals concerned are terrorists (which is debatable as the evidence wouldn't pass trial) the correct solution is watch them like hawks, not lock them up without any sort of meaningful review. If a government tells you its restricting human rights <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4103987.stm">for your own good</a> then I worry. Still hell of a first day for the new <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Clarke">Home Secretary</a>.</p>
<p>I'm off for a weekend of href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam</a>">European culture now. Have a good weekend all ;-)</p>
DVD Box Office2004-12-15T19:02:00+00:002004-12-15T19:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-15:/~alex/blog/2004/12/15/288/<p>Every ones favourite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/subs/rentals/help/learn-more-popup.html/202-8496820-3822206">online
mega-corp</a> have started offering DVD rentals by post. Seeing as I enjoy watching films but find Sky Box Office limited and scary* I thought I'd give it a go. The concept is quite simple in that you pay a monthly fee and maintain a rental queue …</p><p>Every ones favourite <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/subs/rentals/help/learn-more-popup.html/202-8496820-3822206">online
mega-corp</a> have started offering DVD rentals by post. Seeing as I enjoy watching films but find Sky Box Office limited and scary* I thought I'd give it a go. The concept is quite simple in that you pay a monthly fee and maintain a rental queue. As you return DVDs by post they send out the next one (subject to a monthly limit). The advantage over your traditional rental outfit being you have access to most of Amazon's vast DVD catalogue, as well as not having to leave the house. We shall see how it goes.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">*scary as in I try to be careful with my market data, and I</div>
<div class="line">don't trust the Murdoch empire <strong>at all</strong>. That and since I last re-arranged the house the Sky Box hasn't been plugged into the phone socket.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Founding Fathers2004-12-15T12:28:00+00:002004-12-15T12:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-15:/~alex/blog/2004/12/15/287/<p>I got a chance to watch some of the additional interview material from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308808/">Revolution OS</a> last night. I was struck with how clearly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stallman.org/">rms</a> came across when explaining the motivation behind the GNU project. For all his faults he's still a hell of a visionary revolutionary. I wonder if he'll …</p><p>I got a chance to watch some of the additional interview material from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308808/">Revolution OS</a> last night. I was struck with how clearly <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stallman.org/">rms</a> came across when explaining the motivation behind the GNU project. For all his faults he's still a hell of a visionary revolutionary. I wonder if he'll be remembered in 60 years time when there is enough perspective on the growth of software to start writing history books about it?</p>
Aftermath2004-12-14T14:01:00+00:002004-12-14T14:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-14:/~alex/blog/2004/12/14/286/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well yesterday went well, no going back now. My boss took my</div>
<div class="line">resignation well and now <em>everyone</em>* knows I'm off to new pastures next year. In other news:</div>
</div>
<p>The weekend was entertaining although not quite in sync with my plan to drink less alcohol. It could be my age showing …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well yesterday went well, no going back now. My boss took my</div>
<div class="line">resignation well and now <em>everyone</em>* knows I'm off to new pastures next year. In other news:</div>
</div>
<p>The weekend was entertaining although not quite in sync with my plan to drink less alcohol. It could be my age showing but I'm starting to think that having one stag per wedding is more than enough. Luckily I'm away in Amsterdam this coming weekend so it will be a chance to give my liver a rest. There are another 2 weddings next year so a presume at least another 2 stag's. God help us if more of my friends decide to spawn, then we'll be toasting births as well ;-)</p>
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own!2004-12-13T12:26:00+00:002004-12-13T12:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-13:/~alex/blog/2004/12/13/285/<p>Well I resigned from my current job today. My last day will be Thursday the 13th of January. I'll start at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.transitive.com/">new place</a> the following Monday. New Year, New Job. I wonder what else 2005 holds for me....</p>
Spy vs Spy2004-12-07T16:00:00+00:002004-12-07T16:00:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-07:/~alex/blog/2004/12/07/284/<p>From <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65906,00.htm">Wired</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
"But you have to support spyware if you're going to have free file-sharing applications. Fair's fair."</blockquote>
<p>Reading the article it mentions Marketscore which routes <strong>all</strong> web
traffic through their servers. And people willingly install this stuff
on their machines. It just makes me want to cry :-(</p>
Brand Loyal?2004-12-07T13:15:00+00:002004-12-07T13:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-07:/~alex/blog/2004/12/07/283/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Two changes of pattern last night. Instead of my usual Monday Pepper href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Carbonara">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Carbonara</a>">Carbonara</div>
<div class="line">I cooked myself a Penne <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Arrabiata">Arrabiata</a>.</div>
<div class="line">It was nice although I overdid the chillies so it was a tad warm. Still all part of the learning …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Two changes of pattern last night. Instead of my usual Monday Pepper href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Carbonara">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Carbonara</a>">Carbonara</div>
<div class="line">I cooked myself a Penne <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Pasta%20Arrabiata">Arrabiata</a>.</div>
<div class="line">It was nice although I overdid the chillies so it was a tad warm. Still all part of the learning experience.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The other change was buying some href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.staropramen.co.uk">http://www.staropramen.co.uk</a>/#">Staropramen instead of my usual Stella. This is the result of extensive*</div>
<div class="line">experimental observation that has lead me to the conclusion that Stella has too much crap in it. Lee has said he's willing to switch brands so our fridges can be in sync. The only problem as the moment ASDA only stock the 4x330ml packs. I did ask their costumer service department but they were not aware of any larger packs being available.</div>
<div class="line">If anyone knows of a place that sells larger packs of bottles then let me know.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">*extensive being 1 <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=275">field
test</a> and a careful experiment on Friday evening when I</div>
<div class="line"><em>deliberately</em> drank 4 bottles to see how I felt in the morning. I take my science seriously ;-)</div>
</div>
The Weekend2004-12-06T13:57:00+00:002004-12-06T13:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-06:/~alex/blog/2004/12/06/282/<p>Not much happened shopping wise on Saturday. I make it to the pub on Saturday and meet up with various people which was nice. Drinking beer is a lot more enjoyable than shopping.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sunday was also appropriately low impact although I did get a little garden work done (and introduced …</div></div><p>Not much happened shopping wise on Saturday. I make it to the pub on Saturday and meet up with various people which was nice. Drinking beer is a lot more enjoyable than shopping.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sunday was also appropriately low impact although I did get a little garden work done (and introduced Karen to some aspects of plant biology). Watched the final part of the Enterprise Vulcan 3 part storyline which was pretty good. Just don't mention Romulans!. We also watched the Blues Brother DVD (which seemed to contain scenes I'm</div>
<div class="line">sure were not in the original) and generally slobbed about.</div>
</div>
<p>Today I'm starting a new regime of healthy living (like actually going to the Gym more than once this week) and avoiding mid-week temptations. Unless of course anyone happens to suggest anything ;-)</p>
Running on it own Four Pads2004-12-04T12:52:00+00:002004-12-04T12:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-04:/~alex/blog/2004/12/04/281/<p>It only took around 5 hours of system time to compile the base system and large chunks of Gnome. Its still not fully setup yet but I'm getting there. One thing has already come to my attention. If you execute:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[root@malory]# netstat -ln
Active Internet connections (only servers)
Active …</pre><p>It only took around 5 hours of system time to compile the base system and large chunks of Gnome. Its still not fully setup yet but I'm getting there. One thing has already come to my attention. If you execute:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[root@malory]# netstat -ln
Active Internet connections (only servers)
Active UNIX domain sockets (only servers)
</pre>
<p>That's all the output you get. Nothing is running as a server. With Gentoo you really do have an unprecedented level of control over whats going on in your system. Of course you can get this by building a system from scratch. The difference if the portage system makes adding new software easy. I don't have to manually download and compile each library you need for firefox for example. You just type:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[root@malory]# emerge mozilla-firefox
</pre>
<p>And portage goes and downloads all the dependencies and builds them for you. I guess you have to try it to appreciate what its like.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Gentoo is not a distribution for someone who just want a running desktop <strong>now</strong>. However if you want to put a system together and learn more about linux in the process its a very good way of doing it. Just make sure you read the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml?part=0&chap=0">manual</a></div>
<div class="line">and have another PC handy with a browser as you bring your system up</div>
</div>
Hour 3 in the Gentoo Compile Farm2004-12-03T22:17:00+00:002004-12-03T22:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-03:/~alex/blog/2004/12/03/280/<p>Well it took about 80 minutes to build the bootstrap (the compiler chain and libraries). Not bad, I think my work machine may have the edge, but I'm not sure comparing the Gentoo toolchain to the crosstool toolchain is that fair.</p>
<p>I've just kicked of the system build (which is …</p><p>Well it took about 80 minutes to build the bootstrap (the compiler chain and libraries). Not bad, I think my work machine may have the edge, but I'm not sure comparing the Gentoo toolchain to the crosstool toolchain is that fair.</p>
<p>I've just kicked of the system build (which is the base system and tools). That will probably take a while longer. Time for another beer ;-)</p>
Malory Lives!2004-12-03T14:11:00+00:002004-12-03T14:11:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-03:/~alex/blog/2004/12/03/malory-lives/<p>My shiny new AMD64 system arrived on Wednesday. Last night I got a chance to play with it. I was a little nervous because the nForce chipset has had <a class="reference external" href="http://bugme.osdl.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3352">problems
reported</a> with the SATA interface. In fact I thought this was a problem the first time I ran the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu …</a></p><p>My shiny new AMD64 system arrived on Wednesday. Last night I got a chance to play with it. I was a little nervous because the nForce chipset has had <a class="reference external" href="http://bugme.osdl.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3352">problems
reported</a> with the SATA interface. In fact I thought this was a problem the first time I ran the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu</a> installation. It turned out the SATA IO cable was not connected (tsk tsk <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cclonline.com/">CCL</a>). However once that was plugged in it all went well.</p>
<p>The hardware is nice compact gloss black box with sliding panel to access the CDROM slot and pop-out front panel for USB and sound. The panels are quick to remove and the inside is neat and tidy. Its a nice change from my normal monster tower systems I usualy have and it makes it easy to lug about. First impression of system speed are good, although I haven't really stressed it yet.</p>
<p>The Ubuntu distro installed easily enough. However its still a version of Debian's text mode install. It holds no fear for me but I suspect its something that needs sorting for your average consumer. The graphical install of Mandrake is a lot friendlier to people that aren't penguin heads like myself. The package manager is nice though and it happily auto-configures to use network install sources so you only need the one install CD (and a big fat broadband connection ;-). Unfortunately it failed the multimedia test. There are good reason why they don't package some of the media players in the base distribution (patents and trade secrets being two of them). Mandrake has the same problems which fortunately is easily solved by adding the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://plf.zarb.org/">http://plf.zarb.org/</a>">PLF archive to your urpmi sources. I've toyed with re-installing it with the 64 bit version of Mandrake but the PLF only support x86_64 with cooker (the development branch of Mandrake). If I'm going to have to live on the bleeding edge I may as well go the whole hog and go for a source based distro.</p>
<p>You know that stress testing, tonight its going to href="<a class="reference external" href="http://packages.gentoo.org/archs/amd64/">http://packages.gentoo.org/archs/amd64/</a>">get it ;-)</p>
Today's Activity2004-12-02T18:35:00+00:002004-12-02T18:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-02:/~alex/blog/2004/12/02/278/<p>Today I implemented some basic flow control in my test application at work. It allow me to make my test scripts loop. I only mention it because it was an enjoyable activity compared to yesterdays brain squeeze.</p>
<p>Tomorrow I'm going to be meeting an elder god. This may well have …</p><p>Today I implemented some basic flow control in my test application at work. It allow me to make my test scripts loop. I only mention it because it was an enjoyable activity compared to yesterdays brain squeeze.</p>
<p>Tomorrow I'm going to be meeting an elder god. This may well have a bearing on what I end up working on next year ;-)</p>
Active Pain in the Ass2004-12-01T20:01:00+00:002004-12-01T20:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-12-01:/~alex/blog/2004/12/01/277/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Spent the day learning the details of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.isi.edu/gost/brian/security/kerberos.html">kerberos</a></div>
<div class="line">and how it ties into <a class="reference external" href="http://pl.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-Guide/unixclients.html#adssdm">Active
Directory</a> so I can properly integrate our linux servers into the new companies greater network. Of course this isn't for my benefit as I can work securely on all our linux boxes using a standard well …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Spent the day learning the details of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.isi.edu/gost/brian/security/kerberos.html">kerberos</a></div>
<div class="line">and how it ties into <a class="reference external" href="http://pl.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-Guide/unixclients.html#adssdm">Active
Directory</a> so I can properly integrate our linux servers into the new companies greater network. Of course this isn't for my benefit as I can work securely on all our linux boxes using a standard well documented <a class="reference external" href="http://www.openssh.com/">method</a>. The main aim</div>
<div class="line">is so the people that have Windows desktops can edit their files stored on the build servers with their favourite editor. Don't get me wrong, I think <a class="reference external" href="http://www.samba.org/">Samba</a> is a great</div>
<div class="line">piece of software but they are hobbled by having to reverse engineer the protocols and work stuff out whenever href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2000/0511kerberos.html">http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2000/0511kerberos.html</a>">Microsoft</div>
<div class="line">changes something. When Max left me I no longer had a reason to run this sort of interoperability glue in my home network and I thought I'd not need to learn anything about the MS way again. Seems I was wrong. Grrrrr!</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I have been using <a class="reference external" href="http://nfs.sourceforge.net/">NFS</a> at home so I can mount my music directory on the various machines I own. Its not ideal and certainly not secure and something I've been meaning to get rid of for a while. Last night as I put the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Parties/Wendyhouse/Wendyhouse%20Nov%202004">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Parties/Wendyhouse/Wendyhouse%20Nov%202004</a>">November</div>
<div class="line">Wendyhouse pics up I casually right clicked on the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnome.org/projects/nautilus/">http://www.gnome.org/projects/nautilus/</a>">nautilus window and noticed an "Open Server" on the context menu. When I selected it a little dialog box came up offering me the chance to connect with ssh. I filled in my account name and start path and a new window popped up (automatically picking up authentication from my ssh-agent) and allowed me to browse my server, even doing thumbnails. Why can't everything be that easy?</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Random Creative Musings2004-11-30T23:20:00+00:002004-11-30T23:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-30:/~alex/blog/2004/11/30/276/<p>I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tvtome.com/Enterprise/season4.html#ep84">second episode</a> of the second 3 part Enterpise story thread in a row. They seem to be attempting to move to something like I remember Doctor Who was a series of short stories. Of course they do get to do it this with the benefit of the …</p><p>I watched the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tvtome.com/Enterprise/season4.html#ep84">second episode</a> of the second 3 part Enterpise story thread in a row. They seem to be attempting to move to something like I remember Doctor Who was a series of short stories. Of course they do get to do it this with the benefit of the large mythos of the 'Trek universe. A few weeks ago the show added a load of background the "clone" wars over genetics that was originally alluded to in the original series. The even managed a little parody (I hope that is what they intended ;-) of the Wrath of Khan. Now they get to play with the background of the Vulcan's and the formation of the Federation. Epic Stuff!</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Of course this could just be symptomatic of the show being funded in 3 episode blocks whilst they fight to get their href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~mvrojo/entratings.htm">http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~mvrojo/entratings.htm</a>">ratings</div>
<div class="line">up. I hope they succeed because for all its faults its still quite enjoyable to watch. The early release of the series four DVD may indicate they are trying move to different distribution approaches. Using href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Ratings">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Ratings</a>">ratings seems to quite an inexact science compared to counting the DVD's you have sold to fans? Shape of things to come?</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I finished the last of the Greg Mandel trilogy last night. The ending was a bit weird but it was generally a fun read. I'm pondering over starting an Iian M. Banks book ("The State of the Art") or the Bruce Sterling ("The Artificial Kid"). I don't think I've read any Sterling before but I know I like Banks. Any suggestions?</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">As Christmas approaches I'm finding people making subtle references to presents for ideas. It also signals the point where I have to start thinking of presents for other people - a process I find hard (apparently I lack empathy or something). At least one group is doing a "secret href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus</a>">santa" which I think is a great idea. I don't like the commercialism of Christmas that encourages conspicuous consumption but I do like the spirit of friendliness giving presents represents. But no one should feel obligated to get me anything, because if I really wanted something I would of brought it myself. However should anyone happen to wonder on</div>
<div class="line">the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Alex%27s%20Wish%20List">'net</a> I wouldn't object :-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Feeling Better Now2004-11-30T18:10:00+00:002004-11-30T18:10:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-30:/~alex/blog/2004/11/30/275/<p>What a difference a decent nights sleep makes. I'm feeling a lot better now although I think I'll stay off the beers for a bit to give my liver a chance to recover.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Drinking in Prague is cheap if you avoid the overly touristy places. The club we went to …</div></div><p>What a difference a decent nights sleep makes. I'm feeling a lot better now although I think I'll stay off the beers for a bit to give my liver a chance to recover.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Drinking in Prague is cheap if you avoid the overly touristy places. The club we went to on Friday night for example was serving "pints"* for around 70p. It tastes pretty good as well and doesn't seem to create the headaches I get if I've had more than 3 pints of Stella. I even tried the dark larger which was nice although a little heavy for</div>
<div class="line">a long session.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Our guide seemed to quite suppressed that we don't routinely arm our police or in fact allow people to carry guns around with them. Having said that aside from a lot of pick-pocketing and such like they have relatively few murders every year.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We went to a gun club on Saturday to shoot. We had a very quick safety tutorial which boiled down to always aim down the range before we got to play with the live ammo. We shot a pistol (I think it was a Glok) which was easier than I thought it would be. A .22 rifle which was just like old times (when I was in the ATC) and finally a pump action</div>
<div class="line">shotgun which had a hell of a kick. I was tied with Mark after the first two but then dropped a load of shots with the shotgun. I had a shootout (single shot, no practice shot) with a Magnum for the 2nd/3rd place tie. Unfortunately I was expecting more kickback than it actually had so I was holding on too tight and dropped the shot and ended up in</div>
<div class="line">3rd place. However I did beat Lee so which is all that matters ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I really liked it. The city is a typical European one complete with Tesco and Marks and Spencers. However it has plenty of old architecture including a stunning cathedral on the top of the hill. I took loads of photos which I shall put up in the next few days. About the only downside is the pick-pockets. There was one attempt on our group although I had clocked them scoping out Stuart so I saw them</div>
<div class="line">attempt the pull.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>*Well not pints, more 1/2 litres with a bunch of foam on top. But for 70p who's going to quibble?</p>
Money can't buy you love2004-11-29T15:09:00+00:002004-11-29T15:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-29:/~alex/blog/2004/11/29/274/<p>There now follows a potted summary of the weekend. We drank beer, a lot of it. I didn't suffer a hangover on Saturday or Sunday morning. The reason for this is now becoming self evident. The cunning plan of flying into Manchester and then working the afternoon is starting to …</p><p>There now follows a potted summary of the weekend. We drank beer, a lot of it. I didn't suffer a hangover on Saturday or Sunday morning. The reason for this is now becoming self evident. The cunning plan of flying into Manchester and then working the afternoon is starting to seem less cunning by the moment. However my plan to not loose my house keys in Prague involved leaving them in the desk at work. I'm sure the more observant amongst you will be able to deduce my current status.</p>
<p>System shutdown overridden......</p>
Staaaaaggg!!!2004-11-26T12:51:00+00:002004-11-26T12:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-26:/~alex/blog/2004/11/26/273/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I fly off to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.prague.cz/">Prague</a> this afternoon for a short weekend break to celebrate href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=markthebrewer">http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=markthebrewer</a>">Mark's</div>
<div class="line">impending matrimonial bondage. I believe we get to play with guns on this outing as well as sample a wide selection of the local beverages. I've …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I fly off to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.prague.cz/">Prague</a> this afternoon for a short weekend break to celebrate href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=markthebrewer">http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=markthebrewer</a>">Mark's</div>
<div class="line">impending matrimonial bondage. I believe we get to play with guns on this outing as well as sample a wide selection of the local beverages. I've never been to the Czech Republic before so I'm looking forward to adding another country to the list of places I've visited. I'll be on the look out for spies ;-)</div>
</div>
<p>Have a good weekend everyone, I'm sure we will!</p>
Larks and Japes2004-11-25T19:36:00+00:002004-11-25T19:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-25:/~alex/blog/2004/11/25/272/<p>For a lark I've disabled the Virus checker on my machine to see if the login problems we have been seeing where triggered by the overnight scan. Not that I'm prejudiced against this software mind, not at all, honest guvnor.</p>
<p>My Christmas present to myself is now ordered and on …</p><p>For a lark I've disabled the Virus checker on my machine to see if the login problems we have been seeing where triggered by the overnight scan. Not that I'm prejudiced against this software mind, not at all, honest guvnor.</p>
<p>My Christmas present to myself is now ordered and on its way. Still not decided which distro to put on it yet although I'm erring on the side of Gentoo.</p>
<p>I am very hungry right now, no idea why. Time to go home and eat the rest of my Toad in the Hole.</p>
Frustrations2004-11-24T16:09:00+00:002004-11-24T16:09:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-24:/~alex/blog/2004/11/24/271/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Yesterday proved frustrating on many levels. My work PC was dieing in stages thanks to a faulty CPU fan. The problem I was trying to solve involved a little more <a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/fudge-factor.html">fudgeing</a></div>
<div class="line">than I was happy with. To top it off I sacked off going to the Gym after work because …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Yesterday proved frustrating on many levels. My work PC was dieing in stages thanks to a faulty CPU fan. The problem I was trying to solve involved a little more <a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/fudge-factor.html">fudgeing</a></div>
<div class="line">than I was happy with. To top it off I sacked off going to the Gym after work because I'd forgotten to pack my Gym kit. And the traffic was shite getting home.</div>
</div>
<p>As a result I took my frustrations out on Karen by <em>forcing</em> her to watch me prepare the evening meal of Toad in the Hole. I then preceded to eek out of her an admission that it did not take <em>"that long"</em> to prepare or in fact require <em>"much effort"</em>. It may be classed as cruel and un-usual punishment but I'm quite prepared to put my house mates through it for <em>their own
good</em>. Although I've been guilty of succumbing to take-out more than usual over the last couple of months I want to show them how easy it is too cook a midweek meal for under ?2 compared to the ?35 the last pizza delivery came to. Its a mission ;-)</p>
<p>Today has passed better. I cannibalised another spare PC for its CPU fan which actually has bearings left. The fudge factor code is now replaced by a nice predictable and correct solution. Tonight I shall go for a quick swim before Fez feeds us in the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> and tomorrow I shall pack for the weekend in Prague!</p>
<p>p.s. Good to see Firefox is starting to dent <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4037833.stm">IE's market share</a>.</p>
Sting2004-11-23T13:34:00+00:002004-11-23T13:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-23:/~alex/blog/2004/11/23/270/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After the carefully crafted excuses that got me home early last night I headed of to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sting.com/main.html">Sting</a> at the MEN. As the forth ticket was obtained on a second order I was on my own in the upper right of the Arena. Unfortunately the MEN acoustics did mean the …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After the carefully crafted excuses that got me home early last night I headed of to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sting.com/main.html">Sting</a> at the MEN. As the forth ticket was obtained on a second order I was on my own in the upper right of the Arena. Unfortunately the MEN acoustics did mean the vocals came across a little muffled which was a shame. Mufi quite liked the first few tracks (his newer stuff I think) but I didn't feel it got going until he returned to his older stuff (Fields of Gold and some of his Police songs). Once the audience was warmed up things did indeed go well although he isn't exactly big on talking to the crowd. There was definitely a Jazz influence on a lot of the keyboard stuff (lots of long piano solo's). The light/video show was pretty good with expressionist style images being projected onto a sliding screen layout. As he went into his first encore he was</div>
<div class="line">inspirational* and the final closing encore was a nice way to round of the evening. All in all an entertaining night although if I was to see him again I may aim for a smaller venue and not be lofted up to the Gods!</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">*Really, the algorithm for the next stage of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/c/binmerge/">binmerge</a></div>
<div class="line">became clear to me during "Desert Rose".</div>
</div>
Cut Backs2004-11-22T17:57:00+00:002004-11-22T17:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-22:/~alex/blog/2004/11/22/269/<p>My PC at work started to complain about the CPU overheating this afternoon. Sure enough once I'd re-booted into the BIOS it seems the CPU Fan was spinning at 0RPM (in fact it was spinning, I suspect just not fast enough). It gave me a convenient excuse to head home …</p><p>My PC at work started to complain about the CPU overheating this afternoon. Sure enough once I'd re-booted into the BIOS it seems the CPU Fan was spinning at 0RPM (in fact it was spinning, I suspect just not fast enough). It gave me a convenient excuse to head home early so I can get to town with plenty of time to spare for the Sting gig :-)</p>
<p>The gardener has been and cleared my garden. Well I say cleared, more like blitzkrieg'ed it. Still I assume he knows what he's doing and it will grow back. I'm obviously a pussy when it comes to cutting back!</p>
For all you Register readers2004-11-22T14:01:00+00:002004-11-22T14:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-22:/~alex/blog/2004/11/22/268/<p>Nice, so visiting the register and seeing some banner ads is enough to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/21/register_adserver_attack/">infect
your computer</a>. Is there a reason you are not using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">firefox</a> yet?</p>
Events dear boy, events...2004-11-22T00:23:00+00:002004-11-22T00:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-22:/~alex/blog/2004/11/22/267/<p>Well that was a pretty busy weekend. Well busy-ish, I came up with
some half arsed excuse to laze around at home of Friday night instead
of going to the gym, but otherwise busy :-)</p>
<p>Went to <cite>Wendyhouse <http://www.thewendyhouse.org/></cite> in Leeds for
<cite>Geoff's <http://www.livejournal.com/users …</cite></p><p>Well that was a pretty busy weekend. Well busy-ish, I came up with
some half arsed excuse to laze around at home of Friday night instead
of going to the gym, but otherwise busy :-)</p>
<p>Went to <cite>Wendyhouse <http: www.thewendyhouse.org=""></http:></cite> in Leeds for
<cite>Geoff's <http: echo_echo="" users="" www.livejournal.com=""></http:></cite> birthday. My
planned "new look" hair which involved half a tube of Black Light
glowing hair gel was marred slightly by the fact in ran very quickly
once I started dancing. Apparently large chunks of my face where
glowing. All I could see was glowing hands, despite having washed them
several times. I may try for spikes next time and just highlight with
some of Lee's stuff instead of going for the all in one solution.</p>
<p>Some of my compatriots from the evening seem to think I was under the
influence of pharmaceuticals. I can assure them all I wasn't, the big
grin on my face was due to cute goth chick dancing with me to
Aerosmith/Run DMC's "Walk this Way". In fact I was remarkably well
behaved all round. I have to thank <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/angelic_angie/">Angie</a> for biggin' me up
to all her single friends although I think she may of hammed it up a
little ;-)</p>
<p>After one session in the Mutate room (which seemed to have gone glow
stick crazy very quickly) and spent the rest of my time on the main
dance floor. They kept putting on such good tunes it was hard to find
a chance to go and drink and cool down.</p>
<p>I did get a chance to play with the night mode setting of the new
camera. You can take pictures that start with a flash and then hold
the exposure for a time to get the background image. This is great
with glow sticks :-).</p>
<p>I had such a good time I'm seriously considering going to the
Christmas one in December. I think SoS is probably going to have to
wait until the new year before I get back into LARP proper.</p>
<p>My bed beckoned around 5.20 this morning with me being woken by the
offer of free food in the evening by Sheila. I'd already answered yes
before realising I was due to be teaching my house-mates how to cook
toad-in-the-hole. I guess I'll teach Karen tomorrow and Andy will have
to do without the lesson (however he is from Yorkshire so should be
conversant in the basics).</p>
<p>I headed over to Bolton UGC to see <cite>The Incredibles
<http: featurefilms="" incredibles="" www.pixar.com=""></http:></cite> as part of Andy's
birthday celebrations. The film itself was entertaining enough -
certainly darker than previous Pixar films. One of the things I
noticed though was the homage's to various films. The Star Wars
influences in some of the scenes are very apparent, including the
empire comms code sound effects. Certainly worth seeing but not the
greatest Pixar film yet. Technically it was as usual good although the
wet hair wasn't convincing enough for my mind. The water splashes
where quite good though, they must be getting good at fluid dynamics.</p>
<p>So tomorrow I'm off to see Sting. I may attempt KT Tunstall on Tuesday
but I'd better check if I can get tickets. Friday I fly of to Prague
for a Stag. I think we get to play with guns. I assume we won't of
started drinking by that point :-)</p>
<p>Message ends.</p>
Deviation from Default2004-11-19T15:49:00+00:002004-11-19T15:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-19:/~alex/blog/2004/11/19/266/<p>It didn't take much convincing for me to skip the Gym last night and head into town for a few drinks with Lee and Sheila. I haven't seen Sheila for a while as she has been busy climbing mountains and beating up black belts which leaves little time for our …</p><p>It didn't take much convincing for me to skip the Gym last night and head into town for a few drinks with Lee and Sheila. I haven't seen Sheila for a while as she has been busy climbing mountains and beating up black belts which leaves little time for our more pedestrian life-styles ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">When I got back from the pub and was getting ready for bed I noticed how much smell my jumper had picked up from a little under 2 hours in the bar. It didn't seem that smokey at the time so it goes to show how much you're probably inhaling without realising. My experiences visiting Ireland have convinced me that smoke free pubs are a fantastic idea. The government's <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4015655.stm">white
paper</a> attracted a lot of criticism for having a nanny state approach to public health. The most debate was triggered by its proposed smoking reforms. I think the governments approach is although well intentioned the wrong approach. The arbitrary nature of allowing smoking in places that only serve cold food seemed, well arbitrary. I also worry that by denying smokers access to the same sort of entertainment facilities as the rest of us we will end up with people staying at home drinking cheap booze from the supermarket and smoking in front of their kids.</div>
</div>
<p>My solution would be to extend the licensing laws so if a "public" places want to cater for smokers they can apply for a license. The license would depend on showing that non-smoking areas and places where workers worked (like the bar area) meet a certain air quality standard. You could even enforce minimum air quality standards in the smoking areas to mitigate the effect of smoke filled rooms. Hopefully this way you would still get 100% smoke free pubs for the majority with some pubs willing to bear the cost of additional ventilation to cater for smokers.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">For the record I'd still go to the smoke free pubs out of preference. But my libertarian ideals call for some fairness to people who choose to smoke. Next week, my compromise solution that will keep everyone happy on the fox hunting debate.....</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
I've got the Power!2004-11-18T15:35:00+00:002004-11-18T15:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-18:/~alex/blog/2004/11/18/ive-got-the-power/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Thanks to the ever helpful Mr Parker of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cclonline.com/">CCL Computers</a> my new AMD64 system will soon be winging it way towards me. Of course taking full advantage of the system will require running native 64 bit apps. My current desktop href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/101/powerpack-plus">http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/101/powerpack-plus</a>">Mandrake</div>
<div class="line">has …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Thanks to the ever helpful Mr Parker of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cclonline.com/">CCL Computers</a> my new AMD64 system will soon be winging it way towards me. Of course taking full advantage of the system will require running native 64 bit apps. My current desktop href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/101/powerpack-plus">http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/101/powerpack-plus</a>">Mandrake</div>
<div class="line">has a 64 bit version available. The new kid on the block is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu</a> which is a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> based system but more up to date and desktop orientated. Of course given compiler techniques for the AMD are still evolving (and I like to try new tools) maybe I should think of going for a proper source based distro like <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/index.xml">Gentoo</a>.</div>
<div class="line">If any penguin heads have opinions on any of these options let me know. If I can come to a conclusion by the weekend I can leave bittorrent spanking my broadband while I party away in Leeds.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Some of the discussion at last nights meal was to its origins. I'm sure the meal had started while I was living in Kingswood road. The time frame would put the start at somewhere from early '95 to early '96. I certainly remember at one point the meal coincided with the 2nd season premier of Sharpe. And I'm sure Bu's meat feast was all cooked</div>
<div class="line">round the same flat. It important we try and pin down the start date because it will soon be time for the 10th Anniversary Meal. That is right a <strong>10th</strong> anniversary! Yikes!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
addrclean.pl2004-11-17T19:54:00+00:002004-11-17T19:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-17:/~alex/blog/2004/11/17/264/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today's geek is brought to you by the power of <tt class="docutils literal">perl</tt>. From time to time (probably because I sync my Palm in 2 places) my main email client href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.novell.com/products/evolution/">http://www.novell.com/products/evolution/</a>">Evolution</div>
<div class="line">generates duplicate contact records. This is a <a class="reference external" href="http://bugzilla.ximian.com/show_bug.cgi?id=15724">bug</a> in the Evolution sync code which …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today's geek is brought to you by the power of <tt class="docutils literal">perl</tt>. From time to time (probably because I sync my Palm in 2 places) my main email client href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.novell.com/products/evolution/">http://www.novell.com/products/evolution/</a>">Evolution</div>
<div class="line">generates duplicate contact records. This is a <a class="reference external" href="http://bugzilla.ximian.com/show_bug.cgi?id=15724">bug</a> in the Evolution sync code which we have yet to pin down. However in the meantime hand weeding my address book is a pain so I wrote a little script. You can find it in my href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/perl/addrclean/">http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/perl/addrclean/</a>">CVS</div>
<div class="line">archive.</div>
</div>
<p>Usage:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[alex@cambridge addrclean]$ ./addrclean.pl -s -o newlist.vcf list.vcf
Processing VCARD 1
Couldn't find unique index for:
Processing VCARD 554
Processing done
Outputting new VCF addressbook newlist.vcf
[alex@cambridge addrclean]$
</pre>
Looking Forward2004-11-17T14:39:00+00:002004-11-17T14:39:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-17:/~alex/blog/2004/11/17/263/<p>I was so bored yesterday. Even with digital satellite there is only so much daytime TV you can watch. I did catch up on Enterprise which has a mid-season 3 part story with href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000653/">http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000653/</a>">Brent Spiner guest staring. They managed to tie in threads …</p><p>I was so bored yesterday. Even with digital satellite there is only so much daytime TV you can watch. I did catch up on Enterprise which has a mid-season 3 part story with href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000653/">http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000653/</a>">Brent Spiner guest staring. They managed to tie in threads from the original movies as well as the future TNG (although it has to be said without much subtlety). However there was no hint of time travel so I'm happy for the time being.</p>
<p>This coming weekend will see a return to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/news.htm">Wendyhouse</a>. I'm still not sure if to go with the frock coat or a re-outing of my shiny cyber outfit. There is no theme this weekend so that doesn't give me any ideas. Maybe I should just wear black ;-)</p>
Snuffles2004-11-16T13:18:00+00:002004-11-16T13:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-16:/~alex/blog/2004/11/16/262/<p>Well what I thought was a pulled muscle in my shoulder has turned into an all over feeling of bleurgh with associated cough. I am currently following the Orange Juice and Lemsip recovery plan.</p>
Boris bits the dust2004-11-15T12:49:00+00:002004-11-15T12:49:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-15:/~alex/blog/2004/11/15/261/<p>Although he can come across as a nice but dim on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_I_Got_News_For_You">HIGNFY</a> I've always been impressed when I've seen href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.boris-johnson.com/index.html">http://www.boris-johnson.com/index.html</a>">Boris in serious mode on things like Question Time. Although he is more of a euro-sceptic than I'd like I always take time to …</p><p>Although he can come across as a nice but dim on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_I_Got_News_For_You">HIGNFY</a> I've always been impressed when I've seen href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.boris-johnson.com/index.html">http://www.boris-johnson.com/index.html</a>">Boris in serious mode on things like Question Time. Although he is more of a euro-sceptic than I'd like I always take time to listen to his arguments. Howard must of been mad to put him on the spot. If my boss asked me to comment on tabloid stories about my private life I'd tell him it was none of his business. If any shenanigans have been going on the only person he has to answer to is his wife and I don't really see why I should know about it. An MP who may make a mistake his private life I can accept (we are after all human) more than an MP <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1974771.stm">lying in the seat of our democracy</a>.</p>
Sin City2004-11-14T16:35:00+00:002004-11-14T16:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-14:/~alex/blog/2004/11/14/260/<p>Went to Sin City last night to shake of my household blues. Bumped into assorted Boltonites in the Lass who looked surprised to see me cyber-gothed up. Unfortunately didn't really get a chance chat and catch up so must make the trip to Bolton at some point. Once I got …</p><p>Went to Sin City last night to shake of my household blues. Bumped into assorted Boltonites in the Lass who looked surprised to see me cyber-gothed up. Unfortunately didn't really get a chance chat and catch up so must make the trip to Bolton at some point. Once I got to the club there was a 50/50 mix of happy hardcore EBM and classic alternative 80's/90's. So I managed to split myself evenly between stomping about like a lunatic and swaying about whilst waving my hands. I had a great time and my body has registered the fact when I crawled out of bed this afternoon. Now all I need to think about is what to wear next weekend for Wendyhouse ;-)</p>
Aftermath2004-11-13T18:20:00+00:002004-11-13T18:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-13:/~alex/blog/2004/11/13/259/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well last night was spent playing GTA: Vice City with Karen and Andy whilst periodically checking the level of the water on the cellar to see if it had gone down at all. Things were not looking good by the time I crawled into bed. I was beginning to worry …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well last night was spent playing GTA: Vice City with Karen and Andy whilst periodically checking the level of the water on the cellar to see if it had gone down at all. Things were not looking good by the time I crawled into bed. I was beginning to worry the drain/soak was too far below the water table to work. Luckily when I checked this morning pretty much all the water had gone as if by magic. I'm still</div>
<div class="line">having problems getting the washing machine to drain properly but its not a major issue right now. I've got a load of old damp notes that I was keeping for no particular reason which I can now throw away without guilt. Tonight I shall go to Sin City considerably happier that major damage has been averted.</div>
</div>
Bugger :-(2004-11-12T18:36:00+00:002004-11-12T18:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-12:/~alex/blog/2004/11/12/258/<p>My hangover has cleared. However it turns out that my bath mats are not machine washable. The definition of not machine washable is tearing themselves apart, flocking up the seal on the washing machine causing it to keep going for 6 hours slowly filling my cellar with water. My new …</p><p>My hangover has cleared. However it turns out that my bath mats are not machine washable. The definition of not machine washable is tearing themselves apart, flocking up the seal on the washing machine causing it to keep going for 6 hours slowly filling my cellar with water. My new change of plan involves curling up in a ball on my sofa crying softly to myself as I wait for the cellar to drain. I need a hug!</p>
Change of plans2004-11-12T13:16:00+00:002004-11-12T13:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-12:/~alex/blog/2004/11/12/257/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was planning to rise early this morning and pack all my LARP kit into the car so I could head to href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">http://www.songofsteel.org</a>">SoS straight after work. However the events of last night (the UMIST beer festival) meant I crawled out of bed around 9, stared …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was planning to rise early this morning and pack all my LARP kit into the car so I could head to href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">http://www.songofsteel.org</a>">SoS straight after work. However the events of last night (the UMIST beer festival) meant I crawled out of bed around 9, stared at some cereal before finally getting into work around 10. Seeing as Friday night is tavern I think I shall forgo</div>
<div class="line">the drinking and instead go home and sleep waking refreshed and ready to hit things on Saturday morning.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The beer festival itself was good - many fine beers and one</div>
<div class="line">exceptionally nasty cider that Lee insisted on trying. I managed not to spend hundreds of pounds on music this time. I think I only outbid one student in getting a track taken off of the "jukebox". I think my only mistake was getting the second booklet of beer tokens.....</div>
</div>
Do the Scan, Man2004-11-11T17:21:00+00:002004-11-11T17:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-11:/~alex/blog/2004/11/11/256/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This afternoon I was mostly installing href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.networkassociates.com/us/products/mcafee/antivirus/fileserver/linuxshield.htm">http://www.networkassociates.com/us/products/mcafee/antivirus/fileserver/linuxshield.htm</a>">LinuxShield</div>
<div class="line">on my desktop and the work servers. I've been instructed to be diplomatic when dealing with IT so I just hunkered on down to it. The install actually comes as an …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This afternoon I was mostly installing href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.networkassociates.com/us/products/mcafee/antivirus/fileserver/linuxshield.htm">http://www.networkassociates.com/us/products/mcafee/antivirus/fileserver/linuxshield.htm</a>">LinuxShield</div>
<div class="line">on my desktop and the work servers. I've been instructed to be diplomatic when dealing with IT so I just hunkered on down to it. The install actually comes as an RPM so the install is quite simple:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
[root@cambridge alex]# rpm -ivh LinuxShield-1.0.0-452.i386.rpm
...
[skip 2 pages to EULA I ignored]
...
[answer some server questions]
..
LinuxShield can still function without the kernel module, but on-access detection of viruses is disabled.
nails.initd: Warning - kernel module /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-10mdk/nai/linuxshield.o does not exist
starting the LinuxShield daemon...
started pid: 674
starting the LinuxShield monitor gateway...
started pid: 682
nailswebd: bad group name nobody
/opt/NAI/LinuxShield/apache/bin/apachectl startssl: nailswebd could not be started
installer: failed to start the LinuxShield services
Failed to complete the installation of LinuxShield, please run /opt/NAI/package/LinuxShield/setup
[root@cambridge alex]#
</pre>
<p>Well almost. Obviously the config file for the bundled apache server was b0rken. Seeing as its an RPM I can just find where the config file is and fix the group name.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[root@cambridge alex]# rpm -qil LinuxShield
Name : LinuxShield Relocations: /opt/NAI/package/LinuxShield
Version : 1.0.0 Vendor: (none)
Release : 452 Build Date: Fri 30 Apr 2004 17:35:38 BST
Install Date: Thu 11 Nov 2004 14:36:57 GMT Build Host: bell.buildroom
Group : Network Associates Source RPM: LinuxShield-1.0.0-452.src.rpm
Size : 14022595 License: 2003,2004 Networks Associates Technology Inc.
Signature : (none)
Packager :
Summary : McAfee On-Access & On-Demand Scanning for Linux
Description :
McAfee On-Access & On-Demand Scanning for Linux
/opt/NAI/package/LinuxShield
/opt/NAI/package/LinuxShield/license.txt
/opt/NAI/package/LinuxShield/release-452.tar.gz
/opt/NAI/package/LinuxShield/setup
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Hmmm, looks a little sparse to me. In the end I had to use</div>
<div class="line"><em>strace</em> to see where the config file was hidden.</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
[root@cambridge alex]# strace -f -e trace=open /opt/NAI/LinuxShield/apache/bin/apachectl start
open("/etc/ld.so.preload", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/lib/libtermcap.so.2", O_RDONLY) = 3
...
[snipped for brevity]
...
[pid 29803] open("/opt/NAI/LinuxShield/apache/conf/httpd.conf", O_RDONLY) = 3
...
[more snippage]
...
