This morning I learnt the sad news that Len Sassaman sadly passed away having taken his own life in an apparent suicide at his home in Leuven, Belgium.

Len was a major advocate for privacy and a great influence on some of my earlier work.  He leaves a great legacy but an even greater void in so many lives.  My thoughts go out to his wife Meredith (L. Patterson), may she have strength and courage through these difficult times.

Depression is the silent killer.

I'm coming to understand that "battle with depression" is sometimes very close in meaning to "battle with cancer."

@maryadydd 04 July 2011

<BEGIN PGP MESSAGE>
Len Sassaman (1980-2011)
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Two moans about Pipex in as many days.  They really are going for it in a big way of late.

When I raised a support request the other day, I used my Pipex account email address, i.e the one that has been associated with my account since day one of me being a customer with them. (usually of the form ***@dsl.pipex.com) 
I noticed that I didn’t receive an auto-reply which was unusual, so out of interest, I sent a test message from another email account.
Funnily enough, it bounced. But not just any old bounce, but because of:

5.1.0 - Unknown address error 550-'Mailbox is inactive'

Since Pipex have transferred over the home customer control panels to some part of Tiscali, there isn’t actually an easy method of retrieving your customer account settings any more.  No problem I thought, I’ll raise a ticket.

I raised a ticket with Pipex Support and couldn’t believe their response.

I understand from your email that you are uanble send emails on your email account ******@dsl.pipex.com as the senders are getting error 5.1.0 - Unknown address error 550-'Mailbox is inactive'
With reference to your below mail, please be informed that unfortunately we are unable to help you from this helpdesk on this concern.
I would request you to please contact our Customer Support as they would be in a better position to assist you in this regard.
You can contact our Customer Support at 0871 663 3300. Calls are charged at 5p/min from a Pipex line or at 10p/min from a BT line. Calls from mobiles and other providers may vary. Lines are open from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm, Mondays-Fridays, 8:00 am-5:00 pm on Saturdays, and 9:00 am-6:00 pm on Sundays.

So support aren’t actually able to provide any support?
That was Pipex Customer Support I had emailed!

It turns out, all that emailing customer support will do is result in a reply back asking me to call their customer support line.  
What they want me to do is call a PAID FOR support line, not a free one, but a PAID FOR support line.
Now trust me, despite 5p/min sounding like a cheap rate from my Pipex line, and 10p/min from a BT line, if only it were that simple.  My last call to Pipex customer support required waiting on hold for over 2 hours, and a further 20mins waiting for the support representative to fix the issue. The same issue reared it’s head the following week which required another 90mins of call time.
That worked out at around £11.50 just to fix that one issue which was yet another screw up at their end.

Well Pipex can go whistle this time. I emailed them back and have given them my home number so they can call me.
And if they cannot resolve it via email, I’ve also given them a deadline of 8pm tomorrow night.
If they have not resolved it by 8pm tomorrow night, WITHOUT the need for me to waste my time and money calling them, I will be requesting my MAC and moving my account to another ISP.

The only reason I haven’t moved away from Pipex is as I stated in previous post in that they Pipex owe me funds which are incredibly difficult to have returned once you leave them. But sod it! I’ve totally had enough of Pipex and the complete bunch of eejots that seem the be running the damn company.  I’ll pursue them via the courts and boy will it cost them a damn site more than it would have done if they had just returned the monies that were owed to me in the first place.

Pipex were once a great ISP, before that was, Tiscali came in and totally screwed the company over and up.

Trust me when I say, avoid Tiscali, TalkTalk and Pipex like the plague. Go with O2 (as my first option), and then Plus Net (as my 2nd option despite them really being BT now). But, be warned with Plus Net.  I’ve seen quite a few mumblings around various online forums that Plus Net support has gone down the pan since BT took them over. (Something else I’m not surprised about).  Never ever go with BT direct either, but that’s a whole new story I’ll save for a rainy day.

Finally, Pipex, you win the idiot of the week award for this week. You must now be ranking as one of the worst ISP’s in the UK

I’m not the only one who has suffered at the hands of Pipex.  Check out http://www.pipexproblems.co.uk/

Back around June 2009, Tiscali took over the running of my old Pipex network.  And whereas before I was averaging around 2400Kbps, it all suddenly went pear shaped and dropped to less than 600Kbps for a few days.

It did recover later that day, but ever since Tiscali took over the routing of my data, both the upload and download speeds have steadily decreased until yesterday, they nose dived to below 750Kbps.  Pipex insist they do no traffic shaping, no bandwidth throttling on my connection, but I beg to differ!

I contacted support to see if any work was going on. “Absolutely none sir, nothing has changed this end”.
So I sent them a copy of the above data and rang them back. There response was “Have you changed your phone sir?” to which I replied “What everyday since June 2009 !”
He assured me nothing had changed and that there were no problems his end. I then asked them to sort out my Mac code as I had enough and I would be transferring away ASAP.
Funnily enough, within 30mins, my upload speed has shot up above 2000Kpbs for the first time since June 2009.

Pipex/Tiscali/Talk Talk absolutely suck and are to be avoided like the plague regardless of how cheap they are.

You are much better taking a look at Plus Net (although now they come under BT, I’d be weary of that).  My top suggestion at the moment is believe it or not, O2 Broadband.  Yes, they are a big corporate group, but their customer service is first rate. If you tell them there is a problem, they actually listen to you. They don’t treat you like some half witted idiot, but they actually listen to what you have to say.

So why am I still with Pipex? Because the buggers owe me over £400 in over payments and the instant I leave them, I face a long haul through the courts to try and claim it back. As for Ofcom? Forget it. They know who pays their wages and are about as effective as a chocolate fireguard.

And if you wanted further proof of just how bad Pipex/Tiscali can be, just take a look above.
They insisted absolutely nothing was wrong at their end. It took 30mins of ranting at their support guy for them to go actually get off their arse and take a look. And finally, after 8am, things magically get a whole lot better.

Be warned… stay clear of Pipex and Tiscali…

Finally had the chimney swept after the hammering it took last year. Couldn't book the chimney sweep until Friday last week, by which time all the snow had gone. But saying that, the warmest it reached over the weekend was 2.5deg.

It was minus –8deg on the outside thermometer when I woke this morning, so I quickly got the fire going.  Crumpet, marshmellows and a few chestnuts tonight for supper methinks.

I just received a weird telephone call from someone claiming to be from the National Television Control centre. The caller ID had been blocked so I couldn’t verify the number from which the call originated, but from his accent, I would guess they could be based in India.
He stated by saying “Good day, I’m calling from the National Television Control Centre and we have had reports of bad reception in your area. Can you confirm if your reception is working?”.
When I challenged him he became defensive and would not reveal any other details and eventually hung up.
(When I asked for details about the National Television Control Centre, i.e. who owned it, who run it, where it was based, he just became flustered and didn’t answer).

I have heard of a similar scam to do with Sky customers, but the caller never mentioned Sky, merely if my reception was fine.
Sky have put some information about a similar ‘scam’ on their own website (Sky Protect)

In my case, it appears that they are cold calling UK numbers rather than targeting Sky customers with the aim of finding any customers who are currently experiencing problems.
The scammers then apparently try to “help you resolve” the problem by offering to contact Sky support on your behalf. At no time however do they mention that you will be billed by them for this support.

Just be warned that there is no such organisation as the National Television Control Centre, at least not in the UK. If you receive such a call, do not reveal any personal information.
If they do claim to be from Sky, or working on behalf of Sky, ask them for your contact number, account number, or the type of receiver you have been supplied. I can assure you that they won’t be able to answer and will give you some waffle as to why they can’t supply that information. 

Lotus are to return to Formula 1 for the first time since 1994 after being granted the 13th slot on the grid from next season.

They will line up as one of four new teams for 2010 - alongside Campos Grand Prix, Manor and US F1.

Great news for us F1 fans, especially those who remember the good old days when Lotus were last involved. Admittedly, it’s been a fair few years since they could be classed as one of the successful teams, but I’m just glad to have the badge back amongst the starting grid. I was born in 67, so not quite old enough to remember their best years between the 60’s and 70’s. Not a lot of people realise that despite withdrawing from F1 back in 94, they are still the fourth most successful F1 team ever.

In its new incarnation the team is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs and is being led by team principal Tony Fernandes, the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group which owns Air Asia airline.

Mike Gascoyne - who has 20 years experience in the sport after working with Jordan, Renault, Toyota, and most recently Force India - returns to F1 as the team's technical director.

For more information see the original BBC Sport Article: Lotus will return to F1 in 2010

Just a quick post to highlight a worthwhile cause and to ask you to help in anyway you can.
A friend of mine had reason to make use of BLISS some time ago, and I was recently reminded of the charity by a tweet by Tess Morris.
Tess and her husband (Lee Morris) will both be running 10miles in the Great South Run, and sponsoring them both is a great way to help the charity.
Even if you can't afford a few pennies at the moment, please donate 5mins of your time and forward this event on to your friends, family and work colleagues.

From the JustGiving page set up by Tess Morris.

Our little girl Eden Summer was born at 29 wks, 11 wks, early by emergency caesarean at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, miles away from our local hospital which didn't have the facillities to look after a baby so small . Eden's incubator was donated to the hospital by Bliss and the intensive care unit was also referred to as Bliss. I eventually held Eden for the first time after 4 days and quickly started kangaroo care which Bliss says helps pre-term babies and parents,it did,after 3 wks Eden was transferred to our local hospital where she stayed another 3 wks after which we were allowed to bring her home. It was the scariest time of our lives but the staff at both hospitals and Bliss were fantastic .The work Bliss does is amazing and my husband and me are trying to raise as much money as possible for them to continue their work. So thats why we will be running 10 miles in The Great South Run so please help us help babies like Eden.

For more information on BLISS, you visit their website at http://www.bliss.org.uk

Bliss, the special care baby charity, provides vital support and care to premature and sick babies across the UK. Founded 30 years ago this year, we offer guidance and information at a critical time in families' lives. We also fund ground-breaking research and campaign for babies to receive the best possible level of care regardless of when and where they are born

Remember, these babies are too small to be able to help themselves. Help BLISS give them the best start in life. As I say above, even if you can't afford to give a few pennies, then forward this post to everyone you know, or send them the link to the JustGiving page.

New variant of Trojan via Hotmail Instant Message

Be warned and on the lookout for a new round of Hotmail accounts being hacked and suspicious links being sent to you from your contacts.
You might receive a message from a known contact that will contain a link to what initially appears to be a to a profile picture.
What it is actually doing is trying to get you to download a windows Trojan.
Hotmail Message from Hacked Account

The message you will receive could look something like the following:

The text will say something similar to the above: "ahha is this you?? hxxp://images-id.com/profile.php?=yahoo:shinerweb@yahoo.com"

How does the attack work?

If you receive the above message or similar, because it has come from a "trusted friend" in your Hotmail contact list, you are probably likely to believe the link to have come from them.
Most people will just click on the link, but don't worry, you haven't been hacked just yet. In this case of this attack it actually requires you to install it, but believe it not, many people will do just that.

In this instance, clicking on the link above will download a self-extracting zip file to your PC. (Yes, we are talking a Windows Trojan here).
But you still haven't infected your PC. You now have to actually run the self-extracting zip file by navigating to the location where it was downloaded and clicking on it. (Some chat programs allow you to open the downloaded file by simply clicking on it from within the chat program).
But you still haven't been infected if you do just that. All you have done is to extract the actual virus to your PC.
It still requires you to now navigate to where the file was extracted and open it.
Only now will you have infected your machine.

At the time of writing, only one anti-virus vendor was giving a warning, with two other vendors marking the file as suspicious.
It will take most of the leading Anti-virus companies up to another 6-12 hours before they release new definitions to catch this one.
It will probably be a few days before the rest of the bunch catch up with some taking up to a week.
So even if you have the most up-to-date virus definitions, you are not going to detect this trojan just yet.

Despite the number of manual steps involved in order to become infected, many hundreds of thousands of users around the globe will still do just that.
Some will do it primarily because the link and the files came from someone in their Hotmail contact list that they probably trust.

So why did my Hotmail contact send me this link?

Actually, your contact didn't. The bad guys have gained access to your contacts username and password and have control of their account.
There are a number of ways that the bad guys can gain access to these details.

Trojan: The payload in this instance is a trojan that installs other software to capture personal information from the infected machine. The user could already have been infected with this trojan or another similar and the Hotmail account details stolen (via a Keylogger for example).

Phishing: There have been a number of incidents already this year whereby legitimate sites have displayed adverts or malware inserted by the bad guys. This presents the visitor with a dialogue box very similar (almost an exact copy) of the Hotmail Login screen. The user then blindly enters their Hotmail Username and Password. The bad guys scripts will then usually display a failure message before redirecting the visitor the genuine Hotmail Login screen. But by this stage it is too late, they already have your Hotmail account details.

In this instance, this is what I suspect to have happened in that the user has fallen foul of a phishing attempt on a site they have recently visited.

The short answer is that your Hotmail contact did not send you the message. In fact, they probably have no knowledge what-so-ever of any messages being sent to you.
They will probably tell you that they didn't even have their computer switched on at the time so it could not have come from them.
The bad news is that it didn't need to be. The bad guys already have their username and password and they use a program of their own to login and send the messages from any computer they like.

At a later date, I will post an update on how to prevent or reduce the chances of falling foul of these types of attacks.
Some quick advice though is:

• Never to trust any files sent by friends no matter how much you trust them. It might not be them sending it in the first place.
• Always have your chat program configured to run an anti-virus scan of ALL downloaded and transferred files. (Though this would not have protected you in this instance).
• Any file you are not sure of, upload it to Virus Total and see what they have to say about it.
  

The information below is the technical information about how the virus works.

It happened to me last night around 12.30am.
It was my mobile number this time.
The phone rings twice, and then the call drops.
By the time I get to the phone, there is a missed call from 03598815400011

That is a number from Bulgaria and more than likely, a premium rate number.
I had a quick check online to see if there are any other reports on this number and low and behold, there are plenty. It does however appear to be a new number in use.

I was amazed to read some of the comments on one site and a few of the questions I have listed below:

"How do they get my number?"
"Why are they ringing me at that time of the morning? I'm not likely to answer".
"Why do they only let it ring once, I will never be able to answer the phone that quick"

Some people just don't seem to understand when they are about to be conned even when it jumps up and bites them on the nose.
They didn't "get your number".
And the reason why it only rings once is because they don't want you to pick it up and answer it.
(If you do, that costs them money and they don't want to actually spend any money, they just want to make as much as possible).

Here is a copy of my reply I posted in reply to one comment.

Well the quick answer is nobody special, although I get the impression that he probably is the kind of guy who thinks he is.
So what has he done to get up my nose? Well nothing major, so if you here for some gossip, move on, it’s just a rant from me.

I think it was 2006 or 2007 that I joined Ecademy which is a great UK based Business Social Networking tool (and here you can see my Ecademy Profile).

Retaggr so far appears to be the best site for placing all your contact points in one simple place.
I have multiple online personas, but Shinerweb/Chris A Wright are my main “personal” ID’s that I generally use online.

Sure am going to miss the guy… (for all the wrong reasons).

Still, I expect there is bound to be more fun ahead with 'Obi'

The following gave me a chuckle, and given the large number of Twitter accounts I run/manage, I was glad to see that no names were mentioned. It’s probably the one and only time I’m glad not to be mentioned in a tweet/post.

I must give credit to Ike Pigott (@ikepigott) for the idea of a "Top 10 People to Unfollow" list.  Although I can easily think of several individuals I’d like to place on this list, I figured it would be too mean to actually call them out by name (and possibly result in a libel suit).  So the list below contains ten archetypes that I’ve noticed on Twitter.

From the post “Top 10 List of People to Unfollow on Twitter” on the blog by Shannon Whitley.

I’m hoping I’ve never fallen into any of those categories, though looking at my main “personal” Twitter account, one or two (erm, try most) are getting pretty close to another Top 10 reason category of “Too Drab to be of any interest”.

Pop over to Shannon’s site and add any categories you can think of to the comments on that post.

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I am still here, just… Apart from being very ill the past few months (erm, let’s try apart from being ill since my last operation on January 8th which is more exact), I’ve been working on 10 new sites as well as a few new ventures with a couple of other people. I’ve also just come back from a 4 week residential pain management course at INPUT, St Thomas’ Hospital, London.  If you want to read all about that, you can follow my updates over at another blog of mine - “My Own Personal Pain”

Quite a lot has happened since my last post, and in fact it was when Pompey dropped out of the UEFA Cup last night that I remembered that the last time I posted was when the draw for the first round had been made (back in August 2008 - Pompey in the UEFA Cup).  I didn’t get to watch it last night, but I did catch poor old David James howler on the news this morning.  I think we can forgive him his error seeing as he probably earned us 75% of our points last season).

Anyway, I am hoping that I’ll be updating a lot more often over the next few weeks as I begin to put into practice what I learned at St. Thomas’.

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So Pompey have drawn Vitoria SC from Portugal in the UEFA Cup.
I could do with an away trip to sunny Portugal, just not so sure I could get away with it right now.
Oh well, I’m just glad that Pompey are in Europe for the first time in my life time that I can remember.
I shall just have to find out which non-terrestrial station will be broadcasting it and bemoan the fact that I don’t have a subscription for it.

The rest of the draw looks pretty good for British clubs too:

Portsmouth v Vitoria SC (Portugal)
Manchester City v AC Omonia (Cyprus)
Nancy (France) v Motherwell
Everton v Standard Liege (Belgium)
Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) v Aston Villa
Tottenham v Wisla Krakow (Poland)

Jogue acima o pompey, pompey jogam acima as they say in Portugal.

Image via Wikipedia

A few months back PIPEX changed my fixed IP address without warning. Ok, so I lost a few days in fault finding a few network issues when a few things stopped working because of the IP change. The fact that PIPEX changed my IP wasn't so much an issue, it was the fact that they never told me about beforehand. For operational reasons, I understand that sometimes an IP has to change, it just can't be helped. So I really wouldn't have minded. But to be not told beforehand is just bad business practice and causes a lot of unnecessary work. But PIPEX's ineptitude doesn't end there.

Image via Wikipedia

It must have been the third week of the summer school holidays in most places around the UK.  My wife was still working and wasn’t due her vacation for a few more days, so I had to keep the kids entertained until we could all do something together.
As is always the case this time of the year, the subject of "what to do and where to go" was all over the national and local news.

But I am confused?

Two adults, two children, 9-10 hours of watching top class motor racing at one of Europe's best racing courses (and I really do mean one of the top circuits in Europe!). Total cost? £24 (£20 if you had booked your tickets online). 

But the most confusing part, was that the place was virtually empty, and I mean really empty.  There were more family members of the drivers than actual visitors. I would even go as far as saying there were probably more circuit marshals than their were spectators.

Admittedly, the weather forecast for the day wasn't too good, but it wasn't that bad either. Yet again, perhaps people know just how crap the weather forecasts are in the UK because actually, the weather was horrendous. It was cold, windy and the rain came down like stair rods which played havoc with my back, but made for better racing rather than having just the one or two cars speeding off into the distance (as happens in F1).
We got to see drivers driving which sounds quite daft until you think about it.
There was also the small matter of the Olympics starting today, but I can't believe for one minute that people would have preferred to have watch that on television in preference to a day out.

So where was this all happening?

Just a quick post because I'm away from home right now, but I couldn't NOT say something about today's opening ceremony for the Olympics. So while I'm laying here waiting for my meds to kick in so I can slip into my drug induced 'haze' which I call sleep, I decided to give my congratulations to China on an amazing opening 2008 Olympic Ceremony.

Just how the heck the UK is going to compete with something like that I don't know. We'll be "knackered" for starters if we try and base it on our 'past' history.  We're probably responsible for 99.99% of all world cock-ups (colonisation, religious wars, slavery, corruption, etc etc)...  It should be fun seeing how we match up to what the Chinese did today.

It was fascinating to watch and even had all 3 of my kids glued to the TV for the whole even (which did surprise me).

Apparently China has "human rights" issues, and China has "a bucket load of other issues" according to a bunch of so called "perfect people" in some "perfect country".  Well hello...  Who are we to preach to anyone with our track record? (And that stands for both the US and the UK).  Who are we to impose our beliefs, our social and moral judgements on a country that basically 99.99% of us know absolutely nothing about. We (both the US and the UK) are not perfect, we don't live in a perfect world and hello, at least some people are at least open to change.

I hope that these games allow us to see China in a different light, a much better light than the media/governments would have us see.  The Chinese people are themselves are amazing and I wish them the best of luck with the Olympic games and hope it brings them the success that they deserve.  (To be honest, I have absolutely no knowledge what-so-ever of the Chinese Government on a personal level, only from some business dealings, so I base all my assumptions on the various Chinese people I have worked with or have come to know socially over the past few years).

$20 Billion is a lot of money I guess, and even I wonder if that money would have been better spent elsewhere, but then it is about more than just the money.  It's about the hope and belief that it brings to a country (and to all those taking part). It's about bringing the whole country together, which after the earthquake disaster has got to be a good thing. (Which won't be of any comfort to the families of the 20,000 people still missing). But who knows, it might give them something to focus on, to help them move on.  It might also educate the ROTW that the Chinese are not so different to the rest of us and it might actually bring us all that little bit closer.

"One World, One Dream"

We can only hope so.

This post was inspired by some work on one of my other sites but made me laugh so much it was worthy of being discussed here to.

We all get them, Paypal phishing emails that look like a mail from Paypal. When you click on them, they then take you to a site that looks like Paypal and when you enter your Paypal information, it gives you an error and redirects you back to the real Paypal site with you hopefully none the wiser... Except that you've now given the Phisher's your Paypal details...

So before I go any further, never ever click on a link in an email that subsequently is going to ask you to log in.

1. You get en email from "Company ABC".
2. Open your browser of choice.
3. Navigate to "Company ABC's" website.
4. Log in.
And you're done.

If you get into the habit of doing this, you can never ever fall prey to a phishing email.   
 
I'll say it once more just for effect, Never ever log in to a site that you have arrived from after clicking a link in an email.

Ok, warning out of the way, back to the main point for this post.
Earlier on today, I got a new format of Paypal phishing email.
The contents of which are quoted below:

Due to our recent database update we require that you confirm your PayPal account. The confirmation process takes 3-5 days.

So far, nothing new I thought...Here we go again and I look down for the usual phishing link, except I couldn't see one, so I read on.

We have taken this measure to reduce the number of the unused PayPal accounts in our database.

To confirm your PayPal account you must make a deposit in the bank account of our PayPal agent in charge with account management. The deposit amount of  $ 50.00 USD will be uploaded into your PayPal account.

So hold up...They want me to deposit $50.00 USD into their account and then they will pay it back to me.
hmmm, I'm starting to see a slight flaw in their plan already...

The details needed for the deposit are:

Amount to deposit: $50.00 USD
PayPal agent name: <details deleted>
Bank name: <details deleted>
Bank address: <details deleted>
IBAN: <details deleted>
SWIFT/BIO: <details deleted>

For security reasons, I've deleted various details from above, but in this case, they were all valid and did point to an existing foreign bank account with a valid name.

So just how exactly do the phishers collect their money?
Either someone else has been scammed and the bank account details belong to someone who has had them stolen or, the details actually belong to the phisher.

Now I know these people can be stupid, but I can't believe they would openly send out their own bank account details. Or are they that stupid? I'd like to think so, because that means by the time you read this, they are already hopefully locked up in some Gulag camp (now there is a clue as to where the bank account details were based which shouldn't surprise most of you).

But even if they weren't that stupid and the bank account belonged to some other poor soul who was totally unaware, surely there aren't enough people in the world dumb enough to fall for this for them to get enough money before the account was shut down.
The account is also in a country where I don't know what sort of relations the authorities in the west has.

Unfortunately, a great number of people do fall for these types of scams.It just beggars belief at the number of different methods that spammers and phishers will try in order to extort money from people.  What is more disheartening is that real people will fall for tricks like this.
So never ever click on a link from an email that subsequently wants you to log in.

For the techies out there: The email was sent using a compromised computer based in the US and the phishing website was being hosted on a Spanish server in Madrid. (They were probably distracted watching Spain at Euro 2008 or Nedal at Wimbledon).

I'm only just getting round to sorting out my old MyBlogLog account that I used to have on this blog.  I've been consolidating all my "Shinerweb" Social Networks and I'm afraid to say I nearly forgot about MyBlogLog .

One of the things you really need to check out on MyBlogLog is Connector.  I give up sometimes trying to work out where all my contacts on the various other social networks are.  I have multiple accounts on nearly all of the social networks, (which is why I'm currently setting up the "Shinerweb" Social Network for all the regulars I talk to).  I still need to keep my business contacts and business Social Networks, but I've built up quite a good number of new friends via my other accounts.  MyBlogLog's Connector should be a good tool to keep track of them in one place.

One thing I hadn't forgotten about was the take over of MyBlogLog by Yahoo a while back.  I needed to email support and I was dreading having to wait for some Yahoo tech with no knowledge of MyBlogLog, but nope, MyBlogLog support are still there working away.  It's not often you get great response times with replies from real people with a working knowledge of the problem, (as opposed to those canned replies from automated scripts that annoy the heck out me). So hats off to support and especially Tilly. 

Keep up the great work, and keep rolling out those new features.

It's a sad fact that more people in England celebrate St. Patrick's Day and even Bonfire Night than they do St Georges Day. 

I would also bet, most people don't even know who St. George was and when speaking to someone the other day, they didn't even know what a St. George Flag looked like.

So head on over to the St. Georges Day website and take part in their campaign!

So have a happy St. Georges Day...

God knows what we do to celebrate it though...
So I'm off for a cup of tea, some toasted crumpet and to watch a bit of Morris dancing.
Then I guess it'll be Guinness and a curry tonight (or should it be a kebab).

A few weeks back now, I made a rather large error in a post I made concerning a guy called Chris Miller and the problems he had with the airline Emirates .

Having emailed Chris a few times, I asked his permission to re-post his account to which he kindly agreed.

"Please think about this before you comment on any story published on a newspaper/tv media site:
Firstly can I start by saying that yes I am the person at the centre of the story. We had a perfect right to ask the airline for compensation based on the whole experience which you can see below. You should realise that going to the media will of course have ended any outside chance we had to get any compensation from the airline so we only went to the media because the attitude of Emirates was so appalling that we wanted to publicise how truly bad they were as a warning to other families.

Updated: 15th April 2008
This is a heavily edited version of the original post I made on the 6th April.
Usually, I don't completely edit a post, but then usually I don't write a post which completely slams someone when I've based the facts on something I read from one single source (in this case the BBC).

To be fair to the BBC, it was probably my interpretation of the article that was skewed in addition to the BBC not giving the 'complete' story.

Normally, this is just a personal blog full of "nothing" that no-one actually reads, it's just somewhere I can "let go", where I don't have to concentrate on as much as my commercial/business blogs.
Somehow I let my guard slip too far. I created this post in a few minutes and published it without due regard for the persons concerned.  The person mentioned below has since contacted me and given me the full story.  Now I know some of your will say, it's still only his side of the story, but the fact is, I made a rash post without the full facts, and that was entirely wrong for that reason alone.
I will publish his full story (with his approval) and I'll think you'll agree that (1) I was entirely wrong in judging him the way I did and (2) the story as presented by the British media did not give the full picture.

So first and foremost, before I make the edits, I offer my sincere apologies to Chris Miller and for any further problems this may have caused.

Here is an excerpt from a post made to a group that helps/deals with Malware reports on web sites.

I can no longer visit this site through google. "Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!" This is just a lie and I think we all know why this site is being persecuted. Keep your personal opinions and the opinions of your investors out of it. The deeper I dig in to the StopBadware.org manifesto the more obtuse your definitions become. A couple clicks and suddenly "Site may harm your computer" turns in to "contains or links to badware or otherwise violates Google's software guidelines." I hope someone sues you silly.

It just goes to show the general level of ignorance out there from people that:

1. Don't understand the size of the problem with regard to the sheer number of infected web sites.

2. Don't understand the dangers to there own machines when visiting such sites.

Infected Web Sites

In one case alone last week, 10,000+ sites were hacked and malware placed onto the sites.

In another case, a leading Advertising Agency that supplies adverts to 1000's of sites, unwittingly supplied an advert that carried malware.

And more alarmingly, a well known Anti-Virus/Spyware/Trojan Software manufacturer had it's own website hacked and malware placed on the site.

When Google or StopBadware report that there is malware on the site, you can bet that there is a very high probability that there is (or was at some point).  The false positive count is extremely low when you consider the number of sites that are listed.

The sky darkened and suddenly I was reminded of our 3 years in Texas.  I looked at my wife and said, "I think there's a storm a coming".  One of our friends was visiting and as we all looked out of the window, the first few hail stones began to drop.

Nothing ominous at first. In the last few weeks we've had a few hail/sleet showers, but looking at the sky you could tell this was going to be something a bit more substantial.

Sure enough, there was a crack of thunder immediately following by an increase in the size of the hail.  Now it was starting to remind us of Texas.  (Although I will add here, the hail today never approached the golf ball sized hail we once had in Fort Worth).




(Clicking on the images in this post opens up a larger version in the same window. Use your browser back button to return to the post)

Ok, so I open up today's spam mail folder and there at the top of the queue is a phishing email 'from' the NatWest Bank.

Clicking on the "log in" button takes you to a perfect replica of the NatWest site with a page for visitors to enter in their information to 'verify' their account.

The dead give away was the URL contained a non-NatWest looking domain.  What caught my eye this time, was the fact that I recognised the website that had been hacked.

http://www.companyA.com/folder/folder/natwest.com

rather than 

http://www.natwest.com

Rather than set up their own web server to 'host' the target bank web sites, one method the bad guys employ is to use a 'hacked' website.

In this case, the bad guys had obviously hacked their way into "Company A's" web server (who being an innocent party here, will remain anonymous).
They then uploaded their imitation "NatWest" bank site to which they would direct users from within the phishing email.
In this case, the phishing website would email any data entered into the fake form back to a central account which would be read by the attackers.

At the time of opening this email this morning, it already being detected by several anti-phishing filters, so at least those users would have been protected. (Note: If you haven't installed McAfee SiteAdvisor toolbar for Firefox or IE, then go do it now. It's free and it works).

A couple of years back I took advantage of an introductory offer on a .co.uk TLD domain name.
I can't remember the exact deal, but at the time it was something like £2 for a 2 year registration.

At the time, that was cheaper than my current registrar which worked out at about £1.99 per year, so £2 for 2 years wasn't to be scoffed at (especially when you are registering 50 or so .co.uk's a month).

The first of them is nearing renewal and so the 60 day renewal warning turned up in my inbox, and as I expected they increased their renewal price to £9.99 a year.  I'd already started the transfer to my current registrar so it wasn't a problem. As I said, I was expecting the hike, and I only registered with them to take advantage of saving a packet.

What I didn't expect was an email from Nominet.

Nominet is the Internet Registry for ALL .uk TLD's.

Here is an excerpt from a post made to a group that helps/deals with Malware reports on web sites.

I can no longer visit this site through google. "Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!" This is just a lie and I think we all know why this site is being persecuted. Keep your personal opinions and the opinions of your investors out of it. The deeper I dig in to the StopBadware.org manifesto the more obtuse your definitions become. A couple clicks and suddenly "Site may harm your computer" turns in to "contains or links to badware or otherwise violates Google's software guidelines." I hope someone sues you silly.

It just goes to show the general level of ignorance out there from people that:

1. Don't understand the size of the problem with regard to the sheer number of infected web sites.

2. Don't understand the dangers to there own machines when visiting such sites.

Infected Web Sites

In one case alone last week, 10,000+ sites were hacked and malware placed onto the sites.

In another case, a leading Advertising Agency that supplies adverts to 1000's of sites, unwittingly supplied an advert that carried malware.

And more alarmingly, a well known Anti-Virus/Spyware/Trojan Software manufacturer had it's own website hacked and malware placed on the site.

When Google or StopBadware report that there is malware on the site, you can bet that there is a very high probability that there is (or was at some point).  The false positive count is extremely low when you consider the number of sites that are listed.

How Safe Am I?

Gone are the days when the you could say, "But I don't use Internet Explorer, I use Firefox/Opera/Mozilla" or "I'm on a Mac/Linux" etc etc etc.

You must keep whatever system you use patched with the latest updates and with good Anti-Virus/Spyware and Rootkit detection. (If possible, use overlapping coverage from multiple products).

With one worm alone, during 2007 there were over 17,000 variants.   That's around 47 variants a day.  The worm went through multiple mutations a day !!

Most often a virus does not use a single attack vector, but will try a whole series of attacks looking at multiple security holes and it won't give in until it finds one.

Protection from the bad guys and ourselves

Not everyone is vulnerable to being infected and we are talking a very small percentage that are.  But a very small percentage of a large number of users is still a large number of machines that are being added to 'botnets' on a daily basis.  Some reports put this at hundreds of thousands of newly infected machines A DAY! And it's increasing.

Web site visitors must do their part in ensuring that their systems are fully protected, and web masters no matter whether large corporations or an "at home, one man band" must also ensure that their systems are fully protected. That includes any downloaded installations (such as blogs or forums).

Unlike the person above who appears to be in denial of any such problems, the responsibility lies at both ends of the browser! Don't become part of the problem, become part of the fight back!

Prince Harry is to be pulled out of Afghanistan after news of his secret deployment leaked out.

View Original Article

What has made me laugh about the press coverage are those arguing that the UK Media should never have kept it quiet because "the people" have a right to know.

A right to know what? This is not just Harry's life we are talking about here, what about those around him who would be put in danger. And what possible reasons could "the UK public" have for wanting to know where he is and what he is doing 24/7 365 days of the year.

Give me a break.  He's human, just like the rest of us. He leads a different life to pretty much everyone else, but why should he be denied his privacy.  (Obviously because of who he is and what he does there will be some aspects of this life that will always be public, but where do you draw the line ?)

Those same retards that are harking on about how it's some sort of cover up and a denial of freedom of information are probably the same bunch who would object to a National UK DNA database on the grounds of it being too much like a Police State activity.

There are some people that won't be happy until they have hounded Harry into doing something that will get him killed, not that it hasn't happened before... Let me see, who was his mother again?  Journalist scum who prey on peoples public lives are the lowest forms of life IMHO.

We seem to have lost the distinction between public and private and the media of this day and age seems to have no responsibility what so ever. Viewing figures and sensationalism are all that matters.

Good on Harry for going over there in the first place and kudos to the brass who had the balls to make the decision to send him.

I herd ;) it once, now you lot can suffer

The boys were playing indoor football again... And it was bound to happen, he says looking at them mowing the back yard for me...

Every bulb I use in this house came from one of the best online stores I've seen, not only for usability, but for the sheer numbers and types of GLS and CFL's they stock in their e-shop. 

I've just used my last spare bulb and on visiting the site, I see they stock a lot more items than when I last visited.

I spent ages looking for a new bulb for the oven a few weeks back and in the end gave up. None of the stores round here stocked one, and the guy in B&Q even tried to convince me that they "don't make em' like that anymore, can I interest you in a new oven sir..."

Having just logged into the ebulb shop, they jumped out at me, and low and behold, my lamp is the second one down on the list.  Looks like I'll be ordering a couple of them as well.  ebulb is just that... it's not just CFL's, I reckon if you get light from it, they'll stock it.

You can tell its been a few months (years??) since I last checked that site.  I've just spent a good while looking at all the new stuff they stock.

Never ever buy a bulb from your supermarket or dare I say your local DIY shop.  Even if they are non-filament type, I don't have any faith that they haven't been throwing around the boxes that the bulbs were supplied in.
A few weeks back when I was away, my wife bought two new bulbs from a large well known supermarket and both bulbs were broken, when she went back to change them, she found that most of the bulbs on the shelves were damaged in some way.  It was like someone had been playing football with them, (and no, my two boys were not with her).
She didn't realise I had a box of spares out in the garage (which was the original box supplied from ebulbshop.
That's the other thing about buying from a specialist. They not only can give you the best advice on which product you need, they also know how to look after the product right up until it reaches your front door. 

So how many friends do you have on Facebook?

For those web masters or indeed visitors out there that are not aware, StopBadWare.org is a site that lists sites that contain malware.  This article doesn't discuss how they malware got there, but more the way that Google lists them in its index.

StopBadware.org is a "Neighborhood Watch" campaign aimed at fighting badware. We will seek to provide reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help consumers to make better choices about what they download on to their computers. We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and to become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.

From: StopBadware.org

When a site is listed in Google as having badware on it, a warning is displayed similar to the following:

The contentious part of the above warning is the "This site may harm your computer".
When you click on the link within the Google index to a badware infected site, Google actually displays an information page telling you why you should not visit the site. (Note: I have purposely masked the name of the site above in order to protect the web site owner from being mentioned, the reasons why are discussed below).

If you want to see a warning for yourself, just go to the StopBadware.org site. In the search box, enter ".co.uk" for the search term.
Copy the 'domain name part' part of it but do not include the TLD and enter it in a Google search box.  (So if the domain was www.example-alien-web-design.co.uk, search for "example alien web design" not "example-alien-web-design.co.uk".
This 'should' display a list of search results which will have the warning displayed.
Then click the search result to see the warning page.

My personal thought is that Google should just temporarily remove the site listing from the index rather than apply a label against that site.
You have to ask why Google apply that label and prevent 'its' users from clicking on that link within it's index.
I can only guess at the following:

• Google wishes to protect its users from visiting a site that has malware on it.
  (Google has checks in place, or one would hope that they do, that prevents falsely labelling a site as hosting malware).
  
• Google is also expressing it's desire to help remove malware from the 'internet' by contacting and informing web masters of malware upon the sites it finds.
  It doesn't just list web sites, it does make a concerted effort to contact the web master of the site involved.

Google do have a right to stop users from visiting those sites infected, as potentially one could argue that they could be held responsible for forwarding its users to a site which ultimately costs the visitor time/money or both.
The problem is, that web masters feel that the label Google applies next to their entry in the index causes damage to the reputation of that web site as well as a loss of income. 

So why does Google apply a label?
Some have argued that it is the quickest method to ensure that the web master contacts them and the problem sorted.
(Sticking a big red flag next to your site does tend to bring it to your attention rather quickly when your users start complaining to you, OR, as should be happening, a good web master will find this out when he does his daily/weekly check).

I would rather Google remove the entry from the index altogether, not stick a "label" against the entry.  You can't visit the site from the link in the index anyway (without a spot of cutting and pasting - at least you can't in Firefox with my setup).You could say the link in the index is non-functional, so why bother putting it there in the first place?
Removing the infected site from the index achieves both points from above.

• It prevents Google users from visiting the site.  The result is simply not returned.
  It is no different from the supplemental index, or at least very similar to the supplemental index.
  After all, the StopBadware database is exactly that. It is an index of sites that contain or are believed to contain malware.
  Just like the supplemental index, the results are still there, but you have to search for them in a specific index. 
  
• Google can still contact web masters and let them know that their site has been placed into the 'malware' index as before.

The removal or placement into the "malware" index would be temporary. Rather than display a warning, it doesn't display anything.  No harder to code than it is at present. 

Any decent web master will be monitoring his PR and his SERP placement.  Suddenly dropping off the main Google index should be pretty obvious to them.
And if his visitors complain that they are not finding the web site in the index, that too should draw the web masters attention to a possible problem.

Google will still be trying to contact the web master and the web master should also be encouraged to join Webmaster central (http://www.google.com/webmasters/) to keep an eye on their site anyway...

However, web masters have no right what so ever to complain about the damage to their reputation.  Malware is a problem, and is far more serious to their users than a lot would lead you to believe.  Ok, you could say that around 85% of your visitors would be vulnerable to being attacked by malware (due to the browser type, security settings and whether javascript is enabled). Of of that 85%, at least 50% of them would be very vulnerable, due to no firewall, no or an outdated Antivirus/Antispyware.
So there would be a large percentage of your visitors that could potentially be damaged or effected by malware.

• You cannot say that some malware is less harmful than others.
  Malware is malware. Plain and simple.
  
• You cannot say I have a set of known visitors and I know them to be safe.
  (You are complaining about being in the Google index, therefore you are potentially available to everyone who has access to the Google index).

What damage would be done to your reputation IF, one of your users blogger on a popular forum that they went to www.example.com and they got hacked.  That www.example.com has no protection, or www.example.com has bad security. Or they blame www.example.com for them installing the malware on their computers (regardless of the fact that www.example.com had NO knowledge of the exploit in the first place).
At least an entry in the Google index as at present is temporary and will be removed once Google are assured that the malware has been removed.
An entry on a web site would be within the index for a lot longer (if not ever).
And that's if there was just one entry on one blog.  What you would do if your sites name was spread around the web by a disgruntled visitor (who was infected as a result of visiting your www.example.com)
There is no argument that the web master purposely allowed their site to become infected.
A web master of a major site earning major money will be running a much more secure system than a small time web hosting company (on a dedicated server or a shared web hosted account).  They are less likely to be the victim of an attack.
So it could appear that Google are against the smaller web hosts and web masters since you won't find big web sites listed. That is simply not the case. 
It is just the simple fact that the smaller web site, web host or web master is more vulnerable to attack since they cannot or do not spend money on massive security defenses against malware attacks.

A web master has a responsibility to protect the visitors to their site. (Whether they rely upon the web host to do this , or whether they takes charge is another matter for discussion).
Google have the same responsibility to it's users. They have chosen to protect their users by displaying a warning and not giving a clickable link to the infected web site.

I'd like to hear from Google as to why they chose the method they did, and for them to state why they don't just remove the link temporarily from the index.

A soldiers Story (fictional)

You're on your last patrol before your unit returns home after a 9month stint in Iraq.  You're on point covering for your squad as they return to the Warrior after inspecting a suspected arms dump on the outskirts of Basra.

Spirits are high because tonight's scran in the mess tent will be the last meal before you get home to your mum's Sunday roast.  In 8 hours, you'll be on the plane home in to the arms of the family you've been away from for so long. 

Your squad mates begin shouting, they are pointing towards 3 youths running out of a nearby building.  You are almost at the Warrior when there is an almighty 'whoosh', followed by a loud explosion.

 

When you open your eyes, you find yourself 20ft away from the Warrior.  You can't focus on anything, you can't hear anything. The dust is settling and you begin to see your surroundings. You try to clear the dust from your eyes, but there is something wrong. You look down towards your hand and there's nothing there. In a panic, you try to stand, but you fall over.  The bottom of your left leg is missing. In pain you slump down to the ground as the rest of your unit reaches you.

The next time you wake, you find yourself in the Military Hospital in Basra.  The medics have had to amputate your right arm from below the elbow, you've lost the left leg below the knee, and you are blind in your right eye.
After a week or so, you are transferred to the facility at Headley Court.

The above could have happened to any number of our serving personnel in Basra or in fact any of the current overseas theatre of operations.  But in this case, it's a fictional story. But there have been many of our service personnel over the years who have and are still going through similar experiences.

But the hardship doesn't end there. Once the injured personnel come back to the UK, there is yet more pain to endure, but this time by the families of the victims themselves. 
Often families have to travel hundreds of miles to visit their loved ones.  Living in a hotel or bed and breakfast is fine for a brief business trip or a short holiday, but when the family themselves are having to deal with the emotions involved with supporting an injured loved one, it creates unwanted stress.

In the US an organization known as "The Fisher House" exists which quotes the following on their web site.

Supporting America's military in their time of need, we provide "a home away from home" that enables family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful time -- during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury

Headley Court and the SSAFA

RAF Headley Court near Epsom in Headley, Surrey, England deals with with UK Military Forces personnel with physical disabilities obtained during service, and also deals with patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

With a dedicated staff of around 200, the care it provides is essential to the recovery of the personnel.  In 2005, Major David Bradley of the Princess of Wales‘s Royal Regiment was given a five per cent chance of survival as a result of injuries received whilst on duty in Iraq during 2004. Headley Court played a vital part in ensuring he had the best chance of recovery.

Having family around you during recovery is an important factor (and I know this from personal experience). Not only do families have to deal with looking at the some times horrific injuries to their loved ones, many patients will often reject the attention of their families, pushing them away as a result of their injuries, which causes further stress. 

The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) exists in the UK to help out where ever it can.

The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help is the leading national charity committed to helping and supporting those who serve in our Armed Forces, those who used to serve, and the families of both.  We provide a reliable, caring and trusted service to more than 50,000 people each year.

36 Grays Lane

 The SSAFA were hoping to provide a home away from home for the family members visiting loved ones being treated at Headley Court, but met with some unexpected resistance from local residents.

It appears that a bunch of NIMBY's have been coming up with all sorts of reasons why 36 Grays Lane should not be used by SSAFA.  To see some of their reasons, visit the 36grayslane web site.

