Stae of healthcare for the dying

I HAVE to rant

As some of you know my dads friend/partner was diagnosed with cancer on the brain in early January, the 4th to be precise

She was given 6 weeks to live if not treated

She was taken into Shefield Hospital for treatment, but they stopped it after two weeks and said she should be sent home to live out her last days in her own home. This was 5 weeks ago.

Two weeks later the hospital they wanted to transfer her to, which had been saying they had no beds, changed their minds and said they wouldn't take her as she could walk!!!! The Doctors in Sheffield hit the roof.

She was moved somewhere else and social services arsed about and finally arranged a meeting last week.

Now they have an assement meeting in 10 days time to decide if they can move her home and look after her.

She'll probably be dead by then, dying in some crappy hospital bed, maybe even dying alone.

The system doesn't work, the whole fucking system, no one cares and she suffers because of it.

Not a happy bunny, not happy at all

My dads here in tears and I can do FUCK all to help.

Where's the care? tied up in stupid red tape and profit lead healthcare, not a damn about the patients as decisions are made by measly beancounting accountants not the doctors and nurses who have done their utmost to make her time comfortable.

It was that BITCH Thatcher that introduced the idea of the NHS having to be profitable, bollocks, you can't make health care profit lead.

And this current Government has done jot all to change it, bloody Blair, more conservative than the tories

Well fucked off

Thanks for listening, and if ANYONE reads this who works for Barnsley Social Services, please contact me immediately.

update on "Contract"

Well I fnished it today, is it worth a read? yes I'd say so.

Very "scatty" writing, intentionally so, and it does make you feel quite involved with the protagonist.

I enjoyed it, but it can be quite graphically violent and touches on aspects of life some may find a little disturbing.

Try it, you may well enjoy it

Contract - Simon Spurrier

Viral Marketing

Well it worked on me

I got someone called Michael Point wanting to be my "friend" on myspace, his avatar showed a gun and the phrase "I kill people for money"

http://www.myspace.com/michaelpoint

I assumed it was some pub band gimmick and accepted the friend request, then went to look at his myspace page only to find it was actually promoting a book.

My wonderful girlfriend bought it for me for Christmas and I started reading it last night, eventually forced myself to put it down at about 2:30am

It's the self told story of a killer, strictly for the money, with a plan. and I can't wait to get back to reading it once the children are in bed tonight.

If you fancy trying it it's available from amazon here

be warned, it's quite graphically violent.

Stupid Tiscali - Really Dumb

Tiscali seem to have a problem with Opera as for two evenings in a row now on this tiscali account I am using Opera has stopped working. IE, Firefox and everything else still works.

I can even fool whatever primitive filter they are using by asking Opera to "pretend" to be another browser, so whatever they are doing is based on the browser identity string.

My guess is someone at tiscali does NOT know what opera is and they are blocking traffic at peak times from anything most users use.

Just shows up what dumb admin they have, I'll be so glad when I'm back on NTL/Virgin Media, at least they seem to have some degree of technical nous.

I suppose the chances of somone from Tiscali seeing this and getting their act together are slim to FA, but if you are from tiscali STOP BLOCKING MY BROWSER YOU IDIOTS

(written in that cheap Opera copy, firefox, under duress)

Using Google to find music

Nothing original here, just an advanced way to search using google for those directories of music that people upload so they can listen to their music wherever they want.

It's cool, but a bit hit and miss, but always worth a try, enter the following search string.

intitle:"index of" (mp3|avi) song.title -html -htm -php -asp -cf -jsp

where of course song.title is the name of the song you want to search for.

The intitle bit looks for directories (or folders) which are open

(mp3|avi) sets which file extensions you want to look for, so you could also search for videos, or any other form of file you want.

Separate the words with . (full stop) instead of spaces as google uses a . as a wild card so will pick up "song title" "song_title" or "song-title" etc.

The list of -html -htm etc. makes sure (or tries to) to not just find file listings.

It works surprisingly well, but does sometimes pick up spam directories that lead you to mp3 sales sites, you often find empty directories where the files have been removed since google indexed them, and I once found the directory had since been protected as the owner had realised what was going on.

Hope this helps

Sites that caught my eye this week

First off, the Müller-Lyer Illusion, How close can you get? I was pretty acurate at first, but now I come to post, I fail, go figure.

And secondly, for those who wish to rip

KeepVid makes it possible for you to download your favourite YouTube videos to keep.

Useful if you find something you think might be removed for some reason or another.

In other news, the divorce is getting messy, better not put too much detail on here in case it could be used against me :(

Away to Wales for a week

Going to visit my Girlfriend in Brynmawr, who hooo

So before I got I just had a couple of geeky/cool (delete as applicable) things to share.

First off, Lord of the Rings as done if the characters were typical role players!

DM of The Rings

Some of the comments about why he wrote each strip are fantastic, having run role playing games in the past, I know how true they are!

Secondly a strangely addictive thing, not a game as such, sort of a web based executive toy.

Falling Sand Game

You can divert the sand, water, salt and oil with walls you can spot plants then water them and watch them grow, you can burn the oil and wax, all fun. The strange yellow bobble that bounces around grows if watered, shrinks if it contacts salt, I usually turn it off and just play at making interesting patterns.

Have fun while I'm away!

here it is then

the fark headline that had me giggling

A raptorial maw with a pharyngeal jaw; that's a moray

linked to this story which isn't anywhere near as funny as the headline above.

right? left? isn't it all the same between friends

OK so I have extolled the virtues of the Opera browser many times, and at great length, before now.

However, there's one feature I have rambled on about which I realised just now I was a bit confused about, why? you say, well let me explain.

Somewhere between leaving the safe haven of my computer screen and reaching the safe haven of the pub, something traumatic happens to my brain while I'm in that big room with the bright light and the high blue ceiling, and left and right get completely muddled up.

Thing is, Opera has Some rather useful features on the right click menu, select some text and you can copy it, search google (or a selection of other browsers) with it, send it to a dictionary web site to get a definition of the word, try to go to it as if it was a web site, etc.

So when I have been extolling this menu I have forgotten that the OTHER handy feature is that you get the same menu up when you double click on some text (this is where the left right confusion enters my brain) so that's "double click" with the LEFT button, where I have been telling people it's the right button (D'OH)

A double click (left button) selects the word under the cursor and highlights it bring up the "RIGHT CLICK MENU" a further click extends the selected text to the whole sentence, and a third click selects the whole paragraph (it stops there)

So I am terribly sorry to anyone who has listened to my pub based rambling and have been trying to double "right" click to do all these wonderful things.