[pid 29803] open("/etc/group", O_RDONLY) = 4
nailswebd: bad group name nobody
Process 29802 resumed
Process 29803 detached
--- SIGCHLD (Child exited) @ 0 (0) ---
/opt/NAI/LinuxShield/apache/bin/apachectl start: nailswebd could not be started
</pre>
<p>So once I had fixed that I could go to the natty little web-based interface and start the scan of my machine going. And the final result:</p>
<p><img alt="image0" src="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/clean.png"/></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So a valuable use of my time? Time to go to the beer festival and drink beer ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Book Meme2004-11-10T20:04:00+00:002004-11-10T20:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-10:/~alex/blog/2004/11/10/255/<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Grab the nearest book.</li>
<li>Open the book to page 23</li>
<li>Find the fifth sentence</li>
<li>Post the text of the sentence in your journal...along with these instructions.</li>
</ol>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">(Or cheat and look at Chapter 3, <em>Unary and Binary Operators</em>.)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>Hmmm, well it is a geek book.</p>
Rant mode subsiding2004-11-10T19:21:00+00:002004-11-10T19:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-10:/~alex/blog/2004/11/10/254/<p>I have just returned from a 450 mile circumnavigation of the country. I could go into great detail ranting about drivers on the M6 and the vast tracts of space they leave on the inside lane. I could discuss my general loathing of the traffic down south and the average …</p><p>I have just returned from a 450 mile circumnavigation of the country. I could go into great detail ranting about drivers on the M6 and the vast tracts of space they leave on the inside lane. I could discuss my general loathing of the traffic down south and the average 6 MPH I managed this morning as I left Reading. I could describe the pointlessness of my business meeting. However I'm home now and had a chill and watched some Trek so I'm more relaxed so there is no point reliving the nightmares of our road system, bad for karma you know.</p>
<p>It was however nice to see Jo again who I've not seen since last year. We drank beer (while maintaining a sensible "working tomorrow" limits) and generally caught up on all those things that are easier IRL compared to IM. Luckily the expense payment for the mileage will cover that posh burger we had in the local eatery. I still reckon the beer down south is too damn expensive ;-)</p>
<p>Whilst of the subject of beer I should mention the UMIST beer festival is on and I'm heading down Thursday night (given Friday is a LRP event). Who wants to drink beer? Anyone?</p>
Food and beer, beer and food2004-11-08T01:07:00+00:002004-11-08T01:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-08:/~alex/blog/2004/11/08/253/<p>I get back from a weekend in the bosom of my family to find a series of gossip worthy events occurred without my presence. Luckily I'm not the sort of person that is interested in gossip ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The weekend was relaxing and good. Much free beer consumed, minor open source evangelism …</div></div><p>I get back from a weekend in the bosom of my family to find a series of gossip worthy events occurred without my presence. Luckily I'm not the sort of person that is interested in gossip ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The weekend was relaxing and good. Much free beer consumed, minor open source evangelism activities undertaken, family debate occurred. I may of possibly become more right wing than my father, which is a thought. We failed in actually seeing any fireworks but hearing stories of the party at Lee's made up for it. I'll be bringing a big stack of</div>
<div class="line">dynamite to Mufi's next year!</div>
</div>
<p>The coming week should hopefully see a resolution to secret mission objective as well as a couple of laps of the country. Then more fighting with rubber swords. Hurah!</p>
KT Tunstall2004-11-05T14:44:00+00:002004-11-05T14:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-05:/~alex/blog/2004/11/05/252/<p>As I mentioned <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=241">before</a> I saw <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kttunstall.com/">KT Tunstall</a> on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/">Later...</a>. Well it appears she is playing the Manchester Late Room on the 23rd of November. If anyone else wants to come along I'll be ordering the tickets this evening so let me know.</p>
Pictures of Matchstick Boys and Girls2004-11-05T12:16:00+00:002004-11-05T12:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-05:/~alex/blog/2004/11/05/251/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So Aidan and Gillian will leave me alone I've put up the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20Goth%20Festival%20Nov%202004">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20Goth%20Festival%20Nov%202004</a>">Whitby</div>
<div class="line">pics.</div>
</div>
<p>Today I'm back on code (after spending 2 days writing documents) which is nice. However I sense there …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So Aidan and Gillian will leave me alone I've put up the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20Goth%20Festival%20Nov%202004">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Whitby%20Goth%20Festival%20Nov%202004</a>">Whitby</div>
<div class="line">pics.</div>
</div>
<p>Today I'm back on code (after spending 2 days writing documents) which is nice. However I sense there is a disturbance in the coding force that may mean things will change by next year. I shall stop with being cryptic now ;-)</p>
<p>This weekend I will be mostly being stuffed with fine food and free beer courtesy of my parents. Its a damn hard life sometimes :-D</p>
Puff the magic Pastry2004-11-04T14:55:00+00:002004-11-04T14:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-04:/~alex/blog/2004/11/04/250/<p>Last night I hosted the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> again. The traffic was rather crap leaving work so I was a little rushed when I got in. I cooked a Jamie Oliver dish that involved wrapping stuffed chicken breasts in puff pastry (I cheated with the pastry BTW). People seemed to …</p><p>Last night I hosted the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> again. The traffic was rather crap leaving work so I was a little rushed when I got in. I cooked a Jamie Oliver dish that involved wrapping stuffed chicken breasts in puff pastry (I cheated with the pastry BTW). People seemed to enjoy it including Jason despite the fact there were mushrooms in the stuffing. However I did manage to overflow the creamy sauce over my hob so I have a bit of a cleaning session in my kitchen when I get home.</p>
Many Small Things2004-11-03T16:52:00+00:002004-11-03T16:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-03:/~alex/blog/2004/11/03/249/<p>Got home last night to Jason's test painting of the dining room wall. His rational for not going for super smooth re-skimming or lining paper makes sense. I'm still a little concerned about his colour choice which is contrary to the previous plan of going for light colours. However I'm …</p><p>Got home last night to Jason's test painting of the dining room wall. His rational for not going for super smooth re-skimming or lining paper makes sense. I'm still a little concerned about his colour choice which is contrary to the previous plan of going for light colours. However I'm going to compensate for this with plenty of additional electric lighting. Either way things are progressing and I'll need to buy some lighting tomorrow.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">We watched Farscape Peacekeeper wars last night. It had all</div>
<div class="line">the major Farscape coolness points. There were a couple of points where the cheese was a little thick for my tastes. However I shall be buying the DVD (to keep Gemma happy) as its certainly worthy of a position in my collection.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">As has been noted href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/masati/3461.html">http://www.livejournal.com/users/masati/3461.html</a>">elsewhere</div>
<div class="line">my brother has been using Linux on my laptop for the last few days. He's taken the admirable approach of wanting to learn something new. I haven't really given him any instruction other than to point out a few of the icons and let him explore. The result is he knows more about</div>
<div class="line">the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnome.org/">Gnome Desktop</a> than me. His non-geek visual approach means dragging pictures onto the properties box to make an icon seemed the most natural thing to do. I would go dutifully go through the file selector box and browse to the location</div>
<div class="line">of the image. Obviously the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/">http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/</a>">HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) work that Gnome has been doing is paying off.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Karen's machine has been ill ever since it moved into my house. The Windows OS hasn't quite realised that it no longer needs to dial-up to connect to the 'net and can just use my broadband pipe. As I'm not really qualified to fix her machine I've been suggesting she tries out Linux. So far she has resisted my advances so I've taken a guerilla</div>
<div class="line">approach by setting her machine to boot a LiveCD called href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.gnoppix.org/">http://www.gnoppix.org/</a>">Gnoppix which is a Gnome version of the highly respected <a class="reference external" href="http://www.knoppix.org/">Knoppix</a></div>
<div class="line">LiveCD. The main benefit of a LiveCD is its any easy way to show people what a fully functioning Linux system is like without having to install anything on their machine. My hope is that Karen tries it, realises Linux is not as scary as she thought and wants to go the whole hog and get a proper system on her machine.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The experiment continues....</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Its Alive!2004-11-02T12:55:00+00:002004-11-02T12:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-02:/~alex/blog/2004/11/02/248/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was being vaguely conscientious before I headed to Whitby at the weekend by shutting down my desktop PC at home. When I tried to power it up yesterday evening I got the entertaining noise of the disk drives heads trying to play a percussion piece. I forced myself not …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was being vaguely conscientious before I headed to Whitby at the weekend by shutting down my desktop PC at home. When I tried to power it up yesterday evening I got the entertaining noise of the disk drives heads trying to play a percussion piece. I forced myself not to think about having old backups and went to bed rather than stay up</div>
<div class="line">late trying to fix things.</div>
</div>
<p>Luckily this morning when the room was warmer, the moon in correct alignment and with baited breath I got the thing to boot up again. The CD burner will be working hard to ensure I've got an up to date set of backups however I think its time to get a new machine.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">If I can get a pre-built bare bones system I'll probably go for that. I already have various additional components such as DVD writers so I'm looking for something like:</div>
</div>
<ul><li><p>Tower case</p>
</li><ul class="simple">
<li>Decent Power Supply (400W+)</li>
<li>Spare Drive Bays (at least 1 DVD/CDRW, at least 2 additional HD
bays)</li>
<li>Modern styling a bonus</li>
</ul>
<li><p>CPU/Motherboard</p>
</li><ul class="simple">
<li>2Ghz+, preferably an Athalon, possibly 64 bit if price not too great</li>
<li>At least 3 memory slots</li>
<li>AGP Graphics slot, at least 3 PCI slots</li>
<li>USB 2.0, 2xRS232 ports</li>
<li>Linux supported chipset (in practice any major chipset)</li>
</ul>
<li><p>Memory: at least 1Gb</p>
</li><li><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Graphics: 3D acceleration with open source drivers (ATI</div>
<div class="line">9250?)</div>
</div>
</li><li><p>HD: At least 100Gb, decent fast drive</p>
</li><li><p>Software: None, I don't want to pay M$ tax!</p>
</li></ul><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">And finally to all those across the pond. Although I have my opinions on who would be better in the White House its not my place to tell you who to vote for. However I do hope that everyone who is eligible to vote in the US elections exercises their democratic responsibility.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
I was fantastic and it was a bloody good laugh2004-11-01T19:55:00+00:002004-11-01T19:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-11-01:/~alex/blog/2004/11/01/247/<p>So I'm now sat at my desk with aching legs and a slight distant look. I'm sure your all wondering how my venture into the land of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/">Goth</a> went. Well let me tell you...</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">After completing my secret mission (which seemed to go well, I should know the results later …</div></div><p>So I'm now sat at my desk with aching legs and a slight distant look. I'm sure your all wondering how my venture into the land of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/">Goth</a> went. Well let me tell you...</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">After completing my secret mission (which seemed to go well, I should know the results later this week) I picked up Karen and made the journey to Whitby in record time. Although I'd brought appropriate fashion with me I ended borrowing one of Lee's tops which he was most upset looked better on me. We headed on down the venue and went about</div>
<div class="line">circulating and catching up with people. I'm not really in the "scene" but still managed to recognise some faces which was nice.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The headline act on Friday night was href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.zodiacmindwarp.com/">http://www.zodiacmindwarp.com/</a>">Zodiac Mindwarp. I'm not entirely sure how they classify as Goth because to me the sounded like cheesy cock-rock. They reminded me a little of AC/DC (although that may of just been the hats). However that didn't seem to put of any of the crowd,</div>
<div class="line">including myself! I had great fun throwing myself around the dance floor to all the cheesy Raaawk goodness. The others managed to get many pictures of me look suitably up for it ;-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After the band I stayed on to dance to the DJ sets and chatted to a nice red-head from somewhere further north. Unfortunately I managed to forget her name almost instantly and was too embarrassed to ask again. Oh well. Top night all the same.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Given Friday had been a long day I surfaced briefly for breakfast before returning to bed to digest. When I eventually got the energy to get up me and Lee met with Gillian and Aidan to eat more food before heading down to meet Lucy and Zoe for a little shopping in the Spa. I was eventually persuaded to buy a rather nice cyber outfit</div>
<div class="line">done in the style of the Matrix. I also brought another top that had space invaders on it <em>because it appealed to my inner geek</em>. However washing both these garments is going to be more complicated than just throwing them into the washing machine.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We headed up to the Met to check out the "other" market only to be diverted by nipping to the bar for "just the one". Our quick pint was quickly derailed by several more while talking to an interesting Scotsman by the name Alex. We generally set the world to rights on a whole range of (mainly) political topics. By the time we got round to</div>
<div class="line">checking the market out it had closed and was packing up. We then ambled back to the B&B to prepare the nights gig.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I had originally planned to go to the gig in my frock-coat but had been persuaded that href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.asf-13thmoon.demon.co.uk/">http://www.asf-13thmoon.demon.co.uk/</a>">Alien Sex Fiend were a more of a dance band. In true goth style I changed my mind at the last minute and went in my brand new cyber outfit. My choice of outfit attracted a fair number of compliments which was again nice.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Although I enjoyed the gig I have to say the band were a little to random for me. It was very hard to make out the lyrics although the underlying rhythms and baselines were bouncy enough when they were not switching tempos. Karen enjoyed them more because they were more industrial. After the band wrapped up the final I grooved on down to the final DJ set prompting Lee to ask "when did you learn to dance" and someone else describing me as "the pogo dancer". All good exercise if a little hard on the leg muscles.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">We headed up to the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/whitby/whitby.shtml">http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/whitby/whitby.shtml</a>">Abbey</div>
<div class="line">for the post gig gathering. There were not too many people who had braved the many, many steps to get there. After about an hour of general chatting I left Lee and Karen to it and returned to the warmth of my B&B bed. In short, nice scenery but too damn cold!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Sunday was mainly filled by eating more food with the MancGoth crowd before going to watch the annual "Goths vs Journalists" football match. The game itself was fairly entertaining with a surprise 4-2 victory for the Goths. The good natured heckling from the stalls was enjoyable and the whole affair very relaxed.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">After much vacillating about which Sunday event to go to we ended up in Laughtons for their cheesy 80's night. As I had literally nothing else to wear I went in my frock coat, a solitary white-clad figure in a sea of black. As I had been warned the club gets very warm I didn't intend to go mad dancing. However the lure of cheesy 80's proved too much from about the time Guns and Roses came on with "Paradise City". I had a great time basking in the nostalgia of the event while identifying bands I never actually listened to in my youth. I must of picked up the knowledge by osmosis. Yet another top night!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>So in summary although the weekend was very tiring I had a great time. Although I'm still not-a-goth I have expanded my wardrobe and had a weekend of excessive bopping. I'm very tempted to go to the next event in April although hopefully with a day or two of extra holiday to recover.</p>
Friday Fun2004-10-29T12:18:00+01:002004-10-29T12:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-29:/~alex/blog/2004/10/29/246/<p>Well my brother is happily installed in the house sorting through his 700 pictures from travels. So far he seems to of adapted happily to the Linux Desktop with no major complaints. He may have issues when he starts trying to download music from the pay sites though. I shall …</p><p>Well my brother is happily installed in the house sorting through his 700 pictures from travels. So far he seems to of adapted happily to the Linux Desktop with no major complaints. He may have issues when he starts trying to download music from the pay sites though. I shall have to educate him on DRM later.</p>
<p>I'm about an hour from leaving work for my top secret mission* before heading to Whitby. I'm upto date on my work and the only nagging issue is I can't burn any new mix CDs for the journey because my burner is playing up. But who cares, I'll be on holiday!</p>
<p>*not that secret, but I just want to keep it from google</p>
Cool Tech2004-10-28T12:14:00+01:002004-10-28T12:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-28:/~alex/blog/2004/10/28/245/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've just discovered Manchester Airport do a real time href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/web.nsf/Content/SMSFlightInformation">http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/web.nsf/Content/SMSFlightInformation</a>">SMS</div>
<div class="line">Flight Information. I should get text messages as Jason's flight goes onto final approach to the airport. It proving slightly harder to find out if his Jamaica to Gatwick flight …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've just discovered Manchester Airport do a real time href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/web.nsf/Content/SMSFlightInformation">http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/web.nsf/Content/SMSFlightInformation</a>">SMS</div>
<div class="line">Flight Information. I should get text messages as Jason's flight goes onto final approach to the airport. It proving slightly harder to find out if his Jamaica to Gatwick flight has actually landed yet though.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">On a related note although Jason is staying with me before</div>
<div class="line">we both go down to the folks next weekend. However I will be abandoning him while I go to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/">Whitby</a> this</div>
<div class="line">weekend. He's a big boy now and I'm sure he is capable of amusing himself but if anyone is up to much this weekend can they let me know?</div>
</div>
Obligations2004-10-27T19:40:00+01:002004-10-27T19:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-27:/~alex/blog/2004/10/27/244/<p>Got a customer response call from Dell today. After Andy href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/156655.html">http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/156655.html</a>">spotted a good deal a few days ago I sent a query asking if it was possible to buy the system without Windows XP and MS Works. The upshot of the …</p><p>Got a customer response call from Dell today. After Andy href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/156655.html">http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/156655.html</a>">spotted a good deal a few days ago I sent a query asking if it was possible to buy the system without Windows XP and MS Works. The upshot of the conversation was that Dell are obliged to supply home systems with an OS and minimum software. He wasn't able to explain exactly why they were obliged to do so, but they certainly couldn't supply a system without. He did try and convince me the software didn't add to the cost but I wasn't having it. So 8/10 to Dell for getting back to me and following up on my query but only 3/10 for giving me an understandable answer to the question.</p>
Eyes to the Right2004-10-27T13:51:00+01:002004-10-27T13:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-27:/~alex/blog/2004/10/27/243/<p>Last night I went for an eye test. My prescription has gone down by a little again. This puts off any decision to get my eyes done as you should have a stable prescription. I did find out that my eyes are unusually big considering I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia">myopic</a> which is why …</p><p>Last night I went for an eye test. My prescription has gone down by a little again. This puts off any decision to get my eyes done as you should have a stable prescription. I did find out that my eyes are unusually big considering I'm <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia">myopic</a> which is why I was previously prescribed the Accuve contacts. Unfortunately they are the most expensive of the daily disposable lenses. However the optician did say seeing as I only wear lenses 2 or 3 times a month I should be OK with the smaller/cheaper ones. Luckily <a class="reference external" href="http://www.visionexpress.com/">Vision Express</a> allow you to buy packs as and when so I don't need to go through the hassle of DD schemes like last time.</p>
LISP'ing2004-10-26T14:40:00+01:002004-10-26T14:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-26:/~alex/blog/2004/10/26/242/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was almost considering not going to Badminton last night as my body was still aching courtesy of the weekends activities. However things seemed to of eased up by the time I left work and I had packed my kit just in case. I only played for about 1.5 …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was almost considering not going to Badminton last night as my body was still aching courtesy of the weekends activities. However things seemed to of eased up by the time I left work and I had packed my kit just in case. I only played for about 1.5 hours but had 3 very hard close games (which I won). The final game I lost 15-1 but I think the</div>
<div class="line">fight was out of me by then. Went home and prepared a pasta Arrabiata (sans Olives which ASDA didn't have) instead of my usual Carbonara. Unfortunately was slightly over-generous with Chillies so *had* to drink two beers instead of one....</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I thought I had fixed the default dictionary for Emacs href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs.diff?r1=1.12&r2=1.13">http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs.diff?r1=1.12&r2=1.13</a>">last</div>
<div class="line">time but apparently it only set it for current buffer (which for the .emacs is rather pointless). I've href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs.diff?r1=1.13&r2=1.14">http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs.diff?r1=1.13&r2=1.14</a>">fixed</div>
<div class="line">it properly this time and learnt a little more about LISP in the process. I also excised all the crappy win32 hacks seeing as I'm never going back :-P</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Glory in His Name2004-10-25T15:17:00+01:002004-10-25T15:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-25:/~alex/blog/2004/10/25/241/<p>All my LARP kit is unloaded, the washing is set and I'm about ready to collapse. Its been a LARPtastic weekend...</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">I could not find the enthusiasm for the weekend. Although I wanted to do the Vieral special I was having trouble finding enthusiasm for LARP in general. I was …</div></div><p>All my LARP kit is unloaded, the washing is set and I'm about ready to collapse. Its been a LARPtastic weekend...</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I could not find the enthusiasm for the weekend. Although I wanted to do the Vieral special I was having trouble finding enthusiasm for LARP in general. I was even considering taking a break from SoS for a while. This goes part way to explaining why I took the easy option of commuting to the site which is about 10 away from my house.</div>
<div class="line">I refereed the Friday night dungeon in a torrent of rain and skipped tavern to go home and dry out. I did see an interesting singer I have not seen before on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/">Later with Jools Holland</a> (KT Tunstall I think). The song I saw was basically all performed by her, singing, playing guitar and sampling herself with sample loops. I didn't get to bed as</div>
<div class="line">early as I planned to.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Feeling rested from a good nights sleep we got to the site as the dungeons were about to kick off. I monstered Scott's dungeon, entertainingly based on the on the classic LARP sing-a-long href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/treasure.trap/songs/goblin_song.php">http://www.dur.ac.uk/treasure.trap/songs/goblin_song.php</a>">"Three</div>
<div class="line">Dirty Goblins". I threw myself (literally) into the monster parts which got my blood going and gained me a few scrapes. We then started the long battle board prep which seem obligatory for high level dungeons.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Once we started the dungeon my doubts fizzled away. The dungeon started out a little erratically (we had to deal with some Mages which is always tricky for spiritulists) however once we had got over the initial hump it was all down to slaughtering evil undead, demons and other ner-do-wells.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A few of the memorable encounters included hacking through the waves of demons on the way to the gates of heaven. We just <strong>did it</strong><sup>tm</sup> :-D. We also had a long battle with a Balrog which took at least half an hour. There was a dodgy bloke who kept offering us help if we would agree to being marked. As we were all playing highly religious characters we had none of it, shouting "Make</div>
<div class="line">no deals with the devil" intermixed with "Keep hitting it, I'm sure its flagging". Although we started the dungeon with one of the most powerful healers in the system (who had been powered up for the dungeon) we still had to draw on our reserves by the end of the 7 hours of fighting. There were a few moments where we wavered, especially when all of our front line had been blinded and we could not cure them. As waves of demons kept attacking we had no choice but to</div>
<div class="line">suck it up and keep moving forward with the sighted people behind calling out the targets. The mantra of "faith in Vieral" was often repeated on the way to the final showdown.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The final encounter with the up start would-be demon god had us all pumped up. We were not going to spend time allowing him to gloat, we just bundled in assuming we would die while making way for the one guy who had been gifted to defeat him to make it to the target. As it happens the Sir Bedivere got knocked unconscious a couple of times, finally collapsing next to me after our healer has been decapitated. Ignoring the fact I was already missing an arm I just kept pumping healing into him until we prevailed - I was dead anyway</div>
<div class="line">if we didn't defeat Varaak. Victory was indeed hanging in the balance and with a final push we managed to defeat the demon.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Basically I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. The dungeon was very hard but balanced. If we hadn't been the motivated tight unit focussed on a single purpose we would of all died. The role-playing was excellent with plenty of chances to demonstrate our fanatical devotion to our deity. The stories from the dungeon will add to the already rich backdrop enjoyed by the Veiral characters. In short my</div>
<div class="line">faith in what good LARP should be about was restored.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Everything hurt on Sunday. The 7 hours of running around in chain mail has exposed muscles I'd forgotten about and those that are certainly not being exercised with my usual routine. After briefly popping back to help with the tidying the site I headed of to see href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370263/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370263/</a>">Alien Vs Predator with Karen, Andy and Lee.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Its not the worlds worst film. Luckily I don't have a deep emotional attachment to the series so I didn't take it too seriously. The plot has big holes in it, the acting is less than stellar and the film is over quite quickly. However forget about all the usual things that you want in a good film and enjoy it for what it is. The film pays homage</div>
<div class="line">to both the Predator and Aliens prequels in many places. The fights between the Predators and the Aliens were sublime although occasionally bordering on the ridiculous. In short if your a fan of the films and you want to see Aliens duking it out with Predators then go see the film, if your expecting more from it that that then avoid.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
End to Ranting?2004-10-21T23:47:00+01:002004-10-21T23:47:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-21:/~alex/blog/2004/10/21/240/<p>Well the second part of Storm Front has Archer telling Daniels to stop bothering him and his crew with the Temporal Cold War. Daniels tells Archer its over, he has been successful in ending the war. I can only hope so.</p>
<p>Time for a nice hot mug of Coco and …</p><p>Well the second part of Storm Front has Archer telling Daniels to stop bothering him and his crew with the Temporal Cold War. Daniels tells Archer its over, he has been successful in ending the war. I can only hope so.</p>
<p>Time for a nice hot mug of Coco and Question Time before an early night :-)</p>
Today's Lesson2004-10-21T14:08:00+01:002004-10-21T14:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-21:/~alex/blog/2004/10/21/239/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">If you are struggling to satisfy a circular #include dependency then you should really look at the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/O/orthogonal.html">http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/O/orthogonal.html</a>">orthogonal</div>
<div class="line">nature of your code.</div>
</div>
<p>Don't worry if that last sentence made no sense. Its a geek thing.</p>
<p>Last nights meal was entertaining …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">If you are struggling to satisfy a circular #include dependency then you should really look at the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/O/orthogonal.html">http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/O/orthogonal.html</a>">orthogonal</div>
<div class="line">nature of your code.</div>
</div>
<p>Don't worry if that last sentence made no sense. Its a geek thing.</p>
<p>Last nights meal was entertaining and despite Sam's protestations that it only contained 150ml of cream still seemed heart-attack inducing. It was very nice though. TJ brought me a very cute fridge magnet with a penguin on it. All good.</p>
<p>I finished <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857231465/026-0732709-6407623">The
Player of Games</a> on Monday. I really liked it, perhaps even more so than "Use of Weapons". I've got some serious reading to do to catch up with everyone else. I've just started on Neal Stephenson's essay href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html">http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html</a>">In the Beginning was the Command Line. I'll let the non-geeks know if its readable for them when I finish it. I have certainly found it very funny so far.</p>
Poetry Meme2004-10-21T11:49:00+01:002004-10-21T11:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-21:/~alex/blog/2004/10/21/238/<p>The meme says "When you see this, post some poetry in your own journal". I present an original work by your truly ;-)</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
A hacking the software I go
Make, compile, and break
Start again! I've made a mistake
Still I have everything I need
Except for hardware, but what's the …</pre><p>The meme says "When you see this, post some poetry in your own journal". I present an original work by your truly ;-)</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
A hacking the software I go
Make, compile, and break
Start again! I've made a mistake
Still I have everything I need
Except for hardware, but what's the rush?
We need a demo so John can gush
-- Alex, circa 2002
</pre>
Time Travel is the new Holodeck2004-10-20T19:05:00+01:002004-10-20T19:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-20:/~alex/blog/2004/10/20/237/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I watched the first episode of season 4 of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/index.html">Enterprise</a></div>
<div class="line">last night.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Despite my protestations that I'm not a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie">Trekkie</a> I do have a soft spot for the show. I do not sit in awe of the plot, both Farscape and Babylon 5 did better, only DS9 got close. The …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I watched the first episode of season 4 of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/index.html">Enterprise</a></div>
<div class="line">last night.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Despite my protestations that I'm not a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie">Trekkie</a> I do have a soft spot for the show. I do not sit in awe of the plot, both Farscape and Babylon 5 did better, only DS9 got close. The episodes are more or less American-ised little morality tales about why you should do the</div>
<div class="line">"right" thing. The Star Trek world is quite a rich and diverse one although they never seem to document any of their techno-bollocks solutions in case it would come in handy again. The main characters are well done however. Spock, Data, Quark, Seven, The Doctor and T'Pol are all favorite characters of mine and one thing I feel the show has got right*. As a show it has many faults however I watch it because its entertaining, not because its a religious experience.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Enterprise has not been the most stunning of shows so far. Granted it doesn't have aura of communist utopia that TNG had. Archer and his crew have been faced with some difficult moral choices and made some dodgy calls. The "no internal conflict" rule has been bent (and hopefully discarded for good). The track record with avoiding techno-bollocks solutions to their problems has been fair to middling.</div>
<div class="line">However my main gripe is the excessive use of time travel. I'm with the Vulcans on this one, time travel should not exist**. It has shades of the hideously dangerous and unreliable Holodeck that kept getting rolled out as a plot stick in TNG. Except of course with time travel you can add that other jarring plot device, the big red reset button.</div>
<div class="line">Unfortunately the plot-arc since href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-2498/epid-88250/">http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-2498/epid-88250/</a>">season</div>
<div class="line">1 has been tied to the concept of the "Temporal Cold War" and the writers have seemed intent on pursuing it ever since. I severely doubt they will come up with a suitably clever work around to explain why Kirk et all don't take all this time travel stuff in their stride. After all in the universe they have created humans have been dealing with temporal anomalies since they took their first baby steps into space!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>If this keeps up I may end up dropping Trek from my regular viewing slots and find something else. I've quite enjoyed the latest season of the Dead Zone on Sci-Fi so far. And of course both the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314979/">Battlestar Galactica</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.scifi.com/farscape/peacekeeperwars/">Farscape
Peacekeeper Wars</a> mini-series should keep me entertained over the winter months :-D</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">*most of the time</div>
<div class="line">**unless your from Galifrey, in which case you can do what you like naturally ;-)</div>
</div>
Exercise2004-10-19T19:50:00+01:002004-10-19T19:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-19:/~alex/blog/2004/10/19/236/<p>Its seems the best way to deal with a torn/knotted shoulder is not to nurse it with hot baths and avoid stressing it. After 5 hours of manic dancing on Saturday and some sleep it seems its on the mend. My mum did advise me to put it through …</p><p>Its seems the best way to deal with a torn/knotted shoulder is not to nurse it with hot baths and avoid stressing it. After 5 hours of manic dancing on Saturday and some sleep it seems its on the mend. My mum did advise me to put it through some gentle rotations to try and ease things a bit but its certainly feels a lot better since Saturday.</p>
<p>Now all I need to do is make sure I do not re-biff it on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/index.cgi?section=newsletters&page=news87.htm">Vieral
Special</a> dungeon this weekend.</p>
Aftermath2004-10-18T14:54:00+01:002004-10-18T14:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-18:/~alex/blog/2004/10/18/235/<p>A bit more of a detailed update as yesterday's post was a bit of a meh.</p>
<p>As you <a class="reference external" href="http://www.drownedrat.fotopic.net/p8384690.html">can see</a> I
pretty much larged it up at the gig. With the exception of the live
band (who where ok, but just didn't fit into the theme) it was all
pretty …</p><p>A bit more of a detailed update as yesterday's post was a bit of a meh.</p>
<p>As you <a class="reference external" href="http://www.drownedrat.fotopic.net/p8384690.html">can see</a> I
pretty much larged it up at the gig. With the exception of the live
band (who where ok, but just didn't fit into the theme) it was all
pretty bouncy funky house. This was good because I'm not really into
the hard core beat of some dance music. I prefer something to which I
can easily bounce about to and then throw myself into if I | want to.
The warm up DJs certainly fitted the bill. I was quite happily dancing
away by the main event.</p>
<p>When Mr Cook finally turned up in the central DJ booth the crowd were
going pretty wild. I don't think what he played would of made that
much difference because his main selling point is his interaction with
the crowd. He has a little camera set up by the deck which he uses to
show the record he's about to play. He also has a marker pen so he can
write messages to the crowd. His first message was "I'm going to fuck
you all" which pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night. We
were quite close to the central booth so I did get a few pictures of
him in action. He certainly seemed to be enjoying it as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.drownedrat.fotopic.net/p8400859.html">was I</a>. The venue did
get very hot and sweaty. Luckily some of the people I met that night
(Sean, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.drownedrat.fotopic.net/p8400864.html%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A">Caroline</a>
and the others who's names I can't remember) were bringing in fresh
bottles of water to keep us hydrated. I think I managed to keep
dancing for the whole 2 hour set.</p>
<p>At the end of the night there was a a brief flurry of activity as we
tried to operate mobile technology which would of been easier if
people had Bluetooth or IR on their phones. I then (unintentionally)
pulled my most hideous face for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.drownedrat.fotopic.net/p8400867.html">group photo</a>. I'm going to
have to face it, I'm never going to look good in pictures taken at
dance gigs ;-)</p>
<p>As soon as I walked out into the fresh cold hit I could feel my
clothes start to stick to me, not nice. Luckily getting home was
relatively painless although we did have to contend with people
hi-jacking taxis ahead of us. With Aidan flagging and Gillian not
planning on a late night it was just me, Sam and Ste at my house for
after show chill-out. Lee turned up later having returned from
href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">http://www.thewendyhouse.org/</a>">Wendyhouse. Sam complimented my
growing collection of dance music, aided by the fact we where running
all the music from my laptop with access to my 19Gb music library.
I'll remind people you can get the DJ Sick Puppy Dog mixes direct from
the man <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sickpuppydog.com/">here</a>. Things | progressed
as chill-outs do until everyone was drifting off and I climbed into my
sweet comfortable bed around 6 in the morning. |</p>
<p>Having not set any really stretching objectives for Sunday it was
mainly a case of watching my special edition Empire DVD and
<em>attempting</em> to play some PS2 games. We finally left the house at half
four to wander into town to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375912/">Layer Cake</a> which was an entertaining
drugs and gangsters film. Its nice to see good British actors playing
interesting characters. It certainly a lot darker than films like
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/">Lock Stock</a> but good none
the less.</p>
<p>End of Tranmissi....</p>
Fatboy!2004-10-17T11:21:00+01:002004-10-17T11:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-17:/~alex/blog/2004/10/17/234/<p>Last nights Fat Boy Slim gig was great. I was dancing for most of the night in between making new friends. It was basically a DJ set however I can see why he's so popular. He works at interacting with the audience to bring them with him. He is technically …</p><p>Last nights Fat Boy Slim gig was great. I was dancing for most of the night in between making new friends. It was basically a DJ set however I can see why he's so popular. He works at interacting with the audience to bring them with him. He is technically very good as well but I think it was the showmanship that won through the day.</p>
<p>We shall be attempting to get to a cinema for Layer Cake at some point today. Anyone game?</p>
Must burn calories!2004-10-13T14:24:00+01:002004-10-13T14:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-13:/~alex/blog/2004/10/13/233/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I had another bath last night in an effort to ease the shoulder some more. I think its getting better but it still gives me pain with certain movements. I don't think the having a few weeks off at the gym has helped its recovery so I'll be going back …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I had another bath last night in an effort to ease the shoulder some more. I think its getting better but it still gives me pain with certain movements. I don't think the having a few weeks off at the gym has helped its recovery so I'll be going back on Friday. I've noticed a definite lack of motivation has set in which I need to nip in the bud lest I become a couch potato again. Apart from the general liking of being fitter the main benefit of the gym (or any physical</div>
<div class="line">sporting activity) is you can stop thinking about anything else. Just turning your brain off for a couple of hours is quite relaxing. Once I'm back into the swing of it I may even give some consideration to doing something about my beer gut.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I found a nice new documentation <a class="reference external" href="http://lidn.sourceforge.net/">site</a> last night. One thing I can give Microsoft credit for is the quality of their developer docs, especially their MSDN developer site. The LiDN site emulates the usefulness of MSDN site with a simple search facility along with collecting all the various free software library documentation into one place. This makes looking up library calls a lot simpler because you</div>
<div class="line">don't have to figure out which library its from first. And to think the link for the site has been on the Galeon portal page for ages and I never noticed!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I've not been getting especially excited about going to see Fat Boy Slim on Saturday because of general blah-ness. However I'm starting to look forward to it now, I want to have a good rave! Come On!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Design for Life2004-10-12T12:57:00+01:002004-10-12T12:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-12:/~alex/blog/2004/10/12/232/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After a desperately dull day figuring out magic numbers for a piece of hardware I did a brief circumnavigation of Manchester to drop stuff of at Katy's and pick up some CD stands from PC World. A bunch of hammering and gluing later I've now collected my assorted CDs and …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After a desperately dull day figuring out magic numbers for a piece of hardware I did a brief circumnavigation of Manchester to drop stuff of at Katy's and pick up some CD stands from PC World. A bunch of hammering and gluing later I've now collected my assorted CDs and DVDs from the floor and got them nicely stacked out of the way. Next on the list is a couple of picture frames and a mirror and my front</div>
<div class="line">room will look slightly less bare. I then retired for the evening to watch the start of the new series of href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/spooks/">http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/spooks/</a>">Spooks. I enjoyed it although I was a little disappointed they sort Tom's situation so quickly. I thought he was going to become some sort of deep underground deniable agent. Still its nice to get something out of my license fee.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">While flicking through the channels after the news we alighted on a rave video from the 80's. It reminded me of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=5265">Jesus on E's</a> demo which although an Amiga demo was quite influential on me. It was one of the first demos I saw that wasn't a set of individual screens but more of an experience. I actually video-ed it once (not owning an Amiga</div>
<div class="line">myself being a hard core Atari ST man) for reference. I had a look at the video but the quality was quite poor so I had a quick tinker with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~uae/">Universal Amiga
Emulator</a> but unfortunately it runs too slow to appreciate properly. I may have to make some videos of my old demos at some point so people can see what I did back then without having to get my ST up and running again.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Today's meme comes via src='<a class="reference external" href="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif">http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif</a>' alt='[info]'</div>
<div class="line">width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: bottom; border: 0;'</div>
<div class="line">/> href='<a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/sarah_orange/'">http://www.livejournal.com/users/sarah_orange/'</a>><strong>sarah_orange</strong></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>Name a CD you own that no-one else on your friends list
does:</strong></div>
</div>
<p>Given the general looks I get when I mention them I assume no one else has a copy of <em>"On Every Street"</em> by Dire Straits.</p>
<p><strong>Name a book you own that no-one else on your friends list does:</strong></p>
<p>I'm guessing no one else has <em>"Atari ST Internals"</em> (well possibly John, but I believe its his copy I've got). Excellent book with a complete commented disassembly of the Atari TOS.</p>
<p><strong>Name a movie you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that no-one else on your friends list does:</strong></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I have a video copy of href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082622/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082622/</a>">Knightriders somewhere amongst my old-format archives. If we are talking DVD's my best guess would be <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064276/">Easy Rider</a></div>
<div class="line">but someone else could easily have that.</div>
</div>
<p><strong>Name a place that you have visited that no-one else on your friends list has:</strong></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Voorburg in the Hague. Not many reasons to visit the place unless you happen to have lived there!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Sock day draws closer2004-10-10T23:42:00+01:002004-10-10T23:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-10:/~alex/blog/2004/10/10/231/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today's plan was to pick up Nook's old bike and then head home and sort through my letters and paperwork for the last few weeks. I was doing well until I got distracted by Mufi tempting me with food and games in Knutsford. I picked up Ste on the way …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today's plan was to pick up Nook's old bike and then head home and sort through my letters and paperwork for the last few weeks. I was doing well until I got distracted by Mufi tempting me with food and games in Knutsford. I picked up Ste on the way down and we spent a pleasant afternoon eating and playing dice games. One conclusion I did come to was that I have nothing to lose by going for the interview</div>
<div class="line">with the company I had an informal chat with last week.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Whilst discussing when we should next play Exalted with Nook I had a quick flick though my diary for free weekends. It transpires my next free weekend is the 4th of December (which will probably not be so free by then, as I need to do some Christmas shopping). I think having a party this year is looking unlikely. The current list is:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>16th Oct : Fat Boy Slim! (unfortunately clashes with Rich and Al's Housewarming)</li>
<li>22nd Oct - 24th Oct : <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> - I'm
doing a dungeon which is the culmination of about 2 years of plot arc for my Witch Finder.</li>
<li>29th Oct - 31st Oct : <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/">Whitby
Goth Weekend</a>, my first foray into proper Goth-ism ;-)</li>
<li>5th Nov - 7th Nov : Visit the folks. This unfortunately clashes with parties at Lee's and down south at Rich's, but I promised my parents first and I haven't seen them in ages.</li>
<li>12th Nov - 14th Nov : Another href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">http://www.songofsteel.org</a>">SoS. Through one thing and another I've missed loads this year, so I'm catching up.</li>
<li>20th Nov : <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a>
which I have not been to for a while. I'm going to miss the Christmas one on account of being in Amsterdam so I've got to go to this one.</li>
<li>26th Nov - 28th Nov : Staaaaag!</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Given I'm in Amsterdam one weekend of December and there is another SoS event it doesn't look like things will clear up until the new year. Still its better than not having anything to do!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">My socks pile looks as though its loosing critical mass. I define SCM (Sock Critical Mass) as having enough socks that lack of clean ones is not a factor in deciding when to wash clothes. My experimental research has a come up with SCM being around 14 pairs. Because of my approach to avoiding unmatched pairs this means its time to dump the old ones</div>
<div class="line">and buy another big batch of matching socks. I expect sock day will be around Thursday :-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Amateur Chemistry and Welshmen2004-10-10T11:45:00+01:002004-10-10T11:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-10:/~alex/blog/2004/10/10/230/<p>I spent most of yesterday doing some separation chemistry. I achieved a reasonable result although I ran out of solvent. I think I may of to rethink the apparatus a little to make it more efficient. It was nice to use some of my chemistry degree though.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Had a relatively …</div></div><p>I spent most of yesterday doing some separation chemistry. I achieved a reasonable result although I ran out of solvent. I think I may of to rethink the apparatus a little to make it more efficient. It was nice to use some of my chemistry degree though.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Had a relatively brief visit to a party in Chorlton last night. It was certainly a party with a grand vision, I reckon well over 100 people spread over the two adjacent houses. They even had a band (well I'm less sure it was a band and more a gathering of musicians with amps and</div>
<div class="line">drum kit). I witnessed a rather surreal hip-hop style verbal lyric contest which was made up of random squeals, Welsh, German and possibly a little French and Danish thrown in. Unfortunately I didn't have the stamina for a late night so we didn't stay very late. However it was certainly an interesting experience, although one I am unlikely to try an replicate in my house. I like my neighbours too much ;-)</div>
</div>
Funky Flash2004-10-09T13:54:00+01:002004-10-09T13:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-09:/~alex/blog/2004/10/09/229/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Went out to EK's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lomomanchester.org/events/">Lomodisco</a> event at FONT. Bu and Mel were also out for the night. As far as I can tell the main attraction of the camera is they</div>
<div class="line">have good optics but crap cases which leads to interesting effects on the pictures they take. Having said that …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Went out to EK's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lomomanchester.org/events/">Lomodisco</a> event at FONT. Bu and Mel were also out for the night. As far as I can tell the main attraction of the camera is they</div>
<div class="line">have good optics but crap cases which leads to interesting effects on the pictures they take. Having said that the other camera EK had had changeable flash filters which were a funky idea. It also does an infinite exposure + final flash mode which I don't know if my digital camera can emulate. It should be interesting to see the pictures if</div>
<div class="line">they come out. I spent a good deal of time debating the relative merits of different photography hardware with Bu. I still reckon when we get real-time 3D topographic sensors we'll be able to retouch stuff however we want :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The music was a strange (but funky) mix living up to the eclectic description the flyer had promised. I was dragged onto the dance floor by a rather bubbly zoologist and someone else commented that "I had the moves" which was nice. Another flattering of my ego came from a lovely girl guessing my age as 25 and another person asking if I was a</div>
<div class="line">student. It made up for feeling old as I walked down Oxford Road on the way there as streams of young fresh faced students walked past heading into town. Needless to say I danced a good portion of the night away. Excellent night out, must do it again :-)</div>
</div>
<p>EDIT: Fixed grammar, sorry mum, at least it went through the spellcheck ;-)</p>
1 pint good, 2 pints better2004-10-08T16:04:00+01:002004-10-08T16:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-08:/~alex/blog/2004/10/08/228/<p>Hmmm, perhaps the 2nd pint was a bad idea. I feel a little tipsy and I'm unlikely to be writing any spectacular code this afternoon. Still it was good to catch up with Paula and Katie. We were wondering what parties are coming up this season. I'm pondering if its …</p><p>Hmmm, perhaps the 2nd pint was a bad idea. I feel a little tipsy and I'm unlikely to be writing any spectacular code this afternoon. Still it was good to catch up with Paula and Katie. We were wondering what parties are coming up this season. I'm pondering if its worth trying to get my house into a state for one late November early December time. How is the winter social calendar shaping up?</p>
vma = find_vma(tsk->mm, addr);2004-10-07T14:12:00+01:002004-10-07T14:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-07:/~alex/blog/2004/10/07/227/<p>I've been delving deeply into the Linux VM subsystem the last few days while trying to debug a problem. Its giving me the opportunity to get a feel for how the virtual memory system goes together. I'm quite enjoying it at the moment because its actually interesting and I'm learning …</p><p>I've been delving deeply into the Linux VM subsystem the last few days while trying to debug a problem. Its giving me the opportunity to get a feel for how the virtual memory system goes together. I'm quite enjoying it at the moment because its actually interesting and I'm learning new stuff. Hopefully I'll have a selection of debug patches and gdb macros at the end of it that will make my life easier. In the course of this I've read the <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/105375/">Kernel Management Style</a> document which was quite funny. Its not a tech document so I can recommend it to the non-techies if they want to get an idea of what <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds">Linus Torvalds</a> is like and why he's respected by the geek legions.</p>
<p>The meal last night was good (as always). TJ went for a healthy stuffed peppers starter with a full on meat salad for the main course. Of course the wine and the bread and butter pudding desert probably brought the health level down a few notches, but its all part of the experience :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">One item of debate was if it was right for software to permanently alter your hardware. This was in the context of the latest Xbox demo of Star Wars Battlefront href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EpAVlAVpuZDrYOIHtX.php">http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EpAVlAVpuZDrYOIHtX.php</a>">which</div>
<div class="line">auto-updates the dashboard when the disc is inserted. This can generally makes things interesting if the Xbox has been "chipped". Mufi was of the opinion because 99.99% of chipped Xboxen are chipped so people can pirate games it was acceptable. I'm of the opinion that once you own the hardware you can do what you want with it, and if the</div>
<div class="line">software breaks it without warning thats wrong. Although the issue is pretty peripheral at the moment these sort of things will be more relevant if the push for href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_computing">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_computing</a>">Trusted</div>
<div class="line">Computing gets further and interferes with what <strong>you</strong> want to do with <strong>your</strong> PC.</div>
</div>
Grr Arrrgh2004-10-06T13:42:00+01:002004-10-06T13:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-06:/~alex/blog/2004/10/06/226/<p>Just pulled my shoulder again by rotating to the left on my chair to turn the CCTV monitor on. This is getting very annoying as I keep thinking its healing and then an unexpected move suddenly makes it hurt a lot. I really should get around to having that bath …</p><p>Just pulled my shoulder again by rotating to the left on my chair to turn the CCTV monitor on. This is getting very annoying as I keep thinking its healing and then an unexpected move suddenly makes it hurt a lot. I really should get around to having that bath to help ease it but that involves cleaning the bath first. Sigh.</p>
<p>And if I wasn't being self pitying enough I got that <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~jason/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Jamaica%202004/cd4">latest CD</a> from my brothers World Tour. Its good to know he got through <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3649264.stm">Hurricane Ivan</a> in one piece. He even recorded some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~jason/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Jamaica%202004/cd4/Videos">videos</a> as the storm went through. My only solace I have while stuck behind my desk is he seems to of started an ill-advised goatee experiment.</p>
Lazy days2004-10-04T23:20:00+01:002004-10-04T23:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-04:/~alex/blog/2004/10/04/225/<p>I left work early today as the air conditioning was on the fritz. I could not concentrate in the 30 degree heat. As Lee was also skiving we took the opportunity to go and watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/">Hero</a>.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">I liked the film. Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I didn't find the subtitles …</div></div><p>I left work early today as the air conditioning was on the fritz. I could not concentrate in the 30 degree heat. As Lee was also skiving we took the opportunity to go and watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/">Hero</a>.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I liked the film. Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I didn't find the subtitles got in the way of the story. The martial arts sections were well done with all the outrageous wire fighting you expect from such a flick. The CGI was only used in a few places and generally to good effect. The only down side was the plot exposition did tend to drag on a bit, often with unneeded repetition. The angsty death scenes did also get a bit much by the end. However all in all I think its worth a watch.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I'm giving up the Gym for a week or so to see if I can give my shoulder a chance to heal. I put it out at Maelstrom and its still giving me pain. I thought as its my left shoulder playing Badminton would not stress it (as I'm right handed). However it seems even waving my left hand around for balance puts too much stress on it. I probably shouldn't of kept up the swimming either but I was getting carried away with the improvement to my arms. So the next week or so I'm going to be house bound in the evenings (unless any other non-gym</div>
<div class="line">activities come up). Pity me....</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Book Worms2004-10-04T15:33:00+01:002004-10-04T15:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-04:/~alex/blog/2004/10/04/224/<p>Todays featured article on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a> is about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emacs">Emacs</a> my default editor. I only mention this because of a conversation we had over the weekend about posting to LJ and if we edit using an external editor. Emacs is not the most friendly editor in the world, for one thing its …</p><p>Todays featured article on <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a> is about <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emacs">Emacs</a> my default editor. I only mention this because of a conversation we had over the weekend about posting to LJ and if we edit using an external editor. Emacs is not the most friendly editor in the world, for one thing its octopedial keystrokes are defiantly aimed at geeks. However I use it as my standard editor because it does a good job in both console mode and GUI mode, available for pretty much very OS out there and is very <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs">customisable</a>. Extensions to firefox like <a class="reference external" href="http://mozex.mozdev.org/index.html">Mozex</a> make it easy to use the one editor for all those big textarea forms with a single click. The plethora of editing modes means it supports all the languages I hack with. Even though I haven't personally begun to scratch the surface of what you can do with Emacs (as I have yet to learn LISP) its still IMHO one of the best programmers editors out there..</p>