36grayslane has been set up to highlight the actions of the Management Company representing the local residents and to gain support for the SSAFA campaign.
If ever there was a perfect example of the phrase NIMBY, they are it.

It as if they don't want their neighborhood spoiled by having "the lower class" families of our service personal living in their area.
None of their concerns expressed (detailed at this page at 36grayslane have any merit what so ever.

Every single resident who has signed up in protest to the SSAFA proposal should be given a guided tour of Headley Court and spend time with the visiting families.

Each of the residents who signed up, should be ashamed of their selfishness and total disrespect for the families of our service men and women who have given more than most to protect our beliefs and interests.

The people at 36grayslane have a guestbook that you can sign to show your support.

There is also a petition set up on the 10 Downing Street E-Petition site.

The rest of the UK needs to show those residents of Grays Lane who are objecting just how pathetic their actions are.

I wouldn't mind if they founded their objections on anything reasonable, but they are not. Laughable at best.
If it were a travelers camp, nightclub, sex shop or something similar to those, I could see their argument. But the truth of the matter is that the house run by SSAFA would hardly be noticeable. Their argument shows snobbery and contempt beyond belief.

When we first moved to the US we were offered a 'cultural exchange' course.  At first we thought things can't be that different, after all, they do speak "English".
After living their for a few weeks you do begin to see differences between the way we live.  Obviously you would expect there to be some differences, you just don't think about all the little things.

Take the good old postman.  Post is post right? Here in the UK we expect our mail to be delivered in the morning, (although gone are the days of first and second post, where if you didn't get your mail in the morning, you'd hope it would come later on that day).  Then there are the old jokes and stories of postman being attacked by dogs as they made their way to the front door.  In the UK, when I want to post something, I have to go to the post office or find a post box.  There are 1000's of postboxes dotted all around the country, some dating back hundreds of years.

Now they still have the humble postman in the US, but delivery and pickup is much different than here in the UK.  I actually preferred the US version, (though I am not saying the UK doesn't do a bad job).  

At our house in Texas, we had a box similar to the one shown which was a Locking Mailbox.

Every house would have their own mailbox at the end of their drive.
Some places would have them attached to the house, but in our area, most were curbside. Some just had a box on a post, others had the builders leave enough bricks so that the postbox matched the house.

The mail vans were all right hand drive and the driver sat at a height whereby he just drove past each post box and delivered the mail without even getting out of his van. 

In apartments or gated communities, there was often a central mail collection point.

So rather than your mail being delivered to your door, when you left for the morning and/or on your return at night, you would drive by the post collection point and pick up your post from the security mailboxes.

Unless you actually wanted to buy some stamps, or drop off a large parcel or letter, when you wanted to post something, you would leave it in your post box.  Each post box would have a flag that you would raise to let the postman know you had mail to collect.  On his rounds, he's see the flags, drop by and pick up your mail to send.

We brought our dogs back from the US with us and they just cannot get used to some stranger stuffing paper through our letter box in the front door.  Most often they will just rip the letters out of his hand before he gets a chance to drop them. Whereas in the US, they never got near the postman because he was tucked safely away inside his van (and the dogs were usually out the back yard).

It was only because I came across a web site that it got me thinking about it.
Click on the image below had check out the different kinds of postboxes that you can get in the US.  All we have is a slot in the door/doorframe !!

Over at RealTravel.com they have a great online trip planner that allows you to build your itinerary for your complete trip.

Once you have added all of your intended destinations, you can sort out the dates and route that you intend to take.
They also have a great dynamic route map that shows your planned trip in an easy to follow layout.

When trying to organize a trip like this, one of the hardest parts is having to visit multiple sites to find all the information you need.  I've used the site to plan an upcoming trip, and the trip planner made the whole thing painless.

And if you are unsure of the place you are visiting, there are plenty of reviews and photographs from others who been there previously.

It even allows you to create your own notes and any other useful links that you find and save them with your itinerary.

Once you have saved your trip, you can email it to friends and family to keep them informed about your trip. (A great idea for young people to keep parents aware of your plans).

What with all the recent rain and floods of late, I've just only found a great site for checking out the latest UK Weather Radar.

There is one at the UK Met Office but the advantage of the new one I found at Meteox is that they provide an RSS Feed (see below).

They also allow you to define your UK location using a neat Google Map API interface to give a picture of your actual location.

With the weather coming up this weekend, it might be a good idea to use something like this to keep an eye on the rain.

If you want to use the following JS on your site, just cut and paste the following code into your template where you want the feed to be used:

<script language="JavaScript" src="http://yaps4u.net/feed2js/
feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Frss.meteox.co.uk%2F&chan=y&
num=1&date=y&html=a" type="text/javascript">
</script> 

<noscript>
 <a href="http://yaps4u.net/feed2js/feed2js.php?
src=http%3A%2F%2Frss.meteox.co.uk%2F&chan=y&num=1&date=y&
html=y">View RSS feed</a> 
</noscript> 

He qualified first at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, the first Englishman to do that for 11 years.

In the very last lap of qualifying (by all of the drivers), he drove superbly and beat Kimi Raikkonen by 0.102seconds.
(Raikkonen probably robbed himself of pole position by hitting the dirt in the very last bend).

Lewis probably gained half a second from the support of the local home crowd as evident by the massive roar that could be heard as he crossed the line at the end of Q3.

For someone so young to handle the immense media pressure is a testament to Lewis, his father (and family) and the support from McLaren.

I keep waiting for him to make a mistake and throw the car off the track, but the more pressure there is, the better he seems to perform.  8 podiums in 8 races is a dream start for a rookie in his first full season of F1 racing.

But as much as I want him to win this afternoon (1pm July 08th 2007), I have a sneaky feeling that in an effort to keep up with the apparently faster Ferrari's of Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, today is the day when a podium finish will elude him. If it does happen, it will be interesting to see how he handles the disappointment in his home Grand Prix.  Only Lewis knows what he himself is capable of, and only he knows what his level of expectation is.  Of course he has to go out there each race believing he is 100% capable of winning or there would be no point.
Take Jenson Button who yesterday was alleged to have claimed he would quit F1 rather than be content with finishing 8th every race.  When you believe you have the ability to win, but don't have the car to do it, things can be very difficult.

But the F1 following expect Lewis to win today, more so the British contingent.  The disappointment of not winning today, would be bad enough, not finishing on a podium would be unthinkable, and not finishing at all would be a total disaster. But is this how Lewis thinks, or is he really that level headed to know this is just his first season and that everything that has happened so far is a bonus.  Don't forget, Lewis has been prepared for F1 racing for years, so he's not where he is at the top of the F1 Driver standings for no reason. He is there because the guy has the skill and determination to succeed.

Of course I don't want him to fail today, I'll be there screaming out loud when he crosses the line in first. But at the same time, it would be a massive test of his character if he did fail today, and would let us know what he is really made of.  For him to finish in every race in a podium position in his first season would be something extraordinary.  

Images From: http://www.mclaren.com/interactive/wallpapers.php

PLANS TO MARK THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE LONDON BOMBINGS

The second anniversary of the attacks will be marked by a public act of remembrance and opportunities for private reflection.  Tessa Jowell, the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy will formally mark the second anniversary of the atrocity by laying flowers at Kings Cross station at the time of the bombings.

7th July Assistance Site

There will be no national 2 minutes silence this year, but that shouldn't stop each one of us from reflecting on past events and ensuring that we do something to help prevent this from happening again.

I hated that damn thing when I was a kid. We had a guy in our class who could solve the thing with his eyes shut, it wasn't worth competing with him (at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).
Only way I could ever solve it was by peeling all the damn stickers off.

I don't know whether the thing above can actually solve it, or whether it's just a simple, muck it up, and then reverse it's changes (screen doesn't match the cube).
See, I hate it that much, I'm still skeptical about people solving the damn thing.

Those damn nightmares are going to return again...

We are about 30-40mins west of Wimbledon, so when it rains here, with the direction of the wind and clouds, you can bet that the covers will be going on pretty soon.

One such time, it began raining really heavy outside, so I went out the back yard for a quick check of the sky to see this fairly young stag about 30ft away at the end of my garden.
 

He walked off into the maize that the local farmer is growing this year and stood and watched me for ages. 

If it had not be absolutely throwing it down with rain at the time, (and if I had recharged the batteries in my camera), I would have taken more photo's.

He comes round quite often of late. I guess he's been kicked out of the woods by the older stags so he's off trying to find his own new patch.

It wasn't until a few months back that I realised just how many deer there are in Bramley Woods.  I was walking my two dogs and as I turned into one of the fields, there must have been hundreds of dear just ambling around in the middle of the field enjoying the sun and eating the new grass.  They didn't mind the two dogs until we got within a few 100yards of them , when they just bounced off back into the woods.

Earlier on in the day, I had already seen a Green Woodpecker on a tree in the neighbours garden.  I could hear a tapping on the tree and there this was.  Usually they are quite timid and have only got hear the slightest noise and they are off.  But this one I think had a few youngsters waiting for it in the field.

Again it was absolutely throwing it down with rain and was standing against a fence under a tree in my back garden.  I took these on min the way aximum digital zoom and low resolution.

And a few days before, one of the Red Kite's was flying over.

We have about 4 of them living around here and every now and then they will soar on the thermals above the fields (assuming that there is any sun, which for the last few weeks we haven't seen much of). In fact I really should upload a picture of the damn thing so I can remind myself what it looks like. I'm sure the last time I saw it in anger was in France a few weeks back.

Again, this photo was taken at the maximum range of my zoom, but you can still make out the profile.

They look absolutely amazing close up and I often spend an hour or so watching them soaring. Clicking on the last image of a Red Kite will take you the the UK's best Red Kite web site. (Note: If you couldn't tell by the standard of the last picture, I didn't take it and I 'borrowed' it from their web site)

It was my first time to Omaha beach and to say it was a very humbling experience is an understatement.

We had arrived towards the end of the years D-Day Remembrance 'celebrations' so there were quite a few visitors to the American D-Day Museum and Cemetery.

You've seen the films, read the book, watched the series on UK History, but nothing prepares you for the sheer scale of the place.

Standing at the top of the hill where 1000's if not more soldiers from both sides died leaves you with a rather dry lump in your throat.  Arriving at the top of the hill, you can only imagine the look of the awaiting German forces as they witnessed the mass of boats coming towards them.

When you are standing on the beach looking back up the hill, you can't even appreciate the nerves it must have taken to even get off the landing craft and attempt to attack the hill.

I believe the beach is 6.9miles long. The day we were there, there must have been less than 20 people visible along the whole beach.  It was so quiet, peaceful and there is absolutely no evidence of the action that took place some 63 years previous.

My two boys who are very interested in that era as most young boys are were visibly moved by what they saw.  It was no longer an Xbox game where they could hit 'restart' and the game would begin again when they "died".  This was reality for them.
In the museum at the top of the hill, you could sit and watch footage taken at the time of the landings.  They sat for ages listening to the real soldiers tell their own stories.  There was no glorification, no Hollywood spin applied.  It wasn't gory, nor horrific, but they left with tears forming in their eyes as did I.

I think every world leader, politician or in fact every man, woman and child should visit Omaha Beach, (or any of the Normandy Beaches or just any battlefield). 

They should be allowed to walk the cemeteries alone and consider what those who went before us gave up so that we may live in the name of peace. 
Yet when we look at events that are going on in the world today, do we really live in peace?
Is there any need for war and the death, destruction and misery it causes. 

I left Omaha Beach with more questions than answers. It taught me humility when I wasn't really expecting it.  Those who control, start or fuel wars are never the ones at the front line. I think if they were to see what really goes on, you'd would at least hope they would think twice about starting something that causes so much death and destruction.

I've served in the Royal Navy and am very proud of doing so.  If you were to ask me to do so again now, I probably wouldn't.  Yet, I would do anything to defend my family and my way of living, so I contradict myself.  It is those responsible for the wars and violence who need to see and understand the consequences and perhaps one day there would be no need for all the suffering that it causes.

A Southampton licensee is hoping to get round the smoking ban by declaring his pub is ‘foreign soil’.

Source: http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news_detail.asp...

This article made me laugh, quite a novel idea to try and get round the upcoming smoking ban.

By declaring his pub as an Embassy, it would be classed as foreign soil, and therefore not covered by UK law.  Does that mean that all his drinks would be tax free too?

 A later article does quote a British Foreign Office official as saying:

Redonda is a territory of Antigua and Barbuda, and so is not entitled to an embassy.

Shame... Apparently he does have some other tricks up his sleeve.

http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/

 I just might and find some space on the beach in Antigua and smoke instead. Not sure if it would be legal though ;)  (And I'm not talking about a law forbidding smoking in public places either).

I've been in France for a vacation and was checking a few emails I missed while away. One included a link to a blog that had this YouTube Video of Paul Potts singing Opera in the ITV Show Britains Got Talent.

The guy was a night shift Tesco's shelf stacker, then working for the Carphone Warehouse and man can he sing... He says he has spent some £20,000 on training and has had some experience of public performing before, but certain events robbed him of a career in Opera.
Well that was before he won the ITV competition and good luck to him. Just the look of "here we go, some guy trying to sing opera" on the faces of the judges, and then the look of astonishment when he began, was worth watching.

I have only seen this one episode of the show, and have only just noticed the US version and hadn't even heard of it before last week. I don't watch that much TV, but glad someone pointed this out to me..

There is more video (better quality) on the ITV Website. That's one show/episode I wished I had watched.

This is a partial extract from an article I've written for another website.

You can find the full article available here (PDF | WORD | OOD)

Why you should never use an ISP Mail address for Business

As a member and contributor to various Anti-"spam" forums, this is a subject that often appears.
Now unless you have some technical understanding of how mail works, it is not surprising that many people are not aware of the pitfalls surrounding email.

This document will discuss the issue of using any ISP for email, and examine the various other options available.

The title was intended to be contentious in order to provoke the reader into understanding the concept of why it is potentially harmful to your business not to understand the effects of not controlling your email. It must also be made clear that there are good ISP’s out there with which you could have no problems what so ever, but the points raised below still hold true for ANY ISP.

Contact Email Addresses on your Web Site.

Most companies will provide an email address on their web site as a means of contact.
There are a couple of main reasons why this can lead to problems.

• Masses of “spam”.

• Users unable to send mail to the address.

• User sends mail, but it's not received by you.

Getting No Replies to your Mail?

Imagine you have received an inquiry from a customer.
You send a reply, but never hear anything back.
You send a further reply, but still nothing back.

Or imagine you send out a newsletter from your own ISP mail account.
But you have a really low return rate.

Does this mean that your customers are just not interested in you now?
(Then why would they contact you in the first place).
The chances are that the customer never received your mail in the first place.

You can find the full article available here (PDF | WORD | OOD)

Ok, it's that time again when I have to think of somewhere to go for a short weekend break.

I've used a lot of holiday type sites, but a great one was pointed out to me the other day.

EasyToBook concentrates on Barcelona, Amsterdam and Rome and because of that it has a lot more information about the hotels the places themselves.

Have a look at the details for Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam and you will see what I mean.
This 4-star hotel has load of great information, maps and pictures to help you choose.

The site also claims no booking fee, which considering the very competitive prices is pretty damn good.

I recently sent my parents to Barcelona for a break and they enjoyed it will probably go back.
The last time I was there (6-7 years ago), was to watch Chelsea play Barcelona in the Champions League.
Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel Barcelona was a Hotel recommended to me if I ever go back, so I might pop to EasyToBook and check it out.

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been criticized by the media watchdog Ofcom for using a term which was "capable of giving offence to homosexual people".

Ofcom said there was "no justification for using the word in this way".

Last year, he was cleared of making a racist slur about Germany because this was adjudged to be amusing rather than offensive.

From: Clarkson rapped over 'gay' jibe | BBC News

Now Ok, let me get this right...
You can't make jokes about homosexual people, because that is offensive.
But you can make jokes about the Germans, because that is funny?

Now I know some homosexuals would have found his comment funny.
I also know some Germans who would have found his comments offensive.

So just how did Ofcom determine which was right and which was wrong...
Either you allow some people to be offended or none at all.
You can't have one rule for one lot, and another rule for the others.

Do you think it has something to do with the fact that the head of OfCom is called "Manfred Von PenisTrappen" ?
Ok, maybe not... but please... let's have it one way or the other..
Plus, it's Jeremy Bloody Clarkson for godsake, you can't take anything he says seriously unless it's the technical specs of a car he's describing...

There must be a lot of gay people in the Green party that objected just for the fact it was Mr. Clarkson, and I guess that also means there can't be many Germans.

PC gone mad...

I don't care either way.  Personally I don't take offense at either remark (because funnily enough, I'm not gay and I'm not German).

Homophobia = bad.
Racism = good.

So I can't say "that car handled a tadge limp-wristed", but I can say "it had more holes in it that the German Army at Dunkirk and the 1966 German World Cup Squad defense"....

I should start a petition to get all Germans to contact Ofcom and complain.
Bloody ridiculous and a waste of bloody money.

When I was living in the US, one of the stores we occasionally visited for our shopping was Target. I suppose the UK equivalent was the BHS / Sainsburys combination stores, (sometimes called SavaCenters).  These days, most of the large UK stores (Tesco's, ASDA's, Sainsburys and Morrisons), all seem to do similar things, but still not quite on the scale that we saw in Texas, (and no, not just because everything is bigger in Texas)...

Target used to have grocery, clothing, household goods, electrical goods and various other products all under one massive roof.
It wasn't the regular place you would do your normal grocery shopping, since the local Wally's (Walmart) was a lot closer.

Well a spooky thing happened the other day, a colleague of mine in Australia mentioned that his local Target was going to be stocking a range of designer clothing by Josh Goot and Sally Green, the author or The Chic Alert had done an article on it.

Josh Goot at Target ?  Why so spooky? Because I happened to have the radio on at the time and they were doing a piece on the upsurge of Josh Goot at the very same time he mentioned it to me.

Josh is an Australian fashion designer, but his clothes are also featured at a number of stores in London, and I think they were talking about that on the radio.

Small world.

Anyway, check out Sally's article because it has all the real fashion news about it.
Me, I know nothing about fashion...

http://findmadeleine.com/ went live today to help with the hunt to find Madeleine McCann.

Pass the site link around to those you know.

We are only a few weeks away from this years holiday, but an email from a friend in the US has me thinking about where to go next year.
They are off to Hawaii in a few weeks and he was telling me about the Hawaii beachfront cottages available to view online at Hawaiian Beach Rentals where he found his cottage.

Now to us Brits, a trip to Hawaii seems a bit beyond us, but to most Americans its as common as a day trip to the beach would be for us.  
Hawaii to the Americans is within easy reach even though it could be many 100's if not 1000's of miles away from their homes.
It's not that far away from the UK other than an 8 hour flight and price wise, it can be as cheap as many European holiday destinations.

But when you look at what the island has to offer, it far surpasses anything that Europe could provide. 

And one of the advantage of using Hawaiian Beach Rentals is that you can avoid the large holiday hotels where you often end up fading into the masses that would be staying there.

You can choose between a Maui condo or Kauai vacation rental home, you can find any type of holiday home to suit your needs, and within your budget too.

 When you look at something like this home, it's hard to believe that it probably costs less than most hotels.  It would be like a home from home and yours for the whole time of your stay.

And you get to buy your own food and that can be a lot cheaper than most hotel food, but that won't stop you from eating out in the 100's of top class restaurants along the many beach fronts and towns.

It's something that we are going to seriously look at for next year, and Hawaiian Beach Rentals will be one site we'll be spending plenty of time on.

I've resisted posting about the abduction of Madeleine McCann because the whole subject chills me to the bone.  I'm a 6'4", 17st ex-Royal Navy, ex-Rugby playing 'built like the preverbal outhouse' kinda guy, but every news report I hear or see about Madeleine cuts right through to my core and has me looking to see where my own 3 children are.  No one can comprehend what the whole family are going through.  If Madeleine has one ounce of the strength and character of her parents, she'll get through this.

Anyway, I happened across this information today and it could be an important identifying feature.  Send these images to everywhere you can think of. Ping every social book marking service you can think of.  Link to the images below, or the images at the Sky News link below.

We want a copy of these images in every persons inbox and on every persons web site.

Picture at http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-12654...

If you have any information about her whereabouts, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 UK
+441883731336 Outside UK

Help find Madeleine McCann

To download a copy of the Madeleine McCann campaign poster please click here.

Para fazer o download do poster da campanha para encontrar Madeleine McCann, por favor clique aqui.

Para bajarse una copia del poster de la campaña de Madeleine McCann, cliquen aquí.

Pour télécharger une copie de l’affiche publicitaire de Madeleine McCann, veuillez cliquer ici.

From: http://www.ceop.gov.uk/mccann.html

When you search any popular search engine, the results are varied, cluttered and full of results that you generally have no interest in.

Masterseek is a business to business search engine.  Basically it's a yellow pages of nearly all the business links and information that you would ever need or want.  It's global too, so you are not restricted to a specific country.  To that effect, it has a nifty little search for quick searches, and a simple to use Advanced search when you really know what you are looking for, but just don't know where to find it.

To quote from their website

Masterseek® Business Search Engine

Masterseek’s global search engine provides quick and free access to company profiles, contact information, and descriptions of products and services from more than 45 million companies in 75 countries.
You can also search in your own country or worldwide and find business partners, sales opportunities and new avenues to expand your business and increase your company’s profitability
Enter your company profile and showcase your products and services to the global community

Check out masterseek for yourself.

Is it real this time? Can you really get paid for blogging?
No, I don't mean, you sign up and post on someone else's blog and they pretend to pay you in shares or something.
Or, no, I don't mean you join 1000's of other mugs who sign up and basically provide the parent sites content (which they then sell on at 100x what they paid you, or they rake in bucket loads of PPC revenue).

I mean you get paid to blog about what you choose to blog about on your own blog.

If you are going to write something on your blog anyway, what is the harm in checking on Bloggerwave, seeing if your topic is on there and getting paid a few pennies anyway.  Even if its a miserable $10, that's double what you probably (should) be paying for your monthly web hosting costs.  Write one of those a month and all your web hosting is free.

And it might even get you into the habit of blogging more regularly. 
It's a brand new site, but I was asked to check it out for a client of mine.
Sign up process was easy, nice user interface and all in all it appears a pretty good bet.

Remember, you don't have to pay them anything, you just have to post like you was going to do anyway. So what you got to lose just for looking? 
Check out Bloggerwave and make your own mind up...

I was just about to send out a task to the guy that writes articles for me today when at the last moment I thought I would check out the web site requested.

Basically the job description said something along the lines of :

Ashleysboutique.com sells inspired by handbags of Louis Vuitton, Coach, Prada, Gucci, etc. Our target market is USA fashion conscious women.

Fair do's said I.  Should be simple for them to complete.
But then visiting the web site I notice that they sell Replica Purses, Knockoff Handbags, Knockoff Wrist Bands and much much more.  I didn't realize that inspired in the job description actually mean 'knockoff' or 'replica'.  Now 'knocked off' in the UK means stolen, but these goods don't appear to be stolen.

Now admittedly, they do not hide this fact.  And since the site is based is hosted in Canada, perhaps these are legal copies of the originals and what the site is doing is legal too.

When you compare the prices of the goods at Ashleysboutique.com  to those at the original artists sites, there is a big big difference.

Louis Vuitton: luxury leather luggage, French fashion designer

Coach Leather Goods

Prada

Gucci

Now I wonder what these sites think of Ashleysboutique.com.  The site isn't new, so you would think that if it 'were' illegal in the US/Canada, it would have been shut down a long time ago.

Go visit the site and see for yourself.  If it were not for the price, you couldn't tell the difference. (Can't say anything for the workmanship, I've never seen one before).

Switched on BBC News24 this morning to find there had been a 4.7mag earthquake near Ashford in Kent.

It appears from the USGS that it was just off the coast of Hythe, near Folkstone.
4.7 is a tadge stronger than most UK tremors, but still nothing to get overly worked up about.
It is pretty close to the Channel Tunnel though, so I wonder if they will be making checks to make sure all is Ok.

It's only 40-50mils from my parents house and they don't remember feeling anything (I spoke to them 20mins after the event), and it appears the tremors moved in a few directions only. (The South Downs probably insulated them from any tremors since that lies in between them).

Details can be found here USGS

Earthquake Details

 Google maps of center of earthquake.

Location Map 

More details can be found at the USGS web site.

Should Ministers be exempt from the FoI bill?
I don't think so.  In fact, they should introduce a "Lack Of Freedom" bill just for ministers in which every single second of their 'work' life is open to public scrutiny.
If you take Public Office then you were put their by the public and therefore you should be accountable to the public.

Yet another petition at the UK Petitions website, but this time it makes sense.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/foiparliament

Visit the site above and add your weight to a very important petition. 
We'll have Ministers doing a "pleading the 5th" before too long. In fact, if this Bill ever gets passed into law, they should just go the whole hog and introduce the US Constitution.

Freedom of information

The FOI gives you the right to ask any public body for all the information they have on any subject you choose. Also, unless there’s a good reason, the organisation must provide the information within a month. You can also ask for all the personal information they hold on you.

Scotland has its own Freedom of Information Act, which is very similar to the England, Wales and Northern Ireland Act. If the public authority you want to make a request to operates only in Scotland then your request will be handled under the Scottish Act instead.

If you are looking for a  Mini Moke for sale right now, then go visit http://www.grenyer.talktalk.net/.

They have one there that looks in great shape, good history and some great photo's, and all of that for £6,500.  Can't be bad. 

Email peter.grenyer@gmail.com for more details or visit the Mini Moke for sale web site.
(Even if you don't want to buy a Moke, go have a look just to check out some great pictures of fine looking Mini Moke.

Two people have been cautioned for using people's wi-fi broadband internet connections without permission.

Neighbours in Redditch, Worcestershire, contacted police on Saturday after seeing a man inside a car using a laptop while parked outside a house.

He was arrested and cautioned. A woman was arrested in similar circumstances in the town earlier this month.

From:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/...

There are those who would argue that leaving your broadband connection open for others to share is harmless. Providing you have locked down access to machines on your internal network, what is wrong with giving away bandwidth that you are not using?

Some argue that drive-by users who enter illegal porn sites, or send massive amounts of spam would be hard to trace and that the owner of the network would held liable for any actions by these free loaders.

Wi-Fi Planet - Securing your Wi-Fi Connection

intelligentedu - 5 Simple Steps to Securing your Wi-Fi Network

Linux.com - Secure your Wi-Fi Traffic Using FOSS Utilities

From Wikipedia - Wi-Fi Social Concerns

Measures to deter unauthorized users include suppressing the AP's service set identifier (SSID) broadcast, allowing only computers with known MAC addresses to join the network, and various encryption standards. Access points and computers using no encryption are vulnerable to eavesdropping by an attacker armed with packet sniffer software. If the eavesdropper has the ability to change his MAC address then he can potentially join the network by spoofing an authorised address.

WEP encryption can protect against casual snooping but may also produce a misguided sense of security since freely available tools such as AirSnort can quickly recover WEP encryption keys. Once it has seen 5-10 million encrypted packets, AirSnort will determine the encryption password in under a second.^[10] The newer Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and IEEE 802.11i (WPA2) encryption standards do not have the serious weaknesses of WEP encryption, but require strong passphrases for full security.

Recreational exploration of other people's access points has become known as wardriving, and the leaving of graffiti describing available services as warchalking. These activities may be illegal in certain jurisdictions, but existing legislation and case-law is often unclear.

However, it is also common for people to unintentionally use others' Wi-Fi networks without explicit authorization. Operating systems such as Windows XP SP2 and Mac OS X automatically connect to an available wireless network, depending on the network configuration. A user who happens to start up a laptop in the vicinity of an access point may find the computer has joined the network without any visible indication. Moreover, a user intending to join one network may instead end up on another one if the latter's signal is stronger. In combination with automatic discovery of other network resources (see DHCP and Zeroconf) this could possibly lead wireless users to send sensitive data to the wrong destination, as described by Chris Meadows in the February 2004 RISKS Digest. [3]

In Singapore, using another person's Wi-Fi network is illegal under the Computer Misuse Act. A 17 year old has been arrested for simply tapping into his neighbor's wireless Internet connection and faces up to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine.^[11]

I happened across bassabids the other day in an industry news letter and nearly dismissed it.
But I read something that caught my eye.
The lowest unique bid wins the auction.

To quote from their web site:

The "lowest unique bidder" is the person who has bid the lowest amount that no other person has bid. When two people place the same bid, that number is no longer unique. When a person has a unique bid but there are others that are lower, then it's not the lowest. To win any of bassabids online auctions, you must be the one with the lowest AND unique bid at the auction end - the "lowest unique bid"

There is also a much better explanation of the ' lowest unique bid' process on their site.

There are a number of free auctions and even the paid ones are only £1.50.
They are also developing an SMS bidding system which should be released in the near future.

Katie Batterman from USA recently won an IPOD Shuffle for £0.10 (see their List of current winners).

At the moment the site is 100% free whilst it is in beta testing phase, so pop over to bassabids, have a look around, register and make a bid (up to 10). It won't cost you anything but your time and you could win an IPOD for absolutely nothing.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the possible need for a "Blogging Code of Conduct" and there have been a number of events in the media recently highlighting bad behaviour by some people towards others.  (The recent incidents with Kathy Sierra  come to mind).

I was quoted in a BBC article a few days ago and a San Francisco Chronicle article on Thursday calling for a "Blogger's Code of Conduct" in response to the firestorm that has arisen as a result of Kathy Sierra's revelation that she's been targeted by a series of increasingly violent and disturbing anonymous comments on her blog and on a series of weblogs that appeared to have been created for the purpose of celebrating cyber-bullying.

Tim O'Reilly - First Discussion on Blogging Code of Conduct

We've drafted a code of conduct that will eventually be posted on bloggingcode.org, and created a badge that sites can display if they want to link to that code of conduct.

Draft Blogging Code of Conduct

And the latest story on the BBC about a blog being taken down...

A British diplomat's blog offering his thoughts on Thailand has been withdrawn after insults and accusations were posted on it by members of the public.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6548653.stm

I can't quite see the need for such a "code of conduct" and defiantly not for a badge.
(Though I would respect other peoples use of it if they so choose).
But there is nothing in there that isn't common sense already.
I mean, "Hey!, it's my blog". I can post what I like, about who I like, when I like.
I don't force anyone to read it.
But it's not like I am going to say anything that is likely to upset someone because it's not in my nature.
And I don't allow anonymous comments on my blog and that is for spam reasons, not to prevent any old Tom, DIck or Harry from posting on my blog.
I also moderate all of my comments. If someone posts something I don't agree with, then I remove it, (in fact I just plain delete it).  And that has nothing to do with restricting free speech. I had one guy object before and I just pointed out to him that it was my blog, my website, and I could do what I bloody well liked with it. I told him that I was not stopping him from commenting on my blog, I was just not letting him do it on my own blog using my own resources. I don't have a problem with him making what ever comment he likes on his own blog.

If someone does have a blog and they post material that's is illegal, then don't go back there.
Same goes for someone who insists on making personal attacks of any kind.
They can talk to themselves and post what they want, they'll soon get bored.

IMHO, it is nothing more application of common sense, and anyone who objects to my methods on my blogs, obviously doesn't have an ounce of common sense anyway...

As to the incident with Kathy Sierra, that just beggars belief...

I've reproduced the draft code of conduct below.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has joined with Google in an unprecedented online mapping initiative. Crisis in Darfur enables more than 200 million Google Earth users worldwide to visualize and better understand the genocide currently unfolding in Darfur, Sudan. The Museum has assembled content—photographs, data, and eyewitness testimony—from a number of sources that are brought together for the first time in Google Earth.
Crisis in Darfur is the first project of the Museum’s Genocide Prevention Mapping Initiative that will over time include information on potential genocides allowing citizens, governments, and institutions to access information on atrocities in their nascent stages and respond.
"Educating today’s generation about the atrocities of the past and present can be enhanced by technologies such as Google Earth. When it comes to responding to genocide, the world’s record is terrible. We hope this important initiative with Google will make it that much harder for the world to ignore those who need us the most."
— Sara J. Bloomfield, Director, USHMM

From: http://www.ushmm.org/googleearth/

If you have ever used Google Earth and wondered what you could use it for, the above is a perfect example of using it for good effect rather than flying around places you've visited or places you have heard of.
For those who don't know what Google Earth is, the quote below is from the same USHMM site.

Using satellite imagery, Google Earth allows a user to fly to any location on the planet and explore from above in 3D. Additional "layers" created from data provided by the U.S. Government, United Nations agencies, non governmental organizations, and renowned photographers show the scope and personal impact of the genocide in Darfur and its continuing spillover into Chad.

Download the Crisis in Darfur layers for Google Earth.

I'm afraid 99.99% of the content above is directly quoted from their web site since I don't have the right words to do it justice.  When you think of the numbers of people killed, the property that has been destroyed, there isn't anything I can say that could ever describe it.
Why has the ROTW turned its back on the Darfur region?
I would ask why are we not doing more to help, but that question should really be why are we not doing anything!
2,500,000 people driven from their homes and over 300,000 killed.
How can we as a society in 2007 not being doing more to stop this?
Why are our governments not doing anything about it?
Why are YOU! not doing anything about it?

They Turned Our Dessert Into Fire - film by Mark Brecke

Now mention coupons in the UK and you get looked at like some pauper wanting a freeby or a handout. But not many people realize how much you can save with them and without having to pay a month fee to do so.
(For example, all nurses get given coupon books with their union membership, but most just throw it away without a second glance, and some of the deals are amazing...So go marry a nurse.. I did ;) )

Add to that many people in the UK don't bother with a store club card (like your Tesco's card), or if they do, they hardly every get round to spending any points that they accrue on them.

But in the US, I was given a link to the Coupon Chief site and at first dismissed it as per usual (being a Brit Expat). That was until he told me how much he has just saved on a brand new PC he'd bought from Dell with a discount coupon he had obtained from Coupon Chief.

Well my mate has just rung me to say that he was just about to spend a fortune at Bed Bath and Beyond, and remember the Coupon Chief and went and had a look at their Home and Garden section and just by entering their coupon code a the BedBathBeyond web site got an instant 20% off and free delivery.

And that's the thing with the Coupon Chief site, you don't need to be a member, you don't pay anything to them to join up (because you don't and can't join).  I guess that they get all of their income from referral fees.

Well my gripe is why don't we have something as good in the UK.  The only reason my mate had mentioned it to me in the first place was I'd just told him what I had just spent on some new furniture, and he told me how much he had paid, and saved by using the Coupon Chief.

In my US house when I first moved to Fort Worth, we had the air conditioning set to 70 degrees or there about.  Being around 100 degrees outside and upon arrival of our first $500 electric bill for the month, the thermostat was quickly set to 82 degrees.

But with the temperature set that high it didn't feel too comfortable at times, mainly because of the humidity.  A colleague of mine suggested fitting ceiling fans which at first I didn't think would help at all.

I used Farrey's as they have a great online catalog to choose a couple of ceiling fans for the main living room. 

The benefits were immediately obvious since despite the the thermostat still being set at 82 degrees you get a cooling effect from the fan which effectively drops the temperature to the low 70's.

After two months of lower electricity bills I decided to fit fans into all of the other rooms, so choosing the right fans was important. Farrey's have a great system to for selecting, configuring and ordering the right system and their search tool is one of the best I've used.

I've just helped a friend select and install a new fans in his house and he used Farrey's and he was impressed as I was.
They now have an even greater selection including fanimation,monte carlo fans, minka aire fans any many more.

I was looking for UK based websites offering details on 0% transfers on credit cards and the site title caught my attention, and since it's run by a Scot, it's bound to have some great advice.

It has a wealth of information on all things financial based. as well as the credit card info I was after.  Their section on Credit Cards transfers not only has advice but the latest news from the industry as well.

Whilst I was there I also noticed they had information on Loans, Debt Management and Bad Credit Remortgages (which I won't need just yet, but will do if people don't start paying me!!).

So if you want advice on spending, saving and debt.
Are you a spendthrift? or do you horde your money?
Then I would check out their website.
Has some great information for a change rather than trying to 'just' sell you something.

That site just saved me hundreds of pounds in interest and all it cost me was 30mins of my time in reading the available offers and then heading off and completing an online application.
Cant' be bad. I'm happy to have save a few quid and I'm not even a Scot! Just imagine how he feels.

Getting the 'Move your account to
Use the new Blogger' message.

It is that time! You log into your blogger account and you get the dreaded message.  Time to move to the new blogger (the old beta).  You can go to your dashboard, but you get one more chance of doing that and then you 'have' to move over.

(click on any of the images in this article to see the full size version in a new window).

So you get the message, what next?
Do you go ahead and agree to the terms of service and hit continue?

Well let me first say, I've not heard of anyone losing a blog because of a move over from the 'old blogger' to the 'new blogger'.  I've heard of and helped out a few people who have managed to trash their blogs by playing around with the new settings without realizing what they were doing.  But all in all, the process works well (now..).  A few weeks back a good friend of mine (Sally from The ChicAlert), was also apprehensive about moving from the old to the new system.  In the end the automated system determined it couldn't do the transfer and referred it for investigation by a blogspot engineer.  That was the first instance of that message I had come across and I have yet to hear of the final outcome with that story.

Zachary built a very nice looking electric guitar top from a $15 Ikea end table. He says he can build three tops from one end table.

This is one of the most interesting guitars I ever built and it is also one of the best.

The action is great, the tone is unbelievable, the neck is super fast, tuning stability is as good as it gets. In short, everything just worked out great on this guitar. This amazingly figured top is from Ikea Furnishings. I bought one of their unfinished end tables for $15 and I can get three guitar tops from it. What a shame that they would use such amazing "tone-wood" for their cheap furniture. Its a sacrilege.

From: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/21/1500_electric...

Not a bad idea, especially when you think for $15 he gets 3 guitar tops from a single table. 
It's made me think about popping to Ikea next time I need some wood for a project.  The wood in B&Q is extortionate.  Reminds of when I was living (for 3 years) in Texas.  I could get a power saw for $10, but if I wanted a lump of wood to use it on, it seemed to cost 10 x that amount.

The original link to the guitar makers site is http://www.zacharyguitars.com/120300pics.htm.

Road Pricing Response

Well like millions of other brits who had signed the petition (and who had given a valid email address {now to be added to the MI5/6 list of 'people to keep an eye on department'}), I received my reply from Tony Blair.

21 February 2007

Tony Blair has written a reply to more than 1.7 million people who signed a petition on the Downing Street website against road pricing.

The petition, created by Peter Roberts from Shropshire, has been by far the most popular on our e-petitions site since it was launched last November.

In his reply, the PM sets out the government's views on national road pricing, stressing that no decision has yet been made. Mr Blair says he sees the petition and his email as "the beginning, not the end" of the debate.

Read the full response on the 10 Downing Street Webiste.

Good or Bad Response?

Well to be honest, I think it was quite a good reply. (And don't even think for one minute I am a Blair fan).

After all, the thing that started was a call for discussion, not a statement from the government that they were actually introducing the scheme.

Do we really need a scheme?

Despite me being a fan of Hammy, Clarkson and the 'Slow One' (May), I take their comments as attempts at humour when they go on about damage to the environment from cars etc. Only a fool can ignore the damage being done to the environment, and yes, whilst our cars might not be the single biggest threat, we have to start looking somewhere.

I have 3 young kids and what I do now to the environment is my legacy to them.

So do we need a scheme? Yes I think we do. 
Is the 'road pricing scheme' that sparked the nearly 2 million hits the way forward? No, I don't think so.

Why I think it is a bad idea?

Whilst we do have technology at the moment that will allow us to track vehicles, doing this on a large scale would be expensive.  It will be a few years yet before technology exists at a cheap enough price that will overcome the many problems with the suggested system.

Why not use the 'KISS' principle and keep it simple (stupid).

Worried about big brother?

A lot was made about the possible implications of big brother watching over us, being able to track us and ultimately knowing where we are at any time of the day.
That was just 'hype' and 'scare tactics' being used by those opposed to the scheme for no other reason than simply being opposed to it.
For example, I can bet that nearly all of those people that signed the petition for this reason all have a mobile phone which can be tracked in exactly the same one, but you don't see them being worried about that.  In fact mobile phones are a damn site worse than cars, because I don't take my car everywhere I go, I tend to leave my car somewhere and walk the last bit of foot, but my phone is never more than a few feet away from me.
So there isn't really a big brother aspect to the road charging scheme as suggested in the many emails that were passed around.
In fact the emails that were being sent could even have provided more information about the user than a car tracking system ever could.

We already have tracking systems in use today, although not widespread across the UK.  For the past few years, MOT, Road Tax and Insurance records have all be linked via computer systems.  Add to that the new Tetra Police Radio Network that has a much higher data transfer rate it has led to a number of new systems being made available to them, (sort of like the police moving from dial up to broadband access whilst on their 'beat').

One such system which is a mobile based unit basically scans the number plate of a car going past them (much like a speed camera unit).  The registration details are then read, decoded, uploaded to a central server where the MOT, Road Tax and Insurance details are checked.  The results are then downloaded to a unit positioned further along the road. 

At present these mobile units are placed at large gatherings in the UK basically forming a ring fence around the venue. (So for example a match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, or perhaps a Cliff Richard Conference in Bournemouth ;) ).

The point is, it wouldn't actually take much effort to mount a few of these cameras on all major roads and already you have a system of tracking people in real time.  Of course this relies on the information being on the system in the first place, and again, it only tracks the car, not the person. It doesn't tell you who is driving the car.

The Tick Tock Project - Launch

What do people like the following celebrities, friends and foes, sports stars and world leaders all have in common? Then ask yourself what you may have in common with them!

The main purpose of the project has not been released yet, but there is a teaser at the site right now, so I won't go and spoil the fun by telling you all about it.  I'll let you all go visit it and see if you can work out what it's all about.

Four-legged duckling shocks owner

The mutation is rare but cases have been recorded elsewhere

An ugly duckling has made waves on a farm - when he was born with four legs.

A rare mutation has left eight-day-old Stumpy with two extra legs behind the two he moves around on.

Owner Nicky Janaway, of Warrawee Duck Farm in the New Forest, Hampshire, said she was gobsmacked when she turned Stumpy over to check his sex.

"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting: One, two, three, four,'" she said.

From the BBC News Website.

Go visit the Duck Farm website.

Hmm, a four legged duck eh? The farm is down in the New Forest and I didn't think there was any nuclear power stations down there.
They did have a nuclear sub dock in Southampton a few months back.
Apparently it happens quite often, but it still doesn't sound right.

Reminds me of an old story ;)

I used to have an uncle who had a farm.  I went to visit him one day and as I was walking up the track I spotted what I thought was a four legged chicken.
When I got the the farm yard I spotted my uncle and went over to greet him. 
"Here", I said, "I'm sure I just spotted a four legged chicken in the field back there.
"Eye", he says, "I've been breeding them for a few months now".
"Why?", I said.
"Well there is me, your aunt and your two cousins and we all like the leg of chicken when it comes to Sunday roast".
"Great", said I, "what do they taste like?".
He replied, "God knows, I've never been able to catch one".

Go-slow protest over road charge

The congestion charge zone is due to be expanded on Monday

An anti-congestion charge rally is taking place in London in a last-ditch attempt to stop the western extension of the zone in two days' time.

Organised by the West London Residents Association, the go-slow began at Addison Road, in Kensington, in west London.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6371051....

I have a friend living in the Kensington area and he has a neighbour who regularly drives what would be a 5 minute walk.
London has one of the best public transport infrastructures in the UK, so why is there is a need to drive everywhere.

Anything that reduces the impact of cars in that area is a good idea.  Whilst there maybe some legitimate claims, personally I feel the benefits far out weight those.  I'm no environmentalist either so I am not arguing it for the sake of.
I'm no major fan of 'Red Ken' but some of the schemes implemented in the Greater London area have had a positive effect and other councils should be taking note.

There is more information at The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea web site.

The Mayor of London extended the Congestion Charge into most of Kensington and Chelsea on 19 February 2007.

The Council has successfully negotiated a 90 per cent discount for all Royal Borough residents (including residents who live outside the enlarged congestion charge zone).

There is one charge for the new combined congestion charge zone.
You only have to pay the charge if you move your car between 07:00 – 18:00 during weekdays. You do not have to pay the charge simply to keep a vehicle inside the zone.
The enlarged zone covers most of the borough, west to the Earls Court One Way System, south to Chelsea Embankment and north to Harrow Road. To view the map go to TfL website

To view the map go to TfL website Transport for London map of enlarged zone [PDF file] (Large file 710 Kb)

The Scheme is run by Transport for London (TfL) on behalf of the Mayor of London.