Great Weekend

Well it was, got back from my travels late Thursday after a 400 mile drive dropping Alison off in Wales then picked my children up Friday.

We made rice crispie buns on Saturday, and honey flapjack, which then got distributed to friends and family on Sunday.

I had Sunday and today to myself as I have quizzes to run so they can't sleep over when I'm going out on the evening, and today I have been washing their clothes and pegging out, does it seem sad that even just doing the washing for them seems really satisfying?

I seem to be really settling in to this single dad life, just got to get my finances sorted out and somewhere more permanent to live and I reckon life is going to get rosier.

Just need my girlfriend to be with me and I will be set up for life.

Somebody to Love

My girlfriend posted this on her blog



(link)


and it turns out it's a cover from 1967, here's Jefferson Airplane doing it in 1969!



(link)

This is of course why my "Whose Song is it Anyway" quiz is so popular! obscure covers that stop and make people think. (oh and Rolf Harris)

Well done and thank you to Jon for taking my concept and making it work week in week out by diligently searching for cover songs for me to use.

The F Word

One of the most interesting words in the english language



linky for if the embdedded version doesn't work!

this is very old, so you've probably seen it before, or heard it at least, but it's a classic I found today stumbling around looking for something else. Still well funny though.

Congratulations Alison

My fantastic girlfriend completed the Race For Life in Cwmbran on Sunday in 46 Minutes in the pouring rain.



Here she is looking well pleased and beautiful, if slightly damp.

it's not too late if you want to donate! (cheeky grin)

All donations through the above site go to Cancer Research UK

New web site launched - Way2paye

I am proud to announce the publishing of our newest web site Way2paye

This is a fully featured content management system for a payroll company specialising in payroll for small businesses and for people employing domestic staff or nannies.

It's also required a new feature, the ability for users of the site to register to gain access to extra information on the site, this is a feature that has been in the planning stage for a while, which we brought forward as this client required it.

The design is by the wonderful Daffodil Design which was then wrapped around our content management system to provide a beautiful looking site utilising TempleDene Technology.

Password Security

I spotted this article in PC World magazine which lists the ten most popular passwords. They are

1. password
2. 123456
3. qwerty
4. abc123
5. letmein
6. monkey
7. myspace1
8. password1
9. link182
10. (your first name)

I would expand this list to include such things as your children's/spouses name, company name and a few other common words I have encountered.

To have a secure password it should be a mix of UPPER and lower case letters and some numbers. To make it REALLY secure use some obscure characters like ^ or # or accented characters such as Ÿ. And make sure it's at least 8 characters or longer. It's easier than you think too make one up, use numbers for letters for instance, so peter becomes p3t3r or bill becomes b1ll, use a car registration plate (no not your current car) or something else you can remember or at least work out.

The reason for this is simple, that top ten list (and I would add several myself to that to make at least a top twenty) is well know to anyone who fancies trying to guess you password. On top of that password breaking software will try one of two methods:-

1. Dictionary Attack
   Where the software literally has a dictionary of words it throws at your password one by one.
2. Brute Force
   Where the software tries combinations of characters sequentially e.g. it tries a b c etc. then aa ab ac until it reaches it's limits.

Now you'd think that second one would guess ANY pasword but it wont, because of the time it takes to process. A simple example would be if it just tried the 26 letters of the alphabet, suppose it takes 1 second to try each combination then after the first pass with a 1 letter password it's taken 26 seconds, to do all the two letter combinations it takes 26 x 26 seconds, or 676 seconds, to do all the three letter combinations it takes 17,576 seconds and so on.

Obviously computers can process far faster than this, but because the time adds up logarithmically this kind of attack limits itself to common letters, numbers and punctuation, and restricts the length of password it can try.

I must admit this is another reason why I think microsoft DON'T GET SECURTIY as when I created a hotmail account a while ago it wouldn't let me use puctuation in my password! so as far as I was concerned the password I created was insecure.

Now you will be asking, huh, well who wants to hack ME, the fact is they don't want to hack YOU, they just pick off the low hanging fruit in the hope it might be worth it. Have you ever sent something private by hotmail? or simply something you wouldn't want making public?

One company I worked at one of the directors thought he was so clever because when I needed his password he said "it's secret" I thought he meant he wouldn't tell me, so began to explain I HAD to know it or I couldn't log in to his computer to fix it, and he stopped me and said "no, it's 'secret' that's my password" the companies financial information, all highly confidential, was secured by an eminently guessable password! Another company used password 5 on the above list for EVERYTHING, again company confidential information was secured with something easily guessable, AND everyone in the office, some 30+ people, knew what it was!

I did point out how insecure this was and I hope they have since taken steps to fix the problem, somehow though, I doubt it.

well well

Looky here

after yesterdays rant about web sites that don't get things right by using "clever tricks" to do what could be done easier and more properly, I found this posted today on the BBC web site.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6653119.stm

What's that phrase about great minds?

Todays rant

Web designers who decide that instead of perfectly good, standard, ways of doing things, they will use some new trick they've discovered.

Perfect examples of this are sites which use javascript instead of links, so if you decide to right click the link to save it somewhere you just get the javascript, or maybe, because they've used odd javascript, the link just doesn't work. WTF is wrong with the good old a href= style links? they work, they work in ANY browser and they do exactly the same as your fancy javascript!

Pages which don;t display in my browser of choice (opera) again because some twonk has decided to use some fancy arsed "modern" way of displaying the pages which he found on some poncy web 2 site, guess what guys, your site fails to display, I go somewhere else, that loses you a sale! tough titty matey.

I could go on, but standards are standards for a REASON and any web developer who can't grasp that should go and takes up origami or knitting, or anything else!

Of course what they also do, on a more serious note, is run the risk of being prosecuted for discrimination against disabled people, but they never teach that at the frontpage school of crappy web design.

Alan Johnston, still held in Gaza

You will have heard the story, BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been kidnapped and is being held by some unknown group in the Gaza strip, all we can do is hope he will be released, and sign this petition asking anyone you can help, anyone with influence, to do all they can to aid his release.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6518185.stm

There's a button on the left of this blog for you to find out more information.