LMFAO!2004-10-03T21:29:00+01:002004-10-03T21:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-03:/~alex/blog/2004/10/03/223/<p>I went down with Lee, Ste, Gillian and Aidan to Jeff and Phil's for a weekend in the country. I had a great time which hopefully comes across on the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Jeff%20and%20Phils%20Oct%202004">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Jeff%20and%20Phils%20Oct%202004</a>">pictures I …</p><p>I went down with Lee, Ste, Gillian and Aidan to Jeff and Phil's for a weekend in the country. I had a great time which hopefully comes across on the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Jeff%20and%20Phils%20Oct%202004">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Jeff%20and%20Phils%20Oct%202004</a>">pictures I took with the new camera. The weather was on our side as we went out to catch the sunshine and explore the abandoned air raid shelter. There was even the sound of a hunt going on in the distance (we think, we didn't want to get to close). We laughed a lot at nothing in particular for ages before retiring back to the cottage for food and more hospitality. A very funny and relaxing evening was had by all, except for the occasional spider attack on Lee :-) Sunday continued the energetic loafing until the afternoon until we decided it was probably a good idea to head back to Manchester at some point. Now back, slightly peckish and deciding how I can most productively loaf the rest of Sunday away :-)</p>
Too Hot for my Chinchilla2004-10-01T16:11:00+01:002004-10-01T16:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-10-01:/~alex/blog/2004/10/01/222/<p>After the excitement of the afternoon last night was quite boring. I had a long chat with one of my Uncles about pensions. I now have advanced the plan beyond the "talk to someone" stage its been at for the last 2 years. I then then phoned my mum and …</p><p>After the excitement of the afternoon last night was quite boring. I had a long chat with one of my Uncles about pensions. I now have advanced the plan beyond the "talk to someone" stage its been at for the last 2 years. I then then phoned my mum and groveled appropriately for not phoning the day before (when her actual birthday was). As an act of penance I removed the small iceberg that was distributed around my freezer and threw out a bunch of old food. I divided the rest of the evening between Six Feet Under, The West Wing and Question Time. Looking forward to going to to Phil's this weekend :)</p>
Silicon Mills2004-09-30T18:17:00+01:002004-09-30T18:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-30:/~alex/blog/2004/09/30/221/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Last week I got an email from someone who came across my CV via the magic of href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=software+engineer+cv+manchester&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N">http://www.google.com/search?q=software+engineer+cv+manchester&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N</a>">Google.</div>
<div class="line">Now I'm not actually actively looking for a new job …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Last week I got an email from someone who came across my CV via the magic of href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=software+engineer+cv+manchester&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N">http://www.google.com/search?q=software+engineer+cv+manchester&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N</a>">Google.</div>
<div class="line">Now I'm not actually actively looking for a new job but a couple of things grabbed my attention. The main thing was the guy had actually read my CV. You would be surprised how many agencies spam me with jobs for Windows Database programmers in London. Looking at the website the stuff</div>
<div class="line">they are working on looks quite (technically) cool. The guys approach was quite informal and friendly. The company is based in the centre of Manchester so I emailed him back asking if I could come in for an informal chat which I went to this afternoon.</div>
</div>
<p>I can't say much about who the company is or what they do because its all under NDA however I can talk about what the place feels like. My first impressions were very "Silicon Valley". They have an engineering friendly organisation, so all the way to VP level you can earn the same being an engineer as you can being a manager. There was a fully stocked R&R room with iMac jukebox, TV, Air-Hockey, Pool table and the like. The average engineer age is 29, so I'd actually be old in comparison to the core workforce. The office is in the centre of town and quite spacious. The pension scheme is very good. The work patterns are flexible so commuting in on public transport would be very viable.</p>
<p>A few things do concern me. What they are trying to achieve is very ambitious and I'm not sure how I'll match up against the best of the best they seem to of assembled. The work would certainly be stretching, but I think that is a good thing, I couldn't be lazy. They work on very tight cycles so it could be quite high pressure. Although I can pull (and still occasionally do) long coding sessions my free time is still important to me. Its VC funded so its another risky move (although probably less so than leaving Marconi without a job to go to and then working for a small VC backed company).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now the meeting was informal, there is a formal interview to do before I could join. However the guy was very open about the interview offer being there for as long as I want it. In fact he'd be happy for me to interview and if I pass stay in the pipeline until I felt like a move. If I said I wasn't tempted it would be a lie. However we are not quite</div>
<div class="line">at the end of the release cycle so I'd be leaving the current guys in the lurch if I left now which I'd feel guilty about. Having said that I'm not sure how appropriate guilt is is to this situation. I certainly have a lot of things to consider.</div>
</div>
Piccies!2004-09-30T12:02:00+01:002004-09-30T12:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-30:/~alex/blog/2004/09/30/220/<p>After my rescue from and old flash card I present another hundred pictures from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./LRP/Sea%20Elf%20Special%20July%202003/Alexcam">2003 Sea Elf Special</a> and my trip to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./General/New%20Orleans%202003">New Orleans</a>. Including the obligatory <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./General/New%20Orleans%202003&pageType=image&image=000006938000-0.jpg&startFrom=1">doing something weird in the park</a> photo ;-)</p>
Its a kind of Magic2004-09-29T12:20:00+01:002004-09-29T12:20:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-29:/~alex/blog/2004/09/29/its-a-kind-of-magic/<p>I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=26">went to New Orleans</a> last year and took a load of photos. unfortunately when I got back I found I could not read my cameras flash card because the crappy FAT filesystem it uses had gotten corrupted. I was very annoyed with this because visiting New Orleans was one …</p><p>I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=26">went to New Orleans</a> last year and took a load of photos. unfortunately when I got back I found I could not read my cameras flash card because the crappy FAT filesystem it uses had gotten corrupted. I was very annoyed with this because visiting New Orleans was one of those "once in a lifetime" type things I'd really like to have a record of. One thing I did do however was take a bit-copy of the flash card (i.e. a copy of the device regardless of if the filesystem on it was hosed).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Yesterday in a spare moment I decided to browse <a class="reference external" href="http://freshmeat.net/">Freshmeat</a> to see if there were any FAT recovery tools. I did not hold out much hope as FAT isn't really a native Linux file format and is only really supported so people can duel boot or read floppies. However I did find a tool called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.itu.dk/people/jobr/magicrescue/">Magic Rescue</a> which is a file system agnostic rescue tool that takes advantage of the fact that files have a) magic numbers and b) generally made out of contiguous blocks. The result is I've rescued all the pictures from New Orleans and found my set from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./LRP/Sea%20Elf%20Special%20July%202003">the
2003 Sea Elf Special</a> and some pictures from (one of) Anne's graduations. I'll try and get them up on the server by the end of the week.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I spent a most pleasant evening chatting to fellow <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/">Six Feet Under</a> fan <img alt="[info]" src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif" style="width: 17px; height: 17px;"/><a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kmazzy/">KMazzy</a> before and after the show. Our general conclusion seemed to be they were teasing us with the promises of hot lesbian action between Claire and Edie that was ultimately unfulfilled (at least on screen). Luckily I can watch the next episode on E4 on Thursday :-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Hero2004-09-28T01:42:00+01:002004-09-28T01:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-28:/~alex/blog/2004/09/28/218/<p>Just saw one of the fight scenes from Hero. Its on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.uci.co.uk/?page=synopsis&id=9206">at the UCI Tuesday evening</a>. I want to see it on the big screen, anyone game?</p>
Lurking around the Gherkins2004-09-26T21:25:00+01:002004-09-26T21:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-26:/~alex/blog/2004/09/26/217/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Saturday evenings entertainment came courtesy of Ms Oranges Mexican themed party. I seemed to be the only one who made the (admittedly) minimal effort for costume but there was a wide and varied selection of Mexican themed food. Tinks made a really nice Banoffee pie and the Chicken enchiladas seemed …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Saturday evenings entertainment came courtesy of Ms Oranges Mexican themed party. I seemed to be the only one who made the (admittedly) minimal effort for costume but there was a wide and varied selection of Mexican themed food. Tinks made a really nice Banoffee pie and the Chicken enchiladas seemed to go down well. I met a lot of interesting people, including another one of my "victims" from the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=69">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=69</a>">Captain</div>
<div class="line">Hook episode. I now also know what some one looks like when they have been shocked with a stun gun. It was certainly an educational (and enjoyable) experience. I look forward to meeting a bunch of the Leeds crowd next month in Whitby.</div>
</div>
<p>The afternoon has been mostly shuttling some more of Karens stuff into the house before collapsing in front of the DVD player and stuffing ourselves with food. I think I'll save the housework until later ;-)</p>
A man they called Brian2004-09-25T14:17:00+01:002004-09-25T14:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-25:/~alex/blog/2004/09/25/216/<p>Went out to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aranights.com/">Ara</a> for the 3rd time last night. It was probably the busiest night I've been to so far. I met some interesting people including ministers, artists and other people who knew my name! They had an interesting mix of music, including the KLF which was quite funky …</p><p>Went out to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aranights.com/">Ara</a> for the 3rd time last night. It was probably the busiest night I've been to so far. I met some interesting people including ministers, artists and other people who knew my name! They had an interesting mix of music, including the KLF which was quite funky. I did embarrass myself with one music faux pas though, for some reason thinking "The Model" was by someone other than Kraftwerk. I think I'd massively confused it with "Girls on Film" in my head which is a totally different track all-together. All in all an enjoyable night followed by a rather pleasant walk back towards Stretford.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Tonight I shall be guesting with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/sarah_orange">Ms Orange</a> for her Mexican themed party. I have my comedy poncho, all I need now is a Enchilada recipe and a quick trip to the shops. If I get a chance I may even do some housework or possibly some coding before I head out.</div>
<div class="line">Tommorrow I will be mostly helping Karen move into the house. And possibly more housework...</div>
</div>
Temperance.. of sorts2004-09-24T17:22:00+01:002004-09-24T17:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-24:/~alex/blog/2004/09/24/215/<p>After a generally frustrating day of bug-hunting at work I went to the Gym for the first time this week. I didn't swim as much as usual because my shoulder is still spacked from Maelstrom (sleeping on the blow up bed was OK, but it really needs 2 people to …</p><p>After a generally frustrating day of bug-hunting at work I went to the Gym for the first time this week. I didn't swim as much as usual because my shoulder is still spacked from Maelstrom (sleeping on the blow up bed was OK, but it really needs 2 people to properly balance out). I almost immediately reversed any good I'd done myself by eating the remains of the previous nights Beef Stroganof in a new artery hardening creating called Beef Stroganof Stir Fry. I've packed my kit bag with the intention of exploring the Didsbury branch of the gym after work (especially since I had a rather nice meal with a pint of Speckled Hen for lunch). Next week I get back to my normal scheduled keep fit regime, honest!</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Although I'm resisting watching the actual films until a more social occasion I thought I'd take a trip through the bonus DVD. I haven't touched the main documentary yet but I quite like the featurettes. I think I understand some of Mr Lucas's fiddling now I've got the context of how dramatically the story/film changed as it was developed. Even watching the original teaser trailer gives you an idea of how many post-production changes went in before the film was released. The development of the light saber featurette also appealed to my (minor) film geekery although I accept most people get bored by these sort of additions. The gag reel was quite funny, especially in one of the Ewok vs Imperial Troopers where you can hear the crew shouting <em>"beat the shit out of them!"</em>. The most surprising</div>
<div class="line">thing I'm going to admit to is I'm actually quite looking forward to Episode III having seen some of the teaser stuff on the disc. I don't think the dialog is going to be great or that Hayden Christensen will suddenly develop some acting talent. However the [STRIKEOUT:sword]light-saber fights look like they will be cool :-D</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>And finally, meme time:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Think of a word you would use to describe me.</li>
<li>Go to Google Image Search and search for that word.</li>
<li>Select the picture you see as most fitting, and post it (or a link to
it) as a reply, along with the word</li>
</ol>
Guilty2004-09-23T11:23:00+01:002004-09-23T11:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-23:/~alex/blog/2004/09/23/214/<p>I giggled inappropriately driving into work today. I must get the schadenfreude from my grandmother (literally that is, she's Austrian).</p>
<p>Last nights heart attack inducing meal seemed to go well. Mufi managed to successfully penguin bate me (but it was all TJ's fault, she started the browser conversation, silly girl …</p><p>I giggled inappropriately driving into work today. I must get the schadenfreude from my grandmother (literally that is, she's Austrian).</p>
<p>Last nights heart attack inducing meal seemed to go well. Mufi managed to successfully penguin bate me (but it was all TJ's fault, she started the browser conversation, silly girl). We discussed many wide and ranging topics including the downloading debate again. Aidan mentioned there was a web-site that was taking donations to pay artists direct for stuff of theirs that had been downloaded. I somehow ended up arguing for occasionally buying media. I also was labelled a communist. My politics has gotten all mixed up ;-)</p>
Mostly Harmless2004-09-22T13:50:00+01:002004-09-22T13:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-22:/~alex/blog/2004/09/22/mostly-harmless/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I left work on the dot of 6.30 to listen to Hitchhikers on the way to the Gym. I quite liked the start bit as they flicked though the voice of Peter Jones and William Franklyn to keep the continuity. I share the feelings of some that the voices …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I left work on the dot of 6.30 to listen to Hitchhikers on the way to the Gym. I quite liked the start bit as they flicked though the voice of Peter Jones and William Franklyn to keep the continuity. I share the feelings of some that the voices (unsurprisingly) just don't sound the same. I'm conscious I may have rose tinted ears comparing it to the</div>
<div class="line">original series so I'm willing to give it time to grow on me.</div>
</div>
<p>In the process of going to the Gym I had to pop home to grab my kit bag from home. Unfortunately the quick rush in degenerated into a dig around for where my stuff was in the mess that my house has degenerated into. So I gave up and resigned myself to a quite night in. Lee pointed out that rather than feel guilty about missing the gym I should just enjoy the night so I watched the West Wing and half of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304141/">Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</a> rather than diving straight into my Star Wars DVD's. I'll probably watch the second half for on Thursday but I'm not that impressed. The CGI and action stuff is done quite well but the rest seems quite thrown together. I know you have to cut stuff out when adapting books but it does seem as though the director just assumed everyone was up to speed on the plot so he could get to his next CGI piece. I do like Ema Thompson's portrayal of Trelawney though.</p>
<p>Tonight I'm cheating for the meal and falling back to an old standby, although not fajitas which I've done too many times on my turn. However now winter is drawing in its easier to go for the big filling meals. And no, its not Tacos either ;-)</p>
Now Thats Comedy!2004-09-21T14:03:00+01:002004-09-21T14:03:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-21:/~alex/blog/2004/09/21/212/<p>Greedo Didn't Shoot First! [1] :-)</p>
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="footnote-1" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label"/><col/></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label">[1]</td><td><a class="reference external" href="http://perso.club-internet.fr/willow/Greedo_Comic/Greedo_Comic_01.htm">http://perso.club-internet.fr/willow/Greedo_Comic/Greedo_Comic_01.htm</a></td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Gnutella Re-evolution2004-09-21T12:23:00+01:002004-09-21T12:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-21:/~alex/blog/2004/09/21/211/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was doing some more work on <a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">GTKG</a> last night and I did a couple of test downloads of some large films. I was impressed by the download rate for an individual file peaking at 100 K/s which is competitive with the previous download speeds I've achieved with <a class="reference external" href="http://bittorrent.com/">BitTorrent …</a></div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was doing some more work on <a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">GTKG</a> last night and I did a couple of test downloads of some large films. I was impressed by the download rate for an individual file peaking at 100 K/s which is competitive with the previous download speeds I've achieved with <a class="reference external" href="http://bittorrent.com/">BitTorrent</a>. Of course if you understand the extensions to the <a class="reference external" href="http://rfc-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">protocol</a> you'll know why this is. Features such as the Download Mesh and Swarming achieve these high rates the same way as BitTorrent, by distributing the download between a number of clients. However the approach is fundamentally decentralised so it doesn't rely on "trackers" the way BitTorrent does. I believe the evolution of the Gnutella protocol since href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Frankel">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Frankel</a>">Justin</div>
<div class="line">Frankel released the original client is another testament to the power of the open development process.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Finally picked up the latest Amazon haul today. Already listened to the href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000YHFYA/qid=1095765012/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-0933875-5027661">http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000YHFYA/qid=1095765012/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-0933875-5027661</a>">Bill</div>
<div class="line">Bailey CD which was very funny (my favorite song is Hats of to the Zebras). I'm currently debating if I should hold off exploring the Star Wars DVD's given the full showing I'll be doing on Oct the 2nd. Reading Neil's review yesterday has got me all edgy.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I have read an interesting `
interview <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.plugincinema.com/plugin/articles/article_dirac.htm">http://www.plugincinema.com/plugin/articles/article_dirac.htm</a>>`__ with the lead engineer of the BBC's new Dirac codec. The thing that jumped out at me most was a patch for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/news.html">mplayer</a></div>
<div class="line">is in the works which means the open source crowd will have support before any of the proprietary systems - which is unusual in a good way.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I'm feeling crotchety and itching for an argument today, I really need to shake my bad mood somehow. Must go to Gym this evening!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
!Maelfroth2004-09-20T08:31:00+01:002004-09-20T08:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-20:/~alex/blog/2004/09/20/210/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Got back from Maelstrom last night. I had a good event although I didn't do much "trading" and started to get more politically active as a rabble raiser. There was some discussion last event that not much happened (at least to my fellow group members). This event certainly bucked that …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Got back from Maelstrom last night. I had a good event although I didn't do much "trading" and started to get more politically active as a rabble raiser. There was some discussion last event that not much happened (at least to my fellow group members). This event certainly bucked that trend with both our own "plot" rearing its head along with</div>
<div class="line">a general air of war brewing. All in all I'm quite happy with the way Maelstrom seems to be developing and I'm looking forward to playing more next year.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A couple of things to note. The site seems to have a very high insect population, not only was my tent crawling with more than the average number of creepies I also seemed to of been eaten alive. The sky was very clear on Saturday night, so clear that despite the light from the surrounding tents I could still see the milky way. It reminded me I</div>
<div class="line">haven't seen a decent star scape in Manchester at all.</div>
</div>
<p>Hopefully my Star Wars DVD's will turn up today. I'm thinking of having a DVD night although this coming Sunday may be a bit of a stretch (as I'll be in Leeds in the morning and people are moving houses). I'm possibly thinking of the following weekend. How many people would be up for shouting "Greedo doesn't shoot first!"?</p>
My First Day2004-09-17T12:54:00+01:002004-09-17T12:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-17:/~alex/blog/2004/09/17/209/<p>It was a pretty relaxed day yesterday because all we had to do was shuffle stuff around. One thing I already like about the new office is the short walking distance between the office and The Didsbury. With the money I'm saving by driving 8 miles instead of 50 every …</p><p>It was a pretty relaxed day yesterday because all we had to do was shuffle stuff around. One thing I already like about the new office is the short walking distance between the office and The Didsbury. With the money I'm saving by driving 8 miles instead of 50 every day I can easily afford to eat a nice pub lunch every day and wash it down with a pint of real-ale. They do guest beers as well and are running a beer festival next month. I suspect I'm going to have to exercise some self control lest I become too corpulent.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I submitted a new patch for the GTKG metadata support, cooked a meal for 5 people and finally took advantage of the mubbing opportunity afforded to me at the weekend. All in all an entertaining evening :-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Well time for Maelstrom, away!</div>
<div class="line"><img alt="image0" src="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/track_img.png"/> alt="no image"></div>
</div>
Li-Li-Lie In!2004-09-15T18:22:00+01:002004-09-15T18:22:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-15:/~alex/blog/2004/09/15/208/<p>Today we packed up the office for the move to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.baxall.com/">new companies</a> office tomorrow. As there are big strong men coming tomorrow to load everything into the van and unload at the new place I get a lie in of which I intend to take advantage. Packing up today …</p><p>Today we packed up the office for the move to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.baxall.com/">new companies</a> office tomorrow. As there are big strong men coming tomorrow to load everything into the van and unload at the new place I get a lie in of which I intend to take advantage. Packing up today was the end of another era of my life, working for a small start-up company. From tomorrow I'll no longer be working with 4 other people in an office we could kick a football around. Instead I'll be working for a manufacturing company with an engineering department of at least 30-40 people which is almost full circle. My first job in Manchester was for a similar size <a class="reference external" href="http://www.barcrest.co.uk/noflash.htm">company</a>. Looking back at the last 2 years there are some things I won't miss. Some of the late nights where excessive. There isn't a support structure like I'd grown used to at Marconi. Because of the way start-ups are funded there is a little uncertainty about money from time to time. However there are big plusses. I got to work on something from scratch, with a clean plate and lead the software architecture and design without any artificial constraints. I got to work with some excellent top-notch engineers who know what they are talking about (I know because I recruited one) and develop something I'm proud of. I also had a chance to work with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opensource.org/">Open Source</a> software including the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org">Linux Kernel</a> and prove it can work in a commercial environment. If you of asked what my ideal job would of been in the last months at Marconi I'd of said <em>"I want someone to pay me to be a Linux kernel hacker"</em>. I thought I was at least 3-4 years from that and I was doing it within 6 months. So basically despite what other ups and downs I've had over the last 2 years I've really enjoyed my job.</p>
<p>Now things are changing, its natural. Different companies work different ways and certainly in acquisitions there will be some adapting on both sides to the new work culture. A lot of things will be the same at least initially. The people I work with are all coming across to the new place. The technology is ours and still based around free software. However other things will be different and I guess over the next 6 months I'll be finding out if they are good or bad differences and how much I'll be willing to adapt. And of course at the moment I'm probably in the most flexible position I could be in having no particular attachments to hold me back from another life change. Hmmm I can see much pondering to be done.</p>
Book: The Diamond Age2004-09-14T12:08:00+01:002004-09-14T12:08:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-14:/~alex/blog/2004/09/14/207/<p>This was one of the last books Glyn had recommended to me. I started reading it at the end of my holiday in Cyprus and have just gotten around to finishing it. This is the first Neal Stephenson book I've read but I enjoyed it so much I really must …</p><p>This was one of the last books Glyn had recommended to me. I started reading it at the end of my holiday in Cyprus and have just gotten around to finishing it. This is the first Neal Stephenson book I've read but I enjoyed it so much I really must dig "Snow Crash" out of the memorial library (I assume Glyn had it) for a read.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The story follows that of a girl named Nell and her relationship with a book called "The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" which falls into her possession. The book itself is a highly complicated teaching aid which adapts and bonds to its owner teaching them such useful life</div>
<div class="line">skills as unarmed combat, computer programming, and basic survival though a highly personalised and interactive narrative. The story basically follows Nell's life as she grows up and is split between real life happenings and the narrative of the Primer. One of my favorite sections is the bit where the book tells the story about Princess Nell and Castle Turing which gives the nicest introduction to</div>
<div class="line">a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_machine">Turing
Machine</a> I've read. Another thing I enjoyed is the world that Stephenson has created has lots current technologies that have been developed further (like</div>
<div class="line">P2P networks and distributed computing). The concept of virtual communities no longer bound by geographic regions was also intriguing. And the nano-tech was just cool, I want my matter compiler now!</div>
</div>
<p>After enjoying "Use of Weapons" I've just started "The Player of Games".</p>
Anti-Climax2004-09-14T11:38:00+01:002004-09-14T11:38:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-14:/~alex/blog/2004/09/14/206/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">So after getting up at Denial AM and Lee giving me a lift in and getting to the ward well before time I finally got to speak to the surgeon (who was a different guy from the consultant I'd seen all those months ago). After he'd run through the list …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">So after getting up at Denial AM and Lee giving me a lift in and getting to the ward well before time I finally got to speak to the surgeon (who was a different guy from the consultant I'd seen all those months ago). After he'd run through the list of things that could go wrong (<em>"we might cut the tendon, you may loose a little mobility, in 3-4% of cases you may have severe pain for 18 months but we don't know why this happens"</em>) I asked how long it would be before I could type again. <em>"Oh, about 2-4 weeks you should be able to</em><strong>start</strong><em>typing again"</em>. At this point I had a serious re-think and started to consider the cure worse than the current problem (which causes me maybe 2-3 days of pain a year). As we are coming to the end of a project and I hadn't mentioned to work I may be unable to work for up to 4 weeks I asked if it would be possible to re-schedule. I felt very guilty to be messing them about because I had naively assumed for a minor operation I may have a sore hand for a week or so. They assured me it was fine and actually would be helpful to them as they had an influx of emergency cases to deal with. In theory I should be rescheduled for November/December time although now I'm having severe second thoughts about the whole thing - maybe I should get a second opinion?</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Piccies2004-09-13T22:45:00+01:002004-09-13T22:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-13:/~alex/blog/2004/09/13/205/<p>First batch of wedding pictures are <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Jo%20and%20Arwel/Wedding%20in%20Portmerion">up</a>. If anyone else wants to get pictures up in this gallery then give me a shout.</p>
Jo and Arwel's Wedding2004-09-13T22:27:00+01:002004-09-13T22:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-13:/~alex/blog/2004/09/13/204/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've just gotten back from Wales after a weekend away for Jo and Arwel's Wedding. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/myki/65679.html">Others</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/gowhonker/4033.html">have</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zheers/41425.html">already</a></div>
<div class="line">described the event so I'll just cover it from my perspective.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was woken up at 7.10 in the morning before my alarm went off by the banging on my door …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've just gotten back from Wales after a weekend away for Jo and Arwel's Wedding. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/myki/65679.html">Others</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/gowhonker/4033.html">have</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/zheers/41425.html">already</a></div>
<div class="line">described the event so I'll just cover it from my perspective.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was woken up at 7.10 in the morning before my alarm went off by the banging on my door. After a few minutes of my brain getting back into gear I realised the error in telling Katy that we would aim to leave at 7 to be on time. I had actually had 9 as a good starting time in my head. As penance I made her to iron my shirt as I washed and showered. We left the house at about 8.30 and made good time to Port Mathdog and got to the cottage in plenty of time to unload and get ourselves ready for the event. Unfortunately a combination of crap taxi's (we had no working numbers) and traffic (causing Marcus and Sue to run late) meant we left for the ceremony in a bit of a rush. We all still made</div>
<div class="line">it though.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The bride was of course stunning. It almost brought a tear to my eye to see Jo walking down the isle in a dress whilst still remembering the teenager we first met when she moved to Manchester all those years ago. Arwel also looked good with his smart salon haircut and suit. He seemed to take things in his stride although I think his nerves caused</div>
<div class="line">him to stumble over some of the vows. I say I think because they where in Welsh so I don't know what he said. We did speculate later on that he may of been using some elder god ritual but decided he probably would not get away with it :-). We headed down to the bottom of the village for the reception and then partook in a little rain dodging</div>
<div class="line">for the photos. It was a good opportunity to let fly with the camera as well as catch up with some of the people I hadn't seen in ages, including Dave and Siobhan. Nook did a good job at the sit-down with trying to get people organised (I sympathised) and made a good speech (although I think he was treated lightly by the hecklers).</div>
</div>
<p>The evening do was your normal cheesy disco fare. I couldn't identify the first and last tracks chosen by the Bride and Groom although I assume they were suitably indy. We bopped away for the rest of the night covering the usual range of music before heading home. The taxis where hard to get hold of but luckily Sue gave us a lift back to the flat. We chilled out for little bit before crashing after a very long but fun day.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I'm due to start my pre-op food and drink embargo in about 40 minutes. I've been drinking plenty of water to try and re-hydrate my body so I'm not feeling too dry in the morning. Hopefully I'll be the first op in the</div>
<div class="line">day so I can get on with the rest of the day. I'm a little concerned about having a general anaesthetic but they may change their mind on the day and use a local. If not I may be a little woozy tomorrow, bit like the weekend really ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Irrational Fears2004-09-10T11:04:00+01:002004-09-10T11:04:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-10:/~alex/blog/2004/09/10/203/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As has been <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3643142.stm">reported</a></div>
<div class="line">the strongest hurricane in nearly 16 years is currently on collision course with Jamaica. My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~jason/mig/index.php?currDir=./Jamaica%202004/cd3&pageType=image&image=CIMG1582.JPG">brother</a></div>
<div class="line">is also there (in Kingston Town to be precise). I'm slightly worried for his safety which is completely irrational. My brother after all went for a tour of Australia, Indonesia …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As has been <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3643142.stm">reported</a></div>
<div class="line">the strongest hurricane in nearly 16 years is currently on collision course with Jamaica. My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~jason/mig/index.php?currDir=./Jamaica%202004/cd3&pageType=image&image=CIMG1582.JPG">brother</a></div>
<div class="line">is also there (in Kingston Town to be precise). I'm slightly worried for his safety which is completely irrational. My brother after all went for a tour of Australia, Indonesia and Thailand straight after University carrying his life in a small ruck-sack compared to the 30Kg</div>
<div class="line">of luggage I carried for 2 weeks in a hotel in Tunisia. When it comes to traveling he is considerably more adventurous and resourceful than me. Still today I'm not quite as envious as I was on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=202">Wednesday</a>.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Another thing I've been thinking about since a conversation with Ste on Wednesday is doing evening classes. It seems everyone in my office has done various classes as well. I'm currently trying to decide what to do. Bare in mind I did consider doing an OU degree when I was at Marconi but quickly came to the conclusion it was too much like hard</div>
<div class="line">work. If I did this it would be for me rather than any career improving reasons.</div>
</div>
<p>I currently have three ideas in my mind. The first would be to complete my education by taking AS Maths (I managed to fail my A level all those years ago). The second would be to do something practical like a basic plumbing course or other DIY related skills (I'm not bothering with car mechanics because my car is far more complicated than my old Metro was). The third idea would be to do something completely different that would expand my horizons like Art or Psychology.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">What do people think? Does anyone have any suggestions?</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
But is it Art?2004-09-08T14:00:00+01:002004-09-08T14:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-08:/~alex/blog/2004/09/08/202/<p>EK came around for a brief visit yesterday. It was nice to have a quick catch up. He mentioned a night he's helping organise on the 8th of October which should be worth a visit. As a side effect of the visit I now have another PC to gut and …</p><p>EK came around for a brief visit yesterday. It was nice to have a quick catch up. He mentioned a night he's helping organise on the 8th of October which should be worth a visit. As a side effect of the visit I now have another PC to gut and rebuild, I'm thinking this time a big backup server with software RAID.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've been playing with a few extensions for href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/</a>">firefox today. I've listed them <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/Mozilla%20Firefox">here</a></div>
<div class="line">(feel free to add links to any more you know of). Things like EditCSS will probably be of interest to the web developers out there. Does anyone still think IE is the best browser around?</div>
</div>
<p>Finally, I uploaded my brothers <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~jason/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Jamaica%202004/cd3">latest
pictures</a> from Jamaica last night. I'm not jealous, at all.</p>
Finger on the button2004-09-07T16:44:00+01:002004-09-07T16:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-07:/~alex/blog/2004/09/07/201/<p>We're <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/06/ams_goes_windows_for_warships/">all going to die!</a></p>
Gmail Invites2004-09-07T15:28:00+01:002004-09-07T15:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-07:/~alex/blog/2004/09/07/200/<p>I've got 4 invites left. Anyone want one?</p>
Pictures!2004-09-07T10:48:00+01:002004-09-07T10:48:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-07:/~alex/blog/2004/09/07/199/<p>Finally got to downloading a bunch of pictures from my camera (the massive memory card makes me lazy). I've put up pictures from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Weddings/Jo%20and%20Arwel/Arwels%20Stag">Arwels Stag</a> @ the Leeds festival. My brothers 3rd installment from Jamaica arrived this morning so I'll put those up in a bit.</p>
Weekend of parts2004-09-06T13:24:00+01:002004-09-06T13:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-06:/~alex/blog/2004/09/06/198/<p>I went to the Gym on Friday and weighed myself on the standard scales again. I was a little disappointed that I am still hovering around the 11st 9lb mark which although not bad is still a little on the high side for me. I tried to make up for …</p><p>I went to the Gym on Friday and weighed myself on the standard scales again. I was a little disappointed that I am still hovering around the 11st 9lb mark which although not bad is still a little on the high side for me. I tried to make up for it by playing an extra hour or so of Badminton. I ached a little when I woke up on Saturday, which is a good thing.</p>
<p>Saturday consisted of a little bit of last minute present buying for the wedding next week followed by a visit from Jo. I must say Jo seems remarkably composed given the closeness of the afore-mentioned wedding. We chatted and watched "The Princess Bride" and eventually ate pizza before I hurried of to the evenings gig. I'm looking forward to the wedding, its should be a great do.</p>
<p>The evenings entertainment courtesy of Monosect at The Soundgarden. I enjoyed the set which was a little reminiscent of some early Pink Floyd but with a harder EBM edge once it got going. Other notable events included beating Lee and table football, recognizing a few more faces from LJ icons and correcting Lucy on my attachment status.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We then headed up to Crumpsall (which for some bizarre reason I had equated with Cheatam Hill) for Cheryl's house party. I met a bunch of interesting people including a rather hyper actress and a Spintronics physicist. There was one guy who knew "everything", I had to fight my impulse to continuously correct him, especially on subjects I'm more</div>
<div class="line">than qualified to comment on. However overall it was nice meeting a bunch of new people. I eventually crashed out around 4 o'clock in the morning.</div>
</div>
<p>Sunday was pretty sedentary, about the only notable event being watching "American Beauty" again.</p>
Fair and Balanced?2004-09-04T10:13:00+01:002004-09-04T10:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-04:/~alex/blog/2004/09/04/197/<p>In an exercise in scaring the crap out of myself I watched a little bit of Fox News to get an American perspective of whats going on in the world. The bit I saw involved 3 panelists discussing how they thought Bush has had a fantastic speech (fair enough I …</p><p>In an exercise in scaring the crap out of myself I watched a little bit of Fox News to get an American perspective of whats going on in the world. The bit I saw involved 3 panelists discussing how they thought Bush has had a fantastic speech (fair enough I though, he may well of). Then before the end they said something along the lines of, "in other news Kerry may have some work to do on his foreign policy" and showed a clip of one of his speeches, re-edited to make him say he was going to let thousands of Islamic terrorists into the US. The anchor man then signed off with "Fox News, as always Fair and Balanced". As far as I can tell this is Fox News tag line. I was shocked. Please can anyone in the states tell me if people really think Fox is fair and balanced?</p>
Ease of use?2004-09-03T11:32:00+01:002004-09-03T11:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-03:/~alex/blog/2004/09/03/196/<p>My parents are going on holiday next month. Traditionally I lend them some of my DVD's so they can watch them in the evenings. Now they have finally moved into the 21st century and got broadband I've decided it would be easier to e-lend them the DVD by encoding the …</p><p>My parents are going on holiday next month. Traditionally I lend them some of my DVD's so they can watch them in the evenings. Now they have finally moved into the 21st century and got broadband I've decided it would be easier to e-lend them the DVD by encoding the DVD to DivX. They are only going to watch it on the laptop anyway so they might as well download the films directly onto their hard disc. I'm sure they will delete the film once they have watched it because they don't accumulate crap on their machines they way I do :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now to do the encoding I used the excellent mencoder (part of the excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/">mplayer</a> package). Now I</div>
<div class="line">remember when Glyn used to encode stuff. He went through a whole bunch of different programs, experimenting with various options, fiddling with stuff, restarting stuff before he was happy with the result. On my system I already had mplayer installed (its part of the "distribution") and I plugged this into my command line:</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
mencoder dvd:// -o movie.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts \
vcodec=mpeg4:vhq:vbitrate=1800 \
-oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:vol=3 -aid 128
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">And 8 hours later I had a fully formed DivX encoded movie on my hard drive. Worked as expected first time. To me this constitutes ease of use. Granted I didn't construct the command line myself (I just copied it from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/08/26/bootable_movies.html">this
article</a>) but all the options are documented in fine href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/mencoder.html">http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/mencoder.html</a>">man</div>
<div class="line">pages. Now people often talk about GUI's and there are in fact <a class="reference external" href="http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=mencoder§ion=projects&Go.x=0&Go.y=0">several
front-ends</a> available. All the hard work is still done by mencoder, the front-end just constructs the command line based on the options you select on the GUI. However I'm not convinced they make things easier for people - in fact I think it encourages "tweak and try" behavior thats not actually that efficient. There really is no substitute for</div>
<div class="line">reading the manual and <em>understanding</em> what each of the options means and how it will affect the result.</div>
</div>
<p>So what do you think? Are command line tools an alien concept to you, used only by the uber-geeks? Does a program have to have a point and click GUI for you to use it?</p>
Pointless Trivia2004-09-02T00:01:00+01:002004-09-02T00:01:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-09-02:/~alex/blog/2004/09/02/195/<p>I seemed to of gained the skill "Incite Murderous Rage" although I'm not quite sure how I activate it. I came home from the gym last night and had a salad for my evening meal. The final bit of Far Cry is driving me nuts, I just can''t seem to …</p><p>I seemed to of gained the skill "Incite Murderous Rage" although I'm not quite sure how I activate it. I came home from the gym last night and had a salad for my evening meal. The final bit of Far Cry is driving me nuts, I just can''t seem to get past the last bad guy. For some reason all the browsers on my cooker machine are running very slow. My current load average is 2.50, 2.64, 2.32 and it troubles me. I've just made the downtime deadline for the next Maelstrom by 30 seconds (hint: "Danny's salubrious reformatory remedy").</p>
GMail2004-08-31T16:45:00+01:002004-08-31T16:45:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-31:/~alex/blog/2004/08/31/194/<p>Thanks to Jenny I now have a Gmail address. Now of course I already have a (I think) cool email address. However there are some advantages to having <a class="reference external" href="http://richard.jones.name/google-hacks/gmail-filesystem/gmail-filesystem.html">a gigabyte of off site storage</a> :-)</p>
1 out of 3 aint bad?2004-08-30T17:34:00+01:002004-08-30T17:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-30:/~alex/blog/2004/08/30/193/<p>The plan was to catch up with the post-Infest crowd for the BBQ in Leeds. Unfortunately once I got to Hyde park I completely failed in spotting any bedraggled looking goths huddled around the BBQ. My attempts at raising Lee from his slumber to meat up with him failed (not …</p><p>The plan was to catch up with the post-Infest crowd for the BBQ in Leeds. Unfortunately once I got to Hyde park I completely failed in spotting any bedraggled looking goths huddled around the BBQ. My attempts at raising Lee from his slumber to meat up with him failed (not helped by the fact he apparently went home last night). Still I had a nice walk around the park before driving home. Tonight I plan on vegging in front of TV and drinking Strawberry Daiquiris. Its a hard life.</p>
Sunday Surprises2004-08-30T10:11:00+01:002004-08-30T10:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-30:/~alex/blog/2004/08/30/192/<p>Last night planned trip to Sanky's was called off due to confusion over dates and times. I briefly toyed with the idea of heading up to Infest but decided against it due to the cost of the tickets for one day and being generally lazy. Instead I opted to spend …</p><p>Last night planned trip to Sanky's was called off due to confusion over dates and times. I briefly toyed with the idea of heading up to Infest but decided against it due to the cost of the tickets for one day and being generally lazy. Instead I opted to spend a quite night in with a DVD (Jackie Brown), a curry, and Katy. It was cool just eating, watching a movie and chatting. Many bonus points where had by a sensible full Alex going to bed at a reasonable time compared to the alternative of a drawn haggard Alex crawling into bed at denial am. This means I'm currently in tip-top shape to drive over to Leeds this afternoon for the BBQ and catch up with the post-Infest crowd *and* be coherent. Of course all I need now is directions.....</p>
Leeds (The Festival)2004-08-29T12:57:00+01:002004-08-29T12:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-29:/~alex/blog/2004/08/29/191/<p>So this morning I was dreaming I was discussing the merits of various flavours of Hip-Hop record mixing with Paul McCartney. The DJ's in question was Rob Swift and those from Jurassic 5. At the same time I seemed to be involved in some sort of cash based bank fraud …</p><p>So this morning I was dreaming I was discussing the merits of various flavours of Hip-Hop record mixing with Paul McCartney. The DJ's in question was Rob Swift and those from Jurassic 5. At the same time I seemed to be involved in some sort of cash based bank fraud, I'm not that sure because I have no idea how you commit one of those.</p>
<p>Yesterday I had all the advantages of going to a music festival without having to deal with any of the negative bits (like the loo's or sleeping in a field). Unfortunately we got to site just after Goldie Lookin' Chain (although they did play later with the Super Furry Animals I'm told). However the rest of the line-up made up for my disappointment.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Jurassic 5 (as Neil described them, "Hip-Hop without any gangsta shit") where fantastic. They just kept a long stream of bouncy hip-hop rap going with a particularly memorable DJ break in the middle. The DJ's where true Hip-Hop style scratching types, one with as far as I</div>
<div class="line">could tell 4 decks, the other had 2 Fischer Price block toys (where kids have to put block in particular holes) which he looked as though he has gutted and turned into some sort of freaky sample player. Classic stuff!</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">During the day I saw Ash who played some their classics which took me back to my student days. A one legged Australian comedian who's name Katie and I missed. He was very funny. We reckon we should be able to Google him somehow. Also so the Hive's (who's front man certainly</div>
<div class="line">seemed to think he was the best thing since sliced bread) and a bit of the Distillers.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As the evening started to close in I stayed around the main stage area and saw the Offspring. They played a fair amount of stuff I wasn't familiar with although the covered all the old festival favourites. According to them they purposefully sucked last night at Reading and we</div>
<div class="line">where by far the best crowd. I suspect that comes under the title of "working the crowd".</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The headline act on the main stage was "The Darkness". Now I don't dislike them, I just don't go out of my way to</div>
<div class="line">listen to them. However playing live they where fantastic! They work the crowd well and camp up the whole Rock thing to extreme proportions. And they have the longest crescendo finishes I've ever heard. They also did there version of Radiohead's "Street Spirit (Fade away)" which is yet another favourite of mine. I know from Glastonbury</div>
<div class="line">Radiohead like other bands to cover their stuff and I can see why.</div>
</div>
<p>All in all it was an excellent days entertainment. Much thanks to Si for giving me the lift there and back. I slept like a baby last night :-)</p>
Me Am Win2004-08-28T01:39:00+01:002004-08-28T01:39:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-28:/~alex/blog/2004/08/28/190/<p>Went to Ara tonight, had a good time, won the fashion parade :-) Up at denial tomorrow so off to bed now.</p>
Wikipedia woes2004-08-27T16:09:00+01:002004-08-27T16:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-27:/~alex/blog/2004/08/27/189/<p>Ho hum, it looks like I may end up in an edit war on one of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis">Wikipedia articles</a> I take an interest in.</p>
Link-tastic2004-08-27T13:07:00+01:002004-08-27T13:07:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-27:/~alex/blog/2004/08/27/188/<p>Hmm, nothing much to report on from last night so I thought I'd just share a bunch of links with everyone today. First up the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1290561,00.html">Guardian's
Top Ten Sci-Fi Movies</a> which has good number of my favorites listed. My favorite quote from the piece was:</p>
<p><em>"While it is highly unlikely …</em></p><p>Hmm, nothing much to report on from last night so I thought I'd just share a bunch of links with everyone today. First up the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1290561,00.html">Guardian's
Top Ten Sci-Fi Movies</a> which has good number of my favorites listed. My favorite quote from the piece was:</p>
<p><em>"While it is highly unlikely that 'they' will rock up in a vehicle that looks like a giant, inverted Christmas tree or make their presence known by doing Jean Michel Jarre impressions on a cosmic synthesiser, Close Encounters is for me still the classiest alien visitation story in celluloid history"</em></p>
<p>Second up the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1639747,00.asp">ASA give Microsoft a kicking</a> for misleading advertising comparing the cost of Linux running on z900 mainframes to Windows on a some Intel hardware. Of course Microsoft failed to mention that you can't run Windows on a z900, or in fact any non-x86 platform, where as Linux will pretty much run on anything.</p>
<p>Finally another story about Microsoft throwing away href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1639880,00.asp">http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1639880,00.asp</a>">Sender ID as a spam solution because their lawyers wouldn't play nice with FOSS. Its worth noting the majority of 'net runs on open source software. If you want something to reach global acceptance on the 'net you cannot ignore the needs of the open source crowd, well you could, but you'd be wrong ;-)</p>
I vant to suck your blood2004-08-26T13:46:00+01:002004-08-26T13:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-26:/~alex/blog/2004/08/26/187/<p>Well I've taken the plunge and ordered the tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/">Whitby</a> this October. Now all I need to do is arrange a suitable weekend of shopping with some of the local Goth stylists so I don't look totally out of place. Who's up for shopping?</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Of course nothing can happen …</div></div><p>Well I've taken the plunge and ordered the tickets for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wgw.topmum.co.uk/">Whitby</a> this October. Now all I need to do is arrange a suitable weekend of shopping with some of the local Goth stylists so I don't look totally out of place. Who's up for shopping?</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Of course nothing can happen this weekend on account of the punishing bank holiday schedule I seem to of arranged for my self. I'll be at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aranights.com/">Ara</a> on Friday for some Goth action. I'll then be getting up at</div>
<div class="line">denial am the next day to get a lift from Radcliffe to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.leedsfestival.com/displayPage.asp?PageID=233">Leeds
Festival</a> for Arwels stag. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/profiles/pages/goldie_lookin_chain.shtml">Goldie Lookin' Chain</a> who I missed at Glastonbury due to general laziness. On Sunday night I then travel to the local href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.sankeyssoap.com/">http://www.sankeyssoap.com/</a>">Sankeys for some old school house music. Assuming I'm able to safely drive the next day I'll be heading up to Leeds again for href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.sarahorange.co.uk/sarahorange/default.asp">http://www.sarahorange.co.uk/sarahorange/default.asp</a>">Ms</div>
<div class="line">Orange's post Infest BBQ. Its a hell of an assumption....</div>
</div>
<p>In other geek related news I think perl is rubbing off on me, I'm starting to use automatic variables:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
perl -ne 'm#libraries: =(.*)#; split /:/,$1; foreach(@_) { print "$_" if (m#lib/$#); } '
</pre>
I was wrong...2004-08-25T14:59:00+01:002004-08-25T14:59:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-25:/~alex/blog/2004/08/25/186/<p>When I saw the trailer for "I, Robot" I pronounced that Asimov (one of my favourite authors when I was younger) would be spinning in his grave. I never intended to go to the cinema to watch it. However last night I watched it on a whim. I take it …</p><p>When I saw the trailer for "I, Robot" I pronounced that Asimov (one of my favourite authors when I was younger) would be spinning in his grave. I never intended to go to the cinema to watch it. However last night I watched it on a whim. I take it back, the films is actually alright. Although I spotted the Deus ex machina early on I was surprised by the twist and the explanation assuaged the initial misgivings about the film based on the trailer. Now I'm not saying its the best film ever, far from it. However I'm a lot happier with this film than say for example "Chronicles of Riddick", even given the handicap that it had to live up to the rules of Asimov's world which I was already familiar with.</p>
<p>Today I'm working from home as the heavy rain last night seems to of found another way into my roof (and eventually Katy's room). I'm currently waiting for the roofer to arrive to asses whats wrong, he was meant to be here this morning but I've not seen any sign of him yet. Bloody tradesmen, grrrrr.</p>
Hobbies2004-08-24T10:44:00+01:002004-08-24T10:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-24:/~alex/blog/2004/08/24/185/<p>I posted a new <a class="reference external" href="http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=5391694&forum_id=5942">set of patches</a> for Gtk-Gnutella last night after Badminton. I'm now at work coding. Go figure...</p>
Poke Her2004-08-23T11:56:00+01:002004-08-23T11:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-23:/~alex/blog/2004/08/23/184/<p>Pre-stags are killers. They always seem like a good idea at the time but you end up paying for it in the end.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Fridays entertainment was more or less a pub-crawl type affair. I believe the aim of getting Arwel drunk succeeded but I fear there was also some collateral …</div></div><p>Pre-stags are killers. They always seem like a good idea at the time but you end up paying for it in the end.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Fridays entertainment was more or less a pub-crawl type affair. I believe the aim of getting Arwel drunk succeeded but I fear there was also some collateral damage. I had a very sore head in the morning. I think I can mostly blame the rather dark Ram Tam which I had in the Sand Bar. When a few of us crashed back at mine the normally stalwart party animals of Bu and Marcus wilted pretty quickly. I know Chris was there because I have yet another 3 litre bottle of cider that is a half a pint down.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">The actual Stag failed to make it to Bu's for the Poker evening. We seemed to take full advantage of the girls being away (not that I currently have a girl to disapprove of what I may be up to). I did all right for most of the poker until the last few hands when I got suckered into Chris and Lee's insane pre-flop betting. Yet again. I think next time I play poker I should try be sober for the whole game,</div>
<div class="line">some things are not conducive to good judgment. As I spent most of the evening at the poker table I missed most of the porn. From what little I saw this could probably be defined as a good thing. Sometime after dawn we eventually huddled up into small piles on sofa's and floors in a vain attempt to get some sleep.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">After Andy had sufficiently convinced himself he was OK to drive back (which took less time than I would of, given the state I was in) we headed back to mine. I avoided the temptation to crash into my bed straight away and instead decided to take advantage of the sun to cut my jungle-form lawn back down to size. After a little sarcastic critique of Andy's Dungeons and Dragons DVD I cooked us all some</div>
<div class="line">fajitas and we settled down into a detailed analysis of what was wrong with Chronicals of Riddick. End result - looks pretty, nice style, very stupid bad guys, some strange physics and very predictable dialog.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>So this morning I woke up with my alarm, fell asleep again and woke up at 9.20 having to rush to get myself ready. This week is officially a detox week, before Stag proper next weekend in Leeds.</p>
Damn Stella and its Headache inducing properties2004-08-21T11:29:00+01:002004-08-21T11:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-21:/~alex/blog/2004/08/21/183/<p>Or more correctly Budvar, Stella, and Ram Tam. Ouch.</p>
The Weekend is (almost) here2004-08-20T13:57:00+01:002004-08-20T13:57:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-20:/~alex/blog/2004/08/20/182/<p>My first week back after my holiday hasn't been too bad. I've been holding my concentration a lot better, mainly because I've been getting back into the coding zone. The coming weekends still look busy though.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">After the excess of last years 30th I determined to have a quite birthday …</div></div><p>My first week back after my holiday hasn't been too bad. I've been holding my concentration a lot better, mainly because I've been getting back into the coding zone. The coming weekends still look busy though.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">After the excess of last years 30th I determined to have a quite birthday this year. I came home early(ish) and got a nice piece of Aberdeen Angus steak which I shared with Katy as we where both celebrating. I had to employ extreme methods to get the BBQ going as all the charcoal had gotten a little wet.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Despite the quietness of the event people did come round to drop of gifts and hang for a bit which was nice. Aidan and Lee both got me some t-shirts and Karen bought me some interesting reading literature along with an executive toy. It was a good night only slightly marred by the dehydration I suffered most of the next day.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I have been getting slightly wound up by my lodgers attitude to cleaning up after themselves. I know I have gotten more house proud as I've aged (matured?) so I don't know if I'm being too sensitive to clutter. However I do sometimes feel as though I'm running around after kids that can't be arsed cleaning up after themselves. I don't think is nagging to ask for pots and pans that have been used to cleaned up within a few days, is it? I have stuff (soon to be skipped)</div>
<div class="line">in my kitchen thats been there for over 3 weeks and growing mold.</div>
</div>