This two page cheat sheet also offers a comprehensive reference to grasp of basic to advance Google query building concepts and ideas.

read more | digg story

Handy crib sheet full of information about Google Services, Hints and Tips

Why I will be at my own wake

Raising a glass: "I want to say thank you"

When you are told you have just months to live what do you do? Andy Fitchett, 56, decided to organise his own wake and is hosting it.

I'm a lucky man and have had a lucky life. Many people don't get a chance to say goodbye to people when they die but I have.

Link to BBC NEWS | Magazine | Why I will be at my own wake

Reading this story today confirmed that there are some real people left in the UK.  In my late teens I met a woman who amazed with a similar feat of inspiration as Andy Fitchett of Swindon.

I won't name her here, or go into too much detail, but she too had been told she had 'n' months to live.  The mother of 4 young daughters and left alone by her husband, rather than give up and die, she dedicated the rest of her life to doing the best not only for her daughters, but for others suffering from the same condition as her.

It has been some 25 years since I met her, but I still use the inspiration she gave me in my daily life today.  A few years after I met her, I had joined the Navy and was on a long deployment when I had heard that she had passed away.  Rather than just sadness, there was also joy because of the memories she had given myself all around her.  She would not have wanted sadness and all that knew her gained strength from her attitude towards life.
Like Andy Fitchett, she had prepared both herself, her friends and family for her final days.  Whilst there was still pain, it allowed us to celebrate her life rather than bemoan her passing.

I did work in Swindon for 5 years and went to the odd game at Swindon FC (under duress I might add). I don't know Andy Fitchett as far as I know, but reading the article on him both on the BBC and the local  Swindon  newspaper website, he appears to have the same strength of character of my friend I knew many years ago.  I won't be going to his wake, but I will make sure that on St Patricks Day 2007 (March 17th), I will raise a  glass in toast to him and in memory of one of the greatest women I have ever had to chance to meet.

A few months ago when the UK government was talking about the proposed 'pay-as-you-drive' scheme I couldn't quite understand what all the fuss was about.

The following is an excerpt from today's BBC News web site:

More road-charging debate pledged

The transport secretary has pledged to listen to opponents of the introduction of UK road charging.

Douglas Alexander said he will hear the concerns of more than a million people who signed a petition opposing pay-as-you-drive road charges.

The government has insisted that doing nothing would lead to a 25% increase in congestion in less than a decade.

But Mr Alexander said it was important to have a proper debate on the subject and consider a range of views.

The petition, which is the most popular on the Downing Street web site, calls for the scrapping of the "planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy".

It was posted by Peter Roberts, from Telford, Shropshire, who describes charging as an "unfair tax".

Mr Roberts - whose petition broke through the million-signature barrier on Saturday - believes charging is unfair on poor people and those who live apart from their families.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6352957.stm

I signed the petition because I don't agree with the methods they are discussing in tackling the problem with our transport system.
(Road charging petition).

I am not against the policy because of the big brother fears that have been expressed by certain groups, but because I think there must be a much better, more simpler approach that could be taken.

We all know that most people in the UK would be against extra taxes, because no one likes to pay any more tax than they currently do.
So I wouldn't put it past the government if the current proposals are designed to instill the fear of big brother tactics in the UK people.
But given the governments history on the Air Traffic Control System, the NHS Super Computer Network and the National ID Card scheme, I wouldn't rule out the idea that they would waste billions more on a such a difficult scheme to implement such as the pay-as-you-drive' scheme.

Forgetting about the 'big brother' idea, just the technology required to track and charge every single vehicle on the road would require something far beyond what we have at present.
There is technology available now that would come close, but how do you make it reliable enough.
For example if the system required having a device in my car that tracks where I drive, how long before someone places the transmitter/receiver in some sort of Faraday cage that restricts the signal between the vehicle and the satellite system.
What happens during times of bad weather that reduces the signal quality.
These are just small problems that the system would have to overcome.

The trials performed by the BBC ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6160174.stm ) showed charges of up to £2,338 a year for one driver.

US accuses Iran over Iraq bombs

Sophisticated roadside bombs are capable of piercing Abrams tanks

The US military has accused the "highest levels" of Iran's government of supplying increasingly sophisticated roadside bombs to Iraqi insurgents.

Senior defense officials told reporters in Baghdad that the bombs were being used to deadly effect, killing more than 170 US troops since June 2004.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/63512...

The US today came out and blamed Iran for either supplying the technology or the bombs themselves linked to the EFP devices being used against coalition forces in Iraq.

Back in June 2006 I remember reading an article on the Telegraph website about such bombs, and it was felt then that they were being supplied by the Iranians.

The precision-made mine that has 'killed 17 British troops'

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/ne...

By Sean Rayment, Defense Correspondent

Last Updated: 1:23am BST 25/06/2006

The first picture of an Iraqi insurgent mine, believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 17 British soldiers, has been obtained by The Sunday Telegraph.

The device, which has been used by insurgents throughout Iraq since May last year, fires an armour-piercing "explosively formed projectile" or EFP, also known as a shaped charge, directly into an armoured vehicle, inflicting death or terrible injuries on troops inside.

The weapon can penetrate the armour of British and American tanks and armoured personnel carriers and completely destroy armoured Land Rovers, which are used by the majority of British troops on operations in Iraq.

The device, described as an "off-route mine", was seized by British troops in Iraq earlier this year and brought back to Britain where it underwent detailed examination by scientists at Fort Halstead, the Government's forensic explosive laboratory in Kent.

Despite the Telegraph post going to on mention how the troops were bemoaning the lack of armoured vehicles to protect against such mines (using APC's and not Land Rovers), they seem to forget that this type of device is probably more lethal to an APC than a Land Rover.
The projectile that is emitted from the device would cause armoured 'backspall' which would be far more damaging that if the projectile passed through the thin skin of a Land Rover.  The backspall would be far less in a Land Rover. 
Similarly  if the APC were sealed, a pressure wave is also created within the vehicle which leads to more serious injuries.
The backspall would bounce around the interior of the armoured vehicle until its energy is expended.
A Land Rove might suffer more from the effects of the charge used to propel the projectile than it would from the projectile itself.
If these devices can take out an Abrams tank, then it really won't matter what sort of vehicle you are in.   I'd rather be in something that it could pass through and be protected from the accompanying blast, rather than in a tin can with a lump of molten metal bouncing around shredding everything it hits.

Flintoff hails comeback kings

England captain Andrew Flintoff toasted his team-mates after they crowned the Ashes tour with one-day success.

Flintoff’s men completed one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sporting history to shock world champions Australia 2-0 in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series.

England seemed destined to catch an early plane home when they lost twice in a week in Adelaide mid-way through the tournament but they somehow ripped up the form book to qualify for the best-of-three showdown.

From: http://www.ecb.co.uk/england/flintoff-hails-comeba...

I didn't manage to wake up in time (3.45am on a Sunday morning... I think not...), but when I did wake up and switch the TV on, the score was 39-2 and I thought that sounded promising, just as the rain came down.  (Why couldn't they play this at the MCG, no chance of rain there).
Every time we took a wicket it appeared that the Gods would be against us and the heavens would open, but unusually for the England team on this tour, they stood up to the plate and gave an extra effort to get the job done.

Ricky Ponting was full of praise for the England team having demoralized them in the Ashes tour he gave nothing but good words for the England team.

So the flight back in a few days won't appear so long with the one piece of silverware in the hold.  It's only a shame that despite the way England played, the actual Ashes trophy will also be coming back to.  If there was ever a time to let the holders keep the trophy, this was the tour to do so.  Australia confirmed their ranking of world number one.

8pm Sunday 11/02/07

This week we’re under-sexed, under-paid and over there as Top Gear heads Stateside for an all-American special.

Watch with shock and awe as Jeremy, Richard and James buy their own yank-tanks, before heading off on a massive interstate road-trip.

Along the way they’ll take in the vibrant, though slightly scary, nightlife of downtown Miami and alligator-strewn swamps of Louisiana, before eventually arriving in New Orleans.

It’s a roller-coaster ride of Americana in which we meet the Stig’s long-lost US cousin, learn to cook road-kill, and get run out of Alabama by an angry lynch-mob.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/nextepisode.shtm...

The new series of Top Gear goes over to the US this week.
Should be an interesting show. 
They'll be doing an interstate trip, something I wished I had done whilst I was living in the US, but I drove for 7 hours and I still didn't get out of Texas.

Knowing Clarkson I wonder if he'll manage to upset everyone he meets.  Hammy should fit right in with his pearly white teeth, and James will probably be adopted by some local bible bashing Church.

Second one-day final, Sydney:
Australia v England
Match starts 0315 GMT

England beat Australia in Friday's first final in Melbourne

England could end their Ashes tour in Sydney on Sunday by becoming the first side for 14 years to beat Australia in a home one-day final.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/63...

 At 3.15am on Sunday morning, Flintoff will lead out the England Cricket Team with a chance to gain back some credibility of what has been so far a disastrous tournament.
I'm still not sure how England managed to play their way into the finals.
Two fine consecutive innings from Paul Collingwood helped but will the rest of the team step up to the crease to make it 3 wins on the trot?

But for a poor performance by the Australians (a rare site after their previous performances), England could have been on their way home already.  But the innings played by Collingwood was probably the finest one day international innings for a long time.
McGrath was bowled out for a duck, dropped an important catch and didn't take a single wicket. Not often you can say that about one of the worlds finest players.

Winning this one day international series won't make up for losing the ashes, but as far as the players go, it will certainly make the long trip back home a damn site more enjoyable.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/englis...

Robinson scoring England's try just before half-time

England made heavy weather of beating Italy to earn an unconvincing second Six Nations win of the season.

Until Jason Robinson's try just before half-time, all England had to show for their early pressure was three Jonny Wilkinson penalties.

A second win in two weeks, but this wasn't the most convincing win I've seen from England. (It was still better than the more convincing defeats that I have seen in the last year or so).
A lot was said in studio commentary on the BBC about how poor England had played, but I disagree with that.
After the win last week we knew that Italy was going to be much less tougher opposition, so maybe we only had to do what was necessary to win today. 
Some had doubted the reasoning behind bringing back Johnny Wilkinson for last weeks match and that we should be holding him back for the Irish match in two weeks time. 
Well having played only 40mins of club rugby prior to last weeks win, he probably needs all the play time he can get.  Simarlly so for most of the England team. 

Last weeks win was important, as was the style that England played.
Not losing this week was important, not the style of winning. On that front England performed that task well.  Now we have two weeks to prepare for the match at Croke Park against the Irish.  The result of that match will provide a good indication of how far England have come or have to progress to get back to the World Cup form of 4 years ago.  It will also provide a measure of how much work the new coach Ashton has in order to prepare us for the upcoming Autumn World Cup Series.

Hardly an entertaining match for the 82,000 or so fans at Twickenham, but none the less, we can say that England are so far unbeaten in 2007, in the Six Nations and that has to be an improvement over last year.

Something on my Google Homepage in a news headline caught my attention tonight.
Don't know why. I wasn't a fan, follower or admirer of hers.

The tabloid staple and reality-TV star Anna Nicole Smith passed away Thursday. Fame (via her Playboy pictorials, her endless inheritance case and her E! TV show), as well as money, good looks and ample physical assets were not enough to keep Smith alive, which is very sad.

From: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainm...

Now I don't agree with what she says on there, but a quote is a quote.
The part that shocked me was she was only 39 (the same age as me, well, for at least the next month).

I remember all the press coverage about her when she married J. Howard Marshall who promptly died and then left her a fortune.

On February 8th 2007, she was found in a hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe in Florida.  She was pronounced dead on arrival when she arrived at hospital a few hours later.

Ok, she's a star, a star with too much money, too much publicity, too many problems etc etc, but she was also my age, a parent (although of what quality I can't and won't say).
 

You don't expect stars to fall over, even the spoilt rich drugged fueled one.  It just caught me by surprise.  She gets all that money in somewhat controversial circumstances, and now what... Her "attorney" gets it ??  Something fishy going on here if you ask me.

Turbo-diesel flat-four claimed as world-first

Subaru's turbo-diesel boxer

Subaru said it's about to unveil what it called the world’s first horizontally-opposed turbo-diesel engine.

The company will be debuting the engine at the 77th Geneva International Motor Show next month, along with an entire, all-wheel-drive drivetrain.

Subaru said it "believes passionately" in its boxer engines which are more compact than in-line units and provide a much lower centre-of-gravity. This reduces body roll for safer cornering and also enhances handling precision.

Due for its first vehicle application early next year, Subaru claimed its boxer turbo diesel to be a highly rigid unit with low levels of noise and vibration, eliminating the need for a balancer shaft. Other benefits include compactness and strong pulling power at low engine speeds with high-rev throttle-response.

From: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

Knowing Subaru's experience at getting the most from an engine I wouldn't mind taking one of their cars with this engine in it for a test drive.
I still remember the first time I sat in a Subaru. It was my bosses car who I considered to be a quiet peaceful sort of guy, until he put his foot down and threw me into the back seat nearly breaking my neck in the process, (well that is what it felt like at the time).
And the noise that most Subaru's make is second only to that usually heard from most V8's in America. 

Can't wait to see what this new engine sounds and performs like.

Don't forget to head over to PistonHeads to check out more of the latest news and trends.
Cracking site, great bunch of members.

Waking up to Snow

6.30am, time to get #1 son up for school, except there is 2inches of snow on the ground.A quick check outside and the road is Ok, but not much traffic.
No busses, and the wife is at work and not due home until 8.00am.
So no school for the kids this morning, and as it later turns out, for the rest of the day.

No School for the kids

Not that the councils did a bad job, but laying salt by the bucket load didn't help much with the volume of snow that fell in the 2-3 hour period. 

It's now 11.50am and the snow is melting pretty fast.  #2 son and daughter are out withe neighbours sledding on a big hill somewhere local.

Benefits of living in the Country

I do like it when the countryside is covered in snow.  You can 'see' the silence.  Everything is peaceful (until you have 3 kids throwing snowballs at you).

All we have to do now is await the big freeze tonight. If we thought that the country stood still this morning, just wait until tomorrow morning when everything is all frozen up.
Slush and frozen ice is not so pretty.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6324129.stm

Top Gear insulting, says charity

Richard Hammond returned to the show on Sunday The handling of Richard Hammond's return to Top Gear has been branded "insensitive" and "insulting" by a charity for people with brain injury. Headway said it had been inundated with complaints particularly over comments made by presenter Jeremy Clarkson.

It seems the 'do gooder' brigade have lost their sense of humour.
Jeremy Clarksons comments were made in jest and not directed at anyone else other than Hammy (Richard Hammond).
For someone to take offense at the remarks obviously shows they have a very sad outlook on life.
It's another own goal for the PC brigade who seem to think that we can't say nothing that stands a chance of remotely effecting someone, some people or some things.
If Clarkson had directed those comments at someone or some group outside of the studio then their might have been an argument.
I didn't see anyone jumping to the defence of Jade Goody in the past few days (after the comments that were made about her). But then mind you did anyone disagree with those comments.

I suggest Headway should consider spending their time and resources on the real things that matter and not be trying to grab media attention by jumping on the 'slam Jeremy Clarkson everytime he opens his mouth to breathe' brigade.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:

• 1. Bozone (n.) The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating.
• 2. Cashtration (n.) The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
• 3. Giraffiti (n) Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
• 4. Sarchasm (n) The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
• 5. Inoculatte (v) To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
• 6. Hipatitis (n) Terminal coolness.
• 7. Osteopornosis (n) A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
• 8. Karmageddon (n) It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
• 9. Decafalon (n.) The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
• 10. Glibido (v) All talk and no action.
• 11. Dopeler effect (n) The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
• 12. Arachnoleptic fit (n.) The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
• 13. Beelzebug (n.) Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
• 14. Caterpallor (n.) The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

• Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and an a-hole.

Ever since my kids showed me this YouTube video, I've had the damn tune going round and round in my head. So if I have to suffer, so should you...

Portsmouth 2-0 Everton

Matthew Taylor celebrates his spectacular strike for Portsmouth

Matthew Taylor's wonder-goal set up a comfortable win for Portsmouth against a disappointing Everton side.

Took my two boys and my father down to watch the game today.  The boys were impressed (as was I), when they saw probably what will turn out to be the goal of the season from Mathew Taylor.
We were sat behind the goal to the right in which Matty hit that 45 yard volley over the unfortunate Howard on the 16minute mark.
I knew it was a goal the minute it left his foot, just glad to say I was there to see it.  Worth the money to see the look on the boys faces.

As much as it still amazes me when I see Portsmouth 3rd in the table (ok, joint 3rd with Liverpool), they are there on merit.  I doubt that we will be there at the end of the season, unless they show the same determination as they did today in every match.
Sol Campbell is a rock at the back and it gives Primus the confidence in his game too.  If the current squad can stay fit, or if Harry gets a budget to buy some cover in January then there is a chance they will stay near the top. (Pompey in Europe ?  After last season ? More chance of me winning the lottery, but I can dream).

I think it took us 45minutes to travel down from home to Portsmouth.
On the way back, it took us 45minutes to get from the ground to the motorway such was the amount of traffic.  (There was only 19,528 fans which for Pompey isn't bad, but the roads just can't handle that amount).
I remember going to a Pompey - Man Utd match at Old Trafford a few years back with 50,000+ and that was no problem getting to or from the game.
Still, that was 45minutes to talk about 'that' goal.

http://www.techreview.com/InfoTech/17851/page1/

Monday, December 04, 2006

A collection of online editing applications lets people do more than just watch and share video.

More people are turning to the Web to watch television shows and movies, thanks to sites like YouTube and Apple's iTunes store. But there's an emerging breed of website that's letting people go beyond passively viewing video. A number of startups, including Jumpcut, Grouper, and Motionbox, are providing free software tools that let anyone mix video clips online and, in some cases, make movies even if they don't have content of their own.

Quite a good article this on the YouTube phenomenon which mentions a couple of online tools that I wasn't aware existed.  I've got to be honest though, I am not one of those who spends hours upon hours watching videos on YouTube.  I do have an account with a few videos, but only to see what all the fuss was about.

I will probably use YouTube in the future for posting my own 'home videos' to the net if only because it shifts the burden of bandwidth usage to YouTube away from my own servers.  Why pay for anything when you can get it for free.  So what if the viewer clicks on an advert and YouTube takes a fee, I'm not going to be posting anything that is going to make them millions.

 This is an example of something that was done on Jumpcut

There is a very interestesting interview with Bjarne Stroustrup over at TechReview.

Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of the C++ programming language, defends his legacy and examines what's wrong with most software code.

In the 1980s and 90s, Bjarne Stroustrup designed and implemented the C++ programming language, which popularized object-oriented programming and influenced numerous other programming languages, including Java.

C++ remains the archetypal "high level" computer language (that is, one that preserves the features of natural, human language), and it is still used by millions of programmers. Many of the systems and applications of the PC and Internet eras were written in C++. For all that, the language remains controversial, largely because it is notoriously difficult to learn and use, and also because Stroustrup's design allows developers to make serious programming mistakes in the interest of preserving their freedom.

Pop over to TechReview and read the complete 3 page review.  You can add your comments to the many that are already there.
Failing that, you can pop over to the accu.org site and join the excellent discussions over there.

Update: Viruses coming to a screen near you soon - vnunet.com

McAfee's complete list of predictions for next year:
1. The number of password-stealing websites will increase using fake sign-in pages for popular online services such as eBay.
2. The volume of spam, particularly bandwidth-eating image spam, will continue to increase.
3. The popularity of video sharing on the web makes it inevitable that hackers will target MPEG files as a means to distribute malicious code.
4. Mobile phone attacks will become more prevalent as mobile devices become 'smarter' and more connected.
5. Adware will go mainstream following the increase in commercial Potentially Unwanted Programs.
6. Identity theft and data loss will continue to be a public issue – at the root of these crimes is often computer theft, loss of back-ups and compromised information systems.
7. The use of bots, computer programs that perform automated tasks, will increase as a tool favoured by hackers.
8. Parasitic malware, or viruses that modify existing files on a disk, will make a comeback.
9. The number of rootkits on 32-bit platforms will increase, but protection and remediation capabilities will increase as well.
10. Vulnerabilities will continue to cause concern fuelled by the underground market for vulnerabilities.

ISP's should hopefully take the lead in educating their customers about the potential dangers of connecting via their networks. It won't happen but I long for the day when ISP's become accountable for the damage that their customers cause. Only then might they take note and take the action that would reduce the problems we see today and will continue to see a rise of in 2007.

Mobile phone companies have the ability to use hardware to prevent or at least reduce the effect of Viruses, only cost and the 'impact' on their profit margins could deter them.  Far too many companies see it as a 'non-value added process' when it comes to investment in the infrastructure required to halt the spread of viruses. 
For many years, most ISP's were quite happy to let the weaknesses in the OS's take the majority of the blame when in fact it is the users that ultimately shoulder the responsibility of ensuing the security of their machines.
If you sent an email to 1000 users with the subject of "This is a virus, do not open and execute", you can bet that there will be a percentage that will still open it and still run it.
If you sent the same virus but said "This is a free picture of a top celebrity doing something they shouldn't" an even larger percentage will open it.

I've often seen the analogy of buying a new car and not being able to drive it off the forecourt until you have proven you have the required insurance and qualifications to be able to legally do so.  Whereas I don't think there is a need for every PC owner to sit an exam in order to be allowed to use the internet, ISP's should ensure through regular education and updates the need for vigilance and caution when using the network.
I would like to see the day when the ISP and/or user is held accountable for the damage caused to my network because of the actions of the user.  Maybe then people will take due care when they know they can be held liable.

Give password scams the boot with personalized sign-in seals.

Fight password theft with seals you create and add to Yahoo! sign-in pages.

• Don't be an easy target of phishing scams

  • Create a sign-in seal you'll see whenever you sign into Yahoo!
  • If your sign-in seal is not there, it's likely to be a spoof page created by a phisher to steal your personal information

Now I don't know how long this 'feature' has been around at Yahoo, but at least it appears they are moving in the right direction.

• So what's the problem?
• So what is the purpose of a sign-in seal?
• Does it prevent 'phishing' attacks?

So what's the problem?

There are 1000's of scams and phishing attempts out there in the wild.  One of the most current is when you receive a message from apparently from someone on your contact list which 'tells you about  some new photos they have on their webpage'.  In fact there are no photo's and the webpage is a phishing attempt whose aim is to get people to log in to a fake Yahoo page.
The instant you log in, the phishers have your login credentials and are free to use your Yahoo account at their will.

So what is the purpose of a sign-in seal?

The sign-in seal works on a per-computer basis.  So you do have to remember that on each PC you use the seal, you have to upload a new one.
At https://protect.login.yahoo.com/ you can upload your 'seal'.
Once you have set it up, whenever you go to a Yahoo page (on that computer) your 'seal' will be displayed on that login screen. 
Each and every login page at Yahoo will display your 'sign-in' seal.

Does it prevent 'phishing' attacks?

No. It cannot prevent 'phishing' attacks.  Only you the user can prevent those. (Well apart from locking up the pond scum responsible for the 'phishing' sites.)
What it does do if give you 'the user' the ability to detect a phishing site with great ease.
There are some things you just don't do, such as open attachments from people you don't know (without virus scanning, anti-spy ware scanning etc).  There are some things that genuine sites just don't do, like supply you with a link to a login page, (they 'should' tell you to go to the main page and log in.  You 'should' already know the site if you are a member, so you should know.
If you do ever receive a link within an email, you should always check as best as possible, that the link is genuine.

There is only so much that a regular user can do to ensure a link is genuine and some phishing links are quite clever in their cloaking.
At least for the moment, when you visit a fake 'Yahoo' page, your 'sign-in' seal will not be displayed.  (I say for the moment because I haven't looked at depth as to how it achieves the sign in seal and we know how much effort the fraudsters put into defeating anything put in their way).

• Remember, if you are in an internet cafe reading your email and login to a Yahoo site, you won't have a sign-in seal on that computer so it won't be displayed.  It is on a per-PC basis.
• It will not stop you from going to any phishing sites, it will only highlight that the page you have visited is NOT a genuine Yahoo login page.
• It will only protect you on Yahoo pages.

Mom charged with baby's microwave death - CNN.com

Story Highlights• China Arnold is accused of killing her baby by putting her in the microwave • The baby was 1 month old when Arnold brought her to the hospital in August 2005 • Her lawyer says Arnold had nothing to do with the baby's death

I knew a guy who did something like this to a dog and I couldn't believe that at the time. This just sickens me to the core. How anyone can inflict pain on another human escapes me, but to do something like this to a baby I can't even contemplate what goes through the mind of someone doing that.

I hope they find the person responsible and lock them up and throw away the key. Death would be too kind for them. Sick in the mind isn't the word.

Damn, it's taken years for me to get the last song out of my head and now there is a new one? It'll be even worse if my kids find out...

http://www.NewNuma.com Gary Brolsma, the Numa Numa Guy, is back in his return video: New Numa! With the video comes a $45,000 worldwide New Numa contest where you can make your own New Numa video for a chance at the Grand Prize of $25,000 cash and a whole lot of internet fame!

Go to http://www.NewNuma.com to enter the contest, chat with Gary, check out the New Numa music and new music by Dan Balan (the producer/songwriter of Dragostea din Tei, the original numa numa!) Most importantly: Don't forget to laugh and have fun!! ... (more)

Trying to find the source of the above picture. It seems familiar and I think it is from a film or TV show of sorts.
Any clues?
And no funny remarks ;)

Bot nets likely behind jump in spam

A significant rise in the global volume of spam in the past two months has security analysts worried that bot nets are increasingly being used by spammers to stymie network defenses erected to curtail bulk email.

Estimates of the magnitude of the increase in junk email vary, but experts agree that an uncommon surge in spam is occurring. On the low side, Symantec, the owner of SecurityFocus, has found that average spam volume has increased almost 30 percent for its 35,000 clients in the last two months. Others have seen much more significant jumps: Spam black list maintainer Total Quality Management Cubed has seen a 450 percent increase in spam in two months, and the amount of spam filtered out every week by security software maker Sunbelt Software has more than tripled compared to six months ago.

Two weeks ago I noticed an increase of the spam creeping through my filters and landing up in my various in boxes.
I use SpamPal on all of my PC's on my network at home and I recommend it to every person I meet.
As a long term user of SpamCop I also recommend signing up and reporting ALL the spam that people get. You can get a free reporting account and although it will not necessarily mean a decrease in the amount of spam you get, it could help reduce the amount of spam others get. I say not necessary because (1) you may be put on a gray list by spammers if they find out your are reporting your spam (and trust me, they do), or (2) until such time as every user subscribes to submitting spam to RBL's, there will always be spam creeping through

Funny. I had been asked a few times by customers and in online forums about the activation, or more precisely the reactivation of Windows XP after moving it from one PC to another, or after an upgrade of a major component/reinstall. Then my neighbour pops round with a similar question.
I had a quick look into it and found a few facts out.

Madonna
AN OPEN LETTER FROM MADONNA 
Posted: 17 October 2006
My husband and I began the adoption process many months prior to our trip to Malawi. I did not wish to disclose my intentions to the world prior to the adoption happening as this is a private family matter. After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand out family.

With all the media hype around the Madonna option issue, I can't help thinking it is just the press searching for a story that isn't really there.
You'd have to ask yourself what would you do in that situation. I think that Madonna would probably have adopted the whole orphanage if it wasn't such an outrageous idea.  She already sponsors 6 of the orphanages and provides valuable funding for them.

The father of the boy involved has already expressed his backing for the child and the adoption process, but it still can't make it any easier for him.  No matter who you are, what country you are in, what the state of that country be, giving up one of your children is hard thing to do anywhere in the world.
I see it as one child who had little hope of surviving being given a chance of life.  Admittedly that life will be one in the spot light and he will be exposed to things that could never have happened has he stayed where he was. But in reality, the child would have been lucky to have seen his next birthday. 

I don't believe for one minute that Madonna has nothing but the best intentions.  I for one know that if I ever had the chance to go see such a place, I would probably want to adopt all of the kids as well.  Madonna is lucky enough to be in the position to do such a thing. 

Grab a Free Handbag with loads of Money In it, and I don't mean stand outside the local Post Office and steal it off your granny when she comes out with her social.

Chic Alert - Designer Clothing, Shoes, Handbags, Jewelry, Fragrances, Sales and much more.: Win a Designer Handbag!

Follow the link above to a site that has all the details. Basically, it looks like a UK site having some sort of promotion whereby you register your email address and a phone number and they are giving away a handbag every day. One of the bags has money in it... hmm.. Not like my wife's then... Actually, the last thing she needs is yet another handbag, but if the new one has £7000 in it, I won't be complaining... I might even register for one myself. I am sure if David Beckham can get away with it, for 7K I could too.

I was in London on Friday to have the arthroscopic procedure performed on my right hip this time.
Didn't have to wait around too long though this time since there were only 3 operations scheduled for that day, but I still ended up number 3 on the list. After the left hip operation, he knew to keep me to the end since that was meant to be a quick 30min go in, check things out and close up procedure, turned out to be a 90min operation to repair and clean up the damage.

The right hip was always the more painfull of the two and that was backed up by the amount of damage to the joint. If you click on the extended version of this post there are some more images. Plenty of bits floating around inside the joint and these had to be removed which should stop my hip 'locking up' when I am not expecting it.
The head of the femur again had to be scraped off and cleaned up again and the last picture shows them performing the Microfracture procedure.

Multiple holes, or microfractures, are made in the exposed bone about 3 to 4mm apart. Bone marrow cells and blood from the holes combine to form a "super clot" that completely covers the damaged area. This marrow-rich clot is the basis for the new tissue formation. The microfracture technique produces a rough bone surface that the clot adheres to more easily. This clot eventually matures into firm repair tissue that becomes smooth and durable. Since this maturing process is gradual, it usually takes two to six months after the procedure for the patient to experience improvement in the pain and function of the joint. Improvement is likely to continue for about 2 to 3 years.

BBC NEWS | England | London | Internet user admits 'web-rage'

An internet user has been found guilty of what police said was Britain's first "web-rage" attack. Paul Gibbons, 47, tracked down John Jones using details obtained online after the pair exchanged insults in an internet chatroom, a court heard.

Web Rage? That's a new one on me. Probably shouldn't blog this either incase one of them comes round and has a pop at me.
Mind you, can't say I haven't wanted to do that myself to many a person on the net. I'm sure that in certain newsgroups there must be a configuration that takes someone's IQ and sets it to a value lower than the persons age.

Some people do tend to lose their rag when taking part in online conversations. Can't see the point of it. If I didn't have anonymous comments disabled on this blog, I am sure there would be a flood of people annoyed with this post, just because they want to annoy someone. Flaming and Trolling seem to be common place in nearly all NG's and forums I am a member of.
Can't say I've ever 'flamed' anyone before, and I've always tried not to result to personal insults, unless the person is obviously 'one wire short of a twisted pair', in which case the thread has probably run its cause and they've lost the plot and then I give them both barrels.

It must have been some argument to make him want to drive 70miles from his home and do something about it.  And to attack him with a pickaxe handle?
I suppose before I have a go at someone in future, I should ask them where they live and if they own a pickaxe before I have a go at them.

Identity safety

Det Cons Christopher Creagh, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "This is the first instance of a web-rage attack."

Det Sgt Jean-Marc Bazzoni, of Essex Police, added the case demonstrates the importance of protecting one's identity on the internet.

"Mr Jones had posted pictures of his family on the web and had chatted to Gibbons on an audio link," he said.

"It demonstrates how easily other users can put two and two together and also shows how children could also find themselves in danger."

History Matters

A MASS BLOG for the national record. The History Matters campaign has designated October 17 a day for the public to make historic. We have chosen 'an ordinary' weekday of no particular significance to ask you to write a one day on-line diary.

Should be an interesting exercise. Go visit the site at the link above to read more about it.

Try the link above to see a new take on the Llama song...

On the 24th July, I finally sorted out why my left hip was locking up and also why I couldn't walk more than a few hundred yards before the pain made walking unbearable. Below are 3 pictures taken from within my hip joint.

The procedure was carried out in London by one of the only surgeons in the country to carry out Hip Arthroscopy. It was carried out as a day surgery and I was out of hospital about 2-3 hours after the procedure was completed (I was at the hospital at 7am, only to wait until 3pm to go down to theatre, but that's a different story). Afterwards, I was able to walk out of the hospital on crutches, go through the London Underground at rush hour, and catch a train back to my home town and still be home for supper.

The image above shows a piece of cartilage that had been floating around inside the joint. That is probably the reason for my hip locking up as it would get caught up when moved in a certain way.

Just seen a report on Richard Hammond, the TV Presenter most famous at present for his work on Top Gear is critically ill in hospital.
Apparently he was injured whilst driving a jet powered car in a piece for Top Gear.
Although he was unconscious on arrival at the neurological unit, he was said to have regained consciousness, but his condition was listed as critical.
I do hope he pulls through, since he is one of my favourite TV presenters, but even more so since he has a young family and it must be difficult times for them.
He has always appeared to be one of the unpretentious 'top blokes' on TV. My thoughts are with him and his family and friends.

UPDATE: 21st Sept 2006
Hospital has annoucned that Richards condition has stabilised, which hopefully is good news. He is still badly injured but it doesn't appear to be life threatening now.
Now all we have to do is hope that those pearly white teeth he spent so much money on survived intact or Clarkson won't let him live it down.

Get well soon Hamster.... We need you back... 2/3 Full is not a full tank.

Some guy (Alex Goss) started a donation page for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to raise funds to cover the cost of the £340 required to pay for the Hammy's trip to hospital. In just a few hours, it had paid for over 15 more such trips and is still going strong. That is a measure of the popularity of Hamster and the high regard his fans had of him. If we could cure people with well being and will power, he'd be back on the track tomorrow.

Well done Alex (Goss), great idea.

To donate, follow this link: www.justgiving.com/PHRichardHammond

UPDATE: 22 SEPT 2006 10.22 AM

The hospital has just anounced that he is no longer in Intensive Care and has been moved to the High Dependancy Unit.
Doctors have also said he is making satisfactory progress, which is great news.

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day isn't one o' those governmentally sanctioned holidays that shifts around to create a convenient three-day weekend. No, the date is ALWAYS Sept. 19 (Cap'n Slappy's ex-wife's birthday.) Now, occasionally Sept. 19 falls on a Sunday, and we recognize that may not meet everyone's desire for an excuse to party. While a lot of fun can be had ce;ebrating TLADP in a church setting (The choir will now sing, "How Great Thou Aaarrrrt!") we're suggesting that those of a more secular bent consider celebrating Talk Like A Pirate Weekend.

Ay' me hearties...
I was fed up dealing with cowboys all day, so I've turned me attention to pirates....

On the 9th August 2006, I will have been married for 17 years !!
My wife is as great today, as she was in 1989 (any grey hairs are wholly down to having to put up with me).

Aussies shocked by Croc Hunter's death - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

The 44-year-old television star and naturalist died around 11am (AEST) on Monday when a stingray barb punctured his heart while he was filming a nature documentary off Port Douglas in north Queensland.

As two of my kids woke up to get ready for their first day back at school today, they were shocked to see that Steve Irwin, the 'Crocodile Hunter' had been killed in an accident whilst filming a new documentary.
Steve Irwin was someone they had grown up watching and was instrumental for their interest in wildlife much as in the same way that parents today would have grown up with Johnny Morris (older older parents).

Steve was killed after a stingray barb pierced his heart in what seems to be a cruel piece of bad luck. Had he been struck elsewhere it might not have been so fatal. The fact that my kids were so shocked and saddened shows the impact that he had on their lives in teaching them about wildlife.

With Browzar you can search and surf the web without leaving any visible trace on the computer you are using.

Browzar is free, it only takes seconds to download and you don’t even need to install it, so you can download Browzar time and time again, whenever and wherever you need it to protect your privacy

Hmm... Sound too good to be true? Well not quite. From the F.A.Q pages on their site ( Browzar Web Site )

What are the system requirements for Browzar?
The minimum requirements for Browzar are: Windows 98 Second Edition (SE): and Internet Explorer (IE) 5.5.

At first glance it appears to have a very small footprint (about 250k) which makes it seem that its a very small application for browsing the internet. Although there is mention of it in the FAQ, it will not work without Internet Explorer on your PC, which probably explains why they are still working on the Mac OS and Linux versions of the tool.

What should be noted however is that sinced it relies upon IE technology, it will suffer from the same security problems as Windows IE and therefore you should always update your PC as and when updates become available.

Also, since it is a Beta version, there are still a few problems being reported and as such I wouldn't rely on it being totally secure until such time as the main release has been issued. There is one site that I know of that is documenting a few problems with it ( Computer Zen ) namely that it does not remove ALL traces of sites that you visited. (He tried it with Playboy.com)

Would I use it over something like Firefox? No.
I am an IE user foremost. I do have Firefox and Opera installed on this machine (my main development box), but I've never really got into the habit of opening Firefox or making it my default browser. I can't remember why but a while back it had something to do with certain sites I used not fully supporting Firefox and I've just never switched over proper. (But on my other PC's and laptop, Firefox is my browser of choice and the system default).

So why would you use Browzar? What possible benefit could it give you?
Well I suppose when it is finished and it works as advertised, then maybe the privacy option could be a motive.
But for now, the main reason for using it would be the lack of toolbars, addons and all the other poop that gets loaded along with IE right now.
In that respect Browzar is an excellent choice. From my initial tests it appears to load faster, run faster and I would say display pages faster. (The main reason for the last statement is that I have so many plugins installed on my development machine that it does hinder the display of web page content if for example a plugin keeps dialing home to let them know what I am viewing to have it guess what I am going to view next). So in this respect, Browzar does have a benefit over IE.

But will I use it as my first choice browser in future? I don't think so. Its IE with a 'skin' on.
Why use IE as its base?
Why not take the Open Source Firefox codebase and use that as a base for a 'secure browser' ?
Why open your application (Browzar) up to the same security issues as IE?
(Of course, not to say that Firefox is not open to any security issues of its own).

I'll watch it for sure, since I want to see where it goes. But to launch it as a new browser is misleading and IMHO it should be labelled as a new Skin for IE.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Comic Charlie Williams dies at 78

Pioneering stand-up Charlie Williams, who found fame on hit 1970s TV show The Comedians, has died at the age of 78.

BBC SPORT | Football | Premiership | Middlesbrough 0-4 Portsmouth
Portsmouth climbed to second in the Premiership with a magnificent victory over Middlesbrough at The Riverside.

Now if I was reading that at the end of the season, I'd be a happy bunny.
Still... I can only but dream.

They'd be second behind Chelsea of course

BBC NEWS | World | Pluto loses status as a planet

Astronomers meeting in the Czech capital have voted to strip Pluto of its status as a planet. About 2,500 experts were in Prague for the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) general assembly.

Looks like a planet to me...

I wonder how much it cost to host the conference and what real benefit to mankind will come of it.
Does that mean it is no longer on the itinery for the 'future' trip to outer space?
I mean, what real effect on humanity does it have, apart from trashing millions of library books and confusing school lessons for years to come.
"Shall we spend two weeks discussing whether or not Pluto is a planet, or should we dicuss things closer to home, like how to save the planet we are living on".

Wiki Entry on Pluto (Currently being updated)

BBC SPORT | Football | Premiership | Man City 0-0 Portsmouth

Manchester City earned their first point of the season in a match marred by a disgraceful challenge by Ben Thatcher on Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes.

In what turned out to be a mediocre match, the only noteworthy moment turned out to be a disgraceful challenge by Ben Thatcher on Pedro Medes. On viewing the reply you can clearly see Thatcher raise his hand towards the face of Mendes resulting in the Portsmouth playing appearing to collapse to the ground unconscious before sliding into the advertising hoarding.
Now whilst I can understand the reaction of Harry Redknapp and many of the fans, and although being a Pompey fan myself, I don't think Ben Thatcher intended to hurt Mendes. Having watched Ben Thatcher over the past few years, I think it was more of a dangerous tackle that he is prone to committing once in a while, but in no way am I condoning what he did. The F.A. needs to review the tackle and take the appropriate action before Thatcher ends up seriously injuring another player. If he could remove that element from his game, he would be a better player for it. No doubt Thatcher is remorseful for what he did, but the fact remains he could have seriously injured Mendes and needs to sort himself out as soon as possible. When you go into tackles at 110%, you have to be perfectly sure you make the tackle or it could be a career ending move for the other player.

Hopefully Mendes will be back in action as soon as possible. I still believe his goals towards the latter part of last season were instrumental in helping Pompey avoid the drop

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Man City | Thatcher faces FA & police probes

The Football Association and Greater Manchester Police are to launch investigations into Ben Thatcher's challenge on Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes.

Passengers explain pair's removal

Passengers on a Manchester-bound flight have described how two men were removed from the plane because other travellers thought they were speaking Arabic.

I was totally amazed by the piece of news on the BBC website when I first heard it. When we start to let these sort of things happen, we know the terrorists are winning the game.

Terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change.

Whether or not the recent attempt to blow up several planes flying from the UK eventually took place, it doesn't matter. Those initiating the attacks probably don't care if they succeeded or not. When we start behaving like the passengers on the above flight did, the organisers are in a win/win situation.

What are we going to do next? See new airline companies start up such as COE Airlines, Vatican Airways. Will we start to see denomination based airlines where your religion on your passport determines which airline you can fly with?

Those passengers who kicked up such a fuss over 'two guys' possibly speaking 'Arabic' should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps they had been watching the Jodie Foster in flight movie showing of Flight Plan and got a little too carried away with reality.

If I had been the airline concerned, I would have taken all the other passengers off and let the two guys fly in first class on their own

I could perhaps understand it if they were seen mixing explosives, comparing ruck sacks, hiding matches in their shoes, buying up all the pocket knives, uploading a final farewell video to YouTube or some other suspicious activity. But talking in Arabic?

Two of the alleged 'potential' bombers were born and raised 'white' English and converted to Islam many years ago, so speaking Arabic is no indicator as to the danger of someone.

I remember flying post 9/11 and meeting two Saudi passengers in the bar prior to the flight. They were more nervous than all of the other passengers because all eyes were on them. If the two guys in the above report looked nervous, is it any wonder?

I hope the airline has the decency to apologise, and to do it very publicly. As should any passenger who kicked up a fuss in the first place.

If you have a Centrino based Laptop, I suggest you go check the following. There are no reported vulnerabilities yet, but now this is out in the open, you can bet there will be some coming along in the very near future. Also, I doubt if this will be issued via a Windows Update, so you will probably have to go to Intels site and download the update

Wireless LAN Products - Intel? Centrino Wireless Driver Malformed Frame Remote Code Execution

Summary: Security vulnerabilities exist in the Microsoft* Windows* drivers for the Intel® 2200BG and 2915ABG PRO/Wireless Network Connection Hardware because of the way that they currently handle certain frames. An attacker could potentially exploit these vulnerabilities which could potentially lead to remote code execution and system control.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Dozens killed in Lebanon air raid

More than 40 people, including 20 children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese town of Qana. Displaced families had been sheltering in the basement of a site which was crushed after a direct hit.

I am in no way a supported of Hezbollah, and if the headline had said 40 Hezbollah lined up against a wall and shot, I might not have battered an eyelid. It's the 20 children caught up in the blast that caught my attention.

Now you could ask are Hezbollah placing 'human shields' in place, but it doesn't appear to be the case in this instance.

What the hell are the US and UK governments doing stalling for so long to get the violence stopped - (from both sides).

I don't know why we get a world 'force' of 20-40K troops. Walk them in a link from Israel through Lebanon. Filter out the Hezbollah, shoot them on the spot, capture them, imprison them or whatever. So what if some of the 20-40k will die. They are soldiers doing their job, not innocent civileans. If Hezbollah want to attack the 'World' Force, then on their heads be it. The indescriminate bombing has to stop, the Israelies have shown themselves to be as accurate as the US when it comes to hitting the target. Remind me, where did they get the planes and ammo and do their training?

I have... so should you...If only a £1

British Red Cross - Help us in Lebanon, Israel & the Palestinian territories
British Red Cross - Middle East crisis appeal
The British Red Cross
44 Moorfields London
EC2Y 9AL

I was talking with a friend of mine on Friday about the troubles in the Lebanon and then on Sunday got a mail from another friend in the US with a link to the story/poem below.
Despite being ex-military, may be down to my mellowing years, I just can't see the point of what is going on over there in Lebanon right now. Don't get me wrong, I don't support either side in the conflict. I don't care who is right or who is wrong, I am just sick of hearing about death. A few soldiers from each side are being killed but mostly it will be the innocent civilians who will suffer the most.