Of course, this is a little specific, there are loads of people kidnapped and held in this way, and they all need our help, but every little helps.

Is this jus a bad day?

I really don't know, tomorrow is the second mediation session, I'm prepared a little for it but I just know my wife is going to refuse shared custody. What then? what do I do, fight it in the courts? or give up and move away, abandon this life here and just quietly vanish.

I see now why men do that, it's not easy, but divorce is so stacked in favour of the woman and so soul destroying. It is never the "easy option" but sometimes it's the one that hurts the least.

Not helped by the fact my DS seems to prefer the lure of the ice cream van in grandmas street than coming to see me at my dads. I know he's only 7 but it feels like rejection.

I knew this wouldn't be easy but I never realised just how hard it is on my heart. I love my children, I don't want to hurt them, and I don't know which option will hurt them the least?

Yorkshire Airlines

Fly the best, Fly Yorkshire Airlines!



Funny than a funny thing!

With a link for if the embeded bit doesn't work

Look who I just added to my MySpace

Martha Jones

Love the way their using the Internet to add details and background to the series.

Anyone found any other cool web sites relevant to this new series yet?

You tube fun! Doctor who trailer

Has it really been a month?

oops

two things then for your delectation and delight today:-

First up, a trailer for Time War a wish list production (I pinched this from Paul Cornell)


you tube link for them as need it
I wish this was a genuine project in the pipeline!


And to follow up, a nice take on Who's on First!


you tube link for them as can't see it embedded (looking at you Jon)

Normal blogging will resume sometime soon, when I'm not so busy!

So True

Saw this in someones signature on mumszone, thought it was to good to not go unshared!

New business news!

I suppose I should have blogged about this before, but now is as good a time as ever, I have just launched my own business.


TempleDene Consultants
Specialising in content managed web sites with a twist, we manage the site for you if you find the easy to use interface daunting, or you simply don't want the hassle of doing it yourself.

This is brilliant

Found this on Paul Cornells blog, and it was funny enough to share with you all

Mr Meredith

Go click on the song Dr Who thing! well worth a play.

I like the other two songs as well, if he's ever touring and in Leeds I am off to go see him!

Blogger upgrade

Well this works well doesn't it

When are the idiots at google going to start making stuff that works in all browser, I have to post this in some crappy out of date piece of shit called internet explorer rather than my nice shiny Opera or I have to use the HTML editor!

Also I now have to check my web mail account with google to see if any comments are posted! I liked having them just arrive in my mail program inbox thank you! to my OWN e-mail address!

HATE this! I was FORCED to upgrade.

I've just about finished my blogging software, only the comments part to do, I know, long time in the pipeline, but I have been busy with more important things! I will be moving myself to there as soon as it's finished! at least I know that works!

Word of the day

Thanks to a slip of the keyboard, a close friend of mine has just invented a new word.

Boased :-
Def : When someone is boastful about something because they are biased.

I liked it, so I thought I'd share.

Happy News

I can't contain myself any longer

after all the unhappiness and shit I have been going through, with the big D word and everything.

I've met someone else!

Someone very special!

I am in love!

Now this may seem very fast and possibly unseemingly fast considering the D word hasn't finalised yet, but I think if you have a chance at something special, a new chance, a new lease of life, you should grab it with both hands and make the most of it.

Some of you know more details I know, but I just wanted THE WHOLE WORLD to know, or at least that small part of it who will read this.

Dealing With Depression

This forum web site offering support and discussion for people who have depression, and further more support and discussion for those people who have friends and family who are suffering. The web site is supported by volunteers and is free to join and participate in.




This new resource is very important to me, please pass it on or link to it where you can.

Climate Change (again)

Want to know if you'll be underwater when the sea rises?

This little site flood.firetree.net will show you.

I'm alright but two companies I used to work for will be underwater, oh dear, what a shame! (snigger)

Remember that mime to "Torn"

I posted it a while back

Well I found a new version, in which Natalie joins David Armand on stage for the later part of it.

God knows how she could sing along with a straight face.

so for your pleasure, delectation and delight, here it is.



Enjoy

P.S. I forgot those embeded things don't work for everyone, so here's a linky to it as well

The Torn Mime

Arrgghhh, laptops

Well OK maybe not laptops, but a certain hardware manufacturer who shall remain nameless at least!

Why is it when Microsoft have a perfectly good screen for selecting screen resolutions this particular company should come along and add a new option on the menu to do it instead, and disable the windows one to a point where it

a. says you have to re-boot to change resolution

b. undoes any changes you make in the STANDARD windows dialog box when it does re-boot!

I fiddled for ages yesterday with two indentical laptops one of which was set up right, and the other which had the wrong resolution, even got down to checking driver version levels before I spotted they had sneaked an extra option on the right click menu.

What the fuck is wrong with using the standard windows interface that everyone knows about? awkward bastards.

/rant

The BIG D word

Well my Divorce is now underway

I am stuck here because of custody issues at the moment, but we're both hoping to get through everything and keep things friendly, or as friendly as we can given the situation.

I am not going to lay blame anywhere, things just haven't worked out.

Who knows what the future may bring however, I am positive about it though.

A Christmas Tale

From Paul Cornell

Deep and dreamless sleep

(Just hope the link is static!)

Merry Christmas

To all my blog readers, yes, both of you!

Here's to festive cheer and a happy new year.

May this next year be better than 2006.

Surveilance Society

With all the current crap about our .gov creating mammoth databases holding all our private and personal info, and grabbing info from banks about us, sending our info illegally to America, setting up more and more CCTV etc.

I rather liked this cartoon!

Can't get motivated today

I have a huge list of things to do, and I can't bring myself to do them.

Not helped by the fact I have to pack up my life and move out, soon.

8 years of marriage, down the drain! Not a Happy Bunny.

Well Done Son

My little boy, my angel, my nemesis! (only kidding) won the fancy dress competition last night at the school disco! Admittedly because there where only 2 entries, but still, he wanted to dress up so he deserved it.

Bit of a last minute thing bin bags stapled together, nowhere near as good as his Dalek from last year (mental note, post Dalek pics)

Here he is with his prize. I'll post some more pics when I have cleaned them up!

A rash of problems!