<p>The attitude of "its not my mess" doesn't help either, one would of thought taking stuff and loading it into the dishwasher would be based on the presence of dirty stuff and not who left it there. Still the standing population will be reduce in a few weeks so I'll see if the situation improves after then.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Anyway - deep breathes...</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Tonight is a pre-stag drinking session in town, hopefully without too much rain. Its then cards and (none for me) cigars at Bu's on Saturday night as most of the girls are off on Jo's hen do. Not sure what I'm going to do Saturday during the day. Maybe cut the lawn if the heavens don't unload over the weekend - or possibly the Gym if my will-power is up to it. Of course if anyone else is doing anything Saturday day I may get distracted ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Drunk Soul Mother2004-08-18T15:55:00+01:002004-08-18T15:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-18:/~alex/blog/2004/08/18/181/<p>After missing him at Glasto I've got tickets for his <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ticketline.co.uk/event_details.asp?CPFlag=0&EventId=28569">Manchester gig</a>. Anyone else up for a bit of dance mania? Tickets are selling out fast.</p>
Laziness2004-08-17T16:36:00+01:002004-08-17T16:36:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-17:/~alex/blog/2004/08/17/180/<p>It was an amazing display of syncronicity that the subscriber count on the live-journal feed ticked over to 31 today. I know not everyone on my friends list subscribes so I had been meaning to hack up a quick perl script to iterate though LJ to dump out those missing …</p><p>It was an amazing display of syncronicity that the subscriber count on the live-journal feed ticked over to 31 today. I know not everyone on my friends list subscribes so I had been meaning to hack up a quick perl script to iterate though LJ to dump out those missing people. And then I remembered the Perl's creator famous quote <em>"The three chief virtues of a programmer are: Laziness, Impatience and Hubris"</em> so I cheated <img alt="image0" src="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/images/track_img.png"/> alt="no image"> ;-)</p>
Numbers Game2004-08-17T12:44:00+01:002004-08-17T12:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-17:/~alex/blog/2004/08/17/179/<p>So today I'm 0x1f, or 11111, or in normal decimal form 31. The number is a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_prime">Mersenne Prime</a> although probably not very useful cryptographically. My brother let me know that all of Jamaica would be celebrating today although less due to his persuasive powers and more related to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey">Marcus Garvey …</a></p><p>So today I'm 0x1f, or 11111, or in normal decimal form 31. The number is a <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_prime">Mersenne Prime</a> although probably not very useful cryptographically. My brother let me know that all of Jamaica would be celebrating today although less due to his persuasive powers and more related to <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey">Marcus Garvey</a>. Today is also the day to admit any href="<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Lewinsky_scandal">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Lewinsky_scandal</a>">"Improper physical relationship" you may be having. We should also be celebrating <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portunes">Keys, Doors and Livestock</a>. Its also a good day to launch ` <%3Cbr>`__ <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_program">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_program</a>>interplanetary probes.</p>
Go BBC!2004-08-16T12:34:00+01:002004-08-16T12:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-16:/~alex/blog/2004/08/16/178/<p>Saw this href="<a class="reference external" href="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040812/175/f06i1.html">http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040812/175/f06i1.html</a>">item in the news today. I'm happy the BBC sees the sense in using open standards for their streaming systems. They experimented with Ogg for audio streams last year and have been helpful to me in the past …</p><p>Saw this href="<a class="reference external" href="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040812/175/f06i1.html">http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040812/175/f06i1.html</a>">item in the news today. I'm happy the BBC sees the sense in using open standards for their streaming systems. They experimented with Ogg for audio streams last year and have been helpful to me in the past when I've had problems getting stream URL's from their multimedia consoles (I can play Real content but I generally don't like having the plugins on my system). The project has already released code and you can get it at the <a class="reference external" href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/dirac">Sourceforge project page</a>. Way to go BBC!</p>
I'm still a 5 bit entity2004-08-16T00:14:00+01:002004-08-16T00:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-16:/~alex/blog/2004/08/16/177/<p>I think I will just have a quite birthday, mainly because I can think of anything cool to do. There are also a bunch of other gatherings coming up including stag and hen type things so the social calender is feeling a little crowded. Still next year will have to …</p><p>I think I will just have a quite birthday, mainly because I can think of anything cool to do. There are also a bunch of other gatherings coming up including stag and hen type things so the social calender is feeling a little crowded. Still next year will have to be a big one as I'll be 20<sup>*</sup>.</p>
<p>So what have I done since I got back:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've done a load more work on the <a class="reference external" href="http://bitzi.com">Bitzi</a> code for href="<a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/</a>">Gtk-Gnutella. Its now in a submittable state and can generate GUI feedback on the search list. Some people are worried that I haven't done both interfaces but I'm strongly resiting getting dragged into GUI coding. It not that GUI coding is that hard (although it often works to a different paradigm)</div>
<div class="line">but its mainly because I don't really have the sense for good User Interfaces. I figure if I concentrate on providing a useful back-end people who want a neater UI can code it up themselves. That and I'm lazy.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I used the excuse of all this coding to finally replace the rather old keyboard on my desk and replace it with a swanky <a class="reference external" href="http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?countryid=18&languageid=1&page=products/details&contentid=5013&crid=1&detail=2">multimedia</a></div>
<div class="line">one. I especially like being able to control my music player from extra keys without having to switch windows. I use href="<a class="reference external" href="http://freshmeat.net/projects/hotkeys/">http://freshmeat.net/projects/hotkeys/</a>">hotkeys to manage the keys which it does well. Anyway, enough of this unashamed geekery!</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">My bouts of unpaid programming have been interjected with social gatherings of one form or another. The first being Friday night to celebrate Sues birthday. Met up with a bunch of the Radcliffe crowd (and Jo) at href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.fishermansretreat.com/site/index.htm">http://www.fishermansretreat.com/site/index.htm</a>">The Fisherman's Retreat, a place I can recommend, especially if you like whiskey ;-).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The following evening was a little soiree at user="fooldramaqueen">Jenny's. Got to talk to a bunch of the people I've met over the last year's goth outings. Discussion ranged from discussing the finer points of french film to whether the guards in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078474/">Warlords of
Atlantis</a> had heads like a penis. All of this was achieved without the distractions of the flashing lights and booming sound systems usually found in clubs. A most enjoyable evening.</div>
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<p><sup>*</sup>Yes that was a geek joke, but hey as a programmer doing everything by powers of two is a natural impulse ;-)</p>
Silica Gel2004-08-14T11:34:00+01:002004-08-14T11:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-14:/~alex/blog/2004/08/14/176/<p>If anybody has any Silica Gel packets left over from buying hardware (you know the little packets that keep stuff dry) can you let me know?</p>
Reality strikes...2004-08-12T12:43:00+01:002004-08-12T12:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-12:/~alex/blog/2004/08/12/175/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Got home at 7.30 this morning after a long flight followed by a long delay at the usually efficent Manchester Airport bagage collection. I've decided to tough out the day and try and get some constructive stuff done before crashing for an early night. So far I've watched part …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Got home at 7.30 this morning after a long flight followed by a long delay at the usually efficent Manchester Airport bagage collection. I've decided to tough out the day and try and get some constructive stuff done before crashing for an early night. So far I've watched part 1 of Robert Cringleys "Triumph of the Nerds" as my computer has been busy whilt I'm away. It is a great documentry about the rise of Silicon Valley that covers a lot of the hippy/tech</div>
<div class="line">crossover that was going on at the start of the revolution. I've also done the first load of washing, cleaned the dishwasher, sorted out the kitchen and I'm about to do some hovering. Real life has re-asserted its self in a big way. I guess I'd better do some gardening later to unwind, although the lawn seems to of mutated whilst I've been away. Has it been raining much here?</div>
</div>
Bored..bored...bored2004-08-11T19:56:00+01:002004-08-11T19:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-11:/~alex/blog/2004/08/11/174/<p>Its 21:58 and the bus to take us to the airport doesn't turn up until 23:00. I'm so bored I've been reduced to using dial-up! Oh the humanity!</p>
Splish splash2004-08-10T17:55:00+01:002004-08-10T17:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-10:/~alex/blog/2004/08/10/173/<p>Last night was a good nights clubbing. Again more bouncy house until 3 in the morning when I finally decided it was time to go home. I think thats me all clubbed out for now.</p>
<p>Today was a little patchy. After eventually dragging myself out of bed and then finishing …</p><p>Last night was a good nights clubbing. Again more bouncy house until 3 in the morning when I finally decided it was time to go home. I think thats me all clubbed out for now.</p>
<p>Today was a little patchy. After eventually dragging myself out of bed and then finishing "Use of Weapons" me and Lee headed down to the Water Park. There are about 7 big slides and a few pools. I tried a few of them but as I was wearing contacts I had to avoid some (they wouldn't let me wear goggles). Other than that it was quite warm and full of screaming kids so I didn't wamt to stay for too long, especially as Lee was mainly reading which could be done in more conformatable surroundings. We did a quick diversion on the way back to some of the scenic spots so Lee could see the Sea Caves and Panorama I'd visited yesterday.</p>
<p>Tonight is our last night so I'm using the oppertunity to eat some more Lamb dishes and get a relativley early night before facing the long day tommorrow. Our Transfer couch picks us up at 11 in the evening although we have to be out of the rooms by midday. I think the flight lands in Manchester around 2 or 3 in the morning so I expect I'll be quite tired by then. I'm actually looking forward to the low 20's the temperature seems to be back home - I may even enjoy the first rain fall :-)</p>
Automatic For The People2004-08-09T12:43:00+01:002004-08-09T12:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-09:/~alex/blog/2004/08/09/172/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We have been using the car a lot the last few days. It?s a little city car so doesn?t have the acceleration I?m used to but it does OK. It?s also an automatic which is the first time I?ve driven such a beast. I thought …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We have been using the car a lot the last few days. It?s a little city car so doesn?t have the acceleration I?m used to but it does OK. It?s also an automatic which is the first time I?ve driven such a beast. I thought I?d find it tricky not having a gear stick to play with but it seems that it is pretty easy pick up the Stop/Go driving style. I guess the real test will be when I get home to my real car.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Lee and I went down to the clubbing area again. We arrived too early (9ish) so it was quite dead. The way the clubs work down here is the bars start getting busy around 10.30, then close around 1.30 when the clubs open until around 4 at which point people depart for the beach/after parties until the early morning. It makes the Rock World all nighter seem tame by comparison, fuelled unlike it Baleric counterpart by large quantities of alcohol. We started in the only Rock Bar in the town, with by far the most un-even pool table in Cyprus, before doing the usual circuits for free drinks. We eventually ended up (after the usual ?free ticket? confusion) in a club called Bagleys which was playing more House music. We left after a while as Lee complained the club was too small and started to head back home. There was a slight ?misunderstanding? with the taxi driver, but I?m sure to save Lee?s blushes I can tell that story when I get back ;-)</div>
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<p>We went down to Limasoll on Sunday which was about a 2 hour drive away. Unfortunately things like the market and the Wine show where shut as it was Sunday. We did manage to have a nice wonder around and even visit the mini-zoo they have in the local municipal park. I was a little conflicted about this as I?ve never been a big proponent of Zoo?s due to the captive nature of their inhabitants. However Lee was happy as he got to see a Bear fight up close and personal.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We planned to have an early evening as the PR?s in Aya Nappa had said Sunday was a quite day due to the transfers. After being fed by Sheila I went with Lee to see the Dancing Waters display in Protaras. It was quite a spectacular show which is basically a elaborate computer controlled fountain display with lights, smoke, lasers and even a burning fire machine all set to music. Well worth the five pounds it cost to get in. I should of taken my camera though?.</div>
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<div class="line">After making an effort to get up early today we went up to the hills of Deriana to view the Turkish occupied zone. For those of you who aren?t aware Cyprus was invaded by Turky in 1974 and the north of the Island occupied before international pressure stopped the war. The result is you cannot visit the North of the Island without going through Turkey. However you can go up to the UN buffer zone and from the vantage point of the hills you can see down into the town of Ammochostos which was evacuated during the war. The result is a deserted ghost town with the occasional UN jeeps patrolling the buffer zone and in the distance a few Turkish watchtowers and bunkers. Its was quite sad, its certainly a subject that still understandably a hot topic with the locals. Possibly Northen Ireland is an easier problem to solve.</div>
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<div class="line">So after the culture I?ve left Lee and Sheila to roast in the midday sun and take the car to the ?net caf? in Aya Nappa to spank my broadband monkey. I?ll probably be going for a drive around the local area to see if I can get some decent pictures of the scenery before retiring to a bar to do some more reading (so far I?ve read ?Masquerade? and ?Brave New World? and have just started ?Use of Weapons?). We plan to do another evening of clubbing tonight and possibly the Water Park tomorrow.</div>
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<p>I hope everyone back home is still having fun. I?ll see you all at the end of the week</p>
4 non-blondes....2004-08-07T18:19:00+01:002004-08-07T18:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-07:/~alex/blog/2004/08/07/171/<p>So yesterday consisted of more snorkleing action as we drove around the surrounding area looking for places to swim. We found a nice bay area between our resort and Aiya Nappa and spent a good few hours there until finally heading home in preparation for some clubbing in the evening …</p><p>So yesterday consisted of more snorkleing action as we drove around the surrounding area looking for places to swim. We found a nice bay area between our resort and Aiya Nappa and spent a good few hours there until finally heading home in preparation for some clubbing in the evening. The swimming (and hot weather) had left both me and Lee a little drained so we drank 4 cans of Red Bull between us to try and wake up for the evening.</p>
<p>Walking down the club district of Aya Nappa is entertaining. According to Lee I have a thing for blondes (I think he's wrong but that's besides the point). So over the night I had plenty of cute blonde women coming up to me with big smiles. Unfortunatly most of them where working for the bars and trying to induce us in with promises of cheap beer or free shots. They practically force alcohol down your throat here, I can see how Sky manages to get lots of footage of pissed up Brits abroad. One of the girls practically fell over when we suggested we should get a free bottle of water with our beer instead of a shot of whatever spirit they had. Still after suitable drinking the clubs open at 1pm(!) and we eventually got into one called "The Castle" where we proceeded to throw shapes at the Church of Dance with our new found friends. We eventually parted company around 3.30 with the girls complaining at 21 they where too old for this late night partying! Still they boosted my ego guessing my age at 25, I obviously have aged well ;-) With phone numbers exhanged we headed home to try and get some sleep and rest so we are not too tired to do it all again tonight. So here we are, its half past 8, we are in Aya Nappa and we are just geting ready to Paaar-tay!</p>
Sun, sun, sun...2004-08-05T20:16:00+01:002004-08-05T20:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-05:/~alex/blog/2004/08/05/170/<p>Just a quick update as I spotted the 'net cafe on the walk back from the really full Mezze meal we have just had. No clouds in the sky today, burning hot and quite humid. We took today easy and mainly spent it sitting on the beach with a little …</p><p>Just a quick update as I spotted the 'net cafe on the walk back from the really full Mezze meal we have just had. No clouds in the sky today, burning hot and quite humid. We took today easy and mainly spent it sitting on the beach with a little snorkeling thrown in for good measure. Going to check out Aiga Nappa tommorrow.</p>
See you all in a week2004-08-04T13:23:00+01:002004-08-04T13:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-04:/~alex/blog/2004/08/04/169/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've got my cash, packed my clothes, charged my camera, got my</div>
<div class="line">passport, booked the cab, selected some books. I have a slight nagging doubt I'm forgetting something but I get that all the time.</div>
</div>
Reading the Documentation2004-08-03T15:43:00+01:002004-08-03T15:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-03:/~alex/blog/2004/08/03/168/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So taking advantage of getting home before the gym I decided to have a quick play with some alternative firmware for my WRT54G</div>
<div class="line">router. Unfortunately the quick play ended up with me being able to shell onto my router via ssh and generally poke around (which was nice) but not …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So taking advantage of getting home before the gym I decided to have a quick play with some alternative firmware for my WRT54G</div>
<div class="line">router. Unfortunately the quick play ended up with me being able to shell onto my router via ssh and generally poke around (which was nice) but not actually be able to connect to the Internet (which wasn't so nice). I think next time I'm going to download all the manuals, FAQ's and other documentation and a bunch of replacement firmware images</div>
<div class="line">before I attempt such a thing.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Once I got back from the Gym I made an effort to finish the</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://gtk-gnutella.sourceforge.net/">Gtk-Gnutella</a></div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://bitzi.com">Bitzi</a> query code before I go on holiday. Its now working quite nicely, pacing its requests so as not to overload the server and parsing the XML responses directly. I just need to pretty print the results and give it decent testing tonight and I'll post the patch to the mailing list for comments (and possibly</div>
<div class="line">the GUI people playing with the data). I hope not too many peoples eyes just glazed over, my description of P2P networking and meta-data sent Katy to sleep in less than 10 minutes last night....</div>
</div>
Steal This Music2004-08-02T14:02:00+01:002004-08-02T14:02:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-02:/~alex/blog/2004/08/02/167/<p>I have been listening to some cool mixes by <a class="reference external" href="http://sickpuppydog.com/">DJ Sick Puppy</a> over the last few days. I like his stuff which is trance-like but with a fair mix of bouncy house and vocals. Its certainly more bouncy than the baleric Ibiza style stuff I usually listen to when I'm …</p><p>I have been listening to some cool mixes by <a class="reference external" href="http://sickpuppydog.com/">DJ Sick Puppy</a> over the last few days. I like his stuff which is trance-like but with a fair mix of bouncy house and vocals. Its certainly more bouncy than the baleric Ibiza style stuff I usually listen to when I'm trying and into the code "zone". He makes good use of samples and generally keeps the music high tempo without falling into the hard-core dance territory. He's got 3 of his albums and a radio feed on his website. There are some other mixes floating around on the file-shareing networks. So far its all been "Good Stuff"<sup>tm</sup>.</p>
The Weekend Ends here...2004-08-01T22:11:00+01:002004-08-01T22:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-08-01:/~alex/blog/2004/08/01/166/<p>So it quite preparation for flying out to Cyprus next week I had a slow weekend. Friday was out to MJ's birthday for a few pints of real-ale and waking on Saturday with an unusually harsh hangover. Saturday day finally got going when I met BGP for a quick shopping …</p><p>So it quite preparation for flying out to Cyprus next week I had a slow weekend. Friday was out to MJ's birthday for a few pints of real-ale and waking on Saturday with an unusually harsh hangover. Saturday day finally got going when I met BGP for a quick shopping raid in town. We where both relatively restrained, but Phil won on designer label bags ;-)</p>
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<div class="line">Having already started on few beers during the afternoon shopping trip I was well set up for Saturday nights trip to Rock World. My initial reluctance due to the venue being shits countered by Lee's insistence that the nights are different of Saturday's compared to Friday's. It certainly was less crowded that Friday nights, and I didn't see any 14 years olds either. The group mainly based themselves</div>
<div class="line">in room 4 which was alternative-ish with the occasional bursts of cock rock coming from next door. We continued to consume alcohol and we all eventually ended up back at Lee's for even more drinking. I flaked out sometime around 4and crept up to bed for the oncoming hangover.</div>
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<div class="line">After waking up, cooking a few piazzas we eventually departed Whitefield to wave goodbye to the Leeds lot. I zombied my way into town to catch Spider-man 2 at the cool dark cinema before finally heading home with the intention of cutting the grass. That didn't happen for a variety</div>
<div class="line">of factors, at least one technical. Now all I need to do is get a shower and get ready for an early-ish night for my 2 day week :-)</div>
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15 minute distraction2004-07-30T00:05:00+01:002004-07-30T00:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-30:/~alex/blog/2004/07/30/165/<p>Just heard a really interesting piece of radio, if slightly odd. A program called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?storyman">The Storyman</a> where a guy talks through and invents a story with Tracey Emin, it was quite surreal. You can listen directly to the story via this href="<a class="reference external" href="rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio4/comedy/thu2300.ra">rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio4/comedy/thu2300 …</a></p><p>Just heard a really interesting piece of radio, if slightly odd. A program called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?storyman">The Storyman</a> where a guy talks through and invents a story with Tracey Emin, it was quite surreal. You can listen directly to the story via this href="<a class="reference external" href="rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio4/comedy/thu2300.ra">rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/radio4/comedy/thu2300.ra</a>">link which the BBC have started including on their radio panel to help support href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp_nix.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp_nix.shtml</a>">Unix/Linux boxes. Yet again I am impressed the BBC has taken the its public service ethos seriously.</p>
Healthy food, what next green living?2004-07-29T16:41:00+01:002004-07-29T16:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-29:/~alex/blog/2004/07/29/164/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Cooked the meal last night using cabagge of all vegetables. I think my poor relationship with cabbage is probably due to too many over stewed school dinners. The meal also featured salad as the side dish and fruit smoothies as the desert. All in all pretty healthy although I was …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Cooked the meal last night using cabagge of all vegetables. I think my poor relationship with cabbage is probably due to too many over stewed school dinners. The meal also featured salad as the side dish and fruit smoothies as the desert. All in all pretty healthy although I was a little disappointed with the flavour of the parcel filling,</div>
<div class="line">especially given how much paprika there was in them. Still everyone seemed to enjoy it.</div>
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<div class="line">More interestingly there was an almost successful attempt to get me to abandon my belief in the free market and start thinking like a socialist. I think Lee was taking advantage of the fact I was drunk. The argument was over media copyright infringement and if its justifiable. I think<sup>*</sup> the argument came down to "they get paid too much anyway" vs "mass piracy is a valid market reaction to perceived high prices". I suspect the argument may be for people that want their cake and eat it. I'm certainly aware of a school of thought in the software industry that</div>
<div class="line">states they would rather have people pirating their software and being persuaded to pay for it later than use a rivals or find alternatives. After all in the movies how much money is made from "side" activities such as merchandising vs the actual box office take? If someone can't be arsed going to the cinema but downloads a movie and likes it will they by the DVD when its out (and reaches their personal price point)? Certainly the 2 films I have downloaded from the P2P networks where <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fahrenheit911.com/">Fahrenheit 9/11</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378194/%22">Kill Bill Vol 2</a>. I didn't feel too guilty about them as their directors have been quoted as happy with <em>personal non-commercial</em> downloading of their work. I'll</div>
<div class="line">probably add Kill Bill Vol 2 to my DVD collection, I'm less sure about Fahrenheit 9/11.</div>
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<div class="line">I got the proof of concept <a class="reference external" href="http://bitzi.com">Bitzi</a></div>
<div class="line">queries working last night. Now all I need to do is parse the XML and do something with the data.</div>
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<p><sup>*</sup>I say think, I was quite drunk</p>
Rebel, rebel?2004-07-28T11:25:00+01:002004-07-28T11:25:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-28:/~alex/blog/2004/07/28/163/<p>Last night I cleaned my front room in preparation for having people round for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> today. I've just been thinking about buying some *new clothes* for my holiday. What happened? When did I care about the appearance of my house or my wardrobe 'cause I'm sure I …</p><p>Last night I cleaned my front room in preparation for having people round for the Wednesday Meal<sup>tm</sup> today. I've just been thinking about buying some *new clothes* for my holiday. What happened? When did I care about the appearance of my house or my wardrobe 'cause I'm sure I wasn't always this way.</p>
<p>On the plus side I have been doing some geeking. I've been writing some routines to query <a class="reference external" href="http://bitzi.com">Bitzi</a> within <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gtk-gnutella.sf.net">Gtk-Gnutella</a> as a prelude to some sort of quality indication of the files being offered for download. I even played with the software documentation tool <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/">Doxygen</a>. Come to think of it when did I start caring about documentation?</p>
A plea to the Geeks2004-07-27T12:34:00+01:002004-07-27T12:34:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-27:/~alex/blog/2004/07/27/162/<p>So as a result of Lee's change of job my secondary MX will soon go the way of the Dodo. So do any of the suitably connected geeks out there want to relay secondary mail for me? I would of course return the favour for mail for your domains.</p>
Return of the Maelfroth2004-07-26T17:15:00+01:002004-07-26T17:15:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-26:/~alex/blog/2004/07/26/161/<p>So, first day back from my long weekend. What did I do I hear you ask, well let me enlighten you.....</p>
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<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Despite recent circumstantial changes I took advantage of both having booked Friday off and "half" day on Thursday (meeting new colleagues) to head down south. Rather than getting to …</div></div><p>So, first day back from my long weekend. What did I do I hear you ask, well let me enlighten you.....</p>
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<div class="line">Despite recent circumstantial changes I took advantage of both having booked Friday off and "half" day on Thursday (meeting new colleagues) to head down south. Rather than getting to site early I stayed with Jeff and Phil who live near to the site. It was nice to catch up and enjoy the countryside, even if my trousers did get a little muddy.</div>
<div class="line">Most importantly I was set up to arrive rested and early on the Maelstrom site.</div>
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<div class="line">The Maelstrom site, being one down south, was not one I had any experience of. In its favour was the walking distance to the local convenience store, its general flatness and its the compactness of everyone in the same field. This did mean it was quite easy to do my rounds although some people did point out they preferred the secluded glades that a site like Middlewood has.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Once I was set-up I started drinking with the guys from href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.pollyflinders.com/fancy.htm">http://www.pollyflinders.com/fancy.htm</a>">As If By Magic. I think the eventful evening that followed is probably results from the extended afternoon drinking session that ensued. By the time I crashed to bed I</div>
<div class="line">had: made a killing on a trade, shot my customer in the foot, almost got both myself and a fellow <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theloom.co.uk/">Loomer</a> killed, got away with it by consuming more (IC) drugs, almost had my mortal soul rendered from my body by a necromancer, returned to base, and finally shot our head priest and leader in the face (by mistake). What an entertaining evening :-)</div>
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<div class="line">A slightly slow start to the day due to the excesses of the previous days drinking. I stayed off the beer (mostly) as we started to put ourselves about as a group. The Weaver faith is quite fun to play as you can go around rubbishing a lot of the more staid religious types and 20th century leanings with a more "creative" approach. We ended up attending the masked ball which was entertaining as well as attempting to goad people into repressing our religious freedoms. Not quite as wild ride as I had had the night before but entertaining nevertheless.</div>
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<div class="line">Trying to kill as many birds with one stone Sunday mainly consisted of a quick run around the site talking to my customers before packing up my stuff and leaving just after time out to see my parents. I've not seen them in person much this year so it was good to see them in the flesh (and not just steel their shower and get fed) before driving back up to Manchester. I collapsed in bed quite tired around 1 o'clock after a pretty fulfilling weekend.</div>
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<p>So whats up next weekend?</p>
There's no mystical energy field controls my destiny2004-07-21T12:12:00+01:002004-07-21T12:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-21:/~alex/blog/2004/07/21/160/<p>So who thinks syncronicity is at fault? (Spooky, Bowie's Changes came on just after I wrote that).</p>
<p>In other news I'm preparing for Maelstrom tomorrow morning, meeting my new colleagues at new company during the day and then heading down South to stay over with Jeff and Phil before getting …</p><p>So who thinks syncronicity is at fault? (Spooky, Bowie's Changes came on just after I wrote that).</p>
<p>In other news I'm preparing for Maelstrom tomorrow morning, meeting my new colleagues at new company during the day and then heading down South to stay over with Jeff and Phil before getting to the event at some point on Friday. After the weekend I have little over a week before I fly of to Cyprus for a holiday. I think its time to raid Glyn's library for some good reading. Any recommendations?</p>
Ch..ch..ch..changes...2004-07-19T22:55:00+01:002004-07-19T22:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-19:/~alex/blog/2004/07/19/159/<p>Erm, yeah I guess the word is available. Must be that damn Venus transit again, if I'm not careful I'll start to lose my scientific objectivity. However bonus, not as bad as last time, by a long way.</p>
Vain, moi?2004-07-18T12:50:00+01:002004-07-18T12:50:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-18:/~alex/blog/2004/07/18/158/<p>My mum suggested I put a more flattering picture up on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/">home page</a>. Personally I thought I looked quite dapper in the old one. However I have learned to trust the judgment of Mothers so I relented. Yet again it proved tricky to find decent pictures of me anywhere …</p><p>My mum suggested I put a more flattering picture up on my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/">home page</a>. Personally I thought I looked quite dapper in the old one. However I have learned to trust the judgment of Mothers so I relented. Yet again it proved tricky to find decent pictures of me anywhere, still hopefully the new one looks OK. As a bonus I ran the front page through the <a class="reference external" href="http://validator.w3.org/">W3C validator</a> so I could add an extra logo to the front page. Thats just the front page though, I can't be arsed with going through the rest of the site just yet ;-)</p>
War!2004-07-17T18:14:00+01:002004-07-17T18:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-17:/~alex/blog/2004/07/17/157/<p>Just been to the <a class="reference external" href="http://north.iwm.org.uk/">Imperial War Museum (North)</a> as part of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/bacony/71940.html">tourist
spectacular</a>. Its a nice building, although I'm not sure how well it will age. The displays inside where thoughtful background type things - not the large amounts of Military hardware I'm used to from <a class="reference external" href="http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/">Duxford</a>. I thought the …</p><p>Just been to the <a class="reference external" href="http://north.iwm.org.uk/">Imperial War Museum (North)</a> as part of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/bacony/71940.html">tourist
spectacular</a>. Its a nice building, although I'm not sure how well it will age. The displays inside where thoughtful background type things - not the large amounts of Military hardware I'm used to from <a class="reference external" href="http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/">Duxford</a>. I thought the use of the main hall as a large multimedia presentation space was good though. You defiantly don't leave thinking that war is a good idea. It also filled in some of the gaps in my history of the background to the 2 great wars. I'm still confused as to how Hitler got the Olympics though. The best idea we could come up with is it was decided well in advance. The viewing platform also give a nice outlook over the Salford canals. However vertigo sufferers should beware the return journey from the viewing platform, a rather funky optical illusion makes the gantry disappear under your feet!</p>
<p>I'm back home for a quick refuel stop before heading over to Sam's (Mad) for a post birthday gathering and eventually heading into town for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockkitchen.co.uk/">Rock Kitchen</a>.</p>
Flamming BT2004-07-16T16:53:00+01:002004-07-16T16:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-16:/~alex/blog/2004/07/16/156/<p><em>sigh</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Despite the fact I selected the "Do not spam my email" box when I
registered with the site I got an unintelligible HTML formated email
from BT today. The excuse used in the email was it "contains important
information about your BT account" was untrue as it was …</p></blockquote><p><em>sigh</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Despite the fact I selected the "Do not spam my email" box when I
registered with the site I got an unintelligible HTML formated email
from BT today. The excuse used in the email was it "contains important
information about your BT account" was untrue as it was basically a
thinly disguised advert for your new pricing scheme and and attempt to
induce people to switch back to your service. It contained no actual
information about *my* account. Could you please investigate the
decision making behind send this marketing email despite peoples
marketing preferences? Will you be able to assure me such an email
will not be sent again?"</p>
</blockquote>
"And I for one welcome our new insect overlords"2004-07-16T16:43:00+01:002004-07-16T16:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-16:/~alex/blog/2004/07/16/155/<p>It could be Anne has something in her "Venus Transit" theory. We have just completed what is referred to in href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital>venture capital circles as a successful "exit". The company I've been working with for the last almost 2 years has been sold to …</p><p>It could be Anne has something in her "Venus Transit" theory. We have just completed what is referred to in href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital>venture capital circles as a successful "exit". The company I've been working with for the last almost 2 years has been sold to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.baxall.com/">existing company</a> in the field. Our technological distinctiveness will be blended with theirs and a new range of Digital CCTV systems will be unleashed on the world ;-). The new company is based in Stockport, although the development department will be hosted in Didsbury for a while so my commute will easier. I can even take advantage of public transport if there are post work beers in the offing. I may even consider getting a bike. Change anyone?</p>
Am I Fit?2004-07-13T18:14:00+01:002004-07-13T18:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-13:/~alex/blog/2004/07/13/154/<p>Went to the Gym last night to start playing Badminton again. I was a little concerned after a 12 points of a 2 against 1 game I felt a little faint. After a little sit down and drinking some Lucozade Sport I started again and played though the rest of …</p><p>Went to the Gym last night to start playing Badminton again. I was a little concerned after a 12 points of a 2 against 1 game I felt a little faint. After a little sit down and drinking some Lucozade Sport I started again and played though the rest of the session without problem. It has been a while since I did the 10km run and my Gym attendance since has been a little erratic but I didn't think my endurance had dropped off quite so quickly. Maybe my body was starved due to not having eaten for 8 hours, I'm hoping this was the case.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Regardless of that little hi-cup the session went well. I enjoyed playing, I had a good post exercise buzz and my shoulder didn't give me any grief. It looks like the few months off while training for the run gave it the chance to heal up properly (<em>touch wood</em>). The only downside was my wrist gave me a some pain (no sniggering at the back there!). This is probably due to the lump on my wrist the the tendons snap over especially seeing as Badminton involves a lot of wrist action. I'm on a waiting list to get removed but its not going to be anytime soon. Hopefully its just temporary thing as my body re-adjusts to playing</div>
<div class="line">Badminton again.</div>
</div>
Lookout for that Soapbox....2004-07-13T00:11:00+01:002004-07-13T00:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-13:/~alex/blog/2004/07/13/153/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've just spent an hour with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> laptop (thats twice I've sullied myself this month) and I'm amazed that people accept the crap they do. Don't misunderstand me, the SoS character database is a fine piece of software, Mufi's re-implementation is far superior from the nasty VB hack I …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I've just spent an hour with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> laptop (thats twice I've sullied myself this month) and I'm amazed that people accept the crap they do. Don't misunderstand me, the SoS character database is a fine piece of software, Mufi's re-implementation is far superior from the nasty VB hack I used to maintain. However the underlying OS scares me. I'd contacted Mufi about getting the laptop back to him so he could re-sync the <a class="reference external" href="http://songofsteel.kicks-ass.net/">online database</a>. When I fired up IE to access my web-mail to upload the file I found the home page was some odd spam index site, despite the home page being set to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.msn.com">MSN</a>. I decided to</div>
<div class="line">run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/">AdAware</a></div>
<div class="line">program which had obviously been put there for the purpose. After it had identified <strong>133</strong> dodgy looking executables, registry entries and other such detritus and removed them (over 4 re-boots) I went back to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com">Google</a> to test it. After I</div>
<div class="line">searched for mozilla yet another pop-up browser window appeared even though AdAware had given the machine a clean bill of health. Needless to say <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">Firefox</a> is now the default browser. However what I want to know is how Windows users put up with this. Do you just accept you need software to detect other software that shouldn't be on your machine? Do you actually trust your machine is not recording everything you do and telling someone else about it? Are pop-up browser windows just something you've gotten used to? I'd no idea in the time I'd been away from Windows things where getting so bad.</div>
</div>
<p>Of course I'm in a dilemma now. I have so little trust in the SoS laptop now that I'm not going to be logging onto any of my systems with it because I'm not sure something isn't logging every key-stroke I make. However somehow I need to get the database with Mufi so things can be re-synced. I suspect a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html">bootable Linux CD</a> may be my solution.</p>
Splish, splash, I'm having a bath2004-07-12T14:16:00+01:002004-07-12T14:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-12:/~alex/blog/2004/07/12/152/<p>Went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> this weekend for my role playing kicks. I ended up getting quite drunk on tavern on Friday night, although personally I blame the fact you just can't buy bottled real-ale thats less than 5.0% ABV these days. Its still quite quaff-able but you may not notice …</p><p>Went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> this weekend for my role playing kicks. I ended up getting quite drunk on tavern on Friday night, although personally I blame the fact you just can't buy bottled real-ale thats less than 5.0% ABV these days. Its still quite quaff-able but you may not notice being pissed until its too late. Still I didn't die so thats always a bonus.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was a little worse for wear in the the morning but managed to get myself all blue'ed up for the annual Sea-Elf special. As other have noticed it wasn't as jolly as last year mainly because the water was so much colder. However I still enjoyed it, especially as I didn't get my arm cut of in the first encounter this time. I also completely missed the "Peter Pan" references. Cleaning up the next day was also</div>
<div class="line">quite painless. Good weekend all round ;-)</div>
</div>
If you didn't like it why didn't you say!2004-07-05T18:17:00+01:002004-07-05T18:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-05:/~alex/blog/2004/07/05/151/<p>Spent a few hours buggering about getting my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/contact.php">pager</a> working again. It turned out to be due to exim defaulting the MAIL FROM: header to the local name for my machine instead of a valid domain name. I would of figured it out earlier but the SMTP transaction from Orange …</p><p>Spent a few hours buggering about getting my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/contact.php">pager</a> working again. It turned out to be due to exim defaulting the MAIL FROM: header to the local name for my machine instead of a valid domain name. I would of figured it out earlier but the SMTP transaction from Orange didn't complain, just silently dropped the email. Grrr. Still it works now.</p>
Through the round window...2004-07-05T14:17:00+01:002004-07-05T14:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-05:/~alex/blog/2004/07/05/150/<p>The weekend seemed a little surreal between moving stuff into the house, going "out" to Aidan's celebrations and Mel's birthday the following night. I did get through a chunk of FarCry though although I'm now without guns stranded in the middle of a mutant infested forest. In the meantime here …</p><p>The weekend seemed a little surreal between moving stuff into the house, going "out" to Aidan's celebrations and Mel's birthday the following night. I did get through a chunk of FarCry though although I'm now without guns stranded in the middle of a mutant infested forest. In the meantime here are some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Glastonbury%202004">pictures from Glastonbury</a>.</p>
It all went a little bit dance like2004-07-02T19:32:00+01:002004-07-02T19:32:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-07-02:/~alex/blog/2004/07/02/149/<p>I hope everyone has been waiting with baited breath for the Glasto update. I would of done it sooner but I've been ill the last few days (thankfully after I drove back). So here it goes:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">I wanted to get to the Glastonbury site as early as possible so I …</div></div><p>I hope everyone has been waiting with baited breath for the Glasto update. I would of done it sooner but I've been ill the last few days (thankfully after I drove back). So here it goes:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I wanted to get to the Glastonbury site as early as possible so I booked a nearby <a class="reference external" href="http://www.travelodge.co.uk/">Travelodge</a> for the night before. As a result we left Manchester around lunchtime having packed that morning and taking time</div>
<div class="line">to ensure we did have everything we needed. I only made one minor navigational mistake on the way down and as a result we made very good time as we were driving during the day. Having eaten there wasn't much to do but we managed to keep ourselves entertained ;-). I went for a walk around midnight to go and meet Aidan, Gillian and Lee who where coming down in the camper van. The wind was picking up and was an omen</div>
<div class="line">for the following day.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Although the site was meant to be open at 10:00am by the time we had had breakfast and our last shower for the week there didn't seem much point hanging around so we headed for site early. We headed into Pilton without encountering any major queues until the very last bit where we maybe waited for around 5minutes before sweeping into site. After lugging the tents halfway up Penards Hill we saw we where one of</div>
<div class="line">the first paying punters on site. Katy picked a spot by the big tree on the basis it would provide some cover from the 60 MPH winds as well as being a good landmark. It also turned out to be convenient for heading into the Green fields which where just to our left. We then proceeded with pitching my tent in the gales which proved tricky with</div>
<div class="line">the two of us. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long for the others to start arriving and which point we started getting everything up and running.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">The weather picked up on Thursday and by the evening was getting quite sunny. You'd of thought that hippies as a group where not the most interested in the href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2004/3830451.stm>"beautiful</div>
<div class="line">game" but <a class="reference external" href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/+thefanscantgotot/">you'd
be wrong</a>. It was quite surreal sitting amongst a massive crowd in a field watching the game - the atmosphere was very different to what you would get in your average footie pub.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Once the festival proper got underway we took full advantage of the best weather of the festival. Friday included Goldfrapp and Kosheen who set the dancy trend for my weekend. While some of the others had gone off to watch some <a class="reference external" href="http://www.oasisinet.com/">whiney
Mancs</a> I stayed on the Other stage to see the Chemical Brothers. Apparently they did a very good DJ set last year and this years live set was fantastic. They played a load of the classic tunes as well as having a very good light show. Good choice :-) We headed off to the Glade for the rumored Fat Boy Slim DJ set but left after the place</div>
<div class="line">got far too crowded. Apparently he did play that night but over in Lost Vagueness. I was up until the early hours with Jeff and Phil (and bumping into my brother in the Greenpeace(?) tent) until eventually crashing in the morning as the rain started to arrive.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">The weather of Saturday was not as good but luckily most of the rain had passed by the time I was roused out of bed. I mainly pottered around the Green Fields trying to locate a eco-recharge station for my phone and then headed on down to Lost Vagueness which I never really explored last year. Its an odd place but fun to explore. The bit I liked most was the Cinema which was showing a a whole series of short</div>
<div class="line">films which where quite funny. I meet up with Lee and Katy who where planning to head up to the Pyramid stage to see Paul McCartney. I declined the offer and wondered around watching random bands. I remember seeing a rather animated one man band in the Jazz tent as well as an Aussie funk/digereedoo band at the bandstand. I eventually</div>
<div class="line">emerged in the Other Stage for the Basement Jaxx set which was good, starting with their vocal stuff and getting progressively for dancy. I caught up with Jeff and Phil again as we toured the various mushroom cafe's in the Green Fields before heading back to camp for sun rise.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">After having so many late nights in a row the attempt of the rest of the camp to wake me for the ENO's first Glasto gig was rather futile. In fact my time was so shifted by that point I think the only band I managed to get to was Orbitals last English gig, again on the other stage. It was a good show although probably not as good as the Chemical Brothers. The confusion at the encore did lead someone to comment they may of misplaced their encore tape ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>All in all I had an excellent festival despite the weather and will defiantly be in that phone queue next year. I'm glad Katy enjoyed it as well although she's made it clear the mud and loo's have put her off for next year. All in all a good way to spend a weekend.</p>
<p><strong>Badger!</strong></p>
My god its full of stars...2004-06-21T13:09:00+01:002004-06-21T13:09:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-21:/~alex/blog/2004/06/21/148/<p>So I'm sat at work with a little under 6 hours before I bugger of home and start packing for tomorrows trip down to Sommerset.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">My brother and his girlfriend (Karen) turned up for a Red Hot Chili Peppers gig. I got home early to let him in and do …</div></div><p>So I'm sat at work with a little under 6 hours before I bugger of home and start packing for tomorrows trip down to Sommerset.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">My brother and his girlfriend (Karen) turned up for a Red Hot Chili Peppers gig. I got home early to let him in and do a little tidying and then sat and chatted with him until they left for the gig - suitably instructed in the workings of Manchester's fine public transport system.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I then headed around to Mad Sam's for a bit of 'net game action. I haven't been to a LAN party for a while so was a bit out of practice. Unfortunately I think against mere humans I lack the necessary bonding between my thoughts and the keyboard and mouse. Generally I find even given the advancements of game AI computer based enemies are easier to</div>
<div class="line">figure out - which I guess is the point. I'll make a stab at finishing Far-Cry post-Glasto.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Having instructed people to turn up early we made a start on emptying my house of crap so we could move Katy and Andy's stuff in. Many thanks to all those involved including Scousy for bring the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> trailer along. It was much appreciated, I can see the floor in the back cellar again. I hope you enjoy the couch ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Leaving Katy behind with a few helpers I headed off for a relatively early start to Lee's 30th celebrations. I brought my brother along to catch up although he headed for town before we departed for Wendyhouse. His other half was working the next day and he's saving himself for Glasto (and also packing for his 4 month trip to Jamaica and Cuba). Wendyhouse was fun as always. I got a chance to meet and</div>
<div class="line">talk to a few more people which was nice. Lee was concerned that I was being quite but I think it was mainly me being tired from the moving in the morning. I also need to save some energy for Glasto! Even so I was up until around 6 in the morning when I climbed into Lee's camper-van to get some sleep before going home.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Sunday (i.e. the bit after I woke up) was quite subdued. We all went out for a pub lunch in the Robin Hood (A pup I had considered a footie pub but is actually quite nice inside). After a average steak and a huge Sundae I waved goodbye to my brother and retired repleat to the house with Katy. We basically lazed the day away without doing much* before settling to watch Kill Bill Vol 2 (which I think is the better of the two, Katy prefers the first one). Just before we started the show I got a call from Si wondering where we were. We had both completely forgotten about the tickets I had gotten for "Slaughterhouse". We carefully weighed the pro's and con's of getting up and rushing to get to the Lowry for the show and decided after much careful deliberation that the sofa was far more appealing. Maybe</div>
<div class="line">next time ;-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">* not much <em>that would be of interest to other people</em></div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Damn Helicopters with their mounted guns!2004-06-15T11:43:00+01:002004-06-15T11:43:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-15:/~alex/blog/2004/06/15/147/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I skipped the gym yesterday on account of feeling a little tired from the SoS weekend. Katy was too tired to come around after her LRP so I took advantage of some me time to carry on with a few levels of Far Cry (I'm somewhere around "Archive"). I took …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I skipped the gym yesterday on account of feeling a little tired from the SoS weekend. Katy was too tired to come around after her LRP so I took advantage of some me time to carry on with a few levels of Far Cry (I'm somewhere around "Archive"). I took me a while to realise the reason I was getting the crap shot out of me was because the mutant bad guys where invisible up until they start ripping you apart</div>
<div class="line">with their bare hands! I eventually finished playing after a couple of hours as I'd reached a level where the helicopter with the mounted chain gun keeps killing me despite the fact I totally blew it up with the rocket launcher. Its either a bug or a scripted part of the game.</div>
<div class="line">Ug, plot on rails anyone?</div>
</div>
<p>(6 days 5h 16m 15s)</p>
At least the tent works!2004-06-14T12:55:00+01:002004-06-14T12:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-14:/~alex/blog/2004/06/14/146/<p>Had a great weekend at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> which I always seem to do at Wilderness Farm. The whole atmosphere of weekends there always seems more relaxed than when we play at scout sites. The excellent weather and home cooking also helped of course. The Virail adventure I took part in was …</p><p>Had a great weekend at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> which I always seem to do at Wilderness Farm. The whole atmosphere of weekends there always seems more relaxed than when we play at scout sites. The excellent weather and home cooking also helped of course. The Virail adventure I took part in was also excellent (thanks monsters!) and was well stated that it was challenging without being silly. We came off having been stretched. I hope the new Viralian Witchfinder candidate who was quite low pointed has learned the lesson about organisation and not stats being the key to successful dungeons.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I indulged in watching the England-France match on Sunday evening with Jo, Arwel and Mad Sam. I'm not a big football fan but I do like to watch the internationals. Lee always laughs at me expressing any football commentary as I obviously know little compared to true fans of the game. However we all engaged in our armchair punditry over a few</div>
<div class="line">beers as we analysed the game. I must say I was pretty disappointed at the end at the way we lost the game. Without wishing to sound xenophobic it would of been nice to of beaten the French in the first game. I guess it just means we will have to beat them in the final instead.....</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>Only 7 days, 4 hours, 4 minutes and 35 seconds until I'm off work and ready to go to Glastonbury!</p>
Politics == Exciting?2004-06-11T02:05:00+01:002004-06-11T02:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-11:/~alex/blog/2004/06/11/145/<p>Ohh - just seen my council has changed hands. I shall have to pay attention over the next couple of years and see if things get better or worse under the new lot. Night all....</p>
A little bit of politics2004-06-09T12:19:00+01:002004-06-09T12:19:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-09:/~alex/blog/2004/06/09/144/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So tomorrow is polling day. Although I'm in a postal voting area I'll be heading down to the "polling station" tomorrow morning to deliver my vote. I'm afraid I don't agree with the government when they imply you'd have to be mad to prefer going to the polling station to …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So tomorrow is polling day. Although I'm in a postal voting area I'll be heading down to the "polling station" tomorrow morning to deliver my vote. I'm afraid I don't agree with the government when they imply you'd have to be mad to prefer going to the polling station to the convince of a postal ballot. The main things that concern me are: a) the increased risk of electoral fraud, b) trusting the delivery of my vote to the Post Office and c) the attitude that</div>
<div class="line">gimmicks are they way to get people involved in democracy. The last point is even more worrying when you hear about plans to expand voting to things like voting by text or Internet. It just makes me shudder.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Although I'm sure some people think the way I vote is predetermined by my political beliefs I can assure you its not. I sat down with the veritable pile of leaflets last week and read every single one to help inform my choice. Of course I have 2 elections to vote in and unlike some parties would like I vote according to the issues those I elect</div>
<div class="line">can do something about rather than a referendum on the current Westminster government. They will get to find out how I feel at the General Election, or at there option whenever they would like to ask my opinion.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Although I dislike list based PR systems there are some advantages to the system we have for European voting. The main one is that minority parties can make more of an impact. I could vote for one of the big 3 parties but it would make little practical difference. This year I'm</div>
<div class="line">minded to vote for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greenparty.org.uk/">Greens</a>. The first reason is their sensible href=http://www.greenparty.org.uk/index.php?nav=articles&n=68>IT</div>
<div class="line">policies (especially when it comes to Software Patents). The second reason is one of the main (few?) things that Europe has been good for is environmental legislation, and here I think the Greens are well placed to make a difference. I do wish however that only representative body had a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3782771.stm">little more influence</a>.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">OK here my right wing politics do show up a bit. The current Labour controlled council IMHO isn't good enough. Although we enjoy relatively low council tax in my area not being part of Manchester proper I still want more for my money than the current incumbents are providing. However we have to vote for 3 councillors this year (which is odd enough - I thought you elected councillors by wards but apparently not) and both Labour and Conservatives have put up the full spread. I happen to think that the Lib Dems actually do a reasonable job in local government. To my mind they are less wedded to ideology than Labour and not quite as keen to cut everything to the bone as the Tories. I've been impressed with what the Lib Dems seem to of achieved in Liverpool for example. However I have a little dilemma, the Lib Dems have only put up one candidate this year so do I split my vote 2:1 with the Tories and risk splitting the Tory vote to Labour or just vote for all 3 Tory candidates in and effort to remove the incumbents? I'll probably be pondering this until tomorrow morning.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<p>Thats enough politics except to say - whatever you do tomorrow make sure you vote!</p>
Really Super Stream!2004-06-08T12:28:00+01:002004-06-08T12:28:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-08:/~alex/blog/2004/06/08/143/<p>I changed my RSS aggregator from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nongnu.org/straw">Straw</a> to <a class="reference external" href="http://liferea.sourceforge.net/">Liferea</a> yesterday. For those that don't know RSS aggregators are a simple way of avoiding the cycle of checking many web-sites for updates by getting a program to do it for you. Most news sites have RSS feeds, hell even <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=rss">my blog …</a></p><p>I changed my RSS aggregator from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nongnu.org/straw">Straw</a> to <a class="reference external" href="http://liferea.sourceforge.net/">Liferea</a> yesterday. For those that don't know RSS aggregators are a simple way of avoiding the cycle of checking many web-sites for updates by getting a program to do it for you. Most news sites have RSS feeds, hell even <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=rss">my blog</a> provides one (thats how Live Journal gets its data). Straw worked well enough but the things that gave Liferea the edge where:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Faster - Straw I think suffers from being written in Python</li>
<li>Better Protocol support - It does more than just RSS/RDF streams</li>
<li>Nice layout - The folder layout makes for easier grouping of feeds</li>
<li>More configurable - You can tweak the refresh times for different feeds which is useful</li>