I just can't see the need in this day and age for war, for violence or for death. It doesn't make sense. Surely we have enough 'big brothers' to stand between those with the problem and over time sort it out, (and I don't mean 1984 Orwell style big brother),

I also think back to the lyrics of a band that I followed in the late 80's (The Human League) that had a track out called 'The Lebanon'. Twenty years ago, it was just a song and I didn't know much about the troubles going on, just that there was. But why after 20 years or more have no lessons been learnt.

Someone tried to justify the Israel reaction by asking me what I would feel if some 'Hezbollah' group attacked and killed one of my children.
I countered this by asking him how he would feel if 'my country' bombed 'his' country in retribution for the attack on my family, despite his area, his family having no ties (or even weak ties) to the bombers. How would he feel at losing his family when he shares little or no sympathy with those that carried out the initial attacks.
Either way, in both our cases we would be the innocent victims of the consequences of others actions.

I am no pacifist, I am not aligned to any specific religion, I have my own god who I force on no one else. I have those who I harbour hatred towards, but there are those many more that I love or consider true friends.

When will we (the human race) finally end all conflict and stop the suffering?
Will there be anyone left to appreciate it?

The following can be found here.

Dear World

I am writing you to update you on the current situation in Lebanon.

I will not number the deceased, nor the wounded. They are too many.

I will not mention what places are being hit, Lebanon has become a non-place anyways.

Today, I will just focus on the people who are still alive. Lebanon is currently facing a huge social crisis. A quarter of Lebanon's population doesn't have a place to stay.

A friend of mine is volunteering in one of the public schools housing these people, and I went with him to see the conditions today. The school is housing 300 individuals: women, children, elderly. The volunteers are doing whatever possible to provide them with a decent daily life, but still all they eat is bread, packaged cheese, dry biscuits, and if they are lucky cooked rice and stew. There are over 50 000 people living like this in Beirut alone, this without counting the other villages and cities. The social crisis is huge, I just saw a sample of it today.

Today, a 100 people broke into our building's ground floor apartment because they have no place to stay, and our neighbors were complaining about them. I think that these people coming is a true blessing for us. Having the crisis closer to you actually makes you see the scale of it.

Over 100 villages are totally isolated from one another. Totally isolated from food sources, from hospitals, clinics or medication. People are starting to starve, children to get dehydrated. I just heard on television a phone call from the headmaster of one of the shelter schools in Bint Jbeil. The school has been bombed by Israeli forces, people are in the underground level. Over 100 people. Children have been without milk for 4 days. And this is only a sample. It has been nine days, it is too much.

The thing that tears me the most is that nobody is shaking a finger. This is not only about us. Not about Lebanon. I simply hope that this kind of suffering is the last that happens on the face of this planet.

We want to solve this. We want to look forward. The facts are that the disaster is huge. We want to channel our energies the best way possible to do whatever is needed, the best way possible.

If the fire ceases now, we might start doing something. But they don't intend to make it stop. And the International community gave Israel one more week, enough time to finish up the country.

Please human being, if you can communicate this information to the world, to shake some human being who can actually make this stop. All we have left is our hands, our heads, and the infinite possibility within.

Sorry if I was long, whatever I say will never be enough.

Please do something, all I can do is write.

A Lebanese Citizen

Larry Hyman wrote:
Let's face it, the are a lot of emails that are scams, they try to take your
money, your identity and your passwords..... ok, I understand crime is
crime...

But what about all those other spams trying to sell products, don't those
products come from real manufactures? Why can't law enforcement approach
those manufactures and arrest them for their illegal activity, I mean if you
put an add on TV you have to pay for it, if you send a snail mail mailout,
you have to pay for it....

who pays to send out spam and who gets money for sending it???

I am just asking... remember BLUE FROG? they used to say that for every
spam, there was a legitimate company behind it and they would hassle that
company until it would stop sending spam... that concept does make sense to
me.....

IMHO

Spam and therefore Spammers will always exist as long as there are people out there who open the mails and respond to them.
(Note the respond to them).
I am not talking about people who 'open' spam for diagnostic or just pure interest reasons, I am talking about those who are suckered in and open them because they are genuinely interested in them.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Fans lose trousers to gain entry

Football's governing body has explained why up to 1,000 Dutch fans watched a World Cup tie wearing no trousers. Around 1,000 fans arrived for the Ivory Coast tie in their traditional bright orange trousers - but bearing the logo and name of a Dutch brewery.

To protect the rights of the official beer they were denied entry, so the male fans promptly removed the trousers and watched the game in underpants.

It amazed me at the start of the World Cup that Anheuser Busch was trying to stop people from drinking German beer around the stadiums of the World Cup. Hmm.. .Would you rather drink Budweiser or a German Beer (some of the best beers in the world are German, and that comes from a Brit !!).

To see that they've taken it to the level where fans could not go into the stadium because of their trousers (which you can't really see) is an absolute farce.
If they are going to be that pendantic, I'd like to see Carlsberg supply the tee-shirts and bras of the Brazilian fans. That would take our minds of any dreary performance from them this time.

I've finally finished upgrading my web hosting website and its now available for taking live orders.
I'm still waiting for a few payment processor accounts to go live and these are easy enough to add as and when they become active.
For the moment you can select Paypal as the payment processor or a manual invoice step which allows you to place and order and then I email you back to sort out payment options.

So if anyone visits my blog, and wants to place an order, use the manual step for the time being and I will sort you out an extra discount.
Once we agree on a price, I will give you the access page for the payment processor of your choice with the new reduced fee.
For those people who are members of the 'forum', I'll even set you up accounts at cost. (Those who know which forum will know what I am talking about, those who are wise enough to work out which forum can also have the discount). After you have made your order, email me your 'forum' username and I will give you the true 'cost' price.

I am still working on adding much more content to the site, but wanted to get the basics out there and running. I am about to add the following sections:

• Web Site Design - This will include links to the various sites I have already designed and in operation right now.
• SEO - We will also be offering SEO services in order to help improve your site rankings.
• Blogging - More information on the blogging services we offer. This will include installations of many of the popular blogging applications and also dedicated accounts for hosting your 'blogspot' blogs.
• Add in the FAQ section - The FAQ module is there, but not visible at the moment as it has been causing cross-browser problems on verification. Its only a few minor tweaks required, its just getting the time to fix it that is the hassle right now.

This is a response to good article that I read on the use of abuse to fight abuse and the issues that surround such activity. There is a link at the end to oringal article by David Cory Hart.

Much of the spam that we receive is sent in direct violation of various federal and local laws. Many purveyors of spam are, simply stated, criminals.

The only issue I have with the above statement is that not all countries regard sending SPAM as a contravention of their laws. Having a global policy of making it illegal would be almost impossible to enforce. What I do agree with David is that it should be illegal everywhere and those responsible treated as criminals where ever..

Labour has unveiled its secret weapon in the battle against David Cameron's resurgent Conservative Party, a little blue lizard that changes colour to match his political environment

From the Times

Not that I usually pay attention to Politics at this time of year, but this did give me a chuckle. Especially when Cameron was right in the middle of his television broadcast, asked if there was any questions from the floor for the first one to be 'So what do you think of Dave the Chameleon?'.
I am sure he blushed a little before carrying on.
Only bad thing is I am going to have that damn culture club soundbite in my head for the next week.

Preliminary tests have confirmed the H5 avian flu virus in a sample from a swan found dead in Fife, health officials have revealed.

From BBC Scotland

Some how this Swan has made it to Scotland from god knows where and landed in or around the Fife area. They haven't found any other cases in the surrounding areas which is good news.
I wonder how many dead birds with H5 are currently lying unnoticed in the swans flight path. (Or dead foxes as a result of a freebie meal).

The BBC have a basic pop up guide that gives some information about Bird flu

Motorola RAZR V3

Having worked for Motorola for over 9 years, I have owned only 3 Motorola phones.
When I first saw the RAZR V3 and its list of features. I ordered one.
(This was despite being made redundant by them the week before I ordered it).

I had a problem with getting the phone to take a charge from the mains charger.
There would be periods when the phone would appear to be 'dead' and pressing the power button would cause the panel to briefly light and then go out completely.
Even with the charger plugged in, it would not power up.

I was told by the company I bought it from that sometimes removing the battery and leaving it out overnight would help. Well twice it did, but other times it wouldn't. (I since found out why that worked and I'll explain it below).

I did some digging around on the net and couldn't find a definitive answer, so I called a few colleagues at Motorola. Despite working for them for 9 years, I only worked on the Base station aspect of Mobile phones (plus a year working on Tetra equipment). I never worked with the Mobile phone division directly. A few people had told me about charging circuit problems, but no one had a clue as to what the failures were about.

I think I have found the problem with my phone, whether or not it works for you, I don't know. Basically, when the battery is dead flat, the mains charger is totally useless. The internal charging circuitry will not switch on to allow it to take a charge from the mains charger. How to get round this? Use the car charger for 10secs. 10secs on the car charger is enough to give the battery a small level that will allow it then to take a charge from the mains charger.

One of the features I specifically wanted the phone for, was bluetooth. This allows me to sync up between my various PC's without the need for cables etc. It also allows me to use my laptop via dial-up on the phone without cables. The bluetooth feature though is one of the reasons why the battery has a life of less than a day most often or not. If I place the phone close to the other bluetooth device, it lasts longer, but if I place my phone in the kitchen away from the PC's, it seems the bluetooth device in the phone places a large drain on the battery.

If the battery is already low and it is nowhere near the charger, then a single call will drain the battery completely and leave it unable to take a charge from the mains charger.

I now make sure it is hooked up to the charger whenever I am near a mains outlet, or plugged in to the car charger on trips. As soon as the battery level drops to a single bar, I have to switch off the phone until I am able to find a charging point.

I believe they have fixed this in the later models of the phone, but even with my contacts, it is hard to get Motorola to admit there is a problem, and to get them to replace my phone with a later model. Both my wife and son have a Nokia which they charge once a week if they are lucky. If my V3 goes without a charge for more than a day, it will die until I can get it near my car charger.

So if your RAZR V3 dies and it appears the battery is dead as a dodo, then I would go plug it into your car charger (assuming you have one) for a minute or so, just to give the battery a boost.

Now in fairness to the phone, it might be that the voltage output from my mains charger is slightly low and unable to trigger the internal charging circuit. Car charges tend to output a slightly higher voltage (and rely upon the phones internal charging circuit to get the voltage to the right level).
It might also be a fault with the phone itself and I am leaning towards this, since the later V3 models have a modified charging circuit and the charger remained the same. It could have been down to component tolerances rather than bad design in itself. But seeing as Motorola won't respond to any of my support requests, I'll just have to guess.

As for the battery drain itself, well that might have to be accepted. The more features you place in a phone, the more features you want from a phone, then the bigger the drain on battery life. Motorola never really got battery life sorted out as well as the competitors, but then that's because certain other companies 'cheat' when it comes to battery life. (By cheat, I mean for example, the standards say a mobile phone must 'talk' to the network every few time intervals. If you cut the number of times that the phone talks to the network, then you save on power used. Motorola was always big on ethics and tended to stick to the letter of the standard, no matter if the competition cheated slightly). Motorola are also quite advanced in fuel-cell technology and it won't be long before we begin pumping 'butane' into our phones.

But in the mean time, I need to learn to switch off my bluetooth (which sort of nullifies the use of my headset), make sure its hooked to the mains charger 24/7, or by a hat with an inbuilt solar panel. (Or go by a Nokia... but I just can't bring myself to do that, despite the layoffs, just hearing the Nokia ring tone still makes me cringe).

Has St. Harry (Harry Rednapp) finally got the team sorted out and will this be the start of a revival?
Looking at the other teams around us, I don't hold out much hope right now. I'll review that in a few more games. At least we have the easier run in to the end of the season than other teams around us.

Mendes did score two great goals though. The second was the better, if only for the fact it was scored well in to injury time and was so important. Let us hope it gives the team a boost in confidence.

I don't have to worry about Chelsea, the Premiership should be theirs, barring them getting kicked out of the league for something.
But Gillingham are going to make me sweat it to the end of the season as well.
Looks like I am not going to have any nails come the World Cup. Talking of which, for my birthday last week, my kids got me one of the swanky new England tops. The only bad thing is, it has Owen and #10 on the back. Not a real problem, I quite like Owen and he will probably be in the side. But being 6ft 3in, perhaps Crouch would have been a better choice. But at least I have a new England top and regardless of whatever it says on the back, it was a great pressie from my kids :)

On the BBC Website today, I noticed that Boy George has been cleared of the charges against him. Well Ok, I have known he has a drug problem for years and has never really been able to distance himself from drugs completely. I used to DJ back in the late 80's, early 90's and met him once or twice at certain clubs. Back then he was claiming to be clean but it was obvious he was not.

Singer Boy George has had a charge of possessing cocaine dropped by a New York court.

He admitted wasting police time over an incident last October and was sentenced to five days of community service and fined $1,000 (£575).

BBC News Report

Anyway, thats not the reason for this post. It was the image that they used on the website that caught my attention.

I couldn't help think that I had seen it before somewhere and then it hit me.

The Sun Online - Bizarre online: The Simpsons come to life

MAKERS of the hit cartoon The Simpsons have a filmed the show's opening titles using real actors.

Only thing that hit me, was why does it look like it was filmed in the UK.
I am sure that is a UK copper, UK registration plates, and there is even a Lada in the drive, and a Volvo !!

I have an 11 year old son, (as well as another 10 year old and a 6 year old daughter). I cannot comprehend waving off my son as he leaves to catch the bus in the morning and then finding out that he had been murdered/killed or just the simple fact he wouldn't be coming home.

God only knows what the family of Joe must be going through. It made me sick to my stomach just to think of something like that happening to any of my children.

The statement that the family issued has me welled up the moment I read it. I even went upstairs to check they were asleep and tell them I love them, because it's at times like this when you realise how precious they are and how special kids can be.

My heart goes out to Joe's family and friends. I can never claim to know an ounce of how they feel right now, but I know how I would feel.

May little Joe rest in peace.

Everybody wants us to make a statement or give a few comments on how much Joe meant to us and what a loss he will be.
None of you have enough time to hear how much he meant to us. How do you condense 11 years of fun and love and heartache, worries and accomplishments etc etc etc into a few words?
Without exaggeration I can say that Joe was one of those special people that if you ever met him and spent even five minutes talking to him, he would leave an impression on you that you would remember and usually with fondness.
We were spoilt, we had him every day.
He had a few problems, being a child born with cystic fibrosis, but all those who knew him know that he refused to be restricted by that.
He got on with life and made minimum fuss about his condition.
He loved all the things every other little boy loves, like football, computer games, Bart Simpson etc but he was also amazing when it came to problems of any sort.
You always came away from him thinking to yourself 'how come I couldn't think of that?'
You really needed to know him to appreciate his potential and now some of you will never know him.
We used to say how good he was but like all little lads he was no angel - somebody just changed all that for us. Now we're sure he truly is a little angel. God bless him and may he rest peacefully now.

Joe had a huge circle of family and friends, all of whom are equally devastated and like us they will never ever be quite the same again.
Love from Mum and Dad, sisters Kelly and Danielle and brothers Sean and James.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4775272.stm

BBC NEWS | UK | eBay urged to tackle fraud better

Internet auction site eBay should do more to tackle fraudsters targeting the site, a consumer magazine has said.
Computing Which? called on the site to be more active in identifying its fraudulent users.

Have you Been a Victim of eBay Fraud?

A few weeks ago I was caught out in an eBay/Paypal Scam and lost just under £150. Not much you say, but it was part of a scam collecting just over £7500.

And it was not so much the money that wound me up, it was the attitude of eBay and Paypal. (Both are really the same company, even though they deny it, and legally I suppose they are not, but one owns the other, and they each do an awful lot of business between themselves. But there is more on that below).

The BBC article above talks about how Which! (the consumer group/online magazine) are suggesting to eBay that they need to do a lot more to protect its users, or at least make them aware of the possibilities of fraud.
If you knew the values of fraud going on right now, it would probably deter most people from going near the site, but then eBay and Paypal won't disclose it.

My Story

I had obtained a spare Pentium processor and placed it online for sale at a price of just under £150 if you used the 'Purchase Now' button and also allowed bidding on the items.
There were several enquiries on the item, but no bids in the first few days and I was helping one guy work out if it would work in a server that he had when I someone actually bought it at the higher price using the buy now feature. My first reaction was why would anyone want to pay what I had asked for, since there were already cheaper ones on sale at the same time. I expected a low bid to win the sale, but wasn't going to turn down someone paying full price. But that was the first time I became skeptic about the purchaser so I made sure that I authenticated the buyer.

I won't name the buyer because at the moment I am discussing legal action. The buyer contacted me via eBay and Paypal, there was a few exchanges of emails via this and then I sent an email to her Yahoo account which is totally separate from her eBay and Paypal account.

As it turns out, the buyer had allowed their PC to be hacked, and the thieves had retrieved full control and access to the buyers PC, stealing ALL of her passwords to ALL of the accounts that she had access to. Or that is what she told Paypal investigation.

There had been 4 or 5 purchases made by the 'buyer' of the same types as she had previously made, so nothing stood out there. I waited a day before shipping the item and sent it off. Later that evening I received an email from eBay telling me that the 'buyers' account was suspended and was being investigated for potential fraudulent activity. They also advised me NOT to ship the item, (great timing).
I replied to their email with the tracking details of the item, the destination address, and other details. I've never heard anything back on that part. The only confirmation I received from them amounted to a "Sorry, you've been done and lost out" email and confirmation that the 'buyers' account had been hacked. (It wasn't just their account, the user had given away every password she owned).

Paypal immediately took the money that was paid to me by 'the user', (albeit by the fraudsters) and put it in a holding account. Two weeks later they confirmed that the users account had been hacked and told me that they were returning the money back to the 'purchaser'.

So hold up, the owner of the computer gives away the passwords to all of her accounts, someone makes fraudulent use of the machine and her accounts, and it is the seller that gets penalised.
When I asked eBay and Paypal about the insurance for items under £500, they replied it wasn't covered as it was not the 'type of sale' they covered.

When I have tried to contact both fraud departments of eBay and Paypal, they gave me a list of FBI/Interpol and told me to contact the Internet Fraud Group to take any further action.

eBay & Paypal Helping the Fraudsters

For a long time now I have been receiving 'Phishing' emails reportedly sent from eBay and Paypal, asking me to log into my account and sort something out.
Well, I am not not that of a numpty that I would fall for such a scam (via this method, when it comes to shipping goods to someone who isn't who they are, now that's a different matter, 10 out of 10 on the numpty scale).
You might have seen a few of the emails, they look very convincing. They even have all the eBay and Paypal graphics. You see that is because those images are hosted on eBay and Paypal Servers, and all the "phishers' do, is Hotlink those images in their mass emails. Well that for one could be sorted out in the time it takes to make a config change to their servers. You can stop other servers from using images and then the emails would not look the same. Usually, the only difference in the 'Phishing' email is that the login part of the email is based on a scammers server and all it does it record your details and then forwards you to some other part of eBay's site. Well they could stop that too, but they don't (well they shut down the site, but they could also detect referrals from non-eBay/Paypal sites and display a message to say you have just been scammed, you need to do this or that. But they don't.

Why don't they do this? Because it will cost money and time. That eats in to profits and in the end, that is all they are concerned about.

How do they Protect Sellers/Buyers ?

Basically nothing. You have about as much protection as the Iraqi National Guard did in the Gulf War (1 or 2, take your pick).

Take this scenario: I place an advert in a newsgroup that my eBay and Paypal Username is for sale. Someone contacts me, pays me a few thousand pounds and then they go use my account and buy lots of goods and have them shipped to various places. Chances are, most of the goods will get through.
I then log in a few days later and "Oh, shock and horror", and off I run to eBay and Paypal. They have no way of proving that I 'sold' my passwords, you see I also installed a 'Keylogger' trojan application on my PC just to make it look convincing. It even connected to a real server someone in Pakistan that can't be traced now because its down. The group who bought my password told me about that when I set up the selling of my passwords.
So all the people selling stuff have now shipped their goods and had the money they were paid taken back.
Paypal have now refunded all the money to my account, and I have the couple of thousand from the 'thieves' in my other account.

The main threat to buyers is people shipping goods and not receiving payment. They always advise using Paypal, as you are 'covered' by insurance. Complete trash. You are lucky if you are covered. The best protection is to use VISA or MASTERCARD which has some level of coverage automatically for online fraud.

NEVER pay through a 3rd party Escrow fund as they are fraught with danger in themselves.

Have you been caught out?

I want to hear from you if you have been caught out by an eBay scam. My email is on this page somewhere, if not leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Legal Action

At the moment myself and a number of the other people caught out in this scam are taking legal action against the owner of the account for failing to keep her PC safe and secure from hackers whilst using it for online purchasing/selling. It's an angle that has not been tried before, and is quite complicated and taking some time to sort out, since we are based in 4 different countries. The good thing is that the owner of the PC is in the states and they will sue the arse off anything that moves out there and they are keen to proceed (more money grabbing probably).
The basic premise of the argument is that she failed to maintain her computer and is therefore liable for the fraudulent activity. We already have the records we need to prove the incompetence, and because of the laws in the state where she lives, obtaining the records from the ISP will be easy enough to sort out.

Links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4749806.stm
http://www.eBay.co.uk/
http://www.which.net/computingwhich/

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Fans threaten to boycott 007 film
James Bond fans angered by the decision to cast actor Daniel Craig as 007 have launched a website threatening to boycott the new film Casino Royale.

What a bunch of total jerks! When you first visit www.craignotbond.com you are presented with a clean looking site with a few graphics and a lot of wind (I mean text).
Other than that, there isn't anything substantial there.
At present, there isn't a list of people who support the site or there isn't a method for contacting the site. They have no forum for discussion, they have no poll that shows results.

Basically, it just appears to be some poor misguided Bond fanatic used to living in a false world who has registered a domain name with Yahoo on the cheap, created a few basic web pages on Yahoo domain space and decided to express their opinions.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for expressing ones opinion, and I respect the authors for doing so. And likewise this is only my opinion.

But the guy hasn't even made the film yet and you are slamming him. Do you know anything of his acting abilities? From what I have seen of him, he is a first rate actor and more than capable of filling the job description.
As to whether or not he makes a good James Bond, well I have to admit I am not qualified to make that decision UNTIL I"VE SEEN THE FILM. If he is bad, I'll say so. But to slam a person because of his looks? Because of his past characters he has played? Check out his acting career and you'l find that what www.craignotbond.com have posted amounts to nothing short of a personal attack/insult.

They have no research of their own and point to 'online polls'. From the media that faciliated the circus around his introduction. For christsake, within minutes of him sailing down the Thames wearing a life jacket he was slaughtered in the press.
Somebody pointed out that the "Real James Bond" would not have worn a life jacket. You complete wassocks, the "Real James Bond" for one would have had a standin during the film, and the standin (stuntman) would have warn a life jacket but had the thing CGI'd out. Now get this all those stuck in the movies and who haven't made it back into real life. The introduction was "Real", there was no CGI. Could you imagine the headlines that would have been if "New James Bond Drowned in River Thames After Boating Accident".

So because of this attempt at humour by one journalist, it quickly became the "He's not man enough to play bond" brigade ripping up the media into a frenzy... Ok, perhaps 100,00 people isn't quite a frenzy. I should perhaps mention that to the folks at www.craignotbond.com. I don't think Broccoli and Wilson will lose much revenue if only 100,00 people don't turn up. The numbers from those people will be made up by the number of fans that Craig has anyway.

As for the Press section of the site at www.craignotbond.com, they list the The New York Times, London Daily Mirror, Calgary Sun,Cleveland Plain Dealer,CinemaBlend.com,AxcessNews.com,FilmRadar.Com,MTV.com and Defamer.com. Not exactly reputable sources of information are they? Most of them do anything to sell papers or gain an audience and were probably hoping to jump on the bandwagon that was created on the first day. And even then the articles quoted mostly state they recognise him as a good actor, but blame the problem on the way it was handled.

I agree with the site ( www.craignotbond.com ) in expressing their concerns and displeasure at having Craig selected as a the new Bond, but not to the extent that they need to make it personal. You don't know what he will be like as the new Bond, so why not wait and see it. You lost your beloved Brosnan, so damed what. Stop crying, get back down the Blue Oyster Bar and wait for the movie. When you've seen it, if it is crap, then start a website to say "He's got to go, he's just not good enough". Don't push you personal attacks on the world, by all means your views, but don't make it personal.

At least make it balanced, there is no "For" and "Against", only "Attack".

I reckon if they had a forum, or an email address or a comment board, there would be a minority of the Bond Fans/Film goers that would complain. Because people who complain do just that. The more sensible appreciative of society tend not to feel the need to voice their opionions to the public.

I've a good mind to start up "www.givecraigachance.com" and allow people to actually express their views both negative and postive. He could end up to be the best Bond there ever has been? But you won't know that until you've seen it. He could be the worst Bond we've ever seen, but we won't know that either. See the common theme in that argument? You have to wait to see the film. (Not that the pressure he is being put under by the media and a small minorty of so called Bond Fans.

The website authors should go view the comments on the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4341106.stm) and get a real feel for at least the British publics views on it.

Patently-O: Patent Law Blog: PTO Requests Model of Warp Drive Invention

PTO Requests Model of Warp Drive Invention

The Worsley-Twist warp drive does not depend upon traditional emissions of matter to create thrust. Rather, the drive creates a change in the curvature of the space-time continuum — thus allowing travel by warping space-time. Worsley & Twist patent application recently suffered another setback. The Examiner has now requested a working model:
Applicant is required to furnish a model of the instant invention. 35 U.S.C. 114. See Also 37 C.F.R. 1.91. Among other rejections, the Examiner has asserted a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 for lack of utility — finding that the invention is inoperable.

Links:
U.S. Pub. No. 2003–0114313

It's worth having a visit to the above site just to see some of the comments !

I thought I had some weird and wonderful ideas, but some of Keith Nagells really take it too the extreme.

Mind you, it appears that he has just sat down and watched every SCI-FI show on earth (I think just on earth), and tried to submit a patent for every 'prop' used.

When someone invents the transporter, just think of the energy we could save (but it will probably require a power source the size of the US). Who said you don't get something for nothing!

After a recent round of tests a various visits to specialists, they have determined that my stomach isn't working probably as a result of the 360deg spinal fusion that I had done in the US (when they removed all of my lower stomach to reach my spine), the 11 steroidal epidural injections, the repeat fusion operation in the UK etc etc etc..

Basically, my stomach stops digesting food for a period of time, and then starts to work again, then stops again etc etc.
This is causing no end of other problems such as fatigue (and I'm not talking combat clothing here), nausea, diarrhoea, reactive arthritis and the list goes on.

For the last 2 years I have been battling against some form of illness and had two cases of food poisoning along the way. Now, it transpires that this was all down to having an unhealthy gut floor. (See this reference to UFO's of the Intestine)

So for the next few weeks I am having to pay really close attention to my diet, which to be honest, wasn't that bad, as I was 90% of the way there to reaching a healthy diet. Sometime ago I switched to a Low G. I. based diet, and all I have to do now is further reduce my sugar and yeast intake (like to zero, or as close as possible to zero).
Apart from the lack of bread and sugar, it shouldn't be too hard. (Although I am going to miss my Bovril drinks and Marmite on toast, since there is an awful lot of yeast in both).
Since I also react badly to artificial sweeteners of all types, trying to find a way to sweeten my food/drinks should be fun, since I can't use any thing containing sugar, glucose, honey etc.
I have been drinking Green Tea of late, which I don't take sugar with anyway, and I started drinking my coffee with no sugar whilst in the US. (Which is ok if you can find a decent coffee. Only bad coffee needs sugar in it to hide the bitterness IMHO).

I had basically stopped drinking whilst in the US for one reason or another. When I say I've stopped drinking, I still had the odd pint, glass of wine and an occasional whiskey, but compared to what I drank when I was in the Navy and what I drank when I was in the US initially, I don't really drink now. (Sitting in one's swimming pool at 3am in the morning when its still over 80-90deg air temperature with a large glass of Jack Daniels and Ice was pretty good. But the weight I was putting on due to the Beer and JD was not so good). Part of cutting out sugar and yeast severely restricts Alcohol use and now I am really only allowed Gin or Vodka... Bummer eh? Two of my old favourite tipples and I have to have them neat. (Vodka neat used to be my drink when I was in my 'yoof' and in the Navy. In Gibraltar, Vodka in the social club was 15p each for a double and coke. I used to decline the coke and not worry about the 5p. No wonder I have gut problems now, I probably pickled any healthy bacteria long ago).

I am afraid this blog is going to turn into a medical journal about the recovery of my gut. I have avoided posting too much in the past about my medical problems, because its something I didn't feel comfortable with all the time they didn't know what was wrong. But, it is surprising how many people out there suffer from the same or very similar conditions that I have been diagnosed with and yet know nothing about it. I intend to post information here, to its own category and if someone else finds it useful so be it.\

Welcome to the Beginner Nutrition Plan

Limiting sugar is critical.
Eating refined sugar weakens your immune system and promotes yeast overgrowth. All non-diet pops have 8 teaspoons in each can. Most packaged cereals have sugar as their major ingredient. Avoid most natural sweeteners (including corn syrup, fructose, honey, sucrose, maltodextrin, dextrose, molasses, rice milk, almond milk, white grape juice, fruit juice sweetened, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, date sugar, cane sugar, corn sugar, beet sugar, succanat and lactose).
When in doubt about the sugar content of a food you can always look at the list of ingredients and see how many grams of carbohydrates are listed. Unless the carbohydrates are from aboveground vegetables you should be concerned that they represent sugars that could alter your insulin levels.

For some reason, Freeserve/Wanadoo (or Freecrap and Lottapoo) are having major snags with their email servers at the moment.

Anyone sending an email from either of those two will think that the email has been sent, but it might not reach the recipient.
Some emails are being bounced back, but not all. And we are not talking just sending to my domains, they are screwing up nearly everybodies email !!!

What appears to be happening is that nearly ALL of their servers have been identified as sources of SPAM and appear on the DSBL network.
(The DSBL network is basically a service that lists all email servers responsible for sending SPAM.
Most email servers will check the DSBL list when it receives a mail, and if the sending server appears in the list, the chances are it is SPAM.

Most likely it is a combination of bad email configuration at their end, and quite a few of their users probably have machines which have been taken over by spyware/trojans and have been sending out SPAM by the bucket load.
But looking at the DSBL reports it is very widespread.

Since 99% of Freeserve/Wanadoo servers have been listed, most decent email servers such as the ones I use, are rejecting all email from those accounts.

So if you are trying to send me an email, and it appears that I am not replying, or you are getting a bounce message try sending to one of my alternative addresses (Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo).
Obviously I won't post the addresses here cos it will get harvested and I'll be spammed to death !!!... But if you email me to chris.a.wright at my yaps domain usually, change the yaps part for gmail.com and I'll get it.

The best thing to do is to switch over to Pipex (http://www.pipex.net) and bin the money grabbing so and so's.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The worst day of my life, says Cheney

Democrats assailed Mr Cheney for what they characterised as the administration's desire to restrict the flow of news. Senate minority leader Harry Reid noted that Mr Cheney had not given a press conference since 2002, while House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said: "We have to break this habit of the administration of closed government ..."

Are they serious?
The guy shot someone and he is being critised for his silence?
Its a personal matter? WTF has it got to do with Joe Public?
And why should it be his concern to wait more than 20hours before releasing the news... Erm.. hello, he accidently shot someone, erm, hello again, he shot an innocent person !!
Jesus, what are they up to over there... Give the man a break...
Now if he had shot Saddam, or found the Evil one and shot him, now that would have been news. If he had shot Bush, that would have been news. But they guy was out on his own persoanl recreation time and shot someone in an accident...
Do you not think he was a bit shocked too?
Why the hell should he make it top news..
"Hi, is this CNN? Yeah, this is Dick Cheyney, I just wanted to let you know that I accidently shot someone today whilst out hunting and nearly killed the poor guy... Yeah, I am ok, I never got shot... No, he's not dead, had a heart attack because of the lead shot in his heart, Nothing serious... Just thought I would let you know..."
Assholes...
Anyone slightly human would be in shock, and would have more important things on their mind...
Anyway, it was only a damn lawyer... Most of the time and 99% of the population want to do this anyway... Give the guy a break, nah, give him a goddamn medal... He's just done what you all would want to do anyway...

Apologies to the family of Mr Whittington for the Lawyer joke...

What the hell is the world coming too. If news is that important, its about time we got our arses out of our chairs and started doing something constructive in this world.
Let us start by giving people their privacy back. The democrats will be calling for live web cams, audio broadcasts of every US citizen before too long, once they have finished with anyone considered to be in the public eye and 'worthy' of news...

If Nancy Pelosi accidently ran over her Nanny, do you think she would go running to the press screaming, 'Hey people, I just nearly killed my Nanny... Its great primetime news, let me tell you all about it first, then I will get over my shock".

Some more funny quotes

Valentines in our house this year was a quiet event as all three kids have the damn flu bug that is sweeping the UK, and the wife was working a night shift.
I had to pop to the local chemists to top up on medicines for the kids since we used most of what I bought last Thursday while we were away over the weekend (I will get round to blogging that story soon).

I decided to cook Anne-Marie a meal before she went to work and ended up doing the following:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash
Steamed Mange Tout
Steamed Carrots (and then Honey Glazed).
Baby New Potatoes
Celeriac (Mashed with double cream added)
Baby Spinach.
Scallops pan fried in Ginger, Chile, butter. (After the scallops were cooked, roughly 4 mins, I wilted down the spinach in the melted butter, ginger and chile juices).
Fillet Steak pan fried with course black peppercorns. Quickly searing both sides of the fillet steak, I added a good measure of double cream and placed the frying pan into the over whilst I finished the scallops and spinach.

I mention the placing of the steak into the over, as this explains the title of the post. Now for the last 2 weeks I have done Sunday roast (apart from this weekend gone because we were in Minehead), I have reached across the top of the steamer to get a knife and burnt my forearm on the damn vent. And boy does that hurt. Well last night I got close to the steamer but caught myself before I managed to burn myself. It even gave me a chuckle because its become a bit of an 'in-joke' as to what I am going to burn next (me, not the food I might add). Well the steamer didn't get me last night, but I wished it had. When dishing up, I had removed the roasted sweet potatoes and butternut squash from the oven, along with the fillet steak. In my mad rush to dish up, I then promptly reached over and picked up the frying pan that had just come out of the 200deg oven. I wished I has used the oven glove. You could hear the palm of my hand sear as I 'quickly' gripped the handle. I say quickly since I didn't hold onto it for too long. Luckily I didn't remain in contact for too long.

Whilst I have to say that the food tasted excellent, and one might say that being fed your dinner by your wife could be romantic. Having to sit through dinner with my hand in a bowl of iced water wasn't exactly the most romantic way of spending a Valentines dinner !!! Its not too bad this morning as I did keep it in the cold water for a good 3 hours and then an hour of applying calamine lotion. I still have blisters on all 4 fingers, my thumb and the palm of my hand and it has swollen somewhat.

Considering that I do 90% of the cooking, this recent spate of burning myself has only occurred in the past few months. The last accident I had in the kitchen was almost 7 years ago and involved corn on the cob, a sharp knife and the item formally known as the tip of my finger.

ENIAC: A computer is born | CNET News.com

ENIAC--monster and marvel--debuted 60 years ago By Michael Kanellos Staff writer, CNET News.com February 13, 2006, 4:00 AM PST In February 1946, J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly were about to unveil, for the first time, an electronic computer to the world. Their ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, could churn 5,000 addition problems in one second, far faster than any device yet invented.

It was the difference between the ENIAC and the Intel Dual Processor that made me laugh... Only 60 years between them but a world apart in specs.

Links:
http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/comphist/eniac-story.html
The ENIAC Museum Online
ENIAC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BBC SPORT | Football | Fixtures
Gerrard caught out by Chelsea mascot

I must have missed this on MOTD and it gave me a good laugh...
Click here

What to do with the empty Whisky/glass bottles; Whisky PC by MetkuMods - Because you love your hardware!

Whisky PC Something little that one can do with the empty glass bottles.

I got the link to this website from Slashdot and it's given me an idea.
I am considering making a business idea out of these and making a number of these up, and sellling them on Ebay or something. (Note: Actually, I would't touch Ebay for all the money in the world. They've pissed me off royally over the last few weeks).
So I reckon I need to order up a case of 24 large bottles of scotch, drink the contents and make a few of these up.
Only problem being after drinking that much whiskey, I wouldn't bet on any of them working... But it would be a good excuse to get hammered.

Seriously, its a neat idea for a one off, but it doesn't actually make much sense for an upgradeable, maintainable, reliable etc etc PC. A great novelty idea.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/06/02/05/161210.shtml

Microsoft Security Advisory (904420): Win32/Mywife.E@mm

Microsoft Security Advisory (904420)
Win32/Mywife.E@mm
Published: January 30, 2006 | Updated: February 1, 2006


Microsoft wants to make customers aware of the Mywife mass mailing malware variant named Win32/Mywife.E@mm. The mass mailing malware tries to entice users through social engineering efforts into opening an attached file in an e-mail message. If the recipient opens the file, the malware sends itself to all the contacts that are contained in the system’s address book. The malware may also spread over writeable network shares on systems that have blank administrator passwords.

CME-24

You have a few days to make sure your AV is up to date and that you have run a full scan of ALL of your PC's on your network.
I have included the full post from MS website in the extended entry below, but as always, use the MS website at the link above to get the most up to date information.

7 dead in shooting rampage at postal center

7 dead in shooting rampage at postal center Updated, 6:45 a.m. Former employee opens fire at mail facility near Santa Barbara, killing six and then herself. Authorities have no idea why

By The Associated Press

A former postal employee opened fire at a mail processing plant near Santa Barbara, killing six people and critically wounding another before committing suicide, authorities said today.
Deputies overnight swarmed the Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center in Goleta, located just blocks from University of California, Santa Barbara, as they searched for the female shooter. The Monday night rampage sent employees running from the sprawling complex and prompted authorities to warn nearby residents to stay indoors

During our 3 years in the US, one of the new phrases we learnt was 'Going Postal'.
It appears that the high proportion of former Vets in the Postal service leads to some violent reactions or at least that was how it was explained to me whilst over there.
Our postman was quite nice (unless someone left something in the way of the postbox and then it would get squashed regardless of whatever it was.
Remember in the states (in most if not all places), the postman collects your outgoing mail from your mail box at the end of your drive or at a post station so they have to visit nearly each house to see if there is any mail. Rather than the UK where we post it in a box somewhere local.
I don' know if it is the job, or perhaps driving a right hand drive veihcle all day does something to them, but there is always something in the US press about a postal employee somewhere in the US.

World Football News Article | Reuters.co.uk
D'Alessandro from VfL Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season on Tuesday with a view to a permanent move.
The 24-year-old is the latest in a string of signings made by the Premier League club this month and manager Harry Redknapp told Portsmouth's website: "The boy is a really influential playmaker and you can't have too many of those.
"This is a massive signing at the club for sure. I am delighted with the way things are working out because we have got together some players who can have a huge influence on matches and this lad is one of them."
D'Alessandro moved to the Bundesliga from River Plate for $11 million in July 2003. He won an Olympic gold medal with Argentina in Athens in 2004

Not that this will help us with the match against Liverpool, but hopefully will strengthen the squad somewhat more.
At least in the second half we troubled Liverpool. After the first half performace I was begining to think that my score of 1 - 4 to Liverpool was going to be rather conservative. But as the old cliche goes, at least we can concentrate on Premiertship survival. Staying in the premiership has nothing to do with playing in the lower leagues, its the stigma of having to play the Scummers again. (That and the fact that if Reading carry on the way they are going, we shall have a premiership team within 20mins of where we live right now and I might even consider getting a season ticket).

Bigger testicles -- smaller brains
A research team led by Syracuse University biologist Scott Pitnick found that in bat species where the females are promiscuous, the males boasting the largest testicles also had the smallest brains. Conversely, where the females were faithful, the males had smaller testes and larger brains.

I wish I hadn't joined MENSA now, people might know the size of my veg.
It might also give crucial support to women who have always insisted that they are the brighter of the species. Having no balls what so ever ?
Does that mean they are super inteligent?
Doesn't say too much for the blondes.. I wonder where they hide them.

Update: 21 Jan 2006: Well I won !! I was only £84,999,992.6 short of the jackpot, but I won.
At least I got the cost of my ticket back.
So its now an estimated £100,000,000 next week. That is bordering on the 'gross' amount, but I wouldn't turn it down.

I'd like to think that this will be the last post you shall ever read that I make from the UK. Hopefully, my next post will be from my personal Island in the Carribean on my laptop whilst I sit under a palm tree drinking a nice iced white rum, watching the kids play in the surf on 'MY beach'.

But seeing as the odds of winning are something like 1 in 76 million, there is more chance of me becoming the next Pope. Oh well, we can live and dream of winning it I suppose.

The prize fund was at £85,000,000 when I last looked but I'd be happy with a fraction of that.

Sky Sports - The Best Sport Coverage From Around The World
In an historic announcement, The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) have confirmed that rugby and soccer internationals will be held at Croke Park in 2007.

External Links:
http://www.gaa.ie/
http://www.crokepark.ie/

This basically revokes Rule 42 - "which bans 'foreign' sports from being played at Croke Park, the headquarters of The GAA".
Landsdowne Road is being redeveloped and should be completed by 2009 when it should be one of the best 50,000 seater stadiums in the world. The seats could have spikes on them, only be big enough for kids and it would still be the best stadium in the world. No other stadium has the best supply of Guinness like Landsdowne road.

BBC NEWS | England | Oxfordshire | 'Gay' police horse case dropped

A student who called a mounted policeman's horse "gay" will not be prosecuted, it has been revealed.

Homophobic comments that were made about a horse in public, which the police felt might have been offensive to other people passing by.
I think they were especially worried about what the other horses would say when the all got back to the stables. The said horse had already been having problems in his stables after recently being spotted attending the wedding of Elton John in Windsor a few weeks back.

It has also been alledged that the said horse had been receiving taunts from fellow stablemates about all of his George Michael Posters in his quarters.

The horses ride rwas not available for comment as he was due to appear at the local Village People Tribute concert later on that day and needed to locate a new pair of leather trousers (see JB' he has a few spare pairs).

Give me a break, what were the police thinking about when they even started to take action against a 21 year old student obviously a bit worse for the wear after completing his finals at Uni.
Talk about a sense of humour failure. Wasn't the policeman rather touchy about his horse? Apparently, there was only the one comment made about the horse and that was all it took. Nolt that I condon homophobic behaviour, but its a damn horse. Jeesh, if the horse were that offended it would have bitten him.

What a waste of public money !!
A warning would have been more appropriate if it deemed acknowledging at all.

BBC NEWS | England | Berkshire | Firm fined after man broke back

Firm fined after man broke back A company has been told to pay nearly ?4,500 after a worker fell off a ladder and broke his back in an accident which left him wheelchair bound.

Robin Annetts, 54, of Lambourn, Berks, was working alone on a 5.7m (19ft) high ladder at a construction site at New Greenham Park, Newbury, last year.

Perhaps the man jumped, tried to commit suicide, was mucking around, climbing the ladder upside down?
He must have been doing something to contribute to the fall else why would he only get £4500 for breaking his back causing him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

The Health and Safety Executive took the company to court for breaching the laws and won the case. The company were fined and ordered to pay court costs but Robin Annetts, 54, was only given £4500.
He's 54 for christ sake, stuck in a wheelchair and won't be able to live the life that he used to, and what does he get? £4500.
Either the company were guilty or not? Either way, they must have had some sort of liability insurance to cover the event of such accidents?

Something doesn't smell quite right with this story. The guy breaks his back and gets less than 2 or 3 months salary. Mr. Annetts seems to have been well and truly shafted and let down by the system. The health and safety executive is not only there to provide the law on such matters, but to uphold it and help those who fall victim to those that break it.

I am sure Pompey seem to be playing Liverpool in Cup matches an awful lot in the last few years.
And after Liverpools performance against Luton, I don't hold out much hope either. Liverpool seem to have a good team spirit these days.
And on the subject of Luton - Liverpool, that has to be one of the greatest matches of the F.A. Cup in recent years. Luton played with great skill throughout the match and were it not for sublime goal from Alonso and a great performance from the sub (name???), they would have been outclassed and well and truly beaten. But they never gave up hope. You can ignore the last goal, apart from the guy who won £25,000 by placing a bet of £200 that Alonso would score from his own half this season.

Oh well, we struggled to beat Ipswitch reallly, and against Liverpool ? I don't think we'll be progressing much further in the cup this season. That will give us a good excuse to concentrate on Premiership survival at least.