I seem to have developed a touch of psoriasis, probably the stress of everything at the moment, so one quick trip to the doctors and I now have some cream to get rid of it (hopefully)

Reading the acompanying leaflet, I find there are side effects! one of which is that the cream may cause a rash!

Question is HOW DO I TELL!!!!

Worried about my dad!

He came to baby sit, loyal father that he is.

Only when he was leaving did he tell me that the other morning when he woke up he couldn't sit up in bed coz he was feeling dizzy. he tried to get out of bed and fell over on the floor.

Only reason he metioned it to me was because as he was going he mentioned he was still feeling dizzy, so I got the story out of him while I walked up to his house.

Feeling very alone right now.

POLICE ALERT!!!

Police are urging visitors to the city centre to be especially vigilant
for a new gang operating a slick routine that is aimed at stealing from
unwary persons.


They say that the gang usually comprises of four members.



While the three younger ones, all appearing to be cute and innocent,

divert their "mark" (or intended target) with a show of friendliness and fun,

the fourth the eldest of this gang of criminals - sneaks in from behind the
person's back to expertly rifle undetected through their pockets and
bags for any valuables being carried.



The attached picture taken from CCTV operating in the inner city shows
the gang in operation

















(I feel I must give credit to TanyaJane from mumszone for finding this one for me!)

What to do!

What to do indeed!

I am not a happy bunny at the moment, personal stuff, suffice to say I might well be single again after Christmas.

I don't see any alternative, I really don't.

Hmmm Windows Vista is on sale soon, it will be appearing on a computer near you any time now, so whats new?

well a lot of the features microsoft wanted to put in to it have been lost along the way, they couldn't get them to work, so all Vista is really is an update of XP with a pretty skin and a lot more Digital Rights Management stuff, which will make it more difficult for people to use their own purchased music and video. There is also a little clause in the EULA that specifically stops you from transferign Vista to a new PC as well!

Maybe this new version of Vista will suffer the same lingering death as Sony's mini disks, I still remember sony's DRM stoppig a friend of mine copying the video he took of a friends wedding as it claimed it was copyrighted.

Reason for this little rant was this cartoon at Userfriendly which sums it all up nicely.

Me, I will stick with Linux, no DRM in Linux so I can play what I want! no copyrigth issues so I can install my copy on whatever I want, and mmore security, more robustness and a faster operating system.

Some little niggles, but I am quite happy to put up with them knowing my computer is MINE not Mr Gates! far better to have little niggles than to suddenly find MS decided my operating system is illegal and shutting me down!

Saw this today

And I just wondered, does he? does he really?

I mentioned before about global climate change

And George Monbiots book I had read.

Well I mentioned Gordon Browns report about how much climate change would cost the economy compared to the cost of sorting out the problem, it's not out yet, but both Shell and Firends of the Earth have published today.

there is a report from the Guardian here about it, don't be put off when you read Friends of the Earth, as the article goes on to mention Shells report about how big a market there is for tackling the problems.

to quote

Shell's chairman, James Smith, said: "We do have to tackle climate change and that's a matter for government, companies and individuals as well, because the costs in the coming years from rising sea levels, from floods and extremes of climate will be too high.

"The cost-benefit equation of action to tackle climate change is favourable. That's true not just for the UK but internationally as well," he said on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

If an oil company like Shell is taking the matter seriously then you cannot deny we have hard times coming if we don't tackle the problem.

As Creedance Clearwater Revival put it in bad moon rising!

"I see hurricanes a blowing I know the end is coming soon
I fear rivers overflowing I hear the voice of rage and ruin"

Torchwood & Robin Hood

Robin Hood

Not sure about the new Robin Hood series, it looks nice, it looks good, but it's missing something in the atmosphere, for me anyway. Maybe it will get better, maybe it needs music by Clannad, in fact that is the problem, it's not "Robin of Sherwood"

I will be watching next week though, because I'm certain it will grow on me.

Torchwood

Found this site

Torchwoood, love the title of the page, but for me it's very, well, Black!

I guess it's a coming soon thing.

There is of course the old

Visit Torchwood site with it's little flash animation game, but that's been about for ages.

And finally, credit to Siouxsie who spotted what I hadn't, that TORCHWOOD is an anagram of DOCTOR WHO

Climate Change

I have just read Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning by George Monbiot.

An essential read in my opinion, he very carefully points out the facts about climate change, proves that the "scientists" claiming there is doubt in the figures are paid schills of the big oil companies, then chapter by chapter explains what we can do about it.

This is connection with the study Gordon Brown is about to publish which shows how many trillions climate change will cost the global economy if NOT dealt with might finally wake up people to the need to do something.

If you have any doubts read this book, the guardian published three extracts all worth reading

Pundits who contest climate change should tell us who is paying them is a definate first stop, and theye are all archived to his web site anyway which is a better place to go read them as he has the space to include all his sources and references.

I'm off to try to work out how to insulate the back porch now, it lets far to much heat out as it's only one layer of breeze block with single glazing.

The Hamster

I doubt if anyone reading this hasn't heard about TopGear and Braniac presenter Richard Hammonds serious accident.

However, a number of busybodies are calling for TopGear to be axed citing that it encourages people to drive to fast etc.

1. I don't beleive it does

2. It's a great show, I love it even though I'm not really a car person.

So I have signed this online petition to keep TopGear on television. If you agree that TopGear should stay on TV, please sign it as well.

In other news, fans of the show have so far raised nearly 75,000 quid towards the Yorkshire Air Ambulance appeal, a fantastic amount in so short a time. See for yourself.

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding throught the glen!

I've just heard from writer Paul Cornell's blog that the new Robin Hood series is to start airing on the 7th October.

I've been looking forward to this as it seems to be getting the same treatment as Doctor Who, updating everything for the 00's

I will always have a soft spot though for the excellent and beautiffuly shot "Robin of Sherwood" series, such a shame it never got finished.

We're skint

So to cut back we will be using these value cards for every occasion!

http://www.code-d.com/tesco-cards/index.php

I've seen the images floating about before on the internet, but this is the motherlode, PDF files to download and keep, just print out one every time you need it.

I'll bite, I'll go for it.

I think the person who did this cartoon was aiming for it to be splashed across blogs worldwide, and who am I to argue, I found it funny!

Off The Mark Cartoons

An open letter to Our Glorious Leaders

e.g. Bush and Blair, both of whom profess to be religious sorts full of piety.