<li>Script-able - its can get its streams from external scripts so I may eventually get around to writing a filter to convert the SoS OOC notice board to an RSS feed!</li>
</ul>
Shiny!2004-06-03T15:24:00+01:002004-06-03T15:24:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-03:/~alex/blog/2004/06/03/142/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Bit of a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meh&f=1">"meh"</a></div>
<div class="line">day today. Probably due to a poor start to the day when I took my car in for a service.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Apart from the dread about getting a large bill for the service I did get a courtesy car to get into work. I was hoping for …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Bit of a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meh&f=1">"meh"</a></div>
<div class="line">day today. Probably due to a poor start to the day when I took my car in for a service.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Apart from the dread about getting a large bill for the service I did get a courtesy car to get into work. I was hoping for a Golf or if I was lucky a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vw.com/phaeton/">Phaeton</a>. Instead I got a Lupo which kinda took me back to my Polo days, except smaller! As a result I think I'm in some sort of withdrawal, which is odd because I'm sure Andy was href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingandy/88353.html>referring to someone else. All I know is I can't wait to pick up my car this evening.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">However my mood was lifted when I eventually got into work (it seems to take so long in the Lupo) and the Royal Mail proved they can get it right. A bunch of stuff I'd ordered for my iPAQ</div>
<div class="line">including a big SD card and a serial cable. There isn't currently a Linux port for the unit although people have booted the kernel on it. However I'm pretty sure I can help get it going, I am after all a kernel hacker by trade.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">So this weekend is the last "free" weekend for a while as next week is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> followed by Lee's birthday bash at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a> (as well</div>
<div class="line">as a LAN party and Paranoia session) and then Glastonbury! Given my complete failure to get anywhere with decorating over the Bank holiday I suspect this is the highest priority. However I suspect I may play with shiny things (or more Farcry) unless prodded to work. Come on, motivate me ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
All alone tonight....2004-06-01T16:35:00+01:002004-06-01T16:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-06-01:/~alex/blog/2004/06/01/141/<p>Poor Katy is resting up from her weekend excesses tonight so I'm kinda of at a loose end. So what is a man to do, go to the Gym, clean some walls, or possibly play more Farcry. Too... many.. choices ;-)</p>
Gardens and Wireless Networks...2004-05-31T19:58:00+01:002004-05-31T19:58:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-31:/~alex/blog/2004/05/31/140/<p>Are great ;-) I can enjoy the greenery and sunshine at the same time being connected to the world and enjoying a beer. There is a lot to be said for technology.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">I went to see Ozriac Tentacles last night with Lee, Jen and Chris and Jo. Fez woosed out on …</div></div><p>Are great ;-) I can enjoy the greenery and sunshine at the same time being connected to the world and enjoying a beer. There is a lot to be said for technology.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I went to see Ozriac Tentacles last night with Lee, Jen and Chris and Jo. Fez woosed out on account of being "too far" from Manchester. I enjoyed the gig although it did go on for some time. My foot was still giving me grief so I sat down at the back for the last bit. I think I also found a Linux acolyte in the audience and did a bit of open source preaching. Weird sort of gig all in all ;-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I got dragged out to Lime bar on Sunday and Marcus and Sue's today to eat more food. Of course this has proved to be necessary because my previous plan of getting to the shops on time (forgetting that they close early on a Sunday) had failed due to sleeping in late and generally being lazy. Oh and Far Cry was intervening in places as well.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Far Cry is still by far the prettiest FPS I've played for a long while. I'm way behind Lee but if I put in some serious play time I should be able to catch up. Although Lee reckons I'm too stealthy in the game I think he's just envious of my being a good shot.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Churches2004-05-29T16:41:00+01:002004-05-29T16:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-29:/~alex/blog/2004/05/29/139/<p>Went to Ara last night which was quite surreal. Its basically a Goth club in a church. A working church mind you as it had signs saying "Please flush to toilet after use" in neat handwriting on the toilet door. The Chillout room I gather is a rented studio. It …</p><p>Went to Ara last night which was quite surreal. Its basically a Goth club in a church. A working church mind you as it had signs saying "Please flush to toilet after use" in neat handwriting on the toilet door. The Chillout room I gather is a rented studio. It was interesting if a little odd. We then went down to RW to find Chris P a little worse for wear. You left quite quickly afterwards with some random strangers and Bert to fix Chris, break Lee, and try PS2 games. Eventually went to bed and am now slowly gathering my thoughts for the gig tonight. Probably won't get much decorating done today ;-)</p>
Nothing much happens....2004-05-28T20:33:00+01:002004-05-28T20:33:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-28:/~alex/blog/2004/05/28/138/<p>Not much happened today. I managed to fix a couple of bugs in the code which was nice, but I wasn't trying very hard so they probably don't count. Toyed with learning <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org">Python</a> again. As a result I read a few tutorials and fired up the interpreter to play about …</p><p>Not much happened today. I managed to fix a couple of bugs in the code which was nice, but I wasn't trying very hard so they probably don't count. Toyed with learning <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org">Python</a> again. As a result I read a few tutorials and fired up the interpreter to play about. After about 5 minutes I decided I wasn't ready to learn yet another string escaping syntax. I also had misgivings about Python's use of indentation for structure. However the python powered <a class="reference external" href="http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/">gDesklets</a> still look very pretty so I suspect I may have to at least hack some python about at some point. To get over this chunk of extreme "geek" I am now about to eat and get ready for a night out in Rockworld. Roll on Bank Holiday here I come :-P</p>
Eye Candy!2004-05-27T16:12:00+01:002004-05-27T16:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-27:/~alex/blog/2004/05/27/137/<p>Been a slow day today so I've been playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/index.php">gDesklets</a> to add more eye candy
to my desktop. Its hard to make out on the thumbnail but the desklets
are transparent so they blend in nicely with the wallpaper. Hopefully
I can get the gDesklet based startbar running so …</p><p>Been a slow day today so I've been playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/index.php">gDesklets</a> to add more eye candy
to my desktop. Its hard to make out on the thumbnail but the desklets
are transparent so they blend in nicely with the wallpaper. Hopefully
I can get the gDesklet based startbar running so my machine can have
more eye-candy than MacOS X. Maybe this is the push I need to get
around to playing with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a>.</p>
Piccies2004-05-26T16:29:00+01:002004-05-26T16:29:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-26:/~alex/blog/2004/05/26/136/<p>I put up some pictures from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Parties/Glyns%20Wake%20May%202004">Glyn's Wake/Ultimate Lam</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Great%20Manchester%20Run%20May%202004">run</a> up last night. I didn't get many pictures as a result of what Glyn left behind, however its nice to have a few more of people I don't see often enough. Hopefully next time will be under …</p><p>I put up some pictures from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Parties/Glyns%20Wake%20May%202004">Glyn's Wake/Ultimate Lam</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Great%20Manchester%20Run%20May%202004">run</a> up last night. I didn't get many pictures as a result of what Glyn left behind, however its nice to have a few more of people I don't see often enough. Hopefully next time will be under happier circumstances. On a side note I intend to put up a memorial page at some point so if anyone has any stories/pictures they would like to share then <a class="reference external" href="mailto:alex@bennee.com">drop me a line</a>.</p>
And the final results are in2004-05-24T13:37:00+01:002004-05-24T13:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-24:/~alex/blog/2004/05/24/135/<p>The results for yesterdays race are now <a class="reference external" href="http://www.raceahead.net">up</a>. My final time was 1:13:09 which was around 16 minutes (and 5939 places) behind Sheila. My muscles had a little bit of a rebellion this morning (probably due to my crap warm-down) but all in all I'm not feeling too …</p><p>The results for yesterdays race are now <a class="reference external" href="http://www.raceahead.net">up</a>. My final time was 1:13:09 which was around 16 minutes (and 5939 places) behind Sheila. My muscles had a little bit of a rebellion this morning (probably due to my crap warm-down) but all in all I'm not feeling too bad. Of course my parents often run more than I did so I'm not going to let the achievement go to my head, except of course knowing I am just so much better than Lee :-)</p>
Me Am Win!2004-05-23T14:23:00+01:002004-05-23T14:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-23:/~alex/blog/2004/05/23/134/<p>Well not quite. However I managed to finish the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=17">Great
Manchester Run</a>. It was only 10km which in the great scheme of things isn't long but certainly is the longest I've ever done. I managed to get to 6km before I slowed down to walking pace (the water queue gave …</p><p>Well not quite. However I managed to finish the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.asp?id=17">Great
Manchester Run</a>. It was only 10km which in the great scheme of things isn't long but certainly is the longest I've ever done. I managed to get to 6km before I slowed down to walking pace (the water queue gave me a good excuse). The rest of the race I ran in fits and starts as its quite hard to get going again although I did run the last km to the finish line. I haven't got my exact time yet but it something less than 1h15. I'm of for a beer and a smoke now before Sheila's birthday celebrations tonight ;-)</p>
Everybody want to run the world...2004-05-22T11:13:00+01:002004-05-22T11:13:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-05-22:/~alex/blog/2004/05/22/133/<p>The Manchester "Fun" Run is tommorrow. I don't feel as though I have prepared. Arse.</p>
One True Editor2004-04-27T19:17:00+01:002004-04-27T19:17:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-27:/~alex/blog/2004/04/27/132/<p>I've just discovered <a class="reference external" href="http://mozex.mozdev.org/">mozex</a> a handy plugin for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mozilla.org">Mozilla</a> browser family. It basically means I can do one click editing of web forms using my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki">favorite text editor</a>. I'm sure everyone realises what a boon this is to me right?</p>
Net Junkie?2004-04-27T00:23:00+01:002004-04-27T00:23:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-27:/~alex/blog/2004/04/27/131/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This evening was brought to me thanks to the power of the 'net. We arranged to see Kill Bill Vol 2 via email, as well as ordering pizza and tickets online. I've also used it today to check the opening times of the local DIY</div>
<div class="line">store and Halfords as well …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This evening was brought to me thanks to the power of the 'net. We arranged to see Kill Bill Vol 2 via email, as well as ordering pizza and tickets online. I've also used it today to check the opening times of the local DIY</div>
<div class="line">store and Halfords as well as checked the price of some scratch repairing solutions. I'm not sure what I would do without the 'net access I'm so used to - would I be more or less productive I wonder?</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I'm only being this contemplative on account of a "discussion" I had yesterday about the value of Blogs with some friends yesterday who think they are a form of arrogance. According to to them people assume that they are writing something worthwhile enough to share with the</div>
<div class="line">world and do it from a position of perceived anonymity.</div>
</div>
<p>I don't buy it. I certainly assume that everything I write it attributable to me and whether or not it gets read by other people is a side effect. Of course I enjoy comments and entering into a debate with people. However for the most part the Blog world seems like a convenient short-cut of catching up with the trivia of peoples lives so when you do meet your not endlessly repeating the potted summary of your last week/month/year and can discuss something else. Of course people write blogs for many and varied reasons so what do I know?</p>
<p>Or maybe I'm just a 'net junkie ;-)</p>
How to get elected2004-04-25T12:42:00+01:002004-04-25T12:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-25:/~alex/blog/2004/04/25/130/<p>Was late for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> AGM as a result of the trams being crap. I skipped 3 passing trams because I didn't feel like being a sardine in the current weather. By the time I made it into town and got to the pub the meeting had finished, most people …</p><p>Was late for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> AGM as a result of the trams being crap. I skipped 3 passing trams because I didn't feel like being a sardine in the current weather. By the time I made it into town and got to the pub the meeting had finished, most people had gone home and I'd still been elected. So NDG for Teornarach is pretty much guaranteed this year - just in time for the Sea Elf Special ;-)</p>
<p>I headed back home, mouched around a bit doing washing and hanging stuff outside. Jo turned up for a bit to pick up some bits and pieces and we nattered for a bit including a disturbing amount of DIY! I ended the evening with Sam and Sheila visiting and us ostensibly playing some PS2 games although the heat sapped us enough to just sit there and watch some DVD's. I then attempted to get enough sleep for my mum's visit today. I like the hot weather, but it does seem to sap my strength......</p>
That SCO Irritation2004-04-23T16:53:00+01:002004-04-23T16:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-23:/~alex/blog/2004/04/23/129/<p>I've not mentioned the SCO case for a while. However the last week has involved one of their financial backers asking for <a class="reference external" href="http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/rupertgoodwins/0,39020691,39152776,00.htm">their
money back</a>. The particular irony is SCO's position on BayStar asking for the money back is <em>"We're unsure what their issues are"</em> which is pretty much how …</p><p>I've not mentioned the SCO case for a while. However the last week has involved one of their financial backers asking for <a class="reference external" href="http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/rupertgoodwins/0,39020691,39152776,00.htm">their
money back</a>. The particular irony is SCO's position on BayStar asking for the money back is <em>"We're unsure what their issues are"</em> which is pretty much how the FOSS community has felt since the whole SCO debacle kicked of last year. SCO has held (at various times) that there thousands to millions of lines of "infringing" code in the Linux <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org">kernel</a>. Of course when challenged to demonstrate any they have failed to do so leaving the community confused as to what their actual complaint is about. More coverage as ever at Pamela Jone's excellent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net">Groklaw</a> site.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">In other news my main machine is in the middle of a multi gigabyte download while I'm at Katy's tonight. Just in case Glyn wonders why the 'net is running a bit slow ;-)</div>
</div>
Oh Danny Boy....2004-04-22T13:16:00+01:002004-04-22T13:16:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-22:/~alex/blog/2004/04/22/128/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I got back from a business trip to Dublin yesterday. I was attending a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dcu.ie/securityconference2004/">conference on university security</a> as an exhibitor. Unfortunately I was kept quite busy so didn't get a chance to explore the city. However we did have a couple a pre-arranged nights out by the conference so …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I got back from a business trip to Dublin yesterday. I was attending a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dcu.ie/securityconference2004/">conference on university security</a> as an exhibitor. Unfortunately I was kept quite busy so didn't get a chance to explore the city. However we did have a couple a pre-arranged nights out by the conference so I got a chance to sample real Irish <a class="reference external" href="http://www.guinness.com/guinness/en_GB/knowing/products/draught/0,7505,125495_125648,00.html">Guinness</a></div>
<div class="line">in an nice <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3577001.stm">smoke-less</a></div>
<div class="line">pub. The last time I had it was when I was 16 and got a bottle for my birthday. I didn't like it then so haven't really touched stout since. However seeing I was in in Dublin (and people telling me it tastes better in Ireland) I gave it another try. I liked it :-)</div>
</div>
<p>After the experience of getting back from the bar and not smelling like an ash tray I'm beginning to think a ban on smoking in pubs in the UK might not be such a bad idea after all. Given that I am an ex-smoker this may be a little hypocritical but hey, I'm allowed to change my mind OK!</p>
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam.....2004-04-14T17:44:00+01:002004-04-14T17:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-14:/~alex/blog/2004/04/14/spam-spam-spam-spam/<p>Its odd being in work without the others. I seem to get a lot more done when there isn't the background chatter and distractions of people asking me questions every 5 minutes (or so it seems).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">I finally did something about the growing amount of spam in my in-box. It …</div></div><p>Its odd being in work without the others. I seem to get a lot more done when there isn't the background chatter and distractions of people asking me questions every 5 minutes (or so it seems).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I finally did something about the growing amount of spam in my in-box. It was brought home to me when I got back from Maelstrom to have to delete 100 or so messages through my spam filters. My mail sever run <a class="reference external" href="http://www.debian.org">Debian</a> because it such an easy OS to maintain. However one problem is due to its slow release cycle (every 1-2 years) some of the packages can be quite old versions. This is the key to its stability but also a bit of a problem when your involved in an arms race like combating spam. <a class="reference external" href="http://eu.spamassassin.org/index.html">SpamAssassin</a> has been doing a good job but was slowly being outstripped by more and more spam specifically targeted at getting around its filters. Luckily I discovered <a class="reference external" href="http://www.backports.org/">backports.org</a> which</div>
<div class="line">provide nice apt repositories of the latest and greatest compiled for debian stable. Updating to the latest was a 5 second operation :-) I've already noticed a drop off with the newer filters catching more spam. I've also got the option of turning on the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian">Bayesian</a> filtering later if the tide gets too high again.</div>
</div>
Me am run!2004-04-13T15:30:00+01:002004-04-13T15:30:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-13:/~alex/blog/2004/04/13/126/<p>Just got back from the gym having broken another personal record. Once on the running machine I ran straight through 30 minutes at my full running pace (9 km/hr) without slowing down for any breathers. This totaled 4.5 km (almost 5 after the cool down period) and a …</p><p>Just got back from the gym having broken another personal record. Once on the running machine I ran straight through 30 minutes at my full running pace (9 km/hr) without slowing down for any breathers. This totaled 4.5 km (almost 5 after the cool down period) and a good 393 calories (which kinda takes the edge of last nights Butter Chicken Curry). The only slight concern is my body seems to be disobeying some of the <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_mass">laws of physics</a> as according to the Gym scales I gained 1.5kg while running despite drinking only 200ml of water and sweating a lot more.</p>
Purveyor of fine herbs and rare powders....2004-04-13T13:35:00+01:002004-04-13T13:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-04-13:/~alex/blog/2004/04/13/125/<p>Its been a while since I last updated my blog so I suppose I'd better contribute to the general frothing with regards to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a> :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line">Well I can summarise my weekend as being a great one. I did a load of role-playing, achieved things and ended up with more of shiny …</div></div><p>Its been a while since I last updated my blog so I suppose I'd better contribute to the general frothing with regards to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a> :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Well I can summarise my weekend as being a great one. I did a load of role-playing, achieved things and ended up with more of shiny coins at the end of the event than I did at the start. The cold I has developed on the run up to the event disappeared after the first days play.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I guess I'd better start on the bad points so I don't come across as too much of a fan boy. There where a few administration issues with my character in terms of getting hold of lammies I should of had. The queues for the excellent catering where also quite long (not surprising considering they where feeding several hundred people in a room smaller than my current office). However all in all with GOD and catering I suspect I queued for around 2-3 hours, which considering it was a 3 day event was pretty good.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The weather was OK although in typical bank holiday mode it didn't get pleasant until the Monday as we where packing up. My new tent is big enough to stand up in when changing which was great and much appreciated by Katy. I should of brought a few more blankets though as the evenings where quite cold. My understanding of physics failed me</div>
<div class="line">in understanding why despite sleeping on a double air bed covered with a blanket all the heat still drained away from underneath us. Next time I'm in the tend I'll bring the caramats to lay underneath the bed for additional insulation.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I took several decisions about how I was going to play the game this time. The first one was not to play with the same people as last year. This is not because they all smell or some other OOC reason but more because I felt playing with a new group would would be a good way to role-play with new people. It also helped enforce my second decision which was to play a more active character than href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/perivale.jpg>Perivale (much as I enjoyed playing him at Omega). Although the character description of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theloom.co.uk/index.php?page=Danny">Danny</a> may sound like a license to engage in general debauchery I was pretty well behaved. Of course being a "dealer" to the great and the good gave me a chance to wonder around the site talking to lots of different people setting up deals. Maelstrom being a player led system means you get more out of it the more you get out there and do stuff rather than</div>
<div class="line">wait for thing to happen. Of course I did visit some people I already knew including partaking of the excellent hospitality of the clan Anaguma tea tent where the other half was playing a most hospitable host (as well as seeing people like Jo and the others).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">One of the high points for me was the money in the system. To start with they where pys-repped by actual solid metal coins - minted in several different styles. They where minted in several styles because there where at least 3 currencies in effect. This made trade interesting and involved me spending a few hours working out conversion tables for various substances I was selling. However</div>
<div class="line">nothing beats the feeling of being handed a pile of nice clanking metal coins for the deal you've just completed on. I finished the weekend with more coins than I started with which is nice :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">All in all it was a most excellent weekend. I know this to be the case because I was never bored and didn't think about work until getting into work this morning. The ability to get away from it all and spend a weekend doing something completely different and absorbing is one of the reasons I enjoy the hobby so much. And the event I've just attended reminded me that when its good it can be really good!</div>
</div>
No title [ ]2004-03-29T20:18:00+01:002004-03-29T20:18:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-03-29:/~alex/blog/2004/03/29/124/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today I was hacking about with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opersys.com/LTT/">Linux Trace Toolkit</a> in an attempt to measure some latencies in my code. Although the toolkit comes with a nice graphical utility that allows you to look through events and see what is going it isn't very good for finding particular instances occur …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today I was hacking about with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.opersys.com/LTT/">Linux Trace Toolkit</a> in an attempt to measure some latencies in my code. Although the toolkit comes with a nice graphical utility that allows you to look through events and see what is going it isn't very good for finding particular instances occur. I previously did this instrumenting my code with a unusual</div>
<div class="line">sys-call when something took too long. However its a bit of a hack because you have to modify the code each time you want to measure a new period. So today I wrote href=http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/perl/pdump.pl?annotate=1.2>this</div>
<div class="line">perl script to make my life easier.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">To use it you need dump the LTT trace files into text form. You can either do this from the GUI or using <strong>tracedump</strong></div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
[alex@cambridge alex]$ tracedump ll_long
</pre>
<p>Now you need to identify the events you want to trace. You currently pipe the data into <strong>pdump.pl</strong> with or without the event option (without the event option it will show all System calls it can measure).</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[alex@cambridge alex]$ cat ll_long.data | pdump.pl -e readv
PID: 161 has events
Event: SYSCALL : readv; PC : 0x00405C70
PID: 160 has events
Event: SYSCALL : readv; PC : 0x00405C70
PID: 145 has events
Event: SYSCALL : readv; PC : 0x004051F4
</pre>
<p>Now you can parse the data again with a pid and time (in case the default 30ms is not what you want).</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
[alex@cambridge alex]$ cat ll_long.data | pdump.pl -e readv -p 161 -t 30000
30683 delay, previous TS: 1080574392047396
prev: Syscall entry 1,080,574,392,047,396 161 12 SYSCALL : readv; PC : 0x00405C70
curr: Syscall entry 1,080,574,392,078,079 161 12 SYSCALL : readv; PC : 0x00405C70
598 events, total = 9953145, average time 16644.0551839465
</pre>
<p>To be exact you can just set the <strong>--event</strong> flag to the PC you are interested.</p>
Purty desktop...2004-03-25T13:22:00+00:002004-03-25T13:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-03-25:/~alex/blog/2004/03/25/123/<p>I've just had a quick play with some <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SVG">SVG themes</a> for href=http://www.gnome.org>Gnome. I've installed the href=http://librsvg.sourceforge.net/theme.php>svg themes package and used Nuvola on my desktop. It looks soooo pretty now ;-)</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/nuvola.png">Screenshot of my desktop at work</a></p>
Fear and Loathing in Spamville2004-03-18T14:38:00+00:002004-03-18T14:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-03-18:/~alex/blog/2004/03/18/122/<p>I suspect a LARPer who has me in their address book is infected with a spam virus. I keep getting spam mails with from addresses that are close to other LARPers. If your with PlusNet you may want to check your machine.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong> The person uses a PlusNet ADSL account …</div></div><p>I suspect a LARPer who has me in their address book is infected with a spam virus. I keep getting spam mails with from addresses that are close to other LARPers. If your with PlusNet you may want to check your machine.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong> The person uses a PlusNet ADSL account, probably has either a Draytek Vigor 2200e DSL Router v2.1a or a DLink DI-804 Cable/DSL Residential Gateway. They have me, TJ and Mad John in their address book. Oh and their ADSL gateway admin functions (web and telnet) are wide open to the rest of the world as well as port 1723. I'm guessing</div>
<div class="line">they are a Boltonian.</div>
</div>
TW32004-03-15T17:54:00+00:002004-03-15T17:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-03-15:/~alex/blog/2004/03/15/121/<p>Well the week went by, stuff happened. The main thing that sticks in my mind is going to the Gym on Thursday (after aborted attempts earlier in the week) and weighing in at 74 kg. According to the chart thats 11 st 9 lbs or to put it another way …</p><p>Well the week went by, stuff happened. The main thing that sticks in my mind is going to the Gym on Thursday (after aborted attempts earlier in the week) and weighing in at 74 kg. According to the chart thats 11 st 9 lbs or to put it another way I've gained 1/2 stone in 5 weeks. Ouch. I hit the running machine hard and found I couldn't even run as far as I had 5 weeks ago before feeling short of breath. I caught up with Lee at the gym and we plotted how to get our exercise regimes back on track, especially considering as we have this fun run to complete in May - the forms are in.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">When I got home I was feeling home in the evening feeling maudlin and aching all over from the first exercise in a while. I was a little confused by feeling this down as I've never been one to be self conscious about my weight. I think in the end it came down to me realising that despite my good progress over the last two years you can't afford to take your foot of the peddle for too long. I'll be re-instituting my "do something whatever" policy for my exercise days until I'm back on track.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I spent the weekend with Katy at mine where we polished off some Champagne, curry, and a fair amount of deep conversation. Most of it seemed to be centered around me describing myself as a "tory" and at the same time not being a right wing fascist. I think that I'm happy to describe myself as a "tory" again is a sign I'm slowly moving back to the centre right, hopefully without loosing my liberal tendencies ;-)</div>
</div>
<p>Saturday came and went quite quickly. I achieved something (putting a decent mirror up in the bathroom) before abandoning the rest of the day to hedonism. I went out to Sin City in the evening in which I met some of the Leeds lot and drank a bunch of real-ale. I was still tired from the day when I got to the club. Coupled with worrying about the state of travel due to the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3508310.stm">re-routing of half the city centre</a> I left at midnight leaving the rest to an eventful evening. Apparently I snore really badly after I've been drinking.</p>
<p>Sunday involved a little more domestic work and some plumbing. I managed to locate the documents for my new car (they had hastily been tidied away the first night Katy came over and I had promptly forgotten). After dropping Katy off in the afternoon I had a half hearted attempt to finish my cleaning and toyed with the idea of going to the Gym before settling on the plan of watching a load on Angel and Enterprise episodes. Oh and I cooked food for me and Glyn.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">I was going to sort out my passport so I could go to Las Vegas with work. However the trip has been cancelled. I'm not massively disappointed as I've been to the states before and I actually find urban USA rather boring. I'm sure Las Vegas would of been a spectacle but I doubt it would of been more interesting than New Orleans. Besides I think the trip would of probably pushed me over the edge after <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a>, Phil's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/OOC_board/discuss_toc.cgi?referer=17597&boardname=0">BGPC</a>, and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/index.asp">Maelstrom</a>. I suppose I shouldn't complain, after all who wants a quite life :-)</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Throw it all away and start again....2004-03-07T22:45:00+00:002004-03-07T22:45:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-03-07:/~alex/blog/2004/03/07/120/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The week has been quite hard. I was having issues with building a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rml/preempt-kernel/v2.4/">preempt-able
kernel</a> that I just couldn't get to work properly. The eventual problem became apparent on Friday when I threw away everything I had done the previous 4 days and tried a href=http://www.bennee.com …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The week has been quite hard. I was having issues with building a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/rml/preempt-kernel/v2.4/">preempt-able
kernel</a> that I just couldn't get to work properly. The eventual problem became apparent on Friday when I threw away everything I had done the previous 4 days and tried a href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/wiki/index.php/patch>different</div>
<div class="line">approach to the problem. I made more progress on Friday than I did the rest of the week. Enough that I felt I would be OK not working the weekend again which has been my first full weekend off in 4-5 weeks. Me and Katy had a quite night in on Friday where I tried some chocolate chicken (not as mad as it sounds) and watched the Sixth Sense. I got it from the first scene - its like obvious ;-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">The backdrop to the week has seen the href=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/36066.html>SCO vs the World take several twists. The waves that have been being made have even made the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/36066.html">Bill Blog</a> which is a nice change even if he doesn't still suggests a <em>half way house</em> to true FOSS philosophy. You can tell they are getting nervous when they start to href=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040305174627767>smear</div>
<div class="line">Groklaw. Hopefully the SCO road show is drawing nears its end game.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Went to Alison's birthday on Saturday. It was good to see the usual crowd despite being admonished for leaving early to go to bed (I was very tired when I left Bolton OK!). Even saw some people I hadn't seen for a while including Rich's sister Izzy. Had an enjoyable time although didn't chat to as many people as I wanted - mainly due to being very tired. I also missed out on the TJ arrival sweepstake by 3 minutes. Damn :-P</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">On Sunday me and Katy had some quality time and had the appropriate amount of fun :D</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
Something evil lurks in the fridge....2004-03-02T00:08:00+00:002004-03-02T00:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-03-02:/~alex/blog/2004/03/02/119/<p>All things considered the day went OK. I got in and my fellow software engineer had some choice words about the IDE driver I'd written over the weekend. Luckily a bit of testing proved his hard drive was playing silly buggers which was a different model to the one I'd …</p><p>All things considered the day went OK. I got in and my fellow software engineer had some choice words about the IDE driver I'd written over the weekend. Luckily a bit of testing proved his hard drive was playing silly buggers which was a different model to the one I'd tested against. One thing I noticed as I was poking around Linux IDE code is that it quite often has blacklists for drives that it will refuse to run in certain modes because experimentation has proved them to not work as advertised. One of the interesting aspects of my job is I get to blame the hardware quite a lot ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Went to the Gym for the first time in over 3 weeks to play Badminton. It went OK but I felt I was off my game. I need to re-plan my exercise schedule for few reasons. The first is I've managed to gain around 1.5 kg in under a month and the second is I have the Manchester Fun Run to do sometime in May. I also want to have some time to spend with Katy</div>
<div class="line">:-) Now that work has got a little less silly I'm thinking of making the effort to get out of the office and going to the gym near work at lunch-times. If I can make it a regular thing I should get by with going to the Gym in the evening less, or possibly for a shorter time and fitting it in before other things.</div>
</div>
That was the week that was...2004-02-29T22:21:00+00:002004-02-29T22:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-29:/~alex/blog/2004/02/29/118/<p>Its been a hard week this week. I've been working late most days and doing yet another weekends worth of work. The pattern of the week has generally been crap starts with things looking up by the end of the week. However I'm quite impressed with what I achieved although …</p><p>Its been a hard week this week. I've been working late most days and doing yet another weekends worth of work. The pattern of the week has generally been crap starts with things looking up by the end of the week. However I'm quite impressed with what I achieved although I was questioning my kernel hacking abilities at the beginning of the week. Solving cache coherency issues is only a step down from understanding how the kernels href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory>VM system works. I'm getting better at grokking the kernel every day ;-)</p>
<p>The snow fall during the week gave me a good chance to try out the ABS on the car. I was impressed on how well it works on snow although I didn't try braking around any corners as there where too many things to bump into around Levenshulme. I'm still thinking of upgrading the software on the car to support EPS. I wonder if I can apply the patch by hand?</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">However although the week has been pretty hard going I did get a chance to relax on Saturday night watching A Life Less Ordinary at some friends whilst being plied with various spirits. We were due to do the Sunday walk today but most of the usual suspects where working or had other commitments. Instead Katy came around to mine and spent</div>
<div class="line">the first part of the day watching me being domestic as I caught up the housework I've been neglecting recently. She in turn demonstrated her domestic talents by cooking a very nice meal. Now I'm either going to continue searching for my car paper work or slob in front of a DVD before tomorrow.</div>
</div>
Been a busy day today.2004-02-26T01:04:00+00:002004-02-26T01:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-26:/~alex/blog/2004/02/26/117/<p>Work has been very busy today. It promises to busy tomorrow. Must sleep now.</p>
Charlie don't surf...2004-02-23T13:20:00+00:002004-02-23T13:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-23:/~alex/blog/2004/02/23/116/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Seemed like a busy weekend, probably because I was working both days and tried to fit other stuff in. Friday night was a quiet night in with Katy although I wasn't massively talkative as my brain needed to flat-line a bit after href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Seemed like a busy weekend, probably because I was working both days and tried to fit other stuff in. Friday night was a quiet night in with Katy although I wasn't massively talkative as my brain needed to flat-line a bit after href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=114>Thursdays</div>
<div class="line">uber work session. We did marvel at <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1488890.stm">Louis
Theroux</a> and how he gets away with it. - I'm sure he puts a lot of the self-deprecating stuff on just so people are more relaxed around him.</div>
</div>
<p>Saturday involved a quick trip into work (bizarrely I got in earlier than I usually do during the week). I managed to make some progress which was good. I also discovered that it is possible to get substantially less than 300 miles to a tank of petrol. I must start to pay attention to the fuel economy display on my car when it heads towards single figures. Still its nice driving on empty roads on a bright spring day.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">On Saturday evening we went to see a play at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thelowry.com/">The Lowry</a>. I think the last play I saw was the Merchant of Venice last summer. This was the first contemporary play I've seen for some time. It was well done, funny and thought provoking. Its quite impressive what a small company can do (I think there where 5 actors) which a stage and a few props. Of course with my</div>
<div class="line">LARP background the suspension of disbelief with the sparsity of the stage wasn't a problem. About the only thing I can say against it was some of the story elements where quite compressed compared to what I remember, however thats probably more a problem with the medium than that particular adaptation.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sunday involved more work followed by catching up with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a> refugees at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fishermansretreat.com/site/index.php">Fisherman's
Retreat</a> near Ramsbottom. They had a very nice guest beer so I think I'll have to make sure we do the Ramsbottom walk next weekend so I can go and sample it again. Maybe I'll convince someone else to drive as well. After suitably re-stocking with food we headed back to mine to watch <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/">Apocalypse
Now Redux</a> which I'd bought recently. I was wondering if I'd enjoy the new footage given some of the comments made about the film dragging on as well as a discussion with Katy on how she preferred later films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket which has expanded and in her opinion improved on Apocalypse. The extra footage does add a fair bit to the film although generally making the whole thing even</div>
<div class="line">more surreal. I can see why they where dropped originally though as it did add significantly to the length of the film without adding to the plot. However the do add to the growing sense of insanity about the war which is probably the most important theme of the movie so on balance I think they where worth it. There is also a lot more footage</div>
<div class="line">at the end involving Kurtz and his conversion of Willard which makes it even more clear that Kurtz was in control at the end. After having watched it this weekend I'm still of the opinion that Apocalypse Now is a great film, enhanced by the additional footage and anyone who thinks otherwise about the film is IMHO wrong ;-)</div>
</div>
Standby for Culture...2004-02-20T17:18:00+00:002004-02-20T17:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-20:/~alex/blog/2004/02/20/115/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The better half is still feeling rough from whatever bugs are running rampage through her system. I can't get a refund for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thelowry.com/theatre/whatson/details.aspx?Show=1438">tickets</a></div>
<div class="line">but I've moved them to the last performance tomorrow. If we can't make it it would be a shame to let them go to waste so …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The better half is still feeling rough from whatever bugs are running rampage through her system. I can't get a refund for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thelowry.com/theatre/whatson/details.aspx?Show=1438">tickets</a></div>
<div class="line">but I've moved them to the last performance tomorrow. If we can't make it it would be a shame to let them go to waste so if anyone want to go on standby for them drop me a mail. I should know if we are going or not by lunchtime tomorrow.</div>
</div>
Work is good for the Soul?2004-02-20T13:17:00+00:002004-02-20T13:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-20:/~alex/blog/2004/02/20/114/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Left work ridiculously late last night (or more correctly this morning). I think I ceased to generate anything constructive around 10pm. Unfortunately I had to stay on as I was giving my boss a lift home and he didn't finish until much later. I filled the time by staring at …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Left work ridiculously late last night (or more correctly this morning). I think I ceased to generate anything constructive around 10pm. Unfortunately I had to stay on as I was giving my boss a lift home and he didn't finish until much later. I filled the time by staring at my computer screen until my head hurt. Once I got home a decided to</div>
<div class="line">unwind by watching next weeks episode of Angel. I think people will like it when its on. I've grown to like Wesley since his initial bumbling introduction to the BtVS, he seems to be emulating John Critchon from Farscape. There where also some hints towards long term plot. But I'll let you find out for yourself.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Picked up my latest drop from Amazon today. I brought Bomb the Basse's "Clear" purely to hear what the original "Bugpowder Dust" sounds like. Its an interesting album although I may have to listen to it a few times to form a decent opinion. I also have Norah Jones latest album.</div>
<div class="line">She's a classic example of an Artist I downloaded a load of tracks of and then proceeded to buy her album. I will report back later if the second album is as good as her first.</div>
</div>
<p>I'm off out culture tonight, going to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thelowry.com/theatre/whatson/details.aspx?Show=1438">The
Buddha of Suburbia</a> at the Lowry. Should be fun :-)</p>
The "What's in your collection" Meme2004-02-19T15:03:00+00:002004-02-19T15:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-19:/~alex/blog/2004/02/19/113/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Step 1: Open your <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vorbis.com/faq.psp#artist">OGG player.</a></div>
<div class="line">Step 2: Put all of your music on random.</div>
<div class="line">Step 3: Write down the first ten songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing.</div>
<div class="line">Step 4: Add commentary</div>
</div>
<p>Trivia: My current work HD has 27GB of music across 4688 tracks. I had to hack up …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Step 1: Open your <a class="reference external" href="http://www.vorbis.com/faq.psp#artist">OGG player.</a></div>
<div class="line">Step 2: Put all of your music on random.</div>
<div class="line">Step 3: Write down the first ten songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing.</div>
<div class="line">Step 4: Add commentary</div>
</div>
<p>Trivia: My current work HD has 27GB of music across 4688 tracks. I had to hack up a perl script to create a play list as <a class="reference external" href="http://www.xmms.org">XMMS</a> kept falling over parsing them all in at once.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Thats Life - Frank Sinatra</li>
<li>Yuko and Hiro - Blur</li>
<li>Waiting in Vain - Bob Marley</li>
<li>Ghostbusters Theme - Run DMC</li>
<li>Empty Spaces - Pink Floyd</li>
<li>Green Tambourine - The Lemon Pipers</li>
<li>Frozen - Madonna</li>
<li>The Thrill is Gone - BB King</li>
<li>Your Cheatin' Heart - Glen Campbell</li>
<li>Little Fluffy Clouds (Heavyweight Dub) - Orb</li>
</ol>
Sit down man, take control. You have a rush. It will pass2004-02-15T20:36:00+00:002004-02-15T20:36:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-15:/~alex/blog/2004/02/15/112/<p>Went to Maz's today to do plotting and planning for href=http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/>Maelstrom. I had planned to do some reading the night before but I managed to mislay the rules. The general premise involves Maz and I being "purveyors of rare herbs and fine powders" as …</p><p>Went to Maz's today to do plotting and planning for href=http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/>Maelstrom. I had planned to do some reading the night before but I managed to mislay the rules. The general premise involves Maz and I being "purveyors of rare herbs and fine powders" as part of a larger group. I enjoyed playing the craftsman based Perivale at Omega so I thought I would dabble in Alchemy this time. We are probably going in as part of a church group of which the Weaver looks like the most interesting (IMHO it favours our entrepreneurial approach). I need to write up some background and come up with a true name, which will be the tricky part. All looking good :-)</p>
Not the planned weekend2004-02-15T01:28:00+00:002004-02-15T01:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-15:/~alex/blog/2004/02/15/111/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was planning to go to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> this weekend but didn't quite make it. This was mainly due to having to work this weekend although I also had other <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/bacony/">distractions</a> that proved tempting. I feel vaguely guilty because I have missed a fair number of SoS events over the last …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was planning to go to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> this weekend but didn't quite make it. This was mainly due to having to work this weekend although I also had other <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/bacony/">distractions</a> that proved tempting. I feel vaguely guilty because I have missed a fair number of SoS events over the last few months and I do enjoy my LARP. I'm sure normal service will resume in due course - they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. The Maelstrom rules look interesting and I've been formulating a few ideas for characters. I'm meeting up with</div>
<div class="line">someone tomorrow to formulate a partners in enterprise scheme which should be laugh, I am drawing some inspiration from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/">Withnail and I</a> but that will be all the clues I'll give. I shall continue to digest the rules tonight while I get the chance ;-0</div>
</div>
See the size of my disk2004-02-13T13:46:00+00:002004-02-13T13:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-13:/~alex/blog/2004/02/13/110/<p>I deleted 8.5 Gigabytes of build files of my work machine yesterday. Either I'm mega-productive or a produce a load of crap ;-) Hmmm. However on the plus side the last few days at work have actually gone quite well. My worst case scenario has been disproved, the only real …</p><p>I deleted 8.5 Gigabytes of build files of my work machine yesterday. Either I'm mega-productive or a produce a load of crap ;-) Hmmm. However on the plus side the last few days at work have actually gone quite well. My worst case scenario has been disproved, the only real problem is I don't know what causes the symptoms I've been seeing. Still I guess thats what I get paid for.</p>
<p>I've ordered the remaining Pullman books today (Amazon it really easy to spend cash) along with some more music CD's. My CD collection really has been growing over the last year (after it getting decimated by scallies some years back). However this time I take careful care to rip them ASAP so I still have the music should I get robbed again.</p>
<p>I've managed to get as far as page 11 of the Maelstrom rules. Hopefully I'll of finished them by the time I see Maz on Sunday to discuss some character ideas.</p>
<p>This apparently random collection of factoids is a direct consequence of still being happily distracted ;-)</p>
Not the scheduled meme..2004-02-11T13:48:00+00:002004-02-11T13:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-11:/~alex/blog/2004/02/11/109/<p>I was going to post the details of my ever continuing war against spam and how I turn my trusty technological skills to the configuration of mail servers. However in the realisation that would bore the pants of pretty much everybody I know I'll just say too things:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">1. Some …</div></div><p>I was going to post the details of my ever continuing war against spam and how I turn my trusty technological skills to the configuration of mail servers. However in the realisation that would bore the pants of pretty much everybody I know I'll just say too things:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">1. Some scally twat has keyed the door in my car. I must kill something soon :-(</div>
<div class="line">2. The (rather heavy) <a class="reference external" href="http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/">Maelstrom</a> mail shot arrived today. I'm very impressed, and I'm no fan-boy.</div>
</div>
Fun?2004-02-10T14:51:00+00:002004-02-10T14:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-10:/~alex/blog/2004/02/10/108/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sheila has been pestering me and Lee to enter into the href=http://www.greatrun.org/events/registration.asp?id=17>Great</div>
<div class="line">Manchester Fun Run this year. In a moment of madness I said yes so I need to start doing some training. She assures me if I can get …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sheila has been pestering me and Lee to enter into the href=http://www.greatrun.org/events/registration.asp?id=17>Great</div>
<div class="line">Manchester Fun Run this year. In a moment of madness I said yes so I need to start doing some training. She assures me if I can get to the point of running 6km without dying I'll be fine (I can currently do about 1km). So I guess what I'm really saying is does anyone have any really good excuses I can use that don't make me sound like a lightweight?</div>
</div>
Good Weekend2004-02-09T01:28:00+00:002004-02-09T01:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-09:/~alex/blog/2004/02/09/107/<p>All in all its been an entertaining ride through the weekend. I can see life is doing its very best to throw a lot of surprises at me just to keep me on my toes. This is a good thing - after all who wants to be bored? I could tell …</p><p>All in all its been an entertaining ride through the weekend. I can see life is doing its very best to throw a lot of surprises at me just to keep me on my toes. This is a good thing - after all who wants to be bored? I could tell you stuff that happened but I'm pretty sure everyone else can provide more background and details than I can care to right now ;-)</p>
And I then project my aura...2004-02-07T18:55:00+00:002004-02-07T18:55:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-07:/~alex/blog/2004/02/07/106/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Nook's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.white-wolf.com/exalted/">Exalted</a> game was</div>
<div class="line">really good fun last night. It could of been due to the demolishing of a sizeable stock of wine rack or just because it was nice to get back into the flow of the game after such a long brake (basically most of December and January …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Nook's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.white-wolf.com/exalted/">Exalted</a> game was</div>
<div class="line">really good fun last night. It could of been due to the demolishing of a sizeable stock of wine rack or just because it was nice to get back into the flow of the game after such a long brake (basically most of December and January + a bit). I made an attempt at some improvised religious rhetoric and started a few fights and generally acted like a walking god. All good clean fun.</div>
</div>
<p>I am also exceptionally happy today - I'm sure all the people that need(?) to know will already know why or be informed soon.</p>
Tira Masseuse2004-02-06T13:31:00+00:002004-02-06T13:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-06:/~alex/blog/2004/02/06/105/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mattandphreds.com/index.htm">Matt and Phreds</a> last night (otherwise known as the Jazz Club) in an effort to re-create a previous outing that I was also apparently at. I approached the night with a little trepidation because I always seem to end up going to the Jazz club when they …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We went to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mattandphreds.com/index.htm">Matt and Phreds</a> last night (otherwise known as the Jazz Club) in an effort to re-create a previous outing that I was also apparently at. I approached the night with a little trepidation because I always seem to end up going to the Jazz club when they have some band who's idea of good Jazz included a solo for every band member every song. Luckily</div>
<div class="line">for me the band last night, Simon Mulcaster's Touch, where actually quite good. It was all instrumental stuff (Guitar, Electric Bass, Drums and Keyboard) with a hint of funk thrown in. Even the one drum solo didn't grate that badly. The evening was complimented by a selection of cocktails and a bottle of champagne. We even got given a rather strong coffee tasting cocktail that needed naming. Although it</div>
<div class="line">took 4 of us to actually drink it we did succeed in coming up with the name Tira Masseuse (because href=http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/>Tiramisu has a coffee flavour or something). The management seemed to like the name though and proclaimed thats what they would call it. I will have to check next time I go there. All in all a very agreeable night.</div>
</div>
<p>Of course it could of just been the company ;-)</p>
Picture perfect2004-02-05T13:29:00+00:002004-02-05T13:29:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-05:/~alex/blog/2004/02/05/104/<p>I felt slightly guilty after avoiding the traffic jam on the M62 last night I took a slightly more scenic route home although I must point out it was dark so I probably mean more windy than scenic :-). However by the time I got to Manchester it became clear I …</p><p>I felt slightly guilty after avoiding the traffic jam on the M62 last night I took a slightly more scenic route home although I must point out it was dark so I probably mean more windy than scenic :-). However by the time I got to Manchester it became clear I wasn't going to get to the gym <strong>and</strong> make the allocated beta test time. A dilemma ensued because going to the gym is good for me while clocking up hours on the beta test is just a way of getting more free network games sent to me which I play occasionally. To help swing the argument I decided the twinge in my thigh from Monday probably wouldn't be aided by any running on it so I skipped the gym. Now normally I wouldn't feel too guilty about this because I aim for 2.5 trips per week (to account for the fact I often skip Fridays in lieu of going out clubbing or LARPing). However I've got people coming around early Friday evening so I had better go swimming tomorrow lunchtime or I'll of been really bad this week.</p>
<p>On a more positive note I did process (i.e. rotate and resize) a bunch of piccies last night. So for your enjoyment I present my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Holidays/Skiing%202004">holiday
snaps</a> and a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Friends%20and%20Family/Chris%20Birthday%202004">bunch
of piss heads</a> ;-)</p>
Advice please :-p2004-02-04T17:07:00+00:002004-02-04T17:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-04:/~alex/blog/2004/02/04/103/<p>Just received this piece of spam which made me laugh. Now how many people do you think are going to fall for this one?</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal">Subject: Trojan horse is on your PC From: 8X@rogler.org Date: Wed, February 4, 2004 15:49 To: xxxx@bennee.com hello, I am from …</tt></p><p>Just received this piece of spam which made me laugh. Now how many people do you think are going to fall for this one?</p>
<p><tt class="docutils literal">Subject: Trojan horse is on your PC From: 8X@rogler.org Date: Wed, February 4, 2004 15:49 To: xxxx@bennee.com hello, I am from Austria and you'll don't believe me, but a trojan horse in on your computer. I've scanned the <span class="pre">network-ports</span> on the internet. (I know, that's illegal) And I have found your pc. Your pc is open on the internet for everybody! Because the services.exe trojan is running on your system. Check this, open the task manager and try to stop that! You'll see, you can't stop this trojan. When you use win98/me you can't see the trojan!! On my system was this trojan, too! And I've found a tool to kill that bad thing. I hope that I've helped you! Sorry for my bad english! greets Attachments: <span class="pre">remove-services-patch.exe</span></tt></p>
Media2004-02-04T14:21:00+00:002004-02-04T14:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-04:/~alex/blog/2004/02/04/102/<p>Spent this morning dumping about half a gigabytes worth of pictures out of my digital camera. If I'm not at the gym too long tonight I should get most of the pictures up by the end of the day. However I did run into troubles getting stuff of my card …</p><p>Spent this morning dumping about half a gigabytes worth of pictures out of my digital camera. If I'm not at the gym too long tonight I should get most of the pictures up by the end of the day. However I did run into troubles getting stuff of my card from my visit to New Orleans. Reading the flash itself seemed to be consistent so I dumped the whole thing to a file. Unfortunately it seems the (FAT based) file system is a little fubar. Hopefully I'll be able to recover the data though but if anyone can suggest any good FAT recovery tools please drop me a line.</p>
<p>Oh and much as I cam be critical about some of the mistakes the BBC made in <strong>one</strong> report I'd still happily trust their word over anything to come out of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page1.asp">here</a>. And given that I pay 234 pounds a year to Murdoch and friends so I can watch a few US shows early I don't feel as though I can complain about the 116 pounds a year for a service I use much much more than Sky.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bloggerheads.com/bbc/">Click here to find out why.</a></p>
Dream a little dream2004-02-03T14:37:00+00:002004-02-03T14:37:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-03:/~alex/blog/2004/02/03/101/<p>When you start dreaming about widget libraries its probably a que to start examining your life priorities. For reasons that I won't go into here I have started to dream again (or probably more correctly remember my dreams). For some people their dreams give them deep insights into their lives …</p><p>When you start dreaming about widget libraries its probably a que to start examining your life priorities. For reasons that I won't go into here I have started to dream again (or probably more correctly remember my dreams). For some people their dreams give them deep insights into their lives. Others may find their mind just flashes random scenes that are vaguely associated with the previous days activities. I seem to spend a depressing amount of time dreaming about code. Back when I was young this wasn't so bad, my mind would often be subconsciously working on problems overnight and I'd wake up in the morning with new ideas to try to solve a particular problem. However back then the main differences where that a) I didn't dream of code all the time and b) it was actually quite handy. Maybe I'm not that upset I dreamt about code last night and more because what I dreamt didn't actually solve any of the problems I'm currently trying to fix.</p>
Digital Activism in action2004-02-02T18:13:00+00:002004-02-02T18:13:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-02:/~alex/blog/2004/02/02/100/<p>I was minded to send a comment to BBC online after reading <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3449931.stm">this story</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<em>Your story about the DDoS attack on SCO has the phrase "The company -
which owns the Unix operating system" referring to SCO. While SCO are
indeed a Unix vendor and sell their own version of Unix …</em></blockquote><p>I was minded to send a comment to BBC online after reading <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3449931.stm">this story</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<em>Your story about the DDoS attack on SCO has the phrase "The company -
which owns the Unix operating system" referring to SCO. While SCO are
indeed a Unix vendor and sell their own version of Unix the claim to own
"The Unix OS" is the subject of much controversy (and a few lawsuits).