I had downloaded and installed a plugin for MT that basically puts an icon on your page which provides a short cut to allow Skype users to click it, launch Skype and call me.
There was me thinking that despite this site getting 190,000 hits during November, that no one really reads these pages. Well obviously somebody is reading the web page because in the 3 days since I placed the Skype shortcut, I've had hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of calls to my Skype account.
So to that extent, I've removed it for the time being. Not that I don't like being called, but more than a hundred calls a day doesn't leave much time for work !!!

Also, Skype 2 has now been released (from its Beta phase) and there is a new download available.
Skype 2 now supports Video calls, and has a few user interface changes as well. Nothing drastic. I've yet to try out a video call but its just another feather in its cap.
One problem I did have with the Beta version is that once installed it displays a dialog box saying "Would you like to test your video now?". Well in my system, I have several sources of video available, and the webcam was not the default. So clicking yes locked up Skype as it tried to access one of my video sources.
Quitting the application via the task manager was the only option. Upon reloading Skype I selected the options and configured it to use my webcam as the default video source and then tested it. This worked much better and didn't cause a lock up. I have passed a bug report to Skype and they are investigating it. They might even have fixed it in the released version (as I found this with the Beta build).

BBC NEWS | Politics | Embattled Kennedy quits as leader
Charles Kennedy has resigned as Liberal Democrat leader. In a statement at Lib Dem HQ, Mr Kennedy said he had been "inundated" with support from party members since admitting having a drink problem. But he had decided to quit immediately because it had become clear he did not have strong enough support among MPs.

Full Statement Here
Liberal Democrats Website
Charles Kennedy Website

I am neither a Labourite, Conserative or Lib Dem. I tend to vote for the party at the time that effects my future the most. To be honest, I've not voted Lib Dem in a General Election for years but that was purely down to their policy selection and nothing to do with their leader.
But I have come close in recent times to voting Lib Dem primarily down to Charles Kennedy and the manner in which he conducts himself in public. I was careful to say in public because of the recent publicity surrounding his private life, specifilly his drink problem.
Whilst I hoped he would continue as leader, I somehow knew that there would be members of his party who would use this as an excuse to force him to leave his position. It is a shame that they cannot be as honest as Charles Kennedy was.

For someone to admitt they have/had a drink problem is tough enough. To be constantly in the public eye it makes it more the harder. Some are saying he was trying to win the sympathy vote, but I personally think that it was just Charles Kennedy being the same honest person he was.
What ever happens, I wish him all the best in his efforts to get over his health issues. Let us hope that this decision doesn't force him back to drink, but reduces the pressure from being the leader and allow him to recover fully.

Actually, being Scotish his drink problem was probably not able to get enough decent beer and whiskey based down in London. Scotish people don't have drink problems, they just enjoy themselves more than us Englishmen.
The Lib Dems will suffer as a result of the hounding they have given Charles Kennedy. It will take them several years to get over this fiasco and that will give strength to the new Conservative leader who will hope to take some of the votes back from the Lib Dems.

Good Luck Charles in whatever you do. You nearly had my vote a few years back, but you definetly have it now for the way you have behaved whilst those around you have failed.

Update: 18:45 6th Jan 2006
Whilst I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I made this post, but I received an updated version of the firmware for the DG834GT today (version v01.01.30). It was emailed to me directly from a Netgear support guy. Now I already had a copy of the v01.01.30 that was sent to someone on the forum months ago, but it didn't fix the issues I had been seeing. I've installed this version on my router for the time being just to see if the other problems show any signs of improvement.
It beats me why if this version has been around a few months and that it is being sent directly to people who request it via email, why they don't just publish it on their website. It makes you wonder if they are aware of any problems with the v01.01.30 version that is preventing them from making a mass release.
I would like to think that they in the process of compiling a new release that includes a few more fixes. (But somehow I doubt this).
Anyway, I won't post this v01.01.30 version here because any old tom dick and harry can come download it, modify it, and post their own versions.
If you do want a copy of the new software drop me an email and I will forward you on a signed (PGP) email with it as an attachment. (It's 3meg or so, so make sure you have the room).

I've had a Netgear DG584GT router for quite some times now. It behaves ok 99% of the time, but some of the functionality is a bit screwy to say the least.
Wireless performance is Ok at 54M/sec, but the alledged 108M/sec is a pain to get stable. Any Bluetooth band activity in the house trashes the connection.

The main problem that piddles me off is that the reporting is hosed up. I submit my access logs to DSHIELD for analysis, but some of the more useful information gets munged by the router. It's a simple fix that has been updated in similar DG834xxx models, so all they have to do is incorporate the fix into the same GT build. But that has taken over 9 months so far.

I wouldn't bother using their web support portal. It takes them ages to read it, and then you get a reply that is so far off the mark, it is as if the person reading it is from another planet. Mind you, the fact that Netgear outsourced their support to India is no surprise here. It takes several emails back and forth for them to understand the problem, and even then they will close the pin down as fixed when in fact it is not. I have had to raise the same pin 5 times now.

The web based forum is full of great information, but almost none of it actually comes from Netgear staff at all, but the general public.

So as much as I like the performance and functionality of the Netgear compaired to previous manufacturers, they support sucks to the extent that I will probably never purchase a product from them again. Once or twice to be infuriated is ok, but not ten times over a year; that is just taking the michael.

DG834GT
108 Mbps Super Wireless ADSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch

Great kit, piss poor backup... Don't go there.

Summary
=======
Important Information for Thursday 5 January 2006


Microsoft announced that it would release a security update to help protect customers from exploitations of a vulnerability in the Windows Meta File (WMF) area of code in the Windows operating system on Tuesday, January 2, 2006, in response to malicious and criminal attacks on computer users that were discovered last week.

Microsoft will release the update today on Thursday, January 5, 2006, earlier than planned.

Microsoft originally planned to release the update on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 as part of its regular monthly release of security bulletins, once testing for quality and application compatibility was complete. However, testing has been completed earlier than anticipated and the update is ready for release.

In addition, Microsoft is releasing the update early in response to strong customer sentiment that the release should be made available as soon as possible.

Microsoft's monitoring of attack data continues to indicate that the attacks are limited and are being mitigated both by Microsoft's efforts to shut down malicious Web sites and with up-to-date signatures form anti-virus companies.

The security update will be available at 2:00 pm PT as MS06-001.

Enterprise customers who are using Windows Server Update Services will receive the update automatically. In additional the update is supported Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.0, Systems Management Server, and Software Update Services. Enterprise customers can also manually download the update from the Download Center.

Microsoft have released the patch for this vulnerability earlier than expected. Make sure you have your automatic updates switched on (for those that have it) or go off to the site to perform a manual update if need be.
There is no immediate rush to go get the patch, but I would do it as soon as possible.

Update: 18:40 6th Jan 2006
ZDNet reports that all applications launched inside Wine will be vulnerable to this exploit.
See the article here.

Be warned that there is a new nasty out in the wild. But contrary to the same old rumour mill, if you practice good internet usage (or safe internet practices) then you won't be at risk from attack.

The following is an excerpt from the advisory from Microsoft. Click the link to visit and read the full article and any updates.

Microsoft Security Advisory (912840): Vulnerability in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution.

What is the scope of the advisory?
Microsoft is aware of a new vulnerability report affecting the Graphics Rendering Engine in Microsoft Windows. This vulnerability affects the software that is listed in the “Overview” section.
Is this a security vulnerability that requires Microsoft to issue a security update?
Yes, Microsoft has confirmed this vulnerability and will include the fix for this issue in an upcoming security bulletin.
What causes the vulnerability?
A vulnerability exists in the way specially crafted Windows Metafile (WMF) images are handled that could allow arbitrary code to be executed.
What is the Windows Metafile (WMF) image format?
A Windows Metafile (WMF) image is a 16-bit metafile format that can contain both vector information and bitmap information. It is optimized for the Windows operating system.

For more information about image types and formats, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 320314. Additional information about these file formats is also available at the MSDN Library Web site.

To be at risk from this vulnerability you would need to visit a site that was specifically created (or altered) to use a special WMF file or open up an email with such an image in it. So if you visit sites you don't know or trust, or open emails from the same, you are asking for trouble and not just from this new vulnerability. Go Google for safe web practices !!!

Been quite hectic round here over Christmas and I've not been near the computer much. So I thought I would post a quick message to say Happy New Year for 2006 to those that do read these pages.
I've just run the end of month statistics for December and I had over 197,000 hits, from 29,000 unique IP's so somebody is reading this lot. Mind you, most of those are probably spamming attempts or those people using the feed2js php script I have installed.

Anyway, I hope that 2006 is a good year for you, and I hope its a better one for me. I'm glad to see the back of 2005.

NORAD Tracks Santa 2005 This is the 50th Anniversary that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States decided to create a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.

A bit of festive fun with the people at Norad who are celebrating their 50th year of providing the Santa tracking service.
Check here for their download counter and a host of other goodies...
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/downloads.php

And from me to you all, have a happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Google Press Center: Zeitgeist It turns out that looking at the aggregation of billions of search queries people type into Google reveals something about our curiosity, our thirst for news, and perhaps even our desires. Considering all that has occurred in 2005, we thought it would be interesting to study just a few of the significant events, and names that make this a memorable year. (We’ll leave it to the historians to determine which ones are lasting and which ephemeral.) We hope you enjoy this selective view of our collective year

Take a trip to the Google zeitgeist 2005 site and check out the history of searches over the year. They have some neat graphs if you are nerdy enough to appreciate them.

Many moons ago (I'll dig out the trackback later), I posted about the state of the local NHS hospital where my wife worked and one of the suggestions I made was that hospitals should be run as is they were a private hospital. Well on today's local South Today news (Meridian region) they've reported that a new hospital being built in the New Forest (Lymington) will be something along those lines. Obviously I am not taking any credit for this, or anything remotely like it, but it does appear that common sense has prevailed.

Unfortunately the only way that the NHS will be sorted out is if the whole infrastructure is torn down and it started again from scratch. What I gather is happening in the New Forest is that a new 36Million UKP hospital is being built but instead of being run and staffed by the local NHS trust, it will be completely managed by an external private company. It won't mean any job losses, it won't mean preferential treatment for those with private health insurance.

My criticism of the NHS is not entirely done without understanding of the problems that they face. For example, your local private hospital knows beforehand what type of patients it will receive and has a rough estimate of the number expected over any given period. The fact that most private hospitals will have a specialisation helps out. NHS hospitals cover a large catchments area and therefore know that they may receive patients with various conditions, but they don't know in what numbers and most often when. Obviously budgeting for this type of care management is fraught with danger. It is that part of the process that the current NHS structure is ill equipped to deal with and leads to a draining of resources.

A local hospital recently had to spend over £12,000 to cover a single night shift because it had to employ an agency worker. The agency supplying the worker was able to charge extortionate rates because of the situation. Now despite the fact that the hospital has said it won't use the agency again, this practice is widespread throughout the NHS if not at such extortionate and resource draining levels.

Over the past few years much has been made of the shortage of nursing staff in the UK. To that extent the government started a campaign of luring overseas nursing staff to help fill our voids. Some recent press has made light of the drain that this is putting on foreign nursing levels when it could be said that there need is greater than ours. Well if there was a shortage three or four years ago, there is going to be an even bigger shortage in another two or three years. The number of student nurses has not increased to cover any of the shortfall being taken up by the foreign workers. NHS trusts have realised that they can pay overseas workers the basic wage and they don't have to increase their pay over time as much. They see this as saving.
One of the main reasons that many of the foreign nurses come to the UK is the lure of coming to work in the UK for the NHS, the medical and health system that the rest of the world aspires to be. Even in the US where the medical coverage is nearly all private and of an excellent standard (but you do pay for it), they still claim to aim for the standards that the NHS pertains to have. One reason being free medical coverage. They don't believe me when I tell them the state of the NHS and how fast it is spiraling to new depths.
Well after being lured over with UK pay scales, the chance of working for the NHS, most of these new staff are shocked at the state of the NHS. Nurses from India, Africa and the Philippines are shocked at the state of the hospitals, management and actually think they have made a backward step. They even consider that their standard of living has dropped below that to which they were accustomed to in their own country. Many of them are trapped inside two, three or four year contracts and would leave tomorrow if they legally could.
Many indian nurses for example are shocked that they need to "muck out" for example and perform duties that would normally be done by lower casts. Even on their local wages most nurses would have maids, cooks, cleaners etc etc and still have a good standard of living. They are shocked to find that they can just about afford rent and the food to eat let alone having the money to bring their families over as first they thought.
Worse still is that many of the foreign nurses are better qualified and have superior training yet are held back in promotions and even on their everyday work duty because of the fact that they are foreign, and here only to help out. It appears that the image of the NHS that they aspired to based their own standards on, was the NHS of 25-50 years ago when it still functioned somewhat.

But then another drain on the NHS that we should also consider is that treatments today are so much more expensive. Not only are we living for longer, we are requiring more drugs to keep us doing so, more hip replacements, more cancer treatments etc etc. These are all costs that were not around many years ago. And let us consider pharmaceutical company A who invests millions in creating a treatment for Cancer Type A and finds that it is somewhat effective even if limited trials exist to prove its safety or real effectiveness. In order to recoup its investment, it must charge large amounts for its usage. Now imagine that a close member of your family has Cancer type A or B or X etc and there is a change that this new wonder drug might improve their chance of survival. Quite rightly, you would want that drug to be made available at whatever cost. Unfortunately, it is the NHS that has to pay for these high cost drugs. High cost drugs that again many years ago did not exist. It is these drugs that place such a high drain on its budgets.

So why would a private medical company make a better job of running a local hospital than the NHS? Well the main reason being a medical company usually has investors, and in order to survive it must make a profit, or at very best, not make a loss. If the NHS were any other company it would have been shut down years ago. But instead of cutting back on standards, or levels or service, cleaning, food etc etc, they reach their savings by simply being efficacies. As a business they rely upon getting new customers, or keep old customers returning. They are a business and as such must focus themselves on keeping the customer happy and making a profit.

For an average decent private medical insurance you can expect to pay £70 a month. And despite the cost of almost all simply operations costing more than would be paid by a policy holder in their lifetime, they still make a profit.
When you draw comparisons to the amount of money that the government chargers each NHS patient a year for providing medical coverage, it is hard to see why there is not enough funding available. (But to be honest simply throwing more money at the NHS is NOT the way to go). And in all honesty, most Governments (and not just the current Labour Party) probably charge us £x.xx and the NHS see about n% of that with the rest going to fund 'other' projects. But the point is, the NHS is not structured or currently able to support returning a first rate service and ultimately a profit back to the government. Because of earlier statements made above (the inability to plan for cases for example), it is probably never going to be possible to provide a profit in terms of cash, but that should not stop the level of service being sacrificed and it should be the general public or NHS customer that receives the profit back in terms of excellent healthcare coverage.

Update: I just caught the 22.20 local news and I caught the earlier details slightly wrong. So far it is only being proposed that a private medical company will run the hospital, since the local NHS trust is pretty much bankrupt. The new hospital is not due to open until the end of 2007.

Well the kids are off school, the wife doesn't go back to work until Thursday/Friday and then she is off until just after Christmas.
Just the last few items of Christmas shopping to go and then we are done. I even managed to post ALL of the Christmas cards before the last post deadline this year (although I am bound to have forgotten someone !!).
It still doesn't feel like its Christmas yet, the lights are up, the log fire is burning away since it definetly feels like it is cold enough to be Christmas.
I'd say 90% of my Christmas shopping was done online this year with no problems other than Argos getting things completely wrong. They have a really bad checkout system online that doesn't have an ounce of common sense. I ordered 4 items one of which was an extended warranty. Having checked that all of them were available for delivery I completed the purchase only to be billed for £19.99 rather than the £99.99 that I expected. It transpired that they were out of stock of all the items, so just charged me for the warranty. So I ended up with a warranty for the items I wasn't going to get. Not only that, but after I phoned them up to cancel the order, they charged me twice, and then charged me for the items that they first told me they were out of stock. So despite the checkout process telling me I had only been charged £19.99, I was actually charged that twice, and then the £80.00 for the out of stock items. It took a week for them to back charge my credit card, all the time them earning interest on my own money.
Needless to say, I won't be using Argos online again, as this is the second bad experience with them in the past year.

I heard on the news yesterday that long haul flights are having to make un-scheduled stops to top up their fuel tanks. Having heard that they had more than enough fuel, I think that it is more likely that the short fill the tanks in the UK and are topping up in countries where the fuel is cheaper. They can then blame it on the depot fire and hope that the passengers will understand. Fuel being one of their highest costs on a flight, they stand to save quite a lot of money by fueling overseas.

Former gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams has been executed by lethal injection, 24 years after he was convicted of killing four people

Regardless of whether Williams was guilty or not, I still don't believe it is right to take another life as a punishment for any crime. It makes us no better than the criminal. This has nothing to do with religion, it is just a belief of mine.

There was some doubt about the conviction in this case, and couple that with the steps that Williams had taken in recent years, including being nominated for a Nobel Peace prize sheds some doubt on the original conviction. I always thought that someone had to be convicted 'beyond reasonable doubt'. I can't believe that there wasn't any doubt in this case and after all it was 24 years ago that he was originally convicted.

You see, I know nothing about the case other than I have read in the press. I know nothing about his crime, nor anything about the victims of the crime. I don't know what he said at the orginal trial, or what he has been saying lately.
What I can say, is that I have seen on the news that some person (a fellow human) was put to death by another human, intentionally, by lethal injection this morning around 8am GMT. That is the part I cannot understand. There is no place for the 'eye for an eye' punishment. Lock them in a room, throw away the key, put them in a bricked up room with a hatch for the rest of their life, but it doesn't give us the right to take another life. We can make mistakes too, then what do we do? If we condone someone else to death only to find that we got it wrong, do we then send the judge and jury to the chamber? I don't think so.
Again, were it any of my children whose lives where taken, then would I still feel the same way? I would hope so.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp was furious with referee Uriah Rennie's decision to award Tottenham a penalty in his side's 3-1 defeat.

I only had the match on the radio last night and John Motson was even saying that it was in no way a penalty. It turned the game and probably cost Pompey vital points at a time when they need all they can get. But I suppose when things are going bad for you, these things add up. I'd like to think that Pompey will get the good luck towards the end of the season when they will probably really need it.

How the referee could award a penalty for hand ball when the shot was blasted at him I can not understand. Even when I viewed the incident on TV it looked like ball to hand if anything, despite the fact that it appeared to hit the top of his arm, let alone his hand.
Calling a TV Referee for important decisions needs to be investigated as soon as possible. It happens in a lot of modern games these days and I think it adds to the excitement whilst ensuring that results are not affected by bad decisions. I understand that referees can make mistakes and it is not their fault. But when we have the technology to reduce the impact of thost mistakes, it seems daft not to use it.

It seems that they have made a good start on fighting the fire this morning at 8am. The smoke was still drifting over the back of the fields this morning, but whether it is due to the wind or the sucess of the firefighting, it seems to have diminished somewhat in the last 4 hours.
One thing that is piddling me off is the angle the press are taking once again. They seem to be scare mongering yet again and trying to whip people up into a frenzy so that they can maintain their viewing numbers. Now they are waffling on about "what if it had been a nuclear power station". Well erm, excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but #1 you wouldn't build a nuclear power station on an industrial estate in the middle of a populated area. #2, Nuclear power stations don't happen to go 'whooooompf' when it leaks and forms a vapour cloud.
Let us keep it in perspective and treat it as the incident it was. Whether or not it was an accident, eqiupment failure or even terrorism, it has nothing to do with a Nuclear Power station accident.

As hard as it is to believe looking at the devastation caused by the explosions no one was killed it appears. Congratulations to the fire departments for the way they are tackling the blaze. It looks to be very proffessional and competent attack of the fire. So long as no one gets injured in the process, it must be a fire fighters dream to work on a fire like this (providing they get it out in the next few days). It's only the press that seem to be blowing it up more than the 30million gallons of gas/petrol in the tanks did themselves.

When I got up early this morning I walked out back with my cup of coffee and my ciggerette and wondered why there was a weird cloud forming over the back field. It wasn't until I went back in and switched on BBC1 to see that there had been an explosion at the Buncefield fuel depot near Hemel Hempstead.
By road its 60miles from my house to the fire, so as the crow files it is probably half of that. By 8.30am it was obvious that the clouds were in fact the smoke from the fire and to the east of us the sky was covered.
I am amazed that there has not been a massive loss of life and so far I have not heard of any fatalities.
Again, the UK News channels are playing it up as a major incident whilst being careful to mention that no terrorist activity has thought to have taken place, they still had to mention it. The coverage on all of the channels has been rather dramatic to say the least. The buggers even delayed MOTD to show coverage of a cloud of smoke rising into the air.

The above were taken from the BBC News Website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4517962.stm
All Things blog - challenging thought...
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED11%20Dec%202005%2011%3A04%3A04%3A347
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-12-11T152140Z_01_MOL155202_RTRUKOC_0_UK-TRANSPORT-BRITAIN-EXPLOSION.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/11/uhemel.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/12/11/ixportaltop.html
Google News

So Harry Rednapp is coming back to Portsmouth. Personally, I didn't think it would take him long to realise where the smell was coming from. You see he left Portsmouth just over a year ago because he said things were beginning to stink. Now that he has worked out that the Scummers were only a few miles down the road, he also knows where the smell was really coming from.

But in all seriousness, its not Southampton FC that stinks so much, more the way that Rupert Lowe the chairman doesn't seem to have a concern about the football club. You'd think that the chairman of a football club from an area responsible for the departure of so many cruise liners would know a thing or two about stability and maybe apply some of the same logic to his football team, (ah, think Titanic).

Rednapps first task after moving back to Pompey will be to pay a visit to the dockyard to see what a Victory looks like. (Hasn't seen one of them at Southampton for a long time).

But really seriously... As I've stated before, I only followed Pompey because it was my home base for 9 years whilst in the Royal Navy. So I shouldn't really knock them since if I had been based in Southampton, I would probably have followed them. (I won't mention that my house was closer to Southampton FC than Pompey FC). Who ever they get to be the next manager, the chairman should be prepared to back them for a long term future and not crap himself every time they go through a losing streak. Southampton are a premiership team and need to return back there as soon as possible. They have a great history in the top flight, and although in recent years it has resulted in a struggle for survival, they have the support, the ground and usually the players to more than justify their existence in the Premiership. All that has been lacking of late is the support of the Chairman. Just because he holds the cheque book doesn't mean he can throw his toys out of the pram as and when he chooses. It makes the life of the manager very difficult when he doesn't feel like he has the support of the boardroom.

And just to even out my knocking of Lowe, I actually think its a great decision to bring in Clive Woodward to the team. That is one area that could pay dividends in the future. Football has a lot to learn from Rugby and let us hope this helps to bring success back to Southampton, (but not at the expense of Pompey please!!).

Harry, all you need to do now is get Jim Smith back and everything will be complete.

Car paints changing with temperature by ZDNet's Roland Piquepaille -- German researchers have used ion bombardment and gold metallisation to produce new particles whose bonding behavior can be chemically tailored. This could lead to new shimmering car finishes which can change with temperature or humidity or new cosmetics.

Now when I first saw this, I thought "Wow....", but then I went outside to drop the kids off at school and remembered how frigging cold it is and thought, "Hmmm, the car will always be covered blue in this country", since it is so damn cold and wet most of the time...

Likewise, when I was living in Fort Worth, TX, it would probably have been bright red all the time, which isn't quite the case since the temperature variations over the year was easliy 50 degrees if not more...

I flicked BBC1 on tonight when the "Real Story" was being broadcast and there was Gee Walker sat with her husband being interviewed by Fiona Bruce.
The strength that Gee Walker must have makes me ashamed at my own weaknesses. I would hope that I could act with the same dignity, compassion and understanding that Gee (and her family) have shown towards the killers and to the parents of at least one of them.

I happened to see that there was a programme about Madonna on Channel 4 and flicked over just in time to catch the start of it. I didn't know it was a full blown documentary on Madonna, I thought it was going to be a short programme.
I've been a Madonna fan since her very first hit in the UK back in the 'huh hmms' when I was DJ'ing at a local youth club. I only have to hear Holiday and it takes me back to my 'yoof'.

I don't usually watch programmes of this sort, but was soon hooked. I think Madonna is one of the most astute business women in the Musical industry and she always knows to press the right buttons. She's not affraid to speak her mind, or admit her wrongs.
I was totally blown away by some of the dancing in the documentary. After watching it, I compared it to the recent (ish) Moulin Rouge but with all the songs from Madonna. The editing of the documentary was great and I will certainly think about getting the DVD in the near future.

There is more information on the IMDb site

The documentary follows a complete tour from start to finish and includes footage of her family, the dancers and band members. The music is Madonna at her best. And before you say I am tone deaf, look at the crouds, look at their reactions. It was one heck of a stage production. The choreography was amazing as was the stanard of the various dancers.
You don't just get to hear an artist singing on that tour, you got hit with a stunning audio and visual stage production. I would loved to have gone to see one of the concerts, and I won't make the mistake of not going the next time.

I tell you what. If your doctor ever prescribes you tramadol for pain relief, then make sure you take it for no longer than a week. If you need it for longer, then insist you get the problem fixed that you are taking it for.
I am have recently stopped taking Tramadol after taking it on and off (more on than off), for almost 2 years and boy am I suffering from it.

I am probably going through the same withdrawal symptoms that you expect with more street drugs than a prescription drug.
I haven't slept for the past 60 hours or so, and I am about to climb the walls.

One thing from this though is that I will never ever take another painkiller stronger than the stuff you can get over the counter ever again. I don't think I could face coming off the stuff if this is what it is going to be like.
Second to that is the fact that they are looking very closely at the side effects of some of the modern drugs right now, one of which is Tramadol.
So my advice to you is NOT to take it in the first place. Take milder painkillers and get the problem sorted. If you are not going to get the problem sorted, then be prepaired to take tramadol for a very very long time.

Sorry to post yet more news about doom, gloom and death, but I learned today that John Vlissides who had a major part to play in Design Patterns passed away on Thursday 24th November 2005 after a long illness.

The Design Patterns project discovers and documents common solutions to problems in object-oriented software design. We document this information in pattern form—a semi-structured format that characterizes a single problem and its solution, the consequences of that solution, and variations on the solution's implementation. The pattern form helps the reader find specific information quickly, and it makes comparing patterns easy.

Go to http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?JohnVlissides where they are collecting articles about him in a very fitting memorial.

Go here and check out an open forum by Sarah (from the Yahoo Blogger Support forum).

Hmmm. When I first checked the scores during yesterdays match, 0 - 0 didn't look too bad to start of with. A temporary manager who is hoping to get the job full time. Saved themselves from going into adminstration (which would cost them 10 points they can't afford to lose). I read a report on the Gills wesbite about how they just need to string a few results together and they could be in the playoffs.

So when I check the scores at full time to see that they lost 5 - 0, I suppose I am no longer surprised. They'll be playing in the same league as Basingstoke before too long. God knows what has happened to them, things looked to be on the up for a while, but now they can't beat an egg. (They have a lot of injuries in the squad right now, and as my dad said, its serves the manager right for buying in players that were crocked to start off with.

BBC Website Match Report
Gillingham FC Official Site

UPDATE 2-Rallying-Former world champion Burns dies at 34
Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:52 AM GMT

(adds David Richards quotes, byline)

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Richard Burns, the only Englishman to win the world rally championship, has died of a brain tumour at the age of 34, his family said on Saturday.

Burns died in London's Wellington hospital on Friday evening with family and close friends at his bedside. He had been in a coma for some days.

By a sad coincidence, his death came on the fourth anniversary of his championship win with Subaru in 2001.

The Briton was diagnosed with the astrocytoma, a form of brain tumour, after blacking out at the wheel on his way to the British Rally in Wales in 2003 where he could have won a second championship with Peugeot.

Reuters

Two posts about a death in two days. It's not all doom and gloom, honestly but this is still very sad to here of someone so young, and so talented as Richard.
World Rally had a tough time this year and the news of Richards death will hit home hard within their community.
I was shocked when I first heard the news when he pulled out of the Welsh Rally in 2003 because of a brain tumour, but at the time they thought it would respond to treatment, but alas it turned out not to be the case.

Added 25/11/2005:
George Best lost his fight for life this morning. Actually, I think it was more his body lost the strength to carry on. Even at the end I reckon George was still a fighter and would have grasped any chance he could to carry on, as his doctor said, "His heart was strong". He knew he had done some wrong things in his time, but he was honest about it. He openly warned people away from the pitfalls he suffered.
Now he is at rest, so let us remember George Best for what really made him great - His Football.
My thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time. No father should ever outlive his son, no son should ever lose his father. Now the press and the rest of us need to let them grieve in peace.

According to the news on the way home from picking the kids up from school, George Best is not expected to last much longer.
The lung infection he is suffering from at the moment has left him unable to fight any further infections.
It's bad enough when you hear that a celebrity/idol etc has passed away, but knowing that he is dying seems to make it a tadge more saddening. It must be a very tough time for the family and friends and I hope the media give them the space that they deserve.

Besty had his problems, he would be the first one not to deny that. The Oliver Reed of the football world. An extreme talent on the pitch, but a wild side to equal it off the field. I was born and grew up towards the end of the Best era but he was one of the names on the radio/TV that was mentioned much in the same way as Rooney is talked about now.
No one will ever doubt the level of his skill on the field, and there will be many people saddended to hear this news, let alone close family and friends.

I hope his final hours are in peace, and my thoughts go out to his family and friends.
Best was Simply the Best - nuff said.

I've not been bothered to get a Freeview Digital box because I know that there are some new ones coming out in a few months that will make the current ones obsolete. They will still work, but the newer ones will have a lot more features than the current models. But as I was looking up on the Savastore website, I noticed that they had a USB Digital TV Reciever for £42.89 inc VAT. (Freecom DVB-T USB Stick)

Ok, you can pick up a receiver box for much cheaper than that, and I was in some doubt as to the signal quality that could be picked up by a USB Device.
I ordered it on the Monday, and it arrived mid morning today (Tuesday).

The installation procedure is very easy indeed. Insert the USB device, wait for it to be detected and then point the driver installer at the CD supplied with the unit. The only problem I had was in entering the serial number bcause the one on the device would not be accepted. A quick trip to the website of Freecom and a browse through the forum showed I was no the only one to suffer the same problem. As it turns out, you are meant to enter the serial number that is printed on the cover of the CD with the software on it. Not so obvious until it was pointed out. (There was also a few people on the forum asking for replacement serial numbers since they through the paper CD cover away

After a quick reboot of the PC, and then starting the TV Application, it presented me with a config page where all I had to do was hit "Start" to begin scanning the UK frequency list for available channels. Now here it did find about 10 channels, and 10 radio stations but I must stress that I live in the middle of nowhere and I didn't expect to get much of a TV signal inside the house, surrounded by walls, trees etc, so I was surprised to see it found anything at all. I then hooked it up to the main TV aerial that is situated in the loft of this house. A quick rescan and it found every available TV and Radio station possible with excellent signal strength and quality.

I have to say for a unti no bigger than a USB memory stick, it works very very well. I can record from any channel, listen to any of the available digital radio stations. In fact I have the Man Utd match on ITV playing on the laptop next to me now while I am working on my main desktop machine.
I am quite impressed with the performance of the device and would recommend it to everyone as a quick an easy method of adding digital TV to your machine. It can be moved from machine to machine with no problem, and doesn't take up any space in your laptop bag and would be great for going on trips with. It is claimed to work on pretty much all of the digital TV standards world wide (but I can't verify that just yet, so I will take their word for it based on the success of their other claims).

Have a look the specs on Freecom and check it out, you won't be disappointed with its performance. (But remember, if you live in an area where Digital coverage is weak, or not yet supported, it won't do much for you).

Blatent advert for Bob Berry - Forgot to post the details earlier... Hopefully it will also push Bob up the Google Search order. (Might as well use my page rankings for some good every now and then).

Ok, I have been quite delinquent in my posting to my blog of late. The cold weather seems to have affected my ability to sit at this computer for longer than necessary and what time I have had on my hands has been spent on various work projects. I have a number of web sites I am working on, and am busy preparing quotes for a few new jobs. Can't say much about them on here, but two of them are the biggest contracts I have worked on so far. Should keep me working from home (or a new office) for at least the next 18-36 months. Imagine that, not having to work for anyone again for at least the next 18 months!

We finally got the fence replaced to the left of the house this week. A company called Bob Berry Fencing Specialists carried out the work and they did a great job. Two guys (Scott and Frank) came round to do the job and it was bitterly cold in the mornings hardly getting about freezing all day. They replaced the complete fence and used concrete posts, which meant digging 2ft holes in not very good soil. (More trees and roots than you can shake a stick at). It's one company that I will be keeping in mind for all future work while I am in the Basingstoke area. While they were working on the fence I decided to tidy up the yard and use the old wood from the fence to help burn off a load of rubbish out back. I thought I was coming down with a cold the next day from standing in a field when it was -4 next to a roaring fire..Talk about going from hot to cold and back again. The cold weather is really making my arthritis show up and it didn't help working out in the cold (Lesson Learnt).

It is absolutly tators outside. I've not felt it this bitter since last winter, so I guess the cold snap is on its way.
The following is an except from the Met Office webiste.

Low pressure is expected to remain to the north or northwest of the UK, with higher pressure to the south over southern Europe, ensuring a run of westerly winds across the country. Gales are possible in some places, especially over northwestern districts. For the first week or so this general pattern will lead to above average values for rainfall across the UK. However, rainfall amounts should revert to near average for most after the first week. Temperature values across the UK will be generally above average for the first couple of weeks, with few frosts expected. Later, however, temperature values will fall to be nearer average for most districts.

The wildlife in the village is going nuts. Actually, they are going for my nuts, well the nuts I have put in the feeders. It usually takes a few weeks for them to empty the feeders during the winter, but they've been empty after a few days. Squirrels, robins, tits, finches, woodpeckers and a few more I don't know. (I'm not a twitcher).
All I know is that they appear to be definetly stocking up for a long winter period. Even the field mice are getting braver, though this year they've had to find their own food since I have pinned hidden the feed this year. (Last year that had a right feast).

The fire was lit as soon as we got home from school tonight and its now as warm as toast in here. I've been stocking up the wood pile this year a bit earlier than normal. Usually the 'logman' gets busy around christmas time, but is saying it business is crazy right now.

Hearts Football club today announced that Graham Rix is to be the new boss. Graham Rix was charged and found guilty of indecent assault and sex with a girl of aged 15 six years ago. Since he was placed on the sex offenders register, he is unable to work with kids under the age of 16.

I followed this case back then, not only because I am a father, but as a fan of Chelsea football club with whom he had strong ties, (he was also the manager of Portsmouth FC). Now one thing I must point out is that I am not saying he is 100% innocent. He did himself admit that he slept with the 15 year old, but he has always maintained that he did not know she was 15. After the initial court case, there were several reports in the paper about there being some collusion by the child's parents after it was found out who Rix was. He claimed that she always said she was over 16 and there were reports in the papers saying that her family push this point in order to gain from it later on. Whatever the true facts, there was always something dodgy about the facts that were presented, but as I stated before, he slept with an underage girl, admitted that (because you can't hardly deny it really). For that he was punished, and has suffered as a result of it.

Personally, I believe this was the start of many claims against high profile players. Because of the laws in the UK, the defendants name is not with held, therefore if you are accused of such crimes or similar, your name will be dragged through the courts. So you either have to go to court to clear your name, or settle out of court. There are many cases which are not reported through the media, but they happen.

Since the Rix case there as been a major increase in the number of claims against premiership football players. Many of these have failed to get to court, or have been thrown out in court. There have been many more than have settled out of court for money in order to protect the name of the player and/or club.
Again, don't get me wrong, as I do believe there are players who are both abusive and/or guilty of such attacks. Some of these are probably settled out of court, but we will never know. Our judicial system is fast following the media frenzy that surrounds the US court system and we must put a stop to that now.

It is time that both the victim and accused ID's be kept secret. In conjunction with that, I think it is about time that any previous convictions by the accused should be taken into account. (That is worth another post on its own, since I can't believe they don't tell the jury or previous convictions in case it biases there opinion. Erm, excuse me, the fact that a rapist has 8 previous similar convictions tells me that along with the evidence presented to me might actually be relevant. If they don't have the evidence to convict him, then previous convictions should not matter. It has to be beyond reasonable doubt).

Rix was found guilty mainly on his own admissions because it is something he could not deny. That and the evidence of one other person. In truth, only they will ever know the true story. Thanks to press coverage it was over hyped and we shall never know the truth.

Rix has done his time, served out his punishment and has the right to a second chance. He will be watched like a hawk, he will also be hounded by those who don't agree with it. But would someone so guilty come back into the limelight? They would more than likely go hide somewhere and keep out of the spotlight knowing of their own guilt.

Rix has had his family with him all the time, and it must be really hard for him. I really hope he gets a chance to do his job. It will be hard, there will be taunts (far worse than Beckham, Posh and anal sex). He's brave man and I wish him good luck.

Now if it was my daughter, then I don't think I would be saying the same things. I'd probably be calling for him to be hanged or worse (or even doing it myself). Thanks to the UK press, we will never know the true outcome.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2215702005
http://www.football.co.uk/hearts/rix_set_for_jambos_job_208214.shtml
http://www.lasalute.net/article47362.html
http://www.soccer365.com/EUROPEAN_NEWS/Scottish_News/page_111_108810.shtml
http://www.soccer365.com/EUROPEAN_NEWS/Scottish_News/page_111_108803.shtml
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/scorecard/11/08/truth.rumors.more/1.html

Here are some links to a blog from a good mate of mine down in Swindon. He actually has some other people contributing to his blog (without having to pay them either).
Great for printing out for reading when you are in the Twyfords Office. (Unless you are sad like me and take your wireless laptop to 'that' office, only to find burn marks on my bear legs when I stand up with a numb arse).

"The act of transferring your personal thought process to another form is a fullfilling act".
or
"The act of conveying a personal thought process to someone or a some group is the best thrill a creator can experience"

It is day 5 of the NaNoWriMo month of hell. (www.nanowrimo.org). I should be up around the 10000 mark I suppose, but I'm down at the 2000 mark (well, published. In fact, its a few more than that).

The one thing that anyone who does read my attempt at the 50k mark is that style will vary between each and every chapter.
For one I have never attempted to write anything non-technical in my life, so this is a first for me. I won't say it hasn't been an ambition of mine, but without the prodding and encouragement of Chris York, I would not have thought of signing up for the NaNoWriMo workout.

I won't be posting them to the main pages of the blog, because it will just bloat the main page with my feeble attempt, but there is a category link in the right hand column somewhere on this page. Or you can find it by clicking here.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A 20-year-old man accused of using thousands of hijacked computers, or "bot nets," to damage systems and send massive amounts of spam across the Internet was arrested on Thursday in what authorities called the first such prosecution of its kind
Read Original Article Here

One down, 3,450,342 to go. (Judging by the number of attacks being made on my network each hour).
But this is a start I suppose, let us hope that there are many many more.

Mind you, in saying that, the amount of SPAM hitting my addresses this past few weeks has dropped to less than 10 a week !! It has not been this quiet since I first went online. I haven't changed anything, added any new protection. All I did was create a honeypot@thenameofmydomain.com for each domain I run and enable a spam trap on it that forwarded to SPAMCOP

And after more than 8 new variants of the Bagle virus landed in my mail this week, it appears to have gone quiet again the last few days.
So don't forget to update your virus definitions several times a day and if you can configure it to do it automatically during the day, more the better.

Well you can tell it is the night before the 5th of November. Not because it is the 4th today, in fact you could have spent the last few months on the moon and arrived back today, taken one step outside and it would be obvious. It sounds and looks like World War Three has kicked off. I live in a village of about a 1000 people and the skies are lighting up for miles around.

Nearly every year I have always bought some fireworks to have a display for the kids, (ignoring the fact that most dads usually end up buying them just as much for themselves. Must be a testosterone thing). Apart from the 3 years we were in the US for, since we've had kids old enough to appreciate them, we've had fireworks at home. But not this year. For some reason I just can't justify to myself the point of basically burning the money when there is so much suffering around the world. I'm especially thinking of those in Pakistan suffering as a result of the earthquake. I don't feel comfortable going out and spending £50-£100 on fireworks when there are people over there with their lives in tatters. So this year, I'll be donating some money to the Red Cross or similar, on top of what I have already donated so far.

I'll be taking two of the kids to the village school to watch their display tonight (as the weather forecast for tomorrow isn't looking too good). It has nothing to do with the safety of home displays versus an organized display. I would rather help support a local school and not 'burn' money that may help others.

I'm either getting old and responsible, or the kids are rubbing off on me. They were in one of their rooms talking about what they wanted from Santa (well two of them were, the other was playing along if you catch my drift). They decided they wanted one present each, and they would ask if Santa could give the presents they would normally ask for to kids around the world who would usually get nothing.

Here's a tasty treat for Halloween night. Bit late for me to post this if you don't have all the ingredients, but you can always save it for next yet.
And don't forget to clean up the mess after you have done as a kick in the Ghoulies often offends.

I wonder what they are trying to say?

I've finally got round to registering some new domain names for a few 'in-house' projects that I've been meaning to do for ages.

http://www.testengineeringcareers.com
http://www.thebigswitchover.com
http://www.ticklingthebone.com
http://www.beatthehacker.com
http://secureyourhomenetwork.com ( and http://www.secureyourhomenetwork.info)

Another domain that I am working on for a good friend from my time in the Navy is:
http://www.cddvdmemories.com

It will be a few months with my current workload before much happens on those sites, but I am going to prioritize them as follows:

1. http://www.cddvdmemories.com
2. http://www.thebigswitchover.com
3. http://www.beatthehacker.com / http://secureyourhomenetwork.com

I really need to make one last push and get www.hostutrust.com live and kicking. Then you'll all be able to purchase your domain names from me...

Now that the F1 season is over and with Alonso the Champion, has this signaled the end of the Schumacher era?
One thing is for certain is that along with the Grand Prix of the USA debacle, fans are flocking away from F1 due to the races becoming boring and predictable.
Apart from it seems McClaren, it doesn't matter who you are, or what car you drive. If you qualify low down, or start from the back of the grid for whatever reason, you cannot expect to finish high up. Because the design of the cars in their present state generate so much down force it prevents a lot of cars from being able to overtake. (This is where I put my McClaren proviso again. If it is so difficult to overtake, how come that when Rakkonen gets demoted down the grid for yet another engine failure, how does he always manage to get back to a podium position. Is that car so much more powerful than the rest?).

Because the cars are generating so much down force when they get close to the car in front that they are intending to overtake, the air coming from the car in front is 'spoiled' which means that in effect, they lose down force and are unable to over take.

The FIA have released a press statement showing the results of a survey they have been conducting to try and get round this problem. Now considering my past opinions of some of the people involved in F1, this is a great move and fantastic news for the fans. It might turn it back into a race again.

The FIA consultation on the future of Formula One clearly demonstrated that the vast majority of the viewing public (94% according to the FIA/AMD survey) want more overtaking. This is at a time when overtaking in Formula One has become increasingly difficult.

Article

More links:

http://www.fia.com
http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s107/st84074.htm

View image of new wing#2
View image of air flow changes


The full size image originals can be found on the FIA web site.

I found this test on someones blog and had nothing better to do for a while. I didn't think I would score that high..erm... wrong...

A football tournament will be held on Sunday in memory of teenager Anthony Walker, who was killed in July.

This is a good example of the community and authorities coming together to help remind us of the terrible consequences of racism in our society.
There is no room for it in our communities, our country or our lives. Those who are racist in my opinion should be treated with no greater respect than most of us hold for terrorists.

Whilst I am all for free speech and respecting the right of someone to speak their opinion, I don't feel that it should allow someone to be racist.

Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4367660.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/4732563.stm

Darcus Howe troublesome, outspoken writer and social commentator best known as the Devil's Advocate, which is the name of a current affairs program he fronted for Channel 4 television in the mid-eighties. Politically active since the 60s he writes a regular column for the magazine the New Statesman and is no stranger to controversy. Several of the television shows he has fronted for the BBC and Channel 4 have whipped up reactions -- more recently 'White Tribe' a look at Anglo-Saxon Britain. His daughter, Tamara Howe, is a director of production for London Weekend Television (LWT). He lives in Brixton, South London.

See also : http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Biography/bio_DarcusHowe_BlackActivist-Journalist.htm

I heard about Darcus causing a right ruckus on BBC Radio 4 the other day when he basically accused Joan Rivers of being a racist ( http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2114012005 ). I don't know if this was to gain publicity for a new show of his coming out soon, but if that was the case it was rather a bad way to go about it. It is not like him to play the 'race' card so blatantly. Anyone that considers Bernhard Manning to be a friend, or at least understand where he was coming from you would have thought to be more tolerant. Either that or he really does think that Joan Rivers is a racist. He must have something to back that up with because although quite often outspoken, he is very careful in making accusations without having some evidence.