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Not my words, but the words of St. James

I thought however that the words of a saint from the actual bible you profess to respect might just hit home where my words could not.

James 5:1-6

If ever you're in dire need

This is where you get them from!

This is cool

I don't really like dogs, but this is cool.



Of course a cat would never do anything quite so undignified! (honest)

Same story, different media!

Here's the BBC about waste disposal and calls to charge by weight!

It includes the claim that bugs are being installed in bins to measure how much you throw away!

Here's the Gruniads take on the same subject!

And finally, the winner for most xenophobic headline designed to work up people to a frothing fit!

The Mail on Sunday, who make it out to be a big German plot!

I mean really, just how stupid does the Mail on Sunday think people are? I love the comments in the Mail, typical kneejerk reactions!

We've got cats

Finally our little family has been extended, we just got two little kittens (6 months old so not that little)

We did only intend to take on, but they looked so sweet together, and we couldn't bring ourselves to split them up!

So may I introduce to you Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Thunder and Lightning!

I have to admit to blatantly stealing this from Joe at Woolamaloo but it's so good I have to post it for you



I also was interested to learn about the chemical properties of the explosives that everyone has been saying the "terrorists" were planning to use in the recent "plot"

As you can see in this article it would be farcical to imagine this particular plot working!

And to lend credence to my point about it being overhyped, apparently the contents of all confiscated liquids are being dumped in big buckets, now if the "terrorists" really were planning to mix two liquids together to get a big bang doesn't this practice strike you as somewhat short sighted?

Well I missed it

In all the excitement yesterday, poeple flapping about a plot which, by all accounts wasn't ready (I saw one report which said the suspects were alledegly going to do a "dry run" in two days) buried deep in the news and drowned out by the hue and cry. Israel escalated its offensive into the Lebanon.

I wonder what other bad news was buried conveniently under a barrage of interviews with people stranded at airports, "experts" telling us how nasty men want to hurt us etc.

Excuse me for being overly cynical but there have been too many false alarms recently for me to take this very seriously.

According to this article on El. Reg the Americans don't seem to think it's worth much of a fuss!

What an amazing co-incedence

So the day after John Reid tells us we have underestimated the terrorist threat, and that we must be prepared to relinquish more of our freedoms in the "war against terror" there is suddenly a massive terrorist threat which effectively closes down all our airports and causes havoc.

Excuse me for being cynical, but this is very convenient. I would not like to suggest that there is no threat, but if the situation is so bad, why are airports operating at all? if I were a terrorist determined to cause havoc I would have a plan B, if I can't get my bomb on a plane I would set it off in the crowds in the airport. (this is not a new idea, I've seen it bandied about in several places before)

So either our security forces have

A. Nobbled the whole attack
B. Over-stated the threat to cause panic

I really think it might just be B as we know the best way to get unpopular security policies through is to pass them on the back of such events, think of the PATRIOT act in the USA for example.

As Herman Goering, Hitlers right hand man once said.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

So I suppose we have to ask the question now, what are our glorious leaders planning next? war? more restrictions? ID cards at any cost, even if they don't work! Watch out Iran, I think our leaders might be planning something.

I'm scared, not of being blown up by terrorists, but of this country of mine sinking further towards an oppressive Police State! And the biggest problem, neither the Tories all the Lib Dems can bring themselves to question matters, because they know they will be accused of undermining our countries security, they will be accused of being "un-patriotic"!

Freedoms must be curbed!

John Reid (home secretary) has said in a speech today to think tank Demos This worries me, what freedoms does he plan to curb, our right to a fair trial, our right to freedom of movement, our right to protest, our right to speak out like I am doing right now?

Let me see, right to a fair trial. Our .gov is already trying to pass laws to restrict this, by various approaches. Stopping juries being used in fraud cases, ASBO's (which are decided by magistrates I believe) and trying to bring in 90 days secret imprisonment for suspected terrorist. (on the basis that someone senior, the local police chief for instance, has suspicion)

Right to freedom of movement, well the miners strikes of the 80's proved we have not had that for a long time, plenty of innocent people where surprised to find that the police had the power to turn them round on public highways and send them home simply on suspicion that they might be going to support a strike.

Right to protest, this is restricted to "approved protests" around the area of the houses of parliament already, and they are trying to bring in laws similar to the good 'ole US of A where protesters are restricted to "freedom zones" well away from the people who are supposed to see the firkin protest.

Right to free speech, depends who is talking really, think of the 80 year old man bundled out of the labor Party conference for heckling the leaders! Held on "terrorism" charges for a while, terrorism charges for simply heckling!

Stop, Think, Speak out, write to your MP, you can find out who that is here on theyowrkforyou.com if you are not sure.

Let's summarise

You cannot protest outside the leaders of this countries meeting place unless it's an approved protest

You cannot move freely about the country

You can be imprisoned for 28 days with no legal recourse (they wanted 90 days, the Police wanted even more)

You can be arrested as a terrorist if you speak out.

Sounds like we've already lost a lot of freedoms, what's next? Oh yes ID cards, then the STATE can POLICE us completely. Doesn't sound like the Great Britain I was brought up to believe in.

I'm already worried, and I don't even have a tinfoil hat yet.

Star Trek does Monty Python

May I offer, for your delectation and delight, the original Star Trek cast doing the Camelot scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Star Trek does Monty Python

Enjoy

ID Cards - How easy are they to copy?

According to this article on El. Reg the new US Biometric Passports are so insecure that anyone could easily copy one, with commercially available bits n pieces.

Now our wonderful new ID card is based on exactly the same RFID * technology, except that a passport closes, a card doesn't (the US passport will have a "tin foil" ** cover) so our cards will be remotely readable, and easily copied.

So now we have a very expensive (billions) system, which most people think will work just as well as any other .gov sponsored IT project like the passport office or the CSA, which will be very easy to get round, and will lead to an explosion of identity theft as soon as criminals realise that having your ID card means they can open bank accounts, claim bebefits etc. all in your name.

So do any of my dear readers (both of you) still want an expensive piece of plastic attached to a failing IT system which can easily be copied and will be compulsary by 2010!

* oh and don't call it RFID, the home office doesn't like that name, they call it something else.

** I'm not joking, when the US .gov found out these RFID chips could be read up to 10 metres away they designed a foil mesh into the cover of the passport so it could only be read when the passport was open.