The people who most correctly can be said to represent the whole Unix
family are the Open Group (http://www.opengroup.org/) who own the
trademarks and certify the variety of different flavors of Unix out
there.</em></blockquote>
<p>The BBC responded by this afternoon with a nice quick reply:</p>
<blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In 1994 Novell transferred the rights to the Unix trademark and the</div>
<div class="line">specification to The Open Group. Simultaneously, it sold the source code</div>
<div class="line">and the product implementation to SCO.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">To the lay reader, there may not be much in it between saying "owns the</div>
<div class="line">Unix operating system" and "owns the source code of the Unix operating</div>
<div class="line">system." But I appreciate there is a difference and have amended the</div>
<div class="line">story accordingly.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Who says I never achieved anything :-)</p>
So dirty you can taste it!2004-02-02T14:56:00+00:002004-02-02T14:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-02-02:/~alex/blog/2004/02/02/99/<p>I've had yet another relaxing weekend in the countryside visiting friends. We didn't do much apart from get fed, drink wine, and generally chill. Although the benefits of Artex where missing from my friends new house they did make up for it by truly being in the middle of nowhere …</p><p>I've had yet another relaxing weekend in the countryside visiting friends. We didn't do much apart from get fed, drink wine, and generally chill. Although the benefits of Artex where missing from my friends new house they did make up for it by truly being in the middle of nowhere. I think I heard 1 car pass somewhere nearby over the entire weekend. If it wasn't for the distinct lack of any rural broadband I'd be moving to the countryside right now *sigh*.</p>
<p>Of course all this refined living does have its disadvantages. When I first got out of Lee's car back home I could taste the local air. It's a kind of heavy metallic taste. The taste hung around for about 2 hours before my senses where battered into their usual subdued Mancunian mode. Unfortunately I'm quite aware that whatever that taste was its still there, and probably not doing me much good either.</p>
<p>My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003RFD/ref=sr_aps_music_1_2/202-1719281-2392616">KLF</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000007NWE/qid=1075730048/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/202-1719281-2392616">Shamen</a> CD's arrived today. I'm going all Old Skool ;-)</p>
Numb Arse2004-01-30T11:26:00+00:002004-01-30T11:26:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-30:/~alex/blog/2004/01/30/98/<p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/lastsamurai/">The Last Samurai</a> last night. It was very good and I enjoyed it immensely - certainly one for a possible future DVD purchase. It is a long film, luckily the training my arse has had from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy helped. As a side note …</p><p>I went to see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/lastsamurai/">The Last Samurai</a> last night. It was very good and I enjoyed it immensely - certainly one for a possible future DVD purchase. It is a long film, luckily the training my arse has had from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy helped. As a side note the AMC seems to have a policy of a few trailers followed by the film which is noticeably different from UCI's ad-fest. Considering the parking is free and its just down the road I may have to watch more films there.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The premise of the story is nothing new, its your standard person goes native in another culture type thing. However the film work is breathtaking - if I go to Japan I'd certainly be looking to go into the countryside instead of the crowded cities. I enjoyed the sword work although I'm sure more devote followers of the form may be more critical. Although the film is long (over 2 hours) it didn't feel</div>
<div class="line">labored at any point (which bits of LoTR did IMHO). There where a few cheesy lines in the dialogue but they where handled well. Even the python-esque resonances in the ending didn't detract from my enjoyment. My only possible gripe is the last scene could of been cut without adversely affecting the film. See this film :-)</div>
</div>
Books Etc...2004-01-29T14:00:00+00:002004-01-29T14:00:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-29:/~alex/blog/2004/01/29/97/<p>I finished <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/184195392X/qid=1075379356/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/202-1719281-2392616">Life of Pi</a> while on holiday. I must say I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did considering I'm usually a Sci-Fi/Fantasy man. While my main staple books concentrate on following plot this reminded me that books are good for discussing ideas as well …</p><p>I finished <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/184195392X/qid=1075379356/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/202-1719281-2392616">Life of Pi</a> while on holiday. I must say I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did considering I'm usually a Sci-Fi/Fantasy man. While my main staple books concentrate on following plot this reminded me that books are good for discussing ideas as well. I've come to the conclusion I really should make an effort to become a little more widely read (but as of yet I'm not going to re-attempt any Dickens :-)</p>
<p>I've moved onto <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0439994128/qid=1075379851/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_18_1/202-1719281-2392616">Northern
Lights</a> which is Philip Pullman's exercise in children's fiction. Although billed as a competitor to Harry Potter its a lot more adult and deals with darker issues from the outset (which to its credit the later Harry Potters do as well - I assume as the audience matures with the books). One problem I have with books set in alternative worlds is understanding the terminology and relationships every thing has. I like to know in advance where daemons come from and what anabaric fields are meant to be. Of course as Dave pointed out to me earlier this week this sort of info-dump approach is not really conducive to good writing style. I guess its just the scientist in me getting frustrated when I don't fully understand what's going on. Having said that Pullman does a pretty good job in bringing in these facts in as part of the narrative of the story in a way that lends to your growing realisation of what's going on. I suspect by the time I finish the first book reading the next two will be a lot easier given a good grounding in his world. The next two are already in my Amazon shopping basket in case you where wondering if I'm enjoying the book :-)</p>
Back to life, back to reality....2004-01-27T15:08:00+00:002004-01-27T15:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-27:/~alex/blog/2004/01/27/96/<p>Well back home (and therefor at work) now. Although I kept briefly up-to date with my email on holiday (as I updated my blog) I still have a raft of stuff to get through at work. I also needed to get up-to speed on what had been happening in the …</p><p>Well back home (and therefor at work) now. Although I kept briefly up-to date with my email on holiday (as I updated my blog) I still have a raft of stuff to get through at work. I also needed to get up-to speed on what had been happening in the SCO case. I'm thinking of running a book on how many different companies they can <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040120193211907">sue</a> before they run out of money/hours in the day. I note they still haven't made good on their threat to sue an end user - however I'm not exactly surprised. The fact they href=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040124084105108>failed to provide satisfactory discovery in their case against IBM looks like the beginning of the end. Of course in legal terms that could still take months. However one other thing I have noticed is the press are starting to treat them with more skepticism, hopefully this means after crying wolf so many times they are starting to lose the PR battle.</p>
The Race2004-01-24T14:24:00+00:002004-01-24T14:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-24:/~alex/blog/2004/01/24/95/<p>I?ve just got back from the big race at Kitzbuehel which was a new experience. One of the instructors told me that you know the result after the first 20 to 25 people have come down. However we hung on until the end. In fact it was something like …</p><p>I?ve just got back from the big race at Kitzbuehel which was a new experience. One of the instructors told me that you know the result after the first 20 to 25 people have come down. However we hung on until the end. In fact it was something like the 33rd runner (and last Austrian) who <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/super_league/3426113.stm">won the race</a>. Needless to say it was a popular win with the large home crowd who are still celebrating around the town. For those who want to know he made it down the 4.3km course in 1 min 55.48 seconds. The average speed of 134 Km/hr puts my rather pathetic terminal velocity of yesterday in perspective ;-)</p>
<p>See you all soon!</p>
Speed Demon2004-01-23T17:17:00+00:002004-01-23T17:17:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-23:/~alex/blog/2004/01/23/94/<p>Last nights attempt to go out failed with a whimper as I read my current book (?The Life of Pi?) in bed before getting thrashed at scrabble by my parents in the hotel bar. However it did mean I got a good nights sleep and woke up fully rested for …</p><p>Last nights attempt to go out failed with a whimper as I read my current book (?The Life of Pi?) in bed before getting thrashed at scrabble by my parents in the hotel bar. However it did mean I got a good nights sleep and woke up fully rested for the last days skiing.</p>
<p>We went up to the Kitzbuheler Horn on the other side of the town today. It doesn?t have as many runs as the main ski area but that has its advantages. We assumed the rest of the ski area would be packed as a result of the Hahnenkamm races on the other side of the valley. The skiing was easy as the pistes where well prepared and not many people about to avoid. The sun was out so it was a wonderful clear day and I was able to get some very nice photos looking down into the valley and up into the mountains.</p>
<p>They have a couple of interesting features on the ski area. One is a set of jumps, not super high but enough to provide a challenge. I managed to wipe-out once but that makes my grand total for the week 2 wipeouts and a couple of ungraceful stops. Not bad after 12 years or so without skiing. The other little toy was a speed trap on a nice long downhill track. I managed to clock a top speed of 71 km/h which was fast enough for me :-)</p>
<p>As I mentioned there is a big downhill race event in Kitzbuhel over the next few days so the town has become pretty packed. There are outdoor bars and the like dotted around and the square has been filling up since we got back. I?m defiantly out tonight as I don?t need to be up too early tomorrow. Luckily I also get most of the morning before my transfer to the airport so I might try and catch some of the race before my flight. See you all soon, I?ll be back in Manchester tomorrow evening and luckily with my winter kit ;-)</p>
Solo2004-01-22T17:46:00+00:002004-01-22T17:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-22:/~alex/blog/2004/01/22/93/<p>Well yesterday morning was obviously the exception that proved the rule. Last night I trekked down to the local with a few people I?d met to be greater by 2 Geordies with guitars and a sequencer. They played a selection of 80?s and 90?s tracks (from Ultravox …</p><p>Well yesterday morning was obviously the exception that proved the rule. Last night I trekked down to the local with a few people I?d met to be greater by 2 Geordies with guitars and a sequencer. They played a selection of 80?s and 90?s tracks (from Ultravox to U2 to Robbie) and where actually quite good. They asked the audience for requests and they scored 50/50 on mine (they did a bit of Floyd?s Money, but dismissed the Happy Mondays as ?only for pill heads? ;-)</p>
<p>I skipped school today to go and explore the mountain and get some piccies as the weather had cleared up. I managed to lose my parents after about 30 seconds (?I?ll go and do some warm up runs round the corner drag lift? translated to ?stand by the rope lift back to the gondola and I?ll be waiting for you there?). I stuck mainly to blue runs because I was out to enjoy myself rather than work to hard. I ended on a nice little red run back into Kitzb?hel which I got several good pictures from, available on a website near you soon.</p>
<p>They next few evenings should be interesting as the town is now in full race mode (a big downhill and Supper-G slalom race). I?m off out celeb spotting ;-)</p>
Who?s the Daddy?2004-01-21T21:18:00+00:002004-01-21T21:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-21:/~alex/blog/2004/01/21/92/<p>I woke up today without a hangover which was novel experience on this holiday. The new experience was only slightly dented by the hasty trek across town for a slightly earlier start to ski school. It snowed again last night and was lightly snowing during the day again. The visibility …</p><p>I woke up today without a hangover which was novel experience on this holiday. The new experience was only slightly dented by the hasty trek across town for a slightly earlier start to ski school. It snowed again last night and was lightly snowing during the day again. The visibility was a little varied but the wind was icy cold. I believe it was around ?10 C. I thought the instructor was taking it easy with us given the easy blue runs we started on but it soon got more interesting. With the fresh snow we did several runs through virgin powder snow. After I cheated on the first one (by going in a straight line) I started to get the hang of it. My muscles didn?t complain as much as yesterday which either means my technique is getting better or they are just getting more used to the exercise.</p>
<p>Once I got back from the skiing I went on a brief excursion tobogganing. The course runs to about 1.8km so its quite a long run. It was fun mastering the advanced control system (stick out left or right leg to steer). I would of done a record time on my second run had I not been slowed down by the one in front of me. I may get the pictures up on the site if they are any good (and I don?t look a complete loon ;-)</p>
<p>Usual holiday greetings apply :-)</p>
Now you see it now you don?t2004-01-20T17:56:00+00:002004-01-20T17:56:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-20:/~alex/blog/2004/01/20/91/<p>Got through the pub-crawl last night by application of my iron will and pacing myself. It was however complicated by having to drink a shot of a different local foul spirit as we entered each bar. Luckily I managed to make it to the start of the lesson although I …</p><p>Got through the pub-crawl last night by application of my iron will and pacing myself. It was however complicated by having to drink a shot of a different local foul spirit as we entered each bar. Luckily I managed to make it to the start of the lesson although I?m defiantly having an early night tonight!</p>
<p>To make up for yesterdays clear skies we had about a load of new snow dumped during the night. It was snowing for most of the day although the visibility was better than Sunday. Now fresh powder snow is something that skiers always talk about. However it does have a few disadvantages. The first is your skis keep disappearing under the top layer so you just have to keep faith that they are still there doing their job. It does get a lot harder to turn when the skis are buried. The second disadvantage is the virgin snowfields don?t stay nice clear runs that long. As people do their turns they start leaving big piles of snow (known as moguls) dotted around the piste. If you miss-time your turns you end up going over these piles and it tends to throw you off balance. Its very hard work especially if your technique isn?t up to laser sharp turning accuracy. It was a hard days ski today although it seems my muscles are getting used to it as I?m no longer in agony every day. Despite this it always feels good to take the ski boots of at the end of the day (bit like chain mail really but for your feet ;-)</p>
<p>The instructor mentioned the possibility of doing the Ski Safari tomorrow. The Safari is a massive trek of around 35km?s worth of skiing. Should be fun (but tiring). Hopefully if the weather is clearer I can get some pictures to make you all jealous with :-p</p>
<p>Wish you where here ? and yes I mean it! Anyone up for skiing next year?</p>
I can see clearly now2004-01-19T17:44:00+00:002004-01-19T17:44:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-19:/~alex/blog/2004/01/19/90/<p>Today has been fantastic weather which made up for the near zero visibility we had yesterday. I should of taken my camera with me but as I was only slightly hungover from the previous night I didn?t think about it in time. Hopefully we shall have a few more …</p><p>Today has been fantastic weather which made up for the near zero visibility we had yesterday. I should of taken my camera with me but as I was only slightly hungover from the previous night I didn?t think about it in time. Hopefully we shall have a few more clear days and I can get some nice piccies.</p>
<p>The skiing has been getting easier although I still have loads of bad habits I need to break. The only two falls I?ve had so far have been more due to me not planning where I should be in 5 seconds time than any failure to stay on the skis. Our instructor took us down a black run today so I feel a real sense of accomplishment. It wasn?t the worlds hardest black as it was quite wide, it was however very steep ? the sort of ?don?t look down? steep. Things are still aching but hopefully I?m getting fitter as a result.</p>
<p>Last night I did a quick tour of the town. It has some very nice walkways which houses face onto. Everything is covered with a nice crisp layer of fresh snow. The whole thing just screams Winter Wonderland as you. I visited one of the bars which was hosting a Karaoke evening complete with some awful singing. I?d only intended to stop by for the one but met up with lads from Birmingham who brought me a drink so I was obligated to get a round in return. I spent a while chatting to some of the reps who where complaining about how hard their job was spending the whole season in this beautiful town and also being ski guides having to spend time skiing around the place. All they could do in the evening was drink and get slaughtered. I gave them no sympathy ;-) I also got introduced to the local foul spirit which is what I reckon tipped me over the edge. I eventually made it to bed by 2.30 in the morning. Tonight it?s the pub crawl. Lord save me from myself ;-)</p>
<p>Wish you where here, yadda yadda</p>
Winter Wonderland2004-01-18T21:54:00+00:002004-01-18T21:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-18:/~alex/blog/2004/01/18/89/<p>Got to Kitzbuhl last night and promptly started on the fine beer before colapsing into bed. Its a lovely place as its actually a town that has then developed into a Ski resort so it not like the souless french resorts. I have even spotted a nice kit shop which …</p><p>Got to Kitzbuhl last night and promptly started on the fine beer before colapsing into bed. Its a lovely place as its actually a town that has then developed into a Ski resort so it not like the souless french resorts. I have even spotted a nice kit shop which I may have to peruse later :-)</p>
<p>I had weird dreams last night of much falling when skiing, probably as I havn?t been skiing for over 10 years. As it happend I got my skis and headed over to the ski school hopeing to get a bit of practice in. I didn?t even get a chance to warm up before my first assement run to select which class I should go in. Luckily it seemed to come back to me and I managed to go through the whole morning without going ass over tit, which was nice even if a little unexpected. I only fell (or rather sat down in a I?m running out of space for this turn momeent) once in the afternoon although my technique is squite sloppy. The instructer keeps telling me to lean forward and bend the knees. All in all a good first day although my muscles are starting to complain at me. Hopefully it will get easier during the week.</p>
<p>I must get some photo?s when its clear. This place is beautiful. Hope everyone is ok, wish you where here, etc ;-)</p>
Go Team :-)2004-01-16T09:04:00+00:002004-01-16T09:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-16:/~alex/blog/2004/01/16/88/<p>Well it only took about an hour and 3 people (Me, Glyn and Dave on Electrics, sound like a band eh :-) ). The hardest part was removing the old unit as the nuts securing the old pump had rusted on. After a little gentle persuasion we eventually succeeded in removing the …</p><p>Well it only took about an hour and 3 people (Me, Glyn and Dave on Electrics, sound like a band eh :-) ). The hardest part was removing the old unit as the nuts securing the old pump had rusted on. After a little gentle persuasion we eventually succeeded in removing the old unit. Fitting and priming the new unit took about 10 minutes in total. We now have restored heating and Glyn won't freeze the next week and a bit while I'm off skiing. The irony ;-)</p>
<p>I've got a pub crawl to attend tomorrow so I had better make sure everything is packed when I get back from work. Luckily the flight is in the afternoon so everything should be fine. A good ending to the week!</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>UPDATE:</strong> Minor heart attack this morning when Glyn knocked on my door to say the heating was off and there was no hot water. I went down into the cellar half expecting to find the floor flooded and with the pump hanging of the wall. Luckily(?) it was just the boiler had gone out which I re-lit. Hopefully it was just an unrelated thing - fingers</div>
<div class="line">crossed!</div>
</div>
Karma's a bitch2004-01-15T00:43:00+00:002004-01-15T00:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-15:/~alex/blog/2004/01/15/87/<p>I had a plan for the week. It involved doing an introduction to meditation course tonight, followed by seeing a film with a friend tomorrow and a pub crawl on Friday before flying off on my holiday on Saturday.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Instead I ended up working until 8 in the evening, getting …</div></div><p>I had a plan for the week. It involved doing an introduction to meditation course tonight, followed by seeing a film with a friend tomorrow and a pub crawl on Friday before flying off on my holiday on Saturday.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Instead I ended up working until 8 in the evening, getting home to spend an hour diagnosing faults with my central heating system (it seems my pump has gone). So tomorrow I get to do another long day before shelling out a chunk of cash for a new pump and spending another fun filled evening replacing it. Oh and some point I need to dig out the paperwork for the flight and pack some bags. Its going to</div>
<div class="line">one of those weeks :-(</div>
</div>
Have I just been phone spammed?2004-01-13T13:16:00+00:002004-01-13T13:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-13:/~alex/blog/2004/01/13/86/<p>Odd thing just happened. I got a missed call on my mobile from a number I didn't recognise (07090 203810). The prefix 07090 is used for personal numbering. Its odd because I get a solid 5 bar signal at the office so the only way I could miss the call …</p><p>Odd thing just happened. I got a missed call on my mobile from a number I didn't recognise (07090 203810). The prefix 07090 is used for personal numbering. Its odd because I get a solid 5 bar signal at the office so the only way I could miss the call is if they rung and hung up before my ring tone kicked in. I called back and got re-directed to a recording of background music. I hung up quick because I have no idea how much the call was costing. I'm wondering if this comes up in the list of scams along with texting people a "You've won, text back to claim prize" variety. If only the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact_ofcom/tel_issues/">Ofcom site</a> wasn't so crap. So can I be arsed taking this up with my mobile provider? I guess its what scammers rely on.</p>
Today's the Day2004-01-13T12:46:00+00:002004-01-13T12:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-13:/~alex/blog/2004/01/13/85/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.sco.com">SCO</a> are due to hand over the <em>"evidence"</em> of IP Infringement to IBM. Unfortunately it will probably be some time before we get an idea of what it is they are complaining about. However given the quality of their <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/64207/">last submission</a> I'm not holding my breath. As ever the excellent …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.sco.com">SCO</a> are due to hand over the <em>"evidence"</em> of IP Infringement to IBM. Unfortunately it will probably be some time before we get an idea of what it is they are complaining about. However given the quality of their <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/64207/">last submission</a> I'm not holding my breath. As ever the excellent href=http://www.groklaw.net/index.php>Groklaw site is covering the legal maneuverings as they happen. Expect any details on the case to appear there first. It was also nice to see the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.osdl.org/newsroom/press_releases/2004/2004_01_12_beaverton.html">OSDL</a></div>
<div class="line">step up and offer legal cover. I wonder if SCO will make good on their threat to sue someone by the end of the month - they've missed their own deadlines before ;-)</div>
</div>
Rob Dougan - Furious Angels2004-01-12T19:07:00+00:002004-01-12T19:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-12:/~alex/blog/2004/01/12/84/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Mmm, I no music critic but I thought I'd give it a go. You may want to listen to the album first (or ignore me :-) so the review is behind the link.The first thing I realised when I started listening to the tracks was I've been missing out on …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Mmm, I no music critic but I thought I'd give it a go. You may want to listen to the album first (or ignore me :-) so the review is behind the link.The first thing I realised when I started listening to the tracks was I've been missing out on the vocals. While the title track is remembered for being some background music in the Matrix the actual lyrics turn it into a powerfully dark song. Dougan's gravelly voice it quite distinctive so you not talking about ethereal dance music here. In fact parts reminded me more of VNV Nation. Although he is obviously a</div>
<div class="line">orchestra fan as evidenced by most of his tracks I don't feel he has over done its use (of course I'm a classical music fan as well so maybe I'm biased). The songs obviously mean something to him if the angry passion he sings "Left Me for Dead" is heartfelt. In fact the sleeve notes list his various inspirations for most of the tracks which I found refreshing - this is no 2 love songs and a power ballad</div>
<div class="line">album. Angsty types should enjoy the track "Speed me to Death", unless he's a big Gaiman fan :-)</div>
</div>
<p>People that where expecting more of the power dance from the Matrix may be disappointed although the bonus instrumental disc and videos may make up for it. There is also an alternate version of Clubbed to Death as the last track on the main CD which offers a fresh perspective.</p>
<p>For me it was worth the ?7.99 I paid for it href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009V3OB/ref=sr_aps_music_1_1/202-1719281-2392616>here</p>
Clue-bat day2004-01-12T11:57:00+00:002004-01-12T11:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-12:/~alex/blog/2004/01/12/83/<p>Got the details of my ski insurance today. Unfortunately the details where in MS Word format (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=25">see
previous rant</a>). *sigh*. Eventually they will learn.</p>
<p>My Rob Dougan CD arrived today. I think even the EBM people will like it but I'm only halfway through listening to it so I'll reserve …</p><p>Got the details of my ski insurance today. Unfortunately the details where in MS Word format (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=25">see
previous rant</a>). *sigh*. Eventually they will learn.</p>
<p>My Rob Dougan CD arrived today. I think even the EBM people will like it but I'm only halfway through listening to it so I'll reserve my full judgment until later.</p>
Every muscle in my body protests!2004-01-12T00:54:00+00:002004-01-12T00:54:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-12:/~alex/blog/2004/01/12/82/<p>So following on from Gillian's bash on Friday night I struggled out of bed at some point on Saturday to head into town. I gave my credit card monkey a serious spanking getting bits and pieces for skiing next week. I also brought some more fiction, although I made an …</p><p>So following on from Gillian's bash on Friday night I struggled out of bed at some point on Saturday to head into town. I gave my credit card monkey a serious spanking getting bits and pieces for skiing next week. I also brought some more fiction, although I made an effort to avoid sci-fi/fantasy this time. I even brought one based on hearing about it on Radio 4. If I'm not careful I'll be joining reading circles next ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After getting back from town I settled down for a bit of SOCOM II before Sam and Mike turned up in preparation for Sams birthday bash. Once we got to the pub and started drinking Speckled Hen I realised it was in fact the strongest ale there - for some reason I thought it was</div>
<div class="line">the Directors. Having over budgeted on my alcohol for the night the rest of the night went very well. Much fun was had by all. Things happened including Andy apparently flirting with me (I didn't notice but the affor mentioned OSH may of accounted for that). I danced like a lunatic again (my style is unique, apparently Gillian has pictures from Friday) - although the floor was treacherously slippy. Eventually retired back to my place by about 3.30 remembering to set my alarm for 8.30 in the morning to get ready for the walk.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I struggled awake on Sunday morning for our now regular Sunday Constitutional. I was feeling slightly nostalgic for my old Sunday walks when me and Anne just did a circuit around the local park stopping halfway through for a cold beer and a smoke. Nowadays we walk *real* distance over hills and other such obstacles. It was a good hike that got the blood going and the weather was generally good although it is probably more correctly described as bracing. The</div>
<div class="line">scenery however was great. We could see <a class="reference external" href="http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/">Jodrell Bank</a> in the distance as we climbed up and down a bunch of hills. The promised pub at the end seemed to elude us so we went to the Eggerton Arms near Mufi's for our post walk lunch - this of course being an integral part of the walking experience. :-)</div>
</div>
<p>Finally returned home when the hordes descended. Played a couple of rounds of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/munchkin/game/">Munchkin and
Munchkin Fu</a> before everyone headed home. Got a chance to catch up with Lee afterwards where we bemoaned the fact our weeks had booked up very quickly, leaving me with little time to actually pack for the flight out. Phew...</p>
<p>I hope everyone else had a suitably rewarding weekend. I'm going to sleep now. Alex out. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz</p>
Dude, where is my head?2004-01-10T11:02:00+00:002004-01-10T11:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-10:/~alex/blog/2004/01/10/81/<p>Went out to Gillian's birthday bash last night. It was a good night although everything hurts now. I met a few new people, apologised to a few others (from Wendyhouse ;-) and generally was social. I'm sure the manic dancing will more than make up for the lack of Gym yesterday …</p><p>Went out to Gillian's birthday bash last night. It was a good night although everything hurts now. I met a few new people, apologised to a few others (from Wendyhouse ;-) and generally was social. I'm sure the manic dancing will more than make up for the lack of Gym yesterday. I've got to do it all again tonight for Sam's do at Rock Kitchen and then I'm walking tomorrow. What happened to those lazy weekends in?</p>
All work and no play2004-01-09T18:22:00+00:002004-01-09T18:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-09:/~alex/blog/2004/01/09/80/<p>In theory. Got the tickets for my skiing holiday at the end of next week. The problem with knowing I'm off on holiday again combined with having tricky programming problems to deal with is its hard for me to get into my coding <em>"zone"</em>. And if I'm not in the …</p><p>In theory. Got the tickets for my skiing holiday at the end of next week. The problem with knowing I'm off on holiday again combined with having tricky programming problems to deal with is its hard for me to get into my coding <em>"zone"</em>. And if I'm not in the <em>zone</em> coding is seems very much like repeatedly smashing my head into a solid concrete wall. Frustrating.</p>
<p>The no play thing is a little bit of a misnomer as well. It seems a lot of people get born around this time (joys of spring?) so I've got 4 separate birthday celebrations to attend either side of my holiday. This isn't helping my post New Year detox program, still if I only have 1 or 2 beers I'll be fine ;-)</p>
Threads and such2004-01-07T13:24:00+00:002004-01-07T13:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-07:/~alex/blog/2004/01/07/79/<p>I cooked for <em>The Meal</em><strong>tm</strong> last night. It seemed to go quite well although my attempts at shifting the left over snack-age from NYE as some sort of starter where quickly spotted. I'm glad I didn't fall back on one of my standard meals and tried something new. I …</p><p>I cooked for <em>The Meal</em><strong>tm</strong> last night. It seemed to go quite well although my attempts at shifting the left over snack-age from NYE as some sort of starter where quickly spotted. I'm glad I didn't fall back on one of my standard meals and tried something new. I now know what capers are ;-)</p>
<p>I found a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html">thought
provoking</a> essay yesterday. It reminded me of why I am in fact a scientist at heart and why it was a good thing I did Chemistry as my degree and not Computing.</p>
<p>New years resolution #n: Actually learn LISP (instead of just <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/src/dotfiles/dotemacs?rev=1.12&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup">hacking
some up</a>)</p>
What I mean by Free Software?2004-01-06T13:28:00+00:002004-01-06T13:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-06:/~alex/blog/2004/01/06/78/<p>I was reading an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newsforge.com/software/04/01/05/1146229.shtml?tid=150&tid=82">article
by rms</a> (to non tech heads <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard M Stallman</a>, father of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>) asking what next for the "community". Its worth a read if you've ever wandered why I ignore suggestions to <em>"download wibbletech for free from the web site"</em>.</p>
<p>Now I'm by …</p><p>I was reading an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newsforge.com/software/04/01/05/1146229.shtml?tid=150&tid=82">article
by rms</a> (to non tech heads <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard M Stallman</a>, father of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>) asking what next for the "community". Its worth a read if you've ever wandered why I ignore suggestions to <em>"download wibbletech for free from the web site"</em>.</p>
<p>Now I'm by no means as left wing as RMS. I after all write proprietary and free software. However when it comes to the software I run on <strong>my</strong> machine I like to know that I can examine it and tweak it if I want to. Thats the freedom I'm referring to when I talk about Free Software.</p>
<p>In other news I've managed to weigh less post Christmas for the second year in a row. Go me ;-)</p>
Reality strikes2004-01-05T13:24:00+00:002004-01-05T13:24:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-05:/~alex/blog/2004/01/05/77/<p>This morning was a bit of an effort. Despite going to bed early in preparation and jumping straight into the shower this morning after my alarm went off I was still late leaving the house. Still I work flexible(ish) hours so don't feel to bad for me :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Yesterday I …</div></div><p>This morning was a bit of an effort. Despite going to bed early in preparation and jumping straight into the shower this morning after my alarm went off I was still late leaving the house. Still I work flexible(ish) hours so don't feel to bad for me :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Yesterday I went for a nice walk in the countryside. We had</div>
<div class="line">an expanded crew of walkers including Sheila and Mikey and covered the relatively short walk in just under 2 hours before retiring to pubby goodness. I tried a really nice real-ale (it was a Hydes beer, forget the name) which had a chocolate malty taste and looked more like a stout. Note to self: next time someone else can drive :-) Everyone seemed to enjoy the exercise and we agreed to keep up the walking and try something a little stretching next time. The fact I have started to notice the taste of the local Manchester air is probably a sign that I should get out of the city more.</div>
</div>
<p>In the pub it transpired that Bacon still hadn't seen Return of the King on account of not having anyone to go with her to the cinema. A bunch of us valiantly volunteered to watch it with her that night. I thought the film was even better the second time around. This assessment may be due to being able to plan rest break better (hint: when the beacon of Minis Tirith is lit its all very pretty, however it also makes a convenient rest break :-). She grinned for most of the movie.</p>
<p>Only 12 days until my next holiday....</p>
2004 Welcomes careful drivers2004-01-03T00:21:00+00:002004-01-03T00:21:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2004-01-03:/~alex/blog/2004/01/03/76/<p>I notice a lot of people have gotten their new year write ups done already. January the first however was a bucket day (well more correctly we watched several DVDs and ordered take out, but nothing too strenuous). So to recap:The New Years party went well. It was nice …</p><p>I notice a lot of people have gotten their new year write ups done already. January the first however was a bucket day (well more correctly we watched several DVDs and ordered take out, but nothing too strenuous). So to recap:The New Years party went well. It was nice to see so many people turning up to my humble abode. It was a good mix of people as well so hopefully everyone got a chance to meet new people. I need to get another stereo system for the dining room though so its easier to resolve disputes between music fascists ;-)</p>
<p>Me and Phil won, or at least where the last people to crash at around 9 in the morning. I think I dozed for about 15 minutes before I was woken up by someone coming downstairs (I didn't make it to my bed until the 2nd). Glyn fed us all bacon and stuff when he got up (thanks Glyn!) and we settled into the afore mentioned bucket recovery routine. It was by necessity a relaxing day :-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I went up North Manchester way on Friday to drop Phil of and ended up stuffing myself with Nachos and playing a few games of 10 pin bowling. Given the time its been since I last played I was surprised I did so well. Mufi beat me (not by much) twice, however he did have the benefit of playing 2 games each round. I dropped into Daz and Phil's for some big screen PS2 action before heading back to finish up my</div>
<div class="line">tidying. The house is almost clean now, just needs an air and some hovering.</div>
</div>
<p>About the only thing left to do is some introspection and decide if I'm going to make any new years resolutions. I think the main ones will be stick to the Gym and do more walking. I hope everyone I know (and even those I don't) had a good New Years Eve and wish you all the best for this new year.</p>
Preparations in progress2003-12-31T16:35:00+00:002003-12-31T16:35:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-31:/~alex/blog/2003/12/31/75/<p>Or not. Just got back from my orthopedic consult which was very quick. The general consensus was "yeah we can do it, and we'd have to really screw up for something to go wrong". So I'm on the list for 6 months time for an operation which hopefully will fix …</p><p>Or not. Just got back from my orthopedic consult which was very quick. The general consensus was "yeah we can do it, and we'd have to really screw up for something to go wrong". So I'm on the list for 6 months time for an operation which hopefully will fix things. The only thing I was massively surprised about was the fact it will be done under a general anesthetic - which means I need to blag someone to give me a lift there and back.</p>
<p>So now I'm just wasting time listening to Monty Python Sings until I start getting ready for tonight's New Years Eve bash. See some of you later and Happy New Year to those I won't see tonight.</p>
Easy day today2003-12-30T01:02:00+00:002003-12-30T01:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-30:/~alex/blog/2003/12/30/74/<p>I set this day aside to do nothing. When you aim low its easy to achieve ;-) Andy came around to watch the DVD of Red Dwarf III. We went straight to the commentary as we assumed we could remember most of the dialogue. The commentary was very funny, they seem …</p><p>I set this day aside to do nothing. When you aim low its easy to achieve ;-) Andy came around to watch the DVD of Red Dwarf III. We went straight to the commentary as we assumed we could remember most of the dialogue. The commentary was very funny, they seem to followed the "get the cast pissed in front of the mike" approach rather than the full technical breakdown of each shot. About the only downside was the navigation menu design on the extras disk - it got a little annoying. On the whole recommended :-)Slightly disturbed by some very bad mobile phone adverts - felt kinda like they where drilling into my brain. Must rethink this whole advertising thing.</p>
Only a party and meal to go now2003-12-29T01:28:00+00:002003-12-29T01:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-29:/~alex/blog/2003/12/29/73/<p>Ste's party was entertaining as expected. I eventually retired at 4 having organized a hill walk the next day (it seemed like a good idea at the time ;-) ). Made it to Bolton the next day a little tired but was quickly woken up by the bracing wind. Managed to out …</p><p>Ste's party was entertaining as expected. I eventually retired at 4 having organized a hill walk the next day (it seemed like a good idea at the time ;-) ). Made it to Bolton the next day a little tired but was quickly woken up by the bracing wind. Managed to out walk Bacon and Sam which was impressive as they hadn't been out partying last night. However any calories I burnt off was quickly accounted for by the pub lunch (and later tub of Ben and Jerry's as desert). Going to bed now, sooo tired...zzzzzz</p>
Calm before the Storm2003-12-27T15:19:00+00:002003-12-27T15:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-27:/~alex/blog/2003/12/27/72/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The concert last night was very good. It was the first time I've seen</div>
<div class="line">a full orchestra in href=http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/>Bridgewater Hall (in fact its been a long time since I saw a live orchestra). They even had fireworks which where cool :-) After we'd absorbed our …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The concert last night was very good. It was the first time I've seen</div>
<div class="line">a full orchestra in href=http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/>Bridgewater Hall (in fact its been a long time since I saw a live orchestra). They even had fireworks which where cool :-) After we'd absorbed our culture for the night we headed back to mine to eat and comment on musicals and Darren Brown. Anyone fancy a bit of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/whatson/index.asp?action=display&date=1/4/2004">Strauss</a></div>
<div class="line">on January the 4th?</div>
</div>
<p>Today has been a bit flat, I slept until around 10.30 and have so far achieved paying one bill and chatting to Sheila a bit. I'm going to attempt to gain a bit of virtuosity(?) by going to the gym before Ste's party tonight. For some reason I seem to of decided to follow that up with fresh air and exercise the next day. Time will tell if my plans are wise or silly.</p>
Friends and Family2003-12-25T11:01:00+00:002003-12-25T11:01:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-25:/~alex/blog/2003/12/25/71/<p>Been down with the folks the last few days. Its always nice to go home, you get forced to drink all this free alcohol and stuff your face with loads of food. Its great! I?ve done a bit of a test flight with Lee?s present but I?m …</p><p>Been down with the folks the last few days. Its always nice to go home, you get forced to drink all this free alcohol and stuff your face with loads of food. Its great! I?ve done a bit of a test flight with Lee?s present but I?m waiting for a slightly less windy day to give it a full flight run down.</p>
<p>The thing about visiting home is bumping into people you knew when younger, and then going through the painful memory recollection process that says you should know who this person is but you memory has failed. Yesterday started with one of my friends little sisters (if twenty something can be regarded as little anymore!) saying hi to me as I brought some batteries. You also start getting into the routine of compressing your last 10 years experience down into a couple of sentences to summarise your life. I gave many people this summary last night in the Rose. I caught up with J, working in Oxford as another Software Guy. A, also in Oxford as a brain surgeon no less (or ?hack and slash but with smaller parts? as he put it ;-) ). N who I used to tabletop with and was always into films is now in LA doing media stuff. L doing telecomms work down near one of the science parks (probably using kit I used to develop at Marconi). P is a starving musician who been touring all over the place (who played at Glasto this year, if only I had known!). There where a few others I?m sure but my memory of the night is more than a little hazy. I remember frothing about LoTR (?I can see you haven?t changed much? according to L), discussing driving in LA (?6 lane gridlock? according to N) and a host of nostalgia. All in all it was a good night. Plenty of email addresses where exchanged so hopefully I?ll do a better job of keeping in touch with people now.</p>
<p>Anyway Happy Christmas all! I?m off to eat, drink and be merry ;-)</p>
Christmas come early?2003-12-23T02:32:00+00:002003-12-23T02:32:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-23:/~alex/blog/2003/12/23/70/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As I wind down from the busy weekend I noticed SCO are up to href=http://www.newsforge.com/business/03/12/22/1733222.shtml?tid=85>old</div>
<div class="line">tricks. As SCO are discovering a lot of pissed of href=http://www.groklaw.net>lawyer geeks prove to be a very …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As I wind down from the busy weekend I noticed SCO are up to href=http://www.newsforge.com/business/03/12/22/1733222.shtml?tid=85>old</div>
<div class="line">tricks. As SCO are discovering a lot of pissed of href=http://www.groklaw.net>lawyer geeks prove to be a very useful community resource. However Linus has already done his <a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/64207/">first pass at an analysis</a> which shows, well in his own words....</div>
</div>
<blockquote>
"In other words, I think we can totally _demolish_ the SCO claim that these 65 files were somehow "copied". They clearly are not.</blockquote>
<!-- -->
<blockquote>
Which should come as no surprise to people. But I think it's nice to see just _how_ clearly we can show that SCO is - yet again - totally incorrect."</blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">Read his email if you get excited by the technical glory of it ;-)</div>
</div>
Todays Lesson2003-12-22T12:31:00+00:002003-12-22T12:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-22:/~alex/blog/2003/12/22/69/<p>You can further with a kind word and a piece of mistletoe than just a kind word ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So the first two days of holiday have been filled with the Wendyhouse and Meatloaf. I've put up the href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Wendyhouse/Wendyhouse%20Christmass%202003 …</div></div><p>You can further with a kind word and a piece of mistletoe than just a kind word ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So the first two days of holiday have been filled with the Wendyhouse and Meatloaf. I've put up the href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?currDir=./Wendyhouse/Wendyhouse%20Christmass%202003>pictures</div>
<div class="line">from wendyhouse so you can see some of what I got up to. It was a good night and everyone seemed to be having fun. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone, although apparently I did get slapped once (I claim ignorance as my defense :-p ).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Went to Meatloaf on Sunday with Lee, Mufi, TJ, Marcus and Sue. He was good as always (although he's obviously still a little under the weather as he couldn't hit all the high notes)l. He's certainly an entertainer and got better as the evening went on and he warmed up his voice. We then headed back to Marcus and Sue's for a few after show drinks. Sleep finally caught up with me by 2 and I've slept like a log</div>
<div class="line">until this morning.</div>
</div>
Pappas got a brand new car :-)2003-12-19T16:02:00+00:002003-12-19T16:02:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-19:/~alex/blog/2003/12/19/68/<p>It only took two attempts to drain that last of my redundancy money out of my bank account. But finally after a bunch of faffing around and more pieces of paper than I care to mention I got the keys to my new car. So now have a better car …</p><p>It only took two attempts to drain that last of my redundancy money out of my bank account. But finally after a bunch of faffing around and more pieces of paper than I care to mention I got the keys to my new car. So now have a better car than Lee again - thats another box ticked ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today is my last day in the office until the 5th Jan. The hedonism of Christmas is about to start which consists of a series of clubs, gigs, catchings up, parties, family doings and even a Tchaikovsky concert. I also need to some beta test stuff for SOCOM II on my PS2. I'm pretty sure holidays are meant to be restful times so I have left myself some "bucket" days - although I do need to see Return of the King at some point soon. Still all in all it should be a fun couple of</div>
<div class="line">weeks!</div>
</div>
<p>Oh and while we are at it, <a class="reference external" href="http://linuxtoday.com/developer/2003121901226NWKNDV">"The beaver is out of detox"</a>. :-)</p>
How do you describe....2003-12-19T01:15:00+00:002003-12-19T01:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-19:/~alex/blog/2003/12/19/67/<p>..yourself? Its a tricky thing to do. I mean I think I'm a pretty laid back guy. I think people think I'm a Geek. Hopefully most people know what I mean when I describe myself as a Hacker. But I don't know. To be honest asking the ether will probably …</p><p>..yourself? Its a tricky thing to do. I mean I think I'm a pretty laid back guy. I think people think I'm a Geek. Hopefully most people know what I mean when I describe myself as a Hacker. But I don't know. To be honest asking the ether will probably be counter productive :-)</p>
<p>So to a different subject, "autopeotomy" - funny story that one.....</p>
Lawyers, the root of all evil?2003-12-17T13:46:00+00:002003-12-17T13:46:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-17:/~alex/blog/2003/12/17/66/<p>I know I probably shouldn't keep posting stuff about SCO because to most people its a supreme irrelevance. However I did catch `
this article <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16900097">http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16900097</a>>`__ talking about the folly of making 2/3rds of your business model based on litigation. He …</p><p>I know I probably shouldn't keep posting stuff about SCO because to most people its a supreme irrelevance. However I did catch `
this article <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16900097">http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16900097</a>>`__ talking about the folly of making 2/3rds of your business model based on litigation. He also mentions the cautionary tale of Walker Digital who where set-up as a patent and litigation company and are now, well not as successful as they planned to be.</p>