Joan Rivers is not someone I immediately relate with Racism, but then I can't remember much of her material either. And what I do remember, she is rather annoying at that, but still I would not have associated her with a racist person. (Unless it was her 'Old Man Rivers....')

Yet another post from the Ananova site that caught my eye and made me laugh.

The Rolling Stones have a heart machine reportedly backstage in case one collapses on their US tour.
Organisers have brought in a defibrillator, used to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.
According to The Sun quoting US magazine Globe a source said: "With all four band members now veterans, their managers are not taking any chances."
A spokesman for the band said: "I've never seen a defibrillator backstage."

How long before they need Zimmer frames to walk around on stage?
But to be fair to them, they sound better everytime they go on stage and their music keeps on getting better. You could compare them to fine wine getting better with Age. They probably still have the same alcohol content as wine as well.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1570835.html

Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.
One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.
BT futurology, who have developed the idea, say it could be available within 15 years.

Why ?
I mean I could just imagine the wife saying, "Hey come here and listen to this one"... Hmmm... Not...
What sort of storage capacity are we talking here? How long before we measure breast size in megabits, or how long before computer memory becomes megatits. Or will it be named computer mammary?

You already get wireless bras?
You could have bras that have inbuilt external speakers?
I'm not going to go into where they could put the bass speaker.

I suppose the serious side of this is them talking about fitting biometric devices that can monitor and report the bodies condition. But what about us guys?And no, don't go there... It makes my eyes water thinking about it? And I am not going to consider building up my man boobs either.

I now need to go away and think up some good track lists. Like:

• I've got you under my skin, Porter; 1936
• An Udder one bites the dust - Queen
• I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts - Fred Heatherton - 1944
• Titty Titty Bang Bang - Unknown

Oh the fun you could have with this... Where is Mr. Barlow...

I found a link to this from a blogger (Ashley) who posted a question to the Yahoo Blogger Help Forum (Here ).

If you click http://mysticalball.com/ or the link above it will open the site in a new window.

I won't spoil it for those who don't know how it works yet, but if you are interested, I'll probably make a new post revealing all.
It is not as difficult as you think... I'll delay any commenters posting the solution for a while just in case you post and wonder why it never appeared. Can't be spoiling peoples fun just yet.

And no, it doesn't install a key logger on your machine, it doesn't use your webcam to see which ones you are looking at, and no it doesn't rely on you holding the mouse of the number you will choose. Shout out to someone else in the room to pick a number for you, and then you do the maths ;)
It will still work.

Gawd knows what I've eaten this time, or maybe its just another bug doing the rounds, but I've been crocked since Sunday night. It feels like I've spent the last 3 days on the big white telephone calling Huey & Phooey.
This is probably the second time I've had the energy to sit in front of the computer so not much work has been going on. I managed to add a few jokes to the other blog yesterday or the day before, but not any real work.
Hopefully things will start getting better tomorrow because it is really depressing feeling this yukky all the time. It doesn't help that it screws up the intake of the Tramadol I am on, so you get withdrawl symptoms on top of the virus/bug. I need to get off that stuff as soon as I am over this bout. It makes it 1000x worse than it is.
Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. I can't watch another day of the Conserative Party Confernce.

I've just read an article on the BBC Web site (Healthy food angers school pupils) where a group of pupils have started a petition to bring back chips and other so called 'unhealthy' food.

The part that made me laugh was that one of the grandmothers of the children (someone called Jane Channing) has supplied the reasons why they should not be brought back in her reasons for bringing them back.

She says:

"At the end of the day, it's the kids that are eating the food, not Tony Blair, or Jamie Oliver, or the council," she said.
"It's the children that are eating it so they should be given a vote on what's on their plates - if the kids don't eat anything, that's not going to do them any good.

She says if the kids are not eating the new healthy food, then its not going to do them any good. So letting them eat unhealthy food would be erm, healthier for them?
I don't think so. Does she really think they are going to go hungry? Ok, lets spoil them and give them back their chips and fatty burgers and maybe lets start a campaign to bring back Turkey Twizzlers. Does she think that letting them eat that sort of food is going to be good for them? I think not.

It would be better for them to go hungry rather than eat that junk food, and if they really got hungry they would eat the healthier options available. I mean come on, don't try and tell me that these kids go hungry. Go look up some photos of some of the kids in Africa, now they are hungry kids.

If we don't make a stance now, Mrs Granny will be long gone when her grandchildren are paying for the junk food they ate when younger. She'll be long gone when their arteries are closed up, they can't climb the stairs without losing breath, they live expectancy would be 50 years, or they have type II diabetes by the time they are 55.

The healthier food isn't bad, it is just not what they want. So lets not pander to their every whim, lets take a stand and do something for their own good. I put my children's health before anything else. They still get their McDonalds but its a treat not a weekly meal. They still get their chips from the chippy, but its a once a month thing, not an every other day meal. They eat their crisps, but not until they've had their daily fruit. And I don't have to force them to do it, they have been taught the need to eat healthy and mostly make the choice on their own.

So instead of standing with your Grandchildren Mrs Channings, stand up for them. If you want to look after them don't feed them junk, encourage them to eat properly. And don't ever tell me they will go hungry. Children in the UK don't know the meaning of the word hungry.

The date of the Time Travelling Convention has finally been announced. It will occur two weeks ago.

Gas salesman sacked over forgery

Energy firm Npower has sacked one of its sales advisors after a widow complained her dead husband's signature had been forged.
He was dismissed after the company investigated a forgery of John Sykes' signature some months after his death.

Taken from the BBC News.

I think I wrote a few months back that something similar happened to me. All of a sudden I get a letter from British Gas saying that they are sorry to see me leaving. That was the first I knew about it. And as it happens, it was to Npower that I was allegedly going to. I think at the time Npower would have been the cheaper option, but I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole after that incident. Obviously it is down to shady individuals like this salesman, but I can bet there is a whole culture of this type of behavior. Seeing as I am in the south, and this occurred in the north, it is probably something that is discussed at some shady salesman school. Each salesman have a number of targets to reach, and going through the telephone book and selecting random names, forging a few signatures is a good way to do it. The welcoming letter from Npower merely states welcome to your new lower bills with Npower. It doesn't make too much of the fact that you have left British Gas, it places the emphasis on the savings on purpose in my opinion.

Rather than just sack this salesman, the industry watchdog needs to take a look at the complete picture. There are probably 1000's of people who have had their supplies switched without their knowledge. At the end of the day they are probably better off, but it is still underhand and illegal. If I were British Gas for example, I would send a letter to all the people who have left and ask them to verify that they requested the move. Not asking them to come back, but simply asking them to verify that they initiated the change over. The fact that someone is forging my signature is the part that gets my goat up.

I finally managed to sit down tonight and complete my 2004/2005 tax submission. I'd been looking high and low for my P60 for the year and I had to sort my computer desk out in an effort to find it. As it happens, it was filed away in my paperwork drawer under "Pay Statements". Oh well, at least my work desk is tidy now.

The cut off date for submitting your taxes for the taxman to work it out is the 30th September. Mine were relatively simple this year so I thought I'd do it myself, and then see how far out I was. As it happens, we both came to the same figure so that bodes well for next year.

I used the online Tax system at the Inland Revenue and the whole process took less than 30minutes to complete (once you have all the paperwork in front of you). Most of that time was spent double checking my figures and I reckon overall I could have done it in less than 15minutes. I'll definetly be using it again next year. Mind you, my 2005/2006 tax will be complicated since I have worked for myself from April 21st, so I'll have two employers.

Just in case you haven't noticed, I've changed the font and its size for main posts. I don't know if it was my eyesight going, but it was becoming dificult for me to read it.

You can always use the Ctrl and Mouse Wheel (press Ctrl on the keyboard and spin the mouse wheel up and down to change the size of the text on both IE and Firefox).

Let me know via email if the font is too big on your screens. I run mine at 1600x1200, sometimes even bigger. As this is not one of my commercial sites I don't really have time to do the testing that I would normally do on those sites.

A newly married Romanian farmer fractured his penis after ogling his young wife while carrying a heavy sack of grain.
Farmer Gheorghe Popa, 52, from Galati, had been moving the grain sacks to the barn when he stopped to watch his 25-year-old wife Loredana hang up the washing.
He got himself over excited and dropped the sack on his erect penis, snapping vital tendons and ligaments.
Doctor Nicolae Bacalbasa said: "It was a bizarre accident, and he was in a lot of pain.
"We have done what we can for him but he may never regain use of the organ again, at least for sexual purposes."

You can read the article here at Ananova.
Me personally, I am off to get a tishue to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"As Firefox becomes more popular, it becomes a more attractive target. People who have swapped [from IE to Firefox], even if this is a blip, should ask whether the assumption that Firefox is more secure than IE is valid anymore. They shouldn't just rely on changing their browser, but may think about having to look at a different configuration."

The above is a comment from Ollie Whitehouse, taken from ZDNet but is almost exactly what I said a few months back in an earlier post.
I don't want to say I told you so, I don't want to claim Firefox is any worse than IE, I don't want to claim IE is better than Firefox.
What I do want to say is, hello, wake up, it is nothing more than common sense.
It should be obvious to almost anyone with an ounce of common sense that Firefox would at some point become the primary focus of the 'underworld'. With such a small percentage using it in the past, it was hardly worth the effort of creating an exploit. But it should also be looked at as a measure of the success on the uptake of Firefox that it has now become the focus of these relevations. (Note I was careful not to say become the focus of the 'exploiters', because the study shows there were a greater number of 'possible' exploit points found, not that a greater number of exploits were released and out there).

I think the Firefox supporters should stop whinging about the facts because it was inevitable that it would happen. No one writes perfect code, whether it be open source or not.
Now Firefox supporters are rounding with counter claims that 'we can fix our bugs quicker than them', where before it was always 'we don't have any bugs, ours is more secure than yours'. (Firefox itself has never made those claims).
I will continue to use Firefox because its leaner,meaner and faster. But I will also continue to use IE in places where I believe it to be safer or I need functionality that is not present in Firefox. If I were Firefox, I would ignore the claims and stick to the fact that Firefox is a much better browser. It just so happens that at the moment, there are not as many security problems as 'some other' browsers. But as I've said before, they will come, they will be found. That is fact of life that the software world will always live with until they adopt total 100% test coverage, but then as all software developers know, that can never be achieved.

There are those that say because the source code is open source, it means that it is open for the developers of the exploits to go through the code to look for vulnerabilities. In the case of IE, they have to go through the functionality and look for weaknesses. Surely by having the source code, I can search that for known weaknesses (looking for bad buffer usuage for example). Those are the points that can be reduced by increased test coverage and tighter coding standards. But there is always the human factor, and that will always lead to errors in coding. So in this respect, is Open Source better? That question is worthy of a whole post of its own.

As mentioned in my previous post, the US is still in the middle of the Hurricane season and Rita looks set to be the next big storm to hit the Gulf Coast. (The season runs from June 1 to November 30).
It has already been upgraded to a Cat 5 storm and it appears to be heading direct for Houston.

I used to live in the 76137 Zip Code near Fort Worth, and even they are warning of 40-60mph winds with 4-6inches of rain. Now despite living in Tornado alley, Texas builders still insist on building wooden framed houses and the roof on mine was only good upto 40mph. (Not much use in a Tornado, but then, if its that close to do any damage, you're knackered anway. Even with just normal storms it got damaged 3 times while we were living there. God knows what 40-60mph sustained winds will do to it. (Oh yeah, I don't live there anymore, not my problem). But I do hope the old neighbours in the street are going to be Ok.
Not very nice of 'Rita' to head for Houston, it is still filled with survivors and refugees from Katrina. To have to go through yet another move must be very hard for them.
I think the storms have had enough of being chased themselves and are turning the tables. Lets hope that damage is minimal this time.

Here is something for you to do when bored. Go to Google and enter "Failure" as the search and let it go.
Check out the first link in the list (and have a little chuckle). (Or click on this search link)

Then notice the Google Advert displayed on the right hand side and you should see an explanation link.
In case it is no longer there, you can also direct to the page that explains why here.

There must be an awful lot of people somewhere with too much time on their hands. I can bet that the conspiracists will still try and say that someone has paid for this campaign. Do a search on the phrase "Googlebombing Examples" and some more should turn up.

An email dropped into my 'suspicious' folder today which is where emails that are not picked up by my AV, Junk Filter or known filters.

When I first saw the name of the attachment I recognized it as a variant of the Bagle Virus, but wondered why AVG had not picked it up.
I had seen similar email a few months back and again AVG didn't catch it on its first pass. I say first pass because after doing a manual Virus Database update, the new definitions did find it. I did the same today and AVG identified it as a new variant of the Bagle (TR/Bagle.CR).

So first things first, if you have your AV application set to perform an update only once a day, I would recommend that you configure it to do at least twice, or if you receive a lot of emails, maybe 4 times a day. (Your AV server might not like this because it would put 4 x the load on its service, but hey, I pay them a subscription to keep my PC protected, and if they issue new updates AFTER I have updated, how am I meant to know).

In the case of TR/Bagle.CR, it appears that most of the big guns issued an update today, only Fortinet had it marked as suspicious prior to today. In the case of Fortinet, they had it covered 12 days ago.

It appears that 5 new variants of Bagle hit the street today.

If you ever receive a file attachment and you are suspicious of it and you have the confidence to save it to your hard drive WITHOUT opening or executing it, you should consider uploading it to a site like VirusTotal

Results of a file scan

This is a report processed by VirusTotal on 09/19/2005 at 21:41:22 (CET) after scanning the file "newprice.zip" file.

Antivirus	Version	Update	Result
AntiVir	6.32.0.3	09.19.2005	TR/Bagle.CR
Avast	4.6.695.0	09.19.2005	Win32:Beagle-DV
AVG	718	09.19.2005	I-Worm/Bagle
Avira	6.32.0.3	09.19.2005	TR/Bagle.CR
BitDefender	7.2	09.19.2005	Win32.Bagle.CJ@mm
CAT-QuickHeal	8.00	09.19.2005	Bagle.da
ClamAV	devel-20050917	09.19.2005	Worm.Bagle.Gen-3
DrWeb	4.32b	09.19.2005	Win32.HLLM.Beagle.36864
eTrust-Iris	7.1.194.0	09.18.2005	no virus found
eTrust-Vet	11.9.1.0	09.19.2005	no virus found
Fortinet	2.41.0.0	09.07.2005	suspicious
F-Prot	3.16c	09.19.2005	security risk named W32/Mitglieder.FF
Ikarus	0.2.59.0	09.19.2005	no virus found
Kaspersky	4.0.2.24	09.19.2005	Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.da
McAfee	4584	09.19.2005	no virus found
NOD32v2	1.1221	09.19.2005	Win32/Bagle.BI
Norman	5.70.10	09.19.2005	no virus found
Panda	8.02.00	09.19.2005	Trj/Mitglieder.EX
Sophos	3.97.0	09.19.2005	Troj/BagleDl-U
Symantec	8.0	09.18.2005	no virus found
TheHacker	5.8.2.109	09.19.2005	no virus found
VBA32	3.10.4	09.19.2005	no virus found

Honestly, I am not a reseller for Skype, and no I am not on commission, but a recent article that I read broughy my attention to a new device on the market that could make it big (if only more handsets supported it).
As I have mentioned before, you can buy handsets that look and feel like your normal wireless phone that is connected to the PSTN (the old wire telephone system). You can also buy Wireless phones that connect to your PC via USB device, working on the bluetooth frequency range.
Well some smart company (Enustech) has created a device that works with two IM/VOIP products, one of which is Skype. You plug the device into your USB port and it communicates with your cell/mobile phone allowing you to place calls via your Mobile phone when within 50 feet of your PC. So now you won't pay expensive cell/mobile rates and when your caller looks at the ID, it will display your own cell/mobile number.

Links:
http://www.phoneyworld.com/newspage.aspx?n=1344
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/skyping-your-cellphone-124827.php

Updated: 13/09/2005 16:05

http://www.hopshopuk.com

Can't remember how I managed to end up on this site, but I had quite a good look round and it got me thinking about starting my own brews in time for Christmas.
I have fond memories of my dad making his Home Brew when I was younger and it was really good stuff too. I couldn't write it here that I used to sneak the odd tipple from the barrel because my dad reads this ;)
They have a huge range of equipment and supplies, and I might just give one or two of them a go.

Russia’s Federal Nuclear Energy Agency has made a decision to build a low capacity floating nuclear power plant (FNPP), the first project of its kind in the world. The plant will be small and will produce roughly 1/150th of the power produced by a standard Russian nuclear power plant. Construction could begin in 2006 if the project finds financing.

I nearly choked on my cuppa when I read this headline. Erm, excuse me, a floating mobile Power Plant. (Or change that to a floating mobile terrorist platform!!!).
And not that I have a lack of faith in the Russian Nuclear Industry (erm..Chernobyl?), but a floating platform!
It just seems a little dangerous to me to have this 'thing' sat off the coast pumping cooling water through its systems, or breaking its moorings and running aground.
No doubt there are systems in place to guard against any incidents, and in reality, is it any difference from a nuclear power plant as used on many of our submarines/warships.
And on the plus side, it is not a fossil fuel hog, and one would therefore hope, providing it works properly, a damn site more healthier for our environment.

By Doug Young
SHANGHAI, Sept 9 - China Telecom has started blocking access to a popular Internet telephone service that is threatening its long-distance revenue, according to local media reports and Internet postings.

Whether this has more to do with the Chinese Government trying to restrict communication access to the rest of the world, or whether it is a purely financial decision, I bet the rest of the worlds major phone companies wish they could do something similar.

In order to make a call from China to America so cheaply (2. cents/min as quoted in the above article), is to use one of Skypes premium services.
SkypeIn gives you a telephone number just like your normal PSTN that when dialed will actually ring which ever computer you are logged into that is running the Skype service. This allows users who do not have Skype (or even a PC) to call your Skype number. If your SkypeIn number is based in the UK, then the caller will get charged for calling the UK. If the caller is in the UK, then they get charge a local rate or National depending on where they are in relation to the SkypeIn number exchange.
But with Skype, you can have any number of SkyeIn numbers, so in my case I have one UK based and one US based SkypeIn number. The US one happens to be 817 xxx xxx which is Fort Worth area code where many of my friends and colleagues still live. So now anyone in the US who calls my SkypeIn number does not pay for a call to the UK, but to the 817 area code. So if the user is actually within (or near) the 817 area, they don't pay a cent for calling the UK.
So as you can see, you don't have to rely upon both ends of the conversation to have Skype in order to make a saving.

SkypeOut is a premium service that allows me to make calls TO the PSTN (i.e. the regular phone service). This is just a one off payment (for each period - currently 12months) that means I can make calls from any of my machines with Skype installed to any landline number.
And a thing to remember is say I go away from home, whether it be with my laptop, or via some internet cafe, or even from a PC in a friends house where we stay, if that PC has Skype installed, I simply log in to my account on that PC and all calls and voicemails are routed through to that PC. So it almost acts like a mobile phone in itself.

So now you understand why the Chinese authorities have jumped on this service because they no longer can charge the $1 per minute call rate. (It also makes it harder for them to monitor outgoing calls if you believe in the Big Brother theory).
It is also the reason why so many of the major phone companies worldwide are getting very nervous about this sort of service.
How long will it be before Telephone carries quit carrying telephone networks as their main business and become ISP's (Internet Service Providers).

Lastly, there are rumours that Ebay are in negotiations to purchase the Swiss based Skype company. Now this one I wouldn't object to, but a previous rumour had stated that Rupert Murdoch has also expressed an interest in purchasing the company.
If you stop and think about why someone would want to pay millions and millions for a company that gives away its software for free, lets people make free phone calls? And if everyone adopted Skype, then its Premium Services would also gradually be no longer required. In effect you would be buying a company in that the more sucessful it becomes, the less money it makes from its services. It will need to create new services in order to make money, say for example Video to Video calls, or for its Phone Answering Service, or for online directory access.
Instead of dialing number xxx-xxx-xxxx for a pizza, you just dial local-pizza and your call is routed through to a local pizza company.
Get used to the term VOIP, you'll be hearing it a lot over the next 18 months.

I've heard rumours that Google are on the lookout to spend some of that hard earned dosh and spread their wings into the realm of directories. (You know, them paper things that gather dust in some forgotten cupboard. If you are reading this, then chances are you probably use your computer to look up more things that you would use the 'old' Yellow Pages or Thompson directory).
It has been said in certain circles that they are going to purchase Yell (www.yell.com) and looking at the share price of Yell on the UK Stock Market, it seems that some people are speculating on that being the case.
It would give them access to more avenues to offer their advertising, but other than that, and I wonder what else they would gain from it. Yell being a free service now, would I guess remain a free service if Google took it on, but there obvious ties between both types of data. It would also give them access to millions of records to also enhance their search results (Froogle would benefit I guess the most).

Well if you are reading this, it means that the server move has been completed and you are now pulling pages from the new server.
If you see any errors let me know, since I had to make some site wide changes to a lot of the files because of an internal path change. Somethings might be broken that I don't know about. (I did test as much as I could, I think).

If anyone is ever in need of purchasing Windows XP Home Edition then I really would suggest giving this site a look: http://www.rjcampbell.co.uk/
I placed an order for a copy of Windows XP Home Edition yesterday afternoon, using his secure cart on his website and it arrived this morning at 9.30am. Not a bad turnaround. It was the same for all of my orders with Robert in the past as well. (I've order Office 2003 Proffession in the past).

Rest assured that I only sell genuine Microsoft products, with genuine product keys which can be activated by Microsoft.

If you are wondering how he can offer the software so cheap, I won't reveal all of his secrets, but the main one that you will notice is that the software is known as OEM.

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. OEM software is used by computer system builders, large and small. Large manufacturers have their own special OEM CDs which are tied to the bios settings of their hardware, so they cannot be used on competitor manufacturer computers. The OEMs sold from this website are unbranded Microsoft, and can be used on any PC or laptop, and are most suited to small scale computer system manufacturers. Smart people who don't want to pay high prices for retail packaging, also buy OEM

The above is an excerpt from Roberts site, and describes what OEM is perfectly. And has he also states elsewhere on his site, these are NOT illegal copies sold with false security keys. These are genuine Microsoft parts. Robert also does not send out SPAM adertising his products. Most (99.99%) of the emails that claim to sell cheap software are selling the illegal copies and you should never even click on those mails because there is no telling what else they are up to).

Many people are feared dead after Hurricane Katrina pummelled swathes of the southern coast of the US, causing extensive damage.

I know these things must be cyclic and that they have happened before, but this one does appear to be one of the biggest storms in at least the past 100 years.
And what is more alarming, is that is still considered to be the start of the Hurricane season, so there will be more to come. Whether or not they will be of the same magnitude as Katrina we shall have to wait and see.

You can see the path of hurricane Katrina at the BBC Site.

There can be no doubt that our weather is changing. Even in my 38 years on this planet, and from those years that I can remember, the change in weather patterns is very noticeable. Tornados in the UK were unheard of or very rare, so far this year alone there have been 5 'major' tornadoes. Now these would be considered cat 2 or 3 at worst by US Standards, but 5 years ago when I left for the US, there were one or two a decade, let alone a year.

Forget about whether or not the people should have built in the areas affected by Katrina, they did and that should be the end of it. No one could have predicted this sort of storm many years ago, but they are appearing now in regularity which is alarming.

This appears to be much worse than the Tsunami that ocurred on Boxing Day of 2004, and the damage is likely to be way more than in that region in financial but maybe not in terms of the cost of human life, although it appears many have lost their lives. It will be some months before the true cost becomes clear.
I have friends who have family in the area, and I already have heard from one of them that his sister lost everything they own apart from their lives. She was persuaded to go stay in Fort Worth until the storm passed, but was almost going to stay there and ride it out, because I don't think they expected it to be as bad as this, despite the warnings from forecasters.

The devastation is massive and the economy of the area has been thrown into chaos. Those opponents of gambling won't be too shocked about that, though we are talking about tens of thousands of employees who have lost their source of income for the foreseeable future. In the case of New Orleans which is situtated well below sea level, it may be years before that area ever returns to normal. The defences that were put in place will struggle to deal with the amount of water left behind from this storm let alone any future storms for the rest of the season this year.

My thoughts are with all of those affected by this storm. For those who want to donate any funds, the American Red Cross site is under quite a load at the moment so you can also make a donation via Amazon.

Having received a mail from Argos and watching the ITN news, I see that the much anticipated launch of the PSP has arrived.

Can't say that I'll be any rush to go out and buy one, but no doubt as the kids are due to start school again tomorrow, they will be coming back home saying that Joe Bloggs has one, can I have one Dad.

But in saying that, the two boys have enough pocket money/savings to buy one for themselves, and they don't seem to be wanting one just yet. They have become converts to playing games on the PC, which I find much better. It is a lot easier to upgrade PC Hardware than it is to go out and buy the latest Game Console every few years. I know its a big market for games in the console section, but I still prefer the PC Console.

I still can't see the point of spending £220 for the PSP and various accessories and then spending £30 per game for something not much bigger than a mobile phone.
They are far too small to play anything serious on it, but no doubt they will still become popular in the UK over the next few months

• 4.3in, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD colour screen (480 x 272 pixels).
  
• Built-in speakers.
  
• Exterior headphone connector.
  
• USB compatible.
  
• Wireless LAN - enables users to connect to the internet and play online via a wireless network (connect up to 16 PSP's).
  
• Play full 3D games, play UMD movies, play music, view photos and is portable.

Saw this posted on a website and it made me laugh.
They probably wouldn't be saying that if they lived over here and had to put up with the cak that we have to.
But then, there is some truth to what they say. Although I know what my dad is going to say when he reads the bit about Blair (being the huge fan that you are dad ;) not...)

Great Britain shows this ex-colony how it should be done:

Regarding the Russian submarine snarled in underwater cables a couple of weeks ago.......By the time we cleared all the bureaucratic "B.S." and got started, Great Britain had arrived, completed the rescue of the seven men trapped in the submarine, and were cleaning up.

England's Prime Minister Blair made a national speech yesterday in which he more or less said he didn't give a damn what color you were, what religion you practiced, or how long you'd been in England .... anyone stirring trouble was OUT .... DEPORTED .... GONE! We're having a hell of a time keeping men, women and children from crossing the borders illegally, we support them when they get here, and put people in jail for reporting them.

Within days of the terrorist attacks in England, Scotland Yard had accounted for every man involved. We're still looking for 9/11 terrorists, can't find Bin Laden, and are now trying to get "permission" to search people who might have bombs. While the rest of the world is dealing with major problems, we've got the whole damn Congress fighting over appointment of one Judge and whether or not the Atlanta Braves can keep their mascot.

We've become so politically correct we look like idiots to the rest of the world.

God Save the Queen.

I know I shouldn't have done but I had to laugh.

I had popped out to the local shopping center to pick up some medicine and softish type foods, as the wife isn't feeling rather great at the moment and has a rather sore throat.

After grabbing a few things in the local Tesco's I was packing them into the car when I noticed the Tesco Home Delivery van heading towards the roundabout. Now the thing that made me double look was the fact that the side panels were open. My first thought was that being a hot day, I would have expected the driver to close them down. But when I noticed the speed at which he was approaching the roundabout I knew what was going to happen. And it did. About 20 or so of the boxes came sliding out of the van spilling the contents all over the road. Bottles smashed, cartons split open, apples were rolling down the road. Big whoops.

Now even though this had the result that it completely blocked the entrance to the car parks and a large queue of people waiting to leave soon backed up behind the now parked van, not one person got out of their car to help him. Since there was no prospect of me leaving the car park in the next few moments, rather than join the queue of people waiting to get out, I walked the 200 odd yards to go help the poor guy. He was a tadge embarrassed to say the least but hey, these things happen. I hope they don't dock it from his wages... Now, ok, I did laugh at it just a little bit, but its not what I really laughed about.

Despite the fact that it had so far taken the two of us about 10 minutes to collect and move the shopping and various baskets, (it really was a right mess), the driver at the front of the queue still thought it necessary to 'honk' his horn and tell us to hurry up. I just looked at the middle aged guy (dang... just realized that I am a middle aged guy now), and gave him the evil stare. It took us another 5 minutes to get the road clear and the guy jumped back in his van and turned around to head back to the store. The rather obnoxious guy sped off giving me the bird as he went past looking rather smug with himself. Before I could react to that, there was an almighty pop as his front tire exploded. It appears we missed a bit of glass on the road and a smashed bottle top had embedded itself into his tire. Now this is what I really was laughing about. Because it was at a roundabout on the entrance to the next roundabout, he was already stopped. He must have heard the bang himself, that and the fact his car was no leaning over to the right, he got out to see what happened. I just walked up to him, and said "Thanks for the help chum, looks like we missed a bit, thanks for picking it up", turned around, gave him the bird and laughed myself silly all the way back to my car.

By the time I had left the car park and reached the spot where the accident was, he was parked at the side of the road struggling to take his wheel off. I just couldn't help driving fairly close to the bugger and honking a rather long and loud blast on my horn. I swear he must have leapt about 20 foot in the air and if I'm not mistaken, a damp patch formed upon his trouser's... I left the guy looking back at me driving off with my arm raised out the window in yet another salute. He was blushing a deep shade of red as I drove off, almost unable to steer with laughing so hard.

Before Google take over the world with their release of Google Talk, you should check out Skype. Not because there is anything wrong with Google Talk, (its just not out there yet for anyone to use), but because Skype is already there and working right now.
It will give you a chance to see what VOIP is all about if you have never used it before. The Skype service is actually quite good and to be honest, I don't know what sort of services Google will be offering.
For example, I have two 'normal' looking telephone numbers which Skype call "SkypeIn - or Skype In). A SkypeIn number is one that any regular telephone user can ring and it will come direct to whichever machine I am logged into with Skype running on it. (At home Skype runs on 3 of the PC's I have up and when someone rings it, it is like the end scene in the Lawnmower Man - and for all those who say what is the last scene in the Lawnmower Man, you are far too young, or you were not a techy when the movie came out).

To call me via Skype running on your PC, you can press the link below (apparently, but I am not in the habit of calling myself, so I can't tell you if it works).

Or when you load up Skype you can add "Shinerweb" as a contact and it should find me.

I have a couple of SkypeIn numbers for my business. One of them being UK based and the other US based. It is actually a US 817 area code which is the Fort Worth area of Texas.
This means that anyone in the US can call me for the price of a call to Fort Worth. So if they are in Fort Worth, they don't pay a penny (or a cent) for calling my Skype number in the US. So a free call from the US to the UK is not bad.
Anyone can also call my UK SkypeIn number within the UK and pay the price of a local call most often.
But remember, if you have Skype installed on your PC, and you use Skype to call me, then it costs you NOTHING !!!!
You can even get phones that look like ordinary phones that you use right now. They have base stations, wireless phones, answering machines etc etc. But instead of connecting them to your BT socket, they connect to Skype (via your PC or via a router/ADSL modem). These phones differ only to the normal household phone in that it uses the Skype Network to make calls. And if you have a SkypeIn and SkypeOut then you can call anyone, anywhere. The Phonebook is a bit more advanced on these types of phones too, because it can interact with your PC and/or retrieve your account information from the Skype Network.

The phone companies are absolutely bricking themselves at the moment (UK term for getting quite worried). In a sense they have been using VOIP for years when sending large volumes of telephone calls around the country/world. But they never really expected individual users to start using VOIP to make calls and it became the baby of the internet to drive this usage through.
Now anyone with a decent (>512k) internet connection speed can make VOIP calls that most often are superior in call quality to normal land line calls and a damn site cheaper (erm... free to be exact).
It won't be long before 99% of your calls will be VOIP in one form or another.

Skype differs from say the Call feature of Yahoo or MSN, and probably Google Talk. Yahoo and MSN are applications that have VOIP built in to it. Skype is a complete service based around VOIP and that is all that it does. All of its services are based around VOIP (such as the SkypeIn, SkypeOut, VoiceMail, Video Mail etc).
Now Google does have a chat program called Hello, which at present is not as popular as say Yahoo and MSN, and they are not intending to bold Google Talk onto that.
From what I have heard and read, Google Talk will be a standalone application and all it will do is VOIP. It might have some fancy VOIP based features, but it will not be an online chat program with VOIP bolted on. I don't know if it will have the same number or type of features as say Skype, but it should be quite good if all you want to do is make calls between two PC's for example.

But either way, I have been a user of Skype for quite some time and I have had no complaints. All of the calls I make to Land Lines which I have to pay for a really cheap. I think I paid 10 Euro's into my account a few months back and having just checked, I still have 7 Euros left and I have made quite a number of calls.
The best feature I like is that because it is my business number, it follows me round where ever I log in. If I am away, when I connect my laptop to the network, my Skype number is there with me so I am always reachable. (I can quite easily switch on my voicemail, which is also another great feature of Skype).
If you have never heard of it, or never used it, then I would seriously give it a trial. Something for nothing you say, there must be a catch. Well there honestly isn't.

But remember, Skype is probably not suitable for making Emergency Calls. Having a fire in your house for example which takes the power out might not make using your computer to make calls very easy. At present your normal phone is powered from the Exchange so it is 99.9999% always available. In the future, can you imagine the savings that phone companies will make if they don't have to provide the power for all of its users telephones. Can you imagine the BBC supplying the power for each person who is watching its channel? No. Funny that British Telecom supplies the power for EVERY user that makes a call on its network. (And I am not talking about the transformer that you have plugged in to power your answering machine, I am talking about the power to make your phone ring and send the voices back and forth etc).
So just like you should always have one simple phone plugged in somewhere in your house in case there is a power cut, you should always consider how you would make emergency calls if you were to rely on Skype.

My company has been up and running for about 4 months officially now, (it was in existence back in March, but not officially registered).
Things have been going well with a constant stream of work which is good news. Some was well paid, with a few smaller jobs to keep me ticking over. The only problem I have now is that I am at a stage where I need to decide whether to go back and work full-time for a company, or continue to work for myself.
I now have two guys working for me on a rather large project from the US and the prospect of several more larger projects in the very near future.
Financially things are ok at the moment. I'm never going to be the next MS with billions of dollars worth of work, but I can earn enough to keep me off the streets. Things could dry up totally in the next few months which is the uncertainty that makes me wonder about going back to work for Mr. Big. But these days there is no job security in most markets so that complicates things.
Ideally I would like to get the company to a stage where it ticks along on its own, and allow me to do more full time contracting, rather than full time work.

This week I really need to concentrate on releasing the first version of "TheBlogDoctor.com" web site. With all the recent publicity about Blogging in general, Photo blogging and VOIP I really need to take advantage of this freebie. Most of the background coding for the database management is complete, but I don't have much of the web site. design done yet. In fact I have just realized that I don't even have a logo designed for the site so I suppose I had better go sort that out today.

Those who use the Feed2JS script on my server will no doubt have noticed that I have finally updated both Feed2JS and MagpieRSS.
(For those non-technical of you, those are two modules that exist on my server and are used to provide syndicated content in web pages).
I was a couple of releases behind the latest on both modules and thought it best to update. One of the improvements is an improvement with the cache mechanism. You should also notice some speed improvements.

There is also a new method of displaying a link when clicked using a javascript function to produce a pop-up.

I did have a couple of hiccups when I rolled the new code onto the server so if I broke any of your pages I apologize. I also removed the "Powered by yaps4u.net" at the bottom. Most of you were kind enough to include a link back to my site anyway so there wasn't really a need to have it on every syndicated feed.

Anyone else wanting to use the service on my server is welcome to do so. There are quite a few people using it right now and the bandwidth doesn't appear too much of a load on my server. If the situtation arrises in the future where bandwidth becomes a problem, I will have to relocate the modules to a different server, but I will attempt to contact as many users as I can if this ever happens.

You can find the script here: http://www.yaps4u.net/feed2js/build.php

I've added three new feeds from the BBC to the left hand column.
There should be a feed for Gillingham, Portsmouth and Chelsea FC's there now. Mainly for my own use so I have some handy links to the BBC Sport site and so I can keep up to date with any news that appears there without having to go to the site every day. (One of the uses of RSS!!).

With the recent (MS05-038) and (MS05-039) problems from Microsoft, I decided to have a look at my web logs for the yaps4u.net domain to see what sort users where hitting my site.
In relation to the (MS05-039) problem, I wanted to see how many Windows 2000 users there were out there.

If you click on the extended entry below you will see the stats from my server logs taken over a 24 hour period and equates to about 6000 hits.

As you will see 13.98% of hits use Windows 2000 which is quite a sizeable chunk of internet users.
It appears that 60% of users are of the Windows flavour.
I suspect the low number of Firefox users is probably down to a few page rendering errors when viewing my site with that browser. I will sort it out one day when I find the part number for ordering some more roundtuits.

Over 30% of IE Browsers are pre-IE6 and closer examination of the logs shows that not all of them are patched or up to date, which is very worrying in this day and age.

I won't go into the Anti-Microsoft thing, mainly because I am pro-Microsoft. In fact I am pro-anything, I just refuse to jump on the bandwagon and attack Microsoft at any oppurtunity. They happen to produce the majority of the tools that I use to do my work, and they perform quite well on the whole, so they can't be getting it that wrong. And they always give the appearance of being concerned with customers, so I excuse them any transgressions they make over time. Not to say that wouldn't change if they ever forgot about customers for want of profit, but I can't see that happening.

As Firefox became popular enough to draw hacking resources away from IE, the problems appeared with that browser too. Ok, there won't be the hacker who wants to create an exploit just because it is Microsoft, but there will be the commercial hackers whose aim is to gain financial rewards from their hacking exploits (no pun intended), rather than the discrediting of a major organisation.
In fact recent studies have found that there has been a large increase in what has been called commercial hacking, moving away from the trend of specifically targetting home users. The exploits will still 'use' the home user as a platform for launching these attacks as these supply the majority of unsecured machines with which to do so.
Now they are more likely to use home machines to attack or gain entry to commerical networks, rather than retrieve an individuals personal data.

Needless to say, no matter whose product has been identified as having a potential or real vulnerability, average Joe must be provided with the education to keep their machines up to date with upgrades/patches and the latest security, or these users will go on providing the methods for the hackers to work their nasties.
Education of the public is a must so rather than directing our angst at one company or group, we should start focussing on bringing Joe Public up to speed.

As the father of an 11 year old son and two younger children, the news of the death of Rory Blackhall shocked me.
I can't imagine how his parents must feel and my heart goes out to them. I hope that they catch the person responsible and fast. Once they do, that person should be put on public show before being put to death by the most painful process possible. (This should go for anyone who takes a life, but taking the life of a child just makes me even more angry).

I know it is controversial, but it is about time that we created a national database of DNA samples. Start off by collecting a DNA sample at birth of all new born's, start collecting samples from anyone in prison, or about to be released from prison. Take samples from those awaiting trial, or under suspect. Take samples from anyone visiting their doctor, hospital, dentist, optician. And don't stop taking samples until we have the whole UK on file. And if you want to visit the UK, you have to provide a sample on entry to the country.

Ok, there are going to be the people who say it is an infringement of my human rights to have that sort of information stored about me? What rubbish!
The only real problem would be the possible misuse of that information. (Selling it to companies for profiling or some other reason).

Can you imagine the effect on crime it would have? It would not prevent all crimes from being permitted but it would allow the identification of those responsible much faster and using less resources than at present. It could prevent repeat offenders from committing multiple offences. Most crime scenes would contain some DNA sample from the offender and with a National Database it would also act as a great deterrent.

What do I have to lose? Nothing. What do I have to gain? Everything.

The pros far out way the cons and I really hope that in future these sort of steps are taken. I don't think it would ever happen in mine or my kids lifetime. It may not have prevented the tragic death of Rory Blackhall but it may have helped to quickly identify that offender.

Yeah yeah, there are going to be loads of you who will complain about this post but I don't give a damn about your thoughts. You are entitled to them and I respect them, but my thoughts and fears are for my own children and family. Whatever I can do to make them safe I would do at any cost, so losing a little of my confidentiality is small cost to enable that.

Once again, my thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Rory Blackhall.

We were round at the neighbours last night for a BBQ and had just moved inside as it became colder when there was an almight commotion outside on the main road through Bramley.
When we got outside a police car had pulled over a white van and the occupants had left the van and were running away from the lone policemen.
The van had a smashed wingmirror and a punctured right front tire, so it didn't appear as if it had been 'stinger'ed'.
One of the guys had run down the side of a house on the other side of the road and we didn't see where the others had run to.
With us thinking the excitement over we moved back inside and then about 20mins later, our neighbours daughter who was watching from an upstairs window said that one of the escapees had returned and given himself up to the police (which had increased in numbers by this time).
Since they were only 30ft from our house and the curtains were open, my two dogs were going mad with all the activity outside our house so I had to pop round and close all the curtains and turn some music on to drown out the noise else they would have barked themselves silly.
We don't have a clue what is was all about, and for Bramley it was quite exciting really. Not much passes through here except traffic and quite a few tractors.

It was then that our neighbour told us the story of the day she looked out the window at the road and there was a 'kangeroo' bouncing up and down the road. After a few looks she realised she wasn't dreaming. When she phoned the police, she didn't quite know how to say what she saw until the policewoman on the other end said, "Don't tell me, Bramley and you've spotted a Kangeroo!!".
They had received a number of reports about it, which also confirmed she was not seeing things.
As it happens, there is a large estate quite close which apparently has wallabies and one of them had escape. The RSPCA came and captured the animal and returned it back to the owners.

So it appears there is excitement in Bramley, every now and then.

Back in June this year I received my Visa statement through the post but since I hardly use the card I left the letter on the desk for a few days. The balance isn't that much and I had already set up payment to occur later in June. I also tend to access the account details via the web and had recently checked the status after my last online purchase.
I tend to make a purchase and then set up a payment for the same amount to occur the following month.

One of the reasons for doing this is that:

About a week later I was going through some paperwork and came across the statement and opened it in preparation to file it away. What I didn't expect to see was the amount I reckoned on, plus another £3,750.

Having come down from the ceiling I began to wonder what I had purchased in the last few weeks for that amount and scanned the list for the £3,750. There it was against #BETFAIR LONDON back at the end of the month.
At that time I had never heard of BETFAIR but I think you could guess it was something to do with a Bookmakers. As it happens, since I have been watching the Test Cricket, BETFAIR have been splashed all over the place and even the blimp that provides the aerial coverage is sponsored by Betfair.
One thing I did know is that neither me or the wife had made a purchase with Betfair. I wasn't really worried about it since I knew that I am extremely careful when it comes to online credit card usage. I also knew for a fact that this card had never left the house and was only used for online purchases.

I phone the credit card company who looked after my Visa account who promptly apologized there and then, and credited back any interest calculated on the amount and promised to begin an investigation. The following month the £3,750 was credited back to my account and there ended my responsibility for it. The credit card company had sent a questionnaire which I had completed and sent back and were conducting their own investigation.

After phoning them today to see how far they had gone with their investigations mainly because I wanted to know more about how this could have happened just incase I had contributed to it in some way. The only way I could think of this happening is if one of my previous online purchases had involved the credit card number being used by someone at that company. This narrowed it down to only two purchases that did not use the Verified by Visa process but after looking in to those companies it didn't seem likely to me.

As it transpired, the purchase was made either online at the Betfair web site, or via the phone. Even the Visa company cannot be sure of that at this time. What they are sure of is that Betfair did not follow the industry accepted practice of customer verification. They only required the Visa Card number and didn't have a name or address. This makes the credit card company think that one of the Credit Card Random Number generators was used to create a sequence of credit card numbers.
Most credit cards have a fixed number of digits followed by what is meant to be 10 random digits (which are in fact a known sequence, but its not meant to be known by you or I). Had Betfair requested other user identification the transaction would not have taken place since who ever made the purchase only had this 'made up number' and no other details. So the blame lies fairly at the hands of Betfair, who my credit card company will be claiming the £3,750 back from in the near future.

I would like to follow this up with Betfair and find out how they could allow this to happen. You can bet that for every person who finds an unknown amount on their statement, there are those that don't bother to check their statements that closely. Obviously this was quite a large transaction and stuck out quite obviously, but how many people check ALL of their transactions. If you use your credit card a lot, as most people do these days, I doubt that all of use pay attention to the smaller purchases.

Just imaging you generated a million random credit card numbers and charged just a £1 to each of those accounts. It is not an amount that is likely to jump out at you when checking your statement but it soon adds up. Obviously it should be quite easy to follow the trail back to wherever the money is being paid into.