Game of the week

One for all you Top Gear fans out there

Caravan Tossing, My best so far 279.12

Post your best scores in comments!

David Gemmell, one of my all time favourite fantasy authors has sadly passed away at the age of 57, he wrote 30 novels set in a wonderfully detailed world.

His stories were great tales of heroism but with a great eye for how war affects people, and although he dealt in heroism, he never shirked from showing the bloody side of war and how it affects people either.

If you don't know his works start with

Legend : the tale of an old warrior, Druss the Legend drawn back into war reluctantly.

And I think you will be drawn in to his world.

He will be sadly missed.

The Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried
piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be
covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all
grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to
everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He
was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his
back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and
take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the
animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone
was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to
getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of
our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells
just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less





NOW --------
Enough of that crap . . .
The donkey later came back, and bit the shit out of the farmer who had
tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected, and the farmer
eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:
When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes
back to bite you.

Don't know how I missed this web site

Project Guinevere

Ring any bells with anyone?

Torn

OK, so this has been around for a while, I think I "missed the meme" when it was being splatted round everybody, but I'm posting it here simply because it's so cool.

Natalie Umberalla's Torn done in "sign" language.

Well funny.

The person doing it is David Armand from The Hollow Men.

Privatisation and Outsourcing

I've moaned on here about the problems and pitfalls of privatising and outsourcing everything possible, how it runs up costs and in some cases increases risks

Things are really coming to a head though when even a conservative council decides it's a bad idea!

Sad news

Peter Hawkins, the original voice of the Daleks has died aged 82

He was also remembered as the voice of Bill and Ben (for whom he invented the flobadob language) and the voice-over for Super Ted, Captain Pugwash, Zippy in Rainbow* and the Martian robots in the 1970s Cadbury's Smash ads.

RIP

You wouldn't believe it!

Due to popular demand (well someone asked for it, here's the link to the gruniad article about Channel 4's latest offering.

Leave it at that I think!

Doctor Who - Altenative Ending

Borrowed shamelessly from Paul Cornall's blog, here's the alternate ending to the last episode, where Rose "dies"

Button injured in horrific F1 accident

Terrible news I know, only just heard about it, they do think there is a chance of a complete recovery though!

There is a pic, but it's not for the faint hearted, only click to view if you have a strong stomach.

It's been a while

Since I last posted, a lot has happened.

Family Camp with the Scouts was fun, first time in a long time since I have slept under canvass, DS really enjoyed the tent, to the point of almost pushing me out so he could sleep in it on his own (not for long, I joined him for the night later) DW chickened out and opted for comfy beds indoors.

The camp was one long weekend of assault courses, climbing walls, go karts, survival courses, archery, treasure hunts and more, took over 140 pics which will form an article on the Church web site very soon, I'll post a link when it's ready.

In other news Paul Cornell, the writer of the Dr Who episode "fathers day" amongst other things, has put out a request for friends on MySpace, you can find his page here

Creationists unexpected problem with evolution

Just thought I'd share the latest Doonesbury cartoon.

Broadband

Step 1 : Re-boot set top box (or cable modem)
Step 2 : Allow to start
Step 3 : Kick myself for not trying this before

Now on 4MB cable broadband, and wondering why I didn't think to try a re-boot of the cable box before this, after all re-boot to fix it should have been the first thing a techie thought of. How long could I have had 4MB? at the most a month, depends when they upgraded.

And yes, it is a hellufa lot faster, OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 (latest version) a 120MB file, downloaded at over 440KB/s in under 5 minutes.

In other news:-

Those of you wanting to read more about the BOFH can check out the lates stories here on the Reg earlier stories will be available here on the authors home page again soon, but he has more important things to worry about at the moment as you will see when you follow through the link.

Something silly

This is indeed a very old site, one I found many years ago in fact and just re-discovered today. May I present for your amusment The Evil Overlord List. 100 things I will NEVER do when I become an evil overlord.

Vinyl Addiction

I know you'll all want one of these record players. With the USB connection it it's ideal for ripping all those crackly old LP's you have stashed away in the attic. Of course, for sheer convenience there is always this.

I can't find a UK supplier though.

Revised opinion of Doctors

Just been to my own GP, he took one look at all the tablets I'd been given (which I hadn't started taking till I saw him) and threw them all out. He checked my BP and it was only slightly higher than normal, so he's going to work with me on diet and lifestyle for a few months to reduce BP and chlorestrol levels. So I like Doctors again, or at least, I like my Doctor.

Guess I'll be stopping smoking again, which is a Good Thing.

So apart from a stressful night in hospital it looks like a few simple changes in lifestyle and I'm home free.

Doctors arrgh!

That was fun! NOT

Sudden chest pains and a feeling of pressure/headache led to a call to NHS direct, which led to a recommendation of a trip to casualty. I'm thinking it's just indigestion and overblown so was taken much by surprise when it's announced, we're keeping you in overnight for observation.

One horrible night in hospital (a place I hate anyway) and numerous blood tests later which have left my arms looking like a junkies, it's announced that yes it was just indigestion, no heart attack go home (great relief)

But, my blood pressure was high, which doesn't surprise me considering where I was, and that every time they measured it they'd just stuck me with needles! And my chlorestrol is high. So they are stuffing me full of tablets which I really don't like the look of, some of the side effects look like they'll kill me before my heart gives out.

Last time I ever complain of chest pains!

Treehouses

I always always wanted a tree house, and still do, especially when they look like these ones

Just a little better then a shed at the bottom of the garden, don't you think?

Google Earth

Well there's now a new version of google earth out, and this one features mapping of graphics on to the 3D buildings, there are not many done yet, but what there is is imprressive, check it out here. Better for me is that there is also now a Linux version (who hoo)

You can create your own 3D buildings as well, which is nice, you need google sketchup to do it though. Who will be first to do the Station?

Which Doctor are you?