<p>SCO's star lawyer also <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031217025304677">made
the news</a> for facing ethics charges. I was kind of surprised to see ethics in the same sentence as lawyers - but hey what do I know :-) The interesting quote however was:</p>
<blockquote>
"Throughout the litigation, Habie and her attorneys have been sanctioned nine times by six different judges for violating at least 13 court orders related to the settlement and discovery orders."</blockquote>
<p>So, slow on discovery eh? Something about leopard and spots may be relevant here.</p>
<p>And finally, its official - <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pncbank.com/12days/">the cost of Christmas</a> is going up. I should of so invested in swan futures ;-)</p>
I am what I am2003-12-16T14:28:00+00:002003-12-16T14:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-16:/~alex/blog/2003/12/16/65/<p>I found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Biculturalism.html">this
interesting article</a> by Joel Spolsky. He is someone who I've always found interesting to read, even if he did work for the big M once ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The article talks about the difference between the Unix and Windows cultures. I won't repeat his discussion as he does it much …</div></div><p>I found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Biculturalism.html">this
interesting article</a> by Joel Spolsky. He is someone who I've always found interesting to read, even if he did work for the big M once ;-)</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The article talks about the difference between the Unix and Windows cultures. I won't repeat his discussion as he does it much more eloquently than me, however a few things did resonate with me. The main thing that explains why I like Unix (more specifically the free variants of it) is its written by programmers for programmers, rather than for users. Thinking back on it it explains a lot about why my</div>
<div class="line">time with Windows was uneasy and ultimately unfullfiling.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Back when I first got involved with computers I could do "stuff" with them. And when I say "stuff" I mean anything - auto-create my D&D characters, evaluate Car Wars turns, make pretty pictures go all wibbly over a screen. As my computers got more powerful my ability to do stuff became more limited until I was running windows. At that point my ability to do stuff was limited to downloading programs that other people had written. To write stuff myself I had to a) Get hold</div>
<div class="line">of expensive tools and b) Go through a lot of trail and error as I had no reference code. If you ever look at the final copy of the old SoS Battle Board software you'll quickly come to the conclusion that I hadn't seen much VB when I extended the code base.</div>
</div>
<p>When I discovered Linux it was like rediscovering a lost secret. The reason why I like playing with computers in the first place. The fact that I can do whatever "stuff" I like. And there is a mass of other people out there who will quite happily share with you and (if interested) help you do your "stuff".</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now some people paint be as a free software zealot but its not really true. I appreciate that as a programmer I have different things I want to do with my computer than you do with yours. At the end of the day you are free to run whatever software you like on your machine as long as it doesn't affect me. My only real bug bear is proprietary</div>
<div class="line">"standards" and undocumented file formats that a designed to</div>
<div class="line"><strong>force your choice of OS</strong>. The phrase "everyone runs Word" is really just flame baiting. Of course it won't stop me from telling you how good life on my side of the divide is ;-)</div>
</div>
Oh Lord won't you buy me a....2003-12-15T13:47:00+00:002003-12-15T13:47:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-15:/~alex/blog/2003/12/15/64/<p>The garage have been doing their best to evaporate the good will towards all men (and women) I was feeling after a most relaxing weekend. Still I will have the car by the end of the week, in time to drive it down to my parents for Christmas. If I …</p><p>The garage have been doing their best to evaporate the good will towards all men (and women) I was feeling after a most relaxing weekend. Still I will have the car by the end of the week, in time to drive it down to my parents for Christmas. If I don't I'm going to have to kill something :-(</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I missed <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a> this weekend (mainly due to work, and expecting to pick up a car.. grrr..). I was however <em>mostly</em> productive. Saw Andy for dinner at the Woodstock on Friday. Discussed many things other than my poor hit rate with women. We went back to his to see Sinbad which is rich in source material for Nook's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.white-wolf.com/exaltedweb/exalted.html">Exalted</a></div>
<div class="line">game. I particularly liked the portrayal of Eris (yes I know, she is just a cartoon character ;-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">After work on Saturday I went to href=http://www.rockkitchen.co.uk/home.html>Rock Kitchen with Jo and Arwel. Had an appropriate amount of fun and came to conclusion its still better the Rock World. For one thing I don't feel quite so old in the presence of students rather than the kids at Rock World. Next weekend is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a> for</div>
<div class="line">which I shall make an effort getting kited out - no jeans and t-shirt this time.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sunday saw a whole bunch of people for Jo's pubage birthday segment including some I hadn't seen for some time. I consumed some healthy protein based food (ok it was a</div>
<div class="line">steak, but very nice although a little over-cooked). Returned home to sink into a content wap in front of the TV. Glyn proceeded to feed me Chicken wings again which where very nice (but I resisted the temptation to stuff myself after Saturdays experience). Did a bit of PS2 beta test stuff, killed some things and watched a bit more of the</div>
<div class="line">Two Towers appendices. Slept.</div>
</div>
Jokers to the left of me....2003-12-13T17:52:00+00:002003-12-13T17:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-13:/~alex/blog/2003/12/13/63/<p>SCO have been having a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16700474">bad time of it</a> recently. What with actually being told by the court that they need to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031213004518888">specify the code in question</a>, their lawyers <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031209210141826">making sure they get paid</a> and the non-linux press <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fool.com/news/mft/2003/mft03120905.htm?source=eptyholnk303100">starting to pay attention</a>. it looks like its going to be a …</p><p>SCO have been having a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16700474">bad time of it</a> recently. What with actually being told by the court that they need to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031213004518888">specify the code in question</a>, their lawyers <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031209210141826">making sure they get paid</a> and the non-linux press <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fool.com/news/mft/2003/mft03120905.htm?source=eptyholnk303100">starting to pay attention</a>. it looks like its going to be a hard Christmas.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now I'm never going to justify a cyber attack on <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sco.com">SCO</a> but it was interesting to note that their immediate release of a press release (when was the last time you heard of a company admitting their network admins are incompetent) was treated with a lot of skepticism. Especially when the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newsforge.com/software/03/09/09/2355214.shtml?tid=11">implication</a></div>
<div class="line">is these leftie linux types are behind it because they want to steal SCO's valuable IP. Eventually SCO's lies will be found out and they will find they have no friends left and no one to blame but themselves.</div>
</div>
Everyone loves Google....2003-12-10T18:07:00+00:002003-12-10T18:07:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-10:/~alex/blog/2003/12/10/62/<p>I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.microcontentnews.com/articles/googlebombs.htm">read</a> an interesting article on Google Bombs yesterday. I find it quite interesting reflection on the impact the internet is having on society we now have a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3006486.stm">de facto verb</a>. It also slightly worrying, especially because of my name, that should I ever meet anyone 'net savvy they will …</p><p>I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.microcontentnews.com/articles/googlebombs.htm">read</a> an interesting article on Google Bombs yesterday. I find it quite interesting reflection on the impact the internet is having on society we now have a <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3006486.stm">de facto verb</a>. It also slightly worrying, especially because of my name, that should I ever meet anyone 'net savvy they will probably <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wordspy.com/words/google.asp">know a lot about me</a> before any face to face meeting. I'm wondering if this is a good thing?</p>
5 Days to Go....2003-12-08T18:20:00+00:002003-12-08T18:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-08:/~alex/blog/2003/12/08/61/<p>The hit on my bank account has yet to be realised but its coming.....;-)</p>
<p>Yesterday did have a morning constitutional, although it was more like lunchtime. However I feel the <em>at least 5 mile</em> walk more than made up for the 3 pints of real-ale and full Sunday Roast I …</p><p>The hit on my bank account has yet to be realised but its coming.....;-)</p>
<p>Yesterday did have a morning constitutional, although it was more like lunchtime. However I feel the <em>at least 5 mile</em> walk more than made up for the 3 pints of real-ale and full Sunday Roast I had in the pub afterwards. After all what is the point working up an appetite if you ain't going to sate it?</p>
<p>Finished off the day finishing Blade II with (Mad) Sam on the old PS2. Slightly disappointing finale, basically it was a "hack your way through to the 3 destroy-able nodes" and we'll cue the credits. I was expecting more dramatic explosions and cinematic sequences. Still done now so I can decide the next game I'm going to complete (or buy the latest Medal of Honor on a whim). We filled in the remaining gap in the day by watching a few of the appendices of the LOTR: The Two Towers. Still a good 3+ hours of stuff to get through!</p>
<p>All in all I feel as though I have achieved a lot this weekend. And thats an achievement for me :-)</p>
The Weekend Starts.... hang on what just happened?2003-12-07T01:18:00+00:002003-12-07T01:18:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-07:/~alex/blog/2003/12/07/60/<p>Well the weekend started well with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031205161348100">SCO
losing</a> stage 1 (of god knows how many) of the SCO/IBM/Linux lawsuit. This put me in a good mode ;-)</p>
<p>I spend most of Saturday car shopping. I finally came to a decision about one that meets the twin requirements of LARP …</p><p>Well the weekend started well with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031205161348100">SCO
losing</a> stage 1 (of god knows how many) of the SCO/IBM/Linux lawsuit. This put me in a good mode ;-)</p>
<p>I spend most of Saturday car shopping. I finally came to a decision about one that meets the twin requirements of LARP and going fast. Now I just have to wait until next week to pick it up. I'm looking forward to it with baited breath.</p>
<p>Saturday night was Aussie Pink Flloyd who where fantastic. They have obviously made an effort improving their light show since I last saw them. Their renditions of the classics where perfect as always. All in all an excellent show, well worth the ticket.</p>
<p>All thats left is to have a good morning constitutional tomorrow :-)</p>
9532003-12-06T00:31:00+00:002003-12-06T00:31:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-06:/~alex/blog/2003/12/06/59/<p>What number am I?</p>
If only...2003-12-05T12:14:00+00:002003-12-05T12:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-05:/~alex/blog/2003/12/05/58/<p>Found this wonderful quote today from <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3292979.stm">John Reid</a> (the Health Secretary).</p>
<blockquote>
"Despite the fact that this is a serious problem, it is a little bit extreme for us in Britain to start locking people up because they have an ounce of tobacco somewhere."</blockquote>
<p>Indeed.</p>
Something Evil Lurks in my Fridge2003-12-05T00:34:00+00:002003-12-05T00:34:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-05:/~alex/blog/2003/12/05/57/<p>I have yet to identify its precise nature (this is one of those occasions I wish Anne was still around). However I made up for my lack of fridge investigation with a quick bout of domesticity. Feeling suitably angelic I popped into town for the "Pagga" pub meet which gave …</p><p>I have yet to identify its precise nature (this is one of those occasions I wish Anne was still around). However I made up for my lack of fridge investigation with a quick bout of domesticity. Feeling suitably angelic I popped into town for the "Pagga" pub meet which gave me a chance to meet some new people from the Pagga crowd. I have now had a character concept suggested for Maelstrom which I'll have to give serious consideration ;-)</p>
Tis the Season..2003-12-03T13:40:00+00:002003-12-03T13:40:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-03:/~alex/blog/2003/12/03/56/<p>I've had it, I've snapped. I am going to get a new(er) car. I feel slightly guilty about it though. My current car ("Delbert") works, it goes well, has good economy, decent stereo, zips up and down the M62 fast enough. I'm not big on conspicuous consumption, anyway you …</p><p>I've had it, I've snapped. I am going to get a new(er) car. I feel slightly guilty about it though. My current car ("Delbert") works, it goes well, has good economy, decent stereo, zips up and down the M62 fast enough. I'm not big on conspicuous consumption, anyway you slice it a new car does increase your environmental impact.</p>
<p>However over the last half year the niggly things are starting to mount up. The power steering is a bit iffy, the rides is not quite as smooth as it could be and last night I managed to break the headlight switch. It is time to make the change.</p>
<p>Of course this opens up a whole new world of choices. Do I go for the sensible family estate (not that I have a family, but I have a lot of LARP kit) or the boy racer car (not that I am a boy racer, I like to think I'm a good driver)? The one thing I probably have decided is to go for another VW. My family have always had VW's*. They work, they are reliable. Although the cost a bit more to service they generally don't need too many things doing at once. So, Saturday I'll be mostly buying a new car....</p>
<p>*true-ish, my parents latest car is a quite nice Seat Leon, but they are owned by VW to it almost counts :-)</p>
Deeply Geeky2003-12-01T22:48:00+00:002003-12-01T22:48:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-01:/~alex/blog/2003/12/01/55
jack:/root/ uptime
21:41:59 up 105 days, 23:34, 2 users, load average: 0.29, 0.29, 0.17
jack:/root# shutdown -r now/<p>Damn, had to reboot the webserver. Be a while before I get close to my record again ;-)</p>
The Weekend2003-12-01T15:16:00+00:002003-12-01T15:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-12-01:/~alex/blog/2003/12/01/54/<p>I've been bad (in a good sort of way). Friday I completely skipped on the Gym session and ended up going down to Knutsford for a very nice Spanish meal. Saw Jo and Sue which was nice as I don't see them that often (both LRP widows in their own …</p><p>I've been bad (in a good sort of way). Friday I completely skipped on the Gym session and ended up going down to Knutsford for a very nice Spanish meal. Saw Jo and Sue which was nice as I don't see them that often (both LRP widows in their own ways ;-) ). Possibly drank more red wine than I technically should of, but it is coming up to Christmas so I'll let myself slide for a bit.</p>
<p>Saturday I was working (a little late in due to aforementioned wine). It was a little frustrating beating the hardware into submission but we made some progress. In the evening I went out to Tiger, Tiger (a "super club") which Chris. I may expand on that more later.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sunday was a very relaxed affair. Went for a "walk" with some other friends around <a class="reference external" href="http://www.merseyvalley.org.uk/sale_water_park.php">Sale Water Park</a> which seemed to arrive at the pub very quickly. After a pub lunch, and a few more beers we ended up at Sam & Sheila's to watch my copy of the href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009RGAA/ref=sr_aps_dvd_1_1/026-5578288-6535657>Extended</div>
<div class="line">Two Towers DVD. Lee cringed at a few bits (the slightly altered Tom Bombadil reference) but otherwise kept his cool which was a surprise given his previous objections to the two films so far. Finished reading "Misspent Youth" before sleeping straight through to 8.40 this morning. All in all a good weekend.</div>
</div>
Scalps?2003-11-28T00:19:00+00:002003-11-28T00:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-28:/~alex/blog/2003/11/28/53/<p>Had an odd phone call this morning. A lady rang me on my mobile and after introducing herself and checking we where not on a speaker phone told me she was working for a head hunting firm. Given that I work in a single room office I suggested she should …</p><p>Had an odd phone call this morning. A lady rang me on my mobile and after introducing herself and checking we where not on a speaker phone told me she was working for a head hunting firm. Given that I work in a single room office I suggested she should send me an email. Now I'm probably not interested because I have this whole mid-project work ethic thing, but its nice to know people are interested. It will be interesting to see what the email says, assuming they don't miss-spell my email or something ;-)</p>
<p><strong>"Tax Freedom Day"!!</strong>, have the Torrys suddenly become the dumbing down party or something! Could someone please remind me who's left worth voting for?</p>
Heres to Summer2003-11-27T12:04:00+00:002003-11-27T12:04:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-27:/~alex/blog/2003/11/27/52/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well after last years storming festival they have href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3242288.stm>approved</div>
<div class="line">Glastonbury 2004. Last year there where all sorts of appeals before they got the go ahead, this year it looks as though it already a done deal. Now all …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well after last years storming festival they have href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3242288.stm>approved</div>
<div class="line">Glastonbury 2004. Last year there where all sorts of appeals before they got the go ahead, this year it looks as though it already a done deal. Now all thats left is watching for when the tickets become available and getting them <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2906139.stm">before they run out</a>. To anyone that hasn't been, I can thoroughly recommend it. Go on you know you want to ;-)</div>
</div>
Aussie Pink Floyd...2003-11-26T15:52:00+00:002003-11-26T15:52:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-26:/~alex/blog/2003/11/26/51/<p>..are playing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ticketline.co.uk/event_details.asp?CPFlag=0&EventId=23034">the Manchester Academy</a> on December the 6th. There are currently tickets available. Anyone else up for it contact me before the day is out :-)</p>
Quote of the Day2003-11-25T00:38:00+00:002003-11-25T00:38:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-25:/~alex/blog/2003/11/25/50/<p>Found an excellent quote from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1394433,00.asp">this article</a> regarding that old pariah SCO.</p>
<blockquote>
"As often seems to be the case, with SCO, we haven't heard anything directly from them on this and they haven't filed a claim against us, we heard it first through the press,"</blockquote>
<p>Theres a lesson there I'm …</p><p>Found an excellent quote from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1394433,00.asp">this article</a> regarding that old pariah SCO.</p>
<blockquote>
"As often seems to be the case, with SCO, we haven't heard anything directly from them on this and they haven't filed a claim against us, we heard it first through the press,"</blockquote>
<p>Theres a lesson there I'm sure ;-)</p>
Misspent yoof2003-11-24T14:08:00+00:002003-11-24T14:08:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-24:/~alex/blog/2003/11/24/49/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Currently half way through href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0330480227/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-5578288-6535657>"Misspent</div>
<div class="line">Youth" by Peter F Hamilton. All in all its been quite an</div>
<div class="line">entertaining read - makes me wonder what I'd do if I went back to my early twenties (which are not that …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Currently half way through href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0330480227/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-5578288-6535657>"Misspent</div>
<div class="line">Youth" by Peter F Hamilton. All in all its been quite an</div>
<div class="line">entertaining read - makes me wonder what I'd do if I went back to my early twenties (which are not that far away, I hope). Its part of my new regime of reading before bed instead of listening to the radio. The problem with the radio is at midnight its just a litany of things that are currently wrong with the world which seems to depress me just before sleep, probably not good for the psyche...</div>
</div>
<p>Rugby was good this weekend :-)</p>
The Rules according to SCO2003-11-21T14:00:00+00:002003-11-21T14:00:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-21:/~alex/blog/2003/11/21/the-rules-according-to-sco/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This anonymous light-hearted moment of unbridled sarcasm is licensed under</div>
<div class="line">Creative Commons. Please feel free to publish this and contribute</div>
<div class="line">additions or corrections.</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="sco-rules-of-the-game">
<h2>SCO rules of the game.</h2>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Only SCO is allowed to bully and intimidate. No one may bully or intimidate SCO or its partners.</li>
<li>If anyone claims SCO …</li></ol></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This anonymous light-hearted moment of unbridled sarcasm is licensed under</div>
<div class="line">Creative Commons. Please feel free to publish this and contribute</div>
<div class="line">additions or corrections.</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="sco-rules-of-the-game">
<h2>SCO rules of the game.</h2>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Only SCO is allowed to bully and intimidate. No one may bully or intimidate SCO or its partners.</li>
<li>If anyone claims SCO has broken any laws, those laws are automatically one or more of the following: invalid, unenforcible, unconstitutional, violate export laws. If SCO claims IBM, Linux users or anyone else has broken any laws, they are automatically guilty and no evidence is necessary. Only unsubstantiated claims are necessary to prove guilt of others.</li>
<li>SCO is free to change its story as many times and as frequently as it deems necessary. There is no such thing as lying, inconsistency, hypocrisy or self-contradiction.</li>
<li>The most effective legal strategy is to mimic our opponent's every move. Taking the initiative is not necessary.</li>
<li>Hype and sensationalism in the media are all that is necessary to prove that many people owe us money. Waiting quietly for our day in court is not acceptable.</li>
<li>SCO will easily survive for the next 2 years waiting for the IBM and Red Hat trials to begin and then more years for the appeals process. SCO is a highly respected member of the Unix and Linux community and sells many high quality products and services and has a profitable, growing business.</li>
<li>SCO has the moral high ground.</li>
<li>SCO has the silent majority supporting its claims.</li>
<li>SCO executives are entitled to make enough money to own a second house.</li>
<li>Only SCO is allowed to have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.</li>
<li>Novell, Red Hat, Eric Raymond, Bruce Perens and the entire open source community are illegally conspiring against SCO because IBM is paying them to do it.</li>
<li>SCO is free to use the terms "our valuable IP" and "our valuable intellectual property," even in court, even though they are vage, nebulous terma. SCO does not ever need to specifically state what type of rights, such as copyrights,
trade secrets, patents or trademarks.</li>
<li>The claims against Linux are part of a wider debate about intellectual property rights in a digital age. We are not aggrandizing the issues or trying to use smoke and mirrors to prevent you from discovering the emperor has no clothes. SCO and/or its executives are not trying to make themselves look and feel more important than they really are.</li>
</ol>
</div>
Radio 4 Again!2003-11-20T20:23:00+00:002003-11-20T20:23:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-20:/~alex/blog/2003/11/20/47/<p>Sam's recent political musings reminded me that despite the large amount of ribbing I took in the early years (hey I listened to Radio 4 when I did my paper round, and thats some time ago :-P ). However as part of my lergy recovery program I heard the first in …</p><p>Sam's recent political musings reminded me that despite the large amount of ribbing I took in the early years (hey I listened to Radio 4 when I did my paper round, and thats some time ago :-P ). However as part of my lergy recovery program I heard the first in the new series of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/rams/thu1830.ram">The Consultants</a> whilst in the bath. Check it out....</p>
<p>...erm the program that is, not me in the bath...</p>
There is no spoon?2003-11-20T18:28:00+00:002003-11-20T18:28:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-20:/~alex/blog/2003/11/20/46/<p>One thing having lurgy seems to do is get through a lot of teaspoons making hot drinks. But I'm sure I had more, either that or I'm going slightly mad...</p>
<p><strong>TV Moment #764:</strong>The gwb statue being pulled down in front of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page555.asp">old dears place</a>. Of the joys of …</p><p>One thing having lurgy seems to do is get through a lot of teaspoons making hot drinks. But I'm sure I had more, either that or I'm going slightly mad...</p>
<p><strong>TV Moment #764:</strong>The gwb statue being pulled down in front of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page555.asp">old dears place</a>. Of the joys of 24hr news....</p>
Lurgy2003-11-19T12:15:00+00:002003-11-19T12:15:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-19:/~alex/blog/2003/11/19/45/<p>Succumbed to the lurgy this morning. Arse. I'm being sensible and not pushing myself so I can get over it as quickly as possible. As a result I get the chance to discover how crap daytime TV is even with the bazillion channels I have on satellite. I don't think …</p><p>Succumbed to the lurgy this morning. Arse. I'm being sensible and not pushing myself so I can get over it as quickly as possible. As a result I get the chance to discover how crap daytime TV is even with the bazillion channels I have on satellite. I don't think I can spend the day staring at a computer screen. God I'm so bored :-(</p>
My latest contribution to productivity :-)2003-11-17T17:50:00+00:002003-11-17T17:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-17:/~alex/blog/2003/11/17/44/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://gaim.sf.net">Gaim</a> is a fantastic IM client. It works across</div>
<div class="line">the board with most IM systems and you can do cool things with</div>
<div class="line">scripting. So I offer you this href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/software/perl/gaim_set_friendly.pl>perl</div>
<div class="line">plug-in to update your friendly name based on the contents of …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://gaim.sf.net">Gaim</a> is a fantastic IM client. It works across</div>
<div class="line">the board with most IM systems and you can do cool things with</div>
<div class="line">scripting. So I offer you this href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/software/perl/gaim_set_friendly.pl>perl</div>
<div class="line">plug-in to update your friendly name based on the contents of a</div>
<div class="line">file. In my case I'm currently using href=http://www.xmms.org/>XMMS's Song Change plug-in with the</div>
<div class="line">command:</div>
</div>
<blockquote>
echo "Alex (music:%s)" > ~/music.txt"</blockquote>
Wamphyri2003-11-17T12:41:00+00:002003-11-17T12:41:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-17:/~alex/blog/2003/11/17/43/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Had an entertaining weekend <a class="reference external" href="www.songofsteel.org">LARP'ing</a>.</div>
<div class="line">Although it was a relatively quite weekend I had a great time on Fart</div>
<div class="line">and Chads Wamphryi dungeon. I thought they did an excellent job in</div>
<div class="line">balancing the dungeon making it hard enough to be stretching whilst</div>
<div class="line">not so silly its impossible. Its a hard …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Had an entertaining weekend <a class="reference external" href="www.songofsteel.org">LARP'ing</a>.</div>
<div class="line">Although it was a relatively quite weekend I had a great time on Fart</div>
<div class="line">and Chads Wamphryi dungeon. I thought they did an excellent job in</div>
<div class="line">balancing the dungeon making it hard enough to be stretching whilst</div>
<div class="line">not so silly its impossible. Its a hard task to master and I think</div>
<div class="line">they did a fine job. Having said that after 9 hours in my chain mail</div>
<div class="line">running around I managed one beer in the evening before sleeping</div>
<div class="line">straight through to the morning :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The early start on Sunday did have some benefits. I managed to do my</div>
<div class="line">cleaning and get packed up before 10. With the early start I got back</div>
<div class="line">in time "do lunch" with href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/anne_l_davies/>Anne before</div>
<div class="line">she headed back to London. I'm sure my stomach has shrunk, because</div>
<div class="line">apparently I can't eat a 12oz Steak without feeling bloated anymore.</div>
<div class="line">In a fit of activity completely out of tune with a post-SOS Sunday I</div>
<div class="line">even got new tyres fitted to my car (finally!), did some hovering,</div>
<div class="line">two loads of washing and still had time to visit Sam and Sheila in the</div>
<div class="line">evening. Missed the last installment of the "Theory of Everything" on</div>
<div class="line">channel 4 however. I hope they repeat it at some point.</div>
</div>
Arse :-(2003-11-14T14:51:00+00:002003-11-14T14:51:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-14:/~alex/blog/2003/11/14/42/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Meatloaf concert I was going to tonight has been href=http://www.men-arena.com/eventdetail/event80.html>canceled.</div>
<div class="line">And I was so looking forward to it as he is fantastic live. Bugger</div>
</div>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> The gig has been re-scheduled for Sunday the 21st of December. Should be a good follow-up …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Meatloaf concert I was going to tonight has been href=http://www.men-arena.com/eventdetail/event80.html>canceled.</div>
<div class="line">And I was so looking forward to it as he is fantastic live. Bugger</div>
</div>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> The gig has been re-scheduled for Sunday the 21st of December. Should be a good follow-up to the Christmas <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a></p>
Bad Hair Day2003-11-11T13:50:00+00:002003-11-11T13:50:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-11:/~alex/blog/2003/11/11/41/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The day started badly when I was rebuilding my laptop this morning and</div>
<div class="line">everything seemed to hang. A quick bit of poking around seemed to</div>
<div class="line">indicate that my cable modem, although flashing, wasn't talking to the</div>
<div class="line">outside world. This is never an auspicious start to the day. Luckily</div>
<div class="line">by the …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The day started badly when I was rebuilding my laptop this morning and</div>
<div class="line">everything seemed to hang. A quick bit of poking around seemed to</div>
<div class="line">indicate that my cable modem, although flashing, wasn't talking to the</div>
<div class="line">outside world. This is never an auspicious start to the day. Luckily</div>
<div class="line">by the time I'd got into work everything seemed to back up and running</div>
<div class="line">again so I ain't going 'net cold turkey yet :-)Got through the fireworks party without loosing any major limbs.</div>
<div class="line">Seemed to go well although I have no idea how many people where</div>
<div class="line">squeezed into the house. For some reason a group of people had decided</div>
<div class="line">the kitchen wasn't cool enough for them so they crowded into the</div>
<div class="line">little square of carpet between my kitchen and rear bathroom where the</div>
<div class="line">spare freezer/re-cycling bay is. Odd.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Sunday was a very chilled out affair as after the rugby we spent most</div>
<div class="line">of the day playing Soul Caliber II with Chris P, Phil, Karen and</div>
<div class="line">Glyn. I ended up with a minor case of PS2 thumb at the end of it.</div>
<div class="line">Actually quite surprised at my winning streak once I'd got the hang of</div>
<div class="line">Rap heal (the pirate type dude, natch). I finished off the evening</div>
<div class="line">watching <a class="reference external" href="http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0188674/">Human Traffic</a></div>
<div class="line">with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/icklejo/">Jo</a> who</div>
<div class="line">popped around in the evening.</div>
</div>
<p>All I need to do now is make it until Thursday when I'm seeing href=http://www.meatloaf-oifc.com/>Meatloaf :-)</p>
Friday night at the Movies, wandering what films to watch?2003-11-08T02:22:00+00:002003-11-08T02:22:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-08:/~alex/blog/2003/11/08/40/<p>Ahh sequels, sometimes (most times?) they should be avoided. If your not careful you can sour the effect of a brilliant masterpiece. After all it is possible to make some half arsed piece of cack that may look nice but adds nothing but pointless profundity that leaves you thinking why …</p><p>Ahh sequels, sometimes (most times?) they should be avoided. If your not careful you can sour the effect of a brilliant masterpiece. After all it is possible to make some half arsed piece of cack that may look nice but adds nothing but pointless profundity that leaves you thinking why did you bother.Its a good job the Wachowski brothers didn't see an opportunity to exploit the success of that classic "The Matrix" by making some over indulgent special effects movie to cash in on the franchise. I mean they could really screw it up if they tried.</p>
Themetastic Batman2003-11-07T15:20:00+00:002003-11-07T15:20:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-07:/~alex/blog/2003/11/07/39/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As I prepare for YAP (Yet Another Party) tomorrow I caught myself</div>
<div class="line">thinking ahead to New Years. It seems to of ended up my turn again</div>
<div class="line">(unless someone else would like people running around their house</div>
<div class="line">until the wee small hours?). In the past the parties have been themed</div>
<div class="line">so …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">As I prepare for YAP (Yet Another Party) tomorrow I caught myself</div>
<div class="line">thinking ahead to New Years. It seems to of ended up my turn again</div>
<div class="line">(unless someone else would like people running around their house</div>
<div class="line">until the wee small hours?). In the past the parties have been themed</div>
<div class="line">so I was thinking about what theme I should have this year. Themed</div>
<div class="line">parties we have had in the last view years have included:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Fall of the Roman Empire</li>
<li>Fantasy and Faerie Tales</li>
<li>Trios and Trilogies</li>
<li>Seventies</li>
<li>Caribbean</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was thinking of Disco for this year as it offers a lot of scope for</div>
<div class="line">outrageous kit. However several people have pointed out we've had 70's</div>
<div class="line">and Disco would be quite similar (I'm not sure thats a convincing</div>
<div class="line">argument). So a question open to the floor, what theme do you suggest?</div>
</div>
The Final Frontier2003-11-06T16:03:00+00:002003-11-06T16:03:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-06:/~alex/blog/2003/11/06/38/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Something <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program">younger but much more well traveled</a> than me is about to `
leave the Solar System <<a class="reference external" href="http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3245677.stm">http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3245677.stm</a>>`__. Once outside of the direct sphere of influence of our own sun it will be the first man made object to make …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Something <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program">younger but much more well traveled</a> than me is about to `
leave the Solar System <<a class="reference external" href="http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3245677.stm">http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3245677.stm</a>>`__. Once outside of the direct sphere of influence of our own sun it will be the first man made object to make it into the interstellar medium that makes up the "space" in between solar systems. Trek it may not be but</div>
<div class="line">I actually find the fact mankind has got this far quite exciting.Now if we could only get along enough long enough to gain a greater</div>
<div class="line">understanding of the universe. Amongst all the href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3205727.stm>differing</div>
<div class="line">interpretations</div>
<div class="line">of ancient texts and righteous preaching I'd rather go for a href=http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_everything>theory that however</div>
<div class="line">flawed it may be is subjected to analytical, non-partisan review until</div>
<div class="line">we get it right (or some close approximation of). Maybe I should of</div>
<div class="line">stayed a scientist :-)</div>
</div>
Tired now2003-11-06T00:57:00+00:002003-11-06T00:57:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-06:/~alex/blog/2003/11/06/37/<p>There are many things I can say about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100403/">Predator 2</a>, none of them good. Good night.</p>
Meta-blog?2003-11-05T14:16:00+00:002003-11-05T14:16:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-05:/~alex/blog/2003/11/05/36/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The last blog word on actual blogging otherwise I'll have to call this</div>
<div class="line">a meta-blog :-). This blog is now mirrored by the miracle of RSS to href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad_real/>this</div>
<div class="line">LiveJournal account. So people can add the feed to their live journal</div>
<div class="line">account and comment on …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The last blog word on actual blogging otherwise I'll have to call this</div>
<div class="line">a meta-blog :-). This blog is now mirrored by the miracle of RSS to href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad_real/>this</div>
<div class="line">LiveJournal account. So people can add the feed to their live journal</div>
<div class="line">account and comment on it as they wish. End of Subject</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now two stories have caught my eye today,</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://lwn.net/Articles/56599/">one mundane merger</a></div>
<div class="line">and</div>
<div class="line">` <%3Cbr>`__ <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,61045,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1">http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,61045,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1</a>>one</div>
<div class="line">interesting development.The first story is yet another example of business having gotten over its</div>
<div class="line">irrational fear on Linux and realizing they can work with these Free</div>
<div class="line">Software hippie types.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The second story is a good follow-up on something I</div>
<div class="line">`
talked about earlier
<<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=32">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_start=32</a>>`__.</div>
<div class="line">Australia as a nation seems to have a more positive attitude to</div>
<div class="line">open-source in general. For example a lot of the development of</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://samba.mirror.ac.uk/samba/samba.html">Samba</a>, the free</div>
<div class="line">windows networking replacement comes from Oz. But as far as electronic</div>
<div class="line">election systems go they have taken a very open approach that is</div>
<div class="line">refreshing compared to the Diebold debacle. I still have concerns</div>
<div class="line">about e-voting (like the lack of a paper trail) but at the very</div>
<div class="line">minimum it has to be an open system.</div>
</div>
<p>Next time, why Taco's are easy and cling-film is great!</p>
Weblogs, what are they good for?2003-11-03T14:43:00+00:002003-11-03T14:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-03:/~alex/blog/2003/11/03/35/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I finally created a href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad/>Live Journal</div>
<div class="line">account after Jo sent me a free code. Of course as I'm not entirely</div>
<div class="line">sure why I write this stuff given that my ramblings on Linux, open</div>
<div class="line">source, and 'net freedoms are probably exceptionally boring to anyone …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I finally created a href=http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad/>Live Journal</div>
<div class="line">account after Jo sent me a free code. Of course as I'm not entirely</div>
<div class="line">sure why I write this stuff given that my ramblings on Linux, open</div>
<div class="line">source, and 'net freedoms are probably exceptionally boring to anyone</div>
<div class="line">but the most hardcore geek.However, how would I know? The href=http://www.kyne.com.au/~mark/software/weblog.php>software I</div>
<div class="line">use appeals to my sense of neatness and fitness for purpose. It works,</div>
<div class="line">blends in with my content(!) over style web site and is simple to</div>
<div class="line">administer. However it does miss out on a comment feature which would</div>
<div class="line">allow feedback so people could actually tell me how boring they find</div>
<div class="line">the site :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So, because I currently lack the motivation to write a comment system</div>
<div class="line">people can always visit <a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad/">my live journal page</a> and post there. Of course</div>
<div class="line">why people don't just <a class="reference external" href="mailto:alex@bennee.com">mail me</a> when</div>
<div class="line">they want to comment on the blog is beyond me :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Oh, and additionally if you have a <a class="reference external" href="www.livejournal.com">Live
Journal</a> account and want my entries listed on your friends page</div>
<div class="line">for easy browsing you can add the RSS feed using href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=rss>this link.</div>
</div>
Mmmm, headbanging...2003-11-03T00:14:00+00:002003-11-03T00:14:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-03:/~alex/blog/2003/11/03/34/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Been a rock type week this week. First seeing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.evanescence.com/">Evanescene</a> on Thursday (good fun, very gothy). Then taking a trip out to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockkitchen.co.uk/">Rock Kitchen</a> last night and dancing for a good few hours.Also watched a load of rugby, although I missed the England game, both</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3230001.stm">Australia vs Ireland</a> and …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Been a rock type week this week. First seeing <a class="reference external" href="http://www.evanescence.com/">Evanescene</a> on Thursday (good fun, very gothy). Then taking a trip out to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rockkitchen.co.uk/">Rock Kitchen</a> last night and dancing for a good few hours.Also watched a load of rugby, although I missed the England game, both</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3230001.stm">Australia vs Ireland</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3230081.stm">New Zealand vs Wales</a> where good games. Toped off with a good old <a class="reference external" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195714/">teen horror flick</a>.</div>
</div>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/stsquad/">Linktastic!</a></p>
Finding Nemo2003-11-01T00:43:00+00:002003-11-01T00:43:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-11-01:/~alex/blog/2003/11/01/33/<p>Watch it :-)</p>
Who counts the votes?2003-10-30T16:19:00+00:002003-10-30T16:19:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-10-30:/~alex/blog/2003/10/30/32/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The last set of elections we had in the UK we started experimenting with</div>
<div class="line">alternative forms of voting from the traditional visit the polling</div>
<div class="line">station and put a cross on the paper ballot. One experiment they ran</div>
<div class="line">where I live is postal voting. And it worked, turnout in my ward …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The last set of elections we had in the UK we started experimenting with</div>
<div class="line">alternative forms of voting from the traditional visit the polling</div>
<div class="line">station and put a cross on the paper ballot. One experiment they ran</div>
<div class="line">where I live is postal voting. And it worked, turnout in my ward was</div>
<div class="line">increased which I think is a good thing. The more people who make</div>
<div class="line">their voice heard the healthier our democracy is. However in all this</div>
<div class="line">talk of reforming our election system has brought up the topic of</div>
<div class="line">e-voting. And if you've followed any of the ` <%3Cbr>`__ <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60563,00.html?tw=wn_polihead_10">http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60563,00.html?tw=wn_polihead_10</a>>Diebold</div>
<div class="line">Election Systems story over the last few months you can see why</div>
<div class="line">I'm concerned.Electronic voting is already a fact in the States and it and from what</div>
<div class="line">I know so far I have little confidence in it.</div>
<div class="line">The reason I worry is because you are trusting the democracy of your</div>
<div class="line">nation to a black box that decides who has voted for who. And you have</div>
<div class="line">no idea how it worked that out, if the software had any bugs or in</div>
<div class="line">fact if its just lying because its been subverted.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Diebold case also has some other interesting facets to it,</div>
<div class="line">especially in the way that the company has used the US DMCA law to</div>
<div class="line">silence it critics. They recently had a copy of their internal mailing</div>
<div class="line">lists liberated from their servers. The lists have come up with some</div>
<div class="line">interesting quotes such as:</div>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p>` <%3Cbr>`__ <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/diebold/support.w3archive/200201/msg00097.html">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/diebold/support.w3archive/200201/msg00097.html</a>></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Strictly adhering to our release policies, the California change should also require a major version number bump to GEMS (because of the protocol change). We can't reasonably expect all of California to upgrade to 1.18 this late in the game though, so we'll slip the change into GEMS 1.17.21 and declare this a bug rather than a new feature. What good are rules unless you can bend them now and again.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>and:</p>
<blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br/></div>
<div class="line">They would like to log into the Audit Log an entry for Previewing any Election Total Reports. They need this, to prove to the media, as well as, any candidates & lawyers, that they did not view or print any Election Results before the Polls closed.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">However, if there is a way that we can disable the reporting functionality, that would be even better.</div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">You can see why this company has been going around issuing href=http://www.chillingeffects.org/linking/notice.cgi?NoticeID=911>Cease</div>
<div class="line">and Desist letters left right and center. Of course the DVD people</div>
<div class="line">tried this when href=http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/>DeCSS was</div>
<div class="line">released and it didn't stop it spreading like wildfire. As always its</div>
<div class="line">a case of href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/diebold/index.html>mirror often</div>
<div class="line">:-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Of course at the moment the state of democracy in other countries is</div>
<div class="line">not really my problem, but if it href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/2135911.stm>ever happens</div>
<div class="line">here I'll be paying a lot more attention.</div>
</div>
Silliness and other such stuff....2003-10-23T01:12:00+01:002003-10-23T01:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-10-23:/~alex/blog/2003/10/23/31/<div align="center"><table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="100%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>What Irrational Number Are You?</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><div class="first"><div style="text-align: center; font: bold 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', 'Times Roman', Times, serif;"></div><p>You are √2</p>
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', 'Times Roman', Times, serif; color: black; font: 10pt;"><p>You are in good company, many other square roots are also irrational numbers. Just by being a square root you have been branded a radical. You are considered very attractive, especially by Europeans (at least on paper.)
You fear that a relationship …</p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div align="center"><table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="100%"/>
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>What Irrational Number Are You?</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><div class="first"><div style="text-align: center; font: bold 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', 'Times Roman', Times, serif;"></div><p>You are √2</p>
</div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', 'Times Roman', Times, serif; color: black; font: 10pt;"><p>You are in good company, many other square roots are also irrational numbers. Just by being a square root you have been branded a radical. You are considered very attractive, especially by Europeans (at least on paper.)