In my instance, I would like to know how someone can open a Betfair account, pay in £3,750 in credit and then use that account. How are any winnings paid? Into some foreign account that can't be traced. This seems like a great method of money laundering, or in fact a nice litter earner for the fraudsters. I have not checked into Betfair too much, but I wonder how much information is required to open an account. I suspect that very little if any verification is performed, else this incident would never have happened in the first place.

I would say if you were going to Bet Fair, then they should play by the rules. I don't believe them to be the only ones who are suffering from this problem either as there has been a large increase in this type of online activity in the past few years.

I will be writing to BetFair to see what they have to say about the matter, but I won't be able to discuss the specifics with them because of the potential Police investigation being taken. It should be interesting to hear their side of the story... I'll post more details when they get back to me.

As leaked documents appear to throw new light on the mistaken shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, BBC News Website looks at the passage of events which led to his death and what followed.

A few weeks back I made a post about this subject and I still stand what I said back then.
How these details were released I think is a bit suspect. I reckon that someone internal must have thought a cover up was going to take place and leaked the details. Either that or one of our friends over water helped to leak our reports again (remember the tube photos that appeared on US TV before anyone over here knew they existed).
Either way, it appears that some mistakes were made along the way. I hope that they don't punish the people on the ground and that someone in authority takes blame for what has happened.

I still support the officers on the grounds 110% as god knows what I would do in there shoes. You can't imagine to think what they were thinking at the time when there was the possibility of him having a bomb on him (which later turned out to be no threat at all, but I would point out again that there was no way for the officers at the scene to know that without better information being supplied from elsewhere). The only strange aspect of the leaked report was the mentioning of the suspect being held down by one officer and then shot by another. I can't quite understand why there was a need for shooting him if he was in fact being immobilized already. But again, I wasn't there and the only ones who know what really went on will never be allowed to explain their actions.

Personally I don't believe there was any 'gung ho' hero type actions by some mad gun wielding officer, merely a very misfortunate incident for all parties, not least the family of the victim.

I do hope that there wasn't going to be a cover up which is why someone leaked the preliminary findings.

Having seen the outburst by John McCririck at the funeral of Robin Cook he has gone even further down my list of favourites. (Note: He was already down there amongst Gonorrhea, Piles and annoying TV Personalities, but now he has hit new lows).

I think he was on one of those TV Reality shows a while back, but the instant I heard his voice I switched channels and avoided that channel for weeks incase I heard him again. Not only is he damned annoying anyway, but his voice drives me mental as well.

I am sure he perfected his betting signals by the various hand movements he probably does in private (being the total wanger that he his).

The comments were made at a totally inappropriate moment. It might not have been so bad if he waited until a few days later, or made a comment in the press. But why do it when the whole family are there? Why do it when it was meant to be a celebration of Robin Cooks life. I was not a big fan of Robin Cook either, but I still saw those comments as a mark of bad respect from someone who claimed to be a friend of his.

John McCririck should count himself lucky. I doubt anyone will be attending his funeral. Those that do will probably all be masters at the same hand signals he uses and not one of them will be a booky. They'll all be doing the same hand signal at him as they lower his coffin.

McCririck... go somewhere quiet and don't show your face for the rest of your life. You are an annoying soab and have really shot yourself in the foot this time. Either that or have the guts to stand up in public and apologize not for what you said, because you can have an opinion, I don't have a problem with what you said, just where and when you said it.

Having phoned the local branch of Halfords in Basingstoke on Monday to see if they had something in stock they told me that they didn't but suggested one or two stores in Reading. (Reading is only about 14miles from here so it is not that further).
I then phoned the first of the Reading stores but they too didn't have it in stock. Success on the second phone call though as the store in Winnersh, Reading had 3 in stock plus the display item which they could sell if need be. He also said that they don't sell too many of them so it would be no problem. Hmmm... Bad omen...

This morning at 8.30am Tiarnan and myself drove up to Winnersh getting stuck in a 2 mile traffic jam waiting to join the M4 at junction 11. We then had no problems find the place and arrived at around 9.15am. (What I have left out is that we had actually gone to the store on Tuesday but couldn't find the place...So much for Mapquest.com. This time I used viamichelin.com and it was much easier to find. I was only one turn of a roundabout out last time). So anyway, we walked into the store and some spotty geeky greased up Buddy Holly lookalike was gabbing away to another member of staff. The other guy tried his best to stop the conversation to talk to me but Buddy wouldn't stop. Eventually he turned around and gave me a "Yeah ??". I told him the product I was after and he said "Nope.." and turned his back on me and started talking away again. The other guy was even blushing it was that obvious. I just started talking to the back of his head telling him the about the conversation I had on the phone the other day saying that there were some out back, to which he replied that they had sold it the previous day. When I told him that there were meant to be four out back he said, "Nope !!" and began to walk away. Now I was getting a tadge miffed so I suggested he actually go look and check as I had travelled up from Basingstoke as a result of a call confirming that they had the item in stock.
Begrudgingly he trundled off to the store room which happened to coincide with the sudden freshening of the surrounding air? And there was me thinking it was the store that had an odour problem. To be honest there wasn't much going for him.
I already knew what his answer would be regardless of whether they had any in the storeroom. And I was right. So off he turned and walked away just leaving me there. This was the point at which I said "Oy...", and he lounged his way back rolling his eyes at me.

I told him I was not happy with him and asked him to phone round some other stores and see if they had any in stock. He just stood there, so I pointed out the phone to him and reminded him it was probably a 9 for an outside line. One of the other staff came over and said why don't we just sell the display item as some new ones were on the way. It was at this point I realised he might have been the manager because he quite rudely told the guy to go away and said the woman who had suggested it that should know better!! So it wasn't just customers that he could be rude to.
This time I stood next to him while he phoned, (which under the circumstances was quite hard to do) and eventually he said, "Ok, good, you have 4 on the floor plus a display one you could sell". He then put the phone down, simply said "Bracknell" and walked off. This time I shouted after him, "Go on then, give me a clue. Where the heck is the store in Bracknell!!".
His reply was predictably unhelpful so at this point I asked another of the store guys.

So after driving the 40mins to Bracknell, spending another 45 minutes looking for the store (which also included a 15 minute stop for both of us to munch our way through a monster bacon role each. It also happened to be the guy cooking the bacon that gave us the directions we needed to find the place).

We eventually reached the store and you could not believe the difference in attitude from the staff. No sooner had I walked through the door than an assistant was there asking if I needed help. I explained that Winnersh had phoned through and told them what I was after. It was the manager who I then dealt with at the checkout and he arranged for a guy to go collect all the parts I needed, and arranged for another guy to go outside and fit it.
During the fitting, the manager came out to help and was the most pleasent guy. Very proffesional and extremely courteous. He even offered Tiarnan a can of drink while we were waiting. He asked where I had come up from and I said mid way between Basingstoke and Reading when he told me that he had been looking at a house in Bramley. When I told him that was where I lived it then turned out the house he was looking at was over the road from were I live. Small world. We got chatting some more and I also found out he moved to the Bracknell store as a manager having been born, schooled and working in Sittingbourne which was about 20/30mins from where I grew up in the Medway towns. Indeed a small world.
He was most apologetic for the time it was taking to fit it and for me having to come to Bracknell to get it. He couldn't understand why Basingstoke sent me here, as Winnersh had 4 of them in stock according to the computer!! I didn't tell him the whole story but just explained that I just come from there.
I've written a letter to Halfords head office because the guy in Winnersh needs to be kicked out on his rear, or at least sent to work in Bracknell for a period to see how a real manager should manage and to learn what customer support is all about.
A big thunbs up to the manager and staff in Bracknell, but Buddy "Phill" Holly in Winnersh and go take a running jump. (Preferrably into a bath or shower too!). He wasn't the only thing stinking, his customer service did too, and just as bad. Both left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I've been a PIPEX ISP user for as long as I can remember. I had tried several other ISP's over the years but none have come close to the reliability and service that they have given me.
The only problems I have had with my connection are from BT who supply the line that I use. They have sometimes been quite purposely awkward when they find out that I am a PIPEX user and not a BT user. BT once told PIPEX that my line could not support speeds greater than 512k, and then the following week I receievd a letter and a phone call asking me if I wanted a 2meg connection with BT. Both Pipex and I complained to BT and funnily enough they connected me up and all was fine.

I am so confident that you will be impressed with PIPEX that I will pay your first month for you. Basically for every person that I refer who signs up to PIPEX and remains a customer for one month, I get a free month. So once you complete your first month and I get confirmation, I'll write you a check out for that amount and send it to you. I am not out to make any money from it, I just want to pass on how good I think PIPEX are, I am that confident you will be as impressed as I am.

This would be in addition to any PIPEX offers as it is totally unrelated to them. I will also add that they have nothing to do with what I am offering either.

If you’ve chosen to switch to PIPEX from another broadband service provider, you will also be able to take advantage of our "Switch to PIPEX" offer, where you can get free set-up and up to one month free.

If you are interested, drop me an email (the address is somewhere on this page, if not leave a comment and I'll get back to you.
Needless to say, you have to be resident in the UK and be in an area where PIPEX covers, (but if you have access to a BT line, you are more than likely to be within coverage of PIPEX).

https://www.mypipex.net/solo/services/raf/how_it_works.php

http://www.pipex.com/

We are off down to Cornwall in a wee while for a week. Since we are taking the dogs, there will be no room left in the car for the luggage so I wanted to get a roof box.
Initially I was going to just pop down to Halfords and see what they had, but since I had to search to see if they had any available, I thought I would have a look online to see what was out there.

I found this site (http://www.roof-rack-supplies.co.uk/) which also has a great sister site for canoes (http://www.brighton-canoes.co.uk/). I suppose if you have a canoe, you would need a fairly decent rack to put it on.

Roof Racks, Bars, Carriers, Boxes & Accessories from Paddy Hopkirk, Mont Blanc & Karrite. Roof Rack Supplies UK offers you online sales of an unparallelled range of roof bars, racks and accessories for your car & van.

Drop them an email, they are very quick at answering it and will help you out. Unlike most shops that have an online presence but never bother to read their email, this lot answered my mail in under 24 hours. They also have quite an impressive stock list from a number of suppliers.

Seeing as my son starts secondary school in 5 weeks time and one of his subjects will be French, I've been looking at various software.
One of the better ones appears to be: http://www.linkwordlanguages.com

Linkword French Levels 1 to 4 software language courses. Level 1 teaches an extensive vocabulary and basic grammar in just 10-12 hours, about 3 times faster than normal learning methods. At the end of level 1 you would be able to say, for example 'Where is the waiter?' What is the time?' or 'Help, I want an ambulance' or 'He wants the Bill' etc. The level 2 course takes slightly longer to go through but after completing level 2 your vocabulary and grammar will be virtually doubled, and the increased number of verbs will allow you greater flexibility in speaking. The levels 3 and 4 courses involve an increased intensity of grammar so that at the end of the course you will be able to write letters, use verbs in the past, present and future, deal with complex prepositions, and much, much more.

C'a été un long temps (24 ans) puisque le bout de I a fait des leçons françaises. Je ne peux pas dire que mon professeur français et moi avons poursuivi très bien.

After working for the NHS for the past 20 years my wife leaves tonight for a job in the private sector. She has had time out before when on maternity leave and then while we were living in the US.

My wife will be working in the hospital where I had my back operation, on the same ward no less. There was I lying in my sick bed, and the nurses were offering my wife a job!! The sister who worked on the ward knew my wife and was doing a good sales pitch. Despite the good words said about the private hospital, my wife still struggled with her morals as do most nurses when they consider leaving the NHS. A lot of them see it as going over to the dark side.

Personally, the extra money she will be getting is not the reason why I am glad to see her go. I doubt if it will be that much in the long run anyway, but for me the biggest issue I have is the stress that she has been placed under at the North Hants Hospital.

As I mentioned months ago, there were periods when she would finish a 3-4 day stint and the following day or week, the rest of the family would go down with some major new virulent strain of diarrhea and vomiting bug. She even came down with it a few times and the nurses usually have a strong immunity to most of the diseases that go around being in contact with them nearly all of the time.

When we were in the US, although very pricey even with Medical Insurance, the medical care itself was first rate. When ever I spoke and they realised I was from England, they used to tell me how much they strived to be as good as the NHS. When I laughed they never understood or believed me when I told them how bad it was.

The standard of cleanliness on my wife’s ward is atrocious. The ward was meant to be handling diabetic patients but it looked more like an old people’s home. There were at least 2 deaths a week minimum, sometimes maybe more. Most of the patients were at deaths door, continuously crapping and wetting themselves. There were instances of my wife discovering patients who had been laying in their own 'waste' for so long that it had dried to them. When she brought this up with the day staff, they just had never got round to that patient after cleaning up the other ones.

One of the nurses found that one of the patients had been put on a drip that had expired by some months. (We are not just talking about a few months either). She looked to see who had issued the IV/drip and in turned out to be someone quite senior. She wrote up an incident in the log and some weeks later when the monthly report came out was amazed to see no mention of this in the incident report. When she went to check the log, her entry had miraculously disappeared!!. You see, it’s the senior ward staff that go through and submit the reports to the enquiry board so they were hardly likely to report themselves.

There was also another instance where my wife was instructed to accept some new patients into one of the bays. She said she could not because 2 of the patients had MRSA. More specifically, one of them had tested +ve and still had it, whilst the other had been +ve but was recovering from it and most probably over the threat of passing it on.

Now MRSA is not some superbug restricted to hospitals. Most of us have it ourselves, but we are fit and healthy and therefore it does not affect us in quite the same way. But as I mentioned above, most of the patients on this ward are very sick/or dying. These patients are most at risk from the effects of MRSA and are not able to fight it off on their own. (And there are not many drugs that can help either). When she complained that there was no room she was told in no uncertain terms to open up the bay with the two MRSA patients in. Despite her complaints she was overruled and told the patients were on the way down. She took the decision to move the most serious MRSA patient about 20-30 yards down the corridor effectively placing the patient on another ward, even though it was not even a stones throw from his old bay. My wife and a few other nurses then spent a good while scrubbing down the bay to minimize the effects of the MRSA bug from the previous patient.

The two new patients duly arrived and were placed into a very clean bay of their own. The fallout the next morning was unbelievable. The ward sister gave my wife a right telling off for moving the patient off the ward. It meant that the patients doctor had to walk an extra few feet to go see his patient, and the patient was no longer on 'his' ward. He apparently did his nut at the ward sister and rather than stand up for her staff, she just agreed with the doctor and gave a rollicking to my wife. This was despite my wife actually speaking to another senior ward sister who agreed with her only to then back up the doctor once he went ape.
(These would also be the same senior ward staff that has control over the incident log by the way!).

There was one night when my wife went into work, opened the door to the ward to be met by complete darkness. They had shut the ward because of infections from various bugs and moved it somewhere else. It took her almost 45minutes to find out where they had been moved to. (She was joined by a couple more staff on her travels).
This happened quite often, but the most serious ward change events happened when the opened up a specific ward to look after all patients from other wards that had super bugs of all sorts. One night, she was volunteered to work on one such ward, so her and a few other nurses from the other wards were sent down to man the 'super bug' ward. This usually meant that a ward that had been closed due to lack of funds was opened up just to take patients from around the hospital. It meant barrier nursing at all times, and she was only allowed to work on this ward until all the patients were able to return to their own wards.

On one such night, a patient arrested just after they had starter their shift. When they eventually found the crash trolley there was a lot of essential equipment missing. Most of the drugs that they needed were not there. This meant someone running round the other wards trying to beg borrow or steal. But because they were the nasty infections ward, they were effectively banned from entering all the other wards in the hospital, so a lot of telephoning and shouting through doors was done.

As it was for a lot of supplies, none of the wards wanted to give them anything because it was going to come off their budget of which ALL wards were already massively overspent. It took a lot of arguing or stealing or some helpful member of staff going against their senior staff to get what they needed to run the ward.

At this moment in time, there is a total ban on overtime by ALL staff. They are not allowed to use bank nurses at all right now because they cannot afford to pay the bank nurses wages. (There is actually a limit of 7 bank nurse uses a month, but last night alone there was a requirement for 31 bank nurses). They are also talking about making redundancies because they do not have enough money to pay the wages so it appears that some nursing staff will be losing their jobs. Basically what will happen is a few more wards will be shut down with some staff laid off, and some moved to other wards.

You will notice that there are a lot of foreign nurses in our hospitals at the moment. A lot of them came over at the request of the NHS having been lured to come work for the best health authority in the world. After all, it was us who created the free healthcare program for all. A lot of them were taken on with 2, 3 or 4 year contracts. Most of them want to break those contracts too. They are so shocked and feel so betrayed. Many of the nurses brought in are way more qualified than any of the British nurses, but are not employed in high positions. They are used at the lowest levels possible in many cases. In some instances, foreign nurses are being employed as Health Assistants having been told it’s basically a nurse. Most of them are shocked at the state of the hospitals and wish they had never moved. It seems because they speak English with very strong accents that we think we must talk 'very slowly' to them in the typical English arrogance that we have towards anyone who does not speak English as a first language. We ignore there qualifications say that they are not British. A few of them were promised that they would be promoted after a while, but none are. There is nurse on my wife’s ward who back home in her home country 'ran' the whole hospital. Over here she is in the most junior position because her English is not as good as it was expected to be. A total crock of poo if ever I heard one, she speaks extremely good English, but with a very strong accent.

A lot of the Indian nurses and many of the other foreign nurses also refuse, or more correctly don't expect to do cleaning as part of their job. After all, they are nurses so they nurse. In their own countries there is a cast system usually whereby the lower class citizens are employed to do the menial tasks. Their hospitals are most often spotless because they have an abundance of cleaners (actually thanks now to the NHS they too have shortages of trained medical staff, although once the stories get back and the contracts of those over here end, it will get better once again). They do clean, but only after being told to by a member of staff. They just don't think of doing it when they see it because it is not what they are used to. Most often, the senior staff just ignores it because they are just glad to have the numbers on the wards.

There was a case the other night where a temporary member of staff came on shift for a night duty was so appalled by the conditions that when she went on her break, she carried on home. She'd had enough. Most of the staff end their shift in tears having become so stress out. Our nurses are burning themselves out and nothing is being done about it. The thing about nurses is that they don't complain, they don't like to rock the boat and they will do as they are told. They give 110% to the patient and 0% to themselves. You could pay them peanuts and they would do the job, (oh yeah, we do pay them peanuts!!).

It is not just the North Hants Hospital (North Hampshire Hospital - NHH), the whole of the NHS is falling apart. I am glad that my wife is out of it, because of the conditions she was working and being put under.

We have another few years before the next elections when it will become top news again, but until then, it will be swept under the carpet. Upper management will juggle the books, waiting lists will get longer, staff numbers will drop below the already dangerous levels that exist.
I cannot understand why the NHS management do not run their hospitals as if they were private hospitals. At the moment they have management that like to thing they do just that except they don't have shareholders to keep happy. If a management team in a private hospital started losing money, they'd be out before the end of the week make no mistake about it. The problems are a lot greater than that and not as simple as I make it out to be, but hello... Private hospitals are working and are making a profit. They have a great standard of care and a great success rate. There are still people in the UK who would not go private because its 'not the done thing'. The 'I am not from that class of people who go private". Erm... hello, this is the 21st century. Apparently you have paid your money in taxes so why bother paying more money out to a private hospital. Well actually, by going private if you can afford it, you are actually saving more money. The NHS hospitals are so inefficient that they make a loss for each patient that they treat. So by taking yourself private you are saving that loss! Therefore reducing your taxes.

I would like to see an NHS hospital set up as a private hospital, only treating NHS patients. It won't get its money from Health Insurance companies, it will be paid by the patients local health authority. It will have nursing staff supplied by the NHS being paid NHS levels (or probably greater since there will be more money available). They will have access to the same level of diagnostics that private hospitals have and will pay for them in the same way. It needs taking back to square one and starting again. Something has to happen before our whole countries health system collapses.

Just imagine one major outbreak of 'Bird Flu' and we won't need to worry about high house prices and unemployment for a long long time. We'll have ghost towns the size of Birmingham and hardly any jobs to work at. It will do more damage to the UK than all of any previous World Wars.

It was a terrible decision for the police involved and it will live with them for ages.
He could have been wired to explode and they would have risked the lives of many around them had they not taken action. Yet again he may not have understood who was chasing him and why? (He had been in the UK for 3 years so you would hope he would understand English!).
I don't think you can label this as any thing other than a very unfortunate accident. The press cannot be allowed to use this to drive a wedge between the police and the public. If we allow this wedge to increase, the bombers will succeed. Let us educate the public that if challenged, STOP. Do not leave unattended items, do cooperate at all times.
We must help the police and authorities in this problem and not put them in the position that they were placed in this unfortunate instance. My heart goes out to both the family and friends of Jean Charles de Menezes and to the officers involved.

As to whether the police have a shoot to kill policy, the press need to rename this as Shoot to Save Lives.

Will the person who stole my step ladder yesterday please return item forthwith or further steps will be taken.

Justice minister Cathy Jamieson hit out at critics of Britain's longest speed trap, which is in Ayrshire.
Speaking at the launch of the "average speed" safety camera system on the A77, she said it was an important milestone in the battle to reduce road injuries.
The cameras measure speeds between various points along a 28-mile stretch and calculate the average speed.

This will hopefully be the first of many of these types of speed traps. So many times do you hear the complaints that the regular single camera speed traps are just revenue generators.
Well apart from the fact that they won't generate any revenue if you don't speed (which is illegal), this will stop the annoying habit of those idiots that slam their brakes on coming up to the camera, then put their foot down speeding towards the next camera, to then repeat the whole cycle until the speed cameras stop.
Even when I was at at just over 70, this jag driver would speed off into the distance, approach the camera, slam his brakes on, at which point I would catch up and draw level, we would then pass the camera and he would speed up again. Meanwhile I was still doing the same speed and again as he braked, I would draw level. He couldn't work out what I was laughing at and sped off again, only for me to draw level once more. He just didn't get it.

Actually, I've just realised that the averaging camera won't stop the likes of the jag driver above, since I just proved that his average speed was within the limit (as we always appeared level...hmmm)
I'm not too fussed about putting them on all the motorways. I am more interested in their use on local roads in rural areas.
For example, we have one speed camera on the main road that goes through our village.
We have a 30MPH limit along the majority of the road, but we have had drivers clocked at over 100MPH on occaisions. Most drivers usually exceed 40MPH and the average is probably around 50MPH.
Having a camera at the start of the road, and then at the end of the road would stop those speeding period. There would be no way to defeat a system like that. You could also put cameras on various exits along that road, or have temporary cameras could be placed on random days along those exits.

It would be a revenue generator, especially around this area. But so what? It is generating revenue because people are breaking the law.
Some argue that the money is not spent on road safety, but on other policing costs. So what? It's their money once I have broken the law and paid my fine.
To those that continually speed it will get expensive very quickly, and possibly mean the lost of their licence. That is a big improvement on road safety.

I've not always been a fan of speed cameras. Mostly around the time I had 9 points on my licence for 3 SP30 speeding offences. One of them was a bit dubious, but the other two were both valid speeding offences. I had no justifcation for speeding, and where I was unlucky to get caught, you could just as well say I was even luckier not to cause an accident or kill even kill someone.
I've completed a number of driving training courses including high speed pursuit and escape practices whilst I was in the Royal Navy and I would like to think I can handle a car, but it doesn't give me the right to speed. I won't say I don't speed now, but I will say that I won't complain when I get caught. I try to stick to the Limit + 10% + 3mph 'unwritten' rule. These are usually the limits that you will get a ticket if you exceed. Originally they were used because of the various tolerances in the systems used for determining the speed of vehicle. So on a 70mph motorway, it gives you an unofficial limit of 70 + 7 + 3 = 80mph. Most of us know that you can do 80mph on a motorway and the patrols/cameras won't even bother you. But, that doesn't mean you can do 80mph in zero visability because of weather and get away with it, (if a copper was to see you doing 70mph he should probably throw the book at you whether that is the limit or not!!).
This 'unofficial' limit is why the speed limit on the Motorway has not been increased to say 80 or higher. If you set the legal limit at 80, then more people would approach 100.
80mph on a motorway is fine for me. I don't care if my car can do 140mph. If I wanted to do that speed, I take it to a track day.

Now, if I still had my 160bhp 155mph Honda VTR sports bike; (1) I would probably be keeping it in 12 month storage while I wait for my licence to come back. (2) It would be melted down to provide the alloys for my wheelchair that I would need for the rest of my life if I was lucky.

Well today is the day for the decision on where the 2012 Olympics will be held.
I am beginning to think that maybe France or the UK won't get to host it. I am sure that the decision will be influenced by the bickering between the two countries. Another reason to hate the French. If they are fed up with it, I reckon Spain will benefit most, followed by New York. Russia are out of the equation for some unknown reason(tic).
With the G8 conference about to start, I can just imagine how smug Chirac will be if France win the decision.
I think his recent comments about the standard of English food were taken out of context, but then he is considered one of the most arogent leaders in the world, and is primarily the reason why French people are getting such a bad reputation in this world today. Still, its another good reason to hate the french.

I read about Karla Homolka several months back on Carolyn's site and ended up reading about the case via a link I found on her site.
It was a very disturbing case in which she basically supported her husband in his rape and murder of several women.
She was convicted and given a reduced sentence of 12 years because she agreed to give evidence against her husband.
Her release has sparked a wave of contraversy in Canada especially as she is now fighting to keep her identity and location secret.
I was surprised to see that it even made the National BBC News a few days ago, which prompted me to write about it here. It was quite an indepth report about the case.
It appears we are not the only country whose penal system is in dissary and need of bringing into the 21st century.

I am hoping to launch the HostUTrust webiste this week. Seeing as I already have quite a few customers, I suppose I had better get the site up and running so they can contact me and make things official.

Tonight I have to complete the User Agreements, SPAM Policies, Acceptable Use and Privacy Policy. Really interesting stuff... Not...

Tomorrows task will be to integrate the automated payment collection system. This will let you pay via credit card or Paypal.
Then the scripts that let you search for domain name availability have to be transferred to the main server. This is probably where I find out that my testing server has a different configuration than that on my webserver.

And then I get an email earlier on tonight from a company wanting an updated quotation before tomorrow. So I guess tonight is going to be a late one.
(If I didn't take a break to write something on here, I'd being going mad, if you wondered why I have time to sit here and blog complete rubbish).

Mmy connection has been going up and down like a yo-yo today and the storms we had were not that bad. They were more short periods of heavy rain with the occaisional clap of thunder.
For some reason when I searched for PIPEX DSL Status, I found out some information about solar flares? Really? I didn't think we were in a phase of high activity.
Mind you, I am waiting to read in a few days that "Project Deep Impact" has had a bit of a problem in that the Zanussi that they fired at it has caused it to go off course and now its on a direct path to hit earth.

Solar X-rays: Geomagnetic Field:

From n3kl.org

Well I never did know that...

jiffy [1] a unit of time used in computer engineering. A jiffy is the length of one cycle, or tick, of the computer's system clock. In the past, this was often equal to one period of the alternating current powering the computer: 1/60 second in the U.S. and Canada, usually 1/50 second elsewhere. More recently the jiffy has become standardized, more or less, as 0.01 second (10 milliseconds). The word jiffy, with its ordinary meaning of an instant or very brief time, appeared in English during the eighteenth century, but its origin is not known.

jiffy [2] a unit of time used in chemistry and physics, equal to a "light centimeter," that is, the time required for light to travel a distance of one centimeter. This is a very brief interval indeed, about 33.3564 picoseconds. This definition of the jiffy was proposed by the American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis (1875-1946), who was one of the first to apply principles of quantum physics in chemistry.

For those of you who have never been there, I have added quite a few new jokes on my humor/humour blog. The link is in the left hand bar at the top somewhere.(Or you can find it here)
I'll be moving that blog off blogger next week and changing it over to Moveable Type, if my workload allows me. And there was me thinking that working for myself would give me more time. Not so.

Bramley(UK)
Fort Worth
Click the clocks if you want to use them on your site.

I'm already waiting for two days worth of posts so they will drop off my front page. The things you find when you get bored.

Whilst looking for a site that could send a good selection of teas over to the US (just in time for the 4th July), I happened across this site

Having created my order for the US, I started to read up on the wealth of information that Robert has on his site. Just because I am English, doesn't mean I know anything about tea. Tea to me came in small boxes with Typhoo or PG Tips wrote on it. I could not stand Earl Grey Tea (its the Bergamot Oil that I probably dislike rather than the Tea itself).

Whilst working at Motorola in Swindon, I was working with a guy called Andy Chan who was born in Hong Kong, but came to England after his college days. It was him that first introduced me to various types of Chinese tea (most if not all didn't actually come from China). It was while working with him I became a great believer in various Green Teas.

To be honest, after leaving Swindon and moving the US, getting hold of Green Tea wasn't that easy. There were probably some good ethnic shops around the DFW Metroplex somewhere, but I never found them. Either that or I was drinking far too much Bud/JD to think about Green Tea.

As well as my order for the US, I also ordered for a couple of teas for myself. Having placed the order at the weekend, I received an email from Robert on Monday saying he had received the order and would action it right away. The last thing I expected when coming back from dropping the kids off at school/physiotherapy the following day (Tuesday), was to see a package at my front door. Talk about a fast turnaround.
It also meant that having just had physiotherapy for the previous hour, I could sit down and enjoy a decent cup of tea.

I won't say what I ordered for the US, because they don't know what is coming yet, and I'm not sure they even know that anything is coming. (And they are far too busy to read this blog right now and if Roberts delivery speeds are anything to go by, it will arrive before they get round to visiting this site again).
For myself, I ordered the Green Kandyan Blooms and the Silver Tip White Tea.
So far I've only opened the Green Kandyan and it is superb. Because of Andy, I don't bother with the tea pot. I place a small teaspoons worth of the tea into a cup, bring the water to just before boiling point and then pour from a height onto the tea. Leave to infuse for about 2-3 minutes depending on taste. No milk, no sugar, the tea is all you need.

Robert has some great tips on his site, (no pun intended).
I'd give the site a read even if you couldn't tell tea from coffee. It is quite a good site on its own, never mind the tea itself.

I happened across this peach of a comment on this webiste.

"The most secure computer in the world is one not connected to the internet. Thats why I recommend Charter Cable."

The english version would of course have Charter Cable replaced by BT Internet. As a former customer of Charter whilst in the US, I can totally relate to that statement. One of those funny "truisms"...

First off, I must apologize to my wife. It's not an intentional pop at her but its something that makes me laugh when all around me is doom and gloom.

There is an old joke about this old guy laying on his deathbed. His wife of 50+ years is sitting beside his bed, holding his hand.
He begins to stare lovingly in to her eyes and as the tears begin to flow he begins to say his last words to his wife.
"You were with me when I got my first stomach ulcer and helped me through those bad times my dear", he said.
"You were with me when I dislocated my hip on the ship and nursed me back to health",
"You were with me when I had my first bike crash and help me forget the pain of the accident"
"You were watching the rugby match when I broke my ankle and helped get me fit to play once more"
"You were with me to support me when I got laid off from the Navy"
"You dropped me off and then picked me up at the soccer match when I broke all the toes in my right foot"
He carried on reminiscing...
"You were at the bottom of the ladder to tend to me when we were cleaning the leaves from the gutter and I fell from the top".
"You were laying beside me in bed when the lightening struck our new house and burnt out various electrics"
"you were there packing my bags for the boys weekend trip when I smashed my spine to pieces and then helped me through the bad times"
"You were with me after committing all of our efforts to living in the US, they terminated me from my job and forced me to return to the UK after 3 years"
"You were with me back in the UK when my back operation failed and I had to have it redone."
"Do you know my wife, you've been nothing but BAD BLOODY luck, now go away and leave me in peace!!!!"

Now the joke is an old one I know, but the incidents are all mine. And that is a fraction of the things that has happened to me. I've left out bike accidents, car accidents, DIY accidents, work accidents, accidents with kids, and accidents with pets... jeesh. My life has been one long episode of accidents or calamities. No wonder I married a bloody nurse, I'd never have survived otherwise.

The main reason for my most recent bout of silence is a rather nasty bout of food poisoning (again). Having met my surgeon on the 31st May to tell him how good my back was, I decided to join the gym to bring up my level of fitness again. On the 2nd of June I decided to have one last monster of a mixed kebab. The survey said "Uh Uh...".
I have now decided there should be a law against eating kebabs when perfectly sober. I am sure that you need a percentage of alcohol present in the body to get rid of some of the things that exist within the damn things. I wouldn't mind, but the last time I got the same type of food poisoning I suspected the same place and swore I would never go back. Once a fool, always a fool.
By 2am on 3rd of June I had a fever of 105 and flu symptons to end all flu's. And when I get flu, I swear it reacts with the metalwork in my body and boy do I ache.
So for the last 12 days I've been feeling as rough as a badgers bum. And it couldn't be just some simple food poisoning could it. Oh no, because that wouldn't be me would it. Now the local health authority want to inteview me this time because its the second time I've had this extremely viralent strain of food poisoning.
The last 2 or 3 days I've been living on a diet of lucozade. But tonight I decided to have some real food. Again, bad move. My damn legs are still blue from being sat on the throne for so long. As the old saying in the RN went, "I feel like I've just given birth to a killick wren reg".
I was there that long that I read a complete Cliver Cussler novel and I now have "Twyfords-Made in Stafordshire" tattoed on my butt cheeks.

No luck my arse... Where's me lotto ticket...

I was just about to condemn the latest batch of SPAM off to SPAMCOP when one caught my attention.

Great new porn video, see Jamie Oliver - The Naked Chef - A02 - Hen Night (Bachelorette Party).

Obviously, whoever thought that 'sales pitch' up isn't based in the UK. I nearly choked I was laughing so hard when I saw the email.

See the Naked Chef Jamie Oliver in his full glory. Watch him use his mighty chopper at a Bachelorette Party, and watch them drewl over his desserts

The fact that it says Bachelorette tells me its from America, and it also tells me that they don't quite yet know who Jamie is, but I did think he was quite big in the US already (no pun intended).
I wonder what Jules thinks of this.

I've been reading that this is to be released in its own right, but not too sure about how they would do that when it is already in the public domain

Either way, if that bloody annoying Frog can get to number one in the charts because of download popularity, I can't see why this version would not also be at number one for the same reason. It probably would have been number one for many weeks now if only they had a method of counting the number of downloads, or views, but thats isn't feasible for something like this.

But, this has to be the best parody of a song I have seen by far. Percy has gone up in my 'RN' eyes.

You'll never break the spirit of the British Soldier. The worlds best fighting force. We just don't go round using it at the drop of a hat (well, not anymore since we stopped empire building that is).

My eldest boy Cian had been asking me about web pages for quite a while now and how I create the various ones of mine he has seen.
A few years ago I enrolled in an online training course with Skillsoft, which has since changed ownership but you can still find them under Skillsoft, or Skillport. I had a look on the courses that they have and found an introduction to HTML. Cian has spent the last two nights spending an hour or so going through the various tuturials and I think is halfway through the second section.

Most times when the kids are on the computer I run a VNC session to their computer as I will often get a yahoo IM to ask me how to do something. That and the fact I want to make sure they are not up to anything that they shouldn't be doing, but they've yet to fall over to the Dark Side - (Yes I know, but I am still in Star Wars mode).
When I switched to his screen tonight, there he was, Notepad open (the worlds best open source web page development tool!) writing his first web page.

He already has the concept of html tags sorted ( <p>,<h1><body><head><b><center> etc etc). After I showed him how to save it with a .html extension and then how to open a local file in a browser, his first page displayed. I think he was rather chuffed to say the least.

He then spent another 30 minutes finishing off that section of the training he was doing, and then came down to say goodnight before he went off to sleep. He was asking questions about styles and CSS, etc etc. Cian is the most creative in an artistic way of the three of them, although Eilis has been developing her essay writing and artwork quite recently. (Tiarnan is the problem solver just so I don't leave him out of the equation, no pun intended).

So long as school work and sleep does not get disturbed, I try to let the kids do as much time on the computer as I can. There are a few rules such as (i) Play outside if it is sunny before going near the computer, (ii) An hour each on a game, (iii) No games on school nights, but if they want to use the computer for research or just reading the news, I place no limits. My wife Anne-Marie isn't in total agreement with me on that part, but I believe that the more they understand 'IT' these days, the better it will stand them in the future.

I reckon before the end of the week, Cian will have a complete web page done, and I might even set his own blog up. I have been thinking of setting up a blog site just for kids where it is safe for them to post, view etc. This might just spur me into action.
He has had trouble getting over his glandular fever and is still feeling quite tired after a full school day, but he is really enjoying this HTML course and it has been good to watch him learn and his enthusiasm grow. With all the website development I have coming in, I might even have to employ him myself soon. Who needs a paper round at £10 a week, when you can earn £20/hr for doing website development. Where was HTML when I was young :(

Saturday morning I took the kids to see the end of something that started in 1977.
It was hard to believe that twenty eight years ago as a 10 year old boy my dad to me to see
Star Wars IV or as it was called at the time "Star Wars", (in the UK) or "Adventures of the Starkiller: Episode 1 - The Star Wars".
The latter being its US release name which wasn't used that much in the UK other than to those who would later become life long fans of the film.

So twenty eight years later on I was sat with my own 10 and 9 year old sons my 5 year old daughter watching the end of an era.
All three never took their eyes off the screen from start to finish, apart from a trip to the loo for the boys. Eilis didn't even blink she was so enthralled by it, not even when the Darth Vader we knew was "born". Without giving the plot away of the birth of Darth Vadar, it was the only gruesome part of the movie.

I had heard many reports from people saying the special FX were great but the script let it down. Personally I didn't think so, but only because I was sitting there putting all the pieces together as the film attempted to come full circle to where it all began. To be perfectly honest, I can't remember hardly a line from the film so engrossed with the action and storyline was I (as Yoda would say). And talking about the little green warrior, he was at his best again when taking on the bad guys once again.

As for General Grievious who I can't remember every hearing of before this film, he looked mostly robot, commanded a lot of the robots but was in fact a metal cage surrounding the heart of a sociapath hell bent on collecting the Light Sabers of Jedi. He also sounded like he smoked 50 Marlboror a day. (What was with the cough??)

R2 seemed to be able to jump around a lot more than normal and the film ended with him again being taken off for a good clean up while C3P0 was going to have his flash erased once again.

Towards the end of the movie it was exactly as George Lucas intented it to be. The end of the saga, all loose ends neatly tied up. That was the only bit that was probably lost on my children with me that day. Now all I am waiting for is the DVD to be released so we can all sit down and have a Star Wars marathon and watch them in order. (And I won't resort to downloading that dodgy copy that appeared on the web the very same day this film was released).

It appears that there is a 'huge' network outage of some sort at the moment. I was unable to connect 99% of Microsoft websites or web services from about 10am this morning, and it appears to be effecting most of the UK. I've not found any reference of it effecting people in the US, but seeing as I use MSN Messenger to talk to most of my contacts over there, I can't really ask them. Doesn't seem to be anything on the usually US News sites though.

I was up until 6am this morning working on a document for a new website. Tiarnan (my 9yr old sun) had to be at the soccer fields for a tournament at 9.00am and I got up around 8.10am. Anne-Marie arrived home from her nightshift at about 8.15am and we left for the soccer fields around 8.45am.

When we got near the soccer fields the police had 'coned' off the roads leading up to the fields. This got me thinking about how big this thing was. It was Tiarnans first year on this team since we had moved back from the US. Although he didn't get to play that much soccer in the US, the three years away didn't dampen his enthusiasm for the game or set him back in his skill level. Although he was eligible to play for the under nines, they had no places left, but after trials, he was asked to play for the under tens. He isn't as tall as most of the team, but he makes up for it in speed and skill.

When we got near the fields there wasn't a chance that I was going to get anywhere near the car park. As I travelled slowly along the road adjacent to the pitch a car pulled out and I ducked into the vacant space. VIP parking as we used to say at Motorola in the US. A quick jump over the ditch and we were on the fields about 10 yards from where Tiarnan was to play all of his matches. It was also next to the BBQ and tea/coffee shop in the club house.

For a local village side, Lodden FC has to be one of the best organised teams I have ever seen. Far better and a lot different from the teams that I played for when I was young. The have both girl and boys squads, mixed squads, every age group covered all the way up to adults who had teams in both Saturday and Sunday leagues.

Both Cian (10yr old) and Tiarnan play for Lodden FC and after joining up, they get given water proof coats for training, warm training jackets for training, socks and shorts and their own personal drinks bottle. All this for both under 9's and under 10's. I was impressed with this up until today.

The pictches had been marked out to let ten six a-side matches to be played at the same time. Each match was 5-mins a half and there was a league for each age group. Saturday was a tournament for teams from as far as Southampton, to Reading. Lodden was represented at all age groups and the day was to run from 9.30am until 1.00pm. From 2pm onwards was the more senior age groups. Another tournament is to be held tomorrow, but this will be the inter-Lodden age groups with no external teams.

Tiarnans league had 6 teams in it, with his normal 11 a-side team split into Lodden A & B. Tiarnan was playing for Lodden A team and up until the last match, they had won 1, drawn 1, lost 2. Because of the other results, in order for them to progress to the semi-final they needed Lodden B to draw with their last opponents. If they did draw, it would be they would both be eliminated and Tiarnans team Lodden A would proceed to the next round. Luckily for Tiarnan, it ended a 0 - 0 draw and therefore Tiarnans teams made it to the semi-finals. After 10 minutes of regulation play, the score was still 0 - 0, but a quick goal in the first half of extra time was enough for them to get beaten and end their run in the tournament.

He got quite a lot of game time and thoroughly enjoyed the day, as did I watching him. This was the longest I had stood in maybe three years and my back never complained once. It's now some 7 hours later, and everything else apart from my back aches and I feel like I am finally getting free of my back. I can't say again that how much I owe my surgeon for what he has given me back. All I have to do now is get through another 5-6 hours of the same thing tomorrow. I don't know if Tiarnan is up to playing in another days worth of soccer, for once he is in a worse state that I am in.

All in all, it was a great day. Well done yet again to Lodden FC. They were also the winners today, as well as every kid that took part.

Medical Alert: Breakthrough Discovered that Kills ALL known deadly Viruses & Bacteria in the body... including Influenza, Colds, SARS, Cancer, HIV etc. etc...plus strengthens your immune system

That was an except from a SPAM email that I received this afternoon. Amazing how none of the press has heard of this miracle breakthrough that kills all, in fact ALL known diseases, etc etc etc...
But what amazes me is that dispite the outlandish claims made in the email, there will be 1000's and 1000's of numpties (for what of a better word) who will rush off to the website and part with their money.

While the numpties in the world exist there will always be SPAM, since even after sending this email to millions of people, the ratio of numpties to non-numpties is such that it always pays for itself.
Despite the fact that within seconds of receiving this, it was forwarded to SPAMCOP and immediately the email server was added to a blacklist, the fact that the account with which the email was sent from has been flagged and will probably result in suspension for the client, despite all of that, it still pays for that person to open up a new account and start another campaign.

I think I am going to register a new site www.ban-the-numpty.com and start a campaign for a numpty filter to be added to the gene pool.

Some of these are so outrageous, its unbelievable, well unbelievable if you are not a numpty that is... [end Friday afternoon rant]

I am almost feeling like I am getting back to normal. I thought I was coming down with Flu last Thursday as I ached from head to foot. I am now thinking it was down to me coming off some strong painkillers that I had been taking for almost a year. I have been on either US or UK strong dosage for about 3 years, so I guess my body was a bit more dependent on them than I first thought. I am now on a much weaker version that will allow me to finally quit taking any painkillers in about 4 weeks or so. That is the difference that this last operation has made to my back. I can't tell you how much I owe my surgeon, and if anyone in the UK wants his name, email me privately.

The trouble is, the better I am feeling, the more I am doing and the less time I have to come back to this and post. I have my fingers in about 15 pies at the moment, which is more pies than fingers. My phone hasn't stopped ringing all day, with at least 10 calls a day this week from different agencies asking me about various positions they have. I tend to deal with a select few agencies and all of these have come up with some excellent leads. One of them especially is not your typical agent. I would liken him to the equivalent of a US Realtor. Now those of you that know the difference between a UK Estate agent and a US Realtor will know the difference. He works his socks off for each of his clients. He doesn't get paid a regular monthly wage so all of his income is from commission. Not that commission is his driving factor. From the various conversations I have had with him over the past 6 months now, he is one of the most genuine people I have ever spoken to and you know that he is working for you, which is not the feeling you get with some of the companies that are out there, (note I say some, and not most). He runs his own company with his wife from home and if you ever need the service of a recruitment agent, again, drop me an email and I will his details on.