Joe over at Woolamaloo put me on to this, apparently I'm the ninth doctor. But then you knew that from my profile pic (G)

You scored as The Ninth Doctor (Christoper Eccleston). You liked the Ninth Doctor the most. You may be new to Dr Who, but you like what you've seen so far. Hoorah for Russell T Davies! The Ninth Doctor (Christoper Eccleston) 81% The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) 75% The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davidson) 69% The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) 63% The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) 56% The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) 56% The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) 56% The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) 50% The First Doctor (William Hartnell) 31% Which Doctor Who are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Kids bite back at Mosquito

Mosquito is a device which emits a high pitched noise beyond the hearing range of most adults, but well within the hearing range of children. It was designed to get kids to "move along" from places where grouchy adults wanted them to "get orf my lawn" as a cheaper alternative to actually giving them a decent space to go to like a local park etc.

Anyway, the kids aren't thick, and the sound got sampled, then turned into a ringtone. So now, they have a ringtone inaudible to most adults, but which they can hear.

Cunning stunt I say.

An odd couple

Nothing much to write so here's a couple of "odd things" from the wonderful WWW

First up a little game. Americans call this a Rube Goldberg device, what we would call a Heath Robinson machine over here (not sure who came first, their birthdays make Robinson older, but only by a few years). Heath Robinson illustrated the wonderful Professor Branestawm books which I loved as a kid, sadly, they don't seem to still be in print.

The other thing is a truly wonderful optical illusion just read the instructions first. This site was featured on fark, so it may be unavailable temporally if the guy's had his bandwidth splattered again. He has a couple of similar illusions scattered across his site.

Bank Holiday Week

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, it's been hectic with having the children on holiday. To make up for it here's a picture filled feast for you. I have indicated with (Pic) which links go to more pictures rather than links which go to external web sites.

Bank Holiday Monday
Was mixed weather, with as they say on the forecasts "occasional showers". With typical planning and foresight we decided to go to Golden Acre Park for a walk, by more luck than management we managed to be indoors whenever it rained, while we where there we saw the ducks (Pic) and ducklings on the lake side. We fed both the ducks and the geese while we were there. We ducked into the cafe for the first rain shower, and made our way round to the greenhouse garden (Pic) just in time to take cover in there for the next shower. You can see the rain lashing the windows behind us.

Wednesday - Beaver Scouts Trip
Wednesday saw DS and myself taking a trip out with the Beaver Scouts to Hebden Bridge by train followed by a short (but steep) walk up to Heptonstall. We picnicked in an old ruined church before heading back down to the river for a chance to feed the ducks and pigeons before going down to the park for a play and catching the train (Pic)
back to Leeds. Hebden Bridge is a marvelous old station (Pic) retaining almost all the old cast iron signs it would have had many years ago. It was a great day out with seven other children from the pack joining us.

Friday - Kirkstall Abbey
We had watched them renovating Kirkstall Abbey last year, and thought we'd better go and see what had been done, they have a new web site to show off the renovations and fill you in on the history. DS and DD had discovered the railway last year, and were Keen (Pic) to explore it again. DS especially likes the rickety old bridge (Pic) which we crossed with care. He also insisted I include this picture of the river (Pic), as he liked the island.
As we wandered back to the car I took this rather spooky picture (Pic) which shows the abbey lit up from within, a trick of the light, but still effective. We played in the park playground for a while before getting stuck in the rush hour on the way home (I'd forgotten that not everyone was on holiday, oops).

Saturday - BBC Springwatch
BBC springwatch came to Temple Newsam on Saturday so we really had to go. DD rushed off early for a Birthday party leaving DS and I to take in the falconry (Pic) display where they flew several birds. This hawk (Pic) got close up for us to have a better look. DS would like to point out that he saw his teacher up there, but we didn't manage to say hello.
There was a great atmosphere and we saw lots of interesting things like a section of beehive (complete with real live bees) which worried DS, and to finished of they had Joe the Storyteller who regaled us with some marvelous tales, and the fire jugglers.
who took me from the audience at "gun" point and stood me in the amphitheatre while they spun blazing sticks within inches of my face, such a shame DS took no pics of this (phew) as they dressed me in Blues Brothers style hat, shades and jacket. I also got the chance to squirt the audience with a water pistol, which was nice, and appreciated by most of them as it was a burning hot day.

Sunday - Killingbeck Police Station
Lets spin a little tale here, DS found a badger (Pic), which if found in the wild and killed or captured could get him in trouble. To add to his problems he was involved in burning a car (Pick) and it wasn't long before the Police (Pic) took an interest, bundled him into the back of their van (Pic) and took him away to the cells.

Yes it was the Police open day, and DS enjoyed it, but maybe not so much the walk down and back, we found plenty to occupy a couple of hours while DD was at yet another birthday party (she sure is popular this weekend).

Linux rescues Microsoft

That might be a slight overstatement, but as I've pointed out before, MS has been delaying Vista for ages, and my opinion was that security, or an inability to make Vista secure, was the problem.

Now according to this and this article, they have got an extra layer in Vista called Address Space Layout Randomization (ALSR) which protects against the infamous buffer over run exploits so common in MS products. (Michael Howard is not the same MH as was leader of the tory party, he is in fact Microsoft's senior security program manager)

So Microsoft really can't write proper security, as they always do, they have had to "borrow" it from somewhere else, in this case Linux! It's not the first time it's happened either, when Hotmail was under a "denial of service" attack a while ago they had to hide the Windows servers behind a Linux firewall.

You couldn't make it up.

The Periodic Table

And by that I mean a real table, this guy has built a proper table with boxes set into the top, each box has the element name and details, and inside, where he can get a sample, is stored a piece of that element.

The Periodic Table web site has to be see to be believed!

Open Source vs Microsoft

One of the points Microsoft always likes to make about open source software verus their operating system is that, as a commercial company, Microsoft have a vested interest in bringing new products to market, and respond to the market need quickly.

This article jogged my memory about just how long we have been waiting for MS Vista (Microsofts "new" operating system), I installed Linux on my computer as the sole operating system 2 years ago, I have updated through 3 new versions since, each with more and more improved features and useability, yet Bill Gates and his crew have consistantly failed to deliver their new product.

I know what is slowing them down, security, security and security! or at least, their inability to make security work properly.

Also they are trying to make sure that MS Vista is no longer "your" computer, but, in fact, it will belong to the media industries who are so keen to stop you ripping off their material. This will have the NASTY side effect of restricting what you do with your own stuff, and what you do to make life easier with your MP3 players etc. Basically MS Vista will be useless to anybody but the extremem numpty who just wants to surf the web and send e-mails that it will be (hopefully) shunned by anyone with any common sense.