You fear that a relationship with another √2 may somehow end up complex and ultimately imaginary. In reality, only another √2 will make you whole.</p>
<p>Your lucky number is approximately 1.41421356</p>
<div class="last"></div></div></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><table border="1" class="first last docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="18%"/>
<col width="56%"/>
<col width="25%"/>
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td><a class="reference external" href="http://www.shinylemur.com">Shiny Lemur</a></td>
<td><div class="first"><form action="http://www.shinylemur.com/modules.php?name=Irrational_Numbers" method="post" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0;"></form></div><div class="last"></div></td>
<td><a class="reference external" href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/straif/">Straif's Blog</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div><p>I love these quizes. Part of what makes the internet fun :-)</p>
<p>On a related note I'm now a quoted man (well sort of, I said some of the things in the article, I'll leave you to guess which ones). In case anyone has been wondering what the product I've been working on looks like you can read the article <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8586220633.html">here</a>.</p>
<p>Oh while we are at it I'd like one of <a class="reference external" href="http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7482684956.html">these</a> for christmas please, pretty please :-)</p>
The urge to link...2003-10-16T15:31:00+01:002003-10-16T15:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-10-16:/~alex/blog/2003/10/16/30/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The SCO group seem to of been quite quiet of late, save href=http://news.com.com/2100-7344-5092081.html>backing down on</div>
<div class="line">their invoice threat. Although their stock price is still (currently) quite</div>
<div class="line">healthy some of their big investors have been href=http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1102542 …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The SCO group seem to of been quite quiet of late, save href=http://news.com.com/2100-7344-5092081.html>backing down on</div>
<div class="line">their invoice threat. Although their stock price is still (currently) quite</div>
<div class="line">healthy some of their big investors have been href=http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1102542/000104746903033257/a2118764zs-3a.htm>selling</div>
<div class="line">all their stock. href=http://www.internetnews.com/fina-news/article.php/3092201>This</div>
<div class="line">piece points out that SCO may be a good investment if you can</div>
<div class="line">tolerate the risk that your investment may turn to a big fat zero.When the SCO case first started I like many other geek types was quite</div>
<div class="line">shocked about the accusations being made about how Linux would be</div>
<div class="line">nothing without the illegally copied code from Unix. While angering</div>
<div class="line">the legions of geeks and pumping their stock price with a series press</div>
<div class="line">releases the SCO case looked as though it would be the first serious</div>
<div class="line">legal challenge to Linux that everyone knew would happen some time.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">One of the reasons I'm less worried about it these days is due to</div>
<div class="line">Pamela Jones's excellent <a class="reference external" href="www.groklaw.net">Groklaw</a> site.</div>
<div class="line">Originally "just" a paralegal's personal blog it now serves as</div>
<div class="line"><em>the</em> place to find informed, well researched, revealing</div>
<div class="line">information on the twists and turns of the SCO case. The more I</div>
<div class="line">read, the less I worry. Of course their are no guarantees when it</div>
<div class="line">comes to the legal process but even given my complete lack of</div>
<div class="line">understanding of how the US legal system works everything I've seen</div>
<div class="line">seems to point at SCO not realising what they have stepped on. IBM et all have an army of</div>
<div class="line">well motivated people (on top of their own well renowned lawyers)</div>
<div class="line">looking at everything SCO says and subjecting it to forensic</div>
<div class="line">analysis. To mangle Linus's Law <em>"given enough eyeballs, all lies
will be exposed".</em></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">While on the subject of Linus, href=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/linus.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=>Wired</div>
<div class="line">has done a pretty good write up on our beloved leader ;-) Although some</div>
<div class="line">of the more complex issues (like the good old GNU/Linux naming debate)</div>
<div class="line">are skipped over I'd recommend any of my non-techie friends reading it</div>
<div class="line">if they want a bit more background to why I'm a big Linux fan.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In other news: It seems my desire for a direct neural interface may</div>
<div class="line">not be that far</div>
<div class="line">way.</div>
</div>
Who's hardware is it anyway?2003-10-14T14:41:00+01:002003-10-14T14:41:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-10-14:/~alex/blog/2003/10/14/29/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I'm sure everyone who runs Windows has read and understood the href=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26517.html>EULA (or</div>
<div class="line">End User License Agreement) that came with it. However a story caught</div>
<div class="line">my eye href=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39116400,00.htm …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I'm sure everyone who runs Windows has read and understood the href=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26517.html>EULA (or</div>
<div class="line">End User License Agreement) that came with it. However a story caught</div>
<div class="line">my eye href=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39116400,00.htm>about</div>
<div class="line">the XBox which of course is not covered by a EULA.In a nutshell in the quest to avoid people using their hardware for</div>
<div class="line">something else other than playing games, Microsoft</div>
<div class="line">downloaded an update to the system software. At the same time the patch deleted any files that it didn't think should be there.The guy that was affected by this has written a href=http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/docs/remotedelete.html>letter</div>
<div class="line">to Microsoft complaining about this behavior. It will be interesting</div>
<div class="line">to see if he gets any response.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A lot of noise is made about FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) and its lack</div>
<div class="line">of warranty. However if I screw up data on my system its generally</div>
<div class="line">because:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>I was running something marked as experimental/unstable</li>
<li>I did something stupid</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Its worth asking yourself next time Microsoft install something on</div>
<div class="line"><strong>your</strong> hardware that deletes <strong>your</strong> files what comeback do</div>
<div class="line">you have?</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Cool upcoming <a class="reference external" href="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/">toy
of the day</a>. If I could get a cheap eye-cam on a ware-able computer</div>
<div class="line">this would keep me happy until the neural interface is complete.</div>
</div>
<p>Question of the day: What does the leaking of the Half-Life 2 source code actually href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-10-04&res=l">http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-10-04&res=l</a>">mean?</p>
The Sistene chapel has nothing on Artex :-)2003-10-08T15:42:00+01:002003-10-08T15:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-10-08:/~alex/blog/2003/10/08/28/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well back from another relaxing weekend visiting friends in the</div>
<div class="line">country. Its weekends like that that make me wonder why I live in</div>
<div class="line">Manchester given I'm a country boy at heart. I think it comes down to</div>
<div class="line">broadband availability......and of course all the friends I have up here :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well back from another relaxing weekend visiting friends in the</div>
<div class="line">country. Its weekends like that that make me wonder why I live in</div>
<div class="line">Manchester given I'm a country boy at heart. I think it comes down to</div>
<div class="line">broadband availability......and of course all the friends I have up here :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">A few people have mentioned they are waiting for my post New Orleans</div>
<div class="line">visit report. I've been quite slow getting around to it mainly because</div>
<div class="line">I haven't actually downloaded the pictures yet. And of course it was a</div>
<div class="line">business trip so most of the week I was looking unusually smart standing in our</div>
<div class="line">10x10 booth at href=http://whttp://www.asisonline.org/education/programs/noframe/annualSeminar/default.html>ASIS.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">However I do have a few recommendations should you find yourself in</div>
<div class="line">the Big Easy:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Visit <a class="reference external" href="http://www.neworleansbarguide.com/YoMamas.htm">Yo
Mama's Bar and Grill</a> for huge burgers (with pizza topping!) and friendly
staff</li>
<li>You must visit href=http://www.icorp.net/carnival/live.html>Bourbon Street, its
the main drag for the carnival and is full of shops, bars and clubs.</li>
<li>Don't get too distracted though, there are loads of interesting
shops around the side streets</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I'll try and pull my finger out and get the pics up in the next couple</div>
<div class="line">of days.</div>
</div>
Cheap PR?2003-09-24T15:06:00+01:002003-09-24T15:06:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-09-24:/~alex/blog/2003/09/24/27/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So I've been back in the UK a few days now and I'm slowly starting to</div>
<div class="line">get my sleep back on track thanks to the jet-lag. Despite planning to</div>
<div class="line">write my thoughts on why RIAA et all just don't get file-swapping (as</div>
<div class="line">well as <a class="reference external" href="%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%20http://www.groklaw.com/article.php?story=20030917223453469">SCO's we
didn't do nothing</a> bid …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">So I've been back in the UK a few days now and I'm slowly starting to</div>
<div class="line">get my sleep back on track thanks to the jet-lag. Despite planning to</div>
<div class="line">write my thoughts on why RIAA et all just don't get file-swapping (as</div>
<div class="line">well as <a class="reference external" href="%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%20http://www.groklaw.com/article.php?story=20030917223453469">SCO's we
didn't do nothing</a> bid) I fire up BBC to find the todays href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3133192.stm>top story</div>
<div class="line">is that Microsoft has decided to remove its free Chat services in the</div>
<div class="line">interests of "child safety". Now I've mentioned this subject ` <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=21&wl_search=evil%3Cbr">http://www.bennee.com/~alex/news.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=21&wl_search=evil%3Cbr</a>>`__ >before and obviously no one took notice (not that anyone reads</div>
<div class="line">this stuff anyway :-) ). I'll not repeat myself for why this sort of</div>
<div class="line">approach will have no effect at all. What I am curious about is that</div>
<div class="line">in a world of Iraq,<a class="reference external" href="http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/">The
Hutton Inquiry</a>, and numerous other news worthy items how this</div>
<div class="line">became the lead article.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It seems to me its not only governments that are guilty of spin, the</div>
<div class="line">telling quote in the news article was:</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><em>"It means no free, unmoderated chat-rooms will exist
anymore on any of MSN's global network of sites."</em></div>
<div class="line"><br/></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">And I think the real motives are that Microsoft are pulling an</div>
<div class="line">unprofitable, potentially legally liable service from their network</div>
<div class="line">at the same time getting a PR coup for their "responsible" action.</div>
</div>
I'm a traveling man2003-09-14T20:14:00+01:002003-09-14T20:14:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-09-14:/~alex/blog/2003/09/14/26/<p>Hi from sunny (and humid) New Orleans.I'm here with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.braddahead.com/">company</a> to preview our new product to the world. We are just setting up at the mo in preparation for tommorow. More cyber post cards later, oh and I need suggestions for something odd to do in the park …</p><p>Hi from sunny (and humid) New Orleans.I'm here with the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.braddahead.com/">company</a> to preview our new product to the world. We are just setting up at the mo in preparation for tommorow. More cyber post cards later, oh and I need suggestions for something odd to do in the park :-)</p>
Who can you trust?2003-08-18T18:42:00+01:002003-08-18T18:42:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-08-18:/~alex/blog/2003/08/18/who-can-you-trust/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was reading another href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3154479.stm>article on MS</div>
<div class="line">WORD on the BBC site today. Sometimes some of my friends grumble when I</div>
<div class="line">ask them to send attachments in standards based formats that I can</div>
<div class="line">easily read (although href=http://www …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was reading another href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3154479.stm>article on MS</div>
<div class="line">WORD on the BBC site today. Sometimes some of my friends grumble when I</div>
<div class="line">ask them to send attachments in standards based formats that I can</div>
<div class="line">easily read (although href=http://www.openoffice.org>OpenOffice.org usually does an</div>
<div class="line">ok job). But really its not just for my convenience...I hope people realize every time they save a word document they are trusting</div>
<div class="line"><em>their</em> data to:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>An undocumented file-format (other programs have to guess how to
read them)</li>
<li>A binary file (i.e. you can't open
it with a text-editor, say to recover data from a corrupted file)</li>
<li>A unnecessarily bloated file (Word save all sorts of junk in a .doc
file, have you ever wondered why your cover letter takes 100's of
K?)</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">You don't have to switch to Linux, or even change your word-processor.</div>
<div class="line">Its as simple as clicking Save As and selecting a format like RTF. Not</div>
<div class="line">only will I be happier, but should you ever want to change your</div>
<div class="line">word-processor, or recover data believe me you will be too!</div>
</div>
<p>p.s At almost at the same time as me can I wish href=http://www.debian.org>Debian a happy birthday.</p>
Its the end of the world as we know it...2003-08-11T15:51:00+01:002003-08-11T15:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-08-11:/~alex/blog/2003/08/11/24/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...and I feel fine. Got back from a weekend of LARPing at href=http://www.omegalrp.co.uk>Omega after the world had ended in a</div>
<div class="line">apocalyptic style epidemic of plague. And I had fun!Apart from the wonderful weather (which severely dented my beer drinking</div>
<div class="line">ability) there was a …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...and I feel fine. Got back from a weekend of LARPing at href=http://www.omegalrp.co.uk>Omega after the world had ended in a</div>
<div class="line">apocalyptic style epidemic of plague. And I had fun!Apart from the wonderful weather (which severely dented my beer drinking</div>
<div class="line">ability) there was a wealth of role-playing to be had. Despite the</div>
<div class="line">fact I generally take a more relaxed approach to Omega (the camping,</div>
<div class="line">sunshine, being with mates are factors for my enjoyment) I did get</div>
<div class="line">involved in plot. I was part of an IC geek group self-christened as the</div>
<div class="line">"Artificers Knitting Circle", vented on many occasions on how all this</div>
<div class="line">"meddling with forces you don't understand will be the end of us all" and</div>
<div class="line">generally wondered around talking to people.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It all came to a head on Sunday morning as I was preparing to enjoy a</div>
<div class="line">lazy morning sorting out the people I'd convinced to work for me when</div>
<div class="line">one of our exuberant pioneers came in shouting it had all kicked of</div>
<div class="line">at the Souk. The next few hours my world degenerated</div>
<div class="line">as people kept falling victim to plague (think <em>28 Days Later</em></div>
<div class="line">style Rage). When the big fire storms started time we decided to get</div>
<div class="line">the hell out of dodge, only to find the world had indeed gone to hell.</div>
<div class="line">And so ended the Phoenix campaign.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In a sentence the players had screwed it up. They had allowed a series</div>
<div class="line">of dark, ominous black towers get turned on, some knowing the carnage</div>
<div class="line">it would create. But this very outcome is a testament to the concept</div>
<div class="line">of player led plot. The Omega world is not one where a few elite NPC's</div>
<div class="line">use players as pawns to solve their disagreements in mass battles.</div>
<div class="line">Neither is it a world where some god-like being (aka plot flange) turns up at the</div>
<div class="line">eleventh hour to right wrongs and save us all. Its</div>
<div class="line">a world where the (in)actions of players have a direct effect on the game</div>
<div class="line">world. It was up to us to do something about it and we live with the</div>
<div class="line">consequences of that. And it was all the more enjoyable for it.</div>
</div>
Quite in here isn't it?2003-08-07T14:49:00+01:002003-08-07T14:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-08-07:/~alex/blog/2003/08/07/23/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Been a while hasn't it. Well not much of consequence has been</div>
<div class="line">happening ( apart from work, which is secret :-P ). Having said that</div>
<div class="line">I've finally got a temporary desktop machine which is currently</div>
<div class="line">catching up with its software updates (it runs a bleeding edge href=http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Been a while hasn't it. Well not much of consequence has been</div>
<div class="line">happening ( apart from work, which is secret :-P ). Having said that</div>
<div class="line">I've finally got a temporary desktop machine which is currently</div>
<div class="line">catching up with its software updates (it runs a bleeding edge href=http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/cookerdevel.php3>Mandrake</div>
<div class="line">Cooker distribution, not for the faint hearted).But really my focus for the next two weeks is going to href=http://www.omegalrp.co.uk>Omgea, helping Glyn finish</div>
<div class="line">decorating my front room and having a big party to mourn the end of</div>
<div class="line">my twenties. Everything else is just fluff ;-)</div>
</div>
<p>blah</p>
Legal Extortion....2003-07-24T11:49:00+01:002003-07-24T11:49:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-07-24:/~alex/blog/2003/07/24/22/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">One of the stories I've been following the last few weeks has been</div>
<div class="line">that of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sco.com/">SCO</a> vs href=http://www.ibm.com/>IBM href=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/29632.html>lawsuit</div>
<div class="line">in which SCO claim that Linux makes uses of their intellectual property (IP). The story …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">One of the stories I've been following the last few weeks has been</div>
<div class="line">that of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sco.com/">SCO</a> vs href=http://www.ibm.com/>IBM href=http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/29632.html>lawsuit</div>
<div class="line">in which SCO claim that Linux makes uses of their intellectual property (IP). The story has</div>
<div class="line">generated plenty of online press coverage but few hard facts.Opinions vary wildly from it being yet another piece of baseless href=http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/FUD.html>FUD to the end of</div>
<div class="line">Linux as a competitive OS. It took a twist yesterday when SCO announced</div>
<div class="line">their Linux licensing plan and their intention to sell licenses to</div>
<div class="line">anyone running Linux. The amazing thing about all of this is so far</div>
<div class="line">they have offered no substantive, <em>verifiable</em> proof that they</div>
<div class="line">have any rights to sell such a license. Basically SCO are saying pay us money to run</div>
<div class="line">Linux because we say so.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Back to the facts of the case. As far as I can tell their are only two</div>
<div class="line">solid facts that everyone can agree on:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>SCO Stock Price has href=http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SCOX&d=c&t=6m&l=on&z=m&q=l>gone
up</li>
<li>SCO Executives have been href=http://biz.yahoo.com/t/S/SCOX.html>selling their options</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">For more information and links (if this sort of thing gets you</div>
<div class="line">excited) you can always check out the special href=http://twiki.iwethey.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SCOvsIBM>SCO vs IBM</div>
<div class="line">Wiki</div>
</div>
Put that Internet Evil back in the Box!2003-07-18T17:37:00+01:002003-07-18T17:37:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-07-18:/~alex/blog/2003/07/18/21/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In case you haven't been living in a box for the last few days you may</div>
<div class="line">of noticed a bunch of news regarding href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3073355.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3073355.stm</a>">a 12 year old girl</div>
<div class="line">and 31 year old ex-marine meeting after establishing a</div>
<div class="line">relationship in …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In case you haven't been living in a box for the last few days you may</div>
<div class="line">of noticed a bunch of news regarding href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3073355.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3073355.stm</a>">a 12 year old girl</div>
<div class="line">and 31 year old ex-marine meeting after establishing a</div>
<div class="line">relationship in an Internet chat-room. I was pleasantly surprised by the</div>
<div class="line">lack of "The Internet is Evil" backlash until I read the</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3077003.stm">Bill
Blog</a>. In the article Bill argues that child age verification (i.e. verifying</div>
<div class="line">children in chat rooms are children) wouldn't work so the obvious</div>
<div class="line">solution is to make all chat rooms "adult-only and require age</div>
<div class="line">verification by those hosting them."I don't see how Bill, knowledgeable about the net as he is, thinks the</div>
<div class="line">second option is any more realistic. I use IRC and there are</div>
<div class="line">thousands of servers out there and I don't know how he intends to</div>
<div class="line">ensure they all switch to some sort of mythical age verification for</div>
<div class="line">the benefit of the children.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The correct answer of course is to supervise (not spy!) your children</div>
<div class="line">and ensure they are educated to the dangers of the 'net, just as you</div>
<div class="line">tell them how to cross the road. If they prove unable to follow the</div>
<div class="line">advice then don't allow them out on their own on the 'net.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Away from the occasional weirdos you find on the 'net I did find two</div>
<div class="line">other pieces interesting. The first href=http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-07-13-microsoft-linux-munich_x.htm>article</div>
<div class="line">is a nice detailed background to what went on when Microsoft lost out</div>
<div class="line">on a licensing deal to upgrade Munich's computing systems. The</div>
<div class="line">interesting thing was Microsoft lost despite the cheaper bid, because</div>
<div class="line">Munich realised while you might get a good deal this time around when</div>
<div class="line">you rely on a proprietary system to power your systems your at the</div>
<div class="line">mercy of the one vendor. The tide is certainly turning :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The other <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20030710.html">I,
Cringely article</a> was very interesting about what happens when law</div>
<div class="line">enforcement and pervasive surveillance is the norm. A lot of the time</div>
<div class="line">cyber-libertarians (of which I count myself as one) often get unfairly</div>
<div class="line">painted as a bunch of dope-smoking, file-sharing beatniks who just</div>
<div class="line">don't want to get caught out doing something wrong. The problem with</div>
<div class="line">the "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about"</div>
<div class="line">approach is though I (within limits) trust our police and intelligence</div>
<div class="line">agencies to not doing anything without cause, I can't trust everyone.</div>
<div class="line">And once these snooping systems with their mountains of data are there</div>
<div class="line">who's checking they aren't being wrongly used? Its an even scarier</div>
<div class="line">thought than the href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2037459.stm>RIPA Snooper's</div>
<div class="line">Charter debacle of last year.</div>
</div>
Feeling Hot Hot Hot!2003-07-16T12:56:00+01:002003-07-16T12:56:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-07-16:/~alex/blog/2003/07/16/20/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Its not often you see the road melt before your very eyes in</div>
<div class="line">Manchester. And no its not because of any hallucinogens, its the 31</div>
<div class="line">degree weather in a city that more used to grey sky's and plenty of</div>
<div class="line">rain.Not that I'm complaining. The last time I remember a …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Its not often you see the road melt before your very eyes in</div>
<div class="line">Manchester. And no its not because of any hallucinogens, its the 31</div>
<div class="line">degree weather in a city that more used to grey sky's and plenty of</div>
<div class="line">rain.Not that I'm complaining. The last time I remember a summer this</div>
<div class="line">good was when I was doing my finals at Uni, and that was some time</div>
<div class="line">ago (it all seems a distant memory now :-).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Of course all this sun is distracting me from noble tasks such as</div>
<div class="line">going to the Gym or catching up on my paperwork. After all you should</div>
<div class="line">really "make hay while the sun shines". It also means the household</div>
<div class="line">is currently working its way through large amount of cold beer and</div>
<div class="line">ice-cream. Still what's the point of all this hard work if you don't</div>
<div class="line">indulge yourself once in a while. About the only negative side effect</div>
<div class="line">is I probably won't be quite as buff for the annual</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./LRP/Teornarch%20Special></div>
</div>
<div class="line">Sea Elf Special, but hey I'm still going to enjoy it!</div>
</div>
RIP Zheer2003-07-09T14:27:00+01:002003-07-09T14:27:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-07-09:/~alex/blog/2003/07/09/19/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It was a sad day yesterday as I turned off href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/servers.jpg>Zheer</div>
<div class="line">for the last time. Trustworthy to the end I was just a little</div>
<div class="line">concerned by the rattling noises he had been making over the</div>
<div class="line">last few months as well as a …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It was a sad day yesterday as I turned off href=http://www.bennee.com/~alex/servers.jpg>Zheer</div>
<div class="line">for the last time. Trustworthy to the end I was just a little</div>
<div class="line">concerned by the rattling noises he had been making over the</div>
<div class="line">last few months as well as a series of lock-ups when we had</div>
<div class="line">particularly hot weather last month.Its not all bad, mainly because I never throw things away, bits of</div>
<div class="line">him will live on transplanted into Jack. Jacks not that much more</div>
<div class="line">powerful than Zheer was but he does have a load more memory and masses</div>
<div class="line">of hard disk space. Hopefully he'll manage to survive the next 10</div>
<div class="line">years.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In other news the Free-X group have found a</div>
<div class="line">`
software only <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.xboxstation.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22">http://www.xboxstation.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22</a>>`__ exploit for the XBox. Now I'm the sort of geek that</div>
<div class="line">doesn't buy hardware that artificially locks you out of doing</div>
<div class="line">interesting things with it (which is why I haven't succumbed to Sky</div>
<div class="line">Plus yet, I don't like the idea of owning a piece of hardware that</div>
<div class="line">can change its behavior without *your* say so). However the XBox is</div>
<div class="line">not a bad piece of hardware and its cheap (thanks to the big</div>
<div class="line">Microsoft subsidy). Now the possibility exists of running my own</div>
<div class="line">software on it its actually quite tempting to buy one. We shall see</div>
<div class="line">:-)</div>
</div>
I am finally clean2003-07-02T15:05:00+01:002003-07-02T15:05:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-07-02:/~alex/blog/2003/07/02/18/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Phew, what a weekend. I got back from the Glastonbury festival on</div>
<div class="line">Monday which was the culmination of this years holiday (aka Alex's</div>
<div class="line">Magical Mystery Tour).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">While it was good to see my folks again and visit some friends that</div>
<div class="line">have emigrated down south it was Glastonbury that made the …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Phew, what a weekend. I got back from the Glastonbury festival on</div>
<div class="line">Monday which was the culmination of this years holiday (aka Alex's</div>
<div class="line">Magical Mystery Tour).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">While it was good to see my folks again and visit some friends that</div>
<div class="line">have emigrated down south it was Glastonbury that made the greatest</div>
<div class="line">impression.I'll start by saying I'll be going again :-)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">We where lucky with the weather. We got to site on the Wednesday to</div>
<div class="line">set up the camp for the rest of the party. It was fantastic sunny</div>
<div class="line">weather for the first two days, something we didn't always appreciate</div>
<div class="line">as we carried stuff from the cars. Come Friday (the start of the</div>
<div class="line">festival proper) we had rain and I despaired that the traditional</div>
<div class="line">British weekend weather was going to catch up with us. Luckily the</div>
<div class="line">weather cleared up and we didn't really get any real rain until Sunday</div>
<div class="line">night (just after the final Moby set).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The music was great. Although I'd gone through the massive set list</div>
<div class="line">and made a list of all the bands I wanted to see I never kept to the</div>
<div class="line">schedule. It was far more fun (and relaxing) to wonder around and</div>
<div class="line">listen to stuff as you found it. You get to discover bands you haven't</div>
<div class="line">heard of and enjoy new music that way. I'm certainly going to be</div>
<div class="line">looking up some of the new bands I came across.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">It wasn't all new music though. I saw both REM and Moby on the main</div>
<div class="line">Pyramid stage. Needless to say they were great acts, especially</div>
<div class="line">enjoying them in the massive field that the stage sits in.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">In fact Glastonbury is more than just a load of bands. There where all</div>
<div class="line">sorts of other things going on from massages in the Healing Fields to</div>
<div class="line">Second Hand Jokes company :-)</div>
</div>
<p><strong>Yes, I'll defiantly be going again!</strong></p>
Fun fun fun in the sun sun sun!2003-06-16T14:55:00+01:002003-06-16T14:55:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-06-16:/~alex/blog/2003/06/16/17/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Not all geeks spend all their time locked in dark corners. I must</div>
<div class="line">admit since my desktop machine went south on me a few weeks ago I've</div>
<div class="line">been taking the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful weather. I'm afraid</div>
<div class="line">even a true (50%+) geek like me hasn't found it hard to …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Not all geeks spend all their time locked in dark corners. I must</div>
<div class="line">admit since my desktop machine went south on me a few weeks ago I've</div>
<div class="line">been taking the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful weather. I'm afraid</div>
<div class="line">even a true (50%+) geek like me hasn't found it hard to choose between</div>
<div class="line">slaving over a hot motherboard or sitting in my nice sunny garden</div>
<div class="line">enjoying a very cold beer :-)Still I have done some things. The observant will notice that the</div>
<div class="line">webserver has changed. I've finally transfered the web-services over</div>
<div class="line">to <strong>Jack</strong>, yet another machine in the pantheon of servers running</div>
<div class="line">in my house. Seeing as Jack has over 5x more memory than the ailing</div>
<div class="line">(and slightly infirm <strong>Zheer</strong>) he will probably take over the rest</div>
<div class="line">of the mail/dns etc functions over the next few weeks.</div>
</div>
Sometimes I wonder...2003-05-30T12:44:00+01:002003-05-30T12:44:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-30:/~alex/blog/2003/05/30/16/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...why I like computers. Last night was an exercise in frustration</div>
<div class="line">trying to get my Wireless networking working (again!). I guess it must</div>
<div class="line">be a load of sun spots or something, or the hardware has fried. At the</div>
<div class="line">same time zheer (this web server) started having issues.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I think Zheer …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...why I like computers. Last night was an exercise in frustration</div>
<div class="line">trying to get my Wireless networking working (again!). I guess it must</div>
<div class="line">be a load of sun spots or something, or the hardware has fried. At the</div>
<div class="line">same time zheer (this web server) started having issues.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I think Zheer is staring to feel old (and before I hit 30 :-),</div>
<div class="line">probably not helped by sucking vast quantities of dust through it fans</div>
<div class="line">over the last few years. I guess I'll be building his replacement over</div>
<div class="line">the next few days :-(</div>
</div>
Going dancing in the Village...2003-05-25T17:40:00+01:002003-05-25T17:40:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-25:/~alex/blog/2003/05/25/15/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well every day is an opportunity to do something new. I went out in</div>
<div class="line">the "Village" in the center of town on Friday with a group of friends. A</div>
<div class="line">throughly good evening seemed to be had by all, sorry no pictures of</div>
<div class="line">this one. I was too busy dancing!Although …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well every day is an opportunity to do something new. I went out in</div>
<div class="line">the "Village" in the center of town on Friday with a group of friends. A</div>
<div class="line">throughly good evening seemed to be had by all, sorry no pictures of</div>
<div class="line">this one. I was too busy dancing!Although I wasn't originally planning on staying out too late I did</div>
<div class="line">eventually end up in href=http://www.essentialmanchester.com/index.asp>Essentials which</div>
<div class="line">is a very good club. One nice side effect of the door policy is the</div>
<div class="line">low pissed-up ass-hole quotient which helped make it an excellent evening :-)</div>
</div>
<p>Saturday didn't really get going.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Today I've been up at <strong>Denial Amtm</strong> to see href=http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/>The Matrix Reloaded. I</div>
<div class="line">have to say I wasn't as impressed as the slickness of the first movie</div>
<div class="line">was marred in this one by more (IMHO un-necessary) verbiage in the plot</div>
<div class="line">exposition. Its still a good film and I will be going to see the final</div>
<div class="line">installment later in the year. I have nothing against action flicks</div>
<div class="line">exploring deeper questions, however I also believe in playing to your</div>
<div class="line">strengths!</div>
</div>
Wendyhouse2003-05-19T00:52:00+01:002003-05-19T00:52:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-19:/~alex/blog/2003/05/19/14/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Just got back from going to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a> last night. Had an</div>
<div class="line">excellent evenings entertainment. Hi to anybody that I meet last</div>
<div class="line">night that are stumbling around the website looking for the</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Wendyhouse&startFrom=1">pictures</a>Not much more to say apart from see people next time and feel free to</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="mailto:alex@bennee.com?subject=Wendyhouse">contact me</a> if …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Just got back from going to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.thewendyhouse.org/">Wendyhouse</a> last night. Had an</div>
<div class="line">excellent evenings entertainment. Hi to anybody that I meet last</div>
<div class="line">night that are stumbling around the website looking for the</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bennee.com/~alex/mig/index.php?pageType=folder&currDir=./Wendyhouse&startFrom=1">pictures</a>Not much more to say apart from see people next time and feel free to</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="mailto:alex@bennee.com?subject=Wendyhouse">contact me</a> if</div>
<div class="line">you the full size copy of your picture. Peace.</div>
</div>
Worm Food?2003-05-15T18:12:00+01:002003-05-15T18:12:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-15:/~alex/blog/2003/05/15/13/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/">worms</a> are finally</div>
<div class="line">established! Considering the number of computers that run 24x7 in my</div>
<div class="line">house I have to do something positive for the environment to assuage my</div>
<div class="line">guilt. I'm still consuming more than my fair share of the planets</div>
<div class="line">resources :-(The worm composter is a fantastic example of low-tech …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">My <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/">worms</a> are finally</div>
<div class="line">established! Considering the number of computers that run 24x7 in my</div>
<div class="line">house I have to do something positive for the environment to assuage my</div>
<div class="line">guilt. I'm still consuming more than my fair share of the planets</div>
<div class="line">resources :-(The worm composter is a fantastic example of low-tech helping reduce</div>
<div class="line">the rubbish I (indirectly) throw into land fills. It may seem strange for a tech fiend like my self to find</div>
<div class="line">the process so fascinating but one thing engineering teaches you is</div>
<div class="line">never go for a complex solution when a simple one will do. It makes a</div>
<div class="line">real difference to the kitchen bin as well, about the only thing left</div>
<div class="line">to sort out is food packaging (sorted by eating more freshly prepared</div>
<div class="line">food) and plastic bottles (which I'm sure are recyclable I just need a</div>
<div class="line">bit more space). So what have you done to href=http://www.rethinkrubbish.com>rethink your rubbish today?</div>
</div>
<p>p.s. Always question the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/3028585.stm">news</a> you see in wartime (or generally).</p>
Where is the world going today?2003-05-09T13:11:00+01:002003-05-09T13:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-09:/~alex/blog/2003/05/09/12/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Its been an interesting week this week. The fog of war seems to of</div>
<div class="line">been well lifted from the news now although of course the battle for</div>
<div class="line">getting Iraq functioning has only just started (I recommend</div>
<div class="line">reading <a class="reference external" href="http://dearraed.blogspot.com/">this blog</a>).There have also seemed to be some interesting stories on Intellectual …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Its been an interesting week this week. The fog of war seems to of</div>
<div class="line">been well lifted from the news now although of course the battle for</div>
<div class="line">getting Iraq functioning has only just started (I recommend</div>
<div class="line">reading <a class="reference external" href="http://dearraed.blogspot.com/">this blog</a>).There have also seemed to be some interesting stories on Intellectual</div>
<div class="line">Property (one of my areas of political interest). href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3007087.stm>This story</div>
<div class="line">refers to the patenting of Genes (which I would call a discovery</div>
<div class="line">rather than invention). Hopefully if enough fuss is kicked up about</div>
<div class="line">things like this we will get a broader debate IP law and is doing</div>
<div class="line">enough to promote invention and reward ideas or is it a tool for large</div>
<div class="line">corporations and lawyers to protect what they have and not help the href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2795555.stm>little guy?</div>
</div>
<p>I also noted my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/">favorite radio
station</a> won a load of Sony awards yesterday :-)</p>
Pink + WON != GOOD2003-05-06T12:51:00+01:002003-05-06T12:51:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-06:/~alex/blog/2003/05/06/11/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Got back from a 4 day LARP weekend yesterday having finally shaken the</div>
<div class="line">cold and gained a rather horse voice from playing that classic</div>
<div class="line">drinking game "Waaa, Oink Naahhh". I don't <em>think</em> I embarrassed</div>
<div class="line">myself as a result but I'm certainly making a mental note never to</div>
<div class="line">drink "Pink" again …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Got back from a 4 day LARP weekend yesterday having finally shaken the</div>
<div class="line">cold and gained a rather horse voice from playing that classic</div>
<div class="line">drinking game "Waaa, Oink Naahhh". I don't <em>think</em> I embarrassed</div>
<div class="line">myself as a result but I'm certainly making a mental note never to</div>
<div class="line">drink "Pink" again.If fact I wouldn't be surprised if a number of people will be making</div>
<div class="line">similar mental notes ;-) On a more geeky note I need to take this</div>
<div class="line">web-server down at some point to upgrade it to a slightly less flaky</div>
<div class="line">hardware (after all I had to reboot this one 26 days ago when it</div>
<div class="line">locked up). I'll also give it a bit of a boost in memory and disk space which should</div>
<div class="line">help (although it performs well enough at the moment).</div>
</div>
Ain't democracy great?2003-05-02T12:31:00+01:002003-05-02T12:31:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-05-02:/~alex/blog/2003/05/02/10/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I guess I'm still interested in the political process as I did actually</div>
<div class="line">vote in yesterdays council elections. I even spent far too much of the</div>
<div class="line">early morning watching the results come in on TV.My cynical side does occasionally make me wonder if our right</div>
<div class="line">to vote actually gives …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I guess I'm still interested in the political process as I did actually</div>
<div class="line">vote in yesterdays council elections. I even spent far too much of the</div>
<div class="line">early morning watching the results come in on TV.My cynical side does occasionally make me wonder if our right</div>
<div class="line">to vote actually gives us a real choice. My borough actually had a</div>
<div class="line">reasonably high turnout (around 53%, pretty good for a council</div>
<div class="line">election) but the radio is full of discussion about how people a</div>
<div class="line">disillusioned by the whole process and this is the reason for falling</div>
<div class="line">voter turnout. Now every election I've ever stood for I've always had</div>
<div class="line">a guy called R.O.N. to beat. This does at least focus your attention</div>
<div class="line">on having a platform people can semi-agree with before they vote for</div>
<div class="line">you, perhaps having R.O.N. stand in the real elections would do the</div>
<div class="line">same for our politicians?</div>
</div>
Here's to peace and quite.....2003-04-28T11:53:00+01:002003-04-28T11:53:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-28:/~alex/blog/2003/04/28/9/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...until the next time. Had an excellent BBQ/Party/House Re-warming. I</div>
<div class="line">actually quite like throwing parties but its a lot of effort,</div>
<div class="line">something I'm sure Anne and Glyn agree with me on.Despite the previous weeks preparation and the dire weather forecast it</div>
<div class="line">all went of pretty well. We …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...until the next time. Had an excellent BBQ/Party/House Re-warming. I</div>
<div class="line">actually quite like throwing parties but its a lot of effort,</div>
<div class="line">something I'm sure Anne and Glyn agree with me on.Despite the previous weeks preparation and the dire weather forecast it</div>
<div class="line">all went of pretty well. We managed to get to around 16:20 before</div>
<div class="line">the rain even had an impact of the BBQ (which is good going in</div>
<div class="line">Manchester) and thanks to the backup plan (a large Gazebo) we where</div>
<div class="line">cooking stuff until around 21:00. Thanks to the cold that I'm fighting</div>
<div class="line">off I collapsed in bed by 03:30 (to be fair so had a number of people)</div>
<div class="line">but a few of the harder core people where up until around 6. A very</div>
<div class="line">long (but enjoyable) day. It was good to see a mix of people, I think</div>
<div class="line">I had spoken/caught up with everybody by the end of the evening,</div>
<div class="line">apologies If I missed anyone out. In other news, well there wasn't</div>
<div class="line">any really it all been party, party. party! Until next time :-)</div>
</div>
Unsurprising consequences2003-04-23T11:46:00+01:002003-04-23T11:46:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-23:/~alex/blog/2003/04/23/8/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Just got back from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.omegalrp.co.uk">Omega</a></div>
<div class="line">LRP weekend. It was a good weekend from a role play point of view (my</div>
<div class="line">character Perivale does not get involved with political machinations,</div>
<div class="line">he's an Artificer so generally concentrates on making sure nothing</div>
<div class="line">interrupts him when he's designing cool stuff).One interesting aspect …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Just got back from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.omegalrp.co.uk">Omega</a></div>
<div class="line">LRP weekend. It was a good weekend from a role play point of view (my</div>
<div class="line">character Perivale does not get involved with political machinations,</div>
<div class="line">he's an Artificer so generally concentrates on making sure nothing</div>
<div class="line">interrupts him when he's designing cool stuff).One interesting aspect of the weekend was the continuing influence of</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.opensource.com">Open Source</a> philosophy in the</div>
<div class="line">in-game world. Of course the main rationale to the characters involved</div>
<div class="line">is not having to constantly re-invent the wheel designing yet another</div>
<div class="line">set of tool plans and do more interesting things (like my current</div>
<div class="line">favorite "The Wartinator", a pump).</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Of course despite mentioning that Perivale was an easier character to</div>
<div class="line">play (is so far he doesn't run around in armour hitting things) I</div>
<div class="line">didn't factor in the effects that constant drinking of real-ale, an</div>
<div class="line">almost entirely meat based diet and very cold winds have on the immune</div>
<div class="line">system. I came down with a nasty shivery cold as soon as I got back on</div>
<div class="line">Monday and had to take yesterday off work. I feel better now but I</div>
<div class="line">hope I'm back on form by the weekend which I may have to take a little</div>
<div class="line">easier than the last two :-)</div>
</div>
You know you are a geek when....2003-04-17T10:35:00+01:002003-04-17T10:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-17:/~alex/blog/2003/04/17/7/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...you start using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.perl.com">perl</a> regular</div>
<div class="line">expressions to correct your typos when chatting to people on your href="<a class="reference external" href="http://gaim.sourceforge.net">http://gaim.sourceforge.net</a>">favorite IM system. Of course people</div>
<div class="line">that know me (which does beg the question are people that don't</div>
<div class="line">actually reading these pages) will probably say they already knew.The …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">...you start using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.perl.com">perl</a> regular</div>
<div class="line">expressions to correct your typos when chatting to people on your href="<a class="reference external" href="http://gaim.sourceforge.net">http://gaim.sourceforge.net</a>">favorite IM system. Of course people</div>
<div class="line">that know me (which does beg the question are people that don't</div>
<div class="line">actually reading these pages) will probably say they already knew.The last few days weather has been fantastic. The last time I remember</div>
<div class="line">the weather being this good this early in the year was when I was</div>
<div class="line">doing my finals. I hope I have a slightly more constructive year this</div>
<div class="line">time. I may even get around to posting a picture of my new much</div>
<div class="line">improved garden which I have to thank Glyn for. I rushed home on</div>
<div class="line">Tuesday afternoon to suitably relax in it....</div>
</div>
Ouchie Pain2003-04-14T11:35:00+01:002003-04-14T11:35:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-14:/~alex/blog/2003/04/14/ouchie-pain/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="lrp.php">LARP</a> is a funny old game that I find very</div>
<div class="line">enjoyable. Unfortunately I think my body is disagreeing with me :-(It was an entertaining weekend at the Tower (the only all-indoor LARP</div>
<div class="line">site we use at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a>). The</div>
<div class="line">narrow crawl ways make it a good place to play href="lrp …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="lrp.php">LARP</a> is a funny old game that I find very</div>
<div class="line">enjoyable. Unfortunately I think my body is disagreeing with me :-(It was an entertaining weekend at the Tower (the only all-indoor LARP</div>
<div class="line">site we use at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.songofsteel.org">SoS</a>). The</div>
<div class="line">narrow crawl ways make it a good place to play href="lrp/jack.php">Lightning Jack (a Teornarch, apparently the characters <a class="reference external" href="http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~richc/sos2/OOC_board/discuss_toc.cgi?referer=11477&boardname=0">real men play</a>) but my body has begun its</div>
<div class="line">protestations in earnest today. I think I may skip the Gym (just for</div>
<div class="line">today, honest). Still next weekend is href="<a class="reference external" href="http://www.omegalrp.co.uk">http://www.omegalrp.co.uk</a>">Omega and Perivale is a much</div>
<div class="line">easier character to play for a weekend :-)</div>
</div>
Signs and portence2003-04-10T15:00:00+01:002003-04-10T15:00:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-10:/~alex/blog/2003/04/10/5/<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now the news is a little less war obsessed I've noticed a couple of</div>
<div class="line">interesting stories on the <a class="reference external" href="www.bbc.co.uk">BBC</a>. The first is</div>
<div class="line">a story relating to the first US jailing under the</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2934621.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2934621.stm</a>">DMCA</div>
<div class="line">which is a law that to …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Now the news is a little less war obsessed I've noticed a couple of</div>
<div class="line">interesting stories on the <a class="reference external" href="www.bbc.co.uk">BBC</a>. The first is</div>
<div class="line">a story relating to the first US jailing under the</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2934621.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2934621.stm</a>">DMCA</div>
<div class="line">which is a law that to seeks to ban technology if it <em>could</em> be</div>
<div class="line">used to circumnavigate copy protection, regardless of if it is. The</div>
<div class="line">second is a story about a new campaign to stop broadband users href="<a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2932039.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2932039.stm</a>">having their</div>
<div class="line">bandwidth capped.The first story is a concern because Europe is considering <a class="reference external" href="http://ukcdr.org/issues/eucd/">similar
laws to the DMCA</a>. I consider laws limiting technology (rather than actions) to be fundamentally flawed. Cyber</div>
<div class="line">libertarians more eloquent than me have pointed out the many</div>
<div class="line">difficulties with these laws but for me one good example was the DeCSS</div>
<div class="line">debacle. The DVD people argued that tools for cracking the</div>
<div class="line">Content Scrambling System on DVD's principle use was piracy, where in fact you can in fact make a perfect copy of a DVD that works without ever having to worry about the encryption. However CSS is needed for the region locking the movie studios use to keep the price differentials between the US and the rest of the</div>
<div class="line">world.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The second story seems to be like a re-run of the unlimited dial-up</div>
<div class="line">fiasco of a few years ago. The ISP's that happily took the fixed</div>
<div class="line">monthly fee for unlimited use and then where surprised when their</div>
<div class="line">customers took advantage of the unlimited use and suddenly re-defined</div>
<div class="line">the word unlimited. Now I quite understand the pressures on cable</div>
<div class="line">companies to keep their bandwidth manageable (I worked in <a class="reference external" href="cv.php">telecomms</a> for</div>
<div class="line">a while) and being the net geek I am I use a fair bit of my 1Meg</div>
<div class="line">cable bandwidth. What I object to is being sold one thing and then</div>
<div class="line">getting given the other. I know I have an insatiable thirst for</div>
<div class="line">bandwidth, thats why I got broadband!</div>
</div>
Staying fit is too much like hard work....2003-04-08T13:11:00+01:002003-04-08T13:11:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-08:/~alex/blog/2003/04/08/staying-fit-is-too-much-like-hard-work/<p>After the comings and goings of the last few weeks I re-started my regular gym schedule in an effort to keep the weight off (whilst still enjoying the finer things).It seems that missing 2 of your 3 sessions a week for a couple of weeks is noticable :-( Oh well …</p><p>After the comings and goings of the last few weeks I re-started my regular gym schedule in an effort to keep the weight off (whilst still enjoying the finer things).It seems that missing 2 of your 3 sessions a week for a couple of weeks is noticable :-( Oh well hopefully a few weeks back on the routine will correct the situation. Still despite these minor set backs I feel a lot better than this time last year. Hopefully people will no longer run in horror if I shed my shirt this summer :-)</p>
Avoiding the outside world.2003-04-06T09:21:00+01:002003-04-06T09:21:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-06:/~alex/blog/2003/04/06/avoiding-the-outside-world/<p>Recovering from the <a class="reference external" href="www.songofsteel.org">Song of Steel</a> AGM yesterday. Thankfully all this going out has insulated me a little from <em>that war</em> despite BBC News 24's incursion onto BBC1 yesterday.Now don't get me wrong, I'm as concerned about whats happening around the world as anybody else. However just because modern …</p><p>Recovering from the <a class="reference external" href="www.songofsteel.org">Song of Steel</a> AGM yesterday. Thankfully all this going out has insulated me a little from <em>that war</em> despite BBC News 24's incursion onto BBC1 yesterday.Now don't get me wrong, I'm as concerned about whats happening around the world as anybody else. However just because modern media can bring us a blow by blow account of every step doesn't mean we are more informed at the end of it. Would people be rusing to watch the Battle of the Somme on 24 hour news? We certianly seem to be watching a TV war for a TV geneation :-(</p>
New weblog2003-04-05T10:54:00+01:002003-04-05T10:54:00+01:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-04-05:/~alex/blog/2003/04/05/new-weblog/<p>Well I thought it was about time I added a proper weblog type thing to the system (so I'm not constently hand crafting HTML to add entries). I ended up using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kyne.com.au/~mark/software/weblog.php">Personal Weblog</a> as it seems pretty light weight and easy to add. In other developments I've finally got around …</p><p>Well I thought it was about time I added a proper weblog type thing to the system (so I'm not constently hand crafting HTML to add entries). I ended up using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kyne.com.au/~mark/software/weblog.php">Personal Weblog</a> as it seems pretty light weight and easy to add. In other developments I've finally got around to ordering my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/">worm bin</a> so I can make an attempt to work on the garden.In case anyone cares old news can be found <a class="reference external" href="oldnews.php">here</a> (I guess thats more for googles benefit than anything else).</p>
Depressing day2003-03-20T05:00:00+00:002003-03-20T05:00:00+00:00alextag:www.bennee.com,2003-03-20:/~alex/blog/2003/03/20/depressing-day/<p>Well up tonight waiting for war to start :-( Regardless of anyones opinions either pro or against I did find it insightful watching the actual debate in Commons live, as it happened, on an Internet streaming feed. The power the Internet has given us to communicate with each other means we …</p><p>Well up tonight waiting for war to start :-( Regardless of anyones opinions either pro or against I did find it insightful watching the actual debate in Commons live, as it happened, on an Internet streaming feed. The power the Internet has given us to communicate with each other means we no longer have an excuse not to inform ourselves and reach out to the rest of the world. On a brighter note I see that the <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2003/e-cyclopedia/2860723.stm">Simpsons</a> have made their own contribution to international diplomacy.</p>