On top of my job hunting, I am also busy working on 4 new websites for various people and 2 of my own. Three of them are quite complex and will involve a lot of php,perl and sql work to be done. Things are still in the design stage and all appears to be going well despite the lack of a webpage yet.
I am also up to nearly 20 accounts on my hostutrust site, and I haven't even launched it yet. It is almost complete, but I am just adding the code for the web ordering side to allow me to accept VISA payments and not just paypal. I am also adding some code to allow you to search for available domain names, which thanks to some source code from sourceforge, is a lot easier than I first thought. (For the technically minded people out there, it relies upon a couple of CGI modules that exist on most if not all decent web server installations).

I've also done a bit work on the powernoparole site for Carolyn Gardner. Don't forget to pay her site a visit. It's one heck of a story behind her site, and a massive crusade on her part to help change some ridiculus outdated laws. Luckily, the UK is not as bad as Canada but there are still some points we need to look ourselves.

My title says it all. Except it should have been stoods and not stood perhaps if you consider both the FIA and F1. Oh, and if you include the extra space and the spelling mistake ;)
On first hearing of the ruling from the Stewards at the San Marino Grand Prix I thought they were being picky and had rightly reversed their initial decision to exclude BAR from the race results.
When I then heard that the F.I.A intended to appeal the stewards decision and have the exclusion reinstated I thought it was a case of the F.I.A flexing their muscles at BAR since relations between both F1, the F.I.A and BAR were not always at their best during the close season.

I'm not going to go into the politics that is currently going on between BAR Honda and the F.I.A. but there has been bad blood between them since discussions about the possibility of a break away group to set up a rival Forumla One Championship.

BAR Report : Link
F.I.A Report : Link

If you read the F.I.A report, it basically calls the BAR Team cheats. If you listen to the statements on TV made during the pre-race interviews, they too seem to slam BAR's actions. But on reading the BAR report, it all becomes very confusing. They appear not to have hidden anything, and there is evidence in their to suggest that they are not the only team to use such methods. They have provided information to state that at no time could the car have fallen below the required weight and therefore could not have used it to gain an advantage during the race. In fact, the most important part of the report clearly states that in order to cheat and lower the weight of the car to below that of the required limit, the amount of fuel that would need to be within the tank would not be enough for the fuel pumps to operate. So in that case it wouldn't matter that the car was underweight and able to gain 3/10 of second per lap, because at 0mph you don't tend to put in very good lap times at all.

The more I read into both reports, the more certain I am that this is all down to politics. The request/statement by a group of other manufacturers today to ask for an independent agency to perform such reviews seems logical to most outside of the sport, but the F.I.A seem to be taking the view that it is yet another BAR Sponsered attack on them.

I have long since been amazed the amount of control that Bernie Ecclestone has had over the control of F1, and the way that he has gained so much financially from the whole thing. I don't disagree with the amount of work that he may have put in to the sport to build it to what it is today, but all that power under control of one man makes me think of a script from a Bond movie, or a former newspaper owner (both involved yachts). I fear Max Mosely to be heading in the same power crazy direction of dictatorship.
When I was in the US I obviously followed a lot more NASCAR and CART/INDY and although there were incidents, they were always dealt with faitly and quickly by independant agencies. Both the F.I.A and F1 seem to be very much of the 'Old School Brigade' and it seems obviously personal against BAR Honda.

What ever the outcome, F1 has suffered again and I have a feeling all they have done is suceeded in the speeding up of a breakaway group of real F1 teams. Then perhaps Bernie and Max can realize their ambition of a Ferrari only race weekend.

It is exam week for my two boys this week. For the eldest Cian, it is his SATS in his last year at Primary school. He already has his place at the new school and doesn't need the results from these.

Even though he has been on half days for the past two weeks recoving from query glandular fever, he has been revising at school in the mornings, and then revising for an hour or so at home. I think he will do ok despite his nerves about the exams.

The youngest one Tiarnan hasn't got a care in the world about his exams. His school has a trip planned for Thursday as an end of exam week trip. His mind is firmly on the trip which has taken his mind off worrying about the exams. He'll be ok too I hope. The daft thing is, the school trip is to a place called Bramley Thrift which is a nature reserve in a wood located in Bramley, which is about a 10mins walk across the fields out the back of my house.

One day I am going to catch one of them...(or one of my dogs will !!)
This is one of two that regularly come in to my back yard (when the dogs are not there of course).
Occaisionally I will wake up, let the dogs out, and you'll see one of them flying past the window at mach 2.0 clucking like a mad thing.

I've never tried pheasant and I don't think I could after getting to know these two so well.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie has taken £4.2m at the UK box office, mirroring its "answer to life, the universe and everything" - 42.

Hitchhiker film takes £4.2m in UK

They couldn't have planned that if they had tried... Or did they just stop counting when they got to 4.2m. Now if it had been £4,200,042.42 I would have been really impressed.

We had a quiet May Day bank holiday as I still need to take things easy after my back operation. I had an appointment with the sister at the hospital last week and I came out feeling rather good about how I was feeling, but more importantly, why I was feeling the way I am.

After having a bad back for about 3-4 years, and the level of pain and discomfort I have had to put up with, getting used to not having it is just as difficult. I still have a level of discomfort from the operation, but that gets better day by day.

I spent an hour or so sorting out the kids’ bikes yesterday and while I was at it, pumped the tires up on my bike. I had a quick spin up the road and to my surprise found no problems at all with my back. So I hooked up my daughters’ bike (via the trailer gator) and we trundled off to the local park (which is all of 3 minutes down the road!!). Once at the park I unhooked her bike and gave her a few lessons in riding it. I got more pain from the bending over trying to hold her bike than from the riding, but I didn't have to do that too long. Within about 10-15mins she was starting to ride on her own, and after 45mins she was peddling round the tennis courts on her own. We only had one minor fall, but no injuries so all was well.

We then cycled down the village store for a few ice creams and cycled the 1-2 miles (max) back to the house. I felt so good it was quite difficult not to go and jump back on my bike and go for a proper ride, but I managed to control the urge. Maybe in 4 weeks or so I will be able to manage it. I'm still not due to start physio for another 2 weeks, so its probably just as well I refrained. I have not felt this good in ages, and even though every now and then I get a few twinges in my back, I know what they are, and probably due to the healing process, rather than my back itself. Waking up at 3.30am this morning, I felt as if I had slept for months such is the improvement in my quality of sleep.

A shopkeeper was murdered in a "horrific and frenzied" attack in a shopping precinct by more than 20 armed teenagers, police say. Mi Gao Huang Chen, 41, was battered to death with a spade, tree branch and metal pipes by the gang, in the Scholes area of Wigan on Saturday night. Police have arrested 17 teenagers on suspicion of assault and violent disorder, including a girl of 14

17 Teenagers? What the hell is happening in the society today. Everyone of the parents should be held accountable for their kids action. It just beggars belief that something like this could happen in 2005.

Cian brought the dog food bag into the kitchen, bent down to scoop out a bowl of dog food and something ran around the bag.

Inside there was a field mouse sitting there totally unfazed by the whole thing. It was so relaxed, it even started washing itself while he and I took a few pictures.
We took it outside and let it go and it ran off under the shed. There are 100's of them in the back yard, but we've never had one come into the house so far (this one came in via the bag of dog food), so I don't mind them. They are only field mice and they don't usually come out during the day. We keep the dog food in the garage outside the back door. I reckon it was looking for its Chum (UK joke).

An email I sent to the BBC today got displayed on the ticker at the bottom of the screen today. The TV was on in the background and I heard them talking about something, so I popped off an email and thought nothing of it.
I did get a reply back almost immediately saying thanks for the email, but due to the volume received, blah, blah, blah, so I just forgot about it.
It wasn't until my dad rung me up and said, "Here... did you happen to send an email to the BBC, I just saw you name at the bottom of the screen !!".

Wished I had put my new company name on it now and maybe got some free advertising out of the BBC! (as if).

Updated: 5th December 2005 : Just wanted to add the link from the comments: www.abigailwitchallstrust.org.uk

Abigail Witchalls' attacker first grabbed her two-year-old son and held a knife to his neck, she has told police

I was sitting in the car listening to the radio when the Surrey Police began their press conference on the Abigail Witchallls attack. What horrified me most was the way she described the attack. I can't understand how some people think, or what drives them to do such terrible things. Why her? Wrong place wrong time? That was just terrible luck. There doesn't even appear to have been a motive for the attack, which makes it even more senseless. To hold a knife to the throat of her 18month old son. Could this really be someone of the same human race that I am a member of? Ok, the person is definitely not normal, and I'd go as far to say that he was not even criminal in his intent, but sick, mentally sick.

People commit crimes out of need or greed or a combination of both. When someone attacks a person and causes them injury during a fight, most often or not, it is temper that drives them to commit that act, and more often or not, they always later regret their actions. In that case they didn't intend to set out to hurt someone, it just happened. I can understand that. I don't condone it, but I can understand it.

When someone knowingly seeks out someone with whom they have a grievance with intent to cause harm, then hear too you could say that this is some sort of delayed temper. Again I can understand the action, but in no way condone it.

What I cannot understand is the ability of someone to take life without reason, without a purpose. To have angst against society and take out revenge on random people could probably explain such acts, such as the case in Hungerford many years ago. But this is an act of someone who is mentally ill.

To take an 18 month old baby, hold a knife to his throat, threaten the mother and then stab the mother in front of her child?
It was not carried out in the name of need or greed, but because of the state of mind of the attacker at the time. The attacker is as sick as the act itself to us 'normal' people. What she must have been going through, none of us will ever understand. Add to that the feeling of waking up paralyzed unable to speak, unable to ask about her son, unable to talk to those around her. To have all of her emotions trapped inside? It must be so frightening for her, and painful for her friends and family.

I found myself quite angry at how someone could carry out such an act. I am nowhere near the area where it happened, yet I searched the car park around me looking for the car in the description, searching for the occupant. Wanting to see the face of someone who could do such a thing. Yet, in another thought, I wondered what I would do if I did see that person and found myself wanting to exact the same thing he had carried out on Abilgail? Anger? Would it make me commit the same on him?
Either way, they know the car type, they know the colour, they know the area, they know the description of the man that carried out the attack. So someone else must recognize him or the car and hopefully he will be caught. Not tried and jailed as a criminal, but tried and treated as someone who is sick, very sick. And if locking them up for the rest of their life is the treatment then so be it. I'm all for a permanent deletion from the gene pool.

My thoughts go out to Abigail and her friends and family. Its not often that something shocks or effects me as much as this. Even the death and injury from the Japan train crash didn't come close to the way this attack made me feel. I could explain the train crash, but I cannot understand the attack.

I finally got the CWIC Solutions website to a state where I could upload it last night.
I'll be adding to the content over the next few weeks and I need to change the Flash with a few more updates.

He's been a part of British cinema for almost seventy years, and if there's one word to describe him it's "dependable". He's never been the flashiest of actors, yet he is able to play across class barriers far more than his contemporaries.

John Mills was in most of my favourite films. His first feature film dates back to 1932 and the list of films is impressive. The Thirty Nine Steps, Zulu Dawn, Ryans Daughter to name just three of my favourites.

I was saddened to hear a short while ago that he passed away at the age of 97. May he rest in peace and my condolances to his family.

I've been waiting on a delivery from Pixmania. It is a company in France that has e-shops that appear as if in most European countries. I didn't realise the main depot was in France until I saw the DHL tracking number.

As I was returning from the bakery 2 minutes down the road, a DHL van was driving at about 5mph past my house. I flashed my headlights, hit the horn, waved like mad and got a wave back. I then pulled into my driveway and watch him proceed down the road still at 5mph. But he was far enough away for me not to chase after him and when he got to the corner, whoosh, off he went. Perhaps he wasn't looking for my house.
About 20mins later, I get an email from the DHL site to say my delivery details had been udpated, so off I go and log in.
There I find that a new note has been put against the delivery stating that they required directions to my house.

So I phoned them up, gave them the directions and explained that we could have got out of our respective vehicles, shook hands, and got back in again without them travelling more than 5ft, she apologised. I then reminded her that the address was the same one as the day before when another DHL courier picked up an item. Oops, I think she said.

Nevermind, it'll be Monday now before I get them.

I've had a chance to play around with Macromedia Fireworks today.
What a nightmare! Well it was until I read the instructions, typical engineer that I am. Load software, fiddle around, break a few things, re-install software, read manual, do it right.

Hopefully I'll get to upload the whole site tomorrow.

Today is the day I hand back my badges, car pass and say goodbye to Motorola after 9 years.
Not even so much as a free phone, but then I have been working for the sector that works with Tetra and not mobile phones. (Previosly worked for the sector that designed and built the base stations and I never got a phone then either).

I still haven't sorted out the pile of tax forms for the new company, but I am almost ready to upload the new site. Its currently on my internal testing server and I have a few bugs to sort out, but hope to have it done by the end of the weekend.

The things you do when you get bored at 2am in the morning...

Click the link below .
I don't want to give it space on my front page you see ;)

Well, ok, apart from the fact I've been off work with my back problem since November last year, today was my first day of unemployment.
And what did I do? Sleep. I ached from head to foot for some reason.
I am still trying to find a happy medium between doing enough exercise on my back, and not overdoing it. I know when I've over done it because I ache from head to foot.

Trying to read a 36 page document on Corporation Tax Self Assessment, and getting my 2004-2005 Personal Tax assemssment completed didn't help. That was enough to put anyone to sleep.

I might import my old humour blog into this one later, or I might just create a new blog with its own layout.
I have to leave the Job Blog for a few more weeks because the Wall Street Journal are running an article on it and it would be my luck to take it down and break something just as they publish it.

It's 22:05 and I'm off to bed. Can't stand yawning anymore. I wouldn't mind, but I didn't get up until 2pm (after getting up at 8.30am and going back to bed at 9.00am). My 10 year old son has been off school for a while now with suspected Glandular fever, though his blood tests came back negative today, but did show he has/or had an infection. We've all been down with something in the last two months, and I'm wondering if we all have the same as him. It feels just like Glandular Fever with the tiredness and weakness. I keep thinking it was my back operation, but I am just totally knackered.

I couldn't sleep last night so I got up again around 1am to do some reading.
Unfortunately, I ended up reading until about 4am in the morning. I did wake up at around 9am this morning, but I ached from head to foot. I ended up getting up around 11am, but ended up back in bed until 2.30pm.

I'm still getting tired easily after the operation but I'm beginning to feel like things are on the up.

I've been setting up business bank account, accountants, pension funds, tax accounts for the new business.

On top of that, one car is due for its road tax, and I really have to start working again on the Grand Voyager.

As from today, I am officially unemployed!!
For the first time since 1987, I am no longer in full time employment, so there goes 18 years of work, and all for two companies.

Apart from getting CWIC Solutions off the ground, there is not much else I can do at the moment. At least not for the next 4-6 weeks while I wait for my back to heal after operation.
Its not too bad at the moment, I removed the dressing last night that is covering up the stitches. The damn thing was ‘itching’ me to death.
I'll probably remove the sutures tonight as they have been on for about 10 days now and can really come off. (I just hope I don't come apart at the seams!).

I have quite a few interviews to set up, and quite a lot of interest from companies quite local. I just don't want to commit to them before I know I am almost 100% fit. I want a clean break and to start afresh at a new company and not have the hassle of dealing with my back anymore. It has been some 4 years since I injured my back and I hope this time its fixed.

Now I have to decide whether to go join the ranks of the dole queue, which I can't claim because I am on the 'sick list' so I think I have to claim invalidity benefit. I don't think I can be bothered to go through the hassle of all that. One nightmare after another.

I saw from the News here that a puff of black smoke was seen.

I wonder if there is a Chimney cam anywhere out there.
If not, I have a cunning plan to set my web cam up looking at the top of my chimnea in my back yard. I could start a fire in it for the next few days and everytime I hear the black smoke on the news, I'll run out side and pour a spot of engine oil on it.
When the white smoke is seen, I'll run out there and throw water on it.

I reckon I could charge about £5 to join the site. They'll never know.

www.smokecam.va.org
www.chimneycam.va.org
www.smokeapope.va.org

I recently ordered a new NetGear DG834GTUK Router. I went for this model because it has the built in ADSL modem and has support for 'Super Wireless'.
As I have done for the past 6 months I have been using Savastore. They are one of the cheapest suppliers I have found and you really have to search to find prices to match. All of their prices are quite low compared to other places. I used them as my preferred supplier since I could order everything from the one place, rather than have to order some parts from here, some parts from there, and the rest from somewhere else. Well not anymore!!

On the day I went into hospital, (8th April), Anne-Marie sent off my company formation documents to Companies House.
I received my company formation certificate today, so now its all legal.

CWIC Solutions Ltd is now legal, and now I have to spend a couple of weeks getting various things set up. I officially leave my present company on the 20th April, so I'll be able to 'work' for myself without breaking any rules.

This will be my company logo.

The websites are all registered,
www.cwic-solutions.com
www.cwic-solutions.co.uk
www.cwic-solutions.biz
www.cwic-solutions.info
www.cwic-solutions.net
www.cwic-solutions.org

Email accounts are all set up on the .co.uk domain, but I'm still waiting for the .com to resolve properly.

The second letter I got in the post was address to the Managing Director of said company, asking me if I wanted to register domain names for it, set up email. Its not even an hour old and it gets its first SPAM (near as damn it! Half of what they were providing, I will be too, and my prices are a fraction of theirs. I've a good mind to send them a letter offering my services).

I'd better start thinking of what the damn thing is actually going to do now. I have a couple of directions I can take it, and I just can't make my mind up. That's my goal for the next week, to define the 'vision statement'. At the moment, its vision could do with some of the Lasik surgury as described on Pauls site recently. Its a tadge blurred to say the least.

I'm back. Got out of hospital about an hour ago. I'm off to bed for a few hours now. I'll miss the food, but I'm glad to be back in my own house and about to get into my own bed.
My back feels like its been kicked by a herd of mules let alone the one. The new metalwork seems to have taken very well, and very quickly. I was not meant to be out until Thursday so I am ahead of schedule. I'll be taking things easy for the next 5 weeks at least.
Just thought I'd switch this on and start downloading 4 days worth of emails. (300 unread so far and its still going for it).
Right, bed time. (Need to grab a few hours and wake up in time for the Chelsea match later on tonight)

In less than 12 hours now I'll be going in for my back operation (finally!!).
I've probably tempted fate now by posting this. No flu, colds or other ailments in the house (apart from #1 son who is still trying to kick his flu).
Its just as well that I'm due in tomorrow because my back has been having one last throw at giving me gip. 50% of it is probably down to me thinking about the operation, but boy do I ache today. I've been walking round like I have a weight on my back, and could easily pass for Quasimodo!.
Eilis my daughter has just sat down and made a card for me telling me she'll miss me.
Don't think I'll be getting too much sleep tonight, partly down to my back and the rest down to nerves. Considering the amount of time I have spent in hospitals, you'd think I be use to it now. If the last operation was anything to go by, I can even say I do enjoy hospital food. It's better than some 4 star hotel restaurants but then they are most definetly spending more than 37p per meal, and probably closer to £10 per meal.
I just hope I don't wake up Friday afternoon to discover another catheter. It might have one advantage though, there's a lot of footy on the box on Saturday, so I'll be able to sit in bed, watch the footy, enjoy a few 'medicinal' pints and not have to bother about missing any goals when I go to the loo. The nurse will probably come in and take the 'p' though ;)

Things are going to look a little weird for the next couple of days.

I'm currently attempting to export my old blog posts from Blogger into Moveable Type.

Installing the free copy of MT was completely painless.
Exporting 40 posts from one of my blogs took about 3 or 4 attempts and about 20mins.
Exporting 160 posts from my main blog is taking over an hour so far and I don't hold out much luck of it suceeding over night

Trying to get Blogger to post 160 posts is a right royal pain...
God knows how long it is going to take on the blog I have with 490 posts.
That one might stay with blogger for a wee while.
The only reason I am posting this is so I can see if this works quicker than 'reposting all the topics'. I am hoping that this kicks out a new index file and leaves the rest alone.
If this don't work, I'm knackered...
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Things are still so hectic around here at the moment.
The kids have all been off school this past week with the same flu bug that the wife and I had. All of the fevers have gone, to be replaced by extreme coughing fits by everyone (except me, the only smoker. And I don't smoke in the house, so its not me).

In between eating and sleeping I have been working on a rather large document that I will eventually publish here or in my technical blog. It gives details on how to set up blogger, explains some of the settings of blogger, how to set up your own web server on your own domain, and how to set blogger up to use your own web server.
It will then go into detail about setting up a MoveableType blog on your own server, and explaining how to configure and use it. It will also detail how to import your blogs from blogger into MoveableType.

So you could read from the last paragraph that I am going to say goodbye to Blogger and move to MT (MoveableType). I will probably maintain a blog on Blogger, but I will be moving 4 of my blogs over to MT within the next few weeks. My priority is to get the help documentation out there first. The documentation project was born out of the help I have been giving someone to set up their blogs, and the idea is to get them self sufficient in the running of their web server and MT blog. I thought that publishing it might be of help to anyone else who is thinking of doing the same.

It also goes some way to describing the various elements of a blog, such as templates, categories, archiving and syndication of content. I've tried to keep the technical knowledge down to a very low level in order to let even the most basic users be able to follow it. (But that will remain to be seen once I get the documentation out there). Some of the content has also come from various questions that have appeared on the Blogger User Forum on Yahoo groups.
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I don't know what we have done to upset the big one, but for some reason our house has been selected as the local house of the plague for the past month.
It must be months since all of us have been perfectly fit, seeing at least one of us has been ill at one point in time.
At the end of last week after finishing another series of Night shifts at the local germ/virus breeding ground (or otherwise known as the local hospital), the wife caught what we thought was a flu virus. By Friday she was coughing like a 50 year old smoker on a bad day. (She gave a work colleague a lift home, who happened to have flu !!). Saturday Cian my eldest was starting to complain of a sore throat.
Sunday was my nieces 2nd birthday (Katie), and the day before was my dads birthday and mum and dads wedding anniversary. Anne-Marie wasn't feeling that great, so just the kids and I traveled up for the day. By the time we got home around 7pm, the boys were both feeling sick. By Monday morning, I had it too. That left only Eilis who went to school feeling fine, but came home feeling rough.
So after several trips to the doctors, Anne-Marie has flu complicated by a chest infection, the 3 kids have Pharyngitis on top of flu. Me, I have flu as well. Next year, I am definitely going to make sure I get inoculated against flu. I always say I will, but never remember. If it were not for my hip and back, I could probably handle the flu, but it just makes it feel like all my joints have been filled with sand. I ache like the proverbial.
So early Monday morning, I did my weekly shopping online at Tesco's, and I am going to lock the front door for the next week until we all recover.
I have to have my pre-op test on the 4th April, and I have until then to get the bug out of my system, or they will cancel my operation once again. If that happens, I am going to be so far up the Swanny, I'll be devastated.

Update: 23 MAR 2005 02:40

Ha.. And there was me thinking that this flu bug was exclusive to the UK (especially this house).
I have some things I need to finish off working with Chris York (in the US), but because of this damn flu bug, I can't get near the computer at the same time as Chris. When I got up to get a drink tonight (temp was up at 104 again!!), I went to check my email and noticed Chris was online. But not for long, he was heading to bed as he is coming down with the flu too. Does this mean the internet is no longer restricted to the spreading of information, and that there is a new flu strain that can transcend the ether ??
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Now that I have finally rid my body of the virus that kept me out of hospital, I've been keeping really busy on various projects.

I keep an eye on the blogger user support forum hosted on Yahoo Groups, (which reminds me to check and see if there is one on Google, the home of Blogger).
After emailing back and forth between a guy called Chris York, I've been helping him out setting up a few of his sites (http://www.cfyork.net and http://fifthtomorrow.cfyork.net/)
Chris is an aspiring author and with what I have read so far, I wouldn't bet against him going quite far in the publishing world. I have to be able to relate to an author and I found that quite easy with his work I have read so far.

Chris had/has a number of blogs on Blogger.com (blogsite), but with some of the things he wanted to do with the site, he purchased a MoveableType account. MoveableType is one of the many other blogging tools out there and I'm quite impressed with it so far. It was relatively easy to import all of his previous posts from his blogger account into the new MT acount. The hardest part of all, was catching Blogger during a stable moment long enough to allow me to export the old posts. Blogger has been having quite a few ups and downs the past few weeks, but in saying that, it was very quick this morning.

March is also the season of college Basketball in the US (March Madness). It is one of the many things I miss now that we are no longer living in Texas. Chris set up a Bracket on the CBS website which brings back a few memories.
As a side point, if you ever wanted to see an example of a real-time dynamic website, have a look here (Sportsline Scoreboard) Once the games start, this page is amazing enough, but click on a game in progress and it is totally amazing. From a nerdy point, just consider the amount of data that is being updated, the possible number of people who are viewing it, and it is amazing it works like it does.
It doesn't make up for not being able to watch the games on the TV, (even then, for $19.99 I could have watched every game live on the internet. Which when you consider that average ticket prices are $150 each and have been sold out for months, its not a bad deal).

We've been working on the basic design of the blog, and I'm in the process of documenting what we have done to allow Chris to take over the upkeep and maintenance. I have a few more scripts to write to ease the burden, and make it a little more dynamic, but the basic blog is there.
Chris also has a neat little project in the pipeline that I hope to be able to work with him on, but you will have to read his blog to see what it is all about.
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A happy St. Patricks day to you all,

And even Google has something to celebrate it !

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In the search for the optimum site layout, site content, most searched keywords and anything else that is required to enable your site to get to the top of the search engine rankings, there is always the search for the 'holy grail' solution.
A whole science, market or call it whatever you like has emerged called SEO.
(Which stands for Search Engine Optimization). But fear not, that is the last I am going to mention of the subject.

What would happened if say you did the following:

1. Take a really really naff Romanian song.

2. Take one totally unknown 'ordinary' guy and sit him in front of his web cam.

3. Let him perform the actions to the song as if he is singing it, and record it via his webcam.

Erm? nothing interesting about that I hear you say. Well, not really.

You can check it out here, but before you do, consider the fact that after he put the video on his site, it received 2 million hits in hardly no time at all, and that number is still growing (about to be increased by you, no doubt).

It has spawned a number of replies, it has been copied, mimicked and dare I say achieved 'cult status'.

Warning: After you have watched the 4th or 5th version of the damn thing, the song starts to grow on you and it gets hard to resist singing the damn thing for the rest of the day.
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I think my fever has finally broken, although it came back last night with vengeance for a one night appearance I think, (either that or you can call me swampy, because there were a big puddle where I was laying).
That has got to be one of the nastiest throat infections I have ever had, even worse than the ones I used to get before I had my tonsils and adenoids out about 26 years ago. (Dang..that makes me feel really old now).
I spent most of the day sleeping today and I finally feel half way human again.
Can't remember what I was doing last week, and not sure what intended to do this week, because I should still be in hospital recovering from my operation. (I was due out tomorrow, the 16th March).
I have one month left working for my present company, which because my operation has been moved to the 8th April is going to complicate things. Basically I will be laid off while I am laid up so to speak, so it will be at least May/June now before I can go back to work, providing all goes well. (And we all know how lucky I am?. Not).
Anyway, I've got 4 or 5 days worth of catching up to do on each of my blogs.
Loads of letters to write, including a couple to the US to get them to sort out my pay from my time over there.
I also got my £100 UK tax penalty this week, which isn't a problem since its between my company and PWC to sort that out. Its only taken them around a year to sort my taxes out.
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Ok, maybe I will go and have my back operation on April 8th instead.
Last Thursday I received a call from CIGNA at about midday to say that they would pay for the operation. and to celebrate, and due to the fact that I didn't get too much sleep the night before, I went for a couple of hours snooze. I woke up at about 3pm to make sure the wife was Ok to go collect the kids from school, but I had a heck of a temperature and a headache on top. By about 6pm I was hit 104/40 and feeling like death warmed up. Flu really hits my back hard. It was at that time that I realised that the operation scheduled for the next day was no longer going to happen. Sure enough I spent most of Thursday night/Friday morning hopping in and out of showers/baths to try and cool down, but the fever was there to stay. By Friday 7.30 when I was expected to arrive at the hospital my throat had also closed up almost completely.
To say I was a tadge miffed was an understatement.
I called to let the hospital know and they understood. You can't have an operation when you have a temperature under most circumstances because it is usually an indication of an infection somewhere within the body. There is a very high risk that when the surgeon creates the wound that any infection being carried in the blood will cause problems at the wound site, (exactly how MRSA causes hassles. Most of us carry it, and its only a problem when you get an open wound).
Saturday I went to HantsDoc at the local hospital which is where we have our weekend GP/doctors clinic. He took one look at my throat and threw a whacking dose of antibiotics at me.
Today is the first day I have felt half human enough to get out of bed and stay out of bed so they must be getting hold of the infection now.
So not only did I have a totally crap birthday on Thursday, I missed my operation on Friday, felt like crap all over the weekend, and now I have to wait until April 8th for the operation, and I get laid off from work on the 20th April.

Oh, and for anyone that read my previous post on MRSA, coincidently my wife finished 5 straight night shifts on the Wednesday morning before the day I got it.
Oh, and over half of the hospital is closed for deep cleaning now.
Visiting is restricted to essential and immediate family members, and no children are allowed unless special circumstances. There are bottles of disinfectant at every entrance.
Not that I want to put the blame on anyone, but she'll be sleeping in the garage until after I have had my operation if I have my say.
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Today being my 38th Birthday, I'll be going into hospital tomorrow to get my birthday present, a new 'stable' spine. I'd like one that doesn't hurt like heck 99% of the time, preferably straight.
I'd also like one that comes with a life, because the current one has run out.

I was thinking of having my spine totally removed and going back into management, but I decided against that, as one of my criteria above was getting a new life with it, and the two just don't mix.

But, I'll be offline for at least a week, and hopefully I'll be back home around the 16th, ready for St. Patricks Day on the 17th, when I'll probably get hammered and do my back in again (except, I don't drink, so that might be a tadge hard to do). Just have to make sure my wife doesn't get me doing jigs and reels round the front room. Might be worth seeing what is on down at the Basingstoke Irish Club that night though. (I suspect I am going to be a little bit sore for a week or two. After the last operation, I had about 45 staples in my back and stomach... The surgeon must have had a discount at Office World that week).

I'm hoping the surgeon will be able to give me all the Titanium that he is going to remove to replace. It looks really weird on the X-Rays and scans, would be nice to see what has been knocking around my spine for the last year and the cause of all my grief lately.

Anyway... I'll be back, with a back.
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I haven't got a clue where it came from and didn't even know what it was all about before I had a look. But the BBC have this 'iCan' website thing where you can read up on local information and other 'stuff'.

I've even started a campaign (for no other real reason other than to see what it was all about. I doubt anything will come of it).

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I'm a sucker for a freebie, and happened across these in a daily email.

Please note, only one sample per household. UK and Ireland residents only.

4th June 2005 - UPDATE


I'd just like to point out that if you want any free labels from Avery, it is best to ask them and not me. (To the person who left me a comment with her full name and address, I won't approve that comment to save your blushes and to stop your personal information from being broadcast to the world)

I've just found out that you can order online (or onloin).
I watched the last series and really admired what Jimmy and his crew were trying to achieve. It took a lot of effort and belief to do what they all did.

If you have ever tasted any of their sausages you will understand why they are doing it.
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"Speed Cameras have now become the golden goose for the Government But I believe that we should only have fines without the imposition of penalty points because far too many people are losing their licenses for speeding. And this interferes with the ability of people to retain employment.

I also firmly believe that only the physical presence of Police vehicles
has a
deterrent effect upon motorists.

Further I believe that
speeding which results in accidents should of course retain their penalty of
points deduction but not otherwise.
Help me by writing or faxing your local
mp. You can do
this using the web without having a fax machine by going to
http://www.faxyourmp.com/"

The above is an article that I found on the BBC iCAN website and it really made me laugh.
It just goes to show the ignorance of some people who are so blinded by their own belief, that they can't see how wrong they are, or how wrongly they have attempted to put their point across.
I'm not in total disagreement with his point of view, but rather the way that he attempts to put it forward.

For example.

"But I believe that we should only have fines without the imposition of penalty
points because far too many people are losing their licenses for speeding."

So far too many people are losing their licenses because of points? Why does that not read, far too many people are losing their licenses because they are breaking the law, or more accurately, repeatedly breaking the law.

They are interfering with themselves. It is nobody else's fault that they got caught speeding. They were either speeding so excessively that they lost their license in one go, or, they were a repeat offender.

So taking away penalty points will improve this? Those who consider themselves above the law will just pay a fine which gives them effectively gives them a licence to speed? So because they think they can get away with it, they will try to.
Incidently, have you ever sat at 75mph on the M25 in the speed camera section and watched the car next to you speed up to 80/90MPH, get towards the next camera, and slam the breaks on, you pull level with them again, you pass the camera and off they speed, you get to the next speed camera and pull level again. Do you think they ever realize? I wonder how long their brakes last? (And for those that say 75mph is speeding, it is sort of, you are allowed the speed limit + 10% + 3mph, anything less is outside the tolerance within which they can get a safe conviction. But if you are doing 80mph in the pouring rain, or fog, then you'll get knicked regardless!!).

So those that avoid an accident when speeding should get away with it. Or is it that some people are better drivers than others, so they should be allowed to speed. It is just luck that those who speed haven't had an accident. When they do, it will be a lot more severe than one they would have had when travelling at the designated limit. Ok, there are some areas where say a 30MPH limit does seem rather low for an area, but we could hardly have limits that vary every 200yards. Why can we not take the above argument further and say, "People should be allowed to drive while extremely intoxicated and only be punished when stopped by the police and found to be over the limit".

If you want higher speed limits because you think the current ones are too low, then provide evidence that shows to the contrary.

I have no sympathy for those people who consider themselves outside of the law. I don?t include these people with serial killers, or rapists and such like, but I can?t understand peoples angst when they know that they are breaking the law.
15 years ago when I was based in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear but living in Portsmouth I was travelling down each weekend via hire car, most often taking it turns with other guys from the ship. During a 12month period I reached 9 points on my licence. It was no fault of anyone else other than my own. I was trained as the ships driver which included doing exactly the same training as most traffic police, and included pursuit and escape training given by certain other military groups.
But none of that training gave me the right to exceed the speed limit; none of it gave me the right to break the law. The same year the first 3 points expired and came off my licence, I picked them up again for doing 40mph in a 30mph zone. Again my bad and I had no excuses. Those were the last 3 points I have ever had on my licence and was partly due to me getting a motorbike. This taught me better respect for the road and its other users. (Despite it being a 155mph, 160BHP. And I am not saying that I never exceeded the speed limit either). When I wanted to do 155mph, I saved it for when I went on track days. (If I wanted to do 90MPH on the motorway, I just made sure no one was looking, but it doesn?t make it right, and I wouldn?t moan if I had been caught!!).

If you disagree with the "Golden Goose" government income, then campaign for that money to be used by the police forces to help prevent speeding, or for using the money for "Road Funding". Or better still; put the money from fines into a fund to pay for all the victims of speed related accidents.

I bet the next campaign will be, "No insurance for those who don't have accidents"...

Today I had to visit the hospital to have my pre-operation check up to be ready for next week (if the Insurance company pull their fingers out).
This involved an ECG, taking bloods and taking the?
urine sample. On top of those, numerous swabs were also taken to test for the MRSA super bug.
Eight hours later my wife left for her night shift at the local NHS hospital only to get their to find the ward deserted. No staff, no patients and not even any lights were on. The ward had been shut and any remaining patients had been moved so that they could perform a deep clean from top to bottom of the whole ward. No new admissions are being taken and if you are on a ward that has people with the infection, you have to stay there until its gone.
Most of the hospital has been affected and apparently each ward will be shut in turn and a deep clean performed.
This time but it was not the super bug MRSA, rather one that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea (probably a form of Norovirus).
Incidentally, my oldest boy was off school all week because he had a bout of sickness and my middle boy and my daughter also had a day off school during the week due to sickness.
My wife was also unwell after her last round of shifts for a few days, and I have spent the last day or so feeling like I am coming down with something, (or rather that something is coming up).

Since my wife has been working at the hospital, I cannot remember a time when there has been at least one member of staff absent due to sickness.

The management changes made to our hospitals over the last few decades has led to more and more cost cuts which effectively ended the commitment to hygiene.
With each hospital responsible for their own ever decreasing budget, cuts had to be made and the tendering of cleaning contracts for ever decreasing charges has been the result. Yes, they promise to do this, and they promise to that, but when one bottle of disinfectant has to last a month, it can't be done.
This has led to our hospitals becoming a haven for bugs. Gone are the days when you went to a hospital to get better, it almost seems that you take your life in your hands every time you go through the front door and that is not even considering the reason you are going there for.
In the case of MRSA, it should not affect many perfectly healthy people and in fact most of us are said to carry some form of the bug. The problem with hospitals is that they are full of sick people, whose immune systems are busier fighting off other factors without having to fend off a super bug as well.
When hepatitis became the new worry some years ago, all members of staff were given series of vaccines to help guard against infection.
With this new series of bugs, there is no protection other then cleanliness and since hospital administrators have reduced the cleaning contracts to such a low level, this is no longer possible.
When I was a child, (or when I were a lad in northern speak), it was the smell of hospitals that put the fear into me, (not the matrons, thought they came a close second).
These days floors are not swept or washed for days upon end and very rarely do they see disinfectant in strong enough solution to actually kill anything. Years ago, there wouldn't be a spot of dirt on the ward, and even if it wasn't dirty, it was cleaned.
So gone are the smells of the past, to be replaced by the bugs of the future. Whereas once we could at least detect the smell, we cannot do the same with the bugs that we are fighting today.
There can be no other course of action other than to bring back the cleaning teams that once patrolled the wards and would often catch the dirt before it hit the floor. Bring back the old disinfectant and lets put the 'smell of fear' back into hospital wards, I am sure it used to make the food taste better anyway. (Hospital food? a blog topic I might pass on to Jamie Oliver once he has finished getting our schools up to scratch. Now there is a campaign I wouldn't mind helping out to).
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hmm.. In order to prevent me from spouting long and hard about todays match I shall attempt to keep this short and sweet. I'll write down a few words and you can write your own blog entry.

England, new team, Ireland, Referee, Robbed, Offside my arse, born out of wedlock, cheating robbing, sore loser, blind , current world champions, Ireland for the 6 Nations because I'd rather that than the Welsh.

I purposely avoided the subject with my wife until about 10minutes before she left for work, to avoid any confrontations. She was asleep for the match and wouldn't understand that Ireland had an extra player.

Enough before I need to order extra storage for my web server. Rissoles.
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Whilst perusing syndic8.com the other day, I hit the next available feed for verification and this one popped up. I was quite surprised to see it was Jamie Olivers personal weblog.
The content whilst sparse at the moment does seem to actually be from him too, which makes a change from some celebrity sites.

I've followed Jamie Oliver from his first days on TV, through Naked Chef and now on his quest to try and improve the standard of school food. I do thing he has bitten off more than he can chew (no pun intended), but I believe he will stick it out to the end.

I used to love my school dinners, even though it was 25 years ago (ouch!!), I can still remember my favourites. I also remember the shepherds pie with the rubbery mince, which was probably more bone and fat than real meat, but at least it was real fat, and real bone, (though I would hate to think what part of the body the meat came from). I remember having to boil mince for hours to get it soft enough to eat the damn stuff, and having to stand at the stove taking the 'scum' off the top of the pan.

And bring back Gypsy Tart !!!
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I went to see my surgeon today expecting him to tell me when I would be going for my rhizotomy, but he decided to drop a bombshell. The one thing I've been trying to avoid is needing to have a repeat operation of the 360 degree spinal fusion. Well I won't be able to avoid it now.
I now know what I am getting for my birthday in a couple of weeks, a new back, (or as some would say, a new spine).
He is going to go in and remove the metal work and grafts that didn't fuse correctly and replace the whole lot.
So, fingers crossed, there could be light at the end of the tunnel, though I would really have liked to have avoided a major operation again.
I will also be leaving my present employer on the 20th April, due to redundancy just to top it all off. Luckily, my medical coverage with my insurance will cover me for the operation and any subsequent treatments resulting from it.

And do you know what really pisses me off the most?
I managed to crush the bottom 3 vertebrae when I came off a tube being towed by a speed boat on a lake in Oklahoma, (which was later found out to effectively be a broken back!). I had injured my spine in the same area when playing rugby in the Royal Navy in 1991. We were living in Texas at the time and I was working for the same company having transferred to the US back in 1999. No problem, I had medical insurance as you must do in the US if you want to get so much as a plaster (Band-Aid) stuck to your finger.

In a period of about 18 months, I had a series of 11 Steroid and Painkilling injections, a Rhizotomy and finally a 360 degree fusion. The last of which took over 10 hours and needed a week in hospital and several months off work to recover. And all for what? Absolutely nothing !! (As it turns out now).
Apart from the fact that it nearly bankrupted us. The medical bills for all my back treatment was just under $400,000 and in the US, you have a co-pay on most items of 25%.
There was a limit of $2000 per year on certain out of pocket expenses, but over all it cost me over $30,000. And what is more, It was all for nothing, because none of it worked.
In the UK, I am going to have to spend a grand total of �14, which is just over $7.
My UK surgeon performed one procedure where he injected steroids and painkillers and it worked first time. He is an ex-Royal Navy surgeon, but I reckon he was a gunnery officer, because he hit the mark in his first attempt.
I don't want to blame the surgeon in the states, I don't know why it didn't work as well in the US as it did over here. The eleven injections did piddle me off though, one because of the cost each time, and two, because they never worked. The Rhizotomy in the US was a partial success in that it did reduce the pain, and I believe that my problems of late are due to the nerves growing back and the this could explain the increase in pain levels, (it is about the right time frame for them to grow back).
A further complication with a Rhizotomy for each nerve that is cut, it is not a simple case of it just re-joining when it grows back. Both ends of the severed nerve send out 'feelers' looking for the each other. When two ends finally meet, the brain effectively switches on that never path again. Unfortunately, there can be complications because you now have 'un-terminated' fingers which can cause 'ghost' pain signals being sent to the brain. And as I have already mentioned, a Rhizotomy is not a permanent fix.

The 360 degree fusion is a different story though. You only have to look at the x-rays to see how complicated the procedure was. Its called a 360 degree fusion because both the front and rear of the spine are fused. First they go in through your lower abdomen, move all the bits out of the way and then strap two titanium rods to your spine. Once secured, everything is put back in its place and you are sewn up. The operation is done on a special table that has a Wilson frame. It allows the patient to be rotated whilst on the operating table.
They then went in via the back and removed the 2 damaged vertebrae and replaced them with two metal cages. These are packed with bone taken from the pelvis area. A cage is then attached to the new vertebrae and fixed by a further two titanium rods.
The rods are then fixed to the vertebrae above and below the new cage and fixed by placing yet more bone fragments. These will then fuse the new cage together.

In my case, the internal fusion of the metalwork to replace the damaged discs fused ok, but the external fusion failed. This means that in effect, there is no fusion and the damaged disks are free to move.

My surgeon is going to remove all the external metal work and refit a new cage to the outside, using the existing screw holes to fix a new cage. He will then take a new set of bone material from my pelvis and pack the new cage with this to allow a new graft to form. This should create a 'fusion' preventing the discs around the L5-S1 region from moving (which is the source of my pain right now). He will also create a Wallis ligament at L4/L5 to try and prevent failure of the disc above the fusion.

I am really looking forward to this?Not? But I am hoping that it will work and I can return to a near normal life. But, we shall see.
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Fruit Machine Developers (C/C++, Real time Embedded)

We urgently require software engineers who have good gaming experience. Ideally you?ll have worked on fruit/gambling machines or some other related gaming machines. This company is going through a large expansion and is keen to add to their development team. This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of a very successful organisation.

I receive daily updates of vacancies in the defense industry and the one above dropped into my inbox this morning?

Now does this mean that they going to fit games machines into our ships.
Or it could be the new target aiming system being developed for the US Airforce. Most of the time their targetting was a lottery anyway. This explains it.
(And before you have a go at me, it was one of my mates on HMS Ark Royal who lost his hand after a US Harrier Pilot on exchange was hovering whilst coming into land, and hit the wrong button and dropped a 2lb training bomb on to the flight deck. It went through about 3 or 4 decks before exploding in one of the messdecks. And he was playing cards in at the time, thought I don't think he quite meant to through his hand in just like that).

I've set up a camera looking out the front window of the house?
Why? Well it was a right blizzard when I did it, but it looks like a perfect summers day right now and not a drop of snow in sight...
When it gets dark, it will probably turn from a snow cam to a roaring fire cam... Its flaming freezing down here.

Click on the image to open a new page with a 10sec updating image.

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The things that people search for.. And this month is not as bad as last month?