Go Finland

That is all

Nuclear Power

Tony Blair has just announced that nuclear power is "back on the agenda with a vengeance". I think most people who know me know I'm against this for a number of reasons, the main one being that we have an atrocious record over only a few decades of keeping nuclear material safe, see here for the obvious one, or here for my rant about Cookridge hospital's disaster. If in only a few decades of having nuclear power we can't manage to safely transport and store nuclear waste, who on earth trust any government to safely store waste for the (approximately) 10,000 years it takes before this stuff presents no danger? I'll guarantee not many people spotted this little piece about a leak at Sellafield (sorry Windscale) which went un-noticed for months. Also gung ho American firms want to take over running Windscale which is (sarcasm warning) fantastic, if that happened we'd have a foreign firm storing nuclear waste in a country they had no allegiance to, and from whom they could escape the law by merit of being "american".

George Monbiot, who is a respected environmentalist who writes for the guardian has a lot to say about the true cost of nuclear power stations inthis article showing the "true" cost.

All I can think is that Tony wants new work on Nuclear Power stations as he intends for Britain to flaunt the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by developing a new generation of British nuclear weapons, and he needs a nuclear power industry to help make that job easier and cheaper, as the costs will be hidden in subsidies to the nuclear power industries.

The carbon costs alone of mining and transporting Uranium, Processing it, and building a "safe" power station actually means that WITHOUT taking in to account disposal of waste, a nuclear plant emits more CO2 than a conventional coal or gas powered station. In fact, buried in this economist article even American economists think that once debt write-offs, government subsidies and externalities are accounted for, the true cost of a Nuclear power plant is something close to double what "official" sources tell us.

I've remained loyal to Labour ONLY because my local MP George Mudie is "old labour" and a decent chap, and a rebel when it takes him, but that loyalty is wearing thin fast. (he failed me on identity cards, but that's another story)

So if you are against nuclear power, and a new generation of nuclear weapons, speak out now, and speak out loudly, you might think no-one will hear, but if you don't speak out, who will? you want to rely on me?

The Affair of the Lone Banana

Bananas are becoming extinct, this is fairly old news, I read about the imminent demise of the humble Banana in New Scientist 3 years ago. The problem being bananas are sterile, you only get new banana trees by cultivating cutting, so they are genetically the same plant, this plant is threatened by various diseases, and it is hard to develop hybrids from cuttings.

The banana we eat today is not the same variety as we used to buy years ago, that species became extinct for the same reasons.

But now, mainly blamed on rampant deforestation, the Banana may well vanish without some serious work as wild and lesser know varieties are being lost rapidly.

Apparently there is a possible lifesaver, one lone banana tree in the botanical gardens of Calcutta.

Maybe Chimpy McBush should invade Calcutta and save this tree for 'murika (assuming they don't blow up the wrong building and destroy it forever)

Here's a linky

class VolcanoEruptApp { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Volcano about to erupt");}}

Sorry, my inner geek made me do it.

Can't claim credit though, that must go to the submitter on Fark.com

I didn't see nothing!

I shouldn't admit to having seen this.

I will start posting again soon, it's just been a strange week, which does of course mean I should have lots to blog about, but it's personal.

TTFN

Feeling brave?

If you are, and you have 300 odd bucks going spare, why not pick up this haunted teddy available on e-bay

The whole sorry story is quite a tale, not for the fainthearted.

Bank Holiday Weekend

With this post I am trying an experiment to reduce load time by linking to some pictures rather than having them on display.

Only 6 days late, but still, last weekend we went along to Golden Acre Park for a walk out and to feed the ducks and geese, they seem a lot tamer and hungrier than the Roundhay ones, and definitely friendlier than Temple Newsam ducks, who seem distinctly uninterested in bread. Here's the family feeding the ducks:

Me slightly nervous about being surrounded by hungry geese, and the (new?) greenhouse, like a mini tropical world.

On the Monday we went to Middleton Railway which is the oldest commercial railway in the world, established in 1758. The railway has been closed for over a year for major refurbishments and so the city council could build a new bridge over it, and only re-opened a few weeks ago, the new reception building is a welcome new edition giving a spacious area for the cafe and exhibits. Our train was pulled by a Bagnall 0-4-0ST called Matthew Murray built 1943. This is a great picture of everyone (except of course me, who has a frown because I'm trying to work out if the auto feature has triggered.)

And finally a nice shot looking back up the platform with our train waiting to pull out.

New world record

Approximately 3738 women attempt to break the world record for the most sucking babies. Previous record holders Manchester United unavailable for comment.

"The Prisoner" Returns

"I am not a number, I am a freeman"

Sky One are planning a big budget re-make of Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" and it is rumoured that Christopher Eccleston might be involved.

Now I'm not to sure about this, Doctor Who returned for a new series, but this looks more like a re-make of the old series, what's up Sky? Run out of ideas? For those of you unfamiliar with the series, the ending was "open" for a new series, so there is no reason why they couldn't continue where it left off. If they just try to re-make the old programs with : to quote "a pacy, high concept six-part drama" they will just be turning out something mediocre.

Have to wait and see I guess, I could be wrong, it has been known.

Of fonts and bandits

Just been reading Paul Cornell's blog and thought I'd pass on these rather nice little titbits, firstly, the BBC has now set up a Robin Hood website in anticipation of the new series, filming has only been going on for a month so don't hold your breath. Nice bit of trivia, the actor playing Much is Sam Troughton, the grandson of Patrick Troughton who everyone knows as the second Dr. Who.

Also Paul has a link to a lovely Dalek font, which I just had to download.

Faster, faster, faster, yes

Well by the end of June NTL are planning to roll out faster speeds to us mere mortals, according to this article, they are dropping the 75GB monthly cap on the 10MB service, increasing the 2MB to 4MB and all for the same price. I just hope it all works better than the wanadoo problems with their speed upgrade. Still, apart from having to wait for a new set top box, the last NTL speed upgrade went without a hitch, so fingers crossed.

More Who strangeness

If you have been watching Dr. Who you will probably have found these sites already, but for those who haven't:

Torchwood House which has a little flash game in it, and:

Deffry Vale High School which has an aptitude test which DS and I haven't beaten yet, but then, most of Sunday is spent in a small haze of beer. (not too much, but enough to befuddle my spatial senses in a game like this)